Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

As someone who covers current internet technology trends, especially those that have to do with social media, it was exciting to discover that right here in Tampa there is an innovative social media project underway right now: Kidz Connect. This three-week program through ZoomLab is a summer camp whose goal is to promote cultural exchange through theatrical performance.

At the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center’s Patel Conservatory, Bay Area teens in Tampa are hooking up with teens in Amsterdam (at IVKO Montessori School) via video streaming in the virtual world Teen Second Life where they are learning about each others lives, culture, and more. Together, through online collaboration, the 30 teens involved in this workshop will create a live theater and online performance based on the theme, “What is Real?” which will be performed on Saturday, June 28th (tomorrow!).

As they work together, the teens will also be learning how to craft digital art within Teen Second Life as part of the project’s goal to provide the students with an introduction to video and sound production. The students will also be participating in live theater, music, and dance presentations performed on stage at TBPAC as well as streamed to the internet and in Second Life.

To see just how the project has gone thus far, I recommend you read the camp’s blog at http://kidzconnect.org .  But to see the end result, watch the performance live on the net Saturday:

Saturday, 28 June at 2 p.m. EST / 8 p.m. Amsterdam (GMT+2)

Saturday’s show will be presented live in Tampa, Florida, at the Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. See the Patel Conservatory site for tickets to attend the Saturday show in person.

To watch the video stream:

During those times, the video stream will be broadcasting live. It will also be archived for viewing at a later date.  You must have QuickTime Player installed in order to view the webcast. Click here to watch the live video stream

To watch in Teen Second Life:

If you are a teen, you can also watch it in Teen Second Life. Go to http://teen.secondlife.com/ and click “Free Basic Account” to create your username. Then download the Second Life application, install it and log in with the username you just created. To go to the show, search for the “Kidz Connect event” group and join it, then you can click on this SLURL (Second Life URL) which will give you the option to teleport directly to Kidz Connect Island.  Click here to watch in Teen Second Life

This article was written by Sarah Perez, who writes for Microsoft’s Channel 10, ReadWriteWeb, and maintains a personal blog at sarahintampa.com

Google Maps for your mobile phone is out now with a new, improved version called Google Maps with My Location (beta). The new version offers several new features, the most important being its ability find your location using either your phone’s built-in GPS or by triangulating your location using cell towers. If your phone doesn’t have GPS, the triangulation feature will get you somewhere within 500 to 5000 meters of where you really are. You can then use the “0″ on your phone to position yourself more accurately on the map. In addition to the “my location” feature, the new version of Google Maps for mobile also has real-time traffic (I could have used this today!), more detailed step-by-step directions, integrated search results, easily movable maps, and even satellite imagery. You can see a demo of the service here. Also, check out the video below for an explanation of how it all works. To get the latest version of Google Maps, point your mobile browser to www.google.com/gmm. Most web-enabled mobile phones are supported, including Java, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Nokia/Symbian devices.

For more tech news, visit my blog, www.sarahintampa.com!

Are you a neat freak? Many people realize their electronic equipment is getting dirty, but hesitate to do any cleaning because they are afraid of causing damage. If you’ve been dying to know the proper way to clean your computer, the mouse, keyboard, and monitor (and really, who hasn’t?), you will appreciate these tips that help you (safely) keep things clean and sparkly.

How to Clean Your Keyboard

Turn the keyboard upside down and gently shake it. Most of the crumbs (who’s been eating crackers at my keyboard?), dust, and debris will fall out. Take a can of compressed air and blow into and around the keys. Next, take a cotton swab and dip it in rubbing alcohol. It should be damp, but not wet. Run the cotton swab around the outside of the keys. Rub the tops of the keys. If you have a laptop, follow the same procedure but take extra care to not drip liquid in the spaces between the keys.

How to Clean Your Mouse

For optical mice, rub the top and bottom of your mouse with a paper towel dipped in rubbing alcohol. If you have a ball mouse, open the back and remove the ball. Wash the ball with water and let it air dry. To clean inside the mouse, dip a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol and rub all of the components. Scrape hard to remove grime with your fingernail. If you want to go really overboard, try the washable mouse.

How to Clean Your Monitor

Never use a cleaning agent like Windex on your monitor. Cleaners like that often contain ammonia, which can damage your display. A slightly damp, lint-free cloth, like the ones that come with eyeglasses, or a microfiber cloth is better. Never use paper towels! To clean streaks, first use a damp cloth and then use a dry one. Lightly moisten the cloth with either water or a commercial cleaner, which you can buy at office supply stores, like Staples or Office Depot. Often, LCD cleaners are just a mix of 50/50 isopropyl alcohol/water, so, if need be, you can mix that yourself. Never to spray any liquid directly at your screen – just moisten the cloth lightly.

How to Clean Your Computer

You may need to use a screwdriver to remove the side of the case that’s opposite your motherboard, but these days, many cases don’t require tools to open. Modern cases often have easy access side panels. Check your computer manufacturer’s website for more info on how to open the case for your particular model. When opening the case, touch as little as possible inside the computer, while keeping your fingers away from cards and cords. Using a can of compressed air, blow air around all of the components and along the bottom of the case, keeping the nozzle four inches away from the machine. Blow air into the power supply box and into the fan (from the back of the case). Lastly, blow air into the floppy disk and CD drives. Wipe the inside of the cover with a lightly moistened cloth before replacing it. Doing this every three months is recommended if your case sits on the floor, if you have pets that shed, or if you smoke. Otherwise, every six to eight months is fine. To clean the outside of the case, run a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol around all of the openings on the back of your case. Give them one swipe with the damp end of the swab and one swipe with the dry end. Do this as often as you clean the inside of your computer.

Tips collated from the web and Microsoft at Home; Get more tech tips and news at www.sarahintampa.com

The major selling feature of RIM’s Blackberry devices is the ability to “push” your email to you - your phone immediately alerts you when you have new mail. Instead of having to log in to some sort of application that periodically polls the email server for new mail (”pull” email), push email is the reason for people’s incessant addiction to these popular handheld devices. Now, along comes a new service that promises to bring this level of email addiction to the masses. New from emoze is a service that will “push” your personal emails to nearly any mobile handset that supports email, including Nokia, Samsung, and Motorola devices. With the emoze service, you can receive your emails as well as manage other Outlook data, like your contacts and meeting requests. In addition to Microsoft Outlook & Microsoft Exchange, emoze also supports Lotus Notes Domino servers and POP3 online email services such as Hotmail, Yahoo! and Gmail. Yes, Gmail. Push Gmail. Unbelievably, the emoze service is totally free.

For more more tech news, visit www.sarahintampa.com

You don’t have to be a child living in the 3rd world to get a $100 computer anymore - a company has introduced a $99 PC for everyone called “Zonbu.” Designed to be a “green” PC, the small computer needs little power to run, utilizing just one-tenth the power of a typical desktop machine. In addition, the company operates in an environmentally-friendly way, offering a free take-back program and using less energy in production of the devices. By eliminating fans & hard drives, the Zonbu is completely silent; instead, flash memory is used to run the machine. Since flash memory doesn’t need to “start up” the way a hard drive does - by spinning its disks - the Zonbu starts right up away. The computer runs the Zonbu OS, which is their own flavor of Linux, and includes the open-source productivity suite Open Office, the Firefox browser, the Evolution email client, a universal IM program, Skype, a media player, a photo organizer, various other multi-media apps, and games, including puzzles, shoo ters, and a selection of arcade classics.

With the purchase of Zonbu, you can also get the Zonbu service (and you should) which provides you with upgrades to your applications & operating system. As new versions of OS, the applications, and the drivers become available, the Zonbu service automatically applies the upgrades, so your system is always up-to-date. With this $12.95 per month service, your data is encrypted and stored on the company’s servers, so even if something was to happen to your Zonbu device, the data could be restored to a replacement machine. Additionally, you can log in to Zonbu’s private web space from anywhere that has an an internet connection and access your data from there. The device has six USB ports so you can hook up your printer, an iPod, a digital camera, insert a memory stick, or plug in any other number of gadgets.

Since this is a managed, diskless device, you can’t install your own programs, and there could be a lack of support for various peripherals. These limitations mean that you should not consider using this as your home’s primary computer, as you will still want something more customizable to your needs. However, as a kid’s computer, a spare to have in the kitchen or the guest room, or just an extra computer for the family so you don’t have to fight over who’s “turn” it is, this basic machine may be worth checking out.

For more tech news, check out www.sarahintampa.com

The popular U.S. web 2.0 real estate search site, Zillow, has just launched a new feature called “Neighborhood Pages.” On these pages, people who live in the selected neighborhoods can upload photos, events, and other information to the site. With the neighborhood pages, Zillow users will learn not just about real estate in an area, but also what it’s like to actually live there.

Currently, there are pages for more than 6,500 neighborhoods in 130 U.S. cities. I had trouble finding the neighborhood pages at first, but that’s because I searched for “Seminole Heights” and they have it spelled wrong! You can begin your search for neighborhoods here, a page listing all the U.S. states. As you drill down into the states, like Florida, you will be presented with a list of cities. Click on a city, like Tampa, and you will see the neighborhoods listed in the column on your left. It’s a great feature if it takes off, but I think it could benefit by being better promoted, like being featured on one of the tabs at the top of the Zillow homepage.

For more technology news, visit sarahintampa.com.

Google has recently acquired GrandCentral, a service that lets you integrate all your phone numbers into one account, which is then assigned a unique phone number. This one phone number is yours to keep…for life.

Using GrandCentral, you can choose which of your phone numbers ring by caller or by group, record calls, block callers, or screen callers using a special technology called “ListenIn.” With ListenIn, you can hear what callers have to say before picking up and hear voicemails as they are being left rather than afterwards; you can then decide whether or not to jump in and take the call.

GrandCentral’s voicemail service offers many features, too. You can personalize your greetings by caller or group, forward voicemails via email, automatically route calls to a particular number or to voicemail quickly, using their Quick Rule feature. In fact, there are so many features available at GrandCentral, it’s hard to believe. It sounds like a great service, if you’re okay with Google having your phone number now, too.

GrandCentral is in private beta, but you can request an invite.

T-Mobile has officially launched the long-anticipated HotSpot @Home service. The service allows the supported handsets to seamlessly switch between wi-fi and cellular networks to make and receive calls.

Included in the HotSpot @Home package is a wi-fi router that is used to create a wireless network at your home, creating a “hotspot” where you can enjoy VOIP service that doesn’t use up your plan’s minutes. As you go about your day, if you end up at one of T-Mobile’s nearly 8000 hotspots nationwide, your cell phone will switch to using the wi-fi network offered there. The switch is meant to happen seamlessly, meaning even if you’re on a call while walking into a Starbucks, the call will not be dropped.

Currently, only two phones work with the service, the Nokia 6086 and the Samsung T409—a, but I’m sure we’ll see more in the future as the service really takes off. Launching this service during the week of the iPhone hysteria seems odd, but then I saw this blog post and understood. It’s not a $500 fancy phone with all the bells and whistles. It’s a basic phone that saves you money. Genius!

For more tech news, visit sarahintampa.com