Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Firefox 3.0 Places Organizer Mockup
11:55PM Gina Trapani | Mozilla developers post a screenshot of what Firefox 3.0’s unified bookmarks, history and downloads manager—named Places—may look like. Being just a mockup, the final product probably won’t turn out exactly like this, but it’s a neat preview of features in the works. Highlights include tags, search and page previews right inside the Places Organizer. After the jump get the full screenshot and a glimpse into the minds of the makers of our favourite browser. (Warning: huge image ahead.) More »
Phishing
11:45PM Lifehacker US Edition | Keep your identity from getting stolen online with eight effective methods to avoid phishing scams. More »
Bring the *nix “ls” to Windows with GNU ls
11:30PM Kyle Pott | Windows only: Freeware app GNU ls brings the common ls terminal command for *nix to the Windows command prompt. Though subtle, this very lightweight download will bring you the nuances of the *nix terminal to Windows. If you’re a heavy command line user or a heavy batch scripter, you’ll appreciate the customisability GNU ls affords. GNU ls is a great companion for *nix heads stuck on Windows systems. More »
Lift Your Mood with 11 Foods
11:00PM Lifehacker US Edition | Can the right foods improve your mood? The Ririan Project claims that they can. In a recent weblog post, they list 11 foods that can improve your attitude and boost your emotions. For example, blueberries are packed with vitamin C, which can alleviate stress, and Brazil nuts contain selenium, which can prevent depression. See also these 10 foods that boost your health. Kick Start Your Day with these 11 Mood Lifting Foods [Ririan Project] More »
Unstick Furniture with a Candle
10:30PM Gina Trapani | Antique furniture lover mkjarval writes in: Any time you have doors or drawers that stick—whether from old age, paint or humidity etc—just rub an old (hopefully white or light coloured) candle over any of the spots that create friction. My mother got this tip from an old family friend who worked as a carpenter and it has helped make a few unusable pieces of furniture work like new again. While we’re talking about household fixes, see also how to silence squeaky floorboards with talcum powder. Thanks, mkjarval! More »Buy a Car Without Getting Screwed
9:00PM Gina Trapani | Car guy Rob Gruhl gives some great, practical advice on how to find, finance and negotiate buying a new car. Hit the play button on this (fast) five-minute clip before you purchase your next set of wheels. Thanks, Brady! More »Ten ways to maximise your broadband value
2:05PM Sarah Stokely | Reader Korian pointed us to a useful piece in The Australian which talks about the current state of play for broadband users in Australia, looking at the practise of ’shaping’ download speeds as well as giving some “sound, no nonsense Aus-centric advice for broadband users”.
It contains ten tips for maximising your broadband value, including:
• PICK an ISP who suits your usage habits. If you’re a dedicated online gamer, pick an ISP that offers free gaming traffic. Conversely, if you’re permanently swapping files via BitTorrent, don’t choose an ISP that automatically shapes P2P traffic.
• PAY your bill the cheapest way possible. Many ISPs charge a service fee for monthly billing or payment by credit card; direct debit is often the cheapest option.
• CHECK for upload rules. Most ISPs don’t count uploads as part of your overall traffic, but some (including Telstra and, in some cases, Optus) do. Avoid these plans, especially if you regularly send large files yourself.
• MAKE sure your ISP supports rapid transfer. Rapid transfer allows you to easily switch to another ISP with minimal disruption if a better plan comes along.
• KEEP your security software up-to-date. If your machine becomes part of an infected “botnet”, your internet usage can skyrocket.
MIS-shaping future of broadband [The Australian]
Thanks, Korian! More » 
Giveaway – Pixar: 20 years of animation exhibition
1:27PM Sarah Stokely | The Pixar love-in continues here at Lifehacker AU with our second giveaway – tickets to see the Pixar: 20 years of animation exhibition at ACMI (the Australian Centre for the Moving Image) in Melbourne.
The exhibition, made up of artwork and digital media borrowed from the Pixar Animation Studios archives, originated at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and makes its only Australian appearance at ACMI.
The exhibition features over 500 sketches, paintings, sculptures and storyboards revealing how Pixar’s characters and worlds are brought to life. In addition to these one-of-a-kind works by artists and sculptors, the exhibition includes spectacular immersive environments and interactive experiences developed by Pixar to extend the magic of their films. ACMI has more information on the exhibition here.
We have five double passes to giveway to the exhibition, which runs until Sunday, 14 October. So if you live in Melbourne (or you’ll be visiting Melbourne between now and then, and promise you’ll go to the exhibition while you’re in town!), then submit your best tip to be in a chance to win a double pass!
We’ll be giving the free passes to readers who submit the top five tips on anything to do with digital video, photo or animation. Could be a tip on editing, could be a tip on taking good photos – it’s up to you how high or low tech you go.
To enter, leave your best tips here in the comments section. If you have multiple tips, leave multiple comments – go mad!
Entries close at 7.59am AEST next Friday – the 21st of September. See here for the official terms and conditions.
And thanks to our friends at ACMI for donating the prizes! :) More » 
Logmein – remote access to your PC
12:08PM Sarah Stokely | Logmein is a free application which allows you to connect and remotely control your PC. It’s not new, but I’m a new fan having used it while I was away at a conference this week. Happily, it works with Vista, as I was using a Vista laptop at the conference to connect to my Vista box at home.
One thing I learned – the remote access does depend on the remote PC being powered on. It sounds like a no-brainer, but I was on autopilot before I left home and put my PC into hibernate mode. I had to make a phone call home to get it turned on, which wouldn’t be possible if you live on your own! So if you intend to use Logmein on the road, make sure you leave your PC turned on!
My one gripe was that if the PC you’re trying to access remotely needs to be powered up, there seems to be a delay of a few minutes before that PC shows up as “online” to you at the remote location. Admittedly, I was attempting to access it from a fairly crappy hotel conference room media centre with Vista machines on an unreliable wireless network, so any of those factors may have contributed to slowing down the remote connection!
We wrote up the use of Logmein as a way to provide remote tech support here. More » 