ABC AM on Wednesday on Green power: JEFF ANGEL: Polluters are using our money which we’re paying as a premium for GreenPower, in order to report lower emissions, when in fact they’re not doing anything. DAVID MARK: Jeff Angel is the director of Total Environment Centre in Sydney. He says the schemes don’t work, because ... [More]
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Digital radio
Digital radio was launched today. Interesting, and they’re crowing about a number of new funky features. But the bottom line for me is: Q: Will AM and FM radio be switched off soon? There are no plans at this stage to switch off AM and FM radio services. As there is an estimated five radio ... [More]
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A few pics
Nice bit of product placement there, Priceline. (They’re not just in the same aisle, they’re virtually opposite each other.) If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth half doing: This advert for VoteMyPet.com.au (promotion for Advocate, a product of Bayer) was nailed to a tree in the park. You reckon they had permission from Kingston Council ... [More]
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So much for carpooling
Cynics have described carpooling as “a transit system with one round trip a day” — which means that while the trip itself may be faster and more comfortable, in terms of scheduling it’s less convenient than all but the very very worst public transport. Even if you don’t believe that, it would appear that any ... [More]
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Digital TV: SD vs HD
I’ve been looking at Topfield PVRs. Looks like one can get a dual-tuner standard definition (SD) model for about $300-350 (retail), whereas it’s about $750 for a high definition (HD) one. You can also get a single-tuner HD model for about $399, but sometimes I want to be able to record multiple programmes at once. ... [More]
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Advertising PT on PT
Advertising on public transport is big business. In Melbourne around 360,000 people a day use the train system for starters… and buses and trams get spotted on the road by many more. Personally I don’t mind the ads if they’re not intrusive. They help subsidise the system. I wonder how it works when advertising on ... [More]
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Twitter highlights part 1
I’ve used Twitter since August 2007. It feeds through to Facebook and generally keeps friends (on FB) and others (a couple of hundred people on Twitter; I don’t know who they all are) up-to-date. Good stuff. But the danger with these things is that one day the companies involved might go under or lose your ... [More]
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By the power of Greywater!
My rough estimate is that at home it takes about three litres of running the hot tap before the water actually gets hot. One of my most commonly-used taps is in the laundry sink, which doubles as a sink for the back toilet. Being a laundry sink it’s big enough for a ten litre bucket, ... [More]
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The ebb and flow of Melbourne trains
This is cool: it’s a representation of Melbourne’s trains across the day, and from a cursory look, appears to be pretty accurate to the timetable (possibly more so than the actual trains!). Ebb and Flow of Melbourne Trains by Flink Labs from Flink Labs on Vimeo. From a mob called Flink Labs, who explain how ... [More]
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Extreme stupidity?
Is it extreme stupidity, or just carelessness not to spell-check your advert before putting it in the newspaper? What were they thinking? (from today’s Age)
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OZCOOL = Moron
The other week I met a thoroughly nice bloke who drives a four-wheel-drive. But while he gets some flak from his mates about it, he doesn’t live up to the cliche. He regularly uses it out in the bush as part of green activism while monitoring loggers. Interesting. So not all 4WD owners fulfil all ... [More]
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The new trains
All the TV media, and some other outlets, last night ran stories about the 38 new trains coming (the first at the end of this year), and how they’ll only run on part of the network. Channel 9 story ABC Online I thought it was a curious angle to take, as it’s not really all ... [More]
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Wii Sports Resort – For The Win!
Okay I admit it, we fell for the hype, Jeremy and I. The demos of the game at the EB Games Nintendo Experience thing in Swanston Street, and Jeremy’s participation in a Nintendo event at Southland convinced us to pre-order Wii Sports Resort from EB Games. In doing so we gained an extra (so two ... [More]
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There’s no problem
Remember the mess the trains were last summer? Well, the Comeng trains, which are prone to air-conditioner failures above 34.5 degrees, haven’t been fixed, and there’s still plenty of track waiting for upgrades to prevent buckling. But that doesn’t mean you should worry about a repeat performance this coming summer. Mr Brumby says it won’t ... [More]
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Billy: No more beech
Dammit, why does this keep happening? I figure out what I want to buy, and it vanishes. After getting the Ikea Billy bookshelves setup, after some procrastinating, I worked out I needed an extra shelf. When I went back last time they were out of stock (I had checked the web site; it had lied ... [More]
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The Dumbarse, in three acts
Act 1: He went to stand between the carriages for a smoke. (It was a Hitachi. Very retro.) It should be pointed out that this doesn’t stop the smoke smell drifting through the carriages, though obviously it’s better than doing it in the carriage. Apart from the fact that smoking anywhere is dangerous for your ... [More]