So it’s not the most productivity-related thing in the world, but hey, we couldn’t resist when Danny sent us instructions for turning a big computer box into a reindeer. (He says that if it were a Gateway box, he would’ve made it a cow instead.)
Make a Reindeer from a Computer Carton [Instructables]What do you get when you mix a dozen eggs with heavy whipping cream, sugar, bourbon, rum, and nutmeg? DIY eggnog, that’s what! Wikihow runs down the recipe and instructions for making your very own festive holiday drink step by step. This looks like a basic recipe for eggnog-making noobs; I’m no expert, but I’d get some cinnamon and vanilla extract in there, too. What’s your eggnog recipe? Tell us about it in the comments.
How to Make Eggnog [wikiHow]The main complaint about using the otherwise-excellent Google Apps For Your Domain is that Google rolls out new features (like coloured labels) to vanilla Gmail accounts sooner than GAfyD accounts. But not any more? Eagle-eyed reader Limekiller saw a checkbox in the GAfyD settings labeled Turn on new application features to my domain before they are rolled out to all Google Apps customers. According to the big G, you check that baby and your GApps account gets new features at the same time they’re rolled out to non-domain Google services. More »
I got an email overnight from ASUS PR letting me know that their Linux based Eee PC mini-laptop has been released in black. In my review of the Eee PC I said I’d fallen for its pearly white iPod looks, but if you’re more Vader than iPod, the black one could be for you.
You already know how to set up an online “personal nerve center” (PNC), bookmarking, blogging, and scheduling tasks and calendar events from Gmail. But if web-only central storage feels too far away in the cloud for you, PNC user Steve Rubel details how to make a portable, offline version that you can sync to the cloud, take with you and back up as well using IMAP and Gmail. I like the idea of email as the central hub of one’s doings—heck, it already is for most of us—and IMAP in Gmail makes that even more possible.
How to Set Up a Portable Personal Nerve Center [Micro Persuasion]Editor: When slender guest editor Brad Isaac told me he had the secret to enjoying holiday goodies without gaining holiday weight, I dislodged a large Christmas brownie from my mouth and asked him what the heck it is. Here’s what he said.
I have a mean sweet tooth. It’s evil in fact. It tells me to eat stuff that isn’t good for me. Yes, visions of sugarplums dance in my head 365 days a year—not just for Christmas. And it’s not just sugarplums. I’ve got chocolate cake, cherry pie and Phish Food ice cream dancing, too. It’s funny with all that dancing, there isn’t any broccoli or cabbage in there to balance things out.
The Worker’s Edge blog offers five tips for formatting Excel spreadsheets, like auto-fitting rows and columns, freezing column headings, and seeing your page breaks before you print.
One of the best parts of getting a new computer for the holidays—other than that new computer smell—is setting up a fresh, clean system exactly how you want it. Your customised productivity apps, your favorite media players, and maybe even some of the software tools you’ve seen on one blog or another.
But searching out, click-click-click-installing, and keeping all those programs updated in Windows can add up to some serious time. We’ve covered automation apps like InstallPad and AppSnap, and updating tools such as FileHippo, but I’ve found that Appupdater, a Linux-like command line tool, can handle both functions, automatically, with just a little tapping in the command line.
Follow along after the jump and we’ll get started on keeping a number of ultra-useful Windows programs up to date and making them easy to load on a new system.
Ok people, it’s time for a look back at your year in tech and life hacks. What was the highlight of the year for you? What’s the best thing you did in 2007 that made your life easier or better? Was there some world-changing gadget, a delightful DIY project, or a piece of software that’s made all the difference? Share the joy in the comments.
Windows only: Free encryption program Cryptainer LE offers an automated, one-container method of securing those files you’d rather others not take a peek at. The application creates a virtual drive on your hard drive, thumb drive or anywhere you want it to, and files placed in that drive are automatically secured with 128-bit encryption. Turn the program off and the drive disappears;turn it back on, enter a password, and you’ve got your files back. Cryptainer can also send files through encrypted email with decrypting .exes attached, although I question how many email filters that would get through. While the free trial version limits the encryption “vault” sizes to 25 MB, you can create an unlimited number fo them. Cryptainer LE is a free download for Windows systems only.
Cryptainer LE [via The Red Ferret Journal]
