Give It Away

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday July 2, 2005

Seamus Byrne

Trade old goods, view a human cross-section, play arcades and listen to soothing sounds, writes Seamus Byrne.

Smart

Freecycle

www.freecycle.org

Yet another online trading service, but this one isn't about making any money for the person with the goods. This site is all about sharing the perfectly good things you own, but don't want anymore, with others who would get more use from them. Believe it or not, there are many people who'd rather give things away than make money off eBay. The site is sectioned into regions and there are thousands of members around Australia, so you can drill down to the most convenient region and even join a few. Once you find the group you're looking for, the service operates through Yahoo Groups, so you can share with the rest of the Freecyclers.

Useful

Tor: internet anonymity

tor.eff.org

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a firm advocate for the privacy and security of all users of the internet. For those who live by a similar view to the EFF, they have released a special tool for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux that helps to protect your identity while browsing the web, chatting on IRC or instant messenger, or doing many other online activities. The EFF points out areas of concern, such as the potential for advertisers to track your IP address across different sites to build a profile of your interests and surfing habits. The tool will slow down your access speeds, but if you're a little paranoid and want to secure your identity online, this is a handy tool.

Free

Visible Human Project

vhp.med.umich.edu

The University of Michigan's Visible Human Project is some of the most carefully detailed human internal anatomy imaging offered on the web. Going far beyond the tradition of clear plastic toy dolls, the Visible Human Project offers a Java viewer for examining real cross-section views of a human's internal organ structure. The viewers offer three different cross-section sets of image data, with thousands of cross-sections available in each view. Quite an insight into the amazing world of the human body.

Fun

NineMSN Game Centre

arcade.ninemsn.com.au

A good free game is both a blessing and a curse. It's wonderful to find one, but it quickly becomes difficult to tear yourself away. The NineMSN Game Centre is the kind of place you should be careful about visiting when you've got a lot of other things you should be doing - there are so many excellent quality games to play online or download. Most downloads are trial PC games in the traditions of shareware, allowing you to unlock unlimited and unrestricted play for a typical price of around $29.95. You'll find games to suit most tastes, with action and adventure games featured along side card and puzzle games. Plenty of educational titles, too, such as the Spider-Man word game.

Weird

iSerenity

www.iserenity.com

Do you like the idea of soothing, atmospheric tapes and CDs but just can't bring yourself to actually buy one? Here's a great way to get some ears-on experience with a wide range of tranquil sounds for a bit of calm on your desktop. There are more than 30 different sounds at iSerenity, offering both typical and unusual experiences. From the common waterfalls, oceans, whales, crackling fires and human heartbeats to the much stranger howling hair dryers, running showers, train tracks, highway sounds and pencil on paper. As weird as these may seem, after taking a few for a spin I was actually feeling comforted by them. All sounds are delivered within the browser on a seamless loop, along with a slideshow of related images. Perfect for when you're rushing toward a nasty Friday afternoon deadline.

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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