Monday 25/05/09 - Farewell to Poppa Ken

On May 11th my dear grandfather - Poppa Ken died. It's never easy to say goodbye to someone who has always been in your life. With Poppa Ken living in Sale, I didn't see him nearly as much as I would have liked to and I am sad that he never got to meet his great grand-daughter Zoe. Loosing my granddad has made me realise how important my family is and how we have to make sure we make time for each other in our busy lifestyles.

Poppa Ken's memory had been bad for years now towards the end he found it difficult to remember much. Poppa Ken wasn't one to complain though - whenever we went to see him he would break into a big smile and joke around. He would do quite a convincing job of covering up his bad memory - to keep everyone around him happy. In the end Poppa Ken couldn't eat or drink, so we were happy that he didn't suffer any longer.

In loosing my granddad, I actually found out a lot more about him. I heard stories from my family about his adventures, his parenting and even his efforts in World War II. Saying goodbye has been difficult for everyone, but at the same time I feel closer to my family than I have been for a long time.

Starting a new job.. and it's NOT Siebel

Over three months since my last blog... and it has been busy. I have started a new job as a Data Migration lead on a project. After many, many years doing Siebel, it's refreshing to do something completely different. While it's great to have technical expertise with a system, after nine years of Siebel, it's refreshing to work on something completely different. I'm working with some great people and we are already establishing a collective sense of humour that helps the day move along.

The amazing Zoe Main - now walking and 'talking'

Zoe turned ONE on the 5th of March... and was making her way about the house using a vigorous form of crawling. She would get moving so fast that her legs would start whipping around behind her and you could hear her crawling from anywhere in the house.

About a month ago she surprised us with her first awkward steps... followed by a big flop onto her well padded bottom. In the next two weeks she really got the hang of things and you rarely see her crawling anymore. She's also started to figure out when it's not such a great idea to go running - like down stairs and on the edge of the bed.. but there is much to learn!

Zoe has a passion for books, a Vicki trait that I didn't expect to see for a bit longer - but she runs around handing books to anyone that will read them. She is also a big fan of her hellos and goodbyes - we sit on the fence outside and watch people driving and cycling past. Zoe yells out hello and goodbye (they both sound the same at the moment) to strangers and it's amazing how many people make time for a one year old with a smile! Also she 'barks' at dogs she sees but it usually a bit too shy to pat them. She figured out recently that if she jams her milk bottle into the ground really hard, the milk leaks out and then she can fingerpaint with milk on the floor - so much fun!

The last two nights Zoe has wanted an early start - at 4am or 5am.. making the next day a bit of a blur for us all.. but you just can't be upset with that little grinning face, even at 4am. I just have to find adults to be grumpy with.

Monday 09/02/09 - Hot in the city...

It has been crazy hot in Melbourne over the past few weeks... I think all the records have been broken and there have been 45 - 47 degree days. When it gets that hot in Melbourne everything falls apart - our public transport, our power supply and subsequently just about everyone's patience. I stood around in my personal sweat shower specifically waiting for a air conditioned tram so I wouldn't bake on the way home - when it finally arrived, it was HOTTER inside than out and stuffed full of people dripping with sweat. I resolved to cycle to work once my bike was out of the shop - at least then I could suffer in a hot breeze by myself, instead of facing off with someone's armpit on a tram. To top it all off, I came home after a 40something degree (C) day to find my precious mint plants, earmarked for tasty cocktails, had turned into dried sticks with leaves that crumbled off when you touched them. Others have real problems....

...bush fires in Victoria take a heavy toll

Bush fires are raging across Victoria at the moment... over 200 have died at this stage and Victoria is coming to terms with the scale of the fires. The state has been so damn hot it's not unusual to have bush fires, but the scale of the destruction this time around is jaw dropping. Some towns that have been since before I was born have simply been wiped off the map. On the upside, the people of Victoria are working together to help those who have suffered and there are charities and communities working to help those in need. Even my old dojo is doing a fundraiser - getting sponsors for 'kicks' trying to raise 20 grand.

The colours you see, the colours I see... Colour management and photography

If you take your digital photography seriously, and you want your results to be consistent, you pretty much have to have an understanding of colour management. For the uninitiated, it seems pretty complicated, but put very simply - colour management is a way of working with your digital images so you can accurately view colours as you work so the image you shoot, looks like the image on your screen which will look like the image you print. Sound easy - well it should be, but colour management was and still is a bit of a mess and an afterthought in most operating systems and applications.

Imagine someone sat down at your computer and made the screen really bright and maybe a bit blue looking - most people actually have their laptops set up in this way. If you work on a black and white photo - it will look abnormally bright, especially compared to a print, and a bit blue on this monitor. If you make the image look 'normal' on YOUR monitor, bit may in fact look a bit dull and possibly RED on someone else's monitor. Colour management helps you ensure YOUR environment is controlled and you have a reliable colour workspace. Heaps more technical information here...

In order to have your screen accurately display your digital images, you need to calibrate your screen so that it is 'neutral' and doesn't display a colour cast (eg. a red tinge or a blue tinge). If you've been looking at a monitor for more than a few minutes, it's really hard to notice - so a hardware calibrator is necessary if you take these things seriously. The hardware calibrator sits on your screen and measures the colours, gamma and brightness of your screen and then can make adjustments to your graphics card so that your screen produces accurate colour - black and whites will not have colour in them and colours will be accurate.... but anyhow.. I'll go into this in more detail soon in Liperty Tech.

I was having a seriously hard time getting both of my monitors to produce accurate colour and I finally found someone who knew what they were talking about and was willing to help me out. The net is a great resource but when it comes to colour management - a lot of information out there is either misleading or even completely wrong. Jeremy Daalder of Image Science (Melbourne), not only understood the problems I had, but also took the time to write me detailed emails explaining the technologies involved and helping me sort out my problems. I was seriously impressed with the service there and will be going back for my photography gear. In the end, it seems I have hit a limitation of the windows operating system where you need TWO graphics cards to maintain TWO monitor profiles for colour managed applications... I'll do a write up in Liperty Tech when I get a chance.

Life after teeth...

Zoe is 11 months old now and is an amazing little lady. She has had so many firsts that they can't all be listed here. She had her first splash in the water at the beach, her first bush walk through the parks in Noosa, her first two little bottom teeth poking out, first time swallowing an ice block whole and realising it's a bad idea.. the list goes on...

She is progressing well now with an advanced undergraduate diploma in cupboard lock picking, an honorary anarchists degree in "DVD reorganisation and reckless acts of speaker wire yanking" and is making inroads with her culinary based abstract art - post dinner time and doesn't hold back letting us know we are destroying precious artwork when we clean it away in preparation for her bath.

Tuesday 09/12/08 - Cycling in Victoria needs improvement

I just bought myself a lovely road bike - second hand mind you, but it's a big step up from the heavy hybrid that I bought about 5 years ago which had a hard life and suffered when I didn't have a garage to shelter it from the rain. I've been cycling to the city from Elwood regularly over the past few months. It's not a long ride - probably about 8kms. It's faster for me to ride than to drive / catch a tram / catch a train and I get some exercise and luckily we have lockers and showers at work.

Encouraging people to cycle to work would seem like a great idea for state government. It takes cars off the road, reduces congestion, relieves public transport, reduces emissions and also improves the health and well being of cyclists. Riding around Melbourne you hardly feel like cycling is encouraged and there is constant spending on roads to transport cars with 1.1 passengers in them. There are some marked bike tracks but they suffer from the following problems more often than not.

• Cycling lanes often have cars, construction and buses blocking them.
• Cycling lanes are sandwiched between parked cars and moving cars - they are much safer if placed between pedestrians and parked cars as they are in The Netherlands and other countries.
• Cars turn left or go to park and often do not notice bike lanes or check for cyclists.
• When there are left turning lanes for cars, cyclists are expected to cross one or more lanes of moving traffic just to continue cycling straight.
• Some bike lanes simply disappear and may or may not continue down the road.
• Bike lanes are not clearly marked - very few of them are painted green, making them noticeable in a car.
• People open their car doors into bike lanes, trades people load and unload stock from vans in the lanes.
• When forced onto the road, the majority of motorists do not understand a cyclist has the right to share the road and often use horns or abuse cyclists who are 'slowing them down'

(right) - an example of bike lanes that are force cyclists into gutters and then merge into mortor vehicle traffic without adequate signage (Rathdowne Street). From melbournebug.org

Most recently our State government has been pulling out the public purse to treat us with some transport spending - to improve Melbourne congestion, improve public transport and, seemingly as an afterthought, spend some money on improving cycling. The funding for cycling was so low that it will pay for about 2km of bike path per year. It's 100 million dollars over 12 years.. but to put things in perspective...

That's 20 cents extra per year per person. Compared to the other transport projects.. That's less than half of one percent of spending on one of the best forms of transport for our state. For more information see Bicycle Victoria

I personally saw the body of Carolyn Rawlins covered with a sheet on Swanston Street while riding to work - it really made the issue personal for me. She was struck by a bus and killed on 'pedestrian' Swanston Walk which is still used by tourist buses, taxis and motorists - making it far from safe for cyclists or pedestrians. A memorial 'ghost bike' has been placed near a statue on Swanston Walk as a memorial to Carolyn.

I have to say that I see many cyclists doing stupid things on bikes - ignoring traffic signals, jumping gutters, dodging pedestrians on the footpath - all of which makes people resent cyclists and see us as a hazard. We all need to learn to share the road safely.

I'm personally going to write to the Premier, John Brumby, and Melbourne City Council and put forward the case for better funding of cycling infrastructure for the benefit of all Victorians.

'CLEAN' FEED

NOT IN MY NAME!!!

When Zoe found out what our Telecom Minister - Stephen Conroy - was planning to implement under the guise of 'protecting children' she was as angry as I am.

Thursday 30/10/08 - Government Internet Censorship - do something before it's too late

Apparently we need to be protected from the evils of the internet and we can not be trusted!
Our government, in its infinite wisdom has apparently seen enough current affairs shows to understand that the internet is full of stalkers, pornography and web sites that teach you how to be a terrorist. Sure - there are a few useful things on the internet too... but basically it's like trying to read an encyclopedia in the middle of a highway full of trucks if you believe what you see on TV.

The only way Australians can be trusted to sit at their computers without turning into a porn addicted, terrorist child abusers is to provide us with a MANDATORY 'clean feed', ensuring the filthy internet meets the standards politicians believe are required. We all know politicians are infallible and don't pander to interest groups and so why shouldn't they be able to provide every ISP in the land with a mandatory checklist of what is decent and what is not, just to be sure that we only see and hear what we should on the Internet. Works in China and Iran doesn't it?

I am truly appalled at Stephen Conroy's current trials. What is being proposed is

• Mandatory censorship imposed on the entire country based on blacklisted sites and real time filters
• Easily bypassed by those with resources and technical skills
• Proven to slow our already poor internet access speeds by a further 30% (possibly 80%)
• May break HTTPS encryption exposing personal / secure details to ISPs
• Ineffective and results in 'false positives' blocking sites unintentionally
• Tens of millions of dollars of public money has already been wasted on this
• There are already FREE and effective ways to block offensive sights using applications on your PC, allowing people to decide what level of filtering they want enforced for their children / themselves

For more information please have a read of -

http://nocleanfeed.com/ - which has lots of media and group links.

I really hope people understand how misguided this type of censorship is before we find ourselves being monitored, censored at the whim of our politicians. Already there have been discussions with minor political parties who would like to further restrict internet access to remove X rated porn and fetish sites, also euthanasia and anorexia have been touted by Government MPs as topics worthy of filtering. The groups the government are attempting to win favour with are proposing their own changes to the filter in return for Senate votes - unless Australians let our government know this is NOT ON we will end up with a shocking level of mandatory censorship.

Recently we've seen our politicians were willing to attack artists and treat them as pornographers to score some cheap political mileage, evidence - if you needed it - that we can't trust our politicians to impose their popularist and politically flexible moral compasses on our freedoms. You only need to look at the television ratings. Sadistic violence, torture, criminal behaviour and illegal activities are prime time family entertainment for most households while showing consenting adults having sex on TV - no way in hell. Something has seriously gone wrong with censorship already and the same people want to decide what's decent on the internet.

I work in a Government office where they have implemented keyword internet filtering. This has resulted in searches such as

'Naked DSL', 'Breast feeding', to be blocked outright because of the limitations of content filtering. Information about sexual health, drug addiction, political protesting, religion could all be 'accidentally' censored, even forums of any type where people use 'bad language' could be blocked - the currently proposed filtering has not addressed these problems. In fact THIS PAGE could be blocked because of words used on it.

I am an adult and I want the right to access everything on the internet and make my own decisions- if the content accessed or my activities are illegal -there is already legislation in place to prosecute me. Treating the entire populace of Australia as criminals in order to 'protect' them from the evils of the internet is misguided at best and a dangerous attack on our freedoms and liberties.

Update : I have sent a copy of this blog entry to the Hon Minister Stephen Conroy if you share my feelings, consider writing to his office yourself.

Monday 29/09/2008 - 'Foodie', mashing veggies and money men.

For those of you who live overseas or have no access to television, radio or newspapers - last weekend was the grand final. For many Australian's this is simply the pinnacle of sporting excitement for the year with some traveling across the country and decorating their houses in team colours. Neither of my parents were particularly impressed with AFL with my dad suggesting reading a book would be time much better spent than watching football. I have learnt the basics of Aussie Rules, been to a few games over the years and almost always yell at the right time now. But I seriously don't care who wins a the grand final. Nevertheless, I picked Hawthorn for my lackluster support and had a few beers at my mate Shane's house during the spectacle. We took Zoe along for the experience and she seemed to appreciate being amongst a group of people for whom screaming at random was acceptable, nay encouraged!... and she fitted in quite well.

Feeding the beast - Vicki has been doing a super job looking after our girl Zoe - even though Zoe seems to be teething and can be a grumpy monkey at random it seems. We have been experimenting with lots of different foods and so far Zoe will eat almost anything.. then we tried broccoli and realised there are limits to even her adventurous pallet. Currently Zoe's shoveling down veggies, fruit, porridge and cereal in random combinations, only slowing down to bang her fist on her high chair to demand faster service.

I bought myself a small photography gadget - a radio trigger (a dodgy Chinese one for 1/10 of the price you'd normally pay) for my strobes and will have to do a proper photo shoot with my little wonder to give it a proper test (I know everyone is wondering where 'this weeks' shots are).

All good things come to and end - Wall Street shares the pain after the all that profit

It would be funny if it wasn't so awful. The President of the USA has recently got on the telly to explain to everyone who they will each have to fork out something in the vicinity of US $7000 for EACH TAXPAYER to ensure that some of the richest and most recklessly profiteering companies on Wall Street can stay afloat despite their gambling losses. This is only weeks after said president assured everyone America's finances were fundamentally sound. Apparently America will now fall to pieces of the mega-rich in the country can't dip into the national coffers when the chips are down. This is at the same time as 1 million people loosing their homes after borrowing money from these companies, companies that had refused to implement government backed plans to support people struggling to pay their mortgages.

From my limited knowledge, not only is the US government offering to buy bad debt from banks at the expense tax paying Americans but also - paying more than market rates for it, corporate execs of these companies are still going to get massive pay outs, and taxpayers who are in the process of loosing their homes are barely getting a mention.

What's more there has been pressure from the Wall Street 'money men' to limit the oversight of these bad debt purchases - which would seen to be akin to asking the government to look the other way while they are trusted to raid the pantry - after all they have shown how responsible they can be!

Friday 12/09/2008 - War, Iraq, American Politics and why do I care? (ok, it's a rant)

The War - You'd think with the mess Australian politics is, I wouldn't have time to get upset about American politics.. but I am getting upset. Like most people I was appalled by both the American and Australian governments in recent years - going to war with countries that pose no threat to us, fabricating evidence of weapons and dire threats when really the war was about - settling old scores, getting our hands on oil resources and trying to implant Western influence in the Middle East (take your pick).

In the case of Australia - we went to war despite our government knowing that the Australian people completely opposed to entering the war. In fact there were protests in every city in numbers not seen since the Vietnam war. Instead of following the will of the people of Australia, John Howard's government bent its knee and bowed it head, once again, for our American masters who went off to start a war. We have had a change of government since, but I fear the Labour party isn't very different from the Liberal party when it comes to keeping Uncle Sam happy. Like New Zealand, Australia SHOULD have told the US that we would not be involved in illegal invasion of a sovereign country and actively discouraged our allies from doing such, but then we may not have got our Free Trade agreement (of questionable value) which the Kiwis were denied.

Iraq - Years later, Iraq is a complete mess. The people of Iraq have suffered immeasurably. Family members and friends have died, homes have been lost, children suffer birth defects from radiation poisoning caused by American munitions and the rebuilding of Iraq is hampered by corruption, violence and lack of funding. Basics like food, medicine, water, electricity are hard to come by and in most cases, much worse than before the war began.

Every year America mourns the death of around 3,000 American's in the attacks of September 11, 2001 - as is their right.

Recent studies have shown approximately 650,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the war in Iraq and the toll continues. I personally do not believe the life of an American / Australian is more important than that of an Iraqi, we do not choose where we are born, and yet we see no mourning for the people of Iraq who have suffered by our collective hands. Regularly we hear reports of the terrible toll on American soldiers, but there is little mention of the civilians of Iraq.

I genuinely feel sorry for American soldiers who have joined the military to serve and protect their country, only to find themselves fighting an illegal war based on fabricated evidence with an unnamed enemy. A 'War on Terror' has no beginning, no end, and no way of winning. There are no 'good' or 'evil' people as Bush and his cronies would have you believe - only people. The American media has tended to equate support of troops with support for the war - this is an appalling premise. Truly supporting the personnel of the military would include insuring they are fighting an honorable war for which their efforts will be appreciated personally, domestically and internationally. It's clear the Iraq war does not qualify in this respect.

American Politics - Firstly, the 'War on Terror', with frightful similarities to George Orwell's 1984 vision, has been and will remain an all powerful excuse to exert military power, whittle away civil rights and in some cases completely ignore international law - as is happening in Guantanamo Bay and other places. By having an illusive and mysterious 'boogie man' enemy, the Western governments can shake a 'scary stick' at their populations whenever they need a distraction from their own failings.

Barak Obama and John McCain - The state is set for the American election and the mud is flying. It really does bring out the best and worst.. In Australia we don't generally receive a deep understanding of policy differences between American parties (do Americans?), rather we get audio and video 'grabs' which amount to not much more than entertainment television for the most part. Barrack has been portrayed as the 'change' guy and McCain as the 'POW / ex Military' guy who would also like to change some things, if his party will let him.

I have been appalled at the reign of George Bush, so 'change' sounds pretty good, but without understanding exactly what that means, it's hard to be too enthusiastic. Claims by Insight, and later FOX News and the New York Post - that Barak Obama may actually be a Muslim are shocking - not because Mr. Obama may be a Muslim, but because this is being used as an deeply wounding insult which is affecting his popularity. What are the Muslims of the world to think of America, when even the malicious rumour of you being a Muslim is enough to adversely affect your chances of election. Also, without fail, Barak Obama is described as 'black'. He had a white mother and a black father. I can't help but think of Public Enemy lyrics on 'Fear of a Black Planet' that explain how if you have ANY black in you, then you're black.

The Republicans know how to win an election. Politicians used to promise things to their electorate to win votes. They would promise services, tax breaks, jobs, opportunities, education - you name it. The political carrot has been replace with the stick, or the 'scary stick' in this case, which as found to be far more effective. If you DON'T elect a republican -

• The terrorists will win, after all, Republicans have spotted them EVERYWHERE
• The wars will go badly, some might even stop completely without 'winning'
• National security will fail
• Everything will be socialised
• Taxes will go up, especially if you can afford to pay them
• Your guns will get taken off you
• Your children will learn how their body works how to use a condom (the horror!)
• Your maid might be able to become an American and demand better pay
• Everything will become more French (apparently this is an awful prospect to Americans ?)

My prediction - the Replican's need a bigger threat- even this list of frightful things that Democrats will introduce is probably not enough. What you need is something REALLY scary that will have voters running back to the comforts of the Republican party. What better than the threat of conflict, even WAR to bring back the voters..

So who do American's love to hate? The Russians. I've been watching the maneuvering around Georgia with interest and I believe this is where we are going to see America aggravate Russia by proxy, through the use of a reckless Georgian president to the point where there is a real chance of escalation.

Russia is already understandably sensitive about regions that were previously part of the Soviet Union becoming independent. Some of these countries also have significant energy reserves. Russia is also rebuilding its wealth and power and exerting influence over Europe through the use of its gas and energy supplies which are critical to Europe. What it doesn't want are countries - Ukraine and Georgia - previously part of the Soviet bloc, becoming independent, joining NATO (with a famously stated goal "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down"') and worse, creating an energy corridor to reduce Russia's virtual energy monopoly in Europe.

<-- Is this the 'democracy' America is protecting (proposed gas pipleline)

The erosion of Russian power and loosing of face is exactly what America has been supporting - offering financial assistance, the promise of gas pipelines and even military training and equipment for Georgia. While Bush professes to supporting a 'fledgling democracy' (with very dubious history of democratic legitimacy), there is obviously other motivations for America. Instead of attempting to calm relations when the conflict occurred between Georgia and Russia over South Ossetia, the Republican leaders threatened reprisals if Russia did not withdraw. Since that time NATO warships with the latest weaponry were deemed suitable vehicles for delivering aid to Georgia - further inflaming relations with Russia.

I fear relations between Russia and America will deteriorate in the near future. With the Republican Vice Presidential nominee (currently the Alaskan Governor) already showing a willingness to go to war with Russia. Obviously she's not wasting any time showing off her international diplomatic abilities. I wouldn't go so far as to say that a war will start - this is something that America can ill afford at this time. I believe this deterioration in relations will be intentional and at least in part, to firm up the support for the Republican party so the presidency can be handed from one Republican leader to another in a time of fear - which has worked well for the Republicans in the past.

Monday 08/09/2008

My first Fathers Day - Yesterday was my first father's day! It started off with the two beautiful ladies in my life coming in with breakfast in bed for me after a luxurious sleep in (past 9am!!). I also got a great book for reading to Zoe. We went to see my dad and my grandmother who was visiting from Sale and Zoe was spoilt with aunties, grandparents and great-grandparents all fussing over her.

I really should put up some more pictures of my grandmother - 'Nana Gwen', technically Gwen Main. She's a legend in our family and I've heard she's well known around Sale, Traralgon and surrounding areas because of her community involvement and sporting achievements. She recently had a birthday and all of us in my family hope we have the same 'growing old' genes as Gwen because her memory is sharp as a tack and she's more active now in her eighties than most twenty something year olds. Nana Gwen recently injured her leg and it has taken a while to heal, she's not one to complain though. It was great to see Zoe and her great grandmother together, even if it was a short visit. Next time I'll come armed with my camera!

'Liperty Tech' - giving something back -
Recently I've updated my PC hardware, changed hard drive configuration, installed a 64 bit operating system in a triple boot raid array setup and then installed a bunch of applications, games, network connectivity etc. I had more than a few problems along the way and realised how much I rely on the good will and information provided by others sharing their solutions to problems online. I thought I'd add 'Liperty Tech' to my web site to share some of the solutions I have found / come up with while resolving PC issues. I've also created a Forum linked to the topics in Liperty Tech so that people can provide feedback / alternative solutions and possibly other issues they'd like help with. It's early days yet, but I'm glad to have a few solutions up on the net to help out some of the poor souls grappling with the same issues I have.

Six months later... - Zoe looks a bit more like a human being these days :). Vicki and I are having lots of fun playing with her. I bought her a bunny rabbit outfit which has been popular (see the upside down bunny picture). We also got ourselves a 'porta cot' so we can go and stay with family / friends and hopefully take a holiday wid our widdle wabbit soon.

Click on images to see full album

Wednesday 13/08/08

Missing martial arts - It's been a long time since I did any martial arts training and I have really started to miss it. I used to train with Craig Guest but his St. Kilda dojo closed and he only trains in Preston. These days 'free time' is a precious thing indeed and driving to Preston and back isn't an option. I toyed with the idea of checking out the BJJ around the corner as it's taught by a guy with a really good reputation and anyone into martial arts can tell you the BJJ guys do very well in an open martial arts competition. Only... with a fair bit of Bujinkan training under my belt, it's hard to change styles and decide to roll around on the ground :)

I found a Bujinkan Ninjutsu instructor in South Yarra and hope to check out his class soon and see what it's like. It'll be hard to find someone I like learning from as much as Criag - but I guess I'll see! I recently applied for an insurance policy that specifically said they don't cover Ninjutsu... I personally think cycling to work is more dangerous.

Rant response - The Minister of Telecommunications, Stephen Conroy wrote me a letter responding to my submission related to Australian Broadband Development. I'll scan a copy and add it to my Australian Broadband rant when I get the chance. With Telstra making 3.7 BILLION DOLLARS in net profit this year and your average Australian paying for wayyy to much for too little broadband, changes are well overdue. At least I got a letter back, which is more than I can say for the previous minister.

Friday 01/08/08 - The joy of uninterrupted sleep, Olympics - Meh!

Last night Zoe slept from 10:45pm until nearly 6am in the morning. I was walking around the lounge room in the morning experiencing a strange sensation - I could see across the room, my eyes didn't feel like they had sand inthem and I could remember what day it was, then I realised - THIS IS WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE AWAKE!

I couldn't help myself - I had to add a new RANT about Telstra - they have been messing me around for weeks and something had to be done. Have a read - here.

TV - I have been watching the Gruen Transfer on TV recently - a brilliant show on the ABC where a panel discusses advertising - and not it's not just a bunch of ads that are supposed to be funny and are not - Gruen T actually talks about how and why ads work and discuss the industry. Also, in a move that I hope scares the bjesus out of the commercial networks - the ABC is allowing people to download episodes of their programs, so you can finally watch great ABC programming whenever you feel like it. Take a look here - make you wonder why anyone would bother wading through the piles of loud obnoxious advertising we are force fed on the commercial networks.
You can also get ABC podcasts delivered to your device of choice - I'm getting Triple J (Dr. Karl) and ABCs Media Watch, Catalyst and the Gruen Transfer (which just finished for the season). Now if a company could finally build a decent Media Player that doesn't cost a fortune - my entertainment world would be complete. I currently have a DVICO Tvix box - which is damn good for watching movies.. but as a music player is is, well... pretty awful. You can buy a PC for about $300 which is better than any $1000 HD PVR / Media player on the market - but try to convince your partner to let you have (another) PC in the lounge room...

The Olympics are going to be on TV soon... I'm struggling to find a way to get excited about it really. Now that the marathon runner with asthma is refusing to run in the smog, there aren't many events I'm looking forward to. I'm always interested in judo - but it barely ever gets any air time because Australia doesn't win medals. WHY is it that we only care about sports that some Australian might have a chance at winning - they aren't MY mates any more than the Chinese fella who is giving it a go - I'd rather see a good range of sports instead of swimming, swimming, swimming. I can't even look forward to the 'excitement' of watching countries representatives walking around in a circle wearing daggy trakkies for three hours, waving to a stadium full of people they don't know now that the opening ceremony leak has been splashed onto every 'news' show.

Thursday , 24/07/08

Several months have passed since I last blogged.

I have met some of Vicki's friends from the local mother's group and their little baby girls. ALL girls in fact! The other day I took the day off work and the mothers group came around to our house. It looked like there was a pram sale going on and I spent the day wandering about taking some photos of the babies, eating home cooked muffins and making little baby girls giggle. I had a really good time and it's good to meet other sleep deprived people who are getting used to a life of servitude.

The swimming has continued.. with a small break after I pulled a bunch of muscles in my back at the gym, leaving me unable to turn my head properly and walking around looking like a broken robot who has to turn his whole body left and right to check before crossing the road - not much fun. I got up to 80 laps of a 50 meter pool and the 'magic' 5km swim is within sight. I even bought a fancy watch (cheap when bought on eBay) that can remember how many laps I've done in the pool so I can focus on daydreaming instead of remembering what lap I am on. I started swimming at the Harold Holt pool which is heated but outdoors. It's much more fun swimming outside if you can brave the ice cold winds when you get out of the pool and dash to the change rooms.

Mum and Paul came to visit recently and deposited what will become my next three months worth of calories into the fridge in the form of a delicious fruit flan. They didn't actually eat any THEMSELVES.. but left it in the fridge to call out to me at night.

A few months back I took a day off so that Dad and I could go and visit Poppa Ken (my grandfather). He lives out in Sale so it's hard to get out there to visit him on a weekend these days. Dad and I made a road trip out of it and it was fantastic to finally catch up with Poppa Ken again. His memory is pretty stuffed these days, but he's still the good humored cheeky granddad I know and love.

Sunday, 29/06/08

Vicki's father - Gary Clarke - passed away on Sunday the 15th of June, with his family at his side. It has been a sad time for the family and friends of Gary, but from what I can tell Gary didn't spend much time sad, so I guess we should concentrate on the fun times with him. I only new Gary for a few years - Visiting the Clarke family home where you would be swept up in the anarchy of parents, children, nieces and nephews all messing around and having a good time. Gary was really friendly to me from the outset, making me feel comfortable in a family that could have easily been overwhelming. He was always laughing, cracking jokes and interested in what I had to say. The Clarke family are an impressive clan indeed - they have stuck together and looked after each other and shared stories about their dad / husband that helped me know a bit more about Gary. It's sad to think that Zoe won't have spent more time with her grandad, but he has left his mark on his family and friends and had a great life.

These days Vicki and I feel like we have our hands full with our baby girl to look after. Somehow, Gary managed to raise nine children AND keep his sense of humour - an impressive man indeed.

Wednesday, 30/04/08

Life with Zoe - Much like her prominence on my homepage... Zoe has become a major part of our lives now and along with thenew family member come a whole bunch of skills that you never even thought about before a baby came along.

I now find myself able to figure out if Zoe is really waking up from her heavy breathing and snorting noises. I can make a sandwich, albeit an ugly one, with one hand, can be covered withbaby spew and not batter an eyelid and learnt to surf with one hand using the Wii. I've also found that going to work with only three hours sleep is only slightly better than being badly hung-over.

We've found Zoe prefers cheesy house music to nursery rhymes which is a relief, and I'm in the process of trying to convince her that goa trance is a more expressive and rich genre for bedtime music.

Modeling for dad - She probably doesn't realise it, but Zoe has been a fantastic photographic subject for me. She's not shy, loves attention, has a new emotion every 10 seconds and is constantly changing. If you click on any of the photos or here you can see some of my recent pictures of her. I have lots of ideas for photos but find I come home after dark these days and there are more pressing matters. I have a new strobe kit and I'm planning on setting that up for some 'studio' photography. Taking pictures of Zoe has made me ease up on the gritty, contrasty images I'm normally developing.

What else.. - I've found a few freaks to go to the gym with and we are sort of taking turnsto be 'the trainer' which has been fun. I have also found my way to the pool and managed to swim 2.6kms - 104 dizzying laps of a 25m pool. I'm sure I'm doing everything wrong and fighting my way through the water instead of swimming. I occasionally see swimmers on TV and, well, I'm not doing that. A stranger at the pool tried to show me how to do tumble turns at the end of a lap, but my immediate enthusiasm weaned after slamming my heel into a starting block instead of a graceful turn - maybe next time...
I've had a go at Mario Kart in preparation for the demoralising defeat I expect from Vicki's brothers when we play online - with only one cup of tea flying across the room from a desperate attempt to complete a 'trick jump'.

Best wishes go to Vicki's dad who has had a heart attack and is currently recovering in hospital. He's got a fantastic family and lots of supporting friends thinking of him. We're all looking forward to him getting better and being back at home for another massive Clarke family meal.

Monday, 10/03/08

It's a girl! - Our baby came a bit sooner than we expected. On Vicki's first day of work we went in for a check up and they recommended that we have our baby two days later - so it was all action stations to get everything ready and mentally prepare ourselves for the baby.

Baby Zoe arrived on Wednesday 5th March. I knew labour was going to be full on.. but I had NO IDEA. On TV it always took, at MOST 5 minutes... slightly different to being next to a loved one who feels like she is being kicked in the guts for hours on end and there's not a hell of a lot you can do about it. Vicki was a complete champion and I now know what it means to be tough.

Photos - It's not real unless you have photos and little Zoe can't tell me to 'get over it' and stop taking photos... so there are lots. I've put up some pics of her and our visitors here

Life after baby - <insert cliché here>. I hadn't looked at my PC for days, hadn't downloaded a thing (no, really) and there had been NO progress in Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii - normally this would mean I was dying or an innocent victim of the 'War on Terror' but this time around I didn't mind.. Zoe has really been a dream baby from what I understand but Vicki and I are getting used to ANOTHER person in the house who wants food every three hours and doesn't really mind being awake at night. This has left us a bit wired and dopey.. but tis expected. I'm home with Vicki for a few weeks and then I'll be working with the guys at work to figure out how I can spend time with my girls at home.. more news soon.. Love Steve, Vicki and Zoe!

Friday, 25/01/08

Now hear this! - Vicki and I are getting married and we have a baby due in March 08! I think I have told most of my friends by now but occasionally I mention the baby in passing and people ask me if I got a new car / computer.... not this time, this time it's a live one and a good kicker by the sounds of things. We found out there was a baby on the way last year and decided we probably didn't want to be in the back of a 4WD in Africa at 7 months.. so we changed our travel plans and went to Bali. Now it's just a simple case of parenthood... The birth / baby classes (read - horror and gore stories reminiscent of the Clockwork Orange rehab screening) have done wonders easing any anxiety we have experienced. We got ourselves a sensible 'family' car - along with the WRX. I'm convinced a 12" subbie and some AWD torque will sooth the baby into slumber so long as I pick the right music.

Also, Bryce dragged me into a tennis comp at Albert Park. After years of listening to my Dad harp on about the joys of tennis, I found myself on a court trying to remember tennis lessons I had when I was fifteen - at which point my main purpose was to hang out with my cute next door neighbour. I have been unceremoniously thrashed by just about everyone I have played, but the occasional incredibly lucky shot (later described as 'skillfully placed') makes the humiliating 0-6 defeats worth while and I'm getting almost excited as Dad about playing! I am going to have to get Dad to show me 'the way of the force' on the court so I'm a bit more competitive.

I'm finishing off a set of wedding photos for a couple and then I'm going to help a friend put together a modeling portfolio. I took a few shots of my friend Amy's rowing team and will be using some Photoshop 'magic' to re-create a medal photo that didn't work out for them when they took home the gold. I'm always looking for photographic adventures / work / people to shoot with or who would like a portrait done.

Some recent pics (hosted on Picasa now)

Wednesday, 24/10/07

Back from Bali - Vicki and I are back from a few weeks in Bali. I was initially terrified of the idea of being surrounded by Aussie tourists who are determined to drink heroic amounts of Bintang Bali Beer in record time. But we limited our time in Kuta to one day and spent the day running back to the top of the waterslide at Waterbomb!

As usual, I ran about with my camera getting holiday snaps. Once again I took my little IXUS 850 with me - there were moments that cried out for a sharper wide angle or a longer zoom... but big camera bags aren't so good for climbing on and off boats and coming down volcanoes! I have uploaded a few sets of pics to FlickR -

PHOTOS - The part of the trip with a group from Intrepid
PHOTOS - The part of the trip where Vicki and I explored by ourselves and staywd in some fancy places!

Here is one I like (v-LARGE) - helps if you have a big monitor!

I was going to give FlickR a big plug for being easier to share photos- but then I reliased it is only showing 200 of the photos I uploaded and I need to pay for the rest to be shown :( - will try to find something better and less aligned to Yahoo!

Was great to get away, swim, go for walks, dance, drink and meet lots of friendly people - Melbourne should be warming up soon so I can get out the shorts and t-shirt.

Monday, 05/03/07

Updating website - Over the last few days I have been updating Seratoga.com to remove the frames and tables of my past efforts and move towards CSS and layers. The change has taken me a fair bit of messing around and there isn't a huge difference in the pages when you look at them. The plan is to have a more flexible and easier to update website in the future - so hopefully I get more than one blog posting in every few months. Some of the photo album pages have been removed while I rejig the photo area. I am going to post some of my wedding photos so people interested in what type of shots I take can have a look online. I'm still in the process of making sure people are happy to have their pictures posted online. The changes should make my layout easier on the eye and also Google will hit more than a few lines of text - making me and my rants easier to find.

Thailand - Vicki and I had a fantastic holiday in Thailand in January. Vicki planned a action packed adventure for us including a five day mountain bike ride through Northern Thailand and around the Bermese border, sea canoeing through islands and mangroves in the south and I even managed to get my Advanced certificate for scuba diving at Phi Phi island. I will get around to putting up a Thailand album - all shot on my tiny new Canon IXUS 850 camera, now that Seratoga has undergone a revamp. For now I'll put a few pictures here.

Fun and Games - Well I'm 30 years old now and that means it takes less time to save up for computer toys than it did when I worked at the car wash. Bryce and I have been doing some serious gaming recently with Battlefield 2142 and World of Warcraft. I initially didn't want to play 'WOW' because I had heard of its addictive properties.. but then I gave in and I now wander around huge landscapes with my Tauren sharman until my eyes sting from sleepyness. I'm not quite as addicted to the game as my friends are - I'm still remembering to eat, but I AM hooked!

Monday, 23/10/06

Butterfly Club Birthday - Well I'm 30 now. At first I didn't think I could be bothered organising a party, that was before Shane and I started thinking about the mischief we could get up to if we had a combined party. Twice the mates and half the organisation, along with Vicki's idea of hiring out The Butterfly Club and were were sold.

The Butterfly Club is a quirky bar / cabaret venue close to the city - they have trinkets and freaky decorations everywhere, with lots of atmosphere and really friendly and helpful owners. We went there to check out the venue and the owners said that whatever ideas we came up with for entertainment they would do their best to sort it out for us. We decided on some lovely French maids who would meet and greet our guests, provide refreshments and finally sing a saucy duet for us. Also Geraldine, a performer who had a show on downstairs in the cabaret room, came up to finish off the night with some hilarious and, yes, disturbing songs about growing up.

The whole night was a blast, with almost too many mates turning up at one stage. With old friends and Vicki's brothers on my case, I didn't get a chance to buy myself a drink but I definitely didn't go thirsty. The brave among us went out to The Lounge afterwards. With no cabs in sight, it was a decent walk to the city but pumping dance music and a chill out balcony awaited. Before too long it was morning and I had a cup of tea and watched the sun come up.

Other News - I've been learning a lot more about Photoshop CS2 and its many tricks. I've just ordered myself a graphics tablet so I can work like the pros.. only taking a lot longer at this stage. There are some great Podcasts out there for those interested in picking up CS2 tips - check out

www.photowalkthrough.com - for really detailed, slower paced for learning lessons from a real pro
Photoshop TV - lots of tips, a bit of messing around, but a good range of topics covered

Jon and Marianne - were married last weekend on the 14th of October and I was there to join in the merriment, and took some photos for them. I have to say it was a fantastic wedding where everyone enjoyed themselves, ate until we exploded and got up to plenty of mischief until most of us found a mattress somewhere and flaked out. Taking photos was really fun this time - I definitely didn't have to ask anyone to smile! After I've gone through the photos with Jon and Marianne I'll see if they are happy for me to post some on Seratoga.

Monday, 24/04/06

Photography! I finally bought myself a new toy - and since then have been seeing the world through various lenses and apertures. I will put some more details of my fancy new equipment and some of the photos I have been taking in the Photos section. I have been talking to a few professional photographers to try to get some experience with the guys who have been doing it for years. I got myself a few books from Amazon - Bryan Peterson (great stuff). I called up an old high-school friend who said she might be able to let me tag along and absorb her good ideas - which I'm keen on! In the last few months I have shot a few weddings and happy with the results I've got, but I definitely still have much to learn. I also find myself wandering around with a camera and a tripod much more than I used to. I'd love to get some work shooting weddings, parties, cats / dogs - anything!

In other news Vicki and I went to Lorne for a civilised weekend in a B&B. We had planned to head to Confest to play with the hippies beating drums and fire dancing but the weather forecast was abysmal with morning frost... so we went for the luxury option. We ended up having a power failure during our stay, so it was a bit more basic than we expected, but the full moon made the whole experience a bit more romantic.

My mum is finally going over to Poland to see her relatives and she bought a PC so she can surf and write to the Poles.

Saturday, 21/05/05

Since my last post I started working with Accenture on a project at the the ATO (Australian Tax Office). I'm still contracting and signed up to work for a few months in Canberra and then I was told I would be working in Melbourne. I was really happy to get a longer term contract that would end up in Melbourne where it's all happening for me. I had a really good time in Canberra for about six weeks. I was staying with Jon and Maryanne and felt very at home with them, their friends and their dog.

While I was there Jon and Maryanne did a fair bit of DIY on their house. Giya, their friendly, huge dog would occasionally get freaked out and hide under the house so Jon and I decided to make a kennel (Maryanne said 'dog house' sounds like somewhere you go when you are BAD) so we had a project and knocked one up. I was pretty chuffed with our efforts.. (see right)

Now I've been back in Melbourne all of two weeks and Accenture want me to move BACK to Canberra. Not sure when / if this is going to happen, but wasn't really part of the plan. It's really good to be back in Melbourne, the Ninjutsu here is great, I love living with Vicki and Bryce and we are currently looking for a bigger place to live... so I'll keep y'all posted on what ends up happening.

Sunny Melbourne

... ok the weather hasn't been all good.... Did you see the Melbourne Cup. The best swimmer won!