Friday, May 2, 2008
Stick to Groups of Four to Remember Things
11:05PM Kevin Purdy | Scientists have long held that seven items—be they images, numbers, or tasks—was the best a brain could manage to hold at once, but LiveScience points out that, without specific practice, the best-case scenario for most people is three or four. It’s a good explanation why phone numbers are written and spoken as three and four-digit groups, and a better reminder that if you’ve got a lot to do or remember, writing it down is probably the only way to hit 100 percent. What’s your personal limit on non-practiced memory? How do you break up tasks and must-remember items into small groups for better recall? Share your successes in the comments, and check out our top 10 memory hacks for some pointers on augmenting your grey matter’s somewhat paltry RAM. Mind’s Limit Found: 4 Things at Once [LiveScience via Dumb Little Man] More »
Grab a Free Chapter of Google Apps Hacks
10:30PM Kevin Purdy | Philipp Lenssen, author of the oft-linked Google Blogoscoped blog, has put together an entire book of Google Apps Hacks, covering Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and beyond, and his publisher is offering a sample chapter as a free PDF download. The sample delves into Google Presentations and how the PowerPoint-like app can be extended pretty far with style sheet tweaks, theme changes, and a little creative use of photos. Hit the link below to grab the free 19-page excerpt. Google Apps Hacks [O'Reilly Media] More »
See Your System’s Upgrades with WinUpdatesList
10:00PM Kevin Purdy | Windows only: WinUpdatesList, a free utility for Windows, lets you see what updates your system has grabbed during its existence, and provides quick links to Microsoft Knowledge Base articles related to each one. Why would you use this instead of heading to the Windows Update server, you ask? If you’re without internet and want to see which update borked your system, perhaps, or if you want to pre-download and slipstream updates into a custom-made Windows install CD. Since it’s a self-contained app, no real installation is required, so use and discard at your discretion. WinUpdatesList is a free download for Windows systems (except Vista). WinUpdatesList [via gHacks] More »
Do You Actually Use Google Earth?
9:00PM Gina Trapani | Sure we’ve all downloaded a free copy of Google Earth, the big G’s eye-popping desktop map application, and flown around the planet with a heightened sense of awe at how cool the whole thing is. But have you done anything else with Google Earth since then? Traveler Anick Jesdanun used Google Earth to create a robust photo tour of a trip through Antarctica and South America, and found the software powerful but complicated and difficult to intuit—especially for friends with whom he shared the resulting KML file. More »Job ad: Want to be a Lifehacker?
11:25AM Sarah Stokely | Lifehacker Australia is on the lookout for a new Editor!
Who are you? You might be a software hacker with a yen to spend some time writing helpful how-tos and connecting with a community of lifehacking power users. You might be a technology writer or blogger. You might consider yourself a power user of Windows PCs, Macs or your favourite flavour of Linux. But overall we hope you will be someone who wants to help Lifehacker Australia become a truly great hub for people to get and share computing, productivity and life hacks.
Who are we?Allure Media is a young and growing blogging empire which publishes Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku and Defamer in Australia. We have an office in Sydney and our Editors work from Sydney and Melbourne.
How do I apply?Easy! Send an email to: jobs AT alluremedia.com.au. I’d strongly suggest you send in an example or two of stories you’ve written which you think are Lifehacker-worthy.
More » Vista UAC
11:02AM Sarah Stokely | According to CNET blogger Dennis O’Reilly, Microsoft has finally admitted that it introduced Vista’s pesky nanna User Access Control feature to bug customers (hey, it worked). It was their way of putting pressure on independent software vendors to make their apps Vista-compliant.Here’s how to tweak, silence or turn off UAC. More » 
Weekend fun: An Engineer’s Guide to Cats
10:45AM Sarah Stokely | In the name of Friday unproductivity and the worship of our felines companions, I present you with the following gem from YouTube:
More » Work out if rechargable batteries would save you money
10:18AM Sarah Stokely | Even if you only have a few battery operated devices at home, it can feel like you’re always buying new ones. As an example, Wii remotes are terrible power suckers – make sure you take the batteries out when you’re not playing. So would it work out cheaper to buy rechargable batteries?The Simple Dollar blog has helpfully crunched the numbers on whether investing in rechargable batteries makes financial sense. Assuming a use of 10 AA batteries a month, the rechargables worked out cheaper over two years, saving around $US75 per year after that. Of course this will depend on the quality of the batteries and recharger you buy, but it’s worth checking out the article and comparing your own situation.And of course, switching to rechargables would save sending piles of batteries into land fill!Got any tips for getting the most out of your batteries? Share in comments please.
Are rechargable batteries really cost effective? [The Simple Dollar] More » 
Free Comic Book Day tomorrow
10:00AM Sarah Stokely | Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day!
Comic stores around the world will be participating – check out the Global Store Locator to find one near you. Each store gets to decide the guidelines for receiving comics, so it’s a lucky dip what you’ll get, but you may well discover a cool author you didn’t know about.
For people in Sydney, Kinokuniya will be giving out free comics as long
as you come inside and ask.
If you’re thinking of turning off your computer for Shutdown Day tomorrow, this could be a nice way to pass the time. :)
Thanks for the tip, Paul!
More » 
