Technology Tip Number 50 Circles and Squares in Word
Did you know there is a drawing toolbar in Microsoft Word?  Here's where to find it and how to use it. Normally the drawing toolbar will be located across the bottom of the window and it will look something like this: If it's not there, you can bring it up by going to "View" on the menu bar, then "Toolbars" and then "Drawing" Here's what some of the buttons do: Using these drawing tools try making something like this: Here are some hints: When you click on the shape and start to draw it a box will appear that say's "Draw Here."  Don't draw in that box.  For some reason working with multiple shapes always seems to go easier when you don't draw in the "Draw Here" box. If you hold the SHIFT key down while you draw an oval or rectangle you'll automatically get a circle or square. If you need to move the circle on top of the square right click on the square, select "Order" from the menu that appears and then select "Send to Back"
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:  Try making your own original drawing using the drawing tools in Word TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn more about the drawing tools in Microsoft Word try searching the internet for: Microsoft Word Tutorials Drawing tools +word

Technology Tip Number 49 What's so Suite about Office?
What is the Microsoft Office Suite: Microsoft Office is by far the most widely recognized software in the world.  In many schools and businesses it is the software that is used every day.  Here is a quick rundown of the common programs that make up the Microsoft Office Suite: Microsoft Word:- Word processing software.  Microsoft Excel:- Spreadsheet Software Microsoft PowerPoint:- Presentation Software Microsoft Access:-Database Software Microsoft Publisher:- Graphic Design Software Microsoft FrontPage- Webpage Editing Software that has been replaced by Microsoft Expression       Teachers might need a much more in-depth version of this list.  Try going to the official Microsoft Office Online Website for free tutorials and more information about their latest updates. As you may or may not know, Microsoft is the really big software company that Bill Gates started.  If you’d like to read about the brief though extremely successful history of Microsoft Office Software try this link.
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:  Check to see which of these programs you have available on your computer today.  See if you can figure out which version of the software you have. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn more about the Microsoft Office Suite of programs try searching the internet for: Microsoft Office Tutorials Word, Excel, FrontPage, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access Office Suite

Technology Tip Number 48 Edit undo, Undo, UNDOOO!
Have you ever made a mistake?  I mean a mistake on the computer.  You know, pasted the wrong picture into a Word document or messed up a table or a text box.  The programmers of the Microsoft software (Word, Outlook, Excel, Publisher, etc.) knew we would make mistakes so they programmed in a couple of ways to “undo” them.  Here are a few ways to undo your next mistake: OPTION #1:  On the menu bar select “Edit” and then “Undo.”  This willeliminate the last action you took in the program.  For example, if you just typed the wrong word “Edit” & “Undo” will make the word go away. OPTION #2:  On the tool bar you can use this button to undo something you just did:    If you decide that you want the mistake back you can use this button to bring it back:   OPTION #3:  There's also a keyboard shortcut to undo something you just did.  Try using CTRL + Z to undo and CTRL + Y to bring something back that you undid. If you just made lots of mistakes and want to go back and eliminate a lot of them try clicking the triangle next to the undo button to see a list of the most recent actions you have taken.
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:  Try undoing something in a Microsoft program today. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you're feeling the need to learn more about undoing actions in Microsoft programs try searching the internet for: Microsoft Tutorials +undo Edit Undo

Technology Tip Number 47 A to Z in Excel
Today’s Technology Tip is a practical use for Excel that any teacher could appreciate:  How to alphabetize a list of names in excel. Even if you have a list of names in Word or another Microsoft program you might be able to copy and paste them into excel and then follow these directions to alphabetize them. 1)     Highlight all the data you want to alphabetize.  Don’t forget all the attached cells.  For example if you have an address list and only highlight the names and not the addresses the names will be alphabetized and the addresses won’t move.  In the example below I have correctly highlighted the data on my Gilligan’s Island address list: Notice that I did highlight the top row (the Header Row).  The computer might recognize it as a Header Row or it might not.  In step three we’ll have a chance to tell the computer that the top row is a Header Row and shouldn’t be alphabetized. 2)      Next, go to “Data” on the menu bar and select “Sort” from the list:  3)      In the next window we want to make sure the computer knows that the top row is a Header Row and doesn’t need to be alphabetized with the other rows.  If your top row isn’t a Header Row select “No Header Row”  Then we want to select the column heading to sort by.  In this example we want to sort by “LastName” in “Ascending” order: 4)      Just click “OK” and your list should be automatically sorted for you. Of course you could sort by any heading.  For example if your holiday card list was really long and you could qualify for bulk rate postage (more than 500 pieces I believe) you would want to sort your addresses by Zip Code for the post office. You could also use this same process to sort any list.  For example you could sort a list of students and their SAT scores from highest to lowest (Descending). Featured YouTube Video Excel Tips 18 - Quickly Sort Data Alphabetically and Numerically in Excel 2007
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:  Open up a blank excel document, create a short list of names and try sorting them alphabetically using the above procedure. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you're feeling the need to learn more about Microsoft Excel try searching the internet for: Microsoft Excel Tutorials Sort  +Excel Alphabetize +Excel

Technology Tip Number 46 Try Using Some Shortcuts
Today's technology tip is all about using shortcuts on your computer.  First, what do we mean by shortcuts.  You may have noticed them on your desktop and in folders.  You might click on them to start programs and open files.  They are icons that have a little arrow symbol in the lower left hand corner like the desktop shortcut to the 180 Technology Tips website on the right. The purpose of a shortcut it to literally give you a shortcut to something on the computer.  For example a desktop shortcut to the 180 Technology Tips website can be used to take you directly to a website without having to open Internet Explorer (or whatever web browser you use).  Just double click on the shortcut and off you go.  Here's how to  make a shortcut to a website: Go to the website you want to make a shortcut to.  Right Click somewhere on the website and select "Make a Shortcut" from the menu that appears: The next box that appears will inform you that a shortcut icon to this website will be placed on your desktop. Besides making desktop shortcuts to your favorite websites you can also make shortcuts to folders and programs on your computer.  Find a program or folder you'd like to have a desktop shortcut for.  Right click on that file or program icon and select "Create Shortcut" from the menu that appears.  You can place the shortcut anyplace you want it, in a folder or on the desktop.  For example, you could make a desktop shortcut to your "My Documents" folder:\ Please note than in many network environments you may not be able to make any changes to your desktop.  In most schools this option has been blocked for both students and staff.  But you can still make shortcuts in your folders.
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:  Try making a shortcut to the 180 Technology Tips website sometime this morning. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn more about making and using shortcuts try searching the internet for: How Microsoft Shortcuts Work Desktop Shortcuts Make a shortcut

Technology Tip Number 45 Email That Word Document
Did you know you can send a Word document as an email.  That’s right, not just as an attachment but as an email.  Here’s how to do it. 1)     Make your word document and save it. 2)      Go to the “File” on the menu bar and select “send to” and the “Mail Recipient” 3)     Above your word document you should now see an email tool bar that is full of icons that you are used to seeing in Outlook.  Just fill it out as you would to send any email. 4)     When you are done filling in the TO: line and the SUBJECT: line click  to send your email. Note that your word document will be turned into an email automatically.  The recipients will not need to open it as an attachment or anything.  The size of the file will also be smaller which will help those who have full mailboxes.
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   Try typing your next email in Microsoft Word and then sending it using the directions above. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn some more about sending email using Word try searching the internet for: Using Word for Email Microsoft Word Tutorials Email and Microsoft Word

Technology Tip Number 44 It Can Even Predict the Weather
You may not know this but one of the inventors of the first electronic computer was a physicist with a passion for predicting the weather.  He figured that if he could just build an electronic calculator that was powerful enough he could use all the existing weather data and some special formulas to predict the weather.  It is therefore no irony at all that today we have quite a few super computers, all around the world, using electronic weather models to predict the weather. But how do you find the best and most accurate weather for our area? You could start with the National Weather Service: Weather.gov/ Then there's a lot of commercial weather sites you could check out like these:  Weather.com Weatherstreet.com Wunderground.com Accuweather.com Lifehacker.com claims that these are the five best weather websites. Maybe you should check them out too? Outside the United States you could try the World Meteorological Organization And if that's not enough there's all those news websites that also offer weather forecasts. As for which site is the most accurate, that will come down to old  fashioned trial and error on your part.  You'll have to check out some of these sites and see which ones you like.  Some things to look for:  easy to follow layout, easy to use, and accuracy.
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   Check the weather online today and see which website is actually the most accurate. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to do some more research online about the weather try searching for: Weather online History of weather predictions Weather models Spaghetti models

Technology Tip Number 43 Dealing With Car Computers
You may have heard people say that “computers are all around us.”  Hopefully you’re not too paranoid about that, especially since it is true to a certain extent.  For example, you probably drove to work today with the assistance of a little “computer” inside your engine.  Today’s Technology Tip is about the little computer in your car that keeps it running.  More importantly it's about how to handle those annoying “Check Engine Soon” lights on your dash board. Depending on the age, make and model of your vehicle you probably have more than one computer in it Controlling the engine is the ECU, which stands for Engine Control Unit.  This one is usually the most expensive one to replace and it is designed to control the engine so you can get optimum performance and efficiency out of it.  Generally speaking, the newer your car the more complex the ECU is.  Compared to your desktop computer however it’s pretty primitive.  For example, your car’s ECU probably has less than 1 MB of memory compared to the several Gigabytes most new desktop computers come with.  But that’s enough to run your engine efficiently since the software is so much simpler.  For more information about your car’s computer check out this site: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-computer1.htm For most of us, the most annoying thing your car’s computer ever does is light up that “Check Engine Soon” light on the dashboard.  The ECU in your car includes software called OBD which stands for On Board Diagnostics.  This software constantly monitors your engine for trouble signs or inefficiencies. When sensors detect problems the “Check Engine Light” appears on your dashboard.   Because engines that run inefficiently pollute more, OBD software was mandated on all cars built from 1987 on.  Just for reference the original OBD software was upgraded in 1996 and is now calledOBD II.  For more information about OBD software check out this link: http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/may2004/mech.cfm Now for the really important question, how do you get the “Check Engine Light” off?  The light might turn on for any or a number of reasons.  Even though the technology is there for your new car to verbally tell you what’s bothering it, you still probably have to take it to a dealership or mechanic so they can plug it into a special OBD reader and check what “error code” is causing the light to come on.  This “diagnostic test” usually costs $50-$100 and is about as complicated a task as making toast.  But since you don’t have the equipment at home, and your car won’t just tell you what’s wrong with it, you’re stuck paying for the diagnostic. Well actually here’s another option.  Many autoparts stores have the OBD readers on site and they will do the diagnostic test for you for free (AutoZone is one such store for example).  They can’t clear the code (get the light to turn off) but they can tell you what the problem is (in hopes you’ll buy a replacement part from them).
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   No activity, just drive safely and efficiently home today with the assistance of your car computer TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  Even though you might not be interested in car computers right now you probably will be if you have a problem with yours.  When that day comes you can find out more about car computers by searching the internet for: OBD Car Computers OBD error messages ECU

Technology Tip Number 42 Be Your Own Tech Specialist
This primarily applies to problems you might have with your computer at home but it can happen anywhere.  While working on your computer did you ever get an alert message and you had no idea what it meant?  You know, something that looks like this: I can’t tell you what an error messages like this means but I can tell you how to find out: When an alert box pops up with an error message in it take note of what it says.  If it doesn’t make sense to you write down exactly what it says (or highlight the text and copy it if you can) Open up the internet and go to a search engine (google, yahoo, ask).   Type (or paste) the error message into the search engine and click “search” Look at the responses carefully.  Chances are you are not the first person who has ever seen this message before.  Some of the people who have seen that error before have actually made entire web pages up about their experience.  Some of these websites might tell you how to fix the problem.  In many cases the company that created the software will create a website that offers free downloads that you can use to repair the error.  Check out these sites for a solution to your problem. PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   Try typing any error messages that you see into a search engine today. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn more about error messages try searching the internet for: Error messages Microsoft alert messages

Technology Tip Number 41 New World for TV News
Do you try to keep up on what's happening in the world?  Are you an educator who has to encourage your students to follow current events in the news?  As mentioned in an earlier Technology Tip (number 36) you can use the internet to search news sources from all over the world.  Did you know that you can also use the internet to deliver network TV news stories right to your desktop computer. With a little searching you will find that many news organizations from all around the world have free online streams available. Try some of these today: Al Jazeera Watch Now CNN Live Stream Live Fox News NHK Streaming News RT News On Air Capetown TV Live Here are some links to additional streaming TV news programs: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-live-professional-news-streams-watch-online-free/ And a great website that seems to feature almost all the streaming live TV news in one place: http://www.livestation.com/
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   Try watching the news on your computer sometime today.  Enjoy the opportunity to choose which stories to watch for a change. Try looking at the world from another perspective by watching the news in another country. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn more about online video try searching the internet for: Video News Streaming TV Online Video Resources

Technology Tip Number 40 Multi-Printing
Sometimes you just want to print out a whole bunch of files all at once.  In the example below you will see how to print a bunch of word files all at once. First, go to the location of the files you want to print.  Then select all of the files that you want to print.  You can do this by opening up the folder where the files are and then left clicking and dragging a box around all the files.  Once the files have been selected they should look something like this: Right click on the selected files.  Select “Print” from the menu that appears. In this example MS Word will automatically open each file and rather rapidly print them.
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   Try printing two files at once sometime today. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn more about printing options try searching the internet for: Word Tutorials +printing Printer options Page setup

Technology Tip Number 39 I can't believe it...
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."  ~ Winston Churchill With the internet it is possible for a lie to get all the way around the world several times before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.  So how do you find the truth online?  How do you check the facts? Here are a couple of websites that can help you sort fact from fiction and outright lies: For sorting through urban legends and dubious emails there is no better website than: snopes.com This site is dedicated to stomping out “eRumors” that show up in your email: truthorfiction.com This site was made famous in the last presidential election.  To sort through all the political information out there the Annenberg Foundation set-up factcheck.org Speaking of politics, if you prefer your facts with a specific political slant you might want to consider one of these two websites: mediaresearch.org  Fact checking with a conservative slant mediamatters.org  Fact checking with a liberal slant Since most of these sites cater to adult audiences you might want to consider this website as a resource for students:  http://lii.org/
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   Try checking out a fact sometime today using one of these sites.  All of these sites are full of interesting information. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn more about websites you can trust for accurate information try searching for: Website credibility Evaluating internet sources

Technology Tip Number 38 Form me a letter in Word
Doesn't it seem strange that when you receive junk mail they often address their letters directly to you as if they knew you?  Did you know that you could easily put individual names and addresses into your own mass mailing by using Excel and Word together?  Today's technology tip is all about how to create a form letter. First you’ll need a data base of information to work with.  For this example I’ll be using an Excel file of names and addresses for the crew on Gilligan’s Island: Once I have made and saved my Excel spreadsheet I'll have to create a nice form letter next using Word.  Below is my sample form letter to each of the castaways explaining my idea for getting them off the island. Now the fun part.  How to mail merge in the names and addresses of the castaways.  We need the mail merge tool bar to do this.  If yours isn’t currently available go to “View” on the menu bar and select “Toolbars” and then choose “Mail Merge” from the list.  On the mail merge toolbar we need to select “Open Data Source” to open up our excel file with the names and addresses in it.  Below I have circled the toolbar button you need.  Remember you can hover over any toolbar button and a popup will appear that tells you what it does. Next, select the Excel file (or other data base) that you want to pull information from for your form letter.  If you are using an Excel file it may ask you what “sheet” you want to use.  Usually your information is on “Sheet1$” Now go to the spot in the letter where you want to insert your first merged field.  In this example I’m going to start by putting in the addresses.  Click at that spot and then click on the “Insert Merged Field” button on the toolbar.  See below. Then just keep inserting the merged fields you want until you are done.  You may have to put spaces where needed so it looks like this: Now you can check what the letters are going to look like by clicking on the “View Merged Data” button.  You can then use the arrows to see what each letter will look like. OK, you might want to save at this point and then you are ready to print, just make sure you have enough paper in the printer.
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   Try making a form letter sometime soon.  Even if its a fake form letter. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn more about making a form letter try searching the internet for: Creating a form letter in Word Word tutorials Sample form letters

Technology Tip Number 37 Try Doodling With Paint
Your computer came with lots of standard software that you might not even be aware of.  In a previous technology tip (Number 33) we showed you how to access the calculator on your computer.  Today's technology tip will show you how to access a very simple program for manipulating images and just doodling. The name of the program is Paint and if you have a computer with Microsoft Windows on it you should be able to find it by going to: START menu then All Programs then Accessories and then look for PaintDepending on the version of Windows you have the pathway might be a little different but you should find it under Accessories (the same place where you found the Calculator). The program is pretty simple to use.  Try doing these activities to get the feel for it: Enlarge the Work Area: If you opened Paint and the work area (the white space) appears to be too small you can easily enlarge it by grabbing the bottom right hand corner of the white space and dragging it down: Draw a Rectangle: Click on the tool bar button on the left.  Move your pointer into the work area, left click where you want the top left corner of the rectangle to be, hold the button down and drag out a rectangle: Fill a Shape with a color: At the bottom left of the screen you'll see a color palette.  Choose a color for inside your rectangle by clicking on it.  Then select the "Fill with Color" tool bar button.  Then just click inside your rectangle and it should change to the color you selected.  Pretty easy so far right! Try Doodling: Lets experiment with some other tool bar buttons.  Try each of these: With some experimentation you can make some simple drawings.  If you don't like how it's going you can always start over by going to "File" and selecting "New" to clear your work area.  If you like your art work you might want to save it by selecting "Save" off the "File" menu.  Copy and Paste a Picture into Paint: You can also copy images off the internet, put them in Paint and make changes to them.  Try this:  Right click on the "180TechTips.com" log below and select "Copy" from the menu that appears.  Next, go to Paint and go to "Edit" on the menu bar and select "Paste" from the drop down list.  You should now have a copy of the image above in paint.  Have some fun messing around with it! Paint is a great little program for messing around with pictures and doodling.  There are many more practical purposes for it such as setting your desktop background but that will be for another technology tip.
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   Sometime today use Paint make an original logo up for something.  If you're a classroom teacher it could be for your classroom or school.  If your in business make one up for your company.  Or just make one up for yourself.  Even as adults we often learn best by playing. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to find more information about paint your could check out the Help menu in the program.  Or you could search the internet for: Microsoft Paint Tutorials Using Microsoft Paint

Technology Tip Number 36 Current Event Me Please
You probably remember doing them when you were in school and if you're a teacher you still have your students doing them:  Current Events.  Well the students of today have access to a whole lot more news articles from all around the world  than most of their teachers could even imagine.  Here's how to find some current events online: First we're not going to waste any time at the website of your local paper or TV stations.  We're going to go right for websites that are the pulsing jugular of online current events. Google News: 1)      Go to http://www.google.com and select the “News” tab in the upper left hand corner. 2)      When you get there you’ll be viewing a list of the top stories by category. The stories are gathered from online news resources from all around the world.  The stories are categorized and updated routinely.  You can even see how old the stories are.  Some of them are only minutes old.  You can't get much more "current" than that, can you. 3)      Categories include Science & Technology,Sports, U.S. National News and evenEntertainment.  To find more stories in that category just click on the tabs in the top left of the web page. 4)      Maybe you’d prefer to view your news from a Russian, Chinese or an Indian perspective.  Just click on the country of your choice at the bottom of the screen and you'll be viewing current events from those countries: This is an example of an automatic news aggregator which is a website that pulls together top stories from all sorts of news outlets and puts similar stories together.  It's one stop shopping for all the current events you could ever need. There are other examples of news aggregators that you could also try. Bing has one that includes videos: Bing.com/News Yahoo also has a news aggregator: News.Yahoo.com NewsAggregator.com is another example of a quick place to check for the current top stories. Matt Drudge is famous for his news aggregator that is created by humans and not a computer program: DrudgeReport.com
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   Try checking out the news this morning using a resource you’ve never used before. Try using an online news aggregator. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to find more sources for current events online try searching for: Current events Internet news resources Online news index

Technology Tip Number 35 How to catch the BIG images
Do you have trouble finding pictures on the internet?  When you do finally find a picture from the internet does it look all grainy when you enlarge it to fit in your PowerPoint show? Today's technology tip offers you some help with finding images online and also some advice on how to find the largest possible images so your next computer project isn't full of grainy looking pictures. First, image search engines.  Just as we can search the internet for words you can also search for images.  There are many good search engines that you could use.  For starters most of your major search engines have an image search engine too:  For example:  Google Images, Bing Images, and Yahoo Images.  Here is how to sort your images results to just the largest images. 1) Go to an image search engine like http://www.bing.com/images 2) Search for something like "old truck in desert" 3) To find only the largest images look for the "Size" tab and select "Large" from the drop down menu: 4) When you find the image you want to use make sure you click on it and then click again to see the image full size before you copy and paste it. What kind of a difference does this make?  Well if you’re making a PowerPoint presentation and you don’t use large pictures you will have to stretch the small ones you find.  The result is pixilated or grainy pictures.  You know the look: Instead of this:
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:  Try searching for a large image on picsearch or any of the other search engines mentioned above.  Make sure you can find the "advanced search" option and find a nice large picture that you could use in a presentation. TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn more about computer images try searching for: How jpg images work Digital image formats Pixelation Dots per inch

Technology Tip Number 34 Calculating in Excel
Now for a tip about using Microsoft Excel.  As mentioned in Technology Tip #25, Excel is a spreadsheet program that you can use to create simple databases and to calculate formulas.  The software has obvious applications for accountants but what could teachers use it for? In this Technology Tip we’re going to try doing a simple calculation in Excel. 1)      Open up Excel by clicking on the desktop icon or finding it on theSTART menu.  I'm afraid today's tip will be meaningless for you if you don't have access to this program.  To the right is a sample of the icon that you're looking for. 2)      Type the following information just as it appears below.  Make sure that the data is in separate cells on the spreadsheet.  For example “Apples” should be typed into cell A2 and the number “4” should be typed into cell B2 3)      Now for our first formula.  Select cell B5 by clicking in it.  A dark black rectangle will appear on it (just like the one on B5 above). 4)      In the formula bar type the following:  =sum(B2+B3+B4) 5) When you hit the Enter key the answer to the formula should appear in cell B5 “18”   6) The cool part about the formulas in excel is that they are dynamic, meaning they change instantly.  For example, change the number of bananas to 4 and the total should automatically change from 18 to 20. For more information about writing formulas in excel try this website:  Tutorials.Beginners.co.uk Featured YouTube Video Introduction to Excel
PRACTICE ACTIVITY:   Try the above activity.  After you have that down try changing the formula to subtract the numbers (using – for minus), multiply the numbers (using * for times) and divide two of the numbers (using / for division). TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  If you'd like to learn more about creating formulas in Excel try searching the internet for: Excel tutorials Making formulas in excel Excel templates