Tasks, Notes and Bookmarks with GMail

Gmail latest Priority Mail remained me again how I love and enjoy using Gmail every day. It is a great piece of technology and Google constantly improving it – excellent way to keep loyal users’ community.

I’m using Gmail for my private e-mails only while at work I’m using MS Outlook for everything else: work correspondence, notes, to-do/tasks, contacts, calendar etc. Both Outlook and Google web apps have separate solutions for keeping your records. Attempts have made to integrate for example task and calendar, but IMO they mostly insufficient or too complex to implement and follow on the daily basis.

So here was my original problem: How to keep track of my private notes, bookmarks, tasks etc. without installing too much software, accessible everywhere, simple to use.

I liked Google’s Tasks that is already embedded into Gmail however it still gives very limited functionality. I want much more! How come that I cannot search my task?! And even if there is an option to do so, since I didn’t find it yet, it is irrelevant :-) Missing text reach formatting, tagging and other already basic features make it premature. Maybe next release will close this gap, hopefully…

I try some other Google products: Notebook (discontinued), Wave (discontinued), Google Docs, Calendar and iGoogle. None of them were up to the challenge. Although I liked many features, again I looked for an integrative solution.

Back to the Gmail, my weapon of choice: e-mails, search, labels, filters, chat, contacts and most importantly I’m already using it every day, all day! It is just there and it is always ON.

So, the next question was how to adopt Gmail for handling tasks, notes and bookmarks. Developing a sidebar gadget looks promising but due to the time constraint I choose to look for a quicker alternative. The solution I found here uses bookmarklets for creating in-context e-mails and managing them in Gmail with filters and tags. It is very simple and effective. You can use the original solution or adopt mine enhancements as described below.

Disclaimer: no support is guaranteed. All the below examples were tested in FireFox 3.6.9 on Windows XP.
Modifications:

• encodeURIComponent – solves the problem of passing the plus sign ‘+’ in the e-mails with format like ‘yourgmail+bookmark@gmail.com’
• to_type – script parameter, for easy update, you can copy working bookmarklet  and update just this parameter at the begging of the script
• simplified versions for Note and To-Do, pop-ups the e-mail form with the relevant TO: address without putting a subject or context

Now, you can drag the links (GBookmark ,GNote, GTo-Do) to the Firefox bookmarks toolbar, modify the 'yourgmail' to the username you have and this is it!

GBookmark - opens an e-mail form with yourgmail+bookmark@gmail.com as the destination address, use the page name as its subject and copy the URL and the selected text.

javascript:to_type='bookmark';popw='';Q='';x=document;y=window;if(x.selection)%20{Q=x.selection.createRange().text;}%20else%20if%20(y.getSelection)%20{Q=y.getSelection();}%20else%20if%20(x.getSelection)%20{Q=x.getSelection();}popw%20=%20y.open('https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to='%20+%20encodeURIComponent("yourgmail+")%20+%20escape(to_type)%20+%20escape("@gmail.com")%20+%20'&su='%20+%20escape(x.title)%20+%20'&body='%20+%20escape(Q)%20+%20escape('\n')%20+%20escape(location.href)%20+%20'&zx=RANDOMCRAP&shva=1&disablechatbrowsercheck=1&ui=1','gmailForm','scrollbars=yes,width=680,height=510,top=175,left=75,status=no,resizable=yes');if%20(!x.all)%20T%20=%20setTimeout('popw.focus()',50);void(0);

GNote - opens an e-mail form with yourgmail+note@gmail.com as the destination address

javascript:to_type='note';popw='';popw%20=%20window.open('https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to='%20+%20encodeURIComponent("yourmail+")%20+%20escape(to_type)%20+%20escape("@gmail.com")%20+%20'&su=&shva=1&disablechatbrowsercheck=1&ui=1','gmailForm','scrollbars=yes,width=680,height=510,top=175,left=75,status=no,resizable=yes');void(0);

GTo-Do - opens an e-mail form with yourgmail+todo@gmail.com as the destination address

javascript:to_type='todo';popw='';popw%20=%20window.open('https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to='%20+%20encodeURIComponent("yourmail+")%20+%20escape(to_type)%20+%20escape("@gmail.com")%20+%20'&su=&shva=1&disablechatbrowsercheck=1&ui=1','gmailForm','scrollbars=yes,width=680,height=510,top=175,left=75,status=no,resizable=yes');void(0);

Links to the used resources:

• http://dep.posterous.com/how-to-turn-gmail-in-to-the-ultimate-social-b - original post that triggered my investigation
• http://contrapants.org/blog/2005/07/gmailthis.html - original GMailThis, includes many practical Q&As in the comments section
• http://nikak.blogspot.com/2005/12/txt-gmailthis-modified-for-bookmarking.html - additional GMailThis mod with some ideas that I reused.
• http://www.firefoxfacts.com - nice blog about Fire Fox tools, add-ons etc.

המילה האחרונה ישרות לנוקיה

כבר כמה חודשים אני לא מפספס אף תוכנית של "המילה האחרונה" המשודרת בגלי צה"ל. מרתק, אפילו שאני לא תמיד מסכים עם הנאמר... אבל הפוסט הזה לא על התוכנית עצמה אלה על הדרך לשמוע אותה. התוכנית משודרת בימי חול בין 11:00 ל-12:00, כבנאדם עובד, אפילו בעבודה משרדית, שעה זו לחוצה ואי אפשר פשוט להתנתק, לעזוב את הכול ולהתמסר לתוכנית (לא שלא ניסיתי...). אז איך בכול זאת?

לשמחתי אני לא לבד ובין מעריצי התוכנית יש כמה, ובראשם גלטזזז, שמקליטים את כל התוכנית ומפרסמים אותה ברשת! כחצי שעה אחרי סיום השידור כבר ניתן להוריד את קובץ התוכנית. אני שומע את ההקלטות בדרך מעבודה ולעבודה וזה מעביר את הזמן הפקקים בצורה מושלמת.

בהתחלה הייתי מורד את הקובץ למחשב ואז מעביר אותו לטלפון הנייד שלי, N95, אך אחרי מעבר הפורומים ל-START
ראיתי שישRSS ועלה לי רעיון הבא: למה לא להוריד את התוכניות ישירות לנייד? ובכן, זה הצליח לא רע ואם מישהו מעוניין, בכמה צעדים יחסית פשוטים תוכלו לקבל את התוכנית ישירות למכשיר הנייד בבית, בעבודה או בבית קפה עם גישת WiFi חינם (עזר לי במילואים, באמת).

1. ראשית כול, הפתרון מבוסס כולו על התוכנה Podcasting המותקנת במכשירי נוקיה החדשים. למי שאין נוקיה, אני בטוח שגם ללא התוכנה אפשר לרשום כתובת RSS ולהשתמש באותו רעיון, אך תצטרכו לחקור זאת לבד...

2. פותחים את ה- Podcasting ואז נכנסים לתיקיית ה- Podcasts

3. באפשרויות (Options) בוחרים בהוספת פודקסט חדש (New Podcast).

4. רשמו את הכתובת של RSS.

טיפ: אפשר לעתיק את הכתובת בדפדפן, לשמור על PC כ-SMS או תזכורת וכך להעביר לנייד שלכם. משם נשאר רק לעתיק ולהדביק בתוך ה Podcasting.

הכתובת של RSS היא: http://i.start.co.il/forums/rss.aspx?ForumID=348&PostID=8085

5. על מנת לקבל את הפוסטים האחרונים, בחרו "Update". בדקו אפשרויות של התוכנה, ניתן להגדיר עדכון אוטומטי, נקודות גישה וכו'. שימו לב שאתם משתמשים בסוג תקשורת הנכון. WiFi בדרכך-כלל לא יעלה לכם כלום. 3Gו-Internet 3G – יעבוד גם אך תלוי בתוכנית שיש לכם עם ספק הטלפון. זהירות: יכול להיות יקר אם אין לכם תוכנית מתאימה.

6. הפוסטים יופיעו ברשימה, אחרונים למעלה. בחרו רשומה לפתיחה.

7. הדף עם הלינק לקובץ יופיע בדפדפן. לחצו על הלינק.

8. פרטי הקובץ להורדה מוצגים, לתחילת ההורדה לחצו OK.

9. בזמן ההורדה תוכלו לראות את התקדמותה.

10. בסיום ההורדה תקבלו הודעה "Complete". בחרו באפשרויות (Options)

11. בחרו "Save" , אל תפתחו את הקובץ מתוך דפדפן, הוא לא יודע להשמיע קבצי WMA.

12. בחרו את המקום לשמירת הקובץ.

13. טיפ: אם נעלם לכם פתום הקובץ שהורדתם לפני שהספקתם לשמור אותו, אל תדאגו, Options --> Downloadsוהקובץ שוב יופיע.

14. ריפרשו את הנגן המדיה והחלו לשמוע את ההקלטה

תודות:

ל"גלטזזז" על השקעה והתמדה, על זה שמאפר לרבים כמוני להנאות מהתוכנית בשעות שנוח לי.

Antony Pranata – על התוכנה שהקלה על יצירת מדריך זה.

http://www.antonypranata.com/screenshot

Tools: Free Download Manager

I like it and I want to recommended to everyone the download manager application:



Free Download Manager

Nice blog

Nice blog with lots of interesting articles and posts on software, tools, N95 etc.

http://www.hm2k.com/

Google Modules Interoperability

I like using Google tools. GMail is effectively my primary e-mail for private, work unrelated correspondence, I use PicasaWeb for albums, YouTube for videos, Blogger and lately I've started to play with Google Maps.
Eventually I believe I'll manage to combine all these wonderful capabilities and achieve one simple task: post on the blog a photo (easy) and show the reader the location this photograph was taken. It is possible and I'll try to do it in this post, but unfortunately, the steps to compete such task are not trivial and requires some preliminary knowledge. I do have some photographs with location information in EXIF (taken by Nokia N95 using geotag) and I wish there was something able to get and use this information from the file. Apparently, Flicker doing it but I didn't find anything like it in Google yet. Picasaweb allows you to put your picture on the map and then you can switch your album into map view where all pictures will be placed in context on the map. Not exactly what I'm looking for but this is nice step in the right direction. It seems that Panoramio is more suitable and it's Google too, but I'll give it a try another time. Also, this could be just too much for me to go over four (?) different modules to accomplish what seems to be so simple. What about just a Blogger what they call it, widget, facet or whatever that will show an image and if it has location in its EXIF will also show a map or a button that will open a div with a map in it? Simple challenge, is it not?

Anyway, until we find something less complex, let's put the next building on the map!

1. I started from writing this blog post and added a photograph to using the Blogger web based editor. The actual file is kept on the special folder in my picasaweb account.
2. Using the same Blogger editor, I switch to HTML (tab Edit Html) and copy the code for the inserted image.
3. Next step was creating a new map in Google Maps and adding a placemark at the right location.
4. At the placemark description, I switched to HTML and paste the code of the image from the Blogger post. Now the placemark has its description with embedded image. Both Blogger post and the map placemark point to the same image file stored in the picasaweb. Follow the link to see the placemark on the Google Maps. It's easy to create such link, just press "Link to this page" in the right-up corner of the map and you'll have two options: http link or html code for embedded map which I'm pasting below to complete the primary task: show photograph location in the blog. Mission accomplished!

View Larger Map

QR Code

There's a barcode reader on the N95 and I've created my own barcode (with the great help of http://qrcode.kaywa.com/). Anyone can scan/read or maybe guess what is coded in it?
More about the technology could be found by the next links:
http://mobilecodes.nokia.com/scan.htm
http://www.kaywa.com/
http://reader.kaywa.com/

The next step of this technology is the colorized version of it. Looks much better, right?
http://www.colorzip.co.jp/en/about/gallery.html

Just in case, I did another UPC barcode too. Maybe I’ll find scanner for it as well?

Office 2007: Change to multi-line layout

I love the Office invention with 'arrange by conversation' view which provides canonical arrangement of the correspondence.

Today it suddenly disappeared or changed its looks. The reason was due to increase of the screen resolution in doc station, so the multi-line layout changed to single-line. I spent some time trying to solve it myself, but go figure these wonders… Eventually, googling with "Office 2007 arrange by" lead me to the next tip:

~~~~~~
Multi-line layout is only available in a table view type.

1. On the View menu, point to Arrange By, and then click Custom.
2. Click Other Settings.
3. Under Other Options, do one of the following:
   • To always use multi-line layout, select Always use multi-line layout.

     If this option is unavailable, clear the Use multi-line layout in widths smaller than n characters check box, and then select Always use multi-line layout.

• To specify the width at which Microsoft Outlook switches to single-line layout to show more fields, select the Use multi-line layout in widths smaller than n characters check box, and then type the number you want for n.

Source: Microsoft Online,
see also: Arrange by Conversation on the same site

Look and feel change in Office 2007

I find where Microsoft hides the look and feel change of Outlook 2007! If you don't want to read all the next bla-bla you can skip until the instructions block and find how to do the change.

But first thing, first...

Since its introduction I like using Windows XP look and feel except one problem – the blue default color scheme. It was just too colorful for me and I started immediately to look for alternatives. No, Windows platform is a given in my place, no alternatives here. I looked for a neutral and still modern look for my working station. Surprisingly quick enough I was found just everything I asked for: Silver scheme was there from the beginning and simple configuration via Control Panel > Display > Appearance > Color Scheme – is almost everything I change from the default installation (except maybe the annoying task grouping…)

Screen shot of the Windows XP Silver Color Scheme

Years, this setting was sufficient until our IT decided to upgrade to Office 2007. Of course, I liked the opportunity to play with the new toy and also I heard before about the enormous effort invested in the usability of that version. On the other hand, I'm heavy Office user these days and basically without my corporate e-mail and Word I can cover very little of my work responsibilities. After a week or two of struggle I decided that the adaptation is unavoidable and I have to learn to use this Office sooner or letter and better is sooner. With almost religious trust in the IT guys I started the upgrade and today after several months I think this was good decision. Better productivity, nice environment, sexy look. Sexy look, hmmm… well, no, not perfect.

One again the default color scheme! I don't know how Microsoft make these defaults, maybe they use psychologist advice for targeting some special group or segment? For my taste, and I see it also in some others, these colorful fancy themes sweet more a teenager then a corporate user. Make it nice, but make it less clamorous. The focus of user should be on the presented content and not on the fames, buttons, icons and other UI controls surrounding and embedded in the content.

But, no worry, I know the solution, right? Well, this is true, but unfortunately the first program from the Office 2007 I started to use was Outlook. Yes, the Outlook default color scheme was blue so I've opened the Options tab and started to look for the place where I'll be able to change it to something more acceptable. After endless overview of all the tabs and sub-options and advice settings and again and again I failed to find it! RTFM attempt, search the help didn't bring the desired result either.

Then it's just hit me: what if I check for the Word options? What if this will affect all the Office programs? I don't know how this idea reached my mind, I don't know how this idea reached the mind of Microsoft engineers, but here is the result of my research:

INSTRUCTIONS:

To change the color scheme of all Office 2007 programs you can open Word file > Office Button > Word Options > Popular Tab > Color Scheme. This change will affect also color scheme of Outlook. I'm advising to choose 'Silver' which looks very nice with XP silver color scheme.

Screen shot of the Office 2007 Silver Color Scheme

Configuring Beyond Compare for Excel files

The simple way to compare MS Excel (xls) and even MS Excel 2007 (xlsx) files using Beyond Compare 2.

First of all, you need installation of MS Excel and Beyond Compare. This tip is prepared and tested with BC version 2.4
The comparison of excel files is possible due to additional viewer rules. The catalog of such rules could be found at the official home site of Beyond Compare (http://www.scootersoftware.com/) >> Download >> Miscellaneous Downloads >> Additional Rules definitions (for BC 2.1 and later) or just use the following direct link http://www.scootersoftware.com/download.php?c=kb_morerules. The page has many different rules definitions and you may find interest in other rules posted there.
Download the next rule definition. From its description you can guess the way it’s working. For more details you can see the readme file inside the downloaded zip.
MS Excel, 14-Sep-2006 v1.0.3, Download 2kb

Installation instructions:
1) Extract all files in MSExcel.zip into: C:\Program Files\Beyond Compare 2
TIP: If you want to be able comparing Excel 2007 files (*.xlsx) you need to modify the original rule definition by adding new extension for the same handling:
a) Make a copy of C:\Program Files\Beyond Compare 2\MSExcel\MSExcel.xml file and name it MSExcel2007.xml
b) Open the file MSExcel2007.xml with any text editor and modify the next line to include *.xlsx string
The line before the change includes: "*.xls"
The line after the change should include: "*.xls;*.xlsx"
2) Run Beyond Compare and from the "Tools" menu select "Import Settings...".

3) In "Select import file", enter the name of the rules file:
C:\Program Files\Beyond Compare 2\MSExcel\MSExcel.xml (or, if you prepared, MSExel2007.xml)
Click "Next". In the "Pick rules to import" list, "MS Excel" and "MS Excel Formulas" should be checked. Click "Next" again, then click "Finish" to import the rules.

Use:
1) Whenever you load a pair of XLS files in the file viewer Beyond Compare will now display a comparison of the text.

2) To compare formulas in cells, select ToolsPick RulesMS Excel Formulas.