And when it (technology) really does not work....

How could all of this happen in one 24-hour period: yesterday my email is a disaster because it is sending one 'PDMF Message Failure' with each email message received and email message sent (does that sound like two email messages for the price of one?). I though it was a bad situation, very annoying and time consuming to sift through so many messages looking for the real ones. It took hours to clean things up that evening.

This morning, in the middle of trying to explain the email situation on the phone, the phones and the Internet (plus the TV, I suppose) shut down. Of course the problem is 'in the area' and cannot be helped. Later in the morning the electric powers goes down too. What is happening here? This cannot possibly happen on the day I am scheduled to conduct a webinar requiring the phone and Internet! What a moment that lasted hours! What do we do when our Internet is suddenly down on the day we need it most?

Like any All-American girl I call my parents to ask if I can use their home office, Internet and phone line for two+ hours so the webinar can be held. Thanks Mom & Dad for raising an independent child, who, at times, still needs the comfort (and electrical power, Internet, and phone lines) of home. All is well that ends well.

When it does not work...

The past week has been a frustrating one. My email was not working and I felt the impact of being 'out of touch'. At times I would see a few messages pop up, then they would quickly disappear. Other times the spinning gear signal would spin forever without stopping. After hours working with Apple experts at the store and Apple experts online my stress level was growing. After even more hours and days working on the issue with our university tech staff, my stress level was ready to top out. Unfortunately our tech staff is not familiar with Apple computers!

Isn't it amazing how difficult it is when we are unable to use our technology? It feels as though you are totally cut off from the world and you are unable to do your work because email is such an important part of who we are today. The frustrations are intense, which makes me feel like we are addicted to our technology! I am sure at some level we are addicted at the ability to retrieve information and correspond with family, friends, and colleagues. If I missed your email in the past week, I apologize!

Podcast Training Videos On YouTube

I have been busy lately refining my skills on how to create a podcast that can be uploaded to YouTube! In an effort to refresh the memory of those I have trained and provide a simple training tool, I have designed three podcast that will help you prepare and record audio podcasts. My versions are primitive yet cover the steps you need to follow to get started with audio recording. Here are the YouTube links:
Preparing to Make a Podcast

Recording a Podcast on GarageBand (for Mac users)

Recording a Podcast on Audacity (for PC users and Mac users that don't have GarageBand)

I hope they are useful and motivate you to get started podcasting!

Latest publications in Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences

Life is good! After spending a wonderfully relaxing week on the Outer Banks, it was fun to start the new work week with news that two of my articles were published in the Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences Volume 102-No 1. The article Online Video Calls: Guest Speakers for FCS outlines a way in which FCS educators could have guest speakers using online video tools such as Skype. I was able to conduct a three-hour in-service last fall for over 40 FCS teachers as they sat at their local Intermediate Unit in central Pennsylvania. My location was simple...my work studio at home, where I could wear my fuzzy slippers and be totally comfortable. Our connection was perfect and the session was a success. A follow-up survey of the participants proved that we could conduct a training via long distance. With some coordination, we were able to use PowerPoint, access videos on YouTube and TeacherTube to enhance the presentation. Our little experiment shows that we can save time energy and money by using the Internet for speaking engagements.

The second article, FCS Careers: Middle School Teacher Transitions to Cooperative Extension, tells the story of how my 25-year public school teaching career prepared me to move to Assistant Professor/County Agent at Rutgers Cooperative Extension. With a career filled with learning opportunities one can find ways to transition into new career fields. Our prior experiences add a richness to our educational palate and enable us to communicate will all types of audiences in and out of the formal classroom. FCS prepares us to practice the art of flexibility and advance our communication skills. Marilyn Sweirk was correct.....everything we learned in life we learned in Family & Consumer Sciences:)

Good news for wiki-lovers!

How did we ever conduct business before wikis? They are time, money and energy saving tools. For the last three years my FCS colleagues and I have developed and taught graduate courses at Penn State for FCS teachers using a wiki. We can easily share information, presentations, links to resources, pictures, and video on the wiki. The best feature is that we are certain that everyone involved is reading the same material on the same page. Awesome! There is no doubt that we will continue to use wikis to do our work in FCS and Extension (not to mention family gatherings, reunions, etc, etc). Check out the article we had published today in the Journal of Extension, The Wiki as a Time-Saving Mentoring Tool.

So many apps, so little time....

I am amazed at the depth of the functioning of the iPhone! There are so many things to learn yet. Yesterday my son (a genuine tech guru) shared some apps that I might find useful. Useful is probably an understatement! Apps are seriously helpful when out and about locally and also when traveling. So far I have chosen eleven apps (from literally thousands of apps) for my phone. The tools I have chosen are so simple and user friendly....they make good sense. They are the type of tool you wish you should have created yourself. I love the 'aroundme' app because it can help you locate essential services that you are around no matter where you are. So simple, and so useful. Other useful tools include Facebook, Twitter and Skype on the phone. It truly is like having the world at your fingertips. Pandora looks like it will be interesting too. Can you image that the tool creates/customizes a radio program for you based upon the type of music you enjoy. Why couldn't I think up something like that???

Why did I wait so long to get an iPhone?

Last week we took the plunge and purchased our first iPhones. What took us so long to make this change??? The hassle of changing phone companies and learning a new system definitely played a role. My key concern was blue tooth connectivity to my car. I decided to purchase a compatible portable blue tooth system to allow for hands-free driving. My next step is to configure that system and use it while driving any vehicle.

The iPhone's technology is awesome to hold in your hands. I think the speed of its connectivity is faster than the computer's speed. Is that possible? The phone is easy to use and has a tremendous amount of capacity. I can check personal and business email anywhere and the process is simple. Although I am still on the early-learning phase, I think we made the best move by changing over to the iPhone. Thank you Apple for consistently making user-friendly products and providing excellent technical support for your customers!

Inspiring People to Use Technology

Last week I had the opportunity to collaborate on a presentation with Anne Adrian (Auburn University Cooperative Extension) at the 10th Annual Eat Smart New York Conference in Albany. We encountered a delightful group of nutrition educators from across the state of New York. They seem very interested in finding ways to better reach their clientele using social media/technology. Our session, Using Social Media/Technology to Reach ESNY Clients was fun to present and gave us a chance to meet lots of new people. So far I have received email messages from participants expressing thanks and also updating me on their progress since last week. Can you image some people are already desiging their path to efficiently use social media in their work! As a presenter this is the best you can hope for....inspiring and motivating professionals to work smarter not harder with technology!!! Thank you Cornell Cooperative Extension and the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance for the opportunity to speak at your annual conference!

Important Internet Security Issue

For a long time I have told people to be very careful about leaving messages on Facebook and Twitter about being away from home. Read this important article, and if that isn't enough to convince you, check the website mentioned in the article. It is a real eyeopener. To protect yourself and your family do not leave information about your whereabouts online!!!

Click here: Does posting location online say 'Please Rob Me'? - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20100225/ap_tr_ge/us_travel_brief_please_rob_me

More implications for social networking issues.

Snowy February

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Serious Eats and the USDA's Food Environment Atlas

If you are looking for a website full of interesting recipes and information about food, seriouseats.com should be saved as a favorite. The posts are provided by a community of fun-loving authors, and of course the photographs are beautiful too. Recently the website has featured recipes reviews, restaurant reviews, and helpful tips for cooks of all ability levels.
One post shows the Daily Yonder's interpretation of the recent USDA's Food Environment Atlas. You will find a variety of food consumption visualizations and maps.

Do you want to know how far you live from the nearest McDonald's or Subway? The links to such information is available from the Food Atlas. In fact, the Food Atlas can be a very handy tool for people interested in the availability of food in your area, food security, distances to supermarket (do you live in a food desert?), low-income data, local foods, health, food taxes, availability of restaurants, food prices, food eaten at home, and so much more. Check out the Food Atlas website and you will find yourself amazed at the information and getting lost in the eye-opening differences our nation has to offer.

Snowed in and lovin' it!

Haven't we had a tremendous amount of snow this winter? The good thing about it that the snow is so beautiful as it is falling. I am fortunate to be able to work from home when the roads are brutally messy.

Being snowed-in allows for lots for creativity in the kitchen. It is a perfect time to make a homemade soup chock full of fresh vegetables and other nutritious foods. Cooking on a snowy day is one of my favorite things to do! When I roast a turkey or chicken I am thrilled to make a stock from the leftover meat and bones. With a few packages (usually frozen in quart size zip lock freezer bags) of my turkey stock in the freezer I am armed and ready for a snowed-in soup day.

Yesterday I started with a 12 (dried) bean mixture from my favorite local Amish market, soaked them in the morning and later started the creative development of what I call nutritious 'found-soup', meaning whatever I can find in my freezer, refrigerator, and pantry can/may/will be used for the soup of the day. It is a culinary challenge and lots of fun! The results are usually delicious.

The soup ended up with leftover sausage (from the Super Bowl party), lots of tomato sauce, and chicken stock (both from the freezer), fresh garlic, carrots, celery, basil, parsley, splash of Worcestershire sauce (from the fridge), and chili powder, Butt Rub (my favorite slightly spicy seasoning combination purchased in the Outer Banks, NC). The end product was a very thick and hearty high-fiber soul satisfying dinner served with arugula salad with grape tomatoes, cucumber and very nutritious red pepper. The meal was finished off with a section of toasted sandwich roll (leftover from the Super Bowl). Pairing the meal with our homemade wine was spectacular! What could be better?

Health Benefits of Tea

Over the past month I have done several presentations on the Health Benefits of Tea. The presentation was created by my colleague, Sherri Cirignano. Here are a few facts that might be of interest about tea:

• Black tea, green tea, white tea and oolong tea all come from the same bush called camellia sinesis. The difference between the types of tea is the processing method. Tea leaves harvested when the leaf is you will be white tea, green tea requires a more mature leaf, oolong requires an even more mature leaf, and black tea is the most mature leaf.
  
• Beverages commonly known as herbal teas, but actually called tisane, contain an infusion of leaves or flowers, and do not contain tea leaves.
• Tea consumption began 2,000 years ago, and by the 1500's, 50% of the worlds population was drinking tea. Today, worldwide tea consumption is equal to all other beverages combined.
  
• 80% of the tea consumed in the US is served cold or as iced tea.
• 98% of all tea sold is black tea.
• Research on tea show that the following activities are studied: antioxidant, nutrition, protection, and immune enhancement. Proposed health benefits include: cancer prevention, obesity, age-associated, neurodegenerative disease, and diabetes. Additional studies are still needed.
  
• The health benefits of black, green, white and oolong tea are comparable.
• Tea provides these nutrients: energy, and small amount of magnesium/phosphorpus/sodium/potassium/folate.

Tips for Using PowerPoint

Have you ever been bored with a PowerPoint presentation? Has the presenter read the slides to you? If so, you will enjoy this posting about the Ten Commandments of PowerPoint. The posting is interesting and so very true.

Excellent Blog

I can really appreciate the time and energy it takes to keep up on a personal blog! When I find a good blog I like to share it with others. If you like to cook, read about food, and experiment with recipes, this blog is for you. The blog is smittenkitchen and is well worth your time and effort saving the link. Deb Perelman is the blog's whitty author that makes her recipe reviews and her cooking experiences fun to read and follow. The web site is user friendly and features beautiful photographs of the foods created. Check it out, and don't forget to try some of the tasty foods Deb creates!

New Year, New Eating Habits!

We all know that New Year's resolutions don't work, so let's think of a more effective way to live a healthy lifestyle. Here are a few simple tips from our Get Moving Get Healthy New Jersey program:
1- Reduce the amount of sugar sweetened food you consume. If you can't totally give up soda, at least cut back the number of servings you are drinking each day. By consistently cutting back the amount of sugar your body will be healthier and probably thinner too!
2- Eat low-fat or fat-free dairy foods. By switching to low reduced fat dairy you can reduce your cholesterol, fat and save calories too. Reach for low-fat cheese, yogurt and fat-free milk for good health.
3- Make water your drink of choice. Our bodies need water, it's that simple. Our bodies don't need extra calories and fat from many of the liquids we drink.
4- Increase the amount of protein you eat from plant foods. Eat beans, beans, and more beans for great sources of protein without the added fat.
5- Increase your level of physical activity. Walking is a simple form of exercise, and it can make a world of difference to your health if you increase the number of steps you are walking everyday. Aim for 10,000 steps per day for optimum health.
6- Make sure half of the grains you consume are whole grain foods. Look for whole grain rice, breads, wraps, and cereals. Give your body the nutrients and fiber it needs!

Make this the first day of the rest of your healthy life!!!