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Lifehacker
Blogger Dennis Best is peer-pressuring himself into losing weight by using Twitter to broadcast his progress and setbacks. Twitter's 140 character update limit makes for an easy, low-overhead method of staying accountable to friends. [via]
Google Trends has a newly-added ability to show unique visitor statistics for multiple sites—just type in site URLs separated by commas to get rough traffic estimates based on searches and other data. The thumbnail chart here suggests that Apple.com gets a bit more regular interest than Windows or Ubuntu's home pages. [via]
Windows only: Dexrex, a free set of plug-ins for most popular IM clients, lets you store transcripts of your IM conversations from any system online for later reference. Dexrex's plug-ins work with Digsby, Pidgin, AIM Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and many more—see the video below for a demonstration. You can even import older, locally-saved chat logs onto the site for a complete archive, or sign into chat directly through Dexrex's site, while automatically saving transcripts. Whether or not you trust your chat logs to an online storage site is up to you, of course, but it's definitely helpful if you trade a lot of links and important info through chat. Dexrex's extensions are free downloads for Windows chat clients only. Hit the jump for a video showing off some of Dexrex's features:
If you've accumulated a mess of digital photos and you know that many less than album-worthy ones are cluttering up your hard drive, Picasa can help prune your collection. Photography blogger Dave shares the following trick for quickly trimming down your collection to only the good stuff. Instead of focusing on the pictures which need to be deleted, focus on the ones you really like. Using the star function in Picasa, star each "keeper" in your collection. Once you've starred all the keepers select all of them via Edit - Select Starred and then select the inverse of the starred photos via Edit - Invert Selection. You now have selected all the photos that aren't album worthy and can delete them to make room for future photos. Here's more on organising your digital photos with Picasa.
Posted by Angus Kidman at 2:01 PM on June 23, 2008
Adding a wireless USB modem to your Eee PC (or any other ultra-compact notebook) makes it a true go-anywhere machine, but there's one slight nuisance: you're left with a modem hanging off the side. Not necessarily a problem on your desk at home, but on a crowded train or in the back of the taxi it can quickly become a real nuisance as it bounces around. Conventional notebook owners can eliminate that hassle with a PC Card, but that's not an option with most ultra-portables.
My simple (if not entirely elegant) solution to this conundrum was to whack a medium Command Picture Hanging Strip on the back of the modem, and another one onto the back of the Eee screen on the bottom right-hand side (nearest the USB port). The velcro-like attachments let you fix the modem easily in place when you need it (be careful not to apply direct pressure to the display itself), and the standard short cable that comes with pretty much every USB modem covers the distance nicely without excess.
Posted by Angus Kidman at 1:55 PM on June 23, 2008
Heading out in the car but don't want to get pulled up by cops or caught out by speed cameras? Speedwarnings offers an SMS update service; text a regional shortcode to receive regular updates on police and camera activity in your area (as tracked by parent company Road Info; there's a phone number for ringing in your own reports). The site also offers the slightly less socially questionable option of fuel price updates for cheap service stations in Mebourne, though at 55 cents a message you'd want to be getting a big discount to make the subscription worthwhile. Speedwarnings currently covers Victoria only. If your GPS supports it, another alternative for general road information (including traffic levels and unexpected accidents) is the SUNA Traffic Channel.
Your average container of milk contains a protein called casein, which, once reduced with a little vinegar, can be made into a homemade plastic and formed into anything you'd like. The plastic takes less than an hour to make and two days to dry, and, with a little sanding and painting, can be made into some seriously impressive homemade gifts. Hit the link for the full instructions, which require only some basic kitchen equipment to pull off.
When you're copying and pasting something to or from a Microsoft application such as Word or Outlook and you want to remove the formatting there is a quick keyboard shortcut to do so. Rather than use the mouse and the Paste Special button, you can simply paste the text, highlight it, and hit Ctrl+Space to remove the formatting and convert the selection into plain text. (Australian editor adds: I still think it's easier to just paste with Control-V, hit Ctrl-Shift-F10 for Smart Tags, and select 'Paste text only' -- much faster if there's a lot to select.)
Mac OS X only: Freeware application Firefox Keyfixer changes the default behaviour for your Home and End keys in Firefox. By default, pressing Home or End moves your Firefox window rather than the cursor. If you're used to or prefer the default Windows behaviour, Firefox Keyfixer swaps the functions so that those buttons move the cursor to the beginning or end of a line of text. We've mentioned Firefox Keyfixer before, but the new version updates the app for Firefox 3 and tweaks Page Up/Down as well. If you're looking to do the same thing for OS X as a whole, check out previously mentioned KeyFixer.
Whether you're a complete controlled-dream neophyte or a veteran of lucid sleep, Lucipedia can help you learn more about controlling your subconscious wanderings. Signing up gives you a journal space to track your memories and successes, as well as free reign to edit collaborative articles on any dream-related topics. Lost as to what lucidity exactly is? Check out these how-tos and FAQs on the topic, and then get to work on flying to your job in your mechanised power-suit.
DIY web site Instructables details how to predict the weather by glancing at the sky and—more specifically—the clouds.
Being able to predict the weather by observing cloud formations is a skill that is somewhat lost on us modern humans. Most of us can easily look at a cloud and see the unicorn or ice cream cones, but very few of us can look at clouds and see the approaching cold front.The post focuses on first highlighting and identifying different cloud formations and what they mean to the weather, then describes how to put that information to use. You may not be able to out-forecast your local weatherperson off the bat, but a better knowledge of the clouds and climate can't hurt. While you're at it, check out a few other methods (like smell) of predicting the weather without checking the forecast.
Stylish Java applet Wordle creates custom word clouds out of any text you throw at it. You can also have it parse your Del.icio.us tags for a cloud, but either way, the real fun is in customising the layout, tag colours, fonts, and much more. Once you're done, you can share your clip in the site's gallery, print it out, or save it using your own screen-capture tool. It makes for nice backgrounds and icons, but it can also be helpful for students and anyone trying to parse a text for emphasis—the clip above is from the mammoth last paragraph of James Joyce's Ulysses, which can certainly hide its meanings pretty well.
Posted by Angus Kidman at 6:21 AM on June 23, 2008
Although eBay Australia was asked by the ACCC not to implement its plans for compulsory PayPal on June 17, delaying the scheme until at least July 15 and quite possibly indefinitely, it seems that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing at the auction giant. Alex Kidman at APC reports that many attempts to list items for auction are still producing messages saying only PayPal can be used as a payment method. An eBay spokesperson essentially blamed human error for the problem. Bottom line? The listings still work, apparently, but this doesn't make eBay look very organised. It might make sense to have that eBay virtual garage sale while you've definitely still got a choice, but don't be fooled by the on-screen messages.
eBay forces users onto PayPal-only auctions early ... by mistake [APC]
Posted by Angus Kidman at 6:18 AM on June 23, 2008
After complaining that installing applications on an Eee PC was just too damn hard, Anthony Caruana went out and canvassed the available options. His Pocket Mojo posting is a useful guide to the basic installation choices available on the Eee, with lots of useful links for the determined expander. I'm still not keen to do anything to my Eee that might require reinstallation, but if you are looking to make your Eee more versatile, this is a good place to start.
Starting out with the Eee PC [Pocket Mojo]
Rather than sending it off to the textile factory in the sky, DIY blogger Neale McDavitt-Van Fleet repurposed a cloth grocery tote into something he could use. With a little ingenuity, a single cut, and some stitching, you can transform a tote bag into a bed side pocket for holding books, reading glasses, and other assorted necessities that would normally clutter up a bedside table.
Windows only: Free, open-source application AltTab Fingertips switches between open windows from wherever your mouse cursor is located. To use it, just press the hotkey (F10 by default) to invoke the AltTab Fingertips menu, which displays every open window in a context menu right next to your mouse, then just click any window title to switch. If you don't want AltTab Fingertips to index a program's windows, you can exclude it through the system tray. This app is simple, lightweight, and does one thing very well—you can't beat that. AltTab Fingertips is freeware, Windows only.
When my messy home office got so cluttered I couldn't get anything done in it, it was time to take action—and I turned to Lifehacker for advice. Disorganisation leads to lack of free time, lack of free time leads to believing you'll never be able to get it all under control again, and that is how I ended up as a terribly scattered person in a wretchedly cluttered office. The responsibilities of adulthood, marriage, and parenthood forced me to admit the haphazard approach to life that coloured my college years wasn't going to cut it anymore. In the following makeover confessional, check out the tips and tricks I gleaned from Lifehacker to transform my mountain of clutter into fuel for a productivity machine.
Whether you've got ink blots on your hands from working too hard or snagging that cutie's number at the concert last night, there's a better way to scrub it off than plain old soap and water. Use a cool teabag instead like my friend James in the video above. For more urawaza, see my previously posted five secret Japanese tricks to make life better.
Planning to spend some time during one of those mythical "free" weekends whipping your web site into shape? Open Web Design, a free and frequently-updated collection of site templates handed out without copyright, is a great place to start looking. We've posted similar collections before, but Open Web Design trumps our archives for up-to-date designs and breadth of material—images, CSS templates, and standard HTML are all available. The site is free to use, and registration lets you submit ideas and post to a forum.
