Source: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-01/nasa-seeks-help-ham-radio-operators-locate-its-missing-nanosatellite

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The widespread use of smartphones, push notifications, and things like Ajax have made it as instantaneous as IM or SMS. Has that changed your expectations of other people when using email?

Nowadays, we get notifications for pretty much any type of communication on the net. Our computers and phones let us know of incoming IMs, SMS messages, email, and even Facebook messages instantaneously—but many people argue that each form of communication has a different connotation. As Gina puts it in the Lifehacker book, we’ve always argued that you should “set two or three meetings with your inbox” instead of responding to each new message as it arrives. However, other folks think that since we’re all surgically attached to our inboxes anyway, we should treat it just like any other form of instantaneous communication. With that in mind, we’re wondering:

Of course, a lot of this has to do with our broader assumptions about email. How formal do you think it should be? Should it be instantaneous? Do you expect salutations, or are SMS-like one liners acceptable? Share your email expectations with us in the comments. Photo by Ian Lamont.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5738202/what-are-your-email-expectations

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Google Voice is offering number porting, but in a limited test. But couldn’t Google Voice already work with any number? Isn’t it easy to transfer numbers? Here’s the long and (very) short of how and why you’d port your digits to Google.

The (Very) Short Version

Google Voice, especially with number porting offered, aims to make actual phone numbers irrelevant, and provide you with One Number for everything. If you’ve got a cell number that everybody knows, and you really, really don’t want to change, now that number can be your new One Number. It requires a somewhat awkward step in-between cellular contracts, which is something most of us aren’t used to, and a $20 fee. After that, your old number still works, and now every aspect of Voice is available.

The Longer Explainer

The magical “One Number” has been the goal ever since the launch in late 2007 of Google Voice’s predecessor, GrandCentral, which was later acquired and incorporated into Google Voice. If you have a phone at home, in the office, and maybe a work-provided BlackBerry and personal cellphone, your Google Voice number is the one you memorize, tell people about, and list on your card. Google Voice does many other cool things, like transcribe your voicemails and send text messages for free, but this One-Number-many-phones service has always been the core utility.

When someone calls that Google Voice number, it rings first at Google’s servers, then quickly checked against any rules you’ve set up in your Voice account—just like how a new message is run through Gmail’s uber-essential filters before arriving for you. You might have set your system up so that when Rick from work calls, after 5 p.m. on a Friday, it goes straight to your voicemail, and doesn’t ring on any phone. Or, when your son or daughter calls, it rings every phone you have, and emails and texts you with the transcribed message. In that way, individual phone numbers become plug-and-play. If you have to drop your cable company’s digital phone, or trade cellular carriers in a hurry without worrying about number porting (“Ooh! Verizon iPhone!”), it shouldn’t really matter; just plug the new number into your Voice settings on the web.

Is it difficult “training” people to use just one number for you, and stop calling the old numbers? Yes. But it can be done. Lifehacker’s founding editor Gina Trapani and myself have both taken the hard line and only hand out our Google Voice numbers now; other Lifehacker editors have, to some degree, walked most of the way down that path. But we are writers and freelancers, and we are not reliant on other people having our number to call us on.

Some people legitimately need to keep their number working, because lots of people have that number, and they don’t want to miss a call from them. Google has previously offered a voicemail-only, halfway solution for them. But at best, it’s a wonky, deep-settings change with a nice result, and one misses out on at least half the service’s convenience. So for those with phone numbers tied deeply into their daily lives, Google Voice will soon offer the ability to take that number and make it your One Number—and do so right from the Google Voice web site. No need for a condescending conversation with a service rep at your phone carrier.

What about your existing service? From the looks of Google’s number porting setup, as it stands today, Google is actively canceling your contract with your carrier from your site, in the same way a cellular service worker can cancel your contract with another service, right from their desk at the store or kiosk. If you’re still under contract to that provider, you’ll get a bill with an early termination fee (ETF), no doubt. If not, you’ll likely lose your cellular service. You can then buy service from another provider, and when they ask if you have a preference for number, tell them you don’t. You’d just take whatever number they offer, set it up through Voice, and carry on. Everyone who knew your old number can still call you, except that now you can filter their calls, send them a text message for free through Voice’s web/app tools, and otherwise use Voice to its full extent.

Is this all that convenient? Not really. Even if you’re on off-contract and going month-to-month with your carrier, most customers like to make a switch from one carrier to another, without any downtime. But if the only thing holding you back from using Voice was the inability to use it fully with a number you can’t let go of, you can probably get by in the time between checking the many verification boxes and buttons in the Voice number porting process and driving to a cellular store (or calling to re-activate service on your existing phone/SIM card, if possible).

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So that’s the scoop on Google Voice number porting, at least as it exists for a small number of Voice users so far. Google may change the process, or hold off a long time before offering it to everyone. In the meantime, does number porting make you more likely to switch over to Voice, or do you shy away from giving Google your most well-known digits?

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5738669/what-google-voice-number-porting-means-for-you

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From the same site that scared us witless with visualizations of just how large the BP oil spill really is, comes the country comparison tool. Choose two countries—say, the US and Germany, and see all sorts of differences.

It’s not just life expectancy; the amount of money spent on healthcare or chances of dying in infancy. For every country—and developer Andy Linter has added heaps—there’s details on how much more (or less) electricity you’d use, along with oil…and crucially, how much more free time you’d have. After a brief play around with the site, I was pretty shocked by some of the findings—and have obviously packed my bags and booked a flight to the Faroe Islands in the meantime. [IfItWereMyHome via Reddit]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5738779/if-you-lived-in-any-other-country-how-much-less-electricity-would-you-use

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Whether it’s all the technology, schoolbooks, or even hygiene products you carry around on a daily basis, your backpack can get pretty overloaded after a while. Tech blog Unplggd recommends journaling what you actually use every day to help lighten the load.

The things we think we “might need” as we’re running out the door are often pretty different than the things we actually need. Unplggd recommends jotting down everything you use during the day so you know what’s essential and what’s dead weight:

While having enough gear with you in case of an emergency seems prudent, you can end up lugging a heavy amount of gear regularly. For starters, if you’ve got your laptop, tablet, smart phone, mp3 player, DSLR, and other tech with you, it’s time to see if you can start leaving some at home or consolidating devices (why do you need an MP3 player AND your smart phone?). The easy way to do this is to keep a record of what you use in a week in a simple fashion. Once you’ve gone through a week and you’ve established your pattern, it’s time to lighten your pack.

Not only does this help you know when to leave certain things at home, this can help those of us with the opposite problem, too: leaving the house without certain important items. It’s easy to think you know what you essential daily tools are, but it can be another thing entirely to actually see what’s useful and what’s always on your person “just in case”. Hit the link for more tips on lightening your daily load, and share your own with us in the comments. Photo by Michael Josh Villanueva.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5738193/lighten-your-backpacks-load-by-journaling-the-stuff-you-actually-use

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Chrome: If you prefer spending more time reading on your Kindle than in your browser, you can quickly push content from your browser to your Kindle with Chrome extension Send to Kindle.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5736907/send-to-kindle-pushes-web-articles-from-chrome-to-your-kindle

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Dropbox is great for syncing files between all your machines, but reader Ryan shows us that it’s also useful for grabbing their current IP address, for FTP, SSH, or whatever else you need.

If you have multiple computers, you’ve probably installed Dropbox on all of them and use it pretty regularly. If you need to grab their IP address for any reason, you can just head to the Manage page in Dropbox’s settings and mouse over the blue “i” info icon to see your computer’s current IP address.

It’s not something everyone will need on a daily basis, but if you frequently access your other computers with FTP, SSH, or anything else, this can be pretty useful, especially if you aren’t using static IPs (though it’s also helpful for forgetful static IP users).

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5737187/use-dropbox-to-find-the-ip-address-of-your-remote-computers

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Earlier last week we asked you to share your favorite iOS newsreader, and then we gathered the top five responses. Now we’re back with your favorite: Reeder

Reeder led the pack with a solid 38% of the vote. Following neck and neck behind Reeder, Flipboard and Pulse both pulled in 23% of the vote—separated by a mere 0.05% margin in Flipboard’s favor. MobileRSS and Byline rounded out the bottom of the Hive with 8% and 3% respectively.

Check out the results in graph form by clicking on the chart below:

Have an idea for the next Hive Five? Shoot us an email at tips@lifehacker.com with “Hive Five” in the subject line and we’ll do our best to give your idea the attention it deserves.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5737089/best-ios-newsreader-reeder

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