Customisable homepage Netvibes has started making its widgets available on a multitude of both online and desktop environments—Windows Vista, iGoogle, the Apple Dashboard and the Opera browser, to name a few. About 1,000 of the roughly 90,000 Netvibes widgets(!) are cross-platform at the moment, with more to come.

US-centric: Microsoft recently announced a slate of updates to their Live Search features for mobile users, including a free 411 service and voice input for search features on Windows Mobile devices. Live Search 411 (800-CALL-411, or 800-225-5411) offers some... Read More »

Windows only: Want to format your hard drive and reinstall Windows but you're not sure you have all the hardware driver disks to get everything working again? Free utility DriverMax analyses XP or Vista systems for installed hardware drivers and exports them to a folder or external drive. Install DriverMax on a newly built system and import those drivers to get everything from your video card to TV tuner working again. I didn't have the chance to test DriverMax's import function on a clean system, so do image your hard drive just in case. DriverMax isn't the most modern-looking application and you have to hand over an email address to get a free registration code (Boo!). DriverMax is a free download for Windows XP and Vista.

The notMac Challenge offered a prize to the best entrant who created an alternative to Apple's paid .Mac service, with the intention of offering a free, open source utility for using Apple's client-side .Mac services.

The challenge was won by Ben Spink, and the notMac software is now available for download. Danny Gorog reviewed it for APC magazine:

"Installation effectively replaces your .Mac preference pane with the new notMac preference pane which is where you configure your notMac settings. Once you've completed these steps you should be able to use your own notMac server for iDisk access."

He concludes that notMac's ease of use isn't up there with Apple and thus it's 'not ready for primetime' - you'll need your own server running OSX and a robust knowledge of networking and IP configuration to get it running.

"Sadly, it also doesn't duplicate a lot of useful .Mac functionality like webmail and contact syncing among others. It's also worth noting that .Mac users gets Backup, Apple's backup client that is still the easiest way to backup your Mac and one of the main selling points for .Mac."

notMac released, notReady for first-time Mac users [APC magazine]

The Age has a writeup of the Australian ISPs gearing up to offer 'naked DSL' (ie broadband without the landline component).

Cutting out the landline component has been appealing prospect for years - since often you get whacked for a $20 - $40 monthly line rental for a landline phone you don't use. People on capped mobile plans will probably find it worth investigating - although some ISPs are also talking about bundling VoIP with naked DSL as another option.

Indulge me for a moment. It seems that the virtual reality world we were promised by William Gibson's Neuromancer may be getting closer (geek aside - I'd still rather live in Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age though).

The BBC reports that IBM and Linden Lab (the company behind Second Life) are working on a project to create 'universal avatars' which can move between different virtual worlds.

If someone could tell me which virtual worlds I need to start name camping, I'd appreciate it. :)

Universal avatars bestride worlds [BBC]

The Cool Tool blog has an interesting writeup of Uclue - a beta which is offering a similar (paid) research service to the now defunct Google Answers. You ask your question, nominate the fee you're willing to pay, and if a researcher thinks the fee is worth it, you'll get an answer posted on the site.

"If you want advice, go to the free and free-wheeling Yahoo Answers. You'll get your money's worth. If you want help on a particular question that the exact right person can answer quickly, I think Ask Metafilter is by far the best guru (and it is free for members). But if what you need is some real research and serious sleuthing, the kind of answer that is not just sitting in someone's head, I believe your best bet will be Uclue."

One potential stumbling block is the fact that the research you commission is publicly posted on the Uclue website, rather than provided to you personally. I'd imagine that (particularly if you're doing research for business reasons) there woudl be advantages in not publicly posting the results. But it's an interesting business model - you pay them for the privilege of providing them with content!  

 [Cool Tools]

The 43 Folders blog has a nice idea for storing your new credit card details to make it easier to find and replace your online banking and automatic payment details in the future.

"Create an OmniOutliner (or text or Excel or Google Docs) document, and capture the name of every account, site, or other location where you needed to update your credit card information. Also, create a second column where you paste the exact URL for the page you had to visit to make your change."

He also suggests using this document to keep track of the customer service phone numbers for your credit card company/bank.

The thing I like about this tip is that it gives you somewhere to track all those pesky subscriptions you sign up for, so you don't get a nasty shock when that annual subscription you'd forgotten about (or meant to cancel!) shows up on your credit card bill.

Toward a hygienic credit card  [43 Folders]

Experienced Ubuntu users know what to expect from this Thursday's release of Gutsy Gibbon, the love-it-or-hate-it code name for version 7.10 of the popular Linux distribution. It's not a major "Long Term Support" release, it's not a radical re-thinking of the system, but it is another step toward a Linux system that "just works."

Still, there's a lot that's new (or at least now included by default) and very cool here—native support for dual-monitor setups, integrated Firefox tweaks and extensions, instant printer configuration and, of course, more of the Compiz eye candy that's helping Ubuntu look less like the dowdy younger brother of Windows and Mac. I downloaded, burned and installed the Gutsy release candidate over the weekend and took a few pictures along the way.

Read More »

Via Make - Here's a DIY project for making an in-car camcorder mount for video recording on the road.

He prices the materials - 2 feet of 3/4" aluminum or steel square tube, 2 u-bolts, 4 wing nuts for tool-free installation and an universal mounting screw (or a web cam swivel stand for lighter cameras) - at less than $US15.

Sounds cheap for being able to produce your own "Cops" style home movies, doesn't it?

It's totally handsfree, so shouldn't interfere with your driving. Might get some funny looks though.

Homemade in-car camcorder mount

We've all heard about "magic hour"—those hours around sunrise and sunset that produce the best natural-light photography and filming conditions—but photography weblog Photojojo offers a simple tip for knowing when your outdoor pics will produce that soft magic hour look: "Photograph outdoors when your shadow is longer than you are." Doing so will ensure you don't end up with harshly lit, high-contrast photos that don't do justice to you and your loved ones' beautiful faces or the soft nuance of the fall colors. Lighting-wise, the post also suggests that overcast days can be terrific for fall photography. If you're looking for more ways to boost your fall photos, the author offers several other tips for great fall photos worth checking out.

Mac OS X only: Shareware application Lights Out is your Mac's default Energy Saver tool on steroids, allowing users to set very specific energy saving settings. From setting the time before your monitor dims to automatic logout or shutdown to hot corners for quick sleeping, this simple application takes control of nearly every energy-related aspect of your Mac. Lights Out is free to try, costs $US8.99 for a license. We normally steer clear of shareware apps around here when we can, but in the spirit of living greener, Lights Out looks like a great software. If you know of a free alternative, let's hear it in the comments.

If you've had trouble running your BitTorrent downloads around an overzealous firewall or ISP throttling, weblog TorrentSpy describes how to bypass any firewall or ISP throttle by running your BitTorrent traffic through SSH. You're likely to see a drop in download speed compared with a normal connection with this method, but if you're already missing out on your downloads altogether due to a firewall or throttling, it's better than nothing. Granted, some of these restrictions are in place for good reasons, but if you've felt the sting of BitTorrent throttling for no good reason, it's worth a go. Check out our primer on SSH and our big guide to BitTorrent if you want to bone up on either BitTorrent or SSH.

US - centric: Previously mentioned GOOG-411, Google's free telephone directory assistance tool, has graduated from Google Labs and gotten a whole new web site. This doesn't mean much except that Google's serious about supporting GOOG-411, so the accurate, lightning-fast... Read More »

Event organizer webapp Fasterplan creates collaborative "billboards" that help users hammer out the details of an upcoming event. Set up a Fasterplan billboard for your event and drag and drop widgets onto it—like polls ("Where should we eat afterwards?"), date finders ("When's good for you?"), images, and text notes. Get your event billboard's permalink and email it out to all your friends to answer the polls and plan your get-together. Check out a sample billboard to see Fasterplan in action.

While Microsoft decided that old Zunes are getting all the feature updates of the new and improved Zune, Apple left iPod video owners out in the cold with the new iPod classic user interface. Why? Presumably your old money is getting dirty, and Apple would prefer to have your shinier, newer money. If you'd like the new iPod classic interface but you'd very much like to keep your new money, head over to DrivenDesign and download the modified iPod classic for iPod video firmware. The new firmware (obviously) isn't Apple-supported, and it's missing a feature here and there (namely Cover Flow), but it's getting frequent updates and looks promising. My latest classic-style iPod is an aged 3G, so I was unable to give this one a full test. If you try it out, let us know how it worked for you in the comments.

Java-enabled handsets: Google's released an update to its excellent Gmail Mobile application, which gives you the live Gmail experience on your Java-enabled mobile phone. Version 1.5 adds the ability to search your mail, easy access to your contacts list, more efficient data usage that reduces bandwidth consumption (and load time), and more configurable settings. The downsides: 1.5 still doesn't support Google Apps for Your Domain, and by default it adds a hideous "Sent from Gmail for mobile" to your sent messages. (Visit the settings area to disable that.) After the jump, some screenshots.

Read More »

Windows only: Copy and paste text and files between computers on your Local Area Network (LAN) with free, open source application BeyondCopy. Just set up BeyondCopy on every Windows computer you'd like to use it with (it can handle several) by installing the utility and entering in the hostname of each computer you want to share with. Once each computer is set up, BeyondCopy automatically syncs your clipboard between computers each time you copy something, including text and files; you can then paste the same clipboard contents on any connected computer. We've highlighted how to share your clipboard and mouse with Synergy in the past, but if you don't want the mouse sharing or you need file copy sharing, BeyondCopy looks like an excellent solution. BeyondCopy is free, Windows only.

Looks like Google's got a task list application in the works. Reason for the delay? "We're working to add our special Google secret sauce to the to-do lists space."

As a proud participant in today's mass blogging event, Blog Action Day, we're devoting our special feature to Blog Action Day's topic: the environment. Last Monday, we put out a call for your best ways to live greener, and as usual, Lifehacker readers did not disappoint. We received quite a few green hacks in our inbox, and after much winnowing down, the best 10 suggestions made it to the top. After the jump, check out some easy ways to live greener, and vote on which hack is the best of the best.

Read More »

PC World offers a guide to giving objects in your digital photos a distinct focus by singling them out as the only color in a black-and-white background. We've offered tips on using desaturation and the History Brush to paint in color, but this tutorial seems a bit easier for those who use the lasso select tool. The guide uses Adobe Photoshop Elements, but any photo editing software with layers and selection tools should do the trick.

New video chat web app TokBox offers much the same functionality as Skype and other services when it comes to live chat, but embedded video emails and no need for software downloads set it apart. The site's interface aims for simplicity, offering single-button starts for launching video chat or recording a new message, and interfaces with web cams and microphones through Flash's interface. The Times notes that TokBox "looked a little grainier, and its audio sounded a little noisier," than Skype, but the backers—including a YouTube cofounder—say that will improve. Of course, our readers know how to get even better quality by taking Skype hi-res.

Firefox only: Create strong passwords with Password Hasher, a Firefox extension that automatically generates unique passwords based on the destination. Unlike previously mentioned PwdHash, Password Hasher has integrated functionality (the "Bump" button) that assigns version numbers to passwords. It also consolidates passwords for domains, which is particularly useful if you use the same login across several subdomains on the same main site. Finally, save portable versions of the HTML so that you can generate your hash words on any machine without requiring the Password Hasher extension itself. Password Hasher is a free download, works wherever Firefox does.

You already know how to share a PC's printer on your home network, and now it's time to give the Mac users some love. If you've got a printer hooked up to your Mac that you want to share out to Windows PC's, you don't have to get your hands dirty with Samba. Using Apple's Bonjour client for Windows, it's easy to detect and use shared Mac printers. Here's how.

Read More »