"I prefer to distinguish ADD as attention abundance disorder. Everything is just so interesting . . . remarkably at the same time.” Frank Coppola

Several years ago I was diagnosed ADHD. Most of my students will not come surprised. For the most part I think I knew it before I was diagnosed. Many of my thoughts are trying to understand my brain and why I think the way I do and what I can do to mitigate the strangeness of my thoughts. The reason I bring this up is to highlight a site. Now I should take the time to say there are plenty of medical websites out there devoted to one particular problem or another but this one of course was close to my heart or is it brain? Anyway I was watching PBS and I caught the tail end of a documentary on the condition. I thought it was decent and both funny and kind of corny but I decided to follow it up and find more about it. The website that the documentary is tied to is totallyadd.com. The moment I went on the site it appealed to me. I stole their summary and listed it below:

“Check out are videos about ADHD treatment, the diagnosis, tools targeting the ADD symptoms dealing with feelings and more.”

You can watch clips from the documentary or take their virtual test. They do have an exclaimer saying that you should always check with a trained therapist for a real diagnosis. What I liked most about the test was the in depth descriptions that really allow you to understand the condition. They have links, discussions, and rants. Lastly I should say this does not excuse my behavior or others but it can help to both understand it and to deal with it. If you know someone with the condition you may want to recommend it to them. Many people say they are ADD but it could be something else. This may help to clarify the issue.
Before I let you go I wanted to say I hate calling it a condition. I find for certain jobs it can be a real strength and not a hindrance. As a teacher I am filled with lots of energy and can concentrate on many students easily. Sometimes being different is a real plus as well as being a pain in the neck.

"The printing press is either the greatest blessing or the greatest curse of modern times, sometimes one forgets which it is." E. F. Schumacher

I taught Microsoft Publisher the other day and a student, who uses a Mac at home, asked if there was a version out there he could use. It also had to be free he said. I guess I should take a second and mention what Publisher is for. It is a program that allows you to design and printout all sorts of paper goods like business cards, flyers, signs, brochure, etc. I did a lot of research on this topic and I did find one replacement called Scribus. But there are issues. First it seems slower than dirt. Second it is missing a lot of the templates that I go to Publisher for. It does have a few but mainly you are on your own. But what about the intricate brochures you designed in publisher a while back? Sorry, from what I read even Publisher has issues opening older documents made in an older version of Publisher. Also I read a lot of printer companies complaining about people who use Publisher because it has problems when trying to print professionally. So what are your choices? Unfortunately it looks like you will have to buy something like Adobe Indesign or QuarkXPress. But before you run out the door to buy you should know they are not cheap, upwards of $200 to $600. I had no luck with my usual places, Amazon and eBay. The only thing I can say is if you really need them you will have to pay a hefty price or have print shop take care of the project. I wish I had better news, sorry.

"Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum mechanics cannot possibly have understood it." Niels Henrik David Bohr

I love science and fun facts. I always have and so when I discovered Scientific American’s 60 second podcasts I fell in love instantly. First they are perfectly short for my attention span and they give just right blasts of info. They cover all sorts of science from nano technology to the universe and everything in between. I have learned a great deal that I can use in my daily life plus it has given a ton to think about. You can sign up so it’s in your iTunes ready to listen to on your iPod or listen to it on the site. They also have and Earth and a mind podcast as well. So if you’re in a hurry and hungry for more information give these podcasts a whirl

"The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket." Kin Hubbard

Want some free money? OK so I’m not giving away money but I will introduce you to some sites that will help. The first one that has saved me a bundle on music is Dealnews. This site has a ton of categories that you can choose from. They seem to scour the net so they can present you the very best deals. I tend to jump on the free ones. (I’m cheap) From technology to clothing, they seem to have it all. They turned me onto Amazon’s free music list which has almost 2500 free, legit, music. They’ll even give you local discount on restaurants and other deals closer to home.
The other site is Groupon. My friend Nate turned me onto this one. You sign up and they take your zip code and assign you the closest large city. In my case it was either Providence or Boston. Both are not exactly close but I’ll take what I can get. Groupon will present you with a limited time offer that will be something like buy a coupon for $15 dollars that is actually a $30 dollar coupon at a restaurant. So in effect you get double your money. You print out the coupon and bring it to the place. It works nice and easy. I do have a couple of issues with it as much as I like it. First it requires a bit of preplanning, which I am not the best at. Also because the range of locations is so large you might get a deal an hour away. I guess that’s fine but I’m lazy but I am not running out the door for that one. You can specify the types of deals you want like food and museums and not health and beauty stuff. However it doesn’t seem to listen to those preferences. I got two for liposuction. I took it personally.
Anyway I recommend trying either one at least for a bit just to see the one you like most. I should mention that Dealnews also covers coupons from Groupon as well.

“And now, your highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden rebel base...” Darth Vader (James Earl Jones)

For years I have been making handouts to go with my classes. One of the tricks I have employed to get objects like text boxes, shapes, pictures and the like to fall in line exactly where I wanted them is the ALT key. I would select the shape and move it by holding the ALT key down. I could then fit it just the way I needed it. This has worked forever, that is until I switched to Office 2007 where I have been without my trusty tool for some time. After a bit of searching I found the ALIGN button on the top right of the of the FORMAT tab. To make the change first double click any object. Anything will do as long as it brings up the FORMAT tab then click ALIGN. You should find it at the top right. After that click the last choice GRID SETTINGS. Lastly at the bottom set the SNAP OBJECTS TO GRID check box to off and then you’re all set. This is actually better than the old way of moving objects because you do not have to hold the ALT key anymore. However I should add that on some objects like photos you will still have to change the TEXT WRAPPING to tight, square, in front of text….It’s up to you to choose what you need. So if you can’t get a piece of clip art just the way you want it try the above.

Note: Finding a matching quote for this was a real pain so I settled on this. It has the word location in it...

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” Tennessee Williams

I came to Facebook rather late but I have jumped in with both feet. Now that I use the system I have become a proponent of it. However it does have its doubters. The two biggest questions I get is “fine, I made an account now what?” and “what is it for?”. I find it is useful for the basic reason of connecting with old friends seeing what they are up to and catching a glimpse of their life. Now I will say that is the obvious reason. I mean that is what it was originally for. Some people call it something slightly different, networking. I do like the connecting of friends but the question always comes up “why not just use email?”. Well for two basic reasons, I rarely email just to catch up. I usually have a question or I need to give some info out. I can throw a pun out into the Facebook universe and people can just “like it” without having to say anything. This is nice because you get to say “hey I like your thought, joke, idea…. but I have nothing to add to it.” I just well like the statement. I do have a second reason I really like Facebook. It is something called crowd sourcing. This is just a quick way of saying that I am going to ask a whole lot of people for information. Let’s say I run out of ideas for the blog or I am working on a class and I just can’t seem to pull it together, well I can ask all my friends, contacts, what I should write. Because they are all at different point in their life and have different experience I may well get a take from them that I would never think of. In a local way I can get quick information as well. Not too long ago we were hanging out at the house. I was on my computer (I know big surprise right?) and the house began to shake. There was a sound like thunder but it was a clear night. Frankly we were freaked out. It sounded like the world was about to end. So I quickly jumped on Facebook and asked did anyone else hear the noise and feel the rumble. I quickly got responses from all the people that live in my town that they saw a low flying jet go over. Quick information that I normally would have to email all the people that were local and hope they checked their email regularly. I use it for many things from events I am part of to just a quick way to acknowledge an old friend’s birthday. I hope this answers the why or at least my why. Maybe you should give it a try by jumping in with both feet.

One other thing I should mention is that there is a book I recommend for understanding the basics. It is FACEBOOK ME! By Dave Awl but don’t wait too long to get this book because sites like Facebook can change radically in 6 months.