Everything available in my KolleXon !!!: [Lifehacker] 40 New Entries: Affixa Integrates Gmail, Others with Your Desktop for Easy File Attachment [Downloads]

Affixa Integrates Gmail, Others with Your Desktop for Easy File Attachment [Downloads]

Windows only: If you prefer web-based email like Gmail or Yahoo Mail, Affixa seamlessly bridges the gap between the web and your desktop for painless file attachments, mailto links, and more.

Affixa integrates webmail with every corner of your desktop. As you can see in the video, each time you encounter an email situation in Windows, Affixa lets you choose what email account you'd like to use—meaning that you can easily switch between sending an attachment via Outlook for work or your personal Gmail account, for example. Affixa will handle attachments you send to your email from the right-click menu or directly through any applications (like Word's Email option). If your email client has limits on attachment size or file-type, Affixa can upload the attachment to previously mentioned file-sharing webapp Drop.io.

Affixa also allows you to create "baskets" into which you can drag and drop any files, zip them up, and email them quickly and easily.

The application is actually an improved version of previously mentioned gAttach and yAttach, which brought much of the same functionality to Gmail and Yahoo mail accounts individually. If you use Gmail as your main email account, I can't think of a good reason why you wouldn't want to use Affixa.

Affixa is a free download for personal use, Windows only. If you want the full, unlimited functionality, you can upgrade to Affixa's subscription version for rougly $3.

Cox Steps All Over Net Neutrality, Throttling by "Time Sensitivity" [Net Neutrality]

The AP reports that Cox Communications is testing a new way to handle internet congestion. The method:

Cox will give priority to Internet traffic it judges to be time-sensitive, like Web pages, streaming video and online games. File downloads, software updates and other non-time sensitive data may be slowed if there is congestion on the local network

Currently the test is taking place only in Kansas and Arkansas, but it sounds like they're hoping to increase the use of the system. Unfortunately, as weblog TorrentFreak points out:

Cox does not explain what the definition of a congested network is, how often its users can expect to be throttled and more specifically, at what times of the day this is likely to happen. Secondly, it is currently unknown what measures Cox will actually take, and what applications will be used to slow down its customers.

The "time-sensitive" filtering seems arbitrary at best, since you could easily make an argument for and against time sensitivity for virtually every item on Cox's Congestion Management FAQ. Conveniently enough, Cox's time sensitivity criterion just happens to throttle primarily the very same P2P apps that Comcast was ordered to stop throttling. Photo by JasonWalton.

It's Data Privacy Day: Do You Know Where Your Data Is? [Privacy]

Today is Data Privacy Day, during which we're encouraged to reflect on the state of our data and bolster security where we can—so let's take a closer look at our favorite data privacy tips.

Photo by sunside.

We've covered oodles of privacy apps and topics over the years at Lifehacker, but here are some of our personal favorites:

Data Encryption: Encrypt Your Hard Drives with TrueCrypt
Web Browsing: Tor, Tor, Tor, Tor! Okay, so the anonymous browsing network, Tor, is our first answer, but there are also plenty of other methods you can employ to bolster your browsing privacy at work.
Secure Password Management: Try securely tracking your passwords with KeePass (grab some of these great plug-ins for an even better KeePass)—you can even sync your secured passwords across computers.
Securely Delete Files: There are so many tools out there capable of securely wiping files and hard disks. We've covered Eraser, Darik's Boot and Nuke, DP Shredder, the Windows File Shredder, and Permanent Eraser (for Macs), to name a few.
Encrypt Your Communication: We've shown you how to encrypt your email using Thunderbird as well as Gmail. If you get all antsy at the thought of unencrypted instant messages, we've also shown you how to encrypt your IMs with Pidgin (formerly GAIM).
Protect Your File Sharing Habits: You don't have to do a lot of eye-patch related file sharing (*ahem*) to want want to protect your privacy from snoops. Our intermediate guide to BitTorrent includes a section on protecting your file-sharing privacy with PeerGuardian2, but we also went more in-depth with PG2 when we covered how to protect your privacy when downloading. It's not foolproof by any means, but it's better than nothing.

Now that you've seen how we like to go secure, we're curious about your privacy measures. Do you secure your private data? All of it? Let's hear more about how you handle your data privacy in the comments. For more great privacy tricks, check out our top 10 tips to lock down your data.

Whspr Lets Anyone Send You an Email Without Revealing Your Email Address [Privacy]

Web application whspr! creates a private feedback form that you can share on services like Twitter without revealing your real email address.

Simply enter your real email address, a description of what the form is for, and the number of days you want the form to be active. Once completed, you'll be given a URL to the form to share with others. This application could be useful for job postings, blog contests or giveaways—pretty much anything where you'd like email responses but don't want to give out an email address.

If you want to send private messages instead of receiving them, check out previously mentioned Whisper Bot, or you can send your awkward messages anonymously with NiceCritic.

The Most Ticketed Cars on the Road [Cars]

ISO Quality Planning, a company specializing in helping insurance companies identify risk, has compiled a list of the most heavily ticketed vehicles on the road, and lead feet everywhere can check it out.

Photo by davidsonscott15.

The group analyzed traffic data on 1.7 million drivers and established the probability of a driver of a given line of vehicles being ticketed. The Hummer and Scion tC dominated the list, receiving 463% and 460% over the average, respectively. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Jaguar XJ sedan and the Chevrolet Suburban attracted a mere 11% and 16% of expected tickets. Given that both the Hummer and the Jaguar are high-cost vehicles, it flips the idea that a huge price tag automatically means more police attention.

The president of ISO Quality Planning Raj Bhat offered this theory when questioned about the Hummer's ranking on the list:

"The sense of power that Hummer drivers derive from their vehicle may be directly correlated with the number of violations they incur, or perhaps Hummer drivers, by virtue of their driving position, are less likely to notice road hazards, signs, pedestrians and other drivers."

Whether Hummer drivers truly have a subconscious ownership of the road, or if it's just hard to blend into traffic when you're speeding in a 4-plus-ton rig, is grounds for another study altogether. While the surest way to avoid seeing the blue and red lights is to follow all traffic regulations and being a safe and courteous driver (thanks, mom!), it's worth considering at car-buying time that the model you're looking at carries a strong potential for drawing the attention of law enforcement. If, despite your best driving, you end up bright lights of a traffic stop, check out our tips on how to beat a speeding ticket. For more details on the ticket chart, check out the MSN roundup below, or our gearhead sibling Jalopnik's own take on the results.

An Expert's Guide to Napping [Napping]

There's nothing like the restorative power of a nap to bolster your energy, mood, and productivity, but if you want to get the most from your naps, there's plenty of room for improvement. Photo by Daveybot.

The Guardian examines the best practices for napping, covering everything from optimal nap time (anywhere from 20 to 120 minutes, depending on what you want from it) to the right time for you to take your siesta:

To determine the best time to nap, it helps to know your "chronotype". What time would you get up and go to sleep if you were entirely free to plan your day? If you're a lark, apt to wake as early as 6am and go to sleep around 9pm or 10pm, you're going to feel your nap need around 1pm or 1.30 pm.

If you're an owl, preferring to go to bed after midnight or 1am, and to wake around 8am or 9am, your afternoon "sleep gate" will open later, closer to 2.30pm or 3pm.

We've covered our fair share of napping guides in the past (I've always been partial to the caffeine nap), but it's always nice to get a refresher on the why's and how's of nature's most glorious treat, the nap. Thanks DrewB

Update: The Guardian's napping guide appears to be a mostly text version of the previously mentioned cheat sheet for power naps, but hey—it never hurts to have a refresher. Still, the original cheat sheet version comes complete with great graphics, so I'd recommend checking it out first.

SearchLoad Options Fixes Firefox Search Annoyances [Downloads]

Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Firefox extension SearchLoad Options adds a couple of useful and much-needed tweaks to power up the search bar.

After installation, the new settings panel can be accessed through the new Search Options item on the search menu, with tweaks that include clearing the search box after a certain number of seconds, resetting the search provider to the default, or controlling whether search results are loaded in the current or a new tab. Loading search results in a new tab is nothing new, and can be accomplished through the previously mentioned Tab Mix Plus extension or a built-in tweak, but the options to clear the search box and reset the search provider to default can be quite useful for doing quite one-off searches via another search provider, since you no longer need to reset the search to Google every time. SearchLoad Options is a free download, works anywhere Firefox runs.

Find Images by Exact Dimensions, Make Wallpaper Search a Breeze [Google School]

Everyone knows that Google Image Search sports a drop-down menu for filtering results by small, medium, large, and extra large sizes, but if you're looking for the perfect wallpaper, for example, the imagesize operator is even better.

Weblog Design Live uncovers the undocumented search operator (that's also new to us) and demonstrates how to use it. Just use the imagesize operator followed by the WidthXHeight in pixels, like so:

Here's an example: [imagesize:640x480 muffin] finds 640px x 480px images related to muffins.

As the post points out, the imagesize operator is perfect for finding wallpapers that are the perfect fit for your screen.

DP Shredder Securely Shreds Your Files [Downloads]

Windows only: DP Shredder scrubs files, folders, and free disk space with Department-of-Defense-approved methods. Completely stand-alone and small, DP Shredder is a great addition to your flash drive toolbox.

After selecting the disk, folder, or file you want to securely delete with DP Shredder, you can select the method and number of times the method will be applied. You can use a basic overwrite with all zeros, pseudo-random blocks of data, or opt to use more robust methods. DP Shredder can wipe with the power of US DoD 5220.22.M ECE 7X—which, if you must know, deletes the files, overwrite all locations with a character, its complement, then a random character followed by an overwrite, and it's repeated seven times. At the end of a single round, every bit of data you've deleted has been over-written 49 times.

If you need more assurance that your data is gone, it's time to break out the drill and find a far-away landfill or e-cycling center. If you're using a Mac and want to do some similarly secure disk wiping, check out the previously reviewed Permanent Eraser. DP Shredder is freeware, Windows only.

FavIconizer Brings Missing Favicons Back [Downloads]

Windows only: System utility FavIconizer fixes your Internet Explorer bookmarks, bringing back missing Favions to your favorites toolbar.

Using the application (which requires no installation) is as simple as pushing the Find missing FavIcons button. Your bookmarks will be scanned and any missing icons will be populated, or you can choose to rescan all of the links in case Google updates their favicon again. This utility might come in handy for Internet Explorer users frustrated with icons disappearing randomly over time, or not showing up in the first place.

FavIconizer is a free download, Windows with Internet Explorer only. Firefox users can customize any favicon with the previously mentioned Favicon Picker extension.

The Five Best iPhone Apps for Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions [Resolutions]

Last weekend we suggested 10 tools for sticking to your New Year's Resolutions. Those with an iPhone or iPod touch, though, have a few additional, always-available tools for keeping up the good self-improvement fight.

Here's our list of five apps that make tracking, remembering, and motivating your resolutions easier than willpower alone. All of them (except RunKeeper) run on both iPhones and iPod touch models.

RunKeeper for motivating your run

Running is one of, if not the best, exercise plan for those who like immediate, measurable proof of their progress. RunKeeper, a free app that Adam used to roll his own Nike+ iPhone for free, is the data-hound's running companion. Using the iPhone's GPS powers, where and how far you went is mapped out (if with a few glitches), your calories burned and average speed marked, and it can all be searched through and/or synced to the RunKeeper web site. For a similar solution with a different mix of strengths and features, try Fitnio. (RunKeeper Free and Pro)

Weightbot for, well, your weight

For just $2, you can grab an app that makes measuring your body weight sort of (seriously) fun. The previously toured iPhone/iPod touch app has a really slick look to it, and takes your weight down in tenths-of-a-pound increments, along with auto-calculating your Body Mass Index. Your day-by-day progress can be graphed out and tracked against a goal weight, and if you're concerned about friends prone to "Ooh, let me see your iPhone apps!" fever, Weightbot can be password locked before giving away the stats. (Store link)

Remember the Milk for everything else

This one's a bit pricier, but you're getting more than just a nagging reminder to do this or don't do that. With a $25/year Remember the Milk Pro account, its iPhone/iPod touch app (which offers 15 free days to any account) gives you pretty much complete access to all your lists, tasks, alerts, reminders, and whatever resolution you're plugging in. Plus, using geo-location features, you can goad yourself into stopping by Goodwill to finally drop off those clothes, since you're already shopping in the neighborhood. As noted in its Top 10 entry, though, RTM's real benefit is that it syncs itself everywhere at all times. So remembering to buy a better paper filing box while you're at your desk can pay off the next time you're in an OfficeMax. (store link)

iOwn to stop hoarding stuff

Most of us can probably do with a little less stuff, and we're all prone to buying things we already own—I'll point you to a drawer full of barely-used duct tape, if you'd like. iOwn is a one-stop spot for keeping track of those things you always tend to buy more of, or just want to have more details about the stuff you already have at your fingertips (does the DVD player take component cables, or just S-Video?). You can give any item as many attributes as you'd like, and the full $5 version lets you store, and backup online, as many items as you can think of (the free, Lite version is a 10-item trial). It's pitched as a total-home organizer, but if you've just got one collection or acquisition habit you're looking to reign in—spices, music, photo frames, whatever—it's pretty indispensable. (via LA Times Blogs; iOwn free and lite links)

Mint for managing your money

Mint.com's a streamlined webapp for graphing, tracking, budgeting, and otherwise keeping tabs on your money. Its free iPhone/iPod companion is no less a handy tool, and it's just as secure and informative. Check your basic balances, browse your last few days' cash flow, and peek at multiple budgets you set up for yourself from a series of sliding screens. If you fear losing your device and opening up your financial world to the thief, you can remotely deactivate the read-only tool from your Mint.com profile. If you can get your head around Mint's money management, you'll really benefit from this app. (Store link)

That's our flight of five apps, but we want to hear what free or paid iPhone/iPod apps work for goals and resolutions. Share the app names in the comments.

AdSweep Blocks Ads in Google Chrome and Opera [Downloads]

AdSweep is a user script that blocks a good number of ads on some major websites, and works from a simple file you plug into your Opera or Google Chrome files.

The instructions for installing the single AdSweep.user.js file in your Opera or Chrome browser are laid out step-by-step on AdSweep's main page. Opera users have a mostly graphical process, while Chrome users will have to check their version and then make a few tweaks to enable user scripts. The site notes that AdSweep will work for Firefox as well, along with Safari and Internet Explorer with some third-party add-ons, but each of those platforms has their own ad-blocking solutions, like Firefox's uber-popular Adblock Plus. Chrome users can also use a proxy solution like the previously detailed Privoxy to get annoying ads out of their way.

We have to say it—the site you're reading right now is, of course, supported by advertising, and we'd ask that you keep them displayed if you dig what we do here. But AdSweep is pretty easily tweaked with, since it's just one file, and can be used for blocking of extremely annoying ads. It's a free download, works where Opera and Chrome can install. Thanks, Saša!

Folder-RSS Monitors Folder Changes Through RSS [Downloads]

Windows only: If you're already using your feed reader to check for site updates, why not use it to get alerts when a folder changes on your system?

Folder-RSS is a small application that allows you to specify a folder and how you want that folder to be monitored. Using the command line—the author includes a sample batch file and a detailed list of the command line parameters—you can set it to monitor a whole directory or just certain sub-folders, set filters for specific file types, and limit the age of changed files monitored. If you mess up on the terminal syntax, Folder-RSS pops up a detailed menu of the right way to type your preferences.

Once you've set up Folder-RSS, you can plug the location of the .XML file into any local feed reader. To use a remote feed reader such as Google Reader you'll need to provide some way for the remote server to access the file on your computer—one way would be setting up a home web-server to host your feed.

Folder-RSS currently requires scheduling on your system, so you'll need to specify how frequently you want it run using Windows Task Scheduler or an alternative scheduling application like the previously reviewed Freebyte. Folder-RSS is freeware, Windows only.

Shift and Right-Click to Expand Windows 7's Send To Menu [Right-click]

Lifehacker contributor and tireless Windows tweaker How-To Geek points out at his own blog that, just as with Vista, holding down the Shift key while right-clicking in Windows 7 gives you a fuller range of options. The expanded list of send to spots is simply every directory in your user account folder, but Geek also explains how to add your own send-to destinations.

Muxtape Reborn as Band-Driven Mixtape Site [Playlists]

Muxtape, the previously mentioned online playlist creator, has re-launched with a focus on letting (mostly indie) bands share their own songs. Former users can log in, but won't have access to their old playlists.

The launch of Muxtape 2.0 is still promising, though, as it allows artists like Girl Talk, Reggie Watts, and others to create their own pages and share tracks in a much more eye-friendly way than, well, other band-focused networks. Access to all bands will open up shortly, and if you're missing Muxtape 1.0's minimalist, any-MP3-you-want streaming style, you can roll your own Muxtape with Opentape.

How Offline Gmail Decides Which Messages to Download [Gmail Labs]

When you enable Offline Gmail, the new service doesn't actually download all your messages—just about 10,000 of them. And Gmail has its own method of determining which messages it stores for serious email fiends.

Todd Jackson, Gmail's product manager, gave CNET's Webware that 10,000 email figure. And Googlers who work on Gmail posted the same 10K estimate, while offering an explanation of their "heuristic" algorithm that tries "not to download uninteresting conversations."

The short version: Offline Gmail estimates a time span that covers about 10,000 messages and almost all of that period. It definitely syncs any label that's not too huge, was recently updated, and has some history, including the nearly-guaranteed Starred and Drafts sections. It skips un-labeled Trash and all the Spam, and any label that's mostly unread.

Here's the longer, official post on the syncing method:

Synchronization is based on the date of conversations. The system estimates a period of time to cover (at least 1 week in length) that results in approximately 10,000 messages being downloaded. For an average user, this means Gmail will end up downloading several years of mail.

Additionally, we'll download any conversation marked with a label that contains less than 200 conversations, has at least one conversation that has been received in the last 30 days and also has at least one conversation that's outside the estimated time period. For many users, this list of labels will include Starred and Drafts.

Finally, the system determines a list of labels to exclude conversations from being downloaded. For example, Trash and Spam are always in this list, along with any label that contains mostly unread conversations (unread count greater than 99%). So, we won't download a conversation if it contains only labels in this list. A typical Trashed message will not be downloaded, but a Trashed message that contains the label "alpha" will.

Knowing that might give some of use reason to clean out our Gmail accounts and start emptying our inboxes with better labeling systems.

Would having only 10,000 messages backed up locally cover only a portion of your inbox? How does Gmail's choosing methods match up with your email use? Tell us your take in the comments.

Gmail Goes Offline with Google Gears [Gmail Labs]

Today Gmail Labs released a new feature that bridges the gap between desktop and web-based applications like never before: Offline Gmail. You can now access your Gmail from your browser any time, whether or not you're online.

Offline Gmail uses Google Gears to download all of your email to your desktop (every last gigabyte). Using Gmail in offline mode is exactly the same as using it normally—except that when offline mode is enabled in your browser, Gmail is that much faster.

Composing emails in offline mode puts them in your outbox, and those emails are automatically sent once you're back online. Offline Gmail even has a very cool (though poorly named) "flaky connection mode," which is sort of like a middle ground between online and offline Gmail. While in flaky connection mode:

[Gmail] uses the local cache as if you were disconnected, but still synchronizes your mail with the server in the background. Our goal is to provide nearly the same browser-based Gmail experience whether you're using the data cached on your computer or talking directly to the server.

The upshot to flaky connection mode is that your computer doesn't have to hit Google's servers to access old emails, which generally will mean a faster, more responsive inbox.

I've been using Offline Gmail for a few months now, and I noticed the speed differences immediately. It takes a while for Gears to download all of your old email, naturally, but once it has, it keeps your offline cache in sync with your online email pretty seamlessly. Check the offline Gmail FAQ for more, and if you give it a try, let's hear how it's working for you in the comments.

Four Experimental Extensions to Power Up Firefox [Downloads]

You can find a lot of great stuff on the bleeding edge, and Firefox extensions are no exception. Here are four add-ons for the browser that aren't officially approved, but worth checking out.

As noted in the headline, the extensions we're pointing to are both unapproved by Firefox's maker, Mozilla, and require creating an account or logging into it. And none of them should be installed on the copy of Firefox you use at the NSA or nuclear research center, and should otherwise have their benefits weighed against some potential crashing or browser malfunction. That said, most experimental extensions are just waiting for a final go-ahead from Mozilla, and can be pretty darned useful.

URL Alias

URL Alias is yet another add-on that puts one of Chrome's best features in Firefox, by enabling short keyword searches from the address bar. All it takes is adding an "alias" into a preference window, like so:

flickr http://flickr.com/photos/%s

Now typing flickr whatshisnamefrank gets you to whatshisnamefrank's Flickr photostream. You can, of course, just setup up straight alias keywords, like lh http://lifehacker.com", and have the address bar perform searches from your default search engine (that alias would be * http://google.com/search?q= for most folks). Pretty great stuff, and it nearly closes the interface gaps between Firefox and Chrome's browser bars. We're hoping to see this one wrapped up and approved soon.

Granted, Firefox already has support for keyword bookmarking (in fact, Adam swears by it), but URL Alias provides a streamlined, all-keyboard approach to adding new keyboard shortcuts.

Open in Google Docs

Does exactly what it says, through Firefox's right-click menu. When you come across a link to a Word doc, PowerPoint presentation, Excel spreadsheet, or pretty much any file Google's online office suite can handle, right-click and hit "Open in Google Docs" to send it there. You can get a more fully-fledged handle on web documents, with support for the competing Zoho suite and online editors like Picnik, from the previously mentioned Open It Online, but Open in Google Docs is perfect for its very specific shuttling service.

bit.ly preview

This one's great if you run into a lot of shortened URLs, especially bit.ly, a URL shortening tool that we like for its traffic-watching abilities (as well as Gmail functionality). The bit.ly preview Firefox extension provides hover-over previews of page titles and URL for pretty much any shortened URL from any service—tinyURL, snipURL/snurl, and so on. If any user made a bit.ly URL from the same page, it shows that link traffic, as well as the click-through traffic on any bit.ly URL you hover over. The time you save from following disappointing links from your Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace friends is yours once again.

Google Keyboard Shortcuts

Another real simple, real useful Google product tweaker, though more universally helpful. With Google Keyboard Shortcuts installed, you can use your up and down arrow keys to scroll through your results, and hit Enter to launch the link, or Control+Enter to pop it into a new tab. That's pretty much it, but it's a nice way to keep your hands on the keys. Google provides its own switch-on experiment with similar features, but that goes away every time you log out or choose a different add-on feature. This one sticks around, and might make it easier to focus on one result at a time.

Got your own extension with a pink-hued page that's worth an unofficial install? By all means, tell us about it in the comments.

Do Widescreen Monitors Hamper Producitivity? [Ask The Readers]

The bigger-is-better attitude is rarely debated when discussing monitor sizes, but not everyone is in love with the trend towards widescreen monitors. What if all that width is largely wasted?

Rafe Needleman, a contributor at the gadget blog Crave, has this to say about wide-screen monitors:

Like reading a page of text or a book, most Web sites are set up with strong vertical orientation. That works for text-based material, since wide lines of text, longer than about 60 characters, become hard to read (the reader has a hard time finding the beginning of the next line). What happens with modern "stretchy" sites or apps that let the user read text in a widescreen format where line lengths get long? Pages get tiring or hard to read.

He goes on to note that many arguments supporting widescreen monitors are based on the benefit of putting two applications side by side on the same monitor, but that most monitors have a fairly small number of vertical pixels and that it's a poor compromise. Certainly the number of tips we've shared on how to make your widescreen more functional—making Google reader widescreen, optimizing Firefox for widescreen, and how to micromanage your widescreen, to name a few—shows that widescreen monitors definitely require a little tweaking and adaptation to hit their productivity stride. But are widescreen monitors really as unproductive as Needleman suggests? Sound off in the comments below about your unholy love for or deep frustration with your widescreen monitor. Photo by Timothy J.

SendVia Changes SMTP Servers On the Fly [Downloads]

Thunderbird only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Experimental Thunderbird extension SendVia changes your outgoing SMTP mail server on the fly while composing a message.

Using the extension is as simple as opening a new message window and selecting your SMTP server from the list, or adding a new one on the fly with the handy New SMTP Server item, which saves to your account settings for next time—a feature the more well known SmtpSelect extension doesn't have. This extension is useful for anyone that moves their laptop around, as SMTP servers are often blocked by internet service providers to combat spam, and taking a trip to account settings each time is a serious annoyance.

SendVia is a free experimental add-on (meaning you will need a username and password to download it from Mozilla Add-ons). For more useful tweaks for your email experience, see Gina's list of 8 killer extensions for Thunderbird.

Save Money with Quick and Easy Homemade Granola [Food]

Everybody's scrimping and saving these days; unfortunately eating well and eating cheap can feel like mutually exclusive goals. (There's a reason fast food joints are recession-proof.) The Amateur Gourmet details an easy recipe for baking your own homemade granola that's looks relatively healthy (compared to fast food, at least—though you could certainly cut out some of the sugar), delicious, and inexpensive. Got a favorite homemade moneysaver that you've been relying on during the recession? Let's hear about it in the comments.

Track Your Spending with Gmail and Google Docs [Money]

If you're looking to keep a closer eye on your finances this year and you live and breath Gmail, reader Nick Espinosa has developed a clever method that may be up your alley.

Using Google Docs, Espinosa creates an expense form designed to quickly and painlessly gather expense information and save it to a Google Spreadsheet. He then emails that form to himself and bookmarks that email in Gmail using Gmail Quick Links.

You can submit the Google Doc form directly from the email as many times as you want, so every time he incurs an expense, Espinosa simply opens that email and adds the expense. It's a nice little system for quickly and easily capturing expenses using tools that you're already using every day.

Mobile Firefox Alpha May Release Next Week [Firefox]

A few months back we gave you a sneak peak at Fennec, the innovative version of Firefox for mobile devices, and now it looks like the mobile browser could hit your Windows Mobile device as early as next week. On the first alpha release, Mobile Firefox will target the HTC Touch Pro, so it may not be up to snuff for most WinMo devices, so if you're really aching to test drive Fennec, you can always install and test it on your desktop. [via]

Hive Five Winner for Best People-Search Engine: Pipl.com [Hive Five Followup]

The majority of Lifehacker readers start their hunt for lost acquaintances at Pipl.com. If you're not getting lucky at Pipl, try some good old-fashioned GStalking at the second-place finisher, Google. Coming up short with both Pipl and Google? Poke around with the third-place search app in this week's Hive Five Best People Search-Engines, Facebook—the place where people go to be found.

Avoid Getting Fleeced at Liquidation Sales [Shopping]

They're going out of business! It's a liquidation sale! The prices will be crazy marked down, right? Not necessarily. Read on to avoid getting ripped off by liquidators. Photo by Cosmic Kitty.

Many an unwitting shopper can be lured into a store with an enormous "50% OFF!" sign strung across the storefront. Even more so when the closure of a chain of stores is highly publicized like the recent closure of Circuit City. Unfortunately, the entire process of liquidating the stock of a store is rather deceptive. Walking past the "Everything must go!" signs and picking up a box marked 50% off could actually mean paying full retail.

First, a brief summary of what liquidation is. When a company is facing dire straits or has already hit the wall of bankruptcy they will— either voluntarily or by legal order—try to convert as much of their assets into cold hard cash as possible to pay off debts and hopefully return some money to their stockholders. The process is usually handled by an external company whose sole goal is to turn the pile of assets into profit—and minimize their risk in the process.

What does this mean to you, the consumer? It means that for the first portion of a liquidation sale you'll likely be ripped off. Let's use an HDTV from a fictitious company to illustrate how you're not actually getting the deep discount you think you are.

Last year SuperPow television company released the SuperPow H9000 HDTV. The manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) was $2500. It was sold at HappyBox electronics stores for $2200 when it first came out and as newer models arrived it was eventually sold for $1250. HappyBox has a bad run and ends up filing for bankruptcy. Their inventory is now controlled by a liquidation company. The company responsible for the liquidation advertises that products in the store are deeply discounted, some things are even 50% off already! You walk in to check on the SuperPow H9000 and see that the price is $1250. You remember the TV was really expensive and that seems like a great deal for a nice TV, after all it's 50% off! The only problem is that you're getting 50% off the MSRP, which nobody paid even when the TV was the hottest model on the market. It may be a month or two into a large liquidation before that TV is actually marked down 50% from the actual street value to a wallet-friendly $625—and most likely someone not realizing they aren't getting a very good deal would have bought it well before that. Photo by mobil'homme.

How can you make sure you're not the sucker that the liquidators count on to reap their profit? With a little knowledge and some handy tools, you'll get the most for your money.

Know The Market

Don't go shopping blind. If you're heading to a going-out-of-business sale, take a few minutes to do some cursory research on whatever it is you're looking to buy. Compare prices with price comparison engines like BeatMyPrice and make sure to check out deal-tracking forums like SlickDeals and FatWallet—both were reader favorites for finding the best deals online. You may not even know the exact model you're going to find at the store, but checking deal sites like FatWallet will give you an idea what the general price ranges are for things and what deals can be had on them. A 40" HDTV "marked down" to $1500 won't look so appealing when you know that similar models are going for half that thanks to a little research. Photo by Refracted Moments.

Use Your Phone as a Price Checker

If you have an internet-enabled phone with you, it's easy to compare prices right in the store. The quickest, if least specific, method is to plug the product name or model number into the mobile version of Google Product Search. If you're without internet access but you can text message, you can take advantage of the Amazon/eBay price-comparison mashup provided by MobSaver. Text the ISBN or UPC code of an item to save@mobsaver.com and it sends you back the current prices on Amazon and eBay. When you're really in a bind you can use—as I've often done—the most analog method and call a friend to run a quick price search online for you. A few minutes pecking on your phone or making a call can save you hundreds. Photo by gabofr.

It's never a good sign when companies are shuttering their windows—for the economy or for the displaced workers—but that doesn't mean you should pay extra for their bad luck. Armed with the tips above you'll never be the sucker paying MSRP for 2007's castoffs. If you have your own learned lessons about liquidation sales, sound off in the comments below and help save your fellow readers some cash.

iPhone and iPod touch 2.2.1 Update Available, Fixes Bugs [IPhone]

Apple has just released the 2.2.1 update for iPhones and iPod touches today, complete with various bug-fix promises for Safari, Mail, and the Camera app.

The update applies to all versions (iPhone and iPhone 3G) and most likely to both generations of the iPod touch. (Just plug in your device and hit Update to find out for sure.) It's not a terribly exciting update, so don't expect any cool new features. (Sorry to all you unreasonable folks wanting MMS and copy-and-paste.) If you've jailbroken your iPhone, you should hold tight on the upgrade until we see whether or not 2.2.1 is jailbreakable.

[via]

Select-n-Go Does Inline Contextual Search [Downloads]

Firefox/IE only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Browser extension Select-n-Go integrates inline search results into any page for quick research without all the tab clutter.

Once installed, select any text on the page and a small icon will appear near the mouse that, when clicked, will display an inline framed window with search results from multiple search engines. You can navigate between results from different search engines without leaving the page, handy for quickly doing research on a topic. Since pictures speak better than words, we'll go through a quick screenshot preview of how it works.

The default thumbnail view for Google Images is handy for finding related pictures for a search term.

The simple YouTube view is useful for quickly searching for related videos.

The first thing you'll want to do after installation is to change the activation delay to fit your preference—the default might activate the dialog a little too quickly for your taste.

In the Channels tab, you can choose to enable or disable any channels you don't want to see (Baidu might be an odd choice for english-speaking readers).

This extension could be worth a look for anybody doing research online, although the fly-out window isn't quite as convenient as it could be—in my testing the icon would appear in weird places sometimes. For a similar concept that previews links or media instead, check out previously mentioned CoolPreviews. If you'd rather put your contextual information in the sidebar, the Juice Firefox extension (original post) might be worth a try, or you could just stick with the trusty Context search extension and remember to close the tabs when you are done.

Select-n-Go is a free download, works anywhere Firefox or Internet Explorer does. Except IEs 4 Linux.

QuickCal Creates Accurate Calendar Events with Natural Language [Downloads]

Mac OS X only: Most good calendars apps have some sort of natural language quick-add feature so you can type "dinner tomorrow w/jerry at 8" and expect semi-accurate results. QuickCal is like that, but much, much better.

QuickCal integrates with iCal, so each time you enter a new event, it'll show up in its respective spot in iCal (and, if you're syncing Google Calendar with iCal, it'll go there, too). Probably the best thing about QuickCal is that it analyzes the appointment as you type, so you get a preview of the accuracy of the natural language interpretation before you create the appointment. (I've run into a lot of natural language failures when creating events using other tools, but I never knew it until after the bum event hit my calendar.) Its translation—in my tests, at least—have been dead on, but it's nice to verify the outcome of your event before you create it.

The next best feature QuickCal brings to the table is smart reminders, which it creates based on how far into the future your appointment is. By default, that means that all events are created with a reminder 15 minutes prior to the event. If the event you've created is more than a week away, QuickCal will also set a reminder one day in advance. If it's more than a month away, you'll also get notice one week ahead of time. I love this feature.

The only downside to QuickCal: It's a Dashboard widget. Your feelings may differ regarding the Dashboard, but I'd much rather have a menu bar application that I can invoke with a keyboard shortcut and start typing into instantly. For the functionality, however, I'll gladly move to my Dashboard when necessary. QuickCal is a free download, Mac OS X only. Thanks Pat!

SecureFiles is a Dead Simple Volume Encryption Application [Downloads]

Mac OS X only: Disk image encryption software SecureFiles creates AES-128 encrypted volumes for securing sensitive files without a lot of hassle.

Installing the application is as simple as any OS X application—just drag it to your Applications folder. Once installed, open the main window to create a new disk image and choose whether to allow Spotlight to index the files (they will only show up if the image is mounted). As noted in the Switching to Mac tutorial, you probably will want to uncheck the box for remembering the password since that would make encryption pointless. Using the encrypted disk images is as simple as double-clicking on the image file to mount it.

Security-focused and more tech-savvy individuals will probably want to stick with the previously mentioned cross-platform, open-source TrueCrypt to encrypt their data, but SecureFiles is a great solution for the everyman. SecureFiles is a free download for Mac users only.

GrandCentral Still Alive, New Version Imminent [Google]

Google's one-phone-number-to-rule-them-all web application GrandCentral has been in a closed beta since March of 2008 (shortly after Google acquired it); we've heard almost nothing from GrandCentral since the acquisition, leading many to speculate that the free service was the next Google app on the chopping block. On the contrary, says weblog Google Operating System:

Jeff Huber from Google writes that "a new [GrandCentral] version on new infrastructure will be coming soon."

Thank god—we were worried that Google had bought a promising startup only to let it flounder and die rather than letting said startup flourish on their own. If you don't know what all the hubbub is about, take a look at our screenshot tour of GrandCentral.

CrunchBang is a Speedy, Dark-Themed Linux Desktop [Screenshot Tour]

CrunchBang, an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution that sports a snappy, low-drag interface and is perfect for thumb drives, live CDs, or speed-obsessed Linux fans. Check out how it looks and runs in our screenshot tour.

Getting started is pretty simple. Head to CrunchBang's main site, find the Download section, and grab the main ISO file (from BitTorrent or directly). You can burn it to CD/DVD, load it as a virtual system in VirtualBox/VMWare, or install it on a flash drive with UNetbootin. Put your CD or USB drive into your system, or boot your virtualization tool, and hit Enter at the boot prompt to load the live session of CrunchBang.

The first thing you'll notice is that the default CrunchBang desktop is fairly sparse and almost entirely themed around dark grays and black. There is, however, a pre-loaded Conky on-screen display in the upper-right corner. A full desktop shot is below; click to get the non-thumbnailed full view:

Conky is one of those Linux tools that gets better every time you open it up and poke around. The basic setup in CrunchBang is pretty functional, giving you a list of the (really helpful) Windows key shortcuts (it's called the "Super" key in Linux land) and basic system stats. You can, of course, modify a single text file to customize Conky for ambient productivity, or try out a pre-configured setup out there, like this beautiful, minimalist setup well-liked by readers.

You might boot up with a lower resolution than you'd like, or (more likely) notice that your keyboard is set up for UK fingers. Everything, and we mean everything, in CrunchBang is accessed through a desktop right-click menu, and the organization is pretty helpful. I was fretting about how to take a time-delayed screenshot of the menu, for instance, until I saw that it could be done from the "Graphics" menu:

Peek around, and you'll see that CrunchBang has many of the same default apps as Ubuntu and its lower-scale cousin Xubuntu. I do appreciate their default of VLC Media Player for multimedia files, because it's one of the first things I end up changing on any new Linux install. Here's what a CrunchBang desktop looks like with some of its default apps open (click for bigger image):

Package management is handled through the Synaptic tool familiar to any Ubuntu user. For the most part, any app that works on Ubuntu and doesn't require some specific, graphically-tied tool will work in CrunchBang. Even the tools that requires 3D compositing—like the OS X-like AWN Dock—can be used by a right-click menu switch that enable compositing (seen above).

Finally, if you're not down with the strain-reducing black motif, or you want to change any other aspect of CrunchBang, the Openbox platform has its own configuration tool, obconf, that supports themes and tweaks lots of other stuff:

CrunchBang seems to Just Work on the two systems I tested it on, and it looks like a great fit for an on-the-go desktop for your thumb drive, or replacement for a slow-moving Linux boot. Have you tried CrunchBang and like something in particular? Refuse to give up Puppy or Damn Small Linux? Give us your reviews in the comments.

Make Your Own Easy-Dispense Tape Holder [DIY Creations]

It's deflating to finally find that rare roll of packing tape, only to waste time (and tape) picking and ripping to get it started. This DIY dispenser kills those two birds with one stone.

Instructables user Creativeman made his own quick-dispensing tape organizer with five pieces of wood salvaged from a two-by-four and a few nuts and bolts, but by checking out the piece sizes and reading the comments, you get the idea that any solid materials could be shaped into this kind of project, with or without serious tools. Especially handy around holiday and birthday times, but generally great for anyone who's ever cursed a roll of clear plastic tape that got stuck to itself. Got your own tape tamer creation? Share it in the comments.

DemoHelper Draws on Your Screen [Download]

Windows only: DemoHelper is a tiny (76k!) portable application that creates on-the-fly screen annotations, so you can draw all over your next presentation like a hyperactive Super Bowl announcer.

DemoHelper resides in the system tray, able to be activated and controlled by keyboard shortcuts, even if you're doing the drawing with a mouse pointer. You can draw freehand, use shapes like ovals and arrows, and change colors and objects on the fly. You can also set the screen to erase all the annotations after a set period of time, letting you move ahead without stopping to clear it away. There's also a zoom mode, also activated by user-defined hot keys. For different takes on screen annotation, check out the previously mentioned Screen Marker, which puts your drawing controls on-screen, and the somewhat self-explanatory ZoomIt. DemoHelper is freeware, Windows only.

Will Windows 7 Put a Dent in Linux Growth? [Ask The Readers]

Let's not pretend that a new version of Windows, even one getting great marks, will end an open source OS entirely. But could Windows 7 cut off Linux's potential growth in netbooks and other markets?

Photo by zieak.

That's what Robin Harris at ZDNet seems to think, and he's note alone in spreading the uncertainty. To summate why many pundits see the promising growth of Linux slowing:

Netbooks, especially the very cheap ($200-$400) and small varieties, are seen as a huge growth area for the computer market, as wallets tighten and more computing life moves onto the internet.
Windows 7 has nearly the same, if not a little lower, system requirements than Vista, and seems to be ready for netbooks.
Linux was seeing some surprising popularity on netbooks (surprising for an OS with a normally single-digit share of the desktop market), which could be scuttled if Microsoft turns its marketing/market-pushing forces onto netbook makers.
The average consumer is far more familiar with Windows than Linux, and devices makers are far more likely to provide Windows drivers.

Again, as CrunchGear points out, the stories of Linux's death have been greatly exaggerated and re-told many times before, and the idea of a legion of open-source innovators just giving up their work's ideology and grabbing Windows Live subscriptions is a non-sequitur.

But we do have to wonder: Could a resurgent Windows keep Linux, at least for the time being, as a true hobbyist's desktop? If Linux did/does grow through the netbook market, would average consumers start caring a lot less about having a Microsoft-made machine?

Tell us your take on Linux, netbooks, and that other OS you might have heard about in the comments.

Senate Approves Delaying Digital TV Switch to June 12 [News]

The U.S. Senate on Monday approved a new June 12 date for transitioning to digital television broadcasting, with Congress likely to follow suit. Are you eager for the switch, or waiting on your converter coupon?

Ubuntu Pocket Guide Available as a Free Download [Ubuntu]

In the midst of the current financial crunch, the popular, free Linux distribution Ubuntu has never looked more attractive. If you've considered switching, a free copy of the Ubuntu Pocket Guide is the perfect place to start.

Written by Keir Thomas, author of Ubuntu Kung Fu, Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference covers all the beginner-to-expert knowledge you'll need to make the move to Ubuntu.

We've featured excerpts from Thomas' Ubuntu Kung Fu two times at Lifehacker, and the Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference offers the same level of Ubuntu expertise to anyone interested in or already living the Ubuntu life.

Focuses on core competencies and background knowledge needed to be an expert Ubuntu user;

Readable, accessible, and easy to understand—even if you've never used Linux before;

100% new and original! Written from the ground-up to cover Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10.

Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference is available from Amazon for $10, but—best of all—the book is also available as a free PDF download from the official web site. Can't go wrong with free.

Avoid these Five Common Credit Card Company Tricks [Money]

Even if you've tried reading the fine print from your credit card company, it's rarely obvious what it all means. Weblog Get Rich Slowly takes pity on us, breaking down five common tricks to watch for.

The post breaks down five promises, explaining the trap set up by each promise, then detailing you can avoid it. For example:

Promise #3: "0% APR on balance transfers for 12 months!"

The Trap: Two-fold. First off, it's almost impossible these days to transfer a credit card balance without paying 3% of the balance upfront. Transfer $5000 and you'll pay $150 before we even start talking about paying down the balance.

Second, almost all card companies take your payments and apply them first to balances with the lowest interest rate. Say you transfer $1000 to a card at 0%. The card's interest rate on new purchases is 13.99%. This month you buy $500 worth of stuff with the card, then pay $500 when the bill comes. Do you still have a $1000 balance at 0%? No, you have a $500 balance at 0% and a $500 balance at $13.99%! Why? Because your $500 payment went toward the balance sitting at 0%, not toward the balance sitting at the 13.99%.

Your Plan: A couple of options. The easy thing to do would be to swear off credit for a bit — transfer the balance then don't use the card until it is paid off. (You'd stilll get hit with the 3% fee, but it might be worth it if you had a high interest rate on your old card.)

If you have decent credit and a little more self control, you could get a new credit card that offers a 0% rate on purchases for 12 months, then use it while you pay off your old card's balance. By doing so, you focus on paying off your high-interest debt while floating new purchases at 0%. If you follow my logic, this is very similar to transferring your balance at 0% but without the fee. Either way, recognize that the 0% rate doesn't last forever and the bill eventually comes due.

Be sure to head to the post to school yourself on the other common tricks to be wary of. If you've ever been suckered into a similarly less-than-ideal credit situation, share your experience in the comments. Photo by Andres Rueda.

Jailbreaking On 10.5.6 MacBooks Problematic [IPhone]

Our gadget-gaga siblings at Gizmodo report that you could run into some serious problems if you try jailbreaking your iPhone on a MacBook running OS X 10.5.6, causing serious system freezes. The post details the cause as well as how to solve the problem. Whether you've already jailbroken your iPhone or you're planning to jailbreak your iPhone, be sure to read through Gizmodo's post to be safe.

Ant Renamer is a Lightweight but Powerful Renaming Utility [Downloads]

Windows only: Batch renaming utility Ant Renamer 2 has a simple interface that quickly automates the tedious task of renaming multiple files, saving you from aggravating your carpal tunnel.

To use, simply drag your files into the Files pane, and then select from one of the many available functions in the Actions pane. There are plenty of functions to choose, from changing extensions and string replacement to more advanced tasks like regular expressions or even using the EXIF info from your camera. You can also chain multiple renaming tasks together into a batch, and preview the results back in the Files pane (make sure to use the F5 key to refresh the window after making changes). Once perfected, batches can then be saved for re-use—a great feature for working with downloaded files.

We've featured other Windows renaming utilities on many other occasions, from Bulk Rename Utility to Wildrename to Ken Rename and even a built-in trick to rename files sequentially, but Ant Renamer is an especially lightweight utility that offers a portable edition as a handy addition to your flash drive toolkit.

Ant Renamer 2 is a free download for Windows only. Mac users can check out previously mentioned Name Mangler.

YouTube Cinema Dims the Lights for Your Viewing Pleasure [Downloads]

Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): The YouTube Cinema Firefox extension lowers the lights on any playing YouTube video, removing distracting ads and comments so you can focus on the video.

The popular video sharing site added theater view for select videos a few months ago, but the feature still isn't available for most videos. With YouTube Cinema installed, clicking on a new video opens that video in a custom tab where you can adjust the video size, background color, and view the title and description. The extension works well and is fairly configurable, but it's a little overreaching. For example, it'd be much better if it just mimicked the default Lights Out feature rather than hijacking the expected YouTube experience altogether. Still, if you prefer a video-only view when you're watching videos on YouTube, YouTube Cinema does the trick. YouTube Cinema is a free download, works wherever Firefox does. Alternately, you may want to check out the YouTube Theater feature included in our very own Better YouTube extension.

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