There’s a plethora of new features available in the Wave 3 beta of Windows Live Writer and it continues to be a blogging tool I’m unable to live without.

However, there is one thing about WLW that agitates those, like myself, that like to keep any and all aspects of their Weblog organized. When pasting an image into your blog post using WLW, you’re never given an option to change the image’s filename.

There are two possible reasons you’d want to do that. First and foremost, naming your images unquestionably assists with image search engine optimization.

Second, if you’re allowing Windows Live Writer to automatically upload and organize your images into a very clear folder structure, (e.g., blog/2008/10/10/image.png), you’ll probably like the fact that, in addition to an organized folder structure, you can also specify the precise name of the image for discovery and retrieval purposes within your archives. 

Well, to be able to specify the names of those images using WLW, you’re going to want to install the Insert Clipboard Image plugin. 

Once it’s installed, it’s relatively easy to put it to use.  With a screenshot, logo or other such image on your clipboard, select Insert > "Clipboard Image…". You’ll then be presented with a quick and simple dialog box where you’ll enter the name of your image (e.g., WindowsLiveWriter_Insert_DialogBox) and then choose whether you want it to be inserted as a PNG or a JPG.  (Note: if you’re concerned about storage space and/or frequently insert images, you’ll probably want to choose the JPG format.)

To be honest, I admit that I’m one of those people - the people I mentioned two paragraphs up - for whom this plugin was built. In fact, Scott Lovegrove, Windows Live Platform MVP, created the plugin in response to multiple inquiries similar to the one I made on the Windows Live Writer MSN Group. 

Kudos to Scott, Joe Cheng and others, by the way, who are always present and offering great tips and advice on that group.

For about 2-3 years, I kept all of my portable applications on my 1GB (later upgraded to a 2GB) USB thumb drive.  My 1GB drive eventually died from excessive use and I’d say the 2GB drive doesn’t have long to live either. 

Once Syncplicity, an online backup and synchronization service, came along, I set up a folder by the name of "Standalone" to reside in the "C:\Program Files" directory and then set Syncplicity to synchronize this folder on my work PC, work laptop and home PC. The process doesn’t work as perfectly as the flash drive scenario mostly because the program has difficulties synchronizing files that are open at the same time on more than one computer.

I also tend to use this folder as a quick way to transfer files from my work PC to my home PC. Once I’m finished with a file or if I want to quickly transfer a picture or video file, I just drop it in the "Standalone" folder and Syncplicity instantly uploads it.  At that point, it’s available in my online account at my.syncplicity.com as well as ready to be downloaded/synchronized to any other PC I have that’s running the Syncplicity service.

In addition, it’s remarkably easy to preview many of the documents you backup/synchronize (by utilizing Syncplicity’s integration with Google Docs, Zoho Docs, Scribd, and Picnik) as well as restore previous versions of your documents.  Plus, if you accidentally delete a file from a folder that Syncplicity is keeping track of that you later want to recover, you can quickly browse the online Recyle Bin and recover the file itself or the entire folder.

Overall, the ease with which I can securely backup & synchronize virtually all of my important files - 40GB worth of files - more than makes up for the $9.99/mo fee that will come once Syncplicity leaves beta.  (That beta exit was originally scheduled for the end of June but was cancelled at the last minute and has yet to be rescheduled.)

I’ve personally reviewed other PC-to-PC synchronization utilities before (namely Microsoft’s FolderShare) but Syncplicity is definitely my favorite. Plus, incidentally, Steven Hazel, FolderShare’s original author, currently sits on Syncplicity’s Advisory Board.

Check out the Fans of Tech "Syncplicity" gallery:

If you’ve ever needed and/or wanted to make quick, minor edits to the URLs embedded in your Flash presentations without firing up the increasingly-bloated Adobe Flash application, the open-source SWF Link Tool [SourceForge] may just be what you’re looking for. 

A quick, simple and free download, this app (for Linux, Mac & Windows) allows you to examine an SWF and do find/replace edits for any links you might have included.

Any other niche applications out there that you use to modify/tweak/examine your SWF or FLA files? Drop us a line in the comments.

Currently in beta, BeejiveIM for Windows Mobile 6 (and only for v6, WinMobile 5 is not supported) is the first decent-looking, intuitive IM client I’ve dealt with to date.

I’ve previously used Agile Messenger (ridiculously priced at $45) but there was nothing intuitive about it at all.  BeejiveIM, on the other hand, is beautiful and, dare I say, iPhone-esque.  For now, the product is free but if it follows the path of BeejiveIM for BlackBerry ($19.95) and iPhone ($15.99), you’ll probably be required to pay for it once it exits a beta phase.

Now, if Beejive decided to take the Digsby route and integrate some social networking functionality into the product (think Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in addition to instant messaging, I’d drop whatever cash necessary for BeejiveIM – especially since Yahoo! has yet to deliver a Windows-Mobile equivalent of the (brilliantly intuitive and slick-looking) Yahoo! OneConnect application.

BeejiveIM is a must-have for those of you wanting to remain connected to your favorite instant messaging networks while on the road – be it on your iPhone, BlackBerry or Windows-Mobile device.

Thanks to Long Zheng via Twitter for the heads-up on Beejive.

Taglocity, the company behind the Outlook organizational add-in of the same name (which we’ve covered before) just debuted a new beta of Taglocity for Outlook.  This time, they’ve drawn a little bit of inspiration from Xobni.

Taglocity, for those of you that don’t know, is a simple add-in designed to allow for “tagging” of emails, tasks, appointments, etc. in an effort to make organization of those items in Microsoft’s infamous email client a little easier. 

I’m personally a big fan so I was a bit troubled when I received a message this morning stating that my beta software had expired.  After downloading the most up-to-date version from taglocity.com, I was presented with a few big changes.  The two biggest changes in the new release are the “Taglocity Task Pane” and “Conversation View.” 

The first big change, the task pane, is where the Xobni reference comes into play.  The task pane, much like in Xobni, is displayed to the right of the message you’re reading and is an area where you can view snapshot information in regards to the individual who sent you the message.  (e.g., recently exchanged messages, files exchanged with the sender, number of emails to/from, etc.)  Those of you who currently use Xobni know exactly what I’m talking about.  In fact, here’s a visual comparison of the two:

(Click on the image for a larger view.)

To clarify,  I’m not saying that Taglocity has blatantly ripped Xobni off or anything because I think the new task pane fits perfectly into the features that they’ve been building up over the last few versions: groups/networking.

The other new feature, conversation view, is exactly what you might expect.  Clicking the conversation view button on the Taglocity toolbar brings up a quick window that neatly displays all of the messages related to the same subject.  It seems to work perfectly and is a great replacement to Outlook’s “Find Related Messages” which inevitably takes a while to pull up.  (Xobni also has this feature but it’s a little too slow for me.)

If you’ve yet to give Taglocity a try, you can sign up for the beta at Taglocity.com but I’d personally recommend reading about what all the software has to offer prior to doing so.  It’s designed to do more than just “tag” messages – although, admittedly, that’s primarily what I use it for – so far.  Also, a recent post on Taglocity’s blog also gives some great insight on what the company desires to achieve with its flagship product: “Saving Email – A Brief History.”

So, Google’s been offering IMAP access to Gmail for quite some time now.  What about Windows Live Hotmail users…all eight of them?  Are they just left hangin’ with *scoff* POP3?  (Okay, I kid…there are literally hundreds* of Hotmail users still in existence.)

Well, if you’re a Hotmail user that also has access to Microsoft Outlook, either at home or at work, then you’re in luck.  For a little while now, Microsoft has been offering Microsoft Office Outlook Connector: an Outlook plugin that lets you access and synchronize your Hotmail account(s) from within Outlook.

Much like with IMAP, E-mails that you send/receive/file in Outlook are mirrored in your Hotmail account online upon hitting that magical Send/Receive button. 

For example, e-mails that you send from your account in Outlook are, as you might expect, stored in the “sent items” folder right there in Outlook but also get uploaded to the “sent items” folder of Hotmail.  (Same for “deleted items,” “drafts,” etc.)  In addition, the tool also allows you to synchronize your Hotmail contacts and calendar.

In my opinion, this option acts even better than traditional IMAP access because, for the most part, IMAP remains a relatively flaky technology.  As an Outlook/Gmail user, I experience the following annoyances with my Gmail IMAP connection in Outlook 2007:  frequent disconnects, quirky synchronizations, LENGTHY synchronization times and my own personal favorite… the inability to take advantage of Outlook’s feature-rich flagging options on messages.

That last one is actually a problem with how Outlook treats IMAP connections, not a problem with IMAP in general…but allow me to explain.  You see, natively, you can right-click on a message in Outlook and “flag” it for follow-up by selecting one of many different follow-up options: Today, Tomorrow, This Week, Next Week, No Date and Custom.  That flagged message then appears as a “task” in your task list or in your To-Do Bar (new to OL2007.)  With IMAP messages, you only get one follow-up option: “Flag.”  Then, if you do decide to go ahead and generically flag that bad boy, it shows up multiple times in your To-Do Bar.  (That one’s actually due to the Gmail IMAP folder structure in Outlook.) 

Neither of these quirks exist with messages retrieved by the Outlook Connector.  Sure, that’s not a big deal but I personally find it highly annoying.

Anyways, I’ll most likely not be switching back to Windows Live Hotmail anytime soon (mainly due to that horrificly awful banner ad in place at mail.live.com) but I wanted to point out the availability and uniqueness of this particular tool to those of you using the Hotmail/Outlook (2003 or 2007) combo.  If you’re interested, you can find it for download here on Microsoft’s downloads site or packaged as an available option in the new Windows Live Wave 3 installer.

*Hundreds, few million…same diff.

I’m personally a little surprised I’ve yet to see the following tools discussed anywhere but the software site dedicated to providing a handful of time-saving Outlook utilities, TechHit, are offering two completely free plugins to help bring social networking to Outlook.

The first, FBLook, provides you with a toolbar which allows you to easily update your Facebook status as well as keep track of your friends’ statuses. You can also check out any requests, messages, notifications, etc. that might be waiting for you online.

The second utility, OutTwit, provides you with alot of the same functionality (and then some) but is instead aimed at the Twitter network.  Here’s a full list of features you’ll find in OutTwit:

• Update your Twitter status directly from Outlook.
• Receive your friend updates as Outlook messages.
• Archive, manage and search your tweets the same way you manage your email.
• Track keywords. OutTwit will automatically download ALL tweets matching the keywords you specify, even if you are not following the tweet sender. This feature is perfect for keeping up to date with the the Twitter buzz on your name, brand, interests, etc.
• Assign custom folder and categories to new messages.
• Automatically sort new tweets into per-sender folders.
• Shorten URLs with tinyurl.
• See graphs of your Twitter usage statistics.
• Tweets sent to you (@replies and direct) are marked with high importance, so you can see them at a glance.

Both utilities, which appear to be actively developed, feature quick and clean installations and are completely free.  Next up, the company plans to offer a brand new utility, dubbed OpenLook, which will allow you to monitor and engage with ALL of your favorite social networks right inside Outlook:

“If you are an Outlook user, you probably have it open all the time. Now you can interact with all your social networks without leaving Outlook. OpenLook seamlessly integrates Social Network experience into Outlook using the power of Open Social APIs.”

I, for one, am looking forward to that one.  So, if you’re a frequent Outlook user (be it by choice or not,) being able to keep tabs on your two favorite social networks listed above without having to worry about a separate, 3rd-party product like Digsby (which we’ve covered before,) might be something worth checking into.

Mike Swanson, the PDC2008 Content Owner, over at Microsoft’s Channel 9 site described the upcoming Professional Developer’s Conference to be primarily aimed at presenting Microsoft’s goals for Software+Services.

“I’ve read alot of speculation on the blogs, I’ve read what some of the reporters are writing up and, while it’s awesome stuff and I love to read it, I can tell you that when those folks show up – I think even they’re going to be surprised.  We have alot of big announcements related to services at PDC.  We’ll be announcing a comprehensive services platform.  That’s gonna be some big, paradigm-shifting news – not only for Microsoft, but I think also for the industry.”

If you’ve been itching to finally create a consistent theme for all of your Office 2007 documents (Word, PowerPoint, etc.) then the Open XML Theme Builder (free, open-source) from Microsoft’s Codeplex might just be what you’re looking for.

Using this application, you can instantly choose your (or your company’s):

• default theme colors (text/background/hyperlink/accent, etc.)
• major and minor fonts
• line styles (color, weight alignment, etc.)
• fill styles (solid/gradient, tint/solid, etc.)
• effect styles (shadows, bevels, etc.)
• background styles (solid fill, gradient fill, rotation, etc.)

Here are some screenshots (click to enlarge) of the various theme objects that can be tweaked using this program:

Colors and Fonts:

Line Styles:

Fill Styles:

Effect Styles:
 

Background Styles:

As is apparent from the screenshots above, there’s a ridiculous amount of items to tweak and customize so it might be better to open an existing theme and tweak it instead of starting from scratch.  If you’ve currently got Office 2007 installed, you can find quite a few default themes buried here: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Document Themes 12.”  (Of course, you need to replace that drive letter with the drive letter on your computer that contains your Office installation.)

This is a great tool to have, especially in a business environment, if you want to present a consistent theme throughout the documents you share internally and externally.

Source: MSDN Blogs [alspiers]
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“The Open XML Theme Builder is a tool that helps with the creation of theme files (*.thmx) that encapsulate the visual appearance and formatting of a document in order to help create a better looking document. Theme files can be used by Microsoft® Office PowerPoint® 2007, Microsoft® Office Excel® 2007, and Microsoft® Office Word 2007.”
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Not every new feature in the next release of the Windows operating system will be behind-the-scenes (like those much-needed performance enhancements that are in the works.) Stephen over at UX Evangelist has been fortunate enough to get his hands on the M3 (Milestone 3) release of the forthcoming Windows release and reports that the old classics, including Paint, WordPad and Calcuator, have been enhanced and sport a fancy new user interface.

As you can see to the left, the Office 2007 Ribbon UI has been added to MSPaint. I’m not seeing too many new options for drawing, editing, etc. but the new interface does make this old program, that we’ve all come to know and love, a little easier to work with. This is the first noteworthy update to Paint’s interface since its release in 1995.

As for WordPad, Stephen offers the following: “Basically, imagine Microsoft taking Office 2007 Word, slimming it down, tweaking the ribbon bar UI a bit, and calling it WordPad.”

Overall, it sounds like these tools will remain pretty simple but it sure will be alot easier to work in them with the new interface.

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