The Power User's Guide to Google Chrome - Lifehacker Australia

The Power User's Guide to Google Chrome - Lifehacker Australia

This is a great little powerusers guide, i learned some things myself, and you know I only use Chrome, so theres been some helpful things for me.

Play flashCHESS3 online - The Online Flash Chess Player

Play flashCHESS3 online - The Online Flash Chess Player

Hands up if you play chess... ok, hands up if you play PC chess.. no answer?  Oh, you cant click and put your hand up...  well, this little Flash chess game is pretty neat, i would have liked it to let you drag the pieces around, but hey, its still pretty good.  

It lets you play online, or download...  it even let me win a game on novice mode... winnign is when you lose all your pieces right?  That way you can attack from the rear?

Epic Home Made Guitar Hero 3 Drums - CollegeHumor video

Epic Home Made Guitar Hero 3 Drums - CollegeHumor video

OK, now heres something i dont normally look at, but this guys is animal from the muppets, and then some, wow..  maybe i should get this game...  but i would probably suk at it.

Gizmine

Gizmine

If anyone is reading out there, anyone at all with money or who really enjoys reading my junky blog, please oh please visit this website, and buy me something.

Now. before christmas...

Google Chrome - Download a new browser

Google Chrome - Download a new browser

Hey all, Im a self confessed unashamed Chrome user! I can feel the heat from the flamers now, but its worth acknowledging the good side of a new browser from my favourite company.

I used to be an IE devout user, never had time for anything else, then I got onto Avant, which still used IE, but had its own shell, had tabs before IE did, plus a bunch of other features.  All of which i found to be in Firefox, and after long deliberation(its not easy making the work choice to switch), i moved to Firefox, thus enjoying all the benefits of every kind of imaginable plugin, theme, add-in, script, ubiquity etc that was going.

Well, then i saw the leak about Chrome, i downloaded the cartoon like everyone else, was so impressed i even printed it, in color! And stapled it, and showed it to friends, who didn't understand a word.  So when the launch finally happened, i think i was about the fourth person to download and install at some ungodly early hour from some unidentified source that had managed to grab a version.  Awesome, first cut and I loved it. 

Simple, no clutter, fast(noticeably so), and after setting the option to show links on the toolbar, i was in almost engaged to it.  I promptly set it as my default browser, told FireFox and IE to stop hassling me to about being the default browser and lived happily ever after.

Almost....

Then the cracks started to appear, first people started finding privacy issues with the terms and conditions, then there was an old Safari security bug that wasn't patched in Chrome, then people started moaning about no plugins, no this, and no that...

But i persevered, i had a few problems with sites that didn't render properly, graphs and stuff, also popups, Chrome blocking things which was good, but some sites used those and you couldn't continue with what you were doing.

I did miss the google toolbar, and I'm still amazed it wasn't in the first cut, why the rush and miss that out?  Then i found some ways to get around that, javascript shortcuts/links, i managed to get the Send to Blogger, and a few others working, as well as Instapaper etc.  I'm happy as.

Now, my latest problem, as you can see from a previous post, is the browserist elitism of some companies that block my poor little browser.  I used to laugh at the people that complained about sites that said 'Best viewed with IE' etc, but that was because they used Netscape and FireFox etc, now they don't complain when its Chrome that's being blocked.

But being fair to online companies, it is hard to support multiple browsers, and it has to be weighed up with the costs vs the benefits.  For instance a car manufacturer has to make their car compliant with many countries manufacturers rules, but there is big money there. How far do you go.  To the credit of the company mentioned as blocking Chrome, they will be supporting it shortly, and I guess they are in beta and still testing, easier to get the basics working then expand the supported browsers.

So i will continue on my quest to keep using the one simple uncluttered, fast, stable browser. When your on a good thing, stick to it, until something better comes along.

Feel free to comment on your thoughts about the browser as a tool, not whats best and whats not, but more of a holy point of view, "does it get my job done", and "what makes you switch"?

End of thought, browser off!

StickySorter

StickySorter

This is an interesting project by a pair of not very busy MS programmers who in their spare time whipped up this little app.

Im interested firstly in the stickynote aspect, and secondly im new to affinity diagramming, whcih also tickles my fancy.

Ill download this later and give it a test drive.

� The Process Approach to Writing a Procedure – Creating a Draft

� The Process Approach to Writing a Procedure – Creating a Draft

Ive just been tasked with creating the Change Management policy and procedures, so some background research and planning is in order, this site came up, charge as it does, there is still a lot of good information freely available here.

Note to self: Come back often

Axence Software - Network Monitoring, Network Mapping & Application Monitoring- Free NetTools

Axence Software - Network Monitoring, Network Mapping & Application Monitoring- Free NetTools

Im always interested in these network apps, and because they always do the same things, theres not much to differentiate, and so it comes back to GUI, this one looks pretty simple and impressive.

Now, where did my network go?

Spring Partners - Wont let me in!

Spring Partners

I was liking the look of this site, the concept was interesting, it looked neat, i had an idea how i might use it for a trial, then i clicked sign up, and bang! 

Its all over, crucified for using Chrome, unsupported browser...

Now I realise its a beta, and Chrome has a small user base, and they dont want to support everything, but hey, Chrome uses the Safari rendering engine, so its gonna be close, and if not, then its user beware, go change browser, and away you go.

To just say you dont have access is as bad as the old days when sites said that you had to be using IE, well this is the same.

End of thought, bugger off..

15 Useful Project Management Tools | Developer's Toolbox | Smashing Magazine

15 Useful Project Management Tools | Developer's Toolbox | Smashing Magazine

Interesting list, its always good to see a summary of apps like this.  It just happens to be timely, as i start to manage a few projects currently, i think, what should i run this in, and of course free is a good option.

Waseda Talker Robot Tries to Speak Like Humans, Sounds Like A Cow - Gizmodo Australia

Waseda Talker Robot Tries to Speak Like Humans, Sounds Like A Cow - Gizmodo Australia

Oh dear, they want to build this thing into a mobile phone?  I can just imagine having this pair of lips on my ear... !! talk about tickle..

Write Or Die : Dr Wicked's Writing Lab

Write Or Die : Dr Wicked's Writing Lab

Write or Die, thats the precept, its true...  especially the electric shock mode...

What if The Matrix Ran on Windows? - Gizmodo Australia

What if The Matrix Ran on Windows? - Gizmodo Australia

Take the red pill Neo, its running on Windows!!!

No good can come of this....

The 20 Best iPod Utilities - Lifehacker Australia

The 20 Best iPod Utilities - Lifehacker Australia

While im on the iPod, heres some more cool iPodUtilities.

SharePod - Download

SharePod - Download

AWESOME!!!!!   SharePod is awesome...  finally a lightweight iPod manager.

Finally, iTunes should be dissasembled, put into a box and thrown out on the tip, its an example of extremely bad software GUI design and should have beenm scrapped years ago, shame on you Apple.

Now, for people who like a simple clean interface and functional at a glance, rather than searching and using trial and error.

Go the SharePod

Hacking Open Elmo Live - Lifehacker Australia

Hacking Open Elmo Live - Lifehacker Australia

Yep, this is funny, and cool, but strangely disturbing, and not only to the kinders, the guys doing the strip search are enjoying it all too much!

GROCERYchoice - Home

GROCERYchoice - Home

This really has come a long way, i remember seeing the early versions, where you really didnt get much info, maybe a confirmation that Coles was good etc.. But I guess times change and you need to keep checking as they keep changing their prices... 

Maybe you could get a weekly alert so you know where to shop each week.  Printing a shopping list with the cheapest brands etc.  Maybe you could order online all your packaged, canned and bottled goods?  Leaving you to only collect your fresh vegies, fruit and meat. 

Virtual Webcam Girlfriend Is Entrancing, If a Little Perverted - Gizmodo Australia

Virtual Webcam Girlfriend Is Entrancing, If a Little Perverted - Gizmodo Australia

Worth a look, interesting that you need the little cube, makes hacking harder unless you printed a cube and stuck it together.

PrintWhatYouLike.com {beta}: Save money and the environment printing only what you like.

PrintWhatYouLike.com {beta}: Save money and the environment printing only what you like.

Strange site, sort of hard to use, not sure the purpose exactly. Maxes my PC CPU out on their home page :-(

WebWorkerDaily � Archive Sitemasher Provides Cost-Effective Tools for Web Developers �

WebWorkerDaily � Archive Sitemasher Provides Cost-Effective Tools for Web Developers �

Good article, on a good site...i think it might be worth looking at.. ill have to check if it makes database applications...  1200 a year though... hmm..  big buxors..

MTV MUSIC - I Want My MTV

MTV MUSIC - I Want My MTV

Wowo, yes, let me at this service, i need it....  so many songs from the past i missed..  

ECO Showerdrop Shower Meter

ECO Showerdrop Shower Meter

What a great concept, just sell eco and environment friendly items...  cool..  maybe i could start up an aussie version, think about power generation, water solutions etc....  hmmm..

PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB drives

PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB drives

Another great site, when my new USB drive comes along(only 8GB) ill have to load up on these.  

IQ Matrix | Accelerating Your Learning Potential

Ahh, its good to be back, i love blogging these sites i run into while im working.

Anyway. IQMatrix, looks like its a site selling posters of mindmaps of various concepts.  Some pretty cool ones there.

Project Fakebar: Improvising a Google Toolbar Substitute for Chrome�|�Technologizer

Project Fakebar: Improvising a Google Toolbar Substitute for Chrome�|�Technologizer

I had to blog this page, im using the Send to Blogger shortcut in Chrome.  You may notice that the blogs stopped, this was right round the time i started using Chrome, and it doesnt have the google toolbar. So that was the end of my convenient Send To Blogger, the reason I blogged so much.

I dont need the whole toolbar, so i just added one link, but I also use another link for Read later, from Instapaper.

100 years of baby names - NSW Government Portal

This is quite cool, shows some interesting stats.

Learn better design from book designers - Lifehacker Australia

Interesting artice, somethign i can definately use..

Online Tab Player | Songsterr

This has got to be a great new way to do tabs!

Stunning Desert Canyon Flight Scares the Underpants Off Me - Gizmodo Australia

For some pretty scary flying, and an awesome thrill ride...

Phuket hotel guide - Phuket hotels

Top list of Phuket hotels, i need to book a two night stay.

Self-Destructing Message [ DestructingMessage.com ]

Im all for self destructing messages. its anonymouse as well, think of the things you coudl do. For good or for evil, this is a simple but useful tool.

Miss IFA Shows Us Her Jewels, and Her Philips and Swarovski Crystals Too - Gizmodo Australia

Im not sure what all the fuss is about this miss IFA, but who know... worth checking out later.

webcamXP :: powerful webcams and ip cameras server for windows

I may have posted this before, but i still think this is a great peice of software. If I could find a nice cheap motorised webcam that i could control, then this would make for a great peice of monitoring.

Say goodbye to laser: Microsoft ‘Blue Track’ mouse discovered (with pic) | The Toybox | ZDNet.com

Im a fan already, now I liked the old red ones, but i much prefer blue, even though red is probably faster, but blue, like the blue neon under my car, is much cooler. Wait.. its a mouse, and plugs into your computer, uses blue light, thats awesome!!

Worthy of Publishing

Nice Idea, can it be useful, or is it giving away ideas, would a publisher really look here for new works?

Children's Literature - Publishers

Some publisher resources... see below..

Picture Book Guidelines: Learn How to Write for the Youngest Children

Need to read up and research on putting together the book.

Maybe self publish, get distribution, work on marketing, promotion.

Make your own book with Blurb

Make your own book with Blurb

Draganfly X6 UAV: UFO Thingy Packed With Carbon Fibre, HD/Night Cameras and GPS - Gizmodo Australia

Draganfly X6 UAV: UFO Thingy Packed With Carbon Fibre, HD/Night Cameras and GPS - Gizmodo Australia

Shapeways | passionate about creating

OK, 3d printing has beena round a while, and while everything else is on the web, this has been slow to come. Enjoy, ive got a bunch of things I could make, great for a prototype, show the example, sell the concept etc...

Miroslav Tichý

Some interesting photography, i like the style, kind of old, while still being new at the same time?

Converter Free Quick Media Converter - FLV AVI DIVX DVD MP4 MPEG MP3 IPHONE IPOD MOV WMV XVID WII XBOX PS3 3GP 3G2 H264 TS Video Audio Converter Cocoon Software DOWNLOAD Free Media Converter

I might be using this to convert media sometime soon, ive got a bunch of things im thinking of putting to Dopod size.

Wufoo Form Gallery - Free HTML Form Examples and CSS Templates

Nice site, could be good for instant forms, or just gtetting the design, then making in gDocs..

Y Combinator: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund

OK, which idea to start on first, check back soon...

Mygazines.com - upload. share. archive.

Free magazines for as long as it lasts!

Breakfast & Brunch

Egg research...

FaceYourManga.com | Shake Yourself!

Another place to make a face, free to use, nothing to lose.

How to Build a Chicken Coop

Building a chiken coop, along with other things, i could be busy forever..

Template IT Operations Manual :: Table of Contents

Great looking site for IT documents and templates...

HearWho

I will give this a shot, lots of text id like to hear read out for me..

CurdBee - Simple online billing for small businesses and freelancers.

Ahh, the age old question, the bill or the service, pay first do later, or do now be paid later.. Either way, this looks like a cool little web app, not sure what they get out of it.. Anyway.

jkOnTheRun:Build a virtual cubicle anywhere you work

Some good ideas, I do plan to set up at home sometime in the future(very near)..

WebWorkerDaily » Archive Elance Going Beyond a Job Bid Site «

A good idea, but i can just imagine how low some of the fees would be for work..

WebWorkerDaily » Archive 10 More New Ways to Make Money Online «

Ahhh, money, how sweet it is.. and best of all, it can buy stuff.

Second Life: Official site of the free 3D online virtual world

Now when am i going to find the time to really get a good look at this thing, someone mentioned using it as a virtual teleconference...

:: Get Friday - Services - Our Common and "rarer" services ::

OK, now I wonder if this sort of thing can be a useful tool in Australia...?

101 Classic Computer Ads - Boing Boing Gadgets

These would make some great posters!! im gonna get some printed up...

How To Demo Your Startup

This is a good article about how to present your new startup idea or product.

Edison Makes Your PC Go Green | Lifehacker Australia

This is a really good idea, i think MS should be building this into Windows as standard. Even corporates could probably make this part of their SOE for all those users who cant seem to shut down at night.

Look@Lan Monitors Your Network | Lifehacker Australia

This looks great, makes me wish I was back in the network monitoring business. Hey.. maybe I could get into the network monitoring business..

Solar Panels Australia: Grid Connect PV Power Systems for your home.

More solar info...

Going Solar - Home Page

Solar info, new project...

WebWorkerDaily » Archive GroupSwim Facilitates Smarter Collaboration «

I always try and swim ina group, safety in numbers and it gives the sharks more choice...

Game XP Optimizes Performance When You Need It | Lifehacker Australia

Now all I need is a game...

WebWorkerDaily » Archive How to Pitch and Demo Your Cool Web App «

All I need now is a cool webapp..

10 Ways to Find Time to Follow Your Dreams - Stepcase Lifehack

More reading material...

Welcome | Razume.com - Your Resume Review Community

Maybe I should give this a whirl...

babblebaby.com.au | The magazine and community for a new generation of Australian parents

Wow, my love of gadgets has merged with me new interest, having a baby.

Wanokoto Labs Makes Your Photos Look Ancient | Lifehacker Australia

Awesome fun, i can imagine heaps of things to put through this....

Fantastic Contraption: A fun online physics puzzle game

Must..play... this.... game...

WOWIO: The Joy of Simple Living: Over 1,500 Simple Ways to Make Your Life Easy and Content by Jeff Davidson

Another Wowieo beauty, if onyl there was a way to make a paperback book that you could download from the net.

WOWIO: Free Ebooks, Comics and Graphic Novels | Free Books + Free Minds

Wow ee oh! is the word, this looks awesome... might need to spend some time here, hope they have regular books as well...

GROCERYchoice - Home

Excellent, now I know where to shop... saves me running around and guessing based on weight, qty and brand etc.. good idea.

blist | share your weblists > What can I do?

This is supposed to be pretty good. make any Web based DB you like?

Toy Business News by Bossa Nova Concepts: New Tachikoma spider robot on the loose

This looks like a concept I'm working on, i see a big future in bug styled robots, purely for their mobility and stability, not necessarily their sturdiness or strength.

WowWee Femisapien Fembot Gets Thorough, Semi-Naughty Video Shakedown - Gizmodo Australia

Need to review this later, one day ill invest in one of these wowee things..

A Four-Question Business Plan to Jump-Start Your Inner Entrepreneur | Lifehacker Australia

A Four-Question Business Plan to Jump-Start Your Inner Entrepreneur | Lifehacker Australia: "
# What is your product or service?
# Who are your customers?
# When will things get done?
# When are bills due and when do you get paid?"

Seems like a very good way to outline a business plan....

LG Seizes Bikini Phone As Opportunity To Put Models in Bikinis - Gizmodo Australia

Um.. yes, what a great concept for naming conventions.. we all know sex sells, especially bikini clad Korean girls.

Pismo File Mount Creates Virtual Drives from ZIP, ISO Files | Lifehacker Australia

I often have to mount an ISO, or some such thing, things looks handy and convenient.

Top 10 Printable Paper Productivity Tools | Lifehacker Australia

If you like paper and books and magazines as much as I do, then anything that you can make yourself out of paper is an interesting topic.

See this link for some interesting thkings to do, i like the PDF to multi foldable booklets, and especially the wallet, must try that one... can you imagine, you could have a custome cover, give them as gifts, portables, for the kids for their weekly pocket money, kinda cool idea...

Telecommuting Job Categories

Note to self, if i need extra income, go look here, hopefully its all about jobs that can be done from home, and are not scams and work from home cons...

DisneyShopping.com: Pre-Order Ultimate WALL•E Remote-Control Robot

Ok, when i find one of these, might make a good present for someone i know...

DVD Catalyst Rips DVDs to Friendly Formats in One-Click | Lifehacker Australia

OK, i was looking for a new ripper the other day, i ended up with nothing, wish i had this...

Golden Shellback | Splash Proof Coatings

If this turns out to be true, it should be made standard to all devices, not sure about how hard wearing it is, but then again, if all the internal parts are coated, it shouldnt matter if the outer gets wet?

10 Fuel Efficiency Tips for Hypermilers – Ecomodding and Hypermiling - Popular Mechanics

Somethign to try for my car, im always interested in these things, especially if it saves me money.

How To Spray Paint Your PDA - Instructables - DIY, How To, tech

Ill give this a whirl on my DOPOD one day.. im bored with it...

CPUID

I think I need to run this and check out my system, or maybe in the future it will come in handy... also, i just had a thought that everyone else is probably already onto, but i think its about time i bought a USB stick, just for USB stick runnable apps. I have two now, maybe i dedicate one for apps, and one for er.. um.. data ;-)

7 Free Books That Should Be On Your Shelves - Stepcase Lifehack

Free books? my two favourite words, conveniently placed together, form... well, lets go have a look...

One Hundred Push Ups Takes You from Zero to a Hundred in Six Weeks | Lifehacker Australia

Ok, this one I can wait for the weekend to try, maybe by next friday i can do 1.

How to Lead Change in Your Organization

 

Change is the biggest constant in today’s business world. Even charities and educational organizations are finding that they need to constantly innovate not only to compete for donation dollars, clients, and members, but to remain relevant to the changing social landscape around them as well.

But people hate change. Right? The management literature is loaded with tales of corporate innovation gone awry – product launches flubbed, reorganizations that caused productivity to plummet and workers to flee en masses, hideously stupid morale programs that mandated chipperness and received resignations in return, and so on. When workers at any organization get together, they swap stories of corporate inanity, laughing at each other’s tales of programs too stupid to have been thought of in the first place, let alone implemented – yet they were.

No,the common wisdom goes, people don’t want change. They want the steady footing of corporate constancy.

Avast number of books have been written about how to resolve this problem: companies need change, but workers hate it. Graduate management programs dedicate countless semester-hours to coping with this conflict. Executives wring their hands over the tension between their needs and employees’ unwillingness.

All for nothing.

As Michael Kanazawa, author of Big Ideas to Big Results points out in the title of his new e-book at ChangeThis, people don’t hate change, they hate how you’re trying to change them.

People LOVE change

People don’t hate change, they love it. Workers constantly seek promotions and new job responsibilities. They buy self-help books and personal development books seeking to become better at their jobs. They launch their own businesses. They change companies and jobs, they even change careers, all for the sake of breaking out of unsatisfying routines and gaining control over the conditions of their own labor.

People love change, they just hate having change rammed down their throats. They hate being sold a bill of goods, and too many corporate innovations feel like a bill of goods to the workers expected to implement them.

Three principles for change people love

Kanazawa got his start as a corporate strategist at the same company where Scott Adams gave birth to Dilbert. I think it’s safe to say that Pacific Telesis was a company that got change wrong. Repeatedly. Much to our general amusement.

Frustrated by the ham-handed – and almost always unsuccessful — way that change was managed there, Kanazawa sought out a different way of approaching change. In People Don’t Hate Change, he lays out the three principles companies need to embrace to create real innovation that their employees will get behind:

Do more on less

Workers fear the latest new program to come across their desk because they’ve learned that change means more work – for them. These fears are confirmed when management invites them into the conference room or meeting hall for the inevitable “pep rally” and gushes about the new program – and then tells them that they must “do more with less”.

It appeals to our core values of thrift and efficiency, this idea of doing more with less. It sells us – a little. But in the end doing more with less is impractical. Employees end up overtaxed by new responsibilities, frustrated by lack of resources, and resentful about all the work they’re doing with no extra compensation.

Instead,Kanazawa suggests that management demonstrate clearly what the new priorities are, and what is no longer a priority. Give workers a clear sense of what they should be focusing on, and get rid of the rest. Outsource it, or better yet cut it entirely.

Doing more on less means doing more work, more thinking, and more activity on less stuff. It means focusing employees’ efforts where they count, instead of splitting their attention twenty different ways.

There’s no such thing as buy-in

Companies know the value of “buy-in” when pushing radical new programs. Buy-in is that sense among workers that they hold a stake in the success of a project, that it’s theirs, somehow – they’ve “bought into” the new program.

Typically,companies will assign a leadership team, outside consultants, or project group in a division to design a new program. Once the plan is finalized, they’ll go to the employees who will be responsible for implementing the new plan for a buy-in meeting. They “sell” the plan, and employees “buy in”.

Except,they don’t. They may think it’s a great idea, they may be enthusiastic about it, but in the end, it’s not their plan.

Kanazawa advocates a different approach to innovation – bring employees in from the start, rely on their practical experience and expertise and incorporate their ideas into the plan. Follow their lead.

When workers are instrumental in creating change in their organization,there is no need for buy-in because the ideas are already theirs.

Leadership is not about you

A year ago, I debuted at Lifehack with a post on leadership, saying that leadership wasn’tabout power, it was about empowering others. Kanazawa concurs, writing,“Leadership impact is not about how aggressive, decisive, and visionary you are, it is about how you bring that out in others.”

By empowering those around them to do more, true leaders drastically increase their own leadership power – their power scales with the ability of those around them.

It is important for leaders to have vision, authority, and ambition,but it is more important for them to reach out to others all along the chain of command to make sure that everyone feels involved in the process of change. Leaders who don’t do this, who attempt to impose their vision from the top-down, might manage to achieve something that lookslike their vision, but which is hollow and empty.

Make change lovable

I’ve had Kanazawa’s book in my “to read” pile for a while, and I’m anxious to make time to read it. In the meantime, though, People Don’t Hate Change, They Hate How You’re Trying to Change Them gives a good introduction to the approach to change that Kanazawa has developed since leaving Dilbert-land. Keeping Kanazawa’s principles in mind can help any organization to leverage the love that people already have for true, meaningful change – instead of working against that love and forcing their employees into a reactionary, self-defensive position.

And that dissolves entirely the tension between companies’ need for change and workers’ distrust of it. When you make change lovable, there’s no need for hand-wringing.

---

Dustin M. Wax is a contributing editor and project manager at lifehack.org. He is also the creator of The Writer's Technology Companion, a site devoted to the tools of the writing trade. When he's not writing, he teaches anthropology and women's studies in Las Vegas, NV.His personal site can be found at dwax.org.

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NSFW Video: Topless Wii Fit Lets You Exercise In Front Of Your Computer

Oh Zoo, when can I watch this.... I am really into wii....

I Dose

Ohyeah!, let me get my headphones out of my bag and give this a whirl.. can it really be this easy? How about the dont feel hungry beat? thats gotta be useful, or maybe, the beer replacement beat, oh, they dont have it ? YAY! back to beer.

Create a Caricature

I could make a bunch of these, how interesting...

Dummies Book Cover Generator/Maker 2008

I will use this a little later on.. Got a few ideas I want to fake up.

Aussie House Sitters is a house sitting database site for Australian and New Zealand house sitters and for those who are needing a sitter

Ill have to show my mum this, its possibly going to help her out.

Home - Pencil Project

A drawing application in a web browser, what will they think of next, maybe a browser with an OS in it.

I had a quick look and like the idea of being able to make software mockups, cheaper than visio or visual studio.

MUTO is Among the More Astounding Videos We've Seen Online...or Off | Gizmodo Australia

This video gets a good write up, if I get a chance to watch it.

Research UAV is Preview of Hovering Spy Drones of Tomorrow | Gizmodo Australia

Im really into RC mini helicopters, i thought the potential was pretty good for these little critters. Then i saw this report, its not pretty, but it certainly is an interesting design, and the logics built in are pretty advanced as well, not need to fly it yourself.

I predict a few small crashes still though!

Great Giz Ideas: Harass Your Neighbours With Your Wi-Fi Hotspot Name | Gizmodo Australia

Interesting, i like the looks of some of these, never thought of it before, plus I never am very good at creative naking, especially PC's and Laptops etc...

iPhone 3G Launch Details: Get Those Sleeping Bags Ready | Gizmodo Australia

This story is wrong in oh so many ways, not the least the guy wearing a bra!

celtx - #1 choice for media pre-production.

Im not sure if I could use this, might be interesting for Col, who knows. For writing a book there may be some way to apply it.

But for setting up the pre-production as its designed to, then it certainly looks good. I spose some things you take from this is setting up scenes etc.

Building Outdoor Stairs

Stairs, they go up, they go down. But how to make one. Ive got a horrible set of front stairs to my house, they are too steep, are dangerous, and probably will collapse sometime. Ive been researching different types of stairs, both construction and style.

Ill read this site soon, lots of interesting stuff here by the looks.

Christine Nagel Literary Services

This is apparently a local Roleystone person, sounds like a good services,seems it would be useful for that professional review. Although for the price, id say that sending a copy to a handful of your friends and family first would get you started.

Of course this isnt going to be the most impartial review, but hey, if you get negatiev feedback from them then its gonna be a lot worse from a professional.

Theres a number of ways you can get free reviews of your work, ill discuss this another time.

Fox Searchlight - Once - Official Site

One of my alltime favourite movies, I thought Id betetr blog it for future reference.

A Beginner’s Guide to E-Books

 

Inthe last year, e-books have started taking off in a big way. E-books have been around for a long time, of course, but a few events in the last year suggest that they’re really starting to get traction as a viable alternative to paper-based reading. One is the success of e-books like Leo Babauta’s Zen to Done (read my review). Another is the emergence of e-book-only publishing concerns and widespread self-publishing made possible by the availability of cheap tools and widespread Internet access. The third is the release of viable e-book readers, especially the Kindle.

Another sign of the success of e-books, though, is not such a happy one: the huge glut of poorly written, scammy, second- and third-rate e-books that has suddenly started flooding the market. As with music and video, the Internet has made publishing and distributing books easy and next to free, and it can be hard to find anything worth reading.

Still,there’s some gems out there if you know where to look. For those of you who are just discovering e-books, or are ready to take another look, I offer this basic guide to finding and reading e-books, with a few tips and tricks thrown in.

E-BookFormats

There are dozens of different formats out there, all intended for different devices and platforms. Here’s a quick overview of the most popular ones:

• PDF: Adobe’s Portable Document Format is the leading format for e-books, since it can perfectly simulate the appearance of the printed page.
• LIT:Microsoft’s LIT format is used by Microsoft Reader, available for Windows-based PCs and mobile devices. LIT files look nice, but are often copy-protected and have limited functionality.
• MOBI:A portable document format created by Mobipocket (which runs on Windows PCs and just about every kind of smartphone or PDA), MOBI picked up steam recently when it was adopted, albeit in a slightly modified form, by the Kindle.
• PlainText (txt) and HTML: Standard file types that can be used by just about every device known. TXT files lack any formatting.

How to Find E-Books

There are thousands, maybe millions, of sites offering e-books on the Internet, but here are a few good ones:

• Amazon: Of course Amazon has e-books, with just about any recent mainstream book for sale. Your favorite online retailer probably carries e-books, too.
• Project Gutenberg: Millions of free, public domain books, generally available in text and HTML formats. Includes just about any classic book you can think of from before 1923, and a few more recent books.
• Wowio: Beautifully formatted books, including some fairly recent mainstream books, all free.
• The Internet Archive: The Internet Archive is scanning books in libraries around the world and making them available for free in a range of formats, including searchable PDFs of the original page images. They have about half-a-million texts so far, and counting.
• Baen Free Library: A pioneer in the e-book field, Baen makes selected titles from it’s line of science fiction and fantasy books available for free download. Lots of good stuff for SF fans!
• Free-eBooks.net: A huge directory of free e-books, most of which are self-published. You’ll have to do some digging to find quality stuff here, but there are plenty of good books to be found with some patience.
• Web Warrior Tools: Founded by two of the stars of the personal productivity blogosphere, Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and Glen Stansberry of LifeDev, Web Warrior Tools offers a collection of books devoted to topics like better email, podcasting, and other Lifehack-y subjects.
• Memoware: Memoware includes tens of thousands of public domain books, formatted for a wide range of portable devices. They also have a premium bookstore where more current, mainstream books can be bought.
• Fictionwise: A huge e-book bookstore, specializing in SF, with titles formatted for a range of devices. Check out their always-changing selection of free e-books drawn from their collection.

How to Read E-Books

Nobody has figured out a way to read that adequately replaces the way we read traditional paper books, but that isn’t always important — and some solutions come pretty close! There are a number of ways to read e-books:

• On your computer screen: This is probably the least preferred way to read e-books. But it’s fine for short pieces — you read on the Internet at your computer, right? It’s also fine for quickly looking at reference material like an encyclopedia or computer manual.
• PDA/smartphone/iPhone:I’ve read dozens of books on my old Palm IIIe, when I lived in New York and took the subway a lot. iPhones are supposed to be particularly nice to read on. Most PDAs and smartphones come with some kind of pre-installed e-book reader, or you can easily download Mobipocket, Microsoft Reader, or a range of other programs depending on your device’s operating system.
• Dedicateddevices: New devices with “electronic ink” technology come very close to reproducing the appearance of printed text on paper pages (although the background is closer to “pulp fiction gray” than “first edition white”). There are several devices on the market, but the leaders are:
  • The Kindle: With built-in wireless Internet to download books on the fly and the support of Amazon’s extensive inventory of e-books, the Kindle was a surprise hit — especially considering how ugly it is!
  • The Sony eReader: Better looking than the Kindle, but lacking the wireless Internet. Both devices use basically the same screen and cost about the same. Because the e-ink technology used in the screen only uses electricity to change the screen (e.g. to turn pages), battery life on both devices is quite high — unless you use the built-in mp3 player or the Kindle’s wireless Internet services.
• Paper: I often print out longer works that I don’t want to read on a screen, especially if it’s likely I’ll be holding onto and re-reading it. Save paper by using your printer’s “multiple pages per sheet” function and printing on both sides; I also keep a ream of paper with pre-drilled holes handy so I can stick printed out books straight into a binder.

E-books can be quite practical — there’s a universe of great literature, history, science, how-to, and reference material available at a moment’s notice, often for free. What could be wrong with that?

Ifyou know of other sites where good e-books can be found, if you have a favorite way to read e-books that I haven’t listed here, or if there’s a program you especially like, let us know in the comments!

---

DustinM. Wax is a contributing editor and project manager at lifehack.org. He is also the creator of The Writer's Technology Companion, a site devoted to the tools of the writing trade. When he's not writing, he teaches anthropology and women's studies in Las Vegas, NV. His personal site can be found at dwax.org.

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Pocket Mojo - Starting out with the Eee PC

Since im getting one of these for my mum, and maybe have to play with it for a while first(the sacrifices I make), I thought i should start to bookmark a few of these Linuxy EEE sites.

Seems things arnt quite windows, but thats good right.. if its this hard to get an app installed, then it might be safe for my mum for a while. No chance to break anything, change any settings, delete any system files...

Well, likewise, maybe Ill need to be able to do one of those things, maybe she will want to be able to macro posting to a blog while checking her schedule and keeping up with the latest RSS feeds. Maybe not.. but it cant hurt to try...

Official launch of the Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications list - Trends in the Living Networks

This is a nice list of sites, its good to see Steve Goh and co at number 1 with Mig33, also a lot of other fun and interesting sites, I checked out quite a few.

Wordle - Rocket Science

Wow, these things are pretty fun, they look cool too.

The link above is some text I wrote here before, put into a Wordle ( which is like a doodle, with words)

Thought of the day

Deep thought of the day. "its not rocket science!"

You hear that a lot. Some one even accidently said that when they were actually discussing rocket science. That how common and blasé the statement has become.

It used to mean, "come on you idiot, its not that difficult, there are harder things you could be doing". I guess it still does, but is rocket science the hardest thing you could now be doing? Im not sure.

Take for instance, writing a blog post and saving it for automatic future posting. This could be pretty difficult, ill let you know in a few qwwks how I go.

What about getting out of bed early on a winters morning. Bare feet on a cold wooden floor, shaving in front of a steamed up mirror in a drafty bathroom.

As for rocket science, its looking easier by the day.

Thought of the day

Deep thought of the day. "life is like a box of choklits, you never know what your gonna git."

Don't quote me on that, its a silly thought but it may or may not have some truth in it.

Boxes of choklits these days have pictures and legends, you can't go wrong. No mystery, you know exactly what's in there. They do tend to give them fancy names and sometimes they taste funny. But overall its a pretty safe bet.

Maybe there needs to be a newer updated version of the saying, something more relevant. Im sure forrest wouldn't mind, hed probably agree.

How about "life is like a chocolit coated jellybean." or maybe "life is like a melted choklit turtle"

The Writer’s Technology Companion

Nice site, lots of fun interesting things to see... wish i was a writer.

While im at it, is there such a thing as a keyboard home key thing you can put on your keyboard to say when your not standard touch typing fingers are somewhere near home? Please comment...

Online Backup - IDrive - Remote Data Backup - For Windows and Mac

I seem to have missed this review. I saw this site many months ago, signed up, am doing the trial now, but cannot get the client to connect to their website.

Ill try from home.

The main thing is, i thought Id blogged this but actually hadnt.

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

Time to look into this I think.. Ive got two PC's and a media center that Id hate to have to build from scratch again...

The other thing I spoke about ages ago was online backups, well, ive got the account, need to set up the client and get backing up!

My first test from Windows Live Writer

Who would have thought it would be possible.  Everyday brings a new wonder.

The sarcasms drips from my screen as I write this.

40 Professional Icon Sets For Free Download | Graphics | Smashing Magazine

A good list, might need to get downloading these.

StartupAgents | where startups and talent meet

This was an idea I raised with a few friends recently, something that i though Perth, or Australia could use, well, try this one out, not Australian but maybe it will get some coverage here as well to make it useful.

I would even promote it here or work in parallel, i think its a necessary thing to be able to bring entrepreneurs together with eager talent looking for a break or to create something new without big company limitations.

Thoughts on transport & travel

Let me start by saying that this text is not about me having the answers to anything. This is more about me asking a lot of questions and putting some thoughts out there. These thoughts probably have a lot of good sense but may not be practical or may have been tried and failed. I don't know. I just had to write this to try to make things clear in my own head.
You may be wanting to know what it is I'm on about by now, so here goes.
The future of mankind and why are we here.
Small enough subject to start with, not too heavy, not much controversy. I'm kidding, we all think about it from time to time and its been written about and discussed by far greater minds than mine.
I started thinking about this subject with how to make a very efficient and cheap form of transport. Something maybe small for personal use and something larger for family use, no idea how to cater to trucks, planes, ships, and trains etc. They will have to wait, or maybe the mass of cars far outweigh the polluting effect of the heavy vehicles. Maybe the sheer number of small vehicles, possibly one per person(wild gestimate) make up the bulk of pollution, that and the factories that make the materials and parts for them

Kogan Technologies Australia - Best Value LCD TVs in Australia.

These are a great deal, will be following closely.

Portrait Illustration Maker : Free

Need to give this a whirl...

Online Office, Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Presentation, CRM and more

Wow, great layout, so simple and clear, they have a lot of functionailty as well...

List of commercial games released as freeware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On a lighter note, heres somethign to wittle your spare time down to nothing.

Useful links - CBCA

These links are good, shows the main publishers, but no sign of agents.

Children's Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2008

Need to possibly buy this, or just get an agent.

Free Google Docs & Excel Personal Budget Planner Spreadsheets! | 20Somethingfinance.com

Time to budget pt1

A Free and Simple Budget Planner ∞ Get Rich Slowly

Time to budget.. pt 2

Get Vista's Best Features in XP | Lifehacker Australia

This is a good page of links for upgrading XP to be a little more like Vista, while keeping the things we know and love about XP.

Lee-Soft - Official Home of ViStart

Im not normally a fan of adding functionailty of a new version of windows to a previous version. But Im running XP and plan to for quite some time(vistaphobe). One feature of Vista i do like is the Start Menu Search Bar, love it.
So when i saw this website and tried it out, im impressed, it basically adds the Vista search bar to Windows XP, and does it very well, it also gives you the full Visat start menu, so if your keen, give it a go.

SmarterFitter Blog » Blog Archive » Grocery List Templates For Healthy People

Excellent idea, ill be modifying this and putting on the fridge, kind of like printing the supermarket inventory in a condensed format, then as you use up each item from your pantry, you can tick the item on your list. Maybe they could be printed into a magnetic pad or something.

Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus

This is pretty awesome, nice visuals

Wesabe: Get to Know Your Money

Must look at this further.... all about home accounting maybe??

Blinksale | The easiest way to send invoices online

This also looks good for invoicing, and im told that PayPal has an invoice function, very simple basic model, but it works apparently.

FreshBooks - Online Invoicing

Time to start invoicing people I think, just need to find something to invoice them for now.

Technically Speaking: No more MSTSC.exe /CONSOLE

NOOOOOO!!!!! I used to have apps running on servers, and you could RDP /console in and check on them, stop start etc.. but with the new changes etc its no longer an option. Now what? More services? back to VNC? dammit....

CafePress.com: Shop, create or sell what's on your mind with custom T-Shirts, unique gifts and more.

At last, ive found a place that lets me make T-Shirts etc.. now I have design some up and have them ordered through my site.

CCleaner - Home

I have a laptop at home i think ill give this a try on, it runs a little slow now days, maybe theres some crap in it.

Presdo | Make Time To...

You know when you can never make an appointment with someone, you can never seem to match up a time or day etc. This site will help to get you all together... yes i know there is outlook etc. but the calendering doesnt always work for people inside and outside your work.

Slimmy :: The Front Pocket Wallet Alternative. Made for people who love slim and simple.

I must have this, i have a wallet now, a polo jobby, its pretty small, but not this small, check out the pen as well.

Writer: the internet typewriter

Ever needed to write a document but kept getting distracted by all those flashing lights and pretty buttons.. This should help, looks almost like notepad in matrix.

Windows Live FolderShare beta

This look interesting, ill try it later.

Debut Video Capture Recording Software - Record Video Files for Free

I once went looking for some webcam capture software and turned up empty handed, but look what just turned up! Ill give this a whirl at home, ive been wanting to spy on the cat when im out of the house....

CodeProject. Free source code and programming help

Going Solo - First Steps in Building a Successful Company

Going Solo - First Steps in Building a Successful Company (Part II)

Going Solo – First Steps in Building a Successful Company (Part IIA) - A slight divergence

Going Solo - First Steps in Building a Successful Company (Part III)

More spare time reading...

Extreme-Savers-Share-Their-Secrets: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

With times getting tougher, maybe pages and tips like these will become pretty handy!

Travian - Browser Game - Romans, Gauls & Teutons

Ok, now im not much for games, well I am but i dont have much time to play them. I found this, it was an ad, so i clicked it, and it looks ok.

Now, to find some time to play it. All these games that say you have to first build your city etc etc sound like it takes ages, i wonder if i can waltz into a ready made one.... maybe become a squatter somewhere.

voo2do : simple, beautiful web-based to-do lists

This one looks really strange, might have a lot of features, but the logo is a bit scary! Must be from a deep south emo type...

Task Scoresheet | The Online CEO

Ill be giving this one a go, its highly recommended, includes motivation and point scoring. Just what I need.

Remember The Milk

Remember I said i would be posting more boring entries here about online task/todo lists, well, here is the first of them. This one claims to be the best task list around.

David Seah - The Printable CEO

When i saw this I immediately thought of Colin, a friend of mine, solo contractor and semi self employed self confessed part timer and pool cleaner extraordinaire.

Im currently into good todo: lists at the moment, so expecta few more boring posts here about my results.

IE7Pro - The Ultimate Add-On for Internet Explorer

Ive been using Avant for years, it had tabs before IE did, it was based on IE, it had URL shortcuts and a whole bunch of stuff. IEPro ads a few of these things to basic IE7 which I use at work, so one step closer to not using Avant, bout timie they upped the ante.

Manager Role Set

The roles in busines around testing and test management, this site laid it out nicely, even though its the rational process, it might be useful.

Web Worker Daily » Archive Why Your Boss Doesn’t Want You to Telework «

Im working a project right now that stems from this belief of working from home. It can be a lot more productive for the right people, but then it can be a nightmare even for good workers. I think the key point would be to implement on a trial basis with some clear goals or targets, with proven measurements in place to track against.

The comments in this article have some good points, its not always easy to get managers to accept change such as this.

TED: Ideas worth spreading

If i ever get time to get into these, looks like an interesting concept. Maybe i need an iPod to watch them on?

AutoHotkey - Free Mouse and Keyboard Macro Program with Hotkeys and AutoText

I used to use AutoIT to do all my tasks, mainy for installs or admin work. I came across this, the example was to automatically copy selected text & paste to notepad then return to your current window.

Its free and seems to work well.

Lightstreamer :: Live Web Content Delivery

I would use this if i ever make a live data service.

World first - BogBlog

Predictive text is that amazing yet frustrating technology that mobile phones use to make typing your sms's faster. It works by realising that theres only a few words that can be made from a string of keypad presses, then analysing the most likely choice and substituting your typed characters as you type.

Amazing.
Except two things come to mind. One, it doesn't then shorten these words to sms speak.
Eg. "Omfg it will gr8 2 c u". The other is when it doesn't recognise a word, eg. "Ill be there when I've finished Crasshog". Replacing "crapping" with "crasshog", now I don't know the word crasshog, there must be one, but the time it takes to add a word to the dictionary is normally enough to put people right off.

Please phone makers here me out and shorten predcted words to txt speak, and allow me to add crapping to the dictionary much easier!

End of thought, bugger off.

Office Supplies Fetish: Capturx Digital Pen Turns Jotted Notes to Text

I would love to give this a try, i wonder if theres one handy i could find. I love to take notes, but never type them up later, even if this product didnt do handwriting recognition it would be good anyway to have your notes digitally recorded.

Forward/Reverse DNS Lookup, Other Network Tools - Lookup Server

A handy site, does all the DNS lookups i could ever want, especially reverse MX lookups for those pesky spam filters..

Now for something completely different

Broght to you by mobile email to blogger! Technology at work again. Now I can write blog entries even when I have nothing to add. Like now.

Thought for the day:

#End

Google PageRank Checker - Check Google page rank of any web pages

Another tool for the web entrepreneur. Unfortunately it doesnt work too well, this site doesnt even show up, how can that be?

Bushfire Monitor | aus-emaps.com

Ive said it before, everything you could ever want is on the net.. ive mentioned to a few people "wouldnt it be great if there was a WheresTheFire.com website, where i can look up fires in my area!". Lo' and behold, here it is.. ive even bookmarked my area, for future reference.. amazing stuff. This will certainly be going onto eFlea.

Save Online Links to Access Bookmarks Anywhere, Share Links, and Discover New Websites

If i ever get around to creating my new site, this layout is simple, honest, functional and best of all, i can recreate. Keyword for me.. you are invited

Right Click, Save Target As - Quick Link Maker For Saving Web Files

Im constantly amazed that anytime I google something, where i need to know somethign or find a tool, it alwasy comes through.

This is a task that occurs repeatedly, you have a file on the web you want to save, ie a flash file, mp3, image, anything, quite often you need to create a dummy html page with just the a href to the thing you want to download.

Well, this tool above does just this. You paste in the link, click 'make link' and voila, its done.

Amazing, i wish i had the time and imagination to make this stuff.

LiveFaceOnWeb.com

These guys are scary!! its pretty lifelike (yes i know they are real) but kinda spooky, id consider for my site, could really get a message across.

Generating the FDFD modeling by applying the Preconditioner

This is what happens when you feel lucky on google with 'fdfd' as a search term.

"Qiuzhao Dong, Misha Kilmer and Carey Rappaport

Based on the Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) Absorbing Boundary Condition (ABC), Finite Difference Frequency Domain(FDFD) modeling is generated by applying the preconditioner which is especially important in 3-dimensional FDFD modeling (it hastens the computational rate.). The theoretical basis for constructing the preconditioner in the frequency domain is presented and the general grid geometry for FDFD modeling is discussed. The 3D FDFD modeling is testified by comparing its result for the electrical filed distribution of the simple dipole in the free space to the theoretical result and comparing its 2-dimensional effect for point source to the result from the 2D FDFD modeling . Some particular target cases are carried out. But the 3D FDFD generates a very large matrix (although it is very sparse), it need to occupy a corresponding large memory. Due to the restriction of our computational resources, the large size case can not be afforded here. "

I dont know about you, but this stuff is pretty heavy duty. I even read the pdf they refer to, lots of pretty colored pictures, jargon, and bad english.

PayPal Integration into e-Commerce Solutions, ASP.NET - Page 2

A bit more on PayPal integration, i need to work this out sometime soon.

How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong

This is one funny article, I have to quote a little bit

"One Infinite Loop, Apple's street address, is a programming in-joke — it refers to a routine that never ends. But it is also an apt description of the travails of parking at the Cupertino, California, campus. Like most things in Silicon Valley, Apple's lots are egalitarian; there are no reserved spots for managers or higher-ups. Even if you're a Porsche-driving senior executive, if you arrive after 10 am, you should be prepared to circle the lot endlessly, hunting for a space.

But there is one Mercedes that doesn't need to search for very long, and it belongs to Steve Jobs. If there's no easy-to-find spot and he's in a hurry, Jobs has been known to pull up to Apple's front entrance and park in a handicapped space. (Sometimes he takes up two spaces.) It's become a piece of Apple lore — and a running gag at the company. Employees have stuck notes under his windshield wiper: "Park Different. They have also converted the minimalist wheelchair symbol on the pavement into a Mercedes logo."

There is much more, but this just caught my eye.

ASP.NET Content Management System: Online Demo

Maybe useful software, but something about the sites layout i find interesting, maybe its the fluid look of the logo, i gotta get me some of this...

Creative Docs - Free Alternative To Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw

I must get me some of this, i was just thinking the other day, i need some graphics software, note to self: check it out.

EphPod - iPod for Windows (and Linux) :: DOWNLOAD

I finally can use an iPod now, this software actually lets me get songs on and off the ipod with out the hassles of iTunes :-)

TidBITS : Worthy Web Sites: PayPal

While im on making money from the web, heres a good story about using PayPal, which im a fan of, but not making so much from... :-(

Making money from user fees & subscriptions

If you need some cash from your website, try this, its an interesting article about the different ways to charge.

Website speed check, download speed tool

I was asked to do some website performance testing, this site also has a lot of interesting content...

CareerOne

This is pretty neat, a very useful calculator in a very nifty GUI.

MailChimp | HTML Email Template Design Tool

I Need Spam. Who thought emailing could be so much fun!

Slideshow at Slideroll - Flash Slideshow Creator, Photo Slideshows for MySpace, YouTube, and Everywhere!

Worth looking into further...

Flash Builder - Create a Flash Slideshow for free

For Penny, here we can make a flash image viewer.

Top-10 Application-Design Mistakes (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

This is excellent, a good list of common problems, with informative and funny examples.

Making an application user friendly is never easy, but if you avoid these traps it wont be as hard.

Arts & Entertainment - How To Information | eHow.com

They are not wrong, you can find anything here.

Wildbit » Home – Social Networking and Subscriber-based Services.

I like this company, they look neat and professional, the products look useful and well done.

CSS post it notes

Finally, this is the postit note i wanted for my eFlea. Just need some time to implement it now.
http://notes.mastervb.net/

Domain Search - BustAName

Good Domain name searching tool, also http://instantdomainsearch.com/

Accepting PayPal Payments

Accepting PayPal Payments

Maybe this will help me.

DOS - output error to log file

When you send the output of a DOS command to a text file it doesnt normally put any error messages there as well. The following method does.

e.g.
copy f1 f2 > log.txt 2>&1

Exchange 2000 and the first 2003 DC in 2000 domain - Petri.co.il forums by Daniel Petri

Something im working on right now, i was googling for answers, this is kinda funny, limited english and references to girlfriends, flower on his hands etc.. response to questions is well done..

Super Secret SSO Organization: Inside the SSO: Brought to you by Intel(R)

I should watch this if i get time...

Accept Credit Card, Accept Credit Cards - PayPal

Aaah, let the money roll in.. the beauty of paypal.. Note to self: add donate now button ...

Backing up SQL from ASPX

This will be sueful for future scenarios.

Ad Expiry Notification System - ASP.NET Forums

Something to add to the site.. eFlea

International Human Capital Consulting - PSI

Nothing special, just an interesting design of the website... i like the little graphics.

Internet Marketing Toolbox

Must read this sometime...

Freeware for web page checking, link popularity checking, PageRank and traffic rank checking software - Nesox Link Checker

Annoying snow? or 'Cool' effect!

Roleystone-Courier

The Roleystone Courier, local community newpaper and home to ads for the eFlea on Roley

InfoWorld launches drive to save Windows XP | InfoWorld | News | January 14, 2008 | By InfoWorld Editors

Save XP ! i agree, the last think i want is VISTA, im finally comfortable with XP, it does everything i need. THe new 'features' of Visa are not worth the upgrade hassle.

From 10 Hours a Week, $10 Million a Year - New York Times

I thought is was writing this article? Well, my own version of this scenario will be up soon. I think it is a very good strategy, if a company can run itself without the interference of people, then it probably stands a better chance of success.

[Geeks Are Sexy] Technology News - We make technology sexy

Wow, geeks are not sexy, but they do know how to put a sexy banner pic on their websites!!! This website might even have some useful coontent, i dont know, cant get past the home page.

Fancast - Fancast: Find and watch TV Shows, Movies, Videos, Celebrity News, and Gossip

Just following up on my post about Free online streaming HD TV.

Read all about it!

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

Heres the great thing about the internet, you can find yourself anywhere, and if not, well, make it up!!!

Hack Attack: Six Ways to Catch Your Favorite TV Shows

http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing

Streaming TV shows, finally... but theres a catch see below for some fixes..

http://www.ghacks.net/2006/05/01/howto-watch-abc-tv-streams-outside-the-usa/

Zwinky!!

Im easily amused... it may be a popup ad, but its fun for a few minutes at least.

Araluen Botanic Park

"PERTH CHILLI FESTIVAL
Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 March 10am - 5pm both days
A celebration of everything chilli from fresh foods, pickles, chutneys, olives, cheese, chocolate, wine, beers and many more. Enjoy live entertainment, demonstrations and free tastings."

TFS Times Newsletter - Home

Wow, a whole newspaper for TFS...!!

A Developer's Life: April 2007

Answering: "When will bug 'xyz' be ready for testing?"
Have you ever been asked any of the following questions regarding work items: Is bug #123 ready for testing yet?, or When will I be able to test bug #456?, or What bugs are in the pipeline that will be ready for testing next?
If you're like me, you've probably answered the above questions at some point in the past something like: "Sure, it's been ready for testing for two days.", or "Bug #456 will be ready for testing after the next nightly build.", or "I don't know what bugs will be coming next, let me run some queries and get back to you."
Now, I'm a huge fan of Team Foundation Server but I hadn't stopped to take the time to put together a couple of relatively simple queries that would not only save myself and my fellow co-workers some time, but also make everyone's job just a little bit easier. Before I detail the two queries that eliminated the above questions, here's some details on our environments and automated builds.
Currently, we develop projects and push them through four environmental stages:
Development: this is where all developers work on a daily basis - more-or-less isolated from the rest of the world. System Test: this is the environment that our testers perform their daily testing. Integrated Test ("Staging"): this is where we test out the integration points among multiple applications. Production: of course this is the environment in which our daily business runs.Now, for each of our Team Foundation Server projects, we have three standard build types:
Continuous Integration Build: this build type is automatically executed with each check in and deploys any binaries, files, etc. into the Development environment. System Test Build: this build type is executed nightly on a scheduled basis. All binaries, files, etc. are deployed to the System Test environment where our QA/Testers can "work it over" the following day. Integrated Test Build: this build type merely stages the various binaries, files, etc. to be pushed by the Integrated Test environment via CM processes.So, back to the original goal of eliminating the original questions above. To do this, I created two queries named:
Work Items Staged for Testing - this query, when ran, returns a list of all work items (e.g. Bugs) that have a State of "Resolved" and an "Integration Integration Build" (displayed as "Resolved in build" on the Work Item's Details tab) beginning with the text "Continuous Build" (the name of our CI build type). So, basically, this returns a list of all Work Items that have been associated with a changeset that has gone through the CI process, which means it has been deployed to the development environment and will be deployed to the System Test environment after the next nightly build.
Work Items Ready for Testing - this query, when ran, returns a list of all work items that have a State of "Resolved" and an "Integration Build" that does not begin with "Continuous Integration Build" and is also not empty. I do not specifically check for a "System Test Build" in this query because I am assuming that any build type other than the CI build deploys the changes into an environment from which they can be tested.With the recent acquisition of TeamPlain by Microsoft, we have deployed the TFS portal within our project teams giving our testers a nice web-based interface into TFS. Now, when they are curious about the state of existing work items, they can run the queries detailed above and get their answers immediately.
One caveat to all of this, if you decide to implement similar queries then you must ensure that your developers associate work items with their changesets when checking in source code (or other files).
Also, your build types must have the element in your build scripts set to "true". This setting is what causes the "Integration Build" value to be updated to the latest build number associated with the work item.
Without the integration of TFS & Visual Studio, these types of queries would be a lot more difficult (if even possible) to build.

Cached Credentials - How to clear

Well, ive come across this a dozen times before, but heres the answer once and for all. It happens when you browse to a share as a different user, then you try to access that share as a different user it gives you the old error about being logged on as someone else.

Anyway, heres the fix.

SQL to Sourcesafe Scripter v2.0 (SQLScripter, Schema Scripter)

This is not bad, im not sure if it could work or not, generally you want to associate a DB change with a checkin, bug, release etc.

Just having bulk schema checkins like this could be a problem, but if it was integrated to VS2005 IDE there might be better control.

Your Freeware and Shareware Download Destination! : BlueChillies.com

Your Freeware and Shareware Download Destination! : BlueChillies.com

Dont i get around!! Something new for today, in my travels looking for ways to put SQL into source control and make a nice change release process i bumped into this site. I know there are ehaps of these around, but i like chillies(never tried blue ones), the layout was good, and they had nice categories for the software. Ill be back...

The Cranky Product Manager: Who is the Cranky Product Manager?

The Cranky Product Manager: Who is the Cranky Product Manager?

Hilarious, i must take time sometime to read this a bit more, but a little i read so far looked pretty spot on!!

PC World - The 25 Most Innovative Products of the Year

PC World - The 25 Most Innovative Products of the Year

Now heres a list worth looking at, sometimes with all the noise on the net, its good to just get a nice simple list like this. Somegreat products on here, some i never knew of, somethings about some things i did knew about, and other things about which i didnt know something about.

Now theres something!