Click Click Schwooghhhhsss

Got my broken camera back today. The function selector could not be fixed which is a shame. But I now have a working camera so now I can get back to taking pictures of upskirts kittens and fields of wheat.

Conversely my GPS has decided to shit it self and have no sound. Which because I have it on the power saving mode, the screen is often off and the first thing I recognise is the sound as I don't look at it constantly. Having the screen turn off is quite helpful as you are not constantly looking at, even though its a straight road with no turns for the next 8.3km.

And tomorrow me and a trolley will attempt to move my bookcase back upstairs. If I die you can have all my books. They will not be any use to me as I will be dead and have no bookcase.

Something about banning drinking between the hours of 12 and 10 am.

New Zealand man gets audited has to pay tax, goes bankrupt in doing so. Buys Inland Revenue Building, kicks Tax office out. Opens hotel.

Run 800 meteres 10 times. Your average time for each 800 is your marathon time.

Looking at boobs makes you live longer. Also masturbating stops some kind of cancer. I will live to a mezillion.

Original Sesame Street classified as Adults only.

What is the deal with people that quit blogging. You have a cool blog then you stop. Why. you are as famous as you will ever be. Sure you get real life things to do, but blogging is so easy now. Its like bashing out an email with no one in mind.

There is the care factor and the fact that it doesn't actually add anything to your life unless you are being creative with it.

CREATE!

Slowly but surely things are returning to normal after we had carpet installed. Some things such as my Z-5300 are not where they should be. I am actually listening to music on my old altechs which I hate. They sound rubbish. Its just rubbish. Sure when you have nothing else it works fine. And listening to them with the iPod wasn't too bad as the iPod adds a nice musicality to things. I also had a problem with my sound card which didn't help. Had to take it out and put it back in. This is actually a time consuming and irritating task.

I have also learn't that people squint when smiling. And that only when you are genuinely happy will the brain activate this.

Back on the Tubes

After I think 6 weeks of slow torture I have my computer setup on a desk connected to the internet. When I first started my computer last Thursday I had a keyboard problem. Basicly anything connected to the PS/2 port would not work, which means I had to go buy a new keyboard. My first instinct was to get the G15 (version 2). $100 seems like a lot for a keyboard, but considering you cannot buy a keyboard that isnt wireless its a small price to pay to not have to use batteries for no reason. Oh and the LCD display and back lit keys.... I never remember keyboards being so expensive, mainly because they are wireless and the masses think this is somehow better. I never thought spending more than $50 on a keyboard unless it was somehow special. A lot of the keyboards I saw were just standard keyboards with a wireless module.

The quality of the keyboard was lacking, the key mechanism hadn't changed. And apart from adding a few media buttons its just stupid. Most manufacturers are focusing on wireless which means they are not updating the wired keyboards except in the gaming section. I figured since I am most likely to be buying a new computer early next year, I would wait till then to get something decent. But until then I did not want to live in the poverty of a shitty keyboard. So I went to buy a middle of the ground Logitech Media keyboard. Its an entry level keyboard. But they were sold out. So I ended up getting the 600. I didn't think there was much difference between the 2 except the volume jog dial. But after getting it home it really is better. The keys don't move around and its a lot quieter to type on. It also had low profile keys, much like a laptop, but a bit more depth and normal size keys. Its actually quite pleasant to type on. As you don't need to waste energy on pressing so hard. Another feature is its spill resistant. Didn't understand what this meant. What they have done is drilled some holes in the bottom so that any liquids just pass through it (think pencil in space) and the shiny black plastic is actually quite nice. I also thought the lack of a wrist rest would mean its uncomfortable, but the fact that its so damn skinny means you don't need it. I have a pretty standard MS keyboard at work it has a wrist rest and it seems that you only need the wrist rest if the actual position of the keys are far away from the desk. Also whats the point of having a plastic wrist rest. It should always be padded somehow with fake leather.

*sniff* *sniff*

No this post if not drug related. I am sad. Because my computer is disconected from the internet. The study is now painted, and didn't come out as expected. It does look nice that its painted, anything with fresh paint does. I am disapointed by my choice of colour which has come out as the opposite of the look I was after. Since I can't be bothered to repaint everything I now love the new colour. Hopefully bookshelves can coverup the ugly.

Now I have to get my internet fix at work, which isn't helping productivity. I have started setting my self smaller goals to finish things by a certain time. It helps, but I also recognise that its a just another excuse to procrastinate.

Random Annoying Shit

When people, namely work, eg my boss, jokes about having to come in on Saturdays to work. And then letting me prepare for such over a 4 days before telling me its a joke. HAHAHA. LOL. ROLF. bwahahhAHAHAHHAHAHAHMAMAWHWHAHAH

not

This has to be the most unfunny joke in the world.

People that want you to hurry up with your reversing by flashing their lights at you. Not only is this distracting it also sends mixed messages. Does it mean its safe or does it mean stop? Is there oncoming traffic I don't know about. When I'm looking at random shit. eg boobies or shiney lights, I don't do any driving. Please don't do this or you will just have to wait longer. Additionally, people without air conditioning need time to open windows. To the nitwit that thought it was a good idea to piss me off. Your car has been keyed for future identification.

Clients that think I am not doing anything and must do their work only. I understand its important to you but everyone says that. That's why I do my own scheduling/prioritising. I am smart enough to figure out what things are due when. I do this by writing them in my diary.

Business hours. I work therefore I can't do anything. I need to take my broke camera to a place where they can fix it.

The Bank. Why do you have to ask the same question every week. I come there every week. We are on a first name basis without having to look it up on the computer. Let's figure it out. I do not want a credit card.

Massive bass. I have no idea why people like huge amounts of overpowering bass over clarity of sound. I donated a sub to the sitting room to give the TV the kick it needed, but it doesn't have a crossover so its a bit muddy, and at high volume its just damn annoying. Sure you get rumble, but the rest of the speakers are over powered by the sub, THE BALANCE IS WRONG! If the floor is shaking, thats too loud. You will go deaf. This also goes for changing the settings on the computer, they are deliberately set lower than normal to avoid deafness. I have a set of Logitech Z-2300, 120 watts of thunderous bass is too much at 40cm away from your ear.

Dust.

I am also hating on TV because of the canceling of weeds and smallville on Australian TV. Sopranos has finished, Top Gear is on Saturdays at a time when anyone with a car is unlikely to be at home watching TV. There is nothing on TV on Thursdays.

Too much work. Studying and working full time is a lot harder than I thought. Is it worth it. I hope so. You have to take time off during the semester, not just at the end so you don't get too far behind.

Crappy beer. Only when its free.

Compression

Why do people use compression? To save space. But when space is not at a premium, its actually a pain in the arse to unzip stuff.

I'm doing a big clean up as we are getting carpet in a few weeks time, so if I throw some stuff out less to move. Instead of throwing shit out I am finding that I have more of everything. An example are razor blades. As we all know they are expensive, so loosing them sucks. Hard. When you run out/can't find new ones you go out and buy some more, not a big deal. I found 3 whole packs. One in the stationary draw, one in my junk draw (mainly contains stationary for my bedroom) and one in the stationary basket.

What can I learn from this experience? Firstly I have too many places for the same types of things. Which leads to buying more of things that I will never get around to using. Waste of funds and a waste of space. Totally inefficient. What about the stationary? Yeah, too much of that too. I am now trying to consolidate it into a box(s), for things like souvenir pens they should really just go into a souvenir box. Stationary seems to be something I can't control. But at least now that it's in one place it will save space.

Variety, thats the problem. Must have one of everything...

Exam is over but now I don't know what to do with myself. I do have a backlog of projects, but since its so friggin hot I don't want to move away from the fan. I have been so involved with studying for my exam I have forgotten what I did before then.

I should also mention kiwi fruit and ice cream is awesome. However I recommend putting the kiwi fruit in the freezer and mine were a bit soft. The acidic juice also melts the ice cream quickly. Something different from mango or passion fruit which seems to be the norm.

Exam

I'm back from my exam. Obviously I went ahead and just did the exam instead of piking out and deffering.

Wow, just wow. When you know you have a deadline you become very efficient. But I still didn't think I had a chance. But After my a week of study and after doing the exam I might just have a chance of passing. The main reason for this is MCQ. Most people find MCQ easy. Mainly because you automatically have a 50% chance of at least passing. Without even completing reading the options you can cross out 2 of the options. My average on MCQ is about 80%. Which has something to do with the way I learn and the inherant nature of MCQ's, and the secondary problem solving nature of MCQ's.

Ofcourse this isn't your average exam. Firstly you need 65% to pass which is the equivalent to a credit (5) at uni. Secondly the MCQ's often had sub lists.

Which options are correct:
1. something
2. what
3. I like cheese
4. it

A. 1+2+3
B 2 only
C 1+3+4
D 3 only

So it can get a little complicated, but since you can eliminate 3 as it makes no sense what so ever the answer is B.

I have learned a lot not just on Professional Practice and Reporting, but on how I learn. It had been two years since I have taken an exam, so it has been a struggle to get back into studying, hence my predicament of if I will pass and preparing for exams and the best way to present my work. I have come across a lot of different ways to study and now that I am studying externally its just another way. Written answer questions are of particular importance as they help you display your reasoning and therefore knowledge on the topic. Being able to construct your argument in a logical fashion is important in an exam, but also at work. At work you are constantly being tested. As long as you have the correct answers everything will be fine, but if you put in the extra effort and go through the process you will learn a lot more. And be able to actually justify your position clearly is someone questions you. This is rare, but it can happen. And as "The Code" says, you need to show due care. The decisions and therefore answers that you come up with and recommend to clients effects a lot of people. You need to take and go through the process, that also means proper documentation/working papers. Not only is it better for the client, but it also covers your own ass. The other benefit comes when writing letters and explaining to clients the reasoning behind a certain accounting procedure.

As a lot of these ideas are still fresh in my mind I am going to spend the next few days writing them down, so that next time I have an exam I know what to do/avoid. Motivation wise its good to have a reason to do something other than you have to. It has to have some benefit other then the fact you need to do an exam.

Marketing "People"

This reminded me of something I drew a while back. It was in a marketing class in my notebook, so it also has the feint lines through it.

Baconpops

Bacon on a stick. That should be McDonalds next menu item. Yes, its unhealthy and wrong. But they need to compete against KFC who have ingeniously created hotrods chicken nuggets on a stick. Its basically a sishkebab, but without vegetables.

McD, need to hit back with something equally awesome and since they are pushing bacon at 80 cents a pop, they should just put some on a stick, fry it and sell it for $2.95.

Stalled

So, the last 2 days I have had relativly low external distractions to my studies so I should have burned through a whole heap of material. But as it is Sunday evening, I feel it is time for another review.

I have not completed what I wanted to. And again I guess it is due to my underestimation of the difficulty of the material. I have also found that I can't concentrate in reading for more that 30 mins, which isn't that bad as I then spend 15 mins running through in my mind what I have read and how that relates to other shit. etc. Basically an internal review.

At this point in time I am very certain I am going to fail.

I am trying to be calm and relaxed about this whole thing, as I know I do not respond well to that sort of pressure. I guess if I set my self a goal of finishing all reading by Monday afternoon, then go get my exam supplies that gives me a few days to revise and prepare for the actual exam. Preparing for the exam seems to take a while, so as long I leave enough time for that I should be fine.

I have not thought about deferral but I think come on Tuesday I will.

the last of last.fm

It has come to my attention that my last.fm has not been updating. Curse you old plugin!

Anyway, I am back, but I have to use the official plugin/program which uses extra computer resources for no reason, untill the winamp plugin starts working again.

Dread

So my CPA exam is this Thursday and all my plans regarding study have shattered into a million pieces of despair. I knew Friday was going to be a write off but then I figured I would wake up on time. I was also concerned about the mess so, most of today has been spent tidying up. So now its 5pm Saturday afternoon. In the last 3 days I have done 4 hours study. Possibly less considering I don't remember anything I read yesterday. I still have about 1 days worth of reading to do, 2 case studies and revision. My tagging system is really dumb as I can't read my own handwriting. So I'm going to be spending time fixing that up. Went and bought some real tag thingys, hopefully they will help.

Planning for things that are variable like study, as you don't know how long it will take you to understand a particular topic, is easy. You guess. But then when it all falls apart you are left with a timer to failure. The pass mark is actually 65% not the normal 50% which I thought it was. Which is just another thing that is going to stop me from passing. The other thing is the exam location, its in Carsledine. Which is supposedly a one hour drive, but from what I know about the gateway its probably about 1.5 hours. So any extra cram time I could have had in the morning is now gone.

The one positive is that I know the first 3 modules really well. But the last 2 modules are worth 45% collectivly, so I really need to get those 2 down to have any chance.

The other spanner in the works is the option of deferring. I can defer my exam or cancel out of the subject and do it next semester. Deferring will leave a deferred mark on my record and will cost money. Canceling leaves no mark and the subject is removed from my record, but I still have to pay fees next semester to do it again. Money is not so much of a problem, just my ego that I couldn't do the subject.

Would failure be such a bad thing? It would give me a new perspective, just like the last time I failed. Which forced me to have significantly improved results from that point forward. But knowing this, would it be the same this time around.

The first step will be to finish reading. The second step will be to do the case studies, as they account for a large portion of the exam. The third step will be to prepare for the exam, by retagging and getting my notes organised so it is easy to find in the exam.

Time wise I am screwed, but I may be able to make up time magically, by not sleeping.

pre code

Pre-Code films were created before the Motion Picture Production Code or Hays Code took effect on 1 July 1934 in the United States of America.

Films in the late 1920s and early 30s reflected the libertine attitudes of the day and could include sexual innuendos, references to homosexuality, miscegenation, illegal drug use, and profane language (such as the word "damn") as well as women in their undergarments. Such behavior was common in the liberal climate of cities at that time, although it often shocked audiences in rural areas.

Popular character roles include tough-talking, assertive women, gangsters, and prostitutes.

Of particular note were both the references to sexual promiscuity, drug use, bloody gangster life, and morally ambiguous endings, which drew the ire from various religious groups – some Protestant, but overwhelmingly Roman Catholic.

In particular, Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, apostolic delegate to the American Catholic Church called upon American Catholics to unite against the surging immorality of the cinema. As a result, many religious groups (overwhelmingly Roman Catholic) created their own leagues, such as the Catholic Legion of Decency (eventually renamed to the "National Legion of Decency") in 1933, premised around controlling and enforcing decency standards in theatres, and boycotting movies which they deemed offensive. Conservative Protestants tended to support much of the crackdown on "immorality", particularly in the South, which had its own form of censorship. By 1939 "Even black bellboys were routinely cut out of films shown in the South; from the evidence of Hollywood pictures of the 1930s, one might not suspect that black people existed in America" ([1]). Anything relating to the state of race relations in the South or miscegenation could never be exhibited below the Mason-Dixon line.

By 1934, theatre revenues were slumping (likely, in part, to the Depression) and those in the film industry were unhappy with the prospect of losing even more of their audience, particularly in heavily Catholic cities (New York, Boston, Chicago, etc).

Thus, the pre-Code era effectively came to a close with the establishment of a special bureau (eventually christened The Breen Office, after Joseph Ignatius Breen, a former public relations executive), whose purpose was to review scripts and finished prints in order to ensure that they adhered to the new Code.

The Code did not begin to weaken until the late 1940s, when the formerly taboo subjects of miscegenation and rape were allowed in Pinky (1949) and Johnny Belinda (1948), respectively. By the late 1950s, increasingly explicit films began to appear, such as Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Some Like It Hot (1959), Psycho (1960), and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1961). In the early 1960s, films began to deal with adult subjects and sexual matters that had not been seen in Hollywood films since the early 1930s. The MPAA reluctantly granted the seal of approval for these films, but not until certain cuts were made. The code was finally abandoned in 1966.

Last Sunday I decided to test my self and see if I could go without porn for a week. By Tuesday I had a desperate urge to eat ice cream, everyday since then I have had ice cream. I think there might be a correlation between ice cream and porn. I haven't figured out why, hopefully by this Monday I will have the answer as I am no doubt putting on weight because of this.

Live Music

Yay! Rage Against the Machine are coming to Australia. Yes its sold out. No one can get tickets. It is kinda RATM's fault for playing in small venues and not playing enough shows. But they are playing at BDO, so there is still hope. Most of the tickets are going for $400, which I guess is ok, but since they dont have any new material since they last split, its not really worth it. Also It sort of goes against what RATM are about, they are not about paying $400-$800 to see a band. Even if it is themselves. There are also some good people who are actually raging against the machine and stinging the scalpers. Scalpers are evil scum. Every time a scalper sells a ticket God kills a kitten.

As much as you want to see rage, its not worth it. Instead use that money to buy some massive speakers and have your own rage party until the police come kick your head in.

BDO should be good. There are only a few bands that I would like to see. Obviously rage. But also Bjork, LCD Soundsystem *swoon*, Dizzie Rasccal should be interesting and lastly cut off your hands. I have never heard any of the bands music, I like the name, so its going on the list. I imagine thats what happens when you rock out, your hands get cut off whilst trying to perform the most ultimate riff ever. They are kinda like the lepers of rock n roll.

Also the Chemical Brothers have announced a tour for March next year. And lets not forget who has a ticket to see Daft Punk in December... I can't really complain in terms of live music, for the past year and the next 6 months. But I just wish it was more frequent. Ideally once a month would be good. Thats only 12 acts a year, maybe I need to look further than the mainstream chart music and look into smaller, local, acts that actually play music not for money. But then theres the fact that they suck and thats why they don't do it for money. Its a vicious cycle.

Only a few complaint this year so far is missing out on Bloc Party. They only played in Sydney and Melbourne. Its only a small complaint as I didn't like their second album. And parklife, as Mstrkrft, Justice and Digitalism would have been cool. Ok mainly wanted to see Mstrkrft, and I'm not paying that much money to see one band. Splendour in the grass would have been awesome except for the fact that it sold out before I could ring up Butter Beats to reserve me a ticket (I work in a fucken music store and I still miss out. WTF!).

Thats actually a lot of complaining. I'm sure I missed out on other stuff, but since I don't remember I'm not going to bring it up and feel sad about missing it. The future is near and is ready to take my money away from me.

Tired

I got back from the gym about 1 hour ago, and my plan was to do an hour of study after the gym. But as it turns out I'm tired and can't focus at all on studying. I was actually looking forward to studying today as I havent had a chance to over the past few days, but over the weekend and the last week I have been plowing through my materials.

Unlike last time I'm not going to stress, and just pick up my studying tomorrow, its not that much of a loss. And if I forced my self to study today, then I'm going to loose the joy of studying. Which I have found out the hard way, is worse.

Last Call is for Quitters

The Modern Drunkard Magazine, is a magazine about drinking alcohol. Its very funny as its written in a Maddox/satirical way that is:

1. Appropriate
2. Drunk people tend to say the darndest things
3. The most significant cultural reporting currently going around
4. Its also available in print (print being a new kind of boutique)

Heres and example of an article about after hours parties

Going to a party after the bars have closed is akin to crawling to the peak of Mt. Everest then turning to your expedition party and declaring, “Right, nice view. Now let’s break out the toboggans and see how fast we can get down the other side of this bastard.”

It’s a wild, exhilarating ride, all blur and screaming, and usually finishes with a spectacular crash.

"Except, since you’re loaded to the gills, it doesn’t seem such an insane notion at all. In fact, it seems like a perfectly fine idea.

Why should the good times end? a little voice whispers. Says who? The bouncer? The clock on the wall? Because you have to be at work in six hours?

Screw tomorrow! the voice continues, raging now. Tomorrow is the enemy if it steals one moment from today. Tomorrow is where your boss yells at you for showing up late, if you deign to show up at all. Real drunks live in the now, and right now we’d like to have some more booze.

And that is exactly the sort of insane bravado a proper after hours party demands. Most people, the sensible ones anyway, are done at last call. Six or seven hours of steady drinking provides enough joy to refill the vessel the workaday life empties. But others operate under the principle that too much joy is barely enough. That pleasure should not be so moderately measured, that the vessel should be regularly overfilled, that the joy should run down the sides in a glorious mess, and in that overindulgence true pleasure lies."

So as modern culture continues to self medicate we need to address this new found love of culture with a more indepth aproach to recording the history of boozing. Yes you get drunk, but as this magazine shows, there a lot more involved.

Another reason why James Murphey is cool

Turns out Mr Murphy is an amateur ultimate fighter.

Doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA) called for notoriously tough combat sport Ultimate Fighting to be banned this week, prompting a dismissive reaction from LCD SoundSystem mainman/ amateur ultimate fighter James Murphy.

“That’s ridiculous; totally ridiculous,” James told Skrufff, “Ultimate fighting is one of those things that if people look at it and hate it, they’ll say‘ this is two people trying to kill each other’ what medical bullshit can I say to make it stop. It’s a kneejerk cultural reaction,” he complained.

BMA ethics chief Dr Vivienne Nathanson branded ultimate fighting ‘uncivilised’ telling reporters ‘ultimate fighting can be extremely brutal and has been described as ‘human cockfighting.”

“It can cause traumatic brain injury, joint injuries and fractures,” she added, “No amount of money can compensate for permanent brain damage and premature death.”

James, who’s currently taking a break from fight training after injuring his knee in a fall backstage at Leeds V festival, was unimpressed, however, pointing out ‘boxing is still allowed and that’s where you get permanent brain damage.’

“The permanent damage that lots of other sports cause is so much worse than ultimate fighting, so much worse,” he continued, “I’ve hurt my shoulder doing it, but not as badly as when I played American football. In fact, my father had permanent knee damage for the rest of his life from playing a sport that no-one ever argues is too dangerous. American football players don’t walk right after a certain age; professional boxers like Mohammad Ali, develop Parkinsons’ disease,” he said.

America, Fuck Yeah!

Recently whenever I see/hear about something stupid in America, I play the song: America, Fuck Yeah, from the Team America movie in my head.

The Lyrics:

America...
America...
America, FUCK YEAH!
Coming again, to save the mother fucking day yeah,
America, FUCK YEAH!
Freedom is the only way yeah,
Terrorist your game is through cause now you have to answer too,
America, FUCK YEAH!
So lick my butt, and suck on my balls,
America, FUCK YEAH!
What you going to do when we come for you now,
it’s the dream that we all share; it’s the hope for tomorrow

FUCK YEAH!

McDonalds, FUCK YEAH!
Wal-Mart, FUCK YEAH!
The Gap, FUCK YEAH!
Baseball, FUCK YEAH!
NFL, FUCK, YEAH!
Rock and roll, FUCK YEAH!
The Internet, FUCK YEAH!
Slavery, FUCK YEAH!

FUCK YEAH!

Starbucks, FUCK YEAH!
Disney world, FUCK YEAH!
Porno, FUCK YEAH!
Valium, FUCK YEAH!
Reeboks, FUCK YEAH!
Fake Tits, FUCK YEAH!
Sushi, FUCK YEAH!
Taco Bell, FUCK YEAH!
Rodeos, FUCK YEAH!
Bed bath and beyond (Fuck yeah, Fuck yeah)

Liberty, FUCK YEAH!
White Slips, FUCK YEAH!
The Alamo, FUCK YEAH!
Band-aids, FUCK YEAH!
Las Vegas, FUCK YEAH!
Christmas, FUCK YEAH!
Immigrants, FUCK YEAH!
Popeye, FUCK YEAH!
Democrats, FUCK YEAH!
Republicans (republicans)
(fuck yeah, fuck yeah)
Sportsmanship
Books

An example of when this song is appropriate is when a student asks a senator a question and gets tasered. Then gets arested for starting a riot.

Word of the Week: Rapture

Apart from it being the name for a band. It is now the word of the week, or was... because this is more of a retrospective word of the week. It will be used for a few more days but thats about it.

In conservative Christian eschatology, the Rapture is the name given to an event in which Jesus Christ descends from Heaven, accompanied by the spirits of all the saints of God, both from the pre-incarnation period and after, who have passed on prior to this event, and then the bodily remains of these saints are transported from the Earth to meet the Lord and be rejoined with their corresponding spirits in the air. Immediately after this, all Christians alive on the earth are simultaneously transported to meet the Lord and those who have preceded them in the air. All are transformed into immortal bodies like Jesus' body, often referred to as the "resurrection body". This doctrine gained popularity in the 1830s, and more recently in the 1970s, with proponents of the premillenialist, and in particular the dispensationalist, interpretations of scripture. However, proponents of the doctrine have argued that it can be found in the early Church fathers and the New Testament.
[Wikipedia]

I also find it weird that you have a band called The Rapture and on the first LCD Soundsytem album you have a track called Tribulations... And from my limited and patchy hearsay knowledge they would have been working together when their albums were released.

People tend to use the word when people or lots of something eg dogs go missing. Or it could just be all a subconcious thought on buying a computer game

last.fm

I would like to anounce my sign up to another profile type site. last.fm

last.fm captures your music history and recommends more music for you to listen to. It also has loads of other cool features (statistics) of your listening behavior. I have also put a little badge of my listening on the side bar. The social part is in how you can look at your friends listen habits, write reviews, create your own radio station based on your listening. Playlists (mixtape...), and other sharing of music love.

oh. and they have cool widgets...
























(drawing by Kelly Vivanco (Patches))

No Answer

Whenever I ring people on their mobile and I don't get an answer I always assume they are at the movies. That gets me thinking about what movie they might be seeing and if they had pop corn or m&m's or what beverage they might take with them. I'm not sure why I think the only reason they are not answering their phone is because they are watching a movie. There are an infinite number of other possibilities that are way more plausible. But for some reason the movies is the first thing that pops into my head.

Purging

The great purge of 2007 has begun. We have a garage sale this weekend and so the whole house is getting a big clear out. When you go through your old stuff you get a bit nostalgic. But I have stuck trying very hard to stick to my goal of getting rid of the junk I don't use. Stuff that you haven't used or unable to fix your self is the easy part. The hard part is getting rid of slightly more personal artifacts/items as they may hold some nostalgic value but that is all. I also tend to keep all of my old study materials/notes. Even though I have never gone back to them and probably never will I had kept them. eg tafe stuff which I did not know existed. This obviously means I have had no use for it since actually studying and have not had since then. Often it can be easier to just store the information in your brain or on the computer. So, I have ended up throwing away about 4 boxes so far, with one box full of stuff that I still need to sort through, as they are notes which haven't been filed properly. Uni stuff is a little different, as I am going to be referring to them through my CPA course to refresh my memory for 'assumed knowledge'. So all of that is staying, I also use my tax and company law notes for work, so they actually get used. All that is left is economics and management stuff. Economics I'm keeping for when I do my economics degree/postgrad thingy. But the management stuff is pretty useless to me so, I think I will keep my text books and revision notes, but not all the other junk.

I'm also not sure what to do with photocopied books/notes as some of those articles are actually quite interesting and I paid 10 cents a page...

I should also probably get rid of some of my crappy toys like pogs/matchbox cars/Pokemon which I have no interest in collecting anymore.

My plan if it doesn't all sell, is to donate/throw it away. And maybe with books I could sell it on eBay and get money from overcharging for postage. But my Mum wants to have a garage sale untill its all sold.

Why People Stop Blogging

Why People Stop Blogging, as apposed to why Bloggers stop Blogging. Is an interesting question. People don't necessary run out of things to talk about because we all know a lot of blogs that talk about really stupid and mundane things like how you changed the font from Times New Roman to Arial. And there is always something new happening on the Internet/realife that you could comment/rant on. Ideas are not hard to find.

Blogging tools make it oh so easy, its even easier then using something like Word. In Word you have to think of where to file it, what to call it, there are a bazillion buttons on the toolbar to customise your writing etc. And things like Blogger are free so theres no excuse in accessing the tools necessary to publish your rubbish comments.

A recent trend is the use of social networking/profile sites to fill in your audience with what you are doing. Amongst more hardcore bloggers Twitter seems to be the flavour of the month. These sites require less time to update your fans of what you are up to and isn't as bad as signing up to a dating site... So time is a factor, even a small rant of a few paragraphs can take 30 to 60 mins depending on if you redraft your writ ting. And if you think about it these bloggers just got busy. A few years ago people were:

"wow you have a blog?"
"yeah"
"You must have a lot of time on your hands"
"Its pretty awesome it has jokes on it and a picture of my cat and a link to altavista and hotbot just in case you forget how to type/loose an arm and animations. I could probably work for Pixar but I dont want to because they are a bunch of sell outs working the Mickey destroying the minds of children."
"Ok, I'm gona go over here now..."
"cya"

As if it wasnt obvious enough, the nerd went and got jobs.
And for the rest people like to say something, but don't want to write an essay about it. Hence myspace/facebook/twitter. Low cost of time.

Bandwagon theory/evolution of the Internet

When new things come out people want to be associated with the new shiney things. The web evolves and maybe blogging is only good for people who still like to rant. Facebook makes it easier to tell people what music you like and have dialogue with people. Not many people will leave a comment on a blog or comment on their own blog about a recent blog of your own. Too much effort. Things like facebook make the whole Internet situation smaller. Kinda like how aeroplanes made traveling to Brisbane viable. But what I don't like about it is that its a bit thin. As in you can't delve into something like you would on a blog. You can post a pic and a description. Basically, it can lack substance. But its still really quick way of getting your personal 'brand' out there. If you have a blog that people actually read then you probably don't need to change much, but for people starting blogs, all these web 2.0 tools are pretty important.

A lot of the decent blogs are actually written by a team of people. This helps in terms of reviewing/editing, more in depth research into the posts (more time for each writer). Frequent posts. Essentially all the things that help a blog become awesome and have a decent reader base.

So my blogger template is dead, but maybe its a good thing. Now I have the new fancy archive menu and lables in the side bar. The most amazing thing though is that the pictures display properly. Hooray. Ofcourse, its still oh so wrong to use a default template, so I will work tirelessley untill I have my new template. Hopefully I can have shadows. Because shadows contain ninjas, and ninjas are awesome and awesome.

The saga continues, part 37.

New Template

I am now in the process of updating the template for this blog. As it was getting a bit old and there are a few mistakes which are annoying to look at (eg side bar margins, there isnt any...)

And over all the template is simple and nice but it would be nice to ad a bit more texture/depth. So I am now on a quest to find some shadows effects. And after a small preliminary search on customising blogger all I found was sites which were really ugly. I'm not really sure what persuaded these people to start blogs giving advice on how to customise/desing a blog, because clearly they shouldnt. Either the colours are just wrong or the page doesnt fit on the screen, these are most likely the fools that made myspace so ugly.

edit: Turns out there is a difference in seaching for 'customize blogger' and 'blog design'.

edit 2: ok, so, I did get some good sites in blog desing, but they are mainly sites that are owned by designers selling their services...

I also have a funny feeling that my blogger code is wrong because pictures dont display properly within the post, but just sort of go wherever they like.

So before I go an make drastic changes I have updated this template and tried to clean it up as much as I could

edit 3: looks like I have fucked up my own template somehow. So here is a blogger template untill I fix the problem.

The Ultimate Collection

1 Transformers Collection.

$1,000,000

e-Tax 2007 Program Links

As is the norm every year, the tax office hides its programs in a maze of links. Here are the direct links...

• E-Tax
• Publications
• CGT
• Family Tax Benefit

The main module now inlcudes the 30% baby bonus rebate scheme and you can now download you medicare expenses statement, oh and as was a nice inclusion from last year you can also access your centrelink payments online through etax which is handy if you dont keep your records inorder.

enjoy.

Slow Day

I have no excusses but for some reason I am getting very litle work done today. Yes I am still at work blogging, but this is but one example of not getting very much work done. I was extreamly productive yesterday, so maybe this is the comedown effect from that. Or it could be that I dont have that much to do (definatly not). I just cant seem to focus for more than 15 mins which is annoying. I have been trying to get what I can done, as I know tomorrow I will probably be back to normal. Its days like these where it would be better if you just stayed home.

Home could be the problem, because at home there is ps2 and where there is ps2 there is the recently acquired Need for Speed Carbon, which I bought on Monday for $29.95. I havent played ps2 since we got our new tv as I couldn't be arsed to hook it up. Mainly because of a lack of ports (one of everything is pretty weak), but thankfully the vcr has a few I can use. As unbeliveable as that sounds, the VCR has more holes in it than the TV.

Playing games on a wide screen is different. You can actually see what you are doing. Its also bright enough to actually see what you are doing, which you dont appreciate untill you actually play a game were there are shaddows that hide what you are doing and you basicly have to guess... But now that I can see it is awesome. God of war is a bit like that, but because of the brightness I dont keep dieing. God of war 2 is out now for about $60. But hopefully it will come down in price by the time I finish God of War. One of the interesting things about of God of War is appart from it being an awesome game there seems to be not much media attention on the mini sex games. In GTA:SA all you had to do was take your gf to the night club and visit her frequently and you would get to have sex, and on the PC version there was a patch you could download where you got to see the sex. In God of war you have 2 naked women you jump on the bed and you have to press the various buttons as they flash on the screen to make them have more vigous sex, as depicted by a wobbly vase (you win by knocing the vase over).

How to Tie Shoe Laces

Being able to get your self dressed everyday is a big step in becoming independent.

A mathamagician has calculated the most efficient way to tie your shoelaces.
Runners world has some methods to best suit your feet.

After reading both of these articles I can proudly say I feel slightly more independent.

Ray's Blog republished on news.com.au

A cat from an online comic has been published on news.com.au

nuff said.

Clients: Part 2

And its annoying because you just cant tell how much work would be involved, and if you over estimate then they may decide to go somewhere else and if you underestimate and when the project is finished and you send them the bill they get upset and "you told be $XXX", "but I did spend the last 2 weeks working on it putting aside other work". Oh and the other thing that gets me about clients are the ones that ask you to get something done quicker and then dont bother to even collect that day and wait a week, when you could have comforatbly done it over the the week.

Virus

Luckily the computer caught the virus instead of me. And it was all may own fault. Considering the number of questionable sites I visit, you would think that I would have viruses more often. This is my first virus and maybe in my haste to get Doom 3 to work I didn't notice the evil file I was downloading. As soon as you extract the file the virus (it was actually a Trojan, but it had the ability to create more copies of it self etc... it was quite nasty) the virus loads it self on the computer, then downloads more shit from the internet called Win Anti Virus 2007. It was very well done and looked legitimate, but when stuff starts to download it self you know somethings wrong. Or when you cant get to your anti virus program as it puts its window 'always on-top'. So to get rid of this nasty virus I had to download about 8 different scanning programs and 3 file analysis programs and run them in various numerous times to get rid of this virus. It took 3 days. Which is better than my recovery time. But I still don't feel safe, I will be doing a clean install. But weirdly the package that contained the virus actually had working keys for Doom 3. So in a way its still good. But I think in future I will stick to more well known sites... Oh and run Anti-virus when downloading packages. And run the program on a virtual machine...

Your Inner Child Is Scared

Like a kid, you tend to shy away from new experiences. You prefer what's tried and true - novelty is scary! New foods, new places, and new friends are difficult for you to deal with. Some say you're predictable, but you enjoy being comfortable.

How Is Your Inner Child?

Suits are Cool

Clients

Seth Godin of The Dip fame wrote something funny about one of his clients: [edit: This is not one of Seths clients. I, however have gotten a lot of this over the past few weeks]

"So a client calls me on a Friday - 4PM.

CLIENT: I'm about to talk to the pharma client, I need a computer graphics budget for an interactive CD-ROM.

ME: Great, email me the project details, how many screens, client deadlines, etc.

CLIENT: Well, can't you just give me a ballpark figure?

ME: A ballpark figure? But, I don't know any of specs, nor any of the client info. Please send me what you have, I'll look over it this weekend and I'll have something for you first thing Monday morning.

CLIENT: Well, we need to send them something today, by 4:30PM. Can't you just estimate it?

ME: Okay, $100,000.

CLIENT: $100,000! Why is it that much?"

For inspritation on how to deal with your clients go here.

Revision: Blog Manifesto

Turns out I did have a blog manifesto and it was also my first post. I was supposed to learn some sort of progaming something something and make my own blogging app. The saga did continue for a few years but after a few months I do concede defeat to the almightly blogger.

Blogathon

My freinds Jonathan and Karl have restarted their blogs. Both are in search of work and both will be blogging daily (we will see how long that lasts...) about their endevours to find work.

Jonathan is using the blog as stimulus to get over his 6 months of writters block. And as a potential journalist would probably have starved to death by now if he did actually have such a job. Karl is blogging daily to keep track of his goals in getting a job in design. Which reminds me I have to lend him GTD.

And as always my blogging manifesto is blank. Maybe I could start a blog to discuss what things I could write in my blog.

12 Interesting Facts abotut Icky Thump

1. Icky Thump has no piano performances (unlike it's predecessor which was mostly written and performed on piano). And is the first White Stripes album to contain no piano based songs.

2 It has the most guitar solos Jack White has ever recorded to tape.

3. It is the first time the band has collaborated with horns and bagpipes.

4. It is the first time The White Stripes have ever recorded and mixed an album at a conventional modern studio.

5. Icky Thump was still, however, recorded to reel-to-reel, and mixed to tape in complete analog fashion.

6. The album was recorded in three weeks. Shockingly, the longest the band have ever spent working on a record.

7. Icky Thump contains the first spoken dialogue song to appear on one of their albums; "rag and bone".

8. Icky Thump is the second longest album of The Stripes pantheon thus far. Second to Elephant with more than 48 minutes in running time.

9. The album's title is a morphing of the phrase "ECKY THUMP" which is an exclamation of surprise or wonderment in northern England.

10. The synthesizer used in the title track was also used on the song "Telstar" recorded by Joe Meek.

11. Jack White used the exact same guitars on Icky Thump that he has recorded with on every White Stripes album.

12. "I'm Slowly Turning Into You" is possibly the first song to be written based on a video treatment. This was inspired by one which was given to The White Stripes by Michel Gondry.

[Source: Boarders Newsletter]

Achewood Wolfmother Reference

The current story arch in Achewood has Lyle and Cropes start a band called Mister Band, with Lyle playing bass. and of course Ray signs them.

Todays strip has Lyle trying to get out of playing bass as he doesnt like playing the same same note over and over very repetivly. Anyway, the last panel in todays strip looks like a reference to Wolfmother. Which I think is a bit harsh, mainly because Chris Ross knows at least 3 different notes (not to mention he has to play keyboard at the same time).