Tip of the day: Flex your brain muscles

Socially and intellectually stimulating activities might help increase brain function and prevent mental decline. For instance, MRI scans revealed that regions of the brain responsible for learning were enlarged in London cab drivers, who train for up to two years to memorize thousands of streets and locations.
Tip of the day: Flex your brain muscles

Is your cookbook making you fat?

A clever study comparing the calories in recipes from the 1936 edition of “The Joy of Cooking” to those for the same dishes in the 2006 version. For recipes ranging from chicken a la king to beef stroganoff, corn bread, and brownies, researchers found an average calorie increase of 63 percent per serving.
Is your cookbook making you fat?

Tick Off Your Tasks With Printable Checklists

According to Google, the biggest competitor to Gmail Tasks is good old-fashioned pen and paper.
Tick Off Your Tasks With Printable Checklists

25 Best Blogs 2009 - TIME

TIME makes its second annual list of the best blogs in the world, spanning politics, housekeeping, astronomy and everything in between.
25 Best Blogs 2009 - TIME

Blackstump Australia Issue 6 - February 18, 2009

This weeks latest new family friendly sites from The Black Stump.
Blackstump Australia Issue 6 - February 18, 2009

How to Determine a Bad Movie from a Good One, Beforehand

Watching movies is a hobby for most people. Not only do they relish the merits of the film, watching one is also a good way too kill time. A good movie, after all, leaves viewers with favorable impressions, even if it has a sad ending. The problem is, some films are marketed to be blockbusters, but in reality, they are nothing but dull and hurried pieces of work. As a movie lover, you should know what to avoid, otherwise you’ll end up wasting money in viewing or buying bad movies.
How to Determine a Bad Movie from a Good One, Beforehand

Stuff found on the London Underground

The Guardian's gallery of ten items from Transport for London's lost-and-found includes the obligatory umbrellas, a fetching toy gorilla, a stuffed pufferfish and, of course, a case full of dentures.
Stuff found on the London Underground

Uncommon Uses for Common Items

What do tennis balls, umbrellas and rolling pins have in common? They are all creative and practical tools for releasing muscular tension. Here's how:
Uncommon Uses for Common Items

Bushfire death toll rises to 200

The official death toll from the Victorian bushfires has risen to 200. Investigators have confirmed a further 11 people died in fires around the town of Kinglake. Yesterday police warned the death toll would continue to rise as more bodies are identified in the devastated areas.
Bushfire death toll rises to 200

How to Test for Bandwidth Limiting by Your ISP

Doing some downloading or uploading on your "high-speed" internet connection and notice that the speed seems to drop off? Bandwidth is a measure of the speed of data transmission over a network or the internet (often represented in Kbit/s or Mbit/s). Bandwidth throttling happens when any server attempts to limit the amount of bandwidth that a given service may use. The common example is Internet Service Providers limiting the bandwidth usage of common BitTorrent clients on their network. Let's examine how you can tell if your internet service provider is throttling your speed.
How to Test for Bandwidth Limiting by Your ISP

How to Test a Water Heater Thermostat

Ran out of hot water? Here's how to check the controls and heating elements of most common residential 120, 208 and 240 volt electric water heaters.
How to Test a Water Heater Thermostat

"1234567890 Day" Google Logo Appears for Brief Time

The internal representation of Unix time is the number of seconds since 1970. Recently, at 2009-02-13 23:31:30 UTC specifically, the Unix time stamp in decimal was 1234567890.
"1234567890 Day" Google Logo Appears for Brief Time

How To Go Discount Hunting On Amazon

Did you know that it is possible to go discount hunting on the various Amazon websites? It actually is pretty easy to search for discounts at the Amazon website. All that is needed for that is a basic url that needs to be altered to reflect the category and the discount.
How To Go Discount Hunting On Amazon

If you know the Conficker dude, we've got a prize for you

Yesterday (12 February 2009) Microsoft announced a partnership with technology industry leaders and academia to implement a coordinated, global response to the Conficker (aka Downadup) worm. Together with security researchers, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and operators within the Domain Name System, Microsoft coordinated a response designed to disable domains targeted by Conficker. Microsoft also announced a $250,000 reward for information that results in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for illegally launching the Conficker malicious code on the Internet.
If you know the Conficker dude, we've got a prize for you

Help Your Teenager Earn Their First Million

As adults, how many times have you wished you had invested money as a teenager or young(er) adult? We're all aware of the power of compounding interest, and the idea that starting your savings earlier means having more money when you are ready to retire, but by the time we discover this financial truth – we've already missed a whole lot of years of saving! Why not help your kids earn their first million?
Help Your Teenager Earn Their First Million

11 Great Hidden Things Google Can Do That You Should Know

Google, A leading search engine that we use every day to search content on internet. There is no doubt that this is a damn powerful search engine but Google.com is not only for searching the stuffs. In addition to providing easy access to billions of web pages, Google.com has many amazing features to help you to find exactly what you’re looking for. Some of the most useful features that you can use in your daily life are discussing below. These are 11 Great Hidden Things Google Can Do That You Should Know, You can use these features without leaving the Google.com and I am sure majority of you did not aware of all the things listed below that Google can do for you.
11 Great Hidden Things Google Can Do That You Should Know

Victorian bushfire appeal scams

SCAMwatch is warning consumers wanting to contribute to the Victorian bushfire appeals to be on alert to ensure they are not taken in by scammers.
Victorian bushfire appeal scams

Rebuild starts now for 7,000 homeless

Victorian Premier John Brumby says rebuilding schools will be the first priority as the state recovers from the killer bushfires which have left 7,000 people homeless. More than 1,800 homes and three schools are now confirmed to have been destroyed in the bushfires but this morning the status of a fire burning outside the town of Healesville was downgraded to 'alert' from 'urgent threat'.
Rebuild starts now for 7,000 homeless

Alert levels raised as embers threaten Healesville

Victoria's bushfire threat has increased again this morning, with the town of Healesville to the north-east of Melbourne under the threat of ember attack. The CFA's Mark Glover says the fire is about one kilometre from Healesville.
Alert levels raised as embers threaten Healesville

How to Stop Picking Your Nose

Do you have a habitual need to pick your nose, even to the point where you have started excusing yourself for doing it in public?! It is time to stop this unhygienic and less-than-pleasant-to-view habit right now. It starts with accepting that you have a nose-picking habit and then being determined to arrest it right now.
How to Stop Picking Your Nose

BUSHFIRE WEATHER

Australia has a history of severe bushfires. Such tragedies as the Ash Wednesday fires of February 1983 (71 deaths in Victoria and South Australia), the Tasmanian fires of February 1967 (62 lives, more than 1400 houses and buildings lost) and the New South Wales bushfires of 1994, place bushfires high on the list of Australia's natural disasters.
BUSHFIRE WEATHER

Q. What does the Oxford Dictionary of English have in common with Harry Potter, A-Z Maps, and anything written by Terry Pratchett?

A. They’re all in the list of ‘Top Ten Most Stolen Books in the UK’!
Q. What does the Oxford Dictionary of English have in common with Harry Potter, A-Z Maps, and anything written by Terry Pratchett?

The First-Timer's Guide to Building a Computer from Scratch

If you've never done it before, the idea of building a computer from the ground up can seem very intimidating—but it's one of the most satisfying projects a tech enthusiast can take on.
The First-Timer's Guide to Building a Computer from Scratch

Bushfires in Victoria, Australia - The Big Picture

The state of Victoria in southern Australia has recently been hit with hundreds of bush fires during a record-breaking heatwave - temperatures well above 38°C (100°F). Unfortunately, these fires have proved to be the deadliest in Australian history, with at least 166 deaths reported so far. The fires mostly appear to have been started by lightning - however a few appear to have been arson, and are under investigation - entire towns being declared crime scenes. Twenty-four fires are still burning, and authorities warn that the death toll will likely rise.
Bushfires in Victoria, Australia - The Big Picture

How to Take Portrait Photographs: 7 steps (with video)

Have you ever felt that you have far too many "snapshots" of your family, and want a more professional-looking photograph to hang on your wall? Or perhaps you've been roped in to take a photograph for your company's magazine or website. Whatever the reason for wanting them, you don't need a photo studio and a ton of expensive lighting and camera gear to take portraits. With intelligent use of your equipment, thoughtful framing and due attention paid to lighting, anybody can take good portraits. Here's how.
How to Take Portrait Photographs: 7 steps (with video

Up to 1 in 5 dead in Marysville: Brumby

Victorian Premier John Brumby says surviving residents are still being kept out of the town of Marysville to shield them from the horrifying scene in their former home.
Up to 1 in 5 dead in Marysville: Brumby

Victorian bushfire survivor, Sam the koala, a global star

SAM became the most famous koala in the world when firefighter David Tree stopped to give him a drink amid the devastation. Pictures of Sam, who turned out to be female, travelled around the globe and featured in major newspapers including The New York Times, London's The Sun and on CNN. The image provided a much-needed picture of hope in a week filled with news of despair. Yesterday Sam was recovering in Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter.
Victorian bushfire survivor, Sam the koala, a global star

Forensic crews try and identify dead

Forensic crews are trying to identify those who died in the Victorian bushfires, while more than 20 major fires continue to burn.
Forensic crews try and identify dead

I now understand the word 'firestorm'

We were inside the house and the noise outside was incredible. Sparks and embers were bashing up against the roof and the windows, the fence had caught fire, the woodpile against the house caught fire.
Then the windows started exploding — it sounded like a 747 taking off. It was broad daylight but it went dark because there was so much smoke and stuff — it just went dark.
I now understand the word 'firestorm'

People died doing exactly what they were told to do

For all our preparation, it was pure luck that my family survived. (Philip Chubb is associate professor of journalism at Monash University).
People died doing exactly what they were told to do

Victorian fires update

To follow up our post on Sunday, and with the tragedy in Victoria continuing, we've updated our map of the Victorian fires to incorporate the latest available satellite imagery from the Modis Rapid Response project at NASA/GSFC. You can toggle the button "Show Imagery" to see their most recent satellite imagery of some affected parts of Victoria. The small red polygons indicate that a fire is still burning (as at the time indicated beneath the map — 20 hours ago at the time of posting this).
Victorian fires update

Australian bushfires from above

NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of southeastern Australia today—the smoke from the deadly wildfires there is plainly visible from Aqua's orbit 440 miles (705 kilometers) above Earth.
Australian bushfires from above

Bushfires – We Need your Mobile Phone Chargers

Do you have any spare mobile phone chargers? Bushfire victims need them urgently. Updated with contact information.
Bushfires – We Need your Mobile Phone Chargers

Death toll approaching 200, almost 1,000 homes destroyed

Firefighters are battling 25 bushfires across Victoria, with Premier John Brumby saying he expects the death toll from the disaster to exceed 200 people.
The official toll stands at 173 dead with more than 50 people still missing, thought to be dead, making it the country's worst bushfire disaster.
The blazes have burnt through more than 3,000 square kilometres - entire towns were wiped off the map within 24 hours at the weekend.
Death toll approaching 200, almost 1,000 homes destroyed

Bushfire toll climbs

The death toll in the Victorian bushfires now stands at 131, police have confirmed.
Bushfire toll climbs

Victoria's bushfires | Strathewen destroyed

On Saturday afternoon, there were 200 people living in the rural town, which is north of Melbourne.
By the end of that night, it is believed about 15 per cent of the population - or about 30 people - perished.
Many houses in Strathewen and Arthurs Creek have police tape across their front gates, an ominous sign of what lies inside.
Victoria's bushfires | Strathewen destroyed

Worst bushfires in history - Vision

Vision from some of the worst-hit areas of the Victorian bushfires; Kinglake, Kilmore and Marysville.
Worst bushfires in history

Remove Metadata From JPEG And PNG

Many image formats support so called metadata which are shunks of information stored in the image file itself. This can include the digital camera model used to take the images, time and date the picture was taken or GPS information that tell anyone where the image was taken. Metadata takes up disk space, this can be a few bytes to Kilobytes per image which can accumulate to Megabytes easily.
Remove Metadata From JPEG And PNG

Protein reverses Alzheimer's brain damage

Injections of a natural growth factor into the brains of mice, rats and monkeys offers hope of preventing or reversing the earliest impacts of Alzheimer's disease on memory. The benefits arose even in animals whose brains contained the hallmark plaques that clog up the brains of patients.
Protein reverses Alzheimer's brain damage

Grieving Victoria takes stock as toll hits 108

Across Victoria people are looking to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, as the state attempts to come to terms with the deadliest bushfire disaster in Australian history.
At least 108 people have died in the horrific blazes, which continue to rage throughout the state.
Grieving Victoria takes stock as toll hits 108

At a glance: where bushfires are burning

There are 12 bushfires burning out of control across Victoria and 26 blazes in total. Here is a summary of the major fires of concern.

The biggest fire covers 210,000 hectares and is north of Melbourne. This is the fire responsible for most of the death and destruction; more than 500 homes have been destroyed in the Kinglake area alone.

In total, more than 700 homes have been confirmed destroyed.
At a glance: where bushfires are burning

Bushfire disaster: 'We all grieve with you'

Victoria is reeling from a weekend of ferocious bushfires which have claimed at least 65 lives and razed more than 600 homes across the state.
Bushfire disaster: 'We all grieve with you'

Mapping the Victorian fires

By now, you're undoubtedly aware of the terrible bushfire tragedy that is unfolding in Victoria.

We've today pulled together a Flash Map, containing the latest up-to-date information about fire locations and their status from the Country Fire Authority (CFA). The Flash Map is updated in real-time from the CFA website via an RSS feed. We hope that it's of some use to people who may be affected, to emergency services personnel, and that it takes some load off other websites which are being inundated. The map certainly makes the scale of this disaster immediately apparent.
Mapping the Victorian fires

Bushfire devastates Marysville - Video

The town of Marysville in Victoria has lost all but a few buildings to bushfires. Just look at the carnage.
Bushfire devastates Marysville

"Possibly one building left standing" in Marysville

The Country Fire Authority says there is "possibly one building left standing" in Marysville, as relentless bushfires engulfed the town north of Melbourne.

Greg Esnouf, the CFA's deputy chief fire officer, told ABC Local Radio that Marysville had been all but destroyed by the blazes.

"We're starting to get some reports in now that are very saddening," he told ABC Local 774 in Melbourne.

"This latest report says Marysville possibly one building left standing - that's just shocking.

"Anyone who knows Marysville, it's a beautiful town and that's really sad. "It's very disturbing for the township itself."
'Absolute devastation': Victoria gutted by deadly bushfires

Mark the End of the Day and Finish on Time

One of the things that I struggle with most when I’m working from home is wrapping up and finishing for the day. Quite often, I’ll mean to finish at, say, 6:30 pm, but then another email drops into the old inbox, or I’ll move onto “just one more” task, and before I know it it’s late into the night and I haven’t even started thinking about dinner.
Mark the End of the Day and Finish on Time

25 confirmed dead in Victorian fires

Twenty-five people are confirmed dead in Victoria's bushfires and the toll is expected to rise as into the 40s today as firefighters continue to battle the devastating blazes which have ripped through the state's country areas.
25 confirmed dead in Victorian fires

Bushfire Emergency - ABC News

It is feared more than 40 people have died as ferocious bushfires sweep across much of country Victoria and New South Wales.
Bushfire Emergency - ABC News

Dozens of homes lost in 'impossible' blaze conditions

Temperatures were expected to drop by 15 degrees Celsius across Victoria from 6:00pm (AEDT), but there will be little relief with high winds expected to change direction and force fires onto new fronts.
Dozens of homes lost in 'impossible' blaze conditions

Melbourne - 46.4C - Highest Ever

Today is a day of Extreme Fire Danger for the whole state. Stay tuned to ABC Local Radio for updates and advice on bushfires in your area and dealing with heat stress. See the Fire Danger map for Saturday February 7, 2009.
ABC Melbourne

Blackstump Australia Issue 5 - February 8, 2009

This weeks latest new family friendly sites from The Black Stump.
Blackstump Australia Issue 5 - February 8, 2009

Top 10 Web 2.0 Tools for Young Learners

Gail Lovely is adamant about the nature and potential of Web-based learning tools. "Web 2.0 is about trust," she said at a recent talk. "It's about sharing and collaborating." And, she insisted, it's about putting the power to learn and create in the hands of the students.
Top 10 Web 2.0 Tools for Young Learners

Eat a heart-healthy diet

Even if you don’t have to lose weight, what you eat can affect your heart-disease risk. One recent study found that people who consumed a rigorously heart-healthy diet—low in saturated fat and rich in fruits and vegetables—for one month lowered their “bad” LDL cholesterol nearly as much on average as those who took a statin drug. And other research shows that this approach can stop or even reverse the progression of coronary disease.
Eat a heart-healthy diet

Computer Repair Utility Kit

The first version of Technibbles Computer Repair Utility Kit was so popular, we’ve created a second version. For those of you who don’t know, the Computer Repair Utility Kit is a combination of computer repair tools in one easy to use pack. The Computer Repair Utility Kit allows you to run all of the repair tools from your portable drive (eg. USB Flash Drive, External Hard Drive, IPod etc.) and comes with an easy to use, right-click menu. A must in any computer technicians kit.
Computer Repair Utility Kit

Color Study Looks at Effects of Red and Blue

Trying to improve your performance at work or write that novel? Maybe it’s time to consider the color of your walls or your computer screen. If a new study is any guide, the color red can make people’s work more accurate, and blue can make people more creative.
Color Study Looks at Effects of Red and Blue

The Economic Cost of Internet Censorship in Australia

Much has been written about the social cost of the proposed Australian Internet censorship regime, but far too little on the economic cost. As the Rudd Government attempts to pass a $42 billion AUD stimulus package in an attempt to stave of recession, it continues to back a plan that has negative economic consequences for Australian businesses.
The Economic Cost of Internet Censorship in Australia

Deferred Sender

Deferred Sender is a free service that allows you to schedule emails from any email application or website to be sent in the future. Send reminders, notifications and more!
Deferred Sender

Behavior Gap: The Psychology of Investing

At Behavior Gap, Carl Richards is on a mission to help investors overcome the self-destructive behaviors that prevent them from prospering. Over the past week, while preparing for an upcoming presentation to a conference of financial planners, I’ve had the chance to e-mail and speak with Carl about his site and his goals. “Any way we can encourage people to think about money is good,” he told me. He wants people to become aware of how their behavior affects their financial position.
Behavior Gap: The Psychology of Investing

Use Butter to Keep Cheese Soft and Unspoiled

The TipNut blog occasionally digs up advice from really old cookbooks, and tips like this result: Spreading a thin layer of butter on a block of opened cheese keeps it soft, and prevents molding.
Use Butter to Keep Cheese Soft and Unspoiled

Bulk Image Resizer is Light and Quick on Photo Processing

Hailing from the camp of "do one thing exceedingly well"," Batch Image Resizer is a small utility for speedily batch processing your image files.
Bulk Image Resizer is Light and Quick on Photo Processing

Why teenagers can't see your point of view

Teenagers might have a new excuse for ignoring their parent's orders. Their brain's ability to adopt the viewpoint of others is still budding, new research suggests.
Why teenagers can't see your point of view

9 Tips to Avoid Overspending.

One source of unhappiness for people is feeling out of control of their spending – and this is a problem that’s far more widespread now than it was a year ago. Feeling regret about having bought something is a very unpleasant sort of unhappiness.
9 Tips to Avoid Overspending.

The Art of Taking Criticism

There are lots of people on this planet, and they all have their opinions. That means that all of us should expect to receive lots of criticism in our lifetime. Friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, random strangers…they all have something to say (just as we often do ourselves). And if you have any kind of online presence, you can expect to receive much more criticism, as everyone comes out under the veil of anonymity.
The Art of Taking Criticism

Windows 7 News

Microsoft has made some important announcements in the past few days. The first big news which hit the online news sites today is that Microsoft will provide the options to upgrade Windows XP to Windows 7. The term upgrade might cause some confusion as it refers to the possibility for XP users to purchase Windows 7 at reduced prices rather than allowing them to upgrade their operating system to Windows 7 which is apparently not possible. So, legit Windows XP users will be able to purchase Windows 7 at a reduced price but need to do a clean install to actually use the operating system.
Windows 7 News

Printable Checklist Makes Quick, Printer-Friendly Checklists Online

Web site Printable Checklist is a stripped down checklist creator that makes building quick, printer-friendly custom checklists a breeze.
Printable Checklist Makes Quick, Printer-Friendly Checklists Online

Steer clear of painkiller Darvon

If you need a prescription medicine to relieve pain, you should steer clear of a medicine called propoxyphene. Although millions of prescriptions are written for this drug each year, expert advisors to the Food and Drug Administration recommended last Friday that it be taken off the market because it has been associated with deadly overdoses and suicides.
Steer clear of painkiller Darvon

Pricey Pet Food Not Necessarily Better

When it comes to buying pet food, higher cost doesn’t always mean higher quality, according to the March issue of Consumer Reports. A higher price could indicate better ingredients and better quality control during and after manufacturing, but it could also just mean prettier packaging, more marketing, or a fancy name.
Pricey Pet Food Not Necessarily Better

The Top Ten Money Mistakes People Make

David Bach is the best-selling author of the eight books in the Finish Rich series as well as Fight for Your Money and The Automatic Millionaire. In the latest book in the Finish Rich series, The Finish Rich Dictionary, Bach defines 1001 essential financial terms and provides 10 helpful essays with topics ranging from understanding a credit score to planning for retirement. Below we have excerpted five of Bach’s ten most interesting money mistakes people make.
The Top Ten Money Mistakes People Make

Mitigate heart-disease risk by exercising for seven minutes a week

ast week's edition of Quirks and Quarks (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's national science show) had a fascinating piece on some new research on very high-intensity, very short-duration exercise regimes.
Mitigate heart-disease risk by exercising for seven minutes a week

Rigged red-light cameras net $170 million for crooked authorities

A red light camera system in Italy cheated drivers out of $170 million dollars in fraudulent fines.
Rigged red-light cameras net $170 million for crooked authorities

Google Earth 5 Maps Oceans

Google announced that the latest version of Google Earth maps the oceans in much more detail*. To view the ocean imagery, tick the Ocean layer in Google Earth.
Google Earth 5 Maps Oceans

Image of the Day: US Airways Flight 1549 Cruising Through Jersey

How do you transport a downed but still intact jet from its landing place to a salvage yard? By going through New Jersey. (Note: instructions only valid if Jet crashed in lower 48.)
Image of the Day: US Airways Flight 1549 Cruising Through Jersey

Don't Believe The Manuals With Self-Assembly Furniture

Everyone knows that putting together flatpack furniture can be aggravating, but assembling the Sturt desk from Officeworks presented me with a challenge I've not faced before: a printed guide that wasn't just filled with poor, tiny, diagrams and incomprehensible product abbreviations, but actually skipped several crucial steps and also put others in an order that would render the desk impossible to complete.
Don't Believe The Manuals With Self-Assembly Furniture

10 Innovative But Obscure Sites That Put Money In Your Pocket

These ten websites help you save or make money in innovative ways, yet they are relatively unknown. We learned of these guys while doing research for the Wise Bread book coming out in May. You've got your copy pre-ordered, right? Enjoy the list, and share with your friends!
10 Innovative But Obscure Sites That Put Money In Your Pocket

It Can’t Love You Back

A few nights ago, my wife had to work late, so I was charged with an evening at home alone with my three year old and one year old. We did the usual things. We ate dinner together (spaghetti - my son’s favorite food). We played with his train set. I read several books, mostly selections based on my daughter’s whims since she’s just discovered the fun of having books read to her.
It Can’t Love You Back

How to Friend Mom, Dad, and the Boss on Facebook...Safely

Oh no! Your mom just joined Facebook and what's even worse, she wants to be your friend. More and more people are finding themselves in this situation today and unsure of what to do. Friending mom and dad, the boss, or other work colleagues opens up the details of your private life for the whole world to see - and you might not be entirely comfortable with that. What's to be done?
How to Friend Mom, Dad, and the Boss on Facebook...Safely

Student Bloopers

Youngsters are more than capable of mangling what they've been taught in school, often in the most hilarious fashion. Mishearings of unusual terms ("pullet surprise" for "Pulitzer Prize," for example), misspellings ("skilled at playing the liar" rather than "lyre"), and typos ("a horse divided against itself cannot stand") can turn even the most mundane of descriptions of lessons learned into that which leaves its audience in tears of laughter.
Student Bloopers

Blackstump Australia Issue 4 - February 1, 2009

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

The Lazy Manifesto: Do Less. Then, Do Even Less

How many of us don’t get lazy every now and then? Of course, some of us get lazy more than others — my mom (always a hard worker) once told me she gets lazy, but then she just does the work anyway. I replied, “Mom, that’s not lazy! That’s the opposite of lazy!”
The Lazy Manifesto: Do Less. Then, Do Even Less

5 Personal Finance Tips You Don't Always Hear About

We have all read about the usual personal finance tips being offered by the writers of the personal finance blogs around the internet and from the experts on television. They usually end up meshing somewhere along the line with information that includes the importance of setting a budget, tracking your spending, and establishing an emergency fund. While that advice is all valuable and true, there are some other things you should be doing that will keep you financially strong.
5 Personal Finance Tips You Don't Always Hear About

English manners cost Titanic lives

Many British victims of the Titanic disaster in 1912 may have sunk with the ship because of their gentlemanly behaviour, according to Swiss and Australian researchers.
English manners cost Titanic lives

Avoid Getting Fleeced at Liquidation Sales

They're going out of business! It's a liquidation sale! The prices will be crazy marked down, right? Not necessarily. Read on to avoid getting ripped off by liquidators.
Avoid Getting Fleeced at Liquidation Sales

One more reason to enjoy that cup of coffee

The New York Times reported recently on a new study that suggests coffee may help prevent Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The study, published in the January 2009 Journal of Alzheimer's Disease is observational, and a researcher is quoted in the Times as saying, “We have no evidence that for people who are not drinking coffee, taking up drinking will have a protective effect.”
One more reason to enjoy that cup of coffee

What Would You Do With Five Years?

What would you do if you were told you had five years left to live? I prefer to use this rather than Steve Job’s single day, because most of us, with a day or week left, would spend them seeing family and saying goodbyes.

But five years is different. Five years is long enough to accomplish almost any goal you might have, however ambitious. And you wouldn’t want to spend five years partying hedonistically, or eating your favourite meal every night.
What Would You Do With Five Years?

Hungry snake discovers you are what you eat

A New South Wales man has had an interesting encounter with not one but two snakes, and he has the photos to prove it.
Hungry snake discovers you are what you eat

New Year's Resolutions: Avoid Common New Year's Resolution Mistakes

At this point you're three weeks into your New Year's resolutions. Many people fail to make it out of January with their resolutions unbroken, avoid some of the common pitfalls with these tips.
New Year's Resolutions: Avoid Common New Year's Resolution Mistakes

Detecting Googlebombs

A Googlebomb is a prank where a group of people on the web try to push someone else’s site to rank for a query that it didn’t intend to (and normally wouldn’t want to) rank for. Typically these queries tend to be unusual phrases such as “talentless hack” that don’t really have any existing strong results.
Detecting Googlebombs

How to Teach Kids About Money

As kids grow, they tend to become more thoughtful about money, and it's a process to teach them how to save more, shop wisely and earn money through small jobs. The current economic troubles provide a fitting time to school our kids on personal finance, according to Eric Tyson, author of Personal Finance for Dummies. If you're feeling guilty because you can't buy your child that video game system he desperately wants for Christmas, or you're asking him to choose between playing recreation basketball or taking karate lessons this winter, Eric Tyson has one word for you. Don't. In fact, he says, now is the perfect time to teach your kids some valuable financial lessons and learn that budgeting is how the world really works.
How to Teach Kids About Money

How Travel Veterans Pack For a Trip

One of the more nerve-wracking moments a traveler can ever experience is waiting for a checked bag after an airline flight, knowing that prescription medicine or a valuable piece of electronic gear has been out of your control for hours.
How Travel Veterans Pack For a Trip

Use Your Camera Phone to Document Suitcase Contents

Nobody likes dealing with lost luggage; snapping photos of your packed suitcase before you zip up can diminish the hassle and ensure you get back everything you packed.
Use Your Camera Phone to Document Suitcase Contents

Windows 7 Codec Package

Not everyone is a friend of so called codec packages which basically consist of a collection of audio and video codecs that get batch installed on a computer system. The main point of criticism is that a lot of useless - in other words never used - codecs are installed on the system along with some that are used regularly. The user loses some hard drive space at best or will experience compatibility problems at worst.
Windows 7 Codec Package

Things my father taught me

David L. McDonald
born 1936-passed 2008
precious father
beloved husband
A right good fellow.
Things my father taught me

How to Stop Accumulating Books

Sometimes you’ll get a new book, glance through a few chapters while sitting on the can, put it on the coffee table for later indulgence, and get back to whatever you were doing. You don’t have time to actually read your new book yet. You've got a lot of work to do, and you're already part way through a couple other ones, so it’ll have to wait. But then a strange thing happens: Over the next couple weeks, you've done it again. You've bought another must-have book, and the last book, the one that was waiting for you on the coffee table, has silently migrated to your bookshelf, without ever getting read. You're a book hoarder. How do you stop the insanity?
How to Stop Accumulating Books

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