Monday, December 17, 2007
Convert Videos for Phones, iPods and More with WinFF
11:40PM Kevin Purdy | Windows and Linux: Free and open source application WinFF is a graphical front end for the command line tool FFMpeg, a veritable Swiss Army knife of mutimedia file conversion. Load an audio or video file into WinFF, select from a wide variety of output formats—including Flash files, phone-friendly ringtones and DVD templates—and hit convert. Users of Ubuntu and some other Linux distros may have to enable their FFMpeg tool to use additional codecs, which the author describes at his site. WinFF is a free download for all Windows systems and Linux distributions, with pre-compiled Ubuntu/Debian and Red Hat packages available at the link. WinFF [BiggMatt.com via Phorolinux] More »
Wii
11:15PM Kevin Purdy | Can’t find a Wii no matter how hard you try? Avoid the hefty scalper premiums and grab a rain check Thursday or Friday at GameStop locations. [CNN Money] More »
Print File Lists Simply with JR Directory Printer
11:00PM Kevin Purdy | Windows only: Add freeware application JR Directory Printer to the list of tiny Windows applications that do exactly only what the name implies. Download the program, place it in a folder on your hard drive and fire it up. Once you point it to a directory and hit “Start,” it creates a text file listing the file contents that’s ready to print—or copy and paste. It saves you a screenshot, it’s easy on printers, and it makes it far easier to show your friends a music or video collection. JR Directory Printer is a free download for Windows only. Thanks Yan! JR Directory Printer [via Geeks Are Sexy] More »
Use a Mirror to Light Up a Home Office
10:30PM Kevin Purdy | The Freelance Switch work blog rounds up 10 low-cost improvements that can improve a home office (or most any office, really), including LH editors’ favorite, the cordless workspace. One trick in particular could be a boon for those dwelling in fluorescent-lit caves: If your office doesn’t get a lot of daylight, you might want to begin by maximizing that. Make sure your windows are clear of anything that impedes the light. If you are on the ground floor but facing the wrong direction to get much natural light, you can use a strategically placed mirror outside to reflect more light in. Similarly on the inside a mirror can help push light around your room. I get sunlight in my office, but in the wrong direction, so I’ll definitely be trying this out soon. How have you improved your workspace without breaking the bank? Share your tips in the comments. Photo by flikr. 10 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Home Office Cheaply [via Dumb Little Man] More »Can’t find what you’re looking for on Google? …
10:15PM Tamar Weinberg | Can’t find what you’re looking for on Google? Two years ago, you discovered 10 new alternative search engines. More »
Use a Histogram to Tone Pictures
10:00PM Kevin Purdy | Professional Photographer Magazine has a relatively easy to understand long but helpful guide to histograms, the graphs that show what levels of light were captured by a digital camera’s sensor. Along with detailing the changes that happen when you export to JPEG files, the guide introduces a concept that, while debatable, has found favour with some professionals—”expose to the right,” or shooting a photo strategically over-exposed to capture detail and then adjusting it later in editing software. If you’ve ever wondered how the strange graphs in Photoshop or your camera’s screen relate to good and bad photos, this guide can help demystify the process. How To Read and Understand a Histogram [Professional Photographer Magazine via etc.] More »
Get Directions with Two Clicks with GDirections
9:30PM Kevin Purdy | Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Get directions to and from any address you see in your browser with GDirections, a Firefox extension that saves you the time of heading over to Google or Yahoo maps. After entering up to three pre-defined addresses in GDirections’ preferences (like your home and office), selecting and right-clicking an address will allow you to get directions to the spot from those places, as well as enter the address into any of the sites you’ve installed in your quick search box. For those who regularly wipe out their cookies and have to re-enter their address into either Yahoo or Google Maps, GDirections is a real time saver. GDirections is a free download and works wherever Firefox (1.0-2.0) does. GDirections [via Linux.com] More »
Access Linux Files from Windows with Linux Reader
9:00PM Kevin Purdy | Windows only: Dual-booters have long been able to get at their Windows-formatted files, but Windows certainly doesn’t make it easy to go the other way ’round. Enter Linux Reader, a free Windows application that emulates the look and feel of the Windows XP Explorer and allows read-only access to ext2 and ext3-formatted drives, the most common formats for Linux installations. Linux Reader can also search through Linux images and mount images for browsing, and runs as a stand-alone application—for a driver-based reading tool, check out Ext2 Installable File System. Linux Reader is a free download for Windows 98 and later. Linux Reader [Disk Internals via Tombuntu] More »Improve your office cheaply
4:28PM Sarah Stokely | As 2007 begins to wind down and we start making plans for 2008, we’ve been talking about what kinds of productivity systems, calendars and emails systems we’ll use for next year. No matter what system you’re using though, it probably revolves around your humble office desk. So it’s probably worth putting some time into thinking how you can make your workspace more welcoming and productive!We’ve talked a little recently on add life to your workspace if you’re an office worker, but today’s post at Freelance Switch actually gave me a kick up the bum to make some improvements.Since one of the reasons I love about working from home is having the freedom to create a workspace which suits me, at a budget I decide, it’s probably about time I actually exercised this freedom. Collis’ post at Freelance Switch offered 10 ways to cheaply improve your home office. Here’s the ideas I’ll be taking up:
*Setting up a recycling system. All you really need to get this up and running is an A4 size cardboard box like the ones which copy paper comes in, since most office waste is paper.*Buying a plant. Make sure it’s indoor friendly, or can have a place by the window to get the sunlight it needs.*Getting (or in my case remember to use) a filing cabinet. Filing cabinets can be expensive to buy new, but you can try to find them cheap at second hand office stores or ex-government auctions.*Buying some office supplies to bring order to the desktop – pen holders, inbox trays, CD/DVD shelves.
So do you have any plans to tweak or customise your workspace for the new year? Share in comments please!
10 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Home Office Cheaply [Freelance Switch] More » Contribute to Wired’s science reporting
4:14PM Sarah Stokely | Wired science reporter Alexis Madrigal is doing an interesting experiment into using social networking technology to aid in the creation and formation of news stories. Alexis will be posting story ideas and updates on Twitter, as well as sharing blogrolls via Google Reader, with the aim of letting readers “chime in with suggestions, new ideas, and story angles” which they hope will help readers get the kind of news they’re interested in. It’s a nice proposition for readers who are keen to share their ideas and tips, but that’s not really so new. Most news outlets rely on user feedback and tips for shaping the direction they go in. But given that Alexis makes it clear in the comments on that article that Wired is interested in breaking news, I wonder how they plan on balancing this transparency with the need for keeping things quiet until they’re ready to publish and break a news story. I’ll be watching with interest. :)
My Outboard Brain is Your Chance to Shape News (Wired) More » 
