Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Work
CopyTaste Lets You Quickly Publish Text And Media
11:30PM Jason Fitzpatrick | CopyTaste is an online repository for snippets of text, pictures, and video you want to quickly share with others, anonymously or otherwise. The main page of CopyTaste throws you right into the meat of the site, the editor you see above. From there you can write a basic text entry or use the rich text editor to insert pictures and video into your message. You have the option to leave the message wide open and available for comments, or secure it with password. Every note that you save in CopyTaste is given a unique URL; the letter in the screenshot above can be seen at http://www.copytaste.com/wkb3912. If you’re only using CopyTaste to store snippits of text for yourself, there’s no need to register, but signing up does link your CopyTaste snippets to your OpenID profile for easier sharing and retrieval. CopyTaste [via Webware] More »
Organise
Offline Google Calendar Goes Live For Everyone
11:00PM Kevin Purdy | Roughly one month after Google Apps users got it, Gears-powered offline access comes to all Google Calendar users. The same limitations apply, but it’s not a bad way to ensure access to your agenda. Head to your calendar page and hit the “Offline (beta)” link to start the syncing process. If you don’t have Google Gears installed, you’ll need to do so, and you’ll be prompted to install shortcuts to GCal on your computer. The first sync only applies to your primary calendar, though—click the green checkmark in the upper-right and hit “Offline Settings” to bring more of your calendars offline. I didn’t notice any kind of limitations, but Alex at Google Operating System wrote that his calendar only synced Feb. 4 through June 4 of this year when he synced his calendars today. The big missing Feature Elephant in this online room is that you can’t create new events while you’re offline to sync up later. How will GCal offline be useful to you? Tell us your take in the comments. [via Google Operating System] More »
Design
IKEA Planner Visualises Your Dream Rooms In 3D
9:30PM Kevin Purdy | Windows only: IKEA has released its own 3D room design tool to help you plan the modernist, clean-lined kitchen, bedroom, or workspace of your dreams. IKEA’s Home Planner also includes current pricing information if you’re planning a spending spree. It’s a Windows-only tool at this point; anyone want to give it a shot in WINE on Linux or Mac and tell us how it runs? IKEA Planner Tool is a free download for Windows systems only. Thanks empkae! IKEA Planner Tools [IKEA] More »
Work
4:30PM Angus Kidman | Whatever you think of the Word 2007 ribbon interface, it’s hard to deny that it can be distracting when you’re trying to actually write, as opposed to messing around with formatting. Microsoft’s Word blog outlines techniques for getting rid of on-screen junk by minimising the ribbon, switch to Web layout and disabling other elements of the Windows interface. My own take is that you’re better off using the Draft mode for truly distraction-free writing; check our previous advice on how to set draft mode as the permanent default view.
Word Throwback “Just Write” Edition [Microsoft Office Word Team's Blog]
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Strip Word’s Interface Back For More Effective Writing
4:30PM Angus Kidman | Whatever you think of the Word 2007 ribbon interface, it’s hard to deny that it can be distracting when you’re trying to actually write, as opposed to messing around with formatting. Microsoft’s Word blog outlines techniques for getting rid of on-screen junk by minimising the ribbon, switch to Web layout and disabling other elements of the Windows interface. My own take is that you’re better off using the Draft mode for truly distraction-free writing; check our previous advice on how to set draft mode as the permanent default view.
Word Throwback “Just Write” Edition [Microsoft Office Word Team's Blog]
More »
Communicate
1:32PM Angus Kidman | We made mocking reference recently to 120 being the average number of friends people have on Facebook. However, anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggests that most people have an average of 150 friends (leaving aside their status as online acquaintances or otherwise). He told BBC News:
They usually consist of an inner circle of five “core” people and an additional layer of 10, he says. That makes 15 people – some will probably be family members – who are your central group and then outside that, there’s another 35 in the next circle and another 100 on the outside. And that’s one person’s social world.
I haven’t run the numbers for myself, but the basic concept sounds plausible. I’m not quite as convinced by another argument the article raises — that people with more friends in school make more money later in life — but the rationale (social skills help in the workplace) isn’t totally unreasonable either.
What’s the ideal number of friends? [BBC News Magazine]
More »
Average Number Of Real-World Friends Is 150
1:32PM Angus Kidman | We made mocking reference recently to 120 being the average number of friends people have on Facebook. However, anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggests that most people have an average of 150 friends (leaving aside their status as online acquaintances or otherwise). He told BBC News:
They usually consist of an inner circle of five “core” people and an additional layer of 10, he says. That makes 15 people – some will probably be family members – who are your central group and then outside that, there’s another 35 in the next circle and another 100 on the outside. And that’s one person’s social world.
I haven’t run the numbers for myself, but the basic concept sounds plausible. I’m not quite as convinced by another argument the article raises — that people with more friends in school make more money later in life — but the rationale (social skills help in the workplace) isn’t totally unreasonable either.
What’s the ideal number of friends? [BBC News Magazine]
More »
Fix
12:00PM Angus Kidman | Going all-digital for record keeping is a worthy goal, but you’re still going to end up needing to keep the odd paper document around (try having kids if you don’t believe that). Bulletin boards are useful, but have one big downside: they generally come in cork, cork or cork. The IKEA Hacker blog offers a simple tip for dealing with that decorating challenge: add a layer of fabric to your bulletin board for a not-so-wooden appearance. While the example given uses all IKEA materials, any scrap of fabric and cheapo bulletin board will get you the same results.
IKEA Hacker
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Perk Up Your Bulletin Board With Fabric
12:00PM Angus Kidman | Going all-digital for record keeping is a worthy goal, but you’re still going to end up needing to keep the odd paper document around (try having kids if you don’t believe that). Bulletin boards are useful, but have one big downside: they generally come in cork, cork or cork. The IKEA Hacker blog offers a simple tip for dealing with that decorating challenge: add a layer of fabric to your bulletin board for a not-so-wooden appearance. While the example given uses all IKEA materials, any scrap of fabric and cheapo bulletin board will get you the same results.
IKEA Hacker
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Money
10:30AM Angus Kidman | After the Loaded column looked at ANZ’s Money Manager application recently, I was curious as to what process was being used to develop the categorisation rules used to sort transactions (it generally does a good job, but there’s the occasional missed opportunity as the screenshot shows). As one commenter suggested, Money Manager is using Yodlee’s aggregation technology for its site, and this is how the process works, according to an ANZ spokesperson:
We sent Yodlee a list of major retailers and their categories to manually load into the database. As more users sign up and add their accounts, the database becomes more accurate for the Australian market. For example, if multiple customers change a transaction at Coles Express from ‘Groceries’ to ‘Fuel’, the database is updated to make fuel the default category for Coles Express transactions. If an individual user re-categorises Coles Express as ‘Petrol’ in multiple instances, the database will start to automatically categorise Coles Express as ‘Petrol’ for that customer, and ‘Fuel’ for all other customers.
More »
Money Manager Expanding Australian-Centric Rules
10:30AM Angus Kidman | After the Loaded column looked at ANZ’s Money Manager application recently, I was curious as to what process was being used to develop the categorisation rules used to sort transactions (it generally does a good job, but there’s the occasional missed opportunity as the screenshot shows). As one commenter suggested, Money Manager is using Yodlee’s aggregation technology for its site, and this is how the process works, according to an ANZ spokesperson:
We sent Yodlee a list of major retailers and their categories to manually load into the database. As more users sign up and add their accounts, the database becomes more accurate for the Australian market. For example, if multiple customers change a transaction at Coles Express from ‘Groceries’ to ‘Fuel’, the database is updated to make fuel the default category for Coles Express transactions. If an individual user re-categorises Coles Express as ‘Petrol’ in multiple instances, the database will start to automatically categorise Coles Express as ‘Petrol’ for that customer, and ‘Fuel’ for all other customers.
More »
Design
Grab 40+ Beautiful March Calendar Wallpapers
9:30AM Adam Pash | Design site Smashing Magazine rounds up 40+ incredible desktop wallpapers that also feature March 2009 calendars, perfect for a little eye-candy-plus-calendar combinations for your desktop. Find a wallpaper you like but don’t want the embedded calendar? Most are available avec or sans the calendar calendar. [Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: March 2009] More »
Travel
9:00AM Angus Kidman | Apple often takes a deserved bollocking for its strange iPhone App Store policies, but it isn’t the only guilty party. David Braue at ZDNet reports that development of Transit Sydney, an iPhone application listing timetable information for Sydney trains, may cease after threats of legal action by CityRail. The lack of a timetable app for Sydney’s rail service was highlighted as an issue by Lifehacker readers last year, and the use of copyright provisions to block access to public information seems pretty dodgy. On the other hand, there’s a glimmer of hope, as CityRail is apparently working on its own mobile application — one that presumably will work on more than one handset, won’t cost anything, and will include up-to-date trackwork information.
RailCorp targets rogue iPhone app [ZDNet]
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CityRail Opposing Sydney Timetable App For iPhone
9:00AM Angus Kidman | Apple often takes a deserved bollocking for its strange iPhone App Store policies, but it isn’t the only guilty party. David Braue at ZDNet reports that development of Transit Sydney, an iPhone application listing timetable information for Sydney trains, may cease after threats of legal action by CityRail. The lack of a timetable app for Sydney’s rail service was highlighted as an issue by Lifehacker readers last year, and the use of copyright provisions to block access to public information seems pretty dodgy. On the other hand, there’s a glimmer of hope, as CityRail is apparently working on its own mobile application — one that presumably will work on more than one handset, won’t cost anything, and will include up-to-date trackwork information.
RailCorp targets rogue iPhone app [ZDNet]
More »
Money
7:02AM Angus Kidman | Apple’s relase of new iMac and Mac mini models today is bound to generate lots of enthusiastic commentary. What I can’t help immediately noticing is that despite the frequent suggestion that Macs have got more affordable, these are all still more expensive than Windows boxes. To take a single example: the new Mac mini (2.0GHZ Core 2 Duo, 1GB of memory, 120GB drive) is $1,049. For less than that ($999), you could pick up a Dell Studio notebook with twice the memory, more drive space and a 15.4 inch display (and a desktop would be even cheaper). Sure, you could argue that comparisons aren’t fair because of design or reliability or an extra Firewire port or whatever, but the general conclusion seems to hold across the range: for the same amount of money, your Windows box will have more grunt. More »
Apple’s New Macs: Not Much Chop In The Price Department
7:02AM Angus Kidman | Apple’s relase of new iMac and Mac mini models today is bound to generate lots of enthusiastic commentary. What I can’t help immediately noticing is that despite the frequent suggestion that Macs have got more affordable, these are all still more expensive than Windows boxes. To take a single example: the new Mac mini (2.0GHZ Core 2 Duo, 1GB of memory, 120GB drive) is $1,049. For less than that ($999), you could pick up a Dell Studio notebook with twice the memory, more drive space and a 15.4 inch display (and a desktop would be even cheaper). Sure, you could argue that comparisons aren’t fair because of design or reliability or an extra Firewire port or whatever, but the general conclusion seems to hold across the range: for the same amount of money, your Windows box will have more grunt. More » 