Why is Westpac bank turning into my mother? Do they really expect to get more customers like this? Great quote: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” — Robert J. Hanlon Star Trek: all creeds and colours of humanity, in a spirit of co-operation and harmony, working together at hating the ... [More]
I was hoping to find a decent JPG copy of that modified John Brack Collins Street 5pm that was in The Age a few weeks ago — the one where everybody’s wearing iPods — but haven’t seen it online, and I’m not sure I can get a good scan from the paper copy I have. ... [More]
UPDATE: See info at bottom of post Why does Australia have problems with multiple rail gauges? In summary, it seems to have gone like this: 1848: Everyone agreed to use standard gauge (4 ft 8.5 in). 1851: The Sydney Railway Company had a chief engineer who preferred broad gauge (5 ft 3 in), and convinced ... [More]
Just over two years after the accident, the verdict in the Kerang disaster case was returned yesterday. The truck driver was acquitted. There’s no question over the fact that he was at the wheel, or what happened after impact. And we know that the crossings lights and bells worked, because the traffic coming the other ... [More]
You know you’ve been watching too many online videos when you look at something in real life and think “Wow that’s high resolution… and the motion is so smooth…”
For those so inclined, here’s a music meme. Take your iPod, or alternative daggy unfashionable non-Apple MP3 player, or even your music collection on your computer. Pick a song, maybe one you like at the moment, doesn’t really matter which one. Using the alphabetic list of songs in your iPod/player/computer, list that song and the ... [More]
Morning radio can be very fast-paced. In the case of yesterday morning’s two-and-a-half minutes on Jon Faine’s programme, about railway security, I’d been dashing around, and only had a couple of minutes between hearing their voicemail and being on-air. Maybe that’s why they call it the “hectic half-hour“. Not sure it excuses me being unable ... [More]
A few weeks ago we watched Buster Keaton’s The General the other day. It’s public domain, a free download from the Internet Archive. Very funny stuff, and some quite remarkable stunts considering they had so few safety precautions compared to nowadays. I had been pondering if it was rude to talk during a silent movie. ... [More]
Dear “Number One Driving School”, You may not be Number One for long if you keep teaching your learner drivers to park in bus zones, then sit there for 5+ minutes. This pic was taken a couple of weeks ago, and was separate to another noted yesterday via Twitter: You parked in a bus zone ... [More]
Had to laugh at the Indian protestor talking to Jon Faine on Monday who appeared to inadvertantly use the phrase “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians” (at about the 20:45 minute mark, using the ABC media player’s weird countdown system.) I haven’t actually seen this week’s controversial Chaser episode yet. But judging from last week’s ... [More]
Just as news breaks that the Myki system overcharges when bus drivers change shifts and reboot the bus, we in Melbourne are starting to see something more than mounting points and black and yellow striped boxes for our $1.3 billion. This one is at Footscray station. I’d have to assume at some stage they’ll get ... [More]
Along with the now-closed Technical Bookshop, McGills was a regular geek destination when I was growing up, somewhere I could browse and purchase material for the two geeky pursuits of mine: technology and transport. I held onto my 8-bit BBC Micro for longer than most people, and it was never the most popular platform, so ... [More]
I’m sorry, I know I’m being terribly dim here, but these adverts: Can someone explain what it means? I appreciate that a physical printed bus timetable is generally made out of paper, and is therefore flexible. But what with online timetables and journey planners, a lot of people never use a paper timetable anymore. Especially, ... [More]
I’m not panicking about swine flu. From the cases in Australia so far, it appears to be reasonably easily treated, with minimal effects for those who catch it. Quarantine? Well I don’t think I’d enjoy it much, but I guess I’d get a bunch of tidying and video-game-playing and DVD-watching done. I’d certainly try out ... [More]
Oh great, I just got my first international phone SMS scam spam. I’ve had the odd domestic SMS spam before, but this is the first like this. I hope it’s not the start of a flood. It has a couple of hints that it’s probably a variation on the old Advance-fee/419/Nigerian scam — the claim ... [More]
I was saddened to see the damage to the Flinders Street Station stained-glass windows on the news, from the protests by Indian students today, but I think it probably shows just how angry they are about the crimes against them. I’d be angry too. Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said there was a perception that Indian ... [More]