Darling Harbour Fireworks

Today the 26th January 2009, Australia Day we attended the Darling Harbour 21st Celebrations Fireworks which starts at 8:50pm and runs 10 minutes.  Before that we had a dinner at Baia Restaurant along Cockle Bay offering good views of the fireworks.  Our table was inside a little bit so we had to walk over to the balcony, without obstructing other diners.  It was a little wet, but easily tolerated.

The event could almost have been a disaster.  I had the table booked for 11 people and I hoped to drum up business during the Harbour Ferrython between 10:00am and 2:00pm.  We then hit a few favourite bars around the Opera House and The Rocks.  For a while I could see nobody was interested in the stupid firework/restaurant booking.  But by 3:00 with the assistance of my friends, I made a quick count and had 11 exactly.  Then one group went to the Eco bar in the toaster and four peeps decided the atmosphere was nicer.  Then it rained.  The rest of us headed to Darling Harbour, but Barbara felt a little queezy with heat exhaustion from two days prior.  It was just a little far to walk in the rain, so we went on a very crowded Ferry.   We were 20 minutes late and could have lost our reservation except John and Sarah were there early, so there was six, and we gave the other table away at no forfeit because we were nice to the manager.  We saw the spectacular fireworks under a dripping balcony.

Another Meetup group were there as well, who I had drinks with afterwards.  Their table although in a good spot for fireworks was under a gap in the awnings, so it was a bit wet.  So then we went home to start a new year of work.

SketchCrawl 21 Sydney

Here are the four sketches I made on 10th January 2009 from Bradfield Park, Kirribilii, Sydney.

After lunch we went to Luna Park which is on the opposite side of the Harbour Bridge but on the same side of the harbour.

Would someone please remove the Catheter

A few weeks ago, I had cause to visit a hospital after I experienced Chest Pain, after a short walk.  I drove myself to hospital and checked into Emergency.  The Triage Nurse discovered both my Pulse Rate and Blood Pressure were elevated.  So they placed me on a gurney in Emergency and indeed confirmed I was at risk, though not dramatically.  I was feeling a little anxious, hard to breathe and heavy headed but this was more to do with what was racing through my mind than anything physical.  They inserted a catheter which supplied a steady stream of glucose.  As well they took some blood samples and gave me an ECG.  Then they left me to own devices worries.

After a while the doctor returned with positive results, but I should stay the night for observation.  The night sister, after several hours noted that I didn’t have a pillow, which probably explained a little discomfort.  Not that I was able to sleep as I couldn’t calm myself.

The morning shift was abuzz with excitement and there was a drunk and chatty teenager who had admitted himself after a binge.  I had no less than four doctors visit me due to a discrepancy between what I was telling them and the initial doctor report.  But that is explained by my earlier anxiety.  It was decided I do a cardio-stress test, so I was admitted into a ward (finally) and asked to pace the corridor as I had then been bed-ridden for 10 hours.  Then I did the treadmill with ECG monitoring test.  This worked briliantly as expected and I was checked out.  But WHEN is someone going to remove the Catheter.  Luckily this was removed after some prompting and I was outta there.

The thing is, I was booked into have a ECG, Catscan and Cardio Test with radioactive dye a few weeks later, so I had to go through the whole rigmarole again (twice) but with no catheter this time.  My heart showed a little “weakness” but well within normal operational parameters (unless I wanted to climb in Nepal).

The American Drive for World Domination

World Wide Oil Domination?  Who would want that.  American Republics that’s who, specifically W  Why was it necessary to apparently demolish four buildings in NYC and blow a hole (not big enough to fit an airliner through) in the largest building on Earth – The Pentagon, just to prove a point.  Through various conspiracy sites and YouTube footage, there is indisputable evidence that the W.T.C towers collapsed by a sequence of charges. Even two buildings previously evacuated imploded hours after the initial two collapses.  Experts say they came down as a result of debris from WTC1 and 2, but there was no outward debris, just implosion.  For irrefutable evidence (or a very well mastered conspiracy) see Serendipity.  And as if 2,800 lives was not enough, what about the 4,000 American troops and 80,000 Iraqi civilians in 6 years of unnecessary fighting.

Ground Zero World Trade Centre

Author unknown

Two years ago, I watched the World Trade Centre attacks and their aftermath on TV, live as they happened. Earlier this year I visited “Ground Zero” …  “The Pit”, as the site is called by native New Yorkers.

I’d been in New York for four days …  each day trying to convince myself that I didn’t really need to see the 9/11 site …  but I finally admitted to myself that it was something I just had to do.

I thought I was tough enough to handle it emotionally …  a good enough Buddhist to handle it spiritually …  but that turned out to be vanity and wishful thinking.

When I stepped out of the subway and looked across the street to where the WTC towers once stood, the terrible reality of 9/11/2001 hit me like a tidal wave, and the wall of tranquillity with which I’d carefully surrounded myself collapsed in a heap around my ankles.  Fortunately I had a friend to lean on, or I would have turned and walked away.  I couldn’t have handled it alone.

We psyched ourselves up and set off across the icy street.  My heart grew heavier with each step.  The voices of a multitude of lost spirits grew louder with each step.  I felt much colder at the edge of The Pit than I had on the other side of the road.

Not much to look at through the viewing windows.  A huge hole in the ground.  Trucks and heavy earthmoving equipment …  mostly still and silent.  A few men in hard hats and bright orange safety vests.  A few uniformed security guards.

Most of the rubble had been cleared away.  It didn’t really look like a mass grave.  More like just another big city construction site.  Almost normal.

Some withered flowers.  A few cards.  Burned-out candles.  A couple of ribbons.  A small basket with an offering to some Hindu deity.  Rosary beads.  Photos of the pre-9/11 towers in a glass case on the wall…  reflections of the way things used to be.

Street vendors selling 9/11 memorabilia and trinkets.  I bought a laser-etched plastic cube with a 3D image of the WTC towers from a crippled black guy wearing Vietnam Vet ID.  He picked up on my vibes and said “Don’t be sad, my brother.  Be angry.  It ain’t over yet.” He was right.  A month later, the USA attacked Iraq.  It’s still not over.

Around us, tourists were happily snapping photos and taking videos.  Smile for the camera.

I didn’t smile… I cried.  My friend cried too.

We stood huddled together quietly in the lightly falling snow…  trying to come to terms with where we were…  trying not to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the massacre which had taken place on that very spot eighteen months earlier.

Even though it was an unnerving experience, I don’t regret going to see the 9/11 site…  but unless I can learn how to reach out to at least one of the tormented spirits who remain trapped in that terrible place, I don’t want to see it again in this lifetime.

Kevin Rudd’s 2020 Summit a success

An interim report has been posted on suggestions thrashed out on butcher paper during the 2020 Summit at Parliament House on 19th-20th April at 2020 Summit Interim Report.  Senator Andrew Bartlett had some interesting Impressions of the 2020 Summit outcomes.  The Australian Labor Party website has the rundown of panelists.

The Prime Minister has the remainder of the year to propose any changes to parliament.  I’m sure we will see a better future for all Australians.  Some ideas might be thrown out, but an open discussion usually leads to a 50/50 compromise.

Big Brother 2008 starts 28th April

Well, at last I can stop hunting around for entertainment, because from 28th April 28th, Big Brother 08 will all start over for a further 3 months at the Dreamworld studio. There will be 14 contestants from week 1 and 4 more a week later, but no further intruders.  Rules will be relaxed, there will be less fines which were getting ridiculous in previous years.  The age group will be more varied and no Barbie and Ken blond models.  Four contestants will be picked by user vote.

Karl Sandilands and Jackie-O will be the new hosts in lieu of Gretal Kileen, who decided it was time to move on.  There will be no Uplate show with Mike Goldman, an unpopular decision, though Friday Night Live with Bree, Mike and Fitzy will be back.  A new talkfest will be on Tuesday night to discuss goings on in the house.

Already the first housemate has been elected, Terri a 52 year old highly motivated personality which would tend to indicate the show is more based on the United Kingdom format.  The VIP subscription is already in place unlike last years debacle of opening it on day one and the website crashed and took a week before on-call vision streaming became available.  The only glitch this year was existing users needed to update their profile at Channel 10’s website, but they didn’t actually tell anyone, so hundreds of people were into the Forums to see what the scuttle-bug was to sign in. 

Anyway it should be fun fun fun.  No doubt, I’ll keep you updated.  I THINK SO

How to tAME the cAPS-Lock key

Don’t you think the Caps Lock key is a pain in the brass razoo.  I certainly do, so much so, for several months, I pryed the key cap off and put it aside.  I never once missed it.  The key still worked but needed extra poking to activate it.

Another solution is supplied by the Four-Eyed Journal in an article How to Tame the Caps Lock key  This highlighted an existing feature in Windows XP (and probably Vista) which makes a beep whenever the Caps-lock, Num-lock or Scroll-lock keys are accidentally hit, which is twice in every hour.  It is setup under Control Panel | Accessibility Options and it is the Toggle Keys setting on the Keyboard tab.  To activate/deactivate it, hold Num-Lock down for 5 seconds.

Can I put my Caps Lock key back now.  Note that earlier keyboards had a led to show it is active.  Personally I would like to see it moved to some other part of the keyboard.  Like QWERTY, which was designed to slow the keyboard operator down to stop the levers becoming crossed up in a typewriter, this too is an old vestage of a bygone era.

Click to Activate and use this Control

In April 2006, Microsoft were forced to make a change on how Internet Explorer and Firefox handled embedded controls used on some web pages. Most sites required users to “click to activate” before they could interact with the control.  In November 2007, Microsoft licensed the technologies from Eolas, removing  the “click to activate” requirement in Internet Explorer. Because of this, Microsoft were able to remove the “click to activate” behavior from Internet Explorer!

It was decided that this process would take place during April 2008 during one of its weekly Hotfix’s.  See the Microsoft IEBlog page for further technical discussion.  So for two years whenever anyone wanted to view a Flash presentation or a YouTube Video, you always had to click twice, once to obtain focus to the control, and once to actually open it.  For 23 months of that time, I like the other billion users simply got used to it, but I became a little bitter in the last few weeks, then all of a sudden it’s not there anymore.  Yeah Bliss… We now only need to single click to open a video.  And all because one company Eolas licenced technology which meant we needed to do this goddamn useless double-click.  That’s right inconvenience 80% of the Internet community (a billion people) simply to honour a company patent.  Normally Microsoft would have just purchased the company.  The story covered here highlights the problem quite succinctly.  This could well be the most ridiculous fiasco that has occurred with Microsoft on the Internet.  It’s enough to make anyone…SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!!!

Two of a Kind twins

This is an amazing and incredible story.  Two identical twins from Queensland, Paula and Bridgette Powers with perfectly identical personalities and NEVER leave each others side. These twins think and speak exactly in unison with each other.  Each knows what the other is saying and finishes each others sentences precisely and in sync.  They take care of wounded Marine Animals through their Rescue Service.  They appeared on A Current Affair in October 2007 and now in Jenny Brockie’s Insight Program on SBS with the Video at SBS Video and the story at SBS Story.

Facebook security loophole warning

Facebook is designed by Mark Zuckerburg and has always had mud slung at it from users who considered that their privacy issues may be compromised.  It is quite easy to see that anyone can setup an account and access personal information about users.  In fact with new advances in Web tools, one could easily search on user information for “identity theft“ and “cyber-stalking“.  So, it is extremely important especially for young users (Facebook demographic is predominantly 16 year old girls) take care to ensure their private information is not posted in user profiles.  It is possible for example to link birthdate details and names and search electoral rolls database on the internet for other information and build up a profile of either yourself, friend or relative, then open a bank account from that data.

A Sydney Morning Herald press release explains the problem and what steps to take to minimise the problem.  At last Mark Zuckerburg and his team have recently made much needed privacy enhancements which should ensure a marked improvement.  IF ONLY users would check the new Privacy dialog in their accounts.  Facebook has now in excess of 60 million users and growing rapidly, soon overtaking MySpace.

Nuclear dump: family seeks answers on deaths

At least five deaths have been attributed to an old watch factory site at Hunters Hill, Sydney.  Thirty years ago, the factory was dismantled and houses were build next to the site (not on the site itself which has been allowed to overgrow with vegitation) and any radioactive waste was buried on the site.  This has been known by authorities all this time, yet authorities have continued to say the level of radiation to be below the health safety requirements.

People can become quite agitated about radioactivity and rightly so as Uranium-238 has a half life of 23 billion years, essentially meaning it will never breakdown.  However governments and councils have been able to pull the wool over people’s eyes by saying that radioactive waste radiation from the plot of land was well below ”safe levels”.  However independent tests made by scientists, sponsored by the Daily Telegraph newspaper show the levels to be 20 times over the limit.  This is especially the case when taking samples several centimetres into the top soil.  Deaths were likely caused by eating vegetables grown near the site.

American scientists performed tests at ground zero in Hiroshima and Nagasaki immediately after the atmospheric Atomic bomb explosions in 1945, and apart from the people caught up in the initial blast up to 300 metres from the hyoercentre, there was little evidence of radiation sickness from ground contamination (heard that lately).  Though Cancer patients were plentiful up to 1950, increasing the death toll to double.  Radioactive dust was swept into the atmosphere where it remained for some years, just like Chernobyl, Woomera and Three Mile Island.

Further information about Cover-ups are at the Anti-Nuclear website.  If asked about radiation, STALL!  Will we EVER reach a point in civilisation where there are are no more cover-ups.  It seems highly unlikely!  Erin Brockovich where are you?

New Spam webpages found every 3 seconds

Sophos experts note that the rate at which new spam-related webpages are being created is particularly worrying for businesses, and all organisations must ensure that their spam filters are up to date and able to defend against the latest threats. By inserting weblinks into their messages, spammers are hoping to avoid less sophisticated filters and trick unwary computer users into visiting the webpage and subsequently infecting their PCs.

The top eight spam-relaying countries are as follows:
United States 15%
Russia 7%
Turkey 5%
China 5%
Brazil 4%
South Korea 4%
Poland 4%
Italy 4%
Others 52%

Spam emails now take up 93% of all email sent.  However there is no figure for the amount actually received in the Inbox as some companies do in fact filter a lot of this out, but nowhere near enough!

Kate Carruthers has an interesing post regarding the security risk of email.

Japanese Whalers obtain only half their quota

Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research are annoyed that they only killed half their quota in Minke whales (551) due to interference from two protest boats “Steve Irwin” from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the “Esperanza” from Greenpeace International.  As well the Oceanic Viking sent by the Australian Government took video and photographic evidence of the whale slaughter, during which time the whaling ships had to curtail their activity.  Naturally this would annoy the Japanese Government who fund the whale cull each year between January and April in the Australian Southern Atlantic Territory and potentially risk trade alliances between Australia and Japan.

On the 13th March, there was an exchange of projectiles when Steve Irwin made a port side pass of the Nisshin Maru. From their own video, it is clear that Coast Watch crew fired off a lobby of flare projectiles over the bridge of Steve Irwin. Then some of the Steve Irwin crew threw bottle grenades at the decks of Nisshin Maru, containing rancid butter, designed  to slow whaling activity.  The Japanese crew said that this was Butyric Acid which hit three crew members, which at the very least give an upset tummy, but this is open to debate as no crew member on either ship apparently required hospitalisation.  Paul Watson and some other crew from Sea Shepherd had air rifle pellets removed from their coats, one of which superficially cut into Paul’s skin.

It is interesting to note the language used on the Cetacean Research website – “Escalation of Violent Attacks by Terrorists”,  “Greenpeace risk lives doing dangerous publicity stunts”. Piracy Attacks.  Whoa such strong language and quite blown out of proportion.

The whale debate now moves to Santiago, Chile where the International Whaling Commission has its annual meeting in June 2008.  There is one new country which will definitely be supporting the anti-whaling lobby, and should help swing the vote AGAINST Japan continuing its whale cull for unnecessary research.  However it remains to be seen if Japan continue to defy I.W.C directives, as they have done for years.

The Innovations of Microsoft’s New Research Building

Robert Scoble Scobleizer Fast TV has made a one hour video from the new Microsoft’s New Research Building in Seattle.  It is Kevin Schofield explaining the work carried out in the building.  The office had been in operation for 3 months at the time of the video.  Microsoft is principally a software company and is doing research on surface touch technology and voice activated camera switching for teleconferences.  Actually this is a much needed requirement.  I’m sick of not being able to hear a new lecture, simply because he or she hasn’t been handed a microphone or is holding it too close.   The video runs an hour and can only be streamed NOT downloaded, except by RealPlayer 11 which displays a Download Video selectable link to a Flash file which can then be played in RealPlayer.