Technology for writers FLORIDA WRITERS CONFERENCE ORLANDO, FLORIDA ● OCTOBER 18-20, 2013 CHRIS HAMILTON TECHFORWRITERS.WORDPRESS.COM

Agenda What the cloud is, and what it means to you Storage solutions – so you never have to worry about losing your work again. Embedded apps (Google Docs, Office 365) Note-taking software (Evernote and One Note) Q&A

“The Cloud” The cloud is a technological way to say “We’re storing your stuff on a server someplace so you can get to it from almost any device.” Most cloud technology allows you to access your stuff even when you aren’t connected. “The Cloud” is a major part of today’s presentation.”

What does the cloud mean to me? Cloud-based technology means you can use your laptop, tablet, and smart phone to work on the same material without having to worry about whether you have the most current version (in most cases). It means you can save your stuff to a server someplace automatically and access the most recent copy. It also means you can take store pictures, notes, and just about anything else you want on the cloud and access it from there.

Storage Solutions

2012 Conference Attendee: I lost my manuscript. Me: The hotel has a business center, you can have someone it to you and print it out Conference Attendee: No, I mean when my laptop crashed, I didn’t have a backup and I lost my file. I have to start over. Me: Do you know what Dropbox is? 2012 Conference Attendee: No Me (to myself): I have got to do a session on that next year because Dropbox would’ve solved that problem.

DropBox Load it on your computer first (from ◦Go to the website, sign up for an account, then download and install the software. You are given space on their servers (in the cloud), and a matching directory on your hard drive (c:\Users\Chris Hamilton\Dropbox). Anything you save to that directory is synchronized to the cloud. You can also install Dropbox apps for your smart phone or tablet (from the AppStore, Google Play, etc.) After you install Dropbox, log in using your account information.

DropBox Dropbox simply stores the information you’ve loaded. It doesn’t care what program you use. It acts as an auto-backup mechanism, allows you to access files from other devices, and even allows you to share your Dropbox with others. The synchronization is invisible. When you save, as long as you have internet access, the file is saved. If you don’t have access, it’s saved locally and synchronized next time you have access. It’s what I use.

DropBox – Costs and platforms Cost: Free for up to 2 GB. You get more space based on usage and people you invite (I’m up to 5.25 GB—and I’ve used 800 MB, mostly for pictures) Upgrades: 100 GB -- $9.99/mo, $99/yr; 200 GB -- $19.99/mo, $199/yr.; 500 GB -- $49.99/mo, $499/yr. Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows.

DropBox – Demonstration Create Word file and save it to DropBox. Show some of the people in the front that it’s there on my Dropbox from my phone. Show that it’s there on my iPad.

Google Drive Create a Google account (If you use gmail, use your gmail account). Install Google Drive Set up offline access Download, install, and log in on other devices.

Google Drive You can: ◦Create and share folders ◦Share your Google Drive (or part of it) ◦Store files and access them from any device. ◦Use Google Drive applications in the cloud (more on that later).

Google Drive – Costs and platforms Cost: You get 15 GB free and can sign up for additional space for very small fees. Upgrades: 100 GB -- $4.99/mo, 200 GB -- $9.99/mo NOTE: If you use Google Plus or Gmail, the storage you use there counts against your storage limit. Platforms: Windows, Android, Mac, iPhone, iPad

Google Drive – Demonstration Create Word file and save it to DropBox. Show some of the people in the front that it’s there on my Dropbox from my phone. Show that it’s there on my iPad.

SkyDrive Create a SkyDrive account ( y&bk= &uiflavor=web&mkt=EN-US&lc=1033&lic=1) y&bk= &uiflavor=web&mkt=EN-US&lc=1033&lic=1 Download and install the desktop app. ( us/skydrive/download) Download, install, and log in on other devices.

SkyDrive Create folders Share your SkyDrive (or part of it) ◦You can create a group that will have access to your SkyDrive (but the members need a SkyDrive account). ◦You can share your SkyDrive on the file or folder level with others. Store files from your laptop and access them from a tablet or smartphone (or vice versa) From the web interface, create documents directly on SkyDrive using web-based versions of MS Office applications. (We’ll cover more later.) Access your OneNote files, if you use OneNote.

SkyDrive – Costs and platforms Cost: You get 7 GB free with additional space available for reasonable fees. Upgrades: 20 GB -- $10/year, 50 GB -- $25/year, 100 GB -- $50/year Platforms: Windows, Apple, Android, xBox

SkyDrive – Costs and platforms Cost: You get 7 GB free with additional space available for reasonable fees. Upgrades: 20 GB -- $10/year, 50 GB -- $25/year, 100 GB -- $50/year Platforms: Windows, Apple, Android, xBox

Using Cloud programs Want to use Word on your iPad? For free? Want to use a free word processor, even when you aren’t hooked to the Internet? You can do that by using cloud programs

Use Word 365 for free You must have Internet access for this to work (skydrive.live.com). Log into SkyDrive on the Internet. Select Create > Word Document. Give it a name and press Enter. There you are!

Use Word 365 for free When you save the file, it saves to SkyDrive, and is then accessible in your SkyDrive folder. Works on Laptop and iPad. I couldn’t get it to work on my cell phone (Android). Word 365 is like Word 2013—if you use 2007 or 2010, it’s close. If you use Word 2003, it will look and feel a lot different. Word 365 does not have the Design, References, or Review menus. But if you’re working on your manuscript, you can do most of what you’ll need to do. DEMONSTRATION

Use Google’s Word Processor When you access Google Drive on in your browser (PC) or in the Google Drive app (iPad or smart phone) you can edit document using the built-in word processor. You can actually use multiple devices to change the document at once. Very useful for collaboration, or for building a document from anywhere. Warning: Even in simple documents, like manuscripts (which you can typically do with two styles), there are conversion issues going to and from Word. AWESOMELY COOL DEMONSTRATION

It’s legen

It’s legen-DARY

Use Google’s Word Processor One very useful feature of Google Docs is it’s available offline if you use a Chrome Browser or a Chrome-based operating system. ◦On my Android phone, I had to select the document and then select the option to make it available off line.

One Note Allows you to save notes from your laptop or pretty much any device you might want to use. Accessible through an app or program, but also through SkyDrive. Supported on Windows, iPad/iPhone, and Android. OneNote also includes a screen shot option you can use on laptops by pressing the Windows key and S. Information is stored in Notebooks, and you can create more than one. If you use SkyDrive, you can also access OneNote in your Documents area. Free up to 500 notes on mobile devices (iPad and Android). After that, you have to pay $15 for the app. You can even take audio notes, video notes, and “ink notes” – a drawing tool. It also includes a basic OCR (optical character recognition) function.

Evernote Accessible as a program on your computer and an app on smart phones and tablets. It has an add-on called Evernote web clipper that’s embedded in your browser that allows you to grab web pages and look at them later (I use this a lot for the blog) ◦Install Evernote ( ◦Go to and install the add-on. (The website can tell what browser you’re using.) ◦Click the Elephant icon in the upper right to capture the current web page. ◦The page is loaded into Evernote in the Notebook you specify.

Evernote Unlike a lot of other apps, there are base functions you can use on any platform—the basics, audio notes, typing notes, and accessing what you did from other devices—but there are variances in what you can do on each device. ◦I can do speech to text on my Android phone but not my laptop or iPad. ◦I can do pen-like writing on my laptop, but not on my iPad or my phone. (I downloaded Penultimate, which lets me do that for free on my iPad and syncs to Evernote. They may be working on that for Android.) ◦The web grabber is available for my laptop, but does not appear to be available for iPad or Android (though other apps may be available for those platforms). ◦Skitch takes screenshots and syncs them with your Evernote account.