I think some people are missing the point. Netflix is awesome, but this request is for free vs. paid and there is no free Netflix (but I do use it!). That said my votes for good paid premium vs. the free versions are:

Not natively that I know of but I have Boxee also installed and you can integrate that into WMC to get to the Pandora channel in Boxee. More info: [lifehacker.com]

I only have the Windows version, but on mine you select preferences from the menu and then click the devices tab. On that screen is an option to prevent auto-syncing.

Both!

Crashplan I think has a client that syncs between computers (on and offsite). There is a Lifehacker article here: [lifehacker.com]

Windows Media Center. I think that can do hardware acceleration depending on the computer.

Depending on what it is you are learning, there may be emulators out there. Cisco product emulators are nice for Cisco related stuff. I also had a friend actually buy some used equipment cheap on eBay to learn some things he was studying for. Also depending on what you are covering, your company may also be able to…

This article isn't meant for us Lifehackers. If you read the line "easy-to-email tech support guides" it's meant to send to those who call us for support. But I have to question if someone nowadays doesn't know how to email an attachment, I'm not sure I want them to know. Once they find out, your inbox might be filled…

You can't autosync at both machines, but if you set one to manual mode, you can drag songs to the iPod/iPhone. Otherwise, if your collection is small enough, you may be able to utilize a cloud based drive for your library. Just a thought.

Spacebar maybe? Try it. If not try tabbing to the right box and hitting return

Technically this isn't a cappuccino. You would still need the espresso for making it and you won't get that from the press pot. My recommendation is they make these cheapie frothing wands that run on batteries. They run about $10 US and do a great job with both hot and cold milk (And a small amount of whipping cream…

Make sure you have the latest video drivers. I had an issue with lagging audio and a driver update for the video card fixed this.

Sometimes the keyboard is faster if you are doing something repetitive like pasting the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over......

[www.electronics-tutorials.com] has some useful electronic tutorials.

Two things.

VOTE: Google Chat

Take note that noise cancelling works when the sound is pretty constant (like an aircraft engine) but not really effective on things like noisy city buses that stop constantly. In other words...it won't drown out your significant other from yacking to ya!

I third these....I've had at least 3 pairs since the 80's....the sound quality and portability are just awesome!

For other browsers, once you click on a site from a Google Search, if you go back to the search results (this assumes you don't have the option to open the searched items in a new window/tab) then you will see the option under the search item to block that site. Handy if you don't use Chrome. If you have your search…

Looks good. Anyone know if this will work on Ubuntu 11.04 that is still running Ubuntu Classic? I have an older machine that Unity won't run on and this could be a nice alternative.