Lifehacker’s Biggest Australian Stories Of 2010

As the year draws to a close, here’s the 10 biggest local stories on Lifehacker in 2010, ranked in order of popularity. Can’t wait to see what 2011 brings!
Lifehacker’s Biggest Australian Stories Of 2010

Top 5 Gadgets of 2010

It appears to be that almost daily a new gadget comes along, and the one you possess is then almost outdated already, even if it was a recent purchase. However, really cool gadgets with cutting edge design and technology are rare. Nevertheless, gadgets are the quintessence of cool and so here are our top 5 picks of 2010.
Top 5 Gadgets of 2010

Bloody Vikings, Create A Temporary Email Address On The Fly

It is sometimes a good idea to avoid sharing your personal email address with websites, services and contacts if you suspect spam or want to keep your privacy. Temporary email services offer one of the best ways for that, especially if the email address needs to be used only once for instance to signup to a website or service.
Bloody Vikings, Create A Temporary Email Address On The Fly

How Do I Avoid Getting Scammed When Buying or Selling Online?

Dear Lifehacker,
Lately I've been worried about being conned while buying or selling on Craigslist—and online in general. Do you have any thoughts on how I can avoid getting screwed?
Sincerely,
Paranoid Seller
How Do I Avoid Getting Scammed When Buying or Selling Online?

The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010

Even though we cover plenty of other topics, Windows has always been a primary focus around here, and we’ve got one of the largest collections of Windows-related how-to articles anywhere. Here’s the fifty best Windows articles that we wrote in 2010.
Want even more? You should make sure to check out our top 20 How-To Geek Explains topics of 2010, or the 50 Windows Registry hacks that make Windows better.
The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010

Most Popular iPhone Posts and Free Apps of 2010

It's been a rough year for the iPhone, what with the iPhone 4's antenna issues and iPhone 3G's iOS4 performance problems. Nonetheless, we've seen some great apps and put together awesome posts for the iPhone in 2010. Have a look.
Most Popular iPhone Posts and Free Apps of 2010

The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010

It’s near the end of 2010, and the How-To Geek has put together a list of the 20 best “Explainer” articles of the year—where they answer a question and teach you a little more about the topic. Enjoy!
The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010

Avoid Added Stress by Just Deciding and Moving Forward

Because our brains have a way of creating a synthesized happiness when we don't get what we want, it's often hard for us to make a "wrong" decision. As a result, you're better off just deciding and moving forward.
Avoid Added Stress by Just Deciding and Moving Forward

The Ultimate iPhone Guide: 60+ Essential Resources

With software and hardware updates and improvements, the iPhone has gone from strength to strength during 2010, and Mashable has been there to cover it all with news, features, galleries, tutorials and more.
The Ultimate iPhone Guide: 60+ Essential Resources

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas & Greetings to all, we hope your have a great time today and get some nice pressies (even some things you'd like!). Thanks for all your support through the year!
The Black Stump

Christmas 2010 Public Transport Schedules (And Freebies)

Using public transport on Christmas Day avoids any drink-driving woes, but requires a bit of planning. Here’s a national roundup of what schedules are running. (Melbourne residents get to travel for free!)
Christmas 2010 Public Transport Schedules (And Freebies)

Create Printless PDFs with WWF for Windows

The WWF file format, in case you missed reading about it before, is just a regular PDF file except that you can’t print the content of that document. This format was developed by WWF Germany to prevent unnecessary printing.
Create Printless PDFs with WWF for Windows

4 Predictions for Connected Devices in 2011

Pulling together some predictions for 2011 feels a bit like looking backward from 2020, but here goes.
4 Predictions for Connected Devices in 2011

Mozilla Firefox Web Browser, All You Need To Know

Mozilla Firefox is a free web browser available for Mac and PC as well as Android and several other operating systems. Firefox has built its focus around a practical, minimalist design and low, light weight memory usage. First released in 2004 with Mozilla Thunderbird as part of Mozilla Suite, Firefox quickly gained popularity among users disillusioned with more traditional browsers like Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Today, Firefox commands around forty-four percent of the worldwide market, though usage is as high as sixty percent in some areas.
Mozilla Firefox Web Browser, All You Need To Know

Identity Theft and Password Security

Internet is fast becoming a second home for many and with social networking websites like Facebook, we end up sharing much more personal information without even realizing. This has resulted in greater number of identity thefts and the below infographic from Reflection.me illustrates that beautifully. It provides some interesting stats about identity theft and also password security.
Identity Theft and Password Security [Infographic]

How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista

The caps lock key is one of those remnants of another age of computers, back when people used to shout at each other more often. Unless you’re in the accounting department, it’s probably not very useful, so today we’ll learn how to disable it.
How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista

The 101 Most Useful Websites on the Internet

The list primarily highlights the lesser-known or undiscovered websites and misses out all-time favorites like Google Docs, Wikipedia or IMDB that most of us are already aware of.
The 101 Most Useful Websites on the Internet

How To Encrypt Passwords With Old-School Tabula Recta

John Graham-Cumming, an Oxford-trained computer programmer and mathematician with a doctorate in computer security, shares why he prefers writing his passwords down, and how he uses an old-school cipher technique to keep his wallet-friendly passwords secure.
How To Encrypt Passwords With Old-School Tabula Recta

Top 10 Most-Read Articles on Britannica for 2010

Here are the most-read articles on Britannica.com for 2010. History and economics dominate the list, with a little sprinkling of the arts and geography.
Top 10 Most-Read Articles on Britannica for 2010

How to Make a Panoramic Picture in Your Facebook Profile

The latest changes in Facebook's interface included a new five picture strip at the top of the profile page. This strip shows the latest pictures in which you were tagged and can be manipulated in many creative ways. One of the ways is to make a panoramic picture from this strip, and this article will show you how to achieve this.
How to Make a Panoramic Picture in Your Facebook Profile

10 Tools Every Homeowner Should Have

Doorknobs get loose, windows need unsticking, the tap always ends up dripping – and houses don’t usually come with a super. Here’s are the 10 tools that will get any homeowner through the most common projects around the house.
10 Tools Every Homeowner Should Have

Most Popular Repurposing Tricks of 2010

Favourite DIY conversions from the past year.
Most Popular Repurposing Tricks of 2010

10 Predictions for the News Media in 2011

In many ways, 2010 was finally the year of mobile for news media, and especially so if you consider the iPad a mobile device. Many news organizations like The Washington Post and CNN included heavy social media integrations into their apps, opening the devices beyond news consumption.
10 Predictions for the News Media in 2011

Lighthouse frozen in ice

Here is a lighthouse in Cleveland, Ohio. The spray from Lake Erie froze layer by layer until the structure was encased in ice.
Lighthouse frozen in ice

Australian Rules still our favourite spectator sport

Australian Rules still our favourite spectator sport. Around 2.8 million Australians aged 15 years and over attended an Australian Rules football game during 2009-10, according to the latest sports attendance figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Horse racing (11%), rugby league (9%) and motor sports (8%) also attracted over 1 million attendees. Soccer was the only popular sport to report a significant increase from the last survey in 2005-06 (2% increase).
Spectator Attendance at Sporting Events, 2009-10

Your Online Footprint

The CEO of Google has suggested that once you leave college, you may want to change your name to distance yourself from all the dumb things you did as a younger person and can’t erase from the Internet. Of course if you change your name, you won’t be associated with any of the positive things you did either.
Your Online Footprint

9 Ways to Connect With Santa on the Web

You don’t have to head to the North Pole to hook up with Santa this year. There’s a sackful of online options that will let your little ones connect with the Claus from the comfort of your own home.
9 Ways to Connect With Santa on the Web

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 26/2010

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 26/2010

Most Popular Hive Fives of 2010

Every week LifeHacker put out a Hive Five Call for Contenders and ask you a simple question: Which is best? From DVD rippers to web hosts and everything in between, here's a look back at the most popular Hive Fives of 2010.
Most Popular Hive Fives of 2010

Google Earth For The Human Body

Google’s already taken you across the globe, down to the bottom of the oceans, and out to the mountains of Mars. It’s been a vaguely educational journey! Their next frontier: the human body, with Google Body Browser.
Google Earth For The Human Body

Popcorn in slow motion

Much like setting stuff on fire, filming things in slow motion is one of those science video tropes that has less to do with science, and more to do with making vaguely science-related things look really cool. And yet, you know, it does look really cool.
Popcorn in slow motion

Top 10 Movies for the Modern Tech Geek

It’s a great time to be a tech geek with a love for the cinema. Not only is film technology evolving at a breakneck pace, the subject matter for films is also targeting tech audiences in a more nuanced, fulfilling way.
Top 10 Movies for the Modern Tech Geek

Facebook’s Zuckerberg wins Time’s Person of the Year

Despite a campaign for Wikileak’s editor Julian Assange, The Man with 550 million friends, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg has been named Time’s Person of the Year.
Facebook’s Zuckerberg wins Time’s Person of the Year

5 Simple Tips to Secure Your PC

With the increased usage of internet, it is now becoming important for all computer users to keep their system secure from spyware and malware on the web. Big companies like Kaspersky and BitDefender have developed different security software to protect users’ computers from network attacks, malware, adware and so on. However an antivirus or internet security might not always protect and secure you computer system, since there are hundreds of new virus and trojans being created everyday. You need to follow a few more tips to fully secure your system from any kind of harm or dangerous activities.
5 Simple Tips to Secure Your PC

Lifehacker Australia Unaffected By US Hacks

It’s been in the news that Gawker in the US was hacked recently. LiefHacker Oz would like to reassure local readers that the Australian edition sites are run on entirely separate infrastructure. AU versions of Gizmodo, Lifehacker, and Kotaku are unaffected.
Lifehacker Australia Unaffected By US Hacks

Australian Social Trends, Dec 2010

Australian Social Trends draws on a wide range of data, sourced both from ABS and other agencies, to present a picture of Australian society. This publication aims to inform decision-making, research and discussion on social conditions in Australia. It covers social issues of current and ongoing concern, population groups of interest, and changes in these over time.
Australian Social Trends, Dec 2010

Twitter’s Top Trends Of 2010

Twitter released their top Twitter trends of 2010. They have a nice reviews page of trends at yearinreview.twitter.com/trends/. Here is the break down.
Twitter’s Top Trends Of 2010

The Curious Case of Benford’s Law

When you roll dice, all numbers have the same probability to show up (assuming that the dice aren’t loaded in any way). However, the leading digits of numbers in very large accumulated datasets—for example, the amount you pay for each household bill over the course of a year—follow a very different pattern. In such cases it is much more likely that a given number will start with one, with decreasing probability for each higher digit up to nine. This statistical phenomenon is called Benford’s law.
The Curious Case of Benford’s Law

This Year’s 10 Most Popular YouTube Videos In Under 90 Seconds

What were the 10 most-watched YouTube videos of 2010? If I had my way it would just be the Bed Intruder song on repeat. But! Here’s how it actually played out.
This Year’s 10 Most Popular YouTube Videos In Under 90 Seconds

The Real Da Vinci Code Discovered

This is not part of Dan Brown’s novel. Researcher Silvano Vinceti – chairman of the Italian national committee for cultural heritage – has found a secret code in the Mona Lisa by scanning her eyes. A code that could reveal her mysterious identity.
The Real Da Vinci Code Discovered

Minnesota Dome Collapse Captivates the Web [VIDEO]

When a massive snowstorm dumped tons of the heavy white stuff on Minneapolis over the weekend, Fox, who was in town to broadcast Sunday’s scheduled NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants, did something unusual: it trained a camera on the roof of the Metrodome stadium.
Minnesota Dome Collapse Captivates the Web [VIDEO]

FAQ: Compromised Commenting Accounts on Gawker Media

This past weekend Gawker Media's servers were compromised, resulting in a security breach at Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Gawker, Jezebel, io9, Jalopnik, Kotaku, Deadspin, and Fleshbot. If you're a commenter on any of those sites, you probably have several questions.
FAQ: Compromised Commenting Accounts on Gawker Media

Find if your Email Address Got Leaked through Gawker’s Database

The user database of Gawker Media has been hacked and the email addresses, user names (aliases) and encrypted passwords of millions of Gawker commenters have now been posted on the web and are viewable by anyone.
Find if your Email Address Got Leaked through Gawker’s Database

Track Santa in Real Time with Google Maps

Christmas is just a couple of weeks away and Santa must be getting ready buying all the gifts he has promised us! To help all of us track Santa, Google and NORAD are ready with their Santa tracker, using which you can follow Santa once he gets on the move at around 2am EST on December 24 2010.
Track Santa in Real Time with Google Maps

Wire an Old Car Radio for MP3 Input

Just because you've got a sweet classic car doesn't mean you have to go with 1960s-era technology for your tunes. Hacking your radio for MP3 input is a simple DIY electronics project.
Wire an Old Car Radio for MP3 Input

Neil Armstrong Talks About The First Moon Walk

Well, this doesn't happen every day.
Neil Armstrong Talks About The First Moon Walk

Most Popular Photography Tips, Tricks, and Hacks of 2010

Whether it's before, during, or after you shoot, Lifehacker have posted some awesome photography tips, tricks, and hacks this year. Here are the most popular for 2010.
Most Popular Photography Tips, Tricks, and Hacks of 2010

Browser Speed Tests: IE 9, Firefox 4 Beta, Chrome's Crankshaft, and Opera 11 Beta

Google's got a new "Crankshaft" in its bleeding-edge Chrome, Internet Explorer 9 is out to prove its modern mettle, Firefox 4 is nearly complete, and Opera's adding extensions. It's a good time to put these browsers head to head.
Browser Speed Tests: IE 9, Firefox 4 Beta, Chrome's Crankshaft, and Opera 11 Beta

Make Better Choices by Asking Yourself Two Simple Questions

Presumably you want to spend your time here on Earth doing something that matters to you. If you fall into that likely category, there are two questions you ought to be asking yourself to ensure you're making good choices.
Make Better Choices by Asking Yourself Two Simple Questions

The Best, Most Disgruntled Toner Cartridge Description Ever

Sometimes, a man reaches his breaking point. He realises that he’s, say, a copywriter for InkCartridges.uk.com, and that he’s tired of writing boring ink cartridge descriptions all day, and he snaps in hilarious ranting fashion. This is that glorious moment.
The Best, Most Disgruntled Toner Cartridge Description Ever

Disaster zones declared across eastern Australia

Thirty-five council areas in New South Wales and Queensland have been declared natural disaster zones with more areas likely to be announced as floodwaters continue to rise, prompting more evacuations.
Disaster zones declared across eastern Australia

Google’s 2010 Zeitgeist Video is Up!

Google’s 2010 Zeitgeist site is not up yet but they already have a video on YouTube capturing events and moments that the world searched for during 2010.
Google’s 2010 Zeitgeist Video is Up!

The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better

We’re big fans of hacking the Windows Registry around here, and we’ve got one of the biggest collections of registry hacks you’ll find. Don’t believe us? Here’s a list of the top 50 registry hacks that we’ve covered.
The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better

Google top 10 Australian searches for 2010

Aussie users of Google have been super interested in controversial topics for much of the year with Wikileaks, Andy Irons and Andrew Bolt amongst the most popular search terms. Sport’s been big as well with the World Cup with the Dukan Diet also being big topics of interest.
Google top 10 Australian searches for 2010

Top 5 iPhone Apps for Students – Educational Apps

iPhone is not just a smartphone, it’s much more than that. By having a constructive thinking, you can stay up-to the mark and productive with your time. I believe iPhone is the best option for almost everyone, from a master chef to a star business man. What makes iPhone so great? The Apps! That’s right, the apps are very innovative and you can make your iPhone even better with over 300,000 apps from Apple’s App Store.
Top 5 iPhone Apps for Students

Prisoners in Australia, 2010

Contains national information on prisoners who were in custody on 30 June each year. The statistics are derived from information collected by the ABS from corrective services agencies in each state and territory. Details are provided on the number of people in correctional institutions (including people on remand), imprisonment rates, most serious offence and sentence length. A range of information is also presented on prisoner characteristics (age, sex, Indigenous status) and on the type of prisoner (all prisoners, sentenced prisoners, and unsentenced prisoners (remandees).
Prisoners in Australia, 2010

Births, Australia, 2009

Contains statistics on live births and fertility for Australia, states and territories, and sub-state regions, based on calendar year of registration data. Information on characteristics of the child include place of usual residence, sex, Indigenous status, and age, martial status and country of birth of parents.
Births, Australia, 2009

How to Know when Car Tyres Need Replacing

Ever wonder when to replace your worn car tyres? The performance of your car tyres is critical to the safety, performance and efficiency of your vehicle; the NHTSA estimates that about 400 fatalities annually may have been attributed to tyre failures. Most tyres are designed to provide similar performance throughout their lives. However, at some point they start to lose performance in terms of their traction and braking ability. Here are a few tips that should help you decide if it is time to start shopping for a new set of tyres and avoid spending more than you need to.
How to Know when Car Tyres Need Replacing

Get The Contact Details For Everyone In The Room With This iPhone App

Sharing contact information can be a pain, but the My Name Is E iPhone app makes the whole process terrifyingly simple by allowing people to share contact information with anyone in physical proximity.
Get The Contact Details For Everyone In The Room With This iPhone App

New Virus: Watch Out for Goo.gl Links on Twitter

Twitter users, there's a new worm going around. Beware of bad Goo.gl links. It spreads when you click on the these links, so don't click if you see a Goo.gl link in a tweet all by itself.
New Virus: Watch Out for Goo.gl Links on Twitter

4 Effective Tools for Monitoring Your Child's Online Safety

If you’re concerned about your child’s online safety, you aren’t unusual. Seventy-eight percent of respondents to a survey conducted by Yahoo had similar worries, and more than 70% of them took some action to manage their children’s online and mobile activities.
4 Effective Tools for Monitoring Your Child's Online Safety

This Traffic Camera Is A Little Different: It Pays You Money

Now this, this is a traffic camera I can get behind. The Speed Camera Lottery, a winning project for Volkswagen’s Fun Theory series, sends tickets to speeders and enters law-abiding drivers in a lottery to win their money. Awesome auto-karma.
This Traffic Camera Is A Little Different: It Pays You Money

Most Popular How-To Guides of 2010

Here's a look back at Lifehacker's most popular how-to features of 2010.
Most Popular How-To Guides of 2010

Will you age slower if you exercise, eat well?

German researchers say yes, you will age slower if you exercise, eat healthy foods, and have a good lifestyle. In fact, they have determined how many years more, on average, you will live if you do those things.
Will you age slower if you exercise, eat well?

An Undocumented Google Search Operator - AROUND

This Google cheat sheet [PDF] has a nice overview of all the popular search operators that are supported in Google. Other than this “official” list, Google also supports an undocumented search operator called AROUND(n) that will help you find documents where the distance between two search terms is around ‘n.’
An Undocumented Google Search Operator - AROUND

5 iPhone Apps For Avoiding International Business Faux Pas

No matter where you’re doing business, it’s important to make a good impression. But making a good impression can involve drastically different behaviors in different cultures. That’s why it’s important to do your research before you get on a plane.
5 iPhone Apps For Avoiding International Business Faux Pas

20 Windows Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know

Mastering the keyboard will not only increase your navigation speed but it can also help with wrist fatigue. Here are some lesser known Windows shortcuts to help you become a keyboard ninja.
20 Windows Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know

LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology

With image technology progressing faster than ever, High-Def has become the standard, giving TV buyers more options at cheaper prices. But what’s different in all these confusing TVs, and what should you know before buying one?
LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology

Understanding Pac-Man Ghost Behavior

Each of the ghosts is programmed with an individual “personality”, a different algorithm it uses to determine its method of moving through the maze. Understanding how each ghost behaves is extremely important to be able to effectively avoid them. However, before discussing their individual behaviors, let’s first examine the logic that they share.
Understanding Pac-Man Ghost Behavior

Windows 7 32-bit vs 64-bit

Computer users who want to buy Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 7
have two choices to make. First they need to decide on the edition of the operating system. At least three different editions are available for retail users, they are: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate. They also have to decide whether they want to install a 32-bit or 64-bit edition of the purchased operating system. This decision does not have to be made during the purchase as the Windows product key is valid for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the selected edition.
Windows 7 32-bit vs 64-bit

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 25/2010

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 25/2010

Introducing Google Earth Engine

Today, Google launched a new Google Labs product called Google Earth Engine at the International Climate Change Conference in sunny Cancun, Mexico. Google Earth Engine is a new technology platform that puts an unprecedented amount of satellite imagery and data—current and historical—online for the first time. It enables global-scale monitoring and measurement of changes in the earth’s environment.
Introducing Google Earth Engine

Track Santa in Real-Time With Google Maps This Holiday

Christmas Eve might not be for another 23 days or so, but Google (Google) and NORAD already have the online Santa Tracker ready to go.
Track Santa in Real-Time With Google Maps This Holiday

SalesClark Picks Out the Perfect Computer for Your Needs (So You Don't Have To)

If you're tired of computer shopping for all your friends, SalesClark will help them narrow down what they need with just a few simple questions in a chat-style webapp.
SalesClark Picks Out the Perfect Computer for Your Needs (So You Don't Have To)

Your Online Footprint

The CEO of Google has suggested that once you leave college, you may want to change your name to distance yourself from all the dumb things you did as a younger person and can’t erase from the Internet. Of course if you change your name, you won’t be associated with any of the positive things you did either.
Your Online Footprint

Create a Simple Password Protected Folder in Windows 7 Sans Software

Windows: If you're looking to stash some files away from other users casually browsing your computer but don't need to go full bore with the encryption, you can create a password protected folder with a basic batch script.
Create a Simple Password Protected Folder in Windows 7 Sans Software

Historical Imagery - How a Place Has Changed Over Time?

Google today introduced a new version of Google Earth, which among other new enhancements, sports an easier way for you to explore historical imagery of a place.
Historical Imagery - How a Place Has Changed Over Time?

Top 10 Registry Tweaks that Power Up Windows

The Windows registry is a mysterious place, but if you're comfortable editing it, you have the power to tweak nearly every Windows setting you can imagine. Here are 10 of Lifehacker's favorite registry tweaks that make life easier.
Top 10 Registry Tweaks that Power Up Windows

5 Important Tips for Better Eye Health in a Digital World

In attempting to sum up the world in 2010, one word comes to mind: connected. Everywhere we go we carry devices that keep us connected to something important to us. Be it a sleek new tablet letting you share photos with the person helping load your groceries, or a smartphone making sure you don’t miss that late night e-mail from a colleague; we are now constantly connected to the world around us, more than ever before.
5 Important Tips for Better Eye Health in a Digital World

How to Identify and Resist Manipulative Sales Pitches

Stores everywhere are competing for your hard-earned money (or easily acquired credit) this holiday shopping season, and they're pulling out every sales pitch they know. Here's how to identify some of the most manipulative and resist them.
How to Identify and Resist Manipulative Sales Pitches

The Hacker’s Guide to Tea

Coffee gets a lot of attention, but if tea's more your style, tea guru Tony Gebely offers this guide to understanding and brewing better tea—discussing the process, the kinds, and the care necessary to cultivate a great taste for tea.
The Hacker’s Guide to Tea

Australian Women’s Weekly in National Library of Australia Digital Archive

Hat tip to PC World Australia for the pointer to the new digital archive of Australian Women’s Weekly, brought to you by the National Library of Australia. This archive spans 10 June 1933 to 15 December 1982, which is 2500 issues and 220,000 pages, totaling about 275,000 articles. That’s not small, but I did find some pages that were listed in the search engine but weren’t viewable yet. You can do a keyword search at http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/title/112.
Australian Women’s Weekly in National Library of Australia Digital Archive

Curing Warts, Removing Splinters, and 19 Other Bizarre Uses for Banana Peels

It all started with a rumor that banana peels could be used to polish silver and a bet among friends that it couldn’t. In trying to discover if there is any legitimacy to the silver-polishing properties of banana peels, I found dozens of other unusual applications for them, including splinter removal and wart treatments.
Curing Warts, Removing Splinters, and 19 Other Bizarre Uses for Banana Peels

Curing Warts, Removing Splinters, and 19 Other Bizarre Uses for Banana Peels | Wise Bread

It all started with a rumor that banana peels could be used to polish silver and a bet among friends that it couldn’t. In trying to discover if there is any legitimacy to the silver-polishing properties of banana peels, I found dozens of other unusual applications for them, including splinter removal and wart treatments.
Curing Warts, Removing Splinters, and 19 Other Bizarre Uses for Banana Peels

Short Sharp Science: Looking down on the tallest structure ever built

The 828 metre Burj Khalifa skyscraper towers above downtown Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The no doubt soon-to-be iconic image taken earlier this year by GeoEye 1, the highest resolution satellite in operation, opens the 2011 calendar of parent company GeoEye.
Short Sharp Science: Looking down on the tallest structure ever built

Practice Eye Contact to Generate "Reality Distortion Field" Charisma

Some people, like Bill Clinton and Steve Jobs, have undeniable charisma that even their most ardent detractors are forced to acknowledge. Master the art of eye contact and personal space management to create "Reality Distortion Field" level charisma.
Practice Eye Contact to Generate "Reality Distortion Field" Charisma

How to Find the Person behind an Email Address - Reverse Email Search

You get an email from a person with whom you have never interacted before and therefore, before you reply to that message, you would like to know something more about him or her. How do you do this without directly asking the other person?
How to Find the Person behind an Email Address - Reverse Email Search

Don’t Sleep, Prevent Standby, Hibernate, Shutdown In Windows

The power configuration in Windows determines if the operating system initiates a system state change. This can be an automatic shutdown, a switch to standby mode, hibernation or changes that have less of an impact like turning off the computer monitor.
Don’t Sleep, Prevent Standby, Hibernate, Shutdown In Windows

Favorite YouTube Videos This Week: The Cheesy Action Movie Edition

This Friday, we’re taking the term “weekend warriors” quite seriously. Today’s YouTube Roundup theme is “Cheesy Action Sequences,” curated by everyone’s favorite former invalid, The Fully Sick Rapper.
NOTE: If cheesy violence — or shouting men — offend you, you may want to skip this roundup.
Favorite YouTube Videos This Week: The Cheesy Action Movie Edition

9 Notable Tech Flops That Live in Infamy

Not every gadget is destined for greatness. Despite the hype before launch, or the promise of how a shiny new device will change your life, there are some gizmos that just don’t cut it.
9 Notable Tech Flops That Live in Infamy

Win a Coin Toss by Volunteering to Flip the Coin

The person flipping the coin has a significantly higher chance to calling the outcome. Stack the odds in your favor by volunteering to be the flipper.
Win a Coin Toss by Volunteering to Flip the Coin

Top 10 Holiday Travel Tips and Tricks

Traveling in general isn't always fun, but it's especially miserable during the holidays. Long lines, long drives to the airport, and frequent delays make the process hard to endure. Here are our top ten tips and tricks for surviving holiday travel.
Top 10 Holiday Travel Tips and Tricks

Use Toothpaste to Fix Car Body and Headlight Scratches

Toothpaste: it restores old sneakers, de-stains MacBooks, un-clouds drinking glasses, and, it seems, heals whatever minor scratches ail your car, whether on the body, or the problematic kind that reduce your headlights' brightness.
Use Toothpaste to Fix Car Body and Headlight Scratches

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 24/2010

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 24/2010

Jet Lag May Cause Long-Term Memory and Learning Problems

Any frequent long-distance flier can tell you about what jet lag does to their energy, sleep, and awareness functions. But scientists who exposed hamsters to frequent jet-lag-like conditions—equivalent to flying from New York to Paris every three days—found that it affected neuron birth in the hippocampus, and likely the related problems hamsters had with finding desirable rooms in a maze and other memory tasks.
Jet Lag May Cause Long-Term Memory and Learning Problems

5 Fresh Places to Find Great Online Video

Fortunately, more and more sites and services are stepping up to help sift through the vast, expansive wasteland of online video. Here are five of Mashable's favorite sites for not just finding the goods, but also making it easy to share and exchange videos with friends and family members.
5 Fresh Places to Find Great Online Video

Backup Your PC Securely With FBackup

Are you searching for a back up program which is safe, user friendly and free at the same time? If yes, then your search may end here. Usually users don’t go for backup programs, since they have a fear in mind regarding the loss or damage of important data stored in the PC.
Backup Your PC Securely With FBackup

Yahoo! Labs and Zombies

Interested in game theory, advanced mathematics, classical economics, and budget allocation problems? No?
Let’s try again. Are you interested in commanding a legion of Zombie warriors in a pitched battle against your friends and random people online?
Yahoo! Labs and Zombies

Internet Filter Delayed Until At Least 2013

We’ve known since mid-year that the ludicrous Internet filter concept was on the backburner pending a classification review. Based on current plans, that means there’ll probably be no chance to introduce it before 2013.
Internet Filter Delayed Until At Least 2013

Check if the ISP is Limiting your Download Speed

You have a fairly good Internet connection at home and regular websites load pretty quickly in your browser. However, the speed seems to go down while you are watching videos on YouTube or are trying to download files through a torrent client.
Check if the ISP is Limiting your Download Speed

Facebook’s New Messaging System Explained [VIDEO]

Facebook has just finished sharing its new messaging system with the world. And while the social networking site says that “it’s not e-mail” or designed to be what many pundits wanted to call an “e-mail killer,” it represents a big overhaul of a system that’s being used by more than 350 million people to send more than 4 billion messages daily.
Facebook’s New Messaging System Explained [VIDEO]

The Best Optical Illusion Videos And How They Trick Your Brain

The human brain is one of the most remarkable things on this planet… but that doesn’t mean it can’t make mistakes, particularly when it comes to how we see the world. Here are five mind-blowing optical illusions and how they work.
The Best Optical Illusion Videos And How They Trick Your Brain

What You Need to Know About the New TSA Screenings (and Gropings)

The days of simple, inconvenience-free flying have been gone for awhile but the latest security measures have elevated personal privacy concerns. Here's what you need to know about the latest TSA security measures and what you can (and can't) do about them.
What You Need to Know About the New TSA Screenings (and Gropings)

Crocodile attacks elephant

A tourist visiting Zambia's South Luangwa National Park caught this intense scuffle between a crocodile and mother and baby elephants at a watering hole.
Crocodile attacks elephant

7 Search Engines Google Obliterated

Today you don’t use a search engine – you google it. Google is search. And it’s fast becoming the only search in town as Google’s competitors one by one crumble away, crushed by Google’s exponentially growing techno-power.Read more.
7 Search Engines Google Obliterated

How to Dance Without Embarrassing Yourself

If you're too embarrassed to dance in public, you may be missing out on a lot of fun and energetic partying with friends. It doesn't take much to hustle up some basic moves and enough confidence to sidle onto the dance floor, even if only briefly, and it'll ensure that your friends stop picking on you for avoiding dancing. This article takes you through an easy progression to help improve your sense of dancing and to get you onto the dance floor free of embarrassment.
How to Dance Without Embarrassing Yourself

Discovery Health "10 Mysterious Pains You Shouldn't Ignore"

All of us have experience with random, mysterious and sometimes lingering pains at some point in our lives. Most of us shrug it off, and usually the pain leaves the same way it arrived -- on its own and without explanation.
Discovery Health "10 Mysterious Pains You Shouldn't Ignore"

If You Begin a Sentence with Well, There's a Good Chance You're Lying

If you think someone's lying, you can't really subject them to a polygraph test. But, it turns out that if they start their sentence with the word "well," you won't have to.
If You Begin a Sentence with Well, There's a Good Chance You're Lying

The 10 Most Incredible Google Bombs

Chances are that even if you’re unfamiliar with the term, you’ve experienced a Google bomb in action somewhere on the internet. Once, they were a rarity, a novelty even, but now there are hundreds of them out there on the web. Many are politically motivated and most include some kind of derogatory reference.
The 10 Most Incredible Google Bombs

Permanently Delete Files In Windows Explorer With RightDelete

It is sometimes necessary to delete a file permanently from a computer system. It may be after you have read a business document on a public computer, watched or viewed media on a work computer or to protect family members from accessing files on a home computer.
Permanently Delete Files In Windows Explorer With RightDelete

How to Most Effectively Battle the Common Cold

Things You Can Do at Home (That Won't Cost You an Arm and a Leg).
How to Most Effectively Battle the Common Cold

Get Your Loaned Item Back with These Simple Tracking Systems

Remember when you completely forgot to ask your friend to return your favorite DVD? It’s time to start using a good system to keep track of the items that you lend or borrow to your friends. In this article we will cover two simple tracking systems: ReturnMyPants to keep track of your personal inventory and BillMonk to keep track of money.
Get Your Loaned Item Back with These Simple Tracking Systems

Deaths, Australia, 2009

Deaths and mortality rates, Life expectancy at birth, Infant deaths.
Deaths, Australia, 2009

Nutrition Professor Loses Weight On Junk Food

If you want to lose weight you’ll see results faster if you eschew fancy and complicated dietary rules and focus on reducing the number of calories you take in — though we might suggest not measuring them out in Twinkies.
Nutrition Professor Loses Weight On Junk Food

HOW TO: Tastefully Use Social Media at Your Wedding

As social media becomes more and more a part of our lives, etiquette failures can occur when there are so few precedents. A wedding day is the perfect example of this. You want to share your special day with your social circle, especially those who can’t attend, but where do you draw the line?
HOW TO: Tastefully Use Social Media at Your Wedding

Manually Restore System Files from Your Windows Installation Media

If you’ve ever had a missing or corrupt system file in Windows you sometimes end up in shady parts of the internet downloading files from who knows where. Why not restore the files directly from your installation disks?
Manually Restore System Files from Your Windows Installation Media

No more drunk Facebook thanks to tool

The Social Media Sobriety Test, a free Firefox application from online-security company Webroot, allows users to select the social media sites they use in which they must pass a sobriety test before being able to log on during their pre-set "hours of intoxication".
No more drunk Facebook thanks to tool

How To Protect Your USB Device At Cyber Cafes

While traveling, one cannot be assured of always having a personal computer. Though a few high end hotels provide personal laptops to guests, not everyone can afford to stay at such hotels. If you don’t have access to a personal computer, you have no choice but to go to a cyber cafe, or a public internet center where you use a computer for internet for a pre-paid price usually fixed per hour. Browsing at an internet cafe brings a mixture of many things that need to be considered.
How To Protect Your USB Device At Cyber Cafes

Windows Auto Login And Lock

Do you sometimes power on your computer and leave immediately afterwards for other activities, like making coffee or breakfast, taking a shower or going into a meeting. There are two possible scenarios here. If you have not configured auto login, you will see the the logon screen where all user accounts of the Windows operating system are shown. When you are back, you need to log in and wait until the desktop has been loaded. Not an optimized way of logging in.
Windows Auto Login And Lock

How To Hide Hard Drives And Partitions In Windows

Hiding a hard drive or partition in Windows can be an effective way of preventing access to the drive’s contents. The method is not foolproof though, and users with enough time on their hand will eventually find a way to access the contents of the drive, for instance by booting from a Live CD. Still, it works pretty well to hide it from inexperienced users.
How To Hide Hard Drives And Partitions In Windows

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 23/2010

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 23/2010

Holy Cow! Microsoft Doesn’t Know Simple Maths

Microsoft has been selling their Windows operating systems ever since 1993. That’s a good lord 17 long years. They have had more than eight different versions of Windows OS in those 17 years, and all of them were aimed to do simple & complex computing.
Holy Cow! Microsoft Doesn’t Know Simple Maths

Weird 1940s advice for moms who want their boys to tuck in their shirts

To cure boys of the habit of not keeping shirttails tucked in.
Weird 1940s advice for moms who want their boys to tuck in their shirts

Terrible Beauty: A-Bomb Tests - Photo Gallery - LIFE

Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, which invented the atomic bomb, was a brilliant physicist and theoretician who is often viewed today as either 1) an irresponsible scientist of unchecked hubris who set humanity on the path to eventual nuclear annihilation, or 2) a sensitive seeker after truth whose ideas and insights were perverted by right-wing militarists for their own nefarious ends. Both views are, of course, absurd oversimplifications of the man and his legacy.
Terrible Beauty: A-Bomb Tests - Photo Gallery - LIFE

Bart Cummings shares his Cup tips

Bart Cummings gives his verdict on So You Think and which horses will give it a run for its money in tomorrow's Melbourne Cup.
Cummings shares his Cup tips

Google-eye view of a nuclear test site - Boing Boing

Yucca Flat was the site of 739 nuclear tests between 1951 and 1992. Once an anonymous stretch of desert, it's now pockmarked with subsidence craters left behind by underground nuclear detonations. Among them is the Sedan Crater, a massive, 1200-feet-wide, 320-feet-deep pit.
Google-eye view of a nuclear test site

The Ultimate Router Battle

You’ve been getting by with the cheapie router you bought two years ago, so why should you upgrade now? Performance. And features. We asked seven manufacturers to send us the best consumer routers in their stables regardless of price tags.
The Ultimate Router Battle

How to Break Into a Windows PC

Whether you've forgotten your password or you have a more malicious intent, it's actually extremely easy to break into a Windows computer without knowing the password. Here's how to do it, and how to prevent others from doing the same to you.
How to Break Into a Windows PC

Take the ultimate intelligence test -- New Scientist

You might think it's obvious that one person is smarter than another. But there are few more controversial areas of science than the study of intelligence and, in reality, there's not even agreement among researchers about what this word actually means.
Take the ultimate intelligence test

Lost camera reveals divers' survival snaps

A camera which was lost on the ocean floor for almost four years has been found with its dramatic images still intact.
The camera contained rescue shots of two men who became lost at sea off the New South Wales north coast when the anchor rope on their dive boat snapped.
Lost camera reveals divers' survival snaps

The 2010 Choice Shonky Awards

With the Shonkys now in its fifth year, the contenders for the gongs continue to roll in. While you’d think most companies would be doing their best to keep their heads low and travel the well-worn path of the straight and narrow, it sometimes seems they’re begging for a lemon gong.
The 2010 Choice Shonky Awards

Is that Windows Process Legitimate or a Virus?

Start the Windows Task Manager at any point of time and you’ll find that dozens of processes are running in your system. Some of these process names are obvious – if there’s iexplore.exe in the list, you have Internet Explorer open on your desktop – but other processes like csrss.exe or dwm.exe will often make no sense to most of us.
Is that Windows Process Legitimate or a Virus?

Remarkable Unicycle Riding

This footage prepared for the North American Unicycling Championships and Convention contains some pretty unbelievable footage, including jumping over a picnic table, up a flight of 7 stairs in one hop, and the you-gotta-see-it-to believe-it "maxwhip."
Remarkable unicycle riding

How to Defeat Big Brother

Nobody likes being watched (perhaps with the exception of exhibitionists) and most of us, even in today's very public culture, appreciate our privacy. If you're tired of Big Brother watching you, here are a few ways to fight back.
How to Defeat Big Brother

Ultimate List of Free Windows Phone 7 Apps

Earlier this month, Microsoft unveiled a big list of Windows Phone 7 handsets for over 30 countries which arrive soon. Though the initial impressions of the WP7 OS was mixed, it has still managed to evoke enough interests amongst the developer community who have already brought out some cool Free WP7 Apps in the Windows Phone 7 market place.
Ultimate List of Free Windows Phone 7 Apps

How To Sync Browser & Delicious Bookmarks to Your iOS Device

Having an iOS device is essentially like having a mini computer with you all the time. If you browse the web with it, syncing your browser bookmarks between your computer and device is a must and we’ll show you how.
How To Sync Browser & Delicious Bookmarks to Your iOS Device

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 22/2010

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 22/2010

Four Reasons Why You Choke Under Pressure (and How to Avoid Them)

In her book Choke, author Sian Beilock examines the science behind why we choke under pressure. Here, Beilock explains a few of those reasons, and offers a few solutions.
Four Reasons Why You Choke Under Pressure (and How to Avoid Them)

How to Manually Repair Windows 7 Boot Loader Problems

If you’re having boot problems on your Windows PC, it’s often helpful to repair the MBR (Master Boot Record) to restore the Windows 7 boot loader—and you can do it easily from the Windows installation disc.
How to Manually Repair Windows 7 Boot Loader Problems

Solar eclipse witnessed from space

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded its first lunar transit when the moon passed directly between the spacecraft and the sun. In this newly released image, the dark edge of the moon forms a partial eclipse of the sun. This sharp edge can be used to help calculate the effects of light diffraction on the telescope's optics, allowing operators to correct for this effect.
Solar eclipse witnessed from space

Choosing Different Passwords for Different Websites

You don’t want to use the same password with all your online accounts but it is also impossible for you to remember so many different passwords. What do you do then?
Choosing Different Passwords for Different Websites

Use Verbose Boot Messages to Troubleshoot Windows Startup Problems

If you’ve ever had problems with your PC starting up or shutting down slowly, there’s lots of different troubleshooting techniques that you can use—today we’ll talk about how to enable verbose messages. Enabling these verbose messages is not going to magically solve your problems, of course—the point is to use this to identify a problem, which you can then solve through other means, generally by uninstalling a problem application or upgrading a faulty driver.
Use Verbose Boot Messages to Troubleshoot Windows Startup Problems

25 Of the Most Inspiring Quotes Ever Spoken

An inspiring quote may be just what you need to turn your day around. Here are 25 of the most inspiring quotes ever spoken or written.
25 Of the Most Inspiring Quotes Ever Spoken

NASA captures amazing image of Hurricane Paula

A few days ago, Hurricane Paula was bearing down on Honduras and Mexico. While it caused some substantial flooding and destroyed some homes, it weakened rather quickly and is now a tropical storm near Cuba. However, three days ago as the storm was battering the coast of Honduras, NASA's MODIS captured a stunning image of the hurricane.
NASA captures amazing image of Hurricane Paula

Edit, Resize Photos With BImageStudio

It takes time to manually edit or resize photos. While it is not possible to automate every photo editing tasks, some can easily be automated to save time and speed up the process. BImageStudio is a free photo editing software for the Windows operating system that can batch process a set of photos that are loaded into the application. The program supports many popular image formats including jpg, png and gif.
Edit, Resize Photos With BImageStudio

How to Make Your Own DVDs from Almost Any Video File

If you’ve got a lot of AVI videos in your media collection, you might want to be able to play them on your DVD player—or even more likely, give a DVD to a family member to watch. Here’s how to create your own DVDs easily.
How to Make Your Own DVDs from Almost Any Video File

Five Best Recipe Search Tools

Here's a look at five of the best tools for finding great recipes online.
Five Best Recipe Search Tools

33 New Social Media Resources You May Have Missed

Social Media is stocked with a list of memorable viral video or smile-worthy social good campaigns. Tech & Mobile showcases some great robots, tips for your iPad, and trends in web app design. Business rounds out our list with how to gain inexpensive online exposure, use mobile credit card payments or start a digital business.
33 New Social Media Resources You May Have Missed

Top 10 Fast Food Recipes You Can Make at Home

You can complain about it all you want, but it's a fact: some fast food is delicious. It gets a whole lot better with fresher, tastier ingredients. Here's our top ten favorite fast food recipes that you can make at home.
Top 10 Fast Food Recipes You Can Make at Home:

Cold snap brings snow to Victoria

Snow has fallen in parts of Victoria as the state shivers through a cold snap. Temperatures plummeted as a cold front brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow flurries. (and check the photo of the road to Kinglake, a bit different to the raging bushfire scenes of not long ago!)
Cold snap brings snow to Victoria

Snow, wind and rain whip eastern Australia

Snow, floods and gale-force winds have swept across eastern Australia overnight, transforming parts of New South Wales and Victoria into springtime winter wonderlands.
Snow, wind and rain whip eastern Australia

Business Name FAIL

Crappy scrap?
Business Name FAIL

What Is in a Barrel of Oil?

Whether you're watching CNN discuss the effects of the recent oil spill in the gulf, or you're watching MSNBC discuss how the price of oil has shifted throughout the month, you probably hear them use the term "barrel," which defines oil in volume.
What Is in a Barrel of Oil?

Your Best Solutions for Massive, Multi-Terabyte Storage

The best ways to safely store tons of data (at least 6TB)? Here's a round up of some of the best and most creative answers.
Your Best Solutions for Massive, Multi-Terabyte Storage

Airport Security Might Soon Be Scanning Your Ears

New research says your ears are like snowflakes – completely unique in the world. Which is neat! But it also means you have two giant fingerprints on the side of your face, and airport security wants a look.
Airport Security Might Soon Be Scanning Your Ears

Asteroid 2010 TD54 flies by really close Oct. 12, 2010

Asteroid 2010 TD54 will fly by the Earth on Tuesday, October 12, 2010, and will pass at a distance of only about 46,000 kilometers (28,500 miles) from our planet’s surface.
Asteroid 2010 TD54 flies by really close Oct. 12, 2010

Understanding the Food Group Pyramid and How to Use It For Better Eating

The food pyramid was designed to offer an easy-to-understand look at healthy eating, but for the average person it's too simplistic, vague, and sometimes way off. Here's how food pyramids work and how you can actually use them in your day-to-day eating.
Understanding the Food Group Pyramid and How to Use It For Better Eating

The Best PDF Writer and Reader for Windows

Nitro Reader gives you the best of both worlds. It’s a PDF Reader for Windows that you may also use for creating PDFs from Office documents, web pages and virtually any other Windows application that has the print button.
The Best PDF Writer and Reader for Windows

7 Resources for Handling Digital Life After Death

Death is a fact of life. When someone dies, they’re no longer physically here, but their digital self lives on. There are more than 5 million accounts on Facebook that are inactive due to death, according to the calculations of BlackBook Media’s Executive Editor Chris Mohney. And that’s just Facebook. Think about all of the other social sites and online services out there – the number of abandoned accounts due to death must be enormous.
7 Resources for Handling Digital Life After Death

Armless pianist wins on "China's Got Talent" TV show

Liu Wei, 23, has won "China's Got Talent" for his piano playing. He has no arms.
Armless pianist wins on "China's Got Talent" TV show

Top 40 burgled suburbs in Melbourne

In Victoria, on average, one in 71 homes is burgled each year; that equates to one burglary every 19 minutes. A review of crime statistics in Metropolitan Melbourne has identified the top 40 suburbs most at risk of a burglary.
Top 40 burgled suburbs in Melbourne

New Aussie Invention Lets You Move Two Wheelie Bins – AT THE SAME TIME!

In a completely rubbish statistic that I just made up, 98% of all Australian inventions are designed for the sole purpose of getting us milliseconds closer to beer. Take this multi-bin creation from South Australian inventor Mark Bradshaw, that allows users to wheel out not one, but two wheelie bins at the same time, therefore reducing the amount of time spent taking out the rubbish before cracking a beer.
New Aussie Invention Lets You Move Two Wheelie Bins – AT THE SAME TIME!

Five Best Disk Image Tools

Disk image tools allow you to take physical discs and drives—DVDs, hard drives, and other media—and turn them into virtual images for ease of storage and manipulation. Here's a look at five of the most popular disk image tools.
Five Best Disk Image Tools

10 Useful Apple iPad Tips and Tricks

From managing the sound levels of your tunes, to organization your apps, to muting in the case of emergency, we have 10 handy hints for you to work your way to iPad ninja status. Check out our tried and tested iPad tips, and impress your friends when they come to you for help with their iPad.
10 Useful Apple iPad Tips and Tricks

Join the birthday salute to John Lennon

Today we join Yoko Ono in asking fans around the world to upload video tributes to John Lennon on what would have been his 70th birthday.
Join the birthday salute to John Lennon

Specialty of 10/10/10 – Virus Alert, Chinese Wedding & More

There is something really special about today’s date. For all those who are strong believers in the “perfect ten” concept, here’s a date you should look forward to. Today is 10/10/10. A day which is special for everyone because of it’s numerical rarity which occurs once in 100 years. But there is more to it than just the numbers. While some Astrologers consider this day to be lucky for money, others believe it’s a bit unlucky. Well, astrology is just one of the many interesting things happening around the world.
Specialty of 10/10/10 – Virus Alert, Chinese Wedding & More

Today is 10/10/10 – the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything

Today is 10/10/10, but it’s even more than that. Today is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. How? Keep reading.
Today is 10/10/10 – the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 21/2010

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 21/2010

4 Amazing Life Lessons from Scrooge McDuck

Like in every person and duck, there are both good things and bad things in Scrooge. We can learn from both the positive and negative sides of the world's richest duck. Maybe there is something that he has done right to get into the financial position he is, or maybe his greediness is a something we should avoid. It is up to you how you decide to see it.
4 Amazing Life Lessons from Scrooge McDuck

“I Like it on” Facebook Status

The “It” within the status refers to the purse and not anything else as you might have imagined. If you didn’t get the link/idea yet, don’t worry. We didn’t get it either. But the idea of the grass-roots effort seems to be that the sexy-yet-enigmatic updates will encourage women and men to think about breast cancer, according to Time magazine.
“I Like it on” Facebook Status for Breast Cancer Awareness Goes Viral

Over 52? Then you're probably grumpy

Britons find being older than 52 is nothing to laugh about because that's the age when they start becoming grumpy, according to a survey.
Over 52? Then you're probably grumpy

New Earth View Is The True Blue Marble | Gizmodo Australia

From this point, looking down the Pacific Ocean, Earth still looks like a virgin jewel in space – a precious gem untouched by toxic human hands, no sign of our species’ uncontrolled greed. All water, it’s the true blue marble.
New Earth View Is The True Blue Marble

What's the Best Way to Share Files with a Nearby Computer?

There are numerous ways to share files using the various file-sharing capabilities built into your OS; all you need is few minutes of prep before you can get sharing. (Though after setting it up once, it'll be a snap to get sharing again in the future.)
What's the Best Way to Share Files with a Nearby Computer?

How to Make the Most of Getting Bumped from a Flight

Getting bumped from a flight could be either a blessing or a curse. Here's how to make the most of getting bumped, whether it's voluntary or not.
How to Make the Most of Getting Bumped from a Flight

Ask How-To Geek: What’s Wrong With Writing Down Your Password?

Recently a reader asked me why she wasn’t supposed to write down her passwords—which is a very good question. Ignoring all the geeky password manager talk, why can’t a home user write down passwords? Let’s examine this topic more closely.
Ask How-To Geek: What’s Wrong With Writing Down Your Password?

Detect Liars By Making Them Draw

Fabricating a story is easy when you only need to tell a few, select details. When you have to draw it out on paper, however, it becomes very easy to tell the liars from the truth tellers. Here’s how.
Detect Liars By Making Them Draw

6 Secrets Restaurants Don't Want You to Know

Five secrets that even the typical "eat-out junkie" probably doesn't know.
6 Secrets Restaurants Don't Want You to Know

How the Internet Is Changing the Fashion Industry in 2010

The fashion industry functions much like your least favorite high school clique: A leader boldly undertakes something new, a few imitators cautiously follow suit and the rest then clamber to participate before the trend dies out.
How the Internet Is Changing the Fashion Industry in 2010

What’s the Difference Between JPG, PNG, and GIF?

As we keep building on old image technology, types of file formats keep piling up, each with their own nuances and uses. JPG, PNG, and GIF have become the most common, but what sets them apart from each other?
What’s the Difference Between JPG, PNG, and GIF?

How to View and Understand Uncommon Filetypes

Have you ever needed to open an important file, or simply wondered what some random file on your hard drive was, only to realize you couldn’t open it? Here’s some tips that can help you find info from even the most obscure file formats.
How to View and Understand Uncommon Filetypes

Banned Books Week

Tomorrow is the end of Banned Books week. We have a collection of banned and challenged books that you can find at archive.org. We currently have 74 that can be found on banned and challenged books lists around the internet.
Banned Books Week

Antarctica Penguins on Google Maps Street View

Most of us will rarely ever get a chance to explore the beautiful ice deserts of Antarctica on foot but with the help of Google Maps, you can at least do so virtually.
Antarctica Penguins on Google Maps Street View

Make Sure Downloads Are Safe Before Downloading Them

Are you always nervous that you’ll accidentally download a malicious file or program? Here’s how you can scan files for viruses before downloading them to your computer.
Make Sure Downloads Are Safe Before Downloading Them

Google Street View Reaches All 7 Continents; Yes, Even Antarctica

Cue the privacy complaints from penguin lovers everywhere. These happy little creatures, sitting on a perch in the middle of Antarctica, have been captured by human cameras without their knowledge and permission and can now be seen on Google Street View. Quelle horreur!
Google Street View Reaches All 7 Continents; Yes, Even Antarctica

Inception Ending Revealed By Sir Michael Caine

As if you didn’t know what the spinning top ending really meant! Still, if there’s a glimmer of doubt in your mind, check out what Sir Michael Caine says about it here. Requisite WARNING: SPOILERS alert is flashing red now.
Inception Ending Revealed By Sir Michael Caine

Learn Airline Ticket Abbreviations to Be Better Informed When You Fly

Your boarding pass has a few key pieces of information you pay attention to, but what about all those other letters and abbreviations? Knowing your ticketing codes can tell you how likely you are to be bumped off your flight.
Learn Airline Ticket Abbreviations to Be Better Informed When You Fly

DIY Laptop Repairs and Upgrades: Replacing Hard Drives and CD/DVD Drives

Hard drives and optical drives are the most failure-prone items on a laptop. They're also among the easiest to swap out, upgrade, or, in some cases, live without. Here are the best fixes for saving, replacing, and speeding up your storage.
DIY Laptop Repairs and Upgrades: Replacing Hard Drives and CD/DVD Drives

The 2010 Forbes Most Expensive US Zip Codes List is Now Available

The Top 500 US Zip Codes are Listed and Can Be Keyword Searched.
The 2010 Forbes Most Expensive US Zip Codes List

Transfer Music, Apps, and Other Data from an Old Gen iPod to a New One

Recently Apple released their new 4th generation iPod Touch & iPhones, and if you get the new generation you probably want to transfer your data. Here we show you how to do it easily using iTunes.
Transfer Music, Apps, and Other Data from an Old Gen iPod to a New One

Wirelessly Sync / Share Your Music Collection with Any Mobile Phone

Have an iPhone or Android phone and a music collection too large to sync to it? Want to share your library with friends? Here’s how to sync your library with your smartphone over the internet, or stream it in any browser.
Wirelessly Sync / Share Your Music Collection with Any Mobile Phone

Records reveal First Fleet's wet welcome

Weather reports salvaged from ship logs are painting a new picture of the stormy conditions that battered the First Fleet during its epic voyage to Australia, more than 200 years ago. They also reveal that Australia was experiencing a wetter than normal summer due to a La Niña event.
Records reveal First Fleet's wet welcome

Ask How-To Geek: How Do You Make Upside Down Text? - How-To Geek

Have you ever seen somebody use upside down text on the web? Ever wonder how to do it? Let’s take a quick look at how the characters are actually put together, and show you an easy generator that will do it for you.
Ask How-To Geek: How Do You Make Upside Down Text?

How To Play Any Media File In iTunes

If you use iTunes to organise your media, you’ve probably run into the roadblock of adding files it doesn’t support (like MKVs). Here’s how to trick iTunes into support the files you want.
How To Play Any Media File In iTunes

Long-lost Apollo 11 footage surfaces

Long-lost footage of Neil Armstrong descending the ladder of the Apollo 11 lunar module will be screened in public for the first time in Sydney next week. The footage runs for a few minutes and is considered to be some of the best footage of the historic 1969 moonwalk, but the film was lost in archives for many years and was badly damaged when found, says CSIRO scientist John Sarkissian.
Long-lost Apollo 11 footage surfaces

101 Free Alternatives to Commonly Used Paid Software

Over the past few years, independent programmers and companies alike have developed free software that have come to replace their more expensive, well-known counterparts. Below are 101 free alternatives tocommonly used paid software that could help save you or your business a lot of money.
101 Free Alternatives to Commonly Used Paid Software

6 Free Web Tools for Managing Time Differences

Conducting business with international clients can mean more than just a language barrier — there can be a time barrier as well. With 24 standard time zones, it can be overwhelming to keep track of all your clients’ business hours, and scheduling tasks across time zones can be a challenge. If your business depends on knowing what time it is everywhere, don’t worry, as there are plenty of free online tools to help you coordinate, and ensure you never unwittingly call a client at 4 a.m.
6 Free Web Tools for Managing Time Differences

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 20/2010

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 20/2010

How To Print From Your iOS Device Right Now

Apple’s iOS 4.2 update doesn’t hit the virtual shelves until sometime in November, leaving you without wireless printing for at at least another month. Here’s how you can print from your iOS device right now, no cables attached.
How To Print From Your iOS Device Right Now

How to Use Question Marks Correctly

Although the question mark is one of the easiest punctuation symbols to use in writing, it's easy to misuse it. In part, this may be due to to trying to make it work harder when it doesn't need to be used, or it just might be because it's not well understood that not all question type statements need a question mark. After reading this article though, you'll be much the wiser on knowing how to use a question mark correctly. But you knew that, didn't you?
How to Use Question Marks Correctly

“Millions” Of Home Routers Vulnerable To Web Hack

Here’s his chart of which are and aren’t subject to attack.
“Millions” Of Home Routers Vulnerable To Web Hack

Etymology of 'Letting the Cat Out of the Bag'

To "let the cat out of the bag" is one of those sayings wherein meaning is instinctively grasped even if it's difficult to coherently put into words why this is so.
Etymology of 'Letting the Cat Out of the Bag'

Following the Sun’s Unique Path

Every day the Sun crosses the sky, rising in the east and setting in the west, but in detail its path is different every time. If it is winter, or if you live in the north, the Sun is lower and stays closer to the southern horizon. While the time of year and the location have similar effects, they act independently on the overall path. The Sun’s path is unique for your place and time.
Following the Sun’s Unique Path

Manage Your Bookmarks On Multiple Browsers With Transmute

Are you fond of using multiple browsers and sometimes unable to find your favorite pages and bookmarks? Then Darq Software’s Transmute can help you manage them appropriately. This is an amazing utility which allows you to import and export bookmarks from one browser to another automatically, rather than doing it manually. It saves your time as it does almost everything automatically, since the tool itself selects the bookmark folders and saves them without any errors, which avoids all the confusion.
Manage Your Bookmarks On Multiple Browsers With Transmute

Science behind the parting of the Red Sea

National Center for Atmospheric Research scientists suggest a new theory to explain the episode. They used archaeological records and satellite data as the basis for a computer simulation of a powerful overnight wind at the shallow spot where the crossing may have occurred.
Science behind the parting of the Red Sea

Aussie Government Keen To Yank Content From Google Groups

Google has just released its biannual figures on what content government bodies asked it to remove in the first six months of 2010. The biggest surprise? Just how many items on Google Groups were removed at the request of the Australian government.
Aussie Government Keen To Yank Content From Google Groups

Internet Activity, Australia, Jun 2010

The Internet Activity Survey (IAS) collects details on aspects of internet access services provided by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia. This release contains results from all ISPs operating in Australia as at 30 June 2010.
Internet Activity, Australia, Jun 2010

How To Protect All Your Precious Stuff

From your latest gadgets to your expensive big TV and even your car, here’s a complete guide on how to protect all your precious material things from thieves.
How To Protect All Your Precious Stuff

The Beauty Of Public Signage: Photo Contest Results

In August we announced the World Of Signage Photo Contest, in which we encouraged designers, artists and photographers to go out with their cameras, shoot attractive typography and public signage and send us the results. The more obvious subjects we received were street signs, building facades, highway markers and road signs, as well as wayfinding graphics (i.e. directional signage) in public venues, subway signs, hotel and office signs and signs in shops, too.
The Beauty Of Public Signage: Photo Contest Results

The Complete Android Guide Is a Front-to-Back Handbook for Android Phones

Just getting started with your Android phone, or know somebody who is? Want a better understanding of Android's features? Check out The Complete Android Guide, a comprehensive wiki-style site, ebook, and paperback guide to Google's smartphone system.
The Complete Android Guide

The Top 5 and Flop 3 Features Of Internet Explorer 9

In this guide, we look at the best and worst Internet Explorer 9 features. That’s basically all you need to know to decide whether you want to install the browser, or not. Promised. And we keep it reasonably short as well.
The Top 5 and Flop 3 Features Of Internet Explorer 9

Chrome’s About:Labs Page Lists Experimental Features

It used to be that with Chrome, you could only enable experimental features (like moving tabs to the side) by manually adding flags to the shortcut. Now, dev build users can enable them from the new about:labs page.
Chrome’s About:Labs Page Lists Experimental Features

Iron Stains Out of Your Carpet with a Vinegar Solution

If you're at a loss for how to get a stubborn stain out of carpet or upholstery, this clever trick will have you ironing stains out with little more than an iron, rags, and vinegar.
Iron Stains Out of Your Carpet with a Vinegar Solution

Google Goes Mysterious for Agatha Christie's Birthday

Today’s Google logo (or Google Doodle, as the company calls its everchanging logo) is one of the most elaborate we’ve seen: It’s a murder scene with one of Google’s o’s depicting a lady lying dead in the middle of a room full of other characters.
Google Goes Mysterious for Agatha Christie's Birthday

Internet Explorer 9 Beta 1 Walkthrough [VIDEO]

Check out this video that highlights some of the newest features and pits IE 9 against Firefox and Google Chrome.
Internet Explorer 9 Beta 1 Walkthrough [VIDEO]

Internet Explorer 9 Screenshot Tour: It’s Got a Completely New Interface

Today Microsoft finally released the newest version of Internet Explorer, complete with hardware acceleration, web standards support, and a completely redesigned interface focused on using web sites as applications. Join us for a tour of the features in Internet Explorer 9.
Internet Explorer 9 Screenshot Tour: It’s Got a Completely New Interface

How To Configure A New Hard Drive In Windows 7

It is necessary to configure a drive so that it becomes available in Windows. New hard drives usually do not come with a file system pre-installed, which means that it is up to the user to pick a file system so that the hard disk can be accessed in the operating system. In Windows 7 this is done with the Disk Management tool. The easiest way to load Disk Management is to press Windows-R, type diskmgmt.msc and hit enter.
How To Configure A New Hard Drive In Windows 7

Internet Explorer 9 Beta Download Available

Microsoft has released the first public beta of the upcoming Internet Explorer 9 web browser a few minutes ago. This beta release is the first public version of IE9 with a user interface. And that user interface has changed a lot, compared to previous Internet Explorer versions.
Internet Explorer 9 Beta Download Available

We yawn because we care

How contagious is yawning? Enough that I'm yawning right now just from writing about it. Admittedly, I'd never given it much thought, but I always kind of assumed that contagious yawning—that tendency to pick up a yawn from the people around you and pass it on like the evil videotape in The Ring—was something all humans were susceptible to.
We yawn because we care

How To Set Up A US iTunes Account

If your iTunes account is associated with an Australian address, then the options for what you can buy online will be different (and generally more limited) than those available to US iTunes users. Set up your own US iTunes account and you’ll have access to a much wider range of content to purchase.
How To Set Up A US iTunes Account