That Guy

You're at a large out door music festival watching a band. Someone behind you has a big stick and is hitting people's heads with it. You watch the stick hit 3 other people and then it hits you. You turn around and tell the guy to "stop being a dick head" and he replies "chill out out man it's a party, stop being so uptight" and then he continues to hit other people on the head.

I hate that guy.

I'm A...

"I'm a social media expert who blogs about social media, reads social media blogs, attends social media events and all my friends are in social media."

"I'm a designer who blogs about design, reads design blogs, attends design events, wears typography t-shirts and has design prints on my walls."

Looking at these two statements made me realize. There aren't enough blogger posters, T-shirts and other crap that designers seem to lap up like hungry hippos.

I need to make a 2010 twitter calendar, a "I Tweet therefor I Am" shirt and other ones relating to social media. Hopefully it's the same as throwing some Helvectica on a t-shirt and referencing a design term. Although I will say the KERN jacket is still kinda cool.

Cost of Living is all relative to your perspective

Someone told me that the price of living had gone up 5%. And according to the Australian Treasury it did

So the average cost of living in Australia went up 5%. I wonder how this would change now as Sept saw us at 95c USD and petrol at $1.45+ a liter. Now it's 94c p/L. Transportation went up 8.4% for that very reason. Same with housing up 7.3% with interest rates for home loans going as high as 9.4%. They are now 4.5 and tipped to go as low as 3% soon.

In fact there's lots of stats on the Treasury site to delve into. I wish they provided the raw data though.

The example of the price increase was "lamb chops are $xx now!" I forgot to ask if he did the shopping every week. Ervi likes to shop 3 days a week (annoying!) but I know the price of most things and I haven't noticed much of an increase. But 4.9% is hard to notice on the price of meat as you buy by price not weight.

I noticed it most when I went to McDonalds. My head was still in 1995 when I worked there and a Big Mac was $2.50. It's now $4.25!!

The only thing that is still the same price is the 30c cone. After 13 years the price of the simple cone is still 30c. That's awesome and probably shows you how much McDonald's mark up their prices. I remember being told a large drink was 17c inc straw, cup and lid cost. The large drink at the time sold for $1.80 or so. To make it even funnier when I worked "close" at Maccas they used to give us a free drink at the end of shift. Oh but no straw or lid. Just to save money. Fucking tight wads. I also heard managers setting the computer timer forward in the morning and back 5 min every day to reduce wages by 5-10min across the board

But back to lamb chops. I was told that the price had increased a lot and that was an indicator of how the cost of living had gone up. He's probably right but the lamb was from the butcher not Coles or Wollies. Their aggressive pricing has pushed the price of food down. Look at 2L of milk. It's cheaper than it used to be as Cole and Wollies fight the little guys. if I buy my milk just from the corner store I'm screwed though it's $4.20 in some places.

Take pizza for instance. I can say the cost of pizza is very expensive. It's around $20+ for a pizza in Glebe. But that's gourmet, mmm lamb and baby spinach from E Lounge. I had a Dominos pizza the other day that was $6.50 pick up! $6.50! From what I remember back in high school this was the same price if not more expensive back then.

So my counter argument is that yes prices have gone up but so have people's salaries and attitudes to money.

The more you earn the more you spend.

I know people who live with their parents that say they don't have enough cash. I know people who live by the beach and complain about high rent. No matter what the persons predicament some people will always have problems with money no matter how much they earn.

It's all about perspective if your perspective changes (larger salary) you lose the perspective of someone with a lesser salary.

The secret is to keep the same perspective and with that sacrifice occasionally.

That's a weird concept for some people who have always got what they wanted. Go go without. To want something and then think no I don't need.

I'm over hearing people complain about having no money but they do little to save or curb their spending. "It sucks having no money... I can hardly afford to get my brand new car washed weekly"

I've also learnt to never talk to people directly about this topic. People love money but friends and money don't mix.

Oh and I don't mean living like this guy in 2009. hehe that's a little too extreme!

Gen Y in the Workplace

I read this post on Gen Y in the workplace. I feel like this was written so anyone who is Gen Y will say "oh yeah that's how I feel" and those who aren't Gen Y can say "I'm not gen Y but that's how I feel".

It's a feel good piece that makes you feel empowered to be a gen Y or want to be. It would have been nice to have a balanced article with negatives as well as positives for being Gen Y but again this was a fluff piece so it was all positive.

I saw someone speak last year about Gen Y in the workplace and he pretty much said the same thing but had examples and personal experience to draw off rather than sweeping statements of BS.

This post also showed me that you don't need any new ideas for posts you just need to summarise what peopel already know. I think people like reading what they already know (or what is common sense) as a way to feel comfortable. It's like writing an article on how Twitter is useful, or blogging can help your career or ways to save money in the economic downturn (hint it's to spend less). Most of these types of articles have about 10% original thought and the rest is just blah from somewhere else or common sense.

I like articles that give you insight or a new perspective. This post about the greet card industry was interesting to me but it might be I'm a wanna be anthropologist.

So in an effort to not be a hypocrite I'll try to only post original and thought proviking posts from now on. I do enjoy having a blog that is not read by many people though as I feel I can at least be a little more personal and not have to feel pressured to perform with each post.

Vegetarian vs Non Drinkers

I think in Australia it is much easier to be a vegetarian (we love our meat) than it is a non drinker (we love our beer more).

I have been a non drinker (i dont drink alcohol) since I left highschool. Now I have been drunk twice since then at random occasions but those were purely for the enjoyment of those around me. It was my party trick :)

But here I'll role play two conversations and you'll get my point why it's easier to be a vegetarian than a non drinker.

Vegetarian at a BBQ:
Person: "Hey would you like a sausage?"
Vego: "No thanks I'm a vegetarian"
Person:"Not even chicken?"
Vego: "Nope, fish as well. I eat eggs though"
Person: "Oh Ok. There's vegie patties and a selection of salads"
Vego: "Ok thanks"

Non Drinker at a BBQ:
Person: "Hey you want a beer?"
Non Drinker: "No thanks I don't drink"
Person: "What, C'mon you have a drinking problem?"
Non Drinker: "No I just don't drink. I prefer a fruit juice over beer anyday"
Person: "Everyone has a drink at a BBQ. Just have a beer"
Non Drinker: "Nah it's cool I'll just have a non alcoholic drink"
Person: "have you ever had alcohol?
Non Drinker (in my case yes but others haven't): "Yeah I got pissed all the time in high scool, threw up, pissed on cars, nearly got run over, stolen letterboxes, pashed the wrong girl, missed assignments. But now I don't feel the need"
Person: "Oh well we have alcopops and those drinks too for the girls. Just have one of those"
Non Drinker: "No sorry I just don't drink alcohol. Is there non alcholic drinks?
Person: Umm..... there's tonic water but it's in the back fridge around the side"
Non Drinker: "Ok thanks"

I've cut down the conversation for the non drinker as the conversations usually got for longer. My new excuse is that I'm Muslim (well almost) but this starts an even longer conversation thread and sometimes you just want a dam OJ and not a "my life story"

My reason for not drinking comes from when I left the Gold Coast to come to Sydney to study I had no money at all. Also my previous girlfriend didn't drink either (Buddhist) so it was easy to stop. And after 2 years of studying with no social life in a new city I had no reason to take up drinking once I started working. My new (and current girlfriend) didn't drink either (Muslim) so it was an easy progression. They money I saved was also good too. I can only consume 2-3 OJ's a a drinks night at the pub before feeling like a vitamin C tablet.

Friday night drinks at the office sometimes annoy me as we'll get 2 cartons of beer in and they'll be passed around staff. No one bothers (90% of the time) to get an OJ or a Lemon Lift or hell even a Mountain Dew (which I actually like). Even with another non drinker (Buddhist) in the office it was "drinker blindness/ignorance". Even after mentioning it a few times it was always an afterthought.

I tried to change this buy pre-purchasing non alcoholic drinks for the "non drinkers" but they just got consumed quickly dby the drinkers too when the beers ran out and then not ordered again. So I gave up and now just put a frumpy face on in my corner with my glass of filtered water :) hehe actually now I'm just grateful when there is something non beer.

Worse is industry functions where there is nothign non alcoholic. I've been a few award shows and tonic water was my only option. Not even a Coke (which I also dont like).

I'm also glad there are places like Passion Flower or San Churro or heck even Starbucks which offer an atmosphere where you can enjoy a chat without drinking. I guess drinking culture in Australia is so ingrained (worse in the UK) that people forget that not everyone drinks or think that the pub is the only place to go.

Some friends have started "not drinking" for short bursts of time and it's funny how they comment after a big night out. "Everyone was being a dickhead" seems to be a usual response or "how sloppy did XXXX get, oh dear". Once the veil is removed you realise that getting pissed isn't the top tier of enlightenment and that you can actually have fun and enjoy a chat without getting tipsy.

I need to get my licence renewed so I can at least be the designated driver again :)

Final thought: At your next party/BBQ/function spare a though for those that don't drink and offer a wide selection of non alcoholic drinks. None of that Spring valley shitty OJ. Get fresh stuff as you wouldn't crack open the XXXX at a party so don't get the equivalent of that for non drinkers. So in the same way you check if there are vegetarians also check if there is non drinkers.

Nothing Personal

"Nothing personal but you're a fuckwit" Does that make sense?

It's impossible not to take things personally even in business. I have found it very hard not to take comments about Soap as a personal attack. In the same way I take praise of Soap to be a personal praise. Good with the bad.

What I have had to learn is that everybody has their best interest in mind. Meaning they look out for Numero Uno. Which is funny as with Soap I've always looked out for the best interest of the "clan" and then felt cheated/insulted when it's not reciprocated. Cheated or insulted is the wrong word but I take it personally when I shouldn't.

It would be much easier to survive in the this world being a cunt. I think I read a title of a book which I cant find now as "How to be a success by not giving a shit" which makes sense as worrying about how people feel all the time slows you down. Not giving a shit is what allows CEO's to fire 5,000 people and keep a company in the red (or help maintain their crazy salary)

While I think very analytical I always have a very loud empathetic voice inside my head. I'd love to try my hand at survivor as I'm usually good at sensing that someone isn;t at ease with a situation. Although I'm not the best at resolving it :)

I've got no real point to the post but I'm thinking of trailing a litlte more "not giving a shit" than "giving a shit" and see if that changes my day to day. Because when you give all you can and don;t receive much back you start to feel like you're being taken advantage of. And in the end you can always stand behind the "nothing personal it's just business" shield which indemnifies you from any wrong doing.

I'm just glad I'm not a CEO or a leader of a small country (same thing yeah) where my decisions impact on hundreds ot thousands of people. I don't think I could live with that responsibility or guilt and use the "nothing personal" shield.

Popularity can kill you

My funny Halloween costume blog finally went viral yesterday with a heap of traffic coming from all over the world. Only problem. I was on a shared server and basically gave that a right royal ass rogering. So there was some late night shifts to another server. Which I also bend over :( So then it was moved to another server and my includes are all screwed which meant no navigation, no ads and no tracking.

This is a site I usually spend 3 hrs a week tending to now I've spent 6 hrs just fussing about with no good solution. The site has also been moved from my blog server to a virgin server so I cant update it until I export my database and templates and install Moveable Type. Yay there's half a day gone. And all 2 days before Halloween. After this i was expecting not to have to touch it much at all.

So make sure that if you are doing a project which has the potential to go nuts (50,000 people in a few hours) then make sure you're host is ready.

Running a big blog is like politics

I copped some negative feedback from readers of Bannerblog for trying to turn off comments for one entry, check it out here. Disqus didnt work and comments were left on (i didnt check) and then it started a debate.

I feel like a local mayor who tried to do something for the community and got his ass handed back to him by the vocal minority.

Funny no one cared I took on a Sponsor and altered the site nav but I try and turn off comments for one banner and they get their knickers in a not.

iPod Touch

I got an iPod touch cheap from a friend and have used it for the weekend. I havent actually used it as an iPod yet just playing with it. There's a couple of things I found annoying

1: I imported a whole bunch of photos into it but it seems to have resized them all to fit on the iPod screen. Which means larger images are downsized with no way to zoom in to see detail.

2: I can't use the iPod as a HD?! I need to get a seperare app to get this to work

3: I can't get Gmail to work?

4: There's no FREE tab in the App store? You have to search for free which is now littered with costly and useless apps.

5: No flash player? You can watch Youtube though so an FLV player is fine but no Flash player.

On the upside I did find that I can sync with my Outlook calendar and contacts which is a huge advantage. I now can check my email where ever there is a WIFI hotspot which is handy

So you think you can dance 2007 tour Sydney

I had the displeasure of seeing the So you think you can dance 2007 tour in Sydney yesterday. This is part of having a girlfriend obsessed with the show.

If you are wondering wether to spend your $60 a ticket ($80 if you go to the night show) then think again. It's a waste of money. The same $60 would get you a ticket to JT or a big name band that actually cares about what kind of show they are putitng on. Here on SYTYCD Tour you get a tiny stage, shitty light show, the same dances you've seen on TV (two new ones though) and a heap of TV montages to fill up the time.

The script was written by a Play School's head writer and the light show was a preset piece of poo.

The 35 minute intermission was way to long and invoilved just 4 Optus ads on the big screen.

When the dancers were on stage you are treated to graphics that bare little resemblence to the music or dance. It must have been tooo expensive to hire a cameraman.

This is a money making endevour and a waste of money for most little girls who like the show.

If the tickets were $20 I can understand but even then this was a trial on how cheaply can you put on a show.

So in summery if you like the show then just watch it again with all your friends. If you want to get a glimpse of a guy with his shirt off then look up gay porn and cover up the rude bits. Then spend you're $60 on something more worthwhile. Or in reality let your parents save the money.

The Problem with Blogs

One problem with having a blog that your friends and family read (even if occasionally) is you are unable to complain about them. You almost need to start an anonomyous blog just to vent your frustrations and complaints.

Same goes for anything personal. I can hardly blog about a my sex life, fantasies, silly ambitions, bowel problems or anything of a personal nature without both my friends saying "TOO MUCH INFO" or getting in trouble by my girlfriend (hey Ervi).

You end up self censoring yourself and just linking to funny Youtube videos.

I wonder if the more celeb bloggers have their own "secret blog" as you never saw Doogie Howser talking about that wet dream he had or that he cracked a boner at the wrong time as he knew the camera was behind me. Once people know who you are it all becomes this G rated boring world.

Nutri Grain Mini Speakers = Pile of Shit

We got some Nutrii-Grain bars in our office and when I opened the pack I noticed we won a "mini speaker".

What a weird promo item i thought. It says for us with portable Mp3 players and laptops. Weird don't laptops have speakers? This must be pretty cool to replace your laptop speaker.

I tested it out and you can't hear shit. And what you can hear is muffled and distorted. I crank the volume on my laptop or Ipod and I can just hear it.

What a waste of time. What a waste of potential. Did Kellogs get a call from a Chinese distrubutor who had thousands of these to flog off and they just said yes?

I'll post a video of it in actionas it's truley the worst promo item Ive seen since the Yahoo! beach tent.

Bus Seat A-Hole

I got on the bus during the Easter break and sat down near the back. Only to find the person on the window seat was sitting at a 45 degree angle. I tapped his legs and asked him to move them and he said he couldn't fit as he's too tall.

The guy looked no taller then me and was slouching so I said just sit up. He then made a shitty effort and didn't move at all. I remarked that it was a shitty effort on his behalf and he just said "get over it" "oh and happy Easter."

So now I'm the bad guy? and a cranky Easter Scrooge for wanting to sit on at least half the seat.

This was followed up by two groups of loud talkers (the couple that decide to commentate the movie to each over and don't even bother turning their heads to speak) behind me in the cinemas while watching 300. After telling the first group to shut the fuck up I lost all will power to tell the second group. Mostly out of fear of being called the Easter Scrooge again and the fact I had nothing to throw at them. I almost tossed Ervi's sandles but reisited.

I've had the same thing at work with Rob. We'd be in a meeting and he'd tap the chair or table with his foot. I'd ask him to stop, then 5 min later he does it again. I ask to stop. The third time I just get annoyed at him. Then I feel like a dickhead then I'm confused and embarresed for the rest of the day. Maybe its my tact (or lack of) or maybe I'm just overally sensative to shit like that.

So I guess the morel of my story is I should have come up with a good retort to his "oh and happy Easter" comment but I couldn't and that's what probably hurt the most :)

People on Ebay are Idiots

How is anyone meant to get a bargain on second hand goods when idiots pay more than retail on Ebay? It makes no sense.

Take thisMr Potatohead auction that just went through. My big was $20, if you factor in delivery I would have saved maybe $5, but some idiot paid $105!!!

Either they put the wrong amount in or have no concept of money.

Thats 3x retail prices!

Free Hugs

I saw a friend from my old school giving out free hugs in a busy city mall. I'd say she wanted the attention more than she actually wanted to make people happy by giving out a "free hug".

FUCK + STICK

Why do some people make it their duty to be a pain in the ass?

We're dealing with one guy who is creating a site for our of our clients and a simple request for FTP access to the server has been met with nothing but delays.

Rather than set up a username and pass for the one folder we need access to, he has decided that that would be "insecure and therefore unprofessional" and gives a week turnaround to create a "SFTP or SCP chroot jail." What ever the fuck that shit is.

These are the type of guys who got wedgies at Highschool and now will hold that pain for the rest of their life. Making everyone else feel the pain they experienced.

I never gave or received wedgies at Highscool so why do I have to deal with idiots like this guy?

This guy has a baseball bat worth of karma coming his way.

Patience

I went to Valentines dinner (first time in 7 years sorry Erv) and ended up waiting 1.40 min for my meal. Normaly I annoy the waiter if longer than 30 min but I thought I'd be patient and also I had filled up on my potatoes in spicey sause tapas entree. But as it neared 9pm, after arriving at 7, I had enough.

In the end the meal wasn't that good which has lead me to create a strict guidline for resturants.

1: Always order the resturant specialty. ie dont go to a Spanish place and order steak. Order Tapas. Only order steaks from Steak Houses.
2: Always hassle the staff if you meal is longer then 30 minutes being made.
3: Don't fill up on bread

Fuck You Steve Gunnels!!

Like a kick in the nuts* my web host, Steve Gunnels, unplugged all his servers and disappeared. Leaving me with no backup of my data and no legal access to my files which were ultimately hosted on theplanet.com.

The Planet kept telling me due to their privacy policy I couldn't access a backup of my files. Even though i had created these files their policy states they I'm not the owner, their customer is. Even if this customer has acted fraudulently or is unable to be contacted I cannot access the my files.

So anyone out there DO NOT host through a reseller. Go right to the source otherwise a beef with the reseller could mean all your data gone and no legal right to access your files.

On a positive note I didn't actually get kicked in the nuts which should help me spread my seed later in life. And I do have a backup of my blog data (no happy snaps) to October 2004 so I only lost 1 year not 5. So hears to a fresh start.

Any missing images from previous posts I will try and find and re-upload.

*I say like a kick in the nuts as they usually come by surprise and make you feel sick on top of hurting like a bastard.

I threw up

I threw up twice today, which brings my 2004 total of chunk blowing to 2. In 2003 3 i think I threw up 3 times so it's already looking like a big year in vomit, compared to last.

The worst thing is I had already had a shower before I threw up. Which sucks as it's good to have a shower after being sick. Anyway I still had some crust bile on my chin half way through the day. Lucky the lift at our office had a mirror.

Buying Headphones

Buying headphones is very confusing and hard. I reality you need 4 sets of headphones.

1: Work Set (Noise Reducing) : When the office is noisy you pop these closed cans on and all the noise is gone. Good for those tight deadlines. Although when the phone rings next to you you stare at the computer screen in ignorant bliss.

2: Work Set (Open): Some cans that let you enjoy your music while still being able to answer questions of colleges and pass the stapler if needed.

3: On the Go: Cans for using your IPOD on the train. Not to big, so you don't look like a tool, and they can easily fit into your bag.

4: Home Base Set: Cans for listening to the stereo/DVD at home on the Bean Bag with a bag of lollies and a drink.

You also can't buy headphones online without first trying them. They may not fit your big ass ears and you'll forever be annoying by that bit of plastic that scrapes your ear every time you take them off. Or you ears cook like little muffins on the side of your head. Either way you have to test them out.

To make it all harder still, companies love to spin BS on the specs of headphones, 40 MM drivers, 12-50 khtz, etc etc. What the fruit does it mean? I don't know. And everyone has their favorite brands. I went with Sony cause they were the only ons I could try on and they fitted well.

Client Briefs

Here is a few outlines of the clients briefs you seem to get a fair bit in the web design industry.

1: We want a viral game

2: We want a promotion that's viral and uses SMS

3: We want something creative and cool

4: We want something like that thing you did for this client last year

5: We want something that will win awards

6: We want a website, how much?

Im not bitching as all those requests mean the opportunity to make money and do a good job i just found it funny how ofthen these requests come up. So far we havent created a game like the penguin and yeti game. As that's just pure gold. We did however create Bogan Surf which seems pretty popular around the world. Especially in Sth Korea

Pizza Toppings

I ignorantly ordered a chicken schnitzel pizza from Pizza Hut yesterday.
The little schnitzel finger stuck into the middle of each piece with it's brownish/grey meat inside was not what I was expecting at all. In fact I didn't even think through the toppings that well at all. I just imagined something nice.

Now I know to stick to the simple pizzas and leave the steak & chips or seafood pizza's to adventurous people.

Also Pizza Huts Troppo Veg with corn??! I guess it still tasted better than Eagle Boys which make the worst pizza in Australia.

Pizza ratings for Australia for me are:
1: Independent Gourmet Pizza Places
2: Dominos
3: Pizza Haven/Pizza Hut
4: Home Made Pizzas
5: Frozen Pizzas from Supermarket
6: No Frills Frozen Pizza from Supermarket
7: Bread with Tomato Sauce
8: Go hungry, eat nothing
7: Eagle Boys Pizza

Debt

I've never been in debt, i only just got a credit card last month, so I don't know how I would react to owing a lot of money to a bank. Our family never had much money when I was growing up. We weren't poor at all it just seemed we never went crazy with buying stuff. We also lived in housing commission on the Gold Coast in a place called Nerang. And before that in a mobile home/caravan park. So i think my growing up had impact on how I spend money now. I always feel I have to save and feel guilty buying things. It might also explain my terrible fashion sense. Gold Coast Caravan parks aren't exactly fashion central.

I have a friend in debt i'm not sure how much he owes, but it seems enough to stress him out all the time. Not only this he didn't do his tax for a few years and now has to possibly be fined for not completing the BAS statements and stuff.

But I think if I was in debt I'd try everything I could to get rid of it fast. Especially if it was causing me stress. My friend owns a nice car, rent's a nice apartment but doesn't see that to get rid of debt it's not a matter of earning more money but changing the way you live, your money habits. Again I don't know the particulars of this problem so I can only see one side of this story.

The hard thing is talking to your friend about it. You can't offer much advice when you have never been in that situation and also debt is very personal. What someone does with their money is their own business. You can't say "hey mate why not sell your car and move to a cheap apartment or move home with your parents", cause it's none of your business. So you can't do much but hope they get through it. But it painful when your friend seems so sad about money.

Other really personal stuff like buying Christmas presents. I would have thought this year he'd say to his family that he's trying to fix his debt and he'll just send cards or something. And being family they will understand. But they still all went and got each other gift's. I mean that's none of my fucking business but it just means the debt is prolonged a little longer just for a holiday.

So if you have a friend in debt then try and support them but it's hard to not seem like a nosey prick. And if you have a family member in debt then by all means be nosey and tell the person to pull their finger out.

Potatoe

Why doesnt my site work anymore :)

948

This is a 948th post on this site and i do believe I have no readers to the site any more.

What happened I was asked? Could be the fact my spelling is getting worse. Or the fact I dont post very often. I havent really updated the site for a year or that i'm pretty boring and peopel realised this.

Does anyone still read this site regulary? Why not comment below and give me a reason to update more regulary. Anyone??? hehe

I have so many photos I need to add, new desktops, new right wings and a couple of merrimac moments.

Also would like to regig the site so it's a little more streamlined and add a new section.

I think the blog sites I visit regulary always have good links and interesting stories. Right now I have neither. I better pull my finger out I think :)

Broken DVD Player

My DVD player remote would not work properly today. This happened earlier in the week but fixed itself as things seem to. Most of the buttons work just the power and navigation buttons don't. What to do.

Well i packed up the DVD player and trained it back to the city. I showed the guy there whats was wrong. he looked puzzled then went to get a new remote to see if that was the problem.

Well after 5 minutes he told me that I had set my remote in TV mode. Dont by pressing the TV button just under the eject button. This would make the remote into a TV remote if i had an LG TV (which I dont). By simply pressing the DVD button it puts the remnote back in DVD mode.

Yay. We laughed about it but i suspect most of the laughing was done once i left the store.

The troubleshooting guide int he booklet didn't help my problem and that fact the TV mode only works if you have an LG TV is silly. An almost usless function.

Oh i also relised that the guy who sold me the DVD over charged me. I haggled him down on the price only to be charged the ticket price. I admit defeat by not checking the price on the docket. Silly me. 2 points Bing Lee

Code v Design

As someone who earns a living by coding in flash i have a large volume of pre built code from sites, games, screensavers and various presentations already built.

I am also constantly asked by friends and others for bits of that code for their work. Most of the time paid work. "Hey can i have that nav thing you did", or "hey you know the scroller can i get the code to work on my site".

Now normally i'm cool with this as it's helping out a friend and they woudl do the same but after doing soemthinkign i realised that this sint the same when it comes to design. Why is my flash code seen a common property but anything else is hands off.

If i asked "hey can i use that logo you did last year for this company i'm doing the ID for. I just need to change it a little... that cool" people would say fuck off. So why different for code. I guess it's not seen as being designed.

When i think more about it they are two different things and a logo is alot different to a bouncey nav.

Anyway still feels wierd that what i do fpr a living and what ive been paid to do is seen as common property.

CEO Pay

What do people do when you earn over $200,000 a year. Every month would be like christmas.

Even if the company you run is going down the shitter, it seems the CEO is the last to get the chop. Probably because he/she is running the show.

I guess income tax is a bitch. 200k equals over 70k in income tax. Poor bastards but luckily high prixed lawyers can fix that. Or the property they buy means their expenses are so high they dont pay any.

So next time you see your CEO punch him in the nuts or twist her nipples. Or even better steal their wallet. They wont notice a thing. Also don't feel bad about stealing company property or pretendting your work laptop was stolen.

Don't like the Skin

I saw this old lady on the train in fornt of me eating apple. Now theres nothign wrong with that. But then after each bite she spat the peel into a clear plastic bag.

Chomp, munch munch munch, spit
Chomp, munch munch munch, spit

She didnt seem to avoid the peel either. Purposly eating and spitting. Im not sure of where the practice comes form but I only spit if in dire need. But everywhere I look in Sydney I'm surrounded by people spitting. on the trains, waiting of the bus.

Not onto grass or in a bin but pretty much evetywhere. I guess it's the equivilent of dropping your cigerette but where ever you please. What do you say to someone that has just hocked a piece of snot next to you? pick it up? Rub his/her nose into it.

Font Fun

Being the ULTRA OSX nerd i am i decided to make my OS faster by removing the asian fonts and all those other unused fonts from the 3 font folders in my system. In theory inproving the speed considerably.

What i did was stuff my system so it wouldnt boot.

The most advanced operating system doesnt work without a few fonts.

bahh

i have since learnt my lesson.

Contractors

One reason why you should never pay a contractor as soon as the work is done is that it's only after 10 days you will find anythign wrong that needs changing.

A contractor that still wants to get paid is more likely to do the work quicker than one who hasn't recived their money.

I still think 50% - 50% is the best way to work.

50% at that start and 50% within 30 days of delivery.

This way the contractor knows you are serious. Has cash to keep them happy and the company still has soem control over work getting done in time and any unforseen changes.

S+M laptop

I've noticed with ever increasing awareness that my laptop has a current running through it now. After dropping it I must have squashed two metal parts toether. the result being that when it is plugged into the wall i get slight electric/static shocks form the metal.

Not being insured (warranty doesn't have a butter fingers clause) I visited my local apple centre and asked for a repair quote. It will cost over $1500 to replace the panels, just panels!!! no ram, no super important logic board, just metal panels!!!. If it's $1500 for just a few panels it means that the inside of the Apple is worth nothing. Build your own case and save heaps :)

Anyway I must doing something as now when I write this I fell my fillings tingling

I was thinking of marketing this laptop as a S+M laptop. Where you chat and get shocked at the same time.

Dropped Laptop

Like crashing a car into a pole, breaking your arm or burning your genitals wth hot coffee. Dropping your laptop is really fucking annoying.

Luckily everything still works in mine it just looks minda shitty.

Bastard!!

Doh

Insert winge here:

$550 to fix the scratch on the rental cars bumper. WTF
They charged my credit card twice. WTF

Neighbours above me don't seem to understand (or know of) the 5pm rule of work on units. Drilling at 9pm isn't kosher.

Geez it's cold :)

56k is crap

18 days in new place and still surrounded by boxes

Table tennis table seems to be broken a little ( i think it heard the stuff I wrote about it)

$6 montly bank fee!!!!!

Ahh feel better now.

WE ROCK!!!

The people living above me were jumping up and down and playing music at 2am. So i deceided to ask them to turn it down. I went up and realised it was the people 2 levels above me. I felt sorry for the people 1 level abpve me.

I knocked onthe door and waited only to hear the last bit of a song. Then I heard excited voices say "WE ROCK!!! You got any Alice Copper" then they opened the door. It's funny seeing old people shitfaced.

I believe that these may be the same people contactly hammering above me. I don't mind during the day but at 8.30-11.30 on a Saturday morning its really annoying. I guess they were building a stage for the great concert they had last night.

Add this to the trains that go past every day and this place is very noisy. It is darker at night and i liek the fact I can't see anything when I turn out the light as opposed to the previous unit we were in where the neon, fast food signs lit up our living room.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

It seems having a migaine impacts on your driving skills as much as being drunk. I badly scratched the rental car I had last night while trying to get into garage.

I can't find the TV cables so I missed my weekly dose of Malcom in the Middle, Mr Hell Show, South Park, Sex and the City and Six Feet Under.

Other good news is that The Osbournes is coming to Channel 10. In the USA you have to have MTV to see it. You also need HBO to see Six Feet Under and Sapronos. But all free in Australia. Suddenly the HCF chick in the ads is more appealing as I know her bog eyes are paying for my free TV shows

Beep Beep

Everytime I wait for the bus I wish that I had a car so I could drive where ever I want. But in reality what I want is someone to drive me around.

I hired a car today (to assist the move) and ended up almost crying cause I was going around in circles making wrong turns and generally getting lost.

When you walk you just face on direction and bam!, your off. Driving through the city is different as you think your going the right way then suddenly you've taken an exit and are on the Harbour Bridge?!?!?!?!

I wish I had P plates to excuss my aimless driving

Yay to public transport!!!!!

Cafe City

Cafe City (an italian cafe on Parramatta Road) is right behind my house. And one day it closed down without warning. It closed so fast they still had the gelati in the fridge for 3 weeks. It just sites there with a "closed until further notice" sign on it. I think the tell tale sign they were going under was when they stopped serving the Arribiata. Cutting back on the menu is a sure sign

Whats wierd though is that they have been closed down for almost 2 mths now but they are still advertising in Cinemas. Do you order cinema ads that far ahead??

Also whats with the the Bronte Gormet Tongues cinema advertising????. MMMM people are sitting there eating popcorn and lollies and suddenly they are meant to be tempted with Tongues in Jelly.

Cheap

Do you buy the 59c bar of soap and get a rash or the $1.99 Soap and feel clean?

Doesn't matter how much you try to tell people that it's not a price issue but a quality issue most people would use the 59c soap.

These are the same people who buy the cheap chinese food in the food court near closing time and wonder how they ever got such a bargin.