Previously mentioned Web-based finance management application Wesabe just incorporated a neat new trick: adding transactions to your account via Twitter messages. For private transactions, you can use direct messages, but there’s an @wesabe option if you want to boast about your spending to the Twitterati as well. If entering your receipts every time you get home is a drag, working this way could prove a real boon. [Wesabe via Twitter Blog]
All platforms: Free multi-protocol instant messenger client Coccinella offers all the features of an IM app you’d expect, plus one more: a whiteboard. Chat on AIM, ICQ, MSN, and GTalk with Coccinella, which also supports voice chat. But the fun feature is the whiteboard which lets chatting pals collaborate with text, drawings, and image and audio files. Coccinella is a free download for Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Coccinella [via gHacks]Webapp Mixin is a social calendar that accepts short messages describing not only what you’re doing but when, and shares that info with your friends. Plan and propose events or enter where you’re going to be when with Mixin’s drop-down box on-site, or wish for things or events (which have no specific time). Alternately use Mixin’s short Twitter-style one-line commands (in the format of what @where when, like “Rock Band @Adam’s at 7″) to enter events via SMS or IM. You can also let your friends know where you are for a possible impromptu meet-up with Mixin. Check out a video demonstration of how Mixin works after the jump.
While it’s probably not something you want in your living room, the CordWrap outlet faceplate keeps long cords off the floor and from being accidentally pulled out of the wall. Fit for garages or workshops, the CordWrap doesn’t seem to be for sale, but DIYers could easily put one together. It’s simply a regular outlet faceplate with protruding ends. Wrap extra cord length around the ends and keep a coiled pile of cable off the floor. CordWrap [keep it cartesian - design via Make]
If you’re sick of co-workers with older versions of Word not being able to open your .DOCX files, weblog Technix Update explains how to change the default file format to .DOC when you save files in Word 2007. [via]
What will browsing the web be like a decade from now? Leading design and UI company Adaptive Path offers one possible answer in a new concept video series called Aurora. Jesse James Garrett (the guy who coined the term AJAX) designed and narrated part one of a video series demonstrating what the future of the web might look like. There’s some gorgeous, imaginative, and high-tech stuff going on here—hit the play button below to watch.
Google expert Philipp Lenssen dishes up the latest news about Google and its features at his daily blog, Google Blogoscoped. Author of the new O’Reilly book, Google Apps Hacks, Lenssen takes some time out of his busy schedule today to share some of his best tips for using Google Apps from Gmail to web search to Google Docs.
Windows/Linux: Media cataloging software Griffith covers nearly every aspect of managing your movie collection. Entering movies in the database is a snap, and a button in the add movie dialog box searches 22 film databases—so no matter how obscure the film is there’s a good chance you won’t have to fill in its information by hand. Search big collections by keywords or date ranges in Griffith as well, and track what movies you’ve loaned out to whom.
All platforms with Thunderbird: The gContactSync add-on synchronises your contacts between Gmail and Thunderbird’s address book. While gContactSync syncs email addresses without a hitch, it is a little fussier about the formatting of the street address fields. If you’re a Thunderbird power user with a large set of Gmail contacts to import and synchronise, it’s definitely worth the inconvenience of tweaking your Gmail contacts. Fortunately there’s a video walk-through available to guide you through the needed tweaks, when you go to the download page at mozdev.org, a link to the flash tutorial is on the right hand side of the screen. gContactSync is a free download and works with Thunderbird.
gContactSync [via gHacks]Windows only: Freeware application BgInfo displays important system statistics on your desktop so that you don’t have to pull up the Properties dialog or run ipconfig manually. Open BgInfo’s standalone app, choose the desired font and size, and preview or apply the changes. The result will appear similar to the screenshot above. BgInfo actually embeds the information within your current desktop wallpaper so you can view it any time and it consumes fewer system resources. BgInfo is simple application to run, but power users may appreciate the available command line options that give you more control over the application. BgInfo is a free download for Windows only.
BgInfo [via gHacks]
