Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Save Ink, Paper, and Money with GreenPrint
3:00PM Adam Pash | Windows only: Save money on ink and paper while helping the environment with GreenPrint World Edition. The freeware version of the otherwise shareware GreenPrint offerings, GreenPrint World Edition identifies and removes unnecessary pages or space—like images you don’t need to waste ink on or pages with lone URLs—from your print jobs. GreenPrint also keeps track of just how much money, paper, and greenhouse gases you’re saving by using it. The freeware world version includes most of the best features of its shareware siblings, so give it a try and start saving both white and green ($) paper today. GreenPrint is freeware, Windows only. For a closer look at how it works, check out their screencast. GreenPrint World Edition [via Download Squad] More »
Restore Your Data with Time Machine
2:00PM Adam Pash | Of course you know all about Time Machine’s marquee feature—the ability to browse your files back in time—but Blogger James Duncan Davidson details Time machine’s equally-excellent-in-its-simplicity feature: restoring an entire system after a hard drive crash. The process is painless. Simply boot from the Leopard install disc with a fresh hard drive in place of your crashed drive; instead of continuing with the install process, go to Utilities -> Restore System from Backup. Then select your backup source (your Time Machine drive), choose which backup you want to restore (most likely you’ll want the most recent), then pick the destination drive (your new drive). Then it’s simply a matter of kicking back and waiting for Time Machine to do its magic. When all’s said and done, your entire system (with a few small exceptions) should be back in the exact same state you left it. I’ve already done this a couple of times myself, and frankly, it feels good. The simplicity of Time Machine really does compel you. Restoring from Time Machine [DuncanDavidson via TUAW] More »Lifehacker at Linux.conf.au
1:10PM Sarah Stokely | Linux.conf.au 2008 has kicked off in Melbourne, and there are a number of sessions which look like they’ll make interesting stories for Lifehacker. Tutorial on how to make your own open source DDR mat anyone? :)I’ll be cherry picking the most Lifehacker relevant stuff and posting it here – but if you’re interested in Open Source in general, you can read my updates at The Open Source Report.I’m also very pleased to report that I’ll be posting a Lifehacker interview with Linus Torvalds this week as part of my LCA coverage. Permit me a small squee. :)Ok, I’m off to a session on the OLPC now. More » 
Remove Cherry Pits with Paper Clips
1:00PM Gina Trapani | Web site Associated Content lists several clever uses for paper clips, like clipping bags shut, resetting electronics, unlocking doors, replacing zipper pulls, and one we’ve never heard of: pitting cherries. Grab the clip and “unfold” it so it looks like a square “S.” Then, push it down into the middle of the cherry until you feel it hit the pit. Hook the curve of the paper clip under the pit, then pull it up and out. Sadly I’m cherry-less this afternoon so I didn’t get to give this technique a try myself. What other neat stuff do you do with paper clips? Give it up in the comments. 6 Unusual Uses for Paper Clips that Will Boggle Your Mind! [Associated Content via The Life Hackery] More »
Stick to Your Budget with Six Wallet Hacks
12:00PM Adam Pash | The Simple Dollar weblog rounds up six wallet hacks intended to minimise your spending and maximise your time. For example: Take that one credit card and wrap a picture of your personal finance goal or your inspiration around it. Wrap that picture around your card and tape one edge of that picture to the other picture, creating a pocket or a sleeve for the card to live in. Then, when you feel the urge to pull out that card, you’ll pull out that picture, too, and it will serve as an immediate reminder of the big dreams you’re postponing to make this little trivial purchase. Granted, a trivial purchase every now and then can be just what the doctor ordered, but the credit card sleeve is a great way to help stay the course when sticking to your budget gets difficult. Got your own favorite wallet hacks? Let’s hear them in the comments. Wallet Hacking: Six Tactics for Modifying Your Wallet to Minimize Your Spending and Maximize Your Time [The Simple Dollar] More »
Build Versus Buy Your Gadget “Gas Station”
11:00AM Gina Trapani | The Unclutterer blog points out a gorgeous, wall-mounted, fold-up gadget charging station that had us gripped with lust until we saw the price tag: a whopping $US400. A commenter there pointed out that over at Ikea Hacker, a reader put together a wall-mounted gadget holder and charger by modifying a $50 wall cabinet. The DIY job isn’t quite as pretty as the $450 product, but folded up it looks just fine. Which do you prefer? Tell us in the comments. (For a hint at our vote, see how we modded a small nightstand to be a gadget charging station). Gadget ‘gas station’ [Unclutterer] Unclutter your desk with this super minimal set up [Ikea Hacker] More »
Create Multiple Photo Libraries in Picasa
10:00AM Adam Pash | Blogger Vinayaka CA details how he uses Google’s excellent photo management application Picasa to manage multiple photo libraries. His solution: Create a Picasa library under another user account (e.g., PicasaUser) on your Windows PC, then put a shortcut to Picasa on your main desktop. Whenever you want to use your alternate Picasa library, right-click the shortcut and select Run as ->PicasaUser. You’ll have to provide the other username and password every time you do it, and this isn’t as clean as if Picasa actually supported multiple libraries (like iPhoto and iTunes do), but it’s a good workaround if you want to separate your pics into multiple libraries. I gave it a try and it seemed to work, but if you’ve got a better method, let’s hear it in the comments. How you can use picasa to maintain your p**n ? [Vinayaka's Blog] More »
Burn an MP3 CD with Folders
9:00AM Gina Trapani | If your car CD player or media centre can play and navigate MP3 CDs by folder, using iTunes you can burn your tracks in album-specific folders automatically. (MP3 CDs have the songs burned on them as files, not audio, and as such can fit a whole lot more music than a regular audio CD.) The Internet Duct Tape blog explains the iTunes tip: the trick is to sort the playlist by album first before you burn. Stupid iTunes Tricks – How to Burn a MP3 CD with Folders [Internet Duct Tape] More »
