Not surprisingly, the Nabisco folks weren’t entirely impressed with Joerg Sprave’s brilliant Oreo-splitting pump action slingshot, and took his video down. So as an act of revenge, Joerg has added another pump action weapon to his arsenal designed to decimate a box of cookies. But this time he’s also provided the plans and instructions needed to build your own. More »
The cubicle is a horrid monster of office design. While they might be functional, it’s never pretty to section off your office into endless false walls, resigning workers into their own little pockets of a giant ice cube tray. The designers at Taylor and Miller Architecture and Urban Design have a beautiful solution that even packs in some extra features. More »
Microsoft’s next generation of Office software looks like it’s going to be a rebel and not follow Microsoft’s new “Blue” codename. The software will instead go by the codename “Gemini”, and it will be composed of two waves that will be released over the next two years. The first wave will be released alongside Windows Blue, and will bring updates to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
The wave-one updates will transform the existing Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote apps by converting the apps to Window’s Metro UI. Gemini’s second wave is said to be the jump start to Microsoft’s planned, frequent updates for Office 365 users. It will bring updates to both the Microsoft Office apps, as well as Microsoft Office services, such as Exchange, or SharePoint.
According to ZDNet, there is a group inside the Microsoft Office team called the Modern Office Experience (MOX). Their prime goal is making Office more Metro for Windows 8 and future Windows Blue users. They accomplished their first goal when they created a Metro version of OneNote. The group originally wanted to create hybrid-Metro office apps, where they would act just like the Office 2013 apps now, but would also be able to work with Windows’s Metro environment. Unfortunately, it didn’t comply with the Windows RT/8 regulations, so the idea was killed.
Along with the Gemini release, Microsoft plans on developing a touch version of Office in the near future. The touch-based Office will be targeted more towards Windows RT devices, that will have consumers see Office as more than just a desktop-based application. To fully take advantage of the Gemini updates, as well as Microsoft’s other Office updates, the company is trying very hard to push consumers to subscribe to its Office 365 service. It is even temping college students to subscribe by offering them a free trial of the service.
[via ZDNet]
Next-gen Microsoft Office is codenamed “Gemini” is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Blue is to Windows as Gemini is to Office. Any questions? Well, that’s unfortunate — we don’t have a ton of answers. What we do know, courtesy of some top-notch ZDNet reporting, is that Microsoft’s next Office release is codenamed “Gemini,” and that it could be making its way to your desktop by the end of this year. The site quotes a potential fall ship date, at least for the first release, which is set to include new versions of Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint and Word. Rumor has it that the next version will be somewhat platform-independent, and will rely heavily on the Office 365 subscription concept. Beyond that, there isn’t really much to share, but you’re welcome to hit up our source link for a few more (minor) details.
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
Source: ZDNet
Tweaking the design of his bizarre pump-action Oreo gun, Joerg Sprave has built a smaller version designed to take office warfare to the next level (if the next level is a long two-hour talk with human resources). Made only using stuff you’d find around the office—like cardboard, glue, staples, and rubber bands—the pump-gun is able to fire euro coins, US nickels, or M5 washers. More »
If you remember your college days (or are currently experiencing them now), then you no doubt remember all of those collaboration projects that your professors made you work on. To help out, Microsoft is now offering college students three months of Office 365 University and 20GB of SkyDrive storage for free.
Office 365 University allows access on up to two computers per account, and it costs $79.99 for a four-year subscription. The bundle comes with all the necessary tools to get those assignments done, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. To take advantage of the free trial and get your free SkyDrive storage, all you have to do is enter in your .edu email address.
Plus, if you share the offer on Facebook, you’ll get an additional three months of free access, totaling six months of Office 365 without paying a dime. Of course, that’s only $10 you’re saving, but a penny saved is a penny earned. Of course, if you’re not a student, you can still try out Office 365 Home Premium free for one month as well.
Microsoft released a comical advertisement to promote the offer, which features Parks and Recreation star Aubrey Plaza who plays deadpan character April Ludgate-Dwyer in the show. In the commercial, Plaza informs students about how easy it is to get your collaboration projects done using Office 365 University and SkyDrive in separate locations, officially negating the point of meeting up in the library.
Microsoft offering students 3 months of Office 365, 20GB SkyDrive storage for free is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
While there are literally a million pen and toothbrush caddies out there, most of them are pretty boring if you ask me. If you’re looking for a fun way to keep your stick-like objects organized, then you might want to pick up the Grabit Robot.
Contrary to its name, this little guy isn’t an actual robot, but he sure looks like one, and that’s good enough in my book. Designed by Leo and Angie Fajardo of Trinkits, this multipurpose holder has two grippy hands which are perfect for holding on to toothbrushes, pens, pencils, and other tall items. Grabit is made of sturdy ABS plastic and measures about 5-inches-tall.
The Grabit Robot is currently raising funds for production over on Kickstarter, and will ship in five colors: bright blue, mango, white, bright red, and lime green. The first 100 contributors can grab a Grabit for $25(USD), while others can get in on the action for $30. The project needs just $7000 by April 17 to go into production, so it should have no problem reaching that goal.
From time to time, I’ve had a comfortable office chair. Though when you move, change jobs, etc., chairs seem to get a lower priority than more essential things. That being said, there’s something good about having a well-designed chair, which will let you sit for hours without feeling uncomfortable.
While there are plenty of ergonomic chairs designed for working at a desk or computer, the Steelcase Gesture Chair was designed to be used comfortably with tablets and smartphones. The chair has got articulated arms that will adjust to support your arms and back, whether you’re holding your phone, tablet or laptop.
It will support a wide variety of different postures and sitting positions, whilst always giving the right amount of support. This should work whether you’re touch-typing on your keyboard or browsing sites on your iPad.
The Steelcase Gesture Chair will be available this fall.
Once upon a 1999, two young boys document a visit to their father at the Google offices in its early stages. The result: a cinematic masterpiece of a time capsule. Granted, the whole video is a bit long and tends to drag near the end (unless you have a passion for watching tweens eating fritos), so we’ve picked out a few highlights. Now please, enjoy. More »
Microsoft would really, really like us to drop our stand-alone copies of Office in favor of Office 365 subscriptions. Really. Division president Kurt DelBene prefers to lure us in with the carrot rather than the stick, however, and just hinted at the company’s TechForum that there will likely be a “rapid cadence” of upgrades to keep productivity fans happy. There’s even the prospect of new apps coming out for subscribers. While that’s tempting, DelBene also wants to allay fears that we’ll be dragged kicking and screaming into the company’s recurring revenue model. Microsoft will keep making a buy-once-use-forever edition of Office “as long as that demand exists,” the exec says. He hasn’t elaborated on where that threshold rests, but it’s safe to presume that we’ll be voting with our wallets for a good while.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft
Source: The Verge
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