Web Nectar: June 2007

How To: Hack Gmail Notifier to use SSL

WikiHow explains how to configure Gmail Notifier to use SSL to retrieve your email account information. This addresses a glaring issue that seems to have been swept under the rug for a long time: why use a secured connection (as is setup when you use Better Gmail) when actually checking your Gmail account if Gmail Notifier is passing your email info back and forth in the clear? The tutorial is specific for Windows and requires the use of freeware app VirtualDub. This will secure Gmail Notifier's connection and take less than five minutes to get going. Thanks, Justin!

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Linux Download: Google Desktop now available for Linux

Windows, Mac and now Linux: Search your Linux computer's files and applications with Google Desktop, which now runs on Debian 4.0, Fedora Core 6, Ubuntu 6.10, SUSE 10.1, and Red Flag 5. The big advantage Google Desktop has over built-in search solutions (like the Mac's Spotlight) is its ability to include Gmail messages in its results, and the use of Google's advanced search operators, which are nice to learn once and use both on the web and desktop. For more on Google Desktop power usin', see how to get more from Google Desktop. GDesktop is a free download, now truly cross-platform.

[via] Lifehacker

Online Storage:

Microsoft offers 500MB of online storage in their new Windows Live Folders service. The beta is limited (I wasn't able to get in, but others were) and you need a Live ID (nee Passport) login to try it out.

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Firefox Extension: Prevent history tracking with SafeHistory

All platforms with Firefox: Open-source extension SafeHistory bolsters your browsing security by protecting you from visited-link-based tracking techniques.

[SafeHistory] restricts the marking of visited links on the basis of the originating document, defending against web privacy attacks that remote sites can use to determine your browser history at other sites. A link on a.com pointing at b.com will only be marked visited if you previously visited the b.com page with a referrer in the domain of a.com.

Developed by the creators of previously-mentioned SafeCache, SafeHistory is a free download that works anywhere Firefox does. Thanks, iqag!

[via] Lifehacker

How To: Choose an accountant for your online business

Web entrepreneur (and Lifehacker guest editor) Matt Haughey offers good advice on how to find an accountant for your online business who understands the internet. After 8 years of using TurboTax and a few so-so accountants, Matt says the person with the right know-how can save you piles of moolah. This year he had his taxes done 3 ways: by a local accountant, a big city accountant, and TurboTax online.

In the end, the big city accountant asked me the right questions and figured out a couple deductions I didn't know I qualified for, and saved me $1500 below what TurboTax came up with. I probably could have gotten my TurboTax return to match but I probably mis-read one of the hundreds of questions lobbed at me during the online process. The local accountant I wasn't a fan of turned out to be the worst option, coming up $1200 over my own TurboTax return. I suspect she left off a few business expenses I listed.

We've been around the should I hire a tax accountant? block before, and Matt makes a strong case for internet pros to do it. How did you find your killer accountant? Let us know in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Screencast:

If Google Analytics makes you go "huh?", blogger Beth Kanter screencasts a primer. For more on how we use Analytics, see my previous feature, improve your web site with Google Analytics.

[via] Lifehacker

Book Recommendation: Find out how to do anything online with Rule the Web

BoingBoing founder Mark Frauenfelder's new book, Rule the Web, answers every question anyone might have about how to get things done online. From security to travel to finance to productivity, this tome's chock full of Lifehacker-style tips and tricks. Mark says:

Writing about technology for BoingBoing and a variety of print publications for nearly twenty years, I've spent a vast quantity of time scouting out the very latest, the very coolest and the very best of what's out there, and translating those discoveries into concise and clear tips for my readers.... There are so many things you can do online today beyond paying your bills and searching for good prices on digital cameras, but there's no single resource that a.) makes readers aware of the possibilities and b) culls out only the most effective tools.

I had the pleasure of contributing a small bit to the "Tips from My Favorite Bloggers" chapter, too. While much of the book's material might not be new to lifehackers in-the-know, it would make a great gift for less savvy friends and family.

[via] Lifehacker

Mozilla releases Sunbird and Lighting 0.5

It's been a long time coming, but Mozilla's Sunbird and Lightning calendar programs have hit 0.5. Sunbird is a standalone calendar application, while Lightning is an extension for Mozilla's Thunderbird email program.

While neither program gets as much attention as their big brothers Firefox and Thunderbird, they're pretty robust calendars, and the 0.5 releases include a ton of new features and bug fixes.

Refined user interface
Automatic migration of data from Sunbird 0.2, iCal, and Evolution
Improved printing function
Lightning works better with Thunderbird (when it comes to things like copying and pasting or printing)
Support for Google Calendar (via the Google Calendar Provider extension)

Sunbird and Lightning 0.5 are available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. Version 1.0 is scheduled for an early 2008 release.

[via Mozilla Calendar Weblog]

[via] Download Squad

Why is Google really buying DoubleClick?

Do we care why Google bought DoubleClick? Well, it could be nice to know a little background history on the deal in progress.

Alex Kinnier, Google's Group Product Manager made a blog post yesterday as to why they decided to buy Doubleclick. Basically, DoubleClick has been a leader in the online advertising game from the beginning, helping advertisers get onto large sites such as AOL, Yahoo, MSN, CNET and ESPN.com.

Google's display advertising was seen as a little speck compared to the giants of online display advertising, AOL, Yahoo and MSN, and they wanted to change that. Google feels that DoubleClicks products and technology complement their own quite nicely, that paired with DoubleClicks delivery mechanisms can help current AdWords customers obtain more precise metrics enabling them to get a better idea how their advertising campaigns are fairing out. DoubleClicks superior knowledge in the industry will also be able to help Google's initiatives out by communicating with agencies and publishers to create more innovative ad serving technologies. Through the DoubleClick deal Google will also be able to help out with unsold media using DART, a hosted enterprise-class advertising management and serving solution for publishers.

So there you have it. It's all about helping the advertisers out. And maybe a little about lining Google's pockets with some extra R&D and Engineering dollars, judging from all of the new releases lately.

[via] Download Squad

iPhone-only RSS reader coming to .Mac

It seems that Apple is taking the first sip from the web 2.0-only-iPhone-apps kool-aid while simultaneously injecting their stagnating .Mac service with a little pep by introducing what looks like an RSS reader just for the iPhone. Going to

[via] Download Squad

SpeedScript for UMPC or Tablet PC - 1 year free trial

SpeedScript is an innovative program (one of many) aimed at making it easy to enter text on mobile devices. With all the talk about whether the iPhone's lack of a physical keyboard is an advantage or a detriment, it's easy to forget that folks have been struggling with on-screen text entry methods ever since the days of the Apple Newton. See how it all comes full circle back to Apple?

Anyway, as we've mentioned before, SpeedScript is available for Windows Mobile devices for about $13. But SpeedScript is also testing tablet and UMPC versions of the software. And when we say testing, we mean if you download a copy today, they're not going to charge you for a year. That should be more than enough time to figure out whether SpeedScript actually saves you any time.

[via jkOnTheRun]

[via] Download Squad

Developing applications on the iPhone with Morfik

The iPhone isn't even out yet and there are scheduled conferences, iPhone specific applications and now an iPhone developer's platform.

A company called Morfik has created a platform that will give developers the ability to build applications on Apple's new iPhone. This new platform is said to be the first of its kind, and usually the first ones to market hit it big with consumers. Morfik has said that its WebOS AppsBuilder will be able to make web applications that are optimized for Safari running on iPhones. Don't have a technically included background? Morfik will also enable everyday users a way to make their own AJAX powered web applications with writing any code.

Morfik already has one application ready for the iPhone called ichess. http://ichess.morfik.com

It's been said that Google Gears and Adobe's AIR could also be big with iPhone developers.

[via] Download Squad

Unofficial HP iPAQ hx4700 update

Now that Windows Mobile 6 is shipping, let's take a stroll down memory lane and reminisce about the problems users had upgrading their Windows Mobile 2003SE devices to Windows Mobile 5.0.

Specifically, Dell Axim X50 and HP iPAQ hx4700 users found themselves in a bind. They'd already purchased some of coolest PDAs on the market. They had blazing fast 624MHz processors and high quality VGA screens. But since they didn't use the same type of RAM as newer Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, it turned out that when you tried to "upgrade" either model, you'd wind up with a much slower system.

Late last year, Dell released a fix for the Axim. And while the X50 series still feels more responsive running WM2003SE than WM5.0, the difference is much smaller than it used to be. And you get updated versions of Mobile Office and the ability to run newer third party software.

Unfortunately HP hasn't released an official patch for the hx4700. But it appears some Russian hackers have. Werner Ruotsalainen reports that the unofficial ROM upgrade vastly improves performance on hx4700 PDAs running Windows Mobile 5.0. However, the upgrade does not include support for A2DP Bluetooth audio, so if that's important to you, it might be worth waiting (possibly forever) for an official update from HP.

[via] Download Squad

Tiny Drum Machine - Today's Time Waster

Created by the food folks at PixelPlanet, this half-time-waster-half-technology-demo is all fun. The Tiny Drum Machine (now in its fifth version) is a music maker where you control the notes that are played as well as the tempo of your piece. Use the simple grid to pick notes to be played and drag the bar below to set the speed. The song endlessly loops, but if you are clever you can mingle the start and end of your song so that it sounds like one long repetitive chorus. For a technology gifted but musically deficient individual such as myself getting the perfect tune has prove quite addictive.

Feeling uninspired? Hit "P" to hear a serious of random arraignments.

[via] Download Squad

Google Desktop released for Linux

Google has released a version of Google Desktop for Linux. While the PC version of this software includes a gadget engine, Google Desktop for Linux, like the relatively new Google Desktop for Mac is pretty much just a desktop search engine.

Google Desktop will index OpenOffice.org files, HTML, PDF, PS, MAN, and INFO documents among others. It'll also track your web history if you use Firefox, and emails from Thunderbird and Gmail.

Google had previously released Google Earth and Picasa for Linux.

This isn't the first desktop search product for Linux. But the ability to integrate with Firefox and Gmail is nice. And while we don't expect anyone to switch from PC to Linux solely because Google Desktop is now available, it's always good news for those who have made the switch when a Windows application is ported to Linux.

[via Google Desktop Blog]

[via] Download Squad

Creating Google Gadgets for cash

Google has launched an interesting new program that sees developers who design and develop sustainable Google Gadgets, sizable funding grants.

The Google Gadget Ventures funding program is open for businesses and individuals who apply to a $5000 grant, not a load, for further developments on their creation. So what's the catch? To be considered into the program, your gadget must have more than 250,000 pageviews per week. Together with those stats, you must also write a one page proposal on the improvements that you would add to your Gadget.

If you pass those tests, Google has another $100,000 in seed investments for companies that start a Gadget, or rely on the Gadget for their business.

So what are you waiting for? Here are some links to help you get started:

And if DLS readers need some extra pageviews, submit your gadget to the tips line!

[via] Download Squad

MySpace TV v. YouTube: If you can't beat them, become them

MySpace TV is up and running, and there's something kind of familiar about it. In fact, if you look at the screenshots aove, you can see that it looks an awful lot like YouTube.

That's not surprising, seeing as YouTube is the most popular video sharing service on the web, and MySpace wants a piece of the action. But as the folks at Mashable point out, there's more than a superficial resemblance here.

The videos, categories, and channels tabs at the top of the page look pretty much identical. MySpace adds a home tab, and YouTube has a community tab, but still...
The relate videos and more from this user box is located in pretty much the same exact space on both sites.
The far right column is reserved for "director videos" on YouTube and "featured videos" on MySpaceTV.
Even the subscribe button looks identical to YouTube's.

There are plenty of other similarities. And that might not be a bad thing for MySpace. But we haven't seen one site rip off another so blatantly since... well, April.

[via] Download Squad

NewCo ramping up to battle YouTube

Not happy with how YouTube deals with copyrighted materials, NBC and News Corp. have been on the move to create a joint venture that would crunch YouTube for what seems like ages. Now they are shopping around to raise cash for their currently unnamed product.

NewTeeVee has the scoop on the NewCo team hitting up VC's from New York to Silicon Valley to fund their venture, and reportedly looking to get at least $100 Million, on a $1 Billion valuation. So far, no luck on investments for, what was believed by these companies, to be a killer online video channel showcasing their own material.

Will this new company be able to come close to the popularity of YouTube? Chances are no. YouTube's traffic is increasing daily, and growing across all markets, while this new company is still having troubles even getting started.

[via] Download Squad

Launch: Google Docs & Spreadsheets makeover

The Google Docs & Spreadsheets beta is sporting a new look with a couple of slick new features, like folders. (Click on the image to take a look.)

In addition to a prettier interface with new icons and expandable trees on the left, the old tags have been replaced by good old-fashioned folders. Finally, the search box offers Google Suggest as-you-type docs and spreadsheets results suggestions for faster getting at what you need. Log in to your Google Account to check it out.

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Firefox Extension: See Windows stats with StatusbarEx

Windows with Firefox: StatusbarEx adds system stats to the Firefox status bar, like Firefox's memory usage, your overall CPU usage, your network adapter's speed, your power status, and the time the page you're visiting was last updated. StatusbarEx makes excellent use of a portion of the Firefox UI that traditionally goes unused - the only bummer is it requires the Microsoft Visual C++ runtime to work. Otherwise, StatusbarEx is a free download for Windows (with Firefox.)

[via] Lifehacker

Digital Photos:

Yahoo! integrates Flickr photos into their Image Search results. I think I just switched image search providers.

[via] Lifehacker

Wikipedia:

Wikipedian Steve Rubel runs down how to surf the 'pedia using keyboard shortcuts. Had no idea there were so many.

[via] Lifehacker

How To: Make KDE apps look like Gnome apps

Linux users: The Nerdica weblog walks through how to re-theme your KDE apps to blend nicely into the Gnome desktop. KDE has bunches of awesome applications, however, the KDE and Gnome default themes are so different running KDE and Gnome apps side-by-side creates a major eyesore.

The tutorial uses the KlearLook KDE control theme and the Human KDE icon set to match KDE apps to the Ubuntu theme -- giving you close to flawless integration of your KDE apps into your Ubuntu desktop. Although the tutorial demonstrates how to make KDE apps blend to the Gnome desktop in Ubuntu, you can apply the general principle to any Linux distro that uses drastically different themes in Gnome and KDE.

[via] Lifehacker

Screensaver: Make your own GTD screensaver

Getting Things Done practitioner John created a screensaver that displays his next actions, so he doesn't lose track of what he should be working on. Using a PowerPoint file, John updates slides with his tasks, and exports them to bitmap files. Then, Windows XP's built-in screensaver gets the images up on his screen after a few minutes of inactivity. I keep my to-do list in front of my face with GeekTool (Samurize on Windows). Same concept, different tools.

[via] Lifehacker

Version Control:

The Cranking Widgets Blog reviews previously-mentioned FileHamster, easy version control on Windows. For less-easy version control, here's how to set up a home Subversion server.

[via] Lifehacker

How To: Recover lost Word documents

Maker of data-recovery applications Ease Us offers several approaches to resurrecting a lost Word document. The tutorial goes from the obvious -- look in the Recycle Bin -- to more complex searches, like looking for a backup file with the WBK extension, to looking for files that start with a tilde (~), plus a few more. They sprinkle in several recommendations to use their shareware apps, but if you ignore these, there are quite a few good tips you can try next time a Word document goes MIA on your PC.

[via] Lifehacker

Windows Vista Tip:

The How-To Geek runs down how to navigate Windows Vista Explorer using keyboard shortcuts.

[via] Lifehacker

Geek To Live: Separate your email from your to-do's

Your boss needs the updated PowerPoint presentation file by Tuesday. Your spouse wants to know how many vacation days you've got left this year. Your co-worker needs your office pool picks. Everyone gets task requests via email all day long, and it's so easy to let these messages slip through the cracks. Whether your inbox is stuffed with two-year-old fwd'd kitten photos from Aunt Edna, or if you empty it every day and diligently file away actionable email to a "TO-DO" folder - it's still not easy to track the messages you've actually got to DO something about using email.

Let's face it: email is not a task manager. One of the biggest leaps I made towards keeping on top of all my pending to-do's was making a clean, mindful break between email and tasks.

Why email isn't a good task manager

Yes, most email programs have flags and stars and labels and color-coding and folders, but email was built for messaging, not task management. Now, lots of lifehackers have decided to make email their one-stop shop for everything and have come up with systems using those stars and labels and folders and flags to do so. Them I salute. As for the rest of us? Email isn't good for to-do's.

For example, you receive an email from a friend and the subject line is "hi." The two of you go back and forth a dozen times, then decide to make plans for dinner, and suddenly it's up to you to make reservations at Rosarita's House of Tacos on July 14th at 7PM. Stick that into your "TO-DO" folder, and you've got a task that reads: "Re: re: re: re: re: re: hi." That doesn't tell you much, does it?

There's a better way.

How you process email

You've probably already got a system (or lack thereof) for dealing with email. That subject is beyond the scope of this article, but for a rundown on my system, check out my feature on emptying your inbox with the Trusted Trio of folders: ACTION, ARCHIVE and HOLD. The ACTION folder contains messages that you've got to do something about, something that takes more than a couple minutes to complete. Essentially, it's a folder full of to-do's.

After a year of following this system religiously and reveling in an empty inbox on a regular basis, the big gotcha revealed itself. The problem with filing task email away in an ACTION folder is that the messages are out of sight - and for most, that means out of mind. It's mortifying to open your ACTION folder to find it's full of messages you needed to do something about that have been ignored for months.

Now, don't get me wrong. As I said back in 2006, the key to using the ACTION folder is reviewing it regularly. But that's a habit productive people more evolved than I have developed. I just don't open up that ACTION folder often, if ever. I pay attention to my regular to-do list while that folder full of email messages that need something done about them gathers dust.

You should only have ONE to-do list

David Allen's productivity system, Getting Things Done, recommends ~~keeping only one inbox~~ minimizing the buckets you use to collect all the "stuff" that comes into your life every day. This same principle applies to to-do lists. Multiples confuse and fragment. Two lists of tasks - an email ACTION folder and a regular to-do list - is the sure road to dropping the ball on something.

So from here on in, when you get a to-do via email, you will add the task to your to-do list, which is separate from your email client. When you do this, word the task to be as specific and doable as possible - like "Make reservation at Rosarita's House of Tacos for July 14th at 7PM." For more on how to assign yourself actionable to-do's, see last week's feature, the art of the doable to-do list.

I can already hear the cries of protest rising up from computer screens all over the globe. "Life hacking is about being more efficient, and this adds a whole extra step!! What do you mean, MANUALLY move information from email to my to-do list? That's more work!"

Here's the thing:

The extra step makes you think

Last week I discussed how a good to-do list removes all the thinking from the action. The extra step of moving your task from email to to-do list helps you do this, with a built-in review and thought process. It forces you to articulate what has to be done (make dinner reservations) instead of making your self re-open that "Re: re: re: re: hi" message and re-read everything to remember that, oh yeah, you're supposed to make reservations for dinner.

The extra step also reinforces the "One Minute Rule." In short, while you process your email messages, if something will take you more than a minute to complete, you'll add it to your to-do list. Otherwise, you should just do it. Now that you've got to transfer the task from email to to-do list, you're more likely to just do any tasks or write any quick replies that will take less time than the transfer, because what's the sense in going through all that and cluttering up your list with something you can knock out right now?

Separating out your email tasks also gives you all the nice benefits of a good to-do list: the ability to prioritize, sort and search your tasks. The bosses' request for the PowerPoint file update on Tuesday is more important than the office pool picks (or maybe vice versa), and your task manager will be better at letting you see that than the ACTION folder.

Rename the ACTION folder to FOLLOWUP

So what do you do with those email requests if you don't put them in ACTION? All of those messages should get a reply when the task has been completed, so rename your ACTION folder FOLLOWUP. When you move your task from email to your to-do list, make a note in the task to dash off a reply when the task is complete. So your task might look like "Make reservations at Rosarita's for July 14th at 7PM (followup)." That "followup" notation tells yourself to grab the email out of your FOLLOWUP folder and dash off a reply to the person the request came from once you've made those dinner reservations.

While regularly reviewing your to-do lists is still a habit that takes practice to develop, it's a lot easier when the to-do list is the ONE place you've got to look for aging tasks that need action, instead of pawing through old email figuring out what needs what done.

How do you deal with the constant stream of email requests every day? Let us know in the comments.

Gina Trapani, the editor of Lifehacker, firmly believes in the separation of messages and tasks. Her weekly feature, Geek to Live, appears every Wednesday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Geek to Live feed to get new installments in your newsreader.

[via] Lifehacker

Launch:

Picasa Web Albums integrates geotagged photos with Google Maps and launches a mobile browsing interface. Our question: are any of you using Picasa Web Albums? [via Official Google Blog]

[via] Lifehacker

Gmail Tips: Expand filter input, get serious about your filters

Blogger and Google Reader developer Mihai Parparita details how to expand Gmail's one-line "Has the words" input field to a full textarea so that you can more easily build complex and powerful Gmail filters. His method requires editing Firefox's userContent.css file and adding the following:

@-moz-document domain(mail.google.com) {
input[name="cf1_has"] {
display: none;
-moz-binding: url(http://persistent.info/files/gmail-filter.xml#filter);
}
}

Not sure how to do that? Get the details after the jump.

Firefox's userContent.css file allows you to change and customize display rules for web pages. If you haven't created the file, it may not already exist, so you'll need to create it yourself. To do so, you need to open your profile folder. Windows users, hit Start -> Run and type %appdata%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles and head into your current profile (if you have only one that ends with default, that's the folder). Mac users can find it at ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox.

Now that you're in the profile folder, go to the folder called chrome. Rename the userContent-example.css file to userContent.css, open it in your favorite text editor, and paste the code above. The larger textarea does bork the Gmail interface a bit when you're click the Create a filter link, but it's a completely acceptable tradeoff; creating complex filters in Gmail just got a helluva lot more readable.

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Firefox Extension: Enhance inline search with Search Marker

Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): The Search Marker Firefox extension places tick marks along your Firefox scrollbar to indicating the location of all matches for an inline Firefox search.

Using it is easy. Just search a web page using Ctrl-F or the backslash and watch as Search Marker marks off all the matches. Move the scrollbar to the location of one of the ticks and you should find a match. This extension may not be for everybody, but if you do a lot of inline searches, especially of long documents, it's really handy. Search Marker is free to download, works wherever Firefox does.

[via] Lifehacker

How To: Prevent noisy camera videos with a band-aid

Web site PopPhoto has a simple hack for avoiding the ubiquitous windy-audio compact camera video: just use a band-aid.

I made a windscreen for my compact's microphone from the gauze-like padding of an adhesive bandage. Taped over the mic's tiny port, the "screen" does an admirable job of muffling, even eliminating, the sound of wind from my videos.

This isn't rocket science, but it's a smart idea that should help improve the listenability of those outdoor, in-camera video tremendously.

[via] Lifehacker

Mac Tip: Quickly restart any program

For various reasons, blogger Paul Stamatiou needs to regularly restart Firefox on his Mac. In order to streamline the process, he's created a shell script to be run by Automator via Finder's right/Control-click context menu.

That may sound heady, but the step-by-step is easy to follow. Once you've set it up, just right-click your desktop, go to Automator and then Restart Firefox. There's actually already a pretty good Restart Firefox extension, but the good thing about Paul's method is that it could be tweaked to work with any application, giving you quick access to restart your troubled apps whenever you want—like Quicksilver, for example.

[via] Lifehacker

DIY: Convert your unused laptop to a second monitor

DIY web site Instructables has a very intense but very cool tutorial for converting a laptop into a second monitor.

This is a "roll up your sleeves and hope you don't screw it up" project, but it's also a great way to repurpose an unused laptop for a cheap second LCD monitor. For a non-DIY approach, you can use a software like MaxiVista to transform a second laptop without the hardware tweaking, but the Instructable will take the repurposing to the limit. On the other hand, if you're just looking to share a mouse and keyboard, check out previously mentioned Synergy.

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Download: Get the feel of Photoshop in GIMP with GIMPshop

Windows/Linux/Mac: Open-source app GIMPshop is a modified version of GIMP designed to give the feel of Photoshop.

GIMPshop modifies the menu structure to closely match Photoshop's, adjusts the program's terminology to match Adobe's, and, in the Windows version, uses a plugin called 'Deweirdifier' to combine the application's numerous windows in a similar manner to the MDI system used by most Windows graphics packages.

As any Photoshopper will attest, GIMP is generally not as easy to work with as Photoshop out of the box. The premise behind GIMPshop is that Photoshop users will be able to dive right into GIMP while facing only a minimal learning curve. GIMPshop is a free download for Windows, Linux, and Mac.

[via] Lifehacker

How To: Avoid getting ripped off by a mechanic

VideoJug put together a nice tutorial that debunks five common car maintenance myths. While the rule of thumb should always be read the frackin' manual first, you can snag a couple of quality car care tips from the video that can save you money. On the other hand, if you're not an auto expert and you don't feel like becoming one, it might be best to find an honest mechanic.

[via] Lifehacker

Map your photos with Google's latest feature in Picasa Web Albums

No more forgetting where you took that picture on your vacation, Google has now made it possible for users to pinpoint the exact places they took their photos by mapping photos.

A new feature called "Map My Photos" was released on Tuesday in Picasa Web Albums, lets users show exactly where on a map pictures were taken. When creating an album, fill out the Place Taken field, or drag and drop individual photos straight onto a map. It's that simple.

You can then share these maps with friends either through Picasa Web Albums or through Google Earth (by clicking on the "View in Google Earth" button on the top right). Google has set up a test gallery you can take a peek at.

[via] Download Squad

Google updates Docs & Spreadsheets

Is it too much to ask for a day without Google related news? The company's always buying another startup, redesigning its search page, or launching a new service, and frankly we'd be getting sick of it if we didn't find so many of these services so useful.

The latest update is an overhaul of Google Docs & Spreadsheets. The online office suite has undergone a major redesign, with a much more polished look and feel, including new icons and an easier at-a-glance view of all documents you've worked on in the last day, week, month, and year.

Probably the biggest change is that labels have been replaced with folders. All your old tags have been automatically converted to folders, and you can place documents in multiple folders So what's the difference between a label and a folder? Basically the fact that you can drag and drop your files into folders.

The Google Docs & Spreadsheets search feature has also been updated so that it now shows matching results as you type.

[via] Download Squad

Take your pictures wherever you go with Google's Picasa Web for Mobile

Showing off pictures on your mobile device just got a whole lot easier with Picasa Web Albums, and care of the innovative team at Google.

Google has just announced that they have launched the first version of Picasa Web Albums for mobile devices. When in the mobile Picasa, photo albums are tiled across your screen, clicking on them expands into the set, broken down into chunks of 12 (auto resized to your screen - 12 were shown on a Blackberry) that can then be expanded and saved to your device. You can also keep track of your friend's photos by selecting "My Favorites" from the home screen. You can also post a comment on their photos

The website can be accessed on your mobile device through a web browser by visiting http://photos.google.com and entering in your credentials.

For more information you can check out http://www.google.com/mobile/photos/ (down at time of posting)

[via] Download Squad

HassleMe sends you annoying emails

Sure, your inbox is already filled with annoying emails asking if you'd like certain parts of your anatomy to be larger. But if you're like most Download Squad readers (and writers, for that matter), you probably spend a fair bit of your day sitting in front of your computer with your email application of choice open in one window.

And so sometimes a quick email can be more effective on the short attention span set than a post-it note or even an Outlook reminder. That's where HassleMe comes in.

All you have to do is enter a note to self, your email address, and how often you'd like to be hassled. HassleMe will then send you a reminder at regular intervals.

And when we say intervals, we mean days. The website has a no-frills layout, and the service is pretty no-frills as well. Right now, you can't sign up for hourly or twice a day reminders -- although that feature is coming, along with hassles via instant messenger. But if you need to remember to wash the car, take out the trash, or pick up the kids from school on a regular basis, HassleMe might help jog your memory.

Our favorite feature is the list of popular hassles on the main page, including "Call your mother roughly every 7 days," and "go for a walk in the park roughly every 10 days," you know, just to see if they're both still there.

[via AppScout]

[via] Download Squad

Flickr photos now in Yahoo search

So now that Yahoo owns Flickr why not integrate all these crazy, top notch, up to the second, newsworthy photos into Yahoo's image search? It only makes sense.

We wrote about this happening, and it's taken quite a while to do, but Yahoo has finally included Flickr photos in its queried search results. When images are uploaded to Flickr accounts worldwide and tagged, Yahoo gains access to these additions via a live feed from the Flickr service. When users then search in Yahoo, Flickr images will be marked with a Flickr account name. Searchers can then choose to view and search all photos by that particular user.

So as long as images are tagged correctly, they should start showing up in searches on Yahoo's Image Search.

[via] Download Squad

Navigate Wikipedia faster with keyboard shortcuts

Getting around Wikipedia could take shorter than you have been previously use to. For instance, do you know about the keyboard shortcuts?

Keyboard shortcuts aren't a well known feature for users of the popular online encyclopedia, but they do exist. I recently came across a post by Steve Rubel reminding me of this fact.

These keyboard shortcuts work with any browser, and on both PC and Mac platforms, and don't need to install any special Greasemonkey script, and will surely speed up your time when searching for useful content.

Depending on which browser you are in you will have to use hold down this combination of keys, then hit your access key:

Mozilla Firefox 1.5: hold Alt, press access key
Mozilla Firefox 2: hold Alt-Shift, press access key
Internet Explorer: hold Alt, press access key, and then press Enter
Opera: press Shift-Esc, then press access key
Mac OS: Control and a key

Check out a cheat sheet for the key shortcuts after the jump:

Continue reading Navigate Wikipedia faster with keyboard shortcuts

Permalink | Email this | Comments

[via] Download Squad

Skype is shacking up with Toshiba

Skype announced a deal that will see their internet calling software loaded as standard applications on select Toshiba notebooks.

The software will be loaded onto four model lines of Toshiba computers that have built in webcams (Satellite X205, Tecra M8, Qosmio F45, and the Satellite A215 series), and will display a Skype logo on the case. Its always nail grinding, especially for techies, when we come to realize that applications we do not want have been loaded onto our new computers. However, Skype seems to be the exception here. Most of us use it, and most of us want our other friends to adapt to using it as well. Correct us if we're wrong, but this move will see people who have never heard about VoIP to be engaged by both the combination of the web cam in their new laptop, and the software that works with it.

With a major computer manufacturer introducing a leading edge VoIP software provider to potentially a whole new audience, could we finally see a drastic reduction in home and mobile rates?

[via] Download Squad

Easily tracking invoices with Invotrak

If you're a small business looking for an easy way to store and manage invoices online, Invotrak could be the solution you are after. This simple online solution lets users input, track and issue invoices to clients. Its simple and straightforward navigational structures and tracking features make this an effective way to track past due invoices, and incoming revenue without using complicated software.

There aren't many steps involved in setting up a profile and getting up and running:

Create a login
Add client information - client name, contact name, address, email, and notes.
Record invoice - select client from dropdown, set date, amount, term, and upload an invoice from your standard application like word or excel.
Enter any invoice comments
Email to client

Through the user interface, companies can then track what invoices are out and waiting to receive payment on. When payment comes in, a simple click drops the payments to the received category, and adjusts balances in the right column.

The service was created by Draconis Software using Ruby on Rails to manage and keep track of their own invoices. Draconis says that they make every precaution to ensure information that is stored under your profile is secure. That's always great to know, but what happens if something goes wrong? Or, knock on wood worse case scenario, Draconis goes out of business? What happens to our information then? That's the main concern I always have when storing my data online. You can't get much simpler than Invotrak though, however, we would like to see a way to export information to a spreadsheet application for desktop storage purposes.

Mac users, check out the Dashboard widget so you can easily catch a glimpse of your invoices.

For another simple invoice option look at Freshbooks.

The Invotrak service is free, and super easy to use. Check out some screenshots of the interface.

Gallery: invotrak

[via] Download Squad

Microsoft introduces Live Folders and Live Photo Gallery

Microsoft has been steadily rolling out new "Live" items since its introduction, there were two that got released late last night, with more planned to come out this summer.

Live Folders has been showing its face since around May, and are finally ready for some outside testing. The "storage on a cloud" Live Drive service, as it was coined earlier, will provide users with a free 500mb of online storage. (cough, cough...um... is that enough for the average user nowadays?) The storage was built for document storage only, so Microsoft isn't betting on the fact that people will be stuffing their spaces with multimedia materials like videos and music.

The Live Photo Gallery replaces the standard Vista Photo Gallery when installed. This allows users to control, manage, burn a picture or movie or create photo stitches, where photos are seamlessly stitched together to make a panoramic photo, relatively easy. It's an upgrade to the Windows Photo Gallery that comes standard with any Vista install. The main benefit to this application seems to be the ease of use for uploading images to Live Spaces, and videos to Soapbox.

More Windows Live services are said to roll out throughout the summer, as well as a Windows Live Suite that will include all of the Live services in one clean install.

Limited managed betas of the service will begin rolling out as of today with 5000 to 10000 testers, so look out for them if you're interested.

More coverage on this new release can be found here, here and here.

Take a look at some screenshots of the Live Folders interface:

Gallery: Windows Live Drive and Gallery

[via] Download Squad

Adobe Lightroom 1.1 in the dark, no wait, its online again

It was online, then it was offline, now its back up. Will Adobe Photoshop Lightroom ever see the light of day? Ok, it will, with a ton of cool new features.

Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 was made available online, then quickly removed on Monday, not to be seen again until today. The new version of Adobe's professional photography toolbox, provides a way to easy manage, adjust and present large volumes of digital photographs. It was designed for professional photographers and offers and uncluttered space to get things done a lot quicker than with any other application on the market, including regular Photoshop.

The new version of the application that was released has a way to create and open catalogs, remembering and tracking the location of files. Synchronizing folders has now been made possible with the application checking catalogs and removing files that have been deleted, while scanning metadata for updates. DNG support has been enhanced, and now supports a full set of conversion options, with JPEG preview sizes set to a preset size. The metadata panel includes new options for large captions and location information, as well as spaces for emails and URL's. Hierarchical folders are now in place, so additional folders can be created with parent-child relationships. Labels, flags, ratings, develop settings, metadata and rotation settings can now all be applied to photos as well.

This new Lightroom seems like a photographers dream. Less time on the computer, and more time out in the field! There is a 30 day trial on Lightroom 1.1 application, with a regular cost of $299 for the full version for Mac or PC.

Check out some screenshots of Adobe Lightroom in action:

Gallery: Adobe Lightroom 1.1

[via] Download Squad

MySpace targets YouTube with MySpace TV

The New York Times reports that MySpace will launch a new video site tomorrow. Unlike MySpace's current video site, MySpace TV will be a standalone site allowing users to upload and share videos without a MySpace account.

While MySpace is going head to head with YouTube in the user generated video space, the Fox News Corp-owned company is putting an emphasis on professional video. You can already watch Fox television programs through MySpace, and the site recently launched its "Minisode Network" with Sony, showcasing classic TV shows like Silver Spoons, Who's the Boss, and V.I.P. No, seriously.

MySpace plans to roll out an online video editing application later this year to compete with a similar service offered by YouTube.

[via] Download Squad

Earthmine takes on Google Street View

CNet's WebWare has the scoop on a new company that's about to make Google Maps look like Mapquest. Yeah, I know, low blow.

Basically, Earthmine is working on an online mapping service that will provide street level views much more detailed than those available with Google Street View. The images are gathered using laser range-finding and still cameras. Google on the other hand, is taking its imagery from video cameras.

As you can see in the screenshot above, Earthmine will also enable the addition of tags and labels to imagery.

While Earthmine does plan to launch a consumer oriented portal, the company is looking to sell its services to businesses and government agencies.

[via] Download Squad

Watch commercials and get free stuff with AdPerk

Tired of being bombarded with advertisements and commercials every time you turn on the TV or open a web browser? That's the price you pay for "free content."

But AdPerk wants to offer you something a bit more direct. The startup has partnered with advertisers to provide you free goods, like magazine subscriptions, in exchange for your time. Right now, AdPerk is running a deal with Dwell Magazine, which has convinced several of the advertisers from its print publication to participate.

When you visit AdPerk's site, you can choose from a list of videos to watch. For each 30 second video, you'll get 1 credit. A 90 second video will get you 3 credits. You get the idea. 10 credits gets you 5 issues of Dwell Magazine. The company plans to offer a similar promotion next month with Popular Science.

The idea is that the magazines can expand their readership with the free issues, and advertisers can get active viewers. In order to redeem your credit, you need to watch a complete video and enter a code that pops up at the end. You can't walk away from your computer while the commercial plays in the background, because you only have about 30 seconds to enter the code after the video stops.

Given the fact that it's not that hard to get free magazine subscriptions these days (it seems like you can pick them up by opening a bank account, making a pledge to your local public radio station, or just crossing the street), AdPerk might need to get some more compelling gifts in order to convince people to treat ads the same way they do dramatic videos of prairie dogs.

[via 9:01AM]

[via] Download Squad

Featured Greasemonkey User Script: Get multi-column news with Multi-column articles

Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Multi-column articles Greasemonkey user script creates a New York Times Reader-style multi-column interface for several popular news sites.

If you don't like scrolling through long pages of text, but prefer the look and feel of the columned newspaper article, this script is for you. Currently the script supports sites like the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, New Yorker, Boston Globe, and several more. According to the author, adding support for more sites is fairly straightforward, which is promising if you've got a favorite news source you'd like supported.

[via] Lifehacker

Launch:

Google News gets a new graphical view with an animated interface for browsing your news by images; hovering over an image displays the lead for the related piece. [via Google Operating System.

[via] Lifehacker

Quit Holding It: Find the closest place to go on the go with MizPee

Web site MizPee finds the closest and cleanest bathroom by location from the ease of your mobile phone.

Just point your mobile browser to mizpee.com, click on Find toilet, then enter in your location. MizPee will give you a list of nearby toilets, distance to that toilet, and whether or not a purchase is required to use it. MizPee is (strangely) mobile browser only, currently supported in Portland, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Washington DC, Atlanta, Oakland, and San Jose. Legs crossed it supports more cities soon. If your city isn't supported, you might want to give The Bathroom Diaries a try.

[via] Lifehacker

Security: The Windows File Shredder, right-click edition

shred%20batch%20file.png

As a follow-up to the secure Windows file deletion post highlighting the Windows file Shredder, reader Michael Wilson has put together a registry hack to add the File Shredder to his right-click menu.

To accomplish this, Michael put together a REG file to add the File shredder with the text, "Get yo shred on." To create the REG file, just open your favorite text editor, copy and paste the text below into the file and save it with a .reg file extension.

To help me get my shred on quicker, I created a REG file to add a line to the top level of the right click context menu.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Get Yo Shred On]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Get Yo Shred On\command]
@="C:\Windows\System32\sdelete.exe -p 4 -s "%1""

There are also a few other caveats to be aware of:
This assumes sDelete.exe is saved in C:\Windows\System32.
This has only been tested on my Vista Ultimate box.
You can still only shred one file at the time (I like it that way).
There is no warning prompt or abort capability; when you turn it loose, you can't stop it.

If you've been using the Windows File Shredder for secure deletion since we first posted it, this tweak is a handy one. If you don't want to go through the hassle of all this manual tweaking, check out previously mentioned Eraser.

[via] Lifehacker

There Will Be Silence:

If you thought your favorite internet radio station was on the fritz today, it's probably not; many internet radio stations are participating in a day of silence in protest of a royalty rate increase that could put several streaming stations in the poor house.

[via] Lifehacker

Time Savers: CallWave replaces your voicemail, transcribes what's important

Previously mentioned voicemail application CallWave has added a new feature boasting voicemail-to-text transcription.

We've seen different voice-to-text transcription services before, like Jott and the for-a-price SimulScribe, but the interesting part about CallWave's new feature is that CallWave's voicemail transcription boasts that transcriptions are not verbatim. Instead, the feature (called Vtxt) trims out the fat to give you the gist of the message. The text is then sent as a text message or an email so you can get to the point quickly without dealing with the extraneous details (unless of course you need to, in which case you can still access the original voicemail).

During its beta period, the Vtxt transcription feature is free; there's no indication of what the pricing will be after the beta ends. Ever since Apple started touting the innovations of the iPhone's visual voicemail, we've been seeing all kinds of innovation in the voicemail sphere, much to the satisfaction of people who aren't interested in dropping $500+ on their cell phone. Between CallWave and GrandCentral (rumored to have been purchased by Google), you've got a lot of options for enhancing your voicemail.

If you've been using one of these services, let us know how it's worked out for you in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Cell Phones: Keep your number when changing service providers

The FCC clarifies what you can expect when switching service providers.

Telephone companies are allowed to charge a fee to recover their number porting costs. Companies may or may not choose to charge a fee, and their fees may vary. If they do charge specific fees, the fees cannot exceed their porting costs. Local telephone companies that assess the fee generally charge a fixed monthly fee and may do so for up to five years.

Besides clearing up some common questions, the guide gives you the skinny on exactly how to go about switching service providers without losing your phone number. What was your experience when changing service providers? Were you able to successfully keep your phone number? Hit up the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Windows Download: Vista Start Menu for XP with ViStart

Windows XP only: Freeware app ViStart brings the functionality of the Windows Vista Start Menu to Windows XP.

ViStart not only offers the Vista style eye-candy and transparency for XP, but also the highly regarded quick search function of Vista. ViStart was designed to be included in the Vista Transformation Pack, however you can grab a stand alone version if you would prefer not to install the entire pack. ViStart is lightweight, skinable, and another great feature of Windows Vista brought to XP. ViStart is a free download for Windows XP only.

[via] Lifehacker

Shameless Bragging:

PC World includes us on their list of "100 Blogs We Love."

[via] Lifehacker

Weight Loss: Pick and follow a fitness plan with Diet Television

Web site Diet Television caters a diet and exercise plan to your needs and wants as a seeker of better health and fitness.

Diet Television helps you pound out the perfect diet and exercise routine by making you answer questions via a series of visual sliders. For example, when browsing diets, you tell Diet Television what foods you want to eat on your diet, and how frequently you want to eat them. On the exercise page, you detail your goals and what exercises you're interested in, and Diet Television tells you how much time and effort you'll need to reach your fitness goal. I've always been a fan of the barebones burn-off-more-than-you-take-in diet plan, but if you need a little more specificity and variety to your fitness plan, Diet Television offers an interesting take.

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Windows Download: VPN and chat with Wippien

Windows only: Freeware app Wippien wraps VPN and instant messaging together into one chat client.

Wippien is a full featured instant messaging client that supports most major chat protocols, including AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, GTalk, Jabber, and ICQ. What makes Wippien so powerful is that it also has VPN baked right in and can be used to manipulate your online buddies' network shares, printers, desktop, and more. Wippien has all the features of a a traditional VPN client/server combination, using an encrypted connection with your buddies making an easy and safe to exchange files. You can try out an online flash tutorial of Wippien to get the hang of out it works. Wippien is a free download for Windows only.

[via] Lifehacker

Bloxorz - Today's Time Waster

Bloxorz Bloxorz is a game with a silly name, but great gameplay. While there are millions of puzzle games out there, few come close to matching the fun and challenge of Tetris. Though Bloxorz does.

Now, to be perfectly clear, Bloxorz is not a Tetris clone. In fact, the gameplay in Bloxorz couldn't be more different. The Tetris comparision is simply to point out that we think the game is that good, especially as a little web-based timewaster.

The hero of Bloxorz is, well, a rectangular block. Your job is to move the block by flipping it sideways or end-over-end through the maze of square tiles and arrange things so that your last flip slides your block through a single square hole. At first the game is a bit frustrating, but the learning curve is shallow and within 5 minutes you'll probably find yourself a few levels in, and having fun.

[via] Download Squad

AOL launches new blog-like news site

AOL has relaunched AOL News. And it looks like Download Squad's parent company has taken a cue from blogs.

The new design lays out news in an blog-like fashion, with excerpts of all the day's main stories laid out chronologically from top to bottom.

Breaking news from wire services shows up in a box on the right column. Popular stories, comments, and a blog tag are on the left column. Each story also has Reddit-like thumbs up and down buttons, letting readers vote on stories. Presumably the top ranked articles wind up in the popular stories box.

AOL's sports page will unveil a new design with a similar look later this week.

This raise an interesting question though. The simple layout of most blogs works because blogs are dedicated to a relatively small number of topics, such as software (Download Squad) or gadgets (Engadget). Does it make sense to present mainstream news on hundreds of diverse topics in this fashion?

[via] Download Squad

Internet radio Day of Silence in action

As we reported previously, today is the day that hundreds, if not thousands, of online radio stations are going silent, broadcasting static, or PSAs and other messages to their listeners to bring attention to the impending royalty rate hike from the Copyright Royalty Board.

Across the net you can see signs of the protest in action. Yahoo! Music's radio station guide is featuring links to SaveNetRadio.org at the top of its list. SomaFM, a popular indie radio station broadcasting from San Francisco is playing intermittent PSAs against the background of the BART. Rhapsody has a large banner across their front page showing a woman with duct tape across her mouth, with a zipper drawn on it. ShoutCast has information posted where its normally lengthy radio station guide sits, issuing a call to action.

If you care about online radio, and want the luxury to be able to turn it on a year, two years or even five years from now, then act today and contact your Senators and State Representatives. Don't sit idly by and let net radio become a victim of senseless royalty rates, while terrestrial FM & AM stations continue to play the same boring material over and over, without having to pay the same exorbitant royalties. Post links to other net radio stations participating in today's protest in the comments.

Update: KCRW Santa Cruz is joining the protest today by interrupting all programming to discuss the upcoming royalty rate hike with Mike Riksen of NPR, Kurt Hanson of AccuRadio, Tim Westergren of Pandora, Caryn Mathes of American University Radio, Ian Rogers of Yahoo! Music, Ted Leibowitz of BAGeL Radio and Johnny Floater of Live365.com. Check their site for more info. (Thanks Brad!)

[via] Download Squad

Google News launches Images Version

Google has rolled out a new "Images Version" view or Google News. There are buttons on the left side of the page for "Standard Version," "Text Version," and "Images Version." Click on images, and you'll see photos from the day's top stories. If you conduct a search, you'll get images for the top search results.

When you scroll your mouse over each image, a synopsis of the story will appear on the right. You can click either the synopsis or the image to go to the source. But a video's worth a thousand descriptive words, so why don't you just take a look for yourself?

[via Google Operating System]

[via] Download Squad

KoolWIRE: Yet another way to convert docs to PDF

Need to convert a document or picture to a PDF and don't have time to download and install software? Just send an email to pdf@koolwire.com and include your file as an attachment. In a few moments, you'll get an email response from KoolWIRE with a new attachment containing your file in PDF format.

The service is free, and KoolWire can convert Word (.doc), Powerpoint (.ppt), Excel (.xls), Jpeg, GIF, Rich Text Format (.rtf), and text (.txt) files to PDF. It does a pretty good job with files that don't make heavy use of graphics. But when we took a quick screenshot of Download Squad, added it to a Word Document and uploaded it, the result came back a bit truncated.

You can do the same thing by uploading files to free file conversion service Zamzar, or for some documents, you can use the free Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Still, it's nice to have options.

[via Digital Inspiration]

[via] Download Squad

Dell launches DataSafe online backup

Dell is launching a new online backup service for customers who purchase new computers from the company.

The news came out at about the same time as Dell announced it would be discontinuing its Dimension line of desktops. It looks like purchasing an Inspiron notebook or desktop will get you 3GB of online storage space for free, while picking up an XPS series PC will get you 10GB.

3GB or 10GB won't let you back up your entire music collection, but it will let you save your most important documents like the family photos and your tax information.

Considering there are plenty of other services out there that provide several gigs of backup space for free, Dell's announcement isn't exactly earth-shattering. But it is nice to see a hardware distributor offering a backup solution. Hopefully others will follow suit and your average computer user who never even thought about the advantages of off-site storage will begin to protect their data.

[via Engadget]

[via] Download Squad

Helperoo launches a simple and affordable email support system

Helperoo is a free email support system made especially for small no nonsense businesses that has just launched today. No extra features, no confusing interface, and forget about that 500 page manual needed to get started; everything a small business needs for email support is here.

Helperoo was started as a way for companies to handle simple email support without sifting through other feature rich applications that take time to learn. They stripped out all of the features that would never normally get used by smaller companies and built their simple core system. The Helperoo support system does not require any special installations or maintenance, and they look after everything by storing all information on top grade web servers. Helperoo claims that your data will be secure by using leading encryption and backup services. The system works by accepting your forwarded standard company support emails, which are then protected by industry leading spam and virus protection, to your account on Helperoo. From your Helperoo account you can then reply to, forward, close, open, hold, or create new support issues. No dedicated applications necessary, to use the support system application all you need is a browser, so you can stay in touch with issues wherever you may be.

There are two plans offered. A free 200 email per month plan that is ad supported, and a pro unlimited email plan for $12 per month.

And Yes, this is a Canadian web application.

Check out some Helperoo interface screenshots.

Gallery: helperoo

[via] Download Squad

Canadian web applications looking strong

The following is about Canada. And Canadian web applications. Now it's understood that there are some people who, due to preconceived notions, automatically zone out when they hear "Canadian Technology." Sure they may be ignorant, and they may be the minority, but they're still people. So, as a service to them, at various points through this post, some unintelligent, stereotypical anti-Canadian jokes will be displayed in brackets. This way everyone can enjoy this post. For example: Statistics show that on average, Canadians use the internet more hours per month than anyone else in the world (Of course they're online longer, it takes forever to send packets via dogsled!). 70% of Canadian households have internet access (but how many have running water?) and broadband penetration is around 67%. With all that bandwidth someone had to be doing something productive (like watching hours of curling highlights and maple syrup tapping festivals?).

This article compiles a pretty good list of the top Canadian web applications, most of which you've never heard of yet (lumberjack dating sites), but might in the future. Most of the apps have gained users worldwide, and at least one has one a Webby this year. It's hard to say if any of them will really take off, like Vancouver born Flickr, or if they'll fizzle out, but they're at least worth checking out. They run the gamut from helpful travel tips to the largest user-written news site in the world to a just-for-kids virtual world called Club Penguin (what, ran out of seals to club?). Maybe you'll never come to Canada, but you can at least check out what it's all about (aboot) online.

[via] Download Squad

MacGyver Tip: Unlock your vehicle with a tennis ball

Lock your keys in the car? Apparently you can retrieve them with a tennis ball. The trick involves drilling or burning a hole in the tennis ball and then using muscle to force enough air pressure into the door to pop the lock. This sure beats messing around with a coat hanger and it gives you a second reason to keep that old tennis ball on your antenna! Thanks, Joe!

[via] Lifehacker

Get A Job: Upgrade your career at Lifehacker Jobs

This week at Lifehacker Jobs:

Web Developer - Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, DC
Analyst - Confidential, Cleveland, OH
Web Developer - Mindpower Inc., Atlanta, GA
Lead Flash Developer - Real Pie Media, Beverly Hills, CA
Web Project Manager - Business Financial Publishing, Washington, DC
Network and Systems Engineer - Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, DC
...and more

List your job opening for a mere $25. Submit yours today, and we'll put it on the Gizmodo Job Board, too!

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Download: Get Safari fullscreen photos with PicLens

Windows and Mac running Safari: The PicLens plugin for the Safari web browser flips through sets of photos full-screen.

With PicLens installed in Safari, mouse over a photo in Flickr, from a Google or Yahoo Images search, in Facebook or a Picasa Web Album. A "play" button will appear on the photo itself. When you hit it, PicLens will send you into full-screen mode, where you can flip through pictures or simply go on auto-play to see all the photos in the stream. It's a nice alternative to manually clicking on each thumbnail and loading it one by one instead. PicLens is a free download for Safari on the Mac AND Windows. Thanks, Dave!

[via] Lifehacker

Clutter: 7 ways to get and stay organized

Blogger Leo Babuata says his life used to be a mess - until he practiced 7 personal organization habits to perfection. Every one of these tips is helpful, if not revelatory. The one that's made the biggest difference for me personally:

Have a place for each item in your life. Where do your car keys go? You should have one place for them (next to the door is best) and you'll never lose them again. Where do your pens go? How about your magazines? I teach my kids to find a "home" for every toy or other item in their rooms.

Having a home for all your stuff - whether it's information or physical stuff - makes it dead easy to put it away when it's in your way, without thinking. Check out the full post for more organization tips. Photo by Daniel Dainty.

[via] Lifehacker

How To: Transfer video to your iPod on Linux

Linux users: The Ubuntu Guide describes how to encode video for your iPod using a set of command line tools.

The guide is all-encompassing and covers transferring and syncing video and DVDs to your iPod. Most of the heavy lifting must be done in the terminal, however, the commands are simple enough that even a beginner should have no problem. Although the guide is housed on the Ubuntu Forums, it is not distro specific and you'll be able to follow the tutorial with any flavor of Linux.

[via] Lifehacker

How To: Use built-in keyboard launchers

The How-To Geek rounds up how to launch applications using only the keyboard in Windows Vista, Mac OS X and Linux.

Our preferred keyboard launchers are Quicksilver for Mac and Launchy for Windows, but keyboard beginners and those who don't want to install another utility can use Vista's Search box, Mac's Spotlight and Gnome's deskbar to get the job done. Windows XP users, you do need a third party application launcher for truly easy keyboard power, though you can set up custom keywords with a little effort.

[via] Lifehacker

Soundpedia: who needs Pandora

Well, I hope you can sleep at night Pandora. Walking out on us like that. And for what? Just because we don't live in the US? Fine. Yeah, we'll admit, it hurt a bit. Ok, a lot. But you know what? We've moved on. That's right. We found someone else. Ok, so she's not as pretty and as made up as you are, and maybe she doesn't sound as nice, but she's beautiful in her own way. And she's from Singapore. That's right, she's exotic. Jealous? Of course you are. You'll think twice before walking out on us again. Don't bother coming back for your stuff, we through it out.

Ok, so that stopped making sense a few sentences ago, apologies. The point is, there is a pretty decent Pandora-esque type program called Soundpedia that might be the best thing to come out of Singapore since this hilarious picture of a monkey. Ok, so the monkey might still be better, but Soundpedia isn't without it's charm. It's not as slick as Pandora, and the sound quality leaves a bit to be desired, but it has an excellent library and allows you to create your own playlists on top of suggesting music to you. It's easy enough (albeit a little clunky) to use, and works well enough that it might become your new default music player. Unless of course you live in the US and can still use Pandora. In which case, all we ask is that you treat her well, she was special. Now, back to looking at that monkey.

[via] Download Squad

Gotta go? Let MizPee lead you to a clean location

When you gotta go, you gotta go! But how do you know where the best places to go are? MizPee does!

This is a website unlike no other we've come across. It helps users connect to the closest, cleanest toilet, and then gives you some reading material when you get there. How does it work? Its all mobile based. Users simple send a test message with your city and state location to a phone number. Alternatively, users can visit www.mizpee.com with a mobile browser, and click on find toilet by inputing a location and clicking to find a list of results rated by a system of toilet paper rolls. One roll meaning yuck, and five meaning very clean. MizPee will also state whether the establishment prefers if you're a paying customer or not, has wheelchair access, and if it has a diaper changing station. Scroll through the results to find the best location and factor for you.

A big improvement could be made if this service worked off of GPS coordinates, especially for the sake of travelers. That way it could pinpoint exactly where the user was, and direct them to the best location via a live map. Nonetheless, we all appreciate clean toilets to do our business in.

[via] Download Squad

What's Free to Go Web 2.0?

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[via] Download Squad

Googleholic for June 26th 2007

In this issue of Googleholic we cover:

Google wants more changes in Vista
Google on the move to fight censoring
Google's pay per action beta expands
The Air Force doesn't like Google Earth
EBay vs. Google, round 2
LG's Google Phone
Could Google be shutting down Gmail access in Germany?

Continue reading Tuesday's Googleholic...

Continue reading Googleholic for June 26th 2007

[via] Download Squad

Auto: How to avoid a speeding ticket

The obvious solution to avoiding a speeding ticket? Don't speed. However, AOL Autos has a few more suggestions:

Drive within 5-10 mph of surrounding traffic. Police officers are usually looking for drivers that are going noticeably faster than the other cars on the road.

Try to stay in the middle of the pack. If you're the lead car, logic says you'll be the first car to run past any radar trap up ahead.

Do not change lanes frequently, tailgate or otherwise drive aggressively.

Most of these are pretty straightforward, especially for those of us who have never gotten a ticket (yes, that would be me - la di da!), but it's always a good reminder. How do you avoid meeting up with the boys in blue? Let's hear it in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Recycling: Find a recycling center in your area

Looking for a recycling center? Try TheRecyclingCenter.info, a useful mashup of Google Ajax Search and Google Maps.

I typed in my zip code and got back one general purpose recycling center, one recycling collection service, one metal recycling center, and two electronics recycling centers. If you're looking for somewhere to recycle your computers, you might want to also check out Earth 911.

[via] Lifehacker

Health: How to gain weight and stay healthy

Many people focus on losing weight, but how about when you need to gain it? Health blog Fitness Caution has a few suggestions on how to gain the weight you need and stay healthy at the same time.

If you do need to add some pounds, it's not a simple matter of raiding your local Krispy Kreme; that is, if you want to keep your health. The article suggests specific foods to add weight, exercise strategies, and looking at weight gain as a long term strategy. Have you tried to gain weight? Let's hear you did it in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

MacGyver Tip: Remove water stains from wood with a dry iron

Do you have water stains on wood that you are trying vainly to get rid of? Lifehack.org has a quick tip on how to remove these:

Place a cotton cloth directly over the stain and with a dry iron (NO STEAM!) press down for several seconds on the cloth. Remove and check the stain. Keep doing until the watermarks are completely gone. It could take a minute or two to get the stain out completely.

I wonder if this would work for wood floors as well? It's worth a try, anyway!

[via] Lifehacker

How To: Whistle to control your computer

IBM developerWorks offers instructions on how to interact with your computer by whistling -- that's right, whistling.

Use Linux or Microsoft Windows, the open source sndpeek program, and a simple Perl script to read specific sequences of tonal events -- literally whistling, humming, or singing at your computer -- and run commands based on those tones. Give your computer a short low whistle to check your e-mail or unlock your screensaver with the opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

This method isn't for beginners - it requires modifying several scripts and it takes about an hour to complete. Looking for more hands-free tricks? Checkout how you can play with your computer using Bluetooth interaction and speech recognition. This definitely brings new meaning to the adage, "whistle while you work."

[via] Lifehacker

Students: Video iPod SAT study guides now available

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In addition to - or instead of - taking an expensive SAT prep course, download interactive study guides for the video iPod, which are now available at the iTunes Store.

The three programs, in critical reading, mathematics and writing, correspond to the three graded sections of the exam. The programs cost $4.99 each and are available in the iPod games section of the iTunes store alongside slightly more entertaining, if less educational, options like Tetris, Pac-Man and Lost: The Game.

SAT preppers should also check out how to rap vocabulary words. How do you study for big tests? Let us know in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Windows Download: Run Linux apps in Windows with Xming

Windows only: Open-source app Xming is a Windows port of the X Window system used in most popular Linux distributions.

Xming runs Linux applications without a virtual machine window. Xming is a port of the windowing environment, not a bundle of Linux apps, which means you must be running a Linux distribution remotely or in a virtual machine to use Xming. The installation is a breeze which includes a wizard to help you decide how you want Xming to display Linux apps. Xming is light, portable, and weights in at just 2.1 MB. Unfortunately, there is a high learning curve if you haven't used Linux in the past. Xming is primarily used to control remote Linux computers using SSH, however, it can also be used with a virtual machine to run Windows and Linux apps side-by-side. Xming is a free download for Windows only. Thanks, strangeweather!

[via] Lifehacker

Announcements:

This week's issue of TIME magazine includes an article on life hacks, with nice mentions of Lifehacker and 43 Folders.

[via] Lifehacker

DIY: Build your own underwater camcorder housing

DIY'er Kipkay puts together a waterproof casing for his video recorder to capture underwater action in the pool. Hit the play button to see it done. The result isn't as good looking as a retail model, but it'll save you the several hundred dollars those'll cost. The only downside to this approach is that you can't control the camera while you're underwater, but that's less of an issue with video (versus still camera.)

[via] Lifehacker

How To: Prioritize quickly and intuitively

Not sure what project you should work on next? The All About Agile weblog's got a pragmatic method for setting priorities: by charting your projects on an importance/difficulty matrix, pictured above.

Once you've got all your things on the grid, think about the four quadrants. Things in the top left are "No-Brainers". These things are clear priorities. Things in the bottom right are potentially for the bin, as these things are of the least value.

How do you get your priorities straight? Let us know in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

MacGyver Tip: Turn a C battery into a D with quarters

You need a D battery but all you've got laying around are C cells. Since C and D batteries are both 1.5 volts (they differ only in size and energy storage), you can build a makeshift D to C "adaptor" with a few regular, conductive, George Washington quarters. Just insert them into your gizmo as pictured and you're good to go. Photo by L. Marie.

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Windows Download: See closeups of screen areas with ZoomIt

Windows only: Free presentation utility ZoomIt zooms into an selected area of your screen for emphasis.

Once ZoomIt's installed you can assign a hotkey to quickly zoom (by default, Ctrl+1), then click your mouse to draw on the zoomed area (like circling a button or URL.) The pen width and color is customizable, and ZoomIt offers a zoom timer, too. I saw ZoomIt used in a presentation this weekend and it was a nice, seamless way to show off a screen detail. Mac users, you already have zooming capabilities in OS X. ZoomIt is a free download for Windows Vista and XP. Thanks, Scott!

[via] Lifehacker

Technophilia: Publish and map your photos with Picasa

Besides using Picasa to organize and edit the digital photos on your computer, you can also use this versatile photo editor to create web albums, send and resize bulk photos to Flickr, and geotag photos using Google Earth. Keep reading for more on how to make your photos stand out a bit more with Picasa.

Web albums

Creating a Picasa Web album - a way to share you photos publically - is simple. Once you're in your Picasa workspace, just click on the Web Albums button at the bottom; you'll need a Google account and the sign-in process is pretty straightforward.

Pick the folder/pictures that you'd like to share in a Web album, name it, and then you come to privacy settings. Google swears up and down that privacy means PRIVATE, however, it's relatively easy to dredge up so-called "hidden" photos if you really want to. So! Keep in mind that you probably don't want any particularly, uh, naughty pics to be uploaded to your Picasa Web albums, capiche?

Once it's all uploaded, you are taken directly to your Picasa Web albums dashboard, which is connected with all your other Google-riffic stuff. You have a variety of options here to play with - download, embed, organize, share, etc. Here's my Germany album; you're also given the option to embed it (code is included, just copy and paste) from within your photo album workspace.

Picasa and Flickr

Once you've tricked out your Picasa Web album a wee bit, you'll probably want to move on to some Flickr goodies. Now, anyone who has used Flickr to upload a lot of photos realizes that it's kind of time-consuming; plus, you have to resize each image individually. However, there is a way around that using Picasa to send your images to Flickr instead (credit to Digital Media Minute for this shortcut).

Log-in to Flickr and find the Upload by Email link. Keep that window open because you'll need that temporary email addy.
Get into Picasa and go to Tools, Options, Email. Choose the My Gmail account (you can use Outlook too) and flip the slider to whatever size you want your photos to be. Click OK.
Click on the image(s) you want to upload and click the Email button at the bottom of your Picasa workspace.
Enter in the temp. Flickr address in the To: field of the popup window. You can enter in a description here and that's what will show up on your Flickr page.
Click Send, and the image will show up in your Flickr account in about 10 seconds or so.

Picasa and Google Earth

Picasa integrates nicely with Google Earth and gives you the ability to geotag your photos very simply. Here's how it works (another shoutout to Ogle Earth for helping me figure this out!):

Pick the photos you're interested in geotagging, then click on Tools/Geotag/Geotag with Google Earth.
You'll see a popup window with some crosshairs on it; you'll be asked to drag it to where the photo was taken. Click away until you're all done.
Once you're finished, the geotagged photos will be marked with a small earth symbol; you also come away with the ability to play around with the KMZ file or export the whole lot to a Picasa Web album.

Picasa - a lot to play with

With all this, I didn't even get to light on the various interesting widgets, extensions, and even more innovative uses that people all over the world are finding for this simple yet powerful program. Picasa has definitely become one of the most valuable additions to my efficiency/organization software tools. If you've come up with a new and interesting way to use Picasa to organize, edit, or display your photos, please share in the commets.

Wendy Boswell, Lifehacker's Weekend Editor, has gone a little crazy with the Picasa slideshows. Subscribe to her feature series Technophilia using the Technophilia feed.

[via] Lifehacker

Why Build When You Can Buy:

TechCrunch reports that Google will acquire GrandCentral, the one phone number to rule them all service that rings all your phones when contacts dial one phone number.

[via] Lifehacker

Cell Phones: Push email to your phone as a text message with FlipMail

Teleflip, the people who made it really easy to email any cell phone, have unleashed a new service called FlipMail, designed to forward emails to your cell phone as text messages.

Here's how it works: You sign up for FlipMail, giving them your phone number, email address, and email password (not easy to do, I know). Then you give FlipMail the email address you want to receive email from, and only those messages will be forwarded to your phone. We first covered how you can forward Gmail messages to your phone forever ago, and if you're not keen on passing out your info to a third party, that's a smart way to go. On the other hand, FlipMail's service offers innovative control and customization for how your email is delivered, and you can even reply to the the emails you receive via SMS... in theory, at least.

Much to my frustration, I had trouble getting FlipMail working with my phone and Gmail account (even after following these instructions), so your mileage may vary. The ability to not only push the email to your phone, but also to reply, could be a really useful feature for anyone who wants email push capabilities for their cell phone but doesn't want to shell out for a spendy data plan. If you give FlipMail a try, let us know how it works for you in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

How To: Pack efficiently this summer vacation

It's summertime, and that means that loads of you will leave the comfort of your closets and dressers to live out of a suitcase for a week or so. Rather than try to fit your entire closet in your suitcase, the Sound Money Tips weblog suggests several tips for packing efficiently.

This is a subject near and dear to our hearts, and the Sound Money Tips post provides a great checklist of resources for packing as light and efficient as possible. Let's hear your favorite pack-light tips in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Windows Download: Tag and title your photos with iTag

Windows only: Freeware application iTag edits your photos' IPTC metadata to add titles, descriptions, and tags to your images.

The cool thing about iTag is that the IPTC standard that it uses is compatible with a lot popular photo applications, both online and off, like Flickr and Picasa. The handy part about using iTag with your photos before you upload them to Flickr, for example, is that the tags you add to your photo will be the same locally as they are on your Flickr account. Aside from that, iTag offers geocoding tools and a simple and quick interface (though a right-click entry would be nice). iTag is a free download, Windows only, requires .NET 3.0.

[via] Lifehacker

Travel: Plan your vacation itinerary with TripWiser

Put together your day-by-day vacation itinerary or borrow someone else's plans with the free web site, TripWiser.

TripWiser makes it easy to build a blow-by-blow travel itinerary by letting you search through other users' trips and incorporating destination and restaurant finders into their itinerary builder. In a nutshell, you can use other people's trips for ideas but still customize your trip to exactly what you want. If you're the type who likes to micromanage your vacation time, TripWiser looks like a good tool.

[via] Lifehacker

MacGyver Tip: Feed your plants, repel insects and more with coffee grounds

The DIY weblog Curbly lists 10 uncommon uses for your used coffee grounds, like feeding your plants:

Plants such as rosebushes, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreen and camellias that prefer acidic soils will appreciate the leftovers from your morning cup.

It doesn't end there; from plant food and insect repellent to a "cellulite reducer," you can apparently put those used coffee grounds to really good use all around the house. Of course, before you go spreading your coffee grounds all over your garden, I can think of at least one thing you might want to do with them involving boiling water and a big mug.

[via] Lifehacker

GeekTool: Embed Skype contacts on Desktop

Mac users: The Teutonic Spectator weblog published a free Applescript that embeds your available Skype contacts into the desktop using previously mentioned Lifehacker favorite GeekTool

After you download the Applescript file you will need to add the following shell entry to GeekTool (replacing [path] with your path to the Applescript file):

echo 'Skype:'; osascript [path]/SkypeOnlineUsers.scpt | tr , "\n" | iconv -f UTF-8 -t L1

The script will show both your available contacts and the mood of each contact if they have assigned one. Thanks, Hannes!

[via] Lifehacker

ITunes: Categorize iTunes tracks based on star rating

Reader David writes in with an interesting way to use the star rating system baked into iTunes:

As I was trying to assemble a dance playlist for a recent party that I hosted, I realized the shortcomings of the traditional use of the iTunes rating format: the only songs I rated were the songs that I liked - resulting in a large mass of 4-star and 5-star songs - some of which were not uplifting enough to dance to. After much thought, I have devised an emotionally-based rating system.

David rates each song based on style -- all melancholy songs receive 1 star, all party favorites receive 2 stars, all hard rock and fast-paced songs receive 3 stars, etc. This is a perfect way to create dynamic "playlists" on the fly and get some use out of the star rating functionality that in my case has gone completely unused. How do you use the iTunes star rating system? Share in the comments. Thanks, David!

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Greasemonkey User Script: Send GReader articles to Twitter with Google Reader + Twitter

Firefox with Greasemonkey: Greasemonkey userscript Google Reader + Twitter allows for two-click sharing of GReader articles with Twitter.

Google Reader + Twitter adds a "Share with Twitter" button to the Google Reader footer that displays a popup where you can customize the title, tag, URL, and note before submitting the article to Twitter. I haven't joined the Twitter bandwagon, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find an easier way to share your favorite Google Reader articles with Twitter. Google Reader + Twitter is a free download and requires Firefox and Greasemonkey.

[via] Lifehacker

Plaxo 3.0: Bringing web and desktop PIM together like never before

For about a month now, the kind folks at Plaxo have allowed us to play with the beta of Plaxo 3.0, a major update to their unique service that takes the 'management' out of desktop + online PIM. As if the present version's ability to synchronize your contact and calendar information between Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and some online services wasn't enough, Plaxo's ability to automatically update your address book whenever a fellow Plaxo user changes their information was a pretty unique feature that really let the company's vision shine. After playing with this new beta, however, we feel comfortable saying that Plaxo 3.0 could very well be nothing short of revolutionary to world of data management and synchronization.

While the Plaxo folk understandably won't allow us to spill too many details, we can at least give you a general overview of what all the fuss is about. The most significant change in this upcoming version is the addition of some major new 'sync points,' which are applications and web services Plaxo can synchronize with, impressively spanning the entire digital globe of OSes and web brands. In our screenshot above you see five points: Plaxo (of course), Google (yep: Gmail and, soon to come, Calendar), Windows Mail in Vista, Mac OS X's Address Book and iCal and even Yahoo!'s Address Book and (soon to come) calendar. Another major new sync point (requiring a paid Plaxo account) is LInkedIn, allowing users access the increasingly popular social network based on who has worked with who. Never before have we seen so much synchronizing power built in such a smart and streamlined tool. Amazingly, a lot of this new functionality will still apparently be provided for free, with a few select sync points and the rest of Plaxo's services (such as e-cards, Address Book recovery, storing more than 1000 contacts and 24-7 support) being made available to paid accounts.

Other new features in the Plaxo 3.0 beta reveal a new 'dashboard for your life' aspect to the service, which is also pulled off pretty well. Some of the online tools allow you to view basic things like the week's weather, while others allow you to easily watch RSS feeds for Flickr photos, friends' Amazon wishlists and blogs.

That's about all we should talk about for now, however, but stay tuned for a full review and screenshot gallery as soon as we can schmooze the Plaxo guys into greenlighting them. In the meantime, if you're already a current Plaxo user or we have just piqued your interest, we recommend cleaning up your address book and finally getting into the habit of actually jotting down your week's appointments and todos in Outlook, iCal, Google Calendar or any of the other services Plaxo will help you synchronize. This way, if you do it once, the new Plaxo should ensure you might never have to again.

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[via] Download Squad

Plaxo 3.0 opens public beta

Well that didn't take long; apparently Plaxo was planning to launch their public beta a bit sooner than we thought. Whereby 'sooner' we mean 'right now'; the company has just opened the Plaxo 3.0 doors to a public beta for one and all to sign up. Still offering most services as free, Plaxo is inarguably positioning themselves as the incontestable leader of synchronizing not only your own contacts and calendars, but also the information your contacts change in their own address books.

If you aren't up for trying out the 3.0 beta, perhaps a demo video and brief review from the omni-present Robert Scoble will give you enough information to help you lean towards one side of the fence or the other. Scoble has some of the same great things to say about Plaxo as we did, though he's running into some sluggish and flaky synching quirks (hence the all-too-disclaimer-ing beta badge). Nevertheless, it's clear that Plaxo has a great thing going, so stay tuned for a more in-depth look soon.

[via] Download Squad

German Gmail could be a goner

Despite the stupid alliteration in the title, German Gmail users could face a real threat to their service. The threatened shutdown is In response to a new German law that will require email services to keep personally identifiable information for account holders.

For all the information Google tracks about its users, the company doesn't require a home address, phone number, or anything else that can tie your email account to an individual person. Since Google makes its money off of advertising, anonymized and aggregated data is more useful.

The new law is framed as an anti-terrorism measure, but Google says it violates the company's privacy policy. What's funny is that Google's recently come under fire for holding too much private user data. Sometimes you just can't win.

[via] Download Squad

Better than the iPhone?

There are plenty of hacks out there to make your Windows Mobile PDA look and act like Apple's iPhone. But why stop there?

A member of the Lakeridge Software forums has uploaded an alpha version of a program launcher built using Wisbar Advance, Flash, and MortScript. It's icons and transitions are iPhone inspired, but the program launches Windows Mobile programs and some original flash-based programs including a weather forecast module.

A final version is due out in a few weeks, with options to customize icons and other aspects of the program.

[via SolSie]

[via] Download Squad

Google Reader outage

We woke up this morning thinking it was a slow news day. It turns out there's plenty of news going on in the world -- it's just that Google Reader hasn't been keeping up with all of our favorite RSS feeds.

Sometime around 11:00 last night, Google Reader stopped updating feeds. The online RSS reader started working again at about 9:00 this morning. A Google representative wrote in the user forums that the service should catch up on all your feeds over the next few hours.

If you're someone who relies on RSS feeds for your news every day, this highlights one of the problems with depending on a single online service. With all the talk about online applications replacing offline programs, and even web-based "operating systems," it's good to have a reminder that even a company with Google's resources can have service outages.

Make sure to bookmark some of your favorite pages. Or better yet, set up a desktop-based RSS reader like FeedDemon or RSSOwl as a backup.

[via TechCrunch]

[via] Download Squad

Google to acquire GrandCentral

TechCrunch is reporting that Google will acquire GrandCentral (or already has).

GrandCentral's tag line is "one phone number for life." Basically, the service provides you with a single phone number that can be linked to every other phone in your life, including home, work, mobile, you name it.

When you get a call on your single number, you can pick up any phone to answer. All of your voicemail messages go into a single mailbox, which you can access from your phones, the web, or via email. You can even create spam folders for telemarketers.

A Google Acquisition could mean GrandCentral would be integrated into Gmail and/or GTalk. Imagine being able to check your voicemail through Gmail or make and receive phone calls in GTalk.

There's no confirmation of the deal from Google or GrandCentral yet, but GrandCentral did just update their webpage over the weekend if you want to read anything into that.

[via] Download Squad

ScummVM 0.10.0 released

ScummVM has hit its first double digit (but still beta) release. ScummVM started out as a game engine capable of running old LucasArts games built for the Scumm engine. Over the last few years, it's transformed over the years into a cross-platform system for running dozens of classic video games, including some early Sierra Adventure games.

Version 0.10.0 is available for OS X, Linux, Windows, Windows mobile, the Nintendo DS, and a bunch of other operating systems/platforms. Updates include:

Support for Future Wars
Support for Gobliins 2
Support for Gobliins 3
Support for Ween: The Prophecy
Support for Bargon Attack
Support for Nippon Safes
Support for Sierra AGI games including the early Kings Quest, Police Quest, and Space Quest titles

There are also under the hood tweaks and bug fixes which should mean improved speed and reliability, particularly on the mobile versions for Nintendo DS, Symbian, Windows Mobile and Palm systems.

Remember, most of these games are still protected by copyrights, and it's only legal to play them if you own the original disks. A few adventure games have been released for free, and can be downloaded from the ScummVM downloads page.

[via AximSite]

[via] Download Squad

Making the datacenter "Green" is harder than you think

Google and some of the other leading technology companies that depend on large amounts of power are working hard to ensure they are minimizing their power consumptions.

In order to cut down costs of electricity and ensure that systems are running in optimal conditions, many data center's are turning to alternative energy to power their high end systems. Google has fitted the Googleplex to be carbon neutral by investing in renewable energy sources, maximizing efficiency, and by purchasing carbon offsets for the emissions they cannot directly reduce.

ComputerWorld has put together a list targeted at IT professionals that list the top seven tips that will help minimize power consumption, heat, waste and chaos in this time of surging power demands, and extreme environmental awareness.

Typically between 10%-30% of servers can potentially be turned off.
Power management tools are available, but not many administrators don't use them.
Invest in energy efficient servers.
Inefficient power supplies can potentially waste half of the power before it actually gets to the equipment.
Most IT companies are not accountable for efficiency because it gets tucked into the facilities tab, tracking energy directly from the source can help in determining what should change.
Adopt energy efficient standards. Think EnergyStar specifications.
Demand energy efficient IT products. Manufacturers won't design it, if customers don't ask for it.

[via] Download Squad

LinkedIn readying an API, are they too late?

Reid Hoffman made a "somewhat late" announcement on Friday at the Supernova 2007 conference to Dan Farber, that LinkedIn would finally deliver API's.

Developers have been eating up API's this past year alone, for every type of online environment including Google's mapping applications, to the recently released Facebook API's. However, it's not going to be available for quite a few months, nine to be exact. It's a little late for this long established business networking company to come to the table especially since Facebook is on the verge of stealing their thunder.

Taking a lead from the popular social newcomer, Facebook, this move by Founder Reid Hoffman is a way to develop LinkedIn into more of an online platform, and a way to get users who spend time on other social networks like Facebook, a way to get LinkedIn notifications wherever they are.

[via] Download Squad

YouTube hates Windows Mobile and other news - Mobile Minute

In today's mobile Minute, we'll take a look at some of the latest news and software related to Windows Mobile devices.

Spb Mobile Shell 1.5 released

While you're waiting to find out if you qualify for a Windows Mobile 6 upgrade, you might want to breathe some new life into your Windows Mobile 5.0 PDA or Smartphone.

Spb Mobile Shell is a complete replacement for the built in Windows Mobile Today Screen and program launcher. Sure you could use free software to design your shell, but Spb's taken the hard work out of your hands.

Version 1.5 includes the following improvements:

Windows Mobile 6 support
Menu customization
Easy item pinning on today
Ability to change the order of pinned items
Support for third party plug-ins
Device locking improvements
Assign Spb Menu actions to hardware keys
Performance, stability, and battery life optimizations
Integration with CorePlayer 1.1

Spb Mobile Shell costs $30, or about $$470 - $570 less than an iPhone. Prices of Windows Mobile phones vary.

Continue reading YouTube hates Windows Mobile and other news - Mobile Minute

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[via] Download Squad

Is Myspace vs. Facebook a class issue?

Your social network preference might say more about you than you realize. This blog essay lays out a strong case that Facebook is beating Myspace on a socio-economic level, if not just yet on a pageview/users level.

It makes sense. Facebook started as a college and university only platform, which right off the bat adds a significant gap between the haves and have-nots. Add a pinch of irritation that users with an IQ above 80 feel when confronted with abhorent Myspace layouts and you have a recipe for the great unwashed to rally around Myspace, leaving the rest of us who can string a few words together as Facebook planted refugees from the ills and distaste of Myspace.

[via] Download Squad

The shortcut to locking your Windows desktop

Here's a neat trick for those of you with a paranoid need to lock down your workstation on a regular basis. Sure, you could hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and click "Lock Workstation" but, that's a multi-keystroke + mouse kind of operation. Hackaback writes with a better and quicker way.

Create a new shortcut anywhere you like on your desktop, and instead of giving the target to an application or document, use this: "rundll32 user32.dll, LockWorkStation". Name it what you will -- "Lock me!" comes to mind -- and you'll have a double-clickable icon that will instantly lock up your valuable data.

[via] Download Squad

Apple a historic past and a fruitful future?

Few companies inspire such wicked fanboy love as does Apple, and few have such creative 'haters'. Here's two things we've stumbled on just today that illustrate the Apple love that's flying 'round in the lead up to the iPhone.

First, a history of Apple in pictures. It's all there. Jobs, The Woz, The Apple I, The Lisa -- the predecessor to the original Macintosh -- and a ton of candid shots that really give the Cupertino kids some personality, no matter how minimalist and mock-turtleneck they may be these days.

Second, a fruity and creative version of Apple's logo. Notice anything missing? That's right. This picture is a tounge and cheeck way of saying, "Anything but Apple". So much for yo momma jokes, this is the way to spell out your distaste.

[via] Download Squad

Calgoo releasing Version 1.0 this week

The heat is on once again in the online calendar sector. It seemed like the news was always pumping out on this front late last year, then things cooled down shortly after Calgoo announced it could sync with Google Calendar. Well, Calgoo has announced that they are hitting the big time with Version 1.0 this week.

DownloadSquad has covered Calgoo since its inception, and followed its progress along the way. It's all grown up now, and ready to get out of beta and help users keep calendar schedules clean and uncluttered. The new version will get released this Wednesday, when users can experience all of these new features:

Outlook and Google Synchronization
Redesign of calendar views
Redesign of content management system
Redesign of setup and calendar wizards
Redesign of application icons, buttons and layouts
Microsoft Outlook contact syncing
Agenda view printing
Sample calendars
Improved performance

Look out for a review of the new Calgoo from DownloadSquad when it gets released.

Check out some screenshots of the new Calgoo V1.0 Interface.

Gallery: Calgoo v1.0

[via] Download Squad

Is there really that kinda money in search engines?

It's no secret that we've got a soft spot right in the middle of our chest for Mahalo. The company's founder, Jason Calacanis, also founded Weblogs, Inc and, having worked under his absolutely boundless energy, we can say first-hand that he's a force to be reckoned with. Apparently the New York times thinks so as well.

The Sunday edition of the New York Times included this great article on the small change left over in the search space outside of Google. Well, small change if you can call a 1 billion dollar market cap "small change". According to one of the experts the NYT spoke with, "1 percent of the 7.3 billion searches performed in the United States in March, multiplied by 12 cents in advertising revenue per search, would yield annualized revenue of $105 million. Assuming a market cap that is 10 times revenue, his arithmetic leads to a billion-dollar company."

We're keeping a close eye on Mahalo, and the rest of the search market that exists outside the Google-sphere.

[via] Download Squad

Local.com gets a patent for local search

Ever wonder who owns the patent for local search? Of course not, because being able to search for local restaurants, transportation, or classified listings online is kind of too obvious to be patented, right?

Apparently not. Local.com has picked up a patent for local search. Patent 7,231,405 refers to a process for "indexing and retrieving web-related information by geographical location."

Does this mean that Google, Yahoo!, Craigslist, and pretty much any other service that provides the ability to filter search results geographically will have to license technology from Local.com? Nope. The patent refers to one method of conducting location-based search.

Still, it sounds about as patentable as saying Download Squad would like exclusive rights to a certain method for using email tips, RSS feeds, and common knowledge to write blog entires about news and information about software and web services.

[via Search Engine Land]

[via] Download Squad

Run Linux apps on Windows.. kinda

Got a Linux box in the house and want just a few applications from over there(Linux) to run over here (Windows)? This may just be the trick.

The X windows system -- the base which allows graphical applications to run in Linux -- has always had the ability for an application to run on one machine while displaying on another. That's a basic concept of X's design, and with Xming running on your Windows machine, now you can export those X applications to your XP/2003/Vista desktop.

The downside is you'll need a running Linux box (either separate or as a virtual machine) to host the application you want to export. However, if you're already spending time at more than one machine, this could be a serious productivity tool for your arsenal.

[via Lifehacker]

[via] Download Squad

Make your own comics with HyperComics

When creativity is snooping around inside your head, where can you go for an outlet? If you're into comics, then HyperComics could be your space.

HyperComics is a social network built around comics, naturally. It's a way to network with like minded comic book creators, and get in contact with industry resources. Members can showcase their original material and have other members discuss and comment on creations.

HyperComics uses a desktop application to build comics. It would have been nice if the software was available online, but hey, it could be nice to be able to work where there might not be a connection as well. The application is available for PC's only, and is a whopping 140 MB. So sit back with your favorite drink because this could take a while. When the 30 day trial wears out, the software is $29.99. Licensed comic art is also available on the website as free downloads, and from $2.99 - $9.99 per set. The art sets allow users to drag and drop all kinds of starter artwork, templates, and action imagery into their storyboards. Of course if you are a veteran, you can upload your own creations from scratch into one of the many layout templates. After the comic is made, upload it, publish, and unleash it to the world.

Aspiring comic creators might also want to check out StripGenerator.

Check out some HyperComic screenshots.

Gallery: HyperComic screenshots

[via] Download Squad

Web 2.0: Apps for the well-organized student

Read/WriteWeb has created a list of their top web applications for students - but honestly, anyone who wants to be more organized could benefit from this list.

Many of these have been featured here at Lifehacker central; however, I really like how this list is organized into specific categories: office replacements, taking notes, mind mapping, studying, bookmarking, collaboration, calendars, calculators, and more. Do you see anything missing from this list? Let's hear it in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

When ISPs attack - with advertising

Over the weekend there's been a pretty big flap over whether some A-list bloggers have violated the public's trust by participating in an advertising campaign. For the most part, nobody's claiming those bloggers has actually been bought off, but there is a question of whether bloggers should be interacting directly with their advertisers or maintaining the same type of wall between editorial and advertising content that mainstream journalists have.
Wherever you fall on the issue, it's kind of amusing to see that TechCrunch, one of the blogs caught up in the kerfuffle (and a quality unbiased source of Web 2.0 news), is reporting on another questionable advertising practice: ISP placed banner ads.

Apparently Texas based ISP Redmoon has rolled out software that places banner ads on pretty much every web page its customers visit. At first, it looks like there's a major new advertiser sponsoring every site on the web. But it turns out that it's just Redmoon making a buck off of other people's content.

It's one thing if you're a company offering free internet service supported by advertising. But Redmoon is already charging customers for internet access. It looks like this may just be the tip of the iceberg. Redmoon is using technology provided by NebuAd to place the ads, which refers to ISP advertising as an "untapped revenue source."

[via] Download Squad

Instant Messaging: Google Talk adds Group Chat

Previously mentioned Google Talk Gadget has integrated a new Group Chat feature for your Google Talk contacts.

To use Group Chat, just start a conversation with a contact, then click the drop-down on the right of the chat window and select Group Chat. From there you can add as many contacts as you want. Granted, the idea of Group Chat is far from innovative (a lot of GTalk users have wanted this for sometime), but it's nice to finally see it rolling out. Group chat is currently only available with the Google Talk Gadget. Thanks Mike!

[via] Lifehacker

Call For Submissions: We want to see your Firefox

Yesterday you showed us your iGoogles, and boy oh boy was it hot. For next week's Show Us Yours series, we want to take a look at your browser - specifically, your Firefox.

Why? Because Lifehacker loves Firefox, and Lifehacker loves its readers. It's only natural that we'd want to see our readers' Firefoxes. Hit the jump for submission details.

If you want to submit your Firefox for next Thursday's Show Us Your Firefox screenshot tour, here's how:

Take a screenshot of your browser window: If you don't know how to take a screenshot of your browser, you can try one of the many great screenshot apps we've highlighted on Lifehacker. Windows users can try Window Clippings, and if you're a Mac user, our favorite is InstantShot. Make your screenshot as big as you want, but just remember, the biggest images can be in our gallery is 1280px wide, so try to use your space wisely. Also, if you've got something particularly cool going on in your Firefox, do your best to make sure we can see it in action.
Write up a short description of the extensions/themes that make your Firefox so great: It doesn't have to be long, but once we're all in love with what you've accomplished with your browser, we'll want to know how to do it to ours.
Send your screenshot and description to us: Compose an email to tips at lifehacker.com with the subject title Show Us Your Firefox, then attach your screenshot and enter your description in the body of the email.

Simple enough, right? Feel free to tweak your Firefox to your heart's content before submitting, but remember, we need a little lead time, so you should try to get your submission in by next Wednesday, 12 noon PST at the latest. Submit as many pictures of your Firefox as you want, but remember that one is all we need.

I toyed with the idea of making this a broad Show Us Your Browser call for submissions, but the majority of Lifehacker readers use Firefox, so I decided to go Firefox-specific for this one. If there's enough demand, though, I'll be happy to do a subsequent non-Firefox Show Us Your Browser tour, too, so if you're interested, let's hear it in the comments.

Finally, if you've got something good you want to show off, suggest a Show Us Yours theme in the comments. Happy submitting!

[via] Lifehacker

Health: Kickstart your fitness routine with jogcasts

The popular Couch to 5k running plan for beginning runners has found an excellent supplement in the form of the Couch to 5k podcast (or jogcast, if you will), which provides a soundtrack tailored specifically for the training plan.

By adding cues for when runners should run, walk, speed up, slow down, and even reminders on improving form, the Couch to 5k jogcast makes it even easier for a couch jockey to smoothly transition to a regular fitness routine. If you're one of the many people who've used this plan, share your experience with the rest of us in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Google Apps: Add live Google data to Google Spreadsheets

The Webware weblog highlights 5 things you didn't know about Google Docs and Spreadsheets, most notably that you can insert live lookups in Google Spreadsheets via Google search and Google Finance.

Using two special formulas, users can create cells that will update constantly with data or information gleaned from Web searches or Google's finance service. This works for things such as stock symbols, sports statistics, or any other piece of information you want to source and keep up to date automatically

For example, you can insert the current price of Google stock in a spreadsheet by entering =GoogleFinance("GOOG"; "price"), or check out the number of internet users in Paraguay with =GoogleLookup("Paraguay"; "internet users"). Very cool.

[via] Lifehacker

Language:

Google's got a new phrase translation tool designed to provide better results for single-word lookups. The results currently offer translations and related phrases in a limited set of languages. [via Google Blogoscoped]

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Mac Download: Password protect your PDFs with pdfauxinfo

Mac OS X only: Open-source app pdfauxinfo is a terminal utility that password protects PDFs.

Besides just adding passwords, pdfauxinfo can prevent the PDF from being copied and/or printed. Pdfauxinfo also has an Automater command that will give you a simple GUI if you prefer to avoid the terminal. For terminal lovers, you can use the following command to create simple, password protected files:

sudo pdfauxinfo -i /input/File.pdf -o /output/File.pdf -u mypassword

Pdfauxinfo is a free download for Mac only. Thanks, Mirko!

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Windows Download: Preview CSS in IE 6 and Firefox simultaneously with CSSVista

Windows XP only: Freeware app CSSVista offers side-by-side live previews of CSS (cascading style sheets) code in Internet Explorer 6 and Firefox simultaneously.

CSSVista is a three-paned editor—one window is a CSS editor, one window the IE 6 preview, and the third is the Firefox preview. Although Microsoft released Internet Explorer 7 ages ago, boatloads of users are stuck with IE 6. Unfortunately, the rendering engine for IE 6 is an odd bird requiring lots of special attention from developers—especially when it comes to creating cross-browser compatible websites.

CSSVista requires the .NET 2.0 runtime and, despite the name, is a free download for Windows XP only.

[via] Lifehacker

Featured Mac Download: Put your Mac to sleep with Midnight

Mac OS X only: Freeware app, Midnight is a one-touch widget for putting your Mac to sleep.

Like previously mentioned Deep Sleep, Midnight can be configured to enter "hibernation mode." Alternatively, Midnight can be set to enter "standard sleep," where your Mac drastically reduces its power consumption by stopping the processor and saving your current session into RAM (it's what MacBooks do when you close its lid). What's particularly convenient about standard sleep is that your Mac can quickly "wake up." Lastly, Midnight can be configured to log out the user out before suspending—particularly useful for those who share a computer. Midnight is a free download for Mac OS X only. Thanks, Cameron!

[via] Lifehacker

Tgif: This week's best posts

Suffering from Lifehacker information overload? Get a digest of our best posts delivered to your newsreader once a week using our Highlights feed. If that's not enough for you, instead grab our daily top stories feed.

This week's best posts include:

Turn your Windows Mobile phone into an iPhone
"If your clunky old Windows Mobile phone is just sitting around collecting iPhone jealousy dust, you can either scrounge together 500 leafy Sacagaweas, or you can customize your Windows Mobile phone to emulate several of the iPhone's more interesting features."
Edit your digital photos with Picasa
"If you don't have the cash or patience to get a copy of Photoshop and learn what to do with it, the free Windows photo manager software, Picasa, may have everything you need to adjust your photos to your liking."
13 book hacks for the library crowd
"Today, in the interest of lifehacking your bookshelf, I'm rounding up my favorite 13 'book hacks' for getting the most from your bound literature."
The art of the doable to-do list
"Your to-do list can be a tool that guides you through your work, or it can be a big fat pillar of undone time bombs taunting you and your unproductive inadequacy."
Show Us Your iGoogle
"Last week we asked readers to send us screenshots of their iGoogles, and you didn't disappoint."
Stephen Colbert, email assassin
"Stephen Colbert sits down with email etiquette author Will Schwalbe and dives face first into email."
Monitor your Mac with iStat menus
"iStat menus integrates system statistics like CPU, RAM, HD, and Network usage into your Mac's menubar."
Keep track of your browsing habits with MeeTimer
"The MeeTimer Firefox extension tracks how much time you spend on different web sites and helps categorize the time spent to give you an idea of where your browsing time has gone."
Insert prompts and delays with Texter 0.4
"Just released the latest version of our text snippet application, Texter, with bug fixes and a few cool new features."
Get the fullscreen (read: iPhone) browsing experience with Opera Mini 4 beta
"The new Opera Mini beta 4 offers the fullscreen browsing experience on the comfort of your mobile device."
Use a silent ringtone for low priority contacts
"I just created a 1 second long recording of "nothing" using my computer, transferred it to my phone, and I can now select it as a custom ringtone for numbers that, while I don't want to block, I just don't want to hear."
Reformat your Gmail address with dots
"Because Gmail doesn't recognize dots as characters within usernames, adding or removing dots from a Gmail address won't change the actual destination address."
Better Gmail version 0.8 now available
"This version adds 3 new user scripts: a Mac Mail-like skin, bottom posting when replying to email, and split screen Google Reader integration, as well as fixes for a few niggly annoyances in the current version."

[via] Lifehacker

Home: How to choose the right water filter

If you're in the market for a good water filter, the Natural Resources Defense Council has a great write-up on how to choose the best one for your home.

First, you've got to figure out what kind of stuff might be in your local water supply (you should be able to request a fact sheet from your water company). Once you've got that information, you'll be able to choose the water filter that best meets your home's particular needs.

[via] Lifehacker

Weekend Project: Make your own hammock

Make the most of your mandatory summer napping with your very own quick hammock.

All you need is a sheet or blanket, two stout ropes (try your local home improvement store; they'll be able to tell you how much weight it can bear), and two places to tie the rope to. While the image above shows the hammock being mounted inside, I'd be nervous about, you know, ripping the studs out of the wall...so you might want to scope out your yard instead. I'm going to try to set this up today for a bit of afternoon nappage.

[via] Lifehacker

Digital Music: How to download music from Haystack

The always informative Tech-Recipes has posted a quick and dirty guide on how to download music from Haystack, a social network focused on music.

This little tutorial will help you grab tunes to play either on your computer or your MP3 player of choice; you'll have to register as a Haystack user, but after that it's a simple matter of locating the XML file in between the location tags, copy/paste, and save. Of course, standard disclaimers apply here.

[via] Lifehacker

Parenting: Help your kids clean their rooms

If you've ever thrown your hands up in despair at ever getting your kiddos to clean their rooms efficiently, Curbly blogger babadivy has written up a fantastically simple way to accomplish this.

Basically, it boils down to making everything as simple as possible. Three main things to remember: less toys=easier to clean, containers/storage systems don't have to be fancy, and there should be a defined plan of attack (make your bed, then clean up the bookshelf, etc). This is one area of parenting that tends to be a little frustrating, to be sure, but hopefully this will help. What are you best tactics for helping kids clean their rooms? Thoughts in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Health: Band-Aid's first aid guide for your home

Band-Aid, the Kleenex of the adhesive bandage manufacturing set, has a free, thorough first aid PDF guide for the household. Covering everything from cuts and scrapes to broken bones and chemical burns, this little guide should come in handy as a supplement to any home's first aid kit. For first aid on-the-go, check out this first aid guide for your iPod.

[via] Lifehacker

DIY: Custom paint your keyboard

Personalize your keyboard with any paint job that floats your boat with this easy to do project from 88bytes.

It's a little bit time-consuming, but I think that the end project is well worth it. All it takes is some sandpaper, spray paint, a screwdriver, and your own creativity.

[via] Lifehacker

Word Processor: Streamlined alternatives to Microsoft Word

Workplace productivity blog Web Worker Daily has written up a list of their picks for the top ten streamlined alternatives to Microsoft Word - and they're all free.

There are a lot of really great picks on this list - Google Docs, Zoho, AbiWord, and more. When all you need is something that will help you write content without a lot of extra unnecessary features, this is definitely a good place to look. What's your favorite alternative to MS Word? Let's hear it in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Financial: Demystify credit cards

Get all your credit card questions answered in one place with the Federal Reserve Board's credit card fact sheet.

Topics such as APRs, grace periods, finance charges, and liability limits are covered here, as well as a great checklist to help you compare different credit cards: you'll have to have the credit card data in front of you for the cards you're thinking about in order to fill out this worksheet, but it's a great, practical way to narrow down this somewhat complicated information.

[via] Lifehacker

Health: Get your best night's sleep

Productivity blog Ririan Project has written up an article on how to sleep more effectively using a variety of techniques.

Most of the time, getting a good night's sleep is not that difficult; however, when it does become hard to obtain, your whole outlook on life can get, well, you can get a little nuts (speaking from experience). Suggestions include getting some sunlight to balance your body rhythms, sync with nature, and watch how much you sleep - too much sleep can actually screw you up more than too little. What are your best suggestions for getting your best night's rest? Please share in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Search: Find useful web apps with SimpleSpark

If you're looking for a specific web application to meet your needs, but you're not sure where to find it, you might want to check out SimpleSpark, a catalog of over 3000 useful online services.

For instance, I typed in "organize" and retrieved around 95 different results to help me get my stuff together. You can also browse through the entire catalog (organized by category), browse pending listings, or check out what's just been added. I found this incredibly helpful especially since there's just so much good new stuff coming out; it's somewhat tricky to keep track of what works and what doesn't.

[via] Lifehacker

Digital Photography: A goldmine of photography resources online

Web 2.0 tracker Mashable has compiled a monster list of more than ninety online photography tools and resources.

You can find online photo editors here, as well as photo sharing sites, free photo hosting, photography blogs, mashups, photo printing helps, and a lot more. Personally I'm loving this list, as I'm trying to get more out of my camera and pictures, creativity and productivity wise.

[via] Lifehacker

Personal Relationships: Stop naggers in their tracks

Wouldn't you like to stop being nagged? Wouldn't you? I'm talking to you. Are you listening to me? Are you?

Well, the Happiness Project has written up a great article that helps you stop a persistent nagger in his or her tracks. Suggestions include committing to a firm deadlines, asking to be reminded only in writing, or just plain out tell the nagger that you're a big boy/girl and you'll get to it when you get to it. Not sure I agree with that last one, but I'd love to hear how you've dealt with naggers in your life - please share in the comments.

[via] Lifehacker

Google hands hardware business over to Dell

Google has turned some of its focus off of hardware manufacturing, and handed production over to Dell in order to increase performance on its line of search appliances.

Google has had issues with scaling the development of the search appliance since it has proved to be such a popular device with over 7000 corporate customers. Google had to either choose to increase staff, work on the manufacturing, or look for a third party to help out. Dell's server architecture, particularly the 9G, stood out to Google as it offered leading performance in many areas including server management. Dell will now be assembling the Google enterprise search boxes from components supplied by a variety of manufacturers, and will be in charge of the shipping and receiving.

Dell has already started touting Google as a customer in ads that aim at business customers. And hey, why not. Its not every day that a company as well known and as impactful to society as Google hands over their trust in you.

[via] Download Squad

Real People Real Stuff does video classifieds

Somebody might want to mention to Real People Real Stuff that their name is a bit long to type into a web browser. But the site's an interesting attempt at blending YouTube and Craigslist.

The premise is simple enough. Post a video add for pretty much anything you're trying to sell, whether it be goods, services, or just a concept.

That said, some items work better than others as a video ad. For instance, a guy trying to sell a used Trivial Pursuit game by reciting trivia about Trivial Pursuit? Meh. But public radio composer BJ Leiderman offering himself up to write your theme song by spoofing Bob Dylan? That's comedy/advertising gold.

[via CNet]

[via] Download Squad

Microsoft Windows Server "Centro" set for Beta

Microsoft is

[via] Download Squad

Microsoft testing voice search for Windows Mobile

Microsoft is internally testing a new version of Windows Live Search that enables voice as well as written queries. But the installer file seems to have found its way out of Redmond.

You can either speak into your Windows Mobile microphone or if you've got a model with a bluetooth audio stack, you should be able to speak into a bluetooth headset.

Pretty much any field in the experimental version that allows text entry will also accept voice commands. This is beta software, so it's still pretty buggy. It will only run on devices running Windows Mobile 5.0 or later.

When you start the application, you might get a message that there's a newer version available, but that version does not include Voice Search, so you'll want to say no.

[via Tech[dot]Blog]

[via] Download Squad

Yahoo Go Go Goes Primetime with 2.0 improvements

New and improved, and

[via] Download Squad

Opera 9.5 coming soon

The Opera team is working on Opera 9.5, code-named Kestrel. Public builds of the new version of the operating system should be available within a few weeks.

The upgrade will include:

The rendering engine has been updated with improved CSS3 support, and a new javascript engine.
The user interface will be tweaked to provide easier access to the features users reported they used the most.
Improved keyboard navigation
Screen reader support
New skins to match OS X and Linux environments
Speedier rendering

The Kestrel announcement comes just days after Opera released a public beta of Opera Mini 4. While the company's leadership appears to be involved in an elaborate soap opera, the developers are hard at work pumping out new products.

[via] Download Squad

Greasemonkey script to "fix" Digg comment threading

Fed up with Digg's recent comment system changes? You're not alone. Digg's new "threaded" comment system, which collapses the replies in a mess of Ajax slickness, has irritated quite a few previously happy Digg users.

This Greasemonkey script does its dead-level best to put Digg back the way it was, by automatically expanding all the threaded comments left on each story's detail view.

We're ambivalent on the issue. Sure, you have to click more to read all the comments on a particular story -- although, most times, god only knows why you'd want to -- it does prevent the "reply to first post" mess which inevitably contains a few links to things that are only partially related.

[via Digg (natch!)]

[via] Download Squad

PDAsync makes ActiveSync look silly

For a company that develops software for PCs and PDAs, Microsoft has never done a stellar job at letting those devices play well together.

ActiveSync and its successor, Windows Mobile Device Center only let you sync your calendar and contacts with Microsoft Outlook. You can't even synchronize with the new Windows Calendar included in Windows Vista.

That's why Laplink PDAsync 4 is so attractive. The program let you sync dozens of devices with your Windows 2000/XP/Vista machine, including PDAs and smartphones running Palm OS and Windows Mobile. But it also lets you synchronize your data with the following applications:

Microsoft Outlook 98, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007
Lotus Notes R5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0
Novell Groupwise 6.5 SP2, 7.0
Lotus Organizer 5.0, 6.0, 6.1
ACT! 2000, 5.0, 6.0

It'd be nice to see Thunderbird/Sunbird on there, but you can always use BirdieSync for that. PDASync doesn't come cheap. It'll set you back $50, but there's a free trial available.

[via jkOnTheRun]

[via] Download Squad

Google not happy with Microsoft's desktop search concessions

Earlier this week Microsoft promised to make some changes to the desktop search feature in Windows Vista. The move came in response to a complaint filed by Google that alleged Vista's desktop search was anti-competitive and caused computers to run slowly if Google Desktop and Vista were both constantly indexing files.

If you weren't satisfied with Microsoft's response, you're not alone. Google's top lawyer David Drummond released a statement saying that Microsoft's promises " are a step in the right direction, but they should be improved further to give consumers greater access to alternate desktop search providers."

Basically, while Google wants users to be able to disable Vista's desktop search altogether, Microsoft said there's not problem running two desktop search programs at the same time. Microsoft's position is that indexing takes place in the background, and all third party applications, including Google Desktop take precedence.

[via] Download Squad

Why write free software, one developer speaks

If you've ever wondered why people spend valuable free time writing free software, join the club. Who says you can't get quality for free? Baron Schwartz, the author of the MySql Toolkit and several other useful open source tidbits weighs in on his personal blog about why he does it.

A summary of the highpoints:

It helps avoid commitment and the guilt of not meeting commitments - if you don't get something done, that's fine.
It builds a personal brand, helps you network, and opens doors for you.
Your employer may use the tools you create. Or you build them to solve your own problems.
Getting community improvements and contributions.
Feeling good and being of service to the wider community.
Learning and having fun.

Baron's words probably ring true with more than a few open source developers. Open source authoring can be an incredible and rewarding way to improve your skills and career. As an added bonus, creating software that people like and enjoy can be a huge ego-boost and morale lifter.

[via] Download Squad

Developer's widget gets too popular, becomes a burden

Widget is a funny word. Let's get that out of the way right now. If you don't giggle when you hear it, you've lost your soul. "I like to think my widget makes a lot of people happy." That's funny, accept it. And everyone wants their widgets to be seen. But if too many people play with your widget, it can start to become a pain. It can happen. A story on InsideFacebook tells about a developer who's had 400,000 people use his widget, and it's really starting to cost him money. He doesn't really have the hardware to handle that type of traffic, and since the widget doesn't generate any money, he's pretty much on his own.

Don Dodge (can that name be real? So dynamic. That's a name that can get things done) talks about how this type of thing happens. Warning: when you check out his article, you'll notice his picture in the top left corner. DO NOT STARE DIRECTLY INTO THE EYES. They're hypnotic. You'll wake up naked in the desert buried up to your neck. Dodge has some good ideas and explanation of this phenomenon, and some ideas on how it can be used to make enough cash to support your ever promiscuous widget. And while Don Dodge's parents are probably proud of what their son is doing, they've got to be a little disappointed that with such a fantastic name he didn't become a spy, or a cowboy, or some sort of intense figure where he could shoot at someone while yelling something witty at them like "get the hell out of Dodge." It's sad, really.

[via] Download Squad

Microsoft Silverlight coming to a Linux box near you

The largest hurdle towards widespread adoption of Microsoft's Flash/AIR competitor "Silverlight" may have just gotten a little smaller. Miguel De Icaza, developer of the open source .Net-alike platform Mono and star employee of Novell has recently mentioned on his blog that he and a team of develpoers have been putting in extremely long days to implement Microsoft's new portable platform on Linux.

Dubbed "Moonlight", the project isn't ready for release just yet but Icaza published some excellent screenshots and is currently showing off his new baby to ReMix 2007 conference in France.

The addition of a competitive platform to Flash on Linux could mean we'll see Adobe step up development efforts. The short story -- and our sincere hope -- is, that could mena much shorter waits for equal Flash versions to our Windows pals.

[via The Inquirer]

[via] Download Squad

How to backup your Blogger blog entries

Given how Google doesn't have a perfect record of you know, not accidentally disabling accounts, you might be looking for a good way to backup data you've got stored on Google servers. For Gmail, the simplest method is probably to save your messages to Outlook or Thunderbird.

But backing up your blog using Google's Blogger isn't quite as straightforward. A few months ago we told you about BlogBackupOnline, a service that lets you make backup copies of blogs posts, whether you're using Blogger, Wordpress, TypePad or most other popular services.

If you're using Blogger, and you'd rather save your data on your desktop, you might want to check out Blogger Backup. There's no support for saving images, (something BlogBackupOnline recently added), but Blogger Backup is extraordinarily quick and easy to use.

On your first run, you can save all of your posts, or just your last 10, 25, 50, or 100. You can also set it to perform full backups or incremental backups, and to save each post as a separate file or every post as one XML file. Future releases will let you save posts as HTML or PDF files.

[via Digital Inspiration]

[via] Download Squad

How to Add/Hide software in Add/Remove programs

Ever want to remove some of those little programs you never use that ship with Windows XP? Sure, they're not taking up much space, and hard drives are cheap these days. But it's the principle of the thing, right? And some of these programs don't show up on the Windows XP Add/Remove programs menu.

Well, it appears that the only thing keeping you from uninstalling WordPad, Pinball, or other programs is one word in the sysoc.inf file. You can find sysoc.inf by navigating to \Windows\INF\sysoc.inf. If you open the file in Notepad, you should see a list of programs, most of which will be followed by the word "hide."

All you have to do is delete the word "hide," and save the file. Now when you go to Add/Remove programs, the unhidden programs will be there. Note that not every program can be removed just because you've unhidden it. For example you can't uninstall terminal services.

Sysoc.inf doesn't seem to exist in Windows Vista. Does anyone know if there's a similar trick for uninstalling hidden programs in Vista?

[via IntelliAdmin]

[via] Download Squad

Walk It: Mapquest for British walkers

Google has added public transit info for some cities, although it looks like we'll have to wait a little while before Google Transit expands beyond a limited number of cities. And HopStop gives you transit and walking directions in a limited number of US cities.

But so far most services that provide directions online assume you're driving a car. Mapquest, Google Maps, and pretty much everybody else calculates time based on driving time, and distance based on streets. If you try to follow those directions on foot, you could end up on the highway, or at the very least going unnecessarily out of your way to follow one-way streets.

Walk It is aimed squarely at people on foot. It only covers a few British cities right now (Edinburgh, Birmingham and central London). It'd be nice to see someone develop one service that can provide driving, walking, and public transit directions fro a whole country. But until then, it's nice to see services like Walk It pop up to fill the gap.

One thing that's a bit odd about Walk It's map is that you pull the scrollbar on the left down to zoom in, and up to zoom out, which is the opposite of Google Maps, Mapquest and other services.

[via AppScout]

[via] Download Squad

Microsoft puts end to independent Longhorn Reloaded project

Just a few weeks after the independent developers of Longhorn Reloaded hit milestone 1, Microsoft has effectively shut the project down with a cease and desist notice.

Longhorn reloaded is an operating system based on an early release of Windows Longhorn, including features that were abandoned by the time Vista came out. It's really not at all surprising that Microsoft has asked the project to shut down, seeing as nobody bothered to get permission from Microsoft to use its intellectual property before spending the time and energy necessary to turn Longhorn into a usable OS.

One interesting side note: if you read the message posted on the JoeJoe forums, you'll notice that the author doesn't say development is stopping. Rather, the note reads "we are no longer able to provide you with a download link to longhorn reloaded." It might not be worth reading too much into that statement.

After all, there are already at least a handful of people who downloaded the image of Longhorn Reloaded M1 Technical Refresh. So perhaps, the message just acknowledges that the image exists and will no longer be publicly available. But it could also mean that development and distribution will now simply move from a public forum to the shady back alleys of the internet.

[via CNet]

[via] Download Squad