Blogger gets sacked!

Thought i'd blog about a blog story.

 

"A 33-year-old British secretary has launched a test case before a French employment tribunal after being sacked for writing a blog about her day-to-day life in Paris."

 

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,19840229%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Scuttlebutt

scuttlebutt \SKUHT-l-buht\, noun:

 

1. A drinking fountain on a ship.
2. A cask on a ship that contains the day's supply of drinking water.
3. Gossip; rumor.

 

http://www.dictionary.com Word of the Day

He bartered a paper clip for a house

Such a cool story.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/blogger-barters-his-way-to-home-ownership/2006/07/11/1152383733880.html

'Can opener' art.

Just beautiful.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/money/cans-festival-for-openers/2006/07/10/1152383675404.html

Love or lust?

An object of pure beauty.

I'm going to have an apple.

The one i am about to eat looks a lot like this google image search result, as found at http://www.hormel.com/kitchen/images/refimages/seasonedinsight/fruit_veggies/apples/apple_jonathan.jpg.

Maths and music

Mozart developed a method to compose minuets by using the roll of a die.

www.seedmagazine.com/news/2006/06/the_only_thing_that_rocks_hard_1.php?page=1

Computers should be instant

Computers should be instant.

As a human being, when i want to pick up a pen i pick up a pen, there is no delay or anything which hinders the process between the thought and the action (or nothing that is relatively noticeable).

When i open up a program on my PC however (Microsoft Word for example), it takes a certain amount of time to completely open up. The albeit small number of seconds it takes to do so is frustrating - because as a human being i have expectations, set from the physical world and laws of nature, that it should be instant.

I feel this lack of instantaneous-ness may actually cause stress for some people. Personally i know i like to work fast and do many things simultaneously. A few seconds of waiting time not only can be frustrating but also stops the quick flow of actions i desire to do - thus culminating in an even greater feeling of frustration.

I wonder if there is or will be a psychological name for this.

Am looking forward to the future, when by current technological rates of advancement, computers should be ultra fast. Lets just hope that software memory intensiveness does not advance at the same rate.

Transmogrify

Transmogrify \trans-MOG-ruh-fy\, transitive verb:
To change into a different shape or to transform, often with bizarre or humorous effect.

www.dictionary.com

Mosquito ringtone

Enterprising teenagers have hijacked a high-pitched electronic blip which adults cannot hear and turned it into a stealth ringtone.

Can you hear the 17-kilohertz mosquito ringtone?

www.theage.com.au/news/web/this-is-one-ringtone-youve-gotta-hear/2006/06/13/1149964527427.html

World's sexiest vegetarian

...as voted by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/05/23/1148150228810.html

Anorexia

http://newsletters.fairfax.com.au/cgi-bin16/DM/y/h15y0Ksb7Y0Jhb0KKsz0ET

Does your computer know that daylight saving will be extended an extra week?

Due to the Commonwealth Games, daylight saving has been extended another week (in most States).

Microsoft have a patch available for download at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/912475.

Source: http://theage.com.au/articles/2006/03/20/1142703258278.html

Making a billion just isn't what it used to be.

Quote of the week:

"Making a billion just isn't what it used to be."

Forbes magazine associate editor Luisa Kroll following the announcement of the mag's annual rich list, which had Bill Gates, with a US$50 billion (AUD$68.5 billion) fortune, in first place for the 12th consecutive year.

(Source: The Australian, Tuesday 14 March 2006)

13CRAP (13 2727)

Companies have been known to pay substantial amounts of money for specific 13-numbers (eg. 13TAXI). The auction reserve price alone on some of these numbers was as high as AUD$40,000 (www.ipaustralia.gov.au/ipprofessor/archivednews/20%20July%20-%2026%20July%202004.shtml#_Hlk78352726).

These 13-numbers seem like a great idea. However, with mobiles (smartphones in particular) increasingly incorporating full QWERTY keyboards (in my humble opinion the way of the future), the characters often no longer match up with the numbers, hence voiding the usefulness of the 13-number altogether.

Print media is fine as the respective numbers can also be shown, but from a pure recall perspective, if QWERTY keyboards continue to increase in mobile devices the lifespan of the 13-number will be severely reduced.

Just my two bobs.

PS. How good is the i-mate K-JAM.

Pope gets an iPod

theage.com.au/articles/2006/03/05/1141493545217.html

And the age old discussion...

Music phones to slice into iPod growth
theage.com.au/articles/2006/03/03/1141191843453.html

I'm very happy with my new music player software for my Windows Mobile smartphone (more user-friendly than current Windows Media Player software for smartphone). And with memory cards getting bigger all the time (currently can get the smaller miniSD 2GB card for around AUD$100) i personally would prefer to just carry around the one device that does it all: MP3 player, video player, camera, games, phone, web browser, satellite radio, tv, weather and many more great applications.

The next smartphone on my shopping list is the i-mate K-JAM with full QWERTY keyboard amongst other things.

zucchini pancakes

The Side Effect

"Practice texting 'zucchini pancakes' over and over again. This combination of letters has been shown to quickly help the thumb to develop a side effect. Strength, dexterity and devastating speed are all hallmarks of a well-developed side effect."

www.pippingaustralia.com.au/content.php