Advantageous Links Amazon MP3 to iTunes Tracks [Featured Mac Download]
Mac OS X 10.5 only: If you enjoy searching for music in the iTunes Music Store but would rather buy DRM-free MP3s encoded in a higher bit rate, then check out Advantageous, a script for iTunes 8. Once you've downloaded and installed the package, just click the script icon and select Get MP3 from Amazon while viewing a track listing in iTunes. Your browser will open the relevant page for the artist or album at Amazon's MP3 download store. Advantageous is a free download for that works with iTunes for Mac OS X 10.5.
Knol Verifies Your Google Account Identity [Identity]
Google is experimenting with allowing users with registered accounts to verify their identity through Knol, the company's Wikipedia-like database of content supplied by volunteers. It's not clear what benefit there is except for a note that you're noted as Verified within Knol (though I'm guessing you'll get brownie points during the inevitable takeover by our robot overlords). Though this could have obvious applications for other Google projects, from transactions via Checkout to publishing on Blogger. The system attempts to verify you through phone or credit records, but doesn't always work according to Google. Get verified yourself after the jump.
First, you'll have to sign up with a Google account, such as the one you use to access Gmail, Google Calendar, iGoogle, etc. Then you'll have to visit Knol and sign in with your account. To get to the Settings menu, I had to click the Write a Knol button. Then, Settings appeared in the top-right, allowing me to access the Name Verifcation option.
You can choose to go with phone verification or credit verification.
Debit cards (and American Express) aren't allowed for credit verification, and to be safe, I used my land-line phone number. For phone verification, enter your name, number and address and you'll be provided with a PIN. You'll receive a call on your phone, where you'll be asked to enter the PIN number with your phone keys.
For credit card verification, it's the same process, though you enter your credit card number instead of your phone number, and there's no further steps.
When you're successfully verified, you'll get an email to confirm that you've completed the process. And within a few minutes the Verified note will appear on your My Bio page in Knol. And now Skynet will know exactly where to harvest your meatbag when it comes to life, if it didn't already.
Google Images Photo and Face Recognition Now Easier [In Brief]
Google Image Search now makes the filters for faces, photos and news images available directly on the results page. Previously, one had to click through to the Advanced Image Search to refine your image searches. You'll find the drop-down menu to select between filters to the right of the existing menu to refine your search by image size. Which makes it even easier for fair use-enabled photochoppers to find places and faces for satirical digital compositing.
Watch CNN Live and Full-screen with VLC [Streaming Television]
You can watch a feed of cable network CNN live on the station's web site in a Flash player, but it won't let you watch full-screen. For Windows users, gHacks has published the direct URL for the stream that you can access via Windows Media Player. But users on any platform can use free, open-source VLC to play the stream. Download and install VLC, then select File > Open Network. Select HTTP/FTP/MMS/RTSP from the list of protocols on the left, and paste the rtsp:// URL from gHacks in the text area at the top. Now you can watch CNN live, full-screen and commercial free as the returns come in.
Dial2Do is Jott for Free [Mobile Apps]
Voice-to-text phone service Dial2Do sends text messages, emails, and reminders with the ease of a phone call. Similar to Jott, the popular voice-to-text service that just added significant limits to its free accounts, Dial2Do walks you through a simple voice-recognition menu to perform actions. Aside from email, SMS, and reminders, Dial2Do supports posting to tons of different services, including Twitter, Remember the Milk, and your WordPress or Blogger blog (again, much like Jott). As an added bonus, Dial2Do is currently available in 19 different countries. During its beta period, Dial2Do is free—though all signs point to pay accounts post-beta. We highlighted several free alternatives to replace Jott's functions when it began charging for its best features, but Dial2Do is another great option to add to that list. Thanks magnoliasouth!
Windows 7 Preview Boots 20% Faster Than Vista [Windows Startup Showdown]
Microsoft says that "a very good system boots in under 15 seconds," and while the early-release Windows 7 Preview doesn't deliver a sub-15 second boot time, it does start 20% faster than Windows Vista on my computer. The only way to truly compare boot-up times between operating systems is to try them out on the same exact hardware, and as of today I'm triple-booting XP, Vista, and the Windows 7 Preview on a newly-built PC. The results? Windows 7 boots much faster than Windows Vista—but surprisingly, no faster than Windows XP. Here are my exact numbers, machine specs, and caveats.
The hardware: My test system has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at 3.16GHz with 4GB of RAM. The only difference between XP, Vista, and the Windows 7 Preview is that Win7 is installed on an IDE hard drive, and XP and Vista are booting from SATA drives. That puts Win7 at a slight disadvantage because IDE drives are not as performant as SATA. Also: the version of Windows 7 that I'm using is the Preview release from last month's PDC conference, an incomplete, earlier-than-beta, for-testers-only edition. One can only assume it will get better (read:faster) in the final release.
The test: Since I'm triple-booting the three operating systems, I used a simple handheld timer to get my numbers, starting at the "Choose your operating system" screen (which comes after the BIOS startup) and ending at the user login screen. These tests do not include the amount of time it takes to load the user's desktop, because that depends entirely on what's in your Windows startup. This is simple, pure, operating system boot here—no desktop or BIOS involved.
Here are my final numbers from starting the three operating systems on the same box and timing them:
| Operating System | Time to reach user login prompt |
|---|---|
| Windows 7 Ultimate (Preview, PDC edition) | 27 seconds |
| Windows Vista Ultimate | 34 seconds |
| Windows XP Professional | 27 seconds |
Final result: The Windows 7 Preview boots 20.6% faster than Windows Vista, but in exactly the same amount of time as Windows XP. Because of the slower IDE drive on my test system, and the preview status of Windows 7, it's very probable that Win7 will be even faster than XP in its final releases.
On a related note, only 23% of you said your computer boots up in under 30 seconds, so it sounds like "faster boot time" might be one of the less sexy but much-appreciated features coming in Windows 7.
Find Your Polling Station with Vote411 [Election]
Just to make sure you have one less excuse to get out and vote today, Vote411 has a quick and easy tool to help you find your polling station. Simply enter your home address and it will display the location relative to your home with Yahoo Maps, and provide a link to a voting guide for your state — I tested it on my address, where the usual location had changed since the last election, and it worked fine. An "I Voted" sticker is the fashion accessory of the season, so drop by your local voting boutique get yours today, dahling (if you didn't get a sticker, make one). Want to sound off about the election? Check out our election day open thread. Photo by Jessie Terwilliger. Thanks, Asian Angel!
Hive Five Winner for Best Travel Site: Kayak [Hive Five Followup]
Travel search aggregation site Kayak won the top spot in this weekend's Hive Five Best Travel Sites for Cheap Tickets, raking in an impressive 62% of the vote. If you didn't find a favorite in the Hive Five, check out a few more travel deal sites worth checking out.
Amazon's Frustration-Free Packaging Storefront Sells Stuff that's Easy to Open [Shopping]
We've never been fans of the impossible-to-open packaging holding us twenty tedious steps away from satisfying our gadget lust (surprised?), but apparently neither is Amazon. To address the issue, Amazon has launched a Frustration-Free Packaging storefront:
Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging, a multi-year initiative designed to alleviate "wrap rage," features recyclable boxes that are easy to open and free of excess materials such as hard plastic clamshell cases, plastic bindings, and wire ties. The product itself is exactly the same—we've just streamlined the packaging.
Amazon wouldn't allow me to embed their wrap rage video, but keep reading for a similarly themed SNL commercial featuring Kristen Wigg as an equally frustrated consumer.
Just replace jars with flash drives, memory cards, or—in Amazon's example—pirate ships, and you know where they're coming from. Right now the initiative doesn't feature that many products, but hopefully in time this initiative will make all of our lives that much easier. In the meantime, you can try breaking through clamshell packaging with your can opener or even a dedicated package-opening gadget.
Save $1,000 in 30 Days [Saving Money]
Personal finance blogger Ramit Sethi's Save $1,000 in 30 Days Challenge is exactly what is sounds like: Sethi wants to help as many of us as possible to save an extra $1,000 in the month of November. The challenge mixes daily tips from the I Will Teach You To Be Rich blog—broadly outlined in the video above—along with user-submitted tips for reaching the goal. We're a few days behind schedule (the challenge started on the first), but if you could use a few extra bucks heading into the holiday season, now's a great time to do some last-minute saving.
VIPeers Shares Large Files Easily (Beta Invites Available!) [Beta Beat]
VIPeers is a file-sharing service that also happens to be one of the easiest ways to create a torrent for peer-to-peer downloading. I chatted with zSlide founder Louis Choquel, who was kind enough to offer Lifehacker readers an invitation to the private beta. Enter the code LIFEHACKER20 when you register between now and Monday, November 10th (though if the site doesn't run into any scaling problems, that may be extended). I tested out the service, which works in any browser, and had no problems — if you do, just let the team know in the support forums. Simply upload a file up to five gigabytes in size, and VIPeers will give you a selection of sharing options, from a direct-download URL to a torrent file link which will be seeded automatically by VIPeers and work in any BitTorrent client. If you've ever wanted to create a torrent download but found it too confusing to set up a seeding server, tracker and the like, this is a great way to get started. If you give VIPeers a try, link to your file in the comments. Thanks, Janko!
37signals Offers 25% Off Today Only [Discounts]
As you're enjoying your free Election Day coffee and donut, check out another today-only deal: 37signals, makers of productivity webapps Backpack, Basecamp, and Campfire (which we use in-house here at Lifehacker), are offering 25% off new sign-ups and upgrades today only until midnight Eastern time. Enter the coupon code VOTE to get the deal.
You received this email because you are subscribed to the real_time feed for http://feeds.gawker.com/lifehacker/full. To change your subscription settings, please log into RSSFWD.
No comments:
Post a Comment