Thursday, September 6, 2007
Wikipedia
11:45PM Adam Pash | A new software developed by a professor at the University of California aims to highlight questionable lines in Wikipedia articles in orange by analyzing the reputation of the contributor. Here’s an example of how it looks in action. More »
Copy and Paste your Entire Hard Drive with Two Clicks with GParted
11:30PM Kyle Pott | Using the GParted live CD you can copy and paste an entire hard drive with just two button clicks. We’ve been around the block a few times with partition tools (including partitioning with GParted) and backup utilities. However, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a process much simpler than a manual bi-weekly total hard drive backup using the method demonstrated in this tutorial from the GParted homepage. Do you prefer automatic “snapshot” backups or manual “bulk” backups? Share in the comments. “Move/Copy” Partition [Sourceforge] More »
Create a Minimalist Laptop Case
11:00PM Lifehacker US Edition | Using just cardboard and duct tape, you can create a laptop case that serves as good protection against scuffs and scratches. The end result is a laptop case that is practical, stylish, and won’t break your budget. It might not be as soft or as cuddly as the previously covered DIY T-shirt laptop case, but it certainly gets the job done, and you have a little more flexibility with design (choosing the colour tape, or even adding decorative stickers) with this one. How to Make a Minimalistic (and Cheap) Laptop Case [Instructables] More »
Google Reader Adds Search Box, Users Rejoice
4:40PM Adam Pash | Google has finally added the long-awaited search box to their popular web-based RSS reader, Google Reader. Now you can search across all of your subscribed feeds as a whole, or more granularly across tags or even individual subscriptions. The lack of a built-in search box has always been the most conspicuous missing feature in a newsreader built by the biggest name in search, so the search integration should come as happy news for Reader fanatics—and in my initial trials, the search looks to be performing like gang-busters. As if that weren’t good news enough, Reader has also rolled out a few other small but notable features, like unread item count limits jumping from 100 to 1,000 (which to me just sounds daunting), the ability to hide the side navigation bar via mouse click and friendly interaction with your browser’s forward and back buttons (along the lines of Gmail). Let us know how the new features—particularly the search box—are working out for you in the comments. “We found it!” [Official Google Reader Blog] More »Sensible Facebook guidelines
2:03PM Sarah Stokely | The British Trade Union Congress has come out with some guidelines for organisations on how to handle Facebook and the social networking phenomenon. The story is reverberating around cyberspace because everyone’s in shock that someone’s actually said something sensible on the subject for a change. Rather than calling for a ban on Facebook at work, the TUC issued a 3 page PDF guideline which looks at using Facebook for recruiting, as well as considering how to deal with timewasters and the security implications.
Don’t ban Facebook at work, researchers advise [PC World, via Techdirt]
More » 
New iPods and WiFi iTunes store
1:35PM Sarah Stokely | Finally some Apple news about products we can buy here in Australia! You will have read about the new iPods already today – if not, our mates at Gizmodo AU did a great job rounding up all the product announcements. (See here for their “5 things we love and 5 things we hate about the new iPods” post)
The thing we’re most excited about here at Lifehacker – apart from the pretty sexy iPod Touch ($419) itself – was the iTunes Wi-Fi music store for iPod Touch and iPhone. You can browse and buy songs for your iPod or iPhone directly, without using a PC. Nice. Now bring on the damn iPhone already. :) More » 4 Up-and-Coming Social News, Networking and Bookmarking Sites
1:22PM Sarah Stokely | The delightfully titled blog, Web Two-Point Whatever has a roundup of social news, networking and bookmarking sites Romlet, Peopleized, Plime and Shoutwire.
Like me, you may be a bit Web 2.0-d out at the moment, but as the author says:
“There are…compelling reasons to look at newer beta and/or less well known sites. Some sites provide new services or features, or recombine old ones in unique ways. Others compliment or build on the functions of existing social media or other sites.”
4 Up-and-Coming Social News, Networking and Bookmarking Sites You Should Know [Web Two-Point Whatever] More » New online info portal for premium mobile phone services
1:07PM Sarah Stokely | Industry body The Communications Alliance has launched a new information website on premium mobile phone services. It aims to inform people about what premium services are, so they can make informed buying decisions.
Hmm, could this be in response to recent horror stories like the one about the Ombudsman uncovering a customer who’d unwittingly racked up a $29,000 phone bill in one month? :)
Anyhoo, it’s an interesting site because it also has a detailed explanation about how to make complaints about premium services, and how those complaints are handled, as well as a useful, comprensive listing of other Australian resources and websites ranging from consumer rights, privacy and anti-spam.
Mobile Premium Services – Information for customers [the Communiations Alliance] More » 
The Money Orb – online financial planning tools
12:43PM Sarah Stokely | Tipster Tom told us about a website called The Money Orb.
The site has two main tools, an advanced loan calculator and a more simple tax calculator. Lots of websites offer these kinds of tools, but here’s what’s cool about The Money Orb – it helps you factor in “what if” scenarios so you can think about forward planning for changes in your financial situation.
The loan calculor helps you answer questions like “When am I going to pay off my home loan?” or “What if my husband/wife stops working or goes part-time?”
For example, I created two loan scenarios, to compare how much more quickly a loan would be paid off if I paid in fortnight instead of monthly increments, and paid off an extra $500 a month. The calculator shows you several different graphs including this one to help you compare the scenarios:
The tax tool is a bit more rudimentary – it can calculate your tax for the 2005/2006 financial year onwards. It can include the effect if you have private health insurance, but doesn’t allow you to take HECS/HELP repayments into account.
The site’s still in development and it’s planned that users will be able to store and update budget information onsite. They’re also planning a property investment calculator which will give estimates on the amount of money people can borrow for a residential investment property based on their equity.
Thanks for the tip, Tom! More » 
