working on tech

working on tech

Mission Statement

This blog should be a safe place for anyone who wants to talk, read, listen, and experience technology in safe GOD fearing way. I am a believer and follower of JESUS CHRIST MY LORD AND SAVIOR WHO I BELIEVE CAME DOWN AS GOD IN THE FLESH TO SHED BLOOD SO WE MAY BE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD AND HE WILL ACT AS WITNESS ON OUR BEHALF BECAUSE NO MAN CAN GET TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BUT THROUGH JESUS CHRIST and it is those who believe mission to spread this message of love to all people for GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD! I strive to live righteously and I pray you do to and understand that we should do that in all that we do even when we are enjoying my favorite hobby, all things tech! that's why I am a techie in CHRIST I am a tech nerd that is grounded in the LORD. GOD BLESS !
Showing posts with label microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label microsoft. Show all posts

Friday, January 17, 2014

A day in the life of a teacher using Surface Pro 2

Winter Vacation is now over and it has come time for me to really find the Pro in the my Surface Pro 2! When I went to the class I logged into my chrome browser to pull up my google drive that held all of my old files. I snapped in Explorer in order to pull up schoology.com. This is a online web classroom. Excellent. I browsed around to add some last minute questions to my online test. As my students walked in I used my display to vga cable to hook my surface to the projector. I had to click on the volume to switch from vga to internal audio. I pulled up one note turned the lights off and the real magic happened!
I typed in the title for the notes as my students began to copy on their paper. I no longer had my back turned as I began to write out the notes. I was reviewing latitude and longitude coordinates so I whipped out my pen to draw out a graph.

Never mind the sloppiness it was my fault not the surface pen. I then had my students come to my computer and write out the examples on my surface. Once I got done I uploaded a pdf copy of my notes to the class website so the students can revist what they missed later. Wow , as the bell rang , I switched apps back to my chrome browser to pull up a desktop java app called Powerteacher. I used this to enter the grades, something I couldnt to smoothly on my ios and android devices. I later heard a whistle, it was my exchange email. I switched apps again to read a request for a 12 slide powerpoint by my administrator. Quickly responding to the email with an attachment, I thought to myself "I better print this email just in case she says she didnt get it." I sent the job to a networked printer using an ip address. Nice , I have some more time, I went to pearsonsuccessnet to view my class text book that is only available by hardcover or online flash. Until the next class,,
How is that for a real world teaching experience using a Microsoft Surface Pro 2 ?  GOD BLESS

Friday, January 3, 2014

I spent the day doing real work on my Surface Pro 2 and it was GLORIOUS !

Ouch my fingers hurt! I have been on my surface pro 2 all day (12pm - 4:55) ! I still have 2 hours left! This is what I did

  • I  created a 6 page manual for using schoology in the classroom while actually going through each step in split screen. 
  • I then went to screencastomatic. com which works on my surface pro 2 because I have java unlike having to install crouton on my chromebook. 
  • I then posted on you tube and linked it to my schoology account. 
  • After I got done I wrote a sermon reflection on my blog. 
  • I later added a blog post about CES and decided to write here. 
  • The sun has went down in wintertime Chicago and my keyboard lit up in typing glory!
But wait there is more ,,,,,
  •  I didn't get my surface pro 2 off a charger this morning. I spent an hour and half loading ODIN and all the root and rom packages I needed to load CynogenMod 11 on my Samsung Galaxy Mega that was plugged into my ....USB PORT of my Surface Pro 2! I can run programs (not a web app like my chromebook) like Odin I got from a website (not in a app store) I miss traditional mobile computing.
  • My wife woke up to complain about my typing, so I detached the keyboard, placed the tablet in my lap and read through XDA for an hour and posting to google+ using onscreen keyboard
  • I just remembered I didn't send an email to my coworker so I pulled up exchange to mail it off and got back to this post. 
To sum it up, I spent my day using my Surface Pro 2 doing real work and it was GLORIOUS! I see the magic, I am sure this is what the Microsoft engineers was thinking about when designing this beauty. Wow am I becoming a surface fanboy? Is it a such thing?   GOD BLESS 

Friday, December 13, 2013

Why I want a Surface Pro 2

I am one of those first world people who many hate because I get bored with perfectly good gadgets and normally I'm looking for the next cool thing I can tinker with. It is a very time consuming and expensive habit supplemented by the ease of resale on the international market (a fancy way to say ebay). This is one of those moments! I recently sold my nexus 7 and Macbook in order to raise $1000 for my next gadget, I was naturally thinking I can put that towards a new bigger, better, and what Tim Cook would like to call, "most innovative Macbook" ever. Something has halted my plans, I'm sure much to the delight of those geeks in Redmond Washington. I want a surface pro! 

I was thinking to myself, what can I tinker with the most, and whats an unfamiliar gadget I can learn. The saving grace for Windows today is its a tinkerers platform. If you like PC games , hacks, and unfortunately ability to pirate, you are best served using Windows. It is the performed platform for downloading those fringe apps from the web without the technical skill needed for linux. I was thinking if I grow tired with the tablet like I did with my ipad I can turn to the web and open myself up to millions of apps or what we first called it , applications. That is also the reason why I have no interest in the regular surface 2. The closed interface is taking the worst part of ios and adding more to the problem. With a full fledged computer like the surface pro 2 i5 Hasweel processor, 4 gigs of ram, graphics on chip, usb, and sd slot, I will never have to be faced with the wish that my tablet could do more! I know its heavy but not more than a Macbook, and I have a 6.3 inch phablet (sorry) , for browsing in bed. I like that its thin enough for me to not mind carrying it around. It also has all day battery life due to the haswell chip making it portable , which is really good for me as a teacher maneuvering from class to office and walking around grading. I can imagine setting this thing up in a meeting and seing the eyes, because I yet to see it in the wild, its so unfamiliar. 

That's the next big reason I want the Surface Pro 2. I dont know much about it. I have had ipads since its inception and it got to be ummm familiar. I first began using macbooks because I grew a tad bit familiar with my pc laptops. Now its different. People are angry about windows 8 but I like the bold step. Its so different.  I run my windows 8 on my desktop monster but its basically a media server / console. I boot straight into steam or xbmc. Walking around with the surface pro as my daily workhorse will force me to use windows 8 as a productivity tool. I am currently typing on a Chromebook, (no suprise to my frequent readers) , but my job uses office! I thank GOD that google apps allow me to save in word format but with the pro I can have the best of both worlds. I have the quickness of the pro , and I can go into chrome as I slowly transition back to my 90s home of office. I also look forward to using the gestures inherent to the windows 8 interface. I ddint get the point of the gestures so I didn't even try but the touch controls will make me excited to dive in! I also never used a Walcolm stylus. I haven't used a stylus since the OG windows pocket pc so I can look forward to spending extra time learning something new.  

I can picture me now, waking up early before my wife and kids , firing up my Surface Pro 2 , eyes wide open as I say to myself "I don't know whats going on" then "oh wow that's awesome" . Later blogging about the power of a ultrabook with the portability of a tablet, and the wow factor of the first ipad! Then in March, hastly trying to sell it in preperation for something new during Aprils Microsoft BUILD conference. Thanks Microsoft for giving me something to talk about! GOD BLESS


Thursday, December 5, 2013

Using Skydrive to turn my Chromebook into a "real computer"


So the world has been going crazy about the new microsoft comercial claiming that Google Chromebooks are not real laptops! I found it hilarious , I know many in the tech community is upset at the negative tone of the adds but I remember the days cheering for apple when I saw the cool guy lay in to the stuck up geek pc. I love a little drama as long as it is something as unimportant as what billion dollar company make the best product. Here it is....

Well lets be honest. I know my techies know about chromebooks but when I tell some non techie about my chromebook they sometimes do respond like these actors er ummm people in the commercial. I do have to spend time explaining how google apps are much better than office for mobile work. I at a minimum have to explain how it can be a good alternative and with a sturdy keyboard its better than just getting an ipad. Sometimes this argument isnt goode enough for them so I resort to skydrive!


Many of us dependent on office more than likely because of our jobs, have access to a live account! On the video below I prove that I can use office on my chromebook! Try it out! This feels like apple in the 90's or early 2000's (that still feels awkward to say)..Once again I search for a workaround for office to show that I dont NEED Microsoft.. By the way, I recorded it using my Acer c710 chromebook using hangouts and then began typing this using Google blogger... I guess I can visit Venice Beach,,,GOD BLESS