Technology: No Place for Wimps

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Technology No Place for Wimps
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• Working with Technology
• Amy Baker
• Web Technology Coordinator
• Agriculture, Food, and Environment Capacity Area

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Something technology is not good for
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Whats in this Talk

• Software the latest greatest
• Tools to help you everyday
• Software Skills Tune-Up
• Question/Answer

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4
Software Latest/Greatest

• Ive heard a lot of questions about email
  programs (e.g. Outlook)
• Outlook is a nice program and it comes with MS
  Office
• BUT (big but) it is a target for virus-writers
  because 1) it is widely-used and 2) it is made by
  Microsoft (i.e. the devil)

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Software Latest/Greatest

• You SHOULD have an up-to-date email program of
  some sort. Extension Admin is recommending
  Outlook, which is fine.
• I recommend Mozilla Thunderbird. It is written by
  the hackers so they dont like to attack it. It
  makes them look bad.

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Software Latest/Greatest

• Are you happy with your email program? Or do you
  curse it regularly?
• If the latter, consider downloading Thunderbird
  (Free)
• Lets take a quick look
• http//www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

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Software Latest/Greatest

• Do you do interviews or sound clips for radio?
• If yes, you may be interested in Sony Sound
  Forge.
• Sound Forge lets you create your own MP3 files at
  your computer.
• Email the files to the radio stations and youre
  done.

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Software Latest/Greatest

• You need
• A microphone for your computer (around 20, look
  at Best Buy or Amazon.com)
• The Sound Forge Audio Studio software (70)
• Lets take a look

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Tools to Help You Everyday
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10
Tools to Help You Everyday
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• Google.com
• Advanced Googology using quotes, pluses,
  minuses, advanced queries, image searching, maps
• The Google Toolbar

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Tools to Help You Everyday
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• It's everything you used to go to the library
  for!
• Articles online using your x500 password
• Lets try it out
• www.lib.umn.edu

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Tools to Help You Everyday

• File transport
• What do you use? CDs? ZIPs?
• Would a USB drive work for you?
• Great for presentations, taking files to a
  different computer
• Holds 128 MB
• 20 at Target
• My USB drive changed my life!

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Software Skills Tune Up

• Most of you know how to make a good PowerPoint
  presentation
• Here are a few tips to make it even better

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Software Skills Tune Up

• Fonts Use standard sans-serif for easy reading
• Images Keep relevant, compress their file size,
  dont over-use
• Over-use of graphics, especially ones that arent
  relevant, can actually reduce learning

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• Lovelace, Herbert W. (2001) The Medium Is More
  Than The Message. Information Week, July 16,
  2001. (Online)
• Bartsch, R. A., Cobern, K. M. (2003).
  Effectiveness of PowerPoint presentations in
  lectures. Computers Education, 41, 77-86.

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Software Skills Tune Up

• PDF Files Use them
• Some of your audience has PowerPoint, Excel, and
  Word
• Most of your audience wont have Publisher
• Everyone can open PDF files (with Acrobat Reader)

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Software Skills Tune Up

• Select Smallest File Size in print properties
  (Acrobat 6)

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Software Skills Tune Up

• Combining PDFs into one file

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Software Skills Tune Up

• MS Publisher is a good program for quickie event
  brochures Use wizard, fill in text and a photo
  or two
• Comes with Office Professional (can download on
  U-owned computers)
• Be sure to change into PDF before emailing
  anywhere

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Software Skills Tune Up
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Wrap Up

• Software Latest/Greatest
• Tools to help you Everyday
• Software skills Tune Up

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Tomorrows Topics

• Staying Up-to-Date
• Tools you can use on the AFE Website
• Did you know we have an AFE Calendar for external
  viewers?
• Update on Extension projects, including the new
  external site in the works
• Quick UMCal tour

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22
Thank you
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Amy Baker
WEB TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR [phone]
amy_at_umn.edu
277 Coffey Hall, 1420 Eckles Ave, St. Paul, MN
55108