Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Work
Reverse Your Email Writing Order For Clear Messages
11:30PM Kevin Purdy | The EveryJoe blog shares a tactic that might just make your emails tighter, more direct, and less prone to Oops-Forgot-To-Add Syndrome: reversing the composition order. As in attachments first, recipients last. More »
Communicate
Skype For IPhone Brings Reliable VoIP To Your Pocket
9:50PM Kevin Purdy | Skype dropped their official iPhone client in the App Store earlier today, and it delivers reliable VoIP calling over a Wi-Fi connection. But it’s also reportedly working over 3G on the beta 3.0 firmware. More »
Design
5:47PM Angus Kidman | As you’ll doubtless have noticed by now, Lifehacker Australia has a shiny new look (and a shiny new CMS in the back to match). This kind of migration is rarely trouble-free, so if you run into a bug, or just want to tell us what you think of the new style, hit up the ‘Tip Your Editors’ link or offer your comments here.
Lifehacker AU Gets New Look
5:47PM Angus Kidman | As you’ll doubtless have noticed by now, Lifehacker Australia has a shiny new look (and a shiny new CMS in the back to match). This kind of migration is rarely trouble-free, so if you run into a bug, or just want to tell us what you think of the new style, hit up the ‘Tip Your Editors’ link or offer your comments here.
Communicate
5:26PM Angus Kidman | Microsoft has announced that it plans to shut down its Encarta encyclopedia web sites by October and dump its CD-based versions as well, effectively conceding the online reference market to community-driven sites like Wikipedia. In traffic terms, that battle would seem to have been won a long time ago. Case in point: my visiting the Encarta AU site to check if it was still there must be the first time I’ve visited the site in five years or more, while it would be a rare day I didn’t use Wikipedia. (The local site hasn’t yet reflected the planned closure, but I’d expect that to happen in the next few days.)
Encarta Shutdown
Microsoft Kills Encarta In Victory For Community Content
5:26PM Angus Kidman | Microsoft has announced that it plans to shut down its Encarta encyclopedia web sites by October and dump its CD-based versions as well, effectively conceding the online reference market to community-driven sites like Wikipedia. In traffic terms, that battle would seem to have been won a long time ago. Case in point: my visiting the Encarta AU site to check if it was still there must be the first time I’ve visited the site in five years or more, while it would be a rare day I didn’t use Wikipedia. (The local site hasn’t yet reflected the planned closure, but I’d expect that to happen in the next few days.)
Encarta Shutdown
Communicate
3:11PM Angus Kidman | Twitter has made a slight adjustment to its web interface, replacing the previous @Replies button with an @username link which shows any message which features your username preceded by an @, rather than just those where it’s at the beginning. It’s potentially a useful change, though I can’t help thinking making this feature less buggy (in my usage, it tends not to work at least half the time) might not have been a better priority.
Twitter Blog
More »
Twitter Tweaks @Replies Interface
3:11PM Angus Kidman | Twitter has made a slight adjustment to its web interface, replacing the previous @Replies button with an @username link which shows any message which features your username preceded by an @, rather than just those where it’s at the beginning. It’s potentially a useful change, though I can’t help thinking making this feature less buggy (in my usage, it tends not to work at least half the time) might not have been a better priority.
Twitter Blog
More »
Fix
1:30PM Angus Kidman | IKEA’s Lack table is a staple of first-time-out-of-home lounge rooms (and I’ve still got two in my house), but can get scratched up after a while. IKEA Hacker highlights a simple but impressive refurb job: converting the table into a Scrabble board. If you don’t feel like going to that much effort, you could always pick up a second-hand Scrabble board, glue it onto the surface, and lacquer or laminate it.
Scrabble Table [IKEA Hacker]
More »
DIY IKEA Scrabble Table
1:30PM Angus Kidman | IKEA’s Lack table is a staple of first-time-out-of-home lounge rooms (and I’ve still got two in my house), but can get scratched up after a while. IKEA Hacker highlights a simple but impressive refurb job: converting the table into a Scrabble board. If you don’t feel like going to that much effort, you could always pick up a second-hand Scrabble board, glue it onto the surface, and lacquer or laminate it.
Scrabble Table [IKEA Hacker]
More »
Communicate
12:59PM Kym Weathersten | There’s just a few hours to go until we give away a Blackberry Bold to one lucky Lifehacker. So remember, for your chance to win the smartphone, valued at $985, complete this small survey and be sure to leave your email address on the last question.
[BlackBerry survey]
[Terms and Conditions]
More »
Last Chance To Win A Blackberry Bold
12:59PM Kym Weathersten | There’s just a few hours to go until we give away a Blackberry Bold to one lucky Lifehacker. So remember, for your chance to win the smartphone, valued at $985, complete this small survey and be sure to leave your email address on the last question.
[BlackBerry survey]
[Terms and Conditions]
More »
Fix
12:00PM Angus Kidman | Scammers are constantly coming up with new and creative ways to wreck computer security. As I report over at APC, the latest hoax to hit Australia is a telephone call claiming to be from either Microsoft or a security software firm, saying that an infection has been detected on your PC and offering to walk you through the fix process. Unsurprisingly, far from fixing the PC, the process completely compromises the machine, making it ripe for further exploitation. Adding insult to injury, the caller then asks for credit card details for a service fee. While most Lifehacker readers are probably savvy enough to avoid this kind of scam, it might be worth mentioning to any credulous friends or relatives. If you’re looking to keep your machine secure, check out our Hive Five on the best antivirus software.
PHONE CON: No, that is not “Microsoft” calling [APC]
More »
Watch Out For Fake Microsoft Support Calls
12:00PM Angus Kidman | Scammers are constantly coming up with new and creative ways to wreck computer security. As I report over at APC, the latest hoax to hit Australia is a telephone call claiming to be from either Microsoft or a security software firm, saying that an infection has been detected on your PC and offering to walk you through the fix process. Unsurprisingly, far from fixing the PC, the process completely compromises the machine, making it ripe for further exploitation. Adding insult to injury, the caller then asks for credit card details for a service fee. While most Lifehacker readers are probably savvy enough to avoid this kind of scam, it might be worth mentioning to any credulous friends or relatives. If you’re looking to keep your machine secure, check out our Hive Five on the best antivirus software.
PHONE CON: No, that is not “Microsoft” calling [APC]
More »
Communicate
10:30AM Angus Kidman | Telstra-owned BigPond is Australia’s largest ISP, which means that its glitches tend to affect more people than anyone else. Suzanne Tindal at ZDNet reports that a number of NSW and Victorian customers were left without access to email and other services over the weekend, though Telstra claims those services were due to be restored by Monday evening. Have you been hit by the outage? Is it still a problem? Share your experience in the comments.
Telstra fights with BigPond glitch [ZDNet]
More »
BigPond Outage Across NSW, Victoria
10:30AM Angus Kidman | Telstra-owned BigPond is Australia’s largest ISP, which means that its glitches tend to affect more people than anyone else. Suzanne Tindal at ZDNet reports that a number of NSW and Victorian customers were left without access to email and other services over the weekend, though Telstra claims those services were due to be restored by Monday evening. Have you been hit by the outage? Is it still a problem? Share your experience in the comments.
Telstra fights with BigPond glitch [ZDNet]
More »
Organise
