Pencil it in

Are pencils less expensive than biros, or pens as they’re called these days? I ask because when a personable young adult offered me a pamphlet as I detrained* the other morning, I took it. It turned out to be a Public Transport User Survey and the instructions entreated “Please place your completed survey form, and the pencil provided...” – and that’s when I started wondering, yet again, about the way we, here in Australia, are asked to express our opinion in pencil. But I hadn’t thought it had spread from general practice for elections to surveys in the real world. Why can’t we write in pen for things which are supposedly important? All I can think is that pencils are cheaper. Because surely no one world want to change the submitted forms. I wonder if they disallow submissions which are not made in pencil? Ah well ...only are way to find out!
*I always thought I used to “get off the train” but on one trip on Queensland Rail last week an announcement referred to passengers “detraining” – so that’s what I do now that I’m in Queensland!

What will they think of next?

A nasal spray can make men more in tune with other people's feelings and boosts their ability to learn, say researchers. Chances are it's not the nasal spray that's advertised on large yellow billboards here in Australia which promises better partner relationships (that's obviously a euphemism). It makes me wonder if nasal delivery technology is effective - and if there's any substitute to taking the time to teach children about caring and compassion so it continues with them throughout their lives rather than a "quick fix" (and now I'm wondering about "quick fix" and where the term originated - and how it came to be used in drug culture). How would you test/measure the results for something like the caring nasal spray - where would you find the test subjects ... and would you pick people who were particularly "not" caring or a gradation of caring profiles - and is caring dependent on the beholder or a function of the circumstances and persons involved? Hmmm - so many questions - but, really, will anyone care?

Probably a misprint

From the Sydney Morning Herald's Technology section: "Microsoft has cancelled plans to launch a table to rival the iPad, for now.". Okay, it's probably a misprint but given the work Microsoft has pioneered in large touchscreen surfaces, there's a slim possibility that it really does mean "table" not "tablet".

All in the reporting

News this morning tells of the successful in-captivity breeding by an English aquarium of South American frogs which have a poison 200 times more powerful than morphine. The species, Phantasmal poison frogs, is bright red with three greenish fluorescent stripes, and is classed as endangered - with populations only surviving in seven (known) sites in Ecuador. Now the most interesting thing about these incredibly poisonous frogs - which was mentioned in the last paragraph of the news item I saw - is that their toxins can block pain 200 times more effectively than morphine without addiction and more serious side effects. (On re-reading the article, it was mentioned earlier - but I missed it in my haste to read the article to see why they were putting the effort in to saving this extremely rare poisonous amphibian.)

Art and life

This from Yahoo today: "The actress who played Thelma Lou on "The Andy Griffith Show" was robbed in the town that inspired the show's idyllic Mayberry setting, after moving to the area to avoid big city crime.". Times have changed.

Undecided

I am unsure what approach to take to today's Sudoku puzzle in The Daily Telegraph. It is rated as "easy/medium/hard". Hmmmm.

Horse sense?

The Victorian Government has a mission - to reunite Phar Lap for the 150th anniversay of The Melbounre Cup. I'd be more inclined to believe this story if it wasn't so close to 1 April - but the general gist is that they want Phar Lap's skeleton (currently in New Zealand) and his heart (currently in Canberra) brought to Melboure and displayed alongside his hide at Melbourne Museum. Racing figures are divided over the plan, some thinking it would be best if Phar Lap's bits were left in situ. I don't know if I'd like to see him in pieces like that - the least they could do - if the scheme does go ahead as planned - is put him back together!

On the run

From the land which gave us very funny footage of two fleeing handcuffed prisoners coming to grief when they tried to run on separate sides of an iron pole - knocking themselves unconscious in the process - comes news of two men trying to break INTO a New Zealand prison.
Security footage at Auckland's Mt Eden Prison shows the men running from the scene after they had tripped an alarm; they have not yet been tracked down. Local authorities are unsure whether the episode was a prank, or if the would-be intruders were intoxicated or fuelled by another motive; but they say it was good practice for their security staff - ahem ... not catching people escaping from the prison precinct???

Moving research

What do toads and cats have in common? If you believe some geologist-types, it's that both species can predict earthquakes and other natural phenomonen. Just before the massive earthquake in Italy recently, garden toads were on the move in large numbers. Anecdotal (almost) evidence - from lost and found ads in local newspapers show a noticeable spike in the number of missing cats before an earthquake. These are not isolated incidents but there appears to not yet be enough empirical evidence for the wider scientific community to see the theory as credible (or is that creditable?). It's a shame really because it it is true, there could finally be a good use for cane toads - which seem to be making larger inroads into the Australian continent every year.

Where there's smoke...

Cigarettes and smoking have received more than their usual share of attention in the news today - most of it controversial. A person associated with the Victor Chang Foundation has talked in Indonesian about smoking being healthy; police have said that smoking is good for you; and someone else has come out saying that pig products are used in cigarettes (the filters) which makes then questionable for people whose religious beliefs preclude then from partaking of pork.

Don't think so...

For a moment there, the chances of going along to see "Clash of the Titans" were quite good -until I saw the ad for the 3D version at a city bus stop: with Sam Worthington brandishing a large ball of snakes. In 3D... I don't think so - but may be there's a 2D version - if not I can wait until it comes out on DVD. (Surprisingly the giant scorpion perturbs me not.)

What next?

There was a report last week of a new mode of delivering explosives which was quite frightening. Apparently suicide bombers are now having explosives implanted in their bodies - bosoms or buttocks - which means it's available to both men and women. The implants are difficult, if not impossible, to detect using conventional methods like the full-body scanners being trialled/used in the United Kingdom. Of course, whether these scanners are an effective weapon in the fight against terrorism at all, implants notwithstanding, depends on the operators using then correctly and effectively - and not to "perv" on their co-workers as reportedly happened recently.

Silent-th

... which is not speaking with a lisp bit rather wondering why I hadn't noticed that I repeatedly don't pronounce the 'th' is 'asthma'. I might do a little poll to see if anyone else does this. You do?

Which ringtone are you?

When I changed from a Palm Treo 750 to Ivan the iPhone, I gave some people - the ones I was talking to as I learned how to make ringtones - the opportunity to choose their own. It started me thinking about what noise or song I would choose as my own personal ringtone. I'm still considering it; but I have chosen the default ring tone for the iPhone - "Hello Dolly" - which does make answering the phone interesting since I always want to answer "Hello" as the singing starts. Which ringtone would you choose?

A "punch" in the pants

... let's hope not. Electronic underpants are being rolled out at aged care facilities throughout NSW. Simavita is leading the change with the pants which send a text message to a central server when the wearer becomes incontinent. The seIf-alerting underwear will mean staff no longer need to conduct manual checks to see if residents are "comfortable" or in need of assistance.

Passive or active?

"Coolfacts", an application for the iPhone, suggests, as Fact #71, that the vocabulary of the average person consists of 5,000 to 6,000 words. How do they know? And how would you go about working out what your own vocabulary is - especially as we have two types of vocabulary - active (the words we use all the time) and passive (the words we know but don't use on a daily basis). Do you record yourself and count the words back? Or is there another way?

Voice activated

I downloaded Viigo for the iPhone yesterday (a birthday present) and so far I am not totally impressed with it. I downloaded an update a little while ago that is supposed to improve voice recognition/performance but will wait until I'm connected to a wi-fi hot spot before trying it. But it its amazing technology - to think that you can talk instructions and message into a device and it will "translate" it to text for you. This could do away with the need for texting while driving ... and leave the way open for emailing. Now if only it could speak your messages here like it does in the US.

Relatively speaking

When does a Sister become a Mother? Does she need to be made head of a convent or is there another path for "promotion"? And why have I never thought to wonder about this before ... and why now? I credit Mother Mary Mackillop and reports of her pending canonization.

Pesky email

Don't you just hate it when emails aren't delivered because corporate email filters won't let them through because they detect there's a photograph or two attached? So what do you do to get the email through? Any ideas?

D'oh moment

That loud noise just then was me doing a crossword puzzle and coming across the clue "stonecutter" and realizing how clever The Simpsons creators are. How many others did/not know that The Stonecutters of which Homer ultimately becomes leader before they reform the group to exclude him is actually based on the FreeMasons ... or Masons D'oh. I knew it of course, but I just hadn't put it all together in my conscious mind until the clues finally fell into place just then.