• UltimateDefrag Moves Apps and Files for Quicker Access (Windows)
  "Put your high-priority programs and files in the most easily-accessed parts of your hard drive with UltimateDefrag, a free Windows utility."
• vmcNetFlix Streams Watch Now Videos to Your Xbox 360 (Windows Vista)
  "Freeware Vista Media Center plug-in vmcNetFlix streams Netflix Watch Now videos to Windows Media Center extenders, including the Xbox 360."
• Banshee 1.0 Beta 2 Organizes Your Linux Media (Linux)
  "Organize your music, videos, podcasts, and other media through a slick-looking portal with Banshee, a free download for Linux systems."
• Status Screen Saver Brings Desktop Notifications to Your Screen Saver (Mac)
  "Donationware application Status Screen Saver adds status notification badges for popular Mac apps like Mail, NetNewsWire, and Twitteriffic, to the bottom of your monitor while your screensaver is playing."
• iSlsk Soulseek Client Downloads Music to Your iPhone and iPod Touch (iPhone and iPod touch)
  "Freeware application iSlsk is a Soulseek peer-to-peer client for the iPhone and iPod touch which can download MP3s from the Soulseek network directly to your device."
• Always Show Gmail's CC: Field User Script (Firefox with Greasemonkey)
  "If you often use the CC or BCC field in Gmail but you're sick of clicking on the 'Add CC' and 'Add BCC' link to do so, we've got a pair of user scripts for you."
• BrowserPlus Offers Drag and Drop Uploads and More (Windows and Mac)
  "Yahoo unveils a "sneak peek" of a new product that aims to bridge the gap between your web browser and desktop—BrowserPlus, a desktop utility that enables richer browser interaction, like drag and drop file uploads."
• Senuti Copies Music from Your iPhone or iPod Touch to Your Mac (Mac)
  "The newest beta release of previously mentioned Senuti—a utility that copies music from your iPod to your computer—now supports the iPhone and iPod touch."
• Ophcrack Live CD Cracks Windows Passwords (Windows)
  "All systems with access to a Windows partition: The free, open source Windows password cracker, Ophcrack Live CD, has updated to version 3.0 with faster cracking, a better interface, and an all-new Vista version."

Consumer News, Life Tips | Comments Off

Web-based account manager Zefty helps kids understand spending and parents manage what they owe the little ones. Manually or automatically "deposit" money into kids' accounts, and they (and you) can see what they've saved. If your tyke's tech-proficient, they get their own login to enter what they withdrew and why, but parents get a super-user account as well. There's also "Zefty Checks" kids can request money with, and an allowance calculator that determines a reasonable pay rate. Zefty is free to use, requires a sign-up.

Consumer News, Life Tips | Comments Off

Web site Appropedia describes in impressive detail how to convert your gas-powered lawnmower to solar power. The process involves some serious hacking of your original push mower and an investment in parts, but when you're finished you'll be hacking down grass with nothing but the power of the sun. Not bad for a weekend project, if a little on the expensive side.