It's Time to Upgrade from Windows XP - Really... it is.

Look... I am not one of those "early adopters" who says "If you aren't running what just came out yesterday, you aren't current enough!"  But really, folks, you are still running Windows XP?  Yes, I'm sure you've got your reasons -- I mean, I know a lot of people felt let down by Windows Vista and it made them cling harder to Windows XP than ever before -- but that's all behind us now, isn't it?  Windows 7 is a fantastic operating system and -- despite the Metro interface Windows 8 is pretty good, too.  And even if you just can't bring yourself to use Windows 8, Windows 7 really is the best OS Microsoft has produced in every way.

So, here are some compelling reasons to ditch Windows XP and make a move.... now.

Security
Really.  This isn't a drill and it's not people running around flailing in the streets screaming that the sky is falling.  Windows XP is simply not as secure as... well any other operating system on the block.  Even if you updated it with every patch Microsoft has produced, you are still far more vulnerable than anyone else to hackers, malware, viruses and bugs.  And, like it or not, if you are still running Internet Explorer for Windows XP (no matter what version) you are wide open to numerous exploits that are simply not going to be fixed by Microsoft.  Ever.  That means that your personal information may very well be wide open out there for anyone to see.  Just take a moment to consider what the Heartbleed vulnerability did -- and what that means to you as a Windows XP user.  Those things can happen at any time -- and Windows XP and Internet Explorer for XP will no longer be updated to fix them.

Compatibility
Everything from newer software to hardware to plug-ins will no longer be developed to work with Windows XP.  You will, at some point, buy a printer that will not work with Windows XP.  And Microsoft Office versions after Office 2010 do not run on XP properly.  If you really like Internet Explorer, you'll need to upgrade Windows to a newer version to run the most secure and compatible version of the browser.  For the time being, cloud storage like Google Drive, DropBox, Box, OneDrive etc, all still support Windows XP client - but that will eventually go away.  And 802.11ac wireless will not be supported in Windows XP... these are just the easy ones, there are more I'm certain.

Cost
It may seem counter-intuitive to say that spending money on a new operating system and/or new computer will save you money... but in reality it is true.  Just the time you will save in the operational efficiencies make it worth it, but that's not all.  The time and money you will save not hunting down drivers written by some guy in his basement to make that new thing you just bought work -- and then it doesn't really work... you'll probably not pull your hair out as much too.  And the faster machine in and of itself will make you work better, faster and smarter.

It is worth mentioning that you may be running Windows XP because you have an old piece of software or hardware that does not run in Windows 7 or 8.  That is possible.  However, there is no one piece of software that cannot be replaced in exchange for keeping your data safe and secure.

Don't like Windows 8?  Consider an Apple.  They aren't as incompatible as they used to be...

And here's some real, tangible reasons to ditch Windows XP:
https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/2914486
http://www.symantec.com/security_response/vulnerability.jsp?bid=67075
http://www.symantec.com/security_response/vulnerability.jsp?bid=67092
http://www.symantec.com/security_response/landing/vulnerabilities.jsp




Bruce is the author of five books: Sands of Time, Towering Pines Volume One:Room 509, The Star of Christmas, Philadelphia Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel and The Insider's Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel.  He also has a new novel coming out in June 2014, The Kill Commission.  Follow Bruce's Novel releases by subscribing to his FREE newsletter!

Ghost Hunting on your iPad, Android or Windows device? YES!

Here's something neat to add to the list of "useful" things your iPhone, Windows Phone and/or Android device can do -- GHOST HUNTING!

Spud Pickles has a "suite" of Ghost Hunting apps called Ghost Radar: Classic, Ghost Radar: Legacy and Ghost Radar: Connect.  They also have an app called Ghost Radar: Tour that is the official Ghost Tour app of the Augusta Ghost Trolley -- very cool!
Some of these are free, some are not...


Ghost Radar: Classic
Price: Free
Ghost Radar® is the original portable application designed to detect paranormal activity for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPads. Ghost Radar attempts to detect paranormal activity by using various sensors on the device on which it is running. Like traditional paranormal detecting equipment, Ghost Radar has many sensors available to it on mobile devices. However, traditional paranormal equipment can be easily fooled when simple mundane bursts of normal energy occur. Ghost Radar sets itself apart by analyzing the readings from sensors giving indications only when interesting patterns in the readings have been made.

Ghost Radar: Classic is the original. Don’t go for knock-offs and copycats, this is the original and best free ghost detection app.  If you want the newest/coolest versions, you'll have to opt for the pay versions of Ghost Radar: Legacy, and Ghost Radar: Connect.

Ghost Radar: Legacy
Price: $0.99Ghost Radar is a portable application designed to detect paranormal activity. Currently supported portable devices include the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, BlackBerry, Android, and Windows Phone 7 devices. Ghost Radar attempts to detect paranormal activity by using various sensors on the device on which it is running. Like traditional paranormal detecting equipment, Ghost Radar has many sensors available to it on mobile devices. However, traditional paranormal equipment can be easily fooled when simple mundane bursts of normal energy occur. Ghost Radar sets itself apart by analyzing the readings from sensors giving indications only when interesting patterns in the readings have been made.

Ghost Radar: Connect
Price: $1.99The newest Ghost Radar app gives you all the great features, detection, and control of the previous apps, with some awesome new enhancements. Ghost Radar: Connect allows you to record more of your findings, and share them with your friends, all while maintaining the familiar features of previous Ghost Radar apps.

So - if you are interested in some ghost hunting, check out these apps and take a walk around.  You might be surprised at what you find - especially if you teach in one of those nifty, old, historic schools!

Bruce is the author of five books: Sands of Time, Towering Pines Volume One:Room 509, The Star of Christmas, Philadelphia Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel and The Insider's Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel.  He also has a new novel coming out in June 2014, The Kill Commission.  Follow Bruce's Novel releases by subscribing to his FREE newsletter!

Put the Web to work in your American History Classroom!

Here's a little secret.  I'm a huge history geek.  And while I geek for just about anything historical, my interest is particularly piqued when we are talking about American history.  Civil War, World War II, Grand Canyon, Native Americans, Westward Movement.. yup... all of it... including the American Revolution.

Enter the American Revolution Center's online presence.  This website has a very cool interactive timeline about this time period in U.S. history.  The timeline itself features an easily navigated combination of interactive text and images.  Click on any event to view

information regarding that particular event.  Select an  image of an artifact on the timeline to see an enlarged version of that artifact as well as a description of the item, and in some instances, a video about the object will also be available.

The American Revolution interactive timeline is a great visual that can be utilized as an introduction and/or a review of this topic of study.  And timelines are really great teaching tools, one could challenge students to do their own with my favorite timeline site: Timetoast.

Additionally, the website includes a plethora or GREAT lesson plans to perk up ANY classroom!

Bruce is the author of five books: Sands of Time, Towering Pines Volume One:Room 509, The Star of Christmas, Philadelphia Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel and The Insider's Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel.  He also has a new novel coming out in June 2014, The Kill Commission.  Follow Bruce's Novel releases by subscribing to his FREE newsletter!

#SampleSunday from The Insider's Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel

Today I have a sample from The Insider's Story, the second book in the Lance Carter Detective series!  Pick it up today and catch up with Lance and Linc Diesel!

	The Insider's Story is available via:  Paperback  Amazon Kindle  B&N Nook  Sony (Smashwords)  Audiobook

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

          At the end of the block was a playground with a basketball court and six goals and, beyond the court, a softball field with a shallow outfield.  A few teenaged guys were on the court and a guy in his early thirties was running wind sprints in the outfield.  I watched him race from second base to the far edge of the outfield, then walk back, then doing it all again.  A row of tall elms stood sentry along the far perimeter of the outfield, then there was another street and more houses.  There were kids playing on the playground.  This is a family park.  Not a drug dealer park.

         A white Good Humor ice cream truck was parked at the curb in the shade of one of the elms and a tall guy in a Malcolm X hat was leaning against it with his arms crossed, watching the sprinter.  He didn't look interested in selling ice cream.

         James Edward Stone said, “That's our guy.”

         We turned away from the park, made the block and came back to a side street that gave an unobstructed view of the basketball players, the outfield and the ice cream truck on the far street.  I parked on the side street so we'd have an easy, eyes-forward view and then I shut the engine.  If the neighbors saw us sitting there, maybe they'd think we were scouting for the NBA.

         “This used to be called Northeast Park.”  I said plainly. 

         “What?”  Stone responded like I’d slapped him in the back of the head.

         “1825 they renamed it Franklin Square in honor of Benjamin Franklin himself.”

         “What are you?  The History Channel?”

         “Was a big revolutionary war gun powder storage place, too.”  I smiled.  I’m sophisticated like that.

         “Next thing you’ll be telling me is they got bodied buried up in here.”  He shook his head and looked away.

         “Actually,” I looked directly at him and pointed across the car, “over there the German Reform Church had a cemetery from 1740 to 1835.  Word is they didn’t move all the bodies.” 

         James Edward Stone looked me in the eye and shook his head without saying a word.  Maybe eight or nine minutes later four guys in a white Malibu turned onto the far street, slowed to a stop and the guy with the X hat went over to them.  One of the guys in the backseat of the Malibu gave something to the X and the X gave something to the guy in the Malibu.  Then the Malibu drove away and the X went back to his leaning.  A little bit later a kid on a bike rolled up the sidewalk, jumped the curb down to the street and skidded to a stop.  The kid and the X traded something and the kid rode away.  Stone said, “Cool Mo better be giving it to us straight about those cops.”

         I pointed at the X.  “He's here, isn't he?”

         “He's here, but will the cops come and if they come are they coming because they're cops or because they're working with the Double-Deuce?”

         “That’s what we’re here to find out.  Isn’t it.”  It wasn’t a question.

         “Yes.  I guess we will.” James Edward shifted in the seat, uncomfortable, but not because of the seat.  My ride is super comfortable.  “They don't come and run this muthafucka off, maybe I'll do it my-damn-self.”

         “Maybe I'll help you.”  That was no question either.  Stone glanced at me and nodded.

         A couple of minutes later Linc Diesel came up along the sidewalk and squatted beside my window.  I said, “Linc Diesel, this is James Edward Stone.  James, this is my partner, Linc Diesel.”

         Diesel canted his head to lock onto James Edward Stone and reached in through the window.  You can't see his eyes behind the dark glasses, but it's always easy to tell where he's looking.  His whole being sort of points in one direction, as if he were totally focused on you.  James Edward took his hand, but stared at Linc’s tattoos.  Most people do when Linc is showing them off.  Today they were clear as day on his arms.  I told Diesel about the X at the ice cream truck and what Cool Mo had said about Simons's POINT team and their involvement with the Double-Deuce Gang.

         Diesel nodded.  “Frisco and his people are supposed to thump this guy?”

         James Edward said, “That's the word.”

         Diesel looked at the X.  “It's a long way across the playground to the ice cream truck.  If Frisco moves the action away from us, we've got too much ground to cover to catch up.  We might lose them.”

         I said, “Why don't you set up on that side and we'll stay here.  If Frisco moves that way, you've got them and if he moves in this direction, we've got him.”

         Diesel stared behind us up the street, then twisted around and looked at the park.  “You feel it?”

         “What?”

    Diesel shook his head.  “This doesn't feel right.”

~~~~~~~~


 Today I have a sample from The Insider's Story, the second book in the Lance Carter Detective series!  Pick it up today and catch up with Lance and Linc Diesel!

The Insider's Story is available via:  Paperback  Amazon Kindle  B&N Nook  Sony (Smashwords) Audiobook  ~~~~~ Bruce has worked in educational technology for over 18 years and has implemented several 1:1/BYOD programs.  He also has served as a classroom teacher in Computer Science, History and English classes.  Bruce is the author of five books: Sands of Time, Towering Pines Volume One:Room 509, The Star of Christmas, Philadelphia Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel and The Insider's Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel.  Follow Bruce's Novel releases by subscribing to his FREE newsletter! Be sure to check out Bruce's Allentown Education Examiner Page, his Twitter and his Facebook!

Printing from Microsoft Office (Word, Excel) on your iPad

Microsoft’s recently released Office for iPad apps that are a part of their Office 365 ecosystem.  This is a great book for teachers and students everywhere.  But, anytime something like this is released -- we often hear as much about what it doesn't do as what it does do.  Some of the biggies are -- not being able to save or open natively from DropBox.  Well, Microsoft doesn't own DropBox... but they do own OneDrive.  So that's what they've chosen to support.  However, you can still open documents from DropBox by using the "Open In" feature within DropBox, then selecting the App (but that's another BLOG post :)).  And then there's the "you can't edit or create unless you subscribe" thing.  But, hey, that's just how it is.

One glaring omission is that lack of a native printing option from any Office application.  I love Word and Excel, but if I can't print from it when I need to -- it has limited value.  And since this is an important thing, I've found some options for you (and me)!

You can -- of course -- work on your documents and then print them from a different App.  But that seems silly.  So, here are a couple of options to print from apps like Word or Excel, that do not support printing natively:ACTPrinter (Houdah Software, $3)
ePrint (Microtech, $3)
ThinPrint Cloud Printer (Cortado, free)

You'll need to download one of these (or another similar) app.  Then open the document in question in Word or Excel.

Once open, look for the three dots at the lower right hand corner and select "Open in Another App".  Then select the appropriate app you have installed to send your document to.  The rest is handled by the app itself (as far as what printer and so on).

I can talk about the apps themselves in another BLOG post, but that's about it for now until Microsoft decides to support printing on iOS.  But, at least you can have your students creating, editing and now printing from their iPads.

*UPDATE* As of the April 29th update to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote now includes printing built-in.

Bruce is the author of five books: Sands of Time, Towering Pines Volume One:Room 509, The Star of Christmas, Philadelphia Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel and The Insider's Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel.  He also has a new novel coming out in June 2014, The Kill Commission.  Follow Bruce's Novel releases by subscribing to his FREE newsletter!