A real church sign, photo taken in Arkansas. Via “Fundies Say The Darndest Things.”
haven’t quite figured out how to catch a wave
I’ve now had a Google Wave account for about the past 2 weeks. Yet, despite having several of my friends on my contacts list, I haven’ t yet figured out a way to employ it that’s useful. So far, I’m pretty sure I’ve had the standard Wave beginner’s journey: Log in, update status, read through the welcome waves…
Chat with someone just like you would with Google Talk (but with live updating typing, ooer!). Send a wave to someone who’s not online right now, just like you would with Gmail. Play with editing someone else’s conversation, throw a voting gadget in, make fonts and colours all pretty and such.
I’ve had all these excited conversations with people about how revolutionary this thing is and yet despite my intense nerdiness haven’t really managed to get anything much to fruition. My inbox languishes empty, and I scuttle my way back to Gmail again. Have you done anything cool with Wave yet? Has it made some kind of communication much easier for you?
(… I’ll pre-empt many people’s first reaction by letting you know I haven’t been graced with any invites to give out yet.)
it’s gonna be an aussie christmas/new years after all!
Welp, today I got as official a confirmation as it’s possible to get that I’m going to be in Australia for Christmas and New Years Eve after all. I’m rather looking forward to some beachgoing, some partying and general shenanigans. The downside is that I’m going to be training a class right up until Christmas Eve which is a bit of a downer.
Still, I’m quite glad that I won’t miss what promises to be quite a hot and sunny summer, thanks to the El Nino which is likely to persist until April. Oh by the way, I got my TV-B-Gone a couple of days ago. Works a treat. Turns off most televisions I’ve tried it on within about 10 seconds. Excellent!
stupid tvs in pubs
I got on a really good rant on Friday night about how distracting televisions are in pubs. I’m not talking about TVs showing a football game that everyone’s into and getting rowdy about. I mean those terrible little ones, tucked away in a corner with the sound turned down having no effect other than to distract you with moving images.
I’m not sure if this is a problem you’re faced with, but I’m really distracted by moving pictures. Maybe it’s a short attention span, or maybe it’s a natural magnetism to anything technological but having a TV in eyeshot really ruins my conversational abilities.
In a fit of pique, I tracked down this cool little toy called a TV-B-Gone and ordered it. In about a week or two, I’ll be sure to carry this keychain size toy with me to the pub to turn the goddamn televisions off. I’ll let you know how it goes. I don’t reckon anyone will even notice me turning them off, though I do plan to be discreet enough to avoid getting beaten up. You just never know how turning off music video clips that have no sound might enrage people.
won’t somebody please think of the children/terrorists!
I’m pretty thrilled. Two of my favourite items of hysteria have collided and provided much confusing amusement – or confusement, if you like. The very people who are meant to keep us safe from the terrorists might actually be paedophiles hell bent on leering at our bald and naked children through new full-body airport scanners.
In fact, the scanner is so advanced and intrusive that under UK law the images it produces will very possibly qualify as child pornography. As a result, Manchester Airport will need to seek legal advice on whether or not it is able to allow under-18s to be scanned by the new machine when it launches next week.
I object to these new machines on the basis that they are unnecessary and invasive – especially if they are compromised by something as simple as having an under-18 be exempt. I’m also pretty sure that airport security remains incredibly easy to defeat by someone with enough motivation.
For instance, check out this article in the November 2008 edition of The Atlantic, it’s called “The Things He Carried.” Aided by Bruce Schneier, a regular and vocal critic of airport security and “security theater” in general, a journalist managed to board aircraft with fake boarding passes, wearing jihadist slogans on his clothing and on various occasions smuggling through pocket knives, toothpaste, bottles of water, nail clippers, scissors etc. etc. etc.
I think this quote does a pretty good job of summing it up:
“In some ways, if we’re relying on airport screeners to prevent terrorism, it’s already too late. After all, we can’t keep weapons out of prisons. How can we ever hope to keep them out of airports?”
It’s from Schneier himself on Airport Passenger Screening.
Meanwhile, how many times have airport screeners found that pair of scissors you forgot about in your bag – only it was on your return flight? Or your third or fourth flight? Everyone’s got a story of that sort and that’s when people have brought through prohibited items by accident.
“thud!” go the nails in the coffin of the landline
Last week, AT&T in the US began making these brilliant little devices to my right available to selected areas. Wondering what it is? It’s an AT&T 3G Microcell – your own personal 3G base station with backhaul provided by your broadband internet connection. It provides coverage of up to 500 square meters!
For a flat rental fee each month, you can register up to 10 phones of which 4 can be used on the cell simultaneously. When voice calls are placed using the Microcell, they aren’t counted toward your monthly allowance of calls. The device provides high speed data to your mobile phone too.
I really think that devices like these highlight the dying gasps of that old communication relic of the 20th century, the landline. When every house member can use their mobile to call for a flat rate when within range of their home 3G cell, the idea of calling a location will finally give way entirely to the notion of calling a person.
I reckon this thing is sheer genius. As long as issues of interference and bandwidth could be worked out, I don’t see why we couldn’t deploy something like this here in Australia. I’d love one – much of my house sees just one bar of GSM coverage despite living 10 minutes drive from the city center. Same with my friends’ place, 5 minutes down the road. Thoughts? Would you get one – if it cost the same or slightly less than fixed line rental per month?