Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is trying out the technique that succeeded in putting together an online encyclopedia—opening it up so that anyone can edit it—to improving search results. Wales' user-edited search engine Wikia Search is now out of alpha and open to the public for edits. Search for a term on Wikia Search and rate the results to change their ranking, edit link titles and descriptions, and add links to results. To see what's perhaps Wikia Search's best feature, click the Annotate link. This lets you select a section of text on the web page to clip and add to the result.

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Certain networking or file-sharing programs will always bump up against Windows Vista's super-finicky firewall, and turning it off is no one-click affair. The How-To Geek has a useful addition to what, by now, might be a collection of Vista shortcuts: Turning the firewall on and off with a quick double-click. Hit the link below for a guide on making on and off shortcuts, complete with icons that make it clear what you're doing.

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Windows only: Online payment service PayPal rolled out a service a few months back that lets you generate and use single-use credit cards in order to make PayPal payments at sites you might not want to give your credit card information to. The PayPal Plug-In, for Internet Explorer 7 and (at the moment) Firefox 2, makes using "Secure Cards" much easier. When you're at a site you want to pay with, you can create a card, fill a payment form with the card's details, and even check your PayPal balance, all from a drop-down menu. For regular auction buyers or those venturing into unfamiliar web territory, it could be convenient peace of mind. The PayPal Plug-In is a free download for Windows systems only.

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Linux only: Google Gadgets, an open-source, stand-alone app that runs gadgets from Google Desktop and the Universal iGoogle repository, closes the widest gap between Google Desktop's Linux version and its Mac and Windows cousins. Users of Screenlets already can use iGoogle and other widgets on the desktop, but this release adds the sidebar and desktop search integration that make Google Desktop a greater sum than its individual parts. Installing Google Gadgets requires compiling from source at this point, and I had trouble completing the process in Ubuntu 8.04, so let's hear about any simplified instructions or scripts you run across. Google Gadgets is a free download for Linux systems only.

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All platforms: Based on the open source Firefox code base, social web browser Flock adds heavy integration into popular social and media web sites to your regular web surfing. We haven't mentioned Flock in ages, but the recent 1.2 release is worth another look. Much like Digsby bakes social networking into your instant messenger, Flock offers easy access to your favourite social services built into the browser. Let's take a closer look at what you get with Flock.

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We suspect the lurking threat of OpenOffice is as big a motivation as educational altruism, but Microsoft has decided to extend "indefinitely" the It's Not Cheating scheme, which lets students and staff registered at a tertiary institution in Australia (and with an email address to prove it) purchase a heavily discounted copy of Office 2007. How discounted? Think $75 for a full copy. (There's also an option to pay $25 for 12 months access, but that sounds stupidly fiddly to us.) Check the narky fine print to see if you're eligible.

When we noted the $327 Eee PC earlier in the week, the offer ran out before many readers saw it -- so we're pleased to report that Catch Of The Day is reprising the deal. Clearly the original Eee is now in runout mode, so even after this offer runs out, shop around online to look for a deal -- there's no logic in paying $499 any more. More Aussie Eee tip goodness coming soon too.

Clearly mindful that Vista is still yet to set the market on fire, Microsoft this week published a white paper explaining why businesses -- and by extension, everybody -- shouldn't hold back from adopting Vista, despite its promises that Windows 7 is only a couple of years away. Here's the five reasons in a nutshell, along with some suggestions for ways you could get the same results without installing Vista.

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While last week's Qantas strike may not have had a major impact, continued fog in Melbourne has delayed flights across all airlines throughout this week, making our tips for how to deal with flight cancellations more relevant than ever, especially as the long weekend approaches. Here's another tip: if you suspect your flight may be on the danger list, try checking your airline's arrival and departure site for information. Waiting at Sydney Airport this morning, my flight showed up as cancelled on the site 15 minutes before it appeared on the airport's own information board and customers were told to rebook. Definitely worth checking if you've got a wireless notebook or Web-enabled phone to hand. Here's some useful links for airline departure pages (Tiger doesn't seem to have one):
Jetstar
Qantas
Rex
Virgin Blue

Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Gmail Right Click Menu adds a custom right-click menu to your Gmail inbox to take you to common Gmail navigation points. Currently that includes most of the links in the default Gmail sidebar, like your inbox, starred email, and drafts, along with a quick compose link. The script is still very new, but the developer has plans to incorporate labels and keyboard shortcuts, making this one very cool and promising script. Gmail Right Click Menu is free, requires Firefox with Greasemonkey.

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Windows only: Create new appointments in Outlook with plain English using freeware application Easy2Add. Similar to Google Calendar's Quick Add feature, just invoke Easy2Add (it comes in either system tray or Vista sidebar form), enter in a simple sentence like "Meeting with Gina on Monday at 2pm," and the application automatically translates and adds the event to your Outlook calendar. The application supports one-time events, recurring events ("every Tuesday"), and user-definable defaults for setting length of appointments if not specified. Easy2Add is freeware, Windows only.

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The New York Times reports that red wine may slow the aging process, giving you one more excuse to pop the cork at dinner tonight.

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The SimpleHelp weblog posts a thorough walk-through of how to create a custom Windows Vista installation disc with previously mentioned vLite. We already highlighted how to slipstream Vista Service Pack 1 with vLite, but SimpleHelp's post focuses on stripping out all the Vista features you don't need to lighten up your installation, similar to how we trimmed down Windows XP to the bare essentials. It may sound daunting, but the step-by-step post is extremely detailed and easy to follow.

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Mac OS X only: Beta application Versions provides an easy-to-use graphical interface to the version control system, Subversion. Whether you're a developer or writer, version control with Subversion can mean the difference between days and minutes lost when something goes awry with your text files. We've shown you how to set up a personal Subversion server and how to access it with the Windows-only TortoiseSVN or Mac-only SCPlugin, but Versions takes a wildly different approach to Subversion by taking your repositories into an attractive and fully featured graphical interface. It's unclear whether Versions will charge after the beta, but for now Versions beta is freeware, Mac OS X only.

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All platforms: The Mozilla developers want to get the next Firefox milestone just right, so they've issued another release candidate for your testing pleasure. Firefox 3 RC2 includes bug fixes from RC1. If you haven't dipped your toes into the Firefox 3 pool, the RC2 water is warm—it's the most stable testing build they're likely to issue before the official release, which is on schedule to drop this month. Check out our complete field guide to testing Firefox 3. Firefox 3 RC 2 is a free download for all platforms, meant for willing testers only.

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The How-To Geek technology weblog highlights an incredibly handy Windows Vista feature that opens a command prompt in any system path through a simple shortcut: Shift-Right-click. Let's say, for example, that you're browsing a folder deep in the bowels of your hard drive, and you want to work with files in that folder from the command line. Instead of firing up the command prompt and manually navigating the depths of your filesystem, just Shift-Right-click the folder, click Open Command Window Here, and voilà—you're there. The same functionality is available in XP through the previously mentioned Open Command Here powertoy, but it's great to see it integrated directly into Vista.

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Windows only: You're in Internet Explorer-only IT lockdown, so of course you're using portable Firefox—but you don't have rights to run the Flash installation program to hook up flashy web pages in the 'fox. Luckily, when you're on a computer that already has Flash installed, you can enjoy Flash on the go with a simple trick that enables Flash in Firefox Portable.

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Add interactive comments to your YouTube videos with the new annotation feature. To annotate to any video you've uploaded, just head to your uploaded videos page and click the Edit annotations button. From there you can add comment boxes, speech bubbles, and even links to other content. The catch during the beta test is that annotated video only appears on videos playing directly on YouTube and not embedded on other sites, but you can get an idea of the possibilities by checking out this annotated video. YouTube isn't the first to introduce this sort of functionality, but you can bet you'll see a lot more annotated video now that they have.

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Given some spare time and a few neglected items in the office supply closet, anyone can make their workspace more functional, create a cool tools for their home and office, and even rescue seemingly ruined stuff. Today we'll take a look at some unexpected ways to use objects you probably have readily available. Get organised and save some money with 10 low-cost office supply hacks you can do during your lunch break.

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