Now that you’ve mastered find, programmer Eric Wendelin describes several ways in which grep (Global Regular Expression Print) can make you more productive at the command line.
We’re pretty dedicated users of the email-based Google Alerts at Lifehacker HQ, but certain search terms have just far too many results to not turn into a kind of voluntary spam. FeedMySearch, a free Google-tweaking utility, turns new results from Google’s many search areas—web, news, blogs, images, and more—into an RSS feed you can incorporate however you’d like. Some of these results, like Google News, have RSS feeds built in, but FeedMySearch’s web search feeds are full-fledged with embedded video and pictures, and the site makes it easy to embed the feeds in your favourite start pages or bookmarking tools. FeedMySearch is free to use, no sign-up required. FeedMySearch [via MakeUseOf.com]
Free font-matching service Identifont is a good bookmark for anyone who works in words, design, or just has to occasionally match up hard-to-pin-down fonts. While not as automatic as the previously mentioned upload-and-analyse app WhatTheFont, Identifont leads you through a series of questions about certain characters, like how the tail on the “Q” is shaped, the style of the “$” symbol, and so on. After a maximum of 15 questions, you’ll likely get a match from Identifont’s huge database, or at least a remarkably similar font. If you’re in need of an exact match for a weird font, Identifont is a free spot to dig deep for it. Identifont [via Online Tech Tips]
iPhone/iPod touch only: Free music discovery service Last.fm has launched its own iPhone/iPod touch 2.0 app, and it does exactly what you’d hope it would, with a few caveats. The interface is straightforward and simple, at least for experienced Last.fm users—launch the app, then choose from your “Recommended Radio” or enter an artist name to hear other tracks you might like. You can ban, skip, or “Love” tracks while they’re playing, and get artist bios and other information. The big downside (inherent to the iPhone) is the lack of backgroung playing, so you’ve got to keep the Last.fm app up while you’re streaming your music. At the same time, the app makes Safari recognise direct lastfm:// links for convenient linking and playing. Hit the jump for a video demonstration and a direct link to the free app in the iTunes Store; jailbreak fans, check out MobileScrobbler for a similar solution.
Apple might like to boast about the Mac’s low profile when it comes to hacking, but low doesn’t equate to non-existent. Australian security vendor PC Tools has rolled out a beta version of iAntiVirus, an anti-malware tool for Mac users. The product features the expected range of features (virus and spyware detection, and regular downloadable updates). We haven’t tested it out ourselves (no Mac to hand), but if Macs are going to continue to grow in popularity, security software is going to become more essential, so it’s good have free options available. Mac OS X: iAntivirus is Mac OS X only; the beta version is free to download, though there’s a $49.95 charge for commercial or supported use. If you’ve tried it out, share your experiences in the comments. [iAntiVirus]
A valid reason for never getting back to all those social web apps you signed up for is that updating them all with big news—or just a funny moment—requires a lot of logging in, typing or uploading, and then switching over. switchAbit, a free social syndication tool, offers the tools to create multiple “switches” for all your cool tools. So you can, say, upload a photo on Flickr, then have a link or thumbnail of it show up on your Blogger, Twitter, and your Facebook page. You can leave the syndicating switches always on, or head over to switchAbit to manually turn them on and off. If you’re going to spend time posting about yourself, you may as well save some time doing it. switchAbit’s beta test is free to sign up for and use.
switchAbit [via Red Ferret Journal]The Edit Web Site bookmarklet turns all of the content of any web site into a editable text. Using it is simple: Just drag the Edit Web Site bookmarklet into your browser’s bookmark toolbar, and then click it on any web site you feel like editing. Obviously the changes are purely local, but it’s a good way to tweak the day’s events exactly to your liking, have a little fun with co-workers, or test out a web site. If you want to give it a quick try, just click the link above to edit this post.
Edit Any Web Page in your Browser Just Like a Wiki [Digital Inspiration]Setting up a bunch of specific signatures in Outlook makes for more effective communication, but there’s no obvious method for migrating them when you move machines, since signatures aren’t stored as part of the main PST file. Microsoft’s Outlook Team Blog explains the secret of how to move signatures from one place to another: in short, they’re stored as files in an obscure folder which you can access by control-clicking the Signatures button under Mail Format. While hardly obvious, at least this method makes signature backup possible.How do I back up my signatures? [Microsoft Outlook Team Blog]
After we reported that it should be possible to include data usage as part of the overall monthly cap for Vodafone’s iPhone plans, thereby making them much better value, several readers reported that they’d been told just the opposite by Vodafone stores: that the cap explicitly didn’t include any data other than the specific ‘iPhone allowance’. While it’s not surprising that the stores believe that given the way the plans are sold, it isn’t what Vodafone’s terms and conditions actually say. Click after the jump for full analysis.
Instructable user Sailor Bob wanted to track his pedals-per-minute to set goals and get more out of his routine, so he turned a cheap $US10 bicycle computer (found at Wal-Mart, in his case) into a reliable cadence meter using some dollar-store magnets and a few cables. The hardest part seems to be setting up the LCD computer, but it’s nothing you couldn’t tackle with a little free time and effort. Hit the link for detailed installation and setup instructions. Very Easy Cadence Meter For Your Bike < $12 [Instructables]
