Listening to Radio National (The Music Show I think) and they mention a couple of people my Dad knows (or knew) well, and talks about often — David Malouf and Barry Jones. A couple of minutes later my sister rings up to discuss visiting Dad. Pure coincidence. Watching Billy Connolly’s Journey to the Edge of ... [More]
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Contextual advertising
Online it’s all about contextual advertising — figuring out what the viewer is interested in, then showing them ads they’ll hopefully like. It frequently doesn’t work of course; Facebook knows everything about virtually everybody, but still manages to show me adverts for things I have no interest in. In the offline world, contextual advertising is ... [More]
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DNA quote
A letter from Lola Jones in this morning’s Age has this quote: We don’t have to save the world. The world is big enough to look after itself. What we have to be concerned about is whether or not the world we live in will be capable of sustaining us in it. — Douglas Adams, ... [More]
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Brief things
Computer: I like it when computers reach the point at which a good upgrade is cheap, quick and cheerful. In this case on my two-year-old box, tripling the RAM cost me $45, tripling the hard disk space cost $130. And as the new disk is faster than the old one, I’ll take the opportunity to ... [More]
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Hard of hearing
I don’t know if you’ve ever had to deal with someone who is profoundly hard-of-hearing, and, for whatever reason, has no hearing aid. It’s not their fault. They didn’t want it that way. But trying to hold a simple conversation, especially on the telephone, can be extremely frustrating, and can delve into the farcical. I ... [More]
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It’s all part of the spin
The new 903 Smartbus runs from Mordialloc to Altona, every 8-15 minutes in peak hour, 15 minutes off-peak, 30 minutes evenings and weekends. I don’t for a moment believe anybody in their right mind will catch it from end to end, but it feeds into most of the city’s rail lines, connects major shopping centres ... [More]
On Wednesday morning, after hopping out of the shower, I banged my foot on my bedroom doorway. It made quite an impact, and has been hurting ever since. I saw the doctor yesterday, and he says there’s a probable fracture in my little toe which will take a couple of weeks at least to fully ... [More]
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On the public record
I think I might have out-done myself this time. Last month I represented the PTUA at a senate hearing into Commonwealth investment in public transport. During questions, the topic of public transport for special events came up, and as I had the night before been to such an event, I drew on that personal experience ... [More]
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You dirty swine
Just days ago I was watching an interview with a guy on The Daily Show, who, like most of their guests, was flogging a book. His was called “Dread: How Fear and Fantasy have Fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to the Avian Flu“: Even at our most level-headed, the thought of an epidemic can ... [More]
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Advice ignored
“Particularly during peak period where we know it has been a difficult period, but we’ve had patronage growth in such a short period that no other jurisdiction around Australia has experienced,” [Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky] said. “Indeed, I’m not aware of any other location around the world that has had the levels of patronage ... [More]
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A moron in Bourke Street
“No entry” signs? Lots of them? IT DOESN’T APPLY TO ME. Congratulations NOH-500, you are moron of the week. (Last Thursday, lunchtime)
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Server admin again
Fiddling with the server. Hold your thoughts until Iâm done and I re-open comments. 3pm. Move done, re-delegating. (When you see this, it’s reached you.)
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Eric Ray Smith
This is Private Eric Smith. According to the Australian War Memorial listing, Eric, of Bentleigh, enlisted on 12 March 1915. This photo was taken in May. He sailed to war aboard HMAT Wandilla on 17 June 1915. He died of illness on 22 August 1915, aged 27. He was buried at sea. The listing says ... [More]
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The train with less seats
OK, so I’ve finally seen the modified test train in the flesh. Here’s a short video explaining the changes. Both the video and a Flickr slideshow are over on the PTUA web site. I think it’s okay. In an age where people struggle just to squeeze on board the train, this design encourages people to ... [More]
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Daniel’s roo chilli
This is my fairly quick chilli recipe, adapted from a recipe in 4 Ingredients by Kim McCosker and Rachael Bermingham. Dice onion and cook in a little canola or olive oil in a saucepan until brown. Add about 500 grams of kangaroo mince, cook until brown. Chuck in a sachet of Taco mix or your ... [More]
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Going underground
Andrew notes a certain fascination among some people with the London Underground. For me, it’s the concept of an entire network of railway services where you don’t need a timetable. You just turn up and go. The result is people treating the trains as the default way of getting around for a lot more trips ... [More]