Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Organise
D-FileMU Renames Your Files On The Go
11:30PM Jason Fitzpatrick | Windows only: D-FileMU is an ultra-compact and portable file renaming application that sports a spartan, but effective, user interface and up to seventeen ways to organise your files.If the enormous command-center-style dashboard interface of previously reviewed Bulk Rename Utility is overwhelming and way more than you need, D-FileMU provides a simple—and soothingly blue—alternative to all that extra chrome. All the basic file renaming tools are present in D-FileMU, but laid out in a step by step way that allows you to selectively activate them. After choosing the actions you want to perform—completely replacing the name, appending it, removing select characters, etc.—you can choose the files to act on one-by-one, or by file extension. In a basic test where one thousand image files were completely renamed, D-FileMU performed the task in a matter of seconds, keeping it on par with other, bulkier renaming tools I use. D-FileMU is freeware, Windows only. D-FileMU [via MakeUseOf] More »
Money
Bigger Numbers Trick Your Mind Into Buying
10:30PM Kevin Purdy | Next time you’re shopping for a big-ticket item, or even a very-small-ticket afterthought, break down what you’re paying in smaller numbers. Because, researchers suggest, your brain probably can’t do it by itself. Anyone who’s ever thought about why car dealers price everything to end in a string of nines knows that the brain can pull tricks on your wallet. Ohio State University researchers found, however, that test subjects were led astray by seemingly first-grade differences in price description. In a study model that rewarded subjects for deserting the person they were teamed up with, the offers with more numbers won out more than the same exact amount put more plainly: When the reward for cooperation was increased to 300 cents from 3 cents, the researchers found, the level of cooperation went up. But when the reward went from 3 cents to $3, it did not. You’d have to hit the link to get a full read on the study. The long and short of it is, though, that “people tend to overestimate differences between small quantities and underestimate differences between large ones.” That’s food for thought the next time you’re looking through a value menu, or pricing out a flat-panel TV. Behavior: $1? No Thanks. 100 Cents? You Bet. [New York Times] More »
Communicate
6:01PM Angus Kidman | We might be waiting a while for the Kogan Agora successor, but it looks like this week might finally see an Android phone you can legally use in Australia. Nick over at our sibling blog Gizmodo has all but confirmed that the HTC Dream should be released, in an Optus-only model, on Thursday. Hit Nick’s writeup for the full story.
HTC Dream Android Phone Launching Thursday On Optus (Unconfirmed, But Likely)
More »
Android Phone On Optus This Week?
6:01PM Angus Kidman | We might be waiting a while for the Kogan Agora successor, but it looks like this week might finally see an Android phone you can legally use in Australia. Nick over at our sibling blog Gizmodo has all but confirmed that the HTC Dream should be released, in an Optus-only model, on Thursday. Hit Nick’s writeup for the full story.
HTC Dream Android Phone Launching Thursday On Optus (Unconfirmed, But Likely)
More »
Communicate
3:00PM Angus Kidman | Anecdotally, one of the more popular uses for Microsoft’s Live Mesh is for sharing and accessing video files, but there’s still the challenge of playing your in-the-cloud video. Microsoft techie Brian Gorbett has coded up a Mesh video player; if you’re happy to grapple with source code, it’s probably worth a look. I haven’t got a Mesh-enabled machine to hand, so I haven’t been able to test this out; if you have, share your experiences in the comments.
Mesh Video Player
[via Angus Logan] More »
Mesh Video Player Makes Playing Shared Videos Easier
3:00PM Angus Kidman | Anecdotally, one of the more popular uses for Microsoft’s Live Mesh is for sharing and accessing video files, but there’s still the challenge of playing your in-the-cloud video. Microsoft techie Brian Gorbett has coded up a Mesh video player; if you’re happy to grapple with source code, it’s probably worth a look. I haven’t got a Mesh-enabled machine to hand, so I haven’t been able to test this out; if you have, share your experiences in the comments.
Mesh Video Player
[via Angus Logan] More »
Fix
1:30PM Angus Kidman | Recently and for no obvious reason, my Eee PC (still running the original Xandros install) started refusing to read USB drives, popping up the not very helpful message ‘You do not have enough permissions to read [directory]‘. At first I feared the machine was on a rapid path to disintegration, but a little Google-ing and a helpful hint from the EeeUser Forum got me back on track. All that’s needed is to bring up a terminal window (using Control-Alt-T) and then typing the following commands;
sudo -i
mkdir /media
The accepted consensus seems to be that this problem occurs if you don’t ’safely’ eject drives by clicking on the USB icon — but it’s a fast enough fix (and uncommon enough problem) that I’ll probably keep being lazy and pulling them out just before shutdown anyway. More »
Fix Your Eee PC When It Starts Rejecting USB Drives
1:30PM Angus Kidman | Recently and for no obvious reason, my Eee PC (still running the original Xandros install) started refusing to read USB drives, popping up the not very helpful message ‘You do not have enough permissions to read [directory]‘. At first I feared the machine was on a rapid path to disintegration, but a little Google-ing and a helpful hint from the EeeUser Forum got me back on track. All that’s needed is to bring up a terminal window (using Control-Alt-T) and then typing the following commands;
sudo -i
mkdir /media
The accepted consensus seems to be that this problem occurs if you don’t ’safely’ eject drives by clicking on the USB icon — but it’s a fast enough fix (and uncommon enough problem) that I’ll probably keep being lazy and pulling them out just before shutdown anyway. More »
Work
12:00PM Angus Kidman | Dear Lifehacker, A combination of dire economic times and a certain level of job dissatisfaction has steered me back towards uni. I’ll be starting a course in Tasmania in mid-Feb and I was wondering what systems people were using to get the most out of their study. I’m considering going down the laptop route however feel that there are times where paper will be necessary. Is all electronic the way to go? Unfortunately I didn’t buy a tablet and can’t see myself getting one in the foreseeable future due to budget restraints. Thanks, Ryan
As my only exposure to universities in recent years has been when attending conferences, I’m definitely opening this one up to the readers, but I will make the following points first:
Access to power is your biggest challenge — very few if any lecture rooms have power at every seat, and even libraries are tricky — so maximum battery life is an important consideration.
Every time I’ve tested tablet PCs for note-taking, I’ve abandoned them. They seem OK for business meetings, but not for lectures where detail is more likely to be important.
Beyond that, though, I’ll ask everyone else: have you managed a wholly electronic education? More »
Dear Lifehacker: Can I Survive University With Just A Laptop PC?
12:00PM Angus Kidman | Dear Lifehacker, A combination of dire economic times and a certain level of job dissatisfaction has steered me back towards uni. I’ll be starting a course in Tasmania in mid-Feb and I was wondering what systems people were using to get the most out of their study. I’m considering going down the laptop route however feel that there are times where paper will be necessary. Is all electronic the way to go? Unfortunately I didn’t buy a tablet and can’t see myself getting one in the foreseeable future due to budget restraints. Thanks, Ryan
As my only exposure to universities in recent years has been when attending conferences, I’m definitely opening this one up to the readers, but I will make the following points first:
Access to power is your biggest challenge — very few if any lecture rooms have power at every seat, and even libraries are tricky — so maximum battery life is an important consideration.
Every time I’ve tested tablet PCs for note-taking, I’ve abandoned them. They seem OK for business meetings, but not for lectures where detail is more likely to be important.
Beyond that, though, I’ll ask everyone else: have you managed a wholly electronic education? More »
Work
First Look At Windows 7’s Backup And Restore Centre
10:40AM Kevin Purdy | It may have been a while since you considered using Windows’ built-in tools for backing up your data, but for the average user with media and crucial file needs, Windows 7’s default backup features look promising. Windows Vista was the first version of Windows to introduce a consolidated Backup and Restore Center, and Windows 7’s own backup centre builds on it. The strengths of Windows’ own system are its ability to leverage the built-in “Shadow Copy” features to restore previous versions of individual files or folders, and make only iterative backups when necessary—if only part of a massive file has changed, only that part has to be transferred and copied over. It also supports backup to shared network space and external drives, but you’d hope any backup utility worth its salt would do so. In a pretty real way, this backup system is kind of like Leopard’s Time Machine—but without all the eye candy. Let’s take a walk through the basics of Windows 7’s backup system, and highlight the changes since Vista: More »
Communicate
10:30AM Angus Kidman | If you want to purchase an Optus-connected phone, you’ve already got a few choices: most notably Optus itself, and its Virgin subsidiary. Now there’s about to be another option. Michael Sainsbury and Mitchell Bingemann at AustralianIT report that Optus is pushing ahead with plans to launch a “white label” phone offering that will be sold through Woolworths and Safeway supermarkets. By definition, those buyers probably won’t be aware of some of the trickier aspects of an Optus deal, such as its anti-calling card policies and occasional network overload problems. The key element will be price, which hasn’t been disclosed yet, though the inclusion of bonus phone minutes linked to spending on Woolworths’ Everyday Rewards card might make it appealing to discount-minded buyers.
Optus to put growth on ice [AustralianIT]
More »
Another Optus Phone Brand To Hit The Market
10:30AM Angus Kidman | If you want to purchase an Optus-connected phone, you’ve already got a few choices: most notably Optus itself, and its Virgin subsidiary. Now there’s about to be another option. Michael Sainsbury and Mitchell Bingemann at AustralianIT report that Optus is pushing ahead with plans to launch a “white label” phone offering that will be sold through Woolworths and Safeway supermarkets. By definition, those buyers probably won’t be aware of some of the trickier aspects of an Optus deal, such as its anti-calling card policies and occasional network overload problems. The key element will be price, which hasn’t been disclosed yet, though the inclusion of bonus phone minutes linked to spending on Woolworths’ Everyday Rewards card might make it appealing to discount-minded buyers.
Optus to put growth on ice [AustralianIT]
More »
Work
Install Windows 7 Beta On Your Mac With Parallels
9:20AM Lifehacker US Edition | The Simple Help weblog runs through installing Windows 7 on your Mac using Parallels, so you can experience the hype—from the safety of an easily deletable virtual machine. The installation process is nothing new to most Lifehacker readers, requiring only a copy of the Windows 7 beta, a recent version of Parallels Desktop, and some free time. But this guide has a full walkthrough of all the steps for the less tech-savvy, useful for sharing with friends that aren’t as technically inclined. If you want to use the new Aero-enabled features, you will need to install Windows 7 as a dual-boot OS using Boot Camp instead—Aero doesn’t work inside a virtual machine. If you just want to run Windows 7 alongside your current XP or Vista installations, our guide to dual-booting Windows 7 with XP or Vista is for you. Alternately, you can also multi-boot your Windows 7 desktop with Linux. How to install Windows 7 in OS X using Parallels Desktop – a complete walkthrough [Simple Help] More »
Organise
