eNews Volume 135 - 01/28/2010

I feel like a broken record but I have to admit that our 2nd ITChatter was a huge success! We shared some great tips for getting blogs looking more a part of Penn State and Cooperative Extension and of course getting more viewers. Here is the blog we put together with all the tips we discussed - http://buildabetterblog4cas.blogspot.com/

For those of you who missed the session, you can find the recording link here - http://it.cas.psu.edu/2101.htm

Coming up in February is another ITChatter session, entitled "What's in your Closet? A Look at the hardware in your office." Vince and Mike will give you a tour of your network closet, network equipment and perhaps even inside the computer. Come ready to label your equipment so you don't have to remember what each piece is!

Please join us on Tuesday, February 16, 2010. The chatter gets started at 12:15 and will wrap up by 12:50. Participants are asked to arrive in the Adobe Connect meeting room (http://breeze.psu.edu/ITChatter) at noon.

Hope to see you there!

Jacki Weikert, Educational Technologist

SharePoint sites are becoming increasingly popular among counties, departments, natural work groups and program teams.  As the popularity increases, so does the amount of information available and the number of places one needs to visit to access the information.  One easy way to manage this new wealth of SharePoint information is through the use of SharePoint Notifications.  SharePoint provides two methods for being notified when content on a SharePoint site is modified: Alerts and RSS feeds.

Both Alerts and RSS Feeds notify you about changes that occur in SharePoint. The difference between RSS Feed and Alerts is in how a user receives them.

Alerts are received via e-mail and appear in the user's default email program at periodic intervals. For example, a user could subscribe for an Alert to notify them when the announcement list on a site is updated.

RSS Feeds are received at periodic intervals and appear in the user’s designated RSS reader. Both Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer have built in RSS feed reader capabilities and are commonly used to manage RSS feeds. More information about RSS Feeds can be found at http://it.cas.psu.edu/623.htm.

The process for adding alerts and RSS feeds is quite simple. Let’s look at an example, say I want to sign up for an Alert to tell me when the announcement list on the Volunteerism site (http://sharepoint.ag.psu.edu/coext/CentralRegion/VolunteerDev/default.aspx) site is updated.

Add an Alert

1. Navigate to the area of the SharePoint site where you want to set up an Alert.
   
   Note: In this example, you can go to the Volunteerism Announcement List at http://sharepoint.ag.psu.edu/coext/CentralRegion/VolunteerDev/Lists/Announcements/AllItems.aspx
   
   
2. On the toolbar, click the Actions drop-down list and select Alert Me.
3. On the New Alert page:
   1. Alert Title section: You may change the name to make it more distinct.
   2. Change Type section: specify what type of changes you want to be alerted about.
   3. Send Alerts for These Changes section: specify filters for alerts.
   4. When to Send Alerts section: specify how frequently you want to be alerted.
4. Click the OK button.

You can repeat similar steps for each part of your SharePoint site (Calendar, Tasks, Shared Documents, or Announcements).

Remove an Alert

If at some point you decide you no longer want to receive an Alert, you can remove it by doing the following:

1. Click the arrow beside the “Welcome…” link in the upper right corner of the screen.
2. Select the My Settings option.
3. On the toolbar, click the My Alerts link.
4. Check the box next to any alerts you would like to remove.
5. On the toolbar, click the Delete Selected Alerts link.
6. Click the OK button.

Similarly, I could have signed up to be notified about changes in the Volunteerism Announcement list by subscribing to the list’s RSS feed. 

Subscribe to an RSS Feed

1. Open the list or library for which you want to be notified of changes.
2. On the toolbar, click the Actions drop-down list and select View RSS Feed.
3. The feed appears in a browser window.
4. On the page that appears, click the Subscribe to this feed link.
5. If prompted to subscribe, click the Subscribe button.

Unsubscribe to an RSS Feed

Users will need to unsubscribe to a SharePoint RSS feed from within the RSS Feed Reader program they are using. Frequently RSS Feeds are managed through either Internet Explorer and/or Outlook. Users can unsubscribe to an RSS Feed in Internet Explorer and Outlook using the instructions below.

Unsubscribe to an RSS Feed through Internet Explorer

1. From within Internet Explorer, click the Favorites (star) icon.
2. Click the Feeds icon.
3. Right click the feed for which you would like to unsubscribe.
4. Select the Delete option.
5. Click the Yes button.

Unsubscribe to an RSS Feed through Microsoft Outlook

1. From within Outlook, click the + beside the RSS Feeds folder to expand it.
2. Right click the feed for which you would like to unsubscribe.
3. Select the Delete “feed name…” option.
4. Click the Yes button.

Sherry Crum, Educational Technologist

This is an excellent recording on how to exploit the advantages that web conferencing offers to make your web presentations as engaging and productive as traditional room-based seminars. I learned quite a bit and I think all of you doing webinars for the public or for your peers will learn some good tips as well.

 It was sponsored by Adobe and the presenter is from Webinar Success.

 The recording is worth the 45 minute listen and the 15 minute Q&A is worth listening to as well.

 https://admin.adobe.acrobat.com/_a227210/p70233726/

 The presenter covers information on

• How to interact with the audience
• How to speak to your audience
• How to enhance your PowerPoint presentation for a webinar
• How to use various tools available in Adobe Connect

I hope you will take the time to listen to some of it or all of it.

Jacki Weikert, Educational Technologist

Ag IT is offering a wide variety of trainings over the next few months! We hope you can join us! We have some new topics listed so please take a look!

Be sure to check out the All about Word series and our ITChatter sessions.

For the complete list of topics & dates & times along with a description about these trainings, please visit our website - http://it.cas.psu.edu/TechTraining.htm and click on Scheduled Training.

A Look @ Social Networking and your Program – Heard of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr? Learn what they are and how you could incorporate these into your program by attending this overview session.

• 2/11
• 3/24

Adobe Connect – I’m a Host, What Do I Do? – Ready to host a meeting or training using Adobe Connect? This class is for you!

• 2/11
• 3/17

All About Word 2007 - Join us for a new series of "All About Word" training sessions. During this 9 session series we will cover a range of beginner, intermediate and advanced Word topics used to create and enhance Word documents. Each session will last 2 hours and will include demonstration and hands-on practice time. The sessions are designed as a series and participants are encouraged to attend all sessions; however, attendance at all session is not required and recordings of previous sessions will be available.

• 2/23 – Formatting Text
• 3/23 – Formatting Paragraphs
• 4/26 – Formatting Pages
• 5/28 – Working with Graphics
• 6/23 – Building Tables & Charts
• 7/29 – Creating Newsletters
• 8/24 – Working with Long Docs and Other COOL things!
• 9/24 – Printing & Reviewing
• 10/27 – Creating Mail Merges

Create a Blog using Blogger.com – Need to get your information out fast and then update it along the way? A blog may be your answer!

• 3/10

Creating Multimedia Presentations with Adobe Presenter (and PowerPoint) –Take your PowerPoint presentation and put your voice to it, then make it available via the web or CD.

• 3/25

Excel Basics (a 2 part series) – Learn how to manipulate data, format data and create a chart in Excel

• 2/17 & 2/24

How To Host a webinar via Adobe Connect – Learn what is involved in doing a webinar with you as the host!

• 3/3

ITChatter – Join the Ag IT team and invited speakers for lunch conversations about different technologies and their uses. We will be meeting monthly for a new ITChatter series. Participants are asked to arrive in the Adobe Connect meeting room (http://breeze.psu.edu/ITChatter) at noon. The chatter gets started at 12:15 and will wrap up by 12:50.

• 2/16 – What’s in your Closet?
• 3/16 – How to Keep up with it all – Start Pages
• 4/20 – Twitter Lingo
• 5/18 – How many accounts do I have?

Online Survey Tools (a 2 part series) – Need a survey? We will show you how to use Survey Monkey to create the survey and pie and column charts and Excel to create combination charts.

• 2/23 & 3/9
• 6/9 & 6/22

Photo Manipulation with MS Picture Manager – Have lots of pictures to edit? Learn how to do it with MS Picture Manager.

• 2/11

Using SharePoint 2007 – Hear what all the fuss is about and see what great things SharePoint 2007 can do for you!

• 3/4

Using SurveyMonkey to Summarize Statewide Programs including Paper Surveys

• 2/17
• 3/15
• 4/7

For Video Teleconference training contact Ron Matason - mailto:ram5@psu.edu.

For the complete list of topics & dates & times along with a description about these trainings, please visit our website - http://it.cas.psu.edu/TechTraining.htm and click on Scheduled Training.

To register or see more information, click on the topic, enter your information, and click Submit. Sessions are offered via Adobe Connect unless stated otherwise.

We need at least 6 staff registered to hold the training, so please register today!

----
Also available are the eXtension's professional development opportunities which are open to all Cooperative Extension faculty, staff and employees. No preregistration. For detailed information go to:
http://about.extension.org/wiki/Schedule_of_Professional_Development_Opportunities

Don't see a topic listed that you are interested in? Please remember that we have various Self-Paced learning opportunities and On Demand Training available too. Check out our main Technologies and Training Page - http://it.cas.psu.edu/TechTraining.htm.

If you have a suggestion for training, please let us know.

The Educational Technologist Team
Sherry Crum, Ron Matason, Albert Nakpil, Peg Shuffstall, and Jacki Weikert

Penn State's Digital Commons service has changed its name to the Media Commons in a move to better reflect its mission. The Media Commons is a University-wide initiative to provide students and faculty with the means to create digital media for courses to enrich the educational experience. Media Commons studios at each campus provide state-of-the-art equipment and software to create digital video, audio, and photographs.

Along with a new name, the Media Commons is introducing new facilities and resources for students and faculty. The College of Ag Sciences will soon have its' very own Media Commons in 109 ASI. Penn State's ITS is hoping for a soft opening in June. More information to come about this exciting opportunity for the College.

To read more, please go to http://news.its.psu.edu/story-1170?id=1170.

For more information on the Media Commons, visit http://mediacommons.psu.edu/.

Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist

As of Jan 27, 2010, the current version of Sun's Java client is Java(TM) 6 Update 18.

If you see the Java Update icon or "Java Update Available" balloon in the lower right corner of the screen, the latest version of Java should be ready to install. You can click the icon and follow its prompts to apply the update.

Note: We recommend that you do not install any offered "extras" like Microsoft's Bing Toolbar, MSN Toolbar, or OpenOffice.org Installer. Please un-check these options if they appear.

Our How To Update Sun's Java Software has complete steps on how to install Java from either the "Java Update Available" message or how to download and install Java manually.

 Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist

When you open PowerPoint 2007 you automatically get a new blank presentation. For some this may be a pain. Here are the steps to create a new shortcut to PowerPoint so it launches without any presentation open. Don’t forget the special /c at the end of the string.

1. Right-click an open area on the desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
2. In the Type the location of the item box, enter (or copy and paste) in this text.
   
   "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12\POWERPNT.EXE" /c
   
   
3. Click Next.
4. In the Type a name for the shortcut box, enter Open Only PPT (or any name you choose).
5. Click Finish.
6. Double-click the shortcut to open just the PowerPoint 2007 application. You can then open the presentation of your choice.

Thanks to John Rowehl in York for asking this question.

Jacki Weikert, Educational Technologist

Here is a reference list for all the PowerPoint power users out there.

Action                                                                                                                        Shortcut
Start presentation from first slide                                                                  F5
Run the next animation or advance to the next slide                   Enter or Spacebar (or click the mouse)
Return to the previous slide                                                                    Backspace

Jump to a particular slide                                                     Type the slide number and press Enter
Jump to the first slide                                                                                Home
Jump to the last slide                                                                                 End
Jump to the next hyperlink on a slide                                                             Tab
Jump to the previous hyperlink on a slide                                                 Shift + Tab
Launch selected hyperlink                                                                            Enter

Go to a black screen or resume slide show from a black screen                  B (or period)
Go to a white screen or resume slide show from a white screen                  W (or comma)

End a slide show                                                                                       Esc or - (hyphen)

Hide the pointer and the Popup Menu button                                                     Ctrl + H
Hide the pointer and the Popup Menu button after 15 seconds                              Ctrl + U

Change pointer to a pen (and display it and the Popup Menu button, if hidden)        Ctrl + P
Change pointer to an arrow (and display it and the Popup Menu button, if hidden)    Ctrl + A

Display the shortcut menu                                                                            Shift + F10

Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist

Prior to Excel 2007, Excel had a Text to Speech Toolbar that provided access to several text to speech commands.

• Speak Cells
• Speak Cells - Stop Speaking Cells
• Speak Cells by Columns
• Speak Cells by Rows
• Speak Cells on Enter

Unfortunately, this toolbar has disappeared in Excel 2007. Never fear, you can place these commands on the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) instead. If you have never used the QAT, you can visit http://it.cas.psu.edu/903.htm.

Use Text-to-Speech Commands in Microsoft Office Excel 2007

1. Next to the Quick Access Toolbar, click Customize Quick Access Toolbar.
2. Click More Commands.
3. In the Choose commands from list, select All Commands.
4. Scroll down to Speak Cells. Click the Speak Cells command, and then click Add.
   
5. Click OK.
6. You will see a new icon on the Quick Access Toolbar.

To use the Speak Cells command, you select a range of cells. Then click the Speak Cells button on the QAT. The text to speech voice will read the contents of the cells back to you. This is useful when verifying data. Excel will read off the data in the spreadsheet while you verify the data from a paper document.

Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist

The Crunchies is an annual competition and award ceremony that looks to recognize compelling startups, Internet and technology innovations of the year. A select list of list of nominees and winners is below. You can see the full list here.

Best Overall Startup or Product Of 2009:
Android (Google)
Facebook (Winner)
LinkedIn
ngmoco
Twitter
Zynga

Best New Startup Or Product Of 2009:
Aardvark
Bing (Microsoft) (Winner)
Foursquare
Hunch
Milo
Spotify

Best New Gadget:
Apple Magic Mouse
Barnes & Noble nook (Winner)
litl webbookMotorola Droid
Sonos S5
Zune HD

Best Internet Application:
Animoto
Dropbox (Winner)
Groupon
MOG All Access
Posterous
Yelp

Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist

Google has announced that it will roll out the ability to store any type of file up to 250MB in size in your Google Docs account. You will have 1GB of free storage for files that are uploaded and not converted to a Google Docs format.

You can read more here:

http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/01/upload-and-store-your-files-in-cloud.html

Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist

As a special topic for Cooperative Extension, eXtension hosted a special topic professional development web conference on January 21, 2010 on the use of social media in the agriculture industry. The purpose of this conference was to provide examples of how social media is being used in agriculture.

Here are links to the recorded session, the presenters’ presentations, the conference chat, and the tweets associated with the conference.

Anne Adrian of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System has blogged about the conference. You can read her entries for a summary of the events.

• Agriculture and Social Media Web Conference Summary - Jan 26, 2010
• Notes from Agriculture and Social Media Web Conference - Jan 25, 2010
  

Anne even mentions Chris Raines, extension meats specialist and assistant professor of meat science and technology, in the 2nd blog post. Of course, you may know Chris better as @iTweetmeat.

Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist

The Chronicle of Higher Education spotlights Onward State, a student-run blog that focuses on Penn State and the Penn State community.

http://chronicle.com/article/Video-Penn-State-Students/63521/

Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist

This is a touching video about a teen's farm accident.

Kristi Ruth, an Iowa 4-H Club member from Lucas County, tells a story of courage about her recovery from a farm mishap.

http://video.extension.iastate.edu/2009/10/27/my-name-is-kristi/

Albert Nakpil, Educational Technologist

Disclaimer: Information presented here is provided as a general information resource. Any mention of commercial products is for information only; it does not imply recommendation or endorsement.

"AccuWeather has unveiled WeatherMD, a new iPhone app that offers health and weather information for exercise enthusiasts and anyone with ongoing medical issues.

The app helps users predict when symptoms for various ailments will be at their worst. It also aids fitness enthusiasts by showing what days will have weather conditions suitable for different kinds of activities.

WeatherMD is location-aware, covers chronic conditions like arthritis and asthma, displays "highly visual" weather maps showing concentrations of pollen and other allergens for the next two days, and also offers standard weather forecasts. The app costs $3.99 and is available now in Apple's App Store."

To see images and links to the App store, go here:

http://www.appscout.com/2010/01/accuweather_launches_weathermd.php

Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist

Disclaimer: Information presented here is provided as a general information resource. Any mention of commercial products is for information only; it does not imply recommendation or endorsement.

Crayola Color Chart, 1903-2010
There are more colors than black and white?
http://www.weathersealed.com/2010/01/15/color-me-a-dinosaur/

[Video] Julia Child on McDonald's French Fries
Julia liked the "original" way the fires were prepared.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF31qCrclC0

Missing the Boat
What is on your To Do list today?
http://i.imgur.com/bnfvU.png

Big Spider Attacks Daddy
This little girl already knows how to talk to the men in her life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRV4d9LCawU

A New Spin on Tetris
The same old game, you just need to spin the screen rather than the shapes.
http://firstpersontetris.com/

Don't Forward That E-mail
Dilbert speaks the truth to his boss.
http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-01-27/

The World’s 18 Strangest Tunnels
Popular Mechanics takes on tunnels from around the world.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/transportation/4343590.html

Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist