Mac OS X only: So you erased your hard drive to install Leopard, and now you’ve got to load your Mac up with all your essential software. I kept a detailed inventory of the downloads I hunted down all over the internet to load on my Mac this weekend, so I thought I’d save you a few clicks. Here’s a list of 21 mostly-free downloads with direct links to the download pages.
Last week we put out a call for the best do-it-yourself Halloween costumes lifehackers could come up with, complete with instructions and images. As usual, you did not disappoint. Submissions ranged from the ironically funny Blue Screen of Death to whippin’ it good with Devo; all creative, all completely homemade. After the jump, a ghoulish gallery of horrifyingly hip creations.
Mac OS X Leopard only: If you tried installing our favourite password manager for Mac, KeePassX, on Leopard, you already know it doesn’t work. (When you launch it, it crashes, without ever opening.) Apparently someone who knows more about KeePassX than we do figured out it’s a problem with the Qt development package installed with it. Here’s how to get KeePassX working on Leopard.
Get your home ready for potentially damaging winter storms with eHow’s detailed guide. Tips include rounding up outdoor furniture and items that might fly around in high winds, having a supply of flashlights and candles on hand, and stocking up on emergency foodstuffs. What’s your best tip for preparing for a big ‘un? Thoughts in the comments.
How to Prepare Your Home for a Winter Storm [eHow]Plan a project or map an idea with Exploratree, a free online library of “thinking guides” you can either print out or use online. Templates include the Futures Wheel pictured above, thinking boxes, compare and contrast, and a lot more. Each template is customisable; you can also use them to collaborate on projects with other people.
ExploratreeUS-centric: First class airplane tickets might be less expensive than you think, according to an article from KGTV San Diego. The trick? Know the codes. While booking a flight, ask the agent about a special type of fare. It’s most commonly called a YUPP. But some airlines also use codes like QUPP and Z…The leading airlines all confirmed they offer this kind of fare, describing it as either a coach seat with an automatic upgrade or deeply discounted first class. On a round trip Delta flight from Baltimore to Atlanta the QUPP fare was $638 — that’s $750 less than regular first class and nearly half the price of full-fare coach.
I actually know someone who does this all the time, and it really does work. If you’ve been able to upgrade your travel packages with a minimum of fuss or money, please tell us how you did it in the comments.
Airline Secrets Could Land Flyers In First Class [KGTV San Diego via Travelhacker]Got a big project you need to get done? Tell someone about it. Web Worker Daily has more: Commit yourself to someone. If you don’t tell anyone that you’re going to finish this project all at once, it’s too easy to let yourself slide. You have to commit to someone … your boss, a colleague, a client, someone. Tell them you’re going to finish it all at once, and when you’ll be done. Then email them the completed project (or call them, or whatever). Be accountable, and it will motivate you to finish.
This can apply to work or personal stuff; for example, you can get ready for a marathon by working out with a buddy. How do you hold yourself accountable? Please share in the comments.
It’s You! Able to Leap Tall Projects in a Single Bound [Web Worker Daily]Everyone has their everyday tasks that just need to get done, and it’s a good idea to set up some kind of system in order to accomplish these. However, the “big projects” can get lost in the shuffle. Productivity blogger Cal Newport suggests setting up a system that helps you get a bigger picture of what you are trying to get done—in other words, your life goals versus your everyday goals. Instead of being task-centric, his focus is completion-centric: a list of really big projects that will probably take a lot of time and effort to finish in addition to your everyday to-do list. Completing tasks on this list will potentially give you a larger sense of accomplishment. How do you handle the big picture tasks? Let’s hear in the comments.
The Art of the Finish: How to Go From Busy to Accomplished [Scott H. Young]We all have to deal with an incredible amount of information, tasks, projects, etc. every single day. The Thinking Blog suggests an intriguing way to deal with all of this: develop a scientific mindset. Scientists must shift through tonnes of data in very efficient ways. How do they do it? By first defining a hypothesis and then looking for information that either corroborates or refutes that hypothesis. For example, an untrained person could spend months in “boiling the ocean” and trying to read as much as possible, in a very unstructured way, about how stress affects our brain. A trained scientist would first define specific hypotheses or preliminary assumptions, such as “Stress reduces the brain’s ability to generate new neurons” or “We can learn how to manage stress”, and look specifically for data that corroborates or refutes those sentences. Which will probably happen faster, and enable him or her to refine the hypotheses further, based on accumulated knowledge, in a virtuous learning cycle.
Manage your mind-mapping tasks and ideas with Mind42, an innovative mind-mapping web application that runs inside your browser. Mind42 is easy to use and quite intuitive; you can tweak your map using simple keyboard shortcuts and customisation options, plus, you have the option of publishing your map or collaborating with other people to make your map more robust.
Mind42
