Tech Gazette (April2002) - St. Margaret's Episcopal School

Tech Gazette

A Publication for SMES Faculty & Staff Volume 3, Issue 8

Setting A Default Folder For Word Documents

At SMES, you are encouraged to save your work to network drives in the event that something happens to your computer and the information saved on the C drive cannot be retrieved. Even though Word automatically saves to My Documents, you have the ability to choose your folder on the S Drive instead. It's easy and once you make these setting changes, you'll never have to go through the step-by-step process of saving to your network folder again.

To do this, choose Tools>Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the File Locations tab. In the dialog box, click Documents and then click Modify. Select a new folder and click OK. Back in Options, click OK to close the dialog box and save your new selection.

The folder selection will remain in effect until you follow the same procedure to change it to a new folder, or back to My Documents.

[www.emazing.com]

         Technology Requests for the 2002 -2003 School Year
The Technology Department is currently planning for next year and needs your help. This is the time to make your technology wants/needs known. If you have a particular technology request for next year, please use the link below and fill out the online form. The Technology Department will carefully consider each request and attempt to fulfill as many requests as possible within budgetary constraints. Don't procrastinate, September may be too late!



        http://www.smes.org/technology/request2002.asp

Recently, Technology implemented something new that has generated feedback, some supportive and some critical. At the center of this controversy is software called ScanMail, which is a component to our current email system. ScanMail scans incoming messages to prevent receipt of inappropriate material and spam mail.

Some of you applaud this action because you spend valuable time going through your inbox sifting through mail that you deem essential and mail that, quite frankly, you think is nuisance. Then, there are those of you who either don't mind or look forward to all email, and, quite frankly, resent the censorship. Each side is entitled to an opinion. Technology is not implementing this action as a judgment regarding email content, or to stifle freedom of expression.

There are several reasons for blocking certain types of email and all involve security issues for St. Margaret's. One involves students getting unwanted mail; another has to do with server space; and the last addresses potential litigation.

Our number one priority at St. Margaret's is the welfare of the student. Many of you have realized that your inbox can become filled with email, both wanted and unwanted. With this in mind, we want to insure that our students do not get unwanted and sometimes highly inappropriate junk mail in their mailboxes.

Server space! How can that constitute security? Simply put, if there is too much mail sitting on the server, it can slow the system down at best and crash the system at worst. Mail, even electronic mail, takes space and, as in any organization, space comes at a premium.

Thinking about potential litigation is not behaving like "Chicken Little". Reality is that we live in a litigious society. As a business (and yes, education is a business), it is prudent and imperative that actions are taken to protect SMES - the school and the people who attend, teach and work here. This includes the types of mail that we receive in our inboxes and email we send out when using our school email account.

Be assured that Technology is aware that ScanMail is filtering mail that causes us to question the definition of "inappropriateness " and is investigating each instance that is brought to our attention. The program can be fine tuned as we go along. As always, we appreciate your patience, understanding and feedback.

Snag a Job: Know a high school or college student looking for part-time jobs? They should visit this searchable database of employment opportunities across the United States. Fill out a single profile that can be sent to multiple employers in a number of industries, including food service, healthcare, retail, office/clerical, and others.

ScanMail: Love It/Hate It Recently, Technology implemented something new that has generated feedback, some supportive and some critical. At the center of this controversy is software called ScanMail, which is a component to our current email system. ScanMail scans incoming messages to prevent receipt of inappropriate material and spam mail. Some of you applaud this action because you spend valuable time going through your inbox sifting through mail that you deem essential and mail that, quite frankly, you think is nuisance. Then, there are those of you who either don't mind or look forward to all email, and, quite frankly, resent the censorship. Each side is entitled to an opinion. Technology is not implementing this action as a judgment regarding email content, or to stifle freedom of expression. There are several reasons for blocking certain types of email and all involve security issues for St. Margaret's. One involves students getting unwanted mail; another has to do with server space; and the last addresses potential litigation. Our number one priority at St. Margaret's is the welfare of the student. Many of you have realized that your inbox can become filled with email, both wanted and unwanted. With this in mind, we want to insure that our students do not get unwanted and sometimes highly inappropriate junk mail in their mailboxes. Server space! How can that constitute security? Simply put, if there is too much mail sitting on the server, it can slow the system down at best and crash the system at worst. Mail, even electronic mail, takes space and, as in any organization, space comes at a premium. Thinking about potential litigation is not behaving like "Chicken Little". Reality is that we live in a litigious society. As a business (and yes, education is a business), it is prudent and imperative that actions are taken to protect SMES - the school and the people who attend, teach and work here. This includes the types of mail that we receive in our inboxes and email we send out when using our school email account. Be assured that Technology is aware that ScanMail is filtering mail that causes us to question the definition of "inappropriateness " and is investigating each instance that is brought to our attention. The program can be fine tuned as we go along. As always, we appreciate your patience, understanding and feedback.
	Websites of Interest
Total News: Here is a terrific website that serves as a search engine and directory for a variety of news organizations around the world. Their motto: "All the news, on the net, all the time." You can gather information on any number of topics from politics, international events, science/technology, sports, people in the news, etc. http://www.totalnews.com/	Snag a Job: Know a high school or college student looking for part-time jobs? They should visit this searchable database of employment opportunities across the United States. Fill out a single profile that can be sent to multiple employers in a number of industries, including food service, healthcare, retail, office/clerical, and others. http://www.snagajob.com/
Did You Know? Magnets should be kept away from TV screens, computer monitors, and all forms of magnetic information storage such as floppy disks, audio cassettes, VCR tapes, and credit cards. This includes magnet picture frames, magnets used for advertising, and toy magnets.	Booting Up: When you use the button to power on your computer, it performs a sequential series of steps called "booting up". You can compare it to a pilot doing an equipment check before takeoff. The term "booting" comes from "bootstrap" since you pull on the straps to get your boots on. There are 2 kinds of boots: warm or soft is when the computer is already on and you restart it. Cold or hard boot is where a machine has to be powered on. Although the computer may not give you a choice sometimes, warm boots are much easier on a system. [www.pcwebopedia.com]
Customizing A Distribution List Have you ever wanted to use a distribution list such as US Faculty & Staff or All Staff, but wanted to send your email to just some of the people on this list and not everybody? You don't want to have to type in all the email addresses. What can you do? It's easy. The written instructions are below, and the following link is a mini-movie that demonstrates this technique. Either way, it's something new to tuck away in your "Aha, now I know" file! http://classes.smes.org/demo/address.wmv To send email to only selected people from an address list open Outlook and then click the new button. This will open up a new email and from here you will want to press the “to…” button. Now you should see a new window showing you the address book. Select the address list you would like to choose your recipients from and then press the “properties” button. On the right side of the window the individual belonging to the address list become visible and by holding down the “ctrl” key while clicking the desired names you will see that they are now selected. Once you have everyone highlighted that you wish to send you email to, press the “To….” button on the bottom left of the window and there you go! The recipients are added to your “To…” list and you are ready to send your mail.