To educate, inform, inspire

Southern Illinois

June 3, 2015 - Travel - by Mark - No Comments

My wife and I recently visited southern Illinois. I thought it might be a bit different to review our trip (I do have other interests than technology). I have included a brief video introduction. If you are interested in learning more, I have also included a slideshow of some of […]

Working Connections 2015

May 27, 2015 - Technology , Travel , Web - by Mark - No Comments

I had the great honor of teaching at Working Connections in Springfield, Illinois during the week of May 18 – 22. This is a great event for community college faculty and staff. You have the ability to network with peers from throughout the state. I renewed friendships with many and […]

Creating a new WordPress site

May 20, 2015 - Security , Web - by Mark - 2 Comments

Some time ago, I posted basic information about securing your WordPress sites. Given that post has not been updated since 2012, I thought it was time. Rather than just re-hash the existing information, I decided to take a slightly different approach. I recently saw the need to create a new […]

Professor – would you please do my work?

May 13, 2015 - ICC , Learning , Technology - by Mark - 2 Comments

As we conclude this semester, I thought it might be appropriate to continue my discussion from the beginning of the semester (see Issues > Concerns > Problems). Frankly, I do not see the situation improving. Those reading this should pause and consider what they are asking in various classes. As […]

2015 Illinois Web Design Contest – the code

May 6, 2015 - Learning , Web , WOW - by Mark - No Comments

I previously discussed the Illinois web design contest at a high level. I thought it would be important to also focus a bit on the code and related design aspects of the sites. Note that these comments are my own and do not represent the observations of any judges in […]

2015 Illinois Web Design Contest

April 29, 2015 - Learning , Web , WOW - by Mark - No Comments

I had the great opportunity to supervise the Illinois Web Design contest in Springfield on April 23 – 24, 2015. As always, our contest focuses on professionalism (we are WebProfessionals.org after all), current web design job skills, and industry best practices to help students be better prepared to enter the […]

Tagged: Web Design Contest

What I like about Adobe Acrobat DC

April 22, 2015 - Adobe , Mobile Apps , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

Adobe recently released a significant update to Acrobat. When I first opened the tool [viewing a PDF document], I saw the following (and felt a bit overwhelmed). Note the changes to the interface, particularly the options on the right for the given document. Wow. There are a lot more options. […]

Adobe Slate

April 15, 2015 - Adobe , Web - by Mark - No Comments

Adobe recently released a new iPad only app focused on creating content. One can then view this content in browsers on any Internet connected device. The content is displayed in a manner appropriate for that device. The app is called Slate (I placed the logo below). The tag line “Make […]

Adobe Comp CC

April 8, 2015 - Adobe , Web - by Mark - 2 Comments

Adobe recently released a new app for the iPad – Comp CC. In many ways, this app reminds me of Adobe Proto. There are a number of differences. The most important is that one can create low fidelity wireframes or much more detailed mock-ups of a web site, print document […]

2 factor authentication

April 1, 2015 - Security - by Mark - No Comments

I recently provided a post on passwords. I mentioned that one should employ 2 factor authentication where possible. Given that many readers and students may use WordPress as a blog platform (or for other purposes as it is a rather flexible platform), I thought it might be helpful for individuals […]

Wipster and Adobe Voice

March 25, 2015 - General , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

I have been experimenting with the Wipster application for a few weeks. Essentially, this is a site where you post a video for others to review and approve. They can add comments in the video (as it plays). Although the service is not free, I am finding this to be […]

Office Mix

March 18, 2015 - Learning , Technology , Windows - by Mark - 1 Comment

Assuming you are running MS-PowerPoint 2013 or higher, you might want to try Office Mix. It is a free add-on for PowerPoint which allows you to “create and share interactive online videos.” You can include screen captures, screen recordings, polls, and quizzes. You can upload your completed presentation to the […]

Passwords

March 11, 2015 - Security - by Mark - No Comments

Passwords – “can’t stand them, can’t live without them.” We must access many computer resources every day and have to rely on passwords to verify we are who we say we are. I can’t count the number of times people ask me about what constitutes a good password. Therefore, I […]

Screen Capture Utilities

March 4, 2015 - Adobe , ICC , Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

I have been helping a peer with one of their online classes this semester. They expressed an interest in learning about different tools to record the screen. I decided to take a different approach this week and provide this document I created for their use. This is an alternative approach […]

Web Vulnerability Scanners

February 25, 2015 - Security , Web - by Mark - No Comments

One of the many classes I teach is CMWEB 270 – Web Application Security. I thought it might be helpful to readers to review a couple of the tools one can use to automatically scan for website vulnerabilities. I consider it good practice to use a number of tools. Obviously, […]