Well we made it to Bangkok without much of a fuss. Cats traveled well and we’re slowly settling into our new house in our new city. ISB is about 30 minutes outside of the city center making our view a little different from Shanghai.
Shanghai
Bangkok
The view is not the only thing different. Last night’s low of 81F and today’s high of 90F just about did me in. The wife of course is loving it and we constantly fight over A/Cs being on or off. So today we compromised and bought a fan. Although we have situated our bed so the A/C is blowing directly on me and not on her. 
The new house is bare as we await our shipment from Shanghai to arrive (a 20ft container) full of “beautiful carpets and furniture” (direct quote from wife).
It was nice though to turn on my laptop and find out that ISB installed a wireless system in teacher housing over the summer. So every teacher has wireless in their house that runs off of the school’s network.
Last night I found myself reading through blogs and e-mails and skipping over links that I knew were blocked…that is blocked in China. It was great when I clicked on an edublogs.org and a wordpress.com link and they both loaded. I have some retraining to do of my clicking fingers.
Lastly I went to school today and picked up my new school issued computer.
But first I need help from all you Mac users out there. What free software do I need?
My first three are already on:
(Firefox and Skype came preloaded from the school…we’ll work on Twhirl for next year 
)
So I’m busy tonight putting in all my Firefox extentions. The onces I can’t live without.
But what I need from the community is the other great stuff that makes a Mac…well a Mac.
What I’m looking for in particular at this moment:
FTP client (free)
Software that allows me to share my desktop via web cam
But I’ll take anything that will allow me to do my job better, faster, and more efficient and of course all that other stuff too.
So come on all you Mac users…start thowing me those links to software I just can’t live without!
Update: There is now a wiki to add your recommendations to. The U Tech Tips Wiki
Jeff Utecht is an international educator, educational technology consultant and author. He has worked internationally since 2005, prior to that he worked in Washington State. Currently Jeff is working as the High School Technology and Learning Coordinator for the International School Bangkok. Additionally, Jeff is the technology consultant with EARCOS (East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools) and has consulted for Web 2.0 companies on educational issues. Jeff is a main coordinator for the Learning 2.0 Educational Technology Conference in Asia. He has consulted with international schools and conferences globally. Jeff regularly shares his thoughts on education and technology on his blog, thethinkingstick.com. Jeff have been mentioned in several books including Reinventing Project-Based Learning as an avenue for “free online professional development” and Web 2.0, New Tools, New Schools. He has also written a chapter on 21st Centrurey Technology Planning for the book Wired for Learning. To learn more about Jeff, visit www.jeffutecht.com.
New blog post: New City, New School, New Computer http://www.utechtips.com/?p=785Reply – Quote
For sharing desktop (can be used with Skype): Yugma
Warren
Congrats on the MacBook, I’m jealous. For a FTP program you need Cyberduck! It’s free and I love the drag and drop capability.
Does your school use Apple Remote Desktop? If your does then you’ve got the screen share built in.
I hope this helps.
HI Jeff,
I’m not a mac-master- use skype and firefox and still learning mac as my school is PC.
You want to connect with Bob Sprankle at http://bobsprankle.com/bobsprankle/index.html He’s been in a Mac school for more than 4 years in Maine and is a Mac user at home as well.
-Nancy
Cyberduck is a sweet FTP client.
The following will cost you but they are worth the price. I use Call Recorder to back up our SOS podcasts and Notebook by Circus Ponies to makes lists, record ideas and write curriculum for my classes. 1 Password is an incredible program for managing all of your passwords. They now have a version for the iPhone as well. Keep your eye out for the MacHeist software bundle that is sold a few times a year at a very reduced price.
http://www.macheist.com/
And as you know, just get your students to show you what they are using. My students keep me in the know when it comes to Mac and open source software.
Looking forward to hearing about ISB and life in Bangkok.
I want to see the pictures of the carpets and furniture. Congratulations on a smooth move and best wishes for as great new school year. I think I will miss Shanghai.
Jeff-
You must get Skitch“> for image sharing and editing.
Jeff!
Congrats, you lucky dog! ISB with Kim Cofino. Man, what a gig. Do great things together!
FTP software: http://filezilla-project.org/
Screen-sharing: isn’t that built into Leopard?
I also use and like:
AppZapper: http://appzapper.com/
IAlertU: http://tinyurl.com/ho8m8 & http://tinyurl.com/5rf4sb
That’s all for now. Have a great year!
-kj-
As an educator you can get a free copy of Fetch. Just email the developer and he’ll send you a serial number to use. here’s the link in starting that process.
http://fetchsoftworks.com/Licensing/edustore.application.html
Hi there
Things are certainly sounding good for you.
Fetch definitely.
Screen sharing just happens with Leopard – if you know the passwords.
VisualHub for all that ripping and file converting
SpoolPilot if you like to print docs to jpgs
And a favourite is TubeTV coz it does those YouTube downloads so easily.
All the best
Dorothy
Hey Jeff- glad you guys made it to bangkok ok, and welcome to the cult of mac! Free Mac Ware does a great job of cataloging… uh.. free mac ware… One of my favorite freeware mac programs is Ebbinghaus, its a flashcard program, but you can upload the cards you’ve made and share them with others. It can help you learn Thai!
Hey Jeff
Congrats on your move and new job. Going to be a Mac user now!!! Will be picking your brains later in the year.
Good luck in Thailand and pls send our love to Daneah.
Sarah
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Hi Jeff,
I am very late in this response but another application I would suggest is CamTwist for sharing desktop when using Ustream. Darren and I use this when we hold our OpenPD classes.