lifehacker

Try Waking Up With the Triad Awakening System!

Adrian Chen · 06/20/10 01:16PM

There is no worse feeling than waking up and realizing you've slept through your alarm, and now you're late for work. That's why we have devised the ultimate awakening system for heavy sleepers: The Triad Awakening System™. Never oversleep again!

Marissa Mayer's 2009 Resolution: Leave Google

Owen Thomas · 12/30/08 03:49PM

What will Google be like without Marissa Mayer, the glamour nerd whose goofy laugh so neatly captures the search engine's adolescent awkwardness? We'll know soon. We hear the company's 19th employee is planning her goodbye.

How to go back to the old Facebook

Nicholas Carlson · 09/17/08 05:00PM

Some 500,000 Facebook users who don't like the site's new design have found a loophole leading back to the old one. The trick is to sign up as a Facebook application developer — and you don't have to even write a line of code! Facebook allows developers to use the old Facebook design if they want, because until every last Facebook user has migrated to the new design, these widgetmakers need to maintain two versions of their applications. Here's how to go undercover and get your old Facebook profile back in three easy steps.

The definitive guide to watching the Olympics online

Jackson West · 08/08/08 02:00PM

The folks who are bringing you the Olympics online don't actually want you to watch their coverage. NBC and Microsoft are delaying the most popular events by three hours so that it won't interfere with more profitable TV broadcasts. And you'll have to download Microsoft's Silverlight browser plug-in to watch in your browser. But a bird's nest of geography and time-delay restrictions worthy of China's Communist Party government is in place. Thankfully, the anarchy of the Web offers plenty of options for having a crowd of curious coworkers surround your computer as you watch live handball, with varying degrees of expense and difficulty. Rather than being the coming-out party for Silverlight Microsoft hopes for, it may instead be the year sports fans learn a few new online-video tricks.Online schedules: NBC's Olympics listings takes a bit of work (you have to enter your ZIP code and select a television provider, even if you just want online listings). However, once you've done the work, it'll send you notifications when events you've selected will be broadcast. Jason Kottke has found Google and iCal calendars, which will allow you a bit more flexibility in setting up alerts, and the New York Times has a schedule as well. And of course, there's an official schedule from the organizers in China, with times listed for Beijing's time zone (16 hours ahead of San Francisco, 13 hours ahead of New York) — probably the best place to go for daily updates, as smog and weather may upset the schedule. Sling Media's Slingbox: For those with more money than time, the best solution might be a Slingbox. Then you can beam your home satellite or cable signal over the Internet to your laptop, desktop, or iPhone, and remotely switch between NBC and MSNBC. Pros: You can get great quality, even HD, if your home Internet connection is fast. There is SlingPlayer software available for a range of not just operating systems but handheld devices as well. Cons: Prices start at $129.99 and your selection of Olympics coverage is limited to what's available from your satellite or cable provider, which means missing early heats and niche events and having to put up with tape delays by the networks. International proxies: It is possible to watch live streams from other countries, such as BBC Sports from the UK or CBC Sports from Canada, by configuring your browser to run through an anonymous proxy. I recommend using Mozilla's Firefox browser with the FoxyProxy add-on installed. Xroxy has a handy list of proxies which you can sort by country to find proxies in the UK or Canada — which must be anonymous, and preferrably running the SOCKS protocol. Your best bet is to get a geeky British or Canadian friend to install a proxy on their machine for you and your Yankee friends. The latency can be frustrating, but once you get a stream started it will work fine. Pros: Quality streams from legitimate providers, and if you're accustomed to jingoistic U.S. coverage, the charming accents from the Beeb's announcers and the humble mien of the Canadians can be quite refreshing. Cons: Takes some technical know-how to set up, and proxies come and go. You might miss an event because you're too busy fiddling with your settings or a proxy fails when too many people sign on. Video on demand: If you're running Windows Vista, you can download events using TVTonic for "Olympics on the Go." Torrent client Azureus works on any system to help download events after the fact, especially the most popular ones like tennis, football, boxing and basketball — Torrentz cross-site search of multiple BitTorrent indexes should make it easy to find the Spain versus China women's basketball game you might miss tomorrow. YouTube's official channel is blocked — even using international proxies — though a reader came up with a crack that works for now. Other less thoroughly policed online video sites like Veoh, Metacafe, Dailymotion and Megavideo will also have videos. Pros: Torrents will be high quality and work for anyone, while video-sharing sites will be easiest to use. Cons: Nothing will be live, obviously, and no one knows how long video clips will remain on sharing sites. P2P Streams: The way I'll be watching online will is through MyP2P, a site that catalogs live sports and television streams from around the Web, listed by event. It helps to run Windows, though not necessarily Vista, because many streams require software downloads — check out MyP2P's beginners guide for tips, including where to find software downloads and optimization settings. I ended up finding live BBC coverage of the opening ceremonies via Justin.tv, which ran just fine in my browser. If you can't find the channel you want in the media format you prefer, check wwiTV, TV For Us, TV Channels Free, Channel Chooser or BeelineTV among others. Pros: Free and fairly easy once you've installed most of the media players listed by MyP2P. And it's fun to watch coverage from other countries — I'll be watching all my football with spanish-speaking announcers whenever possible. Cons: Quality is hit-or-miss, stream links come and go, and you have to think ahead in terms of scheduling to make sure you've got all the necessary programs installed. Also, Mac users will want to install Windows XP through Parallels or Fusion for the widest selection of channels.

Microsoft's absurd software subscription

Owen Thomas · 04/18/08 10:40AM

Bill Gates has long dreamed of getting his customers to pay by the month, not by the shrinkwrapped box, for his software. As the Microsoft founder gets ready to depart, his company is just barely realizing his vision. But this is Microsoft, so they're doing it in the most asinine manner imaginable. Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft is testing a package of software and services, codenamed "Albany," for which consumers will pay a monthly fee. Sounds promising, until you dig into what Microsoft is actually offering.

Salon shares secrets to get around Wall Street Journal's pay wall — but not its own

Jordan Golson · 03/21/08 01:40PM

In an article on Salon's Machinist blog today, Farhad Manjoo gives tips for getting around the Wall Street Journal's paid-subscription barrier. WSJ.com allows some featured articles to be read for free, but puts much of its content behind what's known in the business as a "pay wall." The dirty secret Manjoo exposes: Many of the "hidden" articles can be easily accessed with a little technical know-how. What he doesn't stop to ask: Why has new Journal owner Rupert Murdoch made it so easy?

How to quit Facebook without calling your lawyer

Nicholas Carlson · 02/12/08 01:20PM

Mark Zuckerberg, Nipon Das wished he could quit you. After he left Facebook, Nipon Das wanted the social network to erase his personal information from its servers. Eventually that happened. But only after two months, a lengthy email exchange and — ultimately — threats from a lawyer. "It's like the Hotel California," Das told the New York Times. "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." Facebook PR flack Amy Sezak claims the company is doing users a favor by making it easy to come back to the site after they quit. 6,000 members of the Facebook group "How to permanently delete your facebook account" don't seem grateful. Sometimes I quit means I quit. Here's a tricky way to do it without laboriously deleting all your wall posts and photos, according to WikiHow.

Facebook adds "clear all invitations" option

Jordan Golson · 01/30/08 08:00PM

Facebook has made it easier on users who have lots of friends sending them zombie bites, quizzes and sheep. A notice appeared in my News Feed this evening telling me that Facebook has added a "clear all" option for those who have more than 25 requests pending. Noted Facebook-friend collectors Jason Calacanis and Robert Scoble must be dancing a happy dance at this development.

How to stop being Facebook friends with that guy who lost $7 billion

Nicholas Carlson · 01/29/08 07:00PM

After Jerome Kerviel lost his employer, French investment bank Societe Generale, $7.2 billion, he also lost 7 of his 11 friends on Facebook. Smart move by those ex-friends. You never know who's looking at your profile. Of course, at some point, you might be in a similar situation. Because this kind of thing happens all the time. So here's how to defriend that guy who just went into hiding after losing $7.2 billion. You're welcome.

How to stop reading Tumblr blogs

Nicholas Carlson · 01/24/08 06:20PM

Tumblr differs from most blog software: It doesn't just let you post entries; it also provides an interface for reading the blogs of other Tumblr users. In that regard, it's duplicating a feature available on LiveJournal for a decade — and yet its users still manage to find it befuddling. "Right now I'm following 35 people," Connected Ventures cofounder Rickvy Van Veen writes on his personal blog.

Southwest bringing Wi-Fi to the low-cost skies

Jordan Golson · 01/23/08 05:40PM

Southwest Airlines is putting Wi-Fi on four planes starting this summer. Unlike JetBlue's crappy, restricted service, this will be the "full" Internet (save for VOIP, I'd bet) with "the highest bandwidth available to commercial airlines in the United States," according to Southwest. Southwest is partnering with Row 44, an inflight broadband provider. I fly Southwest a lot, so this is great news for me. I won't hold my breath for laptop power ports at my seat though. That would add way too much weight for the Greyhound of the sky. Catch the full press release after the jump. (Photo by AP/David Zalubowski)

Wear tinfoil hats when using Adobe products

Nicholas Carlson · 12/27/07 01:20PM

You're not the only one watching what you do in Adobe Creative Suite 3, the company's ubiquitous photo-and-design software package. Adobe is watching you, too. According to this screenshot from Uneasysilence, launching Adobe CS3 triggers communication between your computer and behavioral analytics firm Omniture. (For starters, Adobe could have chosen a partner with a less ominously Foucauldian name.)