Edvibes Blog

I have been stuck for a couple months on the easiest and safest way to share class pictures on the web. I started with flickr but found it just isn’t very easy for new users to pick up on and learn how to use. So recently I decided to try Google Picasa’s Web Albums with their public and private unlisted albums feature. (read more about What’s the difference between public albums and those that are unlisted? from Google’s FAQ Help section) I really liked the flexibility with their privacy options and it is very user friendly. I also especially like their easy to use embeddable slideshow feature.

Note: I make the decision on whether to publish and share pictures publicly by the following criteria.

*Is the photo appropriate and have an educational value?

*Does the photo reveal the complete identity of a student face?

See how we used picasa to share our some of our photos from our YMCA Camping trip from our class blog here.

If you have converted to gmail this will convince you.

Problem:
You use Microsoft Office and download email off the web and onto your computer and it is stored and archived in Outlook. How do you back the emails up or transfer them to your next computer?

Solution:
An excellent article with very easy to follow directions called Export and Backup Emails from Outlook to Gmail Online

I spent many hours trying to use that gmail loader software, failing every time feeling frustrated and defeated that Microsoft controlled my emails not me. I was finally able to do back up over a thousand emails from the last 6 years from 3 different email accounts that I had stuck on my old laptop in Outlook. Now my email is safely backed up and accessible from any computer.

Tips:
*In the first place don’t delete emails from web-based email if and when you download to Outlook. Leave a copy online
*Before backing up and transferring email to gmail, clean up and organize. Of course delete all email you don’t need to transfer.
*Then organize email into folders so you can export it smaller batches and when you do transfer them it will make it easier to label and archive once it is in gmail.
*Also get your gmail inbox to zero before you start it will make it much easier to label and archive incoming email from outlook.
*Add an “imported” or a “backup” label when you archive in gmail.

See Also:

Backup Your Email with MailStore Home A freeware application alternative, I haven’t tried it yet but it sounds good.