Items tagged with Productivity
LibreOffice is perhaps the most popular open source alternative to Microsoft's Office productivity suite, and most importantly, it's completely free. The latest version, LibreOffice 6.2, brings even more parity between it and Microsoft's paid productivity software, namely with a new Notebook bar that is LibreOffice's equivalent of Microsoft's "ribbon" interface. Not everyone is a fan of the ribbon style, which essentially breaks up the various options into tabs. As such, the same will likely be true of LibreOffice's Notebook bar. The Document Foundation took this into consideration though, and made it an optional feature. It's not even turned on by default—users have to manually select...
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Dell has a long history of producing high-quality displays, and the recently released Dell UltraSharp 27 Premier Color UltraHD 4K monitor (model UP2718Q) we will be showing you here -- the company’s first to support HDR10 -- is no exception. Though this display demands a premium price, it is also chock full of sought after features that target graphic designers and content creation professionals. The 4K resolution (3840 x 2160) IPS panel used in the UP2718Q features UHD Alliance Premium certification and support for 100% of the Adobe color gamut. It can display approximately 1.07 billion colors, includes Dell Premium Color software, and supports 100% sRGB, Adobe RGB, REC 709,...
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Any health expert will tell you that sitting on your rump for hours on end each day is detrimental to your well being. Yet, that's what many of us do, sitting tethered to our PCs as we toil for the fat cats in charge. The wiser (and more fit) among us have adopted standing desks, and the truly health conscious have even adapted treadmills into their daily work routine. But you can trump them all by building your very own Hamster Wheel Standing Desk. You can thank artist Robb Godshaw and Instructables developer Will Doenlen for this ingenious and cleverly designed contraption. It's also depressing in a way, serving as a daily reminder that all you're really doing is spinning your wheels and getting...
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The coding and testing phase of Microsoft's next generation Office productivity suite -- Office 2013 -- is complete, with the focus now shifting to distribution. It starts with pushing the software out to RTM, or Release to Manufacturing, which means it's available to OEMs and business partners. "This is the most ambitious release of Office we've ever done," said Kirk Koenigsbauer, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Office Division. "It spans the full family of Office applications, servers and cloud services. The new Office has a fresh, touch friendly design that works beautifully on Windows 8 and unlocks modern scenarios in social, reading, note-taking, meetings and communications. We are proud...
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Get ready to view Steam in a whole new light, folks. Valve's uber-popular digital distribution platform has been all about games up to this point, but moving forward, it's also going to serve up other kinds of software, from creative applications to productivity programs, Valve announced today. Valve described the move as a "major expansion to the platform most commonly known as a leading destination for PC and Mac games," and it's hard to argue with that statement. Steam has become the de facto standard for PC gaming in terms of digital distribution, and the move towards other kinds of software is both logical and exciting. Starting September 5th, Steam will offer creative and productivity software,...
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Get ready to say your goodbyes to Office Starter 2010, because Microsoft is already starting to do so. The Redmond software maker has reportedly begun letting its OEM partners known that it's phasing out the feature-thin version of Office that they've been pre-loading on new PCs, which was originally designed to give users a taste of the Office experience in hopes they would upgrade to a more fleshed out version. "We will begin to phase out the shipment of PCs with Office Starter 2010. After Windows 8 becomes available, most new PCs shipped will not have Office Starter," Microsoft said in a statement. "People who use Office Starter 2010 today will continue to be able to use the product for the...
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Everyone's been kvelling over Siri since the iPhone 4GS was released a month ago. But Apple's "virtual personal assistant" is just the natural evolution of technology being built around our needs, wants and desires. That's exactly why so much popular science fiction has been written around the idea that one day robots will tire of being our slaves and will rise up and rebel. "Terminator," "I, Robot," "Battlestar Galactica" (the new version) all show us what happens. So don't be surprised when Siri starts trying to boss you around. It's interesting, though, because early technology was primarily introduced in an effort to get more work out of us. By making us more productive, more could get done....
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Microsoft's Office for Mac portal has been a little wonky for us today, which might be the result of increased traffic and downloads. Why, you ask? The Redmond outfit is now offering a free trial of its Office for Mac 2011 software. The trial lets Mac users test out full versions of the software, albeit for 30 days (Windows users can play around with Office for 60 days, plus a lot longer with the rearm trick). Once the trial expires, you have to purchase a boxed copy or a product activation key. This isn't entirely new territory for Microsoft. The software giant also offered trial versions of Office for Mac 2008, but has been slow going in rolling out trial downloads for its 2011 suite. This...
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Companies that allow employees to sign into Facebook on the clock are losing 1.5 percent of total employee productivity.So says a survey by Nucleus Research Inc., which interviewed 237 randomly selected office workers about their Facebook use. Admittedly, that's not the most scientific sample, but it does give a snapshot.Of those interviewed:• Seventy-seven percent had a Facebook account. • Of those with Facebook accounts, nearly two-thirds accessed Facebook during working hours. • Those who accessed Facebook at work did so for an average of 15 minutes each day. • Eighty-seven percent of those who accessed Facebook at work couldn’t define a clear business reason...
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In today's uncertain economic climate, many are looking over their shoulders, wondering if they're next on the list to get sacked as their employers continue to downsize. So not only are workers typically on their best behavior at work these days, but they're also looking for an edge that can make them even more productive, and therefore that much more valuable and seemingly irreplaceable. In a stroke of utter irony, a researcher from the University of Melbourne in Australia is claiming that workers' productivity can be improved by engaging in a behavior that many thought could actually get them fired: slacking off on the Internet during work hours.Dr. Brent Coker, from the University of Melbourne's...
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The results of a recently published study of workers' instant messaging (IM) use shows that IM can actually improve workplace productivity. This contradicts a widely held belief that IM in the workplace is a hindrance to productivity. IM is often perceived as an interruption, and as such, "it can significantly hinder productivity by disrupting thought processes and work flows, causing individuals to take longer to complete tasks."Researchers at Ohio State University and the University of California, Irvine conducted a telephone study by randomly surveying individuals employed full-time who use computers in an office environment at least five hours per week. They netted 912 respondents, of which...
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