Top of the Desk

Wishing all Americans a fun and safe holiday.

Photo of the Georgia State Capitol, by dgphilli.

When I heard about the intuitive and efficient backup and file syncing solution called Dropbox, I immediately put in my email in for a beta invite. Now, thanks to an invitation code from Lifehacker, I was able to get in early. This is one of the best combination desktop/web apps I've come across in a long time. I won't go into much detail about the features here because there is a great screencast on the Dropbox website. Suffice it to say that I have uninstalled MozyHome Free (my previous backup solution) in favor of Dropbox. What I'm also very excited about is that I currently have nine Dropbox invites to give away. If you are interested, DM me with your email address on Twitter (ian0608) or, if you feel comfortable doing so, post it in the comments.

I've tried many to-do list solutions in the past (both web and desktop apps) but have never been able to find one that worked for me. I'm a big fan of simplicity when it comes to my to-do list; features such as tagging and fancy reminders do not interest me. Recently, however, The Unofficial Apple Weblog has introduced me to two free applications that, rather than functioning explicitly as to-do lists, work as desktop-based scratchpads. One, called Sidenote, appears when you mouse over one side of your desktop. You can jot down anything you want, and then mouse away and it disappears back into the side of your screen. The other, known as Scribblet, lives in the menu bar. Both can be opened with a keyboard shortcut if you so choose. Right now I am enjoying Scribblet more, mainly because it was too easy to accidentally activate Sidenote while using other applications, and because Scribblet offers more writing area. I can see these types of scratchpad applications becoming my new permanent solution for to-do list management.

From now on I'll be taking a cue from Smashing Magazine and no longer forcing outbound links to open in a new window or tab. And since Posterous does not do this by default, it is also a time-saver to just have them open in the same window. If you really want links to open in a new window or tab, please speak out in the comments.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/07/01/should-links-open-in-new-windows/

This free application seems like a good solution to the previously tricky process of uploading an iWeb site onto your own server or host. No longer must you be tied to a .Mac (or MobileMe) account for simple iWeb publishing.

http://www.plyxim.com/free/

After a strong thunderstorm came through my area, an eerie yellow hue was left behind. And this is at almost 9:00 in the evening!

This is my favorite of the creatures I've created using Spore Creature Creator.

I am currently following Leo Babauta's excellent plan to "go from sedentary to running in five steps." I am currently taking 40-minute walks four times per week. Next week I will stay at the same duration and interval, but start run-walking. After that I will increase the ratio of running to walking until I'm running for the entire 40 minutes. Leo really lays out a nice plan, and if you're interested in getting into shape you should definitely check it out.

http://zenhabits.net/2008/06/how-to-go-from-sedentary-to-running-in-five-steps/

One extra tip for those looking to get fit: try to avoid the "donut burger" concoction in the post below.

Thanks, Chris.

Seems like a great way to create web albums to host yourself that are much more user-friendly and eye-catching than what you get with Flickr.

http://www.bananalbum.com/

Thanks, TWiP!