Eagle eyed tipster Korian spotted a new Apple store at Myer Brisbane - Level 4, 91 Queen St.
As part of the opening they're running demonstration sessions every day Wedneday til Sunday on the following timetable:
10am - making Hollywood-style movies (15 minutes)
12.30pm - It just works. Getting started on a Mac (30 minutes)
4pm - more fun with photos (15 minutes)
I spoke with one of the Apple guys from the Brisbane store who said the demos will be an ongoing thing, so if you have questions for an Apple Expert, here's your chance.
Thanks for the tip, Korian!

Windows/Mac: Freeware streaming television application Joost has released the 1.0 beta of their snappy, attractive on-demand video player. We took you on a tour of Joost a while back, but since then Joost has seen significant interface upgrades, more content deals, and—most importantly—has dropped the invite-only requirement. If you're looking for a high-quality television experience on your desktop without building your own DVR or rolling your own BitTorrent season pass, Joost is currently the best solution out there. If you've been putting Joost through the paces since we last mentioned it, let's hear how it's been working for you in the comments.
Joost

If you're trying to lose a few pounds, self-improvement site Better Life Forum suggests that you'll want to make your goals as definite as possible: A simple statement like, "I want to lose some weight," is an ambiguous and an indefinite statement. What is important is to be precise on your goals. It would be better if you will set some detailed amount of pounds that you really want to lose. Envisage yourself what you will look like after reaching your desired weight. Doing this will inspire you to lose weight. In fact, maybe even more than what you have planned in mind. Anything that helps with the difficult process of losing unwanted weight is a good deal—if you've successfully managed to lose pounds, please share what made you successful in the comments.
Staying Motivated to Exercise

Your vacuum cleaner doesn't need much to keep it going, but if you want to keep it around for as long as humanly possible, you'll want to read wikiHow's detailed list of tips for maintenance. Keeping the various removable parts clean as well as replacing parts before they break is a biggie, as well as dumping the filters/bags/bins periodically. Your vacuum is definitely not the most sexy of the household appliances, but you might as well keep it running at top speed. How to Maintain a Vacuum Cleaner

The CyberNet weblog details a reliable Windows standard: How to map an FTP drive in Windows Explorer using the Map Network Drive dialog. It's a very simple process provided you've already either got a hosted FTP server or set one up yourself, and when you're finished you'll be able to access your remote FTP server like you're browsing any other drive on your computer. The one thing you won't get is the ability to mount the FTP site with a drive letter that shows up in My Computer, so if you need that for some reason you might want to try out NetDrive instead. If not, this is a very simple, useful solution.
CyberNotes: Map a FTP to a Drive in Windows

Restore the trusty Run command to your Windows Vista Start menu with the simple step-by-step instructions at weblog IntelliAdmin. Just right-click your Start menu and click Properties. Then go to the Start menu tab, click Customize, and tick the checkbox next to Run command. Your reliable Run command will return to your Start menu where you've come to know and expect it. Then again, you can always get to the Run prompt with the ever-useful Windows-R keyboard shortcut.
Restore the Run command in Vista

Windows only: While Outlook 2007 has a built-in feed reader, those of us still using 2003 or even Outlook Express (d'oh) are up a creek—without an add-on, that is. The Pain in the Tech blog recommends RSS Popper:After installation RSS feeds are displayed under a folder called RSS in the "All Mail Folders" pane on the left-side navigation. The keyboard shortcuts are to hit "Ctrl-Y" to bring up the Go To Folder menu, then hit "R" for RSS and enter.

Got a sliced apple you'd like to save for later, sans browning? No problem - just use a rubber band: Push the corer / slicer apparatus down through the apple until it is almost through, but all pieces are basically still together. Then put the whole apple back together again and stick a rubber band around it. This holds it together in your lunch pack and helps prevent browning.A great tip for the brown bag crowd. Slamming Suggestions for the Humble Rubber Band

While many people just use Facebook as a social connector, you can also use Facebook - quite successfully, I might add - as a self-marketing tool. Entrepreneurial blogger Neil Patel has written up an article on marketing yourself with Facebook that brings up some good points, and the best one is this.

If you've ever sat endlessly at a red light because your motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle doesn't have the conductive juice to trigger the traffic light change, DIY site Instructables suggests that a small magnet attached to the bottom of your vehicle will do the trick every time. If anyone's ever tried this out, let us know how it worked for you in the comments.
Trigger GREEN Traffic Lights

From the wholly minimal to the completely ornate, the Linux desktop has never been sexier. You've already seen the Windows and Mac editions of the Desktop Show and Tell, but you haven't seen variety, inventiveness, and all-around desktop eye candy until you've taken a gander at what your fellow readers are doing with their Linux desktops. Read on for a look at some of our readers' best Linux desktop submissions.

Digg addicts can browse the social news site on their mobile phones with newly launched DiggM8. Unlike previously mentioned Digg River or Digg Mobile, DiggM8 promises to deliver the full story quickly—it actually appears that the stories are routed through the DiggM8 server rather than on the other sites. As an avid Digg user myself, it would be nice if DiggM8 would list the number of votes every story has been given rather than numbering them from one to ten, but regardless, the service looks promising.
DiggM8

Wired Wiki has a nice writeup of how to maximise your Flickr usage. They've thrown in some basic tips as well as a number of alternative apps or plugins for customising tasks like uploading photos. Nice to see them offering some Linux alternatives and Python gets a mention too.

It also rounds up some tools for uploading pictures to Flickr using mobile devices and email:

"Not many people know this, but you can also use Google's free Picasa application to send photos to Flickr via GMail. As of version 2.0, you can e-mail directly to Flickr from the Picasa app, which will even automatically resize your photos before sending them. Just use the aforementioned Flickr e-mail address and send your pics from GMail."

If you're a dinosaur like me who's still using Photobucket, this might kick you along to try out Flickr. :)

Get the Most Out of Flickr

Blogger Jacob Grier discovers what Wikipedia calls "the least known stapling method": pinning. If you rotate the plate on the bottom of your stapler, it will bend staples outward instead of inward to fasten things temporarily. Easily remove a pinned staple by pulling it along the plane of the document. Many modern staplers don't have this feature any more, so pick up an old-school model to try it out.
The stapler's secret

Personal finance webapp Mint monitors your finances for you. Enter your bank account and credit card details and Mint imports transaction data automatically and provides detailed charts about buying habits as well as suggesting how to save. Purchases are broken down by type (spending, gas, entertainment, restaurants, groceries), and Mint can alert you about any abnormal activity in your accounts. The interface is clean and friendly, and Mint looks like a clear winner in money management.
Mint

Less than two years after their beta release, Yahoo Mail has begun rolling out of beta after releasing an onslaught of innovative feature improvements along the way. On the other hand, a whopping three years into their beta release, Gmail remains one of the most popular but stagnant web-based beta email apps around—and most of Gmail's innovation since its release has come in the form of third-party hacks and extensions. The short of it: Google makes a great beta, but with Gmail they've been much too slow to actually take the application to the next level. Let's take a look at some of Yahoo Mail's killer out-of-the-box features in comparison to what Gmail is offering.

It's important to work in an ergonomic, body-friendly environment to avoid problems like RSI, but a lot of ergonomic products cost an arm and a leg. To get around the high price of ergonomic chairs like the popular Aeron line, blogger Jon Aquino made his own version (pictured) of the Aeron. This very faux Aeron might be a bit over the top, but I'm curious: How have you designed an ergonomic workspace without breaking the bank? What products would you never skimp on? Let's hear your thoughts in the comments.
Do-It-Yourself Aeron Ergonomic Chair

Hurting from all your college expenses? Web site HowStuffWorks advises students on how to save cash with ten tips, like buying cheap textbooks, opting-in for an the best meal plan, organising your expenses, and splitting any shared resources with a roommate. My favourite.

Previously posted Google Moon been re-launched with "Street View" on-surface panoramic NASA photos from the astronaut's perspective. Google's Lat Long blog explains: This update brings higher-resolution map imagery, text search, and photos and stories from every Apollo landing. We even included Street View-style panoramas of the moon's surface, taken by the Apollo astronauts ... something you won't see anywhere else. And last but certainly not least, we tossed in scientific charts that are good enough for actual mission planning and science classrooms alike. Great stuff, but sadly the Swiss cheese Easter Egg's nowhere to be found.
Google Moon