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Australian Technology
Chris Duckett
TechRepublic Staff
Chris Duckett

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Make anything barrel roll
If you type "do a barrel roll" into Google, the page rotates. That's nice but with this one-liner we can do it on any site we wish.
Posted by Chris Duckett | November 3, 2011, 3:11 PM PDT | Latest comment by seanferd
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Happy 20th to Vim
The best command-line editor has just turned 20. Sorry, Emacs users; it's true.
Posted by Chris Duckett | November 2, 2011, 4:41 PM PDT
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Set-up an environment for Android, Eclipse and PhoneGap
PhoneGap is the cross-platform framework that allows developers to create mobile applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript -- but getting going with the platform requires a few hoop jumps.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 31, 2011, 6:25 PM PDT
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Around the Grounds: Bleeply, PDF.js, and Ubuntu Phones
We take a quick look at a new Australian start-up called Bleeply, Firefox gets the ability to view PDFs, and Ubuntu aims up at tablets and smartphones.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 30, 2011, 6:28 PM PDT
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Watch HTML5 intro to Web Directions
Take some WebGL, a little Canvas, with CSS transitions, CSS 3D transforms and CSS masks thrown into the mix and you get this year's introduction montage for Web Directions South.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 27, 2011, 3:20 PM PDT | Latest comment by Chaz Chance#
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The trouble with Bing
With one simple example, Bing shows why it is not ready to overtake Google.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 26, 2011, 9:17 PM PDT | Latest comment by jos.paglia@...
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Update apps, get malware
From the "Wow that's cool, hope it doesn't happen to me" files comes news that F-Secure has discovered an Android application that will update itself and install malware known as DroidKungFu.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 25, 2011, 6:16 PM PDT | Latest comment by HollyLouise
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Vale John McCarthy: Lisp creator and AI pioneer
The computing world lost another giant overnight with the death of John McCarthy, the creator of Lisp and one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, at age 84.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 24, 2011, 5:49 PM PDT | Latest comment by NickNielsen
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Windows 8 ups minimum resolutions
The 800x600 resolution's final demise on the desktop will be accelerated by Windows 8 requiring a minimum resolution of 1024x768 for Metro applications to run.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 23, 2011, 8:27 PM PDT | Latest comment by Gisabun
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BlackBerry Java devs need to change
The clock is starting to tick for Java developers that target the BlackBerry platform.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 20, 2011, 8:21 PM PDT
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RIM bets on BBX
RIM announced BBX at Blackberry DevCon today, a future operating system that will power its handsets and tablets, which is a merging of its Blackberry OS and QNX.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 18, 2011, 1:58 PM PDT
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Using Google+ API on your website
The first round of Google+ APIs released allow read-only access to public data only, but even with that small amount of access, we can build a contact page and activity feed for your website.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 16, 2011, 3:31 PM PDT
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Welcome to TechRepublic Australia
Hello Antipodeans, and welcome to Girt by Code, the home of Australian coverage on TechRepublic.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 11, 2011, 10:47 PM PDT | Latest comment by NickNielsen
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Time zone database axed by astrology
The venerable time zone database, tz, which powers the majority of Unix-derived software across the globe, has been shut down following a civil suit filed by astrology software makers Astrolabe.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 7, 2011, 10:46 PM PDT | Latest comment by CharlieSpencer_Palmetto
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Free Software Directory gets overhaul
The Free Software Foundation's (FSF) Free Software Directory has been relaunched and contains over 6500 programs that it says are free.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 1, 2011, 10:46 PM PDT | Latest comment by AnsuGisalas
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Secure boot resets hardware purchasing
I remember the first time I had to study all facets of my upcoming hardware purchase to make sure every component was compatible with Linux. They were dark days and I was glad that they ended. But...
Posted by Chris Duckett | September 26, 2011, 10:46 PM PDT
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Windows 8 secure boot to block Linux
Windows 8-certified 64-bit hardware will be forced to carry security measures to stop the installation of other operating systems, such as Linux, until the software is regarded as trusted,...
Posted by Chris Duckett | September 25, 2011, 10:44 PM PDT
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Dealing with Windows 8 Mail
The Mail app that arrives with Windows 8 is essentially a web mail system and has no tools to set mail rules or automate spam deletion. But can one man get by on that alone?
Posted by Tony McSherry | January 28, 2013, 4:00 PM PST | Latest comment by erikaf
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Android Studio can fix Android development
Google has finally decided to get rid of the Eclipse albatross from Android's neck.
Posted by Chris Duckett | May 16, 2013, 7:29 PM PDT | Latest comment by cogana@...
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Combining Windows 8 and a Retina MacBook
A new Microsoft operating system meets new Apple hardware; what's the worst that could happen?
Posted by Chris Duckett | August 21, 2012, 4:47 PM PDT | Latest comment by arch_aya
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Using placeholder text in HTML5 forms across all browsers
The placeholder attribute on input elements is a handy timesaver, once we've dealt with old versions of Internet Explorer.
Posted by Chris Duckett | September 6, 2012, 4:10 PM PDT
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A lesson on piracy, distribution, or marketing?
Independent software companies have a hard task of getting their wares in front of an audience; has a pair of brothers cracked that nut?
Posted by Chris Duckett | April 29, 2013, 11:20 PM PDT | Latest comment by aidemzo_adanac
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App by app, Google is bringing self-serving Intents to iOS
Google makes it easier for iOS app developers to integrate with Chrome.
Posted by Chris Duckett | May 7, 2013, 7:31 PM PDT
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How to set up printing from tablets and phones
More and more user time is spent nowadays with mobile devices, but the lingering need to print remains for many.
Posted by Tony McSherry | February 4, 2013, 7:22 PM PST | Latest comment by erikaf
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Installing Windows 7 from USB
As netbooks get more popular and optical drives become less and less of an assumption, there are many times when a USB install of an operating system is a far better choice than the old DVD/CD we...
Posted by Chris Duckett | November 10, 2011, 9:06 PM PST | Latest comment by wizard57m-cnet
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Programming for Android on Android
Although it may sound counter-intuitive, it is possible to create fully fledged Android applications on Android devices. We take a look at the apps that allow it to happen.
Posted by Chris Duckett | April 3, 2012, 8:02 PM PDT | Latest comment by jkameleon@...
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The realities of mobility and hitting the road
Over the past couple of years, the increase in connectivity has even changed the way people go on holidays.
Posted by Tony McSherry | May 6, 2013, 6:03 PM PDT | Latest comment by mongocrush
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Get some JSON in your database
If you deal with JSON day in, day out, at least have a database that can handle JSON as well.
Posted by Chris Duckett | April 16, 2013, 10:24 PM PDT
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Claim 25GB from Microsoft on updated SkyDrive
Microsoft has updated SkyDrive to support Windows desktops, OS X and iPad -- but at the same time has revised the storage limit from 25GB to 7GB, unless you claim to reserve the existing 25GB limit.
Posted by Chris Duckett | April 23, 2012, 10:14 PM PDT | Latest comment by SkyDriveBad
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Control Vim with voice commands
Struggling to grok Vim from the keyboard? Maybe voice commands are the solution.
Posted by Chris Duckett | May 12, 2013, 6:43 PM PDT
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Moving to Arch Linux from Fedora
Chris Duckett details his move from Fedora to Arch Linux and learns that testing in a virtual machine is one thing, actually committing to change is another.
Posted by Chris Duckett | August 7, 2012, 4:29 PM PDT | Latest comment by lsatenstein@...
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Hands on with HTC's Windows Phone 8X
There's a lot to explore in Windows Phone, and the integrated UI across multiple Windows platforms, the familiar tools, and SkyDrive are hard to beat.
Posted by Tony McSherry | January 7, 2013, 9:02 PM PST | Latest comment by Neon Zeon
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Set-up an environment for Android, Eclipse and PhoneGap
PhoneGap is the cross-platform framework that allows developers to create mobile applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript -- but getting going with the platform requires a few hoop jumps.
Posted by Chris Duckett | October 31, 2011, 6:25 PM PDT
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Getting your Firefox tabs back
Next time you get that sinking feeling that you've lost all your Firefox tabs, don't despair; there is a solution.
Posted by Chris Duckett | January 29, 2013, 3:26 PM PST | Latest comment by Yorkshirelad90
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Making a sortable ListView in Android
Creating a list of items in Android is simple, but what if you want to make those items sortable by dragging them? Now things start to get interesting.
Posted by Chris Duckett | February 21, 2012, 9:39 PM PST
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Using Tor and Firefox config on Android
It is possible to use Firefox and Twitter on Android with full Tor anonymity
Posted by Chris Duckett | June 28, 2012, 6:40 PM PDT
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A look at Internet Explorer 10 on Windows RT
The new version of Internet Explorer comes in two varieties: a well-known desktop version and the new Windows RT version.
Posted by Tony McSherry | January 20, 2013, 4:31 PM PST | Latest comment by Duke E Love

































