Customizing the New gMail

Google has now migrated all user accounts into the "New" gMail interface, which has several new features. Many users have asked how to turn some of these off to save screen space:

1) If you don't want attachments listed as a separate line in your Inbox, go to your gMail settings (gear icon,) choose "Display Density" and change it from Default to "Comfortable" or "Compact"

2) Google has incorporated AI (Artificial Intelligence) to remind you of messages that may require follow-up. You can turn off these reminders by opening gMail settings (Gear --> Settings) and scrolling down to find "Nudges" in the General tab. Uncheck those boxes to turn off these reminders.

3) Want a little more screen space? Clicking the "hamburger" (3 lines) in the upper left will collapse the left sidebar to icons, which pop out when you mouse over them. You can also move Chat to the right side of your screen by enabling "Right Side Chat" in Settings --> Advanced.

Color Printing at MMU

First and foremost, please keep in mind that color printing is expensive so should only be used when necessary or required for a project.

Please make sure to check your work carefully so that you only need to print color ONCE!

Student laptops are not directly connected to color printers, however you can print to the color copier in the computer lab by using one of the computers there.

How can I use multiple Google accounts without logging in and out all the time?

Many of us use multiple Google accounts (eg. one for school and one for home, which is recommended in school policies) but it's a hassle to log in and out of them all the time. Here is an easy way to set up and switch smoothly between accounts:

1) Log in to Chrome (not just Drive or gMail) using your CESU account (this is automatic on a Chromebook.) Choose "Link Data." This will become the default/primary account.

2) Go to Drive or gMail, click on your user icon (upper right) and choose "Add Account." There is no need to sign out of your primary account before doing this.

Once both accounts are logged in, you can switch smoothly between them by clicking on your user icon in the upper right and choosing the other account.

When you navigate to a service that uses Google login, you will choose the correct account from a list.

CAUTION: Once you enable two accounts, make sure your school work is always done with your school account!

How Can I Get gMail to Handle eMail Links on Web Pages?

When you first use gMail in Chrome, a little <> icon shows at the right end of the omnibar (aka address bar). This is a notification that gMail wants to install a "service handler" for email links. Click on this icon and check "Use CESU mail" and your gMail will now pop open whenever you click on a link to someone's email. If you accidentally "ignore" this prompt, the setting is buried but available in Settings --> Advanced Settings --> Content Settings (Privacy) --> Scroll down to "Manage Handlers" and delete the "ignored" handler to reset the prompt.

Taking Screenshots on HP210 (silver) laptops

The Chromebook shortcut for screenshots is ctrl+F5, however in this particular laptop the F5 button only works if you also hold down the Fn key so it is ctrl+Fn+F5 for a full screen shot and ctrl+shift+Fn+F5 to grab just part of a screen. True: The PrntScrn button may also function for full screen shots.

Flash player Updates on CloudReady Computers

NOTE:  as of Sept. 2017 the process described below should no longer be necessary.

The Cloudready OS on our 11th and 12th grade laptops does not automatically update Flash, and Flash player can sometimes become corrupted when Chrome updates. This affects video playback and audio recording in Schoology and Middlebury Languages, The Americans online textbook and other sites/tools that rely on Flash Player may not function properly (symptom is an error message "cannot load plugin.")

If you have difficulty with plugins on these or other websites you can bring your computer to Helpdesk and they will fix it, OR students have permission to perform the following fix themselves. The follow steps must be followed precisely:

1. Make sure the Chromebook is updated (up-arrow in the lower right)
2. Press Ctrl+Alt+T. This opens a black screen (Terminal) with crosh> on the left
3. Type shell and push enter. The prompt on the left edge should now read chronos@localhost
4. Type cd /usr/share/oem/pepper and push enter (TIP: There is a space after "cd" and you can copy this command, but you need to use ctrl+SHIFT+V to paste it into Terminal)
5. Type sudo rm flash_installed, then enter
6. Type the password: chrome (you won't see this when you type, hit enter when done)
7. Shut down, then restart. 
8. Once restarted go to Chrome settings, look for Adobe Flash and click "install." Also install the Proprietary Codecs (to the right of Flash.)
9. Once Flash is installed, you will be prompted to restart again

NOTE: You may need to "allow and remember" access to your microphone after this update.

Web Streaming on CloudReady (Chrome) Computers

Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime require extra plugins and do not automatically play in the Chromium browser on computers with CloudReady. These will work by enabling one built-in plugin called "WeDevine" and (for Netflix) installing and configuring the User Agent Switcher extension.

1. Go to Chrome://Settings, find Widevine Content Decryption Module and and click "Install" or "Check for Updates"
2. Install this extension
3. Right-click on the extension icon and choose "options"
4. In the custom user-agent list enter:
     Name: CloudReady Widevine
     String: (TIP: copy and paste this entire line!)
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/52.0.2709.0 Safari/537.36 

     Group: Chrome (should fill in automatically)
     Append: Replace

     Indicator Flag: IE

5. Once all of this is filled in, click "Add"

IMPORTANT: This extension may interfere with some websites (WeVideo in particular) resulting in an "incompatible browser" message. To make sure it is only active on the pages where it is necessary:

6. Click on "Permanent Spoof list" (on left)

7. Enter the domain you wish to use (eg. netflix.com) and "add" 

Feel free to contact Mr. Hall if you need assistance with this installation.