The concept is several years old, with traditional WiFi routers’ manufacturers implementing a GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/CDMA modules in some of their products. These routers are very convenient for setting up mobile sites like mobile teams, outdoor events, etc. where only the presence of electricity is needed. Like traditional routers, they usually offer combined wired and wireless access.

MiFi is an enhancement of this concept – it’s a self-sufficient device, designed by Novatel, that has its own battery. You can carry it in your pocket or bag, and use wireless internet about 10 meters (30 feet) around. The battery has enough capacity to provide about 5 hours of active internet access and 40 hours of standby. It automatically switches into standby when it detects it is not in use, thus saving power. It can be accessed by 5 devices simultaneously (wireless only, no wired ports), sharing the same internet connection. And when the battery is down, you can plug it in an electricity outlet with the provided adapter, or charge it from your laptop via USB, to continue surfing.

It’s been around for over a year now, and not only in the US anymore (you can buy a standalone device or check with a mobile carrier in your country):

TinEye is the “reverse image search engine” you need – you just have to upload your image (or give the URL-address, if it is published on a webpage), and you will get results from other pages, containing the same image. It gives you the chance to learn what it is, since you will probbably get pages, containing info about it. Here is how it works:

It is also a good tool to see who is using your images

Video Volunteers is a simple way for you to help raise awareness for causes you care about, and compete for recognition of your work on the YouTube homepage.

Each month, the channel will feature a different relevant issue on the Video Volunteers channel with a new guest curator, and you could have the opportunity to showcase your work (and your favorite org) to a huge audience. [YouTube]

You can buy his book The Last Lecture at Amazon. Another very interesting topic Randy was talking about is Time management. I really, really recommend you to watch the video Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management on YouTube (or buy his book Time Management).

Thank you, Randy!

It is a celebration, meant to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. It was started by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in held on April 22, 1970.

YouTube has put it in the spotlight for today:

The Bay vs. The Bag

The Unravelling: Eggs, String, & Climate Change

It requires a compatible laptop (some of the new Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 processors, an Intel (Advanced) N wireless adapter, 64-bit Windows 7, and some specialized Intel software), a wireless TV adapter and a TV with a HDMI or composite A/V input. Look for the WiDi icon to find compatible devices.

So far, the announced compatible devices are:

Laptops:

• Dell Studio 15z
• Sony VAIO S Series
• Toshiba Satellite E205

Wireless receiver:

• NETGEAR Push2TV Adapter for Intel Wireless Display

Here’s how it works:

I am also very keen on learning new things and gathering knowledge in various spheres of life. So, I was very excited, when several years ago, one of the most prominent universities in the IT sphere – the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), decided to start an innovative project – to make the courses, taught to MIT students, available online. Since then, many universities have made this step, and as a result, you can now “attend” top universities’ courses from the comfort of your own home, to mix and match content according to your own interests and needs, and to design unique curricula for yourselves.

So here is (hopefully, an ever growing) list of links to the publicly available university courses and other knowledge resources:

Academic Earth [http://www.academicearth.org/]
MIT Open CourseWare (OCW) project [http://ocw.mit.edu]
MIT World [http://mitworld.mit.edu]
UC Berkeley Webcasts [http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php]
Open Yale Courses [http://oyc.yale.edu]
Apple iTunes U [http://www.apple.com/education/mobile-learning]
Research Channel Video Library [http://www.researchchannel.org]
Sceince Stage [http://sciencestage.com]
TeacherTube [http://www.teachertube.com]
TED Talks [http://www.ted.com]
Udemy [http://www.udemy.com]
videolectures.net [http://videolectures.net]
YouTube EDU [http://www.youtube.com/education]
Yovisto [http://www.yovisto.com]
RSA [http://www.thersa.org]
Open CourseWare Consortium [http://www.ocwconsortium.org]

Feel free to propose other valuable resources, that belong to the list. Also, be sure to revisit this article, as it is my intention to keep the list updated as I find other valuable resources.

[Image by svilen001, taken from www.sxc.hu]