ElectricLawyer

A CK-12 textbook on the Dell Mini 9

In my quest to prove that we can afford computers in the classroom running free digital textbooks, I took a pic of CK-12 Foundation's Life Science textbook, running on a Dell Mini 9 under Ubuntu. This is the cheapest Dell Mini (now discontinued, but it keeps coming back), with 512 MB RAM and an 8 GB SSD drive. Cost me $199.

As you can see, the book shows up bright and clear, and scrolling is easy. There are other netbooks in the market for about the same price, not to mention refurbished laptops. We can do this.

Ten free digital textbooks approved for California schools

Reporter Jill Tucker of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that ten free digital textbooks have been approved for use in California schools this Fall. Of these, six are published by the CK-12 Foundation, which I mentioned yesterday.

Frankly, after so much bad news lately, knowing that the state is doing one thing right makes me feel positively giddy. Governor Schwarzenegger started this, believe it or not, and even though it will not cause me to register Republican anytime soon, I do thank him.

As I said yesterday, the books from CK-12 can be viewed online, saved to disk, or printed. So no child will be left out in the cold.

I still think the goal is and should be a computer on every desk in every classroom. With Wi-Fi cheap and easy to install, and netbooks and small laptops plummeting in cost each day, there's no reason we can't get this done.

I still expect pushback from the dead-tree book publishers, and will not be surprised to see pressure (contributions?) put on individual school districts to refuse the books. I'll be keeping an eye out. Send me rumors, news, etc., folks.

Free digital textbooks - we're on our way

I have to admit that when our Governor announced a plan to provide California schoolkids with free digital textbooks, it sounded pretty pie-in-the-sky. But I didn't know that an organization called CK-12 Foundation was already creating gorgeous, professional-grade free digital textbooks. Here's a page from a biology book:

Okay, you're saying, but what about kids without computers? Well, the books are available in different formats, including pdf. If a kid has a notebook but no internet access, the school can give her the textbook on a DVD. If she doesn't have a computer, the textbook can be printed out as needed and then the paper can be recycled. Our school systems could save millions!

Get on this bandwagon, folks. Tell your legislator you want to see free digital textbooks, and you want CK-12 Foundation's books considered. And keep an eye on the political contributions -- the dead-tree textbook printers are going to go nuts over this.

The Zink Wasabi mini-printer

I have bought some silly things in my day, but this cutie might take the cake. It's a printer, which Dell was selling for $19. I can't resist deals like that, and it's pink, too. I photographed it next to the iPhone for size comparison. Unfortunately it won't connect to the iPhone, but I was able to connect it via USB to my Nikon D60 DSLR. It uses a special paper but no ink. I think it's made by Polaroid. The paper, 2"x3", costs $10 for 30 sheets at Amazon -- not bad.

I have no idea what use I will make of this toy -- probably give it away. But it's so cute!

When "public" is not really public - U.S. Senators' campaign contributions

The U.S. Senate refuse to put campaign contribution material on the Web. Senators are required to make the information public by the Federal Election Commission, so they will give it to us -- on dead trees. Even though it is gathered and compiled electronically.

We have to keep repeating to ourselves that we live in the 21st Century, even though it sure doesn't feel like it.

Does that make you just a little crazy? If so, you may want to support Representative Steve Israel's (D-NY) bill to define "public" to mean searchable and readable online, at the suggestion of Andrew Rasiej, a tech entrepreneur.

Read the whole story in The New York Times.

This site says Senator Roberts stood in the way of the passage of SB 482, which would have made the material available online. I have not been able to find a reference to the legislation other than that.

The ProClip iPhone holder: a mini-review

The German-made ProClip is expensive, but it holds the iPhone securely to the car's dashboard. We drove for three hours, and there was no shaking or wiggling. The company has bases for most cars, which are very easy to attach and remove (no tools) and holders for different kinds of phones. This is a picture of my iPhone on our RAV4. The holder I chose has a built-in charger, but there are several different types. The hardest part of the whole process was selecting the holder.

Godzilla steps into the Apple Google Voice Fiasco

Wall Street Journal (online) reports that the FCC is investigating Apple's removal/rejection of the Google Voice apps. Yes!!! All that shouting and screaming among the Apple fankids has finally awakened the sleeping giant: the United States government.

BoyGenius re-posted a copy of a letter, supposedly from the FCC. The agency wants an answer to these questions: "What are the standards for considering and approving iPhone applications? What is the approval process for such applications (timing, reasons for rejection, appeal process, etc.)? What is the percentage of applications that are rejected? What are the major reasons for rejecting an application?"

Just the questions the befuddled and frustrated iPhone developers have been asking. Or to put it differently, why no Google Voice but a dozen apps for farts and semi-nude women?

Big fans leaving the iPhone over Google Voice Fiasco

Today, Michael Arrington of TechCrunch announced he is dumping his iPhone. Why? Mostly because of the Google Voice disaster. In case you haven't heard, this week Apple booted all the Google Voice apps off the App Store, for reasons not clear. Google Voice is the wonderful new call management service, now in closed beta. The promise of Google Voice is that we will have a carrier-independent phone number. The carrier (AT&T, Verizon, whatever) becomes a dumb pipe. Well, AT&T didn't like that, and even though it denies having told Apple to pull the apps, there seems to be little reason other than that.

Arrington said he was forced by Apple to choose between Google Voice and the iPhone, and he chose to go with the company that wasn't forcing him to choose. With what will he replace the iPhone, which he loves? At first with the Android myTouch 3G, because Google has come out with a native Google Voice app for it, and then he will switch to the Palm Pre.

He's not the only tech leader to dump the iPhone. Mac developer Steven Frank is also quitting, for the same reason, and Om Malik of GigaOm left a while back for other reasons. Frank explains why in this post.

Frank ends his post by saying: "I realize these actions are utterly insignificant to Apple. I know I’m a tiny tadpole flapping his tail helplessly in anger at the ocean. But at least my conscience is clear. I hope change is coming. I’m really going to miss my iPhone terribly. I’m frustrated and disappointed at the whole situation."

Does Apple care? Probably not. Average users will still buy iPhones, and for a while may be happy. But in my eyes it is the beginning of the end of the iPhone supremacy. I'm not letting go of my beloved iPhone yet, but my eyes will be wandering.

Why we need newspapers - yes, made of paper

Yesterday the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story (C.W. Nevius, "Homeless shoeshine man gets scuffed by city," June 4, 2009, San Francisco Chronicle) about a homeless man who is trying to work his way out of the street by shining shoes. Just as he had saved up enough for a room, the City's Department of Public Works informed him that he owed $491 for a street vendor license. So he started saving up for that, and continued living on the street. After the story broke, complaints rained down upon the hapless bureaucracy. By this morning, the $491 demand was deemed a "misunderstanding" and the homeless man was front-page news.

Why am I writing about this? After all, it's pretty much an everyday story: A cruel bureaucracy stomping on the little person trying to make a living. What else is new? But it made me start thinking about why we need newspapers, and we need them printed on paper.

First, we need newspapers because we need the journalists they employ. Who else is going to run this story, if not C.W. Nevius, a journalist on the staff of the Chron? No citizen journalist has the time to hunt down these stories, and certainly does not have access to a bully pulpit like a daily newspaper published in a big city paper.

Second, eReaders and computers are elitist devices. Paper newspapers are available to everyone, everywhere. You don't need to sit in front of a computer, or have the paper downloaded to your Kindle (as I admit I do). When paper newspapers disappear, only the affluent will have newspaper access. Do we want that? I don't.

By the way, the man who started me thinking about the elitism of eReaders is Sherman Alexei. At first I thought he was way wrong (he did express himself in a rather colorful manner), but now that I've been thinking about what he said, I'm worried.

The Governator also got me thinking, when he called for free digital books for California students. Does he think the books will just materialize out of thin air? Doesn't he realize that every California student will need at least a $300 computer or an eReader of similar cost to read a digital book? Of course, in the Governor's world I'm sure all kids have their own computers (and probably their own Hummers). Talk about elitist.

Water bottle lights

You have to watch this video on Lifehacker. How to make light bulbs out of water bottles! I don't know whether to believe this, but the video looks real. Please, somebody, tell me the science!

Lifehacker - DIY, No-Electricity Lighting from 2-Liter Bottles - Household.