International Space Station Should Be Visible From Melbourne This Weekend

Stargazers are in for a small, bright treat over the next few days as the International Space Station should be visible to eagle-eyed Melbourne residents.
International Space Station Should Be Visible From Melbourne This Weekend

How to Reduce Eye Strain

How to reduce eye strain: What is the best reading posture for comfortable reading?
How to Reduce Eye Strain

Watch The History Of April Fools Day

This Sunday is April’s Fools Day. Here’s a very interesting video showing the history of this silly day, which may have started in 1582.
Watch The History Of April Fools Day

The Black Stump - blackstump.com.au on Facebook

Don't forget we not only exist on Blogger and au naturel on the Web, we also have a Facebook page....The Black Stump - blackstump.com.au

Handprints may give away your height, gender

Prints left by the hand, or even parts of it, can be used to estimate the height of an unknown intruder and possibly tell whether they were male or female, say researchers.
Handprints may give away your height, gender

How To Speed Up, Clean Up And Revive Your iPhone

Your iPhone is a powerful computer, and powerful computers benefit from cleaning and maintenance. Here are some simple, easy–to-follow tips to give your trusted iPhone a new spring in its step.
How To Speed Up, Clean Up And Revive Your iPhone

How To Speed Up, Clean Up And Revive Your Android Phone

Kick back on the couch, pull up your Android phone, and act like you’re still being productive by giving it some spring cleaning of its own.
How To Speed Up, Clean Up And Revive Your Android Phone

8 Easy PC Pranks to Trick Your Friends

With April Fools’ Day on the horizon, it’s the perfect time to play some epic pranks on your PC-using co-workers, friends, family and frenemies.
8 Easy PC Pranks to Trick Your Friends

7 Tools to Generate Your Random Mega Millions Numbers

Here’s a hypothetical situation: You’re offered a lot of money — say, $640 million, give or take — and you can do anything with it. Buy a mansion. Invest in Apple. Donate to charity (that’s first on your list, right?). Everything’s at your fingertips. There’s just one catch — you have to pick the five perfect numbers first.
7 Tools to Generate Your Random Mega Millions Numbers

Vibrating Car Seats Ensure Your Butt’s The First To Know About Dangers

The latest version of the Cadillac XTS will include General Motor’s new Safety Alert Seat technology that can subtly alert the driver with unique vibrating pulse patterns on either side of their seat. It works in tandem with the vehicles’ autonomous safety systems and sensors, and can warn a driver in situations where they’re accidentally drifting between lanes, or backing up too close to another car when parking.
Vibrating Car Seats Ensure Your Butt’s The First To Know About Dangers

A Passenger's-Eye View of the JetBlue Pilot's Bizarre Incident [VIDEO]

What happens in the sky no longer stays in the sky. Tuesday’s bizarre incident, in which a Las Vegas-bound JetBlue flight made an unexpected landing in the Texas Panhandle after a pilot suffered a “medical situation,” is now saved for posterity.
A Passenger's-Eye View of the JetBlue Pilot's Bizarre Incident [VIDEO]

Everest climbing tech then and now

It's been 59 years since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first confirmed ascent to the summit of Mount Everest. While the reason people climb Everest hasn't changed, the technology they use certainly has. National Geographic compares Hillary and Norgay's gear with that of Hilaree O'Neill who is part of a team attempting the summit in the coming weeks.
Everest climbing tech then and now

10 Great Clothing Tricks In 60 Seconds

One chore you can’t escape is the need to take care of your clothes. Whether it’s mending things that are falling apart or simply learning how to fold, store and keep them, this video will show you the easiest, quickest ways to perform a whole slew of clothing-related activities.
10 Great Clothing Tricks In 60 Seconds

Common Cooking Mistakes You Should Stop Making

A while back we checked out at a great list of common cooking mistakes that many people — myself included — are guilty of committing from time to time. This list from the folks at EatingWell hits on a few other common errors that many of us make, including heating oil until it starts to smoke.
Common Cooking Mistakes You Should Stop Making

Bullet Time in Real Life: Impacts Slowed Down with High Speed Cameras

Combine a little shooting range fun with a camera capable of shooting a million frames per second and you’ve got yourself the basis of pretty hypnotizing video.
Bullet Time in Real Life: Impacts Slowed Down with High Speed Cameras

10 Amazing Slow Motion Videos of Everyday Things

We live in a fast-paced world. Maybe that’s why slow motion videos are so appealing to us. Using cameras with ultra-high frame rates reveals details that are usually invisible to the naked eye. In 1878, a camera that could capture images at a higher frame rate even settled a bet between then California Governor, Leland Stanford and some of his friends. The bet rose out of a debate on whether or not all four of a horse’s hooves left the ground while running. Landscape photographer Edward Muybridge put the debate to rest when he produced the pictures to prove that they do in fact leave the ground.
10 Amazing Slow Motion Videos of Everyday Things

Print Multiple Tabs or Bookmarks As One PDF Document In Firefox

The majority of web page to pdf extensions let you convert a single web page into a pdf document. This may often be all that’s needed, but it is not very practicable if you want to create a pdf document from multiple web pages. While you could now do some copying and pasting into Microsoft Office or Open Office, and use the programs to create the pdf document for you in the end, you’d probably be interested in a more straightforward option.
Print Multiple Tabs or Bookmarks As One PDF Document In Firefox

Researchers Say Memories Can Be Relived, Not Just Recalled

Have you ever wanted to relive one of your most treasured memories? Not just think about the memory, but actually relive it? According to new research coming out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, you can.
Researchers Say Memories Can Be Relived, Not Just Recalled

"Unseen Titanic" in NatGeo magazine: first ever complete views of wreck

Sonar mosaic developed by Remus Operations Group (WHOI) and Waitt Institute. Visible for the first time through sonar imaging, the remains of the ship and its contents sprawl across a thousand acres of gently sloping seafloor. Combined with optical mosaics of individual artifacts, this map of the main wreck area will help experts explore, manage and protect the Titanic as a long-term archaeological site.
"Unseen Titanic" in NatGeo magazine: first ever complete views of wreck

How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image)

Somewhere in your home, there’s a box of old analog photographs you probably want digital copies of. Unless you know how to use your scanner correctly, the image quality can turn out poor. Here’s how to get the best results.
How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image)

Scientists Work Out How To Stop You Going Bald

Going bald is the one big vanity concern among most men. But relax, it doesn’t need to be that way; scientists have just worked out exactly why men go bald, and already have a way to stop it happening.
Scientists Work Out How To Stop You Going Bald

10 Stubborn Exercise Myths That Won’t Die, Debunked By Science

“No pain, no gain!” “You’ll never bulk up without supplements.” “Crunches are the key to six-pack abs!” It seems there are more questions and half-truths in the market about healthy exercise than there are clear, definitive facts — but the exercise industry is a multi-billion dollar business, built partially on selling gadgets and DVDs with incredible claims to people desperate to lose weight or look attractive. Meanwhile, good workout plans and simple truths lurk in the background waiting for their time to shine. All of this results in lots of misinformation about exercise. We’re taking some of those commonly-held exercise myths to task, and we have science to back us up. Let’s get started.
10 Stubborn Exercise Myths That Won’t Die, Debunked By Science

English Teacher Rethinks Grammar Lessons -- With an App

In the last eight years, high school English teacher Jeff Scheur has graded 15,000 papers. He estimates that each time he collects a new round of essays from his 150 students, it takes him about 40 hours to read them, fill out grading rubrics and write personalized feedback. Meanwhile, he questions the impact of his efforts.
English Teacher Rethinks Grammar Lessons -- With an App

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 6/2012

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 6/2012

Australia’s Biggest Scams (And How To Avoid Them)

The unpleasant reality: many people are dishonest and will try and scam you or your loved ones. Awareness is your biggest defence. Here are the most prevalent scams in Australia, and how you can avoid them.
Australia’s Biggest Scams (And How To Avoid Them)

Copyright Math: the best TED Talk you'll watch all year

This may just be the best TED Talk video I've seen: listen.com/Rhapsody founder and extremely funny person (and soon-to-be debut science fiction author) Rob Reid examines the math behind the claims made by the copyright lobby and explains the mindbending awesomeness of the sums used to justify SOPA, PIPA, ACTA and the like.
Copyright Math: the best TED Talk you'll watch all year

10 Futuristic Products in Development Now

Everyone jokes about the flying cars and robot maids we’ve seen in movies and television, but it turns out the “future” we’ve dreamed of is well on its way.
10 Futuristic Products in Development Now

New iPad Teardown: 'It's Really Just a Giant Battery'

You may be busy preparing your line-waiting strategy for a new iPad on Friday morning, or plotting the fastest route to your local Wal-Mart to pick up a new iPad at midnight.

But the guys at iFixIt have trumped us all — by flying to Australia, where the tablet is already on sale, and proceeding to tear one apart.
New iPad Teardown: 'It's Really Just a Giant Battery'

See All of the 2012 Moon Phases Before They Happen

What do you get when you combine a year’s worth of NASA lunar projects into continuous render? You get this awesome video that shows you ever house of every moon phase in all of 2012.
See All of the 2012 Moon Phases Before They Happen

The Internet Remembers the Japan Quake and Tsunami Anniversary

March 11 was the anniversary of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, and citizens worldwide commemorated the event. Not only did news outlets release countless stories assessing Japan’s situation one year later, but people all over the world also shared their thoughts and photos online — including politicians, journalists, celebrities and ordinary citizens.
The Internet Remembers the Japan Quake and Tsunami Anniversary

Japan Quake and Tsunami Anniversary: How to Follow Its Events on Social Media

This Sunday, March 11, marks the one-year anniversary of northern Japan’s threefold devastating disaster — a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, a tsunami that engulfed entire towns and cities, and a nuclear disaster that has since shut down 52 out of 55 commercial reactors in Japan and stirred an international debate about nuclear energy.
Japan Quake and Tsunami Anniversary: How to Follow Its Events on Social Media

Add Encrypt And Other Useful Features To Windows’ Right-Click Menu

Free app Right Click Tweaker adds up to 14 useful features with just a few clicks of your mouse.
Add Encrypt And Other Useful Features To Windows’ Right-Click Menu

Internet Users Flock To Google Search To Learn About 'Pink Slime'

Pink slime, a beef filler sprayed with ammonia, isn’t in a McDonald’s hamburger patty, but it is likely in pre-package ground beef at the grocery store and will soon be on school lunch trays.
Internet Users Flock To Google Search To Learn About 'Pink Slime'

Cutest video you'll see all day of penguins flying on a plane

On a recent Delta Flight, there were 300 or so human passengers and two foot-and-a-half tall penguins, Pete and Penny, who are 6 and 12 years old respectively.
Cutest video you'll see all day of penguins flying on a plane

Largest Solar Storm In Years About to Hit Earth

The most powerful solar storm in half a decade is about to hit our planet Earth, putting electrical systems, satellite navigation and other technology at a slight risk of failure.
Largest Solar Storm In Years About to Hit Earth

What Happens To My Gmail Account When I Die?

You use a handful of web services every day, but perhaps none holds more of your personal information than your Gmail account. So what happens to your Gmail account should you end up in that big archive folder in the sky? The folks from cloud backup service Backupify set out to find out. Here’s what they learned.
What Happens To My Gmail Account When I Die?

20+ Programs That You Should Run Regularly On Your PC

Many PC users do not think about maintenance as long as their system is running as intended. The issue here is that they might be able to resolve future issues, or mitigate them at least, if they would run a set of tools regularly on their PC. The following guide looks at some of the recommended programs – my recommendations – that should be run regularly on a PC. Not all are maintenance related though, you also find security and privacy programs in the list for instance.
20+ Programs That You Should Run Regularly On Your PC

Get Real-Time Search Results from Google with a URL Tweak

Google offers a few preset search filters for time—past hour, day, week, etc.—but if you want much fresher information, you can tweak the URL. This will limit results so see what's happening in more of a near real-time flow of information.
Get Real-Time Search Results from Google with a URL Tweak

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 5/2012

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 5/2012

Man Sues Google Over Street View Photo of Him Peeing

A man in France has sued Google because a Street View photo shows him in his front yard taking a leak. The middle-aged man lives in a small village and says the photo has made him a laughingstock in the community.
Man Sues Google Over Street View Photo of Him Peeing

Windows 8 Consumer Preview arrives

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview was expected in February, and it just scraped in. Good job 2012 is a leap year...
Windows 8 Consumer Preview arrives

The Hidden Meaning Behind Phrases In Job Ads

Help wanted ads and job postings tend to use the same jargon: everyone seems to be looking for “detail-oriented” “team players” who can work in a “fast-paced work environment.” Fortune Magazine suggests these buzzwords can clue you in to secrets about the potential employer.
The Hidden Meaning Behind Phrases In Job Ads

Track Who’s Tracking You With Mozilla Collusion

Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs took the TED stage Tuesday morning to introduce Collusion, a Firefox browser add-on that lets you track who’s tracking you across the web for behavioral targeting purposes.
Track Who’s Tracking You With Mozilla Collusion

Haunting photos from Fukushima, one year later: "Invisible You," by Satoru Niwa

Japanese photographer Satoru Niwa, whose work I blogged in a previous Boing Boing post, has a new series from Fukushima marking the one-year anniversary of the March 11 disaster: Invisible You. Again, beautiful, evocative work. Above: a shot from the town of Namie, which is some 40 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Haunting photos from Fukushima, one year later: "Invisible You," by Satoru Niwa

The problem with body mass index

The Body Mass Index is a popular way to measure and assess whether someone is overweight or underweight. Basically, it's just your weight divided by your height. BMI is a simple system, but it does have some flaws. Over at the Obesity Panacea blog, Peter Janiszewski (who has a Ph.D. in exercise physiology) has a nice post explaining why BMI is sometimes useful, and also why it's not a great measurement of individual health.
The problem with body mass index