Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Google Inline MP3 Player Greasemonkey script inserts Google Reader’s MP3 Flash player next to any linked MP3 file you stumble onto while browsing. Simply click the [Play]link the script inserts next to the linked MP3 to toggle the player and start streaming the file. For example, once you install the script and reload this page, the Google Inline MP3 Player script should automatically insert a toggle link behind this link. Click it to listen to the MP3, and when you’re done, click the Hide Player link to remove the player and return to your regularly scheduled browsing. Google Inline MP3 Player is an update to my original version, works anywhere you’ve installed Firefox and Greasemonkey. To install, just click the link below.
Google Inline MP3 Player (Click to Install)If you started investing $448 a month at 30 years old, Yahoo Finance says that a reasonable 8% return would put your savings over the million dollar mark in 35 years. The problem, of course, is finding that extra $450. To help ferret out every quarter in your couch cushions, the article suggests seven different potential expenses that, with slight adjustments, could easily produce the extra cash you need to start down the road to a million.
If a careless weekend in the sun has you red-faced and uncomfortably squirming in your chair, weblog Wise Bread rounds up a handful of cheap home remedies for your poor, sunburned skin. From vinegar to a crushed aspirin-and-water concoction, you can throw together most of the remedies using items you’ve already got in your pantry. Of course, a better solution is a good defense against the sun, but if you spent your weekend under a 97-degree springtime sun like I did, these tips—which don’t include our previous oatmeal sunburn soother—could be just what your suffering skin needs. Photo by A. M. Kuchling. Cheap and Simple Sunburn Remedies that Really Work [Wise Bread]
When you’re saving sensitive files on your computer meant for your eyes only, make sure you’ve got the right tools on hand to keep them private. Whether you want to shield your brilliant startup business plan from the Pointy Haired Boss, or hide your stash of Gillian Anderson photos from the kids, there are several free tools that can encrypt, password-protect, or obscure files and folders from others who might use your computer. Let’s take a look at various methods, tools, and levels of privacy and security you can use to lock up your sensitive data.
Lots of people search the internet to self-diagnose health problems, look up medications, and find doctors and hospitals, and Google hopes to consolidate all that info for you in the newly-launched Google Health. Enter your medical conditions, allergies, medications, test results, and more into Google Health, a personalised one-stop shop for health and medical information. You can even import your medical records from hospitals and pharmacies (like Walgreen’s or Longs Drugs), and Google Health will show you drug interactions based on your medicine list and notices from various health organizations based on your profile. If you’re willing to hand over your medical profile to the big G in the name of convenient info, Google Health is for you. The more privacy-minded, of course, may refrain. Google Health [via Google Blogoscoped]
Windows only: Freeware application MP3-Check examines your music library to weed out files that are missing important metadata or those that don’t match certain criteria. iTunes built-in duplicate finder is pretty limited, but MP3-Check similarly weeds out MP3s using criteria like bit rate, sample rate, and gain volume. As an added bonus, MP3-Check handles huge directories of MP3s with aplomb, and when you find files that don’t meet your standards, you can launch your favourite metadata editor and set things straight. MP3-Check is freeware, Windows only, requires .NET 2.0. MP3-Check [via gHacks]
On Saturday you learned how to control hobbyist hardware using the Arduino microcontroller, and today we’ve got another neat Arduino project: a Gmail notifier lamp. Blogger Jamie Matthews connected a cube lamp to his Mac, and using the Arduino, configures it to light when he gets new messages to his Gmail account. Hit the link to get the details on the Gmail notifier hardware and software setup. Have you seen or done any other nifty Arduino projects? Do tell us about them in the comments or at tips at lifehacker.com. How to make a Physical Gmail Notifier [j4mie dot org via Hackszine]
You’ve seen how Google Reader’s iPhone interface fits oh-so-nicely into your Firefox sidebar, and now the How-To Geek shows how you can make it even more compact and useful. Using some bookmark digging and the Stylish theme-ing extension for Firefox, you can remove Reader’s blue border and header, change the font sizes, and reduce the feed displays to headlines only. Hit the link for individual or compilation Stylish scripts that make Reader even better on the side. Tweak Google Reader iPhone Edition in Your Firefox Sidebar [The How-To Geek]
Solitaire and its many cousins might be the worst productivity-killers of all time, according to Slate, but they’ve also tutored Windows newbs and provided needed distractions. What’s your take on Windows’ most famous app? Let’s hear it in the comments. [via]
