Jan 5

As mentioned on my about me page, I spent a lot of 2008 helping to build up a community on the “Podcast Lounge” forum of CNET UK. In the process, I’ve even made it on to their news pages a few times:

Well, on their latest podcast, episode 117, reviewing 2008, I am proud to say I was given an honourable mention by Nick Hide for one my longest running forum threads, “Tip of the day“. After which Nate Lanxon gave this website a plug and Kate Macefield said I was a nice guy too.

So thanks to everyone at CNET UK, it’s been fun doing my bit on the forum and here’s to 2009!

Now, without further ado, you can listen to an except of the podcast via this snazzy player I’ve just installed (if you want to go download the full podcast, this is from about 27:28 into the audio).

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(Download)

Oct 25

These are my links for October 25th from 12:12 to 18:39:

  • http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/23/50-beautiful-blog-designs/ - There are things one can do a number of times without worrying about becoming boring. For instance, collecting and showcasing excellent blog designs. In this post we do it already the fifth time. Why? Web design lives in blogs; new developments appear there, that’s where the music plays. And that’s where you need to look for in order to keep up with current trends and developments.
  • 9 Must-Have OpenOffice Extensions - Like Firefox, OpenOffice also comes with extensions that you can use to improve its functionality. Here, we have tested all the extensions and sorted out those that are useful for everyday use. Some of them are for general use while some are only meant for Writer, Calc or Impress. (For those who haven’t heard about OpenOffice before, it’s a popular free alternative to Microsoft Office)
  • 4 Websites for Great Wordpress Themes -
  • Tips Sites For Finding Freelance Blogging Work (Part Two) - One of the wonderful qualities of the web is that anyone can put their content out there for everyone to see. This means YOU! Of course you probably already knew that. What you might be interested to know is that there are literally thousands of people out there willing to pay you to do it
  • Tips Sites For Finding Freelance Blogging Work (Part One) - Since replacing my part-time job with paid blogging, people frequently ask me “How do I get into blogging?” Well the answer is clearly a complicated one, but hopefully I can give you a few tips to get you going in the right direction.
  • How To: How to Use Dropbox as the Ultimate Password Syncer - Cross-platform application Dropbox may be great at syncing regular old files and folders over the internet and to the web, but with a little ingenuity, you can use this free software to ensure important application data stays in sync no matter what computer you#039;re using. With the right setup, you can sync your passwords over the internet so you#039;ve always got access to the latest versions of your secure passwords no matter where you are. Keep reading to find out how.
  • 3 Easy Tools to Record Streaming Music as MP3 Files - As a kid I spent hours recording tunes from the radio. I would even call to request songs and I hated DJ’s that chatted into the songs, making them worthless. My collection of music cassettes grew steadily. Growing up I started buying CD’s until I had internet access. From there on my need for hard drive space grew massively. Those were the days.Today, it doesn’t take a lot of time and effort to obtain legal MP3’s, but it does take some good tools. Here are three different programs to record streaming audio (i.e. from online radio).
  • Linux: Make Your Linux Desktop More Productive - Apple has convinced millions that they can make the switch from Windows to OS X, but those curious about Linux have to see for themselves if they can work or play on a free desktop. The short answer is that, for most halfway tech-savvy people who aren#039;t hardcore gamers, yes, you can. There are positively addictive productivity apps available for Linux, along with tools to make switching between Linux and other systems easy, or just running Windows programs themselves if you need to. Today we#039;re detailing a Linux desktop that helps you move quickly, work with Windows, and just get things done; read on for a few suggestions on setting it up.
  • Best of the forums this week: Steve Jobs to retire? - Crave at CNET.co.uk - ven Google didn#039;t escape the hate. David Gilson expressed his palpable fear of the Google ecosystem, claiming: quot;While I would bet my life that Google is a far more philanthropic organisation than Apple is, I kind of view their ecosystem with a similar eye. Whatever OS you#039;re using, you don#039;t have to use the Google ecosystem, although if you do, you#039;re totally dependant on them. This is why I actually avoid using Google services… so I#039;m definitely not going to jump at using a Google browser.quot;
  • Kohjinsha SX: Netbook in integrated DVD drive shocker - Last week, someone in the forums asked if anyone made a netbook with an integrated DVD drive. quot;No,quot; we replied, in a fit of ignorance, quot;that#039;s not possible.quot; But David Gilson, another forum user, proved us very wrong.
  • QA: Symbian’s switch to open source | News - Wireless - CNET News - Symbian, the U.K.-based maker of the world#039;s most popular smartphone operating system, is going through big changes.As well as being taken over by Nokia, the company is preparing to convert its closed code into open source.

    ZDNet.co.uk caught up with Symbian#039;s research chief, David Wood, at this week#039;s Symbian Smartphone Show at Earls Court in London, to discuss the complications of such a process, as well as what the next few years hold for smartphone technology.

  • 7digital to go completely DRM-free: MP3s from all major labels - Crave at CNET.co.uk - Crave confidently expects 7digital to announce next week that it has acquired the rights to sell Sony BMG#039;s catalogue of DRM-free music downloads, making it the first UK download store to offer MP3 downloads from every major record label.
  • Screenshot Tour: A First Look at OpenOffice.org 3.0 - Look at that screenshot on the right. Just look at that. That’s Karbon (the KDE vector drawing application) running on an N810.This beautiful person has built (and made a repository available) KOffice on Maemo devices (Nokia N810, etC)
  • KOffice running on Maemo (N810) - Look at that screenshot on the right. Just look at that. That’s Karbon (the KDE vector drawing application) running on an N810.This beautiful person has built (and made a repository available) KOffice on Maemo devices (Nokia N810, etC)
  • Linux: Why Lifehacker Readers Switched to Linux - We asked the devoted Linux users, the dual-Windows-and-Linux-booters, and the newer converts to the open-source operating system last week why they made the switch to Linux, and received over 330 responses as of this posting. The answers were sometimes level-headed, often passionate in their embrace of open-source culture, and occasionally induced a laugh (or a cringe) with tales of the last straw before switching. Read on for a look at why a good number of Lifehacker readers took the time to learn, customize, and adopt to Linux.
  • Shifting Mind » Postalicious - Postalicious is a WordPress plugin that automatically posts your delicious, ma.gnolia, Google Reader, Reddit, or Yahoo Pipes bookmarks to your blog. The exact details of how your bookmarks are posted is very customizable and is designed to meet your specific needs. Postalicious uses the psuedo-cron functionality introduced in WordPress 2.1 to schedule automatic hourly updates. If you do not have WordPress 2.1 or later installed, you will still be able to use Postalicious, but you will have to perform the updates manually.

Oct 4

Well, I’ve had little to do with the blog for the last few days. Although you may have noticed that I’ve kept the miniBlog constantly topped up with the latest tech news.

I am pretty much settled that I know what I’m doing with this thing, I even worked how how to pull the database in and out via phpMyadmin, so that’s good.

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