Today Google Maps adds a helpful visual feature to their driving directions: Street View turns. Search for directions at Google Maps, and click on the small camera next to each turn step in the left column to view the photos of the intersection or off-ramp. [via]
Windows only: Freeware application AutoGK rips DVDs to hard drive-friendly DivX and Xvid formats for quick, easy, and high-quality backups. It does so by acting as an automating front-end to several other free ripping and encoding tools, which it automatically installs on your system. We’ve never featured AutoGK, but a lot of readers swear by it. If you happen to be one of them, let’s hear more about your experience with AutoGK in the comments. If you’re looking for more DVD-ripping tools, like the previously mentioned HandBrake, check out the five best DVD-ripping tools. AutoGK is freeware, Windows only. AutoGK
Career advisor Penelope Trunk offers a five-question quiz that calculates whether you’re likely to get that job promotion. Like most of Trunk’s delightfully unconventional tips, this promotion-o-meter’s based not on whether or not you’re the best candidate, but on the realities of office politics. Questions range from whether the boss likes you, if you’re working on a high profile project, if you work a lot of hours (or at least create the impression that you do), and if you’re at the top of the pay scale and experience for your current position. What’s your score on the test? Let us know in the comments. Will you get promoted? Take the test [Brazen Careerist]
Windows XP Service Pack 3 officially hit Microsoft servers this morning, and although it won’t be available through Windows Update today, it should be sometime soon. Your desire to stay on the cutting edge of XP features and security may dictate that you install the latest service pack, but in case you were wondering what you can actually expect from your SP3 update, we’re breaking down the new and improved features with our field guide to Windows XP SP3.
You already know that Firefox is a superior web browser, but you still have to use Internet Explorer on a daily basis. Whether a stubborn IE-only web site or full-on IT lockdown keeps you from using Firefox, things aren’t as bleak as they seem: You can cram many of Firefox’s best features into the proprietary beast that is Internet Explorer. After the jump, find out how to add bookmark syncing, integrated spell-checking, session management, keyword bookmarks, ad blocking, inline search, undo-closed-tab functionality, and oh-so-much more to IE.
Technologist Alexander van Elsas says that the problems a lot of new services and web applications solve are specific to a certain kind of super-techie user. He writes: How many people do you know outside your tech community that want to have 25 desktop applications live, running Firefox alongside with 10 tabs open, twittering 100 times a day, reading and commenting articles on FriendFeed, writing a blog post about it, starting riots to get traffic going, AND still have a normal day job and a life after that? I don’t know anyone that fancies that kind of life.
It’s a strong argument that services like Twitter or FriendFeed solve problems only a select few have—too many social networks, no time to blog, email overload, etc. Are front-line, super-connected techies harbingers of what’s to come for mainstream folks, or are we nerds just making solutions to solve problems created by our own solutions? Photo by jonrawlinson.
The How-To Geek points us to a little-touted but largely useful feature included in Windows Vista’s recent Service Pack 1 update—scheduled defragmenting of multiple hard drives. You can access Vista’s defrag utility by typing dfrgui into the “Start Search” box. It’s far more convenient (and reliable) than setting up batch files or automated tasks, although that last method is still valid for multi-drive XP users. If you’re a batch file fan, however, hit the link for a pointer to the How-To Geek’s own solution. Set Automatic Defrag Options for All Drives in Vista Service Pack 1 [The How-To Geek]
Mac OS X and Linux: Now that you’re dual booting Windows on your Mac, you want to save files to your Windows partition while you’re booted up in OS X. By default, NTFS-formatted disks are read-only in OS X, but the NTFS-3G driver makes it writable. Download NTFS-3G, then use the following command to save and edit files on your Boot Camp partition:
There’s nothing wrong with holding on to keepsakes of a life’s great moments, but many marginal items often fall in with one’s treasures, creating a good deal of hard-to-place mess. The Unclutterer blog highlights advice from an organisational expert on how to figure out what’s really important to you and what to do with the rest. Her tips include at least one serious space-saver: Items that have a strong sentimental attachment should be organised in a manageable system — taking a picture of an item still retains the visual memory but not the actual bulk of the item.
