Andy chats about the latest technology and interesting websites each week with Nerissa Pace on the "Talking back the night" radio show, heard across Australia.

 

Top 3 Websites
www.Oscar.com

The 80th Annual academy awards are being held in Los Angeles on Sunday night at 5pm (U.S time) and while the show is also being broadcast on channel nine on Monday night...the official Oscars website is worth checking out before the event.
You can prievew movies that have been nominated, check out what people have been wearing on the red carpet a few decades ago...plus there are some good behind the scenes videos of events and comments leading up to the big night.

www.artofmanliness.com
This one is definately for the guys...but don't take it too seriously. The website dishes up all sorts of advice and tips for all the sorts of things you should be doing or know how to do as a typical male. For example you can read up on how to survive a bear attack, talk like frank sinatra or make sure our socks match our pants...not our shoes.
It's a fun read...and up to you if you want to take the advice on board.

http://www.longawkwardpose.com/

The fun idea behind this website is something that you can try yourself...all you need it a digital camera that can also capture in movie format. Take the camera, switch it to movie mode but don't tell the person in front of the camera...just tell them to look like for the photo...then start recording....what you end up with is a 'long awkward pose' while they wait for the photo to be taken...but there isn't one.
Once you've done this you can upload the movie file to this website for the rest of the world to enjoy!

What else is happening in technology this week...

Blu-Ray Vs HD-DVD

Remember back in the late 70's and 80's when you went to the video store there were two different tape formats...VHS and BETA...that was the situation for almost a decade but VHS eventually won out...

A similar battle has been played out in the high-definition market really only in the last couple of years in the public eye anyway...the contenters Blu-Ray and HD-DVD...both High definition disc formats, hoping to evenually replace DVDs. The reason being that the DVD movie format doesn't support high-resolutions...which is what many programs, movies and certainly TV screens now cater for.

Back in the 80's Sony was the one pushing the Betamax tapes that dissapeared....but they've won this time with acceptance of the Blu-ray disc format, which while really still in it's early days here in Australia, accounts for over 95 percent of high definition movie sales. Sony's Playstation 3 games console is capable of playing Blu-Ray and DVD movies which has helped things along...although you can also buy stand alone players too.

Now unfortunately the HD-DVD push is pretty much over as Toshiba in japan today announced that they are wrapping up production of HD DVD hardware...and many movies that were to be exclusevely released on the format will now be released on Blu-Ray.

More info - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_definition_optical_disc_format_war#2000

Also worth checking out...

From February 21, ACER will be selling the Ferrari 1100 notebook PC. Yes they cost just under $4000, however will only 99 of them being put up for sale in Australia, they are a bit of a collectors item. www.acer.com.au/ferrari1100

Back next week, thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security. AVG is tough on threats - easy on you! Buy AVG Internet Security Home edition covering 3 computers for two years for just $123.25 at avg.com.au

 

Teching back the night, February 12, 2008

http://www.funkytown.com/

If you remember the 1980's hit "Funky Town" by Pseudo Echo then you will appreciate this website which is completely devoted to the song...I can't say that I know of any other "one hit wonders" that have inspired a website like this.

You'll find the entire history of the song here including references to every movie, tv show, commercial and even video game that's featured the song, plus every artist that has recorded a version.

http://ifoundyourcamera.blogspot.com/

If you've ever lost your camera, this could be a website worth checking...as it only features photos from cameras that have been found by other people....

Now the idea is that hopefully someone will recognise a photo off the site and claim the camera. Also with advancement's in technology people aren't just losing cameras, they are dropping memory cards that are used it digital cameras...so you'll see postings from these too.

There are some success stories on the site of found owners...so there is hope!

www.BigPond.com/Everest
This website is definately worth a bookmark and a revisit over the next few months. It will follow the first ever Mother and Daughter team to climb Mount Everest, starting from when they leave the country next month. Cheryl and Nikki bart are actually attempting the Everest climb as part of a 7 summit climb that will take them to the highest peaks in 7 continents...something that very few people have acheived. Good luck!

Also in Technology and the 'net this week - Valentines day on the web!

With Valentines day coming up this week, along with florists, we can expect a flurry of activity online...and not just with people ordering flowers and pressies.

It's typical that spammers use hoildays and special occasions...you probably noticed your inbox filling up over christmas and new year, and Valentines day is no exception.
What's happening around the world at the moment is that spammers are trying to grow the amount of "zombie computers"...those are computers that have been compromised and secretly used for sending spam.

So the spam we're seeing as a result of this has subject lines like "Looking for the perfect valentines gift" , "make valentines day a memorable one" and " make sure you get some of the action on valentines day" - Links in the spam email then direct users to a website selling a herbal formula for men.

Tips for dealing with spam.

*Never click on a link in an email from an unknown sender (it can confirm that your email address is valid and cause you to recieve more spam)

*Never reply to spam...even to try and unsubcribe
*Install good internet security software and make use of the spam filter
*If you recieve excessive spam - talk to your internet service provider about additional filtering.

On a positivie note...here are a couple of my favourite websites for Valentines day.

www.rosesonly.com.au - Despite the name they sell more than roses...I use them as least once a year!

www.lastminute.com.au - Another great gift buying website...and good for a weekend getaway

and finally if you forget to buy a card - http://greetings.yahoo.com.au is where you can send free online greeting cards and there's plenty for valentines day.

Back next week, thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security. AVG is tough on threats - easy on you! Buy AVG Internet Security Home edition covering 3 computers for two years for just $123.25 at avg.com.au

 

Teching Back the night - February 5, 2008.

http://thenamegenerator.com

Apparently just in NSW, around 22 thousand people have changed their names!

Are you happy with your name?...perhaps you'd like a new name but can't think of one...maybe this Name Generator website can help.

You can just select 'male' or 'female' and get a random name in return, or you can enter more options like the length of the name you want and suggest key words that might

sound like your new name...

The've got around 463 billion first and last name combination in there, so good luck!

http://www.myspacejobs.com.au

Back in December the popular social networking site (that Jamie spends too much time on) got together with Career One to come up with a jobs site that appeal to 'Generation Y'...that's people aged between 14 and 29.

Some of the noteable features on this handy jobs site include a 'cool jobs' weekly feature...those are the sorts of employment opportunities that you could brag about if you landed the job...like working for Google! There's also a job seeker toolkit with templates to help you out with Resumes...plus companies that are currently hiring are also featured on the front page. It's almost like there's no excuse not to have a job!

http://www.wearornot.com

Do you have trouble deciding what to wear to an important function...or maybe just a social night out with friends...using this website you can have the internet public help you make the choice.
Here's how it works. Take a photo of yourself wearing 2 different outfits that you are considering...then upload them to the site where they will be posted along with your descripion of where you intend on wearing them...then the voting starts.

Ideally you'll follow advice from citizens of the world and go with the most voted outfit.

Also in Technology and the 'net this week

Apart from our top 3 websites this week, some additional websites worth checking out...

At www.bloggies.com you'll find the annual Blog awards...Blogs, also known as weblogs are online diaries with dated entries and can be on just about any topic. These annual awards showcase some of the more noteworthy blogs of the millions that are online.

There's an Australian and new zealand catagory with 5 finalists...now of those I'd recommend "the breakfast blog"...which is basically one man's quest to find the best places for breakfast around Melbourne...complete with photos.

Also on the web this week, Yahoo7 has just launched a new webmail domain for Yahoo Mail at www.y7mail.com - Basically this gives people a chance to get the email name they've always wanted, becuase chances are when you go to sign up for a webmail account anywhere else, the name you want has already been taken. It's free to join and Yahoo is the only webmail provider that offers unlimited email storage...no more deleting email!

February 1 marked the end of an important piece of Internet history as the once very popular web browser Netscape was put to rest by its owners AOL. Back in the early days of the world wide web, it gave microsoft a lot to worry about...until they came up with Internet Explorer...and in more recent times only around 1 percent of internet users were using Netscape. Around 21 percent of users now surf the web with Internet explorer 7, 33 percent are still on internet explorer 6 and 36 percent use Firefox.

Personally I'm using Internet explorer 7 on 2 computers and the Opera web browser on my notebook pc.

Back next week, thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security. AVG is tough on threats - easy on you! Buy AVG Internet Security Home edition covering 3 computers for two years for just $123.25 at avg.com.au