Google launches desktop search

Get it now – the Google desktop, a means to search through files, emails, instant messenger conversations and your browser cache. My quick run through with it last night shows that it knocks the socks off the search feature in Windows XP. In combination with Google’s web search capabilities, this desktop app could be a […]

Paint Shop Pro acquired by Corel

Jasc Software, maker of the venerable graphics program Paint Shop Pro, has been acquired by Corel, publisher of CorelDraw and WordPerfect. Jasc recently announced version 9 of Paint Shop Pro. Yesterday, Corel issued a press release announcing the acquisition. Corel also published a letter to customers on Jasc’s website, using it as an opportunity to […]

Cool RSS web stickies

Playing with an interesting little web app – Webnote. Here’s what it is: Webnote is a tool for taking notes on your computer. It allows you to quickly write something down during a meeting, class, or any other time that you have a web browser available. You start by creating a workspace and creating notes […]

Google Desktop looks a winner

Since the new Google Desktop search tool was announced last week (see post), I’ve been using it exclusively when I need to search for a particular file or email on my PC. No question – this beats Windows XP’s search function hands down, as I mentioned in my post last week. It’s pretty intuitive and […]

The joys of hard disk failure

This morning, the hard drive on my primary laptop PC failed. Not a sudden failure, more a gradual grinding down over a period of time. The signals had been there since last week, now I think about it. Peculiar noises from the computer (a heavily-customized Toshiba Satellite 5105-S701), hard disk activity when there really shouldn’t […]

Two cool things re Gmail

Since starting with Gmail, I’ve found two very cool things: 1. Gmail address/signature graphic generator. I’ve noticed a little graphic on a number of blogs that shows an email address, all done in a nice way with the Gmail logo. I want one of those, too! So I found this great site that generates your […]

Making Windows how you want it

So I was reading a post by Jeff Sandquist, linked from Scoble, about the forthcoming Konfabulator for Windows, a port of the rather neat Mac OS X app that lets you run widgets on your desktop (details about Konfabulator here). Of course, Mac users have had access to such cool tools for ages. But so […]

Green light for Oracle

The European Commission has given Oracle an unconditional green light to go ahead with its takeover of Peoplesoft, BBC News reports. The move clears one of the last hurdles for Oracle in the $7.7 billion hostile acquisition attempt of its competitor in the enterprise software market. Earlier this month, regulators in the US had reached […]

Get your del.icio.us bookmarks into Firefox

If you have a bookmark/favorites collection in the excellent del.icio.us online social bookmarks manager, and you use the Firefox browser, here’s a very neat Firefox extension that enables you to integrate your del.icio.us collection into your Firefox bookmarks. Dietrich Ayala| Foxylicious – Firefox and del.icio.us bookmark integration Thanks to Robin Good for the news. Additional […]

Damn small Linux

Forget putting just Firefox on your USB flash drive when you can put the whole operating system on it. If you use Linux, you can do this. Tuxme.com: Your Linux Information Source | Linux on your USB key (Via Neowin)

In two minds about Google Desktop

I’ve been using Google Desktop since it came out a few weeks ago. But I’m not convinced that it’s all it’s cracked up to be. There’s a great deal to like about it. It’s extremely simple and easy to use: if you use Google for web searches, then you’ll know how to use it on […]

Personalized search from Google

Following my earlier post today about Google Desktop, here’s info about Google Personalized Search. From the FAQ: Google Personalized web search delivers custom search results that are based on a profile you create describing your interests. […] Google Personalized web search is currently available in test mode on Google Labs, where you can create and […]

The net groans under the strain

So are the US elections to blame for internet connectivity issues today? Since mid afternoon Central European Time today (early morning US Eastern time), I’ve seen difficulties in connecting to a number of blogs and websites in the US. Lots of time-outs, and some “site doesn’t exist” error messages re sites that I know do […]

Konfabulator comes to Windows

More tools for customizing your Windows with the launch today of Konfabulator for Windows, a port of the rather neat Mac OS X app that lets you run widgets on your desktop. Konfabulator for Windows download page. 8Mb installation file. Free to try, $25 to buy. Good article in eWeek about Konfabulator’s history. eWeek | […]