Last Week’s Best Posts

Kick off your Lifehacker Monday by making sure you didn’t miss any of the biggest posts from last week (when you were doubtless otherwise occupied!):

• BlackBerry Storm’s A Wet Blanket For Productivity-Minded Travellers
  “I know I have something of a bias against touch-screen phones, but even allowing for that, it has to be said: the BlackBerry Storm is not going to be any use to you at all if you hope to actually get some work done on the road.”
• Top Ways To Lock Down Your Data
  “This past week proved that you can’t rely on something as simple as a web browser to keep your personal data and identity safe from harm. Critical flaws were found in the Internet Explorer and even Firefox web browsers, leaving users potentially vulnerable to spyware, viruses, and password-sniffing.”
• FilePhile Transfers Any Size File Between Any Two Systems (Windows/Mac/Linux)
  “FilePhile is a peer-to-peer, multi-platform app for getting files of unlimited size between yourself and anyone else willing to give it a try.”
• Australia-US Flying Getting More Competitive
  “It’s taken a while, but it looks like competition is finally hotting up on the Australia-US route.”
• Help Clueless Relatives with Their Computer Problems
  “‘Can you take a look at my computer?’ is the dreaded question your clueless family member will ask when you’re home for the holidays.”
• OpenOffice.org Portable 3.0 Ready For Your Thumb Drive (Windows)
  “OpenOffice.org 3, the latest version of the free, open-source office suite, has gotten a full thumb drive packaging by the PortableApps.com team.”
• Learn PowerPoint 2007 In PowerPoint 2007 With Free Tutorial Decks
  “If you’re a PowerPoint novice, or just find the rearranged Ribbon in PowerPoint 2007 hard to come to grips with, then Microsoft’s series of “learn PowerPoint in PowerPoint” tutorial decks might come in handy.”
• How to Live Freegan and Die Old
  “Marko Manriquez is the founder of The Freegan Kitchen, a site that promotes cooking found food. He’s been diving in dumpsters for food going on three years now.”
• TrayProdder Adds Vista-Style Checkboxes And Selection To XP (Windows XP)
  “Free system utility TrayProdder adds of Windows Vista’s handier file-handling tools, checkbox selection and full-row highlighting, to Windows XP.”
• BitMeter Monitors Your Bandwidth (Windows)
  “BitMeter is a small bandwidth-monitoring application packed with features to help you track and analyse your bandwidth usage.”
• Manipulate Vector Images With Open Source Inkscape (Windows, Mac, Linux)
  “If you are looking for a free alternative to the Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape has a host of features that make it worth taking for a spin.”
• Video MobileConverter Formats Flicks for Small Screen (Windows)
  “BitTorrent super-host The Pirate Bay claims its ViO MobileConverter tool reduces nearly any video’s size by 20 percent and converts it for mobile devices faster than anything else.”
• GMDesk Puts Multiple Google Apps in One Window (All platforms with Adobe AIR)
  “GMDesk is a single-window frame that can hot-switch between Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and other G-apps, but it could use a few tweaks to make it truly convenient.”
• GlimmerBlocker Blocks Ads System-Wide (Mac)
  “Free, open-source application GlimmerBlocker adds a new preference pane to your System Preferences that brings system-wide ad blocking to your Mac.”
• MediaPortal 1.0 Released, Brings Open-Source DVR to Windows (Windows)
  “Open-source application XBMC has received all of the attention in the media centre arena lately, but it still can’t replace your TiVo.”