The free, cross-platform application Dropbox—which readers voted the best file syncing tool available—has updated its web interface, adding new and improved navigation and drag-and-drop support for all the files and folders in your Dropbox. If you're looking for ways to put your Dropbox account to good use after the holidays, the photos section of their web interface offers a simple way to get started sharing photos with anyone, whether they use Dropbox or not.
Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Gmail Unread Message Count in Favicon Greasemonkey user script displays your unread message count on the Gmail site favicon.
If you're not familiar with the concept of the favicon, it's the small icon that appears next to the address bar or in the tab and helps identify which sites are open in which tab (like the little 'lh' that Lifehacker uses as its favicon). With this script installed, the favicon gets even more useful by showing your unread count in addition to identifying which tab holds your Gmail account. The unread number glows brighter with each new message you receive, and it maxes out at 10. The improved favicon is a perfect compliment to the previously mentioned FaviconizeTab extension, which strips all the text from tabs so all you're left with is the favicon, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see this incorporated in Better Gmail sometime in the future (it's very similar to the already included Show Inbox Count First script).
It's a simple little script, but it's a brilliant tweak. Gmail Unread Message Count in Favicon is a free download, requires Firefox and the Greasemonkey extension.
Most Popular Top 10's of 2008 "Almost two years later, our weekly listicle, the Lifehacker Top 10, still proves to be one of the most popular posts that publishes here."
Best New and Improved Software of 2008 "Mobile phone operating systems and a reheated web browser war: that's how we'll recall the year 2008 when it comes to software."
Most Underhyped Apps of 2008 "Now that you've seen all the big names and launches of 2008, it's time to give a nod to the apps that didn't get the attention they should have this past year."
Most Popular Desktops of 2008 "Over the past year, we've featured gobs of great desktops submitted by our readers to the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell group on Flickr..."
The Most Popular Linux Posts of 2008 "Only around five percent of Lifehacker's visitors are using the open-source Linux operating system when they stop by, according to our traffic charts, and only one of our editors (ahem) is regularly using it every day."
Most Popular How-To Features of 2008 "From classic topics like Windows tweaking and iPod how-tos to more recent favorites like the iPhone or Wii, our most popular how-to features of 2008 souped up your hardware and squeezed more from your PC."
Most Popular Free Windows Downloads of 2008 "In the past year we've highlighted hundreds of Windows apps aimed at making your life easier, boosting your computer productivity, and powering up your PC."
Most Popular Free Mac Downloads of 2008 "We've featured gobs of great Mac freeware over the course of the year—now it's time to check out the best. Keep reading for a look back at the 10 most popular Mac downloads of 2008."
Most Popular Linux Downloads of 2008 "Along with Windows and Mac downloads, this year was chock-full of free software for Linux users. Read on to see what our readers were eager to grab and install on their free desktops."
Most Popular DIY Projects of 2008 (and All Time!) "When it comes to saving time and money, sometimes the best approach means rolling up your sleeves and doing it yourself. Check out the best DIY projects featured here in 2008 and beyond."
Lifehacker's Most-Discussed Posts of 2008 "It's not our posts but reader comments that make Lifehacker the place to discuss new software and technology. Let's take a look back at the posts that got the most comments in 2008."
Lifehacker's Most Popular Repurposing Posts of 2008 "From empty CD spindles to canvas tote bags to popped-off keyboard keys, do-it-yourselfers find clever ways to modify and reuse common household items. Check out the most popular repurposing posts we published in 2008."
The Great 2008 Reader Poll Results Recap "Lifehacker readers are nothing if not smart and opinionated. Let's take a look back at what you had to say about 2008's biggest tech questions in the top 12 reader polls we ran this year."
Windows only: MoboPhoto is a portable photo suite. The stand alone 1.6MB executable has a basic photo editor, gallery builder, and a batch tool for mass resizing and renaming.
The basic editor is fairly limited in comparison to standard desktop editing suites, but that can be expected in such a tiny portable application. It is sufficient for basic fixes like red eye editing but you won't be doing any fancy touch up work beyond the basics. The gallery builder allows you to generate basic HTML image galleries with thumbnails, again nothing extremely fancy but perfectly serviceable. If you need a more robust and portable image editor, check out GIMP Portable. MoboPhoto is freeware, Windows only.
If you've ever needed to search for text on a page on your iPhone, Safari+ has a bookmarklet with your name on it. Oh, and translation, speed-scrolling, and image displaying are covered too.
In general, the Safari+ bookmarklets offer up the same kind of functionality you'd get in a full-size browser through the magic of specialized JavaScript. Most are unobtrusive and seamless, and some are quite helpful—forcing mobile Safari to open any link in a new window, for example, or displaying all the photos on a page in a single layout. Like similarly helpful bookmarklet-powered tools Pastebud and Instapaper, you'll probably have to manually edit these bookmarks to single out the JavaScript, but it seems worth the point-and-drag effort.
Head to the link below in your mobile Safari browser to install and use the bookmarklets.
Got a typical night of champagne-and-cheering lined up? Impress your hung-over friends tomorrow (or weary co-workers Friday) with a chair made from champagne corks and wire.
Goofy and too clever by half? Yep. Productive? Heck no. But it does make good use of an intriguingly weird bit of scrap, and if your New Year's ends up being memorable, it's a nice little keepsake of a night that can often be hard to remember, for some reason or another.
One of our favorite sources of free downloads, the Freewaregenius blog, posts their top 10 list of lesser-known, "must have" free programs and we're on board with most of the list, which includes Digsby, Everything, Launchy, Xobni, and the KMPlayer.
All platforms with Firefox: The SiteLauncher extension adds a keyboard launcher for your favorite bookmarks in Firefox.
Hit the extension's default launcher shortcut—Ctrl+Alt on my Mac, Ctrl+Space on Windows—then hit the key you see next to your bookmark of choice in the dark prompt panel shown below.
Once you've memorized the keys that go along with your most-used bookmarks, you can just hit the "Direct to Site Hotkey" plus the letter and off you go, no prompt involved. Of course all the URLs and keys associated with them are configurable. Quicksilver lovers will recognize this interface, which is a little easier to get used to than straight-up Firefox bookmark keywords. SiteLauncher is a free download that will work wherever Firefox does; thanks to the creators for including Lifehacker as a default entry.
Speaking of living with less, techie Rick Jelliffe reports on his year-long experiment of "living smaller" in 2008—a year in which he worked less, made less, and stressed out a lot less.
Jelliffe writes:
I caught public transport only. I got rid of extra lightbulbs. I baked my own bread. I froze my own dumplings. I didn't buy any gadget. I didn't buy any CD. I didn't get a flatscreen TV. No home phone; no home internet; no cable TV; no new art; no gin. I only took one international trip (which was quite important) and two domestic flights (to my dear parent's 80th birthdays) but turned down several work opportunities that involved flying, even though it meant less satisfactory participation at SC34 WG1. I let my passport lapse. ... This leads to a very placid lifestyle: I don't think I have ever been less engaged with the rat race, and at the same time, less restless (outside office hours.)
While Jelliffe's approach was pretty extreme (no home internet! or working contact lenses!) the concepts behind the experiment are solid and timely, given the current financial meltdown. Jelliffe says the experiment is over for him in 2009—he's getting new contact lenses.
Reader Greg's biggest timesaver of 2008 reduces his trips to the office printer with a simple Automator workflow on his Mac.
Greg writes:
I work in a research lab with a shared printer that takes me around two minutes to walk to and from after printing something (desk, hallway, door, hallway, door, hallway, photocopier, hallway, door, hallway, swipe badge for access to door, hallway... you get the idea). So instead of getting up every time I had to print something, I started queuing what I wanted to print into a file called 'To Be Printed' on my hard drive. Then I created a program (in Automator, since I really have no background regarding programing) to grab the documents, print them, then trash them automatically. I put a link right to the program on my dock. Less walking, but also less hassle!
Check out the workflow, pictured above, to make one for yourself. Nice job Greg! You just earned yourself a signed copy of our latest book, Upgrade Your Life.
In 2008, power users tested a parade of new webapps and software bearing the "beta" disclaimer. Take a look at the beta releases that knocked your socks off the most this past year.
Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" and "Intrepid Ibex" New Ubuntu releases always score high on the interest-o-meter for free software advocates, and the beta releases of version 8.04 "Hardy Heron" and 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" were no different.
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 Mozilla and Google aren't the only companies working on a new browser. This little organization called Microsoft still holds the majority marketshare of browser usage, and the next iteration of Internet Explorer— IE 8 Beta 1—is a preview of what the rest of the world will be using on to browser the web next year.
XBMC Atlantis Though it graduated from beta this past November, the public beta of XBMC Atlantis' promise to bring the favorite open-source media player to all hardware got lots of interest and attention.
Ubiquity Firefox Extension Prototype One of the most interesting bits of browser innovation we saw this year, the Ubiquity prototype adds key commands and webapp integration that makes you go "ok, we're living in the future." See the Ubiquity video demonstration to get a preview.
Firefox with Greasemonkey (All platforms): YouTube Buffer Video prevents clips on YouTube from auto-playing, letting you buffer entire videos and prevent annoying snags when bandwidth is tight.
There's already a Greasemonkey script for this problem, YouTube Alternate Video Player, included in our Better YouTube Firefox extension, that replaces YouTube's JavaScript player with FlowPlayer to prevent auto-playing. This script, however, does it natively and, perhaps, without any third-party drag on loading.
I did encounter one or two clips out of a dozen tested that still managed to start playing when a link was clicked, and, at least in my browser, mousing over the video with Buffer Video enabled blacks it out. But if you're looking for a lightweight way to get better control over your streaming, this script is just about right.
YouTube Buffer Video is a free download, requires Firefox with the Greasemonkey extension/scripting engine to run.
The post notes that two other statements by Google—about Picasa launching "later this year" and "larger presentations" at Macworld—point to exactly this kind of launch, and, for all the comments we've seen around here whenever Picasa is mentioned, it would certainly rank as an attention-getter at a conference where Steve Jobs won't be making a big splash.
A Lifehacker Australia reader writes in with a tale of woe involving forgotten car keys, but with a surprising ending involving a laptop and a helpful locksmith.
Basically, Mark's overseas girlfriend, who had his car keys, sent him a scanned picture of the lost keys in question. Since standard keys are often made with just a series of bump/depth numbers, a patient, helpful locksmith with a bit of savvy was able to cut him a new set.
It might not fly with some locksmiths, but if you know a good one, or have the time to avoid a hefty on-site visit, it's worth keeping in mind—and maybe worth keeping a few pics in an accessible place online.
If you need a logo but you're lacking the design chops to whip one up, score a free one at LogoInstant.
LogoInstant is a design service that cranks out a new logo every day. The logos are completely free for both personal and commercial use and come in a layered Adobe Photoshop source file so you can edit the name or make more advanced changes. For more logo resources, check out LogoYes a flash based logo creator.
Wired's How-To Wiki gets advice from a neuroscientist on how to hear your cellphone better in a loud crowd, whether indoors or outside. By covering the mouthpiece, you'll eliminate hearing the noise around you pitched back at you through the speaker, and your brain will have a clearer shot at singling out the voice on the line. Just remember to take your thumb off the mouthpiece before talking again, of course. Photo by gwaar.
Windows only: Ketarin is a great thing for any traveling tech support worker, as it can easily keep a folder or USB drive full of installation packages up to date.
The open-source, no-install-needed app works just fine as a go-between for your thumb drive or utilities folder and FileHippo, as it can automatically check the popular download site for new installers of your favorite apps with a simple URL copy/paste. If you're looking to keep an app not on FileHippo up to date, Ketarin's got you covered—you can point it at any download location and help it work through any variables an app maker might use to change up the names of their packages. In other words, if AwesomeApp1234.exe updates to AwesomeApp1250.exe, Ketarin can read the site and figure that out if you've told it to look for AwesomeApp{version}.exe.
Ketarin can do a lot more than version switching, of course, and it's well explained in the how-to/tutorial. There's even command line functionality for those looking to automate its functions.
Ketarin's not for upgrading your system's regularly-used apps, but if your visit home for the holidays makes you wish you'd packed a few relative-aiding apps on your thumb drive, it's a handy power tool. Ketarin is free and for Windows systems only. Thanks, Adam!
We asked our editors and contributors to create a blue-sky wishlist for all things productivity and software in 2009. Read on for their responses, and to contribute your own do-wants for the new year.
We asked our respondents to be realistic—more "Gmail gets better RSS features" than Brain-Reading Omega Organizer—but also think in broader terms about what would help them get more things done, or just live their lives a bit easier. Here's what they had to say: Photo by le.
Gina Trapani Editor
Stronger filters and easier ways to hear from people and about things I care about, like:
Facebook friend prioritization based on communication frequency, auto-prioritizing mentions of stuff I like (like "triathlon" or "Mad Men").
Auto-email smarts—make that important message from the boss or my Mom jump out because I've established that this is a VIP-to-me without manually setting up a filter.
Better contact unification and management all around, so I know that Kevin Purdy on Facebook is this guy who emailed me is this guy on Twitter is this guy in my Mac's Address Book is this guy who's in this photo.
More cloud computing and data storage, but also more privacy and security around it, like:
A faster, better way for Google to verify your identity and restore revoked account access (so fewer Google Account lockouts with delayed restoration).
Easier ways to identify what info I want to share with whom (like my location).
A personal data-sharing audit: like a credit report, a list of what apps/services/etc are requesting and getting private details about me and how often.
Random feature requests:
(Of course!) Copy and paste on the iPhone, and better homescreen customization on the iPhone, a la Android.
Android on more (and better) handsets.
Extensions in Chrome (that's coming!).
GrandCentral to come out of invite-only beta.
Windows 7 to right all the wrongs that Vista incurred on Windows users.
Kevin Purdy Associate Editor
Extensions in Chrome—if only for better tab control, Foxmarks, and the (thankfully) inevitable Remember the Milk add-on.
A few Linux (or Ubuntu-specific) fixes, like better dual-monitor support when using graphics accelerators, a less-buggy Avant Window Navigator, consistent font rendering and notifications, and improved Office 2007 support in WINE/CrossOver. (But, really, that's it!)
More and better Android-based handsets on different carriers—or, hey, just port over Lenovo's O-phone to the U.S., por favor.
A seamless app for creating passwords using a scheme (like Gina's system), storing and encrypting them, and then pasting them into any on-screen app—basically, the security-plus version of Texter.
A serious revolution in battery power and recharging efficiencies—even if it's only a laptop revolution. The blog-from-anywhere fantasy really falls apart after the first dozen times you have to do the Coffee Shop Outlet Stalk.
A minimum of three hours studying and practicing the art and craft of knife sharpening. Because there are 40 major opinions on how to do it, but only one way to know for sure.
Jason Fitzpatrick Weekend Editor
"I want more data portability and interoperability. I don't want to have to upload things multiple times to different sites. I don't want to check multiple inboxes. I don't want to have three voicemail boxes. I don't want to feel like I'm constantly handling and rehandling data, contacts, etc. .... For an over stretched professional it's just too big of a pain in the ass to try out something new (that may end up being very helpful and revolutionize your workflow) if it means hours or days of wrangling data from one system to another and so on ... Unless my mom can set up a unified inbox without calling me and eventually having me come over and help her do it, I don't consider it a practical solution
On a related note... I love seeing things emerge like GPS enabled to-do lists that remind you when you're in physical proximity to the task at hand and so forth. I want to see that pushed further and further. I want a personal digital assistant that makes suggestions. I want to feel like the real power of modern computers, the cloud, and the enormous amount of data out there is being harnessed. car shopping, etc."
Wendy Boswell Lifehacker Alumnus, About.com Web Search Guide
"I would love to see an application developed that's similar to OpenID, except for job search engines and job search sites. My husband is currently looking for a new position (sys admin, any takers? Bueller? Bueller?) and it's extremely tiresome to fill out forms over and over. Sure, Roboform works in some cases, but for the most part it doesn't.
I'd also love for Google to include more clustering in their search results, much like Clusty or Ask.com. This would definitely cut down on the spammy results that seem to be more and more prevalent, and would certainly be more effective than the latest Google "innovation" of voting results up or down."
"I've never been one to rely on technology for my productivity. I'm not into finding the next, best GTD application, for example. Most of my productivity comes from good, old-fashioned elbow grease. I find a little hard work and discipline every day more helpful than any Gmail trick, to-do application or keyboard short cut. Having said all of that, I'm really looking forward to seeing software, like Cultured Code's Things, work really well on my iPhone. I'm spending more and more time away from my laptop (aka my Back Up Brain) and I need my mobile device of choice to carry more of the weight. I've got high hopes for 2009 being a year where mobile software (iPhone- and productivity-specific or not) really comes into its own."
"In 2009, I'd love to see more anti-technology technology: applications that don't add a supposed "layer of convenience" on top of my existing tools, but actually pull a layer out from the middle, simplifying rather than offering flexibility or functionality. For instance, I don't want more information about my Twitter or email, I want fewer places to not only check but interact with (preferably relevant) incoming messages.
Much as I enjoy software that adds nuance to my workflow, I'd love to see more tools that take little nurturing but manage to decrease the amount of time I spend overall, much like a pill that you take every day, recognizing its essential value without working too hard to get it."
Jason Womack Contributor, performance trainer, consultant
"Do you know how sometimes people sit in meetings and don't give their full attention to the discussion topics? The 'Killer Productivity App' of 2009 would be less a gadget, and more a mindset—a mantra, really:
'I'm easily capturing next actions and multi-step projects as they appear.'
Any tool or system that I see work – that is a tool or system that people actually work – must incorporate that focus. So, going into the next 12 months, I personally am going to be working over time to manage my words...to promise AND deliver, every time."
Your take
That's what our own stable of productivity and software thinkers came up with for their 2009 wishlists. What do you really want to see in the new year? Is it a specific app or gadget, a system that could use a reboot, or something that's just not there? Tell us about it in the comments, and we'll round up the best responses for a future post.
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The free, cross-platform application Dropbox—which readers voted the best file syncing tool available—has updated its web interface, adding new and improved navigation and drag-and-drop support for all the files and folders in your Dropbox. If you're looking for ways to put your Dropbox account to good use after the holidays, the photos section of their web interface offers a simple way to get started sharing photos with anyone, whether they use Dropbox or not.
Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Gmail Unread Message Count in Favicon Greasemonkey user script displays your unread message count on the Gmail site favicon.
All of us here at Lifehacker wish you a safe and happy New Year. Just in case you missed any of our best-of posts this month, have a recap.
Power Meter Plus [Matt Collinge]
Two big updates coming to the Android/G1 phone—the 
If you've ever needed to search for text on a page on your iPhone, Safari+ has a bookmarklet with your name on it. Oh, and translation, speed-scrolling, and image displaying are covered too.
Got a typical night of champagne-and-cheering lined up? Impress your hung-over friends tomorrow (or weary co-workers Friday) with a chair made from champagne corks and wire.
All platforms with Firefox: The SiteLauncher extension adds a keyboard launcher for your favorite bookmarks in Firefox.
Once you've memorized the keys that go along with your most-used bookmarks, you can just hit the "Direct to Site Hotkey" plus the letter and off you go, no prompt involved. Of course all the URLs and keys associated with them are configurable. Quicksilver lovers will recognize this interface, which is a little easier to get used to than straight-up Firefox bookmark keywords. SiteLauncher is a free download that will work wherever Firefox does; thanks to the creators for including Lifehacker as a default entry.
Our pal in productivity blogging Leo Babauta's new book 
Reader Greg's biggest timesaver of 2008 reduces his trips to the office printer with a simple Automator workflow on his Mac.
Get inspired by your fellow go-getter readers who 
Firefox 3
Windows 7
Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" and "Intrepid Ibex"
Google Chrome
PwnageTool
DropBox
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1
XBMC Atlantis
Ubiquity Firefox Extension Prototype
BumpTop Beta
Firefox with Greasemonkey (All platforms): YouTube Buffer Video prevents clips on YouTube from auto-playing, letting you buffer entire videos and prevent annoying snags when bandwidth is tight.
Citing a supposed inside source, the Googling Google blog says it's plausible that a free Mac OS X version of 
A Lifehacker Australia reader writes in with a tale of woe involving forgotten car keys, but with a surprising ending involving a laptop and a helpful locksmith.
Wired's How-To Wiki gets advice from a neuroscientist on how to 
Windows only: Ketarin is a great thing for any traveling tech support worker, as it can easily keep a folder or USB drive full of installation packages up to date.
We asked our editors and contributors to create a blue-sky wishlist for all things productivity and software in 2009. Read on for their responses, and to contribute your own do-wants for the new year.
Gina Trapani
Kevin Purdy
Jason Fitzpatrick
