Australia In Your Pocket

There are more than 13.9 million motor vehicles in Australia and 6.65 million Internet subscribers and they can all fit into your pocket - thanks to new transport and regional Australia pocket guides released today by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Mark Vaile.
Australia In Your Pocket

Education News, Jun 2007

This newsletter highlights the latest curriculum related teaching resources, student activities and statistical tools that have been developed by ABS Education Services.
Education News, Jun 2007

The Queen's Birthday 2007 Honours List

Below are the Biographical notes for each recipient in The Queen's Birthday 2007 Honours List.
The Queen's Birthday 2007 Honours List

Little-known AV packages outdo Symantec, McAfee, Microsoft

Andreas Clementi, who runs the web site av-comparatives.org, has released his latest report that looks at how well antivirus programs do against threats that have not yet been identified and included in standard AV signatures. The test looked at 17 different products, including offerings from Symantec, McAfee, AVG, Kaspersky, and Microsoft, and tested how well releases dated February 2 (with no updates) fared against a swath of new malware—viruses, scripts, trojans, and other nasties—that were discovered between February 2 and May 2.

Little-known AV packages outdo Symantec, McAfee, Microsoft

Forgetting helps us to Remember

U.S. researchers have discovered for the first time the neural connection of forgetting and remembering: the brain forgets trivial stuff so that it can more easily store and retrieve important information.
Forgetting helps us to Remember

Google Recognizes Faces

Google has made a silent launch of a new face search function in Google Image Search.

If you search for a person — let’s say Henrik Larsson — and then add the following text string to the end of the URL: &imgtype=face , Google will only include faces in image search results.

Google Recognizes Faces

How Swiss Bank Accounts Work

Swiss bank accounts aren't just for millionaires, criminals or government officials trying to hide ill-gotten wealth, or celebrities protecting their assets from former spouses. They're available to anyone and lots of average people have Swiss bank accounts. People who live in countries with unstable governments and banks in particular often turn to Swiss banks because of their security and privacy.
How Swiss Bank Accounts Work

Funny Signs from Around the World

Here’s a rather large collection of funny signs from around the world that you probably haven’t seen before. There are multiple pages.
A Collection of Funny Signs from Around the World

20 Ways to Eliminate Stress From Your Life

By careful editing of your life, and changing certain habits, you can eliminate most (not all) sources of stress in your life.
20 Ways to Eliminate Stress From Your Life

Top 10 Network Utilities - Lifehacker

Looking at the history of computing, anyone can see that it wasn't until some brilliant folks connected a couple of computers together that the real fun began. Countless tools let you do all sorts of network trickery, many with their roots at the Unix command line. But forget arcane command line tools.
Top 10 Network Utilities

World's most polluted River?

It was once a gently flowing river, where fishermen cast their nets, sea birds came to feed and natural beauty left visitors spellbound.
Villagers collected water for their simple homes and rice paddies thrived on its irrigation channels.
Today, the Citarum is a river in crisis.
Is this the world's most polluted river?

CIA Website Top 25 Search Phrases

This collection reports the most frequent phrases used to search for documents on the CIA website during the previous month.
CIA Website Top 25 Search Phrases

Which Movie Reviews Should I Believe?

These days, anyone can be a published film critic, but who should you listen to when you can find both negative and positive movie reviews for anything out there? Now, the answer is simple! The quick tool below will compare your personal movie reviews with the movie reviews of some of the most prolific movie critics. The result is that you’ll know who your movie critic match is, and where to go for the movie reviews that will help you find the movies you’ll love.
Which Movie Reviews Should I Believe?

Who Gives Money to the Homeless?

Blunt Money has opened up an interesting thread about giving (or not giving) to beggars. Some of the comments bring back memories:
One reader says, "My daughter and I saw [a beggar], with a sign 'hungry need food...' while he was smoking a cigarette and talking on his cell phone."
Ask The Consumerists: Who Gives Money to the Homeless?

Microsoft Security Response Center June 2007 Advance Notification

This month, Microsoft is planning to release six security bulletins:

· Four Microsoft Security Bulletins affecting Microsoft Windows with a Maximum Severity rating of Critical. Three of the updates will require a restart. These updates will be detectable using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

· One Microsoft Security Bulletins affecting Microsoft Office with a Maximum Severity rating of Important. This updates may require a restart. These updates will be detectable using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

· One Microsoft Security Bulletin affecting Microsoft Windows with a Maximum Severity rating of Moderate. This updates will not require a restart. These updates will be detectable using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer

Microsoft Security Response Center June 2007 Advance Notification

The Top 10 Intrepid Explorers

These daring men and women have made the world a smaller place. Thanks to their guts and sweat, we know the Earth is round, life exists in the depth's of the sea and that the view from space is spectacular.
The Top 10 Intrepid Explorers

Travel Advice for Thailand

Exercise a high degree of caution because of the high threat of terrorist attack. We continue to receive reports that terrorists may be planning attacks against a range of targets, including tourist areas and other places frequented by foreigners.
Travel Advice for Thailand - Australian Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Mohammed to be Britain's top Boys' Name

Mohammed to be Britain's top Boys' Name

Boing Boing: Google Street View

Here's a Boing Boing roundup of some of the many responses to last week's posts about Google's newly launched "street view" zoom feature.
Boing Boing: Google Street View: a cavalcade of reactions, gag pix, paranoid rants

Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2006

Statistics on incidents of victimisation for a selected range of offences that came to the attention of police and were recorded by them in the period 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2006.
Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2006

Australian Demographic Statistics

The preliminary estimated resident population (ERP) of Australia at 31 December 2006, based on the 2006 Census of Population and Housing, was 20,852,000 persons. This was an increase of 293,100 persons since 31 December 2005, and 73,200 persons since 30 September 2006.
Australian Demographic Statistics, Dec 2006

London unveils Logo of 2012 Olympics

The logo for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics has been unveiled in a star-studded ceremony in London. The jagged emblem, based on the date 2012, comes in a series of shades of pink, blue, green and orange and will evolve in the run-up to the Games.
London 2012 Olympic Games Logo

Business Indicators, Australia

Underlying strength in sales, wages and profit growth in the March 2007 quarter.
5676.0 - Business Indicators, Australia, March 2007

15 years of Native Title

On 3 June Australia commemorates the 15th anniversary of the High Court's landmark Mabo decision - the catalyst for native title in Australia.
Tribunal President Graeme Neate said the anniversary was an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved since then, and to look forward: ‘There have been 101 registered determinations of native title, 67 that native title exists and 34 that native title does not exist. Most of these determinations have been made by agreement, but much work remains to be done.’
15 years of Native Title

Doctored Magazine Covers

The June/July issue of Men's Fitness enhanced Andy Roddick's bicep muscles -- so much so that Roddick said he stopped in his tracks when he saw the cover while walking through the airport. Eight other celebrity magazine covers are featured, including those of Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Brad and Angelina, and OJ Simpson.
Doctored Magazine Covers

I-SPY Online Snooping

A good read for awareness. Be careful out there.
A Master Class in Online Snooping

Australian National Library to Digitise Newspapers

The National Library of Australia, in collaboration with each Australian state and territory library, has embarked on a plan to digitise out of copyright newspapers.
National Library to digitise newspapers for the nation

Google Street View Gallery

Here are some oddities found on Google Maps’ new Street View feature, via StreetViewr.com (most of these are from San Francisco, as it has the highest resolution panorama photos).
Google Street View Gallery

25 Best Movies You've Never Seen

Forget The Godfather. What we've got here are the overlooked greats, the hidden gems. From Jake Gyllenhaal in a bubble to a murderous Kate Winslet to a pair of violent, avenging Irish "angels" … these are the box-office left-behinds.
25 Best Movies You've Never Seen

Behind the Scenes of Google Rankings

The New York Times has a mighty interesting inside look at Google’s top search algo engineers, most prominently 39-year old Amit Singhal, and their methodologies. Some highlights:

Users expect more: Amit says search moved from “Give me what I typed” to “Give me what I want.” Users expect more and more these days and take good results for granted... if something they’re looking for is not in the top 3 results, something feels broken.

Read on...Behind the Scenes of Google Rankings

10 Beach Photography Tips

Here in Australia we love to hit the beach.
We’re one big island and most of our population is scattered along the coast line so the beach is a natural place for us to go both on day trips and longer holidays.
Beaches present digital camera owners with a number of wonderful opportunities as they are places of natural beauty, color and interesting light. However they also present a variety of challenges including camera damage, privacy issues and making large open spaces interesting.
10 Beach Photography Tips

Science Podcasts - The Lab

Get caught up in the podcasting frenzy, but in a sciencey way! You can now have the latest ABC Science Online and Radio National science shows to download at your leisure or to have magically delivered when you subscribe via RSS feed.
Science Podcasts - The Lab

Internet Activity, Australia

The Internet Activity Survey (IAS) collects details on aspects of Internet access services provided by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia.
This publication contains results from all ISPs operating in Australia with over 10,000 active subscribers as at 31 March 2007. Growth from September 2006 to March 2007 may be due to the movement of subscribers from smaller ISPs.
Internet Activity, Australia

Top 15 Google Street View Sightings

Google’s Street View feature for Google Maps, which enables users to see certain parts of several big US cities through panoramic images, has caused a new trend: StreetSpotting.
Top 15 Google Street View Sightings

The First Digital Image

The first film photo registered by a computer and recreated in pixels—30,976 to be exact. In 1957, Russell Kirsch, a scientist at what is now the National Institute of Standards and Technology, used a drum scanner connected to the SEAC (Standards Electronic Automatic Computer) to scan an image of his three-month-old son Walden.
The First Digital Image (The World Almanac)

Travel Advice for Indonesia

We advise you to reconsider your need to travel to Indonesia, including Bali, at this time due to the very high threat of terrorist attack. We receive regular reports indicating that terrorists are planning attacks against Western interests against a range of targets, including places frequented by foreigners. If you are in Indonesia, including Bali, and are concerned for your safety you should consider departing.
Travel Advice for Indonesia

31 Of The Worst Predictions

1. “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” — Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
Read on...
31 Of The Worst Predictions

BitLocker Drive Encryption

Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption is certainly one of the most talked-about features in Windows Vista. However, most people haven’t yet had much opportunity to test BitLocker to find out firsthand
Keys to Protecting Data with BitLocker Drive Encryption

Australian Economic Indicators

A monthly compendium of economic statistics, presenting comprehensive tables, graphs, commentaries, feature articles and technical notes. Primarily a reference document, the publication provides a broad basis for analysis and research on the Australian economy and includes statistics that can be applied to both macro-economic and sectoral analyses. The publication contains statistics under the following headings: national accounts, international accounts, consumption and investment, production, prices, labour force and demography, incomes and labour costs, financial markets, state comparisons and international comparisons.
Australian Economic Indicators, June 2007

The Science of Disgust

The ewww factor. A new study explains why we think some things are icky - and marketers are starting to take heed.
The Science of Disgust

High Stress: Air Traffic Control

High Stress Job !
Air Traffic Control Video

Microsoft Surface Confirmed: Touch-Sensitive

Dubbed "Surface" and five years in the making, Project Milan is set to establish a paradigm of what Microsoft calls "surface computers" which use touch as the sole method of input.
Microsoft Surface Confirmed: Touch-Sensitive

Real-Time Information from ResourceShelf

ResourceShelf is updated daily by an editorial team headed by Gary Price and Shirl Kennedy. Here is a snapshot of some Real Time Information and Webcams such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Eiffel Tower etc.
ResourceShelf » Real-Time Information

Google Maps is spying on my Cat

From Boing Boing...

The new Google Maps zoom feature zooms all the way into my living room window. See cat on cat perch.
I'm all for mapping, but this feature literally gives me the shakes. I feel like I need to close all my curtains now. I'm going to look into whether it's possible for a person to have pictures of their home removed from Google Maps. Meanwhile, I'm happy to show bb readers the photo in the interest of illustrating creepy privacy violations. Heck, the whole world can see him anyway.
Google Maps is spying on my Cat

Spectacular Mammatus Clouds

These photos were taken by Jorn Olsen, he lives on Heartwell Park in Hastings, Nebraska. His website is: http://www.jornolsen.com which you may be interested in looking at. Three of these photos were featured on the front and back cover of the Journal of Meteorology and circulated in 26 countries.
Spectacular Mammatus Clouds over Hastings, Nebraska

You’re Fired!

There are two types of employee. One has a good idea of what they do, who they are and what position they play in the company. They are savvy. They know the score. They are under no delusions, and will no doubt leave for another job long before they are ever considered as cannon-fodder.
And then there’s the other kind. Read on...
You’re Fired! 20 signs that a pink-slip is coming

Google Maps Street View from outside US

Google is making excessive use of their GeoIP database these days to test new features in a limited area of their choice. Now they decided to only let users from the US use the street view option in Google Maps. If you live in another country, you'd actually have to wait until Google releases the feature worldwide or use a proxy from inside the states.
There's another way to avoid Google's IP filter though:
Google Maps Street View from outside US

Exploring the Windows Vista Firewall

Modern computing environments wildly diverge from ancient times. Everything is connected to the Internet and portable devices are now the standard. Your employer has likely given you a laptop, not because they care about you, but because they care about getting more out of you — they fully expect you to work anytime you’ve got five spare minutes and a Wi-Fi connection. Laptops might cost more than desktops, but that investment is surely repaid in productivity. You see, it’s the portability that makes them so alluring—to you and your adversaries. Read on...
Exploring the Windows Vista Firewall

World Wind Central - Saturn

This World Wind Central addon includes Saturn, Patrick Murris's PlanetaryRings plugin, moons, feature names, and some physical properties of the rings.
Add-on:Saturn - World Wind Central

Convert an Image to a Text File

Convert an image and process to a text file of the original image. Convert picture to text. Ascii Art. ascii photo, ascii image, ascii convertion, asciiart, ascii picture, convert image text, image to text, image to ascii etc
Photo2Text

Women In Art

This YouTube clip morphs many traditional female portraits over 3 minutes.
Women In Art

Top 25 Web 2.0 Search Engines

Online search is now a multi-billion dollar industry, with Google alone grossing over $3.5 billion in profits last year. It's no wonder why so many newcomers are hopping on the search bandwagon, hoping to become the next Google. And those new search engines that may stand the best chance to become the next Google all share one common element — the use of Web 2.0 technology that they hope will increase search result relevance.

Here are 25 such engines. Some offer functionality that's slowly making its way into traditional search engines. Others further the attempt to traverse the invisible Web and index other previously unsearchable research sources.

Top 25 Web 2.0 Search Engines

Top 100 Scariest Movie Scenes

Some films aren't scary by design, but happen to have creepy and shocking moments that deserve special recognition. So enjoy this list and have fun discovering a bunch of new movies to see!
Top 100 Scariest Movie Scenes of All Time

26 Reasons What You Think is Right is Wrong

A cognitive bias is something that our minds commonly do to distort our own view of reality. Here are the 26 most studied and widely accepted cognitive biases.
26 Reasons What You Think is Right is Wrong

Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity

A Handbook for Life. Now, is there any handbook that can be a guide to every single person? Of course not. This is just a list of tips that will help many people in life — some of them common-sense tips that are often forgetten about. Consider this guide a reminder.
Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know

The editors of the American Heritage® dictionaries have compiled a list of 100 words they recommend every high school graduate should know.

"The words we suggest," says senior editor Steven Kleinedler, "are not meant to be exhaustive but are a benchmark against which graduates and their parents can measure themselves. If you are able to use these words correctly, you are likely to have a superior command of the language."

The following is the entire list of 100 words:
100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know

37 Sources Of Inspiration

Did you ever feel lost in space, trying to gather your thoughts, get motivated to write for your blog, design a website, come up with logo ideas, find a perfect object for your photo shoot, simply be inspired to live your life to its fullest? Here is your one in a lifetime chance to swim in the ocean of inspiration filled from 37 sources.
37 Sources Of Inspiration

7 Ways to Send HUGE Files

Gmail users can now send up to 20MB of attachments to each other. Here are 7 services that let you send files of more than 500MB.
7 Ways to Send HUGE Files

Self-assessed Health in Australia

This article presents a brief overview of how Australians assess their own health status. Factors examined in relation to self-assessed health include age, sex, socioeconomic status, health conditions, weight, exercise, alcohol consumption and smoking.
Self-assessed Health in Australia: A Snapshot, 2004-05

Sleep Adjustment Tips - Gain Time!

Rise and Shine: No matter what time you to go to bed - you're alarm should go off each morning at the same time, 7 days per week. Gain an hour a day, that's over 10 days per year. Read on for other ideas...
Sleep Adjustment

Amazing Houses

Photos of interesting and odd houses...
Amazing things: Houses from around the World

Ikea Job Application

A funny cartoon...Ikea Job Application

7 Ways to Build the Exercise Habit

This is a post from the author of StrongLifts.com. If you enjoy this post, check out his site.
7 Ways to Build the Exercise Habit

iPhone Hype

A study from Strategy Analytics has found that 90 percent of handset owners rate Apple’s iPhone as being superior to existing mobile phones. This despite the rather pertinent facts that the iPhone has not yet gone on sale and none of those questioned would have used an iPhone.
Study Finds 90% of Handset Owners Believe iPhone Hype

Venus Near the Moon

The two brightest objects in the night sky appeared to go right past each other last week. On the night of May 19, Earth's Moon and the planet Venus were visible in the same part of the sky - Venus Near the Moon

Strange Sign: What Does It Mean?

Strange Sign What Does It Mean?

Playing Card Superstitions

Likely because of their association with gambling and fortune telling, playing cards have long been regarded as objects of moral and spiritual danger, if not of outright evil.
Playing Card Superstitions

The 100 Best Products of 2007

From the PC World editors - ranking the best PCs, HDTVs, components, sites, and services. Plus: the products they're looking forward to next year, and which technologies are rising and falling.
The 100 Best Products of 2007

Interesting Notes

Passive-aggressive Notes from roommates, neighbors, coworkers and strangers.....

10 Simple Ways to save Messing up Your Life

10 Simple Ways to save yourself from messing up your Life

General Social Survey: Australia, 2006

Among the many, often inter-related, aspects of life that are important to human wellbeing are good health, good family relationships and engagements with wider social networks, good educational opportunities and outcomes, suitable employment, a decent income and freedom from financial stress, a decent and affordable place to live, feeling safe and secure, and having access to suitable transport. There is increasing recognition that many social phenomena are inter-related and social policy is becoming less sectoral as a consequence. In 2006, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) conducted the second General Social Survey (GSS), a multi-dimensional social survey that ranges across all of these aspects of life to enable analysis of the interrelationships in social circumstances and outcomes, including the exploration of multiple advantage and disadvantage.
General Social Survey:Australia, 2006

Overclock Your Reading Speed

Speed reading is an excellent skill that can be used in your workplace, your home life, as well as your personal hobbies.
Overclock Your Reading Speed

Disney Underground - The Tunnels Exposed

Are there really tunnels under Disney? Are there really hidden Mickeys? Did you see Walt's frozen head? I guess these questions really only come from outside of Florida, and prompted this post about "The Tunnels"

Keyboard Shortcuts

A list of common keyboard shortcuts that are used in modern desktop environments: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, KDE and GNOME. These are shortcuts used to interact with the desktop environment, and shortcuts commonly used in desktop applications.
Table of Keyboard Shortcuts - Wikipedia

Eyesight Myths

It’s important to separate fact from fiction, especially when the topic is eyesight. And old wives’ tales abound about the eyes. Many of these have no basis in fact and, for that matter, can be dangerous if you followed the advice put forth.
But knowing how to take good care of your eyes is the first step to protecting your sight for a lifetime. So here’s the lowdown on some eyesight myths:
15 Useless or Even Dangerous Eyesight Myths at Ririan Project

Best Dilbert Ever!

Dilbert Comic Strip

Improving Your Landscape Photography

There’s something about getting out in nature with the challenge of capturing some of the amazing beauty that you see. The quietness and stillness of waiting for the perfect moment for the shot, scoping out an area for the best vantage point and then seeing the way that the light changed a scene over a few hours.
Here are a few the lessons learned for Improving Your Landscape Photography

The Bathroom Diaries

The Bathroom Diaries scours the globe to rate the worlds’ toilets. Few would visit a country without some advanced information, yet our tender bits are exposed to uncharted territories with no help or assistance. At our most vulnerable, we are blind. Well, no more.

Dubai Puts a New Spin on Skyscrapers

Dubai Puts a New Spin on Skyscrapers - In skyscraper-crazy Dubai, tall isn't enough. In a design to be unveiled today in the oil-rich emirate, David Fisher, an Italian-Israeli architect, has dreamed up a 68-story combination hotel, apartment and office tower where the floors would rotate 360 degrees. Each floor would rotate independently, creating a constantly changing architectural form.

Fun with clouds!

Clouds can be funny - The color of a cloud tells much about what is going on inside the cloud. Clouds form when relatively warm air containing water vapor is lighter than its surrounding air and this causes it to rise. As it rises it cools and the vapor condenses out of the air as micro-droplets. These tiny particles of water are relatively densely packed, and sunlight cannot penetrate far into the cloud before it is reflected out, giving a cloud its characteristic white color.
Fun with Clouds!

Da Vinci's Guide to Healthy Living

Leonardo Da Vinci, considered to be one of the greatest creative minds of all time, lived a good life. His talents led him to be supported and befriended by many of the most powerful men of his time. He wasn't just one of history's greatest artists, he was also one of history's greatest engineers and he was much admired, not just for his huge intellect, but also for his handsomeness, his physical strength, and his singing voice. He also had a heart, his love for animals the reason for his vegetarianism. He died at 67 years of age, which in 15th century Italy probably equates to 90 now.

Da Vinci's Guide to Healthy Living

50 Ways To Increase Your Productivity - lifehack.org

Here are 50 Ways To Increase Your Productivity and add hours to your day!

Top Ten Myths of Divorce

Discussion of the most common misinformation about divorce - the
Top Ten Myths

LILEKS (James) :: The Bleat - Disneyworld

It’s Disneyworld. The happiest, smiling-est, hottest, sweatiest, standing-in-lineiest place on earth. This year’s motto: “The Year of A Million Dreams”.

Where Do You Fit?

Where Do You Fit?
Do you cringe when your cell phone rings? Do you suffer from withdrawal when you can't check your Blackberry? Do you rush to post your vacation video to your Web site? The questions below allow you to place yourself in one of the categories in the Pew Internet Project's Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users.

9 Little Known Ways To Sleep

Can’t sleep? Try these snooze tips you may not have heard before.
9 Little Known Ways To Sleep

Unique Mailboxes Photos

Unique Mailboxes - Pile of Photos

They did what, said what?

They did what, said what? - USATODAY

Top 21 Wearable Technologies

Top 21 Wearable Technologies - Science Ahead

Download YouTube Videos

Download YouTube Videos: 23 Ways

Toxin du Jour

Urban Legends Reference: Toxin du Jour

33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity

33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity

Real Time Information: Internet Traffic Report

ResourceShelf » Real Time Information: Internet Traffic Report Update & the SANS Internet Storm Center

The 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of All Time

The 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of All Time

How to zap the crap on a new Windows PC

Zap the crap on a new Windows PC

Airplane Mishap Photos

Airplane Mishap Photos: Unbelievable, But True!

10 Most Commonly Used Passwords Online

10 Most Commonly Used Passwords Online

Patently Bad Ideas

Wired Magazine: Patently Bad Ideas

Top 100 Blogs ranked by FeedBurner

Top 100 Blogs ranked by FeedBurner

Learn to Fly Here!

Learn to Fly Here!