How to Make Skies Beautiful with GIMP

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

Quarterly updates - Oxford English Dictionary

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

Google Maps: 100+ Best Tools and Mashups

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

Rip DVD Movies

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

Many Ways to Plug In to Tech Savings

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

Mount Everest climbers show survival on record-low oxygen

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

Tips for Thinking from an Extraordinary Thinker

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

Microsoft Windows 7: Review of reviews

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

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

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

5 Ways To Clone & Copy Your Hard Drive

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

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

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

The Lateral Career Move

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

Sea ice area returns to 1979 level

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

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

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

Bikers wearing pumpkin helmets

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

Eight tips for dealing with criticism

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

A Simple Way to Remove Stickers from Books

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

How to Lose Belly Fat

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

Start the Year with an Empty Inbox!

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

2008 Review of Books

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

Museum of Modern Betas: 2008 Beta Releases of the Year

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

9 Methods for Mastering Your Money in 2009

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

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

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