Why Blog?

I am taking a 5 week course with East Carolina University and the course funded by my employer for my particular career field, CP 32, Training, Capability, and Doctrine Warfighting Developers.  I am never one to turn down learning opportunities particularly if they have value added to my career field and my cost is more in my time than currency. I consider my time extremely valuable and learning something new everyday is great, but every now and then you need to be the formal documented student.

For subscribers to the blog, you are aware of my extremely painful decision to put my doctoral studies on hold for the sake of family issues. If this is the first time visiting the blog based on the class assignment, "Welcome!".

For the final assignment, one option is to blog. The blog can be on any topic and must contain at least three entries. This has been a class full of web based experiments and writing. We hit the ground running and will not stop until July 26.

So one of the three posts required for the assignment is this one. If you have not seen my blog posts come through the stream lately it is because the days and hours are filled with work, school, and family.

So whether you are new to blogging, given up on blogging, or a seasoned blogger, like those in the blog list on the right that I subscribe to..."Why blog?" For those that know me, the better question is "Why not blog?"

Here are a few links from my knowledge sharing passionistas that I connect with by reading their blogs, following them on Twitter, Google+, or Linkedin, or maybe all of them. Thanks to my personal and professional learning network (PLN) there is not one day that I do not learn something from, because, or in spite of you. It is not possible to list and describe every blog that impacts my digital footprint. In no particular order:

Principal Eric Sheninger's blog, A Principal's Reflections (2012), Why Blog?
Steven Downes, Half an Hour (2009), Blogging in Education
Will Richardson, Weblogg-ed (2004), The Blogging in Schools Question
OEDb, Top 100 Education Blogs (n.d.)
Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher
Richard Byrne, Free Technology For Teachers
US Army Combined Arms Center

I could probably write a blog post once a week on how blogging (individual and collaborative) has impacted my life, fulfilled my autodidactism needs, improved my writing, reading, comprehension, connected me with people and information that I would not have a chance to in the F2F environment, share good and bad news, provide an outlet for those who do not have another method to "just get it out", provide a personal audit trail of information, share lessons learned...and many more reasons. Hmmm...maybe an idea for the next homework blog post.

Thanks again to those people supporting my web experiments during this short, fun, and productive class.
Comments, recommendations, reaction box checks, and +1s are appreciated.

What I discovered about Kindle DX keyboard commands

I learned a couple of keyboard commands with the Kindle DX this weekend. Not by design but working with the Amazon support team via online chat in support of my mom's Kindle DX. The Kindle DX has a keyboard and the 4 keyboard commands that I learned about are:

From the Settings screen (Menu key > Settings):
Alt+311 or Alt+EQQ Switch wireless provider
Alt+411 or Alt+RQQ Show diagnostics data
Alt+511 or Alt+TQQ Run loopback call test
Alt+611 or Alt+YQQ Diagnostic data service call

I knew this online support timeline was way beyond an acceptable time limit and eventually he dropped off. The next one, Roxie took over and I pasted our last diagnosis in our chat that referenced all of the servers being down, down, down, down.

She came back with this isn't normal but the radio transmitter was not activated in the replacement Kindle. She asked for a few minutes and poof all of a sudden we have bars after another reboot. Since we reset the Kindle back to factory defaults, I asked if she could help us so I didn't have to download all archived items and she did. I told my mom to give Roxie 5 stars and bars and to have her share her lessons learned. If the previous Amazon support team would have known what Roxie knew there would be less frustration in the world.

During this excursion, I came across some great references for other Kindle DX users:
Amazon's Kindle support
Best Kindle DX Tips - A blog post on the site a site about nothing by Andy
A Kindle World Blog If Wireless Never Connects

Back to the world of tinkering with the likes of a Kindle Fire, Toshiba Thrive, iPad, and other digital devices. Comments, recommendations, +1s, and reaction box checks are always appreciated.

Google+ Hangout and Android

This post is for my friends, family, and people in cyberspace who ask me about Google Hangouts using their Android phones.  Google+ Hangout help and F1 are always your other options.
To have a Hangout, your Android device will need:

• Android 2.3+
• A front-facing camera
• Hangouts will work best if you are connected to a high speed or wifi network. For the best audio quality, try using Hangouts with headphones.

1. If you haven't downloaded the Google+ app, download the Google+ app. For more information and additional options (iOS & web) click through the image.

2. Find your app, however YOU set up your apps. You can select the Google+ App or Messenger. Messenger is an option available on your Android device vice the computer. 

3. Select the option to start your hangout.  This screen capture displays one of many options for you to access Google+ hangouts depending on your device. Tap your expansion arrow next to your Stream and the drop down menu should display the options for you.

If you are using Android Apps in a learning environment or if you are an autodidact, check out Richard Byrne's, author of the Free Technology for Teachers blog, other blog Android 4 Schools where you can learn and tinker with the latest Android apps and devices that Mr. Byrne provides information about.

How do you help friends and family with stuff you have been using?

Comments, recommendations, +1s, and reaction box checks are welcome.