Updated - iPad Stylus - Griffin GC16040 Stylus

Updated - iPad Stylus - Griffin GC16040 Stylus

So after 8 weeks of use in a 6th grade classroom and two days in a 2nd grade classroom the rubber nib of the Griffin fell off and was lost in the classroom.  I am guessing I would downgrade my initial rating of the stylus to reflect the fact that the durability is not what I would have expected for stylus at that price point.  My original post about the stylus is below.

Original Post December 2011

This post is a continuation of my search for an iPad stylus that would be a good fit for elementary age students.  My school is conducting an iPad pilot and we are researching different apps, accessories, and configurations that help us use and deploy the iPads effectively and efficiently. Over the next few posts I will be discussing the styluses I have looked at and tried.  Most of the products I am reviewing are new to me and have not been tested over the long haul of the school year. Therefore I am just giving my initial thoughts and feelings on these products.  In most cases these products were bought from Amazon and I have tried to provide links to each item.

Name

Griffin GC16040 Stylus

Company

Griffin Technology

Link
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041D0K1Q/ref=oh_o01_s00_i04_details

Product Size Specifications

4 x 0.8 x 5.9 inches ; 0.4 ounces

Initial Thoughts

The Griffin stylus has a nice weight and texture to it.  The length is slightly short for my adult hands but would be good for primary age students.  The texture is nice because you don't feel it sliding in your hands as you use it. The stylus nib is a hollow rubber which flattens the harder you press on the screen.  I do wonder how durable the nib is over the long haul and abuse of student use.

Rating

4/5

iDig Video Now on iTunes!

iDig Video now on iTunes! 

Never quite thought I would find myself on iTunes but here I am, enjoy!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/edreach-idig-video/id509944857

Copying files using Terminal

Recently I had to recover some files from a friend's harddrive, this seems to be becoming a trend. I was able to mount the drive in Mac OS X 10.7 using my Universal Harddrive adapter from OWC but I wasn't able to copy files from the drive as a group because there were frequent errors with individual files. Since I wasn't able to use finders copy I knew there had to be a way to force copy files from one location to another. Essentially I knew I needed to tell the computer to copy all the files it could from the drive and ignore the rest. Lucky Terminal came to the rescue. After a quick consult with another friend, I was reminded of Terminal's functionality in copying files but all skipping file with errors and moving onto the next file to copy.

Here is how to do it

cp -RfXv "[source folder]" [destination directory]/[foldername]/

cp  - is the command forTerminal to copy.

R - is for Recursive, and will force the copy command to not only hit folders, but all items within, including subfolders.

f - forces Terminal to copy everything without stopping.

X - tells Terminal to overwrite existing files.

v - puts the command into verbose mode, this way you'll see a scrolling list of what is actually happening as it works

Once you hit return, you should start seeing a list of files start scrolling across your screen!

Though I used 10.7 this should work no problem in Snow Leopard 10.6 , Mountain Lion 10.8, Mavericks 10.9, Yosemite 10.10, or El Capitan 10.11

iDig Video #002

This week on iDig Video: Audio Rules! Guest Jeremy Iverson,  a techie on the latest Indiana Jones film that shot in Connecticut , joins our discussion on audio. Learn some simple tips & tricks so the audio quality in your videos will sound  much more professional! Also – use  films like “Lord of the Rings”;  ”The Hurt Locker” in your class for students to discover discover innovative ways to incorporate audio into their videos. In Hot Topics of the Week: Adobes new “Primetime” with its end to end video publishing solution.

Listen to the audio here