Dual monitor users: You can configure your dual-headed beast to display different wallpaper backgrounds on each monitor. The How-To Geek introduces the incredibly useful process which can be completed without installing third party software. The process is tricky and a little bit of a pain in the ass, so if anyone knows of a handy third-party app or tip that can do the trick more easily, please share in the comments.

Schedule reminders on previously mentioned SMS reminder service PingMe with a phone call to the voice-to-text service, Jott. Once you set it up, it works like this:

You call Jott’s toll free number and they say “Who’d you want to Jott?”… You say “GoPingMe”… Jott says “BEEP”… You say “2 days, call and wish mom a happy birthday”

From there, Jott transcribes the voice message to text, emails it to your PingMe account, and PingMe sets up an SMS or email reminder of the event.

Linux users: You can control Compiz Fusion from the tray with the Fusion Icon package. The purpose of Fusion Icon is to restore the control panel functionality to the system tray originally introduced by Beryl. The Tom-buntu weblog introduces the package, which comes as a DEB and requires registration with the Ubuntu Forums to download (until the package gets hosted elsewhere). I find Fusion Icon to be particularly convenient since my install of Compiz Fusion crashes every other day or so. After installing the package, it can be launched with the command fusion-icon.

Toggle the case of any selected text in Microsoft Office applications between all lowercase, all uppercase or smart initial letter capitalisation with the Shift-F3 keyboard shortcut. This shortcut isn’t everday-useful for most of us, but if you do a lot of formatting in Word—especially from all lowercase emails or the like—the smart first letter capitalisation is awesome. If your text ends with punctuation, the shortcut will recognize it as a sentence and capitalise only the first letter of the sentence. The only thing that would put this over the top would be support for capitalising proper names that are already in the Office dictionary (you’ll still need to proof for missed capitalisations), but in all it’s potentially a very handy shortcut. Works in any MS Office app, Windows or Mac.

Sick of holding your iPod, iPhone, or other portable video player in your lap like a chump while all the other cool cats in the plane/train/automobile sit their portable devices in a trendy yet elegant stand? DIY web site Instructables details how you can make your own iPhone or iPod stand on the super cheap with nothing but a business card. The results are neither trendy nor elegant, but the price is right. Tried it this morning and it worked like a charm.

The MPAA’s GetAmnesty program is extorting consumers with intimidating ultimatums, according to weblog TorrentFreak.

Most likely you use more than one computer in the course of a day—a work computer and a home computer, maybe even a laptop and a desktop. That means you’ve got at least two workspaces that can get horrendously out of sync if you don’t keep them in check. The key to staying productive at all your computers is building a consistent workspace—that is, a computing environment that is the same (where it counts) everywhere you use a computer. Today we’ll highlight several methods for creating consistent workspaces so that whether you’re at home or work, your bookmarks, essential files and folders, favorite applications, email, and calendars are all in perfect harmony.