Free Email Address Verifier

This free Email Address Verification Tool lets you check whether an email address actually exists before you send an email. It connects to the mail server and reports whether the server is valid and that the username is recognised. It actually just saves you waiting on those Postmaster error messages.

Of course the address may be legitimate but still never read by the user. In this case the email will end up in the ether with no reply from user or Postmaster.

[via LifeHacker]

Save water by using a "navy shower"

The "navy shower", or "sea shower", is a way conserving water (and energy) while taking a shower. The basic steps are:

1. turn on the water
2. immediately wet the body
3. turn off the water
4. soap up and scrub
5. turn the water back on and rinse off the soap

The total water flow time should under 2 minutes or so and beats standing in buckets like some people I know. I believe the girls at the MLC Marshmead camp developed even more extreme water management techniques someone may care to comment on!

Navy showers originated on naval ships, where supplies of fresh water were often scarce. [From Wikipedia]

Library Books - useful little Mac application to monitor your library subscriptions

Library Books is a small Mac OS X application that puts a listing of books you've currently borrowed or reserved up in the Menubar. You can subscribe to multiple libraries, receive notification of overdue books and access the online library catalogues.

It's thoughtfully designed and surprisingly easy to set up. Libraries in Australia, US, UK, Germany and other countries are listed, in addition to some generic catalogue systems. I haven't been able to get the Melbourne City Library going yet (any ideas?), but have connected to Boroondara and Melbourne University.

It's free and definitely worth trying - particularly by all those recently retired babyboomers catching up on reading!

National "Do Not Call" register - get rid of those pesky telemarketers

The new Australian law banning telemarketers from ringing telephone numbers on the national "Do Not Call" register is now in force.

Registration at https://www.donotcall.gov.au/ This is fairly easy, but it takes a month or so to come into effect. Note that charities, religious organisations, political parties and candidates and social and market researchers are still permitted to ring telephone numbers listed on the register.

Note: Choice running a campaign to have these exemptions removed.