Mac users with multiple Finder windows littering your desktop: hold down the Option key when you click on the close button on one to close them all in one shot. This works for any multi-window Mac app (though normally you’d just hit Cmd+Q to quit entirely). Here are a few more things you didn’t know you can do on your Mac.
Keep your tools, craft supplies, or the kids’ toys out of the way but within reach on a simple rack made of plywood and chicken wire. The Do Design DIY web site offers detailed instructions on how to put it together. The result is much more utilitarian than good-looking, so it’s probably a better fit for your garage or the playroom closet—that is, out of sight but within reach. How do you keep the workshop clean but your tools accessible? Let us know in the comments. DIY- Simple and Effective Any-size Tool Rack [Do Design DIY via Make]
Windows only: Freeware application Newsgator, voted one of the best RSS newsreaders in our recent Hive Five, has released a new update with significant performance enhancements and new features. Aside from under-the-hood improvements that should improve overall performance, the new FeedDemon implements enhanced feed subscriptions, improved synchronisation with NewsGator online, and even an improvement to one of my favourite FD features, the Panic Button. FeedDemon is freeware, Windows only. FeedDemon [via Digital Inspiration]
The Pen Drive Linux weblog details how to install the Ultimate Boot CD, a popular system recovery tool, directly to your thumb drive so you can carry your emergency recovery toolbox in your pocket. We mentioned Ultimate Boot CD’s thumb drive-ability when we highlighted UBCD as one of the top 10 free system recovery tools, but Pen Drive Linux steps through the process and includes links to all the files you’ll need to download to set it up. The guide is clear and easy to follow, so repurposing that extra thumb drive as a system recovery drive should be a snap. Install and Boot Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) from a USB Thumbdrive [Pen Drive Linux via MakeUseOf]
The good news? Visual Basic scripting, which took a much-lamented leave from Office 2008 for Macs, is coming back in the next Office release. The bad news? That’s probably two or three years away. [via]
The Tombuntu blog points out that the latest Hardy Heron release of Ubuntu Linux doesn’t play nice with multi-platform video/DVD converter HandBrake—at least not the version with a nice graphical interface. For those syncing their iPhone or iPod touch with Linux, or just wanting to get the job done, the author runs through using the command-line-controlled HandBrake CLI. There’s one very simple command to modify and paste that should work for most systems, with options to scale the quality and add markers. Still want a GUI for this job? Try WinFF, which is also available for Windows. Convert DVDs for Iphone or iPod Touch with HandBrake CLI [Tombuntu]
You never have to decline 17 zombie bites again: Facebook finally offers long-overdue opt-out capabilities for applications and by sender. When you receive an application request, you can now click the “Block This Application” link to never see that application again, or if you have a friend who’s particularly aggressive with the invites, you can also hit the “Ignore All Invites From This Friend.” Can I get a Hallelujah! Update: A reader informs us that this has been in place since February. Apologies for the old news! We’ve been avoiding Facebook for awhile now because of all the, uh, application spam. Facebook
One not-so-great outcome of the Federal budget this week was that the fringe benefit exemptions have been tightened on laptops. So the practise of salary sacrificing to get a laptop is on its way out, unless you use it “primarily for work”. If you were thinking of rushing one through before June 30, apparently that’s not an option either – the changes have already taken effect. Thanks, Mary, for that tip.
