I’m going to be getting a new Mac soon, and now that the Stevenote is done and no new computer products were announced, I feel it’s a pretty good time to buy. Here are my two options.

Right now I have an early summer 2006 20 inch iMac. I have a 19″ Dell 1905FPS Monitor next to it providing extra screen real estate. Since the Dell monitor has two inputs, it also serves as a monitor for my Ubuntu server which is running some scripts for me in perpetuitity.

My dad will be getting a new machine so that means I’ll inherit another Dell monitor. Twins!

My thinking is that having two 19″ LCD Screens next to each other both hooked up to a brand new Mac Pro (2 processors) would be the ideal thing. It would fit nicely on my desk and I’d have room to spare.

However, the 3.06Ghz 24″ iMac is also tempting. That means I’d have to move the Dell monitor and make some space and maybe take the other Dell monitor to school.

So, which is it?

Option 1: Two 19″ LCD Screens with dual inputs side by side displaying 2 x 2.8Ghz Mac Pro goodness, or?

Option 2: a 24″ iMac clocking in at 3.06 Ghz with an awkwardly placed Dell monitor off to the side?

It seems the way I’ve written that that my decision is made, but I figure there’s some perspective I’m not seeing, any thoughts?

Chris

Either way, I got this email and I have a bit of an ethical problem with it. I recognize that the publishers want to get their books out there, but this seems sketchy. My inclination is to politely decline, but I wondered if you didn’t have an alternate viewpoint? Is there something I’m missing? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill?

Here’s the email in its entirety, published with explicit permission from the publishing company and the author of the email.

Dear Chris,

I noticed that you are presenting on Moodle at the upcoming NECC in San Antonio.  I am with FTC Publishing and we publish the book Moodle Magic: Make it Happen, by Laurie Korte.  If you are not familiar with this book, it is a great resource for educators looking to begin using Moodle or educators who are looking for tips and tricks for using Moodle in the classroom.  I was wondering if you would be interested in receiving a few of these books to use as giveaways during your session.

We would supply you a copy of the book for your own personal use as well as the giveaways.  We would also include a few coupons and catalogs for attendees of your session that are interested in learning more about the books.

If you are interested in receiving these materials please email me back with the number of people you are expecting to attend your session as well as the address of the location you would like for us to ship the items.

Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

I think part of my issue is that I’ve not read the book. If I were a fan of the book to begin with, this would be easy, since it would be a genuine, voluntary endorsement. I haven’t read it, though, so it makes me feel like a bit of a puppet if I were to give these out.

Once before, PbWiki gave me some premium wikis to give out but I was ok with that since I was already a bit of a PbWiki evangelist. I use that software regularly and like it a bunch, so there’s my difference there.

Also, I approached PbWiki. They have a presenter pack (or did, it’s been a few years) that I emailed to get. They did not approach me.

The publisher probably searched for Moodle in the NECC planner and found me. Is that bad? Not necessarily.

I’m just not sure how to respond. What do you think?

Chris

I found out the other day that my school bought an 8GB iPod Touch a few months ago. They had bought it with the intention of seeing whether this kind of wireless, handheld device had any serious implications for education. They’ve not seen any yet, so they gave it to me to try.

I’m sure there are loads of posts about this already, but I’d love to hear the best ways to use this in a classroom setting, my classroom to be specific.

So what do you think? How does this bad boy fit into a classroom routine?

NB: I’m not going to jailbreak it, so let’s stick with stuff that’s on the level.

According to feedburner there are roughly 600 of you signed up to receive this blog’s updates via RSS. I don’t have a line on how many of you are subscribed to the normal RSS feed outside of feedburner.

Either way, if you’re reading this, thanks for sticking around. I don’t think what’s offered here is of much value, since I don’t put any time into blogging.

Fair warning, given my summer grad school schedule, this will likely remain a link blog for a few more months. Heck, it may never turn into more. Who knows?

If you’re ok with that, stay subscribed. If not, no hard feelings. I might live blog something at NECC if I go, but no promises.

Chris