Monday, March 23, 2009

SourceEdit Is A Beefy Text Editor For Programmers

11:30PM Jason Fitzpatrick | Windows only: SourceEdit is a feature rich text editor geared towards programmers. The editor has support for dozens of programming languages and their accompanying formatting and syntax. The HTML purists among you will be pleased to see the support for launching previews of your HTML code in your default system browser directly from SourceEdit. The interface is extremely customizable, you can edit the colour of tags, operators, and other code components to make them stand out. The File Mapping feature ensures the modifications you made to the layout and colour scheme is recalled based on the file type you’re working on. If you have one set of colour coding for C++ editing and one for HTML, SourceEdit will automatically load them when you open either file type. If you frequently cut and paste or just need to compare portions or version of the code you’re writing, SourceEdit supports up to four panes of code at once. SourceEdit is freeware, Windows only. SourceEdit [via MakeUseOf] More »

The Surprising Search Tools In Internet Explorer 8

10:30PM Kevin Purdy | The Google Operating System blog points out that the recently released Internet Explorer 8 packs in a good number of power user features for serious searching, including suggestions from the search bar, instant “answers,” and right-click “accelerators.” We’re using “surprising” in the headline because, for most of its history, IE8 followed the company line of a lot of Microsoft products, extending advanced features only to in-house products like MSN, Hotmail, or the myriad of Live web services. Now IE8 can, however, pull in native search suggestions from Google, if you’ve made that your default search provider, and adding other search providers can give you things like direct jumps to Wikipedia pages and product image results from Amazon. Right-clicking a selected word or phrase brings up your installed accelerators, so you can translate with Google, map with Yahoo, or plug the words into any other service. Neat, useful stuff; a more detailed breakdown is offered by Alex at the link below. Web Search Tips for Internet Explorer 8 [Google Operating System] More »

gCalCron Automates Your Linux System With Google Calendar

9:00PM Kevin Purdy | Linux only: gcalcron allows you to issue terminal commands to a computer through Google Calendar. It’s more beginner-friendly than editing cron jobs or remote shell work , and great for remote download control. Patrick Spear’s package is a self-installing Python script that plugs itself in the cron automation engine. Every 30 minutes or so, it checks in with a specific Google Calendar you provide the name, password, and calendar ID for, then anything in the “Description” field of a timed appointment as a terminal command. More »

What Are The Essentials For International Carry-On Luggage?

2:00PM Angus Kidman | It’s a key question if you’ve got an international trip coming up: how much stuff should you cram in your hand luggage? Learn how to strike the right balance without crippling yourself or being forced to repack at the check-in desk. More »

Melbourne Metcards On Special Online For The Next Fortnight

12:00PM Angus Kidman | You can’t always use free public transport, but if you live in Melbourne and regularly jump on the train, tram or bus, you can save a bit over the next fortnight. Until April 5, Metlink is offering 5% off the price of its multiple-ride tickets — weeklies, monthlies and ten-trip options — if you purchase them online. Delivery is free, the tickets don’t activate until you use them and you can switch freely between transport methods, so it could be a good chance to stock up. (Why Sydney doesn’t replace its ridiculous and overpriced hodge-podge of tickets with this kind of ticketing system is beyond me.) Metlink Online Store [via OzBargains] More »

Coffee Table Turned Standing Desk

10:15AM Jason Fitzpatrick | What to do with an Ikea coffee table you no longer need? Recycle it into a standing desk! More »

Commercial Digital Channel Plans Slowly Taking Shape

10:00AM Angus Kidman | Commercial channels haven’t been falling over themselves to push out new digital channels, and the ones we do know about, like Ten’s ONE sports channel, can seem a bit confusing, but we’re slowly getting a clearer picture of what the big three will offer. Lara Sinclair at the Australian reports that Nine’s much-delayed digital channel will feature a mixture of old TV repeats and some lifestyle programs — a bit like a hybrid between TV1 and the Lifestyle Channel, basically. There may also be some time-shifting (repeats of programs shown earlier on the main channel), but not to a great degree. The downside of that formula is the likelihood that there’ll be little or no original programming on the channel. David Gyngell confirms plans for digital [The Australian] More »

Build A Rotating Shelf To Keep Canned Goods At Hand

9:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Don’t let canned goods go to waste. Use a rotating shelf to inspire recipes and keep your cans from hiding at the back of the pantry. WikiHow details how to build a rotating canned food shelf that works in whatever cabinet space you’ve got. How does it work? The shelves are designed so that freshly purchased canned goods are loaded into slots. The cans roll down into a chute and push the oldest cans forward. This ensures that older cans are presented before the younger ones, saving them from being lost in the depths of a kitchen cabinet or pantry shelf. The tutorial covers building your own shelving unit from scratch, but the basic principle can be easily modified to work with your existing pantry shelves. How to Build a Rotating Canned Food Shelf [wikiHow] More »

Last Week’s Best Posts

8:24AM Angus Kidman | Kick off your Lifehacker Monday by making sure you didn’t miss any of the biggest posts from last week: ABC Mobile Service Officially Launches With iPhone And Android Add-OnsThe ABC’s mobile phone site, which we first told you about back in December, has now exited beta and been officially released. The Five-Minute Prison Workout Keeps You Fit In Any SpaceMike Rowe from Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs demonstrates how to get a great workout in any space by performing several sets of descending repetitions of the classic “burpee.” Presto Loads A Streamlined Desktop In 15 Seconds (Windows)Presto, a fast-loading Linux desktop you install from Windows, lives up to its promise of an alternative, speedy boot-up with quick web/email access. Let’s take a look at how it looks and runs. Complete List Of A380 FlightsThere are only three airlines (Qantas, Singapore and Emirates) actually letting the general public fly on the Airbus A380. If you want to test out the mega-plane, you’ll need this list of flights which offer A380 service. The Windows 2019 DesktopReader Painkilla05’s stylish desktop was inspired from a Microsoft research video showing what computer interfaces might look like in the year 2019. Grab New Icons To Spice Up Your Desktop (Graphics)Mix things up on your desktop with some fun new icons. Web design blog Noupe has an awesome collection of the 50 most beautiful icon sets of 2008, ripe for you to pick from. Use Google Image Search For Quick On-The-Spot TranslationThe Official Google Blog offers up a neat trick for quick translations from a foreign language: using Google Image Search Death Switch Sends Out Emails Upon Your DemiseDo you want to be sure that your final messages and missives are heard? Death Switch is a service which sends out emails upon your unfortunate demise. Get 6GB Of Free Music From SXSW ‘09 (Music)Looking for a whole lot of new, free music? The unofficial SXSW 2009 torrent compiles every song freely available on the SXSW Music web site into three multi-gigabyte BitTorrent downloads. Top Tips For Talking Your Way Into A Better DealSome people were born to haggle, negotiate, cajole, whatever you call it. The rest of us need some guidance. Here are 10 great negotiating tactics to use next time you want to get more for less. iPhone 3.0 Adds Copy And Paste, MMS, Search, Notes Sync And Tons MoreThe iPhone event just ended, and the upcoming iPhone 3.0 software update adds a ton of new functionality to the iPhone-claiming over 100 new features, including long-awaited copy and paste, MMS messaging, and more. Google Chrome Beta Updates, Boasts Improved Speed And New Features (Windows)Google Chrome has released a fresh new beta that integrates many of the features available in the nightly releases, including significant speed improvements and a few cool new features. Avira AntiVir Updates To Version 9, Adds Spyware Removal (Windows)Avira AntiVir is one of the most popular antivirus applications available, and the latest upgrade to version 9-which adds anti-spyware and anti-adware features to the free version-makes it that much better. Internet Explorer 8 Available For Download (Windows)The final version of Internet Explorer 8 is now available for download from the IE home page. Process Blocker Is A Brick Wall For Unwanted Windows Processes (Windows)GoogleUpdate, ctfmon, iPodService-these rascally, auto-starting services and others like them can drive a memory-sensitive Windows user bonkers. Process Blocker does what it sounds like, with a DIY but simple method of choosing targets. Calibre Manages Your E-Book Collection (Windows/Linux/Mac)If you’ve got a virtual pile of e-books but no good way to organise them, Calibre is a feature rich e-book manager, complete with Cover Flow-like looks and network sharing. Last.FM Downloader Lets You Download Last.FM Streams And Cover Art (Windows)Last.FM Downloader is a lightweight application for grabbing music from the popular streaming music service Last.FM and saving it for local use. NiftyWindows Makes Managing Windows Easier (Windows)Tiny portable utility NiftyWindows adds a ton of features that make working with windows easy-so you can move, resize, and even roll up windows without moving your hand off the mouse. More »