Technology is turning us all into a bunch of time-wasters according to The Observer, which reports that the beep of an email alert alone is costing the US economy $70 billion per year. Wonder what our Twitter habits are adding up to. [via]
The TorrentFreak weblog wants to speed up your BitTorrent downloads with practical advice for getting around your firewall and managing your upload speed. They’re mostly beginner tips, so you may also want to try more advanced techniques as well.
As any photography hobbyist knows, shelling out for expensive gear can put a hurt on your pocketbook. We’ve covered how to create a cheap DIY softbox here before, but if you’re looking for something more durable than a cardboard box check out the Instructables tutorial by user sdhigbee on how to turn a $23 outlay into a reasonable clone of a $140 umbrella softbox. If you need to photograph small objects, check out another previous tip on how to make your own homemade light tent. DIY Softbox From An Umbrella [via Make]
Windows only: Free application DVD Catalyst Free rips videos from DVDs to device-friendly formats for your iPod, iPhone, PSP, PS3, Xbox, smartphone, and more in one simple click. Normally we prefer previously mentioned HandBrake for this job, but DVD Catalyst Free is much friendlier if a quick and simple rip is all you’re looking for. Either way, DVD Catalyst Free is worth a download. If it’s not quite what you’re looking for, check out our five best DVD ripping tools for more great ripping tools. DVD Catalyst Free is freeware, Windows only. A shareware version of DVD Catalyst is available if you need an expanded feature set, but the free version should be plenty for most.
DVD Catalyst [Download Page via Download Squad]When you don’t want to depend solely on the official App Store to get your iPhone 2.0 applications, you want to jailbreak your iPhone or iPod touch—and less than two weeks after the iPhone 2.0 launch, it’s easier than ever to do with your new device. The hard-working iPhone Dev Team released the jailbreak utility PwnageTool version 2.0.1 this weekend, and while it’s not as one-step as ZiPhone, it still offers an easy GUI interface for the job. Let’s take a look at the step by step for jailbreaking your iPhone 2.0 device with PwnageTool.
Windows only: Our favourite iPod video conversion software maker Videora now offers an iPhone 3G version. Convert all types of video files like AVI, DivX, XVID, FLV, X264, VOB, MPEG, and DVDs into a format that your iPhone 3G can play (that is, MPEG-4, H.264). Videora iPhone 3G Converter is a free download for Windows, and requires the .NET framework to run. For more on video conversion, check out our top 10 free video rippers, encoders, and converters. iPhone 3G Converter [via Life Rocks 2.0]
Windows only: Free utility Windows Updates Downloader is a seriously convenient tool for anyone starting over with a fresh Windows re-installation (such as a slipstreamed XP installation with SP3 pre-loaded), or anyone who wants to make their updates portable for later installation. Once installed, you have to point the app at an “Update List” for Windows XP or Vista (or Office 2003, if that’s installed). Hitting “+” doesn’t seem to point to the right page, which is here. Once the list is loaded, you can grab any of Microsoft’s current updates as executable packages, easily plugged into a slipstreaming tool or run by themselves on a system that needs it. Perfect for managing big updates on multiple systems, and saving wait-and-download time on a re-installation. Windows Updates Downloader is a free download for Windows systems only.
Windows Update Downloader [via gHacks]
