For a while now, VicRoads has been working on a plan to allocate different priorities to different roads around Melbourne. Rather than the free-for-all we sometimes see now, some roads would be setup to emphasise pedestrian priority, some bus, some tram, and some would be “preferred traffic routes” and lesser “other traffic routes”. I suspect ... [More]
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The quest for policies
Some of the letters in the papers (particularly the local paper) are obviously from cranks, but many are worthwhile, and this one in this week’s Moorabbin Glen Eira Leader just perfectly enunciates what I suspect a lot of people are thinking: Libs need to state policies IN RESPONSE to the letter by the Liberal candidate ... [More]
It must be an election year — in the past few weeks we’ve got fridge magnets with emergency numbers, from both our federal Member of Parliament Andrew Robb (Liberal) and also from state MP Rob Hudson (Labor). So, you know how I like to treat political issues seriously. Which fridge magnet is better? Rob Hudson ... [More]
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ISP shopping part 2
An update on my ISP shopping post from a couple of weeks ago: Netspace rang me up to discuss my concerns (they found the post themselves), and to let me know there was some progress on resolving them: Advice of network outages — they said there is already a project underway to advise of outages ... [More]
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Frequency vs no transfer
I was pondering the airport “shuttle” services. Take the Frankston/Peninsula one. It picks up in Moorabbin about once an hour on weekdays. It gets to the airport 80-90 minutes later, charging $28 for an adult. Across the street from the bus stop is Moorabbin station. The train runs every 15 minutes on weekdays, takes 27-34 ... [More]
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The Age’s new home page
This is what appeared on The Age’s home page this morning (with my additions). They explained that thereâs a new video tab, which youâll see when the lead story is best told in video. Eh? How is Ultimate Fighting in any way to be regarded as the lead story? Unless Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott ... [More]
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Myki short term tickets
My aunt and cousin are visiting from interstate. Over dinner last night they were telling me that the most confusing thing about Metcard is the requirement to validate it straight after buying it at a railway station machine. I saw a businessman (evidently an occasional user) make that mistake yesterday morning. He realised after walking ... [More]
A few years ago I did a comparison of the results from online trip planners. Here’s an update of sorts. I tested 247 Flinders Lane (which is an address on a one-way street, in an area with lots of turn restrictions and pedestrian streets) to see what the various navigators would do. For the destination ... [More]
My view, as I’ve expressed before, is that healthy debate is important, but it relies on the participants sticking to the facts, and not just making things up. Otherwise you get stuff like this, which concerns a Bacchus Marsh resident who apparently misinterpreted what he read and contacted Leader (newspapers) with concerns about seniors ticket ... [More]
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TV news
Superb! Charlie Brooker on what makes a generic TV news report: (via Mumbrella)
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Two things I hate
Two things I hate are getting up early, and driving in heavy traffic. This morning I did both, for the sake of The Car. The Car was bought from Alan Mance in Melton. (“Don’t take a chance, go to Alan Mance.”) To maintain the three year used-car warranty (which mind you only covers certain types ... [More]
Nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day like Hot Cross Buns.
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Quick and polite
When asked “Do you have an Everyday Rewards card?” at Safeway, what’s the quickest, most polite way of saying: “Yes I do, it’s tucked inside my wallet somewhere, but I know full well that there’s no benefit to me if it’s scanned on a transaction less than $30. This one is only $15, so I ... [More]
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Manual vs auto
Sometimes I ponder if I should have gone ahead and bought a manual car. I can handle it okay, but gears are just another thing to deal with. As summer comes along, one has to remember to rev it a bit more when the aircon’s on, otherwise you make an unscheduled stop in Stall City. ... [More]
During the school holidays, the kids and I will often leave the car at home head out to not just attractions in the CBD, but also to parts of the city we might not normally get to. Partly for the joy of exploration, but also partly because Jeremy is keen on hunting down secondhand video ... [More]
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The psychedelic playground
The City of Glen Eira has some pretty psychedelic playground equipment in some of its parks. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what you’re meant to do with it. This one I don’t think many people would have problems with. You get on and it spins around, alarmingly fast. Pretty easy. This thing however, reminds ... [More]