#24 - Zamzar file conversion

Zamzar is a fantastic site for converting files. Let's say someone comes into the library with their resume saved as a Works document and they want to open it up in Word.

They can go to Zamzar and follow the 4 steps. There's no need to register and it's totally free.



Step 1 - select the file.

Step 2 - choose the format to convert to

Step 3 - enter your email address

Step 4 - click the convert button.

The converted file is emailed to the email address you supplied.

The following are the examples of the file formats that Zamzar converts:

.doc to .html, .pdf, .txt
.docx to .doc, .pdf, .txt
.wps to .doc, .pdf, .txt

and heaps more, have a look at the conversion types

It's very easy. They've even now added the capability to convert files from video websites such as Youtube and Google Reader so that you can store them.

I created a To do list in Microsoft Word and converted it to a pdf document. It worked beautifully.

Cheers, webgurl

Week 2 #3 Blogging - Adding feeds

The great thing about Google taking over Blogger is some of the cool new features. I can add links to my shared articles in Google Reader to my Blogger blog.

I can sign into Google Reader using my Blogger/Google login and search for any feeds from blogs or podcasts that people might be interested in. Feeds are files that contain titles and descriptions of content updated from websites or blogs. Bear with me with these images as this template is not very wide.

I can use a browse or keyword search for blogs/podcasts to which I can subscribe.



Let's say I type in fiction, I get a list of results including

Fiction and Poetry, Crime Fiction Dossier, Science Fiction News, etc.

I click on the + subscribe button to subscribe to these feeds. The list of blogs to which I subscribe appears on the left of Google Reader.


When I click on one of the blogs I can see a list of articles appear on the right of Google Reader. I click on one of the articles and click on the Share button.


OK, so I can do this over and over to build up a list of shared articles. Now it's time to add this to Blogger.

I click on the link to shared items in the menu at the left of Google Reader. Then I click on the link that says to add a clip to your blog. This will open up a popup window.


I choose a title for the shared items, a color scheme and click on the Add to Blogger button.


Blogger adds a widget to my sidebar with links to the shared articles. The Blogger layout template will open in a new window or tab and you'll see the widget display in the sidebar. You can place your mouse over this and move it further down the sidebar. When you are finished click on the Save button. This will save the template.



Now go and visit your blog and see if it worked.

You can change the articles you want to share. Unshare some and add others.

Let me know if it works or if you get totally lost! Have fun

Cheers, webgurl