Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Mozilla Weave Synchronises Your Browsing Experience

10:45PM Kevin Purdy | g The newest version of Mozilla’s experimental browser-syncing tool, Weave, just hit the net, and it’s seen a few marked improvements since it was first available. Going beyond bookmarks, Weave can match up your Firefox 3 settings, cookies, browsing history, and even tabs between browsers, with experimental support for passwords and form data—in other words, just about everything except extensions, themes, and plug-ins. There’s a lot more to come, and it’s still a pretty rough around the edges—this is, after all, just version 0.2—but follow along after the jump to see some of what Weave can do, or at least one day will do, to keep your Firefox browsing consistent and convenient. More »

How to get the most from Qantas’ new Frequent Flyer program

5:35PM Angus Kidman | Qantas today unveiled major changes to its Frequent Flyer program, adding options to fly on any day where seats are available and an expanded range of other products to its traditional use-points-and-fly-if-you’re-lucky approach. Where can the best deals be had and how can you ensure you get the flights you want? Click after the jump for our initial impressions, and add your own best advice in the comments. More »

Flash now indexed by Google

3:13PM Angus Kidman | I’d be inclined to argue that the biggest problem with Flash sites is that they can add needless complication and download weight without actually improving efficiency. However, for sites which are heavy on Flash (games and video being the obvious offenders), there’s always been a bigger problem: content in Flash rarely if ever gets picked up by search engine indexes, rendering it near-invisible to casual visitors.That problem may recede with news that Google is now automatically indexing all text labels within Flash files, meaning that those elements will now show up in relevant searches. (Yahoo! is also planning similar changes but hasn’t made them live yet). No special changes are required to have Flash content indexed, though it may be a few days before any relevant material shows up in searches. If you have Flash material you don’t want indexed, Google recommends incorporating those purely as graphic elements, as it only indexes specifically marked text (so no video subtitles, we assume). In any event, don’t be surprised to see more Flash material show up when you search Google, and a possible new round of SEO wars as sites fight to top the rankings. More »

Build a garden bed from packing pallets

10:16AM Angus Kidman | The Home Green Home blog demonstrates how you can build a garden bed from old packing pallets — and all this in a space barely 4 metres by 4 metres. In our recent discussion about how big Australian houses need to be, one reader argued that a big backyard was essential for growing vegetables. This video shows that compact living is not necessarily incompatible with a green thumb and a copious supply of salad. Recycled Garden Bed [Home Green Home] More »

Aussie software price ripoff: why free is the way to go

9:56AM Angus Kidman | An article by Andrew Ramadge at News.com.au highlights the often shocking price differences between download-only software for Australian customers and those buying elsewhere in the world. The most extreme examples come from games companies, which can charge up to five times as much, but Adobe and numerous security companies also come under the microscope. Fortunately, asmany  Lifehacker readers are well aware, there are better ways to deal with most of these problems than trying to pretend you’re downloading from Arizona. To keep your system secure, look no further than the five best antivirus solutions as selected by readers . And there’s a huge range of options to handle your PDF creation, modification and reading needs for free. Aussies paying five times more for software [News.com.au] More »

Start Using the New iGoogle Today

8:00AM Adam Pash | Last week we told you about iGoogle’s new look, which they’ve rolled out to a few users in June and will continue to roll out to users through July. However, if you’re dying to start using the new iGoogle today you can head to the iGoogle Sandbox Sign Up page and enable the new iGoogle right now. The only catch: Google puts you on the honour system that you’re a developer. If you’re comfortable calling yourself a developer (there are no real checks in place), then go ahead and get started. Either way, hit the jump for a closer look at the new iGoogle. More »

ZDNet Clock Overclocks Your Mac Pro

7:30AM Adam Pash | Mac OS X only: Freeware application ZDNet Clock overclocks your Mac Pro’s processor for faster performance. As the name suggests, the application is made by the German branch of tech web site ZDNet, and according to the download page the latest generation Mac Pro (3.1) with a 2.8GHz processor can be overclocked to 3.24GHz without increasing voltage to the CPU and without losing stability (translation: faster computer, no major risk). Overclocking has never been as easy on Macs as PCs, but the ZDNet Clock tool aims to make it just that. ZDNet Clock only works on Intel Mac Pros and the Apple server Xserve, requires OS X 10.5. We don’t have a Mac Pro at Lifehacker HQ to test it on, so if you feel like being our canary in the coalmine, let’s hear how it worked for you in the comments. More »

Set Your Chat Privacy on a Schedule

4:00AM Adam Pash | All things Mac web site Macworld details how to set your instant message privacy status on a schedule to help you stay productive during your busy times. Unfortunately there are no IM clients that allow for privacy scheduling, so the article details how to adjust your privacy settings on a schedule using AppleScript. The script, which works with the popular Adium instant messaging client, focuses on the privacy settings, but you could just as easily tweak the script to change your status on a schedule as well. Whatever your preference, scheduling your visibility and status in your IM client could make a huge difference in your productivity and help cut down significantly on interruptions. AppleScript and chat privacy [Macworld] More »

Locate32 Finds Files Quickly and Reliably

1:00AM Kevin Purdy | Windows only: Free search utility Locate32 uses Unix-style databases and locate commands to find files by name, size, creation dates, or any other system criteria. While it can’t search the insides of files like Google Desktop, Vista’s Search 4.0 Preview, or other full-featured tools, it runs fast, simple, and seriously light on system resources. You can set oft-searched presets, run the whole thing from a thumb drive, and perform any of your normal right-click context commands on the files Locate32 finds. Locate32 is a free download for Windows 98 and later systems. Thanks, Chris! Locate32 More »

Can Social Tools Really Replace Email?

12:07AM Kevin Purdy | Tele-commuter and IBM “social computing evangelist” Luis Suarez writes in the New York Times that he was able to cut down his weekly incoming email by 80 percent—seriously—by responding to messages that would normally start a chain reaction through wikis, blogs, and instant messaging instead. He also started picking up the phone more often to add a personal touch when needed: I have had continuing support from my management in this effort, because I’ve been able to prove how much more I can accomplish by answering a question, and posting it on a blog, for example, than I can by answering the same question over and over. I still help people, but in a more open and collaborative fashion. Other people can join in the discussions — maybe they will have a better idea than mine. Assuming you could convince your superiors to install the needed tools and let you give it a try, could you see yourself benefiting from internal social networking instead of endless email replies? How would you divvy up responses between the various outputs? Let’s hear the pros and cons of your theoretical (or real-life) work flow in the comments. I Freed Myself From E-mail’s Grip [New York Times] More »