TTT 17 -- Word Autoformat

TTT17 moves into the domain of Microsoft, detailing steps to help tame the Microsoft Word "Autoformat" functions. These can be extraordinarily helpful, especially if you typically misspell certain words (I personally can't seem to type New Yourk--SEE! "New York," that is, without adding a u in it, as if my fingers really want me to be typing "your" when my mind thinks "york." The other thing I do (infrequently but enough to bug me) is type the first two letters of a capitalized word in capitals, as in STeve or NEw YOurk. Well, I can set my Word autocorrect features to deal with those sorts of things. In the computer lab I want the thing off completely, and at the first of the school year (and periodically thereafter, since individual users may override my changes) I check and reset "Check Grammar as you type" and "Check Spelling as you type" to my preferred unchecked setting.

Listen up, enjoy, and for this one you really want to listen several times or at least be sure to "ride that pause button" as you may.

Music today by Podsafe Music Network's Mike Norton, from a compilation called "Music from Mano," an instru-bash called "From the Disk."

Cheerio,
Scott

Takin' a Break This Week

Hey, ya'll,

Taking a break for personal reasons this week, but there's a great "Revisit Show," featuring snipsnipped clips from past episodes of that educational podcast, over at Snacks4theBrain! that I'd love you to go check out. While you're there, click on the "Feeds" link in the sidebar to browse all the past shows.

I'll also use this post to send you, especially if you're a teacher, over to edtechtalk.com to explore all the amazing resources they have to offer. I learn something every single week by listening to their podcast, which is actually the audio from a live interactive meeting of educators!

We'll be back next week with another TechTipTuesday!

Cheers,
Scott

TTT 16--Spam!

Spam, that marvelous concoction of (what kind of meat?). In our modern world, "Spam" has come to mean "email I didn't ask for, don't want, and dispise having to manage" *my definition.

Listen to TTT 16 here, and please forgive my li'l rant. Everybody needs one of those every once in a while, and I really really mean it. In the show I mention a new service called "BlueFrog" that I'm currently testing out. I think I like it. Stay tuned.

Music for this week's podcast courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, a moody electronic goodie entitled "Slow Magenta" by a young Canadian who calls himself "ghoti" . Thanks, ghoti! Pic courtesy of Dan Garcia's Spam Page, a websited dedicated to the "other spam!"

TTT 15--Spyware Detection and Removal!

Last week we talked a bit about spyware, which we tech department members classify along with adware and malware under the broad heading "scumware." This week I'm sharing one free tool that I've found useful. While not the be-all and end-all (wouldn't that be nice!), Spybot Search and Destroy is a fantastic free option for the beginning PC housecleaner. Download and listen to TechTipTuesday episode 15 here.

There are a number of other useful tools which the TTT does not mention, and on purpose. Hijack This!, AdAware, and the online Housecall are all tools that all do good jobs thoroughly but whose effective use might benefit from the touch of a more advanced user than this podcast targets. If you're brave and confident, though, they're well worth a look!

Music this week again hails from the wonderful Podsafe Music Network and is provided by a band called "This Spy Surfs," a tune called Spy Beach! In addition to their PMN weblink, the band has its own website, where they share this and several other fun songs.

Have a great, safe-surfing, springtime week!!!