New Windows Live Writer is here

Microsoft today released a new version of Windows Live Writer 1.0 (beta 2). This WYSIWYG blog editing software is a vast improvement over the previous version and a must-have upgrade.

There's an inline spell checker, support for HTML tables and a reminder option that will make sure you don't post stuff without adding appropriate titles and categories / tags.


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Sync Google Calendar and Gmail contacts to your desktop

The big question hesitant users have about web-based applications like Gmail is: "How do I get my data if I'm offline?" A beta, open source project called GCalDaemon attempts to answer to this question.

Two-way update and sync between your desktop and the web is the ultimate golden ticket; it gives you offline access, local backup and the rich desktop experience while dealing with data stored in the cloud. With GCalDaemon running, you can view and update your Google Calendar from any desktop calendar program - even if you're offline. Additionally, you can access your Gmail contacts list in a desktop email program or address book like Thunderbird or Outlook Express.

Get the lowdown on how to set up GCalDaemon after the jump.

Installing GCalDaemon

GCalDaemon is a cross-platform, Java-based server that syncs your Google Calendar data locally and makes it available to applications like Sunbird, Lightening and Rainlendar.
But GCalDaemon is a command line application, and like most good open source, cross-platform apps, the secret sauce to getting it set up lies in editing its text configuration file. Let's get started.
  • Download and install GCalDaemon. If you don't have it already, you'll need the free Java runtime environment installed for GCalDaemon to work. To see whether or not you do, type java -version at the command line. No Java? Download it from here and install it. Then grab GCalDaemon and run its installer.
  • Let GCalDaemon through your firewall. The Windows installer will offer the option to start up GCalDaemon when it completes. When you do so, if you've got Windows Firewall (or any other software firewall going on), you'll get a notification like this:
  • gcaldaemon-security.png
    Like I said, GCalDaemon's a server, so be sure to Unblock it from your outgoing firewall.

    When GCalDaemon initially starts up, it's not configured to do anything for you. You can stop it (in Windows) by hitting Ctrl+C in the command window. GCalDaemon can do a lot for you, but the services it offers has everything to do with how it's configured. So open up its configuration file in your favorite text editor. On Windows, that file is located in C:\Program Files\GCalDaemon\conf\gcal-daemon.cfg by default.
    The trickiest part of configuring GCalDaemon is dealing with your password.
  • Encrypt your password. GCalDaemon needs your Google Account password to do its thing in the background without prompting you for it every time. However, storing it as plain text in a configuration file isn't very secure. So, GCalDaemon comes with a command line password encoder utility that you'll use to get the encoded version of your password for the configuration file. Here's how to run it, with sample results:
  • gcaldaemon-password.png
    Copy and paste the encoded version of your password into a temporary text file for use later on, while you're setting up GCalDaemon syncing options in the configuration file.
Read and write to your Google Calendar via Lightning, iCal or Rainlendar

Note that when I say "two-way sync," I mean you can update your calendar in Rainlendar/iCal/Sunbird and the changes get reflected online in Google Calendar within 10 minutes tops. Also, you can set up GCalDaemon to work in "sometimes-offline" mode for laptops that aren't permanently connected to the internets. Your data is available when you're offline, but you can still make changes that will sync when you get back on. Also, you can sync multiple calendars at once with GCalDaemon.

Wait...That's not all GCalDaemon can do.

Get your Gmail Contacts list with a desktop address book

For those of you who POP your mail into Thunderbird, Outlook Express, or any other desktop mail client, you can access your Gmail Contact list within those programs' address books, too. GCalDaemon runs a local LDAP server (central contact store) which most modern address book apps can subscribe to (similar to IMAP for email messages.)

Again, GCalDaemon's own detailed, screenshot-laden documentation for setting up LDAP is available.

But wait! That's not all!

GCalDaemon extras

GCalDaemon has more extra-crazy features up its sleeve which are beyond the scope of this article, like remote-controlling your computer via Gmail and converting RSS feeds into iCal so you can read your news in your calendar application. Neat!


Control Your Fox !

Hacking Firefox: The secrets of about:config - a really great and detailed article about Firefox configuration utility. A must read for all Firefox readers who want more control over their browser.

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Social Recommendations Meet BitTorrent on Tribler

A BitTorrent client developed by the Delft University of Technology and the VU University Amsterdam brings dynamic social recommendations to the BitTorrent world.
Tribler version 4.0 takes the concept of what is popular and gives it a solid Web 2.0 twist. Pandora and Last.fm style, Tribler recommends downloads based on a user’s history. The client also supports YouTube browsing. The engine behind Tribler uses data gathered from viewing YouTube videos in combination with download history to suggest new videos to watch.
The confluence of various Web 2.0 ideas into a BitTorrent client may be a logical step forward in terms of development, but will a swiss army approach have a large appeal to a broad audience?

Keyboard shortcuts to boost your productivity

If you use your computer a lot -- and let's face it, you do -- you've got to stop using the mouse if you want to be at all productive - and prevent RSI.
You know that. You use the common keyboard shortcuts. But are you maximizing your keyboard ninja skills? Rate yourself by seeing how many of the following 101 keyboard shortcuts you actually use. 100 points or higher is the Ninja rating. And yes, you'd have to use both the Mac and Windows OS's to get that rating. A true Ninja works independent of the OS.

Firefox
  • Page down and up. Spacebar for page down, Shift-Spacebar for page up.
  • Find. Ctrl+F, or Alt-N for find next.
  • Bookmark page. Ctrl+D.
  • Quick find. /.
  • New tab. Ctrl+T.
  • Go to search box. Ctrl+K.
  • Go to address bar. Ctrl+L.
  • Text size. Ctrl+= to increase text size and Ctrl+- to decrease text size.
  • Close tab. Ctrl-W.
  • Reload. F5.
  • Go to home page. Alt-Home.
  • Re-open closed tab. Ctrl+Shift+T.
  • Keyword bookmarks. This is the most productive tip of all. If you go to a site a lot, bookmark it (of course), and then go to that bookmark's properties (right-click on it). Give it a short keyword in the keyword field, save, and from then on, you can just go to the address bar (Ctrl-L) and type that keyword to go to your site.

Gmail

  • Compose. C.
  • Reply. R.
  • Reply all. A.
  • Forward. F.
  • Archive, and next. Y+O archives the current message and opens the next.
  • Delete, and next. #+O (i.e. Shift-3 + O) to delete and then open the next message.
  • Send. Tab-Enter to send a message after composing it.
  • Search. /.
  • Navigate. J and K to move up and down your list of messages.
  • Conversation view. N and P to move to the next or previous messages in Conversation view.
  • Mute. M will archive a conversation and make all future messages in that conversation skip your inbox.
  • Select conversation. X will select and check a conversation so you can tag, archive or apply an action.
  • Save draft. Control-S.
  • Go to inbox. G+I.
  • Go to Starred. G+S.
  • Go to Contacts. G+C.
Google Reader
  • Item up/down. J and K.
  • Page up/down. Space or Shift-Space.
  • Toggle star. S.
  • Toggle share. Shift-S.
  • Mark as read/unread. M.
  • Open. V opens the current post in a new tab.
  • Keyboard shortcuts. ? will bring up a help screen.

Windows
  • Create application shortcuts. To create a keyboard shortcut to any application, right-click on the application's shortcut icon (such as those on your desktop), and enter a keyboard combination, such as Ctrl-Alt-W for MS Word.
  • Toggle between apps. Alt-Tab until you land on the app you want, then let both keys up. Or hold down the Windows key and press Tab to cycle through taskbar buttons to get to your app, then press Enter. Adding the Shift key to either method cycles in reverse.
  • Go to the desktop. Windows key-D.
  • Context menu. Instead of right-clicking to get a context menu, press Shift-F10. Then scroll up or down the menu with the arrow keys.
  • Shut down. To quickly shut down your computer, press Windows key and then U. Once there you can also type S for Standby mode, U to shut down, or R to restart.
  • Most common. You know these, but for true noobs, some common application shortcuts: Ctrl-O for open, Ctrl-S for Save, Ctrl-N for New, Ctrl-W to close a window, Ctrl-C to copy, Ctrl-V to paste, Ctrl-X to cut. Ctrl-Z to undo, Ctrl-Y to redo. To see the clipboard's contents in MS Office, press Ctrl-C twice. Ctrl-Home to move to the top of a document, Ctrl-End to move to the bottom.
  • Menu bar. Pressing Alt gets you to the menu bar, and you can scroll around using the arrow keys. Alt plus the underlined letter of each menu option takes you to that option. Or just memorize the keyboard shortcut for that option for even faster keyboarding.
  • Windows Explorer. Windows-E goes to My Computer. Then use the following.
  • Display subfolders. NUM LOCK + Asterick Sign(*).
  • Display contents. NUM LOCK + PLUS Sign(+).
  • Collapse selection. NUM LOCK + Minus Sign(-).
  • Highlight text. In a document, use Ctrl-Shift plus arrow keys to highlight blocks of text quickly. Ctrl-A to highlight everything at once.
  • Permanent delete. Shift-Delete will delete an item permanently without sending to the Recycle bin.
Mac OS
  • Toggle Dock. Option-Cmd-D to show and hide the Dock.
  • Hide others. Cmd-Option-H hides every other app besides the one you're in. Simplifies your screen.
  • Close Finder windows. Cmd-W to close the current window. Option-Cmd-W to close all the windows in an application.
  • Expand folders. Option-Cmd-Right Arrow to expand a folder and nested sub folders in List View in the Finder.
  • Forward and back. Cmd-[ and Cmd-] works in the Finder, Safari and Firefox.
  • Screen capture. Cmd-Shift-3 for the entire screen. Cmd-Shift-4 to give you cross hairs to create a selection on the screen.
  • Log out. Shift-Cmd-Q gives you 2 minutes to change your mind before logging out. Shift-Option-Cmd-Q doesn't give you that time.
  • Empty Trash. Shift-Cmd-Delete.
  • New tab in Safari. Cmd-T.
  • Help. Cmd-shift-?.
  • Boot from CD. Press C during startup (right after the chime) to boot from a CD.
  • Change startup volume. Option-Cmd-Shift-Delete during startup bypasses the primary startup volume and seeks another startup volume such as a CD or disk.
  • Super Get Info. Cmd-Option-I brings up a live Get Info window, enabling you to view and alter many file and folder stats with a single window.
  • Sleep, restart and shutdown. Cmd-option-eject, Cmd-ctrl-eject, and Cmd-Option-ctrl-eject.
  • Force Quit. Cmd-opt-Esc is a basic but very useful one.
  • Quick FTP. For quick and dirty FTP, Cmd-K will open the Connect to Server command.

Excel

  • Edit cell. F2, probably the best shortcut to know.
  • Select current column. Ctrl-Space.
  • Select current row. Shift-Space.
  • Format as currency. Ctrl+Shift+4 (i.e. Ctrl+$).
  • Format as percentage. Ctrl+Shift+5 (i.e. Ctrl+%).
  • Home. Ctrl-Home selects A1 on the current worksheet.
  • Insert date. Ctrl-Semicolon.
  • Insert time. Ctrl-Colon.
  • Copy above cell. Ctrl-Double Quote enters a copy of the cell above (without formatting).
  • Format Cells. Ctrl-1 opens Format Cells dialog box.
  • Navigate worksheets. Ctrl-Page Up and Ctrl-Page Down.
  • Multiple enter. Ctrl-Enter instead of just Enter after entering data into one of several preselected cells will put the data in all those cells.
Word
  • Default formatting. Ctrl-Space turns on normal style for the current selection or subsequent typing.
  • Paragraph spacing. Ctrl-0 (zero above the letter keys) adds or removes a line of spacing above the current paragraph. Ctrl-1 (above the letter keys) changes paragraph to single-line spaces. Ctrl-2 (above the letter keys) double-spaces the paragraph. Ctrl-5 (above the letter keys) makes the paragraph to 1.5-line spacing.
  • Updating date/time. Alt-Shift-D inserts an updating date. Alt-Shift-T inserts an updating time.
Internet Explorer
  • Navigate. Alt-Left Arrow and Alt-Right Arrow to go back or forward, and Ctrl-N to start a new window.
  • Favorites. Ctrl-D to put the current page in your favorite list. Ctrl-B to open the Organize Favorites dialog box.
  • Quick address. To quickly to to an URL, type Ctrl-L and enter the address.
  • Home. Alt-Home to go to your home page.
  • Refresh. Ctrl-F5.
  • Find. Ctrl-F.
Outlook
  • Send/receive. To send or receive mail on default accounts, press F5.
  • Go to inbox. Ctrl+Shift+I.
  • Go to the Outbox. Ctrl+Shift+O.
  • Reply. Ctrl+R.
  • Mark as read. Ctrl+Q
  • New message. Ctrl+Shift+M.
  • New contact. Ctrl+Shift+C.
  • New appointment. Ctrl+Shift+A.
AutoHotKey
  • Mac OSX users will use Quicksilver, which can do virtually anything using the keyboard. Windows users don't have that luxury, but there is AutoHotKey (http://www.autohotkey.com/download), which takes a little bit of setup, but can do some wondrous things for your productivity once you've entered all your favorites and their hotkeys.

  • Signatures. Set up the text replacement features of AHK to type in one of your multiple signatures quickly. For example wsig1 and wsig2 could each expand to one of your two work signatures, and so on.

  • Common email replies. Do you type some of the same replies every day? Enter them into AHK, each with a shortcut of just a few letters, and they will instantly expand to your common replies.

  • Common html code. Use the same codes over and over each day? Set up AHK to enter them much more quickly.

  • App launcher. Launch every commonly-used application with a keyboard shortcut of your choice.

  • Favorite web pages. All of my most commonly used web pages (banks, Gmail, Google Reader, and many more) have a quick-key combination assigned.

  • Favorite folders. Have certain folders you open a lot? Assign keystrokes.

  • Favorite documents. You get the idea. This is great for commonly-used templates, or logs, that you open a lot.

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Unfortunate: the fortune cookie generator

unfortunate.png

In the mood for some custom fortune cookie fun? unFortunate - Cookies Not Included. is a fun, new fortune cookie generator.
Make them fortunate "Wherever you go, there you are" or unfortunate "Bad luck and misfortune will plague your pathetic life for all eternity" and then you can even print them out or send to a friend via email.

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Wallpapers again - Social this time.

After so many social networks, we have social wallpapers. a community effort to classify, rank, and distribute high-resolution images for use as computer wallpaper. Some nifty Menus are worth checking out.





10 Firefox Chrome Tricks

Firefox’s user interface is written using XUL and JavaScript. So you can put the chrome URL in to the address bar and open various tools/ester eggs. Today CC.Org’s going to list the coolest Firefox Chrome URLs. Feel Free to try them if you are using Firefox. Sorry IE fans! you’ll have to find Firefox for this.

chrome://browser/content/browser.xul
Opens another Firefox, inside a tab in the the existing Firefox window.
chrome://browser/content/preferences/preferences.xul
Opens the Options dialog box inside the Firefox tab.
chrome://browser/content/bookmarks/bookmarksPanel.xul
Opens the “Book Marks Manager” inside a tab in the Firefox window
chrome://browser/content/history/history-panel.xul
Opens the History Panel in the Firefox tab
chrome://mozapps/content/extensions/extensions.xul?
type=extensions
Opens the Extensions window in the current tab.
chrome://browser/content/preferences/cookies.xul
Opens the “cookies window” inside a tab in the Firefox window.
chrome://browser/content/preferences/sanitize.xul
Opens the “Clear Private Data” window inside the current tab.
chrome://browser/content/aboutDialog.xul
Opens the “About Firefox” Dialog box inside the Ff tab.
chrome://browser/content/credits.xhtml
A scrolling list of names.

Must Know Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts

Its true that using Firefox makes web browsing easy. But you can still use these Keyboard shortcuts to make your browsing easier than ever! If you think there’s more to be added, feel free to share!

Close Tab : Ctrl+W, Ctrl+F4
Restore Recently Closed Tab : Ctrl+Shift+D
Close Window : Ctrl+Shift+W, Alt+F4
New Tab : Ctrl+T
New Window : Ctrl+N
Select Tab : (1 to 8 ) Ctrl+(1 to 8 )
Select Last Tab : Ctrl+9
Bookmark All Tabs : Ctrl+Shift+D
Select Location Bar : Ctrl+L , F6, Alt+D
Open Address in New Tab : Ctrl+Enter
Web Search :Ctrl+E Ctrl+K
Next Tab : Ctrl+Tab , Ctrl+Page Down
Previous Tab : Ctrl+Shift+Tab, Ctrl+Page Up

10 Essential Firefox Tips.

  1. To quickly find any word in a web page type /word it will highlight the word and press Ctrl+G to “Find Again” that word again
  2. If you wish to remove an item from your Address Bar Drop down menu, Highlight it without clicking and use Shift+Delete.
  3. Clear your Download history to make the download manager more
    responsive : Tools | Options | Privacy
  4. Type about:cache?device=disk in your address bar to view/save items
    that you have in your firefox disk cache
  5. Type about:cache?device=memory in your address bar to view/save items
    that you have in your Firefox memory cache
  6. Drag any link to the Download Manager Window to add & download the
    link.
  7. If you accidentally delete a bookmark and want to recover it, open the
    “Bookmarks Manager” and use Ctrl+Z, or Edit | Undo.
  8. Double Clicking empty space on the Tab Bar will open a ‘New Tab’
  9. Holding down the Ctrl key when you right click
    to “View Image” or “View Background Image” will open the image in a New
    Tab or New Window.
  10. A bookmarks Folder’s position can also be Dragged & Dropped but you must hold down
    the SHIFT key while Dragging.
  11. To prevent a website from replacing/changing your rightclick context
    menu go to Tools > Options > Web Features then click the “advanced
    tab” and de-select “remove or replace context menus”. Update: go to Tools >Options>content>Advanced on Firefox2
  12. You can work offline in Firefox just go to File > Work Offline. This
    means that you can browse your previously visited pages even when
    you’re offline this is a really cool feature but not many people who use it.
  13. You can bookmark the current page by dragging the icon from the
    location bar to your Bookmarks folder. You can also drag it to the
    desktop to make an icon for that page.
  14. To stop animated gifs from moving, press the ESC key.
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60 Brilliant Designs

Smashing Magazine shows us some stunning web designs. Excellent use of CSS and visual elements.





Lifehacks !

Wise Bread: 10 Frugalfying Ways to $1 million. Easy lifestyle changes you can make that, invested over time, will get you to that magic number.

FreelanceSwitch: How to Write a Popular Post. If you’re a blog writer, it’s good to be able to write a post that really takes off.

Lifehack: Disconnected Productivity - 9-step Program to Cure Email Addiction. I have to confess to email addiction. I’m using this program that I outlined to cure myself. 

Yahoo Mail - Unlimited Storage ?

Yahoo announced today that they have started to roll out unlimited email storage to Yahoo! Mail users worldwide today.







When it hits your account, you’ll notice the storage meter has disappeared — meaning, you just don’t have to worry about deleting old messages ever again!



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Programmer's Notepad

Most programmers are already married to an IDE or code editor, but if you're in the market or just developing your programming chops? The free Programmer's Notepad 2 is a full-featured, lightweight editor for scripters and web monkeys who need a lot more oomph than generic text editors offer.



Programmer's Notepad offers syntax highlighting for a wide range of languages and markup, from Python to Ruby to SQL and HTML. It can collapse code blocks, has a tabbed interface, customizable visual themes and supports multi-source file projects, too. Programmer's Notepad is a free open source download, Windows only.

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Quicksilver for Windows ?

Quicksilver, the Swiss Army Knife of productivity apps, can do just about everything except file your taxes and bake you warm delicious cookies.

Lifehacker’s Adam Pash calls it the “the best productivity application on the market today,” aptly summarizing its power:

Quicksilver can be used to launch files and applications, manipulate data, and seamlessly plug into almost any application on your Mac so that you can perform actions as soon as you think of them in a few short keystrokes.

Sounds fantastic, but there’s gotta be a catch, right?

Yep, it’s Mac only.

Before you start shaking your fists and hurling rocks through Steve Jobs’ window, check out Scott Hanselman’s list of Quicksilver-like launchers for the PC. Scott’s done a great job summarizing each app with a review and shot. His list includes:

  1. Slickrun
  2. SmartStartMenu
  3. slimKEYS
  4. Colibri
  5. Launchy
  6. AppRocket
  7. ActiveWords
  8. Dave’s Quick Search Bar
  9. Google Desktop
  10. Find and Run Robot

While none of these apps perfectly replicate all of Quicksilver’s functions, Scott recommends Colibri for the closest experience.

Black Saves Energy

In January 2007 a blog post titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine. Since then there has been skepticism about the significance of the energy savings that can be achieved and the cost in terms of readability of black web pages.


So, Blackle is here. Having said that, I am switching to my favorite color for this blog - Black it is. Read more on this.

Black Wallpapers - Finally !

Black Wallpapers are here. and they are stunning.

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Web Safe Typography

CSSType is an excellent tool to visually check the text as it will be displayed in the browser. The web safe typography on screen for pixel perfectionists...

Flash Screensavers Made Easy

InstantStorm is a Windows freeware tool for creating Flash based screensavers with many advanced features. All you have to do is to choose a SWF file, set screensaver parameters and compile an executable installer. All 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows are fully supported, including Windows 95 and Windows Vista. And the best of all—there are no nag screens or other annoying stuff. Unlike many other tools, InstantStorm allows you to fully customize your screensaver's about box, installer and uninstaller including all texts.

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Recuva - Restore Lost Files

Recuva (pronounced "recover") is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer.

This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!

ConvertICO - PNG to ICO

ConvertICO is an online tool to convert PNG to ICO. Mighty useful for favicons.

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Hot Blogs !

Position Blog Subscribers
1 Engadget 601.000
2 Boing Boing 416.000
3 TechCrunch 377.000
4 Simply Recipes 221.000
5 Xataka 149.000
6 Interesting Thing of the Day 127.000
7 Mashable 110.000
8 43 Folders 108.000
9 Dumb Little Man 74.600
10 37 Signals 68.063
11 John Battele’s Search Blog 67.893
12 Freakonomics 66.574
13 Daily Kos 64.214
14 Coding Horror 53.142
15 Crunch Gear 51.892
16 Micro Persuasion 41.750
17 Church of the Customer 41.081
18 Life Hack 35.632
19 Microsiervos 35.571
20 Genbeta 34.678
21 Coolest Gadgets 28.984
22 Black Rim Glasses 25.187
23 Watch Search Engine 23.347
24 ProBlogger 22.517
25 Get Rich Slowly 21.947

 

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Amazing Free fonts

SOFONTES Amazing resource to find free fonts.{Non-English Site}

How to run Multiple gTalk Instances ?

A Shortcut to Google talk on your desktop will have a target address like this :

"d:\installs\Google Talk\googletalk.exe"

All you got to do is make another shortcut and make the target as

"d:\installs\Google Talk\googletalk.exe” /nomutex

The /nomutex is the key here and now run multiple googletalk.

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Fresh and Beautiful Wordpress Themes

Smashing Magazine shows some superb Wordpress themes. All of them are free. You can find even more themes in their earlier posts 83 Beautiful Wordpress Themes and in Arpit Jacob’s Top Ten Best Free Wordpress Themes And Templates.

The guys over Xyberneticos.com have collected over 2400 Wordpress Themes, packed them in a .zip-file (251 Mb!) and offered them for free download. Impressive, really.

I am green with envy...now its time to move to Wordpress.



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Set up a healthy, usable workspace

Lifehacker gives an excellent round-up of a healthy workspace.

To keep yourself healthy at work, be sure to:

    workrave.png
  • Take regular breaks: One of the most important features of a healthy workspace is regular breaks. However, it can be difficult to tear yourself away from your desk in order to take the breaks that you need, which is why I'd recommend installing one of the many free anti-RSI applications available.

    Windows and Linux users should check out Workrave, while Mac users should take a look at AntiRSI. Both apps let you determine the time between short breaks and longer rest breaks, and Workrave even suggests workouts and stretches you can do during your break to avoid RSI. You should take at least a 5 minute break (complete with stretches and time away from your monitor) every 30-45 minutes, and take a brief 30 second stretch/relaxation break every 10 minutes or so.

    If you do anything I suggest here, I'd highly recommend you install one of these apps, whether you currently have problems with repetitive stress or not.
  • posture-at-work.png
  • Set up an ergonomically friendly desk: Like taking regular breaks, we all know that we should have a healthy desk set up, but that doesn't mean we do. For much longer than I'm willing to admit, I sat with 3 pillows on top of my office chair because my desk was too high and my chair was at its limit. This is stupid.

    Luckily, there are all kinds of resources dedicated to healthy and ergonomic desk setups, many of which we've posted before. The basics:
    • Keep you hands in a relaxed position with your elbows at at or near 90 degrees so that you minimize how much you need to bend your wrists to type. Your wrists should be relaxed at the keyboard.
    • Your keyboard and mouse should be as close as possible to one another, and you should not have to reach for them. They should be comfortably within your reach while your arms remain in the position described above.
    • Good posture is very important. Avoid slouching, and avoid tensing or bunching your shoulders. Pinching nerves or straining muscles in your back, neck, or shoulders can cause problems throughout your arms and hands.
    • Keep the top of your monitor at eye level or slightly below and between 18-28 inches from your face. Be sure not to crane your neck forward while you're working. It's easy to do when you're in the middle of an intense work dash, but it adds undue stress to your whole body.


    For more detailed looks at the proper way to sit at your desk, check out this interactive slideshow and this post on healthy computing.

If you're already experiencing problems with RSI, don't take it lightly. Take active measures to curtail the problem, and if the problems persist, don't hesitate to see a doctor. If the mouse is your biggest problem, consider switching hands and mouse goofy.

A usable desk

Beyond the keyboard and mouse, I try to keep my desktop as clear as possible with the exception of one pen, one legal notepad, and a digital timer. Your needs, of course, may vary, but as far as organization and usability goes, I try to operate under one simple idea:

It's best to keep the things you use a lot within reach at all times, the things you use regularly within striking distance, and the things you use rarely out of the way.

With that maxim in mind, desktop organization is a fairly personal topic, since we all organize our worlds in different ways and use entirely different tools to get things done. However, we have looked at this territory a couple of times if you're interested in other takes:

Since desktop organization varies greatly between individuals, let's hear how you keep your desk organized, healthy, and usable in the comments.

Thank you Lifehacker for this Superb Hack !

I - Google !



The Google Personalized Homepage is now iGoogle, and it's sporting new features to boot.

The big one is Gadget Maker, which lets users create and share custom content using one of seven available templates, including: Daily Me, best described as Twitter in module form; Framed Photo, for sharing a batch of photos with friends and family; and Personal List, which could be a favorites list, to-do list or whatever. In addition, the gadget directory now includes a My Community area for sharing these Gadget Maker gadgets with other users. So after you whip together, say, your Framed Photo gadget, you send it to grandma, Uncle Bill and anyone else in your circle (specifically, anyone in your Gmail contacts list), and then they can add to their own iGoogle. Thus your photos become their photos (for viewing, that is).

iGoogle has also gone global, making its previously U.S.-only themes available worldwide and making iGoogle itself available in 26 languages for 40-plus countries.

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