Thursday, April 10, 2008
Get Flight Delay Predictions at Delaycast
11:57PM Kevin Purdy | US-centric: Newly-launched travel site Delaycast is a perfect complement to the similarly statistical-minded Farecast, saving you time instead of money by providing estimates on how many minutes your flight will likely be delayed. Enter the airport you’re flying from and to, at what date and time range, and Delaycast analyses delay data from airlines and airports to give you the most likely scenario—the site owners state they’re “within 15 minutes 80-90% of the time,” and expect the predictions to get better over time. The chart above predicts a flight from New York’s JFK to San Diego International, 9-10 a.m. on April 18, and the “90%” column provides the confidence interval range for the prediction for the stat geeks among us. If nothing else, Delaycast helps you figure out just how much reading or battery power you’ll need once you’re stuck beyond security, waiting to lift off. More »
Save Time Organising Files with Dir Utils’ Right-Click Tools
11:22PM Kevin Purdy | Windows only: Dir Utils, a free right-click extension for Windows systems, is a great utility for anyone who regularly finds themselves organising downloads and media files. The utility adds five new options to Windows’ right-click menu, including “Unify,” which grabs files from a folder’s sub-directories and moves them all up to the main folder; “Alphabetize,” which puts all files in sub-folders into A-Z folders based on file name; and “Extensionize,” which does the same based on file extensions. In other words, Dir Utils saves you the time you would’ve spent re-organising MP3s, gathering a seasons’ worth of episode videos, and keeping a hefty downloads folder organized. Dir Utils is a free download for Windows systems only. Dir Utils [via gHacks] More »
Back Up and Reorder Your iGoogle Page
10:36PM Kevin Purdy | Google doesn’t offer a drag-and-drop method of reordering the tabs on your personalised iGoogle page, but you can manually move the tabs using an XML backup tool provided on the settings page. The basic trick should be pretty simple to anyone who’s edited web code before, but Google Blogoscoped has a thorough explanation of what you’re looking for and what to move. It’s also worth a spin just to grab a copy of your iGoogle XML data, which you can restore at any time if that new experimental gadget takes over your whole page (which has been known to happen on occasion). Tip: How to Reorder iGoogle Tabs [Google Blogoscoped] More »
Decode Your Body’s Noises
12:00PM Adam Pash | Whether we like it or not, our bodies are constantly making noises—and while most are harmless indicators of day-to-day biology at work, some are signals that something’s wrong. An article at MSNBC covers the most common body noises, and notes the differences between the harmless stuff and the times when you should seek help. For example, if gas is your issue: See a doctor if you’re experiencing gas accompanied by abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea or constipation. This may point to irritable bowel syndrome, intestinal inflammation, or a food allergy. Yes, most of the time gas and other body sounds are nothing more than sources of hilarity (see the video, for example), but keep in mind that some sounds can signify it’s time to see the doctor. Knowing the difference is the important part. Decoding your body’s noises: Gas, gurgles and growls [MSNBC] More »
Stream Your iTunes Library to Your iPhone or iPod Touch
11:00AM Adam Pash | iPhone/iPod touch: Freeware application Simplify Media streams music from any shared iTunes library over the internet, effectively giving your limited-space iPhone or iPod touch access to your entire music library—no matter what the size. To use it, you’ll need to install previously mentioned Simplify Media on your Windows or Mac desktop. Then, using a jailbroken iPhone, install the Simplify Media app for the iPhone from Installer.app. (Not yet jailbroken? Here’s how.) You’re limited to using Simplify Media to a Wi-Fi connection, and it’s a bit buggy in the beta version, but as you can see from the video, it’s got tons of potential. Ooh la la [Simplify Media Blog via Gizmodo] More »
Battle of the Designer Notebooks
10:20AM Gina Trapani | The latte-sipping hipster sitting next to you at the cafe just pulled out his Moleskine to start jotting, and your buddy rolls her eyes and says the Moleskine’s totally jumped the shark. Productivity enthusiasts love their overpriced designer notebooks, and being office supply fetishists ourselves, we’ve featured quite a few here. But which ones inspire the most pen-to-paper lust in you? After the jump, vote for your favourite fancy-pants notebook. More »
Locate Free Wireless with Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder
8:00AM Adam Pash | US-centric: The Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder webapp displays free wireless internet hotspots in your area on a Google Maps mashup. To use it, just give it your address, city, or postcode and it’ll display many of the nearby hotspots. This sort of tool isn’t new by any means, but it is returning better results in my area than previously mentioned webapps like Hotspotr. If you give it a try, let’s hear how the hotspot finder measures up in your area in the comments. While you’re there, you may want to download wiPod, which stores all that hotspot information in note form for easy browsing on your iPod. Free Wi-Fi/Hotspot Finder [AnchorFree via FreewareGenius] More »
DarkCopy Online Fullscreen Text Editor
8:00AM Gina Trapani | Simple web-based text editor DarkCopy is an online clone of previously posted distraction-free word processor Writeroom. Dispense with all the toolbars, pull-downs, and context menus at DarkCopy, a full-screen editor out to help you focus on writing and nothing else. No registration is required to use DarkCopy, which can save your jottings as a text file to your desktop. Thanks, Jason! DarkCopy More »Day Zero: The 101 things to do in 1,001 days project
8:00AM Sarah Stokely | If you find that New Year’s Resolutions aren’t working for you, Day Zero is a website where you can undertake a more structured to-do list challenge, over a much longer time frame.Describing itself as an internet meme, the 101 Things to do in 1,001 days project gets you to create a list of 101 things you want to achieve, with the criteria that:
“Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result
that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be
realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).”
There’s a degree of public accountability too – to sign up you’ll need a website or blog, and your registration at Day Zero won’t be accepted until your list appears on your website. Once it’s up, you’ll be able to add your list to the master list on Day Zero. It’s a nice idea to share everyone’s lists publicly, particularly if you’re searching for more interesting goals to add to your list than “clean out the garage”. Of course, if you don’t really want to trumpet your goals to the world (”stop eating twinkies”, “finally toilet train the cat” not really the image you want to project?) then this won’t be the GTD project for you.You can get some ideas and suggestions on how to get started here. And if you’d like to see how other people are travelling on their 1,001 day journey, you can check out the group blog here.
Day Zero – The Home of the 101 Things to do in 1,001 Days Project More » 
