Winning Entry

When browsing websites on a personal laptop, I use an Evernote browser plug-in to “clip” the web pages I need. That saves each page in full formatting in my Evernote app. The plug-in then activates a popup showing follow-up actions for the clipped page, and I will email the clipped page to my SOE email. This works even for websites requiring user log-in (e.g., subscription-based periodicals). The Evernote plug-in’s automated responses (even prompting for regularly used email addresses) makes it quicker than saving the web page as a PDF document, then launching a personal email application to send the PDF as an attachment to my SOE laptop. Recipients also skip an additional step of opening the PDF, since the web page content is displayed directly in the email.

Spencer Hsu, MAS

Congratulations, Spencer! You win vouchers for two to Singapore Virtual Room – go as a pair or in a team to play immersive games set in the year 2217.

In my line of work, I reply to enquiries from the public on flat-related issues. I usually refer to my organisation’s website to provide the information in my replies, and at times, include the URLs for reference. With the internet surfing separation, this option is no longer available. To get around this, I copy various liners and URLs that I frequently use and save them in a Word document. This way, I can quickly copy them into my email replies, without having to use my mobile phone to find the required information on the official website and sending it to my work email. This saves time and allows me to respond to enquiries more quickly.

Danny Wan, HDB

Certain file types cannot be sent or received over government email. Video files are one of them. If you have ever tried sending a video, it will probably never reach your recipient. To overcome that, my “hack” is to use PowerPoint: insert the video into a slide and send it as part of a PowerPoint document via email. Once it is received, all that is needed is to save the video from within the PowerPoint document to a local folder.

Chew Yi Long, HDB

In my role at work, I do a fair number of briefs and presentations that require gathering research and other materials from the Internet. These could be research articles (in a variety of formats) and images that are troublesome to transfer to our whole-of-government laptops. Most of us would have to download the materials, and send them as attachments from our private email account to our work email account! That is many steps to go through for just an image or a PDF document. To make my life easier, I use a free service that creates a “bookmarklet” on my browser’s bookmarks bar. It sends whatever that is in your browser window directly to your work email inbox with one click. For web pages, it will extract all the text and remove all the ads; and if used on a PDF document or an image file, it will send the file directly to your work email inbox as an attachment. To install this magical tool, go to www.emailthis.me and follow the instructions.

Kenneth Kang, EDB

Your mobile phone is your new bestie! The best way to cope with the internet surfing separation is to download a QR code generator on your work computer. Whenever you receive a web address, turn it into a QR code using the generator and scan the code with your handphone. That takes you to the website on your phone without the hassle of having to type out the full address (sometimes with mistakes).You will get so used to the process that you’ll turn to your mobile phone for googling even when you are on an internet-equipped laptop!

Jacqueline Foo, MSF