Websites of Interest

http://www.murraystate.edu/kate/

yourDictionary.com, specializing in information about language,  provides the most comprehensive and authoritative portal for language and language-related products and services on the web with more than 1800 dictionaries and  more than 250 languages. Come here to look up general or specialized words in literally thousands of English and foreign-language dictionaries.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/

Teacher Tap is a free, professional development resource that helps educators address common technology integration questions by providing practical, online resources and activities. Counts towards staff development hours.

 http://eduscapes.com/tap/

1. In your taskbar, double-click the Pc-cillin Real-time Scan icon. The icon looks like a blue and white capsule with a lightning bolt on it. It is usually  located near the clock at the lower left hand corner of your screen.    [Note: If you do not have this icon, enable your real-time monitor.
2. The Real-time Scan window will appear. Uncheck the checkbox for Enable POP3 Scan.
3. Click OK button.
4. Restart your computer.

Resizing the Web

You're tired, the monitor is too small, the lighting is poor. Whatever the reason, it's hard to read that website. Is it time for reading glasses? Not necessarily. You can change the text size of the web. Here's how:

In Internet Explorer, you simply select View from the menu, then text size, and select a more suitable setting. If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can hold down the CTRL key, and use the wheel to change text size.

In Netscape go to the View menu, then select Decrease or Increase font as necessary. You can also do this in Netscape using CTRL+[ to decrease or CTRL+] to increase font size without opening any menus.

Spyware: Unwanted Visitors        

Generally, spyware is technology that helps to gathers information about you without your knowledge. On the Internet, spyware is programming that is put in your computer to secretly gather information about the you and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties. An example of spyware is a cookie which is information that a website puts on your hard disk so that it can remember something about you.

Ad-aware is a free multi spyware removal utility that scans your memory, registry and hard drives for known spyware and scumware components and lets you remove them safely. It is updated frequently. For more information and/or to download Ad-aware, go to

 http://www.lsfileserv.com/index.html

Stopping the Action

Have you ever landed on a web page (like the Gazette) that had annoying animations and/or background sounds? These kinds of sites can be annoying. And if the page has something you really need to read, it makes it just that much worse. Here's what you can do  - hit the Stop button on your web browser. The animations and background songs should cease.

 (from www.worldstart.com)

Runtime Errors

You've seen this a million times. While on the Internet, an annoying window pops up telling you you've encountered a runtime error. For those of you who don't know, a runtime error is caused by an error within a program's code. This is a problem at the programmers end, not yours. What usually happens is that you (or the software) do something unexpected and the program doesn't know how to handle it. When someone creates a piece of software, they try to anticipate every possible scenario. Unfortunately, that's next to impossible and sometimes you end up with bugs, including runtime errors. So, what do you do if you get one of these runtime errors? Contact the program vendor and let them know. 

(from www.worldstart.com)

         Faculty Website Contest            

It's March Madness and you know what that means? No, not basketball. It's time for a faculty website contest! If you already have a website or if you've been wanting to develop one, this is the ideal time. Tech classes this month will focus on FrontPage and tricks of the trade with an emphasis on SMES web page guidelines. In April, faculty, staff and students will be invited to vote on the best web pages representing each division - Pre-School, Lower School, Middle School and Upper School. Criteria will include content, visual appeal, purpose, and ease of navigation. Prizes will be awarded. Additional guidelines can be obtained by going to

 http://www.smes.org/technology/instruction/guidelines.htm

Don't end up on the bench. Grab your shoes, bring a sport drink, come to the MS lab and "just do it"! Join the championship faculty web page roster (Resources Page). Your students and their families will thank you for your championship effort! 

Please meet the newest member to our Technology team, Mr. Jessie Barker. 

Jesse writes: I was born and raised in LaGrande, Oregon, and moved to Orange County in the spring of 1996. Upon arriving in California, I attended Saddleback College for two years looking to transfer to either Berkeley or UCI. My goal at the time was to pursue a career in journalism but, after getting a taste of the working world and more importantly, computers in 1998, I decided to put my college life on hold and go to work full time. I have spent the following 3 years working at CEI College where I was the network administrator for the Anaheim and WestHills campuses. As network administrator, I was responsible for pretty much everything technical and also many aspects of the educational side of things. 

The present time finds me here at St. Margaret's and so far, the experience has been wonderful. I hope that I can help the school progress and look forward to meeting everyone.

If you see Jesse around campus, you may mistake him for one of our students and want to know why he's not in uniform. But after he introduces himself, please give him a warm St. Margaret's welcome.

March Classes

Front Page: Building a Winning Web Site

                                         When: Tuesdays  3/ 12, 19 & 26

                                         Where: MS Lab

                                         Time:  12 noon - 1:30 p.m. (drop in anytime during these 90 min.)

                                          What Else: BYOL (bring your own lunch)

         * *If you don't already have a web page, notify Cheryl Henderson. She needs to create a template for you.**

If you have any questions, please contact Cheryl at

  cheryl.henderson@smes.org