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RB | Climbing

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Gmail Blog via Gmail Blog shared by 9 people

Posted by James Yum, Developer Programs Engineer, Google Desktop

On the Google Desktop gadgets team, we've seen countless requests for a Gmail gadget over the years. That gadget is finally here, so if you've got Google Desktop for Windows, give it a try.

You'll see that it covers the basics such as reading, searching, and sending messages. You can star messages, use the same keyboard shortcuts, and we didn't forget about contact auto-complete. It doesn't take up much space in your sidebar or desktop, and you can also resize it to show as few or as many messages as you'd like.

Google Calendar now supports Apple iCalToday

Scott Knaster via Google Mac Blog shared by 7 people

By David Besbris, Engineering Director

The Google Calendar team is proud to announce the public release of our support for the CalDAV protocol. You can now use Apple iCal with your Google Calendar, so you can work even when you're offline, sync almost instantly, respond to invitations from others and see the free/busy data of your friends and coworkers.

We launched CalDAV support to our developers last July for feedback, and since that time a few of us whipped up a nifty setup program for iCal. This tool makes it a breeze to get iCal working with your Google account. We've released this as open source and the program is available for download at our Google Code site.

Photography, and the Tolerance for Courageous SuckingToday

Merlin Mann via 43 Folders shared by 8 people

As I’ve started shooting photos more often, I’ve picked up on some interesting patterns: habits, if you like. And, as I struggle to absorb the insane physics of capturing light with some glass and a black box, I accept upfront that the improvements to my actual photos will be slow, incremental, and, largely undetectable to anybody but me — a fact that’s never more painfully clear than when I swoon over the work of the more talented friends who inspire me (Heather, Ryan and Chris each come to mind here).

But, being instantly great at this couldn’t be further from the point. Although I started taking photos to become a better photographer, I keep taking them because I’ve learned to love the process. And, luckily, at least as far as I can tell, dedication to the process can’t help but make you a better photographer — or a better whatever, for that matter.

An Urge to Push

I lug this clunky

This Bear Market Is Brought To You By Jack DanielsToday

Erick Schonfeld via TechCrunch shared by 9 people

File this one under “Unfortunate Ad Placements.” On a day that the Dow dropped 680 points (7.7 percent), MarketWatch ran the Jack Daniels banner ad in the screenshot above (sent to us by reader Scott Murff). The ad shows the “countdown to the close” of the market in minutes and seconds, suggesting that might be a good time for a drink. Juxtaposed with the headline “Bears Refusing To Hibernate,” it takes on additional meaning.

It becomes a commentary on the financial markets themselves: there is not much you can do in a down market but drown your sorrows (so might as well drown them in Jack Daniels).

Does the unintentional pairing with the headline make it a more effective ad or a tasteless one?

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

100 Free High-Quality XHTML/CSS TemplatesToday

Steven Snell via Smashing Magazine shared by 8 people

by Steven Snell

If you haven’t taken a look at the (X)HTML/CSS templates that are available for free from a variety of sources, you may be surprised by the quality you can find. WordPress themes tend to get a lot of exposure and attention in the design community right now, but there is also a wide variety of high-quality (X)HTML/CSS templates that are free of charge.

In this post, we’ll showcase 100 free high-quality templates. Hopefully some of them will save you some time in your design and development. While they are generally free for personal or commercial use, always remember to check the license first for any restrictions or guidelines.

You may want to take a look at other collections as well (some are from Smashing Magazine, some are not):