US-centric: Next time you miss a call from an unknown number, check if it’s a telemarketer on the CallerComplaints web site. CallerComplaints maintains a user-submitted database of telemarketer phone numbers and even rounds up the worst offenders. Registering with the Do Not Call list is your best defence against unsolicited calls, but for those telemarketers still pushing through, CallerComplaints could come in handy.
AU – in Australia the relevant bodies are the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman which oversees telcos/ISPs and the Do Not Call Register
CallerComplaints [via Mashable]Windows only: Freeware application Advanced Run is a replacement for the traditional Windows Run dialog that can run any program as another user without logging you out of your account. Aside from that, Advanced Run does all the same things your regular Run dialog does, and Advanced Run will launch in place of it whenever you hit Windows-R or Start -> Run. It also adds a Run As option to your right-click dialog, so you can launch any program on your desktop as another user. Advanced Run is freeware, Windows only (go to the Downloads tab to download). Advanced Run [via Shell Extension City]
US-centric: MacRumors is reporting that AT&T’s web site has officially confirmed free access to over 17,000 Wi-Fi hotspots for iPhone users, including Starbucks and Barnes and Noble. That means that with a little know-how, anyone can get free Wi-Fi access at any AT&T hotspot from your laptop, no iPhone needed. If you’ve been using this trick since we first posted it, let’s hear how it’s working in the comments.
A Microsoft student promotion that slashes 91% off a copy of Office Ultimate applies to anyone with a .edu email address—and most universities offer .edu addresses to their alumni for free. Microsoft Office Ultimate, which retails for $680, is available to students for only $60 until May 16th. But if you can snag a .edu address, you too can cash in on the deal—all you have to do is get yourself an alumni email address at your alma mater. The promotion’s web site says you have to prove you’re enrolled in coursework, but the New York Times reports that a senior VP at Microsoft confirmed all you need is an .edu email address. Let us know if you snag the deal and how it goes in the comments. The Ultimate Steal [via NYT]
AU – Microsoft’s Australian “It’s Not Cheating” site is promoting a student rate of $75 for Office Ultimate which is valid until 15 May.
Language translation service Google Translate has added the ability to automatically detect the source language, streamlining translations when you don’t recognise the language. When you stumble onto a foreign language web site, the most difficult part of using sites like Google Translate is that you often don’t know what the source language is. Google Translate’s new Detect Language feature removes this limitation altogether, so translations are quicker and easier. Apart from the new auto-detection, Google Translate has also added support for nine new languages, and can translate from any one of them to any other. Not bad. Google Translate [via Google Operating System]
Whether you’re trying to share megabytes worth of music with a friend or send an important document to a coworker, nothing outshines a fast, easy-to-use file-sharing service. On Tuesday we asked you to share your favourite file-sharing service, and over 200 nominations later, we’ve rounded up the five most popular services. Hit the jump for a look at the top five, and then cast your vote for the ultimate file-sharing service.
PC World magazine writer Tom Mainelli lists five software apps that save him time every day—from a web-based fax service, to FolderShare, to a graphics application called SmartDraw. Not exactly the items that would be on my list, so now I want to know: What are the web and desktop applications that save you the most time each day? Your answer will depend on what kinds of tasks you do every day, but chances are there will be some tools that come up frequently for Lifehacker readers. Tell us what your best software application time-saver is and why in the comments. Five Software Tools to Speed Up Your Day [Yahoo! News]
Windows/Mac/Linux (Adobe Air): Klok, a free time and project-tracking app for the Adobe Air platform, is a great time-tracking solution for multi-platform users, as well as anyone who likes to keep it simple. Simple projects allow you to simply create and describe time entries on a drag-and-adjust grid, or use a template like “Web project” to automatically create sub-categories of HTML, design, text, and the like. You can also use Klok as a work timer using the “Work On” button, and export reports and invoices for clients. Klok is a free download for any system running the Adobe Air platform.
Before you head to Aunt Martha’s house to do tech support over her dial-up connection, save yourself hours and burn a Service Pack 3 disc before you go. The gHacks blog offers direct links to SP3 burn-ready ISO’s and EXE’s in several languages. (Here’s English.)
If you saw Adam’s recent Hive Five roundup of text editors, you might have noticed that Vim, a child of Unix/Linux favourite Vi, still carries a lot of favour among coders and back-to-basics text workers. Now you can try out Vi and all its shortcut/macro goodness online with jsvi, a JavaScript-written clone of the basic Vi interface. It’s obviously focused on code, carrying substitutions and spell checking for the most common languages, but it’s a fun place to try out coding for newcomers, or for programmers to do a little quick hacking when they’re away from their systems. jsvi [via Download Squad]
