Friday, June 20, 2008
Communicate
Could You Go Email-Free Once a Week?
11:00PM Kevin Purdy | An NPR story delves into the double-edged nature of email, and profiles one firm, U.S. Cellular, that’s absolved its workers from having to look at (or respond to, obviously) company emails on Fridays. Drastic measure, or realistic compromise against mindless hours of just click-click-clicking through unimportant chatter? Let’s hear from our mail-savvy readers, though: would a day off from email feel like a blessing, or leave you feeling entirely disconnected? How could you plan a day of non-response into your weekly schedule, with software or other time-management techniques? Let’s hear your thoughts, and maybe your wishes, in the comments. Photo by respres. E-Mail: Taking Fridays Off [NPR] More »
Communicate
10:23PM Angus Kidman | Actually offering up real prices is apparently still too hard, but Vodafone has started sending email to customers who have pre-registered for the iPhone. “We are keen to make sure that we can give you the very best deals on your new iPhone 3G and we are putting the finishing touches to these offers,” the email reads. The most sensible way of interpreting this is that there’s unlikely to be any new iPhone details in the stores over the weekend, so it might pay to give the staff a break. There’s also the unsurprising warning “stocks will be limited so you will need to be quick”, suggesting that Vodafone, like Optus, has more demand than supply. If you miss out and you’re desperate, you could always pick up a first-gen iPhone on eBay and follow our instructions for one-click jailbreaking.
Vodafone teases pre-registered iPhone customers
10:23PM Angus Kidman | Actually offering up real prices is apparently still too hard, but Vodafone has started sending email to customers who have pre-registered for the iPhone. “We are keen to make sure that we can give you the very best deals on your new iPhone 3G and we are putting the finishing touches to these offers,” the email reads. The most sensible way of interpreting this is that there’s unlikely to be any new iPhone details in the stores over the weekend, so it might pay to give the staff a break. There’s also the unsurprising warning “stocks will be limited so you will need to be quick”, suggesting that Vodafone, like Optus, has more demand than supply. If you miss out and you’re desperate, you could always pick up a first-gen iPhone on eBay and follow our instructions for one-click jailbreaking.
Work
OpenSUSE 11.0 Integrates Compiz into Linux Desktop
10:00PM Kevin Purdy | OpenSuse 11.0, the latest release of the Novell/AMD-sponsored Linux distribution, has hit the download servers. This version incorporates all the latest upgrades to its established packages—including a move up to Firefox 3, upgrading to Banshee 1.0, and all the latest GNOME and KDE 4 improvements—as well as improvements to the installer, package manager, and other SUSE-specific tweaks. The most noticeable change is the baked-in Compiz Fusion support, providing eye-catching animations and subtler desktop flash out of the box. Grab a live CD or installation DVD at the link below. OpenSuse 11.0 More »See How Often You Visit Web Sites in Firefox 3
9:00PM Gina Trapani | One of Firefox 3’s newest (and most revealing) backend features is its built-in usage tracking—it keeps a running tally of how often you visit a web page over a period of time, which informs the Smart Location Bar’s suggestions and creates things like smart bookmark lists of “Most Visited” sites. Smarter features informed by your behaviour are great, but checking out the raw data can offer a whole lot of insight into where and how you spend your time online. Exactly what site have you visited the most since you installed Firefox 3 and how many times did you go there? Here’s how to find out. More »
Organise
Something for the weekend: Sort your Twitter followers
5:24PM Angus Kidman | Make your online life more productive and more surprising by catching up and following anyone who is already watching you on Twitter. (It’s OK to ignore obvious robots, trolls and weirdos). If anyone can recommend a tool that makes sorting through followers easier than Twitter’s own rather basic web interface, let us know in the comments. More »
Organise
4:39PM Angus Kidman | With another wave of engineering strikes likely to mess up Qantas flights from Monday to Thursday next week, we’ll point yet again to our tips on minimising the impact of disrupted and cancelled flights. Got extra strategies? Share them in the comments.
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Don’t get caught by flight disruptions
4:39PM Angus Kidman | With another wave of engineering strikes likely to mess up Qantas flights from Monday to Thursday next week, we’ll point yet again to our tips on minimising the impact of disrupted and cancelled flights. Got extra strategies? Share them in the comments.
More »
Communicate
1:48PM Angus Kidman | OK, you’ve picked out a wireless broadband plan you can afford, checked the coverage is OK for your home and office, and made sure it works with your chosen operating system. Reckon you’re done? Not so fast, Speedy Gonzales. No matter who you want to buy from, there’s a few simple steps you can take to make sure the transaction goes smoothly.
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Checklist for wireless broadband buyers
1:48PM Angus Kidman | OK, you’ve picked out a wireless broadband plan you can afford, checked the coverage is OK for your home and office, and made sure it works with your chosen operating system. Reckon you’re done? Not so fast, Speedy Gonzales. No matter who you want to buy from, there’s a few simple steps you can take to make sure the transaction goes smoothly.
More »
Work
1:21PM Angus Kidman | Anthony Caruana over at Hydrapinion was one of many people who took advantage of recent discounts on the Eee PC. He quickly encountered an issue lots of Eee owners have had: adding new applications is far from easy if you want to use anything other than the limited Asus-approved set of packages. The bigger screen on the 900 and 901 (the latter now due in Australia in June, incidentally) won’t help with that.My own approach to the Eee has been to not add anything — but then I don’t want much more than a browser, a word processor, and a wireless broadband connection, and they’re all in the OS already. There are several solutions out there — ditch Xandros and add a new OS, use a package manager, teach yourself to install from source — but which one works best for the Eee? Let us know your experiences in the comments.
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Best ways to install Linux apps on the Eee PC
1:21PM Angus Kidman | Anthony Caruana over at Hydrapinion was one of many people who took advantage of recent discounts on the Eee PC. He quickly encountered an issue lots of Eee owners have had: adding new applications is far from easy if you want to use anything other than the limited Asus-approved set of packages. The bigger screen on the 900 and 901 (the latter now due in Australia in June, incidentally) won’t help with that.My own approach to the Eee has been to not add anything — but then I don’t want much more than a browser, a word processor, and a wireless broadband connection, and they’re all in the OS already. There are several solutions out there — ditch Xandros and add a new OS, use a package manager, teach yourself to install from source — but which one works best for the Eee? Let us know your experiences in the comments.
More »
Work
MultiFirefox Runs Firefox 2 and 3 Side by Side
9:00AM Adam Pash | Mac OS X only: Run multiple versions of Firefox side by side and quickly switch between profiles with donationware application MultiFirefox. If the Firefox 3 hubbub has convinced you to upgrade but not all of your must-have extensions have caught up yet, MultiFirefox lets you get used to Firefox 3 in one window while sticking to your tried-and-true extensions in Firefox 2. From another perspective, switching between user profiles on Macs is a pain, and this app provides a simpler point-of-access to the Profile Manager. MultiFirefox is donationware, Mac OS X only. If all you want to do is run different profiles and you don’t want another app to do it, here’s how to manage multiple Firefox profiles. MultiFirefox [Code Contortionist via TUAW] More »
Work
