Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts

29 June 2007

The new Google Docs

Google recently added new features to their Google Docs, they also gave it a visual overhaul.As you can see the layout is different. It appears to be much easier to follow, there are new icons, and they renamed the famed "labels" to "folders".

Making a folder:
Making a folder is a rather simple process, that almost anyone can follow.
Step one: Click on the "New" button on the top, and click on "Folder".

Step two: Notice the large writing area that now appeared, that is where you write the folders name.

Step three: Add an optional description or status to the folder. This will show up when you click on the folder. Though I just prefer a descriptive name.
Just a quick note, you can not make sub-folders.

Managing your documents:
You can sort your documents into folders in two ways, either by dragging the document to the appropriate folder, very similar to how you would on any modern desktop, or by manually assigning the document to a folder, just like you did when things were called "labels" rather than "folders".

Dragging your document:

This is by far the easiest way for a novice user to file their documents, it is quick, has great visual feedback, and allows you to move a document from one folder to anther with great ease. If I have a document that only belongs in one folder, than this is how I would handle it.
One of the great features of Google Docs, is the ability to have a document with two different labels (now called folders), but that is not possible when you are dragging and dropping a document into folders. When you drag a document to a different folder, it will remove any associations it had with other folders. For example, say I had the document "Kama Sutra for Dummies" in both my "Personal" folder and in the "Recreation" folder; but I wanted to add it to my "Woohoo" folder, if I dragged the document to the "Woohoo" folder, than it would no longer be in my other two folders. You can avoid this by:

Manually assigning the document to a folder:


As you can see, by checking the document, then clicking on the "Add to folder" button, I can assign a document to two or more folders. This is exactly how the previous version of Google Docs functioned with labels.


This is much more powerful way to sort your documents. This allows for a document to be in two different places at once. Take my "Kama Sutra for Dummies" example from above, if I add the document to the "Woohoo" folder in this manner, than I can access it from any of those three folders. Hopefully Google will get the point where you can search for documents that reside in multiple folders, to help narrow down your results.

28 June 2007

Google Desktop on Linux


Well, the day that some people have been waiting for has arrived, Google Desktop is now available for Linux. It isn't the Google Desktop that you see for Windows, you don't get the Google Gadgets, but you do get an indexed search of your computer.
Some people are not impressed with this. And you can see why when you think that Linux has Beagle and Srigi, both of which do the same basic thing (though they don't index you gmail account).
I for one am happy to see this. I don't care about getting Google Desktop on my computer, though I am testing it out. One thing that is different about this, versus some of Google's other Linux offerings, is that it does not require Wine to run. I see this as a good thing, hopefully other companies will see this as an example, and try to follow with some other products.

07 April 2007

Getting Things Done

I ran into a new idea (okay, not a new idea, just new packaging), called "Getting Things Done" - well it's new to me. As near as I can tell it's about dumping all the info in your head and life into a medium that can remind you (what medium doesn't really matter). It's also about sorting out your tasks and projects into an easy to work with form so that you know what you have to do, and what step(s) needs to be completed next.
For the longest time I have been searching for a way to organize my life (mainly work), so that I can get everything done - and have time to do it. One of the main things preventing me from doing that is I'm forgetful of anything that does not interest me. This way of Getting Things Done seems like it is custom built for me to get things done. I can't wait till I start working again to try this out for a true test - but for the time being I will just have to use it at home; I even found an extension for Firefox and Gmail to help with that.
On my searching for info on GTD (Getting Things Done), I found an interesting article - which is loosely related to that, here is the link Firefox OS.
Okay, I think that is it for now.