Barrel of ... (fun)

I couldn't believe it when I read this morning of a group of Hungarian carpenters who had drunk their way to the bottom of a rum barrel, only to make the grisly discovery that the special drop they were enjoying so much had been flavored by the body of a man transported in the barrel (and left three) 20 years ago. l thought "hi ho - here's something else about people avoiding the cost of transporting deceased loved ones" (remember the German woman) - but alas, it turns out it may just be an urban myth (thanks Snopes)!

DVC

The Anglican Church has gone into the film business in Australia. In a bid to refute the claims expressed in the Da Vinci Code (the Movie), they've produced a 20-second trailer for showing at arenas. It includes information pointing to a website which debunks the DVC claims/ theories. Is there anyone who hasn't heard about the DVC ... because I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of it.

AIDS program

Word is that moves are afoot in the Vatican to look at whether condoms should be allowed for people of the Catholic persuasion. The reason is not birth Control; it's AIDS. Condom use, if permitted, would be restricted to a marriage where one partner is infected; but even that would be a radical departure for conservative Catholics. And Benedict XVI has only been in the top job for a year!

Geography

They say that war is God's way of teaching Americans geography. And from a recent report in a US paper, it seems they need all the help they can get - which is not to say that they should be doing the war thing but that geography could be better included in their schools. Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of the damage from Hurricane Katrina, nearly one-third of young Americans recently polled couldn't locate Louisiana on a map and nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi. And 6 out of 10 couldn't find Iraq on a map.

Line

We were lucky enough to spot this on the washing line this morning. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Trivia might

Saturday evening saw us at a trivia night to raise funds for East Timor. It was a great night - where the organisers were determined, as they kept telling us, to put the "fun back into fundraising". And it must have worked - they met their $6k target for the evening. And I was as surprised as anyone that our table (whose name was derived from the 6 or so locales from which our 11 contestants travelled - and which started with H and ended in T and had a whole lot of letters in the middle - and which I can not pronounce let alone remember!) won! Of course, the bribes, which were readily accepted by the judges - in the name of a good cause - would have helped all round.

Suicide

In the considerations of what might have happened to Private Kovco, it occurred to me that I had not actually thought critically about the possibility of suicide - even though I had wondered this on first hearing of his death. Initial reports suggested there were two other personnel in the room with him at the time - and it now occurs to me that people who commit suicide usually do it when they are alone. I wonder if that is actually so.

What happened to ...

... Private Kovco. The first Australian military death in Iraq has been shrouded in confusion and, lately, with anger. Private Kovco was killed by a bullet to his temple. The circumstances regarding discharge of the weapon are unknown. Whether he was the only person in the room at the time, or whether there were in fact two other soldiers with him at the time (as first reported) is unknown. Did the gun discharge because a laptop fell on it? As he was cleaning it? Because it was faulty? And why are details being released as "truth" when they seem to be far from it - especially as there are now several different stories - mostly released by the Defence Minister - doing the rounds.
There can be no doubt that this is a sad time for Private Kovco's family and friends. The suggestion that he could have mishandled his weapon, leading to his death, is unthinkable to his family. The fact that he might have been murdered - not in combat - had not been suggested until this morning when the paper suggested his body would be examined by the homicide squad and forensic investigators when it arrives in Sydney, en route to Melbourne, today.
The circumstances of Private Kovco's death have seemed odd from the start. As my Dad pointed out, even if he had been killed in combat, this was news that was unlikely to be released ... imagine the public outcry if one of our own was killed by enemy fire. No - better to provide different and confusing reports - that way no-one knows what's going on - and don't worry that the inference of suicide can be drawn from the reports. I guess time, and an autopsy will tell - but how much physical evidence is likely to be left given Private Kovco's body has been handled/washed by mortuary personnel preparatory to transport/burial?
Will the truth out?

Cutlery

Who don't they give you cutlery at some restaurants until after you've ordered. The people behind me at Grind (our favourite - most wonderful - brekkie spot in Norton Street, Leichhardt) may have provided part of the answer this morning. "Go and tell them that we want breakfast" mother said to young child, and then started chanting sotto voce "we want breakfast; we want breakfast". Obviously it would have been more compelling if they had been banging on the table with cutlery at the time - as has been seen in a movie or two, usually sent in prisons - and on the TV series Super Nanny. Thank heavens they didn't have any!

Sick of Big Brother?

The sixth season of Australian Big Brother started this week and despite promises to myself (not to) I have watched part of the Launch, and a couple of minutes of the daily sessions this week. I have not watched, and will not be watching, Big Brother Up-Late. But it did get me to thinking - if I am reaching Big Brother saturation levels - what on earth must it be like for Big Brother? He has to be there all the time - and he has the added challenge of making sure what comes out of the house has some entertainment value - otherwise how are all those sponsors going to be kept happy - not to mention the network bosses!?

Pennies from Heaven

Well, maybe it's more a case of "dollars to donuts" rather than "dollars into the bank account". Why? Today, for no reason that I am aware of, I received a telegraphic transfer of just over $AUS1600. The question is - from whence did it come? I noticed the addition when I deposited a birthday cheque today (thanks June - sorry that took so long). So, I checked my account online - or tried to ... the system was "down" - and when it finally came back up, the deposit was there but it only said "telegraphic transfer". So, curious (don't call me curious!), I rang the bank. "It's too early to tell" they told me. Apparently it will take a day or so for all the details to be recorded in their system - but once they are, the details will also be available for me to view online. So, at this stage, the mystery should only last for the weekend - and then I'll know who'll be wanting their money back - and that's the "dollars to donuts" bit - it's "dollars to donuts" that it will need to go back to whence it came. Ah well, as long as I'm not charged transfer fees ...

Local paper

How is it that with our local paper "The Glebe", it has a cover price of $1.20 (incl. GST) but we get a bundle of them delivered to the flats for nothing? When do you get a paid paper for nothing? Or is it a case of having to pay for a free paper ... it's possible that just because it says $1.20 on the cover it doesn't actually mean it's not supposed to be a free paper (or something!).

The Da Vinci Code

The film based on "The Da Vince Code" novel (which may or may not have be based in part on a non-fiction work) is due for release around the world soon. How much opposition to the film and its advertising will be mounted by the
Catholic Church - given the central premise of the book/film is that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had children and the blood line survives to this day. Already there have been calls for advertising on the side of an under-restoration state-owned church in Rome to be removed because it was a "provocation". And I think I read somewhere that Dan Brown, the author, in answer to possible concerns, pointed out that the was "just a novel" ie as in - it's just a story so what's all the fuss about?

Strange laws

Did you know there is a law in Germany to prevent people from "disturbing a dead person's peace". A woman there now knows this after she was fined for transporting her mother's body across the country to save on mortuary transportation costs. Doesn't really seem fair, does it?

Recruitment database

Finally this hits the news in the US - and it has been a while coming. Back in July last year there was a small item in the media about a database that was being assembled by independent contractors for the US Defense Department. It held details of high school students and was to be used for recruitment purposes.
Seems someone has now cottoned on to this and a federal lawsuit was filed Monday which claims that the Defense Department is violating the privacy of millions of high school students nationwide through use of the database.

Lest We Remember

On the 28th of April it will be 10 years since the massacre at Port Arthur in Tasmania. There has been some debate on the ABC's Media Report (and probably in the wider Australian community - and certainly in Tasmania) about the best way to mark this anniversary - or whether it should be marked at all. Into the fray sauntered The Bulletin magazine - with a 12-page spread about the massacre, with a major focus on "The Murderer". This is a focus the people of Port Arthur would have preferred not been given. Although, in support of The Bulletin's coverage, the editor said they were sure there were people who still wanted to know what had motivated "The Murderer" to open fire on innocents at Port Arthur.
Is there any way the media can truly meet the needs of these dual interests ... a community that wants to remember the victims - and a community that wants to forget (the perpetrator)?

Behind the news

There are some things that you just want to know after reading a news report - and know that you probably won't ever find out. Take this recent headline from Yahoo US News: Moussaoui Jury Can't Have Dictionary.

Jurors in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui asked for but were denied a dictionary Tuesday for use during their deliberations on whether the Sept. 11 conspirator should receive a death sentence or life in prison.

The report I read said the dictionary request was denied because it would have been like receiving new evidence. Jurors were advised they could ask the Judge for any clarifications required. They apparently did not - and the reason for the request for the dictionary is not known.

Heirlooms

It's not unusual for people to keep their precious things wrapped in tissue paper in a wooden box. It is unusual though if that precious thing turns out to be a hot cross bun that was baked in 1899. Margaret Haste, a retired teacher from Suffolk (UK) said the 107-year old bun was a reminder of her mother's sister who died in 1899. The bun was the last thing she tasted before dying - and was kept as a reminder . (This is not to say that it was considered in any way responsible for her death - she had been unwell before the bun arrived). The bun now seems to be a family heirloom, and just as it was passed from her grandmother, to her mother, to her, Margaret will pass it on to her children.

Will the real Monthy Python ...

You have to be game to order things online because you never know what's going to happen. Take the UK family that ordered their new television online - and when they unwrapped it - a snake slithered out of the box. Their three year old saw it first - and his screams alerted his grandparents - but also appear to have startled the snake which reared and bared its fangs. The family, frightened, fled the room, barricaded themselves away from the snake and called for help.
The Scottish SPCA came to the rescue and identified the 10-inch snake as a non-poisonous Children's Python - which has now been named "Monty".

Ouch

I know some people with heart problems have dentistry without anaesthesia - which suggest an amazing tolerance to pain - but they're not the only ones - or the first. Anthropologists have now discovered evidence that as far back as 7000BC, some people in Pakistan were already keeping dental appointments - and having their teeth drilled - but whether this was to do more traditional work - or as a way to release "evil spirits" - or for decorative purpose - is not really known. Of course, the discovering was made ina graveyard - so a question that would be worth asking is whether the teeth were drilled while the patient was still alive. So many questions!

Teaser

I have seen the trailer - although teaser is the way it's described on the Apple site - for the Simpsons movie, due out 27 July 2007. It is not a long trailer, and is not that action packed, in fact, most of the action has Homer sitting on his couch saying he can't remember what to say. It has a great start though - as the camera traces the "S" of the Superman logo with the voiceover "in 2007, leaping his way to the silver screen, the greatest hero in American history" - zoom out to show Homer, on his couch, wearing an ill-fitting "S"uperman t-shirt. Can't wait.

Amazon Changes 'Abortion' Queries

Last month Amazon made a change to its site. It changed the way its search engine reacted to the term "abortion" - so a prompt wouldn't come up asking if the user meant "adoption".
Amazon spokesperson Patty Smith said the prompt was not human intervention. Rather, it was because "Adoption and abortion are the same except for two keystrokes," Smith said. "They also, in this case, happen to be somewhat related terms." However, people who typed in "adoption" didn't see a prompt asking them if they meant "abortion".
The company decided to remove the prompt after an email complaint.

More Bunny

A New York Post story tells of a giant German rabbit - really - and since the original story carries a dateline of February, I don't think it's an April Fools Day joke. And there's at least another one of them, as reported on the Snopes site. This is probably the bit where we hope they never get together ... can you imagine what problems we'd have with batches of these bunnies bouncing around!

Opera House

After Yum Cha in ChinaTown this morning, we went for a walk around Circular Quay and the Opera House - which isn't hard to do when you live in Sydney! But it's amazing how you can actually not know your own city - or what makes up your iconic landmarks. The Opera House was opened in the mid-1970's and here, 30 years later, I have finally realised that it is actually not one structure but several. It makes it even more amazing! [The sixth shot is of the Sydney Harbour Bridge - and two group of "BridgeClimbers" on their way up and over the famous arch. The 7th photo is of the Opera House as we're more used to seeing it (just in case it's been a while).]

Dream house

Who knew, over years past, that when we played "dream home" that it would turn out to be a two-bedroom flat in Marrickville next to the railway lines! Of course, we still talk about the next one - but at the moment, we're set.

Greek Orthodox Easter

As she waited at the bus stop yesterday morning, Sooz started chatting with one of the other regulars and found out that the local Greek Church was observing Easter with a street parade that evening. It turned out to be a massive affair. We arrive at 8pm, and the Church was already overflowing, and over the next hour as services continued inside, the parking lot filled up. The parade started at about 9pm, and police closed the street to ensure the safety of the worshippers. A woman who asked us the time kindly explained the ritual. The elaborately ordained structure being carried in the first image represents the coffin of Christ. The parade follows the "Stations" (of the Cross) - around the block - and then returns to the Church. A service will be held at 11pm tonight, and part of that will be extinguishing of the lights, and then the Church will be lit - candle to candle - starting from a single one - to mark Christ's resurrection.

Death penalty

If someone wants to receive the death penalty for their crimes (let's for a moment not ponder "why?"or debate the capital punishment question) - is it more a punishment to sentence them to life imprisonment instead?

In the news

I've been a bit remiss in noting some news items I've found "interesting" over the last few weeks. I'll probably never get around to putting down full details, but here's a bit about them:

• Reuters: Bored bureaucrat begs for escape. After working in the Canadian civil service for 10 years, an unnamed man has set up a website seeking $1 million dollars in donations so he car quit his job.
• Reuters: Florida catches thief in prison football scam. A prison gave a former professional baseball player a job in the library so they could use him as a ringer to win a softball tournament. The player has been ordered to pay back the salary he pocketed (but didn't work for).
• BBC? Scientist says Sea of Galilee could have had frozen patches in Jesus' day. The suggestion: Christ walked on ice, not water.

Life Form

It has been a while since l thought about life forms but I was there this morning as I listened to someone whose firm has created a digital pet in the form of an 18"- long dinosaur. The pet will explore its environment and modify its code as it learns. The aim - to have people more emotionally involved with technology. Now, I'm quite fond of my technology, as anyone who knows me will attest - but I'm not at all sure about this trend! Do they want us to cuddle up with the toaster? Commiserate with the coffee-maker? Get ready for the next generation of robots? It seems that in some circles at least, robots are now "life forms"! And we're not talking Data-type androids a la Star Trek here. Now there was a life form! But what defines a life form? And could it be more helpful than the www.dictionary.com offering?

life form
n. The characteristic morphology of a mature organism

I like this one from www.wikipedia.com better. Generally, all six characteristics are required for a population to be considered a life form.

While there is no universal agreement on the definition of life, scientists generally accept that the biological manifestation of life exhibits the following phenomena:
1. Organization - Living things are comprised of one or more cells, which are the basic units of life.
2. Metabolism - Metabolism produces energy by converting nonliving material into cellular components (synthesis) and decomposing organic matter (catalysis). Living things require energy to maintain internal organization (homeostasis) and to produce the other phenomena associated with life.
3. Growth - Growth results from a higher rate of synthesis than catalysis. A growing organism increases in size in all of its parts, rather than simply accumulating matter.
4. Adaptation - Adaptation is the accommodation of a living organism to its environment. It is fundamental to the process of evolution and is determined by the individual's heredity.
5. Response to stimuli - A response can take many forms, from the contraction of a unicellular organism when touched to complex reactions involving all the senses of higher animals. A response is often expressed by motion: the leaves of a plant turning toward the sun or an animal chasing its prey.
6. Reproduction - The division of one cell to form two new cells is reproduction. Usually the term is applied to the production of a new individual (either asexually, from a single parent organism, or sexually, from two differing parent organisms), although strictly speaking it also describes the production of new cells in the process of growth.

So does a robot quality as a "life form"? Or is it all part of a marketing campaign?

Bondi Beach today

Show images

Off to the show

We're planning to take nephew Patrick to the Royal Agricultural (Easter) Show in Sydney tomorrow. Hopefully he'll be happy with the more tame rides (as long as it's not the Ghost Train) rather than the Mega Drop, No Limit or Extreme Speed. Although I'm sure it's perfectly safe to send an 11-year-old on to those by themselves. Otherwise how is he going to be able to give us a "spew factor" reading. (Gulp) Disneyland teacups are more my style - although I've been told that they're not as sedate as you'd think! And certainly "Mission: Space" at Walt Disney World seems to be even less so after a 49-year-old woman died a day after riding. Hers marks the second death in less than a year related to the Epcot ride. Apparently the ride is so intense that riders have been treated for chest pain - and it has sickness bags. The woman fell ill after her ride and was taken to hospital but her condition worsened, and she died.

Take a walk on the ...

... slow side. Septuagenarian Mayvis Cole has just been fined $US114 for taking too long to cross a busy LA street. Seems her shuffling with cane led a motorcyle policeman to decide she was obstructing traffic. Hmmm, seems like once upon a time you would hear stories from America of young men helping older ladies across the street - not writing them a ticket. And why do they call them fines?

What is this a photo of?

If you think it's a pic of a woman pregnant with sextuplets, you may not be alone. The sextuplets, 4 girls and 2 boys, are reported to have been born on March 8 ... which would make them Pisces, and they could have done much worse - except that they weren't born at all. News of their birth, in the words of Samuel Clements (aka Mark Twain) on hearing of his own death "was an exaggeration". Sarah and Kris Everson appear instead to have given birth to a great big scam, which included a web site seeking assistance because "finances were tight". The truth had not immediately come to light, even though there were some concerns over lack of photos and inability to find a hospital which had assisted in the delivery. Sarah had a reason for this though: she said the entire story of the children's births was being kept secret by a court order enacted because a member of her husband's family was trying to kill the Eversons and their new sextuplets. Why she was then talking about it to the press is unclear. The couple are currently facing charges.
Interested in reading more: visit the MSNBC report:
Missouri town learns sextuplet claim was a con
No one ever saw infants, but wallets were opened out of trust.

Rove Live

A member of the audience in last night's episode sent up a question to Rove saying "what would you do if l ran naked across the stage?" Rove's answer: Do it - and let's find out! Unfortunately it did not make scintillating television fare. Said audience member did run across the stage naked, quite quickly and cupping his genitals with his hands. Rove and his guest paused their conversation for the duration of the "event" and then continued as though nothing of note had happened. Amazing what people will do for their 15 seconds of fame!

Clever

The funniest thing I heard yesterday was also on a podcast - the Onion Radio News. It's a short podcast - usually about a minute in length - and "out there" with its "spin" on quite normal things, although there is sometimes a thinly veiled message lurking amidst the humourous satire.
Yesterday's offering: 357 Maharishis Missing Feared Dead In Astral Plane Crash.

Politicians and the Press

Listening to a podcast of the ABC News Shuffle (a US program), I heard this (paraphrased) comment about politicians: If they make a paper statement they play to the press, an on-camera Statement plays to the people.

On the move

After many purchases of pedometers, and many disappointments, I have finally found one that seems to be, in a word, simply, "fantastic". The wonderful folks at Omron sell the Walking Style II (not sure if there was a I) - which has two major differences from most pedometers: 1) it goes in your pocket or bag (not on your belt), and 2) it's digital (one less thing to clatter/rattle/make noise on my person). Other differences: it doesn't have a reset button for you to push by accident when taking it in and out of your pocket or when it hits against something. As well: it does an automatic reset at midnight. And it has a 7 day memory on each function - steps, aerobic steps, calories etc. All this plus it's not a bad looking piece of equipment - and it's small enough ... to fit in your pocket!

Extradition

... sung to the tune of "Tradition" from "Fiddler On The Roof". Not really - but that's the first thing that came to mind as I thought about it.
How do extradition treaties work? Gordon Wood, accused of killing his girlfriend in Australia a decade ago, is currently in London facing extradition proceedings. It looked as though he would front bail hearings first - and then the extradition hearings next month. Now, if he was bailed, wouldn't you think there would be a good chance anyone - not specifically him - would take the opportunity to scarper before the extradition hearing? Do people have to agree to be extradited?

Computer speak

Have you ever become so frustrated when using a computer that you'd just like to throw it out the window. Just for a moment, say you were going to. Would you unplug it first?

A web experience

While this one may not be to everyone's taste, the idea's quite clever - as is the execution. I received the link to the site from a friend under the heading "Another one to play with......" When I got there it seemed fairly static and if it's like that when you get there, just move the man with your mouse.
[And there's one thing this whole exercise has taught me - you can manipulate the size of your images when editing on Blogger by selecting the image and dragging a corner - who knew? I've been changing the HTML code to resize of my images - D'oh! This will be much faster!]

Spider "bites"

Spiders have been in the news lately. First there was the story of the nudist down Bowral way who tried to drop some petrol and then a match down a funnel web nest and managed to burn 18% of his body, seemingly all lower regions; and the other about a man in Britain who took home a spider he found - which turned out to be a black widow spider which had arrived in a freight delivery from Australia. The spider was humanely destroyed after a home could not be found for it. Black widow spider bites are apparently as venomous as a rattlesnake's.

Date specific news?

This didn't carry an April 1 dateline but it seems so "out there" that it could have (should have?). This is a direct copy of the first few paragraphs of the story from Scotsman.com

Fly me to the moon - by catapult (by Russell Jackson)
IT MAY read like a far-flung plotline from a science-fiction comic, but Scots scientists have unveiled plans to develop a giant slingshot to catapult material from the earth to the moon. The project - by the University of Glasgow - will explore whether it is theoretically possible to create massive cables then use the power of the earth's orbit to catapult raw materials for mining, food, water and aerospace equipment into space.
Dr Gianmarco Radice and Prof Matthew Cartmell believe such a system could replace rockets and prove far cheaper. The cables could be up to 250,000km long and made of extra strong materials such as Kevlar, tungsten, graphite or carbon nano- fibres.
The Glasgow team beat 50 other applicants to win 10,000 from the European Space Agency for the three-month study, which aims to examine the maths behind such a system, rather than make a physical model of the slingshot.

There's more on their site, but that gives you the flavour. (But if the moon is less that 400,000 km away, the concept of a catapult is probably a bit of over-engineering. How would you load it. And what about the backlash once the payload is released? Oh no - what happens if it's more like a towel-flick?)

Feel good?

A recent report suggests a Parkinson's drug can lead to patients being turned into obsessive pleasure seekers - with one saying it caused her to start an affair, quit her religion and become a compulsive gambler. Another was fired from his job for trolling for dates on the Internet while at work. The reason ... the boosting of levels of dopamine (the feel good chemical) in the brain.
One company Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which sells Permax, a dopamine agonist, has told physicians: "As with other dopamine agonists, compulsive self-rewarding behavior (e.g., pathologic gambling) and libido increase have been reported in patients."
Does this then make it the "feel good" drug or a "feel bad" drug? And how would you feel as a patient - realising there was a problem over which you had no control - and which people kept telling you was "your responsibility" and "deal with it". Word is there is a good likelihood of class action.

Carry-on

How secure are the airlines? Are the same companies that lose (temporarily misplace) 30 million pieces of luggage a year able to monitor security So we have a chance of reaching our destinations intact? Not all 30 million pieces were irretrievably lost though. All but 200,000 pieces were reunited with their owners on average 1.3 days after being reported missing. The moral: always take your essentials (and some smalls) in your carry-on luggage. And on the subject of carry-on luggage. why does it seem that everyone has more of it these days? Oh, l know. they're all expecting their luggage to go missing.

Oops - Did I do that?

Wired News' Lucas Graves has compiled a list of the ten "Best Accidental Discoveries". Their story has details on each. And the discoveries are:
1. Viagra
2. LSD
3. X-rays
4. Penicillin
5. Artificial sweeteners
6. Microwave ovens
7. Brandy
8. Vulcanized rubber
9. Silly Putty
10. Potato chips

Also in Europe

Back in January, a French court ordered Remy Martinot to have his parents cremated or buried. This was the result of a long-running legal battle as Remy fought to keep his parents frozen. But before he could appeal the decision to the European Court of Human Rights - the crypt in which they were stored heated up from -65C to -20C and Remy decided that "it was no longer reasonable to carry on". He cremated his parents.
His father died and was frozen in 2002 - the same year the a court ruled that keeping the bodies refrigerated at the family chateau was against the law. The BBC News report did not say why it took the courts so long to make the ruling - especially as Remy's father Raymond, a cryogenics enthusiast, had frozen his wife after her death in 1984, hoping that one day science might enable her to be revived. He showed off her crypt for a fee in the cellar of his chateau, in the Loire Valley town of Nueil-sur-Layon, to help pay for upkeep of the equipment.

Cremations in Greece

After a campaign lasting more than a decade - and despite Church opposition - Greek MPs have passed a law to allow cremations in Greece for those whose religion allows it. This may not include the Greek Orthodox Church which describes it as a violation of the human body.
lt is not known how far the new laws will go to helping alleviate the current fullness of Athens graveyards where a burial plot is only rented for three years before the body has to be exhumed to make way for the next coffin. This can be extremely distressing for relatives - in some cases the exhumed bodies have not fully decomposed. (So what happens next - or specifically, what happens to the exhumed bodies?)

Identity

Do different laws govern press and television. A report in today's The Daily Telegraph on a Brisbane party - "Six teens stabbed in party brawl" - has a photograph of a "man charged with attempted murder". The man's face is clearly visible and recognisable (or would be if you knew him). Not so with the same report on television this morning. The man's face was totally obscured by a moving blur - as opposed to the usual jacket to cover head/face-hiding behaviour.
So are the rules different for the different types of media? And/or is it something to do with the timing? Although that doesn't really make sense the way I was thinking about it - to my mind the earlier one - before positive ID etc - would be the one with the man's face obscured - but it was the other way around.
So many questions ...

Piercing comment (or Ear Rings)

It's funny how you don't see any of something, and then as soon as you see one - you see more of them. The "them" in this instance is pierced ears - but not your normal piercings. These seem to be designed to enlarge the lobe with a donut-shaped insert - and not a small one! - so you can see through it. (Oh for a photograph or the ability to draw well!) I first noticed one on Wednesday afternoon, and then I followed one down the road the next day. I know this doesn't make a epidemic of it, but they're unusal enough to be noticed - and to get me thinking about why anyone would want to do that. And only in one ear. Of course, both gentlemen sporting the ear-rings had numerous other metal piercings. Yes, all right, I admit it - I really don't understand the whole piercing culture at all.

"For my sister"

Each year in Sydney we have the Tropfest short film festival. It started life as a showing of short films in the Tropicana Cafe, and since then it's grown to be an internationally recognised festival attracting many entries and a huge audience. The entries of the 12 finalists are traditionally shown on Festival night and the A-List celebrities in attendance choose the winner - who takes away a swag of goodies. The goodies have now been extended to the rest of us. This year (and last year I think) a DVD of the finalists was available with a copy of the Sydney Morning Herald. I've just finished watching mine and was intrigued by one called "Sisters". Can't really remember what it was about - okay, I can really but saying "a woman shoves cupcakes down her pants" really needs more explanation. Anyway, at the end, there was the dedication "For My Sister" and I thought gee, even though that seemed to be about dysfunctional sisters, it can't be that bad. And then "go to hell" came on screen. Guess I was wrong - but wow, what a plain-speaking, if incredibly public, airing of feelings.
The other observation from the films was what I seem to remember was a film that people were calling "fraud" film. Entries in Tropfest are supposed to be made for Tropfest, and there is always a motif or an item that needs to be included. This year's was a bubble - and people did use it in a variety of ways - thought bubble, washing up water, bubble gum etc. In the snake "documentary", there was a brief cutaway to a bubble - which seemed to have no relevance to the film - which could be because the film was supposedly made some time ago. However, that's not the point I wanted to raise here. Imagine if you were a snake with an overactive gag reflex!

Woman 27 Kills husband 72

Tatjana Edwards has been convicted in London of murdering her husband. In a twist on what could be considered a more expected reason, it seems the motive was that Gwyn was not a millionaire. Tatjana, from Estonia, arrived in Britain as a student, but was raped and forced into prostitution before escaping her pimp's clutches. It was while selling sex for £200 a time at a brothel in North London that she set out to "snare" Gwyn a client, who intimated that he was a multi-millionaire. Unfortunately for both of them, he was not. Things became progressively worse as the money ran out and the court heard that the final row over money ended with Gwyn stabbed to death. Tatjana told the court that Gwyn's death was an accident. She had been trying to commit suicide with the knife when Gwyn tried to intervene - and the knife slipped. The jury did not believe her and she now faces a life in prison.

Senseless

Australia is due for a census later this year. Hopefully there will be less trouble than the Nigerians have suffered. Census officials have been attacked and killed while looking to put a figure on the estimated 120 to 150 million people in the country. Now comes the news that the Census has been extended because the count had been "delayed in many parts by a lack of materials and rows over payments to officials". There was no mention of the deaths in the second report.

Column centimetres

Poor Mason. His letter in today's "Vent Your Spleen" column in MX had him giving a serve to the boys on the 8.50am city train who laughed at his flatulence. "Body eructations are rarely funny" his letter started - sending me to my dictionary for the definition "a reflex that expels wind noisily from the stomach through the mouth". While I was there I also checked "flatulence" - which could be either "a state of excessive gas in the alimentary canal" or "pompously embellished language". You just have to love English!

Time to play?

I've been doing some research on innovation lately - and stumbled across this link on one of the innovation blogs I visited. Mmmmm ... colours.
Of course, if you've got some more time to spare, you might want to check out Bored or Tickle - not sure what they've got on them, because I haven't had time to visit - but one day I will have time to get there - especially as they're supposed to have jokes, funny and serious online tests, and a heap of unusual facts. (Word of warning - just went to both sites to check the links were working and my pop-up blocker stopped some pop-ups. Might be an idea to make sure yours is enabled.) What would we do without the internet?

Word (Im)Perfect

The Witch's Stone in Dornoch, Scotland, marks the place where Janet Horne was burned at the stake in 1722 because she mispronounced one word in the Gaelic version of the Lord's Prayer.
Thanks to MX for that - and for this one: The gate posts of Margamin, Wales, stood for centuries because of a prophecy that the Mansell family would disappear if they did. In 1744 Lord Thomas Mansell pulled down the pillars. Within the year the entire family was wiped out.
That reminds me of my cousin Robert, who determined that he and his wife should ever only have one child (which they did). The reason - a session with a ouija board left him with the very real and unshakeable belief that if he had more than one child, he would die shortly afterwards.

Big bang theory

Following on from my earlier comments about blasting into space and the dangers associated with it - I'd mentioned that there were no plans in place for health screens of intending passengers. Seems that might have changed. It appears that women who have had breast implants may be prohibited from doing space flights because of cabin pressure hitches. Spokesman for Virgin Galactic (due to begin flights in 2008) is quoted as saying "We're not sure whether they could stand the trip - they could well explode". That's the theory anyway ... not sure if anyone will want to be the first to test it!

Another approach

How do you reduce the rate of domestic violence. In France they've introduced a package of measures, including raising the age women can get married - from 15 to 18. This brings it to the same age as men - and is aimed to combat forced marriages. Tougher penalties for marital rape and assault will now be extended to partners and ex-partners. It will also be an offence to confiscate travel or identity documents to prevent a partner from leaving. And it will now be possible to bring theft charges against a spouse. There was no mention if the laws would extend to de-facto partnerships.

Double standards

There has been a bit of a splash in one of the Sydney newspapers over the last week about fashion faux pas (what is the plural of faux pas?). Seems Janet Howard, wife of our current Prime Minister John Howard, has "over-co-ordinated" her wardrobe with visiting dignitaries - first with the Queen where both wore similar lime green outfits, and then, the following week, she and Cherie Blair (wife of the British PM) stepped out in similar white outfits. Of course, I always thought there were wardrobe co-ordinators to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen - but I could have been wrong.
The double standard bit comes in because on both occasions their husbands were dressed very similiarly (to each other - not to their wives, heh heh, that would have been just a bit too silly, although it may have been visually interesting) - and no-one batted an eyelid or commented about that!
I'm not sure the same could be said of friend Cory's appearance at a black tie function last week. He was MCing and wore a bright red tuxedo (with shirt to match). The amazing thing was that he was able to talk a couple of mates into following suit (pun intended).

Whodunit?

I found this title in the "Faith & Family" section of the Target supermarket - which is across the road from the PA Hospital in Brisbane. While it makes a change from CSI (not sure whether it continues the tradition of the annoying flashlights/sunglasses!) it's possible that there may not need to be that many series of the show - seems the perpetrator (of "miracles") would already have been identified!

Diversity

When is a helipad not a helipad? When it's being used as a golf green or, in these pictures, a tennis court. According to Snopes, this was February 2005, and tennis pros Roger Federer and Andre Agassi were in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the ATP's Dubai Duty Free Men's Open, a $1 million International Series Gold event. While in town, they took part in a

publicity stunt (worth a visit for the piccies!), engaging in a friendly exhibition tennis match on the grass helipad atop the luxurious Burj Al Arab hotel.

Undo

You know you're spending too much time on computers when you are editing a document on paper and you remove a "do something here" flag, realise you shouldn't have, aren't sure exactly where it's meant to go ... and you reach for the CTRL and Z keys to UNDO.
I'm not sure where it was but best "undo" I remember is in an office missive encouraging people not to pass on chain emails especially bogus virus alert warnings because it put "undo pressure on the email system".

eBooks

The only problem I have with reading eBooks is that, unlike conventional novels, it's hard to tell how close you are to the end - especially if an excerpt of the author's next novel is included. yes, I should have been thrilled to get something for nothing, but instead I was slightly annoyed, because I'd settled in for another 20 minutes of reading and then suddenly, without warning ... the end.

Heady stuff

New research out suggests that some migraine sufferers have been treated successfully by heart surgery. Does this mean that there is possibly a link between heart and head. And how does it evidence? The facts: A hole in the heart, known technically as a patent foramen ovale (PFO), is a minor defect in the wall that separates the two upper chambers of the heart, the atria. In most cases it causes no health problems, but can, in a small minority of people, lead to a stroke. It is also thought that failure completely to filter the blood of impurities in the normal way may result in migraines.

Which way?

What's your sense of direction like? Do you know which way you need to turn when you come out of a building or subway station? I'm lucky because most of the time I do - although I've been a bit wrong-footed! Both in Shanghai and San Francisco. Guess it's something about a grid-street system and the moon being in the part of the sky it was last night - even if you're not. Is a sense of direction something you can learn - like memory skills? And is your sense of direction impaired (although affected might be a better word) if you spend significant time in the different hemispheres?
And on the subject of memory there's a woman who has an astounding memory. Name a day and she can tell you anything about it (and you can check if she's right in the detailed journals she's kept over the years). She might have had an unfair advantage if she took part in the USA National Memory Championship - held recently in New York. Contestants were required to recite poetry, playing card order and strings of numbers. The winner, Joshua Foer, said he didn't expect to - even though he set a new US record in playing card recall. After 5 minutes memorizing a deck of cards, he recalled the entire deck, in order (heh heh, that's the trick) in 1 minute 40 seconds. It was a personal best and now he'll take part in the World Championships in Malaysia later this year.

Sign of the time

What do books and hockey sticks have in common now - and basketballs in a minute? Margaret Atwood can tell you - she could even write about it - and she could do it from the other side of the world with her new invention - the Unotchit. But wait, you say, isn't Margaret Atwood a writer - not an inventor! You'd be half right because it was indeed author Margaret Atwood who thought of the Unotchit (pronounced You No Touch It) or LongPen - a remote-controlled pen that allows writers to sign books for fans from thousands of miles away.
While some think this could end the personal contact between writers and readers, Atwood says it will enhance the relationship. Her reasoning is based on that an author can't be in five countries at once - unless they are using the LongPen.
Based on a demonstration at the London Book Show, Atwood writes on an electronic pad while chatting with the book-admiring public through video linkup. A few seconds later in their part of the world, two spindly metal arms clutching a pen reproduced the words onto the fan's proffered book - to make a different kind of digital copy!
Atwood says the gadget has applications which stretch beyond the traditional book tour ie (distance) education and (the long arm of the) law.

Photo opportunities

Amid the ongoing file transfer from Toni (the Sony) to Moses (the Tablet), the decision re how many of the photo files to transfer is a difficult one - how much weeding out needs to be done? Do I keep all the shots? Only the ones I really like? Drop the file size on the ones I'm keeping just because I can't decide to throw them out? Or just trash the lot because I'm fairly sure I have them all backed up on disc anyway?
In the big wide world, there are some very exciting things happening with images - Riya, one of the online photo services has developed software that can automatically recognize who is in a picture and tag it with their names. Currently in alpha testing, the software has proven sensitive enough to tell the difference between twins and recognize members of the same family. It can even read street signs for clues about a picture's location.
The aim? To make every photo in the world something you can find. Which is a pretty amazing thing - especially as it seems that most people are the same as me and find it just a bit tedious to assign names to thousands of photos. And as more and more digital cameras are sold, and the bigger media storage cards get, the more unnamed photos there are going to be sitting on computers all over the world. Riya estimates there are 280 billion images on desktop computers already.
Sharing them around though might raise a few privacy concerns - especially as identifying a person in a photo means their name and email address have to be entered. The service then alerts the person that they've been tagged. The report I read didn't say if the person could choose to be de-tagged. But it does suggest ongoing privacy concerns especially in a world where Google and other search engines can find everyone's name, e-mail address and much more.
For more on this, visit the Wired story

Flashers

The future no doubt holds many incredible product applications - and there are probably going to be some that are more annoying than others. Imagine wandering down the supermarket aisle in search of your favourite cereal - only to have the packages flashing advertising at you! Or maybe it will be a poisons warning on prescription medicine packaging.
And this is not that far away. Electronics maker Siemens is readying a paper-thin electronic-display technology which is so cheap it could replace conventional labels on disposable packaging, from milk cartons to boxes of Cheerios (mmm Cheerios).
As if parents doing the shopping with children don't have it hard enough, an engineer with Siems said: "When kids see flashing pictures on cereal boxes we don't expect them to just ask for the product, but to say, 'I want it.'" (Add a couple of exclamation points!)
To read more about the technology, visit the Wired report for fuller details.
Although the application is currently talking about "flashing" rather than videos, I can't help but think that one day we will be watching short "videos" on packaging. And then it's only a short sideways step to the photos I dream about - with a few seconds of moving footage on a printed image. I think I remember that Kodak had developed something like this - but I haven't seen anything about it nor seen that it is commercially available.

Kiss of death?

A news item last November read a little like an urban myth ... Christina Desforges, a Canadian with a nut allergy had died after kissing her boyfriend who had eaten peanut butter.
It wasn't refuted at the time, but now the Coroner investigating the case has said Christina's nut allergy was not the cause of death. This will probably be of some consolation to allergists who were a bit non-plussed at the ramifications of this type of allergy-related death.
Surprisingly, the Saguenay Coroner has not yet made a final ruling -just confirmed it wasn't the nut allergy.
According to the BBC report the coroner said he wanted to speak out so the case would not be used in a proposed ad campaign by the Canadian Association of Food Allergies.
Miss Desforges died in hospital in Saguenay, about 155 miles (250km) north of Quebec City, last November, after she failed to respond to days of treatment.
Her 16-year-old boyfriend had kissed her some nine hours after he had eaten peanut butter on toast, the AFP news agency reported at the time.
The coroner Mr Miron said that, contrary to media reports at the time, she did not get an adrenalin shot, a standard treatment for anaphylactic shock, immediately after the kiss. He said she had not used her syringe to give herself a shot because she did not have an allergic reaction to peanut butter.
Symptoms of a peanut allergy can include hives, a drop in blood pressure and swelling of the face and throat that can hinder breathing.

New Pepsi Max poster ads

"We'd hate sugar's guts if it had any." "I'd kick sugar, if I had legs." I can't help wondering if this new macho image advertising for Pepsi is their way of going head to head with the new Coke Zero - zero sugar, real coke taste. Hope it's not too long before it goes away.

Billy Graham

I thought Billy Graham had left this mortal coil but apparently he's just retired. I'd read a report where William Franklin Graham III or is it the IV (Billy's son) "The day I take over the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, it will be the saddest day of my life, because that will mean the retirement of my father." Alas I had finished reading at "my life". So imagine my surprise when I saw a piece earlier this week about Billy Graham Snr's service in New Orleans (the Big Easy sermon). It his first service since June and there was no mention if this was a "one-off" or whether he was back with a vengeance (or not - as the case may be). (Thank you ABC News podcast ... Billy Graham is suffering from Parkinson's Disease and will not have a continuing presence on the Ministry stage.

Origami anyone?

Origami is the code-name for the Microsoft project to shrink laptops - or is that to make PDAs bigger. The device - the UM (Ultra Mobile) PC was launched on 1 March - or, more correctly, the prototypes so people could touch and play with them. When I was spreadsheeting which tablet PC to buy, the Origami was on the list - thanks to the advance rumours. I'll have another look when they hit our shores, but I don't think I'll be ready to part with Moses for a while (not in a mo' anyway).

Woodpecker Challenge

Are there really people out there who watch synchornised swimming? The 2006 Commonwealth Games are getting a bit of airplay this weekend - and at the moment they're doing the solo swimming sans commentators - to give us a chance to enjoy the music. I went channel surfing instead and ended up on TVS (oops, their site appears to be out at the moment) - our sixth free-to-air television channel. As yet, I have not noticed their program guide in the press, and it's been a while since I've checked their website to see if it's there. But at least, this way, you never know what you're going to stumble across. Today, it's 4WD TV and Rodder's Life. What you see is what you get - and this stuff is an eye opener! I admit I lead a fairly sheltered life so had no idea there were whole families and communities out there concentrated around throwing 4WDs over increasing rough terrain (you'll have to wait until November for the next Woodpecker Challenge) and/or showing off their rods. I should have realised though because when we went up to Weston (NSW Hunter Valley) a couple of years ago, a local fair was graced with cars buffed to an inch of their existence lining both sides of the streets, bonnets up and being shown off to the world. It's a different life - and a different language. A gentleman is being interviewed about a big red car at the moment and is just reeling off a list of numbers to describe his pride and joy. Oddly, though, the rods all seem to have personalised number plates - like Fuggly. Life is good.

Waxing and waning

I give Emma her insulin injections morning and evening, and noted tonight that after I give her the injection, l rub the area where I've given it. Why? I think it might have to do with waxing - and the story Charles told one day after the Footy Show. It was the first Footy Show I'd seen and in a charity challenge, some guys would receive a couple of hundred dollars for having bits of hair on their body ripped (oops, I meant waxed) off: bikini line, chest, eye brow - that kind of thing. They did it, but they had tears in their eyes and it looked like a very painful experience - confirming stories I'd previously heard from women who endure it regularly, only because "you get used to it" or "it doesn't seem to hurt as much".
When water-cooler conversation turned to it the next day, Charles - a regular participant in the Gay & Mardi Gras Parade - said when he had his lower back waxed, he didn't feel pain. You only feel pain, he explained, because your skin doesn't know how to react. His waxer rips off the strip with one hand and gives the newly-denuded area a good hard slap with the other. This, Charles assured us, means the skins knows that it's been hit - rather than all the nerve endings running around screaming "what's happened, what's happened". That's the theory anyway, and I'm going to have to take Charles' word for it because I'm not going there! No point trying to a an empirical test if that one can't actually "remember" the intensity of physical pain. Or Sooz suggested it might be the "a new pain overrides an old pain".

Not so hard "Cell"

I have just finished reading Stephen King's latest novel Cell. The Fictionwise site describes it thus:

There's a Reason Cell Rhymes with Hell. There are one hundred and ninety-three million cell phones in the United States alone. Who doesn't have one? Stephen King's utterly gripping, gory*, and fascinating novel doesn't just ask the question "Can you hear me now?" It answers it with a vengeance.

It took me a little while to get into it (the premise of a Pulse sent through mobile phones that would make people go crazy) seemed a bit far fetched. But once I settled into the read, I found I couldn't put it down (made easier by reading it as an eBook on Palm). And, of course, now I really am noticing how many people carry cell phones (or mobile phones as we call them here in Australia), how many talk on them out in public and on public transport. I even counted pictures of three people with mobile phones in the paper this morning.
Don't get me wrong, I like a mobile - at one point there I found I was noting what models people were carrying (that did scare me!) - but there ARE a lot of them!
* They're not wrong about this - one of the reasons I found it a bit hard to get into.

Let's go

Another David Pogue find - as passed on to him by a reader who suggested this be "filed under weird".

Here it is, your link of Zen: the Bible, as illustrated by hundreds and hundreds of full-scene Lego scenes, lovingly built and then photographed (by "the Rev. Brendan Powell Smith," who admits that he "is not an ordained member of any earthly church").

Texting to North America

Here's another tip from David Pogue (NY Times) that lets you send a *text message* to any North American cell phone. From your computer. For free. In your e-mail program, address a message to 5552145434@teleflip.com. (That is, the cellphone number, plus @teleflip.com.) In seconds, your message pops up on the person's cellphone, without ringing and disturbing the movie, the meeting or whatever. And you don't even have to pay for sending a text message, which you would have had to do if you sent it from your cellphone. Not to mention how much easier it is to key in a message on a real keyboard
It would have been great if this had worked for Australian cell phones but at least when I tried it (unsuccessfully) they sent back a very polite message saying I hadn't appeared to have used a valid North American number - but if I thought l had, I could contact their support department for help. Very decent of then.

Uncle Sam wants you

Or possibly not. Seems there are three factors which can help those in the prime recruiting age group of 17 to 24 be less desirable to the US Military. The secret lies in the following points:
* the rising rate of obesity; some 30 percent of U.S. adults are now considered obese;
* a decline in physical fitness; one-third of teenagers are now believed to be incapable of passing a treadmill test; and
* a near-epidemic rise in the use of Ritalin and other stimulants to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Potential recruits are ineligible for military service if they have taken such a drug in the previous year.
More details on the Yahoo site, but be quick because their stories don't seem to stay up that long.
A tattoo can also help you appear less attractive so imagine what having KlingonHave you always wanted Klingon ridges in your forehead or Devil horns sprouting from your skull? Another reason to make the appointment for a subdermal implant sooner rather than late.

Bad weather

Snow and sleet fell across the San Francisco Bay area in an unusually late winter storm over the weekend. Two people were killed in a 28-vehicle pileup on a slippery highway just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, authorities said.
Before I'd been to San Francisco this may have been just another story in the press, but now I find myself wondering where this happened and if it was one of the places I visited. You'd think the more people traveled, the smaller the world would actually seem - and that all of us might start to think about people on the other side of the planet as people - not statistics or "the other". And the it might occur to us all that the person or the other side of the fence, or in the next suburb, even if they dress or speak differently or have different religious or cultural beliefs we have more in common than not.

Tablet technology

I am an unashamed convert to tablet technology! I have recently made the decision about which computer to buy and have done the deed - welcoming Moses the Fujitsu Lifebook T4010 Tablet PC into the fold. The handwriting technology is simply amazing! Wants me want to do text entry this way all the time! I'll see if I can get a photo of this to demonstrate! And I haven't ever tried the voice recognition software yet. Undoubtedly, there will be more to follow!

Ban all butts

David Mansford of Canterbury (NSW?) has sent in this letter to The Daily Telegraph:

The answer to our worst litter problem is simple: ban cigarette butts. Then the only litter that smokers leave behind would be a bit of papeer and a bit of tobacco (not a synthetic filter that lasts for decades). What possible objections would the smokers have? The risks to their health?

And speaking of rubbish - what do you do when you see someone drop rubbish on the street - right next to a garbage bin? Is there a proper etiquette for getting them to pick it up and bin it ... "Hey Tosser"?

Teacher-student relations

High school teacher Robert Drummond has been sacked after a year-long investigation into his relationship with a student. The relationship because public after the student, Melanie Docwra, sat her HSC exams at the end of 2004.
Why does it take so long to investigate these and similar allegations? Does it take longer if the student/teacher are both willing participants? What if Melanie had accused Mr Drummond of unwanted sexual advances? Would this have taken a year to investigate? Or would this have become a police matter?

Fact or fiction

July 2005. Rural Turkey. Five members of the same family are found to suffer from a recessive gene disorder which has caused brain damage affecting balance and movement. Result: they walk on all fours - using their palms like heels, with their fingers angled up from the ground (as opposed to the knuckle walking more often associated with chimps and gorillas). Their 14 siblings are not affected by the disorder. The family are treated as outcasts by many villagers - but that may change after the BBC documentary about them screens next week.

More "interpretation"

A small item "buried" on page 26 of today's The Daily Telegraph notes that 24* people have disappeared from cruise ships between 2003 and 2005. As well, 178 passengers reported being sexually assaulted - with almost half of these assaults committed by other passengers according to International Council of Cruise Line figures. So the other half must have been committed by ... cruise staff members? I wonder if the single older women who choose to go sailing because they feel safer will feel as safe knowing this - although it's probably something the cruise lines don't publicise.
The report didn't say where the figures were from, or if they were global figures, just that they were being presented to a US congressional panel.
* 24: 12 were deemed suicides; 1 was an accidental fall overboard and the others are "missing for unknown reasons" - which leaves the field wide open. Murder on the high seas?

Web for rent!

Amazing what you find on the web!
Ever wanted your very own copy of the internet? lt's getting closer thanks to Amazon subsidiary Alexa which can, for a price, give anyone access to a regularly updated copy of much of the information found on the web. All this - 4.5 billion web pages from more than 16 million websites -for (and this is probably in $US currency):
$1 per processor hour
$1 per gigabyte/year of user storage
$1 per 50 gigabytes of data processed
$1 per gigabyte uploaded/downloaded.

Time on the web

The more popular wireless internet gets, and the more affordable, the slower is my connection. I am not the world's most patient person, especially when waiting for a multiMB podcast to download, or for a bandwidth heavy page to load. But it's not just frustration - it's absolute frustration because I am being trapped on web pages that I find unappealing. A Canadian study says we can tell in the blink of an eye, literally, whether we like the look of a web page or not - and that influences our experience with the rest of the site.
"If the first impression is negative," said the researchers "you'll probably drive people off." That's if you can actually get enough oumph from your ISP to be able to leave the site!

Individually

Words are fun(ny). Isn't it great how "individually" contains "individual" and "dually". Does this make it a reverse dichotomy.

dichotomy
separation of different or contradictory things
(Microsoft Encarta Dictionary)

Euphemism

Noun
(communication) an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive
(SlovoEd Dictionary for Palm)

Listening to a podcast the other day, I heard "the procedure was postponed" ... which is to say that the execution of a man on death row in California had been delayed pending further legal argument.

Bzzzzrrtt.

Ouch. Lightning on Saturn is apparently 1000 times more powerful than on Earth. That's something you'd really want to know before landing there! But how do they know such things? And how long will it be before man sets foot on Saturn? And do the rings go all the way around or are they just confined to the one orbit above the equator? And if we send probes to other planets first to find out "stuff", why wouldn't others ... planets that is, not the Russians or Chinese.

Space ... the next frontier

For a small fee (well, actually for thousands of dollars) you can have your or your loved ones ashes blasted into space. Of course, you will soon be able to be blasted into space while you're still alive - for a great deal more - but you'll have to be screened first to make sure you're not a terrorist. Thus spake the US Federal Aviation Administration on drawing up space tourism rules designed to prevent a terrorist from destroying a spacecraft or using it as a weapon.
The screening won't cover your health though. The report has no strict proposals on the health of any would-be space tourists.
But you would have to be given safety advice by the flight operators including how many flights the spacecraft has been on, and if there have been any problems with the craft. You'd also be given pre-flight training to handle emergency situations such as a loss of cabin pressure or fire. But hopefully you'd never had the chance to find out if the saying is true or not. The saying? "In space, no-one can hear you scream".
And all this is not too that far away. Virgin Galactic aims to start flights into space from New Mexico by the end of the decade.

Open to interpretation

Railfares in NSW are set to increase even though the Government has previously said that until services are improved, there will be a price moratorium. The letters and comments in MX suggest that services are far from improved but still the State Government forges ahead - possibly helped by a story in this morning's The Daily Telegraph saying that 90,000 more passengers a week are using city trains since the introduction of new timetables last September . Transport Minister John Watkins said the figures were an indication that commuter confidence in the troubled rail system was returning.
I read this to mean "they're using it, so it must be better" although I wonder if they really meant "this happily coincided with very substantial petrol price rises meaning people couldn't afford to drive their own cars to work and were forced to use trains - and the extra people are just making the train riding experience more cramped and less comfortable for everyone - but let's not mention that".

Watch this

Earlier this week all employees of our company received a watch from our Chairman in appreciation of our collective contribution/s last year. (Thanks Dave!)
It seems we weren't the only ones so honoured. A British train company also gave its staff watches - atomic watches worth $112,000 which went to 1500 drivers, station staff, guards and controllers ... so they could get their services running on time! Bosses had found that staff watches weren't always right - meaning they weren't always "in the right place at the right time". Let's hope this solution works for Virgin Trains - and that it doesn't blow up in their faces.

Neatness counts

Well, actually not just neatness ... A Cyprus court has jailed a Pakistani man for eight months for forgery after he was caught carrying what was reported as an "almost original" Afghan passport - except for that some words just weren't spelled right: Menistry and Goverment. Of course, this might just be how it was reported in MX, free Sydney afternoon daily newspaper, but how many countries have English on their passports?

Business cards

I was reading a story today about the Catholic Church being critical of Harry Potter stories because they could lead children into Satanism when I found myself wondering about business cards. Do you have your company name, your name and title - in that order. And what about:

The Vatican
Father Gabriele Amorth
Chief Exorcist.

Given his occupation, and if I'm ever in the market for one to come calling - I want to see "Exorcist" on the very top line, and in very big print. Fear does powerful strange things to someone's eyesight.
Father Amorth, 80, has carried out more than 3000 exorcisms since 1986. That's 150 a year, or about 3 a week (unless there's a seasonal variation). And if Father Amorth is the Chief Exorcist, how many of them does the Vatican, nay, the Catholic Church, have? And do I really want to know?

Eating him up

Armin Weiwes, sometimes billed as "a real-life German cannibal" is upset because his legal bid to block the movie version of his (alleged) gruesome crime has failed. The film features a cannibal called Hartwin, but there the differences end: the plot is almost identical to the real-life events (which, as you may recall, were documented on video by Weiwes). Director Martin Weisz said the film was merely inspired by real events - but that hasn't stopped them trying to get as much interest in the film from the public's fascination with the case. (And fascinated we are - I'm not sure if this is my third of fourth mention of same here.)
And speaking of things copyright (well, almost) - it will be interesting to see if Michael
Balgent and Richard Leigh are successful in their claim that author Dan Brown lifted ideas central to their work The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail for the Da Vinci Code. At what point does an idea or concept become copyrightable, if at all? And is there a difference between ideas and themes?

The Sperminator

I have to stop channel flicking because I keep finding these snippets which are far too intriguing/disturbing. Tomorrow night on SBS there's a program called The Sperminator. I could have heard incorrectly but it seems to be about Dr Cecil Jacobsen who ran a fertility clinic with a difference - there was only one sperm donor. Him. "Who else could you rely on to produce sperm as required?"
Of course, now I'm never going to be able to find the piece I read somewhere else today about a group of women who meet regularly on the net. (Short pause. Much rummaging. There it is.) The thing the 11 women have in common is that they discovered their children were sired by the same sperm donor - N0. 401 - from a Virginia fertility clinic. The report doesn't say if the women used Dr Jacobson's clinic - also in Virginia. What do you reckon the odds are?
(Sorry TK, I just have to go on.) And all this reminded me of a story in a USA paper about someone using a "Whizzinator"** - a fake male appendage which can be filled with (someone else's) "whizz" to help people pass drug tests. I say "people" because you would think that it would probably only be men who could use them. Apparently not so. A US service station attendant was shocked recently when taking something out of the microwave which looked very much like an amputated boy-bit. The couple who asked for the item to be heated because it was a "matter of life or death" hurriedly explain that she was going to have a drug test and would be using the device (read "whizzinator"). They had needed to heat it (and its contents) to make sure the contents (read "whizz") passed the temperature aspect of the test. Only in America ... But the service station attendant wishes it wasn't, 'cause they're still recovering from the shock - I know how I felt when I chanced upon the leg (artificial) in the wardrobe!
**I would have provided a link to the Whizzinator site - but, believe me, you really don't want to go there! It's a bit graphic. However, if you're really interested in finding out more, and possibly even ordering online, you may want to visit the apty named http://www.gonumber1.com/

Danger in the skies

An ad on Channel 7 just then, for their News, carried a snippet from a recent story - about a new danger to airline passengers - people shining lasers into pilots' eyes.
Funny, that's the same technology they were talking about introducing to Washington some time ago - to flash pilots straying into restricted airspace. Those stories suggested the practice wasn't dangerous - just a friendly warning which is probably upgradeable to something not so friendly if needed.

Decoding

I am on the hunt for a tablet pc but looking at all the specifications is like trying to understand a whole new language. The good thing is that there is Wikipedia and I am slowly making my way through the list of GH and MHz and IEEE394 and IrDA and GPU and ODD and GB and you get the idea. It's been an eye opener, too, to see the differences in specifications sheet from different manufacturers, and different reseller sites. Particularly wonderful was the site I found yesterday (now what was it again?) that allowed you to compare up to 4 different models using "drag and drop". Pretty snazzy - except it didn't have all the models I want to compare. Still, it's good to do spreadsheets - helps me work out what the most important features are!

Shakespeare

News this morning suggests William Shakespeare suffered and probably died from a rare form of cancer of the tear duct. This follows forensic investigation of contemporary portraits of the writer where several seem to show progression of the condition. (Let's not go into the controversy surrounding this revelation - particularly that some seem to think that only one of the several portraits is actually believed to be of Shakespeare.)