These are the issues which lead a research team at the University of Washington to create Vanish, a tool which will render your messages (and more) unreadable after 8 – 9 hours. The Mission: Impossible producers would be proud! To use Vanish you will need the following:

• Java 5 or above and FireFox 3.x
• The Vanish System
• Vanish Plugin for FireFox

If you are interested in trying the system before installing, they provide an online version to let you create self-destructing messages, one by one. Their site points out that while the Vanish system is fully functional, it is still a research project and should be treated as such. If you’re interested in trying Vanish, I strongly recommend you spend time reading about how it works and what to expect. They provide several screencasts and screenshots to explain their objectives and how to properly install the system.

Bonus Tip!

Are you envious of all the people who have found fame by starring in a video that has gone “viral?” If so, you’re in luck! Don’t worry about taking the time and effort to create your own video, just superimpose your face on any of the most popular viral videos and become your own star with family and friends! Just connect your webcam and head over to Fun Face Cam. You can choose from some of the most popular videos, like Laughing Baby, Numa Numa, or my personal favorite David After Dentist.

Today’s services: Vanish & Fun Face Cam

• Visit http://download.foxmarks.com/download and click “Download Foxmarks for (your browser here).”
• Go through the normal install process for your platform (Mac or Windows).
• If you don’t already have one, you will be prompted to create an account with Foxmarks which will store your bookmarks for synchronization purposes.
• You will then be prompted to sync for the first time. The program will ask if you want to merge your bookmarks or overwrite them (both locally or on the server). If this is your first time, you will use the ones on your computer. Be careful at this point on future installs as you don’t want to accidentally overwrite any existing bookmarks!
• Once the install process is complete synchronization will occur behind the scenes and be a semi-invisible process.

I highly recommend Foxmarks, soon to be renamed Xmarks, especially if you use multiple computers to doy our work. You’ll soon start thinking that you’re always at the same computer, with your favorite tools and sites and always at your fingertips.

Bonus Tip: Daily Mugshot!

Do you have a webcam? Interested to see how your appearance changes over time on a daily basis? Then visit http://www.dailymugshot.com, create an account and start shooting. You can create a daily email reminder to prompt you to visit Mugshot each morning to take a photo, or download a very small reminder application which will pop up and remind you to take your daily photo. After taking a series of photos, you can create a Mugshow to share with friends and family, or maybe just use it to remind yourself to get a haircut… Enjoy!