Lee Trampleasure's Blog – Page 7 – Science education and more…

July 7, 2008

Sitting in Safeway in Florence, OR

Well, it’s better than Florence, AZ, where I spent a few days in the Federal Pen after a protest at Vandenburg Air Force base… Nice day yesterday. I picked up a couple hitchikers outside Arcata and took them as far as Coos Bay. Not a lot of conversation, but they got a good ride out of it 🙂 Last night...

Travels Comments: 0

July 6, 2008

Greetings from Eureka

Well, I finished my first day. Last night I stayed in Campsite #7 at Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area outside Leggett (just north of where Highway 1 meets 101). I had a nice rideshare with a woman from Craigslist. She’s originally from the Willits area, now living in Portland, and back to visit her folks. We had a nice conversation on...

Summer 2008 Comments: 0

July 4, 2008

Great resources for checking web pages for disabled accessibility

I am no expert on checking accessibility of web sites, but I use a couple tools that can help quickly check web pages: 1. Install the Fangs extension in Firefox (available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/fangs). Then, from the Tools menu, select Fangs. You will get a page as “seen” by someone who uses a screen reader. Screen readers can be set to...

Computers and the web Comments: 0

July 4, 2008

Off on a road trip to Canada

I really wanted to go the the American Association of Physics Teachers meeting in Bremerton, but I decided that was a bit too much time. So instead I’m stopping to see some Trampleasures just outside of Vancouver, BC. I’m starting with a drive up Highway 101 along the California, Oregon, and Washington coasts. Stops on my trip include Quinn on...

Summer 2008 Comments: 0

May 20, 2008

Stretching program for you computer users

I used Stretch Break when I was working at Lawrence Hall of Science, spending much time daily at the computer. It has a nice combination of stretches, both sitting and standing. You can set it to remind you at any time interval you chose (default is every 30 minutes). It’s a great program for those of us who get caught...

Computers and the web Comments: 0

May 18, 2008

Nice screen shot video software

I just found a great piece of software that allows you to easily record what you are doing on your computer screen (with your own voice over) and save it as a .AVI or Flash movie. The software is called CamStuio, and being open source it is free. You can find it at http://camstudio.org/. I used it for making a...

Computers and the web Comments: 0

May 12, 2008

Wahoo, I’m moving back to Berkeley !!!

Yes, it’s true. After a “year abroad” in Pleasant Hill, I’m moving back to Berkeley. I’ve been accepted into the Walnut House Cooperative. The Coop is a non-profit owned 22-unit apartment house just north of downtown Berkeley on Walnut Street. I’m impressed by the selection process (realistic number of people interviewing, timeline) and the fact that they have been “in...

General Comments: 0

April 6, 2008

France trip photos posted

I posted some photos of my trip to France in March 2008. I was one of four teacher chaperons on a student trip from the high school I work at. We took 27 students and two parents. You can find the photos here. We started with a couple days in Paris, then took the TGV (“train that goes very fast”)...

Travels Comments: 0

March 22, 2008

Bicycles in Paris

I’m on a nine-day trip to France with students from my school (the benefits of sharing my classroom with a French teacher!), and we spent the last couple days in Paris. Paris is doing some good things to get more folks on bikes, including rental bikes all over town: Rental bikes similar to but easier than City Carshare. You buy...

Bicycles/Travels Comments: 2

March 2, 2008

Bicycle maps on Google: Petition

A great group of folks (GoogleMapsBikeThere.org) have developed an online petition to request that Google add “Bike There” check box to Google Maps. If you haven’t explored Google Maps recently, it’s worth checking out. One of their options for directions is “Avoid highways” which is halfway to a bike friendly mapping experience. Google has also added a “Take Public Transit”...

Bicycles/Computers and the web Comments: 0