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iPodMeister gives you an iPad for your old CDs
Want to get a new iPad but a little short on cash? Trade in a bunch of your old CDs or DVDs to a company called iPodMeister and your problems are solved. Sound too good to be true? It's not, reports the New York Times. iPodMeister was founded by a group of musicians and students who realized that though CDs are virtually worthless in the US, they often fetch higher prices abroad. Their business model is to collect your discarded CDs or DVDs, giving you an iPod, iPhone, or iPad in return, and sell your CDs and DVDs for a profit in other countries. A fringe benefit of this is that your old CDs and DVDs actually get used for something instead of just going into a landfill. The cool cats at iPodMeister do have strict rules regarding what CDs and DVDs are acceptable, but note that if you bought your CDs in a record store, you're probably good to go. They do require both the original jewel case (remember those?) and the original album artwork, however. If you've got binders full of original CDs, but no inserts, you're out of luck. So what will the various iterations of the iPad cost you? The full breakdown's past the link below, but you might be surprised -- an iPad ain't cheap.
Marvell pitches $99 Moby Tablet as textbook alternative
When chipmaker Marvell told us its technology would power $99 smartphones, we took the company at its word. We weren't expecting a sub-$100, 10-inch tablet PC, however -- and we definitely weren't expecting Marvell itself to build it. Marketed at students looking to lighten their textbook load, the Marvell Moby will be an "always-on, high performance multimedia tablet" capable of full Flash support and 1080p HD playback -- thanks to those nifty Armada 600 series processors -- and supporting WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS and both Android and Windows Mobile platforms for maximum flexibility. No release date has yet been announced; like the OLPC, Marvell will introduce the Moby in pilot programs at participating at-risk schools. While it's far too early to say if the Moby will be the universal educational e-reader Marvell hopes (that depends on software), it's certainly an intriguing device for the price, and we'll admit we're a touch jealous of those kids who'll first get to try one.
Forget the "Crackberry": Stanford students are addicted to their iPhones
Years ago, when the Blackberry started gaining traction among business users, people found themselves using the device so much that the nickname "Crackberry" was invented to describe how addicting the device was. According to a recent survey of 200 Stanford University students, the iPhone is just as addictive as the Blackberry, if not more so. Nearly a third of Stanford students surveyed worried about becoming addicted to their iPhones, while more than a third had heard complaints they were using the devices too much. The survey gives some insight into why students found their iPhones so addicting: 74 percent of students surveyed said they 'felt cool" when they got an iPhone, but more importantly, a quarter of surveyed students said their iPhones felt like "an extension of their brain or their being." I can definitely vouch for the addictive nature of the iPhone. I use my iPhone for almost everything these days, and it's fundamentally changed the way I do a lot of things. When I'm out and about and have a question about some bit of trivia, Wikipedia is only a few taps away. When I'm comparison shopping in a store, Amazon's product reviews can tell me in a few seconds whether what I'm looking at is a worthwhile purchase. And I've definitely gotten complaints that I use my iPhone too much from both my wife and a couple of my friends. Funnily enough, though, the friend who was most apt to complain about my iPhone usage stopped complaining about it altogether once she got an iPhone of her own -- within a few days of using her iPhone, she admitted that she finally understood why I used mine so much. How about you? Do you find the iPhone as addicting as the Stanford students? Let us know in the poll below or in the comments. [Via Ars Technica] %Poll-42365%
College offers freshmen a choice: iPad or MacBook
A few colleges offer a laptop to incoming freshmen (paid for out of their tuition, of course), but Oregon's George Fox University is, so far as we know, the first college to give students the choice between a MacBook or an iPad. According to Macsimum News, George Fox University's chief information officer, Greg Smith, said, "The issue for us is the changing landscape of educational computing and the value dilution of a laptop for a traditional undergraduate." Smith says offering the iPad as an alternative to the MacBook is well-suited to students who already have a laptop of their own, or students who think the iPad will be a better fit for them than a full-sized MacBook. Smith is aware that the iPad has potential issues associated with it, and he wonders if the iPad will be able to fully meet students' educational needs. According to Smith, "These are the kinds of questions we really won't know the answer to until we get started." The university hasn't supplied any information on which models of iPad they intend to offer to incoming students, but I'm willing to bet that the 3G-enabled models probably won't be offered. It will be interesting to see how George Fox University's experiment plays out over the next year. Personally, something like an iPad would have been a fantastic tool for me during my undergrad studies, especially compared to the ancient, leaden brick of a PowerBook G3 I was toting all over campus. Whether students will choose to sacrifice the higher performance and flexibility of a MacBook over the ease of use and portability of the iPad is, as Smith says, something that remains to be seen.
Yale students build spokeless bicycle in one semester, now looking for jobs
Here's something that'll make you think twice before your next bike purchase -- the geniuses (genii?) at Yale University have built a pretty rad spokeless bicycle, which was somehow inspired by the lack of "pictures of a real spokeless bicycle online." Sure, strictly speaking it's just a half-done product due to time (one semester) and budget restraints, but that rear wheel -- driven by the pedals on its geared inner rim -- alone should be enough to make you gasp. Practical hipsters might even be able to fit an electric motor or some sort of container inside the wheel, although we're pretty content with the futuristic hollowness. Either way, the Yale grad who posted these photos is now available for hire, so pay him well and you can have it your way.
We Have a Tabard: Ring the bell, school's back in
Looking for a guild? Well, you can join ours! We have a tabard and everything! Check back for Amanda Dean talking about guilds and guild leadership in We Have a Tabard.Drama is not the only issue to cause hardship among raiding guilds. We've seen guilds crumble and fall over new raid content. It seems we've come across another time-sensitive factor: the beginning of the school year. Guilds that have been blissfully progressing throughout the summer may be seeing their attendance plummet. Remember folks, some things are more important than WoW. Education tops the list. It would be poor form to badger your scholastic members into raiding when they've got homework to do. Students also need a good night's sleep in order to perform successfully. This goes for college students as well as high schoolers, but they may have more flexibility in scheduling. In the end, WoW is just a video game and school affects the present and the future.
Mental Case reinvents the flash card
Education is deeply imbued in the Apple DNA. In Apple's early days, the education market served as a base from which it would grow from and, in the process, introduce many of us to personal computing as well as a new way of learning. Similarly, the iPhone has the potential to change the dynamics of learning. The device's multi-touch display has not only reinvented and breathed new life into apps that had previously lived on other platforms, but has also spurred the creation of a new class of learning apps. One of these apps is Mental Case, a flash card application available on both Mac OS X and the iPhone/iPod touch. At its very core, Mental Case's main goal is to facilitate the flash card creation and studying process.
University of Florida pharmacy students must have iPhone or iPod Touch
It's getting to be the 'in' thing for Colleges and Universities. The University of Florida at Gainesville is now requiring incoming pharmacy students for the fall semester to have either an iPhone or an iPod touch. The student Newspaper, the Alligator, quotes the College of Pharmacy Dean William Riffee saying:"These are the instruments at the forefront that are developing applications for medical uses by the hundreds. We want our students to become adept at using these mobile devices early on because we see this as the future in pharmacy practice."The Dean also owns an iPhone so he knows of what he speaks.In May, the University of Missouri School of Journalism also required the popular Apple devices, saying they would be helpful for recording lectures and other academic uses.This is obviously a good thing for Apple, and the University thinks it is a good thing for students. It's not so good, however, if you already own a Zune.Thanks to Billy S. for the tip
Using WoW for learning in schools
We've heard about WoW in schools before, but usually it's at schools of higher learning, where they're studying social networks or how society evolves. But a group in North Carolina is planning to put WoW in schools in a different way: by using situations in World of Warcraft to develop literacy, mathematics, and other competencies. WoWinSchools has math lessons and other tests based around WoW terms and knowledge: one example question asks "Which types of heals produce a greater number of recovered hit points during an encounter?" Another wants to know "Which buff (a spell that enhances a character's abilities) is more effective for your character, Blessing of Kings or Blessing of Might?" The idea is to use situations that the kids are familiar with in World of Warcraft (raiding, for example), and apply higher level thinking to those situations.There are even creative writing suggestions dedicated to the game, from writing an RP story about a character in Azeroth, to writing a song parody (that one should be taught by Professor Turpster) or designing a quest chain. And lest you think they're just joking around, there's a whole slew of research behind the idea, too, and it definitely makes sense: kids who play World of Warcraft are much more likely to be interested in problems about DPS and Healing rather than Susie and Bobby's apples that we added and subtracted back when we were kids in school.It seems like the only place this is implemented is in one afterschool program -- while there are lots of good ideas here, it's not necessarily being used in many classrooms yet (and my guess is that not every student in schools would vibe with a World of Warcraft-based curriculum, either). But it is a plan in development, and anything that better helps teachers understand what their students are interested in is probably worthwhile.
Japanese university tracking students via free iPhones
If you happen to be enrolling in Aoyama Gakuin University's School of Social Informatics in Tokyo this year, make sure to stop by the admissions office to pick up your free iPhone -- the school made a deal with Softbank Corporation, the iPhone's vendor in Japan, to give the phones to 550 students for school usage. But oh, there is one catch: they're also going to use the phones' GPS to track students, and make sure they're attending class on time. It looks like skipping class is an issue -- the students at the school, despite having to answer an attendance check and/or hand in an attendance card, are still skipping out on class and having their classmates cover them. But apparently university officials think the iPhone plan will work better, because students will be less inclined, they believe, to pass off their iPhone to a buddy. Need to keep track of truant students? There is, apparently, an app for that. [via Ars]
Video: Polish students take building light shows to the next level
Our friends at Engadget Polska caught this video of a giant lightshow -- a nerdworks, if you will -- put on by a group of students at Wrocław University of Technology. This is not the first time we've seen such a display, nor is it a first for this particular group, who call themselves Projekt P.I.W.O. -- but it is one of the best (and longest). The ten minute show includes much classic geekery -- Pong, Tetris, Dr. Mario, and Michael Jackson. Yes, that's right: Michael Jackson. Check the video after the break.[Via Engadget Polska]
Teens take pictures of space with balloon, Nikon Coolpix camera
The closest most of us 'round here will ever get to outer space is blogging about the Lunar X Prize, so our inner astronauts get rather giddy any time an amateur makes it to the cusp of the gravity well. The above photos were taken by the Meteotek team, a teacher and his four students from the IES La Bisbal school in Catalonia, Spain. The group designed and launched a balloon kitted out with a Nikon Coolpix and custom built electronics, intending to get some shots at 30,000 feet. Well exceeding their expectations, the $80 digicam (held aloft by a $60 latex balloon) reached over 100,000 feet, at which point it lost inflation and fell to the earth. As the balloon rose, the team was able to map its progress using Google Earth via the craft's on-board radio receiver. After it fell back to earth, the group "travelled 10km to find the sensors and photographic card," said one of the students, "which was still emitting its signal, even though it had been exposed to the most extreme conditions." [Via Switched]
New student-created DS games available for download in Japan
Students at the annual Nintendo Game Seminar program produce original DS games, which are made available for download at DS Download Stations throughout Japan, as well as through the Wii's Nintendo Channel. Four games from the 2008 seminar will be available at Download Stations starting tomorrow, one each week, ranging from a poetry game to face sculpting.Fuu Fuu Kirarin is a mic-controlled game in which players blow to create upward drafts that send stars back into the sky, around platforms and obstacles. Re: Koetist puts players in the role of a voice artist who reads lines, which are then played back, with the player's lines delivered by a random onscreen character. Ugo Ugo Trinity is an action game that somehow involves moving around and posing. It doesn't say it's controlled by the DSi camera, so we don't know what kind of trickery is at work. And KaoSapiens is a game about deforming and shaping weird-looking faces on disembodied heads.Now that the DS has its own download service, we expect to see these on the Japanese DSi Shop as well. We continue not to expect them outside of Japan, despite our interest in playing weird, experimental games.[Via Game Watch]
Apple opens registration for 2008 Insomnia Film Festival
If you are a high school or college student, then you can now register a team for Apple's 2008 Insomnia Film Festival. The idea behind the festival is simple. Apple will post a list of elements you can use in your film, you pick three of them, and then take 24 hours to make a 3 minute movie.If you are the lucky grand prize winner, your team will receive: 5 MacBook Pro notebook computers, 5 Final Cut Studio 2 box sets, 5 copies of Shake, 5 Logic Studio box sets, and 5 One to One personal training cards. That sure is a nice set up! If you want to get in on the action, check out Apple's Insomnia Film Festival website, and register your team today! All the fun will start on November 15th at 9:00 a.m. EST. And if you like the Insomnia logo, Apple has posted wallpaper for both Mac and iPhone/iPod touch on the site.
Study shows 43% of college women prefer Macs
"Hi, I'm a Mac. And I'm a PC." -- You've probably heard those words more than a few times. Apple has been airing the "Get a Mac" commercials for a few years, and from the looks of it, the ads have been fairly successful. But has it really helped spread the word that Mac is better?iPhone Savior recently surveyed seven college women at a school in British Columbia (Canada) and found that almost half of them said they preferred a Mac over a PC. They note that their research on the subject was ended early due to "several unfriendly encounters with campus security."Numbers don't lie ... and Apple has the numbers (quite literally) on their side. Recently, Apple's market share jumped to almost 8.2% for notebook users. That's just amazing (especially for such difficult economical times).Please note: The iPhone Savior survey is very limited in statistical terms of population, and because of this, the data is probably skewed slightly. We should also note that before you take a poll on a college campus, make sure you're a student or have clearance from the proper school officials. That being said, feel free to take part in our own poll on this issue.%Poll-20789%
Apple Stores welcome kids via Field Trip
Letting a bunch of kids loose in a candy store might be a sticky mess, but letting them loose in an Apple Store should be a delightful, brushed metal and glass wonderland of fun. Right? That's the idea behind Apple's new Field Trip program for elementary, middle and high school students and their teachers. Apple is inviting groups of up to 25 students for the hour-long programs, which can feature a big-screen presentation of work that the students have already done in class (Keynote/PowerPoint, movies & more) or hands-on creation sessions that allow the kids to make new projects in the store. Parents and friends are welcome to come watch the fun. Session reservations are available through November 21; the 'school champion' organizing the event gets email templates to send to attendees, the option of printed invitations, and a complimentary subscription to One-to-One training for a year. Not too shabby. [via Apple Hot News]
Blizzard helps host art show at Laguna College of Art and Design
The Laguna College of Art and Design has worked pretty closely with Blizzard in the past -- some of Blizzard's employees are on faculty there, and they've sent artists over to work with students before. They've also put on art shows there, and this week, they're putting on another one. The exhibit will open on October 1st and last through the rest of the month, and they're having a reception event on October 23rd (it's open to the public, and you can bet that there will be more than a few Blizzard artists there to say hi to).Sounds like fun. Here's a slideshow of student art scheduled to be in the show -- none of it looks to be strictly Warcraft-related, but there is a little Blizzard flavor in a few of them (especially this one, I think). It all looks well done -- maybe we'll see some of this stuff exhibited at BlizzCon as well. If you're in the area and you do go see it, make sure to tell us what you think.
Back to School: Papers updated for the new term
TUAW's going Back to School! We'll be bringing you tips and reviews for students, parents and teachers right up until the bell rings in September. Read on for a timely app update useful for students. PDF management app Papers has been bumped to version 1.8.5, bringing what the developers claim are 100 improvements. Top on the list is a new sharing feature called Papers Archives, which lets you share a PDF file and its associated metadata with a colleague. Papers isn't for everyone. Instead, it's specifically designed for students and academics, particularly those who deal with a lot of scientific periodicals in the course of their research. It lets you search them, sort them (manually or using Smart Folders), find them on any one of 14 different online repositories, rate them, browse your library in tabs, and much more. Papers costs $42 for a single-user license, but students qualify for a 40 per cent discount.
Hong Kong students bring PSP to school, compete in exams
Next time your teacher tells you to put away your PSP in class, point them to this. In Hong Kong, a program called the "Mobile Learning Platform" takes advantage of various electronic devices (PSP included) and uses them to give students quizzes. According to the PlayStation HK site, "students can use mobile devices including PDA, mobile phones or mobile gaming devices to log in to the mobile learning platform and then test their own knowledge anytime and anywhere."The program will be used for an "inter-school mobile quiz" contest to be held on July 8th. Eighteen schools will participate in a challenge that tests their knowledge of the Olympics, and other trivia. Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong is one of the sponsors.Y'know, when we were kids in school, we wouldn't be able to use our Game Boys in class. But now, these students can use PSPs and win prizes. You guys have it so good.[Thanks to Siliconera!]
DS is an excellent tool for teaching Japanese students English
Japanese students at Tokyo's Joshi Gakuen all-girls junior high school are getting DS handhelds for the classroom, but they're not playing New Super Mario Bros. on them. They're using them to learn a new language: English. What makes it such a great tool in aiding their studies? Perhaps it's familiarity ...The handheld system is incredibly popular in the country and many students have one they enjoy using to play games on a regular basis. It's a system they're comfortable with, has an easy interface, and mixes a bit of fun in with the learning. If we would've had the option when learning another language in our schooltime studies, we'd probably remember how to ask where the bathroom is in German.
