Thursday, June 07, 2007

The Top 10 Intrepid Explorers

These daring men and women have made the world a smaller place. Thanks to their guts and sweat, we know the Earth is round, life exists in the depth's of the sea and that the view from space is spectacular.
The Top 10 Intrepid Explorers

Travel Advice for Thailand

Exercise a high degree of caution because of the high threat of terrorist attack. We continue to receive reports that terrorists may be planning attacks against a range of targets, including tourist areas and other places frequented by foreigners.
Travel Advice for Thailand - Australian Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Mohammed to be Britain's top Boys' Name

Mohammed to be Britain's top Boys' Name

Boing Boing: Google Street View

Here's a Boing Boing roundup of some of the many responses to last week's posts about Google's newly launched "street view" zoom feature.
Boing Boing: Google Street View: a cavalcade of reactions, gag pix, paranoid rants

Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2006

Statistics on incidents of victimisation for a selected range of offences that came to the attention of police and were recorded by them in the period 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2006.
Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2006

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Australian Demographic Statistics

The preliminary estimated resident population (ERP) of Australia at 31 December 2006, based on the 2006 Census of Population and Housing, was 20,852,000 persons. This was an increase of 293,100 persons since 31 December 2005, and 73,200 persons since 30 September 2006.
Australian Demographic Statistics, Dec 2006

London unveils Logo of 2012 Olympics

The logo for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics has been unveiled in a star-studded ceremony in London. The jagged emblem, based on the date 2012, comes in a series of shades of pink, blue, green and orange and will evolve in the run-up to the Games.
London 2012 Olympic Games Logo

Monday, June 04, 2007

Business Indicators, Australia

Underlying strength in sales, wages and profit growth in the March 2007 quarter.
5676.0 - Business Indicators, Australia, March 2007

15 years of Native Title

On 3 June Australia commemorates the 15th anniversary of the High Court's landmark Mabo decision - the catalyst for native title in Australia.
Tribunal President Graeme Neate said the anniversary was an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved since then, and to look forward: ‘There have been 101 registered determinations of native title, 67 that native title exists and 34 that native title does not exist. Most of these determinations have been made by agreement, but much work remains to be done.’
15 years of Native Title

Doctored Magazine Covers

The June/July issue of Men's Fitness enhanced Andy Roddick's bicep muscles -- so much so that Roddick said he stopped in his tracks when he saw the cover while walking through the airport. Eight other celebrity magazine covers are featured, including those of Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Brad and Angelina, and OJ Simpson.
Doctored Magazine Covers

I-SPY Online Snooping

A good read for awareness. Be careful out there.
A Master Class in Online Snooping

Australian National Library to Digitise Newspapers

The National Library of Australia, in collaboration with each Australian state and territory library, has embarked on a plan to digitise out of copyright newspapers.
National Library to digitise newspapers for the nation

Google Street View Gallery

Here are some oddities found on Google Maps’ new Street View feature, via StreetViewr.com (most of these are from San Francisco, as it has the highest resolution panorama photos).
Google Street View Gallery

25 Best Movies You've Never Seen

Forget The Godfather. What we've got here are the overlooked greats, the hidden gems. From Jake Gyllenhaal in a bubble to a murderous Kate Winslet to a pair of violent, avenging Irish "angels" … these are the box-office left-behinds.
25 Best Movies You've Never Seen

Behind the Scenes of Google Rankings

The New York Times has a mighty interesting inside look at Google’s top search algo engineers, most prominently 39-year old Amit Singhal, and their methodologies. Some highlights:

Users expect more: Amit says search moved from “Give me what I typed” to “Give me what I want.” Users expect more and more these days and take good results for granted... if something they’re looking for is not in the top 3 results, something feels broken.

Read on...Behind the Scenes of Google Rankings

Saturday, June 02, 2007

10 Beach Photography Tips

Here in Australia we love to hit the beach.
We’re one big island and most of our population is scattered along the coast line so the beach is a natural place for us to go both on day trips and longer holidays.
Beaches present digital camera owners with a number of wonderful opportunities as they are places of natural beauty, color and interesting light. However they also present a variety of challenges including camera damage, privacy issues and making large open spaces interesting.
10 Beach Photography Tips

Science Podcasts - The Lab

Get caught up in the podcasting frenzy, but in a sciencey way! You can now have the latest ABC Science Online and Radio National science shows to download at your leisure or to have magically delivered when you subscribe via RSS feed.
Science Podcasts - The Lab

Friday, June 01, 2007

Internet Activity, Australia

The Internet Activity Survey (IAS) collects details on aspects of Internet access services provided by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia.
This publication contains results from all ISPs operating in Australia with over 10,000 active subscribers as at 31 March 2007. Growth from September 2006 to March 2007 may be due to the movement of subscribers from smaller ISPs.
Internet Activity, Australia

Top 15 Google Street View Sightings

Google’s Street View feature for Google Maps, which enables users to see certain parts of several big US cities through panoramic images, has caused a new trend: StreetSpotting.
Top 15 Google Street View Sightings

The First Digital Image

The first film photo registered by a computer and recreated in pixels—30,976 to be exact. In 1957, Russell Kirsch, a scientist at what is now the National Institute of Standards and Technology, used a drum scanner connected to the SEAC (Standards Electronic Automatic Computer) to scan an image of his three-month-old son Walden.
The First Digital Image (The World Almanac)