This week we learned how to maximize the Android phone’s battery life, use Dropbox with an Android phone, share a folder from OS X to Windows, export Evernote notes in html or mht Format, create a Windows 7 theme pack from scratch, and more. So sit back and relax while enjoying this week’s batch of geeky goodness.

Photo by Tim Norris.

Weekly Feature

Do you enjoy views of outer space on your desktop? Then you will definitely want to get this beautiful NASA theme with 14 images taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope.

Photo by Asian Angel.

NASA Hidden Universe Windows 7 Theme

Random Geek Links

Photo by Truthout.org.

• Private browsing tools still leave data trail
  According to new research, the private browsing features in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari are not as protective as they promise to be.
• Mozilla plans to silently update Firefox
  Mozilla plans to introduce silent, behind-the-scenes security updating to Firefox 4.
• What’s in store for IE9 beta?
  Looking ahead to the first Internet Explorer 9 beta.
• Stuxnet could hijack power plants, refineries
  Stuxnet not only steals data, but also leaves a back door that could be used to remotely and secretly control plant operations.
• Microsoft Warns of Attacks Targeting the Windows Service Isolation Feature
  A problem has been identified in the manner in which the NetworkService token can be received and leveraged in association with RPC calls, via the Windows Telephony Application Programming Interfaces (TAPI) transaction facility.
  Note: Article contains link for Microsoft update that will bulletproof systems against the attack.
• A Lot of Problems in Mac OS X Security Compared to Windows Says Security Expert
  Ondrej Vlcek, CTO AVAST Software, believes that attacks on Mac OS X will increase and that Apple is now where Microsoft used to be a decade ago in terms of how they tackle vulnerabilities.
• Country-to-country cyberattacks deemed OK by users
  A new report by security vendor Sophos shows that an alarming 63 percent of computer users deem country-to-country cyber-espionage to be an acceptable act.
• Facebook loophole reveals names, pictures with sign-on errors
  A new bug threatens to compromise the privacy of Facebook users regardless of how users have their account’s privacy settings set.
• Smartphone security put on test
  BBC News shows how straightforward it is to create a malicious application for a smartphone.
• How to Roll Your Own “Find My iPhone” for Android
  Learn how to build your own GPS-locating, SMS-triggered tracker for your lost-or-stolen Android phone with this tutorial.

Geek Video of the Week

What does a 15,000 shot fireworks machine gun look like in action? Watch to find out!

Photo by CollegeHumor.

Massive Fireworks Machine Gun

Productive Geek Tips

Photo by H is for Home.

• Cut Back on Time Spent Sending and Receiving Email
  Learn how to process incoming email and write outgoing email in order to save time.
• Build a Download Scheduler with Little Programming Skill
  See how to download stuff from the internet in Ubuntu using wget and schedule those downloads with Cron.
• Web Surf with Purpose to Avoid Productivity Wipeout
  Avoid throwing away your precious time by making every click of the mouse a purposeful one.
• Reclaim Lost Time Using Behavior Modification Techniques
  By using a few simple behavior modification techniques, you can keep yourself on task, keep on schedule, and get better sleep.

Sysadmin Geek Tips

• Easily Replace a Locked File Once it Becomes Unlocked
  Locked files can be a pain, especially for network administrators. Here is a script that waits until a file is closed before replacing it.
• Build Your Own Automated File Update System
  Set up solution where you maintain a single set of favorite tools & utilities and all your machines sync the versions of their tools to that location.
• Find and Copy All Files Matching a Pattern Into a Single Directory
  Need to find all the PDF files on your drive and organize them into one place? You can use the same technique to find all zip, tar.gz, or even MP3 files, and neatly organize them into folders.
• Easily Convert All Your Zip Archives to 7z Archives
  See how to get the best of both worlds (zip format speed & 7z format compression) with a process called “deep archiving”.

The Geek on Lifehacker

In a regular day, most of us type the same things over and over again, wasting an enormous amount of time in the process. Why not let your computer do some of that work for you? That’s where text expansion comes in.

How to Use Text Expansion to Save Yourself Hours of Typing Every Week

Random TinyHacker Links

• Everything you wanted to know about fonts
  Find out the real difference between what you want a font to do and what it actually does.
• Easily Create a Custom Theme in Windows 7
  This easy to follow tutorial by Microsoft shows you how to use your own pictures as desktop wallpaper, create custom screensavers even sound and color schemes.
  Note: See our great article on creating a Windows 7 Theme Pack from scratch here.
• Get Rid of Rootkits With These Tools
  Here are the top 3 tools to scan for and remove rootkits from your system.
• Windows 7’s Disk Cleanup – still useful & relevant
  Even if you have a big hard disk, it’s still a good idea to run a disk cleanup from time to time. Eliminate all the junk, temporary files, unused restore points, etc.
• Listen to your favorite radio stations/streams with RadioTime
  All your favorite bands, talk shows and local stations are just a click away with RadioTime.

Super User Questions

Enjoy looking through this week’s batch of hot questions from Super User.

• Why is 64 bit Ubuntu not recommended for daily usage?
• Which is efficient tar or zip? what is the difference between tar and zip?
• Task Manager in Mac OS X?
• Is virus protection necessary with unprivileged users?
• My computer has gone horribly slow, how can I diagnose what’s wrong?

One Year Ago on How-To Geek

Here is this week’s batch of geeky articles from one year ago.

• Migrate XP to Windows 7 with Easy Transfer and a USB Drive
• Migrate XP to Windows 7 with Easy Transfer Over the Network
• Replace Windows Live Messenger with Emesene
• Enjoy Desktop Alt-Tab Style Navigation in Firefox with TabNavigator
• Friday Fun: Demolition City

The Geek Note

That is all for this week. Make sure to sneak in a nice leisurely afternoon nap before starting another long week at work if you can. See you next week! Got a great tip? Send it to us at tips@howtogeek.com.

Photo by jillhudgins.