ChrisW Articles



Self Service Science Search

For quite a few years I have been contributing to the ABC Science forums, particularly the ABC Self Service Science forum. Over the years the forums have accumulated quite a few answers to questions on topics from quantum physics to belly-button fluff, but finding them can be a problem without …

Digital Coaches

Over at Seth's Blog: A shortage of digital coaches Seth points out something that I have often considered and think has some merit. As an IT literate guy I frequently find myself explaining to others how even the simplest IT things can be done more efficiently (or effectively) with small …


Podcasts for Science Geeks

Swinburne University, my alma mater, has recently started publishing podcasts covering research programs at the university. It is often very difficult to keep abreast of research goings-on without keeping a constant reading program of appropriate journals. Even a lot of the journal articles I do read are too terse for …

Science Projects in a Small World

I recently blogged about a great source of used books: Better World Books. I used them again to purchase a copy of Design Patterns and was presented with another excellent book replete with a bookmark. That's not really the topic of this entry... but I am getting there ;) I'm writing …

A Better World Through Books

When I look back on my childhood one of the things that I remember fondly is having free and easy access to books. My mother always made sure there were books in the house and, for a small country town, Kilkivan had well stocked community and school libraries. I could …

Free Software, What is it About?

If you've ever listened to a Free Software bigot ranting about the evils of software patents, monopolies, and the like you might be forgiven for wondering what it's all about. Surely these are fringe views and there is not much to it for the bulk of us? One of the …

MythTV ACPI Wakeup

Television viewing has changed quite a lot in my household since I started using a MythTV box. I no longer worry about what is on and when...I just turn on the box and look at the stuff it has remembered to record for me when I feel like watching …