So Googlicious

Gmail keeps getting better--this time with 13 new features. To check them out, click on the "Labs" tab in Gmail settings and enable the ones you want. While not all are "must-haves" (I decided not to enable the Old Snakey game, for example), the signature tweaks and custom keyboard shortcuts scripts are definitely keepers.

Now, *That's* Smart Printing!

If web-based information retrieval has been lacking in a specific area, it's got to be in printing. Often, I really want a print version of information I'm gathering--usually information that spans several web pages. While the old cut-n-paste into Word has its rainy-day pleasures (who am I kidding?), I've always thought there's got to be a better way. HP has answered my prayers with a free app that allows you to grab info from multiple pages and sites, concatenate them to a single page, and then print it out. Check it out at the link below:


HP Smart Web Printing enables simple, predictable web page printing.

Zoho Heaven

While the days of open ID are still far off, Zoho has taken a giant step in that direction with Google and Yahoo!: you can now log into your Zoho account with your Google or Yahoo ID.

On Your Not-To-Do List

Things Not to Install: WinZip and Codec Pack Files top the list. (Funny graphic from the article) Lifehacker adds any software by AOL, Adobe Reader, and camera-specific programs. Recommended instead: 7-Zip, Pidgin, Foxit Reader, and Picasa.

Crappy Apps to Avoid and Their Alternatives: Browser Toolbars, Internet Explorer 6 and 7, iTunes, Java Runtime Environment (no alternative), Limewire, MSN Messenger, Nero Suite, McAfee/Norton/Symantec, QuickTime, Real Player, Windows Media Player, and the forementioned AOL Messaging, Adobe Reader and WinZip.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I just read about a new screencasting tool (free) from Microsoft, called Community Clips. The Lifehacker post mentions recording PowerPoint presentations. Sounds like it is brand-specific, but still... cool.

Sync Heaven

As is true for many, most of my mail, calendar, and writing activities live in cloud these days. And for the most part, I'm a happy camper. It's just every once in a while I miss the bells and whistles that come with Microsoft Outlook. But screen layout and colors aren't worth the hassle of maintaining separate calendars and todo lists on my desktop and in the cloud. As usual, the great and powerful G has heard me and come up with an GCal/Outlook sync app. You can choose to sync one-way or both ways, as well as the frequency for the sync. Although it only works with your primary GCal calendar, that's a big enough slice of heaven enough for me!

*Photograph from the Nasher Sculpture Museum in Dallas

Going The Other Way?

PDF (Portable Document Format) was developed to allow files to be viewed on any computer system, regardless of platform or program. Moreover, distribution in this format provided the means to protect the original file--it could not be easily nor cheaply altered by the user. While I recognize the format's virtues, I'm annoyed at the restrictions more often than not, particularly when I wish to print out only part of a .pdf file or save only a snippet from the file. Finally, help has arrived in the form of several .pdf to .doc converters. This one, aptly named "Free .pdf to .doc Converter," allows you to convert the whole file or simply extract selected images or text and edit the results in Word or Open Office.

Don't Forget to Remember The Milk!

Online todo list, Remember the Milk has created a Firefox extension that allows you to create, edit, and manage tasks in Gmail, as well as integrate those tasks with Google Calendar. For those of you who are GTD freaks, this added functionality will rock your socks. Firefox users can grab the extension here.

Do You Believe in Magic?

This sounds unbelievable to me but I can't wait to try it. Printer Anywhere claims you can send print jobs over the web to any shared printer, even if it's not on. Freaky.

Hooking Up

(Not that kind of hooking up)

Six Person Video Conferencing with Meebo/Tokbox

Aggregation without Aggravation

I am a big fan of bloglines and RSS aggregation but sometimes no RSS feed is available. The horror! To overcome this gap in online etiquette, you can now create an RSS feed where there isn't one with Page2RSS. It can easily be added to your toolbar. No one will escape your information clutches now, my pretty.


Photo from Library Thing

Capture This!

In today's climate of share-it-all, a good screen capture program is a must-have. I just checked out this newest one, Screenshotcaptor, from DonationCoder. While not as easy or intuitive as some others, it is very powerful, allowing you to capture full screens, regions, windows, you name it, and to save them in a variety of file formats. After a 30-day trial, the program requires you to make a donation to get a license key, my favorite kind of pricing structure.

Burn Baby Burn

CD Burner XP is a free program that burns CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray, etc.

Does This Look Like Your Desk?

It doesn't take long for your desk to look like this, I know. A few short weeks of classes or a paper due inevitably disrupt the cleaning routines of the most dedicated. Yet there is hope in the form of the many free online tools to organize your intellectual life. Check out this list of the "top 10 back-to-school tools" from Lifehacker to help save you time and keep your "stuff" organized on your computer and off your desk!

"I Want to Give Bill Gates a Big Hug"

There's something you don't hear everyday, but that's what one of our students said yesterday after a Microsoft Office 2007 workshop with Brian Danielson. Here's what inspired that expression of affection:









In the new Word 2007, you can insert citations into your documents smoothly and painlessly under the References tab. And then.... you click on Bibliography and Word creates it for you in the style of your choice! Microsoft must be paying attention to all of those little applications and hacks and competitors and has made life easier for students everywhere. Office 2007 has been installed on student workstations all over the library. Feel the love!

TransferBigFiles

I came across the
TransferBigFiles site in my never-ending quest for ways to e-mail those large Microsoft Office files from my home computer to our department secretary for printing. The TransferBigFiles site allows you to upload any file or number of files under 2 gigabytes for free. The site will send an e-mail notification to the recipients you designate with a link to download the files.

Phat PDFs

I'll bet if they did a study, it would be discovered that you spend at least 1.2 years of your life waiting for Adobe Acrobat Reader to open. Sumatra PDF Viewer is reported to be fast-acting, along the lines of the lithe and responsive Firefox FoxIt Reader.

Back in a Flash!

An extensive list of portable freeware, applications that will run from the ubiquitous flash drive. Also searchable--

Tired of Win-Doze?

One of my favorite sites, Lifehacker, just published 10 excellent substitutions for standard Windows utilities. If you often find yourself napping while using Windows' search utility, Lifehacker suggests the lickety-split Launchy; for Explorer, they suggest Xplorer2. I've tried most of their suggested replacements and they are truly faster and better. All suggested replacements are free and easily installed. So head on over to Lifehacker and check out the rest of the replacements!

Color Your World

For all you web designers, there's a new free color picker, named--you guessed it--ColorPicker. I've been playing around with it and can recommend several of its features, particularly the "magnifying glass" that lets you accurately "grab" a color from a web page or open application. Once you grab a color, the program saves it as a color chip and gives you the hex and rgb values for the color. I have a feeling this one's going to be one of my favored apps for creating web-safe customized color palettes.