Personal Technology

Getting started with computers

Just getting started, or want to brush up on the basics of file management, folders, etc.? Try this illustrated guide to working with Windows. Microsoft offers a more elaborate walk-through of core Windows tasks. New Mac users can find introductory tutorials on Apple's website.

Downloadable/printable tutorials: the previous TTSP created two easy-to-follow tutorials you can download and print: one for basic file management, and another for organizing files.

File storage and backups

Remote storage of files makes can make accessing them easy from anywhere. Portable disks are better than ever. And backups are always, always a good idea. You have options, and good ones.

Home Directory: UVA offers every faculty and student two gigabytes of free file storage. Home Directory is a downloadable program but also accessible anywhere through a web interface.
Keychain USB drives: forget floppy disks. These extremely portable drives are compatible with any computer with a USB port. Plus they're tiny, cheap, and available in a range of memory capacities.
Online storage sites: many sites offer subscription-based storage for your files, but you can also find free storage at sites like ADrive (50 GB) and Xdrive (5 GB). These sites can help keep copies of your files and allow you to access them from anywhere.

Calendars

Calendar software is a big category, and different people use it in different ways. Here's what might interest to you:

UVA Appointment Scheduler: make your office hours available online for students to schedule appointments.
Oracle Calendar: mainly used by classified staff, UVA's centralized calendar has a web interface as well as a client-side program you can download.
External options: calendar software is bundled with Microsoft's Outlook program, which is helpfully integrated when using Outlook for email. Google Calendar and Yahoo Calendar each offer online options--and hence accessible from anywhere. These options also let you share your calendar and open it for others to edit. All can be synchronized with PDAs.

Email

Electronic lifeblood. ITC has lots of information on different clients, settings, and linking your address book to UVA's directory. Also see information on how to forward your UVA email, and how to setup a "vacation" notice for when you're away from the office.

Note that you can get a more memorable email address than your UVA computing ID. You can create an alias that is much more human; it's a second name for your account, rather than a new account. Choose anything you want, though some variant of you name may make the most sense, e.g. mst3k@virginia.edu becomes marktwain@virginia.edu. Use the web form to make a request. Then make sure to use your new email alias as your "From" address. Though different email programs have different settings, usually this is under "account options." You can even change it for use in UVA's WebMail under the Settings tab.

RSS readers and blog aggregators

Blogs and websites now usually have syndicated "feeds" that can deliver content to any user who subscribes. Here's a good introduction to "feeds." They're also known as RSS feeds (really simple syndication). Get a free account with an online feed aggregator, such as Bloglines or Google Reader or even your own browser, and you can retrieve the latest content from any site to which you choose to subscribe. This can be incredibly handy for assembling your internet media diet all one one plate: news, academic blogs, baby pictures, etc.

Want to get started? Watch this illustrated introduction to RSS and readers.

Office suite alternatives

University computers come pre-loaded with Microsoft's Office suite. Interesting alternatives, for anyone interested or for other computers, include the open-source OpenOffice. Google now has an online office suite called Google Docs that has the added bonus of sharing and collaboration. Check out the extensive list of free office software at Downloadpedia. Other free online office software sites include Zoho and Thinkfree.

Build a website

UVA offers students and faculty web space through their Home Directory accounts. ITC offers instructions on getting started.

Basic HTML (and WYSIWYG) editors: internet sites are coded in HTML. But you don't have to actually know HTML to make a website. Many HTML-editing programs let you work on web pages as you would a word processing document. (Note: Microsoft Word lets you save files as HTML documents, but the resulting code is terrible.) These programs are called WYSIWYG editors (pronounced WHIZ-ee-wig) which stands for "what you see is what you get." The most user friendly of them is probably KompoZer. Another good one, though slightly trickier, is called Amaya: an open-source program from the W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium). Both are free, and both let you toggle back and forth from WYSIWYG and code views for a better understanding of the process.

Uploading files: creating HTML pages is only half the battle. The next step is putting them online, in other words uploading them to a server. Follow the ITC directions above and you can just drop your files in a special folder in your Home Directory. Otherwise, you'll need to sign up for server space, which starts to get more complicated. More powerful HTML editors like Adobe's Dreamweaver (not free) include the ability to upload and manage files on a remote server.

Faculty web space (permanent URLs)

UVA also offers faculty dedicated web space and permanent URLs (in case you should ever leave). This space is reserved for sharing research. In special cases, graduate students may also apply.

Advanced

Software is just that: soft. Users can shape it to their needs. Therefore, software use is idiosyncratic, and everyone has a different set of preferred programs and ways of using them. Here are a couple, though, that are really worth sharing:

Portable Apps: use a keychain drive (or Home Directory space) to carry with you, to any computer, your programs, their settings, bookmarks, etc.
(Please send additional suggestions to the TTSP.)

Outside help:

Tech Training Events
Check the calendar for Faculty Technology Open House, Teaching + Technology receptions, and office software conferences.

Self-Help Training
ITC provides access to training websites and videos for enhancing computer skills and common software use.

GoogleGuide
Instruction for novices and experts on how to get the most out of Google.

Intro to Web 2.0
A brief introduction from Duke's Center for Instructional Technology. What is Web 2.0 and how can you use it?

Common Craft videos
Wonderfully low-tech and easy-to-understand explanations of new technologies.

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