Open office 3.0

Liked open office 2.0 is it? ... lake a look at version 3.0 .... amazing ... and for microsoft buffs, grow up and start using opensource stuff...

Free, alternative office suite OpenOffice.org's latest version 3.0 is now available for download by testers. OpenOffice.org 3.0 Release Candidate 1 offers several new features and improvements from its last major release, including better Mac support and collaboration capabilities. Let's take a look at the notable features so you can decide if it's worth taking another look at OpenOffice.org as an alternative to Microsoft Office.

The most immediately noticeable change is the splash screen called the Start Center when you launch OpenOffice.org. From the Start Center, you select which portion of OpenOffice.org you want to use. The Start Center is shown above in the opening screenshot.

Mac OS X users will be pleased with 3.0, because support for OS X is even more robust. OpenOffice.org 3.0 works right out of the box with minimal fuss. Another bonus for OS X users: features that were dropped from the Mac version of Microsoft Office such as the spreadsheet Solver and VBA support are included in the Mac version of OpenOffice.org.

OpenOffice.org already supports the upcoming OpenDocument Format 1.2, allowing you to save your documents in ODF for a bit of future proofing. OpenDocument Format is supported by organizations and governments in more than 60 countries.

For Microsoft Office files you currently have on hand, OpenOffice.org will import and read them, but it cannot save them back into Microsoft Office format if you make changes. Be forewarned that while the importer won't change the words or turn your English sonnet into a Japanese haiku, it is an imperfect beast and won't be gentle with your formatting options.

In the past, the crop and other drawing tools weren't very polished or intuitive to use. The tools have been revised, and simple things like cropping a picture within a presentation slideshow or document have become much easier as the layout and functionality of the tools more closely mimics standard interfaces the user has already encountered.

Spreadsheet collaboration is now possible among multiple editors with the Workbook Sharing feature. The spreadsheet has also been expanded, so users can now have up to 1024 columns of data compared with the 256 available to previous OpenOffice.org users.

In the same vein of collaboration, note taking on Writer documents is now much more usable. Different editors get different colors to help keep the note taking and editing process more streamlined. The author note location shifted from the document text itself to the margin, similar to Microsoft Word, greatly improving readability.

The improved chart engine is not exclusive to OpenOffice.org 3.0 RC1, it is new since the last major release of OpenOffice.org, which now renders charts more quickly and with greater options than before.

OpenOffice.org 3.0 offers enhanced support for PDF files, allowing you greater control over security, printing, and editing options. You can set passwords for opening and editing, restrict permissions on the file, select how the file can be printed and at what resolution, and control who can alter your documents.

Like other great open source projects such as Firefox, Open Office has support for extensions to allow you to tweak the software as you see fit. The Open Office Extension Repository is filled with everything from dictionaries to templates to file import wizards to code formatting tools.

iTunes 8

Its apple again, comin up with some exciting new features in iTunes 8 ... Herez some data I collected ... chk it out...

Apple announces that the next major version of iTunes will be available for download sometime today. iTunes 8 is not jam-packed with new functionality, but the new Genius feature—which boasts smart, automatic playlist creation—has us madly refreshing theiTunes download page. Let's take a closer look at what you can expect from the new iTunes and how it can improve your digital music experience.

Genius Playlists

The most significant new feature is the new Genius Playlists, a feature that promises to create great playlists for you based on the music in your library. You choose a song, tell iTunes you want it to create a Genius Playlist from that song, and it takes care of the rest. The Genius feature works by analyzing the music in your library and suggesting songs that it thinks will go well with that song. We've seen similar tools before as third-party iTunes add-ons (like previously mentioned Soundflavor DJ and The Filter), so this isn't all that new, but this one is built right into iTunes. As Jason from Gizmodo points out, it's essentially Pandora for your own music library.

In addition to the Genius Playlist creation, this feature also introduces a new Genius Sidebar, which actually looks much more like a rebranding of the mini store in the sidebar. If you're concerned about Apple snagging all your listening habits with the Genius sidebar—well, you're partially right. Apple is collecting stats to improve the smarts of their Genius, but it's all anonymous.

Genius playlist building has also been built directly into your iPod, so you create those "genius" playlists on the go.

Grid View

The second new feature is Grid View, an iPhoto-like way to browse your music library by albums. The Grid view looks a lot like an iPhoto layout, and it provides a way to browse your music library by album without the need to switch to the full-on, graphics-intense Cover Flow.

How to best use Google Chrome

Well now ... u hav used Google chrome for over a week now, ... but hav u used it to its fullest??? I have compiled up some info on how to actually use chrome to its best... Its pretty interesting... chk it out...

Mousing Around Chrome

Despite its marketing as a minimalistic browser that forgoes all the extras, Chrome's interface actually sports quite a few useful features. Here are a few that will speed up your browsing with the mouse even more:

• Click and hold (or right-click) the Back or Forward button to go directly to a page far behind or forward in your browsing history.
• When you've got a URL on your clipboard, right-click Chrome's address bar to Paste and goto your destination (and save yourself an extra tap on the Enter key).
• Click and drag any textarea corner to resize it to your liking; great for blog comments, web email, or forums with textareas that aren't big enough to accommodate your masterpiece.
• Ctrl+Mousewheel to zoom in or out of pages in Chrome.
• Drag and drop downloads out of Chrome's status bar and onto your desktop to save them there, or into any Explorer window to save them there. (You already know you can drag and drop a Chrome tab out into a new window, or back into an existing Chrome window to dock it there.)

Chrome's Keyboard Shortcuts

If you're not much for the mouse, you're in luck: Google Chrome has lots of built-in keyboard shortcuts, many of which mirror Firefox's—so you don't have to retrain your fingers. Here are a few of our favorites:

• (Chrome only) Ctrl+B toggles the bookmarks bar on and off.
• (Chrome only) Shift+Escape opens Google Chrome's Task Manager.
• Ctrl+L to move your cursor to the address bar.
• Ctrl+K moves your cursor to the address bar to enter a Google search.
• Ctrl+T opens a new tab.
• Ctrl+N opens a new window.
• Ctrl+Shift+T opens the last closed tab.
• (Chrome only) Ctrl+Shift+N opens a new window in "Incognito Mode."
• Ctrl+Tab cycles through open tabs; Ctrl+Shift+Tab reverse cycles through open tabs.
• Ctrl+J opens the Downloads tab.
• Ctrl+W closes the current tab.
• Ctrl+R refreshes the current page.
• Ctrl+H opens the History tab.
• Alt+Home loads your homepage.
• Ctrl+1 through 9 switches to a particular open tab position.
• Ctrl++, Ctrl+-, Ctrl+0 Enlarges, reduces, and restores default text sizes, respectively.

Tweak Your Options

Hit up Chrome's Options dialog (click on the wrench, and choose Options) to customize Chrome's behavior even more.

• Set multiple tab as your home page. While Chrome's default thumbnail page of your most visited sites is pretty cool, you might want to just skip that step and set the browser to open certain tabs every time. Like firefox, Chrome can set several tabs as your homepage. In the Options' dialog Basics area, under "Open the following pages," enter the URLs.
• Open the last session's tabs automatically. Also like Firefox, Chrome can automatically restore the tabs from your last browser session. In that same Options area as above, just select "Restore the pages that were open last."
• Add the home button to your toolbar. Chrome's toolbar is pretty sparse by design, but once you've set your homepage(s), you might want to get to them in one click. In the Options dialog's Basics tab, you can also check off "Show Home button on the toolbar."
• Set your default Downloads save location. Also in Options—but under the "Minor Tweaks" tab—you can set Chrome's default download location to something other than the "My Documents" folder.

Master Chrome's Startup Switches

Like all good open source software, Chrome comes with a long list of "startup switches"—that is, parameters you can use when you launch the program to customize its behavior. While most of the switches are only useful to developers, a handful let power users do some handy stuff.

Quick primer: To use a startup switch, create a new Chrome shortcut on your desktop (or elsewhere). Right-click it and choose Properties. In the Target field, add the switch in question immediately following the path to chrome.exe. For example, your target using a -disable-java switch might look like:

"C:\Documents and Settings\gina\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" -disable-java

Here are some things you can do with Chrome's startup switches.

Tweak the number of suggestions the address bar offers. Increase or reduce the number of suggestions in the address bar drop-down using the -omnibox-popup-count switch. For example, to increase it to 10 suggestions, use -omnibox-popup-count=10.

Create and maintain multiple user profiles. Since Chrome learns so much from your usage patterns, you might want to create more than one user personality based on the task at hand. For example, you can set up a "work Chrome" and a "play Chrome" user profile (like you can with Firefox's user profiles). While Chrome doesn't offer a handy utility to create new profiles like Firefox does, all it takes is creating a new user directory, and then using Chrome's --user-data-dir startup switch to point it there. The Digital Inspiration blog runs down how to create and use multiple profiles in Chrome.

Speed up browsing by disabling functionality. When you want to surf Flash-free, Java-free, or even Javascript-free (even though that's not really the point of Chrome, but whatever), there's a list of -disable Chrome startup switches that can block plug-ins, content, or features you don't want, like:

-disable-dev-tools
-disable-hang-monitor
-disable-images
-disable-java
-disable-javascript
-disable-logging
-disable-metrics
-disable-metrics-reporting
-disable-plugins
-disable-popup-blocking
-disable-prompt-on-repost

Always start Chrome in a maximized window. Take advantage of all that screen real estate you've got with Chrome. Using the -start-maximized startup switch, the browser will fill your screen on launch, automatically.

Themes

Dress up Google Chrome to your liking by downloading a Chrome theme and saving itsdefault.dll file into the application's Themes directory. Update, 9/9/2008: Link to Chrome theme download source updated.

For Windows XP users, by default that folder is:

C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application.2.149.29\Themes\

In Windows Vista it's:

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\0.2.149.29\Themes\

(Note if Google Chrome updates, you may have to change the version number in this path.)

Reveal Chrome's Secret Diagnostic Info

While Chrome doesn't have Firefox's super-handy about:config area, it does have several about: pages that show you all sorts of interesting information about what's going on behind the scenes. Check out Google Chrome's full list of hidden about: pages here.

Get Extras: Bookmarklets, AutoHotkey Scripts, and More Chrome-Related Downloads

While Google Chrome doesn't support extensions (yet), several macros, bookmarklets, and other third-party extras can make working with Chrome easier. Here's a quick list.

• Block ads in Google Chrome with Privoxy. Using free web proxy and ad-blocking software Privoxy, you can block distracting advertisements in Google Chrome.
• Create Custom Chrome keyboard shortcuts with AutoHotKey. Our favorite Windows macro scripting language, AutoHotKey, can make browsing with Chrome via the keyboard even easier. Here's a full Chrome shortcut AHK file that adds nine keyboard shortcuts (including the much-needed "Paste and go" shortcut).
• Preview a web site's RSS feeds, or print a page in one click with bookmarklets. Without toolbars or extensions, plain old bookmarklets come in very hand. Here's a bookmarklet that auto-detects and previews a web site's feed. Here's one that will print the current page. (You can also just hit the Ctrl+P keyboard shortcut).
• Open pages from Firefox in Chrome. If you're browsing in both Firefox and Chrome and like to use Chrome for certain pages, the Open in Google Chrome Firefox extension does just that. With it installed, set certain links to open in Chrome, or select a link and choose "Open in Chrome" manually from the context menu.
• Run Chrome from your thumb drive. When you're in IT lockdown or traveling from computer to computer (but want to keep your Chrome settings), you want theportable, standalone version of Chrome (free download).
• Anonymize your Chrome surfing. Chrome Anonymizer scrambles your unique ID and makes it impossible for anyone to track what you're doing in Chrome.

Shuck off Google's Branding and Go Open Source with Chromium

Switch to the more frequently updated and open source version of the Chrome browser, called Chromium. Google expert Phillip Lennsen Ionut Alex Chitu explains:

Do you want Google Chrome without Google's branding and with an open source license (BSD license)? Check out Chromium, the open source project created for Google Chrome. You can install the latest snapshots for Windows or download the code and build it in Windows, Mac, Linux.

To install Chromium in Windows, go to the most recent directory from this page (it should be at the top) and download mini_installer.exe. Note that these snapshots could be less stable than the version available at google.com/chrome and you may need to manually update Chromium.

Speaking of updating, you can keep on top of frequent Chromium builds using theChrome Nightly Builds Updater utility.

Look Forward to What's Coming

Word on the street is that Chrome is coming for Mac and Linux users, as are extensions—plus it'll be in Google's upcoming mobile phone operating system, Android. (Linux users, if you can't want for Chrome and don't want to build Chromium yourself, here's how to run Google Chrome in Ubuntu with WINE.)

THE PHILOSOPHY

Throughout my life, I have always pondered over this thought that what actually is the purpose of my life on this planet. Why are we here? How will our actions change this universe, and why, if at all any, do we need that change? Whats the purpose?

This question isn't new. Many philosophers have pondered over it and in vain. Hence, even though it bugs me, I eventually have to forget about it and move ahead. But before that, I would like to make a record of what I think.

There is another question that arises along side this. 'What the hell are we doing?' What i mean to say is,many of us are engaged in our daily routine of life, monotonous, boring, the same things over and over again, caught in the stupid "handcuffs" of the city life. I myself being one such guy. I am studying B.Tech at NIT Bhopal. I follow a routine, everyday, get up at 7 A.M, start the morning routine, go to college, attend classes till afternoon, then come back, either I play,chat, or do some stuff which I myself am unsure of, or else study during minors. So basically, we "stay" here for a given period of time, then study for the tests which are held periodically, and pass with some pointer, may it be unfair. After completing a semester, its not over, there is another sem thats exactly like the previous one. Why are we doing this? for what noble purpose?

Lets consider ourselves as "nature's animals" which we all are. We just tend to live on, thats the basic idea we started off with (like, wen there were cavemen, and apes n all). So the primates used to eat, and live. so it becomes "eat to live". Thats it. But now we humans have found out many ways to make out life more complicated, no doubt there are reasons behind these transitions. but the point is, after doing all this (after inventing the spacecraft, or atomic bomb, or whatever), whats the point?

I seriously don't care what happens. I want change. I have lived my entire life in a metro, the same stuff, malls, trains, bikes, pubs, gadgets and gizmos, cars, etc. For me paradise is somewhere on a hill top, a small hut, a well, and a heard of sheep. greenery everywhere, awesome cool weather. All we need to survive is Food.

Man is curious. He needs to know everything, and thats the basic reason we all are doing what we are doing. Man wants to explore space to its every corner, know every principle of nature, see everything, decode the entire universe. A vast sight in itself. Its curiosity that drives us, that takes us away from what we actually need to do. But whats the point? There is honor in what we do. We care about other people respecting us for what we do, and that matters to us. Its because of this sole reason that we have come this far, technologies advanced. Its also passion. Passion to do different things, great things. We want things to be different. So its change that has 'changed' the world. But still one question remains unanswered, how did this world come into existence in the first place? ... well lets just stop thinking. We are a bunch of idiots. Why bother? jus chill! relax bindaas! hehe...

So basically, I don't know what i intended to write in this piece of junk but, well its up to you people to make out. I may have contradicted myself somewhere. I was a bit frustrated when I wrote this, that you can make out...hehe...Its just that I got bored and wrote something. Well await for more... adieu...