May 18, 1:40 PM Technology
Just before we left for Australia I began having difficulty with my Garmin GPS unit. When I tried to download the GPX files for a geocache I would receive an error message. I didn't have time to pursue this and when we arrived back the problem was still there. I was able to work around it using a PC so I didn't worry too much about it. But it became annoying during the last few days so I tried to get to the bottom of it this afternoon. I was able to verify that the problem was still there, and that it still worked fine with a PC. I then typed in "Garmin Mac problem plug-in" and immediately found a site that described the problem and gave a link to an updated version of the plug-in. I downloaded that and tried it and it worked fine. I cannot understand why the Garmin site still downloads the earlier version with the problem. Anyway, I am operational again.
May 14, 3:00 PM Technology
I have been playing, unsuccessfully, with a combination of software packages. I first used a package called Inspiration to create a mind map of an essay by Simon Schama. Good. I then tried to use a package called Snagit to capture the diagram. Nope. The diagram was fairly large and scrolled down off the window. Snagit has the capability to capture such images, but it turned out it did not work with Inspiration. I then tried saving the diagram from Inspiration into an web page. Snagit is able to capture a scroll image off the web, but it turned out that the image was too small to read properly.
[7:00 PM] Got it! I imported the Snagit image into iPhoto and then saved the image to the desktop at an enlarged size. The final step is a simple drag-and-drop to this page. Here is the result of the partially finished diagram.
One approach to describing how people learn is to categorize people as primarily verbalizers or visualizers (Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald, 2002). A graphic organizer is a display that shows the relationships among ideas and concepts. There are 3 main types of graphic organizers: concept maps, mind maps and webs. A concept map links ideas together with labeled connecting lines showing the nature of the relationship. A mind map shows an overview of the topic (the above diagram is an example of a mind map). A web shows a more complex set of inter-relationships. Many people use these terms interchangeably. This paragraph is an example of a description that favors a verbalizer. People are not one or the other but rather show preferences for one or the other.
May 10, 7:30 am Technology
I received an email asking me to change a setting in the Preferences file and the problem was fixed. Great. A nice start to the day.
May 10, 6:40 am Technology
There was an email waiting for me from the people who provided this web authoring software asking me to send a technical report back. They gave me the steps for this and I was able to do it. At the moment it is not obvious to me where the problem may lie. It might be the university file server, it might be the Sandvox software, or it might be something to do with my machine.
Fortunately I now know that someone is looking at the problem. And I am still able to author the updates to the website. It is just that I can't publish the updates at the moment.
May 9, 3:30 PM Technology
Problems! I downloaded the latest version of Sandvox earlier this afternoon. That seemed to work okay. But later when I tried publishing this website it failed. At the moment I have no idea why. This has never happened before.
May 2, 7:00 am Technology
The question of a new lens seems to be a choice between some form of teleconverter (about $200) for my EF 70 - 300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens or to consider something in the 400 - 500 mm range. I am beginning think that it makes sense to avoid a zoom lens because of the cost and to depend on a straight forward telephoto lens. Usually when I am trying to photograph birds I am using my existing lens at full zoom. Reading a few reviews seems to support my comment that one is usually shooting at full zoom and that the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM produces sharper images than a zoom lens. The price is around $1,400. whereas the popular 100-400 zoom is about $1800. That is, the zoom is about $400 more and produces poorer images. But it does have Image Stabilization. I think the next step is to see if I can test the lens while trying to take photos of birds (using both hand-held as well as monopod).
[1:00 PM] I have discussed this with the folk at a camera store and they will arrange for me to try one out this weekend. I will be able to take a few pictures from in front of the store and then see how they look on my computer screen. This is what I have a lot of experience with - taking photos of empty tree branches. I will also take a few pictures with my zoom lens so I can compare the two. I want to take some pictures using only a hand-held approach and then again using the monopod. and I want to take a lot of pictures of objects that are about the same distance as most of my bird pictures were taken.
May 1, 12:05 PM Technology
The web pages for April are now complete!