Windows only: Synchronise your computer’s clock with numerous time servers around the world using freeware application DS Clock. On its first run, it will dock itself on the top right hand corner of your desktop, but you can customise its look and feel as well as its position quite easily. As an added bonus, DS Clock comes with a stopwatch so that you can track the time it takes to perform certain tasks online. Not bad. DS Clock is a freeware application for all flavours of Windows.
DS ClockLast year on Lifehacker, alum Rick Broida shared how you can employ SpamArrest to keep junk from hitting your cellphone’s inbox.
Windows only: Lock down your PC and prevent unauthorised executable files from running with freeware application Trust-No-Exe. As the computer’s administrator, you can set up a whitelist of clean executable files that you will allow to run and selectively block others. Once installed, Trust-No-Exe adds an entry to your Control Panel, from which you can tweak your whitelist and blacklist. If you’re heading home to fix your mum and dad’s computer for the seventh consecutive year, you might want to add this to your Thanksgiving rescue kit. It’s not foolproof, but it could be a worthwhile deterrent. Trust-No-Exe is freeware, Windows only.
Trust-No-Exe [Beyond Logic]Gmail could have looked like quite a different beast had it been designed by Microsoft. Blech.
Custom ringtones on our phones have been making it easy to tell who’s calling (and whether we want to answer) without looking at our phones for years now, so why aren’t we doing the same thing with our incoming email? A frequently firing new-email alert can throw you off a productivity sweep with nothing more than a gentle ding. You rush to your inbox to open this new gift of an email just to find that… oh… it’s another borderline offensive mass email chain from your cousin-in-law. Today I’ll show you how to set up custom alerts with your favourite desktop email client to minimise email distraction without missing important messages.
The Usingmac weblog highlights 13 simple Leopard tweaks you can perform by simply copying and pasting a little text into Terminal, from Dock tweaks to solidifying the menu bar (which we did with an app here). While you’re tweaking Leopard, be sure to also check out how to make your hidden apps appear translucent in the Dock.
Leopard Tweaking – Terminal Codes [Usingmac.com]Easily build your upcoming spring semester student schedules—complete with courses, lab work, and extra-curricular activities—with webapp CollegeRuled. The site requires an .edu address to register, but once you’re in you can input data pertaining to coursework and activities with ease. The site also has a built-in “Assignment Pad” and discussion boards that are designed for students to collaborate with each other. Despite a few bugs I encountered when entering my courses, the application runs well and looks pretty good.
CollegeRuledThe How-To Geek blog highlights a feature in Outlook 2007 that’s tucked away but can eliminate the hassle of having to forward email replies to bosses or interested parties later. The tweak:Compose a new message, click the “Options” tab and choose “Direct Replies To.” Check the box for “Have Replies sent to.” Add additional reply-to addresses, separating with semi-colons and remembering to keep yourself in the list. Hit “Close.”
While the person replying can obviously edit the reply addresses, it saves those recipients at least one unnecessary email.
Send Email Replies To Another Recipient In Outlook 2007 [The How-To Geek]Presentations, the slide show component of Google Docs, has been updated to allow slides to be given custom background images and colourised. While there’s still no ability to save create constant self-made themes, it does bring Presentations one step closer to being a feasible alternative to desktop-based slide show creators. The update also makes it easier to select and move more than one slide at a time by Ctrl- or Shift-clicking and dragging slides around. Having been out for two months now, are you finding Presentations useful? Share your observations in the comments.
Customize the Background of a Google Presentation [Google Operating System]
