Couple of days back, I was introduced to the much hated "Office 2007 Expired" window. It seems that time flies when you use Microsoft trial software. I should of paid more attention to the many warning pop-ups.

Most of the important files that I have are saved using the .docx format and so I was looking at major trouble.

Microsoft Word 2007 uses .docx as the default file extension. Essentially they are nothing but a bunch of zipped XML documents. You can even go as far as to rename the extension to .zip which would allow you to easily extract the content.

If you have earlier versions of Microsoft office, you can view, edit, save, and print .docx files with this free Microsoft Office compatibility Pack.

Now, if you are on a mac and wish to perform the same tasks mentioned above, then simply download the Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac.

Lets just say you are like me and do not have a full version of any Microsoft Office software. Here are some of the many online conversion sites available.

Zamzar is an excellent service which performs the essential duty of converting any file you have under the .docx extension to .doc format [there are several other formats to choose from] . Be aware that you need to provide an email address to receive the converted file. After receiving the file through email, you can always use Google Docs to open the file and edit it.

Just like ZamZar, docx2doc.com offers the same service but at a more straight forward manner. Meaning it is created just for this task and so you don’t have to worry about any third party software or any other confusing file format options.

Ultimately, you can download the Docx-converter Dashboard Widget which allows you to convert files right from your Desktop. Best of all, any updates or feature additions to the web site will automatically be reflected in the widget!

You might be one of the many net users addicted to the internet. The whole  concept of internet addiction has been popular for a while now but cases dealing with the problem have become more frequent lately.

Internet can be an overwhelming technology for any new comer and so its very easy to become facinated or even addicted. Many of the youth currently undergoing therapy admit that porn, online games, and surfing the web are the top reasons behind the addicition. Also, given the rise of web 2.0 services like Myspace, Digg, Blogs and various other social networking websites, have contributed much to this issue.

In a recent article by CNN, the issue of internet addiction has become so severe that colleges in India are introducing internet usage limits upon students.

In China, net addiction has become so critical that those affected by the disorder may be in the millions. The Chinese government has decided to set up boot camps to deal with this growing problem. Combining sympathy with discipline, a military-style boot camp near Beijing is at the front-line of China’s battle against Internet addiction.

While attending a boot camp service may not be so practical for many of us, there are several minor techniques that may serve in combating your addiction.

»Setup alerts on your PC at various times of the day detailing tasks to be performed. This may create a feeling of responsibility while keeping you busy enough to avoid using the internet for long periods of time.

»Time your Net usage by installing a parental control software that will either shut down your PC/Internet at a given time.

»Participate in outdoor activities that will decrease your dependency on the internet. This may be the most valuable tip in combating this very serious disorder. Keeping yourself busy is always the best way to fight any kind of addiction whether it is drugs, sex, or the internet.

Lets say, you come across a interesting quote or information that may be  beneficial to a friend of yours. In order to send it via email, you have to open up your favorite email client, copy the given text, and then you have to paste the text. All this can take some time if your computer isn’t exactly what you may call a Power PC.

Sometimes it can be a pain just to open up your email client and paste text that you have selected. This all depends on your mood ofcourse.

Snip IT is a simple add-on for Microsoft Internet Explorer that can assist you in this situation. While making the whole process simple, it can also save you a good amount of time.

Using the add-on is a breeze. While Internet Explorer is open, just simply highlight text that you want to send by email. Then upon right click, You will be given choices at the bottom of the menu to send the highlighted text by means of various email services. You can click any of the clients provided in the menu, which will open up a new window enabling you to send it to anyone of your choice.

The add-on currently supports Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail and default installed MailTo client in Internet Explorer as e-mail client options. Yahoo Mail Beta is not currently supported.

[Download Add-On]      

[Thanks, Neowin]

The navbar was originally made to help enhance the readers experience by allowing them to search through millions of blogs of their interest. Intentions are worthy of admiration, but a blogger set on representing professionality might find it disturbing or even turned off by the diversion of traffic this feature causes.

Bloggers were able to disable the navbar found in the previous version of blogger using a simple CSS code. However, if you have switched to the new version of blogger, you might of noticed that the CSS code seems to stop functioning. This is due to the fact that google now uses a different CSS tag to control the navbar in Blogger Beta.

If you want to hide the display of navbar in the new Blogger, then simply copy and paste these lines into your blogger template.

<style type=”text/css”>
#navbar-iframe {
height: 0px;
visibility: hidden;
display: none;
}
</style>

Note:If you are using a classic template in the new version of blogger, then simply search and replace the #b-navbar with #navbar-iframe, which will successfully hide the navbar.

Now, you might be wondering if this method is violating any google blogger TOS or any type of licensing. There is no mention of anything relating to the removal of navbar in the google policy. Also, many have been using methods such as this, since the early days of blogger in itself.

[via:Digital Inspiration] 

Techmeme is by far one of the most popular news aggregators out there,    especially with almost 30,000 unique visitors a month. Getting a post at the front page of Techmeme would certainly give you the traffic boost you need and the much needed visibility from high profile bloggers.

During a recent interview with Gabe Rivera, founder of Techmeme, revealed some insights into how you could possibly get your blog post in the front page.

»Create posts that will interest other bloggers to link to your post which will allow your items to rise in importance. The more inbound links you can get, the more it appeals to the Techmeme bot.

»Linking to an item on Techmeme will not get you listed as a source. Techmeme has a list of preset sources that are increasing as the blogosphere expands. You should always aim to get blogs that you know are already listed as a source such as GigaOM by Om Malik to link to your entry.

»If a post on your site includes a Techmeme permalink, as opposed to linking to an article that Techmeme links to, with the addition of a moderate amount of traffic through that link would get you a better chance at being listed under the Techmeme Discussion section of an article. Also the Techmeme system must first determine that your site is not spammy and the referral is real.

»Write content that is original and meaningful to new visitors as well as returning visitors of your site.This is a great tip because its important to write original content to increase your blog readership not just to get your blog listed on Techmeme. Just remember that originality is the key to increasing popularity in the blogosphere. Put yourself in the shoes of your readers, would you want to read content that is a repeat of what all of the news sites are writing about?

»Enable others to find your content easily through emails, links, trackbacks, IMs,social networks etc. This will in fact increase the appeal your blog has on potential readers, while increasing traffic to your site. Traffic has a great impact on Techmeme’s ability to find your content and evaluate it’s worth.

Source:Tech Memeorandum |Image Credit:Digital Inspiration

Google Talk is infact one of my favorite google services due to it’s variety of features and intergration to GMail. Even though Google Talk does provide simplicity in every way possible but one small problem still presists.

If you have ever used Google Talk, you should have noticed the lack of an option to choose font style, size or color. There is however a work-around which allows you to send bold or italicized messages in Google Talk.

To send a message in bold, you simply need to add asterisk (*) before and after the text.
For example: *Hello World* would look like Hello World

To send a message in italics, you need to add underscore before and after the text.
For Example: _Hello World_ would look like Hello World

If you prefer to send the message in both Bold and italicized style; add both underscore and asterisk before and after the text.
For Example: _*Hello World*_ would look like Hello World  

[Thanks Thilak]

Wether you are a average pc user or a power user,rememering those long lists of shortcuts built into your windows operating system can be a hassle.However, these shortcuts can be very handy when it comes to saving you some extra time.

I had some time to spare and thought I should help my fellow readers out with some quick shortcuts that you might of forgotten or simply unaware of.Hopefully these shortcuts will come in handy when you upgrade to windows vista.This way you are bound to save alot of time with these shortcuts.

»Windows system key combinations

»Windows program key combinations

»Mouse click/keyboard modifier combinations for shell objects

»General keyboard-only commands