We use Microsoft’s Terminal Services to bring windows-only software to our Apple laptops. Works great. Even works great to bring apps to Windows machines.

Recently we heard about the opposite - terminal services for Mac from aquaconnect.net. At first we tried to wrap our brains around how to use it but I think we’re going to give it a demo run and just try it.

Just in time for the Ann Arbor Commuter Challenge, Google has enhanced their maps of Ann Arbor to now integrate the AATA bus schedules and routes.  I’ve had mixed results with it so far–plugging in the Deli to Bakehouse yields a pretty interesting route, but I see a huge potential, especially if the UM buses and proposed commuter rail and AMTRAK train schedules were also integrated.  Give it a whirl:  Google Transit Ann Arbor.

Winston’s Lego Computer is one geek’s log of creating a Lego case for a functioning computer. The specs on the machine aren’t bad: 933MHz processor, a DVD drive, 1GB RAM, wireless network adapter, and a ton of input/output choices. Not sure what the OS is, but I bet it’s Linux.

Non-nerd Lego enthusiasts (that’s an oxymoron, right?) might enjoy these 32 other things built from Legos, like this giraffe:

Dell’s IdeaStorm takes feedback and suggestions from the Dell user community and allows them to promote the ones they like and demote the ones they don’t.

This mind-blowing CSS sniffing technique takes advantage of the changes in color for visited links. Display a set of links on the page, use Javascript to check if the color has changed - And voila! Browsing history captured.

Benevolent genius uses:
Personalize the your browsing experience by displaying only RSS aggregators / social bookmarking tools that you use

Evil overlord uses:
User profiling
Ad placement based on brand websites you’ve visited
Product recommendations

It’s so brilliantly cool, yet scarily powerful.

From the ‘not a good idea’ department, the Zing! Spoon.

Until recently I would end up in travel situations, that were otherwise going along swimmingly, sitting in frustration in a hotel room, or a friend’s guest room, trying to figure out where to plug in my various electronic gear to charge. Then I spotted one of these mini power strips from Monster called Outlets To Go. The first one I ran across had four outlets but they make them in 3 and 6 outlets as well. My favorite is the 3 - it is the smallest and lightest and I rarely have more than three items to plug in. I was so happy with it that I bought one for both Jillian and for my Mom. They run around $12 at Amazon. I think we may carry a few in the IT “store” with our USB flash drives and extra power supplies that staff can pick up from us.Oh, and I’m not sure whether to share this last part or leave it as a surprise, but the connector that goes into the wall has a soft blue nightlight built-in.

Ran across this on Cool Tools yesterday - a free, downloadable PDF Physics manual written with skill and humor. And at 1500 pages, thorough.

How do objects and images move? How can animals move? What is motion?

How does a rainbow form? Is levitation possible? Do time machines exist? What does ‘quantum’ mean? What is the maximum force value found in nature? Is ‘empty space’ really empty? Is the universe a set? Which problems in physics are still unsolved?

Download at http://www.motionmountain.net/text.html

There are lots of “cleaners” out there for Mac OS X. With 10.4 I used OnyX, a UNIX-based GUI that easily let me clear caches, purge downloaded files, and clean up other out-of-the-way places in OS X. After upgrading to 10.5 I found Hazel. Hazel cleans based on rules you write. So, if you’re looking to free up space by clearing out your Download folder of items more than 7 days old, all you have to do is write a rule in Hazel and it will automatically delete items in the specified folder that are older than 7 days. If you’re a fan of iTunes’ smart playlist you’ll quickly take to Hazel.

I often save documents to my desktop with the intention of moving them later, but then never do. I also have the habit of following strict naming conventions with my documents. These habits lend themselves wonderfully to Hazel. For example, I wrote a rule in Hazel that said ‘if there is a document that contains “safety” in the file name and has the extension .doc anywhere in my (jgalante) users folder, then move it to the “07-08 Safety Notes” folder in Documents’ (see screenshot). Now when I’m taking notes at the Safety committee meeting and I save to my desktop, Hazel autmotically moves the document to my Safety folder.

That’s a pretty simple example of what Hazel can do, but it gives you an idea. You can also use Hazel to automatically apply color labels, comments, and other metadata to files and folder. Noodlesoft, the makers of Hazel, have a great website and are actively creating a community where people can share their rule recipes and tips (the import/export feature of Hazel makes sharing very easy). Hazel is still young, but it’s robust and with an active community behind it I can see this becoming as popular and powerful as Quicksilver.

I’ve been enjoying practicing Inbox Zero as described by Merlin Mann at 43Folders. For the last couple of weeks I have kept my inbox close to or at zero and WOW, it’s an amazing feeling.

Merlin’s got quite a rant going on the subject which is well worth reading.

Get yourself over to www.inboxzero.com and then let us know in the comments what you think about it.