Active Learning with PowerPoint. A tutorial designed to help you capitalize on those aspects of PowerPoint that lend themselves best to engaging students' interests.
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/powerpoint/
Showing posts with label Help Desk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Help Desk. Show all posts
Friday, January 17, 2014
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Windows 8: Change default photo viewer ( #vmvwiki )
A problem in Windows 8 is when you click on an image in Windows explorer it annoyingly loads it into the Win 8 photo viewer app.
To fix this:
go to Control Panel > Programs > Default Programs and select Set your default programs.
Scroll down and click Windows Photo Viewer in the Programs list.
Then, click 'Set this program as default' if you'd like the Viewer to open all the file types it can handle, or select the 'Choose default' options if you prefer to specify which file types it should open. Finish by clicking OK.
To fix this:
go to Control Panel > Programs > Default Programs and select Set your default programs.
Scroll down and click Windows Photo Viewer in the Programs list.
Then, click 'Set this program as default' if you'd like the Viewer to open all the file types it can handle, or select the 'Choose default' options if you prefer to specify which file types it should open. Finish by clicking OK.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Some notable free software #vmvwiki
1. Microsoft Expression Web 4 (HTML Web authoring tool)
2. Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional
3. Paint.net
4. Zoom-it
5. CCleaner
- Microsoft has discontinued the support of this product (it is embedded in Visual Studio and Sharepoint) so have released this as freeware
- http://www.microsoft.com/en-nz/download/details.aspx?id=36179
2. Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional
- Version that can convert pdfs to Word files (doc not docx)
- http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4683-adobe-acrobat-8-free.html
3. Paint.net
- A freeware drawing and photo editing program, allows you to resize images
- http://www.getpaint.net/
4. Zoom-it
- Allows you to zoom your screen when doing presentations
- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897434.aspx
5. CCleaner
- Will clean up your PC's registry and Hard Disk Drives
- http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
- ( defraggler - a disk defragging tool is also useful http://www.piriform.com/defraggler/download )
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Computing e-books for $5
Computing e-books for $5
Make sure you go through the app store for the discounted books.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Microsoft Product keys
Track down lost Microsoft product keys with ProduKey
Find your lost key for any properly installed Microsoft product with the help of this free tool.
Instructions:
Download
Thursday, April 18, 2013
PowerPoint - will not proceed to next slide
Found out today that if the PowerPoint is set to Kiosk mode (In Office 2010 buried in Slide Show > Set up slide show > Show slide type) then it will only display the first slide and clicking (or using arrows) to go to the next slide doesn't work
Thursday, February 14, 2013
2013 Feb: YahooXtra's email hacking
YahooXtra: What actually happened?
A Wordpress vulnerability caused this...
http://www.iitp.org.nz/newsletter/article/414?utm_source=email
and another
.. and looks like my Backup blog has suffered a hack again too. Getting to the stage I'll switch it off and use a different Blog system.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Keep your Twitter Archive fresh on Google Drive using a bit of Google Apps Script
http://mashe.hawksey.info/2013/01/sync-twitter-archive-with-google-drive/?utm_source=jan13newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jan13nl
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Domain Name cloaking using frames
Learn't something the other day. We have a wordpress web site on hostable.com and the Domain Name is with Freeparking.
We have been having trouble with the url displaying in the browser. So you get "http://mydomain.com/" no matter what page is displayed - this is pretty useless if you want to bookmark a page.
Lots of web searching revealed that Freeparking cloak your site in a 100% frame - which is VERY bad form as search engines tend to ignore any frame based sites (we couldn't figure out why the site rated so poorley).
So the actual page HTML looks like
<frameset rows="100%,*">
<frame name="top" src="http://xxxx.12345.a.hostable.me/wordpress/" noresize="noresize" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" />
<noframes>
<body>
<p><i>This document uses a frameset.</i></p>
<p><a href="http://xxxx.12345.a.hostable.me/wordpress/">Click Here</a> to view the page.</p>
</body>
</noframes>
</frameset>
Ok.. so off to Freeparking Help desk .. and their response
Subject: [WebFarm/Freeparking #1400011] URL Redirection - xxxx.co.nz
Hi , There's no good answer to that unfortunately. Cloaked wont show much in the way of filenames, or anything else, as you mentioned. You can really only cloak it or not cloak it. -- Regards, Chris
So the choice is either show xxxx.co.nz on all pages or forget the domain and wind up with urls like http://xxxx.12345.a.hostable.me/wordpress/be-involved/ .. so whats the point of the domain name???
There does not appear to be away around this apart from:
- Host the site with freeparking or
- register the domain name with someone else (though check if they also do cloaking the same way - I have been told godaddy does the same)
Any ideas welcome....
13-Aug: Suggestion from Inga - does require certain conditions to be met before this will work. http://www.thesitewizard.com/apache/frame-blocking-anti-clickjacking.shtml
Wordpress hacking: Bat Boy and Mr. DJh
Grr!@###$
What a damn nuisance looks like there is a way to hack your WordPress web site. My research shows it as The Bat Boy or in my case Mr. DJh (see below)
It does 2 things
- Changes your admin login & email account in the users table and (this means you can't log in as admin)
- Changes index.php code for the theme (which is what shows on the page)
Anyway this is how to fix it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESp_rceZ_gw
UNFORTUNATELY, in my case the admin user was unchanged (but I still can't log in) but one of the index.php files in the template was changed (you can see by the edit date on the server) though cleverly in code: starts like
? echo(stripslashes(base64_decode('PGh0bWw+ .....
Renaming the folder killed the site so the hack is in there somewhere and this was the only program with a different date that I could find.
At this stage I can either find the index.php file (which is pretty old) or reinstall Wordpress and import the main blog (which I will probably do as it was only my backup anyway).
I am guessing a flaw was found in one of the versions of WordPress and subsequently fixed by the WordPress people, however (as in my case) this was my backup blog and was quite old - so probably had the flaw still, and so wide open for the hack. My more recent one was left alone (so far) - this one. Can anyone confirm this???
So the Moral is "Keep up with updates" - yes I should know that!!!!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
PC Mouse Bike
Bit of a hard case Bike Mouse that records your typing speed by making the mouse go faster. A while ago I bought a a USB PC Mouse Bike. Searched the web for some drivers, but eventually found them on an old Hard Disk Drive.
For others looking for the drivers here they are: mouse bike installation.zip
And I have it working on a Windows 7 machine. This is what I did:
Don't plug in the mouse and run set-up.
Then plug in the bike mouse. The drivers will try to install through Windows Update (the USB Bridge one will fail) Had to go to Control Panel > Device Manager > then locate the device with the error (USB bridge I think) . Click on Driver > Update Driver > Browse my Computer and get Windows to search the Driver Folder in the Mouse Bike Installation folder.
Run "Launch Mouse Bike" from the desktop and all going well the mouse should fire up.
If you open up Notepad the counter will show the Words per minute...
Enjoy!!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Task manager in Windows 7/Vista now Ctrl+Shift+Esc
The old ctrl+Alt+Del has been changed to Ctrl+Shift+Esc (who knows why??)
You can also right click on the task bar and select task manager
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Hidden text in Word 2007 and password protecting
Just a couple of Word things that I need when preparing examination papers!!
How do you remove Hidden Text from a Word Document?
Working with a copy of the document (just in case!!)
- Use Office button (or File) > Prepare > Inspect document > [Inspect]
- You will see the Hidden Text option and a button [Remove All]
How do you add a password to your document?
- Use Office button (or File) > Prepare > Encrypt document and enter your password
- then re-enter it to make sure.
Warning - it is pretty well impossible to recover the document if you forget the password!!
How do you remove a password from a file?
- Use Office button (or File) > Prepare > Encrypt document and delete your password
Friday, April 29, 2011
Black (Blank) screen on Laptop (Backlight Inverter)
Issue: Have a problem with a laptop when screen went blank.
Quick check: If you shine a strong torch at the screen is there an image?
Possible problem: Backlight inverter
Apparently a common problem is a faulty backlight inverter. One quick test is to shine a torch onto the screen to see if the image is actually still there. On ours we used a Big dolphin torch and the image was still there. So have sourced a backlight inverter from trademe ( bwl http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=512606 ) will update blog to show progress.
For Compaq there is a fix-it video "Replacing the laptop backlight inverter" on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucaJA324hbg
Well that didnt work so back to Dr Google
Possible problem: CCFL lamp
Possible problem is the CCFL lamp. This is much trickier to repair... we may give this a go to.. who knows and we'll learn heaps as well.
http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/09/replace-laptop-backlight-ccfl-lamp/
Possible problem: Cables
Other resources:
Quick check: If you shine a strong torch at the screen is there an image?
Possible problem: Backlight inverter
Apparently a common problem is a faulty backlight inverter. One quick test is to shine a torch onto the screen to see if the image is actually still there. On ours we used a Big dolphin torch and the image was still there. So have sourced a backlight inverter from trademe ( bwl http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=512606 ) will update blog to show progress.
For Compaq there is a fix-it video "Replacing the laptop backlight inverter" on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucaJA324hbg
Well that didnt work so back to Dr Google
Possible problem: CCFL lamp
Possible problem is the CCFL lamp. This is much trickier to repair... we may give this a go to.. who knows and we'll learn heaps as well.
http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/09/replace-laptop-backlight-ccfl-lamp/
Possible problem: Cables
Other resources:
- In DrGoogle type "?laptop name? service manual"
- Compaq repair manual (pdf) http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00246219.pdf
- How to Upgrade, Repair, Disassemble a COMPAQ Laptop or Notebook http://repair4laptop.org/disassembly_compaq.html
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
XP Antivirus (Malware)
This is a real pain.. while surfing for content on a Security class XP Antivirus installed itself. If continuously nags to say you have virus's (which are false) and asks for money. It has a believable interface and looks like an actual Microsoft program.
To remove http://www.myantispyware.com/2010/11/11/how-to-remove-xp-antispyware-2011-virus/
This needs you to create a registry patch file, then we ran
spybot http://download.cnet.com/Spybot-Search-amp-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html
Which finally removed the damn thing!
To remove http://www.myantispyware.com/2010/11/11/how-to-remove-xp-antispyware-2011-virus/
This needs you to create a registry patch file, then we ran
spybot http://download.cnet.com/Spybot-Search-amp-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html
Which finally removed the damn thing!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Application stacks for Open Source Software
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Bloated Word files .. why is my file so big????
One issue / problem I have with students creating electronic storyboards where the scan/photograph/cut and paste images is that the Word documents can become very large. Often there are a couple of offending images that are magically very large. So how can we find them to see where the problem is.
Simple solution (use compress pictures)
Finding the problem images
If you have Word 2007 or 2010 they will save a Word document as a docx file (rather than doc). This is actually just a zip file with a docx extension. So, to find out your problem images:
Simple solution (use compress pictures)
- Click on one of the images,
- Click on the Picture Tools menu (Top right of Word), then
- Select [Compress Pictures] in the Adjust group on the ribbon bar
- Choose Apply to All pictures in the document, and [Ok]
Finding the problem images
If you have Word 2007 or 2010 they will save a Word document as a docx file (rather than doc). This is actually just a zip file with a docx extension. So, to find out your problem images:
- if your file is a doc file save as a docx, or make a copy of the file if it is a docx.
- rename the new docx to zip
- double click the zip file (or open the archive in your un-zipper program)
- Look in the folder word/media, and you should see the images and their file sizes.
- Double click on the images to see which ones they are,
- Remove the images in the original document and resize.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Proxy Switching On/Off
One of the more annoying things when you carry a laptop between home and work is that you constantly have to turn the Browser Proxy on (for work) and off (for home).
If you don't know what a proxy is, Wikipedia starts out "In computer networks, a proxy server is a server (a computer system or an application program) that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers." Proxy Server (2010) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server
In IE this involves...Tools > Internet Options> Connections>LAN Settings> then check the "Proxy Server: Use a proxy server ...". Then [Ok], [Ok], and then you can refresh your page. (Of course you can always do this by right clicking the Browser icon on the desktop and selecting Properties>Connections, etc...
Chrome uses the same Proxy dialog so requires Tools>Options>Under the Bonnet>Change Proxy Settings>Connections>LAN Settings> then check the "Proxy Server: Use a proxy server ...", then [Ok], [Ok]"
Firefox Tools>Options>Network Settings >Choose proxy type>, then [Ok], [Ok]
Its a shame browsers don't have a one click Proxy on/off.... BUT wait... others have realised this and fortunately there are one click proxy extensions.
Some one click proxy switchers for Windows.
IE - Proxy Pal http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Servers/Proxy-Servers/ProxyPal.shtml - very simple and seems to work brilliantly
Chrome - Switch HTTP Proxy (https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/fajkpbphiejhldakjboejnabfchhccnn). There is another one to manage multiple proxys Proxy Switchy! ( https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/caehdcpeofiiigpdhbabniblemipncjj ) which I trouble with but others recommend it).
Firefox - QuickProxy ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1557/ ) watchout for this one that you get the correct one, I used the extension serch and came up with another one that didn't work :(
So thats about it.. enjoy.
If you don't know what a proxy is, Wikipedia starts out "In computer networks, a proxy server is a server (a computer system or an application program) that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers." Proxy Server (2010) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server
In IE this involves...Tools > Internet Options> Connections>LAN Settings> then check the "Proxy Server: Use a proxy server ...". Then [Ok], [Ok], and then you can refresh your page. (Of course you can always do this by right clicking the Browser icon on the desktop and selecting Properties>Connections, etc...
Chrome uses the same Proxy dialog so requires Tools>Options>Under the Bonnet>Change Proxy Settings>Connections>LAN Settings> then check the "Proxy Server: Use a proxy server ...", then [Ok], [Ok]"
Firefox Tools>Options>Network Settings >Choose proxy type>, then [Ok], [Ok]
Its a shame browsers don't have a one click Proxy on/off.... BUT wait... others have realised this and fortunately there are one click proxy extensions.
Some one click proxy switchers for Windows.
IE - Proxy Pal http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Servers/Proxy-Servers/ProxyPal.shtml - very simple and seems to work brilliantly
Chrome - Switch HTTP Proxy (https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/fajkpbphiejhldakjboejnabfchhccnn). There is another one to manage multiple proxys Proxy Switchy! ( https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/caehdcpeofiiigpdhbabniblemipncjj ) which I trouble with but others recommend it).
Firefox - QuickProxy ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1557/ ) watchout for this one that you get the correct one, I used the extension serch and came up with another one that didn't work :(
So thats about it.. enjoy.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Help Desk: Problem Steps Recorder - Windows 7
Problem Steps Recorder - Windows 7
As the local PC guru you're probably very used to friends and family asking for help with their computer problems, yet having no idea how to clearly describe what's going on. It's frustrating, but Microsoft feels your pain, and Windows 7 includes an excellent new solution in the Problem Steps Recorder.
When any app starts misbehaving under Windows 7 then all your friends need do is click Start, type PSR and press Enter, then click Start Record. If they then work through whatever they're doing then the Problem Steps Recorder will record every click and keypress, take screen grabs, and package everything up into a single zipped MHTML file when they're finished, ready for emailing to you. It's quick, easy and effective, and will save you hours of troubleshooting time.
From my Paradigm PCs email list (hrrp://www.pp.co.nz )
As the local PC guru you're probably very used to friends and family asking for help with their computer problems, yet having no idea how to clearly describe what's going on. It's frustrating, but Microsoft feels your pain, and Windows 7 includes an excellent new solution in the Problem Steps Recorder.
When any app starts misbehaving under Windows 7 then all your friends need do is click Start, type PSR and press Enter, then click Start Record. If they then work through whatever they're doing then the Problem Steps Recorder will record every click and keypress, take screen grabs, and package everything up into a single zipped MHTML file when they're finished, ready for emailing to you. It's quick, easy and effective, and will save you hours of troubleshooting time.
From my Paradigm PCs email list (hrrp://www.pp.co.nz )
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