Podcasts

So for the last few weeks I have been checking out different podcasts on my iPhone while driving to some of the communities I work with (which is at least 90 minutes one way, so I can listen to quite a few).  I have a found a few I like, but was pretty bummed when I tried to download an MPR podcast on my iPhone and it didn't work (it said something about it being over a certain size).  I'm going to try it again when I know I have a good connection to the Internet and see if that makes a difference.

Downloading Class Readings to my Kindle

Yesterday I figured out how to send readings for Fong's class (PDF formats) to my Kindle.  There is a way to send them so they are exactly as you see it in PDF, and also a way to "convert" it so that you can make notes, highlight, etc in the document.  What I found is that it wasn't that difficult to figure out how to email them to my Kindle (I just needed to send them to my Kindle email), but when I tried to open a few of the "converted" documents, there were words missing and the formatting was a bit crazy.  So then I tried to read some of the original PDF files, but they were too small and I couldn't figure out how to make the text bigger in a way that still made maneuvering the document easy...Not all the original PDFs were hard to read (just some of them) and not all the converted files were all jacked up (just some of them).  I do like that I no longer have to fire up my computer every time I want to read for class and it's easier on the eyes to read on a Kindle than the computer, so I'm excited about using this for class readings.

Does anyone else have a Kindle and do you know what I'm talking about?  If so, have you figured out how to enlarge the PDF document in a way that is still easy to read/ maneuver?  Any feedback would be helpful... I was also wondering if anyone knows if there's a way to put documents in folders, for instance I'd like to have all of the readings for Fong's class in one folder instead of taking up a whole bunch of pages on my main reading/ book page.  It would also be helpful to be able to break that down into additional folders so I can put readings for week 1 in 1 folder, readings for week 2 in another folder, etc.  Does anyone know if this is possible?

I am thinking about getting the new touch screen Kindle.  Does anyone have experience with it?

Well, off to the next task for the day...lunch!    

Google Reader

Today I finally added everyone to my Google Reader...have to rename so I know who is how.  Are you following me Matt?

So many new technology tools...

At the conference I'm at, today I learned about some other new social media and technology tools that I am going to be checking out over the next week.

• Evernote and/or Onenote:  used to organize notes (which you can either scan in or take a picture of and import), pictures, files, voice notes, etc.  I guess you can share notes with others using this tool as well.  http://www.evernote.com/
• Zotero: a online bookmarking and research tool used to gather and organize resources and sources researched online.  http://www.zotero.org/
• RSS feeds which can "help save time reading websites: for more information on RSS go to http://www.commoncraft.com/video/rss

Also, last night I used Picnik for the first time to resize a picture to post in Moodle.  It took me a few tries to get it right (plus then the Internet went down and I wasn't able to actually post it last night), but I think I figured it out.  Thanks for the suggestion Helen! :)

Twitter

So this week I am at Fall Extension Program Conference (it's for all U of MN Extension Educators and is an annual conference) in Bloomington and they are really encouraging us to "Tweet".  I have had Twitter as an app for the last 5 months or so (since I've had my iPhone) but never followed anyone and never posted myself.  Tonight I made my very first "tweet" and although I ran into a few snags (trying to post a profile pic and getting signed in....all the user names I wanted to use were taken!), I did it and it was pretty painless.

Now, if I can only figure out how to let people post on my blog...hmmmmmmmmm