The Buzz

A team from Teachers College, Columbia University, has created a companion curriculum to When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, Spike Lee’s feature-length HBO documentary about New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The high school curriculum, “Teaching The Levees,” includes a DVD of the film, along with a 100-page curriculum book supported by online resources. “I think when we look back on this many years from now, I’m confident that people are gonna see what happened in New Orleans as a defining moment in American history,” the filmmaker told HBO. “Whether that’s pro or con is yet to be determined.” For more information, visit www.teachingthelevees.com.

If the keyboard before you appears to curve and flow in a never-before-seen U-shape, you could be hallucinating or enjoying the new ergonomic Wave device by Logitech. Built for Mac and PC, the keyboard features a graceful curve design and a cushioned palm rest, with consistently sized keys that don’t require the user to relearn how to type. To make things even easier, the Comfort Wave design offers large hot keys, which can be mapped to launch folders, Web pages, or applications. The Cordless Desktop Wave and cordless mouse set costs $89.99. The $49.99 corded keyboard will be available in October. www.logitech.com/wave.

The urge can strike anywhere, even when you’re outdoors, suffering the elements. Whether you’re a camper, hiker, or simply an unfortunate soul who’s been caught in a downpour and you absolutely must put pen to paper, there’s Rite in the Rain. The line of completely waterproof writing materials includes notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, and even pens that defy the elements, so your valuable notes won’t end up a pulpy mess. User testimonials come from a musher working the Iditarod sled race and a researcher on a rainforest floor, covered with ants. They don’t need no stinking digi-device. Way to go, old schoolers. $2 and up. www.riteintherain.com.

Zotero is an easy-to-use new research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources (citations, full text, Web pages, images, etc.) and lets you share your results. Created by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, Zotero runs in Firefox, allowing users to store author, title, and publication fields and export the stuff as formatted references. Still in beta, Zotero is continually reporting updates: the free tool now offers full-text indexing of PDFs, adding your archived PDFs to the searchable text in your collection, as well as integration with OpenOffice on Windows, Mac (NeoOffice), and Linux. www.zotero.com.

Skitch, a new Web-based image editing tool still in beta, is generating buzz in Blogville. Currently for the Mac only, the desktop application allows you to grab screen images, resize, and edit with ease; we’re talking drag and drop, people. Uploading to a blog and sharing is just as simple. Skitch creator Plasq is offering 50 beta invites to SLJ readers. Interested? Send an email to slj_skitch@reedbusiness.com.

Doesn’t geocaching sound fun? You say you didn’t catch last month’s feature on this new-fangled, perfect-for-use-with-students treasure hunt? (“Can You Dig It?” pp. 40–42.) OK, now that you’ve read the article, here’s this: Magellan’s new Triton series are the first GPS handheld devices to carry proprietary maps from National Geographic. Covering all 50 states, the topographic maps are intended to enhance the GPS experience for hikers, campers, and, of course, geocachers. Triton models also feature a built-in 2MB pixel camera, an audio note recording system, electric compass, and LED flashlight. $129–500. www.magellangps.com.

Buffalo Technology has revved up its MiniStation and DriveStation storage products with an exclusive Turbo feature that promises to increase performance speed up to 60 percent faster than other USB hard drives. Designed for both Windows and Mac users. the portable MiniStation is available in capacities of 80–250GB (four models) for $100–220, while four versions of the DriveStation come in 320GB–1TB ($130–500). “Efficiency is always a concern when transferring files from one device to the next,” says Morikazu Sano, senior VP at Buffalo Technology. “With the Turbo USB feature, our customers experience leading edge technology, making the relocation of digital content faster and more convenient than ever.” www.buffalotech.com.

John Lennon’s solo work is now available on iTunes—could the Fab Four be far behind? Ringo Starr and George Harrison’s estate are about to announce deals with Apple’s music store, according to Reuters, and Paul McCartney signed in May. As part of EMI’s digital catalog, Lennon tracks are available, DRM-free, on iTunes Plus for $1.29 per song. “John would have loved the fact that his music will now be available in a format suited to a new generation of listeners,” said his widow, Yoko Ono. www.itunes.com.

Now, younger children can enjoy audiobooks on Playaway, the preloaded, self-contained digital audio player from Findaway World. The new line of digital audiobooks from Weston Woods features 12 titles for children ages 3–8, including William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, with narration by Forest Whitaker and other notable actors. $44.95. For sale online at www.scholastic.com/westonwoods in late September or call (800) 243-5020.

For a new take on browsing the Web—and it’s a pretty one, too—check out Fichey. The Flash-based site takes a snapshot of Web pages, allowing users to rotate quickly through top sites from various sources—including Digg, Del.icio.us, Google News, Reddit, and StumbleUpon—with the click of a button. Fichey’s interface, which consists of a little box hovering over the full-size page, contains buttons for advancing the site. There’s also a calendar for setting the date of your search and a pull-down menu to set the source. To get to an actual site, simply click on the Web page image. www.fichey.com.