Lifehacker Australia

eBay Adjusts Maximum Postage Rates

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:30:17 +1000

eBay’s move to maximum rate postage last year wasn’t universally popular, but at least the auction giant moves slowly with the times. Rates have been raised by approximately 4% to cover increased postage costs, with CDs going up from $5 to $5.20, books rising from $6 to $8.30, and DVDs rising from $8 to $8.30. [eBay Announcements]

NICTA Puts Open Source Projects In One Place

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:00:21 +1000

You may never have heard of NICTA (the national ICT centre of excellence), but if you’re an open source enthusiast, you’ll likely be drooling at the new centralised open source portal it has just launched. (more…)

Recycle IKEA Flat Pack Boxes

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:00:53 +1000

IKEA’s flat pack philosophy might mean goods are cheaper and they fit in your sedan, but they also leave you with some seriously large cardboard boxes at the end. Is overfilling your recycling bin the only solution? (more…)

Your Doctor Isn’t Using A PC

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:30:30 +1000

Self-diagnosis via Google might be a major annoyance source for doctors, but it turns out that your GP isn’t that keen on using a PC even when it’s sitting on their own desk. (more…)

Why The Chrome OS Might Bite

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:00:06 +1000

Google’s plans for its own operating system have gotten an enthusiastic response from tech afficianados, but there’s a definite downside to Google’s decision to move into the OS space. (more…)

Google Maps Location Finder Pinpoints You In Chrome And Firefox

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:00:00 +1000

While mobile users have been able to rely on Google Maps to pinpoint their locations for some time, starting today Google Chrome 2.0 and Mozilla FireFox 3.5 users will also be able to locate their positions from their browsers. (more…)

Design Floor Plans With Excel

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:00:00 +1000

Rather than spend money on a commercial tool for designing floor plans, interior design, or laying out your landscaping, you can tweak Microsoft Excel to make an adequate replacement. (more…)

The Fold-Away Desk

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +1000

What can you do if you want a workspace but the only area you have free in a tiny apartment is 30″ of wall space between a bookcase and a door? Fold it away. (more…)

Patch Burn Marks On Your Carpet With A Dab Of Hot Glue

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:40:00 +1000

There’s a burn mark on your carpet because of a dropped cigarette or fireworks you set off indoors (though carpet marks are the least of your concerns at that point). Let’s bring out the scissors and hot glue. (more…)

Make Firefox Load Folders In New Tabs

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:00:00 +1000

If you want to open a folder of bookmarks in tabs, Firefox normally replaces all of your current tabs—but reader Raghav writes in with a quick configuration trick to fix that behaviour. (more…)

Peak Performance Times For Morning People And Night Owls

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:30:00 +1000

If asked, odds are most of you already identify as either a morning person or night owl. A new study says these classifications can be used to help determine optimal times when each group should perform their day-to-day activities. (more…)

HistoryBlock Keeps Web Sites From Your History

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:00:00 +1000

Firefox only (Win/Mac/Linux): Firefox extension HistoryBlock prevents specific web sites from being tracked—like an always-on private browsing mode for certain domains. (more…)

First Aid Myths That Do No Good

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:30:00 +1000

When an accident happens, your first reaction can do more harm than good—if you believe and follow through with an inaccurate first-aid myth, that is. (more…)

AutoKey Does Customised Text Replacement For Linux

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:05:00 +1000

Linux: Looking to get the kind of text substitution powers of Texter or TextExpander on Linux, but don’t know where to look? AutoKey, an automatic, tray-sitting text expander, is a good place to start. (more…)

Microsoft May Announce Web-Based Office Monday

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:30:00 +1000

A TechCrunch blogger examined tech gadfly Robert Scoble’s FriendFeed chatter and determined that, between all the no-it’s-not-quite-that clues, Microsoft is probably rolling out the web-based aspects of its Office line. Further clues? Office.com announces that it won’t be available as of July 31, 2009—likely because somebody with enough cash to buy such a hot URL is taking it over. In the meantime, you can look back at early Office webapp screenshots from an Oct. 2008 developer’s conference. [TechCrunch]

Do You Need A Physical Keyboard On Your Phone?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1000

Blogger Tim Bray writes that he won’t consider any phone without a hardware keyboard. Apple commentator John Gruber replies that, for most people, the iPhone’s software keyboard works just fine. We’re wondering where our type-savvy readers fall on that choice. (more…)

Delicious Spy Keeps A Real-Time Eye On New Bookmarks

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:30:00 +1000

If you think that real-time Twitter searching has been getting too much attention lately and you wish there was a handy real-time monitor for Delicious, you’ll definitely want to check out Delicious Spy. (more…)

Turn Your Printer Into A Self-Filling Inkjet

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:15:00 +1000

If you’re serious about avoiding cartel-level prices on ink cartridges, or even refilling services, you can convert a multi-color inkjet printer into a continuous inking model for serious long-term savings. (more…)

Use Social Media For Customer Complaints

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:00:25 +1000

It’s often hard to get an airline to acknowledge that it’s screwed up, but musician Dave Carroll came up with a pretty effective way to respond after United Airlines broke one of his cherished guitars: writing a series of songs about the incident and putting them up on YouTube. (more…)

Fixing The iPhone Group SMS Bug

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:30:33 +1000

MMS support was one of the most anticipated features of iPhone 3.0, but it turns out it has a nasty side-effect: group SMS sending has effectively been dumped. (more…)

How Unit Pricing Will Help You Save On Shopping

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:10:07 +1000

Supermarkets will soon have to provide “unit pricing” to make comparison shopping easier. Which stores have to feature them, and what quirks should you watch out for? (more…)

Internode Easy Broadband Has One Catch

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:30:54 +1000

Internode’s new $49.95 broadband plan sounds like an appealing option if you’re helping someone get connected, but there’s one important catch to be aware of. (more…)

Sony Ericsson Phone Offers Customised Covers

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:00:09 +1000

If you’ve already customised your desktop to within an inch of its life, this might well appeal to you: a newly-released Sony Ericsson phone will include the option to design your own cover for the phone. (more…)

How To Handle Kitchen Thieves

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:00:00 +1000

If you’ve ever walked over to your office fridge anticipating the lunchtime meal that awaits you only to discover that someone else has nabbed your meal, foodie weblog Chow details how to avoid being left empty-handed. (more…)

Nine Must-Have Features We Want To See In A Google OS

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:15:00 +1000

What’s inside Google’s just-announced Chrome Operating System? How does it work, exactly? Nobody outside Google knows. We can, however, build a dream operating system from the ground up, and that’s what we’re doing with some help from the hive mind. (more…)