Resolving Conflicted Google Accounts

If you were a previous Google user before our district went to our new Google BPSNE domain you may have named your first account with the @bpsne.net ending.  If so, you now have a conflicted account and it will have to be resolved before you can move any data between the accounts.  See how to’s for this here.

Google lays out how to rename your old account with a temporary username to help fix the situation.  The documents are a bit lengthy and it will take you a few minutes of your time to get it completed.  When you log into your new bpsne account from Google and you see “an update to your account is required”, you know you have a conflicting account.  Google will prompt you to enter in the require information in order to create a temporary name for your old account.  It will seem very lengthy, but it will have to be done.  So maybe before you sit down to tackle your conflicting accounts make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and settle in to follow lots of directions.  We wish it could be easier #Google!  

By the way, if you have been using Blogger or Twitter or Facebook to post information you might want to go in and change your email address associated with these accounts so you continue to receive your notifcations.  Just look under profile in most applications to change your account settings.  Good Luck!  

Written by Jenny Krzystowczyk

Exporting Your Old Google Calendar to Your New Google Account

If you’ve been a Google user for a while, chances are that you have one or more Google Calendars you have been using and sharing.  You can export your calendars from your Google account and import it to your new Google Apps account.  You could also just share your most important calendars to your new email address, but this is the unofficial way of having access to all of your events.  You might run into some issues doing it this way because you aren’t changing ownership you are just making that calendar appear on your new calendar.  

Google provides great step by step ways of getting complete control of your old calendars in your new account.  It does require some downloading and as usual with Google there is more than one way to do this.  I like the export and import options for all calendars unless you have some calendars you really don’t use or like.  Click here for step by step instructions for moving your calendar events.  You will be downloading a file and uploading a file to your new account.  It is very quick and easy!  Please note that any shared calendars will not be exported if you are not the owner of the calendar.  As we progress through our Google Apps training we will show you how to have people share with you and share within groups of our domain.

Written by Jenny Krzystowczyk

Get Your New Drive On

As our district moves from Gaggle to Google for our mail provider we will have many questions to answer as a G-Apps School district.  Many of our staff members were already using Google as their mail provider and digging into Docs as part of their daily work flow.  One major question that has come up is "How do I get my old Google Docs to my new BPSNE Google Drive account?".  Drive by the way it Google’s new word for your Docs list.  It operates basically the same with a few more view options.  It looks like this :

Old Docs View	New Drive View
*	*

Luckily, there is a quick and easy solution for all those previous Google users!  It’s called Google Takeout!   In less than five minutes you can move all your docs quickly and easily to your new account!  Follow these steps below to get your Drive on!

1.  Go to Google Takeout
2.  Click on Creat Archive
3.  Watch your files load into a zip file:

4.  Click download when it is complete.
5.  Go to your new .bpsne.net google account
6.  Click on “Drive”
7.  Click on the red upload button next to create:

8.  Find the zip file in your download folder

9.    Click “open” and watch your files upload to your new drive!

10.  Once the file has been uploaded you will need to open it.  You will see a list of all your docs.  Hover to the far right and when the hand appears click "save to google docs".  You will have to do one at a time.  

10.  Now all of your old docs are in your new Drive!  

Note:  It took me two times to upload the zip file.  The first time I get an error message, but didn't panic.  When working with web-based applications sometimes you just have to try again!

Troubles or questions tweet us at @jennykbps, @techiefeldie, @catlett1

Written by Jenny Krzystowczyk

Are You A Geek?

Being a geek in school was not a good thing!  You were ostracized, made fun of, ran with the geek squad, and were lucky to get a date to the prom.  I always felt sorry for the “geeks” in school and I hear my own kids calling people that word.  I, of course as a parent, have the discussion about labeling people and always being kind to others.  Now, as an adult I have found myself to be surrounded by “geeks”!  In fact, I think I officially am a geek!  But what does that word “geek” really mean in the year 2012?  Geek-dom now includes sharing, collaboration, creation, and i-devices!  Here are 11 reasons according to #tt4t that will help you know if are a geek in 2012.

1.   You are completely paperless.  If someone asks you to keep score at a ballgame you whip out your iphone instead of searching for a pencil and paper.

2.  You know how to tweet out a picture while sitting at a conference.

3.  You take all of your notes either on Evernote or Twitter

4.  You can figure out how to change the CSS by reading and changing the HTML source code from a website.

5.  You upload movies to YouTube and tweet out the link instead of burning DVD to collect dust in your family room.

6.  You make iMovies as Christmas and Birthday gifts.

7.  You never leave home without an iOS device!

8.  When you have something important to say you post it on your blog and then tweet out the link.

9.  You have three different browsers, two computers, and at least one ipad running at the same time.

10.  Most of your reading is done on a tablet and a lot of your material comes from social media.

11.  Your favorite videos are from TED talks.

So yes, I guess I am a geek and proud of it!  Thank goodness I am done with prom!  Are you a geek in 2012?  

Written by Jenny Krzystowczyk