Saturday, February 9, 2008
How to Fold a Towel Monkey
1:00PM Gina Trapani | Impress your family, friends, and houseguests with a towel-folding technique you’re likely to see on a cruise or in a hotel. Howto web site wikiHow runs down step-by-step instructions for folding a “towel monkey.” You’ll need matching hand and bath towels, along with a clothes hanger with clips (like a pants or skirt hanger). For more towel animals, see also how to fold a towel cat, fold a towel lobster, fold a towel elephant, and fold a towel dog. How to Fold a Towel Monkey [wikiHow] More »
View How Many People Subscribe to Any Site
12:00PM Adam Pash | Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Google Reader Subscribers Count Greasemonkey script displays how many Google Reader users subscribe to the site you’re currently visiting. It does so by checking the site for feed links, then sending a request to Google Reader to find out how many subscribers each feed has. For example, the numbers in the screenshot apply to Lifehacker’s main, excerpts, top, and comments feeds, respectively. This script seems like an excellent tool for applying the wisdom of the crowd to sites you’re unfamiliar with. Google Reader Subscribers Count [Userscripts via CyberNet] More »
Grow Ideas in a Project Incubator
11:00AM Gina Trapani | Blogger Glen Stansberry says that ideas need a place and time to grow—like a virtual incubator. Capture your ideas as soon as you have them in a safe, consistent place, and prune and review them over time as you work towards putting them into action. The project incubator concept employs several GTD techniques and I can personally attest to its effectiveness: the seeds of most feature stories that appear here on Lifehacker get planted in our editorial idea incubator (a wiki), which I was just editing before finding this article. Where do you incubate your brilliant ideas? Tell us in the comments. How to Grow Your Ideas With a Project Incubator [LifeDev] More »
Collaborate with Co-Workers Using Google Apps Team Edition
10:00AM Adam Pash | If you’ve always wished your workplace or school would take advantage of the Google Apps suite but it just isn’t happening, Google has released a new, free Google Apps Team Edition designed to implement Google Apps collaboration with nothing more than a set of work email addresses. Once you sign up with Google Apps Team Edition, you and your co-workers can collaborate using Google Docs, Gcal, Gtalk, and a Google Start Page to bring it all together. There’s no Gmail integration since you’re using your work emails, but it’s a very simple and effective new way to centralise work collaboration via Google Apps. Thanks Bryan! Google Apps Team Edition More »Give Your Feet Wiggle Room in Bed
9:02AM Gina Trapani | Housekeepers at the Four Seasons luxury hotel chain know how to make beds, and they say it’s easy to give your feet room to move between the sheets: Each flat sheet is tucked in with a three-inch “foot pocket” fold across the bottom so feet don’t get squished. “In one Seinfeld episode, George went to a hotel and ripped off the covers because they were so tight,” says Erik Wood, director of housekeeping in New York City. “No one has to worry about that here.” Give your tired dogs the room they deserve with that extra three-inch fold at the bottom. Got any other bed-making techniques? Do share in the comments. Bed-Making Tips from…the Four Seasons [Real Simple] More »Launchy
8:45AM Tamar Weinberg | One year ago, you tweaked Launchy to take advantage of all it has to offer. More »
Consolidate IM, Email, and Social Networking with Digsby
8:00AM Adam Pash | Windows only: Newly released chat application Digsby consolidates instant messaging, email, text messaging, and social networking into one very slick chat application. As far as IM, Digsby covers all the major players, from AIM to Google Talk; it handles Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, or virtually any POP or IMAP account for email; and it supports updates of all the latest happenings on your Facebook or MySpace profile. As far as full-on consolidation of hot social web tools right now, the only thing really missing is Twitter integration. Currently Digsby is Windows only in private beta (use code lifehacker to sign up), but Mac and Linux versions are purportedly on the way. It’s not open source like Pidgin or Adium (which it looks very much like), but the all-inclusive integration is probably enough to lure a lot of IM users to its warm embrace. Flip through the gallery (hit the jump for more) to get a closer look at everything Digsby’s got to offer. galleryPost('Digsby', 2, '', 'grid'); Digsby More »
DisplayFusion Updates with More Dual Monitor Wallpaper Features
7:00AM Gina Trapani | Windows only: Previously mentioned dual monitor desktop wallpaper utility DisplayFusion has been updated with bug fixes and new features. DisplayFusion is our second choice to the pay-for UltraMon when it comes to stretching wallpaper images across your two PC monitors, but it does include a neat feature UltraMon does not: the ability to search for and load wallpaper images from Flickr. This new version is much more stable, and includes hotkeys for moving windows between monitors. DisplayFusion requires the free .NET runtime, and the free version is slightly limited—it doesn’t include customisable hotkeys and timed wallpaper changes. (The upgrade will set you back 10 bucks). See also our comprehensive guide to making the most of your dual monitors. DisplayFusion [Binary Fortress Software] More »
Low-Hassle Ways to Secure Your Computer System
7:00AM Kevin Purdy | If time were no object, we’d all live a more secure computer life—we’d beef up our browsers, use complex passwords, and keep our data locked up with encryption Skynet couldn’t crack. But that kind of stuff requires obscure software, tricky command line work, and most of a free weekend, right? Nope. Anybody can feel more secure about their systems with the help of some free software and easy tweaks and add-ons. We’ve rounded up a good deal of these swift and simple security fixes for Windows, Mac, and Linux, so bust out the tinfoil hats and check ‘em out after the jump. Photo by ul Marga. More »
