Saturday, May 3, 2008
Mulch Your Garden with Junk Mail
11:30PM Gina Trapani | A reader at frugal finance blog Get Rich Slowly suggests shredding your junk mail and using it to mulch your garden. To avoid killing your garden with inks and metals leeching off the shredded paper, the author uses the following guidelines: I only shred the non-glossy stuff, and try to avoid coloured ink as much as possible. Since I’m shredding to avoid identity theft in the first place, and credit applications these days contain coloured ink, I can’t stay 100% black and white, but I can accept that. More »
Today Is Free Comic Book Day
10:00PM Gina Trapani | Hey, you big comic book nerd! Today’s free comic day, which means your local shop may have a freebie or two with your name on it. Locate a store near you that’s participating, and before you go, check out io9’s recommendations on which comics you should try to nab. [via] More »
AVG Free Anti-Virus 2008 Released, Much Improved
9:32AM Adam Pash | Windows only: Popular freeware anti-virus application AVG Free recently updated to AVG Free 2008. Aside from a general interface overhaul and faster performance, the updated anti-virus scanner has added several new features with a focus on web security. AVG is always at the forefront of the freeware anti-virus category, so unless you don’t run anti-virus software, it’s a great alternative to crappy Windows software. AVG Free Anti-Virus 2008 [via MakeUseOf] More »
Google Adds Mac-Specific Search
8:00AM Adam Pash | If you run into a problem on a Windows computer, all you have to do is type a little description of the problem and Google takes care of the rest; Mac users, on the other hand, often need to include a little context in their search—instead of typing a query like text editor, you type text editor mac. Google’s Mac-specific portal, found at http://google.com/mac/, now includes a Mac-specific search box. It’s not groundbreaking, but the guaranteed Mac-specific results could come in handy next time you’re looking for a specific application or you’re troubleshooting your Mac. More »
Make Unusable Time Usable?
7:00AM Adam Pash | Blogger Steve Rubel discusses his methods for mitigating the Attention Crash caused by modern information overload while remaining well-informed. In the midst of all the demands new technology and information place on our lives, Steve keeps up by making unusable time usable. I read a ton. However, I have mastered how to stuff it into pockets of time that are normally “unusable.” I get through about one business book a week by listening to them when I commute, travel and run errands. In addition, I use Instapaper.com (more) to bookmark articles I want to read. I doubt Rubel is the only one to listen to a book on his commute, so let’s hear how you take advantage of unusable time in the comments. Three Ways to Mitigate the Attention Crash, Yet Still Feel Informed [Micro Persuasion] More »
Next Tab Keeps Your Tabs in Context
6:00AM Adam Pash | Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Firefox extension Next Tab adds an option to the right-click context menu to open a link in a new tab directly next to the current tab. If you’re the sort who’s still got 10 tabs open on a light day, you know how quickly your reading can get disorganised. Next Tab helps keep those tabs in context and next to the tabs from whence they were launched. Next Tab is free, works wherever Firefox does. Next Tab [Firefox Add-ons via Firefox Facts] More »
TweakRAM Memory Optimiser Free Today Only
5:00AM Gina Trapani | Windows only: Instead of dropping cash on a new stick of RAM for that old computer, go grab a free licence for the normally $20 memory manager TweakRAM—today only. TweakRAM speeds up your machine by optimising Windows memory management, and when your computer slows to a crawl, you can use TweakRAM to manually free up memory. The developers say: More »
Drop.io Adds Free, Simple Faxing
4:00AM Adam Pash | Innovative file sharing service Drop.io now sends and receives faxes for free. To send a fax, just upload a document to Drop.io, enter the fax number, and click Fax. To receive a fax, Drop.io generates a cover sheet you email to the sender; as long as they use your cover page on the fax, it will end up in your Drop.io account as a PDF. Like most of Drop.io, faxing services are free and require no registration to use. Drop.io Fax [via Digital Inspiration] More »
Slipstream Service Pack 3 into Your Windows XP Installation CD
2:00AM Kevin Purdy | Next time you wipe your PC’s hard drive clean and reinstall Windows with that old installation disc, you don’t want to connect your fresh, unpatched and vulnerable system to the internet only to download 176 new updates from Microsoft. If your XP installation CD is older than 2004, once your system is online, you’ll have to wait for hefty service packs to download, chained to your mouse while pushing the Next button, watching progress bars, and rebooting multiple times. Wouldn’t it be better to start your installation, head out to run errands or grab coffee, and come back to an up-to-date system before your system gets online? It’s possible, using some free software and a blank disc. After the jump, I’ll show you how to create an automated, customised XP installation CD or DVD, that includes Microsoft’s official-but-not-released Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. More »
