Firehouse burns down

The Houston County Fire Department's McKinnon station burned down last week. The cause is unknown and fortunately nobody was injured. Oddly, the article in the Stewart-Houston Times doesn't pay so much as a nod to the irony of a fire station catching fire.
Firehouse burns down

Each Firefox Add-on Adds 10% To Firefox Startup On Average

Add-ons can severely impact the startup time of the Firefox web browser: On average “each add-on you install adds about 10% to Firefox start-up time” notes Mozilla’s Justin Scott in a post at the Mozilla Add-Ons Blog. This means that the startup time of Firefox will on average double if ten add-ons are installed.
Each Firefox Add-on Adds 10% To Firefox Startup On Average

Our Choice: The Funniest April Fools Jokes

In Gmail, you no longer have to use obsolete technology such as a mouse and a keyboard to write, compose, or reply to e-mails: you can do all of those simply by moving your body.
Our Choice: The Funniest April Fools Jokes

It’s Over: Google Has Already Won April Fool’s Day 2011

It’s not even April 1st in Mountain View, but the April Fool’s Day comedy game is already over and I’m declaring Google the winner. Hiring autocompleters? YouTube 1911? Gmail Motion? Chromercise? Ding, ding, ding and ding. Game over. If you’re planning any big pranks tomorrow, skip it.
It’s Over: Google Has Already Won April Fool’s Day 2011

YouTube Time Travels to 1911 for April Fools

YouTube has kicked off the April Fools festivities with a celebration of its “100th birthday” — a journey into what YouTube might have looked like in 1911, if YouTube or the Internet existed back then.
YouTube Time Travels to 1911 for April Fools

The Great Beyond: The world's nuclear reactors as you've never seen them...

The nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daichii power plant will have consequences for the future of nuclear power in Japan and elsewhere. To get a better idea of the world's current tally of nuclear reactors, I've created a map of the world's nuclear power plants and reactors using Google Earth – the maps are based on a database kindly supplied to me by staff at the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) database, so it's reliable, and up-to-date.
The Great Beyond: The world's nuclear reactors as you've never seen them...

The 10 Most Ridiculously Awesome Geeky Computer Pranks

Everybody loves a good prank… unless you are the one on the receiving end of the fun. It’s time to hone your pranking skills, not just to make sure you are the best, but so you can avoid being pranked by others.
The 10 Most Ridiculously Awesome Geeky Computer Pranks

What Files Should You Backup On Your Windows PC?

Everybody always tells you to make sure that you are backing up your PC, but what does that really mean? And what files do you actually need to backup? Today we’ll walk you through the basics of backing up your PC, what you should back up, and why.
What Files Should You Backup On Your Windows PC?

Gallery – Google Maps with Street View

Visit historic and architecturally significant landmarks in Italy. You can now explore inside the Colosseum, see ancient wellness centers, and walk along the Appian Way.
Gallery – Google Maps with Street View

Most Beautiful, Readable Radiation Dosage Chart Yet

We’ve been talking a lot about radiation lately – and with good reason – but it’s been difficult to keep track of just what all those numbers mean. How much is safe? How much is bad? How many bananas do I have to eat before I mutate? This chart shows us in clean, beautiful, terrifying strokes.

The full chart (below, click to embiggen) may not be to correct scale like the also terrific xkcd radiation dosage chart, but it’s a bit easier to follow. The chart also puts things in terms of Fukushima, where maximum radiation levels have nearly doubled the highest dose limit for US radiation workers in life-saving situations.
Most Beautiful, Readable Radiation Dosage Chart Yet

10 Office Pranks Perfect for April Fools' Day

Ah, April Fools’ Day. That dreaded day of the year that news editors and the gullible public love to hate. While we can’t wait to see what amusing pranks the likes of Google are cooking up, you can plot your own fun in the meantime.
10 Office Pranks Perfect for April Fools' Day

OMG! Online abbreviations make dictionary

OMG! LOL! The venerable Oxford English Dictionary approves of the three-letter, Internet-inspired expressions you use for "Oh, my God!" and "Laughing out loud."
OMG! Online abbreviations make dictionary

How to Get Around The New York Times Paywall

The New York Times currently uses browser cookies, and not IP addresses, to keep track of how many articles you have read on their online website. That means if you are reading the NYT articles in Google Chrome and then switch to Firefox or IE, the limit is reset to zero because cookies aren’t shared across browsers.

If you would like to stick with one browser, you can still get around the NYT paywall by clearing the cookies that are associated with nytimes.com (there’s no need to clear all the browser cookies). All web browsers let you remove cookies through their Privacy settings but a easier way to get this done is through a bookmarklet.
How to Get Around The New York Times Paywall

This Is The Scariest Tsunami Video Yet

Watch as the waves ravage the port of Kesennuma, destroying everything in it’s path. First watch as the tsunami begins by tossing cars around like toys at the port parking lot – and then watch how terrifyingly fast the rest of the city becomes enveloped in water. In the end, only a couple of buildings survive.
This Is The Scariest Tsunami Video Yet

20 Essential Online Resources for Finding New Music

Back in the oft-mentioned “day,” we only had the radio and helpful record store clerks to satiate our musical hunger pangs. Now we have the entirety of the web.

Still, with this veritable diner menu of choices (read: overstuffed), it can be hard to find what one is looking for, impelling one to perhaps choose whatever is safest and most familiar, rather than seeking out something new, and perhaps, more delectable.
20 Essential Online Resources for Finding New Music

Cracking the Credit Card Code

You likely use a credit or debit card on a daily basis; have you ever wondered how exactly your card number is generated? Check out this infographic breakdown to see.
Cracking the Credit Card Code

The Only Secure Password Is the One You Can’t Remember

Let's assume you log onto a bunch of different websites; Facebook, Gmail, eBay, PayPal, probably some banking, maybe a few discussion forums, and probably much, much more. Consider a couple of questions:

Do you always create unique passwords such that you never use the same one twice? Ever?
Do your passwords always use different character types such as uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation? Are they "strong"?

If you can't answer "yes" to both these questions, you've got yourself a problem. But the thing is, there is simply no way you can remember all your unique, strong passwords and the sooner you recognize this, the sooner you can embrace a more secure alternative.
The Only Secure Password Is the One You Can’t Remember

Thank You For Visiting NYTimes.com, How To Bypass

You may have heard that the New York Times will introduce its “paywall” on March 28. It basically limits visitors to 20 articles per month, after which a paywall message appears that asks them to sign up to become a subscriber to access the contents on the site. Is there a way to bypass the New York Times paywall? You bet. The thing is, the NYTimes developers have decided to use JavaScript and CSS to create the overlay. The contents are still there, only in the background with no visible option to access them.
Thank You For Visiting NYTimes.com, How To Bypass

The Top 10 Worst Nuclear Nightmares

What’s happening right now in Fukushima is terrible, for sure. But how does it rank in the pantheon of nuclear disasters? We humans have had an awful lot of atomic foulups; here are the ones that have caused the most widespread contamination and destruction.
The Top 10 Worst Nuclear Nightmares

Anniversary of OK

Today in 1839, the expression "OK" was first used in print. It appeared in Boston Morning Post article about the Anti-Bell-Ringing Society.
Anniversary of OK