The popular Xbox Media Centre (XBMC) is working toward a cross-platform release, codenamed Atlantis, with alpha downloads available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The Windows Alpha crashed in my test, so if you have similar problems, previous versions of XBMC already run like a top on your Mac, your classic Xbox, and even your thumb drive.
Your crafty older relatives used to have to mail-order their video tutorials or wait for “This Old House” reruns to get their DIY on, but the age of streaming video has been good to those who like to tinker and try out neat tricks. From prying open beer bottles with telephone bills to picking locks, from sealing chips to folding T-shirts, we’ve posted a lot of concise but instructive clips at Lifehacker. Today we’re featuring 10 of our favourites, chosen for the tricks they teach as well as their watchable quality. Get ready to fill some weekend project time.
If you need to schedule a meeting and want to skip the hassle of emailing and playing phone tag to establish what time works best for everyone invited, a web-based schedule optimizer like Diarised will save you a headache or two. Visit Diarised and plug in information about the meeting, a description, the email addresses of the meeting attendees, and a list of potential meeting times. Diarised notifies attendees via email and they select the best meeting time. Diarised sends you an email summary of the optimal times. For other web based meeting time optimisers check out previously reviewed Doodle, WhenIsGood, Pointment, and
Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms): Editra, a free, cross-platform text editor, is a great lightweight solution for anyone who does coding, HTML work, or just a good amount of plain text editing. Similar to Notepad++, but with a whole lot of extras, the editor features tabbed files, context and code highlighting, theme-able icons and look, session saving, transparency support, auto-completion, and lots of indent and context tools that will make coders feel right at home. Even if you’re not code-savvy, the editor packs a lot of features in without feeling overly crowded. Editra is a free download for Windows, Mac, or Linux systems. Editra [via PhoroLinux]
