Memory Jogging

Sharing WiFi

2009-09-06T13:23:00.001-05:00

Wish this had been an option before I purchased the Pantech modem. Verizon's MiFi creates a hotspot for up to 5 devices for $100 with a 2 yr contract.

How To Extract Colors From Any Website Or Blog

2009-08-23T02:23:00.003-05:00

ColorZilla, handy Firefox add-on lets you hover over any color in a website, or see all colors used. Read full report in The Hidden Guide

Make Evernote sweeter: add Readability

2009-08-15T02:31:00.004-05:00

Readability offers instant relief from over-crowded, distracting websites. It's installed as a simple bookmarklet, or button, dragged onto your browser's linkbar. You preselect the formatting that best serves your needs, font size and margins. Great to increase focus while reading.

Sensational for Evernote addicts who will appreciate one button "click and clear" to speed web page capture. Click the Readability toolbar button, then your Evernote web clipping button and your capture is done.

Worthwhile video demo at their website: http://lab.arc90.com/2009/03/readability.php

EmailThis

2009-08-14T12:26:00.001-05:00

Simple, but it rapidly makes itself an essential productivity tool.

http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis

Tools for Better Blogging

2009-08-03T12:41:00.003-05:00

Google Trends www.google.com/trends
Technorati: blog search engine www.technorati.com

Support References:
ProBlogger
HonestHolly

Memory musings on organization

2009-04-15T07:41:00.002-05:00

Being organized and having a plan for savings information tidbits is all well and good. The problem is remembering what you have saved. For that, I have been trying out different tools. I use a FindIt spreadsheet which even includes where important items and documents are located at home. Evernote is my life blood - but it's a work in process and although I am making great strides in tagging, I find that keeping track of critical items is still challenging. That's where Memory Jogging is still very useful, although I know that the idea behind a blog is interaction. I have been a Furl user, now converted to Diigo and am still grabbling with the pro's and con's of bringing over web articles into Evernote. Have yet to spring for the premium Evernote, mainly because my Blackberry has no camera.

2009-04-15T07:35:00.000-05:00

MLA has just been rewritten and there are significant changes including not using the URL and not underlining. Changes go into effect April 2009 with the release of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition). General paper formatting (margins, headings, etc.) and in-text citations will remain the same, but all Works Cited style entries will be different from the 6th edition guidelines.

To see a list of the changes, see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/15/

Interactive video

2009-01-08T09:17:00.002-05:00

Wired offered a story on interactive control of video. Seems like it could really catch on. I could see an educational use for it in teaching not to make assumptions about behavior without all the facts.

YouSendIt

2008-03-28T07:24:00.003-05:00

YouSendIt . No file sharing here. Simply superb distribution of max 100MB files combined in an email to total of <2GB with 7 day storage for retrieval.

Scribd and i-paper

2008-03-25T05:15:00.002-05:00

Ran across Scribd site and first heard about i-paper in their FAQs. Much smaller interface than PDF and requires no downloaded software. Very nice interface. The site offers free unlimited non-editable document storage, both public and private.

Convert to MP3

2008-03-01T23:04:00.003-05:00

Using iTunes, insert a CD with filetype .cda.
Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Importing > MP3 Encoder (Hi quality)
Then select a track(s): Advanced > Convert Selection to MP3
Go to Music and find the file. Right click > Info to locate it.

Getting a New PC - Decrab It

2008-03-01T06:43:00.003-05:00

Here's something I would not have thought existed. I spent hours manually decrabbing my daughters new laptop. You could spend $90 having BestBuy do it for you, or you could try pcdecrapifier, free for home use.

Blackberry 8830

2008-02-24T04:24:00.002-05:00

Mute key

generates Standby/Sleep mode. Hold it down for two seconds, the BlackBerry will power down into Standby mode. The only way to turn the BlackBerry back on is to either tap the Mute key again or hold down on the power key for three seconds.
silences the ring or music
phone will still take calls/get messages and ring/vibrate/give LED notification of events, but otherwise it's functioning in a conserving power manner.

Use Esc key to switch out of a call to do a look up. Hit speakerphone first.
Power On/Off - no messages
To move to the top of the Phone screen, press the Space key.
To insert a period, press Space twice.

Blinking Red - new mail
Blinking Yellow - needs power
Blinking Green - w/in range

To stop receiving emails you send go to your Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) & create a filter
Verizon: https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=vzw

Reference: Crackberry forum
TIP: Helpful Keyboard Shortcuts check out browser shortcuts
BlackBerry 101 Lecture Series

Sharing DRM free

2008-02-23T06:55:00.002-05:00

Wired reports that DoubleTwist lets Facebook users share audio, video and photos between their computers. It can also strip the digital rights management restrictions from any song you purchased on the iTunes Store, allowing you to share those as well. Also, by creating DRM-free MP3s from your iTunes music, DoubleTwist frees up those files and allows them to be played on any device -- not just an iPod or iPhone.

Then Simply install the Facebook widget Twist Me page. Make sure you allow the application to install as a window on your profile. And if you want to make it harder for others to snoop on your sharing habits, turn the notifications off.

Once the widget is in your profile, just select any number of music or video files (up to 10MB) and upload them through the Facebook widget. The widget will convert them (if the desktop app hasn't already) and send them off to your friends. The application sniffs out protected AAC/M4A files from the iTunes store, then plays the file silently and re-records it as a non-DRM MP3. It can also transfer video (3GP, MPEG4, WMV, AVI, and MPEG2), images (JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP) and other audio types (MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV).

You and all of your friends you're sharing with need to have the desktop app installed in order to share. Also, you can share files with your Facebook friends without visitng your profile if you wish. Once you've installed the Facebook application, you can use DoubleTwist on the desktop to share with any one of your Facebook friends or anyone with an e-mail address.

The DoubleTwist application requires the .NET v2 framework to run, so you may need to run an update before installing it.DoubleTwist also forces you to create an online account, which means your activity is traceable should DoubleTwist ever get subpoenaed.

Word's Style Sets

2008-01-12T07:19:00.000-05:00

Word works in a similar manner to InDesign. Whereas in InDesign there is a paragraph style palette with line items such as body and captions, Word would call each of these a style and then allow a style set to be created to contain them all.

Digitizing Audio Tapes

2007-12-31T16:37:00.000-05:00

Before the year ends this task is finally done. Using a standard audio tape recorder, attach one end of the single 1/8 inch dual ended cable to its mic and then to the laptop's mic. Click Record in Audacity and then press the play button of the tape deck. Adjust the tape deck's volume to medium and record away. Music is very distorted but audio is just fine. Now I can finally chuck the children's old much-loved tapes.

Pen Tool Training Wheels Part 1: Clipping Paths

2007-12-06T05:42:00.000-05:00

They say once you've learned to ride a bike you never forget. The problem is, unless you use the pen tool regularly, you really never learn and oh the pain of forgetting what you once thought you had mastered. So here is goes...

Click once. Click somewhere else. Continue and you will make a polygon.

Click once. Click and drag somewhere else and you will make a curved shape, a Bezier curve complete with an adjustment handle. Now if you click again it has a mind of its own and will always want to continue the curve, going in the direction of your new click.

Press ALT and drag to change direction. Press ALT and click to make a straight segment. Pressing ALT reveals an arrowed cursor.

Press Spacebar to see the Pan hand which will allow you to reposition the canvas.

Press CTRL and the Pen tool morphs into the white arrow selection tool. This is useful if the last point was bad and you want to reposition it. Note you may physically click on and move the segment or click on the end of the handle and change the curvature.

When you come back to the beginning and hover over the initial point, the pen tool displays a small circle indicating that you are about to close the shape.

Some points on saving:

As soon as you make the first point, a path is activated on the Path palette. When you finish, click on this path; activate the palette's selection menu and choose Clipping Path. Give it a flatness of 1 until you know better.
Save as a jpg or psd - both retain the clipping path for use in InDesign.

YouSendIt

2007-11-18T05:27:00.000-05:00

For sending large files securely.

Office 2007 Lorem services

2007-08-17T20:09:00.000-05:00

Lorem ipsum - get it here:

=lorem()

For random English:

=rand()

“Page Layout” -> “Page Setup” Group -> “Breaks”. Still can’t find them, the screenshot below will help.

Backup Outlook 2007

2007-08-15T12:26:00.000-05:00

File > Import and Export > Export to a File
Next > Personal Folder File (.pst)
Next > Personal Folders and include subfolders

Navigate to where the backup should be saved.
Choose Replace Duplicates with Items Exported.

Voila!

43 Things or fewer

2007-04-01T05:26:00.000-05:00

An article on Wired.com about that describedLearning 2.0, a project designed by librarians to encourage staff to experiment and learn about new and emerging technologies reshaping the context of information on the Internet today. 23 Things (or small exercises) were created to explore and expand knowledge of the Internet and Web 2.0. Staff were encouraged to complete all 23 items by a prescribed date in order to to receive a free USB/MP3 player.

Click here to see the page on wired.com: http://www.wired.com/services/referral?messageKey=c01ff8569b4b88b96aa4367053602a9c

Click here to see the blog describing the 23 exercises: http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/

This lead me to explore 43 Things.com and to create a motivational list for myself:
http://www.43things.com/person/karolyne

MojoPac portable PC software for iPod

2007-02-10T20:05:00.000-05:00

RingCube's new MojoPac software lets you use any USB 2.0 compatible portable gadget to store your Windows XP computer's profile--such as Microsoft Internet Explorer favorites and language settings--as well as applications and files. Among those devices are iPods (though not iPod Shuffles) and several other portable media players, USB thumb drives, and a few cell phones.Copy your desired apps, files, and other settings onto your iPod or other supported device using MojoPac's PC software. Connect your device via USB to another computer, such as a PC in a hotel's business center. MojoPac software automatically launches on the borrowed computer, giving you access to the files and data you've stored on your gadget. When you're done, log out of MojoPac and eject the USB device properly, by clicking on the Safely Remove Hardware icon in your system tray. Your files, apps, and settings disappear from the borrowed computer, as if you'd never.

Other similar software includes Lexar and U3. Read "Take Your PC on a Thumb Drive" for more on Lexar's PowerToGo. For info on U3 products, read "U3: Portable Programs on a USB Drive."

The difference is that MojoPac lets you run any Windows XP application directly off the USB device. By comparison, applications must be U3-compliant to be run from a U3-compatible device.

MojoPac costs $30. It's available for a 30-day free trial.

StudentTablet PC blog

2007-02-07T05:07:00.000-05:00

StudentTablet PC blog: Superb reference on scanning to tablets.

New Year, New Resolution - Backup

2007-01-06T10:42:00.000-05:00

Several new online backup alternatives were recently described in the NYT. MOZY stand out. The price is $55 a year, storage is unlimited, an automated background Windows program keeps your PC continuously backed up and a Mac version is planned.

Backing Up Online Mozy offers 2 gigabytes of backup at no charge. Mozy is flexible, and more technical. It can back up only changed portions of files. You can specify times and dates for backups. You can view 30 days’ worth of backups, too — a feature that prevents you from deleting a file from your PC accidentally and then finding its deletion mirrored in your latest backup. And Mozy offers dozens of novice-hostile options like “Enable Bandwidth Throttle” and “Don’t back up if the CPU is over this % busy.”

Of course, online backup is slow and recovery would be snail-like. Mozy does offer a solution that gets you your files faster: a DVD of your files, shipped overnight for an added fee. For example, to FedEx a 50-gigabyte backup to you on DVDs, Mozy charges about $90.

I purchased and use SyncBackSE. Very easy and dependable.

Google Documents and Spreadsheets

2007-01-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

Make sure to check out the write-up on the Global Warming Student Speakout project at the Google D&S blog. Also, get usage ideas from the D&S Tour.

For easy access to all your new projects add the Google Gadget "Google Docs & Spreadsheets" to your Google Personalized Homepage.

Google Browser Sync for Firefox

2007-01-05T23:43:00.000-05:00

Use as a backup for browser cookies, passwords, and settings. Not to be used on work computer as these settings are shared.

FolderShare

2007-01-05T23:09:00.000-05:00

File sharing solution FolderShare offers unlimited, free sharing of any file up to 2GB, allowing access and sync of files over your own private peer-to-peer network. Acquired by Microsoft for Win/Mac or mixed environment.

GreenPrint

2006-12-19T06:30:00.000-05:00

GreenPrint eliminates wasteful pages in any printout automatically, saving you time and money, and maybe more importantly, saving trees, reducing greenhouse gasses, and decreasing waste. It analyzes each page of every document sent to the printer and looking for typical waste characteristic (like that last page with just a URL, banner ad, logo, or legal jargon). GreenPrint also incorporates an easy to use PDF writer, a fantastic print preview called GreenView, and a reporting feature which keeps track of the number of pages and the amount of money you have saved.

14 day free trial ($25): http://www.printgreener.com/

Iconoid trial - a hopeful cure to desktop clutter

2006-10-29T06:51:00.000-05:00

Wouldn't it be great to hide all the clutter on your desktop during training? That's the promise Iconoid makes and I am about to give it a try. It's promise to stablize icon position will be given a workout as this is being installed on a tablet.

ImageSizer misbehaved one time too many, resetting my screen resolution and leaving me in search of another desktop icon solution for my tablet. Iconoid from http://www.sillysot.com/ promises to hide icons on demand which would make for a neat, clutter-free training desktop.

Pando for Sending Huge Attachments

2006-07-16T20:03:00.000-05:00

From Pando's website, http://pando.com/beta/, many testamonial articles are cited including one from the WSJ which speaks well of this new free program. Good for sending videos and for speeding up yearbook uploads.

Know Your DVD type

2006-06-30T11:07:00.000-05:00

Nero InfoTools, a free utility download, http://www.nero.com/nero6/enu/Info_Tools.html provides a description of supported media for your CD/DVD writer.

Furl

2006-06-29T14:49:00.000-05:00

While exploring delicious, I rediscovered Furl. Actually I found that my links were still active, but I am eager to convert my too copious links to Furl links. This is far more valuable to be able to keep web pages as they were when you first viewed them. It could remove my saving news articles. The only drawback is it's inablity to save multiple pages. It will also be far easier than OneNote for keeping ideas on upcoming tips and training.

SnagIt captures live links

2006-06-29T14:47:00.000-05:00

This should make copying content from my old website to my one so much easier.

Trimming the Startup Group and Task Bar Icons

2005-09-04T18:14:00.000-05:00

Right-click the Taskbar > Properties box to customize your Notification Area and decide which Taskbar icons to hide or show. Use the System Configuration Utility program to stop programs in the Taskbar from automatically starting up and hogging system resources.
Start Menu > Run > msconfig. Click the Startup tab and uncheck the boxes next to programs you want to keep from starting up when Windows does.

RSS

2005-06-29T05:14:00.000-05:00

Everything about RSS feeds and readers from PC Magazine.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,816548,00.asp?kc=548

Free Software

2005-06-11T09:23:00.000-05:00

http://users.ameritech.net/mprudas/bestfree.html
Note:
AVG Anti-Virus -- free edition. An excellent virus checker. Better than Norton or McAfee due to its lower system overhead. Updated often. Now version 7, with support forums. Worth paying for!http://free.Grisoft.com

The Wayback Machine

2005-05-29T06:37:00.000-05:00

Sites that have disappeared from the web, or are slated to become fee-only, may be located using The Wayback machine site, http://www.archive.org . This may be the only way to gain access to the resources at the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse, soon to become a subscription based site.

2005-05-28T06:28:00.000-05:00

Formatting changes remain with a Word document. To truly eliminate them:

Use the Remove Hidden Data tool from Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=144E54ED-D43E-42CA-BC7B-5446D34E5360&displaylang=en . It will add a 'Remove Hidden Data' option to the File menu.

Bypassing System Freezes at Sign-on

2005-05-28T06:27:00.000-05:00

My tablet freezes after entering my password when I am away from work. Hit the Del key to unfreeze it.

Essential Software

2005-04-16T06:02:00.000-05:00

Essential Software

AMP Font Viewer - free font viewer and installer includes ability to install fonts temporally.
PowerMarks Kaylon - IE only - bookmark organizer; web synchronization support multiple machines
Kodak EasyShare - for rotating images
EmailStripper
AM-Deadlink - freeware - detects dead links and duplicates in Internet Explorer, Opera, Mozilla and Netscape. Additionally you can download FavIcons for Internet Explorer and Opera.
Irfanview - freeware - graphic viewer supports many file formats including PSD; Slideshow (save slideshow as EXE/SCR or burn it to CD); lossless JPG rotation
Zero Assumption Digital Image Recovery
Freeware data recovery tool, specifically designed to work with digital images. It allows you to recover digital photos accidentally deleted from digital camera memory. It works!

Software Solutions

2005-04-16T05:26:00.000-05:00

Footprints: Error tracking software used at Hotchkiss and Cary Academy

FootPrints (UniPress) Web-based Help Desk & Customer Problem Management Software

Cary Web Reporting Problems

Grant Opportunities

2005-03-29T22:23:00.000-05:00

Ed's Grants Forecast

Funding Center

Electronic Listservs

2005-03-10T06:39:00.000-05:00

Electronic Discussion Groups & Usenet Groups

Andy Carvin's EdWeb
WWWEDU (pronounced 'we do'), the Internet's largest forum on the use of the World Wide Web in education.

KIDLINK. With its various international networking activities, KIDLINK has united more than 37,000 children between the ages of 10 and 15 from over 71 nations. Through one of KIDLINK's most popular activities, children and their teachers are united in topical discussions known as Internet Relay Chats (IRC's). A chat may cover a wide breadth of subjects, from current events and politics to books and music. By accessing KIDLINK chats, a user may join a conversation at any time, day or night, with children from across the globe.

PowerPoint

2005-03-03T05:30:00.000-05:00

Powerpoint images should match the screen resolution of your computer/projector. Usually that will be 1024 × 768 for full-size images. Highly detailed images, such as maps, should be at a higher resolution.

See PowerPoint FAQ site and PowerTools add-ins for PowerPoint site (PPTools).

Rotating Movies

2005-02-19T05:47:00.000-05:00

Digital cameras take great movies, but if you need to rotate them, you will need Kodak's EasySchare software: download

You can rotate the following movie formats: .mov, .avi, and .mpg.

Tutorials from U Utah

2005-02-19T05:09:00.000-05:00

Documentation for classes (mac-based) on everything: specifically good for Digital Video and Photography.
Link

Recent Productivity Aids

2005-02-07T00:05:00.000-05:00

Five recent announcements have had a substantial impact on my productivity since the holidays:
1. GMail - now able to send and store huge size files, with great sorting capablity.
2. MSN and Google Desktop Search engines - found files I had totally forgotten.
3. Picasa2 - easy, free image editing and photo album software - slideshows, red eye, and collages.
4. Answers.com - click for access to spelling, thesauras, and encyclopedic information.
5. Mozilla Firefox - if you have folders on your link bar, you can automatically have all their items open at once in separate tabs. Great for multiple mail accounts or search engines.

Creating an Animated GIF

2005-02-03T06:09:00.000-05:00

Atomic Learning tutorial on creating an animated GIF using Fireworks.

http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=57300281

3-D Chime Viewer

2005-01-25T21:01:00.000-05:00

Download for viewing Atoms website at Cary Academy http://www.allatoms.com/

http://www.mdli.com/my_account/register1.jsp

Tablet PCs

2005-01-22T05:40:00.000-05:00

Will start hands-on exploration of an Acer today. Discovered that the new version of Inspiration is "penable" Details are :
http://www.inspiration.com/productinfo/2005updates/index.cfm
First reactions: heavy, non-intuitive lock, all the keyboard shortcuts and right-clicking advantages that can transcend to the "real" work world are missing.

Reflections on Jogging Memory

2005-01-08T08:04:00.000-05:00

Reviewing my posts of the week has successfully "jogged" my memory. I would have "lost" ever reading about the Firefox options. A corollary benefit is seeing the priorities of what seemed important to note during the week.

Trials of Web Site Administration

2005-01-08T07:50:00.000-05:00

After comparing and agonizing several alternative hosting locations, the commitment is to PowWeb.

Being familiar with FrontPage, I installed FrontPage extensions and inadvertently left my existing web to publish itself for hours yesterday. A power outage ended that attempt. First should have: Should have tried to save one file to the server.

Just read a warning today: do not use any other uploading method with FrontPage extensions installed. Since I really want to learn Dreamweaver and HTML, I suppose I could simply publish FP files without using the extensions and manually code those features myself.

How'd I do that

2005-01-05T12:44:00.000-05:00

Firefox Downloads
Uninstall Firefox Search Engines

Memory Jogging

Sharing WiFi

How To Extract Colors From Any Website Or Blog

Make Evernote sweeter: add Readability

EmailThis

Tools for Better Blogging

Memory musings on organization

Interactive video

YouSendIt

Scribd and i-paper

Convert to MP3

Getting a New PC - Decrab It

Blackberry 8830

Sharing DRM free

Word's Style Sets

Digitizing Audio Tapes

Pen Tool Training Wheels Part 1: Clipping Paths

YouSendIt

Office 2007 Lorem services

Backup Outlook 2007

Blogroll

43 Things or fewer

MojoPac portable PC software for iPod

StudentTablet PC blog

New Year, New Resolution - Backup

Google Documents and Spreadsheets

Google Browser Sync for Firefox

FolderShare

GreenPrint

Iconoid trial - a hopeful cure to desktop clutter

Pando for Sending Huge Attachments

Know Your DVD type

Furl

SnagIt captures live links

Trimming the Startup Group and Task Bar Icons

RSS

Free Software

The Wayback Machine

Bypassing System Freezes at Sign-on

Essential Software

Software Solutions

Grant Opportunities

Electronic Listservs

PowerPoint

Rotating Movies

Tutorials from U Utah

Recent Productivity Aids

Creating an Animated GIF

3-D Chime Viewer

Tablet PCs

Reflections on Jogging Memory

Trials of Web Site Administration

How'd I do that