Google’s inviting all their users to become trapeze artist’s and work without a net, an Inter-net connection. The innovation machine that is Google just keeps on rolling, and their newest trick is using a tool called Google Gears to let users work untethered.

One of the bigger drawbacks of Google Docs is now a thing of the past. Techlife Illustrated has put together this easy to follow guide to getting Google Docs offline. (This is our first Illustrated How To, leave a comment with your thoughts.)

Step 1

While in Google Docs, in the upper right hand corner is a link to “Offline.” Which gets Google Gears on your computer.

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While writing a recent article, on the OLPC XO Laptop, one of the all time most popular articles on Techlife, we got to meet Wayan Vota the founder of OLPC News. Wayan’s a strong, independent voice in the community of OLPC and the XO Laptop. He was featured on 60 Minutes for his work. (see 7:06 mark on Techlife TV for Wayan) I appreciated his grasp of both technology and non-profits and how the two mesh, so we sat down with him to learn more about what makes Wayan tick (tick, tick.) (unabashed 60 Minute pun for the OLPCNews readers who know me.)

Lesley Stahl discusses the 60 Minutes piece on the OLPC on Techlife TV.

Techlife: Wayan Vota. Interesting name, what are the origins?

Wayan Vota: Born on Bali to hippie folks. Got a local name in the process.

TL: Why did you start OLPC News?

WV: In the summer of 2006 I noticed there was much hype around OLPC, but little thoughtful analysis of its proposed methods and assumed impacts. I wanted to explore the details of OLPC’s implementation plan - how it expected to actually get laptops in the hands of children worldwide - in public form of open commentary and discussion. With ~5,000 daily readers, over a dozen writers, and too many contributors to count, I feel that OLPC News is successful beyond my wildest dreams.

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People everywhere are excited for MLB’s Opening Day. It is a day when everyone has a clean slate. Everyone has an even shot (at least the media gives that impression.)

We all know the owners and players are in this to get paid. Well once again, loyal reader Dan writes in with an Opening Day gem to give Techlife readers their shot at a payday. (Pete Rose, this one’s for you!) I was a bit skeptical at first, but it’s free money and fun too. Nearly as good as fun at the old ballpark.

CentSports is a new kind of social gaming site where you risk nothing but can win real money. First off the site gifts you $.10 to bet on sports. Lose that and get another gift of $.10 and so on. (Yep, they are unlimited in their generosity.) Start winning and you can cash out as soon as you reach $10. Sound to good to be true? Sounds more like spam you might get, right? Trust Techlife it isn’t. It is actually a lot of fun

Do you like hardwoods, frozen ponds or field of dreams? CentSports has NCAA, the NCAA Tournament, the NIT Tourney plus the full slate of NBA games. They also have NHL hockey and starting today they have baseball’s MLB all ready for Opening Day action. They are planning on adding soccer and bringing back boxing and tennis. (Apparently those pesky tennis players will retire mid-match which screws up the betting a little.)

As a person with little knowledge of sports betting it is a lot of fun to learn on someone else’s dime (pun intended). They have all the standard bets including point spread, money line, over/under and let you parlay or combine these bets to get higher payouts.

The best part is the social aspect of the site. You can see what others bet, invite friends, publicly chat about each bet made and send private notes too.

How can CentSports fund the payouts? Advertising. They have a unique feature after placing a bet you will get the chance to see an ad which can give you bonus cash if you win. (Hint: Always hold out for near the top tier of the bonus.) There are other ads scattered around the site as well.

Overall: If you like sports and are too chicken to try using your own money, you can’t lose. Literally! CentSports is sports gambling for the rest of us. No skill required.

I hope you try it out and see if you can beat me, I was up to nearly $2. Let us know in the comments what your user name is and we can add you to our friend list on the site.

Techlife’s recent Songza article has had some reader’s emailing about Internet Radio. FM radio has always been about commercials, DJs, and maybe a bit of wacky news. Listeners are now getting to play radio station owner with a few great radio station options. Techlife has been using two free options lately.

Pandora is of Techlife favorites of internet radio, but sadly it has been losing global audience with constant country restrictions. The idea is simple offer a customizable radio station that helps program songs based on other songs and artists you already told it you like (or don’t like.) They use a fancy rating system, called the Music Genome Project that is often discussed in depth. We have been using Pandora for years and really enjoy how easy it is to use. Pandora is great for exploring lots of new music. One issue I had with Pandora was I might have customized my station to much, I often would hear a few songs repeat in the same day.

Slacker is a newer entry into the internet radio business. It too offers a simple interface where you can quickly setup a station, add artists you like and start listening. It is a bit less featured than Pandora right now but it is easier to ensure the people you like you get to hear. They do less adding new artists music and play a bit deeper cuts from artists you know. I also like all the comedy Slacker has in its library. Slacker has a mobile media player, like an iPod, that allows you to take the custom station options with you. Techlife has not yet had a chance to review this hardware.

Overall: If you are looking to have a new radio experience give either or both options a try. They are both easy to use and certainly are a nice change from “my music library.”

Bonus: If you are really technically savvy, run a Jinzora Media Server and Do-It-Yourself broadcast your own music collection. A friend is doing this and it is nice to be able to explore their music collection all just using a simple web browser.

To be unique in today’s business environment you need more than creativity. You need management willing to take a risk, and top notch people to bring the idea to life. HEMA, a Dutch Department Store has what it takes. HEMA gets it.

As many longtime readers know Techlife has a day job, providing marketing and technology consulting which includes web site design. We are always looking for unique examples, that really engage the user. We got this email from Charlie S., a reader and customer.

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands. HEMA also has stores in Belgium, Luxemburg, and Germany. In June of this year, HEMA was sold to British investment company Lion Capital.

Take a look at HEMA’s product page. You can’t order anything and it’s in Dutch but just wait a couple of minutes and watch what happens on the page.

Charlie’s email proves something that HEMA executives figured out. Make something unique and people will help virally market for you. HEMA’s site has attracted positive attention, just look at these headlines. Who wouldn’t want these types of things associated with their company?

Creativity Matters

Hema - Greatest Store Ever

Great Website

HEMA: Breaking Through The Clutter of Online Retail

Cool Site of the Month

Cool Online Catalog Promo

HEMA: Innovative Error Page or Advertisement - You Decide

HEMA has people touting the greatness of their products, talking about their company, using words like creativity, greatest, cool, and innovative. People don’t mind marketing when it has an entertaining purpose. They embrace it.
Have you seen a great Rube-Goldberg or unique marketing idea? Let us know in the comments.

One of my favorites is Honda’s Rube Goldberg. What sets these apart from other ads is the time and energy in the productions, people appreciate the clever, hard work that makes a few seconds of enjoyment, but a lasting impression.

A reader emailed me MapsofWar.com and I was intrigued. But the mystery only starts with the amazing visuals spanning 5,000 years of religion or imperialism.

Many clients I work with ask me to visually simplify complex problems and we use various techniques to deliver stunning solutions. Maps of War has used history as the backdrop for an artist who’s medium is Flash and large data sets. Techlife interviewed the creator and artist of Maps of War, who wished to remain anonymous.

Techlife: MoW is a dynamic project, why did you create the first MoW? Which one is it?

Maps of War: The first map was Imperial History of the Middle East. This map was the original idea I wanted to share with everyone, and the overall site was created to showcase it.

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Loyal Techlife reader Alan wrote in asking if we knew of a solution to run a simple office pool about when the CEO’s wife was going to give birth. This is actually a really good problem and we jumped in with two feet.

Alan shook off our first two attempts which involved loyal stand-by Google Docs and their spreadsheet application. I suggested he create a spreadsheet, invite everyone in the office to share it, have them add their guess for dates and times. I also suggested Google Calendar. He could create a shared calendar and everyone could input their dates and times. As I said, Alan was pushing for something better. That’s when I remembered Doodle.

Doodle is a free service that is designed to do one thing very well, schedule people to a single event. It really shines when those people don’t use the same shared calendar. Doodle was created by Michael Näf and Paul Sevinç and their company Inturico Engineering out of Zurich, Switzerland.

Since the launch they have been written up by 43folders among others. Development is constantly continuing, Doodle is available in 16 languages and also has a polling tool. It is a simple site and the Techlife friends have used it to organize parties, a trip to a winery, and a fantasy football draft, as well as the boring and mundane meetings and conference calls.

The reaction from first-timers usually is, “So easy. I am going to use it for the next meeting.”

In Alan’s case he would need to just “schedule an event.” Give it a title, most likely, When will the CEO’s wife give birth? Add a description like, enter you name and check the date, and drop $5 off at my desk. Each person’s name may only have one checkbox checked.

The best thing to do is try Doodle so we created a poll to help you get started. Visit our poll to answer, and leave a comment below about how you have used Doodle.

As a weary web traveler, Techlife’s journey is to uncover the small stuff and review the larger stuff, but how about the things in between. MinnPost is rare gem, a non-profit web startup with a local focus that is ready to expand past their roots. I recently had a chance to sit down with Joel Kramer, editor and founder of MinnPost.com. Joel and his band of writers, akin to Robin Hood and his band of merry men, are forming the next wave of journalism. No filters, they are the company. They believe in bringing good journalism to the reader without corporate oversight.

This unfiltered experience has the feel of a well written newspaper but the flavor Techlife readers will enjoy. Their roster of experienced writers might not be globally known, or even nationally known, but their local flavor of delivering quality reporting to Minnesotans gives them credibility in their local community. As a syndicated columnist who covers technology and life, maybe Joel will consider adding another budding journalist to his crew. Joel’s balance of digitizing the newspaper is something many publishers around the country are watching closely.

Techlife: What is MinnPost.com?

Joel Kramer: MinnPost.com is a high-quality news site for news-intensive people who care about Minnesota . We publish ambitious stories and shorter posts five days a week. The work is done by top-notch professional journalists, many of them with decades of experience.

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For new readers, welcome your feedback is appreciated.  For long time readers, 2007 was a great year for learning and expanding.  I suspect 2008 will be even better, keep reading and sending in your questions and comments.  As a marketing and technology proven “venture strategist” I want to meet businesses and organizations, all it takes is an invitation. Contact me, it’s easy: techlife [at] dkworldwide [dot] com.

(part of the syndicated print column’s writing process exposed to online readers)

Thanksgiving means saying thanks.  Thanks to all the wonderful readers, business owners and referals.  I have met so many interesting people. This month alone a a few include a Judge, an Inventor, and  a Startup owner.   You listened and referred and I thank you all.  As a marketing and technology proven “venture strategist” I want to meet businesses and organizations, all it takes is an invitation. Contact me, it’s easy: techlife [at] dkworldwide [dot] com.

(part of the syndicated print column’s writing process exposed to online readers)

Our readers are really the best. Where else would we get Penguin Baseball? A reader sent in this flash game gem, where you take batting practice, except replace Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez or Prince Fielder with your favorite abominable snowman, the Yeti. Cute lovable penguins jump from a cliff (pitch themselves) and you take aim.

From what I can see there are two types of power hits. The moon shot gets you at most 490. The more line drive takes the svelte penguin aerodynamics and really can increase your score. Our reader said, “It took awhile and I think I am still missing something, but beat 593!” My best was 587. What can you do?

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It’s always great to hear from readers of the column. Lately we have been picking up steam in that department. Lots of comments in various articles. Another feather in the cap is when a fellow writer references work you have done or asks for a quote, as an expert.

Recently, an uncredited employee of Google wrote on “The Official Google Docs Blog: News and Notes from the Google Docs Team” a post about how s/he helped their fantasy football commissioner and league use Google Docs. They assisted in streamlining the league’s fantasy draft and other management. It is a great article and certainly makes a lot of sense for anyone in fantasy sports, especially those of you who have trouble getting in one place at one time for the draft. At the end the writer added this nice little tip for those preparing for the draft.

(Docs & Spreadsheets user Dave Kaufman also shared his experience with the draft.)

Shortly after that I was contacted by Kimberly Maul from “The Book Standard“, who was writing an article on Techlife favorite Daily Lit. Kimberly wrote a great piece about the history of Daily Lit and a bit more about where they are going with a pay for content model. It seems exciting. She also was nice of enough to include this quote I made about Daily Lit.

“Daily Lit is one of those services that is game-changing, but on the surface appears very simple,” said Dave Kaufman, a blogger who writes the TechLife blog, about Daily Lit. “Think of all the countries where Internet access is limited in time, bandwidth and speed. Imagine how easy it would be for a teacher to incorporate classic literature into the curriculum. Its simplicity could allow global access to information and education.”

It is always nice to hear from readers, writers and business owners. Feel free to email or comment.

Techlife always welcomes letters from our readers. As most readers know we run a consulting business, DK Worldwide, so we get lots of questions from business owners. Recently a potential client had this to say {excerpt}.

Dear Techlife,
I have a business where I publish writing and activities for professionals. I have been writing eBooks, and selling them with great success.

I have built up a mailing list and started to really see the future of my business. I have built my own website and self-publish my own books. I am not sure if I am doing everything the “best I can.” But I really am encouraged by the recent success and would like to see my business reach $XX,XXX by Christmas this year and $XXX,XXX by next year.

Do you think you can help me?
Sincerely,
Writing for Pleasure (and now profit)

Dear Writing for Pleasure (and now profit),

Congratulations! Your success certainly has you excited. We got excited just reading about it. We really like working with clients who have goals. We often help them write them, so we are certainly thinking from the same place. I also read your email a few times and think that we can help you grow your business.

DK Worldwide provides clients business consulting focusing on marketing and technology. We leverage experience from Fortune 50 clients and apply it to smaller companies. Some of my comments stray away from the web, such as setting goals, making a plan, focusing on your “art direction” etc.

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Most Techlife readers know I use Trillian for instant messaging because we have covered them before. I have also mentioned AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) bots when I wrote about FeedCrier. An AIM bot is a buddy you add to your buddy list but instead of a real person the bot is a computer that can answer questions, usually with a tight focus. AIM Bots are available wherever you can IM including the iPhone.

A great example of this is AOLYellowPages, a bot that lets you pull up nationwide (USA) listings with a few quick pecks to the keyboard. People love this bot, which was recently in retirement refinement and not-delivering any results. I am happy to report it is back.

We recently caught up with Bill Herred who is the guy-behind-the-guy of Prof Gilzot, a new AIM bot for SAT Prep, targeted towards high school students. He is also behind IM Street a stock focused AIM Bot.

Techlife meets Bill Herred

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Did I detect a little spark in David Berlind’s eye? Maybe a hope that he could see his content on a featured Channel? Watch this video where Techlife TV gets the nod in Taylor McKnight’s talk with David Berlind of ZD Net.

Congratulations to Chime.tv winner of the best Mashup at MashupCamp. Taylor, now a two-time winner, sat down and showed David (Berlind) Chime.tv, even mentioning our channel and me by name at the 1:05 minute mark. (Thanks Taylor!)

What’s a Mashup? I will leave it to David to explain that in his video which of course is also on the Techlife TV Channel.

Note to David: Got more vidoes? Let me know and I will add them to Techlife TV.

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