Linux only: If you have ever tried to use the apt-get command to install software but received an error because you forgot sudo, the Command-line Fu site has a quick but useful tip for you. The tip is one of those really simple, but extremely useful time-savers that might have just passed you by otherwise—instead of constantly typing “sudo” before each of the apt-get commands, simply use the alias function to add it there automatically:
alias apt-get='sudo apt-get'
To make this change persistent across sessions, you will want to add this line to your ~/.bashrc file. Experienced readers will note that you can always use the sudo !! command to run the last typed command as root whenever you forget the “sudo” the first time. Don’t forget to check out our top 10 command line tools, 10 handy bash aliases, or you can learn how to use grep.
Always run apt-get as root [Command-line Fu]Suspicious that you’ve got a leak in your tire but not sure. Try this simple tried-and-true tip from the pros. Blogger Pinny Cohen’s mechanic taught him this painless method for quickly and easily detecting leaks, no special equipment required: The last time I thought a tire had a hidden leak, he whipped out a spray bottle with a 20/80 mix of liquid soap and water. I was about to tell him “thanks, but I just got a car wash done the other week” when he started spraying the tire. In a small area by the rim, I noticed a neat effect. Bubbles started growing and bursting at a fast rate – a leak!
It’s not a new idea, but it’s one of those clever little tricks that’s always good to know. Photo by modenadude.
Check For Tire Leaks With Liquid Soap [Life of an Entrepreneur]Firefox with Greasemonkey: Twitter Search adds real-time results from Twitter to the top of the Google search results screen—so you can see what people are talking about while researching a subject. Once installed, simply search for any term in Google and you will see the last 5 tweets matching your keywords above the search results. When Twitter is down or has no results for your search criteria, the Google search results will look as they normally do. Twitter Search Results is a free download, requires Firefox with the Greasemonkey extension. If you would rather rank news stories based on their Twitter results, you can do so with previously mentioned TweetNews.
Twitter Search Results [via Download Squad]Brian Connolly was tired of cramped desks and messy wiring, so he built his own desk and wire management system to have the spacious and tidy spread he desired. Pics, and full-view video, below.
Windows only: Tiny utility NoSleepHD stops external hard drives from powering down, bypassing the mandatory sleep mode built into many USB drives—and eliminating the delay while the drive powers back up. Using the utility just requires launching, selecting an external hard drive, and starting NoSleep mode—which writes to a file every minute so the drive never has a chance to power down, eliminating the delay when accessing files on the drive. This application does the exact opposite of getting green with your computer, but could come in handy if your home media server has issues dealing with the drives shutting down. NoSleepHD is free and open source, works for Windows only. Readers using Linux could simply create a cron job that writes to a file to keep the drive awake.
NoSleepHD [via gHacks]Windows only: Software developer Elie really digs Merlin Mann’s (10+2)*5 dash, which breaks hours into 10-minute bursts of plugging away at one thing with two-minute breaks. Elie’s Procrastination Killer app helps you time and controls those dashes. The stand-alone, no-install-needed app can stay on top of everything on your desktop, but it’s kinda big and non-resize-able (at least for the time being). Turn off the “Always on Top,” and it sits in your system tray, counting down from 10 minutes and popping up to ask if you’re taking a break. It then times out that break, which you can stop if you need to get right back to it, and then halt that next work burst if you need an unexpected break. Simple timers at the bottom measure your total work and break times, as well as your ratio of work-to-break. If you’re fond of the procrastination-busting dash, one of the more proven and tried methods for getting around the it’s-all-too-much mindset and getting back to work, Elie’s little app is a great coach. Free to download (look for the link near the top of the linked post; be warned that it’s a MediaFire link, so expect pop-ups and flashy ads), requires Microsoft’s .NET Framwork 2.0 or higher.
Prcorastination Killer v1.0 [Procrastination Killer]Google Blogoscoped found a strangely unguarded task manager lurking on Google’s servers, similar to Gmail’s task widget but with a more keyboard-friendly, single-focus design. It might be a fluke one-off, or a nifty feature-in-progress. There’s not a whole lot to the webapp right now—you can create tasks, nest tasks inside others with the Tab key, set due dates and add notes, and arrange everything using shortcuts. Your lists (or at least one primary list) syncs up to the to-do managers in Gmail and the iGoogle gadget. Would you use a (presumably more developed) stand-alone task manager, or do you like your to-dos in a sidebar or on your desktop?
Google Tasks, a Standalone App [Google Blogoscoped]
