All Annotations of Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done[Preview]

saved by383 people, first byTerrance clarke on 2006-03-02, last byFrida Lee on 2008-08-15

• Visualize size differences with Sizeasy

  
  
  

  
  

  

  
  
  

  Web site Sizeasy is a really cool visualization tool designed to give you an idea how big something is.

  
  
  

  For example, the screenshot to the right compares the dimensions of a 2nd generation iPod Shuffle to a matchbox and credit card. To compare your own item to one of Sizeasy's many frame of reference common objects, select one or more common objects for comparison and then enter the dimensions of the item you'd like to visualize. The site's functionality is pretty simple, but it's a great way to get an idea of the size of objects, and might come in especially handy for the gadget-obsessed. Thanks Anton! — Adam Pash

  
  
  

  Sizeasy

  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  Read more:
  
  Visualization, Web Utilities, Webapps

• Ten ways to get more pay

  
  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  Whether you're in line for a raise - or you think you should be - the NW Florida Daily News has ten practical salary-increasing tips. My favorite:

  
  

  Some employees don't take advantage of a plethora of benefits and freebies available from their employers, says Mr. Johnson, the pay consultant. "Read the manual where it tells you all these things," he says. "A lot of people have no idea what a company will or won't pay for."

  Some employees don't take advantage of a plethora of benefits and freebies available from their employers, says Mr. Johnson, the pay consultant. "Read the manual where it tells you all these things," he says. "A lot of people have no idea what a company will or won't pay for."

  
  

  These hidden benefits include tution and adoption reimbursements, gym fees, etc. What are some other ways not covered on this comprehensive list that you can squeeze create more money flow in your job? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. — Wendy Boswell

  
  

  
  10 ways to get the most pay out of your job [NW Florida News via Yahoo My Web]
  

  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  Read more:
  
  Money, Negotiation, Top, Work

• • Compress all of your menu items to one small entry.
  
  
  • Download Statusbar
    Moves your downloads to the 'fox's statusbar.
  
  
  • About This Site
    Find all the info you could ever want about the site you're visitin
• The IntelliAdmin weblog describes how to hide a user account from the Windows XP welcome screen.
• Edit images online
• I switched my e-mail to Google Apps for Your Domain, and I'm very happy with it. As the name implies, GAfYD lets you have Gmail and a bunch of other applications at your domain, rather than Google's. What that means is that I can use Gmail, but still keep the e-mail address I've had--and that my friends and family use to contact me--for several years.

• addresses displayed on web pages: They're easy pickings. The author offers a number of practical solutions, including replacing the text with an image:

  
  

  Apparently, most spam-bots don't scan images on the web (yet?), so it seems reasonable to place the text inside of an image without referring to it as an e-mail-address. There are free web tools that generate images "on the fly," so the only thing you have to do is to place them on your pages.

  Apparently, most spam-bots don't scan images on the web (yet?), so it seems reasonable to place the text inside of an image without referring to it as an e-mail-address. There are free web tools that generate images "on the fly," so the only thing you have to do is to place them on your pages.

  
  

  Given the amount of spam we receive at our

• unkies, your site has come in. Weather Bonk gives you not only the local forecast, but also traffic webcams, monthly averages and live conditions overlaid on a Google map.

  
  

  Just type in your ZIP code or city name to see the weather for your area. You can interact with the map as you normally would, zooming and panning and switching between various views (like satellite and hybrid). Click any forecast or webcam to see more detail in a pop-up window. You can also input a route and see what weather you'll encounter along the way--great for wintertime road trips. — Rick Broida

• ut there's one jolly fellow in red who doesn't file an official flight plan with the FAA who's a little tougher to track over the holidays. That's right, Santa C

• mas, most likely you've got the day off this coming Monday. I hope you'll spend it doing as little as possible.

  
  

  Forget the email, the IM, the RSS feeds, the Google searches, what Wikipedia has to say about the origins of Christmas, installing that latest Firefox update or running a defrag. Unplug and enjoy. You made it through another year and you're wiser, more experienced and best of all - you're alive. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done, spend some good quality face time with the people you love, and have a very me

• In Ruby, everything you manipulate will be an object. Everything. Even the results of operations on said objects are objects; this approach differs from C++ or Java where primitive types exist or some statements do not return a value.

  
  

  I'm no programmer, but I like the author's relaxed, humorous approach to the subject. (For example, there's a Chapter 0, and it's titled "What'chu talkin' 'bout, Mister?") This looks to be required reading for anyone new to Ruby or even somewhat familiar with it. You can download the e-book as a PDF or view it online, though the author does encourage purchasing a print copy to help support hosting. — Rick Broida
  

  
  Mr. Neighborly's Humble Little Ruby Book

• Clean Your Home in 19 Minutes

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  You can keep your home spotless in 19 short minutes a day by following CNN Living's room-by-room roadmap to cleanliness. For example:

  Bathroom, 2 minutes daily
  • Wipe out the sink (30 seconds). Wipe the toilet seat and rim (15 seconds).
  • Swoosh the toilet bowl with a brush (15 seconds).
  • Wipe the mirror and faucet (15 seconds).
  • Squeegee the shower door (30 seconds).
  • Spray the entire shower and the curtain liner with shower mist after every use (15 seconds).

• Mapwing
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  Create a virtual tour of your new apartment or that killer running trail you discovered with Mapwing, a webapp that matches digital photos to a map you create.

  
  

  Design your map, add photos, captions and connect them to points on that map. Embed your completed Mapwing tour onto your site (similar to YouTube videos) and let friends leave comments on it. Just browsing through the most popular tours is a neat way to see places and things through someone else's eyes. "Premium" tours - with 20 location points and high res maps - are now free during the Mapwing beta (but they won't always be), so get in there and try it while you can. — Gina Trapani

• Download of the Day: FileMenu Tools (Windows)
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  Windows only: Freeware app FileMenu Tools lets you customize the Windows right-click context menu.

  
  
  

  For starters, with FileMenu Tools you can customize the Send To menu, which can come in really handy if you've got a go-to folder you need quick access to. Beyond that, it allows you to define all kinds of custom menus depending on what sort of object you right-click on. In addition to the plentiful customization, FileMenu Tools also comes with several built-in commands you can add to the right-click menu, like run Command Line From Here, Move To, Copy To, Copy Path, and a whole lot more.

• Firefox Quick Tip: Search text inside text boxes
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  You may have already noticed, but the upgrade to Firefox 2 quietly added support for text search inside text boxes.

  
  
  

  That means that next time you write a long blog post or email, and you want to search for a bit of text inside your entry, you don't have to skim the text in its entirety to find what you're looking for. For Lifehacker editors, for example, that means that fixing typos on 1000+ word features has gotten a helluva lot easier. — Adam Pash

• Download of the Day: Trailfire (Firefox)
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  Windows/Mac/Unix (Firefox): The Trailfire Firefox extension lets users create trails of web pages with comments.

  
  
  

  The idea behind Trailfire is that you put together several related pages by assigning them the same "trail name," annotated with your own comments. Say, for example, you wanted to introduce a friend to Lifehacker by creating a trail of your favorite Lifehacker posts, with comments inline. Your friend could follow your trail as you walk him through what you like about each page. Alternately, you can follow any trail you stumble onto in the same way. Trailfire is simple to use, but it does require that you register with the Trailfire web site; it works wherever Firefox does.
  —
  >

• Get things done in Outlook with Jello
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  Jello.Dashboard is a freeware GTD add-on for Outlook.

  
  
  

  After you add Jello.Dashboard as your new homepage in Outlook, you can create contexts and projects and assign any Outlook item to a context or project seamlessly inside Outlook. Though we at Lifehacker HQ try to avoid getting within 100 yards of Outlook (we've filed a restraining order), we know that there are some of you out there who don't really have a choice, and some of you (gasp!) even like it. If you give Jello.Dashboard a try, let us know how it works for you in the comments. — Adam Pash

• What do you wish you learned in college?
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  College info site NextPath has written up a great list of thirteen things that we probably all wished we had learned in college..you know, right next to that gripping dissection of Plato's Republic. The one that I found myself nodding my head at was this:

  
  

  Though I learned study skills in college, I never had a clear plan or strategy for what I was doing or where I was going, other than completing my courses. In the business world, every outcome is measured, every result analyzed. I have learned to formulate strategic plans to accomplish my objectives so that I am more focused and productive.

  
  

  How about you - what do you wish you had learned in college? Thoughts in the comments. — Wendy Boswell

• • Always look for the positive qualities in a person. Getting people to like you is merely the other side of liking them.
  
  
  • Don't have a big ego. If you give the impression that you know it all, that you are superior, you make it hard for people to like you. Be normally humble.
  
  
  • Give strength to people, support them. Help them to be stronger and they will give you affection.

• Windows only: Connect to and take control of another PC with iRemotePC, the latest in an increasingly long list of remote-access programs.

  
  

  Indeed, just yesterday we gushed about CrossLoop, and we've long been fans of LogMeIn. iRemotePC beats them both in the feature department, offering chat, file transfers, folder synchronization, PC monitoring (as opposed to control) and even guest access (meaning you can invite others to connect to your PC for live presentations, demos, etc.).

• 
• Tech tricks, tips and downloads for getting things done.
• Tech tricks, tips and downloads for getting things done.
• ech tricks, tips and downloads for getting things done.
  

  
  
  

  
  SAN DIEGO, 9:28 AM, WED FEB 20
  
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  EDITED BY GINA TRAPANI | tips@lifehacker.com
• 
• Ask MetaFilter Roundup
• Blogs
  

  BackType
  Tracks Your Comments or Others' Across Blogs

  Free web service BackType
  aggregates all the comments you make on various blogs and web sites. The site
  uses the URLs entered in commenter forms or in the posts themselves to track a
  person's musings, or can combine URLs under a single account URL. It's a great
  tool for those who want to catch up on discussions they left behind, but the
  site also provides a search engine of its indexed comments and links to see
  another social-browser's comments. This type of URL tracking would normally
  leave the door open for comment impersonators, so BackType offers a moderation
  option to have you approve any comments posted under your name. BackType is a
  free service, requires a sign-up to use.
  

  BackType

  Download Squad]
• keyboard
• : Backup utility Double Driver lists all the hardware drivers installed on your system and creates backups of both the actual drivers and lists of the driver names. While handy with any computer, Double Driver really shines if you have a computer that came with pre-installed drivers that are hard if not impossible to come by. With a few clicks you'll have those archaic laptop drivers backed up and ready to put back to work after a fresh install. Double Driver is a free download for Windows only.
• measly two bucks using a couple of twisted wire easels he picked up from the local dollar store and a few common household items. If
• Free virtual archive tool Pismo File Mount can help you cut down on unnecessary CD burning and folder space by mounting compressed and ISO files as virtual drives. There are lots of utilities and means to do this, of course, but Pismo offers the simple route. Just right-click on a disc image or zipped file and choose "Mount" or "Quick Mount," and you can assign the folder to, say, drive Z:, or just have its contents pop up in a window. Grab what you need, close it down, and you're done. Pismo File Mount is a free download for Windows systems only.
• 
  
  
  MacGyver Tip
  

  Use bubble wrap as temporary curtains

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Instead of tacking up bedsheets over the windows when you first move into a place to preserve your privacy, save your walls and just pop some bubble wrap into the windows instead.
  
  This idea comes from Derek of ReadyMade, who simply taped the bubbly stuff into his windows until curtains/blinds were hung. Not only does it let in light during the day, it also saves your neighbors from seeing more than they should at night.
  
  

  A poor man's stained glass? [ReadyMade Blog]

• A Four-Question Business Plan to Jump-Start Your Inner Entrepreneur
  

  
  
  The Wise Bread blog suggests that when most of us think "business plan," we're thinking of a 50-page, multi-charted, supremely detailed document that has every branch and angle thought out thoroughly. That's also why some of us never end up launching on worthy business ideas. The basics of any plan, though, can be answered in four questions:
• 
• Want an easy way to share DRM-free music from your iTunes library to your friends? Twist me!, a Facebook app developed alongside the DRM-stripping DoubleTwist application, offers a fairly convenient way to do just that. You and anyone you share
• Firefox Tip
  

  
  Easily Manage Firefox 3 Keyword Quick Searches
  

  
  
  
  
  You already know how to set up Firefox quick searches by right-clicking in a web page's search box—like on the Google home page—and choosing "Add a keyword for this search." Now in Firefox 3, you can manage search engine keywords in Firefox's built-in search box. Hit the down arrow next to the currently selected engine and choose "Manage Search Engines." There you can view, add, and edit keywords—like w for Wikipedia. Once you've got a quick search set up, just type it and your query into the location bar. For example, typing w Lifehacker will run a search on Wikipedia for Lifehacker. Here's more on using bookmark keywords to do more than just run searches. Update: You can't edit or manage bookmark keywords here, just keywords associated with the engines in the search box.
  
  

  [via Cybernet]
• Essential Google Calendar Keyboard Shortcuts
• • C to compose a new event
    
    
  • Q to quick add a new event
    
    
  • J and K to move backwards and forwards through time (like Gmail and Google Reader)
    
    
  • D for Day view, W for weekly view, and M for monthly view

• How Do You Control Your Cravings?
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Reader's Digest rounds up 10 tips to control your cravings and stay on point with your diet, including a simple and excellent craving killer: a handful of nuts and water.

  Go nuts. Drink two glasses of water and eat an ounce of nuts (6 walnuts, 12 almonds or 20 peanuts). Within 20 minutes, this can extinguish your craving and dampen your appetite by changing your body chemistry, says RD's "Health IQ" columnist Michael F. Roizen, MD.

  The article includes several other tips for curbing your cravings, from brushing your teeth to de-stressing. If your cravings are strong and persistent, you may also want to find out what your cravings are telling you and supplement your diet with the missing ingredients. Let's hear your favorite craving-killers in the comments.
  
  

  10 Ways to Control Your Cravings [Reader's Digest]
• Saving Money
  

  
  Get the Best Price with the 15-to-20 Percent Rule
  

  
  
  NBC's Today Show web site rounds up tricks for talking anyone into anything, whether you're negotiating over price, persuading your spouse, or influencing co-workers. A lot of the tips are more about simple manipulation, but the price negotiation tip offered a solid rule-of-thumb:
  
  

  If you are the buyer, offer the salesperson 15 percent to 20 percent less than what you can really afford. For instance, if you absolutely can't spend more than $6,000 on a used car advertised at $7,000, try offering $5,100 (15 percent less than $6,000).

• Windows Tip
  

  
  Have Keyboard Shortcuts Always Show in Windows Menus
  

  
  
  
  
  The Workers' Edge blog digs into Windows tweaks that one normally has to dig pretty far into nested menus to find, and comes out with a real find for hands-on-the-keys fans. To have Windows always show the keyboard shortcuts next to menu items for easier learning, head to to the "Ease of Access Center" in Vista's Control Panel, check "Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys," and hit apply. In XP, right-click on the desktop, hit "Properties," head to the Appearance tab, click the "Effects" button, then un-check the "Hide underlined letters ..." option. Now your toolbar menus will always have their keyboard access letters underlined, saving your wrist a trip to the mouse or trackpad.
  
  

  Four hard-to-find fixes for common Windows annoyances [Workers' Edge | CNET]
• Firefox with Greasemonkey: The YouTube Lyrics Greasemonkey script adds a lyrics box to the YouTube sidebar, which is perfect for following along with the lyrics on the wealth of music videos available on YouTube. The search is automatic when you hit the Lyrics link, and it can search several lyrics services for the song. The script will, obviously, work best when the artist and song title are part of the YouTube clip's title. YouTube Lyrics is free, works wherever Greasemonkey does.

• on 2006-08-05 Nthzsolt
  This week's best posts
• on 2006-08-10 Forgetcolor
  a site about useful computer software/hardware/etc that helps with organization
• on 2006-08-16 Kusoooorz
  介绍有关计算机技术的使用技巧和经验，大大节省了您的时间。其姐妹博客Gizmodo让您第一时间接触那些最新最奇的小玩意。
• on 2006-09-06 Justinwhitaker
  Really nice blog on all things producitvity/life hack oriented.
• on 2006-10-26 Infogeek
  10/6/2006
  
• on 2007-07-19 Abhayb
  Lifehacker stuff :-)
  
• on 2008-06-25 Dgoard
  Visit this feed everyday! Good stuff
• on 2008-07-03 Dcoleman
  Won't contact until we have launched
• on 2008-07-26 Daisylinblue
  really hacker for life! follows^^