Sunday, September 30, 2007
Assess Your Sleeping Habits
7:00AM Wendy Boswell | The BBC’s Science and Nature section has an interesting quiz titled the “Sleep Profiler”, a quick (took me about 5 minutes) assessment tool you can use to figure out how to make the most of your sleepy time. My quiz results told me that I have a pretty good handle on how much sleep I’m getting, but that I may want to lay off the caffeine late at night—there was actually a whole page of results directed at my unique answers that turned out to be very helpful. So! If you have a few minutes, take the assessment and share your results in the comments. Sleep Profiler [BBC Science] More »
Create a Professional Video Short with Animoto
6:00AM Wendy Boswell | If you’re looking for new and exciting ways to share your pics with friends and family, you’ll want to check out Animoto, a site that lets you create professional looking video slideshows. You can import your pictures from online or from your computer, as well as choose music, which images to feature, and lots more. A full-length video costs a measly $3 or you can buy an all-access pass which gives you unlimited full-length videos for an entire year for $30; however, I found that the 30 second shorties served my purposes just fine. Animoto More »Make Noise Reduction Headphones for $20
5:00AM Wendy Boswell | You can head down to your local stereo store and get fleeced for about $150 (or more) to buy a good pair of noise reduction headphones; or you can watch this video demonstration from Metacafe on how to hack your very own noise reducing headphone set for around $20. You can find the headphones that the video talks about at any home improvement store—all together, this simple DIY project takes about five minutes (not counting your visit to the store). Definitely worth a try, especially since these things are so dang expensive. Headphone Hack! Make You Own Noise Eliminating Headset! Video [Metacafe via Wise Bread] More »
Run Faster Without Rebooting Restarting
4:00AM Wendy Boswell | If Firefox has a flaw to get bummed about, it’s that it slows down your machine after a few hours of steady computing. Digital Inspiration has a workaround for this that (yay!) does not include any sort of restart:
Start Firefox and export your bookmarks as a file on your hard-drive (we’ll need them later).
Type firefox.exe – P in the Run box of Windows.
Click the Create Profile button without making any modifications to your existing profile (which is normally called “default”)
That should do it; now, when you start Firefox in your new profile, you should be up to speed (get it?). Sure, it won’t have all the tweaks of your old profile, but if you’re just looking for a CPU break, this might be the way to go.
Firefox Running Slow? Make It Fast Again Without Re-Installation [Digital Inspiration]
More » 
Do You Sign The Back Of Your Credit Cards?
3:00AM Wendy Boswell | One of the most common ways to guard yourself against credit card misuse is to sign the back of your card, so that merchants can check the signature on your card with that on your ID. Right? Well, maybe not. According to financial blog The Tao of Making Money, the best practice is not to sign it. Here’s our official advice on signing the strip on the back: Don’t sign it. It’s useless as a deterrent, as anyone who takes your card then has a sample of your signature which they can not only use on any charge slip, but on your cheques as well. However, do not leave the white strip blank. In that space, write: “Ask For Picture ID,” and be prepared to back that up someday when you’re in a hurry and the clerk wants to see a driver’s licence as well as the card. It makes the charge transaction a little longer, but a lot safer. I’ve been doing this for years and while it’s not a perfect solution, it certainly is better than nothing. Let’s hear your thoughts on this: signing, or not signing? You know what to do. Sign The Back Of Your Credit Cards – Useless Fraud Prevention Advice? [The Tao of Making Money] More »
How to Deal With a Verbally Abusive Person
2:00AM Wendy Boswell | Ever been in an argument that starts getting really nasty really quick? Self-improvement site Pick the Brain suggests that you put a stop to it: Firmly but calmly state: “You’re very angry right now and you’re saying things you don’t mean (give them the benefit of the doubt). I’m going to excuse myself. We can talk again after you calm down.” Then leave the room or ask them to leave. Not only does this give the hothead time to cool down and reconsider his/her choice of words, it also saves you from retorting with words you probably will regret. Resolving Conflicts Quickly and Peacefully [Pick the Brain] More »
