Thursday, October 23, 2008

AltMove Adds Functionality To Your Mouse

11:30PM Lifehacker US Edition | Windows only: AltMove is a lightweight portable application that adds functionality to your mouse. Extremely customisable, you can set mouse buttons and mouse button/keyboard combinations to do a variety of tasks such as resize windows, change the transparency of windows, run programs, activate a magnifier loupe, emulate keystrokes, and make screenshots. One of the more interesting tricks included in the program is the ability to dock commonly used menu commands around the mouse cursor. By clicking the right mouse button and holding it, an icon based menu appears around the cursor. Like everything else in AltMove, the menu can be customised. AltMove is freeware, Windows only. AltMove Windows & Mouse Manager [via Download.com] More »

Work Around The Wii’s 2GB SD Card Limit

10:40PM Kevin Purdy | O’Reilly’s Hacks Blog points out a way to work around the Nintendo Wii’s arbitrary 2GB limit on storing games and save information to an SD card. After formatting the card using the SDFormatter tool, simply fill everything but 2GB with junk data that you can later replace. Useful for anyone who’s hacked their Wii for homebrew apps. [via] More »

AppCompactor Cuts (Some) Portable Apps Down To Size

10:15PM Kevin Purdy |

Customise Conky For Ambient Linux Productivity

9:30PM Kevin Purdy | Linux often gets criticised by the ease-of-use crowd for making its users occasionally edit a text file to get something working. In the case of the nimble, endlessly extensible desktop monitor Conky, though, a text file is a great thing. You can changed the format, colour, font, and output of what Conky shows you any way you want, and using some freely available tools, have Conky monitor your email, Google Calendar, local weather, music, and even keep tabs on your text-based to-do list. If you were intrigued by how much love Conky gets from our Linux users, read on to learn how to set up your own uber-useful, lightweight embedded monitor. More »

Google Launches Australian Mapping Competition, Gives Away Macbook

4:45PM Angus Kidman | Google’s My Maps feature is already a pretty cool way of annotating maps with local information, but here’s an added incentive to get tagging: a competition for the best local maps, with a Macbook as a prize for the best entry. There’s a bunch of celebrity examples on the site already, and I suspect many Lifehacker readers could do as well or better than Jamie Durie. Check out the video above for a basic guide on building maps; the contest closes November 28. My Maps Australia Awards [via Official Google Australia Blog] More »

Register For Linux.conf.au Despite Domain Woes

3:56PM Angus Kidman | As I’ve noted over at ZDNet, domain name policy confusion means that the site for Linux.conf.au, which is due to take place in Hobart in January, is currently inaccessible. However, Linux enthusiasts shouldn’t fear; you can still access the site (and register before the early-bird discount runs out) at either marchsouth.org or conf.linux.org.au. Linux.conf.au hits domain disaster [ZDNet] More »

Dear Lifehacker: How Can I Hide My Firefox Images?

1:30PM Angus Kidman | Dear Lifehacker, How do I stop my computer from saving every picture I’ve viewed on the web when using Firefox? Thanks, Luke There are many things we don’t want other people to find on our PCs, either because we’re ashamed of them (Celine Dion, anyone?) or because we’re trying to surprise them (way to blow that birthday surprise). While there have been add-ons and extensionsto help solve this problem, 2008 has seen every major browser developer look into what is nicely referred to as ‘private browsing mode’, and generally referred to as ‘porn mode’, which keeps everything neatly non-cached and private. Surprisingly given its general reputation for advanced features, Firefox is the last cab off this particular rank. Both Google Chrome and IE 8 include porn mode, but you’ll need version 3.1, currently in beta, to get that feature with the ‘fox. So the short answer is: wait a few months. In the meantime, select Tools, then Clear Private Data, make sure everything is ticked, and click ‘Clear Private Data Now’ to get rid of the evidence. More »

Optimise Your Browser Homepage With 43Marks

11:49AM Lifehacker US Edition | 43Marks is yet another customisable start page ala iGoogle or Netvibes which includes a prominent search box for Google or Yahoo, category buckets for favourite bookmarks, and boxes to display a handful of RSS feeds. What it doesn’t have is the variety of features and widgets iGoogle or My Yahoo offers, but it’s just as free with registration—and you don’t have to sign in to see your page once it’s set up. Of course, that means if someone knows your username, they can check out your homepage, too—so much for adding a “Porn” category. Thanks, SristiCaban! 43 Marks More »