Daily Links – Page 12

02 October 2008

Links for 28 September 208 through 01 October 2008

Here are the web links I’ve found for 28 September 2008 through 01 October 2008, posted automatically and covered in badger fat.

How to be Creative | gapingvoid: Hugh MacLeod’s classic article on how to be creative, starting off with Tip #1: “Ignore everybody.”
Pigeon-powered Internet takes flight | CNET News: A news report on the 2001 experiment to implement Internet protocol RFC1149, which allows Internet data to be sent by carrier pigeon. It’s not fast, it’s not particularly reliable.
Welcome to my world, the “online community” that prefers to keep out of site | theage.com.au: A strangely misinformed article about online communities, which commits what I think is the great sin of assuming a social relationship becomes less valid when mediated online.
Height | xkcd: xkcd is “a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language”, but this episode is a wonderful diagram of the universe drawn to a logarithmic scale, from the height of a giraffe to 46 billion light years out. It’s also available as a poster print (hint hint).
How to change the product key for Office XP, for Office 2003, and for the 2007 Office system: I’ve had to roll out a lot of computers this weekend. Rather than spend 4.5 hours on each one, I set up one and then cloned them (at least where the hardware was identical). That meant they all had the same product key for Microsoft Office. This article explains how to reset it and change it back.
Change the Windows Vista Key | About.com: I’ve had to roll out a lot of computers this weekend. Rather than spend 4.5 hours on each one, I set up one and then cloned them (at least where the hardware was identical). That meant they all had the same product key for Windows. This article explains how to reset it and change it back in Vista.
How to change the Volume Licensing product key on a computer that is running Windows XP SP1 and later versions of Windows XP: I’ve had to roll out a lot of computers this weekend. Rather than spend 4.5 hours on each one, I set up one and then cloned them (at least where the hardware was identical). That meant they all had the same product key for Windows. This article explains how to reset it and change it back in Windows XP.

26 September 2008

Links for 23 September 2008 through 25 September 2008

Stilgherrian’s links for 23 September 2008 through 25 September 2008, scrubbed up with a wire brush:

Australia: Twitter statistics | Laurel Papworth: Twitter usage is up 518.12% in Australia, if you believe (1) that website traffic is the relevant metric, and (2) you can possibly measure this stuff to 5 significant figures.
Wotnews Australian News Search: Wotnews used to be called Plugger, but they’re now associated with Wotif in some way. Wotnews harvests news from over 3500 different sources including mainstream publishers, niche blogs, direct from companies and government bodies as well as from the relentless stream of company announcements coming out of the Australian Stock Exchange.
Tax Plans (that’s one for you, nineteen for me) | chartjunk: Viveka Weiley’s re-drawing of charts comparing John McCain and Barack Obama’s tax plans. The difference is pretty obvious.
Text Messages Seen as Dangerously Distracting | NYTimes.com: “The act of texting automatically removes 10 I.Q. points” and many other scare-quotes.

19 September 2008

Links for 15 September 2008 through 19 September 2008

Stilgherrian’s links for 15 September 2008 through 19 September 2008, wrapped in a nice green ribbon and love:

Mobile Broadband Downloads | Telstra Business: These are the drivers for the Sierra Wireless HSUPA card that Telstra’s NextG network have “seeded” me with. It didn’t hurt a bit.
Bangkok governor 2008 vote | Bangkok Post: Mugshots of the 16 candidates for Governor of Bangkok, with the election to be held on 5 October 2008.
Falling between the cracks | MISaustralia.com: Simon Sharwood’s fine article explaining how small businesses don’t get the IT products and services they need because the bigger players see them as being too small to worry about.
NSW Police Present an Award | Fickr: When the crowd at the Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize overflowed into the street, this officer took the stage as if she were accepting an award and made the whole thing fun. It was an excellent example of community policing and she deserves to be congratulated. The video of this event was part of Stilgherrian Live episode 26.

14 September 200814 September 2008

Links for 12 September 2008 through 14 September 2008

Stilgherrian’s links for 12 September 2008 through 14 September 2008, arranged thanks to a raspberry muffin:

Beecher v Devine: The threat to public trust journalism | Crikey: Crikey publisher Eric Beecher’s response to Frank Devine’s attack. Today’s class exercise: compare and contrast the two styles of argument, with particular reference to the “straw man” argument and other logical fallacies.
Keep Beecher from the hack lagoon | The Australian: Estimable columnist Frank Devine attacks Crikey publisher Eric Beecher. Today’s class exercise: identify and describe all of the logical fallacies and rhetorical techniques he uses.
The Future Of Journalism | TPN :: GDay World: One take on yesterday’s Future of Journalism conference in Brisbane. Here Cameron Reilly makes the point that the industry is changing mnot because of a technological revolution but an economic revolution.
2008 NSW Local Council Elections | ABC: Full raw results for the NSW local government elections held yesterday. Enough votes counted so far to indicate trends, but thanks to ~~proportional representation~~ preferential voting most councils’ results won’t be known officially or a week or two.
Semi Automatic Ground Environment | Wikipedia: Wikipedia’s artice on SAGE, the first computer-assisted nuclear defence system.
On Guard! The Story of SAGE | Internet Archive: A lovely 15-minute promotional film about SAGE, the Semi Automatic Ground Environment, the first computer-assisted nuclear defence system. Be astounded by the technological breakthrough of the Visual Display Unit!

11 September 2008

Links for 11 September 2008

Here are the web links I’ve found for 11 September 2008, posted with melons and a sprig of parsley.

What “Battle for Australia”? | Unleashed: Remembering the sacrifices of our WWII servicemen and women is a Good Thing, but do we have to invent a spurious “Battle for Australia” to do so?
I’m So Totally, Digitally Close to You | NYTimes.com: A fine overview of the impact which (especially) Twitter has upon how our social lives work. The term “ambient awareness” is put into context nicely. Robin Dunbar gets a mention, as he should. [This article may now be behind a registration-wall, but registration is free.]

03 September 2008

Links for 31 August 2008 through 03 September 2008

Stilgherrian’s links for 31 August 2008 through 03 September 2008, small in number but big in quantity:

Victorian Railways’ Telegraph Code Book | Railpage Australia: Yes, it’ what it says: the code book used by Victorian railways for sending telegraphic messages. Arum = Trucks loaded with timber.
He Said It First | YouTube: This 2.5-minute movie is NOT something to play with the kids around. It takes a little-known fact about US presidential candidate John McCain and turns it into a nasty viral piece. It’s funny because it explains itself as it goes along, and drops the C-bomb liberally.