Amazon is now selling DRM-free MP3 music downloads for 89 to 99 cents a pop. Yeehaw! [via]
AU – Looks like you have to have a US address to buy. :( More »
Google Calendar and Google Reader are now iPhone (and iPod Touch) friendly and Gmail has also undergone a graphical user interface overhaul which looks great on the iPhone, too. Thanks, Ian! More »
Windows only: Inspired by our very own workday QuickLogger script, developer Joshua Tallent’s released QuickLogger 2, a full-fledged graphical work journal application. Keep track of what you worked on today in a plain text file or Excel spreadsheet with QuickLogger 2, which supports both pre-set “static” tasks and unique one-time activities. QuickLogger 2 sets runtime options in its interface—no more hand-editing scripts—like your preferred window position and whether your log will contain static and/or dynamic tasks. QuickLogger 2 can even rotate your log every day, week, month, quarter or year. After the jump get two screenshots of QuickLogger 2 in action. More »
Newly-launched webapp Fuser fetches your email and social networking messages and displays them in a single place to simplify their management. Register at Fuser and then add your Facebook and/or MySpace login details, as well as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AIM or any POP3/IMAP email accounts and see all your messages in Fuser. Fuser isn’t an email client or backup service, mind you—if you delete a message from your Gmail account it will not appear on Fuser. It’s just a single place to see all your stuff. More »
Mac OS X only: Lightweight desktop application Xee browses all the images in a given directory with lots of features and keyboard shortcuts. Flip, rotate or zoom images, move back and forth from one to the next, run a timed slideshow or launch your editor of choice with Xee. Opening multiple files in Preview.app is one thing, but Xee is definitely an even better way to browse a set of images on your Mac. Xee is a free download, Mac only (universal binary.) Thanks, JakeZigler!
Xee 2.0 [MacUpdate]If you’ve been following the evolution of the One Laptop Per Child campaign, you know that along with working to bring cheap computers to kids in developing countries, they’ve also developed an awesome rugged laptop with an indoor/outdoor screen, no moving breakable parts, which requires no external power source, and has mesh networking capabilities. Very cool. Prototypes of the OLPC have been passed around at various geek conferences in Australia recently, but now they’re opening up a limited “Give 1 Get 1″ program so you can fund a laptop for a child in the developing world, and get one for yourself or your own child:
“Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program for a brief window of time. For $US399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home.”
Sounds like an awesome way to do some good, and get your hands on an awesome piece of technology. I suspect I know what a few altruistic geeks will be finding under their Christmas tree this year: More »
No sooner had I whinged about the lack of video on demand services in Australia, when we get news that Aussie startup Bluebox Devices has signed up to offer its VoD (video on demand) service through ISP Internode. According to a story in PC World, Internode expects to launch the service in the first half of 2008. The pair are currently trialling the service with Internode customers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Computer industry mag ARN reported that the trial encompasses 50,000 customers, which seems pretty huge. Last week Bluebox announced it had signed a content deal with Destra. I haven’t bothered contacting Bluebox for comment since both times I’ve approached them I haven’t heard a peep back. But if you’re out there, Bluebox, I’d love in on the trial. ;) You can find out more about Bluebox here.
Here’s another reason for OpenOffice users to upgrade to the latest version. ZDNet reports today that security researchers iDefense have discovered TIFF-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities in OpenOffice, which could allow attackers to remotely execute code on Linux, Windows or Mac PCs. iDefense says OpenOffice versions 2.0.4 and earlier are vulnerable to maliciously crafted TIFF files, which could be delivered via email attachment, published on a Web site or shared using P2P software. The latest version of OpenOffice (version 2.3) was released on 17 September and is not affected by the flaw.
OpenOffice TIFF flaw affects Windows, Linux and Mac [ZDNet] More »
The Age has written up a Vodafone offer giving a year of free GPS to new subscribers to its Vodafone Compass GPS service. The service, only available on the Blackberry Curve 8310 handset, is free if you sign up before 1 December 2007. The normal charges are $2.50 per 24 hour pass, $8 per month or $79 per year. Details of the Vodafone offer are here. The Age article says Vodafone will offer the Compass service on more handsets by Christmas. Telstra offers its Whereis navigation service for $15 a month on the Blackberry 8800. I have to admit I’m a bit of a GPS novice. I’ve tried and liked the Tom Tom, but not used any mobile phone equivalents. I have to admit I like the idea of being able to use the phone GPS to avoid having to have a standalone GPS gadget, so I’d be interested to hear from users who’ve tried mobile phone GPS.
Thanks to the Lifehacker team in both hemispheres, the redirection issues which were making it hard for Australian readers to reach Lifehacker US are now fixed. You should now have no trouble reaching the US site by hitting the “US edition” button at the top of the Lifehacker AU site, or by typing/bookmarking us.lifehacker.com. Hooray! More »
