it lockdown
Communicate
4:30PM Angus Kidman | Aussie hard rockers AC/DC have come up with an unusual promotion for their recent Black Ice album — an ASCII art video for the lead single “Rock N Roll Train” which is embedded in an Excel spreadsheet. The theory is that this should let people at work access the video even if their IT department has blocked video and music feeds — after all, everyone needs to be able to download spreadsheets, right? The reality is a little more complicated: Excel 2007 users will likely find that the active content features needed to access the video will be switched off by default, and if your administrator has blocked your ability to switch them back on, then there’s no Young brothers for you. But if that’s not an issue, it’s an impressive piece of work.
AC/DC [via Inside Office Online]
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AC/DC Attempt To Thwart Firewalls With Excel-Based Video
4:30PM Angus Kidman | Aussie hard rockers AC/DC have come up with an unusual promotion for their recent Black Ice album — an ASCII art video for the lead single “Rock N Roll Train” which is embedded in an Excel spreadsheet. The theory is that this should let people at work access the video even if their IT department has blocked video and music feeds — after all, everyone needs to be able to download spreadsheets, right? The reality is a little more complicated: Excel 2007 users will likely find that the active content features needed to access the video will be switched off by default, and if your administrator has blocked your ability to switch them back on, then there’s no Young brothers for you. But if that’s not an issue, it’s an impressive piece of work.
AC/DC [via Inside Office Online]
More » 
Work
Use iGoogle’s Gmail Gadget to Get Around Blocked Gmail
11:00PM Kevin Purdy | The Daily Gyan blog adds to the list of work-arounds to access Gmail at places where it’s normally blocked—this time, by using the fully-functional gadget available in the “new” iGoogle. If you’re willing to sign up as a “developer” to get an early preview of Google’s reworked start page, as Adam explained how to do, you simply add the Gmail gadget, click the “maximize” button on it, and you’ve got a nearly complete inbox view. And since iGoogle comes from a Google.com URL, it’s less likely to be blocked, unless, of course, the IT overlords in question are reading this right now. Access Gmail Even When It Is Blocked [Daily Gyan] More »
