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Lunch Experiment 2009
Today was the last day for Lunch Experiment, all I can say is thank you to all the pigs, turkeys and fish that sacrificed them selves for the greater good. The final asking price for a sandwich was $4.85 with a remainder of food, total spent on food $63.05.
Food Remaining
1/2 Margarine
Lettuce
2/3 Cucumber
1.75 Cheese
3/4 Tomato
Mustard
50g Salami
50g Turkey
Wastage
1/2 Lettuce
100g Ham
The good stuff
Coles has the cheapest rolls ($0.45)
Coles has the best meat
Fresh sandwiches are awesome
The Bad Stuff
Coles rolls are too sweet, need to buy from the bakery @ $0.70
Buying things on special has ruined the experiment (see cheese)
Lack of knowledge on storing vegetables has lead to excessive wastage
Doing the same thing everyday is boring
Conclusion
Making sandwich at work is 117.73% and 99.31% cheaper than subway or driving home respectivly. In next years experiment my hope is to get it below $4.00 and incorporate some other types of food stuffs.
Food Remaining
1/2 Margarine
Lettuce
2/3 Cucumber
1.75 Cheese
3/4 Tomato
Mustard
50g Salami
50g Turkey
Wastage
1/2 Lettuce
100g Ham
The good stuff
Coles has the cheapest rolls ($0.45)
Coles has the best meat
Fresh sandwiches are awesome
The Bad Stuff
Coles rolls are too sweet, need to buy from the bakery @ $0.70
Buying things on special has ruined the experiment (see cheese)
Lack of knowledge on storing vegetables has lead to excessive wastage
Doing the same thing everyday is boring
Conclusion
Making sandwich at work is 117.73% and 99.31% cheaper than subway or driving home respectivly. In next years experiment my hope is to get it below $4.00 and incorporate some other types of food stuffs.
Sleep
Sleep. I like it a lot. I normally sleep 9 to 10 hours a day for me to feel rested which is a bit higher than the usual 8 but most probably because it takes me 2 plus hours to fall asleep in the first place… The past week I have not been getting enough hours of sleep, due to a number of factors
1. its too hot
2. its too bright
I also like to spend time doing things and you cant do things if you are asleep. Conversely you don’t feel like doing anything the next day when you feel like the living dead., this cycle continues until I end up in the state I am in today. I am awake, but doing any work is very laborious and I feel very irritable.
Getting up early in the morning sounds like a great idea, get some exercise done, never late for work and not have to sleep when its too hot/bright. Going to try it out tonight/tomorrow. Hopefully can stick to the plan for then next 2 weeks and revaluate if it is worth getting up that early (when the sun comes up), or at least before it gets too bright/hot.
Lunch Update: $4.98 | One more day to go.
1. its too hot
2. its too bright
I also like to spend time doing things and you cant do things if you are asleep. Conversely you don’t feel like doing anything the next day when you feel like the living dead., this cycle continues until I end up in the state I am in today. I am awake, but doing any work is very laborious and I feel very irritable.
Getting up early in the morning sounds like a great idea, get some exercise done, never late for work and not have to sleep when its too hot/bright. Going to try it out tonight/tomorrow. Hopefully can stick to the plan for then next 2 weeks and revaluate if it is worth getting up that early (when the sun comes up), or at least before it gets too bright/hot.
Lunch Update: $4.98 | One more day to go.
Real Taste, Zero Sugar
I have some holidays coinciding with Christmas and my main fear is getting bored. So planning things to do is a way to ensure I don’t end up back at work next year with no cool stories to tell. The other reason is that over the past three months I have been very productive in generating ideas, but sadly nothing to show for it. By not doing anything I have nothing to show for my idea (good, bad or mediocre), inspiration is not always going to be there, but while it is, I need to use it and create the things I’m so happy to think about and hopefully anything I do create will inspire me to create something else, thus illuminating the need for outside stimuli. I will be a self combusting ball of awesome reversing the effects of man made climate change (thank me later).
The one thing I don’t want to do is evaluate the year gone by. I have a feeling it would be just plain depressing, so instead I’m going to set myself some goals for the holidays and will be considered a test run for my New Year resolution(s).
I was going to write a list of profound/inspirational goals that could be found in the great big book of inspiring goals, but what I would most like to do is catch up on things I have been putting off during the year that really needed doing, and if I had done them sooner I would not be wallowing in my own self-pity. I have 17 days and at the end of each of those days I want to be able to take a picture of something I have made.
The one thing I don’t want to do is evaluate the year gone by. I have a feeling it would be just plain depressing, so instead I’m going to set myself some goals for the holidays and will be considered a test run for my New Year resolution(s).
I was going to write a list of profound/inspirational goals that could be found in the great big book of inspiring goals, but what I would most like to do is catch up on things I have been putting off during the year that really needed doing, and if I had done them sooner I would not be wallowing in my own self-pity. I have 17 days and at the end of each of those days I want to be able to take a picture of something I have made.
- I hate being disorganised; I also hate spending copious amounts of time organising. Obviously parts of the system are not working other wise I would not be disorganised. This will be fixed and will not only improve my state of mind; I should get some professional benefit out of it.
- I need a bookshelf. I have some wood, I will turn this wood into a bookshelf (or drive to Ikea and pretend I made it myself)
- Coal fired BBQ. Fuck global warming. I want my meat cooked on fuel that requires more than a turning a button to ignite.
- Read a book, I have numerous books that I have bought or borrowed but never got around to reading them, same goes for those magazine articles I tagged (not playboy).
- There are number of new developments in the world of accounting, generally there is only a change in the wording, but you still got to read it to make sure there is nothing fundamental (and pickup the new words to put in your documentation), should probably blog about it. But there is always the fear your are wrong on the Internet and someday, someone, somewhere will use it against you.
- Trebunchent – The wood that could be used to make a bookshelf could also be turned into a siege weapon
- Make/get a frame for my flaming lips lithograph
- HTPC/Server – Watching a movie on the TV is significantly better than watching at my desk
- VM’s for everything. Also need to delete the old ones taking up a crap load of space
- Complete the organisation of my tax notes, cheat sheets, flow charts & guides
- Make a sunjar, these look much cooler than the crappy plastic light sticks you put in the ground
- Learn to play the keyboard – I have a keyboard that is collecting dust, time to turn that dust into magical space dust. Find out what that strange instrument in the garage is and make it do musics.
- Build a new website – less magic, more collate. Hopefully blogger can still help, if not going to switch to wordpress because it has pages
- New food stuffs, pizza, pie, quiche, potato bake, jelly,
- Have fun, regain some confidence, fuck shit up (lolz couldn’t resist).
Samwich
Well I got my roll from the bakery, much better, not as sweet and tastes like bread... but it did cost $0.80. I also went on a bit of a shopping spree so ended up buying cheese, turkey, tomato and salami... Average cost is still $5.21 which is not bad. I now have cheese to last me to the end of January (will most likely take it home). Will restart the spreadsheet come the new year. My lettuce has also died, but I won't get another as tomorrow is Friday, still got tomato and cucumber.
$4.66
Well I did try and get a roll from a bakery, but it has actually closed down. So I went to Woolworth which is in the same complex and get a roll from there and its 60 cents! Coles sell the same type of loose rolls for 45 cents and they come in little individual bags. Anyway got another bakery lined up for tomorrow, is likely to cost more than Coles, but I'm sure it will be worth it.
$6.75
The average cost of sandwiches this week is $6.75, I did buy some extra ham today, along with the vegies, will be coming home with me over the weekend and used in sandwich making. I have not decided if I want to continue the lunch experiment over weekends as I use other ingredients that are already at home and it would contaminate. But I guess the stuff I take home could be classed as wastage. I'm not going to waste the food for the sake of the experiment. It could survive over the weekend, I just like fresh food as it tends to taste better... So best to use it up.
I think the cost of the margarine at $8.90 kinds ruined any cost savings, but you don't all have to buy proactive, sometimes its on special. So get it then, in anycase it will last a long time.
I have been buying the big hamburger rolls daily from coles which are nice, but I am thinking of going to a bakery for something different. Might cost a bit more, but should be worth it. I also need to get some plastic containers to put my tomato and cheese in to stop them from drying out.
Summary of things learned
I think the cost of the margarine at $8.90 kinds ruined any cost savings, but you don't all have to buy proactive, sometimes its on special. So get it then, in anycase it will last a long time.
I have been buying the big hamburger rolls daily from coles which are nice, but I am thinking of going to a bakery for something different. Might cost a bit more, but should be worth it. I also need to get some plastic containers to put my tomato and cheese in to stop them from drying out.
Summary of things learned
- Food costs money
- Fresh tastes good
- Healthy
- Save time not having to pack lunch
- Containers for tomato and cheese
- Learn how to save lettuce
- Try different breads
Tuesday Sandwich
Today I had to buy margarine and a roll totaling $8.95, Butter is ok, just takes too long to spread if its been in the fridge. I have been, or so I thought, uploading pics of my receipts and sandwiches to picassa from my phone, but for whatever reason its not working.Not that it realy matters. The average is not $14.72, tomorrow should bring it down. The Cost of ham might be a problem come Thursday, could just crack open a tin of tuna (I won't cheat and if I do I will just add the cost into the spreadsheet as if I had purchased it).
Need to get containers for my tomato and cheese so they don't dry out.
Need to get containers for my tomato and cheese so they don't dry out.
Lunch Experiment
I have discussed in the past my love afair with lunch. Today in the spirit of the change experiment we embark on a bold new wave of absurd spreadsheets to minutely anaylise the best way to have lunch. Some questions that I would like answered (If you have any questions send them in).
I have in the past pack my lunch either in the morning or the night before and taken it to work. This has resulted in soggy bread which is unacceptable to a sandwich conosiuer such as my self. You can seperate the tomato and wrap the bread loosely, but none of these solutions come close to a freshly made sandwich.
Occasionaly I go home for lunch, but since this takes up 30 mins out of my lunch break in driving its becoming increasingly obvious that its too expensive in time and money (petrol) to continue.
So I am now going to bring the ingredients into work and make it at the time of eating. I hypothosise it will cost more initialy because of the cheese and margarine.
Today I got some ingredients at a cost of $20.48, which is a bit on the high side for a sandwich, however the only thing I will need tomorrow is a roll ($0.45) and margarine ($5+). I will average it out over the next few weeks, it also included cake.
The Spreadsheet
- Will I save money if I pack my Lunch
- What are the time savings of eating out
- Will I feel like a dork if I make my lunch at work
- Nutritional/value for money
- Health benefits
- Best way to pack lunch
- Am I able to eat something other than sandwiches for lunch
I have in the past pack my lunch either in the morning or the night before and taken it to work. This has resulted in soggy bread which is unacceptable to a sandwich conosiuer such as my self. You can seperate the tomato and wrap the bread loosely, but none of these solutions come close to a freshly made sandwich.
Occasionaly I go home for lunch, but since this takes up 30 mins out of my lunch break in driving its becoming increasingly obvious that its too expensive in time and money (petrol) to continue.
So I am now going to bring the ingredients into work and make it at the time of eating. I hypothosise it will cost more initialy because of the cheese and margarine.
Today I got some ingredients at a cost of $20.48, which is a bit on the high side for a sandwich, however the only thing I will need tomorrow is a roll ($0.45) and margarine ($5+). I will average it out over the next few weeks, it also included cake.
The Spreadsheet
Sleep
Sleep. I like it a lot. I normally sleep 9 to 10 hours a day for me to feel rested which is a bit higher than the usual 8 but most probably because it takes me 2 plus hours to fall asleep in the first place… The past week I have not been getting enough hours of sleep, due to a number of factors
1. its too hot
2. its too bright
I also like to spend time doing things and you cant do things if you are asleep. Conversely you don’t feel like doing anything the next day when you feel like the living dead., this cycle continues until I end up in the state I am in today. I am awake, but doing any work is very laborious and I feel very irritable.
Getting up early in the morning sounds like a great idea, get some exercise done, never late for work and not have to sleep when its too hot/bright. Going to try it out tonight/tomorrow. Hopefully can stick to the plan for then next 2 weeks and revaluate if it is worth getting up that early (when the sun comes up), or atleast before it gets too bright/hot.
1. its too hot
2. its too bright
I also like to spend time doing things and you cant do things if you are asleep. Conversely you don’t feel like doing anything the next day when you feel like the living dead., this cycle continues until I end up in the state I am in today. I am awake, but doing any work is very laborious and I feel very irritable.
Getting up early in the morning sounds like a great idea, get some exercise done, never late for work and not have to sleep when its too hot/bright. Going to try it out tonight/tomorrow. Hopefully can stick to the plan for then next 2 weeks and revaluate if it is worth getting up that early (when the sun comes up), or atleast before it gets too bright/hot.
My sad wallet
My paper wallet u made a few months ago is now a decrepid stink hole of sticky tape, stickers and sweat. The good thing about the paper wallet is that it's super cheap and easily replaced.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
the fucking word of the day
the fucking word of the day is an new and interesting website dedicated to etymology with a twist. Below is the word innocuous use in an example sentence:
"The cocaine they had purchased turned out to be innocuous. They got ripped off."
Good Job Son
"Barry says the value of Mr Packer's assets dropped by $4 billion at the depth of the global financial crisis, prompting him to withdraw from public view, take up smoking, put on weight, and become depressed."
DIY Extended Warranty
Extended warranties are often stupid purchases as you never actually get the item fixed or it does need fixing but the cost of the warranty meant you could of purchased a new device anyway. This happened with my camera. Camera $300 + Warranty $160. Admittedly I did claim on the warranty but now I have a barely working camera that 5 years old, I can very easily purchase a new camera with similar specs now for the $160 and I am in fact thinking of upgrading anyway. So why not just transfer the money that you would have spent on the warranty to a savings account? Eventually this will accumulate and you make get some good interest going. If anything does break or needs repair you can dip into the warranty fund. This is not a foolproof plan and may not apply to everything eg iPhone warranty is worth its weight in gold.
Stupid warranty Purchases - Cost of Warranty
Camera - $160
TomTom - $80
VCR/DVD - $220
Dishwasher - $300
Total $760
It probably wont apply to big ticket items (even then the device is most likely to break after the extended warranty period as our dishwasher has recently done and was therefore worthless).
from fivecentnickle
This is essentially 'self insurance' which I have been toying with, but with no solid theory as yet, before doing anything like this you do have to convince your self of what it is you are trying to achieve by taking on the risk your self and if you have the will power not to use the money for other things.
P.S. Change Experiment Mini Update: I have not been buying too much stuff with cash lately (trying to save real money) so my change jar has not been filling up as quickly. Will do a change dump at the beginning of next month to see whats what.
Stupid warranty Purchases - Cost of Warranty
Camera - $160
TomTom - $80
VCR/DVD - $220
Dishwasher - $300
Total $760
It probably wont apply to big ticket items (even then the device is most likely to break after the extended warranty period as our dishwasher has recently done and was therefore worthless).
from fivecentnickle
Thus, while extended warranties were once reserved for high dollar purchases, many retailers have started pushing them for relatively minor items, as well. And why wouldn’t they? They’re practically printing money.
In most cases, however, you’re only paying for marginal coverage when you buy an extended warranty. Consider the case of a gadget with a one year manufacturer’s warranty. You can easily extend that to two years by using the right credit card.
Thus, the three year warranty that you’re being offered is essentially a bet that your purchase will break between 24-36 months after you purchase it. And guess what? Even if it happens, you can probably get something far better (and cheaper) by then.
Instead of buying warranty after warranty, why not create an “extended warranty fund.” In other words, whenever a retailer offers you an extended warranty, simply transfer that amount of money into a dedicated savings account.
This is essentially 'self insurance' which I have been toying with, but with no solid theory as yet, before doing anything like this you do have to convince your self of what it is you are trying to achieve by taking on the risk your self and if you have the will power not to use the money for other things.
P.S. Change Experiment Mini Update: I have not been buying too much stuff with cash lately (trying to save real money) so my change jar has not been filling up as quickly. Will do a change dump at the beginning of next month to see whats what.
It's too late for the government to train me to be a weapon. For someone to approach me on the street, and to tell me I match a certain profile. I probably won't even learn another language well enough to speak it fluently. Giant crazed attack dogs won't ever suddenly act like scared puppies when they see me. I won't ever be a grandmaster of chess, either. I don't think at this stage I can even reasonably expect to make Expert. There are some things I regret as I get older, I guess. There are a ton of traditional ways to be bad-ass, and I missed the boat. But that's okay. It just means I have to be more creative. And then later that creativity will make people think I was an evil genius, instead of just so desperate for a world with monsters that I didn't mind becoming one myself. What I'm saying is - I stole an ice cream cone yesterday from the 7-11 and I have no regrets at all. untoward
"Until a man is twenty-five he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martial-arts monastry in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Columbian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad. Hiro used to feel that way, too, but then he ran into Raven. In a way, this is liberating. He no longer has to worry about being the baddest motherfucker in the world. The position is taken." -- NealStephenson, "Snow Crash"
[Start here]
"Until a man is twenty-five he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martial-arts monastry in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Columbian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad. Hiro used to feel that way, too, but then he ran into Raven. In a way, this is liberating. He no longer has to worry about being the baddest motherfucker in the world. The position is taken." -- NealStephenson, "Snow Crash"
[Start here]
Apparently my new iphone has decided it will start posting for me. In order to keep this blog human only. The part that gives it credability I will now post about my shit day called Monday. Mondays are normaly not good as they require you to go to work, but I had a good weekend and most of the day was going quite well untill I got back to the office, which turned into instant depression. Not sure why, but it did, I am now on my 9th beer and still feel very sober and not so much of a happy thought. I am still optimistic that tomorrow will be awesome, even if it kills me. I plan to make tomorrow the most awesome day ever... I have chocolate and funny jokes to tell people and if that fails I can a-maize them with my iphone (see pun dictionary). Then if that fails then I can always fuck shit up, by, well... fucking it.
What I don't get about the optometrist is they have these massive show rooms with only a few pairs of glasses, surely they could fit a few more pairs in.
Tomorrow I am going to buy a hipflask and a sandwich which will make the unhappydays go faster, but they will still be unhappy.
p.s. On a upbeat note, I now have a tub and engine from a cheap dryer, going to have to work out the best way to make it explode.
What I don't get about the optometrist is they have these massive show rooms with only a few pairs of glasses, surely they could fit a few more pairs in.
Tomorrow I am going to buy a hipflask and a sandwich which will make the unhappydays go faster, but they will still be unhappy.
p.s. On a upbeat note, I now have a tub and engine from a cheap dryer, going to have to work out the best way to make it explode.
I used Shazam to discover Walk On The Wild Side by Lou Reed
 |  Hi, I used Shazam to discover Walk On The Wild Side by Lou Reed and thought I'd share it with you. |
| Shazam users on iPhone and iPod touch, tap here to add this to your Tag List. |
iPhone
Got my iPhone on Friday but did not want to start using it unroll I got a case. It arrived a lot sooner than I had expected which is nice but I already ordered a body guard skin. Nice to have something a bit more rugged. Still going to buy the incase colour because of it's hole covers. Camera is realy nice, but made butter by the screen. The screen is good but would be nice to have a higher resolution for vids normal use is excelent and the auto brightness copes well with natural, fake and darkness.
Update: Change Experiment
Well its been a while since I have updated the change experiment and to be honest I am never going to be a scientist at this rate... anyway. The last deposit was made in March, so I do have a lot of change collected, $170.00, which does not help my interest much whilst its sitting in the saving tin. Should really be doing this monthly. Since then I have earned another $5.60 in interest and with the deposit I made today I now have $466.21 in the bank. I will endevour to make more frequent trips to the bank in future I promise.
Notebook Hell
I love stationary but a problem I am currently having is that I have too many which are in current circulation.
go via e toll
The government has recently changed the name of the wireless tagging system called e-toll to go via. This irritates me a lot. Not only is it worse than etoll (go via is not an improvement since there is interpritation issues with the pronounciation (is it even a word in the english language?)) it is also just more bull shit advertising they are trying to sell to the population as if we don't already know what it is. Its a tax on using a bridge, something a troll (troll->toll) would do.
"I am going via the troll, she is going to shake me down for my change, but I have no change. Thats ok she now accepts credit card."
10 minuites later
"So you also need a $15 bond?"
"so my first visit over the bridge will cost me $50 and every subsequent trip will cost $2.40, but you can change the cost of this whenever you like on an imaginary statement that I am unlikely to check as the transaction will take place and the my knowing of how much I am spending will happen at another time"
"beep beep"
"I am going via the troll, she is going to shake me down for my change, but I have no change. Thats ok she now accepts credit card."
10 minuites later
"So you also need a $15 bond?"
"so my first visit over the bridge will cost me $50 and every subsequent trip will cost $2.40, but you can change the cost of this whenever you like on an imaginary statement that I am unlikely to check as the transaction will take place and the my knowing of how much I am spending will happen at another time"
"beep beep"
New Books
Got my books from the CPA today, still trying to find space for my old books... everything is just lying on the ground atm. Should be a good semester, I have decided to do 2 subjects so I can finish early. But will probably end up failing.
Doh
My challenge today is go the whole day without eating bread. I have noticed over the last few weeks I have been consuming way too much bread and it correlates to an increase in weight. So to stop that I am going to try and have a bread free day every week.
Windows 7
I have been playing around with Windows 7 in a virtual machine for a little while and it does seem better than vista. Its still a major change from XP, the aero does nothing for me. The start button is actuall a lot more usefull and you nolonger need to short and keep it clean as you can just search and the programs you use the most will come up first anyway.
It seems quite fast, a few things are a bit more hidden and somethings are rearranged vs xp, but mostly its pretty intuative from xp once you get used to the layout. Alot of nice improvements re: task bar. with the ability to pin programs to it, so the quick launch is gone, but its a nice feature and its a lot easier to move stuff around and pin stuff and unpin, so you change your work enviroment very quickly to suit what you are doing. The system try is nice and quiet and can be made to be silent. As apposed to vista which was a source of constant annoyance. The problem with MS is that they advertised vista as the second comming, it was not. And its a pattern. 95 vs 98, 3 years difference but availability wise probably only 2. 2000 vs xp, only 2 years. Its been 2 years since vista and win 7 will be released in a few months. XP is VERY simmarly to 2000. Win 7 is very simmilar to vista, but it just works significantly better.
It seems quite fast, a few things are a bit more hidden and somethings are rearranged vs xp, but mostly its pretty intuative from xp once you get used to the layout. Alot of nice improvements re: task bar. with the ability to pin programs to it, so the quick launch is gone, but its a nice feature and its a lot easier to move stuff around and pin stuff and unpin, so you change your work enviroment very quickly to suit what you are doing. The system try is nice and quiet and can be made to be silent. As apposed to vista which was a source of constant annoyance. The problem with MS is that they advertised vista as the second comming, it was not. And its a pattern. 95 vs 98, 3 years difference but availability wise probably only 2. 2000 vs xp, only 2 years. Its been 2 years since vista and win 7 will be released in a few months. XP is VERY simmarly to 2000. Win 7 is very simmilar to vista, but it just works significantly better.
Repairs
My car is now getting repaired after it was damaged by an unknown force. I have been quite calm and quite philosophical over these events but today it has been hard to control my emotions. I took my car to get assessed yesterday and got the phone call today that its going to be 2 weeks before I get my car back. I guess a cumulation of damaged goods, having to pay $500 excess and the fact I wont have a car for 2 weeks is just a bit too much...
In good news I am apparently married and my wife who I don't know her name yet, is already planning to move in. My mum has arranged everything and all I have to do is drink my rohypnol like a good little boy.
There is something to be said about drinking beer out of a glass. Its marginaly better than drinking out of a bottle. babies drink out of a bottle. The next step is the beaker, which is very simlar to take away coffee cups.
In good news I am apparently married and my wife who I don't know her name yet, is already planning to move in. My mum has arranged everything and all I have to do is drink my rohypnol like a good little boy.
There is something to be said about drinking beer out of a glass. Its marginaly better than drinking out of a bottle. babies drink out of a bottle. The next step is the beaker, which is very simlar to take away coffee cups.
2 Days
A new development in my life of such small significance it has warrented a full blog post rather than a twitter (microblog not just a chat service...). I have achived something that I have been striving for, for the past 2 weeks. But the confidence gained from this experiance will undoubtadly help me continue well into the rest of the week.
I have attended the gym for two days in a row.
Why is this so important and why should it even matter (how hard could it be to visit the gym on consecutive days...)? I don't know, maybe I am scared of the gym. Who knows, but I actually feel like I am now making progress and with badminton tomorrow I will have done 3 days of continuous exercise.
My exercise tracking program is not working nice in win 7 so I have signed up to dailyburn, which has a lot of the same functionailty, kinda feels weird puting up personal information like that on the internet, I should feel libertaed but I just feel petrified.
My biggest challenge will come on Thrusday when I will be quite sore from the day before. But if I can get to the gym then I plan to do some weights (another stupid challenge).
I have attended the gym for two days in a row.
Why is this so important and why should it even matter (how hard could it be to visit the gym on consecutive days...)? I don't know, maybe I am scared of the gym. Who knows, but I actually feel like I am now making progress and with badminton tomorrow I will have done 3 days of continuous exercise.
My exercise tracking program is not working nice in win 7 so I have signed up to dailyburn, which has a lot of the same functionailty, kinda feels weird puting up personal information like that on the internet, I should feel libertaed but I just feel petrified.
My biggest challenge will come on Thrusday when I will be quite sore from the day before. But if I can get to the gym then I plan to do some weights (another stupid challenge).
Pocket Guide to Taxation in Australia
The Drags
I should probably explain. I went to the Winter Nationals a few weeks back as I got in for free. I did take a few pictures but the thing I found the most funny and annoying... just watch the video.
This next vid is especially awesome.
This next vid is especially awesome.
Vision
I visited the optician today, as I have been concerned about my deteriorating vision and unsurprisingly I need new lenses. It has only been a year since I acquired my last set prior to that I was having new glasses every 2/3 years, the optician said it can fluctuate but that near plane (is there another word?) work (that’s what I spend my waking hours doing) can accelerate the process. It has also meant my new lenses will be thicker and heavier so I opted for the slightly more expensive kind of plastic that is thinner. The difference in cost was not that great, but the total was still close to $300 which is a bit of a shock. I do use software called work rave to monitor my computer usage and alert me when I need a break but most of the time I just skip as I can’t be bothered actually following through with it. It does have a snooze button which is about as effective as a snooze button on an alarm clock that has the off button right next to it…
Budget 09: Super Changes
Changes announced in the Budget included:
[CA newsletter]
- The annual cap for concessional superannuation contributions has been halved from $50,000 to $25,000, and the transitional concessional cap has been reduced to $50,000 per year from its former limit of $100,000
- The superannuation co-contribution scheme will be reduced to a rate of 100 per cent for contributed amounts for the 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 years, increasing to 125 per cent for the 2012/13 and 2013/14 years and returning to 150 per cent for the 2014/15 year
- The increase in the age pension qualification age to 67 years from 2017.
[CA newsletter]
Greanseas Lunchbite
This is a review of Greenseas lunchbite. It is tuna snack with rice mine was the spicy one. It can be eaten cold or hot. I have eaten mine cold. Taste wise it is ok, its supposed to be korma curry but its actually chilli with mayonnaise. The addition of chilli is a definite bonus and adds a nice kick on a cold day like today. It’s a nice amount of food and lives up to the bite sized nature. If you skipped breakfast you could have this for brunch/morning tea and you could easily carry your self to lunch or later. The main complaint is that the tuna and chilli are not mixed in well with the rice. The rice is at the bottom followed by the tuna followed the chilli, I can see how this would work in the manufacturing process and because its so full its difficult to mix it your self without eating most of the tuna to get a nice mix with the rice. Ideally you would use another bowl, but that kinda defeats the purpose of having this type of ready-made snack.
Tax needs to be broken up into different sections, and because I am learning and there always seems to be new developments etc I think we should create a folder for each section. Tying them all together after might become a bit of a chore, but the fact is I do not understand it yet. Also need to create cheat sheets/summaries of each area, then create a master summary. This seems to be the best way forward in terms of having a deep understanding and a reference guide to use in a practical sense for work or an exam. The other problem is the convergence of topics and some duplication (Tax planning and taxation of business entities). This could cause confusion, but as long as its increases my understanding I see this as only a minor problem.
I’m going to buy 20 folders, not sure where I will house all of this, could just leave them at work, which probably makes sense since I will be doing most of my printing there. I can fit 10 folders on a shelf so 2 shelfs for tax seems like a lot, but it is a much better proposition than the laxadasical/lesaifair/haphazard approach I currently have, from which I can never find anything except silver fish.
- GST
- Deductions – General & Specific
- Income
- Capital Gains Tax
- Depreciation (Capital Allowances)
- Small Business Entities
- Tax Administration
- Fringe Benefits Tax
- Individuals
- Partnerships
- Trusts
- Companies
- Dividends (This is obviously linked to Companies but because its quite complex I have created another category)
- Non-Profit/Charities/Other
- International Tax Implications
- Tax Planning
- Deceased Estates
I’m going to buy 20 folders, not sure where I will house all of this, could just leave them at work, which probably makes sense since I will be doing most of my printing there. I can fit 10 folders on a shelf so 2 shelfs for tax seems like a lot, but it is a much better proposition than the laxadasical/lesaifair/haphazard approach I currently have, from which I can never find anything except silver fish.
WAH WAH WAH!!!
The tech guy on the channel 7 morning show was briefing us on how the internet will fill up by 2012. That’s right the internet will be so full it will grind to a halt… Does this sound familiar… Sounds like a similar article released on 1 April 2009.
So now there is going to be a significant number of Australians who are going to start printing out wikipedia. Guess what, people at work are now genuinely concerned about this… If there is a god, please end it now.
So now there is going to be a significant number of Australians who are going to start printing out wikipedia. Guess what, people at work are now genuinely concerned about this… If there is a god, please end it now.
File Server
One of the things that has been on my mind is the establishment of some kind of file server. I knew I would have to do this by the end of the year, so there is still a fair bit of time left. I love the ReadyNAS its small low power, plug and play, lots of plug-ins and third party support (note the bad grammar). The only problem is the price ($1k), for the same amount of money I can build a DIY server with 4xHDD. It would not be as energy efficient and take up significantly more space. I do have some spare parts from my old ‘puter that I can use to reduce the cost. The trade off seems to be $ vs Efficiency (Where efficiency = space, energy, ease of use). It may be possible to build an efficient computer, but that would increase costs.
The ReadyNas is what I should aim to build it as.
· Hot Swap Drive Bays
· Low Power usage
· Quiet
· Easy to maintain
· Easy to add HDD
· Easy to use
· Easy to upgrade
· Easy to backup
What OS to use?
· Windows XP
· Windows 7
· MS Home Server
· Small Business Server
· Server 2008 + hypervisor…
· Ubuntu
· VM Server
Using the windows server would be good as I can use hypervisor and load windows software that I am familiar with. On the other hand Linux is going to be more efficient and I can run VM server to over come the lack of native windows program support. Being able to play with Hypervisor would be cool though, and windows homeserver has lots of cool backup features and media server to record and distribute media. But what do I need it to do?
· Slimserver
· File Server
· TV Recording
· Virtual Desktop/RDP/remote login
· Cloud Computing – remote login
If I can run virtual server then all of the above problems are solved. The TV recording is the biggest problem but also the least necessary. It would be a neat feature but not essential.
The box it self will sit on top of the bookshelf
The ReadyNas is what I should aim to build it as.
· Hot Swap Drive Bays
· Low Power usage
· Quiet
· Easy to maintain
· Easy to add HDD
· Easy to use
· Easy to upgrade
· Easy to backup
What OS to use?
· Windows XP
· Windows 7
· MS Home Server
· Small Business Server
· Server 2008 + hypervisor…
· Ubuntu
· VM Server
Using the windows server would be good as I can use hypervisor and load windows software that I am familiar with. On the other hand Linux is going to be more efficient and I can run VM server to over come the lack of native windows program support. Being able to play with Hypervisor would be cool though, and windows homeserver has lots of cool backup features and media server to record and distribute media. But what do I need it to do?
· Slimserver
· File Server
· TV Recording
· Virtual Desktop/RDP/remote login
· Cloud Computing – remote login
If I can run virtual server then all of the above problems are solved. The TV recording is the biggest problem but also the least necessary. It would be a neat feature but not essential.
The box it self will sit on top of the bookshelf
Financial Crunch - 98% Organic
Recently I have stopped preparing sandwiches for lunch the next day. Instead I now just drive home make the sandwich. However, despite an abundance of fresh ingredients I get bored. When I do purchase lunch its normally a sandwich of some kind. Which leads to boredom or really weird sandwiches (occasionally not so good).
Today I was sitting there eating my $8 sandwich, drinking my $3 orange juice (pulp free) and reading my $10.50 magazine, looking at the people pass through the checkouts at the local woolworthes. Which got me thinking about how much my lunch cost. Is this sustainable? Is it even worth it? How much ingrediants could I buy for $8? I was paying for the privalge to eat a fairly standard sandwich. Granted I did choose the ingredients, but still, I realise that someone else gets to make it. Its convenient. You don't have to drive all the way home, break out the chopping board and spend 10 mins cleaning.
What is better, both have their merits. My point is, what to have for lunch. Its a daily ritual we all have to face, but one that gives joy to an other wise boring existence.
Today I was sitting there eating my $8 sandwich, drinking my $3 orange juice (pulp free) and reading my $10.50 magazine, looking at the people pass through the checkouts at the local woolworthes. Which got me thinking about how much my lunch cost. Is this sustainable? Is it even worth it? How much ingrediants could I buy for $8? I was paying for the privalge to eat a fairly standard sandwich. Granted I did choose the ingredients, but still, I realise that someone else gets to make it. Its convenient. You don't have to drive all the way home, break out the chopping board and spend 10 mins cleaning.
What is better, both have their merits. My point is, what to have for lunch. Its a daily ritual we all have to face, but one that gives joy to an other wise boring existence.
omg random
The creative process like everything else requires hard work and, the artist to work at and improve their craft by practicing, just like everything else, except you don’t get paid till you are good. My goal or expectation for creativity is no linked to survival, ie. Food and shelter (money) so I can fuck with it as much as I want I am also have no learning in creativity. All my education is apposed to creativity. Maths, accounting, finance, economics and business. But for some reason Like to create and actually publish my work, despite how crappy it may be. I have had a few ideas that I would like to implement over the next few months, and one of those is the puppet show I am working on. The podcast is like a precursor to it, as I can hear myself talking to myself. It’s scary and humiliating, but also liberating to put material out there that can be identified back to myself. Its like a dare, but worse. In podcast 4 I talk about my use of the camera, its not just to make use of monetary investment, but to engage parts of my brain that are not used in my day to day work as an accountant/auditor. The problem with accounting is that it is accounting.... people expect you to be an accounting, as an accountant you have all the information, but you are unable to provide advice that would be creative or risky... the problem is that we are paid by the clients. So we are only going to give advice that the client wants to hear, unless its really stupid or its too much Hassle to mention other wise. Accounting is very subjective. Its like different rules apply to different sections of society and types of businesses. And this is a given. As an auditor of associations, there is always people who have been auditors in these associations, so they have their own idea of what should be displayed in the financials, for example, we do not recognised changes in shares or managed funds until you actually sell them, but the accounting standards provide for a provide for a provision to write off changes in super annuation annuities in financials changes in market value, assuming you are using market value... this is used by large superannuation firms, not small associations...
Making Things
Actually making things is quite hard and only slightly more fullfilling than just reasearching how to do something. The other factor is that you want to wait around for the perfect idea or time to do something so that it ends up perfect, but since nothing will ever be perfect might as well get something done. We always have some kind of vision in our heads of how something should turn out and because of that we never do it because we want it to be perfect.
An example is this blog, a few weeks ago I wrote about my increased use of twitter and how I was to use that idea on my blog and write 140 words, which is about 2 paragraphs. Since then I have been blogging a lot more frequently and I think of higher quality (links to interesting shit does not count as quality since I didn't make it (there are enough places for that already)). I even went so far as to start podcasting, for different reasons and goals but still... What I'm saying is its not perfect, but its a lot better than a blank space.
I bought a camera a few years ago total cost runs for about $600. But how many pictures have I taken, what do I have to show for this purchase. Pictures are important, its nice to be able to look back on various events, time, places etc And my picture taking ability is rather poor so by actually taking pictures over the past weeks it has actually improved. Its probably a camera issue, but using a tripod has improved picture quality dramaticly. The photo comps theme is light and shadows and I was having a lot of trouble thinking of what to take pictures of. So I turned the camera on, mounted it on the tripod and started taking pictures of shadows. I still haven't found any shots that I would like to submit, but I now have about 25 different pictures of shadows.
An example is this blog, a few weeks ago I wrote about my increased use of twitter and how I was to use that idea on my blog and write 140 words, which is about 2 paragraphs. Since then I have been blogging a lot more frequently and I think of higher quality (links to interesting shit does not count as quality since I didn't make it (there are enough places for that already)). I even went so far as to start podcasting, for different reasons and goals but still... What I'm saying is its not perfect, but its a lot better than a blank space.
I bought a camera a few years ago total cost runs for about $600. But how many pictures have I taken, what do I have to show for this purchase. Pictures are important, its nice to be able to look back on various events, time, places etc And my picture taking ability is rather poor so by actually taking pictures over the past weeks it has actually improved. Its probably a camera issue, but using a tripod has improved picture quality dramaticly. The photo comps theme is light and shadows and I was having a lot of trouble thinking of what to take pictures of. So I turned the camera on, mounted it on the tripod and started taking pictures of shadows. I still haven't found any shots that I would like to submit, but I now have about 25 different pictures of shadows.
A productive day yesterday, could have done more. But I mean doing something is quite an achievement. Seem to be stuck at work, unable to finish anything due to many factors that are all working against me in some and I realise its all a coincidence, but it would be nice to get a break at some point in time.
You do work, but because you are constantly chasing clients for more information, and tracking what you have asked and when is difficult. My system was working until you I let other people into it and I didn’t expect the additional workload to collapse the system so dramatically. I still believe the system is workable, just need to add in a place for new/entry points new things and integrate it better into personal/study system, so that its really just one system not 12.
You do work, but because you are constantly chasing clients for more information, and tracking what you have asked and when is difficult. My system was working until you I let other people into it and I didn’t expect the additional workload to collapse the system so dramatically. I still believe the system is workable, just need to add in a place for new/entry points new things and integrate it better into personal/study system, so that its really just one system not 12.
Monday, 6 April 2009: 8:47:55 AM
Well its Monday and I am not quite out of the woods yet, still gaming audit to be completed for Pokies and Keno and all the stuff I have been putting off to get this one audit done. It’s a self replicating cycle of hurt,
Tuesday, 7 April 2009: 8:38:34 AM
So I didn’t get time to finish Mondays post, but what you going to do about it? Yesterday was not productive and I did not even get my self-organised, which would have been something. Also homework has been lacking and really need to start a daily plan because literally my exam is in days. Everything at work seems to be due in the following month and if I want to take time off I will have to work extra hard to create a buffer…. Basically this whole situation does not compute. Its impossible to do everything in the time required and at a decent level of quality. I’m almost at the stage of micro-managing myself on an hour by hour basis with a 12/12 split of personal/productive time.
Well its Monday and I am not quite out of the woods yet, still gaming audit to be completed for Pokies and Keno and all the stuff I have been putting off to get this one audit done. It’s a self replicating cycle of hurt,
Tuesday, 7 April 2009: 8:38:34 AM
So I didn’t get time to finish Mondays post, but what you going to do about it? Yesterday was not productive and I did not even get my self-organised, which would have been something. Also homework has been lacking and really need to start a daily plan because literally my exam is in days. Everything at work seems to be due in the following month and if I want to take time off I will have to work extra hard to create a buffer…. Basically this whole situation does not compute. Its impossible to do everything in the time required and at a decent level of quality. I’m almost at the stage of micro-managing myself on an hour by hour basis with a 12/12 split of personal/productive time.
Fail.fm
Last.fm has decided to introduce a monthly fee for users in countries that are not the UK, USA and Germany. What you get for 3 euros is the radio. Which I don't use anyway, but somehow I feel violated. I realise the site runs on advertising and still needs to pay subscriptions/licensing to the music coy. But why not make everyone one pay, not just people in certain countries get it free. Is it because they are part of the new 'fuckuptheworldwedontcare' regime? And they need Germany for their gold?
Alas, the proxys are going to get raped if this type of shit continues... Which means we are going to have to pay for our own proxys/vpn/servers. Damn you cruel world. Again, this is solved by me paying $3.00 for a decent service. I mean last.fm still has scrobeling, which I need for my ocd. I think the advertising model could work in Australia, iTunes is going good which means we like digital music. Maybe they need to try harder to get advertising. The costs are most likely scaleable to an extent, which means it can work anywhere in the world. Not just the UK, USA or Germany.
Alas, the proxys are going to get raped if this type of shit continues... Which means we are going to have to pay for our own proxys/vpn/servers. Damn you cruel world. Again, this is solved by me paying $3.00 for a decent service. I mean last.fm still has scrobeling, which I need for my ocd. I think the advertising model could work in Australia, iTunes is going good which means we like digital music. Maybe they need to try harder to get advertising. The costs are most likely scaleable to an extent, which means it can work anywhere in the world. Not just the UK, USA or Germany.
tumbler
I have been thinking more about online presence and the utility that we get from various services like delicious, blogger and twitter, which are my main outlets. But sometimes I want to blog or talk about something but not in any decent way and therefore wont fit on my blog, I don't want to twitter it because thats not how I want to use my twitter... I could use delicious, but delicious is just links, I cant post an image etc. I mainly use delicious for things I want to bookmark, but not bookmark in firefox. My firefox bookmarks should be only about things I use frequently and should not have to search them for anything.
Install tumblr, alot of people have taken up tumblr and its not like things change. I change, people change, the world changes so we need to change the way we do things. Myspace and facebook I barely visit, then its only to clean out the shit. I am starting to find a need for a tumblr, which would act like a urinal for all the piss poor stuff I want to capture for whatever reason. Kinda like a public evernote (evernote is the shit, hasn't completly replaced onenote but I think it will once I get a smartphone...). Also what I have found is no one I know uses delicious, which is annoying. Also I like writting blog posts more than I like to admit. But there are times I want to post something crude and in essance I don't want to 'dilute' the good work I am trying to do here. Not that its really any good. Its like a scrapbook of randomshit and I guess I like the ease of use...
Me: "You mean useability matters?"
Batman: "I'm Batman."
Anyway, I am going to start using tumblr, see what happens, if I like it, it will continue, if I don't, then it will die quietly.
Link
Update: apparently I signed up for this service in the past and forgot about it, like last friggin year!!!
Install tumblr, alot of people have taken up tumblr and its not like things change. I change, people change, the world changes so we need to change the way we do things. Myspace and facebook I barely visit, then its only to clean out the shit. I am starting to find a need for a tumblr, which would act like a urinal for all the piss poor stuff I want to capture for whatever reason. Kinda like a public evernote (evernote is the shit, hasn't completly replaced onenote but I think it will once I get a smartphone...). Also what I have found is no one I know uses delicious, which is annoying. Also I like writting blog posts more than I like to admit. But there are times I want to post something crude and in essance I don't want to 'dilute' the good work I am trying to do here. Not that its really any good. Its like a scrapbook of randomshit and I guess I like the ease of use...
Me: "You mean useability matters?"
Batman: "I'm Batman."
Anyway, I am going to start using tumblr, see what happens, if I like it, it will continue, if I don't, then it will die quietly.
Link
Update: apparently I signed up for this service in the past and forgot about it, like last friggin year!!!
Imac Shuffle
Of course it's a joke. The site was created by @rfelix and @chriscoyier, also known as the dudes responsible for LyricSift and AreMySitesUp.
Poking fun at the interesting redesign of the new iPod shuffle, this imaginary iMac features the same VoiceOver technology, all operated from three keys—which you'll learn to easily operate with the included 72,000 page manual:
As the site says in it's disclaimer, "We love you Apple, but this is getting out of hand."
Poking fun at the interesting redesign of the new iPod shuffle, this imaginary iMac features the same VoiceOver technology, all operated from three keys—which you'll learn to easily operate with the included 72,000 page manual:
Using just those 3 buttons, remote, you can easily jump to any window, launch any program...edit multi-layered Photoshop documents, anything your heart desires, you can imagine doing.Get one today in your choice of color—"as long as it's silver on silver." Ha!
As the site says in it's disclaimer, "We love you Apple, but this is getting out of hand."
Change Experiment: First Interest
Another $20 has been deposited into the change experiment fund. Interestingly there is more good news, interest, that’s right interest of $0.48, but that’s not all, I also got ‘bonus interest’ of $0.13. Bringing total funds to $290.61. As I expected, change collection has dropped, due to the fact that I am slack at withdrawing new funds from either the ATM or EFTPOS.
I have also been cutting down on my spending and trying to save as fast as I can. One reason, but not a strong factor, is ING applying a minimum limit on new term deposits of $10,000.00, which for me is a lot. I guess this is so people don’t keep opening very small TD’s. But my problem is that I find it hard to get to 10k, so I was starting new TDs once I had $5k to invest, which is not an unreasonable amount. But it’s a number that works for me. Most banks have this 10k limit, so its not wrong, just the added feature of not being able to touch the money for 90 days in 5k increments appeals to me. Its not a long period of time and I am unlikely to need the money during that time. My strategy now needs to be rethought or maybe just seek counselling to fix my 10k mental limit…
I have also been cutting down on my spending and trying to save as fast as I can. One reason, but not a strong factor, is ING applying a minimum limit on new term deposits of $10,000.00, which for me is a lot. I guess this is so people don’t keep opening very small TD’s. But my problem is that I find it hard to get to 10k, so I was starting new TDs once I had $5k to invest, which is not an unreasonable amount. But it’s a number that works for me. Most banks have this 10k limit, so its not wrong, just the added feature of not being able to touch the money for 90 days in 5k increments appeals to me. Its not a long period of time and I am unlikely to need the money during that time. My strategy now needs to be rethought or maybe just seek counselling to fix my 10k mental limit…
Sad Panda
I have been ill over the past week, with a cough. Its been a bit of a battle because I tend to get a second wind rather late in the evening and consequently can't get to sleep earlier. Or atleast when I should be, which is around 10:30. My constant late nights are kind of working against me inaddition with crap diet and exercise habits etc... I belive this is why I am getting sick. After watching Guns, Germs & Steel, which is a very interesting documentary about the development of civilisation and how we got to the situatuion we are in. I now have a question of my own. Modern society in a deveop contries atleast have overcome the dilema of Guns, Germs and Steel. So why do we have such a great divide between the poor and the rich. Also, do Guns, Germs and Steel still apply? If I read the book it will probably hypotasise and tell me the answer. My theory is that they still apply on some level. For example I have been sick for the last week, I have not been as productive and have consequently fallen behind in a number of key areas (Work, homework, chores and personal projects), they have all been effected. So germs have stoped me from progressing, guns and steel I have no imediate answer to, but its a working theory which I am exploring.
Other problems faced this week, which have contributed to my mild paranoia about conspiracy theories surround my own demise... I belive I have lost some hearing in my left ear, no thanks to some dimwit on a loud motorcycle. I am always very carefull about safety including hearing protection. I am the one person you see at the concert with hearing protection, the only person who wears ear muffs when vacuming and when lawnmowing etc I use the foam plugs PLUS ear muffs... I do have some nice audio equipment which is not hard to get load and appreciate, so I guess it all balances out, I still belive I am very carefull with my hearing and monitor it all the time. I almost bought a SPL Meter today, but since Dicksmith is the only store that I could find one at I did not. The hearing has come back some what and now I sit around with yellow foam all the time (maybe the persistant noise from my 8 scythe S-flex sleave bearing fans is the cause?!?!).
I also belive I am developing carpel tunnel syndrome. This is very bad as I need it to computer, eat and masturbate. Basicly, I have been playing Cod4 too much and spent all of Firday bashing in data at work. Again, I knew this day was coming, so I took precautions, I have fancy mice and keyboards. I have a program called workrave, which alerts me to my computer useage and tells me to take a break, it also gives me exercices to do... I have never had strong arms, but I do specific exercises to streangthen my hand muscles to avoid this situation. All this has counted to nothing, it could have happened sooner if I had not taken precautions, remebering that I have been using a computer for the past 22 years.
These three things have created a psudo-psycological condition know as anti-zen.
Other problems faced this week, which have contributed to my mild paranoia about conspiracy theories surround my own demise... I belive I have lost some hearing in my left ear, no thanks to some dimwit on a loud motorcycle. I am always very carefull about safety including hearing protection. I am the one person you see at the concert with hearing protection, the only person who wears ear muffs when vacuming and when lawnmowing etc I use the foam plugs PLUS ear muffs... I do have some nice audio equipment which is not hard to get load and appreciate, so I guess it all balances out, I still belive I am very carefull with my hearing and monitor it all the time. I almost bought a SPL Meter today, but since Dicksmith is the only store that I could find one at I did not. The hearing has come back some what and now I sit around with yellow foam all the time (maybe the persistant noise from my 8 scythe S-flex sleave bearing fans is the cause?!?!).
I also belive I am developing carpel tunnel syndrome. This is very bad as I need it to computer, eat and masturbate. Basicly, I have been playing Cod4 too much and spent all of Firday bashing in data at work. Again, I knew this day was coming, so I took precautions, I have fancy mice and keyboards. I have a program called workrave, which alerts me to my computer useage and tells me to take a break, it also gives me exercices to do... I have never had strong arms, but I do specific exercises to streangthen my hand muscles to avoid this situation. All this has counted to nothing, it could have happened sooner if I had not taken precautions, remebering that I have been using a computer for the past 22 years.
These three things have created a psudo-psycological condition know as anti-zen.
Episode 3
In todays episode I talk about some stuff.
Pi Day Pics
30 12 second video blog service
Download Podcast
Pi Day Pics
Download Podcast
Uploads are poopy
I have completed my goal of 'speaking' for one hour, its all shit, but its progress. As stated in the earlier post, switchpod is crap, as you can only upload 20min shows... And every other free place I go to is extreamly difficult to upload anything, not least because of my Telstra 'internet connection'.
I was recording on Audacity, but since I have a copy of cooledit pro (before it became adobe audition) I am going to use that. What I have found using this software over Audacity, is that it is a lot faster and just nicer to use. Its like using notebook compared to word 2007. Its good for free software. But you its like you need to know what you are doing to make it work properly. I have use cooledit pro before for various things so maybe I am just accustomed to it.
So, I've been searching around for actuall hosting. One thing I miss about web 1.0 is websites. Everything is a blog, and thats great for a publishing tool. But its not a website. Its just a bunch of shit we publish. It has no value to me or anyone. I may as well just not do this shit. Its annoying. Whats more exciting or inspiring is being able to create new projects. Sure you can setup a new blog for every thing you do. But your whole online personality is everywhere. You need to tie that back in someway. Its not like domain or hosting are that expensive. Its gotten to the stage, where to get that extra level of service that I demand and need I'm going to have to pay for it. The possibilites seem to open up, it would also make uploading shit onto the internet much easier. Video is take care of via youtube/vimeo/blip, but audio... its like digital radio in Australia. Its just not on. Its just impossible to make work.
I also have a problem with my shitty download limit. 25gb is not enough, if I do go to the next plan up, 60gb which I am not afraid to pay for, it is not unlimited, as in I will be charged money $0.15/mb over. I would prefer that it just shaped. Which will help control costs. I am now seriously thinking of changing to ADSL2, since there are more providers (more than one...), but the dilema is that I am line pared and I know I quite far from the actual exchange.
The decentralisation of personal material is a problem, its great that we have free stuff, but bringing that all into one place to create the value of having signed up to all these disparate services seems to be lacking.
I was recording on Audacity, but since I have a copy of cooledit pro (before it became adobe audition) I am going to use that. What I have found using this software over Audacity, is that it is a lot faster and just nicer to use. Its like using notebook compared to word 2007. Its good for free software. But you its like you need to know what you are doing to make it work properly. I have use cooledit pro before for various things so maybe I am just accustomed to it.
So, I've been searching around for actuall hosting. One thing I miss about web 1.0 is websites. Everything is a blog, and thats great for a publishing tool. But its not a website. Its just a bunch of shit we publish. It has no value to me or anyone. I may as well just not do this shit. Its annoying. Whats more exciting or inspiring is being able to create new projects. Sure you can setup a new blog for every thing you do. But your whole online personality is everywhere. You need to tie that back in someway. Its not like domain or hosting are that expensive. Its gotten to the stage, where to get that extra level of service that I demand and need I'm going to have to pay for it. The possibilites seem to open up, it would also make uploading shit onto the internet much easier. Video is take care of via youtube/vimeo/blip, but audio... its like digital radio in Australia. Its just not on. Its just impossible to make work.
I also have a problem with my shitty download limit. 25gb is not enough, if I do go to the next plan up, 60gb which I am not afraid to pay for, it is not unlimited, as in I will be charged money $0.15/mb over. I would prefer that it just shaped. Which will help control costs. I am now seriously thinking of changing to ADSL2, since there are more providers (more than one...), but the dilema is that I am line pared and I know I quite far from the actual exchange.
The decentralisation of personal material is a problem, its great that we have free stuff, but bringing that all into one place to create the value of having signed up to all these disparate services seems to be lacking.
The Man
The bottom of the market, minimum wage, is regulated, but the top of the market, executives, is not. The system is flawed, in these hard economic times it highlights the problem vividly. People are getting sacked but executive pay keeps going up. In the good times its easy to cover up. But what if some sort of regulation did exist. The companies that hire these executives would have saved millions in actual salary, shares, bonuses, perks, super and tax. That money could come in handy right about now, to ride out the bad economic times, keeping your capacity and human resource. All that shit companies were handing out about the workers being a valuable resource and CSR is non-sense, because when the time came these, supposedly valuable resources, are being thrown away. Executives are given many layers of pay, the base pay is so they are aligned with the shareholders goal of CSR. That means not polluting the earth and fucking everything up. Eg, sacking everyone. The other part is the bonuses and share options for meeting/exceeding performance targets. This is to align them with the shareholders goal of improved efficiency. Eg, dividends/capital growth.
Sol Trojilo, former CEO (Capacious Excremental Oligarch) of Telstra recently walked away with 40 million for 4 years work, he has not paid or will he ever pay tax in this country, in fact the company, Telstra, has to pay his taxes. And the only reason he is going back to where ever the fuck he came from, because of a moratorium on any income earned from his overseas investments expires, which would require him to pay tax. Actually this is not true, he has paid tax. GST, but it probably came out his expense account in any case. To add insult to injury, he is sacking him self, he is not resigning. This means he gets 12 months worth of pay in advance. Which is 3 million, but wait there’s more, because he is serving out a full financial year he gets a bonus of 5.1 million. The Telstra workers that got sacked recently did not receive 12 months pay. They did not get to decide what day they sack them selves on and they didn’t get any share options or bonuses. I’m sure if they had these things written in their contracts they would have worked as hard, if not harder than Sol the Troll.
Corporate welfare is another scam, which shows how unjust the system is. If you are on the dole you are required to perform a certain number of tasks before they will pay you. You need to apply for 10 jobs a fortnight fill in the appropriate book and take it to centrelink on the exact day. If you finish early, you cant take it in early. You must wait for your designated day. Additionally you must undertake full time jobseeker training. This requires you to go to a pre selected job agency everyday to learn about how to get a job. The corporations that receive these handouts, whilst well intentioned in trying to keep unemployment down, do not seem to have any performance targets, like employing an additional x number of people or investment in widgets. The transparency of these handouts is weak, we do not know what is going on. At least with the dole we can go to the centrelink website and read what is required to apply and how much money we can get if we have a part time job or no job. We only hear about these things through the media outlets and even then there is no detail, but the amount of money handed out and the supposed target of the funds.
Sitting around for extended periods of time, unemployed, will not be good once we get out of this slump. Because the capacity will be gone and we will have to import skilled workers to fill these jobs. As an immigrant I see this as a great opportunity for many foreigners. As an Australian citizen I see this as a loss of opportunity to improve the overall skills of the country at all levels... Granted I am still happily employed and study for my CPA so by the time this is all over I am going to buy my self a giant rake. Yes it’s going to be very specialised skills set and I wont have the diversity, but there is nothing stopping me from also getting that diversity in other ways.
Sol Trojilo, former CEO (Capacious Excremental Oligarch) of Telstra recently walked away with 40 million for 4 years work, he has not paid or will he ever pay tax in this country, in fact the company, Telstra, has to pay his taxes. And the only reason he is going back to where ever the fuck he came from, because of a moratorium on any income earned from his overseas investments expires, which would require him to pay tax. Actually this is not true, he has paid tax. GST, but it probably came out his expense account in any case. To add insult to injury, he is sacking him self, he is not resigning. This means he gets 12 months worth of pay in advance. Which is 3 million, but wait there’s more, because he is serving out a full financial year he gets a bonus of 5.1 million. The Telstra workers that got sacked recently did not receive 12 months pay. They did not get to decide what day they sack them selves on and they didn’t get any share options or bonuses. I’m sure if they had these things written in their contracts they would have worked as hard, if not harder than Sol the Troll.
Corporate welfare is another scam, which shows how unjust the system is. If you are on the dole you are required to perform a certain number of tasks before they will pay you. You need to apply for 10 jobs a fortnight fill in the appropriate book and take it to centrelink on the exact day. If you finish early, you cant take it in early. You must wait for your designated day. Additionally you must undertake full time jobseeker training. This requires you to go to a pre selected job agency everyday to learn about how to get a job. The corporations that receive these handouts, whilst well intentioned in trying to keep unemployment down, do not seem to have any performance targets, like employing an additional x number of people or investment in widgets. The transparency of these handouts is weak, we do not know what is going on. At least with the dole we can go to the centrelink website and read what is required to apply and how much money we can get if we have a part time job or no job. We only hear about these things through the media outlets and even then there is no detail, but the amount of money handed out and the supposed target of the funds.
Sitting around for extended periods of time, unemployed, will not be good once we get out of this slump. Because the capacity will be gone and we will have to import skilled workers to fill these jobs. As an immigrant I see this as a great opportunity for many foreigners. As an Australian citizen I see this as a loss of opportunity to improve the overall skills of the country at all levels... Granted I am still happily employed and study for my CPA so by the time this is all over I am going to buy my self a giant rake. Yes it’s going to be very specialised skills set and I wont have the diversity, but there is nothing stopping me from also getting that diversity in other ways.
I lied
Well not realy, I just needed time to actually do the podcast and upload it somewhere. The first place I found was switchpod, they give you 200mb/month for free. Not much, but it does the job. May switch (oh the irony) to other services, but shall see how this one goes.
Download now.
Feed. (again this may feed may not last depending on feedback)
( If you are decent and full person you will not download and listen to this )
Download now.
Feed. (again this may feed may not last depending on feedback)
( If you are decent and full person you will not download and listen to this )
OMG WTF
Setting up companies, identities, brands, boxes etc in which to do things in is getting very easy. So if you do have an idea, but obviously unsure or nervous of what the outcome will be. It’s self-defeating. You never end up acting on the idea and the idea will never happen. Any happiness you could have got from doing turns into sludge. Also how can you predict it will be either good or bad, by not doing something you have predicted it is bad.
Podcasts. Been cleaning out and starting again. I realise now in a very conscious way that my time on this planet is limited, as is the time at all times. Time is time, and therefore I need to time my time. As in no waste time. I have to use what little time I have on things that will be of benefit to me. I have to use it constructively and efficiently. But what I am discovering is to actually be more interesting and have something to say (see problem with talking to women), you actually have to say it. This can be manifested in many ways, like talking to people, writing a blog etc.
They say you don’t have to say anything particularly interesting just as long as you say it correctly. This needs to be practiced, or even rehearsed. Now this probably sounds familiar as it’s an idea covered in the book Outliers (I have not read it yet, but will do soon), by Malcolm Gladwell.
I have recently started listening to Max Keiser on Karmabanque, and Merlin Mann on YLNT and his daily ramblings (he has also restarted his 43folders podcast, but since I’m blind I cant find the feed link so no love there yet). What I have found is that when you start out you are really shit. But you seem to learn quicker by doing it, granted the people mentioned above have something interesting to say and know what their opinion on a particular topic is.
For example when we started three mosquitos to film broom man, I had no idea you had to render the video. I just thought you save the file and hey presto its done. Instead there are many many different codec’s and settings that must be instigated to get the file out and even that is more trail and error. Then there is the whole mess of uploading to youtube.
“We are youtube, you can upload any file you like.”
WHY NOT JUST TELL US THE SETTINGS MOST APPROPRIATE AND THE FILE FORMAT THAT WILL INFACT UPLOAD SOMETIME THIS CENTURARY.
So it is with great displeasure I present my first podcast. I have no idea what I am doing, what I am going to talk about or how I am going to do it. Why I am making a podcast… well plenty of reasons, which can be found in the podcast (^_^)
No, seriously this is going to be a big pain in the ass.
Podcasts. Been cleaning out and starting again. I realise now in a very conscious way that my time on this planet is limited, as is the time at all times. Time is time, and therefore I need to time my time. As in no waste time. I have to use what little time I have on things that will be of benefit to me. I have to use it constructively and efficiently. But what I am discovering is to actually be more interesting and have something to say (see problem with talking to women), you actually have to say it. This can be manifested in many ways, like talking to people, writing a blog etc.
They say you don’t have to say anything particularly interesting just as long as you say it correctly. This needs to be practiced, or even rehearsed. Now this probably sounds familiar as it’s an idea covered in the book Outliers (I have not read it yet, but will do soon), by Malcolm Gladwell.
I have recently started listening to Max Keiser on Karmabanque, and Merlin Mann on YLNT and his daily ramblings (he has also restarted his 43folders podcast, but since I’m blind I cant find the feed link so no love there yet). What I have found is that when you start out you are really shit. But you seem to learn quicker by doing it, granted the people mentioned above have something interesting to say and know what their opinion on a particular topic is.
For example when we started three mosquitos to film broom man, I had no idea you had to render the video. I just thought you save the file and hey presto its done. Instead there are many many different codec’s and settings that must be instigated to get the file out and even that is more trail and error. Then there is the whole mess of uploading to youtube.
“We are youtube, you can upload any file you like.”
WHY NOT JUST TELL US THE SETTINGS MOST APPROPRIATE AND THE FILE FORMAT THAT WILL INFACT UPLOAD SOMETIME THIS CENTURARY.
So it is with great displeasure I present my first podcast. I have no idea what I am doing, what I am going to talk about or how I am going to do it. Why I am making a podcast… well plenty of reasons, which can be found in the podcast (^_^)
No, seriously this is going to be a big pain in the ass.
Internet Meme
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interestin
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.
5 - Post it to FB with this text in the "caption" and TAG the friends you want to join in.
Facebook image uploads don't work for me so here it is.
Image stolen from flickr.
Floods of Information
In my life information doesn’t come in a nice orderly stream. It floods, overall/on average the amount of information is not overly massive, but it’s the drought periods which are left unproductive and make me lazy. When the flood of information comes in, systems come back. But, wouldn’t it be more productive/better to always have these systems in place so that there is no lost time. We can always be more productive, especially when its not so busy, or when we procrastinate on jobs we don’t want to do, then all of a sudden everything is due all at once. Not a nice situation to be in.
I have tried getting back to GTD, but since I never read the book the whole way through, I’m probably missing some vital information. But I understand the major concepts and I am currently trying to implement a system, mainly for work, but would also like to have something in place for home and personal projects as they are also important and need to be cared for in a professional way. My spreadsheet is basically a list, which doesn’t help to prioritise unless I use extra numerical fields and sort that way, but that’s extra work is too complex. Not that I don’t want to or couldn’t, just that I also need to be mindful I am also required to update and maintain about another 6 systems, the common denominator here are the clients they stay the same. But it’s the information that I want or need to track at a particular time that is a pain in the ass.
One area which has been seriously neglected is my weekly review. The weekly review gives my a good overview of what needs doing and keeps my workspace clear of shit that not necessary the current project/task I am currently working on. For whatever reason I need a tidy workspace and as I am learning I also need a tidy filing space, as all I have been doing is literally dumping anything I don’t want to do in great big piles on the floor. This has many problems,
The storm is here, but the bulk of it hasn’t quite hit so I still have time to board up the house, put the sprinklers on and start building a boat.
I have tried getting back to GTD, but since I never read the book the whole way through, I’m probably missing some vital information. But I understand the major concepts and I am currently trying to implement a system, mainly for work, but would also like to have something in place for home and personal projects as they are also important and need to be cared for in a professional way. My spreadsheet is basically a list, which doesn’t help to prioritise unless I use extra numerical fields and sort that way, but that’s extra work is too complex. Not that I don’t want to or couldn’t, just that I also need to be mindful I am also required to update and maintain about another 6 systems, the common denominator here are the clients they stay the same. But it’s the information that I want or need to track at a particular time that is a pain in the ass.
One area which has been seriously neglected is my weekly review. The weekly review gives my a good overview of what needs doing and keeps my workspace clear of shit that not necessary the current project/task I am currently working on. For whatever reason I need a tidy workspace and as I am learning I also need a tidy filing space, as all I have been doing is literally dumping anything I don’t want to do in great big piles on the floor. This has many problems,
- Cant Find anything
- Silverfish
- Duplication of materials
- Inability to find information when you need it, leading you to not do the task
- Lack of floor space
- General ill feeling of untidiness (OCD?)
The storm is here, but the bulk of it hasn’t quite hit so I still have time to board up the house, put the sprinklers on and start building a boat.
Dropbox
How did I live without it? Just the ability to work on stuff at home and work or where ever I am, is great. It has been especially helpful with any modelling I do that is useful at work and I have a great idea at home and want to update that spreadsheet. Yes, I could carry around a usb drive and I do, but mainly for large and media files. As these files are unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Initially I have been sceptical of the cloud, privacy and back up need to be considered. Positives are ease of use and access. If I want to share a file I’m working on with a friend I can do so quite easily by sending them an invite to the file or folder. Which is great for collaboration. I could you web apps, but that’s not the same as opening up excel and word and using them as you normally do, with the only exception everything must be stored in the “My Dropbox” folder.
I guess I would never put anything extremely sensitive into the cloud, but that’s just common sense. For working on text files, I could use Google docs/office live etc, but just having the comfort of installed software is refreshing. The simplicity of dropbox just makes so much sense. Sync files across all your computers. Even if the server is down you can work on your files. If you are not connected to the internet you can work on your files.
The other option would be to share a folder on your home network with the rest of the internet and you have the password. This should keep out most nasties, but some people are persistent. Opening up your home network is a nice idea, but if you don’t know anything about security its just too dangerous. This is offcourse something I would like to look at in the future, to build a private cloud. But for now dropbox is providing the functionality and some (neat backup feature means you never loose anything) right now, did I mention it was easy to use?
I guess I would never put anything extremely sensitive into the cloud, but that’s just common sense. For working on text files, I could use Google docs/office live etc, but just having the comfort of installed software is refreshing. The simplicity of dropbox just makes so much sense. Sync files across all your computers. Even if the server is down you can work on your files. If you are not connected to the internet you can work on your files.
The other option would be to share a folder on your home network with the rest of the internet and you have the password. This should keep out most nasties, but some people are persistent. Opening up your home network is a nice idea, but if you don’t know anything about security its just too dangerous. This is offcourse something I would like to look at in the future, to build a private cloud. But for now dropbox is providing the functionality and some (neat backup feature means you never loose anything) right now, did I mention it was easy to use?
For example youtube is very slow at uploading, but fast at loading videos. Vimeo seems to have better quality. Twitter has a huge community, but lacks features that the other micro blogging sites have… etc…. Because I don’t use every app possible, this all requires time to research and if you don’t actually use it, its hard to really understand from a users point of view. Maybe just collating other reviews will be a quicker way of doing it. I like the idea of tumbler, its like an extended version of delicious. I don’t want to change to a different service especially when you have years and years of data stored…
I have in fact I found such a post titled ___ by ___, on ____ which lists numerous (I did not know there were so many) and various sites which add functionality to the simplicity of twitter. Like a expense tracker, you just have to tweet the special code and what you spent and the app collects this data, which is very nifty.
I have in fact I found such a post titled ___ by ___, on ____ which lists numerous (I did not know there were so many) and various sites which add functionality to the simplicity of twitter. Like a expense tracker, you just have to tweet the special code and what you spent and the app collects this data, which is very nifty.
I don't Feel Well
I’ve come back from lunch and have some weird pain in my stomach, maybe I have been eating too much lately or the fact that it was KFC. The KFC fast of January 2009 was ok, I think maybe need to reinvoke that for the rest of this month and March… I have been finding it increasingly difficult to eat my usual portion, which means my body is telling my I need to cut back. For example I can only do 4 weetbix, 2 roltys and have to force my self to finish a footlong. Troubling times kids, troubling times…
But all is not lost, I will now embark on a new lunch menu, consisting of food stuffs I make myself. I can no longer rely on the help for a source of nutrition due to their lack of knowledge regarding my nutritional needs. I must take responsibility in a wholegrain way and make my own sandwiches. I am pretty sure I have had this idea and mentioned it prior, I would like to make lunch that wasn’t a sandwich.
But all is not lost, I will now embark on a new lunch menu, consisting of food stuffs I make myself. I can no longer rely on the help for a source of nutrition due to their lack of knowledge regarding my nutritional needs. I must take responsibility in a wholegrain way and make my own sandwiches. I am pretty sure I have had this idea and mentioned it prior, I would like to make lunch that wasn’t a sandwich.
On the Origin of Species
Darwin Day seems to of passed without much fan fare, have we also evolved past petty rituals celebrating the annual anniversary of something, just seems so coincidental and meagre… All is not lost Neanderthals, as the 150 anniversary to celebrate the publishing of Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species, is later this year (24 November). Let the celebratory breading being, also don’t forget to kill something.
I did twitter about Darwin day, but could not think of anything to do, that would be cool enough to break me away from my taxation texts.
I did twitter about Darwin day, but could not think of anything to do, that would be cool enough to break me away from my taxation texts.
Change Experiment: Update
The change experiment is coming along nicely with another $100 deposited today. The total for the fund is $270, currently there is no interest yet, but it hasn’t been open long enough to get interest. I’m still unsure if this current rate of deposits is sustainable, but if it is… then should be up near $1800, which for pocket change is quite scary. But what should I spend it on? At the start of this project I was hoping for around $500, which I would spend on various deductible gift recipients (charities). But $1800 changes that because of my own greed. I could buy a fancy new phone (iphone/n95/n85/htcdream) I would appreciate and use, but ultimately and waste of money.
I have made a spreadsheet in google docs, but am having trouble publishing it to the blog... What I wanted to do is have a dynamic graph that would display what transactions have taken place. Sounds cool, but I'm still working on it.
I have made a spreadsheet in google docs, but am having trouble publishing it to the blog... What I wanted to do is have a dynamic graph that would display what transactions have taken place. Sounds cool, but I'm still working on it.
Why? Reason #36321
Just do anything record it publish it. It also helps if you are charismatic and have your own tv and radio show and are friends with Peter Schiff. So its all well and good to say that you publish stuff not for the fame, but sometimes all you want is a little feedback. Just some encouragement or someone to tell you how wrong you are. That’s what would make it interesting. One way to do this is to have many many friends and engage in a community. Actually follow and respond to other peoples blogs. They also want to discuss things, and by discussing/commenting on what others are saying you may be able to get some follow up love.
Summary
Community = instant friends
Discussion = Discussion
Update: You need to say something fucking interesting. This seems to be an important but neglected topic, with many ways to achive this. You could actually say something interesting, or dress it up.
Summary
Community = instant friends
Discussion = Discussion
Update: You need to say something fucking interesting. This seems to be an important but neglected topic, with many ways to achive this. You could actually say something interesting, or dress it up.
140 Words
Twitter allows you to micro blog 140 characters, normal blogs are not limited in anyway. But as an exercise I will try and post more, buy not having to type long posts, which are scary/time consuming/ramble. 140 words looks like a good limit and will also serve to increase my own literacy. As I will actually finish the post, instead of the 20 or so that are still in the draft stage…
Two paragraphs is enough to elaborate or rant about something, that first paragraph was 72 words. Its not a hard/fixed rule, just something to work with and get some consistency in posting. I have been thinking about the platforms/apps/tools that we use to get material out there. Its just a simple rule, which is why twitter is so easy to use, its simple; 140 words. That’s it.
Two paragraphs is enough to elaborate or rant about something, that first paragraph was 72 words. Its not a hard/fixed rule, just something to work with and get some consistency in posting. I have been thinking about the platforms/apps/tools that we use to get material out there. Its just a simple rule, which is why twitter is so easy to use, its simple; 140 words. That’s it.
Change
I have done some counting and have $170.00 ready to deposit into the bank. I actually have more, but dont have enough bags, which is a shame, as there is another $138 to be saved! Giving a total of 308.
Need to get some more baggies.
Need to get some more baggies.
Three Mosquitoes
I have started a video/film/movie project with Karl and Jonathan. Basically we are going to try and make a short about brooman. With lots of broom jokes (as in broom puns), so far we have shot no footage, but have been having fun with the camera anyway. Everything is on youtube, and we have a blog, that documents what we are doing with this.
I have been charged (by default) with the job of uploading the footage and what I have found is that is actually quite difficult. Its not just hit upload and you are done. You have to check the contrast and colour, clip and render it, then you can upload and write something about it. I have created a template for rendering, which has cut down the time it takes to do that, but am still working through some tweaks, like the widescreen aspect with the black lines, top and bottom, which should not be there…
I have been charged (by default) with the job of uploading the footage and what I have found is that is actually quite difficult. Its not just hit upload and you are done. You have to check the contrast and colour, clip and render it, then you can upload and write something about it. I have created a template for rendering, which has cut down the time it takes to do that, but am still working through some tweaks, like the widescreen aspect with the black lines, top and bottom, which should not be there…
New Keyboard
My keyboard at work is stuffed because of the backspace getting stuck. So I decided to get something more comfortable and ergonomic since I sit here for most of the day and dont want to develop a blood clot in my wrists. There isnt much to choose from and most of the ergonomic ones are quite weird and I dont have the patience to develop a new typing style, and since I wont be using an ergo at home (I game) its too difficult. Just like when I went through the phase of using my left hand for my mousing at work and right hand at home for gaming... eventualy you do get used to it but the main problem is that you are shit at both left and right hanndedness. So you end up sucking at games and eveything. Its also weird trying to explain this to you coworkers that you want to develop your ambidexterity. I currently have the Logitech 600 media keyboard and is quite nice to use, has medium keys, like a hybrid between regular keys and laptop keys. In that respect its perfect. Its quitet and has a nice wheel to control the volume of music and some nice internet buttons AND the dual function keys which are acutally usefull. On top of that its nice looking and doesnt take up too much realestate. Some fancier keyboards take up way too much space. Its also only $30. Its also not too bad for gaming, havent had any issues on that front.
Initial installation works great out of the box. Most importantly its nice and comfy, the mouse is tehawesomz on the fly dpi change :-p
However, after restarting about 78 times the keyboard is not recognised in setpoint, the mouse is so I could change the settings, but not the keyboard. Hopefully I will find a solution soon.
Initial installation works great out of the box. Most importantly its nice and comfy, the mouse is tehawesomz on the fly dpi change :-p
However, after restarting about 78 times the keyboard is not recognised in setpoint, the mouse is so I could change the settings, but not the keyboard. Hopefully I will find a solution soon.
Experiment in Change
I tend to collect a lot of change over the course of time… (Insert whatever time period you are comfortable in comprehending). I hardly ever spend it because I don’t like to keep change in my pocket and the fact that most things these days cost more than the change in ones pocket causing you to use a note. So, what normally happens is money gets transferred to my change tray, then sorted into money bags and taken to the bank. My question is, could this be used as an effective savings strategy? I never use it and its not like I’m going to miss it either way. So its like I have already spent it. However having an extra four hundred bucks in the bank every few months is always nice.
Since I already put the money back into the bank, I’m already saving it. But how much have I saved? Again, is this an effective strategy? Obviously not the only strategy, but one that could buy me say a nice holiday say to the world cup in 2010…
So I will open a new ING Direct Account and deposit all money I collect in change. I think deposits once a month should be sufficient. Each month I will report how things are going.
Since I already put the money back into the bank, I’m already saving it. But how much have I saved? Again, is this an effective strategy? Obviously not the only strategy, but one that could buy me say a nice holiday say to the world cup in 2010…
So I will open a new ING Direct Account and deposit all money I collect in change. I think deposits once a month should be sufficient. Each month I will report how things are going.
Backspace
Peripheral problems are plaguing me at the moment. The backspace on the keyboard is stuffed so I can’t do anything without deleting it immediately, in addition to the other problems with holding down the backspace brings… The el cheapo k/b I have replaced it with as an interim measure its atrocious. It is loud and the ergonomics have left both hands sore after 2 mins of typing. Additionally the dollar symbol key doesn’t work. The dollar key is kinda useful for me since I’m an accountant.
For most users this will never be a problem, but my mouse is too slow after maxing out the speed setting in windows. So I’m thinking I need to get a new mouse also. My home mouse is ok since it has a high dpi/resolution. I’m thinking of getting cordless mouse and k/b set since that will eliminate the problem of not having a long enough cord. I should also be able to place my box under the desk and free up some valuable real estate, not to mention the potential for lower noise levels…
But I am mostly against cordless k/b mouse because it is unnecessary for devices that will not be moved around much. USB hub solves the cord length problem. And I would have to take back all the mean things I said to cordless k/b & mouse users.
For most users this will never be a problem, but my mouse is too slow after maxing out the speed setting in windows. So I’m thinking I need to get a new mouse also. My home mouse is ok since it has a high dpi/resolution. I’m thinking of getting cordless mouse and k/b set since that will eliminate the problem of not having a long enough cord. I should also be able to place my box under the desk and free up some valuable real estate, not to mention the potential for lower noise levels…
But I am mostly against cordless k/b mouse because it is unnecessary for devices that will not be moved around much. USB hub solves the cord length problem. And I would have to take back all the mean things I said to cordless k/b & mouse users.
Wednesday Morning
A few interesting things happening at the moment. Just started back at work this week. I had a reasonably good holiday. Feel relaxed yet motivated, a good year ahead I think. But so far this week, I have been hit in the nuts, back hurts, internet is slow, car has run out of electricity, no phone credit, put on all weight lost prior to holidays and its only Wednesday morning.
I have also been doing some research on exercise patterns. One of the things I have noticed is that its erratic, there is not set schedule. However with badminton there is, and I actually attend. Why, because I want to. To be more specific, its fun, I learn something each week, I improve and I know its good to do exercise. Its almost like I’m enjoying doing exercise. Which sounds odd even typing this. There is an article somewhere which I have lost that links it back to flow.
This goal orientated approach has inspired me to undertake the 10k bridge to Brisbane fun run later this year. It is a long time until the actual event, but I feel I may need to do some training before then…
Another interesting bit of information floating around is the idea that people who exercise in the morning do so more consistently then those that exercise in the afternoon. There are other obvious benefits such not being able to make excuses and not feeling tired after work (again another excuse).
Lastly, some there seems to be the idea that you should exercise in the morning to loose weight, or exercise in the afternoon to gain muscle. Not sure how reputable the American Personal Trainers Association is, but it sounds good enough for me. I wont know unless I try.
I did actually get up at 5:30am to go for a bike ride, but because of my back I decided to just lay on the floor for the rest of the morning.
I have also been doing some research on exercise patterns. One of the things I have noticed is that its erratic, there is not set schedule. However with badminton there is, and I actually attend. Why, because I want to. To be more specific, its fun, I learn something each week, I improve and I know its good to do exercise. Its almost like I’m enjoying doing exercise. Which sounds odd even typing this. There is an article somewhere which I have lost that links it back to flow.
This goal orientated approach has inspired me to undertake the 10k bridge to Brisbane fun run later this year. It is a long time until the actual event, but I feel I may need to do some training before then…
Another interesting bit of information floating around is the idea that people who exercise in the morning do so more consistently then those that exercise in the afternoon. There are other obvious benefits such not being able to make excuses and not feeling tired after work (again another excuse).
Lastly, some there seems to be the idea that you should exercise in the morning to loose weight, or exercise in the afternoon to gain muscle. Not sure how reputable the American Personal Trainers Association is, but it sounds good enough for me. I wont know unless I try.
I did actually get up at 5:30am to go for a bike ride, but because of my back I decided to just lay on the floor for the rest of the morning.
All Breakfast All the Time
Karl has commented in a previous post, an appropriate response to this topic warrants a full blog post.
A while ago while when out on the town with my friends Karl and Jonathan, I brought up the topic of breakfast and specifically the various methods one has to cook scrambled eggs. In searching for recipes I stumbled across Mr Breakfast, dedicated to all things breakfast. But what if you don’t want to actually make the breakfast yourself? Cafe 21 (at the casino) you can order all day breakfast, because its open 24/7 you actually can order at anytime. Like at 2am and slightly drunk . It’s about 24 times better than a kebab. Most cafe’s have some kind of all day breakfast, all day breakfast is great (I think Rics has all day breakfast... can’t fully remember...). But what about other breakfast foods. Imagine being able to get a bowl of cereal at 6pm after work? Or peanut butter on toast for lunch, or pancakes at 11pm (Pancake Manor). What about a dosa as a midnight snack?
You Eat Now!
Is the slogan. The name was going to be Mr Breakfast, but since Mr Breakfast seems to already be taken (at least in Americaland). Need to call it something else.
MisterBreakfast. - All Day International Breakfast Restaurant: You Eat Now!
If there is ever a time you are feeling hungry. Think of Breakfast.
A while ago while when out on the town with my friends Karl and Jonathan, I brought up the topic of breakfast and specifically the various methods one has to cook scrambled eggs. In searching for recipes I stumbled across Mr Breakfast, dedicated to all things breakfast. But what if you don’t want to actually make the breakfast yourself? Cafe 21 (at the casino) you can order all day breakfast, because its open 24/7 you actually can order at anytime. Like at 2am and slightly drunk . It’s about 24 times better than a kebab. Most cafe’s have some kind of all day breakfast, all day breakfast is great (I think Rics has all day breakfast... can’t fully remember...). But what about other breakfast foods. Imagine being able to get a bowl of cereal at 6pm after work? Or peanut butter on toast for lunch, or pancakes at 11pm (Pancake Manor). What about a dosa as a midnight snack?
You Eat Now!
Is the slogan. The name was going to be Mr Breakfast, but since Mr Breakfast seems to already be taken (at least in Americaland). Need to call it something else.
MisterBreakfast. - All Day International Breakfast Restaurant: You Eat Now!
If there is ever a time you are feeling hungry. Think of Breakfast.
Just saw the movie Christina Vicky Barcelona. It’s a Woody Allen movie and as always there are pretty women and he somehow manages to get them to do anything, hence the reason to see the movie. But other than that there is a nice story and is well worth watching.
I am currently not hungry, but feel like eating. So I thought to myself, as no one was awake to hear me, someone needs to write a midnight snack cook book. Late evening is a funny time of the day. Its quieter, cooler, darker, in many ways nicer. Time to reflect on your failures of the day and plan new more complex ways to hide it tomorrow.
I am currently not hungry, but feel like eating. So I thought to myself, as no one was awake to hear me, someone needs to write a midnight snack cook book. Late evening is a funny time of the day. Its quieter, cooler, darker, in many ways nicer. Time to reflect on your failures of the day and plan new more complex ways to hide it tomorrow.
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