Once you make the upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007, both the suite and Windows itself assume you’ll hardly ever want to make documents in older Office formats ever again. As most modern office workers can attest, though, the .docx 2007 format is not common ground. The How-To Geek shows how to make creating new Office 97 or 2003-style documents easy by adding links to both Windows’ right-click menu and Office’s own “New” menu. The tweak involves a registry hack, so be sure to back up before jumping in, but the results are worth it for anyone tired of picking through Save As menus to get their jobs done. Add Word/Excel 97-2003 Documents Back to the “New” Context Menu After Installing Office 2007 [The How-To Geek]
Windows with Office 2007 only: pptPlex, a free Office add-on, makes PowerPoint presentations less of a one-way street and more of a neighbourhood exploration. After installing the add-on, you’ll be able to put slides together in groups, slide around the canvas during a presentation, easily zoom in on charts or stats you want to highlight, and generally make the presentation more open to give-and-take and audience questions. Check out the video above for an overview. pptPlex is a free download for Windows systems with Microsoft Office 2007. pptPlex [Microsoft Office Labs via Office Tweaks]
Google Page Creator, the website creation tool aimed at non-coders, is targeted for closure by Google. The Google Operating System blog offers a handy JavaScript tool and tutorial to help Page Creator users grab their uploaded files and HTML pages for exporting to another service or personal backup. It requires having a multi-link downloading tool, such as DownThemAll and a small bit of HTML tweaking, but if you’re not planning to transition your files to Google Sites, it’s a helpful post. Export Files from Google Page Creator [Google Operating System]
Firefox with Greasemonkey: The GmailAgenda user script puts your Google Calendar’s upcoming events on the right hand side of your inbox. This script is pretty straightforward: Once you install GmailAgenda, a panel appears on the right side of every view inside Gmail which contains your GCal agenda (as pictured). On my Mac, the agenda panel did white out intermittently, but even with slight bugginess its usefulness makes it a keeper. GmailAgenda is a free download for all platforms running Firefox with the Greasemonkey extension. (Better Gmail users: I’ve asked the script author’s permission for inclusion in Better Gmail; if I get the green light it’s in.)
GMailAgenda [Userscripts.org via Google Operating System]While hanging around Twitter over the weekend, I suddenly realised that half the people I follow had replaced their face pics with manga-style cartoon images of themselves. The utility responsible turns out to be Face Your Manga, which lets you build your own cartoon representation of yourself using a point-and-select interface. The finished version is then sent to your email address and can be used on Twitter, Skype or anywhere else you’d rather have a virtual representation in place of your actual visage. Face Your Manga is free and doesn’t require registration, but needs Flash to run. (Thanks trib!) [Face Your Manga] More »
If you only want wireless broadband occasionally — when you travel for work or pleasure –then a prepaid plan sounds like a good investment. Optus has just launched such a deal; pay $199 for a wireless broadband modem and then recharge in blocks starting at $30 for 30 days access. That might sound like a tempting offer but, as Paul Wright points out over at APC, Optus is charging a minimum 10MB access each time you connect — so if you check your mail a few times a day, you might chew up more data than you anticipated. Proceeding with caution might be wise. [Optus Pre-Paid Wireless Broadband]
Since its launch earlier this month, the government-backed GROCERYchoice http://www.grocerychoice.gov.au/ shopping comparison site has suffered fairly heavy criticism, not least because it doesn’t offer detailed enough information on the composition of its shopping baskets or let you compare prices in different areas. There’s not much relief on offer for the former, but blogger Sean Carmody put together a neat script that gathers data from all the regions the site assesses and collates it, identifying the cheapest chains overall. That unsurprisingly turns out to be ALDI, although Carmody points out that given its lack of representation nationwide, it may have an unfair advantage. Read the full post for lots more insight into what GROCERYchoice can — and can’t — tell us with a little help. [Digging into GROCERYchoice] More »
Vodafone has expanded its wireless broadband range with a new USB Internet Stick, which lets you access 3G broadband without the hassle of an external modem hanging from your notebook PC. (Rival 3 launched a similar offering back in May.) Vodafone says that the stick (available in black or white) will self-install using software stored on its 4GB of resident memory, which is a claim I’ll be interested in testing, having just spent the better part of a fortnight trying to get an existing Vodafone USB modem working on a Vista machine. (It also suggests that the unit might not work on a Linux box such as the Eee PC, unlike its predecessor.) Standalone pricing starts from $29.95 a month on a 24-month contract with a 1GB monthly download limit; given Vodafone’s famously elastic approach to contracts, make sure that you get any conditions that are important to you specifically noted in writing before signing up. [Vodafone Mobile Broadband]
I get bored with my desktop wallpaper pretty easily, especially in Ubuntu Linux, where it’s nearly the only thing on my desktop. Until recently, that meant scouring theming sites for great artwork, opening the Appearance tab and re-scaling and choosing background colours for each picture, and just general unproductive knob-twiddling. Digging through the Ubuntu Forums, however, I came across a few tools that can rotate customised background images with a shortcut, on a timer, or based on the time of day. Let’s take a look at how any GNOME-based Linux user can use rotating backgrounds to keep better track of time, keep your desktop looking fresh, and inspire all kinds of coffee shop conversations.
If you’ve got a bunch of small stubborn splinters that are evading your attempts with the tweezer, the Parent Hacks blog offers an alternative solution: Next time your little ones have splinters in their hands or feet, try this: Let them soak well in the bathtub, then use a pumice stone (like you would for rough heels or elbows) to rub over the splinters in a circular motion before they dry off. They can even do it themselves. It seems to work for those playground / deckrail splinters pretty well.
If you find yourself short on pumice stones but flush with glue, try out the the glue based splinter removal tip from our previous post, five secret Japanese tricks to make life better. Rub Out Splinters With A Pumice Stone [Parent Hacks]
