Fight spam with SpamAssassin
Submitted on October 29th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Email and Resources and Security
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Spam is a huge problem affecting anyone with an e-mail address. Some of us have managed to keep our inboxes relatively free, while others have had the misfortune at times of receiving hundreds of spam messages a day. If you’re in the latter group, you may want to have a look at SpamAssassin and this guide over at Web Design Discussions entitled How to Stop Email Spam with SpamAssassin. The whole process is relatively simple as SpamAssassin will do most of the work. The one catch is that you must be able to have access to your e-mail server, so if you only use a free e-mail account, this may not be of much use.
Carry NYC subway lines on your iPod w/ ZSubway
Submitted on October 29th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Productivity and Resources and Portables and Software
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I lived in New York City for about twelve years, and still have family there so I head up there once in a while. While we don’t have subways where I live, they are an essential part of getting around New York, as anyone who has lived there can attest. If you’re a local, you may know the subway system by heart, but tourists have an extremely tough time finding their way around the tunnels sometimes. If you’ve ever been in that situation, then maybe you should download ZSubway, and load it onto your iPod.
ZSubway is basically a set of images which you can view with an iPod (and a few select other players like the Creative Zen). The images pertain to the various subway lines and show at what times a line will stop at a particular stop and when the lines will run express. ZSubway is completely free.
Keep track of your social sites w/ Profilactic
Submitted on October 28th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Bookmarking and Productivity and Resources and Services
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As this site and many others can attest, the number of social bookmarking (social anything really) sites has grown exponentially over the past couple of years, and it can often be difficult to keep track of all the accounts you’ve created (unless you’re like me and you start canceling subscriptions left and right). Fortunately, there is a way to keep track of all those accounts with the somewhat humorously named Profilactic.
Profilactic can keep track of any social site which provides RSS feeds or unique web addresses to its users including popular ones like YouTube, Flickr, Digg, and more. The site will also allow users to post content from their Profilactic account to their blogs or MySpace accounts. The site is still in beta, but should be launching soon so enter your e-mail address to stay up to date on the launch.
[Via Folksonomy]
Create your own animated GIFs w/ Gickr
Submitted on October 28th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Graphics and Resources and Services
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I remember when there was a time when you had to do a little bit of work to create your own animated GIFs, but not anymore thanks to Gickr. Gickr works by taking images from (where else?) Flickr. If you already have a Flickr account, you can enter your username and a photo tag, and choose images which you’d like to use to create your animated GIF. Don’t have a Flickr account? No problem! Gickr lets you upload up to 10 different images to create your animated GIF. The best thing about Gickr is that it’s free and there is no registration required.
Feeds That Matter, like a people-powered blog directory
Submitted on October 28th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and Services and Blogging
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Looking for some new blogs to read? Then check out Feeds That Matter, a blog directory of sorts which analyzes Bloglines blog subscriptions to create a list of popular blogs based on topic. “By analyzing this data and combining merging folders that are very similar, we have come up with an automatic way of creating a taxonomy of popular topics and make it easy to find feeds that are most relevant to that topic.” Very simple and quite handy!
[Via Lifehacker]
The Definitive Guide to Airline and Airport Internet Access
Submitted on October 28th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and Networking
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Do you spent more time at an airport or a plane than you do at home? Maybe you can’t stand to be away from your e-mail inbox while going to visit family for the holidays? On the Beach, a travel information site, has written a rather extensive article on airline internet access dubbed the Definitive Guide to Airline WiFi and Internet Access, which breaks down internet access by airline. The guide isn’t quite definitive (I can think of a few airlines which aren’t on the list), but it is a good start so check it out.
Add Wikipedia to Google Earth
Submitted on October 28th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and Browsers and The Mac Side and Services and Windows and Software and Linux
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I’ve expressed my love for Google Earth quite a few times since it’s first appearance, but always wished it provided a little more real-world information out of the box instead of having to add my own data and coordinates. If you’ve ever felt the same, you might be happy to know you can know, thanks to Geocoordinates from Wikipedia for Google Earth, a website which provides a .KMZ file you can open in Google Earth and which provides coordinates for thousands of Wikipedia entries. Due to the number of possible entries, the database is split up into layers so you’re not overwhelmed by onscreen data.
Geocoordinates from Wikipedia for Google Earth is available in both English and German, and is completely free. All you need is a copy of Google Earth to enjoy it.
Installing MythTV under Ubuntu
Submitted on October 28th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and Software and Video and Linux
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I have been a Linux promoter for a few years now (a very interesting story for another day), and am currently running Ubuntu on my laptop. One idea I’ve been toying with for the past several weeks is of building my own media center PC powered by Ubuntu, but lack of time has kept me from researching how to go about doing it. That is, until I came upon the MythTV Ubuntu Installation Guide.
For those of you who don’t know, MythTV is a fantastic open-source application which lets you turn your Linux-powered computer into a full fledged media center, complete with TV watching and recording pabilities (if you own a tuner card), a DVD player, audio player, weather updates, and more. By following the MythTV Ubuntu Installation Guide, you can have your own media center up and running in no time.
Create a software list and use it to restore your Ubuntu install
Submitted on September 28th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and Linux and Security
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Backing up your system is very important so here’s a quick and easy way to make a list of all your installed applications in Ubuntu, and use that list to bring your system back up to how it was before the (potential) crash with some simple Terminal commands. Head on over to nixCraft to get all the fresh details, and if you’re an Ubuntu Linux user, you’ll definitely appreciate this tip.
GrandCentral provides one number to rule them all
Submitted on September 28th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Productivity and Resources and Services and Networking and Software
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A couple of days ago I wrote about how it would be possible to ward off telemarketers by creating disposable phone numbers, and now I present you with a way to turn all your numbers into one thanks to a new service called GrandCentral. Just like Grand Central station is a main terminal in New York where subway lines from around the city meet, GrandCentral provides a way to connect your landline, cell number, work number, and more into one so you can pick up the call from any of the numbers you list. The really cool feature of GrandCentral is that you can set up how each incoming call is handled. For example, you can have your significant other’s number ring on any of your lines, but have only the office phone ring when your boss calls. Another very interesting feature is the ability to switch calls between any of your lines with the push of a button.
The free plan allows you to add 3 lines and gives you 100 minutes of calls, while the upgraded plan will let you add up to six lines, provides unlimted minutes, as well as unlimited storage for voicemails. There aren’t tons of area codes to choose from yet, but I’m sure this will all change as the service’s popularity grows.
