Lifehacker

This Week's Top Downloads [Download Roundup]

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:00:00 -0700

WEP Cracking Redux: Beyond the Command Line (Windows/Mac/Linux)
Last week we showed you how to crack a Wi-Fi network's WEP key using a live CD and some command line fu. Today we've got other cracking options-but more importantly, clarification on the point of all this.
VLC Hits 1.0 with Better Playback and File Support (Windows/Mac/Linux)
VLC Media Player, the open-source solution to media players that can't play your media files, reaches the 1.0 milestone today. What's new? Support for HD and other new formats, finer speed controls, customizable toolbars, AirTunes streaming, and much more.
Hulu Video Downloader Saves Your Favorite Shows for Offline Enjoyment (Windows)
Hulu Video Downloader is a free application that saves Hulu videos to your desktop and converts them to virtually any popular, device-friendly format you might want-at least in theory.
Get Google Gears Up and Running in Firefox 3.5 (Windows/Mac/Linux)
Most developers did a bang-up job preparing their extensions for the Firefox 3.5 update, but on the Firefox 3.5 release day, one very popular extension didn't make the cut: Google's browser plug-in, Gears.
Are You Still Jailbreaking Your iPhone or iPod touch? (iPhone/iPod Touch)
The iPhone Dev Team just released updates to their cross-platform jailbreak and unlocking tools redsn0w and ultrasn0w, and while unlocks are definitely good news for folks who want to use an iPhone on non-sanctioned carriers, we're wondering: Do you still jailbreak?
Windows 7 ISO Verifier Ensures Your Downloads Are Legit (Windows)
The final RTM release of Windows 7 should be released later this month, and blogger and developer Long Zheng has created a small application designed to verify that your download is the real thing.
Cameras Improves the Way OS X Deals with Connected Cameras (Mac OS X)
Never been entirely happy with the way your Mac reacts when you plug in your various camera-sporting devices? Wish it could do something different when you plug in your iPhone versus your DSLR? Cameras can help.
HideTab is a Boss Key for Your Browser (Firefox)
Firefox extension HideTab minimizes open tabs into an icon on the status bar-and even adds a shortcut key to instantly hide everything.
Better Gmail 2 Updated for Gmail's Label Enhancements (Firefox)
Google's recent improvements to Gmail's labels broke one of Better Gmail 2's most-loved features: Folders4Gmail. Folders4Gmail displays labels with slashes in them as subfolders of a parent label, and I must say, I've missed it a whole lot this week.
VLC Portable 1.0 Puts Multi-Format Playing on Thumb Drives (Windows)
If you're eager to try out VLC 1.0's new features, or find yourself at a lack for decent media players at others' computers, PortableApps has bundled VLC's latest release in USB-drive-friendly form.

Foto-Mosaik-Edda Creates Stunning Photo Mosaics [Downloads]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:00:00 -0700

Windows only: If you're going to create a photo mosaic, you might as well invest the time to do it well. Foto-Mosaik-Edda is a powerful tool for creating impressive, detailed, finely-tuned photo mosaics.

To use Foto-Mosaik-Edda you need a pool of source images—the bigger the better, as they recommend 2000 or more—and the actual image you want to base the mosaic off. In the case of our sample image we used 1,800 images of Marilyn Monroe and found that Foto-Mosaik-Edda did an excellent job using the variety of images we provided.

When you first use Foto-Mosaik-Edda, it does take a bit of time to get things moving. Point the application at the directory where your source images reside and it'll scan through and create a base set of "tiles" for your mosaic. With 1,800 images it took about 15 minutes. If you're scanning 10,000 family pictures to create a mega mosaic, plan on leaving your system for a while.

Once you have your pool of pictures scanned, creating a large mosaic is straight forward. Pick your primary image, give it a name, and then select the number of images and resolution of the final image. The size and resolution of the final image is largely limited by how much time you want to devote to letting your computer chug away at cranking out an image. For our sample image we created a 2600x3300px image using 8000 images, which took around 15 minutes to generate. If you have your own tricks and tools for creating interesting mosaic images, share the wealth in the comments below. Foto-Mosaik-Edda is freeware, Windows only.

Fold a Bath Towel Efficiently for Easy Storage and Hanging [Efficiency]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Folding a towel wouldn't seem an area in need of improvement and wiser time use, but folding a towel to go straight from the linen closet to the hanging bar saves real time.

Photo by davco9200.

Why fold a towel one way to store it, then have to refold it to hang neatly on the towel bar in your bathroom? If you fold it properly, you can simply pull it out of the linen closet and flop it right over the bar without having to refold or fuss. Over at the organization blog Unclutterer, they offer a simple photo tutorial on folding a towel so that it's ready to be hung right out of the closet. The steps:

1. Either lay the bath towel front-side down on a clean surface or, if your arms are long enough, hold the towel in a similar manner:
2. Fold into thirds (lengthwise):
3. Fold the long strip in half (bring short edges together):
4. Fold the strip in half again.

Check out the link below for the accompanying pictures. Have a home organization tip of your own, linen closet related or otherwise? Share it in the comments.

Turn Old Jars into Hanging Candle Lanterns [DIY]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:00:00 -0700

Looking for an inexpensive way add some interesting mood lighting to your next outdoor party? Recycle some jars into hanging candle lanterns.

Culinary blog DigginFood manages to sneak some DIY projects into their feeds, related to their pursuit of ever-better food. Sprucing up your dinner parties with some easy to make candle holders definitely falls into that category, and the supplies you need for the project are cheap and readily available.

Once you've saved some various sized jars from your kitchen and given them a good scrubbing, you just need some wire:

To make the lanterns you'll need 22- and 24-gauge wire and small pliers. You can use beads, vintage buttons, sea glass, driftwood-whatever you like, really-to embellish the lanterns. To make the wire hangers use the thicker 22-gauge wire.

Assuming you skip the embellishments and already have a pair of needle nose pliers, your entire outlay for dozens of lanterns is maybe $10 worth of wire and $5 for a bulk pack of tea light candles. For more details on the project including tips on making sure your wire holders stay put, check out the full tutorial. If you have your own creative way for making novel outdoor lighting, share your crafty tricks in the comments below.

A Guide to Wine for the Confused [Weekend Watching]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Purchasing, storing, sampling, and outright enjoying wine can seem to be an enormous undertaking. Monty Python's John Cleese sets out to help the uninitiated (seriously!).

Photo by jesiehart.

Wine for the Confused originally aired on Food network as an informative mini-documentary about wine, hosted by none other than John Cleese of the Monty Python fame. It covers varieties of wine, how to establish a baseline for your wine tastes, storing and serving wine, and more. Check out the link below to watch the entire film at Hulu—we'd have embedded it here for your viewing pleasure, but Hulu absolutely insisted the embed code it gave us for Wine for the Confused point at an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

The video might not contain revelations for a veteran wine connoisseur, but if you're interested in learning more about wine and cutting through some of the snobbery and myths surrounding it, the video is an quite informative.

If you want to expand your wine knowledge further check out previously reviewed Snooth, a social network and recommendation engine for wine enthusiasts.

Buy Pro Camera Gear on a Student Budget [Photography]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Professional camera gear is prohibitively expensive for most hobbyists. If you're not paying your bills with your lens work, use PetaPixel's guide to pick up great lenses and other gear on the cheap.

Photo by Marc Lacoste.

Photography website PetaPixel shares a guide to purchasing nice gear on a student budget. The heart of their technique is to purchase exclusively used lenses. The best way to get used lenses? Search out package deals:

It's pretty much always the case that someone selling multiple items together as a package must sell it for significantly less than the sum of each item separately. They are, in a sense, exchanging the extra money they could earn for the time they save by selling it all at once. This presents a great opportunity for the photographer looking for a good deal on a particular item in the package. If a package you come across includes a piece of equipment you want along with many pieces you don't want, and is extremely cheaply priced, buy it all and sell off everything you don't want. If the price was good enough, there's a good chance you'll end up paying nothing for the gear you wanted after selling off the rest.

The inverse of that rule is to always sell your gear in individual pieces to maximize your profit. Using their own purchasing log as an example, they point out that if they were to sell all their gear right now at fair market prices, they'd be out roughly $300 or so but would have enjoyed the use of nearly $4,000 worth of equipment, all thanks to careful shopping in the used market. Check out the full article below for more tips on filling your camera bag on the cheap.

Top 10 Tips and Tricks for Better Coffee [Lifehacker Top 10]

Kevin Purdy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Coffee doesn't always make work better, but you can definitely work to get better coffee. From four-cup hotel machines to French presses, from home-roasted beans to decorative foam—we've got a wealth of tips for enjoying a better cup.

Photo by lepiaf.geo.

10. Decorate your own lattes

It's not as hard as you might think to make lattes for yourself or coffee-loving guests at home, and with a little practice, you can also pull off the latte-topping art you get when your baristas are less rushed. It's an art of patient milk pouring, with melted chocolate designs for the devoted Arabica artists. wikiHow's site details the ins and outs of latte art, and you can find a lot of inspiration on Flickr and other photo sites. Photo by tonx. (Original post)

9. Cold-brew iced coffee for summer convenience

It can take a long time for hot coffee to get cold in the fridge, or even the freezer, if you're in a real hurry for it. Try to rush it, and you get watered-down, bean-flavored water. Cold-brewing coffee, though, with just grounds, water, a fine filter, and (optional) milk, is something you can start right before you go to bed, then finish on a hot morning for arejuvenating ride to work (or walk to the laptop, in your editors' cases). Photo by thebittenword.com. (Original post)

8. Re-use your coffee grounds

The ever-lasting smell of garlic on your fingertips; dishes that just won't come clean; pests that eat up your backyard garden. If only there were some kind of magic, coarsely-ground semi-paste to take care of all these at once! Well, you know what this facetious stuff is, and it works really well in a lot of cleaning, gardening, and even beauty uses. Better still, they're a great reason to get started with composting. (Original post)

7. Fine-tune caffeine levels

Some bags of beans or pre-ground coffee offer a very rough guide to how much caffeine they're packing, but most don't. Starbucks co-founder Jerry Baldwin explains in a blog post the myths and realities of caffeine levels. A few short pull-outs: "Robusta" beans pack twice as much caffeine as "Arabica," "dark roast" means effectively nothing in terms of caffeine, and drip coffee can actually pack more caffeine than espresso, depending on the beans and amounts used. Photo by tico24. (Original post)

6. Work it into your exercise

This is advice best taken if you already hydrate well with water or exercise far ahead of bedtime, but it doesn't take downing a pot of the hot stuff to see a performance boost in your exercise or running routines. According to Australian researchers, a 176-pound man could drink four ounces of coffee, or two 12-ounce cans of soda, and "get the full caffeine effect" on their run. It's not how you'll get the edge in a 10K, but it might just give you the boost you need to make a hard-to-keep commitment going for one more day. Hit the link above to learn when and how much to drink to work it into your stride. Photo by Joe Shlabotnik. (Original post)

5. Store beans the proper way

Not all coffee should go in the freezer. In fact, if you're going to actually use the coffee right away, you don't want it going straight from the icebox to under steaming water. Find a local coffee seller that roasts their own beans, or at least offers honest details on when their stuff was roasted, then divide your stash into weekly amounts. Keep the current week's stash in an airtight container at room temperature, or sealed in therefrigerator, and keep the other weeks' portions in the freezer. Photo by EraPhernalia Vintage (somewhat busy). (Original post)

4. Make better drip coffee with a "trial run"

Drip coffee has its limitations, but it can be made better. Newsweek's Budget Travel blog points out that one such limitation is that drip models—the kind at work in hotel rooms and maybe in your kitchen—take a long time to heat up to proper flavor-releasing temperatures . Run just a pot of water through the machine first to heat it up, then pour that heated water right back in to actually brew. Assuming you're not running out the door, this definitely seems worth the effort, and might save you the time and money spent at a coffee shop. (Original post)

3. Press it

Our weekend editor got crazy-obsessive about turning out a good cup of Joe recently, researching the best practices from bean to brew. One notable, practical discovery was that it comes out better when you use a French press, even a cheap one. Here's why:

One of the primary benefits of making coffee in a French press over a standard drip pot is that more of the coffee oils end up in your cup instead of in the machine's filter. More oils means better taste! As a bonus, a carefully cleaned French press can also double as an excellent pot for loose leaf tea.

2. Learn and make fancy coffee drinks with diagrams

Lokesh Dhakar has done everyone who's ever been intimidated by barista jargon a huge favor with a series of illustrations detailing how most popular coffee drinks are made. They explain exactly what's in the standard versions of every Italian-named drink you'll find at most coffee shops in neat, simple fashion. For the forgetful or deeply smitten, there's a Cafe Press store that allows for printing Dhakar's diagrams on mugs, shirts, and lots of other gear. (Original post)

1. Roast your own beans

You could complain about how hard it is to find fresh-roasted, quality beans, or you can bootstrap your coffee routine and roast your own beans. There are methods involving a heat gun and metal bowl, a garage sale special popcorn popper, or, as one commenter suggests, simply lay the green beans on a metal tray in the oven, turn it up as hot as it can go, then wait to hear the sounds of the beans cracking before pulling them out.

How do you make your own coffee better, whether with the office giganto-pot or your own gear at home? What tools or techniques have become indispensable to your favorite caffeine delivery method? Grab a mug and talk some shop in the comments.

Diagnose and Fix a Running Toilet [Cleaning]

Azadeh Ensha — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:30:00 -0700

A running toilet will eventually snap your last nerve, and jiggling the handle only provides temporary reprieve. Fortunately, home improvement site DIY Life shows how to diagnose and silence your toilet in five minutes or less.

Photo by mararie.

First and most important, you properly diagnose the problem. To make sure that your toilet is in fact running, turn off the tap behind your toilet, then check and record the tank's water level. Return to it in a few hours. If the water level has dropped, you've got yourself a problem.

One of the main causes of a running or faulty toilet is the chain that's connected to the flapper. If it's too short, the flap won't close properly, and if it's too long, the chain will often get in the way. If the chain is neither too long nor too short, you'll need to replace the flap.

Hit up the full post for instructions on how to do so. Just remember to turn off the water and flush your tank before you begin. And if your problem is not a running toilet, but a dirty one, try using a can of coke to clean your toilet when you don't have gear on hand.

Use an Ultrasonic Ringtone for Stealthy Notifications [Ringtones]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Get alerted to incoming calls and text messages without a lot of impolite clamor with a subtle ultrasonic ringtone.

High-frequency ringtones caused a stir awhile back when it was discovered that kids were using them in schools, since older adults generally can't hear as high up the frequency scale as the young'ns. We even included a nod to them in our Top 10 Body Hacks.

While the novelty of hearing a ringtone your teacher can't hear is certainly thrilling for a high school student, using ultrasonic ringtones has a benefit outside of trying to dodge the boot of the man. For some time now I've used a 16.7kHz pulse as a notification sound on my phone. It's in just the right pitch to cut through other noise, I never confuse it with anything but what it is, and I've never found myself in line at the bank mistakenly whipping out my phone when somebody's Soulja Boy ringtone is blaring.

Where can you grab obscure ultrasonic ringtones without resorting to mixing them up yourself? At the link below you'll find 12 ringtones, ranging from 8kHz to 22.4kHz. You'll definitely want to test them out on your actual phone, your phone speaker is likely greatly inferior to the speakers you have hooked up to your computer and probably won't produce the same quality tone.

This Week's Most Popular Posts [Highlights]

Adam Pash — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:00:00 -0700

Clever and cheap fly repelling, secret passage bookcases, Wi-Fi cracking, and Google's Chrome OS piqued your interest this week.

Repel Flies with a Bag of Water
We've featured many, many, many different ways to deal with mosquitoes using DIY solutions. But what about the even more common household fly? Turns out all you need to deal with that is a plastic bag or two.
Turn a Bookshelf into a Secret Passage
Who hasn't dreamed of having a mystery-story-style secret passageway? While a trick bookshelf is pretty awesome in itself, this secret passage hides a home office with clever style.
Nine Must-Have Features We Want to See in a Google OS
What's inside Google's just-announced Chrome Operating System? How does it work, exactly? Nobody outside Google knows. We can, however, build a dream operating system from the ground up, and that's what we're doing with some help from the hive mind.
Set Up "Push" Gmail on Your iPhone
Despite iPhone 3.0's push notifications and previously mentioned Google Sync's contacts and calendars syncing chops, push Gmail still hasn't come to the iPhone. But with the Prowl iPhone application, you can now push Gmail notifications—and then some—to your iPhone.
Google Releasing Chrome Operating System
In a sudden, if not unexpected, announcement this morning, Google said it would release an open-source operating system based on its Chrome browser. The OS will be free, geared (at first) toward netbooks, and focused on "speed, simplicity, and security.
VLC Hits 1.0 with Better Playback and File Support
Windows/Mac/Linux: VLC Media Player, the open-source solution to media players that can't play your media files, reaches the 1.0 milestone today. What's new?
How to Send Back Restaurant Food
It's never fun to be a squeaky wheel, but whether you've been served an overcooked, undercooked, or just plain wrong dish, there's a proper and improper way to let your waiter know that you're less than satisfied with what's on your plate.
WEP Cracking Redux: Beyond the Command Line
Last week we showed you how to crack a Wi-Fi network's WEP key using a live CD and some command line fu. Today we've got other cracking options—but more importantly, clarification on the point of all this.
Five Best Online Image Editors
Editing your images on a desktop image editor might be ideal, but sometimes you're away from your home workstation and need to do some impromptu editing.

Read and Understand Your Food Expiration Labels [Storage]

Azadeh Ensha — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:00:00 -0700

Use by. Sell by. Best if used by. Turns out not all food expiration warnings are created equal. Here's how to read between the lines to help gauge what needs to be tossed out from what's still fair game to chow down.

For starters, the post and accompanying video say it's best not to feel locked down by labels. Instead, try to treat expiration dates more as suggestions since they concern the quality, not safety of your favorite foods. Items marked according to a "sell by" label are generally good for several days past that date, while "use by" dates indicate when that food will begin to lose its freshness. "Best if used by," however, is what it sounds, meaning you should try to stick to the date indicated.

According to the video, milk is often good for a few days after its expiration date (we've all experienced this), and yogurt for a few weeks after its label says to discard. Eggs can be enjoyed up to five weeks after the stamped date. (You can also test an egg's freshness by placing it in a cup of water. A fresh egg will sink, and a bad egg will float.) Canned goods fare even better. Technically, they're good forever, even if dented. You should, however, avoid cans that are rusted, leaking, or have broken seals.

Hit up the below post or check out the above demo for more expiration tips, and if you're looking for more ways to test your food's freshness, check out previously mentioned tool StillTasty.

Know What Questions to Ask During a Job Interview [Job Search]

Azadeh Ensha — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:00:00 -0700

It's nerve-wracking enough worrying about how best to answer interview questions. Unfortunately, it's also important to ask questions during the exchange. Weblog Lifehack.org details how best to turn the tables with a list of seven noteworthy questions to raise.

Photo by brymo.

Apart from inquiring about your day-to-day responsibilities and opportunities for career advancement, Lifehack suggests you ask the following: "How do you feel that I measure up to your requirements for this position?"

The author argues that far too many candidates take a passive role during job interviews, and though it may come across as pushy, it's better to know upfront if there's any reason you might not be offered the job. By extension, if it turns out that you really want the job, you can then use the opportunity to counter any holes in your resume by detailing relevant experience or other skills you have. Taking a more proactive role during interviews is also important because it allows you to steer some of the conversation, and therefore leave more of the impression you want.

Hit up the post for their full list of questions to ask prospective employers, then let's hear any other questions you'd suggest posing in the comments.

How Do You Spend Your Paycheck? [Ask The Readers]

Azadeh Ensha — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:00:00 -0700

Given the state of the economy, it's prudent to spend your paycheck wisely. Money weblog Visual Economics has posted a chart detailing how the average U.S. consumer spends his paycheck.

According to statistics culled from the Department of Labor, Americans, on average, spend $8,758 annually on transportation-related expenses, $2,698 on entertainment, and $6,133 on food. (Alcohol expenditures clocked in at $457.) Perhaps not surprisingly, most of our pay—$16,920 of it— goes into our homes.

Browse the full chart at Visual Economics, then let's hear how you compare to these stats. Keeping in mind that averages vary, how representative are they of your habits? Share how you break down your spending in the comments.

TwInbox Adds Twitter to Microsoft Outlook [Downloads]

The How-To Geek — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Windows only: Microsoft Outlook add-on TwInbox lets you update, reply, search, and archive your Twitter messages right from your Outlook inbox.

Once you've installed the add-on into Outlook, you'll need to take a trip to the Options panel to enter your Twitter account details, and you'll probably want to choose a new folder to place incoming Twitter messages so they don't get mixed in with your regular email. Once you've completed that step, you should be able to start sending, replying, or retweeting messages easily—but the really interesting feature is the ability to track keywords with a search term, and filter through those messages locally.

TwInbox is a free download for Microsoft Outlook only. For more, check out how to get better real-time Twitter search results, how to filter and manage your online social life, or read about the six ways you should be using Twitter.

Make Your Own Kitty Litter at Almost No Cost [Weekend Project]

Rosa Golijan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:30:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.You tried the old shredded-strips-of-newspaper trick, but it looked like your cat was "constantly throwing a kitty ticker tape parade" by dragging the strips around on her paws. Here's a better way to save money with homemade kitty litter.

Allie, of tipsite Allie's Answers, shares how to make a two to three week supply of homemade kitty litter in about half an hour:

Shred newspaper in a paper shredder. I collect the shredded paper in an unused litter box.

Soak the paper in warm water mixed with a few squirts gentle, biodegradable dish soap (like Ecover). The shredded paper takes on a cooked oatmeal consistency. The paper won't come completely clean, but the water will turn grey.

Drain the water (an old colander works wonders) and repeat the soaking process minus the soap.

Sprinkle baking soda liberally on the wet paper. Knead it in to the mixture (you might want to wear gloves to avoid getting ink on your hands).

Squeeze the remaining moisture out until it's as dry as you can get it.

Crumble over a screen and leave to dry (it takes a few days)

The benefit of using Allie's method over store-bought kitty litter is that you'll save money and use a more eco-friendly product without dealing with inky paw prints or an impromptu parade. According to her, this kitty litter even works better than a store-bought solution.

Do you use a homemade kitty litter? Where do you hide the litter box? Earn your gold star by sharing your experiences and tips in the comments below.

Su.pr Shrinks and Shares Your Long URLs [URLs]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:00:00 -0700

If you want more from your URL shrinker than just a shorter URL, Su.pr—from the people behind StumbleUpon—left beta this week and brought a bunch of features with it.

What would prompt you to use Su.pr over the slew of URL shorteners already floating around? In addition to basic URL shortening, Su.pr offers analytics to provide traffic data about your submitted links and every link you submit to Su.pr is added to the to the StumbleUpon database.

If you use the "post to Twitter" function you're simultaneously shortening the URL and sharing it with the Twitter audience and the StumbleUpon audience. Whether or not you're trying to drive traffic or just share something you think is awesome, it's a great way to get more eyes on the site you're sharing. Simply shortening a URL is available without an account, to take advantage of the more advanced features you'll need to sign up for a free account.

From the Tips Box: Fruit Flies, Keyboard Adjustments, and Saving on Booze [From The Tips Box]

Rosa Golijan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:30:00 -0700

We deal with fruit flies, adjust our keyboards, and walk down the aisle with some money saving tips for weddings.

Catch (And Kill) More Fruit Flies With Vinegar

When we showed you how to repel flies with a bag of water, ValedaBam chimed in with advice on how you can deal with fruit flies:

To get rid of fruit flies, which are so plentiful this time of year, fill a small dish with about a half a cup of cider vinegar, and add a drop of dishwashing liquid. The cider vinegar gives [off] fumes similar to spoiling fruit, which attracts the flies, while the dishsoap breaks the surface tension. Flies land, flies drown, no more flies! It works like a freakin' charm, it does. Plus, there's a morbid sense of satisfaction, seeing how many you can catch in a single day.

Photo by uberculture

Adjust The Height Of Your Keyboard With binder Clips

Tony wrote in to tell us about a clever binder clip hack he uses:

Here's something I created in my office...

Considering that I lean back a lot while doing work, I wanted my
keyboard to have a higher angle, so I looked into my office's supply
stash and came up with this easy solution.

Materials needed:

Large or medium binder clip (just 1)
Two rubber bands
Pliers

Push the rods in the binder clip inwards to release it from the clip.
Take a plier and bend the tip of the rod to straighten it. Repeat with
the other side so you have two. For added friction on the table to
prevent sliding, tightly wrap a rubberband at the base of each rod or
whatever rubbery material you can find. The last step is to simply
insert the ends of the rods into two available screw holes at the back
of your keyboard if available, and there you go!

Use different size binder clips for desired angle/height.

Save On Flowers And Drinks At Your Wedding

Matt Lindley's partner is Donnie Brown from Style Network's "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" so he shared some tips on saving money on the big day:

Here is one of the big expenses... Bars:
Never make your guests pay for their drinks - bad form. Unless you are certain that most of your guests don't drink, or unless you want everyone to leave early, you must provide alcohol. However, do not be tricked into paying more than you need. Many venues will offer both Package and Consumption bars. With Package, you pay a flat rate for alcohol service - no matter how much everyone drinks. Consumption bars are where you will pay an estimated amount up front... but your final bill is based on how much everyone drinks. I guarantee that after your event, you will end up owing money if you choose a Consumption bar - sometimes several thousand dollars.

Flowers:
Most churches do not require that you leave the altar arrangements - in fact, most would rather you get the flowers out quickly, as they have other weddings booked. Rather than pay for flowers that are only seen for a short time *and* pay for extra flowers at your reception, just pay for your ceremony flowers to be transferred to your reception location. We often place the altar arrangements on either side of the dance floor and use the pew decorations to spruce up the chairs of the head table.

Photo by gojeffrey

Make a Bench Out of Leftover Fencing

Barry wrote in with a neat idea for using leftover fencing to create an around-the-tree bench:

A while back I was working on a fence and had about a dozen fence boards left over. The good thing is that tanalised timber will last for about 14 years. So I cut it up into bits and made a tree bench.

Enable Quick Twitter Updates with AutoHotkey

Alex sent in an AutoHotkey script he's written that enables quick Twitter updates:

You can send quick updates with Windows + t. Also, I've added a TinyURL creator that converts the clipboard contents into a TinyURL.

You can find the instructions, code and executable here.

Force Firefox To Open All Links In the Current Tab

Reader Raghav wrote in to give us a quick Firefox tip for opening all links in the current tab:

Doubtless you've stumbled upon those annoying links that consider it their right to open themselves in a new tab. Well, now you can kill their arrogance with this simple tip: just press alt + shift while clicking any link in order to force it to open in the current tab.

Still, some may prefer to open links in a new foreground tab.

Screenjelly Shares Short Screencasts in a Snap [Screencasting]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:00:00 -0700

Screencasting doesn't have to be a complicated affair. If all you need is a quick screencast to show a friend how to do something or commemorate your awesome Line Rider skills, Screenjelly can deliver.

To use ScreenJelly all you need is a java-enabled web browser. Visit the website, select your audio device (if you desire audio with your screencast) and hit the big red button. You get a brief warning count down and then you're on your way.

You can share your video directly via email or on various social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Delicious, Digg, and Friend Feed. You can record up to three minutes of video with audio, there is no option to edit in any way save for starting from scratch.

One minor caveat: if you have multiple monitors you will only be able to record on the primary monitor—although you can place a browser with Screenjelly loaded on the secondary monitor which makes it easy to smoothly start and stop your recording. If you have a favorite tool for simple screencasting, let's hear about it in the comments below.

FancyFastFood.com Gives Fast Food Meals a Gourmet Makeover [Friday Fun]

Azadeh Ensha — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:30:00 -0700

Fast food leaves a lot to be desired healthwise, but if you're going to eat it, why not fancy it up? FancyFastFood.com provides recipes and ideas for turning Domino's Pizza into chow mein, Burger King's Croissan'wich into a quiche, and more.

The site only has a handful of recipes up so far, but all score points in the creativity department.

Among our favorites is this recipe to turn one large Domino's American Legends Pacific Veggie pizza and a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke into Dao Mi Noh Chow Mein (get it?). The post says that the dish requires "hoisin sauce," which you get from the dark syrup of the coke. As for the meal itself:

Pick off all the vegetable toppings from the pizza pie. While you don't have to separate all of them by type, make sure you separate out the spinach, as it will be used for the garnish. Next, using a pizza slicer, slice thin strips of crust to make the "noodles"...When the Diet Coke is evaporated down to about 2-3 tbsp. of "hoisin sauce," add the green peppers, red peppers, olives, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes to the wok. Sautée and stir fry all the ingredients until they're all mixed together, then spoon them over the noodles. Garnish with spinach and serve with chopsticks and Diet Coke in a stemless wine glass.

Okay, so it's a little strange, but after some culinary adjustments and some clever plating, the results do impress. Browse the web site for the full recipe details as well as other fancy fast food concoctions, and, if you're looking for a reason to tweak your fast-food meal in the first place (or perhaps skip eating it entirely), look no further than this fast-food reality check comparison chart.

Flush-Mount USB Hub Cuts Down on Desk Clutter [Stuff We Like]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:00:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Turn the basic cable management ports in your desk into flush-mounted flash drive stations with this basic USB hub.

Two-inch cable-management holes are a common fixture in cubicle workstations and commercial desks. Usually plugged with a little hinged cover to route cables under the desk, the USB hub pictured here is designed to snap right in and turn an empty cable port on your desk into an unobtrusive station for your USB devices.

The only caveat is that it isn't a powered hub, which makes it fine for flash drives and self-powered devices but not so great for powering portable hard drives and such. If you love the idea but absolutely need a self-powered hub, check out a similar model from Belkin—the Belkin model is nearly three times as much but it is self-powered. The In-Desk USB 4-Port Hub is $12.99.

Take a Breather in the Open Comment Thread [Open Thread]

Adam Pash — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:30:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.It's been a long week, hasn't it? Blow off that spreadsheet, grab a cool drink, and step inside this week's open thread. You've earned it.

Photo by Kitty Shoot 030.

As you're probably aware, the open comments thread is your weekly opportunity to talk about anything you want with your fellow Lifehacker readers. Ask questions, get advice, blow off some steam, chat about what movies you're looking forward to this weekend, try out our new image and video embedding tools—whatever. All you need is a comment account, so if you don't already have one, here's how to get one. Happy Friday!

The Evolutionary Odyssey Desktop [Featured Desktop]

The How-To Geek — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Reader Chaebi69's desktop combines Rainmeter configurations with a stylish dark theme to make a desktop that is entertaining, simple, and most importantly, fun.

The desktop is a combination of:

Windows Vista (Terminal)

Object Dock Plus (MNML)

Rainmeter (My own so called Project Nine - it's a messy folder with a lot of things in it)

CD Art Display

You can click on the thumbnail image to see the full-size desktop, or hit the link below for the full explanation. Great job, Chaebi69!

This desktop not your style? Why waste time complaining? Instead, get started creating your own killer desktop with the easy-install Enigma 2.0 package and show the world what you can do. If you get stuck and need some help, join up with the Lifehacker Desktop Customization Google Group to collaborate on new ideas for desktop configurations.

Once you've created your own beautifully tweaked (and hopefully productive) desktop, post it over in the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr Group complete with a description of the programs and tweaks you used (and preferably links as well!), and we just might feature it here.

DateLine Embeds an Attractive, Minimalist Calendar on Your Desktop [Downloads]

Adam Pash — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:40:00 -0700

Mac OS X only: Free application DateLine is an attractive linear calendar that lives on your desktop, sporting iCal integration and simple but useful customizations.

There's not much to the application beyond that. The calendar lives anywhere you want it to (just drag and drop it to where it looks good), though we particularly like the way it looks across the bottom of your screen. You can adjust the display level so that it floats above all windows, as a normal window, or—most useful in our opinion—display at the icon level. You can also adjust its display colors and transparency. DateLine puts a small dot on the current day, and double-clicking any day will open that day in iCal. It's kind of like the GeekTool desktop calendar for OS X but a lot more attractive.

DateLine is a free, open-source application, Mac OS X only.

The Most Annoying Places to Talk on a Cellphone [Annoyances]

Kevin Purdy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:00:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Intel commissioned a survey of 2,000 people on when and where cellphone talking, texting, or browsing is annoying, and, boy, do people have answers. 90 percent of them are "frustrated" with how people generally use phones. Nearly 75 percent are most annoyed by texting while driving, more than half loathe hearing cell conversations in restaurants, and just as many hate seeing phones in movie theaters. The results are worth noting for a quick reminder on how to be less annoying, or as proof that technology sometimes advances far faster than human politeness. [CNN Money, photo]

Altoids Tin Catapult Enforces Your Cubicle Kingdom [Friday Fun]

Kevin Purdy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:10:00 -0700

Your annoying co-workers are always asking to "borrow" a mint, then return to their desks to annoy you with overly-loud headphone tunes. Speed up their mint deliveries and earn major creative cred with this clever Altoids tin project.

All it takes is an Altoids Gum tin, a coat hanger, electrical tape, rubber bands, and a small bit of cardboard to turn a measuring spoon into a surprisingly forceful catapult. We haven't tried it out ourselves—we usually have nobody to take aggression out on at home offices but our pets—but you can see the power of similar models in various web videos. By the time next Friday rolls around, Tony from QA will have to to start working on that binder clip trebuchet if he wants to lay claim to your realm once again.

Score a Free Slurpee Tomorrow [Dealhacker]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:45:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Coming down off your holiday high and can't believe you have to wait all the way to Labor day for some more holiday fun? Take heart, tomorrow is Slurpee Day!

Some random Slurpee facts, courtesy of 7-Eleven:

Slurpee drinks are all served at 28 degrees.
Slurpee was "invented" when some sodas were put in a freezer to cool them down - and they became all slushy.
Winnipeg, Canada is generally thought to be the Slurpee capital of the world, due to their amazing Slurpee fanaticism.
When Slurpee first hit the market, it wasn't self-serve. The machine was behind the counter and the clerk served the product to you.
At Slurpee, we call it a BrainFreeze. The scientific name for it is Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia. Really.
Sugar is the anti-freezing agent in most Slurpee drinks.
American Slurpee is injected with air. Canadian Slurpee is not.
Every day more than 11.6 million Slurpee drinks are consumed around the world.
In 2004, 7-Eleven created an edible Slurpee straw.
Only one private individual owns a bona fide Slurpee machine. The rest are in 7-Eleven.

We don't know about you, but not only are we now craving a Slurpee but we're dying to know who the sole private owner of an authentic Slurpee machine is. Check out the link below to find a 7-Eleven near you and score your free Slurpee.

Open a Banana like a Monkey [Food Hacks]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:30:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.There is a strong chance that you've been opening bananas wrong your whole life. Take a cue from our simian friends and start opening a banana with the efficiency of a hungry monkey.

It's possible you've been opening bananas the most efficient way, but more likely you've been opening them—like we have—the completely backwards and frustrating way. Most people start by grabbing the stem of the bananas and using it like a pull tab to get the banana open. This usually works with a somewhat high degree of success, high enough to keep people doing it and writing off the occasional banana opening mishap as problem with a faulty banana and not a problem with their technique. Watch the video below to see a demonstration of how monkeys open bananas:

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

If you watched the video and said "That's how I do it!" good for you, you're a primate most efficient. If you were amazed by the simplicity of the upside down maneuver, congratulations you've just learned a simple and effective way to chow down on your favorite yellow fruit. Have an unconventional technique for skinning, peeling, or otherwise getting at the delicious parts of your favorite foods? Let's hear about it in the comments below.

Google Now Translates Uploaded Documents [Translations]

Kevin Purdy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Google Translate could previously take pasted text or web URLs for translation, and the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer was offering on-the-fly translation. Now Google's made it easy to put desktop documents through its multi-language processing.

Hit "Upload a document" on the Translate main page, and you'll be prompted to upload Word documents, PowerPoint presentation files, PDFs, HTML files, or straight-up text files. All of them are transformed into HTML and translated to your language of choice. That means you lose any special formatting, of course, but you get a fairly speedy turn-around to get a grasp on what's being said in a foreign language file.

Recycle Flat-Pack Cardboard into Storage Boxes [Reuse]

Kevin Purdy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:40:00 -0700

IKEA sells its self-assembled furniture in convenient flat-pack boxes, the same kind used by movers for packing large glass. Both leave you with unwieldy cardboard to recycle—unless you get creative with some wallpaper, cutting tools and glue.

That's how Simona and Flavius put their flat-pack boxes to use in their just-bought IKEA Expedits bookcase. By cutting the cardboard to fold into proper-sized boxes, then applying some unique wallpaper, they made pull-out storage bins that match their decor, save them the money of purchasing those bins, and reduce the amount of driveway-blocking cardboard lugged out to the curb.

Found your own creative re-uses for unwieldy flat-pack boxes, flat-screen TV boxes, or other irregular containers? Tell use what you did with them in the comments.

Speed Up Firefox 3.5 Start-Up on Windows [Firefox Tip]

Kevin Purdy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:30:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Firefox 3.5 pulls data from certain file locations for randomized security purposes. Sometimes, though, that can lead to annoying slow start-ups in Windows. You can speed things up by cleaning out certain folder locations.

For whatever reason, having too many temporary, history, or recent document files sitting in your Windows locations slows down Firefox 3.5's data generation processes, as has been reported as a bug. The Mozilla Links blog recommends cleaning out these folders to move the browser's work along:

C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Local Settings\History
C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\My Recent Documents
C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Temp\

On Vista or Windows 7 systems, simply replace "Documents and Settings" with "Users." Setting up Firefox to automatically clean out your temporary files after browsing, as explained at the link below, helps prevent the accumulation from building again, but users who trade browsing time with Internet Explorer may have to occasionally work this manual method to wipe out those files.

How to Ease Your Transition to Google Voice [Phones]

Kevin Purdy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:30:00 -0700

Google's upped its pace handing out invites to Google Voice, the service that controls all your phones with one number. For those just arriving, we're offering up a beginner's guide to setting up, transitioning to, bug-fixing, and actually enjoying Google Voice.

If you still haven't received an invite or want a clearer picture of what Google Voice actually does, peek first at our screenshot-packed first look and tips on whether you actually need it.

Once you accept an invite, register your number, and make your first text or phone call, you might be wondering how to go about actually using Google Voice—after all, nobody's calling you on that number just yet, and your number doesn't have any rules set up to begin with. That's where this guide starts off. There are lots of resources that explain how Google Voice's features work, but we're hoping to help you learn how to get people calling that number, work past the flaws in its system, and manage the callers for a better overall phone experience.

The Psychology of Number Switching

Until Google Voice lets you make a full-scale import of your existing phone number to their service, you'll have to pick an area code, remember a new number, and ask people who call you to use that number. But trust us, it's not as hard as it seems these days. Two of your Lifehacker editors have done it, and all it took was a little small group psychology.

Be firm: If you want Google Voice to be your universal phone hub, everybody has to call it. Don't be namby-pamby when you send out the mass email or mention it in conversation—this is your new number, not some experiment or trial or such. Is there any risk, however small, that a big project like Google Voice will go under and you'll have to send a red-faced follow-up request? Yes. Is there that same risk with Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail, Twitter, and Facebook? Yes. Say it's your new number, and say it's your only number. For those who don't follow-up, there's a next step:
The catch-all voicemail: Call your cell phone voicemail number and head into the options to record a new voicemail. Say that you won't be retrieving voicemail on it and list your new number. Even if you do check that voicemail once or twice for the first two weeks, don't let anybody know that. It's a hard line, but it pays off, and you'll probably be getting back to people quicker soon enough.
The stragglers: Some folks just don't want to edit their contact lists, and others feel like they'll catch you quicker if they've got your direct line. Don't take their calls. Call them back from your Google Voice number, through the Google Voice web site (explained later on), or by calling your Google Voice number from your standard phone and dialing them from there. They'll either take the hint and spend the 30 seconds to update, get lazy and start calling your Google Voice number from their Recent Calls list, or get used to having their messages returned at your convenience. Photo by jessicafm.

Dealing with annoyances

Changing your phone life will, of course, come with its share of kinks. Here are a few of them, and how you can sidestep the worst side effects. Note: The first two can be mostly avoided with Google Voice apps for smartphones, like GV for Android and GV Mobile for iPhones.

Text message replies: When Google Voice delivers your text messages to your phone, they arrive from a completely new phone number, although with a contact's name attached if you have it stored. Replying to that message is easy, but to compose a new message to that person and have it show up as being from your Google Voice number, you'll have to add that phantom Google Voice SMS number to their contact, perhaps under an "Other" phone. You can, of course, send and respond to texts from Google Voice's web site, and its mobile site works great from phone browsers, but when you're not near a computer or a net connection, this is the way to enforce your One Number.
Call-backs: Unlike text messages, Google Voice doesn't provide a magic call-back number to avoid re-introducing your "old"/carrier number to contacts. If Voice's mobile or desktop web sites are accessible, you have to call into your Google Voice number, hit 2 to place a call, then enter the number you're calling back. That's a pain in the rear, and even more so if you don't feel comfortable setting your cell phone to not require a PIN when you call Google Voice.

If you're calling certain contacts all the time and want the calls to go through Google Voice, you could search to see how to insert one- or two-second pauses into a phone number in your phone's address book. Then create an "Other" number for them that consists of your Google Voice number, then a pause, then "2," then a pause, then that contact's actual phone number, followed by a "#". That automates the Google Voice dialing, leaving you with just a bit of a wait while it goes through.
That slight voice latency: As previously mentioned, there's a variable amount of audio delay when routing calls through Google Voice. Sometimes it's hardly noticeable, but other times, you seem more rude than you really are. Being patient is the obvious, but best, coping mechanism. If you sense there's a good second or so lagging in your connection, simply let them finish out their entire thought before jumping in with your own. From experience, trying to time yourself slightly ahead of the end of their sentence simply makes you a bad listener, and it's hard to pull off.

Form your groups

Not every caller is the same. Your parents, spouse, siblings, best friends, business partners, and other VIPs can probably call whenever and you'd like to pick it up. Your over-sharing co-worker, friends who like to call from bars, and pushy sales reps of all kinds, though—they can go straight to voicemail. And what if you like being short and snappy with your friends, but need a more professional-sounding voicemail greeting for potential clients?

Google Voice's Groups let you create multiple pools of people from your Google Contacts. If you didn't have any Google Contacts set up before, you will now, just by making and receiving calls. To create new groups or add and remove people from existing groups, hit the "Contacts" link in the left-hand toolbar of the Google Voice site, then select or search out names from the vertical scroll, then hit "Groups" to manage which pools they fall into.

To change what happens when a Group member calls, head to Settings, then Groups, then click "Edit" next to the groups that need special rules. You can set which phones ring, what greeting someone hears, and whether you want to "ListenIn" and have Google Voice read their name to you on calling, so you can decide whether to talk or let them ring through to voicemail.

If you've only got a few different folks who you want to have non-standard rules for, you can do that without having to come up with a clever group name. Select their name from your Contacts, click the "Edit Google Voice Setting" link under their contact information, and you can tweak greetings, where they ring to, and whether you see their call or not.

Tweaking call rules

Google Voice's killer app is allowing you to keep one phone number, but have it route to multiple phones the way you want. Here's how to save money, avoid annoyances, and get more out of Google Voice's custom calling rules.

After signing up with Google Voice, you'll probably have at least your cell phone set up with the service, under a new number. It's pretty easy to add a new phone—click on "Settings" in the upper-right corner, then hit the "Phones" tab and click "Add another phone." After entering your number and verifying, you'll have a new entry in your Phones list you can set rules for. Click Edit next to a phone, then "Show Advanced Settings," to set up when these phones ring,

Here are a few calling rules you can use as templates for customizing how Google Voice handles your calls.

Cell minute saver: If you've got any other kind of phone at home, or you don't mind routing certain friends and family to your office, you can have those other phones ring at the same time when your cell minutes are "regular," i.e. tracked by the minute. You could theoretically set your cell phone not to ring during day hours, but that would cut you off from calls you want to take when you're mobile.

What you want to do is set your non-cellular phones to not ring between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. (or whenever your cell plan goes "free" and when you're okay taking calls). On weekends, adjust those hours to whenever you're likely to be home. If you share one of those landlines with other people, create a group of the people you wouldn't want to bother your spouse/roommate/relatives and set them to ring directly to your cell phone at all times.
Whitelist your ring-throughs: Google Voice provides pretty good caller ID, and you can easily ignore a call and check the transcription to see if that unrecognized number had something good to say. You can do one better, though, by having unrecognized callers go right to voicemail.

Head first to the "Phones" section, and un-check your phones so your Google Voice number no longer "forwards to" by default. Don't worry, you're not actually losing connectivity! Head to the Contacts section and choose the callers for your trusted group by selecting them individually, or clicking another group like "My Contacts" and hitting Select: All, then hit the "Groups" button to add them to a group named "White list" or "People I Know," or something similar. Head to Groups, click Edit on that white list, then re-select the phones you want them to have access to.

Google Voice provides other default options for every caller in its settings: "Do Not Disturb," which sends every call to voicemail and doesn't forward text messages; "Call Presentation," which asks callers to record their name for you to hear when they call from an unrecognized number; and "ListenIn," which lets you listen as a caller you chose to ignore records their voicemail. Those options, however, seem a bit severe and all-or-nothing compared to a white list that's not too hard to add or subtract to. Photo by Ed Yourdon.
Mumblers, speed-talkers, and hanger-uppers: Sometimes, Google can't even try to understand what certain folks in your voicemail are trying to say, and some really impatient people leave empty voicemails. That could defeat one of Voice's great strengths, the SMS/email voicemail notice you don't have to call for. In this case, we're pulling out the secret weapon—honesty.

Head to Contacts and move everybody who tends to talk softly, quickly, or not at all into a group, or select them individually and change their greeting to a custom version. Name it "Transcription Reminder," and record a custom greeting. Don't patronize, but tell them that their voicemail is being transcribed, and to speak slowly "so I don't miss anything."
Formal/informal voicemail greetings: This one's easy, and fun. Head to Settings, then Groups. Click "Edit" under any contact group that should get a longer, more professional-sounding greeting ("You've reached the voicemail of Dr. Venkman. Your call is very important to me ..."), or make that the default. Set up your friends and family, however, to hear just a short message to save on their cell minutes and patience.

Google Voice pros, what psychological or technical tactics have you used to make Google Voice work for you? What's been the hardest bug to deal with? For the insiders and not-yet-invited alike, what kind of filters or features would you like to see added or changed? Tell us everything in the comments.

Best Content Filtering Software? [Hive Five Call For Contenders]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:30:00 -0700

Despite the fact that the internet is quite mainstream, it's hardly lost its Wild West ways. Which tools do you use to tame rowdy content and make your computer kid and co-worker friendly?

We're huge advocates of the freedom of information and the personal responsibility that comes with access to a tool as powerful and far reaching as the internet. Nonetheless, there are times when it's necessary to filter the information coming down the pipe into your home or workplace. Whether you want to keep your kids away from disturbingly graphic internet memes or keep your employees more on task and less on non-HR approved sites, content filtering applications are available for nearly every situation. This week we want to hear about the software-based solutions you use to filter content on machines in your care.

Hive Five nominations take place in the comments, where you post your favorite tool for the job. We get hundreds of comments, so to make your nomination clear, please include it at the top of your comment like so: VOTE: Content Filtering Software. Please don't include your vote in a reply to another commenter. Instead, make your vote and reply separate comments. If you don't follow this format, we may not count your vote. To prevent tampering with the results, votes from first-time commenters may not be counted. After you've made your nomination, let us know what makes it stand out from the competition.

About the Hive Five: The Hive Five feature series asks readers to answer the most frequently asked question we get: "Which tool is the best?" Once a week we'll put out a call for contenders looking for the best solution to a certain problem, then YOU tell us your favorite tools to get the job done. Every weekend, we'll report back with the top five recommendations and give you a chance to vote on which is best. For an example, check out last week's Hive Five Best Online Image Editors.

Remains of the Day: Life After Cable TV Edition [For What It's Worth]

Adam Pash — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:00:00 -0700

Microsoft drops Silverlight 3 a day early, Kevin talks all about life after cable TV, and we take a look at fake Google Chrome OS screenshots.

Silverlight 3 arrives early
Microsoft's answer to Adobe's Flash Player, Silverlight updates to version 3 today, a day earlier than expected. [Ars Technica]
Acer, Asus and HP have all signed on, suggesting they're looking to make Chrome netbooks.
Lots of big names in hardware appear to have already signed up to join in the Chrome OS world of netbooks. [IT Pro]
Life After Television
Our very own Kevin Purdy talks about easing the transition to a post-cable TV world. [The Takeaway]
Billy Mays Caps Lock 1.0 Released
Remind yourself what kind of message you're sending when you write in Caps Lock with the Billy Mays Caps Lock app, a silly little utility that plays a Billy Mays quote whenever you hit your Caps Lock key. [PortableApps.com]
Android Live
It may not be the Google Chrome OS, but if you wanna play with Android on a big box, the Android Live CD could be a good time. [Phandroid
Web-based Productivity Suite Zoho Now Integrated With Microsoft Access
Want to collaborate on a Microsoft Access database? Zoho's got you covered. [TechCrunch]
Two More Android Updates Slated for 2009
Two cheers for Android lovers! You've got two updates in your future yet this year. [Android Guys]
Limit the CPU usage of a certain application in Linux
Haven't tried it, but seems like a handy trick. [Tips4Linux]
Are These the First Chrome OS Screenshots?
No, no they are not. [Gizmodo]

Lifehacker Enhanced Comments User Script Fixes Some Comment 2.0 Annoyances [Downloads]

Adam Pash — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:30:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Don't like some of the changes ushered in with the Lifehacker Comments 2.0 announcement? The Lifehacker Enhanced Comments Stylish/Greasemonkey user script is here to help.

Just head to the Userstyles.org page below, install the script using either the Stylish or Greasemonkey links (you'll need one of the two extensions installed to begin with), then refresh Lifehacker to enjoy the new comments tweaks. The script:

Shows all comments (but still highlights "good" comments)
Displays all comments in black so the light gray non-featured comments don't make you go blind
Disables the background-color-change on hover
Indents comment replies for a little improved nesting

We'll do our best to get the new comments system worked out to make everyone happy (our main goal right now is to return the option to switch between chronological and reverse chronological comment display), but if you're not into the changes, we wholeheartedly encourage some DIY scripting like this intrepid reader has done. Kudos!

The Lifehacker Enhanced Comments script is a free download, requires Greasemonkey or Stylish, Firefox only.

Google Maps Location Finder Pinpoints You in Chrome and Firefox [Google Maps]

Azadeh Ensha — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:00:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.While mobile users have been able to rely on Google Maps to pinpoint their locations for some time, starting today Google Chrome 2.0 and Mozilla FireFox 3.5 users will also be able to locate their positions from their browsers.

To use My Location for Google Maps, just look for and click on the small blue circle in the upper lefthand corner of maps (above the street view man icon and below the compass). Google Maps should then find and place your approximate location using the W3C Geolocation API.

The first time you activate My Location, your browser will display a security message, asking you whether you wish to share your location with Google Maps. If you deny this request, your location isn't shared with Google Maps and the My Location feature won't be activated. If you accept, your browser will try to determine your location.

If you don't have Chrome or Firefox installed (or another browser with the latest version of Gears), the company says it will add more browsers "soon."

I gave it a shot on Firefox, and it took three times for Google to pinpoint me. The first two attempts failed entirely. Let us know if you fare better, and how accurate the service was in rendering your location, in the comments.

Do You Trust the Internet More than Other News Sources? [Reader Poll]

Azadeh Ensha — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:00:00 -0700

A recent Nielsen survey of 25,000 consumers from 50 countries found that 70 percent of people believe what they read on the internet over opinions found in newspapers, on television, and in magazines. How about you?

Interestingly (though not really surprisingly), the one area that received higher trust ratings than consumer opinions posted online is recommendations from other people, with 90 percent of the respondents saying that they either "completely" or "somewhat" trust information received from people they know. As for the least-trusted news source? Perhaps not surprisingly, that honor goes to cell phone text advertisements.

So what about you?

Explain your choices below, and chime in with specific sites and other places where you go to get your trusted news.

Design Floor Plans with Excel [Excel Tip]

The How-To Geek — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:00:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Rather than spend money on a commercial tool for designing floor plans, interior design, or laying out your landscaping, you can tweak Microsoft Excel to make an adequate replacement.

The PC Magazine web site writes up how to tweak Excel to make it look more like a sheet of grid paper, which you can then add colors and borders to easily lay out your design. To create your own Excel grid paper, use Ctrl+A to highlight the entire worksheet, set the Column Width to 1, and the Row Height to 9. Once you've done so, you can continue filling in the squares with colors, borders, text, and anything else you would like.

For more, check out how to save time with Excel's double-click tricks, use Excel to keep a log for your job search, or figure out how much money you need to retire.

The Fold-Away Desk [Featured Workspace]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:00:00 -0700

What can you do if you want a workspace but the only area you have free in a tiny apartment is 30" of wall space between a bookcase and a door? Fold it away.

Lifehacker reader jaypeecee decided to tackle the problem by combining some inexpensive off the shelf items to turn a basic stock Ikea laptop station into a lilliputian workspace he could fold away at a moment's notice. His description of the situation and his solution:

I haven't had an actual desk of my own in almost four years. Not that this is much of a step up, but it's a workspace! I had 30" of unclaimed wall, so I figured this unit would fit the bill.
It's a stock Ikea PS Laptop Workstation, but to spruce it up a little bit and create an impact-dampening surface for my laptop, I added some cork to the surfaces using this self adhesive 18" x 4' roll of cork lining.

It had to be mounted over the moulding, so it actually sits on two Ikea shelf brackets, and is secured in the back by three toggle bolts via holes drilled in the rear panel.

Check out the pictures below to get a sense of how easily it folds away to become little more than a box bolted to the wall:

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.
The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

If you have a workspace of your own to show off, throw the pictures on your Flickr account and add it to the Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell Pool. Include some details about your setup and why it works for you, and you just might see it featured on the front page of Lifehacker.

Patch Burn Marks on Your Carpet With a Dab of Hot Glue [DIY]

Rosa Golijan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:40:00 -0700

There's a burn mark on your carpet because of a dropped cigarette or fireworks you set off indoors (though carpet marks are the least of your concerns at that point). Let's bring out the scissors and hot glue.

Instructables user west49rules shares a technique he learned from a carpet repair man on how to patch burn marks with only scissors, a hot glue gun, and some fibers from the edge of the carpet. Essentially you can just grab some patches of carpet fiber from the edge of your carpet—say in a closet—then artfully glue them over top of the burn spot. As you can see in the before-and-after shots at Instructables, the results are really nice.

Hit up the link below for a picture-filled guide, but keep in mind that this method is only as permanent and resilient as the hot glue you're using. So, use a quality hot glue and avoid cleaning your carpet with any solutions that would dissolve it in the future.

Have you tried covering up a carpet blemish with this or another technique before? What about other stains? Tell us about your experience in the comments. (Bonus points if there's a funny story behind how the carpet mishap happened.)

Make Firefox Load Folders in New Tabs [Firefox]

The How-To Geek — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:00:00 -0700

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.If you want to open a folder of bookmarks in tabs, Firefox normally replaces all of your current tabs—but reader Raghav writes in with a quick configuration trick to fix that behavior.

To make Firefox append the new tabs to the ones you already have open, you'll want to head over to about:config, filter for the browser.tabs.LoadFolderAndReplace key, and then double-click on it to change the value to false. The change should take effect immediately, no restarting needed.

For more, check out some of Raghav's other submitted tips: You can slow down the scroll speed, use the scroll wheel to zip through browser history, middle-click to open links in a new foreground tab, or even make Win+E open the folder of your choice. Thanks, Raghav!