How to send large files via the internet

Hi folks, just a friendly message from the Tech Nazi:

QUIT BURNING CDS FULL OF PICTURES AND MAILING THEM OUT.

Now that I'm done yelling, here is a way to send those large files to somebody without going through the hassle of burning discs.

Some of you may already know that CD production is on the rapid decline, and there are more and more computers produced today that don't even have a disc drive.  (this means DVD drives too!)  We even had to specify that these new computers at school must come with a disc drive!  When you think about the reason for a disc drive, it boils down to "transferring files".  Many program installs are contained in downloads now.

There exists some "old skool" thinking when you want to share some media with somebody.  If it's too big to email, you may immediately think of burning it to a CD and handing it off to that somebody.  Then that somebody says "hey, I've got this CD full of funny videos that I've got to show you.  Next time you're here, remind me and I'll give it to you."

Instead of waiting until you run into that person again (and hopefully you've got that CD in your back pocket when you do), just use www.transferbigfiles.com

It's free, and you can get those files to that person in a matter of minutes.  Here's a tutorial how to use it:

How to save Word 2007 as PDF

Hi Staff;

Now that we will all have Office 2007 on the WSD computers, I'd like to show you a useful tip on saving your documents as PDF.

This can come in handy when you're emailing your document to multiple people such as staff - they won't be able to edit it, and it will be presented to them exactly how you wanted.   It's also very nice if you just want to upload it to your blog, then the users at home can view it no matter what software they have on their computer.

Here's a 3 minute tutorial video:

Free substitute for Microsoft Office - OpenOffice.org

Hi Staff;

Many of you, like myself, do not have Microsoft Office on your home computer.  Many of your students are the same way. 

You can download and install a FREE (and legal) substitute for Microsoft Office called OpenOffice.org. 

It's a rather large download, but better than spending 200 bucks, in my opinion. 

You can open MS Office documents with OpenOffice.org, and you can also use OpenOffice.org to create documents and save them in a Microsoft format.

Here's a 3 minute video showing you how:

Wrap Text around an image in MS Word 2007

Word 2007 has some neat options for inserting images, clip art, or shapes into the text. This video will show you how to do that, and even wrap your text around them.

Office 2007 – How to change the default font size

Hi Staff;


Here's a short 1-1/2 minute video showing how you can change the default font size in Microsoft Office 2007.


Your default font will probably be Calibri size 11. Most of the world has a size 10 font by default, and probably in Arial font. If that doesn't bother you, no change is needed.


 

By the way, I wrote this blog post right from Word 2007. For a reminder on how to do that, click here:



http://blog.weber.k12.ut.us/jumcfarland/2009/05/01/how-to-blog-from-word-2007/

Here's the video:

How to Blog from Word 2007

Hi Folks, I just stumbled upon this gem a little while ago. You can write your blog post from Word 2007 and publish it WITHOUT even opening up a web page.

 

In fact, I wrote this current blog post right from Word, and sent it straight to my blog.

 

Most of us are MUCH more comfortable writing documents in MS Word than we are on our blog, so this makes it much easier to display that message, in less time.

 

Here's a quick 3 minute video to help you get set up.