Sitting with a senior specialist today I was mystified by a tool he was utilizing to rapidly do his job. He could grab desired information from one application and zap it into Outlook with no wasted effort. I asked him, “Is this a macro?” He replied that it actually was a nifty piece of freeware available to all, ZapGrab.
Tool: GUI
Cost: $0 (Free)
Download Time: Immediate (Via High Speed)
Use: Prepare screen for grabbing, then press <Grab> button. I love it already, here’s the link!
Tadalist from 37signals is a very good to-do list for tracking things so I figured why not use it to track monumental, yet incrementalized goals?
Once upon a time in the early 2000’s, I took a home-built machine and ran Linux on it day and night for months and never had a crash. True story, I was very impressed to say the least. That was a long time ago in a galaxy oh so far away… Minnesota!
Through my work, I recently became aware of the Inspiron Mini 9, the answer to my prayers for a portable, lightweight web-accessible netbook that can follow me around town without the bulky footprint. To my pleasant surprise, Ubuntu, a competitive version of Linux, has partnered with Dell as an OS option for the Mini 9 and I’m more than willing to reembrace Linux via this version:
Free OS + Free Applications = RETAINED $
Some of you may say, what’s Ubuntu and what effect does it have on the price of tea in China? I”ve yet to see the Orient but here’s the ballistics:
Ubuntu is a community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work Ubuntu contains all the applications you’ll ever need, from word processing and email applications, to web server software and programming tools.
Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge. You do not pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Ubuntu with your friends, family, school or business for absolutely nothing.
We issue a new desktop and server release every six months. That means you’ll always have the latest and greatest applications that the open source world has to offer.
Ubuntu is designed with security in mind. You get free security updates for at least 18 months on the desktop and server. With the Long Term Support (LTS) version you get three years support on the desktop, and five years on the server. There is no extra fee for the LTS version, we make our very best work available to everyone on the same free terms. Upgrades to new versions of Ubuntu are and always will be free of charge.
Everything you need comes on one CD, providing a complete working environment. Additional software is available online.
The graphical installer enables you to get up and running quickly and easily. A standard installation should take less than 25 minutes.
Once installed your system is immediately ready-to-use. On the desktop you have a full set of productivity, internet, drawing and graphics applications, and games.
On the server you get just what you need to get up and running and nothing you don’t.
Ubuntu is an African word meaning ‘Humanity to others’, or ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.
Here’s an excellent case study from the Ubuntu website on how it positively impacted the bottom line of a non-profit radio station:
Simplicity in switching, ease-of-use, great client/server side management and outstanding reliability – Ubuntu proved the best choice for KRUU-FM Radio Station.
KRUU-FM, a non-profit community radio station based in Iowa, USA, broadcasts locally 24 hours a day via an FM signal, and online to 30 countries via an MP3 audio stream. They have about 100 hosts, with 75 programs, from bedtime-stories to death-metal music.
KRUU-FM needed to update the operating system in their studio and needed a solution that:
Solution
The staff chose to implement Ubuntu. Sundar Raman, a presenter at KRUU-FM, says, “Our requirements were quite complex and our decision to go with Ubuntu was based on three factors and Ubuntu won hands down. We did not want to get stuck in the world of managing different binary distributions based on what was supported and what was not. The Synaptic package manager is more elegant than the RPM-based solutions in some paid-for Linux distros and can be used by just about anyone. Critically we wanted a distro that would be usable by the average user.”
Client side management: Ubuntu has been easy to roll-out. Application search and installation are far easier than on an equivalent proprietary software install and more convenient than some other distributions.
Server side management: The daily technical support of non-technical personnel has also been eased by the clean design ethos of Ubuntu and the ability to add Nautilus scripts to do many of the smaller tasks (audio conversion, automatic saves, etc.).
Strong support community: The centralised ubuntuforums.org and launchpad.net forums/application provide a lot of assistance in getting the systems working properly.
Sundar concluded, “Ubuntu worked out great technically. However, where it was truly remarkable was in the area of community support. Since Ubuntu is so popular, our decision to go 100% Linux-based, including for our recording and mixing consoles, was well supported. The existence of the Ubuntu-Studio community helped us make our decision to drop Pro-Tools, and go with Ardour and Audacity on all our workstations.”
