Dear Lifehacker, I recently downloaded a program recommended by Lifehacker, and after I installed it, my antivirus program yelled bloody murder and flagged it as a virus. No one else in the comments has reported similar findings, and my antivirus application has reported false positives before. I love my AV app, but is there a better way I can verify whether or not a file really contains a virus? Yours, Overactive Whistle Blower
Google will start rolling out the new version of iGoogle this month, with a full roll-out in July, integrating chat like Gmail, a sidebar, and several other features worth a look. [via]
You already know how to set up Firefox quick searches by right-clicking in a web page’s search box—like on the Google home page—and choosing “Add a keyword for this search.” Now in Firefox 3, you can manage search engine keywords in Firefox’s built-in search box. Hit the down arrow next to the currently selected engine and choose “Manage Search Engines.” There you can view, add, and edit keywords—like w for Wikipedia. Once you’ve got a quick search set up, just type it and your query into the location bar. For example, typing w Lifehacker will run a search on Wikipedia for Lifehacker. Update: You can’t edit or manage bookmark keywords here, just keywords associated with the engines in the search box.
[via Cybernet]Outlook add-on Xobni has integrated with professional social networking site LinkedIn to enhance your contact information with job and employer details when possible. Using Outlook but not Xobni? Check out what you’re missing.
Mac OS X only: Freeware application Tofu makes onscreen reading more friendly to your eyes by creating a multi-column, newspaper-like interface to your daily reading material. Rather than traditional top-to-bottom scrolling, Tofu lays out your reading in several narrow columns from left to right; pressing the left or right on your keyboard scrolls just one column at a time. You can copy and paste any rich text directly into Tofu to start reading or even send web pages to Tofu through the Services menu. Tofu is freeware, Mac OS X only.
Tofu [via Download Squad]You’ve collected hundreds of thousands of megabytes (and maybe even gigabytes) of digital music and video in the past 10 years, and as your media library has grown, so has the necessity for finding the perfect desktop media player. Not only must the perfect player be capable of playing back your media, but it also needs to be able to help you search through and find any song or movie you’re looking for at a moment’s notice. Hit the jump for a glimpse at the five best desktop media players according to Lifehacker readers.
Windows Mobile phones only: Web based service Dashwire syncs your Windows Mobile phone data to the web site with a Dashwire applet you install on your phone. Dashwire backs up and syncs photos, videos, text messages, ringtones, bookmarks, speed dials, contacts, and call logs automatically and makes them accessible in your online Dashwire account.
The Workers’ Edge blog digs into Windows tweaks that one normally has to dig pretty far into nested menus to find, and comes out with a real find for hands-on-the-keys fans. To have Windows always show the keyboard shortcuts next to menu items for easier learning, head to to the “Ease of Access Center” in Vista’s Control Panel, check “Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys,” and hit apply. In XP, right-click on the desktop, hit “Properties,” head to the Appearance tab, click the “Effects” button, then un-check the “Hide underlined letters …” option. Now your toolbar menus will always have their keyboard access letters underlined, saving your wrist a trip to the mouse or trackpad. Four hard-to-find fixes for common Windows annoyances [Workers' Edge | CNET]
