Random Thoughts Archive

  • Thomas the Tank Engine is a vehicle for capitalist propaganda of the worst kind. The values it teaches children serve no one other than the evil 1% percent who rule society - until the revolution, of course. The program needs to be eradicated from our television screens for the sake of our children's future.

    Thomas the Capitalist Lackey

    Posted on 20 February, 2012 | No Comments
    Thomas the Tank Engine is a vehicle for capitalist propaganda of the worst kind. The values it teaches children serve no one other than the evil 1% percent who rule society - until the revolution, of course. The program needs to be eradicated from our television screens for the sake of our children's future.

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  • <p>New Years resolutions are always broken within a couple of days. Why? Because they are essentially negative in outlook. They focus solely on what you are <strong>not</strong> going to do rather than what you <strong>intend</strong> to do. There’s also no way to means your degree of success other than counting the number of times your fail to achieve them. So rather than breaking your resolutions for 2012, try setting goals to be achieved by 2013.</p> <p>For strarters, think about what’s important to you. It may be family, career or your hobbies. These topics will form paths you’ll be following in […]</p>

    New Year’s Resolutions Waste My Time

    Posted on 9 January, 2012 | No Comments

    New Years resolutions are always broken within a couple of days. Why? Because they are essentially negative in outlook. They focus solely on what you are not going to do rather than what you intend to do. There’s also no way to means your degree of success other than counting the number of times your fail to achieve them. So rather than breaking your resolutions for 2012, try setting goals to be achieved by 2013.

    For strarters, think about what’s important to you. It may be family, career or your hobbies. These topics will form paths you’ll be following in […]

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  • <p>What’s in store for my little corner of the internet this year? I don’t want to say more of the same because I’m not sure that’s right. I don’t want to say there’ll be massive changes either because there won’t be. Let’s say there will be a gentle focusing in on a couple of topic which forever hold the interest of not just me but the faceless masses who read this blog.</p> <p><strong>Historical Fencing</strong>: This remains a point of focus as it’s such a dominant activity in my life. I’ll be concentrating on the cut-and-thrust single sword techniques in […]</p>

    The Blogging Year Ahead 2012

    Posted on 6 January, 2012 | No Comments

    What’s in store for my little corner of the internet this year? I don’t want to say more of the same because I’m not sure that’s right. I don’t want to say there’ll be massive changes either because there won’t be. Let’s say there will be a gentle focusing in on a couple of topic which forever hold the interest of not just me but the faceless masses who read this blog.

    Historical Fencing: This remains a point of focus as it’s such a dominant activity in my life. I’ll be concentrating on the cut-and-thrust single sword techniques in […]

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  • <p>There’s been a whole bunch of grunting from the pig pen of what passes for political debate in this country of late bemoaning the lack of separation between church and state. I’m and strong atheist and secular humanist and I’ve had enough of it.</p> <p>Let’s start with the fundamentals – section 116 of the Constitution:</p> <blockquote><p>The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.</p></blockquote><p> […]</p>

    Separation of Church and State in Australia

    Posted on 30 December, 2011 | 2 Comments

    There’s been a whole bunch of grunting from the pig pen of what passes for political debate in this country of late bemoaning the lack of separation between church and state. I’m and strong atheist and secular humanist and I’ve had enough of it.

    Let’s start with the fundamentals – section 116 of the Constitution:

    The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.

    […]

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  • <p>I figured that since we’re at the end of the year I’d better have a look at how this little blog has performed. None of the stats about which posts and pages were the most popular match what I expected so see. Hmmm….. Perhaps I should change what I’m doing here.</p> <p>The first surprise is the number of people who read my blog. On average, there’s 730 page views here per month with a daily average rising steadily from 20 per day in January to 35 per day in November. I must be doing something right even though it appears […]</p>

    My Blog’s Year-in-Review

    Posted on 23 December, 2011 | No Comments

    I figured that since we’re at the end of the year I’d better have a look at how this little blog has performed. None of the stats about which posts and pages were the most popular match what I expected so see. Hmmm….. Perhaps I should change what I’m doing here.

    The first surprise is the number of people who read my blog. On average, there’s 730 page views here per month with a daily average rising steadily from 20 per day in January to 35 per day in November. I must be doing something right even though it appears […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>For the last week or so I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to get my Gmail contacts to sync with my HTC Desire phone. It failed every time with the wonderfully descriptive error message “sync is currently experiencing problems.” Here’s the fix that worked for me.</p> <p>For a start, check all the basics. Ensure you have connectivity and that all your account details are correct. Toggle the auto-sync settings. These may fix the problem for you.</p> <p>But if they don’t, take a look at this post on the Google Support forum. In paticular, look for this comment by “ […]</p>

    Gmail Contacts Won’t Sync on Android Phone

    Posted on 11 November, 2011 | No Comments

    For the last week or so I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to get my Gmail contacts to sync with my HTC Desire phone. It failed every time with the wonderfully descriptive error message “sync is currently experiencing problems.” Here’s the fix that worked for me.

    For a start, check all the basics. Ensure you have connectivity and that all your account details are correct. Toggle the auto-sync settings. These may fix the problem for you.

    But if they don’t, take a look at this post on the Google Support forum. In paticular, look for this comment by “ […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>Two months ago I tore the medial meniscus cartilage in my knee. Yesterday I had an arthroscopy operation to clean up the ragged bits in order to get me back to full activity. This post is a few notes on the experience which show that Einstein was right and that everything depends on the frame of reference of the observer.</p> <p>The weirdest aspect of going in for surgery is the disconnect between the hospital and medical staff and me and I suppose other patients). This is not to say that I’m unhappy with my treatment – I’m very satisfied. The […]</p>

    Anaesthetic and Time Travel

    Posted on 4 November, 2011 | 1 Comment

    Two months ago I tore the medial meniscus cartilage in my knee. Yesterday I had an arthroscopy operation to clean up the ragged bits in order to get me back to full activity. This post is a few notes on the experience which show that Einstein was right and that everything depends on the frame of reference of the observer.

    The weirdest aspect of going in for surgery is the disconnect between the hospital and medical staff and me and I suppose other patients). This is not to say that I’m unhappy with my treatment – I’m very satisfied. The […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>When did the job I took because it paid the bills and gave me some cash to blow on books and movies turn into a career with goals and a five (or so) year plan? Is this something that happens to everyone as they age (I prefer the term ‘mature’) or am I the odd one out? Maybe this is just something that happens to you if you hang around the same field of endeavour for a long time. There are several events which could mark this change. One of them may hold the key to the mystery or they […]</p>

    When Did My Job Become a Career?

    Posted on 21 October, 2011 | No Comments

    When did the job I took because it paid the bills and gave me some cash to blow on books and movies turn into a career with goals and a five (or so) year plan? Is this something that happens to everyone as they age (I prefer the term ‘mature’) or am I the odd one out? Maybe this is just something that happens to you if you hang around the same field of endeavour for a long time. There are several events which could mark this change. One of them may hold the key to the mystery or they […]

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  • <p>Here’s what shits me about post-modernism and post-modernists:</p> <strong>By de-privileging grand narratives, all narratives are privileged, even the inherently stupid ones.</strong> <p>I get the notion of the arbitrariness of privilege and the cultural, class, gender, etc specificity of any particular grand narrative. I really do. But just because that may be true, it doesn’t follow that anything you have to say is worth listening to. Only under the notion of all points of view being equally valid can, say, creation science or climate change denial, get a look in. If science is just another narrative no different from any other […]</p>

    Post-Modernism: I Refute It Thus

    Posted on 30 September, 2011 | No Comments

    Here’s what shits me about post-modernism and post-modernists:

    By de-privileging grand narratives, all narratives are privileged, even the inherently stupid ones.

    I get the notion of the arbitrariness of privilege and the cultural, class, gender, etc specificity of any particular grand narrative. I really do. But just because that may be true, it doesn’t follow that anything you have to say is worth listening to. Only under the notion of all points of view being equally valid can, say, creation science or climate change denial, get a look in. If science is just another narrative no different from any other […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>It’s well known to all Australian that after five years 85% of immigrants to this country are still on welfare and two thirds are still unemployed. And like all well-known statistics, it’s bunk.</p> <p>Where does this figure come from? The only sources I could find was the Daily Telegraph tabloid newspaper and the StormFront neo-nazi website – both reporting on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship report “Settlement Outcomes of New Arrivals 2010“.</p> <p>The study selected a random sample of 20,000 immigrants who have been in the country between 12 to 60 months. So, from the get-go, none of the […]</p>

    Australian Immigration Statistics

    Posted on 17 June, 2011 | No Comments

    It’s well known to all Australian that after five years 85% of immigrants to this country are still on welfare and two thirds are still unemployed. And like all well-known statistics, it’s bunk.

    Where does this figure come from? The only sources I could find was the Daily Telegraph tabloid newspaper and the StormFront neo-nazi website – both reporting on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship report “Settlement Outcomes of New Arrivals 2010“.

    The study selected a random sample of 20,000 immigrants who have been in the country between 12 to 60 months. So, from the get-go, none of the […]

    Continue Reading...

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