Use DropDAV to Bring New Functionality to Dropbox

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Apple’s iCloud data storage solution promises to solve many of the woes of accessing your documents on the go, unfortunately it’s not available yet and is an Apple ecosystem only solution. In the mean time, many app developers have elected to go with Dropbox syncing. Although we’re big fans of Dropbox’s simplicity, there are situations where it falls short. Take Apple’s iWork suite of iOS apps for example, in order to sync your documents over the air you require a MobileMe account or access to a WebDav server. You’re probably already keeping your class files in Dropbox, wouldn’t it be nice if Dropbox acted like WebDAV server? DropDAV is your answer.

DropDAV is your own personal WebDAV server that mirrors the contents of your Dropbox folder, essentially adding WebDAV functionality to Dropbox. Setting up DropDAV is ridiculously simple, just sign up for a DropDAV account and authorize the service to have access to Dropbox. Going forward, whenever you wish to have access to your Dropbox files in an application that only works with a WebDAV server, just point the app to https://dav.dropdav.com and sign in with your DropDAV credentials.

Recently I’ve begun using OmniOutliner on my Mac and iPad to write and review class notes. With DropDAV, I’ve been able to seamlessly keep my notes in sync between both devices. Magical.

DropDAV costs $5 a month, however they offer a 14 day free trial to get you hooked.

Make a Bottle Opener from Paper

Here's a friend of mine demonstrating how to open a bottle with just a piece of office paper. It's a little hard to see what he's doing in the video, so so it basically boils down to:

1. Fold paper in half hamburger style.
2. Keep folding the paper in half hotdog style until it won't fold anymore.
3. Fold the paper in half so it forms a v shape.
4. ????
5. Drink!

If any of you manage to make it work, send us videos!

Laundry Hack: Use Pepper to Keep Your Colors Bright

Want your colors to stay bright and not fade? Just add pepper. Photo courtesy of FeatheredTar. Licensed under CC BY-2.0.

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Laundry is an on-going battle in college. You're either trying to find spare quarters for the wash, cursing the non-working washers and dryers, or battling out with other students for that last free washer on Sunday night at 11:00. We've got to separate our colors, remember not to dry that already tight shirt or else it'll shrink, and deal with the colors in our clothes fading after washing them too many times.

Well, thankfully, Reader's Digest has come up with a tip to help prevent that last laundry woe. If you add just a teapoon of pepper to your load of colors, your clothes will keep their bright colors. Adding pepper also helps prevent the colors running with colors on other pieces of clothing. In addition to setting your washer to cold, pepper seems like a great, inexpensive way to keep your clothes looking their best, no matter what kind of hell you put them through during your college adventures.

[via Reader's Digest and Lifehacker]

10 Awesome Free Apps on the Mac App Store

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The Mac App Store is a great way to discover new apps for your Apple computer. We already showed you the best apps to buy with your $100 Apple Student credit, but there are tons of great free apps to download as well. Here’s a look at ten fantastic offerings from the Mac App Store that won’t set you back a dime.

 1. Alfred - This robust productivity software will make getting around your Mac so much easier. Granted, a lot of the really useful features are only available with a Powerpack purchase (£12), but the free version still lets you open applications and files without lifting your hands from your keyboard. 

2. Calendar - Manage your iCal calendars and Facebook events all from the menu bar. View your schedule at a glance, without the need to open iCal or any separate program. 

3. Cloud - Cloud App offers quick, intuitive DropBox like file sharing. You can drag images, documents, web pages, and even entire folders to the Cloud menu bar icon and Cloud App will put a link to the file in your clipboard so you can send it to your friends. Bonus: when you’re sharing a folder, Cloud will automatically compress it into a .zip archive for you!

4. Caffeine - Are you tired of the screen dimming every ten minutes when you’re trying to watch a movie on your Mac? Caffeine provides a simple fix for this problem. Clicking the Caffeine icon in your menu bar will prevent your Mac from going to sleep, dimming the screen, or starting any screensavers. To go back to normal, just click one more time.

5. iMedia Browser - Don't want to launch iPhoto every time you need to view or select an image in your library? iMedia Browser lets you instantly browse your iPhoto images, your iTunes videos and audio files, as well as Safari bookmarks in a Finder-style interface. 
 

6. Skitch - This fantastic screen-grabbing/image editing tool just recently went free after it was acquired by Evernote, another must-have Mac App. (Evernote is also free, but I intentionally left it out of this list because I wanted to talk about less well-known apps that you haven't as likely been introduced to.) You can annotate your screenshots, flip, rotate, crop, and resize them, and even upload them online for free to Skitch.com.

7. MPlayerX - MPlayerX can handle almost any video file format you throw at it, plus you can use trackpad/mouse gestures to control it. Unlike iTunes or Quicktime, it is compatible with Lion full-screen mode even when you are on a multi-monitor setup. So you can watch a video in full-screen on one monitor while, say, writing your research paper on the other. (Not that we recommend this!)

8. Wunderlist - A lot of to-do list apps are so bloated with unecessary and confusing features that many corporate users don't even need, let alone college students. Wunderlist is a simplistic and easy to use yet powerful task management app with a gorgeous interface and a free iOS app that syncs wirelessly with the Mac app. 

9. Color Tag Gen - Your Mac comes with a great built-in color picker. It can retrieve the hex code for the color of any pixel of your screen. However, this tool is only available in certain applications. Color Tag Gen is basically the Mac OSX color picker wrapped into its own application, so you can bring it up from anywhere on your Mac.

10. Bowtie - This attractive application lets you control iTunes from any application with customizable keyboard shortcuts. You can choose from a variety of user-submitted themes or, if you're feeling extra adventurous, make your own. Last.fm scrobbling included! 

Would you have added anything to this list? Would you have taken anything out? What are your favorite free Mac App Store apps? Let us know in the comments!

InternMatch Matches Employers with Student Interns

Though professors and career service offices at your school can help you get matched up with an internship, it'd be nice to have the tools to search on your own as well. Luckily, InternMatch is quickly becoming the go-to source for students in the job market. 

InternMatch hopes to eventually replace the student job fair, and they might be well on their way. Companies looking for new interns can list their positions on the site, and get a full refund if they don't find a suitable candidate in 60 days. Students can easily find suitable positions sorted by city and skill set, and in my limited experience with the site, there definitely seem to be more job listings than I found just a few months ago.

The site has been around for a little while, but things are really getting exciting. First, they just secured a hefty $500,000 round of funding, which should help them continue to lure new businesses. If you'd like to learn more about certain companies, the site also recently launched "Community Pages" that put the spotlight directly on internship programs, rather than generic business details. 

The site only recently stretched its presence to the west east coast, but now the entire continental US is covered, so there's no reason not to try out a quick search if you're an American student. As an added bonus, InternMatch will soon be giving you 50 free Moo Card business cards (if you're unfamiliar, they're very nice) when you create an account. This promotion will begin in the next few weeks, but I don't have the exact date, so keep checking. Happy job hunting!

How to Jump Start Your Week

Need to jump start your week? Photo courtesy of CrazySphinx. Licensed under CC BY-2.0.

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Lazy weekends are awesome. Somehow you've managed to have little or no homework. All you've done is lounge around in your PJs, watch TV, and eat leftovers. Or you've taken advantage of your free time and gone out with your friends for a well-deserved break. Whatever you did with your awesome free weekend, the reality of Monday is about to set in. 

Getting your week started after a long break or a lazy weekend with no work is hard to do. You've become accustomed to doing absolutely whatever you want, be it drink all weekend or sit on your couch in your PJs for ten hours. So how do you kick yourself back into high gear for the week to come? Here are a few tips for getting yourself started.

Be Well Rested and Eat Breakfast

Sleep gets more and more elusive as the semester goes on. So as you find yourself with some free time, use it to catch up on your Z's. Go to bed a little earlier than normal to ensure you get your recommended eight hours of sleep. Being tired after a long weekend is not going to help you get your week started off right. Instead of being productive, you'll just be looking for another nap.

I know a lot of college kids say "to hell with breakfast." Who wants to spend the money or time eating breakfast? Well, forgive me for sounding like your mother, but breakfast is actually worth it. It gives you a burst of energy in the morning to help get you through your first classes. Without my breakfast, I am extraordinarily cranky and moody-- hangry, if you will. With my tummy full of cereal or a bagel, I can actually concentrate on my professor's lectures instead of thinking of when I can bolt to the dining hall to grab something to eat.

Additionally, eating breakfast is actually healthier for you. If you don't eat breakfast, even just a light one, there is a very good chance that you will be starving by the time lunch rolls around. Instead of eating a nice, moderate lunch, you will be eating anything you can get your hands on, whether it's cookies, donuts, or something else that might not be so healthy for you, like a sandwich with veggies, some sushi, or a salad.

Give Yourself Some Cushion Time

When you get back to work on your homework after a long weekend, you might be inclined to think, "I must give myself no breaks; I've got to go, go, go." And while that is very admirable, you're going to burn yourself out really fast. Once you've gotten done with your classes and start to work on your homework for the night, give yourself a little "you" time. This gives your brain a nice little break between classes and homework. You can't go 100 miles per hour all the time, so cut yourself a little slack. Work it into your schedule.

Use this time to browse your favorite website, pick up your room a little bit, empty the dishwasher, or just watch a mindless TV show that can take yourself off the academic intensity of the day. Having a break between your intense brain activites will help you power through the large amount of work you have to do after your long weekend.

Start With the Small Stuff

Just motivating yourself to start your homework can be a battle. Your gaming consol is calling your name, urging you to play just one more level, your TV wants you to watch just one more episode. Jumping into a huge, labor-intensive project then can be quite daunting after you've just had a homework-free weekend.

So to break the ice, so to speak, of getting back into the groove, start with the little tasks you need to do. Send that email to your professor, read that ten page assignment, write down the due dates of your big projects. These little things are important but can sometimes slip through the cracks because they're so small. Do them to help push you into the mindset of work, and soon you'll just be chugging along again.

What do you do to help you get started on your week? Let us know in the comments!

[via Lifehacker]

OS Tips - Master your Mac's Function Keys

Unlock the power of your Mac's function keys with the Alt/Option key! Picture by rubenerd and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Most Mac users I know have their function keys mapped to control volume, brightness, and the like. However, most students don't know that with a few modifier keys, you can gain a lot more control over these features.

Fine Tune Volume/Brightness Control

Many times, the default adjustment for the volume up/volume down buttons is just too imprecise, especially when you're using headphones. To remedy this dilemma, here's a handy tip to adjust your volume up or down by 1/4 of a whole level.

Increase your volume just a quarter step after today.To do so, you simply hold down the Alt and Shift keys while you press volume up, volume down, or any other Mac function key. For example, you can also fine-tune your display's brightness with the same key combo.

Quick Access to System Preferences

Speed up your workflow with these handy keyboard shortcuts: If you hold down just the Alt key when pressing a function key, that will immediately open the preference pane associated with that function. For example, hitting Alt with Volume Up will launch the Sound Menu, Alt with Brightness Up will launch Display Menu, and Alt with Keyboard Brightness Up will launch – you guessed it – the Keyboard Menu. 

Super Duper Low Volume

If you’re ever in a situation where you want to put the volume just a tick above zero, hold down the Volume Down button until you’ve muted the sound, then hit the Mute Key. This will put the volume just above zero and is very handy for if you want to listen to your tunes inside the library but don’t have your headphones.

That’s it! You’ve now got the knowledge to master your Mac’s function keys and fine tune your hardware. One last thing: Unfortunately, Apple decided to leave Lion users out in the cold with the 1/4 step volume and brightness control feature and dropped it altogether from OS X 10.7. If you fall in that boat and want fine-tune control, you'll have to manually adjust the sliders for sound and brightness from System Preferences.

Have you found any other cool uses associated with the function keys? Let us know in the comments!

App of the Week - Completely Uninstall Windows Programs with Revo Uninstaller

Get rid of all remnants of an application with Revo Uninstaller, the best Windows uninstaller out there.Let’s say you’re trying out a new Windows app and you realize you’re sick of it. What do you do? Windows features a built-in Add/Remove Programs applet in the control panel – just go there and you’re done right? While this is a great solution for merely removing the essential program files in your C:\Programs Files folder, that’s it. Windows’ built-in solution doesn’t touch any unnecessary files or registry entries left behind by most uninstallation routines. To prevent your hard drive from getting cluttered and keep your PC humming, we’re dedicating this edition of App of the Week to Revo Uninstaller, a freeware program to completely uninstall and remove everything associated with programs you no longer want.

Platform Availability: Windows XP and up

Cost: I’m reviewing and personally use the freeware version of Revo Uninstaller. Download it here. The VS Revo Group offers a professional version for single users for $39.25, but you really don’t need any of the additional features unless you like to have ridiculously fine control over your system.

What it is: Ironically, an application to uninstall other applications. Double click on the application you want to uninstall, choose the uninstall mode you want to use (Built-In, Safe, Moderate, or Advanced), and get rid of that application you no longer want.

Features: Advanced Uninstallation Mode – After running the program’s built-in uninstaller, Revo Uninstaller will search out for any leftover files, folders, or registry entries associated with the program. Once it finds these, you have complete control over what you want to keep and what you want to delete.

Hunter Mode – Do you have an application/applet that’s not showing up in Revo Uninstaller? Launch Hunter Mode, which places a target icon on your desktop. Drag a program icon over the target and uninstall items that you couldn’t uninstall before.

Windows Tools – There are a lot of handy tools bundled with Windows like Disk Defragmenter and Security Center. A lot of times, these are buried deep in folders or preference lists. To make things way easier for yourself, just access all these tools from Revo Uninstaller.

Tracks Cleaner – Quickly and easily clear your history/cache for a variety of applications. The freeware version includes options for Windows, browsers, and Microsoft Office.

The Competition: CCleaner – Free – Windows 2000 and up

IObitUninstaller – Free – Windows 2000 and up

Why the Featured App is Best: CCleaner features a built-in uninstaller, but it doesn’t delete the program’s left-behind extras – it’s basically a clone of the native Windows uninstall applet in Control Panel. The same limitation applies to IObit. IObit's only advantage is that it features a batch uninstaller.

Summary: I love applications that give you better control over your computer, and Revo Uninstaller does exactly that. It’s free, quickly and effectively removes remaining files/registry entries of applications, and even allows you to delete your history/tracks. It’s free, so try it out!

Are you happy with just using included options to uninstall programs? What are your thoughts on the competition? Let us know in the comments!