#260 Talk Tool -- Using a free third party plug-in from Festoon, you can add video to both Skype and Google Talk. Just connect a camera, download the Festoon plug-in, and you can see add up to 200 people to a video call - even if they don't have a camera. Even more useful is the ability to share anything you see on your screen or desktop. With this tool you could provide visual tech support for friends and family.
#261 Firefox extension -- In the future day everyone becomes enlightned enough to switch to Firefox. But until that blessed day comes we'll need to test our webpages in Internet Explorer. If like me you have a pathological abhorrence of that browser, there is a new extension that can save you the trouble of having to switch over. The IE Tab extension is derived from the famous extension IE View, but instead of launching windows of Internet Explorer, IE Tab can open them in tabs of Firefox.
#262 Calendar Hack -- Printable Calendar is a free online service that provides printable calendar templates in two different formats (Word and PDF), ready to print at the touch of a button. Just select the date, format, and hit the "Create Calendar" button. Nothing fancy but the most useful tools are often the simplest. (HT: LifeHack.org)
#263 Know Your Fallacies -- Irrelevant Conclusion (ignoratio elenchi) You should support the new housing bill. We can't continue to see people living in the streets; we must havecheaper housing. (We may agree that housing s important even though we disagree with the housing bill.)
#264 Gmail Hack -- Who needs a fancy, expensive Blackberry when you can get email on your cell phone using Gmail and its text forwarding feature? Here's how to set it up:
Go to your "Google Settings" page and click on "Forwarding and Pop." Click on "Forward a copy of incoming mail to" and in the box where you input the email address add your ten digit cell phone number and the domain for your carrier.
Here is a list of the text messaging addresses for common US wireless providers:
Verizon: 10digitphonenumber@vtext.com
AT&T: 10digitphonenumber@mobile.att.net
Sprint: 10digitphonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile: 10digitphonenumber@tmomail.net
Nextel: 10digitphonenumber@messaging.nextel.com
Cingular: 10digitphonenumber@mobile.mycingular.com
Virgin Mobile: 10digitphonenumber@vmobl.com
Alltel: 10digitphonenumber@alltelmessage.com OR message.alltel.com
CellularOne: 10digitphonenumber@mobile.celloneusa.com
Omnipoint: 10digitphonenumber@omnipointpcs.com
Qwest: 10digitphonenumber@qwestmp.com
The Republic of Geektronica blog explains how to set up filters so that you can decide which emails to have sent to your phone.
Or use the wildcard operator to get lyrics with certain words in them, like this: "Friday * love" lyrics (HT: LifeHacker)
#269 Writer's Toolkit -- #19: Tune Your Voice
See also: The Yak Shaving Razor Archives
Have a useful recommendation for making life more pleasant? Send them to me at jpcarter[at]evangelicaloutpost.com.
1
I have a pathologica aversion to Firefox because of my bad experience trying to load and configure extensions for it - plug-ins often conflict, or don't work well.
Don't get me wrong, I love open source stuff, and I love tweaking, but the frustration level doesn't match the features you get.
I prefer Avantbrowser or Maxthon, two excellent browsers that have most of the cool additional features I want (popup killer, flash killer, tabbed windows, groups, alternate startup pages, gestures, etc.), all integrated into a package that doesn't require hours of troubleshooting plug-ins. Sure, they work "on top of" IE, but so what? Security shmecurity, there is no secure browser, and good spyware and antivirus tools are good enough for me.
posted on 11.10.2005 7:28 PM2
I don't know what to say about Pat Roberton's latest comments about Dover, other than;
I confess:
Pat Robertson is actually a plant by the Militant Homosexual Agenda Lobby to discredit and otherwise make Evangelical Christians look stupid. He was secretly replaced by a simulacrum many years ago during a precursor to the makeover Queer Eye for the Straight guy show. After many hormone treatments he was eventually turned into a militant lesbian feminist and now spends his/her time on a Commune farm in east Wisconsin wearing Birkenstock's composing Womyns folk music. Our first attempt at this dastardly plan was foiled because we couldn't find a robot that acted stupid enough to imitate him without people getting suspicious. We eventually settled on a wooden puppet instead affectionately named "Two-by-Four". Our Evil Plot continues.....
posted on 11.10.2005 7:59 PM3
#2 Gryph
I prefer to use Occam's Razor on this one, that Robertson's probably going senile.
posted on 11.11.2005 1:11 AM4
Thanks for the Firefox tip. The people that sat in browser darkness have seen a great light.
posted on 11.16.2005 10:56 AM