A Great Joy

On of my greatest joys is going to a school site and seeing teachers using the solutions Matrix has provided. Earlier this week I was visiting Amador High School and I witnessed several teachers using the Interwrite Interactive Whiteboard. It was amazing to see the students actively engaged in class and paying attention to the material that the teachers presented.

It may seem strange that I mention this, since this is exactly the result that I promote when I do demonstrations of our solutions. However, seeing our solutions in action delivers a great sense of satisfaction and assures me that I am providing a valuable service to our clients.

eInstruction was Interwrite... is now eInstruction... was Interwrite

Product name changes can throw us for a loop sometimes, especially when you are not tuned into the reason why they update. Company mergers, collapsing product lines, marketing, even whim drives these changes. I don't really get caught up in that spin; I just want the products and software that I use to be reliable.

Interwrite products are now eInstruction. The links to these manufacturers are getting sorted out, and is with any merger, it will take a bit of time for those to completely blend. The important factors, such as eInstruction tech support and Workspace software downloads are available without a glitch.

eInstruction released Workspace-ExamView Edition Software not long ago and you can download it for FREE. It has a bunch of new features that will bring current eInstruction (formerly Interwrite) Pad, Board, and Response users up to a new level. Some basic training video clips are available online but Matrix Ingenuity has a series of classes that we offer for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced users.

I'll be interested to see what the current (now eInstruction) Pad/Board and Response users think of the new software... We'd be glad to show them what they have now...

Workspace Updates to Version 7.60

On June 30th eInstruction launched Workspace- ExamView® Edition.

Overview & Outline of the New Features:

ExamView integration – View questions from the ExamView® Learning Series or publisher test banks on the Workspace page for instruction or assessment using student response pads

1. Enhanced Tools – Create gradient backgrounds and snap to grid to make your Workspace pages colorful and aligned. Also, learn about the enhanced text box tool, free form fill and capture tools, stamper, picture pen, and right-click menus.
2. Gallery Interface – Drag and drop images to personalize your collection into customizable folders
3. Toolbar Customization – Easily customize your toolbar by dragging and dropping the icons you want to have easily accessible
4. Device Manager – Graphics-enhanced device manager makes finding your devices easier than ever before
5. Preferences – Tab-based preferences makes finding options faster and easier

Click here to download the “How to Guide” for the new features of Workspace 7.6.

Teched Winners!!

I want to thank everyone who visited Matrix Ingenuity's booth at Teched 2008. It was a pleasure to meet you and I look forward to speaking with you in the future.







For those of you who signed up for the giveaways here are the winners:

• The winner of the Flip Video Camera is David Grannis

• The winner of the Interwrite Pad is Larry Kendall

• The Grand Prize Winner is Jennie Batiste

Congratulations to all of the winners and enjoy your prizes.

Let me know what you though of Teched.

Day 2 at Teched

Heyyy! where is day 1? I will tell you it was a long day and to top it off there was no Internet available when I got back to my room. But Today! Today I made provisions and am happily posting an update.

As I mentioned, Day 1 was busy, Mike and I setup the both and got ready for the opening session, we have a good location, we are across from the the vendor theater and where the food is served for the attendees. We had lots of visitors and they all signed up for the giveaway of the Flip Video camera. http://www.theflip.com/ to check out the device. I am posting a picture and video taken with camera and it was bell of the ball.

Here is a picture of our booth

Day 2

Even busier, it was a full day of sessions and visitors. Today's big draw was the Crestron system and the Interwrite Pad. With the DVPHD we can project 4 images simultaneously on the screen it is very cool and more than that it is useful. Take into consideration video conferencing, the basic setup requires at least 2 monitors one for the video coming from the site you connecting to and the other is a local monitor to check what is being sent. With the DVPHD you have one box and it can display both images on one screen.

Our giveaway today was an Interwrite pad and our winner was Larry Kendall, Here is a video of Michael Dessaso Sr. Vice President, presenting the Pad to Larry at the conference.

Tomorrow is day 3 and then we head home.

Let me know if you attended Teched and what was the best part!

Matrix Ingenuity is Heading to TechEd

The Matrix Ingenuity Team is taking the show on the road and heading to Ontario, California for the 13th Annual Technology in Education Conference and Exposition. Our team has set-up an awesome display to show some of the coolest technology out there. We are showing the InterWrite Bluetooth Wireless Pad, a wonderful technology that frees teachers from their board.
Along with the educational solutions, we are displaying awesome Audio/Video solutions from Crestron.
Visit us at booth 433 and sign up for a chance to win some exceptional prizes.

Let us know if you are heading to TechEd and we will look out for you.

Free Interwrite Training

So the Super Bowl wasn't so super if you were a Pats fan! It is a rare accomplishment to go undefeated and it didn't happen this time, maybe next year.
This brings up a tough lesson to learn, no matter how much training and practice you have it may still not be enough.
So what do you do......? Go out and train and practice some more!!!!

As a matter of fact I believe training is so important I have refused job offers because of the lack of training or no training at all.

There are things better then training. “What?” you ask. Free Training!

We are offering free training on the Interwrite Workspace Software click on this link for more information and to sign-up.

http://www.matrixingenuity.com/InterwriteTraining-sp8.html

Take advantage of this offer. It is a $150.00 value and seats are limited.

Let me know what you think! About the game or about training, I look forward to hearing from you.

Macworld - The GOOD part!

There were several cool products at the Expo.

Interwrite Learining was there with the bluetooth wireless tablet, whiteboard and personal response system (PRS). It was a busy booth and there was a lot of interest in the PRS, both as a testing device and as a method to collect homework.

NEC had some new products including a wrap around wide screen display. It is not a flat screen as you can see but a rear projection. Neat concept, yet sad, as I do not have space on my desk for it....Yet!

Canon was there with their large format printers 44" wide and up to 75' long. The images were sharp and while I was at their booth they were printing this beautiful banner! They also displayed there consumer and professional video cameras, HD is out there and its stunning. I am looking for a new video camera for podcasting and I think Canon may be it.

Continuing along the lines of video Pod casting, I saw two excellent software programs from Vara Software. http://www.varasoftware.com/ The videocue 2 allows you to enter your script and read it like a teleprompter as you look into your video camera. They were using the built-in camera in the top of the screen and it worked like a dream. The other product they had was a software based live broadcast studio. It has a robust feature set and you can do some neat things.

This next picture is of Software Bisque's booth. http://www.bisque.com/ They have a series of astronomy software products that are comprehensive to say the least. For both the beginner and the expert they have a solution for you.

I suppose that since I am writing about Macworld Expo, I should say a few things about Apple's offerings. They had the whole line-up there, Ipod, IPhone, and the rest. They were showing of the Macbook Air, a super thin notebook. It was slick and there are going to be a lot of happy travelers, when they get their hands on this beaut.

Overall, the show broke even, not too many breakthrough items, but a lot of solid products that address various niche markets.

What did you think?

What was your expectation?

What cool things did you find?

Macworld Expo 2008

I went to my first Macworld Expo today. It wasn't what I expected and I am sure that the biggest buzz will be about the lines to get badges.

This is the line to get into the EXPO, Cool huh! Now, if you were to look down the street to the right you would see another crowd this size waiting to get in. It was a mess.

Another Picture of the line, this time inside:

Well, it has been a long, long day and although the Expo started off slow, there was some cool stuff there and I will share that later.

Tell me what you thought of Macworld.

Macworld Expo

I have a GREAT job. One of the benefits of this great jobs is that I can attend trade shows and various training and then I can share what I learned with all of you!

Tomorrow, is the opening day of the Expo and I will be in attendance. Several of our partners will be there, Interwrite Learning, and NEC are two that I am looking forward to visiting with. I am also excited to see all of the audio and video editing equipment plus all of the new gadgets. (What can I say, I am a Geek)

I will be taking some pictures and I will share them and what I have learned when I get back.



Let me know if you were there too and I look forward to hearing what you thought was the "Latest Greatest."


Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - ), "Profiles of The Future", 1961 (Clarke's third law)

New Year's Resolutions

Well, it’s the 3rd week of January, how many of you have broken at least one of your New Year’s Resolutions? I haven’t, I am not bragging but you have to make Resolutions to keep them. Several years ago, I gave up resolutions for good. Oh sure I have goals for the year, but resolutions, never again. Why? Too much pressure, too easy to quit, too, well, you name it and I’ll find an excuse.
I am a firm believer in continuous improvement.
Yes, it is very business sounding, however if you think about it, why create obstacles for yourself. If you start out the year with the resolution to exercise at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes and you don’t do it, you fail. Also, why the New Year, when most of us need corrections throughout the year.
Here is how it works for me! One of my goals is to exercise more, I would like to work out 3-4 days a week and I can tell you I am not currently doing so. I am however working out 1-2 days a week and that is more then I was a month ago and next month I will try to work in another day or work out longer each time. So when I look back I see improvement and not failure.

The solutions Matrix Ingenuity offer are the same, they are always in the process of continuous improvement.
Our training and support http://www.matrixingenuity.com/Training-sp10.html is always being modified and perfected to provide you with the highest quality and the most enjoyable experience MI can offer.
Interwrite Learning is an excellent example of the continuous improvement system. Their Interwrite Workspace software is being enriched everyday, they take user feedback and any issues that arise and improve the software, and they provide the upgrades for free.
Matrix Ingenuity’s website http://www.matrixingenuity.com/ is also under continuous improvement. Changes are being made every day sometimes they work and sometimes we need to make changes, but we are striving to improve.
This blog http://www.matrixingenuity.blogspot.com/ too is a new endeavor and if I haven’t bored you to tears yet, I have improved since last week. (I didn’t even blog)

Remember the addage:
"Good, Better, Best, Never Rest. Till good is better and better, best"

How can you work continuous improvement? I look forward to your response.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - ), "Profiles of The Future", 1961 (Clarke's third law)