Join Me Tomorrow Afternoon for Practical Ed Tech Live

Tomorrow afternoon at 3pm EST I will be hosting episode 19 of Practical Ed Tech Live. During the broadcast I will answer the questions that were sent to me during the last week. I will also answer any questions that are submitted during the live broadcast. You can join the live broadcast on either the Practical Ed Tech Facebook page or on my YouTube channel. Make sure you subscribe to one or both to get the notification when I start the live broadcast.

You can submit questions for Practical Ed Tech Live in advance by emailing them to me or by sending a message on Facebook.

What To Do When Your Pictures, Text, and Videos are Stolen Online

For years I've written and ranted about websites committing blatant copyright violations. Some of you have been supportive of my rants, thank you. This morning I am madder than ever about a website stealing blog posts. That's because this morning I found a website that was not only stealing my writing, it was stealing my pictures too. Including a picture of my daughter. The worst part is that the offending website is placing R-rated to X-rated advertisements next to the stolen pictures and posts.

Rather than just making this into another "Richard is ranting about copyright" post, I would like to share what you can do if you find yourself in a similar position. I made a video to illustrate the process the that I use to deal with blatant copyright violations by spammy websites. The process is outlined in written form here. 

How to Block an Instagram Account

Tweens and teens love Instagram. Common Sense Media recommends that teens and tweens use the privacy setting to restrict who can follow them on Instagram. I agree with that recommendation. But if you have teens who doesn't listen to you (who hasn't?) and lets anyone follow them, make sure that they and you know how to block unwanted followers. The following short video shows you how to block an Instagram account.

This Little Change Can Save Your Laptop's Battery

Earlier this morning in my post about customizing your Chrome settings I included the screenshot that you see in this post. That screenshot illustrates an advanced setting that you can use in Chrome if you are using a Windows or Linux computer. The setting stops Chrome apps/ extensions from running in the background when you are not using Chrome. Mac users simply need to completely quit Chrome to accomplish the same goal.

I made a video to explain the option to disable the "continue running background apps when Chrome is closed" setting.

Customize Your Google Chrome Settings

Google Chrome has many excellent features, provided you know where to find them. If your school has made you switch to a Chromebook, you may find yourself having to use Chrome exclusively now. I made the following video to help new Chrome users locate and customize their Chrome settings.


Chrome, particularly when you have many extensions installed, is notorious for draining laptop batteries. You can preserve some of your battery by opening the advanced settings menu in Chrome and choosing to disable the option to "continue running background apps when Chrome is closed."