In the midst of the current financial crunch, the popular, free Linux distribution Ubuntu has never looked more attractive. If you’ve considered switching, a free copy of the Ubuntu Pocket Guide is the perfect place to start. Written by Keir Thomas, author of Ubuntu Kung Fu, Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference covers all the beginner-to-expert knowledge you’ll need to make the move to Ubuntu.
It’s a new year, and sitting squarely at the top of your list of resolutions: Get in shape in ’09. Sounds like a good time to print out weblog Squawkfox’s free workout log.The workout log is a once-a-week printout, helping you plan or track your workouts, weight, results, and more as you progress in your exercise. It’s a simple, cheap, but excellent motivator to keep you honest with your workouts. Thanks Kerry!
Free Printable Workout Log [Squawkfox]All platforms (Windows/Mac/Linux): DIY holiday decoration-makers, The Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories cooked up software that designs paper snowflakes and prints out the outline PDF for easy cutting. Here’s how it works.
Windows only: Foxit Reader—the PDF viewer that introduced most of us to the good life sans Adobe’s bloated Acrobat Reader—has just updated to version 3.0. Among the handful of new and improved features, the most notable update for Firefox users is support for inline viewing of PDFs using Foxit Reader’s new Firefox plug-in. That means that you can quickly view any PDF directly in a Firefox tab when you don’t feel like opening a separate app to view a linked PDF (a feature common to Reader but not to Foxit). Beyond that, the full list of new features includes:
Stuck with a PDF file and no application that will let you edit it? PDF UNdo Online is easy, free, works on any computer and there’s no registration required. Click to browse your computer for an Adobe PDF document, click to convert it into a Microsoft Word document, then click to download the converted file. Now you can edit it to your heart’s content in any application that supports Word documents. A perfect complement for PDF Online, which can convert your edited file right back to PDF. Thanks, PauletteDandoo! Free Online PDF to Word Conversions [pdfundo.net]
OpenOffice.org only (Windows/Mac/Linux): The Sun PDF Import extension imports and edits PDFs with the free Microsoft Office alternative OO.org. Rather than import the PDFs into the Writer program, the extension works with OO.org’s Draw application. Once imported, you can still edit text or other portions of the document. The extension isn’t perfect, but it appears to be under active development and could come in really handy under the right circumstances. The Sun PDF Import extension is free, works wherever OpenOffice.org 3.0 does. Want to learn more about whether OO.org can replace Office? Check out our first look at the latest release. Sun PDF Import Extension [OpenOffice.org via MakeUseOf]
Radiologists in Shanghai are reportedley using iTunes to organize medical papers published as PDFs. It’s not as crazy as it sounds—we ran down how to organize your PDF library with iTunes over a year ago. [via]
Windows only: Freeware application Some PDF to Word Converter takes your PDFs and—as the name implies—converts them to Microsoft Word documents. It’s always been a cinch to print Word documents as PDFs, but going the other way around is generally more difficult. Many online tools can handle PDF-to-DOC conversions, but most of us don’t want to upload our sensitive docs to the web for third-party conversion, so desktop tools are preferable. We’ve featured one other PDF-to-Word converter in the past, but Some PDF to Word Converter requires no registration, has more options, and seems to perform better. If you’d like different PDF conversions, check the download page for PDF-to-HTML or text converters. Some PDF to Word Converter [via FreewareGenius]
Health weblog SmarterFitter knows how difficult it can be to buy healthy food once you hit the supermarket, so they’ve created a couple of grocery list templates designed to help you stick to the good stuff. The list breaks down items into helpful shopping categories, leaving a little room in each for your own additions. You’re probably already aware of the time you can save by using a grocery list template in the first place, but these templates from SmarterFitter will also help save a little time in the gym. Grocery List Templates For Healthy People [SmarterFitter]
The open-source-friendly folks at the FOSSwire blog have posted a PDF “Ubuntu Cheat Sheet,” covering the basic terminal commands one might have to use and, just as importantly, naming important programs and packages so you don’t end up deleting or messing with something that’ll cause headaches down the line. WIth the release of Hardy Heron one day away, adventurous newcomers might want to keep FOSSwire’s cheat sheet printed and handy for reference. Ubuntu Cheat Sheet [FOSSwire]
