19.5.09

Hold off on the latest Lenovo S10 BIOS update

Liliputing says hold off on S10 BIOS update v90.. may cause bricks,
ulcers http://is.gd/B2x9

It's not worth rushing into this one to clear up a little fan noise.

When all else fails ... (Unison)

Blow away *all* of the archive-files. Including those on the remote
end. I'd forgotten that Unison leaves files in ~/.unison on the remote
side as well. I couldn't get past the 'inconsistent state' error until
I read the article below.

See http://blog.philippheckel.com/2008/10/25/unison-and-multiple-hosts-warning-inconsistent-state/

19.4.09

S10 Bios 59

I had upgraded the BIOS on Cupcake to version 59 (available from the
Lenovo forums) to alleviate the off and on fan problem. If you've got
an S10, you know it's annoying and distracti-WHIRRRRRRR

I'll be rolling back though, probably to 58. The CPU temp idles at
55C. It ratchets up to 60 when web surfing.

--
Sent from my iPhone

Midnightblue.net

While I'm working on my website, just so there's some content, I set up a redirect like so -

<?php

header("Location: http://lifeatmidnight.blogspot.com");

?>


Compiz on Jaunty...




I upgraded the netbook to from Intrepid (8.10) to Jaunty (9.04). Gnome-session stopped launching Compiz. It runs fine if you launch it from the terminal, and picks up that it needs the intel Xorg driver.
When compiz, or metacity don't launch, you have no window decorations, you can't change context, and you can't move between desktops (obviously). I just added compiz manually back via the gnome-session-manager. Aside from that weird quirk, Jaunty is great. Network-manager sucks with the Broadcomm 802.11g card a whole lot less, instead of about five minutes of hit-or-miss WPA2 authentication, it now logs on first try.

18.4.09

Permission issues in Leopard web sharing

Midnightblue.net is down right now, so I needed to set up a staging server on Caffeine (the MacBook Pro) in order to hack away on the redesign. It needs one, I've got x number of domains, and a few different subject areas I need to break down and link to.
I did an archive and install of Leopard recently so I went to /etc/apache2/httpd.conf , enabled php5, and assumed that would pretty much be the extent of things after I enabled Web Sharing.
Not so much... Leopard doesn't copy 'username'.conf to /etc/apache2/users , so apache doesn't know that the Sites folder in the user's home directory is supposed to be visible too.

Caffeine:extra kristy$ ls /etc/apache2/users
Caffeine:extra kristy$

I found that information here at Apple, so my next step was to look in the "Previous Systems" folder that the Archive and Install left behind, and 'kristy.conf' was in /etc/apache2. It's pretty simple in case you have to create that file from scratch, looks like this-

<Directory "/Users/kristy/Sites/">
Options Indexes MultiViews
AllowOverride None
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

My next step is to set up syncing of the website files via Unison to Cupcake (the Lenovo S10) and get its staging server launched. It's a strange quirk that this tiny little laptop has a 160Gig hard drive, and plenty of room to store anything I might be working on.

16.4.09

Picking up new skills

I'm auditing the Stanford iPhone Development course. It's been a while
since I did any coding.. So this has been fun so far.

--
Sent from my iPhone

16.1.09

Buttonhole rose test run


Buttonhole rose test run
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
I need to get some pearl-headed pins, but I think I'm on my way here.

Buttonhole rose test run


Buttonhole rose test run
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
I need to get some pearl-headed pins, but I think I'm on my way here.

12.1.09

Flowerbomb

Tried Flowerbomb, I just don't know about this one. It's better now
it's died down a bit but it still reminds me of Angel. There's
something both fragrances have in common that I just don't like. Maybe
it's the patchouli and vanilla.

For reference, I do like Green Tea based fragrances, Safari, Warm
Vanilla Sugar and occasionally Chanel no 5.

Sent from my iPhone

6.1.09

Backup teeth

 
Good thing I still have all my wisdom teeth! Maybe I'll be able to harvest those for replacement teeth in a few years.

On wedding stuff

I'm talking myself out of going dress shopping *again* for gown that
would be worn just for the morning. I didn't know this would be so
hard, I didn't know I would lose my mind.

But I've got to deal with flowers, cakes and hairdressers, not
deciding on the dress is locking up progress on everything else.

Sent from my iPhone

2.11.08

Moving

....we've got to move out sooner rather than later. Landlord kicking
us while we're down by raising the rent about 20%. Also, neighbors
love karaoke.

--
Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse the typos.

New perspectives on my flat

Spent a great of today mildly stoned on the couch on completely
necessary nurofen plus and reading a whole lot of travel porn on my
laptop. Capsule hotels! First class cabins on planes! I fondly
remember the Pod Hotel in NY.

I look at my tiny flat, and realize that if I look at my life as a
journey, this place is just a cheap economy cabin on the way somewhere
better.

Then I started cleaning up, because it's almost time for us to check
out of here.

--
Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse the typos.

29.10.08

This is not your email address.

I have a bit of an email problem.
Not spam, though I am disgusted at the inbound signal to rubbish ratio in my accounts. I don't see the debris scooped out of my email swimming pool until I log into gmail.

2034 spam messages? What a waste of bandwidth. Most of them are in the wrong character set too, sent by hacked computers that are much closer to sentience than their owners.

No, I have a common word @ gmail email address that people keep handing out to their friends, business associates, and signing up for accounts on websites.

Some of them are just confused, but not really stupid people, so I feel bad publicly ridiculing them. There's the person who sent me a picture of a very ordinary middle aged man, seated at his desk, from their shiny new O2 iPhone. There's the lady involved in church events who also donates blood at an NYC bloodbank. I get the occasional email for her that I bounce. At some point, she's going to stop punching in the wrong address.

And then there's people who play poker online.

This is an automated message sent from Full Tilt Poker.

Your Player ID: JASONR42000
Your E-mail Address: Not yours, idiot
Validation Code: HahahahaNO

Please follow the instructions below to complete the e-mail validation
process.

As a security precaution, we require that you maintain a current,
validated e-mail account at all times in order to play on the site.
A validated e-mail account allows us to provide you with customer
support, and helps to maintain the security of your account. This
validation code will only be valid for twenty-four hours.

========================================
HOW TO COMPLETE THE VALIDATION PROCESS
========================================

To confirm that your new e-mail address is correct...

1) Launch the Full Tilt Poker application
2) Login to your account
3) Choose "Account / Validate E-mail Address" from the menu bar
4) Enter the 6 letter Validation Code in the space provided
5) Choose "Validate"

========================================
IF YOU ARE NOT THE OWNER OF THIS ACCOUNT
========================================

Full Tilt Poker will not send any unsolicited mail to e-mail addresses
that have not been validated. By taking no action, you will not receive
any e-mail correspondence from Full Tilt Poker. If you wish to have
your e-mail address removed from this account, please forward the
contents of this e-mail to support@fulltiltpoker.com

I got four of these, with different activation codes. You'd think after two attempts that our gambling Einstein would get the picture, that perhaps he'd better use his real address so he can win FABULOUS PRIZES.

==

18.10.08

Waiting to take off


Waiting to take off
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Can't see the pink Hello Kitty duffel though

--
"Mass stupidity is not a conspiracy" - Dave Ramsay

12.10.08

From the 'office' today


From the 'office' today
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Cranky lorrikeets building a nest

--
"Mass stupidity is not a conspiracy" - Dave Ramsay

8.10.08

Optus is being Special again


Optus is being Special again
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
--
"Mass stupidity is not a conspiracy" - Dave Ramsay

2.9.08

Dear Optus, WTF


Dear Optus, WTF
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
I'm on a Yes plan, and 80 meg clear of the limit. WTF?

14.8.08

Lonely Burger


Lonely Burger
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Take a pamphlet? Be my friend?
You can't see it in the pic, but this burger is a cyclops. It only has
one, staring eye on top it's bun.

9.8.08

Way too early again, on the way to work.

But at least the sun is out today! Currently standing near a window,
collecting vitamin D.

31.7.08

:(


:(
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
StarBye. Bugger.

16.7.08

Voda/Samsung in Southbank


Voda/Samsung in Southbank
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
What is this thing ? The posts in front are the only clue. Samsung
Instinct? Will it have better data plans than iPhone on Voda ?

12.7.08

12-07-08_1721.jpg


12-07-08_1721.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Jesus has a posse, also danish design spheres

8.7.08

08-07-08_0738.jpg


08-07-08_0738.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Ikea display at southern cross.

11.6.08

5.6.08

Flock

 I installed Flock, and this post is basically a test.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

12.5.08

Touchy iPod


13-05-08_0218
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Last pic of this guy before it goes back to the mothership, and they ship out its replacement. (It started doing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPtFJGkpfQc , now it randomly reboots). I'm going to miss my 0.75 of an iPhone lifestyle, and this iPod has sentimental value.
But not as much sentimental value as my 3G iPod. I mean look at those red lights! http://www.flickr.com/photos/20262161@N00/184391331/ AWESOME. Retro Mac fonts. Plays your songs with no guff. Downside - hard drive doesn't like drops.
I'd probably still be using it if not for that.

5.5.08

The Monday MiseryBlog Chaser

Here's an inoculation against the misery of the previous post. Apologies!

Christianity in Doctor Who 


I think you'll see this comparison pop up in any genre show or movie where you have a character who is a standout 'Chosen One'. And if anyone works in mysterious ways sometimes, it's The Doctor. I think I love fiction comparison and debate as much as anyone can.



 

The Monday MiseryBlog


Two stories from the "I'd believe in God if He believed in quality control" department -

In an update that should surprise nobody at all with eyes, plenty of people knew about the Austrian dungeon rapist, but nobody did anything about it. Previously convicted dungeon rapist, I should say.

"Former lodgers at the family house and school friends of Elisabeth admitted on Saturday that they heard she was being sexually abused and mistreated, yet none contacted authorities before or after she disappeared."


Yeah.   It seems the assumption.. by those who bothered to make assumptions, by those who fancied some happier outcome for that little girl when she disappeared... was that she'd run off to join a cult. I guess some who knew her might have felt some small relief her nightmare was over, one way or another. Some unburdening, of their collective guilt. 

Except that little girl never escaped at all. 

A similarly depressing story has a man stabbing a nice young dad to death on the Belgrave line for no reason at all - http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/train-knifeman-guilty-of-musicians-murder/2008/05/05/1209839529288.html .  

What can you say here? A gun or a tazer wouldn't have saved his life. In fact, if guns were readily available around here, that's what this creature would have been carrying. 

Oh wait, and guess what? 

"He said Acuna, who told police he had injected a gram of speed before the killing, had previously told a community services worker four months before the attack that he had wanted to kill someone at random."

I mean seriously? What do you need here? A disseration, with references cited?  

Both these defective homunculi destroyed innocent lives because multiple people weren't paying attention, or just didn't sufficiently give a fuck, and neither one should have been out enjoying daylight at all. 



Bloody Hell, What About Us Mate?

Blogged this story on iPhone Development being opened internationally
http://www.touchpodium.com/2008/05/04/first-signs-of-iphone-developement-program-being-opened-worldwide/
because I like the included map. What about us mate *indeed*.

Rumour sites are pointing at late June for iPhone, G'Day Edition, and
Optus (Yes, we suck a bit less than Telstra) as main provider. Though
the phone is said to be unlocked, so you can go anywhere you like,
even prepaid.

The biggest reason I didn't buy an iPhone in November was lack of
warranty. I regret it now, but I just know that the thing would have
died about half an hour after I got it home. And then I would have to
arrange for it to go back to the States, and it would have been this
whole *thing*.
The *second* biggest reason is that Australian data plans suck, unless
you have a 'special' device like a sidekick. The iPhone is no better
than my current phone/iPod Touch combo unless it has a decent data
plan. Optus have already bumped up the data allowance on their prepaid
plans, and it seems their other plans will be upgraded soon.

4.5.08

FW:


FW:
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Looks like the logies

28.4.08

FW:


FW:
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Santa left me cisco books!

26.4.08

Browsing the Dell Site

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/monitor_webcam?c=au&cs=audhs1&l=en&s=dhs

I wonder how many Mac Pro owners buy these silver-bezelled, webcam-
packing lcds instead of the brutally overpriced Apple ones?


--
Sent from my iPod Touch

8.4.08

3.4.08

Stormy

1) MacBook Pro power cable failure - no instant replacement, several days of waiting. (next time, I deal with Apple.com.au)
2) No power in my homer suburb for well over 24 hours
3) ns0.xname.org is down, killing my domain and email.

Urge to kill, rising........

And that's without bringing up Dave's problems.

/I don't want to go home.

29.3.08

PHD Comics: C-C-Coffee...

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=983

Yep. There are plenty of manuals that do this to my brain. Like the
tangled skein that is VPN configuration - I think my mind shuts down
in self-defence.


Sent from my iPod

17.3.08

Coachy coach!

Scary Go Round on the differences in Trains vs Coaches.

http://www.scarygoround.com/?date=20080317

15.3.08

Lost! On an Island!

Lost with 80's style credits. Hilarious.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/03/14/losts-lost-opening-sequence/

(And a good demonstration of why they don't do it on the show. :D)

15-03-08_0734.jpg


15-03-08_0734.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac

7.3.08

07-03-08_1909.jpg


07-03-08_1909.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Segway, belgrave line

23.2.08

23-02-08_1919.jpg


23-02-08_1919.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Too slow to catch slow food festival today :)

23-02-08_1915.jpg


23-02-08_1915.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Back street boys?

22.2.08

Update on 'boootiful canine of peace'

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23256903-2,00.html

"People say 'he attacked your sister, doesn't that change the way you
feel about him?'. It doesn't change the way I feel," Diesel's owner
said.

Wow isn't there some way this bogan princess can be charged with
assault? Criminal negligence?

I feel bad for the tradie, actually. Probably a prime target by the 'we
wuff our land pirhanas' contingent.

21.2.08

But pitbulls are beauuuuuutiful animals!

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23250314-2,00.html


The real hilarity is the video of the dumb whore owner that ran on the
news tonight. Her sister got her leg shredded and she was whining
about her dead dog!

/Got another nail?

20.2.08

20-02-08_1856.jpg


20-02-08_1856.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Larger than average 5xl

20-02-08_1856.jpg


20-02-08_1856.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Bigger than average 5xl

12.2.08

A Leopard Ate My Website

If you can't view user websites after upgrading to Leopard, and your
directory permissions are okay, this page has the solution.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306884

And if you're using Filevault, you'll need to read this -

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071224093830773

though in Leopard, "chmod +a "www allow search" /Users/username"
works fine.

3.2.08

03-02-08_1911.jpg


03-02-08_1911.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Wow the only time my ipod could ever figure out where i was.

03-02-08_1900.jpg


03-02-08_1900.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Big tv. Air conditioning.

And this is why I had to walk a few extra blocks to work this morning

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23151593-2862,00.html

Checking it out on the way home to see if it's still 1945.

28.1.08

Thoughts on multitasking


- Theres no such thing as 'flow'  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)) in multitasking, and this is the mode in which we are most productive doing complex work

- Women are colloquially better at it…. But most 'traditional' women's tasks (housework, watching children) require frequent, small, bursts of attention, and don't require you to load any knowledge ('state') on the situation into your head. More complex or potentially dangerous tasks (such as attending to a squirming infant, and ironing) are *not* multitasked for obvious reasons.

- Multitasking is a copout for not setting boundaries with other people. "Sure I can do that for you….(while I juggle my five other projects)


Giving up multitasking for a week


 
Or at least cutting it back….


I'm flustered and whether I have ADD or not, it sure looks that way. Task X and Y are both due, but if task Y is more boring or daunting, I'll 'multitask' it with task X and end up barely touching it.

I've learned this behaviour over time, but maybe I can change my habits.

It means taking responsibility for how I allocate my time, and not putting down a task I've started until I reach a checkpoint or until I have to do so. It means setting boundaries with myself and other people.

I've read this http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/27/2221228&from=rss and then followed it up with this - http://fabadger.blogspot.com/2005/11/giving-up-on-multitasking.html


The latter advocates a task handling structure of

  • Job in
  • Job allocated a time to be done with full attention
  • Requester informed of where their job is in my scheme of things
  • Job done


I think that could work.

/I've got STOP MULTITASKING!!! Inked on my wrist.
//Buddhism has many, many words devoted to this concept, which indicates its been a Known Issue in the human brain for some time.

FW:


FW:
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Giant bees!

27.1.08

On projects

How much you procrastinate on projects is directly proportional to how
much you've already invested in it.
You can motivate yourself by inviting feedback from others.

Turns out I'd rather eat ground glass than apologizing when I've done
the wrong thing. But I do know when it's the right thing to do. And I
will do it, as I'm not a passenger, a pet or a child in this life.

--
Sent from my iPod touch

23.1.08

Two Hands


 
http://www.theage.com.au/news/people/heath-ledger-found-dead-in-new-york/2008/01/23/1201024937306.html?page=2

RIP. Gut feeling is 'tragic accident' instead of 'Michael Hutchence MK II'. Probably took enough sedatives to suffocate in his sleep, as he had pneumonia.

Very sad as he was about to hit it big via the next Batman movie.  



iPod Touch is "Mainstream wifi mobile platform"


 
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/01/22/apple_ipod_touch_is_now_a_mainstream_wi_fi_mobile_platform.html

And a seeeeeeexy one.

/I broke. My icons jiggle.

//Roll on SDK?

Sorry guys


100_0680.JPG
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEt_ee8lyiGM&refer=home
Offering my apologies...
I groped the bull and I think I broke it's mojo. I'll be consulting some voodoo texts to work out how to restore it.

/Hang tight! Its only money!

30.12.07

Boomwave Klique iPod Touch Case review on MacTalk



http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?p=417510

I did a bit of a review on my new iPod cover, linky above.




--
Sent from my iPod touch

28.12.07

My Boomwave Klique, let me show you it


Boomwave Klique
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
My new iPod case turned up today. Very bling with a couple of minor issues, review to come.

27.12.07

Updates

Qantas ended up putting my luggage in a taxi back to me maybe a day
after my last post, so thanks QF. (Wasn't your screwup).
Bag arrived with all of my stuff still in it, including DVDs, and TSA
had repacked neatly. Can't complain at this point.
I have an iPod touch case (The Ultimate Case, possibly,
pda/wallet-style) that is biding its time at the local Fedex center with
a status of "Package not due for delivery". A week without my good jeans
has given me the correct perspective on such things, and at least I know
where it is.

21.12.07

21-12-07_1828.jpg


21-12-07_1828.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Here comes the rain again...

10.12.07

Crates o' bags

Got a helpful Qantas person on the phone (that's where the Tulla lost
baggage line will send you) and there are a couple of crates of bags
coming in on the QF94 today. There's bottlenecking at LAX, and your
ass on the plane is higher priority than your baggage.

He didn't *really* know where my baggage was but at least he was
sympathetic, so I'll wait and see if my stuff turns up on Worldtracer.

My luggage vs security theatre

Here's a couple of pics of what my luggage looks like... loud red
Samsonite with a Chococat tag.

Seeing as Qantas have no idea about anything, electronically speaking,
I'm going to try my luck today at the Tullamarine T2 Qantas baggage
services.


Day 3 without my luggage, bets on malice or incompetence?


This http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=9114&page=1 is a pretty good mirror of my experience, complete with staring at the useless WorldTracer page.

9.12.07

Don't Expect Luggage To Arrive, or, Friends Don't Let Friends Fly Delta

Luggage, once checked onto Delta Airlines, ceases to exist. Really.
They can't track it. They have no idea where it is. Bob from Bangalore
can't help you.
I've been calling Qantas too and they've been only slightly less
useless, but as the fault didn't originate with them that's not all
that surprising. As the final carrier, it's their responsibility to
check

http://www.worldtracer.aero/filedsp/qf.htm and offer useless
platitudes.

Luggage has now been missing for 48 hours, somewhere within JFK,
because Qantas have no record, so there has been no handoff.

If anyone has any better ideas re: Delta, let me know, but I'm going
to try to hunt down a number for the JFK terminal Baggage Claim .

3.12.07

New York, New York

I am EXHAUSTED. Safe to say I've probably never walked so far in my
life before.

Spent the weekend in the big Apple, of which Ive only seen a tiny bit
and probably not the good parts . Yesterday I explored some of uptown
and today was downtown, Wallstreet, Battery Park, Soho, Noho, possibly
Tribeca. I dont know, I got lost a lot. But if I hadn't got lost on
53rd trying to find MoMA, for example, I wouldn't have found the
Berlin Wall piece, off the sidewalk in a little courtyard (scene where
world got better). And I found Ground Zero more or less by accident,
wondering briefly why there were all those cranes behind Century 21
(where world careened off into absolutely fucked up with no reset
button) .
Though tawdry Century 21 right next door kind of makes me smile. It
seems kind of wrong, but as I get older I know there's no Right. We
are what we are. We tolerate. We do our best.
Second ever snow experience while I was there. It has stopped snowing
much by afternoon, but the sidewalks were slick with ice. I learned
quickly to not try to walk on a slope (can't keep your balance). You
have to brace your leg muscles at every step for stability. Came
close but did not fall on butt in a grubby snowdrift, or worse, slip
into traffic. I'm sure nobody does that, but if you know me, you know
I'd find a way.
Thanks to the many free wifi providers I used along the way to help me
find stuff not on the Lonely Planet map. This would be the Pod Hotel,
CBS, Staples, the free NY city wifi on Wall Street, and occasionly
Linksys. Another tactic that worked was getting directions off a
display iPhone at AT&T. Heh heh heh.
Five million photos of NY will be going up on my blog shortly.
As an aside, the food's a bit overrated, and the closer to the
tourist strip you go, the crappier and more expensive it gets. Rhode
Island is better.
Note - everyone I sat near in every Starbucks seemed to be a British
tourist. Also tourists asked me for directions a lot.
Other than the ice and losing a glove, no bad experiences. Subway
stinky but not dangerous during day and early evening.
--
Sent from my iPod touch

26.11.07

Ducks

Went to Boston again on Sun. The other options were doing my expense
report, or doing my laundry. I coaxed myself out of the hotel with
the promise of getting the couple of groceries I needed while I was
there. (I can't wait until I can get home and Leopardize this laptop.
Blank slate, two years of binary cruft just squeegeed off. Right now
it chugs along reluctantly).

Current Inventory : Boston Duck Tour receipt, a Harvard fridge
magnet, and a Red Sox teddy bear.

I went to Back Bay this time, to check out stores like Neiman Marcus
and the rest of the pretty nice shopping district. This is in the
vicinity of the Mass State Library and the Trinity Church as well.
(Nobody seems to pronounce their way through the whole word
'Massachusetts' . I'll be watching for this next time I see a tv show
or movie set around here. ) Pics on Flickr.
I went looking for the flagship Boston Apple Store allegedly also in
this vicinity, close the Prudential building, also hoping to leech
some wifi for Google Maps. Well, said flagship store is still a
construction site. I was still not sure I hadn't just missed it,
until I noticed that someone had helpfully stuck an Apple sticker on
the metal building notification placard on the fence. I like that
there are people out there far, far nerdier than me. This also
restored my faith in Google Maps - when Google Maps on my iPod can't
find an Apple Store, I should just accept that it probably doesn't
exist (yet).

It was getting up in the afternoon so I went to the Prudential center
to book onto a Duck tour, the last of the day as it turns out
(www.ducktour.com) . You get into a 1940s all-terrain vehicle,
whimsically painted up, and you get a driver with lots of personality
giving a tour, driving you to the Bay, *into* the Bay, around the
Bay, and then back to the mall. I actually had a really good time.
The only downside was the cheesy tourist photo I picked up afterwards
(mild extortion pricing. And as usual, I look like I'm on drugs.).
Anyway, Duck tour rules. Do it.

Conserving my cash for New York next weekend, after another week at
work.

21.11.07

Dave and Busters

Went to Dave and Busters at the Providence Place mall and had some
fun there. The food is pretty good, and if you could weld a video
arcade to the side of a TGI Fridays this is pretty much how it would
look. I killed some Aliens and then went back into the mall to blow
torch a few more holes in my credit.

19.11.07

Psychically clean and tumble dried

Not an action-packed Sunday. Caught up on laundry, sometimes its good
to just chill out and blend in. So I found this laundromat near the
university with free wifi.
Got plenty of walking exercise over the weekend which is important,
because I've eaten all kinds of stuff lately that you won't find in
the Atkins book.

--
Sent from my iPod touch

18.11.07

I'm in ur Boston, eating ur lobster

I'm in a tiny nautical themed restaurant called "the salty dog" in
Boston, near the waterfront. I'm surfing the free wifi here, courtesy
of the city. I found the Mall and the Hard Rock Cafe. Even though we
just lost Melbournes, I didn't feel like going to a chain restaurant.

Sent from my iPod touch

17.11.07

Did I mention ...

I miss Dave? I do.

Sent from my iPod touch

16.11.07

NyQuil vs jet lag


Red Clams
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
I think I'm winning the war on jet lag. I've had a couple of nights of cherry-NyQuil comatose sleep, some high-protein meals, some vitamins, and a couple of semi-productive work days.
I'm feeling displaced in a way that I never have before, and simultaneously irritated at my own cowardice. I'm not in freaking Kowloon, I'm in a first-world country with every modern convenience (except maybe a coin laundry, I still have to figure that one out).
I'm getting a weekly workday routine sorted out, and every normal thing I can do is suddenly so important. My iPod playlists , reading a book, geeking out, watching The Chaser's War on Everything, even going to the mall, I need to do every normal thing I can so I have that sense that I'm still connected to my life.

13.11.07

Should have paid more attention to Family Guy

Should have paid more attention to Family Guy
Woke up 8am again (don't know why I do it here, I don't do it at
home!) , though about going out to the mall but decided to stay in
until work to give my immune system a break.
The hotel is great, the food is great. (I'm going to post about that
on www.auslowcarb.com) .
I'm blogging from an ipod touch which is amazing. (do want an iphone ,
but decided to wait for an Aussie 3g version). It is pretty lame out
of the box, but once properly hacked it does most things my Palm used
to, and for the things it doesn't there are workarounds.
For the family guy fans, Pawtucket is a real place. I need to watch
that show again because I will get more of the jokes .....
(any incoherence is still due to jet lag, apologies. )
Btw the thanksgiving day parade in NY will feature a giant hello kitty
balloon ! I won't be in NY until the week after though.
Ps I miss you Dave.


Sent from my iPod touch

9.11.07

Checking in


Flying into LAX
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
There's a few pics of my trip on Flickr. I'm sooooo tired. More to come.
Paid the $10 for internet access at the hotel, it was good to Skype Dave.

In the US now

Hi guys...

I'm now in the US.

Its allegedly sbout 6 degrees c outside, not that it really feels it. Its not all that cold. I've spent most of this trip uncomfortably warm, I think everyone sets their thermostat too high (including planes).

I went (briefly) to the mall and all the chain stores, Borders, Starbucks, etc, are all exactly as you would expect. Went to the Apple Store, I think the iPod touch is going to win out, just because the thing has a warranty when I take it home. Le sigh...

I have too much energy because I'm jetlagged, but I'm going to crash any time now.

I'll post more (possibly photos) later.

7.11.07

Longwait


Longwait
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac
Qantas longwait ... Err, longreach.

4.11.07

04-11-07_1952.jpg


04-11-07_1952.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac.

Waiting on a tram, because my train got cancelled due to graffiti. At this point, i dont know whom are the bigger asshats, connex or vandals.

04-11-07_1903.jpg


04-11-07_1903.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac.

Looks like storm damage, on the waterfront near Flinders st station.

LAM - International edition


I'm packing for my trip to the east coast of the US in a few days.

30.10.07

30-10-07_1937.jpg


30-10-07_1937.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac.

Railway graffiti, near Camberwell.

12.9.07

This aint a scene, it's a GODDAMN ARMS RACE

The iPhone has been getting progressively unlocked over the past few days, as of now the current version iPhone has a click-and-drool GUI SIM unlocker -

http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/12/first-free-open-gui-iphone-unlock-software-tested-it-works/

Apple has decided that future firmware updates probably *will* break installed apps http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/12/apple-backtracks-updates-will-most-likely-break-3rd-party-iph/
after initially claiming today it was neutral toward third party software.

The arms race is on, people!

Its amazing what the hacking / open source community can do, with their concentration focused like a lazer beam on a shiny, shiny device with 'Property of AT&T' written on it. (The apple on the Tree of Knowledge probably looked a little tastier, but not much.


/I can has iPhone in Australia?

11.9.07

iPod Touch potentially useless as PDA

So, Engadget says no Calendar edit at all?

Wow, Apple products quite often have one stunning oversight, a glaring brainfart in a well thought out package (in the case of the iPhone, its the pricing curve).

But this, this is *special*.

However, my gut feeling is that something about the software wasn't ready for prime time and as it wasn't mission-critical, the Touch was going out anyway with the function disabled (fixable via future software update).The iPhone should have much the same software, but leaving references to the phone functionality in the Calendar app would be shoddy.

I guess in a month or three, the thing might be hackable or upgraded to the Palm/iPod replacement I wanted. Or maybe by then we'll hear something concrete on 3G. Who knows.

8.9.07

Touch!

This initially published blank. I'm not sure what the heck happened

I cancelled my impulsive iPod touch pre-order, as I changed my mind on getting one the second the arrived. Taking a risk on there being available stock, but I want to put a few more miles on my 5G Ultra Classic iPod first. Free wifi ala' Telstra and Nintendo DS might have sealed the deal of course :D
I can't wait until this thing is out and cracked like a Cadbury Creme Egg.

update

Hmm... too soon to tell for realsies, but a few features whose existence can't be confirmed or denied include Bluetooth, a Mail client (eh, webmail) , and being able to edit iCal (What?)

You could say, it's an iPod. Do you need this stuff on an iPod.

And you'd be right, these are things I can live without... but I can live without a new iPod too.

Its really making sense to hold off and wait and see how it all shakes out. I have a phone, a PDA, an iPod. There's no hurry.

27.8.07

27-08-07_1901.jpg


27-08-07_1901.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac.

Damaged but luminously beautiful, a lift display panel at Southern Cross station.

16.8.07

16-08-07_1934.jpg


16-08-07_1934.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac.

Giant clock-looking light installation at Fed Square

15.8.07

15-08-07_1854.jpg


15-08-07_1854.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac.

This machine gave me one of those horrid 'mother' drinks before i got a chance to punch in my selection. I guess its the only way coke can sell that shit...

27.7.07

Because I'm an INTJ

I hate run-on sentences.

I hate Comic Sans serif

I hate nattering debate on minutae when I CAME UP WITH A SOLUTION
FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO and it's a good one.

I hate that when the nattering goes on another hour or so, that I can't
actually kill you with my mind.

/"You should have listened to me" will be on my tombstone

27-07-07_0739.jpg


27-07-07_0739.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac.

Yeah, something is amiss here. (these sculptures belong to an optus ad campaign )

27-07-07_0738.jpg


27-07-07_0738.jpg
Originally uploaded by MidBlueMac.

Hmm that wasnt there yesterday ...

20.7.07

Bacon Krispy Kreme burger


Bacon Krispy Kreme burger
Originally uploaded by satanslaundromat.

I'd be tempted to try this... just to see if I survive

(Like most burgers, without the bun it's low carb!)

12.7.07