For as little as $0.25, you can set up web sites at NearlyFreeSpeech.NET, the original home of only pay for what you use hosting.

This is the penultimate service that this server provides as I have already transferred email to Google Mail and ClickOnce hosting to Dropbox.com.

I believe this is better for the long term. I was thinking of decommissioning the server anyway, as the last service it provides is media server that works with my XBOX360. For this purpose, I am now looking at the LaCie Network Space MAX 4Tb.

It was only in a revelation whilst I was in bed last night that I wondered if I could use Dropbox’s Public directory as the target to publish my files.

It works! Here’s how…

1. Install the Dropbox client,
2. Once installed, navigate to the Public sub-directory in whichever directory you assigned as the Dropbox directory,
3. Right-click on the “How to use the Public folder.rtf” file,
4. In the Dropbox menu item, click “Copy Public Link”,
5. Paste it into any notepad application,
6. In Visual Studio, in the Publish tab of your project’s properties, use the following information (substituting your own locations as required):
   • Publishing Folder Location: C:\My Documents\My Dropbox\Public\Project1\
   • Installation Folder Location: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/xxxxxx/Project1/ (Paste the link from step 4, removing the How to use the Public folder.rtf portion and adding the project directory)
   • Click the “Updates” button,
   • Update Location: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/xxxxxx/Project1/ (I always do this just to be on the safe side)
7. Publish
8. That’s it! The files will sync to the Dropbox servers, and the project is deployed!

Now all you have to give out is the URL to either the http://dl.dropbox.com/u/xxxxxx/Project1/index.html file if you chose to generate one in your publishing options, or http://dl.dropbox.com/u/xxxxxx/Project1/setup.exe directly.

Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy.

We’ve always liked Weather Underground for its no-nonsense, real-time weather info. Today they’ve released a new service called Full Screen Weather that mashes up Google Maps with weather data for nothing but maps and up-to-the-minute weather info.

[Via: Lifehacker]

Robots born with the sole purpose of solving the Rubik’s Cube are nothing new, but we’re pretty sure we haven’t seen one crack the code in under a dozen seconds before.

[Via: engadget]

What if you want to snap a window to the right edge of the primary monitor, or the left edge of the secondary monitor for that matter?

Well, thankfully, Aero Snap can also be utilised via the keyboard:

• Holding the Windows key down and tapping the left cursor key will cycle the current window from monitor edge to monitor edge anti-clockwise.

• Holding the Windows key down and tapping the right cursor key will cycle the current window from monitor edge to monitor edge clockwise.
• Holding the Windows key down and tapping the up cursor key will maximise the current window on the monitor which it is displayed.
• Holding the Windows key down and tapping the down cursor key will restore the current window if it is maximised and minimise it if it is restored.

I’d initially looked at the RCA EZ409HD, but after reading the disappointing reviews, I decided on the Flip Ultra HD. It’s fairly inexpensive and very easy to use, and the quality is excellent.

You can see some of the early camera work by me and Laura on Alfie’s blog.

Why do I have to be signed in to XBox Live to use a media codec?

I was trying to watch a programme last night with was encoded using the ISO-MPEG4 compatible XviD codec, but I was having trouble signing in, so it wouldn’t let me.

Why can’t they add it to a dashboard update and have it available all the time?

Grrr.

Now I hadn’t changed anything, so I was a bit bemused to say the least.

Today I found the solution.

It appears as though Google have added an “Enable Google Sync” setting to the “Service Settings –> Mobile” section of the dashboard for your Google Apps domain.

Thanks for letting us all know, Google! I know Google Sync is still in beta, but adding a setting that effectively kills your calendar, contacts and email without letting us know is a bit much.

So this is a bit of a heads up or anyone else who is having this problem; there’s nothing wrong with your phone, your Google account, your sync settings or anything else.

All it takes is one little unchecked checkbox.

[Via: Google Support]

[wehrdo] has posted a guide with an extremely low-tech solution to password management. he literally put the passwords on a floppy disk in the form of paper glued to the magnetic film. for those that still have some floppy disks around, this is a zero cost hack. we wouldn’t recommend this for state secrets, but for those prolific forum registrations it’s a great idea.

[Via: hackaday]

URL shortening services are ubiquitous on Twitter and other cramped online spaces. They won’t all last, as tr.im has demonstrated, and their shutdowns could annihilate your linking history. If you own a domain, though, you can host your own service.

[Via: lifehacker]

Updated: Since I’m using Google Apps, I simply installed Google Short Links from Google Labs.

Google Short Links allows users to easily create descriptive shortcuts to web URLs. This makes it easier for users to recall and share the locations of important documents and web sites.

[Via: Google Solutions Marketplace]