Zune: Use Your Zune as an External Hard Drive
We've already told you how to use your Zune as a portable hard drive so your Zune can double as an external drive, but if you've tried the hack and had some trouble dragging files to your Zune, the video above not only demonstrates the fix, but also takes you on a step-by-step through the registry hacking required to enable the Windows Explorer browsing. It's our opinion that every portable media device should double as an external hard drive (though the trend with Zunes, iPhones, and the like is to disable disk modes), so if you're bummed about this deficiency on your Zune, this simple hack should do the trick.
Microsoft Outlook 2007 offers one-click access to a map of your contact's location. Fill in a contact address and click the "Map this" button on the contact tab to launch MSN Maps in your default browser, where you can get directions to and from the location. The question is, how do you change the map service to something other than MSN? First person to post how in the comments gets a cookie. 
Finance blogger JD Roth says a budget makes him want to spend more money, so he uses a "spending plan" instead to map out what cash will go where. JD writes: 
Calculate your personal CO2 production and offset as many tons as you'd like with a donation to a carbon reduction project at the PopTech Carbon Initiative. A joint venture of online auction site eBay and the PopTech Conference, the PopTech Carbon Initiative chose three specific projects users can donate to that offset the environmental impact. Unlike some other carbon offset brokers, the projects were chosen not only for proven impact, but for their contributions to social and economic development in communities, according to PopTech volunteers. There are, of course, 
Reader Brett writes in with an interesting observation about his shared iTunes library, which he plays from his laptop and his desktop: 
After just four weeks of their public beta, financial management web site Mint is already boasting over 50,000 members and managing over $2 billion of their money, and early next week Mint is launching several new features intended to improve its already impressive all-in-one money management tool. There's no question that this snazzy web application deserves of much of its hype, but is it ready for your money?
I'm not quite as cynical or concerned about my security with Mint, especially after having read 
Receive Low Balance, Due Bills, High Spending, and Other Alerts
Drill Into Your Spending Trends
Transactions Overview
Add New Accounts to Mint
Get an Overview of All Your Accounts at a Glance
Edit Your Accounts
Set a Budget for Any Spending Category
Mint takes a look at your bills, spending, and credit cards, then suggests ways you can save money through different offers. In fact, Mint makes its money through these referrals. Some of them are sponsored deals through Mint partners and some are not, but Mint will always suggest the best offer first. 
Likewise, Mint can save you money with the 
The most notable and practical drawback to Mint came in the form of strangely named, incomplete transaction descriptions (the imported name was strange—the actual transaction name at the originating financial institution was more descriptive). As a result, I ran into problems setting up renaming rules for transactions in Mint. For example, a transaction that read in my checking account (at the actual US Bank web site) as "Web Authorized Payment AT&T" showed up in Mint as "Web Payment" or something along those lines. I set Mint to automatically rename this transaction to AT&T, but then every Web Authorized Payment in my account was renamed AT&T, although some were gas or water and power bills. Similarly, "Purchase with PIN" shows up in the ledger as "With," which is not terribly helpful. Next to the all-in-one account integration, automation is Mint's biggest draw—which means these sort of minor issues need worked out before you can set up renaming rules with complete confidence (especially since you can't currently undo renaming rules). On the flip side, Mint claims to accurately identify and rename 90% of imported transactions without any need for user import, compared to Quicken's 40% (their numbers).
You've got your computer tweaked and streamlined so that every program, bookmark, and password you count on is at your disposal whenever you need it, but what happens when your computer crashes and suddenly all this data is gone? Sure, you've already 
Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Web-based instant messaging service Meebo connects to any and every IM chat client you can shake an avatar at, and now the popular in-browser chat application integrates tightly with your Firefox sidebar with the new Meebo Firefox extension. The extension supports visual IM notifications and drag and drop link and image sharing directly from web sites in addition to other already existing Meebo features—including 
After you install, you can either sign in to accounts individually or sign in to your Meebo account, which holds all of your different account credentials so you can sign in to multiple IM accounts at once.
Once connected, you've got a simple contact management pane in the sidebar that you can view or collapse easily. You can even drag web content onto contact names to automatically open a new IM and share the link or image. In the meantime, your IM conversations all take place inside a Meebo tab, which is automatically opened when you sign in. The Meebo extension is free, should work wherever Firefox does. I know there are tons of Meebo fans out there, so let us know how the new extension is working out for you in the comments.
Web application Popfly takes a building block approach to mashup creation, allowing regular folks like us to connect services like Flickr, Twitter, and maps to your heart's content and your creativity's limit. It's all available through a drag and drop interface somewhere along the lines of 
Flummox your coworkers with an "Insert Coin" message on the office printer using the HP Printer Job Language (HPPJL) command set. The Hackszine blog describes how to customize the Ready prompt on HP printers' LED display with a few simple commands: 
Windows only: Get a customized Open and Save dialog box (with details, icons, or lists) with OpenWide, an application that does what Windows does not. You can already customize the views of your individual folders using Folder Options in the Explorer, but unfortunately, your saved view does not extend to dialog boxes. The application is extremely small (72KB) but many might find the default System Tray icon feature unnecessary. Fortunately, the tray icon can be disabled. For those who often save files and need detailed information quickly, this application comes in handy (though Windows itself should really support this without the need of an extra app). OpenWide is a Windows-only freeware application for personal use. 
The Digital Inspiration weblog found a hidden Facebook feature—the ability to view your friends as a grid of profile pictures. Here's how: 
Macworld says there are a few things you can do to clean up and prepare your Mac before you take the leap to OS X 10.5 Leopard. Install the latest versions of your current applications (many are rolling out Leopard updates), clean up your hard drive, uninstall unneeded software, run the Apple hardware test and repair your hard drive using Disk Utility. The list of file and folder deletion candidates is especially impressive. First there are the usual culprits like Documents and Applications, but to dig deeper and rid yourself of cruft, look in:
Web site Cool Tools recommends the Lee Valley Jar Opener, an unassuming piece of strategically shaped metal that takes all the work out of wrestling a jar open: 
That 20-page report you've been writing for weeks suddenly disappear from your hard drive? Weblog Hack College lists 10 ways you may be able to recover an accidentally deleted Word document, including searching your hard drive for Word's AutoRecover backup file: 
Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac, due sometime after Macworld San Francisco this winter, has been the subject of much obsession among Mac folk ever since Apple started the Intel transition, mostly because the current incarnation of Mac Office, 2004, runs like a dog on Apple's Intel machines and hasn't seen a code change in over four years. While we're satisfied that at least Microsoft is consistent (they often go 4 years between Windows Office releases, too), we were really hoping Office 2008 would've been Office 2007 (or Office 2006). 
We all know how to 
Gmail Mobile 1.5: Disable "Sent from Gmail for Mobile" in Settings
Gmail Mobile 1.5: Preload unread mail in Settings
Gmail Mobile 1.5: Search mail
Gmail Mobile 1.5: Choose which labels appear in the menu
Gmail Mobile 1.5: Customize your "Go to" menu
Gmail Mobile 1.5: Viewing labelled messages
Gmail Mobile 1.5: Contacts view
Gmail Mobile 1.5: "Go to" menu with selected labels
Gmail Mobile 1.5: Inbox view
Windows only: Copy and paste text and files between computers on your Local Area Network (LAN) with free, open source application BeyondCopy. Just set up BeyondCopy on every Windows computer you'd like to use it with (it can handle several) by installing the utility and entering in the hostname of each computer you want to share with. Once each computer is set up, BeyondCopy automatically syncs your clipboard between computers each time you copy something, including text and files; you can then paste the same clipboard contents on any connected computer. We've 
If you've had trouble running your BitTorrent downloads around an overzealous firewall or ISP throttling, weblog TorrentSpy describes how to bypass any firewall or ISP throttle by running your BitTorrent traffic through SSH. You're likely to see a drop in download speed compared with a normal connection with this method, but if you're already missing out on your downloads altogether due to a firewall or throttling, it's better than nothing. Granted, some of these restrictions are in place for good reasons, but if you've felt the 
Mac OS X only: Shareware application Lights Out is your Mac's default Energy Saver tool on steroids, allowing users to set very specific energy saving settings. From setting the time before your monitor dims to automatic logout or shutdown to hot corners for quick sleeping, this simple application takes control of nearly every energy-related aspect of your Mac. Lights Out is free to try, costs $8.99 for a license. We normally steer clear of shareware apps around here when we can, but in the spirit of 
We've all heard about "magic hour"—those hours around sunrise and sunset that produce the best natural-light photography and filming conditions—but photography weblog Photojojo offers a simple tip for knowing when your outdoor pics will produce that soft magic hour look: "Photograph outdoors when your shadow is longer than you are." Doing so will ensure you don't end up with harshly lit, high-contrast photos that don't do justice to you and your loved ones' beautiful faces or the soft nuance of the fall colors. Lighting-wise, the post also suggests that overcast days can be terrific for fall photography. If you're looking for more ways to boost your fall photos, the author offers several other tips for great fall photos worth checking out.
Microsoft recently announced a slate of updates to their Live Search features for mobile users, including a free 411 service and voice input for search features on Windows Mobile devices. Live Search 411 (800-CALL-411, or 800-225-5411) offers some 
Customizable homepage Netvibes has started making its widgets available on a multitude of both online and desktop environments—Windows Vista, iGoogle, the Apple Dashboard and the Opera browser, to name a few. About 1,000 of the roughly 90,000 Netvibes widgets(!) are cross-platform at the moment, with more to come.
The next version of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard will be 
Tech site the How-To Geek puts Microsoft Outlook 2007's To-Do Bar through the paces, demonstrating how to create, categorize, complete, organize, and flag tasks using it. I haven't used Outlook on a daily basis since my escape to the freelance life, but most people with office jobs live in it. Are you using Outlook's To-Do manager to GTD? What do you love or hate about it? Let us know in the comments.
Keep your textbooks in good condition to sell them back post-semester with a good cover—made of duct tape! It's not just for 
Conventional wisdom is that buying a home is a sound investment, and renting is throwing money out the window every month. But finance blogger Millionaire Mommy Next Door says that renting resulted in significant savings over buying a home: 
The holiday travel season is just around the bend, meaning if you're planning to fly the friendly skies this Thanksgiving or Chrismukkah, you've either already bought your tickets or you're about to. But instead of following the time-honored holiday tradition of spending an arm and a leg on pricey tickets or frantically running through the airline terminal to catch your flight this year, follow these simple steps to ensure your trip is as inexpensive and relaxing as it is streamlined.
If you have a specific airline you want to fly—say, for example, you generally travel in and out of a hub—you can also find great deals going directly to the source. Head to your airline of choice's homepage and do a search there, or sign up to receive promotions and fare watches from the airline. This method won't always give you the best results—and it's not terribly efficient if you don't know what airline you want to travel—but it can be a great way to find deals. Of course everyone has their favorite methods, so 
Windows only: Quickly upload any file directly from Windows Explorer via your right-click menu with freeware application RightLoad. After you've installed and set up your FTP server, uploading any file to your FTP is as simple as right-clicking the file(s), choosing the server, and selecting the directory you want to upload the file(s) into; RightLoad takes care of the rest. Once the files are uploaded, this brilliant little utility generates links to the files or markup for linking to or embedding the file you've uploaded so it's easy to share the link with a friend or add it to a web site. It can even automatically create thumbnails for images or rename duplicate files. RightLoad is freeware, Windows only. 
HowStuffWorks
Self-improvement site Life Coaches has a very good article on the real reason we need to make those changes we've been kind of thinking about doing, but keep putting off: 
The standard advice for the size of an emergency fund is enough money for three to six months of expenses; however, that's not necessarily an obtainable goal for many of us. Financial advice blog Wise Bread suggests that you aim for at least one month's worth of emergency money to cover your bare-bones expenses, and have it stashed where you can get to it quickly in case of an emergency. One month is the minimum—it's a good start on the road to the preferable three to six month fund. What tips do you have for those looking to build up an emergency money stash? Thoughts in the comments. 
Keep a running track of your bills by using index cards. Office productivity blog Web Worker Daily has more: 
Have you given much thought to what your old age will look like? The Happiness Project suggests that we prepare ourselves as much as possible for a healthy old age—at least, as much as it is up to us. For instance, regular exercise, proper care of your teeth, and applying sunscreen are all part of the equation, as well as choosing to be happy and exercising your brain. What's your best tip for a healthy old age? Let's hear it in the comments. 
We all have times when our energy is just blah, and we're just generally in a pissy mood. Instead of taking out that frustration on our work or other people, Life Learning Today suggests that we learn to recognize when these "down cycles" are coming our way: 
Build a bird feeder that those pesky squirrels will not be able to get into with Instructables' step by step tutorial. Materials are all available at your local hardware store for less than $10 (your mileage may vary, but a quick walkthrough of my local big box priced me at around $12, so not much of a difference), and while the process is somewhat labor-intensive, it's still doable in under a couple of hours and will cost you less than the squirrel-proof feeders you can buy already made. 
Internet Explorer only: Keep obsessive tabs on multiple airfare trip price changes with the Yapta Tagger, currently available only for Internet Explorer. Here's how it works: after downloading the Tagger, you go to the various travel sites that Yapta has a relationship with (most airlines are covered, as well as Expedia and Travelocity) and dream up an itinerary. Enter in the necessary information and tag it to your My Trips —from here on out, Yapta will keep track of any time that travel package price changes. 
If you're looking for a way to make your book money go a little further, try buying books on a Thursday. Financial blog Everything Finance has more: 
Sometimes, the solution to becoming more creative can't be arrived at by traditional thinking. Writing pro Copyblogger suggests that we try to frame ideas in a metaphorical way instead in order to see angles we might not have come up with otherwise. Why? Because logical thinking tends to follow a linear pattern, while metaphors are symbolic—which can potentially unlock our creative side. How do you unleash that creativity inside of you? Let's hear in the comments. 
Gift wrap supplies are probably the last thing on the priority list to get organized, but as we dash headlong into the holiday season very soon, it's probably a good idea to start thinking about it. Organizational blog Unclutterer suggests using a plastic organizer specifically for gift wrap supplies to make this happen; however, you could also use a simple plastic shoe organizer or a flat bin that slides under your bed for easy access. How do you organize your gift wrap supplies, if you have any? Let's hear in the comments. 
If you're researching medical terms, you might want to check out Curehunter, a medical dictionary that allows you to search for disease, drug, or therapy information. Type in any term that fits in these parameters, and you'll get in-depth explanations as well as a visual "tree" of related terms. Click on any of these terms to explore relationships; not all of them are necessarily absolutely relevant to your original query, but they do provide good fodder for further research. 
Don't have time for a lengthy explanation of shutter speed, exposures, and framing? No problem. You can get the basics of really good digital photography simply and quickly with iDigitalPhoto's sixty second guide to improving your photos. A lot of ground is covered here: anything from lighting to depth of feeling. By the time you finish reading you should have a firmer grasp on what it takes to take a better photo.
1. Turn on printer sharing (Mac)
2. Detect shared printers with Bonjour (Windows)
3. Install the printer's driver (Windows)
4. Send documents to your new printer (Windows)
PC World offers a guide to giving objects in your digital photos a distinct focus by singling them out as the only color in a black-and-white background. We've offered tips on using desaturation and the History Brush to 
As a parent of two young children, reader Jonathan wanted to lessen his impact on the environment and save money at the same time. Enter cloth diapers: 
Anyone with a pet could implement this green hack via reader Brad at 
Reader John H. came upon an old discarded crib and 
Instead of using an expensive car wash or gallons of water in your driveway, the next time you wash your car try using microfiber washcloths instead. Reader Leif has 
Reader Josh brings his own mug to coffee shops instead of using disposable containers: 
If you can't keep your hands off your nephew's Mr. Potato Head, you might enjoy playing with 
Most mobile users are interested in knowing just how well their battery is faring. On the Mac, a great (and thankfully, free) option is a utility called 
If you've ever bought a DVD that wouldn't play on your DVD player due to region incompatibilities (the film industry's attempt at protecting their distribution system), Wired's guide to cheat DVD regional encoding is for you. The cheapest solution: 
iPhone Dev team offers 1.1.1 Jailbreak
Windows only: Connect to and manage multiple remote desktop connections—supporting RDP, VNC, SSH2, and Telnet protocols—in a friendly tabbed interface with free, open source application mRemote. While you could run multiple instances of the Windows Remote Desktop application along with your other remote connections, mRemote allows you to connect to and manage them all from one place without cluttering up your taskbar or running several different applications. Whether you're 
We've heard a thousand times that thinking outside the box (i.e., looking at a problem from outside an established set of rules) is an important skill for problem solving, but weblog Read/WriteWeb suggests that thinking inside the box has its own benefits.
Get reminders of time-specific del.icio.us bookmarks via RSS (with SMS, email, and IM reminders to come) with web application TagMindr. To use it, just tag any del.icio.us bookmark with "tagmindr" as well as the date you'd like to receive the reminder like so: "remind:YYYY-MM-DD". Then grab your TagMindr RSS feed from the home page and and your bookmark will end up in your newsreader when the remind date rolls around. Whether you're a prolific bookmarker who often lets bookmarks slip through the cracks or you just bookmarked a killer Halloween costume and you want a reminder later in the month, TagMindr's simple, clever solution could be perfect for you.
The Official 