Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Flashback
11:30PM Tamar Weinberg | One year ago on Lifehacker, you customised Microsoft Word to your liking, and rolled your own killer audio player with foobar2000. More »
Edit or add new locations to Google Maps
2:25PM Sarah Stokely | Google has added the ability for users in Australia, New Zealand and the US to edit business listings in Google Maps. But perhaps more interestingly, it’s going down the path of user generated content by allowing users to put new locations on Google Maps.
It was already possible to move map markers to correct the location of a home or business, but now anyone with a Google account can add information about businesses such as name, address, phone number, website, or business
category, and even mark a business for deletion if it’s closed down.
Businesses who have uploaded or edited their own details in the Local Business Centre remain in control of their listings.
Users will also be able to add new locations to Google Maps, including businesses, landmarks or even points of interest by clicking the “add a place to the map” link. Moderators will be approving user added content, but Google is promising that “within moments of adding, others around the world will be able to search for your contributions.”
Helping you to make your mark on Google [Google Australia Official Blog]
More » 
Build a Square Foot Garden
1:00PM Adam Pash | If you’d love to plant your own kitchen garden but don’t really have the yard space or fertile soil, the Frugal Dad weblog details how to get around limitations by building a square foot garden. The idea behind square foot gardening is that you can plant fruits, vegetables and flowers in raised beds, above infertile soil and even out of the reach of pets. Seeds are planted in 1X1 square foot plots, and when harvested a new plant is installed in the square. Raised beds can sit directly on the ground, or include a bottom layer and be placed on patios, decks or porches. The total startup cost for the square foot garden in the post is $42, but with a good season or two of veggies should help make up for the cost. How to Build a Square Foot Garden [Frugal Dad via Being Frugal] More »
Ten Legal Commandments of Photography
11:00AM Adam Pash | If you’re a budding photographer who’s never quite sure what your rights are when you’re snapping pics, photography web site Photojojo’s 10 legal commandments of photography should give you an idea of your legal leeway. For example: Anyone in a public place can take pictures of anything they want. Public places include parks, sidewalks, malls, etc. Malls? Yeah. Even though it’s technically private property, being open to the public makes it public space. If you’ve ever been confronted by someone claiming you can’t take photos of whatever your snapping pics of, or you just want a better idea of your rights, Photojojo’s guide is a must-read. The Ten Legal Commandments of Photography [Photojojo] AU – Just a reminder that AU law is different to US law, and we have (or had) some anti-terrorism laws about taking photos of ’security risk’ areas such as airports or military bases. Get some local legal advice if you’re unsure – I am not a lawyer! More »
Run Apple TV on Your Mac with ATV4mac
9:00AM Adam Pash | Mac OS X Tiger only: ATV4mac runs Apple TV take 2 as a Mac application, bringing all the cool multimedia features of the Apple TV to your Mac. ATV4mac is a fairly young project, hence the unfortunate Tiger-only support at the moment, but it’s already sporting most of the features available to Apple TV along with a few of its own. ATV4mac is freeware, Mac OS X Tiger only. I wasn’t able to try it because of the Tiger limitation, but if you give it a go, share your thoughts in the comments. If you’re dying to get more advanced media centre support than Front Row has to offer but you’ve already upgraded to Leopard, check out previously mentioned XBMC for Mac. More »
How To Avoid Catch-All Domain Spam
8:00AM Gina Trapani | For the next two weeks, readers are submitting their best life hack for a chance to win an autographed copy of our new book, Upgrade Your Life. If you own a domain name with an active catch-all email address, you know how spammers can pummel you with junk mail to every anyword@yourdomain.com email address they can automatically generate. When you have your own domain, you can to use site-specific addresses when you register for web services to track down spam sources (like amazon.com@yourdomain.com), but once you do that, you’ve got to keep your catch-all address open to junk mail as well. But Google Apps user Ray has a clever system that filters out catch-all junk but still lets him track exactly who’s selling out his address. Here’s how to set it up. More »Find Books You’ll Love at BookLamp
7:00AM Adam Pash | Web site BookLamp analyzes books by writing style, recommending new books you might liked based on how closely they match your previously loved reads, very similar to how music web site Pandora suggests new music you may like based on style. Do you like Stephen King’s It, but thought it was too long? The technology behind BookLamp allows you to find books that are written with a similar tone, tense, perspective, action level, description level, and dialog level, while at the same time allowing you to specify details like… half the length. More »
Windows Vista Service Pack 1
6:15AM Adam Pash | Windows Vista only: As we mentioned earlier today, Microsoft is releasing/has released Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to Windows Update today. The update, which promises several improvements to Vista, is available either through Windows Update or through direct downloads from Microsoft (linked below). While it seems that SP1 is taking its sweet time showing up for many people in Windows Update, the 32- and 64-bit standalone installers are available now. If you give the update a go, let’s hear what improvements stand out and how you’re liking them in the comments. More »Turn Insomnia into a Productivity Boost
6:00AM Gina Trapani | Insomniac and coder Chad Perrin says that hackers who stay up all night coding can get more done in those hours than most people can in a month because an all-nighter lends itself to getting into “hack mode,” or the state of flow. The Jargon Wiki defines hack mode as: A Zen-like state of total focus on The Problem that may be achieved when one is hacking (this is why every good hacker is part mystic). Perrin says that insomniac coders kick into hack mode because there’s no one else around to distract them and they have to stay quiet (and avoid the television) so not to disturb others sleeping. He also says the surreal perspective one gets at sunrise after a whole night awake encourages “crazy,” creative thoughts and new ideas to emerge. Insomnia can really suck, but if you have to be awake all night, knocking something out in hack mode seems like the best way to do it. Insomnia and productivity [Chad Perrin via Internet Duct Tape] More »
