Microsoft has released some updates to OneNote (which is a great product, by the way). Download service pack 1 and also check out the power toys which export directly from Outlook and Internet Explorer (too bad they don’t have one for FireFox!)
Filed under: Technology
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From the Read My Lips guys — the Bush and Blair love song. Funny stuff!
Thanks fazed for the link.
Filed under: Political
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Microsoft (actually MSN) recently purchased Lookout a search engine for Outlook. This comes as a bit of a surprise, but does incidate that people are using email differently today than a few years ago - and Microsoft is taking notice.
Similarly to the GMail philosophy, people are keeping old emails around for reference and not taking the time to organize them. With Lookout it doesn’t even matter how yoru email is organized - you can find just about anything in seconds. Literally.
This is incredibly more convenient than using folders, which can be a pain to keep up with. Even with Outlook’s rules wizard moving messages into folders automatically, organizing by folders presents a problem since some messages could be classified in several of your folders, etc. With Lookout you can keep your messages in a few folders - or even a single folder - and find whatever you need instantly.
If you want to search for messages from John, just type in from:John - add a few keywords if you like. If you want only messages that have attachments use attachments:yes - or search within the attachment file name itself using attachment:keyword. You can also restrict searches to date ranges, so it is easy to quickly find messages within the last week or two.
Lookout has totally changed the way that I use email - saving me countless hours every day. It appears that Microsoft realizes that searching is the next killer feature for email, especially as people receive and save more and more emails. With PC technology improving year after year, it is not unrealistic to think that many people will simply save all of their emails for all time. Why not? My current Outlook PST file, which goes back several years, is only 2GB - a pittance when compared to today’s hard drive sizes - not even the size of a single-layer DVD.
Good luck to the Lookout team (some of whom have joined Microsoft) on further development - let’s hope that Microsoft gets this one right. BTW, you can download the current version of Lookout here but it may not be there for long. At first it was removed, then placed on Microsoft’s website, then removed from there and placed back on Lookout’s site. So, get it while you can!
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There has got to be more to this story about a South African soccer referee shooting a coach fatally and injuring two other players. I’m not sure what would posses an official to take a gun with him to work a game. Perhaps there were threats in the past? Although sportsmanship in the US is incredibly lacking, I’m sure that the environment in South Africa is much worse.
Before this type of incident occurs here we should start addressing the sportsmanship issue now. Fans, especially parents, are completely out of control in many cases. I’ve witnessed officials working a game be lambasted throughout the contest when, from my unbiased eye, they were doing a solid job of officiating.
The idea that referees and umpires are “fair game” needs to be replaced with a respect for authority and an understanding that officials are part of the game, are human beings, and make mistakes. Life isn’t fair and neither is every basketball, football, or baseball game. What a life lesson parents could teach their children - that even when you work hard and try your best, sometimes things don’t come out as you planned. Instead most parents and players leave the court or field with their kids lamenting that the “Refs stole the game”.
Unless we start building an atmosphere of sportsmanship towards officials we are going to see more incidents of referee abuse and, perhaps as in this case, officials taking matters into their own hands.
Filed under: Officiating
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