So Santa left a brand new computer under the tree this year, eh? Lucky you! If you’re spending the holiday setting up a new Mac or PC, it’s time to get filled with free software cheer. While the Lifehacker editors take today off to throw back some eggnog, you can point your clicker at a holiday feast of power tips and downloads. Trick out your new rig with our favorite system tweaks and downloads for Windows XP, Vista, Mac, and Linux. Windows XP and Vista Top 10 Free Windows Downloads“Our top picks of free Windows software downloads that will make your PC faster, stronger, more functional and productive.”
Weblog Inspect My Gadget explains how to use batch files to create a quick working environment—launching every document and application you need to get straight to work—using a Windows stalwart, the batch script. The post is actually very similar to my quick launch workspaces, which I use to get my workspace from zero to productive in just a few keystrokes, but provides a few different examples to demonstrate other ways you might get more from your workspace batch scripts. For more on how you can use batch scripts to be productive, check out how we used batch scripts to take Launchy beyond application launching.
How-to: Use batch files to create a working environment [Inspect My Gadget]It’s no secret that Google’s desktop chat application, Google Talk, has been somewhat stagnant, particularly in comparison to the major jumps that have been taken with the web-based chat app. Web site MakeUseOf has rounded up three different Google Talk add-ons designed to add more functionality to Google’s lagging chat application: gAlwaysIdle, GPlus, and Extended Talk. The first let’s you set yourself as idle manually so you can avoid distractions when you need to get to work or set it to never switch to idle in those event when you don’t want people to know you’re away from your computer; GPlus adds tons of personalization features for the customization lover and local chat logging; and Extended Talk adds productivity features like text expansion for commonly used features (sort of like Texter). If you’re a desktop Google Talk lover looking for a bit more control, these add-ons are a nice kick in GTalk’ stagnant butt. With that in mind, I’m wondering:
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Addons to Make Google Talk Better [MakeUseOf]Windows only: Download MP3s from your favourite web browser directly to your iTunes library from the right-click menu with freeware application Tunestor. Next time you find a great and free song on the web with sites like SeeqPod, SkreemR, or one of the other many MP3 search engines, all you’ve got to do is right-click the link and select Download Directly to iTunes. Tunestor can also install some social music software if you’d like to try it out, which submits the URL of the song you’ve downloaded to their servers, but for a quick method of adding a great new song to your iTunes library, Tunestor offers a pretty smart solution. Tunestor is freeware, Windows only, works with Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Tunestor [via FreewareGenius]Nothing brings out the inner OCD like clothing pills—those tiny bits of lint and cloth that form on sweaters, coats, and other knitted or woven fabrics. Lifehacker Reader Michael K. tried rollers, tape, and all the usual methods to de-pill a fleece, but it wasn’t until a friend recommended buying cheap, disposable safety razors that he found his solution: I draped the jacket over my knee (any hard surface will do), then began to lightly go over the surface with one of the razors. It took a little time, but it totally got all of those fuzzy lint balls off of the jacket.
A little trip through Google shows that other home hackers have used this trick on everything from Rayon to cashmere, while stressing the importance of going light and slow. Those of us who double their sweater collection every holiday season might do well to keep this trick in mind.
If you’ve received a new laptop or LCD monitor recently (or might get one later this week), there’s a good chance you received a “glossy” or “anti-reflective” screen with it—and a better chance it’ll be pretty smudged by this weekend. Luckily, ZDNet’s The Apple Core blog has a few tips on restoring a glossy screen’s luster that apply to any system. Along with letting the monitor cool off and choosing a microfiber cloth, you should: Clean in small sections … Dividing the display into small areas and then polishing until the entire screen is streak-free will work better than broad swipes with the cloth.
Of course, your standard LCD cleaning rules apply to any screen. How do you keep your new glossy display from looking like an elementary school tech lab system? Offer up some wisdom in the comments. Photo by gepat.
Keep your cool when cleaning a glossy-screen Mac [via Micro Persuasion]Getting your stone and steel ready for a big carving job? Need to figure out how, exactly, you use a stone and steel? The Knife Sharpening Tips blog is relatively new, but already has a good number of tips posted for both beginners and those looking to … hone their technique (sorry). Their “Advice for new knife sharpeners,” for instance, advises practicing first on cheaper blades and using more oil than you’d normally think: Throughout the entire process, you should be able to see a small pool of sharpening lubricant on the stone. If the honing oil or water changes color or gets streaky, that means there’s debris trapped in it. Stop sharpening and rinse the stone off. Then, reapply your lubricant and get back to work.
Photo by joi.
Advice for new knife sharpeners [Knife Sharpening Tips]All platforms: Pen drive-sized operating system Damn Small Linux—the savior of old PCs, non-booting systems and efficiency-minded users everywhere—released its 4.0 version this week. Notable changes include: New drag-and-drop capabilities in the file manager Improved Wi-Fi support (through ndiswrapper, madwifi, and other modules) New GUI interfaces for changing system preferences, managing printers and other tasks Kernel upgrade to 2.4.31, which means better power management and device support
Damn Small Linux is a free download that fits inside less than 50MB, so it’s easily booted from a CD, a USB drive, or an ancient PC with only 8MB of memory. Hit the link below, choose your download mirror and download the dsl-4.0.iso from inside the “current” folder.
Damn Small Linux [via Download Squad]Your couch cushions half the height they were the day you bought ‘em? Real Simple magazine offers an easy way to get them cushy again: Put them outside in the sun for a few hours, flipping them halfway through…The sun will help evaporate the moisture that gets into the filling over time, and the cushions should plump up nicely.
Make sure you set a timer on this, though, because as the mag notes, leaving them out too long can fade the cushion fabric (especially for darker colors).
Plumping Up Deflated Cushions [RealSimple.com]One year ago on Lifehacker, the week Mozilla released it, we listed our top Firefox 2 configuration tweaks. More »
