The last couple of weeks
Monday, July 23rd, 2007Being away from the weblogs for a couple of weeks means that I’ve got a whole bunch of thoughts just waiting to be spewed. So a summary as best as I can remember.
Life
- Those that have seen me in person in the last five or so years, and looked down, would have noticed a pair of “spider-man” looking Timberland black & grey shoes. These have been successfully replaced by a leather pair of TImberlands and another sporty looking one made of Toray (which is some great moisture management fabric). Now that I have two pairs, maybe it’ll last for a decade?
- Lived through 07/07/2007, and there was even a gathering of old friends with single malt whiskey then. Roads were packed, and weddings were abound. The significance of this is that we’re apparently meaning machines; imagine what it will be like come 08/08/2008, 09/09/2009, 10/10/2010, 11/11/2011, and 12/12/2012. Looks like it gives me 5 years to get married and join the fads :-)
- Days were spent in loads of meetings with people, but some nights were for rest and relaxation - and I could generally be found at Thai Club. Even spent their 4th birthday party there (so no, they’ve not been around since 1975). Their live bands are pretty hit and miss (i.e. you can imagine wishing they’d stop singing), but the DJs are pretty tolerable. Many a bottle of scotch was had, their seafood BBQ and pizzas are pretty good, and much thanks to my partner-in-crime, Ruben.
- Singapore was an interesting experience. It really does seem like people there live in a very large mall. It has completely erupted to being night clubs, bars, restaurants, and so forth - how things have changed since I last regularly visited the place, circa 2000-2001. The Clarke Quay area has been remodelled, there were a couple of microbreweries (fruit beer, tasty!), and a rather odd nightclub called the Clinic, where you’d drink out of a drip or syringes! Kudos to Sunny for showing me around those areas.
- Photography has taken such a back seat in my life, and its not making me happy. I actually have just started uploading photos to Flickr, and am going to start taking time to make good photos. Living off the camera phones for the last couple of weeks, kinda sucked.
- Its been fabulous to watch the F1 with my dad, something I’ve been doing for years even before my departure to Australia. Two F1’s we had, with some great racing. Caught last night’s European F1 and must say it was an interesting race, thanks to the rain.
Tech-related
- The Internet in Australia is getting worry-some, with Optus now starting to charge for uploads as well. Keeping in mind we’re already ridiculously quota-ed, I don’t see how upload charging makes sense. Looks like the telcos like Telstra/Optus feel that VoIP is a significant threat, so the best way to hit the consumer is to charge for uploads. This also bodes negatively for Flickr, and YouTube, and other media rich applications. This is going backwards…
- My Nokia N73 is randomly shutting off. Usually after I take a call, or sometimes while I’m taking a call. This phone is not even a year old, so warranty will cover it, but I’m a bit shocked at the quality - I’ve not had phones fail on me within a year! Maybe a replacement is in lieu after it gets fixed, I’m personally liking a GPS-unit and maybe WiFi, but don’t think the N95 is at a justifiable price range.
- People are getting married, thanks to Twitter. Read all about it, via Ben Barren. Love, expressed in 140 characters or less, eh? Seems one party even made it to a Melbourne Twitter Meetup (that I missed, sadly).
- There seem to be more tech meetups in Melbourne - tequp, MODM (Melbourne Online Digital Media), MTUB (Melbourne Twitter Underground Brigade). Will probably be at more meetups, in the coming weeks, I’m sure…