You know how we all have that one Facebook friend, the one that is all granolier than thou about everything? I recently got into one of those discussions about kids and screens.

No screen week is April 29 - May 5 this year.

We are not a big TV family. I spent a good chunk of my childhood in Germany where we had one channel that showed American soap operas, but totally out of order. So TV was never a big thing for me. I just dont like the passive consumption of that much media, especially for small kids.

We currently do not have cable, and the kids watch in short spurts using Netflix. So we usually celebrate no-screens week at our house by turning of Netflix for a week and spending a few more minutes outside with the chickens.

Some things have changes in the last year. My girls are now 10 and 12. They have Kindle Fires and my oldest saved up this fall to buy her own Chromebook this fall. Technically these are all screens...so what to do?

After much discussion we have decided to draw a line between consuming and creating with technology. No Goodluck Charlie or Webkins, but CodeAcademy is OK. For us the kids are outside running around plenty, so more fresh air really isnt the point.

But is does make me think about the role of computer science in our relationships with screens. For too many kids in our country their entire relationship with screens is a passive one. Really, that is the magic of computer science. Like any art, it takes you from being a consumer of a product and puts you on stage as a creator.

And really, that is the point. With computer science, the screen becomes a tool for expression. There is a huge power in that.

Read More..

Does it drive you crazy when the text youre entering into a cell is just a character or two too long and Word automatically text wraps down to a new line? You know, something like this:

I dont know about you, but I dont appreciate the different row heights it creates. So, what can you do?

Well, I suppose you could try to resize the column to fit the text. That option is okay if youve got room to spare in another column.

But what if you dont have any "wiggle" room with your column widths?

I suppose you could try making the font smaller, but it will look a little weird with everything else. So, do you make everything smaller?

You could, but if you go too small, youre not going to be able to read it.

Have any other ideas?

Lucky for you, I do!

Starting with Word 2000, youve got an option that allows you to have Word fit the text to the cell.

What it does is officially keep the same font size (specifically its height), but it shrinks the character widths to make them fit into the cell, like this:

Obviously, the amount youre willing to shrink the text width has to be limited, because it, too, could become unreadable. But it definitely comes in handy when something is just a bit too big for the cell.

Well, if youre still with me, you must be interested in the location of this little "gem," so lets get to that right now!

First, select the cell(s) in the table you want to treat as text in this manner.

In Word 2007, you need the Table Tools Layout ribbon.

Click the small icon in the bottom right corner of the Cell Size group.

If you have an older version of Word, you need to use the Table menu, Table Properties choice to get there.

In all versions, youre looking for the Cell tab in the Table Properties dialogue window. Click the Options button.

In the Cell Options dialogue window, youre looking to select the "Fit Text" checkbox.

Click OK.

Youll then be returned to the Table Properties dialogue window, where youll need to click OK again to return to your document.

Voila! Your text is kept on one line, the font size hasnt officially changed, so editing later wont be a nightmare and you still have a beautiful table. It doesnt get any better than that!

Read More..