1. Visit http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=iphone3.0 and download the tethering file and follow instructions to update your phone, ensuring that you reboot at the end.
2. Once phone has rebooted go into Settings > Network > Internet Tethering > and turn on tethering.
3. Ensure your phone has been paired to your computer.
4. Right click on the bluetooth icon in your status bar and select Join a Personal Network
5. Click Add to add your device. Your iphone should then be detected and then follow the prompts to finish this process.
6. In the list of Bluetooth Devices you should see the iphone listed as an access point. Click on this and then click connect.
7. When tethered correctly a bar indicating the phone is in tethering mode will appear at the top of the iphone screen.

She was using a Vista laptop for the process, but it should still be fairly similar for Macs or XP.

If you’ve got a copy of the iPhone 3.0 beta, give it a go and let us know how it works in comments.

[Whirlpool - Thanks Jennifer!]

Alternatively, you could just wait another couple of months before the 3.0 software is officially released to the public. Your call.

[Whirlpool - Thanks Jennifer!]

What’s more, onsidering that the ACMA’s blacklist is going to be the basis for the Rudd Government’s mandatory internet filter, this totally moves past the target of “child pornography” that Senator Conroy repeatedly mentions as the focus of the censorship scheme. How many more legal websites will we see blocked as the Government disagrees with their content and methods?

Murkier and murkier. And our faith that the Government will see the light and give up their pointless crusade is shrinking with each passing day…

[SMH, The Australian and EFA]

When it comes to breaking down Australia’s best ISP, the results are quite complex and murky, but iiNet and Internode both perform exceptionally well, while Telstra’s higher prices and lower download limits saw people leaving for other ISPs.

There’s plenty more juicy information in the results, so head on over to the Whirlpool forums to see how your ISP stacks up against the competition.

[Whirlpool]

Looking ahead: Google announces technology that searches tomorrow’s web, today

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1 April 2008 – Google Australia today announced the launch of gDay™, a new beta search technology that will search web pages 24 hours before they are created.

View the gDay™ page for more information, user testimonials and Q+A.

gDay was developed in Google’s Sydney engineering centre and can accurately predict future events and internet content. It does this by using machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques from a system called MATE™ (Machine Automated Temporal Extrapolation).

Using Google’s index of historic, cached web content and a mashup of numerous factors including recurrence plots and fuzzy measure analysis, gDay creates a sophisticated model of what the internet will look like 24 hours from now – including share price movements, sports results and news events. Plus, using language regression analysis, Google can even predict the actual wording of tomorrow’s blogs and newspaper columns.

Then, to rank these future webpages in order of relevance, gDay uses a statistical extrapolation of a page’s PageRank, called SageRank.

Only Australian websites are included in the beta.

“Google’s Australian engineers have a history of major technological innovations, from Google Maps™ to Mapplets™ to Traffic for Google Maps. Giving humankind the ability to see 24 hours into the future is just a natural progression – of sorts,” said Alan Noble, Head of Engineering for Google Australia & New Zealand.

“Users – particularly those who like a casual flutter – will really benefit from this feature. Maybe you want to see tomorrow’s rugby scores. Maybe you want to see tomorrow’s lotto numbers. Maybe this is the greatest freakin’ product ever.”

See today’s post on the Google Australia Blog.

gDay, MATE, SageRank, PageRank, Google Maps and Google Mapplets are trademarks of Google Inc.

And Whirlpool:

Sydney, Australia — ninemsn today announced the full acquisition of
Australia’s leading online broadband and technology discussion site,
Whirlpool.

The acquisition demonstrates the strategic importance
of user-powered content to ninemsn’s vision of delivering content and
services to customers, where, when and how they want it; and connecting
advertisers with a broad, engaged audience wherever they are accessing
these services.

According to Tony Faure, ninemsn CEO, Whirlpool
represents the changing face of media and technology in Australia.
“More and more consumers are turning to sites such as Whirlpool for up
to date information, research and discussion. Whirlpool will provide us
access to a diverse and technologically aware user base, and allow us
in turn to provide our clients with an innovative and cutting-edge
marketing solution.”

“We’ve recognised the expertise of the
Whirlpool team in nurturing the largest discussion forum in Australia.
Certainly though there are new opportunities to combine Whirlpool with
the strength and depth of the ninemsn brands and services. We intend to
position the site towards a more mainstream audience, while retaining
many of the technical aspects for which it is currently renowned.”

“There
are also opportunities for synergy between Whirlpool and Windows Live
Spaces. Both sites let you stay in contact with your friends, explore
and discover new people, or share with your friends and family. Spaces
also has a powerful user profile system with themes, layouts and
colors. Whirlpool will really benefit as we integrate the ninemsn user
experience into the site.”

Simon Wright, founder of Whirlpool,
said “Whirlpool has gone further than I ever imagined. It’s been great
to see it become what it is today — the premier resource on broadband
and technology-based discussion in Australia. Now, as it moves into its
next phase, I’m looking forward to seeing ninemsn apply their proven
track record to the Whirlpool concept.”

“Both teams are excited by the opportunities to combine their resources on new projects in technology and broadband content.”

Also
unveiled today was a new design for the Whirlpool website. The design,
scheduled to be implemented in the coming weeks, brings the site into
line with other ninemsn network sites, and includes a new colour scheme
and advertising positions.

Financial terms for the acquisition were not discussed.

About ninemsn
ninemsn
is Australia’s number-one interactive media company. Over 8.6 million
people visit ninemsn each month, representing 73 per cent of active
Australian Internet users. Formed in 1997, ninemsn is a 50:50 joint
venture between the Microsoft Corporation and PBL.

Were there any other April Fool’s jokes that we missed? Tell us about them in comments.

Okay, we admit that we’re a little late with this one, but Whirlpool, easily Australia’s best broadband news site, last week posted the results of its annual Australian Broadband Survey. The survey covers satusfaction with both ISPs and networking hardware, and is definitely worth a read if you’re in the market for either.

The results of the survey, which can be found in full here, can be a little challenging to wade through, but the I-couldn’t-be-bothered-reading-the-article version is that Internode came up extremely well, topping the survey in most measures of satisfaction. Westnet, Adam Internet and iiNet didn’t fare too badly, either. The big losers were TPG and Optus, which were pretty much ripped to shreds by their customers (though TPG did rank well on pricing). Telstra, meanwhile, ranked in the middle of the pack on most measures except pricing: less than 7% of its customers felt it was giving them a fair deal. That may, of course, have something to do with the fact that it charges through the nose for broadband. [Whirlpool]

Other interesting dockables are the Clio Vu tablet computer with Wi-Fi and the Quartet Qnote Message Center so you can dry-erase messages to each other and read the time on the digital clock (plus store stuff in its storage drawer). Apparently lots of people spend time computing and iPodding it in the kitchen (we only go there when we want to eat), so Whirlpool wants to eliminate clutter by allowing you to store stuff via their fridges. Interesting take.