Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

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