{ Typophile }. Don't miss the forums, for example the "name the glyph, name the typeface" game.

* Serious, as opposed to mere dabblers like me.

Note to self: Be really careful never to accidentally click "View" instead of "Open" for a Powerpoint file. This apparently kills Lotus Notes.

Another note to self: Try to figure out how to cleanse thy mortal soul after combining Notes and Powerpoint, some of the most evil spawn to ever to decimate productivity and communication in the modern workplace.

• NEWS.com.au | Massive terror[ism] plot thwarted (March 31, 2004).
• Howard hints at abolishing ATSIC. 31/03/2004. ABC News Online: Prime Minister John Howard has strongly indicated he believes the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner (ATSIC) should be abolished. Federal Opposition leader Mark Latham yesterday announced Labor would scrap ATSIC and set up regional partnerships and a nationally-elected advisory body if it won government.
• FOX SPORTS | League | NRL 'bunch of suits' (March 31, 2004): Tallis told Gallop he simply could not understand why Brisbane were penalised. "Shane Webcke was out there but he couldn't possibly take any part in the game because he was concussed" ... The Broncos also yesterday claimed they had discovered more than 100 breaches of the interchange rules in 2003 and more than 20 in season 2004 so far as they gather evidence for an appeal. Ultimately the NRL won't back down, since it's the Broncos. Let's face it, the NRL has never forgiven the Broncos for having the audacity to go and win premierships after being allowed to join the league. Would the Roosters or Panthers cop this sort of bullshit? I doubt it. With a new crop of Referees coming to the fore, I had hoped we might see the end of stacked penalty counts and key decisions always going against the Broncos... but apparently no such luck.
• Packer gives the taxman an $84m shellacking - BusinessNews - www.smh.com.au: Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer, has beaten the taxman again - and gets to keep at least $84.5 million. This is why the ATO is openly targeting small-time (even accidental) tax cheats - they are incapable of getting the big fish. So they're just finding the little people they can bully around.
• NEWS.com.au | NSW bans 'cybersnooping' (March 30, 2004): NSW will outlaw unauthorised cybersnooping on employees using technology including video cameras, email and tracking devices, Attorney-General Bob Debus has announced.
• Dutch dogs get designer dunny. 31/03/2004. ABC News Online: Dutch dog owners can soon throw away their pooper-scoopers and plastic bags and instead walk their companions to their very own toilet. The developer of a new "doggy toilet", a small fenced-in patch of artificial grass, hopes the self-cleaning device will help rid towns of the mess left behind by man's best friend.

QuirksMode - for all your browser quirks. Although I don't agree with some of his views on CSS hacks; and who pays to sort it out when a new browser comes out. Clients pay you to create a website in the current browser market... while you should make it as future-proof as possible, updating hacks/tricks/etc is essentially a maintenance issue. You can't expect a site to last forever without doing any work on it; just as you can't drive a car indefinitely without getting it serviced.

Bond University - News Item for 2004 - Bond appoints Honorable Richard Alston as Adjunct Professor of Information Technology: Bond University has appointed the former Federal Minister for Communication, Information Technology and the Arts, The Honorable Richard Alston, as an Adjunct Professor of Information Technology.

That just doesn't seem right; and I don't just mean using the word "honorable" to describe Richard 'Luddite' Alston.

• Labor would abolish ATSIC: Latham - National - www.smh.com.au / Latham to scrap 'incapable' ATSIC. 30/03/2004. ABC News Online: 'ATSIC is no longer capable of addressing endemic problems in Indigenous communities, it's lost the confidence of much of its own constituency and the wider community,' Mr Latham said. He's not afraid of calling it as he sees it, is he? Most pollies would be too terrified of the potential (kneejerk) backlash. / ATSIC changes already underway: Vanstone. 30/03/2004. ABC News Online ... err, Amanda, buddy, pal; if the government has been working on this for two years already, where are the results?
• Indigenous health 'below third world standards' - SpecialsHealthScience - www.smh.com.au: Key health standards for indigenous Australians were below those of poor countries such as Sudan, Sierra Leone and Nepal, the Fred Hollows Foundation said today.
• FOX SPORTS | League | Broncos court threat (March 30, 2004) / ABC Sport - Rugby League - Video evidence to help Broncos fight sanction. The ref should have stopped the game, but no, he immediately played on. If Parker had not run on, the Broncos would have been one player down - to put it another way, the offending team would have gained an advantage by smashing an opposition player in the face. We're talking about Shane Webcke here - I wouldn't have thought anything short of being tackled by an elephant could put him down. There is absolutely no doubt the Wecke was not part of the match, he was something like 40-50m behind the action being helped off field by the trainers. Logic dictates this is not worth stripping the club of its competition points. They won fair and square - they gained no advantage by having the extra man on the field - he was semi-conscious at the time!
• Music industry way off track with song and dance about falling sales - Opinion - www.smh.com.au: Record industry types aren't usually shy about success. But this time their success is a little embarrassing. For the past few years the industry has argued that file-sharing and CD burning is having a negative impact on sales. But, unfortunately, their own sales figures don't back up their arguments.
• news.com.au | This T-shirt - or no job: JEANS giant Westco has been accused of exposing young female employees to sexual harassment by forcing them to wear tight T-shirts bearing a provocative slogan.
• Beware, here comes the punctuation vigilante. 30/03/2004. ABC News Online. YOU SEE!? IT'S NOT JUST ME!!! ...and no, it's not Bob either.

Mouse pads with gel wrist wrests. DD wrist wrests, to be precise. So wrong. Yet, I am no longer surprised by this sort of stuff :) As the hosting site says; "only in Japan".

Update: this may not be worksafe if you have an uptight workplace.

• NEWS.com.au | Voters throw Labor out (March 29, 2004) - that's pretty accurate, really. They didn't vote Liberal in, they voted Labor out. People didn't really want Dickhead Newman but they really didn't want Dickhead Quinn. / Brisbane City Council - Election 2004 results - result: we got one of two crap choices, with the added bonus of a potentially hung council for every major issue over the next few years. Shit.
• NEWS.com.au | New laws target domestic terror (March 29, 2004) / NEWS.com.au | Democrats question terror law motives (March 29, 2004). Actually that'd be terrorism, but who am I to change a fucking stupid habit of politicians and our media.
• Govt disregarded Redfern warning before riot: claim. 29/03/2004. ABC News Online: Former New South Wales assistant police commissioner Clive Small has revealed he warned the State Government about problems in Redfern just three months before a violent riot erupted last month.
• Tax to be slashed by $10 billion, say economists - National - www.smh.com.au. "What a load of bullshit" say the rest of us.
• FOX SPORTS | Other Sports | Rule must be applied (March 29, 2004) / You made the team, I'm not asking you to stand down - Sport - www.smh.com.au: Ian Thorpe has accepted the referee's decision and doesn't see any way that he can take part in the Olympic 400m freestyle after his disastrous false start. Now can everyone stop talking about this? He fucked up, he must be terribly disappointed, move on. For anyone who says he should be given a place anyway; he didn't race and he didn't qualify - he was disqualified for a false start. Imagine if he was put into the team despite this, then did a false start at the Olympics? He may not have done it before but shit happens.
• NEWS.com.au | Brawling fans cost Bulldogs points (March 29, 2004): THE Bulldogs will be penalised four competition points over their fans' brawling at Friday night's game against the Roosters. But the penalty will be suspended - and imposed only if Bulldogs supporters are violent in the future. That seems a bit harsh - the club doesn't have direct control over its fans. They can try to enforce this with tighter security and encourage fans to keep it friendly (it is, after all, just a game); but ultimately if some pissed people in the crowd want to start a fight there is nothing the club can do to prevent that happening.
• Brush with fame - TvRadio - www.smh.com.au. BOOM! BOOM!

so tomorrow we vote.

If you've been relying on the media to inform you of your choices, you'd be forgiven for thinking that there are only two candidates for Mayor, or perhaps three if you caught the ironic mention in the Sunday Mail of the difficulty the Greens candidate has getting media coverage.

Actually, there are six candidates for Mayor. There'd be seven if the porn star hadn't stuffed up her electoral enrolment. If you want to at least know their names; go to Brisbane City Council - Election 2004 - Candidate information.

i experienced the joy of a survey the other night; asking my views on Tim Quinn and Campbell Newman. the "do you like these candidates" question was easy; the "who will you vote for" question wasn't. sadly Tamara Tonite isn't running so I have nobody to vote for. but that's trivial compared with the fact that i think both of the most likely candidates are a bad option for our city... but one of them is going to be running the place for the next few years.

yikes.

Yahoo! News - Japanese firm unveils large robot for disaster rescue work

actually the head of this sucker reminds of me Dexter, that dodgy robot off Perfect Match (dodgy 80s dating show, for the happily unitiated).

yetisports3, Seal Bounce.

• nun-shaped urinals. as you do.
• everyone needs a hobby, what they find is the worrying bit.
• USATODAY.com - Recording industry Web site downed, possibly by zombies. now that's a headline.
• more office prankage, with far more mess potential than the post-it™ effort.
• ohio drunk drivers get different coloured licence plates. i wonder what else could work along these lines... a colour for driving like a fucking moron might be useful. BMWs would obviously be sold straight off the lot with that colour. not that i find BMW drivers the most consistently arrogant fucks on the road, or anything. not to be confused with the most consistently aggressive (commodores and falcons); the most consistently suicidal (hyundai excel); the most consistently desperate to prove manhood (subaru wrx); the most expensive but poorly-driven (exchange students in nissan skylines, or ageing trophy wives driving anything that cost more than $100k); etc.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita, yet another mad Japanese fashion trend. been around for a while, boingboing has suddenly decided to link to it.

• Slashdot | U.S. Students Shun Computer Science, Engineering; although for them it's more about the chance of getting a job than any image problems the industry might have (see the first item in my post from a couple of days ago).
• Slashdot | SCO Seeks Licenses Down Under. Will be interesting to see if the ACCC steps up and fights this one - they should be telling SCO to wait for the US cases to be resolved first.
• Slashdot | RIAA To Subpoena Univ. of Michigan Names. The RIAA continuing its crusade against all those evil file sharing people; or more specifically those without any money to defend themselves in court. Their motivation is clearly moral, right? They're not just trying to screw people who can't fight back...

• NEWS.com.au | Regulator humiliates NAB (March 25, 2004) / Profit-is-king NAB put back onto P-plates - BusinessNews - www.smh.com.au: Australia's biggest bank has been delivered a humiliating reprimand and ordered to change its 'profit is king' culture and keep about $700 million in reserve in case of future financial disasters. Could the worm be turning? It'd be nice to think so; but banks are just too damn rich and powerful.
• EU fines Microsoft half a billion euros - BusinessNews - www.smh.com.au : European regulators on Wednesday went dramatically further than their US counterparts by imposing a record fine of 497 million euros ($A817 million) and product changes on US software giant Microsoft for stifling competitors.
• Dogs hold the line on cocaine claims. 25/03/2004. ABC News Online: Despite intense media pressure, the Bulldogs rugby league club is sticking by its policy of refusing to confirm or deny that forward Willie Mason has tested positive to cocaine.
• Singapore launches high-tech campaign to eliminate rats. 24/03/2004. ABC News Online
• NEWS.com.au | Bullet train average - only 12 secs late (March 25, 2004)

Damon's Office. A masterful effort; and great to see 3M has a sense of humour! :)

humantarget.wmv. "He won't catch on fire..."

• Slashdot | 100-Year Domain Renewals? That's a bit excessive, methinks. But at the same time, the cost involved is small change to a large company.
• Slashdot | Record Industry Sues 532 More U.S. File-Sharers. I wonder how many 12yo users they've hit up this time.
• Slashdot | Opera Promises Voice-Operated Web Browser. Particularly good for anyone who finds it hard or impossible to use a standard mouse/keyboard; probably not too useful to most other users. The flip side is that some people would respond better to computers if they were more "human". Being able to talk to the browser heads in that direction. The technology isn't really new, just applied in a new way.
• Slashdot | Gimp Hits 2.0. GIMP, for the unitiated, is an open-source image editor. A lot like Photoshop.

mezzoblue § CSS Problem-Solving... some good tips on how to track down the bug that's ruining both your website and your day.

• The web spinners - Next - smh.com.au . If I try to discuss this article I'll pop a valve. I'll simply say that these designers create sites that leave the clients open for legal action by disabled users.
• No way to stop Sept 11 attacks: Bush. 24/03/2004. ABC News Online / NEWS.com.au | 9-11 was unavoidable, says Bush (March 24, 2004): THE US administration has said the September 11 attacks were unstoppable despite an inquiry into the 2001 atrocities finding the government had intelligence for years indicating terrorists planned to use aircraft as flying bombs.
• Telstra offside with market and ACCC - CommentAnalysisAlanKohler - www.smh.com.au: Everyone is wondering what has got into Telstra, and apart from the obvious possibility of complete stupidity (which no one seriously believes) there are two theories. I guess that's more or less true - people think Telstra is more greedy than stupid. It just acts stupid, so that people get used to total incompetence and just shrug it off. Cheaper than actually doing a good job, apparently.
• ABC Sport - Sport - Cocaine claim the latest blow for embattled Dogs: The Bulldogs rugby league club is refusing to confirm or deny newspaper reports that a prominent player tested positive to cocaine late last year. A report in The Daily Telegraph newspaper says internal club tests on the player proved positive and he was fined $25,000 by the club.

They Have Numbers On Them

Spooky Girlfriend ::: The Standards compliant, table-less Xhtml and Css code generator. No idea what's up with the name, btw.

• NEWS.com.au | Geeks need a makeover to attract girls (March 23, 2004) - a completely misleading headline. The article is actually discussing the difficulties involved with getting girls to study IT; it's not about geeks trying to get dates. I get a bit annoyed when the problem is described as an equity issue - nobody is preventing females getting into the industry or pushing them out; girls just don't want to study IT because they don't think it's cool. It's not about discrimination - the supposed victims are simply choosing other careers. If it was about discrimination, then it would be about discrimination against "geeks". Oh wait, no, males can't be victims; I forgot we're all evil oppressors. My mistake.
• NEWS.com.au | Telstra's cheaper broadband delayed (March 23, 2004). Idiots. Plus, can I point out their new cheap broadband is a 200meg/month plan. That's 200 megabytes download limit, per month. Who the hell measures broadband in megs?? I do more than that with my 56k modem, for fuck's sake. To put it simply: it's a shit deal. This is the pathetic standard we're getting for broadband here... and they wonder why it hasn't taken off.
• One vital nugget of information: product may not contain chicken - National - www.smh.com.au: In 2002, the Australian Consumers Association tested 14 popular nugget brands. The study found chicken filling often made up less than half of each nugget. Fat per average serve was as high as 31 grams. And none contained real chicken chunks, but 'manufactured' or 'formed' chicken.
• Parliament no picnic, Latham tells MPs. 23/03/2004. ABC News Online: Federal Opposition leader Mark Latham has defended his passionate speech during debate yesterday, telling Labor MPs that Parliament is not a teddy bears' picnic. The Howard Government says the incident proves Mr Latham does not have the temperament to be prime minister.
• Trackers claim prints are mystery monster cat's - National - www.smh.com.au: Trackers of the so-called 'Lithgow Lion' or 'Blue Mountains Panther' claim to have further evidence of the creature's existence - a set of large paw prints.

• NEWS.com.au | Telstra faces $10m ADSL fine (March 20, 2004): TELSTRA faces a fine of $10 million - rising by $1 million a day - and possible legal action from rivals unless it cuts the price it charges competitors for its wholesale broadband internet service 'as a matter of urgency'.
• NEWS.com.au | Embattled football boss resigns (March 22, 2004): BULLDOGS chief executive Steve Mortimer announced his resignation from the rugby league club this morning. I don't know what this is meant to prove - it is the players who are accused of the crime; and they are all of adult age and as such supposedly able to make their own decisions. Ultimately this will end up in court and they will be held responsible.
• NEWS.com.au | Virginity lost in internet auction (March 22, 2004)... apparently she went through with it.

I feel approximately like one of these is actually jammed in my throat (and it's sandpapering the place for good measure): ThinkGeek :: Plush Microbes :: Sore Throat. Little fucker.

• plasticbag.org | weblog | From pirate dwarves to ninja elves...
• Linux kernel swear counts

* Z for ZAP, yeah! (hands up who gets the reference?)

• NEWS.com.au | Australia named in terror threats (March 18, 2004) / Al-Qaeda lists Australia as strike target: report - SpecialsGlobalTerrorism - www.smh.com.au: A statement attributed to al-Qaeda has threatened 'America's lackeys' with attacks similar to those in Madrid last week, singling out Japan, Italy, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Pakistan, an Arab daily reported today.
• Merde, that's not Osama - SpecialsStrangeButTrue - www.smh.com.au: A Frenchman has been convicted for trying to run over a pedestrian he mistook for Osama bin Laden - which could have earned him a $7 million bounty.

Terrorism is both the lead story and the offbeat/wacky story... on the same day.

MTV.com - Pimp My Ride - Ride Pimper. Yeah baby.

WSJ.com - For Orlando Soto, No Day Is Complete Without Some Spam. This guy actually buys stuff from spam. Someone needs to go put this guy out of our misery.

• The status race nobody wins - OpinionRossGittins - www.smh.com.au: Changes to private education and health care are more about social rank than choice, writes Ross Gittins. Imagine if all there was only one education system and one medical system; and all of the available money went into it instead of being split between the two; and it was all non-profit. Why wouldn't it work? Greed and the desire to gain status. Humans suck.
• NEWS.com.au | Riot controllers 'put lives at risk' (March 17, 2004): The performance of NSW police commanders during the Redfern riot endangered the lives of frontline officers and bordered on criminal negligence, a former police expert on riot control has said.
• NEWS.com.au | Optus slams ADSL 'rort' (March 17, 2004): OPTUS chief executive Chris Anderson has continued his attack on Telstra's broadband pricing policies as the competition watchdog considers its position on a competition notice carrying heavy fines.
• NEWS.com.au | Breasts staying firmer longer (March 17, 2004). No, really.
• Costello distances Govt from Abbott's abortion remarks. 17/03/2004. ABC News Online / NEWS.com.au | Abbott targets 'tragedy' of abortion (March 17, 2004): 'What Mr Latham has missed, in his eagerness to prove guilt by association against his opponents, is the part Christianity has played in establishing the civil discourse he now says is necessary,' he said. Separation. Of. Church. And. State.

Team Random became a sponsor today for the Hypostasis Hundred K Hike, May 2004. Hypostasis is a peer support group for Type 1 diabetics. True to form, we're sponsoring the lollies (gruntling!) and sunscreen (the sun being the natural enemy of the geek).

I'm serious!

Obviously we're hardly chipping in the big bucks (we're leaving that to actual companies like careerone who can afford it :)) but hey every bit helps.

Australian IT - Centrelink's $5.3m website (James Riley, MARCH 16, 2004). Also goes a long way to explaining why Centrelink can't find its own arse with two hands; let alone track how much money they're giving to people who need it to eat. Of course then they cover up their fuckups by blaming recipients for the errors and punishing them - eg. by cutting their payments to even further below the poverty line. Centrelink is, of course, primarily tasked with making unemployment so unendurably horrible and dehumanising that you will take any job to get out of the system. Working the graveyard shift in a shitty greasepit fast food joint starts looking like paradise compared dealing with Centrelink; even if you do have postgrad qualifications.

• Slashdot | Cancelling Out CPU Fan Noise. Sweet. You think your office is quiet? Turn off the air-con and all the equipment...
• Slashdot | Plumber, Electrician... Digitician? There's a huge market waiting to be tapped - people don't know what they are doing with their computers. They are willing to pay someone to fix it... but unlike your plumbing or fridge, there's no obvious tradesperson to call. This is also the reason why ThinkGeek does a roaring trade in the t-shirt saying "No, I will not fix your computer". See also: Ctrl Alt Del - 2004.03.15
• Slashdot | OED Science Fiction Database Updated

• Top story... without even looking at other sites there'll be no beating this: sacbee | City falls victim to Internet hoax, considers banning items made with water - City officials were so concerned about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used in their production.
• NEWS.com.au | Gas attendant doused with petrol (March 16, 2004). GAS attendant? When did Marsden become a part of America? We call it "petrol" here, thankyouverymuch. grumblegrumble
• Haranguing AFP boss inappropriate: Latham. 16/03/2004. ABC News Online: Federal Opposition leader Mark Latham says he is disturbed by reports that Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty was harangued by staff from the Prime Minister's office after his comments on terrorism over the weekend. ... Mr Howard disagrees with Mr Keelty, saying Australia was an Al Qaeda target long before the Iraq war. No Johnny, we only became a prime target after we sent in our SAS troops to save America's oil. Before that we were a long way down the list. See also: Terrorist attack on Australia inevitable, warns FBI expert - SpecialsAustraliaonGuard - www.smh.com.au
• US astronomers discover 10th 'planet'. 16/03/2004. ABC News Online
• Chinese couple mistake son for a girl for 13 years. 15/03/2004. ABC News Online

• boing boing | Flashmobs with a purpose: Protests in Madrid organized by SMS, chatrooms. I've been waiting for political flashmobs to happen; it was the logical next step for something originally done for pure amusement factor. This article makes for very interesting reading.
• I'm rather pleased with myself for posting something before Boing Boing - boing boing | Potty mouth and lab-reports: an unbeatably funny combination; linked here back in January (oh gawd but i'm a sad induhvidual), not that I recall how the hell it got to my screen. Anyway, it's damn funny, go read it!
• boing boing | Korn's new video damns the music industry
• ok, twice in one day: boing boing | Cheat-code for new BMW gearbox. slashdot posted it and i linked to this back in 2002. again, if you haven't seen it before then check it out.

Xoxide X-UFO Ultimate Aluminum Cube Case. Out of control. Looks awesome; although with all those fans that sucker would wail like a banshee...

Benstyle on LiveJournal - USB Swiss Army knife: blogged purely for the line I, for one, welcome our new USB overlords.

UrbanDictionary.com/antiwar protestor. Example follows.

One who takes time out of school not for the purpose of fighting for their belief but just to miss geography. One who blocks the traffic, that consists of the people going to work to earn money and pay taxes that provide the money for their social security/welfare/Austudy/living allowance. One who does not eat red meat because it's "just like you know..wrong to like eat a living creature", but one who eats chicken and fish. (What the?) One who is fighting something that gave them the chance to actual voice their opinion without being killed! The "non-conformist" who follows the pack and gives in the peer pressure. One who has enough time to paint elaborate 'no war' signs but not enough time to get a job. One who is pierced in several uncomfortable places.

• NEWS.com.au | 24-hour walk-out disrupts bulletins (March 15, 2004)
• NEWS.com.au | City turns back clock on fines (March 15, 2004) - Melbourne parking meters are running fast, yet the Council doesn't think it's a problem.
• Warship attacked with 'Howard bootlicker' graffiti. 15/03/2004. ABC News Online. You know, legally speaking it's not libel if it's true...
• 7.30 Report - 11/03/2004: Telstras broadband prices questioned: [Australia is] the lowest in the OECD country in terms of broadband take up. [It has] one of the weakest competitive broadband markets in the world. Broadband is languishing for the same reason as digital and cable TV - it's far too expensive for what you get. We still have broadband packages being offered with monthly download limits measured in megs, not gigs; not to mention huge installation costs and high monthly charges. I'd be lucky to last a week at full speed before being throttled back to slow modem speeds, or being hit up for more cash. So I stick with my 56k modem.
• Demonstrations against the bombings - www.smh.com.au
• Finally some good fortune as Broncos rediscover their lost confidence - League - www.smh.com.au. That score again: Brisbane 28 Warriors 20. Great match! I'm glad our seats were covered though...

for anyone who is curious, the fridge finally turned up on thursday. somewhere between 5 and 6 weeks, all up. this after Hardly Normal said "within two weeks". fuckers.

now i go play with the fridge. geek fridge! has bright blue lights down the back (purely for show as far as i can tell); plus an lcd readout of the current temperature; plus a built-in "you have beer in the freezer" reminder/alarm; plus other cool stuff. and of course it's stainless steel. afford it? hell no. had to finance it and will be trying to pay it off over the next year during the interest-free period.

now, what to do with the old one.... hmm.

• wtf is that font? A tool for figuring out what font someone has used in a graphic: WhatTheFont : MyFonts.com. Clever.
• boing boing | Remixing "Construction Kits" are the future of the music industry?
• boing boing | Snoopy people offended at the pr0n on others' in-car DVDs. Nice title :) I guess this is similar to people peeking into someone's home; except the boundaries aren't so solid/clear. Cars are semi-public, except maybe with extreme window tinting. I can see the legal debate ending up as an argument about how dark a window tint you need to have "privacy" enough to watch whatever you want. Not that putting a DVD player in the car makes that much sense to me. It's is NOT like you can watch and drive at the same time (although I have no doubt some people disagree).

waferbaby: photos - sign project - slow down... after all, road signs don't have time to beat about the bush.

• NEWS.com.au | PM unveils $31bn schools plan (March 11, 2004) / PM unveils $30b school funding boost. 11/03/2004. ABC News Online
• Houses less affordable than ever. 11/03/2004. ABC News Online
• NEWS.com.au | Late for work? Download an alibi (March 11, 2004)... technology that people actually want :)
• High Court rules for 'The Panel' in copyright dispute. 11/03/2004. ABC News Online
• The Vagueness - News Roundup - a collection of worthy links from the desk of the Great Goth Cod.*

* Yeah this is an in-joke. Fuggoff.

"Dishonest Dubya" Lying Action Figure Doll - George W. Bush

• BBC NEWS | Technology | PlayStation 'wins next gen wars'. That's a mighty early call, there.
• Can Software Kill?
• Slashdot | The Command Line - Best Newbie Interface?
• CNN.com - Is TV losing out to video games? - Mar 8, 2004
• Slashdot | Searching the 'Deep Web'

• eBay item 2895867047 (Ends Mar-15-04 20:16:26 PST) - Haunted Panties! Lane Bryant Plus Size NWT Creepy!! Ahhh, eBay. I don't quite know how a pair of frilly pink knickers can be haunted; but that's what the seller claims.
• Stephen VanDyke | How News Travels on the Internet and the followup Stephen VanDyke | How I'm Travelling on the Internet
• Rules of Lighter Thievery.... including the golden rule, "never steal someone's Zippo".

Actually this wasn't random at all. These came from DrJon's Linkfrenzy. Credit where it's due...! :)

• NEWS.com.au | Virgin forced to fly near airports (March 10, 2004). That's reassuring. Especially with Jetstar and that other budget airline entering the market right now.
• The Courier-Mail: Warning on using PCs for banking [09mar04]. Not quite sure why the media suddenly latched onto this. The story still boils down to the following: never respond to emails asking for your password; don't click on links in emails; install anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware software and keep it all up to date. If you're not capable of that; don't use net banking. That actually rules a lot of people out (eg. the ones who just have to click on that attachment because it might really be important!).
• Shaken and stirred - SpecialsStrangeButTrue - www.smh.com.au: James Bond, Britain's most famous fictional secret agent, would be feeling rather uneasy to learn he would be too tall to be a real modern day spy in the country's domestic spy agency.
• NEWS.com.au | 'Coffee tights' that trim thighs (March 10, 2004). Yeah, sure. That's a good idea.

Honestly, someone must be watching me. Every time I put my headphones on, I get about 30-60 seconds of tunes; then the bloody phone rings or someone walks over to my desk. Gah!

• NEWS.com.au | Toyota slugged for $1bn (March 9, 2004): [T]he ATO is investigating Toyota ... for shifting profits overseas. The scheme, according to the ATO, has cut Toyota's tax bill by somewhere between $400 million and $1 billion.
• Drug raids led up to Redfern riot, says Carr - National - www.smh.com.au / NEWS.com.au | TJ was 'excuse' for Redfern riot (March 9, 2004): Agitators were gearing up for a revenge attack on the police at least 12 hours before 17-year-old TJ fell from his bicycle and was fatally injured on railings.
• Medicare extended to dental care - National - www.smh.com.au: Medicare would cover patients with serious dental problems they cannot afford to have treated, under a surprise expansion that is set to be announced by the Federal Government.
• NEWS.com.au | Named Bulldogs threaten to sue (March 9, 2004). Abysmal journalism on the part of the NZ paper. You can't name people until they're charged; even then you should be careful since a gag order may apply to the case.
• Telstra sale destined for defeat. 09/03/2004. ABC News Online: Federal Opposition MPs and the minor parties have reaffirmed their opposition to the further sale of Telstra, saying it will not happen in this term of Government.

Fleep (note that the popup won't launch in Opera... grr). A quirky and surprisingly engaging series of comics. From the site: It's about a boy who wakes up in a telephone booth which has been mysteriously selaed in an envelope of concrete. Using only the contents of his pockets (two pens, a paperback novel, three coins and 20 ft of unwaxed dental floss) our hero must fashion and execute an escape plan before he runs out of oxygen.

Not for everyone, I'm sure.

Well, the Hi-Fi Bar & Ballroom now list Covenant for Saturday 24th April. No disrespect to the people who brought them out but I needed something more firm than an lj and a flyer before booking flights :) Now, which organ to sell to fund this jaunt?? :-)

What if Weird Al Yankovich went industrial? That One Guy.

• I'm not going anywhere, Howard says. 08/03/2004. ABC News Online: Prime Minister John Howard has rejected suggestions he has decided when he will hand over the leadership of the Liberal Party to Treasurer Peter Costello. Guess we'll just have to vote him out then. Pity we don't have any good options.
• Telstra buys Trading Post classifieds for $636m - BusinessNews - www.smh.com.au / NEWS.com.au | Telstra buys Trading Post (March 8, 2004). I mean, obviously they have time for this sort of crap - the phone system is already perfect, right? Everywhere! It's so good they've got nothing better to do...
• NEWS.com.au | Group sex 'not the issue' (March 8, 2004)
• Energex reviews emergency procedures. 07/03/2004. ABC News Online
• BBC NEWS | Technology | From code war to Cold War

• Update at Driver Down, the long-awaited Kill Myself or Die Tryin' (Part 2). His book is great, btw - you should buy a copy. Definitely unusual, a product of self-publication that you'll enjoy if you like Driver Down rants. A mix of narrative and addressing the reader which is quite odd but builds to a surprisingly powerful ending. I should really do a proper review.
• Still nothing at Spacemoose: Index of /. Sigh. I know, it's gone.
• Industrial. It's a beautiful thing. brisgoth: NEW CLUB ..... ABOUT TIME!!! Three cheers for Anika :)
• Bob the Angry Flower can now be PayPal'led. Really got to get one of those things.

• US free trade deal concerns roll in. 04/03/2004. ABC News Online: Details released today show the United States will be able to impose a penalty on 33 horticultural products, like peaches and pears, if prices in the US market reach certain levels. The Opposition says it proves farmers have been dudded. But the Trade Minister Mark Vaile says the penalties will only apply for 18 years. "Only" 18 years??
• Telstra sale back on Govt agenda. 04/03/2004. ABC News Online: The Federal Government has re-introduced a bill designed to allow the full sale of Telstra.
• NEWS.com.au | Bulldogs line up for DNA testing (March 4, 2004) / FOX SPORTS | League | Dogs 'culled' from ads (March 4, 2004)
• US teacher resigns over student duct tape incident - World - www.smh.com.au
• NEWS.com.au | Coke tapping into water (March 4, 2004): COCA-Cola's new 'designer water" is not the real thing at all and its ingredients are not so special that they are a well-kept secret. For the drink is nothing more than tap water. Whoever would have thought Coke could be less than ethical?
• Crash charge woman's sex defence - SpecialsStrangeButTrue - www.smh.com.au: The best bit - No one ever told me in law school that we'd be having these kinds of conversations in open court.

small shit, anyway: Matchstick Rockets

Was going to blog this one but instead I am just going to link to someone who already has: The Vagueness - Drunk nun crashes tractor.

If you like standup comedy, give this one a go: ABC Television: Program summary - Stand Up! This way we don't have to wait for a comedy festival gala/special to get some pure standup into our comedy diet (no dodgy comedy clubs either). Some acts are fantastic, some are shit - that's standup. It's like rock'n'roll - you don't get the good stuff without the waiting around and the soundcheck. It's all part of the experience.

Oh, and if you like it don't forget to tell the Abie or the sods might can the show.

• NEWS.com.au | Consumers warned against over-borrowing (March 3, 2004). Again the banking industry is not called out for their part in Australia's consumer debt problem.
• ABC Sport - Rugby League - Police quiz Bulldogs over assault allegations. Even the ABC is running this as a "sport" article... that doesn't seem right to me. Articles about the NRL's ad campaign fall fairly easily into the Sport domain, but the criminal investigation really is not a Sport topic to my mind.
• Australia, NZ pursue single economic market. 03/03/2004. ABC News Online. Guess it couldn't hurt to trade something other than over-used jokes...
• Swearing parrot to miss Queen - SpecialsStrangeButTrue - www.smh.com.au

Gallery: Commodore 64 is Alive! - Analogik, Brisbane, Australia. We probably shouldn't complain, since that particular system isn't so bad. The real problem is the fact the buses don't actually turn up when they're supposed to. That, along with the high price, slow service, psychotic drivers and unairconditioned rattlers which tend to catch fire.

• Bush orders US Marines to Haiti. 01/03/2004. ABC News Online / UN poised to approve Haiti force. 01/03/2004. ABC News Online. Near as I can tell, the UN hasn't approved action yet (not 100% sure on that). But hey, the US is going in anyway... the UN has become irrelevant. Can we say League of Nations?
• Bin Laden arrest claims 'false': Pentagon. 29/02/2004. ABC News Online / NEWS.com.au | Claims bin Laden 'already captured' (March 1, 2004): Iranian state radio quoted an "informed source" saying the arrest took place "some time ago" but gave no further details. It claimed US officials were keeping news of the arrest secret and were likely to announce it later in the year to help US President George W. Bush's re-election chances in November.
• Catholic schools negotiate $360m funding boost. 29/02/2004. ABC News Online / The Australian: PM dangles $362m to Catholic schools [March 01, 2004]. This pisses me right off. If the church wants to runs schools it can fucking well fund them out of its own pocket. The government has no business giving money to these schools instead of the struggling public system. It's a blatant move by Howard to buy the Catholic vote. Separation of church and state? What a wild concept.
• NEWS.com.au | Police to recreate alleged sex attack (March 1, 2004) / Disgusted league chief to widen Bulldogs inquiry - League - www.smh.com.au / Dogs 'sickened' by sex assault publicity. 01/03/2004. ABC News Online / Bulldogs: grow up or lose contracts - Opinion - www.smh.com.au
• NEWS.com.au | Stone still rolling against death odds (March 1, 2004): Rolling Stone Keith Richards should have died eight years ago, an expert says. ...it takes an expert to say that? :)