Make it nearly impossible for you to forget an important reminder or event with Remindr, a free multi-medium reminder service that doesn’t require registration or account sign-ups. Written as part of a Ruby on Rails coding contest, the simple webapp asks for a reminder text, date, and time, then lets you enter a Twitter account, email address, Jabber/Gchat IM name, and mobile phone number for SMS alerts. It’s not the spot you’d go to for regular alerts, but for one-off, must-not-miss things, Remindr can be pretty handy. Remindr [via MakeUseOf.com]
Social bookmarking service Delicious has integrated Yahoo’s streaming FoxyPlayer directly into its bookmark lists. So if you’re cruising for tunes, use the tag system:filetype:mp3, then simply hit the play icons next to directly-linked MP3s to listen. [via TechCrunch]
iPhone/iPod touch only: One of the great strengths of Songbird, a jukebox app intended to serve as a more open-ended iTunes killer, is its Firefox-like extensibility. The 779Media group jumps out of the gate with a remote-control application for iPhones and iPod touch devices that, while simple in functionality, does give you basic play/pause/back/forward control from anywhere your home wireless network reaches. After installing the Songbird add-on for Windows, Mac, or Ubuntu 8.10 and the app on your device, you simply launch the app, hit the “info” button to choose your computer, then control your tunes. It desperately needs a full library listing to match up against Apple’s own Remote app, but it’s a nice start. Songbird Remote is a free download for iPhones and iPod touch models running at least the 2.0 software. For a closer look at Songbird itself, check out our screenshot tour. Songbird Remote [iTunes App Store]
Vodafone is now allowing its prepaid customers to top up their accounts via PayPal, a service which will be accessible via its Vodafone live! on-phone Internet access. The account has to be pre-activated for use, and a password is still needed when purchasing to minimise security stresses. Not much help for the segment of the prepaid market which can only pay in cash (read: teenagers), but a useful extra option for everyone else. If you’re still a bit nervous about using PayPal, consider adding SMS authentication for payments. VodafoneVodafone
Armed with a PC, you can send emails, IMs or photos as well as make voice calls — but a new survey suggests that when it comes to that far-from-home chat or Christmas catchup, phones still top the polls. Why are we so reluctant to embrace new communications options? More »
Recent falls in interest rates are good news if you have a variable rate loan, but what if you’ve opted for the fixed option instead? AAP’s Stephen Johnson has crunched the numbers, and calculates that the cost of switching to a variable-rate mortgage from a fixed option is $18,000 if you have a $250,000 mortgage, because of the exit fees. In practice, that’s unlikely to be worth it, since the interest rate savings probably won’t beat the exit fees. More than 43,000 Australians signed up for fixed rate mortgages between March and August; if they did their budgets right, they should still be able to afford the repayments, but it sounds like some teeth-gnashing is the order of the day. Over 43,000 losing out after rate cut
Firefox with Greasemonkey or Stylish: Google Reader’s recent redesign did streamline its interface, but ever-resourceful reader Dustin wants to maximise the feed reading area even more with his new “Absolutely Compact” user style. Google Reader Absolutely Compact packs even more text onto the screen than Google’s new default look. Be warned: you’ve got to be a heavy keyboard shortcut user to enjoy this one, since the style strips away much of the interface. It also kills much of the whitespace in headline-only view, which can make scanning a bit harder on your peepers. Before you go install Greasemonkey or Stylish to try it out, compare before and after screenshots.
Aussie expat author Clive James has a regular radio slot on the BBC, and this week he turns his attention to two core Lifehacker topics: office clutter and creative thinking. The whole thing is well worth reading; one of James’ most interesting contentions is that a cluttered office can inspire a tolerant attitude:
The best equipped pontificator is the one who is aware of his own propensities towards chaos. Unable to organise his own breakfast, he will be less ready to condemn officials who can’t organise an efficient system for sending out student grants, or collecting private information onto a CD-ROM that won’t be left on a train.
You can download an audio copy of James’ thoughts here, or read the transcript on the link below.
The brilliance of creative chaos [BBC News Magazine]Windows only: HD Hacker is a free application which allows you to backup and restore sectors on your hard drives. You can backup and restore the master boot record, the boot sector from logical drives, or any other user specified sector you need to backup. Backing up the master boot record is an advised step before messing around with repartitioning or installing a new operating system to create a dual boot system. For other boot record magic, check out how to fix your master boot record with an Ubuntu Live CD. HD Hacker is freeware, Windows only.
HD Hacker [via gHacks]Faced with shelling out hundreds of extra dollars for a higher priced clothing wardrobe at IKEA, just to get the sliding pants rack he wanted, Instructables user Phantazn set about crafting his own. If you’ve ever looked at the wasted space beneath the hanging clothes in a wardrobe and thought that it might be better spent than as a shoebox graveyard, this project is for you. By purchasing some cheap pine dowels and wood, along with a $US5 set of drawer sliders, he was able to put together a perfectly serviceable sliding pants rack even nicer than the wire model in the more expensive wardrobe. For another closet-related hack, check out how to avoid over-wearing outfits with a left to right closet.
DIY Sliding Pants Rack [Instructables]
