February, 2004

This is funny stuff…

http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html

To wet your whistle, here are some of the items:

PHYSICS
Jack Harvey, John Culvenor, Warren Payne, Steve Cowley, Michael Lawrance, David Stuart, and Robyn Williams of Australia, for their irresistible report “An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces.”
[PUBLISHED IN: Applied Ergonomics, vol. 33, no. 6, November 2002, pp. 523-31. A copy can be downloaded from http://www.culvenor.com/]
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: John Culvenor.

MEDICINE
Eleanor Maguire, David Gadian, Ingrid Johnsrude, Catriona Good, John Ashburner, Richard Frackowiak, and Christopher Frith of University College London, for presenting evidence that the brains of London taxi drivers are more highly developed than those of their fellow citizens.
[PUBLISHED IN: "Navigation-Related Structural Change In the Hippocampi of Taxi Drivers," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 97, no. 8, April 11, 2000, pp. 4398-403. Also see their subsequent publications.]
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Eleanor Maguire.

HEMISTRY
Yukio Hirose of Kanazawa University, for his chemical investigation of a bronze statue, in the city of Kanazawa, that fails to attract pigeons.
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Yukio Hirose.

LITERATURE
John Trinkaus, of the Zicklin School of Business, New York City, for meticulously collecting data and publishing more than 80 detailed academic reports about specific annoyances and anomalies of daily life, such as: What percentage of young people wear baseball caps with the peak facing to the rear rather than to the front; What percentage of pedestrians wear sport shoes that are white rather than some other color; What percentage of swimmers swim laps in the shallow end of a pool rather than the deep end; What percentage of automobile drivers almost, but not completely, come to a stop at one particular stop-sign; What percentage of commuters carry attaché cases; What percentage of shoppers exceed the number of items permitted in a supermarket’s express checkout lane; and What percentage of students dislike the taste of Brussels sprouts.
REFERENCE: 86 of Professor Trinkaus’s publications are listed in “Trinkaus — An Informal Look,” Annals of Improbable Research, vol. 9, no. 3, May/Jun 2003.
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: John Trinkaus.

I knew i was wasting my time with this peer-to-peer / collaboration research… *sigh*

Dunno if this rates as current affairs – but since it was on the tv show ‘A Current Affair’ last night im putting in that category

Seems people are dieing from watching the new mel gibson movie “The Passion of the Christ”.
A quote from this article says:

A woman died of an apparent heart attack Wednesday while watching the climactic crucifixion scene in “The Passion of the Christ” at a morning showing in Wichita, Kansas

I also read that there was other people who had suffered heart attaacks from watching the same movie / scene. It seems to be getting a lot of media coverage which can only mean it has to be at least half decent.

I guess ill go along and watch sometime and see for myself – hope my heart is strong enough

New host, all done.

So ill be changing hosts in the next few weeks after numerous problems and total lack of support from my current web host – hostingu.com

Ive sent a total of around 10 emails to the support@hostingu.com email address and never once got a reply. I also tried ringing their support line number they give on their webpage when i was in america but it was always engaged or sent me to voicemail.

I guess ill just leave this site here till it expires, or put up a DONT HOST WITH HOSTINGU.com webpage… the only problem is how do i go about transferrring my domain name.. im thinking its easier to just get a new one. *sigh*

If your looking for hosting – DONT get it off hostingu.com their support and service sucks.

Paul – the dude whos blog is over on the right there –> has setup hosting, he has some good plans and i KNOW the service will be great . Ill post details when he gets the site and plans organised

Hey all,

Just a quick not to let you all know we are starting our tour tomorrow and
you won’t hear from us for a week or so as the internet access is scarce….

DID a wineries tour today and it wa great.. sampled some of south africas
finest wines and purchased a fwe as well..

we have 9 people on our tour whcih is good… a couple of poms, a yank, a
scottish chic and not sure where the others are from.. we are the only
aussies.. bill is already trying to be the coolest man on tour……. I
still lov ehim though…..

any way 20 days of camping and fund is ahead of us and i can’t wait.. it all
sound really cool… the hostel is having a bbq tonight., …. they are
serving ostrick steaks and bill is signed up to have one… i’m going to
steal some of his…..

ANyway the honeymoon is going great and can’ty wait to experience more of
this wonderful country…….

Talk to you all soon

SHeena

PS> My brother has set up a website www.lifeinthegeeklane.com/blog
and he is putting all my emails on that.so anyone that you know wants to
know what we are up to tell them to log onto this site… no doubt brett has
is under sis trip or honeymoon… you will find it

Mum & Dad, Pete & Desie: We are taking care of each other and will talk to
you all when we can find a phone or email..may be a week or so. Love you

Hey All,

FIRST OF ALL… GET A COFFEE BECAUSE THIS COULD TAKE A WHILE……

Ok so we have arrived…. we flew in late on saturday night.. and after
about 23 hours of travelling we were quite tired…

We were on the plane with a group of indoor netball players actually.. they
were the australian team playing the test in south africa… Gotta tell you
all though.. I think the general roberts netty team could have given them a
run for there money….

We flew in jo-burg and were greeted by some locals who could not have been
more friendly.. problem was we were not quite sure whether they were trying
to help us or not…..

Bill got a little pissed off with it all and started off in the opposite
direction so i though it would be a good idea to follow him…

First Impressions were not good.. Jo burg airport was a little crazy and
gave you and uneasy feeling… BUT
Then we arrived in capetown.. and i have to say that this is the most
beautiful place ever… It has a very warm and welcoming feeling about it…

We are staying at this backpackers call “the backpack”…. we have a private
room with ensuit and it’s everything you need and nothing you don’t…

We were greeted by this cool guy in a bright hat… and shown to our room…
Very laid back…..

We were exhausted so went straight to bed and had a BIG Sleep….. 12 hours
actually
Bill got eated by mossies ( Yes they are here too) so at about 2am he was
getting around the room in the dark trying to find the areoguard……

DAY 1
We grabbed some breakfast them asked the locals where was the best place to
go… Since we had nothing pre planned we had to plan out attach on
capetown… WE had a few places that we wanted to go to but we had to
organise it..
OH i forgot to mention… when we got up we looked out our window and we
have the most amazing view of Table Moutnain… It is truley a wonder of the
world…
Anyway bak to Day 1… We packed our day pack and hit the town… We had
intentions of heading to wards the “waterfront” This is a pace kinda like
darling harbour in sydney but much bigger and heaps of shops, street singers
and food places etc…
as we walked out the front door we noticed the BIG RED BUS.. It was the city
explorer…
Marvoulous timng really so we jumped on…….This took us for about an
hours drive around capetown and everywhen you look it is breathtaking.. To
try and describe it on one side on the bus you see the moutains and on the
other you see the sea…. amazing…
First stop was cableway which is where you go if you want to climb table
mountain….. we had a little liook around and if anyone kows me you would
knwo that i love scenerya nd i was definately in my element….
Stop 2 was Camps Bay.. Quite a rich area of capetown and good for beaches
and food.. Then we arrived at the waterfront…. THis is where we got off…
We grabbed some lunch at this tavern plce.. Had a look around….. bill
decided to cash some US dollars and we got ripped off then took $10 aust for
commission…..anyway we moved passed that and headed to robben Island…
This is where Nelson Mandella was inprisioned….. WE had a 2 1/2 hour tour
of the island and was guided by and ex prisioner which was quite powerfull
to here some of his stories… WE seen Nelsons Cell and had a look around
the island as welll….. The boat ride home was another story.. The sea was
quite rough and i have to tell you bill was loving it and it was taking
everything i have to keep lunch in my stomach…… But i made it.. thank
god…..We then decided to head back to the hostel… We started walking
towards long street.. This street in Liek beaumont street in Hamilton.. Lots
of food places.. Other backpackers, shops etc….. BUT we soon realised that
Sunday was probably not the best day to walk this street… All the shops
were closed and there were heaps of derros everywhere..
This is where things got interesting because it crossed my mind how
vulnarable you feel when you are the minority.. We were surrounded by Black
people and although they are not all bad.. It damm well felt that way……
So Bill and I hot footed it out of there ASAP and were really happy to get
inside the gates at the hostel……
We had dinner at the hostel and met some cool people……
IMPRESSIONS OF DAY 1
- There are jobs for everyone here… We soon realised that wnere in aus you
need one person to book a ticket.. you need about 7 here…… and it’s the
same for every job.. We have about 5 people at the front door of the hostel
and their job is security of 1 door……
- People are very laid back… in a hurry for no one…..
- OH & S would hav a field day.. we seen these 4 guys jackhammering a
sidewalk and they had no eyewhere or hear muffs, they were wearing thongs
and shorts and were just doing it at thier own pace..

DAY 2
Up early today to join a tour to take us to Cape point and the Cape of good
hope…..this is where the atlantic ocean meets the Indian ocean ( i think)
WE got out of the city today and headed out to see some of the best view i
haev ever seen in my life………
our first stp was hout bay.. where we got on another boat and headed out to
have a look at a seal colony… pretty cool but really how many photos do
you need of seals……
We then headed to simons town and went and seen a pengiun colony.. this was
cool.. watching them walk is funny and we were lucky enough to see a couple
as nature intended.. I can confrim that penguins mate like dogs do… But
make a sound like a donkey !!!!!!!

This was when Billd ecided to try and embaress my infornt of these people we
had met and he ran staright into a post.. Walked right into it…. How
embarressing.. But everyone seemed to get a laugh out of it….

We then ehaded to cape point as we were entering the nature reserve we seen
some baboons….they were cool and they were on teh lookout….for food.. we
seen one guy that had stoled a big packet of chips and was quite happy
eating them….we then headed to out first stop at ” Lunch Beach” called
that becuase this is where wer had lunch……

If you haven’t lready noticed but safa’s call things buy pratiacl names….
the back[packers is call “the backpack…. Lucnh beach is where we have
lunch etc tec etc

The sand is as white as white and the water cold as hell…. Bill of course
wanted to get in the water but… I think is was even a little cold for him
( that means is freezing for everyone else)

after lunch we headed to cape point.. and hiked to the top to the light
houses….. again i know i sould repeatative.. but the views are amazing…
Amazing is such a dull word to descrbe them… we hiked to the tp and them
down again.. then hiked across to the cape of good hope.. this took us about
an hour but again you had the ocean and cliff faces on one side and the
desert landscape on the other….

the trip home was quick becuase i slept the whole way…
Bill has just ordered some dinner and we are having a ngiht in again…..
Really no erason to go out the backpack place in unreal……

IMPRESSIOSN OF DAY 2
- Bill has decided to keep a list of all the animals we see.. He is busy
douing that now…
- I have started working on the Africa Tan.. Gave it a good workout today
and at the moemnt am really red howver sould be fitting in with the locals
good in about 2 days time when i turn black

Tomorrow we are heading off to hike up Table Mountain… 2 1/2 hour up and
hopefully get teh cable car down again.. Will be a huge day…

Wedneday we start out 20 day tour… to namibia, botswana and Vic Falls…
then back to sticky jo burg for 2 ngihts and head out to sun city.. then
look our mauritius here we come…….

Seriously….. So Far this county has by far outdone my expectations.. i ahd
know idea it was this beautiful.. I can’t wait to get on the tour and get
amounst it all…

Bill and I are both doing really well.. No fights yet…. so this whole 24
hours a day 7 day a week thing is going ok for the time being..

Anyway my time is nearly up and dinner is not far away…..

Probably won’t here from us again for a while as not sure how the interet
access in once we get on the tour… but never fear when i can you will hear
from me..

Love to all

Sheena

Righto, ive added a new category for emails i get from my sister while she is in South Africa. This is as good a place as any to store them.

I get to uni today round the same time. My head is numb from waking up with a headache but i took two nurofen plus and its ok. Anyway i go to the coke machine to get a coke -start feeding in my normal $2 and guess what? – they have increased the price to $2.20. So i go back into my room and get an extra 20c.
Come back out and put it in and hit the button….. surprise surprise this is what came out:

Yep, thats it, a les then 1/4 full bottle. But wait – it gets better… Have a look what it looks like when held up to the light:

See those big ol floaty things in there? *shiver* Nice isnt it…
So i ring the coke hotline and report it. The dude on the other end says he will switch me through to refunds and i tell him not to bother as i reported a breakage another time when it ate my money and never got anything. He went kinda silent then said he would switch me through anyway.. *sigh*

So i get switched to some other chick, who asks me for my details and i tell her. I also tell her about my previous claim and how it never arrived – and surprise surprise “There is no record of a previous claim in our system” – well no shit! Stupid idiots.

So apparently ive got a refund coming in the mail – whoop de doo dah.. Im not expecting it to arrive though…

In any case, i think ill email a complaint to Coke, maybe attaching the pictures to see what they say…

bah – Its going to be one of those days.

Got a few pictures for ya…

Righto, looking at this id swear they where taken in America somewhere. Like LA or somthing, but guess what? They where taken right here in Australia, Redfern in Sydney to be exact.

A young aboriginal boy died after falling off his bike and being impailed on a fence. The riot was caused due to rumours that police had actually chased the boy and pretty much caused him to fall off and get hurt.
The police deny chasing him, but were there when it happened to get the boy off the fence and help to try to revive him.

Now im not sure exactly what happened or why, but i find it hard to believe that starting a riot is the answer. Apparently around 3 million dollars in damages was caused to the Redfern train station, and around 44 police where seriously injured after getting pelted with stones and fire bombs and fireworks.

I think this is nuts. Who do they think they are that they can just go out and cause this much damage. Im not saying that the police didnt chase the boy, maybe they did, who knows, but doing stupid stuff like that is just crazy and does nothing.

bleh… it annoys me.

anyway, theres lots of info on the web at the Sydney Morning Herald website.

Police Injuries: figure revised to 40

Police accused of intimidation

Police ‘deserve all they get’: ded teens mum

Thats just a selection if you want a read.

grrrr annoying…

Whilst starring longingly into Melanies eyes this morning, i had a brainwave thought of genius proportions. Following is my theory –

“Asian people are built for the perfect cinema experience”

why? – well its all in the eyes. Built in widescreen!, yup thats it. Us caucaision people have eyes that are built for the normal tv viewing – square. Whereas asian people are have eyes that are naturally widecreen. How cool is that!?

So, does that mean that they see a lot more ‘extra’ stuff then us caucasian people, just like you see when you watch a widescreen movie as compared to a normal sized movie…

hrmmm i shall ponder on that.

Silly? maybe. But i could be onto somthing here…

Happy Valetines day too!

Seems i ‘missed’ it, well not missed it but didnt get around to posting on that day. *shrugs* oh well, maybe next time.

Besides, nothing much exciting happened…

bleh

Woohoo! a new category!

*sigh* Reality tv makes me laugh. Watched Average Joe tonight, hrmmm a bunch ‘not average’ geeks trying to get close enough to a chick that they can rub up against her… sheesh.
The quote of the show comes from the indian looking guy when he was talking to her. He said something like “I am amazed at the simplicity of your complexity” and i burst out laughing. *sigh* Where will it ever end…

Oh! and before that was the first episode of “the simple life” with Paris hilton and some other chick. That show cracks me up as well. These two chicks have no idea about ‘normal’ life. Never worked a day in their lives and find it hard to do any kind of manual work. I wonder if they realise that a lot of people are laughing more at them then the actual decent looking people they are staying with. *sigh* Silly spoilt bitches…

But yeah, might have to write down a few of the average joe wooing lines and hit melanie with them, i bet she will be impressed

Wow! Dreamweaver MX is powerful!, especially when used with PHAkt. Its a database abstracion layer that plugs straight into Dreamweaver. You jsut basically choose the database your connecting too, MySql, SQL server, Access etc etc, and away it goes. Has a lot of wizards and stuff as well which makes interracting with any kind of database source a breeze

So yeah, been doing that today. Havnt done much OpenGL today, maybe tomorrow. Gotta cover the user input section of the book before i can start porting over my dodgy rendezvous drawing app.

Need For Speed – *sigh* im addicted… im up to race 71/111, my MX-5 (error in the last post, i thought i had an RX-7, but its only an MX-5) anyway… my MX-5 is kickarse! Added a new engine and drivetrain package last night, ive now got 6 gears and its sweet. Unlocked the level 3 paint as well, but only jsut figured out how to ‘activate’ it so ill have to try that when i get home.

Still working on the website proposal / quote. Actually im waiting for the webhost to get back to me to let me know if they support MySql or not. They support PHP but there is no mention of MySql, so thats a bit weird i thought. hrmmmm

For some reason i feel a bit under the weather today. My damn nose was running like a tap this morning which doesnt help i guess. It seems to have stopped now though thanks to another batch of pills that i bought to try. They seem to be better then the other ones i bought.

Went looking at frames for my new glasses this morning. Its pretty hard to do when you cant see. But yeah, found some that looked ok, but ill have to go back sometime and look again and pick one out. hrmmmm

Sitting at uni now, Melanie wanted to come out here so she could do stuff on her computer since im not really the best company at the moment. Dunno, but i just feel weird. Nothing is wrong and nothing has happened, so i just put it down to the stars and their alignment or somthing. *shrugs*

So yeah, im kinda very lull today, just feel like sitting around clicking mindlessly on the computer or playing mindless games or reading books, none of which are very exciting for her… Im lucky though, she is pretty capable of finding things to do, which is a change for me and my previous relationship dramas *shiver*

Got a bargain this morning. First season of the x-files was at K-Mart. All of them had $154 on the price label, EXCEPT for one, which had a price tag of $64. weird? damaged? nope, it was fine. I took it to the counter and the dude scanned it and it came up as $154, but of course he had to give it to me for $64 cauyse thats what the price said. woohoo!

Dunno what ill do tonight, might check out a movie or somthing… hrmmm, who knows… Spending time with Mel is number one on the list though

Learning OpenGL isnt that hard. I mean the langauge itself is easy to pick up. Like anything though tis the theory behind it all thats confusing. I know a little about computer graphcis and viewports and coordinate systems etc, but after reading the book on opengl i have i see that my knowledge is very small.

really thoguh, the way i see it is that i can find out what stuff means by using the index in the book when its needed. So at the moment im jsut concentrating on learning the syntc and common function calls.

Got php and mysql up and running on my uni machine and also my laptop. Gotta get to work on this webpage early i think jsut so i can be sure to get it done in time. IM looking forward to it though, should be fun.

Apple and AOL have just released new version of ichat and AOL messenger that allow for people on PCs and Macs to video conference. very cool. Im trying to find someone i know that uses AOL and has a webcam.

‘Fosheezy’ development is slowly coming along. Ironing out the little bugs is time consuming. Ive really gotta think about a new name as well.

righto, time for more opengl.

Eye appointment went ok, seems my eyes have gotten a bit worse and i need a new set of glasses. I hate picking out new glasses, im blind as a bat without them so i cant see if the frames look good or stupid…

So im learning OpenGL now. Seems my phd will be using it. So far it looks pretty straight forward. Getting it working on XCode was easy. At the moment im using carbon to do it. Im curious to give Cocoa a go as well. Id prefer to use cocoa if i could.

Been playing freedom fighter on my PC, its not a bad game. Also giveing need for speed underground a bash. My riced up RX-7 kicks arse

Got a meeting on wednesday about a webpage job i might be doing. Would be great if they lot me do it, extra cash is always good.

I still have to sort out all the america trip photos and do them up properly, stay tuned for that. I also have to do a new design for this page – its plain and boring and bleh…