Unusual baby names of 2012

Of all the factors that parents consider in picking a name for their child, one floats consistently to the top: Picking a unique name. (So says our annual baby-naming survey, answered this year by more than 4,000 parents.)
As you can see from the list below, some parents did a bang-up job. Read on to see some of the most unusual, creative names given to babies in 2012.
Unusual baby names of 2012

Handy Hints – avoid high data roaming charges

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has released its quarterly report on complaints about telcos (see separate story). This time the TIO has published some handy hints on how to avoid high global roaming charges.
Handy Hints – avoid high data roaming charges

Watch North Korea State TV Cover Illegal Rocket Launch

North Korea launched a ballistic missile, which reportedly placed a satellite into orbit. The Dec. 12 launch contravened United Nations resolutions forbidding Pyongyang to develop ballistic rocket capacity, angering its neighbors but marking a chance for new leader Kim Jong-Un to claim a victory.
Watch North Korea State TV Cover Illegal Rocket Launch

10 Videos to Help You Survive the Apocalypse

This could be it. It. One of the last posts you or I ever read. The world as we know it, in all its magnificent, wondrous glory, is coming to an end on Dec. 21. Everything we've ever known -- gone, destroyed and vanquished. For good.
At least that's what they say. According to some interpretations of the Mesoamerican Long Count (Mayan) calendar, next Friday will be humanity's very last. You've probably heard about it.
10 Videos to Help You Survive the Apocalypse

The risks of visiting volcanoes

In 1993, Stanley Williams survived a close-encounter with a volcano. A volcanologist, he was standing on the rim of Colombia's Galeras volcano when it erupted with little warning. Six of his scientific colleagues and three tourists were killed. Williams fled down the mountain's slope — until flying rocks and boulders broke both his legs. With a fractured skull, he managed to stay conscious enough to huddle behind some other large boulders and dodge flying debris until the eruption ended and his grad students rescued him.
The risks of visiting volcanoes

Google’s Zeitgeist 2012: A Year In Review

Once a year Google releases their Zeitgeist–an overview of what the world was searching for during the previous year. Check out the year in review video and then browse the entire project.
Google’s Zeitgeist 2012: A Year In Review

The Best (Worst?) Typos, Mistakes, and Correrctions of 2012

Typos! We love them, we love to hate them. They make us laugh, they make us cry. They come in many shapes and sizes. And so do those corrections—not always typo-related—added to many a newspaper article when it turns out things weren't written exactly as they should be.
The Best (Worst?) Typos, Mistakes, and Correrctions of 2012

12 Problems Solved by Tech in 2012

Some of the hottest tech trends of 2012, like mobile apps and solar energy, are changing the world for the better. This year, we saw a variety of inspiring innovations tackle some of the world's greatest challenges.
12 Problems Solved by Tech in 2012

Mount Everest Doesn't Look That Big From Space

At more than 29,000 feet above sea level, Mount Everest's peak reaches the farthest into the sky of any piece of Earth. But when seen from space, even this monster appears just part and parcel with the crust of the planet it is part of. As Russian cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev observed, "How many people dream of conquering Everest, so that they can look down from it, and yet for us from above it was difficult to even locate.
Mount Everest Doesn't Look That Big From Space

I am itchy. You are itchy. We're all itchy together

Some itches are caused by obvious physical triggers (OMG, there's a spider on your arm!). Others, though, have a more complicated source. Watching other people itch can make you feel itchy. In this piece at Scientific American blogs, Scicurious explains the neurobiology behind sympathetic itching.
I am itchy. You are itchy. We're all itchy together

Radio Shack computer catalog from 1983

On the Internet Archive, a hi-rez scan of the 1983 Radio Shack computer catalog, which is a wonderland of jaw-dropping prices for prosumer equipment from my boyhood that doesn't even qualify as a toddler's toy today.
Radio Shack computer catalog from 1983

Top 24 Most Inspiring Photos of 2012

Photos have a way of transporting us to a place that words cannot. What's captured in the fraction of a second it takes to snap a picture can live forever. During 2012, we saw some truly inspiring moments; moments now seared into our minds because of the photography that captured the subtleties of emotion, triumph and grace in the face of adversity.
Top 24 Most Inspiring Photos of 2012

Prisoners in Australia, 2012

Contains national information on prisoners who were in custody on 30 June each year. The statistics are derived from information collected by the ABS from corrective services agencies in each state and territory. Details are provided on the number of people in correctional institutions (including people on remand), imprisonment rates, most serious offence and sentence length. A range of information is also presented on prisoner characteristics (age, sex, Indigenous status) and on the type of prisoner (all prisoners, sentenced prisoners, and unsentenced prisoners (remandees).
Prisoners in Australia, 2012

Amazing, invisible work that goes on when you click an HTTPS link

Jeff Moser has a clear, fascinating enumeration of all the incredible math stuff that happens between a server and your browser when you click on an HTTPS link and open a secure connection to a remote end. It's one of the most important (and least understood) parts of the technical functioning of the Internet.
Amazing, invisible work that goes on when you click an HTTPS link

One Minute of Life Changing Advice From Steve Jobs

Innovator, genius, imitator, businessman, designer, turtleneck lover. Steve Jobs tended to generate opinions from across the spectrum, but being inspirational reamins a steadfast quality in the Apple founder.
One Minute of Life Changing Advice From Steve Jobs

Banned Children’s Toys from Christmases Past

What could possibly go wrong giving a child a nuclear science kit that includes highly poisonous materials inside? Everything of course, which is why that particular toy only lasted a single holiday.
Banned Children’s Toys from Christmases Past

Now You, Too, Can “Follow” Pope Benedict, Get News As It Happens

When you wake up tomorrow morning, the Catholic Church will have taken another bold step into the era of new media.
Now You, Too, Can “Follow” Pope Benedict, Get News As It Happens

Look up medications more quickly and easily on Google

We get a lot of queries for medicine on Google. So to make it quick and easy for you to learn about medications, we’ll start showing key facts -- side effects, related medications, links to in-depth resources, and more -- right on the search results page.
Look up medications more quickly and easily on Google

Watch Five Hours Of Commercial Jet Flyovers Timelapsed Down Into Thirty Crowded Seconds

What?! Is that a squadron of commercial airliners?! Not quite, but through the magic of editing, it sure looks like it. With the help of Adobe Premiere, Cy Kuckenbaker took five hours of plane landings on Black Friday and condensed them down into just 30 seconds using composite and timelapse techniques.
Watch Five Hours Of Commercial Jet Flyovers Timelapsed Down Into Thirty Crowded Seconds

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 17/2012

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 17/2012