Experienced Ubuntu users know what to expect from this Thursday’s release of Gutsy Gibbon, the love-it-or-hate-it code name for version 7.10 of the popular Linux distribution. It’s not a major “Long Term Support” release, it’s not a radical re-thinking of the system, but it is another step toward a Linux system that “just works.”
Still, there’s a lot that’s new (or at least now included by default) and very cool here—native support for dual-monitor setups, integrated Firefox tweaks and extensions, instant printer configuration and, of course, more of the Compiz eye candy that’s helping Ubuntu look less like the dowdy younger brother of Windows and Mac. I downloaded, burned and installed the Gutsy release candidate over the weekend and took a few pictures along the way.
Via Make - Here’s a DIY project for making an in-car camcorder mount for video recording on the road.
He prices the materials – 2 feet of 3/4″ aluminum or steel square tube, 2 u-bolts, 4 wing nuts for tool-free installation and an universal mounting screw (or a web cam swivel stand for lighter cameras) – at less than $US15.
Sounds cheap for being able to produce your own “Cops” style home movies, doesn’t it?
It’s totally handsfree, so shouldn’t interfere with your driving. Might get some funny looks though.
We’ve all heard about “magic hour”—those hours around sunrise and sunset that produce the best natural-light photography and filming conditions—but photography weblog Photojojo offers a simple tip for knowing when your outdoor pics will produce that soft magic hour look: “Photograph outdoors when your shadow is longer than you are.” Doing so will ensure you don’t end up with harshly lit, high-contrast photos that don’t do justice to you and your loved ones’ beautiful faces or the soft nuance of the fall colors. Lighting-wise, the post also suggests that overcast days can be terrific for fall photography. If you’re looking for more ways to boost your fall photos, the author offers several other tips for great fall photos worth checking out.
12 Fantastic Fall Photo Tips — Our Extra-Crunchy Guide to Leaf Peaping [Photojojo]Mac OS X only: Shareware application Lights Out is your Mac’s default Energy Saver tool on steroids, allowing users to set very specific energy saving settings. From setting the time before your monitor dims to automatic logout or shutdown to hot corners for quick sleeping, this simple application takes control of nearly every energy-related aspect of your Mac. Lights Out is free to try, costs $US8.99 for a license. We normally steer clear of shareware apps around here when we can, but in the spirit of living greener, Lights Out looks like a great software. If you know of a free alternative, let’s hear it in the comments.
Lights Out [via MacApper]If you’ve had trouble running your BitTorrent downloads around an overzealous firewall or ISP throttling, weblog TorrentSpy describes how to bypass any firewall or ISP throttle by running your BitTorrent traffic through SSH. You’re likely to see a drop in download speed compared with a normal connection with this method, but if you’re already missing out on your downloads altogether due to a firewall or throttling, it’s better than nothing. Granted, some of these restrictions are in place for good reasons, but if you’ve felt the sting of BitTorrent throttling for no good reason, it’s worth a go. Check out our primer on SSH and our big guide to BitTorrent if you want to bone up on either BitTorrent or SSH.
BitTorrent: Bypass any Firewall or Throttling ISP with SSH [TorrentFreak]PC Magazine includes Lifehacker on their Favourite 100 Blogs 2007 list. Thanks, PC Mag!
US – centric: Previously mentioned GOOG-411, Google’s free telephone directory assistance tool, has graduated from Google Labs and gotten a whole new web site. This doesn’t mean much except that Google’s serious about supporting GOOG-411, so the accurate, lightning-fast voice-recognition directory assistance is here to stay. For a lot of us, the cost of an expensive cell phone data plan supersedes the convenience of internet access on your phone, and—likewise—the cost of a call to your traditional 411 service is an expense no one wants to incur. As you can see from the video, the free GOOG-411 is a simple, free way to get on-the-go information from the comfort of your phone for only the cost of a call.
1-800-GOOG-411 [Google]Event organizer webapp Fasterplan creates collaborative “billboards” that help users hammer out the details of an upcoming event. Set up a Fasterplan billboard for your event and drag and drop widgets onto it—like polls (“Where should we eat afterwards?”), date finders (“When’s good for you?”), images, and text notes. Get your event billboard’s permalink and email it out to all your friends to answer the polls and plan your get-together. Check out a sample billboard to see Fasterplan in action.
fasterplannewVideoPlayer("ipodwizard_gawker.flv", 475, 376); While Microsoft decided that old Zunes are getting all the feature updates of the new and improved Zune, Apple left iPod video owners out in the cold with the new iPod classic user interface. Why? Presumably your old money is getting dirty, and Apple would prefer to have your shinier, newer money. If you’d like the new iPod classic interface but you’d very much like to keep your new money, head over to DrivenDesign and download the modified iPod classic for iPod video firmware. The new firmware (obviously) isn’t Apple-supported, and it’s missing a feature here and there (namely Cover Flow), but it’s getting frequent updates and looks promising. My latest classic-style iPod is an aged 3G, so I was unable to give this one a full test. If you try it out, let us know how it worked for you in the comments.
iPod Classic Comes to iPod Video [DrivenDesign]Java-enabled handsets: Google’s released an update to its excellent Gmail Mobile application, which gives you the live Gmail experience on your Java-enabled mobile phone. Version 1.5 adds the ability to search your mail, easy access to your contacts list, more efficient data usage that reduces bandwidth consumption (and load time), and more configurable settings. The downsides: 1.5 still doesn’t support Google Apps for Your Domain, and by default it adds a hideous “Sent from Gmail for mobile” to your sent messages. (Visit the settings area to disable that.) After the jump, some screenshots.
