Race is a funny thing. I think gradually (at least in the bit of society I inhabit) attitudes are changing. It seems common for people of my parents’ generation to refer to someone’s race. It’s not necessarily anything negative, just a reference. That Jewish man. The Chinese doctor. The Indian lady. When I talk about ... [More]
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Some things never change
Some things never change. Colliers International researchers found that in December last year, house prices for suburbs near trains and trams hit an average of $526,000 – with top rail suburb prices soaring by up to 57 per cent in the year. — Herald Sun, 24/7/2008 (See also a similar article on
I went to see the Art Deco exhibition at NGV International last Friday night. I would have gladly paid, but happily went when invited as part of a corporate thing, which was great, as there were no crowds. I’ve long liked art deco, and there’s some terrific pieces, highlighting that the style influenced not only ... [More]
A Herald Sun article last week quoted figures showing that ditching cars and switching to PT could save you between $4,000 and $10,000 per year. (Seriously, it’s not just fuel — if you take into account finance, rego, insurance and repairs, it adds up fast.) Problem is that somewhere in the sausage factory that is ... [More]
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Leaked, sold, or hacked?
One of the things I do (inconsistently) when signing up for things online is to use an email alias specific to the customer I’m signing up to. The theory is that if that email address ever got leaked to spammers, I’d know who leaked it. If you own a domain name, it’s easy to do, ... [More]
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Grocery prices
Some interesting movement on grocery prices, with the ACCC report noting a lack of competition, and making some recommendations, such as unit pricing. You know, I’m pretty sure my memory isn’t failing me in this: Safeway used to have unit pricing. I’m sure that 10 or 15 years ago, in the small print on the ... [More]
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Globalised fashion
How is it that the suit and tie is almost global? With the exception of military leaders and some of those guys in the South Pacific who wear skirts, just about every male politician from every country in the world wears one, for instance, and they all look almost identical. As it happens, I need ... [More]
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I can see my house from here
As I’m sure everybody’s heard by now, Google launched Streetview for Australia today. My neighbourhood is certainly in there, as are a lot of other Australian cities and towns and regional areas. View Larger Map Cool things I’ve found so far: Puffing Billy at Menzies Creek The Great Ocean Road It’s quiet in St Kilda. ... [More]
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Civil rights themes
Judging from the reviews, Salute looks like a good film. I was pondering if it might be educational to my kids, when I noticed the rating. PG. For “Civil rights themes”. Hmm. Can’t say I’ve spotted that particular classification before. It almost sounds like more of a recommendation than a warning. (The trailer is here.)
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That’s nutty
On a packet of chocolate (via Marita and Justine)… See, it’s not just the nuts you need to watch out for. It’s the other nuts as well.
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One space, or two?
When typing, do you put one, or two spaces after your full stops? I put one, but it seems like a lot of people put two. I’m not sure why this is, other than a hangover from manual typewriters when it looked better. Or perhaps it’s like the thing where Catholics pronounce H as “haitch”, ... [More]
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A cold week
Winter is really upon us. I can tell without checking the weather reports that it’s been cold overnight. Monday night/Tuesday morning was probably the coldest night since I’ve moved to Bentleigh, based on the evidence: The heater switched on in the middle of the night to warm up the house. It’s got a pretty low ... [More]
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Miss and hit
Given Starbucks’ news that it’s closing most of its Australian branches, it was amusing to read Joel Spolsky’s piece on Starbucks and their sales techniques. I’ve got my own opinions of Starbucks’ product, but I’m not a coffee drinker anyway. Ultimately I think the analysts are right: Starbucks misread the market. Most Australians simply aren’t ... [More]
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Notice the difference?
Spot the disclaimer at the top of the page? It’s because a growing number of journos seem to be finding my blog. Certainly nothing wrong with that; nice to see they’re on the cutting edge, gathering information from far and wide. Welcome, media people from everywhere! But I’ve had to emphasise to them that my ... [More]
iTunes has changed the way I buy music, at least to a certain extent. I’m still buying the odd CD, but if I know I want just one particular song, I’m buying just that. For $1.69, you can’t go wrong, can you? (Though given in the US the price is US$0.99, and the exchange rate ... [More]
In an ideal world, you would hope that when a new estate is settled, they’d provide good quality public transport into it from day one, so that people don’t move in and establish car-oriented travel patterns (eg buy one car per adult, and from thence-forth drive everywhere). Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. The Aurora ... [More]