It has come to my attention and if recent history is anything of a guide, a lot of the people who are snapping up BlackBerrys tend to put them into their handbag. Yes us women a lot of my fellow colleague teachers are using them as they are a very practical way to schedule our classes, keep in contact with other teachers and students. The use of instant messaging services and social networks keep us very much up to date and more so than the students. My students tell me that I am such a technological teacher ha ha…

It is no secret that I’m a bit of a BlackBerry addict, but I was pleased to come across a fairly new website for women BlackBerry users www.blackberrychick.com. This is how they introduce themselves “BlackBerry Chick” is an organization for young women created to inspire Strong Values and Success in the world of BlackBerry. Established in 2008, BlackBerry Chick is amongst the first sites to focus on BlackBerry devices by women. Articles/Post are written by women  who just adore their BlackBerry devices. We also feature guest writers  who are recognized experts in their fields and who act as advisers for various BlackBerry related sites.  By the way guess who is moderating their forum?

So what are some of the reasons behind the success of BlackBerrys for women? Smartphones are cheaper now — as little as $99 for the petite BlackBerry Pearl — and are better designed. Women have been using them for years in business, of course, but many are finding that the phones can also help manage their families’ hectic schedules and keep them in touch with friends.

“You are not seen as a geek anymore if you have a smartphone,” said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner Group, a research firm. “Women, including wives and mothers, need to keep track of their busy lives, too.”

The phone makers and service providers increasingly see women as the path to the entire household. According to Verizon Wireless, 71 percent of women make the decision about their family’s wireless choices, including phones and service plans. (Smartphones require data plans that can cost $30 or more a month.)

As a result, smartphone makers are beginning to market specifically to women. Research in Motion, based in Waterloo, Ontario, has taken out ads for its BlackBerry phones in Elle, Martha Stewart Living and Oprah Winfrey’s magazine O.

APN

This is an acronym for Access Point Name. This is used for the TCP/IP stack. This is a kind of a gateway between the mobile network and the Internet network. To gain access to always-on Internet from a mobile phone, such as instant messaging, it goes through an APN. Some mobile phones, such as BlackBerry uses multiple APN’s. The main APN is blackberry.net for the BlackBerry emails, but there are other APN’s that are carrier-specific for getting Internet access such as Verichat, etc.

BES

This stands for BlackBerry Enterprise Server. BES turns a BlackBerry into a powerful government-quality secure email system with full wireless email and PIM synchronization, including email folder structure, moves between folders, deletions, unread/read indicators, etc. An administrator can even kill a BlackBerry remotely through BES when it gets stolen too. BES also provides MDS capability, which is generally higher-reliability than the recently available TCP/IP stack found on BlackBerries.

BIS

Stands for BlackBerry Internet Service. This is your @blackberry.net email account, which you can access via a web browser, in order to configure your BlackBerry through a web-based interface. You can also read your blackberry.net emails on your BIS account. This is the new name for the BlackBerry Web Client (BWC).

BWC

BWC is an abbreviation for BlackBerry Web Client. This is the old name for “BlackBerry Internet Service”. See BIS.

DM

Desktop Manager is the software application used by a BlackBerry to communicate with your PC for synchronizing data in your calendar, address book, tasks and memos. Other applications included in recent versions of DM include a Switch Device Wizard used for moving or upgrading from one BlackBerry to another and other phone models/manufacturers to a BlackBerry; Media Manager, used for transferring media content (music files, pictures, ringtones, etc.); Application Loader, for loading additional or third-party software to your BlackBerry; and Backup/Restore, used to backup the data content on your BlackBerry and likewise to restore content from your backup to the BlackBerry.

HTML

Hyper Text Markup Language. This is the format of a document in a web browser. Same thing as in your desktop web browser, such as Internet Explorer. Recent BlackBerry devices can now display HTML too.

MDS

This stands for Mobile Data Service. It’s a method of Internet connectivity for a BlackBerry. that is provided by a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. In the past, BlackBerry devices required MDS to run most kinds of third-party Internet software.

MMS

Multimedia Message Service is similar to SMS (see definition below) but allows attachment of certain images, address book entries, and other media.

OS

Operating System is the core operating software that is the engine of your BlackBerry. There are various OS versions developed by RIM and released by carriers to their users. Find your OS on your BlackBerry by (on the BB) clicking Options or Tools, and clicking About.

PIM

This stands for Personal Information Management. A PIM handles your address book, calendar, tasks, and notes. A BlackBerry has PIM because it has these. A PalmPilot has a PIM too. And your desktop Microsoft Outlook is a PIM software program. So is Palm Desktop too. Macintosh users have Entourage, as well as simpler PIM components such as iCal. PIM’s are frequently designed to synchronize to each other, such as between a BlackBerry and Microsoft Outlook.

PIN

Each Blackberry has a unique PIN. This is not your 4-digit PIN for your SIM card, but an 8 character long hexadecimal value that is used to identify your device against the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. So this PIN is not used in the common understanding of “PIN” for logging in, like your using phone SIM card, ATM card, Online banking.

PIN Messaging

Sending private emails only between BlackBerry devices. A BlackBerry PIN is a special address code similar to a postal code or phone number, for sending emails only to other BlackBerry devices. This is not compatible with phone numbers or emails or SMS. It is an entirely different kind of an address. Not every BlackBerry user needs to use PIN Messaging, but this feature is there if you love it! BlackBerry_PIN

Push Email

Push Email describes any system where message delivery to a wireless device is accomplished by a server initiating communication with the end unit. Push Email is often misunderstood as any system with “immediate” mail deivery. While BlackBerry devices are well known for having nearly immediate mail delivery, the timing has, in fact, very little to do with determining whether a system is push email. The key to push mail is the responsibility of the end client in the mail delivery process. A BlackBerry device never initiates the mail delivery process, which is what makes it a push system. BES, BIS and Desktop Redirector are all push mail systems which integrate with the BlackBerry device.

RIM

Stands for Research In Motion, the company that manufactures BlackBerry devices and develops software products for it, such as BES.

Service Book

Service Books on your BlackBerry enable various services to be rendered to your BlackBerry, such as email configurations, the browser and attachment services.

SMS

This stands for Short Message Service. This is a method of sending small text messages between mobile phones, usually up to 160 characters of text. This behaves like an email, except the address is simply the phone number of your recipient mobile phone or BlackBerry. SMS is very popular in some countries such as UK, and especially popular with the young urban crowd in developed countries. SMS is also a popular substitute for email in areas where email is used less frequently.

Sync

Short for Synchronization or Synchronize. This allows your BlackBerry to have identical PIM information as your Microsoft Outlook. New items added to your BlackBerry gets added to your Microsoft Outlook automatically, and new items added to your Microsoft Outlook gets added to your BlackBerry.

TCP/IP Stack

This is a protocol that allows all computers and handhelds to connect to the Internet. If you are reading this article, you are already using a TCP/IP stack that is built into your computer or handheld’s operating system. TCP/IP stands for “Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol”. Recent BlackBerry devices include TCP/IP capability, so you can run Internet software on a BlackBerry.

Source www.blackberrychick.com www.nytimes.com

Over the weekend Myngle presented their new re-designed website. More user-friendly and with new features, here is what Marina had to say over at Myngle..

What is the new Myngle?

1. Homepage: 
The new homepage is simpler and focused on what is really essential for a first time visitor. Emphasis is on what a student wants to find: its perfect match, the right course and teacher. As we tested in these past months, some students prefer to browse through the suitable offer and make their own choice, others prefers to be guided in the choice and ‘advised’ on what best fits their needs in terms of teacher and course. Our new homepage gives both these options to the user.

2. MyngleAdvisor®
In order to help students who prefer support in their choice, we introduced theMyngleAdvisor, a unique feature and first education website ever to have this available for students. We have been testing it in the past few months and results were so encouraging that we decided to make it an integral part of Myngle’s proposition.
What is MyngleAdvisor?
MyngleAdvisor is a sophisticated matching system developed by the Myngle team drawing on its experience in psychology and INSEAD MBA. Based on your learning preferences, we will provide a tailor-made individual course and teacher selection personally for you. Your wishes come first. We do our utmost to find a perfect match for your learning needs in Myngle.
Because of the wide variety of course content offered on Myngle, we can select the best combination of course and teacher that fits each specific need. This is the first step. More to come.

3. Re-design Myngle platform
We reviewed all the main pages- teachers, courses, students, from the listing to the individual page of the user. We believe the current design is much more user-friendly, easier navigation, and provides the information needed. Also, we added pop-ups to make it simple for the user to scroll through information and compare. More improvements to come.

So, as you can see, a lot changed, and more improvements are planned in the coming weeks, amongst which our new full fledged whiteboard!

Thanks to our community for the input and suggestions, keep on giving us feedback, and together we will develop Myngle into the ideal learning platform for both students and teachers.

Have fun Mynglying!

Marina

Courtesy of the staff at Myngle

Article from The Blog at Myngle