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From Saucy Pics To Passwords: How To Share Sensitive Information 
How Do IKEA's Prices In Australia Compare? 
New flybuys Earns Discounts Faster (But They're Not Good Discounts) Here’s a tip which I was embarrassingly unaware of – if you’ve upgraded to ADSL2+, without upgrading your line filter – you may be losing out on the speed boost you should be getting! ADSL2+ filters are compliant with the ADSL2+ standard, AS/ACIFS041 (2005). If you’re interested in finding out the difference between the older ADSL standard and this one, there’s an interesting Whirlpool post on the subject here. Netcomm’s channel manager Rochelle White tells us that using an old ADSL filter can strip out 2/3 of your ADSL2+ speed, as well as causing static on the line or even causing your internet to disconnect when the phone rings. She warns that many ISPs are still shipping old filters, even when selling ADSL2+ networking equipment. Netcomm ISP partner Exetel is now shipping Netcomm ADSL2+ equipment with Netcomm’s Netcomm EM1550B ADSL2 line filter. And, as of 3 weeks ago, you can also buy Netcomm’s EM1550 ADSL2+ Splitter-Filter off the shelf through Harvey Norman and Officeworks for $27. It’s not just Netcomm who are in on the act though. Netgear’s Andrew Trickett advised us that they’re shipping ADSL2+ filters with all ADSL2+ product, and if you buy Netgear through an Optus ADSL2+ package, you’ll get *two* filters. I don’t recall *ever* getting a new line filter in the box with a modem or router (maybe because I buy retail rather than through an ISP) – I’ve been using the same old one for years. I just googled my current filter and it’s marked as “obsolete” on the vendor’s website – and when I doubled checked, it turns out it is an ADSL filter, not ADSL2+. oops. :) I’ll be upgrading that today!
Thanks for the tip, Rochelle!
Earlier today we told you about how to defer emails to avoid embarrassment. It reminded me of a tip I’ve been meaning to post about avoiding premature sending of emails – and this one doesn’t require any additional software. It just needs you to use the “Save as Draft” function in Thunderbird. I’ve started using “Save as Draft” for a few reasons.
*I know I’m going to be writing the in stages, or wanting to edit or add things before it’s finished and ready to go. Saving the draft allows me to save my work in case my email client or computer crashes, or I later mistakenly close my email client without saving the email I’m working on. *When viewing your list of draft emails in the Draft folder in Thunderbird, the “Send” button is dropped off the toolbar so you can’t send the email accidentally just by having it selected in the list – you need to hit “Edit draft” in order to open up the email and keep working. *The other good thing about the Draft function is that when you hit “Save” you have a choice between “Save as draft” or “Save as template”. Go the template option if you’re crafting an email which you’re likely to be able to reuse. It will be saved in a new “Template” folder below the “Drafts” folder in your email folders.Note – I’m sure that Outlook 2007 has similar functionality but I haven’t yet installed it as I’m wedded to Thunderbird. Feel free to leave comments about similar functions for other email clients.
Ever hit the Send button on an email and realise a few seconds later that rather than complaining to your coworker about your boss’s impossible dictates and ugly ties, you hit Reply All and complained to your entire company, boss included? If you’re using Outlook, the How-To Geek weblog details how to use Outlook rules to defer the delivery of emails so that you have time to fix those “Oh no!” moments without really interrupting your workflow. We’ve covered this idea before, but the How-To Geek compellingly emphasises why you might want to defer emails. (Now if only Gmail would integrate a similar feature.) If you’re looking to remember your attachments, check out the Outlook Attachment Reminder.
Use Outlook Rules to Prevent “Oh No!” After Sending Emails [the How-To Geek]Many of the search operators you use in Google’s search box work in the new Google Reader search, and the Google Operating System weblog rounds them up along with a few other Reader search tips. For example: 2. Exact matches: put quotation marks around your search terms to get the results that include an exact phrase.
3. Wildcard: use an asterisk to replace some words in your query. This only works for exact matches. Include an asterisk for each word you want to replace.
I just got back from an IT journalist conference (Media Connect’s Influence event) where I got to meet Tech Crunch’s WA-based blogger Duncan Riley. He told me about the Australian Blogging Conference which is being held on Friday, September 28 at QUT in Brisbane. Information on the conference is available here.
Thanks, Duncan!
Linux users: Install iPodLinux on your iPod without losing any of your existing content with a script introduced by Mike’s Ubuntu Blog. The script automatically partitions your iPod’s hard drive and installs a boot partitioner with just three terminal commands. wget http://de.dataghost.com/ipl/dg-installer/dg-linux-installer-20070311.tar.bz2 tar -jxf dg-linux-installer-20070311.tar.bz2 sudo ./installer.sh
I installed iPodLinux on my iPod, and besides an occasional freeze up (and a decent drain on the battery), iPodLinux has been running very well. After installing iPodLinux you’ll still be able to sync your iPod just as you normally would in addition to doing other fun things, like playing games. If you’re not running Linux, you can still install iPodLinux on your iPod from your Windows or Mac PC.
How to: install ipodlinux on your ipod [Mike's Ubuntu Blog]Find and download high quality album artwork for your music library with web application iTunes Album Art Grabber. How high quality? you ask. We’re talking up to 1425×1425 pixels—so huge. The site is still working out some kinks, but—provided the bugs are taken care of—anyone who’s spent time agonising over a music library complete with full album artwork will find the high resolutions and simple, pop-up free web site an excellent resource for adding super high quality artwork to their digital music. Share where you grab high quality album art for your tunes in the comments.
Josh’s iTunes Album Art GrabberImprove your Photoshop productivity with these 30 “undocumented” (i.e., not found in the menus) shortcuts.
Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms): Formerly Windows-only free, open source FTP client FileZilla upgrades to version 3.0, adding cross-platform support and a few small feature updates, most notably an improved transfer management window. If FileZilla has been your FTP client of choice on Windows but you’ve been forced to find an alternative on other platforms, now you can get the free, no-nonsense FTP client for Linux and Mac as well (the Mac version of FileZilla has been delayed, but should be up soon). Former FileZilla users can import old FileZilla settings to your new FileZilla installation by selecting Edit -> Import and navigating to the FileZilla.xml file in your old FileZilla directory.
AU – we reported this on September 3. :)
FileZilla [via Download Squad]If you still aren’t regularly backing up your hard drive, maybe it’s time you consider the substantial emotional and monetary expense of losing your data.
