How to Know How Much Sleep You Need

Do you feel drowsy? Can't stop yawning? Maybe you're not getting as much sleep as you should. Or perhaps you overslept--there is such a thing, and it's not good for you, either![1] How much sleep you actually needs depends on your age, activity level, and even genetics. This article will help you figure it out with a test.
How to Know How Much Sleep You Need

Browser Speed Tests: The Windows 7 Results

Firefox 3.6 Beta 1, like every other browser, makes a claim to being "faster." We took Firefox and all the other latest browsers, put them on Windows 7, and ran them through our human-measured speed tests to vet the bragging.
Browser Speed Tests: The Windows 7 Results

Convert Photos To PDF

Converting multiple photos into single pdf documents has several advantages. A single file can be stored and managed more comfortable and it’s also easier to distribute them without running into the problem of missing photos in the process. One interesting use would be for instance to convert photos that have been taken on the last holiday into one pdf document to send the document to friends and relatives.
Convert Photos To PDF

Google Maps Creates New UK Town Called Argleton

Google and its UK map provider, Tele Atlas, are cleaning the egg off their faces this week over the appearance of a town called Argleton in Google Maps. It’s right there on Google Maps, and there’s even an Argleton place page with photos and more.
Google Maps Creates New UK Town Called Argleton

How To Remove Your Bike Chain

Being able to remove your bike chain is one of those things anyone who owns a bike should be able to do. Blog OzSoapbox details how to go about it in a chatty, experience-filled post.
How To Remove Your Bike Chain

.A Secret to Happiness That I Overlooked -- Until Now.

People are adaptable. We quickly adjust to a new life circumstance—for better or worse—and consider it normal. Although this helps us when our situation worsens, it means that when circumstances improve, we soon become hardened to new comforts or privileges. Scoring air-conditioning, a bigger house, or a fancy title gives us only a brief boost in happiness before we start to take it for granted. As Aldous Huxley wrote, “Habit converts luxurious enjoyments into dull and daily necessities.” That’s the hedonic treadmill.
.A Secret to Happiness That I Overlooked -- Until Now..

How to Get Out of Bed When You Really Don’t Feel Like It.

We’ve all been there: the alarm goes off, we’re feeling groggy, reach out and slap it to snooze. Five minutes later, the same things happens. We switch the alarm off again. The thought of getting out of bed seems like way too much effort. We know that, once we get up, we have to launch into the day – that to-do list we made last night, those chores that need doing…
How to Get Out of Bed When You Really Don’t Feel Like It

Melbourne Cup iPhone App

The race that stops a nation takes place today, and gadget junkies can add a little techno-flare to the occasion with the official Melbourne Cup iPhone application from the Victoria Racing Club.
Melbourne Cup iPhone App

How to Be Assertive Without Being Arrogant

Assertiveness is an important means for communicating your needs in a way that is fair to both yourself and to others. Unfortunately, for some insecure people, assertive people are sometimes threatening and it is easier to label them as arrogant, selfish, or unhelpful when they receive the answer "no" or when boundaries are made clear by the assertive person. In particular, those with manipulative, neediness, and trust problems can see assertive responses as undermining their own agendas and will seek to respond with negative critiques of an assertive person's behavior. This is where it can get a little tricky for the newly assertive convert but it's no reason to suddenly start worrying that you are arrogant!
How to Be Assertive Without Being Arrogant

7 Email And Notification Gadgets For Windows 7

The following list contains ten email and notification gadgets for Windows 7 (or Windows Vista). These gadgets display information and notifications about online services such as Facebook and Twitter or software programs like Outlook or Skype on the Windows desktop. Some of them even come with additional functionality like being able to send status updates to the online service or chatting with friends right from the desktop without having to open the software program to do so.
7 Email And Notification Gadgets For Windows 7

Facebook Warns of New Viruses

Facebook has warned users of two different viruses that users should be aware of. The company writes “Watch out for two new viruses that are spreading across the web. They involve emails made to look like they are from Facebook telling you to take some action on your account. Remember that we will never send you a new password as an attachment.”
Facebook Warns of New Viruses

A Tokyo photographer offers tips on taking pro shots with an iPhone 3GS

Koichi Mitsui is a professional photographer in Japan. When he's not on the job shooting for magazines and ads, he wanders around Tokyo taking pictures with his iPhone 3GS. "The iPhone has a single-focus lens with no zoom, and this simplicity keeps me devoted to only composition and the perfect photo opp," Mitsui says. Keep reading for a selection of his work with tips on how you can take amazing photos with your iPhone, too.
A Tokyo photographer offers tips on taking pro shots with an iPhone 3GS

The game of Haggling: How to Get a Great Deal on a Used Car

We bought our car for less than 75% of the asking price, and got an extended warranty at half price. They gave us a good value for our trade-in and a very low interest rate on our loan. Here's how we did it.
The game of Haggling: How to Get a Great Deal on a Used Car

Consumer Price Index, Australia, Sep 2009

Rose 1.0% in the September quarter 2009, compared with a rise of 0.5% in the June quarter 2009.
Consumer Price Index, Australia, Sep 2009

5 Ways to Get Free Tech Advice Online

It happens almost weekly for some: your computer freezes, your iPhone won’t power down, or your printer is jammed in a big way. The frugalist in you just doesn’t want to make an expensive house call to a tech professional, and most of the time, that’s OK! We’ve got 5 top resources for finding free tech advice online, and a few tips for helping you decide which tips are worthy.
5 Ways to Get Free Tech Advice Online

Get Facebook's "Old" News Feed Back

Are you already feeling some ill will toward Facebook for splitting up your Facebook home page with a split "News Feed" and "Live Feed"? Web PR consultant Steve Rubel posts a sorta-kinda fix.
Get Facebook's "Old" News Feed Back

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 31 - October 26, 2009

The latest issue of new family friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 31 - October 26, 2009

Best of Twitter: 20+ Funniest #oneletteroffmovies

It’s hard to ignore the fact that Twitter has been overtaken this weekend with a new meme: #oneletteroffmovies takes the titles of popular flicks and changes just one letter for comedy effect.
Best of Twitter: 20+ Funniest #oneletteroffmovies

How to Get Laid Off: A Step-By-Step Guide

It seems ironic in this economy, and with a high unemployment rate, that anyone would want advice about getting kicked from a job. But last week a question was posed to me, and it was genuine — “How do I get laid off?”
How to Get Laid Off: A Step-By-Step Guide

Why I’m Dumping Vista For Windows 7

The sound of cheers swell across the nation: Today, Vista users can finally dump the clunky and sluggish operating system for Windows 7. Praise for the new version has already started coming in from early adopters and reviewers.
Why I’m Dumping Vista For Windows 7

What's Your Favorite Facebook App of 2009?

It’s been a good year at Facebook. Traffic to the site is up over 200%, from 40 million visitors per month at this time last year, to nearly 125 million now — and that’s just US traffic. Growth is equally impressive for active users Facebook-wide. The company started the year with 150 million active users and they’ve already blown by 300 million. Facebook is easily the most popular social network in the world, and their growth, which doesn’t show any signs of letting up, isn’t just happening in raw user and visitor numbers. Other Facebook initiatives are also growing steadily this year.
What's Your Favorite Facebook App of 2009?

Sports and Physical Recreation: A Statistical Overview, Australia, 2009

This publication presents an overview of the sports and physical recreation sector. It contains information about the number of people who play sports; the most popular sports played; the number of people attending sporting events; the amount people spend on sports and physical recreation; the economic activity of businesses, clubs and associations involved in providing sports and physical recreation goods and services; the people who work in sports and physical recreation occupations or industries; and the support provided by volunteers.
Sports and Physical Recreation: A Statistical Overview, Australia, 2009

Lifehacker's Complete Guide to Windows 7

Windows 7 officially launches today, but we've been testing, tweaking, customizing, fixing, and writing about this OS for a year now. We present here a guide to everything we've learned about the OS, from first install to final settings change.
Lifehacker's Complete Guide to Windows 7

10 Really Dumb Old Inventions And Their Modern Counterparts

These things are so damn stupid they became obsolete before even becoming real products.
10 Really Dumb Old Inventions And Their Modern Counterparts

Eight Excellent Tips for Living that My Parents Gave Me

Have you received any great advice from your parents?
Eight Excellent Tips for Living that My Parents Gave Me

View Your Google Tasks in Actual Full-Screen

Lifehacker pointed to an iGoogle interface for Google's Tasks to-do manager yesterday that gave users a pretty big view inside their custom home page. Want a totally full-size Tasks view without launching iGoogle? Bookmark the "Canvas view" page.
View Your Google Tasks in Actual Full-Screen

The Oddest and Dumbest English Spellings

Solemn and column are now pronounced without n. In the speech of some people kiln is homophonous with kill, g is always mute in diaphragm, phlegm, and so forth.
The Oddest and Dumbest English Spellings

Arts and Culture in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2009

Participation and Attendance, Time Spent on Cultural Activities, Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, Characteristics of Attendees, Frequency of Attendance, Reading, Children's Involvement in Cultural Activities, Hobby Activities.
Arts and Culture in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2009

Windows 7: To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade

Launch day for Windows 7 is just a few days away. So you might be wondering whether you need to plop down between $120 and $220 for the new OS, buy a new computer, or maintain your status quo.
Windows 7: To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade

Prep Your PC for Windows 7

When Windows 7 drops this Thursday, you can either spend many, many hours watching a progress bar, or you can boot into a clean, speedy system with that new-OS smell. Let's get your system set up for a proper Windows 7 upgrade.
Prep Your PC for Windows 7

What You Still Don't Know About You

After however many years of living, do you still have things about yourself, who you are and how your brain works that you don't entirely understand? To celebrate their 150th issue, the email version of The British Psychological Society's Research Digest asked 23 top psychologists to write 150 words on their nagging questions about themselves. From human consciousness, to death and forgiveness, to the dark Dalek-y corners of the mind, the answers are a great read--and an excellent place to jump into asking similar questions about ourselves.
What You Still Don't Know About You

Turn Your PC into a Home Surveillance System

If you're interested in building out a serious, multi-camera home surveillance system complete with wireless cameras, weblog MakeUseOf details how to do so.
Turn Your PC into a Home Surveillance System

Wolfram Alpha Launches $50 iPhone App

On Thursday WolframAlpha launched its developer API, which should allow large and small developers (as well as businesses and educational institutions) to harness the power of the computational knowledge engine to enhance their own applications or products. Today, the WolframAlpha iPhone app (iTunes link) — which was built using the new API — was released to the App Store.
Wolfram Alpha Launches $50 iPhone App

Top 5 Twitter Trends to Watch Right Now

We’ve been taking an active analytical look at emerging Twitter related trends on a monthly basis. This month instead of analyzing the state of the Twittersphere on our own, we thought we’d give some of the web’s most experimental, influential, and knowledgeable thought leaders an opportunity to share their perspectives on Twitter trends.
Top 5 Twitter Trends to Watch Right Now

Top 10 Time-Saving, MacGyver Cleaning Tricks

Very few people truly enjoy spending time cleaning, and fewer still love buying expensive cleaners for every little task. Here's a handful of clever, time-saving DIY substitutes for common household cleaning jobs.
Top 10 Time-Saving, MacGyver-Style Cleaning Tricks

Nominate Walkable Spaces for the Street View Trike

Google's Street View cars can't drive everywhere, and especially through some of the most interesting walkable destinations around. One engineer came up with a solution in the form of a Street View Trike, a bike with an image capture trailer attached. Check out a few of the places captured for virtual tours so far, like Legoland California, and nominate other walkable spots for the trike to capture.
Nominate Walkable Spaces for the Street View Trike

10 Very Common Stupid Tricks That Wreck A Good Life

Many people go through life acting like trained circus animals. They repeat the same antics they observed their neighbors, parents and family performing. What they often don’t realize is that they are wrecking their lives.
10 Very Common Stupid Tricks That Wreck A Good Life

Top 10 iPhone Apps as Judged by Mashable Readers

Mashable: Each Friday we choose a Lunchtime Poll topic to get a sense of how Mashable readers feel about the chosen topic of the week. Below are the results from last Friday’s poll, where we asked your favorite iPhone apps.
Top 10 iPhone Apps as Judged by Mashable Readers

HOW TO: Organize an Event on Facebook

This guide will show you how to successfully run an event on Facebook.
HOW TO: Organize an Event on Facebook

Seven Tips If You’re Chronically Late

Feeling as though you’re always running twenty minutes behind schedule is an unhappy feeling. Having to rush, forgetting things in your haste, dealing with annoyed people when you arrive…it’s no fun.
Seven Tips If You’re Chronically Late

Clothes no cover for airport scanner

A human x-ray machine which produces "naked" images of passengers is being tested at an airport in Britain. Here's a video of how it works from Scientific American.
Clothes no cover for airport scanner

Want to Remotely Start Your Car? There's an App for That

If you live some place where it gets really cold in the winter — you might already be familiar with the advantages and convenience of a remote-start car system. Rather than fumbling to open an icy door or waiting a few minutes for the car to start and the heat to come on, you can start the car using a keyremote and even turn the heat on, so that by the time you get to the car, it’s on and warm.
Want to Remotely Start Your Car? There's an App for That

The Forgetful Mind

Whenever I have a stray thought that might be useful at all to remember later, I jot it down in a “thought notebook” and then review it later, usually a couple of reviews a day. Figuring this out has truly been world-changing to me. It’s helped me to retain good ideas, remember to do certain things, and record data that I’ll need later on (like addresses and phone numbers and such).
The Forgetful Mind

The Web’s Inventor Regrets One Small Thing

Any conversation with Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the Web’s bedrock software standards, tends to be fast-paced and nonlinear. A historical question then. If he were do it over again today, would he do anything differently? Any regrets?
The Web’s Inventor Regrets One Small Thing

The 2009 Nobel Prizes

Explore the advances that earned this year's crop of Nobelists one of the world's most famous prizes--and in some cases, read about the prizewinning discoveries as chronicled by the researchers themselves in Scientific American.
The 2009 Nobel Prizes: In-Depth Reports

A cure for jet lag?

A pill that cures jet lag is a step closer today, after scientists discovered how signals from the brain control our biological clocks.
A cure for jet lag?

20 Fantastic Free iPhone Apps for Parents

It’s hard to believe that a little device that’s the size of your hand can actually help parents become more organized, time-efficient, knowledgeable, even relaxed. However, that’s the beauty of an iPhone. The key, though, is to find the right apps to get you there, and with so many choices (more than 75,000), it takes time and effort to find good ones.
20 Fantastic Free iPhone Apps for Parents

Top 10 Reminder Tools for Forgetful Minds

Tweak your workflow and inboxes all you want, but your mental memory might always be the weakest link in your day-to-day life. These 10 tools take some of the workload off your brain, and prevent a few forehead slaps.
Top 10 Reminder Tools for Forgetful Minds

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 30 - October 11, 2009

The latest issue of new family friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 30 - October 11, 2009

10 Ways To Conquer Fear of Public Speaking.

The most common phobia people have is the “Fear of public speaking”. Some people dread public speaking even more than death. Most of us live with this fear throughout our lives. Being an underrated skill we fail to get proper guidance to overcome our stage fright. As schools and colleges do not provide any training on public speaking, most of us lack the confidence to speak in public when we reach adulthood.
10 Ways To Conquer Fear of Public Speaking.

Ping: Free iPhone-to-iPhone Text Messaging

Ping! is simplified iPhone-to-iPhone messaging with push notifications (also works with iPod Touch). It uses a unique Ping! ID, and works similar to Blackberry Messenger so that messages can extend to friends anywhere in the world without text messaging costs.
Ping: Free iPhone-to-iPhone Text Messaging

Leaked Hotmail Password Data Analysis

Remember back then when AOL decided to provide downloads of an anonymized snapshot of their search engine logs? One of the first things that Internet
Marketers did was to analyze the data to see what users where looking for. Groups focused on privacy would analyse the data to see if it was possible to identify single users from the data that was offered by AOL.
Leaked Hotmail Password Data Analysis

A Doctor's Advice On How To Read Health News (And Know Whether It's Full of Crap) - Boing Boing

Biased and badly done are two very different things. I don't have data on this, but I think it's fair to say that, when the main-stream media gets a health story wrong, it usually isn't trying to be intentionally wack. Trouble is, whatever the intent, it leaves you--the reader--in the same place. Conflused.
A Doctor's Advice On How To Read Health News (And Know Whether It's Full of Crap) - Boing Boing

8 Awesome Mashups Made Possible by APIs

Thanks to APIs, new programs can be built up that take advantage of one or more services in ways the original creators might not have intended or even imagined. That allows the creativity and ingenuity of the developer community at large to shine by creating highly useful new services without requiring complicated licensing protocols and fees or even specific partnerships between the companies.
8 Awesome Mashups Made Possible by APIs

Watch NASA’s Exploding Moon Rocket Live on NASA TV

Remember the LCROSS project, the one in which NASA plans to fire a huge exploding rocket into the moon? The goal is to eject debris from the surface of one of moon’s craters and discovering whether there’s frozen water there.
Watch NASA’s Exploding Moon Rocket Live on NASA TV

Go Straight to Your Unread Gmail Messages with a Shortcut

You probably already know how to find unread messages in Gmail (just search is:unread in:inbox), but if you want quick, bookmarkable access to only those unread messages in your inbox, CNET has a simple suggestion.
Go Straight to Your Unread Gmail Messages with a Shortcut

Make Your Battery Last Longer

Over on TheAppleBlog, Liam posted “14 Ways to Be Kind to Your Battery,” a list of simple measures you can take to conserve battery power if you’re away from an outlet. Check out Liam’s post for the full list of tips and more detail. These tips aren’t only useful for Apple hardware; most of them would work equally well on any make of laptop or netbook.
Make Your Battery Last Longer

Phishing Protection Tips

It is time to update the phishing protection article that we published some time ago (see Phishing explained) with the recent news that thousands of Hotmail users (and apparently Gmail users as well) fell pray to yet another phishing scam. What is phishing? Phishing, which stands for password fishing, is a popular technique to get collect data from users without their knowledge. This data is usually sensitive in nature, like credit card information or usernames and passwords. The attackers need to get a user on a specifically prepared website first which often is looks exactly like the real website the user wants to visit.
Phishing Protection Tips

Most Common Hotmail Password Revealed!

A researcher who examined 10,000 Hotmail, MSN and Live.com passwords that were recently exposed online has published an analysis of the list and found that “123456″ was the most commonly used password, appearing 64 times.
Most Common Hotmail Password Revealed!

Price Comparison With Invisible Hand For Firefox

Price comparison is one of the essentials things that Internet users should do before buying a product on the Internet. It does not matter if they do it manually by visiting several Internet shops that carry the product or use one of the price comparison services. Users can save lots of money when comparing prices before buying a product.
Price Comparison With Invisible Hand For Firefox

Phishing Attack! Gmail, Yahoo Mail Join Hotmail; Passwords Exposed

Google’s Gmail and Yahoo’s Mail were also targeted by a large-scale phishing attack, perhaps the same one that harvested at least 10,000 passwords from Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail, according to a report by the BBC.
Phishing Attack! Gmail, Yahoo Mail Join Hotmail; Passwords Exposed

Reviews of 8 Free Twitter Clients

All of the clients are free to download and use. The first link takes you to a PC World Slideshow with a screenshot and brief overview. The second link labeled “Review” takes you to a complete product review from PC World’s sister publication, Computerworld.
Reviews of 8 Free Twitter Clients

How to Stop Buying Clothes You Never Wear

These tips are applicable to women and men, whether you’re a high-power attorney or a stay-at-home parent.
How to Stop Buying Clothes You Never Wear

Illusions: What's in a face?

Our brains are exquisitely tuned to perceive, recognize and remember faces. We can easily find a friend’s face among dozens or hundreds of unfamiliar faces in a busy street. We look at each other’s facial expressions for signs of appreciation and disapproval, love and contempt.
Illusions: What's in a face?

PhotoSketch: Photoshop + Image Recognition = Awesome

This technology is just mind-boggling. PhotoSketch may be the coolest program we’ve seen or written about since the invisible speakers.
PhotoSketch: Photoshop + Image Recognition = Awesome

5 Ways Self Storage Units Are More Sad Museums Than Savvy Solutions.

Although self storage (like easy credit), can be beneficial to a percentage of the population, it's a pact with Satan for many folks who don't have an iron fist over their finances or excellent time management skills. Quite simply, it's bad on several fronts.
5 Ways Self Storage Units Are More Sad Museums Than Savvy Solutions.

Hotmail Phishing Attack: Time To Change Passwords

Microsoft has recently confirmed that thousands of Windows Live Hotmail customer’s credentials were exposed on a third party website. According to Neowin the account information were posted by an anonymous user at the pastebin website. The list that was posted contained over 10.000 account details of accounts starting with the letters A and B which suggests that additional lists might be in the hands of the attackers. Initial investigations suggest that only accounts used to access Windows Live Hotmail were affected (which includes email accounts ending with hotmail.com, msn.com or live.com.
Hotmail Phishing Attack: Time To Change Passwords

Use a Tennis Ball to Buff Out Scuffs and More

If you've got a few tennis balls laying around not earning their keep on the court, you can put them to work around your home. Check out some (more) novel uses for tennis balls.
Use a Tennis Ball to Buff Out Scuffs and More

Video of Anne Frank Surfaces on YouTube

The only existing film footage of Anne Frank has been uploaded to YouTube by the Anne Frank House. The Amsterdam museum is hoping to bring attention to Anne’s story and diaries and reach a new generation who may be unfamiliar with her story.
Video of Anne Frank Surfaces on YouTube

Web Resources for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Web Resources for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Best of the Ig Nobel prizes 2009

Why don't pregnant women topple over? Do cows notice kindness? Does cracking your knuckles bring on arthritis? And is there more than one use for a bra? These questions and more inspired the research rewarded at the Ig Nobels, which were handed out on Thursday at Harvard University in a ceremony organised by the Annals of Improbable Research.
Best of the Ig Nobel prizes 2009

Can't remember last time you had a good night's sleep?

A U.S. study finds that not getting enough sleep each night could play a role in the development of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers suggest that sleeplessness should be evaluated when treating Alzheimer’s.
Can't remember last time you had a good night's sleep?

The Official Appreciation Page for the Best of the Wikipedia Rejects

It's been a couple of years since I checked on Clifford Pickover's The Wikipedia Knowledge Dump, a blog about deleted (or marked for deletion) Wikipedia articles. I forgot how much fun it is!
The Official Appreciation Page for the Best of the Wikipedia Rejects

Aluminum versus aluminium and more

This pair is another famous example of the difference between American and British English, second perhaps only to fall ~ autumn, truck ~ lorry, and sidewalk ~ pavement. Sir Humphrey Davy called his invention (1812) aluminum, but in England i was later added to it on the analogy of chemical substances like sodium. American English preserves the earliest form.
Aluminum versus aluminium and more

Google’s Nifty Document Viewer

Sometimes the simplest things are the most useful, you know? Google has announced a handy dandy Docs viewer, available at http://docs.google.com/viewer. This viewer allows you to generate links to view PDFs, Powerpoints, and TIFF documents from the comfort of your own browser.
Google’s Nifty Document Viewer

Eighteen Tips that Aren't, It Turns Out, From a Churchyard.

I always thought Desiderata was an inscription in an old churchyard, but it was actually written by Max Ehrmann in 1927. This bit of information detracts from its mystique somewhat, but it's still an interesting list.
Eighteen Tips that Aren't, It Turns Out, From a Churchyard.

Facial recognition face-off: Three tools compared

Last week's Picasa software update from Google brought with it a neat trick--facial recognition. But it wasn't the first free consumer photo-editing software to find faces. In January, Apple unveiled the latest version of iLife, which included an updated version of iPhoto that could detect and recognize faces in your photos. And this time last year, Microsoft released an updated version of its Windows Live Photo Gallery desktop software that could find faces inside of photos, though it couldn't (and still can't) recognize who's in them.
Facial recognition face-off: Three tools compared

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 29 - October 1, 2009

The latest issue of new family friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Blackstump Australia Issue 29 - October 1, 2009

What Happens To Your Luggage Once It’s Checked In?

Travelling by air without checked luggage is often a sensible goal, but sometimes you have no choice but to stow your bags in the hold. What happens to them once you’ve handed them over to a hassled check-in clerk?
What Happens To Your Luggage Once It’s Checked In?

Lamest. Foodstuff Name. Ever.

They could have taken all sorts of inspiration for naming the “new” vegemite. They settled on a naming convention cornered by Apple. Lame. Seriously lame.
Lamest. Foodstuff Name. Ever.

Best Of The Best: Tools And Apps, Third Quarter 2009

From Lifehacker Australia. The third quarter of 2009 was filled with all sorts of useful communication tools, time saving applications and software to help you get things done. Here’s a look back at the winners in each of the categories.
Best Of The Best: Tools And Apps, Third Quarter 2009

Examine Hand Gestures and Smiles to Detect Lying

Some people are better liars than others. The next time you want to gauge whether someone's pulling your leg, try searching for clues based on their hand gestures and smile. It goes without saying that the following suggestions are not hard-and-fast rules, but more potential tip offs that someone may be fibbing.
Examine Hand Gestures and Smiles to Detect Lying

Banned Books Week

Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books.
Banned Books Week

Reclaiming the night sky: award-winning astrophotography

Iranian photographer Babak Tafreshi has won the 2009 Lennart Nilsson scientific photography prize. According to the award panel, his images "reclaim a night sky that most modern people have lost" – see some of them here.
Reclaiming the night sky: award-winning astrophotography

Tip of the week: How to best email your digital photos

Everyone at one time or another has received an email with a very large image file attached. It can be very annoying. I've even deleted some emails that were just way too big. Here's how to do away with the problem by reducing the size of your photos before you email them.
Tip of the week: How to best email your digital photos

How to Tell if You're Watching TV in HD

High Definition Television (HDTV) is a form of Digital Television capable of "near photo" quality images on an HDTV screen. Unsure if you're seeing an HDTV signal or not? Read on for help.How to Tell if You're Watching TV in HD

Knowing When to Walk Away: Financial Planning for an Unknown Ending

People somehow have a built upon a notion that they must amass a certain amount of money, no matter how long it takes, before they can retire. Yet, what if it took you 40 years of work to reach $1 million, and the very next year you died? Would all your work be for naught? It depends on how much you enjoyed your work, of course, but for the most part, this scenario is not ideal.
Knowing When to Walk Away: Financial Planning for an Unknown Ending

Cheap Passport Pictures

Below are four online passport photo companies, each offering varying levels of service (with corresponding costs).
Cheap Passport Pictures

The Best Online Tools for Families

It’s easy to feel absolultely overwhelmed when you look for a tool or useful website online. There are hundreds of choices, and sometimes, it feels like they’re all pretty similar. There’s a theory that in this age of information, our range of choices — from toothpaste flavors to online calendars — stress out our bodies and our minds to the point that we’re actually less able to make sound decisions.
The Best Online Tools for Families

USB Car Adapter Charges Any USB Device On-the-Go

The iLuv Micro USB Car adapter turns your car's cigarette outlet into a universal USB charger, so you don't have to buy specialized car chargers for all of your USB-chargeable gear.
USB Car Adapter Charges Any USB Device On-the-Go

Australian Social Trends, Sep 2009

The September issue reveals that extra hours, multiple jobs and weekend work are all cutting into Australian family life, while one-quarter of our children are overweight or obese. People may also find it hard to balance employment and care, while Australia's links to China and India continue to grow through migration, trade and education.
Australian Social Trends, Sep 2009

Six Tips for Coping with the Fact that You've Forgotten Someone's Name

If you’re like me, you sometimes have trouble remembering people’s names, or even how you know them.
Six Tips for Coping with the Fact that You've Forgotten Someone's Name

5 Focus Killers … and How to Beat Them

It doesn’t matter how focused you are, working from your remote office likely entails more than a few distractions. For each of us those distractions will be different (I just had to break my morning’s work to move my goat to a new patch of grass; you may not have to cram this particular commitment into your schedule). And, truth be told, they’re not always unwelcome.
5 Focus Killers … and How to Beat Them

Dust storm chokes Sydney

Sydneysiders are being warned that a huge dust cloud will continue to affect the city through the day, after they woke to an eerie red dawn.
Dust storm chokes Sydney

Amazing video of girl barely missing an out-of-control car

A 6-year-old girl very narrowly misses getting squashed by an out of control car.
Amazing video of girl barely missing an out-of-control car

7 ways to fewer wrinkles

Some people are born lucky—but for the rest of us wrinkles are a natural part of aging.
7 ways to fewer wrinkles

Oxford English Dictionary Update

On 10 September 2009 the New Edition was updated with new materials which fall into three main categories: (a) alphabetical series of revised entries based around significant words from across the alphabet; (b) the sequence of revised entries from red to refulgent; (c) a series of new entries and senses from across the alphabet. The table below shows the ranges which were covered, together with some of the more notable entries within them.
Oxford English Dictionary Update

Directory Size Calculator

The best way to free up some hard drive space is to sort the files and folders of that hard drive by size. Windows Explorer is able to sort the files by size but not the folders. It is possible to get the folder size of one folder by right-clicking on that folder and selecting properties but that’s not practicable if there are more than a few on that drive.
Directory Size Calculator

Last Words

Last week, reports of executions — one postponed in Ohio, one carried out in Texas — punctuated the news more frequently than usual. These reports prompted me to reflect on an archive of executed prisoners’ last words I found on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Web site while researching parole terms. The archive’s earliest entry dates from Dec. 7, 1982; the most recent was added after Stephen Moody was executed on Wednesday by lethal injection for murder.
Last Words

Fastest PDF File Viewer

Adobe PDF is not the fastest pdf reader that is available these days even with programs like Adobe Reader Speedup which remove some of the unneeded features. There are quite a few popular alternatives like Foxit PDF Reader which provide a similar functionality but offer faster startup and loading times.
Fastest PDF File Viewer