LET'S COMMUNICATE
Agriculture Communication Newsletter
April 2007, No. 136

Contents

Non-profit vs. Regular Bulk Mail Rates
Back Up Your Computers
Dial-up Modem Service Discontinued
Non-personal E-mail Addresses Switching
Learn about Feeds and Web 2.0 through eXtension
Write the Right Word
Labor Charges for Graphic and Video Work

Non-profit vs. Regular Bulk Mail Rates

NDSU's non-profit bulk mailing rates are even less than regular bulk mailing rates. However, the regulations say, "An organization authorized to mail at the Nonprofit Standard Mail rates may mail only its own matter at those rates.... Cooperative mailings may be made at the Nonprofit Standard Mail rates only if each of the cooperating organizations is individually authorized to mail at those rates at the office where mailings are deposited."

In other words, any material jointly identified as by NDSU and a commodity group or non-profit or business or whoever cannot go at the lower rate unless the other group(s) also have non-profit mail status from the Fargo post office. In fact, the Postal Service questioned Extension's "County Commissions, North Dakota State University and U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating."

Sharon Lane, (701) 231-7883, sharon.lane@ndsu.edu

Back Up Your Computers

What if your computer crashes, or is dropped or lost? Are your important files, including e-mail addresses, backed up? Every Agriculture and University Extension staff and faculty person should have a backup system.

For help setting up a backup system, contact the help desk at (701) 231- 8685 or ndsu.helpdesk@ndsu.edu

Dial-up Modem Service Discontinued

The local and 1-800 dial-up Internet service provided by Ag Communication is now discontinued. ITS cut their modems in May 2005, but Ag Com continued this service since it was the only option for a few off-campus and traveling employees. However, since most homes and hotels now have Internet access and since the equipment is old, the service is being stopped as Roger Egeberg and the Ag servers move from IACC 412 to Morrill 115.

Non-personal E-mail Addresses Switching

Counties and RECs will be the first to switch from the name@ndsuext.nodak.edu to name.name@ndsu.edu for "generic" office addresses. County secretaries and chairs, and REC secretaries and directors will receive confirmation in the next few days as to who will -- or should -- receive this "generic" e-mail.

Learn about Feeds and Web 2.0 from eXtension

A 30-minute session called Feeding Frenzy - an introduction to feeds and Web syndication - will be at 2:30 Central, Thursday, April 5. Feeds are everywhere today. So what are these things? How do they work? And how can you use them to save yourself a ton of time? Come to the Feeding Frenzy session to learn how you can start using feeds.

Participants will be introduced to Google Reader and its use for managing syndication feeds. This session will be held via Breeze (now called Adobe Acrobat Connect) at http://breeze.extension.iastate.edu/learn  and your telephone. Plan to join the session 5 minutes before the starting time.

Beth Kanter will present a webconference on "Ten Steps to Web 2.0" at 2:00-3:30 p.m. Central, Tuesday, April 24. Web 2.0 refers to a second generation of Web-based services, such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools and folksonomies that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users.

Kanter is an experienced coach to "digital immigrants" using new web tools (blogging, tagging, wikis, photo sharing, video blogging, screencasting, social networking sites, and virtual worlds, etc). Her work primarily deals with educational technology and working in communities. Learn more about Kanter at http://www.bethkanter.org/  and read her blog at http://beth.typepad.com/ .

Mark your calendar now to attend "Ten Steps to Web 2.0" via Breeze at http://breeze.extension.iastate.edu/learn  and with your telephone. Join the session 5-10 minutes before the starting time.

Write the Right Word

Here are more words that sound somewhat the same but are not interchangeable.

Then/than � The easy way to know which to use is to remember �then� refers to time or a time sequence and �than� is used when talking about choices or comparisons. I go to the movies now and then. Combine the sugar and cocoa, then add the milk and heat, stirring occasionally. I would prefer to drive than fly to the conference. The man was more upset than his wife about the car accident.

Flier/flyer � A flier is a printed notice or announcement. We asked the business owners on Main Street if we could post our flier in their store windows. A flier also is an aviator. The flier made an unscheduled landing when his Cessna lost oil pressure. Flyer is the proper name of some trains and buses. We rode the Western Flyer through the mountains.

While on the subject of comparisons, the terms �compared to� and �compared with� are not interchangeable, either. Use �compared to� when indicating two or more items are similar. The speaker compared his work for civil rights to Martin Luther King Jr.�s efforts to promote nonviolence and equal treatment of all races. Use �compared with� when illustrating the differences in two or more items. North Dakota barley crops produced 62 bushels per acre in 2004, compared with 60 bushels per acre in 2003.

Ellen Crawford, (701) 231-5391, ellen.crawford@ndsu.edu

Labor Charges for Graphic and Video Work

The Ag Communication graphics and video units are now charging an hourly labor rate in addition to materials costs. The change was necessary to comply with federal accounting guidelines.

Initial consultations are still available from graphics and video staff at
no charge, and the hourly rates are much less than if you had to hire the
work to be completed off campus.

Be sure to include communications costs in your grant proposals. Call for
estimates.

Extension faculty and staff may request operating funds from your program leader or district director prior to the start of work on a project.

Becky Koch, (701) 231-7875, becky.koch@ndsu.edu

LET'S COMMUNICATE

If you have questions or comments, or would like to submit information or make a suggestion, contact:

Agriculture Communication
Attn: Becky Koch
7 Morrill Hall
Phone: 231-7875
FAX: 231-7044
e-mail: bkoch@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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