Pre-metric measurements had some interesting, if inexact, origins. Though they have been standardized in countries that use them, they are still difficult for the rest of the world to understand, and even more difficult to explain. For example:

The Foot. This unit of measurement was determined by the length of King Charlemagne’s foot and modified in 1305 to be 36 barleycorns laid end to end. (No measurement for the barleycorn is given.)

The Inch. The width of King Edgar’s thumb was officially designated as an inch. It was three barleycorns across.

The Yard. The distance from King Henry I’s nose to his fingertips. The distance is also twice as long as a cubit.

The Mile. In the Roman legionary, the mile was the distance covered by 1,000 double steps. Queen Elizabeth added more feet so the mile would equal eight furlongs.

The Furlong. The length of a furrow a team of oxen could plow before resting.

The Acre. The amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in one day.

The Fathom. The span of a seaman’s outstretched arms; 880 fathoms make a mile.

The National Geographic News Service, which collected this information, says the metric system has a more scientific origin, though the common person may think it almost as difficult to understand.

The Metric System. Based on the meter, which is defined precisely as 1,650,763.73 wave lengths of orange-red light emitted by the krypton-86 atom, or originally one-ten-millionth of the length of the longitude from the North Pole to the equator. The meter is exactly 39.37 inches. Or it measures about 118 barleycorns, however you choose to think about it that way.

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A survey of 150 information technology managers at Sunrise Software, a British company, shows that printer issues were the most common reason for a help desk call. But the survey also shows that in any given month, more than half of the service people had to handle various food-related problems. They encountered everything from potato chips in a CD drive, to keyboards ruined by spilled coffee and PCs melted to desks by an unknown substance. According to Best Buy’s Geek Squad, which services small business and home offices, keyboards are often rendered unusable by crumb buildup, and spills and odors from decaying food particles.

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A recent survey shows that only 36 percent of businesses employing up to 100 people have a Web site. The other two-thirds should have one. A presence on the Web provides information about the business to prospective customers, suppliers and employees. Even a little information about the business is better than being nonexistent on the Web.

Today you can set up a site without technical help or Web hosting costs.

First: Buy a domain name (like yourcompany.com). To do it, visit any of the thousands of online registrars such as godaddy.com, aplus.net, networksolutions. com. Search for the domain name you want. If it’s already taken, type in another, then click “Proceed to Checkout.” The cost ranges from $6 to $10 a year to secure a domain.

Second: Find a place to host your site. Several companies now provide Web hosting services free of charge. Visit sites such as Microsoft’s weebly. com or synthasite.com. You can also buy your domains at these sites. Like all the ‘build it online’ services, you don’t need any technical knowledge at all to build an attractive Web site.

Third: Set up your site. A basic site includes a welcoming home page, a page that describes your business, and a contact page that tells how to reach you.

You can add to the pages by typing in text or dragging and dropping graphics. One free and easy way to improve your design is to use HTML coding, but you don’t have to know the codes, says

The Wall Street Journal. Many sites offer handy blocks of html that you can plug into your site as easily as copying and pasting text.

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HP wants to put you ‘in touch’ with its computers
Hewlett-Packard’s new line of all-in-one TouchSmart PCs gives you an alternative to using a mouse.
Use your fingers instead. By touching the screen, you can launch applications, play music, crop or print photos and handle many other tasks.
As an all-in-one computer, the TouchSmart IQ506 has all its works positioned under the display. It’s in the same class as the Dell XPS One, Gateway One and Apple iMac, but none of them boasts a touch experience.
HP has  built its own touch software for photo, videos and music on top of the touch capabilities included in Vista.
Tech analysts for U.S. News & World Report say that TouchSmart would be ideal as a hub for household planning. It could serve as an electronic concierge to help busy families.
Located in the kitchen, the unit would be the place for calendars, recipes, notes and to-do lists. It could eliminate the clutter of notes seen on many refrigerators, and the information would be easily available by a touch.
Hewlett-Packard says it’s perfect for entertainment needs with its video playing, photo printing and TV tuner.
HP’s Vickram Bedi, product management director for worldwide consumer PCs, says the TouchSmarts are selling very well.
Though touch computing is not new, it has not previously gone mainstream. The popularity of touch through the Apple iPhone is predicted to give touch screens more acceptability, according to tech analyst Edward C. Baig.
The company’s first TouchSmart came out in 2007. At $1,300 and up, this year’s model is less expensive and has more features. A model slated for appearance in 2010 will have “multitouchL” features and may include a Blu-ray DVD drive.

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 YouTube web site link below:

http://www.youtube.com/user/utahwebman

 

 

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The Best Online Learning Games — 2008

“It’s quite a diverse collection. So if you have your student participate in the voting they might, or might not, want to try out all of them. Less than a handful require registration, but those that do make it very easy.”

The magic of online learning boosts kids’ reading & writing

“Several children, some of whom couldn’t sit still, became engaged in Abracadabra’s educational gaming format. It offers surprises, competition and rewards, without comparing one student to another. One boy in particular, who struggled with simple letter identification, was absolutely engrossed,” Dr Lea said.

Report Reveals Growing Momentum in Online Learning
“Over 26% of teachers in 2007 chose online learning as their preferred methodology for their own professional development, compared to 7% in 2006.”

GetEducated.com Online Education Survey Ranks Top Best Consumer Buys in Online Engineering Graduate Schools and Master Degrees

“The online education survey ranks and recommends 28 engineering schools as Consumer Best Buy Online Universities, offering brand name graduate degrees online to consumers at tuition costs well below the national average.”

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Using the Web 2.0 write up in Wikipedia this video is to help teach educators about Web 2.0 tools.

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Some family rooms are being renovated with features like desks and laptop ports for every member of the family. Included are special lighting for computer work, homework, and reading. There can be bookshelves, storage areas, and work stations for each person.

One builder quoted in The Wall Street Journal offers a bright yellow education room with chairs and desks that adjust to adult and kid heights. In the family home office, mom, dad, and the kids bond over work instead of television.

Some moms and dads, however, say they need a separate home office.

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When you add a column of numbers or calculate a percentage, do you wish you had better math skills?

Do you sometimes think that a better job would come your way if you knew more computer programs? Or maybe you just want to enrich your life and have the urge to go back to school.

Continuing education and on-the-job training programs include everything from basic education and equipment operation to computer training and college classes.

The Adult Basic Education (ABE) courses improve language, reading, and writing skills. English as a second language is a good subject for those who came to the U.S. from another country.

Math and basic educational courses are excellent preparation for a GED (general equivalency diploma) or high school diploma equivalent. Many school districts also offer ABE classes.

In some areas of study, the company offers tuition reimbursement for college courses. Most approved courses are directly related to a person’s current job, but others are not.

Stop by the Human Resources Department at your earliest convenience. Check to see what courses of study are available to you and sign up before classes are filled. You could find them enjoyable as well as beneficial to your future.

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Looking to the future and possible skilled labor shortages, some companies are courting kids in middle school and younger.

The American Business collaboration, funded by IBM, Texas Instruments, and Exxon Mobile, will expand middle school science and technology camps to serve 500 kids at 10 locations in five U.S. cities.

Texas Instruments is also expanding support of middle- and high-school science camps in Dallas and Plano, Texas. Boeing is expanding its popular summer science camp for grades one through 12 near Huntington Beach, Calif. AT&T backs three science and math camps in Detroit and Chicago. Intel sponsors three science camps in Colorado and Oregon.

Health education camps in Denver are supported by Kaiser Permanente of Colorado. A camp in Vermont is sponsored by the Northeastern Vermont Area Health Education Center.

Interested parents should watch for camp postings or contact their child’s school guidance counselor.

Camps are generating good results. After attending the pharmacy camp, 89 percent of students said they were interested in becoming pharmacists, up from 26 percent before.

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