Friday, November 14, 2008
Organise
MiniTask Is A Light-Weight Task Tracker
11:30PM Lifehacker US Edition | Windows/Mac/Linux (Adobe AIR): Free Adobe AIR application MiniTask is a light-weight task manager with a surprising number of features. MiniTask displays in single window, the entire functionality of the application exists in one menu available via right click. You can bulk remove done tasks, separate tasks them with a simple labelled line break, set alarms, and export your tasks easily to the clipboard. MiniTask has handy keyboard shortcuts like the ability to create a new labelled divider by typing **divider name** in your task list, MiniTask will automatically convert and place it. MiniTask is a free cross-platform download that requires Adobe AIR. MiniTask [via Elite By Design] More »
Design
Think Of Megapixels In Terms Of Cupcakes
10:30PM Kevin Purdy | It’s been noted that cramming more and more megapixels into consumer-grade digital cameras isn’t really giving everybody better pictures. These days, in fact, cameras with more than seven or eight megapixels per picture are seeing more noise and grit because too much information is passing into too small a sensor. One New York Times writer explains the phenomenon using a cupcake analogy: The mechanics of this can be understood by thinking of a digital camera sensor as a flat sheet of material pocked with millions (hence “mega”) of cylindrical, cuplike pixels. In other words, picture the digital sensor as a tiny cupcake tin … Larger pixels (cups, remember), with larger surface areas, capture more photons per second, which in electronics-speak means a stronger signal — and in camera-speak means less noise and cleaner colors. The article recommends those seeking better shots for less cash not worry about grabbing the latest MP-busting digicam and focus on getting a decent, lower-end DSLR. Got a high-megapixel camera and feeling a bit of buyer’s remorse, or are you seeing better shots these days? Tell us in the comments. Photo by jslander. Pixels Are Like Cupcakes. Let Me Explain. [New York Times] More »
Organise
Google iPhone App To Offer Search By Voice
10:00PM Kevin Purdy | Google is expected to release a free iPhone application today that lets iPhone owners ask to find local businesses, get driving directions, ask basic search queries (”What’s the capitol of Belgium?”), and displays them on-screen “within seconds on a fast wireless network,” according to the New York Times. I don’t see it in the iTunes app store yet; tell us in the comments if you do. [via Gizmodo] More »
Work
WinWget Makes Automated Downloads A Breeze
9:00PM Kevin Purdy | Any Unix-friendly dude or lady will tell you that Wget packs a ton of power for such a small terminal command. It can grab different versions of the same file on a regular basis, crawl through web sites to mirror content as many links deep as you’d like, grab the newest MP3s or Flash video files from a popular web site, and stretch it as far as your data-trading imagination can stretch. And with WinWget, a free wget graphical interface for Windows, you don’t need to learn how to append a half-dozen options and switches in the right order and capitalisation. Read on for a look at a couple of examples of how WinWget can expand your downloading power on Windows. More »
Organise
4:30PM Angus Kidman | We’re all for sleeping in and/or heading outdoors, but if you get a spare minute this weekend, here’s some tech idea to follow up from the past week:
Check out the airport power wiki and add any useful information you have
Check to see if your old Hotmail account has been upgraded to incorporate new features
Update your copy of Google Chrome so the bookmarks actually work properly (Firefox should manage its own update without much help)
Protect yourself from RickRolling
Check your phone bill for unexpected premium SMS charges
More »
Five Things To Do This Weekend
4:30PM Angus Kidman | We’re all for sleeping in and/or heading outdoors, but if you get a spare minute this weekend, here’s some tech idea to follow up from the past week:
Check out the airport power wiki and add any useful information you have
Check to see if your old Hotmail account has been upgraded to incorporate new features
Update your copy of Google Chrome so the bookmarks actually work properly (Firefox should manage its own update without much help)
Protect yourself from RickRolling
Check your phone bill for unexpected premium SMS charges
More »
Work
3:00PM Angus Kidman | Microsoft’s Outlook Blog runs down how to set up and access templates in Outlook. Templates are one of those often-neglected options in email programs, but they can be really handy; much email communication is repetitive, and having information set and ready to send makes the task easier. With that said, the options for using templates are pretty deeply buried. Given that email editing is one of the few parts of Outlook 2007 that actually uses the Ribbon, it’s somewhat amazing that there’s no way of accessing templates from there. For a similar (and automated) approach online, check out how to send canned responses in Gmail.
[Microsoft Office Outlook Team Blog]
More »
How To Create Outlook Templates
3:00PM Angus Kidman | Microsoft’s Outlook Blog runs down how to set up and access templates in Outlook. Templates are one of those often-neglected options in email programs, but they can be really handy; much email communication is repetitive, and having information set and ready to send makes the task easier. With that said, the options for using templates are pretty deeply buried. Given that email editing is one of the few parts of Outlook 2007 that actually uses the Ribbon, it’s somewhat amazing that there’s no way of accessing templates from there. For a similar (and automated) approach online, check out how to send canned responses in Gmail.
[Microsoft Office Outlook Team Blog]
More »
Organise
1:31PM Angus Kidman | It’s hardly surprising: as world economies continue to teeter, Australian enthusiasm for buying online is declining. A poll of 500 adults commissioned by customer service software company RightNow found that 35% have already decreased their spending both online and in physical stores, and a similar percentage expect to do so in the next 12 months. Our most popular Christmas saving strategy? Not trimming the list of recipients (favoured by 27%), but spending a little less on each person (36%). To save hassles, I’m planning to do most of my Christmas shopping online — if that also proves to be a money-saving option, all the better. How have your online spending habits changed?
More »
Australian Online Spending Declines As Christmas Looms
1:31PM Angus Kidman | It’s hardly surprising: as world economies continue to teeter, Australian enthusiasm for buying online is declining. A poll of 500 adults commissioned by customer service software company RightNow found that 35% have already decreased their spending both online and in physical stores, and a similar percentage expect to do so in the next 12 months. Our most popular Christmas saving strategy? Not trimming the list of recipients (favoured by 27%), but spending a little less on each person (36%). To save hassles, I’m planning to do most of my Christmas shopping online — if that also proves to be a money-saving option, all the better. How have your online spending habits changed?
More »
Design
1:00PM Kym Weathersten | Notebooks with cases that aren’t some variation on grey/black have become more prevalent in recent years, but most still sport fundamentally the same materials on the outside. Asus’ Bamboo series is a definite exception, using bamboo for a design approach that also claims a greater level of environmental friendliness than your typical hard-case machine.
The laptops are covered in “artisan-grade Moso bamboo panelling”, a light, and durable, non-flammable and petrochemical-free material. Apparently, the design “is a cutting edge creation that incorporates innate, ornate aesthetics, each Bamboo Series notebook is organically unique and radiates a divine spirituality” — those are Asus’ words, not mine, obviously.
The notebook range actually looks better than the hyperbole makes it sound. Bear in mind that the machines are only partially degradable, with much debate about whether bamboo really is greener than plastic, and you’ll still want a PC-friendly recycling centre at the end of its life. But anything that improves the green quotient for what’s still a fairly toxic industry is a good step. The laptops — which come in 11.1in and 12.1in models, sporting Core 2 Duo processors and Windows Vista — should hit stores in December, with pricing starting at $3,499.
More »
Asus Goes Green With Bamboo Series Laptops
1:00PM Kym Weathersten | Notebooks with cases that aren’t some variation on grey/black have become more prevalent in recent years, but most still sport fundamentally the same materials on the outside. Asus’ Bamboo series is a definite exception, using bamboo for a design approach that also claims a greater level of environmental friendliness than your typical hard-case machine.
The laptops are covered in “artisan-grade Moso bamboo panelling”, a light, and durable, non-flammable and petrochemical-free material. Apparently, the design “is a cutting edge creation that incorporates innate, ornate aesthetics, each Bamboo Series notebook is organically unique and radiates a divine spirituality” — those are Asus’ words, not mine, obviously.
The notebook range actually looks better than the hyperbole makes it sound. Bear in mind that the machines are only partially degradable, with much debate about whether bamboo really is greener than plastic, and you’ll still want a PC-friendly recycling centre at the end of its life. But anything that improves the green quotient for what’s still a fairly toxic industry is a good step. The laptops — which come in 11.1in and 12.1in models, sporting Core 2 Duo processors and Windows Vista — should hit stores in December, with pricing starting at $3,499.
More »
Work
12:00PM Angus Kidman | One of the lessons I’ve learned at Lifehacker is that things which are seemingly obvious still come as news to many people. A case in point: Victorian Matthew Ward, who lost his job after demonstrating unsafe ways to drive a forklift and then posting the results on YouTube, as the Herald Sun reports. There’s a lot of online chatter about how expectations of privacy have changed in a largely online world, but the rule “don’t put evidence of workplace stupidity online” remains much the same — and, it seems, is still sometimes ignored.
Worker down the YouTube [Herald Sun/AustralianIT]
More »
Worker Sacked For Unsafe Behaviour Which He Filmed And Put On YouTube
12:00PM Angus Kidman | One of the lessons I’ve learned at Lifehacker is that things which are seemingly obvious still come as news to many people. A case in point: Victorian Matthew Ward, who lost his job after demonstrating unsafe ways to drive a forklift and then posting the results on YouTube, as the Herald Sun reports. There’s a lot of online chatter about how expectations of privacy have changed in a largely online world, but the rule “don’t put evidence of workplace stupidity online” remains much the same — and, it seems, is still sometimes ignored.
Worker down the YouTube [Herald Sun/AustralianIT]
More »
Fix
10:30AM Angus Kidman | You can tell that summer’s rapidly approaching when accessories vendors start pushing “chill mats” — laptop stands with built-in USB-powered fans designed to help air circulate and stop your machine overheating (the pictured one is a new Mac-specific model from Targus). While overheating can definitely be an issue, I’ve always found chill mats more hassle than they’re worth. For one thing, they put the keyboard at the wrong angle for my liking; for another, they’re too bulky to throw in my laptop carry bag. So my preferred methodology has been just keeping the home office as cool as feasible, but it’s entirely possible that I’m missing out. If you’re a chill mat fan — or have another strategy for ensuring your laptop doesn’t go into meltdown — share your experiences in the comments. More »
Do You Find A Chill Mat Helpful?
10:30AM Angus Kidman | You can tell that summer’s rapidly approaching when accessories vendors start pushing “chill mats” — laptop stands with built-in USB-powered fans designed to help air circulate and stop your machine overheating (the pictured one is a new Mac-specific model from Targus). While overheating can definitely be an issue, I’ve always found chill mats more hassle than they’re worth. For one thing, they put the keyboard at the wrong angle for my liking; for another, they’re too bulky to throw in my laptop carry bag. So my preferred methodology has been just keeping the home office as cool as feasible, but it’s entirely possible that I’m missing out. If you’re a chill mat fan — or have another strategy for ensuring your laptop doesn’t go into meltdown — share your experiences in the comments. More » 
