Earlier this week, we highlighted a Greasemonkey script for Firefox that puts Google Calendar into a right-hand sidebar in Gmail. That in itself makes Gmail a pretty good organiser, but what if you like to keep your appointments and scheduling separate from your actual tasks? Enter hyper-connected web organiser Remember the Milk, which can integrate your GTD-style tasks into that Calendar sidebar. There’s a few other tricks to making it all work smoother, so let’s get started turning Gmail into a one-stop page for all your daily data.
Windows with Outlook 2007 and an Exchange account only: Email Prioritizer, a new Outlook plugin from Microsoft labs, gives email receivers the tools to both “pause” their email and have it ranked by priority on a scale of one to three stars. Once you’ve installed the plugin, you’ll notice a new toolbar with a “Do Not Disturb” option, which can be set from 10 minutes to 4 hours (or, smartly, until a meeting you’ve planned expires) and delays the delivery of mail to you on the client side. Not exactly an Inbox Zero approach, but it might work for do-or-die deadlines. More innovative is a ranking system that automatically sorts your mail based on how it was sent and who it’s from, derived, in part, from Microsoft employees. Let’s take a look at some of the options:
A survey of Australian consumers by retailer Allphones found that 13% of phone buyers plan on replacing their handset every six months, and 40% expect to do so once a year. While the survey size (110) is so small that the figures can’t be taken very seriously (especially in a country where there are more than 20 million handsets), it does raise an interesting issue.
As a tech journalist, I get to test out quite a lot of new phones (though I’m an amateur compared to Nick at Gizmodo) — but I’ve tended to hang onto my actual working phone for two years or more. What’s your preferred phone replacement cycle? And what drives you to change over — a sexy new design, enhanced features, or a dead battery in your old phone? Share your thoughts in the comments. More »
Sites that let you book cheap local hotel rooms online are hardly a new commodity — in the local market, there’s Wotif, Hotelclub, Quickbeds and Check-In (and they’re just the ones I can think off without prompting). Apparently that hasn’t dissuaded eBay and Webjet from entering the fray with a new and similar offering, lotsofhotels.com.au. On an initial test, there’s not much to differentiate the site (other than a scandalously slow search feature), and it doesn’t take advantage of two obvious options for this partnership — signing in via your eBay details or making payments via PayPal. As well, the inventory seems much smaller than most of the aforementioned competitors, but for budget-minded travellers, it never hurts to have another comparison option in your bookmarks. [lotsofhotels.com.au] More »
One of the best features of the built-in browser on the BlackBerry is its support for keyboard shortcuts, making it easy to navigate pages (space for Page Down), find information (F), open new pages (G) and access bookmarks (K) without needing to use the scroller. You can find a full list of the supported keyboard shortcuts on the new (and droolworthy) BlackBerry Bold by selecting ‘Browser shortcuts’ on the Help menu. One option that isn’t mentioned on that list remains very useful: press the D key to send your browser into the background. Since I’ve equipped one of the BlackBerry’s quick access keys to launch the browser, I regularly use this to allow easy copy-and-paste between browsers and the BlackBerry notepad. Hitting D returns me to the notepad; hitting the shortcut takes me back to the browser.
Most of the furniture hacks we feature at Lifehacker (like this one) are designed to make your use of technology easier, but here’s a neat example of the reverse scenario: a $29 Flarke computer desk from IKEA that’s been converted into a dressing table. You could apply the same principle to any computer-specific desk (and we suspect there’s more of those lying around disused these days given the preponderance of notebook computers). [IKEA Hacker] More »
Windows only: Free Explorer add-on QTAddressBar clones the functionality of Vista’s new address bar in Windows XP. For folks unfamiliar with the new Vista address bar, it provides a clickable breadcrumb trail of every folder leading to your current location. Clicking one of your folders will take you directly to it, and clicking the down arrow provides a drop-down for moving to any folder within that one. Brought to you by the same folks who made previously mentioned QTTabBar, this freeware Explorer add-on looks like another nice stopgap between Vista and XP. While you’re at it, check out more ways you can power up Windows Explorer with free add-ons.
QTAddressBar [via Download Squad]We’ve already shown you how to use Gmail Superstars and Gmail Quick Links—both exclusive features of previously mentioned Gmail Labs—and now reader Alex McRoberts details how he uses the two excellent features to turn his Gmail account into a killer to-do list manager. Here’s how he did it:
Windows only: Alpha file manager Explorer++ is a promising free alternative to Windows Explorer that offers features it sorely lacks, like tabbed browsing, secure file deletion, file merging and splitting, instant command line access, and keyboard shortcuts. Explorer++ is still in alpha and may not be ready for full-time use the way Xplorer 2 is, but it’s still a simple, functional, and free app worth keeping an eye on. If you’re sick of Windows Explorer’s paucity of features, shareware TotalCommander is our readers’ pick for best alternative file manager; you can also power up Windows Explorer itself with free add-ons. Explorer++ is a free download for Windows only.
Explorer++ [via gHacks]Blogger Leo Babauta found more free time in his days by decluttering his schedule and “designing” his life to include important stuff and exclude the rest. Lots of good, familiar advice here on managing distractions, your to-do list, and streamlining work to make more time for leisure.
