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Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Celebrities, Activism

Leilani Munter: Racer and Eco-Activist. Photo: Jason Merritt, Getty Images

Sure, everyone is complicated, in one way or another, but few people live a paradox as dramatic as Leilani Munter, race car driver (zomg, so energy-consuming-evil!) and eco-warrior (sound of tires squealing; what?!)

The 34-year-old Munter has been racing cars professionally since 2001, when she started with stock cars. She then became just the fourth woman to race in the Indy Pro Series. She’s making a career in a traditionally male industry, and carving a nice niche for herself.

There must be something in her nature that draws her to activism and challenging the stated order of things, because she is also a vocal advocate for all things green, a vegetarian, and has a degree in biology. She also adopts an acre of rainforest for every race she runs. Pretty cool way to put your actions — and money — where your mouth is!

Continue reading Leilani Munter, Delightfully Green Paradox and Eco-Hero

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Most of us tend to focus on getting a spot as close as possible to the door of a store to save time, but focusing on leaving the store can help you pick a better spot.

Photo by alex92287.

Over at the productivity blog Productivity501 they’ve put together a list of tips for squeezing more efficiency out of your parking routines. One of the most interesting tips is to focus on leaving the store, not getting yourself as close to the door as possible:

Not every slot is equal when it comes to exiting the parking lot. Some will dump you out into a flow of pedestrian traffic and can waste considerable time. This is one of the advantages of picking a side lane and taking the first space you find while moving away from the store. Also, watch out for things like pharmacy pick-up spots that are likely to have a high rate of vehicle changes and thus can make it difficult for you to get out of the parking lot if others are pulling in and out when you need to leave.

I know I prefer to park, when parking in a large parking lot, at the middle to the back of the lot but near a shopping cart return—parking near the cart returns is another one of their tips!—so that I can ditch my cart quickly and pull out into a lower-traffic density area instead of waiting for the pedestrians and good-spot-trollers to get out of the way.

Check out their list at the link below for more great tips. Have a parking tip or trick? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

Windows/Mac/Linux: Mozilla’s second Developer Preview of Firefox 4.0’s framework and back-end highlights a feature we’d heard was coming: separate processes for plug-ins. That means if (when) Flash or another plug-in crashes, there’s a good chance your browser won’t go with it.

This second alpha of Firefox 3.7—which is, confusingly, what will actually be released as 4.0—adds some performance improvements and HTML5 efficiencies, but the main new thing is the “out-of-process” plug-ins. Contained, stand-alone processes for each tab and add-on are likely in Firefox’s future, but starting off with the most likely crash candidates is a good start.

Those interested in kicking the tires really hard on Flash crashes and reporting back to Mozilla should give it a go, as should anyone developing extensions or testing site compatibility. Everybody else looking to test it should try a more contained method.

This Firefox developer preview is a free download, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

GPS-enabled smartphones make it easy to get directions, weather, and many more location based services since they automatically know where you are.  With Geosense, you can bring this functionality to any Windows 7 computer even if it doesn’t have a GPS chip.

Windows 7 introduced the new Sensors and Location platform that would let Windows automatically respond to environmental changes sensed by light, orientation sensors, or GPS chips.  This makes your computer more aware of its surroundings and change itself accordingly.  The location platform is especially interesting, as it brings the potential of automatic location based search and maps to your PC.  Unfortunately, most laptops today are not equipped with GPS chips.  Thanks to Geosense, however, you can still use the location platform.

Geosense uses IP lookup, Wi-Fi and Cell tower triangulation, and more to find your location as accurately as possible.  Geosense lists itself as a sensor in the Windows Sensors and Locations, so once you’ve installed it, all location-aware applications and services will be able to pickup your location from it.  Please note that Geosense only works on Windows 7 Home Premium and higher, as Windows 7 Starter doesn’t include the Sensors and Locations platform.

Getting Started

Geosense is a free download for Windows 7, with both 32 and 64 bit editions.  Choose the correct one for your computer, and install.

While installing, it will ask to install a device driver.  Simply press Install.  You may also see a UAC prompt, which you should accept as well.

When it is finished installing, you are ready to use Geosense.  First, lets make sure Geosense is enabled.  Enter “Location” in your Start Menu search, and select “Location and Other Sensors”.

Here you should see Geosense listed as a sensor.  If it is not enabled, click the check box beside it and click Apply.

You can see more information about Geosense if you click its name.  This page lets you change the description, choose which users can use this sensor, and uninstall it if you choose.

Using Geosense

There are few applications today that make use of the Location platform in Windows 7, but hopefully we will see more in the near future.  The weather desktop gadget, however, is location aware, so you can easily test out your Geosense location with it.  Once Geosense is installed, you will notice a grey logo beside your city’s name on the gadget that shows that a sensor is available.

Click on the gear to open the options pane.  Here you can now select “Find location automatically” and it will display the weather for the location detected by Geosense.

Now your gadget should show a blue icon beside the city name, showing that the location is coming from your location sensor.

Unfortunately, sometimes Geosense cannot detect your location. If so, you will either see an entirely incorrect city (Seattle, WA is the default city, and usually is “detected” if Geosense fails to detect your location), or will show a red icon showing that it cannot detect your correct location.

Location-Aware Google Maps

Another location aware application is a Google Maps app available from the Geosense site (link below).  This will automatically open a Google map at your current location, so you can easily search for directions and nearby businesses.  This could be very useful at a hotspot in a new city, for instance.  Once again, though, if it cannot detect your location, it may simply show a default location or a generic Google maps.

Conclusion

Geosense and the Windows 7 Location Platform gives you a great way to make your mobile computing experience even more interesting.  Geosense brings location awareness to a much broader audience than previously possible, so hopefully we’ll see some unique and innovative uses in the near future.  Until then, even the current location aware apps are fun to try!

Note: If you’re concerned about privacy while using the Location-Enabled Google Maps Client, check out Google’s privacy policy regarding the service.

Republished from www.howtogeek.com

You don’t have to search for very long to find a variety of printable bounce cards online, but most of them look like cheap. Use this printable template to put together a free, effective, and good-looking bounce card.

The bounce card template is provided by LADIG, the Los Angeles Digital Imaging Group, a group dedicated to promotion digital photography and digital media of all kinds. You’ll need to print it out on cardstock for it to keep it’s shape.

Try it out by attaching it with a rubber band and if you like the design a couple dots of velcro will make it easier attach and remove it. If you really like the design and were feeling ambitious you could stop by your local print shop and ask for a piece of white and black vinyl cover stock, gluing them together and using a regular print out as your cutting template to create a really sturdy and durable version.

You can download the template the link below or visit the LADIG website for more information about their organization here. Have a favorite DIY photography hack? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

Rocking a Novia phone and got an itch for some VoIP calling? Starting today, you can grab the Skype for Symbian app from the Ovi Store for free. It works over 3G and Wi-Fi by default, which is always nice to hear, and should work on any Nokia phone running the Symbian^1 OS. [Skype via jkOnTheRun]