Hilarious Signage, Part 11

Scratching of head required...and even then, it's no guarantee you'll figure out the real meaning behind these masterpieces of ambiguity. At least this signage provides much needed entertainment and comic relief on our all-too-stressful urban roads.
Hilarious Signage, Part 11

10 Words That Will Help You Win at Scrabble

...and if all else fails, there’s always “ZQFMGB”… a worm found in New Guinea, according to Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes.
10 Words That Will Help You Win at Scrabble

Hasse diagram of the 2008 Olympic medal table

Different people have different conventions for how to rank the Olympic medal results.
Hasse diagram of the 2008 Olympic medal table

Are UFOs lighting up the skies over Australia's outback?

Move over Roswell. New Mexico's UFO Museum and Research Center may attract more than 150,000 visitors annually who are curious about the alleged 1947 alien crash landing there, but some residents of Australia's outback claim their skies are alive with unidentified flying object activity now.
Are UFOs lighting up the skies over Australia's outback

12 Sly Web Tricks That Put You in Control

Turn a Wi-Fi thief's world upside down. Send an e-mail that self-destructs. And ensure that your boss thinks you're always hard at work. These tweaks and tools let you gain the upper hand.
12 Sly Web Tricks That Put You in Control

That's Melbourne - Attractions Program

Head to the city on Melbourne Day and enjoy discounted entry at many of Melbourne's great attractions. Simply print the page and present your voucher on Saturday, 30 August to make the most of the city on Melbourne Day.
That's Melbourne - Attractions Program

Microsoft releases IE8 beta 2

On Wednesday in the US, Microsoft released the second public beta for Internet Explorer 8.
The user interface hasn't changed much since Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, except to add a Security pull-down menu between Page and Tools on the main toolbar.
Microsoft releases IE8 beta 2

The rise of ‘before you die-ism’

The man who wrote 100 Things to Do Before You Die, which sparked a publishing phenomenon, has died in the US. But why do 'before you die' books have such appeal to us?
The rise of ‘before you die-ism’

23 awesome license plates for computer geeks

This post is a gallery of pictures of some of the coolest vanity plates collected from around the Web. Some of the pictures have explanations, but mostly they are pretty self explanatory.
23 awesome license plates for computer geeks

Are you boring? Seven tips

“As people get older, they get more like themselves. And you’re getting more boring.”
Are you boring? Seven tips for knowing if you're boring someone.

Red Light Cameras Don't Work

The solution to one problem causes another.
Red Light Cameras Don't Work

Extreme ironing, an adventure sport for people who like laundry

Extreme ironing might be the coolest sport that didn't make it into the Olympics this year. Started over a decade ago by UK knitwear factory worker Phil Shaw, it requires four simple criteria: a man, an iron, an ironing board, and a crazy natural environment that makes people think, holy crap I can't believe he's ironing on that thing!
Extreme ironing, an adventure sport for people who like laundry

Smart and Easy Ways to Reduce Printing Costs

If you print a lot of documents on your inkjet printer at home, you've probably noticed that the costs of ink and paper over time are simply ridiculous--in some cases, they can exceed the price of your entire computer.
Smart and Easy Ways to Reduce Printing Costs

How your printer tricks you into buying ink and toner when you don't need it

How to fight back against the lying, infuriating, evil ink-and-toner cabal.
By Farhad Manjoo - Slate Magazine.
How your printer tricks you into buying ink and toner when you don't need it.

How to persuade customer service reps to help you

Here's a clever tip for getting customer service reps to help you with a sticky problem that will require extra effort on their part.
How to persuade customer service reps to help you

Rub out splinters with a pumice stone

Next time your little ones have splinters in their hands or feet, try this.
Rub out splinters with a pumice stone

50 Amazing and Essential Novels to Enrich Your Library

There are actually many more books listed here than 50 — a number of those listed are actually series of books, in a couple cases series that include 20 or more books. There are classics here, but there are cheap thrillers and popular fiction and even a few “kids” books.
50 Amazing and Essential Novels to Enrich Your Library

Five Best FTP Clients

Whether you do you work on the web, run a home FTP server, or you just prefer a quick download from time to time, a solid, full-featured FTP client can be lifesaver. You've got tons of options—both free and shareware—for your FTP needs, so finding the right FTP client can be difficult.
Five Best FTP Clients

Tallest Skyscraper

The Burj Dubai tower, the tallest skyscraper in the world, is about to be completed. To celebrate it, David Hobcote has taken a series of amazing high resolution pictures from the air which give an exact impression of the breathtaking, massive scale of this building.
Tallest Skyscraper in the World

12 New Rules of Working You Should Embrace Today

The workplace, more and more, is changing, and with this change comes a whole new set of rules.
The traditional office work environment and tools are still around, but at a very rapid pace, they’re being supplanted by newer and better tools, newer and better ways of working. The old rules are being broken, and new ones are emerging.
12 New Rules of Working You Should Embrace Today

How con-men make their faces look trustworthy

Drake Bennett of the Boston Globe wrote an article on the various ways con men gain their marks' trust, including body language, verbal language, and facial expressions.
How con-men make their faces look trustworthy

YouTube: Top 10 YouTube Hacks

Summer's ending, and with it goes a certain sense of taking it easier, relaxing a bit at the office—you know, caching up on all that YouTube browsing you skip when there's real work to be done. The popular video sharing site is a great resource (and source of entertainment) that gets better with the right add-ons, plug-ins, third-party tools, and clever usage. Let's take a look at the best ways to get better video, download clips, and just find the video you're looking for at YouTube, so you can get more from your guilty pleasure.
YouTube: Top 10 YouTube Hacks

Nine tips for staying motivated to exercise.

Everyone knows that exercise is a KEY element to good health. The trick is keeping yourself motivated to exercise, if you’re a person who naturally relapses into the couch-potato pose.
Nine tips for staying motivated to exercise.

Melbourne's rated Australia's most liveable city

MELBOURNE has been rated Australia's most liveable city, but its central business district is almost the worst place in the country. Victoria's number one local government area of Nillumbik - which includes Eltham (hey! - home of The Black Stump!), Diamond Creek, Hurstbridge and St Andrews - enjoys the highest level of people in good health.
Melbourne's best, but quality of life index gives CBD the thumbs-down

Three Months, 3,000 Miles Or Longer?: The Truth about Oil Changes

There is much debate in the automotive world over how often drivers of typical passenger cars or light trucks should change their oil.
Three Months, 3,000 Miles Or Longer?: The Truth about Oil Changes

What is the best free email account? - Google's Gmail

Do you still use Microsoft Outlook or Eudora for your emails, or maybe something else? If you do, you probably are not having the most productive and user friendly experience that you could be having.
What is the best free email account? - Google's Gmail

The diet that really works

Bryan Appleyard thinks he has found a diet that really works: it took him three weeks to shed 14lb with healthy ease. But he had to go back 5,000 years to discover the science behind it.
The diet that really works

Do they really think the earth is flat?

In the 21st Century, the term "flat-earther" is used to describe someone who is spectacularly - and seemingly wilfully - ignorant. But there is a group of people who claim they believe the planet really is flat. Are they really out there or is it all an elaborate prank?
Do they really think the earth is flat?

Why Australia Is Dominating the Olympics

The medal competition between China and USA really masks extremely impressive national Olympic achievement by smaller countries. If we're going to pick winners in the national medal count -- and we are -- I think we should use a system that comes closer to fairly rewarding real national achievement.
Why Australia Is Dominating the Olympics

User anger: iPhone 3G problems emerging

The launch of the iPhone 3G has been embarrassing for Apple in many respects: its rocky MobileMe push email service experienced outage after outage and has been widely regarded as a public relations disaster. Now, purchasers of the iPhone 3G are reporting a wide range of problems from 'glitchy 3G reception' to hairline cracks in the plastic casing of their phones.
User anger: iPhone 3G problems emerging

Best value Australian iPhone plans revealed!

Want to buy an iPhone 3G? We've gone through all the plans from all the telcos to find the best of the best.
Best value Australian iPhone plans revealed!

What Does Michael Phelps Eat for Breakfast?

How 'bout that Michael Phelps last night? Wondering what he eats to fuel the kind of performance we've been witnessing? Well, on Monday night NBC's Bob Costas reported a tidbit of jaw-dropping info: Michael Phelps recommended calorie intake is 8,000 to 10,000 calories.
What Does Michael Phelps Eat for Breakfast? More Stuff Than You Eat All Day

How to Work Better

How to Work Better by Fischli/Weiss (1991). It’s a tongue-in-cheek work using a motivational statement.
How to Work Better

The Danger of Stress

You probably think you're doing everything you can to stay healthy: you get lots of sleep, exercise regularly and try to avoid fried foods. But you may be forgetting one important thing. Relax! Stress has a bigger impact on your health than you might realize.
The Danger of Stress

Top 10 Creative Ways To Display Time

Clocks don’t have to be boring. Of course, clocks need need to remain usable and display current time; however, they can do it in a number of creative ways. You are about to see some of the most creative examples out there. Take some time and enjoy.
Top 10 Creative Ways To Display Time

Crime and Justice News, 2008

Crime and Justice News is the annual newsletter of the National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics (NCCJS) at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Crime and Justice News provides information on current and upcoming projects, snapshot data from recent NCCJS publications, and information about current issues in the crime and justice sector.
Crime and Justice News, 2008

Six tips for enjoying a vacation

How can I do things better, next time?
The Six tips for enjoying a vacation

Top 10 How To Videos

Featuring 10 of our favorites, chosen for the tricks they teach as well as their watchable quality. Get ready to fill some weekend project time.
Top 10 How To Videos

21 iPhone Food Apps to Eat Your Heart Out

Here are 21 food-related iPhone apps, both free and paid, that will let you eat your heart out.
21 iPhone Food Apps to Eat Your Heart Out

Never Mind Social Media, How About Social Hacking?

Long before things like social networks and social media were the hot buzzwords used to spark VC feeding frenzies, things like Web forums and newsgroups were the main social communication tool. People would go from Web forum to Web forum to spread news about people or products, good or bad. The overall effect of this type of promotion was usually limited, but it was still possible to get people riled up over something on a much larger scale.
Never Mind Social Media, How About Social Hacking?

Facebook Is Not Only The World’s Largest Social Network, It Is Also The Fastest Growing

Call it the Facebook World Tour. Even though Facebook is now the largest social network in the world,—with 132 million unique visitors in June—it is also still the fastest growing.
Facebook Is Not Only The World’s Largest Social Network, It Is Also The Fastest Growing

8 More iPhone Tricks You Might Not Have Known

We recently showed you "12 iPhone Tricks You Might Not Know", and we're back to give you more.
8 More iPhone Tricks You Might Not Have Known

8 Cool Tools for a Different Photo Viewing Experience

Sometimes viewing pictures in rows and columns can be dull. Luckily, there are a number of services dedicated to making the photo search and viewing experience more interesting. Here are 8 resources that provide a new approach to searching and looking at pictures online.
8 Cool Tools for a Different Photo Viewing Experience

iPhone: One Month Later

iPhone: One Month Later

9 mind tricks to get what you want

There’s a subtle tactic to make things go your way in your career, love life, and social world —one that has nothing to do with effort or luck. It’s called priming.
9 mind tricks to get what you want

How to Open a Jar With a Spoon

It's frustrating when a jar lid is exceptionally hard to remove. Here's what you do.
How to Open a Jar With a Spoon

CGI faked-fireworks feature in Olympics opening ceremony footage

Around 1 billion people around the globe are estimated to have tuned in to watch the spectacular opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. I wonder how many of them realised that some of those fantastic fireworks they were watching had been created by a computer visual effects team?
CGI faked-fireworks feature in Olympics opening ceremony footage

11 Things We Hate About iTunes

iPod and iPhone owners know that Apple's iTunes is the dominant software for managing digital media. But some aspects of iTunes drive us nuts.
11 Things We Hate About iTunes

Blue Screen of Death During Opening Ceremonies Torch Lighting

Well this is just perfect. At the exact moment Li Ning was rounding the lip of the Bird's Nest during the amazing torch-lighting climax, someone snapped this photo of our good friend the BSOD nestled amongst the Nest's steel twigs. Perhaps an Opening Cermonies IT dude spit out his coffee on the machines in the server room when Li took to the sky?
Olympic Fail: Blue Screen of Death Strikes Bird's Nest During Opening Ceremonies Torch Lighting

World Universities' ranking on the Web

This ranking has the largest coverage with more than 16,000 Higher Education Institutions worldwide listed in the Directory. Web presence measures the activity and visibility of the institutions and it is a good indicator of impact and prestige of universities.
World Universities' ranking on the Web

Why Do People Say "Yes?" The "6 Weapons of Influence"

Why do people say 'yes'? How can we get them to comply with our requests?
Why Do People Say "Yes?" The "6 Weapons of Influence"

32 Ways to Make Someone Happy Today

Making others happy is one of the best ways to have a great day yourself. It can brighten the world around you.
Make someone happy today!
32 Ways to Make Someone Happy Today

10 mispronunciations that make you sound stupid

Right or wrong, people often judge you by the way you pronounce things. Say a word incorrectly and POW — they’ve pegged you as a provincial, poorly educated moron. Toni Bowers offers a list of commonly mangled words so you can double-check your own pronunciation.
10 mispronunciations that make you sound stupid

Slow-Motion Lightning Video

In this amazing video, a slow-motion camera captures the strange and beautiful electricity dance that is a lightning strike.
Slow-Motion Lightning Video

19 Clever Inventions That Make Life Easier... or Not

From egg holders to banana guards....
19 Clever Inventions That Make Life Easier... or Not

The Five Things You Need to Know About Finding the Work You Love

One of the keys to happiness — as well as productivity and effectiveness at work — is finding work you love, that you’re passionate about. Work you want to do, instead of just have to do.
The Five Things You Need to Know About Finding the Work You Love

101 Classic Computer Ads

Some of the best, the worst, and the weirdest.
101 Classic Computer Ads

Babies born 8/8/08 at 8:08; 8 lbs., 8 oz.

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. - Meet Hailey Jo Hauer and Xander Jace Riniker, both born at 8:08 a.m. on 8/8/08, weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces, in neighboring states.
Babies born 8/8/08 at 8:08; 8 lbs., 8 oz.

Free Custom iPhone Ringtones using only iTunes

Create free ringtones for your iPhone using only iTunes and songs you already have on your computer (This method only works with songs that are DRM free).
Free Custom iPhone Ringtones using only iTunes

18 Smaller Olympic Countries

It’s easy to get wrapped up in all of the big name countries that go to the Olympics, such as the United States or Russia, but have you ever thought about those countries that don’t have as much money for a team or only have a few athletes who qualify?
18 Smaller Olympic Countries

Flump Exports Flickr Photos to Your Desktop

Free Adobe AIR application Flump downloads all the photos from a user-specified Flickr account to your hard drive. It's a simple one-use application.
Flump Exports Flickr Photos to Your Desktop

Make Cut Flowers Last Longer

An aspirin in vase water does nothing to extend the life of cut flowers. Now that we’ve debunked this flower arranging myth, do any of the other folk tales for keeping flowers looking fresh actually work?
Make Cut Flowers Last Longer

The official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games

The official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games includes schedules, medals, atheletes and teams, background and records.
The official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games

How to move your iTunes library

Fortunately, for people who don't enjoy playing Russian Roulette with their iTunes library transfers (and don't want to buy the software for it), here's a quick and easy guide to how to transfer everything over properly, and make sure that all the little hooks and crannies line up correctly in the new installation.
How to move your iTunes library

Searching For Olympics News And Video

The Olympics are now officially under way. One of the unofficial competitions is among the search engines and companion sites to offer scores, updates and coverage of the games. Below is a roundup of where you can keep track of the medal count and watch your favorite action online.
Searching For Olympics News And Video

Change the default from .docx to .doc in Word 2007

Let’s see how can you change the default file save format to .doc which is widely supported in the backward version of office 2007.
Change the default files save format from .docx to .doc in word 2007

Hot or Not Celebrity Gossip

A celebrity gossip vertical, hosted by Zack Taylor. The celebrity blogger will post content related to prominent pop culture happenings, and readers can rate the pop culture items in the same way they would rate someone’s photo.
Hot or Not Celebrity Gossip

15 Haunting Abandoned Places and Ruins of War

15 Haunting Ruins Of War: Abandoned Places of Military Turmoil Past and Present.
15 Haunting Abandoned Places and Ruins of War

The Weirdest Olympic Events Throughout History

This summer's games promise tons of exciting, and sometimes strange events. And synchronized swimming is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the most ridiculous contests in Olympic history.
The Weirdest Olympic Events Throughout History

Introverts and Extraverts

Being an introvert is a bad thing, right? Well, a lot of people seem to think so, judging by the number of articles I’ve read about how to “cure” introversion.
Introverts and Extraverts

Download YouTube Clips to Your Desktop

Free software YouTube File Hack is a standalone application and Internet Explorer integrated menu item that downloads videos to your desktop from the popular video sharing site. Simply run the application, enter the URL of the YouTube video you want to view offline, and press the Download button.
Download YouTube Clips to Your Desktop

Top 10 Conversation Hacks

A whole lot more than just words passes between people who are talking, so a few simple conversational skills can help you recognize what's really being said and help you lead the discussion your way. Learn how to read body language and facial expressions, de-code euphemisms, ask sensitive questions, criticize constructively, get what you want in negotiations, cut off chatterboxes, and more.
Top 10 Conversation Hacks

Mythbusting: Debunking Common Windows Performance Tweaking Myths

Let's examine some of the most offensive myths out there regarding PC performance tweaking, and debunk them once and for all.
Mythbusting: Debunking Common Windows Performance Tweaking Myths

How magicians control your mind

Magic isn't just a bag of tricks - it's a finely-tuned technology for shaping what we see. Now researchers are extracting its lessons.
How magicians control your mind

Cameras Cut Crashes - Road Safety

Of interest to those of you living in Victoria - The interactive map shows the location of all fixed cameras on Victoria's roads. Each camera's location is described exactly as it appears on the infringement notice and also has copies of the camera's testing certificates attached.
Cameras Cut Crashes - Road Safety

6 Lessons I Wish I Knew When I Started Online Freelancing

Experience may be the best teacher, but there are some things that I wish others told me before I started web working.
6 Lessons I Wish I Knew When I Started Online Freelancing

The Biggest Resume Mistake You Can Make

"The biggest flaw for a resume is when it fails to showcase a person's accomplishments, contributions, and results, and instead spouts a job description of each position held."
The Biggest Resume Mistake You Can Make

Vista Tip: Microsoft's Advice on How to Speed Up Vista

If your Vista PC isn't as speedy as you'd like, straight from the horse's mouth comes a 14-page PDF document on Vista Performance and Tuning.
Vista Tip: Microsoft's Advice on How to Speed Up Vista

Google Street View Australia is Live

Google’s camera-equipped cars are driving around different parts of the globe. Now, the third country – after the US, and the Tour de France route – has been Street View enabled in Google Maps: Australia. To view these panorama photos of places like Karratha, Adelaide and Sydney, move over Australia on Google Maps and click the Street View button, and then select any of the camera icons.
Google Street View Australia is Live

Five Life-Changing Mistakes and How I Moved On

By Julie Wainwright
Co-Founder, SmartNow.com
The Five Big Mistakes That Changed My Life and How I Moved Past Them

How To Shine Men's Dress Shoes

There are a lot of opinions when it comes to the best way to shine a shoe. Everyone has their own unique twist from using spit to using a lighter to burn the top coat of polish (cool, although potentially dangerous). The process below is a simple one that I have used for many years and it has worked fine for me and many of my military peers.
How To Shine Men's Dress Shoes

'Chinglish' is thriving in Beijing, linguists say

Chinglish is alive and well at the Beijing Olympics and its survival is no "cryshame", say linguists who have monitored its quirky progress.
'Chinglish' is thriving in Beijing, linguists say

Control your life using email reminders

Control your life using email reminders.
Resnooze

The Beginner’s Guide to Zen Habits - A Guided Tour

While some of you have been following Zen Habits since its early days (beginning of 2007), many of you are fairly new readers. To help you through the fairly overwhelming archives, here is a beginner’s guide. Kind of a Quick Start guide.
The Beginner’s Guide to Zen Habits - A Guided Tour

15 Incredible Do-It-Yourself Gadgets You Wish You Made

For those of you who are DIY fans out there, we’ve got a special treat for you this week! Ordered from least to most difficult projects to undertake, this list of hot DIY gadgets is going to blow your mind! The most notable is the Vertipod DIY One-Man Hoverflyer and most resourceful is the Laser Listening device. The coolest and most retro one is the Plasma Arc Speakers that have been around since the 80s.
15 Incredible Do-It-Yourself Gadgets You Wish You Made