A "good" read

Thanks to mate C for the recommendation - I have finally finished reading "Slaughterhouse Five which I am giving a fairly high score - because it featured time travel, aliens, and an anti-war message. I can see though that I am now going to have to do some reading on the bombing of Dresden. The passage I loved most in SF was when main character Billy Pilgrim describes what he sees as he watches a film in reverse. Definitely worth a read.

Check that

I know this makes sense in some way - it was printed on a cheque I saw recently: "Security feature: this cheque contains micoprinted signature lines, the absence of which may indicate a fraudulent cheque." Now, chances are that if someone was printing a fraudulent cheque, they'd leave that bit off - especially as most people these days, in Australia anyway, don't give or receive cheques that much and probably wouldn't know what wordage is usually included.

The original sin

Someone asked me a question on the weekend which I wasn't able to answer then and haven't been able to answer since - even though I have been seeking advice from others, and doing some net research. The question: what is the equivalent one-word noun for not committing a sin. The best to emerge so far is "good deed" or the Jewish "mitzvah" but it seems that if the powers that be wanted to encourage people to do good, there should be a word to acknowledge the act. Any ideas? Especially since there are a few for sin - trespass, transgression to name a couple. (Or does it make it easier for the Church to heap guilt on people if they only have a word for "sin" as someone suggested?)

Just like the old times

I'm sitting in the newly-opened Gloria Jean's at Emerald Lakes (on the Gold Coast, Queensland) and as I catch up on some writing I can't help but think of JK Rowling and other authors who have penned works in coffee shops. It could have been the middle of winter and their abodes didn't have heating, or because they lived alone and just wanted some company around them, but, as long as you have the right coffee shop, the right atmosphere, and aren't being moved on quickly, I can see that it would be quite pleasant to spend time sitting and writing (or typing) - especially on a cold, wet, Winter afternoon. Seems like almost a shame to head on back to work after lunch ...

It's all in how you say it

During online training the other day, we were doing formulas in Excel and the trainer was trying to tell us to make sure, that when we were using IF (a logical test) formulas, that we had to make sure to give the either/or option responses in "those things you do in the air when you're having a conversation". I'm pretty sure she meant quotation marks - as was everyone else in the training judging by the number of murmurred assents.

Pretty Average

I have recently been doing some online training courses with work and was a bit surprised when an assessment (of the training) survey arrived via email. It put me in a quandry. I thought the trainer was good but the only options for rating were POOR, AVERAGE or EXCELLENT. I didn't want to mark them as AVERAGE because they were better than that, but I really didn't want to mark them as EXCELLENT either. And there wasn't anywhere on the form to make "any other comments". Just goes to show you can still make surveys tell you what you want them to.

My life would ...

... suck without you. Catchy title for a song and every time I see it on the Glee album playlist I think "there's no way I'll ever like that" but it is growing on me so much so that today I checked to see what wonderful tune was playing and found I had been totally sucked in!

The more things change ...

... the more they stay the same. Except in the olden days, I'm sure the carriage return lever on the typewriter used to be on the right, not the left. Or am I remembering that wrongly? Someone has developed the MiTypewriter app for the iPad which has the look and feel - and sound - of an old manual typewriter. Very very satisfying in some ways - but very difficult to correct errors as you have to backspace over any - which is only marginally better than using Tippex correction paper or those typewriter ink erasers. Those were the good days weren't they? I think it gives a different timbre to one's scribblings.

An inexact science

Depending on which you believe I was either the 999,999th or 1 millionth visitor to the WebShots photo site when I visited there earlier today.  I played it safe and didn't click on either of the large flashing areas that told me I had a won a prize - one of which was $66.  I think it could have cost me more than that in the long run - for the time I could have had to spend cleaning my machine of any unwanted "code" that might have been downloaded when I clicked on the link.  Not so lucky is a friend whose email account seems to have been hacked - with a request for $1,300 sent out to people in her address book as she was "stranded" while travelling ... when I called her to let her know of her supposed plight, she was surprised because she was actually visiting her mother at the time, not jetsetting around the world. Not quite sure what one does in a situation like that - or how the phishers expect to get a dollar out of the venture ... maybe it would be quicker for them to visit WebShots!

Time to give Planets a spin

One of the things we have loved since moving up here is the stars at night, which are big and bright, and, simply, breathtaking. Looks like we're in for some more action with comets, meteor showers and planetary groupings being clearly visible in the night sky over the coming months. Hmmm ... I wonder where that telescope is or where I can borrow one. And of course, finding Comet McNaught R1 and other night features is going to be a little easier with apps for the iDevices (you know the ones, iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches) like Planets which shows you the night sky - and labels it, and gives interesting information about what you're seeing. I looking forward to working out where Andromeda an Perseus are - because "close to the star Capella" doesn't help me much. (Although it does remind me that my first two cars, both Capellas, were "stars").

Music to the ears

Ukulele lovers in Cairns, Queensland, are all heart at the moment - to be precise "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus. This is the song that organizers hope over 1000 of them will play in an attempt to win a place in the Guinness Book of Records - beating the current 851-player record. "It's going to sound fantastic - one ukulele sounds great, 1000 will sound even better" organiser Gabrielle Thomasz is quoted as saying. (The Gold Coast Bulletin)

Who knew ...

... there are now some new words/phrases to cover texting disorders. According to a report in today's The Gold Coast Bulletin you could have textaphrenia; textiety or post-traumatic text disorder. The last one is my favourite: physical and mental injuries sustained while texting, such as walking into poles and people, plus feelings of depression when no one contacts them. Textaphrenia isn't bad either: hearing texts come on or feeling your mobile device vibrate when it has not. And lastly, textiey: the anxiety teens feel when they have not received a text or are unable to send texts - they feel like they have no friends and also over-analyze the reasons why people have not replied immediately. To be fair, of course, some people do reply immediately - it just takes them a very very very long time to tap out the message on the tiny phone keyboard - and predictive text doesn't help.

What the ... ?

"The navy would not need to use a nuclear weapon ..." said former President Bill Clinton when saying there may be no other option to stop oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico other than to blow the well up. There is still some hope that two relief wells might be able to stem the flow, but if that fails he said the most important thing was to fix the leak. "The navy could probably top it but there are all kinds of consequences that would have to be considered" he is reported as saying. He also insisted that BP was "trying to do the right thing" and should be given more time to plug the leak Hmmm.

Who thinks of these things?

Paul has so far successfully predicted the outcome of all Germany's World Cup games - which in itself isn't spectacular, one could say, unless you were also told that Paul is an octopus. He is being billed as a "psychic octopus" and makes his choice from two boxes, one with Germany's flag, and one with their opponent's, lowered into his tank. Let's hope he continues his winning streak, and, if he doesn't, that no-one's hanging out for calamari for dinner.

By any other name ...

They're there to lend a hand in times of disaster and they promote drug-free messages ... these are just two of the benefits The Church of Scientology offered to an Australian Senate enquiry when speaking against the introduction of a new bill which would require religious groups to provide what public benefit they provide before granting them tax breaks. They were not, suggested their spokesperson Virginia Stewart, unlike the Salvation Army. Except of course that they may not do the other things the Salvation Army is renowned for eg assisting people struggling through the economic downturn and offering assistance to the homeless.

Good luck!

Without knowing the context - and sometimes even knowing the context - it's difficult to know if this is a positive affirmation or a suggestion that the exercise is a lost cause. You just have to love the English language!

The voice of the people?

What does Lindon Litchfield know that the rest of us don't? In a letter today to the editor of the Gold Coast Bulletin, about Julia Gillard's ascension to power, he asks: "Although one needs to respect the office of PM, the question is how will Gillard handle the coming depression and world war?" and goes on. "No better than her predecessor I suspect. Basically Australia is well and truly screwed and way beyond the point of return, so sit back and enjoy the rest of our downhill ride people ..."
A cheery message for the start of the day.

New idea

Hmmmm. This is a little disturbing. I had just written a blog entry - checked out another application and come back in to finish editing it - when I realised I had not saved it properly and it was "gone" - and now I have absolutely no idea what it was about ... until just then. Not sure if it had anything to do with the newspaper being open to exactly that page - where Gold Coast fertility experts have identified a simple blood test to pinpoint within a few months when a woman will cease to be fertile. This could well be a new concept in family planning.

Democracy ... getting it right

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faces a leadership challenge this morning and is quoted as saying "I was elected to do a job. I intend to continue doing that job." The suggestion was that the "job" he was talking about was that of Prime Minister. However, it seems Mr Rudd could have the concept of democracy in this instance wrong - which is a worry in someone who continues to commit Australia troops to support democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was not elected by the Australian public to lead the country ... his Party elected him as their leader and because the Labor Party ended up with more seats at the last Federal Election, and because he won his seat at the time, he "automatically" took the position of Prime Minister. If he wants to say he was "elected to do a job" then he could admit it was to lead his Party ... and that in a democracy they have the right to choose someone else should they wish to. Or another option is for Australia to become a republic and for him to run for the role of President ... then if he wins, he can say he was elected (to lead the country). (Who knew there were high horses around this early in the morning?)

Exploring the new iPhone OS

How exciting is this? I download the new Apple iOS this morning - onto my iPhone - and am now able to type this using a bluetooth keyboard (conveniently recently purchased for use with the iPad). I am still investigating the other improvement the update delivers. Unfortunately I didn't have time to read all the articles about it while it was downloading - only because I ran out of time. Much fun in store for the coming days me thinks.