Category Archives: Technology

Google Nexus Announced!

Google Nexus runs on Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. The features will indeed blow your mind. They’re integrating Google+ into the Android OS (or at least that’s what it looks like in the video) and will be getting Hangouts and Messenger built into the OS – Android’s answer to the iPhone’s iMessage and FaceTime. I’m curious to see if face-unlock will be a practical way to unlock the phone. If it takes too long to detect my face then it may not be ideal. The rest a frivolous features.

The real question is will the battery last? I’m currently using a rooted HTC Desire running on the lightweight Oxygen ROM and the battery is pathetic (it was worse before root, on HTC Sense). Say what you like about the iPhone, but they’ve taken drastic steps to improve its battery life and given that they have tight software and hardware integration they are bound to have a better battery-to-performance ratio than Android.

I have till June next year to decide on sticking with Android or switching to the iPhone.

Here’s To The Crazy Ones [Video]

A Tribute To Steve [Video]

Steve Jobs 1955 – 2011

Google Launches YouTube for Teachers

Google has supported education worldwide through numerous schemes, from Google Apps Edu, Google Teachers Academy, Google Science Fair and loads more. Earlier this year, those selected to attend the Google Teachers Academy and become Google Certified Teachers were also invited to attend a separate training for teaching with YouTube.

Now, Google has launched the channel YouTube Teachers. It covers tutorials on how to create a channel, ideas on how to use YouTube in the classroom and even video production tips from screencast tools to lighting.

From cheaper digital cameras with HD video recording capabilities to easy-to-use video editing software that even my mother could use, it is becoming increasingly easy for anyone to make a video and share it with the world. Even Mac OS X Lion now comes with built-in screencasting capabilities. Just as blogging first liberated the armchair journalists and writers to shift from information consumption to information creation, YouTube and improved technologies are allowing everyday users to create videos of their own.

As these technologies continue to improve we’ll start seeing not only teachers creating more content, but also students. Instead of presenting with a PowerPoint slides, students can create videos or use tools like Present.me to create pre-recorded video presentations.

The Basics of DSLR Cameras

Here’s the first of eight video lessons by Philip Bloom on the basics of DSLR cameras. You can watch the rest of the videos and hundreds more on Vimeo Video School.

Once you’ve gone through all eight videos take on Philip Bloom’s challenge. Video an object and make it look interesting using the techniques taught in this video series. Your video should not be more than two minutes long. You can submit your videos to Bloom’s Challenges on Vimeo.