Computer News

For quite a while, I have been looking for a decent Mac Twitter client. With so many clients based on Adobe’s AIR platform, it’s hard to find one that is native to the Mac OS X Cocoa system.

I have found that Adobe AIR apps are often buggy and simply don’t measure up to the competition.

So, for me, a Twitter app needs to meet a few qualifications:

It must be a native Mac app. I don’t want to have to install a runtime just for that application.

The program must be exceedingly stable. I hate programs that crash.

It must have a clean, fluid interface without the clutter of most Twitter clients.

The application must have the standard Twitter features: block/unblock, follow/unfollow, user profile viewing, trend searches, and direct messaging.

Finally I have found an application that is fun and easy to use: Tweetie.

First for Atebits was Tweetie for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Now it has made it’s way to the Mac platform.

Tweetie quickly became a popular download in the Apple App store as one of the best Twitter clients for such a low price.

Because of Tweetie’s iPhone version success, Atebits developed a full-featured version of the software for the Mac platform.

Tweetie is a 100% native Mac Twitter application. Based on Cocoa, Apple’s native programming workflow, Tweetie meets my first requirement.

Tweetie has yet to crash for me. I have it open nearly any time I’m at my computer (which is often) and I have yet to see a single crash or slowdown. So it meets my second requirement.

Tweeties UI is nothing short of impressive. It’s beautiful and powerful but not overworked. It isn’t littered with useless buttons and widgets. At the left side of the screen are four buttons:

Timeline (for updates from you and your friends) Mentions (for all tweets that mention you with an @yourusernamehere ) Direct Messages Search

You can also get to several unlisted functions by using key combos - as shown in the program’s menus. In the notification area of your Finder bar sits a notification icon that glows blue when new Tweets arrive. This beautiful UI satisfies my third requirement.

Tweetie does sport an impressive set of features. You can drill down into your conversations and see a detailed display of what you said and what was said in reply.

Tweetie for Mac also supports user profiles. Read bios, find out who is following you and who isn’t. You also have the option to block a user from his profile.

By using the search function, you can find hot topics, users, or even phrases. See who is talking about a given topic and follow or block users from this screen.

Tweetie even includes a nifty “bookmarklet” for your web browser so you can quickly send links via Twitter.

For photo uploads, Tweetie for Mac uses yFrong, TwitPic, Posterous, Twitgoo, Img.ly, and Pix.im

You can even shorten long URLs directly in Tweetie with it’s support for Bit.ly, TinyURL, Is.gd, tr.im, and even DiggBar.

Multiple user accounts are also supported by Tweetie.

With such an extensive feature list, Tweetie more than fulfills my fourth requirement.

Tweetie is a free to download and try as long as you want. The free version is ad supported. You also have the option of buying a license for $20 which removes the ads.

I have no complaints about this amazing little app. It does everything I need and more. If you are seriously looking for a Twitter client for you Mac, take a serious look at Tweetie. I think you will be impressed.

If you want more info about Tweetie, check out the Atebits website.

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – The Science Game

Study Tag – thanks to Mr. Byrne who states “Study Tag is a good resource for students to study and develop academic skills independently or collaboratively. Study Tag has a fun, motivating aspect for students, a virtual trophy room. Study Tag is organized by lessons and courses. At the end of each lesson and course students can test their knowledge. High scores are rewarded with online trophies that students can display in their Study Tag “trophy room.”

Forces of Nature – “Watch a preview of the giant-screen film, find out where to see it, get wallpapers, view lesson plans, contribute to our Forces of Nature grant fund, and more.”

Reach the World – geogames

Mind 360 – scientific brain training games

Original image: ‘With this screwdriver bit set… I can take apart the universe‘ http://www.flickr.com/photos/37996580043@N01/2182059775 by: Chris Metcalf

Source: loonyhiker

I was interviewed this summer by Alex J. Mann and he posted the interview on Teacher Certification Map. I was quite honored that he was interested in what I had to say. So if you want to see the whole interview, please check out Lessons from the Field: Interview with Patricia Hensley. I think interviews like this will help many people deciding to go into the field of teaching. Thanks Alex for the interview!

Original image: ‘Not allowed to say the truth 4, B&W‘ http://www.flickr.com/photos/53904676@N00/2194707165 by: Green Chameleon

Source: loonyhiker

According to MSNBC’s article More school? Obama could trim summer break, the President wants schools to have longer classes, longer days, and have students on weekends.

I have said this before and I’ll say it again, though many might disagree with me. It is about Quality, not Quantity! It seems like so many non-educators think if we stuff kids in classes for more time, they will suddenly become smarter. Unless we improve the quality of learning that our students are receiving, I don’t care how long they actually sit in a desk, they are not going to learn more. Our schools become warehouses, teachers become high priced babysitters, taxpayers become resentful because they still do not see better results for their money. Is this the kind of educational future we want for our students?

This made me think of a youth league baseball team. Many young boys sign up with dreams of being great ball players and the league doesn’t turn anyone away. Many of the players have different levels of skills and they may all play on one team. Hopefully by the end of the season, many of them have learned new skills or improved on old ones. But do we honestly think if we add more innings, play more games, and extend the season that they become pro baseball players? If the players have certain abilities, I’m not sure that having them play more and longer will actually help them. I see it causing them to burn out, hate the game, resent the coach, and wanting to quit.

What about the other things in life that our children need to become well rounded citizens. What about the families who are involved in their church or other community organizations? Do we think that spending more time warehoused in a school is more important than their family or their church? Do we want our government to determine this? This situation scares me. It seems like the government wants more and more control and is allowing parents to have less and less control. The Revolutionary War happened because citizens felt the government had too much control and now it seems like we are moving backwards instead of forward.

I look back at the education system from the one room school house to today’s system. I know we have made changes and great strides. But I also see over the years that there has been more government involvement, more red tape, and more hoops for teachers to have to jump through. Teachers in the classroom barely have time to teach any more for all the paperwork that has to be done. And every time the powers that be say they will “reduce paperwork,” it seems like 5 more pages of required paperwork are added in order to document what has been eliminated. If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny!

Instead of increasing the hours and days that students are in a classroom, maybe the President needs to look at how we can increase the actual quality of the time that the students are already in the classroom. I have talked to lots of teachers that have great ideas and are truly motivated but then are stifled by the overwhelming responsibilities they face every day. Maybe the President should teach a day in a school that follows the exact schedule that a teacher does (along with the 25 min. lunch period that the students and teachers get), and have to follow all the rules, regulations, standards that the teacher actually has to do, plus complete all the paperwork required for that day also. Maybe he might have a different perspective. I foresee adding more time in the classroom, whether more hours or more days, will only increase the paperwork that the government will require to validate this change.

I also haven’t heard of how the government plans to fund this new adventure (and believe me, I do see this as an adventure). Will they increase the educator’s salary for this extra time or do they expect educators to do it for free? If they do plan to increase the salary, will they raise taxes some more? How will homeowners who are struggling to pay the taxes they are already burdened with find money to pay for additional taxes? During these economic times when people can’t get health care, feed their families, and are losing their homes, is this the time act foolishly?
I honestly don’t see how this can be successful. If you do, please share with me your thoughts so I can see it differently. I’m not sure I will change my mind, but I am open to listening.

Original image: ‘veritum dies aperit‘ http://www.flickr.com/photos/73584213@N00/322654818 by: John Harvey

Source: loonyhiker

The EduCarnival v2 Issue 12 is up on the midway at Epic Adventures are Often Uncomfortable. Don’t miss out on all the fun! See what is going on in the Edusphere. My article Getting Your Administration On Board is there but there are lots of other great articles to read too! See you there and don’t eat too much cotton candy!

Source: loonyhiker

The Carnival of Education is up on the midway at Epic Adventures are Often Uncomfortable. Don’t miss out on all the fun! See what is going on in the Edusphere. My article on Unblocking Social Networking Sites is there but there are lots of other great articles to read too! See you there and don’t eat too much cotton candy!

Source: loonyhiker