Pathway: A better way to Wikipedia?

Pathway is a cool-looking Mac-only app that aims to be an alternative to a standard web browser for using Wikipedia. It aims to “help you discover Wikipedia without having to worry whether you’ll have enough time to read everything you want, or if you’ll get lost.” That sounds simplistic, but the execution looks great. Pathway draws a map of every Wikipedia page you hit connected to the page you got there from and the page(s) you went to from there. The map also shows all of the pages the current page links to for quick navigation. It also features Safari and Spotlight integration and the ability to export pages, and currently works with the English, French, German, Dutch, and Spanish Wikipedias. Pathway is a free download and requires Mac OS 10.4.

source [downloadsquad]

Advanced Gantt Charts in Spreadsheet

Gantt Chart is useful. It tracks tasks start and finish dates, dependencies and resources. Unfortunately drawing gantt chart usually requires a project management software. Alternative? Peltier Technical Services shows a way of doing it in Spreadsheet (i.e. Excel):

Gantt charts are useful tools in program management, which help to show graphically when tasks must start and finish, and which tasks are underway at any given time. Gantt charts help in scheduling of the many tasks in a program, and in identifying potential resource issues in the schedule. A simple Gantt chart is merely a floating bar chart, that is, a stacked bar chart in which the first series is formatted to be invisible. The second series of bars are stacked on the first, but these bars appear to float in the middle of the chart, because the first series is formatted to be invisible. My article Gantt Charts in Microsoft Excel in Tech Trax e-zine describes this simple approach.

This example is more detailed, and therefore more complicated. There are two visible bars, so the floating bar can show fraction complete and fraction incomplete. In addition, two line chart series are added to show milestones for completed and not-yet-completed tasks. Excel will not allow an XY series to be added to a Bar-Line combination chart, so an additional line series is used as an anchor for a vertical line and label. Using a line chart allows us to use the versatile time scale axis of the line chart as the horizontal axis of the Gantt chart.

I am not sure about you, but I feel this is a pretty cool way to generate gantt chart, without open up your wallet to purchase a project management application.

Advanced Gantt Charts in Microsoft Excel – [Peltier Technical Services]

source [lifehack.org]

Use Webcam as a motion-detecting camera

There is an application called Dorgem (Windows Only), which has motion detection function on normal webcam. This is a pretty cool feature because you can convert webcam to a security camera. Dorgem also has couple of other features that are useful for security camera, such as capture images and store off-site (i.e. FTP site), and supports unlimited number of simultaneous cameras.

Dorgem is a webcam capture application for Windows 9x and up. Any Video for Windows compatible webcam (or other digital camera) is supported.

It has unlimited storage events that can put the captured image on an FTP site as well as a local disk, all with their own time interval. It can put a unlimited texts and bitmaps on the captured image before the image is stored.

Dorgem supports an unlimited number of simultaneous cameras. It has a built-in webserver for still images and can be used as security camera because of its motion detection.

Simplehelp has a full tutorial on how to setup your webcam as a security camera. It should give you a head start on configuring the application.

How to use your PC and Webcam as a motion-detecting and recording security camera – [Simplehelp]

source [lifehack.org]

螃蟹

今天在上班的路上碰到好多螃蟹喔! 簡直要用猖獗兩個字來形容!

我和這些螃蟹實在是屬於兩個不同的世界，我不明白為什麼有人走路就是沒辦法走一直線，一條短短的路，他們可以歪過來、扭過去，一路斜著的走。當你想要超越他的時候，他竟可以突然又拉回來，繼續擋著你的路。啊! Come On，專心一點! 走一直線沒有你想像的那麼困難，好嗎!? I know you can do it!

啊，走在螃蟹的後面好累喔… 我討厭螃蟹。

你該補充那些維他命？

 

抽菸的人	由於抽菸會消耗體內大量的維他命C，所以有必要經常補充。
工作量大及運動多的人	這類的人需要特別補充維他命B群，因為維他命B群是讓脂肪轉化成熱能的重要物質。
經常熬夜的夜貓族	熬夜時腎上腺素的分泌會增加，而腎上腺素的合成也需要維他命C，所以要適量補充維他命C。
電腦族或事務員	看電腦螢幕的時間長，工作耗眼力及精神壓力與肉體勞動的疲勞有所不同，必須適量補充維他命A。
孕婦及哺乳中的媽媽	懷孕時由於母體與胎兒組織快速生長，葉酸轉換增加並且缺乏維他命B6，應該每日補充。不過，維他命D的量就不需要增加了，因為額外攝食會使嬰兒的血鈣過多。
吃素的人	長期吃素的人由於不吃動物類食品，容易缺乏維他命D、維他命B12。
老年人	老年人腸胃的吸收不比年輕人好，加上許多營養素容易流失，又有偏食的習慣，因此有必要每天補充一顆綜合維他命。
兒童及發育中的青少年	由於成長發育期需要的營養素比任何時期多，而維他命D對於骨骼的發育及成長有很大的關係，所以需要多補充。
經常做激烈運動	維他命E、B 群對你而言猶如卡通影片中大力水手要吃的菠菜。能使你動作機敏、爆發力強、精力十足。
正在減肥的人	運動20分鐘過後，脂肪會被利用作為能量，而幫助脂肪代謝的便是維他命B2。
經常口腔發炎	嘴唇和口中黏膜的發炎可以藉由補充有「抗口腔炎維他命」別稱的維他命B2。
容易抽筋或肌肉痙攣	身體所吸收的鎂當中有40％被利用於保持肌肉或心臟的正常收縮，運動員每天必須攝取300mg。
容易神經緊張	對抗壓力的臨戰態勢之前，一定要補充維他命C以及維他命B群，以及鈣、鎂。
外務推銷員	奔波於炎熱的大太陽下，水溶性維他命C會隨著汗液從體內大量的流失，維他命B1能促進分解肌肉中所積存的乳酸等疲勞物質的機能。
肩膀酸痛	維他命E和鈣質是救星。
面皰、小膿皰	要補充維他命B2、維他命B6。
醒酒	維他命B1將是你最好的幫手。

source [unknown]

Vista Transformation Pack: Vista-ize your XP

I have had a lot of people asking me what Windows theme I have, since it looks like nothing ever seen on XP. It is a theme generated by a sweet little app called Vista Transformation Pack (VTP). It turns XP into Vista, at least visually. The VTP is a slick one-stop shop install that transforms just about everything to look like Vista. The login screen, the toolbar, the windows, sounds, screen-savers, and even wallpaper. I love the look and feel of the Vista components, but love the stability and widespread use of XP, so until I get a bigger hard drive, this is the closest I will get to Vista. It even includes a transparency function to mimic Vista’s Aero Glass. The VTP installs fairly easily, is free and seems to run seamlessly with not a hiccup so far on my machine. Note that VTP does mess with Windows system files and may rearrange your icons, but there is a detailed warning during the install process, so you can see all it does. Didn’t harm my machine at all, so good luck! Here is the list of things it will Vista-ize on XP:

• Boot screen
• Welcome Screen / Logon Screen
• New msstyles files (visual styles)
• New desktop and file icons
• New toolbar icons
• Progress Dialogs
• Sounds scheme
• System Tray icons
• New Wallpapers
• Windows Media Player Skins
• And much more

There are a few styles in the display properties to choose from so find the one you like best. Enjoy.

My desktop, thoroughly Vista-ized, including icons, background. RocketDock at the bottom of the screen is NOT a part of the transformation pack, but has skins that go nicely with Vista’s styles none the less.

Transparent windows and Vista style (dark)

Another view of the Windows explorer dialog

Another desktop view with the LClock, Start-menu, and a sample of the transparency on Windows. You can even choose the system font you want, Arial, MS Sans Serif, and Segoe UI are some of the choices.
source [downloadsquad]

Compare cellphone plan with MyRatePlan.com

All of us probably wouldn’t mind lowering our cellphone bills, and MyRatePlan.com has come up with a nifty comparison calculator that can help you save some dough.

You have three plan comparison choices: single plans, family plans, and or prepaid. In order to get the most out of this calculator, you’re going to need to know your existing plan parameters, and have a good idea of what your ideal calling plan might look like. This is a good way to find out what’s included in your calling plan before you sign your life away.

MyRatePlan.com

source [lifehacker]

百萬圍城桌布

9/9/2006 反貪怒潮 全球在看

9/9/2006 展示納斯卡圖騰

9/15/2006 百萬圍城

9/15/2006 人民勝利

source [台灣蘋果日報]

MegaHouse玩具介紹

去四葉家作客

　四葉妹妹是 《笑園漫畫大王》作者的最新作品，目前單行本出到第五集，延續之前《笑園漫畫大王》的無俚頭式幽默，卻依然十分收到歡迎。這支四葉妹妹是《電擊大王》（沒 記錯應該是）的贈品，當初我花了600元買到那期的《電擊大王》就是因為想得到四葉妹妹。雖然她只有小小的6公分左右，全身卻有多處關節可動。

　這套傢俱食玩，是走普普風格，雖然比例上還有待加強（這點到目前為止都還沒有改善），但論花色、設計與創意，都是相當有新意的作品。其中的大型傢俱，像是沙發、床，還有小飾品，像桌燈、玩偶、裝飾品，都很成功的表現出復古又具現代感的味道，另外隨意組合也是賣點之一。

玩具資訊
【RETRO STYLE】→看更詳細的商品資訊
發行廠商：MEGAHOUSE
種類：食玩
隻數：全10種
發行日期：2004年8月

●↑不管是杯子、床的花色，都具有五、六○年代的普普風格。

●↑這套盒玩還有個特點是，利用很多飾品（蘑菇燈、蘋果罐）來營造現代與復古並存的感覺。

●↑地毯和小茶几可以分開，另外梳妝台的抽屜、椅子的上蓋都可以打開。

●↑這套最經典的就是沙發和黑膠唱碟，聽玩具店老闆娘說，這款復古沙發曾在市面上看過，當時她衝動的想直接搬回家。（國光幫幫忙節目裡面也有一個喔！）

●↑唱機也是相當經典，唱盤可以直接放在唱機上。紅色和藍色的裝飾櫃，可以自己組合，又是普普風的自由創意。XD

○現在來把普普風傢俱和可愛的四葉妹妹組合！○

●↑歡迎來參加我家啦，先來沙發坐一坐！（四葉妹妹的比例剛剛好）

●↑一起看電視。

●↑這是超心愛的小兔子，睡覺夥伴！

●要不要聽五○年代的英國搖滾樂。

●↑我來放給大家聽。

●↑一起享用午餐。

●↑下次還要來我家玩喔！！

【知識+++】
‧ 什麼是普普風？
‧ MEGAHOUSE官方網站

【看漫畫】
‧ 笑園漫畫大王
‧ 四葉妹妹

【看卡通】
‧笑園漫畫大王→每週一至五晚上7.00

source [玩具人爆走] 2006.09.20

FreeComputerBooks.com

FreeComputerBooks.com has many free resources clumped into compact pages, so you so whiz through them quickly to find what you want. The site is ad supported but most of the content I found actually was free. There are links to many tutorials, books, articles, and other resources online that may be of use to programmers, database developers and such. I found a good article on AJAX that contained some info I needed for a project I am working, so my visit to the site proved useful. Only one link I clicked on went somewhere to buy a book, but the rest I clicked on were free resources, FYI.

source [downloadsquad]