Software

Google Docs, and Zoho

What was Writely is now Google Docs. Sigh. They’ve combined it with the spreadsheet package, so they are available from the same screen – the homepage being effectively a file manager when you log in.

One criticism of Google when they buy things is that they don’t bother to integrate them properly with everything else – think Blogger, and until recently, Picasa. But with Writely, sorry, Google Docs, they have got rid of the nice Writely green and orange look and the end result is just really dull. I suppose it means that Gmail, Calendar and the two productivity apps all now share the same interface.

In other news on the online productivity front, the Zoho suite of online productivity apps now only needs on sign-in per application. Before, if I used Writer, and then needed to go into Sheet, I would have to log in twice. No more. Good stuff.

Living Without Microsoft

LWM is a great site, one that offers a different angle on the MS debate. Rather than being rabidly pro-Mac or Linux, it instead aims to offer sensible alternatives for those people who would rather not use MS software. Solutions like switching to Linux or a Mac are discussed, of course, but LWM acknowledges that it isn’t always feasible!

After a brief hiatus, I’m pleased to say that posts are now regularly being added again, and even more pleased to say that some of them will be contributed by me! I have had the odd post published before, but now I have joined John and Quentin and become a more regular member of the team. We are currently having a review of what the site is about and what direction it might move in in the future, which is exciting, and hopefully we will help plenty more people live without Microsoft in the future!

My recent posts: The AJAX Office and Living Without Microsoft: A Guide for Windows Users.

The site runs on WordPress and if you would like to contribute, you can leave comments in the usual way, or register and write a post yourself (these will be moderated). Alternatively, if you have ideas or suggestions for the site, drop me an email.

[tags]Living Without Microsoft[/tags]

A load of B.O.L.L.O.C.K.S.

Lee Hopkins, antipodean blogger extraordinaire and contributor to Shel and Neville‘s For Immediate Release podcast, and I have been bantering on various posts about the lack of an offline blog editor that, well, does what we want it to. This led me to make an utterly idiotic suggestion.

There was a recent flurry among the blogging PR community recently about the International Association of Nobodies – an organisation created to provide a refuge for any blogger who has been bullied by another. My suggestion was that we take the IAN as an example and set up our own group: Blogger’s Off Line League Of Content Kreation Systems (the use of K in kreation, is not, as some have suggested, a pathetic attempt to create a childish acronym, but instead a calculated PR move that will certainly add to our appeal to the kidz).

Sadly, I had no idea that Lee was as juvenile as I am. He is certainly giving this project the serious attention it most definitely does not deserve. For God’s sake, he’s even asking for logo designs! Of course, I couldn’t possibly resist that challenge.

Small Bollocks

I felt that the real requirement here was to create a logo that represented the serious and professional nature of B.O.L.L.O.C.K.S. and this certainly does that. I mean, it would look great on a t-shirt, don’t you think?

So, how far can B.O.L.L.O.C.K.S. go, exactly? As far as we can stretch them, I say. As Lee wrote:

Whenever I next hear young men using the phrase, I shall instantly know that they are talking about offline blog editors.

My thinking exactly.

[tags]B.O.L.L.O.C.K.S., Blogger’s Off Line League Of Content Kreation Systems[/tags]

ajaxTunes

ajaxTunes is the latest in the line of web based desktop replacement services from Michael Robertson.

It claims to be:

…a web-based media player that lets you play, pause, forward and rewind high-quality streaming music straight from the Internet on any computer. Try ajaxTunes immediately, it has been preloaded with a demo account containing more than 25 songs encoded at 192kbps from different albums and a great mix of playlists from select artists. Or, create your own music locker and choose from over 40,000 songs to create your personal playlists. ajaxTunes is a fully interactive application that will allow you to connect to hours of music, FREE.

To be honest, I am still not sure how it works. It says later on you can use something called www.sideload.com to add your own music to your portable library. This seems to be a step on from the other ajaxLaunch stuff which didn’t offer the chance of hosting files – they had to be saved on your PC or USB key – albeit via a third party.

It doesn’t seem to offer the ability to play music saved locally, which is a shame.

[tags]ajaxtunes[/tags]

Offline editor features

So, having had a look at a few offline blog editors, what stuff is missing from them all that would be nice to have?

How about being able to moderate and manage comments offline too? It seems dumb being able to post from an editor, only to have to log into your blog’s Admin screen to check on comments. It could make the editor a one-stop-shop for the day-to-day management of a blog.

[tags]offline editors[/tags]

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