16 essential Android apps for IT pros

                                  16 essential Android apps for IT pros 
These apps can connect to servers, monitor systems, and scan networks, turning your Android device into an on-the-job dynamo

There are hundreds of thousands of Android apps, including many that are useful for IT professionals on the job. These apps can help connect to servers, monitor computers, access databases, analyze the airwaves, scan networks, and serve as a reference. Here are 16 of these apps, most of them free.

mLearning and the Global Classroom

Adults and adolescents with Atopic Dermatitis in the USA, expectant mothers in Ghana, young teachers in Finland and pharmacists in Uganda all have one thing in common, they are part of the growing mobile learning community, or mLearning.  Educators use cell phones, PDAs, laptops, and other mobile devices to reach students who are mobile, are isolated, lack internet access, or have limited resources for travel but have a mobile phone.  mLearning in action.  When 90% of the world’s population has access to a mobile phone, according to the International Telecommunication Union, it is no surprise that educators have already realized the potential of mobile devices to enhance and extend the classroom.

How to Make Your Internet Connection Faster, Better

OpenDNS to the Internet Connection Performance Rescue


Have you ever pointed your browser to a Web site and had to wait an inordinately long time for the page — or at least the full page — to load? This kind of slow browsing experience can be traced to a variety of causes, but among the most common are problems with the servers that are responsible for actually locating all the sites you visit, your DNS (Domain Name Service) servers.

 A free service called OpenDNS can not only help your browser display Web pages faster it also offers some useful fringe benefits such as address typo correction and phishing protection, plus site blocking, content filtering and more. Before we delve into how to use OpenDNS, let's briefly outline how the DNS system works for those who may not be familiar with it.

What's the Deal with DNS?

 Every time you type a Web site address like www.practicallynetworked.com into your browser, that "friendly" address needs to be translated into the actual IP address for the computer hosting that site. The job of the DNS server is to take the text address you type in, look it up against a database of IP addresses, and then return the correct address to your browser so that the site can be accessed.

 The DNS database is actually distributed across countless servers all over the Internet, but the specific DNS server(s) you use are generally provided by your ISP. When your router obtains its IP address information from your ISP (usually through DHCP), the addresses for the DNS servers are provided as well. These DNS server addresses are in turn passed along to each of your computers via DHCP on your own network so that they all know where to go to look up Internet addresses.

 Long story short: If DNS servers get overloaded or experience other technical problems, they may take a long time to respond to lookup requests or they may not respond at all. Some ISPs are better than others when it comes to maintaining their DNS servers, but problems are not at all uncommon. Sometimes when your Internet connection seems to be down, it may be fine but simply appear down because your ISP's DNS isn't working properly.

 But you don't necessarily need to use your ISP's DNS servers, which brings us back to OpenDNS. OpenDNS, which has been around for about 18 months, is a free DNS service anyone can use, and is more than likely faster and more reliable than the one you're using now. (I've been using it for almost a year now and like many others have found the performance to be excellent.)

How to Use OpenDNS

 So how can you take advantage of OpenDNS? All you need to do is go is update your router's DNS settings via its administrator control panel. After you've logged into your router, look for settings related to DNS — the exact location will vary depending on your router, but you'll often find it under the LAN heading or sometimes even on the first settings page you see.

 When you find the DNS configuration area, you'll probably see that it's set to automatically obtain DNS servers from your ISP. Select the option that allows you to specify your own DNS server addresses, and then enter 208.67.222.222 as the primary DNS and 208.67.220.220 as the secondary DNS (as you might guess, the secondary is used if the primary isn't available).

 Your router may or may not reboot itself once you apply the new DNS settings, but in order to make sure each of your computers is using the OpenDNS servers, you should manually obtain a new DHCP address for each of them. An easy way to do this in XP is to right-click your network connection's tray icon and select Repair. In Vista, you can verify that a particular system is using OpenDNS if you see "You're using OpenDNS" message when you browse to welcome.opendns.com.)

 After some time spent using OpenDNS, you should notice that your browser generally takes less time to find and display Web sites. Even if you don't see a perceptible increase in performance, you'll still be able to benefit from several security and convenience features. For starters, OpenDNS can fix typos in the URLs you type, so if you accidentally type www.practicallynetworked.cmo — or .co, or .cm — you'll still be taken to the site you intended instead of being greeted by error message, or worse, an ersatz site from Cameroon (which owns the .cm domain).

 If you happen to type a nonexistent site name, instead of a not found error you'll see an OpenDNS Guide page with suggested alternate links (as well as some sponsored ones, which help keep OpenDNS free). For example, I sometimes inadvertently try to access the PracticallyNetworked.com site by typing in "pracnet.com" (PracNet is an internal nickname for the site), and when I do, PracticallyNetworked.com is first among the OpenDNS suggested links. Last but not least, using OpenDNS also gets you automatic phishing protection, so if the site you want to go to is known for phishing, OpenDNS won't take you there.

Intel, Google team to optimize Android for smartphones

Intel and Google announced Tuesday that they would partner to optimize future versions of the Android OS for smartphones and other mobile devices using Intel chips.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini demonstrated a smartphone with the upcoming Medfield chip running on Android during a keynote at the Intel Developer Conference being held in San Francisco. However, Otellini didn't mention the version of Android running on the smartphone.

Intel wants to make x86 the architecture of choice for smartphones, and porting Android will provide a larger opportunity to the chip maker in the smartphone market, Otellini said.

"This is a significant step forward to bring Intel phones to market," Otellini said.

Intel doesn't have a presence in the smartphone market yet, but Otellini said a smartphone based on the chip would reach the market in the first quarter next year. Medfield includes a low-power Atom processor. A smartphone with the chip was due in the third quarter this year, but has been delayed multiple times. Intel also is holding a technical session at IDF to show Medfield running on tablets.

Intel and Google will work on optimizing "all" future Android releases for Intel mobile chips at the kernel level, and also in specific areas such as memory management and graphics, said Andy Rubin, senior vice president for mobile at Google, in an on-stage appearance.

Use Google Calendar to Organize Yourself

A personal assistant can perform time management tasks for you. But if you do not have one then there is nothing to worry about. You can easily have a solution by using Google Calendar on your Desktop.The need to organize is a part of human nature especially if you are at some important position in a company; even if that is not the case, there are many people around you who expect you to remember their birthdays, wedding anniversaries and other related stuff. With the pressure of work or studies, it is physically impossible for a person to keep track of so many dates. Many of you must have had the embarrassing experience of making a commitment with your wife or a close friend for dinner or shopping and then having to cancel it because of any important meeting that was scheduled weeks ago and that somehow slipped your mind.

The desktop Google calendar helps you organize yourself in a better way. It has a number of features other than just being a plan calendar which ensure smoothness in your day to day planning. The most important feature in this regard is that it connects to your Google calendar directly, so all you have to do is to update your online calendar while checking your emails. You can put in birthday reminders, events, meetings, appointments and wedding anniversaries reminders etc. in your calendar. You will get emails and reminders on your desktop about all the upcoming events. But there is a problem here; the Google calendar on your desktop is read only meaning that you cannot update it directly like a number of other desktop applications. The editing, deleting and adding of new events has to be done from Gmail calendar.CLICK here to Download

Technology in Environmental Education

In a world where we are frequently exposed to controversial high-tech headlines about self replicating miniature robots, attempts to download human brains into computers, and cars with night vision and heads up displays, (note) I am often asked what does technology have to offer environmental educators and their students? When it comes to technology, we are of two minds. We hate TV, but we have a favorite show. We hate deforestation, but we love beautiful wood-grain furniture. We hate electronic eavesdropping. But we love it when it's used to capture a fiendish criminal. Technology. We love to hate it. We hate to love it. (note.) In the next few pages, I will explore the philosophy and examples of how we try to embrace (if not love) Technology in our programs at IslandWood.

In a recent survey of environmental centers, Bethany Lesure found the most common reasons for integrating technology into educational programs are "audience demand", "State Ed. Requirement", a way to "Reach Out", and that "Kids Relate" to technology (Lesure, 2002). While these are very pragmatic reasons, I would argue that we need to be more deliberate in our choices � after all, isn't much of Environmental Education about considering the consequences of one's actions? (note.)

Integrating technology into our educational programs provides students with additional tools to enhance their learning. So you might wonder, "What are the benefits of taking this approach to help students explore and understand the world around them?"

Technology supports our efforts to appeal to different learning styles. With a variety of learning tools, students can understand their experiences through verbal, written, spatial, quantitative, and/or graphical means. As a result, many more students become engaged in the learning process.

Technology supports our multidisciplinary approach to learning. Integrating different disciplines helps students combine their mathematical, logical, scientific, linguistic, artistic, and social knowledge to make their lives and interactions with the world clearer.

iPhone 4 – Redefining Mobility in Education

This journal, Educational Technology and Change, is built in a WordPress web publishing environment. I hesitate to call it a “blog” because people tend to immediately close on it and can’t see that WordPress is no more a blog than the smartphone is a phone.

I’ve had my iPhone 4 for about two months, and it’s already changing my view of what it means to be connected. WordPress and iPhone, together, are redefining the publishing landscape for me. They’re not only placing publishing in the hands of the many, but they’re making it possible for them to do it from anywhere at anytime. It’s no longer a matter of waiting until I can get to a computer with web access. Instead, I have it with me at all times wherever I am, eliminating the waiting altogether.


I can now write an article using the built-in notes application and a Bluetooth wireless keyboard that I originally purchased for the iPad. In fact, I’m writing the first draft of this article on the iPhone. A couple months ago, I would’ve scoffed at the idea of composing on a screen the size of a credit card. Impossible, I would’ve sworn. But I’m doing it now, and I find it just as comfortable as my laptop or desktop.

But the clincher is mobility. The iPhone is tiny: 4.5″ x 2.3″ and less than half an inch (0.37″) thick; it weighs 4.8 ounces. It can easily fit in my shirt pocket, the backpocket of my jeans, etc. The most comfortable method for me is a little leather case that hooks onto my belt. I can quickly hook and unhook it, slide it to the front, side, or back, depending on the activity. It’s as much a part of me as a belt, and it doesn’t restrict my activities.

It charges quickly and goes for hours without recharging. The spec sheet claims up to 10 hours on wi-fi, but some have found that this is very conservative. For me, it’s never run down despite constant use throughout the day. I simply plug it in overnight, and it’s good for an entire day.

I no longer have to lug a backpack holding a notebook computer, an extra battery, an AC adaptor with a tangle of cables, and a wireless USB modem. The batteries were always a hassle. I had to make sure they were both juiced, and over time they’ve lost their capacity to hold a charge. Now, I can barely get an hour out of each, and replacements are expensive and often unreliable.
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