“The Creator has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do” Orison Swett Marden

Recently I did a class on a website called Zoho. Zoho is a free/paid collection of fantastic online tools. Now I could go through them all and tell you that some of them rival Google Docs in their ease of use and shareability but that’s not why I write this. Microsoft Access is a database program. This means that you can create different forms and enter in data that will allow you to get reports and understand more about your info. OK now you know all that what is the problem? Access is a pain in the neck. I am a firm believer in the theory that both hardware and software should be as easy to use as it is powerful. Access can be a powerful tool but it is difficult for no reason. In place of this I recommend Zoho Creator. It uses a drag and drop design and is a simple part of the Zoho site that allows you to create forms for people to fill in. It has most of the power of access but very few of its drawbacks. Either create a form from scratch or use one of their templates. Need a way to keep track of books you are lending out from your home library? They have one made already that is easily customizable. Now the simplicity is great but what about other features? Any forms you create can be embedded on a website or blog in two seconds. You need to know when someone fills out the form? You can have an email sent out to notify you. Once the data is filled out it will be put into a Excel like spreadsheet for easy viewing but you can always export it in multitude of ways. So if you need to keep track of some info give Zoho a try.

“In automobile terms, the child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering.” Benjamin Spock

Recently a friend told me about a series that was missed on my radar. Apparently Frontline the PBS series has done a several part investigative series called Growing up Online. I have read many sites that promote it as a way to teach children about online safety. I believe this view is a bit skewed. Kids are learning about internet safety as part of the curriculum and they are being taught it earlier and earlier. So who is this for? The parents seem to be the easy answer. Parents should watch this and take notes. Unfortunately the series does not stress strategies but focuses on stories and different ways families have dealt with it. When it comes to the internet I choose to view it just like a car given to a teen. You teach them and try to influence them with good decisions but at a certain point they are going to get behind the wheel. You have to hope you have instilled wisdom and intelligence. As you watch this series you see the way parents who are so watchful for something to happen drive their children away and you also see the parents who do not realize there is a concern and what are the results. When I watched it I came away with one overall message. These children who grow up online are not victims put participants in an online world. Ask a kid what they do when they get an unsolicited friend request. They know how to handle that situation. The problem for them is in knowing when what they are doing has crossed a line. Watch the entire series from their site. It is cut into 6 digestible chunks. This is not a give it a try situation. It is more must situation. Become smartly informed instead of scared by nightly news media broadcasts. The internet is part their world in the same way a phone or eventually a car will be. Ignoring this is a disaster. Talk to your kids and be smarter for watching this!

“A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” George Moore

I have one more small rant about Internet Explorer 7 and then I swear I am done. I have suggested before to switch browsers to something like Firefox or Opera because they are overall better. A feature that has been standard on those browsers and is now on the IE 7 is the search box at the top right hand corner. The problem is that with most searches Google or Yahoo have been the standards in that box because they are what most people use. However on IE 7 the default is Microsoft’s live Search. I personally am not happy with the results of this search engine. So how do we customize this for our personal choices? First we click on the arrow on the right hand side of the search box and choose find more providers. Then choose the search engines you want to add from the left. Every time you click one it will ask you if you want to add it. Click OK. When finished choosing go back to the search box and click on the right arrow and choose change search defaults. Once there click the preferred search engine and finally click set default. Now the search box will search where you want. If you do not like their setting give this a try.

“My grandmother is over eighty and still doesn't need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle.” Henry Youngman

In the last post I talked about a keyboard shortcut and I thought about one more I use all the time. When I am home relaxing I usually kick my feet up while using the computer. This means I am fairly far away from the screen and the lettering is slowly becoming to small to read. However there is a nice set of shortcuts to increase or decrease the font size easily. To enlarge text use CTRL and + (plus sign) and to reduce it use CTRL and – (minus sign). This works great when you encounter a site that is just to hard to read. The only problem with this is that some sites are set to a specific sizing and it may throw it off the page a bit. If you do not like the size just use the keys to return to normal. If things are becoming a small give this one a try.

“Happiness seems made to be shared.” Pierre Corneille

So you checked out Youtube and watched some videos but you wondered how hard it would be to put up your own. Well first let’s talk about why. Now that more and more gadgets can record video you may want to share it with friends and family. The problem is sometimes I receive video through email but I may have trouble opening them without special software. However if I go to Youtube, no matter the type of file, I can watch it without even downloading anything. This means if I take some video of a family reunion and want to share it easily I can. Ok, now that the why has been answered how does one post a video. It really is easy to do. First you must create a login so you can participate in the world of Youtube. Now you can click on the upload button. From here just fill in all the information like what type of video it is and whether it is private or able to be seen by everyone. Also, you can set whether or not people can leave comments. Finally you can browse for the video on your computer and upload it. From there it is up to you to send the link out or you can embed it on a website. This whole thing takes about 5 minutes the first time but makes spreading video just so easy. If you have a video that you want to show off then give this a try.

Buy Buy Birdie

Many people buy items offline with no problems. If you stay with the big named stores there are usually few problems like an Amazon or a Target but this does not mean you are getting the best deals. Some of the more obscure and newer sites can be a lot cheaper or have items that are unavailable any where else. A good place to find stores are on sites like Froogle. There is one issue unfortunately; sometimes you come across a disreputable seller. This is where a Rating system is needed so we are not taken advantage of. Reseller’s Ratings is user contributed site with ratings for online sellers. I check this first to see if a store I have found is legit. This site describes it self this way “ResellerRatings lets you compare prices, read real customer reviews, and see our original hot deals that we create for popular products by mixing and matching coupons, rebates, and sale prices. Start by using one of the search boxes below to find the best price at trusted stores!” Give it a try.