April, 2004

Ive thought of a new Mr Men / Little Miss book title, Little Miss Croaky. The story is about a little miss asian girl who woke up one day and had a craky squeeky voice. Not a constant one either, one that changes pitch without notice. Its mystery where this comes from as she doesnt scream ehr head of to make it go like that and ive never heard of a flu that makes your voice go that way.

So yeah, the story is still unfolding, but i think kids would like it.

*Note: Any resemblence to actual people is purely coincidental

Registered a new domain for a new little project in the works, www.code4days.com, its not working yet and the site isnt done but ill get there.

Im hoping to be able to spedn a bit more time on it soonish, its somthing ive been wanting to do for ages. bleh…

Motivation is the key, and damn im having troubel finding any

Got these in an email from Carmen, so here goes…

Full Legal Name:
Brett William Leslie Brooks

1.What time do you get up?
My alarm goes off at 7am 0 i get up shortly after that.

2.What do you do for a living?
Research Student – PHD – *shiver*

3.Whats your dream job?
Being able to sit all day and write code, and make some kind of income from it

4.If you could eat lunch with someone throughout history, excluding family, who would it be?
Theres noone inparticular, and it changes every week.

5.Favorite jewelry – gold or silver?
No preference… depends on the person whos wearing it.

6.What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Starsky and Hutch

7.Favorite TV show?
ER, Jerry Springer, hrmmm lots, ill watch anything if it means getting out of doing somthing else

8.What do you have for breakfast?
Not much usually, something to drink

9.Who would you hate to be stuck in a room with?
A smelly person

10.What/who inspires you?
Stuff i read, pictures.

11.What is your middle name?
William Leslie

12.Favorite place: Beach, City or Country?
City cause theres more stuff, Country cause it smells better.

13.Favorite ice cream?
Chocolate

14.Favorite color?
Bright colors

15.What kind of car do you drive?
Mazda 626

16.What characteristic do you despise?
Snobbyness, over confidence

17.What characteristic do you most admire?
Sense of humour

18.Favorite flower?
Chocolate ones i can eat

19.If you could go anywhere in the world on a vacation, where would you go.
Egypt

20.Favorite type or brand of clothing?
bleh – brands?

21.If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Somewhere that has all the mod cons – but also has ncie smelling air.

22.Where would you like to retire to?
*shrugs* dunno, havt seen enough places to decide yet

23.What did you do for your last birthday?
Was in america with melanie

24.Where were you born?
Inverell, NSW

25.Favorite sport to watch?
Wrestling, motocross

26.Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Night for sure

27.Do you have any pets?
Nope

28.What are your hobbies?
Computer, bonsai, games, melanie, reading.

29.Favorite way to spend a lazy afternoon?
Melanie, stuffing with computer, reading, watching movie, hrmmm

30.What do you want to be when you grow up?
I dont want to grow up.

31.What would you do if you won the lottery (after charity, family, and
friends)?

Pay off my loan, buy a new laptop, pay myself to start a company.

32.Favorite movie?
Anything with a decent story or based on actual events- braveheart etc

Got my confirmation of candiature due soon, and its going soooo slow. The literature review is a pain in the butt… *sigh* But yeah, thats my number one priority thing week, after i get that wrapped up, my attention will go to the directedge webpage. Should get it done pretty quick if i just an spend the time doing it. That will be a good bonus to my bank account.

After that is back to phd and cocoa stuff, my cocoa programming has gone to crap lately – mainly cause i havnt had a chance to do any.. bleh…

Marked 24 assignments this weekend, didnt take that long and i should be able to put a claim in this week for it… sweet…

thats about it.

Lest We Forget

Thanks Pop

From the worst ever Adam Sandler movie – “Punch Drunk Love” comes:

I want to smash your face with a sledge hammer and suck your soul out

In reference to the strong love Adam Sandlers character feels for a girl he has just met.

Adam Sandler must of lsot a bet and being in this movie was his prize – cause god damn its dodgy… stay away from it people… stay away…

i like geek books.

Just ordered the one above, sounds like a good read. Ive got the other bignerdranch book – the first one he wrote and its damn good.

oh yeah – yes i did steal /borrow the image off that site

The curent games i have installed on my PC:

Sacred
FarCry
Unreal Tournament 2004
SimCity 4 + Rush Hour expansion
Singles
War of the Ring
Warcraft 3 + Frozen Thron expansion

And i actually legally own more then half of those

Good games ill buy after ive played it for a while and dont get bored with it. Bad games ill just play till im done with it and wont buy.

Moral of the story – game developers – make good games and chances are ill buy it

My mum sent me a package! And in that package was a big easter egg! and some little easter eggs! yup sent it through Australia post all the way up here to Rockhampton.

So me and melanie will be right for chocolate supplies till monday Tuesday when i go and get some cheap easter eggs form the shops – my favorite part of easter is the day after when shops want to get rid of them cheap.

Thanks Ma

*sigh* Well its been almost a week since i got ADSL, and i have to say its great!. Always on connection, 54K/sec downloads…. *droool*

Makes me think how excited i was when i got my first 2400bps modem and hooked up to compuserve for my first online experience… It got even better when i jumped from 2400 up to 14400bps! My nan bought me that modem – i know she didnt understand what it did but all the same it was a great birthday present. Apart form the fact that compuserve wanted to charge me an extra $5000 for apparent connections id made when i wasnt even home – it was a good experience.

From there i went to a 56k modem – 4k/s look out!, the endless joy of plugging in and dialing up, the multitasking you could do while you waited for the pages to load – joy.

I figure i couldnt go back to 56k now, i think it would drive me over the edge ADSL is here to stay – oh i love theee so.

Oh well, back to doing somthing else – just had a moment of reflection there that i thought i should blog…

The story starts with Frodo: a young hobbit, quite bright, a bit dissatisfied with what he’s learnt so far and with his mates back home who just seem to want to get jobs and settle down and drink beer. He’s also very much in awe of his tutor and mentor, the very senior professor Gandalf, so when Gandalf suggests he take on a short project for him (carrying the Ring to Rivendell), he agrees. Frodo very quickly encounters the shadowy forces of fear and despair which will haunt the rest of his journey and leave permanent scars on his psyche, but he also makes some useful friends. In particular, he spends an evening down at the pub with Aragorn, who has been wandering the world for many years as Gandalf’s postdoc and becomes his adviser when Gandalf isn’t around.

After Frodo has completed his first project, Gandalf (along with head of department Elrond) proposes that the work should be extended. He assembles a large research group, including visiting students Gimli and Legolas, the foreign postdoc Boromir, and several of Frodo’s own friends from his undergraduate days. Frodo agrees to tackle this larger project, though he has mixed feelings about it. (“‘I will take the Ring,’ he said, ‘although I do not know why.’”)

Very rapidly, things go wrong. First, Gandalf disappears and has no more interaction with Frodo until everything is over. (Frodo assumes his supervisor is dead: in fact, he’s simply found a more interesting topic and is working on that instead.) At his first international conference in Lorien, Frodo is cross-examined terrifyingly by Galadriel, and betrayed by Boromir, who is anxious to get the credit for the work himself. Frodo cuts himself off from the rest of his team: from now on, he will only discuss his work with Sam, an old friend who doesn’t really understand what it’s all about, but in any case is prepared to give Frodo credit for being rather cleverer than he is. Then he sets out towards Mordor.

The last and darkest period of Frodo’s journey clearly represents the writing-up stage, as he struggles towards Mount Doom (submission), finding his burden growing heavier and heavier yet more and more a part of himself; more and more terrified of failure; plagued by the figure of Gollum, the student who carried the Ring before him but never wrote up and still hangs around as a burnt-out, jealous shadow; talking less and less even to Sam. When he submits the Ring to the fire, it is in desperate confusion rather than with confidence, and for a while the world seems empty.

Eventually it is over: the Ring is gone, everyone congratulates him, and for a few days he can convince himself that his troubles are over. But there is one more obstacle to overcome: months later, back in the Shire, he must confront the external examiner Saruman, an old enemy of Gandalf, who seeks to humiliate and destroy his rival’s protégé. With the help of his friends and colleagues, Frodo passes through this ordeal, but discovers at the end that victory has no value left for him. While his friends return to settling down and finding jobs and starting families, Frodo remains in limbo; finally, along with Gandalf, Elrond, and many others, he joins the brain drain across the Western ocean to the new land beyond.

shamelessly copied from here

Well it got connected last friday, and its great! So far i havnt regretted getting it so its all good. Been busy downloading stuff and so forth and setting up the firewall. Still have to setup the VPN so i can connect through to my machine when im away. Also should get one of those dynamic dns domain names… hrmmm

Uni is the same – went to a lit review writing workshop today and learnt nothing new… joy…

Got a meeting tomorrow about the webpage im doing, should be good. This is to just finalise stuff and after im done there i think ill come home and do some uni work then get into the web page. Shouldnt take long to do, as long as i do a bit each day.

Applied for WWDC again, find out in a few weeks, i sooooo want to go this year, it would be so cool and so beneficial i think. I hope some other people form CQU go as well….

Mac apps are going slow, Luke and I decided we have to rewrite the catalog code in a lower level, try to speed it up a bit. So thats cool. In the meantime im jsut trying to find free time to sit and do stuff on it without interuptions and other things. hrmmm

Might grab another domain soon for the ‘software company’, and put together a website. Would be good, even if the products are all COMING SOON

bleh… ok im done here, back to surfing the web and reading forums… or maybe ill have a shower then do that.. or play an online game! woohoo! ADSL ROCKS!

Paulo says: (1:37:10 PM)
thats the spirit – get a close relationship with your ADSL

Brett says: (1:37:12 PM)
im addicted and i havnt even started yet

Paulo says: (1:37:17 PM)
sweet data, my precious

Brett says: (1:37:21 PM)
ROFL

Paulo says: (1:37:30 PM)
melanie with be frodo LOL

Paulo says: (1:37:37 PM)
you’ll be golem LOL

Brett says: (1:37:41 PM)
LOL dont tell her that

Paulo says: (1:37:46 PM)
ADSL the ring LOL

Who You Are

You’re smart, insightful, and have an insatiable curiosity about life. In fact, you’re always studying problems and finding ways to fix them. You refuse to settle long-term for a boring job or doing something just because it’s expected of you. Life should be “balanced” with plenty of time for fun, spontaneity, and relaxation! You try to avoid scheduling every minute of your day and instead prefer a more informal and “go with the flow” approach. You’re a private person and a little hard to get to know, especially emotionally. When you express your feelings, it’s more likely through your actions and practical support than through words.

Whats Dating All About?
You believe dating and life in general is about learning and growing as a person. You’re a great listener, so women tend to enjoy going out with you. However, it’s hard for you to have a real intellectual connection with an attractive woman. Hopefully, you’ve found a way to “go with the flow” in dating as you already do in other parts of your life.

Who yours looking for
You’re looking for a woman who can be your soul mate AND playmate in life! She’s a woman with great integrity and the strength to stand up for causes she believes in. You’ll also find she has an insatiable curiosity about life, which leads her to have a wide variety of interests and hobbies. She’s shy and a little hard to get to know. But she’s worth the effort! One-on-one, you’ll find a very warm, easygoing and understanding woman. You may find it’s like awakening a hidden princess! Though she may not always put it into words, she’s in touch with her emotions, and will do spontaneous and romantic things to express her feelings for you.

Your Ideal
Overall, it’s important for you to be with someone who is almost always cheerful and has an optimistic outlook on life. The ideal person you’re seeking shares a number of positive qualities with you, including:
No strong similarities were detected, which suggests that you may be more attracted to certain “opposite qualities.” Please read the next sections to see if you may be seeking someone with different or opposite qualities to balance your own habits and style.

Sex
As you probably know, you have a higher sex drive than most! To you, creativity, exploration and surprise are what sex is all about. You need a partner who’ll appreciate your gifts, especially your vivid imagination, as well as the variety of romantic and sexual fantasies the two of you can explore together.
You’re looking for someone who’ll share your enthusiasm for keeping sex exciting and new. You value the quality of sex, even if it means the quantity or frequency of sex is lower than you’d like.

Whats ahead sexually?
If you end up with a woman less sexually charged than you, you’ll have two options: open up your partner’s “wild,” sexual side or settle into a relationship with less sex, but more affection. Having less sex would be challenging for you. Making love offers a rare opportunity to “get out of your head” and stop thinking so much. Focusing on the quality of your sex, rather than quantity, may be one solution. Fortunately, you bring the natural skill of problem solving to the relationship and won’t be shy in talking with your partner. A good woman will understand the importance of sex for you and be willing to meet you half way.

A few items i got from this personality quiz… sound like me? hrmmmmm….