You've been talking to (or screaming at) your Windows PC for years, but unless you were willing to shell out hundreds of dollars on pricey software, chances are it wasn't listening to a word you were saying. With Microsoft's new freeware tool, Windows Speech Recognition Macros, the days of you talking into your computer's unsympathetic ear are over. Not only is it listening, but it's up to the task of doing whatever you want it to.

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Despite the fact that most of you prefer XP to Vista and would rather Microsoft extended XP's shelf-life, several new and improved features available in Vista would be great to have in XP. This new functionality may not be enough to get you to switch to Vista, but that doesn't mean you're out of luck. Let's take a look at a few ways you can incorporate Windows Vista's best features into your current XP PC for free.

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Windows/Mac only: Share any song in your iTunes library and download any song from your friends' iTunes libraries over the internet with freeware application Mojo. Essentially, Mojo makes sharing music with your friends through iTunes wildly simple, from its simple interface to its brilliant implementation. If you've ever used apps like previously mentioned ourTunes to download music from shared libraries, you have an idea of what Mojo does, bu you should still prepare to be amazed. I'm head over heels for Mojo, so hit the jump for a full-on screenshot tour and detailed walk-through and overview of everything Mojo has to offer.

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When you finally decide it's time to do something about that rat's nest of cables that's spreading like kudzu, you don't have to spend a lot of time and money to get it under control. Whether you're looking to stow your headphone wires tangle-free in your gym bag, hide the ugly wire spaghetti you keep kicking further under your desk, or organise your gadget chargers and power plugs, we've got some cord management tricks for you. Hit the jump for photos and videos of our top 10 favourite ways to get cables under control.

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We've seen what you can do with limitless workspace possibilities in our Coolest Workspace Contest, but fact is, most of us don't have the limitless freedom to tweak our workspaces that many of the Coolest Workspace entries did. With that in mind, and with the idea that necessity is the mother of invention and all that, today we're kicking off our first Coolest Cubicle Contest, with $500 to Amazon at stake. So without further ado, hit the jump to take a look at this week's coolest cubicle submissions.

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All platforms: Mozilla has just published the latest iteration of Firefox 3, Beta 3. Intended for testers and early adopters who are willing to live on the edge, Firefox 3 has fewer memory issues than its predecessor, but most likely your most important extensions aren't yet compatible with it. Our previously posted Firefox 3 Beta 1 screenshot tour doesn't include Beta 3 changes, but this in-depth review of Beta 3 does show off Firefox 3's newest look, buttons, dialogs, and features. Update: Here's a summary of the improvements over Beta 2:

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Windows only: Rip and back up any DVD to your hard drive with DVD Rip, a freeware Windows application that automates the entire DVD-to-hard-drive backup process. All you need to do is insert your DVD, run DVD Rip, and let it take care of the rest. Why? A while back I explained why I'd soured on optical media, the gist of which was the ease with with DVDs are damaged. Sick of scratched, skippy DVDs, I put together a simple AutoHotkey script that automated DVD rips in conjunction with a freeware application called DVD Shrink. I've since gone back and drastically improved the original DVD Rip application complete with options and improved automation.

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Your home is your castle, and what better way to outfit the palace than with some do-it-yourself ingenuity. We've featured dozens of DIY projects over the years, and today it's time to shine the spotlight on the most clever, useful, and fun. You've already seen our top 10 DIY office projects, so today it's time to check out some of the best creations modders, repurposers, and makers have rigged up at home.

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You're an on-the-go worker, and the one thing you always carry with you? Your trusty laptop, of course. Sure, you've reached a point where you're pretty good at getting things done away from your desk, but you still haven't reached laptop zen—that point at which your laptop does gymnastics for you and is a seamless extension of your productivity. Today we're taking a look at some of the best laptop hacks for notebook enthusiasts, from getting internet access anywhere and keeping your files in sync to adding an anti-theft layer of security to your laptop.

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I know a fair few readers here also follow Gizmodo, so you'll be happy to know we have a new Ed at the helm of Gizmodo, Nick Broughall. He's introduced himself over on Giz, so head over and find out a little more about our resident gadget freak. :)