Transfer Events @ PCCC: Fall 2007

If you are planning to transfer to a four-year college, PCCC invites many local Colleges and Universities to come on campus and meet with you. Caldwell College, Felician College, Rutgers University, New Jersey City University, NJIT, St. Peter's College, and William Paterson University will all be on campus at some point this semester.

Link to school visit calendar

Chinese game bans men playing female characters

The world of online gaming is always interesting to me. I used to use online games in a text-based format many years ago (MUDs). There were a lot of people who would role-play very well. For example, a friend of mine named Nelson had a character who was evil, and even though he and I were friends, his character was a jerk to my character.

There were also people who would create a female character even if they were a male in real life, mainly for the purpose of playing a character.

A Chinese gaming company that runs a very large online game has banned men playing female characters. In fact, in order to create a female character, you are now expected to provide verification through a Webcam. This seems like something that won't last for long, but it's an interesting step for a company to take.


Link to article

Get rid of telemarketers...from the archives

I posted this last year, but it came up again today in class. The US Government set up a Web site where you can enter your phone number, and telemarketers (those people who call and annoy you with sales calls) are supposed to not call you.

Does it work? It has drastically decreased the number of unwanted calls I get.

http://profcameron.blogspot.com/2006/10/telemarketers.html

View Office 2007 files in earlier versions of Office

Typically, most software is backwards compatible - for example, Office 2003 would open files created in older versions of Office. However, most software is not forward compatible - for example, Office 2003 will not open Office 2007 format.

Microsoft has created a free compatibility pack that allows older versions of Office (2000, XP, or 2003) to open files created in Office 2007.

I find that students are starting to submit some files in this format, so I've installed this on all the machines I use.

Link to Microsoft's download for the Compatibility Pack

Man Dies After 3 Day Gaming Session

A Chinese man apparently died after playing games for three straight days. I am constantly amazed that stories like this still exist, but here it is, from yesterday (9/17):

Link to Reuters article

USB Drive for $9 - in Paterson

Microcenter (a nationwide chain of stores) recently opened up a store on Route 20 in Paterson. They've had some nice deals, and I think one of the best that they have been advertising is a 2 GB USB drive for the price of $9. A year ago, these were $50 or more! For school purposes, a 2 GB USB drive should last you forever - it would hold approximately 40,000 (yes, forty thousand) average sized term papers.

Definitely worth the ride over, it's right next to the new Lowe's. Here is a link to their Web site, where you can get driving directions:
Microcenter's Paterson location

Fall Schedule

I was setting up my calendar and went looking for the "Important Fall 2007 dates". If you're interested in when you can change your schedule, when classes are closed for Thanksgiving, when the last day of the semester is, etc - check out this Web site:

Check out the PCCC Fall calendar here

Microsoft Word Shortcuts...From the Archives

I posted this link last year to a Web site I found that has literally hundreds of keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Word.

http://profcameron.blogspot.com/2006/09/word-shortcuts.html

From the Archives posts

I am realizing that as time goes on, people are not going to read the entire archives and will miss some of the interesting things in the archives. At the suggestion of one of my students, I will do a "From the Archives" feature, where I redirect you to an older post once in a while that is still interesting.

Ride free on NJ Transit

One a semester, NJ Transit sets up a "Ride for Free" week for college students - obviously, they are hoping to give you the chance to try out commuting.

Personally, I take the train in a few days a week, and it saves me the stress of driving (especially in bad weather) and also parking. I'll certainly be taking the train in tomorrow to avoid the typical "first day of the semester" traffic and parking jams!

If you register on the Web site below, you will have access to ride NJ Transit as often as you like for free from September 17 - 23 this year. Do you want to go in to the city? Take a bus to Atlantic City? Anywhere they go, you can go for free if you register on their Web site, and show the conductors your college ID and a form that you will print out after registering.

Register here

Phishing Challenge

Phishing - those annoying emails claiming to be from your bank asking you to click here to verify your account.

Paypal (an online money transfer service - kind of like a bank) has a free "Phishing Challenge".

Are you someone that can be fooled? Try the challenge here:
https://www.paypal.com/fightphishing

Saving movies from YouTube

In the past, people wanting to save movies from sites such as YouTube would have to work hard to make it happen.

Not anymore. RealPlayer (who does streaming video) has apparently added the ability to save streaming video for free to the new version of their RealPlayer tool, version 11. It's currently in beta-testing right now, but you can bet that this is going to cause some people to be very unhappy with them.

Link to article

The Fall semester approaches

If you haven't registered yet, I found a time saver. Registering at the Wanaque campus is much easier. It's so quiet up there, as opposed to registering in Paterson and dealing with the gym registration.

The school is closed Friday and Monday of this week. The Fall semester starts September 6th, so get in ASAP to make sure some classes don't close out.

Some classes, (for example, the daytime CIS 107 and CIS 108 classes) are already filled, and some others (for example, some CIS 125 courses) are very close to their caps.

There are some new courses and programs as well - we have a program in American Sign Language (in addition to the Arabic courses we added last year), Graphic Design, Computer Forensics, International Business....it's an exciting year.

iPhone unlocked

The iPhone, when developed, was set up so it could only be used on the AT&T network and could not be used with any other carrier (i.e. Verizon, etc).

Hackers, of course, viewed this as a challenge, and someone has released a piece of software that unlocks the iPhone to be used on any carrier's network.

Is it legal? Does it void warranties? Will Apple be sending out a fix to prevent this? Well...those are other questions.

Link to story

My frequently asked questions

I think, as educators, we don't adapt to students enough.

For example, let's take the syllabus. At the beginning of the semester, students are handed a syllabus, which is then filed away somewhere.

With that in mind, I also noticed that I get a lot of questions from students about things that are clearly spelled out on the syllabus. This says to me that most people don't reference the syllabus for questions.

The way we do things in the online world is more of an "information on demand" presentation of information. You have a question, you find the answer.

For those of you who have sat in one of my classes, you know I often use the campus portal. I plan on introducing a section of "frequently asked questions" at the bottom of each page, so the information is readily available any time a student logs in to the portal, to supplement the syllabus.

If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to fire off an email - I am trying to be as student friendly as possible. Here are the questions I came up with:

What is your grading policy?
Do you take attendance? What happens if I miss class?
Do I have to be on time?
How am I doing in this class so far?
Do you accept late work?
I missed a test. Can I get a makeup test?
Where should I do my lab work?
Where is your office?
Can I get extra credit?
I think you made a mistake grading. Can we discuss it?
I have a question about an assignment, when can I reach you?
I have a question about the Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or Graphic Design programs, when can I contact you?
Where can I get assistance with lab work or studying if I can't find you?
When is the CIS lab in H310 open?
What is the cheating policy?
Wait, I gave my work to someone else, how does that make it cheating?
How should I address you?
Can I text message during class?
Should I shut off my cell phone on during class?
Can I take bathroom breaks during exams?
Can I have side conversations during class?
Can I leave early?
Can I bring my child/children to class?
I have a disability. Can you accommodate it?
I think I am going to fail your class, should I drop?
I know I didn't hand in any lab assignments, but I know this stuff. Can't you just give me an "A" and let me go home?