A Milestone

A Milestone in which only I am interested.

And I thank every one of you.

 

Internet Cleaning Announcement

As many of you know, each year the Internet must be shut down for 24 hours in order to allow us to clean it. The cleaning process, which eliminates all dead email and inactive ftp, www and p2p sites, allows for a better working and faster Internet.

This year, the cleaning process will take place from 12:01 a.m.. GMT on April 1st until 12:01 a.m, GMT on April 2nd During that 24-hour period, thirteen powerful Internet search engines situated around the world will search the Internet and delete any data that they find.

In order to protect your valuable data from deletion we ask that you do the following:

1. Disconnect all terminals and local area networks from their Internet connections.

2. Shut down all Internet servers, or disconnect them from the Internet.

3. Disconnect all disks and hard drives from any connections to the Internet.

4. Refrain from connecting any computer to the Internet in any way.

We understand the inconvenience that this may cause some Internet users, and we apologize. However, we are certain that any inconveniences will be more than made up for by the increased speed and efficiency of the Internet, once it has been cleared of cyber flotsam and jetsam.

We thank you for your cooperation.

Interconnected Network Maintenance staff,
Main branch,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

*****************

Please notify your friends relatives and business associates on this event so they too will be prepared.

Peace Lily, My Wish for the World

Wish for the World

That the peace and safety
You wish for your children
Is also won by the children
Of others

That all the World’s people
Will find enough food
For their individual good
Without greed

That sharing becomes cool
That caring becomes normal
And that hatred disappears
Forever.

White Wine in the Sun

As we leave Christmas behind and move onwards, ever onwards into a new year, here is Tim Minchin.

My favourite Christmas song of all time.

It also has that touch of sadness for me. I won’t be seeing my Dad for Christmas. He died 55 years ago between Christmas and New Year. But my kids saw me again for Christmas this year.

So I imagine them singing this and feel happy at second hand.

Naughty or Nice

Thank you Email, you bring joy to the world.

Spot the Difference

Thank you Email.

The Bloke in the Pub #6

How’s it going, Arch?

I’ve got my VB here and here’s a Matilda Bay for you. No lemon. Don’t approve of stuff in beer!

Seems the ABC doesn’t believe in good news for the ALP either. Still not a word about the poll result this morning. What was it? Morgan or something. Face to face so people can’t lie about their age or anything else. 53% to 47%. That’s the feeling I get out there. Forget your tweeter and facebook and stuff.

Out in the real world people are getting fed up with Abbott. Look at that poll in the Sydeney Morning Herald I talked about yesterday 97% don’t like the man. All these bloody phone polls are based on some old idea that everyone has a fixed phone and only a few people have mobiles. That’s a load of crap! Lot of people I know don’t have a landline any more. Only the fucking Luddites who listen to Alan Jones.

And how’s Abbott’s cheek, eh? Oh yes, thirsty work here. Thanks. Hey, the missus rang me and said she liked that left-over pizza for lunch. She’s doing a roast tonight.

Abbott had this “no specific knowledge” about Slipper way back when the whole scummy story came out. He was still able to make big-time comments about what a sleaze he was. Now that the Judge has thrown everything out and said that Ashby and Brough were the  sleazes, he still hasn’t read anything or said anything in over a week! Slack bastard.

I see Bloody Barnett is spending another half Billion on this stupid Elizabeth Water World Waste. Well, it will be a half bill after cost blowouts and time over-runs. That is something this Governemnt is good at. Look at the bloody Arena. All that fucking cash just to ruin the Swan River. Apparently the only people who will vote in March are the developers so he is buttering them up good.

You want another Matilda Bay? here, catch!

Oh shit! Is that the time? Gotta run – seeya.

 

YIKES!

Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock knew something we don’t!

I’m Always in Awe

Of women!

Burgled from Cath

The Bloke in the Pub #5

Hey, How’re they hanging, Arch?

Didja hear that Abbott guy I really dislike is not liked by many people at all. Yesterday I said he was as popular as a fart at a funeral and it seems a hundred thousand people agree with me. 97% reckon he is a liability.

Hang on, mate. The missus is on the dog and bone. Yeah? Oh. Well that’s a shame. I’ll save a couple of slices for you. Seeya.

Seems she has to head out tonight. One of her girlfriends has a bit of a problem. Shame she won’t be able to have any pizza.

Anyway, I cannot figure out this Barnett character. Here we are, big huge ginormous mineral boom. No money in the coffers as he keeps telling us yet he is building a billion dollar stadium, spending billions on light rail and now he is doing more billions on the Tonkin Highway out in Kewdale. Yeah, yeah, it may well be money he intends to rake in over the next few years but I keep being told by Hockey that the boom is over. So where will Barnett get all this cash? Or is it all election lies?

Another beer? Thanks, Arch. The pizza? Oh, I’m planning my halapeno and salami special.

The toad has come up with another blogpost which should only be read while chewing prozac. He really is a bastard who thinks women are incapable of any thought at all. He would take the vote away from them if he could. And he won’t let anyone comment unless they agree with him.

Hey, gotta run but have you seen that South Australia is cutting its power bills by 9%? Wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that most of their power is from wind farms. Cuts out the Carbon Price rise. Whyalla will survive. Amazing what a Labor Government can do. Oops. Not “Can do” I mean “is able to do”!

Gotta go. I have to add the vindaloo powder to the pizza base.

Catch you tomorrow. Unless you want to come over for some pizza?  Oh. Shame, that.

John,
the Bloke in the Pub

Sorry to jump in again so soon Arch, but what the Hell is going on in this world?

There is the absolute fuck-up in Syria. Another one in Bahrain, Egypt has stuffed its chance at democracy. Israel and Palestine are being bastards to each other.

Tibetans are burning themselves to death and the Irish are forgetting their moment of sanity.

Deluded nit-wits are blowing themselves up in Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan. Oh yes, they also shoot schoolgirls there. How brave is that?

Japan still building nuclear reactors in earthquake zones and polluting the entire Pacific Ocean. Then killing dolphins and whales

Now, in America, some insane fool has armed himself with automatic guns and declared war on a whole kindergarten!

Not that guns kill people. Of course they don’t. Insane people with guns kill people. Trouble is how many Americans are sane?

In Kentucky you can be gaoled for being an atheist. 60% of the population don’t accept climate change or evolution. Most male Americans believe women are unable to think for themselves. Hell, they even had a Vice President who shot his mate on a hunting trip.

I repeat. How many Americans are sane. And yet they are all allowed to “Bear Arms”.

Can you post a photo for me, Arch?

This one.

The Bloke in the Pub

My name is John and I have lots of opinions. I used to be able to talk about them in the bar with me mates. But all this responsible drinking stuff has forced us all to stay at home a lot more. So I can’t talk out the things that bug me or puzzle me. Thanks. Arch for giving me space here to say what I have to. Just like I used to in the Pub.

John,
the Bloke in the Pub

I watched Mr. Justice Lord Levenson rabbit on the other night about how dangerous amateur journalists are. As opposed to professional journalists who are bound to write the official story in order to keep their jobs. There are very few Margo Kingstons in the world today.

He made no mention of Commentators, professional or amateur.

I would never claim to be a reporter. I don’t go out and investigate public figures, I don’t gather official documents and analyse them. I’m not a Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein not even a Margo Kingston or a Peter Wilkins. Yet I do read some of what the professionals write. I read what some of the amateurs write have opinions and sometimes I am moved, in an amateur way, to say what I think about things. I guess I am an amateur commentator. Making my mind up from a pile of stuff I read, hear and see.

I am not quite sure what threat I am holding over society with this habit. Perhaps, being amateur, my vocabulary or my parsing is not up to standard. Is it a greater threat than the threat posed by professional commentators, who in perfect journalese, loudly and skilfully trumpet the opinions of their editor or owner. Could it be that Mr Lord Chief Justice Levenson is simply another grammar/spelling nazi beneath his legal gowns?

Or is he suggesting that broadcasting our uninformed opinions is bringing on the end of society as we know it? The Missus can’t gossip over the back fence cos she was working and now we’ve moved we don’t have a back fence. Us blokes used to talk shit in the pub. Was that the acceptable face of democracy. Now, in a world where the backyard fence has become redundant and we are no longer allowed to drink at the pub and drive home, the modern talking places are online. Are they going to destroy our hard won democracy. Blogging, tweeting and Facebooking must be controlled, denigrated and made completely ineffectual!

I’m just the bloke in the pub. My opinions are my own. They may be poor and ill-thought but they are mine. And if the bar I choose to sit at is the long-bar of social media so be it. Any destruction of society this causes is apologised for in advance.

If Arch will let me, after work, I’ll be here most days. With a beer and a thought or two.

John, you are welcome anytime. I know I was supposed to post this last night but got my times messed up.  I also know you’re getting hot under the collar today and have something to say so I’ll post it as soon as you give it to me. Well, as soon as I have added some pictures.

The Bloke in the Pub

Hey, Arch, how crazy is this world?

John,
the Bloke in the Pub

We’ve got the fuck-up in Syria. Idiots stuffing up Palestine and Israel. Tibetans burning themselves to death. Deluded nit-wits blowing themselves up in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ireland is starting to forget its moment of sanity.

And America – don’t get me started on America!

Land of the Free where you can go to jail for being an atheist in Kentucky. Land of Innovation and Technology where 60% don’t believe in science. Land of the Brave where killing kids in school is just one of those things that happen and guns are not really the cause. They wouldn’t be a cause in the hands of sane people but how many Americans are sane?

Arch, can you post a photo with this?

This photo.

Important Stuff in Life

This has been around almost as long as the Internet. Certainly from before Cyberspace Big Banged into existence. Yet it is worth remembering.

Especially on Fridays!

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2″ in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous – yes. The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar – effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.” “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “There is no room for the pebbles or the rocks.” “The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. Take care of the rocks first-the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers.”

Standing Work-Station

Watching Dr Norman Swan’s “Tonic” on ABCNews24 the other day, I was interested to see a segment on “Standing Work-Stations”.

In our world of increasing computer use, the standard model of a computer station where you sit at 8.30am and stand again at 5pm is being called into question.

The obesity danger is immense. We may be creating a generation of heart attacks in the waiting. In fact my habit is to do just that, with minimal breaks of verticality and my waistline is showing the damage!

SOoooo – When the Tonic segment started talking about using up to 1000 calories a day simply by standing at your computer my ears not only pricked up but they banged the side of my head, saying, “This is important!”

So I thought about how I could do it. I put an upturned plastic bucket on my desk and did some computer work on it. I found that it felt good but was totally impractical.

So off to K-Mart to find something which could be adjusted to what I had in mind. NOTHING!

Office Works – NOTHIN – - – Hang on – there is a set of steel shelving. HMMMMM

Far too expensive – so off to Bunnings – WOW! A flat-pak of steel shelves for $15.

I don’t have a photo of that because the carton no longer exists. More on that later.

I set up the shelving unit as instructed, leaving the bottom shelf two screw-holes above the floor so my feet didn’t get caught underneath.

Having set it up I found the top shelf was too high. so I played with it and got a comfortable height. I had to make allowances for my own height (5’7″), my aging eyes which need the screen to be fairly close and the need for a back-board so things don’t simply fall off.

I finished up with something like this. The legs are two metal bits which slide up and down on each other. The more they overlap, the more stable the shelving becomes.

Being impatient, I tried it out and found the glare from the steel shelf was a bit much. I cannibalised the shelving’s carton and covered the top shelf and created a back-board.

There was sufficient cardboard left over to make a couple of short side-boards as well. In the longer term I shall replace the cardboard with 6mm MDF. The second shelf now holds my speakers and I have upturned the third shelf so it can hold odd leads and other stuff.

Possibly my printer can fit on that shelf as well.

A power board will also need to be added, after the MDF’ing,  and I have already covered all steel edges with duct tape for personal protection.

I may put wheels on the base so I can move it outside easily. That is one of the joys of having used the steel shelving. It is light, adjustable and cheap.

I have found that, if I am searching for a word, looking for a metaphor or suffering a brain overload that it is so simple to take a few steps, clear the brain and back to work. Much easier than standing up, getting distracted and looking at the chair with dislike when the thought coalesces.

I am finding a problem with sore feet so I shall find a suitable mat or something similar to ease that problem. The whole idea is still a work in progress yet I have spent the past three days standing at my computer.

Standing, using extra calories, fresh air, moving to the music I play and still connected to the world. How good is all that?

By the end of summer I could become the Sun-Burned Geek