Blocking unwanted mail in Gmail

From the Google Mail Help:

Sometimes you may get unwanted mail that isn't necessarily spam.

While you can't currently block messages from specific addresses or domains, you can set up a filter to send those unwanted messages directly to Trash.

To set up a filter, follow these steps:

• Click the down arrow in your search box at the top of the page. A window that allows you to specify your search criteria will appear.
• Enter your search criteria. If you want to check that your search worked correctly, click the search button. Clicking the down arrow again will bring the window back with the same search criteria you entered.
• Click Create filter with this search at the bottom of the search window.
• Choose the action you'd like for these messages by checking the appropriate box. (In this case, we suggest checking "Delete it.")
• Click Create Filter.

Share your Google Site

If you took the Google Sites class and got your page up and running, you may still have one step left. If people are saying that they can't get to your Google site, or get a "password required" page, you may have your permissions set such that the public can't get to it. To change the site permissions, do this:
- Go to your website by clicking Sites in the black bar at the top of your e-mail
- On your main page, click the More button
- Choose Sharing and Permissions
- In the "who has access" section, click the Change button, and set it so anyone on the Internet can find and view the page.
- Click the radio button next to “Public on the web”
- Click the green “Save” button to save the changes

Meridian phones on key systems

Some quick tips on adjusting your key system phone (applies to phones at Cape/CCMS/JMS/Hathaway and District Office)

To adjust the contrast, you can push the Feature Button, then the * or Star key, then the 7 key

Choose the number corresponding to the contrast you want, with 1 being light, and 9 being dark.

Press RLS to end the change.

To change the tone of your phone's ring (there are four available) you can do this:

Press Feature, then * (Star) and then 6

Enter the number 1 through 4 to hear the different options.  Press RLS to save the new ring tone.  You can also use this to adjust the volume of the phone's ringing.

Slow Gmail on Safari/Mac

An end user was complaining of slowness in Gmail using Safari on the Mac.  After taking a look around, quitting and re-opening, and trying a couple items found online, I noticed that there were a number of tabs open in another browser window.

It turned out that the re-open tabs on startup was causing him to end up with Gmail open in more than a dozen tabs at a time.  In addition, he was moving between Google Drive, Calendar, and Gmail using the black bar at the top of the screen rather than cycling between browser windows to find the one that was already open, which was opening additional windows.  With each window he opened, Gmail got even slower.

The solution was to close any extra Gmail windows in the background, and help the user use the "Window" menu to find Gmail rather than re-opening it each time he wanted it open.  I also disabled the "reopen windows at login" to keep it from starting up with more than a dozen instances each time after he shuts down.

Tech eNews June 2013

Tech eNews for June, 2013

1. Getting Computers/Laptops/iPads ready for summer

2. Surplus that old/unwanted equipment

3. LCD Projector Bulb Replacement

4. Creating a Vacation Message for summer

5. iPads motivate students, increase achievement 

6. Archive of eNews on the Tech Blog

1. Getting Your Computers Ready for Summer

In the past, some WSD staff have placed garbage bags over computers to keep dust out.  None of our tech staff have noted a problem with excess dust settling into computer equipment when it is off, so this isn’t necessary.  Please save yourself the trouble, and leave the bags for the garbage cans.

Please make sure you turn all of your computers off before you leave.  If you have a laptop that won’t be used over the summer, you should charge the battery fully, and then take it out of the computer for storage.  If possible, store the battery in a refrigerator that’s turned on. If you have an iPad or other device with an internal battery, you should fully charge the battery, and then turn the device completely off before you leave.  Leaving a device in "sleep" for an extended period of time can damage the batteries. iPads and cameras should be kept in a locked cabinet, or an office that's locked, to ensure they're safe over the summer.  

If you can, please turn off all the surge suppressors that your computers are plugged into.  This will let you leave your computer’s cables all plugged in.  We are aware that the custodians will move much of the equipment to clean carpets, but doing this will cut down on the time it takes to get everyone back up and running in the fall.  

Also, please remember that you can't take district owned equipment home over the summer without making arrangements with your principal, and filling out a check out form. 

2. Surplus that old unwanted/unused equipmentDo you have old, unwanted, or unused equipment in your classroom that you don’t want to keep? Mark it as “surplus” on your year-end inventory, and let your building administrator know you want to get rid of it. The deadline for identifying items as surplus is June 14.

3. LCD Projector and Bulb Replacement
Let Sean, Kenneth or Linda, know if your projector’s image is darker than it used to be, has changed color, or is showing spots or dots in the image. In some cases, a new bulb is all that’s needed, and for most classrooms, the Tech staff has an extra bulb. If your projector’s problem can’t be fixed with a new bulb, we’ll put it on the list to get replaced. 

4. Creating a Vacation Message
If you are going to be out of the office for an extended period of time, you can create a vacation message which automatically responds to your e-mail, letting folks know you’re gone.

- Log into your district e-mail.  http://mail.washougalsd.org/
- Log in as yourself (first.last) with your e-mail password.
- Click the Sprocket in the upper left, then choose Mail Settings
- On the General tab, scroll down to the Vacation Responder section
- Click the Radio button for "Vacation responder on"
- Enter the text you want to have sent to people who send you email in the box
- Set an end date if appropriate (recommended)
(Note: You can opt to have the message sent to anyone, or just people inside the district.)
- Make sure you scroll down or up to click the save button!  

If you didn't sent an end date, when you get back, follow the same directions, and set the responder to "off" to remove the message.

5. iPads motivate students and increase achievement
Washougal School District Technology funds were used in the Summer of 2012 to purchase iPads for three 5th grade classrooms as a pilot of a one-to-one (or 1:1, one device per student) initiative.  Data from the iPad pilot suggests that the iPads are motivating students to attend school more regularly, to show up on time, and increasing student achievement as measured by the EasyCBM assessment.  

Data from the pilot will be shared with the Washougal School District School Board during the June 11, 2013 school board meeting, with participating teachers and students showcasing projects and classroom activities that worked through the year. 

Transfer ownership of Google Apps for Education files in Google Drive to an external account

I did some research, and the Google Apps for Education prevent users from transferring ownership of documents outside their own domain.

However, there is a pretty straightforward work around - make a copy of the document in your new new domain's account.

Here are steps on how to make this work:

Open Google Drive
Create a new folder, and move collections of files into it that you're going to want in your new new domain's account
Click the checkbox to the left of the Folder name in the "drive" view, which will "select all" of the documents in the folder you created.
Click the More button
Click Share
Type in your new domain's e-mail in the bottom box, and give yourself "edit" rights
Click Share and Save.
Click Done when you're finished.
Now, log out of your old domain's e-mail, and log into your new domain's e-mail
Click Drive in the upper black title bar at the top of your e-mail window
You should hopefully see the folder from yourself.  It might be listed under "Shared with me" instead of in your drive.
Click the folder to open it
Click the check box ABOVE the checkbox to select the first item, to have it select all files in the folder
Click the More menu
Click Make a Copy
Depending on the number of files, this may take a while.  It will create a copy of the file in your drive, with the sharing turned off.

Forcing Google Safe Search at Home

Question from a parent this week about forcing Google's Safe Search and whether there's a way to do that on a home computer:

Here are the steps to turn on Google's safe search and force it to stay on.

The following link from Google's support site talks about a way that you can turn on Google's "Safe Search" and lock it on for your browser.  You may have to do this for each browser (i.e. firefox, chrome, Internet Explorer or Safari) as well as per user account if you all use different accounts on a shared computer.

http://support.google.com/websearch/answer/144686?hl=en

The District forces Safe Search using an Internet Safety appliance called Barracuda Web Filter, which does this for all students and staff automatically.