A really nice surprise, finding my storefront back up. Turtle Software has recently brought out four new products. They are the "Virtual Classroom Manager," the animated "Virtual Classroom/Bootcamp Manager," the "Portable e-Portfolio" and the "Portable Ecard Portal," all on CD ROM. The "Virtual Classroom Manager" is a fun manager, that helps teachers share their views and observations about students with the students and their parents. (Platform requirements: PowerPoint.)

Don't let the "grade-book" concept reduce your class to being a mere checkerboard of formulas and numbers. With the Virtual Classroom Manager a teacher can stimulate his class by having something colorful on the computer screen. In the virtual classroom, every student can feel a little bit like a newsroom anchorman or woman. The virtual classroom helps each student realize that the eyes of the world are on him and that the impression he makes on others is important. After set-up, accessing info on students is as simple as clicking on a face. Click and drag special features to customize a student's image. After set-up, re-editing and updating is easy.

Here are some tips about how to use the Virtual Classroom Manager to make your class more interesting.

Scenario 1.
Use the special features, such as the crown, to mark a student, who is celebrating his birthday.

Scenario 2.
Mark all the participants on committee by adding a red tie, for example, to their images.

Scenario 3.
Use it, in your discussions about a student with his parents.

An additional feature, available on the "Virtual Classroom/Bootcamp Manager," is the ability to email a student with a click of the mouse.

The "Portable e-Portfolio" is for the editing, customizing and listing of 80 photos with corresponding text, 60 with automatically changing images. Ideal for home-based real estate agents and art students. This product is a functional business resource, for installation on the laptop or PC with Powerpoint and does not require Internet Explorer. (A viewer is included for computers without Powerpoint, but it might not operate correctly on every computer.) 8.01 MB.

The "Portable Ecard Portal" gives immediate access to 48 favorite Ecards on the Internet, including one featuring the popular TV pundit, Dr. Phil.

Posted on Friday 12 of August, 2005 [08:33:47 UTC]

I discover that Lulu.com has changed its manner of operation and that my storefront is gone. I wonder, what has happened behind my back? I would like to delete some of my old products but I don't see any way to perform this action in the new setting I find myself in. Did I fall into a trap or break an unwritten rule? Is it because I published some materials privately, in order to be able to access the materials at a later date, as it was very difficult getting the information I need for a hopefully future research project? What is that project? Well, showing that George Washington, our nation's founding father, was actually the biological father of Phillis Wheatley, the profound African American women poet. Yes. I uncovered evidence of this fact and many other interesting things. But the manuscripts I found and the evidence I found are fast disappearing out of the world. I uploaded one such manuscript for future reference, because it was so, so hard to find a copy of the book (called The History of Chelmsford, Mass.) Well, please, somebody, help dig me out of the ground and shovel this dirt off of me. I just hope my storefront will find its way into the world again.

Posted on Wednesday 10 of August, 2005 [18:48:22 UTC]