Windows only: Free web clipping and file sharing tool Clip2Net is an easy-to-use system tray applet when it's on the desktop, but its real value may be its online storage space. Sign up for a free account at Clip2Net and you get 500 MB of space to store screenshots, files, or whole folders—just select the screen area or drop the files into the "drop zone" and hit publish, and you'll have a link to offer collaborators or friends. Clip2Net also features built-in Picnik integration for screenshot/image editing, and files can be password protected. Clip2Net is a free download for Windows systems only.

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There are those who fear impending death at the slightest change in nasal congestion, and then there are those who constantly push abnormal aches and pains aside, hoping they'll just go away. If you identify with the latter group, health web site WebMD rounds up seven pains you should not ignore, no matter how busy your schedule. For example:

Pain or Discomfort in the Chest, Throat, Jaw, Shoulder, Arm, or Abdomen: Chest pain could be pneumonia or a heart attack. But be aware that heart conditions typically appear as discomfort, not pain. "Don't wait for pain," says cardiologist Jerome Cohen, MD. "Heart patients talk about pressure. They'll clench their fist and put it over their chest or say it's like an elephant sitting on their chest."

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Windows only: Freeware application ToneShop creates ringtones from a variety of formats, for a variety of formats supported by most popular mobile phones (including the iPhone). To use it, just point ToneShop to the WAV, WMA, M4A, or MP3 file you want to use as your source, and then use ToneShop's simple editing tools to choose the start and end time of your ringtone. Choose the output format supported by your cell phone, hit convert, and voilà—you've got a new ringtone. ToneShop could use a bit of polish on the interface, but as young as it is, it still makes it dead simple to create ringtones for your phone in just a few clicks. ToneShop is freeware, Windows only. If you've got a preferred ringtone tool that puts ToneShop to shame, let's hear about it in the comments.

If you were too busy being productive instead of reading Lifehacker this month, have a quick rundown of March's most popular posts:

• Top 10 Software Easter Eggs
  "Sure we like our chocolate bunny ears, but around these parts the best easter eggs aren't painted pink and stuffed with jelly beans—they're the undocumented and unexpected fun features hidden deep inside various software apps."
• Turn Your PC into a DVD Ripping Monster
  "Commercial DVDs are far too expensive to let scratches turn your video into a glorified coaster, but most people still don't back up their DVD collection."
• Protect Your Privacy When Downloading
  "Whether you're downloading copyrighted material or not, no one likes to have their activities online monitored."
• Download Music from Your Friends' iTunes Libraries Over the Internet with Mojo
  "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."
• Top 10 Ways to Get Cables Under Control
  "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."
• Get Back to Your Mac Without Paying for It
  "When Leopard was released, one of the most enticing new features was Back to My Mac, a tool that made it possible to access your home computer remotely—including remote control of your desktop and access to your files—no matter where you are."
• Caught Downloading Copyrighted Material—Now What?
  "Yesterday I received a letter in the mail from Cablevision (my ISP) saying that Paramount/Dreamworks had filed a complaint with them regarding my illegal download of one of their films."
• Run Windows Apps Seamlessly Inside Linux
  "You love working inside your Linux desktop, but at the most inconvenient times you've got to reboot into Windows—whether to open a tricky Office file, try out a Windows application, or even just play a quick game."
• First Look at Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron" Beta
  "Every six months when a new version of Ubuntu Linux gets released, long-time users and curious toe-dippers ask the same questions: 'What's new?'; 'Is it worth upgrading?'; and, 'Will my wireless card finally work with this version?'"

Who knew it was possible? LOLcats just got nerdier with the birth of GraphJam - a site which mashes up pop culture references with... graphs. The site tagline is "Pop culture for people in cubicles" and I spotted some cute productivity and geek inspired graphs when I flicked through the site (Lifehackers will probably appreciate the Piechart of Procrastination).

The site was created by the team behind LOLcats, and like that venerable website, GraphJam also publishes reader's creations. The site was inspired by rap/graph mashup site JamPhat, according to a Wired interview.

Search for local businesses in your area without resorting to your clunky mobile keyboard with the new, quietly unleashed Google Mobile feature found at google.com/m/lcb. When you navigate to the "lcb" page (local businesses?), Google Mobile identifies what city you're in (or tries to—my test had me in either Columbus, OH [wrong] or Los Angeles [right!]), so all you have to do is click through the business categories to narrow down exactly what you're looking for. As the ZDNet post points out, the feature would be a lot more useful if it pinpointed your location within the city à la Google Maps on the iPhone, but either way it could come in really handy if you aren't keen on using your unfriendly mobile keyboard.

Adobe has posted an alpha version of AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) for Linux on its website.  

The PC and Mac OS X versions of AIR, a program which lets developers build web apps which also run on the desktop, are already out.

According to the Wired writeup, the alpha release which Adobe's made available has a few glitches still. "There are still a few kinks to be worked out, like printing support and support for coding in DRM technologies -- something unwanted by most programmers you know, but a requirement for many of the media companies wanting to build specialized media players for music and video."

Adobe Release AIR for Linux , Sees Better Linux Apps on Horizon [Wired]

One of the latest tactics in the war against P2P file sharing has been for ISPs to restrict the speed of P2P downloads by their customers. This practise doesn't discriminate between legal or pirated downloads, it just targets P2P traffic.
Now Vuze, the creators of popular P2P sharing application, Azureus, are asking their user base to help them collect information about ISP behaviour by installing a plugin which will help them gather information on P2P traffic throttling.
The Network Status Monitor (PC only at this stage) plugin monitors your network connections and measures and displays the number of interrupted connections (called reset tcp connections) every ten minutes. By ticking "share results" you also share the results with Vuze's central server, which enables them to aggregate the results and compare them with customers of other ISPs.
Vuze has said they may aggregate the data collected and talk about it or disclose it publicly, but no personally identifying data will be collected and no data about any specific user will be disclosed.
Azureus has been collecting data about ISPs for a while - the Azureus Wiki lists four Australian ISPs on its global list of "Bad ISPs" who interfere with P2P traffic.

Fiercely independent Australian broadband website Whirlpool's role as an industry watchdog is now in doubt with the news that it's been sold to Ninemsn.

Whirlpool was a trusted community resource for years, providing not only news about the broadband and mobile networks in Australia, but also providing a very active community forum for people to get technical help and share their experiences of different telcos.

In a press statement, site founder Simon Wright said “Whirlpool has gone further than I ever imagined. It’s been great to see it become what it is today — the premier resource on broadband and technology-based discussion in Australia. Now, as it moves into its next phase, I’m looking forward to seeing ninemsn apply their proven track record to the Whirlpool concept.”

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Google Docs is getting offline access baked in with Google Gears starting with a small number of users today, the Official Google Docs blog reports. We're not seeing it yet (are you?), but when we all do, it'll work the same way Gears works with Google Reader. Hit the play button above for a charmingly cheesy demonstration. (Bonus points to anyone who catches the Office Space reference in the video clip.)

Readers are submitting their best life hack for a chance to win an autographed copy of our new book, Upgrade Your Life. Here's our latest winner.
Reader David says that staring at the glowing box all day long is hard on his peepers, so he takes matters into his own hands. He writes in:

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Web site IdentiFight searches popular web applications for accounts linked to an email address you specify. The main purpose of IdentiFight is to show you what information is available online to anyone who has your email address, then to help you cut the connection between your address and that info when possible. Keep in mind that you'll need to submit your email address to IdentiFight to run the search, and there's always the possibility that IdentiFight is doing some malicious email harvesting itself, but from all appearances, the creator seems genuine. As always, submit your email with caution. If you do give it a try, share what you found—and whether or not you were surprised with the results—in the comments.

US-centric :Ever drive by a house for sale and wonder what the price is? Find out on the spot using voice transcription service Jott and real estate valuation search engine Zillow. You'll need to register at Jott (it's free), read more »

Web site LegalTorrents is a BitTorrent search engine designed to distribute Creative Commons-licensed content. Each torrent submitted to LegalTorrents is reviewed by moderators for the proper licensing and then posted to the site. Additionally, LegalTorrents hosts a high-speed seed for each torrent, guaranteeing that you should always be able to get fairly high-speed transfers; in my tests the downloads were indeed very fast (downloading over 400 KB/s). As is the case with many Creative Commons distribution sites, LegalTorrent's biggest hurdle is populating the site with content people want—but as more artists embrace BitTorrent as a distribution platform, LegalTorrents might be worth keeping an eye on (and may help you avoid getting caught downloading copyrighted material). Then again, if you don't feel like sticking to sites like LegalTorrents, there are other ways to protect your downloading privacy.

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Since the dawn of time, geeks have been playing harmless pranks on their beloved (but unsuspecting) associates, and it's up to all of us to carry the torch forward. On the eve of April Fools' Day, when you've got local network access to your coworkers' and family systems, cubicles just crying out to be filled with packing peanuts, and webapps that can do all sorts of things automatically, there's no better time to baffle, confuse, perplex, and just plain mess with your loved ones and associates. Hit the jump for our top 10 favourite harmless geek pranks.

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The Digital Inspiration blog has a timely step-by-step tutorial on creating a "slipstreamed" Vista installation DVD that has all the fixes and tweaks from Service Pack 1 included. The guide utilises the previously mentioned vLite tool, and requires a Vista installation CD—but you create the new DVD from inside your existing Vista install, so don't get too format-happy before reading through. For a similar method of creating an updated XP installation CD, check out RyanVM's Update Pack.

The Anywired blog posts a good guide to using Ubuntu (and most any Linux distribution) productively, through both built-in but under-appreciated features and free software. We've covered a few of the suggestions before, including Compiz Fusion tools, a super-charged read more »

You can do a lot of things with Google Desktop, and use it as an advanced widget and sidebar engine—but what if you really just want a better system-wide search tool? The Google Operating System blog drills down on the latest Google Desktop release to get better performance and speed out of its file-finding function. From staight-up preference changing to registry hacking, you can force the handy app to focus only on those things you want to retrieve later even before installation, but the author recommends at least one change for new and existing users alike:

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