Archive for June, 2005

Read newspaper frontpages from 44 countries for free

This is one of the best services ever! I always wanted to know other countries/cities’ headlines, or sometimes I just want to read the first page of the local newspaper.

Now Newseum has a world map (made in Macromedia Flash) which you can scroll through different areas around the world to get front pages in 44 countries. Currently there are over 400 front pages you can read everyday.

You… » Continue

June 30 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | 5 comments»

wikidPad - A wiki notepad for Windows

If you like to input your thoughts into Wiki format, you would want to software like GTDTiddlyWiki or online service like PeanutButterWiki. However most of the Wiki system are web based (both online and offine), sometimes it may not handy to open your browser or even need to online. There is a open source software called wikidPad which should able to solve this problem:

wikidPad is… » Continue

June 30 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | 2 comments»

How to overcome “GeekBlock”

Leon Bambrick over SecretGeek has created a new term called GeekBlock which is for programmers when one is stuck by a problem or lose movtivation. It is very similar to what writer calls Writer’s Block when one cannot produce any ideas or writing.

… I can think of three different situations which can give rise to the dreaded GeekBlock

1. You are stuck by a specific problem… » Continue

June 30 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | no comments»

How to rebuild your laptop battery

I like laptop, I can bring it to everywhere for online and doing my work. However it is not great when it is used for one or two years and its laptop battery life will usually be shorten. We can replace it but laptop’s battery is usually expensive. What are the solution? Replace the battery cells in the laptop battery ourselves! Engadget has a how-to guide on how to rebuild… » Continue

June 30 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | 7 comments»

All you need to know about Audible’s Podcast

Make: Blog has done a tutorial on getting Audible content through podcasting. It is very useful for periodic content as you do not need to go to Audible and download it every once in a while.

Last week while I was at Gnomedex Audible announced that they’re supporting the podcast way of delivering some of their content, in other words you can add a url (RSS feed) to a podcasting application… » Continue

June 29 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | no comments»

Crossroads Template

Douglas over a million monkeys typing has done another template which help you listing different paths and tasks to achieve a goal or bigger problem/task. It is sometimes useful because it forces you to brainstorm for alternatives even though you have one answer for a question. As Douglas quoted in Roger van Oech’s book Whack on the Side of the Head:

Much of our educational system has taught… » Continue

June 29 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | no comments»

A model on debriefing

After a project has been completed by your team, sometimes it is hard to conduct post-project analysis, or debriefing to just analyze what happened, review the outcome and see what improvements are needed for next project. How to conduct a effective debrief meeting? Bert Webb over Open Loops has written a article based on the model of Air Force debriefing to set out a structure on how to conduct one… » Continue

June 29 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | no comments»

Sleep (Why is it important) and its relationship to Productivity

Bert Webb over Open Loops has posted an great article on how sleep related to productivity. We see some successful people sleep only a few hours per night. Will we able to be sucessful if we follow the same method and get more hours by decreasing our sleeping hours?

Bert followed by discussing this maybe a mistake to think like this. We may develop sleep deprivation if we are not careful… » Continue

June 28 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | no comments»

iTunes 4.9 has been released to support Podcast

It is here! Apple has just released iTunes 4.9. You may not able to see it from Apple’s homepage yet (but they should update it soon), but if you go to iTune download page directly, you will able to download version 4.9, which has support for podcasts.

This is probably one of the application update that save you time if you are using ipod to listen… » Continue

June 28 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | 1 comment»

Seven tips towards faster web browsing

Jason Sweeney over his blog has posted seven tips on how to speed up your web browsing. They are:

Use Mozilla Firefox
Use Tabbed Browsing
Use Keyboard shortcuts
Use RSS and Bloglines.com
Use SuperDragAndGo
Use Find-as-you-Type
Use Keywords

Tips towards faster web browsing - [jason sweeney::blog]

» Continue

June 28 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | no comments»

A new service: RSS feed for your Calendar

There is a new tool called RSSCalendar which allows you to create a calendar and share it to people using RSS feeds (like daily, weekly, monthly, rolling 30-days, 3 months, whole year and all event feed). If you have your own blog or web site, you can also use RSSCalendar to publish your events or schedule. The interface is very usable as well.

… RSSCalendar is an… » Continue

June 27 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | no comments»

Google Command Line

It is more a geek tool but if you are familar with command line more, then Google command line tool may able to speed your search up. On top of normal search command, it also has some shortcuts for using Google services like translation, PDF search, specific OS searches etc.

/translate languages:language url - Translates text or an url using Google’s translate service. If you wish to translate an url, it

» Continue

June 27 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | no comments»

Improve your memory

There is a classic site called Memory Master which has a series of tutorials on improving your memory. It has different methods for remembering words, names, faces, numbers, speeches and even help you on playing cards. There is also a section on Reading, Studying, and Learning which should be very useful for some of us:

» Continue

June 27 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | 1 comment»

Tips: How to Convert VHS to DVD

DVD is a good media to preverse your moments on video. However sometimes your home videos maybe in VHS tapes because you are using camcorder or some other reasons. Here are some tips and how to convert the VHS to DVD, and also preserve its quality:

… If you transfer two hours of VHS to a DVD it can result in a significant loss of quality unless you have a high… » Continue

June 27 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | no comments»

The Meaning of Life

Steve Pavlina has done a great job again. Last week, he wrote a series of six articles on the meaning of life. What is your purpose of life? How should you act on your life? It is very important to find those answers for yourself - to find your purpose so that you can identify some goals and directions for your life.

What is the meaning of life? Why are… » Continue

June 26 2005 | By Leon | Tagged: | 1 comment»

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