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the joy of lotus

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 bits

  • 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.

web geek link of the day

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.

news bits

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i fear for this city

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.

boing boing

  • 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.

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  • 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.

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

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our tax dollars at work

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.

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boing boing

war over definitions of anti-war protestor

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.

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apparently enquiring minds want to know

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.

boing boing

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* Yeah this is an in-joke. Fuggoff.

random stuff

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

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comic oddness

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.

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doing the rounds

  • 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.

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pure standup

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.

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