This Week's Top Downloads [Download Roundup]
- FilePhile Transfers Any Size File Between Any Two Systems (Windows/Mac/Linux)
"FilePhile is a peer-to-peer, multi-platform app for getting files of unlimited size between yourself and anyone else willing to give it a try." - OpenOffice.org Portable 3.0 Ready for Your Thumb Drive (Windows)
"OpenOffice.org 3, the latest version of the free, open-source office suite, has gotten a full thumb drive packaging by the PortableApps.com team." - Mint.com Brings Balance Management to the iPhone (iPhone)
"Free money management webapp Mint rolls out an iPhone app that puts most of its basic data-mining, alerts, and money-watching tools in a few simple screens." - TrayProdder Adds Vista-Style Checkboxes and Selection to XP (Windows XP)
"Free system utility TrayProdder adds of Windows Vista's handier file-handling tools, checkbox selection and full-row highlighting, to Windows XP." - BitMeter Monitors Your Bandwidth (Windows)
"BitMeter is a small bandwidth-monitoring application packed with features to help you track and analyze your bandwidth usage." - Manipulate Vector Images with Open Source Inkscape (Windows, Mac, Linux)
"If you are looking for a free alternative to the Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape has a host of features that make it worth taking for a spin." - Video MobileConverter Formats Flicks for Small Screen (Windows)
"BitTorrent super-host The Pirate Bay claims its ViO MobileConverter tool reduces nearly any video's size by 20 percent and converts it for mobile devices faster than anything else." - GMDesk Puts Multiple Google Apps in One Window (All platforms with Adobe AIR)
"GMDesk is a single-window frame that can hot-switch between Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and other G-apps, but it could use a few tweaks to make it truly convenient." - ABC News Gives You Top Stories and Location-Specific Video (iPhone)
"When you can't wrest the TV remote from your father-in-law to watch the news this week, fire up the all-new ABC News iPhone app. " - GlimmerBlocker Blocks Ads System-Wide (Mac)
"Free, open-source application GlimmerBlocker adds a new preference pane to your System Preferences that brings system-wide ad blocking to your Mac." - MediaPortal 1.0 Released, Brings Open-Source DVR to Windows (Windows)
"Open-source application XBMC has received all of the attention in the media center arena lately, but it still can't replace your TiVo."
Erase Your Browsing Tracks by Editing Your Index.dat Files [Featured Windows Download]
Windows only: Index.dat Suite is an index file editor that allows you to selectively edit or completely erase the contents of index.dat files on your computer.
Why edit the index.dat? When you browse the web, your computer leaves more traces behind than just the cookies and history file. Erasing your browser history and cookies from within Internet Explorer still leaves behind the index.dat file hidden away. On top of retaining an extensive list of the sites you have visited, it can also expose plain text passwords. Index.dat Suite is a free application that lets you examine the contents of index.dat files in a human friendly format and selectively export and erase the entries you find. For additional help sweeping your virtual trail clean, check out MRU Blaster.
Your Best Post-Holiday Tips? [Ask The Readers]
The fervor of the holiday season has peaked and last minute gift wrapping benders are behind us. What worked the best to keep your holidays sane and what do you wish you'd done differently?
Help us get a head start on prepping our readers for next year. What did you do this year that worked marvelously and what do you wish you'd have done differently? I came across a great tip for having Santa help declutter by telling your kids that he would be collecting their old toys to go to less fortunate children, but by the time I found it Santa had already come to our house! Share your holiday triumphs and follies in the comments below. Photo by Sister72.
DealLinker Gathers Deals and Coupons from Across the Web [Shopping]
Cut down on the time you spend scouring the web with DealLinker, a coupon and bargain aggregator. DealLinker pulls information from popular deal tracking websites like Fat Wallet and Slick Deals to save you cash.
Search for an item, like 4GB SD cards, and DealLinker will rank the results via an internal algorithm as well as show how other users have rated the deals. You can use search terms, browse categories, and sign up for RSS delivery of the best deals in a variety of categories like clothing, electronics, computer supplies, etc. No registration is necessary unless you want to participate in the deal ranking process. For more ways to save, check out the give best places to find deals online.
Window Markers Help You Identify Party Glasses [Clever Uses]
Next time you throw a party use markers intended for window art to mark up the glasses.
Dry-erase markers wipe off too easy, glass charms only work on glasses with stems and then you have to remember which charm was on your glass, and if you're throwing a classy party with real glassware busting out the permanent markers is a no-no. There has to be an easy way to remember whose glass is whose. We talked about how handy it was to leave notes on the bathroom mirror with window markers back in 2006, but they came up with a clever new use over at the blog ParentHacks. Have guests write their names/doodle on their glasses with washable window markers. They are permanent enough to withstand some pawing during the party but wash right off after a trip through the dishwasher. For more marker tricks check out more uses for dry-erase markers and how to remove permanent marker from any surface.
Use a Prius as an Emergency Generator [Clever Uses]
If you happen to be the owner of a Toyota Prius, or any other battery-packed hybrid car, you can use it as a surprisingly effective emergency generator.
After a storm knocked out power in his neighborhood, John Sweeney did some characteristic things to keep warm in the chilly Massachusetts winter weather. His family bundled up, they burned wood, but for lack of an emergency generator to keep the lights on they took advantage of the battery based design of their Prius. The Harvard Press reports:
Sweeney ran his refrigerator, freezer, TV, woodstove fan, and several lights through his Prius, for three days, on roughly five gallons of gas."When it looked like we were going to be without power for awhile, I dug out an inverter (which takes 12v DC and creates 120v AC from it) and wired it into our Prius…These inverters are available for about $100 many places online," he wrote.
The device allowed the engine to run every half hour, automatically charging the car battery and indirectly supplying the required power.
While using a car with an inverter as an emergency source of power is no new thing, the combination of the large battery capacity of the hybrid car and it's modest fuel consumption as a generator is genius. Photo by Beth and Christian.
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