Tuesday, November 29, 2011

drag2share: Get Mail Merge in Gmail with This Google Docs Template [Gmail Tip]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5863338/get-mail-merge-in-gmail-with-this-google-docs-template

Get Mail Merge in Gmail with This Google Docs TemplateWant to send a bunch of emails personalized to each recipient? Sending mass emails is easy using Microsoft Word's mail merge, less so with Gmail. This Google Docs template, however, brings email merging to Gmail.

The free template is provided by consulting firm IT4SmallBusiness and includes in-depth instructions on the first tab. It's similar to a another Google Docs template we've previously highlighted for mail merge in Gmail except this one lets you lets you do a test mail merge run before sending and is a little easier to write the email text in thanks to the layout. This template, however, doesn't include the Gmail contacts importing that the previous one does.

To start using this template, log into Gmail, open the MailMerge Google Docs template, and make a copy of it to your Google Docs account (under File > Make a copy...). Write your email on the second sheet, "Email text" and add the special fields like <>. Then go to the third sheet to add the data that will replace those special fields (e.g., the list of email recipients, their names, and other personalized info).

Note that you'll probably want to send your mass emails in batches, lest Google label you a spammer. Mail merge with Gmail would be handy for a lot of uses, from mailing clients/customers to sending party invitations with custom instructions, as the example shows.

MailMerge | via CNet


You can follow or contact Melanie Pinola, the author of this post, on Twitter or Google+.

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Monday, November 28, 2011

drag2share: ARM launches Android development kit with focus on power efficiency

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/28/arm-launches-android-development-kit-with-focus-on-power-efficie/

ARM Development Studio 5 Community EditionEveryone and their mother has an Android development kit nowadays. So, it's only natural, being that it's chips power the vast majority of Android devices, that ARM wants in on the action too. With the release of Development Studio 5 Community Edition, the company has expanded its dev kit's repertoire to include not just Linux, but Google's Linux-based mobile OS. (Really showing its versatility there.) What makes DS-5 special is it's focus on optimizing apps, not just for performance, but for energy efficiency -- provided you're running on ARM chips, of course. It also claims to produce code that is up to four times faster than Java, but we'll have to take the company's word on that one for now. DS-5 even integrates with the standard Android SDK as well as Eclipse IDE. Check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading ARM launches Android development kit with focus on power efficiency

ARM launches Android development kit with focus on power efficiency originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalin! k&nb sp;SlashGear, PhoneArena  |   | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Insert Coin: Prototype peripherals incorporate no moving parts, multitouch functionality and freaking lasers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/28/insert-coin-prototype-peripherals-incorporate-no-moving-parts/

When in doubt, strip out the moving parts and see what you wind up with. This is the idea inventor Jason Giddings is following as he turns to Kickstarter to help fund the prototype creation for a glass keyboard and mouse, both sporting multitouch functionality. The design uses the same biometric systems that currently capture fingerprints on assorted trackpads and keyboards, and uses a technique known as Frustrated Total Internal Reflection -- which incorporates a series of LEDs on the bottom of a device -- to bounce infrared light beams around the inside of the glass. This process is interrupted when a finger touches the glass, wherein a simple embedded camera captures the event, processes where the keystroke, mouse click or gesture took place and relays the signal to the computer.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Prototype peripherals incorporate no moving parts, multitouch functionality and freaking lasers

Insert Coin: Prototype peripherals incorporate no moving parts, multitouch functionality and freaking lasers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmodo  |  sourceKickstarter  | Email this | Comments

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More bad news for brands - Switching to Private Label Products is Accelerating and Irreversible (data, pics) - http://bit.ly/tVm2FV

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drag2share: Toyota's Insane Concept Car Has Giant Touch-Screen Doors [Cars]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5863017/toyotas-insane-concept-car-has-giant-touch+screen-doors

Toyota's Insane Concept Car Has Giant Touch-Screen DoorsMeet the Toyota Fun-Vii, a futuristic concept car that Toyota's president described as "a smartphone on four-wheels." Smartphone screens have certainly been growing, from 3.5-inches, to 4-inches, to 4.5-inches but holy crap, is this the logical conclusion?

Toyota's concept of the future is a whimsical one, where people would get out of their cars and use the giant touch screen to do some internetting. Also, do you know how expensive body work already is when someone side-swipes your parked car? Now imagine adding the cost of a gigantic, curved, back-lit touchscreen. Kill me now. Maybe you could subsidize the cost by making the side of your car into a mobile billboard.

Toyota's Insane Concept Car Has Giant Touch-Screen DoorsBut you know what, screw reality. Ignoring all of the obvious impracticalities, the Fun-Vii is beautiful. I hate seeing concept cars that look just like the shit we have already. We need more sci-fi in our future, not because things like this are great ideas, but because they are creative, and they inspire a sense of awe and possibility. Don't you want to live in a world were wild ideas like this are practical? I sure as hell do. [PhyOrg]

Image credit: AP/Koji Sasahara


You can keep up with Brent Rose, the author of this post, on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

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