Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Time wasters
11:30PM Tamar Weinberg | Does your software get in the way of productivity? Two years ago, we shared our biggest time wasters. Is your favourite application on the list? More »
Lifehacker AU to interview Crikey’s Stephen Mayne
4:10PM Sarah Stokely | This week I had the opportunity to interview independent journalist-cum-shit stirrer Stephen Mayne – the founder of Crikey, and more recently the Australian social news aggregator Kwoff and the shareholder activist and news website, The Mayne Report.How did a technophobe manage to create one of Australia’s most successful independent online news services, and end up videoblogging on YouTube? It’s an interesting story and you’ll see it on Lifehacker AU later this week. :) More » Mobile broadband market heats up
3:49PM Sarah Stokely | The pre-Christmas price wars seem to be on in the mobile broadband space. Both Optus and Vodafone cut their prices recently and this month 3 announced it was cutting its mobile broadband charges by half until January 15. Its entry level 1GB plan is now $14.50 per month (you need to start or have an existing 3 phone account to be eligible).APC magazine wrote up the lastest details of the price war here – author David Flynn concluded that Vodafone has the edge in the pricewar: “Its $39/5GB plan is $10 per month cheaper than 3, and the choice of a
USB or ExpressCard modem will appeal to notebook users who’d rather
fill a card slot than plug in a soap-on-a-rope dongle.”You can find details of Vodafone’s $39 per month, 5GB mobile broadband offer here and the details about 3’s offer are here. Remember to read the fine print of the contract, and check coverage areas too.
More » 
Google Earth adds new aerial photo layer and iGoogle gadget
3:28PM Sarah Stokely | Google Earth is a great way to explore our gorgeous planet and indulge in a spot of geo-porn, and it’s just gotten even more beautiful and accessible, with the addition of a new layer of photos by French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.The series of nearly 500 photos, entitled “The Earth from Above” feature aerial views of the earth – many taken from hot air balloon.The cool thing is there’s also a new gadget you can add to your iGoogle home page so you’ll see a different image from the photo set every day. At the bottom of the gadget window is a “View in Google Earth” button which lets you switch from viewing the photo on your homepage into seeing the area on Google Earth. Very neat.The photos come paired with information and statistics about the current environmental situation they depict. This information comes from GoodPlanet.org, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of sustainable development.You can find the iGoogle gadget and a
YouTube interview with Yann here.And in case you’re wondering – the photo above is Grand Prismatic Spring, at America’s famous Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. More » 
Take Control of an Unresponsive PC with AntiFreeze
3:00PM Adam Pash | Windows only: Take control of your unresponsive computer next time it freezes up with freeware system tray app AntiFreeze. After you’ve installed it, just wait for the next time your computer hangs and hit Alt-Ctrl-Win-Home to activate AntiFreeze, suspend your running programs, and free up your memory and CPU cycles. You can then use AntiFreeze’s interface to selectively resume processes or end the process that you suspect is to blame. You probably won’t use it a lot, but it does seem like a good alternative to the reset button as a last resort. I’ve installed and tested AntiFreeze, but I’ll admit that I wasn’t able to put it to a full test because I haven’t hit any significant hangs, so your mileage may vary. If you get a really good test case, let’s hear how it worked for you in the comments. AntiFreeze is freeware, Windows only. AntiFreeze [via FreewareGenius] More »Geek slang gets the official nod: w00t!
2:57PM Sarah Stokely | One of my favourite geek slang words has been voted Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2007. w00t, indeed. :)w00t now appears in Merriam-Webster’s online Open Dictionary, but it doesn’t feature in the official print version – yet.Now if only Think Geek would offer their w00t shirt in a colour other than that gawdawful green and gold, I’d be a really happy camper. More » 
Foods to Counteract Your Moods
2:00PM Adam Pash | Men’s Health lists six snacks to munch on that can give you a chemical attitude adjustment, according to Dr. Elizabeth Somer, author of a book called Food & Mood. For example: Your Mood: Restless You need some serious shut-eye before the big day.Your Meal: Nonfat popcorn half an hour before you go to bedHere’s Why: The carbs will induce your body to create serotonin, a neurochemical that makes you feel relaxed. “Make sure it’s fat-free, because fat will slow the process of boosting serotonin levels,” says Somer. Beyond that, the article suggests foods like a grilled chicken wrap for the restless, sesame seeds for stress, sushi when you’re feeling depressed, chocolate when you’re insecure, and pineapple when you’re feeling flummoxed. Got a favourite food for your mood that actually helps improve it? Let’s hear about it in the comments. Mood Foods [Men's Health] More »
How to find an internet friendly cafe in Australia
1:37PM Sarah Stokely | Techdirt ran an amusing piece today which claimed that some cafes in the US have become tightwads about letting people plug in their laptops or phones to recharge. Which strikes me as pretty counterproductive if you’re offering internet access as part of your service to customers. I haven’t heard of net cafes doing this in Australia, but then again, decent internet cafes seem to be pretty scarce here full stop!This last point got me thinking. We already told you how to get airport Wi-Fi while travelling in Australia, but if you’re out and about and in search of a cafe to stop and do some work or web browsing, I’m not 100% sure where to recommend. There are the larger chains like McDonalds, Starbucks and Gloria Jeans, but apart from those usual suspects, many internet cafes are small and grotty and I wouldn’t want my beloved laptop going anywhere near their (probably virus riddled) network. Cybercafe e55 in Melbourne is a notable exception – I used to while away many an hour there while visiting Melbourne.So if you can recommend your favourite internet-friendly cafe (preferably somewhere with decent coffee too!) please share in comments.
Bad Trends: Cafes block outlets [Techdirt] More » 
Ulteo offers OpenOffice via web browser
1:06PM Sarah Stokely | OpenOffice has been given the online app treatment by Ulteo, who’ve just launched the beta of their service which aims to provide Firefox and IE users with an online version of the document suite. Along with instant access to OpenOffice via browser without having to download it, Ulteo also offers collaboration features.A user working with OpenOffice on the Ulteo server can invite other
people to work with her on a shared document in real time.
Invitations are sent via email and allow access in either read only or
full edit mode, simply by clicking on a link in the email.It looks like Ulteo are seeking to follow Google Docs, Zoho and Microsoft’s Office Live Workspace down the online apps path – but they are aiming squarely at the existing install base of OpenOffice users. The company’s statement on Ulteo said “Ulteo plans to release other services simplifying the life of PC users
by providing easier access to desktop applications and online services
as well as data management in the coming months.”The Ulteo beta is being opened up to 15,000 users, however they’ve stipulated it’s for European and North American users at this stage. I’m not sure whether they’re being strict on that or not as there seems to be a lag between registering and getting your invitation (or knockback for being in the wrong hemisphere!). If you want to register for it, go to http://www.ulteo.com/home/ooo. If you get into the beta, please let us know how you find it. More » 
