In the 12 months to 30 June 2008, the Australian population increased by 359,000 people, reaching 21,374,000. The annual growth rate for the year ended 30 June 2008 (1.7%) was higher than that recorded for the year ended 30 June 2007 (1.5%).
Population by Age and Sex, Australian States and Territories
Friday, March 20, 2009
Population by Age and Sex, Australia
Posted by Blacky at 7:18 pm 0 comments
Internet Explorer 8 Available for Download
Windows only: The final version of Internet Explorer 8 is now available for download from the IE home page.
Internet Explorer 8 Available for Download
Posted by Blacky at 8:23 am 0 comments
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Don't Panic! Your TV Will Not Stop Working After May 1
If any of you happened to read the Herald Sun article on Monday entitled "Clock ticks for plasmas, LCDs" by Peter Familari and were wondering "what the f%*k?! How can a brand new TV be obsolete in less than 2 months?", you can now rest easy. The article is a load of rubbish. It's actually pretty unbelievable just how wrong the story is, even though the underlying issue is well worth looking at.
Don't Panic! Your TV Will Not Stop Working After May 1
Posted by Blacky at 10:55 pm 0 comments
Odd traveler complaints
Telegraph Travel put together a list of the "20 most ridiculous complaints received by tour operators".
Odd traveler complaints
Posted by Blacky at 10:25 pm 0 comments
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Rare Trove of Army Medical Photos Heads to Flickr
An archivist has begun a massive project to make public a newly digitized collection of unique and sometimes startling military medical images, from the Civil War to Vietnam, without the Army's blessing.
Rare Trove of Army Medical Photos Heads to Flickr
Posted by Blacky at 9:36 pm 0 comments
Earth Class Mail
Use an Internet-Powered P.O. Box or a prestige address, then view images of your envelopes in email or online and have your mail securely scanned into a PDF, recycled, shredded, or forwarded.
The Ultimate PO Box, Post Office Box and Mail Forwarding Service
Posted by Blacky at 9:31 am 0 comments
THE VINTAGE WEB
Celebrates so many of the things we look for:
* “Under Construction” animated gif
* Blink tags
* Use of “Web Log” to denote an online diary
* Cursor animation
* “Digital” visitor counter at the bottom
* Tiled background image
THE VINTAGE WEB
Posted by Blacky at 9:29 am 0 comments
PDFVue Beta: Another Web-Based PDF Editing Solution
There’s less and less reason to fork over the expensive license fee for a full version of Adobe Acrobat these days. The web is littered with free, lightweight options that will allow you to do pretty much anything you’d want to do with Acrobat. Web app PDFVue is a relative newcomer to the field, and it brings a lot of useful PDF editing features to the table for the budget-conscious web worker.
PDFVue Beta: Another Web-Based PDF Editing Solution«
Posted by Blacky at 9:24 am 0 comments
Acrobat.com Sends Large Files Through Outlook for Free
Windows only: Adobe's Acrobat.com web site gives you 5GB of online file hosting for free, and their new Office add-in lets you easily upload and share your documents directly within Outlook 2007.
Acrobat.com Sends Large Files Through Outlook for Free
Posted by Blacky at 9:22 am 0 comments
Tactile illusions: Seven ways to fool your sense of touch
It's surprisingly easy for your body to fool your brain. Graham Lawton puts his sense of touch to the test.
Tactile illusions: Seven ways to fool your sense of touch
Posted by Blacky at 9:21 am 0 comments
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
5 Ways to Stay Motivated to Finish What You Started
There must be a reason why many people quite often start projects or tasks, big or small, and at some point while working on the tasks they feel overwhelmed, frustrated and stressed, so much so that in the end they quit or feel like quitting.
5 Ways to Stay Motivated to Finish What You Started
Posted by Blacky at 11:42 pm 0 comments
Self-cleaning toilets: Genius!
Apartment Therapy recently posted an article that immediately caused me to remember a similar Gizmodo post that I loved from a couple years ago. Ever since I first saw that Gizmodo article I have decided that people in Switzerland are brilliant.
Self-cleaning toilets: Genius!
Posted by Blacky at 11:41 pm 0 comments
Privacychoice Stops Advertisers From Profiling You
Web site Privacychoice rolls the opt-out routines for a couple dozen advertising networks into a single javascript button—so you can stop them tracking you without having to mess with cookie settings.
Privacychoice Stops Advertisers From Profiling You
Posted by Blacky at 11:37 pm 0 comments
Tip of the Day: How to avoid dangers at home
Along with the spring cleaning you'll do over the coming weeks, conduct a thorough safety inspection of your home to uncover and deal with home dangers related to the products, systems, or areas of your home below.
Tip of the Day: How to avoid dangers at home
Posted by Blacky at 11:35 pm 0 comments
Blackstump Australia Issue 9 - March 18, 2009
The latest issue of new family friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Blackstump Australia Issue 9 - March 18, 2009
Posted by Blacky at 11:30 pm 0 comments
Monday, March 16, 2009
Take Better Self-Portraits
Taking a good self-portrait is both a handy skill and a way to expand your photographic repertoire. Save your next profile picture from the camera-held-at-arms-length cliche with these tips.
Take Better Self-Portraits
Posted by Blacky at 6:56 am 0 comments
BBC exposes global cybercrime risk
The BBC in the UK has reported that it has easily acquired its own botnet controlling thousands of home computers as part of an investigation into global cybercrime.
BBC exposes global cybercrime risk
Posted by Blacky at 6:52 am 0 comments
Saturday, March 14, 2009
The magic number
At Google, they're getting ready to celebrate Pi Day, which culminates tomorrow, March 14 at 1:59pm, a date and time that correspond to the first six digits of pi: 3.14159. (Some people celebrate at 1:59am.) Of course, since pi is a member of a select group of irrational numbers, meaning they can't be expressed as a fraction, there are an infinite number of digits in pi. You can even set a world record for reciting pi from memory if you have the spare brain cells to remember 100,000 or so digits. Odds are, you certainly won't remember the one trillion digits past the decimal point that computers have calculated.
The magic number
Posted by Blacky at 3:21 pm 0 comments
Downgrade Vista to XP in seven easy steps
Windows 7's arrival is just a few months away, but many people aren't waiting and just want to replace Vista's newness — some say weirdness — for the familiarity of XP.
Downgrade Vista to XP in seven easy steps
Posted by Blacky at 3:17 pm 0 comments
How to Stop Being a Workaholic
It is dangerous to be a workaholic. Although you may finish a lot of work, you may endanger your marriage, ruin your relationships with your children, get burnt out, and end up in an early grave. If you want time to live a more enjoyable, meaningful life, the following steps will point the way.
How to Stop Being a Workaholic
Posted by Blacky at 2:09 pm 0 comments
Friday, March 13, 2009
Passwords You Should Never, Ever Use?
You can preach the gospel of secure password schemes 'til you run out of breath or typing strength—sometimes it's the bad examples that really teach us what not to do.
Passwords You Should Never, Ever Use?
Posted by Blacky at 8:20 am 0 comments
Quarterly updates to OED Online
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 to OED Online
Posted by Blacky at 12:47 am 0 comments
Thursday, March 12, 2009
How to Green Your Lighting
Given high energy prices, many aspects of the way in which we live have been brought to the fore. And not least of these is our demand for electricity. We can blame politicians and electricity suppliers for bad planning to a certain extent, but we can’t defer our responsibility for continuing to drive demand. Rather than being careless in our approach to the design of our homes, it would pay us to pay more attention to how we use our energy. And the easiest and cheapest place to start, is with our lighting.
How to Green Your Lighting
Posted by Blacky at 5:10 pm 0 comments
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
100 top sites for the year ahead
Two years after we last picked the web's cream of the crop, our latest selection finds that location-based services, work-anywhere collaboration and video are prominent.
100 top sites for the year ahead
Posted by Blacky at 1:03 pm 0 comments
Add an extra 14 years to your life
Eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, not smoking, and drinking alcohol moderately could add 14 years to your life, according to British researchers.
Add an extra 14 years to your life
Posted by Blacky at 10:19 am 0 comments
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
How to Deodorize a Room
We've all been there. Your room has 'acquired' a smell, and you just can't seem to get rid of it. Things that are clean generally shouldn't smell, but some odors have a way of getting all over everything. Here are several ways that really work to lessen odors in a room, in order of effectiveness and relative ease. Use the ones that seem most appropriate to your situation, but for really bad odors it may be worth using multiple methods to attack the smell. Finally, don't panic - these really do work and with a little time and effort the odor can be significantly reduced in a couple of days.
How to Deodorize a Room
Posted by Blacky at 11:31 pm 0 comments
7 Tearfully-Pleasing Uses for Onions
People, despite getting teary-eyed, enjoy the numerous culinary uses of the onion. The gas containing vegetable is both a primary ingredient and a flavor enhancer in many dishes. If you think its list of uses end at the kitchen, you better think again. It is proven to be a medicinal wonder, as well as a metal polisher and an insect repellent. With its number of alternative uses, the onion may induce tears of joy to any DIY pundit. Here are seven of its tearfully - pleasing uses.
7 Tearfully-Pleasing Uses for Onions
Posted by Blacky at 11:29 pm 0 comments
25 Useful Financial Rules of Thumb
A rule of thumb is a general guideline, an easy way to approximate a value quickly. It’s not meant to be completely accurate.
25 Useful Financial Rules of Thumb
Posted by Blacky at 11:23 pm 0 comments
Monday, March 09, 2009
How to Make Work Feel Effortless
Sometimes work feels like a drag. You get caught up in trying to be more productive and suddenly your life turns into a series of to-do lists. You gauge your measure of success by how much you accomplish. You even determine how happy you allow yourself to be by how much you’ve gotten done in the day. When this occurs, work turns into a chore. You don’t enjoy the work, you just to do it so it can be over with. Then you can feel good, right? But wait, there’s that thing you forgot about. You still need to do that. And oh yeah, there’s that other thing you haven’t done yet.
How to Make Work Feel Effortless
Posted by Blacky at 10:34 pm 0 comments
Find Free Transport In Most Australian Capital Cities
Australia's different capital city public transport systems don't have much in common -- but many of them do offer free bus services in their CBD areas (along with the occasional no-cost tram or train). Check out this comprehensive listing to save money (and traffic jams) the next time you're in an unfamiliar city.
Find Free Transport In Most Australian Capital Cities
Posted by Blacky at 12:44 pm 0 comments
Microsoft Time Zone
There is no build in way to display different time zones in Microsoft operating systems. The clock in the system tray will always display the time of the selected time zone. Users have to rely on third party programs or the Internet to view multiple time zones at once. One of the possibilities is a small Microsoft application that can be used to display the times of various time zones in the Windows system tray. The application will pull the information directly from the default time zone list of the Windows operating system which means that every time zone in the world is covered by it.
Microsoft Time Zone
Posted by Blacky at 10:42 am 0 comments
International Women's Day: Web and Social Media Resources
If you’re wondering why “Happy International” is a top trend on Twitter today, it’s because today is International Women’s Day, an important day that celebrates the achievements of women everywhere. This year will be the 98th celebration of International Women’s Day. And although we celebrate the advances women have made today, we are also humbled by the reminder that there is still a lot of work to be done in the realm of gender equality.
International Women's Day: Web and Social Media Resources
Posted by Blacky at 10:40 am 0 comments
Spoof Magazine Covers and More at WriteOnIt
Your mother always told you you'd never sell enough gold records, or fall hard enough from a high enough office, to make the cover of a magazine. Prove her wrong with spoof site WriteOnIt.
Spoof Magazine Covers and More at WriteOnIt
Posted by Blacky at 10:33 am 0 comments
Saturday, March 07, 2009
HTML to PDF Converter Turns Web Sites into PDF Files
If you'd like to save a web site for posterity without the mess of saving the page and all its files, the web-based HTML to PDF Converter can crank out a PDF.
HTML to PDF Converter Turns Web Sites into PDF Files
Posted by Blacky at 6:06 pm 0 comments
Blackstump Australia Issue 8 - March 8, 2009
The latest issue of new family friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Blackstump Australia Issue 8 - March 8, 2009
Posted by Blacky at 3:54 pm 0 comments
Friday, March 06, 2009
When fast-food's nearby, stroke risk is high
For me, and no doubt many others, proximity to fast-food breeds consumption. Now, a new study suggests that easy access to fast-food may also be tied to a higher risk of stroke.
When fast-food's nearby, stroke risk is high
Posted by Blacky at 10:23 pm 0 comments
Ten Things That Won’t Matter In Ten Years’ Time – And Ten Things That Will
You’re stressed, overworked, and tired. You feel like you’re dropping the ball on so many things. You find yourself lying awake in the early hours, thinking about those items still on your to-do list, those emails not yet cleared.
Ten Things That Won’t Matter In Ten Years’ Time – And Ten Things That Will
Posted by Blacky at 10:12 pm 0 comments
Tough geometric brain teaser
Good luck!
Tough geometric brain teaser
Posted by Blacky at 10:10 pm 0 comments
Funny traffic sign hack
A cleverly-placed sticker.
Funny traffic sign hack
Posted by Blacky at 10:05 pm 0 comments
Roman Catholic bishops to faithful: Give up cell phone and Internet during Lent
Concerned that Christians are not entering the Lenten season (which began last week on Ash Wednesday) with the proper spirit, some clergy are calling on their flock to nix text messaging for the next six Fridays leading up to Easter on April 12. Christians are annually asked to refrain from eating meat on Fridays and to pray more regularly during Lent, but the church has apparently gotten hip to the hold that technology has on its brethren.
Roman Catholic bishops to faithful: Give up cell phone and Internet during Lent
Posted by Blacky at 7:23 am 0 comments
New Google Site to Share Money-Saving Tips
Google offers a new Google Moderator-based application called Tip Jar. The purpose of the mostly green-color-themed site is for people to contribute money saving tips and tricks in areas like work, family, transit and more.
New Google Site to Share Money-Saving Tips
Posted by Blacky at 7:00 am 0 comments
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Image Of The Day: What Is This?
What the hell is this? Neurons firing up inside a brain? An installation with several Tesla coils? A weird electrical storm phenomenon? A color-inverted photo of an spiders orgy? A new nano-technology organic-based processor?
Image Of The Day: What Is This?
Posted by Blacky at 8:04 am 0 comments
Windows 7 Lets You Finally Uninstall Internet Explorer (Kinda)
The AeroXperience weblog has uncovered a shocking change in the latest release candidate of Windows 7—Internet Explorer can be removed through the Windows Features dialog. Finally!
Windows 7 Lets You Finally Uninstall Internet Explorer (Kinda)
Posted by Blacky at 8:01 am 0 comments
Best and Worst 2009 Cars
Here are the Consumer Reports top-rated vehicles in ten categories (with previous years’ top cars in parentheses):
The Consumer Reports Auto Issue: Best and Worst 2009 Cars
Posted by Blacky at 7:58 am 0 comments
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
How to Cultivate Compassion in Your Life
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~ Dalai Lama.
How to Cultivate Compassion in Your Life
Posted by Blacky at 9:17 pm 0 comments
How to Open a Bottle Without a Corkscrew
A wine bottle, without having a corkscrew, is a tough nut to crack. Removing the cork, which is wedged through the nozzle, is not easy to dislodge, especially if you don’t have a tool to pull it out. Good thing the makeshift world presents more than one solution to this problem. In fact, you will realize that the corkscrew is not all too important with your available options. Here are three distinct ways to open a bottle without using a corkscrew.
How to Open a Bottle Without a Corkscrew
Posted by Blacky at 7:18 am 0 comments
Capture Your Outlook Contacts With gwabbit
I’m often surprised by the number of people who use Microsoft Outlook as their primary email and information manager who don’t also take full advantage of its contact capabilities. While I wouldn’t say it compares with a full blown CRM system, it is certainly a capable program for maintaining contact information.
Capture Your Outlook Contacts With gwabbit
Posted by Blacky at 7:16 am 0 comments
HOW TO: Measure Online Influence
Influence is difficult to ascertain online. What about that guy on Twitter with 25,000 followers? Isn’t he influential? What about that woman who has 5,000 RSS subscribers? She has to be influential, correct?
HOW TO: Measure Online Influence
Posted by Blacky at 7:14 am 0 comments
Fish with "humanoid" face
Two fish with human-looking "faces" apparently live in pond behind a home in Chongju, South Korea. They are reportedly hybrids of a carp and a tangerine fish. Weird Asia News has more info and a Korean TV news report.
Fish with "humanoid" face
Posted by Blacky at 7:07 am 0 comments
Square root day, 3/3/09, is upon us
Math lovers and numerologists take note: Yesterday, March 3, 2009, was square root day.
Square root day, 3/3/09, is upon us
Posted by Blacky at 7:01 am 0 comments
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Privacy Fail
"For the larger board meetings, the basin can be used as a spare."
Privacy Fail
Posted by Blacky at 7:07 am 0 comments
Cc:Betty Offers Your Own Personal Email Assistant
Email, which underpins everything we do online, hasn’t changed very much over the last decade or so. In fact, the ever-increasing number of messages to follow (estimated to be some 210 billion per day in 2008) means that email takes up way too much time and is nowhere near the productivity tool that many of us would like it to be. Cc:Betty, launching in open beta today at DEMO, hopes to change that by offering a “group email assistant” that helps you digest email conversations by presenting them in an easy-to-follow way and extracting useful stuff, like dates, contacts, files and links.
Cc:Betty Offers Your Own Personal Email Assistant
Posted by Blacky at 7:05 am 0 comments
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Bulk Upload and Host Images for Free at Imagebam
If you're looking for a quick and dirty free image host for fast image sharing, Imagebam makes it extremely easy to get your photos out there.
Bulk Upload and Host Images for Free at Imagebam
Posted by Blacky at 11:18 am 0 comments
Friday, February 27, 2009
Supercomputer finds oldest English words
The oldest words in the English language include 'I' and 'who', while words like 'dirty' could die out relatively quickly, say UK researchers.
Supercomputer finds oldest English words
Posted by Blacky at 11:43 pm 0 comments
How to Copy Contents of One Hard Drive to a New Hard Drive (with video)
Connect a new (optionally larger) hard drive to a PC and place an exact copy of an existing drive to it. The new drive will be identical to the original, and bootable (if the source was), too. As a result, the new drive may replace the old drive, kept as additional storage or removed from the PC for a different use completely.
How to Copy Contents of One Hard Drive to a New Hard Drive (with video)
Posted by Blacky at 11:31 pm 0 comments
Cutting calories key to weight loss
Cutting calories is the key to weight loss regardless of whether a diet emphasizes fat, protein, or carbohydrates, reported the New York Times yesterday on a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week. In the largest controlled study of its kind, reseachers put more than 800 overweight adults on one of four diets that reduced calories through different combinations of fat, carbohydrates, and protein. After two years, every diet group had lost—and regained—about the same amount of weight regardless of what diet had been assigned.
Cutting calories key to weight loss
Posted by Blacky at 8:08 am 1 comments
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
16 Energy Boosters That Won’t Leave You Depleted | Simple Mom
* Do you feel exhausted at the end of your day?
* Do you need that first cup of coffee in the morning to “get going?”
* Do you experience dips in your energy mid-morning or mid-afternoon?
If your answer is yes, read on, because your body is telling you something important.
16 Energy Boosters That Won’t Leave You Depleted
Posted by Blacky at 8:15 pm 0 comments
Fear of heights linked to vertical perception
People who shudder atop skyscrapers or feel their knees buckle going over bridges have troubling perceiving vertical dimensions, two new studies suggest.
Fear of heights linked to vertical perception
Posted by Blacky at 1:29 pm 0 comments
Crews fly in ahead of extreme weather forecast
Firefighters from New Zealand and interstate are being called into Victoria's bushfire zones, ahead of dangerous weather conditions forecast for Friday. Backburning and containment work is continuing on seven major blazes still burning across Victoria.
Crews fly in ahead of extreme weather forecast
Posted by Blacky at 1:27 pm 0 comments
Blackstump Australia Issue 7 - February 26, 2009
The latest issue of new family friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Blackstump Australia Issue 7 - February 26, 2009
Posted by Blacky at 11:40 am 0 comments
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Atlantis? No, it Atlant-isn't.
Last week we saw some interesting speculation that Atlantis had been found in Google Earth. As much as we'd love for that to be the case, there is a scientific explanation for the odd markings found on the seafloor. We've invited two of the scientists who gathered the data that appears in Google Earth to answer some questions that came up.
Atlantis? No, it Atlant-isn't.
Posted by Blacky at 7:16 pm 0 comments
Empower Other People To Help You Achieve What You Want
“You can only get what you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar
Empower Other People To Help You Achieve What You Want
Posted by Blacky at 6:58 am 0 comments
Has Google Ocean Uncovered Atlantis?
A grid-like pattern of lines on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean is getting a lot of buzz these days — and it’s all made possible by the recently launched Google Ocean.
Has Google Ocean Uncovered Atlantis?
Posted by Blacky at 6:53 am 0 comments
How To Zoom In Firefox
I recently had two conversations with Firefox users who did not know that Firefox came with the means to zoom in and out of a website. They were using external applications to magnify parts of the screen and where surprised that they could achieve the same effect with less work.
How To Zoom In Firefox
Posted by Blacky at 6:50 am 0 comments
Monday, February 23, 2009
Save Bundles of Cash by Buying Eyeglasses Online
Anybody who wears eyeglasses knows how much you pay for two tiny pieces of glass. Take our advice on shopping for glasses online to save yourself a whole lot of cash.
Save Bundles of Cash by Buying Eyeglasses Online
Posted by Blacky at 5:14 pm 0 comments
How to Clean a Diamond
We should all be so lucky as to have this problem, but diamonds, like all physical possessions, need cleaning, from time to time. And while it’s commonly known that diamonds are “indestructible”, we’d rather not test that.
How to Clean a Diamond
Posted by Blacky at 7:35 am 0 comments
Work Less, Live More - The Way to Semi-Retirement
Even before I began my financial turnaround, I dreamed of being able to settle into some form of “semi-retirement” around age fifty or so (when the children are out on their own). I dreamed of spending mornings working on my writing, spending my afternoons volunteering, and spending a lot of long, wonderful days with my wife as we grow into our golden years together, chasing grandchildren and enjoying each other.
Work Less, Live More - The Way to Semi-Retirement
Posted by Blacky at 7:33 am 0 comments
Towns on alert as bushfire threat rises
Communities east of Melbourne are on bushfire alert this morning, with extreme fire conditions expected in the Yarra Valley, the Warburton Valley, and Enoch Point.
Towns on alert as bushfire threat rises
Posted by Blacky at 7:30 am 0 comments
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Video - Thirsty koala
Sam the koala survives the bushfire and drinks three bottles of water courtesy of CFA volunteer David Tree.
Video - Thirsty koala
Posted by Blacky at 10:05 pm 0 comments
Fires Victoria - Portraits of Grief
Portraits of Grief - interactive coverage via the Herald Sun including considerable video footage of aspects of the Victorian bushfires.
Fires Victoria
Posted by Blacky at 10:03 pm 0 comments
Australia holds national mourning day after fires
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australians held a national day of mourning for the victims of wildfires that killed hundreds this month, and survivors were promised the nation would support them in the massive task of rebuilding.
Australia holds national mourning day after fires
Posted by Blacky at 9:51 pm 0 comments
When You’re Overcharged or Undercharged
While doing my weekly shopping trip, I headed to the checkout with a bunch of produce in my cart. I knew how much the produce was marked for in the aisle, but I often find that produce pricing results in a lot of errors at the checkout, so I often make a mental note of produce prices.
When You’re Overcharged or Undercharged
Posted by Blacky at 7:11 am 0 comments
Saturday, February 21, 2009
8 technology etiquette tips for job-seekers
If there's any small solace when starting a job search in this recession, it's the proliferation of digital technology to help you re-enter the working world. But think twice before picking up that BlackBerry and thumb-typing a message to the hiring manager whose e-mail address you so slyly uncovered online. In the end, landing the right job hinges on old-world skills.
8 technology etiquette tips for job-seekers
Posted by Blacky at 7:23 am 0 comments
Instructables.com shows you the way with its DIY projects
After working on our latest report on cordless drills and tool kits, I was inspired to find practical, skill-building home projects that could put my own tools to good use and maybe even save me a little money.
Instructables.com shows you the way with its DIY projects
Posted by Blacky at 7:21 am 0 comments
Friday, February 20, 2009
Why More Megapixels Isn't Always More Better
Between all the new digital cameras pooped out before the upcoming PMA show and the crazy cameras buried inside cellphones at MWC, it's a good time to go over why more megapixels isn't necessarily better.
Why More Megapixels Isn't Always More Better
Posted by Blacky at 7:13 pm 0 comments
Victorian fire toll reaches 209
he death toll from the Victorian bushfires has risen by one today, to 209, nearly two weeks after the Black Saturday fires that razed hundreds of thousands of hectares of bushland in the state and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Victorian fire toll reaches 209
Posted by Blacky at 7:01 pm 0 comments
India to launch cow urine as soft drink
Does your Pepsi lack pep? Is your Coke not the real thing? India's Hindu nationalist movement apparently has the answer: a new soft drink made from cow urine.
India to launch cow urine as soft drink
Posted by Blacky at 8:12 am 0 comments
Things to consider when dropping your landline and going wireless
Why do we keep our land lines?
Things to consider when dropping your landline and going wireless
Posted by Blacky at 8:05 am 0 comments
Thursday, February 19, 2009
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
Posted by Blacky at 7:10 am 0 comments
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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?
Posted by Blacky at 8:42 am 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 8:40 am 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 8:35 am 0 comments
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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
Posted by Blacky at 10:04 pm 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 9:00 pm 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 8:58 pm 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 8:57 pm 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 8:51 pm 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 8:48 pm 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 8:47 pm 0 comments
"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
Posted by Blacky at 7:25 am 0 comments
Saturday, February 14, 2009
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
Posted by Blacky at 7:25 am 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 7:22 am 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 7:21 am 0 comments
Friday, February 13, 2009
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
Posted by Blacky at 7:07 pm 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 6:57 pm 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 6:40 pm 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 8:03 am 0 comments
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
Posted by Blacky at 8:01 am 0 comments
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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
Posted by Blacky at 10:16 pm 0 comments
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?
Posted by Blacky at 10:03 pm 0 comments