Thursday, March 12, 2009
Work
Friendpaste Is A Code-Friendly Text Sharing Tool
11:30PM Jason Fitzpatrick | Friendpaste is a web-based clipboard tool that can quickly shares snippets of plain text and computer code with friends or co-workers. Friendpaste supports simple text sharing for revision, or you can lock your pastes against viewing and editing with a password. You can use formatting for dozens of different kinds of code, and it has a revision and annotation system so the friends you share your code with can leave smarter comments. One of the great code-centric features is the ability to leave a comment based on the line number of the code you are reviewing making it easier to reference comments to their appropriate place. If you have a trick or service up your sleeve for sharing your clipboard contents with friends and colleagues, sound off in the comments below.Thanks Steve! Friendpaste More »
Work
iTunes 8.1 Parties With iTunes DJ, Genius For TV And Movies
11:05PM Kevin Purdy | While the timing is mainly meant to support the new, ridiculously small iPod Shuffle, iTunes 8.1 adds a few other cool features along with some buggy bits. As always, you can head to Apple’s download site if you’re installing your first copy of iTunes, or open your existing copy and head to the Help menu, then “Check for Updates” to upgrade. Here’s the full list of changes in iTunes 8.1, some of which aren’t easy to visualise: More »
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Google Reader Lets You Comment On Feed Items (For Other Reader Users)
10:30PM Kevin Purdy | Google Reader users can now post and read comments, viewable only by their Google Contacts, on anything they come across. There was, of course, already a “Share” option for any item to offer it up to your fellow Reader-using contacts, but there was no back-and-forth dialog, unless you jumped into email—so that, basically, is what this solves. Along with the change, there’s a new “Comment View” in the Friends’ Shared Items list to condense what all your contacts are saying, and any feed items that your friends have commented on will show up with their picture thumbnailed on it during your reading. Is Reader’s semi-private watercooler commenting a smart move, or does it close off blogs and news from getting comments at the source? Share how you see it in the comments. More »
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DocJax Finds And Previews Documents On The Web
9:00PM Kevin Purdy | Sure, Google can search by file type, and even preview some files as HTML. But DocJax is built for just the docs, ma’am, and offers a more robust preview of everything it finds. DocJax understands most of the search box tricks you learned over at that other, dominant engine, so site:microsoft.com outlook would return all the PDF, XLS, DOC, and PPT documents it found on the Redmond giant’s web space. From your first search, you can narrow by file type using the links in the upper-right corner of the results. DocJax uses the Scribd iPaper tool we were digging on as an alternative to launching and re-launching your PDF reader, and it offers a lot clearer results and viewing options than a Google HTML conversion. DocJax is free to use, no sign-up required. Tell us a great use for DocJax, or your other preferred document finder, in the comments. DocJax [via Digital Inspiration] More »
Work
Four Experimental Firefox Extensions We’re Into
8:30PM Kevin Purdy | Every so often, Lifehacker rounds up Firefox add-ons that are too new for official approval, but seriously neat-looking. This batch can automate download management and image uploading, queue up MP3s, and manage Gmail tasks anywhere. The extensions we’re pointing to here are both unapproved by Firefox’s maker, Mozilla, and require creating an account or logging into it, so standard use-at-your-own-risk warnings apply. That said, many experimental extensions are just waiting for a final go-ahead from Mozilla, and can be pretty darned useful. More »
Communicate
4:30PM Angus Kidman | Yesterday, Lifehacker US founder Gina suggested tagging your email as “sent from your mobile phone” to justify only writing a brief reply. The mild deception involved doesn’t bother me, but I can’t help thinking that there’s nothing wrong with writing a brief reply no matter what your preferred platform is. We’re all suffering from email overload, so keeping replies brief is a bigger courtesy than going on at length for form’s sake. In a similar vein, I’m also a fan of the EOM tag for really brief messages. What do you think? Does email require lengthy replies, or is it acceptable to just get straight to the point with people you know?
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What’s So Wrong With One-Line Email Anyway?
4:30PM Angus Kidman | Yesterday, Lifehacker US founder Gina suggested tagging your email as “sent from your mobile phone” to justify only writing a brief reply. The mild deception involved doesn’t bother me, but I can’t help thinking that there’s nothing wrong with writing a brief reply no matter what your preferred platform is. We’re all suffering from email overload, so keeping replies brief is a bigger courtesy than going on at length for form’s sake. In a similar vein, I’m also a fan of the EOM tag for really brief messages. What do you think? Does email require lengthy replies, or is it acceptable to just get straight to the point with people you know?
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Money
3:02PM Angus Kidman | Naked DSL — a broadband connection via a phone line but without paying a line rental fee for the associated voice service — is an increasingly popular strategy for saving money on communications costs. Going naked can help cut down your monthly bills, but before taking the plunge there are some key issues you’ll need to consider. More »
What To Check When Considering Naked DSL
3:02PM Angus Kidman | Naked DSL — a broadband connection via a phone line but without paying a line rental fee for the associated voice service — is an increasingly popular strategy for saving money on communications costs. Going naked can help cut down your monthly bills, but before taking the plunge there are some key issues you’ll need to consider. More »
Travel
1:00PM Angus Kidman | Coastalwatch, which offers live stills from 122 Australian beaches along with weather and surf condition information, has rolled out a mobile version of its site. Just the thing if you’re cruising the highways in the early morning trying to pick the right beach to make an exhibition of yourself on. Coastalwatch is free to use (though there’s a paid SMS update service if you’re really keen).
Coastalwatch Mobile
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Coastalwatch Surf Tracking Site Goes Mobile
1:00PM Angus Kidman | Coastalwatch, which offers live stills from 122 Australian beaches along with weather and surf condition information, has rolled out a mobile version of its site. Just the thing if you’re cruising the highways in the early morning trying to pick the right beach to make an exhibition of yourself on. Coastalwatch is free to use (though there’s a paid SMS update service if you’re really keen).
Coastalwatch Mobile
More »
Communicate
11:00AM Angus Kidman | Australians are increasingly keen on buying digital music, but despite the shrinking CD sections in most music stores, the compact disc remains our preferred means of consumption. ARIA’s 2008 wholesale sales figures show that physical music sales were worth $371 million, while digital music sales were $54 million. However, with physical sales down 12% while digital sales grew 35%, the trend towards digital is still clear. One encouraging sign for artists looking to be more than one-hit wonders is that growth in digital albums was much higher than in sales of single tracks. Have you gone all digital, or do you still prefer CDs? Share your music-buying habits in the comments.
ARIA [via The Australian]
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Digital Albums Booming, But CDs Still Prevail
11:00AM Angus Kidman | Australians are increasingly keen on buying digital music, but despite the shrinking CD sections in most music stores, the compact disc remains our preferred means of consumption. ARIA’s 2008 wholesale sales figures show that physical music sales were worth $371 million, while digital music sales were $54 million. However, with physical sales down 12% while digital sales grew 35%, the trend towards digital is still clear. One encouraging sign for artists looking to be more than one-hit wonders is that growth in digital albums was much higher than in sales of single tracks. Have you gone all digital, or do you still prefer CDs? Share your music-buying habits in the comments.
ARIA [via The Australian]
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