We needed some tools for managing Active Directory, specifically something to give us total number of accounts, and another to find inactive computers.  Joeware.net has tools to accomplish both these tasks: AdFind and OldCmp (awesome reporting features!), and a couple dozen other command line tools for managing Active Directory, all simple to use and robust in ability.  Best of all they’re free!  (And no, Joeware is not made by yours truly.)

How to make time-tracking fun and tangible:
1. Buy a box of Legos.
2. Assign a color to every project.
3. Lay a Lego board by your desk.
4. For every chunk of time spent on a project, stack a Lego piece of the corresponding color on the board.
5. End of week: Admire and analyze!

Other possible uses in the department:
3D representation of the project board
Weekly presence tracker

The image of a MacBook Air inside a manila envelope is famous.  Of course you would never carry your Air in an actual envelope, but if you want to fool passers-by into thinking you do then AirMail is for you.  AirMail by Manila Mac is a fleece-lined vinyl sleeve made to look like a traditional manila envelope, complete with red-button-and-rope closure.  Clever, for sure, but maybe not the safest keeping for your $2,000 computer.

Shout-out to Maggie for posting in the Shoutbox.

Yesterday afternoon we all rode up to Cornman Farms in Dexter to have Mark show us around.  We spent a couple hours touring, harvesting, and tasting.  We had a lot of fun and Mark was an excellent host - and a terrific cook, too!  After our visit to the farm we all went to the Roadhouse for dinner, where Mark and Keiron roasted our veggies and served them with our dinner.  It was totally the farm-to-fork experience, peep the gallery to see all the pictures.

Thanks to M&G for loaning the camera!

1) DoPDF for Windows | There are lots of PDF writers/printers available for Windows - CutePDF, PrimoPDF are some I’ve used before.  This week LifeHacker mentioned doPDF and I quickly adopted.  The installation is quick and the interface is very simple.  Mac users have easily been able to print to PDF for a while and I’ve always wanted the same ease in Windows.  CutePDF and PrimoPDF generate a PDF, but they do so with either bulky installation files and prereqs, or with a multi-step process that takes more time to click through than it does to actually create the file.  DoPDF is lightweight and replicates the Mac experience nicely for Windows.

2)  PDF Import for OpenOffice.org | Sun created an add-on for the new release of OpenOffice which lets you import a PDF to Writer (the OO version of Word) and edit.  Eureka!  What a brilliant solution to an issue that has been nearly impossible - or at least unaffordable - to solve with MS Word.  Peep LifeHacker’s post for more details.  OpenOffice.org and Sun PDF Import are available for all platforms.

Bent plywood is a staple in modern (affordable) design.  It’s functional and practical, but, really, it’s nearing a saturation point.  Take for example this bent ply MacBook (Pro) case.  Designer Brian Kelly created the case as, “an exploration into the process of bending plywood…The laptop case is formed from two bent panels of plywood which slide along one another to encase the laptop computer.  The case is lined with cork to provide additional heat resistance and protection.”

Thanks to ISO50 for the tip.

Wow, Dell has come out with a small desktop computer that looks pretty decent! It’s called the Dell Studio Hybrid, though I’m not sure what it is a hybrid of, it’s still got some respectable features.

I should say that we’ve been using the Apple Mac Mini in our Deli offices, where space it extremely tight, and everyone has been really impressed by them. We bootcamp them into an OEM licensed version of Windows XP and they crank away.

So it’s in this light that this Dell looks good. It’s about the same size profile and costs only 5% more at $629. Similar to the Mini we’d need to get an OEM license for XP separately. CPU, memory, and harddrive are better in the Dell. Warranty, like the Mini, would need to be extended to 3 years.

The only area that the Dell falls short compared to the Apple Mini is that it can’t run Mac OS. I know, that’s perhaps a strange take on it, but we’re not sure that we couldn’t reach a point in the next year or so where we could switch desktops over from XP to Mac OS X without undue pain. The Mac OS machines that we have now tend to be dramatically different in terms of trouble - they tend to not need much support. So, something to think about. We’ll probably give one of these a try in a situation that’s tight on space, like our Bakeshop.

For those of you needing up to the minute, interactive election poll results, check out: pollster.com.

Adobe’s Jack Nack posted yesterday that CS4 is now shipping.  Adobe released a beta Photoshop CS4 a few months ago and has been taking orders for the full suite for several weeks, but never announced an official release or ship date.  Waiting to ship until Apple unveiled the new laptops makes sense to me.   Find out more about CS4.

Tom Root lent me an uncopyedited not-for-sale manuscript of Daniel Suarez’s (aka Leinard Zeraus) Daemon.

Techno thrillers are generally disappointing. Anyone who has seen Swordfish or Antitrust will understand. And by the second page of Daemon, I was already cringing on my couch. The writing is oh so painfully self-conscious. He uses brand names to introduce his cast (the reporter with her Louis Vuitton bag, the consultant and his BMW, the mastermind’s Hummer of Doom). He tells you matter-of-factly every character’s motivation and personality, leaving nothing to the imagination. Then there’s the (surprisingly few) clichés, such as the clueless experts. At one point in the story, representatives from the CIA, DARPA, FBI, and NSA are meeting to discuss the cyber crime issue on their hands. The young NSA doctor (one of the lead characters) has to explain to them how a Denial of Service attack works. Aw heck, if they don’t know what a DDOS is, we’re beyond screwed. Has no one in the room been briefed?

Heavy-handed writing aside, the technology is spot-on. Everything from database hacking to MMORPG’s to software development to WAP setup. It’s all airtight.

Halfway into the book the technology he describes turns from “current day” to more “current day if someone would just do it already.” I especially love the HUD glasses with overlay information on real world space. Imagine wearing a pair of glasses that delivers additional information on the physical space you’re moving in. You could be walking past a restaurant and see a call-out above it with its star rating. Or real-time directions superimposed on the streets. All the components already exist, so why isn’t this here yet?!

I’d recommend you wait for the movie instead, but it won’t be made. The technology  isn’t cutting edge enough to outlive the production period. So I’ll just tell you right now how it ends. It doesn’t. I hear he’s planning a sequel.