Lifehacker

Gadget and Gear Deals of the Day [Dealhacker]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:00:00 PDT

We've got laptops, HDTVs, spycams, and peripherals galore, all on the cheap. As always, we left a little pile of loot at the bottom for the not-unless-it's-free crowd. More »

Internet Explorer 9 Looks Faster, More Developer-Friendly [News]

Kevin Purdy — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:50:00 PDT

The Internet Explorer team is spilling some details and future promises about Internet Explorer 9 at the Mix conference, and a few of them are warming up some cold, hardened web and app developers. So far, Microsoft has announced native H.264 streaming support through HTML5, which adds another player to the split over video streaming. They're also promising native audio and vector graphics through HTML5, a new JavaScript engine, and acceleration for 2D page factors. We'll update with more as Microsoft announces throughout the day. [Gizmodo] More »

Get Mac-Like Scrolling and Gestures on a Windows Laptop [Windows]

Kevin Purdy — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:00:00 PDT

Once you've used the hand-helping, time-saving, two-finger scrolling and three-finger gestures on a MacBook, a standard Windows trackpad can feel kind of, well, dead. Here's how to get total finger control with a tiny app, or go further with a driver swap. More »

MoveOut Automates File Renaming and Relocation [Downloads]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:30:00 PDT

Windows: If you'd like a simple and portable tool for sorting files via renaming and relocating them, MoveOut is a lightweight solution. More »

CyberSearch Extension Gets Better "Search This Site" [Updates]

Kevin Purdy — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:00:00 PDT

Firefox: Previously mentioned AwesomeBar tool CyberSearch has seen an update that fans of the Firefox add-on will likely welcome with loving arms: searching the site you're looking it through Google requires just one keystroke now. More »

CyanogenMod Available for Motorola Droid [Rooting]

Kevin Purdy — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:00:00 PDT

Rocking a Motorola/Verizon Droid and want to get in on the same kind of unlocked, rooted, tethered, and generally awesome-d experience that G1, myTouch, and Nexus One users have seen? There's now a stable CyanogenMod build for the Droid that adds tethering, hardware and software improvements, a huge selection of ringtones and audio schemes, and much more. If you've installed and tried it out, tell us what's great, and what's tricky, in the comments. Photo by F. Montino. [Link via Phandroid] More »

Create Polished Mind Maps at Bubbl.us [Mind Mapping]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:30:00 PDT

Mind mapping is a fantastic way to sketch out ideas and do some really productive brainstorming. Don't let resistance to learning new software stop you from doing it, Bubbl.us is free, web-based, and simple to learn. More »

Roast Coffee With A Drill and A Soup Can [DIY Creations]

Kevin Purdy — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:00:00 PDT

When you're looking to roast your own coffee, a popcorn popper or heat gun can be called up for the job. Then again, as one intrepid DIY-er shows us, a drill, a soup can, and ingenuity can sub in just fine. More »

Send to Google Docs Uploads Files and Web Screenshots to GDocs [Downloads]

Kevin Purdy — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:30:00 PDT

Chrome: Google Docs' open 1 GB storage space can be a handy, centralized space for stuff you find on the web. The Send to Google Docs Chrome extension makes web capturing very fast with instant page-to-PDF and file uploading. More »

Tumblr Now Allows Instant 100MB Video Uploads [Tumblr]

Kevin Purdy — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:30:00 PDT

Tumblr, the fast and sleek way to start and maintain a no-stress blog, just added a direct video upload option, giving users 100 MB of space per clip to post to their tumblogs. That's not new or stunning, but once your ( H.264, MP4, or AAC) video has been uploaded, it's instantly ready to play—no waiting for transcoding or approval. That's a pretty nice thing for on-the-fly blogging, and for those who can't keep their computer on overnight waiting for a YouTube upload to finish. [Tumblr Staff via Digital Inspiration] More »

From the Tips Box: Explorer Hotkeys, Drill Shavings, and Carrying Clothes [From The Tips Box]

Whitson Gordon — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:00:00 PDT

Readers offer their best tips for using advanced hotkeys for currently selected items in Windows Explorer, managing shavings that fly around while drilling, and transporting clothes short distances without dropping anything. More »

Remains of the Day: Privacy Is Not Dead Edition [For What It's Worth]

Adam Pash — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:00:00 PDT

The first dotcom registration occurred 25 years ago today, the iPad gets a screen rotation lock, and "no matter how many times a privileged straight white male technology executive pronounces the death of privacy, Privacy Is Not Dead." More »

Make Smart Investments in a Weak Economy [Money]

Lisa Hoover — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:00:00 PDT

During a weak economy, people may be reluctant to spend hard-earned money on investments and risk losing it all. Money blog Steadfast Finances says there's no need to be fearful of investing as long as you're smart about it. More »

Librophile Makes Quick Work of Finding Free Audio and Ebooks [Books]

Lisa Hoover — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:00:00 PDT

There are loads of free audio and ebooks available online for the taking, but tracking them down across their many sources can be tough. Web-based search tool Librophile makes the job a lot easier. More »

Have You Installed Silverlight? [Reader Poll]

Adam Pash — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:30:00 PDT

Everyone's talking about Flash vs. HTML5 and replacing plug-ins, but Flash isn't the only browser plug-in vying for your attention. According to Download Squad, Microsoft's Silverlight plug-in is now installed on 60 percent of internet-connected devices. Is yours one of them? More »

Less Detergent Washes as Well, Saves You a Lot of Money [Cleaning]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:00:00 PDT

Modern dishwashers and washing machines are designed to use much less water and detergent than their predecessors, but most people haven't adjusted their detergent-filling technique to match. The New York Times says you're wasting a lot of money. More »

What Plants Are Cubicle-Friendly? [Ask Lifehacker]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:00:00 PDT

Dear Lifehacker,
I am thinking of decorating my cubicle with plants to make it feel less dreary and a little more alive/fresh, but I don't sit at a cube with access to a window. What sort of plants are good for cubicle-decorating? More »

Gnome Gmail Tightly Integrates Gmail into Linux Desktops [Downloads]

Kevin Purdy — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:30:00 PDT

Linux (GNOME-based): There are work-arounds to set Gmail as a default mail app in Linux, but they don't cover right-click file sending and complex mail links. Gnome Gmail does a much better job of integrating Gmail. More »

Phonebooth a Strong Alternative to Google Voice [Telephones]

Lisa Hoover — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:00:00 PDT

Google Voice is a solid option for your personal phone needs, but it might not be professional enough for freelancers and small business owners. Phonebooth is a great alternative that gives you a dedicated phone number, free minutes, and more. More »

The Internet Is Up for the Nobel Peace Prize [Internet]

Adam Pash — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:30:00 PDT

The internet is one of 237 nominees for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. From the BBC: "The nomination for the internet is supported by 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and the founder of the $100 laptop project Nicholas Negroponte. It is unclear who would accept the prize if the internet were to win." [BBC via Wired] More »

"Get YouTube" Bookmarklet Grabs YouTube Videos in One Click [YouTube]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:00:00 PDT

You'll find no shortage of browser add-ons and specialty sites to help you grab clips off YouTube, but they all lack for the simplicity of a single-click bookmarklet. More »

Build a Waterproof Camera Case [DIY]

Adam Pash — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:30:00 PDT

If you've ever wanted to take to the water with your camera Jacques Cousteau-style but didn't want to spend a ton of cash on waterproofing your gear, Instructables' guide to building a waterproof camera case looks like a good starting point. More »

The Complete Guide to Google Wave Now in Print! [Announcements]

Gina Trapani — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:00:00 PDT

I'm thrilled to announce that the online book by Adam Pash and myself, The Complete Guide to Google Wave, is now in print! Order your copy here. More »

Flixtime Creates Multimedia Slideshows with Ease [Slideshow]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:30:00 PDT

If you want to make a slideshow of photos and music but you don't have the know-how or time to use an advanced video editor, Flixtime is a web-based solution that will have you cranking out slideshows in minutes. More »

Trim and Prepare an Artichoke Properly [Food]

Kevin Purdy — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:20:00 PDT

Artichokes are, like mangoes, pineapples, and avocados, not inherently easy to cut up and prepare for eating. Serious Eats suggests getting some lemons, water, and a sharp knife ready, then digging in to pull out every single edible piece. More »

What the Gmail Team Is Working On [Feature]

Kevin Purdy — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:35:00 PDT

Developers and product managers from the Gmail team hosted a jam-packed panel at SXSW Interactive yesterday, and talked in a refreshingly honest manner about what they've done and what's coming next—including speed improvements, new features, Buzz, better Contacts, and more. More »

Create an Event Card to Make Conference Networking More Productive [Social Networking]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:30:00 PDT

You need a plan of attack if you want to make your social networking experience productive. Create an event card to help you navigate your next networking engagement and come out with fruitful new contacts. More »

Instapaper Adds Email Functionality for Easy Article Saving [Updates]

Kevin Purdy — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:05:00 PDT

Instapaper does a bang-up job of saving, organizing, and stripping down articles for your reading pleasure through its web bookmarklet and its iPhone app. If you're on another platform and want to stash some reading away for later, you can now send it to a personalized email address, listed near the bottom of the "Extras" link when you're signed into Instapaper's webapp. It's a great feature for non-Apple smartphones and for those whose email is closer at hand than bookmarklets. [via Steve Rubel's Lifestream] More »

StreamTransport Grabs Hulu Videos for Offline Viewing [Downloads]

Kevin Purdy — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:30:00 PDT

Windows: It may not stick around that long once the powers that be find out, so if downloading and watching Hulu videos offline could help you out, grab StreamTransport. The tricky little app provides full-quality captures of streaming shows and movies. More »

More Shelves! An Office Makeover [Featured Workspace]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:00:00 PDT

You can never have enough storage in your office, especially if your office is also where your store your books and media. Today's featured workspace is a home office turned personal library. More »

Learn to Cook Steak Sous-Vide for Perfection Every Time [Cooking]

Whitson Gordon — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:00:00 PDT

Sure, throwing a steak on a fire-hot grill feels pretty manly, but don't pretend it's easy to cook it just right. Cooking steak in a sous-vide water bath is all the rage now, and will get you perfectly cooked beef every time. More »

Ask the Commenters Roundup [Hive Mind]

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:30:00 PDT

LastHistory Graphically Visualizes your Last.fm History Through Time [Downloads]

Whitson Gordon — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:00:00 PDT

Mac only: Just when you thought you couldn't possibly need more statistics on your music listening habits, free Mac app LastHistory comes along and graphically analyzes your Last.fm logs, over time, while also integrating with other Mac apps like iPhoto and iCal. More »

Use Boiling Water to Make a Perfect Wine Bottle Cut [Recycling]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:00:00 PDT

If you were impressed with the swanky recycled wine bottle cups we shared with you, but had trouble cutting the bottles cleanly, you'll definitely want to check out this guide to getting perfect cuts. More »

The Guitar Hanger Saves Space by Storing Guitars in Your Closet [Stuff We Like]

Whitson Gordon — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:00:00 PDT

Having your musical instruments out and ready to play is convenient, but if you've got a small apartment or dorm, rambunctious friends, or are just plain clumsy, The Guitar Hanger will keep your guitars stored nice and upright in your closet. More »

Five Best Tax Preparation Tools [Hive Five]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 09:00:00 PDT

Nobody is fond of tax time, but the right tools can help you get your taxes done on time and maybe even net you a little refund for your effort. This week we look at the five most popular preparation tools. More »

Mend a Sweater Snag with Nail Polish [Repair]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:00:00 PDT

Whether you're still sporting a sweater thanks to the chilly local climate or you're boxing up your sweaters thanks to spring's arrival, this simple trick will help you fix a snag. More »

This Week's Top Downloads [Download Roundup]

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:00:00 PST

Tableau Public Brings Your Boring Data to Life (Windows)
Free application Tableau Public creates beautiful visualizations from your data and lets you publish them to the web, where users can interact with your charts and graphs with live updates.
SecondBar Puts a Menu Bar on All Your Mac's Monitors (Mac)
Multiple monitors do great things for your desktop space, but your menu bar sticks to one screen. If you're looking for more menu access, free utility SecondBar puts one at the top of each monitor.
Mini Wide Fullscreens Gmail, Is Very Netbook Friendly (Firefox/Chrome)
Small netbook screens make you really appreciate every last pixel on your device. The Mini Wide userscript for Gmail adds a "netbook mode" shortcut to Gmail that removes navigation and ads for a streamlined, netbook-friendly, message-focused view of your inbox.
Launchy 2.5 Beta 2 Improves Performance, Lands on Macs (Windows/Mac/Linux)
Launchy, the little application launcher that could, has introduced a Mac version with its latest beta. Bug fixes, performance overhauls, and new shortcuts and controls are also baked into this beta for every system.
Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Customizer Tweaks, Enlarges Your Superbar Thumbnails (Windows 7)
Hailing from the camp of "software that does exactly what its name implies", Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Customizer fine-tunes the size, spacing, and margins of your Windows 7 Superbar previews.
FeelHome Gives Easy Remote Access to Your Files Across Platforms (Windows/Mac/Linux)
If you would like to easily access, edit, and save files across multiple computers, free application FeelHome allows you to share files across operating systems and over the web.
SuperbarMonitor Puts System Monitoring Right on Your Windows Superbar (Windows 7)
If you like visual indicators for things like disk capacity, battery life, memory usage, and speaker volume, and you like them prominent and easy to find, SuperbarMonitor puts easy to read indicators right on your Superbar.
Alfred Is Another Nice Application Launcher, Quicksilver Alternative for Mac Users (Mac)
We've been fans of Quicksilver for years, but the universal application launcher and-then-some hasn't been in active development for a while. Alfred aims to pick up where Quicksilver left off.
FastestChrome Soups Up Search, Auto-Loads Pages (Chrome)
Chrome is a terrific browser on its own, but FastestChrome makes it even better. It adds extra search options to the Omnibar, creates "endless scrolling" for multi-page articles, fixes text-only URLs, and tunes up other Chrome features.
Kiwi Monitors Your Running Apps, Performs Actions Based on Their Status (Windows)
Kiwi is a free utility that monitors any application and springs into action when that application meets any user-defined criteria within a set of basic rules—like restarting an application or emailing you when its memory use exceeds a pre-defined level.

Turn an Old PC into an Aquarium [Weekend Project]

Whitson Gordon — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:00:00 PST

It's a sad fact of life: PCs get old, become obsolete, and you have to buy a new one. Instead of throwing your old one away, turn it into a snazzy aquarium fit for a geek with this guide from DIY web site Instructables. More »

Have a Conversation Instead of Writing Questions for Interviews [Interviewing]

Whitson Gordon — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:00:00 PST

Most of us, when we interview someone, compile a list of questions and go through them one by one. California Radio Personality Colin Marshall suggests that what you should do is the opposite—have a conversation led by the interviewee instead. More »