Week+8+-+Cloud+App+Collab

=Week 8 - Cloud App Collaboration=

= ** New research tool on Google docs **=



 In May of 2012 Google introduced an exciting new feature, a research tool.  This tool helps writers to streamline their web research, allowing them to find, see, and cite the information they need while typing their document. When the tool is accessed, the web #|browser appears in a vertical pane on the right side of your Google doc.  The tool can be accessed several different ways:
 *  From the tools menu.
 *  Using keyboard shortcuts (Cmd+Opt+R on a Mac, Ctrl+Alt+R on a PC.)
 *  Or you can simply right click on a specific word in your document, and select “research”.

 Then you use the search engine and voila! Your results pop up in the document in a pane. Simply hover your mouse over a link and you will get the options to navigate to the link in a different page, preview the link within the page you’re on, insert the link into your document, or cite the link, all with the click of a mouse. To see the #|complete list of this helpful new tool, check out this link. Happy writing!

Posted by: Emerald Crafton

Doing it the The Old Fashioned Way
Although I've been familiar with the Google Cloud Apps for some time, I just never had an occasion to use them. After taking a real good look at them for this week's assignment, I probably won't find much occasion to use them again. Why? Well, #|web security (or lack there of) is one factor. When I create docs on my tablet, they are accessible to me & only me. When they are in #|the cloud, then God knows who might potentially have access to them. Second reason? If the Google Apps for writing or spreadsheets, etc. were actually easier to use then Word or Excel, then that might be a selling point for switching over. However, there is no evidence to support idea, so I guess I'll just keep doing it the old fashioned way.

Posted by David Sweet

Something old, something new... I too agree that the Google #|Cloud App is basically the same as a Word or Excel program; however I enjoyed how easy it was to use. Maybe it's because of all the CSI and Law and Order I watch nightly or maybe it's because I have little faith in #|technology, but I personally believe that nothing one puts on their computer is safe or private. I enjoyed that simply by imputing the e-mail addresses I could send a document and I got to choose whether or not to allow the recipients to edit or comment on my work. I do believe there was an option to protect my document but then again I wouldn't have written it, on the computer none the less, had I not been fully prepared and ready for the world to see and judge it. After all, the #|social networking craze of 2012 + will one day lease to everyone feeling so entitled to their opinions only #|science (in some cases) Will be the only thing left to deceiver truth. Edited by Jeannie Snedegar

Create & collaborate.
In Google Drive, you can create new documents, spreadsheets and presentations instantly. Work together at the same time, on the same doc, and see changes as they appear.


 * [[image:https://ssl.gstatic.com/docs/doclist/images/ds_illustration_collaborate2_440x420.png caption="Create and Collaborate"]] ||
 * Create and Collaborate ||

This right here is what I call the game changer for those of us who have been in one of those #|classes where you as a group have to create a document, #|Power point presentation or group project of some sort. This allows each person the freedom to give input to the document and shows who did what. I think will be a wonderful asset to the Google Cloud apps.

Posted by Mary Bond

Google Docs has a place where you can suggest things to make it better. I found this located on the "What's New" Page:

Just launched!
> Whether you’re trying to wow your boss with an end-of-quarter presentation or impress your classmates with an animated book report, the new version of presentations can help. Here’s a quick look at the latest features available in presentations: Character-by-character collaboration lets you see others’ updates as you edit presentations together.
 * **Introducing a new Google presentations**
 * Chat with collaborators directly within the presentation.
 * Draw organizational charts, flowcharts, design diagrams and much more right within Google presentations.
 * Transition between slides to add more effects to your presentation.
 * New and improved animations make your presentations more dynamic.
 * Shape linking lets you turn shapes within your presentation into hyperlinks that link to other slides, presentations, or webpages.
 * Revision history stores edits so you can revert back to previous versions.
 * New themes make it easy to create show-stopping presentations.

There are other things that this page mentions on how to use the presentation and what they have been working on at this link http://www.google.com/google-d-s/whatsnew.html#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-bk&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=google.docs

Posted by Cheryl Berger

= Google Docs Tips & Tricks=

Due to my lack of experience with Google Docs, I did a search online for some tips and tricks available for use for the newbie. After reading several articles on what Google Docs is, what it does, and how it can help, I chose to glean most of my information from the following article. Click here to access the article I obtained my information from.

Some of the topics covered in the article are:


 * 1) Backing up all of your files on Google Docs to your hard drive via downloading them.
 * 2) Your ability to drag and drop files between your desktop and Google Docs.
 * 3) Inserting Images.
 * 4) Being able to view the revision history of the original document (handy for collaboration).
 * 5) Using Google Docs Viewer to view other file types.
 * 6) Using Google Docs Templates.
 * 7) Ability of typing full screen.
 * 8) Being able to search Google Docs and Gmail together.
 * 9) Inserting links.
 * 10) Using Google Docs to store all of your files.
 * 11) Adding YouTube to presentations.
 * 12) Cloud Magic.
 * 13) "  Sending " Google Docs.
 * 14) WatchDoc which allows monitoring of changes made to documents and notification to the "owner."
 * 15) Keyboard shortcuts.

All of these topics are expanded on. I felt the information to be very helpful and useful. Personally, I agree with the first post on this page. I am a bit old fashioned and like my documents being private. I will more than likely to continue to do things the way I have always done them. Google Docs will be a tool to use when applicable. I can see sharing/storing files that I am ok being public. Better safe than sorry! I am sure Google will eventually take over the world ... unless Apple does first.

//Edited by Luke Wier//

//Apperently Luke and I were reading the same article. I found the following points especially helpful, while I was trying to find my way around Google Docs for the first time. If you follow these Tips, you will be creating fabulous Documents in no time!// If you want to max out your typing space, that’s easily done. Go to ‘View’ and then ‘Full Screen’, this will fill your entire browser window with your document. Want to lose everything and use up the entire screen space? Pressing F11 on your keyboard should achieve this on most browsers. Hyperlinks are what the Web is all about, right? In Google Docs, you can either select ‘Insert’ and then ‘Link’ whilst highlighting some text, or you can speed things up a little and hit Ctrl+K. But Chrome and Firefox users can also drag an item from their Bookmark menu in the browser onto the canvas, where it will instantly become a hyperlinked piece of text. **__ Adding Video: __** Google owns YouTube, so it’s only natural it would integrate the video streaming platform with Google Docs in some way. Indeed, you can actually search and add YouTube videos into your Google presentations – click ‘Insert’, select ‘Video’ and a window will pop up letting you search YouTube. Select the video and double-click to insert it. You can then move and resize the video as you wish. A quick one to finish things off here. Keyboard shortcuts are the ultimate way to speed up your productivity. And if you’re accustomed to the Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V way of doing things, Google Docs has many of the same, familiar shortcuts – plus a few additional ones. Google has provided a compendium of keyboard shortcuts from across its main office applications. You can access these here: __Google Documents__  |  __Google Spreadsheets__  |  __Google Presentations__. Edited by Shelly West
 * __ Editing Your Typing Space: __**
 * __ Adding Links: __**
 * __ Keyboard Shortcuts: __**

It seems Google Docs has been renamed Google Drive. What is it? Google Drive is an online app where you can create documents, presentations, spreadsheets, forms, drawings, tables, and scripts. Similar to Microsoft Office products, it's not as customizable as Office, but can get the job done. The app is available on the web, Mac, PC, and  Android. An  iPhone and an  iPad app is coming soon, Google says. The app can be used strictly online or you can download an application for your computer. I found some good information about it. Rather than post a lot of information here, I decided to share the pages I've found about it. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-tips-tricks-google-drive/ http://gizmodo.com/5904653/what-is-google-drive

Edited by Tom McCarty

Google Docs is a free computing document-sharing service. In short, a document create by a user can be stored somewhere else, not in the user’s computer, and shared with others. Google Cloud is a free plug-in compatible with Windows Microsoft Office. The Cloud not only stores documents from Word, PowerPoint and Excel, but automatically updates the document every time it is saved. Off line documents are synchronized when the user goes online. A free Google Docs app can be downloaded through the Android Marketplace. A great feature and one that can be very usable, is the Optical Character Recognition that allows the user to take photos of any text that can then be stored, shared, and edited.

Edited by Jan Bardwell

#|Public cloud: The cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or to a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services. Most commonly used services here are application-specific -- for example, Salesforce.com or Microsoft Office 365 -- and pricing is often on a simple, cost-per-seat-per-month basis. #|Private cloud: The cloud infrastructure is operated solely for one organization. It may be managed by the organization itself or by a third party, and it may exist on premises or off-premises. CDW’s Cloud Computing Tracking Poll found that most IT decision makers, in SMB as well as other markets, would prefer the private option. However, the private option requires more knowledge and capabilities to manage, so getting there is a challenge for many organizations, and it is not for everyone.

Editied by Christna Hart


 * Google Drive**

Google Drive is my first attempt with any online filesharing. I have used it before this class, by making a giant excel spreadsheet for a game I was playing recently. I shared it with a group of friends, and it quickly took off as a giant project for everyone to finish. [| https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArFKwEmqgTdhdEJPaGxhV0U5WmtmZlpPeldKWHluYVE#gid=0], It is still used today to help making profits for people playing it. In a way you can use this to replace your Microsoft Office, and just log into Google and get your work done.

Posted by Michael Dutra.

For me at this time I don't really have a use for cloud technology. I might however in the future, so I'm glad it is out there for people to use. I prefer to use microsoft word to produce my documents. There were a couple of things that I did like about Google Docs. I like how easy it is to be able to include You Tube videos in your document. My favorite part about Google Docs is in the tool part where it says define I typed in and this is what I got back what a lot of information about in who knew.  in  Preposition  /in/

<span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> Synonyms: <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> adjective: <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> inner <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> inward <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> preposition: <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> at <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> on <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> into <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> to <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> by <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> for <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> within <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> with <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> over <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> upon <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> inside <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> per <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> during <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> of <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> among <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> under <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> adverb: <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> inside <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> within <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> indoors <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> , <span class="dct-lnk" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> inwardly <span class="dct-tt" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 17.3333px;"> in <span class="dct-tlb" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10.6667px;"> Adverb <span class="dct-tp" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: 'Doulos SIL',Gentium,'TITUS Cyberbit Basic',Junicode,'Aborigonal Serif','Arial Unicode MS','Lucida Sans Unicode','Chrysanthi Unicode'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> /in/ <span class="dct-tt" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 17.3333px;"> in <span class="dct-tlb" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10.6667px;"> Adjective <span class="dct-tp" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: 'Doulos SIL',Gentium,'TITUS Cyberbit Basic',Junicode,'Aborigonal Serif','Arial Unicode MS','Lucida Sans Unicode','Chrysanthi Unicode'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> /in/ <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> Edited by, Chad  by,Chad Noice.
 * 1) Expressing the situation of something that is or appears to be enclosed or surrounded by something else
 * living //in// Deep River
 * dressed //in// their Sunday best
 * soak it //in// warm soapy water
 * she saw it //in// the rearview mirror
 * 1) Expressing motion with the result that something ends up within or surrounded by something else
 * don't put dye //in// the bathtub
 * he got //in// his car and drove off
 * 1) Expressing a period of time during which an event takes place or a situation remains the case
 * they met //in// 1885
 * at one o'clock //in// the morning
 * I hadn't seen him //in// years
 * 1) Expressing the length of time before a future event is expected to take place
 * I'll see you //in// fifteen minutes
 * 1) (often followed by a noun without a determiner) Expressing a state or condition
 * to be //in// love
 * I've got to put my affairs //in// order
 * a woman //in// her thirties
 * laid out //in// a straight line
 * 1) Indicating the quality or aspect with respect to which a judgment is made
 * no discernible difference //in// quality
 * 1) Expressing inclusion or involvement
 * I read it //in// a book
 * acting //in// a film
 * 1) Indicating someone's occupation or profession
 * she works //in// publishing
 * 1) Indicating the language or medium used
 * say it //in// Polish
 * put it //in// writing
 * 1) Indicating the key //in//which a piece of music is written
 * Mozart's Piano Concerto //in// E flat
 * 1) As an integral part of (an activity)
 * //in// planning public expenditure it is better to be prudent
 * 1) Expressing movement with the result that someone or something becomes enclosed or surrounded by something else
 * come //in//
 * bring it //in//
 * presently the admiral breezed //in//
 * 1) Expressing the situation of being enclosed or surrounded by something
 * we were locked //in//
 * 1) Expressing arrival at a destination
 * the train got //in// very late
 * 1) (of the tide) Rising or at its highest level
 * 2) (of an infielder or outfielder) Playing closer to home plate than usual
 * looking for a force, they brought the infield //in//
 * 1) (of a pitch) Very close to the batter
 * he threw a fastball //in// and up a little
 * 1) (of a person) Present at one's home or office
 * we knocked at the door but there was no one //in//
 * 1) Fashionable
 * pastels and light colors are //in// this year
 * the //in// thing to do
 * 1) (of the ball //in// tennis and similar games) Landing within the designated playing area

<span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> __ == <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> Making national calls for free with your Google Account! == <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> Under more and even more links, you'll get the whole selections of Google apps. Voice app is the one you would make calls on. You would need a microphone and headphones or directly from speakers to place calls. Click on the orange call button, then dial in the number you desire to call. All calls nationally are free of charge!

https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=grandcentral&continue=https://www.google.com/voice/&followup=https://www.google.com/voice/<mpl=open This link will direct you to the voice app on Google === <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #000000; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> Edited by: Rochiemar Carson  ===

=== I learned that syncing all of your files at once can greatly reduce the hard drive space on your computer if you do it regularly. If you are concerned about this and you are trying to conserve space go to the "Preferences" tab from the Drive Icon in the taskbar. Select "Only Sync some folders to this computer" and choose the specific files you need to sync. Select "Apply changes" and you are all set. ===

=== I also discovered that you can access the following keyboard shortcut list by typing "?" anytime you are on the main Google drive page.These shortcuts help make navigating and working on the Drive a breeze. ===

==== Create new ====
 * ~ Shortcut Keys ||~  Action ||
 * j || Navigate to and highlight next item in list ||
 * k || Navigate to and highlight previous item in list ||
 * x || Select/unselect the highlighted item ||
 * ⇓ || Select next item in list ||
 * Shift + ⇓ || Select next item in list while leaving the current selection selected ||
 * ⇑ || Select previous item in list ||
 * Shift + ⇑ || Select previous item in list while leaving the current selection selected ||
 * Shift + a || Select all ||
 * Shift + n || Select none ||
 * ~ Shortcut Keys ||~  Action ||
 * Shift + t || Create a new text document ||
 * Shift + p || Create a new presentation ||
 * Shift + s || Create a new spreadsheet ||
 * Shift + d || Create a new drawing ||
 * Shift + c || Create a new collection ||

==== Go to ==== ==== Menus ==== ==== Action(s) ==== ==== Application ====  Edited by Nicole Schofield
 * ~ Shortcut Keys ||~  Action ||
 * g then n || Access navigation panel ||
 * g then l || Access list of documents ||
 * g then c || Access collections ||
 * g then d || Access details pane ||
 * ~ Shortcut Keys ||~  Action ||
 * c || Show the create new menu, use arrow keys to select an item to create ||
 * u || Show upload menu ||
 * a || Show actions menu ||
 * r || Show sort menu ||
 * v || Show view menu ||
 * ~ Shortcut Keys ||~  Action ||
 * z || Organize ||
 * s || Star/unstar ||
 * o or Enter || Open item ||
 * . || Share ||
 * ~ Shortcut Keys ||~  Action ||
 * / || Go to search box ||
 * d || Show/hide details pane ||
 * ? or Ctrl + / || Access shortcuts help menu ||
 * where did the**

**drive come from?**
Rumors of a Google cloud-based file storage service have been circulating since 2006 but Google Drive was finally released on April 24, 2012. That’s an unusually long gestation period for a company that normally releases first then tweaks (or abandons) later. It’s important to realize that Google Drive is a replacement for Google Docs (GDocs). Once you sign-up with your Google account, the [| docs.google.com] URL will redirect to [| drive.google.com]. The web interface is fundamentally the same and you can add, create, edit and #|delete files and folders as before. Replacing GDocs is a clever idea. The projects are compatible and your cloud-based documents can be browsed from your desktop — an attractive feature for those migrating from Microsoft Office. It’s also apparent Google has learned lessons from [| doomed projects such as Wave] ; it’s easier to piggy-back on the success of an existing project than build a new user base from scratch. GDoc’s 40 million users have little reason not to adopt Google Drive.

Google Drive is a direct competitor to established players such as [| Dropbox], [| SugarSync] , [| Box] , [| Cubby] , [| Microsoft SkyDrive] and [| Apple iCloud]. But is it better?

Danielle Ralston

Convert an uploaded file to Google Docs format
So, I'm sure that we have all encountered the issue of files being in the wrong format. If you are like me you find it extremely frustrating that every program seems to have it's own format (.txt .rtf .doc .docx .wps etc etc). Well with Google Docs, you wont have to worry about this as much. Converting a file to Google Docs format makes it easier for you to edit, collaborate on, and share a doc online. You can decide to convert a file to Google Docs while you upload it or after uploading it:
 * **While uploading** : When you select a file for upload, the option to convert it directly to Google Docs is automatically selected (if you don’t wish to convert the file simply deselect this option.) Your newly converted file retains the name of the original file you uploaded.

These are the file types that can be converted to Google Docs: > > posted by ~ Aaron Ford
 * **After uploading** : If you decide to convert your file after it’s already been uploaded, you can right-click the item and select **Make a Google Docs copy** from the menu. This option is only available for uploaded files, you will not see it for any Google Docs documents. When you select this option, you keep your original file intact, and your Google Docs copy appears in your list of documents.
 * For spreadsheets: .xls, .xlsx, .ods, .csv, .tsv, .txt, .tab
 * For documents: .doc, .docx, .html, plain text (.txt), .rtf
 * For presentations: .ppt, .pps, .pptx
 * For drawings: .wmf
 * For OCR: .jpg, .gif, .png, .pdf

**where did the drive come from?**
Rumors of a Google cloud-based file storage service have been circulating since 2006 but Google Drive was finally released on April 24, 2012. That’s an unusually long gestation period for a company that normally releases first then tweaks (or abandons) later. It’s important to realize that Google Drive is a replacement for Google Docs (GDocs). Once you sign-up with your Google account, the [|docs.google.com] URL will redirect to [|drive.google.com]. The web interface is fundamentally the same and you can add, create, edit and #|delete files and folders as before. Replacing GDocs is a clever idea. The projects are compatible and your cloud-based documents can be browsed from your desktop — an attractive feature for those migrating from Microsoft Office. It’s also apparent Google has learned lessons from [|doomed projects such as Wave]; it’s easier to piggy-back on the success of an existing project than build a new user base from scratch. GDoc’s 40 million users have little reason not to adopt Google Drive.

Google Drive is a direct competitor to established players such as [|Dropbox], [|SugarSync], [|Box], [|Cubby], [|Microsoft SkyDrive] and [|Apple iCloud]. But is it better?

Danielle Ralston

=Google Docs=

Of the many advanced, and useful things that Google Docs offers, one of the more playful that I discovered was the option to create a drawing. You can insert shapes, lines, arrows, call-outs and equation marks.You also have the option to put text and images in the picture as well. It's a fun tool to mess around with, and I like that you can easily share it by pressing the share button at the top right hand side. The option to draw is a fun advantage to all of the other tools like presentation, document, spreadsheets, etc that you can make. Google docs is an all around great program which is applicable to everyone.

Posted by Katie Warren


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;"> <span class="stw_link"> Sending to Google Drive in Snap **

PC and Mac users can download the Google Drive app to their computer. This places an icon on your desktop to instantly synchronize local files to your Google Drive. Have a 50MB file you need to send to someone? Drag it to your Google Drive icon and share it with anyone you wish. You can actually use it to replace your My Documents folder, providing you with automatic backups and accessibility of your documents from any Internet connectio <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">n.


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Add a “Send To Google Drive” command to Windows **

Normally this command allows you to copy a file to another hard drive, a printer, a CD, etc. if you right-click on a file in Windows, you’ll see a menu showing the Send To: command. If you install the Google Drive app for your PC, you can actually add an option to send the file to your Google Drive:


 * Right Click the Google Drive icon on your Desktop and select Copy.
 * Click the Start button and type %appdata% into the search window.
 * Open the Microsoft/Windows/SendTo folder.
 * Right click on a blank area of the in the SendTo folder and select Paste.

Now you can right-click any file and select Send To -> Google Drive.


 * Posted by William Goss **

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">Google Drive - also Google Gdrive, Google hard drive, Google Cloud or Gmail Drive, is the online storage service from Google which came up in the wake of online mushrooming cloud service providers.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">Google Drive came with a number of intentions but foremost include:


 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">Backing up data for customers away from home computer and into Google [|cloud].
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">Make it possible for users to access this data from anywhere, <span class="stw_link"> anytime and on any device.
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">Enables users to share office files using a sister tool called [|Google Docs] - an online file processing platform.
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">Allow users do all the above within Gmail in what is popularly known as Gmail drive.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">Using Google drive is easy and gives a sense of joy in the cloud storage industry. Google gives 5GB free space when you sign in for the first time, and additional space can be acquired at very low costs.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">The service launched in April 2012, and entered a market already awash with competing cloud storage services namely; DropBox, iCloud, Box, Skydrive etc.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">Google cloud service starts with a free storage space of 5GB which can be increased to 25GB or 1TB at additional cost. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">by Christina Vickers

=Collaborate Your Projects Using Google Docs=

Here is a list of some features that can help with productivity for a shared project.

> > > > > > > >
 * 1) Create shared folders. Items can be drag-and-dropped from other folders.
 * 1) Publish documents public or private
 * 1) No need for emails, because approved users will be sent an editable web copy
 * 1) Edits can be made simultaneously.
 * 1) Others can view the work you are working on in real time.
 * 1) Data can be controlled by data validation settings.
 * 1) Delete unwanted collaborators. To take someone off the project just remove them.
 * 1) Use the forum to find help from other users
 * 1) When you are ready to hand over the project you can change ownership.

posted by Danielle Howard

=
The record industry has failed to adapt with the times. I think that's one thing we've all figured out by now. Very few people want to buy CDs, and while it is convenient to buy MP3s, that wasn't a good replacement or adaption of the old file sharing hay day. What has replaced both of those for a majority of users is music in the cloud. You don't have to own it, but your preferences are saved and you can access it anywhere, frequently on a social network where you can share your playlists or recommendations while communicating with other users. The old standard is Pandora. You create a station based upon artist, song, or genre, and by liking or disliking songs, create a radio station that plays what you like streaming to your computer or devices. This can take some effort and some "grooming" as I call it. Music choices are based upon sounds, similar artists, and the mathematical qualities of the music as an example of a couple of metrics. The next is Spotify. Spotify bizarrely lets you play whatever you want for the first six months of membership, but, as with most cloud apps, requires being tied to multiple other networks, and in this case is facebook. Otherwise people would just scam the system. As with Pandora, all the music is streamed directly to you. After that six months, more restrictions are required and many people choose to become paying members. It houses music from all major record labels and artists. The amount of paying users actually covers royalty fees. It's a system that attracts most of the spectrum of music listeners and presents it in an agreeable way. Even if you do pay $9.99/month for unlimited music, that's still loads better than buying 10 MP3s for $0.99 a piece. Grooveshark is another great one, and upon visiting the web page you can instantly start listening to music. It's a bit disorganized finding exact songs you want sometimes, but you'd be hard pressed not to type something you wanted to hear unless you, well, can't type. The only downside is that you have to pay to stream to mobile devices (quite the brilliant marketing ploy, if you ask me) including music that you own. Rdio costs $5/month and ups to $10 to stream to mobile, and has a great organizational feature set, but will only play or stream music that you own. It's essentially a way of paying to securely put your music in the cloud, so you can access it everywhere without having to carry around CDs or MP3s on all your devices simultaneously. All of these are great examples of Cloud media. You can access, and interact with music you already own, music you like but don't own, and share it across the broad spectrum of devices that you may own. It's a great, universal example of the Cloud at work. Give them a try.=====

[[image:lcccis125wsummer2012/drive.png]]
==<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">[|Google Drive] was an exciting new tool that I had never used before. I was impressed with the ease of the whole process and the many things I could do. If you are interested in being able to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations watch this: ==

media type="youtube" key="wKJ9KzGQq0w" height="315" width="560"

<span style="color: #008800; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Brenda Dolph-Dory