The Whole Story

I recently found out that Microsoft has made avaliable Microsoft Office Professional Edition Plus 2007 Beta 2 for download. The new version of office boasts some really cool new features and is so much better than previous versions. You have to download the beta and try it out for yourself. Microsoft in the past in my opinion have really had a hard time with developing a useful user interface for the Office productivity suite ever since we first started using Word for Windows back in the day. Well, have times changed and Office 2007 (codenamed Office 12) puts those jabs at its usability to bed for good. They have completely redesigned the interface of all the components of the office suite with a more task friendly feel. Now, when we launch Word 2007, we aren't given a bland old display of paper with an unelegant toolbar atop. Instead we are greeted with a nice new look and feel with some great new graphic changes that are more task oriented than ever.

If I select a piece of text to say change the formatting of that text, I no longer have to select it then move my mouse all the way to the top of the screen to change formatting, now all I do is select the text, and as I move my mouse a smaller font panel fades into view right there beside my selected text. No more moving around all over the place!

It is the little things like this that have really impressed me with Office 2007. Instead of reading about what I have to say, go follow the link above, download it and test it out for yourselves. You will not be dissapointed.

I have been pretty busy with schoolwork for uni over the past week so unfortunately I haven't really had the time to sit down and finish Episode 7 which was slated to appear on here a few days ago (May 26th) but I should have it finished real soon and be ready and avaliable for download on Friday 2nd June. Again, i'm sorry for the delay, just been real busy thats all. Hope you all understand.

 I take a look at a few interesting posts over last week in this week's episode so just hang in there for it, it will be a good one i promise!

Also, I have been testing out a new look for the blog over the last few nights as you can see. Please tell me what you think of it and If you would like to see something differently or if you like the old one better, please let me know. I'm always trying to improve the look and usability and any feedback either via comments or email are always greately appreciated.

Thanks for your patience guys!

Today as I was making my way home on the ever interesting Melbourne train network, I spotted a man sitting down beside me with his arms out in a meditation kind of position with his eyes closed, and his legs folded. He was sitting on one of those seats which fold back to allow room for disabled passengers and the seat next to him was unoccupied (folded back). His legs were covering the view of the seat in which he was sitting on from my position and looked as if he was just FLOATING IN MID AIR! lol.

This was so very very funny amongst myself and two other friends travelling with me at the time, I wish I had my camera with me, it would have made such a great photo. Lol, we joked amongst ourselves that when he gets up and opens the train door to leave, he would just float out the door still in the meditation position lol. Ohh, I guess you had to be there, but it was just so hillarious. So wish I had my camera.

These short videos show a new technology being used in Las Vegas night clubs that allow people to manipulate images and\r\nVideo in real time by simply moving their appendages over them. You have to check out the videos to fully comprehend how cool this is.

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Hey everybody, hope you’ve all been doing great. I haven’t made a ‘personal’ post for over a week now so I thought i’d fill you all in on what’s been happening with me, interesting or not lol.

School is school really, same old same old. I only have two weeks left of classes for the semester, then a week of exams so it will all be over very shortly, I so can’t wait. I’ve been applying for all kinds of jobs lately. I’m most probably going to be taking some time off studying after this semester is over so looking for a new job.

Applied for mostly full time positions in a whole range of fields such as data entry (boring), various programming jobs, mainly experience with .net languages, some web development stuff (php/asp.net), some consultancy work, even applied to work full time in a sports store here in Melbourne. I hope i get an interview with the sports store, I think i’d really like working there for a bit.

Ummm, what else has been happening. I mentioned in this week’s (episode 6) audio I caught TOTO’s Melbourne concert, which was really great, had such a great time. Lost my voice at the end of the night but was fun nonetheless! lol. Anybody who has ever been to any kind of rock concert knows fully how hot it can get down in there, and I was totally stuffed by the end, soo hot….about half way through I was really dying for some water or something, but didn’t wanna move. It would have been hell trying to get out of the huge wave of people I was nestled amongst. But, still so cool!

Anybody close to me knows I’ve been doing it tough over the last few weeks, just with my personal affairs and stuff. Most of the people I’m close to do come here and read my blog too, so to all you guys, thanks alot for being there for me it really means alot to me. Good to know I have such great friends around me.

On a lighter note, I’ve been hyping it up for the last few months you are all aware. New Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo DS finally came out this week, hope to pick up a copy of it sometime soon. If you have no idea what i’m talking about, just browse through my blog, you’ll most definately find a post i wrote on it.

So thats about it I guess, If i’ve forgotten anything, i’ll be sure to tell you guys about it. Take it easy, have a great week!

Back for another week, was a bit busy friday night so it's out saturday (friday in most other timezones anyway lol). I go over just some of the things that have been happening both on my blog, and around the world:

• Michelin revolutionary airless tires
• Vista style task tips
• Internet Neutrality Bill

Oh by the way, a big shout out to Heidi. Hope your having a great time in California seeing the sights and having fun i hope. You can tell me all about it when you get back i'm sure!

The bill released by the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is called the ”Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act.” It’s gathering support from both sides of the aisle, but is also facing strong opposition. This could be a long and ugly battle.

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Have you seen the ability Windows Vista has of showing Visual tool tips of your minimized tasks in the taskbar? Can’t wait for Vista to release? well Visual Task Tips for Windows XP are your answer my friends.

Visual Task Tips is a lightweight shell enhancement utility. It provides thumbnail preview image for each task in the Windows Taskbar, like in the upcoming Microsoft Windows Vista. - visualtasktips.com

These are really cool. You do need to be running Windows XP (home/pro) as it doesn’t work on Windows 2000. These ‘visual tooltips’ have totally changed the way I work with my computer. I found this website last night actually and is probably one of the best enhancements you can make to the XP shell. Once you install it, it just sits on your computer as a background process so you never have stupid annoying ’startup’ popups for it, or system tray icons to hide.

A very lightweight and cool feature. Make sure you check it out and best part is…its totally free! Have fun.

Michelin shows a potentially disruptive technology which could be the future new standard for vehicles: an airless, integrated tire and wheel combination. It’s called the Tweel (Tire/WhEEL). Watch the video to see how it works and what it will/can be used for.

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I have just finished Episode 5: Check In! and is now avaliable for your listening pleasure. A bit of a quiet week, but just thought i'd check in and re-hash some stuff that made a post this week:

• New Super Mario Bros - May 15th release date
• Al Pacino new theater production  - Salome
• Superman issue #1

I've been pretty busy lately with some stuff going on, but be sure to check out next week's episode, which will be #6 (wow 6 weeks already) how time fly's when your having fun! lol.

 Enjoy!