Embed YouTube Clips in PowerPoint [How To]
The Digital Inspiration blog tackles the many ways you can insert video clips into a PowerPoint presentation for nearly any kind of presentation—online or off, created in PowerPoint or imported from Google Docs, streaming or played live off your hard drive. We've previously featured a video demonstration that detailed a download-convert-embed solution, but this guide suggests using the free online tools Zamzar or MediaConverter to get AVI-formatted copies that work without any plug-in in PowerPoint. Have you seen embedded videos really work in a presentation, or are they simply flash and false sizzle? Tell us your take in the comments.
Congregar Helps You Pick an Optimum Meeting Date [Collaboration Tools]
Congregar is a web-based event scheduler designed to help you choose the optimum meeting time for a group of people. The interface is simple, and the site requires no formal registration beyond assigning your email to the survey you create. Participants don't have to provide an email address, merely their name as an identifier. Once you create an event, description, and a list of potential meeting times, you're ready to distribute the provided link to the potential attendees. They can all vote yes or no on the dates you've suggested and append the dates with notes for you and other attendees to read, such as their reason for having to vote no on a certain day. The results for each suggested date are displayed beside that date as a status bar with the yes and no votes represented by green and red. For alternative ways of organizing events check out: Doodle, recently updated to include Facebook integration, and FasterPlan which in addition to allowing date-based voting has a polling system so attendees can vote activities related to the event. If you like your web apps to do the work for you, check out Diarised which will email you the optimum meeting time once everyone has voted.
WinAudit Creates Seriously Extensive System Profiles [Featured Windows Download]
Windows only: Free system profiler WinAudit is similar in some ways to the previously mentioned System Information for Windows, being a no-install-needed executable and offering exhaustive amounts of data on your system. What differentiates it are the graphed views of statistics like drive usage and installed software types, its easier-to-grasp interface (in one reviewer's opinion, anyways), and the fact that it doesn't reveal browser passwords, system keys, or other data you wouldn't want to accidentally sent to IT or a helpful friend. You choose the areas of your system you want profiled in the options, run the check, then print, save, or email the results. Helpful for anyone upgrading, troubleshooting, or even donating a PC, WinAudit is a free download for all Windows systems (seriously, back to even Windows 3.1).
Make Any Linux Directory into an ISO File [Terminal Tip]
Linux newbies might appreciate knowing that you need no software app to create burn-able CD images of a particular directory on your system. One terminal command--mkisofs -V LABEL -r DIRECTORY | gzip > cdrom.iso.gz—creates a compressed ISO for easy backup (replace the italicized sections with your CD label and directory, of course). [via]
Microsoft Office Web Apps Not Exclusive to IE [Microsoft Office]
Microsoft has clarified that its upcoming Microsoft Office Web Applications—lightweight versions of Word, Excel, et. al. run from a browser—won't require Internet Explorer or be otherwise locked to Windows systems, working in Firefox, Safari (Mac and iPhone), and on Linux. No final decision on whether the web-based apps will be free and ad-supported or fee-based. [via]
Deadline Keeps Events and Reminders Simple [Calendar]
Free appointment/event manager and reminder service Deadline aims to keep everything about managing an online calendar really simple, from its minimalist dark interface to its text-centric update interface. Deadline parses your text to figure out when things are due—like "Call Linda for brunch Sunday"—and offers reminders and subscriptions through email, RSS, and iCal feeds. You can also add update and get reminders through your Jabber/Gtalk IM client, and the email correspondence is minimal enough to work through a cell phone's text messaging. The text parsing is still a little young, but Deadline delivers on what it promises for those looking for a scaled-down, agile reminder service. Deadline is free, requires a sign-up to use.
Google Chrome Gets Bookmark Manager, Better Pop-Up Blocker [Google Chrome]
Google's Chrome browser released an update to those signed up for "developer" udpates that adds a few nifty features, though most of them are already standard in other browsers. First, and most anticipated, is a stand-alone bookmark manager, which offers simple tree-nesting views of your bookmarks, and lets you edit and rename your bookmarks. The "privacy" options have been updated as well, to give users more control over what gets suggested and saved by Chrome, and blocked pop-ups now nest in the lower-right corner, with a number to indicate multiple windows. Windows users using a standard beta installation of Chrome won't see the update, but you can subscribe to the Dev channel in Chrome to get the 0.4 update.
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