Bernard Salt writing in The Australian today implies that Y2K was a hoax: Do you remember the Y2K bug, the computer programming flaw that threatened to reset the digital world to the year zero at the turn of the century? Hospital life support systems might stop. Planes might lose navigation. Everyoneโs bank accounts might reset ... [More]
Category: Ranting
I didn’t think I’d write two Myki blog posts in one day, but… Let me briefly go through the mistakes in this opinion article from The Age today then I’ll get to the real point of this post. ”If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, goes the old adage. The claim in government circles is ... [More]
I hope my kids don’t feel offended when I point out good etiquette to them. I think they probably know it all by now, but sometimes I’ll point it out just to remind them, and sometimes I’ll point it out/affirm their actions a little louder than usual so that others in the vicinity can get ... [More]
Categories
Health insurance
The Medicare levy surcharge is, in my opinion, an stupid tax designed to force some people into getting private health insurance, whether they want it or not, by taxing them more than the cost of the premium if they don’t, all in order to subsidise the otherwise unprofitable private health industry. I earn enough to ... [More]
You know, there’s a reason they’re called golf umbrellas. It doesn’t make them suited for crowded CBD footpaths. And why is it that smaller people seem to like them so much? You’d think they had less body mass that needed rain protection. Fair enough if multiple people are cowering under them I suppose. But more ... [More]
One of the funniest things I’ve ever read on the blogosphere was Kathryn, who smokes, ranting about non-smokers. Others must have found it amusing too, as it was nominated for the Best Post on an Australian Blog for that year. But… I hate smoking. I know the chemicals in tobacco make smoking incredibly addictive for ... [More]
So the other week I opened up the Good Weekend A2 (Saturday newspaper colour magazine). I ask you, does the world really need another profile of Barry Humphries? I’m not asking for him to go and die or anything, and I find Dame Edna as amusing as the next person, but this continuing fascination for ... [More]
This note on my windscreen this morning: Dear whoever you are, Tell you what, I’ll do you a couple of favours. Firstly I won’t park in front of your house anymore. It’s not that appealing anyway. I don’t know what the hell you’ve done to your nature strip, which resembles an overgrown miniature botanic gardens, ... [More]
Categories
Annoying bankers
I didn’t buy a house on Saturday. Despite assistance, I was outmanoevred. It does strike me that the auction process is not dissimilar to professional poker. Anyway in preparation for the auction, I needed to be ready to pay a 10% deposit of (argh) tens of thousands of dollars by cheque. So last week I ... [More]
Categories
The humungatron
It bugs me sometimes to see those huge 4WD/SUVs rolling down the road, like every other car carrying the average 1.1 persons, and burning up way more petrol than is necessary and blocking everyone else’s view. So it’s somewhat comforting to read this followup to the article in The Age Good Weekend a few months ... [More]
Categories
Proper nouns
A name is a proper noun. Under the rules of the English language, proper nouns are to be written with capital letters. Obviously this kind of rule can be ignored for stylistic reasons, such as for corporate logos. But in normal writing, such as you might find in a newspaper article, that’s a rule which ... [More]
(Note: exaggerated whinging) A gaggle of teenage girls on the train yesterday morning, joyfully debating the benefits of getting off at Malvern or Flinders Street. (huh? They’re miles apart). It eventually became clear that they were heading to St Kilda. (Why not any of the myriad of other stations then?) But then they started on ... [More]