If you got paid today and you seem to have more money than usual, don't be in a huge rush to spend it. Australian IT reports that a technical error by Westpac meant that a large batch of payroll transactions were processed twice, resulting in double the amount of money going into bank accounts. (Non-Westpac customers are also significantly affected, as the pay could potentially go into any Australian bank account specified by the recipient.)
Westpac is working to reclaim the money, so if you go out and spend it before it gets redrawn, you'll just end up with a slanging match with your bank next week. Of course, if you've got a well-organised budget system that includes moving money automatically into relevant accounts as it arrives, there'll be less to worry about.

A notebook PC with a broken hinge might not seem much use to anybody, but blogger Frederic Sebton had a nifty idea: install the popular arcade emulator MAME, pop the whole thing into a sideboard from IKEA, and voila! You've got a cocktail-style arcade cabinet (one you sit down to play at). With basic notebooks now so cheap, it could be tempting to build a similar project with a brand-new machine especially maimed and MAMEd for the occasion. [Frederic Sebton via Ikea Hacker]

A post at the official Google blog by search VP Marissa Mayer discusses how one of the main criteria when designing its memorably minimal home page is keeping track of the number of words on the page. When Google recently decided to introduce a link to its privacy policy, company executives decided that another word would have to be removed to ensure the bare bones design aesthetic wasn't disrupted:

Larry and Sergey told me we could only add this to the homepage if we took a word away - keeping the "weight" of the homepage unchanged at 28. Given that the new Privacy link fit best with legal disclaimers on the page, I looked to the copyright line. There, we dropped the word "Google" (realizing it was implied, obviously) and added the new privacy link alongside it.

While this is an interesting design aesthetic, the page weight isn't actually quite the same for Australian Google visitors, who score another six words thanks to the option of only searching Australian pages. If you don't want that extra weight mid-screen, Google does offer a link to its regular US version.
What comes next in this series? 13, 33, 53, 61, 37, 28... [The Official Google Blog]

Users who buy an iPhone from Optus or Telstra will get free Wi-Fi access at those telcos' hotspots, but what if your iPhone is jailbroken or with another carrier? Hotspot provider Tomizone is trying to tempt iPhone users by offering free access to iPhone users at its network of hotspots for three months from July 11, the iPhone launch date. Tomizone relies on individuals and businesses signing up to act as individual providers, so the current coverage map looks a bit thin (though the company claims 600 locations in Australasia). It could be a useful option if you're out and about and don't want to use up your download cap. Basic access prices post-deal or for laptop users are also reasonable, at $3 an hour or $4 for a day pass.
[Tomizone]

Feel like Outlook is a bit too keen to tell you every time you get new mail? Trying to be more disciplined in when you check email? The Outlook Team Blog has a handy guide to how to switch off the various notifications within Outlook. This isn't a particularly obvious process, but the post also promises improvements in the future:

They're a bit hard to find in our Options dialogs, and that's something we hope to address in a future release of Outlook.

Making Outlook a little quieter [Outlook Team Blog]

The plastic card cable organiser manages cords under or behind your desk and keeps cords—like your iPod charging cord—from falling off your desk when unplugged. The idea behind the card cable organizer is exactly the same as previously mentioned Keep-a-Cable, but this DIY version transforms your unused club cards into cable holders with a hole punch and some scissors. Clever.

Read More »

Mac OS X only: Donationware application Organized is a Dashboard widget that integrates with your system notes, events, and to-dos, providing you with quick access to all of your activities. Made by the folks who brought you previously mentioned iStat Menus, Organized boasts an attractive interface and impressive feature set. The widget integrates with iCal and Mail for managing your events, notes, and to-dos, which is great, but the biggest disappointment is that it only comes in Dashboard widget form (as opposed to iStat menus, which is either a widget or menu bar app). Organized is donationware, requires OS X 10.5. Thanks Jason!

Read More »

You download, create, delete, and move around countless files and endless piles of data on your PC every day. While your PC would ideally handle all of this data for you, it doesn't take long before you end up with a disorganized, cluttered computer. Earlier this week we asked readers to share their favourite Windows maintenance tools, and today we're back with the five most popular answers. Hit the jump for an overview of the five best Windows maintenance tools, then cast your vote for the best of the bunch.

Read More »

One of the lesser-known useful things about Gmail's filters is that they work on email you send as well as email you receive. So you can do things like label all messages you send with the word "Request" in the subject as "Waiting for," or label any email that has the word "Invoice" in it that you send to your client or boss with the "Invoice" label, or label any email that goes to certain addresses "Family" or "Softball team." There are some limitations with outgoing Gmail filters, however—you can't search on special characters (like [w]) and you can't do certain actions, like forward the messages to another email address. Do you filter outgoing Gmail? What are your most useful filters? Share in the comments.

Read More »

Postica's a latecomer to the free online sticky notes arena, but it carries with it a few neat features that set it apart. First and foremost is the ability to attach any kind of file (up to 5 MB) to a sticky note, and then send that note to a friend, whether or not they have an account. Secondly, Twitter users can share notes and create new notes on their board, even designating the colour, by direct-message postica. For organising a multi-file project by yourself or in a group, Postica's a simple but attractive option. Postica is free to use, requires a sign-up.

Read More »

Designer Vijayakrishnan gives us a tour of his gorgeous Windows multi-desktop, which makes you look at it three times to figure out what operating system he's using. With a Mac style and a few free programs like RocketDock, Deskspace, and Findexer, he's really tricked out Windows XP. Get closeups of each of his two main desktops—shown here in a rotating cube—after the jump.

Read More »

Margaret Garcia at the Wise Bread blog shares her stories of consumer product woe and notes that in three separate cases, phone calls and emails led to half-hearted apologies, but ink-on-paper letters got her and her family free replacements:

(My husband has) bought the same model of New Balance running shoes four times and they've all worn and cracked in the exact same place. He called and complained a few times, but his last letter earned him a pair of new New Balance shoes free.

What companies have shown you true remorse with free gear when you wrote them? How do you phrase a letter to make sure it gets heard? Let's hear your tips and strategies in the comments. Photo by ivanatm.

Read More »