How to use the Voice Dream app on the iPad to access materials from Bookshare.org

Disclaimer...Voice Dream is not a free app.

BEFORE you can download the materials to the iPad you must have your Bookshare.org administrator download any materials to that student's Bookshare account either individualy or to a reading list.

Click here for the directions.

Not able to print from Rediker's Admin Plus?

I ran across this issue last week when we replaced our SPED department's Windows 7 desktops with Windows 10 desktops.  They had no issue printing from Windows 7 but lo and behold, they could not print from Windows 10 or from my Windows 8 desktop.  

Before I started my quest, we could print our reports but we had to save them as a .pdf file then print them from the software that handles the .pdf.  It worked but it was a pain.

When you tried to print a report the "printer" window opened up and the default printer was named, "double-click to print".  We doubled clicked and nothing happen, no document printing, no error messages...NADA.  My understanding is that Admin Plus (AP)is let's just say...very DOSy.  DOS as in the computer language that you used in the Command Prompt in Windows. 

We all print via IP printers/copiers (Konica BizHubs).  My first thought, since AP is DOSy, all I had to do was associated our BizHubs IP address with the printer port LPT1.  So I went into DOS (am I dating myself?)...I mean Command Prompt, used  the "net use" command and associated the IP address with LPT1.  Still nothing.  Next I shared the printer on the desktop, using it as a printer server.  I once again used "net use" command, this time to associate LPT1 with the shared name of the printer  (i.e. \\paul\spedbizhub). The command took but still nothing.  When I clicked on the printer "double-click to print", I noticed it also read "UniPrint Universal Client".  I googled it and found the company and their print clients (software).  I downloaded the appropriate client, installed it.  On the reboot if you look at the system tray in Windows (lower right-hand side near the time) you now saw a blue UP "logo", that is the UniPrint client. Using that, you can set a default printer and some other helpful tasks.  I went back into AP, selected a report and VOILA it worked like a charm!!  

The skinny of this was that we needed an updated UniPrint Client and once we did that, everything work. 

"The collaboration curse", from January 23rd edition of The Economist

This article struck a cord with me. Working in secondary education and that one of the learning skills that make up the ethos of 21st century skills is collaboration and that now the business world thinks that skill is manifesting itself into an problem, is a little unsettling.  

Being a coach I have always believe in teamwork, but I also have an slight anti-social aspect of myself when it comes down to the work environment. No I do not know everything but sometimes I feel that, "too many cooks do spoil the broth" and collaboration can slow productivity down.  

That (The Economist, 2016): "a growing body of academic evidence demonstrates just how serious the problem is. Gloria Mark of the University of California, Irvine, discovered that interruptions, even short ones, increase the total time required to complete a task by a significant amount. A succession of studies have shown that multitasking reduces the quality of work as well as dragging it out."

I have always believed that some situations need "less talk and more rock" (WBCN circa 1984) and the past couple of years I have felt guilty about feeling that way...this article makes me feel that I am still OK. :-)

Are Savvy Students Sabotaging Big Textbook? Originally posted by Bloomberg.

The Eight Best Sources for Cheap College Textbooks originally posted by Bloomberg.

How to mirror your iPad on your Macbook using the lightning cable.

With some of our staff still physically tethered to projectors and televisions/monitors we had to find a way to mirror our iPads, without the help of AirPlay...so we used good ole Quick Time Player.


Hook up your iPad to the Macbook with the Lightning (charging) cable.  Make sure the Macbook is off or at least re-start it.

Open up Quick Time Player on the Macbook

Go to File/New Movie recording

When you choose your input device is (see attached pic), choose your iPad NOT the Default Macbook Face time Camera do the same for the Microphone is you want the sound from the iPad as well.

How to make Outlook your default email program on a Mac.

I know the title of this post may sound blasphemous!!! How dare you use a Microsoft program as a default on a MacBook...SHAME!!  

What happens is when you click an email link on the Mac it defaults to opening the Mac email app, by doing the following it will open up Outlook.

Now I know you are going to ask, why don't I configure the email program that comes with the Mac with our Exchange mail server??  My only answer I guess is that my staff is brand loyal?  Any way here is how you do it.  

The Dancing Baby and copyright.

You ever post a video on YouTube and then received a message saying more or less, that you have violated copyright law? The video is from a school's Memorial Day ceremony but because it contains "God Bless the USA" in the background...and I'm pretty sure that we are OK in terms of use, that cease and desist tone does get my attention.  Even after taking numerous classes on copyright in the digital age, that message from YouTube still causes me an anxious moment.  It is a very fluid topic and I still believe that the courts really do not know how to handle it, especially with lobbyist from the movie and record industry pushing in favor of their clients, while other claim it stifles creativity.  Do not get me wrong, working in radio I understand the value in copyright and everyone deserves credit (and more if need be for their work).  

Check out the continuing saga about a mom whom posted a video a video of her baby dancing to Prince's "Let go crazy."  Discuss amonst yourselves.

Attackers can access Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive files without a user's password. Originally posted by Zack Whittaker of Zero Day on ZDNet

The so-called "man-in-the-cloud" attack is said to be a common flaw in most cloud-based file synchronization services. Click for the story.

Adding attachments to your Outlook Web email using Google Chrome.

This issue was like the Hunt for Red October or akin to breaking some World War II military code...the issue was this:  I used Google Chrome and access my email from home using the Outlook Web App.  I got frustrated and started to take it personally that for the life of me, I could NOT figure out how to add an attachment or access some of my contacts using Chrome.  All those functions worked in any other browser I had (IE, Safari on my Mac, etc.) but the IE I have on my PC is vastly outdated because I have been drinking from the fountain of Google.  Finally today I had enough!!  It's summer, it's 97 degrees outside (here in Boston, MA) and I have the WHOLE STINKIN' day to figure this out.

My first attempt was to update Microsoft Silverlight, on one of Google Tech support pages suggested that would do the trick, yea no luck.  Then just for shit and giggles, I went to my OWA (pretty cool...just learn that today, means Outlook Web App!) login page and chose to Use the light version of Outlook Web App, I would be lying if I knew why...it just felt right. Well lo and behold and shut my mouth, now I can add attachments AND my contacts in Chrome.  WHO KNEW?!?