How to Get Audiobooks Onto Your Zune – and Off Again

Although I am a professional writer and blogger, although I keep up with the latest tech trends, although I am, might I say, something of a geek, I do not iPod. I don’t even iPhone. This is not a political nor even a religious position, it is simply the Way That It Is. When Microsoft released the Zune, I scoffed. Until one day, I sauntered past the Zune display at… Continue reading

July 3 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: audiobook, hack, media-player, reading, zune | no comments»

Linux for Children

I recently took possession of a pair of older PCs – the natural consequence of nagging one’s older relatives to get something a little more “post-Columbian” – and of course my first instinct is to refurbish one as a Linux PC for my nephew and niece, ages 7 and 5. My nephew, especially, is computer-obsessed, and I figure that giving him a complete child-friendly, education-focused PC might… Continue reading

June 29 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: children, computer, education, linux, parenting, pc, school, student | 9 comments»

10 More from the Webware 100

Last week, I looked at the apps chosen by CNet for the productivity section of the Webware 100. There were, however, 10 other sections – 9 categories of apps voted for as top in their class and an extra categories of apps chosen by the editors at CNet. This week, I want to look at a selection of applications from the rest of the Webware 100… Continue reading

June 4 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: backup, image-editing, online, search, software, sync, twitter, web-app, webware-100 | 6 comments»

The Case for Online Word Processors

It's no secret I am a fan of online word processors -- computing in the cloud is just the thing for a guy like me who (I'm told) is apt to find his head in the clouds as well. I'm writing this on Google Docs, and have made no secret of my love for Adobe's Buzzword (which unfortunately seems to have some issues on the computer I'm using… Continue reading

March 20 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: online-app, tool, web-app, web2.0, word processor, writer, writing | 23 comments»

5 Mac OS X RSS Readers Worth Giving a Shot

There was once a time when my favorite RSS reader cost a fair but not insignificant price and the open source alternative wasn't up-to-snuff. I won't name any names, though you can probably deduce their identities by ruffling through some articles I wrote before I switched to a decent web-based solution (not all of us are able to resist the tides of trends and time, y'know). There are probably a whole… Continue reading

March 16 2009 | By Joel | Tagged: | 11 comments»

8 Replacements for Google Notebook

Last week, Google announced that it will be ending "active development" for Google Notebook. More than a few people are upset about the decision: Google Notebook's Firefox extension made it a favorite for keeping track of all sorts of notes. With the end of active development, Google Notebook won't be immediately closed down (at least for active users) but its extension will probably quit working with the next major upgrade… Continue reading

January 20 2009 | By Thursday | Tagged: google, notebook | 32 comments»

Productivity, Relying on Technology & Redundancy

Your computer crashes. It won't start up again. What do you do? Nothing productive. The morning's wasted, the technician comes and tells you that you need a new hard drive, and your afternoon's gone too while you go shopping for a new one.

There are a million variations of this scenario. We put ourselves in a precarious position when we rely totally and completely on technology to maintain our productivity systems… Continue reading

January 7 2009 | By Joel | Tagged: contexts, disconnection, internet, Productivity, redundancy | 6 comments»