Weblog MakeUseOf highlights five lesser-known Firefox tips, including one simple tip we've never covered before:

Instead of right-clicking on a download link, choosing "save to target" and pressing enter, just drag the download link to the "downloads icon" in the toolbar. The download will start automatically.

You can actually drag download links to either the Downloads icon (which needs to be added to the toolbar manually through the Customize... option) or directly to the Downloads manager. It may not be fancy, but it does save the default multiple-click download process. Aside from the simple download tip, the post suggests other previously mentioned Firefox tips like deleting mistyped or unseemly URLs from your address bar or search box. Got your own favorite obscure Firefox tip? Let's hear it in the comments.
Five Firefox Tips You May Not Know About [MakeUseOf]

Conserve water next time you wash your car with Green Earth Waterless Car Wash. In a nutshell, you mist your car with the spray bottle and then wipe it down, no water required. The wash uses a cleaning method and ingredients that are apparently similar to what they use to clean race cars, but the primary purpose is to save on water consumption (the typical car wash, according to their site, uses between 20 to 45 gallons of water). One 32 ounce bottle is good for about 10 car washes, so at around $US20 for a bottle you're saving money (if you normally go to a $6+ car wash) and you're saving tons of water. The real test, though, is how well it works, so if anyone's ever given it a try, let's hear your experience in the comments.

The latest version of our current favorite Windows app launcher, Launchy, saw several nice interface updates and some plug-in improvements in the latest release, and one hugely useful feature improvement that may have snuck in under your radar is the impressively updated Weby plugin, which adds simple customization of web searches directly inside of Launchy's preference pane. For example, reader Nicholai say he prefers the lightning quick definitions from web site Definr, so he simply added Definr to the Weby plug-in by clicking the '+' button, titled the site Definr, added http://definr.com/ in the URL box, and put %s (your search term) in the query section. Likewise, another reader is searching his Gmail from Launchy with Weby. Granted, you can accomplish similar tasks with keyword bookmarks in Firefox, but the improved Weby plug-in works like a charm, too. Thanks Nicholai!

Via our friends at Melbourne radio station RRR's computer show, Byte into IT, comes this link with two nice bits of information for fans of the ASUS Eee PC mini-laptop. One - there's an Eee PC blog. And two - some kind soul has customised the popular Linux distro Ubuntu for the Eee PC. The Eee PC blogged about that here, and points interested readers towards the EeeUser Wiki for eeeXubuntu here.
One feature which the eeeXubuntu creators have worked on is simplifying the Eee PC's wireless, which sounds great as it was a stumbling block for me and several other uses I've spoken to.


eeeXubuntu: Ubuntu for the ASUS EeePC [EeePC Blog]

If keeping a more organised home is on your list of New Year's resolutions, Good Housekeeping has put together a very granular room-by-room, section-by-section guide to decluttering and organising your home. Each guide offers tips for organising every area—from your kitchen cabinets to your workspace—in 30 minutes or less. The idea isn't that you'll need to tackle these 30-minute organisation tasks on a regular basis, but rather that once you've completed one, you'll be decluttered in that area for good. Each article pimps their book, The Complete Clutter Solution, so if you like the tips you're finding on their site, the book might be worth a look.

• Why do my images look different in Photoshop than they do when I upload them to the web?
• Can anyone recommend a killer case for my new iPod classic?
• How can I simplify my life and purge my junk?
• What are some good ways to speed up my flu recovery?

Windows only: Freeware application Work Break Timer, Task Logger, ScreenCapture (that's a mouthful that could use some abridging) tracks your work and schedules breaks in user-definable chunks, records task info to keep track of how you're spending your time, and takes screenshots of your desktop on a regular user-defined interval. The concept grew from previously mentioned Instant Boss and productivity guru Merlin Mann's (10+2)*5 procrastination hack but adds tons of useful new features and useful functionality—like passing your task info into the author's favorite time management app and displaying a slideshow of your day's activities with previously mentioned IrfanView. Work Break Timer, etc. is free, Windows only.

If a new iPhone or iPod touch found its way under your tree and you just can't wait until Apple officially supports third-party application development to extend its functionality (who can wait until February?), it's time you jailbreak your favorite new portable device. We've covered two methods for doing so already, but that feisty Apple keeps on changing things up, and the latest firmware (which all of you new owners are likely running) requires a bit more finesse before you gain access to the throng of great apps that have already been developed for the iPhone. So today we're jailbreaking that iPhone or iTouch of yours to open it up to the wonderful world of third-party software.

Read More »

Lifehacker reader Bruno writes in with a tip that should give both fans of the old-style Winamp (a.k.a. Winamp Classic) and critics of the cross-platform VLC Media Player's somewhat plain looks a little thrill—VLC can use Winamp Classic skins as its interface. That means the thousands of styles available at Winamps Classic's official site and elsewhere can be put to good use on modern systems. To change VLC's skin, load the program, hit the "Settings" menu, select "Switch interface" and then "Skins 2." Once the modern-looking skin loads, you can right-click on blank space, choose "Select skin" and see how the player works and acts with a Winamp Classic skin. If you want to keep the skin, head for the Interface->Main interfaces->Skins dialog in VLC's preferences and make sure "Advanced options" is checked.

Linux only: The GRUB boot-selector tool has made dual-booting Linux and other systems easy, but changing how your boot menu looks requires digging through text files and praying you don't make a single typo. QGRUBEditor, a free visual GRUB editor, takes the guesswork and some of the hassle out of tweaking your boot settings. You can change menu orders, colors, splash images, and defaults, and preview the effects your changes have without having to reboot. The program has a few non-dire quirks, but it's still easier than guessing and paging through the menu file by hand. QGRUBEditor is a free download for Linux systems only, and requires three QT (KDE) libraries to run.

There are countless arguments for using open source applications, but one of the strongest is the benefit of learning how to just one app and using it across Windows, Mac or Linux systems. Web site directory Open Source Living helps you find just the programs you're looking for and points you to where you can get them for free. It's not an extensive, all-in-one directory, but it seems to narrow its choices based on quality and widespread acceptance. And while not every application listed at Open Source Living is entirely cross-platform, a good deal of them are. For more free or open source applications, check out a Windows and Mac free software bonanza.

Windows only: Free application ASCGEN, or Ascii Generator dotNET, takes in standard pictures and puts out images generated entirely from simple computer text. While free web apps like ASCII-O-Matic do a decent job with small face portraits, ASCGEN can handle larger files and offers the same kind of brightness, contrast and level modifications as standard image editors—it just changes letters instead of pixels. Once you're done tweaking, you can output to picture, text or HTML files. ASCGEN is a free download for Windows systems only.

Google Reader has been opening up more sharing features recently, giving users the ability to publicly share feeds and see Google Talk friends' feeds. Blogger Steve Rubel points out a not-so-obvious way to share only selected feeds with only a choice group of people. His solution:

• Add a unique tag to feeds you want to share (like "friendshare")
• Select "Settings" from Reader's upper-right menus, then the "Tags" tab
• Click the RSS icon on the tag you want to share. Share the "View public page" link only with those you want to see it

Now you've got a much more productive (and private) means of sharing select information with a project team or contacts. Neat!

Even if your refrigerator isn't fit to burst with leftover turkey, pies and other holiday fare, winter seems to be a season in which food gets stacked up with no place to go. The Serious Eats food blog has a few suggestions for keeping your fridge a showcase for food you really want to eat, no matter what climate you live in. Your fridge's crisper, for instance, should only be used for delicate, leafy vegetables.

Hardier stuff like apples, squashes, root vegetables, citrus, peppers, beans, onions, and many crucifers (e.g., cauliflower and brussels sprouts) don't require the TLC of the crisper or even the low temperature of the refrigerator for storage. And, once you purge your crisper of all of these and anything else that doesn't belong, chances are you'll have plenty of room for all of your delicate produce.

If you plan to make a de-clutterting tear through your icebox, check out these tips on understanding expiration dates. Photo by Chaparral [Kendra].