Computers & Technology

For those who have not yet downloaded it, or, for those who don't know that you can have an office suite without having to pay anything at all, here's the official word: OpenOffice 2.3 is now available for download.

OPENOFFICE.ORG POST

September 2007

Introducing new functionality with OpenOffice.org 2.3!
OpenOffice.org 2.3 is available for download now! It includes several new features in addition to the usual improvements to stability, performance, Microsoft Office compatibility and Accessibility. Some of the new and exciting features are available as free extensions which increase OpenOffice.org functionality.
New Chart:

OpenOffice.org 2.3 introduces an all new chart with a new chart wizard for creating even complex charts. The 3D charts are also significantly improved including several new charts types for example:

• Regression curves
• 3D Exploded Pie
• 3D Donut
• 3D smooth lines and several others

Also improved is the data source handling where data ranges for columns and rows labels can be separated from the data source range for the chart values, and the ability to select different x-values for different series. Not to forget the new default color set and an enhanced automatic logarithmic scaling. Last but not least are performance improvements and an enhanced import and export of Microsoft Office charts.

Last but not least are performance improvements and an enhanced import and export of Microsoft Office charts.

New Openoffice.org Extensions are available:

OpenOffice.org Extensions are independent add-ons to enhance OpenOffice.org functionality.

Sun Report Builder:

Also new with OpenOffice.org 2.3 is the Sun Report Builder for creating stylish and smart database reports. The flexible report editor can define group and page headers as well as group and page footers and even calculation fields are available to accomplish complex database reports.

The Sun Report Builder uses the Pentaho Reporting Flow Engine of Pentaho BI.

This Extension is available for free on Sun Report Builder.

OpenOffice.org eFax Extension:
Send and receive faxes from within the OpenOffice.org office suite

Replace your fax machine with the eFax extension for OpenOffice.org. eFax is an online fax service that eliminates the need for a fax machine, an extra fax line and all the associated expenses (paper, ink cartridges etc.). You can continue to use your existing fax number or use a new number for free. When someone faxes to your number, the fax is displayed in the eFax Messenger solution on your computer or the fax is converted to a file that is emailed to you as an attachment.

eFax is a service of J2global, for more information see the eFax web page.

This Extension is available for free on OpenOffice.org eFax Extension.

More extensions are available in the new Extension Repository.

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Developing technology based services that are to be used by many clients should follow guidelines about who are the intended users of that service.

For example, developing a web-based service that works well when using one web browser that only a minority of web users use to browse the web is frustratingly narrow-minded.

Similarly, developing web-based services that work well only on the web browser used by the majority of web users, and completely ignoring alternative browsers used by a minority of web users is equally obtuse.

Developing web services that work well only in Internet Explorer for Windows is acceptable when the main community of users of that service are business users; they're already using Windows, and Internet Explorer already comes with.  However as soon as a web service is developed for use by a community at large, for example the academic community, thought has to go into what web browsers people use.  In other words, give people alternatives in case they don't use the browser you'd prefer them to use. 

In business communities and/or environments, it is easy to dictate what is required.  In academic environments, it is less easy to do this.

It is acceptable that only the majority browser is required to use a service that is used for budget information and decisions.  It is not acceptable to require one browser on one operating system in order to view your payment image or subscribe to a list server.

Specifically at NYU, there is a significant number of people who use different browsers and operating systems.

In about a week or so, ITS will start requiring SSL for incoming mail connections. This could have the potential to disrupt people's use of email.

Starting mid-October, if your mail program (Outlook, Thunderbird, Mail, Eudora, etc) is not configured to use the SSL protocol, you will not be able to check your email.

The SSL protocol makes sure that mail transfers in an encrypted session. This feature has been available as an option for some time at NYU. For many reasons, ITS is moving to require the use of SSL encrypted sessions for incoming email.

For those who have not yet updated their mail programs should do so promptly if they wish to use email without interruption. You can read the instructions for configuring your email to use the SSL protocol from NYU / ITS. You can also learn more about the SSL protocol and how it works (also known as the Gory Details document).

More than 300 new features of Apple's latest operating system, are described at http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/300.html.

• monitor system activity with DTrace - w0o7!


• all the calendar features - autopick, availability, resources, caldav, offline


• self-tuning tcp


• parental controls with dynamic web filters


• sandboxing, library randomization and multiple user certificates


• live partition resizing with disk utility


• tabs in terminal


• ODF and XML document format support in TextEdit- yes, this means both openOffice and Office 2007- yes!


• appleScript, ruby and python bridges for cocoa frameworks/apps


• objective-c 2.0 -woohoo!