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Welcome to the South Amboy Public Schools Technology Blog.


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Considering that some websites aren't for everyone, Google is now making it possible to specify exactly who can view your content in the new Google Sites.

To publish your site to a specific audience, select the “Share with others” icon and change the Published settings to “Specific people can view when published.” Next, add the individuals you want in the “Invite people” box and select “Can view published.”

New Google Sites

This feature is available now on the web; it will roll out in the Google Drive Android and iOS apps over coming weeks. 
Posted by melson  On Feb 22, 2018 at 8:09 AM
  
Google Drive makes it easy to store and share files in the cloud so you can collaborate securely with your teams and clients while on the go. And we understand that teams work with all kinds of files and tools to get things done. Starting today, Google is making it possible to comment directly on more file types including Microsoft Office files, PDFs and images—without having to convert them into Docs, Sheets or Slides.

DriveCollaborationHeader

When you're collaborating with an external agency, negotiating a contract with a client or coordinating a sales agreement with a supplier, chances are you're dealing with multiple file formats. With this update, you can now comment on those files in Drive the way you're used to in Google Docs. In the Drive preview pane, comment, assign tasks, or mention coworkers and the people you work can reply back, even if they’re not using G Suite. Let’s say your coworker opens a file on her Windows laptop using MS Word, she will see your comment in the file and can reply right from there.

Provide quick feedback on the most popular file formats, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PDF files, in the Drive preview pane.

With commenting in Drive preview, you won’t need to open up other tools to complete tasks. Instead, open Microsoft Office files, like Word, Excel and PowerPoint, in Drive preview and give feedback in comments then get back to work.

AODocs, a company that helps enterprises replace their legacy document management applications and automate business processes integrated with Drive, has been testing the new Drive commenting feature for the past few months. As AODocs helps companies transition from legacy systems, they often collaborate across various licensed software.

“We frequently use the comments feature in Google Docs and Slides when preparing specification documents, reviewing project proposals and creating marketing materials,” says Stéphane Donzé, chief executive officer and founder of AODocs. “With commenting in Drive Preview feature, we can now extend the same collaboration, review and validation processes to Microsoft Office Applications, images and PDFs.”

Collaborate on Excel files—as well as other Microsoft files—all within Google Drive.

The ability to comment in Drive preview mode is just one example of interoperability between G Suite and Microsoft Office products. You can also use a Drive plug-in for Outlook to make it easier to insert files stored in Drive to an Outlook email and save incoming attachments to your Drive from Outlook. Our help center has more specifics on how to enable the plug-in for admins.

Of course, you can also convert Microsoft Office files into Docs, Sheets or Slides. Click File > Download as and select the file type you need. Lastly, you can choose to edit Microsoft files without converting them fully using Office Compatibility Mode (OCM).
Posted by melson  On Feb 15, 2018 at 9:55 AM
  

Team Drives make it easier for teams to store, search, and access important files, especially as team members change over time.

Email members of a team drive



To improve collaboration in Team Drives, Google is adding the ability to email all the members of a Team Drive.
There are two ways to email members of a Team Drive:

  • From the Team Drive: Navigate to the Team Drive, click the drop-down menu next to the Team Drive name, and click “Email members.” 
  • From within a file that is in the Team Drive: While editing or viewing the document, open the File menu, and click “Email Collaborators.”

When you select to email members, you can easily customize who your email is sent to. Use checkboxes to include or exclude “Members” who have access to the full Team Drive, “Guests” who only have access to that specific document within the Team Drive, and users with different Team Drive access levels, such as “Full,” “Edit,” “Comment,” and “View.”

Posted by melson  On Feb 13, 2018 at 7:47 AM
  
Our new website is “live”.  After several months of work we are pleased to unveil the latest makeover.

We’ve come a long way since our first website over 20 years ago.  Click here for a look back in time and check out the Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org/) for more.

This marks our 5th overhaul and I feel it is the best to date.

If you have any feedback, please reach out.  I’d love to hear what you think.


Website photo
Posted by melson  On Feb 02, 2018 at 7:02 AM
  
Google's certification platform now includes an updated user interface and several new features for our Google Certified Educator Level 1 and 2 exams. Even if you’ve already taken the exams, you can revisit the exam platform to view your certification history, refer a friend, or download a letter from our team to your principal. Log in here.

Google Cloud Platform
Posted by melson  On Jan 29, 2018 at 8:30 AM
  
Doodle for Google

It’s time to put your students' imaginations to work, because the Doodle 4 Google contest is now open. This year’s contest is open to K-12 students until March 2 with the theme “What inspires you?" We’ll feature the winning doodle on the Google homepage! Prizes include college scholarships, a behind the scenes experience with the Google Doodle team, and a $50,000 Google for Education technology package for the winner’s school.

Submit your doodles here.
Posted by melson  On Jan 29, 2018 at 8:26 AM
  
Chemistry has been brought into Minecraft with a new update for Minecraft: Education Edition. With input from chemistry teachers, students and Minecraft Global Mentors, the Chemistry Update offers educators and learners a fun, accessible way to explore chemistry within the immersive world of Minecraft. Make pigs fly with helium balloons, create underwater TNT or see what elements make up a grass block. If you can craft a pickaxe in Minecraft, you can learn chemistry.

The free update will launch in early February for all Minecraft: Education Edition customers.

CheminMinecraft
Posted by melson  On Jan 29, 2018 at 8:25 AM
  
The ICEBRG Security Research team discovered four malicious Google Chrome extensions during a routine investigation of anomalous traffic. More than 500,000 users, including workstations in major businesses around the world, have been affected.

The team was analyzing an unusual spike in outbound traffic from a workstation at a European VPS provider. Upon further investigation of the traffic, researchers found four malicious extensions available in Google's Chrome Web Store: Change HTTP Request Header, Nyoogle - Custom Logo for Google, Lite Bookmarks, and Stickies - Chrome's Post-it Notes.

This finding highlights the threat of browser extensions, which are available in most major web browsers and an oft-overlooked attack vector. Threat actors know employees usually trust, and have control over, downloading these extensions. Using this knowledge, they can execute code via seemingly legitimate applications to gain a foothold into organizations.

Read more details here.
Posted by melson  On Jan 22, 2018 at 10:44 AM
  
The NJCCIC is aware of a ransomware campaign that has already impacted two hospitals, one municipality, and an ICS company within the US.

According to multiple open-source reports, the perpetrator(s) behind this campaign are targeting victims with a new version of MSIL/Samas.A/Samsam ransomware (hereafter referred to as SamSam). This version of SamSam appends .weapologize to the names of encrypted files and drops a ransom note named 0000-SORRY-FOR-FILES.html on infected systems. When SamSam ransomware first emerged, campaigns would target vulnerable servers running outdated versions of JBoss using JexBoss, an open-source JBoss testing/exploitation tool.

However, one Bleeping Computer article suggests that the perpetrator(s) behind this campaign may now be distributing SamSam via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) compromise. This article also reports that the online ransomware identification service, ID Ransomware, has received at least 17 submissions of SamSam-related files so far in January 2018, suggesting this campaign is currently and actively targeting victims.

Known victims of this campaign include Hancock Health Hospital in Greenfield, Indiana, Adams Memorial Hospital in Decatur, Indiana, and the city of Farmington in New Mexico.
Posted by melson  On Jan 22, 2018 at 10:26 AM
  
To add a line or page break in Docs:
  • Before: Insert > Page break or Column break
  • After: Insert > Break > Page break or Column break

To add Alt text to a shape in Docs or Slides:

  • Before: Select shape > Format > Alt text. This option will be removed from the menu.
  • After: Right click on shape > Alt text. This is the new way to add alt text to a shape.

To change a shape in Slides:

  • Before: Select shape > Format > Change shape. This option will be removed from the menu.
  • After: Right click on shape > Change shape. This is the new way to change a shape.

The HTML view in Slides is being removed from the menu.

  • Before: View > HTML
  • After: Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P

Posted by melson  On Jan 19, 2018 at 8:58 AM