Sunday, July 13, 2008

Make Your Own Pocket Duct Tape Dispenser

9:00AM Lifehacker US Edition | Duct tape is one of the most handy additions to any lifehacker’s toolkit. Whether you’re fixing, hanging, sealing, making, or healing, duct tape can get the job done. Problem is, a full roll of the stuff is bulky and heavy, and it’s overkill when you don’t need it all for one project or repair. In short, duct tape isn’t pocket friendly—until now anyway. With a plain drinking straw, you can make a pocket duct tape dispenser in about 90 seconds. Here’s how. More »

I Dose Sends Binaural Beats to Your Brain

8:00AM Adam Pash | Web site I Dose offers several downloadable, streaming binaural beats designed to alter your mood. With offerings like Intelligence Increase, Aspirin (recommended against headaches), and Chakras opening, I can’t vouch for the claimed restorative benefits of binaural beats, but at the very least they provide some solid white noise. i Dose More »

Password Chart Generates Secure Passwords

7:00AM Lifehacker US Edition | Create secure passwords from a master phrase with web-based app Password Chart. Enter a phrase and Password Chart generates a table of values for the alphabet based off that phrase. For example, starting with phrase “Lifehacker helps me get things done.”, I converted my existing password “mysecretpassword” into the much less crackable “bs3rK@y4wB@yP8s68iueKK!3vB4MF”. For the analogue among us, you can even print off the password chart to store or keep with you. For a more digital based password management system, check out our guide to securely tracking your passwords. Password Chart [via Productivity 501] More »

Kyolo Adds No-Hassle Speech Bubbles to Digital Pics

6:00AM Kevin Purdy | Some pictures just cry out for a little cartoon-like commentary to strengthen their message. Free web service Kyolo helps non-Photoshop-ninjas quickly add speech bubbles to any picture with serious simplicity. Resize the speech bubbles, rotate the angular pointers, change the font sizes, and then save the resulting images. There’s a definite potential for over-use, as any long-time blog reader knows, but it’s a handy tool for inside jokes, quick blog posts, and whatever else needs a little comic strip flair. An optional sign-in lets you save pictures online and create public and private albums, but anyone can grab their finished images for free. Kyolo [via Download Squad] More »

Upgrade from the Unofficial to the Official iPhone 2.0 Software

5:05AM Gina Trapani | iPhone only: If you installed the unofficial iPhone 2.0 software when it got leaked earlier this week like we did, you may not be running the right version for your iPhone. Just in case, Mac Rumours describes how adventurous early adopters can now get the official iPhone 2.0 software. If you installed the leak and try to go official by hitting “Check for Update” in iTunes, it will tell you you’re already running the most current software—so Mac Rumours provides a direct, manual link to the official 2.0 software. We’re not positive what the differences are between the leak and the official versions, but Mac Rumours reports: While [the leaked version] carries the same build number, the file sizes are different and the iPhone model designation is different. One unconfirmed poster explains that the “iPhone1,2″ firmware that was leaked yesterday was only intended for use on the iPhone 3G. More »

SynthaSite Creates Your Web Site In-Browser

4:00AM Lifehacker US Edition | Web-based web site editor SynthaSite has relaunched itself with a brand new and radically more friendly user interface. Select your site’s colour scheme and template, and then modify it using a what you see is what you get, drag and drop editor. Drag everything from basic text and images to forms, maps, videos and photo galleries onto your pages. Publish the site you’ve created directly through SynthaSite, either at the http://yoursitename.sythasite.com address or set your current URL to redirect to your SynthaSite, or you can download the work you’ve done and host it on your own web server. If SynthaSite isn’t quite what you were looking for in a WYSIWYG editor, check out previously reviewed online editor Webon or if you’re looking for a meatier project to wile away your weekend you can roll your own professionally designed web site. SynthaSite [via TechCrunch] More »

Light Turns Your iPhone into a (Battery-Sucking) Flashlight

2:43AM Kevin Purdy | iPhone/iPod touch only: Freeware application Light, created by Lifehacker alumnus Erica Sadun, has one simple use and purpose—projecting a blank white screen onto your iPhone or iPod Touch. Depending on how bright you keep your screen normally, this turns it into a low-powered, omni-directional flashlight. Sounds silly, and it kind of is, but I can attest to the usefulness of a white-screened iPod touch, even at the standard brightness setting, for navigating a household in the dark, as long as you don’t mind the battery loss. If you’re resisting a 2.0 upgrade this week (or just haven’t been able to get one), you could also try stopping a web page from loading in Safari, or use the “Settings” screen for a reasonably bright substitute. Light is a free app for the iPhone or iPod touch running the 2.0 software update. Light [iTunes App Store] More »

Improve Your Xbox 360 Experience with Port Forwarding

1:00AM Adam Pash | Wired’s How-To Wiki details step-by-step how to set up port forwarding to make sure you’re getting the best experience from your Xbox 360 and Xbox Live game play. Depending on your router you may never have needed to do this, but if you’ve ever experienced long wait-times between games and other suspicious network problems, there’s a fair chance that a quick trip through your router’s settings could make a big difference. While you’re at it, you may be interested in tweaking your router to ensure your Xbox gets the lion’s share of your bandwidth when you need it. Finally, now that you’re gaming is set up for top performance, maybe it’s time you do more than just game on your 360. Set Up Port Forwarding on Your Xbox 360 [Wired How-To Wiki] More »