iPhone 2.0

If you gave the first iPhone a pass last summer, your second chance is just a few days away. The new iPhone comes out on July 11th at a store near you. As expected, Apple added GPS and 3G capabilities as well as dropping the price to $199 for the 8G model and $299 for the 16G model.

The price drop is a bit deceptive, because they bumped up the cost on the subscription side. The details are continuing to trickle out about the AT&T subscription agreement. But from what I have read, the low cost of the phone will be partially made up by higher rates for the 2 year plan.

I think many people will like the reduced price for arguably the best smart phone on the market and will put up with the AT&T requirements. At $199 the new iPhone will be too tempting for many people to resist.

So throw away your Blackjack and go stand in line!

FreeRice?

Have you heard about FreeRice? FreeRice delivers free rice to needy people around the world. On the website, students can practice their vocabulary for the SAT and in the process "win" free rice for the needy. The online vocabulary game is fun to play and you feel good about doing something worthwhile for others.

Teachers are using the website with their classes and encouraging their students to get involved!

Vista for Schools?

A friend and mentor recently told me about his district's experience with Microsoft Windows Vista. Last summer, his school district purchased 800 new computers pre-loaded with Windows Vista. After two months of trying to resolve innumerable problems between Vista and various printers, educational software programs, scanners, cameras, and Eagle software, the IT department solved the problems by reformatting the hard drives and installing Windows XP.

Macs anyone?

Teachertube

Are you tired of digging through all the junk on Youtube looking for a video clip for your class? Then try Teachertube.

TeacherTube is Youtube for teachers. The site is very similar to Youtube, but all the videos are submitted for the education audience. So next time you need a video on the physics of golf or a rap on perimeters find them on TeacherTube.

More Outlook Tips

I have collected emails sent out by my school's network administrators. Most of the tips of are general interest to anyone struggling with Outlook.

1. Making a Group in Outlook
Attached you will find directions for making a unique group from the University High Staff group. This is particularly handy if you have a large number of folks from Uni to put into the group such as Certificated, classified, and or DHH .

A copy of this document is stored in the Shared folder as well.
Vol1/Data/Share/How to documents/Outlook
Vol1/Data/Share/Outlook

If you would like the personal touch, please contact me. I am happy to help you.

Kaye K.

2. Getting Winzip
Several of you have already asked me today about getting Winzip installed on computers so that files can be zipped up for Blackboard. Winzip is no longer a freeware program since the company started charging for its use, but don’t worry, all is not lost! Microsoft comes with a free built-in utility to zip files for you and it’s easy to use…

Right click any file(s) you’d like to zip, select SEND TO, then select COMPRESSED (ZIPPED) FOLDER form the list of choices. That’s it! Look for the new zipped folder within the same folder as the original file and upload away!
Marius G.

3. Search feature of MS Outlook
Many of you use the Search feature of MS Outlook, but when performing a search you’re not finding the items you’re searching for even though you can find it manually. Here’s how to fix that:

Go to TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then the PREFERENCES tab. Click the SEARCH OPTIONS button, and in the “Instant Search Pane” section select ALL FOLDERS.

This will allow searching in all the folders rather than just the one currently open.

Marius G.


4. Spruce up your email
There are various ways to spruce up your email.

HTML format means you can add images or other graphics to your email. The drawback is the email’s file size when sending and receiving. If you want to add a photo to your signature like I did (instructions coming up), then you’ll need to make sure HTML is selected.

RICH TEXT format is similar to HTML but less intensive and accepts only certain image formats. Feel free to experiment with this format if you like. I don’t know if it works with adding a signature image.

PLAIN TEXT format is the plainest form of email. No images, no graphics. Just a stripped down version of email. You will not be able to send images unless attached, or view HTML formatted email if they contain images in the body of the email.

Here’s how to enable, disable or otherwise change your own format:
Go to TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then click the Mail Format tab. In “Compose in this message format” select HTML, RICH TEXT, or PLAIN TEXT as desired. If selecting HTML, also uncheck the “reduce the file size of the message…” checkbox
to prevent unwanted formatting removal.
Marius G.

5.Using commas to separate email
Many of you are used to using commas to separate email recipients rather than semi-colons. Well, your day of comma-freedom has arrived, so if you want to use commas, follow me:

Go to TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then PREFERENCES. Click the EMAIL OPTIONS button and then the ADVANCED EMAIL OPTIONS button. Place a checkmark in “Allow comma as address separator”, and the revolution is complete.

Marius G.

6. Here’s how to set up your Notifications settings.. you know, those annoying popups and sounds that let you know you have a new mail in your INBOX. Many of you wanted to know how to disable these features because they come up during Powerpoint presentations, etc.

At top…. Go to TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then PREFERENCES. Click the EMAIL OPTIONS button, then the ADVANCED EMAIL OPTIONS button. Now, review the “When New Items Arrive In My Inbox” section carefully and make your choices which turns them on or off.
- Play a Sound (obviously will play a sound every time new email arrives. No, the sound can’t be changed to play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.)
- Briefly change the mouse cursor (the cursor will change to a pointing hand briefly)
- Show an envelope icon in the Notifications area (will display a small envelope next to the clock in the bottom right of your screen)
- Display a new mail Desktop Alert (briefly flashes a small notification dialog with the sender’s name and first few words of the email content)

Additionally users can change the duration and transparency of a desktop alert. The duration can be set from 3 seconds to 30 seconds and the transparency can be set from Solid (0%) to almost clear (80%). Once the choices are made, click PREVIEW to preview your settings and make changes to fit your taste. Users can find these settings by clicking the “Desktop Alert Settings” button.

Marius G.

7. Here’s how to manually add email addresses or domain names (companies) to the JUNK MAIL and/or SAFE LIST. You may find this useful if you know the email addresses of friends or outside-IUSD collegues and you want to ensure that their email doesn’t route to the JUNK MAIL folder but into your INBOX.

At top…. Go to TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then PREFERENCES, and click the JUNK EMAIL button. Select the SAFE RECIPIENTS tab and then click the ADD button to manually add complete email addresses or domain names (in this format: @example.com). All email and domain addresses listed here will always go directly to your INBOX (without passing GO or collecting $200).

Marius G

8. In response to the many email questions regarding Microsoft Outlook and making it more user friendly, I will send you all some tidbits of (hopefully) useful information on customizing Outlook to make it perform more to your liking. To make the email shorter and easier to store and find for future reference, I’ll keep each How-to separate and titled appropriately. Please save these by dragging them into your CABINET folder for future reference.

Here’s how to mark incoming mail as Junk or Not Junk (Friendly or Unfriendly):

JUNK MAIL: Any email that ends up in your INBOX that you know is Junk Mail, go ahead and right-click it and select Junk Mail, then select “Add Sender to blocked Sender’s list” (blocks the sender’s email address from future correspondence with you).

FRIENDLY MAIL: Obviously you don’t have to do anything with friendly mail in your INBOX. However, do check your JUNK E-MAIL folder daily to ensure that friendly mail gets routed correctly. When you find friendly email in your JUNK MAIL folder, right click it and select Junk Mail, then make one of two choices:
∑ Add Sender to Safe Sender’s List (all present and future correspondence from this sender will go straight to your INBOX) or,
∑ Add Sender’s Domain (@example.com) to Safe Sender’s List (all present and future correspondence from this Domain (company) will go straight to your INBOX).

Alternately, you can skip the steps for Friendly email by simply dragging the message from the JUNK MAIL folder into your INBOX if you prefer this method, and all future email from the sender will route into your INBOX as well.
Marius G.

Tips for Working with Outlook

My school district has switched from using Groupwise to Outlook for our email. There are significant differences between the two programs which has caused problems for hundreds of employees. The following tips were provided by Kaye K. with an amendment by Genevieve O. Thanks to both of them for providing some much needed help.

"As we continue adapting to Outlook, I will be sending out solutions for issues as they arise.
Problem #1
You seem to be receiving fewer emails or are not receiving expected emails. That may not be the case; legitimate emails most likely have been rerouted to your Junk Email folder by Outlook due to settings mandated by Microsoft Exchange.
Solution
Unfortunately, there is no solution other than your checking your Junk Email folder periodically. You do have the option to white list the sender for future correspondence as well as to drag an email from the Junk Email folder to your Inbox.

Problem #2
Deleted Items are not retrievable.
Solution

Think twice before you delete an email. Every time you close Outlook, whatever emails you have deleted will be emptied from your mailbox. While there is a law requiring the district to retain all years for 4 years, you will not be able to readily retrieve deleted emails upon closing Outlook.

Response from Genevieve:

"Actually this one is easy.

If you go to the WEB version of outlook (which is also an icon on your desktop), all of your deleted items are there. My oldest deleted item is from December 24th."

Problem #3
In a frenzied moment, you sent an email that you want to instantly retrieve.
Solution
Think twice before you press Send. While there is an option under Actions to recall the message, it is slow and unreliable. In most cases the recipient will indeed read your hastily sent email.
Please do continue to stop by when you have an annoying issue that we need to address. Everyone of us will benefit. Thanks."

Kaye

Questions Anyone?

Please feel free to use this blog as a way to get help with your technology questions at school or home. Educational technology can be daunting. So if you need help with Outlook, Microsoft Office 2007, Blackboard, Making the Grade , ABI, DVD players, other software or hardware, send me your question by using the "comment" section of this blog or by direct email.

If I do not know the answer, I will find some one who does!