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Tag Galaxy Browses Flickr Photos in Space
Posted by Gina Trapani at 9:00 PM on May 23, 2008
New Flickr photo browser TagGalaxy explores the Flickr tag-o-verse using a planet metaphor. Type in a tag you're interested in, and TagGalaxy will instantly assemble a system of planets that represent those tags. Click on a planet to browse and zoom photos. Words don't do TagGalaxy's beautiful visualisation justice, so check out the screencast above for a quick demo if you're too lazy to head on over there yourself. (Sorry for the herky-jerkiness of the video, in reality it's smooth as silk on-page.)
Windows only: Put your high-priority programs and files in the most easily-accessed parts of your hard drive with UltimateDefrag, a free Windows utility. The program does all the normal data-ordering of a standard defragmenting app (and probably runs at roughly the same speeds), but lets you choose which data to place on the outer, or faster, portions of your disk. You can also ask UltimateDefrag to analyse your drive and see which files have been most recently accessed, which works best for drives or partitions set aside for data, or automatically try to improve ease of access. UltimateDefrag can also run as your default defrag tool, and run only when a screensaver is active. UltimateDefrag is a free download for Windows systems only.
Most spam and phish-bait emails are easy to spot, but once in a while, some creative subject can leave you guessing whether a message is legitimate or not. If you're an Outlook user, the Productivity Portfolio blog recommends never opening those messages (and potentially proving your existence to said spammers); instead, use the "Message Options" dialogue, available with a right-click on any message, and check the reply-to address and header information for signs of fakery, such as slightly-spoofed email addresses (wa1mart.com, paypaI.com, and the like) and odd entries in the To: and X-Mailer field. You'll get a better chance of stopping the spam flow, and the satisfaction of not getting fooled again.
On the heels of 
A lot of unexpected things can happen in the course of a day at the office, so the SimpleProductivityBlog recommends putting together an office survival kit in preparation for the unforeseen. The author's must-have tools include a sewing kit to mitigate a popped button or tear and a stain remover for those times you bring lunch back with your clothes. The author's toolkit is rather small, so let's hear what you would add to the ultimate office survival kit in the comments. While you're at it, you'll never be unprepared with a 
Windows only: Web site and software HomeCamera turns your desktop webcam into a web-enabled surveillance camera. Just sign up and download their desktop software to get started. In just a few minutes, you can check an image or video from your webcam in real-time from any browser. Even better, you can set up motion-detecting alerts that will email you with a shot or short clip of what triggered the alert. The Windows-only HomeCamera is completely free during their beta and will remain free with limitations once they leave beta.
Google Docs 
Your Start menu and Applications folder are growing larger and harder to navigate every day, but with a solid application launcher at your side, you'll never notice. On Tuesday we put a call out for 
All platforms with Firefox: Just posted the long-awaited update to the Better Gmail 2 Firefox extension, a compilation of the best user scripts and skins for the new Gmail interface. This update to version 0.4 adds Firefox 3 compatibility, the absolutely beautiful 
The Digital Photography School blog has an instructive tutorial on using layers for those just getting their feet wet inside Photoshop, or other high-end image editors like the open-source GIMP. Those jumping in will learn how to make transparent layers, use masked layers to roll back effects, and duplicate layers for sharpening and other effects. Hit the link for a quick schooling, including links to related lessons, or offer up your own tutorials and advice in the comments.
Too many large email attachments weighing down Outlook's PST file and your hard drive, but you don't want to throw out the message with the attachment? Weblog Digital Inspiration details how to separate attachments from email messages in Outlook without deleting the message. It's a simple process, and when you're done the file is no longer attached to the message; you can keep or delete it as you see fit. It's not difficult, but the little two-step process could save you hard drive space and keep Outlook's PST file lighter and snappier—especially if you 
Wikihow runs down 
Most Firefox 3 testers agree that the preview release of the new browser promises faster and all-around better surfing—but one of the most noticeable interface changes, the big Back button, has gotten mixed reviews. If you're not a fan of Firefox 3's large back button, you don't have to wrangle with CSS or themes to adjust its size. Simply right-click on Firefox's toolbar, and choose Customise. In the dialogue box, select "Use small icons"—and voila! Your back button will be the same size as reload. Thanks, 
US Only: Crime-mapping mashup SpotCrime pulls data from city police records and news sources and plots it in an easy-to-snoop fashion. Choose a city, a time frame, and the types of offences you want to see, and you can mouse over the pinned icons to see thumbnail descriptions, or click an item for a full read. The site claims that humans are working in the background to make sense of the data, and that incidents show up anywhere from 3-24 hours after they're reported. A good tool for checking out a potential neighbourhood for moving or exploring, or just keeping up on what's going down across town.
Windows only: Freeware application FreeSnap maximises your active window one edge at a time through a handful of simple keyboard shortcuts. If you're obsessed with making the most of your screen real estate, don't want to maximise windows to take up the entire screen in all directions, and manually resizing windows to the edge of your screen is too much of a hassle, FreeSnap is a perfect solution. Windows-Left/Right/Up/Down will expand your window to the corresponding side of your monitor, while other shortcuts resize windows to specific dimensions or move windows to pre-defined positions on your screen. FreeSnap is freeware, Windows only.
Windows only: Donationware application Desktop Teleporter automatically moves files and folders from your desktop to user-defined folders to keep your desktop clean and neat. Desktop Teleporter is serious about keeping your desktop clean, moving any file that you don't add to the exclude list. If you want more advanced options and support beyond the desktop, check out Lifehacker's very own 
Windows/Mac/Linux (OpenOffice): The Sun Wiki Publisher, a free extension for the OpenOffice.org office suite, lets you edit and contribute to any MediaWiki-based page on the web, assuming it accepts anonymous editing or you have credentials. The real benefit lies in being able to use OpenOffice's styling tools—bolding, lists, tables, and the like—instead of having to remember the MediaWiki markup style. Creating a new page is relatively simple, but editing an existing page requires, at least with this version, copying and pasting an article in Writer, then sending it to the wiki for updating. For those 
Free markup sharing site A.nnotate offers a simple tool for letting co-workers or friends comment and review a document or web page without installing specialty software or hosting a web conference. Upload a Word document, PDF, or other file, or just pass A.nnotate a web page address, and you can start highlighting text or choosing areas to leave notes, either in the margins or as floating boxes. Once a page is started, the creator can email links to as many people as they want to comment. A free account at the site gives one person about 25 pages per month to offer for markup with unlimited annotators, but advanced offerings are available starting at $10 per month.
Web search engine interface Katapulco is a one-stop search box to dozens of engines, from Google to Wikipedia to IMDB—and you choose which engine to search by entering a keyboard shortcut. For example, to Google Lifehacker from Katapulco, enter "Lifehacker" then "g" into the shortcut field. While Katapulco's premise—that keyboard shortcuts are faster—is spot-on, you can achieve this same result using the search box in Firefox (Ctrl+K to put your cursor there, Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down to switch engines) or my personal favourite, 
Guest poster Cathy of the 
