Microsoft free tools #5 - Microsoft Photostory

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Microsoft</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Photo Story <span style="float: none;">3</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">is a very popular free</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">application<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">that allows users to create a visual story (</span></span>show and tell<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">presentation) from their digital photos.</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">The software allows adding narration, effects, transitions and background music to create a</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Windows Media Video<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">movie file with pan and zoom effects. Once a photo story has been made it can be played on a PC using</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Windows Media Player. <span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;">Here is a tutorial for using Photostory 3 from the Partners in Learning UK YouTube channel</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ETP_JuN3zEg" width="420"></iframe><br /><br />Classroom uses for this programme are endless.<br />*It can be used to provide tutorials for the students.<br />*It can be used to reflect on a year in a class.<br />*Outings can be recorded on Photostory 3.<br />*It is very useful to use for students to create projects. </div>

Microsoft tools Photostory3 Web tools Microsoft free tools #5 - Microsoft Photostory

Microsoft   Photo Story  3   is a very popular free   application   that allows users to create a visual story ( show and tell   presentatio...

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Thinkquest training in Ghana

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is a guest post submitted by Claire Dean from Stirling Primary. Claire has been a Microsoft Innovative Teacher finalist twice. She has been a world-wide winner of the Thinkquest projects competition along with Brenda Hallowes from Port Elizabeth in 2009. Claire is also a trainer with SchoolNet SA.</span></i> <br /><br />The Ghanaian Ministry of Education requested training on “Getting started with ThinkQuest Projects”. Claire Dean (from East London) and Shirley-Ann Oldnall Jansen (from Irene) facilitated these workshops in Accra, Ghana at the beginning of October 2011. They also had a meeting with Mr Charles Aheto-Tsegah, the Deputy Director General of the Ghana Education Service. He would like to put ThinkQuest in all Ghanaian schools with internet connectivity. All went very well and it was a great experience.<br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Below you can see Claire, Richmond Atta-Williams (of the MoE), Shirley, and Harry Tetteh (former ThinkQuest competition winner as a student in front of the National ICT and Science Resource Centre where the training was held.</div></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6qnbGGTVpEBSYtNHC8_M_PAUqADY-Yyu3eys6PoMpU3qYKcJ5NvYAlpQUR0Q37sMhS-meigxhTdRrxmAnfOCE1asIAIwT3oUZy1ZRLOfOFlglOeRIjbgT3qHDnpLlRgOWYucl0U5_jw/s1600/100_3655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6qnbGGTVpEBSYtNHC8_M_PAUqADY-Yyu3eys6PoMpU3qYKcJ5NvYAlpQUR0Q37sMhS-meigxhTdRrxmAnfOCE1asIAIwT3oUZy1ZRLOfOFlglOeRIjbgT3qHDnpLlRgOWYucl0U5_jw/s400/100_3655.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQgGH0HTWTLEckBpSBfjuE2ktK5rJ87RtoUQHK5Jg5RV_Dw-qZGtMi5hBzr17QFBEkiBe2MOFeDoHNDUB7iU-yBCK5qQKz3qSPiIMwCFiPBLGC03j6UWjd63kAZz2XpD52u0TptitASk/s1600/100_3661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQgGH0HTWTLEckBpSBfjuE2ktK5rJ87RtoUQHK5Jg5RV_Dw-qZGtMi5hBzr17QFBEkiBe2MOFeDoHNDUB7iU-yBCK5qQKz3qSPiIMwCFiPBLGC03j6UWjd63kAZz2XpD52u0TptitASk/s400/100_3661.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shirley and Claire relaxing on the hotel's private beach</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div>

Guest post profiles Training Thinkquest training in Ghana

This is a guest post submitted by Claire Dean from Stirling Primary. Claire has been a Microsoft Innovative Teacher finalist twice. She has ...

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How to ask touchy interview questions

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><i><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"></span></i></b></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal arial, helvetica;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="tblContent"><tbody><tr id="trContent"><td align="center" class="cb_style tcContent" id="tcContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><div class="cbArticleWrapper" style="background-color: white; text-align: left; width: 750px;"><div class="cbArticleContentWrapper" style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 15px; width: 750px;"><div class="cbArticleRight" style="width: 560px;"><div class="RXart" style="padding-right: 20px;"><div class="ArticleHeadline" style="margin-top: -30px;"><div class="cbmsnArticleImage" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/kd/ar5f26v7935x3s9j0vkd.gif?time=6/28/2011%202:56:31%20pm" /></div><div style="color: #333333; font: italic normal normal 16px/normal arial, helvetica;"><span id="cbArticle_lblHeadline2">Bringing up salary, benefits and vacation during the interview</span></div><b><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine">Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder Writer</span></b> </div><br /><div class="ArticleContent"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Unless you belong to a select group of people, you need a job in order to survive. Oprah Winfrey doesn't need to work another day in her life. The rest of us would have a hard time paying the electric bill without a job.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Yet, when we're going through the song and dance of interviewing for a job, we pretend as if money isn't on the top of our list of priorities. Job-search etiquette dictates waiting for the employer to bring up salary, benefits and vacation. Conventional wisdom says that if you bring it up, you appear more focused on the perks than on doing the job, which sends a bad sign to employers. So you interview over the phone and in person, and after days or weeks of conversation about the job, you don't know how much it pays or if you would be able to leave early on occasion to pick up your son from school. These issues can be deal breakers for many job seekers, but they're taboo topics during the interview process.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">If time is money, then both the hiring manager and the job seeker should be happy to get the basics out of the way before wasting time with interviews that might not matter if the salary is too low. We decided to find out if there is a way to bring up these touchy subjects in a more timely manner.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Should you do it?</b><br />Before job seekers can even ponder how to bring up these issues, the primary concern is whether they should even broach the subjects or if they would be making a heinous misstep. For many employers, as long as your approach is reasonable and tactful, you don't need to worry.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"It's definitely fine to ask about the salary, benefits and perks early in the process," says author and corporate recruiter Vicki Salemi. "Think of it this way: Sometimes recruiters will push candidates to give them a ballpark salary requirement and they'll say they can't proceed without knowing so everyone's on the same page. Shouldn't you also feel entitled to knowing information upfront to not waste anyone's time? You're doing everyone, including yourself, a favor by asking and getting an overall idea of the complete package."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">You certainly can ruin your chances of being hired by asking the questions the wrong way, Salemi says, but the topics alone won't overshadow your résumé and experience. Workplace expert Lynn Taylor, CEO of Santa Monica-based Lynn Taylor Consulting, also views these supposedly taboo topics as essential information for job seekers.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"You have every right to know what you will and won't get, so don't be afraid to ask before the end of the second interview," Taylor advises. "During the first interview, you'll want to get a general idea, ideally from the human resources department (assuming you were interviewed by HR), as these are more administrative questions."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">That said, Taylor does suggest making this line of questioning one of your last orders of business, but not because it could harm your chances of getting hired. Instead, Taylor says, waiting can help you receive a better salary offer.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Often there is room for negotiation on everything. The more valuable you are as a candidate, the more leverage you have. You are best served to determine how well-suited you are for the job before you begin asking about perks," she explains.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>How to do it</b><br />Now that you know that you can safely bring up sensitive topics during an interview on your own timeline, you need to know how to do it. After all, asked in the wrong way, any question can be damaging during a job interview. Here are five guidelines from career experts on how to raise the questions, get the information you need and stay on the interviewer's good side.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Be assertive but reasonable</b><br />"Simply ask in an assertive way," says Salemi, author of "Big Career in the Big City." "You can couch it with a statement such as, 'I don't want to sound presumptuous as if I expect to already get this job, but I would like to know the salary range before proceeding.' Or, 'I am actively interviewing and evaluating offers right now which include evaluating not only the salary but personal time off and benefits, as well as perks. Would you be able to share this information with me at this point in time?'"</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Prove why it's in their interest, too</b><br />"[Recruiters] don't want to waste their time, so remind them of that fact," says Alex Buznego, business development and marketing services manager for marketing organization Inktel. "'Mr. Recruiter, I know your time is valuable and that the last thing you'd want to do is waste your time on a candidate who wasn't a perfect fit. With that in mind -- and I acknowledge these questions are difficult to discuss upfront -- would it be OK if we discussed some uncomfortable questions today?'"</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">You want to know about this information so you don't waste your time, and the interviewer probably feels the same way, too.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Be polite</b><br />When you want to bring up an uncomfortable topic, whether it's benefits or work schedules, you can ease into it by asking for the interviewer's permission to ask the question, Buznego says.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"It's a simple gesture and somewhat of a rhetorical one," Buznego asks. "'Do you mind if I ask a couple of uncomfortable questions?' Don't worry, they are going to say yes, and it starts to break down the tension."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Wait for the right moment</b><br />Syndi Seid, founder of Advanced Etiquette, a business and social etiquette consulting organization, suggests job seekers wait for a chance to ask their question rather than force it into the interview. When the interviewer asks if you have any questions at the end of the interview, Seid suggests you take this as your cue.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"You then say, 'Thank you for asking. There is one item I realized we didn't discuss ...'" Seid says. "Always couch and sandwich difficult situations by saying something good and nice to start, hit them with the hard stuff, then end with something uplifting and positive."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Ultimately what matters is that you read the cues of the interviewer and ask what makes you feel comfortable and what suits the mood of the moment. As long as you're polite and ask your questions in a reasonable manner, you can walk out of the interview without any regrets.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, </i><a href="http://www.theworkbuzz.com/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><i>The Work Buzz</i></a><i>. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.</i></div></div></div></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>

How to ask touchy interview questions

Bringing up salary, benefits and vacation during the interview Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder Writer   Unless you belong to a select grou...

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five dollar investment

Last fall, while on a rare solo trip to Lowe's, I found myself wondering outside playing "if I had a million dollars I would do X with my yard" when I saw a man working to move a small group of sad little trees. "These trees have just been marked down to $5 for anyone who wants them. I don't want to have to move them!" Uhh, me please! I right away laid claim to the least 'on the verge of dying' one I could pick out and left with a smile on my face. Luke helped me plant the poor sucker, and for a while, I wasn't sure if it would last. But this little sucker has shot up out of no where this spring/summer and is now producing the most beautiful foliage in my yard. In a neighborhood full of Oaks (beautiful trees but not known for their fall color) the little $5-tree-that-could provides some nice cheery fall color. Best five dollars I could have spent.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodSM4f4vBHEp7v5yDxay8gjMVOO8XWer9cX2pTMstTPZsi7lysM26HKsdR_g_adN7e9EGTjIRdYSUGT1JmbaKbN0HXNVI5XW11BxQltl-0rhlSV0v26HeqX6hRJOrs2RwPP36D3Eh0Ur2/s1600/PA259918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodSM4f4vBHEp7v5yDxay8gjMVOO8XWer9cX2pTMstTPZsi7lysM26HKsdR_g_adN7e9EGTjIRdYSUGT1JmbaKbN0HXNVI5XW11BxQltl-0rhlSV0v26HeqX6hRJOrs2RwPP36D3Eh0Ur2/s320/PA259918.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy $5 tree</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />

five dollar investment

Last fall, while on a rare solo trip to Lowe's, I found myself wondering outside playing "if I had a million dollars I would do X w...

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Being a Weight Watcher While Camping

I am definitely one of those people who struggle with the "all or nothing" mentality when it comes to weight loss.  I'm trying to get better at it, but I still get discouraged at times.  If I don't get my "week" started off on the right foot (my WW week starts on Friday), it just ends up cascading into weight loss doom for the remainder of the week.  I'm never quite able to fully get myself back on track.  I find it especially difficult when my weekend is spent away from home and my eating habits are not great as a result.  This is exactly where I'm sitting right now - a day and a half left in my "week" and I haven't been able to get it together since we left for camping last Friday.  Ugh!<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1QBVcyKAi8MW6UFQReG0AnJMUe0bUhvSTRT8uafi6FEg7_t8EvcyaAG8hbOLM94LD5Mq6iIUj8BzPI2643lD_E_y81-WLIl3kKwOT-klOh_LC-WQjOThDYJAbzmPPlT6hyphenhyphenN22c0i2SI/s1600/Point+Lookout+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1QBVcyKAi8MW6UFQReG0AnJMUe0bUhvSTRT8uafi6FEg7_t8EvcyaAG8hbOLM94LD5Mq6iIUj8BzPI2643lD_E_y81-WLIl3kKwOT-klOh_LC-WQjOThDYJAbzmPPlT6hyphenhyphenN22c0i2SI/s400/Point+Lookout+002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">that's me in the middle with the PSU gear :)</td></tr></tbody></table>I love spending time outdoors, away from technology and televisions and the temptation to just go shopping when I'm bored.  However, it is kind of complicated to be a Weight Watcher and go camping.  It involves a lot of food planning.  I learned the methodology for Joel's group when they go camping is that everyone is responsible for making a meal.   This immediately throws red flags for me because I know none of those people are doing Weight Watchers.  I knew they would bring full-fat hot dogs, chips, other unhealthy snacks, pork sausage for breakfast, etc etc (my suspicions were correct btw).  And so, I brought a lot of WW friendly snacks, with 1 meal being completely WW friendly because it was our assigned meal - lunch - which was Hebrew National 97% fat free hot dogs with pretzel crisps.  Still, veggies that I actually liked were cooked, and I was able to pull off the skin from the chicken that was roasted over the fire.  I did the best I could with what I had.<br /><br />Still, that doesn't stop the food pushers from taking aim at me.  Food pushing, a term from Beck, means that people will not accept no for an answer when it comes to serving food.  They persistently try pushing food on you, even though you decline multiple times with valid excuses ("I'm not hungry." "I don't like it". etc) <br /><br />For instance, the guys caught some fish from the bay this past weekend, and were absolutely insisting that I eat it.  I love fish and seafood.  However, I don't like to find bones in my fish while eating it (it gags me), and even Joel's brother admitted that he definitely did not filet the fish as best as he could.  But still, one of the other guys kept on me about eating it and was giving me a hard time because I wasn't eating like everyone else was.  In fact, I wasn't eating at all because I wasn't hungry <i>(most likely because I had 2 smores and about 5 marshmallows well before the men came back from fishing.  Of course, this is because I was hungry at that time - I had already eaten 2 of my hotdogs that day and could not choke down another for dinner.  Not a great choice at all for dinner - the smores - but it curbed the hunger none the less)</i>.  I, at first, try to be kind and politely refuse it.  But it makes me angry after awhile.  How do <i>you </i>really benefit from me eating something?  It makes no sense.<br /><br />I'm always looking forward to my Friday to start fresh, but this weekend we are traveling to my sister's house where eating out is a standard.<br /><br />How do you guys deal with situations like this?  Do you do a full out meal plan for yourself for those 3 days (Fri-Sun) or do you try to wing it?  Please help!

Being a Weight Watcher While Camping

I am definitely one of those people who struggle with the "all or nothing" mentality when it comes to weight loss.  I'm trying...

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