I have been using the Outlook search add-on by Xobni for the past few months and I have to say it is a great time-saver for me. It is lightning quick in searching my Outlook email compared to the built-in search Outlook provides.

In addition to the search capabilities, Xobni allows you to better navigate your email world. When you are viewing an email in Outlook, Xobni will display the contacts phone number (and a link to call if you have skype installed), recent conversations and recent attachments.

Have a look at the following youtube video to see all the features of Xobni.

I can now take my iPod Nano G3 out of the house. Thanks Agent18! I received an iPod Nano G3 for Christmas this year and it’s black and shiny. This Nano is replacing my 2003 issued iPod that I scratched up something fierce within the first month I had it.

Every case I have owned (and that is quite a few) was either too clunky, not protective enough (as in no screen protection) or had features I that I didn’t need (like a belt clip). The Eco Shieldis what I have been looking for.

The Eco Shield (G3) is a two piece recycled plastic case that easily assembles over the iPod Nano. The front and back are completely covered with the exception of a cutout on the front to access the wheel.

What I have found the most useful bit about the Eco Shield is that the bottom of the case is completely open. This allows me to attach my FM Transmitter, and even dock the iPod without removing the case.

The company I work for, Z-TECH Associates (located in Lexington, MA), is currently looking for a Network Engineer to attend to it’s growing client base. Z-TECH is a great company to work for and we are growing. You can forward your resume to me at geoff@geoffmanning.com or to the address listed in the Job Description.

I just finished reading this article: “2008 could be the year laptop sales eclipse desktops in US” over on Arstechnica. I have sensed this coming on from personal experiences and at work, but the evidence was only anecdotal. Here are some interesting numbers from the article:

The US notebook market boomed in 2007, with laptop shipments rising 21 percent to a total of 31.6 million units. Desktops still outsold laptops in 2007, but the gap between the two has shrunk as desktop sales continue to decline. With US tower sales down four percent last year at a total of 35 million units, industry analysts predict that notebooks sales will exceed desktop sales for the first time in 2008.

While I don’t think the market is shrinking for desktops in the corporate arena (with the exception being an increasing mobile work force), it is definitely declining in the consumer arena. There is a need for the consumer to have flexibility in where they can use their computer and this is driving the trend towards laptops. For companies, the cost is far greater to purchase laptops+docking station+monitor than it is to purchase just the desktop+monitor.

I am collecting contributions from my readers in order to send a laptop to a child in a developing country. For those not familiar with the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Program, you can read about it here.

If you are interested, please use the widget below to donate or by using this link. All donation will be sent to my PayPal account. When I reach my goal, I will donate all the funds collected to the OLPC program. Any contribution at all is appreciated.

To stay up to date with all the news I read and the Blogs that I follow, I use a news aggregator called Google Reader. This allows me to subscribe to many news sources and have all the information I am interested in available in one interface. It’s a great time saver.

Here is a great video describing the concept to get you started.

Download.com has released the Top 10 Best Downloads for 2007. You will find a lot of useful applications in the list from web browsers geared towards social networking to an free and open source alternative to the MS Office Suite.

One application in particular from that list that deserves mention is CrossLoop. Currently still in beta, CrossLoop allows you to provide remote support to a friend, colleague, etc over the internet without needing to configure ports on your firewall. There are several applications that allow you to do this, but CrossLoop is (currently) free and very easy to install and use for the supporter and especially for the person in need of computer help.

Here is a brief intro:

82,000 nominations were made for thousands of individual startups. The top startups in each of twenty categories have made it to the final vote. Starting now, you can vote for the startups you think are most worthy in each of twenty categories - from “best technology achievement” to “best overall startup.”

From: The Crunchies: Finalists Are Up, Vote For the Winners

For more info check here, or go vote!