DIY web site Instructables has a detailed step-by-step tutorial for setting up your own hydroponics system on a budget with recycled materials. All you’ll need to get started is a few 2 litre bottles, tubing, an aquarium pump, and a few other odds and ends—most of which you can find around the house or at your local gardening store. When you’re finished, you’ve got a completely automated hydroponics system that regularly pumps nutrient-filled water to your plants. The final project isn’t terribly pretty (it’s probably best suited to your garage), but judging by the video in the last step, it appears to work really well. If you’re an old hand with with hydroponics, share your experience in the comments. Expandable Hydroponics System from Junk – Flood and Drain [Instructables]
Founder of previously mentioned music playlist creator Muxtape says he ‘walked away from licensing deals that would restrict what songs you could upload there and plans to feature indie bands only. Where does that leave you? To share your MP3′s Muxtape-style, host your own music playlist with Opentape.
We’re looking for a few good AutoHotkey coders interested in contributing to open-source projects to be developed and distributed right here at Lifehacker. If you’re interested, join the newly minted Lifehacker Coders Google Group and let’s hammer out some details.
Windows/Mac/Linux: Free application Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor is a cross-platform Wi-Fi tool that displays available networks on a very cool radar map. More specifically, the app searches for Wi-Fi networks, displays strength, detects rogue access points, and helps you tweak your network for the best signal. The downside: Xirrus Wi-Fi monitor is only available in widget/gadget/desklet form. That means that in order to use it, on XP and OS X you have to install the Yahoo Widget framework, on Linux you have to install the Desklet framework, and on Vista you’ll need to re-enable the sidebar gadgets. That’s all somewhat of a bummer considering the whole widget craze generally went out the door circa-2006. However, Xirrus remains a worthwhile application with an unquestionably fun execution. Wi-Fi Tools [Xirrus via WebWorkerDaily]
Software or webapps in a “beta” phase should, according to tradition, not pick up any major features, and should be going through community testing mostly to work out kinks and bugs. But one astute writer at the Pingdom blog found that 22 of Google’s 49 public products—a good 45 percent—were listed as “beta,” despite going through significant feature changes and even entire version changes. They’re hardly alone, as other webapp companies, like Jott, have taken to developing entire applications under the beta flag. Some suggest Google may be avoiding providing tech support or owning up to any major flaws found in their products, but we’re wondering: Do you see the definition of “beta” changing elsewhere? Are you happy with the idea of getting early access to potentially flawed products, or would you rather just get a working package when it’s ready? Tell us your take in the comments. Why is almost half of Google in beta? [via Slashdot]
Windows only: Pazera Free Audio Extractor extracts audio from virtually any video file and outputs it to MP3, AAC, AC3, WMA, or WAV formats. Just plug in your video file (it supports AVI, FLV, MP4, MPG, and more) into the program, choose your output type, and let it rip. Pazera takes care of the conversion using previously mentioned command-line tool ffmpeg, and you can set several preference adjustments to get the exact output you want. As an added bonus, Pazera also works as a basic audio-to-audio converter. Pazero Free Audio Extractor is a free download, Windows only. If you’re looking to rip DVD straight to an MP3, check out peviously mentioned Free DVD MP3 Ripper. Pazera Free Audio Extractor [via Life Rocks 2.0]
Jewelry designer Nicole quit her day job to sell her handmade wares online, and she shares how she took the leap from working for someone else to being self-employed. In a featured interview at Etsy, Nicole shares how she got to where she is, and offers a thorough, seven-point checklist of stuff she did before taking the plunge. Nicole says:
Windows only: Stop wondering where the time went and start using a timer to be more productive. Cool Timer is a small timer application with three modes: countdown, stopwatch and alarm clock. You can customise the colour scheme and size of the clock to make it easier to see it at a distance, and you can assign a text message to an alarm to serve as a reminder. Included are several basic sound files like a gong, alarm clock, etc. but you can use any WAV, MP3 or MIDI file you want. If you use certain countdown times and alarms frequently, you can save them for repeat use. Cool Timer is a free download for Windows only. Cool Timer [Harmony Hollow Software]
