I like to check out the wallpapers at Smashing Magazine. They put together a post at the end of each month with appropriate & stylish wallpapers for the following month. I bookmarked this link so that it’s easy to check out the new designs.

Here’s the wallpaper I’m rocking now…

It’s a great idea, but it’s more of a novelty. I don’t find it to be practical for two reasons: 1. it’s cheap, not durable 2. it can only bind 2-10 pieces of paper (depending on weight). My normal stapler is needed for most jobs, and today, it’s needed for all staple jobs since the staple free stapler is broken. It’s entirely made of plastic. While in use, an internal plastic piece broke off and is now lodged, obstructing the button to be fully pressed.

This unique novelty is great for creating cubicle conversation! It’s priced right at under $10 and you can order yours over at ThinkGeek.

“Everything around you that you call life,
was made up by people that were no smarter than you.
And you can change it.
You can influence it.

You can build your own things that other people can use.”

Today, Apple has released OSX Lion, refreshed products, and removed macbooks from its sleek lineup.

Here’s a brief rundown of the Apple news today.

OSX Lion

The new mac operating system. Top new features include:

• Multi-touch gestures
• Full-screen apps
• Mission control
• Launchpad
• AutoSave and versions
• Airdrop
• New Mail app

It’s available today in the Mac App Store for $29.99. Make sure your mac is ready for the upgrade. Click this link to check it out in the Mac App Store.

More about OSX Lion: http://apple.com/macosx/

Macbook Air

Apple’s thinnest notebook, the Macbook Air, has been refreshed with a few much-needed enhancements. It’s still available in two sizes 11.6″ & 13.3″ (diagonal). Here are the big enhancements:

• Both sizes come with Intel’s Core i5 sandybridge processor and are upgradeable to the i7 processor when ordering through the Apple Online Store.
• Backlit keyboard returns! The backlit keyboard that has been a prominent feature of the Macbook Pros was once in the Macbook Air when it was first released. It’s back.

I’ve been in the market for the Macbook Air, and both of these updates are really exciting to me. I have a Macbook Pro at work and at home, and the backlit keyboard is awesome!

More about the Macbook Air: http://apple.com/macbookair/

Mac Mini

The Mac Mini is a sweet little mac computer you can connect to any monitor or HD TV. It’s been upgraded with the Intel Core i5 sandybridge processor (upgradeable to Core i7) and added the new Thunderbolt port for connecting to Thunderbolt display or peripherals. The optical SuperDrive (CD/DVD) has been removed.

More about the Mac Mini: http://apple.com/macmini/

Thunderbolt Display

This is the new Cinema Display. It’s only available in 27″ size for $999. I think it’s the same as it’s predecessor, but now carries the “Thunderbolt” port. In addition to the new Thunderbolt port, it has three USB 2.0, FireWire 800, gigabit ethernet, and security slot.

More about Thunderbolt Display: http://apple.com/displays/

No more Macbooks, just Pros

Apple has apparently removed the regular Macbook notebooks from its lineup. They do not appear on Apple’s website. Remember, these are the plastic notebooks that came in white and black, then just white? Well, they are no more. I guess they’re leaving it to the Pros (Macbook Pros, that is).

I’ve been (and you probably have too) to a few workshops, conferences, and inservices about the 21st Century Learner, the Digital Generation, and/or using Web 2.0 to engage today’s students. Among the many resources they have put up on the screen and printed on the handouts, Edmodo has proven to be great.

Here’s why:

1. Students know how to use it.

Edmodo was designed to look and feel like social networking sites most students are already familiar with (it looks a lot like Facebook). I’ve had to spend very little time teaching my students how to use it. They just pick it up on their own and already know how to use many of its features. You don’t have to worry about student-to-student contact, because it’s not allowed. I find it really great for posting assignments and for receiving assignments submitted by students.

2. Easy to access.

Since it’s a web application students, teachers, and parents can get to it from any web browser on any computer connected to the Internet. Event students that can’t make it to class login so they don’t miss any information. Oh, and there’s even an app for that! They have a mobile web app, Android, and iPhone/iPod Touch app for instant access on-the-go!

Both student and teacher accounts can also receive notifications via email or text. When I post an assignment, alert, or feedback the students get it instantly on their phone! Now that’s timely feedback!

3. It’s free.

Yep. It’s a really great tool at a really great price. Teachers and students can signup for free accounts at http://edmodo.com. Schools and districts can setup an account/group so that teachers can create groups/classes within the larger organization. A lot of times I believe “you get what you pay for.” But not with Edmodo. It has become a tool I use for my classes on a daily basis. Plus, I know the developers aren’t giving up on it because it continues to get enhancements and updates that make it event better.

Here are a few screen shots from my teacher account:

This student put forth creativity into his tissue box that could not go unnoticed. Check this thing out:

From Thanksgiving 2010

Tis the Thanksgiving season, I thought I’d share one of the very few dishes I can make. This recipe was passed on to me from my mom (I’m not sure where she got it). It’s broccoli cheese casserole, and it’s pretty amazing. Even if you are not a fan of broccoli, this dish can make it taste pretty good!

It is pretty easy to make (hence why I can make it). So give it a try, take a photo, and leave a comment letting me know how it went!

Ingredients:

• 2 – Large bags of broccoli (or 1 huge bag from Wal-Mart)
• 2 – Stacks of Ritz crackers
• 2 – Sticks of margarine
• 1 – lb of sliced Velveeta cheese

Directions:

Melt one stick of margarine in a small bowl. I like to add a little garlic salt to the melted margarine. Crush the stacks of Ritz crackers and mix with melted margarine.

Distribute the broccoli in a 9? x 13? glass dish. Cut the other stick of margarine into slices and place all over the broccoli. Lay all the slices of cheese on top of the broccoli and margarine. Finally, spread the crushed cracker mix on top of the dish.

Bake dish in oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

To avoid a runny casserole, it’s very important to let the dish cool for about 15 minutes. If this step is skipped, the cheese will be very liquid and runny.

Just to add some technology into this post, Epicurious is a neat app for iPhone/iPad that can be really useful in the kitchen. It’s FREE, check it out in the iTunes app store.

Flickr: onejosh

It was reported by TUAW that Europe experienced a bug with recurring alarms set on iOS devices. The alarms were going off an hour later than they were supposed to. Located in the middle of the U.S., my timezone made the switch last Saturday night, and I too experienced this bug and discovered a quick fix!

I have my iPhone 4 running the latest iOS version with an alarm set to go off on “weekdays” at 5:30 a.m. After reading the post on TUAW, I was interested to see what would happen here in the U.S. Instead of doing a test by creating a temporary alarm, I decided to wait until Monday morning when I depend on my alarm to wake me. Sure enough, my alarm did not go off at 5:30 a.m. Luckily, my “internal alarm” woke me shortly after and I carried on with my day.

I’ve read about solutions like abandoning recurring alarms and set an alarm each night, or set your recurring alarm for an hour earlier. The solution that worked best for me was to just delete my recurring alarm, and recreate it. After deleting it and setting it again, it has gone off each day at the correct time.

How does this type of bug exist in late 2010? There have been devices with clocks and alarms for many years experiencing Daylight Savings Time.

With as many iOS device users as there are, it would have been nice for Apple to address this issue sooner. Will it be fixed in iOS 4.2? Or will we have to wait and see what happens when we switch back to Standard Time?

Have you experienced this same issue? Tell us about your experience with this bug and let us know on which device.