Windows Vista Only: All too often, quick downloads and working under deadline leave documents, pictures, and other file types out of the specific folders so helpfully set up at installation. Free Vista sidebar widget The Magic Folder serves as a kind of maid for your file messes, automatically moving files you drop on it to their correct folders based on file extensions. The widget can be modified to move files to your own folder setups (allowing for some Getting-Things-Done-style filing, perhaps), but the neatest aspect is the option to have it watch a folder you choose and do its file-organizing magic whenever a new file appears. The Magic Folder is a free download for Windows Vista only.
Grab Text for your TiddlyWiki with TiddlySnip
Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Eliminate another step on your path to wiki-based organization with TiddlySnip, a free Firefox extension. Once you’ve configured TiddlySnip to point at your wiki, online at TiddlySpot or off, you can submit entire web pages, your clipboard contents, or just the text you’ve selected to it, with custom tags and duplicate prevention. For those wondering what’s with all the tiddly talk, TiddlyWiki is a one-page, one-file personal wiki that you can bring anywhere and type away at to contain your thoughts, projects, and anything else. I’ve already started using TiddlySnip to store away StumbleUpon discoveries for later and pare down my lengthy list of del.icio.us bookmarks, but I’ve only just begun.
Reserve Space from Maximized Windows with DesktopCoral
Windows only: With the increasing popularity of sidebar gadgets/widgets, dock applications like RocketDock and ObjectDock, and other desktop integration applications like Samurize, a maximized window can cover a lot more than you want it to. Donationware application DesktopCoral reserves desktop space and prevents maximized applications from covering your reserved screen real estate. Just run the app and define the area you want restricted from maximized apps. From now on, any maximized window will stay off your reserved screen area, letting you go big with apps without covering the desktop space you want access to. DesktopCoral is donationware, Windows only, requires a free license key.
Fake Steve Jobs on Android: “It’s Not a Phone, It’s an Alliance”
Fake Steve’s lengthy stream of bile laying waste to the Google Phone isn’t simply pure invective, it’s actually a mostly well-reasoned indictment of coalitions that trumpets the values of “one vision, one man, one genius.” It’s worth reading in its entirety, but this is our favorite quote:
The only companies that join consortia are the ones who are too stupid or shitty to make a great product on their own. It’s like, Hey, we’ve got forty spazzo companies that can’t fuck their way out of a paper bag; let’s put them all together and maybe they’ll magically become some kind of big bad powerhouse.
There are, of course, numerous cons to the singular “hand of God” approach, but the problems with consortia that FSJ lays out are real. It’s hard for everyone to agree, and rarely do all involved push for the “greater good” at their individual expense. It might be different this time around, but with so much at stake, martyrs for the Alliance probably won’t exactly be lining up. And oh yeah, there’s no phone to wrap our hands around yet. [FSJ via Daring Fireball]
An alliance with who? and for what reason? I would love to find out more!!
Gmail Macros Updates for New Gmail, Adds Productivity Shortcut
Firefox with Greasemonkey: Bring the keyboard shortcut glory of Gmail Macros back to your updated Gmail account with the new and improved Gmail Macros Greasemonkey script. Whether you grew to love the Gmail Macros script through its integration with our very own Better Gmail Firefox extension or you’ve always used it with Greasemonkey and have been aching for it back ever since Gmail updated and broke Macros, the new script from Google Reader developer Mihai Parparita promises to restore your favorite Gmail shortcut tool.As an added bonus for the productivity set, the script has added a new shortcut (f) that will focus the current view. That is, pressing ‘f’ from a Followup label will display all unread, starred, or messages that are also in the inbox. The Gmail Macros script is free to install, requires Greasemonkey. This also means that Better Gmail enthusiasts can eventually expect restored support for Gmail Macros. That snappy new Gmail is beginning to look really attractive.
