12/2012
the MOnthly Magazine
Edition 2.0
TECH CREWSADER OS
BI G
THE NEXT
WINDOWS 8
[1]
page 14
[6] [2]-[5]
APPS IN THE CLASSROOM page 12
TC
PUSHING YOUR BATTERY TO THE LIMITS page 4
THE FULL AND COMPLETE iPHONE 5 REVIEW page 8
For More help Visit ET
Magazine Team: Editor-in-Chiefs: Dhira Web Khewsubtrakool & Seongwoo Choi
Writers and Field Researchers: Chris Kim
Joshua Gong
Patrick TomHon
James Jimmy Yuh
Lillian Sheng
Seongwoo Choi
Micheal Kang
Members of Tech Crewsaders Alex Byun
Josh Cho
Morgan Yi
Anno Chang
Josh Gong
Nathan Cheung
Chris Garcia
Justin Chung
Patrick TomHon
Chris Kim
Lillian Sheng
Seongwoo Choi
Jay Lee
Michael Kang
Dhira Khewsubtrakool
Jimmy Yuh
Michael Mussel
Won Hee Cho
FORWARD
TECH CREWSADERS MONTHLY 12/12
In the beginning of the month we printed 75 copies of our very first publication of the ET magazine. Out of the 75, 54 were distributed to teachers first of the High School, and the rest to the administration as well as other networks of SFS. We were very grateful of the feedback we received from the teachers:
With the first release we have seen further demands from both the Middle School teachers as well as the British School teachers. Thus in the future, our publication will be delivered to nearly the entire school, and play an even bigger role in our community development than any other publication.
“The design and layout of this magazine is truly revolutionary better than what we have seen in the past.” -Anonymous
Not only is the magazine playing part in our community but it is also spreading in the network of 1-to-1 schools all over the world. Currently a batch of our Magazine has been sent over to SAHS and from there it is shared to other Base schools with the 1-to-1 programs as well. Then with the impending release of our interactive iPad version of the Tech Crewsaders Magazine, we will be able to release our magazine in great numbers and in more places than ever before.
“This is the right path on which our publications should definitely be heading.” -Anonymous “Not only is the magazine a joy to read for entertainment, but also a strong source of knowledge.” -Anonymous Then at the end of the month we printed another 60 copies for our student subscribers all of which are gone. So as you can see, the demand for our magazine is growing quicker than we anticipated. 2/Tech Crewsader DECEMBER
So as the end of the semester is fast approaching, we are calling student individuals to join our team. Become
part of a publication that is delivering to the world, become part of the team that truly makes a difference in the school. If you think you can make our ET bigger in any ways, such as publication, marketing, design, and creativity, be sure to sign up. We are the future of SFS itself.
Lillian Sheng Columnist for the Tech Crewsaders
MONTHLY REPORT
TECH CREWSADERS MONTHLY 12/12
The first edition of the Tech Crewsaders magazine was a unique surprise for the students, staff and parents of the Seoul Foreign School community. Immediately following the magazine’s onset, it became very clear that there was a need and an opportunity for our student tech support team to help the many, even beyond the SFS community, beginning the journey towards tech integration. This became evident when I was presenting at Seoul American High
School and conferencing with the other Asia Pacific US Department of Defense Schools that are going one-to-one next year. This experience brought to light that not all schools are as fortunate as we are, nor have the resources we do. This is a fact we have easily forgotten as we are only in the early stages of our rollout. At SFS, we have had the opportunity to bring in consultants, travel to schools paving the way in Ed. Tech, offer professional development for our staff and employ educators who have integration experience; this is not the case for many schools. We are by no means a fully technologically integrated institution, but we are on the right road to get there. The challenge is,
However, our magazine is still a matter of debate amongst the many, which to some it is of no meaning and purpose, but is only insignificant compared to the other publications in the past. To which we would reply to such comment as inaccurate and very miss leading to our current viewer-ship. The message that we convey in the magazine is not only centered in content, but instead we center our attention to every aspect of our magazine equally. For example,
Brian Hamm, B.Ed, M.Ed Educational Technology Integrationist
EDITOR’S NOTE
TECH CREWSADERS MONTHLY 12/12
Our first month with the Magazine was definitely a successful one, and without a doubt I must say that it would not be possible without the wonderful team that makes up our publication. As said earlier from Lillian, we are 60 subscribers strong and still growing. With this forward momentum I am absolutely proud of what we had achieved so far, and very excited for what is to come in the second trimester of this year.
however, as we are reminded daily, “there” does not really exist. Tech integration is a never ending journey and the goal is simply to continually move forward. Specifically, the Tech Crewsaders’ goal, by creating resources like this magazine, is to help navigate the SFS community so that we can continue to become leaders in Educational Technology.
the mount of care that we put into selecting the best of typography, the best of image quality, and the best of layout ideology, is what we think a publication is truly about. If you are only focusing your strength and efforts, on content and leave the design in the dark, your publication will only go so far. Without long, people will be bored, and people will lose faith in it. Another concern that is rising is that many individuals, our magazine is seen to them as rising competition. To which I would clarify that such a statement is false. We see the Magazine as not something that would surpass what is already present, but we see it as the push for innovation, and an example of what all SFS publication can look like—modern and strikingly beautiful. As ET we are here to help, not to challenge. We are willing to put as much heart and soul to any other publication
as we did to our own, we are willing to aid you. If there can exist a cross collaborative platform between ET and other publication, a problem that we can together fix together is all the pixilation, distortion, refraction, or any other dreadful photographic problems we all presently have. To us it all comes down to our students, and our viewers and nothing else. Nevertheless, none of these changes can be possible without dialogue, do not remain silent, we are he fore you, but you must accept our presence. We are not here to eliminate the past; we are here to push the future of publication.
Dhira Web Khewsubtrakool Editor–in-Chief of the Tech Crewsader
Tech Crewsader DECEMBER/3
TECH CREWSADERS MONTHLY 12/12
Extending your Battery Life
COMPUTER MAINTAINANCE
[1]
Pushing the limits
to gain those extra minutes out of it for of a battery
extra work time in a long busy day.
BY: SEONGWOO CHOI
Battery life is an important component to anyone who needs their laptop to last as long as possible. Sometimes you might need to use your laptop, but you just don’t have an available power source nearby. So I compiled a list of things you can do to squeeze every last minute of battery life from your computer. Some of the tips will help you amplify your battery life significantly, while some will only provide a small benefit. Maximizing the battery life and lifespan of your laptop’s battery can be done with a little bit of care.
up to 1000 full charge and discharge cycles.
Battery Lifespan
If you don’t plan on using your laptop for more than six moths, it is recommended to store it with 50% battery charge. If you store it with fully charged battery, it may result in some loss of battery capacity, meaning shorter life.
Apple laptops feature advanced battery chemistry that greatly expands the battery’s lifespan. The built-in batter of your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air is designed to deliver
4/Tech Crewsader DECEMBER
It is important to keep the electrons in the battery moving occasionally in a lithium based battery. Don’t leave your laptop plugged in all the time. An ideal schedule would be using your laptop at school and charging it at home. This keeps the battery juices flowing. You should fully charge and discharge your battery at least once per month. Long-Term Storage
Conserving Battery Checklist ◊
Use your laptop in the optimum temperate zone
10°C
Just Right
35°C
Notebook Temperate Zone
◊
◊
◊
Turn off Bluetooth
◊
Avoid using the built-in camera Taking pictures with Photobooth and using video iChats can really drain your battery life. Turn down/off the backlit keyboard Like any light source, the backlit keyboard requires energy. Turning it off will extend your battery life. (Mac users only)
◊
Turn down the screen brightness Screens are one of the biggest power users in a laptop. Turning down the brightness as low as you can significantly helps you extend your battery life.
Turn off Wi-Fi When you don’t require Internet access, turning off your Wi-Fi can help with battery life quite a lot. When your Wi-Fi is on, your laptop continuously searches for Wi-Fi which uses a lot of the battery. Connecting via Ethernet cable (wire) and turning off your Wi-Fi is more efficient.
◊
CALIBRATING THE BATTERY
Running fewer applications lower your hard drive usage, and thus your battery usage.
Your laptop performs at its best at a temperature of around 23 Celsius to 26 Celsius. Higher temperatures could lead to damage to components and may effect longevity of your laptops. Thus you should maybe shutdown your computer when it becomes hot to give it a break,
◊
Run fewer applications at once
◊
Turn off/reduce the frequency of auto-saves Auto-save feature is very useful in applications, but these are terrible for battery performance. If the data isn’t important, reduce the frequency or turn off auto-save feature.
◊
Use private browsing mode Browsers like Safari, Firefox, and Chrome have a feature called private browsing. It is intended to hide history, cookies, and cache files. Temporary data like cookies are stored in memory which aren’t good for battery.
◊
1.
Fully charge your laptop
2.
Once fully charged, leave it plugged in for at least another 2 hours
3.
Remove the plug, and use your computer until you get the battery level warning message.
4.
Ignore the message and keep working.
5.
Eventually the machine will go to sleep. Do NOT charge it. Instead, let it sleep for at least 5 hours.
6.
After the time has passed, plug it back in, and let it fully charge.
Use Energy Saver preferences Mac 1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences. 2. From the View menu, choose Energy Saver. Windows 7 1. Go to Control Panel, change the View by: to Small icons. 2. Click the Power Options. Select Power Saver.
Turn down the volume level Use headphones or earphones if you do need to listen to sound.
Tech Crewsader DECEMBER/5
TECH CREWSADERS MONTHLY 12/12
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
>>>retina
A RICH AND IMERSIVE EXPERIENCE LIKE NEVER BEFORE. By: Michael Kang
[1]
On
Monday June 11, 2012 at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco, was center stage for a much-anticipated release: the 15” MacBook with Retina display. The question now is not whether people will buy it, but why.
amount of pixel density, it will take you very long before you can actually squint and find a visible pixel cell.
Many were ready to stampede the Apple store and drop some serious cash on the computer, which starts at $2,199. And while some say Apple is once again ahead of the game, others see reasons to pass. The specs are impressive, including a light, slim design with powerful hardware. But mainly what people are really interested is that one and only Retina Display that none other laptops on earth have.
So the question that is in everybody’s mind at this point is where the 2800 pixels by 1800 are? And why it is that Apple does not allow us to take advantage of every pixel that there actually is, but instead chooses the same resolution as the standard MacBook pro and not the new resolution of 2880 by 1800 pixels?
The 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro boasts a grand 15.4 inch display with 5.18 million pixels at the resolution of 2880pixels by 1800, with a pixel density of 220 pixels per sq inch. That’s quadruple the amount of the normal 1440 by 900 pixels on the standard 15-inch models. At this
6/Tech Crewsader DECEMBER
Out of the box, the MacBook Pro Retina will support the following resolution on the Retina display on the retina display in the System Preferences Section below, but the 1440 by 900 option is chosen as default.
There is definitely confusion that can occur between scaled resolution and native resolution. After all, when you normally connect your laptop to a higher resolution screen or projectors, you always get more screen real-estate to work on and there is just more space on the desktop. With the Retina Pro all you’re getting is the same real estate
[2]
even though it is using a higher resolution screen. The difference here is that Apple is upping the resolution of the screen, but also scaling the resolution of displayed content, to fill more of screen at the same time. By default, the Retina MBP ships in a pixel doubled configuration. You get the effective desktop resolution of the standard 15-inch MacBook Pro’s 1440 x 900 panel, but with four physical pixels driving every single pixel represented on the screen. This allows for the same working space as the previous model and the standard model. If you want more space you can always move the amount of represented pixels on the screen to 1920 by 1200 configuration, but still not the full 2880 by 1800.
that the new iPad is displaying better quality icons and applications with the extra pixels. This allows the viewing experience to be more crisp and sharper, and before. Despite the fact that Apple only allows a specific set of resolutions to be used on the screen there is still 2,880 by 1,800 display. All those 5.18 million pixels are there. They’re only just being used to make what’s displayed look better, not to make the screen have more overall real estate. Instead of making things smaller like when you connect your laptop of a secondary monitor, Apple chooses to improve the quality of what is displayed rather than only what the screen can display.
However, surprisingly for some, this is the similar path that Apple has chosen to do with their iOS devices. A prime example would be with the new iPad, even though the advertised resolution is 2048 by 1536, the iPad is still displaying the same real estate as the iPad 2. But the difference between the old generation and the new is
Tech Crewsader DECEMBER/7
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
TECH CREWSADERS MONTHLY 12/12
iPhone 5
[2]
the next big thing to hit Korea on December 7th By: Chris Kim & Lillian Sheng
[1]
Design
Specifications
Apple is famous for keeping their designs the same, or at least somewhat similar.
The iPhone 5 claimed to be the ‘thinnest, lightest, fastest iPhone’ ever, but does it deliver on the speed? Simple answer: Yes. The iPhone 5 certainly is the fastest iPhone yet, with a new architecture dual-core A6 chip and 1GB of RAM, performance can only increase. Moreover, 4G is also enabled to allow the highest speed of cellular data to be used.
Firstly, the overall dimensions and weight have been modified greatly to suit the current smartphone market. They opted for a larger screen, a sleeker and thinner aluminum uni-body than ever before. Apple also made a bold decsion by moving the earphone iPhone 5
iPhone 4S
iPhone 4
Height (mm)
123.8
115.2
115.2
Width (mm)
58.6
58.6
58.6
Dept (mm)
7.6
9.3
9.3
Weight (g)
112
140
137
jacks from the top to the bottom of the iPhone with their latest installment. The jack is implemented almost with a sheer sense of beauty, with the new and larger speakers.
[3]
8/Tech Crewsader DECEMBER
The display of the iPhone 5 has been enlarged to 4” with a1136 x 640 resolution. Call quality has also been greatly improved, Apple has made the decision to use 3 microphones for enhanced sound pick-up as well as noise cancellation with the iPhone 5. Finally, the newly designed earphones named ‘EarPods’ sound excellent. Although slightly heavy on the bass, the overall sound quality seems to have improved with no evident of audio tearing and distortion even at maximum volume. Also due to the revolutionizing design, the EarPods will fit nicely in anyone’s ears.
[4]
[5]
Performance General performance on the iPhone 5 is superb, the speed difference is unmistakable between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 5, However where it truly outshines its predecessors are in HD games and applications. On previous iPhones, frame rates suffered in HD games such as ‘Infinity Blade II’, but here everything runs at a fast speed. Multitasking and performance-intensive applications run smoothly. One of the most notable and impressive improvements is the battery life. The improved battery should mean a regular user should have no problems with getting through the day, although intensive users still may opt to keep a wall charger handy. Lastly, the long-awaited LTE support is available on the iPhone 5. Although the exact data speeds may be iPhone 5
iPhone 4S
iPhone 4
Talk Time
8
8
7
Cellular Data (hr)
8
6
6
Wi-Fi (hr)
10
9
10
Stand-By (hr)
225
200
300
dependent upon your provider, the 4G’s speed is rivaling that of any smart-phone available on the market, especially in both the United States and South Korea.
Cameras The camera on the iPhone 5 is absolutely stunning. With an improved 8 megapixel camera, it is good enough to rival any smartphone camera on the market and even stands toe-to-toe with some of the digital cameras. The panorama feature is also newly introduced withs the camera. The technology stitches multiple shots into one large photo, and automatically equalizes the different shots. It allows you to take a clear, wide shot of your subject as highly defined as 30 megapixels. This said, the panorama feature is not unique to the iPhone 5 but still executes it better than most smart phones on the market currently. Regular photos are visually appealing too: highly defined, crisp and ultra-clear. Both macro and wide shots were finely executed by the device too with auto-focus working as desired 99% of the time.
Finally, the video recording quality has been drastically improved on both the rear and front cameras. The rear camera’s video recording quality has been improved to 1080p and the front has also been given a bump to 720
Software The latest available software for the iPhone series is the iOS 6 and although it isn’t a huge step from the iOS 5, Apple is sticking to what they do best: make minor improvements and tweaks to find the ‘perfect’ combination. The most obvious tweak is how the status bar changes its hue to match the current application. In addition, the default phone dialer has also been given a face lift giving the overall dialer a ‘silver’ look. However, with the taller screen of the iPhone 5 is that previous applications, unless redesigned by their creators, will be ‘letterboxed’ with a black bar running through the top and bottom of the screen. Apple has opted to run non-optimized applications at iPhone 4/4S resolution, and although initially visually intrusive, gradually changes becomes un-noticable.
Lightning Port When Apple announced the newly designed charging ports [7] there were definitely mixed feelings. On the positive side, the new lightning connector has improved transfer speed, durability, and is also reversible unlike the previous generation. On the other hand, every type of accessory that you may have with older generation iDevices will not work, but an adapter is on its way.
Wrap-up The iPhone 5 is a remarkable piece device, and is undoubtedly the best iPhone ever made. From the sleek new visuals to the improved performance, there is very little not to like about this installment. It is definitely a phone which can rival the Android Market. However, there is a still room for improvement, but yet again without a doubt this iPhone will still be praised by the many. [6]
Tech Crewsader DECEMBER/9
ONLINE APPLICATIONS
TECH CREWSADERS MONTHLY 12/12
Mozilla Popcorn Maker video and web as ONE. By Jimmy Yuh For years, the Internet has been changing, from how we share things to how we do things. Yet, one thing has been left out of these series of innovation and change: video. In fact, the only thing that has changed with video is how we view it. That changes today.
Interactive Platform
1
What Mozilla Popcorn Maker does is simple: it changes video into an interactive platform. It allows multiple programs such as Google Maps, Wikipedia, and Flickr to become part of the video itself without impeding the video itself.
Multiple Programs
This bar is used to move aro in the video itself
2
For anyone who has ever used the Windows or Mac Movie Maker, Mozilla Popcorn Maker looks the same. You start off with a video that you want to edit. But instead of a time line filled with multiple clips of video, you have multiple programs. And using this, you can have a Google Map pop-up showing you a location or a Wikipedia pop-up explaining a word or character.
Add different layers to run events (programs) at the same time
Live Feed The second (and best) part of Popcorn Maker is live feed. The embedded programs aren’t images; they’re active plug-ins. So, you can zoom in on a Google Maps plug-in while the video itself is still playing. Or if you’ve embedded pictures using Flickr, the images are never the same. They always change, depending on what you put your tags as. And you can always link back to the source content by simply clicking the plug-in.
Free The best part of Mozilla Popcorn Maker? It’s free. It’s based on HTML, Java, and CSS meaning it’s totally remixable and there’s no proprietary software. It’s all on line and free. All you need is a web browser.
Insert a Youtube video, or a sound track to be your primary media in your video. For example you may want to add in narration, or a person on a white background similar to a news broadcast.
10/Tech Crewsader DECEMBER
6
Undoubtedly, Mozilla Popcorn Maker is incredible. For the first time, people can actively incorporate webservices interactively into a video, like Flickr, Youtube, Google Maps, Wikipedia, and more! Now a video is no longer static, but canstantly changing like the web itself.
The Media Panel
Interactive
0
Save and Name your project here, open a project by clicking the cogs button
6
Click and drag one of these tabs in the timeline to add it to the video
7
8
5
ound
3 Click and drag to move your tabs
4
This bar is used to move the event (program) timeline
Creates Text Text within a speech bubble Copy and share on websites! ie. FACEBOOK!
Creates Google Map plugin Displays tweets related to a tag
Copy and view in haiku or on a webpage!
Lets you embed a picture or Flickr slideshow
Pauses the video at a certain point Embeds a Wikipedia article related to a tag
The Sharing Button
Skips a segment of video
8
7
The Events Panel
Repeats a video segment
Adjust the size of the embed player!
Tech Crewsader DECEMBER/11
APPS FOR THE CLASSROOM
TECH CREWSADERS MONTHLY 12/12
By: Patrick TomHon
iPads [1]
In The Classroom “
The device that changed everything is now changing the classroom.� - Apple
The iPad is a device that can be utilized for numerous different tasks because of the over 200,000 different apps available for almost any situation imaginable from the app store. The iPad has the potential to inspire creativity and hands on learning, and take the process of learning itself to a whole new level. Taking notes via typing on the iPad can be a hassle because of difficulty of typing and the necessity of an additional keyboard. Teachers often restrict computer taken notes and require them to be taken by hand. However the apps presented may in fact persuade teachers otherwise with their intuitive features and innovative user interface, which promotes ease of use and rich features.
[2]-[5]
12/Tech Crewsader DECEMBER
Notetaking Applications Notability Notability allows users to choose between a more flowing writing system that attempts to simulate actual writing and a traditional full pen. The app also support making PDF annotations such as handwrite, type, and record, then you can share these annotations through email or a cloud service. Advanced word processing is also available within the app, styling, outlining, text boxes, and spell check are the perfect tools to get the job done. Another unique feature that makes this app very assuring to use is the auto-sync feature, with Notability’s auto-sync, your notes are always backed up in the cloud. Choose your favorite cloud service: Dropbox, Google Drive, Box or WebDAV. Organizing within the app is very easy.
Note Shelf Noteshelf on the other hand is more drawing based note-taking rather than a text editor orientated application. At the same time, Note Shelf also allows you to file your notes into different books and arrange them on the shelf. The app itself also takes full advantage of the Retina iPad display as well, so your notes will look crisp and vibrant in stunning high resolution, like real life itself. Once you’re done, share pages with a tap directly to your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. You can also export your notebooks to Dropbox and Evernote, export as a PDF document and send them via email.
Evernote Compared to the others, Evernote is probably the best at syncing all your notes to all of your devices. Evernote works with nearly every computer, phone and mobile device out there, as long as you install their application on it. Then seamlessly your notes and reminders are pushed to all of those devices without a single tap, making the experience absolutely brilliant. On the other hand, the application also includes every feature of the application above as well, and its FREE! However, the downside is that sometimes the application may lag, due the demanding nature of the program. Nevertheless, these problems with performance usually are fixed swiftly with incremental updates.
[6]
Tech Crewsader DECEMBER/13
FEATURED SOFTWARE
TECH CREWSADERS MONTHLY 12/12
[1]
8
14/Tech Crewsader DECEMBER
Windows
Possibly the best windows to date BY: Joshua Gong
Windows 8
The new Windows 8 start screen now called the Metro Modern User Interface
Finally! After years of beta testing and developer previews, Microsoft released the official Windows 8 OS on October 26th. Designed using the (non-metro) modern user interface, Windows 8 is available on tablets, ultra books, and on your good ol’ PC. You can also download the OS directly from Microsoft with a small fee of $39.99, which is an affordable price for an upgrade from Windows 7! Windows 8 in some ways is like a rebirth of the original windows experience since its day one in 1985. The result? A completely new operating system optimized for touch and new windows applications.
Starting-Up: The most striking change to the windows experience is how fast the operating system now boots-up. Gone are the days of minute-long loading times and the old windows splash screen. There are many ways that you can get the new Windows 8 experience. You can buy it preinstalled on new systems, or upgrade from XP, Vista, or Windows 7, at a price of $39.99.
User Interface Start screen The single most polarizing feature on Windows 8 from Windows 7 is in the User Interface (UI). Tacking the visual elements from the Windows Phone design, the start screen is the first thing users will experience after logging into Windows 8. The start screen is composed of rows of colorful, constantly changing tiles. The interface can be customized with backgrounds and colors for those of you wanting to dig a little deeper. Gone are the start button, and the familiar desktop.
The Charms Bar The Charms are also an important aspect about Windows 8. If you are using Windows 8 on a touch-screen device, swiping from the right, or placing your mouse on the right edge of the screen if you’re using a normal PC, will reveal the Charms Bar- a set of five icons that surface the most common tasks in Windows 8. The “Charms Bar” can be accessed from anywhere in the Windows environment, Microsoft created hot-corners on the screen, or accessed via the mouse and keyboard. The “Search” charm is context aware, meaning that you can search
The charms bar within Windows 8 to access all your needs.
Tech Crewsader DECEMBER/15
while you’re in an app or to trigger searches across files and settings. The “Share” charm acts as a mailman between apps in your device, for example you can share a link to the mail app from the browser and the charm automatically formats your email and sends it on its way. “Devices” is another charm that is easy to understand. It gives an overview of the devices (i.e. Printers or a second screen) that you can send content to. Finally the “settings” charm allows you to access system wide settings such as volume, brightness, network, power, and notifications.
Task Switching Another new aspect of multi-tasking introduced in Windows 8 is the touched- and mousebased switcher. Making use of the top left and bottom left corners in Windows 8, switcher works as a basic application switcher, you can use it to close the app or you can snap or pin them to the left or right portions of your screen and utilize two or more apps at the same time.
Windows 8 style-apps, Internet Explorer and many other applications can be download from the Windows Market, and run full screen as part of the Metro Modern UI. They are mainly with touch in mind; however this poses a difficult task for developers to make application that not only works well on the touch-tablets but also other platforms such as the desktops and laptops. For example, Internet Explorer 10 features an all new large navigation bar and tabs, those disappears seamlessly as you surf the web. You can also flick backwards and forwards between tabs on a touch screen. The performance is commendable, compared to previous versions of Internet Explorer, and the ability to sync favorites and history across your Windows 8 devices is definitely an impressive feature to look out for.
When in the Metro, apps like weather and stocks, continues to flip through content to bring you updates
Applications: Live Applications If you configure a Microsoft account that uses Hotmail or Outlook, you will notice that email, calendar, and contacts will automatically appear. If your Microsoft account is linked to Facebook, your contacts list will also appear in the People app and its associated tiles. Immediately, this unfamiliar interface already looks like it’s customized to you, with friends’ faces ticking away on the Live Tiles. On the other hand both the weather app and the stock app are always live with the Internet so you are always updated.
Full Screen Application The newly designed UI allows for a new type of full screen applications on Windows 8, similar to apps on iOS and Android devices. Thanks to the new
When hovering over the top left hand corner you can reveal the current running applications. 16/Tech Crewsader DECEMBER
Windows App Store The Microsoft App store, a place to download apps especially curated and design to work full screen and part of the Metro Modern UI, is more or less “MicrosoftTake” on the ever popular Mac App store that is world renowned for having the best designed applications out there. However at this point, it has nowhere near the number of apps that are available through the Apple store, but the key difference here is that Microsoft has substantially more developers than Apple does, so it is a matter of time before the store will be flooded.
Notification Screen and Lock Screen: One last fundamental change that Windows 8 introduces is the new lock screen. This is the screen that will first greet you as you turn on your device,
or wake it from sleep. On it Microsoft displays your time, date, calendar entries, network status, and battery levels as default. However you can customize and add up to 7 lock screen applications such as Facebook that will give quick status updates and notifications when your device is locked. Another neat feature of the lock screen is the “picture-password” option. This will allow you to log in with taps on specific area of the log on screen, instead of entering your password.
The Desktop Experience: Once you tap on the Desktop tile on the Metro Modern UI, you are then taken back to using original Windows desktop again. The big change, however, is the removal of the start button that used to be in the bottom left corner of the screen. Windows Explorer is also improved and renamed File Explorer. The new File Explorer features a brand new ribbon interface , which is collapse by default, which helps accomplish day-to-day file management with buttons instead (i.e. Rename, Open, etc.). Now Windows also allows you to pause and resume file transfers as well to help manage your system’s tasks and montitor your file operations.
Final Stance: Unlike its predecessor, Windows 8 offers a totally awesome new user interface. The metro style interface is not only sleek and smooth in design, but also fun to use. Although it is far more touchscreen-oriented, you will be able to enjoy the extremely responsive OS on your traditional PC without compromising the features or functions you will experience on a tablet or ultra-book. Windows 8 can truly become a very personal computing experience, when fully customized by the use. However, at the same time you also have to accept the fact that moving on to Windows 8 can be a large learning curve, and may or may not be more difficult to first use with the traditional mouse and keyboard. However, we can assure that if you can overcome these small hurdles, Windows 8 truly offers a newer and more unusual user experience than any other operating system.
The Windows Store is now the new place to get your applications for your Windows 8 machine. Simlar to the Mac app store in Mt. Lion
In desktop mode, everything is almost the same as Windows 7, but with one big exception—the start button is missing Tech Crewsader DECEMBER/17
TECH TEACHERS OF THE MONTH
TECH CREWSADERS MONTHLY 12/12
Mr. Sheehan
Pens scribbling ferociously, students with their eyes glued to the teacher desperately trying to absorb every final drop of information they are willing to share. Sound like a typical lecture room? However, if you have ever entered the World History class on the third floor, you would immediately be met with pleasant atmosphere from the mix up of both digital and non-digital classwork. Our respected teacher, Mr. Sheehan, has successfully implemented the use of digital mediums in our classrooms. For example, a typical lecture involves him presenting his information digitally (usually in the form of a Power Point or a video) and encourages his students to take down notes either by a laptop or by the classic pen and paper allowing for efficiency when taking notes. 18/Tech Crewsader DECEMBER
In addition, there are constant websites and other sources which he uploads onto ‘Haiku’ (the alternative of Edline, where the teachers and the students can share information privately), which greatly aids in our learning. The implementation of various forms of digital media in a classroom allows for a more interactive environment in which the students are genuinely interested. Every day, excitement runs through the classroom as they anxiously wait for the next interactive lesson. Further on, Haiku is also used as a method of catching up for students who have missed that lesson or have simply failed to comprehend it all. Mr. Sheehan uploads his entire Power Point’s, assignments, classwork and extra sources from his lessons and it helps tremendously to help
catch up missed lessons. Although digital medium is often encouraged, it does not mean analogue work is discouraged. If the student wishes to, they may complete assignments and notes by hand, and on certain occasions handouts which require completion by hand are distributed to the class. Currently Mr. Sheehan is creating a 5 month long in-dept study project on only Haiku as a platform for students to create different types of content in any format and bring them all in together in one place. By creating a hybrid of digital and analogue working environment, Mr. Sheehan has successfully created an intuitive and interactive class which is truly a joy to be working in. By: Chris Kim
Mrs. Craig For a period of time inside the math department there seem to not be an alternative to graphing on a graphing calculator for the first time in the classroom environment. Until very recently, in Mrs. Craig’s IGCSE Mathematics, a change in that trend has changed completely. Usually when analyzing complex equations and functions we would normally rely on the traditional graphing calculator that we had used for such a long time. However, to many of us students, it was a pain. The resolution on the displays were too to read clearly and the buttons are too complex to use. With Mrs. Craig’s newly implementing the use of Autograph for every student, each and every student were introduced to a whole new dimension to graphing itself. For the very first time we can observe the graph with clarity never before seen, and with an interface that is easy to use. It is without a doubt a sign of great things to come from within the Maths Department. I believe that if we continue on this path of using more newer technologies in substitute of older ones, the student’s learning experience will continue to improve, and tech integration will become more seamless and transformational By: Dhira Web Khewsubtrakool
Tech Crewsader DECEMBER/19
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