see george w let you know what he thinks in this video....
okay, so it didn't have much to do with the environment, but i didn't want to do two posts. pretty funny though :)
since coming to new york, i have been struggling with the amount of packaging that comes standard with e v e r y t h i n g! you can't buy a croissant without a piece of paper to wrap it in, a cardboard box, a paper bag to put the box in, 12 serviettes, a plastic knife and fork and two plastic carry bags... (slight exaggeration only)
this is not to say that Australia is soo much better in this regard, but it's definitely a shock.. the culmination of this packaging excess was reached today when the 1GB MMS memory card which I bought on the internet was delivered.
scared of numbers? skip to the **********
the dimensions of this card are: 36mm x 24mm x 1.4mm (for a grand total volume of 1209.6mm3)
the box in which this marvel of modern technology was delivered had dimensions: 150mm x 220mm x 300mm (giving the figure of 9900000mm3)
*************************
nice to see you back.. for those of you who skipped over that last bit, the packaging that this card came in was over 8000 times bigger than the card itself. it's not even fragile!! you can practically jump on these things!! i should add that this box was stuffed with crumpled up paper too...
to put this in perspective, if your tv came in a box that was this much larger than necessary, it would come in a box 16 meters by 16 metres by 16 metres... approximately the size of a 5 storey office building.
okay. rant's over.. just had to get that off my chest.
on the bright side, tv is better here; especially the ads, and you can get a pretzel on every corner :))
m
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
cycling in new york
i bought my kryptonite 'new york' chain lock yesterday for $100 US. according to the bike shop dude, it will take an angle grinder to cut it off. he also said that this won't stop my bike from getting stolen, but may delay it for a little while. when i asked him, 'would someone really cut a bike chain with an angle grinder in broad daylight?' he said, 'would you say try and stop them?'.. point taken.
for those of you who want a taste of the manhattan cycling experience (and have broadband connections), you should check out this video. it's about 50Mb (streaming), but well worth it, i think. you have to crank the sound up too.. mum, better to give this one a miss, i think....
m
for those of you who want a taste of the manhattan cycling experience (and have broadband connections), you should check out this video. it's about 50Mb (streaming), but well worth it, i think. you have to crank the sound up too.. mum, better to give this one a miss, i think....
m
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
things about my life
good:
hmm. evens.. have to work on that :)) hehe
m
- i'm going ice-skating tomorrow
- i have a cool job
- i have a really cool son.
- i have made some good friends
- rent here is outrageous and places are small
- i spend too much time at work
- riding my bike in new york is scary (i rode around the city tonight for the first time.. it was quite a rush!! but definitely scary)
- i miss my baby
hmm. evens.. have to work on that :)) hehe
m
warning: poor taste
show someone how much you care with a fecalgram. warning: don't click on this link if you have taste or fine sensibilities (rated pg).
interestingly enough, this comes up on the list of ads for google revenge
m
interestingly enough, this comes up on the list of ads for google revenge
m
new photos
i haven't shot 35mm film for what seems like years until i went to tasmania at the start of this year. in fact, i hadn't taken any photos for ages (apart from on my phone, but that hardly counts :)) until i got my digital in november (thanks again phil and jason :))i finally got my film back from the developers. they didn't do a great job on it, but i have uploaded the scans to flickr.. i haven't had a chance to fix them up, as i am flat out, but i hope you like them anyway..
nicki and pip, there's some shots from your wedding. i hope you like them. let me know if there are any in particular you like and i'll give you a high res copy.
i still have a roll of transparencies to come (slides for non photo geeks). will post them as soon as i've finished the roll. god, 35mm is sooo old school!
i will write a proper blog entry soon, i promise.. no more dodgy web links.
xx
m
Monday, February 13, 2006
milk and magnetic chips, mmm yum,
Magnetic chips to replace transistor?
For the first time researchers have created a working prototype of a radical new chip design based on magnetism instead of electrical transistors.
remember the milk dot com.
This is a really cool site. It's basically just a TODO list, but means you can access you stuff to do from anywhere, and share tasks with contacts. Really handy..
For the first time researchers have created a working prototype of a radical new chip design based on magnetism instead of electrical transistors.
remember the milk dot com.
This is a really cool site. It's basically just a TODO list, but means you can access you stuff to do from anywhere, and share tasks with contacts. Really handy..
Sunday, February 12, 2006
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
well, i was hoping it would snow in new york before winter ended, and i guess my prayers have been answered in a big way... it started snowing last night as i was leaving a bar in the east village with some friends and has been snowing ever since. the ground is covered with about a foot of snow. the city last night looked so beautiful!! it was amazing.
i was totally unprepared though, and was wearing slip on birkenstocks, with no grip. i totally went down on my ass while crossing the street; my phone and my shoe went flying through the air while taxis attempted to run me over.. it was well worth it. new york rocks.
Friday, February 10, 2006
democracy: congress banned from editing wikipedia
This is kind of an old story (ie the BBC is on to it...), but I wanted to make a comment on it.
Dr Occult writes "BBC news is reporting misuse of Wikipedia by politicians
for 'polishing' their images. The article on President Bush has been
altered so many times - not just from within Congress - that
Wikipedia's volunteer monitors have had to block further 'editing'." From the article: "Wikipedia
says the controversy raises questions about whether it is ethical for
those with a vested interest in the subject to edit entries about it.
It said the Congressional computer network has been blocked from
editing for brief periods on a number of occasions in the last six
months due to the inappropriate contributions." (extract from slashdot.org)
For those of you who have been living under a rock, wikipedia is a free and open encyclopedia which anyone can contribute to or edit anonymously (-ish. there is almost no such thing on the internet anymore). In my opinion, wikipedia is the best example of large scale, functional democracy the world has ever seen.
It therefore seems bitterly ironic that the US congress has had to be banned from editing it because they keep attempting to paint themselves in a good light. I'm sure the Australian government won't be far behind; they're just waiting until they can get broadband...
Dr Occult writes "BBC news is reporting misuse of Wikipedia by politicians
for 'polishing' their images. The article on President Bush has been
altered so many times - not just from within Congress - that
Wikipedia's volunteer monitors have had to block further 'editing'." From the article: "Wikipedia
says the controversy raises questions about whether it is ethical for
those with a vested interest in the subject to edit entries about it.
It said the Congressional computer network has been blocked from
editing for brief periods on a number of occasions in the last six
months due to the inappropriate contributions." (extract from slashdot.org)
For those of you who have been living under a rock, wikipedia is a free and open encyclopedia which anyone can contribute to or edit anonymously (-ish. there is almost no such thing on the internet anymore). In my opinion, wikipedia is the best example of large scale, functional democracy the world has ever seen.
It therefore seems bitterly ironic that the US congress has had to be banned from editing it because they keep attempting to paint themselves in a good light. I'm sure the Australian government won't be far behind; they're just waiting until they can get broadband...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Housing market in manhattan
I haven't actually started looking for a place yet, but when I do, this is what I have to look forward to...
Talk About Renting a Hole in the Wall - New York Times
Four well-dressed men sitting together at a vacation resort.
Michael Palin: Ahh.. Very passable, this, very passable.
Graham Chapman: Nothing like a good glass of Chateau de Chassilier wine, ay Gessiah?
Terry Gilliam: You're right there Obediah.
Eric Idle: Who'd a thought thirty years ago we'd all be sittin' here drinking Chateau de Chassilier wine?
MP: Aye. In them days, we'd a' been glad to have the price of a cup o' tea.
GC: A cup ' COLD tea.
EI: Without milk or sugar.
TG: OR tea!
MP: In a filthy, cracked cup.
EI: We never used to have a cup. We used to have to drink out of a rolled up newspaper.
GC: The best WE could manage was to suck on a piece of damp cloth.
TG: But you know, we were happy in those days, though we were poor.
MP: Aye. BECAUSE we were poor. My old Dad used to say to me, "Money doesn't buy you happiness."
EI: 'E was right. I was happier then and I had NOTHIN'. We used to live in this tiiiny old house, with greaaaaat big holes in the roof.
GC: House? You were lucky to have a HOUSE! We used to live in one room, all hundred and twenty-six of us, no furniture. Half the floor was missing; we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of FALLING!
TG: You were lucky to have a ROOM! *We* used to have to live in a corridor!
MP: Ohhhh we used to DREAM of livin' in a corridor! Woulda' been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip. We got woken up every morning by having a load of rotting fish dumped all over us! House!? Hmph.
EI: Well when I say "house" it was only a hole in the ground covered by a piece of tarpolin, but it was a house to US.
GC: We were evicted from *our* hole in the ground; we had to go and live in a lake!
TG: You were lucky to have a LAKE! There were a hundred and sixty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road.
MP: Cardboard box?
TG: Aye.
MP: You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six o'clock in the morning, clean the bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down mill for fourteen hours a day week in-week out. When we got home, out Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!
GC: Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at three o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, go to work at the mill every day for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad would beat us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were LUCKY!
TG: Well we had it tough. We used to have to get up out of the shoebox at twelve o'clock at night, and LICK the road clean with our tongues. We had half a handful of freezing cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at the mill for fourpence every six years, and when we got home, our Dad would slice us in two with a bread knife.
EI: Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, (pause for laughter), eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah."
MP: But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe ya'.
ALL: Nope, nope..
Talk About Renting a Hole in the Wall - New York Times
Four well-dressed men sitting together at a vacation resort.
Michael Palin: Ahh.. Very passable, this, very passable.
Graham Chapman: Nothing like a good glass of Chateau de Chassilier wine, ay Gessiah?
Terry Gilliam: You're right there Obediah.
Eric Idle: Who'd a thought thirty years ago we'd all be sittin' here drinking Chateau de Chassilier wine?
MP: Aye. In them days, we'd a' been glad to have the price of a cup o' tea.
GC: A cup ' COLD tea.
EI: Without milk or sugar.
TG: OR tea!
MP: In a filthy, cracked cup.
EI: We never used to have a cup. We used to have to drink out of a rolled up newspaper.
GC: The best WE could manage was to suck on a piece of damp cloth.
TG: But you know, we were happy in those days, though we were poor.
MP: Aye. BECAUSE we were poor. My old Dad used to say to me, "Money doesn't buy you happiness."
EI: 'E was right. I was happier then and I had NOTHIN'. We used to live in this tiiiny old house, with greaaaaat big holes in the roof.
GC: House? You were lucky to have a HOUSE! We used to live in one room, all hundred and twenty-six of us, no furniture. Half the floor was missing; we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of FALLING!
TG: You were lucky to have a ROOM! *We* used to have to live in a corridor!
MP: Ohhhh we used to DREAM of livin' in a corridor! Woulda' been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip. We got woken up every morning by having a load of rotting fish dumped all over us! House!? Hmph.
EI: Well when I say "house" it was only a hole in the ground covered by a piece of tarpolin, but it was a house to US.
GC: We were evicted from *our* hole in the ground; we had to go and live in a lake!
TG: You were lucky to have a LAKE! There were a hundred and sixty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road.
MP: Cardboard box?
TG: Aye.
MP: You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six o'clock in the morning, clean the bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down mill for fourteen hours a day week in-week out. When we got home, out Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!
GC: Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at three o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, go to work at the mill every day for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad would beat us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were LUCKY!
TG: Well we had it tough. We used to have to get up out of the shoebox at twelve o'clock at night, and LICK the road clean with our tongues. We had half a handful of freezing cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at the mill for fourpence every six years, and when we got home, our Dad would slice us in two with a bread knife.
EI: Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, (pause for laughter), eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah."
MP: But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe ya'.
ALL: Nope, nope..
FAQ: When Google is not your friend | Tech News on ZDNet
Good article on issues of privacy as it pertains to use of search engines with particular focus on Google.
FAQ: When Google is not your friend | Tech News on ZDNet
FAQ: When Google is not your friend | Tech News on ZDNet
cool trick in firefox 1.5
if you are not using mozilla firefox as your default web browser....
you should be!!!
go here right now and download it before reading any further.
i just discovered a new feature in v 1.5; you can right click on a search box in any page (i think :)), and choose 'Add a keyword for this search'. From then on, you can search with that keyword straight from the location bar.
So, as an example, i set 'w' to be my shortcut for wikipedia search, so now i can search wikipedia just by typing "w ani difranco" in the location bar (where you type http://www.hotmail.com/ for luddites)
you can do as many different shortcuts as you want.
way cool...
you should be!!!
go here right now and download it before reading any further.
i just discovered a new feature in v 1.5; you can right click on a search box in any page (i think :)), and choose 'Add a keyword for this search'. From then on, you can search with that keyword straight from the location bar.
So, as an example, i set 'w' to be my shortcut for wikipedia search, so now i can search wikipedia just by typing "w ani difranco" in the location bar (where you type http://www.hotmail.com/ for luddites)
you can do as many different shortcuts as you want.
way cool...
a google future
here are four possible predictions for the future of google as foreseen by some prominents futurists, including one of my favourites, Ray Kurzweil.
The four outcomes discusses are:
1. Google is the media
2. Google is the internet
3. Google is dead
4. Google is God
interesting reading.
The four outcomes discusses are:
1. Google is the media
2. Google is the internet
3. Google is dead
4. Google is God
interesting reading.
politics, funny
i was watching the daily show (with jon stewart) last night. if you haven't seen it, it's hilarious.. i think it's on sbs in australia, and comedy central in the US. anyway, there were a couple of awesome highlights (for the actual show, go here, it's worth it!)
tom delay, the republican member for texas, stepped down from his post of house majority leader because of concerns over ethics. here is a quote from cnn's version of what happened in the vote for a replacement.
" ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra.
Some dramatic developments so far. They went into a first ballot behind
closed door, the House Republicans, and they had a problem -- they had
more ballots turned in than actual Republican members of Congress that
were here to vote, so there were concerns about voting irregularities.
They had to do a revote. Once they finally cleared that up, they did
not get a clear winner on the first ballot. They've now gone to a
second ballot."
let me repeat... "they had more ballots turned in than actual Republican members of Congress that were here to vote, so there were concerns about voting irregularities."
in other news, ken lay (former chairman of enron) is being brought to trial after 4 and a half years. stewart asks, "why 4 and a half years? because apparently it's harder to bring ken lay to trial than to invade two countries."
hehehe.. lol. and some people worry about the state of western politics.
m
tom delay, the republican member for texas, stepped down from his post of house majority leader because of concerns over ethics. here is a quote from cnn's version of what happened in the vote for a replacement.
" ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra.
Some dramatic developments so far. They went into a first ballot behind
closed door, the House Republicans, and they had a problem -- they had
more ballots turned in than actual Republican members of Congress that
were here to vote, so there were concerns about voting irregularities.
They had to do a revote. Once they finally cleared that up, they did
not get a clear winner on the first ballot. They've now gone to a
second ballot."
let me repeat... "they had more ballots turned in than actual Republican members of Congress that were here to vote, so there were concerns about voting irregularities."
in other news, ken lay (former chairman of enron) is being brought to trial after 4 and a half years. stewart asks, "why 4 and a half years? because apparently it's harder to bring ken lay to trial than to invade two countries."
hehehe.. lol. and some people worry about the state of western politics.
m
ani difranco streaming radio
a must for ani fans (with internet connections..) ani radio
also, i think i posted at some stage that there was no wikipedia entry for ani.. not sure what i was doing that day, there has been one since 2001.. i must have been tripping..
m
also, i think i posted at some stage that there was no wikipedia entry for ani.. not sure what i was doing that day, there has been one since 2001.. i must have been tripping..
m
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