These days, most people have access to several computers that they use regularly. There is usually a computer at work and at home, but there may be multiple computers at either location. Although it can be great to have so many different computers to use, it can be frustrating if you don’t have all of your data in one place. Personally, I “live” in Microsoft Outlook, so I’ve got to have my emails, contacts, notes, calendar items, and tasks always available. There are a couple of different solutions out there. I’ve tried two free ones, and both do a decent job. Note: when I refer to Outlook data below, I mean those contacts, notes, calendar items, etc. Both of the software titles support Outlook, Outlook Express, and some web-based email services. Visit the sites to learn more.
Plaxo - Plaxo has really grown over the last few years. They used to be strictly a contact management site, and were often known for sending out unwanted emails to people telling them that you were using their service. They have gradually added more features, and can now sync all regular Outlook data. I’ve tested this on 3 different computers, and they sync up beautifully. I sync my contacts and notes among all 3 computers, and my calendar items between two of the computers. It’s great. By default, Plaxo adds all sorts of extra features to Outlook that I have no use for, but you can disable those, and use just the syncing feature. You can also access everything online if you need to.
SyncWizard - This is a new service from Michael Robertson and his Ajax13 company. They use several different open source tools to do the same sort of thing. I have only tried this briefly, but it seems to be able to sync up all of the same Outlook data. SyncWizard also has a web-based interface where you can see your data. As well, you can also backup some other things other than your Outlook data.
I prefer Plaxo, but if this is all new to you, give both a try and see which one you like.
Download Squad covered this a while ago…
Serving as a webmaster’s Swiss Army knife, Test Everything! allows you to run a bunch of different tests on your website and domain name, ranging from Alexa traffic details to CSS validation. To use, simply type in your website’s URL, select a category, and check the boxes next to the tests you want to run. When you’ve selected all of your tests, click the “Test website!” button and wait for your test results to be generated. The Test Everything! site will then return a helpful aggregation of links to each of the specific tests you chose.
Check it out!
The average computer user probably isn’t familiar with vector graphics. These sorts of graphics are generally created in programs like Adobe Illustrator. The various lines, curves, and shapes are actually mathematical equations. What this means is that when you open the image in a program that reads vector graphics, you can enlarge it as much as you want. In “regular” images, the images get pixelated (fuzzy/blurry). This doesn’t happen with vector graphics. The most common use for these sorts of graphics is with logos.
If this is all new to you, then the best way to understand it is to try it. Download Squad recently linked to the Vector Magic online tool of the Stanford web site. This is an online tool that lets you convert an image into a vector graphic. You can visit the site and see samples. You can also try your own.
MakeUseOf.com had a posting recently about PDFHammer, yet another PDF utility. The benefit of this one is that it is all online.
PDFHammer is a web-based application that allows you to merge and rearrange PDF documents online. It’s free, extremely easy-to-use and runs directly from your browser. You don’t have to register either, just upload PDF files and start arranging the pages in any order you want. Once finished, use the “Export Final PDF” button to download ready PDF file to your PC.
You can see a nice screenshot of PDFHammer on the MakeUseOf.com site, or you can visit the PDFHammer web site directly.
MSN Tech & Gadgets has published a Wall Street Journal article about getting around some restrictions that an IT department might be trying to enforce.
Here, then, are the 10 secrets your IT department doesn’t want you to know, the risks you’ll face if you use them — and tips about how to keep yourself (and your job) safe while you’re at it.
It mentions sending large files via email, getting to blocked web sites, and more.
In year’s past, I’ve seen lots of postings and links to various year-end lists. For some reason this year I haven’t seen so many. In fact, the only highly publicized one I’ve seen is the Google Zeitgeist 2007. They have a section of their site where they show stats throughout the year, but then they have their full year-end listing:
We’re bidding adieu to 2007 with a look back at the breaking news, the big events and the must-have gadgets that captivated us this year (give or take a few weeks; we compile this list by early December). To get a glimpse of what’s been on our collective consciousness, we mined billions of search queries to discover what sorts of things rose to the top. We encourage you to check out our findings to see if you, too, reflect the zeitgeist — the spirit of the times.
One of the biggest concerns for parents is what their children are doing on the Internet. Who is contacting them? Who are they chatting with? How do they interact with strangers? Kim Komando talks about this regularly.
I came across a site today where you can listen to podcast about Internet safety called Internet Safety Podcast. So far there are only 2, but based on the descriptions (I haven’t listened to them myself), the hosts “begin by talking about safe web surfing and mechanisms for avoid both deliberate and inadvertent access to inappropriate material.”
If all browsers applied web standards correctly, then every web page would look the same in each browser. Unfortunately, this is not the way it is. Each browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc) supports various standards and displays web pages slightly differently. To test your web pages, you could install a copy of every browser and load it. Or you could visit BrowserShots.org and let them do the work:
Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It is a free open-source online service created by Johann C. Rocholl. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server here.
The screenshots do not appear instantly, but you can bookmark the page and go back to it. The default time period is 30 minutes, but I had to extend the time (there is a button) as it took more than 30 minutes for the screenshots to appear. If you want to see the screenshots for PCIN.net, click here (I’m not sure how long the screenshots will be available for).
Regular reader Pat sent me a newsletter that linked to a Mashable posting on RSS (news feeds) resources:
Never again will mankind have to look for RSS info in more than one place…ok, we’re kidding, but we’ve aimed to create a near comprehensive list of all the RSS readers, tools, browser plugins, tips, hacks and directories available on the web. We hope you find it useful (we built it because we needed it), and feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments.
It is quite a complete list. If you are interested in any area of RSS (creating, reading, organizing, etc), then you should definitely check this out.
Internet Explorer and Firefox both come with integrated RSS feed readers. These are both pretty basic, but give you quick access to your feeds. I think I’ve mentioned in the past that I use BlogBridge. This allows you to have a profile of feeds that can be loaded on any computer that has BlogBridge installed. I sync up my feeds at work, on my home computer, and on my laptop.
Recently Chris has been using Attensa Feed Reader. This can either be a standalone application, or an Outlook add-in. If you live in Outlook, then it can be a pain to have to go to other software to read your feeds. Attensa brings your feeds into Outlook and gives them the same look and feel as your email. It looks quite impressive. If they added in a sync feature like BlogBridge, I’d probably switch.
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