Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's 40 - ATM Machines!

It's hard to believe that, at one time, in order to do our banking, we had to go to a bank teller to perform our transactions, and we had to make sure that we did those transactions during "banker's hours" (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM). Now, we can perform our banking transactions 24/7 with the Internet and ATM machines.

Forty years ago, the first ATM machine was implemented in the United Kingdom at a north London branch of Barclays Bank. Back then, the machine only dispensed cash. The man credited for developing the first ATM machine at Barclays Bank is John Shepherd-Barron, OBE. ATMs really didn't catch on in the United States until about 5 years later, although Shepherd-Barron did present the idea to Miami bankers in 1967.

Apparently there is a controversy on who really invented the ATM machine. While the UK acknowledges Shepherd-Barron as the "inventor" of the ATM machine, the Smithsonian Institute actually credits American Don Wetzel as the "inventor" of the ATM machine. Web site ATM Machine, a company that sells ATM machines, actually did comprehensive research on who is the real inventor of the ATM.

An Interesting Article on the Most Technically Proficient Generation

Animator Eddie Fitzgerald, author of the blog Uncle Eddie's Theory Corner, wrote a fantastic article on how technology impacted the latest generation, dubbed the "iGeneration" by Jorge Garrido. Even though the article is oriented toward how technology has impacted the animation business, the article contains an interesting social commentary on technology and the current generation.

While it's not a "geeky" article on technology topics, it's a good article to give the digithead an understanding on how his or her work impacts society and business.

Read the article here:
Is the Millenial Generation Different?

I'm wearing my "blue" Fedora...more Fedora info

Well, I was able to successfully install Fedora Core 5 on an old Pentium II laptop. I was able to configure my wireless network card on the laptop using ndiswrapper, but I get a kernel panic every time I try to connect to a network. (It c/b that I'm using a too new version of ndiswrapper.) I'm not worried about being able to use the network card because this was just an experiment anyway.

I was also able to successfully install Fedora Core 6 on my Centrino laptop as a dual-boot between Windows XP and Fedora. However, I didn't allocate enough space for what I wanted to do with it, so I'm somewhat limited to what I can install and what I can't install (I only allocated 5G space, and after installing the office tools and the software tools, it took up 3.5G space - eep!).

Anyhow, I wanted to post some helpful links for those of you who are converting to Fedora:

• The Fedora Project's Presentations Site - While some of the presentations are aimed at people who will be doing kernel development for Fedora, there are some interesting presentations for end-users and Fedora administrators as well.


• Fedora Core 6 Tips and Techniques - A very nice site giving some generic tips on how to work with Fedora Core 6.


• Fedora Core Getting Started - Aimed at Windows users, this nice article explains the basics of Fedora. This article focuses on the end-user applications with Fedora.

I'd love to hear about your experiences with Fedora or other flavors of Linux.

Fedora Users: Help with the "make" command

In a few weeks, I'll be teaching a Linux Administration class, and I'll be preparing for my vendor-neutral Linux certifications as well. One of the experiments that I'm doing before class starts is installing Fedora Core 5 on a Pentium II machine. (I got it installed and working, but it was a pain to do!) I digress, though.

While I was working on my install, I was inspired to do a few posts on using Fedora. One of the most popular questions that I found on the Internet was people who were having trouble with using the make command. Particularly, when they use the make command, they get a Can't find kernel build files in .... type of error.

The reason why the Can't find kernel build files in .... occurs is the kernel-devel package is not installed on your machine. So, how to fix the error?

• If your Fedora machine can connect to the Internet or you are on a network that has a yum server, use the command yum install kernel-devel.


• If your Fedora machine cannot connect to the Internet, you will need to get the package and use RPM.
  
  This is the link to Fedora's RPM page
  
  
  
  
  • To get the actual kernel installed on your machine, run the command uname -r. You want to "jot down" the number that returns to you. For example, on my machine, the number that returned to me was 2.6.15-1.2054_FC5
  
  
  • You are going to need the kernel-devel-your kernel number returned from uname -r.rpm file. If this is not in your disk distribution, then you are going to have to find a machine with an Internet connection and download it.
  
  
  • Once you get the correct file, assumming that you are in the same directory as where you put the file, run the command rpm -ivh kernel-devel-your kernel number returned from uname -r.rpm
  
  
  
  

Hope this helps.

Anything You Say Can (and Will) Be Used Against You

Update: Read the latest story on the Wal-Mart worker who got fired for posting a joke on MySpace

With the latest explosion of social networking sites such as MySpace, FaceBook, and Friendster, loads of people are publishing lots of information about themselves for the entire world to see. Social networking sites have shrunk the size of the world because the information is visible to anyone that has access to the Internet. The positive is it introduces the person to people that one would never have the chance to meet otherwise. The negative is that anything that is posted on that page can haunt that person. It can affect the person's ability to get the job that they want, or worse, it can attract the wrong kind of person.

We can talk about the dangers of posting inappropriate material on a social networking site, but I think that the majority understand those dangers. However, many people don't understand how this can affect a future career. The focus of this post is going to be on how what you have posted on the Internet can affect your future career.

When you apply for a job, nearly all companies have you sign a release that permits the company to do a background check on you. While they are mainly performing criminal background checks on you, they are also scanning the Internet to find out about you as well. As many people are discovering, what they are publishing about themselves on the Internet may cost them a dream career or a spot in a prestigious school. Recently, there was a case where a young teacher who just finished her studies for her Master's degree was looking for a dream job in education. When the education board found a racy photo of her in a pirate's costume published on MySpace, the education board rejected her as someone who was "not appropriate" for the school environment. So, while the picture of you doing something silly while you're drunk or high may be funny to your peers, some person who makes decisions on who will work for a company may think that you are "irresponsible" and "not a good fit to the company".

It's not just social networking sites that people are searching - they are also searching blogs, viral video sites (like YouTube), and review sites to see what you are like. For example, a person who interviewed me about a year ago struck up a conversation about Doctor Who with me. I was puzzled - how did he know that I liked Doctor Who? Simple - he did a little research on me on the Internet and found that I wrote a review for a particular Doctor Who DVD that was published on numerous sites on the Internet!

Because of the power of the Internet, people need to be careful with what they say and do. You may be careful with what you publish on the Internet about yourself, but what about what others publish about you? For example, a tape or photos featuring you in a compromising position may find its way on YouTube or another web site. Don't believe me that someone can post things about you? Just ask former American Idol contestant Antonella Barba. Granted, it got her publicity, but I don't she really appreciated someone posting a picture of her sitting on a toilet bowl looking like she is "doing her business".

The bottom line - you need to be aware of what you say and do. If you don't want the world to see it or hear it, don't do it. If you don't publish it, someone else will. Just ask Antonella Barba or the kid who made a film of himself pretending to be a Jedi Knight.

Things to Note When Creating Training Presentations

Regardless of the role that you play in IT, you will have to create training presentations.

• If the publisher of a textbook hasn't created these for the instructor as material to use when teaching information from the book, IT instructors create training presentations all the time.


• With US post-secondary institutions putting more emphasis on enhancing students' communications skills, IT students will need to do this for their coursework.


• Unless the IT professional works for a very large company who has its own training department, the IT professional has this responsibility as well as his/her other duties.

Training presentations are very useful tools to have to help the listener engage other senses while you are lecturing on a subject. However, a number of people still miss the mark when creating presentations. There are a number of reasons why:

• Wrong Color Scheme


• Too Much Information


• Font that's difficult to read


• Distracting animations and music


• No animation and activity

How should you create a good training presentation? Here are some tips that I've learned based on my own experience as a student and an instructor:

• Don't use white or a very dark color for the entire background color if you are presenting from a projector on a screen.
  
  
  kiosk-style: A presentation that will be viewed on a person's own machine, rather than presented through a projector on a screen.
  
  While white as an entire background is perfectly acceptable for "kiosk-style" presentations, a white background has a tendency to "glare" when presenting from a projector on a screen, and some people think that a pure white background is harder on the eyes. On the other hand, using a very dark color as a background (such as black) causes problems for visually impaired audience members (see the point "Be aware of your audience's restrictions" for details). Use a softer white or a softer light color as the background.
  


• Use complementary colors (Colors that are opposite on the color wheel)
  
  Using complementary colors in your presentation helps the material stand out better. If you are not aware of the color wheel, see this site or this site for an illustration and a general explanation of the color wheel.
  


• Don't write your whole script on a slide; use "headlines" to highlight the important points of the topic
  
  If you write your whole script on a slide, your presentation loses its impact. The first thing your audience will say is, "I know how to read! I don't need you to read it for me!". "Headlines" or "bullet points" highlight the important points of what you are saying. The audience will see the point, and listen to you for more details.
  


• Choose a consistent background to use throughout the presentation
  
  One of the most distracting things in a presentation is a presentation that uses a different background for each slide. Using a consistent background, such as a company logo or the same border, looks cleaner and more professional.
  


• If you are using transition animation, choose one style of transition animation throughout the presentation
  
  Another distracting thing in a presentation is different transition animations for each slide. Using one type of a transition animation, such as a "flip to next page", looks cleaner and professional.
  


• Use a Sans-Serif font, and don't use anything under 16 point size (unless this presentation is "kiosk style")
  
  A psychology study shows that sans-serif style fonts (like Arial or Helvetica) were easier to read than non-sans-serif fonts (like Times New Roman). Try to avoid using the "graphic-type" fonts because the machine where you will be doing the presentation may not have the drivers for that font, and some of those fonts are very difficult to read.
  If you are doing a presentation where you will be projecting it to a screen for an audience, don't use a font under 16 point size. It's too difficult to read from a projection. However, if you are doing a "kiosk-style" presentation, you can use a smaller font.
  


• Keep the font size consistent on each slide
  
  Again, this is to make the presentation look cleaner and more professional. If the font size jumps too much from screen to screen, the viewer's eyes will need time to adjust.
  


• Don't have a completely static presentation; have a few multimedia types embedded in the presentation
  
  
  transition animation: An animation that happens when going from one slide to another, such as a "flipping pages" effect.
  
  Completely static presentations with absolutely no multimedia (pictures, graphics, animation, music, clips) are absolutely boring! Here are some ideas:
  
  
  
  • Have a few pieces of multimedia in the presentation that has to do with the topic at hand. For example, if you are talking about how a network architecture transmits data, you can put a small cartoon that illustrates how it works in the presentation.
  
  
  • Use the company logo on each slide in the same place.
  
  
  • Use a transition animation.
  
  
  • Use a consistent animation to help emphasise the important points of your speech, such as a point appearing when you click on the mouse button.
  
  
  
  


• On the other hand, don't use multimedia for the sake of using multimedia
  
  Completely static presentations are boring, but over-the-top presentations are downright annoying and look unprofessional. Some people use multimedia for the sake of using multimedia in their presentation, such as putting in material like clip art or "cute" films and songs that have nothing to do with the presentation. While one slide with a funny picture may get a chuckle out of the audience, 10 slides with funny pictures will lose them.
  


• Proofread the material
  
  Spelling errors, grammar errors, and sentences that don't make sense are things that can kill your presentation. Sometimes it's hard to proofread your own material because you have been viewing it for so long. Try to recruit someone, especially someone with good spelling and grammar skills, to review the material.
  


• Be aware of your audience's restrictions
  
  Not all of your audience will be able to see colors perfectly, or have 20/20 vision, or speak your native language fluently. Create your presentation with restrictions in mind. For example:
  
  
  
  • According to this study from Stephen F. Austin University, elderly viewers have a difficult time viewing a light-on-dark presentation color scheme versus a dark-on-light presentation color scheme. If your audience is older, choose a dark-on-light presentation color scheme.
  
  
  • According to a guide from Lighthouse.org on accessibility, visually impaired audience members have difficutly viewing certain fonts and certain color schemes. This reference guide will give you some pointers on what color schemes and fonts to use if you have visually-impaired audience members.
  
  
  • If you have audience members that are color-blind, be aware of the schemes that you choose. That does not mean that you are not allowed to use that color, such as blue, but be aware that the color-blind person doesn't see that color the way others do.
  
  
  • Be aware that certain animations, like flashing screens, can trigger epileptic seizures in people who have photosensitive epilepsy. (Personally, I wouldn't do flashing screens anyway unless I want to annoy my audience)
  
  
  • Avoid using "slang" in your presentation.
  
  
  
  

A Note on Using Multimedia

• Be aware of the type of multimedia that you use. For example, can the machine where you will be doing the presentation support the media type that you are using? If you embedded a fantastic QuickTime file that helps demonstrate your point, but the machine doesn't have a QuickTime player installed, it will impact your presentation.


• Be aware of the rules of using public domain multimedia and copyrighted media.
  According to the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act), "fair use" for copyrighted songs and films allows you to play up to 30 seconds of the material. However, be aware that some media hosting sites are airing on the side of caution and not allowing any publication of presentations that even use 1 second of copyrighted material.
  If a graphic or picture is copyrighted, you will need to follow the rule from the owner of the copyright. In some cases, the owner will allow you to use it as long as the owner is credited. In other cases, you may not be allowed to use the graphic or picture at all.

Here are two other links that provide more information:
The 7 Sins of Visual Presentations
Tips for Effective Visual Presentatiosn

Do you have any tips to share? Post them here!

More on Verizon v. Vonage

Here are some updates on the Verizon v. Vonage saga:

• On April 24th, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Vonage can continue to sign up new customers while Vonage is appealing the patent infringement loss to Verizon.


• While the appeal is pending, Vonage plans to continue paying a 5.5 percent royalty rate on all future sales to an escrow account, and it has posted a $66 million (USD) bond

Even with these findings, Vonage's operations are still in trouble. Vonage has admitted in an Security and Exchange commission filing that they began to lose customers before the ruling, and all the legal trouble could lead to bankruptcy.

Woo-hoo, woo-hoo-hoo! Maybe not.....(Verizon v. Vonage)

For those of you who are not familiar with the case, Verizon sued Vonage for patent infringement regarding their VoIP technology and won the case. Does that mean that Vonage is a dead company? It's not dead yet, but it's on life support. A judge in an April 6th hearing found that Vonage can still provide services to their existing customers, but they cannot acquire new customers. Even with that finding, an appeals court can override that ruling. Even though as of now Vonage can support their existing customers, it's possible that Vonage may cease operations.

What if you or your small business is an existing Vonage customer? How can you prepare for a potential Vonage collapse? The good news is time is on your side. You have time to evaluate your VoIP needs and choose another provider.

This article from VoIP News is written for IT professionals on how to prepare for a potential Vonage collapse. This article highlights how to plan for choosing a new provider and what to consider when you decide to make the switch.

I'm back!

I'm back on the blog! I'm sure you're happy to hear that! :)

I haven't been posting any commentaries or information because there were and are a lot of things going on right now with me. I couldn't dedicate the time to the site or the blog as much as I wanted to. Now that I have a little more time now, I can start posting again, and I can work on the web site as well.

Wow - there's been so much IT news since I last posted: the mistake in Alaska where all the records in the government's systems were deleted; the court's decision against Vonage (Verizon alleged that Vonage used Verizon's VoIP technology and didn't give Verizon credit); the launch of Microsoft Vista; and more.

Random Technology Thoughts

• Right now, I'm installing Fedora Core 5 on a Dell Pentium II 128M RAM machine. Why? I'm doing an experiment to see how Fedora Core 5 will act on an older machine. No, I'm not that big of a geek. :) I'm going to be writing an article on what to do with older machines, and I'm trying to verify some information before I write it.
  Right now, the install is very painful - I'm installing the Office and Productivity modules and some of the Development and Web Server modules. Once it's installed, I'll see how the response time is for using it.


• Does this look like a bomb to you? How about an LED image of these characters sticking up their middle fingers hanging in various areas of town?


• I'm reading IEC white papers about FiOS and IPTV, and the song that's popping in my head is Video Killed the Radio Star. From what I've been reading, these technologies (along with YouTube) will probably "kill" standard television as we know it. I'll be writing an article about that as well.

Do You REALLY Need to Upgrade?

All the talk of the upcoming release of Windows Vista inspired me today. My question is not necessarily related to upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista. Rather, my question is do I really need to upgrade my technology at all? For example, should I upgrade from my Centrino laptop to a dual-core? Do I really need to upgrade?

Making the decision to upgrade your software or hardware required analysis. You analyzed:

• The level of work that you did with what you had (do you just use your computer to surf the 'net and read e-mails, or do you write graphic-intensive applications)


• Whether it really harms your productivity (do I really need to be able to play solitaire at a faster speed, or is it taking too long to create and test my Flash cartoons?


• Whether you had enough money in your budget


• Whether the company decided to no longer support the product because the software life cycle has run out

Based on your analysis, you made your decision to upgrade or stay the course.

Now, software companies are making it easy for us to decide. Software life cycles are shorter now, and most companies are developing their newer, supported versions around the latest hardware requirements. In some cases, if you need to upgrade your software, you may have to upgrade your hardware as well. I can't begrudge the software companies from shortening the life cycles. Trust me - it's annoying to have to support a software version that's 7 years old. However, from an end-user perspective, it's bank-breaking because as an end-user, it's possible that I have to upgrade my hardware because the newer version of the software can't run on what I have, even though my hardware may only be about 2 years old!

When it came to upgrading, I usually followed the "2-year rule" for software and "4-year rule" for hardware. I upgraded my software versions every 2 years, and I upgraded my hardware every 4 years. Now, my rule will have to change - I may have to upgrade everything every 2 years. The bright side with the hardware is a lot of the free operating systems (like the Linux distros) will run very well on older machines, so at least I can still prolong the usage life of my machines. Now if more software and drivers are available for Linux, I can completely convert.

Could the Communications Decency Act Get Revised?

See the latest updates on the dontdatehimgirl.com case in the comments....

Introduction
The Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 protects minors (people under 18 years of age) from obscene electronic communication. Another part of the CDA deals with libel and slander on the Internet. According to the CDA, if libelous or slanderous speech is published on a web site, the web site operator is not liable for the information if it is posted by someone. For example, if someone goes on the forum on my web site and publishes slanderous statements about a figure, I am not liable for what that poster said (although the victim can pursue legal action against the poster). There is a defamation lawsuit currently happening that may change that.

To summarize the case, Todd Hollis is suing Tasha Joseph, the web operator of dontdatehimgirl.com, for defamation of character. According to the case, an anonymous poster posted false, slanderous comments about Mr. Hollis, and Ms. Joseph refused to remove the comments when she was asked by Mr. Hollis to do so. It was recommended to Mr. Hollis to post a rebuttal comment or to post his own web site countering the charges.


John Seigenthaler Sr. lost a legal battle with Wikipedia over a "prankster" posting on Wikipedia that he (Mr. Seigenthaler) was involved in the assasination of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. This is the case that actually added the section (section 230) to the CDA absolving web site operators of liability from users posting information on their sites


Although there is a precedence that was already set regarding libelous information published on a web site, the lawyers for Mr. Hollis are finding holes in the law protecting web site operators. If the case is found in Mr. Hollis's favor, this could change how web site operators maintain their sites.

My Take
As a web site operator, what do I think of this situation?

The intention of Section 230 of the CDA was supposed to help promote the freedom of legal speech on the Internet. I can understand the fear of changing Section 230 because America is becoming a more litigious society. If someone decided to post an opinion of a product, service, or person on a web site, the person being critiqued could "cry foul" and sue the web site operator and the poster for defamation. Although the lawsuit would probably be dismissed because the person was expressing an opinion and not stating comments as fact, it would still cost the web site operator money and time to fight the legal battle.

However, I have two concerns regarding Section 230:

• Even though I am not liable for what someone publishes on my site, whether it's on my forums or on this blog, I still try to practice due diligence by monitoring comments before I publish them, reviewing requests for user IDs for the forum, and monitoring the forum for inappropriate posts. There are other web site operators that perform the same due diligence to prevent situations like this. The problem is not all web site operators practice due diligence. Because they are not legally obligated to monitor third-party content on their site, they don't have to spend the time reviewing the published material. As a result, situations like Mr. Hollis's occur.


• My concern is the double standard regarding how published media is treated. According to Section 230, Ms. Joseph is not responsible for what someone posts about others because it was published on the Internet. If Ms. Joseph was a publisher of print media (a newspaper or a magazine), and if the same information about Mr. Hollis was published in the print media, she is liable for what was published, and she can be sued for libel.

Summary
If the case is found in Mr. Hollis's favor, this could cause a review of the Section 230. If Section 230 is revised, it will make web site operators more aware of what gets published on their web site. While, in general, I think that Section 230 does need to be revised, the only concern that I have is that it could trigger frivolous lawsuits because someone didn't like the opinion that someone else published.

Raketu - the next big thing?

For More Information

 Raketu Web Site
 From VoIP News: Making A Raketu About Peer-to-Peer Voice and Everything Else

I've been reading in a few VoIP journals about how Raketu may give VoIP (particularly Skype) a run for it's money. I decided to take a look at the product myself.

Summary

• Raketu is a peer-to-peer service that provides voice calling, messaging and other services over the Internet


• Unlike other P2P software, Raketu does not install additional spyware, malware, or adware


• Unlike other P2P software, Raketu does not use supernodes in their architecture (Raketu's documentation on their architecture)


• Raketu is looking to be an all-in-one media center. It either provides or is planning on providing the following services:
  
  
  
  • Podcasts
  
  
  • Video player
  
  
  • SMS text messaging
  
  
  • Social networking services
  
  
  • Free setup of your own radio show (best way I can explain it is YouTube for radio)
  
  
  
  

System Requirements

• Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP - Note that RakOut does not work for Windows 98. Raketu may work on Windows 2003, but there is nothing in their documentation that indicates that they support that platform.


• Install file is 3.4MB; Installed product is 11.5MB


• If you have an Intel-based Mac, you can use Raketu if you are running the BOOTCAMP software on your machine


• Raketu is not supported on Linux, although according to their site, they are working on a Linux version of the software

Things I Liked

• No supernodes and no additional software installed on your machine.


• Interfaces will all the major IMs. One of the things that I liked about this product is it integrated my IMs into Raketu, so I don't need to run all my IMs while I'm running Raketu. It lets me know whether I received any messages from my other IMs.


• Free calls to anywhere in the US and up to 40 countries with limitations. You need to have at least $0.01 in your account.


• The "all-in-one" package is a good concept. I, personally, don't like to have a ton of applications open when I'm trying to do my work. Keeping everything in an "all in one" package makes it easy for me.


• I can send SMS text messages without having my phone with me. However, I do have issues with how it works (see the "needs improvement" section).


• Good tutorial movies to explain how to use the software.

Things that Need Improvement

• According to their published rates, they charge you approximately $0.61/minute when you make a call to a toll-free number. I didn't see anything in their support pages nor do I know of any FCC regulations to explain why they charge for toll-free calls.


• I had trouble playing podcasts using Raketu. Raketu reads the RSS file and lists the podcasts from the service to which I subscribed, but when I try to play the podcasts, it doesn't play because the URL is malformed (it drops the address). In Raketu's defense, this could be a "bug" in the RSS feed they received from StationCaster (the provider) rather than their parser. I reported this to Raketu support.


• The SMS interface needs work. Before you start using the SMS messaging services, you have to set up the address in your contact list. You can't just enter the destination when you send a message like you can when you are using rakOut.

Additional Notes

• Raketu is not intended to replace your existing phone service. You can only make outbound calls, and you cannot make emergency calls (ex: calling 911 in the US) in this system.


• If the destination number (the number your calling to) has caller ID, the number that appears in the caller ID is 555-555-5555.


• When you are talking on the telephone using rakOut, there is about a 1-2 second communication delay


• For their phone service, when you pre-pay, the balance expires after 180 days.


• I'm really excited about their "free radio show" service.

Analysis

Raketu has a lot of potential. The "all in one" process integration concept and the P2P architecture that they use is very good.

However, I think that they tried to release too much too soon, and it shows in the product. The interface is clunky and inconsistent (some functions stay within Raketu, while other functions open your web browser or your e-mail software), and some of the additional features that are there, like the picture viewer, are too basic to be considered as a valuable substitute for other packages.

Do I think that it's a viable competitor to VoIP? Not yet, because you can only make outgoing calls, but you cannot receive incoming calls. Do I think that it's a good product? This is a brand-new product, and there are going to be some growing pains, but I do think that it is a good product overall, and it does have the potential to be amazing.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

I definitely wouldn't give David Bowie or any other singer any sleepless nights with my singing ability, so I'll just type out the song hook in the subject! :)


For the readers outside the USA who are unfamiliar with the IRS - the IRS is the government body in the USA that handles taxes (similar to Inland Revenue in the UK). The IRS is also responsible for granting "corporate status" to organizations.

As we're about to start the new year (it's already the new year for some of you!), it's time for changes.

One of the goals that I have with My Mwalimu is to get not-for-profit status with the IRS, which will allow this site to grow and be involved with numerous opportunities. Right now, I am completely self-funding this project. While I don't have a problem with funding it, it limits me to what I can do with this site. I'm hesitant on accepting advertising on the site (although I do have Google AdSense on this blog) because I'd like to keep the site neutral and balanced like the American magazine publication Consumer Reports, which provides unbiased analyses on products and services. With a not-for-profit status, My Mwalimu will qualify for a number of grants, be eligible to participate in university projects, and be able to collect more contributions since the contributions (including my own financial contributions!) will be tax-deductible.

While there are a number of things that I need to do before filing for not-for-profit status, such as create financial disclosures and form a board of directors, one of the things that I can easily do now is form a brand image with My Mwalimu.

As part of the brand image process, the web site has been redesigned. If you visit the site, you will notice that it has been redesigned to be consistent with Mwalimu's Corner's design. I also made a few technical/marketing changes to make it more SEO friendly, like removing the iframes and creating a site map.

Another part of the brand image process is to use the My Mwalimu site more as a site that provides free technology tutorials. Mwalimu's Corner will be used to publish information for IT students to use that can't be categorized on the web site, such as:

• Quick tips on various technology (like "how to do it....")


• Reviews of technology products and publications


• Essays on technology topics


• Tips for navigating the post-secondary educational system

I'd like to wish all of you a very happy new year, and I hope that the new year brings you everything you've always wanted.

Best regards,



Jennifer Lewis
Founder, My Mwalimu

Choosing the Right School - REVISITED

As we're getting ready to start a new year, it's a good time to revisit the subject of choosing a post-secondary institution. If you are a graduating senior in high school, this is the time where you are looking at your post-secondary education options. This is also a popular time of year for non-traditional students (ex: working adults returning to school) to view their options as well.
Before continuing with this article, read the post that I made in July: Choosing the Right School

I cannot stress the importance of future students to investigate all of their options before making a selection. Students have so many misconceptions that they end up making poor choices. Here are some of the biggest mistakes that I've seen students make regarding their post-secondary education choice:

• Students quickly choose to attend a for-profit institution because they assume their grades or test scores were too poor to get accepted in a college or university.


• Students invest too much money in a field of study when they decide, mid-way through their studies, that it's not what they wanted to do when they "grow up".


• Students don't spend enough time with investigating their options. For example, they choose a school without interviewing the professors and existing students or without sitting in on a class to see what it's going to be like.


• The motivation for choosing a particular school has nothing to do with the quality of education. For example, students choose to attend a particular school because it's a "party school" or "it's the same school where 3 generations of my family attended".

Regional vs. National Accreditation
If you are looking to attend a school for a short period of time and transfer to another institution (ex: you are going to go to community college for two years and transfer to a four-year institution), you want to pay attention to how the school is accredited. If a school is nationally accredited, the credits will have less chance of transferring to a "traditional" college or university than it would if the school is regionally accredited. Believe it or not, regional accreditation carries more weight with most colleges and universities than national accreditation because the standards to be regionally accredited are more stringent. The boards that provide regional accreditation are the same boards that provide accreditation to the primary (elementary) and secondary (high) schools.
If you are not interested in transferring to other schools, and you are only interested in a career education (brush up on existing skills, learn new skills for a different career path), make sure the school is either regionally or nationally accredited. Like I mentioned earlier, most employers don't care about where you got your degree. They only care if you got your degree from an accredited institution.


If you are going to invest tens of thousands of dollars in something, wouldn't you spend time investigating where you are going to get the best return on investment? Think of your post-secondary education as an investment. You need to thoroughly investigate all the options before making your choice. Here are some suggestions on what to investigate:

1. Investigate the attrition (drop-out) rate of the school. If the attrition rate is high, that's a red flag.


2. If you are looking at a for-profit school, investigate their job placement rating. Don't just look at a number; look at how they derive that number. For example, if you went to a school to study networking, and you are working at Best Buy, the school may marked you as "placed in your field".


3. See if you can interview professors and other students independently. The recruiter may bring in shills that will talk positively of the school, so you want to be able to talk to a sample yourself so you can get an HONEST opinion.


4. Talk to people that work in the field that you're interested in and get their perspective of schools. For example, if you are going to study computer programming, talk to some software engineers and computer programmers and get their opinion on schools that interest you.


5. DO A COST COMPARISON Remember that "expensive" doesn't mean the "best", and "cheap" doesn't mean the "worst"

If you have any questions, please contact me or leave a comment. I'll be glad to help you as much as you can.



The Common Misconceptions Students Have Regarding Schools

• My grades/SAT scores/ACT scores were too poor to get into a "regular" college
  If you have had less-than-stellar grades or testing scores, you may not have a really good chance with getting into Harvard or MIT, but you will still be able to go to a community college. Nearly all community colleges don't look at testing scores or grades for admission criteria. You may have to take some remedial classes, but this can be your opportunity to redeem yourself. If you are going to a four-year institution after you finish community college, the four-year institution will look at your record at community college for admission.
  


• Community College is for losers; employers won't take that degree seriously
  First point: very few employers care about where you went to school or where you got your degree. The only thing that they care about regarding your degree is whether it came from an accredited institution. Community colleges are accredited by the same boards that accreditate the four-plus year universities. Second point: you can use that two year degree as a stepping stone to a four-year degree from a university. Here's a brain-teaser: What do you call the Harvard graduate who spent two years at a community college and finished his/her schooling at Harvard? Answer: A Harvard graduate.
  


• For-profit learning institutions are a scam
  Not so fast. While I prefer community and non-profit colleges over the for-profit colleges, they are not a complete "scam". For-profit colleges are starting to act as their non-profit cousins. Some are going so far as to get accredited by the same boards that accreditate the non-profit universities, which gives a student more options should s/he decide to transfer or further his/her education. I would recommend a for-profit institution if:
  
  
  
  • You already work in the field in which you are studying and you need to quickly update your skillset, AND you are able to get enough funding for the school where you are able to go for almost free or free
  
  
  
  

The (Post-Secondary Educational) Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Post-secondary education (University or trade school) in the United States is very expensive compared to a post-secondary education in other countries. In some countries, a post-secondary education is free for its citizens. There is a revolution happening in a few US cities, including the city in which I live - Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is offering an educational plan for its citizens called The Pittsburgh Promise. If you live in the city of Pittsburgh, and you graduate from their public school system (and don't get into legal trouble), you will get a FREE post-secondary education. The idea was inspired by a plan that was launched in 2005 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the results in Kalamazoo were amazing (reversed attendance declines, reduction in the school dropout rate, and increased home sales in the city).

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Pittsburgh Public School's Superintendent Mark Roosevelt are hoping to implement this plan for the 2008 graduates of the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

If this works, I believe that this will start a trend in other cities in the United States to do the same thing because of the benefit for the city, school district, and citizens.

• Declining cities making a comeback (like Pittsburgh) will see this as a way to increase residency, which will increase the tax base.


• The school district will get a surge in student population, which will get them more federal funding.


• Parents will not have to worry about how they will pay for a post-secondary education for their children, and children will be inspired to do their work.

I know what critics will say - "well, people's taxes will go up, and we're already being taxed enough!" Right now, it is too early to tell whether the existing taxes will be raised to cover this program. In Pittsburgh, Mayor Ravenstahl is currently looking for private funding from corporations to help launch this program.

Web Names are Changing

The AP is reporting that ICANN is revising standards for web names. Mostly, they are removing extensions for the former Soviet Union and for countries that do not exist anymore (such as Yugoslavia and Czechloslovakia), but they are also removing extensions that are no longer in use, such as .gb. ICANN is also looking into new name extensions as well.

Space...the Final Frontier

This morning on the news I heard a fascinating story about NASA's plans to build a colony on the moon in 2020 that will allow astronauts to stay on the moon for longer than a few days. The inspiration for this task was sprouted from the discovery of water on Mars. Not just ice and vapors - water. This discovery increases the possibility of setting up colonies on other celestial bodies, because where there's water, there's a chance to sustain life and a possibility of existing life forms (probably not little green men with three heads, but other small life forms). NASA wants to set up stations on the moon to allow astronauts to continue studying Mars and eventually set up stations and colonies on Mars.


Was Gene Roddenberry ahead of his time? Many people in technology admit that Star Trek was their inspiration, and it shows in the technology that we see today:

• Small mobile phones


• Electronic sensors to automatically open and close doors


• Biometric scans (ex: fingerprints and retina scans


• Biotechnology

This is a fascinating story to me. I never thought that this could happen in my lifetime, but it will. While fully functional colonies will not happen in my lifetime (or yours), we are still lucky to see the beginnings of this process.

Here is some information that fascinated me as a technology professional/student/teacher:

• NASA will be going retro with the spacecraft. They are retiring the space shuttles and replacing them with the former Apollo rocket models. In order to make setting up stations and colonies on the moon feasible, NASA needs an Apollo rocket to be able to transport all the equipment and the supplies to the moon. The space shuttles cannot handle the load. Techology buffs always go for the latest ad greatest. NASA's decision is an example that the latest and greatest is not always the best solution.


• On the other hand, the latest and greatest technology is what helped NASA make the discoveries on Mars, and it will also be used to help build the stations and colonies on the moon (and eventually Mars).


• If the stations and colonies prove to be successful, is developing techology to perfect space travel the next step? NASA only sent manned spacecraft to the moon for a number of reasons:
  
  
  
  • The moon is close to the Earth.
  
  
  • NASA has enough evidence that sending manned spacecraft to Mercury and Venus wasn't feasible (both of those planets are mostly gas)
  
  
  • NASA wasn't sure if a manned spacecraft could land on Mars
  
  
  • In order to travel to celestial bodies past Mars, it would take YEARS to reach the destination with the technology that NASA currently has.
  
  
  
  Within the near future, perhaps in my lifetime, NASA will probably begin sending manned spacecraft to Mars (based on their further findings). If this works, will NASA begin to start studying ways to be able to travel to celestial bodies past Mars in days or weeks instead of years?

The resurrection of space exploration is an interesting topic to everyone. There are so many items to be addressed with this discovery other than technology: science, history, politics, and ethics.

James Kim - 1971-2006

For those of you who don't know who James Kim is, James Kim was the senior editor for C-Net magazine. He and his family have been on the (United States) national news because they have been lost in the wilderness over the past few days. His wife and his two young children were found alive yesterday. Unfortunately, authorities found the body of Mr. Kim today.

I would like to extend my sympathies to the Kim family for their loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

www.mymwalimu.org Site News: Looking for Volunteers

Mwalimu: Swahili word for "teacher"


When I founded My Mwalimu, my mission was to assist students and instructors in Information Technology by providing free interactive tutorials and free information such as links to other free tutorials. I chose the word Mwalimu to honor a Zambian friend of mine who used to call me that because I taught at post-secondary institutions.

Currently, the site is completely self-maintained. I'm funding the site, designing and developing the site, and designing and developing the tutorials. While I don't mind doing this, it gets difficult to frequently update the site. Therefore, I'm asking for help. I'm looking for volunteers with one or a few of the following skill sets:

• Marketing and SEO skills


• Training and tutorial development




• Currently, I'm looking for tutorial development skills in IT subjects, although in the future, I would like to find tutorial development skills in mathematics and foreign language




• Flash development skills


• PHP skills


• HTML and CSS skills


• Technical writing skills

I know what you may be thinking: why should I help, and if I do help, what will I get out of it? There are a few things that you will "get out of it":

• Your profile increases because you will have published work


• You will have more work to add to your portfolio to help build your career


• You will be helping other IT professionals, particularly students and teachers, enhance their education without breaking the bank

In 2007, I would really like to see this site grow. I'm currently working on getting a non-profit status so I will be able to get more funding for the site, since donations will be tax-deductible if the site has a non-profit status. I would also like to expand from the IT community by providing free tutorials to mathematics and foreign language students.

If you are interested in volunteering, please send an e-mail to donations@mymwalimu.org. Put the word "Volunteer" in the subject, and indicate what you would like to do in the body.

Thanks for your time and best regards,
Jennifer Lewis
Founder, My Mwalimu