In December, the Technology department started a district-wide upgrade of all Windows-based computers to provide new software and standardization for everyone. Because of the large number of computers in the district, it may take us a while to get to everyone - but when you do see us, this is what we will be installing on your computer:

• Windows 95B

• Office 97
• Client32
• Netscape Communicator 4.7 US 128 SSL
• Service patches and updates

Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (Win95B): Yes, all the HPs and Gateways are running Windows 95. However, there are actually different sub-versions of Windows 95 that behave slightly differently. For example, OSR2 provides some behind-the-scenes capabilities that allow you to use and maintain your hard drive more efficiently, more recent hardware drivers, and expanded multimedia capabilities. We do have the capability to upgrade the sub-version of Windows without damaging existing settings in the registry or installed applications; however, you may discover that sometimes Windows "forgets" your wallpaper, color, and sound schemes. You will see little or no other change to the daily operation of your computer.

Office 97: The Gateways come with Office 97 preinstalled; we will be installing Office 97 Professional Service Release 2 on all other machines running Windows 95 with 32MB RAM or greater. Unfortunately this version of Office will not run properly on machines with less than 32MB RAM. On those computers which are not capable of running Office 97, we will be installing a recommended service patch to Office 95.

Client32: Client32 is the software which allows a Windows-based computer to connect to our Novell network. The version we will be installing for most computers is 3.10, which allows for future expansion of network capabilities. Again, this software requires at least 32MB RAM to run properly; for those computers with less RAM, we will be installing version 2.2, which still allows users to take advantage of all currently available network capabilities.

Netscape Communicator 4.7 US 128 SSL: All computers will be upgraded to this newest version of Netscape with 128-bit Secure Socket Layer encryption. If you are currently using a version older than 4.5, you may notice the addition of another "window" when you check your email in this new version. This is normal and you can still check your email the same way you did before.

Service patches and updates: Microsoft has issued various "mini-upgrades" for Windows and Office that make minor improvements to the behind-the-scenes function of the programs. These upgrades are nearly invisible during the daily use of the computer.

As always, if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to call. For install and repair requests, please call x5078; or you can leave me a voicemail with general questions at x6198.

What Do You Think of Tech Talk?

By Chrissy Cox

Throughout the year, we have all had the opportunity to read these great Tech Talk articles. Well, now we would like to hear your opinion about them. A survey has been created online with a few simple questions about the articles. We would really appreciate your response.

To reach the survey, please go to the following site:

http://www.amphi.com/depts/technology/index.html and click on Tech Talk Survey.

We'd really like to know what articles you liked, and what you would like to see more articles about to help you in your job.

By Barbara Benedict, Cross-Harelson Library Media Specialist

As we prepare our students for citizenship in this new century, it is imperative that we all work as a team to ensure that students know how to access, evaluate, and use information. Gone are the days when teachers could simply send their students to the library to get a book, and school library staffs are no longer considered effective merely cataloging and promoting a collection of materials. School library media centers have evolved from archival facilities to "enrichment" centers and many are moving on to be active, media-rich information hubs where ongoing collaboration between teachers and library media specialists and active student engagement are paramount.

The vision for library media centers is described in Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning prepared by the American Association of School Librarians and published by the American Library Association in 1998. This vision calls for collaboration between teachers and librarians to create meaningful learning experiences that weave information literacy skills with curriculum content learning. Library media specialists combine their knowledge of reference resources and their experience with the process of research to assist teachers in achieving curriculum goals in schools where scheduling and staffing facilitate ongoing joint planning.

Information Power (dubbed "IP2" because it updates the original guidelines published in 1988) consists of three parts. First, it enumerates the nine information literacy standards for students, providing for each indicators, levels of proficiency, and several content area examples. (Arizona IP2 implementation team members have produced a brief PowerPoint program to familiarize you with these standards-this is available at www.amphi.com/~cross/collaboration/index.htm). Next, Information Power outlines the three basic ideas that underlie a successful library media program: collaboration, leadership, and technology. It discusses teaching and learning in the context of a library media program and provides goals for the three auxiliary areas of responsibility for school library media specialists: information access and delivery, program administration, and connections to the learning community. Appendices make up the last third of Information Power, enabling quick access to valuable American Library Association and national educational organization policy statements.

The goal of Information Power; Building Partnerships for Learning is to foster educational communities where students learn to become lifelong learners who "inquire, who seek information, evaluate it, apply it to new problems, questions, or decisions, and assess how well the information has met their needs." (p. 131). The goal of your teaching partner, your library media specialist, is to work with you to maximize each individual and collective student inquiry experience.

By Tom Gill

Sometimes we are in a work environment that takes us out of the office, but we still want the flexibility to receive important calls while we are not at our desk. Here are some features that you may find useful while you are on the go.

A handy feature that we have in our phone system is remote transfer. This allows a person to transfer a call to a number that is not a district internal number. In other words, calls can be transferred to cell phones or home phone numbers.

To Remote Transfer a call:

• Press the transfer button The other party is put on hold and you hear a special dial tone.

• Dial 9 and the seven-digit telephone number (wait a few seconds).

• Press the transfer button again, either when you hear ringing, or you talk privately to the person you are transferring the call to.

• Press RLS button to transfer the call.

Another useful feature is call-forward external. This feature is helpful for people that are very mobile because it allows them to forward a call to a number that is not a district internal number like cell phones and home phone numbers. This is very helpful if you are expecting an important call and voice mail would not be appropriate.

To use call Forward External:

• Press the forward button. The black arrow will flash next to the button.

• Dial 9 and the seven-digit number you want to forward your calls to.

• Press the forward button again. The black arrow will remain on next to the button.

To cancel Call Forward External:

• Press the forward button. The black arrow next to the button turns off.

By Ron Shannon

Happy Millennium! After all the hype about the Y2K bug, it was actually a relief to come to work on January 3, 2000 and find that things were working just fine. Actually, there was a lot of work done during the Winter break to insure that things would be OK when you returned on Monday. I want to thank all the Technology staff for their hard work doing upgrades and system checks.

Now that the Y2K concern is behind us, what's next? Well, we are working on a number of projects that will hopefully improve your use of and access to technology. There are several articles in Tech Talk that will describe what we are doing in more detail, but I'd like to mention just a few of the projects for the remainder of this year.

• We will improve the speed of Internet access to your computer.

• We will increase our bandwidth to our Internet Service Provider.

• We will improve security across our computer networks.

• We will complete the video networks to distribute Cable TV to each classroom.

• We will upgrade all computers to Office 97 on the PC side and Office 98 on the Macintosh side.

• We will offer more Technology classes on our "core" software.

• We will install technology in our new elementary school for an opening in 2000.

And, most importantly, we will continue to improve our customer services to you. Have a great year!

By Patti Greenleaf

People are always asking, "What is the difference between Save and Save As?" The first time you save there is not a difference between selecting File, Save or File, Save As. You will be asked to give a storage location (i.e. floppy disk, server, or hard drive) for the file and a filename, no matter which of the two selections you make. The difference between the two commands comes about on your subsequent saving of the file. If you are saving a file and want it to have the same name and same storage location then you would select File, Save. This saves the file without giving you an option to change the name or storage location. If you have made changes to the file and would like to either give it a new filename or storage location then you must select File, Save As which will give you the dialog box which allows you to change either the name or location. Using the File, Save As, is one way to make backups of your files. For instance, let's say the default location for saving your information is on the hard drive but you like to keep a floppy disk back up of important information. You would first save the file like you normally do on the hard drive and then select File, Save As, and where it says File Location you would select the 31/2" floppy disk.

By Casey Smythe

When educators discuss using electronic sources for research, we initially (and often exclusively) think of the Internet. Unfortunately, teachers and students often find using the Internet frustrating because it can be difficult to narrow searches to relevant sites and nearly impossible to determine the credibility of those sites that do apply. Electronic databases eliminate these difficulties. What were once little more than computerized indexes now contain useful summaries, full text articles, attached graphics and media files and complex search features. Canyon del Oro library uses a variety of databases on CD available campus wide. These include: SIRS Researcher, SIRS Government Reporter and SIRS Renaissance for periodicals in social, life and physical sciences; Infotrac for current periodicals and journals; Choices and Ferguson's Encyclopedia of Careers for career and college planning; Encyclopedia of Biography; and Best of Poetry and Columbia Granger's Poetry. In addition, the library also subscribes to Infotrac and SIRS on-line services for the most up-to-date information. Students are even able to access these on-line services from home! These databases give results that are more pertinent and reliable than many websites, resulting in more productive research time. By the way, CDO's library is open to the public as a Tucson-Pima Public Library Homework Help location on Monday and Thursday evenings from 4 to 8 PM.

By Jim Davis

Pop quiz! Put your notebooks under your desk! The only thing I want to see is a #2 pencil and this test!

(Boy, I've always wanted

to say that! J)

1) If you have a

Pentamation

problem, whom

would you call?

(a) The Tech Hotline

(x5078)

(b) The MIS

Department (x5163)

(c) Kathy Sheppard

(x5219)

2) If you have a SASI XP problem, whom do you call?

(a) Ron Shannon (x5216)

(b) The MIS Department (x5163)

(c) Sue Sledge (x5214)

3) If you have a flatbed scanner attached to your computer in the lab, whom do you call FIRST?

(a) Your local Tech Coach

(b) The Tech Hotline (x5078)

(c) Margaret Harris (x5212)

4) If you have a ScanTron scanner that you use in the office for attendance with SASI, whom would you call?

(a) The Tech Hotline (x5078)

(b) The MIS Department (x5163)

(c) Jim Davis (x6216)

5) If a computer in your classroom breaks, whom do you call FIRST?

(a) The Tech Hotline (x5078)

(b) Your local Tech Coach

(c) The MIS Department (x5163)

6) If a computer in the front office breaks, whom do you call FIRST?

(a) Your local Tech Coach

(b) The Tech Hotline (x5078)

(c) Richard Coca (x6215)

7) When reporting a broken computer (or printer, or network problem) to the Tech Hotline, you need to provide what information?

(a) Brand name of unit, S/N, model number, location (i.e. room number), name and extension of contact and exact nature of problem including error messages.

(b) Just your name and the fact you are having some sort of computer problem

(c) The number and color of each of the puppies your dog just had.

ANSWER KEY:

1) 'C' is correct. You should call Kathy Sheppard directly. She is only one person, so you may need to leave a message, but she will get back to you as soon as she can!

2) 'B' is correct in this case. Brad Shankles and the MIS Department handle everything about SASI with one exception: If you just received a new computer and we forgot to install an icon for SASI, we in Technology will do that.

3) If you answered 'A', you would get a gold star. Flatbed scanners are typically installed in computer labs. The Tech Coach is your first line of defense for these computers. If they can't fix it, then they are the ones who should call it into the Tech Hotline.

4) Remember question 2? 'B' is still correct. MIS does all things SASI, even the scanners.

5) If your answer was either 'A' or 'C', you would be WRONG! J The correct answer is 'B'. In order to help us, we would like the point of contact to be one person for classrooms and labs and one for the office. And oftentimes, the Tech Coach can fix it quicker than we can.

6) 'B' would be the most correct answer. Most of the times there is someone in the front office that calls in all repairs, which is what we would like.

7) Please tell me you answered 'A'! It is a lot, but it really helps us to make sure we have all the right tools and software needed to fix what is broken. For Macs, right on the front it will tell you if it is a PowerMac 5200, LCIII, or iMac or G3. For the HP computers, there is a little sticker on almost all of them on bottom of the right side that will have all the numbers we need. And right now, we only have one model of Gateway. The more info you can throw at us, the better.

So, how did you do?

Though it might be tempting to call us directly for problems, it is often not the best idea. We have 26 different sites, with over 2000 employees, and over 3600 pieces of computer, printing, and networking gear to keep floating around in our heads and sometimes something falls out and makes a mess on the carpet. By making sure all calls are called into the Hotline, we can make sure they are on the list and will be taken care of. If you have a question as to where your problem stands on the list, your Tech Coach can look at our list for you.

By Peggy Steffens

The 8th Annual Teaching and Technology Conference will be held on Saturday, January 22, 2000. The conference will be held at Tucson High. The cost is $20.00.

The conference will feature exhibitors and presentations on the Internet, multimedia, telecommunications, curriculum integration, and presentation graphics. The keynote speaker is Dr. Michael Milone and many of you may know him from his column in the Technology & Learning magazine. Registration information may be obtained on the web at www.ed.arizona.edu/tc/ or by contacting your Technology Coach, Patti Greenleaf, or me.

By Peggy Steffens

Many teachers enjoy having students write to other students. With the Internet, students can write to other students across town or across the globe using email. If you have a specific goal in mind, you may contact an agency and ask if personnel in their department would communicate with your students, or you can find lists of keypals online.

Jill Coulter, an art specialist at Coronado, wanted her students to communicate with art curators, directors, conservators and others as part of a study on careers in art. She contacted the University of Arizona Museum of Art and the Center for Creative Photography and found a list of people who would be willing to answer questions her students asked. The project was a huge success because of the planning and preparation that Jill did. First, she had her students write a rough draft of their email. In the email, they had to introduce themselves, write three questions that could not be answered with a Yes or No answer, and they had to end their email with a conclusion. The students then proofread the email and there was student and teacher editing. Next the students logged on to the Internet using the Teacher's email account and sent the message. If the students sent two email messages they were able to go on a field trip to tour the museums and meet the staff members they wrote to. The students were most excited to get to class and see if they had a response. Ms. Coulter created a "You've got Mail" bulletin board and posted the responses so everyone could learn and share in the excitement. The students received wonderful and very lengthy responses to their questions and were learning from professionals who never had to leave their office.

Many teachers use keypals as a format for cultural exchange so that students can talk to other students of the same age and learn from one another. Teachers have commented that when students receive email from students in other countries about what life is really like, it has a much stronger impact than reading it from a text- book or seeing it in a video.

If you are interested in finding keypals go to ePALS at www.epals.com and click on Find Classrooms. EPALS is the world's largest K-12 electronic penpal network; they have over 20,000 classrooms from 108 countries, and the service is free.

Here are more ideas for using keypals in your classroom:

• If students are using the teacher's email account, they should put the name of the student or group of students in the subject line so everyone will know who the message is for without having to open the message and read it.

• It is best to start an email project by communicating as a whole class with another whole class and discuss what information should be included in email messages.

• Teachers can allow students to meet and chat, but then students should focus on curricular topics.

• If you want all students to communicate with other students and not use the teacher's account, you could consider getting free email accounts at Hotmail or other free email sites.

• Students need to be taught how to correctly create an email document, what to put in the message, and how to address it.

• Students can write a rough draft message in a word processing program, save it and make changes, and then copy and paste it into the body of the email message when they are ready to send it.

By Patti Greenleaf

One of the allures of the Internet is the ability to receive and give information. Many of us have had our students write government officials but with the advances in technology the process can be easier. The following sites provide information about the Government, allow you to look up government officials and to email them.

E The People

http://www.e-thepeople.com/affiliates/national/index.cfm

E The People is a nonpartisan site that allows users to get a variety of information about the Government. You can get information about the 2000 Election, Petitions, or pending Legislation. There is a link that allows you to email government officials from local, state or federal branches of the government.

Write Your Representative

http://www.house.gov/writerep/

This site has you enter your ZIP Code and based on your ZIP Code tells you who your representative is. You fill out your name and address and then it provides you a place to write a message and send email to your representative.

Contacting The Senate

http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index_by_state.cfm

This site lists the United States Senators by state, provides a link to their web pages, and a link which allows you to email the Senator.

By Kathy Sheppard

When you want to make a technology support person cry - just say those words or ones similar to them; like, "all I did was download it from the Internet." Maintaining standards in hardware and software, for the more than 3000 computers the district currently has in use by over 2000 employees and thousands of students, is the only way the 10 support people in this department can support the repairs, installations, legal requirements, replacement parts, hardware upgrades, software upgrades, software support, system administration, and knowledge base, etc., for all those workstations and the hardware and software that provide networking capabilities and unification of district data via standard applications. Not to mention intercommunication and file sharing between district users.

This is why the district has established standards for workstations, software, desktop operating systems, networking hardware, printers, scanners, etc. We also have standards for system administration of the networking systems and district standard software, such as; Pentamation, Subfinder, Follett Library Systems, HR2000, SASIXP, Netscape, MSOffice, etc. If every person in the district decided what type of workstation or printer they wanted, what desktop operating system and application software they wanted to use - the job of maintaining everything would be impossible for any group of people. Therefore, we created committees to determine the needs of our employees and students and what the budget will allow, and decisions are based on the resulting criteria. This way everyone gets the same equipment and software.

Now, back to my original thought, if you (or one of your family members) installs software on your workstation (because you have it at home, or you think you'd like it) we have a myriad of issues that crop up. Many times this software is not licensed for use in the district which makes the district liable for huge fines; the software installation may interfere with the standard setup and could disable your workstation or a piece of software needed for district work; the software may contain viruses that infect not only your machine but our district servers (yes even shrink wrapped software straight from the store.) Then you may decide to remove the software using the Remove Software option. If you don't know exactly what you are doing you can remove shared files that disable other applications. All of these things impact our department for repairs, phone support and re-installations. Or, it could financially impact your department, if it is a non-standard application, your site or department may have to pay to have someone repair the computer.

So, please be very careful, visit our web site at www.amphi.com/depts/technology/specs.htm and read the software and hardware guidelines. There are categories of software with lists of software examples. The categories describe what is supported and what is not. Also, don't let any non-district person install software on your machine. These computers are owned by the district and should only be managed by district employees or vendors paid by the district. Protect yourself, your students and the district by following the established guidelines.

By Seth Butler

On the newest computers, our Gateway PC's, we have seen a tendency to try to turn them on when they are already running. If you see a Gateway that looks off, don't believe it unless all lights by the button on the front of the tower unit are off. If you press the On button of a computer that is already running, you could cause the hard drive to crash with loss of data or in a worse case scenario you could destroy your hard disk accidentally by crashing the file system. Press the space bar and wait 10 to 20 seconds to see if the light appears and the computer is on. Patience really is a virtue in this case.

By Will McCullen

Internet Filtering and Firewalls

Well, the time has finally come for Amphi to have a firewall and proxy. These are terms that are used often in the computer industry but for many folks they are still rather mysterious. I am going to do my level best to try and simplify the concepts behind these devices and let you know how they will affect Internet access.

It can be a jungle out there in the land of the Internet. I am sure you are well aware that there is a lot of material offered across the Internet that is not.well.exactly what you would call a positive influence for the goals of public education. Internet abuse is a well-published topic. We all know that there are sites that are absolutely counterproductive to the values that we would like to pass on and teach. These sites must be avoided for both moral and legal reasons. However, the Internet has proven to be an invaluable resource in education. Therein lies the struggle. How do we provide the content that we would like to enhance our curriculum while safeguarding our students? There have been many methods employed to try and solve this problem. Now, due to legislation that has been passed here in Arizona, we are required to utilize the method that endeavors to block disruptive content before it enters the district's network. This is where the proxy comes in.

A proxy is a service, or program, that runs on a machine in-between the Internet and the internal Amphitheater network. When configured correctly, whenever you use a browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer to surf the web, your request for an Internet site goes to the proxy before it goes to the Internet. The proxy takes your request and sends it to the Internet on your behalf. When the web page you requested returns from the Internet, it comes to the proxy first where the proxy will then save a copy of that page and then send it on to your browser. The advantage of a proxy is that you can put a program on it that will analyze the data as it passes through. The question then is, what sites are acceptable and which are not? Amphi will be utilizing a service called Cyberpatrol from The Learning Company. This service will send us a list of sites that they analyze for acceptable content, which we will incorporate into the proxy. The proxy we will be using will allow us to use Novell usernames and passwords to provide access to sites that are normally not permitted. This will allow teachers to search with less restriction. The other advantage to a proxy comes in to play when many browsers all request the same page. Once the page has been accessed, it is saved. When the other requests come in, they are answered by the proxy directly instead of having to go all the way out to the Internet. This can save a great deal of time and bandwidth.

The same software that we will be using for the proxy will also act as a firewall. A firewall protects machines on Amphi's internal network from unauthorized access from the Internet. A proxy will protect from web content and act as a go-between from an Amphi computer to the Internet. A firewall, on the other hand, will protect from direct access to the machines themselves. Firewalls have become a necessity these days to maintain privacy. For example, there is a program called Back Oriface that will fit on a floppy and when installed on a computer it then allows the installer to remotely add or remove files. With this capability, a student could potentially ask to use a teacher's computer to do a paper, install the program, and then later download any information, tests, passwords, etc. off of that machine. However, with a firewall in place, the data would be blocked from any direct access to that machine from the outside. Firewalls also protect from denial of service attacks that are designed to immobilize networks and 'deny' their use to any machines that happen to be hooked up to them. Once the stream of access is blocked it will also prevent internal machines from acting like servers. This will not affect web browsing in any way. If you remember, that is all being handled by the proxy server. The firewall will affect machines like FTP, and web servers that are hosting, or providing service to other computers. If you have such a project I would be happy to work with you to provide access. We will have a form that will detail the type of data that will need access and have entries for both Ron's signature and your local site administrator.

Once the proxy and firewall are in place you will probably notice very little difference in access to the Internet with the possible exception that response performance will increase. That difference would be very welcome indeed. A firewall and proxy will prove invaluable in maintaining safe and dependable

Internet service.

By Michael Warrick, 8th grade math teacher at Coronado K-8

I had all of my 8th grade students create electronic presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint. For those who are not familiar with Microsoft PowerPoint, it can be thought of as an electronic scrapbook. Students created a series of slides that contained text, pictures (taken from the Internet, clipart, or digital cameras), graphs (created in Microsoft Excel), mathematical equations (using Microsoft Equation), sound effects, etc. Students created anywhere from 4 to 25 slides depending on the complexity of their project. After the students were given approximately 5 hours of computer time to complete their PowerPoint projects, they each were required to present the slide show in front of peers. All of the presentations were based on projects found in the Scott-Foresman (Chicago Project) Mathematics Series. For example, some projects required estimating the time it takes to wash all the windows in the Empire State Building; others involved calculating the maximum amount of postage not possible with only 32› and 25› stamps (a tough project!) The picture below shows Daniel Franchi showing off the formula that solves that question.

Having only one computer in my room made this endeavor rather challenging. Fortunately, with support from Trish Ernst (Computer Teacher), Anne Booth (Science and Technology Teacher), Walter Dervin (Librarian) and fellow math teacher Mike Pastor, I was able to use many computers in one day. Many thanks to you all; I couldn't have done it without you. I took two classes to the library, two classes to the iMac Lab and had a few groups of students working in various classrooms throughout the campus. After spending 3 days in the labs, I allowed students to use the computer in my room to finish on a rotating basis. As an added benefit, all of our computers on campus are networked. This allows students who work in other teacher's rooms to access their file on the computer in my room, make changes, and save back to my computer. No floppy disks required!

I believe these projects are extremely beneficial for the students. First of all, the students were exposed to applications and exploration of various mathematical concepts. Second, they were allowed to present their mathematical ideas using all the creative tools of Microsoft PowerPoint. Third, they gained computer skills useful in later occupations. It's hard to pick up an airline magazine that isn't advertising some computer projection unit. Lastly, the students enjoyed the project. Student reaction to this project was very positive. They really looked forward to the time spent with the computers and, although were at first hesitant, enjoyed showing off their slide shows to their classmates. Below are some example slides created by one pair of students. The purpose of their project was to determine what size square should be cut out of each corner of an 8.5 by 11-inch piece of paper so when the paper was folded into a box it had the greatest volume. This gives you a nice sample of how students can use text, art, and graphs to produce a nice looking clear presentation.

If you have questions regarding this project, please feel free to contact me at 696-6681 or mwarrick@amphi.com.

By Peggy Steffens

There are currently over 46,000 computer viruses that can wreak havoc on your computer. We don't want you to lose the functionality of your computer or to bring our network down because you downloaded a virus from the Internet. The best advice we have is Don't double-click on any unknown executable file that you receive as an attachment on email. Many people say "but I received it from so and so and s/he is such a nice person." The truth is that the people sending the virus received it from someone else, who received it from someone else, and you don't know where the program originated from. Most viruses that we have received on our systems have come from people double clicking on some executable file (the name ends in .exe) that was attached to an email they received. We had one virus last year that people spread without even knowing they were doing it because it attached a second email message to each message sent with the virus. We try to protect you by having a virus program on our computers. But if you run the program by double-clicking it without first scanning the file or if the virus is new and the virus software doesn't know about that specific virus, the virus could harm your computer.

It seems that lately I have received a large amount of messages about viruses like the Elf Bowl virus and others. Luckily, many of these messages and the ones where you receive free gift certificates or money for forwarding the message on to your friends have been hoaxes. These messages that you forward take up space on the mail server and currently we are running out of space. So, please don't forward these chain letters, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, so don't waste space and time!

One of the recent messages I received was about the Elf Bowl virus and the email message stated "if you have received any of the following games:

Frogapult.exe Elfbowl.exe (Frog game and elf bowling)

Delete them completely out of your system, as they both have a delayed virus attached to them that will be activated on Christmas Day and will wipe out your system, boot sector, master boot record etc!!!

I have tested these two games on a test machine and Lo and Behold - KaBoom!!!

If you know of anyone else who has these games, let them know."

This was an example of an Internet virus hoax; it was not a virus. It sounded bad to scare you, but it was just a hoax.

If you ran this program you were lucky because it wasn't really a virus, but from now on, follow our advice, Don't click on any .exe files you receive as attachments. One way to check and see if something is a virus or a hoax is to go to http://urbanlegends.about. com/culture/beliefs/urbanlegends/ and look at a list of the current viruses and hoaxes; it will tell you if it is a true virus or a hoax.

By Lisa Romas

It seems that all the Copper Creek students have a question in the lab at once. So we can get to them in order, we started this routine. When a student has a question, s/he writes the computer number on the white board in the front of the room. As the questions are answered completely, the teacher erases the number.

To help with the rest of our day we've included some of our favorite lesson planning sites:

PBS Online - for more than 300 TV shows and specials. Features 10 sections for easy searchability. PBS Teacher Source has over 1000 lesson plans. Other sections are devoted to subjects exclusively. www.pbs.org/teachersource/

Ameritech - ideas for using technology in the classroom with lesson plans, teaching ideas, contests and links. education.ameritech.com

Connecting Students - Lesson plans, links, and student educational games www.connectingstudents.com/

G.R.A.D.E.S. - Education-relate Internet sites. A great resources for all teachers.www.connectedteacher.

com/home.asp

GirlTECH -Lesson plans using the Internet. www.crpc.rice.edu/CRPC/Women/GirlTECH/Lessons

A-Z Teacher Stuff - Searchable lesson plans. atozteacherstuff.com

LessonStop - Lessons are divided by grade level and category, also some good Internet

site links. www.lessonstop.org/

Marc'sLessonPlans - K-5 plans mostly, some K-12. www.halcyon.com/marcs/lessons.html

By Patti Greenleaf

Many of you are aware of and have used some of the Tom Snyder simulations that we have available in the Media Center. These simulations are great for exposing students to technology, getting them to work cooperatively, solve problems, and make informed decisions. The Tom Snyder company has gone the next step and now has their popular Decisions, Decisions simulation online. What is very exciting about it is that it is currently FREE!

Teachers are able to register their class, get printouts of necessary materials and download video segments to learn more about the issue. For each of the simulations your students take on the role of being a government representative. There is an introductory video segment where the students are introduced to the issue. Once they view the segment the students pick a goal related to the issue; they then watch another video segment giving more in depth information regarding the problem. They are then given a chance to vote on what to do about the issue. There is then a closing video showing the possible consequences of their decision. Each vote of people who have registered for the online simulation will be tallied so that your students can compare their votes to other participants across the country. Several extensions to the simulation include a link to be able to have your students write their representatives about the issue, a place to express opinions online and receive feedback from others, a quiz that has been developed pertaining to the issue, and a variety of related sites on the issue.

The online simulation is appropriate for grades 5 through 12 in a variety of subject areas. The topics they have developed are relevant and current, and they post a new topic every month. You can either participate in the current issue or one of the back issues. The topics they have had to date include Animal Testing, the Death Penalty, Cloning, and Gun Control.

The one limitation to the simulation is the amount of time it takes to download the video segments. As with any time you are trying to download movies from the Internet it takes awhile (10-20 minutes per video) for each video segment to download. The company is aware of the problem and is trying to come up with solutions but until that time here are a couple of suggestions. Use a web page capturing software program such as Web Whacker if your school has it. Or what one teacher has done, who has used it with her class, is to download the video segment before class. If you choose to do it this way you can only watch one video segment a day. Also beware that once you leave a video segment page when you go back to it the video will need to be reloaded.

The URL for the Decisions, Decisions Online is http://www.tomsnyder.com/ ddonline/ Despite the video limitations of the simulation the site provides an excellent way of incorporating technology into your classroom. If you want to learn more about how to effectively use these online simulations in your class, sign up for Social Studies and Science TomSnyder Simulations Online (TS1); the class will be offered on February 15, 2000 in the Wetmore Training Lab from 4:00-7:00 p.m.

By Cathy Burg

Students at Mesa Verde are very excited about their new computer lab. The arrival of 30 Gateway computers has made a major impact on how students learn many of their core subjects. Gone are the days of taking tests on paper. Now, Mr. Govig's 4th grade students come into the lab, open the class folder located on the school server, and take their weekly tests in the computer lab. With the addition of a new Proxima Projector, Mrs. Nolan's 5th grade students can easily follow the step by step procedures for writing letters on Microsoft Word. Mrs. Lantz's 4th grade class is also using the Proxima Projector to learn the ins and outs of Excel. Mrs. Kittell's and Ms. Jenning's 2nd grade classes are busy using Student Writing Center to complete many of their classroom assignments. Our teachers are also busy learning about the core software. They are able to have regularly scheduled training times with our computer tech Mrs. Neibel. All staff are quickly becoming technology proficient.

By Peggy Steffens

Although it was 1999 just a few weeks ago, it sounds like a long time ago when we say "Do you remember back in the 1900s when we ..." Since we are entering a new century and millennium, I think it is good to take a look back at the technological advances we have seen in our time. We can look at when we adopted these technologies into our lives. While we do this, we must also realize that the students we teach don't see these things as technological advances because they have always been a part of their life. Students don't know a time without cellular phones, CD-ROMs, the World Wide Web, pagers, or computers; they take these items for granted. We must make sure we prepare them for the world in which they live, the 21st century.

In a quote from Morrison and Schmid, "Today's average consumers wear more computing power on their wrists than existed in the world before 1961." We have come a long way, and the new century will take us even further.

Let's take a took back at the 1900s.

1952 Sony offers a miniature transistor radio.

1952 Telephone area codes - now our state had to create more.

1954 Regular color TV broadcasts begin -when did you get your first color TV?

1955 Touch tone telephones - students today don't know what a rotary phone is.

1969 ARPANET - first Internet nodes developed for the military.

1971 Intel introduces the first microprocessor chip - how fast was your first microprocessor?

1972 Pong Video game starts the video craze - did you play this? What would the children of today think of this game?

1975 Betamax / VHS debate - which did you think was superior?

1977 Radio Shack introduces first personal computer with keyboard and CRT display - how much RAM did your first computer have?

1977 Apple Computer begins delivery of the Apple II computer - who still has one?

1980 Sony Walkman - how long before you had one?

1981 First mouse pointing device - do you remember using a computer without a mouse?

1983 Cellular phone network starts in U.S. - did you think so many people would have cell phones when this fad started?

1984 Apple Macintosh computer introduced - do you remember how exciting MacPaint was?

1984 Portable compact disc players are in the market.

1986 Cable Shopping Networks arrive.

1987 CD-ROM drives - do you remember loading new software before CD-ROMs?

1991 Power PC chip introduced - and the speed keeps going and going and going.

1993 Mosaic, the first graphical web browser, is introduced - do you remember using the Internet before graphical browsers?

So, remember life way back in the 1900s and prepare for the future.

By Matt Weber

When you open files that reside on the server these files are locked open and reserved for you. This is done to prevent two people from trying to change the same document at the same time and one of them losing their changes. If you leave your applications running when you go home at night these files are still locked open and will not be backed up during the nightly backup. So, if there is a need to restore the file from the backup it will be impossible to do. Always close your applications before leaving for the day so that all the files you store on the servers are properly backed up every night.

By Peggy Steffens

Sometimes we hear people talk about kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes and it gets confusing. Computers use binary digits, 0's and 1's, called bits. It takes 8 bits to make one byte, and a byte usually represents one character. Here is a description about each of the units of measure.

Kilobyte (KB) usually refers to approximately 1000 bytes of disk space and techies call it "K."

Megabyte (MB) usually refers to approximately 1,000,000 bytes of disk space and techies call it "Meg."

Gigabyte (GB) usually refers to approximately 1,000,000,000 bytes of disk space and techies call it "Gig."

By Jennifer Lambert, Rio Vista Technology Specialist

Today we move forward into the millennium, and we want our children prepared for the future. Society is already deeply entrenched in the computer age and it is not soon to end. The world progresses at a faster and faster rate everyday and we want the children of today to be technologically prepared for the world of tomorrow. One method of preparation is to introduce the children to technology as soon as possible. As they grow and become more fluent they can learn to assist others. To teach them how to be teachers themselves we have created a computer club.

To be eligible for the computer club a student must be in fourth, fifth, or sixth grade. Students must have teacher approval and must be well behaved. The computer club meets every other Wednesday during lunch. We discuss what we would like to see happening at Rio Vista and how we can help teachers and students. This year club members have learned how to install software, turn the machines on and off correctly, and switch printers in the computer lab. The students are learning how to solve small problems that arise such as when when a computer 'freezes' and what error messages may mean.

The club held a 'goodie' sale to raise money for hardware and software. We raised over $100.00 and bought the computer lab a new scanner. We also bought new CD cases to replace old broken ones, and a few Living Books for the lab. The students worked really hard and had a great time.

In the future we would like to be able to create a computer club web page. Our goal is to get more students involved.

By Jim Davis

For a while now, I have been testing an e-mail mailing list for the tech coaches and staff of the Technology Department. I would like to take this time to invite the rest of you to join us in seeing if this is a tool that we want to keep, or if it really is not needed.

"What are you talking about?" you might be asking. Well it is this: It is a program (I will call it a "list" from now on) that you give your e-mail address to. Then you can send mail to it, and the list will turn around and send that same message to everyone else that is "subscribed" to it. So, if you have a question about how to use your computer, you could send e-mail to the list and out of the 17 or so Tech Coaches or the 8 or so of the Tech Department staff, one should have the answer! It's cool.

"So, how do I sign up?" Good question! All you have to do is send e-mail to:

majordomo@host28.donaldson.amphi.com and in the body of the message type: subscribe techcoach

and send it. You will get two emails back (almost right away). One will just tell you that the list has received your request, and the other is a confirmation request. It will tell you that you need to send back a code. Just follow the directions. From then on out, if you want to send mail to the list, all you need to do is address your e-mail to techcoach@host28.donaldson.amphi.com, add your subject and message as normal!

Some caveats to keep in mind: The computer that is running the list is not a permanent fixture. If the list is not used, it may go away with very little warning. Also, because this is still in "test mode" there might be a few errors now and again. This list is only for District employees. Please do not subscribe from home, or have all your friends and family sign up. If your question has to do with your personal computer at home, please state so in the subject line, and do not be upset if no one answers right away or at all, as we all have enough to do to keep the computers in the District up and running. Also, please do not use the list to "call in" repair items, please continue to use the x5078 Hotline. If you have any questions about this project, please email me at jdavis@amphi.com. Thanks!

By Seth Butler

In Windows 95 there is a curious feature that has been causing havoc. PC's around the district have a battery saving feature used for laptops installed by default on them. Since we have only a few laptops where this is actually needed, this feature has caused more problems rather than preventing some. The problems that occur are the loss of communication with the network printer and that Word or Excel files display a message that says a "Serious Disk Error occurred" and the program closes. Here is the resolution to this problem:

1. Go to Start and pull to Settings.

2. Click on Control Panel.

3. Double Click on Power.

4. If this feature is on (and you do not have a laptop) please de-select any and all power saving features.

5. Click OK and say yes to restart your computer.

Now you should not lose communication with your printer nor get any disturbing messages in Word or Excel.

By Kathy Sheppard

If you don't want to be notified every time you print (that little box that pops up to tell you your print job has been sent and you have to click 'Close' to get rid of it) you can disable that feature. Follow these steps.

Select Start.

Select Settings.

Select Printers.

Highlight the printer icon of the printer on which you want to disable the Notify feature.

Select File from the Printers menu.

Select Properties.

Select the Printer Settings tab.

At the bottom of the Printer Settings tab you will see Other Settings.

Click on the Notify box to de-select it. (When you are done there should not be a check in the Notify box.)

When you are done be sure to select the OK button at the bottom of the Properties screen to save the changes.

You should no longer receive that Notify box when you print.

By Claudio Araya

The PBS video series "A Science Odyssey" is now available for checkout from the media center. Using original film, archival footage, photos, animations of scientific phenomena, primary source documents, expert interviews, and oral history, this series tells of achievement and failure, greatest moments and worst nightmares. Each two-hour episode follows a different scientific area through the twentieth century: medicine and public health, physics and astronomy, human behavior, technology, and earth and life sciences. Several stories make up each program, capturing the character of scientific discovery while maintaining a human perspective. The programs are:

V 981 Matters of Life and Death

This program tracks the passion and determination of medical work in the twentieth century. Dramatic experiments, the "politics" of science, and races against the clock form a backdrop to the discovery of new treatments, antibiotics, and advances in surgery and medical technology that have lengthened our lives and caused us to rethink our assumptions about life and death.

V 982 Mysteries of the Universe

In 1900, like today, the everyday world seemed to follow Newton's laws of physics. But from the opening days of the century, discoveries about the hidden workings of that everyday world suggest all is not as it seems. Quantum theory, relativity, nuclear power, and clues about the birth and death of the universe have rocked our deepest beliefs. "Mysteries of the Universe" brings us close to the men and women - with their ambitions, intuitions, talents, and faults - whose work forever altered astronomy and physics.

V 983 In Search of Ourselves

This program traces the pendulum swing of psychological theory from nurture and back again. Case studies, classic experiments, and research on the brain blaze this trail of discovery, revealing what we have learned about ourselves and what still remains a riddle. We also see the dark side of our faith in the perfectibility of human nature, as scientific ideas are twisted to fit political agendas. "In Search of Ourselves" is a story of the lessons learned, as well as the ways which we have learned them.

V 984 Bigger, Better, Faster

Technology has changed our lives, our work, and the way we think about the world in the twentieth century. This program traces that revolution from a time of unparalleled enthusiasm for technology to a time of doubt and questioning. Meet the inventors, entrepreneurs, and industrial scientists whose work fueled this technological boom. Trace the development of new technologies and the industries they spawned.

V 985 Origins

For centuries, humans have asked: How was the Earth formed? where did we come from? What makes us human? This search for beginnings has led twentieth-century scientists on an astounding journey. From the Arctic tundra to Africa's Olduvai Gorge, paleontologists, biologists, and geologists find new clues to the origins of our planet, our species, and life itself. In their quest, they ignite a fierce contest between opposing interpretations of the evidence, a struggle that helps drive science.

By Gordon Larsen

Transceivers using a private line (PL) tone, also known as tone-coded squelch, have this feature programmed into the radio for purposes of blocking out the reception of unwanted transmissions on the same frequency. The sound coming from the radio's speaker is squelched until the circuit receives the correct tone signal. The intended recipient will not hear your transmission unless you are transmitting the correct tone signal.

Radios with a separate squelch control can activate the tone feature by putting the squelch in the tone position (turning the control in the extreme counterclockwise direction

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until it stops and a click is heard). The squelch can also be set to pickup all transmissions by turning the control in the clockwise direction until the hiss sound just disappears. Radios that have a squelch control include the Maxon CS-0510, CP-0510/1015 and SP-5250, the Motorola p10/50, and the Jobcom/Pagecom JBC-100/RT-15C, Standard HX240V.

Radios that don't have a squelch control may use a separate switch or MON button to engage or disengage the receive tone feature. These radios include the Maxon SP-2550, Motorola P110, and SP10/21/50.

The Motorola SP10 radios have a frequency board and an optional tone board containing small dip switches that allow the user to change the transmit frequency and/or the tone frequency. The Maxon CP & CS series radios may have the optional tone board. The Motorola P10/50 may have the optional tone board. The Motorola SP21 can be programmed for transmit and tone frequencies using the transmit and monitor switches by the user. The Maxon SP series, Motorola P110, HT600/1000 and SP50 have to have the transmit and PL tones programmed into them by a computer with the appropriate software.

Remember that radios that have a private line tone feature installed, will not necessarily prevent others from hearing what you may think are private conversations. PL tones only prevent you from hearing other distracting transmissions on your transmit frequency.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding transceivers, give me a call at extension 6200.

By Raul Bejarano

In the next couple of months the Technology department will be adding Netscape version 4.7 to HPs and Gateways. If by chance you have already upgraded your own computer you might have run into some of these problems. For instance, some of the older versions of Netscape 3.0 do not always transfer your book marks or address book to the new version of Netscape. You should check these items before you remove the old Netscape. If you have already removed the old version you will have in most cases lost these files. If you have not removed the old version you should transfer them using the following steps.

Address book:

Go to the old Netscape, find your address book and select one address by clicking once, then go to the edit menu and click select all.

Go to File and export them to your desktop.

Close the old Netscape and return to the new one.

Find your Address heading and go to File and choose Import.

Netscape will then ask you to select the import format.

Select LDIF file(address book) then click Next.

You should have a box with a heading Import LDIF file. Below should say Look In.

Click on the triangle and scroll up until you see the desktop, select it.

Now click on your address book, then click open and the job will be complete.

Bookmarks:

Go to Windows Explorer and open it. Find Program Files and double click on it.

Look for Netscape and double click on it. Depending on what version you have there may be two to choose from. You want to double click on the older version.

You should see a file called users. Double click on that and then find your name and double click on it.

Look for a file called Bookmark. It also might be Book.htm.

Select it with the right mouse button, hold it down and drag it to your desktop.

Now release the button and click Copy Here.

Now open the new Netscape and go to bookmarks and click on Edit Bookmarks.

Select Import under the File menu. The steps you did to import you address book are very much alike. Choose "look in," scroll to desktop, select your file, and click open.

If you should have trouble we will be more than happy to help you. Call 5078 and request us to come and help you.