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Need to scale video for a website?

Sunday, December 5th, 2010

In going through my posts and trying to clean up tags and categories I came across a few posts I want to move back to the front again – re-post really. So, a few times a month I will add some comment and re-post some information. – like this…

Putting video on a website is more tedious than hard. There are resources for getting a video onto a page, post, or sidebar but you usually will need to know what the dimensions should be. If you have a large YouTube video that you want in a sidebar, you will need to scale it to keep the correct height/width relationship – if you don’t, you will get distortion.

Try this site – Proportioncalc

Tags: Video, Website Design
Posted in Tips for Trainers, Web Design | No Comments »

InDesign Users – Have you been to the plug-in directory lately?

Friday, November 19th, 2010

If you are using InDesign CS3 or CS4 and have NOT been to this site – go there now.

Really, go… I can wait.

It’s pretty good for all versions but many of the hot plug-ins will add CS5 functionality to earlier versions and might help speed things up for you.
Here’s the link – http://indesign.pluginsworld.com/

Tags: Adobe, InDesign
Posted in Adobe, InDesign, Resources, Tips for Trainers | No Comments »

CSS Tests

Monday, November 8th, 2010

Bless you Bruno!
I only this week stumbled upon your page with stunning numbers of tests/experiments in css.
THIS IS IT

Thank you!

Tags: Cascading Style Sheets, Website Design
Posted in Cascading Style Sheets, Resources, Tips for Trainers, Web | No Comments »

Quick Pro and Con list – Outlook 2011 for the Mac

Saturday, November 6th, 2010

I have been prepping a series of basic Outlook 2011 class that was scheduled to start the day after the software was released. I was lucky enough to be able to use a legal manufacturer copy on a client machine for a few weeks beforehand.

What I am listing here is the general information I’ve gotten from websites and my playing with the software. I have hopes that a few releases will make this into software I really like. As it is, it’s software I don’t actively hate. Much of the information here is loosely based on a wide comparison matrix- Outlook 2011 for Mac vs. Apple Mail, Entourage 2008, and Outlook 2010. Some of it is my opinion but most of it is from my searching other reviews.

If you are an Entourage 2008 user this will be less buggy, especially backups. It IS a 1.0 release so is NOT a fully ready version (no matter what the press releases say). Do I own it now? – Yes. Would I have bought it yet if I weren’t a trainer? – No. However, I expect that after a few of my heavy-duty issues are fixed I will move my home machines onto Outlook.

If you are thinking about switching to Outlook 2011 for the mac you should first do some searches and see what people are saying about the features you can’t live without. If you don’t find issues that affect you, have at it. I find there are so many issues that are missing or broken that I will describe it as a “not-ready-for-primetime” release – which can be said for most 1.0 releases. For me, the biggest issue is that I can’t work without my google calendar. Gmail, google cal, and dropbox are HUGE for me. As of this posting there is no iCal or Google calendar Sync. It is “planned for a future release”.

Pro

Not one Giant DB like Entourage – spotlight search works well. Time machine backups are much, much faster BUT getting a partial restore from a backup is a real pain
Faster than Entourage 2008
Import .pst file from Windows Outlook
Import Rules can be very buggy
It is really easy to add Exchange or POP/IMAP accounts
Has the Win 2007/2010 ribbon (is this a pro?)
Overlay Calendar when viewing multiple calendars
Shows calendar preview in Meeting Invites
Single Inbox option for multiple accounts
Quick Look preview of attachments
Imports International Holidays easily
Valid addresses are easier to see
HasEntourage’s My Day (a way of viewing tasks and some appointments when application is closed)
Scheduling and Mailing List Managers same as Entourage
Search Options are easy AFTER you give up on having separate filters (Filter creates search in the main window – they took away the separate filter/search window.
Redesigned AppleScript directory
On My Computer – Both Pro AND Con. What this means is you can turn on having a “On My Computer” option. This gives you a separate, local Inbox, Calendar, Contact Groups, Tasks, and Notes. This can be VERY confusing for people. If you are using Outlook Web Access then you should be careful. Anything saved to “On My Computer” is local only and will not be available from elsewhere
Meetings still in inbox and not replied to are faded out on mac and easy to spot, not like this on Windows
Better HTML mail then Entourage
Create Meeting from Message

Con

Default Compose setting cant be set at the account level (HTML vs plain)
No Read or Delivery receipts
Newsreader removed
No Plug-Ins
No Switch Identities
No More Favorites bar
No Ruler/Tab Management
No Custom Numbering Sequences
Can’t export .pst file only .olm – what does that mean? You can’t export your mail/calendar, etc for most uses
Smart Folders/Search Folders – folders is the WRONG NAME
No autoarchive, no mbox format
Outbox is temporary only. You can’t keep it on the screen.
Appends signature – does not replace it
Category rename makes duplicates
Recurring tasks and time zones is buggy
NO SYNC SERVICES
No resend
No Edit Message (remove html backrougnd or other garbage on received mail
No Cleanup Text
No Redirect
Send as attachment strips your signature
Autocomplete is buggy
NO Exchange server 2003 or earlier
No Outlook Social calendar
No backstage view (not a con in my view, but was for one source I list below)
No Kerberos
If choice between 2010 or 2011 – 2010 is MUCH better
Pricing is punishing multiple mac users – like me
Conversation View can confuse subjects and mix the view
No Task Status Reports
No Voting Buttons
NO PROJECTS like in Entourage
No Paste as Quotation
No Increase/Decrease Quotes
Filter and Search are the same – this is a loss of functionality from other products
This is HUGE for me – Date Navigator will not select custom days
OH.. and Diane Ross MVP in the forums? Rude.

I dug some of this out myself but the rest I got from the following sites:

TidBits
NetworkWorld
BoyGeniusReport
Addictive Tips
PC Mag
Mashable
NYT – David Pogue
Telegraph UK
Techworld
Macworld
Mac2Microsoft
OfficeForMac
Support.Microsoft
Mac.zicos
TechNightOwl
Liquida

Tags: Macintosh, Microsoft, Office, Outlook, Review
Posted in Microsoft, Software, Tips for Trainers | 1 Comment »

Creating documents with an easy screen capture

Saturday, November 6th, 2010

Screensteps
My husband found this software and I am going to try it out. If you make documentation with screen captures like I do, you might find this helpful. I will post more on this after I’ve had a chance to play with it.

Tags: Making Tutorials, Screen Capture
Posted in Productivity, Resources, Software, Tips for Trainers, Tutorials and Demos | No Comments »