Top 3 websites
http://www.fridgewatcher.com/
What’s in your fridge right now? Nothing…the weekly shopping?
If you’d like to let the rest of the world in on the conents of your fridge, then you can post it to this website…or simply browse what everyone else has rotting up the back of their fridge.
http://www.bulletproofbaby.net/
Possibly the most unusual online store
that I’ve come across in some time – this website specialises in
selling protective items for your baby…I’m talking Bullet and Bomb
protection!
http://www.amta.org.au
Mobile Phone manners…has everyone forgotten what is was like when
every second person didn’t have a mobile phone…it was quiet!
At the Australian Mobile telecommunications association website you’ll
find a great section on mobile phone etiquette…it might be good reading
for anyone who has carried out a loud conversation in a lift…or on
public transport and received a less than warm response from others
nearby.
Feature Chat -What's new in games and gadgets!
This week has started out as a big one in video games with the launch
of HALO 3 for Microsoft’s XBox360 games console.
Back in 2004, the previous edition of the game, HALO 2, pulled in sales
of around 125 million dollars in the first 24 hours on store shelves
around the world.
HALO 3 went on sale at midnight on Monday…and if I can simplify the
plot for you…the game is a first person shooting game where you are
a Spartian Warrior called the Master Chief who must save the world from
a race of aliens who’s creed seems to be destruction of everythign
in their path…including earth!
Yes I spent 7 hours on the game last week prior to it’s release…enjoyed
it and will be playing more when my copy of the game arrives…HALO
3 is rated MA15+.
Something else I’ve been testing out this week in the Hardware department is a new home desktop computer from HP that features a quad core processor.
Before you think I’m about to bury you in ‘tech mumbo jumbo’…Quad
Core systems are the next step up from what many computers now have
in them…which is 2 processors on a single chip…being the brain of
the computer.
What we’re now starting to see is Quad Core…that’s 4 processors
on a single CPU chip…which means amazing processing power!
Until now this has only been for very high-end users, but now these
sorts of systems have arrived at reasonable prices for the average computer buyer who needs a lot more grunt from their computer…
For example you might want a high performance system if you enjoy editing video, play games, or simple like to do lots of different tasks at the same time.
The HP pavilion PC that I’ve been testing out has a price tag of 2400
dollars…which althogh it still quite a few dollars, is a great price
for the amount of power you’re buying!
Get more details at www.hp.com.au
More tech next week …Thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet
security…AVG is tough on Threats, easy on users. Buy your Two
year license today at www.avalanch.com.au for just $63.95.
Top 3 websites
www.lookle.comWhile most of us are happy to use Google,
Yahoo or MSN to search the web, this new website is just for searching
Australian websites.www.youtube.com/australiavotesIt seems that our polititions have well and truly caught up with technology and the internet for this coming election – you've probably heard that both John Howard and Kevin Rudd have posted messages on the video sharing website YouTube....well YouTube actually has complete coverage of the this years election from a range of parties. www.fathersforum.com
If you're an expectant dad...or know
someone who is, I've just discovered this website today (my wife is
now at 28 weeks).
Feature chat – Important Birthdays!
Let's talk birthdays! Coming up this week on the 19th
is the 25th birthday of someone most of us see every time we use a computer...but I bet you can't guess who it is!!!!
It's the Smiley Face ;-)
How many times have you put a smiley
face in an email or instant message and wondered who came up with the idea of the emoticon in the first place...probably never!
Well I can tell you that the Smiley face was the brain child of one Scott E Fahlman in the U.S who was having a discussion on how a joke might be represented graphically – he suggested “colon, dash, bracket” - the keys that make up the eyes, nose and mouth of the smiley face.
Of course as you know there's now an emoticon for just about every human emotion - you can check out a list at www.netlingo.com
Another recent birthday that past without a big fuss was that of the humble Compact disc! Would you believe that the CD is also 25 years old!
The first music CD to be produced was an ABBA Album, which can out of a factory in Germany...of course it took a while for them to overtake vinyl records, but now if you piled every CD ever sold on top of each other, they would circle the Earth 6 times!
More tech next week and that's all thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet security…AVG is tough on Threats, easy on users. Buy your Two year license today at www.avg.com.au for just $63.95.
For your chance to win a copy of AVG Internet Security Home edition (Use on up to 3 PCs) drop an email to avg@andywells.com with your full name and postal address.
Top 3 websites
www.crosswordsolver.com
Now I'm not the biggest crossword fan, but when I do decide to take
up the challenge I like the idea that help is close at hand...and that's
what this website is all about.
http://translator.live.com
These days you dont' have to be fluent in another language to communicate
in it...thanks to great websites like this one.
Want to translate your english into 7 other languages or the other way
around...then check out this website that will do the job for you.
It's also handy to translate sites in other languages back to English!
http://www.oneweekjob.com/
I've worked at a few different radio stations over the past 15 years, but imaging working a different job every week for a whole year.
The guy featured on this website is aiming to do just that...and his
experience will be captured on video and featured on this website.
Feature Chat - Choosing a laptop computer
There are a few reasons you may want to buy a notebook or laptop computer...
For school or other study where you may be required to have one...for work (although your employer should foot the bill), to save space (perhaps you don't have enough destop room for a whole desktop computer...or perhaps you just want to have a more portable computer experience – that could be around the home...or travelling.
Entry Level
The great news is that the entry level for new notebook computers is
at low as 700 – 800 dollars, but you need to understand exactly what
you get for this money.
What you get is a very basic package
in terms of both software and hardware, so suitable for surfing the
web, email and documents...although it won't nessesarily come with word
processing software. Also these machines won't be the suitable
for the latest games and most likely will play DVDs, but not let you
burn your own.
Mid-Range
If you're looking for a notebook that's more performance oriented, or
somes with more software inclusions and hardware features...like DVD
burning or wireless connectivity, then you will have to look at spending
up to around 2000, although even around the $1600 mark there should
be some great buys.
Even at this price you won't be looking at the more compact models,
or the lightest, but you'll find that generally you'll get a lot more
grunt for your money allowing you to do a few more tasks like basic
movie editing, and connecting to wireless networks....plus notebooks
in this price range tend to be a bit more asthetically pleasing.
High-end
At the top end you can pay as much as you've got, especially for the
notebook computers that are branded as being replacements for full desktop
computers – that is just as powerful, but taking up much less space.
The sorts of features you can expect in these computers include having
the fastest processor speeds available, more memory, larger and faster
hard drives, light-weight design, DVD or even Blu-Ray disc burners,
and high-end graphics and sound cards that can handle both games and
multimedia production (video editing).
If you would like me to recommend a notebook computer, please drop a line - aw@andywells.com
More tech next week...thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet security…AVG
is tough on Threats, easy on users. Buy your Two year license today
at www.avg.com.au for just $63.95.
For your chance to win a copy of AVG Internet Security Home edition (Use on up to 3 PCs) drop an email to
avg@andywells.com with your full name and postal address.
Top 3 websiteshttp://www.overheardintheoffice.com/As the name suggests you'll find amazing quotes from conversations that have been overheard around people's workplaces. The site has contributers from all about the world, including Australia...and feel free to add your own experiences.
http://www.annoyingcoworker.com/This website empowers you to let your annoying co-worker know exactly what it is that is so annoying about them....while still remaining anonymous.
For a bit of light reading, have a look at some of the other messages on the site!
http://www.ishouldbeworking.com/The website owner states that it is decidated to slackers, goof-ofs, loafers, long lunchers and web addicted employees worldwide...and I can see why with a long long list of links to funny websites, videos, pictures, jokes and more time wasters.
Feature Chat - Cyberslacking!It's been reported that office workers from around the world spend up to a fifth of their day wasting time on the internet...a past time that now has its own name "Cyberslacking".
I don't think that anyone could honestly say that they haven't used the internet to read the latest news, do internet banking, check ebay auctions or read funny jokes to view videos send on my co-workers...but what's the limit??
I guess the arguement from some might be that as long as your work is done, then it's not a problem...but from a bosses point of view, it may seem that cyberslacking staff give off the wrong impression to new staff and visitors...plus the cost of their internet surfing could convert back to dollars in the bank with excess data usage...which is why may workplaces now block sites like youtube that use up valuable bandwidth (data usage).
Some of the main offending sites that cyberslackers are haunting include YouTube, Myspace, Facebook (which has been getting a lot of attention in the press) and ebay...and with online diaries (known as blogs) so popular, there are plenty more time zapping sites around.
A lot of people are getting away with Cyberslacking...and bosses are setting up comptuer networks that can't access the types of websites that are non-work related...so unless you want to lose the privelige of having web access at work, then you need to limit your personal online activities.
This could mean either reviewing how you use the web and becoming more focused on what do use it for at work...or restricting the amound of time so perhaps you only visit those websites in your lunch hour when you don't have to look over your shoulder for the boss!
If you do have some spare time at work...Here’s some cyberslacking websites!
http://www.facebook.comhttp://www.myspace.comhttp://www.annoyingcoworker.nethttp://customerssuck.livejournal.comhttp://www.ebay.com.auhttp://www.hotornot.comhttp://www.ratemypuppy.com
http://kittenwar.comhttp://www.thesuperficial.comhttp://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.comhttp://www.blogger.comhttp://games.yahoo.com
http://games.msn.com).
http://www.donsbosspage.comMore tech for you next week... thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet security…AVG is tough on Threats, easy on users.
Buy your Two year license today at
www.avg.com.au for just $63.95.
