Sunday 17 December 2006

What have I been up to recently ?

Recently bought an x-box 360, which is great for the rainy days.  Been sitting here quite alot playing it though.

Ingunn is happy about that

Been avoiding blue-bottles at Reef beach

Gav + Kelly's 30th boat trip around the harbour was a great day out, and good opportunity to catch up with everyone.

Snorkelling today to clear the head

 

Trying to learn to touch-type?  - this is a good game to make learning easier http://cognitivelabs.com/word_shoot.htm

Currently listening to the new Faithless album "To all new arrivals".  Hope you all have a merry christmas, Ingunn and I are off to Vanuatu

What have I been up to recently ?

Recently bought an x-box 360, which is great for the rainy days.  Been sitting here quite alot playing it though.

Ingunn is happy about that

Been avoiding blue-bottles at Reef beach

Gav + Kelly's 30th boat trip around the harbour was a great day out, and good opportunity to catch up with everyone.

Snorkelling today to clear the head

 

Trying to learn to touch-type?  - this is a good game to make learning easier http://cognitivelabs.com/word_shoot.htm

Currently listening to the new Faithless album "To all new arrivals".  Hope you all have a merry christmas, Ingunn and I are off to Vanuatu

Wednesday 6 December 2006

Harbour by night

Been going on a digtal camera course recently, will put up some more pics.   Am thinking of buying one of these (Sony DSLR Alpha 100).

Harbour by night

Been going on a digtal camera course recently, will put up some more pics.   Am thinking of buying one of these (Sony DSLR Alpha 100).

Monday 20 November 2006

Behaviour influencing evolution

Pending your beliefs about evolution, National Geographic is running an interesting article on the influences of behavior on evolution. The study supports the controversial idea that an animal's behavior in response to environmental change can spur evolutionary adaptations. By adding a predator to an island where a species of lizards lived with no predators, they witnessed a quick shift in the average length of legs on the lizards. Long legs meant to escape were useless against the new larger predators while short legs became the dominant feature since they increased climbing ability (to trees the predators could not reach).

The study also supports a somewhat controversial idea in biology: Animals' behavior in response to environmental change can spur evolutionary adaptations.

Could that imply that the behaviour of disbelieving scientific facts could spur a reduction in brain size in order to adapt to reduced intelligence?

Behaviour influencing evolution

Pending your beliefs about evolution, National Geographic is running an interesting article on the influences of behavior on evolution. The study supports the controversial idea that an animal's behavior in response to environmental change can spur evolutionary adaptations. By adding a predator to an island where a species of lizards lived with no predators, they witnessed a quick shift in the average length of legs on the lizards. Long legs meant to escape were useless against the new larger predators while short legs became the dominant feature since they increased climbing ability (to trees the predators could not reach).

The study also supports a somewhat controversial idea in biology: Animals' behavior in response to environmental change can spur evolutionary adaptations.

Could that imply that the behaviour of disbelieving scientific facts could spur a reduction in brain size in order to adapt to reduced intelligence?

Friday 10 November 2006

U2 in Sydney

What a great gig

 

Not sure about the whole co-existence speech though

U2 in Sydney

What a great gig

 

Not sure about the whole co-existence speech though

Monday 6 November 2006

Under

The water.  Haven't been there in awhile.

Under

The water.  Haven't been there in awhile.

Sunday 5 November 2006

Beginners Guide to BitTorrent

Here is a useful guide for any of you who haven't got bittorent figured out yet.  Even if you have, the article goes into quite alot of detail and will undoubteldy be of use.  Questions such as

  • How does BitTorrent compare to other forms of file transfer?
  • What happens if I cancel a download? How can I resume?
  • How do I configure a web server for .torrent files?

The sites i find best for tracking torrents:  torrentspy, btjunkietorrentz or torrentportal.

Beginners Guide to BitTorrent

Here is a useful guide for any of you who haven't got bittorent figured out yet.  Even if you have, the article goes into quite alot of detail and will undoubteldy be of use.  Questions such as

  • How does BitTorrent compare to other forms of file transfer?
  • What happens if I cancel a download? How can I resume?
  • How do I configure a web server for .torrent files?

The sites i find best for tracking torrents:  torrentspy, btjunkietorrentz or torrentportal.

Thursday 26 October 2006

Firefox 2.0

"A web browser fully customisable to your online life"

That's the firefox marketing mantra, and I think to a certainb extent it is true.   Beyond the extensive options available in its menus and dialogs, there's a lengthy set of advanced Firefox preferences that can customize the browser to your specific needs.

Here is a good one to speed up webpage load times if you are using broadband:

1.Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries:

  • network.http.pipelining
  • network.http.proxy.pipelining
  • network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which massively speeds up page loading.

2. Alter the entries as follows:

Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.

3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0". This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives.

If you're using a broadband connection you'll load pages loads faster now.. 

 

Firefox 2.0

"A web browser fully customisable to your online life"

That's the firefox marketing mantra, and I think to a certainb extent it is true.   Beyond the extensive options available in its menus and dialogs, there's a lengthy set of advanced Firefox preferences that can customize the browser to your specific needs.

Here is a good one to speed up webpage load times if you are using broadband:

1.Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries:

  • network.http.pipelining
  • network.http.proxy.pipelining
  • network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which massively speeds up page loading.

2. Alter the entries as follows:

Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.

3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0". This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives.

If you're using a broadband connection you'll load pages loads faster now.. 

 

Sunday 22 October 2006

Rubik's Cube

How hard can it be?? UPDATE: Annoyingly hard, nearly there though.

Well, the first time i was given a cube,  after hours of dedicated puzzle-solving it ended in a surreptitious peeling off of stickers.  I've got another one recently and have been trying to crack it once and for all.  Unsuccessfully, in fact it has been driving me mad.

If you really want to learn how to solve the Rubik, then check out this step by step solver from Casey C. at the Oregon Institute of Technology.  Basically, you're solving a mathematical problem, so all you need to do is follow the steps and you'll solve the mystery that is the Rubik's Cube...   It is still easier said than done, but i'm alot closer now.

Solving the cube

Rubik's Cube

How hard can it be?? UPDATE: Annoyingly hard, nearly there though.

Well, the first time i was given a cube,  after hours of dedicated puzzle-solving it ended in a surreptitious peeling off of stickers.  I've got another one recently and have been trying to crack it once and for all.  Unsuccessfully, in fact it has been driving me mad.

If you really want to learn how to solve the Rubik, then check out this step by step solver from Casey C. at the Oregon Institute of Technology.  Basically, you're solving a mathematical problem, so all you need to do is follow the steps and you'll solve the mystery that is the Rubik's Cube...   It is still easier said than done, but i'm alot closer now.

Solving the cube

Ch-ch-ch Changing blog

 

Have made a couple of new changes to my blog, mainly layout but am also trialling out some new framework code so probably some errors.  Added a pretty basic image gallery, not sure whether to go with it or not when flickr is so good.  Some pics of Cairns up there for now.

Here is a great tool which allows you to play shoutcast  playlists from Windows Media Player.  Been looking for something like it for a long time. Actually the website Shoutcast is worth a mention itself.  I've been listening to radio stations on shoutcast for more than 5 years now - they have a selection of readio stations covering pretty much any genre of music you could possibly be interested in.  My current favourite is Root reggae - "S K Y . F M - Roots Reggae - the best of classic and modern Roots Reggae".

Just finished reading Senor Nice by Howard Marks, and Emperor by Stephen Baxter.  Apparently

Elvis was Welsh and the Romans could see into the future.

 

I'm been using skype alot more recently - my contact is matt.goodman@gmail.com for anyone who wants a chat.  Oh, does anyone know how to do a 3-way conference call with skype, not too sure how to get that one working?

Ch-ch-ch Changing blog

 

Have made a couple of new changes to my blog, mainly layout but am also trialling out some new framework code so probably some errors.  Added a pretty basic image gallery, not sure whether to go with it or not when flickr is so good.  Some pics of Cairns up there for now.

Here is a great tool which allows you to play shoutcast  playlists from Windows Media Player.  Been looking for something like it for a long time. Actually the website Shoutcast is worth a mention itself.  I've been listening to radio stations on shoutcast for more than 5 years now - they have a selection of readio stations covering pretty much any genre of music you could possibly be interested in.  My current favourite is Root reggae - "S K Y . F M - Roots Reggae - the best of classic and modern Roots Reggae".

Just finished reading Senor Nice by Howard Marks, and Emperor by Stephen Baxter.  Apparently

Elvis was Welsh and the Romans could see into the future.

 

I'm been using skype alot more recently - my contact is matt.goodman@gmail.com for anyone who wants a chat.  Oh, does anyone know how to do a 3-way conference call with skype, not too sure how to get that one working?

Wednesday 4 October 2006

Tropical North Queensland

Ingunn & I just spent six very salubrious days up in North Eastern Queensland:  Cairns, Port Douglas & Cape Tribulation.  This area is home to two world-heritage sites - the barrier reef and Daintree rainforest, and is a naturally stunning part of the world.  If you haven't been there, i'd recommend paying it a visit for sure.

So, we did some scuba-diving at Saxon Reef on the Outer barrier reef (outside Cairns). 



Spent a crazy day white-water rafting down the Tully river. 



Went treking through the Daintree rainforest, to the top of Mt Sorrow (behind Cape Tribulation)



Swam (accidentally) in crocodile infested waters



Spent time sunbathing on some of the most amazing beaches i've ever seen in my life.  The water was so warm aswell - bath temperature easily.  The pic below is of 4-mile beach beside Port Douglas.



Watching people make drinks from sugar cane - this was taken in Port Douglas market and seemed to be pretty popular with the locals.



But most of all, just marvelling at the beauty of the rainforest spilling into the beach.

 


For anyone interested, I've put the rest of the photos up here.  I think someday i'll live in that part of the world.

Tropical North Queensland

Ingunn & I just spent six very salubrious days up in North Eastern Queensland:  Cairns, Port Douglas & Cape Tribulation.  This area is home to two world-heritage sites - the barrier reef and Daintree rainforest, and is a naturally stunning part of the world.  If you haven't been there, i'd recommend paying it a visit for sure.

So, we did some scuba-diving at Saxon Reef on the Outer barrier reef (outside Cairns). 



Spent a crazy day white-water rafting down the Tully river. 



Went treking through the Daintree rainforest, to the top of Mt Sorrow (behind Cape Tribulation)



Swam (accidentally) in crocodile infested waters



Spent time sunbathing on some of the most amazing beaches i've ever seen in my life.  The water was so warm aswell - bath temperature easily.  The pic below is of 4-mile beach beside Port Douglas.



Watching people make drinks from sugar cane - this was taken in Port Douglas market and seemed to be pretty popular with the locals.



But most of all, just marvelling at the beauty of the rainforest spilling into the beach.

 


For anyone interested, I've put the rest of the photos up here.  I think someday i'll live in that part of the world.

Monday 18 September 2006

Chariots of Fire

Myself, James & George's Dad ran the Sydney marathon on Sunday.  Despite a blisteringly hot Saturday the heat wasn't as bad as expected and we all got around okay.  A big shout out to George's dad though...  it was his 173rd marathon..  respect!

Finishing time was 4hrs 26 mins something.  Thanks to everyone for their support along the way and at the finish.. hopefully we've inspired a few of you to try the marathon yourself!

 

Chariots of Fire

Myself, James & George's Dad ran the Sydney marathon on Sunday.  Despite a blisteringly hot Saturday the heat wasn't as bad as expected and we all got around okay.  A big shout out to George's dad though...  it was his 173rd marathon..  respect!

Finishing time was 4hrs 26 mins something.  Thanks to everyone for their support along the way and at the finish.. hopefully we've inspired a few of you to try the marathon yourself!