Thursday, June 29, 2006

Handling Blog Comments & Removing the Blogger Navigation Bar, Icon

If you attended "Your Own Blog in 10 Minutes or Less, " please go the November 2005 link in the archives and read the posts from November 16 and November 20. You will see a review of my suggestions for handling comments. You will also see instructions for how to remove the Blogger Navigation Bar and Blogger Icon. This way, students will not be able to click on the "Next Blog" link and possibly see objectionable material.

Handout from PDA Productivity

I had a terrific in today's sessions. If you attended the "PDA Productivity" and did not get the handout beamed to you, I am posting it here.

The next post I do will be a more on handling multiple projects using your Palm, so please check back.

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PDA Productivity: Getting More Done and Making It Look Easy

Dr. Frank Buck

***This outline is presented as very simple text—no bullets, italics, bold faced-print, etc. The intention is that as you view this online, you will simply “select all” and electronically copy this entire outline. Then go to your Palm desktop or Outlook (whichever you use), create a new task (called something like “Set up my Palm”) and paste this outline into the note section of that task. Feel free to e-mail or beam this outline to a friend who has a Palm but isn’t quite sure how to use it as the productivity tool it could be.

-Frank Buck


Categories for Task List:

Building

Calls

Delegated

Errands

Home

Office

Unfiled (Syncs to “None” on Outlook)

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Goals

I have achieved my goal when WHAT is true?

What’s the next step

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Next step+Goal statement

Other steps and information related to the project are the in the note section.

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Backing-Up Outlook

Your data is kept in a “.pst” file

Backing up on Outlook 97:

Right-click on “Outlook Today”

Choose “properties”

Click “Advanced”

You will see the path to your data

Close Outlook

Copy that .pst file and save it as your backup

Backing up on Outlook 2003

In Outlook, under the File menu, select “Backup”

Click on Options and make you selections

Browse for a pathname and choose “My Documents” as the place where you want the backup to go

Maintain the data by running scanpst every month

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What place does paper have? (3 phases of workflow)

Collect-May be best to do on paper until you get really good with the Palm

Process and organize-Do on the Palm

Do the work


Collecting on the Palm (Meeting notes)

Press task button

Enter name of meeting and due date

Create a note

Turn off

During meeting, turn on & off with power button

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Palm To-Do Preferences

Sort by Category, Due Date

Uncheck “Show Completed Items” (As you check off things, they disappear.)

Check “Show Due Dates”

Check “Record Completion Date” (Gives you a record of when you really completed things)

Uncheck “Show Priorities”

Check “Show Categories”

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Outlook-Getting categories to synch that first time:

Launch “Chapura Settings.”

Click the “Settings” button.

Double-Click “Outlook Calendar” (for example).

In the Chapura dialog box that pops up, click “Categories/Folders.”

Select “Handheld category = Outlook’s ‘Categories’ field.”

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Thanks for coming to "It's About Time for Technology"

Thanks to everyone who came to this afternoon's workshop! I hope you took from the workshop ideas you can use immediately, whether it be organizing your files, backing-up your computer, or expanding the ways you are using Google.

I want today’s experience to more than a “one-shot workshop” for you, and my thinking is that this blog is going to be the best way keep the material fresh and be able to go into more detail than the one hour this afternoon allowed.

If visiting this blog is your introduction to blogging, welcome to what has become a very popular (and easy) way for people to communicate their thoughts with the “world out there.” Tomorrow, I will be doing a workshop on blogging. The idea is that you will leave that workshop knowing how to set up your own blog.

If you have questions about topics from today, please feel free to post a comment and I will be glad to go into more detail. Also, if there are other topics you will like for me to cover in this space, please let me know.

I have been writing posts related to organization and time management for almost two years, so you will find a great deal of material as you browse the previous months. I hope you will take some time over the coming weeks to look over those posts and enjoy new posts as time goes on.

Please check back often!


"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."
-- H. Jackson Brown

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Workshops for AETC June 28-29

I will be presenting 4 workshops at the Alabama Educational Technology Conference next week in Birmingham. Workshops, times, and locations are as follows:

June 28 3:30
It’s About Time for Technology (East Hall Room K/L)
This workshop explores organizing your computer, a simple way to back up documents, using e-mail effectively, and numerous time-management techniques which involve using the computer.

June 29 12:30
Your Own Blog in 10 Minutes or Less (East Hall Room A/B/C)
I will create a blog from scratch so that participants will be able to go home and do the same. Participants will see examples of the blogs I have created this one, GrahamSchool.blogspot.com, and GrahamStaff.blogspot.com). Finally, I will talk about issues such as how to handle comments and how to keep people who view your blog from being one click away from seeing inappropriate material.

June 29 1:45
Paper or Palm (East Hall Room A/B/C)
This workshop is designed for the person thinking about using a digital organizer or who has limited experience. We look at the basic features of the Palm, examine the Palm Desktop and Outlook, and give some basic strategies for organizing your life.

June 29 3:00
PDA Productivity
(East Hall Room A/B/C)
Want to get more done and make it look easy? This workshop is designed for the person who has a Palm (or other handheld organizer). In fact, the handout for this workshop exists only digitally. I beam the handout to the first arrivals. They, in turn, beam it to others who enter the room. We explore strategies for using the Palm as a powerful tool to organize your life.