Four day week!

Having just a four day week was really exciting! The work this week was just a tad bit less than a regular week. We began this week with an introduction to Google Reader/RSS Feed. To help us get a better understanding of how to use Google Reader we watched a youtube video similar to the one below and worked on a very simple worksheet. The video I have posted is just the basics of Google Reader. There are a few crucial things that the video didn't really go into detail about. So I will give a brief explanation of the left out details.


                                             

                                                                    Link to Video

                                                                                           
                
                                                                                
You can subscribe to websites or blogs through Google Reader. An important tool of Google Reader is RSS Feed. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It helps you keep up with favorite websites by updating articles automatically when needed. Whenever you want to subscribe to a website or blog, look for the RSS symbol. Below is a picture of what the RSS icon resembles. When you locate the symbol on the website or blog, you just simply click on it.

                                                                    
                                                                              

Description found at: http://www.argazkiak.org/gaztelumendi/tag/rss/

                                       Date: 2010-05-02

                                                                    

If the RSS Feed symbol can not be found, do not be distressed. There is another way to subscribe when there is no RSS Feed. You can just copy the URL of what you  want to subscribe to. Afterwards, you go back to Google Reader and click the subscribe button. In the box that shows, you paste the URL that you have copied and hit subscribe. Want to know how to keep your subscriptions organized? Having folders based on the subject of your subscription is a good way to be organized. After you have read an article it is marked as read and does not show up again. We were required to subscribe to our classmates blogs and comment on a partners.

Something cool we learned about this week is favicons. For those of you who don't know what a favicon is, it is the icon you see at the corner of your web-address bar when you visit a website. We created a favicon of our own blogs. It was fun seeing my classmates creative ideas for their favicon.

In addition to being introduced to Google Reader/ RSS Feed we learned some basic rules on email etiquette. The class, as a whole, looked at a presentation and took a few notes. Basically we discussed over how crucial it is to be careful of what you do with emails and how you send them. Some of the notes I have taken are listed below.

Basic Email Etiquette Rules:

1. Do not use CAPS because they are considered yelling/shouting.
2. Over punctuating is also considered yelling/shouting.
3. Avoid emoticons.
4. Explain Acronyms.
5. Keep slang at a minimum.
6. Check spelling and grammar before sending.
7.  Text messaging abbreviations are confusing.  

  

Things to think about before you send emails:

1. Limit use of reply to all.
2.  Is your email needed?
3. Is your message complete and appropriate?

A few ways to make your email exceptional:

1. Format your message with bullets and paragraphs.
2. Use keywords in subject line.
3. Break your message into sections and don't over explain if the person you are sending to knows the details.
4. Explain any attachment.
5. If a topic is bounced back and fourth more than 3 times call the person or schedule a meeting.
6.  If you are really mad about a topic wait 24 hours before you send the email.

Don't let people violate your computer:

1. There are people all over the world that participate in phishing. When you get emails that look official and ask for personal or financial information just delete it. When you click or respond to it and give the wrong person your information, they can use it for whatever they want.
2. Spams are ads or scams that you get in your email. When you get a spam email just delete it! Replying or unsubsribing gives your address for more spam.
3. A virus is the worst thing that could happen to a computer. Its an installed software that crashes your computer or monitors and control it. You only receive a virus when you click or or open a program. Virus's can be installed to your computer even without your knowledge.   

Overall this week went well. I didn't even know what a favicon was until now.  Google Reader has helped me out on a lot of things. Now I can keep track of classmates blogs that I have subscribed to. I can also subscribe to different websites also. Learning email etiquette was also really interesting. Now I can properly send emails to teachers or other peers. There wasn't really anything negative about this week. Everything I was taught helped me in a very positive way.