Compare Linux distros side by side – Lifehacker:

Pro-Linux site polishlinux.org has a new tool that lets you compare Linux distributions side by side.

Too little, too late for me. In the past I have spent many hours searching the web in search of distros, and many more hours struggling with various flavors of Linux.

In the end I run XP on my PC boxes, because for me the windows license is a reasonable price to pay for a system that I can setup quickly with known results. I know XP will work with my hardware. I know it will not crash. I know my software will work, and almost all the best open source software has Windows binaries available.

For those occasions when I get a hankering for something like Unix, I have OSX.

You can access the site directly: polishlinux.org » Compare distros

Melman Quicksilver User’s Guide – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW):

The great thing about Quicksilver is how much functionality it puts at your finger tips. Of course the main problem with Quicksilver is how much functionality it puts at your finger tips!

I must say I still only use it as a launcher. Maybe one day I’ll read Melman’s guide.

Windows Vista Tip: Save your searches in virtual folders – Lifehacker

Ever wish you could save the results of a desktop search so you didn’t have to repeat the search in the future? Windows Vista lets you do exactly that with a new feature called Virtual Folders.

Windows Vista Tip: Built-in Quick Launch keyboard shortcuts – Lifehacker

Windows Vista automatically assigns keyboard shortcuts to programs and documents on your Quick Launch bar. Just use the Windows key + the number of the program in the order it appears there.

Much as I dislike it, Vista isn’t all bad.

Of course OSX has had ‘Smart Folders’ for awhile now, and QuickSilver beats just about any other way of launching applications.

Still, these are two handy hits. And if you are going to use vista, you need all the help you can get.

Screenshots of Office 2008 for Mac – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW):

Check out the gallery for a look at some cool new features in Office 2008.

Well, I must say this looks horrible.

I’ve seen screenshots of the PC version, and whilst I doubt I’ll like the new version, I can at least see why they are doing what they are doing.

But based on these Mac screenshots, it looks like Office 2008 will be a total mess.

What I find most appalling is that they have retained the formatting palette – an awful abomination of user interface design which one can never find a comfortable home for, which just sucks screen real-estate whilst forcing you to continually re-locate it in order to see what you are trying to work on.

One can only hope for the death of the modern word-processor which thinks it’s a desktop publisher and diminishes productivity by focusing on flair and form over content and structure.

Meanwhile Microsoft are trying to kill more trees by herding spreadsheet users into a paradigm of creating spreadsheets specifically designed for printing. Yes I know this began in Office 2004, but it does look like they have pushed things even more in this frightening direction. If ever there was a document that should live in electronic form, surely it is the spreadsheet.

Office 2004 never looked so good.

TubeSock – Rip videos from YouTube:

TubeSock costs $15

Witness the spectacle. On the one side a dodgy website full of copyright violations and naff home-movies. On the other side, a video player with limited codec support, even more limited screen space and yet more limited battery life.

Now, standing between, a celebrant ready to marry these two misfits. That celebrant is TubeSock and it only costs $15. Will it be happily-ever-after for YouTube and the iPod?

I must say it seems like an ideal match. If I’m going to watch crummy, low quality video I may as well do it on a low-quality-video player. If it was free, I’d probably give it a try. $15 is not unreasonable, but I just don’t care enough to pay for the privilege.

If you do care enough to pay, I suggest you take advantage of the opportunity before Google sues stinkbot out of existence, or else just changes their website API to make the software unworkable.

(And before Apple sues me out of existence, make note that I am not calling the iPod low quality, just the video codecs that it plays.)

Open Source Mac – Free, Open-Source software for OS X:

Free and open-source software is good for you and good for the world. This is the best OS X software that we know of.

Nice, clean site which should be one of the first places you visit when you are setting up a new Mac. Many of the apps listed are also cross platform, which is extra nice.

UnRarX – Mac OS X RAR Extraction Utility:

UnRarX is a Mac OS X Cocoa application that allows you to expand rar archives and restore corrupted or missing archives using par2.

Freeware/Open Source. Probably quite useful if you are downloading binaries from newsgroups.

OS X Leopard will create no new jobs | APC Magazine:

Vista seems set to impact on the economy by creating more IT support jobs to fix the broken or frozen computers

They won’t be pleasant or high-paid jobs, they will be high pressure and thankless. Coming to terms with the problematic side of an OS takes time, and there are likely to be many confused Vista users from day one. The techs will be doing their upmost just to keep a few steps ahead of the average user as new problems emerge.

I particularly pity anyone trying to provide phone support for Vista, the interface is just so inconsistent. XP was bad enough, with system settings spread between the Management Console, System Properties Dialog Box, Control Panel, Internet Explorer Properties (even if you don’t use the browser, there are still some crucial settings hidden there) and even the Help and Support window. Vista adds to this complexity with an even more inconsistent interface.

This is just a mess. The System Preferences in OSX is lightyears ahead. Not only are all the settings in one place, but they are in one window. You don’t get secondary and tertiary windows popping up in order to make settings changes.

I’m disappointed but not surprised that Leopard won’t create any new jobs, because I’d much rather work with Leopard than Vista.

User support is at the heart of my dislike for Vista. There isn’t anything wrong with the OS in terms of performance or features. But I strongly believe that Microsoft and the IT Press have overlooked the fact that the Vista’s garish and convoluted interface is only going to confuse the average user who only barely copes with XP. It may have some groovy features that tech people like, but 90% of users won’t ever even know they are there, let alone use them. Maybe Alt+Tab will make a big comeback (to pick one example), but not many Windows users know about it now, and most that do don’t use it; so will they take advantage of Vista’s improved version?

And to top that off, tech support is going to be much more difficult than any previous version of Windows.

Here is a list of recent stories I have found noteworthy but don’t have the time to blog about specifically. Call this a bit of a trial-run; most of them are Lifehacker articles but next time I’ll try to mix it up a little.

Highlight overused phrases with the Cliché Finder – Lifehacker

The Cliché Finder leaves no stone unturned in the hunt for overused phrases in your writing.

Create smart sets in Flickr with SmartSetr – Lifehacker

Web site SmartSetr lets you create smart sets for your Flickr account based on predefined criteria, like tags, text, date taken, or date uploaded.

Download of the Day: Ophcrack Live CD – Lifehacker

The free, open source Ophcrack Live CD is a Windows account password cracking tool designed to help you recover lost Windows passwords.

Download of the Day: Docsvault (Windows) – Lifehacker

Windows only: Organize, manage, search and archive all your documents with Docsvault Home Edition. Reminiscent of the PaperPort document-management software that used to come with Visioneer scanners, Docsvault helps you organize saved and scanned documents using a simple cabinet/drawer-style filing system.

How to Change the World: The Art of Schmoozing

The key is to establish a relationship before you need it. And this is why I’d like to provide the art of schmoozing.

Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive 20 Different Ways to Manage Your To Dos «

How many ways are there to manage your task list? Almost as many as there are people with tasks to do.

Geek to Live: The command line comeback – Lifehacker

But I don’t use the command line, you say. Oh but you do! Let’s take a closer look at this surprising “circle of life” right back to the trusty old command line with some examples of CLI in modern personal computing.

Track your reading trends with Google Reader – Lifehacker

Google has added a Trends feature to Google Reader, allowing you to track your reading and subscription trends in Reader.

Boot Linux from a flash drive – Lifehacker

you can boot the Linux distro Knoppix right from your USB flash drive. A simple new tutorial shows you how.

Mac Switchers Tip: Remap the Home and End keys – Lifehacker

details on how to remap those keys to behave the way they do on other operating systems.

What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

Each of the photographs below represents 200 calories of the particular type of food; the images are sorted from low to high calorie density.

Free e-book teaches Ruby programming – Lifehacker

Mr. Neighborly’s Humble Little Ruby Book, a new e-book that teaches the basics and then some.

KDE – mac software for download at iusethis:

KDE is a powerful Free Software graphical desktop environment for Linux and Unix workstations and the upcoming 4th major release version will be also be developed native for Mac OS X.

The main focus of this Mac port is NOT to give you a new desktop, but to open up lots of cool KDE applications to Mac users.

I love KDE. I ran Simply Mepis 3.3 for a few months early in 2005. KDE is the best thing about Linux. Without the grooviness of KDE, I probably would not have stuck with Linux for so long.

I did try a Windows XP port of KDE, some months back. It wasn’t particularly stable or useful (yet) but it was great to see that we won’t need Linux to run KDE, or at least you not when the ports are done.

You can go to the Home of KDE on Mac OS X to learn about it and download the files. It’s still in alpha, so I won’t try it myself yet. But like a lot of things in life, it’s just nice to know it is there.