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What Do You Do With Your Gadgets When You Move Overseas? 
The Lifehacker Total Security Guide 
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The Stupid Things You Do On Facebook (And How To Fix Them) 
How To Kill Time Productively On Your Phone I fell in love with this side table that doubles as a display case for your favourite photos or momentos. Sunset magazine has a walkthrough for making it – which basically requires that you match up a side table with a picture frame that’s a little bit smaller than the surface area of the table. Replace the glass in the picture frame with abrasion resistant plastic (if you buy it from a frame store I’m assuming they can cut the plastic to size for you if you require a non-standard size). The frame is attached to the table top with velcro which is quite smart because it means you can pop the frame off and open it up – so you can change the keepsakes you have on display as often as you like.Apart from the fact that it lets you display some of your favourite mementos and nicknacks, it has the bonus of keeping them out of the way and dustfree. Neat! I also think this would make an awesome.gift for a loved one – just fill it with photos or momentos of moments you’ve shared with them.
Make your own memory box table top – no tools required [via Ikea Hacker]
Amazon power user Merlin Mann makes a convincing case for how Amazon’s Gift Organizer helps you be lazy and thoughtful when it comes to giving the perfect gift: As you surf Amazon and notice stuff that might be cool for Mom or Aunt Sue or that nice UPS man, just click “Add to Wish List” and select the person it’s intended for. Into the hopper it goes. Ubiquitous capture. Swish.[...] So, if you start using the Gift Organizer today—even for stuff you have no intention of buying from Amazon—your life is going to be much easier the next time a gift-giving occasion rolls around; you’ve capitalized on several months of passive, half-assed attention to actually do something useful.
At this point, Amazon is big enough to act as a universal shopping cart and wishlist app; if you, like me, were one of the unprepared stressjobs running around on December 22nd, this sounds like a good Getting Gifts Done system. Preemptively Save Christmas ’08 with the Amazon Gift Organizer [43 Folders]
iPhone only: Nagware iPhone application VoiceDial brings the power of voice activated phone dialing and application and bookmark launching to your iPhone. You can set VoiceDial to run on the home screen button double-tap for easy access and record voice tags up to three times to improve accuracy. I’ve been testing it out today and so far it’s been successfully matching anything I throw at it. Aside from voice dialing, you can launch any application installed on your iPhone or any bookmark in Safari through the same voice command interface. VoiceDial is nagware, costing $28 for the full version. You can grab the fully working demo (as far as I’ve noticed the initial nag screen is the only lock) through Installer, which for the time being requires a jailbroken iPhone. Wanna learn more about making the most of your iPhone? My iPhone book might be for you.
Voice Dial for iPhoneFirefox tip: If Firefox is too unresponsive for your tastes when it’s loading a new web page, the How-To Geek weblog suggests a simple tweak to improve responsiveness. First, enter about:config into your address bar and then add the content.switch.threshold setting (which isn’t there by default). Right-click the page and select New -> Integer, name it content.switch.threshold, and give it a value of 1000000. The catch is that Firefox will take slightly longer to load pages, but while it’s loading you’ll be able to scroll the already-loaded content more easily. If you like that, you may also want to tweak Firefox’s rendering speed or check out some of the best Firefox config tweaks.
Tweak Firefox’s “Responsiveness” Config Setting [the How-To Geek]Having just spent the long weekend moving into a new place, I learned the hard way that there are little things you can do and tools you should have plenty of on hand to make things go smoothly. Boxing up every single one of your possessions and transporting them to your new residence to set them all up again is a huge pain in the ass. Here are a few items beyond your standard boxes, tape, and blankets that can streamline your move:
Windows only: Donationware Excel plug-in Excel Password Remover strips the password protection from Excel workbooks and spreadsheets so that next time you’re working late and your co-worker locked you out of a spreadsheet you need access to, you won’t be left in the dark. The plug-in adds Unprotect workbook and Unprotect sheet options to Excel’s Tools menu, and using it is as simple as selecting an option when you’re locked out. The add-in won’t necessarily work in every instance, but as a last resort it’s a great utility to have on hand. Excel Password Remover is donationware, Windows only. A pro, non-nagware version is available for $25.
Excel Password Remover [via NoHeat]Microsoft has lifted the ban on using Vista Basic and Premium in virtual machine environments, so you no longer need to shell out $300-plus for the Business or Ultimate editions to run the every-now-and-then VM.
You need your BitTorrent fix on such a regular basis that it could be medically labeled an addiction, so why stop riding the BitTorrent wave just because you aren’t sitting at your home computer? We’ve already detailed how to set up a web interface for the Windows-only uTorrent, so let’s turn an eye to Transmission, the go-to BitTorrent client on the Mac. Today I’ll show you how to remotely control your BitTorrent downloads from any browser with Clutch, the Transmission web interface.
US-centric: Previously mentioned search engine Missing Money has a new web site address and is still finding unclaimed funds for people who didn’t know about them. Just enter your name and state, and let Missing Money do its thing. While there are still no unclaimed safe deposit box contents, uncashed checks, trust funds, or escrow accounts in my name (dangit!), several readers over at the Get Rich Slowly personal finance site have had a lot more luck, as did Lifehacker readers the first time we pointed out the service. This site was covered by Dateline back in ’06 and from all accounts seems legit. You find any missing money in your name? Tell us about your loot in the comments. Missing Money [via Get Rich Slowly]
Firefox with Greasmonkey: If you get carried away surfing the web by clicking every tangential link in sight, drawing you down yet another road away from the stuff you’re supposed to be doing, check out the No Links Please! Greasemonkey script. This simple user script strips web pages of links, ensuring that you stay where you are, get the info you need, and get done. Its creator explains: One of the things which makes the web great are its hyperlinks. However, they also make the web vast and most importantly, far too easy to roam. No Links Please! breaks the web by removing hyperlinks from all pages apart from Google. Without the knowledge or temptation of links you are free to devote all your time to real work and never roam the web again.
Obviously the web isn’t the web without links, so you could apply No Links Please! to individual sites (like Wikipedia, for example) to save yourself from particular hyperlink distraction sinkholes. No Links Please! is a free download and works with the Greasemonkey Firefox extension.
James Clarke – No Links Please! [via 43F]
