What's in your wallet? Or purse? (Part 2) ... posted 12/28/2006 12:23 p.m. by Krista

The technology I carry reflects on my resistance to upgrade or run out and get the latest and greatest. It also reveals that I'm a Mac girl in a PC world.

Krista's purse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.3 megapixel digital camera (circa 1998). It takes decent pictures and I don't worry to much about it getting tossed around in my bag. It's a 'just in case' camera - 'just in case' I see Elvis alive and well in the library, or 'just in case' I need a quick shot of a colleague's bad tie for leverage later on...

An Ericcson cellphone that's nearly as old as the digital camera. It has ringtones that I like, an address book that goes back many moons, and it survived the Great Toddler Juice Dunk of 2002.

An iPod with no earbuds. I don't like earbuds, so I usually plug into speakers or use full-sized headphones.

A remote control for my laptop that I've never used. I believe it's to control playback on DVDs and music.

Another Office alternative ... posted 12/28/2006 11:27 a.m. by Richard

I found another online software suite at www.thinkfree.com.  Like the previously mentioned services from Google and Zoho, the basic package is free and it has equivalent functionality to Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  Thinkfree claims "seamless compatibility" with Microsoft Office file formats and that their products behave just like Microsoft's, albeit running within a browser.  For anyone who needs productivity software, Thinkfree might well be worthy of further investigation.

What's in your wallet? Or pocket, purse, briefcase or hanging off your belt? ... posted 12/21/2006 5:14 p.m. by Richard

Do you ever wonder at the amount of "technology" that people carry with them as a matter of course? That is, how many consumer electronics products that we use to extend our reach, enhance our abilities and just generally entertain us. For purposes of simplicity, I'm excluding electronic car keys and watches and am blithely overlooking the technology that might go into non-electronic items. Here's an informal survey of what I found among myself and some of my coworkers:

Richard's pockets, belt and briefcase

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Point and Shoot Digital Camera ... 2 megapixels, which is good enough for most pictures I might put on the web. I'll bet I upgrade within the year.

1 gb MP3 player, with earphones ... for listening to music and podcasts and Chinese lessons, usually while driving home.

128 mb and 512 mb USB flash drives ... one for files I use in class and the other for personal files.

Cell phone ... as a phone, of course, but I often refer to the built-in calendar or check weather radar during long bike rides or check my Gmail account or text my daughters. And sometimes I even snap a picture that I upload to a blog. And if you call me, it will probably ring with Mick Jagger singing, "You Can't Always Get What You Want." In a pinch, it also fills in as a low-intensity flashlight.  It's the electronic equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife.

Keyboarding fun ... posted 11/20/2006 by Richard

As computer instructors, Krista and I are often asked about keyboarding classes. While we don't have such a class in the pipeline, there are some things you can do to improve your typing skills.

All you really have to know about basic typing technique is that your index fingers go on the home keys ("F" and "J," those keys with the little nubbins on them) and that your thumbs work the spacebar. The index fingers are each responsible for the six letters nearest them and the little fingers get to handle tasks like shifting as well as a few characters. You can pretty much figure out what each finger's job is after that.

The rest of skill development consists of drills to develop eye-mind-finger speed and accuracy. And here's a fun (and free) way to do that: QWERTY Warriors on Cognitive Labs' website. Spend 15 minutes a day with this game and your skills are bound to improve. Remember, part of good keyboarding technique is to look at the keyboard as little as possible. Those menacing robots in QWERTY Warriors will help you keep your eyes up on the screen.

Thanks to Jenny Levine of The Shifted Librarian for sharing that link in her blog. Have fun!

Google from your cellphone ... posted 10/19/2006 4:21 p.m. by Richard

A couple weeks ago I found myself stuck with a flat at the Russell Creek Soccer Fields in Plano.  After changing the tire to the micro-spare, I still needed the flat tire fixed and remounted before I could drive home.  I'd bought the tire at an NTB store in Grapevine, but didn't know where to find one in Plano.  Instead of calling directory assistance, I simply used Google to get the phone number.  No, I don't have a computer with a wide-area Internet connection.  But, I do have a cellphone from which I can send text messages.

I simply sent the message "ntb.plano,tx" to "46645" (googl).  In a few seconds, Google sent back two text messages worth of NTB addresses and phone numbers.  At a dime a message, that's 30 cents for the outbound and return information.  There's a little tiny trick in that period between "ntb" and "plano."  For a full explanation on how to retrieve information to your cellphone, Google has the story here.  Also, Google has a printable wallet-size tip here.  More free stuff, although your cellphone carrier will charge you for the text messages.

Can't afford Microsoft Office? ... posted 10/19/2006 3:00 p.m. by Richard

The ability to purchase Microsoft Office software is a problem for many people.  It's not cheap for the average user with the "Standard Edition" retailing in the neighborhood of $400.  Even if you can qualify for the Student and Teacher edition, it's still $150 you might have more pressing need for elsewhere.

Nevertheless, you can't get around the need to use Office if you're trying to improve your job skills.  The library's public computers are all equipped with the Microsoft Office Professional Suite and we teach most of the included products here.

On the other hand, if you don't care about compatibility of either software skills or file formats, there are some free alternatives out there.  I've previously mentioned Google's offerings, so I'll only add that Writely and the Google spreadsheet are now called "Docs and Spreadsheets."  The Writely name is gone.

Based on a review I read on web-based software applications, I think non-Office users who need a rough equivalent to Office should examine the Zoho Virtual Office (www.zoho.com)  It doesn't have the polish or the features of Microsoft's offerings, but it does have similar core functionality and a price that's hard to beat (free).  As with Google-created documents, the documents created by Zoho's applications are stored on the web, so you can get to them from any Internet-connected computer.

Google everywhere ... posted 9/05/2006 2:14 p.m. by Richard

While "free" and Google are not entirely synonymous, it's never in anyone's mind that they will have to pay to use the company's many services.  Yes, there are some services you have to pay for.  But, there's an incredible array of stuff at no charge.

Most of us are familiar with Google's main product, Google Search.  But how many of us have used more than one or two of the free resources from the company?  Not many, because most people don't explore.

Here's what I use regularly ... Google Search, Google's e-mail service, Gmail; Google Calendar; Google Earth (we're doing a class on it later this month); Google Maps; Google Toolbar; Google Notebook; Picasa for my digital photographs; and finally, Google Talk.

There are more services available ... if you can't afford Microsoft Excel, you can use Google Spreadsheets ... not as much power as Excel, but for most basic purposes, it's a good-enough match.  No word processing software?  While it's not a match for Word, Writely has some unique features going for it.  And both products store the documents online so that you can get to them from any computer.

One of the handiest products, is Google Notebook.  This free add-in puts an icon in the lower right corner of your browser into which you can quickly input notes while you're on the web.  It requires the installation of some software to the browser, but not much.  Again, the beauty of this is that those notes are accessible from anywhere.  So, if I find something work-related while working on the Internet at home, all I have to do is pop in a note and then I can easily retrieve it at my desk.  There are plenty of other services that provide similar functionality, like Del.icio.us, but I like the fact that all I have to do is click that button.  Even with Google Notebook, I still use Del.icio.us for my online bookmarking.

You can find the aforementioned Google products and more (except for Writely) at www.google.com/intl/en/options/ and be sure to check out the link to Google Labs.

 

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