Bit.ly Offers In-Gmail URL Shortening Gadget [Featured Gmail Gadget]
URL-shortening service Bit.ly now offers a Gmail gadget that helps you make sure the long web site addresses you send out via email don't get wrapped and become unclickable. To install the Bit.ly gadget—which just adds a Bit.ly URL shortener module to Gmail's sidebar—you have to have "Gadgets by URL" enabled in Gmail's Labs section. Then, in the Gadgets tab in Settings, add this URL:
http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/107368512201818821991/bitly-shortener.xml
When Gmail refreshes you'll have the Bit.ly gadget on your sidebar, as shown.
Engima-Inspired Desktop Roundup [Show And Tell]
Desktop customizer extraordinaire and Lifehacker reader Kaelri showed us how to customize your Windows desktop using a setup he called Enigma (pictured above), and since then the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr Pool has been overflowing with killer Enigma-inspired desktops. Some of the desktops snagged a piece of Enigma while others are using it all, but all of them nicely illustrate the kind of impressive results you can get with the right tools and a great how-to guide. Keep reading for a closer look at six of the best Enigma-inspired desktops.
Flip Clock Enigma
Who's desktop is it? by projectvirus. It's the previously featured Flip Clock desktop complete with a little Enigma thrown in for system stats.
Enigma Black
My desktop v2. by Mstislav.
Desert Dreams
Desert Dreams - An "Enigma" Modification by Dylan Boom.
Omniscient Eye
Omniscient Eye by silentmagician94.
Bluenigma
Moonigma
Shadow Earth Desktop by Deltablade.
Nothing like a great customization guide to inspire some great setups. If you've got a favorite, let's hear it in the comments.
DVDCoach Express Burns Video Files to Playable DVDs [Featured Windows Download]
Windows only: Free application DVDCoach burns any video file (like DivX or Xvid videos you've downloaded off BitTorrent) to a playable DVD. The application provides a simple front-end for converting the files to the proper format (using the very popular media conversion tool ffmpeg) and burning the results to a DVD. DVDCoach Express doesn't have many advanced features—for example, you can't create custom DVD menus—but what it lacks in features it makes up for in simplicity. Just drag and drop the videos you want to burn to DVD into the application, set the few preferences available (PAL or NTSC, aspect ration, and quality), and get burning. If you're looking for a more robust feature set, check out how to burn any video file to a playable video DVD using other free apps. DVDCoach Express is a free download, Windows only.
Voice Dialer Brings Fast, Impressive Voice Dialing to Your iPhone [Featured IPhone Download]
iPhone only: As its name suggests, free iPhone application Voice Dialer adds voice dialing to your iPhone. More accurately, though, Voice Dialer is a contact search-by-voice app that also does autodialing. The difference: You can easily autodial any contact by saying "Call John Smith at home"—and Voice Dialer is great at recognizing matches—but if you don't say "Call" before the contact's name, Voice Dialer will simply pull up matches. From there, you can also check out a contact's full contact card to quickly compose an email, send a text message, or launch Google Maps at your contact's address (the video demo illustrates these features nicely).
Voice Dialer is made by the same people who developed midomi, an excellent song-recognition engine that can identify a song by holding it up to the source while it's playing or by analyzing your attempt at humming a few bars; you'd imagine the technology behind Voice Dialer and midomi are fairly similar. Voice Dialer is a free download from the iTunes App Store. For a similar alternative, check out previously mentioned Cactus, a less polished voice dialing app.
Nombray Finds and Sets Up Your Vanity Domain [Domain Names]
New web service Nombray is out to help folks establish their online identity by registering their name-based domain. Enter your name into the Nombray search engine and register the various available combinations of vanity URL available. (For example, a search for my name returns GinaTrapani.name, GinaTrapani.us, GTrapani.com, etc.) Then, register the URLs of your choice for $20 apiece, and use Nombray's simple web page designer and hosting service to link to the various social networks and profiles you've set up across the web. (See CEO Chris Lunt's Nombray-powered chrislunt.net site above for an example, where Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are linked from tabs in a top frame.) Almost three years ago we advised you to register your own domain to have a say in what Google says about you, and Nombray looks like an easy way to do just that.
Hive Five Winner for Best CD and DVD Burning Tool: ImgBurn [Hive Five Followup]
Free CD and DVD burner ImgBurn emerged victorious in this weekend's Hive Five Best CD and DVD Burning Tools, followed closely in tow by commercial burner Nero 9. Freeware app CDBurnerXP rounded came in a distant third.
gOS Cloud Brings a Web-Based Operating System to Your Browser [Cloud Computing]
Last year we showed you a new, lightweight Linux-based operating system called gOS (aka Good OS) with an emphasis on integrating web-based applications with your desktop. gOS first gained notoriety as the operating system on Walmart's $199 PC, and now the good folks at gOS have put together a new, super-lightweight operating system for netbooks called gOS Cloud that runs entirely inside a web browser (which looks like it's probably a tweaked version of Google Chrome). Details are scant, and there doesn't seem to be an available download yet, but gOS Cloud looks like it could be the perfect OS for your netbook or aging computer. Until then, the original version of gOS is already available for download and works great.
Build Your Own Letter Postage Scale [DIY]
You want to send out holiday cards on the cheap but don't know how much the extra heavy ones will cost in postage? Build your own letter postage scale with a ruler, rubber bands, Scotch tape, and quarters. The wikiHow web site explains how, with copious pictures. What else are you using to put together snail mail holiday cards in bulk quickly and easily? Let us know in the comments.
MyCorporation Founds Your Company for Free This Week Only [Entrepreneurship]
In support of small business and entrepreneurship, the normally-$149 MyCorporation service—which files all the paperwork you need to found your new company (LLC or corporation)—is free all this week, until December 5th. The MyCorporation service sounds familiar because we mentioned their last free promotion on November 11th, which went so well, the company decided to do it again. We haven't used MyCorporation to found a corporation or LLC ourselves, but at least one satisfied reader did. Happily a company rep explains what exactly you get when you use MyCorporation to found your company.
Several readers questioned why you'd need MyCorporation to file your LLC or incorporation paperwork when it's something you can do yourself and expressed concern about getting upsold on other products they don't want; others said that they wouldn't trust MyCorporation because it's made by Intuit, the makers of finance software Quicken and Quickbooks. Note also that state filing fees do apply even if you take advantage of this offer, so it's not completely free.
NaldoFudge, a reader who appears to be from or know a whole lot about MyCorporation, says:
I wanted to answer some of the questions/concerns mentioned in this thread:
1. Yes, anyone can draft and file any documents directly with state government agencies. The value of the service is that you don't have to do any research on what and how to file, and you minimize the risk of your doc/filing getting rejected at the state by using a service that specializes in these filings. Also, MyCorp doesn't just file the corp/llc for you — they check the company name for availability (filing formation docs with an unavailable name is one of the most common reasons for rejection of documents when you do it yourself); they provide customized and editable internal operating documents to you (bylaws for corporations and operating agreements for LLCs) — bylaws are a legal requirement for corporations. They also automatically provide you with customized stock or membership certificates. It's a valuable service even for the normal $149.00 fee — so there's nothing to lose when it's free.
2. The state fees have to be paid whether you do it yourself or use a service like MyCorp. The state fees MyCorp charges are completely accurate and current. [...]
3. MyCorp is indeed a business, not a nonprofit organization, and the way they make money on such a deal is by customers purchasing optional products and services with fees. But such products and services are, as indicated, *optional* — no additional purchase is required to get the free service, so it is not a bait-and-switch scheme. Hundreds of customers got the free service on the Free for a Day without buying anything additional. But note that the optional offerings are valuable services for those who do want to use them.
4. For those who have had issues with other Intuit products, please note that MyCorp is not a software product — MyCorp is a service company where real, live human beings process everything you order and provide excellent customer service after you file for as long as you need assistance. Hope this info is useful. Take care everybody!
Let us know if you pull the trigger and start your company this week using MyCorporation. The $149 fee waiver is only in effect until Friday, December 5th. Any company founders out there want to offer advice or insight into taking the leap? Do so in the comments.
Apple Lists Top Free (and Paid) iPhone Apps [Iphone 2.0]
Apple releases a list of the most popular free and paid iPhone and iPod touch apps in the iTunes Store with Pandora, Shazam, and Remote leading the charge in the free section. Compare to our list of what's good (and free!) in the iTunes App Store which we posted shortly after the App Store opened its doors. [via]
Songbird 1.0 Release Official, Fixes Bugs, Plays iTunes Purchases [Featured Download]
Windows/Mac/Linux: The long-awaited cross-platform media player Songbird officially reaches its 1.0 release today. The open-source application—built on the same platform as Firefox—promises to bring exciting new innovations to a software jukebox market that has become arguably quite stale. Like Firefox, Songbird is extensible, meaning that users can customize the look, feel, and features of Songbird to their heart's content. We took you on a screenshot tour of Songbird last month, and from a feature standpoint, not much has changed. From a functionality standpoint, Songbird has gotten much, much better.
The first release candidate had a lot to be excited about, but unfortunately it was rife with errors in my tests. The official 1.0 release fixes most if not all of the bugs I came across in my initial review, which is very promising. The footprint is still a little unwieldy, weighing in at just over 100MB of RAM on the Windows PC I tested it on.
The default installation also suggests installing a new add-on (new in the sense that it wasn't suggested in the release candidate I tested) called QuickTime Playback that supports playing back music you've purchased from the iTunes Music Store—a killer feature that, in conjunction with the iPod sync add-on, would allow even the hardcore iTunes user to switch.
If you want a closer look at what you can do with Songbird and what sets it apart from your stock media player, check out our previous screenshot tour and Songbird's demo screencasts. Whether you're a regular Songbird user or you're trying it out for the first time today, share your Songbird experience in the comments.
Do You Run An Antivirus App on Your Mac? [Reader Poll]
Mac users have long boasted their operating system's superiority to Windows by citing its supposed immunity to viruses, but tech news site Ars Technica reports that Apple has begun recommending "the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities" on their hardware. Apple has been happy to have been depicted as the OS that's not susceptible to viruses, and as the article from Ars suggests, Apple may just be covering their bases with this one, but it still brings up an interesting question:
Let's hear your thoughts on the matter—including whether or not you've got plans to start using any of the recommended antivirus utilities for your Mac (which are listed on the Apple support page)—in the comments.
Calaboration Syncs iCal and Google Calendar with Ease [Featured Mac Download]
Mac OS X only: Google announced CalDAV support in Google Calendar this summer, which meant that with a little know-how, you could sync iCal with Google Calendar. Now the Google Mac Blog has officially announced CalDAV support for iCal, and to go along with the announcement they've released a new iCal sync application called Calaboration. With Calaboration, you can quickly and easily set up bi-directional syncing between iCal and Google Calendar with just a few clicks of your mouse. It's quick, it's easy, and it works like a charm; just run it once to set up your calendar syncing and you shouldn't need to run it again until you need to add a different calendar. Calaboration is a free download, Mac OS X only. If you're not on a Mac, check out how you can sync Google Calendar to any desktop calendar you've got.
Merlin Mann on "Clefting Unto the Suck" [Creativity]
Merlin Mann doesn't crank out posts on software, focus, time-savers, and the other realms of "productivity pr0n" anymore, but he's still got a razor-sharp focus on the kinds of thinking that move things forward. He writes at 43 Folders about trying to get better at his personal photographs, and fighting off the mental nags that try to pull him off-path:
... Even if a given shot is sh*t — and, most certainly, the vast majority of all my photos are varying degrees of sh*t — you still learn from the bad ones and no damage is done. Truth is, at the level I'm playing, there's no real cost associated with failure. Unless, you count the damage of working with unrealistic expectations or the paralyzing joylessness of the conventional wisdom that only some are "Blessed with Creativity…" [insert Tinkerbell glissando]
The full post gives a tight, clear view on what it takes to learn, and learn honestly, from mistakes and making improvement a real goal. Similar in topic to Ira Glass' advice on working past the awful, and pretty funny, to boot. Photo by craigmdennis.
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