Thursday, October 31, 2013

Earth's Hellish 'Twin Sister' Discovered

Two studies of an Earth-sized planet circling the sun-like star Kepler-78 show it has Earth-like amounts of iron and rock, the first world of its size that scientists have been able to calculate both density and diameter.
Earth's Hellish 'Twin Sister' Discovered

10 Surprisingly Inspirational Quotes From Evil People

Just because you’re a horrible human being it doesn’t mean that you don’t have something insightful to say. In fact, several of history’s worst people have said some truly inspiring things. Here are some that we’ve found especially perceptive.
10 Surprisingly Inspirational Quotes From Evil People

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

New Wolfram Problem Generator: Practice and Learn

We are proud to announce Wolfram Problem Generator, a website where students decide which topic they want to practice and we provide the questions and solutions. This is an exciting new way to help students with their classes: previously, students provided their own practice questions and Wolfram|Alpha helped them find answers with Step-by-step solutions. Students can now ask Wolfram|Alpha for help with practice and homework questions and can do practice problems with Wolfram Problem Generator.
New Wolfram Problem Generator: Practice and Learn

Five Ancient Cannons Rescued From Blackbeard's Sunken Ship

Looking like something straight off Davy Jones’s ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean, five cannons saw air for the very first time in almost 300 years yesterday as they were lifted from what’s believed to be legendary pirate Blackbeard’s sunken ship.
Five Ancient Cannons Rescued From Blackbeard's Sunken Ship

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

How to burn 20 hours of video on a single long-play DVD

Creating your own video DVDs has really become easy in recent time. Most programs ship with all required components so that you only need to use a single one to convert all video files in the appropriate format before the converted data is burned on a disc.
How to burn 20 hours of video on a single long-play DVD

Long-form YouTube: videos of entire long-distance train journeys

YouTube has been an existence-proof of forms of video that were lurking in potentia, unable to come into existence due to limitations of the distribution channel. The two-to-three-minute video has now been firmly established as a genre (with the six-second video hot on its heels), but there's plenty of room at the long end of the scale. Case in point: subculture of YouTubers who post full-length train journeys, hours and hours' worth -- and if that's not long-form enough, how about 134-hour sea crossings?
Long-form YouTube: videos of entire long-distance train journeys

Star Wars bloopers

Unexpectedly hilarious! Sound kicks in at 0:45s.
Star Wars bloopers

Monday, October 28, 2013

Five Best Travel Routers

you’re hitting the road and taking your gadgets with you, a good travel router will help you share the Wi-Fi in your hotel, office or anywhere else. The best ones do it with no hassle, easy setup, and small form-factors that slip nicely into a carry-on bag. Some even keep your gadgets charged while they’re connected.
Five Best Travel Routers

10 Things You Didn't Know About 'The Simpsons'

For over 20 years, The Simpsons have been the most famous animated family in the world. YouTube channel Alltime10s dug deep to find some facts that even super fans might be surprised to learn.
10 Things You Didn't Know About 'The Simpsons'

Thursday, October 24, 2013

The 20 Scariest Google Street View Sightings

Google's Street View technology does more than capture mundane shots of city streets. As the platform has evolved, Google has offered striking images from exotic places like the Galápagos Islands, Mount Fuji and the Eiffel Tower. You can even take a look inside CERN's Large Hadron Collider. But Street View has also revealed unintentional surprises, from murder and mayhem to people's most embarrassing moments, and it has the potential to capture terrifying images, too.
The 20 Scariest Google Street View Sightings

Watch All Six Apollo Moon Landings In One Glorious Video

NASA successfully landed six moon missions from 1969 to 1972 — and had one legendary failure. It was a monumental era for NASA, and thanks to bonkers YouTube user lunarmodule5, now you can ride along on a space video mashup of all six heart-pounding landings at once. It’s breathtaking.
Watch All Six Apollo Moon Landings In One Glorious Video

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Five Tricky Job Interview Questions (And The Right Answers)

No matter how much interview preparation you do, there’s always that moment when the unexpected question shows up. Here are five particularly sneaky examples, why they get asked, and how you should respond.
Five Tricky Job Interview Questions (And The Right Answers)

Monday, October 21, 2013

How to Identify Which Hardware Component is Failing in Your Computer

Concluding that your computer has a hardware problem is just the first step. If you’re dealing with a hardware issue and not a software issue, the next step is determining what hardware problem you’re actually dealing with.
How to Identify Which Hardware Component is Failing in Your Computer

Saturday, October 19, 2013

15+ Best Smart Gardening Tools and Gadgets

Passionate about gardening and plants, no matter where you are? Then you need to stop for a moment and have a look at all these awesome gardening gadgets and tools that we’ve gathered here. No matter if you live in a small flat or maybe you have a huge garden, these are all devices that will help you take better care of your plants and transform your garden into a true smart greenhouse of the twenty-first century.
15+ Best Smart Gardening Tools and Gadgets

Friday, October 18, 2013

50 Educational Podcasts You Should Check Out

Maybe you don’t have time to sit down and sift through the latest education blogs for ideas and inspiration. If the thought of trying to carve out more hours in your day leaves you feeling overwhelmed, this list is for you.
50 Educational Podcasts You Should Check Out

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Stay Updated On The NSW Fires: Google Crisis Map, Frightening Twitter Photos

Google Australia has set up a mirror to the NSW Rural Fire Services’ fire alert map, meaning that this link will get you to all the latest emergency warnings for the fires now burning out of control around the state. We’ve also embedded an auto-refreshing Twitter stream to help you keep up-to-date.
Stay Updated On The NSW Fires: Google Crisis Map, Frightening Twitter Photos

Viral Video Recap: Must-Watch Memes of the Week

In this week's Viral Video Recap, cats get their turn in the "Wrecking Ball" spotlight. The clip features two cats batting a wrecking ball made of yarn and crashing into walls of toilet paper rolls.
Viral Video Recap: Must-Watch Memes of the Week

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Monday, October 14, 2013

The Complete Guide to Twitter Etiquette

Forget distinguishing the salad fork from the dinner fork. Today's lessons in etiquette are all about looking good on social media. And Twitter, as the microblogging platform of choice for more than 200 million users, is one of the most influential platforms.
The Complete Guide to Twitter Etiquette

Sunday, October 13, 2013

10 Windows Tweaking Myths Debunked

Windows is big, complicated, and misunderstood. You’ll still stumble across bad advice from time to time when browsing the web. These Windows tweaking, performance, and system maintenance tips are mostly just useless, but some are actively harmful.
10 Windows Tweaking Myths Debunked

Saturday, October 12, 2013

This Video Puts 30 Popular Life Hacks To The Test

If you’ve seen some of the tips and hacks we’ve posted and wondered if they actually work, check out this video from Mental Floss. John Green put 30 different life hacks to the test with some surprising results.
This Video Puts 30 Popular Life Hacks To The Test

Exploding Toilet Sends Brooklyn Man To The Hospital

Bad things often happen in mysterious, inexplicable ways. Michel Pierre of Brooklyn experienced this first hand this week when he pulled the handle of his toilet, and the whole thing exploded in his face. The blast knocked him out and sent him to the hospital where he got 30 stitches.
Exploding Toilet Sends Brooklyn Man To The Hospital

Long Lost 'Doctor Who' Episodes Uncovered in Nigeria are Now on iTunes

Here's a treat for Doctor Who fans: Nine episodes from the 1960s that were missing from the BBC's archives were found in Nigeria and are now exclusively available for download on iTunes.
Long Lost 'Doctor Who' Episodes Uncovered in Nigeria are Now on iTunes

Friday, October 11, 2013

4 New Google Maps Features That Make Travel Easier

Even as Apple has been trying to rework its maps efforts — with a radical new redesign for iOS 7 and Hopstop acquisition — Google has been consistently adding features in its Google Maps app after it came back on iOS in December 2012 and quickly surpassed 10 million downloads. Google has since rolled out update after update, like live traffic alerts and transit updates in major cities. It bought traffic navigation app Waze in June.
4 New Google Maps Features That Make Travel Easier

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Yahoo! Mail Plus turns into Yahoo! Ad Free Mail: all relevant changes explained

If you have followed the news today or opened your Yahoo! email inbox on your computer or in a mobile application, you may have noticed that things have changed quite a bit, and mostly for the better.
Yahoo! Mail Plus turns into Yahoo! Ad Free Mail: all relevant changes explained

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Internet Activity, Australia, June 2013 (ABS)

Contains details of internet activity supplied by all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia. It includes information on internet subscribers and their type of connection, the type of user (business/household), the volume of data downloaded, the speed of the internet connection and the location of the subscriber (by state or territory).
Internet Activity, Australia, June 2013

Sunday, October 06, 2013

10 Common Tech Questions (And Their High-Tech Explanations)

There are certain problems we all deal with every day, but don’t know why. Why do I need to keep resetting my router? Do I have a virus? What happens when a site I use gets “hacked?” Whether you’re the tech-savvy friend that’s always answering these questions or the friend doing the asking, here are the answers to the most common conundrums.
10 Common Tech Questions (And Their High-Tech Explanations)

Make Your Embarrassing Old Facebook Posts Unsearchable With This Quick Tweak

It seems like every few months Facebook changes its privacy settings and unlocks a bunch of your previously hidden (or semi-hidden) information. This week, Facebook is tweaking Graph Search so that it can search posts, photos, check-ins, and comments. Basically, any word you’ve written on Facebook.com is now searchable.
Make Your Embarrassing Old Facebook Posts Unsearchable With This Quick Tweak

Saturday, October 05, 2013

ScriptBlock for Chrome blocks scripts from running automatically on websites

One of the core reasons that I'm using Firefox as my main web browser is the NoScript extension for it. It blocks all scripts from running automatically on websites, ships with options to enable scripts temporarily or permanently, and offers a wide area of additional security features that protect the browser well from many threats on today's Internet.
ScriptBlock for Chrome blocks scripts from running automatically on websites

Friday, October 04, 2013

Adobe Treating Australians As Lesser Beings Even After Details Of 2.9 Million Accounts Were Stolen

Oh, Adobe. Not content with overcharging Australians and trying to dodge questions about it, now we’re getting second-rate treatment even when you’re attacked by hackers. Sigh.
Adobe Treating Australians As Lesser Beings Even After Details Of 2.9 Million Accounts Were Stolen

Fukushima Leaks Radioactive Water Into The Pacific Ocean (Again)

Officials from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have announced that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been leaking radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean again.
Fukushima Leaks Radioactive Water Into The Pacific Ocean (Again)

Thursday, October 03, 2013

Why (And How) You Should Regularly Calibrate Your Laptop's Battery

You may already know your battery is best served by shallow discharges, but calibrating your battery occasionally is important too. If you don’t, the display that shows you how much charge is remaining can be wildly inaccurate.
Why (And How) You Should Regularly Calibrate Your Laptop's Battery

Awesome Pictures Of Australia's Phone Network Being Built 50 Years Ago

Today in Sydney, Telstra is hosting a reunion of workers who helped build the first coaxial cable connecting Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. These days we’re busy arguing over the benefits of fibre and copper for the NBN, but one thing hasn’t changed: laying those cables is some seriously hard slog, as you can see in these pictures of the network being built.
Awesome Pictures Of Australia's Phone Network Being Built 50 Years Ago

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Why We Get Jet Lag (And How To Avoid It)

It’s four in the morning and you’re stuck in your hotel room, bored out of your skull but wide awake. Thanks jet lag! That’s the price you pay for changing so many time zones in a single aeroplane ride. Here’s why it happens, and how you can prevent it from ruining your trip.
Why We Get Jet Lag (And How To Avoid It)