Lifehacker

Best Online Backup Tool? [Hive Five Call For Contenders]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0800

On-site data backup is better than no backup at all, but if your on-site backups go up in flames or otherwise end up inoperable, then you're out of luck—unless of course you've got a backup online, that is.

Photo by NeoSpire.

Your backup solution can be as simple as a small application that syncs the few files you consider critical with off-site storage or as comprehensive as full-service backups of your entire computer for full future restoration. Whether your solution for online file backup is big or small, we want to hear about it.

Hive Five nominations take place in the comments, where you post your favorite tool for the job. We get hundreds of comments, so to make your nomination clear, please include it at the top of your comment like so: VOTE: Backup Tool. Please don't include your vote in a reply to another commenter. Instead, make your vote and reply separate comments. If you don't follow this format, we may not count your vote. To prevent tampering with the results, votes from first-time commenters may not be counted. After you've made your nomination, let us know what makes it stand out from the competition.

About the Hive Five: The Hive Five feature series asks readers to answer the most frequently asked question we get: "Which tool is the best?" Once a week we'll put out a call for contenders looking for the best solution to a certain problem, then YOU tell us your favorite tools to get the job done. Every weekend, we'll report back with the top five recommendations and give you a chance to vote on which is best. For an example, check out last week's Hive Five Best Antivirus Applications.

Remains of the Day: Google Voice, Emphasis on the Voice Edition [For What It's Worth]

Adam Pash — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0800

Google officially announces their acquisition of VoIP service Gizmo5, cheap, modded Xbox 360s flood Craigslist, and Black Friday is coming early to many big retailers this year.

Google welcomes Gizmo5
We heard the rumors earlier this week, and now it's official: Google bought VoIP service Gizmo5, and they're planning to integrate it with Google Voice. [Google Voice Blog]
A 2x Faster Web
Google's got a research project underway called SPDY (pronounced Speedy) with goals of boosting web performance by 55%. [Chromium Blog]
Kiosk mode added in Chromium nightly build
A nightly build of Chromium sports a fullscreen-like Kiosk mode that hides the address bar and status bar entirely. [Download Squad]
Banned Xbox 360s Flooding Craigslist, Ebay
Microsoft recently announced a banning crusade for users with modded Xbox 360s, meaning that Craigslist is now overflowing with cheap 360s for folks who don't need Xbox Live. [PC World]
Holiday tip: Friday's the deadline for parcel post to overseas military
If you've got friends or family serving overseas, Consumer Reports rounds up some deadlines. [Consumer Reports]
Free Streaming May Soon Be History: Spotify Delays U.S. Launch, MySpace May Move To Pay Model
Spotify has to delay their U.S. launch because labels are dragging their feet on bringing a free version of the service to the States. Nerts. [TechCrunch]
Black Friday comes early at big chains
Says Consumer Reports: "With analysts predicting aggressive holiday sales this season, many retailers have gotten a head start on Black Friday by dangling generous discounts well in advance of Nov. 27." Sounds good to us. [Consumer Reports]
Demonoid Rewrites Code, Comeback is Imminent
Popular BitTorrent tracker Demonoid was down, then up again, now down again. Looks like it'll be back soon enough, though. [TorrentFreak]
How we really designed the look and feel of Windows 7
Yesterday some quotes floated from a Microsoft employee claiming Windows 7 was trying to look more like OS X. The Windows 7 Blog says otherwise. [Windows 7 Team Blog]
Google's movie showtimes, digitally remastered
Google's movie showtimes tool gets a little bit better. [Official Google Blog]

Clicker Is a One-Stop Shop for Streaming Television [Streaming Television]

Adam Pash — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0800

Web site Clicker aggregates streaming television from all corners of the internet into one clean, simple-to-search interface designed to help you find any show you want to watch online, no matter who's hosting it.

Between Hulu and the various network-specific streaming television sites, you've got plenty of destinations you could check when you want to see if a show you'd like to watch is available online. By pulling all of those various sources into one easy-to-search tool, Clicker's goal is to become your first destination when you want to watch streaming television online. And we like it.

Currently Clicker boasts "more than 450,000 episodes, from over 6,000 shows, from over 1,200 networks, tens of thousands of movies, and 50,000 music videos from 20,000 artists," so they're off to a great start. The site's been in an invite-only beta for a few weeks now, but today it's officially launched to the public. After just playing around with it for a few minutes, we'd say it's on the right track. Give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments.

Blockbuster Kiosks to Rent Movies on Dissolving SD Cards [DVDs]

Sarah Rae Trover — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:30:00 -0800

Blockbuster might have been put on the back burner with the advent of Netflix and Redbox, but it's attempting to make a come back with a new form of technology. 6 stores will begin a trial program in which customers may rent a movie via SD card from kiosks for $1.99. You're given 30 days to watch your flick (no late charges occur), and once you hit play, it will dissolve itself and vanish completely after 48 hours—James Bond style. The question is: How many people have SD-capable gear in their home theaters? [Fast Company via Engadget]

Thanksgiving Checklist Keeps Your Holiday Planning on Track [Thanksgiving]

Sarah Rae Trover — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0800

Thanksgiving is still a couple weeks away, but Turkey day will be here before you know it. Start planning now to make the actual day as stress-free as possible with this easy-to-follow checklist—starting three weeks in advance.

Photo by tuchodi

Even if you've hosted many a Thanksgiving get-together before, it's always nice to have some written reminders of the things that need to get done before the big day arrives. Handy home weblog ShelterPop has you covered with a comprehensive checklist compiling all the things you could forget, detailing everything from budgeting to guest preparation. The checklist takes you week-by-week through planning until the last, which is outlined day-by-day. (We do realize you've only got two weeks to go at this point, so get cracking!)

The checklist also includes reminders for polishing your silverware, a good time to start thawing your turkey, and suggestions for the best days to purchase frozen goods versus perishable items. It's sure to make your Thanksgiving meal come together with as little stress and frustration as possible, so maybe you can enjoy the day instead of going into panic mode 72 hours in advance.

Have a time-saving attack plan of your own for holiday planning? Tell us about it in the comments.

Dedicated Boxee Box to Come Preloaded with the Popular Media Center [Media Centers]

Adam Pash — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:30:00 -0800

Love the free media center application Boxee but don't want to put in the time to hack together your own dedicated Boxee machine? The folks at Boxee announced today that they've partnered with an electronics company to release a dedicated device designed specifically to get Boxee up and running with your home theater with minimal effort. No word on pricing yet, but they'll be sharing more details early next month. Think you'd shell out for a dedicated Boxee box? Prefer sticking to your silent, standalone XBMC machine? Let's hear it in the comments. [Boxee Blog]

Clean Drive Finds and Deletes Old Files [Downloads]

The How-To Geek — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0800

Windows only: System cleaner application Clean Drive does only one thing, but handles it with ease—it searches for and deletes old files that you don't need anymore.

Once you've downloaded and launched the no-installation-required application, you can select a folder using the browse button—sadly you can't type in a path—and click the Scan Now button to search for old files, and the Delete Files button to get rid of them. You can't select individual files, so this tool would be best served as a quick way to clean out a folder on demand without deleting files that are too recent.

If you want more control over killing old files, you should check out how to use an advanced Explorer search to locate files older than a certain date, so you can easily move the files around if you need to. Clean Drive is a free download for Windows systems only.

Do You Use Twitter? [Reader Poll]

Adam Pash — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:30:00 -0800

There's no question that Twitter has received all kinds of hype this past year, but Lifehacker readers have generally been a touch wary of the micro-blogging service. So we're wondering: How many of you actually use Twitter?

Even if you're not keen on using Twitter to keep your friends and family updated on your every move and thought during the day, we still think Twitter is incredibly useful for the right things. But that doesn't mean you're using it. So we want to know:

We tried to pick out what seem like the most obvious uses, so choose the option that seems closest to how you use (or don't use) Twitter, then give us more specifics on your feelings on the service in the comments.

The Compact Office-On-A-Wall Workspace [Featured Workspace]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0800

When you're short on square footage in a small apartment, it pays to take advantage of vertical space. Today's featured workspace packs a lot of storage into a very small footprint.

Lifehacker reader winnab had to make the most of the available space in her one bedroom apartment without over powering her living space with two work stations. She writes:

We moved in to a one bedroom in DC a few months ago. I didn't want our desks to take over the common room, so we got it all on one 12' wall by hanging these Elfa shelves from The Container Store. The shelves are amazing—everything you see is hanging from a single beam that is secured across the top of the wall, which we probably made 12 holes total to hang.

I was very nervous to put anything on the shelves at first, but it's been about four months without a mishap. There is a lot going on because I'm a designer (left), and he's a teacher. So we've got books, teaching materials and miscellany surrounding us.

I tried to figure out the best way to group and stack items so that it looked interesting but was also ordered according to usage. I probably change things around twice a month. All of the cords and cables below the computers and along the baseboard still need to be organized, but we're getting there. I'm Mac, he's Mac for work and Ubuntu for home. These pictures are a random collection I have of different parts of the shelves.

Check out additional photos of their workspaces below, you'll find additional notes on each photo in the workspace set in their Flickr pool.

If you have a workspace of your own to show off, throw the pictures on your Flickr account and add it to the Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell Pool. Include some details about your setup and why it works for you, and you just might see it featured on the front page of Lifehacker.

Google Wave Adds Follow/Unfollow Feature for a Cleaner Inbox [Google Wave]

Adam Pash — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:30:00 -0800

When we taught you the first Google Wave search you should know (with:public), Wave automatically added public waves you read to your inbox, and an empty inbox quickly became hard to come by. Today, Wave fixes that with a handy Follow/Unfollow button.

Now, rather than automatically adding a public wave to your inbox as soon as you look at it, you have to explicitly choose to follow public waves.

Here's how following works: When someone adds you directly to a wave, or if you contribute to a wave, you will automatically be following that wave. When you see a public wave that you would like to get updates on, you can chose to follow it by hitting the follow button in the wave panel toolbar. You can remove these waves from your inbox by hitting the "archive" button, but when there is an update they will pop back in. You can switch between following and unfollowing a wave as much and as often as you like.

As old public waves you were automatically added to update, they'll start disappearing from your inbox unless you go back in and explicitly follow them. Keep in mind that Unfollow has replaced Mute, so you can also Unfollow waves you've started or been explicitly added to if you no longer want to receive updates in your Inbox.

We realize many of you are still waiting on invites (we'll continue to do our best to hand some out every week), but trust us when we say this is a nice update.

Hanging Lego Recharger Holds Your Keys, Charges Your Gadgets [DIY]

Adam Pash — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:00:00 -0800

We're suckers for any project that involves Legos, and the DIY gurus at weblog Make play to our weaknesses with this saucy Lego recharger and key holder.

All you'll need is the appropriate Lego bricks (naturally), some screws, your devices' chargers, and a few common tools. The guide actually takes the process a little further than we would, cutting the ends of each device charger and fastening them to a Lego brick that, when connected to the base brick, completes the circuit and starts charging. (The process requires some wire stripping and soldering.) If we were to tackle this one, we'd probably skip all the messy cutting and soldering and just drape the plugs through the bricks rather than make dedicated Lego charger dongles out of them. Still, whichever route you take, the geeky end result is pretty nice.

If you want to get really serious about your Lego design, check out previously mentioned Lego Digital Designer to prototype and then buy the necessary parts.

Gadget and Gear Deals of the Day [Dealhacker]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:30:00 -0800

Discounted HDTVs, laptops, and bluetooth peripherals are today's order of business. Tired of waiting for an Apple Tablet? You can save $500 off a Mac-based "ModBook" tablet.

Dual-Boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu in Perfect Harmony [Dual Boot]

Kevin Purdy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:30:00 -0800

Windows 7 and Ubuntu, despite their opposing missions, can get along like best pals on a single computer. Here's how to set up a dual boot system that lets you enjoy the best of both worlds in perfect harmony.

By default, Windows 7 takes over your boot-up process and wants to be your only OS, and Linux treats Windows like a weekend hobby you keep in a shed somewhere on your hard drive. But I've been dual-booting Ubuntu and some version of Windows 7 for nearly a year, and I've learned a lot about inconveniences, annoyances, and file-sharing necessities, and now I'll walk you through how to set up your systems to achieve a peaceful union of your dual-boot OSes. (Both with Windows 7 already installed, and with a clean system ready for a new dual-OS existence.)

Follow through this guide, and I'll explain how to rebuild a system from the ground up with Windows 7 and Ubuntu, with either a backed-up and cleaned-out hard drive (recommended) or Windows 7 already installed. When we're done, you can work and play in either operating system, quickly and conveniently access your documents, music, pictures, and other files without worry or inconvenience, and boot into either system without having to worry about whether Windows is going to get mad at you. Plus, when Ubuntu 10.04 or Windows 8 come along, you'll find it much easier to install either one without having to start over entirely from scratch.

What you'll need

Windows 7 installation disc: For clean installations, either a full installation copy or an upgrade disc is needed. If you own an upgrade disc but want to start from scratch, there's a way to do a clean install with an upgrade disc, though that's a rather gray-area route. Then again, there's probably not a person on this earth that doesn't have a licensed copy of XP or Vista somewhere in their past.
Ubuntu 9.10 installation image: You can grab an ISO at Ubuntu.com, or hit "Alternative download options" to reveal a (usually very fast) BitTorrent link. You'll want to get the ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso download for 32-bit systems, or ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.iso.torrent for 64-bit on AMD or Intel systems (despite the name).
Blank CD or empty USB drive: You'll need one of these for burning the Ubuntu ISO, or loading it for USB boot. If you're going the thumb drive route, grab UNetBootin for Windows or Linux, plug in your USB drive, and load it with the downloaded ISO image.
All your data backed up: Even if you're pulling this off with Windows 7 already installed and your media and documents present, you'll want to have a fallback in case things go awry. Which they shouldn't, but, naturally, you never know.
Free time: I'd reckon it takes about 2 hours to pull off two OS installs on a clean system; more if you've got a lot of data to move around.

Setting up your hard drive

If you've got nothing installed on your system, or you've got your data backed up and you're ready to start from scratch, you're in a great position--skip down to the "Partition your system" section. If you've got Windows already installed, you can still make a spot for Ubuntu, though.

(Only) If Windows is already installed: You're going to "shrink" the partition that Windows 7 installed itself on. Before we do that, clean out any really unnecessary applications and data from your system (we like Revo Uninstaller for doing this). Also, open up "Computer" and take note of how much space remains on your main hard drive, presumably labeled "C:". Head to the Start menu, type "disk management" into the search box, and hit Enter.

Windows 7 probably put two partitions on your hard drive: one, about 100 MB in size, holding system restoration data. We don't want to touch it. Right-click on the bigger partition to the right, and choose Shrink Partition.

After a little bit of hard drive activity and a "Please wait" window, you'll get back the size you can shrink your Windows partition by.

If the space Windows offers doesn't jibe with what your Computer view told you was "remaining," you might need to hit Cancel, then head back and defragment your hard drive, and take some of the steps laid out by the How-To Geek. Run the Disk Management tool again and try a Shrink Volume operation again, and free up as much space as you can.

Partition your system: You're aiming to set up a system with three partitions, or sections, to its hard drive: One lean partition for the Windows operating system and applications running from it, another just-big-enough partition for Ubuntu and its own applications, and then a much larger data partition that houses all the data you'll want access to from either one. Documents, music, pictures, application profiles—it all goes in another section I'll call "Storage" for this tutorial.

How do you get there? We're going to use GParted, the Linux-based uber-tool for all things hard drive. You could grab the Live CD if you felt like it, but since you've already downloaded an Ubuntu installer, you can simply boot a "live," no-risk session of Ubuntu from your CD or USB stick and run GParted from there. Once you're inside Ubuntu, head to the System menu in the upper left when you get to a desktop, then choose the Administration menu and GParted under it.

You'll see your system's hard drive and its partitions laid out. You're going to create partitions for Linux and your storage space, but not Windows—we'll let the Windows installation carve out its own recovery partition and operating space. On my own system, I give Windows 15 GB of unallocated space, and Ubuntu another 15 GB of space right after it, with whatever's left kept as storage space. Then again, I've only got a 100 GB hard drive and don't run huge games or applications, so you can probably give your two operating systems a bit more space to grow.

Click on the unallocated space and hit the "New" button at the far left. In the "Free space preceding" section, click and hold the up button, or enter a number of megabytes, to leave space for Windows at the front. When you've got the "space preceding" set, set the actual size of the Ubuntu partition in the "New Size" section, and leave "Free space following" alone. Choose "unformatted" under file system—we'll let Ubuntu do the format itself and hit "Add." Back at the main GParted window, click on the space to the right of your two OS spaces, hit "New" again, and set the file system as "ntfs." Give it a label like "Storage," hit "Add," and at the main GParted window, hit the checkmark button to apply your changes. Once it's done, exit out of GParted and shut down the system from the pull-down menu in the upper-right corner.

If Windows is already installed: If you've shrunk down its partition for free space and booted into a live Ubuntu or GParted, click on the "Unallocated" piece next to the two "ntfs" partitions that represent your Windows 7 installation and system recovery tools. Create a 15(-ish) GB unformatted partition, and give it a label like Ubuntu. If you've got a good deal of space left, format it as "ntfs" and label it something like "Storage." If you can just barely fit the Ubuntu partition, you can just keep your media files in the Windows partition—until you can remedy this with a full wipe-and-install down the line.

Experienced Linux geeks might be wondering where the swap space is going—but don't worry, we'll create one, just not in its own partition.

Installing and configuring Windows

Grab your Windows 7 installation disc—either a full copy or modified upgrade disc, and insert it into your DVD drive. If your system isn't set up to boot from CD or DVD drive, look for the button to press at start-up for "Boot options" or something similar, or hit up your system maker's help guides to learn how to change your boot order in the BIOS settings.

Follow through the Windows 7 installation, being sure to choose "Custom" for the installation method and to point it at that unallocated space we created at the beginning of your hard disk, not the NTFS-formatted media/storage space we made earlier:

Work your way through the Windows 7 installation, all the way until you reach the Windows desktop. Feel free to set up whatever programs or apps you want, but what we really want to do is set up your Storage partition to house your pictures, music, video, and other files, and make your Libraries point to them.

Hit the Start menu, click Computer, and double-click on the hard drive named "Storage" (assuming you named it that earlier). In there, right-click and create new folders (or hit Ctrl+Shift+N) for the files you'll be using with both systems. I usually create folders labeled Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos—I could also see folders for saved games and data files from big software packages. Copy your media files into these folders now, if you'd like, but we've got a bit more tweaking to pull off.

In the left-hand sidebar, you'll see your "Libraries" for documents, music, pictures, and video. At the moment, they point to your Public shared folders and the My Pictures-type folders on your main Windows drive. Click once on any of the Libraries, and at the top of the main panel, you'll see text stating that this library "Includes: 2 locations ...". Click the blue text on "2 locations," then click on each of the folders below and hit "Remove" on the right-hand side. Now hit "Add" and select the corresponding folder on your Storage drive. Do the same for all your music, pictures, videos, and other media folders.

Want to add another library for quick access? Right-click somewhere on the desktop, choose New->Library, and follow the steps.

That's about it for Windows. Now get your Ubuntu CD or USB stick ready and insert it in your system. Ignore whatever auto-play prompts appear, and restart your system.

Installing and configuring Ubuntu

Restart your computer, this time booting from your Ubuntu Live CD or USB boot drive. When your system boots up, choose your language, select "Try Ubuntu without any changes to your computer," and you'll boot into a "live" desktop, run entirely off the CD or USB stick. Once you're booted up, try connecting to the internet from the network icon in the upper-right—it helps during the installation process, ensures your network is working, and gives you something to do (Firefox) while the system installs.

Click the "Install" link on the desktop, and fill out the necessary language/location/keyboard info (most U.S. users can skip through the first 3 screens). When you hit the "Prepare disk space" section, select the "Specify partitions manually" option, then hit Forward. Select the free space that's after your first two Windows partitions with ntfs formats, then hit the "Add" button at bottom. Your partition should already be sized correctly, and the only thing to change is set "/" as a mount point. Here's what your screen should look like:

Click OK, then finish through with the Ubuntu installation. If it catches your Windows 7 installation, it might ask if you want to import settings from inside it—you can, if you'd like, but I usually skip this. Wait for the installation to finish, remove the CD or thumb drive, and reboot your system.

When you start up again, you'll see a list of OS options. The only ones you need concern yourself with are Windows 7 and the top-most Ubuntu line. You can prettify and fix up this screen, change its settings, and modify its order later on. For now, let's head into Ubuntu.

We're going to make the same kind of folder access change we did in Windows. Click up on the "Places" menu, choose "Home Folder," and check out the left-hand sidebar. It's full of links to Documents, Pictures, and the like, but they all point to locations inside your home folder, on the Linux drive that Windows can't read. Click once on any of those folders, then right-click and hit Remove.

You should see your "Storage" partition in the left-hand sidebar, but without that name—more like "100GB filesystem." Double-click it, type in the administrator password you gave when installing, and you'll see your Documents, Music, etc. Click and drag those folders into the space where the other folders were, and now you'll have access to them from the "Places" menu, as well as any file explorer window you have open.

Ubuntu won't "mount," or make available, your Windows 7 and Storage drives on boot-up, however, and we at least want constant access to the Storage drive. To fix that, head to Software Sources in the System->Administration menu. From there go to Applications, then the Ubuntu Software Center at the bottom. Under the "Ubuntu Software" and "Updates" sections, add a check to the un-checked sources, like Restricted, Multiverse, Proposed, and Backports. Hit "Close," and agree to Reload your software sources.

Finally! Head to the Applications menu and pick the Ubuntu Software Center. In there, search for "ntfs-config," and double-click on the NTFS Configuration Tool that's the first result. Install it, then close the Software Center. If you've got the "Storage" or Windows 7 partitions mounted, head to any location in Places and then click the eject icon next to those drives in the left-hand sidebar. Now head to the System->Administration menu and pick the NTFS Configuration Tool.

You'll see a few partitions listed, likely as /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, and the like. If you only want your storage drive, it should be listed as /dev/sda3 or something similar--just not the first or second options. Check the box for "Add," click in the "Mount point" column to give it a name (Storage, perhaps?), and hit "Apply." Check both boxes on the next window to allow read/write access, and hit OK, and you're done. Now the drive with all your stuff is accessible to Windows and Linux at all times.

Adding swap to Ubuntu

"Swap" memory is a section of the hard drive that your system's memory spills over into when it gets full and busy. Until recently, I'd been creating a whole separate partition for it. Recently, though, I've found that swap isn't always necessary on systems with a large amount of memory, and that swap can simply be a file tucked away on your hard drive somewhere.

Follow the Ubuntu help wiki's instructions for adding more swap, but consider changing the location they suggest putting the swap file—/mnt/swap/ for the place your Storage is held—/media/Storage, in my case.

Share Firefox profiles and more

That's about it for this guide to setting up a harmonious Windows and Ubuntu existence, but I recommend you also check out our previous guide to using a single data store when dual-booting. It explains the nitty-gritty of sharing Firefox, Thunderbird, and Pidgin profiles between Linux and Windows for a consistent experience, as well as a few other dual-boot tricks.

You might also want to consider creating virtual machines with VirtualBox for those moments when you're in one OS and need to get at the other. Ubuntu is free to create as many instances as you want, of course, and Windows 7 (Professional and Ultimate) are very friendly with non-activated copies—not that either can't be otherwise activated in cases where it's just a double-use issue.

What'd I miss that makes Windows 7 and Ubuntu 9.10 get along even better? What needs clarifying or fixing? Tell us your questions and solutions in the comments.

Apple Adds Some Transparency to App Store Approvals [App Store]

Whitson Gordon — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

There's been a lot of controversy surrounding Apple and their practice regarding the iPhone App Store, like multiple app bannings (including the Google Voice fiasco), inconsistent rules, and a lack of communication with developers. A few days ago, Apple decided to take a step in the right direction concerning the latter point (albeit a small step), giving developers the ability to see the status of their submitted apps. When they log into the Dev Center, they can see if their app is "in review," "waiting for review," or "ready for sale," complete with a timestamp for when that status was updated. It's very simple, and, like I said, a small step—but hopefully a step in the right direction, nonetheless. Now let's just get Google Voice approved already.

Lower Your Out-of-Pocket Medical Costs by Asking [Health]

Sarah Rae Trover — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0800

Even if you've got medical insurance, a bill with your name on it can still end up in your mailbox after a visit to the doctor. Stacy Johnson, author of the book Life or Debt, shares how to lessen your out-of-pocket cost.

Photo by Brittany G

Doctors, like many businesses around the country, depend on your patronage to keep their practices alive, and quite often they're willing to work with you on the cost of procedures, tests, and services they offer. Johnson has this to say on the matter:

If your health insurance provider agrees to pay 80% of covered procedures, that generally means they'll pay 80% of what they think is reasonable for that procedure, not 80% of whatever it costs. So find out what your insurance company is willing to pay and if your doctor can do it for that amount.

Asking a doctor to meet or lower the price to closer to what your insurance will cover, although bold, is a good way to cut corners on your medical bill. Chances are you can't haggle your way into a free set of X-rays, but you still have some freedom to ask for a lower price. Even if they turn you down on the discount, it's still worth your time to ask next time you find yourself in the ever-dashing backless gown.

Make Yourself Eligible for an Office 2010 Starter Beta [Office 2010]

Kevin Purdy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0800

Microsoft Office 2010 will offer a free, ad-supported "Starter" edition, in addition to its regular, rather pricey offerings. Beta invites are already going out, and you can increase your chances at a spot by filling out a quick online survey.

By quick, we mean three minutes or less. The survey asks what type of computers you use at home, what kind of internet connection you have, and whether you've used Office in the past six months. Intriguingly, it also asks if you've used Google Docs or OpenOffice in the same time period.

Filling out the survey won't guarantee a place in the 2010 Starter beta program, but it certainly won't hurt, if you're itching for a chance to give it a go.

JetPack Gallery Opens with No-Restart-Needed Firefox Extensions [Firefox]

Kevin Purdy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0800

JetPack, the Firefox add-on system that uses only HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, has opened up its own gallery of apps. The pickings aren't exactly plush, but there's some neat stuff that doesn't require a restart to try out.

JetPack, as we've previously summed it up, falls somewhere between the site-specific scripts of GreaseMonkey and full-blown Firefox add-ons. They can add to Firefox's chrome and bring up dialogs if you've got JetPack installed, but they don't require a total browser restart or compatibility check to install—just a site refresh.

At the gallery, you can install JetPack and try out some neat stuff, like the GTranslatifier, which can translate entire pages or selected text with a status bar click. There's also a JetWave notifier for Google Wave messages, and a sidebar tweak, Thumbtabs, that offers Opera-like visual browser tab thumbnails in a pop-out sidebar.

Found a favorite JetPack to share? We'd love to see the link in the comments.

EasyBCD Makes Tweaking Your Windows Bootloader a Snap [Downloads]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:30:00 -0800

Windows Vista/Windows 7: If you're running multiple operating systems—and if you weren't before the release of Windows 7 you most likely are now—EasyBCD is a simple application for tweaking your bootloader through a clean GUI and well-detailed prompts.

With EasyBCD you can edit the names of entries, add and remove entries onto the bootloader menu, change the timeout on the bootloader selection menu, and tweak boot-related items like enabling PAE mode or run with the debug process enabled. EasyBCD includes support for adding Windows, Linux, Mac, NeoGrub, and WinPE loaders.

If this is your first time tinkering with a bootloader, EasyBCD makes the process fairly simple. By default the application is in basic mode instead of expert mode—in expert mode it won't prompt you if you're doing something that could be difficult to undo. For additional information you can visit the EasyBCD wiki.

Note: Although we didn't have any problems doing some minor tweaks on our test machine with the current public release of EasyBCD, if you're doing any heavy overhauling you'll want to play it safe and download the beta release. The beta officially supports Windows 7 and is available here.

Have a boot-related trick or tweak? Let's hear about it in the comments. EasyBCD is freeware and works with Windows Vista and up.

SaveEveryWay Sends Daily Reminders to Save Money [Saving]

Kevin Purdy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0800

A recent study showed that daily SMS reminders have real impact on saving. The folks behind SaveEveryWay were inspired, and now offer free daily quotes and reminders to save, delivered by SMS, RSS, email, or Twitter feed.

It's only been up and running for a few days, but SaveEveryWay intends to continue delivering inspirational quotes, reminders, and other thoughts about savings for free. The updates are delivered at 8:11 Pacific every day, and they're just a way to keep a regular reminder about the value of putting aside cash in your pocket. Thanks Greg!

Chrome Beta for Mac Arriving in Early December [Google Chrome]

Kevin Purdy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:30:00 -0800

Google plans to release a beta version of its Chrome browser in early December. How does the net know this? A mailing list discussion shows off the latest implementation of extensions in Chrome, already working on the latest Windows and Mac builds of Chromium, but not in the rough Mac test builds. Nick Baum urges extension makers to update their wares to meet the new look, so they'll have more time to "polish your experience for our Beta launch in early December." Isn't open-source development neat? [Google Groups via CNET]

Hit Up Farmers' Markets When Cooking for One [Saving Money]

Kevin Purdy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:30:00 -0800

Grocery stores are full of deals involving two-for-one, 30 percent more, family sizes, and other bulk deals. None of that helps, though, if the food goes to waste. The Washington Post suggests farmers' markets, and creativity, for single cooks.

Photo by Ed Yourdon.

The article is framed around a farmers' market tour with Judith Jones, the literary agent who rescued both The Diary of Anne Frank and Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking. She's written a new book about cooking for one, and, from experience, suggests community markets, farmer stands, and wherever else you can get up close and personal with purveyors as a way around food waste:

For singles, one of the best things about farmers markets is that so much of the produce and other products is sold loose or individually: no need to buy a whole bag of spinach when you can just scoop up however many leaves you'd like ...
... Carrots? If you find yourself in possession of a bunch when you need just one, roast the remainder — this goes for all sorts of vegetables — and then use them throughout the week: in hashes, in salads, over pasta, in soups or even as a vegetarian roll-up sandwich with a little dressing.

The article's got a few great recipes for using good pork, and a few other inspirational moments. What's the best food-saving move you've pulled off in your kitchen? Swap the stories in the comments.

From the Tips Box: More Milk Foam, Chrome History, and Deodorant Streaks [From The Tips Box]

Whitson Gordon — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0800

Readers offer their best tips for making coffee-house milk foam at home, searching your history from Chrome's address bar, and easily wiping deodorant streaks off clothing.

Don't like the gallery layout? Click here to view everything on one page.

About the Tips Box: Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons—maybe they're a bit too niche, maybe we couldn't find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn't fit it in—the tip didn't make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments or email it to tips at lifehacker.com.

More Ways to Make Milk Foam at Home

Photo by Justin D. Henry.

Brenda lays out a nice way to fake froth if you don't have an empty jar:

Thanks for posting your tip on frothed milk! I have been making what we call "cappachinefaux" for a while with my Senseo coffee and frothed milk. People don't really know the difference (although there is a HUGE one between steamed and nuked milk - LOL!)

You can also pour cold milk into a pyrex measuring cup (or other glass container) and, holding the handle of the whisk between your two palms, roll them back and forth to spin the whisk in the cold milk. Then microwave.

You can also warm milk in a small french press carafe, insert the plunger and plunge up and down quickly several times.

Search History from Chrome's Address Bar

atomic1fire shows us a great use for Chrome's customized searches:

In Chrome, you can use history as a search engine. Right click the address bar, hit customize search engines, and create a new one. Enter the name History, enter any keyword that seems easy, I used h, and type in chrome://history/#q=%s for the url.

Use a Dryer Sheet to Remove Deodorant Streaks

offthewall712 shares a tip for removing accidental deodorant streaks on clothing:

Here's another dryer sheet tip to add to your arsenal: Have you ever accidentally gotten deodorant on your shirt? Rubbing it with a dryer sheet will take it right off and you won't have a wet spot or have to change your shirt!

Re-Use Disposable Items as Packing Material

lincolnlogs shows us a money-saving way to pack boxes:

Re-use empty egg cartons, tissue boxes and other small light cardboard containers by using them to help fill any empty space while shipping items in boxes a bit too large. It (a) saves on cost of pricey shipping materials such as bubble-wrap and (b) helps protect the item being shipped while having a "second life" to an item that would have normally been trashed (or hopefully recycled). Try it!

Remains of the Day: SafeSearch Update Makes Your Kids Hate You Edition [For What It's Worth]

Adam Pash — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0800

Users are brutally honest when they're searching Google, TweetDeck for iPhone updates, and Google's open-sourced a new programming language.

The Go Programming Language
Google launches their own open-source programming language. It's called Go, and it's aiming to be fast, safe, and fun. We'll see!
Locking SafeSearch
Google now let's users lock their adult-content filtering technology, SafeSearch. When SafeSearch is locked to Strict, search results show colored balls on top of search pages so parents and teachers can see that SafeSearch is still enabled from across the room. And an impatient kid whips up a Greasemonkey script that displays those balls when SafeSearch is disabled in 3.. 2.. 1.. [Official Google Blog]
Contrasts in How Google Suggests Searches
Google Suggest gives you an idea of just how jarringly honest people are with their searches. [Ben Casnocha via @kottke]
Urbanspoon on Blackberry
Urbanspoon's a great app for finding a nearby restaurant slot-machine style. It's good times on the iPhone, and now BlackBerry owners can enjoy it, too. [Urbanspoon]
Skip, skip, skip to my video
YouTube brings back the pre-roll ads, but they're entirely skippable if you don't want to sit through them. [YouTube Biz Blog]
Expect Caffeine after the holidays
We heard Google's improved search algorithm, Caffeine, was going primetime soon. Google's Matt Cutts announces it'll reach most after the holidays. [Matt Cutts]
Google Voice invitations for Blue Star Families
Google hands out more Voice invitations to our friends in the Armed Forces. [Google Voice Blog]
Tweetdeck back in the iPhone app store with new features, fewer bugs
iPhone Twitter client TweetDeck updates, gets Facebook integration, and squashes some bugs. [Download Squad]
Bringing the Best of Web Video to You at Bing Videos
MSN Video becomes Bing Videos, and you'll still probably go to YouTube and Hulu instead. [Bing Blog]
Wolfram Alpha Results Finally Show Up In Bing
If you like data, you'll love some Wolfram Alpha integration anywhere you can get it. [TechCrunch]
Vimeo's videos get iPhone, Android-friendly
YouTube isn't the only iPhone-friendly video site on the market. Popular video sharing site Vimeo now supports iPhone-friendly formats for some videos. [CNET]
Why Retweet works the way it does
Twitter's head honcho explains why Twitter's new support for retweets works how it does. [Evhead]

Norbt Sends Top Secret, Encrypted Messages [Security]

Sarah Rae Trover — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0800

Web application Norbt (short for "no robot") creates web pages with encrypted text; only people who can answer your challenge question can access the text. Got anything secret you want to share?

Norbt uses browser-based cryptography to secure your information and keep it safe until someone with the correct answer to your challenge question comes along. As a bonus, you can create whatever challenge question and answer you want. There's no sign of the typical "High School Your Maternal Grandparents Went To" type stuff, which is always frustrating to remember. You'll need a separate password to re-access the information yourself to make changes, so making one you can keep track of is a good thing.

Once your Norbt is created, you can share the link freely with anyone. Even if you don't have anything pressing to send to a friend or family member across the web, it could be fun to send your friends locked messages or love letters. Just don't get the two confused. If you're not sure you want to trust any secret missives to Norbt without a better idea of how they secure your text, check out their security page. And while we wouldn't put any of our most sensitive data in Norbt, it is, at the very least, a fun tool for sharing information.

Use Your Net Worth as a Psychological Carrot to Motivate Saving [Saving Money]

Adam Pash — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0800

Saving for the future is important, but it's hard to stay motivated if you don't have something concrete to measure your progress. Personal finance weblog The Simple Dollar details how to keep score—and stay motivated—by tracking net worth.

Photo by pfala.

Keeping score is an easy way for me to know how well I'm doing. It lets me judge, in a very clear way, whether I'm improving and whether I'm making forward progress towards my goals.

The primary way I "keep my own score" is by calculating my net worth quite frequently. I use my net worth as a score to judge whether or not I'm making successful, smart moves towards improving my personal finance state. I "win" if my net worth goes up. I "win big" if my net worth goes up by some specific amount each month.

Head over to the full post for more details on how Trent from The Simple Dollar keeps score using his net worth. Then let us know how you stay motivated with your savings (do you regularly calculate your net worth?) in the comments.

Netflix May Delay New Release Movies by a Full Month [NetFlix]

Sarah Rae Trover — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:30:00 -0800

Netflix has become the savior of home entertainment for many, but recently Netflix has been in talks with major studios about delaying new release movies by a month or more. Why? The major studios are willing to drop the price of the DVDs it sells to Netflix with the understanding that all new release movies wouldn't be accessible to its customers for up to a full month after release date—presumably in hopes that more people would buy their stupid DVDs. It would cut Netflix's costs by almost half, but there's no word yet on if that savings would be passed on to its loyal customers.

So we're wondering: Would you cancel your subscription if this was the direction your trusty red envelope movie service went? Let's here it in the comments. Photo by jc.westbrook.

Polish Your Shoes with a Banana [Clever Uses]

Whitson Gordon — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0800

If you've got a few over-ripe bananas lying around (as most of us do), and you're not the banana bread type, it turns out they have a few household uses before you toss them in the garbage—like homespun shoe polish.

Bananas, while delicious, are annoying because they release gases that cause fruits (including other bananas in the bunch) to ripen quicker, giving you a small window in which to eat them. However, bananas also contain potassium, which is useful even after the bananas are past the edible stage—in fact, it's a key ingredient in shoe polish. Thus, you can use the inside of the banana peel to polish your shoes—and still have the fruit left over if you decide you really do want that banana bread. Of course, the banana doesn't have to be over-ripe to do some shoe-shining, since the peel is the important part.

We hear they actually sell products specifically designed to polish shoes (who'd've thunk?), but the banana-peel polish is a tried and true trick if you're in a pinch.

Fix for Netbook Hackintoshes in the Works, Temporary Fix Already Available [Hackintosh]

Adam Pash — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:30:00 -0800

Lifehacker's Hackintosh build upgraded without problems to OS X 10.6.2, but the same wasn't true for hacked netbooks. According to Gizmodo, the main hacker behind hacked netbooks says the kernel will be fixed for the netbooks' Atom processors. "It'll just take a few weeks." Gizmodo also points out that if you did accidentally update your netbook to 10.6.2, you can still downgrade your kernel to get it working again. Good luck! [Gizmodo]

The Gaia Desktop [Featured Desktop]

The How-To Geek — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0800

Reader Sweetshop Union's Windows 7 desktop has been completely transformed with the Gaia09 skin for Rainmeter, complete with widgets, wallpaper, and a visual style to match.

The desktop is a combination of:

Rainmeter with the Gaia09 theme.

Rocketdock

Gaia09 Visual style for Windows 7 (includes wallpaper)

Full instructions for installing Gaia09 Rainmeter skins can be found here.

This desktop not your style? Why waste time complaining? Instead, get started creating your own killer desktop with the easy-install Rainmeter 1.1 package and show the world what you can do. If you get stuck and need some help, join up with the Lifehacker Desktop Customization Google Group to collaborate on new ideas for desktop configurations.

Once you've created your own beautifully tweaked (and hopefully productive) desktop, post it over in the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr Group complete with a description of the programs and tweaks you used (and preferably links as well!), and we just might feature it here.

Updating the Better Extensions for Firefox 3.6 [Updates]

Gina Trapani — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:30:00 -0800

Now that the Firefox 3.6 beta is available for download (portable version is here), it's time to start updating the Better Firefox extensions. The most popular ones, Better Gmail 2 and Better GReader, are already 3.6-compatible; the rest will come in the next few weeks. As always, join the Google Group to ask questions or make comments about the Better Firefox extensions.

Disciplanner Makes Tracking and Assessing Your Goals Simple [Habits]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0800

If you're interested in tracking your goals and habits in the long term, but messing around with tracking schemes and tools isn't your thing, Disciplanner is a simple and easy to grasp tracking tool.

(Click the image above for a closer look.)

Disciplanner allows you to make categories both for positive and negative habits. Want to exercise more and watch television less or spend more time reading and less time playing video games? You can create a category for the positive behavior you want to encourage and the negative behavior you want to extinguish.

Visit Disciplanner once a day to plug in the total time spent on all categories and after a few weeks you'll be able to see patterns emerge in the report tab—seen above.

Disciplanner is a free tool and requires basic registration to enable tracking. Have your own free tool for tracking your goals and extinguishing your bad habits? Let's hear about it in the comments.

How to Make a "Buddy Burner" Emergency Stove [Outdoors]

Whitson Gordon — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:30:00 -0800

After we featured how to make an emergency fire starter out of a t-shirt, we've gotten a few other tips on other useful flammables. With a few common household items, though, you can also create a pretty handy stove.

The t-shirt and Vaseline ideas are both great in an emergency, but if you're, say, out camping and have a few more items with you (namely a can, cardboard, and some wax) or you've done a little preparation ahead of time, you can make a pretty handy emergency candle or even a nice little heater. The "Buddy Burner," as it's called, is especially nice because it is pretty immune to moisture and, unlike propane, will light at fairly low temperatures. Plus, they should burn for about 2-3 hours, which isn't bad considering its size and weight. Thanks, Bob!

Make Holiday Shopping Simple with Our Gift-Planning Checklist [Holidays]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:00 -0800

One of the best ways to cut down on holiday stress is proper planning. Our gift-planning template makes it simple to plan, track, and budget for your holiday purchases.

(Click the image above for a closer look.)

Why keep a meticulous holiday shopping list? Among the many reasons, I'll share the reason I started keeping one and archiving it every year:

Once upon a time, I bought my brother-in-law a book for Christmas. It was an excellent pick and well received. The next year, while looking for another book I made another great pick—but ended up sending him the exact same book I'd purchased the year prior. Oops!

From there on I kept a list of every person I gave a gift, the gift I gave them, and a small checklist that included information like whether or not the gift had been purchased, received, and wrapped. This year I took the best features of my previous lists and rolled them together into a spreadsheet with a few bells and whistles.

Sure you could scribble your shopping list on the back of an envelope, but the back of the envelope won't color code, cross-reference, and calculate your shopping budget like our handy gift-planning template will. With our holiday template you can record the recipients, the gift you bought them, its cost, and whether or not you have purchased, received, wrapped, and delivered the gift.

All the cells for purchase/received/wrapped/delivered status are color coded. Empty cells are light red. Cells can be filled with either "x" or "na" to turn them light green. The "na" flag was included both for visual continuity on the chart (you can't really gift wrap a subscription, for example) and for continuity on the Gift Info page.

The second sheet of the spreadsheet is the Gift Info page; it totals up information about your gift list. There you can enter in your total budget for your holiday spending, and it will total the amounts from your list to tell you how much money you have left and the average amount of money you've spent per person. It will also calculate the number of people on your list and the number you need to pick out a gift for as well as the remaining number of gifts to be purchased, wrapped, and so on:

The boxes indicating the remaining gift money as well as the present-related tasks will show up in red when something is amiss—negative balance in the budget or presents left unwrapped for example.

The template is available from Google Docs and is free for you to copy and alter. If you see any areas for improvement, by all means tinker with it and post a link to your new version in the comments below (and feel free to email it to us, too) so everyone can benefit from your spreadsheet-fu.

Find Nearby Flu Shots with Google Maps [Google Maps]

Adam Pash — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:30:00 -0800

In an effort to help battle flu season, Google has released a new Google Maps feature that helps you find nearby locations for both seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccinations. Just point your browser to their flu shot finder, click the Change location link in the left sidebar, enter your address, and Google returns the seasonal (red syringe) and H1N1 (blue syringe) vaccination locations nearby, including the status of the shots at that location. Handy. [Google Maps Flu Shot Finder]

DIY Bike Trailer [Bicycle]

Sarah Rae Trover — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0800

Riding your bike is all well and good, until you have to carry home more than 2 bags of groceries at a time. Toby from the DIY cyclist website Bike Hacks has assembled a pretty keen towing package for your wheels.

Toby used parts easily found at your local hardware store. The trailer hooks to a wooden box that sits snug on the rear of the bike. Here's some of the materials used:

I made this trailer out of wood as I am a woodworker. I used metal electrical junction box covers cut in half to make my plates for the wheels. The fenders are made out of the middle of a piece of vinyl gutter that I bought at Lowe's. A 10′ piece of gutter was only about $7.00 and you score it with a utility knife and then just snap it off.

This DIY home project cost Toby far less than purchasing a retail version of similar size and shape, it's built to last, and it should be able to carry home whatever the day may bring.

Are you so into your biking you'd consider a trailer? Already have one? Sound off in the comments.

Programmer 101: Teach Yourself How to Code [Programming]

Gina Trapani — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:12 -0800

You've always wanted to learn how to build software yourself—or just whip up an occasional script—but never knew where to start. Luckily, the web is full of free resources that can turn you into a programmer in no time.

Since the invention of the internet, programmers have been using it to discuss software development techniques, publish tutorials, and share code samples for others to learn from and use online. If you're curious about how to become a programmer, you can get off to a running start using tons of great free web-based tutorials and resources.

First Things First: Don't Get Hung Up on Choosing a Language

A common pitfall for beginners is getting stuck figuring out which programming language is best to learn first. There are a lot of opinions out there, but there's no one "best" language. Here's the thing: In the end, language doesn't matter THAT much. Understanding data and control structures and design patterns does matter very much. Every language—even a simple scripting language—will have elements that you'll use in other languages as well and will help you learn. In classes I took to get my degree in Computer Science, I programmed in Pascal, Assembly, and C—languages I never actually got paid to program in professionally. I taught myself every language I've used in my career, reusing concepts I already knew, and referring to documentation and books to learn its syntax. So, don't get hung up on what language to learn first. Pick the kind of development you want to do, and just get started using one that works.

There are several different kinds of software development you can do for various platforms, from the web to your desktop to your smartphone to a command line. In this article, we'll outline some of our favorite starter tutorials and resources for teaching yourself how to program for each major platform. We're going to assume you're a savvy user, but a newb when it comes to wrangling code snippets, so we'll keep things at the beginner level. Even just following through a beginner programming tutorial, you'll be happy to see how far you can get.

Desktop Scripting

The easiest way to try your hand at programming for your Windows or Mac desktop is to start with a scripting or macro program like AutoHotkey (for Windows) or Automator (for Mac). Right now hardcore coders throughout the Lifehacker readership are yelling at their monitors, saying that AHK or AppleScript are not "real" programming. That may be true—technically these types of tools just do high-level scripting. But for those new to programming who just want to get their feet wet, automating actions on their desktop, these free tools are a fantastic way to start—and you'd be surprised at how much you can do with them.

For example, Adam developed the standalone Windows application we all know and love, Texter, using AutoHotkey, so this scripting language is capable of far more than just small-scale automation projects. To get started with AutoHotkey, check out Adam's tutorial on how to turn any action into a keyboard shortcut using AutoHotkey. (Then, check out the source code for Texter to see the innards of a full-fledged AHK-based Windows application.)

Web Development

Instead of being bound to specific programming languages and the look and feel of a particular operating system, you can put your killer application in the browser and run it in the cloud, as a webapp. Welcome to the wonderful world of web development.

HTML and CSS: The first thing you need to know to build any web site is HTML (the page markup that makes up web pages) and CSS (the style information that makes that markup look pretty). HTML and CSS are not true programming languages—they're just page structure and style information. However, you should be able to author simple HTML and CSS by hand before you begin building web applications, because a web page is the frontend to every webapp. This HTML tutorial is a good place to start.

JavaScript: Now that you can lay out a static web page with HTML and CSS, things get fun—because it's time to learn JavaScript. JavaScript is the programming language of the web browser, the magic that makes dynamic in-page effects go. JavaScript is also the stuff of bookmarklets, Greasemonkey user scripts, and Ajax, so it's the key to making all sorts of web goodies. Start learning JavaScript here.

Server-side scripting: Once you're good at making things happen inside a web page, you're going to need to put some dynamic server action behind it—and for that, you'll need to move into a server-side scripting language, like PHP, Python, Perl, or Ruby. For example, to make a web-based contact form that sends an email somewhere based on what a user entered, a server-side script is required. Scripting languages like PHP can talk to a database on your web server as well, so if you want to make a site where users can log in and store information, that's the way to go. Excellent web development site Webmonkey is full of tutorials for various web programming languages. See their PHP Tutorial for Beginners. When you're ready, check out how to use PHP to talk to a database in WebMonkey's PHP and MySQL tutorial. PHP's online documentation and function reference is the best on the web. Each entry (like this one on the strlen function) includes user comments at the bottom which are often as helpful as the documentation itself. (I happen to be partial to PHP, but there are plenty of other server-side scripting languages you might decide to go with instead.)

Web frameworks: Over the years, web developers have had to solve and resolve the same problems and rewrite similar code to build dynamic web sites. To avoid making everyone reinvent the wheel for every new web development project, some programmers have come up with development frameworks that do some repetitive work for you. The popular Ruby on Rails framework, for example, takes the Ruby programming language and offers a web-specific structure for getting common web application tasks done. In fact, Adam used Rails to build his first serious (and impressive!) web application, MixTape.me. Here's his take on how to build a web site from scratch with no experience. Other popular web development frameworks include CakePHP (for PHP programmers), Django (for Python programmers), and jQuery (for JavaScript).

Web APIs: An API (Application programming interface) is a programmatic way for different pieces of software to talk to one another. For example, if you want to put a dynamic map on your web site, you want to use a Google Map instead of building your own custom map. The Google Maps API makes it easy to programmatically include a map in a page with JavaScript. Almost every modern web service you know and love has an API that lets you include data and widgets from it in your application, like Twitter, Facebook, Google Docs, Google Maps, and the list goes on. Integrating other webapps into your web application via API's is the final frontier of rich web development. Every good, major web service API offers thorough documentation and some sort of quick start guide to try it out (here's Twitter's, for example). Go crazy.

Command Line Scripting

If you want to write a program that takes textual or file input and outputs something useful, the command line is the right place to do it. While the command line isn't as sexy or good-looking as a webapp or desktop app, for rapid development of quick scripts that automate processes, you can't beat it.

Several scripting languages that work on a Linux-based web server also work at the command line, like Perl, Python, and PHP—so learning one of those baddies makes you conversant in two contexts. My path never took me too far down the Perl road, but I taught myself Python using the excellent and free online book, Dive into Python.

If becoming a Unix ninja is one of your programmer goals, you absolutely must get good at shell scripting with bash. Bash is the command line scripting language of a *nix environment, and it can do everything from help you set up automated backups of your database and files to building out a full-fledged application with user interaction. Without any experience writing bash scripts beyond a dozen lines, I wound up developing a full-on personal to-do list manager in bash, Todo.txt CLI.

Add-ons

Nowadays, modern webapps and browsers are extensible with with bits of software that bolt onto them and add features. Add-on development is gaining in popularity as more developers look at existing software, like Firefox or WordPress, and think "But if only it could do THIS..."

You can do a whole lot in any web browser with just a mastery of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Bookmarklets, Greasemonkey user scripts, and Stylish user styles are created with the same bits of code that make regular web pages, so they're worth learning even if you just want to tweak an existing site with a small snippet of code.

More advanced browser add-ons, like Firefox extensions, let you do more. Developing Firefox extensions, for example, requires that you're conversant in JavaScript and XML (markup that's similar to HTML, but way more strict in format). Back in 2007 I ran down how to build a Firefox extension, a skill I picked up after I stumbled upon a free tutorial.

Many free and well-loved web applications offer an extension framework as well, like WordPress and MediaWiki. Both of those apps are written in PHP, so comfort with PHP is a prerequisite for getting started. Here's how to write a plug-in for WordPress. Developers who want to ride the cutting edge of Google Wave can get started writing gadgets and bots in HTML, JavaScript, Java, and Python. I wrote my first Wave bot following this quick start tutorial in one afternoon.

Web Development for the Desktop

The best part about getting started programming in one context is when you can take those skills and apply them elsewhere. Learning web development first is a great way to start because now there are ways to put those skills to work on desktop applications, too. For example, Adobe AIR is a cross-platform run-time environment that lets you build your app once and release it to run on the desktop for every operating system AIR runs on. AIR apps are written in HTML, Flash, or Flex, so it lets you apply your web development skills in a desktop context. AIR is a great option for deploying desktop apps like one of our top 10 apps worth installing Adobe AIR for.

Mobile App Development

Mobile applications like the ones you run on your iPhone or Android smartphone are all the rage right now, so you may have dreams of striking it rich in the iTunes App Store with the next killer app. However, for the new coder, diving headfirst into mobile development can be a rough learning curve, since it requires comfort with advanced programming languages like Java and Objective C. However, it's worth checking out what iPhone and Android development looks like. Check out this simple iPhone application development example to get a taste of what iPhone developers do. Android apps are written in Java, and here's a friendly video tutorial of what building a "Hello Android" application workflow looks like.

Patience, Elbow Grease, Trial and Error

Good coders are a special breed of persistent problem-solvers who are addicted to the small victories that come along a long path of trial and error. Learning how to program is very rewarding, but it can also be a frustrating and solitary experience. If you can, get a buddy to work with you along the way. Getting really good at programming, like anything else, is a matter of sticking with it, trying things out, and getting experience as you go.

This article is just one self-taught programmer's top-of-mind recommendations for beginners. Experienced programmers: What did I miss? No matter your skill level, add your thoughts and recommendations for beginners to the comments.

Gina Trapani, Lifehacker's founding editor, thinks the best programmers are self-taught. Her weekly feature, Smarterware, appears every Wednesday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Smarterware tag feed to get new installments in your newsreader.

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Google Latitude Adds Location History, Alerts You When Friends Are Nearby [Google Maps]

Adam Pash — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:35:00 -0800

If you use Google Latitude to find your nearby friends, you're in luck: Google updated Latitude with location history and alerts for when your friends are nearby. If you don't love your every step tracked—well, it's kind of creepy.

Clearly if you're someone concerned about your privacy, a service like Latitude (and its recent updates) may feel a bit strange. Just keep in mind that the extent to which Latitude tracks you is always in your hands. Moving on to the new features:

Location history is pretty straight forward. Enable it in Latitude and the app starts keeping track of where you've been as well as where you are. Location alerts, on the other hand, are a little more interesting.

After working on this for a while, we realized it wasn't as straightforward as sending a notification every time Latitude friends were near each other. Imagine that you're Latitude friends with your roommate or co-workers. It would get pretty annoying to get a text message every single time you walked in the door at home or pulled into work. To avoid this, we decided to make Location Alerts smarter by requiring that you also enable Location History. Using your past location history, Location Alerts can recognize your regular, routine locations and not create alerts when you're at places like home or work. Alerts will only be sent to you and any nearby friends when you're either at an unusual place or at a routine place at an unusual time.

Neat. Of course, the features are only as useful as their adoption, and considering iPhone users are stuck with a kind of lame webapp because Apple worried that Latitude would confuse users, so it probably hasn't been adopted as widely as might be necessary. Then again, if you've got an Android, BlackBerry, Symbian S60, or Windows Mobile phone, you can grab the proper app.

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Raindrop's Universal Inbox Looks Awesome in Concept Designs [Inboxes]

Kevin Purdy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0800

Mozilla's Raindrop project showed us its one-inbox-to-rule-them-all mission, but a Mozilla designer now shows us how Raindrop might actually pull that off on mobile phones. The designs are impressive, combining email, Twitter, Facebook, and other conversations into one organized stream.

Andy Chung has made his initial designs for RainDrop's mobile implementation available as a Flickr set, and they show a really, really simplified way of looking at what's coming in. Twitter replies, emails, Facebook comments—they're all just different-colored messages, and the reply button always does the same thing. Additional functions look like they're available when triggered, but we're just excited (plainly) about how universally simple Raindrop looks on any phone.

Check out the pics and pitch, and tell us what you think of Raindrop in the comments.

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Get Google Maps Navigation on Your G1 [Android]

Kevin Purdy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:35:00 -0800

Google's awe-inducing, turn-by-turn Maps Navigation is exclusive to Verizon's Droid phone—unless you're willing to hack around with your G1. With either some command-line-fu or a two-part Windows application, you can put Google Maps Navigation on a rooted G1.

By "rooted," we mean a G1 running the latest Cyanogen custom ROM (and here's the wiki guide to installing it). Installing this hack, like rooting your phone, totally voids your support options from T-Mobile or other provider, and we can't recommend backing up your G1 highly enough before you launch on this endeavor.

Having said that, I've managed to get Navigation on my G1, following the step-by-step instructions at the second link, with the Android developer's SDK installed and using adb --help to figure out what I was doing. Gizmodo recommends a batch file that does the dirty-but-quasi-legal work for you, including installation of the Maps/Navigation app from Android 2.0 (which I grabbed from this thread, registration required).

Update: Some users in the xda-developers forums and elsewhere are seeing the Navigation option vanish upon reboot, or when trying to replace their build.props file to escape glitchiness. We'll update this post with any long-term fixes when we find them.

Here's a little video reminder of what Google Maps Navigation does—in short, web-attached, turn-by-turn, voice-recognizing driving directions:

Got Navigation working on your own G1 (or, even better, other Android phone)? Tell us what you like, or any quirks you encounter, in the comments.

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Train Your Mind to Keep Exercising in Winter [Winter]

Kevin Purdy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0800

Gina Kolata writes an inspiring piece for the New York Times about the seemingly inevitable slow-down of exercise routines in winter—inevitable, really, only if your mind accepts that rainy, cold, and slushy runs are a bad thing.

Photo by auburnxc.

Kolata talks to folks who live in places with fairly harsh winters—including Ithaca, N.Y., which I can confirm as the snow pile at the end of Mother Nature's driveway—and asks how they get beyond the cold weather and mental blocks that keep some runners, cyclists, and other outdoor types chained to indoor equipment.

It's not having the right winter wear, although that's important. It's figuring out how to re-consider winter and what it means for your fitness.

My friend Jen Davis, a physical chemist, uses a term from chemistry: Running on dreary days requires high activation energy, she says. In chemistry, activation energy is what must be added to start a reaction.

But those of us who exercise in all sorts of weather will attest that there is a certain thrill that can come from terrible conditions. "It makes us tough," Ms. Davis said. She calls our runs in horrendous conditions "epic runs." And she's right. They are truly memorable, ones we actually recall fondly.

There's also a recommendation to come up with new music playlists and team up with friends to enforce a faltering winter exercise habit.

How do you get beyond the imposing winter weather and fight on toward fitness? Share the secret in the comments.

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Google Latitude Adds Location History, Alerts You When Friends Are Nearby [Google Maps]

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