How to Use Gmail as Your Central, Universal Communications Hub. Very nice guide, though I found that I've done a lot of it on my own, especially the SMS and voicemail, though I left them as labels instead of the multiple inboxes because I don't need them that often. It should also be noted that you can use Gmail itself instead of Google Voice for SMS messages and you don't need to change your number for a full GV account — just tell anyone to send texts to your email address and you can reply to their phone's email address and it basically works the same in the end. It's what I do, but I may eventually take the full GV plunge and get a new number...
@Platypus Man: Oh that's true, that's always a good way :-) I used to do just the labels too, but once I started using multiple inboxes, I kind of liked it a lot. Most Popular Free Mac Downloads of 2010. @nosnibort: I used to have a program called MacTheRipper, that was able to make lossless (as in no compression, big files) copies of movies. It's since been discontinued but you should be able to find it with some effort. Handbrake really isn't that difficult, just read a tutorial. But MacTheRipper was dead simple. @nosnibort: You want RipIt. It's a buy item ( I think I got it in a bundle from MacHeist with about 10 other things for $25 or so...).
It will do what you want, which is primarily take the whole movie and get it to your hard drive in a singular format. It is updated pretty often and seems to have no trouble with movies that DVD Decrypter (windows) has issues with. The files are .dvdmedia (I think, not sure what that is) or the familiar folder structure (video_ts audio_ts) format that can be played in lots of media players and on Plex, Windows Media Center (with add ons), etc. To burn it, you need a DVD authoring tool, like Toast from Roxio (or whomever they are now).
How Do You Organize Your Smartphone's Home Screen? On my Droid Incredible w/ Sense UI, I have 7 homescreens and I use them all. I'm going to number them from -3 to 3, left to right. -3 is random widgets and stuff I almost never use, but that I want in case. There's empty space for extra stuff -2 is my settings screen. It contains widgets for controlling Wifi, GPS, etc, a quick battery widget, a quick vibrate/silent/sound widget, and a couple other widgets/apps that deal with settings of the phone -1 is a sticky note pad for quick notes. 0 is my main home page. 1 is the HTC "Quick Contacts" widget and I have it set to just show the 9 people I'm most likely to contact. 2 is the tools page. 3 is the best page — games. I prefer to have a little extra space on each page.
A Guide to Organizing Your Android Home Screen. Android lets you add a lot of things to your home screens—widgets, shortcuts, folders, apps—so much that organizing it all can get overwhelming. Here are some tips for optimizing your Android's home screen for maximum productivity. Everyone's phone is different. You may have a Motorola Droid with just a three-home-screen vanilla version of Android, or you may have an HTC phone with seven screens, a ton of extra widgets and other UI enhancements. Regardless of your situation, though, there are a number of things you can do to keep your home screen organized, so you can spend less time flipping through them and more time using your phone. Try a New Home Screen Launcher One of the first and best things you can do is get a different home screen launcher. After installing LauncherPro, you can access a number of new, home screen-related settings by going to the home screen, hitting the menu button on your phone, and tapping Preferences.
How Many Home Screens Should I Have? Divvy · Window management at its finest. Avoid Succumbing to "Computer Hunch" Posture with These Easy Stretches. @BrianDawg: "Toxins" are nothing more than waste fluids / dead cells that don't need to be sitting around, building up in your muscles. They don't help, and they prevent fresh blood from moving into an area and helping it heal. :) @BrianDawg: Ah, but one must regularly circulate the humours, yes? @jadefirefly: Detoxify is also quite the buzzword for shady products that due to FDA restrictions and threat of lawsuits (looking at you Airborne) can only claim to "support" functions that my body already does. Just saying he tainted good advice with hippie mumbo jumbo terminology. @BrianDawg: Oh, for sure. I mean, I could argue that there's really nothing wrong or hippie about the use of the word. But the real problem is just that people LOVE to use words that don't make sense to people outside of their loop.
If he'd explained what he meant by that? How to Use Gmail as Your Central, Universal Communications Hub. Organizing from the Inside Out: Form a Plan of Attack for Lifelong Organization. There are a few things I use to keep myself organized across three computers (XP netbook, Vista desktop my tech-illiterate husband uses, and 7 desktop that is in my (away from home) office). The first one is XMarks, which keeps track of all of my bookmarks and passwords for me.
I also have a copy of this in a text file in Dropbox and a physical, written on paper version for account information I absolutely must not lose. Then there is Dropbox. I use it for sharing files with others, as offsite backup for critical files, and for allowing myself to access my work files wherever I go with my netbook or to pass files to my husband's computer. For web clipping, I use the Zotero add-on for Firefox and OneNote. Flash drives are easy! To keep track of applications on my systems, I use Aston menu, and built a custom "My Menu" file for it that groups all of my apps according to purpose (writing, graphics, audio, video, computer utilities, etc.) and launches them with a single click. Most Popular Free Windows Downloads of 2010. How to be Insanely Productive and Still Keep Smiling | zen habits. Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Mary Jaksch of Goodlife ZEN. Do you want to be more productive? Maybe you do, but I’m sure you don’t want to feel stressed, overwhelmed, or unhappy – which happens to many super-productive people.
But there is good news: You can be insanely productive – and still smell the freesias, savor a Pinot Noir, or enjoy a languid hug. A few weeks ago Leo Babauta said to me, “Mary – you’re one of the most productive people I know. Most stuff I’ve read about productivity is about doing things differently. High productivity isn’t about doing, it’s about being. If you want to be highly productive – and still enjoy life – you need to look at how you live, and how you use your mind. Make peace within. Finally, a key question you need to ask … If you want to be productive and still enjoy life, there is a key question you need to answer: why be productive? I mean, why not just chill out on the couch, eat potato crisps, and watch TV reruns? What Caffeine Actually Does to Your Brain. Don't Make Important Decisions Until Your "Decision Time"
How to Reboot Your Sleep Cycle and Get the Rest You Deserve. 50 Free Apps We're Most Thankful For. The Most Helpful Ways to Use Google Voice that You're Not Using.