With broadband in many parts of Australia still crawling at a snail’s pace, a researcher from the University of Melbourne has worked out a way to reduce cross-talk interference and make standard ADSL up to 100 times faster…..
Find out more … http://jpap.andriopo.ulos.org/
If, like me, you find the rapidly expanding array of techno-gadgets a tiny bit overwhelming - a quick visit to Wired’s How to wiki is a must.
Dedicated to understanding and getting more out of new technologies the Wired How to wiki has entries on everything from Facebook etiquette and getting big on Youtube to making an ipod nano case from a bike inner tube. Lots of fun and well worth a visit…
If you are groaning under the weight of your email inbox - its time to take the inbox zero challenge.
For all its advantages email can be a difficult thing to keep on top of. Most of us end up with inboxes piled high with unred or unimportant messages. If this sounds like you, check out the following articles and take control of your inbox.
http://www.43folders.com/izero/Â The original inbox zero project. There are a few articles here with tips for reducing your inbox to zero - Â daily!!
http://daringfireball.net/2007/08/rethinking_email One guys’ attempt to get to inbox zero at least every week.
If you’ve had enough ‘organization’ and feel like screaming over ‘color’ - it’s time to do something about your word settings.
I’m not usually one for conspiracy theories but getting rid of US English from Microsoft Word is so difficult I was starting to wonder. I can now say however that it is in fact possible and the joy that comes from writing colour and not getting an annoying squiggly line makes it all worthwhile.
The first thing is to change the language settings for your machine. Go to control panel and then regional and language details. Make sure you’ve got English (Australian) in every field. It’s wise to remove any languages or keyboard layouts you don’t intend to use.
Step two - change the default language for all Microsoft office programs. To do this go to all programs in your start menu. Look for Microsoft office and then Office tools. In the languages section make sure English (Australian) is selected and any languages you don’t intend to use are removed.
The final step is changing the default language in Word itself. At the bottom of a word document you should see English (U.S) indicating the default language. Click on this and change the default language to English (Australian). Turn off any automatic options - particularly the one that gets Word to choose the language.
To make Word use Australian English it’s really important that the Windows and Word language settings match exactly.
After you’ve done all this restart your computer, open a word document and type away free of those annoying wiggly lines. Good luck
3 in 4 outdated computers are either stockpiled or dumped in landfill. That adds up to a lot of toxic materials in our environment. The good news is that it’s easy to recycle your old computer.
More than 700,000 computers end up in landfill every year and hundreds of thousands more are stacked in offices and spare rooms. Computers contain a cocktail of toxic chemicals including lead, mercury, barium and cadmium. Many of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, birth defects and disabilities.
If you have old computer equipment kicking around consider taking it to a computer recycler. There are a number of organizations that will spruce up your old computer and donate it to a charity or family in need.
In Armidale you can take old computers to the Armidale Recycling Centre, Long Swamp Road. (Call Steve Lucas on 6771 5252 for more information) or the Uralla Computer Bank 222 Donelly Street Uralla.
Is your in-box overflowing with spam? Could be the work of a bot-herder
With my inbox saturated by the latest spam wave I went looking for answers. Why I wondered did I need so much cheap medication or so many enlargements all of a sudden? What I discovered were bots, bot-nets and bot-herders.
A bot is a personal computer that has been infected with malicious software allowing it to be controlled remotely by a bot-herder. Usually the owner of the infected machine is completely unaware that he or she is at the beck and call of a bot-herder. The bot-herder builds up a network of computers called a bot-net with which they rip off personal information or send bulk spam.
But never fear, the FBI is on the case. Operation BOT-Roast was launched in June this year to crack down on the bot-herders. The FBI claim to have uncovered more than a million hijacked PC’s and arrested three bot-herders. Actually the FBI has some quite sensible tips for protecting your computer (such as turning it off when you’re not using it). They’re available at… http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june07/botnet061307.htm
