33 Billion Connected devices

Tech Tip 3

October 24, 2014

33 Billion Connected devices!!!

By the end of the decade, there will be about 30 billion plus devices connected to the internet! Our reliance on the Internet continues to grow each day as more and more

Services are being pushed to the cloud. If you live in Japan, your fridge will order some of your groceries when they get to a certain level… As of 2013 Microsoft started selling virtual software, hardly would you purchase a physical disk as it was in the past for any software. Some hardware vendors have stopped shipping equipment with DVD ROM drives as they too will soon be not too useful. The new software delivery method is popularly known as SAS (software as a service). This works perfectly for developed nations but in the developing world this remains an interesting challenge! Looking even further in more rural settings the SAS model may take a little longer to deploy, but one great thing about developing nations, such a Kenya, technology leap frogging happens all the time. Delivery of electronic content via satellite could easily make this work for the very remote villages J. Please follow this link to read the article.

What is PDF and now what is XPS?

PDF documents [portable document format]  provide a universal standard format for viewing and printing. A PDF document maintains it's integrity irrespective of the platform it is viewed. This means it does not matter what operating system you use [Windows, Linux, mac, other] what you need is a PDF reader. PDF documents are secure and can have additional features to enhance security, for example: Disable printing or copying.

 if you have a PDF writer (like PDF Creator, Adobe pdf Pro) you can lock printing, or the copy feature which means your document can only be read and not copied or printed J you can take it notch higher by adding a password to access the document.

XPS file format was first introduced by Microsoft with the launch of  widows vista in 2007. XPS was seen at some-point as a possible PDF killer but this did not quite happen. XPS viewers provide good document management for XPS files, but  PDF file format still remains as the product of choice for static documents.

So what is an XPF file?

1. 1.    An XPS document is any file that is saved in the XML Paper Specification, or .xps, file format. You can create XPS documents (.xps files) by using any program that you can print from in Windows; however, you can only view XPS documents by using an XPS Viewer, such as the one included in Windows version Vista and higher. 

So what is XML?

1. 1.    Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format which is both human-readable and machine-readable. Read more on XPS [more]

  Office Picture Manager Alternative

 

Since the launch of Microsoft Office 2003, Microsoft had a tool called Microsoft picture editor. Picture editor allows basic photo editing functionality; such as picture compression, cropping, basic alteration just to mention a few.  

This tool is available in Versions 2003 - 2010.  With office 2013 this tool is not installed as a bundle, but you must specifically choose it, by doing a custom installations (or add new features) and is found under the Microsoft tools.

Picture manager offers a good alternative and also installs movie maker as part of the suite. Follow the link to install it. 

(Windows only) 

Resources:[credit]

33 billion : Accessed online October 24, 2014 at 1350hrs from http://www.ooyala.com/videomind/blog/33-billion-internet-connected-devices-2020

Out of Office! [Auto Responder]

How to set your auto responder

Automatically reply when out of office or on vacation

Going on vacation? No access to the Internet? Use Gmail's vacation responder to let people know that you won't be able to get back to them right away. While your vacation responder is turned on, Gmail will send your reply to people who email you.

Turn on your vacation responder

Desktop | Laptop

1. Open Gmail.
2. Click the gear in the top right.
   
3. Select Settings.
4. Scroll down to the Vacation responder section (stay in the "General" tab).
5. Select Vacation responder on.
6. Fill in the date range, subject, and message.
7. You can limit who can see your vacation response:
   • Check the box next to Only send a response to people in my Contacts if you don't want everyone who emails you to know that you're away from your mail.
   • If you use Google Apps, you'll also see an option to only send a response to people in your domain. If you check both of these boxes, only people who are in your contacts and your domain will receive the automatic response.
8. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Open Gmail settings 

If you've enabled a personalized signature in your settings, Gmail will automatically add it to the bottom of your vacation response.

Turn off or edit your vacation responder

While the vacation responder is on, you'll see a banner across the top of your Gmail that shows the subject of your vacation response. Click the End now link in the banner to turn off the vacation responder, or click Vacation Settings to edit your response.

Android

1. Open the Gmail app.
2. Touch the Gmail icon 
3. Select Settings.
4. Choose your account.
5. Touch Vacation responder.
6. Fill in the date range, subject, and message.
7. Switch OFF to ON at the top.
8. Touch Done.

Your vacation responder settings are synced with the desktop version of Gmail.

iOS

1. Open the Gmail app.
2. Touch Menu .
3. Touch the gear icon .
4. Switch Vacation Responder from OFF to ON.
5. Choose start and end dates.
6. Fill in the subject and message.
7. Touch Save.

If you have multiple accounts, make sure you're in the right account before you touch the gear icon .

Your vacation responder settings are synced with the desktop version of Gmail.

When is my reply sent?

Your vacation responder starts at 12:00 AM on the start date and ends at 11:59 PM on the end date, unless you end it earlier.

In general, your reply is only sent once to people who email you. However, if the same person contacts you again after four days and your vacation responder is still on, Gmail will send another vacation response to remind the person that you're away from your email. Your vacation response will start over each time you edit it, so if someone receives your initial vacation response, and then emails you again after you've edited the subject or body of the message, he or she will receive the edited response.

Messages classified as spam and messages addressed to a mailing list you subscribe to will not receive a vacation response.

Click here to view this on the web.

Source: Accessed online October, 15th 2014, 1636 hours https://support.google.com/mail/answer/25922?hl=en 

Capture that Screen!

Tech Tip 3 | November 6 [Throwback post]

Windows

Capture that screen and send it on email! You can do that easy! If you are using windows 7 and higher a pretty neat tool called the snipping tool will allow you to do just that. To access from windows 8 all you need to do is go to them metro screen (Tiled screen) and type snipping and the application icon will appear. Click on the icon to launch the program then select new to start!

From windows 7 the Snipping tool can be found from the accessories sub menu under all programs.

Another way to capture your screen is by using the print screen key on your keyboard! To capture the entire screen hit the print screen button once or use Alt + print screen to capture just the active window. Once you have done that just right click on your application such as Word or email and then paste!

Capture your screen!

Windows 7 & 8 Snipping tool

Other Windows versions Alt + PrntScn or Just PrntScn

Mac

For Mac users you may not have a snip tool but the capture screen function is really easy to use. Once you hit the key combination of Command – Shift – 4 your cursor will change into a plus sign and you can select / drag across the area you want to capture and a picture file will be saved on your desktop.

Command- shift-4, Command-shift-4 then space-bar or command-shift-3

Interesting Innovation

Being kind to the environment is prudent. Now you can bring that to your laptop. Choose Blackle.com As your primary search engine. To read more about this project follow the link below.

Read more:

Windows

http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Microsoft-Windows

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/windows-8-keyboard-shortcuts/

Mac

http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#capturescreen

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343

Browsers

http://blackle.com/about/

Try out the new opera browser! Available from the teacher lounge computers.

Hangouts and Plus

Tech tip 2

October 3, 2014

Social media is now part of what is known as a standard internet experience. Google Plus is now available for use from your westnairobischool.org office address. Google plus can be used to connect with friends, family and coworkers. You can share digital content and also restrict who can view content, by adjusting the security levels to meet your requirements.

With google plus come hangout! Google hangouts is an instant messaging platform that allows you to have a video

chat. With hangouts you can have multiple people do a video hangout, which is pretty cool. On some Android based devices, the standard messaging feature is google hangouts. Try “hangout” for a meeting sometime!

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