Monday, May 24, 2010

Download Google Pacman Game for Free [HOW TO]

If Friday’s Google Doodle didn’t feed your Pacman Fever, you download the special Google version of Pacman and play on your own time! Over at StackOverflow, users worked together to figure out how to extract and host the special version of Pacman, created by Google in honor of the yellow guy’s 30th birthday, for play online or off.
Download Google Pacman Game for Free [HOW TO]

Australia: Library and Information Week, 2010 Underway Down Under

Since it’s already Monday in Australia as we post this item, ResourceShelf would like to say have a wonderful, enjoyable, and productive National Library and Information Week, 2010 (LIW).
Australia: Library and Information Week, 2010 Underway Down Under

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]

This week’s list of trends illustrates the enormous international breadth of Twitter and its users. The Korean music group Super Junior, a popular trending topic for many weeks, has finally toppled Justin Bieber and claimed the number one spot. Whether this is due to sheer number of tweets, or a change in Twitter’s trend-identifying algorithm, remains to be seen.
Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 11/2010

The latest issue of new Family Friendly sites listed on The Black Stump.
Family Friendly sites listed on Blackstump Australia Issue 11/2010

Manner Mistakes When People are Sick

Here follow, in no particular order, suggestions to help your fellow human beings (regardless of their emotional connection to you) survive the mundane week-long "bug of the week" to traumatic ordeals that demand years of recovery.
Manner Mistakes When People are Sick

The Shroud Crowd: a dispatch from Torino, Italy

Since April 10th of this year, Torino, Italy has been crowded by a strange mob of tourists: endless streams of international and local people, old and young, pious and less pious. They are Catholics, and believers of other religions, too.
The Shroud Crowd: a dispatch from Torino, Italy

Keeping up-to-date on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

It is estimated that at least 6 million gallons of oil have leaked into the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon explosion a month ago. Cleanup efforts are underway, but the oil has spread extensively around the Gulf and along the southern U.S. coastline. Oil has begun washing up on the beaches of Louisiana and the delicate wetlands along the Mississippi River, and can spread to Florida and throughout the Gulf as weather conditions change. This sequence of images, coming from NASA’s MODIS satellites, illustrates the movement and growth of the oil slick over the past few weeks.
Keeping up-to-date on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Friday, May 21, 2010

The Cleverest Geeky Windows Tricks Everyone Should Know

Anyone can sit down at a Windows PC and get along fine, but with the right tips and tricks, you can get around much faster. Here's a handful of clever tricks to boost your Windows skills (and show off to friends).
The Cleverest Geeky Windows Tricks Everyone Should Know

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Why Google Public DNS Sucks For Aussies

Google Public DNS is designed to speed up browsing, but depending on the kind of content you want to access, it can often have the reverse effect. Dan Warne at APC points out that while Google Public DNS (or other alternative DNS services such as OpenDNS) can speed up general browsing to sites by resolving domain names faster, it will often have a damaging effect on services like iTunes and Windows Update which use Akamai’s load balancing technology to spread server load. Using Google for lookups will convince Akamai that you’re actually located in the US. It will also (as several Lifehacker readers have noted in the past) play havoc with any unmetered content your ISP offers (such as iView access), since it won’t be routed through the appropriate servers.
Why Google Public DNS Sucks For Aussies

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Have these Allusions Eluded You?

Have you ever wondered where the titles of novels, plays, films and the like come from? Some are obvious, at least after you’ve read the book or seen the movie, as with Star Wars and The English Patient, but many titles are not transparent and leave you wondering just why the author chose them.
Have these Allusions Eluded You?

Password Protect And Disguise Folders With PenyuLocker

Encryption is the only way to go if you are serious about protecting data from unauthorized access. Programs like True Crypt or Microsoft’s Bitlocker ensure that data is protected by a secure algorithm so that it can only be accessed by the user who knows the password to unlock the data.
Password Protect And Disguise Folders With PenyuLocker

Monitor File Changes With Disk Pulse

Windows freeware Disk Pulse monitors file changes on connected and configured hard drives. This can be interesting for several purposes including monitoring installations of software, server environments or security.
Monitor File Changes With Disk Pulse

Scan Your Facebook Settings for Privacy Loopholes

Facebook has run into multiple problems in recent times mainly due to their handling of privacy concerns of their users. The most popular social networking site constantly changes its privacy terms and their latest changes have resulted in people ending up sharing more than what they actually intended to the general public. This has happened because of changes in Facebook’s default privacy settings.
Scan Your Facebook Settings for Privacy Loopholes

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Ask Lifehacker: How Do I Get Australia-Only Results On Google?

Dear Lifehacker,
Not sure if you have done a story on this, but with Google’s site redesign they have removed the “pages from Australia” button. How do you only search Aussie sites now?
Thanks, Peter
Ask Lifehacker: How Do I Get Australia-Only Results On Google?

Web Browsers Leave 'Fingerprints' Behind as You Surf the Net

New research by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has found that an overwhelming majority of web browsers have unique signatures -- creating identifiable "fingerprints" that could be used to track you as you surf the Internet.
Web Browsers Leave 'Fingerprints' Behind as You Surf the Net

Nachofoto Is Not Your Average Image Search Engine

Nachofoto is a real-time image search engine with a focus on trending topics and rising search terms.
Nachofoto Is Not Your Average Image Search Engine

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Facebook News & Commentary

A Review of Facebook News & Commentary (And Lots of It)
Facebook News

How To Quit Facebook Without Actually Quitting Facebook

With all the recent privacy issues surrounding Facebook, a lot of people are considering quitting Facebook altogether. If you’re not ready to take it that far, here’s how to avoid the privacy breaches without completely deleting your account and losing touch with your friends.
How To Quit Facebook Without Actually Quitting Facebook

Friday, May 14, 2010

Facebook: Facts You Probably Didn't Know

Did you know that the second most popular Facebook Page is that of Homer Simpson, right behind Michael Jackson? Or that the overall amount of time spent on Facebook each month is 8.3 billion hours? (We shudder to think how much of that time is spent on FarmVille).
Facebook: Facts You Probably Didn't Know

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Optical illusion: impossible anti-grav ramps

Koukichi Sugihara's "Impossible motion" -- a cunning arrangement of cardboard ramps carefully skewed to create the illusion that balls roll up them -- won top honors at the Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences' Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest 2010. It has a delightful 3D physicality, being a real object made out of atoms, that makes it especially wonderful.
Optical illusion: impossible anti-grav ramps