The Blarg of Fosnez

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...

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 sou...

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) &#9733&#9733&#9733&#9733&#9733&#9733&#9733&#9733&#9734

Well that just sucks. As you can see from the below picture, there is a lot to be left to desire in the new Kogan Agora . (The first Android Phone for Australia) Source , via Engadget Screen looks to be about 3/4 of the size it could be (although in fairness even the promo images had it this size) Screen resolution is only 320x240 Horrid silver border around the screen - it would appear that is only on the prototype 3G, not NextG - so basically useless anywhere except the CBD in Cairns The Kogan website wants to charge $159 to deliver to Cairns. Well stuff that! It turns out their websoftware is stuffed. Deleiver to Cairns should only be about $39 Oh well, I suppose I have to start looking for another phone now.

I'm thinking of getting a Freecom MusicPal for the doghouse - specifically for the bathroom. It is a wifi internet radio, that would be able to stream internode's radio stations for free. The reviews are quite good, but it is a bit expensive though, the cheapest price I have found in Australia is from Warcom and is $225.

A group of culture seeking friends of mine, as well as yours truly, went to the Babinda Munro Theatre last night to watch Australia . After the place was almost completely destroyed in cyclone Larry, the owner and the community have done a great job of restoring the old place - complete with deck-chair seating. While I would not recommend sitting through a three hour movie in the chairs if you are over 6' tall (like i am), they were quite "quaint" to sit in. The screen is crystal clear, and the new THX sound system is impressive to say the least. Although it is a good hour's drive from the north side of Cairns, I would recommend it for a "proper" movie going experience.