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This Week's Best Posts
Posted by Adam Pash at 12:00 PM on February 23, 2008
! Here's a look back at our most popular posts of the week:
- Hack Your Airplane Seat
A frequent flyer gives the lowdown on how to game the checkin system to get the best seat whether you're flying solo or in a couple. - Use Your Wii as a Media Center
"These days, every gaming system in your living room better be able to do more than just play video games if it's going to earn its place next to your TV." - Top 10 Smart and Lazy Ways to Save Your Workday
"If you leave the office most nights feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and behind on everything you've got to get done at work--even though you just spent 10 hours there--you're letting your workday get away from you." - Seamlessly Run Linux Apps on Your Windows Desktop
"...for about a million reasons, you're stuck running Windows as your main operating system. We understand, these things happen. But what about all those killer Linux apps you've left behind?" - How to Stop Checking Email on the Evenings and Weekends
"Best-selling author Tim Ferriss offers digital minimalism tips to reduce the amount of time you spend in your email inbox." - Handling More Than 12 Hours on a Plane?
"...what's the best way to deal on extended flights without going crazy?" - Eat Healthier Using Twelve "Instead Of" Steps
"The Zen Habits blog posts a technique for making gradual progress toward eating healthier and, as a result, dropping a lot of fat." - Highlight an Image in HTML Code
"Entice and excite your friends with a strangely addictive trick that utilses some interesting CSS techniques to allow you to see a highlighted image within text." - Reader Poll: How Do You Do Your Taxes?
"Between online tax forms, software apps like Turbo Tax, chop shops like H&R Block, and your accountant, there are tonnes of ways you can go about tackling your taxes.
Web site Kwiry is an SMS-based reminder service for keeping track of to-dos and reminder on-the-go. Just text your reminder to k-w-i-r-y (59479), then head to your Kwiry homepage or open the email Kwiry automatically sends you next time you're at your computer. From the Kwiry web site, you can quickly search for your Kwiry content on sites like Google, Amazon, or iTunes, which could come in very handy depending on the type of reminder (e.g., download alicia keys from iTunes). With a handful of social features, Kwiry feels ever-so-slightly like Twitter, but with an emphasis on remembering things on the go. If you give it a try, let's hear how you like it in the comments.
Windows only: Google Talk is, as weblog Digital Inspiration puts it, an extremely honest application, inasmuch as it will only display your status as idle when you truly are idle. But if you aren't keen on your IM buddies being aware of what you're doing, Google Talk's fidelity to the truth can be irritating. Freeware application gAlwaysIdle allows you to set your idle status on Google Talk, either to always idle or never idle. If you don't want to sign out of IM but you want to discourage random IMs, gAlwaysIdle may be a good solution. gAlwaysIdle (which we've mentioned once before 
All-things-Apple weblog TUAW details how to set up your iPhone to "phone home" with its faux-GPS location on a regular basis so you always know approximately where your phone is (particularly handy if it turns up stolen). The final setup works like this: the findme command line program (developed by former Lifehacker editor Erica Sadun) grabs your location, the results of which are sent to a private Twitter account you set up exclusively for this purpose. From start to finish this process takes some doing (it's not a simple install-and-use), but if you're willing to take the plunge, the results could be well worth the effort.
You've seen our 
So your friend popped the question at a concert last week, and your only evidence is a pixellated, under-lit cell phone video? Free webapp FixMyMovie won't get you up to HD-quality, but it can cure many of digital video's common ailments. Upload a video (original files are best), compare the "before" and "after" segments, then give FixMyVideo the job and preview your smoothed-over video in full screen, with the option to grab still screenshots at any point. I didn't have a video file of the tossed-off kind FixMyMovie can best help, but the MakeUseOf.com folks seem to vouch for this free service.
Tech blogger Phil Windley grew tired of trying to eject his external back up disk, first the suggested Apple+E way and then by yanking a cord, just to see that ominous red stop sign of warning every day, even when he knew his disk operations were (or should have been, at least) done. His suggestion for others suffering from clingy back up drives: Parse together a terminal command similar to the one below (substituting name and other portions for whatever fits your system):
The Zakka Life Crafts blog suggests a frugal, DIY way to keep kids (and maybe driving adults) stocked up with non-spill "sippy" cups. Wash out yogurt containers with plastic lids, then cut a fast-food-style "X" in the lid, big enough for a straw to go through but not much bigger. You've got a cheap, reusable sippy cup for tykes or travelers, and one you won't necessarily mind losing. For a similar trick while traveling, try the same thing with 
Adding a handwritten signature to letters or even email can add a distinguising, memorable mark to your messages—and in cases like mine, that distinct memory is, "Boy, his handwriting is awful." MyLiveSignature, a free web app that produces stylized signatures for use in emails, blog posts, or other writing, is a fitting solution to that problem. After typing in your name, you get your choice of 10 fonts, and then many more choices for size, color, and tilt. The site then generates HTML and BB code to embed that signature wherever you'd like, and let people know it's really you writing—even if it's not quite you. For a similar paper-based signature hack, check out this tip on 
