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February Missions

February Mission #1:

Agent Q, from our Research and Development Department, has been reviewing your gadget ideas from earlier this year. In fact, he has been so impressed with your suggestions that he has requested that you all submit designs for your gadgets so that he can work them into prototypes or models for future production. To develop a blueprint for your gadget, I would like to use the drawing tools in the Pages program (in the iWork application folder) on your computer. You can find the iWork folder by following the same path as shown below. Once you find the Pages application, you can create a shortcut in the Dock by dragging the application icon and dropping it wherever you want the shortcut and dropping it. Remember, do not drag applications to the desktop trying to make a shortcut. You must drag them all the way to the Dock and wait until the applications there actually “make room” for the icon before you let go…


Once you have your shortcut set up, you can click on the Pages icon to launch the application. If you have never used the application, you may be asked to register or “try” the program. Pick the “try” option and you can use the software on a trial basis. On some of your machines (the newer ones) the software is licensed and you will not have to take this step. You may see a screen that offers tutorials. You can view some of these if you like or simply proceed to creating your diagram by choosing new blank document (under the Word Processing section).

Once you have your blank document in place, you should save and title it with your first name and last initial. Example: My design would be saved as tonyb. Save it to your desktop for easy access. After you have the Pages document saved, it’s time to start working on your gadget blueprint. Use the Shapes tool and the Textboxes tool at the top to create a diagram of your gadget. The following are a few required components:

  1. A detailed diagram of your gadget
  2. Measurements (length, width, height, etc.)
  3. A title at the top
  4. A brief description along the bottom
  5. Use at least 3 different shapes and at least 3 colors

That’s it. After you complete your blueprint, save it by following these steps:

  1. Go to File in the menu bar at the top
  2. Choose print (you should have already named as saved the file)
  3. Click the PDF button on the print dialogue screen (lower left corner)
  4. Choose Save as PDF
  5. The next menu will ask you to name it again. Again name it your first name and last initial
  6. Save it to the desktop
  7. Upload your PDF design to my MobileMe Public Folder by accessing the page and using the upload button you find on the webpage. You will be asked to browse and locate the file on your computer (hopefully you saved it on the desktop) and then simply click upload.
  8. Once your PDF design is uploaded to my folder, leave me a message in the Switchboard under the Upload Successful heading.

Good luck agents. I look forward to reviewing the designs with Agent Q and moving forward with the project.

Agent 66- Out