Monday, November 24, 2008
Fix
Napsounds Generates Daily Power Nap Soundtracks
11:30PM Lifehacker US Edition | Napsounds is a repository of relaxing audio files designed for power napping. Every day a unique 20-minute track is generated in the electronic, classic, and nature sounds category. You can listen directly from the web site, download the track as an MP3, subscribe via RSS, or set iTunes to grab the track as a podcast. The tracks use a combination of neural linguistic programming, binaural beats, and white noise generation layered into the ambient sounds. More »
Design
The Now Playing Dashboard
11:00PM Gina Trapani | Music-lover dmosiondz put the currently-playing Winamp track front and centre on his/her Windows desktop using one of the most popular desktop customisation tools, Samurize. This good-looking “Now Playing” dashboard boasts album art (middle), song lyrics (right), a Winamp controller (bottom left), plus the time, weather forecast, and system information. Dmosiondz explains the complete setup down to the fonts used: More »
Fix
Hide Google SearchWiki Buttons In Results
10:30PM Gina Trapani | If you’re finding Google’s new SearchWiki ranking buttons are more annoying than useful, you can hide them using this Greasemonkey user script (a definite candidate for a Better Google extension). Are you customising your results with SearchWiki, or just wishing those buttons weren’t cluttering up your results? Let us know in the comments. More »
Communicate
GreatSummary Boils Down A Web Page To A Few Sentences
10:00PM Gina Trapani | Rather than dismissing a web page or other digital document as TLDR (”too long; didn’t read”), run it through the GreatSummary webapp, which summarises online content in a few sentences. Enter a URL or chunk of text into GreatSummary, choose the number of sentences you want to see (from 1 to 100), and click the “Summarize!” button to get a short digest of the content. I tested GreatSummary on several Lifehacker articles (here’s a five-line sum-up of my lengthy Android review)—and despite the fancy mathematical algorithm behind it, the results are so-so. Overall it’s a useful app to see key sentences, but don’t depend on it to hand you every cannot-miss point. GreatSummary More »
Communicate
4:00PM Angus Kidman | It might be engaged in a potentially messy court battle over piracy, but ISP iiNet hasn’t abandoned its “more content for users” approach, an attitude that already sees it offer access to iTunes and the ABC’s iView service without counting them against monthly download quotas. In a presentation at its AGM, the company said that it intends to continue its rollout of one new product a month, with the most notable being an IPTV service that’s due to roll out in mid-2009. Details of the service are scant (aside from the partial screenshot seen here), but it adds a new twist to the still largely underdeveloped local IPTV market. More »
iiNet To Launch IPTV Service
4:00PM Angus Kidman | It might be engaged in a potentially messy court battle over piracy, but ISP iiNet hasn’t abandoned its “more content for users” approach, an attitude that already sees it offer access to iTunes and the ABC’s iView service without counting them against monthly download quotas. In a presentation at its AGM, the company said that it intends to continue its rollout of one new product a month, with the most notable being an IPTV service that’s due to roll out in mid-2009. Details of the service are scant (aside from the partial screenshot seen here), but it adds a new twist to the still largely underdeveloped local IPTV market. More »
Organise
1:30PM Angus Kidman | Qantas has been flying A380 services between Australia and the US since October 20, and last week I took my first trip on Airbus’ double-decker plane between Los Angeles and Sydney. Does the much-hyped A380 deliver on its promise of more space, better entertainment and — a crucial question for Lifehacker readers — improved productivity options? More »
Road Worrier Road Tests The A380
1:30PM Angus Kidman | Qantas has been flying A380 services between Australia and the US since October 20, and last week I took my first trip on Airbus’ double-decker plane between Los Angeles and Sydney. Does the much-hyped A380 deliver on its promise of more space, better entertainment and — a crucial question for Lifehacker readers — improved productivity options? More »
Design
Can I Change The Default Wallpaper Directory In Windows?
12:30PM Lifehacker US Edition | Dear Lifehacker, I always thought it was ridiculous and dangerous that Windows puts wallpapers mixed in with essential system files in the Windows folder. Is there a way or program to point the Display Properties -> Desktop tab to another folder? It would be nice if it then allowed me to organise it with sub-folders. Sincerely, Organised Papers More »
Fix
11:31AM Angus Kidman | IKEA Hacker details how hacker Tim bolted together two IKEA Vika Amon table tops and a handful of other components to build a custom computer desk that made it easy to conceal the cables connecting the various parts. It’s an impressive job, though I can’t help thinking he should have splurged on a cordless mouse to finish the task.
[IKEA Hacker]
More »
DIY Cable-Free IKEA Computer Desk
11:31AM Angus Kidman | IKEA Hacker details how hacker Tim bolted together two IKEA Vika Amon table tops and a handful of other components to build a custom computer desk that made it easy to conceal the cables connecting the various parts. It’s an impressive job, though I can’t help thinking he should have splurged on a cordless mouse to finish the task.
[IKEA Hacker]
More »
Communicate
10:02AM Angus Kidman | The news that a consortium of seven movie studios has sued Australian ISP iiNet for not responding to takedown notices represents an interesting new local chapter in the ongoing Hollywood-versus-BitTorrent debate. Suing individuals has generated lots of bad publicity for studios in the past, but it remains to be seen whether attacking providers will create the same degree of controversy. Dan Warne at APC has comprehensively analysed the case, and concludes that iiNet may have a hard time winning — which in turn might have a knock-on effect for most other ISPs. Until the case returns to the courts in December, nothing is certain, but it’s something to contemplate while you watch your downloads trickle in.
Why iiNet will probably lose the piracy lawsuit [APC]
More »
Inside The iiNet Piracy Lawsuit
10:02AM Angus Kidman | The news that a consortium of seven movie studios has sued Australian ISP iiNet for not responding to takedown notices represents an interesting new local chapter in the ongoing Hollywood-versus-BitTorrent debate. Suing individuals has generated lots of bad publicity for studios in the past, but it remains to be seen whether attacking providers will create the same degree of controversy. Dan Warne at APC has comprehensively analysed the case, and concludes that iiNet may have a hard time winning — which in turn might have a knock-on effect for most other ISPs. Until the case returns to the courts in December, nothing is certain, but it’s something to contemplate while you watch your downloads trickle in.
Why iiNet will probably lose the piracy lawsuit [APC]
More »
Organise
8:30AM Angus Kidman | Kick off your Lifehacker Monday by making sure you didn’t miss any of the biggest posts from last week:
First Look At Google SearchWiki“Google’s SearchWiki technology is being rolled out to Google account holders today, letting you rank and comment on search results.”
Gmail Updates Its Look, Adds Themes“Google’s beloved web-based email client has always been ripe for third-party design customisation (we’ve always been partial to the Gmail Redesigned skin in Better Gmail, for example), but now Gmail is officially riding the interface customisation train by offering 30-some new themes to spice up your inbox.”
StreamDesk Brings Web Streams To The Desktop (Windows and Mac)“StreamDesk brings a hand-picked selection of live video streams from sites like Ustream.tv, Justin.tv and Stickam directly to your desktop.”
Does Australia Need An E-Waste Levy?“In many countries, a small levy is added to the price of all electronic goods to cover the cost of manufacturers reclaiming them at the end of their life and ensuring their components are recycled.”
Top 10 Ways To Speed Up Your Web Browsing“Even in a world where high-speed internet is just a tall house blend away, anyone can get stuck with a slow or uncertain connection at home, in the office, or at the worst possible time while traveling.”
Darik’s Boot And Nuke Is The Nuclear Option Of Secure Data Shredding (All platforms)“If you’re donating or otherwise handing off your hard drive, however, it’s a serious tool for erasing data so it’s really, really hard to ever find again.”
Vodafone BlackBerry Storm Plans To Feature Unlimited Browsing“When Vodafone starts selling the touch-screen BlackBerry Storm on December 1, the plans will include a feature that’s common overseas but rare down under: unlimited access to email and Web browsing on the devices, with monthly plans starting from $69.”
Liberate Yourself From Old Email Addresses“If you’ve been on the internet for any substantial amount of time you’ve likely accumulated your fair share of email addresses…”
ExTray Puts iTunes Album Art On Your Desktop (Windows)“exTray is a free system tray utility that monitors your iTunes playback and displays album art and other track information on your desktop.”
Ultimate Windows Tweaker Is Like Tweak UI For Vista (Windows Vista)“Ultimate Windows Tweaker makes no bones about its source of inspiration–the uber-specific, XP-customising Microsoft tool TweakUI–and does pretty well by it.”
SnapTell Explorer Instantly Looks Up Any Product Aia Photograph (iPhone 2.0)“Similar to a bar code scanner (except you photograph the item cover, not its bar code), SnapTell automatically looks up your item and gives you links to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Wikipedia, and straight-up search engines so you can compare prices and find out more about it.”
Free Version Of TouchType Email App Now Available (iPhone 2.0)“TouchType offers landscape view (and wider keyboard) for composing email on your iPhone or touch, and even better, can save and load reusable text snippets to reduce your typing and make sending repetitive emails a matter of a whole lot fewer taps.”
Merge MP3 Combines Audio Files In Drag-and-Drop Interface (Windows)“If you are looking for ways to merge a bunch of MP3 files into one larger file, and don’t like the command line solution I wrote about previously, try Merge MP3.”
Q-Dir Explores Files With Multiple Panes And Custom Views (Windows)“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.”
Plex 7 Adds iTunes And iPhoto Support And More (Mac OS X)“The latest version of the free Plex Media Centre for Mac now includes iTunes and iPhoto support, iTunes visualisations, TV theme music, and the ability to play songs you’ve purchased from the iTunes Store.”
Mmm Free Declutters Busy Context Menus (Windows XP)“Free utility Mmm offers an easy interface for hiding and organising right-click context menu items–into a “Rarely used” subfolder, for example.”
More »
Last Week’s Best Posts
8:30AM Angus Kidman | Kick off your Lifehacker Monday by making sure you didn’t miss any of the biggest posts from last week:
First Look At Google SearchWiki“Google’s SearchWiki technology is being rolled out to Google account holders today, letting you rank and comment on search results.”
Gmail Updates Its Look, Adds Themes“Google’s beloved web-based email client has always been ripe for third-party design customisation (we’ve always been partial to the Gmail Redesigned skin in Better Gmail, for example), but now Gmail is officially riding the interface customisation train by offering 30-some new themes to spice up your inbox.”
StreamDesk Brings Web Streams To The Desktop (Windows and Mac)“StreamDesk brings a hand-picked selection of live video streams from sites like Ustream.tv, Justin.tv and Stickam directly to your desktop.”
Does Australia Need An E-Waste Levy?“In many countries, a small levy is added to the price of all electronic goods to cover the cost of manufacturers reclaiming them at the end of their life and ensuring their components are recycled.”
Top 10 Ways To Speed Up Your Web Browsing“Even in a world where high-speed internet is just a tall house blend away, anyone can get stuck with a slow or uncertain connection at home, in the office, or at the worst possible time while traveling.”
Darik’s Boot And Nuke Is The Nuclear Option Of Secure Data Shredding (All platforms)“If you’re donating or otherwise handing off your hard drive, however, it’s a serious tool for erasing data so it’s really, really hard to ever find again.”
Vodafone BlackBerry Storm Plans To Feature Unlimited Browsing“When Vodafone starts selling the touch-screen BlackBerry Storm on December 1, the plans will include a feature that’s common overseas but rare down under: unlimited access to email and Web browsing on the devices, with monthly plans starting from $69.”
Liberate Yourself From Old Email Addresses“If you’ve been on the internet for any substantial amount of time you’ve likely accumulated your fair share of email addresses…”
ExTray Puts iTunes Album Art On Your Desktop (Windows)“exTray is a free system tray utility that monitors your iTunes playback and displays album art and other track information on your desktop.”
Ultimate Windows Tweaker Is Like Tweak UI For Vista (Windows Vista)“Ultimate Windows Tweaker makes no bones about its source of inspiration–the uber-specific, XP-customising Microsoft tool TweakUI–and does pretty well by it.”
SnapTell Explorer Instantly Looks Up Any Product Aia Photograph (iPhone 2.0)“Similar to a bar code scanner (except you photograph the item cover, not its bar code), SnapTell automatically looks up your item and gives you links to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Wikipedia, and straight-up search engines so you can compare prices and find out more about it.”
Free Version Of TouchType Email App Now Available (iPhone 2.0)“TouchType offers landscape view (and wider keyboard) for composing email on your iPhone or touch, and even better, can save and load reusable text snippets to reduce your typing and make sending repetitive emails a matter of a whole lot fewer taps.”
Merge MP3 Combines Audio Files In Drag-and-Drop Interface (Windows)“If you are looking for ways to merge a bunch of MP3 files into one larger file, and don’t like the command line solution I wrote about previously, try Merge MP3.”
Q-Dir Explores Files With Multiple Panes And Custom Views (Windows)“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.”
Plex 7 Adds iTunes And iPhoto Support And More (Mac OS X)“The latest version of the free Plex Media Centre for Mac now includes iTunes and iPhoto support, iTunes visualisations, TV theme music, and the ability to play songs you’ve purchased from the iTunes Store.”
Mmm Free Declutters Busy Context Menus (Windows XP)“Free utility Mmm offers an easy interface for hiding and organising right-click context menu items–into a “Rarely used” subfolder, for example.”
More » 