Google Chrome 2.0 is now available in pre-beta form from the folks at GOOG for anyone anxious enough to keep up with the cutting edge releases of Chrome. The 2.0 release boasts several fixes and updated features, including support for user scripts (à la Greasemonkey but not yet full Greasemonkey compatibility), easy profile switching, form autofill (à la every browser in the world), and full page zooming. You'll need to download the Google Chrome Channel Chooser and join the Dev channel if you're ready to get started on the 2.0 path. [via]

Everyone's excited about the free Windows 7 Beta download Microsoft's handing out tomorrow, but there's a catch: it's only available to the first 2.5 million downloaders. Here's how to make sure you're one of them.

According to Wired—which pulled the details from this official Windows blog post—you'll need to grab the download from a link on the Windows 7 page as soon as possible once Microsoft begins the release. To get a product key to use with the download, you'll have to go through a registration process with Microsoft. We'll keep our eyes open and let you know as soon as we spot the download out in the wild. It'll probably be sometime later in the day tomorrow, but you never know for sure.

Be sure to check out the full Wired post for a look at a few more possible gotchas. Then again, if you aren't lucky enough to make the cut tomorrow, there's always BitTorrent.

Whether you're timeshifting your TV with pre-built options like TiVo or rolling your own system with Windows Media Center or another third-party software, nothing beats a good DVR.

For this week's Hive Five, we want you to share your favorite DVR application. It doesn't have to homespun, so if you love TiVo best, go with it. Just let us know your favorite way to record and playback TV on your schedule.

Hive Five nominations take 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: DVR App Goes Here. Please don't include your vote in a reply to another commenter. Instead, make your vote and reply separate comments. 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 weekend, 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 Online Job Search Sites.

Financial planning guru Suze Orman's latest book—Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan—is available as a free download from Oprah through January 15th.

The book—normally $10 if you get it through Amazon—covers everything from credit, savings, and spending to retirement, paying for college, and real estate. Here's the low-down from the Amazon product description:

If in late 2007 you were told that over the next twelve months housing would crater to 20% below it's all-time peak, unemployment would rise from below 5% to nearly 8%, stocks would fall nearly 50%, and a gallon of gas would spike to more than $4 (and then drop below $2) you would probably have shrugged it off as just a whole lot of doomsday-scenario crankiness. But that's exactly what we all had to live through and continue to grapple with in 2009.

My 2009 Action Plan is designed to make sure you are ready for the unexpected—this year and every year forward. I most certainly hope things get better for us all, but in the meantime I want to make sure you have a plan in place that will protect you no matter what “what ifs” lay ahead.

While you're grabbing free ebooks on surviving the recession, be sure to check out Leo Babauta's previously mentioned Thriving on Less.

So you survived your company layoffs but now you're shouldering more responsibility for no more pay. If work is a giant stressfest these days, Fortune magazine's advice columnist Anne Fisher has some tips.

The sad truth is that things are difficult right now, so most of her advice boils down to "buck up and make yourself useful." For example:

Set 30-day and 60-day goals. Share them with your boss and then, as you get closer to your targets, update him or her on that, too. "Not only will measurable progress keep you upbeat and creative," [executive coach Deb] Bright notes, but in practical terms, "your boss needs to know what his department is accomplishing, so he has ammunition if someone wants to chop it in half." Gulp.

How are you dealing with what's a pretty depressing time at most companies? Are you facing survivor's guilt PLUS double the job description for the same pay? Tell us your story in the comments.

If you ended up with a shoe box full of gift cards to stores you have no use for, you're in luck—the internet is here to help.

A new web site called Giftah lets you buy, sell, or trade gift cards to various North American retailers. If you're a buyer, you can find incredible deals on gift cards discounted anywhere from a few bucks to 50% of their actual balance. If you're holding onto a gift card that you're sure never to use before it expires, you can create an auction on Giftah to sell that gift card at a discount so that you can still at least get some cash out of the deal.

Giftah isn't the first site of its kind, though—and to be honest, it's probably not the best tool for the job out there. From features and looks alone, you may prefer checking out sites like Cardavenue or Gift Cards Again, both of which boast a wider selection and more consumer assurance. (For example, Cardavenue has a Cardassure feature that guarantees that the card you purchase matches the description of what you're buying. )

If you've ever done the online gift card swap, let's hear more about your experience—like what you used and how it went—in the comments.

Web site Wipee List is a new to-do list application with an emphasis on simplicity and attractive design.

Let's be honest, there's no shortage on great to-do list apps on the internet, and if our five best to-do list managers vote is accurate, most of the web-based to-do crowd is gaga for Remember the Milk, but that doesn't mean you won't find anything worthwhile from Wipee List. It features priorities, tags, notes, and a great Quick Reminders sticky where you can drag and drop any task so that it's visible everywhere you go on Wipee list. The site is still very young, so while it's not as full-featured as Remember the Milk, for example, it is quick, very easy to understand and use, and it's free. If you give it a try, let's hear what you think in the comments.

Author of new book The Power of Less Leo Babauta advises readers to simplify and focus only on the essential. Today he stopped by to tell us more about his timely message.

Lifehacker: In a culture that encourages the acquisition of things like gadgets and the idea of "living life to the fullest," what kind of paradigm shift is required to move from the "more is more" to "less is more" ethos? How does one shift their life into working with less without feeling deprived or limited?

Leo Babauta: I think the "wanting more" mode of thinking is attractive, because of the pull of the media and advertising that give us these images of very attractive things. The paradigm shift comes when we realize that while we might want to do and buy everything, we simply can't. We might want to do a million tasks a day, and take on every project idea that comes our way, but we just can't — and what's more, our lives suffer from trying to do too much. Something is always sacrificed — whether that's time with loved ones, exercise and health, time for ourselves, or pursuing our dreams.

When you make this realization, simple becomes more attractive. Space in our schedule, a more relaxed pace, quiet, more time for things that are fun, the freedom to pursue projects that we're passionate about ... these things have great appeal. And these things come when we learn to set limits and focus on the essential. A great side benefit? You become more effective and productive, in the sense of accomplishments, not cranking widgets and being busy.

I'd like to point out that "living life to the fullest" doesn't require having and doing more. My definition of living life to the fullest means doing things I love doing, spending time with people I love, being passionate, enjoying each and every moment. And this doesn't require acquisition or doing everything ... it requires the desire to focus on what really matters, and not simply on everything that comes our way. When you do that, you don't feel deprived, because life becomes more enjoyable.

LH: Your book advises readers to focus only on the essential and cut out the rest. But most people with crazed, busy lives might say that everything they do IS essential—to pay the bills, to raise their children, to please the boss. When you audit your daily life, how do you know what's really non-essential? What's the criteria?

LB: If they have crazed, busy lives, they probably already recognize the need to change something — lives like that are difficult to sustain and not always fulfilling. Once you recognize the need to make a change, it's just a matter of figuring out what needs to change — are you going to try to keep doing everything and live that crazed life, or are you going to make some tough decisions and prioritize? Because these decisions aren't easy — but if you make small, incremental changes, it doesn't have to be overwhelming either.

First, I recommend people step back and take a big-picture look at their lives. That means making a list of everything you do, all your commitments, all the things you'd like to do and plan to do in the near future. Then, from this list, make a Short List — just 4-5 things that are MOST important to you, that you love doing most, that you're most passionate about, that are most in line with your life values.

This can be pretty difficult if you have a long list of things you want to do, but again, you either need to make the tough choices or try to do everything, which I don't recommend. Once you've made your Short List, compare everything on the long list to the Short List, and decide which things don't line up with your essentials. These are the non-essentials, and you need to try to eliminate them to make room for the essentials.

Second, the changes don't need to be made overnight, so while you might feel the need to pay the bills instead of doing work you're passionate about, you can slowly try to transition to that passionate work, rather than pay-the-bills work. I did this and quit my day job a year ago, but it took me a year of transition. Major changes like this don't happen overnight. There are smaller changes you can make immediately — tell people you can't take on a project, serve on a committee, play or coach on a team, etc. This will free up some time in the short-term to make longer-term changes.

LH: Does constantly saying "no" to things to focus on doing less make one live her life on the defensive, constantly protecting her free time and resources instead of embracing new things?

LB: It can be that way, if you say "no" to close yourself off to new things and remain defensive. I don't recommend it.

Instead, you can use "no" and limits to guard your time ... so that you're free to pursue things that excite you. If you say "yes" to everything, you don't have time for new things ... you're too busy!

I've found that simplifying my schedule allows me to do things that I never thought I could do before — getting in shape and running three marathons (and a couple triathlons), changing careers so that I'm now a full-time blogger, traveling with my wife, writing and publishing a book, becoming an entrepreneur. These things would never have been possible if I kept saying "yes" to everything, and if I never learned to free up my time by making the tough choices and saying "no" to things that didn't match up with my dreams and values.

LH: Do you think actually completing fewer tasks—but doing so in a fully-present, effective way—makes you more productive than someone who completes more tasks "well enough" but is run ragged at the end of the day? How did you do juggling your blog, book manuscript, and family?

LB: There's no doubt in my mind that I'm much, much more effective these days now that I've learned to focus on one task at a time and really pour myself into each task, each moment. Not only that, I'm much happier, less stressed, and more satisfied with my work and life.

I used to be busier — trying to do too much, taking on lots of different tasks and projects at the same time, working long hours, taking in more and more information and communicating rapidly and constantly — and at the end of the day, of the month, and of the year, I had very little to show for it all. I was churning my wheels but going nowhere.

These days, I actually complete the important tasks, and the work I do goes a long way. I finish each day feeling like I got a lot done.

How do I juggle my blog, book writing, and family? By doing one thing at a time. I cleared my schedule to write my book — it was too hard to try to do the blog and book at the same time (I was also trying to do marathon training and planning for a wedding and honeymoon). So I cleared everything else and focused on the book. My blog is just a series of tasks that I do one at a time. And when I make time for my family, every day — my family time is inviolate — I do only that. I don't do Blackberry or iPhone or any other work or email when I'm with my family. I leave everything else behind.

One thing at a time. That's been a godsend for me.

It's a new year, and sitting squarely at the top of your list of resolutions: Get in shape in '09. Sounds like a good time to print out weblog Squawkfox's free workout log.

The workout log is a once-a-week printout, helping you plan or track your workouts, weight, results, and more as you progress in your exercise. It's a simple, cheap, but excellent motivator to keep you honest with your workouts. Thanks Kerry!

• I am selling an expensive item on Craigslist. How should I ask for payment?
• Easiest way to add keywords to bookmarks in Firefox?
• What's the normal lifespan of a wireless router for home use?
• Do I really want a new computer if I'm writing a book?
• How do I prevent Firefox from adding 'www' and '.com' to local URLs?

Popular media center application and XBMC-spinoff Boxee has opened its alpha to all Mac and Linux users and is ramping up invites for the Windows private alpha, meaning that if you've been dying to try Boxee, you should be able to do so sooner than later. Apart from that, Boxee has also released an update supporting MTV Music, Joost, and BBC iPlayer (UK only), along with more bug fixes and improvements.

If you're excited that Windows 7 Beta will be available as a free download on Friday, Microsoft also detailed the minimum system requirements for Windows 7. According to PC World, the requirements are:

• 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
• 1GB of main memory
• 16GB of available disk space
• Support for DX9 graphics with 128MB of memory (for the Aero interface)
• A DVD-R/W drive

Skype Lite, a pared-down version of the popular, cheap VoIP calling software, is expected to be made available on Android-powered phones today (i.e. the T-Mobile G1).

Skype Lite has been available in beta form for select LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Ericsson phones for a while now, letting users trade instant messages and place calls over cellular networks. But today's release on the Android Marketplace should bring the software up to release stage, according to PC World. It's somewhat odd that Skype Lite requires a cellular connection to make a cheaper international call, but those whose bills recognize "local calls" might save some cash.

If you're looking for a few spare bucks to finance your next tech purchase, cleaning out your hardly-touched-anymore video games is a no-brainer. But where are the best venues to trade in used games?

Forbes.com suggests there are three approaches to take—easy but low-return chains like GameStop, the take-a-shot nature of auctions or Half.com/Amazon selling, and the higher prices one might fetch at sites with less mainstream recognition like Goozex. Having only a handful of Wii games around, Lifehacker East is asking the more experienced thumb-battling veterans: Where have you gotten the best buck for your used titles? What did you do in the listing, or posting, to ensure a higher dollar? What's a good return to expect on a used video game?

Post your successes, lessons learned, and other game-swapping stories in the comments.Photo by iwantanimac.

If you're struggling with decreased performance on a Windows based machine, it's a simple fix to check to make sure your IDE drives aren't operating in a slower, ineffective transfer mode.

When fresh from the box—or your workbench— your computer should have had all it's IDE drives set in Direct Memory Access mode. This is a far speedier method of disk access than Programmed Input/Output mode. The technical side of the two modes is dense but let it suffice: DMA is a the fast and preferred method and PIO mode is the slower method Windows defaults to after having six redundancy checks fail. Things like power outages, doing a hard reset and other disk interruptions can cause these errors. Your Windows box may be operating in the slower transfer mode because mistakenly thinks that your system is unstable or that there is something wrong with your disks. The fix for your computer downshifting into PIO mode is simple. Go to your Control Panel, click on the System icon, open up your Device Manager and pull up the properties for your Primary and Secondary IDE channels. Under the Advanced settings tab you'll be able to set the Transfer Mode to "DMA if available". Reboot and you should be in business. MakeUseOf has a full step by step guide with screenshots if you'd like a visual reference.

gOS, the Ubuntu-derived Linux desktop that's focused squarely on Google products and other webapps, has updated with newer versions of its core products, including the Windows-app-running WINE, Firefox 3, and support for newer Google Gadgets.

If gOS is new to you, check out Adam's tour of its monstrous webapp powers. Along with some pretty refined theming and taskbar implementation of the standard Ubuntu look, gOS can run as a fully-fledged Linux system in itself.

gOS 3.1 is a free download, requires an x86-based computer with 256MB of RAM to run or install.

Times tech columnist David Pogue suggests that while buying gadgetry willy-nilly certainly isn't a great use of money right now, wise use of technology—internet streaming over cable, pay-as-you-go over cell plans, refurbished computers over new-smell models—can save you a good deal of cash. Check out his list of options, providers, and savings.

deviantART crafter giannisgx89 offers up an unofficial Vista (SP1) theme that puts Windows 7's basic look and feel on your desktop in a lightweight, non-intrusive way. Take a closer look below.

Like any unofficial theme, using the Windows 7 PDC Style theme will require unlocking your copy of Vista to allow unofficial themes, which we covered in our guide to using custom Windows visual styles.

giannisgx89's theme does a basic skinning job without requiring too many extra ShellStyle images. Those looking for the complete Windows 7 look can grab Windows 7 wallpapers and icons from user Mheltin, and follow Vishal Gupta's guide to iconizing the Vista taskbar (all linked from the page below).

Here's a larger look at the Windows 7 PDC Style, with an appropriate wallpaper and a few icon tweaks. Click to enlarge to a truly full-size view:

The theme page states that the Windows 7 PDC Style is only for 32-bit copies of Vista running Service Pack 1, but commenters at deviantART have noted that they got it running on 64-bit copies using the VistaGlazz tool cited in Jason's guide.

Digging this Windows 7-lite theme? Know of a better one? Drop your reviews and links in the comments. Thanks, Geek!

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced at CES today that Windows 7—the highly anticipated followup to Windows Vista—will be available as a free, public download on Friday, January 9. Windows 7 Beta has been out in the wild (i.e., BitTorrent) since December, but if you've been waiting for things to get a little more legit before you tried it out, you won't have to wait much longer. [via]

Personal finance weblog Get Rich Slowly highlights nine methods for mastering your money in 2009:

1. Track every penny you spend
2. Develop a budget
3. Optimize your accounts
4. Start an emergency fund
5. Get out of debt
6. Fund your retirement
7. Automate your finances
8. Earn extra money
9. Educate yourself

iPhone/iPod touch only: Cisco's popular meeting and collaboration tool WebEx has found a new home on the iPhone, and, frankly, it looks very impressive.

The free application lets you attend any WebEx meeting over 3G or Wi-Fi, including simultaneous conference calls, chat, and document sharing (you'll probably want to bust out your headset to use it all). We don't actually use WebEx here at Lifehacker HQ, so I wasn't able to put it through a full test, but if the video demonstration is any indication, it's a pretty impressive offering for the mobile worker. WebEx is a free download, iPhone and iPod touch only (though clearly two-way voice isn't really an option for the iPod touch).

Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Firefox extension Mouseless Browsing (MLB) adds numbers next to clickable elements on any page, allowing you to quickly navigate to any portion of the page from the comfort of your home row.

We've mentioned MLB once before, but the latest version adds support for dynamic webapps like Gmail, Google Reader, or Facebook. (Previously if a page was updated without reloading entirely, the new links were not identified by MLB. Now they are.) Aside from support for dynamic apps, MLB has seen several improvements since we first mentioned it. The core functionality remains the same, though: Just type the number of the element you want to jump to, hit enter, and MLB "clicks" on that element.

Of course, Firefox already comes packed full of great keyboard shortcuts out of the box, so if you're a true keyboard lover you should also check out our guide to mouseless Firefox. Mouseless Browsing is a free download, works wherever Firefox does.

Windows only: The VirusTotal Uploader adds an entry to your right-click Send To menu that automatically uploads a file to online virus scanner VirusTotal, which scans the file for viruses using 39 different antivirus applications.

If VirusTotal sounds familiar, it's probably because we recommended using it to find out if a file really has a virus. Of course the whole process of heading to the VirusTotal homepage, browsing for the file on your hard drive, then waiting for the upload to complete is a little tedious. With the VirusTotal Uploader, scanning that file with nearly 40 antivirus engines requires just two clicks (right-click the file in question, then select Send To -> VirusTotal).

If you're keen on the idea behind VirusTotal, you can also use it to scan email attachments before downloading them by simply forwarding the email to scan@virustotal.com. VirusTotal Uploader is a free download, Windows only.

Early this morning social networking site Facebook announced that 150 million people across the globe are actively using Facebook—half of them every day.

This includes people in every continent—even Antarctica. If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria.

We generally steer away from covering too much of the Facebook around here, namely because it's not always the most productive site on the web, but we'd still love to get a better idea of what kind of Facebook users our readers are (if they are at all), as well as what they're using it for. So we're curious:

Whether your a Facebook addict or not, it's become an undeniably integral part of many users' lives. Let's hear your Facebook thoughts in the comments.

If you liked the look of previously mentioned digital photo application Poladroid—which adds a retro flair to regular digital photos—but your Windows life prevented you from using the Mac-only app, you're in luck. Poladroid has made an alpha version of Poladroid for Windows available for download. Sure the idea of Polaroid-ing digital photos is a bit absurd, but considering that Poloaroid no longer makes actual Polaroids, it's nice to keep a little nostalgia alive. Thanks Moysauce!

Mac OS X only: The popular VoIP application Skype has released a killer new beta for Macs, adding new features like screen sharing and Skype Access, a great new Wi-Fi access tool.

NOTE: There appears to be a hiccup in Skype's web site right now, so you may have trouble following the links below or downloading until they're fixed.

Skype Access

Skype knows that a big hurdle keeping its users from enjoying Skype everywhere is the cost of Wi-Fi access on the go. With Skype Access, you get to pay for access by-the-minute at any of 100,000 Boingo Wi-Fi spots for around $0.19 per minute. Under some circumstances you'd still be better off paying for full access, but it's an interesting direction. Boingo is the only Wi-Fi provider currently supported, though it seems very likely that Skype would be happy to integrate with more providers in the future.

Screen Sharing

The next big thing from the new Skype beta is screen sharing—that is, sharing what you see on your monitor with the person you're chatting with or vice versa. OS X has had screen sharing built into iChat since the release of Leopard, but if you never use iChat but spend a lot of time with Skype, this could be a great new feature.

Although screen sharing is currently only available for Skype 2.8 beta for the Mac, Mac users can still share their screens with Windows and Linux users running Skype.

Other New Features

Apart from Skype Access and screen sharing, the new Skype offers a lot more handy functionality and features, including:

• Improved chat management: you can sort chats in the drawer and set priorities to chats
• Quick Add: it’s now much easier to add people to chats
• Mood message chat: see mood message updates from your friends as chat messages
• Large profile pictures: just like Skype 4.0 Beta 2 for Windows, you can now use images of up to 256 x 256 pixels
• Hidden avatars in incoming contact requests: a small minority of Skype users have profile pictures which others may find unpleasant, and so they’re now hidden by default in contact requests
• Add notes to contacts: you can add notes to a contact in their profile window – handy for keeping track of who’s who.

If you're a dedicated Skyper, let's hear how you like the new features in the comments.

According to researchers at Oxford University, playing the popular, classic puzzle game Tetris after a traumatic experience could significantly reduce emotional scars. Apparently Tetris—which requires serious brain power on your part—blocks your brain from storing those bad memories. The catch: It needs to be played immediately following the traumatic event, so break out your old Game Boys and stick 'em in your emergency kit. Photo by Micah Taylor. [via]

This year might have made you sick of hearing/thinking/worrying about money (just maybe?), but tax season still looms ahead. Luckily, one software maker is offering free answers to tax questions throughout January.

Actual human experts affiliated with Intuit's TurboTax software and online services—which Gina previously threw into a faceoff against a human accountant—will call back anyone leaving a single question on the FreeTaxQuestion.com site, supposedly within 24 hours, with answers or at least guidance.

TurboTax's callers will only answer questions on federal taxes, not state—specifically Forms 1040 (personal) and 1065, 1120, or 1120S (business). And there's a limit of one question callback per person for the offer period, which expires Jan. 31. Still, if you've got most of your taxes covered yourself this year, but have one niggling uncertainty, let TurboTax take a crack at it, and the most you'll have to endure is probably a semi-soft product push.

Where do you turn for your single-serve tax questions, other than the big, big book of actual code? Tell us your go-to resource below.

A lone flame against a dark backdrop makes a great scene, but, on most automatic cameras, a washed-out or drab picture. Digital Photography School has sound advice on capturing fire in a frame.

For instance, if you're practicing or shooting with a candle flame, don't focus on the flame itself, but on the end of the wick:

The flame itself will not be in super-clear focus as it is producing the light while being a three dimensional object, meaning the intensity and points to focus on it will be varied. If your camera has spot metering, use it and take a reading off the flame itself. This may produce a fairly dark image, so experiment with overexposing a little by slowing down the shutter speed.

Many of the principles of shooting fireworks apply, but DPS' post goes into detail about getting tricky/nifty shots, like the fire trail pictured above. Drop links to your own successful flame shots in the comments below. Photo by Gaetan Lee.

Windows only: Downloadr is a small application that allows you to completely back up the photos from your Flickr account.

You can grab everything in one bulk swoop or use a series of filters to drill down to just the photos you want to grab. It automatically grabs the highest quality image and preserves the EXIF and IPTC data. In addition to searching grabbing images from your own account, you can search creative commons works on Flickr and use Downloadr as a tool for bulk grabbing them also. For another Flickr tool check out Flickr Backup. Downloadr is freeware, Windows only.

The Tech ARP web site nabbed a draft "Technical Guarantee Program" from Microsoft that implies anyone buying a PC from major vendors after July can receive a Windows 7 upgrade for free.

Microsoft wouldn't confirm, but didn't truly deny, the implied upgrade program when Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley asked. And an official release date, isn't set for Windows 7, though Foley hears third quarter 2009, and Microsoft will only officially say early 2010. So new PC buyers might want to hold off if they're geeked for a fixed-up Vista—depending on one's faith in Microsoft ship dates, of course.

If you're looking for one particular, recognizable YouTube video amidst a galaxy of copycats and look-alikes, Wibe7.tv offers a vast wall of thumbnails that pop up the clip, no visit to YouTube required.

It's very similar to (and inspired by) the previously mentioned, just-the-pics-ma'am Flickr searcher Compfight. Once you've searched, the results can be sorted by relevance, views, user ratings, or date published. It looks like you only get one page of results, so if the clip is buried deep inside YouTube, only search term refinement will dig it up here.

All told, it looks like a powerful and quick way to gun through YouTube videos to find what you're looking for.

Lifehacker's go-to food writer Mark Bittman offers a list of stale, uninspired (and expensive) pantry items you might think about tossing for fresher cooking this year, and what to replace them with. For example:

OUT Bottled lemon juice.

IN Lemons. Try buying six at a time, then experiment; I never put lemon on something and regret it. (Scramble a couple of eggs in chicken stock, then finish with a lot of lemon, black pepper and dill; call this egg-lemon soup, or avgolemono.) Don’t forget the zest: you can grate it and add it to many pan sauces, or hummus and other purées. And don’t worry about reamers, squeezers or any of that junk; squeeze from one hand into the other and let your fingers filter out the pips.

All of Bittman's suggestions revolve around the idea of keeping only the true pantry essentials hanging around, and using the inexpensive tools of a home cook (oil, vinegar, onions, garlic, and, most often, your hands) to fill their place. Those in colder climates, of course, can't always depend on a wealth of fresh stuff all year round, but most of the fresher replacements for overpriced kitchen stockers are available to anyone.

In general, though, it's a good time to run through and toss the spices and boxes that you can't remember buying; if you re-stock all at once, it's easier to remember when you next need to freshen up. Photo by box of lettuce.

Introduced yesterday at Macworld: the Tune Blocker, a USB cable that switches between regular USB connection and a power-only, non-iTunes-launching mode. We're wondering if there's a DIY solution for similar results.

Not because we begrudge Tune Blocker's maker, Matias, any cash or credit—it's certainly a long-overdue niche to get filled—but, at $24.95 for a 3-foot cable, it's just not a feasible purchase for everyone, especially anyone with multiple iTunes transfer cords hanging around.

So! Let's hear your own solution for powering an iPod by USB without having to tell iTunes to go away, stop bothering you, and please don't sync to a different library. There are, of course, options to manually stop iTunes from launching or auto-syncing when your iPod is connected to your computer (pictured at right, from the iPod's "home page" in iTunes), but what about a solution that doesn't require any options-setting, and works on any computer?

Whether it's a hardware hack, another USB cable that does the job cheaper, or some kind of shadowy ninja app to be placed on the iPod itself, let's hear how you can or would get around iTunes' pushiness in the comments.

iPhone or iPod touch only: The already-good Pandora music recommendation engine app for the iPhone has gotten better with version 2.0, which adds Cover Flow view, artist and song info, and bookmark previews.

Take a look at some screenshots.

You'll need to sign into your free Pandora account to get started and see your stations. Make a new recommendation-driven station based on an artist; check out the suggest-as-you-tap search drop-down.

Once a song starts playing, you can give it the thumbs up or thumbs down (which informs Pandora's future recommendations), or tap the up arrow to get more options, like...

The ability to bookmark the song or artist, buy the track from iTunes, or share your station via email.

Turn your device to get into Cover Flow view, which works just like native iTunes (though I noticed a little flickering in the background album covers in my test).

Tap on the top right button to get artist details (shown here) and song details (shown below).

When you're wondering why Pandora included a recommendation in your station, the song info will tell you.

The Pandora 2.0 app is a free download for the iPhone or iPod touch only.