Intel just may be what the doctor ordered
When I see articles with words like Intel and Tablet PC in the same headline I just get too excited! A big company like Intel could really provide a lot to the medical community and I am very excited about the news.
I found two articles on the subject which I of course stole from two other sites (
Medical Tablet PC and
Tablet PC Talk respectively) but have combined links to both of them right here.
Intel's Cure for MedicineIntel shows off medical tablet PCAlso after reading the two articles I decided to head over to the
Intel site and there is an awesome section of
Intel's involvement in the healthcare system. I can't believe I did not know this. I guess it does make sense but there is a lot more info there than I imagined. If your interested about Intel's involvement in the health sector you should definitely check out the
site!
Another Day with MindManager
Well
MindManager keeps getting more interesting as I learn more about it. Today I spend more time researching fellowships and health care jobs but I did get to play around with MindManager a bit. I also came across my first bump with
MindManager. When I went to load it up today I saw that a program called PDF-XChange 3 had somehow found its way into my computer. It was even running the background and I am really picky about what processes I let run. Maybe I missed something in the installation as I did do it kind of quickly but I really don't like programs that install other programs with out my permission. If it mentioned in the installation that the PDF program was going to be run then its my own fault but if not that really bugs me. Sure it allows me to save my
MindManager Maps in PDF format but since Acrobat can also did this I can just as easily save the map as picture and make my own. This would eliminate the need to have ANOTHER program run in the background. I just did a fresh install which took me a long time so that's why I am so picky about it.
Now my second issue with the program is that I wish I could have branches merge back into one. Now to
MindManagers defense I am trying to do things that really don't need to be done if your just using it for organizing. However many times I will split something up and then wish I could group all those things back into one collapsible line. I guess the keyword he is collapsible because you can you summary arrows and call outs to accomplish this but it doesn't work as great as I would like. I also am looking for an easy way to collapse pictures. Pictures take up a lot of space but when I want to see them I would like to see them. If there was an option to have a caption that could be subject attached with an image then if you double clicked on the caption it could close and open the picture. Now I am still VERY NEW at this so it may be possible I just need to find a way.
I am also having problems when I copy some pictures into the map. I can't figure out how it decides what size to insert the picture as. It always seem to insert an image that is much larger than the original. Also since a lot of my images contain text, the text is very difficult to read in the image. I've inserted the same image into OneNote with no problem and the text is crystal clear. Again this may be another setting I have to play with but right now images are still frustrating me. I may look into more of it tomorrow. Because I think you can get an idea of how I use
MindManger best by viewing my different MindMaps I have my
latest one below. Like everything else I work on I didn't quite complete it but it covers information from my previous exam so its not all the beneficial to me right now. Maybe when I start school next week and we start to get all new information I will be more persuaded to finish and complete a MindMap. I also hope that I can be familiar enough with the program so I can use it in my every day student schedule without getting distracted by inability to use it. I also am really liking the callouts but again wish there was a way to easy hide an hide single callouts. I do know that you can hide call outs but I would prefer to expand and collapse single callouts at will. I'll play with it more tomorrow.
Hopefully I won't find something interesting in my
PC Mag again tonight and end up blogging about it like I have the past two nights!
Windows Vista Home Premium = Tablet + Media Center
Well after much speculation Microsoft has released news about their Vista lineup. It seems Media Center and Tablet PC editions will both be included in the Vista Home Premium Edition. The Home Basic will lack these features. At least now I should be able to get my hands on Tablet Edidtion OEM disks to do a
clean install! It was a lot of work to do it without them! I still wonder how much it is going to cost me to upgrade my Tablet to Vista (that is if my X41 Tablet will even be able to handle it)
Check out the press release
Goodbye Paperbacks Hello Sony Reader
E-books have always been something I really find intriguing. I remember loading up Microsoft Reader on my Pocket PC years ago and trying to read The Time Machine by HG Wells on it. I think it was a free ebook but I never really got that far into it as the screen was really too small and the experience just unpleasant. The clear-type technology that was developed for the reader was cool so at least something came out of it.
I now have a Tablet PC and have posted an
article about my plans to use ebooks this semester. I have even blogged about the experience now and then but I still think the idea of ebooks going mainstream and really causing us to ditch the paperbacks is still a ways off.
Well once again reading my
Zinio copy of my
PC Mag magazine before I go to bed I once again stumbled upon something of interest. (I really need to stop this so I can start getting to bed on time) I wanted to post it now while the idea was fresh in my head and also I will probably forget about it in the morning. Anyways there was a topic with head line E-books, Round 2 : Can innovative new designs convince people to chuck their paperbacks?
(Rupley, Sebastian PC Mag, 3/21/2006) that really got my interest. Maybe its because it made me remember my days of using Microsoft Reader on my Pocket PC or my current relationship with
ebooks as digital textbooks. It could also be that I finally listened to
Podcast #3 and
#4 from
Tracy and
Eric today (which was a very good listen by the way) so the idea of going paperless was already floating around in my head. Regardless it was a cool article and if you subscribe to
PC Mag you should check it out. They usually post many of the articles in the magazine a few weeks later on their
website but I can't find it there yet, but it may show up in the next few weeks so be on the look out if your interested.
The article centered around the
Sony Reader, which supposably has worked else where and has Sony hoping it will persuade many others here in the US to jump on the digital ebook train. The reader is completely dedicated to serving the purpose of a ebook reader and even has very similar dimensions. A quick
google of it let me
here and its a very cool site displaying the many features of the Sony Reader.
It is definitely a cool gadget but with a price of around $300 and an already reluctant crowd I really wonder if
Sony's Reader will have us curling up by the fire with an ebook.
My First MindManager Map Part 2
When I showcase my Tablet PC to other students I could drown them with all the cool features and details of it but instead I find that showing them how my Tablet PC works is the most effective means of displaying its power. I canÂt really show you the process of how I made my map in real time at the moment but can still outline my procedure. I may download the
Camtasia program, which you may have seen on websites like
Student Tablet PC and the new
GottaGoMobile site, and give the trial a whirl but until then I thought I would walk you through that
first map I made. I uploaded a
larger picture to my site so you can now
download it to get a better picture as I go through it.
Now first off before we get started let me just say once again I made this map pretty quickly so it may be hard for you to follow. I understand the map and since this map is really only going to be used by me then I am really the only one that needs to be able to understand it. If I was making the map with the idea that I would be using it with other students then I may have organized it a bit more and also included different topics but it was designed to supplement my studying which is where
MindManager really allows you to tailor it to your needs. Ok so letÂs get started!
First off I created a central topic. Since this was my first map I kind of made it broad and simply called it Human Anatomy Exam 2. The plan was then to include all the topics that would be covered on that exam. After the fact I realized that this topic was really too broad. I think if I had continued this map I would end up creating a giant map that would probably get out of control. So I started to really narrow it down in the maps that followed. I figured I could then link the smaller maps to one big one. I feel this approach would work better but you live and learn. Looking through my notes I noticed that the topic was the Nervous System so I figured a structural outline would work pretty good for this topic. I would use the main components and structures and then branch off from there.
I started with the developmental aspect and branched off from there by becoming more specific as I progressed.
Each branch kept growing until I had traced the entire path of a particular structure. Once I reached a specific structure, like the Thalamus, I could have kept branching out. However, I wanted to make those structures main categories. So I introduced a relationship curve (seen in purple). These relationship curves are incredibly neat and they allow you to link topics to one another. Seeing this visual link is incredibly valuable to me and this single feature deserves its own post when I get a chance. For now I will simple say that it allows me to start a new branch but still have that visual cue of where the structure developed from.
I did this for all the other topics until I got to what you see in the
image. The really cool thing is that you can hide those relationships lines or collapse certain parts of the main map if you want to concentrate on a particular aspect of it. You can also expand everything which then reveals the big picture and allows you to see all those connections very easily.
The last feature I played with on my first map was the note feature. Here you type, ink, or insert an image which creates a note for one of items. A little icon is then displayed and you can click on to open up a note box or hover on it to display its contents. These notes can be whatever you want to add so donÂt even really have related to the main branch of the tree. For example, I can never remember what the function of the Medulla Oblongata is. So I created a note on that item. Then when I am going through the map and come across Medulla Oblongata I can click on the little note to displays in function. An "Oh Yeahhhhh" goes off in my brain and I can continue on. For me I often read something but for it be meaningful I like to relate it to some other piece of key information. So since I know I also forget the function its just another chance for me to review it while I trace the developmental path.
With this map I really wanted to try something different. By going through the many tutorials and downloading several examples I was able to see many different ways
MindManager could be used. However I didn't really see any that took a topic say from a lecture class and really broke it down into compartments and introduced links.
MindManager is all about forming relationships and seeing how things break down and this one way I can really break down a subject like anatomy and relate it all back to one another. I no longer remember just distinct components but am able to recall the whole story.
This first map also only allowed me to sample the program and kind of get a handle on it. There are many more options to play with and I feel as my knowledge grows I will make some very helpful and neat looking maps that can really enhance my studying.
MindManager First Impressions
I've mentioned before that I played around with MindManger for a brief amount of time when I first got my Tablet PC. However I never really dug that deep into it. Well, after digging myself through the first layer I have discovered a very neat program.
Now if you saw my first post and have no idea what
MindManager is then you are probably thinking to yourself, what is he talking about? For those that are unfamiliar with MindManager I suggest you check out their
website. I find the
What is a MindManager Map and the
date sheet on the program to be two very good links to get you started. I could go on and tell you about it myself but I think if you visit the website and keep up with this blog my entries will start to illustrate what MindManger is for me. If you want to see a quick tour of the program you can see it in action in their
Quick Tour and
Tracy even featured parts of the program in her
VideoThere is a very clear structure to the program but its incredible flexibility allows the program to be one thing for me as a student and another to a CEO or business professional. What I would like to accomplish with these entries is to provide a student's perspective to deploying the program. I really like the
pdf that goes over a few of the ways
MindManager can enhance learning. Hopefully I can supply some of my own as time goes on!
So after a few days with the program and running through the numerous
tutorials available, I must say that this program has one of the best help and tutorial sections that I have ever seen. Kudos to those that have taken the time to really show users how to use the program. Although there are plenty of examples I did see a lack of ones that really feature students. There are a few that outline the different ways you can use it to organize a paper but I would really like to push the program a bit more. Maybe one could have an entire class as one map that then branched out to other maps that contain information from certain lectures. Or like I did in
my first one, have an entire study guide for an exam all neatly organized and easily displayed. For me, I think the most valuable aspect of the program will be to capture the big picture and allow me to form those important links and relationships.
So far I am really enjoying the program and have many things I would like to share about it. I have so much I would like to do with it I even made a map of the topics and features I would like to cover. This week is really going to fly by so I hope I can get out as much as I can before the crazy schedule starts up again but this is my Spring Break so I do need to kick back and relax a bit!
Gateway Tablet PC ad
Well I was going to bed when I saw that my Zinio icon was up and that a new magazine was available for download. So I saw that it was the March 21st edition of my PC MAG maganize and decided to read a bit in bed before I turned off the lights. First let me just say that reading a digital magazine on a Tablet PC while lying in bed is just something you can't do with any old laptop and really is one of the very cool things you can do with a Tablet PC. Anyways I saw a Tablet PC in a Best Buy commercial the other day and then saw this one from Gateway in PC Mag and its just really cool to see tablets making their way into the mainstream. A Tablet PC ad in PC MAG is nothing new by any stretch of the means but this one was especially cool because it centered around the use of Tablet PCs with students. I'm probably just a big dork but still thought it was cool so figured I would share one last thing before I really go to bed.
My First MindManager Map!
Alright I ran through some tutorials and will probably talk about the entire experience tomorrow but it's getting late now and I really need to get to bed since I have to wake up early but for now let me post a picture of my first MindMap and just let me say MindManager is a program with enormous possibilities. I see many examples of Maps that outline meetings and such and I suppose that makes sense since it was probably developed for that first but as a student, and with just a few hours with the program I can already imagine a few different ways to use the program. This Map which is a quick outline of my Anatomy Exam captures a lot of information and can display all of it very easy. I will say more later about how awesome that is and how I can see the program being worked specifically into the ways that I study but for now I figured I might as well post something to show off some of my work.
Note this is my first MindManager Map so its a bit rough and unorganized but like everything will learn from it so don't laugh at it too much!
Tagged? Four Things MEME
Well it seems Tracy over at
Student Tablet PC has
"tagged" me. I am assuming this is similar to the tagging that we all remember from our early email and im days where if you tagged someone, that person had to fill out the survey and forward the message to a number of other friends by the stroke of midnight. If you accomplished such a task your true love would fall in love with you the next day
but if you did not then the heavens would cast a cloud and misfortune would rain down on you. Well I am sure this is not as extreme as that but nonetheless is cool as it allows us bloggers to share a little something about ourselves as many only know us by what we blog so passionately about. I suppose I will also have to somehow find four other people to "tag" Well in following with the fun here we go...
Four Jobs I've had:courtesy Clerk at Kroger
Bus Boy at a Deli
Greenhouse Team Leader at Bordines Nursery
Dental/Sterilizing Assistant at an Orthodontist Office
Four Movies I can watch over and over:The Matrix
Jurassic Park
The Sandlot
Dirty Dancing
Four TV shows I love to watch:Numbers
CSI
Grey's Anatomy
Lost
Four Places I've been on vacation: (This list shows you why I want to travel if I ever have the money)
Mackinac Island, MI
Orlando, FL
New York
I went to Canada for a night does that count?
Four Favorite Dishes:Lasagna
Chicken Parmesan
Macaroni and Cheese (I could live on the stuff)
Just about anything Italian
Four websites I visit daily:www.studenttabletpc.com
www.medicaltabletpc.com
www.jkontherun.com
www.tabletpctalk.com
Four bloggers I am tagging:SidAdminIDRoband to be honest I am not even going to bother with a 4th because I KNOW not that many people visit my blog anyways!
I'm Back and so is my X41!
Ok well I didn't really go anywhere but if you actually read this blog you know I'm on spring break and have promised to update this all week, especially with info regarding my experience with
MindManager. Well before you get all frustrated with me let me tell you I have not forgotten what I said and still plan on doing those updates but I have also not been sitting around doing nothing. In fact I've been working a lot with my tablet!
Anyone that has a Tablet PC knows the difficulty of not being able to do a clean install. For whatever reason Microsoft has decided to not release the Tablet PC edition disks with every new computer like it does for nearly all its other desktops and laptops. Well to be fair you don't even get just the OS on the disks anymore and manufacturers like putting all that info in a hidden partition on the hard drive, but the ability to obtain the disk does exist. This all makes sense for the average PC user but for those that really love their machines or are just dorks like myself, we like to make our PCs perform at their best.
One of the first things I do on any new machine is reformat and install a fresh copy of windows. Now a lot of manufacturers include a very nice bundle of software with the original purchase and a lot of it is very nice. I even love some of the IBM applications that
Lenovo throws in but I would rather start from a base OS and install everything at my discretion. This prevents any "crudware" from finding its way on to my PC and hampering it's performance.
This is all very easy to do on just about any other machine as you can often borrow or use a OEM disk for the OS and simply type in your own Product Key and perform a "fresh" install. For me I notice a great increase in performance when performing this procedure on the many other machines I have worked with. With my X41 already taking a hit on performance with its slow hard drive (4200 rpm is just too slow in my opinion) I really saw this as something I should do. But like I said the procedure is much more difficult because you can not borrow the Tablet PC OEM disks since they don't exist to the average user.
If your lucky enough to have an MSDN account or if your a student that goes to a school that allows access to one, then your ok and you can just simply download the image files for yourself. But for the rest of us that don't have an account or go to a school that provides the very minimum to MSDN accounts (exclude any access to such Tablet files) then we are
usually out of luck until Microsoft reasons up and offers us the option to obtain such disks.
However with a little work you can make yourself a set of Tablet PC OS disks from your own Tablet since just about all those files have to be stored on your machine somewhere. Well as much a computer dork as I am and with all that I know, performing such a operation was still beyond my skills. Especially since my tablet is my digital notebook and I can't really afford to scramble its brains and end up screwing up my machine.
Well this all changed thanks to a wonderful post at
TabletPCBuzz! A VERY awesome member posted an incredible article on
how to do a clean install with the X41. Procedures like this had been posted about before with other machines but I should could not risk that it would work seamlessly with my machine. What was special about this post was this it was designed with the X41 in mind. This member went into great detail with a step by step procedure and even ran down the many X41 tablet specific drivers that ones need to worry about. He also went through many of those IBM
ThinkAdvantage programs that are very useful but not entirely essential. He talked about which ones he installed and uninstalled and more importantly
WHY he did so. It is really an incredible post and he has been so helpful on the forum with other user's questions that this guy really deserves some kind of award or something.
Well with my lack of knowledge I was able to perform the "clean" install and I sit here amazed at the difference. I always knew it was a great benefit on all my other machines but none compare to the difference that I now enjoy.
I can remember about two weeks back sitting in Kinkos inquiring if they would be able to print out my ebooks for me. Well when they wanted to see the file I took out my tablet and we waited for the computer, which I had turned off earlier (for whatever reason) to load up. Then we waited...and she went and helped two other customers then we waited some more and I sat their staring at my slug of a computer take its sweet time to load up. I don't have many applications loading up and keep a key eye on all the changes made to the registry that could effect my start up but I was incredibly embarrassed by the performance of my computer. I pride myself on my tech savvy and with a computer that is not even a year old she must have though I knew nothing about computers and that its slow loading time was due to my lack of knowledge.
Well now I stand in hand with a computer that loaded up into windows in less than a minute initially after the "clean" install. This time soon went up as I installed my Antivirus software, Office, the ThinkAdvantage programs that I consider important and a few other things. However, even with just about all my key software applications hoisted onto the shoulders of my machine (including my new MindManager software :) the machine was able to handle the additional burden and still boot into Windows with a respectable time that cloaked in just under 2 minutes. Now this is still slowed compared to my desktop, but this feat was like a World Record for my tablet compared to the humiliating 5 minute boot time it use to take.
Even with a "fresh install" from my IBM recovery disks, which restore the hard drive to its original state, it still took about 2 minutes to load up. When I started throwing in all my other programs this time kept growing. And even though start up times are really not an issue since I leave my computer in stand by most of the time, the real-time performance of the machine always felt sluggish to me. And in the rare occasion that the computer would crash during class (I don't think it has at all this semester but I do recall once last semester) the 5 minutes that you have to sit there and watch your computer load up again is not only frustrating but once again embarrassing. Students that sit behind me could observe my ill computer screen fade away and have to restart. I feel it may have even discourage them from dipping into the world of Tablet PCs as I scavenged through my book bag for paper and pencil so I can take notes on the material as I wait an eternity for my Tablet to once again be resurrected.
Well with some time in my hands I created my Tablet PC disks, performed a clean install, and now have a machine running better than I could have ever imagined. This pushed back some of my original plans and postings but I hope you can forgive me as my Tablet required this operation and now is recovering nicely and is finally ready to perform at its true potential!
Again I owe this all to the
TabletPCBuzz forum and one incredibly helpful member!
A Big Thank You to MindJet
Well I am sure I will write a very nice thank you note to
MindJet after I really start using MindManager and I also see myself entering in a very similar Blog entry when the whole process is over but regardless I would like to thank
MindJet up front even before I get started with using their program. I should also give special thanks to Gaelen O'Connell who is the marketing manager that ran across my blog and has presented me with this opportunity. I really hope I can showcase several ways to use MindManager as well as document my experience as I learn a program that is completely new and foreign to me. It is very refreshing to see a company that is involved with Students and Tablet PCs as much as they are and believe that any company with such an attitude will create long lasting relationships with customers that benefit both the company and the individuals they are serving.
So again thanks
MindJet and I can't wait to try out MindManger!
MindManager Day 1
Well first off let me just say I survived this week and faired alright. It seems I always like to push myself to do better and and strive for perfection even when it is unreasonable but that is just my personality. Regardless I am done for a week and get to start SPRING BREAK!!! I really need the break as I have been really stressed out lately so although I am not going anywhere warm and fun I still am looking forward to the time off.
What is even more exciting for me is that my
MindManager copy came yesterday and although I was too busy to play with it then I did load it up tonight. It was your basic install and everything seems to go fairly well. I am not all that familiar with
MindManager although I did try it out when I first got my Tablet PC but for my wallet's sake, after throwing down $2000 on my X41 tablet and other programs and accessories, I don't think my bank account would have been able to handle spending any more money so I choose not to fall in love with
MindManager. However just skipping over the tutorials and doing a mind map very quickly it is really starting to become love at first site. I am sure you have all heard Tracy and Trevor talk about MindManager over at
StudentTabletPC and I hope you got to see it in action in
Tracy's Video she did not to long back.
MindManager even got talked about in the
Paperless Challenge so I FINALLY am able to see really what it's all about. Like I said making a map very quickly without even going into the tutorials the program is easy to pick up and I can only imagine the powerful tool that this program can become. I have a week where I don't have to worry about getting behind in classes or studying for any big exams so I can really sit down and spend some quality time with the program as I learn about it and hopefully can employ it in my every day life. I'll blog about it most of this week and hope to even post a MindMap of my own when its all said and done.
I was thinking about doing a clean install on my system over break since I saw on
TabletPCBuzz there is an excellent tutorial on performing such a task and the results seem to be promising but I think I may just put that off since I really want to start playing with
MindManager. More to come so stay tuned!
Oh yeah did I forget to mention its Spring Break!!! :)
Exam Week
Well the teachers really like to pour it on us. Micro, Anatomy, and Physiology all in the same week before Spring Break so I'll be back on Friday and hopefully can start enjoying my spring break after I survive this week.
I should also have my mindmanager software from mindjet by then and can't wait to play with it!
You Know You're A Dork When...
Inspired by my days of Organic Chemistry
You Know You're A Dork When...you examine your shampoo bottle during a shower and notice the chemical Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose and you think back to your days of Organic Chemistry and drawing structures. So you then decide to draw out the molecular structure right there on the shower door. ..I was going to take a picture to even make it worse but the water kept messing up my awesome drawing. For those of you wondering what the structure is...well here it is
Lining up text with OneNote
Earlier this week I got an email from a student that just had started using OneNote and was inquiring about the ability to have text "snap" onto the lines in OneNote. I though it was an interesting question and one I did at one time ask myself. I have a solution that seems to work for me but I wonder what everyone else's solution is that has faced this problem so if you have a better solution please post and help me and this student as I feel my solution may not be the best out there. Here's the email and my response.
The QuestionI just started with onenote and have been unsuccessful in trying to get
my text to line up with the college rule theme I want to use for
notetaking. Whenever I type something with the default font, onenote
actually fits in two lines of typed text into the space between two
lines of college rule. If I change the font size/type, the text does not
line up at all with the college rule background. How do I get my text to
match the college rule?My ResponseOneNote doesn't play nice with matching up text with the lines. If you have ever played with GoBinder which is another note taking program it is much more friendly with this and "snaps" onto the lines no matter what font and text you use. If you like OneNote though I have my own personal way of dealing with this issue but there may be others.
First I would head over to the Microsoft community stationary page. Go to the lines and shape page and you will see a bunch of stationary that you can download. For example there is one called "narrow lines" If you download this stationary and apply it to a page I find that Verdana font (my personal choice) with size 14 fonts matches up pretty good with the lines. "Tight lines" seems work ok with Times New Roman size 12 and "very narrow lines" works well with Verdana size 10. Of course as soon as you insert a picture or anything it tends to through the spacing off a bit, but you can usually put it in the right spot.
I should remind you that if you print out your notes the lines will not be there so typing with the lines is just a personal preference. If you really want that notebook feel with the lines and the text snapping directly to the lines I would check out GoBinder as it is much better at handling this in my opinion. Basically I use the lines for writing on with my tablet and turn the off completely if I type.
Hope that helps!
Jason
OneNote Planner Plug-In
I am always amazed on that cool things Tracy is doing over at
Student Tablet PC and she once again has impressed me with a
new plugin for OneNote. I've been using OneNote for over 2 years now as my daily note taking program and she has done something I never have done and that is to use OneNote to create a section to use as a planner. Although I've downloaded the many templates and stationary available I've never really played with them to make the work better. The exception to this is
my Cornell, narrow rule expanding stationary but this was more of just a little trick that actually making my own stationary. Anyways she has attached a cool
video with the
plugin that even shows how it works. If I didn't already use GoBinder as my planning tool (I liked GoBinder for planning and OneNote for notetaking) I would give this OneNote plugin a real try. It would be nice to use the same program for both but as anyone that has played with either program knows there are pros and cons for each program so using the two for different things has been my solution and has worked very well this semester. Maybe next semester with a Beta of OneNote 2007 coming out I may test drive the
plugin more in the spring. I may try it out a bit but if I've learned anything about using my tablet as my notetaking and planner tool is that if something works DON'T try something else in the middle of the semester. I did this once and it really hurt me in the long run. Anyways check out the video and plugin and once again awesome work Tracy!
Tracy's Camtasia Video
I checked out
Tracy's Camtasia video during a study break and must say its a pretty cool showcase of many the applications that one can use with a Tablet PC. In the video she goes over programs like GoBinder, Acrobat, MindManager, Virtual TI calculator and My Font Tool. Her video may even motivate me to do one of my own which would showcase the two programs that I use everyday and love; OneNote and PDF Annotator. Since a lot of people ask me about OneNote it would be cool to do a demonstration of that video in particular. Also when she was showing off MindManager it made me look forward to my own copy that is suppose to arrive next week. Next week is really busy with exams but I really look forward to what it can do when I can spend some quality time with it over spring break. Anyways its a great video that I recommend to anyone looking into what a Tablet PC can do as it really does show of some of the cool features of a Tablet PC.
Tracy Camtasia Video from Student Tablet PC
ebook update
For anyone that reads this blog you may remember an
article I wrote about a month back telling you all about my plans to use ebooks this semester. The two things I was most excited about were saving some space in my bookbag and putting a little bit more green in the wallet. Unfortunately both of these attracting offers have not been fulfilled but on the positive side I can say I am still considering buying ebooks next year.
Trying to put this as briefly as I can without making a huge article out of this I have started printing out my ebooks. When I made this decision I went to kinkos to ask them how much it would cost but they would not even let me print it out there since the books are technically copyrighted material. I was then on my own to use my own printer and with paper and a new ink cartridge in hand I spent an extra $25 to get this far.
I decided to print out my books for a couple of reasons.
Trying to "flip" through an ebook is not as easy feat in class. When the teacher say turn to page 256, believe it or not it is quicker to flip through a textbook than make your way to that page in the ebook. Even by searching and bookmarking certain pages I often found my classmates arriving to the correct page much quicker.
Also in class the option to have a secondary monitor is now available. At home when reading my textbook I could read the ebook off the monitor and type or write my notes on my tablet at the same time. In class and at the library where I spend a lot of my time this is not an option and for me I need to see the page and my notes at the same time.
I've also had a heck of a time with my pdf version. Since it is has security built into it the program likes to play mind games with me by saving my comments sometimes and totally ignoring them a second. After having hours of highlighting vanish the next time I opened the book I quickly realized that this no longer worth it.
Highlighting (even with a tablet) is not the same as highlighting in a textbook. There is just something fundamentally different with the whole process. Also since my ebook are in pdf format adding comments to the edges is impossible with the security version. I suppose I could use the note feature in the program but again I feel something is lost with this and much rather write something down in the margin. I could print the pages to a program like GoBinder or OneNote but I really hated reading the book in those programs and pdf annotator was just too slow at scrolling through the pages.
These are just a few of the reasons and frustrations I have had with ebook but here is the good news
I can print out chapters as I go. So although I do have the printed book to class I don't have to carry the entire book. I now just print out the sections are chapters we will be discussing and put them in a 1/2" binder and away I go. I can still fit two of these, my tablet, AC adaptor and folders and highlighters in my Tom Bihn bag so I do not have to carry as much as some people but I am still carrying more than I once thought.
I also have all the pictures and book in digital form. This makes inserting diagrams from the book incredibly easy! I love just saving the pictures from my SafariX book and just uses OneNote's cool clipping tool to capture images from my Adobe book. (the built-in clipping tool and copy text feature is disabled in the Adobe one). Also since the book is in digital format I still have it with me wherever I go so I can read it from my tablet if I so wish. Also the searching feature is still incredibly neat so I often have the ebook open in the background while I take notes and read my paper textbook. This way If I need to find something quickly I can search really quick and then I will now exactly where it is.
So this is just my brief update. If I have time over spring break I may elaborate on some of this but so far I have not really saved any money, since I had to buy the printing supplies to print out a 1000 page book) and I still carry "part" of that heavy book with me to class. It seems the price will come out in the wash but the ability to easily use those digital pictures and to have my ebook with me where ever I go if I want it make me consider buying a ebook once again but not for my original purpose.
Microsoft Tablet PC Partners Having Increasing Impact on Patient Care, Efficiency for Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations
I absolutely just love hearing about Tablet PCs in the medical and healthcare fields and again I really hope I can somehow get involved in it as its just so exciting that it combines the two things I absolutely love!
Microsoft Tablet PC Partners Having Increasing Impact on Patient Care, Efficiency for Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations
Paperless Challenge Podcast 4
Well before I even had time to listen to
podcast #3, podcast 4 of the Paperless challenge is up and ready for your listening pleasure. I again doubt I will be able to listen to and
comment on it until after next week when my spring break starts and I will have hopefully survived the mass onslaught of exams and quizzes that I face all next week. At least now I can listen to both of them and
comment on both of them at the same time and maybe save a bit of time. If these two are anything like the first two they are definitely worth the listen.
Check out the
final podcast, #4, of the Paperless Challenge by Tracy Hooten from The
Student Tablet PC and
Eric Mack as they wrap up their discussion of the paperless challenge.
Paperless Challenge Podcast 3
My schedule has gotten crazy the two weeks before spring break and profs are throwing tons of new material and exams at us before the break figuring we won't remember any of it when we come back. This means little free time!
If you have time though you should check out the 3rd Paperless Challenge Podcast from Tract at
Student Tablet PC and Eric Mack at
EricMackonline. If I had time to listen to it I know I would but just don't have the time it seems right now to really listen to it and enjoy it. That all means I won't be commenting on this one for awhile. I should have time over spring break and although it will be 2 weeks after its release I still may blog about my comments on the podcast like I did on the other two but for now I'll just post a link.
Paperless challenge Podcast 3
Health Systems and Clinics Accelerate Slate Tablet PC Adoption
As a medical student myself my love for technology and medicine often are competing for my attention and energy. It would be my dream to be involved in the health care system and work with hospitals to deploy such technology as Tablet PCs but at the same time I would also like to be a doctor that works with them and patients. As more and more hospitals take on this technology my dream may one day come true and allow me to combine the two things I am passionate about but until then its nice to see the gap between the two is an ever closing one.
Health Systems and Clinics Accelerate Slate Tablet PC Adoption
Shawn Van Ness - Inking with WPF
While I am in the blogging mood I thought I would share this
link that I recieved in a newsletter I recieved from Microsoft. Its a nice movie about inking with the new windows presentation Foundation and if you have some time you should check it out.
Shawn Van Ness - Inking with WPF on channel 9
Week 5 You Know You're A Dork When..
Week 5! This weeks you Know You're A Dork When...
2.15.2006You Know You're A Dork When...
this is you desktop/wallpaper background for your computer. It also doesn't help when a guy sitting behind you in class actually says, "You bring new meaning to the word dork"
You Know You're A Dork When...I think I've been doing this for about 5 weeks now and I still amaze myself that I am comming up with new ones all the time. I guess I really am a pretty big dork and I seem to be living up to my last name (Dorko) every day now!
As always though if you stumble across one yourself drop me an
email!
On Second Thought....
Well life is full of surprises and you never know what is going to happen in this crazy world. It seems a
MindManager representative has come across this blog ( I guess maybe some people do read it) and has offered me the opportunity to test out MindManager. As anyone who is a fan of the
Student Tablet PC website this program is often discussed on that website. They are especially interested to get involved in the Tablet PC market and is absolutely awesome to see a company making such an effort with students and Tablet PCs. My first complaint was the price but they reminded me that a student education discount drops the price down to $149. Now this is still a lot of money in my opinion but I can honestly say I've dropped that amount on other programs that I consider essential. For example Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat. If MindManager is everything I've heard about and everything I hope than I just may have to add it onto that list of recommended programs that every student with a Tablet PC should get.
If this opportunity goes through I already know the first thing I would like to do with the program. It seems a lot of users use it to organize things like a class or research project and no one I know really uses it to take class notes with.
Student Tablet PC even announced that Mindjet was looking for
individuals that use the program to take notes with. The first class I would love to try it with is my physiology class as my OneNote flow chart of all the mechanisms involved in simple biological processes has expanded to about 6 pages. I even printed it out so I could hang it on the wall. I think doing this with mindjet would allow me to minimize and open certain aspects of the topic and allow me to concentrate on a certain aspect of the process and expand the other areas as I need to see the connections that are involved.
Again if I am able to obtain a copy of the MindJet program I will definitely have to find a happy medium between my hardcore studying and allow myself to enjoy some fun by means of blogging about my tablet experiences. Sometimes I really get caught up in my studies and forget to enjoy life sometimes so maybe by blogging not all the time but every now and then will allow me to find something that works the best for me.
*Note If you have no idea what I am talking about this being my second thought well that's because in a post I made last night I bloged about how I no longer plan on updating this blog as much as I use to. It seems though that blogger is acting kind of crazy for me and is only publishing my posts when it feels like it and in the process that previous post got deleted somehow. I guess it now seems pointless to try to repost it but basically I don't plan to post as much as I use to but will try to continue to keep this blog going
You Know You're A Dork When...
Came up with this one when I turned down going to the bar with some friends and instead found myself studying away at the library last night. However I would not miss the new Grey's Anatomy since I just love hearing all that medical jargon and being able to recognize just about all of it. So here is this weeks You Know You're A Dork When...
2.6.2006
You Know You're A Dork When...you find yourself studying in the library during the superbowl but rush home to watch Grey's Anatomy
You Know You're A Dork When...
IE 7 Beta 2
If you like to always be ahead of the game and test out beta software before its hits the mass market than you may want to check out
Microsofts 7 Beta 2. The best thing about the beta I think is the tabbed browsing which is where Microsoft has been hehind in the last few years. It is also suppose to be more secure but I don't know how about about that. Remember though that like all Beta software this is by no means suppose to replace your current browser. I still like Firefox myself but at least Microsoft is trying.
Dorko's Comments on Paperless Challenge Podcast 2
Well I know the
Podcast from the Paperless challenge was posted a few days ago but I have just been so busy. I also see that Tracy from
Student Tablet PC has also had the same problem and has even taken a much needed
break from her duties on the
student tablet PC blog but I am sure Andrew and Trevor will continue to keep the site going while Tracy recharges her batteries. I myself may fall into the same problem as classes are starting to really pick up and I really need to dedicate more of my time to my studies than blogging about my Tablet PC. Anyways since it has been so long I decided to just sit down and write something. I may not be able to post every day now but at the very least should be able to post at least once a week. So after that let's move on to my comments from the latest
paperless challenge podcast.
First off like the first podcast this was yet another enjoyable one to listen to and again I would like to thank
Eric and Tracy for taking the time to talk about their adventure as its a lot of work to do so.
Since it has been a couple of days since I last listened to the
podcast I guess I will only able to comment on what I remember unless I have some time to go back and listen to it again. The first thing that I really remember them talking about is Eric and his experience with OneNote and its audio syncing capabilities. As I did in my article
A Semester with OneNote, I once again would just like to say how absolutely cool this feature really is. It's my absolute favorite feature of OneNote and was of the important things that steered me away from GoBinder. I tried to use small mp3 recording programs but I never found one that was small and would not freeze up during class. Also these lecture were never synced with my notes so unless I jotted down the time something was said I would have to scan through a lot of the recording.
They also mention battery life in the beginning and this is an important feature I stress when other students ask for suggestions from me about which tablet they should look into. Your not always going to be able to sit next to an outlet, at least at my school, so making sure a computer is going to die halfway through your class is very key. I even have to stretch the limits of my own battery on days I have 5.5 hours of classes back to back and my tablet does not get time to charge. This is one of the reasons I went with the IBM/Lenovo Tablet since it was known to have one of the best batteries in the business. They originally proclaimed 7.5 hours but I think that is not the general consensus at least on
Tablet PC buzz. I myself with max battery settings can get about 6 hours which is on the high end. If a single battery isn't going to last you over 4 hours on a single charge I definitely recommend you pick up a second one with your tablet purchase. If I had the money I know I would still pick up one even with my excellent battery life but since I have it configured to last so long it just it not a requirement for me. They also mention having an extra AC adapter on hand and again if you do have the option to plug in during or between classes. On long days at school where I am at school from 10am to 9PM or days I know I am going to be able to go to the library and study I also bring my AC adapter. Again my tablet can usually make it a whole day and also the fact I live relatively close to school that if I did somehow forget it, it would not be the end of the world for me.
Also speaking of extra accessories to consider an extra stylus may be something to consider. With a convertible tablet it is certainly not going to be a life shattering crisis if you forget it but it is certainly going to take away your tablet function and in a class like Organic Chemistry or Calculus where I use my tablet function 100% of the time it would indeed be a very big deal. I received a very nice
Cross executive Pen for Christmas and I surely recommend this pen to anyone that would like maybe a bigger, heavier more sophisticated pen if your tablet only comes with a small one like mine. I know the gateway comes with a very nice pen so this may be not better than the one that is equipped with that unit but for me it really makes a difference. So I have the pen the slides into my tablet and my Cross pen which supplies with an extra pen at all times. I also filled out a survey from Lenovo and received an extra pen from them that I store around my desk. They also send me an extra one for some reason which gives me a total of 4 pens so I feel fairly safe in the pen department but if you don't have at least one extra one yourself I suggest you pick up one.
They also briefly talked about the hibernate feature a brief and I find it important to mention this feature myself. Maybe not so much the hibernation feature since I myself had some problems with it but the stand-by feature has been a huge saver. My computer, X41 tablet, is notorious for its slow hard-drive and boot up times. It sometimes takes me 5 minutes to just load up into windows and I have many things disabled. To deal with this issue I constantly use stand-by throughout the day. After class I'll put it in standby. Place into my bag, walk across campus to my next class and then open it up and take it out of standby in less than 5 seconds. This is a real time saver for me and his been incredibly reliable with no loss of date or freeze ups between travels. It's a feature I never really used before I had a laptop that I took to class everyday but is definitely a feature everyone should at least experiment with.
Now many other important issues were discussed but since it has been several days since I last listed to the podcast the things mentioned above are the things that I seem to remember and relate to the most. I look forward to the next podcast and again would like to Thank Tracy and Eric for their hard work!
*Also note I am typing on a new keyboard that I picked up and its one of those Microsoft Natural keyboards so it is taking a little getting use to so if my typing and speeling are worse than they usually are then I am going to blame the new keyboard at least this time around. :)
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