"Blog It" to Many Posts at Once

Six Apart, makers of Movable Type, Typepad and other services, have launched "Blog It" a new Facebook application designed to broadcast your posts to multiple locations at once. These locations might include Blogger (the engine which runs this blog) or TypePad or WordPress or even micro-blogs like Twitter.

Now I tend to run a little longer when it comes to blog entries, so I am not certain as to whether I would want to Twitter post something that is 400 words in length.

But here is where I can see this being advantageous. I also have blog authority to post at TacomaTechConnect and at uwtech.blogspot.com. There have been occasions when I have cross posted on these along with Living and Working Virtually here. When I have done so, I have created the post and when it was complete and published on my main site, I would go into edit mode and copy and paste them over where appropriate. Once or twice this has been to all three, but it is rare.

But there have been several occasions when I would actually have liked to post an entry across all three. If Institute of Technology students are engaged in an activity that I find interesting and involves the technology community of the South Sound then I see good reason to do cross posting. But even getting one post done is sometimes difficult to do, let alone the copying and pasting etc. The last post on this blog could easily been shared across all three (and may still be).

Here is where I can see some real value in the Blog It application.

But will it work? We will see, as this post is being written in Blog It to be posted on this site.

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And there you have it. Tada!

However, now I am adding a graphic to the post. I may be able to do that through Blog It, but not as conveniently or in the same manner as with Blogger. They allow for HTML editing within the post, but I have gotten used to the simple interface used with this application.

There is a press release out with more information including the following:

In addition to the ability to easily post to multiple blogging services from within Facebook, Blog It offers the ability to notify friends and colleagues around the web about new posts. When writing a post, the blogger can choose to automatically share it via Twitter and Pownce in addition to the Facebook Newsfeed. While many Facebook applications rely solely on the Newsfeed to share activity, Blog It is unique in that it helps bloggers share what they're creating with people they know across the web.

Check it out here.

Local and Regional Information Assurance and Cybersecurity Events

Mark your calendars for a couple of upcoming events if you have an interest in computer and information security. The first is coordinated and produced by and the second is being participated in by the Grey Hat Group, a student organization at the University of Washington, Tacoma dedicated to promoting awareness, education, and research into computer security. The event the group is presenting, now in its second year, is the Northwest Security Symposium. Knows as NWSec, the event features student, academic, and professional presentations on topics ranging from cryptography to computer forensics.

The conference is scheduled for May 7th and 8th, 2008 and will provide a broad perspective and in-depth technical sessions based on leading information assurance and cyber security topics. This event invites local businesses, military personnel, and Fortune 500 corporations to interact with each other, increase awareness of critical issues, and view important academic and industry presentations.

Presentations will be given in the Carwein Auditorium of the Keystone building on the UWT Campus and has a great array of speakers from Dickie George to Kirk Bailey. Check it out on their web site.

The Grey Hats are also competing in the upcoming 1st Pacific Rim Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition on April 26 – 27, 2008 in conjunction with the Center for Information Assurance & Cybersecurity, University of Washington. The event will happen on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond and is similar to the great event that the group held with West Point and Fort Lewis last year.

Blogger in Draft Scheduled Posting

Well, I am back from vacation and it has been a while since I’ve posted. I could have logged in from the Disneyland Resort and posted something or other, but that is just not how I like to vacate. I also don’t feel secure in telling the world that I am not at home and won’t be back for several days. I am not directing my caution at you of course. I am referring to that other guy, lurking over there.

What I had hoped for, but couldn’t manage, was the ability to create a post and publish it at some day and time in the future. That way I could have prepared for my trip and known that I could continue to steadily fuel the blog fire in an automated fashion. Sort of like leaving those dissolving food pellets for the fish to eat while you are away.

When I mentioned this to fellow blogger Erik Handberg, he steered me to Blogger in Draft. It has the very feature that I am looking for, but not yet integrated into the official Blogger site. Blogger in Draft has been around for less than a year but was launched in June of 2007.

As Blogger announced at that time:

we released something for Blogger that we've long wanted to do - an experimental version of the site where the early adopters among you can try out new features before they're ready for full release. We're calling it Blogger in draft because the features are almost ready for publishing, but not quite.

I love the way they provide their warning of what may happen if you work with a Beta.

If you’re feeling adventurous, all you need to do to try it out is log in to draft.blogger.com instead of www.blogger.com. If you see the blueprint logo then you’re in the right place.

Just last month they announced the new feature of scheduled post publishing. In the Blogger in Draft mode, if you write a post and set the post’s date and time to some time in the future, they schedule that post to appear on that date and time.

This is exactly what I attempted to do on the official site, with unsuccessful results.

So I am going to try again. If you have read this blog post, then it has been a successful trial, and I will have no trouble in keeping the posts coming even when traveling about or taking some time off. Very cool.

One Year and Counting

As the blogosphere grows increasingly larger and so many folks, fictional or not, find there way to posting online, it has been enjoyable being part of it.

One year ago I started this blog in support of a class I teach, and it has taken on it's own life.

Thanks to all that read here and here's to another year to come.

STEM report card in on Washington Schools

Education Week put out a special report as part of its Technology Counts 2008 report. The document called “STEM: The Push to Improve Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics” is a supplement to the main report and “surveys the states to assess the status of K-12 educational technology across the nation in terms of access, use and capacity.”

It awards grades, as educational institutions are conditioned to do, based on 14 different indicators that are related to the above three areas.

According to the report, the state of Washington received a B- in Capacity (to use technology), which was better than the average C grade of the combined states.

However, the report bestowed a D+ grade on Access (to technology) and Use (of technology), giving the state an overall C- average compared to the average state score of C+.

Disappointing to be sure, and it is likely that the state will have to be punished by taking away its iPOD, television privileges (it can no longer watch “Greek”) and absolutely no prom unless it brings its scores up immediately.

Which it is apparently trying to do:

The news tribune’s Kris Sherman reports that “A new wave of up-to-date computer equipment is coming into Tacoma schools. About half of the computers in the district's elementary and middle schools will be replaced in the 2008-2009 academic year with laptop PCs on mobile carts.”

Perhaps this is the little bit of extra credit we need to nudge that Access grade up to at least a C.

Mind you, I expect better grades next year. School is important, and if this state wants to make something of itself when it gets older, it should start buckling down now. Wipe that smirk off your face when I’m talking to you, young state. Next thing you know you will be throwing out minimum math requirements testing and hanging around on some street corner.

Some Origami Notes on Paper Size

Whenever anyone picks up and starts to play around with Origami they usually don't give much thought to paper size. Traditional, craft store ready, multicolored, white sided paper is in abundance and approximately seven inch square size paper is supplied with most sets of Origami kits. For those starting out or teaching elementary students in classes of 20 to 30 this is just fine. Picking up a 100 sheet package is no big deal and not too expensive.

But there are several reasons to vary your paper size. Using several Montroll models from his Origami for the Enthusiast book, I will endeavor to illustrate.

Reason Number One: Two create different looks for the same model. Especially when putting together a display. Sometimes the class of kids want to combine their efforts into a much bigger display. Say that you are creating fish and other sea life for a hallway display. By creating different sized models of the same fish you can create a school like effect complete with younger fish.

I habitually make the Tyrannosaur, often leaving it at the table I'm sitting at, and do so with whatever paper is available whether a gum wrapper or a tablet page sized to a square. Even though I like the model on it's own, when combined with several different sizes of paper you can develop a sense of family. I have included a small red paper clip to give you an example of scale on this one.

Reason Number Two: To conquer a model. There are some models that are more difficult to complete than others, and when you graduate to some of the more difficult pieces it can get frustrating. The solution: go buy yourself a bunch of large sheets of paper to work with. Sometimes when looking at some of the models in books or online I wonder how they possibly could have folded something like what I am seeing. Often they are done using much larger paper than is readily available to the occasional folder. Go to Uwajimaya or get some online. There are 9 inch square sized sheets available at Amazon, but I would go even bigger if you can find it.

Two models that frustrated me a bit before I worked through them were this Tarantula and what I call the creepy looking baby.

Though they started from much different sized paper, the larger Tarantula helped me understand the folding instructions enough to successfully complete the smaller sized one. The smaller one is actually less messy than the larger one for it as well.

The baby is a Robert Lang model, and comes complete with diaper. I never would have successfully folded this one without the larger paper size. Additionally, I like the resulting size of the model as it is almost "doll" sized when complete.

Reason Number Three: To challenge yourself. Once you have a model down, the challenge then becomes to see how far you can miniaturize it. The smallest Tyrannosaurs above are pretty small, but I like to see if I can even go smaller. I once made some cranes and some penguins as small as I could, then stiffened the paper with a clear lacquer spray and attached them to earring backs.

Reason Number Four: So people can find them. OK, so this reason may not apply to you, but recently I left a turtle for people to find at a local park. No one found it, at least that I am aware of. Now if I had just gone with the larger paper, I think it would have been difficult to overlook. I like the smaller version better, and when using plain paper it loses a little something. But sometimes you just have to go larger.

Reason Number Five: To size correctly to your display. I chose a specific type and size of a paper for the Montroll turtle model mentioned above, so that it would fit nicely into a shadowbox display I was working on. The one pictured was an early pass at something I did on a bigger scale (meaning number of turtles, not size of paper) for my son. I like the effect the checkered paper I used gives to the end result.

There are certainly more reasons, so please provide any others that might come to mind.

FIRST Robotics Competition Today and Tomorrow

It is funny to me how you can often enter the convention center here and all seems still. As a veteran of many technology conferences and the wonder that was COMDEX (which is no longer produced, see InterOp) I always loved the excitement and activity that would spill into the streets in San Jose at San Jose McEnery Convention Center or the buzz at an Apple Developers conference or Moscone Center in San Francisco.

I am not making any comparisons here, because the scale just doesn't match. But if you want to treat yourself to a sense of excitement over technology and what fun can be had with it, step over to the Tacoma Convention Center today or tomorrow and check out the goings on at the FIRST Robotics Competition.

There is an actual buzz in the air. Sure, not thousands of people, just several hundreds high school students, their mentors, pit crew and their robots. These robots are pretty good sized too, about akin to a Costco shopping cart if it had attachments that extended, grasped, picked up and moved around objects in an obstacle course.

They line the bleachers around the caged area the course resides in, which is about the size of an EWF cage match cage. But don't think this is a destructive robot wars event. These remote controlled creation and working cooperatively to complete a randomized task faster than their opponent.

Go cheer on the locals and welcome the visitors when you get the chance. Just remember to wear your safety goggles when you are walking around the pit area.

Friday, March 21, 2008

8:00AM Pits and Machine Shop open
9:00AM Opening ceremonies
9:30AM-4:00PM Seeding matches
12:00PM-1:00PM Lunch
4:15PM Awards ceremony
6:00PM Pits and Machine Shop close

Saturday, March 22, 2008

8:00AM Pits and machine shop open
9:00AM Opening ceremonies
10:00AM-11:15AM Seeding matches
11:30AM-11:45PM Alliance Selections
12:00PM-1:00PM Lunch
1:00PM-4:15PM Final rounds
4:30PM Awards ceremony
5:00PM Pits and Machine Shop close, crates packed for shipping