Ian's Messy Desk

Virtual Salt has a collection of WWW Research Tools organized in the following categories:

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This may have been around for awhile, but I only noticed it last evening. I received an e-mail announcing a concert on May 14. On the right-hand side of the message was a link to “Add to Calendar” (see image below). Clicking the link popped up an event entry box for Google Calendar, with the event name and date completed. I’m guessing Google used a natural language feature to extract the data from the subject line of the message.

(click for larger image)

I also understand the you can send an SMS to GVENTS such as, “Mill Creek Colliery Band concert May 14 at 7:30pm” and it will add it to your calendar. This feature is currently only available in the US.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

“I am constantly writing notes. Whether it be for my blog, work, meeting, new ideas, or just basic notes, I am always jotting something down. So I started thinking about all the services I’ve used for taking notes and thought it would be a good idea to share them with you and while I’m at it, to make a list of any others that I find. Now, when it comes to note taking, I personally look for quick and simple. If I have something on my mind, I don’t want to go through some advanced system and climb a mountain just to save a note for myself. There won’t be all the note taking tools out there on my list, but ones that I feel get the job done well.”

Fifty Ways to Take Notes » Solution Watch

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 05:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Sudoku Craving has been developed to offer a free Sudoku challenge every day. Each day a new Sudoku challange will be randomly generated. You can play the latest challenge or you can browse through existing ones.

Every time you play on Sudoku Craving you notice that your time and attempts are automatically recorded. When you log in you will also notice that this information is used to rank your progress and skill on each of the challenges.

When a registered member finishes a challenge they are asked to rate its difficulty level. The difficulty level of the game is the average rating given by all of the members. This means that real people have rated the difficulty of a game, not a computer!

Registered members can also post comments about challenge once they have finished it. When you are playing you can browse through the comments in an attempt to find hints, tips or pointers.

Link from Steve Rubel

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 09:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1. First-person experience.
2. Enthusiasm.
3. Specificity.
4. Sincerity.
5. Clarity.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

“…use a generic web browser and a set of online services to provide all the functionality needed by a computer user, removing the need for any application to be installed on the computer itself.”

I like the idea. I like being able to log on to the Internet anywhere and having access to a full suite of applications.

Looking at Ismael’s list at IT|Redux, I see a number of services I am currently using and pile more that I haven’t used or even thought about. Not all of the applications he lists are free. Being the cheapo that I am, that’s one of the qualities I look for in a online app. Then, if the service meets my requirements, I will make a donation, click an advertising link or pay for an enhanced feature set.

I’ve listed his choices below. The second, bold, line of each category, are the apps I am currently using.

• Desktop:  Salesforce.com
  Google Personal
• Email:  Gmail
  Gmail
• Feed Reader:  Google Reader
  Bloglines
• File Manager:  Salesforce.com
  
• Photo Manager:  Flickr
  Flickr
• Photo Editing:  PXN8
  
• Weblog:  WordPress
  Blogger
• Notepad:  Gmail
  Notekeeper module on Google Personal
• Word Processor:  Zoho Writer
  Writely
• Spreadsheet:  Zoho Sheet
  
• Presentation:  Thumbstacks
  
• Project:  DreamTeam
  
• Database:  Salesforce.com
  
• Contacts:  LinkedIn
  Gmail
• Calendar:  Salesforce.com
  Google Calendar
• Bookmarks:  del.icio.us
  del.icio.us
• Calculator:  Google Calculator
  Google Calculator
• Command Prompt:  YubNub
  
• Fax:  eFax
  
• File Sender:  YouSendIt
  

Ismael has also posted reviews of most of his choices and a comprehensive database comparing various applications available. And to round out things, an area of personal interest, Getting Things Done using Office 2.0.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Google Calendar is now available.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Links to all Google Tools on one simple page — Simply Google

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

ReligiousResources.org is a comprehensive directory of Internet resources for all major religions, organized into a hierarchical directory.

ReligiousResources.org is developed and maintained by Susan Brumbaugh and Stan Taylor, good friends and co-owners of Aphids Communications, L.L.C.. Susan is the primary manager of the directory's content and structure; Stan concerns himself primarily with the technical aspects of the site.

Technorati : Directory, Links, Religion, Resources, Web, blogs4God

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It has been a while since Steve Rubel posted one of his hacks lists. Today he lists ten ways to optimize your FeedBurner use.

"FeedBurner is one of my favorite tools in my Web 2.0 tool-belt. The main attraction here is FeedBurner's rich metrics, which will tell you a lot about how many are reading your feed, what aggregator they're using, etc. But dig a little deeper and there's much more you can do with this outstanding tool. Here are my favorite ten FeedBurner "hacks." There are many more here."

From: Micro Persuasion: Ten Feedburner Hacks

[composed and posted with BlogJet]

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(click to see larger)

About three years ago, dive into mark put together a script that would take text from a blog (or any website with text) and generate a page of poetry tiles. (He received a cease and desist letter for using the words magnetic and poetry together.) You can then drag those word tiles around the screen to create your own blog poetry.

You run the script by typing http://diveintomark.org/magnetic/ into your browser’s address bar and then adding the address of the blog you want turned into poetry.

E.g.:

• Ian’s Messy Desk – http://diveintomark.org/magnetic/ismckenzie.com
• connexions – http://diveintomark.org/magnetic/theconnexion.net/wp/
• Rebecca Writes – http://diveintomark.org/magnetic/everydaymusings.blogspot.com/
• Laugh, Lament, Love – http://diveintomark.org/magnetic/lesliewiseman.blogspot.com/
• Etc.

 If you don’t like the set of words you get, refresh the page for a new set. Knock yourself out.

[composed and posted with BlogJet]

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Ah, to be a globetrotter.

If you could move freely on the globe, you could enjoy the awesome spectacle of a total eclipse of the sun pretty often. The next one is scheduled to darken the daytime skies on Wednesday, March 29, 2006.

This week, you might be in Africa or Turkey. You might be cruising on the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas right now, waiting for Wednesday's eclipse. Your big concern would be the weather.

From Earth & Sky

If you're not in Turkey or thereabouts, you can watch it on-line at MSNBC.com: Watch a total eclipse on the Web - Space News

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 06:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been playing with the Writely document processor beta for about five months now. I've created a number of documents, imported a few MS Word docs and even used it to write my overview of Desktop blogging clients. I haven't tried sharing a document with another writer, but otherwise it does a good job of basic word processing.

Now, the word from Writely and from Google, tells us that Google has acquired Writely. I will continue to use and see where this development leads.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you look at the menu on the left, you’ll see a new link to a Tag Cloud. Today I discovered the Technology Evangelist via a comment on my blog. The post at the top of the page today was Ed Kohler’s instructions for creating a Tag Cloud in Movabletype. It didn’t take me too long to create the page following the simple and clear instructions —along with some cut and paste.

It looks like a useful site, so I’ve added the Technology Evangelist to my Bloglines’ subscriptions.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 07:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Four jobs I’ve had

• Salvation Army summer camp staff
• Funeral home attendant
• KFC Manager
• Human Resources Manager

Four movies I can watch over and over

• The Mission
• Casablanca
• The Princess Bride
• Monsters, Inc.

Four TV shows I love to watch

• Anything with Jamie Oliver
• New Classics with Chef Rob Feenie
• Good Eats
• The Simpsons

Four places I’ve been on vacation

• Eastern Canada
• Central Canada
• Western Canada
• Northern Canada

Four favourite dishes

• Spaghetti Carbonara
• Koushari
• Chicken Madras
• Swiss Chalet Quarter Chicken Dinner

Four Web sites I visit daily

• Bloglines
• Gmail
• del.icio.us
• Alberta Human Resources & Employment

Four places I’d rather be

• I’m copying Richard. Being with my wife is where I’d rather be and
• Edmonton is a great city!

Four bloggers I am tagging

I’ll leave this bit open. The 4 Things meme has been making the rounds through most of my blogging connections, so if you want, here it is, come and get it.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 01:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Automatic Flatterer (click the link and get your affirmation. )

Ian you are fabulous !!!
Ian you are fabulous !!!
Ian you are fabulous !!!
Ian you are fabulous !!!

... and we appreciate you for who you are.

Link from Liz at Successful Blog

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

To determine if the above paragraph is profound or just plain foolish you’ll need to visit Google Talk.

Use Google talk by entering three or four words. The system will search for the phrase at Google, find the next word and print that. Then it will remove the first word of the search string, add the found word and repeat. The result seems to be meaningfull sometimes. Other times it is giblish. But always fun.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 02:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kevin Dugan has posted 10 Flickr Hacks at Strategic Public Relations. While he's thinking of these as PR tools, there's usefulness and even fun for all.

E.g., Spell with flickr takes the letters you submit and finds flickr pictures for those letters.

Tags: flickr, Photos, fun, hacks, Web 2.0

Powered by Qumana

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm not sure of the point of this new Google Service, but here is the Google Page Creator

Want to create an online photo tour of your vacation to Bali? An overview of the South American precipitation cycle for your science class? A shrine to your pet ferret?

Now's your chance. We're testing a new product that makes creating your own web pages as easy as creating a document in a word processor. Google Page Creator is a free tool that lets you create web pages right in your browser and publish them to the web with one click. There's no software to download and no web designer to hire. The pages you create are hosted on Google servers and are available at http://yourgmailusername.googlepages.com for the world to see.

Tags: Google, Web Pages, Web site

Powered by Qumana

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week, Bene Diction pointed to two stories about arsonist(s) burning several Baptist churches in Alabama. One of those churches, Rehobeth Baptist Church in Lawley, Alabama, is taking to the Internet to raise funds for re-building. I imagine some of the cost will be covered by insurance, but there is probably more they will need to complete the project.

You can read about it and see some pictures at “Our Story of the 2006 Alabama Church Fires.”

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 08:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• 8 February 2006 —Perfect Match - a study guide by Louise Griffiths on the bestseller from Jodi Picoult
• 7 February 2006 —My Summer of Love - a study guide by Emily Dalrymple on the film by Pawel Pawlikowski, based on the novel by Helen Cross
• 3 February 2006 —Fargo - an article by Mark Harvey on the classic film from the Coen brothers

Damaris - relating Christian faith and contemporary culture

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was a little surprised to come across a heading for weather blogs. I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising. Everyone talks about the weather, so it stands to reason that people will blog about the weather.

A Google search for weather blogs returns almost 63 million English pages. These are some that some towards the top of the list. They are mainly corporate affiliated and U.S.-centric.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Seth Godin's at it again. He says, instead of throwing friends into a funnel and hoping some slide out the bottom as customers/donors/voters, flip the funnel sideways and make it a megaphone for customers/donors/voters turning them into salespeople/fundraisers/campaigners. Web 2.0 social tools (e.g., del.icio.us, blogging) have the possibility to unleash word-of-mouth buzz. Your critics know how to use it, so make sure your fans also know how.

He’s posted three versions for free download:

• Flipping the Funnel (pdf 1234 KB)
• Flipping the Funnel for Non-Profits (pdf 798 KB)
• Flipping Politics (pdf 892 KB)

Seth's Blog: Flipping the Funnel--new e-book

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 05:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Home is where you hang your @.
• The e-mail of the species is more deadly than the mail.
• A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click.
• You can't teach a new mouse old clicks.
• Great groups from little icons grow.
• Speak softly and carry a cell phone.
• C:\ is the root of all directories.
• Don't put all your hypes in one homepage.
• Pentium wise; pen and paper foolish.
• The modem is the message.
• Too many clicks spoil the site.
• The geek shall inherit the earth.
• A chat has nine lives.
• Don't byte off more than you can view.
• Fax is stranger than fiction.
• What boots up must come down.
• Virtual reality is its own reward.
• Modulation in all things.
• A user and his leisure time are soon parted.
• There's no place like http://www.home.com.
• Know what to expect before you connect.
• Oh, what a tangled Web we weave when first we practice.
• Speed thrills.
• Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.

From Mikey’s Funnies

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just discovered —via Richard’s comment on my previous post— that the nanny filter on the Panera Bread bakery-cafes’ wifi network considers the content at Ian’s Messy Desk too racy for public consumption. Tinotopia experimented with RSS feeds and blog rolls and found forty-six web sites blocked by the filter. If you scroll down the list about halfway, you’ll see that Ian’s Messy Desk was filtered, not “merely” as adult/mature content, but all the way to the p – ography category?!?!? As the listing notes, “Utterly baffling. The site is about personal productivity, customer service, and the subtle spirituality of some guy in Edmonton.” (Not to mention, incredibly funny jokes.)

My apologies to my regular readers. Apparently, I’ve been leading you down the garden path. Talk about your subliminal content.  Well, Panera has no Canadian locations, so an outraged boycott by loyal readers is out of the question.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A picture is worth a thousand words. You can find “tens of thousands of words”, to enhance your documents, presentations and web sites, at the sites listed below.

Clipart collections:

• Barry’s Clipart Server
• Web Clip Art
• Designed to a T
• Animation Factory
• Free Animated Clipart

Free Photographs:

• FreeStockPhotos.com
• stock.xchng

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Share digital pictures easily and privately with Shaw Photo Share, without clogging up your email.

Shaw Photo Share

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some retro fun on-line from Wordsmith.org

NB I've compressed the display so it fits my layout. You can see it better at the Wordsmith web-site.

Update: Click the Wordsmith link above. The Java was slowing down my page loading, so I removed it. :)

Technorati Tags: Spirograph, Fun, Wordsmith.org, Graphics, Games, WEb

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Logo that is. Today marks the birthday of Louis Braille and Google is recognizing the event with a special logo.

Technorati Tags: Google, Braille

Link from Jordon

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This has been an invaluable source of new links and pointers to new sites. I will be sorry to see it go.

Important Announcement About Internet for Christians :: Internet For Christians

Although I do not believe it is necessarily true that all good things must come to an end, it is true that we are often in situations in our lives where things that have been very meaningful to us “move out” of our sphere of influence or experience. After 10 years of being an integral part of the online ministry of Gospelcom.net, the Internet for Christians newsletter and web site are moving out of our sphere. Our creative team has been tasked with a number of new projects, and we have needed to make some decisions about where to invest our limited man-hours for the coming years. Next week, the final issue of 2005, will be the last issue of Internet for Christians that Gospelcom will produce.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 09:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Using the Performancing Firefox extension.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 02:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's that time of year again.

It turns out that looking at the aggregation of billions of search queries people type into Google reveals something about our curiosity, our thirst for news, and perhaps even our desires. Considering all that has occurred in 2005, we thought it would be interesting to study just a few of the significant events, and names that make this a memorable year. (We’ll leave it to the historians to determine which ones are lasting and which ephemeral.) We hope you enjoy this selective view of our collective year.

Google Press Center: Zeitgeist.

Technorati Tags: Google, Zeitgeist, 2005, Search

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nortel to Build First WiMAX Network in Canada with Alberta Special Areas Board

WiMAX Network to Equip Rural Areas with High-Speed Wireless Broadband Access and Increase Economic Activity

DECEMBER 07, 2005

DALLAS - The Alberta Special Areas Board (SAB) has selected Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] to build what is believed to be the first commercial broadband wireless access network in Canada based on the WiMAX IEEE 802.16-2004 (fixed WiMAX) standard.

The SAB is collaborating with NETAGO Wireless, a newly formed wireless service provider in Canada, to bring wireless broadband services to rural Albertans spread throughout more than 8,000 square miles (21,000 square kms) in southeastern Alberta. The WiMAX network will operate in the 3.5GHz spectrum band and be made available to roughly 80 percent of SAB residents by the end of summer 2006.

The new WiMAX network will also extend the service area of the Alberta SuperNet Project (http://www.albertasupernet.ca**), a provincial government initiative designed to bring affordable broadband services to approximately 4,200 government, health, library and educational facilities in 429 communities across Alberta.

"This WiMAX network will support our goal of bridging the digital divide through affordable broadband wireless Internet services to users located in rural areas of Alberta," said Jay J. Slemp, chairman, SAB. "Nortel's proven innovation and leadership in WiMAX, wireless mesh and advanced 3G technologies along with its ability to get this service up and running efficiently is essential to meeting our goal."

Under the terms of the agreement with the SAB, Nortel will supply fixed (802.16d) WiMAX base stations, indoor and outdoor CPEs (Customer Premises Equipment) and wireless backhaul equipment, as well provide installation and professional services.

"We are pleased to have been selected by the SAB to build this innovative network in areas that lack basic broadband capabilities." said Mark Whitton, vice president and general manager, WiMAX and Wireless Mesh Networks, Nortel. "Nortel's Fixed WiMAX solutions will help pave the way for long-term economic growth and development by providing scalable, robust and cost-effective wireless broadband services to residential and business customers across rural Alberta."

The WiMAX network will equip SAB residences and businesses with fixed broadband wireless access at data rates between 1-3 Mbps which is comparable to cable-broadband and DSL connections .The high-speed capabilities will support sophisticated broadband services such as email, high-speed Internet access, multimedia applications including streaming video and music, VoIP and other real-time business collaboration services. The network will also support video surveillance and remote telemetry.

Nortel: NEWS RELEASES: Nortel to Build First WiMAX Network in Canada with Alberta Special Areas Board 

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

“Gmail must surely be one of the best webmail services out there. An there’s more on offer than first appears.”

connexions » Blog Archive » Gmail hints.

Posted by Ian McKenzie at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

“I’ve come up with 20+ short tips which I’ll share over the coming week as a series. As I add them one by one on the main blog I’ll also add them to this page so you can have one place for the complete series.