The Digital Frog Blog

We pride ourselves on making software that just works so that you can focus on the important things: teaching and learning. However sometimes things happen that are out of our hands and things may not work as smoothly as they should. If you use our software or demos on Windows and have upgraded to the latest version of QuickTime, you may have discovered this first-hand.

If you’re using QuickTime version 7.6 or later, you may encounter a problem when you try to launch our software with QuickTime not being recognized. You may be prompted that you need to install QuickTime to use the program even if you have it installed and will be unable to run the program at all. Unfortunately this effects both full and free DemoWare versions on all versions of Windows that run our programs.

Thankfully we have two pieces of good news:

1. We’re working on a fix.
2. Until then, we have a workaround solution that will allow you to run the programs. You can get full details on a support page on the QuickTime issue.

We regret if this creates any problems for our users. The cause of the issue was out of our hands. But we’re doing all we can to make things just work as they should again.

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Well I have the luxury of bringing my dogs to work with me at Digital Frog International. I think this is a blessing, but some days I am not so sure.

We had a canine team of three when Widgett, my Border Collie X pup, started coming to work with me. He joined Whiskey, a 12 year old German Shepherd and Dudley a one year old Golden Retriever. Whiskey was the office boss and took this job seriously (as any boss does) reminding the young guys to stay in line and out of her spot. Whiskey is the dog made “famous” in Digital Frog software, she is featured in the eyeshine section of The Digital Field to The Rainforest and, randomly on various Quit screens in the other programs. Sadly this spring Whisley’s age caught up with her and she is no longer patrolling our office and preventing the planes from landing on the property.

We run an educational software company and when customers call the office they can often hear the dogs “chatting” to us or to each other in the background. Dudley is very vocal and “talks” to his friends to get them to play. When not allowed to do as he pleases Dudley will think nothing of standing his ground and giving us his best back-talking woofs, and as with a toddler in trouble it is hard to not to laugh at his back barking.

With two pups in the office things aren’t always safe. A favorite thing to steal is the bubble wrap from the shipping department and just like kids they like to pop all the bubbles.

I spend a chunk of my day stepping over, around and on dogs! The young dogs love to lie under my desk and chair so I have run over stray ears,tails and feet on more than one occasion.

With Whiskey gone, a new dog was adopted from the local Humane Society for the Digital Frog security team. A handsome two year old Shepherd cross named Kado who now calls us his family. I can now bring my older dog Beemer (a clash with Whiskey) to work as well.

The canine team of four is a good one, one dog for notifying us to the imaginary cars driving up and the other three for reinforcements in case no one is really there!!

We have some messy moments, like when Dudley decided to go visiting the neighbors, uninvited. He had to have a swim in their pond and he likes to swim under water.I was so happy to find him up the road until I realized I would have my own Digital Field trip to the Wetlands in my car once he jumped in. Being a dog lover gave me no choice but to invite him into my car, sopping wet, covered in duck weed, algae and smelling like a swamp beast.

Some days are not as productive as others in our office; it depends what the dogs have on the agenda for the day. We laugh at the dogs everyday and some days wonder what we were ever thinking having four dogs, getting in the way causing mayhem and havoc. If you call our office and it sounds like a kennel, remember it is our dogs in the office.

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A few days ago, Jim, our webmaster, sent me a link to an article from the BBC about recent research on the “mystery of the missing frog legs“. For years there has been a common belief that various environmental factors play roles in the widespread and increasingly common deformities, such as missing legs, being found in frog populations.

We believed this to be such a fundamental topic in teaching about frog ecology that we even dedicated an entire screen in The Digital Frog 2.5’s ecology section to the issue. On the page about environmental concerns, we wrote:

Many scientists consider frogs important bio-indicators. Frogs have permeable skin and live both on land and in water. As a result, environmental problems quickly affect frogs.

Recently, frog populations have declined or disappeared around the world, and deformities and mutations are becoming common. People have found adult frogs with misshapen bodies, extra legs, missing or abnormal organs, and even eyes growing inside mouths!

Frog deformities, mutations and declining populations are not likely to result from any single cause; it is much more probable that many factors affect our amphibian friends. Scientists have identified holes in the ozone layer, chemicals, pollution, habitat loss and frog harvesting as possible causes.

Laboratory tests with ultraviolet light have produced frogs with leg deformities. Scientists speculate that holes in the ozone layer may allow enough ultraviolet light through to affect frogs in the wild.

Amphibian skin absorbs chemicals from both land and water. Tests show that some chemicals, pesticides, and industrial pollutants cause mutations, abnormal growth, or fatal deformities in frogs.

Industrial and agricultural by-products can harm local frogs. Acid rain and runoff rain can carry these chemicals to places far removed from human habitation.

Habitat loss is probably the biggest single factor in declining frog populations. Wetlands are frequently drained, filled in, or otherwise destroyed, depriving frogs of places to live. Commercial harvesting is another pressure.  Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of frogs are captured each year and used in laboratories, schools, and restaurants; this causes serious declines in certain species.

We used four frogs in the original Digital Frog, and none had deformities. This version required five frogs, and we discovered internal deformities in three of them.

New research suggests that there are two more natural causes contributing to frog deformities:

1. The fungal condition chytridiomycosis which has brought rapid extinctions to some amphibians.

2. The deformed frogs are actually victims of the predatory habits of dragonfly nymphs, which eat the developing hind limbs of tadpoles! Remarkably many tadpoles seem to survive the ordeal, resulting into as much as 10% of frog populations missing limbs. You can read more on the BBC’s Earth News page (and even watch the video evidence of one hapless tadpole being made a victim by a dragonfly nymph).

In other frog research news, yet another recent study suggests that up to one billion frogs are taken from the wild for human consumption each year. Not to mention the millions of frogs that are cut up every year in schools around the world. No wonder frogs are used as the poster children of the natural world!

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While the economy is currently on everyone’s mind, several recent United States federal funding initiatives for education technology totaling almost $6 billion will give a much needed boost.

The bulk of the funding is coming through the economic stimulus package. While the Education Department is cautioning school leaders that the stimulus marks a large, one-time increase in federal education funding‚ and they shouldn’t count on having this much funding every year‚ the funds are being billed as a “unique opportunity to make short-term investments with the potential for long-term benefits.”

The stimulus grants are intended to fund sustainable projects and activities that will improve teaching, learning, and educational outcomes for all students, and especially those with disabilities. And the funding may be coming sooner than later, according to the eSchool News:

“The first pool of money is for established formulas such as Title I, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program. Federal officials will release the first half of these funds to state education departments by the end of March, and school systems should see this money by the end of April.”

Digital Frog International’s educational science software addresses several of the key areas the package is intended to fund and may be eligible under the stimulus package funding. Here are just some of the ways our software addresses the different areas being targeted:

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Since we opened our online store last year, we’ve been committed to providing the best and most secure online shopping experience for Digital Frog’s range of educational software. We provide a range of payment options to accommodate all our customers, from credit cards to Paypal to purchase orders for those of you in educational institutions.

While payments have always been processed through secure servers, we have had some customers concerned that the entire store was not hosted on a secure site. And we’ve taken those concerns to heart.

We’re happy to announce that as of today, the entire store has been upgraded to ensure that every step in the ordering process is secure and all information transmitted to us is encrypted. It’s an extra layer of security to ensure that you can feel safe placing your order through our online shop.

Photo by AMagill released under Creative Commons.

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For the month of January, we’re making one of our best deals even better by giving you a building site license of The Digital Frog 2.5 at $100 off the regular price. That is a license for our award-winning virtual frog dissection, anamtomy and ecology program for use on an unlimited number of computers at one site for just $799 instead of the regular $899 price.

Also included is a fully editable electronic version of the teacher and student workbook materials, as well as the rights to make up to 20 copies to loan out for home use.

And unlike some other virtual dissection software, this is a one-time license fee. There is no annual subscription fee. Once you have purchased The Digital Frog 2.5, you can use it in perpetuity, with as many students as require the program.

The special is available exclusively in our online store through January 31, 2009.

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From all of us at Digital Frog International, we want to wish you a happy new year and best wishes heading into 2009!

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December is associated with the season of giving. And we’re using this December to launch our own way of giving to our customers: exclusive online monthly specials of Digital Frog International’s science software for both your classroom and home.

This month, we’re offering the home version of The Digital Field Trip Series DVD for just $66. That’s all three Digital Field Trips‚ÄîThe Wetlands, The Rainforest, and The Desert‚Äîat 33% off the already low regular price of the DVD, and over 50% off the price of buying all three field trips separately.

Normally, we charge $45 per title for each Digital Field Trip. For the month of December, for just $21 more you’ll get all three Digital Field Trips on one DVD, containing both the Windows AND Macintosh versions. There has never been a better and more affordable way to bring the wonders of the world’s ecosystems to your children than this.

The DVD is licensed for home use and contains full versions of all three Digital Field Trips in the series. Each field trip contains virtual-reality trips to the ecosystem to allow you and your children to visit it digitally, as well as a wealth of other modules covering everything from its plants and animals, the processes that keep it functioning, as well as more general natural science and geography topics in an fun, interactive and engaging way.

The Digital Field Trip to The Wetlands
Wetland ecology without getting your feet wet, including sections on food webs, nutrient cycles and photosynthesis.

The Digital Field Trip to The Rainforest
Rainforest ecology, from the rainforests of the world to interdependencies, botany and human impact.

The Digital Field Trip to The Desert
Deserts of North America and around the world, with in-depth sections on adaptations, homeostasis and landscape formation.

The special is available exclusively in our online store through December 31, 2008.

(You can also download free limited demo versions of all of the Digital Field Trips if you want to preview them before buying. But act fast, The offer ends at the end of the year.)

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Do you know of an outstanding middle or high school student or teacher who has made strides to replace dissection with humane, non-animal teaching methods or who has implemented or expanded a dissection choice policy?

Do you think they (and their science department) might appreciate $1000 each for their efforts?

Then the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine wants to nominate him or her for one of two 2009 Cut Above Awards for Dissection Alternatives. From their release:

The winning student and educator will each receive $2,000, which includes $1,000 for each recipient and $1,000 for their schools.

Any high school or middle school teacher or student who has made significant moves to replace dissection in primary or secondary schools with humane, non-animal alternatives is eligible to receive an award. Please also make biology teachers at your school aware of this opportunity.

PCRM is a nonprofit organization with a membership of 6,000 physicians and more than 100,000 other medical professionals, scientists, educators, and laypersons. PCRM conducts clinical research, promotes preventive medicine, and seeks higher ethical and scientific standards in research and education. To that end, we urge educators to eliminate harmful animal use, including dissection, in favor of validated non-animal learning methods.

A growing number of students and educators realize that non-animal learning methods teach concepts of anatomy and biology just as well or better than traditional dissection. These non-animal methods also teach students to value and respect all life forms and can save schools money.

You can submit your nomination online. (They even say that self-nominations by students and teachers are not only welcomed, but encouraged.) Nomination deadline is December 1, 2008.

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My role as President of Digital Frog International and a very large garden to be cared for do not leave me much time for vacationing. However, last week, we took a few days off and headed up to Algonquin Park with some friends who are visiting from England.

For once, the weather gods were on our side and we managed to catch the fall colors at their peak, But perhaps the most special experience for me was finally getting to visit Cloud Lake. Of course I have visited it digitally hundreds of times as it is the location for The Digital Field Trip to The Wetlands, but this was the first time I had actually been there.

Our developers chose the location for several reasons, not the least being the stunning scenery, which is even more beautiful in the fall. With clear blue skies and incredible colors, it was an unforgettable experience. Perhaps the most surreal experience is listening to the loons. My ever patient brother-in-law spent hours on Little Joe Lake patiently filming a surprisingly bold loon, capturing its eerie cry on tape.

As the name implies, Cloud Lake is at a fairly high elevation on the Centennial Ridges Trail, so it was a somewhat challenging climb for my poor old body, but worth every aching bone! Our goal was to secrete a metal box with several copies of The Digital Field Trip to The Wetlands for intrepid geocachers to locate using GPS technology. If you do not know about geocaching, check out www.geocache.com – it is a great way to discover out-of-the way gems that most people never find and a fabulous way to teach children about geography and nature. And plan to visit Cloud Lake soon. We intend to keep the cache stocked with CDs.

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