Posts

frustrations

  • being too broke to go to advent*jah. seriously disappointed, had been looking forward to it for ages.
  • crappy free webhost killing (one of) my webpage(s). upload file; browse to file; file not there. now i face the near-pointless task of trying to contact their support staff.
  • being too broke to afford a real domain, which would prevent the previous problem anyway.
  • being broke. i hate it.
  • being broke because of repairs to my less than 3yo car which weren't covered by warranty.
  • gold lotto got the numbers wrong again. fuckers.

Yeah this was a non-link post. Whatever. You'll cope I'm sure.

news bits

funky

It's extremely unusual for a band on Rove Live to catch my attention. Actually they're mostly total shite. But The Cat Empire really grabbed me. Must grab their album when I have the money. In the meantime they're giving away the mp3 of the song they played. Reminds me a little of Supergroove, although lighter.

Also; their site is an example of Flash done well... at least in terms of usability and design.

get a grip

Slashdot | L.A. County Bans Use Of "Master/Slave" Term. It's an established technical term. It's stupid to try to roll it back. It won't change anyone's life, no really it won't. All this Political Correctness bullshit accomplishes is to take attention and energy away from the real issues.

more slashdot

news bits

Credit to colinmo for posting some of these already.

quiz

last cigarette: several years ago
last kiss: this morning
last cry: hah, guys never cry
last library book checked out: The Art of Deception, by Kevin Mitnick
last movie seen in a theatre: Pirates of the Carribean
last book read: Smoke and Mirrors, by Neil Gaiman
last cuss word uttered: fucking
last beverage drank: coffee
last food consumed: wholemeal/fruit bar
last phone call: umm. last night, discussing updating photos section of a club website
last time showered: this morning
last shoes worn: Mack™ workboots
last cd played: Maxinquay, by Tricky
last item bought: miscellaneous groceries from the corner store
last soda drank: coke
last thing written: cranky work email
last key used: ctrl-shift-leftarrow combination
last word spoken: error
last sleep: last night
last instant message: friend sent me a hail warning
last sexual fantasy: as if you want to know :)
last ice cream eaten: not sure. probably a Cherry Ripe ice cream
last time wanting to die: i haven't been a teenager for some time now. i do feel better now, thankyou.
last lipstick: stage makeup some years ago.
last time dancing: couple of weeks back.
last show attended: Tycho Brahe gig at The Alley

via an lj via a friend's webpage. blogs and journals make such random connections.

news bits

news bits

news bits

  • NEWS.com.au | School bribes students to turn up (November 17, 2003). Dances about trying to not to call it a racial issue; but doesn't say it's not, either. Doesn't discuss what the parents have done to get the children to attend; doesn't say what the school can do about it. Too much blame-placing and buck-passing, no real activity. At least according to this article.
  • NEWS.com.au | Music industry backs copyright change (November 17, 2003). A big point here is the fact that Australia has no "fair use" provisions for consumers to make copies of music they've purchased. This, despite various products like the iPod being marketing specifically so you can do so. Yes, that's right; every single iPod owner in Australia is breaking the law (unless they only use free mp3s; and I rather doubt there are many people who restrict themselves like that).
  • Gen X losing first home battle. 17/11/2003. ABC News Online. Looks like we'll be renting homes off Baby Boomers for years to come.
  • MP demands ban on video hoons - www.smh.com.au. The less hysterical approach would be to ask for a higher rating than G. This is probably the most telling quote: There is no research into how racing games affect the attitudes of young drivers. But, Mr Gibson said, there is enough research into risk-taking behaviour for there to be a concern. 'It's better to be safe than sorry.' ....now read that back. "There's no research, no proof, but I reckon we should ban it anyway". Well, that's told me. I'll have to stop confusing my Holden Astra for a Ferrari Enzo and mistaking clogged city streets for a high-speed racetrack; fuck I make that mistake all the time. I have such trouble telling the difference between games and reality.
  • US troops launch offensive in Tikrit. 17/11/2003. ABC News Online. I'm wondering when the situation will be formally considered open warfare again.
  • Naked Boks ordered to train at gunpoint: report. 17/11/2003. ABC News Online. Perhaps someone needs to drop by and explain that's it's just a game.
  • NEWS.com.au | Cheaper calls on the way (November 15, 2003): Telstra chairman Bob Mansfield supported Dr Switkowksi's view that Telstra remained a growth company, not a utility. ....gah.... Telstra maintains the country's telecomms backbone (at least theoretically). How is that not a utility? A little less focus on shareholder profit and a little more attention on quality of service wouldn't go astray.

bwahahahaha

Slashdot | Professional Organizations for Web Developers?

hhahahahahhoohohohohheehehehehehehe *gasp* wheeeeeheheheheh *wipes tears from eyes*

But seriously, folks. Most people don't even know what the term "web developer" entails; but they're pretty sure they can do it themselves (after all, their ten-year-old has their own website - how hard can it be?). As someone observes in this forum; web development has reached the same approximate level of maturity that "desktop publishing" reached in the 80s. Any dick with a computer can go into business and claim they're a "web developer"... and, yes, they will get something onto your server which can be viewed in a browser.

To quote Ted Nelson: [The web] is trivially simple - massively successful and it's like karaoke - anybody can do it. It's so true it hurts. So, how good do you really think most people are with the karaoke mic?

Problem is that while most people can spot a truly terrible karaoke singer; they can't tell a good website from a crap website. Even worse, they don't know how to spot a real professional over a total cowboy; so they can't vet the people they have to trust on the question of quality web. Then the industry itself doesn't have a recognisable accreditation system nor any major professional associations.

It's a living.

slashdot

tell me you don't search with msn

Why Microsoft wants to buy - then trash - Google: The mind boggles at the amount of fear that Microsoft has that people who search the Internet for knowledge, answers and understanding. Microsoft's fear is so great that it is willing to subvert what is truly one of the great inventions of history, searching the Internet, to a mere tool with one purpose, namely, to trick us all into buying Microsoft's software.

news bits

  • Inquiry to examine Hanson case. 11/11/2003. ABC News Online. I'm so sick of hearing reports that Hanson and her supporters think there was a conspiracy. They affect moral outrage, while demonstrating quite clearly that they have absolutely no fucking idea what the legal system is all about. They're really lucky to be out of jail again; yet none of them have had the good grace to be happy about it. Even if they go on to other actions; they could at least accept their luck.
  • NEWS.com.au | Chopper Read modelling fury (November 11, 2003). Apparently it was ok for Chopper to write books (to say nothing of the movie); but it's not ok to have him model a T-shirt. What the fuck? Are people trying to claim the world of fasion should have morals? Shit, the whole thing has already paid off; with the label's name plastered across the papers.
  • NEWS.com.au | Shopping trolleys get a push (November 11, 2003). Building a better shopping trolley, in terms of damage to cars in the carpark.

holy crap

i don't update for a few days and people notice? This is quite strange ;)

Never fear. I am alive and mostly well (brain-fried from training course; hurt my wrist; but ok really). Regular stream of drivel will recommence shortly.

boing boing

  • boing boing | sony psp - portable playstation. well, prototype.
  • boing boing | link fu
  • Beyond the Beyond. bruce sterling goes blog. In closing, I'd like to declare something really activist, high-minded and ideological about my noble intentions in deploying the weblog medium. However, both you and I know that this website will probably blow up repeatedly as I get the technical hang of exploiting it. Not only have I learned to expect this from any and all forms of computer technology, I've actually begun to ENJOY IT.

oo-er, the hiltons are pissy

NEWS.com.au | Entertainment | Hiltons' Cup exposure (November 05, 2003) - more on the Roy and H.G. interview; plus a suitably harsh take on Paris Hilton's dress style. Also finally an explanation for all the attention on the sisters - [the Hilton sisters were] paid a handsome appearance fee by the Seven Network to be the face of the Cup.

Basically they want to be adored and can't understand any kind of self-deprecating humour. Why their minders allowed them to go on The Cream is beyond me.

the cream

Roy & H.G., take a bow. The Cream had me in stitches. Between the Aussie Haka and the "how fucking dumb are the Hiltons" segment I couldn't stop laughing. Well ok, it was supposed to be an interview with the Hiltons... but let's face it - nobody was home.

boing boing

Salon.com Technology | Hackers on Atkins: [W]hile there's nothing particularly bleeding-edge about eating the hamburger but not the bun, now that low-carb dieting has gone mainstream, the diet does appear to hold a special attraction for hackers, programmers and other close-to-the-machine dwellers. For some geeks, the low-carb diet is itself a clever hack, a sneaky algorithm for getting the body to do what you want it to do, a way of reprogramming yourself.

Dieting seen as a hack... yeah, that does make sense.

Would just like to say that Strange was great fun on Saturday. It's been a while since the sun beat me home :) But then, $5 for two drinks will do that. Not to mention friends over from the UK for a visit.

news bits

that crazy casbah sound

don't push me, i didn't want my MTV bad enough - 80s music quiz
"You grew up to this. No Bonus. No penalty. 5 point bonus for telling me where you saw this." Final Score: 37.5 (80s music quiz)

I assume it was out of 100. I'm glad I didn't get any higher than that :) I got approximately equal amounts of questions noted as "everyone gets this wrong" and "how the hell did you miss that one?". Probably helps to know your Clash properly and find hair metal amusing.

Update: if that wasn't enough nostalgia for you, check out http://www.80stees.com/