Friday, September 19, 2008
Fix
PrintWhatYouLike Cuts Down Any Web Page For Printing
11:00PM Kevin Purdy | Free printer-friendly service PrintWhatYouLike.com is a simple point-and-click element removal tool to make printing sites and pages without printer-friendly links much easier, and without any software. Paste in the URL of a site, and you’ll get a left-hand sidebar that lets you click and and remove pictures, headlines, and other page elements. You can pull out the background image, isolate selected parts of the page, and even resize individual elements, all in the name of reducing ink usage and improving readability. Better still, you can copy a link to the page you’ve just hacked to bits, giving web site owners with popular pages a free resource for printer-friendly versions. PrintWhatYouLike.com is a free service. For more earth-saving and frugal printer tips, check out the How-To Geek’s smart and easy ways to reduce printing costs. PrintWhatYouLike.com [via Digital Inspiration] More »
Organise
NetSetMan Manages Multiple Network Profiles
9:00PM Lifehacker US Edition | Windows only: If you find yourself frequently switching between networks, NetSetMan could save you a significant amount of time. NetSetMan creates profiles for different networks including variables like: IP address, subnet mask, DNS server, workgroup and domain, default printer and so on. There is even support for scripts for each profile and multiple NICs. The free version of NetSetMan supports up to six unique profiles, the pay version has no cap on the number of profiles you can create. NetSetMan is a free download for Windows only. NetSetMan [via Download Squad] More »
Work
5:11PM Angus Kidman | The closing keynote at Cisco’s video-chat heavy Networkers Conference was given by innovation expert Charles Leadbeater. Along with covering how innovation and collaboration need to work hand in hand — the theme of his recent book We Think — Leadbeater also made an interesting point regarding how Japanese business, often regarded as particularly convention-driven, ensures a productive workplace environment:
I went to Japan in the early 1990s to discover how Japanese companies collaborate and I met a guy who told me: ‘Once every three months we got away to a hot springs hotel, we get completely naked and we get completely drunk. If we didn’t go away get naked and get drunk, we’d never come up with any ideas.’
Lest you think that’s a wildly unprofessional concept, Leadbetter pointed out that extreme ideas are often the only way to implement radical change: “If people don’t think you’re completely bonkers, then actually you’re not challenging the status quo.” In Australia, heading off to a hot spring is probably a tad unlikely, but the Friday-night post-work drink is well-established. Do you find that helps in keeping the office humming, or does it just lead to needing a Bloody Mary the next morning? Share your thoughts in the comments. More »
How Nudity And Alcohol Can Fuel Better Office Innovation
5:11PM Angus Kidman | The closing keynote at Cisco’s video-chat heavy Networkers Conference was given by innovation expert Charles Leadbeater. Along with covering how innovation and collaboration need to work hand in hand — the theme of his recent book We Think — Leadbeater also made an interesting point regarding how Japanese business, often regarded as particularly convention-driven, ensures a productive workplace environment:
I went to Japan in the early 1990s to discover how Japanese companies collaborate and I met a guy who told me: ‘Once every three months we got away to a hot springs hotel, we get completely naked and we get completely drunk. If we didn’t go away get naked and get drunk, we’d never come up with any ideas.’
Lest you think that’s a wildly unprofessional concept, Leadbetter pointed out that extreme ideas are often the only way to implement radical change: “If people don’t think you’re completely bonkers, then actually you’re not challenging the status quo.” In Australia, heading off to a hot spring is probably a tad unlikely, but the Friday-night post-work drink is well-established. Do you find that helps in keeping the office humming, or does it just lead to needing a Bloody Mary the next morning? Share your thoughts in the comments. More »
Communicate
2:27PM Angus Kidman | When I posted recently about how Facebook’s redesign was now being imposed on all users, several posters suggested that the evident resistance to change on the site was largely superficial, and that if people gave the redesign a chance they’d realise it was superior. While I’m sure that has played a part in many reactions, an analysis of the new Facebook design by Forrester Research suggests that there are still problems to be ironed out regardless of whether you were keen on the old design. More »
Where Facebook’s Redesign Falls Down
2:27PM Angus Kidman | When I posted recently about how Facebook’s redesign was now being imposed on all users, several posters suggested that the evident resistance to change on the site was largely superficial, and that if people gave the redesign a chance they’d realise it was superior. While I’m sure that has played a part in many reactions, an analysis of the new Facebook design by Forrester Research suggests that there are still problems to be ironed out regardless of whether you were keen on the old design. More »
Fix
10:17AM Angus Kidman | While I personally tend to race in and out of hotel rooms without unpacking more than my laptop and washbag, many people like to take a photo of loved ones or another memento to personalise the space, even if it’s only for a few hours. Author, comedian and podcaster Wendy Harmer offers up a variation on this theme in the current issue of Virgin Blue’s in-flight magazine Voyeur:
I do like to have a scented candle because it gives you that lovely, flickering light. Even in the worst hotel room, it gives you that small feeling of luxury and sense of home. You can look into that flame and imagine you’re far from an awful, generic hotel room.
Not a bad idea given how poorly-lit many hotels are, although it might pay to check on the location of smoke alarms before trying it (you can run up a major fine if the fire brigade gets called in). What do you do to make your hotel room more homely? Use the comments to spread the word. More »
Travel With A Scented Candle For An At-Home Hotel Room Feel
10:17AM Angus Kidman | While I personally tend to race in and out of hotel rooms without unpacking more than my laptop and washbag, many people like to take a photo of loved ones or another memento to personalise the space, even if it’s only for a few hours. Author, comedian and podcaster Wendy Harmer offers up a variation on this theme in the current issue of Virgin Blue’s in-flight magazine Voyeur:
I do like to have a scented candle because it gives you that lovely, flickering light. Even in the worst hotel room, it gives you that small feeling of luxury and sense of home. You can look into that flame and imagine you’re far from an awful, generic hotel room.
Not a bad idea given how poorly-lit many hotels are, although it might pay to check on the location of smoke alarms before trying it (you can run up a major fine if the fire brigade gets called in). What do you do to make your hotel room more homely? Use the comments to spread the word. More »
Communicate
10:01AM Angus Kidman | The Official Twitter Blog reveals a bunch of mostly cosmetic changes that are due to roll out on Twitter over the next couple of days, including relocating the tweet navigation tabs from the top of the page to the right, and making the reply and star icons only appear when you mouse over them. There’s also an enhanced customisation tool for tweaking the site design, and the removal of the little-used Archive tab. Increased use of Ajax to switch between views might go some way to improving Twitter’s (ahem) variable stability. These changes haven’t showed up on my Twitter account yet; if you’ve been moved over, share your thoughts (good or bad) on the new design approach.
[Twitter Blog]
More »
Twitter Rolls Out Design Changes
10:01AM Angus Kidman | The Official Twitter Blog reveals a bunch of mostly cosmetic changes that are due to roll out on Twitter over the next couple of days, including relocating the tweet navigation tabs from the top of the page to the right, and making the reply and star icons only appear when you mouse over them. There’s also an enhanced customisation tool for tweaking the site design, and the removal of the little-used Archive tab. Increased use of Ajax to switch between views might go some way to improving Twitter’s (ahem) variable stability. These changes haven’t showed up on my Twitter account yet; if you’ve been moved over, share your thoughts (good or bad) on the new design approach.
[Twitter Blog]
More »
Organise
FoxTab Brings Innovative, Attractive Tab Switching to Firefox
9:00AM Adam Pash | Windows only: Experimental Firefox extension FoxTab introduces a new tab switching interface to Firefox complete with five different thumbnailed views. Firefox already has a new Ctrl+Tab switching interface in the works for the 3.1 release with the Ctrl+Tab extension, and FoxTab tosses another attractive hat into that ring. FoxTab views include several familiar ideas, like Vista’s new Flip 3D or OS X’s Cover Flow—but for your Firefox tabs. FoxTab is a free experimental plug-in (which means you need a username and password to download it from Mozilla Add-ons) and it runs in Firefox. FoxTab [via Mozilla Links] More »
Design
8:58AM Angus Kidman | Windows only: Australian company ExitReality has been garnering lots of coverage this week with its self-titled 3D plug-in, which claims to turn any web page into a 3D environment. Exit Reality isn’t the only company to have attempted a 3D online universe — Google’s Lively is the most prominent recent example — and in its current incarnation, it needs some tweaking to really become a contender. The install process is a little clunky, and with ExitReality running, I found that Firefox didn’t want to launch any other new windows. Site conversion is a fairly slow process, and doesn’t necessarily produce meaningful results (I certainly wouldn’t want to navigate Lifehacker using it). Sites with specifically built ExitReality environments such as Facebook were more coherent, but still harder to manipulate in 3D mode than normally. The navigation controls all worked as expected, but once the novelty of seeing sites broken into component pieces wore off, I was itching to get back to the 2D web. ExitReality is a free download for Windows systems only.
[ExitReality]
More »
ExitReality Builds 3D Sites On The Fly But Needs Work
8:58AM Angus Kidman | Windows only: Australian company ExitReality has been garnering lots of coverage this week with its self-titled 3D plug-in, which claims to turn any web page into a 3D environment. Exit Reality isn’t the only company to have attempted a 3D online universe — Google’s Lively is the most prominent recent example — and in its current incarnation, it needs some tweaking to really become a contender. The install process is a little clunky, and with ExitReality running, I found that Firefox didn’t want to launch any other new windows. Site conversion is a fairly slow process, and doesn’t necessarily produce meaningful results (I certainly wouldn’t want to navigate Lifehacker using it). Sites with specifically built ExitReality environments such as Facebook were more coherent, but still harder to manipulate in 3D mode than normally. The navigation controls all worked as expected, but once the novelty of seeing sites broken into component pieces wore off, I was itching to get back to the 2D web. ExitReality is a free download for Windows systems only.
[ExitReality]
More »
Organise
Yahoo Adds Playable Music Clips To Results
8:55AM Gina Trapani | Thanks to a new partnership with Rhapsody, Yahoo adds playable music clips to their search results. Give it a try: Search for an artist like Madonna, and play popular tunes (up to 25 full-length tracks a month) at the top of the results in-browser. The main Yahoo Australia site doesn’t sport this feature yet, but you can access it at the global search sub-page. How does Yahoo do with your favourite artist? Yahoo [via cNet] More »
Fix
8:31AM Angus Kidman | It’s pretty universally accepted wisdom that the best way to find a builder, plumber or other tradesperson is to get a personal recommendation, but that’s not much help if no-one you know has employed a tiler recently. WhoCanDo takes the online auction model and applies it to renovations and other household tasks: enter details of your planned project and tradies can bid to win your business. Given that most every plumber I know has more work on than they can comfortably manage, I’m not entirely sure how effective this would be, but it’s a pain-free way of getting a few representative quotes if nothing I can do. If you’ve got any other snazzy techniques for snaring the perfect tradesperson, let’s hear them in the comments.
[WhoCanDo]
More »
WhoCanDo Lets Tradies Bid To Work On Your Renovations
8:31AM Angus Kidman | It’s pretty universally accepted wisdom that the best way to find a builder, plumber or other tradesperson is to get a personal recommendation, but that’s not much help if no-one you know has employed a tiler recently. WhoCanDo takes the online auction model and applies it to renovations and other household tasks: enter details of your planned project and tradies can bid to win your business. Given that most every plumber I know has more work on than they can comfortably manage, I’m not entirely sure how effective this would be, but it’s a pain-free way of getting a few representative quotes if nothing I can do. If you’ve got any other snazzy techniques for snaring the perfect tradesperson, let’s hear them in the comments.
[WhoCanDo]
More » 