RSS Feeds
|
US Edition
Babblebaby
|
Defamer
|
Gizmodo
|
Kotaku
|
Lifehacker
Windows only: Have your calendar available on the desktop as well as in the cloud with the Google Calendar Sync desktop tool, freshly released from the big G. Sync your primary calendar on your vanilla or Google Apps account... Read More »
Posted by Sarah Stokely at 12:25 PM on March 6, 2008
If you're a Googlehead but you're in a Microsoft environment at work, you will be happy to know that Google's come up with a synching tool for GCal and Microsoft Outlook. The GCal product manager wrote about the tool on the Google blog today.
Google Calendar Synch is a two-way syching tool which lets you add events in either calendar. You can download it here.
You can choose 1 way or 2 way synching, and specify how often it should synch (every 10 minutes is the minimum).
Once you've set up Google Calendar Synch, you'll be able to access the settings window by double-clicking on the calendar icon in the Windows System Tray.
Sounds great. I'm not running Outlook, but if you try it out please let us know how it works for you in comments.
Posted by Sarah Stokely at 11:38 AM on March 6, 2008
It's been quite a while since the race for the US presidential nomination got people all over the world listening in, but from the number of Australian bloggers I've noticed commenting on Barack Obama's campaign in the US, he's doing a good job as an inspirational speaker.
Carmine Gallo at Business Week has written an article offering up four techniques which you can borrow from Obama to make your presentations a bit more inspiring. Apart from some general advice on theme and delivery, such as presenting a positive message of hope, it also delves into some very interesting rhetorical devices:
Parallel structure
Repeat the same word or expression at the start of a series of sentences (anaphora) or at the end of a series of sentences (epistrophe). Think Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech. Obama's speech (set to music in the video above) uses epistrophe by repeating the expression "Yes we can" throughout to punctuate his speech.
Dynamic Vocal Delivery
Pacing, volume and well-placed pauses are all speaking techniques which Obama employs very effectively. You need to avoid speaking in a monotone - varying the speed you speak at (and your volume) can help with this.
Got any speaking tips or examples of great speeches or speakers? Share in comments please.
How to Inspire People Like Obama Does [Business Week]
All platforms with Firefox: Just uploaded a new version of the Better YouTube Firefox extension which now includes support for YouTube's high resolution videos. You already know that a simple URL hack can magically up the quality of some videos; now with Better YouTube installed, no URL modification's required. I highly recommend turning on YouTube HD with the Theater View in Better YouTube's options for quite the viewing experience. Grab the update from Firefox's Add-ons dialog, or click through to download it manually. Thanks to all the commenters for requesting this addition and to Yansky, YouTube Greasmonkey scripter extraordinaire, for the excellent user script.
Posted by Sarah Stokely at 10:24 AM on March 6, 2008
Here's one for the Guitar Hero fans out there - there's a free editor available which you can use to create, edit and upload songs for Guitar Hero. Logan over at our gaming site Kotaku pointed this one out - and it turns out the two developers behind the Feedback Editor are both Aussies. Onya guys.
It's Windows only - 2000, XP or Vista, and requires DirectX 9 as well. GH nerds head over to Kotaku for the full story, or download the editor here.
Make your own Guitar Hero Songs with Aussie-made Editor [Kotaku]
Lifehacker's sales team is looking for some info on your travel habits so that we can get some, you know, relevant advertising going on around here. You give us five minutes of your time to fill out a survey? We might just give you an $100 American Express Gift Card. Standard contest rules apply. Promise we won't be dumb about your personal info. Thanks.
When you finally decide you're going to empty your inbox on a regular basis, the hardest part is getting started—most likely because you're already buried under an avalanche of messages. Blogger Jason Clarke offers a sensible approach to that first, most difficult push towards Inbox Zero, and he calls it Inbox 0.5. Clarke says that you can cut down a huge pile of messages without losing an entire weekend by processing HALF the number of backed up messages you've got each day. So if you're starting with 700, reduce that to 350 the first day. If you've got 400 the next day, reduce that to 200. Rinse and repeat till you've conquered the backlog and are just maintaining an empty inbox with new mail that arrives.
Fancy-pants dynamic web site crgslst searches multiple craigslist cities on a single page (but not at the same time.) Crgslist can save your cities of interest and past searches for easy reuse, too. [via]
Windows only: Microsoft has released the first public beta of Internet Explorer 8 for download by willing testers, which debuted this week at the Mix conference in Las Vegas. Intended for developers and designers only, IE8's most intriguing new feature so far is "Web Slices," which lets you monitor a single section of a web page, like an eBay auction (similar to Leopard's Web Clips.) Web developers will be excited about better standards compliance. I'm just downloading and installing IE8 myself, so no word yet on anything else exciting (perhaps better tab support, MS? Pretty please?) Check out some setup screens, including a Firefox settings import wizard that detects your 'fox extensions, after the jump.
Windows only: When you're in a shady internet cafe in Bangkok and you're worried about rogue software logging your passwords as you type them, you need a USB drive with Neo's SafeKeys on it. Neo's SafeKeys is a small, mouse-based keyboard that shows up on your screen in different places each time you run it from your drive. You click the SafeKeys keyboard to enter your password, then select it and drag and drop it to the password field to bypass keylogging AND clipboard logging software. A great addition to your portable apps collection, Neo's SafeKeys is a free download for Windows only.
When you finally decide it's time to do something about that rat's nest of cables that's spreading like kudzu, you don't have to spend a lot of time and money to get it under control. Whether you're looking to stow your headphone wires tangle-free in your gym bag, hide the ugly wire spaghetti you keep kicking further under your desk, or organise your gadget chargers and power plugs, we've got some cord management tricks for you. Hit the jump for photos and videos of our top 10 favourite ways to get cables under control.
Clear off your computer desk but still have easy access to pens, CDs, and other supplies with the Keyboard Organizer—a fully-working keyboard that flips up for storage. Haven't typed on one of these myself so I'm not sure what the height is like on this bad boy, but the two-in-one organiser/keyboard action is a nifty idea. The Keyboard Organizer will set you back about 50 bucks (£24.99).
Wired writer Clive Thompson has a thought-provoking piece in this month's issue on the general decline in fixing and tinkering and how it affects our ingenuity, our thinking, and even our spending habits:
You see this on a personal level. If you can't get under the hood of the gadgets you buy, you're far more liable to believe the marketing hype of the corporations that sell them. When things break, you toss them and buy new ones; you accept your role as a mere consumer. "I think it makes you more passive as an individual," says Matthew Crawford, a former motorcycle repair-shop owner (and postdoctoral fellow in cultural studies) who's writing a book on the demise of mechanical aptitude in America.Hit the link for a few upbeat signs about the growing resurgence in around-the-house aptitude, fostered by magazines like MAKE and *ahem* DIY-friendly websites. What are you comfortable trying yourself, what would you rather just buy/re-buy, and what do you wish you knew how to do? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Windows only: Open OpenDocument Format (ODF) files in Microsoft Office using the OpenXML/ODF Translator, a free plug-in for Microsoft Word. One of the most obvious benefits is being able to open OpenOffice.org-created word documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, although other apps (like Google Docs) are starting to hop on the OpenDocument bandwagon as well. Users of Office 2007 should be able to install the plug-in and get right-click access to ODF files; those with earlier copies may have to install the Compatibility Pack and .NET 2.0 to get it working. The OpenXML/ODF Translator is a free download for Windows systems only; make sure to grab the right language version of the plug-in at the SourceForge link below.
The Dumb Little Man blog posts up a healthy portion of tips for those with flexible schedules and a desire to fly for free by booking themselves on overbooked flights. Along with pointing to a web site that details how many seats are left on certain flights, guest blogger Clay Collins suggests keeping your luggage light to up your chances at scoring a free flight voucher:
Sometimes finding volunteers is like pulling teeth, but if the competition is fierce, airlines tend to prefer volunteers who don't have checked baggage. On a similar note, one of the few downsides to getting bumped is the extra opportunity for the airline to lose your checked luggage. Try to stick to carry-on bags. If you can leave the turbo deluxe hair dryer and extra set of golf clubs at home, do so.
Linux only: BillReminder might seem like an unnecessary tool in the age of ubiquitous calendars, but the free Linux app lets you determine exactly when and how you get reminded about your monthly obligations, and helps you visualise and keep notes on each one. Once you've set up your bills into colour-coded categories, you can set the amount due, leave yourself notes on how (or maybe why) they should be paid, and then have BillReminder tell you about them at specific intervals—in case you only need a day or two for electricity, but would like a week's warning on that hefty cable charge. BillReminder is a free download for Linux systems only.
Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Writing Room 4 Google Documents Greasemonkey script makes it possible to toggle and hide the logo and whitespace above the functional toolbar on a writing and editing page in Google Documents. Those with smaller screens and lesser resolutions will appreciate the extra writing space this little script grants them, but it could help anyone looking for a more distraction-free screen—especially combined with Firefox's full-screen mode. The toolbar toggle doesn't work with spreadsheets or slideshow editing, but an intrepid JavaScript hacker can probably fix that in a few minutes. Writing Room 4 Google Documents is a free download, requires Firefox with Greasemonkey (or Safari with Greasekit) to use.
Lifehacker reader Rodrigo writes in with advice on how to do one better than the very literal word-to-word translators available out there. What's the problem, you might ask? Well, you might want the Spanish word for "foundation," as in the base of a building, but most translators will give you "fundación," as in charitable organizations, when you really want "cimentación." In these cases, Rodrigo says:
Sync Your GCal to Outlook and Back Automatically
Better YouTube Extension Now Includes High Res Option
Conquer Email Backlog with Inbox 0.5
