Thursday, December 20, 2007
Wired presents its list of Vaporware 2007
2:12PM Sarah Stokely | Wired magazine has published its annual Vaporware awards for 2007 – honouring the top ten most long promised, long delayed launches which still haven’t made it to market. Or into beta. Or in some cases even made it beyond the designer’s scratch pad…
I agree with some of them – the long (long) awaited Service Pack 3 for Windows XP (due in the first half of 2008?) is up there. But I can’t say I’m bitterly disappointed that Guns n Roses still haven’t released Chinese Democracy.
On the gaming front – Spore, yep, that’s been a long time coming and it will be great to see it when it does. But am I hanging out for Blizzard’s Diablo sequel? No. How about a World of Warcraft sequel with a new game engine? The game could certainly do with a tuneup.
In Australia of course the big example of Vaporware this year has to be the iPhone, of course. And on the subject of wish lists, could we possibly get TiVo already? And a Toyota Prius which isn’t built like a barge?
So what was your vaporware in 2007? What are you hoping will show up in 2008, and what have you given up waiting for? Answers in comments please. More » 
Last chance to fill out the reader survey
1:59PM Sarah Stokely | Just a quick reminder that the our reader survey finishes on Friday (ie tomorrow), so if you’d like to help us make Lifehacker AU a better read, or would like to get your hands on a $250 gift voucher, please fill it out! It should only take about 5 minutes, and you’ll go in the draw to win a voucher for Coles/Myer, David Jones, Harvey Norman or Bunnings. Sweet! More » 
Track Your Holiday Flight with Google
10:47AM Gina Trapani | Google rolls out a new flight tracking feature: just type your airline and flight number into the search box, and get the departure and arrival location, time, and estimated departure and arrival. I’m also a fan of 4INFO’s SMS flight status check on the way to the airport from my cell phone. How are you going to track your (and your arriving loved ones’) flights this holiday season? Give it up in the comments. Better flight stats results [Official Google Blog] More »Keep your old computer out of landfill
9:33AM Sarah Stokely | If you’re expecting a new computer for Christmas, this post is for you. Help combat landfill and share the computing love by taking some time to repurpose your old computer.
First up, you may be able to extend the life of your computer by upgrading some of its components, or you could repurpose it (or bits of it) as a home server. Or you could give it to a friend or relative (make sure it’s powerful enough/stable enough to meet their computing needs or you’re not really being that helpful).
If you can’t repurpose the computer, recycling’s the next option. Extreme Tech’s just posted a helpful article on ways to recycle your hardware, which suggests googling “computer recycling” and your city to see what options come up. Freecycle is another option - a well established email list in which members can give away their unwanted stuff, or see what others are giving away.
If you can’t repurpose the computer yourself, Computer Choice, the tech arm of independent consumer organisation Choice, has a very useful list of computer refurbishers and recyclers, broken down by state. Make sure you call them to double check they can take your computer, as the list is a couple of years old.
The Choice website makes a great point when it says: “Don’t let old computers sit around the house unused. The sooner you
recycle it, the more chance it will be useful to someone else.”
More » Australian TV to go digital by 2013
9:24AM Sarah Stokely | Australia’s finally set the date for the switchover to digital TV. The Australian reports today that new federal broadband, communications and digital economy minister Stephen Conroy has announced a 2009 deadline for free to air stations to move to only digital broadcasts, with a final nationwide switchover date by 2013. That may seem a long way in the future but Conroy said digital takeup in Australia is around 30%, so a lot of people will need to upgrade their TVs by 2013. More » 
Firefox 3.0 Beta Take Two Even Better
9:15AM Gina Trapani | We already walked you through beta 1 of the next major Firefox release, version 3.0, and today Mozilla released beta 2 for download by willing testers and impatient ‘fox users. The second beta plugs memory leaks (yippee!) and adds features like a new URL auto-complete display, smart bookmarks folders, and revamped download manager. Get more details about beta 2 goodness after the jump. More »XP SP3
8:59AM Gina Trapani | Microsoft offers the release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 3 for download, though it’s unclear what changes and fixes it includes. This is not the final, just the RC, so proceed with caution. More »
Have a comfortable, close shave
8:58AM Sarah Stokely | The Zen Habits blog has a guest post from old fashioned shaving advocate John Koontz, who offers some ways to save money and have a more comfortable shave in the process.
His secret? Ditch the disposable razors and go for the double edge razor. He estimates that after the initial $100 or so investment in the razor, you can save $140 a year from not having to buy razor cartridges. It also means no discarded cartridges going into landfill.
Now I’m a fan of clean shaven men, but if the thought of learning to use a double edge razor (they’re called cut throat razors for a reason!) is a little much, here’s some tips for getting a more comfortable shave from standard shavers.
1. Prepare, prepare prepare your skin. Koontz suggests shaving after a shower, which is fine but I would suggest that if it’s not a long, hot shower, that you dampen a face washer with hot water and hold it on your face for a few minutes. The key is *hot* and *hydrated* – it can really make the shaving process less painful.
2. Shave gently, and with the grain of the hair. You don’t need to press hard – if you do you’re removing layers of skin along with the stubble. And shaving with the grain of the hair (ie in the direction the hair is growing) makes it less likely that you’ll get uncomfortable ingrown hairs and shaving rash.
In case the Zen of Shaving article didn’t convince you, I’d also point out that a nice clean shave reduces the chance of giving your loved ones stubble rash (ouch!). And it makes you look and feel good. :)
The Zen of Shaving [Zen Habits] More » 
Track your flight times with Google
8:10AM Sarah Stokely | Two little tips to help air travellers and the people picking them up at the airport – check before you leave the house to see if the flight’s been delayed, and make sure you have the airline’s phone number programmed into your phone before you leave to pick someone up! Google’s just unveiled a new feature for checking flight status – basically you just need to type the airline and flight number into Google, and the first result should tell you whether the flight is on time or delayed, and what the scheduled arrival and departure times are. I tried it for a Jetstar flight, JQ 747 and it worked just fine. Neat.
Of course you can check direct with the airline if you prefer (bearing in mind that their websites might not update flight arrival details often enough to be useful). Qantas details arrival times on their website or you can call 13 1223. And did you know that you can get Qantas flight updates via WAP sent to your 2G or above phone? Well, you can – details here.Jetstar has flight information here, or the phone number is 131 538. Virgin’s number is 13 6789 or flight details are here.
More » 