Monday, December 29, 2008

My New Years Resolution: To Use More DATA in my work!

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My New Years Resolution: To Use More DATA in my work!

Until the end of January 2009, the Data Boot Camp for School Counselors and Administrators - CD is over 30% off, only $15 (free shipping). Now and only until the end of January 2009.

This CD is designed to help you become more proficient in using Microsoft Excel™ to make data an important part of your comprehensive school counseling program. From data-driven decision making, to monitoring progress, to reporting the positive impact you're having on kids -- this CD will demystify how it's done.

With the Data Boot Camp for School Counselors and Administrators, what you see and hear on the videos is what you do. At your fingertips, you'll have access to 30 videos and lots of graphics, tips, tricks, and resourceful links. This straightforward step-by-step approach makes learning how to use Microsoft Excel™ (and a bit of PowerPoint™) as easy and convenient as watching television. Data Boot Camp will help school counseling students, practitioners, administrators, and counselor educators to more easily unlock the power of data so you can more effectively support student achievement.

Click here to learn more and get yours now.

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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Pandora Corp. Announces PC Pandora Free Holiday Giveaway

Pandora Corp. Announces PC Pandora Free Holiday Giveaway

Pandora Corp. is leaving a gift under every parent's tree this holiday season: PC Pandora absolutely free! The economy is tough, but Internet safety for children is one area that we cannot afford to let suffer. Monitoring software will help parents keep their kids safe from Internet predators, cyberbullies and other threats online.

 

 New York, NY (PRWEB) December 22, 2008 -- Most people will tell you that nothing in life is free. "Everything has a price," as the saying goes. But for the holidays, Pandora Corp. is changing the rules. Beginning at 12:01 AM on December 25th, and through New Years Day, the company will be giving away its signature computer monitoring software, PC Pandora, absolutely free.

"The economy is making the holidays difficult for a lot of folks this year," explains Pandora Corp. co-founder James Leasure. "Parents will probably dig deeper this year to make the kids and family happy, especially if they are planning to buy a new PC for the household. We want to make sure that kids using those PCs stay safe online, and so we're helping parents get the best safety tools for free."

Starting Christmas morning, parents can visit www.pcpandora.com and use the code PCPANDORAHOLIDAY to get the current PC Pandora version 5.2 absolutely free as a download. The giveaway will last until 11:59 PM on January 1, 2009, or until 50,000 units have been given away. There are no strings attached; in fact, there is even an incentive: parents who take advantage of the giveaway will be given an e-coupon to use on the next release of the software.

In early 2009, Pandora Corp. will be releasing PC Pandora 6.0. The new version will contain standard upgrades and modifications plus many important new features including the optional Pandora LIVE, a web-based subscription service that will allow near real-time monitoring, as well as the ability to change or modify settings remotely. Leasure says he hopes that people find the software essential enough to come back and take a look at the new version.

"Internet safety can't be put on the back burner, so we're going to give our software away now when many people are telling us that they simply can't afford discretionary spending," says Leasure. "We want parents to see how incredibly efficient our program is and what a powerful tool it can be in 21st century parenting. Of course, our hope is that these families will remain loyal customers once the economy turns around, but even if not, it's critical that parents understand what's happening online."

PC Pandora is computer monitoring software that records all activity on a computer. The program's first-rate monitoring capabilities take sequential snapshots of everything that happens on the screen, thus allowing parents to see first-hand everything their child does both on and offline. Further details of user activity are made available in text-based files, including instant messenger chats, emails sent and received, websites visited, peer-2-peer files shared, keystrokes logged, programs accessed, Internet search queries and more. The IRIS feature will even send those text-based files right to a parent's email - invaluable for working moms and dads who can't always be home when the kids are online.

Leasure says the ways that computer monitoring software can help parents are so numerous they often don't consider all of them. "If your child is visiting websites you don't approve of, talking to strangers on social networks, creating and maintaining multiple social network profiles, downloading illegal music and movies, or falling victim to or - even worse - acting as a cyberbully, you will know about it if you are monitoring their internet activity."

Typical filters and standard blocks are easy for savvy young users to circumnavigate, "But if you have computer monitoring software like PC Pandora," explains Leasure, "you'll know what your children are doing and be able to act appropriately."

While almost every home in America with kids contains a computer, not everyone can spend the extra money on the protection they need right now. "The bottom line is keeping kids safe online," states Leasure. "Our Christmas gift to parents this year is giving them the tools they need to do just that."

Visit www.pcpandora.com between Christmas and New Year's Day and use the code PCPANDORAHOLIDAY at checkout to get your copy of PC Pandora for free

 

Sunday, December 21, 2008

SchoolCounselor.com eNews Issue #100

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SchoolCounselor.com eNewsletter #100

December 21, 2008

Welcome to SchoolCounselor.com, an electronic newsletter designed to advance counselors' level of technological literacy, application, and integration. You will find practical solutions and answers to technology related problems, especially as they apply to your job as counselor. If you would like to share a tip or trick, or if you would like to ask a question, e-mail Russ Sabella at newsletter@schoolcounselor.com.

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Highlights from SchoolCounselor.com

Top 5 Training Topics for School Counselors

http://www.schoolcounselor.com/top5training.htm

Must See Videos

New videos added since the last issue.

http://www.schoolcounselor.com/videos/

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Posters

Beautiful ... Inspiring .. Motivational ... Touching
Counseling Posters for your Office and Home

http://www.schoolcounselor.com/posters

TIPS AND TRICKS

Using Microsoft Outlook and Excel to Conduct Time and Task Analysis

If you are using Microsoft Outook as your calendar. I have figured out a way to use this program in conjunction with Microsoft Excel and EZANALYZE (www.ezanalyze.com) to conduct a time and task analysis. The analysis will allow you to also create pie charts that shows the amount of time spent in different categories of activities. This link is to a handout that I posted that shows you how this works step by step.

http://www.scribd.com/full/7617718?access_key=key-mq8o0rreqt13lb92nv8

You may also want to check out Dr. Tim Poynton’s Ezanalyze Time Tracker at http://www.ezanalyze.com/ and, relatedly, a column I did a while back ago at http://www.schoolcounselor.com/pubs/calendaring.htm.

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Jump To A File

If you’ve opened a folder packed full of files, save time by typing the first few letters of the filename you’re after – you’ll jump straight to the file.

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Google Translate adds 11 new languages

Google recently added 11 more languages to Google Translate, making it easier than ever to read web pages in other languages. The newest language additions include Catalan, Serbian, Slovenian, Slovak, Latvian, Filipino, Indonesian, Hebrew, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Vietnamese.

http://translate.google.com

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Gmail launches themes, voice and video chat

This month Google introduced Gmail themes in 50 languages. Similar to iGoogle, these 31 different themes range from options that simply change colors to ones that change based on the time of day or the weather. To customize your inbox, go to the "Themes" tab under "Settings." We also rolled out Gmail voice and video chat for Macs and PCs, supporting 53 languages.

http://www.gmail.com

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Stay ahead of the flu with Google Flu Trends

You can better prepare for flu season with a new tool that provides up- to-date estimates of flu activity in the U.S. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to track flu activity up to two weeks faster than traditional flu surveillance systems. The site also includes flu news articles, a flu shot locator, and lots of information about how we calculate the estimates from aggregated search queries.

http://www.google.org/flutrends

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Microsoft Word 2007: Change Default Document Formatting

When you created your first new document in Microsoft Office Word 2007, you may have noticed that default text formatting (the formatting of the Normal paragraph style) had changed from the previous version. For example, the new default font is Calibri, line spacing is a bit expanded, and space is automatically added after each paragraph.

To change font and paragraph formatting defaults for the active document or all new documents based on the active template, do the following:

1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+S to open the Styles pane (or click the dialog box launch icon in the Styles section on the Home tab).

2. Click the Manage Styles icon at the bottom of the pane to open the Manage Styles dialog box.

3. On the Set Defaults tab of the dialog box, change font and paragraph formatting as needed. Then, at the bottom of the dialog box, click the option to apply settings either only to this document or to new documents based on the active template.

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Microsoft Excel 2007: To Fit a Printout onto a Set Number of Worksheet Pages

1. Click the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon.

2. In the Scale to Fit section, in the Width box, type the number of pages you want the printout to span horizontally.

3. In the Height box in the same section, type the number of pages you want the printout to span vertically.

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Microsoft Excel Demo: Use Simple Formulas to do the Math

You can use simple formulas in Excel 2007 to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. For example, you can use a prewritten formula called the SUM function to find totals — such as your total monthly expenses. Excel updates the results if the numbers change later. Watch the demo to see how Excel can do the math for you.

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Microsoft Office Outlook 2007: Use Follow-ups on Sent E-Mail Messages

You're probably used to setting follow-up flags on e-mail messages in your Inbox. Until now, though, there wasn't much point setting follow-up flags on sent e-mail messages, because you rarely view your Sent Items folder. Yet it's often useful to set a follow-up flag on a sent e-mail message; for example, a sales e-mail message might warrant following up after a couple of days. It's now worth setting follow-up flags on sent e-mail messages, because they will appear on the To-Do Bar.

To do this:

1. Click the Follow Up flag on the Message tab of the Ribbon when writing your message.

2. Click the follow-up flag you want to use, or set a reminder for the recipients of the e-mail message.

You can customize the follow-up flag. When you set your flag, some basic options like Today and Tomorrow are instantly available, but if you click Custom, plenty more follow-up options appear. These include start and end times for the follow-up and required activities. All this information will appear on your To-Do Bar.

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Excel Basics #2: Keyboard Shortcuts (video)

The Excel Basics Series shows a systematic description of what Excel can do from beginning to end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDogLgKTRf8&sdig=1

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WORTHY WEBSITES AND SOFTWARE

Illuminate Cyberbullying (video; 30 seconds)

In partnership with Sony Creative Software and the Ad Council, NCPC selected the winning PSAs that are designed to raise awareness about preventing cyberbullying.

http://www.schoolcounselor.com/videos/2008/11/illuminate-cyberbullying.html

Other videos: http://www.schoolcounselor.com/videos/

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PDFUNdo.net is a free online PDF to Word converter. It's real simple to use and doesn't require your email address or registration. You just upload your PDF document and when the conversion is complete, download your Word document.

http://pdfundo.net/convert/

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Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Compilation of links to material about "Carnegie Mellon professor and alumnus Randy Pausch [who] delivered a one-of-a-kind last lecture that moved an overflow crowd at the university -- and went on to move audiences around the globe." Includes biographical details about Pausch, who died in July 2008 due to complications from pancreatic cancer, information about his achievements and projects in the computer science field, and a link to the 2007 lecture. From Carnegie Mellon University.

http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/

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Chalboard Message Generator.

Display your message in realistic chalkboard handwriting and send it off to your class and friends.

http://www.addletters.com/school-teacher-chalkboard-message-generator.htm

Check out more at http://www.addletters.com/image-list.php

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Picsearch

Picsearch is the world's most family-friendly search service. Picsearch connects its users to the vast visual resources of the internet. Picsearch uses its own technology to crawl the web and has created a searchable index of images. When a user sends a query to Picsearch the result is received as a set of thumbnail images that are sorted to ensure that they are as highly relevant as possible. When the user clicks on a thumbnail they are linked to the original web site where that image is located.

http://www.picsearch.com

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Microsoft Office: Focus on fitness: Tools for getting in shape

There has never been a better time than right now to get in shape. Lucky for you, Microsoft Office Online has the tools to empower you on the road to a fit body, including templates that track your nutrition, weight loss, and fitness routine. Here's how to get started.

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Microsoft Office 2003 Add-in: Word Redaction v1.2

Use the Word 2003 Redaction Add-in to hide text within Microsoft Office Word 2003 documents. You can mark text to redact and then create a new, redacted version of the document in which the marked text is replaced with a black bar that cannot be converted back to text.

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Timer (PowerPoint)

There are a few of these on the Web here and there although I like this one because it allows you to choose various countdown durations. After downloading, view the show, click on your chosen duration, and you’re good to go ...

http://ttc.coe.uga.edu/middleschool/timer.ppt

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JUST FOR FUN

Google: Sports OneBox on results pages

Sports fans now have an easier time finding game times and scores for their favorite NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and MLS teams by simply searching for the name of the team. For example, typing [miami dolphins] or [pistons] into the search box will return information on those teams, respectively, at the top of the search results page. We'll soon be expanding this to other leagues and sports teams around the world, so stay tuned.

http://www.google.com

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How to Live in the Moment

Living in the moment is all about living like there's no tomorrow. It takes practice but in the end, you'll lead a fuller life. To do this you must realize beauty in every moment, and in everyday activities. This is your life, now live!

http://www.wikihow.com/Live-in-the-Moment

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How to Make a Kusudama Flower

A pretty kusudama flower can be made by folding five or six square pieces of paper. If you make twelve flowers, they can be assembled into a beautiful kusudama ball. Even if you use colorful sticky notes, the result is very impressive and can be used for decorative purposes or even worn as a temporary brooch.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Kusudama-Flower

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PhotoFunia

Put some Photoshop wizardy at your fingertips with photo manipulation site PhotoFunia. Take a clean headshot of yourself or the soon-to-be-victim of your prank and upload it to PhotoFunia. There are currently sixty nine photos that faces can be pasted into ranging from the Andy Warhol-esque art gallery scene featured in the image above to magazine covers, currency, famous photos, and more. The process is fast and requires no interaction from the user other than selecting the template to be used and uploading the picture.

http://www.photofunia.com/

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Search millions of historic photos

Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.

http://images.google.com/hosted/life

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Questions ...

• I'm doing an in-service for parents about middle school transition and I don't want to "reinvent the wheel." How do I find a such a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation online?

• I'm developing a handout for a classroom guidance and want to quickly find specific illustrations that fit, how do I do that? How do I copy these images into my Microsoft Word file?

• How might I quickly find and download sound and/or videos to include in my presentations, use in class, or include in my work?

• Once I find a website, how can I put a button on my browser to quickly get there again without having to type in that long address?

• What should I know about viruses?

• How do I translate into Spanish or another language an e-mail or letter to a parent?

• Once I find a site that I like, how can I find related sites and return to these sites quickly?

• What is an Internet Explorer plugin or addin?

• How exactly do I expand or narrow my searched to find just what I'm looking for?

• What other tools does Google offer me?

• How can I become a power Googler?

Answers ....

World Wide Web Boot Camp for School Counselors - CD

Russell A. Sabella, Ph.D.

With over 36 videos and lots of tips, tricks, links, this CD gives you step-by-step instructions for effectively and efficiently navigating the Web. Because all the files are on the CD, you won’t need to connect to the Internet for all the essential information (only linked web sites require an Internet connection). What you see and hear on the videos is what you do. This straightforward approach makes learning how to use the Web as easy and convenient as watching television. This tool will help students, practitioners, and professors alike spend less time searching and more time finding relevant resources available on the Web.

The content on the CD is equivalent to a full-day workshop in the computer lab.

Windows Only (not available for the Macintosh)

30% OFF, now only $9.95 (plus $2 Shipping; free shipping as a download)!

Now available for download, you’ll be up and running in minutes.

Visit http://www.schoolcounselor.com/store/www-bootcamp.htm to view sample videos and order now.

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Copyright, 2009. All Rights Reserved. Contact Dr. Russell Sabella at news@schoolcounselor.com.