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Technology Tips

Can't get on to CLC?

• Check to make sure your ethernet cable is secure at both ends - the end connected to your computer and to the jack in the wall.
• Try going online via Internet Explorer or Firefox. (This will let you know if it's an internet problem, or just a CLC problem.)

Still can't get on to CLC?

Perhaps you're not connecting to the server. Click here for step-by-step instructions to check that you are indeed connecting to the CLC server.

If you're getting an error message about your username or password being incorrect, you'll need to call x7004 (the Help Desk) to get your password reset.

HELP!! My CLC inbox is full!

A simple solution is to save your emails and/or attachments to your hard drive or the server. Then you can delete the messages from your inbox, freeing up space in your CLC account.

To find out more, click here.

SPAM. No more. PLEASE.

Tired of receiving emails from places/people you've never heard of in your CLC mailbox? Try this:

1. In CLC, go to Collaborate ---> Rules
2. Click on New Receive Rule.
3. Under "If" select "The sender".
4. In the box after "matches" enter the email address you want to block.
5. Under "Then" select "Delete silently."
6. Click "Save".

This rule should delete any email sent by that email address. Good luck. And DOWN WITH SPAM!

What are you talkin' about?

Have you ever sent an email, got a reply, and had no idea what the other person was talking about? Asked a question, got an answer, but couldn't remember what the question was? And the answer? Meaningless.

Never fear! There is a solution: include the ENTIRE message when you reply to an email.

How? It's easy. Before you hit Reply, click anywhere within the original email. Then Select All by hitting Ctrl+A. This will highlight all the text in the email. Then click on the Reply button. You'll see all of the original text (shaded in gray) in your response email.

Never again will you cause others to scratch their heads in wonder as to what you're talking about. Your friends and colleagues will thank you.

Don't believe me? Need a visual? Click here.

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Discovery Education

Formerly known as United Streaming, this handy online resource has oodles of videos correlated to school curriculum. Search for clips on any topic. You can even download some of the videos - so if the Internet is down or their website is having problems, you can still show the video clip, because you have it saved to your computer.

For some tips, tricks, and instructions on how to make the most of Discovery Education, take a look at this PowerPoint presentation.

Remember, you'll need to log in to access Discovery Education. The login information is available in the OMHS Conference on CLC in the passwords.doc file.

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Always Have a Back-up Plan

While technology is a great thing, and can be used in a myriad of ways in the classroom, you can't always rely on it to work when you need it to. The Internet goes down. You can't access the server. Your hard drive crashes. This can happen on any given day. And there's no way to predict it.

Always have a back-up plan. If you're planning to use something online, see if you can download it to your computer just in case the Internet is down. This is also a great option for streaming video - if you have it saved to your computer, you won't have to worry about having access to the site, or your Internet connection being too slow to play the video clip properly.

If you're planning to use something you have saved on your computer, make sure you have it backed up somewhere else - the server, or better yet, a flash drive. If your computer crashes for some reason, your activity is still accessible, you'll just need to borrow another computer until yours is fixed.

Have a paper copy of your activity if at all possible. Or an alternate, low-tech activity for the lesson. Just in case all forms of technology are broken that day.

Facebook and Your Privacy

Many of you may be unaware that Facebook added a new privacy setting this week. It's called "Instant Personalization" and it shares data with non-facebook websites. It's automatically set to "Allow." THIS IS NOT GOOD. (Unless you don't mind having your personal info floating around the Interwebz without your knowledge or control.)

How do I fix this, you ask? Simple. Go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites and uncheck "Allow." And while you're there, change all your other Privacy Settings to Friends Only. Then only the people you want to see your info will be able to see your info. (Assuming of course that you don't mind the people you friended seeing said info. Which, you do, since you're "friends" with them. Right?)

To read more about this issue, check out this article.

To find out more about Internet Safety, check out the Internet Safety page on the Media page of our website. And please, pass this notice along to your friends, family, and your students.

Flip Cameras

They're super easy to use. Record your clips. Plug them into your computer. DOWNLOAD YOUR CLIPS TO YOUR COMPUTER. This step is beyond important. Especially for your students. If they import their clips into Movie Maker or iMovie directly from the camera rather than their folder on the server, and then go back to edit their movie the next day, neither MM or iMovie will be able to find their clips. BECAUSE IT'LL BE LOOKING FOR THE CLIPS ON THE CAMERA THAT IS NO LONGER PLUGGED INTO THE COMPUTER.

So please, to avoid great big tears of sorrow, have your students make saving their clips to their folder the first step they take before beginning to edit. Everyone will be happier in the end.

HCPSS/INST Domain Unavailable

Having trouble logging onto the network? First, check to make sure you are logging into the right part of the network: teachers log on to HCPSS; students log on to INST.

Still not working? Take a look at the error message you get. If it says something about the domain being unavailable, check to make sure your ethernet cable is plugged in, and an orange/green light is on at the point where the ethernet cable plugs into the back of the computer. If that's all fine, and it's STILL telling you the domain is unavailable, let your friendly neighborhood media specialists know.

If the error message says something about the username and password being incorrect, you'll need to call x7004 (the Help Desk) to have them reset your password. (Make sure you have your employee ID number handy.) If one of your students is having this problem, send them down to the Media Center so we can check their username and password on our master list.

New Student Logins

You may have noticed that the procedure for students to log in to the computers has changed for this year. Here's how it works:

• Usernames: Student usernames are their Student ID number. (Just the 9 digit ID number - no more graduation year.)
• Passwords: same as last year (initials + last 4 digits of ID).

Revolving Door of Passwords

Are you frustrated with the number of times you're prompted to change your password to log into the computer? And CLC? Here are a couple of tips that might make your life easier.

• When asked to change your password to log in to the computer, simply type in your current password as the new password. No. Seriously. It works. And then you don't have to worry about remembering a new password.
• For CLC, you have to cycle through 6 passwords before you can reuse them. If you have 6 that you can remember, that's great. Otherwise, tack on a number somewhere within the password:
  • password
  • 1password
  • password1
  • pass1word

CAUTION!! Never share your passwords. And try to use a combination of numbers and letters in your password. You can also use special characters like !@*&(), but some sites will not accept these characters. (For your computer login and CLC, special characters are fine.) Here are some examples:

• bunnies ----> bunn13s OR bunn!3s or bunn!35
• overhead ----> 0v3rh3ad OR 0v3rh3^d

That darn download box in Firefox

Tired of always having to close the download box after EVERY SINGLE FILE? Frustrated that you can never find that file you just downloaded? There's an easy solution to both these problems. Click here to find out how to make the download box automatically close after the download is complete, and how to tell Firefox where you want your downloads to be saved.

When in doubt ...

Restart! Restarting your computer can solve a myriad of problems. For whatever reason, every now and then, your computer (or printer) needs to unscramble its brains. Restarting is often the solution.

With the new server there's also this quirky little problem for teachers and students: Sometimes when you log on you may not see your network folder. Restart your computer (don't just log off, but actually Restart). This should solve the problem.

30 Second Rule

No, we're not talking about how long you have to pick up your food from the floor and eat it. (That would be the FIVE second rule.) No, we're talking about everyone's favorite topic: Copyright.

If you or your students want to use music in a project, and that music is under copyright, you can use only 30 seconds without permission from the artist.

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Adding a Printer

Ms. Trzesinski has created step-by-step instructions for adding a printer to your computer. Click on the link below to view/download the PDF.

          Need to Add a Printer?

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Backing Up Your Files

Ms. Creed has created step-by-step instructions on just what to do to back your files to an external hard drive. Click on the slideshow below to get started!

          Backing Your Hard Drive

Saving Your Bookmarks

Here are step-by-step instructions for saving your bookmarks in Firefox and Internet Explorer. Click on the link below to begin!

          How to Save Your Bookmarks

Save! Save!! SAVE!!!

Oh no!!

Did I just waste my entire planning on work that I lost?

As soon as you start a project, before you’ve written a word or inserted an image, give it a name and save it. If your computer surprises you with a “Nah. I don’t feel like doing this right now” crash, you’ll have a better chance of recovering saved work.

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Scanning Your Flash Drive

Got a virus? Backed up your files? Had your computer re-imaged? And now you're ready to put all your files back on your computer. STOP. RIGHT. THERE.

The files you backed up from your infected computer may also be infected. But never fear! There is a simple way to check and clean your files before you put them back on your computer. Click on the PDF below to find out how.

Scanning Your Flash Drive

NO! DON'T DO IT!!

Ever have one of those windows pop up telling you that your virus protection needs to be updated? And if you click "Yes" those updates will automatically happen? But it's not an official message from McAfee or Norton (or whatever other virus protection software you have)?

FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR COMPUTER DON'T CLICK ON THIS WINDOW!!

It's a virus. Or rather, if you click on the window - to either say Yes or No or Cancel - it will download a rather nasty virus on to your computer. And the only way to be rid of it is to have your computer reimaged. And we all know how much you detest having to have your computer reimaged. You can either click the "x" to close the window, or shut down your computer without touching this window at all. When you restart, the window should not reappear. You may also want to run a virus scan right away to check for any problems.

You might also want to consider downloading and running Spybot. It's a free program that searches for and removes spyware. Spy-what? Spyware. It "silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging." - http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Spybot-Search-Destroy/1043809773/1

Click here to download Spybot.

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