tech

=Technology Basics=

General Information Encyclopedias of Tech Terms How Things Work 'Green' Technology Cloud/Online Storage File Sharing

Also see Equipment, Internet Basics, History/Future Trends


 * GENERAL INFORMATION**

[|Computers] www.gcflearnfree.org/computers "Whether you are new to the computer, returning for review or just want to gain more 21st century skills, our free computer tutorials can help. ... we have a wide range of free technology tutorials to choose from."

Technology Checklist for Online Courses by Dave Edyburn [|http://www.uwm.edu/~edyburn/online/techcheck.html] “…this page contains a three-step checklist that will help you assess the readiness of your computer. … The checklist will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. Following the checklist, resources are provided for learning more about productivity software and how to obtain free tools that may assist you in your online work.”

Technology Self-Assessment Tool [PDF] http://www.doe.mass.edu/edtech/standards/tool.pdf

Online Quiz: Are You a Nerd? http://www.mcphee.com/goodies/nerd.html

The East Campus Nerd Test http://www.armory.com/tests/nerd.html

Jan’s Illustrated Computer Literacy 101 http://www.jegsworks.com/Lessons/index.html “Do you feel confused, befuddled, & lost when it comes to computers?"

Computer Basics in Game Format http://www.quia.com/jg/65620.html Quia = There is a yearly subscription to this site that also includes a 30 day free trial.

Online Learners Guide – Computer Basics [|http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~d-ctel/OLG/module1/nav-3.php]

Computer Basics http://www.jegsworks.com/Lessons/lessonintro.htm

Diplodocs http://safemanuals.com/ This site allows you to download user’s manuals for many, many brands and models of products in many categories.

TWiT http://wiki.twit.tv/wiki/Main_Page This is Leo LePorte's site

Tech Therapy http://chronicle.com/techtherapy/ "Scott Carlson, a Chronicle reporter, and Warren Arbogast, a technology consultant who works with colleges" produce podcasts each week that they like to think of as therapy sessions for people who work with technology in higher education. The topics are interesting to others, too.

Insight24 [] This is “a business-to-business directory of webcasts, podcasts, videos, online demos and corporate videos. Insight24 provides timely, and relevant, information for day-to-day business and technology decisions."

(video) Tech Therapy: The Trouble with Online Sex http://chronicle.com/media/audio/v54/i24/techtherapy/ "Looking at porn and sending racy e-mails at work - means problems, especially ifyou are a college leaders who do it. Tech Therapy's Scott Carlson, a Chronicle reporter, and Warren Arbogast, a technology consultant, talk about keeping your data private in the electronic age. (11:46)"

(video) Tech Therapy: The Trouble with Online Sex 2 http://chronicle.com/media/audio/v55/i12/techtherapy/ "Your technology is not your technology. Tech Therapy's co-hosts, Scott Carlson and Warren Arbogast, tell you why. And they'll also read some letters that came in since the last discussion on this topic. (15:16)"

Teacher Tap http://eduscapes.com/tap/index.htm This is a “free, professional development resource that helps educators and librarians address common questions about the use of technology in teaching and learning by providing easy access to practical, online resources and activities.”

Working with Windows [|http://www.jegsworks.com/Lessons/win/index.html

KeePassX - Cross Platform Password Manager http://www.keepassx.org/

Active@ Kill Disk - Hard Drive Eraser http://www.killdisk.com/

Eraser http://www.heidi.ie/node/6 “Eraser is an advanced security tool (for Windows), which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns.”

FileZilla http://filezilla-project.org/index.php This is a free FTP tool. They have both client and server versions.

(video) Time saving keyboard shortcuts demonstrated using Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard http://www.screencastcentral.com/public/522.cfm?sd=92 “Keyboard shortcuts are great - if you can get into the habit of using them - this quick screencast tutorial shows the most popular keyboard shortcuts “ He uses the Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard to demonstrate!

ENCYCLOPEDIAS OF TECH TERMS
Webopedia http://www.webopedia.com/

Tech Terms http://www.techterms.com/ They rate each term from 1 – Basic computer term, used every day to 10 – Highly specific and advanced term - impress even your nerdiest friends”

TechWeb - Tech Encyclopedia http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/

PC Magazine Encyclopedia http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/

NetLingo [] “NetLingo.com has thousands of definitions that explain the online world of business, technology, and communication, including the largest collection of Internet acronyms and text message shorthand ;-)…”

HOW THINGS WORK
The Engineer Guy http://www.engineerguy.com/index.htm Bill Hammack (from the University of Illinois) has made "The most irreverent & playful engineering videos ever made!" Some of his videos are also on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/engineerguyvideo#p/a

Retro Thing - "Vintage gadgets and technology" http://www.retrothing.com/

How Stuff Works [|http://computer.howstuffworks.com] How computers work.

swipe = handwriting

Vampire Power Costs []

Turn off your monitor to save energy? Do it. []

ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Computer Monitors (PDF) []

Computer Power Utilization and Security Guidelines [University of Iowa] []

Energy Conservation []

Gazelle http://www.gazelle.com/ "Gazelle is a reCommerce service that helps you sell and recycle your used electronics Get Cash for Your Gadgets The fastest & easiest way to sell or recycle your electronics We extend the lives of used electronics by selling them through retail and wholesale outlets. Items without value are responsibly recycled" “Even though we can't pay you, we'd still like to help you recycle it responsibly. It's easy. Just click the 'recycle' button to add it to your box. As long as something else in your box has value, we'll still pay for shipping.”

CLOUD / ONLINE STORAGE
Carbonite http://www.carbonite.com/

Mozy http://mozy.com/

Jungle Disk https://www.jungledisk.com/ Easy-to-use, automatic online backups, storage, and real-time sync between one or more computers.

**FILE SHARING**

Xythos Ticket http://xythos.com/education/product_feature.html This is "asecure file link that can be password protected and safely exchanged with users outside of the organization. Now, instead of sending large email attachments and causing network traffic, you can securely send links to PowerPoint documents, media files, and more..."

PaKnPosT http://sourceforge.net/projects/paknpost This "presents an alternative to email for sharing large files. It uses HTTP via Web browser to convey files, and text email to notify file recipients, with file type restriction, virus scanning, encryption, password protection and anti-spam measures."

Drop IO http://drop.io/ It "enables you to create simple private exchange points called "drops." The service has no email signup and no "accounts." Each drop is private, and only as accessible as you choose to deliberately make it. Create multiple drops, add any type of media, and share or subscribe as you want."