Clicking on the "Next Blog" button #2

Before I had came across the blog referred to below I had a surprising experience. The first blog that surfaced after clicking the "Next Blog" button was this one: "The Angry Arab News Service"



The next blog that turned up after clicking the "Next Button" was this: "Love One Another".



How is that for an interesting juxtaposition?

Clicking on the "Next Blog" button #1

I just randomly came across this blog after clicking the "Next Blog" button. It is authored by a person named Peter Faris. He indicates he is "Proud to be Australian" and that his blog contains politically incorrect views. At least he is up front. I do not always have the guts to be as open as he is in his blog.

I disagree with most but agree with some of the stuff he publishes. Unlike Peter I do find it hard to be a "proud Australian" at times. Ever since Pauline Hanson made her maiden speech in parliament and the actions of the Liberal Party in supporting Bush, establishing detention centres, etc it has been somewhat embarrassing to be an Australian.

When travelling and also working overseas, being an Australian wasn't such a big issue. You were just an Australian. That was fine. But since 1996 it has perceptibly changed. People question me about Hanson, Howard and the like and I have to answer those questions. It is uncomfortable and it makes me feel frustrated. I apologise for the actions of the Hansons and the Howards and reassure my inquisitor that not all Australians have such narrow minded views although I think now I may be wrong there having returned to this country after a stint overseas.

Anyway, back to Peter Faris' blog. He writes about the left and the right and terrorists and so on. It made me think. So I wrote this as a comment in his blog:

"What's the point of being left or right? What's the point of being patriotic or not? Being left is a problem. Being right is a problem. Patriotism in any form is a problem. Life everywhere would be pleasant if patriotism and politics didn't interfere in our daily lives. Patriotism is becoming jingoism in this country.

What difference will being right or being left make when you are dead and buried? Just get on with life. Enjoy a meal, have a drink, go for a walk, paint a picture, listen to some music, read a book. If we continue to worry the way we do we will all go to an early grave, one way or another.

The left and the right in Australia are identical anyway. Go and live in several other countries... in several continents and then you may understand how pointless it really is to unswervingly sit in any camp.

We will all be dead one day anyway. We will all be forgotten soon. Why waste time and energy pontificating the way that you/we do? If you are so committed to your views why don't you join an army and really face up to someone with differing views to your own (or that of the political leaders that sent you).

We live on an insignificant planet surrounded by an infinite number of galaxies and stars and here we are preoccupied with freedom, terrorism, politics and money. What a waste of time and energy!"

Sharing a printer over a WLAN with OSX and XP Part 2

A few entries back I described how a PC laptop running Windows XP was able to access a printer on a wireless LAN. The printer was connected to the WLAN via an Apple Airport Express station. Anyway, the IP address of the Apple Airport Express station would change depending on what we had switched on and off and this was a bugger because I had to reconfigure the relevant TCP-IP port settings on the PC laptop.

I thought there must be another way and I considered making the IP address of the Apple Airport Express station static. A colleague suggested distributing the IP addresses from the modem/router and not from the Airport Extreme Base station.

But, in the end, a wise friend, David, suggested I download Rendezvous for Windows Technology Preview 3. I did and it is sensational!

I downloaded the file on to the PC laptop, installed the software, restarted the machine and then launched the Rendezvous Printer Wizard. In a couple of clicks the printer was located and made the default printer. Brilliant!

Compared to the twenty three steps required to achieve the same thing via Windoze XP what can I say? Thanks David! Thanks Apple! Thanks ZeroConf Working Group!

The ubiquitous iPod

Green iPod, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

My wife, Shao Ping, spotted this advert in a magazine the other day. The iPod looks rather tawdry and lacks the simplicity and purity of the original design.

iPods have become so ubiquitous. Local Honda dealers offer an iPod if you buy a particular vehicle. Even our local butcher has a deal where you can win an iPod. It is an interesting match... get a juicy red beef steak and an iPod mini to boot.

An article in the Sydney Morning Herald today echoes these sentiments to some extent. Eddie Perfect, a Melbourne-based composer, actor and comedian, writes "However, my disappointment at not getting an iPod has since turned into cynicism. I now have an "issue" with the lovable iPod. It seems to me that as the technology to store more music on ever-smaller devices grows, the diversity and range of music available to us is shrinking. The irony of technology is that we now have musical audio space equivalent to all the shelving in the New York State Library, yet we have the cultural capacity to fill it only with Ralph magazines."

Perfect, goes on to say that "if you picked up someone else's iPod, you'd discover the painful truth: people are scarily the same, and growing more alike. I'm sure all of us would like to believe we're individuals, but the music marketing machine ensures that most of the kids on the street don't listen outside the box. It would be foolish to underestimate the extent to which the major recorded music corporations dictate and control our tastes." So we are enamoured by the technology but the music is still coming off second best. Money needs to be spent on encouraging diversity and originality in music.

It seems the "i" in iPod no longer relates to Internet, information technology or the like. The "i" in iPod now relates to that vain, mindless sensibility that broadcasts, "Look at me, I have an iPod".

On a different, yet related wavelength, I have had these completely irrational thoughts regarding iPod ownership of late. I see some individuals with iPods and I think to myself, what a waste. What will they listen to? Will they get maximum use out of the device? It is probably just jealousy masked as snobbery to be honest. I secured the original 1st generation 5 gig iPod three years ago. Still works and is chock a block with songs that could last 2.8 days non stop. Surely that makes me cooler than an iPod-mini toting teenager?

The building blocks

The building blocks, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

These are two pictures of some chromosomes. On the left they are carefully ordered and numbered. The clever ones amongst you will be able to figure out the gender of the patient. On the right they are straight out of the nucleus of the cell. The interesting thing about these chromosomes is that they are actually mine.

Mapping the truth

Mapping the truth, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

Saw this map in a newspaper recently. It is so good to see the truth.

Presidential motorcade or funeral?

This morning, while watching the news, I saw part of Bush's motorcade on the streets of Washington complete with black limousines and slowly walking secret service agents. My wife walked in to the room and immediately asked, "Is it a funeral?" If only.

His new black armoured vehicle with its half metre thick doors, a huge phalanx of motorcycle police, dozens of secret service cars and the aforementioned secret service agents all looked so sinister. It was like an outtake from "1984". The future is here and it is bleak. If he stands so much for liberty and freedom then why is he so cocooned by such a thick security shield? If that is his style of liberty and freedom then I don't want it. Surely Bush must realise that he must be doing something wrong if he needs so much protection. Years ago Jimmy Carter walked those few miles and shook hands with onlookers, etc.

Spending $USD40 million on the proceedings was obscene. I am sure that money would be better spent assisting people in poverty.

Perhaps it was a funeral... with the funeral director being Bush and the deceased being all fair minded, ordinary people of the world.

Scroogle... proxy eliminates Google adverts

Daniel Brand has released the source code for a Google proxy. Brand has been operating this proxy for about two years. Brand is upset by the fact that Google displays adverts alongside search results. His proxy eliminates the adverts. He strongly believes that search engines should be free of adverts.

Brand has come to the attention of net watchers before due to his Google-watch site. He also facilitates a non-profit public charity known as Public Information Research.

Banana

Floating markets in Bangkok, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

I received this poem in the mail the other day from a friend.

Fashion Police

The Sydney Morning Herald published my reply to yesterday's letter from a bemused reader regarding a designer ute with a load in the back.

"Fashion police

A designer ute with a load in the back? Impossible (Letters, January 10). I would love to see the police signs occasionally herald "Police targeting - designer utes".

SMH, Letters, 11th Januray, 2005.

Designer Ute seen with a load in the back!

A letter writer in the Sydney Morning Herald reported today that he had seen an utility being driven along the road and it had a load in the back! He considered this a good omen for the year. I tend to agree.

These drivers in their immaculate designer utes with shiny metallic paint, alloy rims, air dams, skirts and the rest. They have never had a dog, a load of dirt, a shovel or even a cardboard box in the back of the ute. Some of these ute owners even have hard tonneau covers across the tray. Why own a bloody ute if your not gonna carry loads in it? What point are they trying to make?

They usually drive like a tow truck driver on the way to a smash. They seem to observe their own road rules. They take a speed limit and multiply it by a factor between 1.2 and 1.5. The advertising by the major manufacturers in this country, Ford and Holden seemingly encourage speed* as a factor in the purchase. The utes are sold as the Pursuit, for example. Utes are supposed to carry loads of dirt or a tray full of plumbing tools and toilet bowls, not engage in pursuits like a police vehicle. Some are known as Mk1 and Mk11. Is that a reference to the speed of sound? Is there a positive correlation between the mass of the load in the back of their ute and the mass of the grey matter in their head?

Give me a real ute with a dog in the back any day!

*Nice piece of Flash design here with intuitive menus here.

Wowie Zowie

Vinyl heaven from the 1960s, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

Wowie Zowie was an album that my old brother Peter had bought about 1969. I eventually picked up a second hand copy many years later. There are some standout tracks on this compilation from Decca. The album was subtitled the "World of Progressive Music". Many of these tracks still stand the test of time today. There is material from Savoy Brown, John Mayall, Johnny Almond, Keef Hartley Band, The Moody Blues, Touch and others. Great listening and a real trip back in time, man. Grab them while they're hot.

David Bowie's 58th birthday 8th January, 2005.

45RPM singles from the sixties..., originally uploaded by John Larkin.

David Bowie turned 58 on the 8th January. It was Elvis Presley's birthday too. Anyway, to celebrate Bowie's birthday I dug up some old 45RPM singles by a number of different artists including the Beatstalkers, Ronnie Hilton, Peter Noone and Oscar. Bowie had written songs for all of these performers when he was still a struggling artist trying to make ends meet. See the single labels here.

Ken in London

Ken spots an iPod in London, pilfered unashamedly by John Larkin.

One of my best mates, Ken, is in London. He seems to be having a great time. Check out his posts as well as his explorations of Apple centres across two continents here. Some time back Ken and I travelled to Thailand together. There is an excellent picture of us together in Thailand here.

The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label

The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

This two album set brought together a collection of rarities from the world of recorded music. The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label was a bootleg record label that produced vinyl albums of rare and hard to find recordings. Artists that were bootlegged by TAKRL included the Beatles, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Deep Purple, Bruce Springsteen and others.

Dr. Terrence H. Tellyfone., originally uploaded by John Larkin.

The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label operated out of Anytown in the USA and was the brainchild of the late Dr. Terrence H. Tellyfone, Art Gnuvo and Deek Kibard. There is a short history of the TAKRL record label here. A history of bootlegs can be found at the Hotwacks web site. Please check out the entire album and eight page TAKRL discography here.

The Southern Cross

The Southern Cross, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

The Southern Cross. This is one of the first constellations learnt by children in Australia. If you can find the Southern Cross in the night sky then you know your are looking towards the south. The vertical axis of this constellation points towards the South Celestial Pole. It is usually way up there with Orion and Scorpio in terms of the constellations initially picked up by kids in the Southern Hemisphere. This is of course before the advent of the Simpsons, Playstations and the Internet. I took some photographs of the night sky and, using Photoshop, managed to make the constellation a little more visible. Check out the rest of the story, complete with links to great astronomical images and maps of the southern sky, here.

Nan Tien Temple

Nan Tien Temple, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

Shao Ping and I visited the Nan Tien Temple with three friends recently. It is an island of culture and interest in an otherwise bleak landscape.

Cloning in Photoshop

birds, originally uploaded by John Larkin.

Shao Ping and I were at the Kiama Blowhole some weeks back and we saw two seagulls on a fence. Each seagull only had one leg. That was amusing in itself. Then, in a random act, I cloned the seagull on the right and gave him three buddies. The seagull on the far left cannot believe it either.

Setting up a wlan on a Windows platform is crap!

Well, one of the rare things that irks in life is my wife's use of the Windows based operating system. We have spent the last two days trying to ensure that the wireless LAN connection on her new laptop is not flaky. Drop-outs are frequent and the laptop is almost constantly attempting to "acquire an IP address". Oh, Shao Ping, please let me buy you a mac next time. Typing Chinese (traditional) is easier on a PC however.

Surfed the web attempting to get answers provided some ideas. It also confirmed that we were doing the right thing. But we still had no joy. Speaking of joy, our exchange student, Joye also had problems connecting her laptop to the wireless network and we enlisted the aid of one of her fellow students. he is coming around tonight to assist us with Shao Ping's new laptop.

Connecting the Mac to the WLAN was effortless. No problem. Easy. No stress. In fact I have connected the Mac to countless WLANS at work, friend's places, hot spots in fast food joints, etc, no problem.

So, in the meantime, Shao Ping's laptop is connected to the Airport base station using Ethernet LAN. That works.

I should not let it stress me as I am a bit of a stress head but when I start opening all of the countless 'networking', 'properties' and 'advanced' nested dialogue boxes in Windows (XP and 2000, etc) I feel like a proctologist performing a colonoscopy. There is so much crap inside the Windows OS. I wonder if Bill Gates needs to see a proctologist? Should be called Windows XPoo.