When every character counts, the right URL compacting service can mean the difference between saying what you want and desperately trying to fit a coherent thought into a few insufficient words. Read on for a closer look at the five best URL shrinkers.
MIT professor Alex Pentland is developing software that analyses the tone, turn-taking behaviour and other qualities of a conversation, so you can find out if you’re an interrupter, a dominater, or appear to be inattentive when others are talking.
You want to download free apps and songs from the iTunes Store, but you don’t want to hand over your address and credit card details—the gHacks blog runs down how, using an expired coupon code.
Jailbroken iPhone/iPod touch 2.0 only: The previously mentioned iSlsk peer-to-peer client is now available for iPhone 2.0. Now called MewSeek, the Soulseek client lets you download music from the P2P network directly to your device. The catch? You’ll need the PwnPlayer app to listen to any of your downloads. Both of these apps are in early development; we haven’t tried them firsthand at Lifehacker HQ, but the ReadWriteWeb blog reports that besides some bugginess here and there, they work as advertised. Windows and users, jailbreak your device using QuickPwn; Mac users can rock the jailbreak with PwnageTool. Then, MewSeek and PwnPlayer are free apps you can get via the Cydia installer. PwnPlayer + MewSeek released today [errrick via ReadWriteWeb]
You may have a great idea bouncing around in your head. It may be something that could revolutionise the company that you work for, or even change your own career. But if you can’t find a way to get that idea out and in front of others, you and it will be forever stuck. The key is to have the ability and the courage to get up in front of a room—full of your friends, your peers or your bosses—and tell them what you know. Once you are able to speak your passion, you can pass it along to others and begin to make a difference. Perhaps you are just plagued by shyness, like I was way back in the seventh grade, when everyone was getting called to the front of the classroom for the spelling bee. Gulp! That was my worst nightmare! But as I grew up, I learned more and more ways to speak effectively. These days, I speak all over the world many times a week. But getting there wasn’t easy. Today, I’ll share with you some of the ways you can work on your own to become a dynamite presenter. Next week, I’ll share some tips on learning great presentation skills at work. Photo by James Hoang.
For those of you who like a darker, sleeker look on your desktop, the Mozilla Links blog rounds up seven dark themes for the ‘fox.
Some people say I’m the spitting image of Zach Braff. I’ve got a certain Garden State charm, but I don’t see the resemblance. Nevertheless, I get stopped. I get asked. I am forced to deny. Still, as far as mistaken identities go, this is not so bad. Who wouldn’t want to resemble a triple-threat Hollywood star? It may not be Brad Pitt, but at least I’m not being asked to prove to the wait staff at Chili’s that I’m not, in fact, McLovin. Photo from Fox Searchlight.
