If you haven’t upgraded to Office 2008 yet, then you’ll still be stuck with the templates offered by Office 2007 for your letterheads, envelopes and business cards. However, Microsoft have just released 6 free new professional looking templates for Office 2007 that can spruce up your presentations and business materials. If you haven’t even got Office 2007 yet, the template download page offers a free sample.

Once you’ve downloaded the templates there’s a slightly different installtion procedure depending on which Office application you want to use them in. In Powerpoint, simply click on the “Design” menu and in the Themes group, click the “More” button. From there, you’ve got an option to add custom templates. In Word or Excel you’ll need to use the Page Layout tab and in the Themes group, click Themes and browse to the themes you’ve just downloaded. Note that you may receive the error message “The template cannot correctly be downloaded” when you try to install the templates. This is actually a bug and you’ll find that the templates have installed and are ready for use but Microsoft claim this is a download error that they’re currently working on to resolve.

Widgets are all the rage now enabling users to drag and drop their favourite applications and functions onto their desktop for easy access. However, until now, the widget phenomenon hadn’t caught up with video players (except arguably Joost) but new open source player Chameleo enables users to watch and create visually-rich video applications with interactive widgets.

Chameleo is based on GStreamer and supports just about every codec out there so there are virtually no playback problems. What makes it interesting however is that it offers a variety of widgets which enable you to perform a variety of tasks from taking instant screenshots to blogging about what you are watching. Even more exciting, you can create your own widgets because it takes it’s plug-in architecture from Eclipse to make it easy to extend with a minimum of programming experience. One warming however - it is extremely resource hogging so make sure you’ve got plenty of RAM! You can see Chameleon in action below and follow the latest developments here.

A few weeks ago I showed you how to create your own customized ringtones for the iPhone using a handy software tool called ToneShop. But I recently discovered a very simple trick that enables you to convert your favorite MP3 into an iPhone ringtone right from the iTunes interface, without any third-party apps.

Launch iTunes and choose any MP3 you like. As the maximum ringtone length supported by the iPhone is 30 seconds, you’ll have to trim it a bit (don’t worry, this trimming doesn’t change your original song and can be reverted at any time). Right click on the file, select Get info and click on the Options tab. Insert the file’s start and stop time and click on OK.

Now go back to your Library, right click on your chosen MP3 and select Convert selection to AAC. You’ll get an AAC file with exactly the same name under the highlighted file. Open a File Explorer window and browse to your iTunes music folder (usually C:\Documents and Settings\username\My documents\My music\iTunes\iTunes Music). Locate the song you just converted, which will appear now as an M4A file, and change the extension to M4R. Read the rest of this entry »

Adobe AIR (which used to be know as Apollo, remember?) is slowly becoming a solid software platform for developers, especially those who work on their own and don’t belong to any big company. But what is this AIR thing about? AIR is a runtime coding environment that enables developers to create web software tools, working in between a web-based app and a native desktop utility. AIR apps typically include Internet elements such as HTML, Flash or Ajax, but are launched from your computer as you would normally launch any other program.

How do you install AIR apps? First of all, you need the basic component, Adobe AIR. Then, simply download the AIR tool you’re interested in (usually a file with the .air extension) and double click on it. You’ll start up an installation process similar to this one:

Click on “Install”, select the program’s location on your hard drive and you’re ready to go. When the installation is finished, run your newly AIR app as you would run any program.

There is already a wide range of AIR tools available to download, covering all sorts of areas: from Twitter clients to microblogging tools, including web stats analyzers or even RSS feed readers. But if you want more, take a look at Freshairapps: they have an extensive catalog with all the latest AIR apps out there, together with top rankings, news, tutorials and other AIR resources.

Do you want to know what people say about a web site in terms of security, reliability and privacy? It’s not just a matter of curiosity: having user ratings on websites can save you lots of time and trouble. There are many services you could try to know more about the number of visitors a web site has, the server location, the visitor location, etc. We have found one though that includes all the information you might need to know about a web site: WOT.

This is a Firefox and IE add-on that adds a colored ring near the home page button of your browser. This lets you know easily, by changing color, if a web site is trusted, safe to use and whether the general reputation among end-users is good. You can also add your own rating by clicking the colored ring and give your score on trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy and child safety. If you click on the “View scorecard for rating details” option, you’ll be able to write a comment and read what other people have said about that website.

What about all that useful hidden data you wanted to know? In the rating details page, the application displays the references found for a website on other sites. In this page you will also find the ‘Whois’ function which provides interesting information about indexed, registry and server data. You can even find a physical address behind a web site, which can be extremely useful, for example in cases of commercial fraud.

Other services that provide you information about websites are:

WhoIsTheOwner.net - If you want to know the contact address, email and phone number of the website owner, this free service will help.

WhoIsHostingThis.com - Enter the URL of any website and this online service will display that site’s hosting details.

SocialMeter.com - This service helps you determine the popularity of a web page on social sites like Digg, del.icio.us, Google Bookmarks, etc.

Popuri.us is for estimating the relative popularity of a website with ranking data and inbound links from sites like Compete, Quantcast Google, Yahoo!, Windows Live, etc.

OthersOnline is a Firefox and IE add-on that gives you the list of people interested in a particular website and if they are online, you can chat with them and exchange opinions.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find iTunes to be an essential part of your working day. Whether I’m listening to my favourite podcasts or concentrating with the help of some soothing music, iTunes stays running all through the day. Which is why I started to become pretty worried when a recurring error started to appear recently. Each time I start iTunes, I receive an error warning stating that “The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. An unknown error occurred (-48)“.

It took me a bit of time to work out how to fix this problem, so I thought I’d pass on what I found. This error basically stems from iTunes not being able to write its Library file to your iTunes folder. To fix it, simply find your iTunes folder (located in My Documents > My Music, in my case), right click the folder’s icon and choose ‘Properties‘. From here, click ‘Advanced‘ and make sure that Fast indexing is switched off for the folder. Also, make sure that in the main properties dialog box, ‘Read only‘ is completely unchecked.

This worked for me, but let me know if you’re having further problems with error (-48).

It can be very annoying when you install extensions in Firefox, change themes or alter a configuration file and are then informed that you must restart it for the extension to take effect but are offered no option for doing so. The answer to this problem is - yes that’s right - another extension called QuickRestart.

QuickRestart allows you to instantly restart Firefox via keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+Alt+R” or an option in the file menu “Restart Firefox”. It’s a very useful little extension if you’re an add-on freak like me, although it would have been nice if they’d added a restart button to the extensions dialogue window because after all, that’s where you’ll need it most. Because of this, in the end it’s almost as quick just to close the browser and restart it again although the desktop shortcut speeds things up a little. This extension also has the advantage that there’s no annoying “Are You Sure?” prompt when you restart Firefox although the disadvantage of course is, if you press the desktop shortcut accidentally, you lose all your information.

Note that if you’d rather have a restart button on your Firefox toolbar, then you can use the Toolbar Buttons extension which includes a range of buttons including one to restart the browser.

It was only a matter of time before Google announced the launch their own security product and Google Web Security for Enterprise is their rather long winded but comprehensive security solution aimed at large networks and businesses. The suite, which scans in real-time, stops web-borne spyware and viruses before they infiltrate networks and compromise or disable computers.

However it also enables network administrators to control how employees use the Internet so they can create, enforce, and monitor a web policy to “protect you from the legal liabilities of inappropriate content, reduce bandwidth congestion, and improve employee productivity”. You’ll also notice that this is one Google product that isn’t plastered with Google branding however as the software giant has chosen to brand it under the name of developers Postini who have provided much of the infrastructure.

It even protects employees on the move whether they are working at home, in a hotel room or Wi-Fi spot. It enhances the privacy of such employees by automatically encrypting all web traffic when the user connects to a public network and eliminates the need to backhaul traffic over corporate VPN’s. Of course, as you would expect from a Google product too, it’s very easy to use even for novice network administrators.

Looks like bad news for employees surfing those prohibited sites at work then although Google’s classification system for what it considers gambling, dating and news related sites etc may allow for a few exceptions to squeeze through. And this will surely become one of the major targets for hackers and trojans if it becomes widely implemented although probably, no serious enterprise would rely on a Google product to protect their network.

I’m a big fan of Google products in general. I use Gmail and Google Reader on a daily basis, not to mention my constant queries to the search engine. But due to a natural tendency to lose my bearings anywhere, I have a special predilection for Google Maps.

This awesome world atlas can show you images of just about any location on Earth, sometimes with such a high level of detail that you can perfectly distinguish cars and people walking around. But there are many other ways to use Google Maps than just watching life as it goes on in the antipodes. Thanks to customized maps created by certain companies or by other Google Maps users, you can add new content and tools to your maps and make them even more useful.

Simply load Google Maps on your browser and click on the “My Maps” tab. You’ll be presented with a selection of several map overlays, all ready to use at a single click. If you click on the “Browse the directory” button, you’ll access a larger list featuring all sorts of Google Maps add-ons: tools to calculate distance between two points, check traffic conditions in your city or search for hotels, maps for transportation networks around the world, lists of popular monuments and landmarks all over the world… even a real-time earthquake tracking tool!

Installing these extra features is a piece of cake: browse the collection until you find one that suits your needs and click on the “Add it to Maps” button. Now go back to Google Maps via the top left link and the new information will be displayed right on your map.

Adding large attachments to e-mails is still something that most of us steer clear of if we don’t want to wait half an hour for them to upload or crash your mail server. Most web based services such as Hotmail or Gmail won’t even let you upload large files although I don’t advise even trying it unless you want to hang your e-mail client.

If you’re working on a network and want to share large files with other users, then it’s far better to place them on a shared drive. However, if that’s not an option then try Filemail which allows you to send attachments of up to 2GB in size absolutely free. When you surf into Filemail, it takes you immediately to an e-mail compose screen so there’s no annoying registration procedure to go through - just start composing and off you go. The maximum attachment size is 2GB although you can upload multiple files at once.

However, it doesn’t work quite like a conventional e-mail client. Once the files are uploaded, they are encrypted using 128bit AES algorithm and a small e-mail is delivered to the recipients, containing a short message from you and a hyperlink where the files can be downloaded. After the specified number of days or number of downloads has expired, the files are removed completely from Filemail’s servers. The only downside is that it can be a bit slow when uploading files but this is a far superior solution to trying to send bulky e-mails or sign up for registration only upload sites.

I was nearly stung by a bee yesterday, and the experience has called into question my survival skills. I’ve since realised that I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do had the critter’s attack been a success. As a result, before I venture outside into the nice weather again I’m going to make sure I’m fully prepared for any dangers that may await me by loading up my phone with a selection of essential first aid software.

I started by installing 1st Aid & Emergencies on my Pocket PC, a piece of software that offers advice on how to handle a range of emergency care situations, from a nosebleed or sunburn to a life-threatening heart attack or stroke.

This app doesn’t cover every eventually and you can never be too careful, so I also took the liberty of arming my PPC with Pandemic Flu Survival Guide in case there’s a sudden outbreak of bird flu. And, in my experience, if the birds don’t get you then the insects probably will, so I also stuck a copy of Anti-Mosquito on my mobile phone. This state-of-the art app lets off a sound frequency that repels the blood suckers. Don’t worry though, because it’s virtually inaudible to the human ear.

I also downloaded Blood Pressure Watch and Easy Pulse in order to monitor myself in case the thought of all these terrible things that could happen to me got too much for my poor old heart. What’s more, I’m now keeping a track of my general level of physical fitness using Nokia’s Wellness Diary, which monitors stuff like my weight, eating habits and exercise. Perhaps all this is a bit excessive and I’m being paranoid about suffering an illness or injury. Oh God, here comes that bee again, quick, where’s my mobile?

One of the big innovations in Windows Vista was the addition of transparency to the operating system. Transparency can help in a number of ways. Not least, it allows you to see what’s behind certain Windows or folders without having to minimise everything. It’s also highly useful if you need to hide a program window that you don’t want others to see while it runs on your system. And of course, it looks quite cool too. Although many people still prefer to use XP over Vista, it doesn’t feature the transparency features Vista does but you can add them using various utilities and plugins.

To start with, you can make the XP toolbar transparent with Transbar as Elena explained a while back. Transbar features a slider so that you can control the level of transparency that suits you and your desktop and you’ll be surprised how radically it changes the look and feel of your working area. Meanwhile Vitrite is aimed at adding transparency options to your windows. It utilizes a dormant transparency function in Windows XP that allows you to click on a window and by holding down the Ctrl and Shift keys, select the level of transparency you want between 1-9.

If you want to add transparency to only a certain part of the screen, then ChaosCrystal is an excellent choice. It allows you to use a cross hair to select an area of the screen you want to target and then drag a transparency box over the area that you want to make transparent. Finally, if you’re looking for something more comprehensive, that includes more than just transparency tools, then XP Visual Tools offers a range of XP customisation options including new desktop templates and transparency features for everything ranging from folders to windows.

There’s nothing more annoying than a router signal that’s constantly fluctuating and cutting off your internet connection. It’s always at that crucial moment when you’re saving something or sending an e-mail that the darned signal goes and you’re left in limbo until it reconnects again. So why do router signals fluctuate so much?

The main factor is quite simply, distance. The further away you are from your router, the more problems your wireless card will have holding onto the connection. The range of your router very much depends on the model, the specific 802.11 protocol it uses and whether there are any major obstacles between it and your PC. According to About.com, the average range of a router using the 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g protocols (the three most common) is 150 ft (46m) indoors and 300ft (82m) outdoors. However, as they point out, there are differences between the protocols and the way they react to different obstacles:

Obstructions in home such as brick walls and metal frames or siding greatly can reduce the range of a Wi-Fi LAN by 25% or more. Because 802.11a employs a higher signalling frequency than 802.11b/g, 802.11a is most susceptible to obstructions. Interference from microwave ovens and other equipment also affects range. 802.11b and 802.11g are both susceptible to these.

The problem is that the routers that Internet Service Providers give you when you sign up are invariably quite cheap and not very powerful. There’s no way that my router has a range of almost 50m - I struggle to maintain a connection when any further away than less than half of that. But the weirdest thing of all is, even when the router is next to my laptop, the signal still fluctuates wildly although at least I suffer less broken connections. The answer I’ve found is to use a better router. Linksys and D-Link are known for their signal strength and if you’re looking for something really powerful (and expensive) then check this out.

If changing the position and model of your router haven’t helped, then it’s most likely that the wireless card on your laptop or PC is at fault. Before throwing it out though, try testing your wireless router with an external wireless card. This plugs into your PCMCIA slot and will prove whether it’s your machine that’s at fault. It’s better to use a PCMCIA card rather than one that plugs into your USB ports because they are generally better at picking up signals.

If none of the above have helped, then Microsoft have a good 10 point plan for improving your wireless network including a few extra tips such as replacing your router’s antenna, adding a wireless repeater, changing your wireless channel and updating your router firmware.

So you have your Google account and have gotten accustomed to using Google Docs for writing and saving documents online? Although it’s obviously much more limited then any proper office desktop application like Microsoft Office or iWork, Google Docs provides a great way of accessing and editing documents online. Personally I like using it in case of an emergency, or if I know that I won’t have my MacBook with me and still need to consult some documents.

Surprisingly, Google Docs doesn’t support Apple’s Safari, so, even though you can still open it, you lose out on all the features. One way to activate those features in Safari is by tricking Google Docs into thinking you are using Firefox. As macosxhints explains, you’ll need to activate the Debug Menu in Safari in order to this. Make sure Safari is closed, then open up a Terminal window and type in the following:

% defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1

This will activate the Debug Menu in your Safari browse. Then select Develop>User Agent and choose a Firefox entry. Normally Google Docs features will be enabled and you will be able to enjoy them just as much as if you were using it on Firefox.

The next major release of Open Office is now publicly available for testing and features some interesting new enhancements and improved compatibility with Microsoft Office. Of particular note is the fact that it is now able to run on Mac OS without the need for X11 therefore meaning it now behaves like any other Aqua application. Equally important is the fact that Open Office now works with Microsoft Office 2007 and 2008 documents.

Other exciting improvements include a solver component which allows solving optimization problems where the optimum value of a particular spreadsheet cell has to be calculated, chart enhancements, better sharing options for spreadsheets, some new and updated icons and enhanced editing features in Writer to make tracking changes much easier to follow. The developers behind Open Office have also introduced a new Start Centre which they claim will make launching components from the suite much easier:

The most immediately visible change to OpenOffice.org 3.0 is the new “Start Centre”, new fresh-looking icons, and a new zoom control in the status bar. A closer look shows that 3.0 has a myriad of new features. Notable Calc improvements include a new solver component; support for spreadsheet collaboration through workbook sharing; and an increase to 1024 columns per sheet. Writer has an improved notes feature and displays of multiple pages while editing. There are numerous Chart enhancements, and an improved crop feature in Draw and Impress.

Note that because this is still a beta version, you may experience some bugs or difficulties but for me, this is certainly the most exciting Open Office yet and with ability to work with MS Office 2007 and 2008 now added, surely even more users are going to wonder why they should bother coughing up hundreds of dollars for Microsoft Office.