Apparently Janet Jackson is the lead runner for the Michael Jackson kid custody sweepstakes. Man, Joe Jackson and Debbie Rowe must feel wonderful about this. Apparently the kids with weird names enjoy Janet reading to them. I wonder if her nipple slip incident will hinder the case for the kids? Hmmm…
“All three want Janet to read to them at night,” a Jackson family friend says. “They just melt into her arms when she walks into the house.”
The feeling is mutual, adds the insider.
“Janet has completely bonded with those children in the last two weeks,” the friend continues. “She has been their rock. It’s clear to everyone that they are looking to her for comfort and guidance.”
One concern raised is that at 79, caring for three kids might be too much for Katherine, a problem eased by Janet’s presence.
“Janet is not only willing to raise those children, she is also the only relative who knows how to protect them,” the insider tells OK!. “Janet knows the value of a private life and knows how to keep her personal life out of the news. She is determined to do that for Michael’s children. She is saying that he would want no less for them, pointing out how far he went to shelter them.”
Sunday, July 19, 2009
HomeDirectoryAbout EcoStreetGetting frugal and staying green
by Tracy Stokes
The global recession has finally caught up with us here in South Africa and we are starting to feel the pinch. I’m putting some work into finding ways to cut our expenses, all the while staying green, and in some aspects, becoming even greener.
Here are some ideas I’ve had for cutting back spending that will directly influence our carbon footprint.
Electricity
We have beautiful intentions of taking our home in Claremont off-grid as far as electricity is concerned one of these years (i.e. when we can afford to), until then, Eskom is pushing the electricity price to the limit and we are going to have to cut electricity usage to keep our bills under control.
1. Don’t use the tumble dryer.
2. Remind the husband and children that chargers use electricity even when the device is not attached unless switched off at the wall.
3. Close curtains and blinds at dusk to retain heat.
4. Put on a jersey before switching on the heaters.
5. Replace remainder of incandescent light bulbs with low energy bulbs.
6. Switch from using the 30′C cycle on my washing machine to cold wash.
7. Switch off the lights when there’s no-one in a room.
8. Give all worn clothes a good look-over and sniff before despatching them to the laundry basket.
We already have a few good things going for us as far as energy usage goes.
1. We have installed EconoHeat wall heaters in all bedrooms.
2. We run low energy use oil heater on wheels for the rest of the house and the occasional fire in the fireplace.
3. Our roof is very well insulated.
4. The majority of our light bulbs are of the energy saving variety.
Food
Since I stopped working outside the home and am a full-time errant housewife and mother, I have more time to cook, garden and plan. For us this is a big plus while we’re looking at our income dropping.
1. Get our home food garden in full swing. We’ve bought a whole bunch of fruit trees (apple, pear, plum, mango, naartjie (Clementine) and pomegranate) and I’ve sown spinach, chard, lettuce, carrots, onions and peas for winter growing. I will be putting some extra hours into the garden to boost food production and avoid shopping trips.
2. Complete cut out convenience foods and cook from scratch, cooking up double batches and freezing half for easy ready-meals later.
3. Eat meat only once a week.
5. Make a packed lunch for Pete and the kids the evening before.
6. Always take reusable bags to the shops to avoid paying for plastic bags that are bad for the environment.
7. Make my own household cleaners out of bicarb. of soda and vinegar.
8. Buy in bulk. I’m going to chat to a few friends and family about bulk buying and sharing non-perishables once I’ve been to Makro to check out what’s available and compare prices. Buying in bulk is better for the planet because there’s less packaging and fewer trips to the shops in a car.
Transport
When we chose our family car, we decided to buy a car with both 2×4 and 4×4, and it’s a diesel too, making it quite economical on fuel. We only need to use the 4×4 when we’re visiting our holiday place in the mountains, or when we’re away on holiday having adventures.
1. Cut back on trips out to save fuel. Plan shopping trips with collecting children from school and dropping the recycling off at the same time.
2. Use my bicycle more for local trips.
And a few more ideas that don’t fit into the above categories:
1. Sell our clutter. We moved into our new house a couple of months ago and have a store room full of stuff that we aren’t using. Some of this stuff will be despatched via Gumtree or the like.
2. Buy secondhand clothes rather than new. This is something that I often did in England, but haven’t been doing here in SA. But I just came across this great resource for vintage and secondhand clothing shops in Cape Town, and I’m going to give it another bash.
3. Use the library instead of buying books.
It’s the winter school holidays here at the moment, and Piper and I are really enjoying spending some extra time together. I’ve spent less time on the blog of late because there’s too much fun to be had off-line with my darling daughter.
Photo credit: Birdieann
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Rainy Day Kids’ Activity: Sowing winter veg
June 25th, 2009
Comment on this post
Posted in EcoFood, EcoKids by Tracy Stokes
Piper and I have been sowing seeds for winter vegetables this afternoon. It’s fun to do with children of any age when outside is stormy and wet, and inside is a much nicer prospect. Northern hemisphere folks sow summer veg for a school holiday activity.
Learning to grow vegetables is a valuable and important life skill.
10 Easy Steps
1. Find something in your recycling that will make a suitable plant pot. Suggestions: bottom half of plastic milk bottles, yoghurt pots, bottom half of egg cartons.
2. Fill the receptacles with compost. Get organic compost from your local nursery/garden centre or use sifted homemade compost.
3. Plant seeds. Suggested for winter: Swiss chard, spinach, some lettuces, some carrots, onions, peas.
4. Water.
5. Admire.
6. Put in a sunny window.
7. Water daily or when dry.
8. Wait.
9. Harvest.
10. Eat.
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Local is lekker, imported is bad for the planet
June 24th, 2009
4 Comments
Posted in EcoFood, Sustainable Lifestyle by Tracy Stokes
Spinach seedlings, cos growing your own is as green as it gets.
Mark Berger put into words a couple of weeks ago something that I’ve been thinking since being back in South Africa, and that is that South African’s appear to be suffering under “a massive countrywide inferiority complex.” One particular area that I’ve noticed this, and one that Mark didn’t include in his blog post, is in South African products vs. imported products. There is a conception here that imported equals better than local.
Inclined as I am to buy local (I like to keep my carbon footprint as small and neat as possible), this idea that buying imported goods (including food) is somehow better (and a whole lot more expensive too, usually) is just preposterous.
If we want to buy local and eat local, it’s super easy here compared to trying to do the same in England, for example. We are spoilt for choice in Cape Town, a veritable locavore’s paradise. So why are we still buying Kerrygold cheese and butter from Ireland, strawberry juice and calamari from China, New Zealand lamb, prawns from India and Woolies snoek from, wait for it, New Zealand??? There’s no rhyme or reason to this silliness when we have beautiful local (and in many cases free range or organic) meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and dairy products right on our doorsteps.
One way to take charge of the food that you eat is to grow your own, but the truth is that not everyone has the spare time or inclination to do that. There are alternatives. If you live in Cape Town you could join the Slow Food Cape Town CSA (before 30th June 2009). Or order an organic veg box from Abalimi Bezekhaya.
Wondering what a CSA is?
Slow Food Cape Town CSA Winter ‘09 – in a nutshell
A weekly bag containing six vegetables supplied by organic small farmers Erick and Eric
Two jars of surprise preserves made by a community project will be included over the course of the CSA
Farm visits organised to meet the farmers and see the farms
Additional resources include weekly email updates and recipes, and a blog
Collect your bag after 1pm on Tuesdays at: Jaqui Daya Good Food Store in Newlands, Millstone Farm Stall in Pinelands or Deer Park Café in Vredehoek
Runs for eight weeks, from 30 June through 18 August
Costs R462 in total: this must be paid in advance
Some local supermarkets stock a wealth of really local South African produce. This morning at the SuperSpar in Rosmead Avenue, Kenilworth I bought cheese from George, cream from Durbanville and stone ground flour from Heidelberg. It’s worth frequenting supermarkets who bother stocking really local stuff, and you will need to make the effort to look at labels and seek out the food from closest by. It’s an effort worth making in my opinion, not only to lower your carbon footprint, but also to support local producers and ensure food security in your neck of the woods.
Other ways to reduce your consumer carbon footprint is to buy South African household appliances (DEFY), South African made clothing (Woolies stocks some or Mnandi Textiles in Station Road, Observatory to name just two), locally made furniture (one example I can think of is Right (the bloke’s name) at the Montebello Design Centre in Newlands Avenue), and for gifts and treats there’s Montebello again, Neighbourhood Goods Market (at the Biscuit Mill in Woodstock) and the Craft Markets at Kirstenbosch and Rondebosch.
We are truly spoilt for choice, so these are just a few options. If you feel there’s something that should be mentioned here that isn’t, please leave a comment.
I’ve just signed up for the Winter CSA, thanks to Pia’s regular prompting.
Our vegetable garden is coming along nicely, we should have Swiss chard and spinach to eat in about a month or so.
The global recession has finally caught up with us here in South Africa and we are starting to feel the pinch. I’m putting some work into finding ways to cut our expenses, all the while staying green, and in some aspects, becoming even greener.
Here are some ideas I’ve had for cutting back spending that will directly influence our carbon footprint.
Electricity
We have beautiful intentions of taking our home in Claremont off-grid as far as electricity is concerned one of these years (i.e. when we can afford to), until then, Eskom is pushing the electricity price to the limit and we are going to have to cut electricity usage to keep our bills under control.
1. Don’t use the tumble dryer.
2. Remind the husband and children that chargers use electricity even when the device is not attached unless switched off at the wall.
3. Close curtains and blinds at dusk to retain heat.
4. Put on a jersey before switching on the heaters.
5. Replace remainder of incandescent light bulbs with low energy bulbs.
6. Switch from using the 30′C cycle on my washing machine to cold wash.
7. Switch off the lights when there’s no-one in a room.
8. Give all worn clothes a good look-over and sniff before despatching them to the laundry basket.
We already have a few good things going for us as far as energy usage goes.
1. We have installed EconoHeat wall heaters in all bedrooms.
2. We run low energy use oil heater on wheels for the rest of the house and the occasional fire in the fireplace.
3. Our roof is very well insulated.
4. The majority of our light bulbs are of the energy saving variety.
Food
Since I stopped working outside the home and am a full-time errant housewife and mother, I have more time to cook, garden and plan. For us this is a big plus while we’re looking at our income dropping.
1. Get our home food garden in full swing. We’ve bought a whole bunch of fruit trees (apple, pear, plum, mango, naartjie (Clementine) and pomegranate) and I’ve sown spinach, chard, lettuce, carrots, onions and peas for winter growing. I will be putting some extra hours into the garden to boost food production and avoid shopping trips.
2. Complete cut out convenience foods and cook from scratch, cooking up double batches and freezing half for easy ready-meals later.
3. Eat meat only once a week.
5. Make a packed lunch for Pete and the kids the evening before.
6. Always take reusable bags to the shops to avoid paying for plastic bags that are bad for the environment.
7. Make my own household cleaners out of bicarb. of soda and vinegar.
8. Buy in bulk. I’m going to chat to a few friends and family about bulk buying and sharing non-perishables once I’ve been to Makro to check out what’s available and compare prices. Buying in bulk is better for the planet because there’s less packaging and fewer trips to the shops in a car.
Transport
When we chose our family car, we decided to buy a car with both 2×4 and 4×4, and it’s a diesel too, making it quite economical on fuel. We only need to use the 4×4 when we’re visiting our holiday place in the mountains, or when we’re away on holiday having adventures.
1. Cut back on trips out to save fuel. Plan shopping trips with collecting children from school and dropping the recycling off at the same time.
2. Use my bicycle more for local trips.
And a few more ideas that don’t fit into the above categories:
1. Sell our clutter. We moved into our new house a couple of months ago and have a store room full of stuff that we aren’t using. Some of this stuff will be despatched via Gumtree or the like.
2. Buy secondhand clothes rather than new. This is something that I often did in England, but haven’t been doing here in SA. But I just came across this great resource for vintage and secondhand clothing shops in Cape Town, and I’m going to give it another bash.
3. Use the library instead of buying books.
It’s the winter school holidays here at the moment, and Piper and I are really enjoying spending some extra time together. I’ve spent less time on the blog of late because there’s too much fun to be had off-line with my darling daughter.
Photo credit: Birdieann
Popularity: 1% [?]
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Rainy Day Kids’ Activity: Sowing winter veg
June 25th, 2009
Comment on this post
Posted in EcoFood, EcoKids by Tracy Stokes
Piper and I have been sowing seeds for winter vegetables this afternoon. It’s fun to do with children of any age when outside is stormy and wet, and inside is a much nicer prospect. Northern hemisphere folks sow summer veg for a school holiday activity.
Learning to grow vegetables is a valuable and important life skill.
10 Easy Steps
1. Find something in your recycling that will make a suitable plant pot. Suggestions: bottom half of plastic milk bottles, yoghurt pots, bottom half of egg cartons.
2. Fill the receptacles with compost. Get organic compost from your local nursery/garden centre or use sifted homemade compost.
3. Plant seeds. Suggested for winter: Swiss chard, spinach, some lettuces, some carrots, onions, peas.
4. Water.
5. Admire.
6. Put in a sunny window.
7. Water daily or when dry.
8. Wait.
9. Harvest.
10. Eat.
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Local is lekker, imported is bad for the planet
June 24th, 2009
4 Comments
Posted in EcoFood, Sustainable Lifestyle by Tracy Stokes
Spinach seedlings, cos growing your own is as green as it gets.
Mark Berger put into words a couple of weeks ago something that I’ve been thinking since being back in South Africa, and that is that South African’s appear to be suffering under “a massive countrywide inferiority complex.” One particular area that I’ve noticed this, and one that Mark didn’t include in his blog post, is in South African products vs. imported products. There is a conception here that imported equals better than local.
Inclined as I am to buy local (I like to keep my carbon footprint as small and neat as possible), this idea that buying imported goods (including food) is somehow better (and a whole lot more expensive too, usually) is just preposterous.
If we want to buy local and eat local, it’s super easy here compared to trying to do the same in England, for example. We are spoilt for choice in Cape Town, a veritable locavore’s paradise. So why are we still buying Kerrygold cheese and butter from Ireland, strawberry juice and calamari from China, New Zealand lamb, prawns from India and Woolies snoek from, wait for it, New Zealand??? There’s no rhyme or reason to this silliness when we have beautiful local (and in many cases free range or organic) meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and dairy products right on our doorsteps.
One way to take charge of the food that you eat is to grow your own, but the truth is that not everyone has the spare time or inclination to do that. There are alternatives. If you live in Cape Town you could join the Slow Food Cape Town CSA (before 30th June 2009). Or order an organic veg box from Abalimi Bezekhaya.
Wondering what a CSA is?
Slow Food Cape Town CSA Winter ‘09 – in a nutshell
A weekly bag containing six vegetables supplied by organic small farmers Erick and Eric
Two jars of surprise preserves made by a community project will be included over the course of the CSA
Farm visits organised to meet the farmers and see the farms
Additional resources include weekly email updates and recipes, and a blog
Collect your bag after 1pm on Tuesdays at: Jaqui Daya Good Food Store in Newlands, Millstone Farm Stall in Pinelands or Deer Park Café in Vredehoek
Runs for eight weeks, from 30 June through 18 August
Costs R462 in total: this must be paid in advance
Some local supermarkets stock a wealth of really local South African produce. This morning at the SuperSpar in Rosmead Avenue, Kenilworth I bought cheese from George, cream from Durbanville and stone ground flour from Heidelberg. It’s worth frequenting supermarkets who bother stocking really local stuff, and you will need to make the effort to look at labels and seek out the food from closest by. It’s an effort worth making in my opinion, not only to lower your carbon footprint, but also to support local producers and ensure food security in your neck of the woods.
Other ways to reduce your consumer carbon footprint is to buy South African household appliances (DEFY), South African made clothing (Woolies stocks some or Mnandi Textiles in Station Road, Observatory to name just two), locally made furniture (one example I can think of is Right (the bloke’s name) at the Montebello Design Centre in Newlands Avenue), and for gifts and treats there’s Montebello again, Neighbourhood Goods Market (at the Biscuit Mill in Woodstock) and the Craft Markets at Kirstenbosch and Rondebosch.
We are truly spoilt for choice, so these are just a few options. If you feel there’s something that should be mentioned here that isn’t, please leave a comment.
I’ve just signed up for the Winter CSA, thanks to Pia’s regular prompting.
Our vegetable garden is coming along nicely, we should have Swiss chard and spinach to eat in about a month or so.
Shakira, A She-Wolf in Disguise
ALREADY AT YOUNG AGE SHAKIRA DEVELOPED AN UNIQUE VOICE AND HER STRONG VIBRATO WAS OVERPOWERING THE VOICES OF HER CLASS MATES WHILE SINGING IN GROUP. SOME OF HER SCHOOL PALLS WOULD LAUGH AT HER SINGING AND CALLED HER SOUND ANIMAL LIKE. FUNNY HOW THIS SEEM TO HAVE INFLUENCED SHAKIRA’S PASSION IN BECOMING ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL BILINGUAL POP SINGERS OF THE MOMENT. A TRUE SHE-WOLF.
It all started back in Barranquilla, Colombia, with writing little notes to her father, who, recognizing his daughters talent, encouraged her to keep penning down her emotions and thoughts, and thus developing a her great talent in song writing. At the age of seven Shakira displayed her impressive dancing ability while joining a group of belly dancers in a local Middle Eastern restaurant. Even before she developed her famous hips, Shakira scored big success with her moves. But, as it is often the case her break came totally unexpected.
A local theater producer and friend of young Shakira coincidentally met a Sony Music executive on a flight. He was able to convince him to audition Shakira which eventually happened in a motel lobby. It didn’t take long for Sony to prepare a three-year contract for Shakira, but still her success didn’t happen overnight. At 14 she released her first album Magia, which dramatically failed due to a lack of audience. Peligro, which was released two years later was slightly more successful, but Shakira herself wasn’t comfortable with the material, feeling it to be more a reflection of her producer than herself. Shakira decided to focus on finishing school before re-entering the studio for her third album. Pies Descalzos was released in 1995 and finally brought her the success she worked for so hard.
After joining producer Emilio Estefan, Shakira’s tar started to rise. She landed TV performances, like an Spanish-language MTV Unplugged session and started to make name for herself in other parts of the world, which encouraged Shakira to start learning English. Needless to say this was probably one of the best moves in her career. She wrote her first English album and instantly became a super star selling more than 13 million albums with the release of Laundry Service.
Over the past few years, Shakira’s star has been rising higher and higher. Her career knows many highlights, such as record breaking numbers – her Hips Don’ Lie became the most played song in the history of pop radio – numerous awards for both her English and Spanish accomplishments and interesting co-operations with other artists such as Wyclef Jean and Beyonce, and a respectful Spirit of Hope award for her now 13-year-old Fundación Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet Foundation), which aids child victims of violence in Colombia by providing education, emotional, nutritional, psychological and medical support.
This month now Shakira releases her latest musical venture She-Wolf, an album full of tunes that are nightclub dynamite and will doubtless guarantee more chart success for the now 32-year old sexy singer. The first single She-Wolf was released last Tuesday, July 14, simultaneously with the Spanish version entitled Loba. A video for the song will come out later this month and promises to inventively sexy, telling the mischievous tale of a metaphorical she-wolf with Shakira’s unique dance techniques. The album will be released in October this year, with a Spanish follow up in 2010. –B-
SHAKIRA | BEAUTIFUL
It all started back in Barranquilla, Colombia, with writing little notes to her father, who, recognizing his daughters talent, encouraged her to keep penning down her emotions and thoughts, and thus developing a her great talent in song writing. At the age of seven Shakira displayed her impressive dancing ability while joining a group of belly dancers in a local Middle Eastern restaurant. Even before she developed her famous hips, Shakira scored big success with her moves. But, as it is often the case her break came totally unexpected.
A local theater producer and friend of young Shakira coincidentally met a Sony Music executive on a flight. He was able to convince him to audition Shakira which eventually happened in a motel lobby. It didn’t take long for Sony to prepare a three-year contract for Shakira, but still her success didn’t happen overnight. At 14 she released her first album Magia, which dramatically failed due to a lack of audience. Peligro, which was released two years later was slightly more successful, but Shakira herself wasn’t comfortable with the material, feeling it to be more a reflection of her producer than herself. Shakira decided to focus on finishing school before re-entering the studio for her third album. Pies Descalzos was released in 1995 and finally brought her the success she worked for so hard.
After joining producer Emilio Estefan, Shakira’s tar started to rise. She landed TV performances, like an Spanish-language MTV Unplugged session and started to make name for herself in other parts of the world, which encouraged Shakira to start learning English. Needless to say this was probably one of the best moves in her career. She wrote her first English album and instantly became a super star selling more than 13 million albums with the release of Laundry Service.
Over the past few years, Shakira’s star has been rising higher and higher. Her career knows many highlights, such as record breaking numbers – her Hips Don’ Lie became the most played song in the history of pop radio – numerous awards for both her English and Spanish accomplishments and interesting co-operations with other artists such as Wyclef Jean and Beyonce, and a respectful Spirit of Hope award for her now 13-year-old Fundación Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet Foundation), which aids child victims of violence in Colombia by providing education, emotional, nutritional, psychological and medical support.
This month now Shakira releases her latest musical venture She-Wolf, an album full of tunes that are nightclub dynamite and will doubtless guarantee more chart success for the now 32-year old sexy singer. The first single She-Wolf was released last Tuesday, July 14, simultaneously with the Spanish version entitled Loba. A video for the song will come out later this month and promises to inventively sexy, telling the mischievous tale of a metaphorical she-wolf with Shakira’s unique dance techniques. The album will be released in October this year, with a Spanish follow up in 2010. –B-
SHAKIRA | BEAUTIFUL
10 Great Nintendo DS Gems For Under $15
Even though the DS a very popular, new platform, there are now a number of great games that you can find at an impulse-buy price level. Since the DS is so popular, there aren’t a lot of good titles under $10, so I’ll set our mark at $15. Yes, I know, the DS isn’t retro at all, but most of these games are either old-school or retro in nature and should be enjoyed by even the most hardcore of classic gamers. (Prices listed are an average eBay price for US games, including shipping.)
Check out the other Cheapest Games Worth Your Time articles
Sonic Rush: $13
Although, I haven’t played the new Sonic Rush Adventure, I think its safe to say that Sonic Rush is the best Sonic the Hedgehog game of the 21st century, especially if you are partial to the 2D Sonics. Sonic Rush takes all of the great things you loved about the 16-bit Sonic, modernizes them a bit to create compelling and satisfying experience that the Sonic Advance series couldn’t dream of attaining. Sonic Rush also uses both of the DS’s screen to give Sonic more visibility (which works surprisingly well) and is backed by an amazing soundtrack from Hideki Naganuma of Jet Set Radio fame.
Shop for Sonic Rush on eBay
Shop for Sonic Rush on Amazon.com
Meteos: $15
Puzzle games are perfect for portable platforms like the DS. Meteos, in particular, is not only one of the most compelling puzzlers I’ve played in a while, but it also fits in surprisingly well with the DS touch screen and feels incredibly natural when playing. To the old school puzzle fans that grew up playing Tetris on their Gameboy, controlling a puzzle game with a stylus might seem intimidating, but I can assure you, you will wish there were other puzzle games like this. (And, BTW, avoid the Disney version — it’s more expensive and not as good)
Shop for Meteos on eBay
Shop for Meteos on Amazon.com
Metroid Prime Pinball: $13
Carrying on the tradition of quality video pinball set by the likes of Alien Crush and Pinball of the Dead, Metroid Prime Pinball is an awesome casual to keep with your DS at all times. Not only is the pinball action quite realistic (especially with the included rumble pack) and beautiful, but the Metroid themes and atmosphere will obviously entertain fans of Nintendo’s trademark bounty hunter.
Shop for Metroid Prime Pinball on eBay
Shop for Metroid Prime Pinball on Amazon.com
Bomberman: $10
What old-school gamer doesn’t love Bomberman? This DS release was a budget title from the beginning, so it’s rather bare bones. However, not only are you able to find it cheap online, but you might be able to score it on sale at your local retailer.
Shop for Bomberman on eBay
Shop for Bomberman on Amazon.com
Feel The Magic XY & XX: $8
Back in the day, Sega used to be one of the leaders in quirky and innovative games. Feel The Magic was one of Sega’s last examples of its creativity as it toyed with what the DS was capable of. The result might not be a blockbuster title, but now it an affordable of stylish and fun minigames that will add some flair to your DS collection.
Shop for Feel The Magic on eBay
Shop for Feel The Magic on Amazon.com
Yoshi Touch & Go: $13
It’s rather obvious that Yoshi Touch & Go started out as a technical demo for the DS, but Nintendo was kind enough to flesh the title out to a full game. You won’t find a ton of depth, but at a discounted price, its a cute little game to keep your stylus busy without breaking the bank.
Shop for Yoshi Touch & Go on eBay
Shop for Yoshi Touch & Go on Amazon.com
Polarium: $7
This early DS release is one of the cheapest games you will find if you are in search of a quality puzzle game. Polarium isn’t flashy, but it will work your brain in a very unique way. Players use a stylus to draw lines on the DS’s touch screen, flipping black and white tiles to clear puzzles. You really have to try the game out to understand what make it fun, but for $7, you can’t go wrong.
Shop for Polarium on eBay
Shop for Polarium on Amazon.com
Nanostray: $9
It’s quite uncommon to find shmups that are actually designed for handhelds in this modern age. Nanostray effectively adapts this old-school genre to the hardware in terms of put control and impressive graphics. Even though it is a 2D shooter, it uses some of the most impressive 3D graphics considering it is an early DS release. The sequel will be out in January and can’t wait to see how that turns out.
Shop for Nanostray on eBay
Shop for Nanostray on Amazon.com
Scurge: Hive: $9
This isometric action RPG is a hidden gem that is worth digging into if want some old-school role-playing on the cheap. Scurge: Hive is the sort of action adventure that should especially appeal to anyone who’s into the Metroid style of sci-fi dungeon-crawling. The game offers a surprisingly satisfying blend of action, exploration, and puzzles.
Shop for Scurge Hive on eBay
Shop for Scurge Hive on Amazon.com
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow: $15+
Ok, this one might be a challenge to find under $15, but I just had to include it. If you want to save yourself some hassle, you might want to just pay a couple extra dollars. Anyway, it’s no secret that all the hottest Castlevania games have been making their way to Nintendo handhelds. Dawn of Sorrow may just be the best band for the buck (along with the GBA Combo cart)
Shop for Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow on eBay
Shop for Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow on Amazon.com
Check out the other Cheapest Games Worth Your Time articles
Sonic Rush: $13
Although, I haven’t played the new Sonic Rush Adventure, I think its safe to say that Sonic Rush is the best Sonic the Hedgehog game of the 21st century, especially if you are partial to the 2D Sonics. Sonic Rush takes all of the great things you loved about the 16-bit Sonic, modernizes them a bit to create compelling and satisfying experience that the Sonic Advance series couldn’t dream of attaining. Sonic Rush also uses both of the DS’s screen to give Sonic more visibility (which works surprisingly well) and is backed by an amazing soundtrack from Hideki Naganuma of Jet Set Radio fame.
Shop for Sonic Rush on eBay
Shop for Sonic Rush on Amazon.com
Meteos: $15
Puzzle games are perfect for portable platforms like the DS. Meteos, in particular, is not only one of the most compelling puzzlers I’ve played in a while, but it also fits in surprisingly well with the DS touch screen and feels incredibly natural when playing. To the old school puzzle fans that grew up playing Tetris on their Gameboy, controlling a puzzle game with a stylus might seem intimidating, but I can assure you, you will wish there were other puzzle games like this. (And, BTW, avoid the Disney version — it’s more expensive and not as good)
Shop for Meteos on eBay
Shop for Meteos on Amazon.com
Metroid Prime Pinball: $13
Carrying on the tradition of quality video pinball set by the likes of Alien Crush and Pinball of the Dead, Metroid Prime Pinball is an awesome casual to keep with your DS at all times. Not only is the pinball action quite realistic (especially with the included rumble pack) and beautiful, but the Metroid themes and atmosphere will obviously entertain fans of Nintendo’s trademark bounty hunter.
Shop for Metroid Prime Pinball on eBay
Shop for Metroid Prime Pinball on Amazon.com
Bomberman: $10
What old-school gamer doesn’t love Bomberman? This DS release was a budget title from the beginning, so it’s rather bare bones. However, not only are you able to find it cheap online, but you might be able to score it on sale at your local retailer.
Shop for Bomberman on eBay
Shop for Bomberman on Amazon.com
Feel The Magic XY & XX: $8
Back in the day, Sega used to be one of the leaders in quirky and innovative games. Feel The Magic was one of Sega’s last examples of its creativity as it toyed with what the DS was capable of. The result might not be a blockbuster title, but now it an affordable of stylish and fun minigames that will add some flair to your DS collection.
Shop for Feel The Magic on eBay
Shop for Feel The Magic on Amazon.com
Yoshi Touch & Go: $13
It’s rather obvious that Yoshi Touch & Go started out as a technical demo for the DS, but Nintendo was kind enough to flesh the title out to a full game. You won’t find a ton of depth, but at a discounted price, its a cute little game to keep your stylus busy without breaking the bank.
Shop for Yoshi Touch & Go on eBay
Shop for Yoshi Touch & Go on Amazon.com
Polarium: $7
This early DS release is one of the cheapest games you will find if you are in search of a quality puzzle game. Polarium isn’t flashy, but it will work your brain in a very unique way. Players use a stylus to draw lines on the DS’s touch screen, flipping black and white tiles to clear puzzles. You really have to try the game out to understand what make it fun, but for $7, you can’t go wrong.
Shop for Polarium on eBay
Shop for Polarium on Amazon.com
Nanostray: $9
It’s quite uncommon to find shmups that are actually designed for handhelds in this modern age. Nanostray effectively adapts this old-school genre to the hardware in terms of put control and impressive graphics. Even though it is a 2D shooter, it uses some of the most impressive 3D graphics considering it is an early DS release. The sequel will be out in January and can’t wait to see how that turns out.
Shop for Nanostray on eBay
Shop for Nanostray on Amazon.com
Scurge: Hive: $9
This isometric action RPG is a hidden gem that is worth digging into if want some old-school role-playing on the cheap. Scurge: Hive is the sort of action adventure that should especially appeal to anyone who’s into the Metroid style of sci-fi dungeon-crawling. The game offers a surprisingly satisfying blend of action, exploration, and puzzles.
Shop for Scurge Hive on eBay
Shop for Scurge Hive on Amazon.com
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow: $15+
Ok, this one might be a challenge to find under $15, but I just had to include it. If you want to save yourself some hassle, you might want to just pay a couple extra dollars. Anyway, it’s no secret that all the hottest Castlevania games have been making their way to Nintendo handhelds. Dawn of Sorrow may just be the best band for the buck (along with the GBA Combo cart)
Shop for Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow on eBay
Shop for Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow on Amazon.com
10 best apps currently running on my Android phone (HTC Magic)
by Steve O'Hear
July 13th, 2009 Posted in Mobile 3 Comments
I’ve only owned an Android OS-based phone for a few weeks – the HTC Magic (see my review) – but even in this relatively short amount of time I’ve been hitting Google’s mobile app store, the Android Market, pretty hard in search for the best and most useful third party apps the platform has to offer. Overall, I’ve found that Android has a lot going for it in terms of third-party apps – the catalog is growing daily – but compared to the iPhone the apps themselves often lack polish and sometimes feel a bit unfinished. Having said that, there are in most cases, based on functionality alone, a comparable app on either platform. Here’s a list of the best 10 third-party apps (in no particular order) currently running on my HTC Magic.
iMeem Mobile
The Android client for Imeem (a music streaming service) is one the most polished apps on the platform. You may not be familiar with iMeem but it’s a great alternative to Pandora (which is blocked here in the UK) or Last.fm. Talking of the latter, it also offers a good Android app but I still prefer iMeem.
beebPlayer
Sadly, the BBC haven’t gotten around to releasing an official iPlayer app for Android (the broadcaster’s 7 day TV catch-up service) but an unofficial offering has stepped in to fill the void. It’s not quite as smooth an experience as official support would offer but it still works pretty well most of the time. As well as catch up TV (streaming only) you can also access live TV and radio on the same basis as the official site.
Movie Finder
Either via GPS or by manually entering a postcode (or zip), Movie Finder tells you what movies are playing at your local cinema. You can view either by movie theater or film to find out what’s showing and where, with full screen video trailers and other info from IMDB included.
Movies (Flixster)
If the movie info provided by Movie Finder isn’t enough or you want to delve into Cinema’s past, then the official Flixster client is a must. The app also offers a similar movie listings feature as Movie Finder, along with Rotten Tomato reviews, trailers and more.
StumbleVideo
The StumbleUpon video app for Android – StumbleVideo – is dead simple and replicates the functionality offered by the desktop or Wii-optimized browser versions. Random videos are displayed and you can give it a thumbs up or down after watching, and you can browse by category etc. It’s a great time waster and offers a really nice alternative to Android’s YouTube client if you’re looking for a more lean back experience.
Qik
The Qik client for Android enables you to stream a live video broadcast to the web using your phone’s built-in video camera. Alternatively, videos shot can be uploaded to Facebook, Twitter etc.
AccuWeather
Borring I know but every mobile phone needs a weather app and AccuWeather’s Android app is a decent one. Once again, weather forecasts can be displayed via GPS location or a manual search, up to five days ahead.
TubeStatus
This one is only relevant to Londoners: TubeStatus gives you the latest info on any interruptions to the UK capital city’s undrground (metro) service, including scheduled closers and maintenance to lines and stations.
Twidroid
Twidroid is a fairly decent Twitter client for Android, although I wish you could increase the font size. Lots of functionality, including @ replies, DMs, browsing of profiles, TwitPic uploads etc.
Podcasts
A much needed and pretty robust podcast client for Android. It provides a podcast directory, along with the ability to manually enter feed URLs. And of course, video podcasts look great on the HTC Magic’s 3.2 inch screen.
I’ve only scratched the surface here and would really appreciate comments suggesting other apps I should check out. Thanks!
July 13th, 2009 Posted in Mobile 3 Comments
I’ve only owned an Android OS-based phone for a few weeks – the HTC Magic (see my review) – but even in this relatively short amount of time I’ve been hitting Google’s mobile app store, the Android Market, pretty hard in search for the best and most useful third party apps the platform has to offer. Overall, I’ve found that Android has a lot going for it in terms of third-party apps – the catalog is growing daily – but compared to the iPhone the apps themselves often lack polish and sometimes feel a bit unfinished. Having said that, there are in most cases, based on functionality alone, a comparable app on either platform. Here’s a list of the best 10 third-party apps (in no particular order) currently running on my HTC Magic.
iMeem Mobile
The Android client for Imeem (a music streaming service) is one the most polished apps on the platform. You may not be familiar with iMeem but it’s a great alternative to Pandora (which is blocked here in the UK) or Last.fm. Talking of the latter, it also offers a good Android app but I still prefer iMeem.
beebPlayer
Sadly, the BBC haven’t gotten around to releasing an official iPlayer app for Android (the broadcaster’s 7 day TV catch-up service) but an unofficial offering has stepped in to fill the void. It’s not quite as smooth an experience as official support would offer but it still works pretty well most of the time. As well as catch up TV (streaming only) you can also access live TV and radio on the same basis as the official site.
Movie Finder
Either via GPS or by manually entering a postcode (or zip), Movie Finder tells you what movies are playing at your local cinema. You can view either by movie theater or film to find out what’s showing and where, with full screen video trailers and other info from IMDB included.
Movies (Flixster)
If the movie info provided by Movie Finder isn’t enough or you want to delve into Cinema’s past, then the official Flixster client is a must. The app also offers a similar movie listings feature as Movie Finder, along with Rotten Tomato reviews, trailers and more.
StumbleVideo
The StumbleUpon video app for Android – StumbleVideo – is dead simple and replicates the functionality offered by the desktop or Wii-optimized browser versions. Random videos are displayed and you can give it a thumbs up or down after watching, and you can browse by category etc. It’s a great time waster and offers a really nice alternative to Android’s YouTube client if you’re looking for a more lean back experience.
Qik
The Qik client for Android enables you to stream a live video broadcast to the web using your phone’s built-in video camera. Alternatively, videos shot can be uploaded to Facebook, Twitter etc.
AccuWeather
Borring I know but every mobile phone needs a weather app and AccuWeather’s Android app is a decent one. Once again, weather forecasts can be displayed via GPS location or a manual search, up to five days ahead.
TubeStatus
This one is only relevant to Londoners: TubeStatus gives you the latest info on any interruptions to the UK capital city’s undrground (metro) service, including scheduled closers and maintenance to lines and stations.
Twidroid
Twidroid is a fairly decent Twitter client for Android, although I wish you could increase the font size. Lots of functionality, including @ replies, DMs, browsing of profiles, TwitPic uploads etc.
Podcasts
A much needed and pretty robust podcast client for Android. It provides a podcast directory, along with the ability to manually enter feed URLs. And of course, video podcasts look great on the HTC Magic’s 3.2 inch screen.
I’ve only scratched the surface here and would really appreciate comments suggesting other apps I should check out. Thanks!
A quick overview of your home network
Your router is a simple device, really – all it does it bounce data from one computer to another. When I upload a picture from my laptop to my Picasa account, for example, my laptop requests a connection from my router, which accepts the connection and requests the file, which my laptop sends. Then the router readdresses the data in my photo to the modem, which readdresses it to a router on my broadband provider’s network, which sends it out onto the Internet bound for the routers at Picasa. (OK, I’m simplifying a little, but that’s the basic gist. All I’ve really left out are the order of priests who chant the holy invocations that run the Internet.)
Out on the Internet, every computer has an address, a crazy number that looks like this: 74.125.127.147 (that’s Google’s homepage, if you’re wondering). On your home network, every computer has an address, too – a crazy number that looks like this: 192.168.10.4 – the last two digits being anything from 0 to 255. On the Internet, the URLs we’re familiar with (google,.com, lifehack.org, etc.) are aliases for those crazy numbers – their secret identities. The crazy numbers are the “IP address”, the location of the computer we’re looking for. On our home network, we’re stuck with the crazy numbers (for now – in a moment I’ll show you how to replace them with more memorable addresses.)
To find out the IP addresses of the computers on your home network:
On Windows, open a command line (Start > Run and type “cmd”) and type “ipconfig” – several lines will come up, including your IP address.
On Mac OSX, look under your system preferences.
On Linux, use your magic telepathic powers to mind meld with the machine. When that doesn’t work, try “/sbin/ifconfig” at the command line.
Now, unless you got fancy when configuring your PCs, your router technically assigns a new IP address to each computer when it logs onto the network. In practice, I find that routers tend to assign the same IP address to the same PCs pretty consistently, but to be certain you can go into your computer’s network settings and copy the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway in, giving each computer a permanent IP address.
Here are some things you can do to get more out of your fancy home network:
1. Centralize content to one main computer
I have a desktop PC that’s on all the time that I use as the central “hub” in my home network. Because it has the biggest hard drive in the house, I use it to store all my documents, media files, photos, and everything else. Most files Are opened from and saved to that single My Documents folder; if I need a file on another computer – for example, if I’m going to be working on something while traveling with my netbook, it gets saved to a Windows Live Mesh folder and automatically synced back to the hub whenever I’m online.
You don’t need any special software to open files from or save files to another computer on your network – not usually, anyway. Even on mixed networks, most contemporary operating systems include software to allow them to communicate with other OSes. I find that even streaming audio and video across my home network is hitch-free – so I can watch a video on my netbook in the bedroom even though the file’s on my desktop in the living room.
2. Backup like a superstar
Since everything important is on one computer, I only have to backup from that computer. All new files are copied to an external hard drive from that computer every night using SyncBack. For redundancy, I also backup that computer to Mozy. The My Document folder on my two laptops is mirrored on the hub computer using Windows Live Mesh (which means they’re also backed up online at the Windows Live Mesh homepage).
3. Run a server
Since I do some web design from time to time, I have a webserver running on my home network – on the hub, naturally. Installation is simple: download XAMPP, run the installer, and you’re done. XAMPP installs Apache, the industry-standard web server; MySQL, the industry-standard relational database; and PHP, a scripting language. I also have a Rails server running on the same computer, from when I was using Tracks, a Ruby on Rails-based GTD app.
So, for instance, let’s say I’m working on a new website. I create a new directory in the “htdocs” folder in the XAMPP directory and install Wordpress into it. Then, from any computer in the house, I can type “192.168.10.4/newfolder” to work with Wordpress, just like I’d installed it on the Web. That looks ugly, but to be honest, I don’t type all that: I type “olympus/newfolder” into my browser, because I’ve modified the hosts file – on which we’ll talk in just a moment.
4. Use any computer in the house directly with VNC
Let’s say I’m on the couch and I want to check something on the desktop but I don’t want to get up. Easy – I fire up UltraVNC and voila – the screen from my desktop appears on my netbook (well, some of it – I have a 20” widescreen on my desktop and a 9” screen on the netbook, so I have to scroll around a little to see the whole screen…).
UltraVNC is free, open source, and simple to use. Download it and install it on every computer. It will install both a client, for viewing other computers on the network, and a server, for sharing the host computer’s screen with others. To view another computer’s desktop, run the VNC client, enter the IP address of the remote computer, enter the password, and that’s it – you can go full-screen and it’s like you’re sitting right in front of the remote computer.
Here’s one thing I use this for: Olympus, my hub computer, is right next to the TV (thankfully it’s a really quiet computer) and has TV-out. So I run Hulu Desktop (or other video) on the hub, in full screen mode, feed the image to my TV via an S-Video cable, and use my netbook as a remote control using VNC to access Olympus’ desktop. Perfect.
5. Edit your hosts file to give your networked PCs easier-to-remember names
If you do a lot of network stuff, you’re going to get tired of typing “192.168.100.114” and the like. It would be much better if you could just use words like you do on the Internet, right?
You can do that easily enough by adding entries to your computer’s hosts file. Normally when you enter a URL into a browser, the computer sends out to your ISP’s DNS servers to translate that word into an IP address, but first it checks the hosts file – if the hosts file gives an IP address, it skips the DNS lookup on the Internet. What this means is that you can assign the IP addresses of your computers names that are easy to remember, like “minerva”, “mercury”, and “oracle” (those are computers and devices on my home network – I”m sooooo clever!).
To change your hosts file:
Go to c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\ on Windows 2000 and XP Pro or c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ on Windows XP Home and Vista and open the file called “hosts” in Notepad (or another text editor; in Vista, you have to run Notepad as an administrator).
Open Terminal.app on Mac OSX and enter “$ sudo nano /private/etc/hosts “ without the quotes.
Go to /etc on Linux and open the file “hosts”. Most likely.
There should be a line that says “127.0.0.1 localhost” – don’t touch that. Below it, start entering lines like this for each computer on your network: [IP address][Desired name]
So, for example: 192.168.10.2 olympus
Don’t forget the tab between the IP address and the new name. Notice I skipped 192.168.10.3 – that’s the computer I’m writing on now, and if I want to access it from itself, I just type “localhost”. Now, when I type “olympus” int the browser window, it connects to that computer. Since XAMPP is running there, I get the home page for Apache – which I could replace with something of my choice, but I haven’t. If I want to run Tracks, which runs on port 3000, I would type “olympus:3000” into my browser.
6. Share a printer
It’s stupid to have a printer attached to every computer in the house. Instead, I have a single laser printer attached to the hub, and I can print to it from any PC on the network – as long as the hub computer is on, which it always is. (Technically, because I have a networked printer, I could plug it directly into the router, but the router’s up near the ceiling and I don’t want another cable hanging down, so I connect it to the hub PC instead). Although I don’t currently have a color inkjet for photos, when I did, it was connected to the hub PC too.
To share a printer, just go into the Printer settings on the computer it’s connected to, right-click, and select “Sharing…”. Turn on printer sharing. Now, go to “Add printer” on the other PC, and search the network for your printer. If all goes according to plan, your computer should install teh drivers from the host computer, and you’re set. If it doesn’t go well, you may need to use the install disc or download te drivers from the manufacturer’s website, and follow the instructions for installing a network printer. (It’s more complex on OSX and Linux, but google “share printer” and your operating system’s name and I’m sure you’ll find easy enough directions.)
The End
Do you have cool network tips to share with your fellow Lifehack readers? Share your network setup in the comments!
Out on the Internet, every computer has an address, a crazy number that looks like this: 74.125.127.147 (that’s Google’s homepage, if you’re wondering). On your home network, every computer has an address, too – a crazy number that looks like this: 192.168.10.4 – the last two digits being anything from 0 to 255. On the Internet, the URLs we’re familiar with (google,.com, lifehack.org, etc.) are aliases for those crazy numbers – their secret identities. The crazy numbers are the “IP address”, the location of the computer we’re looking for. On our home network, we’re stuck with the crazy numbers (for now – in a moment I’ll show you how to replace them with more memorable addresses.)
To find out the IP addresses of the computers on your home network:
On Windows, open a command line (Start > Run and type “cmd”) and type “ipconfig” – several lines will come up, including your IP address.
On Mac OSX, look under your system preferences.
On Linux, use your magic telepathic powers to mind meld with the machine. When that doesn’t work, try “/sbin/ifconfig” at the command line.
Now, unless you got fancy when configuring your PCs, your router technically assigns a new IP address to each computer when it logs onto the network. In practice, I find that routers tend to assign the same IP address to the same PCs pretty consistently, but to be certain you can go into your computer’s network settings and copy the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway in, giving each computer a permanent IP address.
Here are some things you can do to get more out of your fancy home network:
1. Centralize content to one main computer
I have a desktop PC that’s on all the time that I use as the central “hub” in my home network. Because it has the biggest hard drive in the house, I use it to store all my documents, media files, photos, and everything else. Most files Are opened from and saved to that single My Documents folder; if I need a file on another computer – for example, if I’m going to be working on something while traveling with my netbook, it gets saved to a Windows Live Mesh folder and automatically synced back to the hub whenever I’m online.
You don’t need any special software to open files from or save files to another computer on your network – not usually, anyway. Even on mixed networks, most contemporary operating systems include software to allow them to communicate with other OSes. I find that even streaming audio and video across my home network is hitch-free – so I can watch a video on my netbook in the bedroom even though the file’s on my desktop in the living room.
2. Backup like a superstar
Since everything important is on one computer, I only have to backup from that computer. All new files are copied to an external hard drive from that computer every night using SyncBack. For redundancy, I also backup that computer to Mozy. The My Document folder on my two laptops is mirrored on the hub computer using Windows Live Mesh (which means they’re also backed up online at the Windows Live Mesh homepage).
3. Run a server
Since I do some web design from time to time, I have a webserver running on my home network – on the hub, naturally. Installation is simple: download XAMPP, run the installer, and you’re done. XAMPP installs Apache, the industry-standard web server; MySQL, the industry-standard relational database; and PHP, a scripting language. I also have a Rails server running on the same computer, from when I was using Tracks, a Ruby on Rails-based GTD app.
So, for instance, let’s say I’m working on a new website. I create a new directory in the “htdocs” folder in the XAMPP directory and install Wordpress into it. Then, from any computer in the house, I can type “192.168.10.4/newfolder” to work with Wordpress, just like I’d installed it on the Web. That looks ugly, but to be honest, I don’t type all that: I type “olympus/newfolder” into my browser, because I’ve modified the hosts file – on which we’ll talk in just a moment.
4. Use any computer in the house directly with VNC
Let’s say I’m on the couch and I want to check something on the desktop but I don’t want to get up. Easy – I fire up UltraVNC and voila – the screen from my desktop appears on my netbook (well, some of it – I have a 20” widescreen on my desktop and a 9” screen on the netbook, so I have to scroll around a little to see the whole screen…).
UltraVNC is free, open source, and simple to use. Download it and install it on every computer. It will install both a client, for viewing other computers on the network, and a server, for sharing the host computer’s screen with others. To view another computer’s desktop, run the VNC client, enter the IP address of the remote computer, enter the password, and that’s it – you can go full-screen and it’s like you’re sitting right in front of the remote computer.
Here’s one thing I use this for: Olympus, my hub computer, is right next to the TV (thankfully it’s a really quiet computer) and has TV-out. So I run Hulu Desktop (or other video) on the hub, in full screen mode, feed the image to my TV via an S-Video cable, and use my netbook as a remote control using VNC to access Olympus’ desktop. Perfect.
5. Edit your hosts file to give your networked PCs easier-to-remember names
If you do a lot of network stuff, you’re going to get tired of typing “192.168.100.114” and the like. It would be much better if you could just use words like you do on the Internet, right?
You can do that easily enough by adding entries to your computer’s hosts file. Normally when you enter a URL into a browser, the computer sends out to your ISP’s DNS servers to translate that word into an IP address, but first it checks the hosts file – if the hosts file gives an IP address, it skips the DNS lookup on the Internet. What this means is that you can assign the IP addresses of your computers names that are easy to remember, like “minerva”, “mercury”, and “oracle” (those are computers and devices on my home network – I”m sooooo clever!).
To change your hosts file:
Go to c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\ on Windows 2000 and XP Pro or c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ on Windows XP Home and Vista and open the file called “hosts” in Notepad (or another text editor; in Vista, you have to run Notepad as an administrator).
Open Terminal.app on Mac OSX and enter “$ sudo nano /private/etc/hosts “ without the quotes.
Go to /etc on Linux and open the file “hosts”. Most likely.
There should be a line that says “127.0.0.1 localhost” – don’t touch that. Below it, start entering lines like this for each computer on your network: [IP address]
So, for example: 192.168.10.2 olympus
Don’t forget the tab between the IP address and the new name. Notice I skipped 192.168.10.3 – that’s the computer I’m writing on now, and if I want to access it from itself, I just type “localhost”. Now, when I type “olympus” int the browser window, it connects to that computer. Since XAMPP is running there, I get the home page for Apache – which I could replace with something of my choice, but I haven’t. If I want to run Tracks, which runs on port 3000, I would type “olympus:3000” into my browser.
6. Share a printer
It’s stupid to have a printer attached to every computer in the house. Instead, I have a single laser printer attached to the hub, and I can print to it from any PC on the network – as long as the hub computer is on, which it always is. (Technically, because I have a networked printer, I could plug it directly into the router, but the router’s up near the ceiling and I don’t want another cable hanging down, so I connect it to the hub PC instead). Although I don’t currently have a color inkjet for photos, when I did, it was connected to the hub PC too.
To share a printer, just go into the Printer settings on the computer it’s connected to, right-click, and select “Sharing…”. Turn on printer sharing. Now, go to “Add printer” on the other PC, and search the network for your printer. If all goes according to plan, your computer should install teh drivers from the host computer, and you’re set. If it doesn’t go well, you may need to use the install disc or download te drivers from the manufacturer’s website, and follow the instructions for installing a network printer. (It’s more complex on OSX and Linux, but google “share printer” and your operating system’s name and I’m sure you’ll find easy enough directions.)
The End
Do you have cool network tips to share with your fellow Lifehack readers? Share your network setup in the comments!
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