I mention this because during the late 90's, while I lived and worked for a computer peripherals company in Northern California , I spent many hours, spanning several sessions, on the phone with Mr. Baker. In these lively discussions, we talked about the upcoming information revolution, and its potential effects and uses. Mr. Baker wanted to know how the New Ruston in Havana should best respond and provide basic practical education on these subjects the moment it reopened its doors again. Jim Baker got it! He understood the positive impact these emerging information technologies could have on all of us, and how they could help a new Cuba get ahead. He went on to do some preliminary planning for the establishment of an evening information technology curriculum for adult education at Ruston. He felt the new Ruston should take a leadership role in educating adults in Cuba on the use of information technology, including hands-on practical experience.
In the late 90's, Jim Baker was already using the internet and email as key tools for research and for keeping in touch with other Rustonians. He proved to be daring and fearless when it came to trying out new methods and approaches that improved productivity and effectiveness. He quickly caught on to more advanced group conferencing technologies and how to exploit them. Mr. Baker insisted that we aim to use the best group conferencing services we could afford, making it possible for the Ruston board to have meetings in a single "virtual" conference room while physically scattered across the nation.
Observing how Jim Baker came to terms with the dawn of the information age was a privilege, a revelation and an inspiration to those who worked with him in his later years. This man fully exemplified the credo that he taught so many of us: learning is a life-long pursuit. Not only did he learn, but he aimed to apply these newly-learned skills to achieve his goals and dreams. Mr. Baker continued to embrace this learning into his 90's.
Jim Baker would be very excited and proud to see how twenty years of Ruston yearbook memories have been compressed into a single CD!
Edgardo Marill, Class of '61
HOW TO USE THIS CD:
The collection of the complete THE COLUMNS yearbooks from 1940 to 1960 on CD's can be viewed on any computer that has access to the internet through an internet web browser. All of the contents in this Ruston Yearbook CD is written in HTML, the universal scripting language used on the internet.
A "browser" is the software program used to view all internet content. If you have "surfed" the internet, you did it using a browser. All Windows-based computers have available some version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, the most commonly used internet web browser program. Other browser programs for Windows, such as the popular Mozilla Firefox, can also be used.
Auto-Start: On most Windows-based computers, once this Ruston Yearbook CD is inserted, the CD's home page (the starting point for viewing the contents) will come up on your screen automatically. Be patient. Sometimes it takes two or three minutes before the program starts under automatic mode. However, if the CD does not start by itself, the automatic start feature may not be enabled on your computer, and you must start the CD manually.
Manual Start: In order to begin viewing the CD content manually, you will have to locate the file that starts all web sites, index.htm, on the CD.
For the purpose of locating this file, you need to use the Windows File Manager Function (sometimes called the Windows Explorer). Depending on your computer settings, the file name index.htm may only show up on your computer as the file name index. It is the same file, being displayed using an abbreviated name. Note that this file is always located on the top or highest hierarchy level, or "root directory" of a website, and thus on the highest level of folder structure on your CD. This means that you do not have to search deep into lower lever folders on the CD to find the file index.htm. It will always be found on the top, or highest, view of your Ruston Yearbook CD file structure.
Once you have located the file index.htm on your Ruston Yearbook CD, you must click (or double-click, depending on your computer settings) on this file to invoke the internet browser on your computer and start viewing the yearbooks. Your browser will take you automatically to the home page of the Ruston Yearbook content. From this point on, all you have to do is browse the contents of the CD in the same manner you navigate any other website on the internet. Since all the Ruston Yearbook HTML content you are viewing is located right there on your CD in your computer, the access times to retrieve and view all the yearbook pages will generally be faster.
We have tested the Yearbook CD on an Apple Mac.
Since an Apple Mac can access the internet and therefore has an internet
browser program, the Mac is able to interpret the Ruston Yearbook CD as
another internet website, provided you click on the index.htm file on the CD.
The results will be virtually identical to using a Windows PC.
Important Note on Windows Internet Explorer Version 7:
IE Version 7 is the latest version of Microsoft's browser,
the Internet
Explorer. By looking under your browser's help menu, and then the
About...option, you will find out which level of IE you are using. The new
Version 7 of IE incorporates much of the look and feel of the new Windows VISTA
operating system. We have found, when using IE Version 7, that this browser will not permit the correct viewing of
the yearbook pages until you change some settings.
When using IE to view the Ruston CD, at some point you will get this message: "To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this webpage from running Scrips or Active X controls that could access your computer. Click here for options..."
When you click, you want to select ALLOW BLOCKED OPTIONS since the
Ruston Yearbook CD is a trusted source. Once you make this change, the viewing of the
entire CD can proceed in normal fashion without requiring any other changes.
Copying Images from this Ruston Yearbook CD:
You can copy any image in the Ruston Yearbook CD to your computer very
easily. All you have to do is position the cursor on the picture and right
click. Select the option SAVE IMAGE AS... and click again. Determine where
you want to copy the image to, and give the image your own name if you wish.
Hit ENTER, and, .....voilá!, you have copied the image to
your computer for future use!
Ruston Yearbook Technical Support:
If you are having a problem, either getting your CD to start, or some other
problem, you can email me, Edgardo Marill, at
rustonyearbook@marill.com.
To best help you, please
include the following information in your email:
- The Windows Operating System you are using: 95, 98, NT, XP, or Vista
(or a Mac)
- Which browser and version number you are using: the standard Windows
Internet Explorer, or some other.
- Brief description of the problem you are having.
I will get back to you as soon as I can with some suggestions and work-arounds to help get you started. I do sailboat charters for the Boy Scouts from all over the US in the waters of the Florida Keys, primarily during the summer months, so I may not get back to you for several days. I check my messages regularly, even while out at sea, using wireless email on my SmartPhone.
Edgardo Marill.
