April 2008 archives

Dossier will be unavailable tomorrow, May 1

Dossier is getting the updates I promised a few weeks ago, and also moving to a new server. I’m going to do this tomorrow, May 1. I’m planning on doing this during the day since nobody’s really using the system just yet, but if I’m wrong now’s the time to let me know. If this will conflict with your plans I’ll reschedule this for a night or weekend.

(By the way, all the changes I talked about before made it in, except for the last one. The question types changes will have to wait for a future release.)

By Aaron Sumner | April 30th, 2008 | View Comments

To serif or not to serif

“Most people think typography is about fonts.

Most designers think typography is about fonts.

Typ
ogra
phy is more than that, it’s expressing language through type.

Placement, composition, typechoice.”

-Mark Boulton

Read the rest of this entry

By David Gnojek | April 29th, 2008 | View Comments

Thoughts on Color

Every now and then, I’m sent a Powerpoint presentation or poster or document and am asked to “clean it up” a bit. One of the things I often end up changing is the color that is used in the document. Color is tricky to deal with because it is hard to know where to start and how to choose colors that are effective. Color is so complex, in fact, that I was actually required to take an entire course on color theory in school!

My goal here is to try and give some basic pointers on color and how to use it to your advantage to help with your communications and not to turn people away from what you’re trying to say. I will use a Powerpoint slide to demonstrate, but I think these ideas will translate to everything from a presentation cover to a website to an invitation and even to photography.

In terms of visual communications and design, color serves a few different purposes. The first is purely aesthetic; it makes things look attractive.

The second good use of color is to establish a sense of hierarchy and to make certain elements stand out that are important.

A third use of color is to evoke meaning and emotion. What do you think of when you see the colors red and green? Maybe Christmas? What about something that is dark and neutral colors? It might be sad or sinister. Most colors have associated symbolism that is globally accepted, for example, blue is seen as calming or peaceful and red is energetic or angry. This is something to keep in mind when you’re setting up the color on a document.

By David Gnojek | April 24th, 2008 | View Comments

Presenting video: Save online clips to your Mac with TubeTV

Update: Unfortunately, Tube TV doesn’t seem to work anymore. Here are some other options for saving online video to your computer, if not quite as elegantly as with Tube TV.

Video sites like YouTube and Google Video are great sources of materials for your presentations. But what do you do if you don’t have an Internet connection in the conference room or lecture hall in which you’re presenting? Better safe than sorry–save the video clip to your hard drive so you’re ready to share it, connection or no.

FB2D5D5C-C87E-4309-8F0E-76213F290B5F.jpgThere are several video formats these days, all jockeying for position to be the dominant player in this growing market. Flash video is used by most video sharing sites due to the near-ubiquity of Flash Player. However, Flash video is primarily designed for a web browser and does not lend itself to offline viewing (such as being embedded in a PowerPoint stack). Luckily, converting video from one format to another is increasingly easy these days. TubeTV, a free conversion tool, might be the easiest way to accomplish this. TubeTV can’t grab video from every site–for example, TV-on-demand from Hulu, ABC, and other networks won’t work–but most sites that offer video sharing options work great.

TubeTV requires a Mac with OS X version 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (Leopard). It also requires QuickTime 7.2 or higher (free and probably already on your Mac) and Perian, a free video conversion utility used behind the scenes. If you don’t already have Perian you’ll be prompted to download and install it the first time you start TubeTV.

Download TubeTV to get started, and move it into your Mac’s Applications folder. Open TubeTV–it kind of looks like a web browser because, in part, it is.

tubetv1.jpg

Let’s check TubeTV’s preferences to make sure video gets converted to an appropriate format. Open the Preferences window (open the TubeTV menu, then select Preferences) and click Downloading.

tubetv2.jpg

For most presentation purposes, iPod format is probably suitable. If you want video to be saved in the highest quality possible choose Apple TV–however, keep in mind that many online video sources aren’t saved in a quality this high, and there’s no way to improve quality once it’s been reduced.

While we’re here, note where your converted files are destined. In my case they’re saving to my Downloads folder, but if you want to change that to a different folder (say, your Desktop) you may change that now.

Close the Preferences window to return to TubeTV’s main page. We’re now ready to grab and convert a clip.

Using your web browser, (I’m using Safari), find a web page with the video clip you want to save. Here’s a good one to start with. Pause the video if it’s already started playing, then go back to TubeTV.

tubetv3.jpg

Click the Grab button (shown above; a glove) to load the same web page in TubeTV. Now, click the Download button (black, downward-pointing arrow) to begin the download and conversion process.

tubetv4.jpg

Depending on the length of the clip and the speed of your Mac, conversion will take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes. When it’s finished, check the destination folder you specified earlier to find your new file:

tubetv5.jpg

This is a standard MPEG-4 video file, which you should be able to embed directly in a slide or play with a standalone media player like QuickTime or iTunes (I personally prefer using a standalone player so I can easily adjust the video to display at full screen).

tubetv6.jpg

What about Windows?

TubeTV is a Mac-only product. However, I’ve read good things about a similar program called Ares Tube, designed for Windows, and VConvert, a Web-based conversion application. If you’ve tried either of these, let us know about your experience with a comment below.

By Aaron Sumner | April 24th, 2008 | View Comments

Hello, again, Hello.

I know it’s late, but I couldn’t wait–Hello.

In the last few months, Stratepedia’s blog has become a major part of what we (Amber, Mark, myself, and contributors like David) are known for within CRL and the SIM Network. It is therefore, with little fanfare, I introduce to you the latest stage in the site’s evolution: A real name! Meet Hello, the newest version of the Stratepedia Blog.

The focus of our content will remain the same–helping people at the Center and in the Network use the Stratepedia tools like pros and be less afraid of technology in general. What’s new is a slightly more polished look, a name that rolls off the tongue (and the keyboard) a little more readily, and a few new features to hopefully encourage you to participate in discussions:

  • The front page now sports the five most recent comments received on articles across the entire site. Click a comment to read it and catch up on the conversation.
  • You can now subscribe to e-mail notifications of new comments per article. You should be able to, anyway–this is a new feature, and I did some testing, but I’ll be curious to know what you think of it.

One reason I like working with the Web over any other medium (I was trained to write and design for print, if you can believe it) is its dynamic nature. So, given that this site has received a handful of facelifts in the last year and a half, rest assured that Hello will continue to be an ongoing process and a continual learning experience for all of us. I’m going to remind everyone again that we (“we” being the list of people above) need your comments and suggestions to keep us moving in the right direction! If you like what you see–or more importantly, if you hate it–leave a comment using the form at the end of this page. You won’t hurt my feelings (not much, anyway) and it will help us make Hello (and Dossier, Depot, and the Learning Labs, for that matter) better for everyone. Or, if you don’t have any constructive criticism, at least comment to tell me you recognize the reference from the title and first line of this post.

In the meantime, thanks as always for visiting and keep checking back!

By Aaron Sumner | April 23rd, 2008 | View Comments

Save Time Online with RSS

Introduction

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Instead of searching in several different places for new information, the RSS reader does the searching for you and gathers the information in one place. By doing this, RSS feeds can help you save a ton of time. Oh yeah, and RSS feeds are also easy to use…if you can check your email, then you can use RSS. Keep on reading and find out just how simple it really is!

How it works

I really like how this video, posted on CommonCraft.com, explains the workings of RSS.

By Amber Nutt | April 23rd, 2008 | View Comments

What’s your type?

For many people, knowing when to use a certain type of graphic or image file is a confusing matter. Most of us have heard of “JPEG files” and maybe the “GIF format”, but what about EPS and TIFF? When is it appropriate to use certain file types and not others? This is a brief guide explaining what each kind of file is and when it is appropriate to use it.

When people refer to a “file type” they are most often talking about the letters which come after the period in the name of a file. This is also known as a file extension. For example “filename.doc” has a “.doc” file extension which is most commonly associated with the Microsoft Word program. Most common file types for graphics and photos are .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif, and .eps.

JPEG files (Joint Photographic Experts Group) are most commonly seen with a file extension .jpg or .jpeg. Both refer to the JPEG (pronounced Jay-Peg) format. This is a compressed format that is best used for on-screen application, such as in PowerPoint documents and on the Internet. Its purpose is to provide a high quality image with a small file size. On the web, JPEG files have been formatted to 72dpi which means there are 72 dots-per-inch, which refers to the resolution. This resolution may be acceptable for printing documents for personal use, but is not high enough quality to use for professional printing such as on business cards, brochures, books, and any other printing for circulation.

Best used for: On-Screen PowerPoint presentations, web sites, emails, and other situations where a small file is needed.
Not ideal for: High quality printing projects like brochures, business cards, book covers, etc. unless you can verify that it is a high resolution image (200+dpi). In that case, JPGs are acceptable for print use.

GIF files (Graphics Interchange Format) are seen with a file extension .gif. The GIF format was created exclusively for use on the web and is known for its ability to animate and also retain transparency. GIF files are limited to 256 colors and are best used for graphics with a small number of colors such as a logo. They do not reproduce photos well, unlike the JPG format which handles far more colors.

Best used for: Web sites, emails, and other situations where a small file is needed with limited colors.
Not ever used for: High quality printing projects like brochures, business cards, book covers, or any printed materials using CMYK color.

PNG files (Portable Network Graphics) are seen with a file extension .png. This format has been recently created as an alternative to the GIF format. Although it does not allow for animation, it handles a wider range of transparencies and colors, often with far better compression. It is becoming widely supported in most every modern web browser.

Best used for: Web sites, emails, and other situations where a file is needed with transparency, large number of colors and a small file size.
Not ever used for: High quality printing projects like brochures, business cards, book covers, or any printed materials using CMYK color.

TIFF files (Tagged Image File Format) use the extension .tif or .tiff and is pronounced TIFF. TIFF is an uncompressed format that is suitable for high quality printing and is the most universal and widely supported format across all platforms (Mac, Windows, Unix, etc.). The only drawback is that the file sizes are much larger than JPEG files. For example, TIFF files have a resolution of 300 dpi which is more than enough resolution for most printing needs, but can be rather large (1MB+).

Best used for: High quality printing of brochures, business cards, book covers, published articles and other print materials.
Not ideal for: Web sites, PowerPoint presentations, files that need to be emailed

EPS files (Encapsulated PostScript) use the extension .eps and is pronounced as an acronym (E.P.S.). This format is unique in that it is a PostScript file that is resolution independent. Since it is based on vector points and not pixels, it can be scaled to any size with out any loss of quality. This makes the EPS format one of the most versatile formats for graphic designers and desktop publishers to use. It is commonly used with graphic programs like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and other vector-based programs.

Best used for: High quality printing of brochures, business cards, book covers, published articles and other print materials.
Not ideal for: Web sites, PowerPoint presentations, Word Documents

By David Gnojek | April 23rd, 2008 | View Comments

Dossier updates on tap

It’s been awhile since we’ve talked about Dossier. Things are afoot: We’ve been busy adding a few features and generally cleaning up. Here’s a quick rundown of what will be available in Dossier starting sometime next week:

  • The big thing first: If you use a SoC questionnaire, you can now get individual responses scored automatically, complete with the line graph. It’s very neat!
  • Interface cleanup: I’m doing a few small things to tidy up the interface and (hopefully) make Dossier a little easier to use.
  • Data import: You can now import (some) data from other sources (such as other online surveying tools) into an assessment in Dossier.
  • Behind the scenes I hope to complete some code that will make it much easier for us to add new question types in the future.

I’m still looking for volunteers with smallish assessment groups who’d like to give Dossier a try. If you’re interested leave a comment below or drop me an e-mail.

By Aaron Sumner | April 17th, 2008 | View Comments

Creating a PDF file

One of the easiest ways to transfer documents from person to person or from your desktop to a printer is through the use of PDF files. From Adobe, the creator of the PDF format:

“Invented by Adobe Systems and perfected over 15 years, Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) lets you capture and view robust information—from any application, on any computer system—and share it with anyone around the world. Individuals, businesses, and government agencies everywhere trust and rely on Adobe® PDF to communicate their ideas and vision.”

There are many benefits to using this type of file. PDFs are multi-platform which means that they’re viewable on Mac, PC, UNIX, mobile and many other formats. This is really handy if you use a Mac and need to send a file to a PC user! Another key benefit is that they maintain the document’s integrity. All of the fonts, images, and graphics will remain exactly how you created them, regardless of what application you used to make the file. This has been a huge benefit to the printing community because you can submit a file without worrying about font problems or embedded images. PDF files are also searchable and can even be made secure, requiring a password to view them. One thing to be aware of is that the contents (text, etc.) of a PDF cannot be edited once it is made, so you cannot send a rough draft as a PDF file and have others edit it and send it back.

Another great benefit of PDF files is that they can be compressed easily to make a large file more manageable. For example, say that you have a Powerpoint presentation that has a number of photos that you’ve taken. Files like this can often be 10+MB large and this is often large enough to shut down some email boxes! By saving to a PDF file, you can shrink the file down to 1-2MB which is a much more reasonable size.

How to make a PDF file:

This process is slightly different between Mac and PC computers. I am definitely more familiar with the Mac platform, so I encourage the PC users out there to post suggestions in the comments below!

On a Mac, PDF creation is built into the operating system. If you are in Microsoft Word or Powerpoint, go to the File menu and select “print”. In the print dialogue box, there is a button that says PDF. Click on it, select “save to PDF” and you’ll be asked to give the file a name. Type in whatever you want to call it and press “save” and you’re all done! Apple has also included a great PDF application call Preview in with the operating system that allows you to read these files.

creating a PDF on a Mac

On a PC, there isn’t a native way to create a PDF file straight out of Word or Powerpoint. The best way to allow easy PDF creation on a PC is to purchase Adobe Acrobat Professional. It can be a bit pricey, but it will give you all of the features that you could ever want.

There is also a program that has come highly recommended to me called CutePDF Writer. This will allow you to set up a PDF printer on your machine and print PDF files out of most print applications. If you have any experience with this, be sure and share your thoughts in the comments below!

So, that’s a brief overview of PDF files. Here at the Center for Research on Learning, we post almost all of our document online as PDF files to make them available for people to download. Even if you’re not planning on ever creating a PDF file, it is easy to read them from any machine. Adobe has provided a FREE PDF reader called Adobe Acrobat Reader and it is available for download at their website www.adobe.com.

By David Gnojek | April 15th, 2008 | View Comments
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