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Tram Town
Friday, March 31, 2006
 
Category: Journalism
Slatts comments on lefty journalists:
Vapours-prone Herald Sun columnist Jill Singer is one of those bourgeois bolsheviks who regards the proletariat as truly lumpen.
I had lunch with Slatts at his local on Wednesday. It was a terrific feed and the company was particularly good though I felt like a bit of a mental midget amongst giants. That's all a bit irrelevant to the fact that the post pointed at above is a terrific read as are all of Slatts' posts.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006
 
Category: Fashion
I was in an Eastern Suburbs Asian Restaurant today and (a not particularly well looking) Don Chipp was there. We both had the same tie! -- how does that work? I congratulated him on his fashion sense and his minder said both of our wives must have taste!

Sunday, March 26, 2006
 
Category: Acting Naturally
Buck Owens has gone over to the other side.

 
Category: Etiquette
I found Etiquette Hell to be an interesting if at times painful site.

Saturday, March 25, 2006
 
Category: Alcohol
Via John Ray a Reuters article:
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday.

Friday, March 24, 2006
 
Category: Art
I quite like this, Semi won't!

 
Category: CommGames
Do your bit for National Security, walk around humming this and when some folks start to stand up dob them in!
They've got a bloody track record though for goodness sake.

Thursday, March 23, 2006
 
Category: Fillums
Milne introduces Meyer. Down at ACMI, could be interesting.

 
Category: mp3 Players
I'm guessing that most of the above have similar information available somewhere but only Apple folks would so anally document the iPod process.

 
Category: Technology
The 20 most important tools of our time! (oh, and duct tape).

Tuesday, March 21, 2006
 
Category: Umm, Relationships (I Guess)
Folks meeting folks with similar interests.

Monday, March 20, 2006
 
Category: History

The Sandridge bridge was last used for trains in 1987. After 19 years of stalling by goverments country and western we have finally hit upon a use for it; a pedestrian bridge! They got somebody to drop some arts on the top of it and provided some politically correct history panels that are almost completely unreadable and then built some steps at the southern end and voila! It's still idiotic, but. I'm sure some clown from the current government has issued a press release claiming it breathes new life into SouthBank.

Sunday, March 19, 2006
 
Category: Space TFF
200 days into its' 90 day mission, Mars rover Spirit seems to be dragging its' feet -- slacker!

Saturday, March 18, 2006
 
Category: Politics
Over at Diogenes Lamp, a story from Parade magazine is pointed at. Parade has compiled its latest list of the world's twenty worst dictators. Get his about Ronery Kim's "citizens":
Malnourishment is widespread: According to the United Nations World Food Program, the average 7-year-old boy in North Korea is almost 8 inches shorter than a South Korean boy the same age and more than 20 pounds lighter.

 
Category: Water
This is an interesting site about water-related pseudoscience.

Thursday, March 16, 2006
 
Category: Technology (older)
Some nice photos of older computers with some commentary attached. Auffers will like it if no-one else (hmmm, so why have I blogged it?? -- I liked it too).

Tuesday, March 14, 2006
 
Category: Death
Apparently a lot of people failed to die last year. C'mon Aussie, do your bit for Straya.

 
Category: Driving
The London mayor (aka that idiot Ken Livingstone) is creating "Clarkson zones". Jeremy is not concerned.

Monday, March 13, 2006
 
Category: Trams
Bringing together the whole tram thing that has been going on over the past couple of days on Tram Town, I have an interesting little piece of irony to report.
For the duration of the Comm Games, the number 55 route is going from West Coburg to Malvern. An interesting (for some sufficiently loose definition of interesting that applies to only me) side effect of this is that we have Z2 class trams on the route for the first time in decades. Normally we have Z3's or B-classes. This lines up beautifully with the fact that the tram-a-like to be used in the opening ceremony is not even a little bit accurate in its attempt to look like a W-class.
Not entirely clear? You see Z2's have two doors per side and Z3's and B's have three doors per side. The W-class-a-like to be used on Wednesday night has only two doors when it should really have three.
I swear I'm really a very interesting person just a tram tragic as well.

Sunday, March 12, 2006
 
Category: CG
Charles Murton over at Diogenes Lamp has managed to obtain an accurate version of the Comm Games opening ceremony. I can't say much more because I was there and they have threatened a re-introduction of the death penalty if I blab.
Charles also has an interesting report on a kidnapping.
Best new blog of 2005: Diogenes Lamp (it is in the pool room, BTW).

 
Category: Trams
Route 55: West Coburg to Domain Interchange
Route 55: West Coburg to Malvern!

Saturday, March 11, 2006
 
Category: Accuracy
Does a W-class tram look like this:

Or like this:
???
Note the import company, Grandma!

 
Category: Technology
300 Kbps @ 100K is sorta cool. (albeit a bit slow but better than nothing)

Friday, March 10, 2006
 
Category: Thumper
I don't think this "The Biggest Subwoofer Ever Made" would fit inside the classic Toyota Soarer which will irrtiate the heck out of the regular drivers of those vehicles who seem to wake me up most nights driving up Melville Road at 3am with their thump-thump-thump.
Oh Gizmo! looks like a really interesting site just generally. The iPod Nano MAME Cabinet is an absolute cracker of a gizmo.

Thursday, March 09, 2006
 
Category: Food
Divers have discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky, blonde fur, French researchers said Tuesday.
But what does it taste like?

Wednesday, March 08, 2006
 
Category: Transport
The History of Future Transport.

 
Category: Technology
Hmmm. World Leader iPod Index. Votes in to date: Bush 1; Pope 1; Blair 0.

 
Category: Weight
The bog-standard toilet apparently has had to have its weight supporting ability increased from 45kg to 150kg. I'm here to tell you that if they can only hold 45kg currently then I must have unknowingly destroyed a few over the years.
The Adelaide Advertiser asked for comments from readers and got quite an uncharitable response. Amongst the comments:
Why are we catering to all these fat people! Make it socially unacceptable to be so overweight and then perhaps we'll see some changes.
and
Let's reinforce concrete for those lardarses and their buggies who are too fat to even walk on footpaths or at the shops or to the ER...
and
This whole body acceptance movement is entirely to blame. Fat folk just started feeling proud about being obese rather than being humiliated into doing something about it.
and this cracker
We have some quite obese friends and they often come over for BBQs on our back balcony (10 metres off the ground). Our house is only 8 years old as is built to structural engineering standards. We have been considering putting steel plates under for extra support as we worry when we get the whole family over that it won't take the weight. If we all go down with the balcony another question who would sue who, do we sue them for their overweighty contribution or do they sue us for not having it reinforced.
And then there is the notion that, because we have a nationalised healthcare system, the state has the right to intefere in our lives
This is getting absolutely DISGUSTING! I think the fat of Australia needs to get up off their asses and do something about it, and stop making excuses! They are EMBARRASSING!!! It even affects my life (e.g. health benefits) because they can't look after themselves! And what is worse is that some of them think we should be feeling sorry for them!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006
 
Category: Viromunt
"everyone wants to be green but live as they damn well like" says Michael Duffy in this article about green bags and lots of other things. Amongst the interesting details:
In the years before the Reformation, the wealthy could buy indulgences from the church to take care of their sins. Maybe that's what those green bags represent for the shopper I saw - sort of moral carbon sinks.
This article was first pointed at for me on Jennifer Marohasy's blog which is now in the pool room (at left).

 
Category: Underwear
[CAUTION: Nudity may offend] This flash marketing tool has been viewed by plenty of people who are not in the market for a sports bras is my guess.

 
Category: Strange
The Aural Times - We sing the news so you don't have to.

 
Category: War (civil)
A bloke by the name of Ralph Peters (no relation as far as I know) has a few words to say about the "pending" civil war in Iraq in the New York Post (of Headless Body in Topless Bar fame):
I'M trying. I've been trying all week. The other day, I drove another 30 miles or so on the streets and alleys of Baghdad. I'm looking for the civil war that The New York Times declared. And I just can't find it.
Maybe actually being on the ground in Iraq prevents me from seeing it. Perhaps the view's clearer from Manhattan. It could be that my background as an intelligence officer didn't give me the right skills.

Monday, March 06, 2006
 
Category: Radio 1/3LO/774
Those of you who listen to this station will know that their new(ish) "talk-back" number is: 1300 222 774. Heck, I've even rung it a coupla' times. What I'd never noticed was the middle number group token (viz. 222) is, in fact a telephone pad mnemonic for ABC. I was astonished I'd never noticed it before.
Guess who told me? Razer -- sorry, but that shits me!

 
Category: Cartoons (not)
I haven't seriously watched "The Simpsons" for years -- but this looks very interesting. Maybe Panto's may not be far off!

Saturday, March 04, 2006
 
Category: Technology
If this is fair dinkum it looks interesting, but it also looks a bit like two blokes in a high-tech pantomime- horse costume. (Semi and I have some experience with pantomime-horses)

 
Category: Technology
Not a Flying Car!

 
Category: Stupidity
That Blair Bloke (I don't believe I'm pointing to Tim Blair) has pointed to an interesting story. Teen Pleads Guilty To Hiring Hit Man To Steal Block Of Cheese

Friday, March 03, 2006
 
Category: RDC
Vale Jimmy. (what this bio doesn't mention though is that the agent who "discovered" him was in fact Phil Collins' (drummer) Mum)

 
Category: Anthems
I was astounded by the range of people consulted by the Hun regarding the playing of the national anthem at the Comm Games opening ceremony:
ANZ chief economist Saul Eslake said he disliked both anthems, but agreed both should be played.
Disliked both anthems! Everyone's a bloody critic.
Me, I'm at a bit of a loss as to why you wouldn't play it. The only reason I can see is that perhaps there is a risk that a significant proportion of the crowd would remain in their seats and that would be embarrassing for some.
Anyway, my compromise is to play the Sex Pistols song of the same name. It went down well at the silver jubilee.

 
Category: Health
Again with health...
The Thorpedo's illness concerns me a little. It seems that the doctors are reasonably sure they could at least reduce the symptoms but they are not able to give him the requisite drugs. His manager, Dave Flaskas, said
restrictions on what medication swimmers could take was impeding Thorpe's recovery.
"Unfortunately, a lot of the normal stuff that people are given are on the banned list," he said.
"We haven't got time to get that stuff approved, unfortunately.
"You just can't get it in 24 hours, no matter how sick you are.
"One doctor wanted to see him go on to Ventolin to try to help the breathing but to go on Ventolin there's got to be a history and it all takes time.
"The Games would come and go by the time you get approval.
"The irony of it is I went over to his place yesterday afternoon to see how he was and there's the FINA drug testers sitting in his room."
Now, as you all know, I don't really have complete confidence in modern medicine but common sense says that if the tools that they do have in place are not able to be used due to some petty sporting rules, it's the rules that should go (or at least be altered).
Just One Guy's Opinion™

Thursday, March 02, 2006
 
Category: Geom.
There's a 4-dimensional hypercube over at www.mathematik.com that you should definitely take a look at. There's a lot of other really nice stuff, too. Well worth the visit!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006
 
Category: WHWTMSITW*
An article on a possible cause of the Little Ice Age suggests trees growing on farmland abandoned due to the bubonic plague some two hundred years before temperatures started to go down sucked up warming culprit CO2. This is what passes for academic rigour in this post-scientific age.
* We have way too many scientists in this world.

 
Category: Apple
Steve et al had a huge event last night and released some fantastic iPod cases -- Italian Leather! Microsoft would never think of that.
Oh, and some other stuff too. I really like the Italian leather gig though -- is SJ thinking or not?

 
Category: Obesity
We're big on health here at TramTown today.
I was listening to the latest Absolute Science podcast when I was in the pool this morning and came across the notion that there appear to be a virus that can cause obesity. It initially seemed ridiculous but read on...

 
Category: Health
On the wireless this morning I heard the "pending" bird flu scare described as Y2K with feathers. Here is the press release from Central Otago Mayor Dr Malcolm MacPherson which was the source.

 
Category: Nutrition
Following on the heels of the low-fat-diet-has-few-benefits fiasco comes this marvellous Dutch study telling us that
older men who ate the highest amount of cocoa were half as likely to die of cardiovascular disease as those who ate less or no cocoa
But just a coldarn moment, we can't offend the nutrition doctrinaires
Experts warn, however, that the current study did not establish a causal relationship between cocoa use and the risk of death from heart disease and others, nor recommend eating cocoa to lower death risk because the long term effect of eating cocoa remains unknown.
The message is quite clear... NOT!

Also in the health game, this from the Hun
VICTORIAN scientists have developed a vaccine for two dangerous animal viruses that can easily kill humans and could potentially be used by terrorists.
How many button do they press in that single leading sentence?


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