The stolen car dream I was going to visit my old uni mate Brian (who actually lives in Florida, though I saw him a few weeks ago when he recently visited Melbourne again). In the dream, he was staying at my mum’s house in Hampton. I parked in the usual spot when visiting her, and ... [More]
The Myki mantra of “touch-on, touch-off” will reach fever-pitch as it gets pushed across the PT network. And people will say it’s a hassle. Which it is. The touch is (if everything works okay) quicker and easier than inserting a Metcard into a slot, but having to do it twice per trip negates that somewhat. ... [More]
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Going digital
I finally got myself organised for digital TV, including Thursday night’s launch of ABC News 24. (The opening minutes of ABC News 24, posted by Adam Dimech) I’d been putting off buying a set-top box, remembering the rule that technology always gets cheaper over time. I was waiting for an HD set-top box with USB ... [More]
Every time your train is stuck inexplicably in a tunnel, every time a service is cancelled, the experience is not just eroding your quality of life. It is eating away at our cityâs global competitiveness. — Boris Johnson, Mayor of London in the London Evening Standard, 15/10/2009 A power problem at Southern Cross Station has ... [More]
A journo mentioned a certain MP this morning was quoting some transport-related sections my blog — presumably the favourable ones, such as the post that talked about the Myki transition plan. While my posts here do not necessarily represent PTUA policy, I suppose this blog is part of the mix of being an advocate — ... [More]
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Do not like (or dislike)
Have disabled the “Like” comments feature, after previously trying it with Like/Dislike, then disabling Dislike. Few were using it; bit of a waste of time for a site like this I suspect. Like or dislike a comment? Leave an actual response instead!
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Myki arrives on trams and buses
The government announced today that Myki will be valid on trams and buses from Sunday. Finally, Myki goes multi-modal in Melbourne! Assuming they stick to the rollout plan they had last year, which was pretty logical, it’ll go like this: (Graphic originally from the Myki web site. Taken down but re-posted via Whirlpool by Mathew.) ... [More]
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Electric toothbrushes
In the past I’ve been unconvinced by the benefits of electric toothbrushes. They just seemed like a gimmick to me. That was until at a checkup last month when the dentist noted that the kids might well find them better, to counter less-than-perfect manual brushing. He recommended the Oral B brand specifically (interesting since the ... [More]
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You passenger. Me train.
This picture has not been digitally altered. Maybe they got halfway through putting the stickers on the front, then realised the train was needed to run a service. In other news, while Metro got their June performance figures out almost two weeks ago, and Yarra Trams and V/Line have also published theirs, the Department of ... [More]
Trivia for you: Back in prehistoric times, when most of you had never heard of the Internet and barely anybody used the Web, and way before Twitter and Facebook, I blogged the 1996 Federal election campaign. Several times a week I’d add something new, including a spoof leader debate transcript, a Hippy Party manifesto, Ron ... [More]
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Dilbert archive search
The Dilbert web site now has a full archive and a keyword search, and even an embed feature, which has allowed me to find and embed one of my favourite Dilbert comics ever: …and this one, of course:
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Moving forward
Julia Gillard apparently mentioned “Moving forward” some 22 times during her press conference today announcing the election. “Moving forward.” It sounds vaguely familiar. Ah yes: Well, it worked for them. Update: Had a text message from an ex-Connex management person saying they are “very proud” their slogan has been recycled! Also: Renowned author and former ... [More]
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Bike share – is it working?
A commenter challenged me to learn a bit more about bike sharing before writing about it again (previous post), but didn’t point me to a specific URL. So I did a little digging. As it happens the Melbourne Leader had an article on it this week: The State Government-funded scheme has attracted just 185 subscribers ... [More]
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Doctor Who 2010
So, Doctor Who for 2010 (except the Christmas episode) has finished. I reserved judgement of the new crew (both the cast and the new producers/writers) until their episodes aired. They didn’t disappoint. [Spoilers below for those of you who have not seen the end of the 2010 series yet.] The Eleventh Hour — a nice ... [More]
The ABC’s 24 hour news channel, imaginatively named “ABC News 24” will launch on Thursday 22nd of July. Apparently they’ve been racing to try and be running before the Federal Election is called. Apart from the looping promo now running on the channel-to-be, ABC1 is awash with promos, including the tag line “Events don’t wait, ... [More]
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Enrol
An election could be called any day now. And the electoral rolls close pretty sharpish once that happens. So, is everyone enrolled correctly to vote? If you’re not enrolled, you don’t get to complain about the government for the next 3-4 years. (Video from GetUp)