February 23, 2006
Please, anywhere but the someday/maybe list!
Friends, I’m sure that this will come as a shock, but my heart has not been in this lately. I’ve been terribly busy with other endeavors and, at the end of the day, maintaining this site has been a chore, and not a labor of love as it should be.
So…this will be the last post to the Lifehacking.net blog. I do have hopes that, in the future I will revisit this site and turn it into something that isn’t just trying to be another 43folders/lifehacker rip-off. Till then, turn your attention to those fantastic sites, linked below for your convenience.
I won’t be selling the domain so you can check back in a year and see what has happened. If you want to be updated in the future on any changes, send an email to whatsup@lifehacking.net and I will send out a mass email to any senders once I get things back on track.
All past articles will be kept online for reference.
Posted by Andy Mott at 04:27 PM | Comments (1)
February 11, 2006
Mail Hack: Return To Sender
I have to admit that I really didn't expect that I would ever hear of this again, however the cameramail that I sent to Ecuador did in fact arrive safe and sound. Not only that, but we got some pictures! I've posted them here on my flickr account. Enjoy and feel free to comment.
Posted by Andy Mott at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2006
Hey James Bond: USB Cufflinks
Form definitely following function here. But they’re probably great conversation starters if you’re, like, at a party with a bunch of people as nerdy as you are.
But in a symbiosis with jewellery the little item gets a big value. Also, it completes the personal outfit as a fashionable accessory.
Posted by Andy Mott at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
You Shouldn’t Do This: Hack Your MySpace Profile
Hey, don’t say I didn’t tell you so…But for purely academic reasons, here’s an article that will help you make your MySpace Profile suck a little less. You can thank designer Keegan Jones for this one. Check it out before he gets pulled.
Posted by Andy Mott at 11:24 AM | Comments (1)
February 07, 2006
Make Windows Less Annoying: Control An Application’s Launch State
With that title you have no idea what I’m talking about do you? I thought that I put it fairly succinctly. Oh well. Anyways, this application allows you to control how applications are launched. For instance, if you want Notepad.exe to always start fully maximized this application will allow you to specify that.
Posted by Andy Mott at 05:35 PM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2006
How To: Hack Your Ringtones
I know that I really should not be paying for ringtones. But seeing as how Verizon saw fit to hobble my Samsung SCH-A970 by disabling the Bluetooth profile that would allow it to connect to my PC, I don’t have a way of getting songs from here to there without going through their overpriced Get It Now e-Mall, short of buying an overpriced data cable and begging the folks at BitPIM to create a port for my phone.
But since you’re lucky enough to have a phone that can connect to your PC through either data cable or Bluetooth, you can read this how to article for a little help converting your MP3s over to your phone while I bitterly await a hack for my Bluetooth profiles.
Posted by Andy Mott at 05:05 PM | Comments (2)
January 18, 2006
Apple: Track Your Stolen Mac
Very cool software for tracking down your stolen Mac:
See what happens on your stolen Mac In case of theft, Undercover not only reveals the internet location of your Mac, it also transmits screenshots, enabling you to closely monitor your stolen Mac. In fact, it's the first theft recovery software on any platform to do this.
Undercover Anti-Theft Software for Mac OS X
Posted by Andy Mott at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2006
Google: Advertise Your Brick-And-Mortar On Google Maps
While I’m not sure that painting a huge bull’s-eye on the roof of your business is necessarily the smartest idea, it certainly is going to get you noticed on Google maps - as it has for this Target in Chicago near O’Hare airport. While they were probably going for the attention of the airborne travelers coming in and out of the airport, they’ve likely set off a new trend in Internet advertising.
Posted by Andy Mott at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)
January 12, 2006
How To: Hack Your Shower Head
I remember brushing my teeth in a Seattle hostel in the company of a few other hostellers. One man, a Californian, said through a foamy grin “You know…that is illegal where I live.” I only remember that he was from one of the California Sans, but a cursory Google doesn’t make it look like there exists any such law in either San Francisco or San Diego. Of course both of these places encourage you to only wet your toothbrush once but I don’t see any laws against just letting the water flow as you brush.
However, one law that is on the books in the beautiful, and very sexy, state of California regarding water usage is the 2.5 GPM showerhead law, which dictates that all models sold in California post 1991 be of the low consumption variety.
So, if you want to usurp the system and get a decent shower anymore, you really have two options – either buy a multi-head shower faucet (since regulation is per head) or you can hack your current shower-head for an extra one or two GPM as described here.
Many people now hack their showers — or customize them, if you prefer. You can take your shower head down, pull the washer out with a screwdriver, and remove the offending intrusion that is restricting water flow. It can be a tiny second washer or it can be a hard plastic piece. Just pop it out and replace the washer. Sometimes it is necessary to trim it out using a pen knife.Using such strategies, you can increase your water flow from 2 gallons per minute to 3 and even 4 gallons per minute. You can easily clock this using a stopwatch and a milk carton.
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:41 AM | Comments (3)
January 10, 2006
Search Util: Retrievr
Bringing us all one step closer to a fully-indexed and searchable world, Retrievr is a web-based service that allows you to search through Flickr images by drawing a picture. Conceptually this is very cool. In practice it is worth about 30 minutes of playing around, depending on your boredom threshold.
Does it actually work? Yes! That is, it depends. (Mainly on your expectations!)In my experience, the results are usually fairly good, sometimes even stunning - considering the artistic sophistication most of us are able to come up with (gallery forthcoming); and in the cases they're not so stellar, they are at least entertaining ;-) But clearly, the approach has its limits.
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:42 AM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2006
Things That Are Cool: Create Your Own Lego Set
Let your imagination run wild, so long as whatever you imagine is “appropriate for viewing by children” and create a Lego model online, then have the model boxed, labeled and shipped to your door.
That’s pretty cool. What’s cooler is that when you purchase your creation, you receive a list of other “appropriate” and trademark free designs that can be made with the Lego set you just bought. We’ll just have to wait for a Greasemonkey mod to open up all of those trademarked and/or inappropriate imaginings.
Posted by Andy Mott at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2005
Definition: Courtesy Flush
The act of refreshing a website in response to an annoying, animated advertisement in hopes that the ad which replaces it will be less annoying.
Posted by Andy Mott at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2005
Google Beta: Froogle Shopping List Review
This is really about Froogle Shopping List vs. Wists.
If you haven’t heard of wists, perhaps I could interest you in my treatment of the subject: http://www.lifehacking.net/archives/2005/10/my_new_obsessio.html
I’ll admit to being a little biased, right out of the gate. I have never been a huge fan of the Froogle experience. This is due, in large part, to my unwillingness to shop at most online retailers, so I do most of my online shopping amongst the main, solidly established stores. I’ll launch a few tabs on Firefox and switch between Amazon, Barnes And Noble, Target, and whatever and comparison shop that way. Call me old-fashioned.
Continue reading "Google Beta: Froogle Shopping List Review"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:37 AM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2005
How To: Make An Emergency Shelter Dome
Have an emergency? And a bunch of cardboard, a utility knife, and a whole lot of spare time? (Actually I think that I just described every homeless person I've ever encountered on Lower Wacker Drive). Then you could make yourself an emergency shelter dome.
I've got to admit that it seems pretty daunting looking at the plans. I'd probably just settle for the emergency shelter pup-tent. But, if you want to impress all of your other transient neighbors with your geodesic prowess then I encourage you.
Posted by Andy Mott at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2005
The Cheap Geek: The iNo
As a kid, my father taught me well the joy of being frugal. When all of the other kids were getting the Air Jordans, dad would take me to Payless and get me a pair of their knock-off basketball shoes. Want a Powell Peralta skateboard? Zayre has a sale on the dayglo orange Nash. Doc Martens? Farm and Fleet has “military style” black boots. Oooh, and they’re water-resistant.
I’m not going to say that I am bitter or anything, but let’s just say that my classmates in grade-school didn’t have the same appreciation for a good deal.
So, if you’d like to teach your youngins the sublime pleasures of finding a good deal and give them a solid foundation for a lifetime of fashion insecurity, perhaps you’d like to answer their prayers for an iPod with the very free iNo. All you need is one of those old school mice from the 80’s-era Apples and some ganked headphones and viola! The iNo.
Since the folks who created the iNo, don’t have much of a marketing budget, I’d like to offer the following tagline which they are free to use: iNo – uh…there’s an apple logo on it.
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:52 AM | Comments (2)
December 09, 2005
News: Yahoo! Buys del.icio.us
I’m sort of done caring, but Yahoo! just bought del.icio.us. Congratulations Yahoo! on your latest acquisition of another little smidgen of cool.
Why I sort of still care: Thusfar, del.icio.us has remained completely free of any advertising. Could this possibly continue under such a high-overhead roof as Yahoo!?
Here for comparison sake, I am posting the current “Privacy Policy” as stated on del.icio.us. Let’s come back to this in a little while and compare, shall we?
Privacy Policy At del.icio.us, we respect the privacy of the users of our website and services and are committed to protecting it. We have created this policy to demonstrate our commitment to you and to help you understand it.
Continue reading "News: Yahoo! Buys del.icio.us"
Posted by Andy Mott at 04:51 PM | Comments (0)
Get Involved: Eat More Spam(mer’s Bandwidth)
I’m a huge fan of doing things that effect positive change but don’t, like, require me to do a lot of work.
Here’s something that you can do to combat Spam: Visit this site.
That’s it. You’re actually helping by costing known spammers money in bandwidth usage. The site uses javascript to repeatedly download images from known “419 spammers’” sites. Since these companies need to pay for the bandwidth used to download images from their site, you are helping up their bandwidth bills.
Posted by Andy Mott at 09:58 AM | Comments (2)
December 08, 2005
Mail Hack: Cameramail
Last weekend I received a postcard from a friend who had been traveling in Mexico. It caught me completely off guard because she has been back from her trip now for about a month. I’m not sure how long postcard delivery from Mexico is supposed to take, but I’m pretty sure that it isn’t a month. So, what had this postcard been up to?
Here’s a way to find out – Combine the postcard with a disposable camera, include pleas and instructions for postal workers to take photos with the camera and see what develops.
I plan to put together my own Cameramail and send it off to Ecuador this weekend. If it ever arrives, I’ll post the pictures here.
Instant gratification – Someone has already done this experiment (this is where I got the idea) within the US postal system. Here’s more information, and the pictures they got back.
Posted by Andy Mott at 08:38 AM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2005
AIM Worm
So, here’s a first – An IM worm (not a first) which actually chats up its victims before it attacks. The worm, IM.Myspace04.AIM, initiates a chat through AOL’s Instant Messenger with the line: “lol thats cool,” and includes a URL to the wormy site. When the user responds, the chat bot responds with “lol no its not it’s a virus.”
What it does: First, it disables your security software then installs a backdoor for itself so it can use your machine to go socialize with other unsuspecting users. These chat windows are hidden, so you’ve got no idea that it is happening.
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:55 AM | Comments (0)
November 30, 2005
Unsolicited Endorsement: Flickr
It really pains me to do this, but I have to admit that Flickr is the best social photo sharing service currently available. Why I hate saying this – As you may know, Flickr was bought recently by Yahoo! Why I hate Yahoo! – Besides the fact that they are blatantly trying to buy their cool (Flickr, Konfabulator, Upcoming.org, Waxy.org), they bundle their crappy toolbar with unrelated software and try to trick you into installing it (there goes my chances of ever getting bought out by them). Uninstalling it and all of its component parts is a huge hassle. Used to make me plenty of money doing computer consultation, thanks, in large part, to SBC-Yahoo! DSL bogus install disks.
Continue reading "Unsolicited Endorsement: Flickr"
Posted by Andy Mott at 11:26 AM | Comments (1)
November 28, 2005
How To: Tell If Someone Is Lying
If you don’t go taking any of this too seriously there are some interesting things that you can tell about what someone might be thinking based on where their gaze is directed. Unfortunately, the information presented in this short how-to is only useful if you’re trying to read a “normally organized” right-handed person. As a “normally unorganized” left-handed person myself, I can tell you that it seems that our tendencies are towards the opposite directions for things like visually constructed images, because when I think of purple buffalos, I’m like, totally looking up and to my left.
Posted by Andy Mott at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2005
How To: Pretty Up Your Backpack (The Return Of The Backpack)
So that backpack that I bought from REI for a recent trip ended up being completely useless. The main problem was the size. It is about as annoying to carry around as a full-size, internal frame backpack that one would use for days out in the woods, but it doesn't carry as much so it isn't as useful. So, I decided that I would return it. The problem with that idea, as you may remember from my previous post “How To: Ugly Up Your Backpack” is that I really made the pack look like shit before I took it with me.
Somehow, I would need to get this pack a little cleaner. Here, I've got to thank my mother for her insistence that I dirty it up impermanently. While I had a hard time seeing the logic at the time – why would it matter, given that the goal was to make the bag look used – if I was able to make it look pretty again? Well, as I've learned, you might want to return it because it is a useless sack.
Continue reading "How To: Pretty Up Your Backpack (The Return Of The Backpack)"
Posted by Andy Mott at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2005
Time Apart
Sorry. No posts this week. My computer and I have been spending too much time together and have decided that it would be best to get out and see other people. I'm sure that we'll have this all worked out by the weekend.
Posted by Andy Mott at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2005
How To: Compile A Concert Setlist
Given that concerts are often pitch-black events, with a scarcity of elbow room and of writing surfaces, I sought out the tricks that other concertgoers use to compile setlists. As you may recall, my last attempt failed miserably. Mostly what I could find is people doing the same, or similar as I, so I have included my plan for my next set list attempt (Cellphone method).
Scribble In The Dark (not recommended) – The only thing that I had going for me was the firm surface provided by my Levenger pocket briefcase. Notecards were easily swapped out when I sensed that they were full. Unfortunately, having no idea where the last song's scribble ended, I often either wrote over the previous song or would skip so much space in between that managing the sheer number of index cards became more than difficult. If you're going to try this, may I suggest numbering the cards.
Furthermore, while pulling out a pocket briefcase at a Jeff Tweedy solo show may be perfectly acceptable, I wouldn't recommend it at say, KMFDM. Writing on your hand may seem like a good plan, but you're going to sweat it off, so don't even try it.
Continue reading "How To: Compile A Concert Setlist"
Posted by Andy Mott at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2005
Podcast Spotlight: Very Vocabulary
VeryVocabulary.com - I'm pretty sure that Ben is mispronouncing the word vocabulary, which is not encouraging. And when he drops the URL of the Merriam-Webster online dictionary he alternates between calling it m(slash)w.com and m(minus)w.com. So, Ben, far be it from me to criticize, just FYI, it's called a hyphen. This: / is a slash. And m minus w is negative eight.
That said, I love this podcast. Ben is hilarious and I learned a word while listening (circumlocution). It is a very unprofessional (Ben fully admits this) podcast, and this is part of what makes it so endearing. For instance, here is Ben's example when defining the word 'caustic.'
“Caustic, that's a good word. This word can refer to either chemicals or to critical commentary. I read somebody's thing about my freakin' podshow, which is, uh, free, which I keep saying - you dumbasses - and they were, you know, critiquing my webshow with caustic remarks.”
If you don't take it too seriously, it can be a very entertaining seven minutes.
Posted by Andy Mott at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2005
Good Read: Zen and the Art of Hacking
I happened upon an article while searching for connections between Buddhism and
(life)hacking on the site
Everything2.com,
entitled
Zen
and the Art of Hacking. It makes some pretty good points - many of which
reflect what I believe about Lifehacking and are indicators of where I would
like to take the discussion here at lifehacking.net. I'll say it again, I love
43folders.com et al, however, I think that it is important to realize a
balance between being able to get your shit together while also not freaking
out if some of your shit is just lying around. Consider the practice of
meditation - I'm surprised that this isn't yet in the lifehacking dialog
since it is pretty much the goal of meditation to minimize distraction. Pretty
soon, I will be launching lifeslacking.net to express more thoughts in this
vein. Until then,
this
article written by 18thCandidate will have to do.
Continue reading "Good Read: Zen and the Art of Hacking"
Posted by Andy Mott at 08:32 PM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2005
Conjecture: Blinking Fractals
Fractal image from zapatopi.net
As I am listening to Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, I've found myself coming back to a few metaphors - one is that of a fractal. I'm about half way through the book, so maybe fractals are mentioned somewhere later on. I can only say that it hasn't yet been mentioned and that I keep thinking of it. For those who haven't yet read this book, it is, so far, about how the true essence of a situation or person, or just about anything, can be often accurately captured in just a small sampling of the whole if we look at it correctly. Sort of the opposite of the blind men and the elephant parable.
Continue reading "Conjecture: Blinking Fractals"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:38 AM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2005
Metadata: I'm A Two
Yay. Google has acknowledged my existence and given my site the prestigious page-ranking of a 2 out of 10. I'll have to try not to let this get to my head. I mean, I can still remember back to yesterday when Lifehacking.net was a zero. But now a two - that's something. For all of those sites out there with zero importance - hang in there. Someday you may also become a two.
Posted by Andy Mott at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)
Software Update: Netvibes
Very auspicious.
I’ve already written about netvibes.com. I am writing about netvibes.com again because I love it so much and they have made a bunch of changes since last I sang their praises.
I was already planning on mentioning recent enhancements today, which were already pretty impressive, when the netvibes folks went ahead and added another, very cool enhancement just this morning – a Flickr module.
Continue reading "Software Update: Netvibes"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:52 AM | Comments (2)
November 07, 2005
Follow-Up: Ubersleep
As you may recall, I posted awhile back on Nick Busey who was then already seven days into his polyphasic sleep schedule experiment. Quick PS 101: You don’t sleep, you nap. The idea being that through sleep deprivation, you’ll enter REM sleep much faster, skipping the sleep phases that are not crucial to your survival. Proponents say through PS they feel more alert and, with only 2-5 sleeping hours, un-debatably have more awake time.
16 days. That’s how long Nick managed to, more or less, keep to his sleep schedule.
Continue reading "Follow-Up: Ubersleep"
Posted by Andy Mott at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2005
Show Review: Jeff Tweedy - Orpheum Theatre Madison, WI 11/05/2005
We are having dinner at a transplanted Ontarian pizzeria. Our server is very gay and it appears that he hates us. Chad and I both order the penne pasta with spinach, garlic, Parmesan and oil. Chad's girlfriend orders the spaghetti. We have that conversation about the pronunciation of spaghetti, and why children are so prone to saying it wrong. We're asked about sides and appetizers. I order a salad with ranch.
The salads come out and mine is severely overdressed and is also missing some of the component parts of Chad's salad like artichoke hearts. I make it through a few pieces of the less weighty lettuce, and push my salad off to the side. Chad says that his is good. Having worked in food service for years, I know that with only a few exceptions the salads are made by our wait staff. I've been on a kick all day of sharing my complaints with those who could benefit so I decide to tell the waiter that he put too much dressing on the salad when he asks how everything is.
Continue reading "Show Review: Jeff Tweedy - Orpheum Theatre Madison, WI 11/05/2005"
Posted by Andy Mott at 11:18 PM | Comments (2)
November 05, 2005
Site You Should Know - The Broken
I've already mentioned Kevin Rose, but you know what? We're (I'm) mentioning him again. And you know what? I'm going to mention him again. And you know what? (Wait, I just said part of that twice...I really need to get to bed) When I get back from Mexico, he's going to be my fucking “Hero Of The Month” as well. And I'm going to swear as well, so what do you think about that? The kids will recover – relax.
“thebroken” is currently the sum total of three downloadable videos. Again, I would encourage you to use your high-speed Internet for what god intended it be used for – downloading movies, and get thee to thebroken.org and at the very least download Episode 02 “Hacking with Ramzi” where you'll learn how to socially engineer yourself a pizza and how to score a free copy of Bonzai Buddy with the very 1337 hacker – Ramzi.
On a more serious note, you can learn a bit about cracking passwords and how to better protect your passwords. On a less serious note you'll learn how to mod your X-Box so that you can save all of those games that you “bought” on its 120 GB hard drive. Yes, your warranty is now void.
Why thebroken is worth your time: This is the Geek that I know. More beer than high-caffeine soda and more cursing than LOLing. More gangster than Friendster.
Posted by Andy Mott at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2005
Sites You Should Know - Radioparadise.com
Put your high-speed Internet connection to good use and start streaming some music. May I suggest the most eclectic, commercial-free, free (listener supported) stream that I have yet found: Radioparadise.com.
Why this sort of has a place here: RP just wants to get the music out there. They provide no less than 16 delivery methods including cellphone streaming. Visit their forums for more info on other options.
Continue reading "Sites You Should Know - Radioparadise.com"
Posted by Andy Mott at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2005
Sites You Should Know – 43Folders.com
Huge shout out to 43folders.com. I really shouldn't be writing this now because I am tired, however, I'm sure that I would never do this site justice anyway, so might as well not do it justice now.
Fortunately, if you've found your way here, you're likely already familiar with 43folders.com, so I don't need to tell you anything. I'm tempted to leave it at this, but I'll say a few words.
The site is run by Merlin Mann. He's been doing it for, how long now? Just a year actually, but Google just about anything geek these days and 43folders is likely to be right up there. He's coined the term “hipster PDA” and his site is chuck-a-muck with great tips and great links to tipsters. Lately he's started a daily podcast (are you really going to keep this up daily?) which is usually about three minutes long and usually pretty funny and even inspiring.
I can't say enough good things about the site. Check it out for yourself.
I've got me more posts to write.
Also, don't forget to check out the 43folders wiki, for it is here that I learned to shave.
Posted by Andy Mott at 08:05 AM | Comments (0)
October 30, 2005
How To: Ugly Up Your Backpack
I recently bought a backpack at REI for whatever things cost at REI. Like nine-hundred bucks? Something like that. Anyways (that you aren't sure if I am joking about the cost of the bag should tell us something) the sales woman made a great point when she heard where I was planning on traveling - I should probably do a little work to muss up my backpack so that it wasn't such a shiny beacon of capitalist crap-mongering. I immediately thought back to my first pair of Chuck Taylors. My mother who was with me (what? I can't shop with my mom?) knew immediately what I was thinking and offered to drag the bag behind the car. The REI woman warned against this tactic.
So how does one go about mussing up a backpack without permanently puffing it up?
No idea, but here is how I did it.
The unsuspecting pack:
Continue reading "How To: Ugly Up Your Backpack"
Posted by Andy Mott at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2005
My New Obsession: Wists
Wists is a social bookmarking site like del.icio.us. The difference, simply put, is that Wists allows you to select a thumbnail image to go with your post – making Wists better suited to “social shopping” as their own tag line puts it.
As far as simplicity, Wists stays true to the no-hassle, no install motto of the very successful del.icio.us. All that you'll need to do to use Wists is to sign up for an account and save a JavaScript-enhanced bookmark to your bookmarks toolbar. When you're at a site that you want to add to your Wists-list, just click the bookmark and you'll be taken to a page full of the website's component images, from here you simply click the image you want as your thumbnail and you are taken to a form where you can add a description and tags. Easy-cheesy.
Continue reading "My New Obsession: Wists"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:57 AM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2005
Sites You Should Know - Digg.com
Well, I've officially given up on pulling together posts of substance while I'm away on vacation. Lucky you, I've got hours and hours of surfing under my belt. In these posts labeled “Sites You Should Know” I will profile sites that I believe make the Internet a better place to live for one reason or another. The Lifehacking theme will probably be well-buried in these posts, but it is my hope that my motto “Better Balance” rings clearer with each post. Some sites you may know, some will hopefully be new.Enjoy.
Digg.com – This is a social....something site. Not sure what to call it really except to say that it is the brain-child of Kevin Rose, whom you may know from the old ScreenSavers. In a nutshell, people post links to sites that they've found interesting which fall under such geeky categories as Technology, Software, Movies, Linux, Science, Robots and more.
Continue reading "Sites You Should Know - Digg.com"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:00 AM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2005
Software Review: Flock 0.5pre
On first launch, Flock did what a lot of browser installs do, it offered to import my favorites. For some reason, it only offered to import options, bookmarks and passwords from Internet Explorer despite my having Firefox installed. Hopefully this will come. Perhaps I am missing something. Perhaps Flock hates FireFox.
This was likely just my computer being flakey (although it has really been pretty well behaved) but after installing and launching Flock for the first time, I could no longer Alt+Tab through my applications. I'd get the selection window but when I chose an application, it wouldn't pull forward. I had iTunes, Firefox, and an OpenOffice text document open at the time.So I did what every good geek would do. I promptly rebooted. On the first reboot, the Start button would not come up (Windows XP Pro). Rebooting again resolved the issue.
Continue reading "Software Review: Flock 0.5pre"
Posted by Andy Mott at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2005
Lame Excuse
Dearest Reader and Readerette and Flockette,
As some may know, I will be leaving the country for awhile starting next week. So before then I need to get some stuff together and learn Spanish. I will have a ghost-poster posting articles while I am away so we'll be starting up again on Monday, October 24th so please come on back then, won't ya? Okay, thanks.
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:02 AM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2005
New Hipster PDA duds
I'll be the first to admit that there is something very wrong with this. I just spent $44 on a new leather outfit for my hipster PDA. In other words, I replaced my .05 cent binder clip with something that does the same job and costs nearly nine-hundred times as much. But far from having buyers remorse, I'm now looking at 3x5 index cards with personalized letterhead (cardhead?) and imagining them in my name.
Continue reading "New Hipster PDA duds"
Posted by Andy Mott at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2005
Some Del.icio.us Ajax
One of the most exciting things happening on the Net right now is the use of a web application technique called Ajax. I'm sure that I will be touching on many Ajax applications in the future (I've certainly mentioned some in the past – Netvibes, Google.com/ig). Ajax is the latest, greatest, bastardized web term since DHTML. In a nutshell it is the pot in which we throw the following acronyms: CSS, HTML, DOM, JS (okay they call this one Javascript – but JS could catch on), and XML. Season with JSON and EBML to desired taste.
Got that? Fantastic.
The Cliffnotes version (though I will likely be flamed for this): It is like DHTML
Continue reading "Some Del.icio.us Ajax"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:28 AM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2005
Hack Life: UberSleep
Rad.
First of all, Nick Busey is way too busy. He’s got, like, a hundred websites and various endeavors – a “political T-shirt company,” a web-design/hosting company and a site devoted to 20 inch bicycling (flatland and BMX). He even manages to get out of the house from time to time to actually ride his bicycle.
Oh and now he doesn’t sleep.
Well, actually he sleeps - he just doesn’t sleep like a normal person. For the last seven days, he has been trying out polyphasic sleep. No – not The Polyphonic Spree. (No one could take seven days of that). Polyphasic sleep is like extreme power napping where you nod off for 20-45 minute naps every few hours. The theory is that most of your ordinary “monophasic” sleep is spent in non-REM cycles which, to polyphasic sleepers, is considered wasted sleep. When one deprives one’s self of sleep, one reaches that important REM mode much quicker. No wasted sleep cycles. The end result? 2-5 hours of sleep a night and potentially you’re more alert.
On the downside you may just lose your mind.
As long as he can still type, Nick Busey is documenting his experiment here on his blog.
Good luck with it Nick!
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:42 AM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2005
In The Media: Clive Thompson's Article "Meet The Life Hackers"
Clive Thompson’s article Meet The Life Hackers is online and freely available today. The article provides a brief on the origin of the lifehacking movement and largely discusses what Microsoft is doing to incorporate a better GTD model in its own products. While I’m not really sure why it is so Microsoft-centric since so many lifehackers actually hack it out on a Mac, the article is a good introduction for the uninitiated.
Posted by Andy Mott at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2005
Unsolicited Endorsement: Free411
Free411 is a free, entirely automated, information service that makes its money by selling short audio advertisements based on the category of your listing. The best thing about it – it actually gets your listing right!
I called this service twice to try it out - first for one that I never thought they would actually get right, a local Laotian restaurant called Lao Laan Xang.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2005
Hacking Gmail - Book Excerpt
gMail can be a fantastic resource in your GTD effort. Here are some tips from the upcoming book "Hacking Gmail" to get you started.
read more | digg story
Posted by Andy Mott at 05:34 PM | Comments (1)
Live Simpler: Freecycle
You’ve got too much crap. Yes you. Yes crap. Lucky for you, in your very own town, there are likely lots of people who need your crap.
I was recently invited to join into the local Freecycling group here in Madison (not that you need to be invited). It went okay. This is my story.
I’ve often wished that things would just turn brown after an extended period of inattention the way plants do – this way I would know at-a-glance that I hadn’t used something for too long. As it is, I look at everything with unwarranted optimism (except my plants). On the one hand, I am frustrated by the amount of clutter in my life and on the other hand I am afraid to get rid of anything because I fear that I may someday need it.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 06:17 AM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2005
Album Review: Z - My Morning Jacket
Throwing down the gauntlet? One’s got to imagine that they saw the potential for the title of their second RCA release “Z” to provoke a certain onomatopoeia in album reviews. If anything Z marks an awakening from the largely unmemorable and rambling, muffled talent ofIt Still Moves (2003). This is the album I had hoped to hear out of this group and then some.
Hi everybody, I’m Archie Bell of The Drells. We just started a new dance called The Tighten Up. This is the music we tighten up with.
Wilco being the one exception, I am not a huge fan of jam songs that go on and on. I think that they assume a lot about the listener’s patience. Mercifully, with Z, My Morning Jacket has found its way, not only to shorter album titles, but also to somewhat shorter songs. At an average of 4.72 minutes they’re considerably better packaged than the languid offerings of Moves. I know this because I did a little division when, while listening to Z, I found myself wondering if the tracks were actually shorter or just seemed so. If you think that is weird you should have heard me cursing at the stereo while listening to Moves, pleading with the band to tighten it up a bit.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2005
Google: RSS Reader
Might as well go ahead and make an entire category devoted to Google here on Lifehacking.net since they keep crapping these Beta applications out, and since I am still such a sucker for anything Google, I invariably spend way too much time playing around with them.
The latest concoction from the good folks in Mountain View CA is Google Reader (Beta) – a full-fledged web-based RSS reader. Google has offered RSS reading before, first on their customizable Google News (Beta) site and then later on their personalized homepage which just came out of beta last month, but this would be their first attempt at dethroning the more robust feed readers like Newsgator.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 07:48 AM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2005
Podcast Spotlight: TWIT
If you've ever flipped onto G4 (formerly TechTV) and wondered what the puff happened to the network – why it is just a 24 hour game network - you're not alone. G4 is everything that is wrong with media these days. But this isn't about G4, it is about all of those talented folks who had to clean out their desks when the network was taken over (apparently) by a thirteen year old who, even by geek standards, is way too game obsessed.
I'm over-simplifying things here for the sake of expediency. If you want to learn more about what happened with the G4 take-over, start here.
Continue reading "Podcast Spotlight: TWIT"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:05 AM | Comments (2)
October 09, 2005
Techy Toolbox: BugMeNot
Ever follow a link from a website and receive the dreaded “To continue reading this article, you must be a registered blah-ditty, blah, blah?” Inevitably the article is on a newspaper site that you will likely visit once in your lifetime so signing up to read it is ridiculous. Some even want to charge you a monthly fee for the privilege. Once inside, they still throw ads at you. And, of course, the free* ones just take your email and hand it over to every Viagra warehousing spammer in the world.
As they say on Cops: “That’s [bleep]ed! [Bleep]ing [bleep]ers.”
What you need to do right now, is bookmark this page: http://www.bugmenot.com/
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Posted by Andy Mott at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)
October 08, 2005
The Unsolicited Endorsement: StumbleUpon
What do you do when you’re bored at the computer? I used to go to Bored.com, but this site is not exactly cutting edge Internet entertainment and is so full of crap advertisements that the biggest time killer to be had there is closing all of the Free* iPod pop-ups you get.
Enter StumbleUpon – a browser toolbar (I know, I know) which gives you a Stumble! button which whisks you away to some random site based on categories that you have chosen. Sites in the pool have been suggested by fellow StumbleUpon users. Somehow they keep the sites pretty clean of SPAM. Completely in fact. There is the occasional 404 page, but mostly they’re sites you’re glad you got to see.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 08:26 AM | Comments (2)
October 04, 2005
Hero Of The Week: Clive Thompson
When I grow up, in my next life, I want to be like Clive Thompson.
My introduction to Clive Thompson’s writing was a Walrus Magazine piece entitled Game Theories on the economist Edward Castronova, who, suffering from loneliness and feelings of inadequacy, ventured deep into the online gaming universe that is Everquest. Once inside, Castronova made some pretty profound realizations regarding closed-system economics. I’ll leave it at this understatement because this is not about Castronova, this is about Clive. But you should read at least up to page three of this 41-pager.
Clive gets the Hero Of The Week nod because the guy writes well and he writes often. The Walrus piece expands upon the great ideas in Castronova’s paper while making the premise accessible and compelling.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 08:07 PM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2005
Hack Life: The 28 Hour Day
Everyone wants a longer weekend right? Well, maybe not celebrities. They probably couldn’t care less, but We The People Of The Supermarket Lines (as opposed to those of the Supermarket Tabloids) – we could all use a longer weekend. Here’s how you can get an extra eight hours next weekend:
The 28 hour day breaks down pretty simply: You get 2 hours in the “morning” for getting ready and getting to work. Once you’re at work you’ll need to stay there a full 10 hours. I don’t know about you, but this pretty much mirrors my normal, diurnal day so far. After work, you’ve got 7 hours for all of your after work stuff – then you go to sleep for 9 hours. Rinse, repeat for four “days.”
When you’re done with your 28x4 “week” you’ve got a nice 56 hour “weekend” to do with what you see fit.
This isn’t my idea. Here’s more information from the source:
Posted by Andy Mott at 05:27 PM | Comments (2)
October 02, 2005
Weekend Boot Camp: RSS Part II
RSS will save us all - One can get a little carried away when considering the possibilities of RSS. I do not think that it is an overstatement to say that it will single-handedly change the landscape of the Internet significantly. If the Internet is an information highway, we’ve just escaped the confines of gravity and are now looking at something more Jetsonsesque. Given that portals are popping up all over, and that all sorts of things are being delivered through these portals, teleportation might even be a more apt metaphor.
Once you start using RSS to get your information, you’ll likely be hooked. I have been using portal pages of one flavor or another for some time now to check feeds from multiple sources. One of the aspects that I find most liberating is the elimination on those ‘just checking’ clicks for sites that are not updated daily. Just by looking in a certain area of my portal page, I can see if there have been any updates. Some RSS readers work very much like email inboxes and will display the number of unread ‘messages’ next to the feed name.
Continue reading "Weekend Boot Camp: RSS Part II"
Posted by Andy Mott at 03:05 PM | Comments (2)
October 01, 2005
Weekend Boot Camp: RSS Part I
WTF is RSS?
RSS is Really just Simple Syndication. Seriously. And pretty succinctly so.
Okay, well, that is what the acronym stands for, but it is pretty aptly named. Syndication is of course, wait, one sec…to sell (as a cartoon) to a syndicate or for publication in many newspapers or periodicals at once OR b : to sell (as a series of television programs) directly to local stations. Okay, does it really have to be sold to someone? Idon’thinkso. In the case of RSS, you’re really just propagating out links to your site.
KISS – Okay, keeping it simple, let’s just stick with web feed. Consider the example of the headline news on a site such as BBC. You’ve got headlines, and little descriptions, maybe a picture. RSS allows you to port those headlines to basically wherever the hell you want – PDAs, PIMs such as Outlook, your own personal website, your homepage, etcetera, etcetera. All you then have to do is to look at that centralized location and you will see the top headlines from BBC news, and any other feeds you have added.
Continue reading "Weekend Boot Camp: RSS Part I"
Posted by Andy Mott at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)
September 30, 2005
Show Review: The Arcade Fire - Riviera Theater Chicago 09/28/2005
I am gay for The Arcade Fire. I want to be there for The Arcade Fire when The Arcade Fire need comforting. I will stand up for The Arcade Fire when they need defending. I will listen to The Arcade Fire when they need to be listened to. All million songs. I will mourn their passing by every day dressing in black should they ever go away.
Wednesday, September 28th 2005
We leave Madison, my friend and I, near three in the afternoon. We will need to make a 7:00pm show in Chicago at the Riviera. There are four hours between 3:00pm and 7:00pm and just about 143 miles between my humble, humble abode in Madison and the Riviera Theater on Chicago's North Side. It's raining like cats and dogs in blenders. Torrential downpour, the whole way.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 06:28 AM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2005
The Unsolicited Endorsement: Arm & Hammer Easy Flush Cat Litter
When I first saw this product, I thought “That’s a great idea.” But I didn’t want to shell out the $13 bucks for 18 pounds, and so I bought a different brand, which described itself as ‘natural’ figuring I would just flush that. See how smart and frugal I am?
Turns out, that if you start flushing the regular clay-type litter, you’re going to screw up your toilet pretty quickly. It certainly shouldn’t take a genius to figure this out, dumping absorbent clay down the toilet is bad, but I was blinded by my optimism. Luckily for me, it says, right on the bag of the regular litter “Do Not Flush Down The Toilet.” Thank god for all of these little warnings saving us from ourselves.
So, last time I went to PetWorld I picked up the real deal.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 12:42 PM | Comments (2)
September 28, 2005
Album Review: Jacksonville City Nights - Ryan Adams And The Cardinals
Ryan Adams doesn’t know when to shut up. We’re at the Barrymore Theater in Madison, just coming back in from having a smoke and, just as we are finding our seats we hear Ryan abusing some concertgoer over the microphone: “I make more money in two nights then you make in an entire year.” I look over at my friend who had been saving our seats “What was the context of that remark?”
Turns out that someone had yelled out “Play The Summer Of ’69!” - a Bryan Adams song. This apparently happens often at his shows. Someone just wants to see what kind of overreaction they’ll get. Granted, it is an asshole thing to say, but Ryan really does need to learn to handle it better. I have heard that he has grown up a bit since then (2002). Hopefully he has thought of a more audience-friendly reaction. As it was, we, and half of the other middle-class concertgoers left pretty soon thereafter. We actually ran into the rest of the band at a bar while Adams was apparently still doing an acoustic, solo set. When I asked about the little hissy fit they said not a word in the man’s defense.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 06:41 AM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2005
The Geeky Weekly: Windows-Centric Keyboard Shortcuts
This week we look at, in no particular order, Windows-centric keyboard shortcuts. These can end up saving you hours every day. I am a big fan of not using my mouse unless I absolutely have to, usually because I am slouched in my computer chair, far from the desk atop which sits my mouse.
Okay, I know I said that this list would be in no particular order, but I apparently did not think that through far enough, because there is one keyboard shortcut that I use, on average, probably somewhere around every two minutes, and that is:
Alt+Tab – Allows you to easily switch between multiple running programs. Pressing Alt+Tab once quickly (hold down Alt, press Tab, then release both) switches to the last active application. If you hold the Alt key, and just tap the Tab key, keeping Alt held down, you launch the task-switching window. Keeping Alt held down, you can tap the tab key to select any of your currently running apps, just let go of Alt once you have the desired app selected and you switch to that program.
Other big ones:
Ctrl+Enter – This completes a .com address in Firefox and Internet Explorer. For .org and .net addresses (Firefox supports this, and IE does not) – these are Ctrl+Shift+Enter, and Shift+Enter respectively. This doesn't save you any mouse action but it does save you some typing – eight characters to be exact – a substantial savings!
Ctrl+L – In Firefox selects the location bar. Use this in conjunction with address completion shortcut and you'll amaze friends and confound enemies. If you are using Internet Explorer (you should switch) use Ctrl+Tab to select the location, or 'address' bar.
Continue reading "The Geeky Weekly: Windows-Centric Keyboard Shortcuts"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:52 AM | Comments (0)
September 26, 2005
Podcast Spotlight: Radio Zero
Radio Zero
A weekly talk show by core Poster Children/Salaryman band members, and husband and wife duo – Rick and Rose.
Why you should give it a listen: If you’re a geek, even just a little bit, or you’re into the whole Life Hacking movement, or you have a two-year-old and want to listen to someone sharing your struggles, this podcast is full of moments that you may find interest in.
I’ll be frank, Radio Zero sometimes just goes on and on with no real destination. While I have heard reference to a ‘whiteboard’ somewhere near where they are recording the weekly talk show, for two people who have ostensibly created and worked with a set list in the past, there is no real concern for any sort of quick, topical progression.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2005
Animals That Hack: Japanese Carrion Crows
Ever since I saw a crow talk at a nature preserve when I was a little boy I have been fascinated by the quiet intelligence that these birds seem to possess. This has always, to me, been the power of Hitchcock's 1963 The Birds. That scene where the birds are all gathering on that geodesic playground dome, it is with an undeniably sinister purpose. When I heard that crow talk, I was mostly interested in what that crow was not saying.
I caught one of my favorite crow stories on National Geographic awhile back. Basically there are these crows – carrion crows specifically – which will drop their walnuts onto the street to crack their tough shells. They fly up and drop the nuts from a good distance and hope for the best, when they crack, they sweep down and gobble up their meal, and when they don't crack, they pick them back up and try again.
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Posted by Andy Mott at 11:18 AM | Comments (3)
September 24, 2005
Hero Of The Week: Kevin Shay
Ran across Kevin Shay when searching for plugins for my Movable Type installation. His BigPAPI plugin allows you to modify the MT interface (the back end bit which I am using to add these posts). It is my hope that this site doesn't just go off the geek deep end so, suffice to say, that Kevin is a coder who has done some substantial work to better the MT application. I'm still deep in it, trying to figure out which plugins are going to aid me in the development of Lifehacking.net, so I haven't gone through all of the plugins which Kevin offers, however, it looks very promising.
Attention, all tenants. This is the hardest announcement I've ever had to make. I'm going to have to go back on my promise. I'm about to say that special word, the one that I swore not to say unless there was a fire.
The reason that Kevin Shay gets the first ever Hero Of The Week spot, is that he has achieved what I view to be the ultimate literary achievement – he's been published by McSweeney's – Dave Eggers' literary thingy. Okay, that may be a little bit of an overstatement, but it is something that I haven't managed to do, would like to someday do, and think is pretty fucking cool. As I was looking through Kevin's contributions to McSweeney's Internet Tendency, I realized that I had already read and really enjoyed at least one of his essays: One Morning At The Office. This type of humor rarely does well in the retelling of it and so I would encourage anyone reading this to at least check out this piece on McSweeneys.net.
Another worthwhile read is a quiz in which you are asked to determine if a line appeared in Ted Hughes poems to Sylvia Plath, or in Xena fan fiction. It is not easy. Great juxtaposition – just the kind of mash-up that makes McSweeney's work so well.
If you use MT on your site, then check out the plugins this guy has created, if you haven't already. And if you get that one installed that lets you add extra fields to your site, drop me a line, because I haven't got it working myself yet – though I am sure it is something stupid that I am doing wrong.
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:53 AM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2005
Help Yourself Get Helped: Part II
“Supervisors” and beyond
Let me start off with an anecdote. I worked for three years in a call center that was contracted to support a well-known PDA. During my time there, I was somehow charged with the duty of “supervisor.” This is not, “supervisor” as in “someone who supervises something,” but rather, “supervisor” as in “Can I speak to your supervisor?” Understand that there is a huge difference. One can often do something. The other is a punk kid, as I was. Be smart here, if the person you have been transferred to sounds like a dumb kid, it probably is. I was always amazed at the assumptions of the people who were transferred to me.
The only ground to be gained from me was to ask for a contact that had a direct phone number or an email address @ the domain of the PDA manufacturer. Seriously, is it that surprising that ALL technical support is outsourced? Unless you are able to get a direct extension or an email address that has some direct correlation to the company that actually peddles the service or ware, then the person you are talking to can do nothing for you.
Continue reading "Help Yourself Get Helped: Part II"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:25 AM | Comments (1)
September 22, 2005
Help Yourself Get Helped: Part I
The CSR (the first line of defense)
Customer service sucks for everyone involved, and unfortunately, from time to time, you will need to interface with the customer service for your local cable company, phone company, electric company, ISP, Geek Squad or whatever, when the service that they provide, or the product that they have sold you, fails. Here I will tell you what I have learned in my years of working in customer service about how you can get your way as effectively as possible.
First – Get thee to the Find-A-Human IVR System Shortcuts site and jot down the path to the homosapiens before you call. You should have a print out for your ISP since this page will not be accessible when you are calling them. Just jot it down on your installation papers. Takes two seconds and can save you hours. If the company is not on the list, write it down the first time you have to call because you will need it again.
Continue reading "Help Yourself Get Helped: Part I"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:32 AM | Comments (0)
September 21, 2005
The Unsolicited Endorsement: del.icio.us
I’m pretty anal when it comes to bookmarking websites. I have been known to spend hours sorting all of my bookmarks according to the categories used by the Open Directory Project that is DMOZ. So, when I wanted to bookmark my bank’s website, I would categorize it under Business>Financial Services>Banking Services. This was, of course, completely insane and needed to be stopped, but the underlying need to organize my favorites in some coherent, scalable manner, would need to find a viable outlet.
I also had a secondary challenge of establishing a common set of bookmarks that would be accessible on every computer that I used (currently three – two home PCs and a company-owned work PC). My initial solution to this was a freeware application called Brim, described as “A multithingy something.” While this application is a fantastic option, and an overall well-programmed application, ultimately I found it too hard to sort through because I was back to a directory based organizational structure so my DMOZ reflex was kicking in. Also, it needs to be installed on a web server somewhere, which wasn’t really a problem for me, but would certainly be for about 99% of the users out there.
Continue reading "The Unsolicited Endorsement: del.icio.us"
Posted by Andy Mott at 06:19 AM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2005
The Geeky Weekly: Hidden RSS
I’m not too sure how often this happens, but from time to time, you will encounter a site that publishes RSS feed, but does not advertise that it does. Many, many sites out there, including this one, are just bastardized web logs and so often they have an RSS component. I personally use this whenever I can, so that I can add it all to my personalized homepage and spare myself those “just checking” clicks you do for websites that do not update every day but may have crucial information when they do. A fan site is a great example. If tickets are going on sale for a show in your neighborhood, your local fan site may be the first media outlet to know. So you either have to check the page each day by visiting it or have some sort of window, or portal, to look through to check up on it without leaving the comfort of home(page).
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Posted by Andy Mott at 06:32 AM | Comments (2)
