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

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

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

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.

1. Start out by opening up the page you want to use in iGoogle.
2. 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'.
3. Choose the homepage option. A new gadget listing the latest blog posts will appear.
4. 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

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:

1. Home
2. News
3. Blogs
4. Productivity
5. Health
6. Fun
7. LDS
8. 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?

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

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

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.