News
Ever get frustrated using your favourite browser? Can’t find what you’re looking for?
Maybe WolframAlpha, is what you need.
Very soon, the new search engine WolframAlpha, will be released. Stephen Wolfram
who created WolframAlpha, is a scientist, inventor, author, and business leader.
Check out the screencast. It looks extremely impressive
April 15, 2009 – Quintura (www.quintura.com), a visual-based search
engine, today announced the re-launch of its search destination homepage,
Quintura.com. The new homepage on Quintura.com simplifies access to online
search services offered by Quintura such as web search, site search and
kids-friendly search. The new ‘look and feel’ of Quintura.com is fueled by
demand from Quintura users including online publishers, web masters and search
engine industry professionals.
“The new Quintura.com makes it easy for
regular site users to access its web services,” said Yakov Sadchikov, founder
and CEO of Quintura. “The new homepage also better informs new users about our
online offerings.”
Quintura has been recently awarded three U.S.
patents for its search engine graphical interface and context-based search
visualization using neural networks. In addition to engaging users, the Quintura
patented search technology powers interactive search solutions, such as
customizable search terms and the ability to populate the Quintura search cloud
with contextual images and banners.
Quintura works with consumer
magazine publishers and individual site publishers to power site search on their
web-sites and offer a tag cloud-based search widget. Over 2,500 online content
publishers have registered to use the hosted site search service from Quintura,
which includes online search analytics and display (banner) ads-insertion option
for its users.
The monthly audience of Quintura Site Search exceeds 10
million site users. Quintura Site Search is free for web publishers through an
advertising revenue-sharing agreement and is also available on a subscription
basis.
Try the new Quintura out for yourself on www.quintura.com
About
Quintura
Founded in 2005, Quintura offers a patented, visual-based
search technology for web search, site search and ‘vertical’ search
applications. Quintura works with web publishers and online content owners to
provide an easier and more relevant in-site search experience. Quintura operates
Quintura Kids is a safe, fun and
easy-to-use search destination for younger Internet users. Quintura, Inc. is a
U.S. company with software development offices near Moscow, Russia. The company
is funded by Mangrove Capital Partners.
As mentioned in Rotorua last week, Sarah Hughes (NZ Book
Council education officer) has planned a rich programme of writers &
publishers ‘VC conversations’ for the year. These sessions will be of particular
interest to your English teachers. This information was produced by Ken Pullar OtagoNet. Thanks Ken
This term, 2 ‘VC conversations’ have been arranged scheduled – the first “Publishing Children’s Books” will be on Thursday 12th March at 2pm, and the second, “Writing a Blog” on Friday 3rd April
Here’s some initial details for next week’s session
“Publishing Children’s Books” - Thursday 12th March at 2pm
‘Come and join our top children’s book publishers and talk to them about how they publish books for children and young adults – how they choose their publications, how they mix illustration with writing to make a perfect book, and everything else about the children’s publishing industry here in New Zealand. Ann Mallinson and Barbara Larson are both experienced and passionate publishers, and will be able to answer anything you throw at them.
Ann Mallinson QSM is one of New Zealand’s most experienced children’s publishers. She began her own publishing company, Mallinson Rendel, in 1980, and published her first bestseller then. Years later with the internationally acclaimed Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy, by Lynley Dodd. Mallinson Rendel has over 170 titles to its credit, and continues to publish around eight books a year. Ann Mallinson was awarded the Margaret Mahy award for her contribution to children’s publishing in 1997, and is a life member of the BPANZ.’
Barbara Larson heads Longacre Press, a publishing house in Dunedin which publishes quality Young Adult fiction and adult’s non-fiction. Her most recent success was with the book The 10pm Question, by Kate De Goldi, which has been nominated in the Young Adult section of the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adult. Longacre Press was established in 1994, and publishes 20 books a year, six of them being Young Adult fiction.
- Cluster coordinators will be responsible for overall courses and student enrolment.
- Cluster coordinators will be responsible for course/student negotiations between clusters and individual schools on the VLN.
- Clusters will enrol only their own students until the first week in February and then it is up to the individual clusters to notify the other clusters of spare capacity via a forum on the VLN and the Liste Serve email.
- Negotiations for enrolment places will be managed between cluster coordinators and designated people from individual schools.
- Cluster coordinators will be responsible for keeping accurate contact details within their clusters - eg, school coordinators and so on.
Note: The waiting list is available for enrolments from schools or clusters outside of the offering school or cluster (if this option is activated by the offering school or cluster). It is then up to the offering school to accept or turn away the waiting list student.
In 2006 there were cases where enrolments were made in two places. This is not acceptable and leads to huge amounts of extra work. I think that if this kind of thing continues, then schools and clusters will become aware of this and in future years will not consider you until the very end. So, do this at your own peril!
Individual schools:
(Individual schools are schools that are part of the VLN and do not belong to a cluster.)
- The school will have a designated person that is responsible for overall courses and student enrolment.
- The designated person will be responsible for course/student negotiations between clusters and individual schools on the VLN.
- The designated person will enrol only their own students until the first week in February and then it is up to the individual clusters to notify the other clusters of spare capacity via a forum on the VLN and the Liste Serve email.
- Negotiations for enrolment places will be managed between the designated person and cluster coordinators.
- The designated person will be responsible for keeping accurate contact details for their school.
Tertiary organisations:
- Access to tertiary courses is on 'first come first served' basis.
- Each tertiary organisation will have a coordinator.
- The coordinator will be responsible for overall courses and the accepting of enrolments from individual schools and clusters.
- The coordinator will be the person that the individual schools and clusters will negotiate with about any problems.
- The coordinator will be responsible for keeping accurate contact details for their organisation.
The VLN team:
- We will be responsible for any assistance needed to make sure that the smooth operation of courses and enrolments takes place.
- As in any job description, we will be responsible for '...and any other duties that are required'.
Te Kete Ipurangi – the Online Learning Centre is New Zealand's bilingual education portal and is an initiative of the Ministry of Education.
The Te Kete Ipurangi vision is to provide New Zealand schools with a cost effective electronic platform to communicate curriculum and administrative materials, enhance teaching and learning, raise student achievement and advance professional development for school management and teaching staff.
As we design and implement an easier and clearer pathway for teachers to find their curriculum resources and subject-related online environments, we wish to invite you to take the opportunity to accept a free TKI guided tour of resources which support the new curriculum.
These Video Conferences can take place during school time or in an after school meeting. Please note these are suggested dates only, please contact maryanne if they are not suitable and she can arrange an alternative date.
maryanne.ahern@tki.org.nz 0274 054 987http://www.wiziq.com/
YouTube demo
Welcome to the DEANZ 2008 conference
My Place, My
Space, My Learning -
Distance and Virtual Education
Sunday 17 August -
Wednesday 20 August
Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New
Zealand
Wellington, New Zealand
There will be an emphasis at the Conference on:
- Latest Developments;
- Best Practice;
- Emerging Issues;
- Research.
Remember when you were promised all those amazing future tech innovations? Just around the corner was supposed to be a shining technology utopia with flying cars, personal space travel to distant galaxies, and bio-implantable cell phones. It's almost disappointing enough to make you sit at home and watch old episodes of "Space 1999".
Don't lose hope! An amazing glimpse of this promised future has just arrived at ThinkGeek in the form of the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard. This tiny device laser-projects a keyboard on any flat surface... you can then type away accompanied by simulated key click sounds. It really is true future magic at its best. You'll be turning heads the moment you pull this baby from your pocket and use it to compose an e-mail on your bluetooth enabled PDA or Cell Phone. With 63 keys and and full size QWERTY layout the Laser Virtual Keyboard can approach typing speeds of a standard keyboard... in a size a little larger than a matchbook. more....