Chris Barnes’ Jottings

I often find it difficult to devote time to sitting down and writing for this blog, which is why it only gets updated fairly sporadically. So I have set up a tumblelog, which according to Tumblr is a “refreshingly simple new way to share anything you find, love, hate or create”. Basically I can post interesting links without having to worry about writing any editorial to describe them. I may still occasionally post the odd longer piece over here, but I’m planning to invest most of my blogging energy into the tumblelog format.

Anyway, that’s enough explaining, check the new ‘log out here.

Edit (3 September 2007): Well, 43 days since my first post and the tumblelog is still going strong. Tumblr is lacking some of the features I have come to enjoy with WordPress, namely commenting, sensibly-named permalinks (e.g. http://chrisbarnes.net/jottings/2007/07/over-to-tumblr/) and a decent archive system, but overall I’m happy with it.

GooSync is a service which allows you to synchronise your Google Calendar with your mobile phone or PDA. Unlike Google Calendar, which is only accessible via your mobile device’s web browser, GooSync ties in with the calendar/reminder function provided as part of your PDA or phone. This could potentially save you a lot of money if, like me, you’re on a fairly meagre data plan and like to check your schedule regularly.

GooSync is provided by Wolverhampton-based Toffa International, who specialise in sync software. The basic service is free to use, while power users may benefit from the £19.95/year subscription account which offers additional features such as multiple calendar support.

I signed up for the free service with the intention of writing a review, but to be honest there’s not much to be said. I signed up for the account, clicked the confirmation link sent to my email address, authorised GooSync to access my calendar via Google’s API and requested an auto-configuration message to be sent to my handset (Sony Ericsson W880i) via SMS. Opening the configuration SMS prompted me to install the new sync settings, then it was just a matter of telling the phone to synchronise.

Alex Feinman’s ISO Recorder allows you to burn CD/DVD ISO images under Windows XP/2003/Vista without the need for a dedicated CD burning application. Lucersoft’s LC ISO Creator enables you to do the process in reverse, i.e. create an ISO image from a physical CD/DVD.

Edit: Alex’s ISO Recorder now supports image creation, removing the need for an external tool such as LC ISO Creator.

Zamzar is a free online converter for documents, audio and video files. Just upload the file you want to convert, choose the output format and enter your email address. Zamzar will get to work and email your converted file when it’s ready.

Red Dodo: offers free personalised screensavers/animated wallpapers suitable for most popular phones. Quite a snazzy little service, I think.

GetJAR: free applications to add functionality (or just fun!) to your handset.

Lasyk Networks (for Sony Ericsson handsets): software, ringtones, wallpapers, games and more.

TeraCopy speeds up Windows file copy operations as well as adding a few much-needed features such as smart error recovery and a pause button. It integrates with the Windows shell completely so you don’t need to run a separate program to reap the benefits. It’s a free download for home users; the Pro version is $19.95 (about £10). Highly recommended!

I don’t doubt that AbiWord is an excellent free word processor in its own right, but it saved my sanity earlier when I was stuck using a crashy version of Word. The Windows version is a 5MB download (20MB installed) and there’s also a portable version available. It’s able to open, edit and save Microsoft Word, XHTML, Rich Text Format and plain text files as well as its native ABW/AWT format, and while I’m sure it lacks many of Microsoft Word’s advanced features, it’s lean and mean and has handled all the documents I’ve thrown at it. Plus you can’t argue with the price…

AbiWord is also available for Linux and Mac OS, and being truly free software, the source code is of course also offered for download.

who.is is a simple web-based WHOIS gateway, supporting pretty much all top-level domains. In case you didn’t know, WHOIS is a mechanism of finding out who (if anyone) has registered a particular name. It’s fairly quick, has a nice clean design and negates the need to go to separate sites for different domains.

There are alternatives out there but the short, memorable URL and the ability to do quick lookups using only the address bar (e.g. who.is/chrisbarnes.net) makes it my favourite by far.

Thunderbird has the somewhat strange default behaviour of starting replies below the quoted message. Fortunately there is an option to change this, and I’m mentioning it here as it’s a little hidden away and I had trouble finding it myself.

Click Tools (from the menu bar), then Account Settings. Now choose Composition and Addressing which appears under your account name on the left. Underneath Automatically quote the original message when replying (which should be checked) you can then change start my reply below the quote to start my reply above the quote. Easy as that!