Why didn't they just say so

Why do people swing their arms as they walk? Some research has been done and it seems that the effort of not swinging one's arms is greater than the effort involved in swinging them. Towards the end of the report it also mentioned that not swinging one's arms actually increased the effort taken by the lower half of the body to keep everything working smoothly. I wonder if that was balance they were talking about - and if it is, why didn't they just say so?

Job well done!

It's nice to know that good old customer service still exists. Yesterday morning, while the washing was on, and while breakfast was cooking, the electricity on that circuit went out. Okay, it might also have had something to do with the heater and television and three other appliances on that circuit all being operational at the same time. While resetting the breaker switch - the first two times it was okay, the third time it wouldn't cooperate - it was obvious it was time to call the electrician. He was great. Even though he couldn't come, he advised that Energy Australia has an emergency service which could look after small jobs - and he thought it was a small job, just needing the circuit breaker switch to be replaced (he told me what to tell them when I rang up) and that they usually could get there within 4 hours. One call and one hour and ten minutes later, Barry arrived. Gone, seemingly, are the days of tradies/sparkies in overalls. Barry arrived looking neat and tidy in crisply pressed trousers, white shirt and black vest, and a very small waist bag. I took him through to the cupboard where the switchboard lives and left him to it. He came back through a couple of minutes later saying yes, it was the switch, and that he'd tried to repair it - and was it working. Alas, no, so he had to replace it - but he had the necessary part in his truck and it was all done, and operational - with him having checked each socket on the powerpoint, to make sure all was well - within 15 minutes.
Great job Barry and great job Energy Australia! (I did miss Rob, our electrician, though. He is so tall he only needs to use a small step to be able to reach our light fittings.)

Ignoring reports

It's sometimes hard to tell the differerence between a worthwhile and truthful research report and one that's just a load of ... and I am unsure about this one. Apparently truck drivers who text while driving are 23 times more likely to be in a crash or just miss being in a crash than an undistracted driver. For car drivers (and it pains me to say this M) the greatest danger seems not to be texting while driving but dialing while driving. So ... just how helpful are reports like this? Would you feel safer today texting while driving? The report is based on research conducted between 2004 and 2007 by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. There was no mention in the report I read if there could be a cultural, geographic or technological differential with the results - afterall, phone technology has come a long way since 2007. And did it look at types of phones - for example, and wouldn't this be interesting to know - leaving out the obvious no-texting while driving option - is it safer to text with an iPhone than a Nokia? Hmmmm. Or should that be Mmmmmm - iPhone. (And could there be any truth to the rumours hitting the tech press this morning that Apple is going to release a tablet device - somewhere between the iPod Touch and laptop size - before year end? Could this finally be the 10-inch touch screen device I asked for months ago?)

Turn of phrase

I'm not going anywhere near the subject matter which rode under the heading "Vile & Tacky O - Calls to kick out shock jocks after 14-year-old girl is subjected to rape ridicule on live radio" in this morning's The Daily Telegraph but I did want to share one sentence from that report: "The controversy is a new low for the radio duo, who have set the bar close to rock bottom. " Okay - that seems as though it could be telling it like it is. I didn't choose to follow the "link" (remember when we used to call it turning the page) to "Bottom feeders page 25".

Meal choices

According to a report on How Australia Cooks, for Westinghouse, 9 out of 10 people- cook at home on any given day. Our favourite meals are steak or chops with vegetables or salad, followed by a roast dinner - or to put it more correctly - the roast dinner comes in at #2 on the list of favourite meals. I heard about this when the man at the table next to mine at the cafe read the list to a significant other on the telephone. A net search revealed only four news items on the report, which also concluded that ovens played a practical role in the kitchen. Which brings to mind the time I shared a flat with one other and we discovered something brown and furry living in the oven - I'm not one of the 9 out of 10 who cook daily and had never used it. At first we thought it was a rodent's nest of some kind but closer investigation revealed it was the remains of something a whole lot less sinister which had been there for a long, long, long time. The last time R had used the oven was months before I had moved in - she wasn't the word's most frequent cook either - and, as was evident, wasn't super-keen on oven cleaning either!

Dictionary

Way back when I was younger I used to love trawling through dictionaries and seeing what words meant. Then, when I started doing word puzzles, I loved trawling through crossword dictionaries. Now I'm in love with the WordWeb Pro dictionary - is there nothing it can't do? It's billed as a "powerful thesaurus and dictionary for Windows with word and anagram finder" - and it does all that admirably. There's also a free version which will run on other devices too, eg iPod Touch/iPhone - it's not quite as feature-packed but it's not bad. But the Pro is fantastic - type in "dance" and it will show you all the different types of dance - which came in quite useful last night as I was trying to figure out what they were. Hours of fun - and educational too!

In the stars

While speaking with someone the other day (names not used to protect the innocent) they mentioned they had been to see a psychic. This didn't particularly surprise me because this person has been known to seek similar advice previously when at a crossroad. The next bit, though, did surprise me. The psychic told them that basically, their life at present was "cactus". Actually the psychic is reported to have used another, shorter, word starting with "c" but you get the idea. Amazingly, as I don't often put faith in these things (probably because I know I could believe), the psychic was spot on! Good to know that sometimes the only way to go is up.

Good words

As the Masterchef phenomenon fades just a little post-Final ABC News Online's Rebekah van Druten summed up, for me anyway, why this program have succeeded where other reality programs have failed:

Audiences have tired of malice and manipulation.

Hear, hear! Or is that "Here, here"?

Community service

I've done mine this week ... I let the Prime Minister's website team know they still have the last Prime Minister's details searchable on their site. While fact-checking for a forthcoming Minutes In Time Samagrams entry, I was looking for confirmation of John Howard's birthday. A Google search on his name gave loads of result, the second of which was www.pm.gov.au - which was true once but Mr Rudd has held that seat for nearly two years now. (And no, I don't think I will check to see how long it takes the website team to rectify the matter.)

Artists impressions

I never cease to be amazed at how unflattering court drawings are. Is there a rule that if you are in court as the defendant that you have to be portrayed in the worst possible light? Or is the artist just reveals the accused's true inner self? Of course, it could be that you just look that way. I remember my brother once telling me that licence photos are as they are (haven't seen a flattering one yet) because that's the way you'll look when the police pull you over. Wonder what it is that makes someone embark on a career as a court artist- and how often do job openings come up?

Shot in the arm - well, finger ...

What is the world coming to? Two men out for a quiet bike ride have been shot at with air guns. Oh wait - it wasn't a quiet ride - it was the 13th stage of the Tour de France. Riders Oscar Freire of Spain and New Zealand's Julian Dean were in someone's sights with Friere sustaining an injury to a finger. Organisers have asked police to investigate.

Question time

I bought a new pairs of headphones today and when I went to put them on I realised they didn't have an "L" or "R" - so I was stumped ... which was the correct way? So, some quick research later and I was none the wiser ... nothing. I read through the instructions that came with them - thoroughly ... nothing there either. I examined the headphones again - and the only point of differentiation is that there are three raised dots on one of the arms. Hmmm. Is there some secret audiophile business happening here? More concentrated searching on the net finally uncovered the answer on a forum. Without going and looking - do you know what it is?

And that's "App"

I cannot believe that it has taken me over a year to get this - that the iPhone (and iPod Touch) App Store could be short for APPLE and application. D'Oh.

Quit - for life

Not sure I'd be lining up to take these (were they around when I became a non-smoker I wonder?) but there will be many who do turn to anti-smoking drugs to help them kick the habit. The US Food and Drug Administration have reportedly just ordered Pfizer (makers of Chantix or Champix here in Australia) and GlaxoSmithKline (Zyban) to place warnings on the drugs highlighting the possibility of "serious mental health events" such as behaviour changes, depression, hostility and suicidal thoughts while taking them. The report I read gave no figures as to what prompted the FDA to take this step but it seems that somewhere along the line, for some people, not smoking somehow became as risky as smoking.

You may have missed ...

News reports today tell of the passing of two very different types of actors - Mladen George Sekulovich also known as Karl Malden (97) and Mary Isobel 'Mollie' Sugden (86). I'm now curious and wondering if anyone has done any research on whether, as a sub-group of the population, thespians live longer.

Safety first

Want to pick up something along with your email? Chances are that if you're using a public computer at an internet cafe (or library?) you could be exposed to 5 times the bacteria that you'd find on a personal device. The UK research, reported in today's The Daily Telegraph, also noted "high-use, multiple-user internet cafes and computer labs are hotspots for harbouring germs such as the potentialy fatal golden staph". Could this be another reason for investing in a low-cost netbook to take with you so you can just plug into someone else's wireless network - or, better still, an iPod Touch?

TV re-runs

"House is back" the promos all but screamed and ordinarily I would have been pleased to see this rude but brilliant diagnostician return to the screen - except I've seen it all before - or rather, them - because they're repeats. Why can't they just mention that in their ads? Ironically, I would watch a repeat if I chose to tune in rather than being misled, even if unintentionally.

Excellent error message

This is quite a nice way of delivering the news:

Hi. This is the qmail-send program at postoffice.telstra.net.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.

Happy Birthday

I know lots of people think The Daily Telegraph doesn't stack up to other daily newspapers, but it's okay by me and today marks it's 130th year of operation ... and it's "Still only $1.00" as it says on the front page.

Missing millions

It seems a bit low but he probably thinks he has a good reason ... UK tycoon Scot Young has been ordered to reveal where $820 million disappeared to soon after his wife filed for divorce. The disappearance has been dubbed "mysterious" and a High Court Judge has told the developer that he will be jailed for 6 months if he doesn't make a full disclosure of his finances by September. So, let's see ... if he chose to go to prison rather than making the cash available, that would make his time in jail worth about ... $3,061 a minute (checked that a few times to make sure it was right). Now, just where is the incentive for doing the right thing?

Just the ticket

UK fans of Michael Jackson who had already bought their tickets for his "This Is It" tour have been offered the option of either getting a full refund or receive souvenir tickets instead. Hmmm. Who would pocket the difference? The promoters (AEG Live) or Michael Jackson's estate?

Free Mini Tattoo

Yeah, sure, and you'd wake up with a big tattoo, right? Of course there are other types of tattoo - and if you're at Sydney Domain this Sunday at 10.30am you'll be able to see one - a band mini tattoo to commence a colourful parade of Standards and Banners to celebrate Reserve Forces Day.

Not news any more - really!

Yet there it is again ... as "news"!

Is there ...

... a mnemonic for mnemoic? Seems like that could be useful.

Stars in her lies

Was there seriously ever any doubt that the European lass who said she asked for 3 stars to be tattooed on her face - and after she fell asleep, woke up to find she had 56 - was not being totally truthful? She now says she did ask for 56 and had blamed the tattooist only after her father was horrified when he saw a galaxy where the left side of his daughter's face should be. Despite it not being his error, the tattooist offered to pay half the cost of laser treatment for removal of the tattoos because he didn't want to have a dissatisfied customer. He's also thinking of having people give written approval to the work they've asked him to do - before he does it - just to be on the safe side. Tattoos aren't for ever - but they don't just rub off either - although there is this new ink ...

Taking it seriously

Following news of Australia's second death from the H1N1 virus, and full-page newspaper ads about being alert but not alarmed (well, that's not actually what they say but it may be what they mean) it's good to know our elected Government officials are setting such a fine example - one continues to attend parliament despite being treated for possible swine flu after he had contact with a relative who had contracted the virus. If this thing does take off, I don't hold out much hope for its containment.

Lightning test

I wouldn't try this myself but word on one of the technology news feeds is that a woman has survived being hit by lightning because the iPod she was carrying absorbed most of the charge. She wasn't uninjured in the incident but the iPod was apparently totally "fried". There was no indication of whether the iPod was on at the time or what she was listening to or if what she was listening to had in any way led to the bolt from on high as in "where's that awful din coming from, it's very annoying, zzzaatt".

No pressure

According to today's The Daily Telegraph, celebrity Todd McKenny has asked his co-star to have a child with him. She has not yet given an answer to him but at least it's good to know there's no pressure. It's not as though the proposal - to have the child - is public ... oh, wait ... yes it is. There is no suggestion of a romantic involvement for the pair even though they have been "good mates" for nearly 30 years.

Little Rock?

By definition you would probably think that Little Rock could be a smallish place - but possibly not so. A tractor-trailer hauling pigs crashed near there recently and some of the livestock got loose - meaning a stretch of the highway between Little Rock and North Little Rock had to be closed while the hogs and the wreck were cleared.Only question now is, is there a South Little Rock - and how big are the Little Rocks really - individually and collectively?

Water bottle doohickeys

People just never stop thinking of things to spend money on and now you can have designer doohickeys to pop into your designer - or tap - bottled water. As the report I read on Gizmodo pointed out, this is one kind of organism you wouldn't mind sharing your water bottle with - although, you'd hope they came in a sealed plastic bag - or could be sterilized - before adding to your water bottle. A good point on the Gizmodo report - and definitely worth remembering if you have a penchant for slamming down the water - chances are that if it's small enough to fit into the neck of a water bottle, it's probably small enough to choke you. More details - and pictures - can be found here.

Selective attention

Cardboard king Richard Pratt has been remembered, two months after his death, at a memorial service yesterday. It was probably fitting, in that context, that no mention was made of his lover and their daughter (neither of whom attended), or the fine of $36 million his company had earned for price fixing. His good works during his lifetime, however, were mentioned and hopefully will serve as an inspiration for and to others.

Hold the phone

Telstra's State of the Nation report is now out and its findings raise more questions than it answers. Over 1200 Australians were canvassed in May this year - all right it was 1201 - about their mobile phone message behaviour and use. It seems that one in four Australians have found out their partner was cheating by reading a text on their partner's phone. "One in four Australians" ... hmmmm ... that should probably have read "One in four of the 1201 surveyed" rather than the blanket statement they used. But, IS this indicative of the population as a whole? Or could it be extrapolated that people who use Telstra as their carrier are more prone to philandering? Rather than, as was once suggested to me by someone who wouldn't have a mobile because ... only people wanting to have affairs have mobile phones?

Rising numbers

Rarely has an invasion been so successful. Today marks the 74th anniversary of the introduction of Cane Toads to Australia. What started as 101 of them, caught in Hawaii by Reginald Mungomery of the Bureau of Sugar Research, has now burgeoned to ... well, people have actually lost count of how many there are now. Films have been made about them, sports have evolved around them, and souvenir shops carry them or their likenesses. Yes, successful indeed ... but did their introduction do what it was planned to do - control the beetles which were munching on local sugar cane crops? The jury is probably still out on this. But it's interesting that there are a couple of numbers about how many of the toads were initially released. The first figure of 101 came from The Daily Telegraph's "on this day". An Australian Museum fact sheet puts the initial release figure at more than 3000.

Proof of ageing

... or is that "aging". In any case, you know it's happening when you have to take a photo of a Gary Larson "The Far Side" cartoon, using macro, so you can then zoom in on it in the camera, to be able to read the titles of the books the cat and dog are reading. Was it worth it? Definitely.

No laughing matter

Contrary to popular opinion, word now is that Hyenas aren't laughing when they make that giggling sound, they're actually "frustrated" or making fighting sounds. The research which led to this finding was carried out on captive hyenas - would it be any different for hyenas out in the wild, in their natural habitat? More on LiveScience.

Mistake ahead

Scientists have conducted some research that suggests that the brain can tell when a mistake is about to be made. There's about a second's notice - but it seems that the brain needs to know there is a mistake about to happen as opposed to the real advantage of knowing you're about to make a mistake even when you don't know it's a mistake. Of course, word is that there are practical applications based on the brain wave activity that accompanies the "awareness" of thius mistake ... such as in air traffic control. You can read more here.

Bugs

There are stories where you just wish there was more detail - like this: Authorities said a woman obsessed with rabbits is in trouble again. In violation of probation terms, she was found holed up in a hotel room with more than a dozen rabbits. Officers said they had to break into the room Tuesday and found eight adults and half a dozen baby rabbits, one dead. The police say some were caged, some roaming.
It really bugs me that there isn't more detail.

Texting and cut and paste

A 15-year-old girl with a 500-texts-a-day texting habit thumbed her way to the $50,000 grand prize at the L.G. National Texting Championship in New York on Tuesday. Well I'm sure she probably didn't use cut and paste but I did on the iPod Touch to do this blog entry. While the iPhone 3.0 update cut and paste may not be as elegant as some tech reviewers would have liked, it seems to work just fine.

No ... really?

I don't think it should be allowed ... how on earth can the millionth English word be "Web 2.0" - it's not even a word - oh, wait, it is now! In the running, but missing out on being the millionth - N00b, slumdog and Jai ho. Hmmm, once upon a time words were composed of letters ... but that was before the N00b style of doing things I guess. So - who decides? Apparently it's a US company which monitors internet traffic and once a "word" or perhaps that would be a conglomeration of letters, numbers and/or symbols travelling in close proximity, has been used 25,000 times, it's "recognised". I can feel a new hobby coming on - coining a new word which could be something like ... Samagrams. Hmmm.

Forget the shoe phone

Here's a good use for technology - GPS shoes to track Alzheimer's patients. A new shoe has been developed with a GPS chip which will offer peace of mind to caregivers and relatives of people who suffer from this tragic disease. The units are accurate to within 10 metres and can be used in conjunction with "geo fences" so if the person wearing the shoes leaves a designated area, an alert is sent out. This will certainly make finding people easier - and can have much wider uses - and users! (Heaven knows we could have used it 20 years ago when my grandmother went missing and finally showed up several hours later - luckily spotted by someone who knew her and the family; she was in a part of town where none of us had, or would have thought to have, looked.)
Hmmm ... or perhaps the shoe phone might have worked - although maybe the person might have just wondered where the ringing was coming from.

Old or new news

Not sure what the agenda is here but the news feed I get on the iPod Touch from the Sydney Morning Herald's Technology page always seems to have this entry.

Speed adds spice to cable war
Wed. 11 Mar 2009 11:26 +1100
Telstra plans to increase speeds on its cable network by between 70 and 100 megabits a second - three times faster than is currently available.

Is it possible that, now that's it's June, it's time to drop it - or report on progress?

China censorship

What do Australia and China have in common? Apparently, it appears that the web filter projects for both, designed to keep children safe from porn, have the ability to be used to censor politically sensitive material. Hopefully, the Australian version (when I last heard it was undergoing testing) won't be installed on individual computers because when they've been testing this in China it apparently opened users to security risks - and drew calls from a Californian software company that that version contained stolen portions of their software. Curiouser and curiouser.

Blue skies

... turning me grey. New research suggests that grey hair may be caused by sunlight, smoking and poor nutrition. At the rate the transformation is happening - and given smoking and poor nutrition aren't issues, it has to be the sun! No more sitting in the park for this little black (soon to be grey) duck.

Rules is rules

Dateline: New Zealand. A cinema has refused entry to a mother and her child to see the movie The Reader because the child - at five weeks old - was below the minimum age limit, ie 16 years, to see the film.

Mixed news

Biotech company CSL is hard at work on a swine flu vaccine - so much so they're in the market for 300,000 chicken eggs a day for testing. That's a lot of eggs.
Also in the "lot of" category, it apparently takes 3 (or 4) crocodiles to supply the material for one Hermes crocodile skin handbag. After a two-year wait, because that's how long the waiting list is, you can get a bag, hand-prepared in France, for $60,000. Unlike other companies, Hermes is faring well in the global recession and a spokesperson suggested the waiting list may continue to be long: "We cannot face demand ... we are limited by our ability to train new craftsmen." And to get crocodiles apparently. In an effort to ensure supply and cut out the middle man, Hermes has started their own crocodile farms, mainly here in Australia.

Weekend prices

There was a call today for Australian consumers to report service/petrol stations that were charging "too much" for petrol for the coming holiday weekend. I can't recall if the cheapest day for petrol during the week (there is one) is Tuesday but I do know that was when I bought petrol this week and paid $1.18/litre as opposed to the $1.30/litre I would have been charged today. The expected price for this weekend is $1.28/litre. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow (Saturday) brings at the bowser.

Wrong spelling?

I'm not quite sure how it came up, but I was speaking with someone about cafes this morning and I mentioned that a good barista could make very hot coffee without scalding either the beans or the milk. "Well," Christine, told me, "the first time I saw the word 'barista' was where someone had written it as their occupation on a form, and I thought 'He's a barrister? He can't even spell it!!!!" I like it.

Dropping the ball

It's sometimes seen as a bad thing - dropping the ball - but there's at least one place where they do it daily, on purpose. Sydney Observatory first dropped the ball back in 1858 to mark it's opening on 5 June (yes, On This Day, The Daily Telegraph). The Time Ball was dropped from a tower at 1pm to signal the exact time - a tradition that continues to this day (and beyond).

Chicken nugget

Reuters reports that Chinese health authorities are putting a stop to restaurants serving chickens which have been bitten to death by poisonous snakes and cooked up for a supposedly detoxing meal. At first I was amazed at how they could possibly find enough of these to meet demand ... and then I read another report of how the snakes and the chickens are kept "out the back" or at the front (finally remembering the snake cages streetside in Hong Kong) and are "prepared" as required. Does make you wonder how people come up with ideas for dishes: oh no, our last chicken has been bitten by a poisonous snake, perhaps we shouldn't eat it; oh no, says hungry companion, poisonous-snake-bite-chicken is very good for you, cleanses the blood. And so a dish was born - or maybe not. Mmmm ... chicken.

Sleep on it

Donna Sheppard-Saunders, 33, is a free woman today after an English court found her innocent of trying to smother her sleeping mother with a pillow because she, Donna, was sleep-waking at the time. Donna apparently has a history of sleep-walking, which her mother says is a side-effect of leukemia treatment she underwent as a child. Donna and her mother were sharing the same bedroom when the incident happened. Her mother had beem asleep for about an hour when she felt something on her face - which turned out to be a pillow. Her mother managed to push Donna away, and in a call to Emergency Services, made by Donna, Donna is reported as saying "I didn't know what I was doing 'til Mum woke me up". She said that she herself had gone off to sleep and the next thing she knew her mother was "shouting and slapping her". However, this does seem at odds with that she is also quoted in the TimesOnline article I read as saying that after the incident, Ms Sheppard-Saunders had followed her mother out of the bedroom, apologising to her for her actions and mentioning that she had "tried to stop her snoring". Mention was made in the article of testimony by Donna's father that she does have a history of sleep-walking. However, the report carried no answers to my now burning questions: why did Donna and her mother share a bedroom; where was Donna's father at the time of the incident; was there a change made to Donna and her mother's sleeping arrangements following the "smother" incident; and lastly, if Donna had no recall of events after she had gone to sleep, why did she tell her mother she was trying to stop her snoring?

Cocaine

Just when I thought I had seen it all, there are reports that a new energy drink is about to hit the market - Cocaine. Now if only I could remember which existing energy drink has been banned in at least one country overseas because it reportedly really did contain traces of cocaine - as opposed to Cocaine which apparently doesn't.

Lost in space

Today marks the 44th anniversary of the first American's "walk in space". This is an interesting turn of phrase considering they don't - walk in space. Try as I might, though, I can't think of something else short and snappy enough to describe it - "just popping outside into the vacuum of space to mend the robotic arm" doesn't really do it. "Walk in space" as a label is probably a fairly descriptive tag - once we know what it means. Could be interesting to ask a young person what they understood by "walk in space" - and whether the timbre of the answer would vary depending on whether they'd had an imaginary friend or not.

Imagine that

Research out today suggests that having imaginary friends helps children "learn the complexities of spoken expression sooner". Children with imaginary friends also tend to be more creative, a first born or an only child. My older brother had an imaginary friend - which I am taking to be the chicken (yes imaginary) who he used to play darts with - or was that my grandfather? It was a long time ago. Funny though that it would be a chicken (just thinking out loud now) since my grandfather had the dancing chicken concession on the rural show circuit - really! I'm not sure how the research classifies "imaginary" though. One of the reports I read started off referring to teddy bears and dolls. These aren't imag'inary - sure, you have to make up what they say, but they're real! Did the researchers cross reference their findings with earlier findings which suggest the verbal quotient (I may have just made that up and unfortunately don't have internet access so can't check but the meaning can be extrapolated from the context) increases with each child born into a family. I'm not sure if that research covered what happened to the exisiting members of the household as new ones came on board. Usual age for imaginary friends - 3 to 9. Other benefits, besides creativity? In adult life those who had imaginary friends are more likely to be achievement-oriented and emotionally responsive.
All this talk of imaginary friend has just gotten me thinking about Harvey, and wondering what he was, and where my copy of the film of the same name is.

Domino effect

The other day I heard that a certain starlet (and I say that because I cannot remember who it was) had been singled out because she did not know what "Dominos" was. Imagine then my own surprise at missing it as an answer to a clue in today's crossword. To be fair I was channelling home renovations rather than games when I read "Pipped tile".

Testing personalities

Also in the news ... the Church of Scientology. Sydney Council will tonight vote on whether a planned redevelopment of the Church's Sydney headquarters can go ahead. If it does, chances are that it will be banned from "trawling" the street outside the building for new recruits through the use of personality tests. Which means they could just move further afield - to the next street?. And the recruitment process seems to work - although the 2006 Census had only 2507 folk self-identifying as Scientologists here in Australia, Scientology spokesperson Vicki Dunstan is quoted as saying that the organisation now has more than 240,000 members here - and the numbers are growing.
Other Scientology news - it appears that Wikipedia has moved to ban all Scientology IP addresses "in an unprecedented effort to crack down on self-serving edits". Although, if they are maintain Wikipedia entries as well as their own website is maintained - there may be little to worry about.

Downsizing

It's not just businesses that are being downsized. Latest published news - via news item and advertisement - is that Mars Australia (provider of Mars Bars and other confectionery) has announced that - in the interest of public health - they are downsizing their bars to make them lighter. The Mars Bar itself will now weigh 53g instead of 60g. The only thing that isn't set to drop is the price. Which isn't surprising since there have been other products in the marketplace that have been dropping their size but not their price over the last little while. At least Mars has been upfront with it - even though it could also have mentioned that it was still after a healthy profit margin and that the slim down might be more beneficial for it than ... no, wait, as nutritionist and GP Manny Noakes has been quoted as saying "... paying the same for less is not a bad thing". Hmmm.

Clarification

A small item on pg 2 of yesterday's The Sunday Telegraph carried the heading "Clarification" . It referred to an article the previous week which had stated that Chanel uses Chinese factories [for manufacture]. Apparently not, according to a spokeswoman for Chanel who "states that Chanel does not use factories or any other kind of manufacturing in China".
My question/s: is this a clarification or an apology, what prompted it, and if it's not billed as an "apology" does this mean here are/not legal ramifications if Chanel chose to pursue the matter?

Answers ... not so much

I'm trying to set up a new hotmail account but everytime I go to the sign-up page, I keep being presented with .uk as the only option. So, I've been searching for another way to do it, through options, changing settings etc, but was finally driven to the web. Here's one of the answers:



Hmmm. Not that very helpful at all.

Brutal Ritual (Yes S, this IS one too)

I'm not sure whether it's something they do here or if it's peculiar to the US, but I think I need to go to a Spelling Bee. I was intrigued by the following statement, part of a Yahoo USA News report:

The chairs on the ballroom stage emptied one by one, left vacant by those who had guessed and walked away disappointed. Rarely has a spelling bee round been this brutal.

Is there a Spelling Bee season? Or is it just coincide that this report follows a recent episode of Family Guy where hero (???) Peter Griffin goes back to primary school and, while there, takes part in a SB. Each time he is given a word, he asks for it to be used in a sentence - which the Bee administrator (is there a special name for this?) does - but still Peter hesitates, and then asks for the word to be used in a rude sentence - and only then does he spell the words correctly - eventually winning the Bee. (Do Bees have knees?)
I once avoided watching a film starring Richard Gere about a Spelling Bee (Thanks Google: Bee Season {2005} - guess that answers that question) - but it may be time to revisit it - or take a trip to the States, or do some local research into SBs - although I think the US may be the home of the SB and that would be the best option. So, is there a Spelling Bee Season, and when is it?

On The Boyle

Once upon a time, many years ago, I suspect it was possible for someone to achieve something noteworthy and have people be happy for them. Take the case of Susan Boyle - where, for the most part, after her first appearance on "Britain's Got Talent" (BGT) there has been widespread acclaim for her performance. Post second-performance there appears to be a bit more narkiness - Lily Allen* tweeted about Boyle's performance not being that good, and there's now reports of Boyle blowing up at a couple of strangers who were "winding her up" - a British term for "making fun of". While it's not know what they said, a police officer's words to Boyle afterwards were recorded thus: You are in the public eye, you must learn to expect this sort of thing. Why? Used to be there was a saying something like "if you can't say something nice about a person, don't say anything at all" but that seems to have long gone by the wayside especially with the advent of "humiliation TV", including shows like the aforementioned BGT where there's usually one judge (of three) whose express purpose seems to be to make fun of and be rude to contestants. Is this the price for that 15 minutes of fame? And has the population at large become inured to it?
* I hadn't heard of her before but it appears she is a performer.

Where is Dustin ...

Hoffman when you need him? With the spread of H1N1 (swine flu) throughout the globe, it's good to know that work is underway on a vaccine and that it could be ready by October. If there were a more virulent outbreak - both in intensity and in spread - and if it was Winter in the Northern Hemisphere now, would the push for a vaccine be faster? Afterall, it took only a couple of days on "Outbreak" for a fix to be found. I know, I know, that was the movies and this is real life, but from some of the reports I read, it seems that commercial enterprises announced they were starting work on a vaccine only after governments said they would order a vaccine. Not sure how the non-corporate system works and whether, since news of H1N1 emerged, there have been government "staff" scientists toiling away in their laboratories seeking a cure.

SMS - Health

"Obviously, we did not check to make sure the texts made sense - but this might not be easy, given that many of them appear to make no sense at the best of times." Thus spake a doctor late last year who was looking at ways of determining if young people who had collapsed at "events" were well enough to rejoin the action. The thought that the ability to send a text message could signal "wellness" was triggered from observations at other events where, as soon as they felt well enough, the young folk would start texting their friends to let them know what had happened to them, and to arrange a rendezvous point. But was it a message or gobbledegook - that was the question.

Six month lead time

Dateline: The Vatican. October 2008. Catholic Bishops meeting in Rome advised they wanted iPods to carry the word of God.
Dateline: The Vatican. May 2009. There will soon be an iPhone and iPod Touch application (as soon as it's approved by Apple - as all apps available through iTunes must be) which gives users video and audio news of the Pope's travels and speeches. As well, the Vatican has unveiled a new website, Pope2You, which allows Facebook users to send virtual postcards with photos of Pope Benedict XVI. For those who want to use it now, the Facebook portal is already available.
It would be interesting to see if the Vatican still has the same names for its servers.

Any lengths

Dateline: Sydney, October 2008. A Sydney couple, before the Family Court, have aired details of the wife's witchcraft practices. The husband learned of his wife's witch status from her emails which revealed she was involved with a coven and possessed witchcraft items including a dagger and a mirror. The husband suggested that he was concerned that the children, who lived with their mother, would be exposed to these activities. She argued that he should not have been accessing her emails two years after they separated - and that her interest in witchcraft was research for a book she was writing. The Magistrate allowed the emails into evidence despite the unauthorised access.
And there endeth the reference to this story ... despite an exhaustive search on the net using a variety of search terms, but, admittedly, only one search engine. Yes, I could contact the person credited with this item (Ellen Connolly) but I don't think I'm going to.

To Serve God

... which shouldn't be confused with "To Serve Man", a cook book, made famous by Rod Serling vehicle "The Twilight Zone". Last year (yes again - there are still a few entries to go) a (former) Nebraska state senator Ernie Chambers sought an injunction against God to prevent "death, destruction, and terrorism". A US judged dismissed the case on the basis that as God had no known address, legal papers could not be served. It was thought Chambers might appeal the decision, on the grounds that as God knows "everything", God had notice of the suit. And that's one of the good things about blogging things so much later ... a quick search on the internet (and I could feel it doing my brain "good") suggests that Chambers did appeal, but that was denied. The account I read also had some more details about why Chambers had originally filed the suit - which had to do with his protest at another case which centered around how a rape victim could not say she had been raped because "rape" was a legal term and witnesses can't reach legal decisions. Law and comparisons to a certain stubborn animal come to mind.

Boosting brain power

A report on Engadget last year (catching up slowly) told of a group of scientists here in Australia who claim to have found a way to boost a person's intelligence (Rain Man levels were mentioned in the report I read) using magnets and something that looks like a hairnet. Researchers from Sydney University apparently claim that an electromagnetic 'zap' to the left side of the brain will cause over-analytic, right-brained types to shift to the other hemisphere, where "you will soon be writing operas, penning sonnets and proofreading like a champ." As professor Allan Snyder was reported as saying: "I believe that each of us has within us non-conscious machinery which can do extraordinary art, extraordinary memory and extraordinary mathematical calculations."
Around the same time, the BBC carried a story that use of the internet by persons of middle age and older helped boost brain power. It has long been thought that activities which keep the brain active, such as crossword puzzles, may help minimise that impact - and that study suggested surfing the web could be added to the list.
I'm going to go one step further and say that the word game I've developed can do the same - heh heh.

Road rage

There was a report last month of a Sydney man who clung to the bonnet of a Peugot for 4km after he and his wife had chased the car through traffic because they had been involved in a minor collision with it. When they caught up with it and approached the vehicle, it drove at them, forcing the husband on to the bonnet - where he stayed for 4km in heavy traffic even though the driver tried to accelerate and brake to force him off. The car was stopped by police and the driver was arrested. The bonnet-rider escaped unhurt - but it does make you wonder if there had been any opportunity during the ride for him to safely dismount the vehicle rather than having his life endangered?

Booting up

There is so much that is unknown. Who knew that Brian Eno composed the welcoming jingle that plays when (your) Windows computer boots up? Brian Eno is currently in Sydney for the Vivid light show (and yes, some Sydney-siders think he is more influential than Tiger Woods).

Larval medicine

Research reported in March (I know, I'm behind the times) suggests that using maggots to clean wounds may not provide any benefits over the use of hydrogel, a standard wound cleaning product. While maggots were found to clean wounds more quickly, this did not lead to faster healing. How do they know? They were able to test it based on the generosity of 267 patients with venous leg ulcers - who received either the maggot or hydrogel treatment. The report I read didn't say whether each of the patients got to choose which they had - but it did say that some found the maggot treatment aka larval treatment more painful. More research is needed to see whether maggots do have a place in modern medicine eg for cleaning wounds prior to skin grafts so patients can have surgery more quickly.

On the run

A New Zealand couple is reportedly on the run after being granted a loan by Westpac. The couple had applied for a $10,000 loan but were instead the recipients of $10 million. Not that much later after realising what had happened, word is that they withdrew the cash, and haven't been seen since. Reports suggest they took themselves, and a couple of relatives, to Hong Kong. Details as to who, if anyone, is pursuing them, are sketchy.

Feeling like a million dollars

The very rich Donald Trump is currently suing Timothy O'Brien who claimed in a book in 2006 that Trump was worth between $US15O million and $US250 million. Not so, says Trump, who claims O'Brien knew he was actually worth "billions" - even though it's complicated to tell how much Trump is worth at any point because, as he says, it's constantly in flux - and (and I'm not sure how this works) it depended partly on his feelings. So I'm thinking that it doesn't take the form of him waking up each day and saying "I feel like a million dollars" or "I feel like a quarter." Not surprisingly, O'Brien's legal team is arguing to have the case dismissed.

Falling down

Having seen something similar myself when my uncle toppled over the side of a sleep incline and emerged unscathed at the bottom of the 20m fall, I can believe a report from the UK of a young sleepwalker who stepped out of a bedroom window and landed, on her feet, and unhurt, in the grass, 8 metres below. Some will put it down to the soft landing, others, including me, will think it has more to do with the person not knowing they were about to/falling - so they don't go "tense" and resist the impact. (Did I mention that my uncle was pretty much fully inebriated - and definitely feeling no pain - at the time of his fall.)

Giving him a hand

Bud Tingwell, Australian actor of some repute, was farewelled yesterday at a funeral service at St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne. The service was attended by friends, family and colleagues from the acting fraternity - who gave Bud what seems to be the traditional actor's farewell - his casket was applauded as it was carried from the church. He seems to have had a great and lasting impact. Val Jellay, friend and fellow actor, noted at his funeral: "The world would be a happier place if it had more Bud Tingwells in it".

Box office news

I remember hearing that if a film isn't doing too well at the box office, the next step is the "vox pop" advertisement where people give their (positive) opinions of the film as they leave the cinema. Imagine then, my horror when I saw just such an ad for the new "Star Trek" movie. Hopefully times have changed and this doesn't mean that it's flagging within a couple of weeks of opening.

Happy Birthday Cherilyn

There's something you don't find out often - it's Cherilyn Sarkisian's 63rd birthday today. Well, it would be if she hadn't changed her name to Cher. Happy Birthday!

Negotiation techniques

Interesting point in the paper today that while schools may be delivering on sex education what they could also be giving is negotiation training. Research suggests that even though teenagers are more aware of the risks* of unprotected sex, they seem ill-prepared to negotiate with a partner about not going all the way until they are ready.
* The report I read said "consequences" but I don't know that any 14 year old can understand how their lives will change if they become pregnant.

Taking a gamble

It's unlikely to ever happen to me but I wonder how it would feel to lose $2 million in 43 minutes while playing baccarat at a casino. Harry Kakavas, who did, apparently told someone a short while before that loss that he felt "deflated" having lost $30 million over four months. Mr Kakavas is currently suing Crown Casinos for $20.5 million saying they should not have allowed him to gamble there given they knew he was a pathological gambler who was banned from other casinos. The trial continues.

Canine capers

A Melbourne cyclist has been robbed at teeth-point after a passing motorist stopped to "help" when he fell off his bike. The "help" included setting a dog onto the man who suffered injuries to his leg, arm and elbow in the attack. It was only after the cyclist had handed over ie throw down his phone, wallet and keys, that the dog was called off and the motorist picked up the "loot" and drove off with his canine accomplice, thought to have been either a pitbull or staffordshire terrier but definitely, with the police searching for them, a hot dog.

More big things

A theme park in China has just been forced to close because officials said it had an "evil influence" on society - even before it opened. Love Land, devoted to the more carnal and sensual pleasures, has been torn down - giant "bits" and all.

The power of advertising

An ad in The Daily Telegraph has two pieces of good news: you can get a copy of the Telegraph with your Breakfast McValue Meal®; the other - tall people get paid more. What they don't mention - and I can't understand why - is that the same recent research that found that taller people get paid more also found that here in Australia at least, overweight people are also paid more - although they didn't say whether overweight people get paid more than tall people, or if tall people who are overweight get paid more twice. The ad also doesn't mention Maccas/McDonald's by name - just has the name of the product and the big yellow M and the "i'm lovin' it®".

Got me licked

I'm not sure which sticks in my mind more - the sight of the young girl coming into the cafe, and while her Dad talked on the mobile phone, her licking the top of first the salt shaker and then the pepper shaker at the nearest table - or ... no, wait, that one does stick the most. The other was simply the sign at KKD's Wynyard store: You're Never Alone With a Box of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Hmmm ... or is that ... mmmmm.

From one extreme

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is making its own contribution to lessening the impact of the global economic downturn by starting a program in the US which will see 70 of its products made available for free to people who have lost their job and health insurance. There are conditions, of course, but this type of philanthropy is not new to Pfizer which has previously provided drugs free on other programs. Cynics might suggest that this is just a way of ensuring brand loyalty - better to give the drugs to people rather than have them switch to generic brands - but whatever the reason is has to be seen as a positive effort. The scheme was first suggested about 5 weeks ago at a management training meeting - so it seems that that was one meeting worth having - and it suggests that Pfizer is prepared to think outside the box and be at least a little innovative in its dealings with its markets. Who would have thought that this was the same company that recently apparently announced price increases due to problems associated with ... the global economic downturn.

Tony's been burned

Tony Edwards, an organist at a crematorium in the UK for 13 years, is about to be replaced by a karaoke machine. A spokesperson for the Counties Crematorium said the $12,000 music system would offer more choice for mourners than $70 -a-service Tony. Others aren't so sure the music system will allow for enough of a human element or give the abililty to adapt and/or make last minute changes to the "program". Tony is said to be disappointed with the decision and one can only hope that, when the time comes, he takes his business elsewhere.

Keep your job or ...

My niece has just taken out a personal loan for a new car and she had some second and third thoughts about taking on a debt in these times of economic uncertainty. And it seems she might not be the only one given the latest ads for Kia - if you lose your job in the next 12 months, you can return the car. There's sure to be more to it than that - but it could give you some piece of mind if you had to let your old car go, couldn't it?

Who knew?

After seeing numerous heavy vehicles overtake us as we cruised at 100km an hour, I commented some time ago that it seemed that trucks were no longer speed limited to 100kph. Not quite sure why that happened originally or how long ago - perhaps a spate of truck-related accidents? - but it, and the trucks that sped past us, seemed to be long gone. But, not so apparently. A report by the Auditor-General suggests that current speed camera technology does not allow differentiation between trucks and smaller vehicles - so as long as trucks are under the general road limit eg 110kph, they will not be "caught". The good news - for truck drivers? - is that "we have the technology ... but aren't using it".

Big Rocket

Moree, in outback NSW, wants to cash in on the culture of "big things" by installing its own Big Rocket which will take pride of place in a space-themed playground. The 14-metre rocket will be "launched" - obviously not literally - on the 40th anniversary of man's lunar landing - which I had always thought was June but seems instead to be July. Moree will henceforth be known, they hope, as "Home of the Big Rocket". The report I read gave no indication as to why a rocket was chosen - is there some connection between Moree and space perhaps? (And if we have "big" things here in Australia, do they have "bug" things in NZ?)

Unfair advantage

It may not fly but Canadian research suggests that oestrogen, the female sex hormone, boosts women's immune systems - making them less susceptible to having a sniffle turn into the flu - as at least one report suggests is wont to happen with men. An obvious next step might be to use oestrogen-based treatments to boost male defences against illness. Or blame Canada (thanks South Park).

Wrong place, wrong time

A young boy is critically ill in hospital this morning after he was hit in the head by a tyre that had come off a passing car. Witnesses said the rear tyre of a small sedan fell off the vehicle, flew through the air and hit the boy as he stood by the roadside.

Recycled suit for sale

It's 26 years old but there may still be a bidder or two for this suit - worn by Christopher Reeve in Superman III - was this the one where he flew very fast the wrong way around the world to turn back time and bring Lois Lane back to life after she has been suffocated with dirt when her car fell into a very large and recently opened hole in the road and was subsequently buried - the car that is, with Lois in it? The suit - blue and red and yellow - complete with red cape and a big S on the chest - is being auctioned in Australia later this month and could fetch over $15,000. Unlike the fictional version, chances are this one is not indestructable and doesn't help the wearer to fly - although, come to think of it, the flying powers were Superman's, not the suit's.

Stolen property

I know what it's like to go to get your car and it's not where you parked it - but I can't imagine how the guy in Greece felt when he arrived at his holiday home 25km east of Athens and the house and everything in it was gone. Robbers had apparently lifted the pre-fabricated house off its foundations and made off with it.

Curious

The future of newspapers (not having a good trot lately - even Warren Buffett has said he wouldn't invest in one) is in your hands - so says the ad in today's The Daily Telegraph. All I need is a webcam and a copy of The Sunday Telegraph on May 17 - and of course to remember to do that - and I too can get to see a new dimension to newspapers. Mind you we did see one yesterday with the launch of Amazon's new, larger approx 10" screen Kindle aka electronic reading device which is supposed to make on-the-device newspaper reading easier.

First and last

Ratings are an amazing thing. I tuned in to the first outing of new show "Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation" on Tuesday night - one of 1.64 million around Australia to do so - making it the most watched show of the evening and a "hit". However that will be the only time I watch it because I didn't enjoy it. I can't help wonder how many other viewers were driven by curiousity and whether a show needs to sustain good numbers over a few outings to be granted "hit" status? Ah well, I wish them well with it. Who knows, I might give it a try later in the season to see if they've been able to bed down and grow into the format.

Phone tricks

What will they think of next? Need something else on your mobile phone to keep you amused? How about - and they advertise this really is "For entertainment purposes only" - finding out how long you are going to live. Simply SMS your name, year of birth and ... oops can't remember the other thing ... to the number provided and they'll send back your Date of Death. Not sure how much it costs - but if by some strange chance of fate it was true, would you do it?

Bus stuff

With more buses from the Sydney CBD becoming pre-pay only, it makes sense that there would be one ticket with stored value - and the onboatd dipper just deducts the value of your fare rather than you having to know how many sections you are travelling - can the newsagent/ticket agent advise that or do you need to ring the Bus info line - when you purchase your ticket somewhere before getting in the bus or do you just be done with it and buy a multi-ride ticket for each of the common section lengths?

Ear ear

So news this morning suggests that Van Gogh may not have chopped off his own ear afterall. (It isn't April 1st is it?) New evidence suggests that the injury may have been inflicted by fellow artist Paul Gaugin in a feud over a prostitute. Apparently Van Gogg never spoke of what happened (to his ear) and it was Gaugin who told police that the artist has sliced off his own ear. Credit for these findings go to some German historians who have been studying the "evidence" for 10 years. I wonder what they'll do next?

Customer Service

Kudos to the 3 person at Marrickville Metro who took time out this morning - even though he was the only one in the store after his staff called in sick - to help resolve the issue with my mobile broadband. All's working well at the moment - so I'll stay any plans to move networks for the moment.

Bet each way

I suppose, when you think about it, people who chose to maintain a variable interest rate for their home mortgage rather than moving to a fixed rate, and vice versa, are gambling on the Reserve's Bank decisions regarding interest rates. Of course, it if you wanted to, you could actually having a "real" bet on it. A news item in The Daily Telegraph recently told of a "VIP client" from Sydney's west who has bet $45,000 with Centrebet on interest rates remaining the same after the Reserve Bank's May meeting.

Positive spin

I was at odds to understand two separate news items this morning - both about housing prices - and seemingly saying totally different things. One (the ABC) said Australian house prices had fallen by almost 4 per cent during the year to the end of March - the other (The Daily Telegraph) that they had risen, in Sydney at least, by 2.4 per cent to the end of March - except they were counting only the first three months of the year, rather than the full preceeding 12 months. It's good to see some optimism out there in the press.

What am I

What Am I? More a question than a name really, but some think it fitting for one of only two* hermaphrodite horses racing in the world today. According to The Daily Telegraph, "you could be forgiven for having a wager each way" when What Am I makes a showing at the Ballarat trots this evening.
* The other is Arizona Helen, in Canada.

Diamond "trading"

This isn't something I have to worry about, but word is that some diamonds being sold in Sydney are not the "real deal". Who knew that diamonds could be tampered with to enhance their colour and clarity, or to have fractures filled? And that doing so could actually decrease their worth? One gem, said to be worth about $50,000 was actually revalued at about $1,000 (but The Daily Telegraph* report was unclear as to whether the higher figure would have been for the gem before treatment or if it had been what it purported** to be.)
* I really do need to read a bit more widely, and I do, overseas press as well, but sometimes you can only find some stories in The Daily Telegraph.
** And let that be a reminder to me about how difficult it is to find a word in the dictionary if you don't know how to spell it. Even the excellent WordBook for iPhone, actually iPod Touch, by TranCreative had a hard time helping me out on this one.