Honest Company

It’s Saturday, March 28th, 2009 and welcome to episode 80 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. This week there was news of an interesting new technology to be targeted at Facebook users that will certainly have a huge impact upon the way users of social networks view their online presence in the future. To listen click on the Play button > Download MP3 Often new technologies find uses that were originally not considered when the technology was invented. Face.com is a case in point and is currently developing its face recognition technology to be used in conjunction with Facebook. Face recognition programs have been around for several years now and the technology is maturing and finding new uses. Face.com is now doing small scale alpha testing for its face recognition software called Photo Finder and is partnering with Facebook to analyze the photos of selected alpha testers of Facebook. Photo Finder can automatically “tag” photos with a persons name based upon a facial recognition

It’s Friday, March 20th, 2009 and welcome to episode 79 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. The ITC has recently purchased a Kindle 2 electronic book reader and I have now had some hands-on time with this innovative device. Waiting for a second generation device is generally a good strategy when purchasing any new technology especially if it is groundbreaking. To listen click on the Play button > Download MP3 Back on episode 74 I discussed my thoughts regarding this second generation device based upon all that I had read about it. Now I can share with you some of my opinions based upon practical hands-on experience. Some of my original opinions remain unchanged but I was pleasantly surprised about the efficiency of the wireless Whispernet service and the future possibilities this device offers students and educators. Here are my first impressions of the Kindle 2 after having some experience with it. Keep in mind that the novelty factor has a strong influence on ones view of a new

It’s Saturday, March 14th, 2009 and welcome to episode 78 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. Over the years we have witnessed a plethora of new technologies and the underlying standards that make it all possible. This week I was reminded about the not so long ago “good ole days” when a student was given an assignment to do a video segment for a class project. The means to the end result were not articulated for the project and neither the teacher nor the student knew the processes involved for producing the end product. Unfortunately the student chose a technology that was not the best choice for the assigned project. To listen click on the Play button > Download MP3 Since the invention of consumer level video cameras back in the 1980’s taping a video segment is as easy as pushing the record button. In the good ole days of recording to a VHS tape you simply ejected the tape from the video camera and placed it into a VCR player to play it back. VCR’s were a prolific technology an

It’s Sunday, March 8th, 2009 and welcome to episode 77 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. Last week I talked about Twitter and its recent rise in popularity with American media companies and the US Congress. I think one of the telling signs that a technology has made it into the mainstream is when it becomes lampooned by comedians. Jon Stewart of the popular The Daily Show did a skit called “Twitter Frenzy” on the March 2nd this past week doing exactly that on the Comedy channel. If you did not get a chance to see it you can watch the segment online if you are interested. To listen click on the Play button > Download MP3 The US Congress continues the use of Twitter and John McCain made the news cycle this week with his innovative use of Twitter. McCain is using Twitter to push his fight against earmarks by tweeting comments about what he considers wasteful spending in legislation currently making its way through Congress. This is yet another interesting approach of the use of Tw