Ethernotes » Heros for a Day http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts Just another Blogs.muskegonisd.org weblog Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:05:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 How To Get the Most From Your Mac http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/10/31/how-to-get-the-most-from-your-mac/ http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/10/31/how-to-get-the-most-from-your-mac/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:13:55 +0000 jroberts http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/?p=112 Illan Olsen recently bought an iMac and I portended a peppering about problems. Because of this peril, I was  propelled into preparing a paper for Mac potentates. Others have proposed I pencil my points, but Illana panicked me into producing.

For this, Illana is the Ethernotes “Hero for the Day” on 31-Oct-09

Getting the Most Out of Your Mac

Do Your Work online

  • Figure out how to get broadband speed and get it.
  • At school we use Firefox to surf, but . . .
  • At home, learn to use Safari and Mail. I can get you the settings to set up Mail I think. The integration between Safari, Mail, Addressbook, iLife ‘09 is too crucial and convenient to ignore.
  • Get a Google Apps account and forget Microsoft nearly forever.
    Begin with Google Docs
  • Some times, though, you do need a full featured office suite.
Get NeoOffice for free
I donate $10 every Jan. 1
Consider donating to all the “free” apps every Christmas or 1-Jan.
  • Learn Mac “How tos” at MacWorld
Start with the Most Popular how-tos.
  • Bad Things Do Happen. Go to MacWorld again
Learn how to fix and prevent the Big Bad at Mac911
  • Lots of ideas for practical, usually must have software regardless of cost.
Look for information about 1 Password at Mac Gems
  • Get Handbrake. Must have.
  • Consider Miro unless you don’t have broadband.
  • VLC (must have) and Perian (nice to have) help play any type of video
  • Test your Flash and Shockwave installs. Get any updates here too.
  • Get Adobe Reader while you are here.

Utilities

  • You’ll get ideas for necessary utilities from the MacWorld links.
  • Antivirus
  • A GUI wrap for Mac OS X command line operations. I bought Cocktail because I liked it.
There are free utilities that do the same. AppleJack and MacJanitor come to mind.
  • Get a USB 2.0/FW 800 combo external HDD for backups if you don’t have one
Be sure to install your OS on it for a second boot drive.
  • Backup utilities
Time Machine is included.
These make recovery better especially SD
Use Carbon Copy Cloner to back it up
SuperDuper is more user friendly
  • Figure out if you need Pacifist
  • Bookmark these online utilities
TinyURL
ZamZar
Ravenna employees’ Dynacal login
DSL Speed Test is handy


A Community Creating Lifelong Learners

  • Apple Tutorials
  • Library services: Check out eBooks and real books with your library card

Find your local library
Login with your library card
MEL’s elibrary search
How to get eBooks from MEL

]]> http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/10/31/how-to-get-the-most-from-your-mac/feed/ 1 Jennifer Crowley: Finding what I lost http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/10/14/jennifer-crowley-i-finding-what-i-lost/ http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/10/14/jennifer-crowley-i-finding-what-i-lost/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:47:22 +0000 jroberts http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/?p=96 I was in crisis mode for about three weeks. I was looking for the report covers that work with our CombBind system. I had put them in the intraschool mail so that I wouldn’t put them down somewhere accidentally. Guess what? Some how I lost them anyway.

So I looked around my mess, er, office. No go. Finally, I began spilling the beans about my loss. Sue Young, ticked. She had ordered them for me. Deb Braspenninx, ticked. She had to listen to me whine and was forced to look around for them. Jodi, ticked. I whined to her too. Fortunately, Deb had pulled a few out and I had some to use. Finally, I showed them to Jenny.

Ta da, within an hour, my feng shui was restored. Jenny found them where I left them in Sue Sharp’s office. For easing my mind, Jenny is the latest Ethernotes, “Hero for a Day.”

]]> http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/10/14/jennifer-crowley-i-finding-what-i-lost/feed/ 0 Marcy & Todd Toporski teach me a valuable PowerPoint lesson http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/01/27/marcy-todd-toporski-teach-me-a-valuable-powerpoint-lesson/ http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/01/27/marcy-todd-toporski-teach-me-a-valuable-powerpoint-lesson/#comments Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:28:38 +0000 jroberts http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/01/27/marcy-todd-toporski-teach-me-a-valuable-powerpoint-lesson/ Marcy and Todd are the Ethernotes Heros for a Day on 27-Jan-09.

My superintendent had a PowerPoint presentation that lacked a soundtrack. In the first wave, Marcy identified it as a missing sound file. She confirmed it with her husband, a PowerPoint guru. Then in a value added move, Todd located the missing mp3 file for me! Awesome! Then it was Marcy’s turn again. I followed her instructions for adding a sound file and my superintendent’s problem was solved.

Hip, hip, hooray, hip, hip, hooray.

]]> http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/01/27/marcy-todd-toporski-teach-me-a-valuable-powerpoint-lesson/feed/ 0 zMARC issue resolved within minutes http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/01/13/hero-of-the-day-13-jan-2009/ http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/01/13/hero-of-the-day-13-jan-2009/#comments Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:46:32 +0000 jroberts http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/01/13/hero-of-the-day-13-jan-2009/ Laurie Ketron, Media Specialist, from Centennial Middle School, helped me find a zMARC server  with Johnathan Rand MARC records. Hip, hip, hooray!

]]> http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2009/01/13/hero-of-the-day-13-jan-2009/feed/ 0 Transportation backs up http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2007/12/11/transportation-backs-up/ http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2007/12/11/transportation-backs-up/#comments Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:19:54 +0000 jroberts http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2007/12/11/transportation-backs-up/ Tom Spoelman, MAISD specialist, is the Tech Dept Hero-for-a-Day on 11-Dec-07. He overcame an obstacle with Transportation’s PolyPlot application and restored us within minutes.

]]> http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2007/12/11/transportation-backs-up/feed/ 0 Web site requirements http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2007/12/06/web-site-requirements/ http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2007/12/06/web-site-requirements/#comments Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:09:37 +0000 jroberts http://blogs.muskegonisd.org/jroberts/2007/12/06/web-site-requirements/ Paul Mulder, Allendale Public Schools, receives the Ethernotes 3-Dec-07 Hero-for-a-Day award for his response to my “What’s required on a school district website?” question the MDE-TECHC listserv.

Website Requirements and Best Practices

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