Whoops! The 10 Greatest (Accidental) Inventions Of All Time

“Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits,” Thomas Edison once said. But is hustling all it takes? Is progress always deliberate? Sometimes genius arrives not by choice – but by chance. Below are Gizmodo's 10 favourite serendipitous innovations.
Whoops! The 10 Greatest (Accidental) Inventions Of All Time

Microsoft Australia makes Meter Maids ‘apology’

Microsoft Australia has been forced to apologise for choosing to use the Australian Gold Coast’s “Meter Maids” during its Tuesday-night welcome party, with Microsoft Australia MD Tracey Fellows declaring it “just wrong” and “unacceptable”.
Microsoft Australia makes Meter Maids ‘apology’

The Ballad of Cat Bin Lady: The Internet's Latest Viral Villain

It’s a thin line between Internet Hero and Internet Horror, and it seems that for one woman in Coventry, England, that line has been clearly crossed — over to the “horror” side, that is. Mary Bale, 45, found herself caught in the crosshairs of the reputation executor that is the web this week after a surveillance video of her placing a cat in a garbage bin went viral. Now, the Internet is replete with parodies, groups and spin-offs dedicated to bringing Bale down. Ah, what we can achieve when we really apply ourselves…
The Ballad of Cat Bin Lady: The Internet's Latest Viral Villain

Revenge of the Cat

Cat, unaware of video camera, drops middle-aged woman into trash can.
Revenge of the Cat

Snapshot: bike lane indicators get straight to the point

Photograph was taken by Carlton Reid, and the stencil street art it documents is the work of Peter Drew of Adelaide, Australia.
Snapshot: bike lane indicators get straight to the point

List of Free and Fast Public DNS Servers

DNS (or Domain Name Servers) is basically a system to convert domain names into IP addresses. Domain names are easier to understand, memorize and write for humans while computers only use IP addresses to communicate. Normally, the ISPs provide their users with their own default DNS server IPs which are often unreliable and slow. There are many better, faster, safer and more reliable public DNS servers for your everyday use. Here is a list of all such fast & free public DNS servers along with their IPs.
List of Free and Fast Public DNS Servers

Are you safer in the rear or front seat of cars?

An Australian study using U.S. data has shown that 50-year-old passengers in the back seat of cars are at more risk of injury or death than those in the front seat because safety features are lacking. What about younger adults and children?
Are you safer in the rear or front seat of cars?

Lose weight with 2 glasses of water before meals

A U.S. study has shown that drinking two eight-ounce glasses of water before meals helps people to consume fewer calories during meals. And, fewer calories consumed means a way to lose weight!
Lose weight with 2 glasses of water before meals

Use Cotton Strips for No-Fuss Houseplant Watering

If you'd like to keep your houseplants well-watered despite vacation plans or forgetfulness, you'd be hard pressed to find a simpler solution than this DIY, no fuss, no electricity needed, watering system.
Use Cotton Strips for No-Fuss Houseplant Watering

Top 5 Free Tools to Speed up Copying Files in Windows

When you try to copy or move large number of files on Windows 7 (or Vista), it can get on your nerves specially if the destination directory is on a different partition or a different folder under the same partition. This is when you would need a File copying tool which can act as an alternative for Windows Copy command. There are several such file copying tools available, some of which are paid and others free. Since most of the free ones are good enough, we have reviewed and listed down five of the best file copying tools to speed up your Windows experience.
Top 5 Free Tools to Speed up Copying Files in Windows

2 Great Ways to Disable iPhone’s Auto Rotation Feature

iPhone’s built-in accelerometer offers a simple way to switch between portrait and landscape mode. As all know, you can simply rotate iPhone sideway and it responds automatically to display content in landscape. I love this slick feature. At the same time, I find it quite irritating for a simple reason: I hate it turn sideway when I lay in bed to browse web and check my email.
2 Great Ways to Disable iPhone’s Auto Rotation Feature

What Can I Do With A Dead Hard Drive?

Before we delve into gutting your hard drive and repurposing its guts, let’s talk data security. While you didn’t specify what “dead hard drive” means, we’ll assume this means the disk is inoperable and any means of recovering the disk for use using software have failed. If the disk has truly sensitive data on it—data worth enough that someone would invest significant time and energy in recovering it—the only safe thing to do is to reference the Symphony of Destruction portion of our guide to properly erasing your physical media. If, on the other hand, the disk was mostly populated with your bootleg Bon Jovi concert rips, it’s ripe for all manner of DIY projects.
What Can I Do With A Dead Hard Drive?

20 Cool Twitter Accounts for Daily Fun and Inspiration [PICS]

Twitter is an ever-expanding source of fascinating information. More than just news and updates, there is also another, more fun side of Twitter that is sometimes overlooked. You can use the real-time micro-blogging service to get a daily dose of education, entertainment, or something in between. Whether you want to expand your vocab, discover new music, be inspired, or just view a cute bunny on a daily basis, Twitter can help.
20 Cool Twitter Accounts for Daily Fun and Inspiration [PICS]

Voters wake to Political Turmoil

A handful of independents are set to decide Australia's political future after an inconclusive election delivered what seems certain to be Australia's first hung parliament since World War II.
Voters wake to Political Turmoil

Top 10 Facebook Fixes

Facebook may be the de facto social network of, frankly, almost everyone, but that doesn't mean you have to use Facebook exactly the way its creators, or your Farmville-addicted friends, want you to. Here are 10 tweaks to make Facebook better.
Top 10 Facebook Fixes

10 Classic PC Games That Found New Life on the iPhone

Apple’s iPhone may mark a second golden age of computer gaming for a lot of reasons. The open marketplace means anyone can create a game; from major companies to just a couple of talented people in a garage. The result is a new boom in innovation, the likes of which we haven’t seen in about 20 years. Even with all the potential for innovation, maybe you still want to relive that first golden age of gaming. If you’re excited for how new tech can update the classics, then this list is for you: 10 of the greatest, most influential, straight-up classic computer games ever made, all available on and completely remastered for Apple’s handset, and in most cases also playable on the iPod touch and iPad.
10 Classic PC Games That Found New Life on the iPhone

Chameleon Folder Puts Favorite Folders At Your Fingertips

What’s the default way of accessing specific folders in the Windows operating system? The majority of users will probably answer that question by stating that they browse to that folder in Windows Explorer. Some may have put shortcuts to folders on the desktop or the start menu, and advanced users may make use of application launchers that support folder links. Still, the majority of users makes use of the default way of opening folders. The problem? It is not really comfortable, nor fast, especially if the folder is hidden deep in the file system.
Chameleon Folder Puts Favorite Folders At Your Fingertips

Two Online Databases: Find a Bike Map + Bike/Walking Info Database

Locate maps by using drop-down menus for each state or country (Australia, Canada, Croatia, Ireland, New Zealand, UK). This database is not comprehensive (at least as of today) but it’s growing and they would welcome new maps contributed by visitors.
Two Online Databases: Find a Bike Map + Bike/Walking Info Database

Cameron Diaz + Web Search = Potential Malware Dangers (Let’s Be Careful Out There)

Searching for “Cameron Diaz” brings bad news — in the form of risky sites — in one of every 10 search results, according to McAfee’s Most Dangerous Celebrities study. Make the search terms “Cameron Diaz” and “screensavers,” and that 10% chance of danger almost doubles. The “Knight and Day” star replaces last year’s No. 1, Jessica Biel.
Cameron Diaz + Web Search = Potential Malware Dangers (Let’s Be Careful Out There)

10 Useful iPhone Keyboard Shortcuts, Tips and Tricks

Whether you’ve taken to the iPhone’s touchscreen keyboard like a duck to water, or are more of a one-finger-at-a-time typist, there are plenty of shortcuts, tips and tricks that can improve your iTyping experience. Here, we’ve rounded up ten useful ways to be faster and more productive with your iPhone’s keyboard. We hope these tricks are handy for anyone new to the platform, or those who have not had the time to really experiment.
10 Useful iPhone Keyboard Shortcuts, Tips and Tricks