Granny Tech

Searching within a YouTube channel

2011-03-09T14:51:00.003-05:00

I had to solve this challenge today: I wanted to send a link to a YouTube video within it's channel. This avoids all the sometimes scary video links that show while you are in the general YouTube site. This particular channel had hundreds of videos. The general YouTube search window would not open the video within the channel. How to find the link I wanted?

What is a YouTube Channel?

A YouTube channel is simply an account set up by an individual or an organization to host videos. You can subscribe to channels and they will show up when you sign in to YouTube.

How do I search within a channel?

At first glance there doesn't appear to be a way to do that. Here is a hidden trick:

Open the channel's homepage. Click on "Uploads" at the top of the window and a search option will appear at the right - just above the sidebar of videos.

To share a link, click on "Share" and the video's URL will appear.

Here's something strange - you can't get the code to embed a video while you are within a channel. You have to view the video outside the channel in the general YouTube site. Use the share link as the web address or the general search window to get there. In the general YouTube site an "Embed" button is available below the window. Click on it to get the embed code.

How the Internet Began

2011-02-12T13:03:00.001-05:00

How the Internet started:-

A revelation with an Incredibly Big Message (IBM):

Well, you might have thought that you knew how the Internet started,
but here's the TRUE story ....

In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of
Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot.

And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg.
Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.

And she said unto Abraham, her husband, "Why dost thou travel so far
from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever
leaving thy tent?" And Abraham did look at her - as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load - but simply said, "How, dear?"

And Dot replied, "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in
between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price. The sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)."

Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with
the drums. The drums rang out and were an immediate success.
Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having
to move from his tent.

To prevent neighboring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was called Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures: Hebrew To The People (HTTP)

But this success did arouse envy.

A man named Maccabia did secrete himself inside Abraham's drum and began to siphon off some of Abraham's business. But he was soon discovered, arrested and prosecuted for insider trading.

And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung. They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS.

And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land. And he did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates' drum heads and drumsticks.

Lo, Dot did say, "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken
over by others!" And as Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel, or eBay as it came to be known, he said, "We need a name that reflects what we are."
And Dot replied, "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators."
"YAHOO," said Abraham. And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com.

Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated
Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside.

It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE)
And that is how it all began.

Source of this information? The internet, of course.

Showing iPhone/iPod/iPad Video through TV

2011-02-10T06:06:00.009-05:00

If you are a teacher or trainer (or mother or grandmother), it's wonderfully handy to play the video content collected on iPhones/iPods/iPads through a TV. I carry a collection of family and teaching clips on both devices, just in case....

The Apple Store offers two different cables for this purpose: Composite Cable and Component Cable. Current cost for each: $39.99. I'll do my best to explain the difference.

Apple Composite Cable

This cable has three TV input connectors. It connects from your device's dock connector, to a TV's composite video (yellow) and two audio (red, white) ports (small round inputs). It also has a USB connector that you can plug into a power source such as a computer or power adaptor (optional to use - it can run on battery quite a while).

Apple Component Cable

This cable has five TV input connectors. It connects from your device's dock connector, to a TV's three video ports and two audio ports. The three video ports support HDTV (high definition). It also has a USB connector for optional power sources.

To see exactly which iPhones and iPads are compatible with the devices, click the titles above to view them in the Apple Store.

So which cable do you need?

That depends on what sort of TVs you will be using. Older TVs with inputs usually have the three inputs available on the composite cable. Newer HDTVs often have both types of input. Some of the newest HDTVs only have the five component inputs.

To be absolutely sure - have both. However I only have the composite cable and I've been able to use it in all situations (so far). For now, that's the one I recommend.

These cables are available from non Apple sources are well. Ask for them at an electronics store or search online.

Yes You Can!

2011-02-03T19:33:00.010-05:00

I'm reviving Granny Tech!

We are going be totally tech savvy.

Our motto will be - Yes You Can!

Here's a few videos to get you started:

Don't ever estimate the ability of a motivated woman:

A look at the future:

Hang in there! You can do it.

And here are some (hopefully) confidence building learning statements:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Aristotle

We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.
John W. Gardner
-
The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.
Frank Herbert

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
Thomas A. Edison

Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done.
Andy Rooney

No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes deserves to be called a scholar.
Donald Foster

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.
Clay P. Bedford

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
Attributed to Harry S. Truman

Give me a fruitful error any time, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truth for yourself.
Vilfredo Pareto

Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

You learn something every day if you pay attention.
Ray LeBlond

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
Chinese Proverb

All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind.
Martin H. Fischer

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.
Winston Churchill

And a few statements on technology:

This is perhaps the most beautiful time in human history; it is really pregnant with all kinds of creative possibilities made possible by science and technology which now constitute the slave of man - if man is not enslaved by it.
Jonas Salk

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.
Elbert Hubbard, The Roycroft Dictionary and Book of Epigrams, 1923

If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger.
Frank Lloyd Wright

Technology... the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it.
Max Frisch

Keyboard shortcuts - learn them!

2009-08-26T11:15:00.009-04:00

These are the basics that you should use all the time:

CTRL+C: Copy
CTRL+X: Cut
CTRL+V: Paste
CTRL+Z: Undo

You hold down the control key (command if you use a mac) and the letter key at the same time.

Copy - picks up whatever you highlighted and stores it on a clipboard so you can paste it in a different place or program. For example, you could copy some text from a website and paste it into a Word document (think C=copy)

Paste - of course, puts whatever is on your clipboard into the location you select (think V=points down to where you want to put stuff).

Cut - Copies AND REMOVES whatever you select and puts it on a clipboard so you can paste it (think X=scissors).

Undo - undoes the last thing you did (think Z=zzzzzz oops, I fell asleep). You can Undo multiple times to keep stepping backwards through the actions you want to remove. This even works when writing emails - helpful because there's no obvious undo command.

I can't tell you how many times I use CTRL+Z!

Of course there are many more keyboard shortcuts. Here are official lists of shortcuts for Windows and Macs.

Why don't you try learning one per month?

Blogger pictures - my way

2009-08-25T16:59:00.011-04:00

I've had a number of people ask me how I get nice big pictures like these in my blogs.

I will show you.

In order for a picture to show up on your blog it must be hosted somewhere on the web. So that's the first step. Once it's on the web, you need to get it into your blog in the size and position that you prefer. So it's really a two step process. I will explain both.

Uploading a picture to the web

Blogger Button

Blogger has an upload button (see below) that actually takes care of both steps. It lets you upload a photo from your computer and place it right into your blog - but I don't like it. It just doesn't give me enough options.

The only picture sizes available using this method are:

small (200 px)

medium (320 px)

or large (400 px)

Picture sizes are limited and you can see how they end up in random places making it hard to allign text with photos.

Picasa Web Albums

I like to have more control so I use a different method. I upload my photos to a Picasa Web Album and paste links from there into my blogs. It's funny because the Blogger button actually puts photos into their own special Picasa web album created just for your blog.

Creating a Picasa Web Album

In order to use create a Picasa Web Album you first need to sign up. Go to the Picasa Web Album website and sign in using your gmail address and password. If you don't have one, shame shame, it is my favorite email service. You can always sign up free for a gmail account.

Once you have signed in, you will be taken to a screen like this:

There are two ways to get photos into your online albums:

The "Launch Picasa" button will take you to the Picasa application on your computer, assuming you have it installed and are using it. It's a great program for organizing photos and you can download it for free. With that program installed, you can upload your photos directly from Picasa on your computer to Picasa Web Albums. I don't use Picasa on my computer so I'm afraid I'm not an expert on this method.

The second option is the "Upload" button. That will take you to a screen like this:

Your window may be empty but, as you can see, I have quite a few albums already created. I like to organize them by month or special collection. You have the option to upload photos to an existing album (click on the album you want to use and then 'select album') or you can create a new album by clicking on that phrase at the top of these screen.

Once your album is selected or created, you will be taken to this screen.

You can upload up to 5 photos at once by clicking on the 'browse' button and navigating to the picture on your computer (nicely organized into folders I hope). When you have selected your photos, click 'start upload' and they will appear in your album.

If you use a mac computer, there is still an easier way to upload photos that I prefer. Download the Picasa Web Album Uploader for Mac. With this application, you can upload many pictures at once by dragging them into the uploader window. It looks like this:

You can select an album or create a new one. You can designate upload size. I use the "Faster upload (1000px) option" because that is plenty big for blogging.

So those are a few options for getting pictures hosted on the web. Next we need to get them into our blogs.

Adding a Picture to Blogger

Open up your Picasa Web Album and you will see all of your photo albums

I guess I have quite a few (131!). Picasa gives you a little over 1 GB of photo storage free. If you limit your uploads to the 1000px version - that ought to last quite a while. Picasa offers an upgrade for a fee that gives 20 GB of storage.

Select the album you want and you will see your photos

Now select the photo you want and you will see this screen

Selecting the code

The important information is off to the right - click on the phrase 'link to this photo' and a few windows will open up just below that say 'link' and 'embed image'.

We are interested in embedding. Right below 'embed image' is the code that you need to paste into your blog. But first we need to make a few selections.

Select size by clicking on the little arrow to the right of the pull down window. You can choose thumbnail (144px), small (288px), medium (400px), or large (800px). You may ask why the jump from 400 to 600? I wonder that too - especially since 600px is the size I prefer to use in blogging! Standard Blogger templates are about 800 pixels wide. I use a 'stretch' template that stretches to the width of the computer window. That's nice for bigger pictures. If you use a standard blogger template, medium (400px) images will be about right. If you use a stretch template 600 px is perfect but you will need to customize the embedded code to get it. I'll show you how to do that later (don't worry - it's not too difficult!). Meanwhile - here is what the four size options look like.

thumbnail (144px)

small (288 px)

medium (400px)

large (800px)

and here's my customized 600 px size - perfect, isn't it?

You also have some choices to make about links. The choices are right below your 'embed image' code. I always click the box 'hide album link'. This just avoids extra text in the blog and makes it easier to customize photo size. The other box 'image only, no links' gives you a choice about what will happen when someone clicks on the picture in your blog. I leave it blank. Here is what my choices look like:

Now that you have everything selected, let's get the code. This is quite easy. Just click anywhere inside the box under 'embed image'. The code will all turn blue meaning it's been selected. If that doesn't work, just drag and highlight all the code. Now copy it - control 'C' or go to 'edit' at the top of the screen and then 'copy'.

The code is now on your 'clipboard' and we are ready to paste it into your blog. I'll show you how to do that step by step in a sample blog post.

Pasting the code

Here's some text

To add a photo, put your cursor where you want it and paste - Control 'V' or 'Edit' 'Paste'. Here's the code.

But wait - that doesn't look like a picture!

That's OK - you just need to toggle back and forth between the two tabs at the top of your blogger window. They say 'Edit Html' or 'Compose'. In Blogger, it doesn't matter which you use to paste the code. But to see the picture you must click on the 'Compose tab' or, if you are already in Compose, click 'Edit Html' and then back to 'Compose'.

And Ta Dah! Your picture appears

Isn't that easy?

Here's what's really nice. If you want to move your picture, you can go into 'Edit Html' mode, copy the code and paste it anywhere in your blogger window.

Customizing picture size

Now - here is the slightly tricky part - customizing the size. I almost always want to use a width of 600px. So here's what I do. I paste in the large size picture (800px) and then modify the code to make it slightly smaller. Make sure you can see the embeded code. You may need to click on the 'Edit Html' tab.

Let's take a closer look at the code

The arrow is pointing to a spot right after .jpg"

That's where you need to do a little editing. Type in width=600 (or whatever size you want) so it looks like this. I like to put a space on either side of my typing just so everything is easy to see.

Now, when you click the 'Compose' tab to see your picture - it will be the perfect size! That's not too difficult, right? I use this all the time. I like 'width=600' for horizontal pictures and 'width=400' for vertical. That keeps things nice and uniform.

That's what I just did for this blog - went into all my code and changed the widths to 600.

I hope this somewhat lengthy blog post helps. If you have questions or suggestions on this topic, please add a comment and I will address them.

Backing up photos

2009-05-05T10:47:00.006-04:00

I am sitting at my computer trying to back up photos (1999 to 2006) off an old external hard drive.

It is a messy process.

If you want to keep memories alive, it is extremely important to back up photos.

Here is my current system (I wish I had done it all along!)

First - every time you are ready to empty a digital camera card first BURN A COPY OF THE FILES! This is just like those old packets of negatives we (meaning older folks like me who remember negatives) used to keep in drawers. It will give you a pristine copy of each photo file just in case you do something terrible to mess up the copy on your computer. DVDs are not that expensive and this is worth the effort. It is what professional photographers do. My 4 GB card works perfectly since it fits on one DVD. If I have a smaller card, I burn on a CD or stockpile the files in a carefully labeled folder on my computer until there are enough to justify burning on a DVD.

Second - I assume you transfer all of your photos and store them somewhere on your computer for editing and sharing. This can be done in various programs (Picasa, iPhoto, Adobe bridge). Since you have a nice back up copy of every photo burned on DVD, you don't need to keep all 12 shots of grandma body surfing. Just pick the best and delete the rest (remember, you have them safely backed up). This slims down the folders of photos stored on your computer.

Third - Occasionally back up the photo files stored on your computer. Hopefully they will be the best of the best nicely labeled, dated, and organized. You can burn them unto a DVD or copy to an external hard drive. Yes I know - you already burned the photos right off the memory card. But the ones on your computer are organized and edited. It is worth making this second copy. There are huge capacity affordable USB hard drives available now that are tiny and portable. I actually do both - burn to DVD and transfer to an external hard drive (I love my photos so much). After this is done, you can delete the files off your computer when it fills up.

Of course, you need to carefully label and safely store those DVDs so you can access them when needed.

Gmail is getting full - what to do?

2009-04-19T17:01:00.005-04:00

I just filled up my 3rd (that's right 3rd!) Gmail account.

Gmail has plenty of storage - for most people. And they keep adding it every day. As of April 19, 2009 they offer 7.86 GB of storage. Picasa (which I have almost filled up as well) has 1 GB.

I don't know why, but that is not enough Gmail storage for me. I send and receive loads of photos and pdf files so maybe that is why I tend to fill up accounts.

One solution is to pay for more storage. Check here for more information.

If you don't want to do that, here are a couple of free solutions:

In the past I have just created a new Gmail account and had mail forwarded. But that option had some challenges - the biggest being exporting my contact list. I can get all the addresses in the new account, but so far (as of April 19,2009) Gmail doesn't have a way to export contact groups. I use groups all the time and it is a royal hassle to recreate them.

Or - you can clean up your current account

So today I decided to do some Gmail 'spring cleaning' by getting rid of some messages. Since I have over 7,ooo inbox messages and who knows how many sent messages, I wasn't about to go through them one by one. What I really wanted was to delete messages with large attachments. I didn't want to do that for messages sent to me, because there are some precious photos in that group that are wonderfully searchable and difficult to recreat if lost. Keeping them in gmail is a great way to have a backup. But the messages I sent to others are not as important to save since I have them (somewhere) on my hard drive or in back ups.

Here is what to do to just find sent messages with attachments:

type this into the 'search mail' window at the top of your gmail screen:

has:attachment from:me label:sent

if you want to find all messages (sent and received) with attachments type:

has:attachment

Scan through these messages (if you want) to make sure you don't mind deleting them.

Just above your list of emails there is an option to 'select' 'all'.

Do that

Now a little message will appear that asks if you want to select all messages from that search. Click that and now everything is selected.

Now, get brave, and click 'delete'. You will get a chance to change your mind when Gmail asks if you are sure.

When I did that, my account went from 94% full to 61% full!

Emailing higher resolution pictures in Picasa

2009-04-19T16:14:00.006-04:00

Don't you wish you could see the faces of these darling children from Guyana?

Do you want to avoid emailing photos that turn out like this?

I know - I exaggerated the problem by making this photo very very low resolution - but you can limit the impact and usability of photos by sending them in small sizes.

Photo size is most often measured by pixels - that is dots per inch. This is also known as resolution. Optimal resolution depends on the end use of the photo. Here is what I like:

For presentations, I like the largest dimension to be at least 1000 pixels.

For printing, full resolution is best.

If you are using Picasa to host and email your photos, here is how to adjust resolution (from the Picasa help website):

Sending multiple photos at once:

1. In Picasa, click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
2. Select the Email tab.
3. Use the slider to set your desired pixel size when emailing multiple photos. Use the radio buttons to set the desired pixel size for emailing single photos.
4. Click OK.

Sending one photo at a time - the only way to get full resolution:

You can email a photo in its full resolution using Picasa, however you can only send one full resolution photo at a time. Please follow these steps to set your email options to send photos in their original size:

1. Click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
2. Select the Email tab.
3. Under 'When sending single pictures, resize to:' (Windows) or 'Size for single pictures' (Mac), select the 'Original Size' option.
4. Click OK.

Once this option is selected, any single photo you send using Picasa will be in full resolution. It's not possible to send multiple photos at once in their original sizes.

Blogging - custom sized pictures

2009-03-21T22:09:00.006-04:00

This is for Sister Bullock who writes a wonderful blog

I am going to assume you already know how to embed an image from Picasa

OK - just in case you don't know that - here is a quick 'how to' lesson

Upload your images to picasa (if you don't know about picasa, let me know and I'll add more information)
Click on the image you want (it will fill most of the screen)
Look for the words "link to this photo" at the right and click on them
This will open a menu of options - you want to copy the information (HTML code) below the words "embed image" (control 'C')
Paste that code into your blog as you are creating it. It will look like nonsense but when you publish, it will turn into your Picasa image.

Image Sizes

When you embed an image from picasa you have a choice of sizes and whether or not to include the album link (I never do). Unfortunately, the only sizes they allow are thumbnail (144 px), small (288 px) medium (400 px), and large (800 px).

Why the jump from 400 to 800???

I have no idea

Medium 400 px is fine for a normal blog layout. But if you want to emphasize photos rather the text, it's nice to use a stretched layout in Blogger so that nice big photos can be displayed. However, the large photos are just a bit too big at 800 px. The perfect size would be 600 px - but how do we get that?

It's not too difficult

All you have to do is type this:

width=600

and make sure it is in the correct place

When you past the HTML code into your blog from Picasa it looks something like this.

Look carefully and you will see a section in quotes - that is the address of the image. It finishes here with _MG_2235.jpg"

After the ending of the final quote, you can add extra information about image size

That is where you type those magic letters - width=600 - so your code will now look like this:

Be sure to type it with no spaces - after the final quote and before the forward slash. I always keep a space on either side of the text but I'm not sure that is necessary.

That's all!

When you publish the blog or click back and forth between 'Edit Html' and 'Compose' you will see your perfectly sized image in place of the code.

If you want to move the image, just cut and paste the code.

Sharing PowerPoint presentations online

2009-02-13T09:12:00.004-05:00

I was asked recently how to share put a PowerPoint presentation on the web.

I have not been terribly successful doing that, so I will explore a few ways and post about them here, with more information coming in the future.

First and easiest, in my opinion, is to save the presentation as a movie ('file', 'save as movie'). I need to learn more about how to tweak the timing and other settings. There is an option to include music (go to 'movie options' in the 'save as movie menu). Then the powerpoint movie can be uploaded to google video or direct to blogger. This creates a self playing slideshow out of the slides.

Another option is Google docs. That fine service now supports PowerPoint files - but only in the .ppt format, not the new .pptx. So the files need to be saved as .ppt.

I don't yet know about all the options. The one I tested is manually advanced slide by slide.

Here is an embeddeded test slideshow I just uploaded through google docs.

Google Docs is a great service for hosting and sharing text, spreadsheet, and presentation documents.

Comparing slideshow hosting

2008-11-11T16:58:00.005-05:00

I have used four services to host slideshows and thought I would do a comparison here between Picasa, Flickr, Smugmug, and Smilebox

Picasa

Pros

easy to use
lots of free storage

Cons

can't view full screen - clicking on the slideshow leads to the picasa site
even in picasa, images are smallish

Flickr

Pros:

easy to upload
easy to organize photos within the site
nice full screen option

Cons:

free version didn't allow me to upload all my photos
I couldn't figure out how to upload lower res (but it might be available)

Smugmug

Click here to link to full screen version

Pros:

nice filmstrip interface

Cons:

extremely hard to figure out how to embed slideshow
couldn't figure out how to allow full screen version
odd blank space in blog post
clicking on photo takes you to smugmug opening screen - very strange

Smilebox

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Pros:

music
full screen option
lots of style options (most of them are irritating)

Cons

Hate it!!! - they constantly ask for pro sign up (=spend money) and the program hijacked my computer and added all kinds of stuff and I'm still not sure I got rid of it.
huge con - no way to show all of photos with vertical orientation
very difficult to work within their programs
irritating constant asking to buy pro version
ads in free version
full screen takes you to new website

Bottom line
My favorite - Flickr, but I need to pay for a pro account.

Comparing photo hosting services

2008-11-11T16:28:00.010-05:00

I have been playing around with picasa, flickr, and smugmug trying to decide which is best. Last time I looked it seemed like flickr photos were duller in color so I thought I would do a test here. I will embed the same photo from each service so we can compare.

Picasa

Flickr

Smugmug

Interesting - picasa photos have more color intensity, don't you think? Flickr and Smugmug seem about the same.

Working with photos in Word - easyish

2008-04-18T12:31:00.004-04:00

It ought to be very simple to drop a photo in a Word document and move it around wherever you want. Right? But it is not. In fact it can be a terribly frustrating task. Here is one little trick that makes the process somewhat simpler.

Insert
When you add a photo to Word through the 'insert' menu or by dragging and dropping, it defaults to an 'inline layout'. That means that the picture is stuck in place on the document just like the text you type. It moves as you press return and/or type text above it but you can't drag it around on the page. You can resize it (remember to only use the corners or hold down 'shift' so you won't change the proportions).

Unstick
Here is what you do to fix the 'stuck photo' problem. You need to open up the 'format pictures' menu. You can do this either by double clicking on the picture or highlighting the picture and going to the 'format' (top of the screen) and 'picture' commands. That opens up a menu that varies according to the version of Word you are using. You need to find the 'layout' window (the little blue doggie) and then select 'tight'. This command magically frees up your photo and allows you to drag it all around.

Watch out!
However, Word still has its quirks and sometimes you think you have everything set and then pictures start sliding around all by themselves. I don't know how to deal with this and that is why I use a Mac!

Get a Mac
Here is the best suggestion I can give - buy a Mac, install iWork, and use Pages. It is a FABULOUS program for page layout. I love its simplicity and style. It is almost worth buying a Mac just to use Pages if you want to work with text and photos and don't want the expense or steep learning curve of Photoshop and InDesign.

If you are using a mac and want some help, I have started a new blog with a mac friend called Granny Macs. It is in process but will be fun as we add more. Take a look!

iMovie video clip sound problem - techie

2008-03-27T07:51:00.003-04:00

I have had to deal with this problem twice now. The first time, a year or so ago, I figured out how to solve it and then I promptly forgot. The same problem just came up again last night and this time I am going to record the (newer and better) solution.

Problem:
Some cameras (in my case a sony digital still camera) record video in a format that is incompatible with iMovie. The clip imports into iMovie just fine, but there is no audio. I did some internet surfing and found this is because the file is muxed which means the audio and video are intermixed and for some reason, iMovie does not like this. The solution is convert the file to a different format. The best program I found is MPEG Streamclip. It is a free download and is easy and efficient to use. Here is what to do to fix the no audio problem:

Download and install MPEG Streamclip
Open Streamclip
Import your video file by using 'file' - 'import' or drag the file from your finder to the Streamclip window.
Select 'file - 'import to Quicktime' - you will be given a chance to name the file and select a destination.
That's all - you're done!

Now you can import and edit the new Quicktime file.

Unlocking files - Macs only - easy

2008-03-26T19:44:00.004-04:00

Sometimes people give me photos that are locked. I suppose they were locked while in their camera in order to protect them. But that means, I can't change or delete the files. It is quite simple to unlock a mac file. Just locate the file in the finder, highlight but don't open, and then press the command+I (for info) keys. This brings up an information window. About halfway down the window you will see the word 'locked'. Click on checked box and it will uncheck and unlock.

Sometimes I end up with locked files in the trash and it won't empty completely. Just double click the Trash, select the files and follow the steps above to unlock.

Rotating text in Word - fiddly

2008-03-26T11:23:00.003-04:00

Today someone asked me how to rotate text in Word. Surprisingly, there isn't an easy way. Here is what I came up with using Microsoft Office 2004 (version 11.3.5) on my mac:

create a text box
type the text into the box and format (I centered it)
remove any text box formatting you don't want such as a line (default in my program) - you do this by clicking format (pull down menu at top of screen) - colors and lines - line - no line
Select the text box so that it can be copied (sometimes this takes two clicks)
Cut the text box by using control X or edit cut, the text box will disappear and be placed on the clipboard
click on Edit (putt down menu at top) - paste special - paste as picture - now it is an object that can be rotated
make sure the 'drawing' toolbar is showing - if not go to View - Toolbars - Drawing
select the text box, click on the rotate tool in the tool bar, mouse over a corner of the box, and rotate.

If you have WordArt installed you could try playing with that.

Good luck!

Important new direction

2008-03-26T11:14:00.003-04:00

I haven't been posting to Granny Tech very often because of time demands on my mission. However, I still get lots of 'how to' computer requests. When I go to the trouble of responding to computer questions it makes sense to share the information here. For now, the post topics won't be terribly organized but I will label them so they are usable. I will also add a difficulty level to the titles so it is easy to get appropriate help.

I have a new site called Granny Macs that I am doing with a friend. We plan to blog step by step instructions on how to get started using a mac. Take a look if you are interested!

Geeky ladies - iphoto plus gmail (macs only) - fiddly

2008-02-02T16:31:00.002-05:00

My friend Ruth and her husband David have a snazzy new macbook computer. They just came to visit my husband and I here in Trinidad and we had some fun computer chats. Now that Ruth is home I see her online all the time (gmail chat) so I told her she is turning into a computer geek. Today she was trying to figure out how to send an iphoto picture via gmail. This is not a simple task so we had quite a (gmail chat) conversation. Because others may be having the same challenge, I thought I would paste our conversation here:

ME: click to open the smiley blue square at the left side of your dock (bottom of the screen)
it is called the finder
smiley is the man!
he knows where everything is in your computer

Ruth: got it

ME: do you see pictures folder?

Ruth: yes

ME: click on it

Ruth: got it

ME: you should see a list of your pictures folders
are there some in there?

Ruth: there is photo library and photo booth

ME: ok
let's add a new one
click on 'pictures' so it is highlighted
now look at the daisy looking thing at the top of the screen
click on the little downwards pointing triangle
it will drop down a menu
click on 'new folder'

Ruth: got it

ME: and name it
mine is named *for email
I put the asterisk so the folder will be at the top of the list

Ruth: did it

ME: so - you now have a folder created to hold your emailable pictures
now open iphoto
this may seem like lots of steps but it is really quite easy once it is set up

Ruth: okay

ME: are you in iphoto?

Ruth: yes

ME: highlight the picture or pictures you want to email
click on 'file'
then 'export
a menu pops up
there are 4 choices at the top of the menu
you want 'file export'
then you can pick the size of the images

Ruth: hang on I made one of the pics completely disappear!

ME: push command Z
to undo stuff
or edit undo

Ruth: okay I got the pic back
I am at the export stage
what's next Dr imac?

ME: you need to tell it what size picture
size will vary depending on what your purpose
if you are sending a pic for someone to print
you want a larger file
if they will just look at it on the computer, you want smaller

Ruth: how do I make it smaller?

ME: for smaller type 700 or 800 into the box with the largest number
first click on 'scale images no larger than:
then you can type
that will make a smaller pic
then click on export
you can give the pic a title
and tell where to put it
you want to put it in your new handy dandy *for email folder

Ruth: there's nothing that says scale images, just small med large

ME: really?
yours is different than mine
ok - just click the size you want
I like medium
does it give you a choice where to put it?

Ruth: ummmmm
can't see that
hey I think I did it!
now what did I do?

ME: you have nice little photos waiting for you to email

Ruth: I clicked on export and it said where?

ME: now open gmail
as I explain this it sounds so incredibly complicated
but it isn't that bad

Ruth: k

ME: so compose your message
you can test one to me
one thing - most of the settings you are making this run through will open as defaults next time you do this - so that is a bit easier

Ruth: OK

ME: now click on 'attach a file'
then browse
should open up your happy face finder

Ruth: how do I browse?

ME: click the word browse

Ruth: desktop comes up in box

ME: good
look for the pictures folder

Ruth: got it and got both pix chosen and attached
shall I send them?

ME: yes!

Ruth: it worked Di
you are a genius

ME: now do it 10 times so you don’t forget
you have learned some things that will help you with other tasks too
how to navigate the computer
make folders

Shortcut Keys

2008-01-28T20:34:00.001-05:00

I have a goal to learn a shortcut key combination every week or so for the next little while. Shortcut keys are keystroke combinations that perform functions that normally take a number of mouse clicks. They are efficient because you don't need to take your hands off the keyboard to perform common actions. Here is a list of the ones I find most useful (mac keystrokes in parentheses):

Copy - control (apple command) C
Paste - control (apple command) V
Cut (copies and removes the selected item) - control (apple command) X
Undo (I use this ALL the time) - control (apple command) Z
Quit a program - control (apple command) Q
Save (do this often to protect your work)- control (apple command) S

You can find many more by searching 'shortcut' in the help menus for various programs. Why don't you make a useful habit by trying one of these shortcuts for the next few days?

Keeping up with all those blogs using RSS feeds

2008-01-21T19:17:00.000-05:00

RSS feed - why would I want that?

We have talked about blogging for quite a while. Now - how are you going to keep up with all of the exiting new blogs you and your friends are creating?

Here's what I do:
Many blogs and websites have an option that allows you to be notified when new content is added. Blogger has a nice built in feature labeled "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)". Scroll to the bottom of this page and you will see it. This is an RSS feed - which means... "Really Simple Syndication" which means..."Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts" (quoted from Wikipedia) which means (in simple terms)... you can be notified when something is added to your favorite blogs such as a brand new Granny Tech lesson!

The easiest way to keep up with your blogs:
Have 'feeds' sent to your iGoogle homepage (see my earlier post on setting up iGoogle). You can set up a new dedicated iGoogle page labeled 'blogs', or add the feeds to your main page.

Start out by opening up the page you want to use in iGoogle.
Next, open the blog you want to track in a different tab or window. If it is a 'Blogger' blog you can click on "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)" at the bottom of the page. You will be given a choice: 'add to Google homepage' or 'add to Google reader'.
Choose the homepage option. A new gadget listing the latest blog posts will appear.
Other types of blogs or websites often have RSS feed options at the bottom of the page that can be added in a similar manner.

An example:
I really like Time magazine. I used to read it cover to cover every week before moving to Trinidad. Now I subscribe to the RSS feed instead. Here is how to do that:

Open up the Time website
Scroll to the bottom of the page
You will see this:

(click on image to enlarge)

Just click on either of the RSS link options: 'get Time RSS feeds' or 'RSS feeds (at the very bottom).
You will be given a number of topic options. Select and click on the one you want (I like 'Top Stories') and then click 'add to Google'.

Voila - you are up to date with the latest news!

iGoogle

2008-01-21T08:32:00.001-05:00

Google has so many fun toys!

My latest favorite is iGoogle. It allows you to set up a personalized homepage that will open each time you connect to the internet. You can put all kinds of fun (important, amazing, essential) things on your page. In fact, if there are many many fun (important, amazing, essential) things you must see every day - you can set up multiple pages using tabs. I have expanded from one to eight pages in the past few months.

Setting up iGoogle is very easy to do - all you need is a Gmail account. If you don't have one yet, look at my earlier post on using Gmail.

Here is how to get started:

Go to the iGoogle website and sign in using your Gmail account info.
Your new homepage will appear but it's not personalized yet. Google will suggest items for your page consisting of little windows of internet content Google calls 'Gadgets'. You can go with the default suggestions or add popular gadgets by clicking boxes at the top of the page.
When you have a few basics in place, click "Save" in the upper left.
Now the creativity begins: Click on the "Add stuff" button at the top right. All kinds of gadgets appear. You can browse through groups of gadgets by clicking on categories at the left or you can search for specific content by using the search window. Just for fun I put in the words 'eye strain' (I have been working on this blog for a while) and an eye tester game appeared as well as 'famous optical illusions'. Cool, eh?
When you find something you like just click 'add it now'. Keep adding until you are absolutely happy. Then click 'back to the iGoogle homepage' at the upper left.
Now you see your new, personalized, iGoogle page. But - you are not done yet. You can rearrange your new found gadgets by dragging them around the page. Just grab the colored bar at the top of the gadget, drag and drop.
If your page is too full (you probably won't want to scroll way down to see everything) just create a new page by clicking on 'add a tab' just below the big search window. You will be prompted to give the tab a name and then a new page will appear asking if you want to accept some iGoogle content or, if not, a blank page will appear all ready to 'add stuff'.
But wait a minute. We don't want to add stuff - we already had too much stuff! Here is what you do - click on your first (too full) page's tab and just drag and drop the gadgets you want to move right on to the new tab. The gadgets will magically migrate to the new page living you two marvelous, minimalist, perfectly organized iGoogle pages.

Here are the names of my eight tabs - just to give you a few ideas:

Home
News
Blogs
Productivity
Health
Fun
LDS
Mac

Here are some of my favorite gadgets:

Gmail inbox
Weather (at my home and my kids')
News feeds
Stock Market
Quotes of the day
National Hurricane Center (I live in the Caribbean)
Feeds from favorite blogs (if you don't know how to get feeds - that will be the topic of my next post)
Customized Google News - this allows you to receive news feeds on search terms you supply. To get it try clicking here or search 'customized google news' in the gadget search window.

You are not quite done yet:

If you want to add a personal touch, you can click on 'select theme' (right next to 'add stuff') and play around with the look of your page.

One last very important thing to do!

If you want your iGoogle page to come up every time you connect to the internet, you must tell that to your browser. I use Firefox and Safari. I'm afraid I don't know much about Explorer. Here is what I do:

Open your iGoogle homepage. Now you will set your opening page preference in your browser. Click the 'preferences' link that drops down when you click on the browser name at the far upper left ('Firefox' or 'Safari'). Go to 'main' (Safari) or 'general' (Firefox), Then 'set to (or use) current page'. This will make the page that is currently open your future opening page.

Let me know how it all works out!

So - what kind of video can I put on my blog?

2007-12-26T12:08:00.000-05:00

You are limited by file size. To use the methods described below, the limit is (I believe) 100 MB. You should be able to post any of those little compressed video clips that your digital still camera takes with no problem. If you have regular video footage from a digital camcorder or a bunch of photos made into a slideshow, you may have to compress.

The only method I am familiar with to compress video is Apple's imovie program. That is what I use to make photo slideshows and to edit videos (there is a PC program called Moviemaker that, I expect, does the same thing). The end result is a very large file but it can be compressed. Here is what you do:

Create your movie

Select 'Share', 'Quicktime

Then select 'Web Streaming'

Click 'Save'. Your video should be compressed to a usable size that can be uploaded to your blog.

Uploading video to Blogger - 2 choices

2007-12-26T11:04:00.000-05:00

The first choice is by far the easiest but I have had error problems with it occasionally. I will share that method first and then a slightly more complex but more stable method. Extremely large videos will not upload. I believe that Google Video uploads must be less than 100 MB. If you want to know how to created smaller video files - I will handle that in the next post.

Blogger

I used this to post the Grace Christmas song video below.

If you have not blogged before, review my earlier postings on blogging. To upload video just click on the little film icon at the top of your new post window (second from right - next to the eraser). It will take you through the stops of browsing your hard drive to find the video and then uploading. You can add text you post and - you are done! Very easy.

Google Video

I used this to post the Tessa Christmas song video below.
Go to the Google video website by clicking here

You will see a page that looks like this:

Click on 'upload videos' on the upper right under 'my videos'. This will open up a screen that walks you through the steps to find and label your video. Youe video will appear on the web for all to see. If you don't want this, select 'unlisted'.

When the upload is completed (may take a while) go to 'See all your uploaded videos' and view your video on Google Video. You will see a screen like this:

Now you need to get the html code to add to your blog. I know - this sounds complicated - but, trust me, it's not. Click on the blue 'Email-Embed' button at the top right of the screen. Then click on 'Embed Html'. This brings up the Html code into the small window below. This will tell Blogger where to find your video. You need to copy this code (highlight it and then control C) and then go to the new post in blogger where you want to put your video. Click the tab at the top that says 'Edit Html'. You will see any text you have entered thus far. Just put the cursor in the spot where you want the video to go and paste the code (control V). Go back to compose view by clicking on the 'compose' tab and you will see your video and can continue adding text and images.

One note - this pasting of Html code showed me a trick that overcomes one of my biggest problems with Blogger. It has been so hard for me to get pictures where I want them. I resize and drag but the window is so small and the pictures seem to jump all over the place. What I discovered is that you can switch to Html view, find the code for your picture (based on location in relation to text - it is the long string of unintelligible text), cut (highlight and control X) it, and then paste it where you want it - so nice!

Using Bloggers upload tool

2007-12-26T10:51:00.000-05:00

I successfully added the previous Tessa video using Google Video and pasting the HTML into my post. This was not at all hard but involves a number of steps. I will now try using Blogger's built in video uploader. I have tried it in the past with no success.

Grace's Christmas song:

It worked! So there are two ways to add video. You can decide.

Adding video to your blog

2007-12-26T10:48:00.000-05:00

Jenny is working on her family Christmas video. She is quite good at editing, creating, and burning her creations but she says getting it on to the web for me to see (I live 1000s of miles away) is tricky. So - I thought I would share some ideas here. I have only posted video a few times so this may not be the most streamlined method. Please add comments or email me about better ideas.

Here is a test - just to see if what I tried works.

Tessa's Christmas song:

Excel - why use it?

2007-10-24T08:55:00.000-04:00

A few family members are trying to be more organized with their finances. This has motivated me to share a few tips on using Excel. I think Excel is one of my very favorite computer programs. I didn't know much about it until taking a statistics class when I was doing my PhD work at BYU. The instructor used Excel as a pedagogical tool - we learned statistics by doing things in Excel. He strongly suggested we all learn the program so I buckled down and spent some time playing around in the program with frequent consultations to the help menu. I think I also bought a book on Excel. Since then I have used it for many many things:

finance (0f course)
contact information for groups of people
my calendar (really!)
to do list
data I keep for the mission
creating nifty charts and graphs
and so on and so on

I will post some how to info on Excel very soon.

Here are a few samples of spreadsheets I use:

Mission Schedule
Getting Things Done to do list
Personal Finance Template

Blogging - misc

2007-09-30T18:36:00.000-04:00

Here are a few final thoughts on blogging:

Permissions

You can set up your blog to be available to the public or to only those you invite. The default setting is pubic. I don't mind public (so far) and it is nice for my family and friends to be able to visit without entering a password. If I get some strange comments, that may change. To change permissions click on the 'settings' tab and then 'permissions'.

Hyperlinks

You may be tempted to skip this but - hyperlinks can be fun. So try one! Suppose you found an exciting website or online picture or recipe that you just had to share with everyone. You can set it up so that your friends just need to click here to see it (click on the word 'here'). I did that by inserting a link. Here is what you do:

Open the website that you want to link and copy the URL address at the top of the window (highlight it and click 'edit' 'copy' or control C)

Go back to your post and edit it (read my last post if you don't know how to edit). Now highlight the text you want to use as a link

Click on the link icon at the top of your window (the green one with a chain link on it - to the right of the T)

A window will appear asking you to paste in the URL

Voila! all is done

Your friends are dazzled with your expertise.

Sharing your blog

Now that you have created the perfect blog, you need to share it. The easiest way is to open your blog, copy the URL address, and then paste it into a grand email announcement.

Blogging - editing

2007-09-30T17:55:00.000-04:00

No matter how careful you are in creating a post, when you look at the finished product, there is always some tweeking to do. For some reason, I haven't found a quick and easy 1 click path to edit a post - but I have found a tortuous multi click route. Please let me know if you find a better way. Here is what you do:

Click on the word 'customize' in the upper right of your window. In the new screen that appears, click on the tab at the top left that says 'posting' (be patient, it may take a minute for the screens to change). Then click on 'edit posts' (just below the tabs). Then click on the word 'edit' opposite the post you want to adjust. Then you can go in, fix anything, and republish.

I don't know of any way to rearrange your posts - the only option is to delete and put them back in the order you want.

You can play around with the look of your blog under the 'templates' tab. I recommend you do some exploratory clicking.

New Info!

I just found a way to do quick edits. You may need to set it up in your 'settings'. To find out how, click here. When it is set up a little picture of a pencil appears at the bottom of each blog. Just click on it to go to the editing mode. Now - why didn't I notice that earlier???

Blogging - adding pictures

2007-09-30T16:26:00.000-04:00

To add pictures to your post, just click on the picture icon at the top of the window.

It will take you to a new window that looks like this:

Generally you will be adding an image from your computer. If you want one from the web, just open it in a new browser window, copy the address at the top of the screen, and past it into the window marked URL. To upload an image from your computer, click on browse and find it in your hard drive. Of course, it helps if your computer files are obsessively organized - maybe I will make a post on that sometime soon. Once you have located your image, you can choose the size and location. Then click on 'upload image' and just wait until it is done.

Next, return to your post and see how things look. This is when I have some difficulties. It seems that the uploader drops the image in wherever it wants - usually at the beginning of the post. It is possible to move images around but I have not found a way to do it with precision. Just click on the image so that little white squares appear in the corners and a black outline appears around the image. Then you can drag it around (I assume you now how to drag and drop - if not - let me know). It may take a few tries to get it to move where you want in relation to the text. You can also resize the image by dragging the corners. Hold down the shift key while resizing to maintain the image proportions. Sometimes smaller images are easier to move.

One more tip - you can upload multiple images at once (I think up to 5 or 6) by clicking on 'add another image'.

Blogging - getting started

2007-09-30T14:39:00.000-04:00

My daughter, Jennifer, is setting up her first blog and asked for some help. So - I will take you step by step through settting up, posting, and editing a blog.

First of all - what is a blog?

I don't quite know how to describe it - maybe that is because blogs are so flexible. The name, I believe, comes from 'web log'. Blogs can be anything you want. They are a means to share text, photos, and video online. Many people use them as a kind of personal newsletter and they often have specific themes. Some are quite popular and have even 'shaped the course of human events.' In our family we use blogs to share news and photos. At first we had one extended family blog called Robisonshare. Right now we are setting up a blog for each of our five children (4 of whom are married with children of their own). This will make it better for our children to share their blogs with their inlaw family and friends without forcing them to wade through pictures of every Robison family event. My husband has a number of blogs set up. One of my favorites is his Family Home Evening Blog with stories and lessons for our children to share with our grandchildren. I have a personal blog plus Granny Tech.

Setting up a blog

Here is where I repeat my disclaimer - I am not an expert! In fact, I am a novice when it comes to blogging. I can get you set up with some basics, but we will be learning together. That said, the best place to get help is in Blogger help. To get there click on the 'B'ish looking icon at the upper left of your blog window and then on 'help' in the upper right. I highly recommend you browse through their help center.

Now - here are my thoughts on blogging

There are a number of services on the web that host and help create blogs for free. Since I am such a fan of Google, I use their blogging service called Blogger. To sign up for and create a blog, click on this link. You must have a google account in order to use this service. If you use Gmail, you already have an account. You will be guided through the simple process of selecting a title and an address for your blog. The final step is to select a template. Just pick one - you can always change it later.

Creating a Post

Once your blog is set up, click on 'start posting'. Then, you need to give your post a title and - start writing! You can insert photos, video, and links into your blog by clicking on the appropriate buttons at the top of the window. Since you will often want to add photos, I'll take you through that process in the my next post. When you have everything just right - click on 'publish post'. You can always make changes later - I'll guess I need to make a post on editing too.

Now that you are an expert, add more posts by clicking on 'new post' in the upper right part of your blog window.

Questions?

2007-09-29T16:16:00.000-04:00

Do you have questions? I would be happy to respond to them in this blog. Let me know what computer issues you are struggling with by adding a comment to this post (click on the word 'comments' at the bottom of this post). I plan, when time allows, to add posts about saving and emailing photos (picasa), making a homepage (igoogle), making your own blog (blogger), downloading free audio (itunes), and other tools that I have come across that help me have fun and be productive.

Gmail

2007-09-29T11:09:00.000-04:00

I love Gmail!

Gmail is free!

It has certain limitations - mainly that messages can only be read and composed while your computer is connected to the internet. But the free storage and the search capacity are amazing. I actually have a number of accounts. I have my main one as well as a secondary one that I use for all online purchases and registrations. That one fills up constantly with junk mail but I only check it every few weeks. This keeps my main account nice and clean. I have also created accounts for special purposes when I knew I would be collecting lots of messages with hefty attachments (for some of my research projects). I keep a careful record of all Gmail account names and passwords on a Word document stored in my computer in a folder called, not surprisingly, 'computer info'.

If you don't have a Gmail account click here (just click on the word 'here') to sign up.

There are lots of things you can do with Gmail. Here are a few of my favorites:

Search

If you are trying to find an email just recall a word or two from it and type them into the search window. Then hit return or click on 'Search Mail'. A list of messages containing those words will appear. You can also search by a person's name if you want a quick way to find their emails.

Labels

Labels are kind of like file folders. Imagine setting up a file for certain emails you may want to access later. You can do that by creating labels. The nice thing about labels as opposed to folders is that you can put the same email into multiple imaginary folders by giving it more than one label. Because of the great search capacity in Gmail, you don't need to give every message a label. Just think about what groups of emails you may want to retrieve. You can see (above) the current labels I have in my Gmail - or maybe you can't - the image is very small. I am currently using: Computer info, Family stories, Fun(ny), Medical, Mission ideas, and Mission Stories. I expect my label list will grow as time goes on.

It is easy to create and apply labels.

To get started just select a message you want to label by clicking in the little white box to the left of the sender's name. A checkmark will appear. Then click on the tiny downward facing arrow to the right of the window near the top of your screen that says 'more actions'. A drop down menu will appear. Click on 'new label' and type in a title for that label. The label will automatically be applied to the message you selected and in the future it will appear as a label in your 'more actions' menu. Later, when you have another message you want to label. Just select the message, click on 'more actions' and then click on the label title. It is also possible to remove labels and edit them. The Gmail help link (upper right hand corner) is a great place to learn more.

Have fun searching and organizing!