Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Organise
USB Flash Drive Manager Backs Up Thumb Drives
11:30PM Lifehacker US Edition | Windows only: Microsoft USB Flash Drive Manager is a desktop utility that backs up and restores data from USB storage devices. Select files or entire drives to back up with the Flash Drive Manager. If you use the same flash drive for a variety of purposes and need to rotate the data on it frequently, the USB Flash Manager can create backup profiles to expedite swapping the drive data. The USB Flash Drive Manager is a free download for Windows XP only. Microsoft USB Flash Drive Manager [via gHacks] More »
Work
Bit.ly Provides Shorter URLs with Advanced Traffic Tracking
11:00PM Kevin Purdy | Link-shortening services like TinyURL have become nearly ubiquitous in space-restricted places like email, Twitter, and mobile sites—which is why it’s odd it’s taken so long for a similar service to offer traffic tracking, thumbnail caching, or other advanced services. Free URL shrinker Bit.ly jumps into that void with a slick set of features. The site remembers the last 15 links you shortened on your landing site, and it stores a thumbnail graphic of each link on its own space. Obsessive traffic-watchers can see how many have clicked through their links, where they found them, and compile all that data from simple XML or JSON feeds. There’s a handy bookmarklet for quick Bit.ly conversion, and the developers are working on geo-locating features for the near future. All in all, a viable link-snipping service for web workers and info geeks. Bit.ly [via ReadWriteWeb] More »
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Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Your Open Outlook Inbox
10:30PM Kevin Purdy | The How-To Geek offers a quick guide to creating a shortcut that Outlook users and inbox addicts might find helpful/irresistible—a keyboard switch to pull up your Outlook screen, whether it’s open, closed, or minimized. The trick is creating or copying a standard Outlook shortcut, and adding a /recycle switch to the end of the “Target” field, forcing Windows to switch to an open window if one’s available. The trick makes Outlook easier to keep minimised, and super-convenient to pull up for a quick email check, if that’s your style. Got another shortcut that makes good use of the /recycle option? Share it in the comments. Create a Hotkey to Switch to Your Open Outlook Window [The How-To Geek] More »
Organise
How Priorities Make Things Happen
9:00PM Lifehacker US Edition | Editor: Project manager and writer Scott Berkun knows how to get things done when you’ve got a team of people, a to-do list, and a deadline. Today he offers an excerpt from the updated edition of his best-selling book The Art of Project Management (our review), entitled Making Things Happen. Prioritisation is always more emotional than intellectual, despite what people say. Just like dieting to lose weight or budgeting to save money, eliminating things you want, but don’t need, requires being disciplined, committed, and focused. Saying “exercise is important” is one thing, but ranking it against other important things is entirely different. Many people chicken out of this process. They hedge, delay and deny the tough choices, and the result is that they set up projects to fail. No tough choices means no progress. In the abstract, the word important means nothing. More »
Communicate
5:14PM Angus Kidman | Although news of Vodafone’s iPhone pricing has been leaking all over the Web – Nick at Gizmodo AU has the scoop – we’re going to hold off on analysing those deals until Vodafone decides to make all the details properly public. In the meantime, Danny Gorog at APC has analysed how much data an iPhone user will really consume, and suggests that 100MB a month is actually ample. While I suspect his estimate is a tad on the low side, especially for multimedia users, it’s some good food for thought for potential iPhone buyers not already wedded to a carrier.Vodafone puts iPhone pricing online, then pulls it down [Gizmodo AU]How much data do you need for iPhone 3G? [APC]
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How much data does your 3G iPhone plan need?
5:14PM Angus Kidman | Although news of Vodafone’s iPhone pricing has been leaking all over the Web – Nick at Gizmodo AU has the scoop – we’re going to hold off on analysing those deals until Vodafone decides to make all the details properly public. In the meantime, Danny Gorog at APC has analysed how much data an iPhone user will really consume, and suggests that 100MB a month is actually ample. While I suspect his estimate is a tad on the low side, especially for multimedia users, it’s some good food for thought for potential iPhone buyers not already wedded to a carrier.Vodafone puts iPhone pricing online, then pulls it down [Gizmodo AU]How much data do you need for iPhone 3G? [APC]
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Communicate
5:06PM Angus Kidman | While it added a handful of shows to iTunes recently, the ABC has a much wider selection of programming available on its ABC Shop Download site, which launched today. $2.95 gets you a seven day rental on a whole bunch of titles (there’s 250 hours of programming on offer), and there’s a handful of free taster episodes available as well. For now, the service is Windows-only, though ABC executives have said Macs will be supported in a future release. [ABC Shop Download]
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ABC rolls out online rentals
5:06PM Angus Kidman | While it added a handful of shows to iTunes recently, the ABC has a much wider selection of programming available on its ABC Shop Download site, which launched today. $2.95 gets you a seven day rental on a whole bunch of titles (there’s 250 hours of programming on offer), and there’s a handful of free taster episodes available as well. For now, the service is Windows-only, though ABC executives have said Macs will be supported in a future release. [ABC Shop Download]
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Communicate
2:15PM Angus Kidman | Motorola has (somewhat belatedly) added support for BlackBerry Connect to its MOTO Q phones in Australia, meaning that if your company runs a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, you can in principle access it without committing to the whole BlackBerry hardware experience. BlackBerry Connect hasn’t exactly set the world on fire – it seems that most people who go BlackBerry go the whole package – but it’s always better to have a choice of phones to use than to be stuck with a single provider. You can download the software package on the regional Motorola site.
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MOTO Q adds BlackBerry Connect
2:15PM Angus Kidman | Motorola has (somewhat belatedly) added support for BlackBerry Connect to its MOTO Q phones in Australia, meaning that if your company runs a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, you can in principle access it without committing to the whole BlackBerry hardware experience. BlackBerry Connect hasn’t exactly set the world on fire – it seems that most people who go BlackBerry go the whole package – but it’s always better to have a choice of phones to use than to be stuck with a single provider. You can download the software package on the regional Motorola site.
More »
Communicate
10:27AM Angus Kidman | Having been the first carrier to reveal its full Australian iPhone pricing plans , Optus is now sending out email advice on the best way to score one of the coveted 3G phones when they go on sale on Friday. Its suggestions in a nutshell? People who have paid the $100 pre-registration fee will get priority when queueing, and be allowed into stores two hours before general opening; there’s allegedlty a “limited” number of phones that aren’t allocated in each store, so your best option might be to head to the nearest local store and try your luck. If there’s no more phones in stock, you’ll be able to place orders, though there’s no word on a delivery timeframe. And don’t try cheating by ordering online or by phone: no iPhones will be sold that way until a later date.
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Optus offers iPhone buying advice
10:27AM Angus Kidman | Having been the first carrier to reveal its full Australian iPhone pricing plans , Optus is now sending out email advice on the best way to score one of the coveted 3G phones when they go on sale on Friday. Its suggestions in a nutshell? People who have paid the $100 pre-registration fee will get priority when queueing, and be allowed into stores two hours before general opening; there’s allegedlty a “limited” number of phones that aren’t allocated in each store, so your best option might be to head to the nearest local store and try your luck. If there’s no more phones in stock, you’ll be able to place orders, though there’s no word on a delivery timeframe. And don’t try cheating by ordering online or by phone: no iPhones will be sold that way until a later date.
More »
Communicate
8:43AM Angus Kidman | Got what you think is a sure-fire idea for a movie but don’t know how to get it sold? Idea sharing forum Make’n Movies offers the ability to post your script concepts and have them critiqued and rated by others. While part of us can’t help thinking this is just a series of copyright violations waiting to happen, if you’re overflowing with script ideas, it might be worth a try. The site is free to use but requires registration. [Make'n Movies]
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Pitch your movie ideas at Make’n Movies
8:43AM Angus Kidman | Got what you think is a sure-fire idea for a movie but don’t know how to get it sold? Idea sharing forum Make’n Movies offers the ability to post your script concepts and have them critiqued and rated by others. While part of us can’t help thinking this is just a series of copyright violations waiting to happen, if you’re overflowing with script ideas, it might be worth a try. The site is free to use but requires registration. [Make'n Movies]
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Communicate
8:28AM Angus Kidman | Windows only: Google Labs has just launched Lively, the latest in a long line of attempts to make 3D avatars an appealing part of social networking. Embedding a Lively ‘room’ in your own site allows people to chat and interact using their own avatar. Of course, concentrating on the visual aspects of social networking isn’t necessarily going to make them a more useful productivity tool, but if you find current systems lacking in design panache, Lively might be worth a spin. Lively is freeware for Windows XP and Vista only, requires a Google account. We found sign-in to be troublesome to say the least; if you’ve had a positive experience with Lively, share it in the comments. [Lively via Official Google Blog]
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Google gets Lively with 3D social networks
8:28AM Angus Kidman | Windows only: Google Labs has just launched Lively, the latest in a long line of attempts to make 3D avatars an appealing part of social networking. Embedding a Lively ‘room’ in your own site allows people to chat and interact using their own avatar. Of course, concentrating on the visual aspects of social networking isn’t necessarily going to make them a more useful productivity tool, but if you find current systems lacking in design panache, Lively might be worth a spin. Lively is freeware for Windows XP and Vista only, requires a Google account. We found sign-in to be troublesome to say the least; if you’ve had a positive experience with Lively, share it in the comments. [Lively via Official Google Blog]
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