Friday, November 21, 2008
Work
iPhone 2.2 Firmware Update Now Available
11:50PM Kevin Purdy | The long-awaited 2.2 firmware updates for iPhones and iPod touch models hit iTunes at midnight last night, pushing a good deal of new features and long-awaited fixes to the mobile devices. We’ve already detailed some of the major new features already: Street View with walking/transit directions in Google Maps (iPhones only, unfortunately) and “emoji” face emoticons, over-the-air podcast downloading, and, while not really a feature, it’s expected that 2.2 will be jailbroken before you know it. There’s a good number of interface and usability improvements too, like improved HTML email formatting and location sharing, stability and menu bar tweaks to Safari, and a few other punch-list items. I’m downloading my 240MB-ish iPod update just fine; tell us your impressions of 2.2 in the comments. iPhone 2.2 Update Available Now [Gizmodo] More »
Organise
Q-Dir Explores Files With Multiple Panes And Custom Views
11:00PM Kevin Purdy | Windows only: Free file browser Q-Dir makes for a good USB drive app or installed replacement for Windows Explorer for those who do a serious amount of file swapping, or just like to be able to keep multiple folder views open at once. The app—which installs by default, but can run by itself after renaming it “Q-Dir.exe”—offers a customisable number of panes, though the default four-square is a pretty good starting point. You can save any view you like to a favourite button, along with adding shortcuts to frequently-accessed folders. There’s also a quick-filter box in the lower-right for easy sorting and finding, and if you use Q-Dir regularly, you’ll be glad it keeps your right-click shell extensions and offers its own “*Q-Dir” launch option on right-clicking a folder. Q-Dir is a free download for Windows systems only. Q-Dir [via FreewareGenius.com] More »
Communicate
OrbLive Apps Stream Media And TV To Your iPhone
10:00PM Kevin Purdy | iPhone/iPod touch only: Streaming media server Orb has released free and $US9.99 versions of an app that lets you watch videos, listen to music, check documents and even stream live or recorded TV to your iPhone or iPod touch. Like other combinations that use Orb’s Windows-only (for now) software at their core, connection speeds and lag vary depending on the two sides of the connection, but streaming video to my iPod touch was decent enough, if a tiny bit out of sync. The main difference between the free and paid versions is a big one—the free version picks three items from each category to stream, while the paid app gives you full access to anything you want to grab. That’s just about all there is to it, though you’ll want to head to the app’s settings to optimise streaming for 3G, or Wi-Fi connections. The OrbLive applications are free and $9.99, and both require an iPhone or iPod touch running at least the 2.0 firmware. Check out our Wii media centre guide for a closer look at the Orb software itself. OrbLive Free and OrbLive [iTunes App Store via Gizmodo] More »
Organise
5:04PM Angus Kidman | The working week is over! But add some organising spice to your leisure time by following up these tips from the past week on Lifehacker:
Download the upgraded Xbox experience (if you haven’t already)
Dig up strange people from your past with Pipl
Find an environmentally sound way to dispose of your old tech
Play with Google SearchWiki and see if it makes your search experience any better, and use Let Me Google That For You to reduce Google hassles from others
Find somewhere new to hide your loose cash at home
More »
Five Things To Do This Weekend
5:04PM Angus Kidman | The working week is over! But add some organising spice to your leisure time by following up these tips from the past week on Lifehacker:
Download the upgraded Xbox experience (if you haven’t already)
Dig up strange people from your past with Pipl
Find an environmentally sound way to dispose of your old tech
Play with Google SearchWiki and see if it makes your search experience any better, and use Let Me Google That For You to reduce Google hassles from others
Find somewhere new to hide your loose cash at home
More »
Organise
4:52PM Angus Kidman | Google’s SearchWiki technology is being rolled out to Google account holders today, letting you rank and comment on search results. It’s an interesting approach to search, although I’m not entirely sure how much difference it will make to most searchers’ day-to-day activities. Read on for a quick screenshot tour of its main features. More »
First Look At Google SearchWiki
4:52PM Angus Kidman | Google’s SearchWiki technology is being rolled out to Google account holders today, letting you rank and comment on search results. It’s an interesting approach to search, although I’m not entirely sure how much difference it will make to most searchers’ day-to-day activities. Read on for a quick screenshot tour of its main features. More »
Fix
3:00PM Angus Kidman | Fixing a bedside lamp next to your bed or on the bedhead doesn’t provide optimum light. IKEA Hacker details how Carter solved the problem by combining a Minde mirror and two Morker lamps to create an above-the-bed solution that incorporates a mirror, easy-to-reach switches and well-positioned lights. There’s a bit of work involved, but the end result is impressive, and the basic materials cost just $63. If you picked up a pre-framed mirror second hand, you could save money and some framing work as well.
IKEA Hacker
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DIY IKEA Bedroom Mirror/Light Combo
3:00PM Angus Kidman | Fixing a bedside lamp next to your bed or on the bedhead doesn’t provide optimum light. IKEA Hacker details how Carter solved the problem by combining a Minde mirror and two Morker lamps to create an above-the-bed solution that incorporates a mirror, easy-to-reach switches and well-positioned lights. There’s a bit of work involved, but the end result is impressive, and the basic materials cost just $63. If you picked up a pre-framed mirror second hand, you could save money and some framing work as well.
IKEA Hacker
More »
Communicate
1:30PM Angus Kidman | Foxtel has expanded its online TV guide from a week to 14 days, improving your odds of not missing a vital program if you go away on holidays. Foxtel iQ owners can also use the guide for remote scheduling of recordings, though for a prolonged absence a series link is probably still a better bet. While you can access the electronic program via your TV (which remains a seven-day listing), the online version offers the ability to search by title, channel or rating, as well as the extra week of information.
Foxtel
More »
Foxtel Expands Online TV Guide To 14 Days
1:30PM Angus Kidman | Foxtel has expanded its online TV guide from a week to 14 days, improving your odds of not missing a vital program if you go away on holidays. Foxtel iQ owners can also use the guide for remote scheduling of recordings, though for a prolonged absence a series link is probably still a better bet. While you can access the electronic program via your TV (which remains a seven-day listing), the online version offers the ability to search by title, channel or rating, as well as the extra week of information.
Foxtel
More »
Organise
11:37AM Angus Kidman | Apologies to Lifehacker readers for the late appearance of the US stories today — I was on an inbound flight from LA and we got stuck on the tarmac while Quarantine cleared a sick passenger. Everything should be back to normal now. More »
Normal Service Will Now Resume
11:37AM Angus Kidman | Apologies to Lifehacker readers for the late appearance of the US stories today — I was on an inbound flight from LA and we got stuck on the tarmac while Quarantine cleared a sick passenger. Everything should be back to normal now. More »
Organise
10:49AM Angus Kidman | A press release from Google promises that SearchWiki, a technology that lets you rank results to improve their relevance to you and offer comments on their usefulness, will roll out on Australian accounts today. As of this writing, it hasn’t shown up in my account, but there’ll be a review as soon as it does. In the meantime, if you’ve tried it out, share your thoughts in the comments.
More »
Google SearchWiki Due For Australian Users Today
10:49AM Angus Kidman | A press release from Google promises that SearchWiki, a technology that lets you rank results to improve their relevance to you and offer comments on their usefulness, will roll out on Australian accounts today. As of this writing, it hasn’t shown up in my account, but there’ll be a review as soon as it does. In the meantime, if you’ve tried it out, share your thoughts in the comments.
More » 