April 2007
ID card will be needed to vote, says UK election...
Use it to fix the bit that isn’t broken…
Unexpected support for ID cards has come from Electoral Commission chairman Sam Younger, who has told the Times that photo ID should be required at polling stations, and that if (or, in the view of the current Government, when) ID cards become compulsory they would “undoubtedly” be applied in elections. “I think there’s a very...
BT brings Wii-like remote control to PCs
Shake, rattle and roll
UK telco BT has built an add-on for laptops, tablets and UMPCs that allows users to control their computer simply by moving it around.… (via The Register)
Sickly NHS provider still seeking saviour
iSoft in advanced talks
Troubled health provider iSoft says it is in the advanced stages of talks which may lead to its sale.… (via The Register)
PlayStation mag tears out 'unsuitable' slaughtered...
Would entrails have revealed future furore?
The UK’s Official PlayStation Magazine has said today it will yank a picture depicting a headless goat - a day after the Mail on Sunday newspaper branded the imagery “depraved”.… (via The Register)
Speaker: To Smock is to Love
Last week, I passed the magazine rack in an airport terminal news-stand and scanned the titles. Amidst the women’s glossies, a cover photo of a cherubic little girl in pink caught my eyes. Her blond locks seemed to cover up a letter of the magazine’s name: SMACKING… (via Public Address)
BT wants your small business juice
Aromatic
BT’s small business tentacle has launched a competition aimed at bottling “the essence of the UK’s entrepreneurs”.…
(via The Register)
Scotty blasts off on final mission
Actor’s widow beams him up
James Doohan, the actor better known as Star Trek’s Scotty, made it across the final frontier this Saturday when his ashes were launched into space aboard a 20 foot rocket.… (via The Register)
'Artificial snot' enhances electronic nose
Nothing to sniff at
Researchers at the University of Warwick and Leicester University have used what they refer to as “artificial snot” (nasal mucus) to significantly boost the performance of electronic noses.… (via The Register)
New law could save internet radio
Congress looks to overturn crushing royalty ruling
A law has been proposed in the US Congress that would overturn a recent ruling on internet radio royalty payments. The bill could save internet radio, according to activists.… (via The Register)
Yahoo! buys! ad! exchange!
Right Media joins the club
Yahoo! has bought Right Media - the online ad exchange it bought a stake in last October.…
(via The Register)
OLPC bumps prices, adds Windows capability
The $175 ‘$100 laptop’
The $100 laptop at the heart of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) scheme is now going to cost $175, the organisation has announced.… (via The Register)
Google cedes Chilean village to Argentina
Government demands return of Villa O’Higgins
The Chilean government is demanding the return of a village which Google has rather splendidly ceded to Argentina, Reuters reports.… (via The Register)
Ofcom and DTI slam Murdoch TV strategy
‘Scuse me, while I piss off Sky
On Friday, Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading both delivered reports to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) accusing Sky of behaving badly, the same day that Virgin laid down its case against the company.… (via The Register)
Vodafone's new pricing model excludes VoIP and P2P
How much is your application worth?
While ADSL providers are imposing caps and resorting to traffic throttling, Vodafone has slipped in a clause allowing it to charge different amounts for mobile bandwidth depending on the application, though how it will do so is unclear.… (via The Register)
Marshal aims to secure laptop content
Will extend its messaging security to control PC files too
Messaging security developer Marshal is to launch content security software for PCs - but there are questions over how it will work for remote users, as it will require users to be online before they can get permission to copy or share new content.…
(via The Register)
Panama Not Enough To Battle Google: Yahoo Acquires...
Yahoo announced today that it will acquire the 80% of advertising network RightMedia that it doesn’t already own for $680 million in cash and Yahoo stock.
The company previously bought 20% of the company in a $45 million Series B round of funding announced in October 2006. The company has raised over $50 million to […] (via TechCrunch)
IAC Launches Zwinktopia At Peak of Virtual World...
The timing couldn’t be much better for InterActiveCorp to launch Zwinktopia, a new virtual world for young teens. Other virtual worlds, such as Gaia, Habbo Hotel, Cyworld, Neopets, Club Penguin, Webkinz and others, are exploding in terms of unique monthly visitors and total time spent at the sites.
Until today, IAC’s Zwinky was a site to […] (via TechCrunch)
Australian Press Prank On Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales spoke at a education.au conference in Sydney, Australia last week. After his talk he took questions.
As reported by the Brisbane Times, Andrew Hansen raised his hand as a member of the press and was selected to ask a question. What Wales didn’t know is that Hansen is part of the cast […] (via TechCrunch)
Hard News: Parties, seriousness and the death of...
A couple of people asked me at Saturday night’s wedding party whether I was really going for the job of editing Metro. Y’know, like it said in the paper that I was. I’m not, and have never even discussed the prospect with anyone. A certain diarist just pulled that out of … well, it wouldn’t be polite to say where… (via Public Address)
Music: Find lyrics on LyricWiki
You know those annoying lyric sites that instantly try to freeze your computer back to the Stone Age? Well, the next time you’ve just got to remember the lyrics to Air Supply’s “All Out Of Love” (see above), try LyricWiki, a large and growing database of over 200K lyric pages.
You can search by artist or song title; I do wish that they had more a more intuitive search...
WordPress: How to deal with content thieves
Have you been the victim of content theft on the webernets? Unfortunately, if you’ve been here for longer than about five minutes, you probably have. Lorelle on Wordpress has written up a fantastic three-part article on how to deal with content theft:
Part 1: tips, information and resources to help you deal with copyright infringement, the theft of your blog or website content.
Part 2:...
Interviews: Conducting an interview? Avoid these...
We write up quite a few posts here at Lifehacker central about acing job interviews, but here’s one for the other side of the table: mistakes that the interviewer needs to avoid.
Reading these ten blunders actually gave me a lot of insight as to how I could’ve made past interviews a little bit better. They include:
Asking too much personal information and skipping conversation on...
Linux: The best free Ubuntu apps for newbs
Techie blog Free Geekery has done a stellar roundup of the best freeware apps for newbie Ubuntu users.
Each piece of software comes with a succint review, links, even a few tutorials. I’ve been doing some flirting lately with a little bit of Linux, so this list couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Do you see anything missing? Let us know in the comments what you would add. —...
Project: Knowing when to quit a project
Do you know when to hold ‘em, and when to fold ‘em? Tech blogger Om Malik has written a thoughtful article on knowing when to quit a project that you’ve invested time, blood, sweat, and tears in - and walk away intact.
We’ve all been there: we come up with a project that seems like a good idea at the time, but as we get more into it, actually turns into a giant...
Google Calendar: Use Google Calendar to schedule...
In all of our efficient getting to done, we sometimes forget the simple pleasures. Parent Hacks suggests using Google Calendar to help us schedule some relax time:
Earlier this month, it occurred to me that I could use Google Calendar to remind and assign myself to do those little things that I loved to do in my pre-parenthood life. Things like “read a poem today,” or “go...
Fatsecret: For Fat People Who Want To Be Less So
There’s a new Australia-based social network called FatSecret - it’s designed to help overweight people leverage a network of friends and online resources to lose weight. Like Traineo, which we wrote about last year, Fatsecret focuses on building a support network around you to monitor your progress.
Users first state their current and goal weights, and […] (via TechCrunch)
Vista – End of the Dream?
Mr Jewell simply can’t take it any more…
Column You’ve probably heard of – if not actually read – that modern-day classic, “Dreaming in Code”. The book is subtitled “Two dozen programmers, three years, 4,732 bugs and one quest for transcendent software”.… (via The Register)
Vacation: Estimate fuel costs with the Fuel Cost...
Planning on a road trip this summer? You might want to visit the AAA’s Fuel Cost Calculator first to get a sense of how much you might have to pay for gas.
For instance, a trip from Portland, Oregon to Olympic National Park in a 2004 Honda Odyssey, round-trip, will cost about $60. It’s a good way to get a rough idea before you head out. — Wendy Boswell
Trip Gas Price [AAA via Wise...
Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and other...
There was a lot of controversy recently when Wikipedia announced that all outbound links from the online encyclopedia would include the nofollow tag. The nofollow tag on a link is said to prevent link spamming since some search engines (Google among them) do not count links containing the tag towards any weighing of the destination […] (via TechCrunch)
Weekend Project: Make an emergency romance kit
Have you been accused of lacking that romantic touch? Well, the next time you sense that your sweetie might not be feeling the love, you’ll be able to whip out a handy-dandy emergency romance kit, stuffed full of various lovey dovey things that mean something to the both of you.
What could this include? How about some mushy CD’s..a couple of candles….photos of the two of...
Interviews: Ace that phone interview
If you’ve ever had an interview over the phone, you know that there’s a lot of different dynamics going on - mostly, you can’t see the person that you’re talking to (how’s that for stating the obvious?). Emurse has a few tips for anyone who wants to be completely prepared for a phone interview, including workspace preparation, making sure you’re in a positive...
Gardening: How to get the best looking lawn in the...
It’s beginning to look a lot like spring/summer in my neck of the woods, with the dulcet tones of lawnmowers filling the air. British DIY store Godfrey’s has a few tips that practically guarantee jealous fits from your neighbors, such as:
Cut it regularly, ideally once a week.
Water occasionally - watch your moisture levels.
Check out the lawn food, but apply sparingly.
I know...
Graphics: Create an organization chart with...
Need an organizational chart for your company? You might want to check out Forbes’ new site aptly named OrgChartWiki, where you can create org.charts for your company or take a looksee at a few publicly listed companies such as Google, Motorola, and Microsoft.
The interface is very simple: all you do is pretty much drag and drop. You can also use this site to search within companies...
Microsoft: MS Office Tip: Add people to the Safe...
Tech-Recipes has posted a fast and dirty way to get your friends off of the Outlook 2007 hit list: add ‘em to the Safe Senders list. Here’s how you do it:
Click Actions, mouseoverJunk E-mail, and select Junk e-mail Options.
Select the Safe Senders tab.
At the bottom, check the Automatically add people I e-mail to the Safe Senders List checkbox.
Click OK.
It sure is...
Microsoft Office Tip: Add people to the Safe...
Tech-Recipes has posted a fast and dirty way to get your friends off of the Outlook 2007 hit list: add ‘em to the Safe Senders list. Here’s how you do it:
Click Actions, mouseoverJunk E-mail, and select Junk e-mail Options.
Select the Safe Senders tab.
At the bottom, check the Automatically add people I e-mail to the Safe Senders List checkbox.
Click OK.
It sure is...
WordPress: Make your own theme with the Wordpress...
Want to customize the look of your Wordpress blog, but don’t have the programming chops to do so? You might want to try the Wordpress Theme Generator, a handy way to whip up your own personalized theme.
You can mix up your own colors, settings, layouts, etc. and then preview it in real-time so you can catch mistakes before they go live. When you’re all done, you walk away with a...
Food: Make that Chinese take-out more healthy
Back in Skinny Jeans blogger Stephanie Quilao has come up with five different ways to make your favorite Chinese take-out a bit more healthy. My favorite tip:
Order Wonton soup instead of the Wonton appetizer. Yes they are really crunchy and yummy, but fried Wontons are loaded with fat and calories, and so is the sweet & sour sauce you dip them in. With Wonton soup, you can eat the Wontons...
Blogging: How do you post to your blog? Let me...
Just how many different ways can you post stuff to your blog? Library Clips has come up with quite a few; around 18 in fact.
There’s the standard bookmarklet and button options, but there’s also quite a few on this list that I haven’t seen before. What’s your preferred platform from which you share your blogging wisdom with the world? Thoughts in the comments. — Wendy...
Google Calendar: Add a Google Calendar event with...
The always helpful Google Tutor has written up a little-used (at least for me) shortcut when adding events in Google Calendar:
If you’re using Google calendar, you don’t have to enter the detailed view just to add the basic information on a new entry you’re creating. Instead, you can just type it in with one line. Say I wanted to change the time to reflect 12 to 3 p.m. instead...
Southerly: Public Address Science (transcript):...
New Zealand is completely surrounded by a vast untapped energy resource.
Marine energy, as it is generally known, exists in two basic forms: tidal energy occurs as a result of the moon dragging a tidal ‘bulge’ around the earth; wave energy is created by the sun (via the wind) on the surface of the oceans. It seems likely that both forms of marine energy could play an important role...
How to enjoy media in any region
Video tips for travellers and expats
Cheap airfares and the so-called “global economy” have got us all travelling internationally like never before, both for business and pleasure.… (via The Register)
The Screwpole Emails: Fytte the 5th
Mugwort gets into training.
After being disgraced by his failure to finally destroy the career of his project manager victim, Screwpole’s nephew Mugwort attempted to redeem himself by undermining the project manager’s recruitment process and leave him with a team of inept slackers and sociopaths.… (via The Register)
RegisterFly swatted by federal court
ICANN triumphs in legal battle with wayward registrar
The Internet Corporation for the Assignment of Names and Numbers (ICANN) revealed today that US District Court Judge Manuel Real has issued a preliminary injunction in its favor allowing for the immediate termination of its Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) with dysfunctional registrar RegisterFly.… (via The Register)
CEO Dell: We're losing our religion
That’s us in a corner
Dell today leaked a memo to the press, hoping to prove that it’s serious about making a strong comeback.… (via The Register)
Tgif: This week's best posts
For a once-weekly update on Lifehacker’s best posts, subscribe to our Highlights feed - or get a handful of daily best posts with out top stories feed.
This week’s best posts include:
LH Top 10: Home networking tricks “By now you’ve probably got several connected computers at home, sharing an internet connection, maybe a printer and files between them. But are you...
Download Of The Day: Xplorer2 file manager...
Windows only: The Xplorer2 lite file manager is a superior alternative to Windows’ built-in file Explorer.
Xplorer2 sports a tabbed, 3-paned interface. The first displays the file and folder hierarchy for easy navigation. The other 2 panes are specific folders, which make it really easy to move files between two places or work with two sets of files at once. You can save favorite...
Apple releases MacBook battery update
Rest easy, not the explosion-preventing kind
Apple is recommending an update be installed on all MacBook and MacBook Pro computers and extra batteries purchased between February 2006 and April 2007.… (via The Register)
Weekend Project: Clean out the filing cabinet at...
The Get Rich Slowly weblog reports that Office Depot has a free offer going on tomorrow, Saturday, April 28th:
Shred-it, the world’s leading on site document destruction company and Crime Stoppers USA will bring their expertise to Office Depot stores to help people take action against identity theft and fraud. Shred-it mobile shredding trucks will be on site and consumers are invited to...
Reg readers total 3,238 years against cancer
The final score as grid.org closes shop
After almost seven years of harnessing volunteers’ unused CPU cycles to find a cure for cancer, Grid.org is shutting down operations. The organization said today it has completed its mission to demonstrate the viability and benefits of large-scale internet-based grid computing and will retire from service. Grid.org was the largest public interest grid...
Health: See what 300- to 400-calorie meals look...
The Diet Blog has a great gallery of 300- to 400-calorie meals that look mighty healthy and tasty to boot.
This is a good follow up to the previously mentioned 200-calorie gallery, which put into perspective a 200-calorie portion of healthy foods versus less healthy fare. This gallery actually displays several healthy 300- 400-calorie meals, most of which look delicious. These are the kind...
