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Free Acrobat Training from IT Training and Adobe

On October 29th, IT Training & Education and Adobe will be offering three special Acrobat hands-on workshops taught by Steve Adler, an Acrobat Field Specialist from Adobe. These special workshops are being offered at no cost to IU students, faculty and staff, and are intended to complement our regular Acrobat workshop offerings and take you deeper into key features.

This is a rare opportunity to get in-depth hands-on Acrobat training direct from the source, on topics that aren't normally covered in our IT Training & Education workshops. The workshops (with brief description and schedule information) are:

Enhanced ePortfolios Using Adobe Acrobat 9 - October 29th, 9-11am in Wells Library, rm. W302

Teaches how to organize and gather information from a variety of sources, collaborate and share documents in real-time, and collect and manage feedback in a single PDF document. Also shows how to include video, audio, interactivity and assessment in a single PDF wrapper.

Creating and Distributing Forms with Adobe Acrobat 9 - October 29th, 12:30-2:30pm in Kelly School of Business, rm. CG0030

Teaches how to use Acrobat 9 (and the included Adobe LiveCycle Designer) to convert existing forms into intelligent, interactive documents that reduce re-keying and errors; also shows how Acrobat's workflows can improve distribution, data collection, and analysis.

Achieving Efficiencies in collaboration and instruction with Acrobat 9 - October 29th, 3-5pm in Kelly School of Business, rm. CG0030

Participants will learn how to use Acrobat as a collaboration tool. Acrobat allows users to both view a document remotely and comment on it at the same time. This workshop will focus on how to these features can be used by faculty and students in the classroom.

You can find full descriptions and register for each workshop by clicking the title of the workshop above, or you can visit http://ittraining.iu.edu/Acrobat to see all IT Training STEPS workshops in Acrobat and register for the ones of your choice. Please contact us with any questions, and we hope to see you there.

Videoconferencing at IU

What is videoconferencing?

Videoconferencing enables groups of people at different locations to see and hear each other at the same time. This technology allows users to conduct meetings, teach courses, and collaborate in real time at any distance. To participate in a group videoconference, you must be using videoconferencing hardware and software.

What videoconferencing resources are available at IU?

Indiana University faculty and staff can schedule any of the 228 videoconferencing systems located across IU campuses. Video calls from IU are not limited to IU campuses, however; calls can be made to locations around the world that have compatible videoconferencing systems.

IU maintains special pricing on the Tandberg MXP-series high-definition videoconferencing system. Therefore, this is the recommended and supported group videoconferencing system.

Where can I get training on the Tandberg videoconferencing system?

You can watch a video tutorial on the Tandberg videoconferencing system at IU, at:
http://ittraining.iu.edu/online/tutorials/tandbergFinal/index.htm

Where can I get more information?

The IU Knowledge Base has information about videoconferencing at IU at: http://kb.iu.edu/data/ajtt.html.

Illustrator: Exploring the Pathfinder Panel

I was teaching an Illustrator class recently, and talking briefly about the Pathfinder panel:

Pathfinder Panel

I realized as I was discussing it, that many of these options are not as straightforward as the end-user might like. I promised the class I would go into more depth on our blog.

So in the following video, I will explore the Pathfinder panel, and demonstrate each of the buttons, so that we can see exactly what they all can accomplish.  Hopefully this will spark your creativity, and give you a better idea of the power of these simple buttons.

Illustrator: Exploring the Pathfinder Panel

Affordable Adobe Flex and ColdFusion Training in Bloomington


Registration's now open, and a weekend of awesome hands-on training on Flex and ColdFusion is only 10 days away! This is, by far, the best deal you will encounter for this type of training. Small, hands-on sessions conducted by experts who also know how to teach. A great opportunity - don't miss it!

Get More Info and Register!

Computing in the Cloud: Risks and Rewards

Head in the Clouds

What Is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing has burst onto the computer technology scene like a fast-moving cold weather front. Essentially, "cloud computing" refers to a new concept and delivery model rather than a specific program or platform. Traditionally, when you wanted to achieve a task on your computer such as filling out a spreadsheet or typing a letter, you'd purchase a piece of software at the store, install it, and then use it as long as you owned the computer. Cloud computing turns that notion on its head - the functionality is available via the Internet, not a program sitting on your computer. And, rather than buying a permanent license, cloud-computing services are usually offered according to a cafeteria model where you pay for only what you use when you use it. (And, unlike a real cafeteria, many cloud-based services are free). Cloud computing is now used for a lot more than just replicating the functionality of traditional desktop applications, too, including virtual server hosting, database processing, and lots of technical business operations.

What does Cloud Computing have to do with me?

Perhaps more than you realize! If you've ever used a service like Google Docs or Zoho, you've been working in the cloud. And even if you're just using 3rd party applications, like Gmail and Facebook, many of the issues discussed here will apply to you, too. Read the rest of this entry »

Alternatives to Microsoft Visio: Dia, Gliffy.com, OpenOffice Draw

If you're an IU community member and go to IUWare to download Microsoft apps, you will not find Microsoft Visio.

Um, what's Visio?

Visio is a Microsoft desktop application geared for building informational, structured graphics, like diagrams, flowcharts, hierarchy structures, and so on. Since those terms may not mean a whole lot to you, let's look at some examples of things you might create in Visio:

Read the rest of this entry »

Fun Free App Friday: FontCapture.com

Way back in the day, when there were endless deep piles of snow, uphills both waysCreate a font from your own handwriting, and lunchpails filled only with scraps, people used writing instruments known as "pens" to inscribe letters and words onto dead trees, known as "paper".  Once the person was finished inscribing, s/he would fold up the paper, tuck that paper inside other paper, and inscribe more words on the front as a means of addressing (kind of like an email address, but way more complicated, taking up three lines or more!)

This whole process was known as "writing and mailing a letter". Nowadays, of course, this antiquated technology has been surpassed by IM, texting, Twitter, and status updates on Facebook. I think we can all agree that there is nothing that needs to be said if it can't be said in 140 characters or less! But let's say for a minute that you wanted to "write and mail a letter, " but didn't want to go all the way back to 1920 to do it. Read the rest of this entry »

Web Standards Smackdown: XHTML2 vs. HTML5

Standards Smackdown: XHTML2 vs. HTML5Way back in July, the W3C (the governing organization of web standards) announced that it was not going to renew the charter of the XHTML2 working group. In non-bureaucracy speak, that means the W3C has stuffed XHTML2 standards development into a bottle and chucked it out to sea, where it will spend the rest of eternity bobbing on the waves and following the thermal currents. The W3C did this so that it could focus all of its attention on developing HTML5.

"Wait a minute, " one might shout on hearing this news, "I thought XHTML was the wave of the future, and HTML was what Cro-Magnons used to code their web pages??? What's going on?"

Its easy to be confused, and, yes, even a little bit alarmed by this news. But, in essence, the labels here don't really represent what you think they do: XHTML2 isn't really XHTML as you know it, and HTML5 encompasses a lot more than HTML4.01. Here's what you need to know about both of these standards: Read the rest of this entry »

More Photoshop Tips

Recently, Andy Hunsucker wrote an article on his favorite Photoshop keyboard shortcuts. If you like keyboard shortcuts and other Photoshop tips, enjoy this entertaining video, "101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes," by Deke McClelland for Adobe TV:

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/dekepod/101-photoshop-tips-in-5-minutes/

IT Training at Tech Fest ‘09

NOTE: This event has ended.

IT Training & Education is at TechFest '09 all day today in the Wells Library Lobby.

Come check out our table and all the interesting displays in the lobby.

Read the rest of this entry »