The leaves are browning, your pencils are sharpened and the lecture hall awaits—it’s time to head back to school, and this semester you can arrive at your ivy-covered bastion of higher education armed with power tools for the wired scholar. Whether you’re looking for deals on textbooks, the most productive…
It’s amazing what a few sheets of aluminium foil can do for the strength of your wireless signal. As shown above, by carefully folding foil into a parabola, you can boost your wireless strength tremendously.
TechCrunch tells us that Twitter has added search and GMail import to its service, and launched a toolbox called “Explore” where they’ll list tools people can use to interact with Twitter offsite. They’re also releasing a visualisation tool called Twitter Blocks. New Twitter Visualization Tools Coming: First Is Twitter Blocks…
Windows/Mac: Embed your favorite web widgets into the desktop with freeware app Hypercube. Hypercube supports several widget platforms including iGoogle, Pageflakes, Google Video, and YouTube. (Netvibes modules are not currently supported.) All you need to do is select which widgets you’d like added to the desktop and Hypercube takes care…
Windows only: Freeware application Switcher 2 is a Mac Exposé clone and then some, like switching windows via the numpad, live window filtering, and windows hiding all at your fingertips. If you’ve always been a little jealous of Exposé but never happy with the Windows clones, Switcher actually offers several…
Want to make a quick and dirty Karaoke track from an MP3 or make a new instrumental-only ringtone for your
Windows only: Free, open source application Remove Empty Directories (RED) searches your computer for empty folders and deletes the ones you don’t want around anymore. Just point RED at the drive or directory you want to scan and it lists every empty folder in that directory. You can then either…
Windows/Mac/Linux (Thunderbird): Thunderbird extension XNote creates persistent sticky notes that you can attach to individual emails and then reference later, saving you from printing and manually attaching notes to your paper copies while still allowing you to take simple notes on individual emails. Probably the simplest way to add notes…
You can create a Firefox keyword search bookmark to only return the newest search results from Google. Using Google’s advanced search feature to return only the freshest results, the Double Parity weblog explains how to create a bookmark and assign a keyword for faster searching. As shown in the screenshot,…
The blog instant fundas offers a guide to installing any Linux distro directly from hard disk – saving you from using CD/DVD media. Obviously this will only work if you’re running a Windows/Linux dual booting system (something I’m seriously considering after I wasted my Sunday trying unsuccessfully to get my…
Most of us are not early risers by nature. However, there are many ways we can change that, if we really are willing to dedicate some time and change our habits. Self-improvement site LifeRemix has come up with 24 strategies for getting up earlier; my favorite was this one: Write…
Avoid the most common freelancer mistakes with freelance community blog Freelance Switch’s list of completely correctable blunders. Missing deadlines is a big one, mostly because it impacts your reputation. In addition, you’ll want to make sure you’re charging appropriately, doing your research, and choosing the right clients. If you do…
Headed back to school? Get ahead of the class with educational site Pick the Brain’s seven grade raising strategies. Most of these are pretty common sense; for instance, simply showing up tends to greatly increase your chances of getting more out of class. You’ll also want to choose smart people…
All too often, taking time for ourselves is shoved to the back burner—and for the sake of your sanity, it really shouldn’t be. Productivity blog Lifehack.org has an article that helps you figure out how to find time for yourself, from scheduling a monthly evening out to walking to work….
Unlock the many secrets of carnival games with the guide from Blifaloo.com and stop emptying your wallet to win a $.30 stuffed animal for your girlfriend. Blifaloo.com covers all the carny games you know and love like the rope ladder, ring toss, balloon dart throw, basket toss, coin toss, milk…
Business cards convey a lot of information about you, so using a good design can leave an excellent first impression. If you’re starting out and need ideas for your business card design, the Quick Sprout blog recommends that you emphasise the colour, paper, uniqueness, typography and feel of your card….
Send self-destructing email messages“Send an email that automatically expires or disappears after it’s viewed with ten self-destructing email services.” Ask the Readers: Sorting vacation email buildup?“What’s your email triage approach in the face of an avalanche of unanswered messages?” Useful Thunderbird tweaks“Set Thunderbird to top-post on replies, display threaded conversations…
Build a DIY car mount for your MP3 player with web site Cloudcraft.com’s step-by-step guide. The guide uses a simple fifty cent hardware mount that the author inserts in his Volkswagen and then clips his iPod to with his existing belt clip whenever he’s ready for some iPod time in…
Enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables season after season with the reusable eight-shelf greenhouse. This greenhouse weighs in at 31 pounds (14kg), can fit eight shelves, measures 4′ x 4′ x 6′ (10 x 10 x 15cm) and costs $130 (roughly $160, but you’ll want to price the materials locally to…
Online photo editor FotoFlexer integrates with popular social networking and digital photo sites like Facebook, MySpace and Flickr to seamlessly edit and return pictures to your online accounts all from the comfort of your browser. Aside from the online integration, FotoFlexer does everything that you’d expect from an online image…
Surf securely while enjoying a cup of Joe at Starbucks. Starbucks uses T-Mobile’s HotSpot service to provide internet access for their customers. The Mac OS X Hints weblog shows how you can ensure that your privacy doesn’t get compromised by perusing the web on their unsecured network. Windows users have…
