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Wednesday, October 22, 2008















HP 550 Business Notebook - FW384AT
Celeron T1400 / 1.73 GHz, RAM 1 GB, HDD 120 GB, CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo, Intel GMA X3100, WLAN : 802.11b/g, Vista Home Basic, 15.4" Widescreen TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )


I'm amazed at how inexpensive HP notebooks are these days. Although it's not just HP, many other brands of notebooks are also bringing their prices down. The above model can be found for around $500 (US), whereas previously it may have been closer to $1000. But this is the beauty of technology, the prices continue to come down as the features go up. Perhaps a 256mb version two years ago was out of reach. I'm just waiting for that last little discount so I can get myself a roaring beast of a laptop. One that can launch shuttles and that sort of thing. Well, maybe not shuttles, I suppose Windows XP would do. Although I've been wanting to try Ubuntu since Windows hogs a lot of resources. I just need my favourite programs to create versions compatible with Ubuntu and I'll definitely give it a go.















Samsung CLP-315 Color Laser Printer
This model can now be found for under $200. However, the price of the printer is not the amount you should be focusing on.

When you are looking to buy portable printers, there are many factors to consider.
1. Size - is the footprint of your printer small enough to fit into your office/home office?

2. Consumables - some laser printers use an solid ink that sometimes can cost more than the printer itself. Make sure your needs are commensurate with the features and requirements of your printer. In other words, make sure you run the printer, not the other way around.

3. Electricity usage - unbeknownst to many people is that fact that some models of printer need to be left on all the time for different reasons including smoother running and ink conservation. In an era of global warming and financial crisis, this may not be the best investment. Make sure you find out these details before committing to a purchase.

Monday, October 20, 2008


The Good















The Living End
The first mighty chords blasted through Acer Arena, blowing the Veronica's eye makeup off. It worked. Everyone was awake and alert and ready for a night of great music. The Living End finally received a well-deserved ARIA for Best Rock Album. The band set the bar high in terms of performance and unfortunately many of the acts that followed crashed into this bar like that drunk Russian high jumper.

Nick Cave
Best Male Artist. The quality of the songwriting, the musicianship, the brilliance, the...
*whack!* sorry, I got carried away there for a moment.

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
A beautiful, moving performance. I got teary and I realised that I couldn't even understand the words. The beauty of his music transcends language.

Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
Keep on rattlin'!



The Bad

















Gabriella Cilmi
It's dangerous to be carrying six pointy glass things while drunk and balancing on heels. Please stop talking.

Delta Goodrem
Highest selling album ARIA. This speaks volumes (literally!) of the state of the Australian Music Industry. There must be more Australian 12 year old girls than I thought.





















The Veronicas
These miniature Elviras are giving me nightmares. Make the Leprechauns go away, mummy. I promise I'll be good.



The Ugly


The Presets
I can put on a dance beat and whine while holding my nose as well. I just don't make other people listen to it. Dressing up like a Muppet only makes it worse.



Surely this disturbing trend of bad music masquerading as something sophisticated must come to an end. It just requires a certain level of awareness from the general population. Perhaps the abomination of The Presets winning best album will be the last gasp of this rather tedious era. Prediction for ARIAs 2009 - more rock, less schlock.




Tuesday, October 14, 2008











My partner and I were shocked and saddened last night to learn that Seve Ballesteros has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. He is true magician of the game, an inspiration to champion golfers and fans alike.

May you have the strength and support to make it through this difficult time. Here's to your speedy recovery, Seve. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you.





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Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Often when something happens in my life that I don't enjoy, I tend to make an amusing post about it. It's my way of making lemonade out of lemons. Sometimes however, you just get lemons.

I was listening to my headphones in front of the computer. The song had ended so I took the earphones off to put them away. Without looking I reached into the wires of an air purifier with my hand still holding the earphones. My middle finger was the entry point and the charge went right through my body and down to my toes. If I had to describe it I would call it "being bitten by an electric eel underwater".

For hours afterwards I was unable to speak faster than 30 bpm and tingles and pains surged randomly through different parts of my body. The next day I was still speaking slowly and had pains in different regions of my head.

The most frightening moment was when I tried to use a computer and spent around a whole minute trying to figure out where the "copy" button is in Ctrl + copy. I felt like a complete dork when I realised it was just the "c" button. Considering I have been using computers since I was a kid, this was cause for concern.

The doctor did a multitude of tests of my reflexes and coordination. He wasn't entirely convinced I was ok, but he didn't want to alarm me either. Little did he know that underneath my vague and slow exterior was already a lot of panic and alarm. He ordered me to rest for a few days and get an Ambulance subscription. That didn't really fill me with optimism.

The next few nights were frightening as my heart was beating quickly and tingles and pains kept their random patterns going well into the small hours of the morning.

After I regained my energy after a couple of days, I tried yoga to get my circulation moving and exercise my muscles. Amazingly it worked so well that by the next day I was feeling like a new person.

I am pleased to say I am feeling back to normal apart from the occasional pain manifesting throughout various areas of my head. This is the first day I have blogged since the incident and I am happy to say I know how to use Ctrl + C again.




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