New York Times writer Joe Nocera argues that the Windows operating system doesn’t matter any more, because webapps are rendering all operating systems irrelevant. He asks: Do you really care anymore which operating system you use? I don’t. For years, I owned both a PC and a Mac. I could use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Apple’s Safari or Mozilla’s Firefox, more or less interchangeably, to access the Internet. I could write an article on one computer, send it via an email message to the other one, and it worked just fine. [...]Even my teenage sons, who stuck with Windows because most computer games were written for PCs, stopped caring. They could play games over the Internet, and all the most popular games were made for the Mac as well.
The Asylum blog compiles some solid advice on how to call in sick, even if you don’t meet the traditional definition of “sick”—take that how you will. One of the best bits of advice involves the timing of your sick day, as noted by the editor of the Save the Assistants blog: Pick a random Tuesday or Wednesday for your fake illness. At a lot of companies, there are mysterious sick waves on the day after a long weekend or on a really beautiful day in the summer. You can get away with that once in a while, but if you only come down with the flu on really beautiful Friday afternoons in the summer, everyone will be on to you. Taking off a day in the middle of the week will also make it less likely that you have 400 emails to sort through all at once when you come back from your elongated holiday.
Valid point, and the others are worth keeping in mind also. Photo by Perfecto Insecto. How to Take a Sick Day When You’re Not Sick [via Geeks Are Sexy]
The ban on Channel Nine broadcasting its hit gangland drama series Underbelly in Victoria had some interesting consequences, including making it hard to purchase the DVD of the series online. Today, The Australian reports that edited versions of the episodes of the series have finally been cleared for Victorian broadcast this week. Will you be racing to catch these? Or, as several Lifehacker readers have suggested recently, does the constant rescheduling of TV shows mean you just don’t care any more and would revert to channel BT or an imported interstate DVD? Edited Underbelly episodes to air in Victoria [The Australian]
Windows only: Google has been cranking out updates and nightly builds of their new browser (that you just might have heard of) to fix bugs and improve stability. One programmer at the ever-helpful Donation Coder forums has released a free utility that makes it easy to check your Chrome build against the developers’ and download the newer copy, either as a ZIP archive or self-installing executable. The app is a stand-alone executable, runs small and quick, and checks to see if the build has passed Google’s tests before offering it up for grabs. Chrome Nightly Updater is a free download for Windows systems only. Chrome Nightly Updater [Donation Coders Forum via ReadWriteWeb]
Fancy a few fowl for the backyard but aren’t sure whether you’ll be able to maintain the commitment of feeding and egg collecting? Rentachook offers a try-before-you-buy option: pay $360 for a coop and two chooks, and if you decide that a life of chicken farming isn’t for you, the chooks and coop will be collected and you’ll get $220 back. (The site mentions a $100 fixed fee and $260 deposit, but the pickup fee of $40 needs to be factored in as well). Rentachook is Sydney only; if you know of similar ventures elsewhere, let us know in the comments. [Rentachook]
When buying phones or broadband service, it always pays to double check the details, as a couple of stories from Nick at Lifehacker’s sibling publication Gizmodo AU today make clear. Firstly, it seems that Optus is phasing out its prepaid iPhone plans; the only store now selling them is the main branch in Sydney. Optus is claiming stock issues, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the company’s relatively cheap opt-out plan means lots of people have purchased an iPhone from Optus and then jumped to another carrier. (Check out Lifehacker’s guide to choosing the right iPhone plan for more on what each carrier charges.) In the wireless broadband space, Unwired is now offering a 10GB a month plan for $40, which sounds great until you realise that half of this is limited to off-peak browsing (the peak is strangely defined as 2pm to 2am) and that if you exceed the limit, speed drops to an abysmal 32Kbps. My own experience of Unwired has always been patchy even in fixed locations, and the coverage doesn’t extend across enough of the country to make it a good deal for travellers. [Gizmodo talks Optus and Unwired]
When I wrote up Mark Jeffries’ explanation of how to perfect your handshake last week, the man himself was quick to point out that his book What’s Up With Your Handshake? actually covers rather more ground than just handshake etiquette — and indeed it does. Here’s some more tips on how you can communicate better at work, drawn from Jeffries’ closing presentation at the Cognos Forum in Queensland last week.
One of the biggest reasons most Windows users are sticking with Firefox over Google Chrome is its extensibility—and the most popular Firefox extension by far among Lifehacker readers is Adblock Plus. If annoying web site advertisements are the only thing holding you back from using Chrome, a user at the Geekzone forums explains how to block ‘em without an extension. In short, you use the free Privoxy web proxy software which blocks web sites serving ads, and configure Google Chrome to use the proxy. Here’s how to do it.
Windows only: Less than a week since Google Chrome’s release and hackers are already hard at work releasing tools to tweak the minimalistic browser, and the Automatic Theme Switcher is one of those ways. Install the beta theme switcher on your PC running Chrome to choose one of three skins for Chrome—black, blue (the default), or green—and activate it immediately, without having to manually muck around in Chrome’s installation folders. Alternately, for a bigger selection of skins, you can manually download Google Chrome themes here and install them yourself. The Automatic Theme Switcher is a free download for Windows only.
Chrome Automatic Theme Switcher [Chromespot via Kabatology]The Photocritic blog posts a cheap and clever DIY project for digital SLR camera owners who want to take seriously crisp shots of tremendously tiny surfaces, using a Pringles potato chip can as the main component. By hollowing out the can, wrapping a standard lens in dark fabric, and putting the lens in backward, you’ve got a makeshift bellows with adjustable focus. The proof is in the photos, so check out the seriously up-close-and-personal shots the author pulled off at the link below. Extreme Macro Photography on a budget [via Hacks Blogs]
