Friday, January 4, 2008
Time
11:30PM Tamar Weinberg | Did all that time just pass? If, like millions of other web surfers, you need to exercise control over your habits online, the first stop should be to ban web sites that waste your time. Two years ago, we showed you how that’s done. More »
Improve Your Cooking Chops with the Invisible Ingredient
3:00PM Adam Pash | The New York Times highlights the invisible and elusive ingredient found in all cooking, heat, and discusses the finer points of using heat to efficiently get the results we want. The article is full of cooking nuggets of wisdom, like how to quickly bring a pot of water to the boil. (”With the lid on, it will start bubbling in as little as half the time.”) The article also tackles different methods for cooking the perfect pasta or a flawless slab of meat with several different methods that are certain to help out in the kitchen or at the grill. If you’re an expert at cooking with heat, let’s hear your favorite tips in the comments. Photo by tanakawho. The Invisible Ingredient in Every Kitchen [NYT] More »
Access the Internet When Web Browsers are Disabled
2:00PM Adam Pash | Weblog Hackosis details a smart hack for finding an internet browser in Windows XP in the face of extreme IT lockdown—where Internet Explorer is blocked and Firefox is an out-of-the-question extravagance. The method? Simply use the browser built into the XP default help app. For example, just open up an app like Calculator, hit F1 or go to Help -> Help Topics, then right-click the title bar and select “Jump to URL…” Then it’s simply a matter of entering the URL you want to visit. It may not work in extreme cases of IT lockdown, but it’s worth a try if you’re desperate. While you’re at it, here are a few more methods to survive IT lockdown. Hidden Browser in Microsoft Windows XP [Hackosis via Download Squad] More »Don’t Let Your But Get Too Big
1:00PM Gina Trapani | Blogger Millionaire Mommy Next Door says your but might be too big: you know, the “but I don’t have enough time” or “but these things never work out for me” thoughts that keep you from doing things in life. She writes: Our lives are nothing but the stories we tell ourselves. If you don’t like the story your life has become — tell yourself a better one. Think about all of the things you can do instead of the things you can’t. Start a different internal conversation and you’ll become wealthy in more ways than one. Positive thinking does effect our health, capabilities, and happiness levels more than anything else; do check out this whole post for some great photos, and an interesting visualization for exorcising negativity. Is Your But Too Big? [Millionaire Mommy Next Door] More »David Allen’s Google Video back up on YouTube
12:16PM Sarah Stokely | Yesterday we pointed you to a YouTube video of GTD guru David Allen talking about “Knowledge Work Athletics” at Google. A couple of people contacted me to let me know it had been pulled down from YouTube, but it’s been reposted here. More »
Restore Folder Browsing to the Dock with HierarchicalDock
12:00PM Adam Pash | Mac OS X only: While the introduction of Stacks to Leopard was a welcome feature for some, others—particularly those who had grown accustom to navigating their filesystem through folders in the Dock—weren’t terribly pleased at the loss of folder navigation from the Dock. Freeware application HierarchicalDock restores hierarchical navigation to the Dock and throws in a handful of new and useful features (like Quick Look integration). To enable a hierarchical folder rather than a Stacks folder, just drag the folder to the HierarchicalDock app then drag it to the Dock. HierarchicalDock is freeware, Mac OS X only. HierarchicalDock [via TUAW] More »Consider made to measure for good fitting, long lasting clothes
11:53AM Sarah Stokely | If you’re one of the many people who finds it difficult to buy clothes which fit you well because you’re too tall/short/thin/fat, then you may have considered getting clothes made to measure. It may seem like an indulgence, but the result is form-fitting clothing and since you can specify the fabric, you can choose fabrics which will last longer and better than clothes sold off the rack.The Age today wrote up a few Sydney and Melbourne tailors and what you can expect if you go the bespoke route for your shirts.
“The first shirt you have made from your custom shirtmaker should
range in price from $185 to $300, but it can be regarded as a
template.”
Depending on how much you usually spend on shirts, that initial charge may be a shock, but once you have the template shirt, you can get it “copied” for subsequent shirts which will be cheaper. For example, the article recommends a Hong Kong-based tailor, Jantzen, who will copy shirts for $50. That is pretty competitive when you consider the kind of shirt you’d get for $50 off the rack.
So have you tried made to measure clothing? I have a few friends who’ve bought tailored suits and loved them. And they look fantastic. :)
The Pro’s guide to bespoke tailoring [The Age] More » Tips to jump start your 2008 calendar
11:39AM Sarah Stokely | Whether you’re using a paper calendar or a computerised one, there are a few steps you can take now at the beginning of the year to maximise its usefulness.Here’s a few things I did when I started my 2008 diary.
1. Add in public holidays if they’re not pre-printed in your diary. My Moleskine didn’t have Australian public holidays, so I wrote them in myself. They vary slightly from state to state, so check here for a link to your state’s public holidays for 2008.
2. Add in the events you already have planned for the year. Often by the start of the new year you already have a number of trips or theatre tickets booked – make sure they get into your diary!
3. Add in the birthdays and anniversaries you want to remember – and if you’re using an online calendar with a reminder service, set it to remind you ahead of time so you can arrange a card or present.
And here’s a nifty idea from The Student Help Forum – carry paperclips with your diary so you can attach the documents you need while you’re out on the road or at meetings. My old diary had a plastic sleeve at the back which I used to carry documents like flight booking details, but paper clips let you attach documents to the page for the day you’ll need them.
So how are you tweaking your calendar to get set for the new year? Share ideas in comments please! More » Tips for reducing your book collection
11:07AM Sarah Stokely | If you’re a big reader and a big collector, you know that eventually your home runs out of shelf space and you need to reduce the number of books you own!43Folders linked to a great discussion on Ask Metafilter on ways to reduce your literary clutter. It’s an interesting and worthwhile read which talks about different ways to categorise and cull your book collection, but here’s two tips I found particularly helpful:
“If it’s a
“classic” or similar work of worthy literature, and it’s guaranteed
never to go out of print, and it’s just a crummy paperback… get rid
of it. It can always be replaced.”
The other suggestion was creating a Book Exchange at your workplace. All you need is an unused book shelf in a common area. Once you’ve dropped off a few of your unwanted books, you can send an email to your colleagues inviting them to “take a book, leave a book”. Bam – instant hub for getting rid of books or finding some new reading material.So are you drowning in a sea of unread books or sentimental favourites you can’t part with? How do you keep your book collection under control?
Ask MeFi on sane solutions for book clutter [43Folders] More » Fix file compatibility issues in Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3
10:53AM Sarah Stokely | Users of Microsoft Office 2003 who upgraded to Service Pack 3 (released in September) will strike compatibility problems with certain office documents, according to information that surfaced just last week. The service pack makes a range of older Word, Excel,PowerPoint and Corel Draw documents inaccessible. These include Word 6.0, Word 97 for Windows and Word 2004 for Macintosh.According to a CNET report, users were given no warning of the effects when they downloaded SP3, and the changes were revealed in a Microsoft support document which was published on its website in December. Microsoft released a workaround, KB 938810, for the problem. This document also has a full list of the blocked file formats, so you can check to see if your older files will be affected. The workaround (described by one slashdotter as “mindbogglingly complex“) involves modifying the registry, so ensure you backup the registry before proceeding! More » 