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!
Voracious book lover but find it difficult to get to the local library? Australian book rental site Slim Ink could solve your reading woes. Like previously mentioned US-only service BookSwim, Slim Ink takes the DVD rent-by-post concept popularised by NetFlix and applies it to books, sending out titles you select along with a post-paid envelope to swap when you're ready. Plans range from $14 a month for a single book to $60 a month for a dozen out at a time. While the range isn't gigantic (and there's no download option), this is a good solution for people who can't access existing libraries (because of location or work hours) and don't want to build a collection of their own. If you've tried it out, let us know your experiences in the comments. [Slim Ink]
Real Simple magazine has an old but good step-by-step guide to folding an unwieldy broadsheet newspaper for easy reading on the go. It's really just a matter of a few well placed folds, but if you don't already have a good folding strategy, this post is a great starting point. On the other hand, if you're a newspaper-folding pro and your methods differ from Real Simple's guide, let's hear all about how you make it work in the comments.
Windows only: Browse web forum threads and posts like RSS feeds with Web Forum Reader, a free Windows application. Adding forums you frequent to the app is done through an easy-to-grok wizard, and the program parses through the topics you haven't looked at with better speed than you'd find on often ad-loaded forum pages. You can also have the program track and alert you to changes in certain threads, and load your forums into tabs for quicker navigation. Web Forum Reader is a free download for Windows systems only.
Got some downtime at the office but don't feel comfortable pulling out a paperback to get some reading in on-the-job? Web site Read at Work serves up public domain works in PowerPoint-looking chunks. The site boasts a convincing Flash application that runs in fullscreen and looks exactly like a Windows XP installation. (You have to try it to truly appreciate it.) Granted, reading an entire book in this fashion is far from ideal, but if you're desperate, it's a fun—albeit weird—way to get your fix.
If you spend any amount of time on the web, you're doing yourself a disservice if you haven't found a decent RSS newsreader to keep on top of your favourite web sites. If you aren't using one, it's time you start; if you are, the question remains: Are you using the best newsreader for your needs (and feeds)? So for this week's Hive Five, we want you to tell us all about your favourite RSS newsreader. Hit the jump for more details and to nominate your favourite newsreader—be it 
Newsreaders are a blessing for anyone who wants to stay on top of the constant flow of information available on the web, but if you're not careful your feedreader can get so clogged and disorganised that you lose many of the benefits of RSS. Blogger GenuineChris details how he combatted this situation using fewer folders organised by quality—like A-List, B-List, etc. At the end of the day this strategy isn't groundbreaking, but it got us wondering: How do you organise your newsreader? Let's hear what helps you stay king of your RSS mountain in the comments.
Blogger Steve Rubel discusses his methods for mitigating