Still no photos

I'm aware that there are still no beardy pics. My hard drives are still fairly rat shit. However, when I rectify the situation, the photos shall recommence.

Trust me.

Would an ex-beardy lie?

Spammed

Seems like my free and easy commenting policy has been abused. I've just deleted 29 comments that, in various ways, said my site was nice, I was nice and oh, by the way, hidden in my post is a link farm for you to click on.

Moderating is tedious so I've enabled word verification to begin with. We'll see how it goes.

-s
(oh, and more beardy pics coming. My hard drives are rapidly dying and until I can replace them, having a functioning computer is a gamble on a boot by boot basis)

Hair raising adventures

I hate shaving. I really do. It sucks having to do it 5 mornings a week. When I'm on holidays I shave as little as possible. Unfortunately, I generally only go on holidays to go back home for Christmas and it gets too hot and humid in Brisbane at that time of year to go without shaving for too long.

Since I've been home on paternity leave, I haven't had to shave and it's been fun. Alas, I return to work on Wednesday, so the stubble must go. There's nothing saying it all has to go at once though...


These hideous photos were taken after soccer on 13 May (we lost so I don't know what I'm smiling about). I hadn't shaved in exactly one month.









These nasties were taken the following night. It's amazing what a trim will do for appearances...










Since I go back to work tomorrow, more hair raising adventures will follow.

I guarantee it.

-s

Is Internet Addiction a Real Problem?

(As seen on digg)

Interesting little op ed piece from Ars Technica on whether "internet addiction" is real or not. I'm inclined to think that an "internet addiction" is just a manifestation of a deeper problem rather than an actual mental addiction.

As an aside, I scored 56 on the linked test which says "You are experiencing occasional or frequent problems because of the Internet. You should consider their full impact on your life.".

I could stop anytime I like :D Actually, I think my answers are related to the amount of time I spend online while putting Elijah to sleep. Things will change again once I go back to work next week.

-s

read more | digg story

It burns, it burns!

Installed the DVD "Superwrite" (which means it burns ±R, ±RW and does ± dual layer) this afternoon. There was much cursing as I destroyed the heads of 4 screws (even with WD40 the damn things wouldn't turn without a lot of effort) but I eventually took out my old LG CD-RW drive and threw the new Lite-on one in.

A quick test of the new Nero software (I own the full version of 5.5 but the OEM of 6 that came with the burner craps all over that!) by transcoding the latest DL.TV episode from MPEG4 to Super VCD and a test burn on a new ultra speed blank CD-RW media and I'm now a happy little camper.

I just love upgrading stuff! Next on the agenda is a new hard drive to give me some more space (duh) as well as a chance to have another crack at dual booting Linux. I'm thinking Ubuntu as I've heard from a number of sources that it is particularly newbie friendly, but I'm always open to suggestions from people who know better.

-s
(geeking out when he should be doing his Java assignment)

Boonie: Redux

According to The Age , Boonie is back from the dead because his battery has lasted longer than anticipated.

I prefer the Xenox News angle: Tasmanian Miracle: Miners Free - Boonie Doll Talks!

Hmmmm, upgrades *drool*

My new DVD burner arrived today from A.i Tech. It was a damn good price at just under $90 including postage. I haven't had a chance to install it yet (*sigh*) but I hope to before the weekend. I can't wait to try that funky Lightscribe out.

-s

Boonie? Is that you?

For some unknown reason, today is the day that my talking Boonie decided to return to life, informing me that I should get him a beer as the cricket was about to start, that he loved nachos, and that today's code word was "bat".

Given the VB One Day Series ended months ago, I'm a little confused but pleasantly surprised. May Boonie continue to speak to me for many years to come!

UPDATE 9/5: He's at it again, asking for a beer at 6am! Go Boonie!

"Facts". *pffft*

As I mentioned over on Little Elijah, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revised its Child Growth Standards to replace standards that have been in use since the 1970s. These old standards were apparently based on a small number of children from the USA and provided a measure of growth for formula-fed babies, who apparently grow much faster than babies who have been breastfed.

So, for over 30 years, parents around the world have been pressured to fatten up their babies to meet this standard that in the end seems to me to have been unreliable and unrepresentative. Who knows how many babies over this period of time have been over fed to meet this "ideal", setting them up for any number of health problems in the future? I wonder if there any plans to see if the level of obesity in the Western world can be linked in anyway to things like this...

The WHO report has once again got me thinking about "scientific fact". Ultimately in my opinion, science and scientific fact is just as much a social construct as any other field of human endeavour. I understand the concept that scientific thought is supposed to be developed as part of a trial and error process, building upon the work of predecessors. Good science should be not so much an assertion of truth but a demonstration of what is likely and what has been proven to not be true at a set point in time.

So much research is built upon "black boxes". By black boxes I mean something that has been accepted as true and therefore no longer needs to be explained or justified. For example, you might argue that 4x4 = 16 without having to previously prove that 2x2 = 4 because this is already readily accepted. I don't really have a problem with the concept of black boxes. It's an efficient way of expanding upon previous thought without having to do it over.

However, just how is something black boxed in the first place? Generally, it would appear that for something to be considered credible, it needs to be published in peered journals as well as be accepted by a broader component of the scientific community. I am usually uncomfortable at the thought of something being left up peer assessment as I feel that its a process that is vulnerable to self-reinforcing behaviour. I think it's just human nature that you will agree with something that you already believe and will be more critical of something that you don't believe. I fail to see why scientists who do peer review are considered to be immune from this. They're still human after all. If something isn't acceptable or palatable, it's less likely to become a black box in the future.

Anything radical or new is likely to be met with great skepticism at first, and while it might eventually become accepted canon, for a period of time it would not be considered to be "fact" or "true". I can only imagine how theories like Chaos Theory or String Theory were greeted.

Of course, the key concept here is theory. Science is meant to be about theory - hypotheses and either disproving the hypotheses or proving that for now, they hold up. Too many times these theories are dressed up as facts and treated as the truth by the wider population.

The other thing that bugs me about science is that you can't take research on face value. Further judgments need to be made about who has conducted the research, who has overtly funded the research and who has covertly funded research. Is the researcher dependent on funding grants from a particularly body or organisation? Could a fear of offending the funding body (whether it be a government, corporation, NGO or some other source) and losing a source of funding influence the outcome, consciously or unconsciously? Research supporting global warming funded by an environmental NGO is just as suspect as research against global warming funded by a consortium of energy utilities or oil companies.

Maybe I'm just rambling but fact and truth aren't all they are cracked up to be...

-s

Book learnin'

Being back at uni part time while working full time and raising a brand new bundle of joy is proving difficult but worth it. So far in my introduction to programming course, I've averaged 97.5% for my first two assignments (which are worth 12% each). In my introduction to telecommunications subject, I got 25/25 for my first assignment (25%) and 29/30 for the first exam (14.625% out of 15%).

If I keep this up, in three to four years, I'll be the proud owner of a coursework Masters in IT from ADFA. W00t.

-s

No sign *sniff*

Still no Nano. I'm beginning to fear someone has swiped it. At least I've got a serial number and I can ring around local Cash Converters and see.

I miss it so.

Anyone seen my Nano?

I've lost my iPod Nano, and I'm not happy about it. I put it down somewhere and now I can't find it at all. I had about a week of podcasts waiting to be listened to (I've been kind of busy at the moment) but now I can't find it anywhere and I've got more podcasts backing up waiting to be transferred over.

I knew I loved my gadgets but I never really thought I'd be this lost without one. *sniff*

Fingers? I don't need no steeeenking fingers!

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, it was around -5°C this morning when I was walking to walk.

I thought my hands were a bit cold this morning.

Net No Friends

I have come to the conclusion that my online presence is zero and I have no friends.

Despite the fact that just about every geek and his hard drive has one, I have yet to be graced with an invitation to join either Orkut or gMail.

Just because I don't use any sort of IM software and I don't spend any time on IRC or forum boards (not geeky ones anyway - I don't think KvR counts), does this mean I should not be welcomed by the warm embrace of online geekdom? Apparently, online geekdom is reserved for those geeks who spend the majority of their time online.

Sometimes life is so unfair.

(Edited 25-6-04, 20:27, to fix some links)

Thank you QANTAS

Just a brief note to publicly thank the Qantas staff who were working at the customer service desk of the Canberra Airport Departure Lounge on Wednesday morning. I was heading up to Brisbane for my grandmother's funeral to be held that afternoon but unfortunately there were lengthy delays due to fog surrounding Canberra. The Qantas staff did everything they could to try and get me to Brisbane in time to make the funeral, including finding me a Business Class seat on a different flight that, if everything went to plan, would get me to Brisbane in plenty of time.

Unfortunately it was not to be. There were several more delays and I only just missed the service. Qantas did all they could though, and I certainly appreciated the efforts of their staff, who made a very stressful day just a little bit less stressful.

Thank you Qantas.

(post edited 25-6-04, 20:18, to fix some links)

In loving memory

Eileen Doecke (1928-2004)

At around 11:30 this morning, after a long battle with cancer, my grandmother passed away. She'd been sick for quite a while so it certainly did not come as a shock, but there's an emptiness inside me all the same.

I made a quick trip back to Brisbane this week to visit her as I knew her time was rapidly approaching. Unfortunately I was not able to spend very much time with her at all as she wasn't up to receiving visitors in hospital. I think that both physically and mentally she had had enough, and it seemed to me that all she wanted was some peace.

Nan has always played an important part in my life as she and my grandfather lived in the same house. She was always around when I was growing up. I wish that I had been able to spend more time with her in the those last few months. There were so many things that I wanted to say. I wanted to thank her for teaching me how to read when I was three, bribing me with butter scotch lollies. I wanted to thank her for helping me learn my 12x table, bribing me with chocolates (there's a bit of a theme there, I will admit). Most importantly, I wanted to say that I loved her and appreciated every little thing that she had done to encourage and support me over the years.

I kept putting off flying back to Brisbane to visit her. Work was busy. I didn't want to miss playing soccer on the weekends. It just seemed like there was never a convenient time. Unfortunately, when I made the time, I had left my run too late. I guess the price I will pay is that I will always wish I had gone back home sooner, while there was still pleny of time.

I know that my Nana was not perfect (her two daughters would attest to that). Like all people, she had her faults. However, I will choose to remember her as a kind woman who helped instill in me a love of learning and knowledge, who was interested in the lives of her grandchildren, a woman who loved her garden and her pet dogs(spoiling them rotten in the process, but always out of love). She will always be my Nan. She will always live on, and I will cherish the memories that I have.

Saying goodbye is often the hardest thing to do.

Goodbye Nan. You're in a better place now (wherever that may be).

2 am wakeup call

Tweaker

You know you want to.

It's worth it. Trust me.

Freezing My Tits Off For Love - The Australian Idol Experience

As most of you would know, my wife has quite a gift with music (she sings, plays piano and violin and when she feels like annoying me, "Everybody Hurts" by REM over and over again until my ears bleed) and she has a healthy confidence in her ability as a performer. Yay. More power to her. However, this story is not about her, her talents or her time in Sydney. This story is mine.

We drove up to Sydney on Saturday 29 May. I had played soccer that afternoon, where we beat Canberra City 4-1. It had been a tiring afternoon as I was only just starting to return to full fitness after a mysterious knee injury (first they feared that I had torn cruciate ligaments, which is season-ending, then they thought I had torn cartilage, which no longer seems the case and now they put it all down to inflexible muscles) followed by a tear in my quad. Still, we won so it was all good. Helen had taught her piano student in the afternoon while I was busy being a winner (and adding an own-goal/slight deflection to my tally - three goals this season and it's not even quite half way through) so after a quick meal, we were off in the car and headed to Sydney.

The drive itself was fairly uneventful. I didn't take first shift as the decision was made that since I had driven through Sydney a couple of times, I was the best man for the job. The fun started once we hit Sydney proper.

Driving in Sydney sucks. Big time. Despite assurances from a friend who grew up there, it's a bitch to navigate around. Lanes appear and disappear without notice. One way streets come out of nowhere and no one drives like they give a fuck whether you survive on the road or not. With a minimum of screaming, arguing and offensive finger gestures (and that's over which page we were supposed to be on in the map of Sydney), at about 8:30pm we finally arrived at the Convention Centre at Darling Harbour, where the auditions were going to be held the next day.

After parking the car in the Convention Centre underground car park and carefully noting where we parked (and carefully noting the $20 we would be paying to get the car back out again), we set off in search for what we knew would be a fucking huge line. We wandered all over the Centre looking for a long line of hopeful wannabes. We couldn't find a line anywhere. We walked around the Centre, looking everywhere and still couldn't find a line. We guessed where it would have to start in the morning, but there was still nothing there. Turns out that was because we were blind. The line was right in front of us, right down at water level. We had missed it and got confused because there was only about 50 people there at most. Not quite believing our eyes, we checked with our friendly neighbourhood dude in a black suit and walkie talkie who confirmed that it was indeed the Idol line. Woo. We would be able to get away early the next day.

Helen staked out her spot in the line and I was sent out to find food. That discounted McDonalds straight away and pretty much ruled out the Starbucks nearby as well. After about 10 minutes of searching, I found a Wok on Inn that served take-away, so dinner was sorted fairly easily in the end. I was now in desperate need of a coffee. I did a lot of soul searching, swallowed my pride and my principles and got a Starbucks coffee. I felt so unclean and dirty, but as a former smoker and now hard-core caffeine addict, I'm used to feeling like that. At roughly 9pm, I settled in the line next to Helen. The Wait Had Begun.

To Be Continued....

Stupid browsers

Don't you just love it when your web browser crashes, losing everything you just wrote in a text box? I know I sure do...fucking IE.

Of course, I don't normally use IE. I've been a Mozilla man for ages now (since 1.0 I think). However, Mozilla has been crashing fairly randomly lately, along with a number of other programs. As I was also unhappy with how I had partitioned my hard drives, I figured that it was about time that I started anew with a fresh Windows 2000 install. This would force me to backup all the important stuff and also allow me to let go of all those things I had installed but never got around to using (VST plug-ins and various demos being the main culprits here).

It had been so long since I had had to install anything major in the way of system updates that I had forgotten just how fucking big Windows Service Packs are and just how dial-up unfriendly these monsters can be. SP4 required a 35 MB download that was going to take over 4 hours. I scrabbled around looking for some of my old PC World cover discs and found one that had SP3 on it. After installing that I figured that I would have saved myself a heap of time. Turns out I saved maybe an hour, if not less. The SP4 download had been reduced to 28 MB which would take 180 minutes to download. 20 minutes later and it still says it's going to take 180 minutes to download. Fucking service packs.

If anyone's got an easier way of doing this, I'd love to hear it.

-s

Random rambling time...

Just trying out a new template. Not quite convinced yet, although it does look better than the last one I was using. I think the columns are of weird sizes though. Looking at the template code they appear to be hard coded to pixel width. I've always preferred to use percentages, but it's been so long since I played with HTML that percentage values for column width are probably no longer standards compliant.

I'll have to have a play around with them later and see if I can find something I like.

-s