w a s t e . t i m e . n o w

Microsoft has launched Windows Live, which they hope will become your new Web 2.0 portal. I don’t plan to use other features of the service, but I did check out their search engine — which in fact returned results not found in a Google search for the same criteria.

Some days you just don’t have it in you, but that doesn’t mean you should be forced to suffer the world in silence. Check out these Shhh! Cards — a useful PDF available for download from the Society For HandHeld Hushing.

Placards inscribed with messages like The Rest Of Us Don’t Care manage to convey your snarkiness without requiring too much effort.

A few tips and reminders to help you get more done.

Mind maps are tag clouds done old school — a simple and accessible framework for naming, grouping and displaying links involving related ideas.

Mayomi is a web-based tool that uses Flash animation to provide a shell for creating and saving mind maps online. There are a few limitations — you can’t download your final project and printing is a bit dodgy, but Mayomi is excellent when you need space to order your thoughts and can’t find a piece of paper big enough.

Cmap Tools is a more robust application for more complex projects, but you’ll need to download and install the software (for Windows, Mac or Linux). Printing is a breeze, and you can also export maps into HTML, XML or create a JPEG of the image. There’s a link validation utility, a spell-checker and enough design options to create fresh styles for multiple maps. It’s even possible to collaborate with other users online.

I admit I’ve made-up some pretty flimsy excuses for abruptly ending a phone call in the past (but never with you, of course). One problem with fabricating reasons for getting off the phone is that I routinely need to escape the same Chatty Cathy — who will only buy my “going through a tunnel” bit once every six months, tops.

Finally, Sorry Gotta Go helps take things to the next level. This website offers dozens of recordings to help one bail in style, all available for download as WAV files. Who could reasonably expect me to keep chit-chatting with those friggin’ kids fighting in the background? Or ignore the wail of my urgently hungry cat?

More than just the obvious screaming jet engine and malfunctioning car alarm, they have a coughing fit, a crying baby and even a passing herd of cattle. For extreme cases, telephone company recordings like “your call cannot be completed due to heavy call volume” will eventually shake the most determined stalker.

As part of my ongoing efforts to break-up with Microsoft, I’ve ditched MSN Messenger in favour of the younger, better-looking Trillian. Trillian is neat because you can log-in to accounts from many other messaging services as well, including AOL, ICQ, IRC and Yahoo.

The IM project I have a big crush on today is Meebo, a web-based service that allows you to access your AIM, ICQ, GTalk, MSN or Yahoo Messenger account online. This means you don’t need to download the software, which is pretty handy when using computers other than your own.

Last weekend, the Yahoo blog announced Yahoo! Podcasts — a new beta tool for searching, downloading and subscribing to podcasts.

Anyone who ever writes anything makes little mistakes now and then. Myself, I tend toward superfluous commas. I also habitually mis-use ellipses — and mix tenses so often I can’t remember if I’m coming or going (as well as many other offenses you don’t really need to point out, thanks). I’m sure I could have paid closer attention in English class, but I didn’t — and neither did you.

Thankfully, William Strunk was paying attention — and his classic resource The Elements of Style is now available online. This detailed, searchable reference explains the “principal requirements of plain English style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated”.

Take a trip down memory lane with the Wayback Machine — a very nifty service offered by Internet Archive. Just enter a URL in the search field, and you’ll get a list of dates when that site’s content was archived. Click on any date to view the page as it looked at that time in history.

Thank God for the Wayback Machine — I thought I’d imagined this.

The mob of shiftless anarchists at crimethinc has assembled a sweet little handbook for anyone with a subversive streak. Check out these do-it-yourself instructions for all your favourite countercultural activities — gardening, silkscreening t-shirts, putting out your own records, and more. The entire D.I.Y. Guide is available as a PDF document, or you can download any of the sections individually.

A couple of very nifty toys to help with layout and design:

This Web Style Guide is a must for anyone publishing in the electronic medium.

The STC Font Browser Utility is an excellent tool to help you choose or identify fonts.

The Eye Dropper Color Mixer helps you identify the RGB hex value of any colour.