The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser. Reader Kaelri—famous for the beautiful and functional Enigma desktop—has packaged and released version 1.1 of the customization files.

What's changed? Kaelri explains:

I've added:

• RSS reader.
• Gmail notifier.
• Calendar by ~limpet.
• System/battery graphics using ecqlipse 2 icons.
• Tray clock replacement.
• Quick-edit button for Notes.
• Application launcher. Useless to anyone with Launchy or StandaloneStack, but it's pretty, and way too much fun to play with. (You can see what it looks like in the deviantArt screenshot.)
• Assorted doodads and revisions.
• Fixed the Location bug plaguing Enigma and HUD.Vision.

The Enigma 1.1 ZIP archive includes config files for Samurize and Rainmeter, fonts, a Windows theme, and more. Unzip it to get the full installation instructions. Nice work, Kaelri! The Enigma 1.1 customization package is a free download for Windows only.

Enigma by ~Kaelri/a> [deviantART via Flickr]

Gina Trapani

If you're looking for a way to recycle old light bulbs after switching over to CFLs, Craftershock points us towards this tute by Veronica Peterson showing us how to turn them into hanging bud vases!

[Read this article] [Comment on this article]Jenny Ryan

The new release of GarageBand '09 includes "Learn to Play"—piano and guitar lessons from artists like Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlan, and Sting, Gizmodo reports from their live-blog of the Macworld keynote.

Gina Trapani

If you’re interested in honing your Photoshop skills to create spectacular compositions, this is for you. In this article, you’ll find 35 basic Photoshop tutorials for getting started with Photoshop.

(author unknown)

Simple solutions for getting it all together using things you probably already own…

(author unknown)

Lotta Bruhn shared these cute animal graphics that you can download and print out on sticker paper. via Whip Up.

[Read this article] [Comment on this article]Michelle Kempner

Windows only: CrazyLittleFingers is a keyboard locking application. Unlike some of the previous keyboard lockers we've covered, CrazyLittleFingers corresponds the keystroke to a picture and sound related to the key.

Press L and you see a picture of a lion. Press R and you see a movie of a rooster. Keys that have no symbolic link for children like the page up and page down keys produce rising and falling guitar sounds. Numbers show the number on the screen. The only caveat is that it doesn't lock the mouse. This is fine on a single monitor setup, because you can't click through the images or access the start menu so clicking wouldn't accomplish anything. On a multiple monitor setup however it only locks the primary screen, the mouse is still effective on the other screens. It would be nice if the program did a simple poll to see if other monitors were active and darkened/disabled them. Still if your toddler isn't a proficient mouse user it should work fine. CrazyLittleFingers is freeware, Windows Only. Photo by John A. Ward. CrazyLittleFingers [Donation Coder: New Applications for New Year Contest]

Jason Fitzpatrick

Tech evangelist and Microsoft consultant Blake Handler hosts an impressively completist list of free Windows programs offered by Microsoft, dug from the trenches of Del.icio.us tags. It's a handy bookmark for Control+F hunting. [via]

Kevin Purdy

Windows only: Free app Install-It puts a small auto-starting application on any removable drive that makes installing applications a double-click affair.

After downloading the Install-It package, you'll want to extract its files to somewhere you can reach, like your desktop, and open up the Install.ini file in your favorite text editor. This file is simply a list of program descriptions and the locations of their installer files. If you're creating a disc full of useful installers, just replace the default examples with your chosen verbiage for each app and the location/names of the setup files. You separate those two items with a comma, using slashes where necessary, and end each line with a semi-colon.

Here's an example Install.ini I made for a supposed Windows XP re-installation:

Copy all your installer files and Install-It's files into a CD-burning app, such as CDBurnerXP, and fire away.

Now you've got a CD that, on most computers, will pop up with a list of programs that can be installed without anyone having to guess which icon or cryptic filename means. If a computer isn't set to auto-start when it detects an autorun.inf file, though, you'll have to point the computer to install.exe—not a problem, though, if you've put each application in its own directory.

Install-It is a free download for Windows systems only. Install-It [via The Red Ferret Journal]

Kevin Purdy

Here's a great project to accommodate your growing belly if you're expecting. Instructables user karenelisam made a detailed tutorial on converting an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt into comfy maternity jeans.

[Read this article] [Comment on this article]Becky Stern

O yea!?!1? U wanna peas o dis!

y dont u cum heer nd say it 2 mah face?

picture: Dreli. lol caption: dallasmyers

» Recaption This

» See All Captions

      

If the upcoming switch to HD digital broadcasting has you considering dropping cable for the free stuff, the AntennaWeb site can help find the receiver that will net the most channels at your address.

The free-to-use site only requires your street address or ZIP code and asks whether you've got any tall buildings or trees nearby. Based on your location (which it sometimes details down to the street level), it lays out how far each local broadcaster is from your house, what channel and signal type they're offering, and what kind of antenna will net you the best reception for the most digital channels. You can even get a map showing which direction each station will come to your house from, for those who need to point a directional unit (or plan to stick with a strategically-placed indoor antenna).

AntennaWeb leaves the purchasing of your outdoor model to your own preference and Google abilities, but the site does explain the whys and hows of antennas pretty decently for those who haven't worked at a RadioShack. Confused in a more general sense about the Feb. 17 transition and what it means? Try the official DTV 2009 site.

AntennaWeb

Kevin Purdy

So in today’s post, you’ll find an assortment of top-notch tutorials, brushes, patterns, textures, actions and .PSD downloadable files that others have freely contributed to the design community for making your next photoshop effect.

(author unknown)

The White Balance Lens Cap is a replacement for your standard plastic lens cap with the added benefit of helping you easily set a custom white balance.

The center of the cap has a white plastic dome like you find on light meters. Before you start photographing, you set a custom white balance from within the settings menu of your camera. The camera sets the white balance based on the reading through the white light diffusion dome and bam! Perfect custom white balance for your set of shots. Prices range from $45-65. If it's after the fact and you need to do some white balance correcting, check out Fix Your Photos' White Balance. White Balance Lens Cap [via GeekSugar]

Jason Fitzpatrick

VortexBox is an open-source CD ripping and media server solution. Based on Fedora 10, VortexBox is capable of streaming in multiple formats allowing you to hear your music on your other computers, iTunes, media centers, slim devices like squeezeboxes and other media devices. Installation is straight forward, download the ISO file, burn it to a disc, pop the disc in the unused computer you want to turn into a jukebox and you're on your way. Once the installation is complete you can access the box remotely with the build in web server. Ripping is completely automated, just pop in the disk you want it to rip and it rips, tags, and gets the cover art. VortexBox is an open-source linux-based media server. VortexBox [via Freeware Home]

Jason Fitzpatrick

Boris wanted to build a light box for his sister, who suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder, a disorder brought on by lack of exposure to bright light in darker winter climates.

My sister suffers from seasonal affective disorder, also known as winter depression. A commonly prescribed therapy is light therapy - about thirty minutes of bright light in the morning. Bright in this context means more than 10 000 Lumens. You can of course buy commercial light-boxes, but I wanted to construct one by myself.

He neglects to point out that commercial light boxes can run $200+ and that building you own is a really economical choice. By repurposing a wooden filing box from Ikea, buying some compact fluorescent bulbs and some basic light sockets he was able to craft a very serviceable light box for his sister that exceeded the 10,000 Lumen requirement by nearly 6,000 Lumens. Lightbox Construction [via Make]

Jason Fitzpatrick

Jerry Smith was among a large number of readers letting us know that the 11th Doctor Who has been named. It's Matt Smith, 26, who will be the youngest actor to play the time-traveling Doctor. The head of drama at BBC Wales said this about Smith's audition: "It was abundantly clear that he had that 'Doctor-ness' about him. You are either the Doctor or you are not."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

kdawson

There is an entire world beyond slotted and Phillips head screws. Learn your screw types and a whole lot more about the history of screws.

For each screw drive type, from ancient Slot through to space-age Lox we present a quick view of the screw head, the drive name, a picture of the appropriate drive bit, followed by an explanation of the type. Also presented are the advantages and disadvantages of each drive type.

Never find yourself peeling back the warranty sticker on an electronic device again and exclaiming "What the hell is that!" when confronted with an exotic screw type. When a Phillips is not a Phillips [via Make]

Jason Fitzpatrick

DivFix++ is a cross-platform .AVI repair program that rebuilds the index file within the .AVI container to restore your movie to a functional state.

DivFix++ can be downloaded pre-compiled for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. The interface and operation is straight forward. Tell it where you want the repaired file to be saved, drag and drop some files to be repaired into the Source Files pane of the program and let it loose. Repair time was fairly quick on my mid-level machine and the resource utilization was lower than I expected. The program required no installation, just a simple unzipping, but beyond that I can't vouch for it's portability. DivX++ is cross platform and open source.

DivFix++ [via gHacks]

Jason Fitzpatrick

Industrious tinkers at eclectic technology blog UselessNinjas have put together a guide to building a sub-$240 computer to run Mac OS X.

Last year Adam showed you how to build your own Hackintosh, the build at UselessNinjas continues in that spirit of installing OS X on non-Apple hardware. They use an extremely small desktop computer from MSI, the same manufacturer that built the hackintosh friendly MSI Wind Netbook we looked at a few months ago. For the details on their build, check out the full article. Even if you aren't in the market for a mac-clone, the specs and size on the mini-desktop unit they use for the project look promising for a Linux based XBMC project. Homemade Macintosh for under $240 [via HackADay]

Jason Fitzpatrick