The Best Ways To De-Stink Your Stuff 
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From Saucy Pics To Passwords: How To Share Sensitive Information 
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New flybuys Earns Discounts Faster (But They're Not Good Discounts) The Zen Habits blog comes up with a nice way of using planning and productivity to pare back your working week. It basically consists of setting targets of the days and hours you wish to work, paring down to the essential tasks you need to do, and tightening up on time eaters like emails etc. This approach interests me as a freelancer who is free to set my own work hours, but the author also has some tips for employees who want to claw back a few hours in the week for their own projects.
Limit your work week [Zen Habits]
Windows only: Free, open source application SmartCam turns your Symbian Series 60 smartphone into a wireless Bluetooth webcam. Just install the program in Windows (works in XP and Vista) and install the client to your smartphone (be sure to follow the readme in the \win\installer directory). When it’s all set up, your SmartCam works with Skype and most other video chat services, meaning that if your computer doesn’t have a webcam but you’ve got Bluetooth and a Symbian smartphone, you’re in luck. SmartCam is a free download, Windows only.
SmartCam [SourceForge via Inspect My Gadget]Record and share real-time (but not live) drawings and whiteboards with YouTube-like embedded videos at web site Sketchcast. Sketchcast’s intro video (above) touts the product as a potentially new style of blogging, but it seems better described as a way to share whiteboard ideas online. On the other hand, if you’re looking to collaborate with a live whiteboard online, check out previously mentioned Skrbl and Scriblink.
SketchcastMobile web start page Paged Mobile provides shorthand web navigation from their mobile start page. From its short URL (http://pa.gd/) to its web URL shorthand (which generally uses the first four letters of a URL followed by the last), most popular shortcuts on Paged only require four keystrokes. For example, you can navigate to Lifehacker by entering lifr, or Remember the Milk with remk. In addition, Paged Mobile employs YubNub web command line-like operators and shortcuts, so you can search Wikipedia by typing .wp Lifehacker (searches Wikipedia for Lifehacker). Granted, you’ve probably already got a lot of your favourites bookmarked in your mobile browser anyway, but Paged Mobile’s simple shorthand makes it a very useful mobile start page.
Paged mobileYouTube will begin adding 30-second bumper ads to video clips starting in 2008, according to DirectTraffic. Guess we’ll have to wait and see how intrusively it’s implemented and if TubeStop can still block ads. UPDATE: As pointed out by our savvy tech gossip brothers at Valleywag, the source story is fishy at best (dated as 23/04/07… damn backwards dates!), so the report should be taken with a microscopic grain of salt at best. [via Gizmodo]
Shorten cords and reduce cable clutter with cheap cable management solutions Cableyoyo (pictured) and CordHog. Each device provides a simple method for wrapping up extraneous cable length when you don’t need the full length of the cord, but Cableyoyo’s sleek design is more geared for display while CordHogs are more of a simple behind-the-scenes option. Sure you could use your own ties or velcro straps in many situations, but if you really hate the look of extra cord length, these inexpensive solutions might be up your alley.
Cableyoyo [via Unclutterer] CordHogWeb utility URL Split creates single URLs that direct users to up to seven different web sites. For example, clicking this link five times will direct you to five of my recent Hack Attack Features in the order I linked them (one, two, three, four, and five). The site is built on an interesting idea, but in practice it could use some work—in particular, one would expect to be able to continue following the link chain from each link location (through some sort of proxy hosting). As is you have to continue opening the same link in a new tab until you see that it repeats, which really just causes more ambiguity than it’s worth. If it worked as I suggested, though, URL Split could be a nice tool for sharing simple link tours or step-by-steps.
URL Split [via MakeUseOf]Stop your headache before it starts by following MSNBC’s eight daily reminders designed to help you nip any potential headaches in the bud, starting with: 7 a.m.: Abide the alarm Snoozing in for more than an hour can disrupt your sleep-wake cycle, and anything that tinkers with your body’s natural rhythms may prime you for pain…. Commit to waking up (and going to bed) at the same time every day — yes, that includes weekends, too.
The article also suggests sticking with your caffeine habit (though it will just perpetuate the problem), adjusting your posture, drinking lots of water and exercise—among other headache savers. Photo by powerbooktrance.
How to stop a headache before it starts [MSNBC]US-centric: In the past 10 years, the internet has completely revolutionised the way we shop—so much so that there’s rarely a compelling reason to make purchases offline anymore. But the rise of online shopping has also given rise to an ocean of choice, and you want to make sure you’re getting the best deals available to you. If you’re a die-hard bargain shopper, you can spend tonnes of time looking for deals on the internet—and you can be very successful. But if you don’t have an abundance of time to dedicate to bargain hunting, you can still save buckets of cash by following just a few simple tips.
Add a little flair to your filing cabinet with custom labels. Blogger Aaron Propst cut the company letterhead off his bills and used them as folder labels for easy visual identification. This project is a time investment, but the result looks good and may make filing a little quicker and easier.
File Faster, Pull Icons Off of Your Bills [Blarg]
