Our favorite Web 2.0 company, 37Signals, must be working overtime these days.  They have announced the availability of an API for their popular Basecamp project collaboration product.  With this API, Basecamp users will be able to unleash their creativity in developing OS X dashboard widgets and Yahoo! widgets, or just generally hooking up Basecamp to all kinds of external systems.

Not to rest on their accomplishments, the crew over at 37Signals also signalled that calendaring will soon be added to Backpack.  For Backpack fanatics, this was the most requested feature on the popular list tracking web site.  Some would even say that calendaring is the missing link on Backpack.

While all this is exciting, it does make us wonder when we can expect Sunrise, their CRM application?

Now that the excitement has died down, software products are starting to appear that are 'tuned' for the UMPC's form factor.  Yes, we know that Microsoft has made is a point to tell everyone who will listen that the UMPC's greatest appeal is that it can run any Windows XP application.  While that may be true, the smallish screen size of the UMPC made us wonder how we'd squeeze some of our favorite applications into such small digs.  While it looks like some applications from Microsoft (namely OneNote) will account for the new screen real estate, an entirely new cadre of applications are being readied to fill the (smaller) void.

One of the first applications to be released that is UMPC sensitive is abletFactory's abletFoodCalc.  FoodCalc is a nutritional calculator for keeping track of your eating habits while on the go.  FoodCalc comes with a large database of nutritional values for foods that will allow you to quickly accumulate your daily consumption habits with your UMPC.  This sounds interesting enough, although we're forced to ask one practical question:  Since input on the UMPC is mostly hand driven, won't our precious UMPC get 'all greased up' if we enter food data all day?  Well, it seems like a sure opening for another UMPC accessory, the UMPC sanitizer.

Like many of you, much of my daily work pattern revolves around Microsoft Outlook.  Over the years, I've grown accustomed to Outlook, and have an understanding of its strengths and limitations.  One of the biggest limitations has been the ability quickly file inbox messages.  Outlook lets you build rules to auto fule stuff, but those rules tend to be pretty rigid.  Plus, I'm not a fan of auto filing, at minimum I want to glance at any incoming subject line before I banish it to a sub-folder.  Drag and drop is slow, and the built in filing command isn't powerful enough to give you folder options as you search. 

The last couple of days I've been testing a new, tiny application called SpeedFiler.  SpeedFiler does one thing, and it does it well.  The Outlook Add-in gracefully extends Outlook's filing command (Ctrl Shift v) with a smart window that narrows your folder list as you type.  This means you don't have to go searching for the appropriate folder by scrolling through a huge list of folders. Nice.  Need to get to a folder quickly?  Just begin typing the folder name in the SpeedFiler toolbar and optional folder names begin to autopopulate.  Cool stuff.

SpeedFiler can also be setup to request a folder to file sent mail, every time you send a message.  SpeedFiler has quickly become a part of my routine.  If you want to check it out, you can download a trial copy, valid for 30 days.  To purchase, SpeedFiler will set you back $19.95

Not only does Google want to own all your data, Google wants you to plan your life on a Google platform.  As Google says, we must follow, right?  Well, on both points, Google's intentions have remained a closely guarded secret until this week.  Those as lofty as the Wall Street Journal reported on the PowerPoint mixup that exposed Google's file storage plans.  Now we have leaked screenshots of the super-secret "CL2", or Google Calendar.  Techcrunch scored the screens and they seem to validate that Google is building a expansive calendaring capability to augment the GMail platform.  Like all things Google, the interface looks spartan, but heavily splashed with AJAX.  It is also speculated that CL2 is a while away from gracing us lowly users.  Until then, you'll have to plan your life on something else, like with a pen on paper or your hand.

Continuing on a quest to buy everything that Google or Yahoo haven't bought already, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Onfolio today.  Onfolio, for the uninitiated, is one of the most powerful web bookmark, page capture, research assistant tools available for Windows.  The big M will be adding Onfolio onto its Windows Live Toolbar as a free offering.  I'm sure that won't go well with those who ponied up $99 for their copies of Onfolio, but hey, now the rest of the world can share the wealth of your 'seed funding'.  It will be interesting to see what Microsoft does with the Firefox integration of Onfolio, since nearly everything that is going into the Live strategy requires the proprietary Internet Explorer browser.  Before you point your IE browser to Onfolio's website, be forewarned that the free version isn't available until "the afternoon".  Now, whose afternoon is the global giant referring to?

Do you have a problem with junior venturing into programs that you don't want him to touch?  Is he trying to sneak a peak into your Zinio magazine rack (you know the one where you download Foreign Policy and BusinessWeek...among others...)?  Well, configuring Windows XP to keep him out of your things can be difficult, if not impossible.  This is where Program Protector comes in handy.  Program Protector lets you password protect any Windows application with a fairly tight protection scheme.  The program cannot be bypassed by renaming executable files, or even by deleting Program Protector.  You can also view an activity log to see of junior has tried to access a protected application,.  I've been testing a trial version, and it seems to work as advertised.  A license will set you back $29.95.

Do you ever wonder what really goes on at home while you're away?  Want to make sure the cops catch any thieves that may want to steal your authentic MacGyver memorabilia?  Well, you may want to give Crime Catcher a try.  Crime Catcher is a motion detection driven webcam capture tool.  You can hook the software up to monitor upto four webcams, and have your computer fire off an email when motion is detected.  To deter would-be thieves, you can also setup the application to play sounds off of your computer's sound system.  I can just imagine it now, a burglar running in fear after crooner Tom Jones kicks in.   That is assuming that the bad guys don't steal your kick-butt speaker system.  The basic application will set you back $25, while a full featured, four camera version runs $49.

It seems like we've been waiting forever to see a working version of Chandler, the much anticipated collaboration-PIM tool that was being developed by the Open Source Foundation.  Well, they finally have released a presentable version of the Calendar Module for Chandler, and from the looks of it, Chandler is a winner.  More than just another pretty PIM, Chandler's vision was to challenge the Microsoft Outlook-Exchange standard with a more open, and robust tool.  It seems as though the OSA team is marching, very slowly, toward that goal.  Take a look for yourself here to see what the Chandler team as been up to.  You can also download a working version of this module, which is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux environments.

A few months back there was a lot of activity in the mobile-to-desktop search space. Among the players we introduced you to were Avvenu and SoonR.  Both offered similar capabilities at the time, but SoonR has recently introduced a very interesting new feature. With SoonR now can access your desktop's Microsoft Outlook, as demonstrated here.  While there are many of us that access our Outlook data via a palm or Blackberry, this new feature extends accessibility to many more mobile phones. It is certainly worth a look for those cannot access their Outlook information while on the go in any other way.

1. We love that Microsoft spread computing beyond geekdom.  Over the last thirty years,  Microsoft's unrelenting charge toward world dominance has brought computing technology to the forefront of society.  While many will argue that Microsoft is a great hindrance to the spread of computing, we are certain that without the Microsoft-Intel duopoly computers would still be the purview of pocket protector adorned, horn-rimmed glasses wearing geeks (sorry, no offense).
   
2. We love to hate Microsoft.  It seems as though Microsoft cannot do right by its customers.  Being the biggest fish in the ocean, it's only natural that Redmond take the heat for any computer ailments we suffer. And, on a regular basis, Microsoft obliges us with one screw-up after another (here's the latest example).
   
   
   
3. We love Microsoft's recent openness.  So many Microsoft employees write blogs. Whether it is an astute marketing ploy or not is yet to be determined, but hearing from the likes of Omar Shahine and Chris Pratley is a good thing. The spread of blogging throughout Microsoft has added a humanizing quality to the company that you can't imagine coming from other tech behemoths like IBM or (especially) Apple.