BASH PR0MPT

E 'Segui Venerdì in Australia, e normalmente ho appena accettare le raccomandazioni del Randoms da seguire, ma ho pensato che avrei dovuto cercare di sottolineare alcuni utenti ogni settimana, che ho attivamente leggere, che non cercare di vendere qualche truffa MLM cazzo di marketing, e che non sono noiose. Farò presente in nessun ordine particolare, quindi non penso che io amo qualcuno di voi più rispetto agli altri. Se non si fanno il taglio, nag me in DM, o meglio ancora corrompere me con voti in seno al Awards Shorty.

Parlando di Shorty Awards, seguire le persone che hanno gettato me voti, e votare per me inavvertitamente ottenere una esposizione di questo post a http://shortyawards.com/bashpr0mpt dove sono in nomination per il # humor, # weird, # gioco, # design, # celebrità, e altre cose casuali. Sono quasi venti in alto per la maggior parte anche le categorie, in modo da votare per me e io trovare un modo per compensare voi, reni e firstborns sono opzioni. Anche seguire la gente che vota per me, seguono indietro e sono i veri tipi di Twitter attivi che hanno catturato la mia attenzione. :)

Quindi, ecco il colpo PR0MPT # FF breve (molto breve) lista di questa settimana. E ricordate, non so la metà di voi mezzo così come vorrei e mi piace meno della metà di voi mezzo così come ti meriti!

Interessati i miei cari, racconti, film, libri, studi sui media, la filantropia, e lavorare con NPO di rafforzare la nostra economia sociale <- Bleeding Heart di posti di lavoro che fa opere di carità troppo simile a me!

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E 'stagione calcistica quindi aspettatevi un sacco di tweets dom / lun. Siete stati avvertiti! <- Grande per appassionati di sport negli Stati Uniti? : P

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It's all about me ... <- tizio alto.

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L'investigatore del paranormale, video Avid-gamer, Computer Tech, 3D Artist <- Un altro tizio assolutamente top!

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Amante di tutte le cose fitness-Cert TKB Instructor & Bootcamp Leader, entreprenuer gestione fitness e mentore di fitness! <- Great quando hai bisogno di qualcuno a dirti per indurire il cazzo. :)

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Bibliofilo, segretamente goth, amante dei film, pensa guyliner è caldo, ama le drag queen, odia autotweeters, culturale viaggiatore sperimentale. <- Mofo Crazy che hanno iniziato la mia mania Shorty nomination all'Oscar. ;)

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Twits, blog e consulta sui mezzi di comunicazione sociale può essere integrato in programmi di marketing. Fondatore di www.theduffyagency.com un media-agenzia pubblicitaria agnostico. <- In caso di noleggio a me di aprire il suo ufficio australiano. : P

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NAZIONALE Recording Artist cantante / compositore, chitarrista, produttore di video, creatore del TWITTER SONG SONG e TARP DEVE VEDERE VIDEO ... CD e download disponibili <- Dude. FOLLOW. He rocks.

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Gadget Love, Tech, Fotografia e vita! Fare Geek Chic! <- Mad giocatore babe hot! 'Nuff said.

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Fashionista / Techie chi è appassionato di cibo, vino, dolci, reality show e Perez Hilton. L'amore per incontrare nuove persone. Venite a divertirvi con me. <- Anche se le piace l'Sook più sul web che è abbastanza esperti!

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Sai, se potessi parlare con la gente di cui sopra nel contribuire a un blog centralizzata, credo che mi abbia inavvertitamente fatto il mio sito preferito. Sai, forse dovrei farlo? :) DM me, se siete persone interessate.

Oh, e ricordate, VOTE FOR ME e ricevi Shoutouts alla mia lista enorme di tweeps per essere impressionante. Dovrebbe aiutare le persone con diminuzione elenchi seguace troppo! ;)

Con il 2009 ormai e veramente oltre, i nostri occhi devono necessariamente rivolgersi a 2010. Nel famoso romanzo di Arthur C. Clarke, questo è stato l'anno in cui i russi e gli americani unite su un universo ridefinire la missione di scoprire i segreti della realtà.

Nel mondo reale, ci sarà probabilmente un po 'più veloce iPhone. Tutto sommato, che chiameremo un pareggio.

Ma cos'altro possiamo aspettarci? Abbiamo tirato fuori la sfera di cristallo (nella consapevolezza che nessuno mai, mai fastidio guardare indietro al vecchio lavoro futurologi ') per fornire agli utenti questa anteprima esclusiva dei mesi a venire. È la scienza!

Gennaio: Windows 8 è rilasciata, diversi anni prima del previsto. Le nuove caratteristiche includono una schermata di aggiornamento del titolo, tre nuovi pezzi di carta da parati, e una versione di Prato fiorito con il xyzzy cheat code torna a.

Contatori Apple attraverso il rilascio di un CD vuoto, come la prossima versione di OS X, che descrive come 'la bomba atomica nella nostra guerra contro bloat'.

Febbraio: Rupert Murdoch dà su internet con disgusto, citando la pirateria diffusa e l'impossibilità di vendere on-line contenuti come le principali ragioni.

Come un ultimo atto di vendetta, si rilascia il primo copia cartacea del web. 'Taste of your own medicina sanguinosa,' dice la comunità dei pirati, che mette subito sulla scansione in per i siti torrent.

Marzo: ricavi pubblicitari in calo, infine forzare il cambiamento in materia di servizi web. In tutto il mondo, milionari online ex sono visti Holding lettura dei segni disperati di cartone 'Host Foto For Food'.

Aprile: Google lancia Chrome OS, un sistema Linux basato su sistema operativo progettato per sfruttare al meglio quel che resta di Web Economy. Gli utenti non sono del tutto spazzato via da essa, citando le sue caratteristiche limitate e i vantaggi inerenti al software scaricabile on-line su applicazioni JavaScript, soprattutto a fronte di apocalisse maggio zombie.

Giugno: a maggio ha ufficialmente dichiarato The Month Non parliamo mai di nuovo, il mondo torna alle cose importanti: la brand-new iPhone. Le nuove caratteristiche includono uno schermo Diamond per evitare di graffiare, uno mappe aggiornate un'applicazione che ti dice dove stai andando, prima hai ancora deciso, e un sintonizzatore FM.

Preoccupati che il mercato potrebbe essere trovato troppo saturi, Steve Jobs permette solo ad essere costruita. Apple fanboys felicemente in fila per avere la possibilità di acquistare una foto di lui con essa.

Luglio: Hollywood chiude finalmente il famigerato buco 'di riferimento'. I precedenti tentativi a sventare 'se riesci a vederlo, potete copiarlo' sono stati dichiarati falliti a causa di volte a metà sbagliata della frase. Barriere metalliche giganti sono costruiti di fronte a ogni schermo cinematografico.

Spettatori commento che, mentre ciò non toglie l'esperienza, è sempre meglio che stare in Transformers 2. Pirati continuano a rippare DVD screener Oscar come prima.

Agosto: prima condanna per i Rage Skype accolta. Il giudice dice che mentre lui apprezza il nuovo collegio frustrazione studente Phillip Carmichael costruito dopo aver ascoltato i suoi genitori dicendo: 'Can you hear me? È questo che passa? ' per due ore, saltando di fatto in una macchina, sette ore di guida in tutto il paese e l'assassinio come hanno continuato scimmiottare la questione nei loro microfoni a buon mercato è stato un po 'troppo.

Settembre: Intel combatte contro AMD più recenti così-small-you-can-only-see-it-in-a-chip microscopio mediante la costruzione di uno così piccolo, non si può fare neanche quello. Almeno, questo è quello che essa sostiene. AMD è invitato a dimostrare che sta mentendo.

Ottobre: infuria scandalo per l'industria grafica, come il primo attore completamente digitale si rivela essere semplicemente un essere umano profondamente convincente.

Con la sua pelle di plastica, gli occhi morti e nessuna traccia della personalità, a base di carne triste marionetta Virtual Actor-One confessa di aver pensato ufficialmente cambiando il suo nome sarebbe stato il modo migliore per trovare lavoro in un sempre più in tecnologia come Hollywood. Attore-One ruoli ultimi comprendono la terza guardia sulla destra in Tron e il T-Rex da Jurassic Park.

Novembre: Gli scienziati del CERN finalmente riescono a creare l'elusiva particella 'Dio' nel Large Hadron Collider. Lotta rompe subito fuori su ciò che dovrebbe essere chiamato, come dovrebbe essere studiato e come i tecnici si consiglia un abbigliamento a farlo. Per fortuna, la comunità si trova ben presto un modo per risolvere le varie questioni con soddisfazione di tutti. "Se solo avessimo avuto Halo 3 Deathmatch durante le Crociate", sospira il papa.

Dicembre: Bill Gates annuncia la scoperta di immortalità clinica. Tutti di età inferiore a 55 è ammissibile e chiunque può permetterselo, fino a quando qualcuno si legge infine la EULA in dettaglio e scopre che la tassa annuale di rinnovo di licenza per la loro esistenza si basa su una scala esponenziale. Sul lato positivo, i collari degli schiavi sono veramente molto recupero.

Pubblicato la prima volta in PC Plus Issue # 290

Twinkle Dwivedi, di 14 anni che vive nel nord dell'India, è stato spontaneo sanguinamento dagli occhi, naso, attaccatura dei capelli, il collo e le piante dei piedi per gli ultimi tre anni, tabloid britannico The Sun relazioni. Il sanguinamento può avvenire fino a 50 volte al giorno e di conseguenza la perdita di litri di sangue.

"I bleed dai miei occhi, le mie mani, la mia testa, da tutto il mondo. Dalle mie orecchie e il naso così, "Twinkle detto. "Non fa male, quando l'emorragia si avvia. Ma mi fa stanca e qualche volta ho mal di testa. "A causa del sanguinamento Twinkle è stata in grado di frequentare la sua scuola in Lucknar, Uttar Pradesh.

Dr George Buchanan, un ematologo, esperto dagli Stati Uniti, ha esaminato Twinkle in un ospedale di Mumbai, ma non è riuscito a spiegare la strana condizione. "Non ho mai visto un caso di qualcuno che sanguina spontaneamente dalle loro cuoio capelluto o le palme, o leggere su di esso nella storia della medicina ', ha detto George Buchanan. "Non sembra fisicamente possibile per il sangue a penetrare attraverso la pelle intatta."

Chiaramente i media travisato il dottor Buchanan, o ha bisogno di tornare alla medicina generale, come hematidrosis (chiamato anche hematohidrosis) è un ben documentato, ma molto rara condizione in cui un essere umano suda sangue. Essa può verificarsi quando una persona soffre di livelli estremi di stress, per esempio, di fronte la sua morte. Diversi riferimenti storici sono stati descritti, in particolare da Leonardo da Vinci: la descrizione di un soldato che ha sudato sangue prima della battaglia, gli uomini inaspettatamente dato una condanna a morte, così come le descrizioni nella Bibbia, che Gesù ha sperimentato hematidrosis quando lui stava pregando nel giardino del Getsemani (Lc 22,44).

Emocromatosi, un'altra forma di sudore di sangue, è una malattia dovuta al deposito di emosiderina nelle cellule parenchimali, causando danni ai tessuti e la disfunzione del fegato, pancreas, cuore, e dell'ipofisi. Altri segni clinici includono la pigmentazione della pelle di bronzo, che può volare sotto il radar data la carnagione ragazze, artropatia, diabete, cirrosi, epatosplenomegalia, ipogonadismo, e la perdita di peli sul corpo, nessuno dei quali sono evidenti. Lo sviluppo integrale della malattia tra le donne è limitato da mestruazioni e la gravidanza.

Secondo il Dott. Federico Zugibe, Chief Medical Examiner di Rockland County, New York, sudare sangue, è ben noto, e ci sono stati molti casi di esso, "Around the ghiandole sudoripare, non ci sono vasi sanguigni più in una rete come forma . Sotto la pressione di stress grande la costrizione delle navi. Poi, come l'ansia passa i vasi sanguigni si dilatano fino al punto di rottura. Il sangue va in ghiandole sudoripare. Come le ghiandole sudoripare producono un sacco di sudore, che spinge il sangue alla superficie - che esce come gocce di sangue misto di sudore. "

In una conferenza, il dottor Zugibe ha dichiarato: "L'ansia gravi mentali ... attivato il sistema nervoso simpatico, per richiamare la stress-lotta o alla fuga reazione a un tale grado provocando un'emorragia dei vasi fornire le ghiandole sudoripare nei dotti delle ghiandole sudoripare e estrusione fuori sulla pelle. Mentre hematidrosis è stato riscontrato da altri rari organismi sanitari, la presenza di paura profonda rappresentato per un numero significativo di casi segnalati sei casi di condannati al supplizio, un caso che si verificano durante il blitz di Londra, un caso in cui la paura di essere violentata, la paura di un temporale mentre si naviga, ecc Gli effetti sul corpo è quello di debolezza e di entità da lieve a moderata dal disidratazione grave ansia e sia la perdita di sangue e sudore. "

Dopo la super fuckwits conservatore saltava su e giù, mentre i media mainstream era ambigua sulla speronamento della Gil Ady, originariamente riferirsi ad esso come 'avrebbe speronato', video più è venuta alla luce, e anche i media mainstream stanno rilasciando le riprese da cameraman Gil Ady di circa circa il posto che mostra senza alcun dubbio la nave giapponese si trasferì a ram Gil Ady, che galleggiava morta nell'acqua con tutto l'equipaggio sul ponte di prendere una pausa, tra cui il capitano.

All'inizio della settimana, baleniere giapponesi e gruppi di ricerca loro fantoccio '' in Nuova Zelanda (che hanno, off the record, mostrando stati pro-caccia bandiere forte supporto in Giappone, in cambio di finanziamenti giapponesi naturalmente) ha affermato che il Gil Ady tirato in il loro modo all'ultimo minuto causando la collisione e se ne andò, per quanto impegnative che l'Australia intervenire contro la Sea Shepherd.

Il capitano Paul Watson della Sea Shepherd ha annunciato che $ 170.000 è stato impegnato nelle prime ore dopo l'incidente, mentre era più inondazioni in seguito alla proiezione di uno spot pubblicitario di Sea Shepherd, con Transformers attrice Isabel Lucas per sostituire lo yacht $ 3000000 stealth dollaro le baleniere affondato.

Capitano Watson ha anche elogiato australiano facente funzioni di primo ministro Julia Gillard - che è stato accusato dal Giappone di infiammare l'opinione pubblica e fare la risoluzione diplomatica della controversia caccia più difficile da realizzare - per parlare. "Julia Gillard è l'unico politico che ha avuto il coraggio di dire qualcosa in merito alle attività illecite in Giappone si è impegnato, il resto di loro si nascondono dietro kimono giapponese, per quanto posso vedere." E 'un invito giusto data pre-elettorale le promesse Kevin Rudd, che non avrebbe esercitato il giapponese le attività di caccia illegale sotto la maschera di ricerca, tra intra altre questioni politiche lungo le linee di lavoro, e consegnato a nessuno di loro.

Capitano Watson è stata particolarmente feroce della Nuova Zelanda, il Ministro degli Esteri Murray McCully, che ha detto che non è responsabilità del governo neozelandese di inviare navi armate per proteggere le persone "determinato a rompere la legge". "Il Ministro degli Affari Esteri ha reso ignoranti e accuse infondate e lui dovrebbe chiedere scusa e, se si rifiuta di chiedere scusa doveva essere invitato a dimettersi", ha detto Watson. Una chiamata fair dato l'appoggio quasi blatent pubblico degli atti piratesca del Giappone negli ultimi dieci anni nel Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

"Come osa prendere parte del Giappone in questo numero contro i suoi stessi cittadini? Se una nave di Sea Shepherd ha speronato e affondato una nave giapponese, non ci sarebbe alcuna esitazione a mandare una nave della Marina per l'Oceano meridionale, con un mandato d'arresto. "E 'un peccato non sono i governi di intraprendere qualsiasi azione, specialmente alla luce delle nuove prove che la nave giapponese deliberatamente speronato e affondato la barca.

Qui sotto c'è l'unico spezzone di andare da prima del rilascio di riprese dal cameraman Gil Ady, sì si deve fare clic su questo per vederlo, ma ecco due punti di vista, uno da una nave di Sea Shepherd e un altro dalla balenieri pirata (avviso di lingua Ahoy): --

Ho avuto molti un argomento in linea con la gente ossessionata 'diventerai cieco' mentalità verso i videogiochi, tra le altre cose. Mi sento rivendicato oggi, come ho letto che uno studio ha rilevato i videogiochi sono "buono per gli occhi", lungi dall'essere dannosa alla vista giochi d'azione fornire una formazione eccellente per quello che i medici chiamano occhio la sensibilità al contrasto.

Sensibilità al contrasto è la capacità di comunicazione piccoli cambiamenti nelle tonalità di grigio su uno sfondo uniforme, ed è fondamentale per le attività quotidiane come guidare di notte e la lettura. Spesso degrada con l'età.

I risultati, pubblicati su Nature Neuroscience, rivelano una capacità di adattamento insospettate nel cervello, e potrebbe aprire la strada a nuove terapie, i ricercatori hanno detto. "Questa non è una capacità che le persone dovevano arrivare meglio da una formazione", ha detto Daphne Bavelier, professore presso l'Università di Rochester nello stato di New York e ricercatore capo dello studio.

"E 'stato qualcosa che abbiamo corretto per il livello delle ottiche dell'occhio - per ottenere rilevamento del contrasto migliore si ottiene occhiali o chirurgia laser."

"Quello che abbiamo scoperto è che anche senza questa correzione si può aiutare il cervello a migliorare l'utilizzo di qualsiasi informazione sia ricevuta dalla vostra retina», disse.

Per lo studio, Bavelier e tre colleghi hanno condotto due serie di esperimenti. Nel primo, che ha confrontato la sensibilità al contrasto di hard-core giocatori azione di gioco con gli appassionati di videogiochi della stessa età che hanno preferito meno rapida tariffa fuoco.

In giochi d'azione, i giocatori di solito bersaglio e sparare cifre che compaiono improvvisamente sullo schermo del computer. I ricercatori hanno scoperto che gli appassionati di azione sono stati il 50 per cento più efficienti a individuare il contrasto. Ma ci è rimasto un pollo-o-domanda di uova: era la loro visione stata migliorata, con una partita, o hanno fatto diventare operatori gioco d'azione, perché era meglio che la sensibilità al contrasto media per iniziare?

Per scoprirlo, Bavelier chiesto a due gruppi di non-video giocatori gioco d'azione a subire 50 ore di formazione. Uno ha giocato un popolare punto-and-shoot gioco chiamato Call of Duty, e l'altro giocato una bella partita che ha offerto una ricca esperienza visiva, ma privo di azione.

"Abbiamo scoperto che le persone del primo gruppo migliorata del 43 per cento, e non l'altro gruppo a tutti", ha detto. Altrettanto importante, lo studio ha anche accertato che il miglioramento non è stato transitorio. "L'effetto positivo è rimasto mesi, anche anni dopo la formazione, con l'indicazione di lunga durata guadagni", ha detto.

C'è un limite oltre il quale i giochi d'azione perde il suo effetto positivo o negativo diventa? Si può, in altre parole, sono troppo di una 'buona cosa'?

"Per il sistema visivo, probabilmente no. Per la vostra vita sociale, forse, "ha detto Bavelier.

In quello che è fatturati come un mondo in primo luogo, una vita-size fidanzata robot completo di intelligenza artificiale e di carne come la pelle sintetica è stata introdotta per fan adoranti al AVN Adult Entertainment Expo di Las Vegas.

"Lei non può il vuoto, lei non può cucinare, ma si può fare quasi tutto il resto se sai cosa voglio dire," TrueCompanion Douglas Hines ha detto introducendo Roxxxy al mondo, manco a dirlo maggior parte degli uomini che vedrebbe come un commercio equo e solidale chiuso.

"È un compagno. Ha una personalità. Si sente. Lei ti ascolta. Parla. Si sente il vostro tocco. Lei va a dormire. Stiamo cercando di replicare una personalità di una persona ".

Roxxxy si trova 170 centimetri (cinque piedi, sette pollici) di altezza, pesa 54.43kg (£ 120), "ha una coppa C pieno ed è pronto per l'azione", secondo Hines, che era un ingegnere di intelligenza artificiale presso i Bell Labs prima di iniziare TrueCompanion.

Roxxxy è dotato di cinque personalità. Wild Wendy è in uscita e avventuroso, mentre Frigido Farrah è riservato e timido.

Vi è una personalità giovane ingenuo insieme a un giovane che Martha Hines descritto come "un tipo matriarcale della cura". S & M Susan è orientata più per i più avventurosi.

Gli aspiranti soci possono personalizzare le caratteristiche Roxxxy, tra cui la razza, il colore dei capelli e le dimensioni del seno. Un robot di nome Rocky sessuale maschile è in fase di sviluppo.

La gente di ordinazione online robot al dettaglio truecompanion.com i loro gusti e gli interessi molto simile a siti di incontri on-line ma in questo caso, le informazioni sono utilizzate per ottenere la ragazza meccanica in sintonia con il suo compagno.

Qualcun altro ha notato che l'utente @ AdorianDeck e il suo compagno culo @ brysonen sono gli utenti dietro la cassa recente sulla # omgfacts trend di Twitter creando @ OMGFacts? Qualcuno ha notato come tutti i loro fatti tendono ad essere sbagliato?

E 'come hanno googled' ob faxtz lista Kool 'e sono solo copia-incolla senza alcuna valutazione critica o di controllo della qualità. Idk su di te, ma roba del genere che mi fa il muro. In media gli esseri umani sono più ignoranti di suino merda, ma 'fatti sci pop' sono la rovina del mondo accademico, della scienza e del pensiero. Fatti Nutshell '' può essere facile per gli ignoranti da digerire, ma rimane bloccata nel Craw di chiunque di qualsiasi istruzione.

Ed è forse uno dei miei più grandi off piscio da compagnia, è sempre il tipo pseudo-intellettuale che tutti sanno sono piene di una sostanza diversa rispetto al libro-learnin's who beccuccio merda quali, propogated da idioti, che in seguito prendere questi fatti di essere verità di sé, evidentemente ha per i motivi che l'hanno letta sull ' «lololol interwebs ~`! 1'

I'm calling you out, cagna. @ OMGFacts, impiegano una qualche forma di controllo della qualità, a mano o l'account su rivolgersi al più vicino all'Università. Ma qualunque cosa tu faccia, non lasciare @ DrKarl toccare, la sua fatti sci pop sono quasi ubiquitariamente fucking SBAGLIATO e imperfetto come il vostro sono.

La polizia dice che il DNA è diventato un crimine vitale strumento di lotta e aiuta ad accelerare i tassi di clean-up. Nel Queensland hanno preso campioni di DNA di bambini, figure che, contestualmente al diritto alla legislazione informazioni hanno rivelato, una collezione di DNA di 1275 bambini di età compresa tra i 10 ei 16. destinato, come la prossima generazione di criminali è stata effettuata.

Libertari civili hanno accusato la polizia di Stato e di governo di rinunciare ai giovani del Queensland e concentrandosi maggiormente sulle condanne che sulla riabilitazione. Civil Liberties chief executive Australia Bill Rowlings ha detto che è una violazione dei diritti civili, perché, mentre il diritto garantito precedenti penali di un bambino non è stato effettuato nel passaggio all'età adulta, non sarebbe interrompere le loro DNA rimanenti nelle basi di dati penale a tempo indeterminato.

L'anno scorso, il Queensland Police Service catturati 33.644 delinquenti minorenni. "Alcuni di questi bambini possono essere colpevoli di aver rubato un Bar Marte e che la polizia del Queensland sono disposti a metterle in un registro nazionale penale, forse per la vita", ha detto.

Il numero medio giornaliero dei minori in stato di detenzione in Australia è di 800. Gioventù Network Director Queensland Siyavash Doostkhah ha detto che era contro la presa di DNA dai bambini e ha invitato il governo a finanziare più la riabilitazione e la gioventù programmi di mentoring.

"Non è mai una porta di sicurezza per la comunità", ha detto Doostkhah. "Se riusciamo ad ottenere più duro, se si raccolgono più del DNA e sono telecamere più là fuori. . . non si ferma la criminalità, che porta solo convinzioni. "Ciò detto il industria australiana di applicazione del diritto nel suo complesso è alimentato dalla convinzione base, nel senso che i bilanci sono date e premi ricevuti per il predominio numerico sulla popolazione rispetto alla dissuasione o di riabilitazione .

Un portavoce del Dipartimento di Comunità detto che ci sono attualmente circa 139 giovani in stato di detenzione, nel Queensland, e ha insistito che è stata una priorità di concentrarsi sulla riabilitazione per giovani delinquenti.

Un gruppo settore della tecnologia wireless ha sostenuto che le conversazioni telefoniche di telefonia mobile sono ancora al sicuro da intercettazioni sulla scia del ricercatore tedesco Karsten Nohl di fuga di codice utilizzato per decifrare le chiamate effettuate dalla maggior parte dei telefoni mondi scorsa settimana.

Con sede a Londra GSM Association, ha detto ieri che ha passato gli ultimi anni per capire i modi per contrastare i pirati informatici che potrebbero tentare di sfruttare le chiamate wireless utilizzando la ricerca Nohl, che si tratti di prima nel 2007.

GSM Association ingegneri hanno capito una soluzione a breve termine per bloccare intercettazioni, ha detto James Moran, capo della sicurezza per l'associazione. Si tratta di fare piccoli cambiamenti alle impostazioni in rete di ciascun operatore wireless. I vettori possono effettuare rapidamente tali modifiche, ad impostare funzioni esistenti nel campo della tecnologia, ha detto l'onorevole Moran.

Ricerca Sig. Nohl si applica alla tecnologia GSM, che gestisce circa l'80 per cento dei telefoni cellulari del mondo, compresi i sistemi di conduzione da parte di AT & T, Deutsche Telekom e France Telecom. Nel corso degli anni successivi, i vettori GSM adotterà un nuovo standard per la crittografia, o scrambling, conversazioni vocali che sarà più difficile da decifrare, secondo il sig Moran.

Pittori e fotografi non sarà più in grado di contare su una difesa del valore artistico in una revisione delle leggi pornografia infantile in Australia. Quasi due anni dopo la polizia ha fatto irruzione mostra contenzioso Melbourne artista Bill Henson's, il governo legiferare per costringere gli artisti a rendere conto delle loro opere. A 'gruppo di lavoro', istituito dal governo sulla scia del maggio 2008, polemiche mostre Henson's Child ha raccomandato la artistico-difesa merito essere cancellate.

Quanto io disprezzi la pornografia infantile e di coloro che producono o in alcun modo sfruttare un bambino, mi ripugna di più coloro che la domanda che gli oneri di fronte 'provare' la loro 'innocenza', e altrettanto restia coloro che reprimono l'arte in una moralistica dogma del puritanesimo visto l'ultima volta tra i nazisti.

Il rapporto raccomanda inoltre l'introduzione di leggi che rendono più facile per le forze di polizia per indagare la pornografia infantile e per le giurie e personale del tribunale di partecipare a processi per tali reati. Questo suggerimento segue preoccupazione all'interno della fraternità giuridica degli effetti che la visione delle prove pornografia infantile è per i membri della giuria, molti dei quali trovare il processo doloroso.

Il gruppo di lavoro ha raccomandato la legge sia modificata in modo membri della giuria, pubblici ministeri e personale del tribunale sono in grado di visualizzare solo un campione di immagini durante il processo di sperimentazione.

Il presupposto è la giuria sarà mostrato le immagini e le ha detto di ritenere che non ci sono immagini di gran lunga peggiore, che è un po 'simile al' terrorismo 'oneri in cui gli individui in questa libertà civile nazione colpita può essere caricata e non può essere detto che cosa stanno venendo incaricato, andando per quanto anche rifiutato di dire al giudice ciò che il servizio è a pagamento.

Qui stavo pensando che abbiamo votato la lobby neo-conservatore. Oltre, ciò che è arte e ciò che è porno? Porno può essere arte? L'arte può essere porno? Qualcosa mi dice che la risposta a queste domande è 'a scelta del convinzioni più' dato che il perseguimento del sistema australiano giustizia funziona su una quota di condanna per la sua bilancio.

Presidente Rudd e il suo glorioso Partito dei Lavoratori ha dimostrato ancora una volta che noi non abbiamo la politica bipartisan, ma entrambe le parti sono batshit ali destra pazzi estremisti. As much as I hate talking about politics, and don't assume I'ma lefty, I'm quite solidly centrist as a civil libertarian.

Twitter, the popular but money-losing microblogging service, is hiring engineers and specialists who can help turn it into a money-maker.

The 2-1/2-year-old Internet start-up, whose short text messages or “tweets” have become a global social phenomenon, is building up a team focused on generating revenue with a new range of yet-to-be launched products, judging by job postings on the company's website.

Among the 26 job openings listed on Twitter's site, four are specifically identified as being devoted to “monetization.” Striking licensing deals are key responsibilities for two other jobs.

“Twitter is looking for new members of our technical staff to work on cutting edge monetization projects,” several of the postings said.

The move to invest in such projects signals that making money is becoming a bigger priority at Twitter, as it seeks to evolve from being one of the Web's fastest-growing social media firms into a self-sustaining online business.

“The company has crossed into the phase where monetization matters. They're ramping it up,” said a source close to Twitter who did not wish to speak on the record about its finances.

A Twitter spokesperson said co-founder Biz Stone was not immediately available for comment. The company has about 120 employees, she said.

Tweets, which are limited to 140 characters, have grown into an established communications medium that has played a key role in world events such as the post-election protests in Iran last summer.

“They know they're here for the long term now, so they need to turn on these monetization engines,” said Altimeter Group analyst Jeremiah Owyang.

Twitter, a privately held company, does not report earnings, but its website says: “While our business model is in a research phase, we spend more money than we make.”

The company spokesperson did not confirm if that is still accurate.

Twitter struck deals in October — widely reported to total $25 million — to license its data feed to Google Inc and Microsoft Corp, allowing tweets to appear within search results on the companies' Internet search engines.

The job postings make it clear that generating revenue beyond the licensing deals is one of the 2010 priorities for Twitter, said Altimeter's Owyang.

Twitter, which recently moved into a larger office space in San Francisco, had 19.4 million unique visitors to its US website in November, according to comScore, up sharply from the 1.5 million visitors a year earlier. Many industry watchers believe the actual number of worldwide Twitter users is much higher, since many people access the service through third-party applications instead of the website.

In September, Twitter raised $100 million in a move that valued the company at $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, from backers including mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price and private equity firm Insight Venture Partners.

Twitter executives have said in the past that the company is interested in offering premium services, such as analytic tools for certain customers, and that it was exploring ways to integrate advertising into the service.

According to the job postings, the company is seeking engineers to build out the infrastructure and front-end features to support monetization systems that include “customer applications and reporting.”

A posting for a product marketing manager for monetization said the person would focus on “enhancing business users' understanding of the value of Twitter.”

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Chang, Reuters)

These search tricks can save you time when researching online for your next project or just to find out what time it is across the world, so many people only use a hundreth of what Google has to offer, read on and find out for yourself: -

1. Convert units. Whether you want to convert currency, American and metric units, or any other unit, try typing in the known unit and the unknown unit to find your answer (like “how many teaspoons in a tablespoon” or “10 US dollars in Euros”).

2. Do a timeline search. Use “view:timeline” followed by whatever you are researching to get a timeline for that topic.
3. Get around blocked sites. If you are having problems getting around a blocked site, just type “cache:website address” with website address being the address of the blocked site to use Google's cached copy to get where you are going.
4. Use a tilde. Using a tilde (~) with a search term will bring you results with related search terms.
5. Use the image search. Type in your search word, then select Images to use the image search when trying to put a picture to your term.
6. Get a definition. If you want a definition without having to track down an online (or a physical) dictionary, just type “definition:word” to find the definition of the word in your results (ie: “definition: serendipity” will track down the definition of the word “serendipity”).
7. Search within a specific website. If you know you want to look up Babe Ruth in Wikipedia, type in “site:wikipedia.org Babe Ruth” to go directly to the Wikipedia page about Babe Ruth. It works for any site, not just Wikipedia.
8. Search within a specific kind of site. If you know you only want results from an educational site, try “site:edu” or for a government site, try “site:gov” and your search term to get results only from sites with those web addresses.
9. Search for a specific file type. If you know you want a PDF (or maybe an MP3), just type in “filetype:pdf” and your search term to find results that are only in that file type.
10. Calculate with Google. Type in any normal mathematical expressions to get the answer immediately. For example, “2*4″ will get you the answer “8.”
11. Time. Enter “what time is it” and any location to find out the local time.
12. Find a term in a URL. This handy trick is especially useful when searching blogs, where dates are frequently used in the URL. If you want to know about a topic for that year only and not any other year, type “inurl:2009″ and your keyword to find results with your keyword in URLs with 2009 in them.
13. Use Show Options to refine your search. Click “Show Options” on your search result page to have access to tools that will help you filter and refine your results.
14. Search for a face. If you are looking for a person and not just their name, type “&imgtype=face” after the search results to narrow your results to those with images of faces.

Google Specifically for Education

From Google Scholar that returns only results from scholarly literature to learning more about computer science, these Google items will help you at school.

15. Google Scholar. Use this specialized Google search to get results from scholarly literature such as peer-reviewed papers, theses, and academic publishers.
16. Use Google Earth's Sky feature. Take a look at the night sky straight from your computer when you use this feature.
17. Open your browser with iGoogle. Set up an iGoogle page and make it your homepage to have ready access to news stories, your Google calendar, blogs you follow in Google Reader, and much more.
18. Stay current with Google News. Like an electronic clearinghouse for news, Google News brings headlines from news sources around the world to help you stay current without much effort.
19. Create a Google Custom Search Engine . On your own or in collaboration with other students, put together an awesome project like one of the examples provided that can be used by many.
20. Collect research notes with Google Notebook. Use this simple note-taking tool to collect your research for a paper or project.
21. Make a study group with Google Groups. Google Groups allows you to communicate and collaborate in groups, so take this option to set up a study group that doesn't have to meet face-to-face.
22. Google Code University. Visit this Google site to have access to Creative Commons-licensed content to help you learn more about computer science.
23. Study the oceans with Google Earth 5. Google Earth 5 provides information on the ocean floor and surface with data from marine experts, including shipwrecks in 3D.
24. Learn what experts have to say. Explore Knol to find out what experts have to say on a wide range of topics. If you are an expert, write your own Knol, too.

Google Docs

Google Docs is a great replacement for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, so learn how to use this product even more efficiently.

25. Use premade templates. Use these 50 pre-made templates to track spending, keep up with your health, and much more.
26. Collaborate on group projects. Google Docs allows for real-time collaboration, so make easy work for everyone next time you have a group project due.
27. Use keyboard shortcuts. Use this handy list of keyboard shortcuts to save lots of time while using Google Docs.
28. Create online surveys for research projects. Quickly and easily create online surveys for any research project that requires feedback from others. The answers are saved to your Google Docs account.
29. Add video to your presentation. Learn how to seamlessly add video to your Google Docs page to really give your presentation or project a boost.
30. Use the school year calendar template. Have an easy to use school year calendar through Google Docs by following these instructions.
31. Create graphs from spreadsheets. Once you have populated a spreadsheet with data, you can easily create a graph. Google Docs allows for pie, bar, line, and scatter graphs.
32. Create a new document with shortcuts. Learn two ways to open a new Google Docs page with these tricks.
33. Right click to use save-as. Use the right click save-as option to save a Google Docs document on your computer.
34. Send invitations . School shouldn't be all about work. Find out how to send party invitations using Google Docs.

Gmail

The super-popular Gmail is full of fun and fast ways to make your life and communications easier.

35. Use the Tasks as a to-do list. Use the Tasks available in Gmail as a way to stay on top of assignments, exams, and project due dates.
36. Use the Archive feature. One of the great features of Gmail is that it allows you to archive emails to get them out of your inbox, then you can use the search feature to find them if you need them again.
37. Highlight mail with labels. Use labels to mark your messages. You can find them easily while in your inbox and do a search for all the messages with that label after you archive them.
38. Never forget to attach a file. By signing up for the Labs, you can select to have the Forgotten Attachment Detector. This feature notices if you have typed something about an attachment in the body, but are sending without actually attaching anything–a great tool to save time and embarrassment.
39. Use keyboard shortcuts. Go to Settings and enable keyboard shortcuts so you can perform common tasks at the touch of just one or two keys.
40. Add multiple attachments. Use the Control (or Cmd on Macs) and Shift keys to select more than one file to attach to your email at one time.
41. Use the https option. Google recommends using this option if you use your Gmail in public places like a dorm or coffee shop to add an extra bit of protection to your Internet activities.
42. Incorporate Google Calendar and Docs on your Gmail page. Have access to recent documents used in Google Docs and get an agenda of upcoming activities you have on Google Calendar with small boxes added to your Gmail page. Go to Labs to select this option.
43. Add a “Waiting for Response” label. If you have emails in your inbox that you are holding until someone gets back to you, creating this label keeps you from forgetting to follow up on it later.
44. Use Canned Responses. If you find yourself writing the same type of email over and over, use the Canned Responses feature in the Labs to create a template that you you can use without having to type out the entire email every time.
45. Consolidate email accounts. If you have a Gmail account, an account through school, and any other account you are juggling separately, combine them all into Gmail to cut down on time spent checking all those accounts.
46. Use AIM in Gmail. If you use AIM to IM friends or partners on projects, add it to the chat feature already in Gmail to have access to both.

Google Calendar

Save yourself some time by keeping track of appointments, assignments, and more with Google Calendar.

47. Sync up with others using iCal or Sunbird. Google lets you sync your calendar with others using Apple iCal or Mozilla Sunbird.
48. Customize reminders. Set reminders in your Google Calendar so that you never forget an appointment again. Choose from email, pop-up, or SMS reminders and even set when the reminder comes.
49. Learn some basic keyboard shortcuts. Change from daily to weekly to monthly view, compose a new event, and more with these simple shortcuts.
50. Use Quick Add. Click on Quick Add and type the day and time and what you are doing to have the calendar create the event with the correct time and date.
51. Use multiple calendars. Create separate calendars for school work, personal information, important due dates, and more to stay ultra-organized.
52. Get a text message with your daily agenda. Keep up with all that you need to do for the day without ever having to log on to your Google Calendar.
53. Set weekly repeats for any day. The drop-down menu only offers M/W/F or T/Th options for repeating events. Go to “Every Week” and customize which days you want the event to repeat.
54. Get upcoming events while away from the computer. Check out #8 in this list to learn how to access your upcoming events via your phone.
55. Add events from Gmail. If you receive an email with event time and date information, you can easily add this event to your calendar by clicking “Add to calendar.”
56. Invite others. If you have events on your calendar that you want to invite others to join, just add their email address under Add Guests within the event.

Google Mobile

Whether riding the bus or walking to class, use Google Mobile to stay productive while away from your computer.

57. Sync your calendar. Never be far from your Google Calendar when you sync it to your phone.
58. Check your email. Keep your email right at your fingertips with Gmail for mobile.
59. Access your blog subscriptions. Keep up with your blogs and news feeds that you subscribe to through Reader right on your phone.
60. Use Google Voice to consolidate phone numbers. If you have a phone in your dorm or apartment, a cell phone, and any other phone numbers, consolidate them into one number with Google Voice.
61. Easily find friends. Find out where your friends are and even get a map with directions for how to get there with Google Latitudes.
62. Find out information easily while on the go. Whether you are looking for a great place to eat dinner, wondering what the weather is like, or want to know what the Spanish word for “bathroom” is, just text your information to Google (466453–spells Google on your phone) to get the answer texted back right away.
63. Access iGoogle. Get your iGoogle page formatted just for the smaller screen size of your phone.
64. Read your Google Docs. Have access to all your Google Docs items right on your phone.
65. Keep a to-do list on your phone. Use Google Tasks for mobile so you can access your to-do list any time–and check off what you've finished, too.
66. Never get lost again. Google Maps is an interactive program for most smart phones that offers tons of features so you will never have to be lost again.
67. Do a quick search anywhere. Find information with a Google search from your phone to impress your professors and your friends.
68. Access Google Books. Android and iPhone users can access Google Books on their phones.
69. Post to your blog. Use your mobile to post to your Blogger blog.

Google Chrome Tips and Extensions

If you are using the Google Chrome browser, then you will love these time-saving tips and extensions.

70. Use a “Pin Tab”. If you have multiple tabs open, use a “Pin Tab” to make the tabs the size of the little icon on the left side.
71. Don't overlook Paste and Search and Paste and Go. These two features are available when you right-click to add a word or URL to Chrome and will save you an extra step.
72. Reopen a closed tab. Oops! If you didn't mean to close that tab, just press Ctrl+Shift+T to reopen it.
73. Use the Chrome shortcuts. Open a new tab, see your history, maximize your window, and much more with these shortcuts.
74. Take advantage of the address bar. With Google Chrome, you can use the address bar to perform a Google search, quickly access pages you've already visited, and get recommendations for places to go.
75. Go incognito. If you don't want to leave traces of where you were browsing, use incognito mode instead of having to go back and delete your history and cookies.
76. Use the bookmarks manager. Stay organized, rearrange bookmarks, search for bookmarks, add folders, and much more with the bookmark manager.
77. ChromePass. This tool will give you a list of all the password information stored in Google Chrome.
78. Save as PDF. Save any page as a PDF with this bookmarklet.
79. ChromeMailer. If you've lost valuable time when having to manually enter email information from a website because Google Chrome doesn't support the mailto: function, then you will love this extension.
80. Google Chrome Backup. Back up your personal data, bookmarks, and more with this simple tool.

Google Books

Learn how Google Books can save you time and trips to the library with these tricks.

81. Search full text. Google Books offers full text for over 10,000 books, so look here the next time you are researching something at the last minute.
82. Use “About this book”. At the top left of the page of a book, clicking this link will give you helpful information such as the table of contents, related books, and a map of places mentioned in the book.
83. Create a personalized library. Click on “Add to my shared library” to start your own personalized library where you can label books to keep them organized for each class or project.
84. Find books in your college library. Each book in Google Books has a link to find the book in a library. It can tell you exactly where to look at your own school.
85. Use the Advanced Book Search. If you can't find the book you are looking for, try the advanced search, which provides you with many more detailed options.
86. Access text books. Many text books are available on Google Books, so see if you can save a trip to the bookstore next semester.
87. Search for magazine content. Select Magazines in the Advanced Book Search to locate information from magazines.
88. Read the blog. Google Books is constantly evolving, so stay on top of all the latest news with the Inside Google Books blog.
89. Find books to supplement your assigned texts. Search by subject to see what books you may be able to read to get the extra leg up in your classes.

Handy Google Services and Apps

These other Google products will help you save time by offering you everything from alerts to online collaboration to help working with data sets.

90. Google Alerts. Sign up to get email notifications any time a topic you designate shows up in Google search results. This is a great way to stay current with a project or news story.
91. Google Desktop. Keep a clock, weather, news stories, Google search box, and more all within easy reach when you use Google Desktop.
92. Google SketchUp. If you need to draw 3D figures for class, use Google SketchUp to do so easily and free of charge.
93. Google Talk. This versatile app is more than just for IMs. You can switch to voice, do a video chat, and send texts, too.
94. Google Images. Google has an incredible image search feature that will provide you with tons of high-quality images you can use in presentations.
95. Google Translate. Don't spend time looking up stuff in books, use Google Translate to get foreign words translated right away.
96. Google Wave. This brand new Google product shows great promise for anyone collaborating, but especially for those in school. Communicate, create documents, and more–all in real-time.
97. Google Finance. Business students can keep track of markets, news, portfolios, and more in one place.
98. Google Toolbar. Have easy access to Gmail, Google search, bookmarks, and more with this toolbar available for Internet Explorer and Firefox.
99. Picasa. Manage your photos and even incorporate them into your blogs and emails with Google's streamlines photo manager.
100. Google Squared. Find facts and organize them with this search feature from Google Labs.
101. Google Fusion Tables. If you are working with data sets, then you will love this program that will allow you to upload data, create visual representations, and take part in discussions about the data.

The other day pirate Japanese whalers rammed a Sea Shepherd vessel during 'scientific' whaling operations that were deemed illegal by the HCA in Australian territorial waters of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. (read the report here: http://tr.im/JIY7 ) Their actions drew the usual irritation of the global community that the Japanese are still scamming their arses off trying to use loopholes to commercially whale.

Glen Inwood of the ICR, the Japanese government sponsored 'research' organisation spoke briefly this morning on the issue, getting railed by reporters and asked many hard questions. He claimed that their research is to 'establish whether commercial whaling is sustainable,' and to do this research they need to use lethal research methods, defending the commercial operation stating the IWC set a 'requirement that the meat goes on the market' before running the usual fake 'tradition' defence that has been debunked by many a researcher interviewing average Japanese citizens on the issue.

It was ironic hearing Glen Inwood spouting that to convince IWC that whaling can be sustained they 'need to whale,' and that they were merely trying to 'obtain data' on commerial sustainable whaling. One interviewer nailed him, asking “When will you have adequate data?” after citing a list of whales to be slaughtered this 'season,' to which he immediately stated “All of your figures are wrong.” and beat around the bush before admitting it is “Indefinite research.”

He stopped short of outright admitting it's all just a Japanese government sponsored scam, but toes the line of his puppeteers well. The interviewer ultimately asked if he can understand why whaling pisses the average Australian off given that it's in our waters, illegally conducted, and in a whale sanctuary; he floundered before trying to claim many nations deny Australia's claim to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

He didn't quite elaborate if there were any nations aside from Japan and Norway, the two nations that still illegally whale regardless of the worldwide moratorium, that deny Australia's claims to it's own territorial waters.

He ended stating the usually tripe of the political correctness defence of “It's a cultural tradition that Australians will need to learn to respect.”

Let's hope they try and ram a vessel that isn't 1/10th their size, maybe the Steve Irwin next? They wouldn't have the gall, IMHO, a tiny fiberglass trimaran is an easy mark.

Where to begin. Apparently Optus Vision doesn't exist anymore, their lame resale of Foxtel cable TV is winding up and they will only cater for existing customers. I rang their sales line only to be told to ring back between office hours (which I shouldn't have to do) to contact their accounts team and they outright refused a sale of a $3,000+ contract for TV and home phone services.

Perché?

Because they can't manage a sales team and haven't even trained their existing sales team in how to sell an upgrade, or anything beyond merely regurgitating advertising materials, or so said the Optus sales person I was speaking to in a more off the record chat of frustrations.

I kind of figured something was up, although haven't read any news about it; however optus.com.au only listed mobile and internet plans, no mention of TV anywhere, and optusvision.com.au seems to have been hijacked by a domain parker account. Seems they can't even manage their own intellectual property rights, no wonder they can't assist someone wanting to throw cash at them.

Optus Mobile coverage is equally abysmal, when you do get a bar of service that is. They've been 'setting up a new tower' in my area for the past ten years, every few weeks for a laugh I call up and complain about lack of service with intent to one day get a copy of my account contact with them and mail it to their head office with a big frowny face drawn on it. Although, in good news, I found I'm no longer in contract so I can fuck off to Telstra with that one too.

Their internet, on the other hand, is an entirely new shade of shit. They had to hire designers to create the shade of shit of their connectivity, lack of plans, and shaping. Their plans were savvy, in the 90's, but stayed in the 90's with 20 gb cap being the largest offering they had until their recent 90 gb scam offer (more on that in a tick), when you hit your cap you're shaped down to '64k', however whilst your contract and their site says this, they consider anywhere down to 2k to be 'acceptable' shaping, or so I've been told numerous times when I've been shaped down to even under 1k.

Their latest offering of broadband internet is whimsical. Their speeds are about 8 meg at the best of times, which I'll admit is not bad for broadband in Australia, however that's only on their pre-2000 connections, the rest are all speed limited, shaped, and redirected up the whazoo–a mate of mine's broadband from home to optus server out to the wilds of the internet had 38 hops, 30 of which were in the same Optus building–newer connections really don't cut the mustard.

They are, however, offering a whopping 90 GIGABYTES DOWNSTREAM CAP. Although, it's at twice the price of TPG's 120 GB downstream plan, AND, if you read the fine print with Optus, it's 30 GB during peak time (midday to midnight) and 60 GB off peak, reducing to 30 GB off peak during the second year of your two year contract, so they're selling you a 30 GB account, period, pretty much. The kicker to it all is, they count your upstream in your traffic. Upstream is free, it always has been, and always will be, with all primary backbones and internet service providers, however due to the average internet user being an ignorant twat and the fact consumers rarely ever cause a stir when getting dicked we're faced with our upstream being accounted for and charged for.

Think of it this way, they get their upstream through the major telco pipelines they use free, they charge you anywhere up to 400% the cost they pay for their downstream on your downstream, then charge you 100% for your upstream, that's raising their profit margin an additional 100% to a whopping 500% of what their overheads are: for what their product is really worth on a resale level.

I've contacted Optus in the past, recently actually, asking them why I should bother staying with them, given that I've been an Optus customer since they arrived in the country back in '96 – '97 and stayed with them even when they merged with the big flop telco SingTel, and got some copy pasted default reply from some braindead office wank.

It's sad to say though, I expected no different. Australian companies have become Americanised, customer loyalty isn't something they care about anymore, there's plenty of saps left in the world to be sucked in to various plans and packages that sound good at face value.

It's time for me to switch services. Foxtel straight from the source, Telstra for their epic mobile network coverage and functional 3G network, and TPG for their brilliant naked ADSL2+ plans with huge caps with shaping down to 1 meg when you go over cap as opposed to 1k with Optus.

I'm guessing SingTel are just using Optus as a tax write off, because they sure aren't looking to make money in Australia anymore.

If you haven't wasted your money getting Foxtel or Foxtel at overpriced rates through Singtel / Optus, save it. Go to http://eztv.it and torrent your favorite series / shows.

For far too long we've had sub-standard television in Australia, it's infuriating. Watching random American shows can wreck entire series' of shows that haven't aired here yet; the other day The Soup discussed the end of the most recent season of Dexter, we're a season behind being trickle fed advertisement filled crap so it blew the season finale and most of the season for Australians.

Why do we have to wait aroun,d months behind, even when they lie and say 'direct from the US'? Sure, it's from the US, sure you probably got your copy directly from the US but the implication is it's current or recent when it never is!

I organized a mass mail in to Sci-Fi TV about three months ago demanding a Sci-Fi 2, less non-scifi and no more same fucking episodes up to 5 times a day. A lot of people jumped on board, especially when I contacted the local pirate party, a great bastion of nerds if ever there was one.. We got a second channel, alright.

We also got far less scifi on them, more crap like Buffy, Angel, Charmed, and now KNIGHT RIDER, wtf. This shit should be on 111 HITS. And now we have two channels so episodes air 10 times per day, brilliant. And at most they screen maybe 5-10 different episodes a month, so you probably see the same old Stargate episode anywhere up to 50+ times in a month, it's abysmal.

So, to all you scifi fans out there, don't waste your time. Television over here is a joke, torrent your stuff from the US or use Tor or another proxy type service to watch shows live on US wesites. If you think series makers will suffer losing the market in AU to torrents you're a twat, we're so far down the trickle of income we barely count; and besides, let our TV channels fight to regain viewership.

You HAVE an alternative.

PIRATE. SHOWS. NOW.

Fuck you Foxtel, Singtel, and Optus.

Games are meant to be fun. Silent Hill: Homecoming is NOT fun. I dread playing further. I recall the character reading a note or some such suggesting the only solution is sitting in a room on your own in the dark. It's good advice.

If the terror of seeing pyramid head stalking the same hall you're in doesn't make you want to, nothing will. Fuck your stupid little assinine brother who continuously fucks you around and screws about doing EVERYTHING possible to obstruct your attempts to rescue you. That being said it's very stereotypical J-horror, even down to background sounds dimming before a 'freak out' scene.

It does score some psychological hits with my hardened westerner horror fan mind though, I really do dread playing further. I don't want to, it's not a fun game, it's awkward and nasty and grimy.

Yet, as I sit here typing this on my iPhone ($500 product placement from Steve Jobs pls, cheques payable to BaSH PR0MPT is ORSM fund.) I can't think of a more awesome game to recommend people play. Why expose people you care about to such nasty?

Because it's better them than me?

Because it has an affect on you you barely fathom, as objective as you try to be the grime, the blood, the gore, the shock and freak out techniques you can clinically describe and predict still seem to gradually bare down on you.

There's nothing positive to the game, I mean plot line and experience that is. There's nothing but doom and gloom, it's this that begins to wear you down, a challenge between how un-fun the game is compared to your gamer desire and urge to 'beat the machine' and finish it.

Well fuck this, Pyramid Head isn't going to fire axe fuck his own head in, is he? Bbl.

I've been reading a lot of 140characters about how Twitter was born, the original intent was to inform friends of social scenes, clubs and parties that were 'happening' at the time. That got me to thinking about the global party scene and reading a few sites on the subject.

As partygoers across the world nurse sore heads after New Year's Eve parties, spare a thought for those who enjoyed some of the biggest parties ever with this list of the ultimate top ten party scenes of the past hundred years and what made them great:

1. New York City in the 1920s

For music, dancing and bad behavior, there was no place better than New York in the 1920s. The inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, New Yorkers began to put priority on modern glitz and artistic individuality. Large weekly parties in honor of the generation's great athletes such as Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey were the norm. But it all came to a crashing halt on October 24, 1929, as a decade of financial depression took over.

2. Buenos Aires in the 1950s

The cultural epicenter of South America during the 1950s was Argentina's capital city. Buenos Aires served as one of the top five destinations in the world for the jet-set crowd. In spite of political unrest, you would often find the likes of Porfirio Rubirosa romancing Zsa Zsa Gabor or Ava Gardner after a night at the Teatro Colon.

3. The Dalmatian Coast in the 1990s

While the first half of the decade saw Croatia in a brutal war with Serbia, the latter half of the 1990s saw the Dalmatian Coast surge into the limelight as one of the under-the-radar scenes for wealthy Europeans and movie stars. The Dalmatian coast was dubbed “the next Italian Riviera” for its stunning beaches and small bohemian towns. The likes of Bill Gates and Gwyneth Paltrow could be seen aboard yachts or strolling through town.

4. Dubai in the 2000s

Prior to the early 2000s, Dubai was best known to the US as nothing more than a refueling zone for battle ships during the Gulf War. But upon completion of the Burj Al Arab hotel in 2000, the world took notice of this small emirate of the United Arab Emirates. The Burj labeled itself the first “7-star” hotel, despite the fact that the hotel rating systems cease at five. The world became enamored with the over-the-top ritz and opulence shown in Dubai, and it became an international hub for luxury hotels, shopping and real estate.

5. Park City in the 1970s

Before Sundance came to town, Park City, Utah was a sleepy place plagued by the failure of its mining industry. When Robert Redford showed up with the first independent film festival in the United States, things changed. Originally called the Utah/US Film Festival, the show took place down the mountain from Park City in Salt Lake, but because of the pristine main street and proximity to ski resorts, the scene was all about Park City. Artists came flocking to get a piece of high-grade cinematic action. By 1981, Sundance had officially moved to Park City and the scene changed from insiders and artists to pretty much every Hollywood wannabe.

6. Ibiza in the 1990s

There was never a dance party scene like that of Ibiza, Spain in the 1990s. Led by DJs Paul Oakenfold and Paul Van Dyke, Ibiza quickly changed course from being a hippie hangout in the '70s to being the trance and house music capital of the world. The dance clubs were open 24 hours a day and included Space, which is consistently rated the best club in the world.

7. Monte Carlo in the 1980s

While the international jet-set may have always known about Monte Carlo, it was Princess Grace of Monaco's tragic death in 1982 that caused the rest of the world to pay attention. Despite having a population of only 3,000, Monte Carlo is home to some of the wealthiest people in the world, and during the finance-driven 1980s, there was no hotter place to be. The small town on the Cote d'Azur even played host to the 1988 Steve Martin classic, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”

8. St. Barths in the 1970s

The original Caribbean hideaway for celebrities and the international elite, St. Barths first gained notoriety in the early 1970s. While thousands of miles away from France, St. Barths retains much of the cultural and culinary charm of its imperial motherland and it was during this decade that the Caribbean became popular as a winter playground.

9. London in the 1960s

The 1960s in the British capital city will go down as some of the most fashionable eras of the last 100 years. People came from all over the world for nightlong parties. The original Mod or modernist movement led to The Who's Quadrophenia a decade later and the brilliance of Blur and Oasis in the early 1990s.

10. Goa, India, in the 1970s

This small beachside town on the coast of India was probably the biggest drug and sex scene of the time. It became such a phenomenon that more than a few books were written about the power of Goa in the '70s, the most notable being Cleo Odzer's “Goa Freaks.”

The last two nights in a row I've found myself watching S02E11-12 of Battlestar Galactica (Reimagining), one of the best space operas in the history of science fiction. These two episodes featured the first huge scale combat scene, which reminded me of a post I read a few days back by Joseph Shoer on the physics of space combat and future tech weaponry. I figured it's worth syndicating and reposting as it's something worth reading even if you're only a little bit nerdy! Also, if you've never seen BSG, check it out. I found it hard to get into and only by Season 3 did I 'get it' enough to watch all the earlier ones like a fanatic. Alas, I digress.

Joseph Shoer is a Ph.D. candidate in aerospace engineering, studying how modular spacecraft could be assembled, and hoping that they will be the telescopes and human exploration vehicles of the future, and not for crushing the dreams of Martian colonists.
I had a discussion recently with friends about the various depictions of space combat in science fiction movies, TV shows, and books. We have the fighter-plane engagements of Star Wars, the subdued, two-dimensional naval combat in Star Trek, the Newtonian planes of Battlestar Galactica, the staggeringly furious energy exchanges of the combat wasps in Peter Hamilton's books, and the use of antimatter rocket engines themselves as weapons in other sci-fi. But suppose we get out there, go terraform Mars, and the Martian colonists actually revolt. Or suppose we encounter hostile aliens. How would space combat actually go?

First, let me point out something that Ender's Game got right and something it got wrong. What it got right is the essentially three-dimensional nature of space combat, and how that would be fundamentally different from land, sea, and air combat. In principle, yes, your enemy could come at you from any direction at all. In practice, though, the Buggers are going to do no such thing. At least, not until someone invents an FTL drive, and we can actually pop our battle fleets into existence anywhere near our enemies. The marauding space fleets are going to be governed by orbit dynamics — not just of their own ships in orbit around planets and suns, but those planets' orbits. For the same reason that we have Space Shuttle launch delays, we'll be able to tell exactly what trajectories our enemies could take between planets: the launch window. At any given point in time, there are only so many routes from here to Mars that will leave our imperialist forces enough fuel and energy to put down the colonists' revolt. So, it would actually make sense to build space defense platforms in certain orbits, to point high-power radar-reflection surveillance satellites at certain empty reaches of space, or even to mine parts of the void. It also means that strategy is not as hopeless when we finally get to the Bugger homeworld: the enemy ships will be concentrated into certain orbits, leaving some avenues of attack guarded and some open. (Of course, once our ships maneuver towards those unguarded orbits, they will be easily observed — and potentially countered.)

Now, Let's Talk Technology
First, pending a major development in propulsion technology, combat spacecraft would likely get around the same way the Apollo spacecraft went to the Moon and back: with orbit changes effected by discrete main-engine burns. The only other major option is a propulsion system like ion engines or solar sails, which produce a very low amount of thrust over a very long time. However, the greater speed from burning a chemical, nuclear, or antimatter rocket in a single maneuver is likely a better tactical option. One implication of rocket propulsion is that there will be relatively long periods during which Newtonian physics govern the motions of dogfighting spacecraft, punctuated by relatively short periods of maneuvering. Another is that combat in orbit would be very different from combat in “deep space,” which is what you probably think of as how space combat should be — where a spacecraft thrusts one way, and then keeps going that way forever. No, around a planet, the tactical advantage in a battle would be determined by orbit dynamics: which ship is in a lower (and faster) orbit than which; who has a circular orbit and who has gone for an ellipse; relative rendezvous trajectories that look like winding spirals rather than straight lines.

Second, there are only a few ways to maneuver the attitude of a spacecraft around — to point it in a new direction. The fast ways to do that are to fire an off-center thruster or to tilt a gyroscope around to generate a torque. Attitude maneuvers would be critical to point the main engine of a space fighter to set up for a burn, or to point the weapons systems at an enemy. Either way, concealing the attitude maneuvers of the space fighter would be important to gain a tactical advantage. So I think gyroscopes (”CMGs,” in the spacecraft lingo) would be a better way to go — they could invisibly live entirely within the space fighter hull, and wouldn't need to be mounted on any long booms (which would increase the radar, visible, and physical cross-section of the fighter) to get the most torque on the craft. With some big CMGs, a spacecraft could flip end-for-end in a matter of seconds or less. If you come upon a starfighter with some big, spherical bulbs near the midsection, they are probably whopping big CMGs and the thing will be able to point its guns at you wherever you go. To mitigate some of the directionality of things like weapons fire and thruster burns, space fighters would probably have weapons and engines mounted at various points around their hull; but a culture interested in efficiently mass-producing space warships would probably be concerned about manufacturing so many precision parts for a relatively fragile vessel, and the craft would likely only have one main engine rather than, say, four equal tetrahedral engines.

How About Weapons?
We have to consider just how you might damage a spacecraft to put it out of action.

Explosions are basically a waste of energy in space. On the ground, these are devastating because of the shock wave that goes along with them. But in the vacuum of space, an explosion just creates some tenuous, expanding gases that would be easily dissipated by a hull. No, to damage spacecraft systems, you can't hit them with gas unless it's really, really concentrated and energetic. So unless you want to just wait till your enemy is close enough that you can point your engines at him, the best bets for ranged weapons are kinetic impactors and radiation.

A kinetic impactor is basically just a slug that goes really fast and hits the enemy fighter, tearing through the hull, damaging delicate systems with vibrations, throwing gyroscopes out of alignment so that they spin into their enclosures and explode into shards, puncturing tanks of fuel and other consumables, or directly killing the pilot and crew. You know…bullets. But it sounds much more technical and science-fictiony to say “mass driver” or “kinetic lance” or something of the sort. Of course, the simplest way to implement this sort of weapon in space is just as some kind of machine gun or cannon. Those will work in space (ask the Soviets, they tested a cannon on their first Salyut space station), and the shells will do plenty of damage if they hit anything. However, space is filled mostly with empty space, and hitting the enemy ships might be a challenge. Furthermore, if the impactors are too large, the enemy could counter them by firing their own point-defense slugs and knocking the shells out of line. Therefore, I contend that the most effective kinetic space weapons would be either flak shells or actively thrusting, guided missiles. The flak shells would explode into a hail of fragmented shards, able to tear through un-armored systems of many craft at once without the shell directly hitting its target, or able to strike a target even after it tries to evade with a last-minute engine burn. The missiles would be a bit different from the missiles we are used to on Earth, which must continuously thrust to sustain flight. In space, such a weapon would rapidly exhaust its fuel and simply become a dummy shell. No, a space missile would either be fired as an unguided projectile and power up its engine after drifting most of the way to its target, or it would fire its engine in sporadic, short bursts. A definite downside to kinetic weapons on a starfighter is that they would impart momentum to the fighter or change its mass properties. Very large cannons or missiles might therefore be impractical, unless the fighter can quickly compensate for what is essentially a large rocket firing. Even that compensation might give the enemy just the window he needs…

Radiation-based weapons that burn out the electronics of a spacecraft sound exotic, but are still potentially achievable. This would be the attraction of nuclear weapons in space: not the explosion, which would affect just about nothing, but the burst of energetic particles and the ensuing electromagnetic storm. Still, such a burst would have to be either pretty close to the target vessel to scramble its systems, or it would have to be made directional in some way, to focus the gamma-ray and zinging-proton blast. But while we're talking about focused energy weapons, lets just go with a tool that we already use to cut sheet metal on Earth: lasers. In space, laser light will travel almost forever without dissipating from diffraction. Given a large enough power supply, lasers could be used at range to slice up enemy warships. The key phrase there, though, is “given a large enough power supply.” Power is hard to come by in the space business. So, expect space laser weapons to take one of three forms: small lasers designed not to destroy, but to blind and confuse enemy sensors; medium-sized lasers that would be fired infrequently and aimed to melt specific vulnerable points on enemy space fighters, like antennae, gimbals, and maneuvering thrusters; and large lasers pumped by the discharge from a large capacitor or similar energy storage device to cut a physical slice into the enemy craft wherever they hit. Such a large weapon would likely only be fired at the very beginning of a battle, because the commander of a ship with such a weapon would not want to keep his capacitor charged when it might unexpectedly blow its energy all at once once he's in the thick of things.

Deflector shields like those in fiction are not possible at present, but it would still make sense to armor combat spacecraft to a limited extent. The spaceframes of the fighters would likely be designed solely for the space environment; the actual ships would be launched within the payload fairings of a rocket or assembled in space. If launched from the ground, armor must be minimized to reduce the launch weight of the spacecraft. But if built and launched in space, it would make sense to plate over vital systems of the vehicle. Thick armor would prevent flak or small lasers from piercing delicate components, and might mitigate a direct strike from a kinetic impactor or heavy cutting laser. However, the more heavily armored and massive a space fighter is, the more thrust it will take to maneuver in orbit and the more energy it will take to spin in place. (Here's where computer games get space combat all wrong: the mass of a huge space cruiser would not place an upper limit on the speed of a vehicle, but it would reduce the acceleration a given engine could produce compared to the same engine on a less massive vehicle.)

I'm assuming that we'd have some intrepid members of the United Earth Space Force crewing these combat vessels. Or, at least, crewing some of them — robotic drone fighters would be a tremendous boon to space soldiers, but the communication lag between planets and vessels in orbit would make the split-second judgments of humans necessary at times. (Until we perfect AIs… but if we're giving them the space fighters from the beginning, we deserve the robot uprising we'll get.) The crews will hardly be sitting around nice conference-room command bridges with no seat belts; nor will they be standing upright in slate-gray console pits with glowing glass displays all over. It's not even a good idea for them to have windows, which would be vulnerable to flak and could give the crew an intense sense of disorientation as the spacecraft maneuvers, and could give them tremendous trouble adapting to rapid changes in light levels as the ship rotates near a planet or star. No, they should be strapped into secure couches and centrally located in the most protected part of the spacecraft. They should also be in full pressure suits, and the interior cabin of the spacecraft should already be evacuated — to prevent fires, or any secondary damage if all the atmosphere rushes out a hull breach. This also reduces the need for escape pods. Camera views from the exterior of the ship and graphical representations of the tactical situation would then be projected directly onto helmet faceplates.

Now, for the final word, let's say the United Earth Space Force defeats the Martian rebels in orbit. What do we do to hit them on the ground? Well, strategic weapons from space are easy: kinetic impactors again. You chuck big ol' spears, aerodynamically shaped so they stay on target and don't burn up in the atmosphere, onto ground targets and watch gravitational potential energy turn into kinetic energy and excavate you a brand-new crater. At some point, though, the imperialist Earthlings probably want to take over the existing infrastructure on Mars. Time to get out the Space Marines!

It's not terribly expensive or difficult, comparatively speaking, to get people from orbit down to a planet surface. You fall. This is the purpose of a space capsule. What's really, really, prohibitively difficult is getting them back up again. So, the victorious orbital forces would have to bring in a transport ship chock full of Space Marines and drop them all at once in little capsules (little because they can only be so big for the atmosphere to effectively brake them, and because you don't want all your Marines perishing in some unfortunate incident). Some orbital forces would remain in place to threaten the ground with bombardment and give the Marines a bit more muscle, but really, the ground-pounders are going to have to be pretty self-sufficient. If they ever want to come back up, they would have to build and/or fuel their own ascent vehicle. (This is the problem facing any NASA Mars efforts, too: getting back up through the Martian atmosphere is much harder than any of the lunar ascents were.)

What Would Combat Spacecraft End Up Looking Like?
There are good arguments to have both large and small spacecraft in the Earth forces. A big spacecraft could have a lot more armor to keep its systems and crew safe, more room for large fuel tanks and electrical power supplies, and larger mass to resist impulses from cannon recoil. However, a smaller craft would be less visible to radar, more maneuverable, and could achieve higher accelerations for constant engine thrust. As with just about any military force, the role of the craft would be tailored to the tactical operations required, so the Space Force would probably include several sizes of craft.

Enemies could come at your ship from any direction in space, which means that you would want to react, strike, and counterattack in any direction. So, you would either have to mount weaponry all around your starfighter, put the weapons on gimbals so that they could rapidly point in any direction, or make the fighter maneuverable enough that it could rapidly point in any direction. Gimbals would be a bad option, because they would introduce points of increased vulnerability, unless they could be very well-armored. I conclude that the big ships would have many weapons, pointed in many directions; the small ships would have a few weapons, with the main weapon systems pointed in one direction.

Maneuverability (angular acceleration) you could achieve with gyroscopes, or by mounting engines or thrusters away from your fighter's center of mass. For the highest levels of maneuverability, the spacecraft should be close to spherical and these engines should be as off-center as possible, which might mean putting thrusters on long booms or struts. The problem with this kind of Firefly-like engine layout is that it becomes very vulnerable. If a fighter can achieve high maneuverability with gyros, those are probably the best option.

So, I think the small fighter craft would be nearly spherical, with a single main engine and a few guns or missiles facing generally forward. They would have gyroscopes and fuel tanks in their shielded centers. It would make sense to build their outer hulls in a faceted manner, to reduce their radar cross-section. Basically, picture a bigger, armored version of the lunar module. The larger warships would also probably be nearly spherical, with a small cluster of main engines facing generally backward and a few smaller engines facing forward or sideways for maneuvering. Cannons, lasers, and missile ports would face outward in many directions. On a large enough space cruiser, it would even be a good idea to put docking ports for the small fighters, so that the fighters don't have to carry as many consumables on board.

I think it's time to sketch some pictures and write some stories!

Space-Wide Peace
I certainly hope we don't get into any space wars. Human nature being what it is, though, and given how scarce a lot of resources really are on the scale of a solar system or a galaxy, I don't think it's out of the question. I would like to think that when we start colonizing other worlds, we will be sufficiently enlightened to do so from on board the Ship of the Imagination, and not as futuristic conquistadores. Still, the part of me that loves science fiction has fun with these thought experiments.

Reprinted without permission from Joseph Shoer, hope he doesn't mind non profit use. : P

I was reading about that crazy German cannibal guy, Meiwes the 'master butcher', after seeing an ad for a show called “Interview with a Cannibal” and wanting to know what it was about. This got me onto reading his wiki article, eventuating to the topic 'internet homocide', aside from being shocked that almost all notable Internet homocide occurs from or has involvement with Craigslist I found one story which actually made me double handed facepalm while reading it.

“Thomas Montgomery, a 47-year-old married man was convicted in 2007 of murdering a workmate in a case called the “Internet Chatroom Murder”. He posed as “Tommy”, a 21-year-old marine, and began an online relationship with a 17-year-old called Jessi. A workmate of his, 22-year-old Brian Barrett, subsequently began an online relationship with the same girl after Montgomery's deception was revealed, and Montgomery shot him in their work car park. “Jessi” was actually a middle-aged woman who had been using pictures of her daughter. A police officer said “he became a completely different person online”. Another commented that “It's very odd that someone would take another's life over jealousy of a person you've never laid your eyes on”.”

How absolutely facepalm is that? I mean .. I'm not one to laugh at others misfortune, but did anyone else get that flashback to that picture of the half nude fat 60 year old in front of a PC with the demotivator text of him invariably claiming to be a nubile young lass?

Oh internets. Where would we be without you? (Probably being productive and having lives.)

To commence, merry Christmas and all that jazz. This post is well overdue, as I've been slack with my posts the last few days. I'm sitting on the end of my bed being accosted by a very lovey cat who gets horribly clingy when it's 'bed time,' or at least the second I join him on the bed.

If you've never seen nor heard of Kingdom Hospital I encourage horror fans to look into it; I also recently stumbled across a fun podcast while waiting for “We're Alive” (the zombie podcast I reviewed a while ago) takes it's sweet time with an update. It's classic old radio plays of horror stories!

It's called Tales of Horror, it's free and on iTunes in the podcast section, or for non apple folks click here: http://www.google.com/search?q=Tales+of+Horror+podcast&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

I broke 2k gamer points on xbox which was fun and well overdue, I realized I was playing the same games daily–not that I don't still play them and think them awesome–but Forza 3, Assassins Creed 2 and L4D2 consumed most of my gaming, even World of Warcraft hasn't been touched in so long my mail is probably auto deleting as I type this losing me tens of thousands of gold pieces! D:

I started playing FEAR, cool game, but the plot is very j-horror and thus doesn't really suit a western mindset horror fan as creepy little kids and freak out effects don't make me wet myself. It's fun, challenging, and I'm one of those tards who always get lost / don't know where to go or what to do next.

Prince Caspian is another I've been playing, it's from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe famed Narnia series in case you're from some deep jungle tribe (speaking of, I watched 30 minutes of Attenborough interacting with the Biami tribe who had never met white men and use a 12 base calculating system and share no common words other than nouns with other locals!) and the game play is unbecoming. It's like Assassins Creed 2 minus parkour, minus assassins, minus creed … but it has a lot of cut scenes from the movie at least?

Ice Age 3 is another I've been playing a lot, it and Prince Caspian are identical in every way, although IA3 has parkour like AC2; albeit an animated lullzy style. It too shares the marginally interactive movie (ie: button mash for five minutes between five minute cut scenes!) but is a good no brainer to play, and Scratte + Sid sloth == AMUSED! You get to play both of them too!

I'm wearing a beanie with cat ears and a cat skull motif on the front, suddenly my lovey cat is wide eyed and won't come near me. This is brilliant, no rubbing in my face tonight!

So, I'm curious. What did you, my dear readers, get for Christmas and what've you been up to? I think one of my most awesome gifts are a snazzy pair of mooks sunnies and a car polisher (because everyone knows I'm anal retentive about my car and try to keep it in show car standard) along with a crapload of xbox games which will be keeping me out of trouble for some time.

I have, however, eaten far more than I can take. I cooked Christmas dinner on a BBQ for my family, and didn't even touch what I cooked opting for more light food stuffs, but familial peer pressure has led to gluttony and god knows I need to get back into working out daily until this one-pack ab I'm sporting pisses off.

I managed to cruise through the Christmas break so far without hitting a police check point; lucky because I'm still suspended and the second a cop stops me and runs my license I'm done for and will be facing six months suspension in court. :/

I got caught speeding between 10-15kph over the limit twice in three years; that's how unreasonable road laws are in New South Wales, Australia. Even the government admitted it was unreasonable, with 15% of all drivers currently suspended, 1:3 drivers having no license, and almost every case in local and district court being vehicle related–they even released details on the new road rules–but they haven't brought them in, and probably won't because they're spineless and make more from fines / public transport usage!

Anyway, this is all tl;dr and I'm sure only a handful of you have read this far. So to reward your reader loyalty I'm going to attach a picture of myself naked here … okay, I'm lying, but you're awesome! <3