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Five Best To-Do List Managers [Hive Five]

If all the methodology of the best GTD applications loses you in the productivity shuffle, there's nothing like a classic, simple to-do list to keep you on track. You've never had more options—both simple and robust—for managing your to-do list as you do today. On Tuesday we asked you to share your favorite to-do list managers, and today we're back with the five most popular answers. Keep reading for a glimpse at the five best to-do list managers, then vote for the to-do tool you like best. Photo by elusive.

Microsoft Outlook (Windows)

To many, Microsoft Outlook is primarily an email and calendar application, but countless users also prefer Outlook tasks for managing to-dos. Since many of our to-dos originate from email, the integration of the to-do list with Outlook makes creating tasks from your email and calendar a breeze. Also, because of its wide use, you can sync Microsoft Outlook tasks to tons of devices and services for improved accessibility. The downside: If you don't have it, Microsoft Outlook will cost you $150 for the standalone version or the price of a Microsoft Office bundle.

Remember the Milk (Web-based)

Remember the Milk (RTM) is a web-based to-do list manager with an emphasis on simplicity and integration with popular third-party applications. At its most basic, RTM creates, edits, organizes, and checks off your to-dos through its fast and streamlined web interface. That's only the start, because RTM shines in many other forms, whether we're talking keyboard shortcuts or integration with the likes of Google Calendar, Gmail, or Twitter. It's web-based, so you can access it anywhere you have an internet connection, but you can also use RTM offline with Google Gears or access it from your Windows or Mac desktop, so you get the best of both worlds. Remember the Milk is free to use, but Pro accounts are available with advanced features for $25 per year.

Pen and Paper

For hundreds of years prior to the computer, humankind has managed to-dos with a simple pen and paper, and for many it's still the only way to go. There are countless methods for managing your to-do list on paper, and the beauty of this to-do manager is that it's completely flexible—you're only limited by your imagination. With that in mind, a classic, straightforward list with items you can cross off as you go has always been gratifying, and it's the template that most software to-do lists follow to this day. Photo by Florian.

Todoist (Web-based)

Webapp Todoist offers speed, simplicity, and a handful of excellent keyboard shortcuts. Todoist and Remember the Milk are both very similar in their aims (speedy web-based to-do management); the main difference lies in the way they present your to-dos. Todoist's layout sets out your to-do categories on a sidebar similar to how Gmail presents labels, whereas RTM provides a more task-centric view with categories laid out in tabs across the top of the interface. Like RTM, Todoist is a great web-based managers that integrates with several third-party apps. (Original post)

Plain Text

The plain text file—todo.txt—has always been the most basic computer-based to-do list. Tracking tasks in a todo.txt file means you can view and edit them on any operating system on any computer, and you're never tied to one application. You can access your to-do list with OS defaults like Notepad or opt for more features from your favorite text editor. Gina has shown you how she manages her to-do list with Todo.sh (a command line script that works with your todo.txt file), but if you don't want to go advanced, you can just as easily manage your digital to-dos with a simple, straightforward text editor.

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Now that you've seen the favorites, it's time to vote for the best.
Which Is the Best To-Do List Manager?
( surveys)

This week's honorable mentions go out to web-based to-do manager Toodledo and the voice-to-text webapp Jott. If you've got more to say about your favorite to-do manager, let's hear it in the comments.

A More Productive Vista Desktop [Featured Desktop]

Reader toxicrevival's Windows Vista desktop is tricked out for max productivity with a few add-on apps, including RocketDock and Doomi. Visit the image on Flickr to get details on what's what and see it up close and personal. Show off your fab desktop by adding it to the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr group.

How to Make Time to Make Stuff [Creativity]

Thoughtful blogger Merlin Mann publishes a three-part series of posts on the constant battle creative people face between making things and making themselves available to others. Mann writes:

If the amount of time you devote to lite correspondence with individual people exceeds the amount of time you spend on making things, then you may be in a different line of work than you'd originally thought you were. [...] Do you generate more IMs than comic panels? Have you drafted more web comments than scenes in your screenplay? Or, for that matter, do you find you're taking more meetings than photos these days?

Reading this, one suspects Mann is talking to himself as much as anyone; I for one am thrilled when he makes time to write about the topic of attention.

Google Search Provides Olympic Event Schedules Inline [Google School]

Find out when events in your favorite sport are going down in a single Google search: Simply enter the event name and "Olympics" into the Google search box to see upcoming dates and times, like tennis Olympics, or diving Olympics.

BeatThat! Community Finds Online Shopping Deals [Shopping]

Community shopping site BeatThat! offers an index of deals all over the web, provided by members of the site as well as sucked in automatically. Search for a product to get the deals available for it, see merchant ratings, and user comments about the deal (check out this Nikon D40 listing to get a taste). What's the incentive for users to submit better deals than BeatThat! already has listed? Money: the site pays members who submit deals to the site which meet certain criteria, so you can both save money and make money at BeatThat!. Definitely worth a bookmark alongside RetailMeNot, FatWallet, Woot, and TechDeals.

gOS 3 Beta Bundles Google Gadgets [Linux]

The latest version 3 of the gOS Linux distribution is now available, and it includes Google gadgets on the desktop in addition to its already heavy webapp integration. Check out how Adam turned an old PC into a webapp monster with gOS. [via]

MeD's Movie Manager Catalogs Your DVD Collection [Featured Download]

All platforms (with the Java runtime): Free software MeD's Movie Manager is not as feature-rich as heavier-weight media managers like Griffith, but it still makes tracking your movie collection on your computer desktop easy. Catalog the movies you own, pull film info from IMDB or TV.com to fill in missing media information, and retrieve cover art. The program comes with multiple skins to customize its appearance, too. Two strong features include support for television series via the TV.com database and the ability to scan directories to retrieve movie file names, which saves you a lot of data entry hassle if you store movies in digital format. Here's a screenshot of MeD's in action.

MeD's Movie Manager a free download for any platform with the Java runtime 1.4.2 or later. Thanks pino227!

Watch the Olympics Online [Olympics]

The 2008 Olympics opening ceremonies kick off tomorrow, and while a lot of it will go down while you're counting sheep here in the U.S., the Wired How-To Wiki covers where you can catch the action streaming online from NBC.com to YouTube and other sources, including how to work around location restrictions.

Simplify Troubleshooting with a Change Log [Troubleshooting]

System administrator Peter had some network troubles, but managed to resolve them by cross-referencing problem email messages to the dates in the change log—or journal of updates—he keeps.

I used that information to look through the log I keep of server and network changes and maintenance. It turns out that two months ago I made a change to the firewall rules, and the problem started the very next day. It was hard to see how this particular change would cause the machine to crash, but it was too coincidental, so I disabled that rule and restarted the firewall service. There have been no warnings, problems or crashes since. I hope you can see the value of good record keeping. If you are making changes to your network without keeping a detailed record of what you are doing and when you're doing it, it is going to be extremely difficult to diagnose problems later.

Although he works in a larger environment with more variables than a home computer user might have, the system is just as effective on a smaller scale. The first time I was introduced to a change log was through my grandfather's extensive computer notes and logging. An engineer, programmer, and avid computer enthusiast he kept meticulous notes about everything he had done to his computer and home network. His logs detailed dates of software installation and removal, registry changes, firewall tweaks, product keys, and times of routine maintenance. With such a simple system in place it becomes easy to find the ghost in the machine.

While my grandfather used a notebook, Peter moved on to using a blog so he could sort by date and tag the entries. If like you decide to go digital instead of keeping an paper change log, we've covered several techniques and programs here that could be useful. An extremely simple log could be created simply by making a text file and using the append feature in Quicksilver or for Windows users, Gina put together a handy script and tutorial that emulates the append functionality in Quicksilver. If you have a different technique or a handy tip for keeping a change log, share them with fellow readers in the comments.

StreetAdvisor Rates Your Street [Maps]

Web site StreetAdvisor is a user-generated review site that rates streets by their overall feel, cleanliness, value, and public services. In theory, StreetAdvisor is an excellent idea, even though it's a little lacking in practice. For example, rather than ranking neighborhoods, it sticks almost exclusively to streets. I live in Los Angeles, where streets stretch for miles and vary a lot from one block to the next, so a review of my street five miles south is much less useful than one of a street one block over.

The best thing about StreetAdvisor is its Google Maps mashup view, where you can find specific spots in a neighborhood that have been reviewed and compare those by proximity. If user-reviews aren't your thing (and StreetAdvisor really needs more of them), check out previously mentioned Walk Score, which rates your neighborhood based on the availability of stores and services within walking distance. If you know of a better alternative, let's hear it in the comments.

Transmission Updates, Integrates Remote Control [Featured Download]

Mac OS X/Linux only: Popular BitTorrent application Transmission has updated with several excellent new features, including built-in integration with the Clutch web interface. We showed you how to remote control your BitTorrent downloads with Clutch from any web browser, and now that Clutch comes baked-in to Transmission, doing so is even easier (though you may want to refer to the original guide for the finer points of setting it up). The new release also includes integration for Quick Look in Leopard (just hit the spacebar) along with several other improvements. Transmission is free, Mac OS X and Linux only.

Repurpose Your Empty CD Spindle [Video Demonstration]

The video above from DIY web site Instructables demonstrates four different CD spindle-repurposing projects from start-to-finish. We've seen variations on most of these projects before, like the toilet paper dispenser, bagel holder, and cable organizer, but the video provides step-by-step instructions and a few clever tweaks for alternate uses. The bagel holder, for example, becomes a sandwich caddy with an extra cut, and the cable organizer becomes a rope and cable dispenser with a couple of small adjustments. If you've tried one of the repurposing methods since we first covered it, let's hear how it's working out in the comments.

Wired-Marker Highlights Text on Web Pages [Featured Firefox Extension]

Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Firefox extension Wired-Marker permanently highlights text on web pages. Unlike web-based highlighters or offline options like previously-mentioned Scrapbook, Wired-Highligher is a hybrid of online and offline highlighting. So while you can't send highlighted content to someone else or view your content offline, you can see your highlighted content automatically any time you browse to the original web page. You can highlight content in a variety of colors and customize what your highlights mean to better categorize your highlighted content. Syncing capabilities would be killer, but as-is Wired-Highlighter is a great extension for highlighter junkies who feel left out in their browser.

Aurora Part 2 Now Online [Aurora]

Part 2 of the Aurora future browser video concept series is now online. If you're new to Aurora, check out yesterday's coverage of Part 1. [via]

XnView Shell Extension Edits and Views Images with a Right-Click [Featured Windows Download]

Windows only: Free application XnView Shell Extension adds several image tools to your right-click menu so you can preview, resize, edit, upload, and convert images in just a couple of clicks. Made by the same people who brought your previously mentioned XnView—the lightning fast image editor and viewer—XnView Shell Extension brings many of the same great tools of XnView to your right-click menu. If you do a lot of work with photos but don't want to fire up a full-fledged editor for some quick resizing or converting, this context menu add-on looks like a winner. XnView Shell Extension is freeware, Windows only.

Top 10 Conversation Hacks [Lifehacker Top 10]

A whole lot more than just words passes between people who are talking, so a few simple conversational skills can help you recognize what's really being said and help you lead the discussion your way. Learn how to read body language and facial expressions, de-code euphemisms, ask sensitive questions, criticize constructively, get what you want in negotiations, cut off chatterboxes, and more with our top 10 conversation hacks. Photo by PhillipC.

10. Feign sincerity with eye contact and repetition.

When you're just not feelin' it but you've got to look like you are, the Wired How-to wiki suggests ways you can feign sincerity. In short, make eye contact, echo what the person is saying to you back to them, and nod in understanding (even if you're not).

9. End a conversation with body language.

When that chatty co-worker just won't go away, use some of manager Brendan Connelley's techniques. My favorite is simply standing up (or crossing your arms, or speeding up to a "fast walk") to indicate it's time for that person to go and you're busy. In more desperate situations, grab your cell phone and say, "oh sorry, I've got to take this." Photo by SiBorg.

8. Ask sensitive questions indirectly to skip awkwardness.

When the info you need from someone is somewhat sensitive, check out journalist advice site MBToolbox's suggestions for asking delicate questions indirectly. Use the bluff ("the breakup must've been hard, huh?") or blame others ("so has anyone asked about your prison time?") or the indirect inquiry ("what year did you get divorced?") to broach sensitive topics with tight-lipped folks with more ease and less awkward silence.

7. Use silence to win arguments and nail a negotiation.

Lawyers and price hagglers know that a little silence can go a long way. When the other party offers a price, opt for a long pause to indicate hesitation, which might prompt them to go lower. In the case of arguments, prolonged silence may frustrate the other person—but it'll also make you look like the winner. (The evil winner, but the winner nonetheless.)

6. Soften critiques with the sandwich method.

When you need to critique someone—whether it's a co-worker's presentation or a spouse's choice of outfit—start with a compliment, then mention your critique, then end on a positive note. The "criticism hamburger" gets the message across but softens the blow.

5. Say "no" gently—or say "yes, but...."

When someone's asking you to do something you just don't want to—or don't have the time—there are ways to say "no" that are polite and respectful and won't burn any bridges. OnlineOrganizing.com offers 20 "scripts" for turning down a request, from "I'm in the middle of several projects right now" to "I'm not the right person for that job." (I've found that suggesting someone else or offering a tip on the best way to proceed also helps a whole lot.) Master of attention-firewalling Merlin Mann says you can partially commit by qualifying your "yes" with specific boundaries around what you'll do (that also imply what you won't).

4. Ask questions well.

When you need information, the people that have it need some reason to help you. Whether you're posting a question on a tech support forum or asking a colleague for help, here are some ways you can master the art of asking to get the answers you need.

3. De-code office jargon.

Client want to "touch base"? Manager want to "get on the same page"? Corporate euphemisms translate into pretty strong words, and you'll navigate your career a whole lot better if you recognize the ones that mean "get off your ass." Career adviser Penelope Trunk offers a non-nonsense dictionary for parsing office-speak.

2. "Pace and lead" an irate person.

When you're dealing with someone who is absolutely freaking out—like a parent flipping out at the playground—use school administrator Bert Webb's "pace and lead" technique. Instead of remaining calm, match the other party's emotional intensity to show you're empathetic, then lead the complainant to a calmer level of discourse.

1. Become a human lie detector.

When you suspect someone isn't telling the whole truth, tune into their voice, eyes, and body language. Monster.com's Marty Nemko lists a few indicators that should trip your BS detector, like a sudden change in voice pitch, rate of speech, or "ums" and "ahs," a change in eye contact, and body position. Similarly, project manager Scott Berkun weighs in on how to detect bullshit.

Perhaps the greatest human behavior and communication hack is an awareness of what makes people tick. If you can offer someone something they want, they'll give you what you want in return.

What are your favorite conversational hacks and skills? Ever tried any of these techniques? Tell us about it in the comments.

Speed Up Airport Security with a Checkpoint-Friendly Laptop Bag [Travel]

The TSA collaborates with laptop bag manufacturers to create checkpoint-friendly bags that will allow you to save a few minutes and go through security without taking your notebook out and putting it in a separate bin.

Ask MetaFilter Roundup [Hive Mind]

• What item do you use all the time and wonder how you ever lived with without it?
• What are some songs about being disappointed, discouraged, but fighting back and continuing in the face of great difficulty, especially internal struggle?
• Can I learn to be less forgetful and scatterbrained?
• What's the best wireless solution for connecting an original Xbox with XBMC for streaming MPEG2 video?
• Have you initiated asking your boss for feedback on your job? When is the time to do it, and how's it done?
• What can I buy on the internet for a dollar?

Google Launches Insights [Google]

Geared mostly towards advertisers (but interesting to anyone into trends), Google launches a Trends spin-off called Google Insights, which charts a search term's popularity across the web and the world. For example, things are looking up for the search term Lifehacker. [via]

Remember the Milk from Your Mac and Windows Desktop [Remember The Milk]

Windows and Mac: Remember the Milk users, you can access your RTM lists from your desktop in two ways: The Remember the Moof Dashboard widget for Mac users, and the Remember the Milk Tool for Windows users. Remember the Moof brings your list to your Mac's Dashboard, where you can add items, check off items, or sort by list or tag. The Windows RTM tool just lets you quick add to your list from your desktop. Both are free downloads. What are your favorite ways to interact with RTM (besides, you know, the web site)? Let us know in the comments. Both the Remember the Moof Dashboard widget and RTM tool for Windows are free downloads. Thanks, How-To Geek!

When Quantity Trumps Quality [Creativity]

Conventional wisdom says quality, not quantity counts, but programmer Jeff Atwood disagrees. He says practice—great quantities of practice—bring quality.

Quantity always trumps quality. That's why the one bit of advice I always give aspiring bloggers is to pick a schedule and stick with it. It's the only advice that matters, because until you've mentally committed to doing it over and over, you will not improve. You can't. When it comes to software, the same rule applies. If you aren't building, you aren't learning. Rather than agonizing over whether you're building the right thing, just build it. And if that one doesn't work, keep building until you get one that does.

Atwood's advice applies to making anything—from software to ceramics to paintings to screenplays. Thanks, Peter!

Ant Movie Catalog Tames Your DVD Collection [Featured Windows Download]

Window only: Free application Ant Movie Catalog manages your movie collection in a personal database. While not as immediately user friendly as other tools covered here, such as Griffith, Ant offers a thorough database that allows you to catalog not just standard fare such as titles, year of release and so forth but also detailed information about the actual media itself such as codecs, audio format, resolution, and so forth.

Ant Movie Catalog supports plug-ins and an extensive script system. It comes prepackaged with scripts to access over 211 movie databases (compared to Griffith's 22), which range from standard pop culture fare via IMDB to lesser known anime and foreign films. There is also built in support for 30 languages and the ability to import databases in common formats from other media managers.

Like Griffith, Ant offers a loan manager, but Ant's is easier to use with a more streamlined, single-window system for tracking the DVD you lent to your pal. Unlike Griffith, Ant Movie Catalog is not multi-platform; it's a free download for Windows only. Thanks gottwhat!

How to Trim Podcasts and Movies in iTunes [ITunes Tip]

Save a little time by fast-tracking through podcast intro chatter and cutting off movie credits in iTunes by using the custom Start and Stop times on your songs and videos. Macworld explains that you can right-click on the item in question, and choose Get Info. In the Options tab, check off Start Time or Stop Time to set it. (Use this same technique to create a perfectly timed interval training iTunes playlist for your next trip to the gym or the track.) If you convert the item to another file format, only the snippet will go into the new file.

Stash Sandals Store Your Money and ID [Stuff We Like]

Finding a place to keep your cash, ID, and house key at the beach or carnival can be a pain when your outfit has no pockets—which is why you want to stow them in the sole of your sandal. The Reef Stash sandal has a pull-out storage area in each sole big enough for some bills, a credit card, and even a key. We'd love to see someone mod a non-Reef pair of sandals to achieve the same end. (Tried it? Got photos? Post 'em in the comments.) Just make sure you don't kick off these suckers while you're on the Ferris Wheel.

EASEUS Creates and Manages Hard Drive Partitions for Free [Featured Windows Download]

Windows only: EASEUS Partition Manager is a hard drive partition utility that bills itself as a free alternative to the popular commercial product, PartitionMagic. EASEUS can resize and move partitions without losing data already on them (unlike many other partitioning tools which erase the data on the drive in order to work). EASEUS can also change partition labels, format easily, hide and un-hide partitions, preview the effect of your changes before you make them, and change cluster size. EASEUS only supports hard disks from 20-800GB (with apologies to those in the terabyte club). For more on partitioning with GParted (also free, but not as user-friendly), see our previous post on drive partitioning and imaging. EASEUS Home Edition is a free download for personal use on Windows XP and 2000 SP4 only.

Debunking Common Windows Performance Tweaking Myths [Mythbusting]

As a tech writer, one of my biggest pet peeves is the plethora of bad advice littered across almost every web site dedicated to system tweaking. Besides the tweaks that simply don't work, some of them will actually cause your computer to run even slower—or worse. Let's examine some of the most offensive myths out there regarding PC performance tweaking, and debunk them once and for all.

Disabling QoS to Free Up 20% of Bandwidth

This tip made the rounds with people believing that Microsoft always allocates 20% of your bandwidth for Windows Update. According to the instructions, you were supposed to disable QoS in order to free up bandwidth. Unfortunately this tip was not only wrong, but disabling QoS will cause problems with applications that rely on it, like some streaming media or VoIP applications.

Rather than taking my word for it, you can read the official Microsoft response: "There have been claims in various published technical articles and newsgroup postings that Windows XP always reserves 20 percent of the available bandwidth for QoS. These claims are incorrect... One hundred percent of the network bandwidth is available to be shared by all programs unless a program specifically requests priority bandwidth."

Make Vista Use Multiple Cores to Speed Up Boot Time

This bogus tip made the rounds recently and almost everybody got caught including Lifehacker and big brother site Gizmodo... although commenters called it out quickly on both sides, and the editors updated the posts. (That's yet another reason to always participate in the comments here.)

According to this tip, you were supposed to use MS Config to modify the "Number of processors" drop-down on the Boot tab. The problem is that this setting is only used for troubleshooting and debugging, to be able to determine if there is a problem with a single processor, or for a programmer to test their code against a single core while running on a multi-core system. Windows will use all your processors by default without this setting.

Clearing Out Windows Prefetch for Faster Startup

The Prefetch feature in Windows XP caches parts of applications that you frequently use and tries to optimize the loading process to speed up application start time, so when a number of sites started suggesting that you clean it out regularly to speed up boot time it seemed like good advice... but sadly that's not the case, as pointed out by many Lifehacker commenters.

The Prefetch feature is actually used as a sort of index, to tell Windows which parts of an application should be loaded into memory in which order to speed up application load time, but Windows doesn't use the information unless it's actually starting an application. There's also a limit of 128 files that can be stored in the prefetch folder at any point, and Windows cleans out the folder automatically, removing information for applications that haven't been run as frequently. Not only that, but a well-written defrag utility will use the prefetch information to optimize the position of the files on the disk, speeding up access even further.

Windows expert Ed Bott explains it:

The .pf files don’t get used at all until you run a program. What actually happens when you click an icon is that Windows uses the information in the Prefetch folder to decide which program segments to load and in what order to load those pages.

Cleaning the Registry Improves Performance

The Windows registry is a massive database of almost every setting imaginable for every application on your system. It only makes sense that cleaning it out would improve performance, right? Sadly it's just a marketing gimmick designed to sell registry cleaner products, as the reality is quite different... registry cleaners only remove a very small number of unused keys, which won't help performance when you consider the hundreds of thousands of keys in the registry.

This isn't to say they are completely useless, of course. I'd still recommend cleaning the registry when you are trying to troubleshoot a problem caused by uninstalling buggy software that leaves entries behind, but even then you should be very careful to use a reputable application like previously mentioned CCleaner and review the entries before deleting anything.

Ed Bott weighs in with a stronger opinion:

I’d go a step further: Don’t run registry cleaner programs, period. I won’t go so far as to call them snake oil, but what possible performance benefits can you get from “cleaning up” unneeded registry entries and eliminating a few stray DLL files?

Clear Memory by Processing Idle Tasks

By this point you should be starting to get the picture... if something sounds too good to be true, it likely is. This well-traveled tip usually claims that you can create an "undocumented" shortcut to Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks that will clear out memory by processing all of the idle tasks wasting memory in the background.

What's the problem? Those idle tasks aren't actually waiting in the background... what you are effectively doing is telling the computer that you've walked away so it can now do other processing while you are idle. Except you aren't. The real purpose of this functionality is to finish all processing before running benchmarks to ensure consistent times, and according to the Microsoft documentation there's a whole different story:

When called from the command line, the ProcessIdleTasks work is done in the background asynchronously. It can take 10 to 15 minutes for idle tasks to complete. Task Manager will report processes running, and the disk will likely be active during this time.

Read more at The Life of a Techno-Guru blog in a post called Response to Digg Article Claiming to Free up Memory.

Clean, Defrag and Boost Your RAM With SnakeOil Memory Optimizer

Just take a quick look at any download site, and you'll find hundreds of products that claim to "optimize RAM to make your computer run faster". Give me a break! Almost all of these products do the same things: they call a Windows API function that forces applications to write out their memory to the pagefile, or they allocate and then deallocate a ton of memory quickly so that Windows will be forced to page everything else.

Both of the techniques make it appear that you've suddenly freed up memory, when in reality all you've done is trade in your blazing fast RAM for a much slower hard drive. Once you have to switch back to an application that has been moved to the pagefile, it'll be so slow you'll be likely to go all Office Space on your machine.

Windows expert Mark Russinovich agrees:

At best, RAM optimizers have no effect, and at worst, they seriously degrade performance.

Disabling Shadow Copy/System Restore Improves Performance

I've barely come across a Windows Vista tips site that doesn't tell you to disable System Restore to speed up performance, because it takes up to 15% of your hard drive by default, which sounds like good advice. Except it's not.

The reality is that System Restore only actually kicks in when you are installing updates or applications, or at pre-scheduled times in the day, and the automatic checkpoints will only happen when your computer is not being used. These checkpoints allow you to easily roll back your system to a pre-crash state, and I can tell you from experience that System Restore is a critical feature when your Vista machine has problems, allowing you to easily get back to a working state.

Instead of disabling System Restore to free up space, Ed Bott suggests that you simply use Disk Cleanup to remove all but the most recent restore point. (Under the More Options tab, you'll find a Clean up button).

Enable SuperFetch in Windows XP

Somebody decided to start spreading the myth that you could enable SuperFetch in Windows XP by adding the same EnableSuperfetch key into the registry that Windows Vista has, and it spread like wildfire. Naturally, this tip was completely bogus.

The good news is that this tip is one of the few that will not harm your system in any way, as long as you don't break something while editing the registry. If you insist on using it, I won't complain.

If you want some proof, you can use the strings.exe utility to see that "superfetch" doesn't exist anywhere in the XP kernel, or you can believe Ed Bott and Mark Russinovich, who have already debunked this myth.

Disabling Services to Speed Up the Computer

Perhaps the most common myth is the advice to disable all services that you aren't using. I realize this will generate some controversy, so let me clarify: Disabling non-essential services that are NOT part of Windows will sometimes yield a performance gain if you have identified those services as causing a problem. You can identify or disable those services by opening msconfig.exe and checking the box for "Hide all Microsoft services" on the Services tab:

The problem with disabling services is that your devices will often not work once you do: for instance, I disabled the "Unknown" dlbt_device service in the list above, and could no longer print to my Dell printer... disabling the VMware services made VMware unable to run, and so forth.

You should be even more careful to not disable built-in Microsoft services in Windows, except for a select few under certain circumstances:

• SuperFetch—This caching service preloads applications into memory, and actually does work. The problem is that it can cause your hard drive to do a lot of grinding while it's working, which is especially irritating on a laptop.
• Windows Search—If you don't use the Vista search or you use an alternate desktop search engine, you really don't need this service and can increase performance quite a bit by disabling it.
• Windows Defender - If you are already using another anti-malware product, you really don't need this running as well.

Ed Bott's summary speaks for itself:

If someone tries to talk you into disabling a bunch of other services, ask them what you stand to gain. I’ll bet they can’t tell you.

Editor: Readers should note that a recent Windows Vista tweaking guide, offered for download by Microsoft, does suggest disabling unneeded services.

When it comes to performance tweaking, a very large amount of testing is required each and every time you make a change. The better option is to simply install more RAM and clean up your PC if you are having performance problems, and perhaps demand a little more proof before applying secret hacks.

The How-To Geek is a tech writer and geek enthusiast who loves to tinker with hidden settings that actually work. More of his tips and tweaks can be found daily at Howtogeek.com.

How to Get More Info About Your iPhone in iTunes [Screencasts]

Here's a quick tip for iPhone or iPod touch owners who want to get more details about the device, the software it's running, and exactly how many days of songs are stored on it: in iTunes, click on the device's informational details to display additional bits, like software build number, ICCID, Identifier (whatever that is), the number of songs and the number of days worth of music you've got stored. Here's a 15 second screenshot of this in action.

Thanks, Sameer!

YouTube File Hack (and Others) Download Clips to Your Desktop [Featured Windows Download]

Windows only: Free software YouTube File Hack is a standalone application and Internet Explorer integrated menu item that downloads videos to your desktop from the popular video sharing site. Simply run the application, enter the URL of the YouTube video you want to view offline, and press the Download button. When all is said and done, you'll have an FLV file for watching offline (we recommend the free VLC player to do so).

To use the Internet Explorer integration, navigate to any web page, right click on a YouTube video link, and choose the "Download this YouTube Video" option from the right-click menu. (Note that the "Download this" menu item displays regardless of whether a video is present or not.)

YouTube File Hack is one of several ways to download YouTube video clips. Let's review just a few of our favorite options:

• The All-In-One Video Bookmarklet works in IE or Firefox and requires no installation—just drag and drop it to your browser toolbar.
• The Better YouTube Firefox extension adds a "Download this video" link to any YouTube page in Firefox.
• Vixy.net and Viddownloader takes the URL of a YouTube clip, converts it to a format of your choice, and offers it for download.

For more video handling desktop and online apps, check out our top 10 free video rippers, encoders, and converters.

Currently, YouTube File Hack works within Internet Explorer only; the software is a free download for Windows only. What's your favorite way to download YouTube clips? Let us know in the comments.

Ad-Free HD Video and TV Episodes at Hulu [Television]

In a limited time promotion of their hi-def offerings, video site Hulu is streaming HD TV episodes like Lost, Heroes, The Office, 24, and Dr. Horrible commercial-free. [via]

Best To-do List Managers? [Hive Five Call For Contenders]

Over the last few years, to-do list applications have blossomed across the internet like wildflowers in a meadow—but which ones are the best? We've already covered your favorite GTD applications, but for readers who like to get things done with just a regular list (sans all the GTD frippery), this week's Hive Five is focusing on simple, no-nonsense to-do lists. Whether it's desktop software, a web-based app, a cellphone app, or plain ol' pen and paper, cast your nomination for the best to-do list on the block. On Thursday we'll round up the top five candidates and pit them all against one another in a final vote.

The Hive Five nomination round takes place in the comments, where you post your favorite tool for the job. We get hundreds of comments, so to make your nomination clear, please include it at the top of your comment like so: VOTE: To-do List Manager Goes Here. If you don't follow this format, we may not count your vote. To prevent tampering with the results, votes from first-time commenters may not be counted. After you've made your nomination, let us know what makes it stand out from the competition.

About the Hive Five: The Hive Five feature series asks readers to answer the most frequently asked question we get—"Which tool is the best?" Once a week we'll put out a call for contenders looking for the best solution to a certain problem, then YOU tell us your favorite tools to get the job done. Every Thursday, we'll report back with the top five recommendations and give you a chance to vote on which is best. For an example, check out last week's Hive Five Best Note-Taking Tools.

Coccinella IM Client Includes a Whiteboard [Featured Download]

All platforms: Free multi-protocol instant messenger client Coccinella offers all the features of an IM app you'd expect, plus one more: a whiteboard. Chat on AIM, ICQ, MSN, and GTalk with Coccinella, which also supports voice chat. But the fun feature is the whiteboard which lets chatting pals collaborate with text, drawings, and image and audio files. Coccinella is a free download for Windows, Mac, or Linux.

Mixin Simplifies Collaborative Scheduling [Calendar]

Webapp Mixin is a social calendar that accepts short messages describing not only what you're doing but when, and shares that info with your friends. Plan and propose events or enter where you're going to be when with Mixin's drop-down box on-site, or wish for things or events (which have no specific time). Alternately use Mixin's short Twitter-style one-line commands (in the format of what @where when, like "Rock Band @Adam's at 7") to enter events via SMS or IM. You can also let your friends know where you are for a possible impromptu meet-up with Mixin. Check out a video demonstration of how Mixin works.

CordWrap Keeps Cords Off the Floor and Plugged In [Stuff We Like]

While it's probably not something you want in your living room, the CordWrap outlet faceplate keeps long cords off the floor and from being accidentally pulled out of the wall. Fit for garages or workshops, the CordWrap doesn't seem to be for sale, but DIYers could easily put one together. It's simply a regular outlet faceplate with protruding ends. Wrap extra cord length around the ends and keep a coiled pile of cable off the floor.

Make Word 2007 Default to .DOC Filetype [Microsoft Word Tip]

If you're sick of co-workers with older versions of Word not being able to open your .DOCX files, weblog Technix Update explains how to change the default file format to .DOC when you save files in Word 2007. [via]

Aurora Concept Video Proposes the Future of the Web [Video Demonstration]

What will browsing the web be like a decade from now? Leading design and UI company Adaptive Path offers one possible answer in a new concept video series called Aurora. Jesse James Garrett (the guy who coined the term AJAX) designed and narrated part one of a video series demonstrating what the future of the web might look like. There's some gorgeous, imaginative, and high-tech stuff going on here—hit the play button below to watch.

Note: To watch this clip in HD, play it on its source page on Vimeo.

What do you think of the first installment of Aurora? Is it a web you hope to use sometime in the future? What do you love and what would you change? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Philipp Lenssen's Top Google Apps Tips [Google School]

Google expert Philipp Lenssen dishes up the latest news about Google and its features at his daily blog, Google Blogoscoped. Author of the new O'Reilly book, Google Apps Hacks, Lenssen takes some time out of his busy schedule today to share some of his best tips for using Google Apps from Gmail to web search to Google Docs.

Quickly Access Your Unread Gmail

Lifehacker mentioned Gmail Labs' experimental features the day they launched back in June, but I just wanted to mention my favorite experimental feature of them all: a Quick Link to your unread mail. Now first of all, let me say there's several user types in Gmail (as Gmail designer Kevin Fox explained), and if you're the kind of Gmail user who archives mails as soon as they're read, you won't need the following tip. If, however, you let everything flow into your inbox but you don't like to archive read mails, creating an "Unread mail" quick link comes in handy.

To do so, just click on Settings on top and switch to the Labs tab. Check the "Enable" box next to Quick Links. Approve by hitting Save Changes at the bottom. Now search Gmail for in:inbox is:unread (without the square brackets) and in the Quick Links box appearing to the left side, click Add Quick Link. Enter "Unread" for the title and approve the dialog. Next time you want to see all your unread mails in one go, just click the Unread link to the left!

Get Auto-complete in Your Google Spreadsheet

Are you using Google Spreadsheets as your web-based spreadsheet editor alternative to desktop programs like Excel? If you do, give the "magic" auto-completions a try. To understand what this does, enter "Superman" in the top left cell, and enter "Batman" and "Wonder Woman" in the cells below