Tightwad Tech

This is Mark, Signing off.

Mark and Shawn are joined by listener Benjamin Hössl as he shares his experiences at CeBit 2013.

Mark and Shawn take a look back at what was a visionary project at the time and ask the question- If I could do it all again, would I?

This is the episode where Mark rants about stuff. I know- totally unheard of!

The guys have a look at some tech news, some tech rumors, and even examine some things of cosmic importance.

Shawn shares his recent experience at the Texas Computer Education Association Convention 2013.

Shawn shares his recent experience at the Texas Computer Education Association Convention 2013.

Shawn shares his recent experience at the Texas Computer Education Association Convention 2013.

Mark and Shawn are joined by Bob Neumann for a look at a fascinating, yet geeky Open Source tool for network administrators called PolyMon.

Mark confesses his dark, criminal secret and hopes the Feds don't come kick down his door.

Shawn delves into his newest passion- a tiny computer with big potential and a Tightwad approved price tag.

With CES this past week, the Internet is abuzz with reviews and inside looks. So, we decide to give CES a glancing blow and look at some other interesting news items of the week.

Mark and Shawn look cover some interesting news stories of the week, and look ahead at some potentially world-changing technologies coming in the near future.

Mark and Shawn look at some predictions that popular pundits have made regarding the tech landscape in 2013. Find out what they agree with, what they disagree with, and what they call B.S. on, and hear a couple of predictions of their own.

For their final show of 2012 the guys respond to a listener request by discussing their top ten tools of the year.

It's a Festivus miracle this week on the Tightwad Tech!

Shawn gloats about his new phone (something Mark would NEVER do) and the guys cover some interesting news stories along the way.

Mark and Shawn cover a smattering of tech topics, with a little bit of "get off my lawn" thrown in for good measure.

Mark and Shawn are joined by listeners Corey Knapp and Richard Williams to get their take on Windows 8.

Mark and Shawn discuss some recent tech news and Mark rants... just a little bit.

After discussing some of the tech news of the day, Mark and Shawn take a look at Google's new round of Chromebooks.

Shawn introduces us all to a couple of new tools he's been playing with around the office.

For our thirteenth installment of the Listener Spotlight series, Mark and Shawn are joined by Pete Kuykendall to discuss his unique applications of the Tightwad Tech mentality.

This week Mark and Shawn turn their attention to a number of items of listener feedback. They answer some questions, receive some advice, and take some criticism, too.

The guys try to unravel the mysteries of Microsoft Volume Licensing for education and discuss the challenges of the Windows 7 activation scheme.

This week Shawn laments the loss of a couple of his favorite Google Apps add-ons and Mark takes to task the makes of one of his favorite tools for changing their terms of agreement only AFTER cashing his check.

This week the guys bring to the table a few short topics that didn't warrant a show on their own, including an update on one of our favorite classroom management tools- iTALC.

This week the guys cover a couple of tech news items before delving into a discussion on how to handle an overloaded VM server.

Shawn talks about his first day with students as "The Boss" and shares a few wins along with a couple of challenges he faced as the 2012 school year kicks off.

After an extended break, Mark and Shawn return to their mics again to fill you in on what happened while they were away, and what's in store for the future. Plus, Shawn announces his complete transformation into an Apple fanboy.

Mark and Shawn continue their "If You Build IT" series with a look at some of the policies and procedures they recommend putting in place for a "Tightwad" technology department.

Mark and Shawn take the opportunity of the Memorial Day holiday to slack off a bit and have an impromptu discussion about where they are in their prof

This week Mark and Shawn take a few minutes to celebrate their 100th episode with a couple of guest appearances and well-wishes from the community before they dive back into the "If You Build It" series of shows.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Molly Schroeder and Tracy Purdy to learn about how the Edina Public Schools are implementing Google's Chromebooks in their classrooms.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Bud Rizer as he talks about the National Cristina Foundation and their thirty-year history of helping special needs kids get the technology they need from every-day donors like you.

This week Mark and Shawn invite Kristy Vincent of the EduMatters podcast on the show to discuss the sticky issues that substitute teachers create in terms of network security.

This week Mark and Shawn continue their "If You Build It" series with a look at network infrastructure.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Fred Dixon of the Big Blue Button project to talk about their open-source Web conference tool.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Corey Knapp for the 12th installment of our series of Listener Spotlight shows.

This week Mark and Shawn take on a challenge offered by a listener and answer the question, "If you had to build a school tech. department from the ground up, in Tightwad fashion; what would you do?"

This week Mark and Shawn are once again by Derrick Waddell as he discusses his search for a replacement to Picnik.com- an online video editing service that has been purchased by Google and will soon be scrapped.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Chuck Jolley, the Assistant Director of Technology of Mississippi's DeSoto County School District in the eleventh installment of our Listener Spotlight series of podcasts.

This week Mark and Shawn talk about some promising technologies that they got excited about in the past, but eventually turned out to be failures.

This week Mark and Shawn share some of their crazy, funny, tragic or just generally unbelievable stories related to life as a tech support professional.

This week Mark discusses an intellectual struggle he's been having recently regarding the benefits and shortcomings of doing things "The Tightwad Way."

This week Mark and Shawn talk with Dave Peterson, the inventor of FiddleHead- a one-stop solution for imaging, backup, classroom management, and more.

This week Mark gives a brief wrap-up of his experiences at this year's TCEA convention and he and Shawn discuss the benefits of attending professional conferences in general.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Jeremy Jackson of Pasadena I.S.D. in the tenth installment of our Listener Spotlight series of podcasts.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by "Professor" James Messer to lean about his free, online training site, a bit of his history, and a glimpse into his future.

This week Mark and Shawn discuss Apple's latest bid to change the world of education with iBooks 2 and by opening iTunes U to K-12 schools. Hint: Read the license agreement carefully.

In this, our 9th edition of the Listener Spotlight, we're joined by Jim Beason who talks about his recent experiences in continuing his professional education. Do you need to upgrade your resumé? Maybe Jim has some good tips for you.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Jake Gardner, a high school freshman who made a major company sit up and take notice when he helped them port their own Windows software to the Mac.

This week Mark and Shawn take a look at some of the factors involved in the typical corporate/education decision-making process. Who should you listen to? Who should you be wary of? Who can you trust?

To round out the year, Shawn and Mark recap their favorite tech and teacher tips fo 2011.

Merry Christmas from Element Opie Productions

Merry Christmas from Element Opie Productions

This week Shawn lobs a few logic grenades at Apple based on his recent experiences with supporting hundreds of their devices. Oh, and Mark is there too.

This week Mark and Shawn discuss the pros and cons of "vendor lock-in."

This week Mark and Shawn give a follow-up review of the ASUS Transformer tablet they first reviewed a couple of months ago, with comments from both students and teachers who used the device daily.

This week the guys are joined by Seth Anderson of the Everyday Linux podcast to talk about the various technical certifications available today. Do you need to be certified? If so, which ones should you chase. Listen in to find out.

This week Mark and Shawn take a few minutes to talk about what they're thankful for- both in the world of technology and personally. Element Opie Productions wishes all of our listeners a happy Thanksgiving!

This week Mark and Shawn take a look at the typical number and type of technology support staff in both the corporate and education communities.

This week Mark gets back on his soap box again as he and Shawn discuss what it really means for something to be obsolete.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Brendan Kolber of Branded Business Apps as they discuss how your school can get its own mobile app developed on a tightwad budget.

This week Mark and Shawn discuss some of their tips and frustrations related to dealing with vendors and their support systems.

This week Shawn shares some of his experiences and observations related to his first week on a new job in a very different environment.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Barry Dahl as they discuss his quest for the $10K bachelor's degree.

This week Mark and Shawn ask the question, "What would you change if you were crowned King of the Internet?"

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Steve Hargadon to learn about his many Web 2.0 projects and discuss his views on the current state of Open Source in education.

This week Mark and Shawn talk about some of the techniques they've learned over the years to help develop students into techs.

In another hodgepodge episode, Mark and Shawn discuss iDevices, Android tablets, Web standards, lazy programmers and more.

This week Mark and Shawn discuss the merits of do-it-yourself network installations- from tips and techniques to must-have tools.

This week Mark and Shawn continue an ongoing discussion regarding "customer service" from the tech department. Is it best to work efficiently behind the scenes, or to be a bit less efficient, but work face-to-face with your students and staff?

This week Mark and Shawn discuss the first day of school for the 2011-2012 school year- sharing some funny stories, some successes, and some misery. If you work for a school, you can surely relate to something in this episode.

In this .5 episode, Mark and Shawn are joined by Aaron Butler of the 1 Meal 1 Workout podcast to discuss some of their favorite fitness-related apps and gadgets.

This week Mark and Shawn discuss their experiences with rolling out Windows 7 district-wide. Offering some tips they've discovered as well as pointing out a few pitfalls to be avoided.

This week Mark and Shawn have the pleasure of speaking with award-winning futurist, author and consultant, David Thornburg about a range of subjects including his work at Xerox PARC, his Open Source advocacy and his ideas on the future of education.

This week Mark and Shawn have a quasi-impromptu discussion regarding managing one's "personal brand" in the realm of social networking.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by David Trask of the Open 1 to 1 project to discuss their work regarding Open Source advocacy in public education.

This week Mark and Shawn take a look at Google's new social network offering and offer some first impressions.

This week Mark and Shawn discuss the Children's Internet Protection Act and other government mandates affecting public schools.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by listener Kevin Wisher for the 8th installment of their Listener Spotlight.

This week Mark and Shawn discuss their typical summer maintenance routine and outline a few tricks they've learned over the years to extend the life of hardware and ease the staff transition issues that arise.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Steve Sokol, Marketing Director for Asterisk to talk about the open source telephony software.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Nat Robinson, V.P. Marketing and Business Development for Sliderocket to talk about one of their favorite web-based presentation tools.

This week Mark and Shawn are once again joined by Chuck Syperski and Jim Jang of the FOG Project to talk about what's new, and whats on the horizon for our favorite Open Source hard disk imaging tool.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Seth Anderson for the seventh installment of our Tightwad Tech Listener Spotlight.

This week Mark and Shawn discuss the hows and whys of running virtual platforms on the desktop.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Jacqueline Botterill, manager of the Skype in the Classroom proect.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Steven Campbell, the Director of Information Technology for the International School of Kabul, Afghanistan for our sixth installment of the Listener Spotlight.

This week Mark and Shawn cover a range of mini-subjects in their second "Hodgepodge" episode.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by John Mikulski of the Niagara - Wheatfield School District to discuss his use of tightwad tech in his 7th and 8th grad Language Arts classes.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Michael McKean and Elaine Robinette of CDI Computer Dealers to talk about how refurbished computer equipment can be a tightwad's best friend.

This week Mark and Shawn are by Steve Cherubino of the Podnutz podcast network for a great discussion of the art and science of podcasting.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by listeners Pete Kuykendall and Rose Keating for our fifth Listener Spoghtlight.

This week for our one-year anniversary episode, Mark and Shawn are joined by a group of regular listeners and contributors for an all-out operating system smack-down!

This week we're launching a new show on the Tightwad Tech network called Everyday Linux, featuring community members Chris Neves (Slipp3d) and Josh Reetz (Tux2). In this show our two seasoned Linux users answer questions from a Linux newbie.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by listeners Josh Reetz, Shane Sell and John Adams for our fourth Listener Spotlight.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Tobias Doerffel, the developer of one of their favorite classroom management tools- iTALC.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Zohar Babin, Head of Community and Developer Relations for Kaltura.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Dirk Morris the founder and CTO of Untagle to talk about their unified gateway appliance.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined once again by two previous guest, Rusty Meyners and Jeremy Fluhmann to discuss the current state of hardware server virtualization.

This week Mark and Shawn broadcast live from the the Texas Computer Educators Association annual convention during their 90-minute session entitled "Podcasting Live."

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Paul Wood and Christine Voigt of Bishop Dunn High School in Dallas, Texas to talk about their practice of requiring students to bring their own personal computing devices to school.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by listener Michael Wahlstrom, a.k.a. MonkeyMartin for the third installment of our Listener Spotlight.

In this episode Mark and Shawn are joined by Superintendent Mike Gilbert and middle school principal Kevin Weaver to discuss some of the challenges and techniques involved in being an educational leader.

In this episode Mark and Shawn take a look at one-to-one computing and discuss some of the options available today, as well as some of the specifics regarding the setup of their school's one-to-one initiative.

In this episode Mark and Shawn discuss the current state of desktop video editing Tightwad style (i.e. a focus on free software options).

Mark and Shawn recap the 2010- the inaugural year of the Tightwad Tech and discuss some of the highlights of past shows.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined listener Bjorn Behrendt for our second Listener Spotlight episode.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Vicki Davis, A.K.A. CoolCatTeacher to discuss a wide range of topi

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Dr. Mike Ribble to discus the theory and practice of developing good digital citizens of the 21st Century.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Lisa Parisi and Brian Crosby, two nationally-recognized educators, to discuss the concept of desktop distance learning.

This week Mark and Shawn give you a virtual tour of their "studio" and discuss some of the techniques and tools they use to produce the Tightwad Tech podcast, and its accompanying video feed.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Chris (a.k.a. Slipp3D in the Tightwad Community) in our first ever Listener Spotlight show for a wide-ranging discussion of tech, podcasting, hacking and more!

This week Mark and Shawn wrap up their four-part series on Google Apps with a look at the Google Apps Marketplace and some of their favorite addons.

This week Mark and Shawn discuss a few different items that are too big to be ignored, but too small to be an episode in themselves.

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Derrick Waddell for part three of their series of shows related to Google Apps- focusing this time on classroom application

This week Mark and Shawn are joined by Amanda Wilson to discuss her use of Facebook and other online tools in the college classroom.

This week Mark and Shawn have an informal discussion about a couple of interesting things that happened in their school recently, and what it may mean to others in similar environments.

In this episode Mark and Shawn answer some frequently asked questions regarding time management and best practices in serving your staff without having to live at the office.

In this episode Mark and Shawn continue their series of shows related to Google Apps by looking at its initial setup and integration into an existing network. Also, Shawn announces the newest addition to the Tightwad Tech community- his son C.J.

In this episode Mark and Shawn discuss basic backup strategies for home and work and then discuss the Open Source, hard-drive based, enterprise backup suite BackupPC.

In this .5 episode Mark and Shawn go off about about a rural school who decided to give iPads to all incoming Freshman this year. There's not a lot of humility or civility to be found in this one, folks- just plain old, indignation.

In this episode Mark and Shawn are joined by Mike Gras and Scott Floyd of White Oak I.S.D. for an overview discussion of Google Apps for Education. This is part one of a multi-part look at Google Apps.

In this episode Mark and Shawn discuss our their experiences with Wordpress and the BuddyPress set of extensions.

In this episode Mark and Shawn are joined by Tabrez Syed and Cole Lakes of Spiceworks to discuss their suite of enterprise IT tools. Mark and Shawn also answer some listener feedback by giving a rundown of some of their favorite podcasts.

In this episode Mark and Shawn give a review of the Android 2.2 mobile operating and discuss the current state of mobile computing in general.

In this episode Mark and Shawn discuss ask for feedback from the audience on a couple of issues related to The Tightwad Tech community.

In this episode Mark and Shawn discuss various tools and online resources for creating and editing digital artwork.

In this episode Mark and Shawn discuss what they've been up to in recent weeks, as well as what's coming in the future. They also mention a couple of great tips sent in by listeners and add a bit of their own opinion on the subject of content filtering.

In this episode Mark and Shawn interview Dr. Doug Green regarding his recent blog post entitled, "Should We Get Rid of Technology Directors"?

In this episode Mark and Shawn give a thorough review of the iPad after Mark manages to get his hands on one in a very unlikely way.

In this episode Mark and Shawn are joined by Jeremy Fluhmann to discuss the readiness of Desktop Linux for the educational environment. Is it ready? Does it suck? Does it matter? Next they go through some tips and feedback provided by listeners.

In this episode Mark and Shawn are joined by Chuck Syperski and Jian Zhang to discuss FOG, a free and open source hard drive imaging and remote administration suite.

In this .5 episode Mark and Shawn revisit in greater detail the Boxee media center software mentioned in a previous episode and discuss the process of ripping your personal DVDs, along with some pointers on building your own digital media center.

In this episode Mark and Shawn are joined by Stuart Burt of Chapel Hill I.S.D. to discuss various free and open source audio editing and mixing tools. If you want to be a rock star on a ragamuffin budget, this is the episode for you.

For this .5 episode Mark and Shawn discuss the art and nature of podcasting and try to answer the questions "What exactly is a podcast?" and "Is there a right or a wrong way to do it?"

In this episode Mark and Shawn are joined by Pam Crandford of White Oak, Texas and Eric Schwalbach of Ocoee, Florida to discuss Moodle from the teacher's perspective.

In this episode Mark and Shawn are joined by Rusty Meyners and Ken Task to discuss the open source course management system "Moodle" with an emphasis on the tech side (i.e. setup and management).

Shawn and Mark have an impromptu discussion on the whole Mac vs PC debate and a short but completely uneducated discussion on Apple's new iPad.

Mark and Shawn discuss the "basic principals" of what The Tightwad Tech is all about. We discuss the working definitions of "Free" and "Open Source" that will become the foundation of the podcast, and provide a brief professional biography of the hosts.