Thursday, November 29, 2007
Mozilla testers have given our Better Gmail …
10:19AM Gina Trapani | Mozilla testers have given our Better Gmail 2 extension their stamp of approval; thanks to everyone who pitched in a review! Here’s Better Gmail 2 on Firefox Add-ons. More »
Things you can do with whiteboard markers
10:18AM Sarah Stokely | I thought that the use of whiteboard markers was confined to offices which actually have whiteboards, but thanks to the Lifehack.org blog I have been enlightened (once I figured out that dry-erase markers is American for whiteboard markers).You can use them to write notes to yourself on the bathroom mirror or glass desk (I like this one), or to label frozen food. Another nifty hint – cover an index card with contact and voila, instant reusable mini-whiteboard!
The list fails to point out the golden rule of dealing with whiteboard markers. Make sure you check that the pen is NON-PERMANENT before applying it to any of the surfaces listed above. Let’s face it, every office you’ve ever worked in has some stupid doodle on the whiteboard left behind by someone who broke this rule. Don’t be that someone. :)
10+ Things to Do with Dry-Erase Markers [Lifehack.org]
More » The rise of the mini-laptop
10:08AM Sarah Stokely | Ever since people realised that the OLPC’s XO laptop would make a really cool mini-laptop for anyone, not just a kid, there seems to have been a rush of mini-laptops onto the market. The sub-1kg ASUS EeePC is the latest to hit Aussie shores, and today CNet in the US has written up the release of an energy efficient mini-laptop from Zonbu. As they rightly point out, a laptop weighing around 2.25kg with a screen size of 15 inches isn’t exactly a mini-laptop.If we’re going to stretch the definition of “mini” that much, this isn’t exactly a new category of laptop – Toshiba’s had an ultra thin lappy on the market for several years, and Sony has a pretty tiny Vaio too. Guess it comes down to how you define it.So would you look at replacing a standard laptop with a mini one? Read my review of the ASUS EeePC tomorrow to get my take on it. :) More » 
Get to Sleep Faster by Tensing Up and Repeating “The”
10:00AM Adam Pash | It’s not news that many of us aren’t getting enough sleep, but BBC News offers several tips from a director of Clinical Sleep Research for getting to sleep when your head hits the pillow that you may not have heard before. For example: Tensing until your muscles hurt may not seem the most sensible way of getting to sleep, but it’s a popular and proven cognitive technique. Systematically tense each muscle group in turn until it starts to hurt… and then let go. This creates a warm feeling of relaxation, and any tension should flow away. The theory is that with physical relaxation comes mental calmness. You may have heard of this method (Progressive Muscle Relaxation) before, but there was one tip that was completely new to me: More »Release the iPhone in Australia already!
9:57AM Sarah Stokely | SmallOfficeAustralia has begun a site tracking the slow march Apple seems to be on in bringing the iPhone to Australia. Entitled “The Collective Screams: Release the iPhone in Australia already!“, the page also has a rumour section which says that Virgin Mobile is keen to step up to the plate if Telstra doesn’t get the contract. I’m still firmly in the “if it’s locked to Telstra I’m really not keen” camp so here’s hoping.Apple was being very coy about the iPhone at its Media Christmas party last week – not a hint about when we might see it on these shores. I was pretty disappointed that while they had a table full of “new” products to show us like the iPod Touch and the new Nano, there was narry an iPhone in sight. Considering how long it’s been on the market in the US, and how much Australian journalists have already written about the iPhone, I think that’s pretty poor. I’m lucky that I’ve gotten to have a play with an iPhone that a friend bought in the US and brought back here, but plenty of other writers are flying blind with only the Internet hype machine to guide them. Surely that’s not what Apple wants?! :) More » 
Choose gifts for your office Secret Santa
9:28AM Sarah Stokely | We’ve already shown you how to organise your office Secret Santa online, and now Wired comes to the rescue to answer the prickly question of what to buy Mr No Personality from Marketing when you get his name in the draw.
Their advice? Research the person you have to buy for. Don’t get something too personal (eww underwear?!) and make sure you stick to the dollar limit which is usually set for office Secret Santas.
The best Secret Santa I ever participated in was in an office of crazy, tech and gadget obsessed geeks who gave each other random, silly gadgets. They were handed out at the staff Christmas lunch, which rapidly descended into a gadget-brawl of epic “plastic T-Rex versus punching nun” proportions. I’m still vaguely jealous of the guy who scored the mini catapult that shot little plastic pigs at people. :)
And the moral of that geeky little story is just to remind you that you can buy something little and cheap that still gives the recipient a laugh and some fun. I personally would much prefer that to something bland and safe like some scented soap.
So have you ever come up with a brilliant Secret Santa.gift (or scored a total dud?). Leave tips in comments please.
Choose Gifts for Office Parties [Wired] More » 
Choose Great Gifts for Your Office Exchange
9:00AM Adam Pash | Got an upcoming gift exchange at the office but not sure what cheap but hopefully not-too-crappy gift to buy for your officemate? Wired’s guide to choosing the right gifts for office parties has you covered. The howto suggests several questions that can lead to satisfying and cheap gifts perfect for your Secret Santee, like: What type of music does he/she like? Does he/she drink? Knowing the answers means the right CD or bottle of wine can make you the winning gift giver you were always meant to be. If you’re still stumped, you may also want to check out the advice your fellow readers had for Secret Santa gifts; if you’ve got a great idea or two of your own, let’s hear it in the comments. Choose Gifts for Office Parties [Wired] More »Is Open Office too slow to be usable?
8:23AM Sarah Stokely | In other OSDC news, speaker Stewart Smith gave a Lightning Talk on OpenOffice 2.3 yesterday. To illustrate the speed issues with the open source office suite, he started to open the program at the start of his talk. And finished the talk before the program had successfully opened. Admittedly Lighting Talks are usually 5-7 minutes long, but still. Ouch.
I’ll admit I’m disheartened to hear that even on a high end laptop, OpenOffice can be so ridiculously slow. Have you used Open Office, or are you using it now? How have you found it? Should I be looking around for a different open source office suite? More » 
View Exif Data of Any Photo with FxIF
8:00AM Adam Pash | Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): View Exif data for photos you’re viewing in Firefox—like camera make, model, exposure, and other technical details—with the FxIF Firefox extension. Once installed, right-click any image (from the looks of things it needs to be the original image—not thumbnailed, for example) and click Properties. In addition to Firefox’s default set of image properties, FxIF adds the Exif data as well. On the other hand, if you’re only interested in the Exif data for Flickr pics, check out the Flickr EXIF Decorator Greasemonkey script. FxIF is free, works wherever Firefox does. FxIF [via Of Zen and Computing] More »
Google launches open source competition for teens
7:49AM Sarah Stokely | The Open Source Developers Conference is on in Brisbane this
week and one tidbit of cool news to come out of it was Google’s announcement of
the Highly Open Participation Contest – an open source competition for
teenagers.
Google’s teaming up with a swag of open source organisations
to provide a list of challenges for entrants, ranging from code, documentation,
research, outreach, quality assurance, training, translation and user
interface.
Participants will be in the running to win $10,000 and a
trip to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California.
So if you have a smart kid brother or sister who you think
might get a buzz out of it, point them towards
http://code.google.com/opensource to get started.
The contest is open to students age 13 and older who have
not yet begun university studies. Contestants will be able to claim tasks
until 7pm on January 22, 2008, with winners announced on February 11.
More information is available here.
More » 