Mac OS X only: When you need a little break from regular web surfing and want some random images pulled from the internets to give you a little creative jolt, you want Visigami, a search-based photo screensaver. Tap a keyword into Visigami (may I suggest "puppy"?) and watch it zoom and pan image results from Flickr, Google Images, or Picasa and send them flying across your screen in one of three random effects. Control the zoom, spacing, and speed of the 'saver movement, and sit back and enjoy the spectacle. While Visigami is more eye candy than anything else, it's a neat way to enjoy a montage of photos associated with your search term. Visigami is a free download for Mac only.

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Let's face facts—you're probably Googling yourself on a regular basis, whether for pure ego satisfaction or monitoring of your professional image online. New search aggregator Addict-O-Matic just happens to be great for seeing how you "look" online, as it focuses on returning results from the top social networking sites, Web 2.0 services, and blog-watching services. Of course, it's also a great tool for monitoring a topic or another person across the web's wide expanse, but once you add Addict-O-Matic to your Firefox search bar options or just as a bookmark, you know you'll be heading back to satisfy your online-mirror-checking fix.

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Looking for an easy way to stitch together a cluster of photos you took of that great vacation scene? MagToo, a free online panorma-sharing service, offers a free online tool to create 360-degree panoramas (or more simple wide-angle stitches) and share them from a flash applet on its site or embedded on another. As the Digital Inspiration blog points out, you have to use Internet Explorer 7 to create the panoramas in MagToo's ActiveX app, but the Flash-based viewers can be seen in any browser. For a guide to creating high-quality stitches yourself, check out our guide to panorama-stitching with free software.

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Windows/Mac/Linux (all platforms): OpenOffice.org, the free office application suite, has released a beta of its 3.0 version to the public with a few key features rolled in. The biggest update is native support for Mac OS X platforms, meaning no need to install X11 packages on older Macs or switch to NeoOffice for a smoother experience (although NeoOffice plans to release a 3.0 of its own, so stay tuned). OpenOffice also adds built-in conversion filters for Office 2007/Mac Office 2008 files, a new "solver" function for spreadsheets, enhanced notes and viewing options in Writer, and other enticements for those willing to risk a few bugs. OpenOffice.org 3.0 beta is a free download for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux systems.

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US-centric: Firefox with Greasemonkey only: Two of the Lifehacker editors may reside on the West coast of the US, but a lot of the US readers are on Eastern time, and that means you'd probably like to see our... Read More »

The hype around the release of the new GTA game got me thinking about how to maintain your work/life/gaming balance in the face of a shiny new game. :)
My tips are:

• link your gaming time to a productivity goal (ie as a reward for completing a task)
• if you fear you're not getting enough exercise, make your gaming and exercise time a 1:1 ratio - ie exercise for an hour to earn an hour of gaming time
• particularly if you play group-oriented games like World of Warcraft, reduce your time commitment - ie if your guild expects you to raid 3-5 times a week, but you decide you don't want to commit that much time to the game, you need to tell your guild you can't commit to that much time in-game anymore. You may need to drop down to casual status in your guild, or even leave your guild to achieve this.
• break the habit. Just as you can mindlessly waste time online by switching the computer on whenever you have some spare time, gaming can become a major time suck if you log in automatically first thing in the morning, or as soon as you get home in the evening. Break that habit, and you'll probably end up playing less (and enjoying it more when you do).

Got any other tips for keeping your game time under control? Share in comments please.

Here's a competition which looks right up Lifehacker's alley. As part of a honours course at Swinburne uni, a group of students are creating a book called "101 things to do with 'old' technology" and they're running a competition to get ideas from the public.

Get creative and make us your own little sketch of what you'd do with an "old grey box". You can be as serious, as funny, or as strange as you like with your entries. All entries will be published in the book for our Swinburne University Honours project, and your name will be published with it too, if you wish.

Entries are in the form of black and white line drawings - head on over to the post at Melbourne Maniacs for further details on how to enter. Entries close on May 26.

Competition: 101 Things to do with Old Technology [Melbourne Maniacs]

The Geekdad blog shares a wonderful idea for a fun activity to do with your geeklet - create a treasure hunt for them - complete with a home made treasure map. There are two lovely examples in the post which draw on local history - one of a pirate treasure hunt, the other steeped in wild west history.
Key ingredients are an old looking map (parchment paper works well, singe the edges with a candle or lighter), an antique-looking chest or box, and some 'treasure' related to the story.
If you want to teach your geekling local history or how to navigate with a compass, this could be a very fun way to do it. :)

Treasure Hunting with Kids [Geekdad]

Some folks opt for a home theatre, but in this case, a home entertainment geek opted to wire up his party space so that at the touch of the big red "Emergency Party Button", the lights are dimmed, the party lights come on, the dried ice machine kicks in, and the music starts. Awesome home automation job (we'll overlook the dodgy choice of music). :)

The creator kindly put up a website detailing the equipment used, how it was put together and the cost of materials ($US634).

Emergency Party Button [via Make]

The second generation of the geek friendly ASUS Eee PC mini-laptop will hit Australian shelves this month, but Linux lovers are set for a double blow - not only has the price gone up by $150 dollars to $RRP649, but the XP version of the Eee is actually cheaper!
APC had the rundown on this strange state of affairs - pointing out that the Eee PC 900 loaded with XP will cost only $599, which means that even with the Windows XP license, it's $50 cheaper than the Linux version. The Linux version gets 20GB of storage to compensate, in comparison to the 12GB in the XP version. But still, rather odd.
I'd been hanging out for the 2nd gen Eee because they've kept the same small form factor but increased the screen real estate by about an inch to 8.9 inches by moving the speakers away from the sides of the screen. But I have to admit, I'm wondering whether I should snap up a $500 first gen unit rather than ponying up for the 900.
Here's our original review of the first Eee PC - it rocked our socks. :)
Got an opinion on whether the new Eee will be worth the extra $150 - or whether to go for the cheaper XP version? Let us know in comments.

EDIT: It seems I fail at basic subtraction - the XP version of the Eee 900 is $50 cheaper than the Linux version, not $150 as I originally wrote. Apologies!

While many call centres these days record support calls, it can help you to keep them accountable (and keep track of your account details) if you keep notes on any support calls you make.
You don't need a word-by-word transcript, but here are some basic facts you can note down:

• the date and time of your call
• the name of the operator
•  any specific details related to your call such as dates, times, or payment amounts discussed
  
• if they say anything which seems odd or wrong to you, make note of it. For example, a staffer at one ISP told me it didn't matter what phone provider I used, I'd be able to get their internet regardless. It seemed odd, and sure enough, when I rang back the next day to connect, I was told that I had to be with Telstra or a Telstra wholesaler to get their service.

Having these notes to hand can make any followup support calls much easier for you and the company you're calling.

My other advice is to ask questions to clarify anything complex, and repeat it back to them. Saying "So if I understood you correctly, the situation is..." can help make sure you're both on the same page.

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US-centric: Misplaced your cell phone around the house and don't have another phone on hand to call it up to locate it? Give your number to web site PhoneMyPhone and they'll instantly ring you up. Aside from instant calling... Read More »

Developing new habits can jumpstart our creativity and even help us grow new brain cells, reports the New York Times. Research by authors Dawna Markova and M. J. Ryan suggests that stretching—but not stressing—yourself can develop your mind and creative skills.

"Getting into the stretch zone is good for you," Ms. Ryan says [...] "It helps keep your brain healthy. It turns out that unless we continue to learn new things, which challenges our brains to create new pathways, they literally begin to atrophy, which may result in dementia, Alzheimer's and other brain diseases. Continuously stretching ourselves will even help us lose weight, according to one study. Researchers who asked folks to do something different every day—listen to a new radio station, for instance—found that they lost and kept off weight. No one is sure why, but scientists speculate that getting out of routines makes us more aware in general."

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Web site Linux.com offers a few tips for taking advantage of the second Ethernet port on the back of your computer. For example, in Linux you can bond your two ports for load balancing and fault tolerance.

...bonding [combines] both of the computer's interfaces into a single interface.... The OS can alternate which interface it uses to send traffic, or it can gracefully fail over between them in the event of a problem. You can even use it to balance your traffic between multiple wide area network (WAN) connections, such as DSL and cable, or dialup and your next door neighbor's unsecured Wi-Fi.

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Mac OS X only: Browse your Del.icio.us bookmarks like never before with freeware beta application Delish. URLs weren't mean to be viewed as text, according to the minds behind Delish, so the software provides a visual interface for your bookmarks by creating thumbnail snapshots of all the links, which it displays in an attractive, easy-to-use interface. Delish even supports multi-touch pinch and scroll gestures for owners of new MacBook Pros and Airs—though unfortunately you can't create a new bookmark with it. Delish is currently freeware, Mac OS X only.

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• Just signed up for a gym membership for the first time in my life. What should I start with?
• Is there a fanny pack/belt bag/handsfree totage system that doesn't suck?
• What are you getting Mum on Mother's Day?
• Does anybody know how to edit the Open and Save as dialog box in Windows XP so that it displays folders of my own choosing in that column to the left?
• How can I get automatic screenshots from a DVD?

Web application Glasnost simulates BitTorrent downloads on your computer to determine whether or not your internet service provider (ISP) is throttling your BitTorrent transfers. It does so by measuring the difference between your regular download speed and your BitTorrent download speed, testing against different ports and other variables to get a better idea of what exactly is being throttled. The tool is aggregating the results of the test, which the site is publishing to encourage greater transparency among ISPs. If your ISP turns out to be throttling your BitTorrent traffic, you can still avoid the throttling if you know the right tricks.

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Writing your blog should be a fun way to stretch your mind and stay connected to trends, friends, and the greater world, not another computer task that takes far too long to get done. But that's exactly what it can feel like if it takes you more time to find your post ideas, tweak your markup, and make everything look right than to actually get your thoughts down. Being somewhat experienced at this blogging thing, your Lifehacker editors have pinpointed a few tools and tricks that make our posts go faster and smoother. After the jump, we round up 10 of them.

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Web monkeys comfortable with CSS can now apply their style skills to Google Docs. A new (to us) item in the Edit pulldown menu lets you apply standard CSS styles to your Google Doc. A Google Group exists to help you work out any kinks in the process, and a Googler offers a beautiful resume template (available for you to copy into your own Docs account) all styled with CSS.

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The Simple Dollar financial blog offers up a guide to creating a "Master Information Document"—a single piece of paper that's locked away securely, explained only to family and very close friends, and which has all the information someone would need to put your finances and will in order if something happened to you. Blogger Trent recommends writing down information on all your open accounts, a list of all your debts and assets, and any estate-related documents, like a will or trust, in a filing cabinet or other secure place. We've offered a bigger-picture guide to organising your family's information in case of emergencies, but Trent's advice is sound, especially for anyone who hasn't even glanced at the idea of emergency planning.

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Puppy Linux 4.0 has been released, and the update to the popular Linux on a thumb drive distribution adds scanner and digital camera support and new applications like ePDFView, Pschedule, Pcdripper, and Pburn. See what happened when we took Puppy Linux (3.0) for a walk. [via]

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Want to mix up your browser-opening experience by rotating your home page? WhatPage.org, a free service with seemingly no ads or restrictions, lets you paste any site into a list that can hold more than 100, and provides a custom URL to set your home page to. Open your browser and hit home, and one of your pages opens. You control the numbered rotation of the pages, and can re-order at any time. As the site points out, it can also turn your home button into a favourite site click-browser. It's a great free service, but let's guess that our readers have their own solutions for rotating a home page—so let's hear them in the comments. Thanks Mike!

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Windows/Mac (Firefox and IE7): PicLens, the Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 plug-in that lets you flip through photo sets in full-screen splendour, just added YouTube support to its latest version. That means searching and parsing through YouTube videos in the same elegant interface as with photos, making it far easier to spot just the clip you're looking for, and playing the videos, full-screen or reduced size, from inside PicLens. The latest version is available for Firefox 2 and 3 Beta 5 on Windows and Mac, as well as Internet Explorer 7 on Windows, and is a free download. (Original PicLens post).

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