Joel Pobar has done some impressively nerdy things with data from the My Schools website to create heat-maps of where Australia’s top schools are located.
Geek stuff
Why Chrome will be your next web browser
Firefox may be the fastest growing web browser right now, but it’s a bloated memory-hog, says Lance Ulanoff. Google’s Chrome browser offers a faster, more stable service and it just keeps getting better. Within five years, you’ll be using it, too.
Forbes‘ Web Celeb 25 list
Forbes names its annual list of the 25 biggest names in net nerd-dom. Nate Silver Steve Rubel. Perez Hilton predictably heads the pack for the third year running, but there are a few more controversial choices, too.
Maths pr0n: Why R2-D2 weighs less than Styrofoam
Nerd alert: A physics professor uses images of Star Wars’ R2-D2 flying to calculate exactly how much the little droid must weigh — about 100g, apparently.
PHOTO GALLERY: A nerdy collection of geek sub-genres
Not all geeks are obsessed with the internet (ok, most are). Gizmodo present their “Socially-Acceptable Geek Subgenre Scale Gallery”, including such classics as ‘music geeks’, ‘cosplayers’ (those costumed nerds at ComicCon) and ‘gadget nerds’. Which one are you?
Nerd alert: uber-geeky Christmas crafts
Lifehacker has eight dorky (but cool!) DIY projects for the holidays, including an LED Christmas card and a laser light show for your Christmas tree.
iTunes names the best apps of 2009
Apple’s iTunes has named the “best” (in its staffers’ opinions, presumably) and top selling apps for 2009 — everything from Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals to the obvious Flight Control to Crikey favourite Tweetie 2.
Big on the Web in 2010
Mashable’s Pete Cashmore predicts the 10 big Web trends for 2010: more geolocation, more real-time news, internet TV, and a move away from e-Readers. Ooh, controversial!
The 10 defining internet events of the decade
The folks behind the Webby Awards have named their 10 most influential internet moments of the decade, including the launch of Wikipedia, the closure of Napster, the 2008 US Presidential campaign, and more.
Meet the man who killed the letter
In 1971, engineer Ray Tomlinson was asked to find something interesting to do with the newly created ARPANET computer network. So he invented email, inadvertently changing human communication forever.
The biggest websites you’ve never heard of
Forget Facebook: Megavideo.com, Megaupload.com and Megarotic.com are the real heavyweights of the online world, proving piracy and porn are still the hottest commodities on the internet.
Hammertime for Sydney’s social media set
Rapper, preacher and Twitterati MC Hammer paid a visit to Sydney’s Social Media Club this week, explaining how he’s used social media to turn his image around from a ’90s has-been to cutting-edge entrepreneur.
The Vatican discovers LOLcats, Rick Astley and hax0rz
Ambassadors from the Web 2.0 — aka execs from Google, Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia — are headed to the Vatican to introduce Catholic bishops to the mysterious ways of the internet. We think the Pope and his pals will fit riiiight in.
Google Dashboard: what is it and do you really need it?
Google has released its latest toy: Google Dashboard, a one-stop-shop for users to access all their Google-related junk (gmail, Google docs, chat, etc). It’s neat, and potentially time-saving, but do you really want so much personal data in one place?
A girl always remembers her first time: a tribute to GeoCities
Yahoo has finally pulled the plug on GeoCities. Though most will say “good riddance” to the home of eye-searing fluro text, badly animated GIFs and never-ending Midi tunes, Ruth Brown looks back fondly on the site that popped her HTML cherry.
Facebook: We see dead people
After a new feature on Facebook created a stir by inadvertently recommending users “reconnect” with dead friends, the site has decided to “memorialise” the profiles of users who have died as creepy online tributes to the deceased.
RIP GeoCities: a loss for fluro text, animated GIFs and endless Midi files
Today, Yahoo is finally euthanising GeoCities, the original free, design-you-own webpage service where many netizens got their first taste of web mastery and popped their HTML cherries. Vale.
MySpace surrenders to Facebook
MySpace has officially given up in its battle for social media supremacy with Facebook, the the company’s CEO now claiming it is far more interested in becoming “an online hub for music and entertainment.”
Microsoft vs. Google: who’s winning the social media search wars?
Yesterday, both Google and Microsoft announced deals with Twitter to add tweets to their search results. But which company scored the better deal? And which will do a better job? The blogosphere weighs in.
Is Windows 7 worth your time?
The latest version of Microsoft Windows goes on sale today, but after the sheer awfulness of its last effort, Vista, is another costly upgrade worth your while? Gizmodo has a complete guide to everything you need to know.
The next big e-reader
US book retailer Barnes & Noble has launched its own e-reader. Called the “nook”, it’s a purty-lookin’ dual screen little gadget, but the real thing that sets it apart from other readers is that it lets users share e-books with each other
Apple’s 10 big geeky announcements
Apple just unloaded a whole bunch of new products and features. Gizmodo rounds-up all the important bits, including cheaper iMacs, next-gen processors, the shiny new ‘Magic Mouse’, and more.
Arrr! Prepare ye landlubbers for book piracy
With the arrival of the Kindle around the world, the publishing industry is preparing for an onslaught of black-market e-books, as people share them illegally online. Will it be the mp3 wars all over again?
The great Twitter coup: how the users took control
“There may be some 50 people officially working at Twitter, but it’s more like 5,000 people work for Twitter,” says founder Biz Stone, explaining how third parties and users have out-innovated Twitter with their own product.
E-paper: the real “Kindle Killer”
Everyone (and by “everyone”, we mean “geeks and the media”) is fixated on what the Next Big Thing in e-readers will be. But what if e-readers aren’t the Next Big Thing at all? Check out e-paper, which allows hi-res, full-colour imagery.
