Visit Rome, 320 c.e.
Take a tour of ancient Rome, courtesy of Google. Read a description of the project here.
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Copyright Law: A Proposal of Best Practices
I ran into some copyright conundrums in the course of preparing for NTI, particularly regarding distribution of (out-of-print) materials. The problem is that copyright law is complex, and while individuals, libraries, and academic institutions are protected by “fair use,” it is not always clear what situations it covers (and the most efficient way to find out is to get yourself sued).
A group of researchers and educators have published this proposal on how institutions can properly use copyrighted material for educational purposes. It’s long, and often controversial, but may be worth it to those thinking through these issues.
Ars Technica has a nice summary:
In general, the document advises that faculty has broad abilities to use copyrighted material in educational materials, “including books, workbooks, podcasts, DVD compilations, videos, Web sites, and other materials designed for learning.” But it goes beyond what might be expected, as it argues that curriculum materials that incorporate copyrighted works can be sold, provided that accomplishes an educational purpose. Students are given broad leeway for the use of copyrighted works in assignments but, provided their work is sufficiently transformative, the guidelines argue that they should also be able to perform or distribute their assignments in any context, including online.
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Sync Thunderbird Address Books using Funambol
There is now an easy way to sync your Thunderbird addresses and calendars with, well, anything!
Our family uses Mozilla’s Thunderbird to get things done–it syncs up perfectly with Gmail (use IMAP for best results) and Google Calendar (with this plugin). The only persistent problem I have had is getting all our address books to sync across computers (not to mention cell phones, music players, etc). Until last night.
A wonderful sync web-based service called Funambol uses data standards to keep all your address books (and calendars) in sync. It even works across different software, and will sync with your iPhone or Blackberry or other smartphone. It’s free and open source.
First download the Thunderbird plugin. It’s experimental (so you will need to sign into Mozilla and tell them you’re cool), but I have had not problems. You also need a Funambol account (get one here). You may also be interested in a number of other plugins a plugins for Outlook and other applications. Give it a whirl!
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Tags: funambol, gmail, google, imap, open source, outlook, sync, thunderbird
Free Media Players and Media Tools
Some time ago I posted this introduction to free software, promising a series of articles about good free products available for all your computing needs. The promised posts have been slow in coming, but the next in the series is ready for release! You can find other posts in this series here.
This post will lost a couple of free alternatives to popular media players, such as Windows Media Player and iTunes.
Free vs. Free
Of course, WMP and iTunes are both free, aren’t they. Yes they are in the sense you don’t have to pay for them. But both are tightly controlled by companies that want to sell you there products, and there is therefore a cost attached. WMP, for example, requires you to buy a license for DVD playback. You probably didn’t know this since the cost of the license is embedded in your Windows installation, but it’s true. If you’ve ever had to re-install Windows, only to find that DVDs no longer play, you propbably had occasion to learn this. iTunes also has its problems (what software doesn’t), but prime among them is DRM. When you buy Music off of iTunes it is protected in such a way that it only plays on products you own. This is fine, most of the time, but what if the store in question stops supporting your music? Or what if you want to play your music on another product? Bottom line: it’s still their music!
Really Free Media Players
So here are a couple of selections if you want alternatives to iTunes or WMP.
- VLC Media Player. This little guy plays every media type imaginable: DVDs (out-of-the-box), mpegs, windows media, mp3s, etc. Let’s put it this way: I never encountered a format that it can’t play. This should be on your computer, if only to be able to play anything you want to. But in addition, VLC offers powerful conversion tools and other handy features, making it an all-in-one media management solution. Want to play a file that a friend sent you that’s in same weird format? Try VLC. Want to convert a DVD so it will run on your iPod? VLC can do that too! Want to setup a server to stream music to your friends on your own personal internet radio station? Well, you get the idea. One disadvantage: VLC lacks a good media library, so it won’t be your default music player.
Songbird (get the 1.0 release here). Songbird can be your all around iTunes replacement. Simple, pretty, with lots of plugins to help you get it running just the way you want. I’ve been using it for awhile, and since it is now out of Beta it is ready for the masses. It’s based off of Firefox, with all the advantages of a built-in web browser, infinite plugins, and open-source code. Great for the iTunes user, and it runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Interested? Check out this review.- Foobar2000. An excellent Music player and media manager, especially for the advanced user who knows what words like FLAC, ogg, and bit-perfect mean. It has plugins for almost everything, including your ipod.
It’s not the prettiest (though recent versions are much improved), but it does everything, including rip your CDs with double-check for accuracy and automatic replay-gain scanning! It is a Windows app, but runs on Linux perfectly using WINE. - Others: There are a couple of other media players that those comfortable with experimenting can take a look at. First, Amarok, which runs on Linux and apparently on Windows (though I have not gotten the latter to work). Winamp is also popular, though I haven’t used it in years.
Other Free Media Tools
The software above is great for playing videos or music, but you might also need tools to manage your files. Here are some that I use.
- Handbrake. All-in-one video converter. Allows you to convert one video format to another, with a special emphasis on easily turning DVDs into iPod videos. You can find other media converters, including some that circumvent copy protection, here.
- Orb. Share your music with your friends.
- CDBurnerXP. An all-in-one CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray burner. A simple tool for what should be an easy job.
- Other video tools: check out this post for more converters.
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Greek Verbal Aspect
Here is the first in a series of 5 posts by Constantine Campbell, author of the new Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek. The posts will outline the impetus behind his book and should be interesting reading. This book will hopefully fill a much needed gap in current curriculum, since verbal aspect is an incredibly important topic but lacks beginner/intermediate resources.
As long as we’re on the topic of Greek, I should also mention this little number, which many of my students say is helpful and catchy.
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Logos Software for Macs
Logos is rolling out its software products for the Mac. No emulator necessary! You can read all the details, and pre-order, here.
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Time to Upgrade your Security
Or at least think about it.
While not yet fully “cracked,” WPA is now officially cracking. WPA is a security technology that many businesses, churches, seminaries, and home-owners use to secure their network traffic. It encrypts all data that is sent from your computer to your router so that others cannot read it or tamper with your network. Two researchers have been partially succesfull in cracking this sacrosanct security technology. Read about the technical details here. Here is a more descriptive analysis.
While homes and smaller organizations probably need not worry about this development, larger organizations that deal with sensitive data should consider upgrading their security to WPA2, which is still considered rock-solid safe.
For the rest of us: next time you buy a router or wireless card, make sure it supports WPA2.
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Tags: security, wireless
That Tangled Web
Ever wish you had a Penseive? You know, that device Dumbledore uses to untangle his many memories in an effort to unravel the mysteries that surround him? Well, it’s not magic, but I have found the application FreeMind to be helpful. It’s a handy tool for those who like to connect seemingly disparate ideas. I’ve used it in the course of writing papers or reviews. It’s still a little rough around the edges, but it works fairly well overall and will run on any OS. Give it a try!
You can find more information and a link to download at their site.
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Adding Versions to Bibleworks
Did you know that you can add user created versions to Bibleworks? I made this discovery recently while searching for some OT Pseudepigrapha.
Follow this guide to get things set up.
There is also a list of available versions. Included among them are the OT Pseudepigrapha, the Gospel of Thomas, several Targums, and a number of Classical Greek authors (Herodotus, for example).
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Tags: bibleworks, how to, the gospel
Get a to-do List in Gmail
Ever wish Gmail had a simple to-do list? Follow this guide, which describes how to add the services provided by Remember the Milk, a web-bsaed to-do list manager, to Gmail’s sidebar.
I have been a user of Remember the Milk since it was released over a year ago, and it’a pretty powerful stuff. You can tag related tasks, set priorities, edit dates and reminders (email, sms, rss), etc. All this is packaged in a very easy to use interface. What is more, RTM provides offline support (through Google Gears), a desktop gadget, an iGoogle gadget, and a Thunderbird add-in.
Combining Google (Gmail and Calendar), Thunderbird (w/ Lightning and the Google Calendar add-in), and Remember the Milk creates an all-in-one Outlook replacement complete with 24/7 web sync and accessibility. I hope to publish a guide to this setup soon.
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Tags: email, gmail, google, how to, thunderbird
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