Transport blogger / campaigner and spokesperson for the Public Transport Users Association / professional geek.
Bunurong land, Melbourne, Australia.
Opinions on this blog are all mine.
Judging from the bounces I’m getting from spammers appropriating my email address to use as a Sender, something which is alas unstoppable, the latest trend is to put an unbelievably tabloid subject line on the messages in the hope that people will open them. Or perhaps it’s to try and get through spam defences that ... [More]
Here’s how I’d work carbon trading if I were appointed Grand Emperor of the World, based on my ten minute assessment of the situation. I’d set an emissions cap on the world, starting in say 2010, based on the total emissions output of the world as of 2009. Each country gets a share of this, ... [More]
Dropped through Myer last Sunday (last day of their stocktake sale) to see if they had any nice work shirts or ties on special. I hate clothes shopping, but discounts numb the pain. Saw a shirt I thought looked all right. Special price: $29.95. Pelaco, okay brand. Take to counter. Extra super discount: rings up ... [More]
That cult show, the one I’ve liked for 30+ years. I think it’s really gone mainstream. Nice touch the ads being on phone booths, too. Not quite as well done as the Get Smart ones though.
The Melbourne Press Club have put up the MP3 recordings of last month’s “Public Transport: Ticket to Where?” debate. Their web page is a bit confusing (you have to click on the Quicktime logos), but here’s a summary of the MP3s: 1. Introductions — Not really worth listening to. 2. Paul Mees — You can’t ... [More]
If you were wondering (because I was), about the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae names that are way too cutesy to be companies managing $6 trillion in funds… turns out they are actually the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the Federal National Mortgage Association respectively. There’s also: Farmer Mac (the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation) ... [More]
They’ve almost finished revamping the streetscape along Centre Road. As a resident and ratepayer, I have only one question about the lighting outside the post office: Why? I could perhaps understand it if it was a popular spot at night. But it’s not. I suppose it looks kinda cool, kinda groovy, the green light emanating ... [More]
The CSIRO says petrol could reach $8 per litre by 2018, due to supply peaking, then declining. (Of this, even at a cost of $10 per tonne of carbon, only 25 cents would be an emissions charge.) Jayne’s history blog notes that this month in 1940, “Petrol rationing was introduced, with motorists permitted to travel ... [More]
Shopping at an IGA Supermarket near me is a bit like stepping back in time. The cash registers don’t have the full colour screens like in Coles and Safeway. But the shelves do have those electronic price tags that were all the rage in the early-noughties at places like K-Mart, before they realised that they ... [More]
Is it just me that hangs up my laundry inside-out, so the sunshine fades it on the inside?
Message to owners of coffee shops in the CBD and other business-oriented areas: Because of the closeness of related organisations, your venue is a de facto meeting room. So, at least 9 to 5, turn down the music. Your clientele is happy to pay you to serve us beverages, but we really don’t want to ... [More]
25 years ago last week, the battle to stop the Franklin river dam was won. I think it provides some lessons for today. At the time it was seen as a battle between the economy and the environment. Most now concede that by stopping the dam, we have both — the stunning scenery of the ... [More]
We all did stupid things when we were young. I’m ashamed to admit that one of the sillier things I did in my teenage years was to dispose of my Tintin books. After a while I realised my mistake, and started collecting them again, book by book. (I decided I preferred the full-size versions, not ... [More]
I genuinely hope Graham Polak makes a full recovery, but I can’t help noting that you can’t get much more Melbourne than this newspaper headline: Tigers in shock after AFL star hit by tram As for this one, it sounds like something from that Stan/Loretta scene from The Life Of Brian, about The Right To ... [More]
A few nights ago Marita had an interesting dream… She was walking around in a gallery. The pictures hanging there all had big writing, saying things like “Fail!” and “Failure!” She’s not sure what it refers to. (I could suggest blogging, but why now?) For myself, I haven’t had any interesting dreams lately. Not that ... [More]
Here’s a handy thing Metlink is beta testing at the moment: apart from having online timetable displays that show you the whole day on one page (at last!) you can also get a timetable for your individual stop. To get them, go to the Metlink web site. You can search for the route number, then ... [More]