The Sockit Blog » Cool Technology

Google Desktop & Windows 7 x64

Chris — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:52:38 +0000

Good news! Google Desktop used to have issues with the 64-bit of Windows 7, requiring some command-line strangeness to install and some gadgets that just wouldn’t work properly. I found myself missing the convenience of the fantastic Gmail & Google Calendar gadgets this morning, so I decided to see if the situation had improved. Lo-and-behold, it now installs without issue and the gadgets work great! If you’re a regular user of Google’s suite of apps, installing Google Desktop and enabling the built in Gmail / Calendar gadgets is definitely worth the effort.

Now, they just need to create a quick gadget to access my Google Tasks and we’ll be all set. :)

Adventures in Document Management

Chris — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:32:48 +0000

Since starting my business, I’ve noticed that I’ve had to hold onto a lot more paper. I’ve been collecting receipts in a big bag beside my desk with the intention of one day sorting through them. As that bag has gotten bigger and bigger, I’ve realized that I need to come up with some sort of document management solution.

While looking online for a solution, I came across this gem: ScanDrop for Google Docs. This simple utility allows you to scan documents directly to your Google Apps account in PDF format. It sounded perfect for what I needed to do, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Initially my scanner wasn’t being detected by the software due to the fact that I was using the built-in Windows drivers for my HP Deskjet All-in-one. It appears as though ScanDrop doesn’t support WIA, so I needed to download the giant 250MB driver package from the HP site in order to install the TWAIN driver for the scanner. Once I downloaded & installed the new drivers, ScanDrop picked up my scanner and I was good to go.

The main interface is dead simple:

You simply place the document in the scanner, click the Scan button and ScanDrop will scan in your document. If there are multiple pages, just put the next sheet in your scanner, click Scan and it will be added to the document. The software auto rotates the contents and adjusts the brightness/contrast which is a nice touch. Once everything is in, give your document a name, choose which Google Docs folder you’d like to place the document in and click Upload. The software creates a PDF out of your images and uploads it to your account. Couldn’t be easier.

If you try it out, let me know what you think and how it worked for you. :)

Google Mail Checker Plus: My New Favourite Chrome Extension

Chris — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:08:31 +0000

Lifehacker recently posted an article highlighting 13 Excellent Google Chrome Extensions, and while I generally don’t like to junk my browser up with unneeded bloat, one extension in particular caught my interest. Google Mail Checker Plus takes care of the usual mail checking and notifying, but then it goes above and beyond, straight into awesome territory.

For starters, it supports multiple Google Apps accounts, which is great because I use two. Next, it is FAST. It polls the Gmail servers every 15 seconds, so the notifications come in nearly instantaneously. But my favourite feature by far is how much time it saves me managing mail. When new mail arrives, Google Mail Checker Plus will show you a list of unread messages, along with several buttons:

Right from the notification interface, you’re able to delete the message, mark it as spam, archive it or just mark it as read. If you’re dealing with large batches of e-mail regularly, this is an enormous time saver.

If you’re a Chrome / Gmail user, definitely check it out. If you’re a Gmail user but haven’t switched to Chrome, I’d recommend you give it a try for this extension alone. :)