Archive for July, 2009
 Linux only: System restrictions utility Lockdown Editor lets you lock down your Gnome desktop, removing access to the command line, specific panel items, or even prevent locking the screen.
The application, which is meant for use on a public internet kiosk, can be used for a variety of other uses—you could lock down and prevent any changes to a child's computer, or prevent that one relative from breaking his computer yet again by removing access to anything other than email and a web browser.
Installing is just as easy as anything else in a Debian based distribution—just find Lockdown Editor in the Add / Remove Applications dialog, or type sudo apt-get install pessulus from a command prompt. Once you’ve installed the software, you’ll need to run as an administrator user and apply the changes to another account on the machine.
Tags: internet, linux
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 If you love Gmail and you happen to be a disciple of the Getting Things Done philosophy, reader Chris Zimmerman details how he employs a couple of Gmail Labs features to transform Gmail into an impressive GTD inbox.
Ed. note: Everything below comes courtesy of Chris, who details how he uses previously mentioned Gmail Labs features like Gmail Superstars. and Multiple Inboxes to get things done.
Gmail Setup
Using Superstars & Multiple Inboxes:
- Enable both “multiple inboxes” and “Superstars” in Google Labs
- Then in general settings, set your stars up like this:
These are used to represent, in order from left to right:
- Red Bang – Needs Immediate Action/Scheduling, search query: has:red-bang (or l:^ss_cr)
- Yellow Bang – Needs Action/Non-Immediate, search query: has:yellow-bang (or l:^ss_cy)
- Red Star – Scheduled on Calendar, search query: has:red-star (or l:^ss_sr)
- Orange Arrows – Delegated, search query: has:orange-guillemet (or l:^ss_co)
- Purple Question – Needs Further Follow-Up or Research, search query: has:purple-question (or l:^ss_cp)
- Purple Star – Some Day/Long Term, search query: has:purple-star (or l:^ss_sp)
- Green Check – Completed, search query: has:green-check (or l:^ss_cg)
- Green Star – Archive, search query: has:green-star (or l:^ss_sg)
- Blue Info – Archive as General Reference Item, search query: has:blue-info (or l:^ss_cb)
- Then I set the settings of my multiple mailboxes up like this:
- The idea is, nothing should sit with a “red bang” for very long. For me at least, if it isn’t scheduled, it probably won’t happen, so I want stuff on the calendar as soon as possible.
- Once your Inbox is set up it looks great and automatically sorts things into the proper piles like so:
- I then also use labels to define Contexts, Projects, and Resources – Prefixed with a C/ or a P/ or R/ respectively:
Context Examples:
- C/Appointment
- C/Community
- C/Computer
- C/Consciousness
- C/Errands
- C/Exercise
- C/Home
- C/Offline
- C/Phone
- C/Private
- C/Travel
Project Examples:
- P/Company Site
- P/Source New Building
- P/Board Outing
- P/Spring Vacation
Resource Examples:
- R/Jones, Steve, Attorney
- R/Zoning Board
- R/Thomas, Joe
- Toggling the stars quickly puts things in the right action pile for fast processing. Tagging them with context and project labels, I know what I could be working on and how to move projects ahead.
- I also save common searches in my toolbar using this Gmail bookmarklet generator. Using the same search queries from above, you generate bookmarklets you can drag right to the toolbar. As an example, say I want to quickly see all mail that’s been delegated (the orange arrows); I go to the site, and enter l:^ss_co as my query, like so:
“Title” is the word that will appear in the button, so I keep it simple and stick to what I am looking for.
After I hit “generate”, here’s what I got:
Then I just dragged it to my toolbar.
I took it a step further, and put my common searches in and created a folder for all of them, like so:
Clicking on any of the bookmarklets takes me directly to whichever search I need.
Thanks for the great writeup, Chris! Got a similar implementation of your own? Let’s hear it in the comments.
Tags: google
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[Cross-posted from the SketchUp Blog]
With the launch of Moon in Google Earth today, you can now explore our nearest celestial neighbor from within Google Earth. Beginning in 1959, we began to send probes and landers to the lunar surface, and most of them remain there to this day.
Many of these objects have been modeled in Google SketchUp, and are based on drawings, photographs, and dimensions. One model that has a prolific presence on the Moon comes from Google 3D Warehouse model contributor, Pagan. This user modeled theApollo Lunar Module and it is featured at each of the Apollo mission landing sites, as well as in the guided tours.
To view these models in Google Earth, first switch to Moon via the planetary drop-down menu at the top of the screen.
Next, expand the “Moon Gallery” in the left Layers panel.
From here you can virtually visit a variety of artifacts, spacecrafts, and mission landing sites by double-clicking on any of the models listed. Here are some examples of what you can find:
Lunar Rover
Lunokhod 1 and Luna 17
Apollo 11 Landing Site
You can also view these models in SketchUp by downloading them from our Moon Objects collection in the Google 3D Warehouse. Happy exploring!
Posted by Nicole Drobeck and Mason Thrall, 3D Data Specialists 
 
Tags: google
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Summer is a great time to kick back with a frosty cold one, especially one you made yourself. Check out Instructables’ collection of beer tutorials, from home brewing to homemade openers.
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 Linux only: Video downloading utility UTube Ripper saves a copy of your favorite YouTube videos for your offline viewing pleasure, even converting them into a non-flash format.
Installation on Debian-based versions of Linux like Ubuntu is a breeze—just download the .deb file from the downloads page and double-click to install everything. You'll want to make sure that you have Adobe Flash and the ffmpeg library installed as well, or the utility won't end up working properly.
Once those steps are completed, you can launch the utility, paste in a link to a YouTube video and click the Download button to retrieve a copy. The Convert FLV section of the application will let you convert into MPG or AVI format, or you can use the “Rip audio only” option to convert a YouTube video into an MP3 file. If you’re looking for completely cross-platform web-based options, check out Zamzar for videos or previously mentioned KickYouTube.
Tags: linux
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