Category: Consciousness

Shout Out Townsville

This one’s for Townsville locals – but those of you who don’t live here should check it out too.
We’ve launched a new campaign with the Townsville Airport – and you can win prizes by chucking your photos and videos of North Queensland on the website. Then using them to lure your friends and family up here.

It’s called “Shout Out Townsville” – and you’ll find a few of my pics up there as placeholders. But don’t worry. I can’t win.

It’s definitely the coolest campaign we’ve done since I’ve been here.

March 9, 2009

Posts you might have missed

Too many posts to handle? Here’s a quick list of the posts you might have missed this week:
  • A bunch of links – March 2, 2009
    Posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 in web
    #39;Confessions of a Facebook Social Climber#39;Personal branding in the age of GoogleInternet Guru Seth Godin has something useful to say today.Mystery of the Belly Button Fluff Solved by ScienceFree Album – JaydioheadFacebook Photo Album DownloaderFloorplanner Presents Your Plans in 3D [Web Apps]This is another link pretty much only for the benefit of my wife – who rather than playing the Sims spends her time designing floorplans using online software.
  • A bunch of links – March 3, 2009
    Posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 in web
    Are You a Christian Hipster? | conversantlife.comWow. I am. According to this definition:brbr”Christian hipsters don’t like megachurches, altar calls, and door-to-door evangelism. They don’t really like John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart or youth pastors who talk too much about Braveheart. In general, they tend not to like Mel Gibson and have come to really dislike The Passion for being overly bloody and maybe a little sadistic.
  • A Manly win
    Posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 in Sport
    Manly won the World Club Challenge last night – the first NRL team to do so in the last five years. They’re also only the sixth team to do it in 17 years of WCC matches. Only two have been played in Australia.Bodes well for a good season for the mighty Sea Eagles. Who are also the deservedly the bookmaker’s favourites this year.
  • Election Scorecard: Craig Wallace’s Townsville ad
    Posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 in Politics
    Labor MP for Thuringowa (and Minister for just about everything) Craig Wallace has a 17% margin. He’s in one of the safest seats in the state. He barely even needs to advertise.So why jump the shark and be filmed holding a puppy?His ad is positive though. It talks about “delivering” for North Queensland and highlights projects “he has delivered”.
  • Election Scorecard: Labor’s attack ads
    Posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 in Politics
    The Labor Party is telling us we can’t trust Springborg because a couple of months ago he said the current economic climate was not like the Great Depression. That it was different. The ad runs a bunch of clips from world leaders (Obama, Rudd, and Brown) telling us what a crisis this is, and comparing the situation with the Great Depression.
  • Election Scorecard: LNP’s Debt Attack ads
    Posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 in Politics
    Debt should not be a campaign issue in a recession. The fact Queensland has a big debt is a problem – but the future Queensland Government needs to be building infrastructure to create jobs.So campaigning on the fact that you’re not going to do anything to address rising unemployment is ridiculous.This raises a question for me – what happens when a state can’t pay off its debt – it’s not like infrastructure assets can be repossessed.
  • Evolution of a Nerd
    Posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 in Church
    My first post on this blog highlights my ongoing descent into nerdhood. While I don’t have the bespectacled (yet), triple-chinned, past-eating figure as described here, I have taken some healthy steps in the direction of becoming a nerd. 1. Blogging. To the readers who have ‘tuned in’ (sorry I don’t know what the web equivalent is) hoping for some of Nathan’s regular rants, my apologies.
  • Finding a niche
    Posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 in Culture
    Every time I drive down Ross River Road I think to myself “how can this place possibly continue as a business?”Finding a niche is one thing – being irrelevant is another.Has anyone ever used this place? I can’t for the life of me figure out how they pay their lease.According to the Word of Mouth Forum they’re good at their job.
  • Fox Sports subbed by monkey
    Posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 in Media
    Can you spot the problem with the following sentence from this story?”Rumoured to of signed a four-year $450,000-a-year deal with the Sea Eagles back in 2005, Orford would likely have to take a pay cut to remain on the northern beaches with the club battling to reward last year’s premiers and remain under the salary cap.”If yes, please apply for a job sub-editing Fox Sports Online.
  • Frustration
    Posted on Sunday, March 8th, 2009 in Life
    I enjoy a good argument. So much so that I’m able to completely distance myself from the ramifications of taking a particular side in an argument just to see it continue. I am sure other people find this frustrating. Actually, I know for a fact that some people do.In my mind it’s only when arguing through an issue that you’re truly able to shape your thinking on something – at least that’s how it works for me.
  • Gigapan and scare tactics
    Posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 in Life
    Gigapan is an impressive inauguration interactive photo panorama doing the email rounds. It has been around for a while.This is the email doing the rounds.Subject: Big brother is watching you, check this out!This is a photo from the 2009 Inauguration, In which you can see IN FOCUS The face of each individual in the crowd !!!You can scan, double click and zoom to any section of the crowd.
  • Green =/= Sustainable
    Posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 in Politics
    In the comments on last night’s post – which is still generating discussion – I mentioned that I see a difference between “green” and “sustainable”.Sustainable living is driven by common sense. Green living is driven by ideology.Sustainable living will often cost less – economics are a factor. Green living will cost more it can require paying a premium to maintain ideological consistency.
  • Green is the new bleak
    Posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 in Church
    A recent comment on a recent post asked me the following questions:1. I am of the mind to think that when God gave us this planet to look after, it was sort of a house-sitting arrangement. He isn’t going to be too happy to come back and find we’ve trashed the joint, is He.2. Global pollution and/or global warming are going to have the strongest effect not on the ‘Western’ world but the poorest nations and peoples.
  • Philosophical Death Match: Science v Religion
    Posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 in Church
    “Nonsense. There are so many phenomena that would raise the specter of God or other supernatural forces: faith healers could restore lost vision, the cancers of only good people could go into remission, the dead could return to life, we could find meaningful DNA sequences that could have been placed in our genome only by an intelligent agent, angels could appear in the sky.
  • Things I use: Firefox extensions
    Posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 in Links
    Stuss asked why she should bother switching to Firefox from Explorer. Apart from speed, moving away from the proprietary Microsoft platform, and security there’s one thing Firefox really has going for it. Extensibility. You can pretty much turn Firefox into whatever you want it to be. Thanks to the power of extensions.But when it comes to extensions for your Firefox experience there’s a lot of bloatware out there.
  • This is why you’re fat
    Posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 in Links
    Again. This one takes the cake.
  • Two ways to consume
    Posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 in Church
    The debate goes on back here. It’s been a thoughtful – and helpful I think – discussion on the environment, hippies, and sustainability. Join in. If you like.One of my objections to paying a premium to be green is that it seems like such a waste of money. For example, I don’t like that chickens live in terrible conditions in battery farms.
  • Warming to the debate
    Posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 in Culture
    It’s probably time I addressed Amy’s second point.2. Global pollution and/or global warming are going to have the strongest effect not on the ‘Western’ world but the poorest nations and peoples. I think we have not only an ethical but a moral duty to ensure that this planet can support everyone on it.I completely agree with the second sentence.
  • Waterworks
    Posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 in Coffee
    I hate the Greens. And the environmental lobby group. Which is a good thing – because not only does my coffee machine produce the carbon emissions of say a motorised scooter – drinking coffee is the least sustainable environmental exercise around when judged by water consumption in production. That is pre-cup production too.From the Economist:”A cup of coffee, for example, needs a great deal more water than that poured into the pot.
  • Why blog
    Posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 in Life
    Simone often says the link is the ultimate blog love language. And I like her blog. I especially like commenting specifically when she’s tried to be vague about a situation I’m familiar with. This particular post questions why people blog. I put my answer there. It went something like this:”I blog for a few reasons – to track and log my thoughts, because I think the internet is full of crazy things that need documenting, and because I want space for my rants.
Why not subscribe to the RSS feed so that you don’t miss a beat. Or a post

March 9, 2009

Fish heads

The designer of this fish tank must have listened to too much They Might Be Giants.

March 8, 2009

Frustration

I enjoy a good argument. So much so that I’m able to completely distance myself from the ramifications of taking a particular side in an argument just to see it continue. I am sure other people find this frustrating. Actually, I know for a fact that some people do.

In my mind it’s only when arguing through an issue that you’re truly able to shape your thinking on something – at least that’s how it works for me.

Arguing a point brings clarity to my position because it lets me consider the criticisms of my position and understand the applications of holding to a particular idea. Other people might not approach this the same way. 

Sometimes I find myself reading things that I know will frustrate me for the sheer purpose of entering into an argument – or I’ll bait an issue to create an argument out of it. I’m sure this is also annoying. 

Simone made an interesting point the other day:

“Today I’ve been bored, so bored that I was visiting blogs that annoy me on purpose so that I would get annoyed. Because its more fun to be annoyed than bored.”

I wonder how many people do this. I know I spend a lot of time reading things written by people I disagree with. Probably more time than I spend reading things by people I agree with. And I know too that my hits go up dramatically if I write something controversial that you, my readers, disagree with. 

So now I’m left wondering – should I write things I know will get a bite? It seems people want to bite, and it gives me the opportunity to argue. Or should I write things that there will be consensus on and not actually challenge anyone or anything. I like the first option. Your thoughts?

The danger is that if I go down this path there’s a real chance people will be offended – or caught up in an argument in an emotional sense – if I happen to attack one of their sacred cows. And that’s never really my intention in an argument. Unless I’m arguing about something that I think is a black and white issue, which, for example, climate change and charitable giving is not.

Also – Frustration is the name of a pretty cool card game. You should check it out.

March 8, 2009

Here comes Hamish

My fellow North Queenslanders. I urge you. Buy milk. It won’t be here tomorrow. And by tomorrow I mean next week.

Here comes another cyclone. Hamish. Yet another pansy name. Sorry to any Hamishes that might be offended – but it really doesn’t inspire fear and trepidation.

But it does mean “he who supplants”. So do these other names. Cyclone Diego sounds much more ominous.

March 6, 2009

Gigapan and scare tactics

Gigapan is an impressive inauguration interactive photo panorama doing the email rounds. It has been around for a while.

This is the email doing the rounds.

Subject: Big brother is watching you, check this out!

This is a photo from the 2009 Inauguration, In which you can see IN FOCUS The face of each individual in the crowd !!!

You can scan, double click and zoom to any section of the crowd… wait a few seconds… and the focus adjusts.

The picture was taken with a robotic camera at 1,474 megapixel. (295 times the standard 5 megapixel camera)

Makes you wonder who’s watching us right now !

Gigapan is an impressive piece of technology. But at no stage did I wonder “who was watching me” – this sort of sensationalism annoys me. I would expect people to be taking photos at major public events.

Plus, the ability to capture the faces of everyone in the crowd is great for security. According to “Lie to Me” police could get in one of those facial specialists to look for angry people and identify shooters in a flash – imagine if this had been around the grassy noll.

March 6, 2009

Cat people


Coming late to the party is better than not arriving at all. I’d never really stopped to consider what type of person spends all their comic book existence talking to their cat. My guess – a sad, lonely, and miserable person.

This hypothesis is backed up by the webcomic Garfield minus Garfield. Which has been around for a while – long enough to have produced a book – and you’ve no doubt heard of it already. It reinvents Garfield strips by removing the cat from the picture and giving us an interesting view into the psyche of the cat lover. Or, as they delicately put it:

“Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb. “

The results are surprisingly amusing.

March 6, 2009

Finding a niche

Every time I drive down Ross River Road I think to myself “how can this place possibly continue as a business?”

Finding a niche is one thing – being irrelevant is another.

Has anyone ever used this place? I can’t for the life of me figure out how they pay their lease.

According to the Word of Mouth Forum they’re good at their job. They also offer “haircuts at barber prices” so maybe it’s just clever branding.

March 5, 2009

Band aid solution: Bacon

Make your gaping flesh wounds look edible and desirable for just $3.99.

March 5, 2009

Urban Camouflage

With trees being cleared all over the place to create warehouse sized shops it’s getting tougher than ever to find the right camouflage.

This guy is an expert. There are a few different examples on his site.




March 5, 2009

Corporate honesty

I pushed pretty hard to change my title from the impressive sounding (but utterly meaningless) “Corporate Communications Executive” to “Spin Doctor”. I failed.

It would be nice for the corporate world to be more honest about the work it does at times – these folders would help. They’re $US8.49 – a worthy price to confess the total crapness of the nature of your current projects.
Found via Foolish Gadgets – who continue to live up to their name.

March 5, 2009

Likaholix

I’m enjoying playing with Likaholix, this new Web 2.0 platform that basically lets you list everything you like. It’s in early, early beta stage but is accepting signups I think. If it’s not I have 10 invites to give away. Try to be the first to claim your things. It’s a combination of bookmarks and listing music, movies and books you enjoy. In fact you can list any thing (that is noun – regardless of how abstract). Provided it has a website.

I guess that will bring kudos when the plaform takes off. Which it might – someone left Google to start it.

March 5, 2009

Good Mark

Mark’s comment here is worth reading. It is pretty long. He hasn’t commented for a while. Welcome back to commenting Mark. 

Actually, I’ve enjoyed a few of these environment discussions – thanks all of you for commenting. 

I will post my next thoughts tomorrow.

March 4, 2009

Why blog

Simone often says the link is the ultimate blog love language. And I like her blog. I especially like commenting specifically when she’s tried to be vague about a situation I’m familiar with.  This particular post questions why people blog. I put my answer there. 

It went something like this:

“I blog for a few reasons – to track and log my thoughts, because I think the internet is full of crazy things that need documenting, and because I want space for my rants. 

Oh, and sometimes it’s because I think I actually have something useful to say – often that’s either about PR or coffee. 

My blog has an incredibly broad scope though – sometimes I think I should narrow it and have different blogs for different topics.”

So commenters – why do you blog? And if you don’t why don’t you? Do you think my scope isn’t clearly defined enough? I do have 16 categories.

March 4, 2009

Say goodbye to the Allen Key

This funky piece of furniture (I’m not sure what it is… bookshelves I think) has the added bonus of being completely and utterly sustainable. And possibly green – because it saved some trees. Assembly is slightly more complex than your average IKEA piece. It’s made from cardboard. Cardboard you might find lying around your house, or in recycling bins.

You can learn how to make your own cardboard furniture here.

There, I must have an environmental bone in my body afterall. Somewhere near the funny bone.

March 4, 2009