Nathan goes to Townsville

Update your bookmarks

2009-06-23T10:20:00.000+10:00

This is pretty much just for Simone - who let it slip that she still comes here.

But if you do, for any particular reason, find yourself on this page - please be aware that you should instead direct your browser to: http://nathanintownsville.com or just grab the feed.

unHacked

2008-12-28T17:10:00.000+10:00

I have my Facebook access back. Can I suggest not using an intuitive
word and 123 as your password. I've learned my lesson. I also managed
to almost get my hacker convinced that I'd buy my account back off him
for $US250. He told me he "only did it for the money" and wished me a
happy birthday. What a friendly hacker.

Hacked

2008-12-23T02:32:00.000+10:00

Just received a late night phone call from a friend to tell me my Facebook has been hacked by a dirty Nigerian scammer. If you receive any correspondence from me asking for money please disregard it. This post will hopefully sync to my Facebook profile and notify you if the fake me tries to contact you.

I'm not even friends with my wife on Facebook anymore. That's concerning - I also don't want to lose my Tetris scores. I have notified Facebook of the breach. Will keep you posted. The Nigerian's email address is magor@verizonmail.com - just in case you feel like letting him know what you think of his little scam.

All the good stuff...

2008-12-19T16:34:00.001+10:00

is now happening over there at nathanintownsville.com.

Not a whole lot will happen here anymore. At least nothing is planned. So change your subscriptions if you're a subscriber and catch all the action (including a potential liveblogging of some garage sailing tomorrow morning). 'Twil no doubt be very exciting.

Controlled Evolution: Intelligent Design

2008-12-17T12:52:00.003+10:00

How many of these have you used? Are designs getting clunkier and more complex? Or more intuitive?

Really, it's just a cool pic.

Here's the original post - complete with family tree

On shoes

2008-12-17T12:42:00.001+10:00

Lesson in PR from this week:
If you can dodge a journalist's questions with consumate ease - you
should be expected to be able to dodge their shoe with the same, if
not more, ease. George Bush has obviously learned that lesson early.
He handled that situation with grace and composure. The reporter
probably deserved a tongue lashing - he'll be lucky to be spared a
literal lashing in Iraq. Ironically, if Saddam was still in power he
probably would have been executed. That's the best shoe pun I could
come up with because the Facebook George Bush already used "sole
searching." The Facebook George Bush is not me.

Wikipedia has some interesting things to say about shoe tossing. Including an
interesting look at "shoefiti" the act of throwing shoes onto a
telegraph wire. Which I was always told was to indicate drugs could be
bought nearby.

Wiimote controlled television

2008-12-17T12:10:00.003+10:00

Whoops. Make sure you're keeping those safety straps on. There have been photos of wiimote damage posted - and funny videos of wiimote tragedies. But to Gizmodo's knowledge this is the first video of said carnage.

Home is where the heart is

2008-12-16T23:43:00.001+10:00

I'm almost ready to pull the switch to my very own wordpress.org blog at nathanintownsville.com. Check it out - and let me know what you think of the very clean template. I am thinking about including some colour - but haven't really figured out where yet - or what I'd change.

I hate airlines

2008-12-15T13:28:00.001+10:00

I just booked flights for the return leg of our Christmas holidays with Virgin Blue. Their stupid booking system screwed me out of $50. If you search for tickets for 2 passengers and they've only got one flight available at the cheap rate of $89 they'll return a search result requiring you to pay $150 for both. That's extortion. So I went to make simultaneous bookings at $89*. Much more reasonable. Things were looking good. I managed to complete booking one at the $89 level (plus booking fee and baggage so $100 in total). Then when I went to complete the second booking at the $89 dollar level it told me someone else (me obviously) had booked that seat. Retards. What happened to the contract principle of offer and acceptance. I had to book again at $150. Plus extra costs for baggage and credit card fees. I hate airlines. At least I didn't pay $300 plus taxes. Stupid VirginBlue - I hope their media monitoring services pick up this rant and they act accordingly. But they'll probably cancel my flight.

End of rant.

*without baggage, credit card fees and optional carbon offsets... oh and the fee you can pay for the legroom available in an emergency exit row.

Plumbing the depths

2008-12-12T09:47:00.001+10:00

Joe the Plumber became a national hero for the Republicans for having a go at Obama while he was on the campaign trail. He became a Republican icon, joining McCain on the campaign trail to provide an "everyman" touch. He got himself a nice little book deal in the process.

Apparently he's not overly impressed with the republicans - that's the problem with loose cannons. Friendly fire hurts.

"The Republicans didn't put out a candidate for us to really vote for. It's the lesser of two evils. When you get to that level, you've compromised your principles, you've compromised your values so often and you owe your soul to whatever special interest group or lobbyist has padded your campaign finances and everything else that you no longer are your own man. So you can no longer stand on your own feet because they've been cut out from underneath you years ago."

That came from this radio interview - where he talks up Palin, plans to start a watchdog group, and gets into some nitty gritty political science.

Well, you know, it really depends on the other 2/3 of Americans that didn't vote, Glenn. They are so disenfranchised with the political system currently, they don't feel they have a voice or that their vote even counts. So they stay home on election day. It really depends on them people, if they are going to actually get off their duff and become educated and get involved.

Two thirds of Americans didn't vote? I can only assume he's talking about registered voters. And two thirds of them voted - by all estimates - the compilation of results doesn't actually get released officially until the 15th.

I guess there's a PR lesson in here - if you're going to spruik an ally for their harranguing of the opposition you better make sure they're actually on your side. Your enemy's enemy is not necessarily your friend afterall.

Surveying my domain

2008-12-11T10:18:00.001+10:00

I registered nathanintownsville.com yesterday with Dedicated Host. Thanks to an awesome coupon deal through Oz Bargain offering 90% off forever on hosting and domain registration.

Stay tuned for news on my movement to that domain - but in the meantime, $2 a month for 5GB and 15GB of data transfer seems like a good deal to me. The deal finishes tomorrow.

Umbrella capers

2008-12-10T20:08:00.000+10:00

Tokyo Raiders is a very ~~good~~ bad Hong Kong Kung Fu movie. With an umbrella wielding protagonist. As featured below.

He also competently wields a vacuum cleaner in this scene...

Effective. One can only imagine he'd have been more effective with this custom made umbrella weapon. The Umbuster .

Facebank eats money, scares children

2008-12-10T20:03:00.000+10:00

I can't get enough of these pointless gadgets people are inventing. Here's a new take on the piggy bank - complete with motion sensors. It will eat your money. Buy it here for $22US. Watch it in action below.

Face Bank from Dynamism on Vimeo.

She <3 Huckabee

2008-12-10T11:07:00.001+10:00

This post is really only an excuse to point out a pop culture reference opportunity gone begging over at Slate Magazine - this New Yorker really like's Mike Huckabee...

As I said, I'm a New Yorker—and a pretty serious one. I root for the New York Mets. I can't name a single person who lives in my apartment building. I fantasize about tripping tourists who insist on walking three-wide, arm in arm, at a glacial pace on a narrow sidewalk. I routinely have cereal and paper towels delivered, and I haven't seen the inside of a washing machine in a decade. I'm also in my late 20s, which, coupled with my hip address, ensures that my taste is well-seasoned, appropriately edgy, and probably better than yours. I will obsess over anything Ricky Gervais does. I can name at least 10 boutique vodkas. My music interests are sufficiently sophisticated that I can condescend to most other age groups with authority. Finally, I'm also a grad student—at NYU, no less—so I'm supposed to be one of those cosmopolitan academics who have designer eyeglasses, a subscription to Artforum, and a ready collection of aphorisms to quote from the likes of Foucault, Derrida, and Sartre.
Indeed, I am guilty as charged. But as Sartre once said, "Man is not the sum of what he has already, but rather the sum of what he does not yet have, of what he could have."
So, a guy like Mike Huckabee isn't supposed to be in my wheel house. Girls (and boys) like me are supposed to go for Anderson Cooper types. My friends think I'm a traitor to my age, my island, and my vast (and almost fully paid for!) intellect—but I don't care. If loving Huck is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Duller

2008-12-09T16:32:00.002+10:00

Last week I posted about the self proclaimed dullest blog in the world.

Here's a sample post from that one.

Opening a cupboard door…
October 16th, 2005

There was a cupboard in the corner of the room. I reached out my hand and gripped the door handle. I pulled the door towards me, thereby opening the cupboard.

Like most self proclaimed titles - eg the World's Strongest Man - this one fails at the truth test. Here, today, I give you a new candidate for World's dullest blog. A chance for the Australian Government to prove it really hasn't come to terms with technology despite their claims to the contrary. Here's an excerpt from Lindsay Tanner's first post:

"I'm pleased to be able to join with the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in welcoming you to the Government's first online consultation trial. There is a happy synergy in government using its first blog trial to deal with the important questions of the future of the digital economy, and Minister Conroy and his department deserve credit for their initiative in getting this consultation established."

"While the primary aim of this blog is to get your feedback on aspects of the digital economy, we also want to use this opportunity to explore the mechanics of government blogging and hear your thoughts on how we should interact with you online."

At least the comments are entertaining. Like this one from Gaz.

"Excellent initiative, so well done. Can I suggest that to facilitate civil discussion that your Ministerial partner, Sen Conroy refrain from implying that those who oppose your net filtering plans are somehow supporters of child pornography as he has done in the past? His comments instantly caused the debate to veer off into unproductive directions and were therefore extremely unhelpful. I hope he can raise his standard of contribution in the spirit of the sort of "effective engagement" you quite rightly mention."

Ahh, democracy in action.

Eye-fi with my little i

2008-12-08T16:40:00.001+10:00

We're living in iTimes. I was walking through the supermarket yesterday and was surprised by the number of people who shop while attached to personal sound devices. Anyway, I digress. The reason for this post is actually the Eye-Fi - which makes it easier to share your photos with your iFriends via your photo platform of choice. It's an SD card with built in wireless and it's about $100US - I'd buy it if I could justify the expense and if it wasn't so easy to use a cable. Good trick for garage sailing (sic) though - provided your laptop comes with a 3G modem and you want your spouse to approve.

Reverse Dictionary

2008-12-08T16:14:00.001+10:00

Have you ever had that thing. That mental blank where you can't remember what word you're after but can remember how to describe it. Of course you have. Well, the Reverse Dictionary is here to save the day. Just type your description and away it goes. Pretty useful. I was looking for something like this a while ago - it's like a thesaurus, only with multiple input fields.

Nerd theology

2008-12-08T15:20:00.002+10:00

Kevin Kelly is the founder of Wired Magazine. As far as nerds go, he's pretty cool. He wrote an interesting little piece on "nerd theology"

It's worth a read if you're a nerd, and at all interested in God.

His basic premise is this:

"We investigate the nature of intelligence, not by probing human heads, but by creating artificial intelligences. We seek truth not in what we find, but in what we can create. We have become mini-gods. And thus we seek God by creating gods."

If you're not a nerd - or at all interested I'd stop reading there - because this gets kind of confusing. But is also kind of interesting...

In nerd terms, god is a being function. We could write it like this:

Let g (god)=? s (initial nothing state) -> s^l (something state)
Or g=? s -> s^l

Now the universe we humans occupy is s^l We are inhabitants of the something state produced by some god function. Christians like myself see a recursive nature in God. God (g), the creator created humans in his image, and so we too are creators. We can be designated as g^l .

By means of our technology, we are becoming derivative gods ourselves. We are making our own tiny somethings out of nothing. True, our nothings are not as nothing as the nothing we came from, but we are getting better at starting from scratch, and producing more elaborative creations once we start creating. Our godhood could be described like this:

g^l = ? s^l -> s²

That is, we derivative gods began in a made world and created a second-order something.
Those somethings might have once been astoundingly realistic paintings, or perhaps a marble statue of a hero, or more recently a VR world crowded with fantastical creatures.

Someday, not too far away, we will create a creature (a robot) with its own mind (yes, a different mind) and its own free will that is capable of taking the next step and creating its own creation. In other words our little man will, like us, make its own little man or its own made-up world.

Magical Mystery Cure

2008-12-08T13:01:00.001+10:00

Another shared item from Dan. This story from the SMH.

AUSTRALIA urgently needs a national screening policy for Down syndrome, experts say, after international research showed it could halve the number of babies born with the incurable genetic condition.

So how does testing produce such amazing results?

Access to the four tests that help detect if a foetus has Down syndrome varies widely between states, urban and rural areas, and public and private patients, leading to stark differences in birth and termination rates.

Amazing. The miracles of modern technology.

potty potty putter idea

2008-12-08T12:48:00.002+10:00

I've posted some stupid products lately. I don't know why. They're just indicative of what's been tickling my fancy. But today I'm plumbing new depths. With this. The potty golf set. That's right. Make Christmas special this year with this easy to assemble toilet golf putter game. It fits snuggly against the base of the loo - allowing you to putt while you do your business.

Double space

2008-12-08T12:47:00.001+10:00

Dan just shared an article on the one space v two debate via google reader that had me scratching my head. I completely forgot that once upon a time a new sentence required two spaces. Seems I'm ahead of the curve on this debate. I can't even remember the last time I double spaced. Does anyone out there still do that?

10,000 Hours

2008-12-08T12:01:00.000+10:00

10,000 hours. 416 and two third days. That's how long it takes to become prodigiously good at whatever it is you do. Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote tipping point - a book focused on what it takes to get an idea to the point of zeitgeist or epidemic. I enjoyed Tipping Point, so I'm glad to hear Gladwell's new book is out. It's called Outliers

I plan to get a hold of it for some light holiday reading - but in the meantime there's this idea in there that I found quite interesting. Here's a review on the chapter in question from the simple dollar (which is a pretty useful blog in its own right).

The 10,000 Hour Rule
Here, Gladwell continues with the birthdate theme, but argues that sometimes the year is important. Gladwell gives two examples: the generation of “robber barons” (Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, and so on) who were all born in the 1830s, and the generation of computer entrepreneurs (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and so on) who were all born in the 1950s. Sometimes, it requires being born in a certain period to have the opportunity for exceptionalism.
The more important (and interesting) part of the chapter, though, discusses the huge role that nearly-obsessive practice plays in making people great. Gladwell uses The Beatles and Bill Gates as examples here, showing how they both were able to take advantage of stupendous amounts of practice time to become very, very good at what they did. In each case, Gladwell estimated that it took 10,000 hours of practice for those individuals to hone their natural raw talents and become world class - roughly ten years of multiple hours of practice (3 or so on average) every single day. Gladwell offers many other examples of how this practice pays off, but that magic number of 10,000 hours pops up again and again.

I'm not sure I've spent 10,000 hours on anything. And I'm not sure what I'd like to spend 10,000 hours on. Any ideas?

Super Super Mario Kart Video

2008-12-07T23:33:00.002+10:00

MARIO KART (REMI GAILLARD)
by nqtv

Remi Gaillard is a French prankster with some form for this sort of thing.

Lost in space

2008-12-05T17:38:00.000+10:00

If your investment banker was spending an inordinate amount of money on three trips to space in the middle of a "global economic crisis" would you change banks? His name is Per Wimmer, he's lined up to be the first space tourist. He runs an investment bank.

From his own website - which one can only assume is autobiographical:

In brief, Per Wimmer is a global financier, an entrepreneur, an adventurer, a pioneer and a philanthropist - or, as a commentator has argued, a true "Indiana Jones meets 007 James Bond."

Yeah, I'd trust a renaissance man like that with my money. If I was a fictional character. Seriously, fiscal responsibility is the new black. Opulence is out. That's why, in Townsville I'd choose these guys - who have the worst ads and uniforms in the region, over these guys who spent last year building an extravagant office space - and losing their over leveraged clients an average of 17%.

Your mum, popular on Facebook

2008-12-05T14:54:00.000+10:00

Facebook has a tool called "Lexicon" that allows you to track the popularity of any word or phrase used on user's walls. "Your mum", not surprisingly, is quite popular - but spiked dramatically on the first of September. It will be much more useful when the switch is made to the "New Lexicon" where you'll be able to dig a little deeper into the data.

iPhone killer

2008-12-05T14:31:00.001+10:00

This must surely be a joke. If not, the Pomegranate NS08 is the iPhone killer. It comes with an in built coffee brewer. Based loosely on the "pod" concept this phone has an in built mechanism to suck up water and push it through a pod holding section of the device. It's also an electric razor. Their website is worryingly well made and convincing. But it's got to be a joke right? I'm pretty sure it is. But the site is worth a look.

The in-built harmonica is the giveaway really. And the accompanying video.

New Bretton Woods

2008-12-05T14:28:00.000+10:00

From XKCD...

Espressions

2008-12-05T11:31:00.002+10:00

I've been trying really hard to drink "spro" a couple of mornings a week I'll forego my second milk based coffee* for a short black - an unadorned shot of espresso**. This morning, we had no milk, so to stave off coffee deprivation headaches, Robyn and I both had to drink a straight shot.

If you haven't tried it - a shot of coffee by itself can taste exceptionally bitter - it's a taste that requires acquiring. Like beer. Or wine. Or cheese. Essentially like anything good. Coffee flavours can be just as nuanced as the aforementioned delicacies.

A good shot of espresso contains "crema"- best defined as a layer of reddish brown coffee oils that sits on top of the shot.

This crema is vital to a characteristic known as "body"- the viscosity of the shot. Coffee tastes best when it has body.

Crema tastes terrible. On it's own it is completely bitter. But without it the coffee flavour disappears in milk.

I've been reading a couple of blogs offering solutions to this problem. This guy, Kiril, tried filtering the Crema with the following findings:

The conclusion that I have established indicated that the main characters of espresso (with crema) will carry out through filtration. In this instant the distinct chocolate note was very much present although the overall espresso lacked body. I personally prefer the espresso for what it is today a smooth, creamy, well balanced drink and all those aspects are tied in by ONE essential ingredient, crema. I also found that filtered espresso is good for picking out the main flavours and raw (bold) character out of the bean to more accurately describe its main taste.

He also reported on a separate experiment conducted by the "coffee collective" where the crema was removed,

A nice reddish brown crema on the espresso of course signals correct preperation but... have you ever tasted the crema itself?!? To us it seems to be kind of dry and bitter!

Try to take some crema with a spoon from the top of a good espressoshot and taste it!

After having tried this we sometimes skim the crema of the espresso right before drinking the espresso using two small spoons. This seemes to give a more clean and less bitter cup which is finishing of extremly soft. On the down side the cup also looses some body. But it is definitely a good way to drink coffee if you wan't it to be soft and intense!

Kiril tried his own experiment pulling the shot onto a broader area.

Today I have been extracting into a shallow plate, the results are staggering. I encourage you to try this. As the coffee falls onto a shallow surface the espresso evenly mixes and slowly spreads out on a plate. As a result you get a well-balanced, clean “plate” of coffee.

This was his finding:

The way the coffee falls and mixes (especially in early stages of extraction) is absolutely vital, I will dedicate some time into exploring different surfaces for coffee to fall into and document my results.

A meet the press pot interview with barista Andy Schecter suggested stirring the shot as a solution to the bitter crema problem.

Speaking of espresso, a colleague of mine has said recently that she has a theory: “Crema is disgusting.” I wanted to hear what you think of that theory. How do you feel about crema?
“...You know, crema is part of what makes espresso espresso. It helps deliver some of the fragrance to your nasal passages, and so much of what we know of as flavor is delivered through our sense of smell. Espresso without crema is not really espresso. I am baffled as to exactly what is disgusting about it.

Well, I think she’s exaggerating to prove a point, that crema is overpowering and strong, and can be quite different from the rest of the drink’s body, that maybe it detracts from what would otherwise be a more balanced taste experience. I mean, there are people who refuse to so much as jostle their cup, let alone stir a shot, but it’s true that that first crema-full sip can be quite pungent.
I started stirring my espresso sometime last year because there was a post by Pete Licata where he talked about blending it all together. I always stir now. I find that it does bring more of a balance. But I know some people like to do one layer at a time, they like the taste to evolve in that way. Mostly I like to stir it up and get the total taste, “What is this espresso like?”

* not a "cuppocino" - cappuccino doesn't even mean "cup of cino" it is derived from the Italian word for hood because the coffee is essentially hooded with froth. "muggacino" is equally flaed and stupid.
** definitely not "expresso"

Rules of Engagement

2008-12-05T10:58:00.002+10:00

Somehow our generic work address was added to the Citizen's Electoral Council spam list. They send out ~~conspiracy theories~~ media releases on world events. I've never seen any picked up anywhere - except perhaps in their own newsletters, and in blogs mocking them.

PR rule number one - if you saturate the market with inane media releases you kill your credibility. It's a "boy who cried wolf" situation - nobody will ever take you seriously if you comment on everything without having established credibility first.

Commenting on everything is a legitimate strategy - but only if a) you're running for office, b) you're not a loony, or c) you're saying something about something that people vaguely care about.

Today's CEC missive is about the Mumbai terrorist attacks. It wasn't Pakistan. It wasn't Islamic militants. It was the British.

"On Nov. 28 Lyndon LaRouche stated that it is absolutely clear that the British are behind the terror attack in Mumbai‚ India. Early press reports originating in India indicated that at least two of the terrorists captured alive by Indian security forces‚ and possibly several in total‚ were British-born Pakistanis. LaRouche commented that this phenomenon is suggestively similar to the number of Saudis who were involved in the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001."

Comparisons to 9/11 must surely be the new Godwin's Law. In fact, 92 articles on the CEC website mention Hitler. They've jumped the Godwin shark.

PR rule number 2 - don't mention Hitler or 9/11 in your articles if you want to be credible.

The Citizen's Electoral Council get their inspiration from perennial American presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche.

His Wikipedia bio says:

"There are sharply contrasting views of LaRouche. His supporters regard him as a brilliant and original thinker, whereas critics variously see him as a conspiracy theorist, an anti-Semite, a fascist or neo-fascist, and the leader of a political cult. The Heritage Foundation has said that he "leads what may well be one of the strangest political groups in American history."^[2]^[3] In 1984, LaRouche's research staff was described by Norman Bailey, a former senior staffer of the National Security Council, as "one of the best private intelligence services in the world." In 2008, Russian economist Stanislav Menshikov described LaRouche as being "among those few economists who look at the root causes, and therefore see what others cannot see."

One of the CEC's big pushes is to introduce a new financial world order - based on the failed Bretton Woods System.

The chief features of the Bretton Woods system were an obligation for each country to adopt a monetary policy that maintained the exchange rate of its currency within a fixed value—plus or minus one percent—in terms of gold and the ability of the IMF to bridge temporary imbalances of payments. In the face of increasing strain, the system collapsed in 1971, following the United States' suspension of convertibility from dollars to gold. This created the unique situation whereby the United States dollar became the "reserve currency" for the nation-states which had signed the agreement.

Here are some recent highlights. These are from a recent email titled "Religious Right swaps neo-con crusade for global warming crusade"

“The Flagellants whipped each other to atone for their sins, calling on the populace to repent,” Mr Isherwood said. “Today, we have the Global Warmers whipping our sick economy to death, even during the worst financial crash since the 14th Century! How insane can you get?"

“As Executive Intelligence Review magazine has documented, the Religious Right is financed by huge sums of government money laundered through ‘faith-based initiatives,’ with which it has engaged in extensive social engineering to shape elections, etc."

“Financier Maurice Strong, the Secretary General of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, laid out the real intent behind the financial oligarchy’s crusade on global warming in his query: ‘Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialised civilisations collapse? Isn’t it our responsibility to bring that about?’

“What we have here, is a financial oligarchy which intends to destroy the economy via draconian measures—such as shutting down farming in the Murray-Darling Basin—to stop a problem which doesn’t exist in the first place, the pre-calculable effects of which will be genocide. Does that count as a sin in Rev. Cizik’s bible?”

And this one ominously titled "Rudd be warned -- only LaRouche's 'New Bretton Woods' will avert a dark age":

“Kevin Rudd had better support Lyndon LaRouche’s prescribed New Bretton Woods measures at the G-20 conference on 15th November in Washington D.C., or he’ll be guilty of contributing to the collapse of Australia, and the world, into a dark age,” CEC National Secretary Craig Isherwood declared today.

“If Rudd intends, as it appears, to support Gordon Brown’s British imperial scam to empower the IMF as a world financial dictatorship, but exempt from regulation the largely-British offshore tax havens and their associated hedge funds and derivatives—the cancer of the financial system—it will be a betrayal of Australia’s true interests, to further the City of London’s."

PR Rule number 3 - Don't be crazy.

All sorts of awesome

2008-12-05T08:16:00.001+10:00

The whole Pirate v Ninja debate just doesn't do it for me. It just doesn't make any sense. What can a pirate possibly bring to the party? Nothing. That's right. Ninjas are a black wrapped package of awesome. And now, you can ninjafi your fridge with these shuriken magnets. Just $19US a pair, plus postage... that's a lot to pay for a set of magnets...

2008-12-04T22:18:00.002+10:00

This is a cool picture from a series of coffee art on napkins.

Here's the caption from this one...

My inner accountant quickly convinced me to buy one of those little espresso machines (for the price of approximately 10 tall lattes). It had a steam nozzle to heat milk, which one should clean very thoroughly after each use. I didn’t have the patience to do so. Within a few uses, an unappetizing, dark brown, organic lump developed around the nozzle. A few days later it had become unremovable, and I reverted to getting my coffee outside.

That's right people. Timely advice to clean your steam wands.

This is bizarre...

2008-12-04T22:17:00.000+10:00

But again, oddly compelling.

"I made this. You play this. We are enemies"

I'd say 60% annoying 40% compelling.

Soup

2008-12-04T16:11:00.002+10:00

I like Soup. I've only just discovered it. That is to say, I knew it existed, but I've only just created myself on it - oh, and on tumblr. Nothing really exciting happening there yet. Soup on the other hand aggregates all my bookmarks, google reader shared items, blog posts, Twitter tweets (I think I've posted 18 in 2 months...) and will have any picasa photos I choose to put there.

You know you've got too much time on your hands when... Part 2.

2008-12-04T15:22:00.002+10:00

You have the time or inclination to build yourself a fully functioning Daft Punk helmet. Like this guy. Who also has a funky rollover thing happening in the sidebar of his site. It's pretty cool.

My Daft Punk helmet from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.

Melting Moments

2008-12-04T13:56:00.002+10:00

Oddly compelling protest about climate change.

No wonder kids have attention problems...

2008-12-04T11:34:00.003+10:00

Just thinking about this makes my head hurt. Things used to be so much simpler.

A wordy post

2008-12-03T13:51:00.001+10:00

Meriam Webster dictionary has released the 10 most frequently looked up words in 2008. In order they are:
Bailout, vet, socialism, maverick, bipartisan, trepidation, precipice, rogue, misogyny, turmoil...

Obviously some were influenced by the global economic crisis - like misogyny... others by the US election... like bailout. Obviously other people wanted to know where to send their dogs... Or, it could be that the American populace was wondering why Obama was so keen to vet his cabinet. English is a funny language. Why do you need a trained animal doctor to check out a piece of furniture?

Here's how the list stacks up to previous years - where w00t, Facebook and others all appear. It's an interesting way to track people's thinking and concerns. And what they don't know but are choosing to be educated about.

Right Ahead

2008-12-03T13:00:00.001+10:00

I'm preaching at church on Sunday night. A Christmas talk. On Revelation 12. It's a weird passage. You should read it.

Here's the first five verses:

1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.

Seriously, how can you not want to write a 25 minute talk on that (and the next bits)? Will you be putting a seven headed dragon in your nativity scene this year?

Revelation is, along with Daniel, one of those books that gets Christians in a bit of a pickle. It has been so poorly understood and spawned crazy theological ideas and eschatology (end time theology). Revelation was written to the early church, in a time when the early church was being ripped to pieces (quite literally) by crazy emperor Nero.

One outcome of the confusion surrounding the book of Revelation is the unbelievably (in the literal suspension of belief sense) popular "Left Behind" series. I haven't read them. I have no desire to. But the underpinning idea of secret one world governments and the shadowy "Illuminati" is based on a really poor apocalyptic reading of Revelation that defies context.

I caught Louis Theroux and the Survivalists on TV a couple of weeks ago. These are people who take Revelation all the wrong way. Here's the full length episode on google video.

I plan one day to write a spoof of "Left Behind" called Right Ahead. I'm not sure anyone will buy it. But at least it will be theologically correct.

Conspiracy

2008-12-03T12:35:00.001+10:00

Hillary Clinton only has to kill four people - then pardon herself - to be the next President of the United States. The Huffington Post has the order of succession as follows:

PRESIDENTIAL LINE OF SUCCESSION (Obama Administration)

Joe Biden (Vice President and President of Senate)
Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House)
Robert Byrd (Senate President Pro Tempore)
Hillary Clinton (State)
Timothy Geithner (Treasury)
Robert Gates (Defense)
Eric Holder (Justice)
TBD (Interior)
TBD (Agriculture)
Bill Richardson (Commerce)

She better watch out though, that Timothy Geithner is a mean looking son of a gun.

Need an easy reference card featuring your DNA?

2008-12-03T12:05:00.003+10:00

Of course you do. You could mount it on your wall. What if I told you it's available in 25 different colours? How bout a couple of sizes? Still not sold...

All thanks to dna11.

If you're curious - here's the process:

Additional Details:
Upon ordering, you or the gift recipient are sent a kit with DNA collection swab and simple instructions.
You also receive a card for adding your name or personal message to the bottom of the image (no extra charge).
Takes 4-6 weeks from ordering online to receiving your print.
Print is easily removed from glass if you want a different frame in the future.
Includes isolating and visualizing your Brain and Muscle Gene. Your Gene booklet is also included.
Comes with a certificate of authenticity.
100% unconditional money back guarantee.

Deus Ex Machinima

2008-12-03T11:12:00.001+10:00

I'm no gaming aficionado. I like games. I play a lot of Tetris. And I like Hitman. I just haven't yet lost the requisite number of kilos (1 down, 9 to go) to earn my Xbox. I've also never played Deus Ex. But this project - to provide a high definition texture pack for the game sounds very interesting. Imagine all the old games with great gameplay but lowsy graphics that could be improved in this manner. And to make some reference to my cool title pun - imagine high definition machinima made using old games... like Deus Ex... actually, a quick google reveals Deus Ex Machinima has already been done. But using Halo. Oh well.

Kudos to this design team. Wolfenstein 3D in high res anybody? I'd play that.

Dull

2008-12-03T10:39:00.001+10:00

I find this blog incredibly amusing. It claims to be the dullest blog in the world and it is.

It has been defunct for two years but still enjoys some popularity. Here's a sample. They are all this good.

Putting a piece of junk mail into the waste paper basket…
February 2nd, 2004

I discovered a piece of junk mail on my door mat. I carried the item away from the front door and held it above the waste paper basket. I opened my hand, thereby allowing the piece of junk mail to fall into the basket.

When you sing you begin with Do Re Mi

2008-12-03T10:28:00.001+10:00

When you want to make big bucks in radio you begin with ABC. It's a sad fact of life that JJJ, and more broadly the ABC, cultivate 90%* of the media talent in this world, and they all eventually leave.

Roy and HG have had many trists and dalliances with commercial TV through their Olympic broadcasts and the like - but until now have remained true to their radio roots with "This Sporting Life" on JJJ on a Sunday afternoon. But no more. They're off to the greener pastures of MMM. They did manage to stay there much longer than Merrick and Rosso, or Wil Anderson - and they command respect for that...

But for some reason this makes me angry. I was probably so ingrained by the left leaning creative types at uni that I scream "sell out" every time someone makes money out of their creativity. It's a hard line to tread. The thing is - even JJJ radio personalities make an exhorbitant amount of money on the professional MC circuit.

Even ABC breakfast radio hosts command more than $10,000 an appearance** - and that's pretty close to the base rate. Seriously, this is easier than painting some obscure blue poles on canvas. You get 100 of these gigs a year (assuming 1 mid week and 1 a weekend over 52 weeks) and that's a million bucks. Why you can't stick to your principles and stay committed to the station that nurtured your talent is beyond me. I guess this is the only way new talent is allowed an opportunity. But I find it all a little mercenary.

*arbitrarily selected figure
** One extroverted mathematician in particular, ex JJJ, we had him up here for a function a while back...

Dangerous book for boys

2008-12-03T10:19:00.001+10:00

Nine year old Alex Greven is putting out a self help book for guys called "How to talk to girls". Advice from a nine year old with no experience may be a bitter pill to swallow. But here are some quotes from Alex (via the SMH)

On brains v brawn

"You want the girl to notice you," he writes. "But you don't want to draw too much attention to yourself or she will think you are a crazy madman who doesn't even know where his brain is."
He says it is important not to be a show-off.
But it is good to be the smartest boy in the class, because "girls will be prowling at your feet".

On grooming

"Comb your hair and don't wear sweats. Control your hyperness (cut down on the sugar if you have to). Don't act desperate."

On pretty girls

He warned boys to be wary of "pretty girls".
"It is easy to spot pretty girls because they have big earrings, fancy dresses and all the jewellery ... pretty girls are like cars that need a lot of oil," he writes in chapter three.

On heartbreak

"Sometimes, you get a girl to like you, then she ditches you. Life is hard, move on!"
"Or sometimes it doesn't work out. I had a crush on a girl in preschool. Then my family had to move, so I had to let her wash out of my mind."
"About 73 per cent of regular girls ditch boys; 98 per cent of pretty girls ditch boys."
"If you do get a girl to like you, that is victory. Winning victory is a dream for most boys, but it is very rare."

The boy is clearly a genius.

You know you've got too much time on your hands when...

2008-12-01T13:41:00.003+10:00

When you can make a scene from Super Mario using 17,000 pins. There's a whole gallery of Mario goodness awaiting anyone brave enough to click that link. I know they're called drawing pins... but that's ridiculous.

Jupiters stripped bear for charity fundraiser

2008-12-01T12:09:00.001+10:00

Today's Townsville Bulletin carries an unfortunate headline regarding Jupiters' charity garage sale on the weekend. Apparently they stripped a bear? But it's ok, it was for charity. Not like that cruel "dancing bears" game they play in India. The humane society is dead against that.

This is incredible.

2008-11-30T16:11:00.001+10:00

Interactive Video Object Manipulation from Dan Goldman on Vimeo.

Say "I love you" in style

2008-11-30T15:22:00.001+10:00

Nothing says "I love you" like one of these. Literally. You can turn any computer generated sound waves into highly fashionable jewelery at just the click of the button . Bracelets, necklaces and earings are just the tip of the sonic iceberg. There's also an "installation art" option where you can wall mount the sound waves and have a specially installed stereo play it at just the push of the button. John Cage's 4'33'' would be a particularly poignant piece of art and/or the ultimate avant garde arm guard.

A good analogy

2008-11-28T10:27:00.001+10:00

I know Ben hates analogies. This will annoy him. But if Annabel Crabb is my Herald pin up girl then Peter Hartcher is a close second as far as his writing is concerned.

"Rudd has grown attached to his description of the crisis as a result of "extreme capitalism". That's akin to saying the Titanic sank because of "extreme sailing". The US economy and financial markets collapsed not because of the doctrine of capitalism, any more than the Titanic sank because of the practice of international shipping. The cause of the calamity was bad policy, just as the cause of the Titanic's fate was bad navigating."

Both Rudd and Turnbull cop a tongue lashing in the piece. Well worth reading.

"Why does it matter what Rudd calls it? Because from the diagnosis comes the cure. The fault was not capitalism, extreme or lame. It was bad policy.
As for Malcolm Turnbull, he has made some sensible suggestions on how the Government should respond to the crisis, but the one he made this week is not one of them. Turnbull claims the Government must not allow a budget deficit. Already, Rudd has used half the projected budget surplus for this fiscal year as apackage to stimulate growth."

Of mice, and monkeys?

2008-11-28T09:21:00.010+10:00

Engadget has compiled a list of stupid gadgets that should be avoided at all costs. There seems to be a particular focus on mice.

Like this one:

It sure is dumb. It's a red piggy mouse. Some of them are quite cool. I would buy them. But I'm not sure why, or why they were ever invented. Like the Mouse Scale... for those people wanting to keep track of how much their hand weighs?

Luckily it comes with a cover for when your hands are feeling a little fat...

The real winner, as far as I'm concerned, is the USB powered "monkey" hand warmers.

For those looking for a little monkey magic - there's a matching footwarmer. At $46US for the set - plus postage. A great Christmas present. Shame I live in the tropics.

Carazy

2008-11-28T07:58:00.001+10:00

Keith Loutit is the man who produced those amazing tilt shift videos of the Sydney Harbour I posted a while ago. He's at it again. This time making a demolition derby look like a game with Tonka trucks.

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Bach off

2008-11-27T22:41:00.008+10:00

This is the best work of the 2008 Walkley awards best headline winner Rob Mills. It's good - but I think the real gem came from one of the other nominees. I'd like to know on what basis these were selected. The winners announcement says:

"Knowing what makes a good headline is instinctive and ethereal rather than formulaic, but Mills prefers to use humour to grab readers’ attention. These headlines, from politics to the arts, shimmer with lively puns and pop-culture references. They are layered, lithe and fresh."

Here's the complete list of nominees and their submissions:

Headings
Rick Feneley, The Sydney Morning Herald,
“The felonious monk and his trail of lies”
“Welcome to the CBD: all arteries, no pulse”
“Della in the freezer”

Rob Mills, The Sydney Morning Herald,
“Bach from the dead: fresh portrait of a decomposer”
“Yes, I did inhale: Liberal leader admits sniffing staffer’s chair”
“Dear me: Della penned Iguanas letter”

David Winter, The Monthly,
“It’s Bennelong time”
“The great pretender”
“From Mandarin to top banana”

My favourite by far is the last one. I even bought the magazine in question thanks to that stunning cover headline. I do like the Bach one though.

If life were a musical

2008-11-27T20:23:00.001+10:00

It would be much easier to steer the plot with this little number. A shirt with its very own in built speaker. Just $40 US. It's a limited release - and the speaker can be removed so that you can wash it. The shirt that is. Not the speaker. Here's a demo video... just in case you're not convinced.

Change we can believe in

2008-11-27T15:43:00.000+10:00

The problem with campaigning on a definitive narrative - or theme - is that you'll be stuck with it when you get into office. Like the Rudd government and the economic albatross around its neck - Obama is now stuck with this rhetoric of change. And is copping criticism for appointing people with Washington experience. His whole campaign message was predicated on getting rid of the influence of lobbyists. Not getting rid of everyone in Washington...

Here's Obama's take on the situation from the Huffington Post.

"So it would be surprising if I selected a Treasury Secretary who had had no connection with the last Democratic administration, because that would mean that the person had no experience in Washington whatsoever. And I suspect that you would be troubled and the American people would be troubled if I selected a Treasury Secretary or a chairman of the National Economic Council, at one of the most critical economic times in our history, who had no experience in government whatsoever. What we are going to do is combine experience with fresh thinking."

It's a lemon

2008-11-27T12:29:00.002+10:00

This clock is remarkably similar to a chemistry assignment I did in year 12. If only I'd gone into commercial science...

Optima Prime

2008-11-27T11:46:00.002+10:00

The words "Cool" and "Transformers T-Shirt" and "ASCII Art" were never destined to be included in the same sentence. Until now. This is the second time I've made an Optimus Prime pun inspired post. You can buy this shirt for $14US. I know I want one.

K-Ruddy Year

2008-11-27T11:11:00.001+10:00

A year on, K-Rudd hasn't grown on me. He's still a triumph of symbolism over substance. What has he done? Not much. Annabel Crabb, still my favourite political commentator, obtusely reviewed his year in office... complete with Shakespeare reference. I'm still in awe of her. She is brilliant.

And then, in a story on his dropping the d word - "defecit" in parliament yesterday - highlighted this little gem from the PM's first post trip question time...

As he arrived for question Time, at 2pm, the Prime Minister scanned the Opposition front bench and performed a double-take when he espied the employment spokesman, Andrew Southcott, whose Movember moustache has survived a sickly infancy to become a luxuriant ornament to his upper lip. Noticing the PM's surprise, Mr Southcott told him: "I grew it - while you were away."
The comment was a palpable hit; even the row of disciplined countenances along the Government's front bench betrayed the odd appreciative smirk.

Anyway, a year of Labor in power. Interest rates have plunged - which would be a good thing, if they hadn't been raised first. But in isolation it's quite a positive - shame about the rest of the economy - and the deficit... politically a bad move, given a budget surplus is generally understood by the population as being a marker of successful fiscal managment. I think a deficit is not necessarily a bad thing - provided it's contained to spending on infrastructure. What's the repo man going to do? Take away our roads and ports? The rest of the population is happy to borrow beyond its means to finance a lifestyle and to invest - why isn't that thinking extended to the government? Anyway, Rudd will have to be prepared to die by a sword of his own making - given that he promised a surplus budget. The Coalition will no doubt continue hammering the fact that they paid off Labor's debts and they do still have a reputation of economic management - conveniently the Global Economic Crisis really began to be noticed under Rudd's watch, and there blame will be apportioned. The global economy is largely out of governmental control. I'm more interested in Rudd's bad policy moves in emissions trading and other decisions that will ultimately cost jobs and make us less competitive - and the fact that he's the most boring Prime Minister in the world with a massive reliance on cliche and cheap buzz phrases like "a bridge too far."

In the beginning

2008-11-27T08:36:00.001+10:00

Just over a week ago I posted a link to a Flickr set of endings from movies. It seems fitting then, that I direct you to this website dedicated to opening scenes. A while back, in my blogging hiatus, I read about this guy named Saul Bass - a famous title scene creator - who also designed a bunch of famous corporate logos. I can't see any of his work on this particular site though - so he's only relevant because he's a kind of cool guy.

Passionate Defense

2008-11-26T16:14:00.000+10:00

Mel Gibson is in trouble. The screenwriter from his hit ~~movie~~ gorefest "The Passion of the Christ" is claiming he was underpaid. I haven't seen the Passion. I have no intention of doing so. I don't see how Gibson's interpretation of the events of the crucifixion of Jesus could be any more compelling than the text.

The scriptwriter is seeking $10 million for the work. Pretty good money if you can get it - particularly since the original was pretty much there in the form of one of the world's best selling and most popular books. Any monkey could have produced a screenplay from that source material. Who does this guy think he is?

Hippy to be square

2008-11-26T09:39:00.002+10:00

Last week I bragged about how green my gaming console use was. Greenpeace disagrees. They hate Nintendo. I can simultaneously satiate my need to be green and my intolerance of hippies by playing the 64.

See sore (sic) bike

2008-11-25T11:36:00.000+10:00

An invention for the ages. Headbutt your friends in the ultimate pedal powered version of push me pull me. As you lose weight through exertion your friend gets closer to the road - eventually taking over with catastrophic consequences:

Obama Blend

2008-11-24T22:52:00.003+10:00

A Jefferson coffee roaster has launched the Obama Blend - a mix of Indonesian, Kenyan and Hawaiian beans. Longfellows started producing the blend recently after the owner's son had the idea while standing in the shower. Campos Coffee in Sydney has been producing their own Obama Blend for months - at least since June.

At the moment I'm drinking Ethiopian Yirgacheffe roasted in a breadmaker using a heatgun. Ethiopia is the home of coffee. The Yirgacheffe is spectacular and I've been looking for some way to mention it in a post in the last couple of days.

Sudoku takes Singapore mall by storm

2008-11-24T14:32:00.009+10:00

Sudoku Championships look suspiciously like giant sudoku. Requires big pen.

On the Religious Right

2008-11-24T13:21:00.002+10:00

Frank Schaeffer - son of theologian/evangelist Francis Schaeffer (sometimes regarded as the founder of the Religious Right) - has some interesting thoughts on the movement's future posted in an article on the Huffington Post today. He has made major moves to distance himself from his father - even converting to the Greek Orthodox church. I read a couple of his novels this year - they're pretty funny, they deal with some of the frustrations of growing up in the home of a Calvinist Minister - I could relate, but don't share his sense of disenfranchisement with reformed theology.

He brings up the Old Testament laws - like stoning homosexuals - as a strawman point in his otherwise reasonable piece. There are some theological problems with this point which he doesn't go over:

1. The Old Testament laws are specific to God's people - Israel - Israel do not run around imposing the laws on their neighbours - although foreigners can sign up.

2. Israel don't do a great job of keeping the laws - and the laws were set at a standard that no human could keep - hence the need for Jesus.

Schaeffer's argument basically focuses on these other points:

1. America is not "God's people" - even if they are nominally a Christian nation - the presence of just one non Christian in America would debunk that.

2. Nor is America a theocracy.

It's a good article on how the Religious Right could choose to be a force for good - rather than bleating and trying to repeal laws that are popular with the majority.

EDIT: I think I need to point out that I do think there are some issues that transcend the rights of the majority and the need for protection of minorities - and in fact there are some issues where this point of view is shaped by theology. Issues like abortion - where the question is not a question of freedom for the parents (not just the mother) - but also the question of protecting the innocent unborn child - and their rights. Schaeffer makes an interesting point that's worth repeating if you haven't clicked through to the article:

"This knowledge signals not just a loss for the Religious right but a resounding and permanent defeat. It also signals (to anyone sane) that even if you except the Religious right's view that, for instance, all abortion is murder, gay marriage an affront to God's natural law and so forth, a change of tactics is in order. Obviously no one is getting convinced, but rather the culture is moving in the other direction. In fact the Religious Right has made its case so badly that with friends like these them causes need no enemies."

Tanner's hide

2008-11-24T11:39:00.001+10:00

Finance and Deregulation Minister Lindsay Tanner is Web 2.0 enabled with a blog over at the SMH. Today's post is all about the government's new Web 2.0 based thinking - they're probably going to use blogs in some upcoming community consultation. Ironic really, given that the same government is advocating restrictions to the internet that would put us on par with China. Perhaps comments they don't agree with in the consultative process will be blocked? Or the IP address taken down and the perpetraitor (sic) silently removed from their homes and literally excommunicated (possibly a removal of Internet privileges).

Here's Tanner's rather convoluted description of what he thinks about Web 2.0...

"This new mode of production is known in the academic literature as peer production, but is more commonly referred to as Web 2.0. It is a trend that applies to much more than the creation of cultural goods, although these goods, such as the innumerable YouTube video mashups which poke fun at politicians, are acting as the harbingers of change."

"Peer production empowers every citizen to be creator and critic, as well as consumer, of information. It is a mode of production that is enabled by two key factors. The first is the collapse of cost barriers to producing information - computers are now widely accessible in western society. The second is the removal of logistical and functional barriers to collaboration through new internet based networks."

"The glue that binds peer production together is the ethic of collaboration it inculcates among groups. People contribute their time to peer production because they find communities with a passion for making their adopted content niche the best it can be."

"This environment also creates efficiencies by allowing skilled amateurs to allocate their intellectual capital to the content niche about which they are most passionate. This is significant when you consider the quality and value of work done by people for love and not money."

All in all, his article is a pretty garbled way of saying the Government is down with the Internets and all that.

"These changes are not easy for government to process. Our Westminster bureaucracy has optimised its policy production processes over centuries. Adaptation to the new information environment will be neither quick nor easy."

I guess that's something Obama can relate to.

Here's his obligatory dig at the Howard Government:

"The Australian Government should be leading the way in adapting our old processes of consultation, policy making and regulation to the connected world. Yet we lag behind other nations in both the scale and pace of reform, a situation largely attributable to the culture of secrecy, spin and apathy of the Howard years."

"I am taking steps to reinvigorate the Commonwealth's efforts in this area. For example, early in the new year the Government will run a number of trial online consultations using blogs and other Web 2.0 tools"

You know what would be brilliantly ironic - if all this consultation got blocked by the Government's proposed clean feed (a very bad idea - putting us on par with China in terms of restrictions) with it's invisible blacklist of sites. My disdain for the Australian Christian Lobby is growing - I think they miss the point on so many issues when dealing with a secular government and trying to impose Christian values on the general public - who generally aren't Christians. I acknowledge that as Christians we believe our way of life is better - and more in line with God's expectations - but it's not for us to impose our code of conduct on the rest of society. I also acknowledge that increased consumption of pornography has some links to increases in sexual violence and is socially undesirable. But I don't think this is the way to tackle it - and I don't think - as Jim Wallace so tactlessly put it that opposing this plan is tantamount to supporting the evils that lurk in the dark corners of the internet. Here's the quote from the ACL Media Release.

"Obviously the Internet industry is going to continue to fight this important initiative

but the interests of children must be placed first."

"The need to prevent access to illegal hard-core material and child pornography must

be placed above the industry's desire for unfettered access."

Censorship is bad. Particularly for the church. Once you start advocating censorship what happens if a militant anti-Christian or Islamic party gets in and adds all the Christian sites to the black list? Have you thought about that ACL? Have you? Christians who are serious about Christianity's real agenda - which is the proclamation of the gospel can not be supportive of Government intervention into the minds and beliefs of the general public.

By all means, if you're a Christian then take part in the political process - but don't pretend to speak for all of us - and do so to raise your opinion on a matter - not to demand legislation be based on a Christian world view. That is not in the spirit of democracy - that's a theocracy.

Oh, and if you want to voice your opinion on this matter through the press (or the Government's upcoming Web 2.0 consultancy process) - the ACL has a handy letters to the editor writing guide.

I'm going to do some work now.

Round of applause

2008-11-24T09:54:00.001+10:00

Someone much more technically astute than me designed this cube - that lights up when you get a new email in your gmail account.

It's pretty clever. But almost completely useless.

The reason I mention this now is that a British designer has just launched a "self applauding machine " that will launch into a hearty clapping session at the touch of a button.

I reckon some enterprising software engineering type could rejig it so that it applauds every time someone posts a comment on your blog/Facebook photos/anything online that indicates they have taken some interest in your work. Any volunteers?

CSS and desist

2008-11-23T17:29:00.000+10:00

CSS is confusing. I just saw my new design in Internet Explorer 7 for the first time - and it still didn't work. Oh for a standards compliant Microsoft... oh well, I think I fixed it by essentially ditching the transparency setting for Explorer. Still, my design looks better in Chrome and Firefox. I doubt that will be the tipping point for anyone contemplating switching browsers. Any Explorer readers out there finding this easier to read? Let me know please - older versions than IE7 may still have problems.

Kitty litter

2008-11-23T15:52:00.001+10:00

The two headed cat from yesterday's post died today. I guess the answer to the question of how suitable a two headed cat is as a pet is "not very". Fun while it lasted though...

Genius

2008-11-23T14:03:00.002+10:00

iTunes 8's genius feature is brilliant. I hearts it, I do. It's house cleaning time. I picked Yves St Klein's "Polka" the song from that ad with people throwing stuff in the car from their second story window. And I get the following:

Darren Hanlon, Xavier Rudd, White Stripes, Kaiser Chiefs, Supergrass, Pulp, Placebo, Gotye and the Dandy Warhols - a perfect Sunday afternoon clean up mix.

Now I know my ABC

2008-11-23T13:30:00.000+10:00

Sesame Street references aside - I happened to catch the end of the Australia v New Zealand test match this morning in the car. The hapless Chris Martin - the cricketer, not the Coldplay singer - is celebrated as one of the worst tail end batsmen ever to grace the game of cricket. Kerry O'Keefe is one of my favourite commentators in any sport, and he came up with this gem when addressing what Martin could do to fix his game:

"He should chisel a grip out of a surfboard. That'd increase his chance of getting a hit."

Martin was clean bowled a ball later. Kerry O'Keefe also has the most annoying laugh on radio - and he often laughs at his own jokes. He's still the only commentator, in my opinion, who approaches the greatness of Navjot Singh Sidhu - so popular in India his one liners are collated and known as Sidhuisms. One of my favourites was his description of a shot Tendulkar played off his tip toes:

"He played that like a dwarf at a urinal."

It's a shame today's cricket was over so soon - I was looking forward to it occupying my until at least mid afternoon.

Nothing

2008-11-23T08:38:00.001+10:00

0-0

What a disappointing round of Premier League fixtures overnight.

Read this post - free

2008-11-22T22:31:00.001+10:00

Mozilla - the development company that brought you such products as Firefox 1, 2 and 3 - has performed an interesting test on content writing for websites . The general rule is that a link should essentially ask to be clicked. Your link should be compelling and descriptive. Basically you shouldn't ask people to "click here" for more information. Anyway, Mozilla ran a test where their Firefox 3 page would present alternate options in the download button text - "Download now - free" and "Try Firefox 3" and the first option was "significantly" more popular (well a 10.07% conversion rate as opposed to 9.73%). So there you go. Boring reading - but I hope the title was compelling enough to bring you here... and that's what counts.

Give way to buses

2008-11-22T22:19:00.001+10:00

This is the stupidest law in Queensland. I understand that in less civilised countries it's basically the biggest thing on the road has right of way. But I was driving home tonight and this bus just pulled out of me. I started placidly raising my fist and questioning the ability of the bus driver when my wife gently informed me that you have to give way to buses. Hands up who knew that? It's a stupid law. Here it is from the Queensland Transport laws of giving way page :

When should I give way to buses?

In built up areas where the speed limit is 70km/h or below you must give way to buses when:

buses are entering or about to enter traffic
buses are pulling out from a bus stop, shoulder of the road, or far left side of the road
the bus displays a GIVE WAY TO BUSES sign and the right direction indicator is operating.

When a bus complies with all the above criteria, then vehicles approaching from behind must give way. It is important to remember that all vehicles, including buses, must indicate for five seconds before moving off.

It's a dumb law. And there's no way buses ever indicated for five seconds before moving off - but how can you prove that in the event of an accident? Does anyone time it? Is it registered in the bus's black box so that in the case of an emergency it can be recovered to tell all... If buses are a protected species there should be something to ensure they don't take advantage of the system.

balcony panorama

2008-11-22T18:30:00.001+10:00

Robyn's phone has a cool panorama feature. Here's us watching the thunderstorm in Townsville tonight.

He's not the Messiah, according to the "religious right"

2008-11-22T15:51:00.001+10:00

I promise not to dwell on the US election for much longer. I keep finding new and interesting (to me) material as the pundits continue to dissect the results. There's a serious paucity of real political news to report now that the election is done and dusted. We've got two months left of George W Bush - but diplomatic gaff stories (and associated snubbings of antipodan PMs) will only entertain for so long. There is the ongoing selection of Obama's cabinet to occupy interested observers. But when all is said and done, the most interesting thing for political commentators to do is pull apart the reason for Obama's crushing victory - and in some cases the reasons certain areas bucked the trend.

This particular finding may shock you. Evangelical Christians didn't take a shine to Obama . Funnily enough - where the evangelical population was most concentrated was where McCain did best. Who'd have thunk it? These are the voters who were the core of support for George W Bush. Who'd have thought arch conservatives wouldn't like Obama. I find it odd that I liked him so much given my own typical social conservatism. And evangelical beliefs. But then, I'm not an American and Americans (particularly the Christians) have this odd view that puts America at the heart of God's kingdom - and the President as a pseudo pope - their representative of God's kingdom. I don't understand a system of democracy where an individual's faith comes ahead of their ability to govern when they're leading a secular organisation (ie the government). By all means, appoint church leaders on the basis of their doctrine and teaching - as is biblical - but officials should be elected on merit.

Turkey dies slow death in front of cameras

2008-11-22T15:31:00.002+10:00

And birds prepared for Thanksgiving at the same time.

My favourite parts:

"Certainly, I'll probably invite criticism for doing this too. But at least this was fun."

"I'll be in charge of the turkey... I'm always in charge of the turkeys."

Yes, the turkeys in the background are getting it in the neck, literally, as she speaks. It certainly did invite criticism - the interview was conducted after the Governor pardoned a turkey ahead of the Thanksgiving cull. The criticism largely came from the left - who it has to be said are the least likely Palin constituency. But still a PR lesson can be learned here - if you want a positive story for doing something nice to animals don't do the doorstop interview in front of a slaughterhouse. Your message will be lost in the ensuing controversy.

Phoning it in

2008-11-22T14:20:00.002+10:00

I admire the resolve of sub editors around the world not to make racially charged puns on the dilemma surrounding Barack Obama and his blackberry. This is a serious issue people. Due to security concerns - and laws surrounding the status of presidential correspondence - the President of the United States does not have an email address. Lucky the Republicans didn't get in - Sarah Palin's passwords are really easy to crack.
Obama's Blackberry was a constant companion during the campaign. And now he has to give it up - his tech savvy approach to grassroots campaigning was arguably the factor that won him the presidency - it certainly won him the primaries.
Why can the White House not afford to pay the best security people in the business to ensure their Commander in Chief can have access to technology? Surely the US Army doesn't have its officers receiving correspondence by carrier pigeon?
Slate provides some interesting background on the drama - and in the process makes the argument for the President to have email access and the ability to hold on to his preferred communications device.

I, on the other hand, am not the President of the United States. And I want an iPhone. I am lobbying hard for iPhones to be the phone of choice in our office's upgrade of our current mobiles.
iPhones don't just look cool - they're incredibly functional and extensible. They will not go out of date any time soon. Other tech companies (like Google) are struggling to release an iPhone killer - a device to dent the iPhone's popularity. Here is my suggested iPhone killer:

A weighty cause

2008-11-22T10:35:00.001+10:00

I have a deal with my lovely wife that if I lose 10kg I can have an Xbox 360. It's a long running deal. My progress has been pretty stagnant. But now, thanks to Peter Davey and Facebook, you can join the cause and track my progress via this group.

Feel free to drop by the group and give advice/encouragement/suggestions for games to purchase when I reach the goal.

Pick a card, any card

2008-11-21T15:33:00.002+10:00

The ever so helpful folks over at the new humanist have issued a series of cards to make choosing your religious affiliation easy (there are more on the actual site)...

Coffee: the new black?

2008-11-21T15:00:00.002+10:00

I spent much of last night redesigning my blog - it's still not finished, but it's servicable. It prominently features my coffee machine - and pays adequate homage to my coffee fixation. I really struggled to find an appropriate coffee colour for my background. Coffee has so many different colours. Roasted beans vary depending on how well they've been roasted. Green beans, as anyone who's watched TV lately knows thanks to Nestle's ridiculously stupid green bean blend (green beans taste like grass), are green. Brewed coffee has different colours depending on the method - plunger coffee is different to espresso - and espresso is different depending on the heat, grind and length of shot. Also - espresso has a layer of crema (coffee oils) that's a reddy, browny, goldy colour. So I eyedropped a colour from these beans in photo shop (having come up with various shades of purple, red, and pink) that looked about right.

Obviously if you're here reading my blog you know this already - it's more for the benefit of subscribers and people who read this from my Facebook profile.

Epic Whale

2008-11-21T14:38:00.002+10:00

Epic Hail!

2008-11-21T14:07:00.000+10:00

Epic Snail

2008-11-21T13:58:00.001+10:00

Ninjarific

2008-11-21T12:30:00.001+10:00

I'm loving this new Gmail theme. I am Ninja! I especially love that the inbox stars are shurikens. Totally, awesomely ninja. It takes me back, somewhat nostalgically to the coolest ninja game ever - other than Shinobi - Ninja Mission on the Amiga.

Perish the thought

2008-11-21T12:01:00.001+10:00

My grandfather, who we affectionately call "Fa fa", has written a book called "Preach or Perish". He's an old school church minister with a passion for clear communication - and so that's the subject matter the book tackles. I haven't received my *ahem* free copy yet (I'll send him a link to this post and hopefully get one in the mail). Dad has a chapter in it. So as you can see preaching is in my blood (incidentally I'll be preaching at one of the local Pressy churches this Sunday night).

I'm even included in the bio:

Donald Howard had a varied career before his passion for preaching took him to Moore Theological College. His first parish was St Peter's Burwood East from 1966. Foollowing the death of his first wife Diana, he worked in the Anglican Department of Evangelism. In 1981 he married Nan and they ministered at St Stephen's Lugarno until 1992. They retired to Camden where Donald pastored the congregation of St James' Menangle for eight years. He has four children, eleven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild from his first marriage and he and Nan have two adult daughters.

It turns out that a plague of plagiarism is running rife in the American church (and probably Australian ones too) - the dawn of podcasts and posting full text versions of sermons has created the shoddy practice of lifting texts from the net and delivering them verbatim, without disclaimer. The article linked there makes a somewhat unfair (in my opinion) comparison between plagiarising sermons and pornography...

"Clearly, the internet has contributed to the problem. Sermons in both written and audio form are quickly accessible, and the temptation to plagiarize is easier than ever before to indulge. In this regard the sin differs little from the epidemic of internet pornography. But accessibility alone cannot account for the problem. Just as many believe porn is an unhealthy way of coping with a lack of intimacy, there must be some underlying issue that drives pastors to plagiarize."

While I'm prepared to acknowledge plagiarising is probably an example of laziness - I would have assumed that those of us who subscribe to a belief in the Holy Spirit would see sermons as "open source" able to be shared, and used by others within the broader body of the church royalty free. I certainly don't buy in to this argument, at all. If you want to preach someone else's sermon I think that's fine - provided that in the spirit of the open source movement you give credit to the original author. One of the key strengths of the Open Source movement is that source code is provided and is malleable - you're free to make contextual and appropriate changes to suit you use - this too has applications to preaching.

Reinventing the wheel when someone else has a functional, well planned wheel already working seems somewhat silly. I always thought that's what commentaries and other Christian resources were for - that said, I'm not condoning the wholesale reproduction of other people's work - preachers need to connect with their audiences and no one is better placed to speak to a particular church than their own minister - or in fact the other issue raised by the linked article. That of ministers video-casting their sermons to multiple church campuses ala Mark Driscoll. Which is the subject of a separate article...

"Only a preacher with a golden tongue has authority to preach the gospel. It conveys the unspoken belief that no one in the satellite congregation has the authority to speak to their context because preaching requires unique talents that only a few actually possess. Like the wizard in The Wizard of Oz, only the larger-than-life giants, painted by pixelated light, and hovering above the congregation, possess these elusive talents."

LOL Catz

2008-11-21T11:41:00.000+10:00

Haha. This cat has two heads... seriously though, I'm not a cat person but a two headed cat would be an awesome pet. What would happen if you simultaneously tugged the left hand face's left whisker and the right hand face's right whisker. Cat chaos. Brilliant.

Consoling myself

2008-11-20T12:07:00.001+10:00

Attention console owners and video gamers you are killing the planet.* I hope you leave your conscience at the door when you turn your machine on.

The Natural Resources Defense Council has released an American study that found gamers in the US are filling the air with toxic carbon emissions and killing the polar bears.**

"NRDC and Ecos Consulting performed the first ever comprehensive study on the energy use of video game consoles and found that they consumed an estimated 16 billion kilowatt-hours per year -- roughly equal to the annual electricity use of the city of San Diego. Through the incorporation of more user-friendly power management features, we could save approximately 11 billion kWh of electricity per year, cut our nation's electricity bill by more than $1 billion per year, and avoid emissions of more than 7 million tons of CO2 each year."

The news is not all bad for me - as I still don't own a new generation console. I am an eco-friendly gamer with my Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 faring best in a tabled comparison of power usage.

For those of you who are visual thinkers, here's the graph:

You can read the whole report here (PDF). A Playstation 3 ($160) will set you back 16 times the price of a Wii ($10) in energy costs over a year if both devices are left on, and five times the price if both are turned off - $3 and $15 respectively. More video game energy factoids can be found here (another PDF).

Climate Friendly's carbon calculator says the Playstation 3 user who leaves their console on all year round uses an appropriate 1337 kWh per year - which produces 1.4 tonnes of carbon - offsetting that via the aforementioned company will cost you $95 a year.Year round use of the Xbox 360 uses 1031 kWh per year, produces 1.1 tonnes of carbon and costs $75 to offset.

My coffee machine uses 2190 kWh per year (estimated), produces 2.3 tonnes of carbon emissions and would cost $156 to offset. Luckily the Nintendo 64 doesn't even register on the calculator in terms of its annual carbon emissions so I've got a fair bit of credit up my sleeve through my environmentally friendly gaming strategies. Come to think of it, I've been an eco-savvy gamer since way back when playing Eco-Saurus (aka Zug's Adventures on Eco Island). A game so obviously ahead of its time.

*In a literal, physical sense not in the actual game you're playing.
** Killing polar bears would be another fun game - Polar Bear Hunter the long awaited sequel to Deer Hunter...

Spiderman

2008-11-20T10:33:00.001+10:00

The guy behind the spider drawing - David Thorne - has a website full of funny anecdotes, emails and characters who have sent him things. It comes with a language warning - but this is a particularly ingenius account from his own life:

My Confession

When I was in year ten, I would wag school to catch the bus into the city. I would hide the contents of my schoolbag and go to a christian book store called the 'Open Book', covering two levels and a second hand section in the basement. I would go in with my empty bag, select expensive theological volumes, and fill my bag with several hundred dollars worth. I would then use the toilets to remove any price tags before going downstairs to the basement where they would buy my books for half the retail price. I did this twice a week. I figured that if they caught me I would cry and ask for their forgiveness and as christians they would have let me go but they never caught on. I remember one person buying the entire Amy Grant tape collection when it had been on the shelves not ten minutes before. I was saving for a motorbike and bought a Suzuki Katana. The 'Open Book' went broke a year later so it worked out well for everyone.

Weaving a web of success

2008-11-20T09:50:00.001+10:00

The spider drawing story I posted last week now has a fitting conclusion. The picture, originally valued at $233.95 by its creator has "sold" on eBay for $15,000. I say "sold" because I think the chance the buyer will honour the deal is not high. From ninemsn:

"After the exchange hit inboxes, the "original" drawing was put up for sale on eBay by a Swedish man.

"David Thorne was … kind enough to give the spider to me," eBay user "Andreas" says.
"However, this spider is driving me nuts. Also he's lacking a leg and thus is useless to me."
The listing shows there were 18 bids for the drawing, with a starting price of $233.95, and that it was sold for US$10,000 ($15,000)."

Laying the smack down

2008-11-19T11:13:00.001+10:00

This is a stupid story. I was smacked as a child. Sometimes hard enough to leave a mark. I have nothing but respect for my parents for the way they disciplined me. I think I'm a better person for it. What is a father to do? His seven year old son wandered off at night and he found him in a park - so he smacked him, telling him not to do it again. And he gets arrested thanks to a "concerned onlooker" - the boy clearly deserved a smack on the bum - so obviously do the legislators and police force who perpetuate this nanny state - Supernanny would be all for smacking that kid...

Cheque your emotions

2008-11-19T10:49:00.000+10:00

My hatred of emoticons knows no bounds and has been documented previously. They are bad. They are for lazy writers - they are an exclamation mark taken to a new low. So the idea of a USB keyboard dedicated to emoticons just makes me feel empty inside. Those who are interested may like to know that they can be removed from the keyboard and worn as jewelry.
Bajca's (the company) designer says:

Bajca's idea arise from connecting deeply the virtual with the real life. Bajca is the instrument that ” make real” the emotion- a digital translation of every sensation- telling the story of everyday life; spoken, touched and wearn every day.

I say :(. No word yet on how much these will set you back financially - socially they'll be crippling.

walldrop number 4

2008-11-19T09:22:00.000+10:00

Thank you for your message. People often write to us about words they have devised, and I am afraid our response is very dull. Before we can even think about drafting a dicttionary entry for a new word, we need a large body of published evidence showing that it has been in widespread and sustained use over a period of at least five years. We are slow to add words to the full Oxford English Dictionary Online, because once added they are never deleted.

You can read more about what is involved at http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq (see 'Will you put in my new word?' in the Dictionaries section). I shall certainly record your contribution in our files, but cannot promise that it will result in an entry.

Margot Charlton

Oxford English Dictionary

Milestones

2008-11-18T17:09:00.002+10:00

Interesting fact - while importing my blog into Wordpress (I'm still toying with making the move but am thinking it needs to be done properly to a wordpress.org site rather than a wordpress.com blog) I noticed that today I hit 300 posts, and 2000 comments. My comment to post ratio is still reasonably good - but most of them are from posts a while ago. That seems worthy of some sort of celebration. I think I'll go home and play some Bomberman on the N64 which arrived in the mail today from eBay.

Walldrop number 3

2008-11-18T16:29:00.001+10:00

It turns out urbandictionary.com already has a "walldrop" which is a backdrop featuring a wall. The only way to guarantee my much better definition is for you all to go here and vote down this definition.

Walldrop number 2

2008-11-18T15:32:00.002+10:00

I am so taken with my new word that I've submitted it to the Oxford English Dictionary... my chances of success are less than good.

Here is the email I sent:

Dear Oxford English Dictionary Editor (or whomever reads this correspondence),
I wish to submit a new word for your consideration.
The rise of Facebook and other social networking hubs has, I believe, created a new sphere of voyeurism whereby readers are able to secretly observe the conversations of their friends via the Facebook element known as "the wall". As "eavesdropping" was so named for listening to the conversations of others through the "eaves", I submit the following word and definition:
Walldrop:
intr.v., -dropped, -drop·ping, -drops.
To read the conversations of others on Facebook
Etymology – derived from eavesdrop
Best regards,
Nathan Campbell
Corporate Communications Executive

I included my title because it makes me sound impressively wordy.

Just to ensure some modicum of success I also submitted my word to urbandictionary.com which goes as close to guaranteeing inclusion as possible. I'll let you know how the campaign goes.

Walldropping

2008-11-18T15:00:00.001+10:00

Walldrop:
intr.v., -dropped, -drop·ping, -drops.

1. To read the conversations of others on Facebook

2. To fall off a wall eg - Humpty Dumpty

I don't know about you - but Facebook awakens my inner voyeur - I think walldropping is a good new word to describe using the "wall to wall" link to peer into other people's conversations.

You heard it here first people. Remember that. I don't think you get royalties for coining new words. Coining is therefore an inappropriate word to describe the creation of new words.

Rudd's speech writer issued new vocabulary

2008-11-18T14:37:00.001+10:00

Stop Press. BBC News is reporting on the 20 most annoying conversational cliches - coming soon to a Prime Minister's address near you...

Warning signs

2008-11-18T14:04:00.001+10:00

This fully posable warning sign finally allows you to warn others of the perils of your mastery of obscure strains of martial arts. Otherwise it's completely useless.

Milking the debate

2008-11-18T13:46:00.001+10:00

My ongoing investigation into milk prices continues. My research reveals a shocking fact. Milk costs about the same to produce per litre as petrol - and yet we still pay significantly more at the Servo.

To begin my research on the matter I first contacted Ben, my economics consultant, who said the following:

"It probably costs more to produce/transport (I'm no milkologist, so i don't know about this for sure), at any particular time there is only a certain supply of milk, so it is open to general market forces, you demand less milk than petrol, so the marginal utility you gain at 1 litre of milk is vastly lower than that of petrol.

Really, they are totally different items. People who think that comparing the price of milk to petrol will reveal some holy grail of pricing failure are retards."

Not content to be left in the retard basket I pursued the issue with expanded economic factors...

If scarcity is a factor though surely the ease in which milk can be created as opposed to fuel should make the supply side of the equation the larger side and lower the price - also the fact that milk has a much shorter shelf life should keep the price low because retailers can't afford to hang on to it? Shouldn't it? Milk is expensive - it's about $2 a litre if you buy it from a servo - and around $1.25 from a Supermarket - it can't cost that much to produce - all you need is a cow and some grass - I assume too, that a cow, being an appreciating asset (as long as it's getting fatter) has a net cost of zero to the farmer.

It can't possibly cost more to squeeze a cow's nipple than to extract crude oil from the ground and refine it into petrol. Isn't part of the deal with oil pricing that there's a central pricing body who make the call based on available supply, future supply and market conditions? Surely milk has an almost infinite future supply and ample current supply, and pretty consistent, steady demand. Unless there's a sudden spike in demand for milk products like ice cream and milkshakes... There shouldn't be any inefficiencies in its production created by fluctuations in the market and it shouldn't cost more than petrol.

Its carbon footprint is an issue because Cows produce methane so I guess emissions trading will also impact on milk pricing.

Ben says I have it all wrong:

"Cows apparently cost a lot to upkeep. Cows also are relatively labour intensive per litre. Milk requires handling up to health and saftety standards, specific packaging, refrigeration. sure, pumping oil out of the ground is expensive, but they can pull out a million litres with only a few personnel and throw it in a ship and take it places. Sure it has to be refined, but i wouldn't be surprised if fuel refinement is about on par costwise with milk refinement, if not cheaper."

Not content to let my research die at a secondary source - I decided to pursue details from the primary producers. I found the following:

"Milk prices paid to farmers are determined on the basis of milkfat, protein and volume:
Payment = milk fat ($/kg) + protein ($/kg) - volume charge (c/L)"

According to the current figures Milk farmers receive about 44c per litre of milk - and $5.80 per kilo of Milk solids (milk fat and protein). I'm not sure why the volume charge is subtracted... but that's a separate issue. Milk it seems costs 44c per transaction in the initial purchasing stage. It must then be processed, bottled, and distributed to the retailer.

Milk prices, assuming you haven't visited that link above, are set to rise this year due to the following factors:

"The Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE) expects that milk prices will continue to rise through to 2008-09 (Outlook Conference, 2007):
High prices in recent years have been driven by constraints to growth in the three main exporters (EU, NZ & Aust.) at a time of rising global demand
The current drought in Australia will limit total production in 2006-07 and 2007-08
Poor seasonal conditions have also been evident in New Zealand
There has been heat and drought in the EU, and CAP reforms have reduced incentives to produce milk

On the other hand increased supplies are expected from emerging exporters such as Argentina and the Ukraine, while China's dairy production (mainly for domestic consumption) continues to rise"

This UK site estimates average cost per litre of milk at about 13.7 pence per litre - that's not taking into account the milk solid production.

Costs of production of milk are actually decreasing. And the average Tasmanian cow (which I assume is similar to the average Australian cow) produces 386kg of milk solids - and each cow produces about $1,488 worth of milk and milk solids while costing $1,196 to maintain (on a 250 cow farm).

So, that's all quite long winded - but basically the farmer is selling the milk at 44c per litre - and being looked after in the process. The extra 80 cents (at least) is being added by the retailers and others. The government currently levies 11c per litre - but that's all set to change. Good to see the Rudd Government doing something about this issue.

The whole debate (in my mind) centres on whether the production costs of milk and petrol are comparible - I am assuming that the transport/bottling/refining costs are within the ballpark of each other - refrigeration should be cancelled out by the distance fuel is transported etc...

So these guys put the average price of production of a litre of fuel at 25-50c. Another UK site suggests the cost of producing fuel accounts for about 32% of the total cost per litre. The cost of production of a litre of milk accounts for about 35% of the total price based on the regular retail price of $1.25 per litre. So it's Servos that sell milk for $2 a litre or more that are really jacking up the price - and for this they should be held accountable. The figures don't lie. Milk is where the Service Stations are guilty of price gouging.

Unfortunately I promised Paul I'd only make interesting posts after he added me to his RSS reader. I lied.

Let your light shine...

2008-11-18T12:46:00.001+10:00

I'm all for "letting your light shine" for Jesus at Christmas - it's what the Holy day is for. But this Christmas light product produced for the American market to share their "burning" desire for Jesus during the festive season will no doubt be welcomed by an altogether different sector of the community.

Klan meetings can now be called with just the flick of a switch - saves money on all that fuel, and reduces the chance of those pesky white robes catching fire.