Why we procrastinate and how to stop

It's a new year and many of us have started thinking about various resolutions: updating that resume, cleaning out the attic, starting that exercise routine. But the sad reality is that most of us will not follow through on these commitments, not because we're insincere, but because tomorrow is always a better time to get going. Procrastination is a curse, and a costly one.
Why we procrastinate and how to stop

Tracking US Airways Flight 1549

Tracking US Airways Flight 1549 - Interactive Graphic from NY Times.
Tracking US Airways Flight 1549

Five "Healthy Snacks" that Aren't

Many of us are reaching for the nearest healthy snack as part of our eat-better-in-'09 resolutions, but as Newsweek points out, those veggie crisps are often no better than your classic bag of Doritos.
Five "Healthy Snacks" that Aren't

Crib netting tragedy: Bare cribs are safest

The strangulation death last month of a 2-year-old from Massachusetts, which was caused when he got tangled in netting that was placed over the top of a portable crib while traveling with his parents in Maine, is a tragic reminder that the safest crib is a bare one.
Crib netting tragedy: Bare cribs are safest

A New Googlebomb: Cheerful Achievement

The googlebomb “miserable failure" for a long time linked to US president Bush’s page on WhiteHouse.gov (a googlebomb happens when a group of people get together, coordinating themselves to link to a certain page using a certain agreed-upon phrase, often for humorous or political purposes). Now, there’s a new googlebomb.
A New Googlebomb: Cheerful Achievement

Breaking a Mirror

These days the accidental breaking of a small mirror (like the hand-held or self-standing kinds typically used when applying cosmetics or shaving) usually produces no more thought in most people than "I have to get a new mirror." The breaking a large wall-mounted or floor mirror, however, may still often elicit the exclamation, "Uh-oh, that's seven years of bad luck."
Breaking a Mirror

Six Words You Should Drop from Your Resume

Whether you're polishing your resume because you've been laid off or you just like to be prepared, weblog Squawkfox suggests six words you should banish from your curriculum vitae.
Six Words You Should Drop from Your Resume

Nine Tips to Keep Yourself Exercising, from a Former Couch Potato

One of the most commonly made, and most frequently broken, New Year’s resolutions is the resolution to exercise more. People who exercise are healthier, more energetic, think more clearly, sleep better, have delayed onset of dementia...the list goes on.
Nine Tips to Keep Yourself Exercising, from a Former Couch Potato

Are You Rationalizing Your Decisions?

Are you rationalizing your decisions? Let me answer that for you real quick. Yes, you are.
Are You Rationalizing Your Decisions?

Enable Hotmail POP3 In All Countries

Microsoft has announced a change to the Hotmail email provider service that they offer. The feature to access Hotmail accounts using a POP3 connection will be gradually enabled for all Hotmail accounts. Gradually meaning that only users from some countries like Germany, Italy or the United Kingdom are currently able to connect to Hotmail via POP3 while others have to wait until Microsoft enables POP3 access for their countries as well.
Enable Hotmail POP3 In All Countries

The Oddest English Spellings, Part 12 Or, One, Two, Buckle Your Shoe

Two and shoe rhyme. Why then are they spelled so differently? Those who ask such questions believe that rhyme and reason go together.
The Oddest English Spellings, Part 12 Or, One, Two, Buckle Your Shoe

Surviving a Plane Crash

New York City witnessed the seemingly impossible last week, when US Airways flight 1549 ditched into the icy Hudson river so gently that all 155 passengers walked away unharmed. Those merely witnessing the event, might be all the more frightened now, having not known (before) that birds flying into engines can cause such profound disaster.
Surviving a Plane Crash

How to Chop Onions Without Tears

Why do onions make you cry, and how can you prevent it from happening? Onions are made up of a tunic of outer leaves (the brown layer), scales (the white firm juicy edible part), and the basal plate (often called the "hairy part" or the "root").
How to Chop Onions Without Tears

Today is the Most Depressing Day of the Year -- Not.

Apparently, according to a mathematical formula devised by Cliff Arnall, today is the most depressing day of 2009. Arnall’s formula considers factors like people’s failure to keep up their new year’s resolutions, the weather, post-holidays blues (no more fun, lots of bills), and the date falling on a Monday.
Today is the Most Depressing Day of the Year -- Not

How to Find Your True Priorities

On January 1st, many people make resolutions for the new year, such as to go to the gym every day. You can’t help noticing that gyms suddenly become much more crowded. But by February 1st, most people have abandoned their resolutions. Gyms become empty.
How to Find Your True Priorities

How to Start Speaking at Events

You might first ask yourself what your goal might be. Are you speaking to further establish yourself and your company as thought leaders? Are you trying to pitch some amazing product?
How to Start Speaking at Events

15 Ways To Manage Risk In Your Financial Life

We all want to optimize our returns yet many of us forget that by doing so, we may be taking a lot more risk than we should. By managing our risks, we are better equipped with addressing unpredictable scenarios that can wreak havoc with our finances. Risk isn't a bad thing, just as long as it's controlled or "calculated".
15 Ways To Manage Risk In Your Financial Life

New Thinking on How to Protect the Heart

Many measures are probably familiar: not smoking, controlling cholesterol and blood pressure, exercising regularly and staying at a healthy weight. But some newer suggestions may surprise you.
New Thinking on How to Protect the Heart

Teens post health risks online

Have you taken a look at your teenage son or daughter's social networking site profile recently?
Teens post health risks online

Our world may be a giant hologram

DRIVING through the countryside south of Hanover, it would be easy to miss the GEO600 experiment. From the outside, it doesn't look much: in the corner of a field stands an assortment of boxy temporary buildings, from which two long trenches emerge, at a right angle to each other, covered with corrugated iron. Underneath the metal sheets, however, lies a detector that stretches for 600 metres.
Our world may be a giant hologram

Blu-ray Owners: You Should Get Your Eyes Examined

Tell a Blu-ray fan who's sunk hundreds or thousands of dollars into the technology that you can't really see the added picture quality offered by the hi-def format, and they'll probably respond the difference (to them) is so obvious only the willfully blind can't see it.
Blu-ray Owners: You Should Get Your Eyes Examined

How to Prevent Your Ears from Popping

For most people, traveling by air causes uncomfortable, sometimes painful ear popping. This can also happen when climbing to or descending from a high altitude, or when diving underwater. If you travel with kids, ear popping can make the trip all the more frustrating. So here's the scoop on ear popping - what causes it, and how you can prevent it.
How to Prevent Your Ears from Popping

Start Your Day By Eating a Frog

“Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” -Mark Twain
Start Your Day By Eating a Frog

Learn How to Be a Teen in 1950

A look at Coronet Films, which were shown in great regularity in American schools in the 1940s and ’50s, shows a completely different world of instructional videos for teens. Teens in the ’50s were taught how to say no to a goodnight kiss, not how to say no to a hit off a bong.
Learn How to Be a Teen in 1950

Six Tips For Boosting Your Sense of Self-Respect

Maybe you’ve lost your job. Maybe you didn’t get the promotion you were hoping for. Maybe your sweetheart broke up with you. People say “Don’t take it personally” and “Don’t let it get to you,” but that’s very hard to do.
Six Tips For Boosting Your Sense of Self-Respect

GPS Burglary

Warning cautions that thieves take GPS devices from cars parked at public events to locate homes to burgle.
GPS Burglary

Why does my voice sound so different when it is recorded and played back?

Sound can reach the inner ear by way of two separate paths.
Why does my voice sound so different when it is recorded and played back?

17 Uncommon Uses for Cotton Swabs

In the field of cleaning ears, no household item is relied upon more than cotton swabs. The swabs, tipped with cotton sheets, are built to remove earwax and dirt, which results in better hearing. You probably have a constantly renewed stock in your bathroom, given their usefulness. Reliable as the accessory is, cleaning ears is only one of its many functions. You might be surprised with the amount of things you can do with such a simple item.
17 Uncommon Uses for Cotton Swabs

Four Tech Products that Save You Time and Money

Feeling frazzled with newly incorporated frugality strategies? Last couple of DIY projects and bulk shopping runs send you over the edge into loony land? Here are four products we use to streamline logistics and re-channel stress into productivity.
Four Tech Products that Save You Time and Money

Do Aussie Workers Need To Take More Holidays?

When you encounter a headline like 'Aussies working world's longest hours', you're likely to pay attention -- especially if, like me, you've just come off a week with several 14-hour workdays. However, it turns out that what's actually being discussed is the unwillingness of Australians to take holidays.
Do Aussie Workers Need To Take More Holidays?

How To Burn Disk Images

It is surprising that many users who have downloaded the Windows 7 Beta release are having difficulties burning it on DVD. This article is supposed to act as a guideline for all of your disk burning activities.
How To Burn Disk Images

Composting Bins: Benefits, Rules, & How to Make Your Own

For a few years, I had been eyeing composting bins for the backyard. I was excited at the thought of turning things that we might normally put into the trash or the garbage disposal into beautiful, rich soil for our garden. I was, however, not excited about the price tags that I was seeing for even the most simple of composting bins.
Composting Bins: Benefits, Rules, & How to Make Your Own

Man takes 26 years to solve Rubik’s Cube

It has taken most of his life – but, after 26 years, builder Graham Parker has finally solved the puzzle of the Rubik's Cube.
Man takes 26 years to solve Rubik’s Cube

Blackstump Australia Issue 2 - January 11, 2009

This weeks latest new family friendly sites from The Black Stump.
Blackstump Australia Issue 2 - January 11, 2009

Keep Passwords Safe on a Public Computer with KYPS

You have to be cautious when using a public computer. Some of them have keylogger software installed that captures your usernames and passwords when you enter them. If you log into your bank’s website that could be a big problem!
Keep Passwords Safe on a Public Computer with KYPS

10 Overlooked Functions of Email

The age, when people used pen and paper to write letters, is over. At the turn of the century, almost everyone rely on the email for high-speed communication. You can use your account to converse or even strike business deals with anyone who has an active email address, regardless of distance. This is a clear advantage, given the amount of information conveyed in a few minutes. Remarkably, the list of things you can do with your email do not end there. More functions are waiting to be discovered if you look close enough.
10 Overlooked Functions of Email

Japan's scariest suspension bridge

This rickety old suspension bridge in Japan is the stuff of nightmares. The sound of the wind adds to the dreadfulness.
Japan's scariest suspension bridge

Windows 7: How to Dual Boot Windows 7 with XP or Vista

If you're dying to try out Windows 7 but aren't ready to give up your installation of XP or Vista, let's take a look at how to dual boot Windows 7 with XP or Vista.
How to Dual Boot Windows 7 with XP or Vista

What You Should Expect from the Windows 7 Beta

If you haven't already heard, the Windows 7 Public Beta is going to be released today through the Microsoft website, and the first 2.5 million people to register with Microsoft will receive access to the Beta 1 version. Today we'll run through the features and what you should expect.
What You Should Expect from the Windows 7 Beta

Where Your Laptop's Power Really Goes

A pie chart drawn up by Windows 7 engineers shows how much each part of your laptop draws from your slowly-discharging battery. Check out where a typical Windows system spends its juice below.
Where Your Laptop's Power Really Goes

How to Make Skies Beautiful with GIMP

Do the skies in your photographs look somewhat "blah"? So long as you take your photographs thoughtfully, you can make them pop with a few easy tweaks in GIMP, the renowned open-source image editor. These tweaks are also a great introduction to some of GIMP's more advanced features, such as layers, layer modes and layer masks. Here's how to do it.
How to Make Skies Beautiful with GIMP (with pictures)

Quarterly updates - Oxford English Dictionary

Every quarter, a range of entries in OED Online will be replaced by updated versions produced by the OED's revision programme. New entries will also be added across the alphabet.
Quarterly updates - Oxford English Dictionary

Google Maps: 100+ Best Tools and Mashups

Most people think of Google Maps in terms of finding a place or business, or getting directions from one point to another. Others use the satellite images and terrain mapping features. But there are tons of other uses out there for Google maps.
Google Maps: 100+ Best Tools and Mashups

Rip DVD Movies

Oh noes, not another software program to rip DVD movies. Yes, there are mini different applications that can rip DVD movies. Some do not work with copy protected DVD movies while others make use of a complex interface. Your Free DVD Ripper is a one-click solution to rip DVD movies. Well, it’s actually a few more clicks but all accessible from the main interface.
Rip DVD Movies

Many Ways to Plug In to Tech Savings

It’s a new year, all right, but economically, it still feels a lot like the old one. Seems that everywhere you look, things are being downsized: companies, paychecks, parties, trade shows and on and on. People aren’t just tightening their belts; they’re punching new holes in them.
Many Ways to Plug In to Tech Savings

Mount Everest climbers show survival on record-low oxygen

It's no secret that scaling Mount Everest tests the limits of human survival; more than 200 people have died trying to reach its summit. Today we have new information about just how seriously climbers push their bodies on the world's highest peak: Those who manage to stay alive do so on an amount of oxygen so minute that, at sea level, would only be seen in people who were in cardiac arrest or dead.
Mount Everest climbers show survival on record-low oxygen

Tips for Thinking from an Extraordinary Thinker

Daniel Tammet is the author of two books, Born on a Blue Day and Embracing the Wide Sky, which comes out this month. He’s also a linguist and holds the European record for reciting the first 22,514 decimal points of the mathematical constant Pi. Mind Matters editor Jonah Lehrer chats with Tammet about how his memory works, why the IQ test is overrated, and a possible explanation for extraordinary feats of creativity.
Inside the Savant Mind: Tips for Thinking from an Extraordinary Thinker

Microsoft Windows 7: Review of reviews

The curtain has been raised (slightly) on the next installment of Microsoft's Windows operating system - Windows 7.

Microsoft hope it will bring the internet, mobile phone and PC closer together. But reviews have so far been mixed, although reviewers have been limited to trying the (pre-beta version).

The full version is expected to be capable of working with a touchscreen screen, navigating documents and the Web similar to Apple's iPhone. It is officially released at the end of 2009.
Microsoft Windows 7: Review of reviews

5 Ways To Clone & Copy Your Hard Drive

One of the most annoying things about owning a computer is the maintenance. It’s easily neglected. After all you don’t really notice the slow decline of your system’s performance, do you?

But then again it’s a delight to work on a freshly installed machine, where everything is smooth and responds quickly. But customization is tedious. And when your hard drive decides to break spontaneously, time is something you won’t have for sure.

For emergencies it’s better you have a data and a system backup available. Here are the 5 best tools to clone or copy your hard drive in no particular order.
5 Ways To Clone & Copy Your Hard Drive

The Lateral Career Move

Have you encountered a log-jam in your business channel? Do you feel that you have outgrown your current position? As I write this, the economy brings uncertainty with it… which is why this might just be time for a lateral career move. Your new position may not be for more pay… but in the long run, you will be happier if you’re not bored or pigeon-holed into one area of expertise.
The Lateral Career Move: Why It's Worth the Effort

Sea ice area returns to 1979 level

Based on satellite observations, the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center reports that the amount of sea ice on the planet is the highest in 29 years, when satellite record-keeping began.
Sea ice area returns to 1979 level

And the Winner of the Google Docs Easter Egg Hunt Is ...

We might have been overly optimistic hoping for no less than 15 winners – after all, holidays are traditionally spent with family and friends, not searching Google Spreadsheets for mysterious Easter Egg function. We did get 1 winner though.
And the Winner of the Google Docs Easter Egg Hunt Is ...

Bikers wearing pumpkin helmets

Some Nigerian motorcyclists are attempting to get around a new helmet law by wearing dried pumpkins shells on their heads.
Bikers wearing pumpkin helmets

Eight tips for dealing with criticism

More and more, I see the connection between perfectionism, control, and anger. Zoikes, how I try to be more mild-mannered and easy-going! Here are some of the strategies that I try to use to accept criticism. If I manage to use them, they never fail me, but it can be hard to have the mindfulness needed to apply them.
Eight tips for dealing with criticism

A Simple Way to Remove Stickers from Books

Sometimes you can peel a sticker right off a book, but other times, it leaves behind a sticky residue.
A Simple Way to Remove Stickers from Books

How to Lose Belly Fat

There are a lot of gimmicks and commercials flying around about how to get rid of that pesky, unflattering belly fat. While there's no "magic bullet" that will target abdominal fat in particular, this article will explain what causes an expanding waistline, and how you can make the extra baggage go away.
How to Lose Belly Fat

Start the Year with an Empty Inbox!

ere’s a nice Gmail tip that will make you feel like a million bucks: empty out your crufty email inbox. There’s nothing like an empty inbox to motivate you and give you a fresh start for the year.
Start the Year with an Empty Inbox!

2008 Review of Books

From Aaron Swartz: I read exactly 100 books this year. I mistakenly told someone over the summer that I read a hundred books a year (I only read 70 last year, although 120 the year before that) and as the new year approached I felt duty-bound to make that true. (This led to spending a lot of New Year's Eve in a corner reading, as this list may suggest.)
2008 Review of Books

Museum of Modern Betas: 2008 Beta Releases of the Year

Some cool tools (most free) that might be of interest.
Museum of Modern Betas: 2008 Beta Releases of the Year

9 Methods for Mastering Your Money in 2009

2008 was a miserable year for money. The stock market tumbled, unemployment soared, the housing market continued to crumble, and retirement savings shriveled away. Whew! Here’s hoping 2009 will be better!

But hope can only do so much. Hope cannot bring change. Action brings change.

If one of your goals for 2009 is to take control of your money (instead of letting it keep control of you), this crash course in financial basics can help guide the way. Here are nine simple but effective actions you can take to build a better financial future.
9 Methods for Mastering Your Money in 2009

Playing golf can 'damage hearing'

Keen golfers are being warned by doctors that they could be risking their hearing for their sport. Players who use a new generation of thin-faced titanium drivers to propel the ball further should consider wearing ear plugs, experts advise.
Playing golf can 'damage hearing'

How to Work Smart, Not Hard

Working smart, not hard, is an age-old adage, and if you master the concept, your entire working life will be easier. There are simple techniques that you can employ to save steps and tedium from almost any task.
How to Work Smart, Not Hard

How to Text Message Online

If you pay for each text message you send, text internationally, or prefer typing over texting, knowing how to send an SMS message through the Internet can come in handy (and possibly save you money).
How to Text Message Online

Our 12 (Or So) Favorite Techy Cartoons of 2008

The principles that drive tech innovation are based on a certain amount of hopeful enthusiasm that is hard to make fun of sometimes. Many new gadgets focus on dry accumulative hardware developments that are technically dense and the personalities driving them are often, on the surface, quite serious. But with a skillful drawing, a great cartoonist can find insightful humor in anything. And often, the artist expresses commentary that can be more than funny. It can be reflective, mocking, or brutally honest in a single panel of narrative.
Our 12 (Or So) Favorite Techy Cartoons of 2008

Index.dat

A recent analysis of index.dat files on a Windows XP Service Pack 3 test system revealed hundreds of entries. Index.dat files are hidden files that contain information about visited urls, cookies and other cache related files. The information are only recorded when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is being used to browse the Internet. What many users do not realize is that data is also recorded if a software program makes use of the Internet Explorer rendering engine.
Index.dat

Top Technology Breakthroughs of 2008

The economy may be tanking, but innovation is alive and well.
Top Technology Breakthroughs of 2008

Most extreme news stories of 2008

It's been a year of extremes for science and technology. From camera footage of the deepest living fish, swimming some 5 miles beneath the surface of the Pacific ocean, to the creation of the smoothest ever surface - a lead and silicon film.
Most extreme news stories of 2008

What’s Your Why? The Importance of Finding Meaning in Your Life

You’ve heard the phrase, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” I’ve often wondered about that — should we really settle for half the return just to have a sure thing right now? It could be argued, and convincingly, that our love of immediate gratification is why so many people have so much debt now.
What’s Your Why? The Importance of Finding Meaning in Your Life

How to Clear a Stuffy Nose

A stuffy nose is caused by inflamed blood vessels in the membranes lining the inside of your nostrils. While this can be life-threatening to newborns, for most people it's just an annoyance, albeit a very uncomfortable one. The most obvious solution is to use a store-bought or prescribed nasal decongestant, but there are also many home and alternative remedies that might do the trick.
How to Clear a Stuffy Nose

United State of Pop 2008

Here are bits of the Top 25 hits of the year, according to Billboard Magazine, arranged into a four and a half minute song. This is a follow-up to last year’s mashup of the Top 25 hits of 2007.
United State of Pop 2008

Seven new wonders of the world

Amidst much bad news, it's worth remembering that we live on an amazing planet – here are some of the most exciting stories revealed in 2008.
Seven new wonders of the world

Top 500 Worst Passwords

From Mark Burnett's 2005 book Perfect Passwords: Selection, Protection, Authentication, a table of the "Top 500 Worst Passwords Of All Time."
Top 500 worst passwords

Opening Titles of B-movies

Mr. Bali Hai has compiled a fair-sized gallery of B-movie opening titles. I've seen a few of these movies, and it's probably safe to say that the titles are the best parts.
Opening titles of B-movies

Amazon.com "Best of 2008" Lists

Amazon.com today released its "Best of 2008" lists, which include the bestselling, most positively reviewed, most-wished-for and favorite gift products as determined by Amazon.com customers in 2008.
Amazon.com Announces "Best of 2008" Lists

Popular Medical Myths Put to Rest

With the recession causing enough stress for all of us, the British Medical Journal decides to bust several common medical myths—for example, reading in dim light won't ruin your eyesight, so go nuts.
Popular Medical Myths Put to Rest

7 Steps to Avoid a Computer Virus

Follow these seven steps to keep your computer virus-free.
7 Steps to Avoid a Computer Virus

Ten Tips To Dress Thinner

Pick the right clothing to make you appear leaner.
Ten Tips To Dress Thinner

Three Top Windows Freeware Applications

It’s one of my favorite pursuits to try out bushels of open source and freeware applications, looking for gems. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose on the hunt, but there are definitely a lot of applications out there that cost nothing but pack powerful punches.
Three Top Windows Freeware Applications

How to Get Fit for Free

If you’d love to get fit but don’t have any funds just now to join a gym or buy the latest fitness equipment, don’t despair - you can still get fit without spending money at all.
How to Get Fit for Free - wikiHow

The Science of Weight Loss

If you've made shedding pounds a New Year's resolution, here's a guide to the research behind dieting and exercise.
The Science of Weight Loss

Blackstump Australia Issue 1 - January 4, 2009

This weeks latest new family friendly sites from The Black Stump.
Blackstump Australia Issue 1 - January 4, 2009

How to Calculate How Many Calories You Need to Eat to Lose Weight

The key to fat loss is first figuring out how many calories you should be taking in each day. Many people skip right over this step and jump straight into “eating healthy” but if you have no idea how many calories you should be eating, how can you ensure you are feeding your body what it needs to function and in turn will allow you to lose the fat you want to shed?
How to Calculate How Many Calories You Need to Eat to Lose Weight

Windows Startup Speed Benchmark

The startup speed of an operating system usually receives more attention than it deserves. Only a few users are booting their systems more than a few times per day, most users probably only once and it should not really matter if that startup takes 30 seconds or 2 minutes. The startup is on the other hand the first impression about an operating system and if it starts slowly the assumption could be made that everything else would be slow as well.
Windows Startup Speed Benchmark

One year in 40 seconds

So I started shooting images with my Canon 400D. From the same spot each time, but not through my window. I found a spot outside that gave more or less the same framing each time I placed my camera. So, I went out on our balcony snapping some images at pretty irregular intervals all through 2008.
One year in 40 seconds

New Scientist Gallery: Most stunning images of 2008

Selection of the most stunning images from our galleries this year including the propagation and reflection of a blast wave, a planetary nebula and a baby kangaroo suckling in a pouch...
New Scientist Gallery: Most stunning images of 2008

Cryptomundo » The Top 10 Cryptozoology Stories of 2008

From an alleged Bigfoot in ice to a mysterious body on a beach, from a new manta ray to a giant elephant shrew, it was quite a year. It might not have been the year we wanted but it sure was the one we got.
Cryptomundo » The Top 10 Cryptozoology Stories of 2008

21 Settings, Techniques and Rules All New Camera Owners Should Know

A list of photography tips and techniques that new camera owners might like to work through in the coming weeks. Some are very basic while others go a little deeper - but all have been selected from our archives specifically for beginners and new camera owners. Enjoy.
21 Settings, Techniques and Rules All New Camera Owners Should Know

Can you cure a hangover?

If you've ever dragged yourself into work a little bleary-eyed after a festive night out, you'll have heard people saying "Now what you need is…" followed by some improbable and unpalatable home remedy.
Can you cure a hangover?

How to Clean a Toilet With Coke

Is your toilet full of limescale and other nasty stains and you don't have a chemical toilet cleaner on hand? Or are you looking for less expensive and/or non-toxic cleaning solutions? Don't worry, just reach for the fridge, and grab a Coke!
How to Clean a Toilet With Coke

The Pointless Pursuit of More: When is Enough Enough?

Wants are almost insatiable; that one want satisfied makes way for another. … economically we have a boundless field before us; that there are new wants which will make way endlessly for newer wants, as far as they are satisfied.
The Pointless Pursuit of More: When is Enough Enough?

Everything You Need to Know How to Do in Windows

A review of the most popular Lifehacker Windows tutorials ever published.
Everything You Need to Know How to Do in Windows

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all!

Thanks for stopping by in 2008 and we'll see you again in early 2009. Until then, have a Good One!

Pete

Happy Birthday Earthrise

Forty years ago, the biggest TV audience in history tuned in to watch humankind's first close encounter with another world, as the crew of Apollo 8 reached lunar orbit. Here, the Apollo historian and film-maker Dr Christopher Riley gives his perspective on the mission and how that Christmas Eve of 1968 changed the world.
Happy Birthday Earthrise

Help Clueless Relatives with Their Computer Problems

"Can you take a look at my computer?" is the dreaded question your clueless family member will ask when you're home for the holidays. Let's review some common computer complaints and the easiest solutions.
Help Clueless Relatives with Their Computer Problems

Top 100 Products of 2008

In this post we've done a megalist, the top 100 products of 2008.
Top 100 Products of 2008

News review 2008: The year in science

It was a year when everything seemed to fall apart. Fuel, food, finance - it all went wrong, and the consequences will dog the world next year and beyond. It wasn't all doom and gloom, however.
News review 2008: The year in science

The 12 Graphs of Christmas

It’s the time of year when people from many parts of the earth take time off to eat, drink and be merry, or something like it. But just how excited is the social media universe about the upcoming holidays? Here are some metrics to put the holiday mindshare into perspective.
The 12 Graphs of Christmas

8 Santa Trackers For Christmas Eve 2008, From NORAD Santa To Twitter

It’s Christmas Eve, and that means Santa Claus is out doing his run. But where is Santa right now? Thanks to the internet, there’s a huge number of ways to get Santa sightings. Below, a summary that covers online video sightings, Santa’s phone number (he has elves to talk for him while driving), email updates, tracking him via your mobile phone and yes, even getting Twitter updates.
8 Santa Trackers For Christmas Eve 2008, From NORAD Santa To Twitter

How to stick to your New Year’s resolutions – 12 tips.

It’s almost New Year’s Eve, and that means it’s the season for resolutions. I’ve always been part of the 44% of Americans who make (and also break) New Year’s resolutions; I’m a big believer in the power of small changes to make us happier.
How to stick to your New Year’s resolutions – 12 tips

Top 10 Places Already Affected by Climate Change

Cities deep underwater, frozen continents, the collapse of global agriculture: so far, much of the discussion about climate change has focused on these distant, catastrophic effects of a superheated world. What's less talked about is how global warming is making itself felt already. Even the modest temperature rise we've already experienced has set in motion fundamental shifts—and the further warming we can expect in the next few decades has the potential to set off dramatic changes.
Top 10 Places Already Affected by Climate Change