The Blarg of Fosnez

Air NZ

2011-03-28T22:03:00.002+11:00

No further comments....

Elementary

2011-02-16T20:50:00.000+11:00

.. my dear Watson.

If you haven't heard / witnessed the power of the IBM Watson project, have a look below. This is all live and the questions are not fed into the computer in text form:

Reports are coming in after the Cyclone

2011-02-03T07:49:00.002+11:00

I've had notification from people in Mareeba, Cairns and Townsville. Those areas appear to have survived reasonable well. It's the Cardwell - Ingham area that will be worst effected. The eye passed almost directly over Bingil Bay.

Port Dogulas Storm Surge Map

2011-02-02T06:38:00.001+11:00

I saw this map posted to facebook. View the complete album here. Lots of Info in there for people in Port Dogulas.

Please bear in mind this is an older map and should be used as a guide only.

Cairns, Townsville and FNQ Webcams

2011-02-01T18:59:00.020+11:00

For those of us that can't be in Cairns, Townsville or anywhere in FNQ for Cyclone Yasi, I will add links to Webcams in Cairns as I find them below, and strike them out as they appear to fail :(

Looks like power has gone in Cairns, so most of the cairns ones will be offline.

~~CairnsGreatBarrierReef.org.au (2 minute limit, just refresh the page)~~
CairnsCam.info (The timelaps feature should be quite interesting)
~~CairnsWeatherCam.com.au~~
~~Edge Hill~~
~~QLD Transport Webcams: 1, 2, 3, 4~~
~~CairnsInfo.com~~
Mareeba (George Creek Orchards)
~~Townsville T1 Apartments (Has ads, grrr)~~
~~Mourilyan~~
~~Innisfail~~
Townsville - Castle Hill
~~Townsvile 2 webcam~~
~~Townsville, (West End?)~~
~~Townsville - West End 2~~
4 Mile Beach
~~Earlville- Cairns (Little Pink House)~~
~~Cairns Beaches~~
~~Cairns - Earlville~~
~~Cairns - Earlville 2~~

4pm & 5pm (EST) Cyclone Update from CRC

2011-02-01T18:02:00.002+11:00

Cairns Regional Council advises that for those residents who have no alternative for moving to higher ground, evacuation centres will be open at 6am Wednesday 2 February at the following locations:

Redlynch High School
James Cook University
Smithfield State High School
Babinda RSL
Mossman Community Indoor Sports Centre
Woree State High School

Conditions at these locations are minimal and residents are encouraged to bring their own bedding, food and medications.

Residents are urged to seek shelter with relatives and friends, as using these centres should be a last resort.

At these centres no pets, alcohol or weapons of any description will be allowed.

Contact the Centre on 4044 3377. If emergency medical assistance is required, dial 000.

An evacuation advice has been issued for those residents in the ORANGE (and therefore RED) Zone on this map. Residents in the ORANGE zone should commence evacuation to higher ground as soon as possible and should register with the Cyclone Yasi Evacuation Register hotline on 1300 993 191.

Evacuation Maps for Cairns

2011-02-01T17:37:00.018+11:00

A full rant will be following as to why the community has to provide these maps to each other when the council clearly cannot. Anyway.

The last Update I was able to see on their website (1/02/2010 10pm EST) is that people in the ORANGE (and therefore RED) Zones of the below map should evacuate.

Download Evacuation Map: PDF (Mirror) PNG ( Hi Resolution PNG )
(Seriously CRC, a 12mb PDF? On your servers?)

There's a lot of confusion going around about the RED, ORANGE and YELLOW zones. To (unofficially) clarify:

The RED zones are the closest to sea level, and the most at risk of flooding. GET OUT NOW. ORANGE is next closest to sea level and as of 1/2/2011 has been advised to evacuate as well. YELLOW is on alert, but not advised to evacuate, yet.

Here's just the ORANGE zones (which, obviously, include the RED zones). Click to make bigger:

Cairns Storm Surge Maps

2011-02-01T16:18:00.004+11:00

Cairns Regional Council's Storm Surge Map server is being hammered.

The Queensland Police have a mirror available.

Also, be sure you check out the Evacuation Maps

One "Art" please.

2011-01-30T21:58:00.001+11:00

It's not often I agree with "modern" art. But then again, this is really just contemporary art with modern tools:

Think About It Ya Bogans

2011-01-25T21:46:00.000+11:00

Kitchen's on Fire

2011-01-25T20:56:00.000+11:00

Looks like someone left the noodles on too long.

Actually, it looks like it was just a false alarm. Two trucks rocked up, turned off the alarm and left. No smoke, no fire.

Let the Mana flow...

2011-01-23T10:48:00.000+11:00

One of the things I am looking forward to this year is the opening of the Sydney chapter of the Mana Bar.

Mana Bar is the first Australian cocktail bar and video gaming lounge located in Brisbane, Australia within its biggest night-life and entertainment district, Fortitude Valley. The bar held its opening event on March 20, 2010. The bar allows visitors to play current generation gaming console free of charge while enjoying video game themed drinks. The bar is open seven nights a week and often runs special events such as prizes, giveaways, live entertainment and special guests

- Wikipedia

Games, Cocktails and Geeks. What could be better?

The LHC will be Jealous

2011-01-12T01:20:00.001+11:00

The Fermi satellite is a gamma ray detector in orbit. For a while now it has been detecting itself as a gamma ray emitter. Thor has been playing tricks...

Blink, and you miss the future

2010-12-18T18:32:00.001+11:00

Because the future becomes the present:

This is Halloween

2010-10-31T01:37:00.002+11:00

Yes, Yes. I know. It's a very American thing. But this guy lives in America, so I'm allowed to post it, ok?

Rescue Chopper at Lake Placid

2010-10-13T09:11:00.003+11:00

The EMQ Rescue Helicopter has been buzzing Lake Placid and Barron Gorge last night and early today, does anyone know what's going on?

Completely Distasteful

2010-09-03T08:01:00.002+10:00

...I mean, he used Comic Sans for goodness sake! Has he no respect for my eyes!

Source

How to tell your toddler is going to be a metal fan.

2010-08-17T17:01:00.004+10:00

Sleep Talking

2010-08-14T22:43:00.003+10:00

Have a look at the Sleep Talking Man blog. Here are a selection:

If that shark thinks it's coming to bed for a cuddle, it's got another thing coming. God, it's all me me me with that fucker.

It's all lumpy. Hmm. Lumpy. Let's make it smooth. Lumpy lumpy lumpy lumpy lumpy lumpy lump— Bugger! Bollocks and dammit! We're gonna have it lumpy. I can't be arsed.

Sounds like you need an escape goat. With ropes on its horns and a headlight. And no fear of tunnels.

Today couldn't have been any more perfect. Knowing you were on a slow train in hell, oh, that would be the cherry.

Fair Dinkum Election

2010-08-03T14:47:00.004+10:00

The Drum on the ABC site has a great piece of satire.

Tell it like it is: the fair-dinkum election

This is my personal favorite:

No, I didn't get married and have kids. And if I had, you wouldn't be seeing me standing here, would you? I mean, how many married-with-children ladies do you see running the country? By the way, I just love that I keep getting asked, in incredulous tones, whether I am actually going to move Tim into The Lodge if I win. Jesus wept. What else am I going to do? Hit up the BER fund to construct a Covered Outdoor De Facto Area in the back yard where he can hang out? You'll notice I am keeping my temper when I get asked about this every day. But hot damn, do I feel like clunking your skulls together.

Radiation: Fun for the entire family....

2010-07-21T17:58:00.001+10:00

...at least if you live in Berlin.

Remember kids, not all radiation is dangerous and we are living in the stuff every day.

Reverse Phone Number Lookup

2010-07-20T15:49:00.002+10:00

Put in a mobile or landline phone number; get a name, address, etc.

Years ago I had one of these on CD, and I was pretty sure they were illegal now... Apparently not.

And now, for your stalking pleasure:

www.reversephones.com.au

And if you want to be truly scared:

pipl.com

Parking in the 21st Century.

2010-07-14T08:10:00.002+10:00

Parking in Budapest:

Ask yourself: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?

2010-07-13T12:33:00.002+10:00

An interesting Quiz is available on News.com.au

It would appear I most resemble Clint Eastwood in my political alignment of Libertarian.

Police: Now Available in Lime Flavour

2010-07-02T18:04:00.005+10:00

BE WARNED there's a new highway pursuit car in Cairns, and it's green!

Taken outside the Cop-Shop on Sheridan Street today.

1RXS J160929.1-210524 b

2010-06-30T15:52:00.006+10:00

1RXS J160929.1-210524 b you say? Sounds like some obscure tax form.

Infact it's not. The small orange blob at the top of the above image is the first direct imaging of a planet orbiting around another star, which is about 470 lightyears away. The star's name is "1RXS J160929.1-210524". The planet is a little overweight at 8 times the mass of jupiter and very creatively known as "b".

via Space.com

One is not amused

2010-06-28T06:31:00.003+10:00

The Queen has been watching the football, and she is not at all amused:

Find out where that referee is from. And get MI6 on the phone.

From her unofficial / fake Twitter Account

Football vs Football

2010-06-23T18:54:00.002+10:00

No Day in Court for You.

2010-06-16T07:56:00.005+10:00

Image Source

What the hell is with labor and censorship??? Our good old Captain Bligh just goes from strength to strength - suggesting police have the power to slap people with on-the-spot fines of $100 per hit for swearing. This is my favorite part of the article:

Ms Bligh said the move would increase efficiency, save time and fast-track more important matters in the courts by stopping minor public nuisance offenders from clogging the justice system.

Yes indeed, we wouldn't want people frivolously having their day in court for a frivolous offence do we?

So where is an exhaustive list of "Swear Words"? Will I be charged for sitting at a restaurant and saying "that was a bloody good meal"?

Well Frak that.

Surrealistic

2010-06-13T20:40:00.001+10:00

An awesome collection of surrealistic art by suicidal Japanese artist Tetsuya Ishida can be found here.

Censorship 102

2010-06-11T13:26:00.005+10:00

Welcome back students to your second censorship subject: Censorship 102 - What they really think about you.

You will find this subject draws heavily on matters covered in Censorship 101 - Controlling what they see, especially from chapters:

1. Convincing your people you need Internet Filter

3. Introducing your Internet Filter

6. Dealing with the backlash - The 'Child Porn' Excuse

7. Dealing with the backlash - The 'Bloody Pirates' Excuse

13. Expanding the filter to retain your power

The semester, we will be exploring how to monitor your citizens online and verifying that they are complying with Certified State Good-Think.

Best Licence Plate Ever.

2010-06-10T12:40:00.004+10:00

I saw a car parked across the road from the Court House in Cairns today:

Incase anyone is confused about what WTF means (No, it does not mean "Weird True Freaky"), here's the proper definition.

Tastes like burning

2010-06-10T11:35:00.003+10:00

Whats worse than hundred's of thousands of liters of Oil spilling into the sea?

Hundreds of thousands of liters of Oil spilling onto the sea On Fire:

*EDIT: Turns out it is actually just a ribbon that has recently moved into the camera's view*

Live BP Stream

It's Going To Ruin Us

2010-06-08T19:18:00.002+10:00

The Android phone is for...

2010-06-05T14:29:00.002+10:00

There are white folks, and then there are ignorant Mofos like you.

2010-05-06T02:15:00.003+10:00

In 2006 Barack Obama won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word for his memoir Dreams From My Father.

One of the characters, Ray, had a bit of a potty mouth. The result?, well... who hasn't wanted to hear Barack Obama say "You ain't my bitch nigga, buy your own damn fries"?

Enjoy.

Reflexes of a Mongoose

2010-05-04T22:25:00.001+10:00

iPad Printing Procedure

2010-04-16T08:44:00.001+10:00

This is why I just love apple products, so simple and intuitive to use:

Sin Explained

2010-04-08T22:29:00.002+10:00

No, Not that. This:

I wish someone had shown me that about 10 years ago.

Woolworths bans Visa Debit

2010-04-06T16:49:00.003+10:00

Incase you missed it, Woolworths, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to ban the use of Visa Debit Cards from April 15, 2010.

This means that if you would normally use a Visa Debit Card, you will have to use the saving (spendings?) or cheque option at the checkout.

Or, as I plan to do - Fill up a nice big trolly, rock up to the checkout, attempt to pay with visa debit. When they decline, chastise the store manager and walk out.

For the sake of your other customers, don't do this during peak our. Or arrange a flashmob of 20 people to do it at the same time...

Ascii QR

2010-03-24T09:41:00.006+11:00

In my spare time, I work on little projects. Here's one of them.

It creates QR Codes in text, instead of images. The Source is available.

Shiny Suds: Shine-Tastic!

2010-03-23T22:51:00.000+11:00

An Interview: Encyclopedia Dramatica moderator

2010-03-11T10:51:00.004+11:00

After the Censorship affair earlier this year, Nine MSN contacted a moderator from Encyclopedia Dramatica (the "Evil Twin" of Wikipedia).

Image Source

What follows is a demonstration of well thought out, logical, calm and convincing discussion on the merits of absolute free speech.

A special note for the Stoners

2010-03-10T23:39:00.002+11:00

Avoid watching while High*

*High on life of course

Readability

2010-03-10T23:13:00.004+11:00

If you are a like me, it pains you to have to read articles that look like this or this. All that fluff and clutter.

Thankfully, there are solutions to these problems, like Readability.

Drag and drop it to your browser's bookmark bar (assuming you have a *proper* browser, like Opera, Chrome, Safari or Firefox) and click it for clean reading.

Sheridan Street, now with moar Big Brother

2010-03-01T12:00:00.003+11:00

Looks like Sheridan Street is getting a Big Brother treatment:

I presume they will be used to watch for heavy vehicles running up and down Sheridan Street, because even The Nanny State has said that CCTV for Crime prevention is useless.

BitTorrent, How does it Work?

2010-02-18T17:46:00.006+11:00

I'm sure you've all heard of BitTorrent, the tool of pirates, free software users, World of Warcraft Players and Universities. But how does it actually work?

Here is a great visualization on how the data gets shared around "Seeds" and "Peers". (You'll need to use a proper browser, Like Opera, Chrome, Firefox or Safari to view it, because Internet Explorer sucks)

Via TorrentFreak

Cubestormer

2010-02-15T21:18:00.004+11:00

You are snowed in with nothing but a box of lego and a rubik's cube.

What do you do? Play with the rubik's cube until your hands get tired? Well you could do that, but because it's not just any lego, it's a box of Lego Mindstorm, you could be creative:

Via Gizmodo

Keep your foil, I'll take the Gel

2010-02-12T09:22:00.003+11:00

On the back of the Foil Fiasco, which turns out to be another case of politicians not listening to experts, we have this little nugget: Aerogel the space age "frozen smoke" is now cheap enough to use as insulation.

So rip out your foil, and stick in some gel.

The Z-Car is officially Old!

2010-02-12T09:09:00.003+11:00

Oh noes, my precious Z-Car is now 40! What to do!

Well, clearly make a 40th anniversary model!

The 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition starts out as a 370Z Coupe Touring model equipped with manual transmission and Sport Package (including SynchroRev Match, front chin spoiler, rear spoiler, Nissan Sport Brakes, 19-inch Rays forged aluminum-alloy wheels and viscous limited-slip differential) and adds a premium “40th Graphite” exterior color and red leather-appointed interior.

Now if you excuse me, I'll be in my bunk...

Big Pharm, Little Direction

2010-02-12T08:49:00.004+11:00

Apparently, "Queensland Health has released figures revealing the disappointing uptake of the H1N1 vaccine".

Wait... lets read that again:

15 per cent of Far Northern residents have been vaccinated against swine flu... 2 per cent more than the state average.

So, we have another sensationalistic and complete false headline from the Cairns Post. I'm shocked.

Would it come as a surprise to you to find out that even some governments (funnily enough, not ours) are starting to question the severity of Swine Flu? I know, it is hard to believe, but just occasionally they wake up from their drunken binges on public money long enough to realize they've been had by the pharmaceutical companies.

Sigh... would someone please tell the sheep that it's all been one big scam?

And we're back, live here on the BBC

2010-02-12T01:14:00.004+11:00

Well, maybe not on the BBC... But we are on the internets again. I'll try to keep the updates rolling this time, so stay tuned in.

But for now, here's a Google Buzz parody:

Cooking Sama

2009-06-14T11:30:00.001+10:00

Make new signs boys

2009-06-09T09:20:00.004+10:00

I expect to see the speed limit for the bruce highway between cairns and innisfail will soon be reduced to 80km/h or possibly 60km/h. Why you ask? Well, some people have died.

Now I may sounds a little heartless here, but every time you strap yourself into one and a half tons of metal, and travel only inches away from other people in tanks traveling at a combined speed of 200km/h, people are going to die. Sorry, but it is that simple. To think otherwise is foolish.

Reducing the speed limit seems to be default behaviour for the far north branch of the department of main roads (or whatever they are called this week). Just look at what happened on the Kuranda Range: Speed limit dropped to 60, 2 overtaking lanes removed and only after a number of complains was the speed limited increased to a measly 70 on the long uphill overtaking lane. All this when the speed limit for the (more dangerous) Gillies Range is still 80.

Another fine example of bureaucrats that obviously live to the south of the city is the reduction of speed limits of the roundabouts to the north of the city. Firstly, they are completely un-enforceable - police cannot issue a ticket within 100m of a speed zone change, and cannot issue them on corners. Secondly, 60? seriously? the roads were all designed for 80, so why do they suddenly need to be 60? If you are too stupid to understand how roundabouts work, and cannot take them at a speed that everyone else seems to be able to, go and use the redlynch bypass.

Swine Flu - Don't believe the Hype

2009-06-03T15:49:00.004+10:00

Here are some facts to consider about the current “swine flu pandemic” being hyped up by the media.

Just like horse flu was.

Just like bird flu was.

Seeing a pattern here?

“Flu” or Influenza is not the same as the “Common Cold”.

A “pandemic” does not indicate the danger of the disease, rather that it is present in more than one country (technically it is more than one W.H.O. Region). There is a constant chicken pox pandemic.

World View

There have been 18,023 reported infections of H1N1 (swine flu) so far in the world. 114 People have died. That is a death rate of 0.6% (source)

There are 10’s of millions of infections of normal seasonal flu per year. 500,000 people die worldwide from normal, seasonal flu per year. (source)

Japan is treating it as the normal seasonal flu, and has reopened all schools. (source)

Swine flu not more dangerous than normal, season flu. (source)
- There is mounting evidence that the symptoms are milder than health officials feared. As of May 27, 2009, for instance, despite 342 confirmed cases in New York City, most had been mild and there had been only 4 confirmed death from the virus. Similarly, Japan had reported 279, mostly mild flu cases, and no deaths, with their government now reopening schools, stating that the "virus should be considered more like a seasonal flu." In Mexico, where the outbreak began last month, Mexico City officials lowered their swine flu alert level as no new cases had been reported for a week.

Australian View

501 People have swine flu in Australia as of now. None have died.

Last year, several hundred thousand people contracted normal, seasonal flu. Approximately 2,000 died from the normal seasonal flu. (source)

H1N1

Unlike normal seasonal flu, very few people are immune to swine flu. However, People who contracted flu prior to 1957 may have some immunity.

40% of Tasmanians (200,000 people) are expected to contract swine flu (source)

What should you do?

Relax! This is not the end of the world.

You will probably get the flu this year, it may be normal flu, it may be swine flu. You probably won’t be able to tell the difference.

If you plan on taking herbs to treat the Flu, remember:

Echinacea is a preventative herb, not a cure. You must be taking it for days/weeks before you get sick for it to be effective. (source)

Garlic may be of use to boost the immune system. (source)

Vitamin C is important (source)

Klingon Antivirus

2009-05-22T16:00:00.002+10:00

Our routine monitoring of sub-space transmissions alerted Sophos that the loss of the Klingon battlecruiser Klothos was not due to Romulan incursion into the Khitomer system, but a result of trying to remove VBS/PeachyPDF-A from the battle computer using M'swoN'kar after Commander Kor opened an attachment from the system S'cam-419.

Immediately our Product Marketing away team embarked on a mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and flog them Network Access Control solutions. Sadly they chose Qo'noS as their first destination and when their severed heads were beamed back to Sophos, the engineering team created this software, not in a spontaneous display of gratitude to the Klingon race (as the Register would have you believe) but to honour their memory.

Linkage

Latitude works!

2009-05-06T07:37:00.008+10:00

A pleasant surprise when I woke up today. An update seems to have been pushed to the HTC Dream in Australia overnight that enabled Latitude on Google Maps.

What is latitude? In short it is a location sharing program that sits on top of Google Maps on your phone. It uses GPS and/or Cell Tower Triangulation to detect your location and share it with the friends of your choosing. It is of course, also shared with Google.

If you are bumming around in a shopping centre and want to know if any of your friends are as well, it is as easy as firing up the app.

So why are google doing this? Well the most obvious reason is location based advertisement, which, like advertisement in games, will be much more important when Augmented Reality becomes commonplace.

The question now is... where is my cupcake?

Prototype Holodeck

2009-04-27T12:02:00.003+10:00

Startrek-esk holodecks may not be too far away.

Watch as the guy suspend dis-belief at about 0:47 and automatically try to balance on the wall. Then pisses himself laughing for being stilly on camera.

Channel 10 to axe The Simpsons

2009-04-27T09:10:00.003+10:00

There are kids alive today that do not remember a time before the Simpsons was on TV. It will be a rude awakening then, when they turn on Channel 10 and find a "a chatty [news] presentation heavy on sport and with regular headline updates" replacing it.

In unrealated news, searches on The Pirate Bay and Mininova for "The Simpsons" rose 286% this week*.

*Like all good statistics, this figure may have been made up on the spot.

New Licences for the Smart(card) State

2009-04-24T11:43:00.004+10:00

TechWIRED reports that Unisys will be supplying Queensland Transport with a new type of driver's licence, to replace the current laminated one.

The new licences will feature a smartcard that will save facial recognition information onto the chip, which can be used to compare the photo on the card, to the data on the chip, to the data on Queensland transport's servers... I think.

Hopefully it will be a contact-required smartcard, and not some RFID fraud-waiting-to-happen card.

Well, don't piss of the party

2009-04-23T09:53:00.003+10:00

In a move that will surprise no-one, the state government is reaching for more power over local governments. In the proposed Local Government Bill 2009, it would appear that the local government minister (currently our girl Boyle) would have the power to fire councillors.

I would be very interested to see how the state government reacted if the federal government had the same power. Sod it, we don't even need state governments in my humble opinion, just federal and local.

I can't wait to see Circus-Mouse's response.

Stupidity Wars: Return of the Alchpop Tax

2009-04-15T14:43:00.003+10:00

Well, I have to hand it to the government, just when you think they have finally moved on from a ridiculous piece of policy, they dredge it back up again, apply some spit and polish and chant "Hail! It is new and shiny!".

The reason for my "Stupidity War" title is simple. Instead of having people drinking measured pre-mixed drinks, with the number of "standard drinks" clearly printed on their sides, all an increased tax does is teach these drinkers to start buying bottles of spirits and mixers. Now really, take a step back and have a think. Which is worse, someone having a 6 pack of vodka cruisers and knowing how many drinks they have had by simple addition, or having someone get a bottle of vodka and some lemonade and try to figure out, while under the afluence of incohol how many drinks they have had based on the amount of booze missing from the bottle?

Ask any bottle shop attendant and they will tell you that sales of bottles of spirits have risen proportionally to the decrease of alchopops. I wonder how many backyard stills are coming online each week?

Just don't tell the government this, or they'll start taxing spirits as well, and if we're all real lucky, beer will be taxed too. If you want a revolt Chairman Rudd, continue down this road.... Heard of the Rum Rebellion? Yes I know it had nothing to do with rum.

No Moar Tilting

2009-04-11T00:46:00.006+10:00

No, you haven't just bumped the pinball machine.

Queensland Rail has canceled the tilt train service between Cairns and Brisbane. Not that anyone cares really, because it cost $310.20 to go from Cairns to Brisbane by train, whereas you can get plane tickets for about half that price.

***Update*** - Well it appears the Tilt Train is back up and running after all...

Be your own DJ

2009-04-10T23:26:00.004+10:00

Here's a great little tool to get into the mood for Groovin The Moo

Click on some of the squares above to make a tune. Full credit goes to aM Laboratory for this.

The People's Broadband Network

2009-04-07T09:37:00.004+10:00

Well, it has been a great week so far (and surprisingly that is not sarcasm), and things just got a little better...

Now by now you all should know that I don't trust any politicians as far as I could kick them (well actually now that I am a black-belt, that would be a good distance, but I digress). Chairman Rudd has just announced that instead of awarding the ~~National~~ People's Broadband Network to a consortium of companies, the government is going to build it themselves. I see good things and bad things in this:

The Good:

Will probably be built

Telstra doesn't get their grubby hands on it

The Bad:

Gross inefficiencies in construction, as with all government work

It will takes "up to 9 years) (so read that as at least 14), and will probably not survive the LNP getting into power.

From what I have gathered in the news articles I have read so far (1, 2) it would appear that instead of deploying FTTN to 98% of the population, they will be delivering 100mbit FTTH to 90% (capital cities) and covering the remaining population with 12mbit "wireless and satellite technologies".

I can't wait to see how the opposition will try to stop this... "Too expensive" "unproven technology" "it was Conroy's idea".. Actually that last one does have a certain ring to it...

In the words of a redhead

2009-04-01T07:15:00.006+11:00

Well, looks like Julia Gillard has been saying to Steven Conroy "Just wait till Father gets home". Well he just got home and he's pissed.

Steven Conroy. You, are the weakest link.

Goodbye.

Thanks Whirlpool, I was feeling kinda down, but this has brightened my day. For some reason I always feel better on April the 1st...

FYI: Ice Break

2009-03-30T12:12:00.004+11:00

Do not confuse:
With this:

The latter will keep you up all night if you do not have a high tolerance level for caffeine, and I do mean ALL night. One bottle has 1.5 times the amount of caffine than a can of Red Bull (123mg vs 80mg)

An appropriate punishment

2009-03-30T11:59:00.003+11:00

You all know my opinion of Earth Hour, so reading this got me thinking. Wouldn't it be fitting if this prat is caught that he be electrocuted for a while. Nothing serious, just an electric fence type deal. It would have been interesting if he had been trespassing on my property instead of this old lady's. I'm all for effective environmental action, but this type of econazi extremism is as bad as any other extremism - you have no right to impose your view one anyone else - especially an older lady.

This Jen, is the Internet.

2009-03-27T17:15:00.007+11:00

Typical Geek that I am, I get a kick out of The IT Crowd. Watch the clip below:

Now of course, you could not fit the entire Internet in a little box like that (Well not with today's technology, but you probably could with DNA storage, but I digress, often...). However, you can store it in one single shipping container.

As Sun puts it: The Internet in a box.

via Gizmodo

One for my New Zealand Friends

2009-03-26T08:41:00.002+11:00

Pub Dress Code

2009-03-25T17:40:00.004+11:00

Grab your double pluggers, throw a pair of shorts on and lets go down the the pub!

It would appear someone has just been wingeing to daddy. A former state treasurer (now cast to the liberal backbench) Rob Lucas has asked:

Are young men wearing "fashionable shorts" being discriminated against by hotels and clubs in Adelaide?

I can only guess that his son has been recently turned away from a pub and he went bitching strait to daddy. But honestly, it does annoy me that it is socially acceptable for girls to wear sandles and "strapie" shoes to work and pubs/clubs, but boys are not... Not that I have any need for high heals.

Last.Fm

2009-03-25T07:20:00.007+11:00

Well I liked Last.FM. "Liked"? Why is he using the past tense you may ask?

It would appear that the record companies have gotten to them finally. I wondered how long they would last without being interfered with, and it would appear that time is now. All other countries except "United States, United Kingdom and Germany" will have to start paying a fee for the radio stream from last fm. They say that everyone will still be able to use "scrobbling, recommendations, charts, biographies, events, videos etc" - But I don't understand how recommendations will be any use if you cannot listen to them?

Goodby Last.FM, it was nice to have you for so long. Time to switch to Mufin Player methinks. Or possibly Spotify (when it comes out of beta).

For your next Lan

2009-03-24T22:45:00.004+11:00

It contains Carebears, Pedobear and guns - lots of guns, what more could you ask for?.

My favourite is the flower infused gauntlet. More info (in french) available here.

source

There's news

2009-03-24T22:20:00.003+11:00

Some of it is good, some of it is bad.

The bad news it that you're dead. There are few details on how it happened, shy of it involving a spoon and 3cc of mouse blood. This is a pity. It is a pity because if there were more infomation, it would be easier to tell you how you died and inform your loved ones of it. However you don't really care, as you are dead. Unfortunatly for a lot of your online "friends" (and I use the term lightly) they will probably not know of your death for a while. After all, who is going to know your msn/facebook/myspace login details after you have passed on?

Enter LegacyLocker. Legacy Locker is "a safe, secure repository for your digital property that lets you grant access to online assets for friends and loved ones in the event of death or disability." In other words, it contains all your various usernames and passwords to be used in the event of your unfortunate demise.

With all the important information online, such as pictures, emails, automatic bank payments, etc - Having this store of information may be the best way to enabling the people you leave behind to lay to rest your online presence. It would also allow your family to post such classy facebook status as "Fosnez is dead" etc.

It will be a while until I release my online identity to some random company. Perhaps if it was purchased by Google or something I would feel more secure, but until now passwords written in a safe place will have to suffice!

What's this?

2009-03-24T21:44:00.005+11:00

What's this? The government is becoming more transparent? Say it isn't so!

Well according to this news article, there are changes afoot for the Freedom of Information Act - Good Changes! These include forcing governments to release information, even if it "embarrass governments, cause a loss of confidence, could lead to misunderstanding or confusion, or cause unnecessary debate". Let the games begin.

Lets see if we can get some info on the National Broadband Network tender shall we?

Don't look up!

2009-03-19T20:42:00.008+11:00

Don't look up people. The Feces is about to hit the rotating ceiling appliance. (for those of you requiring monosyllabic prose, this means the shit is about to hit the fan)

It would appear that the almighty ACMA (Australian Censorship Management Authority) blacklist of websites has been leaked online. It had to happen, and it is better it happens now. The saviour of free speech, WikiLeaks (Not to be confused with Wikipedia), has posted it online.

Interestingly, I cannot access WikiLeaks at the moment, this could be due to a crap internet connection, or perhaps it is a little more clandestine than that (do I hear black helicopters?).

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, who have apparently seen the list, the below are some of the more interesting things on the blacklist:

A Queensland dentist (Not illegal)

A tour operator (Not illegal)

Several Christian sites (Not illegal)

Fetish sites (Not illegal)

Fringe religion sites, such as satanism (Not illegal)

Euthanasia how-to sites (Borderline illegal)

Wikipedia entries (probably not illegal)

Gay and straight porn sites (probably not illegal)

Wanna see the list? Well I'm not going to link to it. I thought about linking to a site linking to it. But lets just say if you were to Google "blacklist kensingtonvictoria" you could probably find it...

Update

According to sources that cannot be trusted as far as they can be thrown out of the country - Being the top censor himself (Stephen Conroy) - the list is not the actual AMCA blacklist. Funny, thats just what I would say if this happened on my watch. Even if it isn't, the real list will be leaked soon enough. I find it funny that in the same article he then goes on to say this:

"ACMA is investigating this matter and is considering a range of possible actions it may take, including referral to the Australian Federal Police," Senator Conroy said.

If it wasn't the real list, why would the Feds be getting involved? Do we have freedom of speach or not?

Official ACMA responce

Rail FTW

2009-03-17T13:55:00.003+11:00

Having just returned from a weekend in Japan (Thanks for the cheap flights JetStar) I can say I really miss good public transport when I am in Cairns. From my time in London, I can tell you jumping on a train and reading a book for half an hour before work can be a great time to relax. Sure peak hour can be a bit packed, but you deal with it one way or another.

Why do I bring this up now? There is a public meeting scheduled to discuss Trains/Trams in Cairns. Info is here and there is a flyer here.

Wed, 18th March, 6:45PM
Rydges Tradewinds
137 The Esplanade, Trinity Function Room

It will be attended by the Mayor, and some of the local candidates. To be sure there will be a lot of "We can't do it because it is not in the Cairns Plan" or some woffle about it not being in the "regional strategic plan". Thats nice. Here's a little tip: If the plans for transport in Cairns revolves around Cars and Buses that are late; Scrap the plans. See how easy that was?

On Earth Hour

2009-03-17T12:35:00.007+11:00

I'm not happy, not happy at all. Things like Earth Hour really annoy me.

For the uninitiated, Earth Hour is where everyone in the world turns off their lights for an hour and stands around in circles singing Kumbaya. While I am sure everyone feels really good about themselves for about 10 minutes afterwards, and it is always fun to huddle around a candle like they did "in the old days" (without the threat of a cyclone looming), it really means nothing. It is as bad as people that ride to work on ride-to-work day and think they are actually helping the enviroment. Hypocrisy at it's finest.

Instead of doing something for the enviroment once a year, and only for an hour - here's a thought, change your *daily* impact on the enviroment. Do you really need to turn the light on when you brush your teeth in the morning? How about turning your TV off at the wall so that it doesn't suck power when in standby mode? Invest in a solar pannel or three for your roof. Drive slower, coast more. Consider Carpooling. Ride a bike to work once a week.

Here's another little thing you may not have thought of. Coal power stations do not like rapidly changing loads, it is bad for their systems and they are slow to adjust, so when everyone does turn off their lights at once, the powerstation has to adapt almost instantly to the reduced load. Now you can't just stop a load of coal form burning, and you still have to provide the correct amount of power up to the point of "lights out". This means that the amount of coal being burnt by the station will be the same right up until the lights get turned off, it will then slowly decrease as the station replaces less and less of it as it is burnt. For a period of time after "lights out" the station will have an excess amount of energy being generated (by the coal that is still in the furnaces being burnt), but not converted into electricity (by turning the turbines) - This is wasted if it is sent strait to the cooling towers. If we are lucky the excess energy is converted into electricty and sent to a storage mechinism (such as a Pumped-storage hydroelectricity).

Unless power was stored in the dam, some time before the lights are set to come back on, the powerplant will start shoving more coal in the furnaces to bring the powerplant back up to nominal supply levels. This is so they are ready to power all the lights when they come back on and there is no brownout. If no power was stored in a dam the hot steam generaged by burning the coal is just shunted directly to the cooling towers, and that energy is wasted because the grid is not ready for it yet.

So, by turning your lights off for an hour, are you really helping the enviroment? Ask youself this.

Cairns Central Non-Parking

2009-03-11T08:51:00.004+11:00

Well, Dear Blarg Readers, changes are afoot at Cairns Central. No I am not talking the good kind. It would appear that someone in Central's management team thinks it would be a great idea to introduce a ticketed parking system. You know, boom gates, ques, the whole shebang! What a fantastic idea, because I don't know about you, but I just love queuing up at those ticking machine, only to have the person infront of me maneuver their ~~tank~~ car so that they don't have to get out of it to get the ticket.

What has bought this on? Well I can only assume that it is people (like me) that park my car there when we are at work. Before you shout "Sinner!" give me a viable alternative. Parking metres in the city are there to "encourage" staff of businesses to use alternative parking, now that central is getting the "lockdown" procedure, what alternative do we have? Public transport - Please, pull the other one it has bells on it. I have tried taking the bus, really I have! I miss good public transport from my time in London. But when the bus timetable says it will be at your stop at 7:03am, and you regularly see it leaving at 6:50am (in order to get some time under its belt to compensate for all the hail-and-ride bullshit), taking the bus just does not become an option. Now if only there were some disused rail tracks snaking their way though the city....

I would threaten to break out the pushbike, I used to ride the 12km into work most days, but there is only a cold shower at my current workplace, and that is not a fun way to start anything, especially a work day.

What has changed that this has to be done now anyway? Central has been open for more than a decade (1998 if I remember correctly?) and has had free parking all this time. The only time that the carpark is ever *full* is at Christmas. Bar Humbug I say! Perhaps it is being done now because the boyany ecconomic times and the matterilistic hoards have stressed the current parking to capacity? Umm, no... Sounds like a money grab if you ask me.

To do this of course, all the entrances will need to be modified, in some cases greatly I am told. Major roadworks at the northern end of the carpark including some kind of round-about under the ramp (I can see this ending well).

Danger! Men Working

2009-03-11T08:48:00.002+11:00

This was taken near Cairns Central today. They are supposed to say "Danger Men Working Above". However, some good-humored soul has blacked out the "Above" so now all they say is "Danger, Men Working".

Narwhal Tower

2009-03-10T08:48:00.006+11:00

I detest propaganda, especially of the american variety. "Patriot Act", "Enemy Combatant" and my personal favourite "Freedom Tower", as pictured below.

The best thing about propaganda, is turning it on its head and I just heard a great idea. Instead of "Freedom Tower", lets start calling it "Narwhal Tower" or "The Narwhal" Mouseover the image above to see what I mean.

Watch more of the same thing

2009-03-09T17:51:00.008+11:00

The Freeview parody ad "Watch more of the same thing" is causing a bit of strife for its creators. It has been removed from youtube for "terms of use violation".

From what I can tell, especially for us lucky people in the sticks, freeview will be exactly what the ad says, the same thing on 3 different channels. As well as a program guide telling us what show Channel Nine will be delaying by 20 minutes tonight.

The movie embedded above probably won't last long on youtube. There is a 50mb Hi-Def quicktime version, it can be downloaded here.

If you live in NSW

2009-03-04T17:30:00.004+11:00

Make sure you are *always* wearing clean underwear. You never know when the police may come into your home, and it would hardly be proper to be caught in dirty underwear now would it?

In a move that has surprised no-one, but has anyone-with-half-a-brain concerned, NSW police can now covertly ~~plant evidence~~ search a person's house, without that person's knowledge. This is of course set up under "Anti-Terrorism" legislation.

Takes the meaning of a State Premier to a whole new level. Long live The Party comrades.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

2009-03-03T23:41:00.005+11:00

A great Book by Cory Doctorow, if you havn't read it and are too lazy too, then go here and download the audiobook, it is (legally) free!

It explores what happens in the future when death is a minor inconvience, money and manual labour are things of the past, and the world operates on "Whuffie" (a form of karma currancy).

Jules is a young man, barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World.

Disney World! The greatest achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the keeping of a network of "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches.

Now, though, the "ad-hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents, and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself.

Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war...

Ultimate Prank

2009-03-03T23:39:00.001+11:00

The hands down best way to scare children: Animatronic Dinosaurs

I do like the guy saying "Go on, eat one, just one" at the end...

Review: Mufin Player

2009-03-01T21:16:00.009+11:00

I have a decent music collection, and it is from a smattering of all genres. Classical, rap, pop "alternative" (whatever that means), punk, rock etc. All too often, I find myself saying, that was a great song, what else have I got like it. There are some semi-useful tools from last.fm to try to match other music in your collection to the current song, based on other people's music listening habits.

This rarely works well

Enter Mufin Player. Rather than using croudsourcing to find a better match for the current song, it uses the power of algorithms. It takes a while to analyse all your music, because it quite literally has to "listen" to the songs. It only listens to the first 30 seconds by default, and this seems to work just fine, but you can make it listen to the entire song, at a faster than normal speed obviously.

Enter the shock of the evening: It works! Once you tell it a song to find similar music to, it actually finds music in your collection that sounds like the first song.

There is a lot of work needed in the program though, such as using the media keys on most keyboards, or better yet, global hotkeys so I can use my powermate to control it. Displaying album art would also be good.

Your song of the day:

NIMBY

2009-03-01T16:10:00.008+11:00

I friend of the blarg who is in the know about these kinds of things has written to me concerning a recent article on CairnsBlog. There has been a lot of Not in my back yard (NIMBY) about the proposed (approved?) youth facility at Stoney Creek. Here is the text of their message:

Just to clarify - this facility will NOT be residential! The Kamerunga site will be a home base for the service to train and store their extensive equipment in order to run a profession, evidence based, best practice service. Currently the service is located in the inner city area with no complaints from the surrounding houses or businesses - could it be there is nothing to complain about?

Its a real pity seeing political grandstanding stopping Cairns from engaging an innovative, exciting adventure based service that SUPPORTS and TRAINS the youth workers from our region.

It's all about trying new things and getting out of your comfort zone to work with young people - something the public should have a go at sometime because as a COMMUNITY we are responsible to share the journey of those who live around us - even those younger than us!

Over and over our young people are listed as an issue - yet think back a little - how were you in your teens? Did someone stand by you and get you through the tough times? Or did they turn their backs?

Come on Cairns! For once let's be a leader not a follower! Let's work to make our region somewhere that is used as an example of taking the reigns and leading with courage and common sense not the place that turned their backs on a successful (already trialed down south) program that might just be the turning point for our workers and our young people.

The Northern Outlook's doors are open for professional development, team work, strategic planning and generally for you to ask your questions and get the answers. Why not get the good stuff - the right information before we jump in feet first.

Well done Steve!! I think for the first time ever I'll be passing my vote to someone else..

So there will not be a "Jouvie Hall" in stoney creek. As a resident of Lake Placid this makes me feel a bit better about it going up just across the river.

Help Cure Dengue

2009-02-26T12:10:00.003+11:00

As I am sure we have all read in the local rag and on CairnsBlog.net - the dengue situation in Cairns is getting rather alarming. Almost to the point that I am less concerned about getting bitten by a snake than I am about being bitten by a blasted mosquito. (The World Health Organization says mosquitoes cause more than 2 million deaths a year worldwide - making it THE most deadly animal.)

There is hope however, using the combined power of thousands of computers around the world, the World Community Grid project has already completed over 6000 years of computing time on the Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together subproject.

Go here and download the program, be sure to select the Dengue project when you are asked to. It only uses your computer when you are not using it (when you screensaver is active) and will help to predict what new compounds can be used to create antiviral drugs that are effective to cure Dengue!

Atlantis Found!

2009-02-21T11:54:00.005+11:00

It must be that time of the decade again. Someone is claiming they have found the lost city of Atlantis. This time anyone can check it out on Google Maps.

Now this is all well and good, but there are four three things that make this a little unbelievable.

It is about 1000kms off the coast of Spain, so either the sea rose a lot, or the island sank a lot.
The city itself is 130km x 150km - thats a big ancient city
According to The Book of Critias by Plato, Atlantis was laid out in a circular fashion, not a grid.
The story was published by The Sun - so there goes any credibility.

Actually the truth turns out to be just as interesting. It would appear that the grid is from a study The Geology of the Madeira Abyssal Plain investigating its suitability for radioactive waste disposal (PDF link).

Flooding in the Gulf

2009-02-21T11:43:00.004+11:00

Put your mouse over the image to see the entent of the flooding.

Source

Wrap your head around this

2009-02-18T17:39:00.003+11:00

"Meanwhile, the bit of string theory that describes the normal, four-dimensional (3-D + time) behavior of these systems can be predicted by modeling a four-dimensional sphere wrapped around a five dimensional black hole."

This is Sparta Karma

2009-02-18T15:09:00.006+11:00

It is fitting, that in my last post I spoke about freedom of speech, only today to find this story. Although the article is (unsurprisingly for new.com.au) lite on facts, it would appear that the Westboro Baptist Church is planning to protest the national day of morning for the victims of the 2009 Victorian bushfires.

This is the same group that has completed other classy acts like protesting at soldier's funerals in America and thanking god for "dead miners" after an accident at a coal mine in 2006.

Just recently the "church" has decided to take this "act" international and have said they would protest at a children's play in the UK. While the article about the Australian protests does not actually say they will be coming here, I think they are planning to...

With all the people wanting to burn Brendan Sokaluk at the stake over his roles in the fires, I can only imagine that people will be none too amused with the Westboros stirring up crap.

If you hadn't guessed the real reason why the Westboros do this sort of thing, it is so that if their free speech rights are violated at all, or if they are assaulted, they can sue the other parties. Even Michael Moore (no not that one) has had a go at them.

1984: Your guide to statehood

2009-02-17T09:33:00.007+11:00

Welcome to The Lodge Mr Rudd. Here is your guide to statehood:

Thoughtcrime 101
Under what I can presume to only be some obscure anti-terrorism law (isn't that what all the "interesting" laws are today?), Victoria Police want to ban messages being posted on internet blogs about accused firebug Brendan Sokaluk. Under what law exactly I would like to know.

Now, the police wanting to block the blogs, the police's lawyers wanting to block the blogs, and the police's lawyers actually being able to block the blogs are three separate things.

I am sure that the police want to be able to do on the spot searches, and require you to give them your papers when asked. Also, free doughnuts would be expected from all store selling them. I'm sure in their minds "you have nothing to hide if you have done nothing wrong" is just fine. A Police State sounds like Utopia to them I am sure.

Now, the lawyers may find some obscure law to justify this banning of these blogs, perhaps something like the Anti-Terrorism act of 2005 (because this is obviously terrorism). While I understand that the guy at the center of this whole thing is just accused, not convicted, is this really something we, as bloggers, are ready to loose our non-constitutionally-guaranteed concept of free speech over? All this information that is flying around about this person was already in the public domain - his girlfriend of facebook, pictures off his myspace, his address out of god knows where (whitepages anyone?). The information is out there already, all these evil bloggers have done is put it all in one place.

OK, so the police want to block it (no surprise there), the lawyers have said yes (correct ~~bribes~~ fees were paid), now how the hell are they going to do it.

Enter The Clean Feed Filter
Under the Government's Clean Feed Filter - "unwanted" material would be filtered at the whim of a non-elected bureaucrat in some government department in Canberra. This list of course would not be public, so there is no public oversight what so ever. All that needs to happen is a plebe in the department adds it to the mighty blacklist, this list is updated and disseminated to all ISPs in the country (by force if necessary I imagine) and thats it. Your blog is gone - removed from Google and blocked from direct access - never to be seen again. Blocked under the guise of protecting children and child porn. No doubt there will be an attractive banner placed where your site used to be - like this. This is my greatest fear of the Clean Feed Filter - once it is in place, we will never get rid of it - like so many restrictive and ridiculous "anti terrorism" laws.

The Return Of Steam

2009-02-14T23:26:00.004+11:00

Although It is obviously not the most efficient, or green method of transport, there is just something about a Steam Train that makes me happy. Call it a SteamPunk fetish or something.

The 60163 Tornado, built by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust over 18 years, is the first new mainline stream train in the UK in almost 50 years. Now we are not talking "restored" here. No, this is a brand new engine, built from the original plans made in 1948, the last of the original A1 was scrapped in 1966. While one would assume that because it is steam, it would be slow, this is not the case. Tornado is able to reach speeds of 160km/h.

Considering how slow, and bloody expensive the tilt train is, perhaps we need some A1's here? Do we get a discount for ordering more than one?

Also having a nice big, heavy, loud steam train might stop this nasty business of hitting trucks and derailing on level crossings. The hitting might continue, but at least the derailments would stop.

Nu Nu - A Great Supprise

2009-02-13T16:03:00.004+11:00

I was out with some friends last night, and we were taking a stroll along Palm Cove and decided dessert was necessary. Now, I can't say that we specially sought out Nu Nu as a destination, but we were all happy that we ended up there nonetheless.

I had the "Warm Mango Tart", and I must say it was fantastic. The only caveat I have, and I can't believe I am saying this, but the passion fruit drizzling was actually a little too sweet. However, the wait-staff were fantastic, and I didn't mind paying the extra for the fantastic service.

8/10 (For dessert only, so far)
★★★★★★★★☆☆

One rule for us, one rule for them.

2009-02-13T08:49:00.009+11:00

Here we have a blue "undercover" cop car (read that as "surprise revenue collection service") sitting right on the corner of Spence Street and the Cairns Central Entrance.

Now if I had parked there, I would have copped a fine, I forget, can we still do citizen's arrests in this country? How about a citizen's revenue collection service?

According to the Queensland Transport website and Sections 170 and 175 of the Queensland Road Rules, this car was clearly in the wrong. The area in red on the above map is a "no parking" area, as designated by the act.

It is also bloody hard to drive around people sitting there when you are trying to get into Cairn Central.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

And now for the latest from Fox News

2009-02-12T00:09:00.000+11:00

Optus HTC Dream

2009-02-05T17:31:00.006+11:00

Good News Everyone! The official Google Australia Blog has just accounced that Aussies will be able to buy the HTC Dream (otherwise known as the T-Mobile G1) from Optus. Looks like it is only available on optus plans, but it is not locked to the optus network. I'm going to go and talk to them now and see what the go is.

*Update*

Well the girl at Central's Optus shop didn't know anything about it. She was somewhat supprised when I directed her to www.optus.com.au/dream HAHA!

Signs of the times.

2009-01-28T10:17:00.004+11:00

Walking past the office of Desley Boyle today, I saw that the signs were going up already:

With some additional artistic licence from myself

This can only mean an election is just around the corner. Be sure to pre-tune your Bullshit Meter. If you don't have one, I suggest you invest in either a Watch, a Button or perhaps a General Bullshit Dector

The Perils of Powered Society

2009-01-22T22:36:00.006+11:00

Too often, we become complacent as to our society's reliance on technology, specifically power. Today, ~~the Cairns region (including up to Mareeba and possibly further)~~ one tenth of Australian (by area) lost all electrical power. I was attempting to get into work to check on my computers during the power outage, poor dears, when I came across an interesting and annoying "safety gone mad" moment. When the city loses power (twice in the last two months I might add) all the boom-gates over railway crossings close.

The only way to enter the CBD from the south side (without diverting halfway to Mareeba) was to go up to the top level of Cairns Central on Bunda Street, down two levels of parking and out the Spence Street exit. Too bad if an ambulance needed to get from the CBD to Parramatta Park quickly hey?