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Brent Hopkins (rowanrook)
University of Wisconsin, River Falls
rowanrook's Trails: database    (view all)

I have started using Gmail as much more than an email host. With its gobs of storage, speed and tremendous search/tagging capabilities, you can transform it into a personal nerve center that's available from any computer or mobile device. When you tap into this power and combine Gmail with some other tools, it is perhaps the most essential site ever developed. Most of the following life hacks have not been documented.

This series has several parts...

  • How to turn Gmail into a massive personal database (Gmail + the Google Toolbar)
  • How to get real-time news updates in Gmail (Gmail+ Google Talk + Twitter)
  • How to automatically store your bookmarks in Gmail (Gmail + del.icio.us + Yahoo Alerts)
  • How to manage Calendar and To-Dos in Gmail (Gmail + Backpack + GCal +  GTalk + iMified)
  • How to blog from Gmail (Gmail + Wordpress/TypePad/Blogger + IMified)

The latest version of the Google Toolbar has a send to Gmail function. Select some text or graphics, right click on it and send it to Gmail.  The Toolbar then automatically feeds it into a new message.

Now, when I find something I want to save I use this feature and send it to a secret  contact in my address book. This is basically a [my username]+[secret phrase]@gmail.com email address (Lifehacker explains the value of these here).

Once the article arrives in my Gmail inbox, I have a filter whisk it a way into the archive and tag it with an @Database label. Further, I am toying with having the same filter also forward these to a premium  Google Apps account that has 10 gigs of space. Now all I need to do to call it up later is enter label:@Database and a keyword. Whammo - an instant personal database.

Tags: gmail, imified, database, send, personal, ...
A trail of 8 pages

    Managing my time, tasks, and personal information is a major challenge. My attention is often fractured among competing priorities. The complexity of it all can be quite overwhelming at times. In this article, I will briefly outline a few of the techniques I use in order to try to stay on top of it all. Some I have used for a long time, and others I have discovered only recently.

Tags: gmail, milk, imap, nerve, time, ...
A trail of 10 pages
Gnumeric and its source code are available free of charge, licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. This makes it easy to audit, and make custom extensions. For a comprehensive list of features, go here. Gnumeric will import your existing Microsoft Excel files. Import filters also exist for Lotus 1-2-3, Applix, Sylk, XBase, Open Office, Quattro Pro, Dif, Plan Perfect, and Oleo files, but these import filters are less complete. If you have knowledge of these file formats or have access to the underlying program, maybe you can help.
Tags: gnumeric, gnucash, bookkeeping, open source, collabnet, ...
A trail of 12 pages

Full Web Building References

Our references cover all Web-building technologies, including W3C standards like HTML, XHTML, CSS, XML and other technologies like JavaScript, PHP, ASP, SQL and much more.
Examples

Try-It-Yourself On-Line Examples

At W3schools you will find thousands of cut-and-paste examples.
With our on-line HTML editor you can edit the examples and experiment with the code on-line.
Tags: internet, dom, inspector, building, web, ...
A trail of 3 pages

Zoho QuickRead 0.7 Homepage

by Zoho

Open documents, spreadsheets & presentations with Zoho Office.

Works with:
  • Firefox Firefox: 1.0 – 2.0.0.*

Developer Comments

Welcome to the Zoho QuickRead for Firefox!

Zoho Office Suite is a suite of web applications which let you create documents (http://www.zoho writer.com), spreadsheets (http://www.zohosheet.com) & presentations (http://www.zohoshow.com) using just your browser internet connection.

This xpi when installed in Firefox & Mozilla will let you have the option to view & edit documents, spreadsheets & presentations on a web page (unauthenticated) in the browser itself. This one click option gives you a clear advantage over the traditional way of doing it - downloading the doc/xls/ppt file from the internet, saving it to your desktop & then launching a desktop application to open it.

The extension works for .doc, .rtf, .sxw, .odt for documents, .xls, .csv, .sxc for spreadsheets & .ppt, .pps, .sxi for presentation. The files get opened using Zoho Writer for document files, Zoho Sheet for spreadsheets & Zoho Show for presentations.
Tags: amp, quickread, online, offline, office, ...
A trail of 4 pages