Plantagenet Penguinista

Targa was more fun than I expected. We started at 6AM sharp, which means that it’s too dark to see around you. We set up signs, posts & an overhead gondola/sheltery thing, then waited while the Touring class racers lined up, then sent those off en-bloc, then waited as nearly 200 standard racers went through. Each car was checked for certain safety points, given an arrival time (written on their folder, too), then lined up to start. The start went whizzing off through the Sterling River bridge, then whizzed up the hill towards Rosebery. When I say “whizzing”, even the lighter, smaller cars disappeared in an amazing hurry. The expensive-looking Lambo made a lot of noise but took about as long to disappear as the Minis, Austin Healey, Shaker or old Monaro. Or any of the Mercedes, Porsches, BMWs, the Fiat 124SPORT, Lancers, Skylines & WRXes. Etcetera. I got to spin people out by swigging some loverly Ginger Beer from a stubby bottle, then wore my hands out struggli...

I was quietly perusing an aritcle about Brian Behlendorf, when I syumbled across an important freedom that I hadn’t thought much about: “The most important freedom: the right to fork”. It is important, too, as all of (for example) Microsoft’s mayhem & monopoly quest has been about denying that very right. Most governments get more than a tad upset if a bunch of their citizens decide to start a fork of their own, also. Forking, in a way, represents the ultimate freedom: the ability to start from here (wherever “here” actually is) & go your own way. Vive la différence! I was made in Canada, so I'm supposed to know some of that stuff. (-:

We have a working ’fridge & freezer now, & an actual table to put the computers on. Today was rain from about 11AM onwards, so I didn’t get to walk up the hill. Hopefully it’ll all be finished before I start doing the car-rally managing thing at 05:45 tomorrow morning. Had the unique experience of seeing the nearby hills fogged up in the afternoon — as well as providing a level grey horizon this morning. Ginger honey tastes really nice. You can get it from the Veggie Shed on the coast — 317 Bass Highway — West of Burnie (the train tracks are genuine 2' gauge running right along the beach), with some excellent mini-mushrooms on special, some raspberries & bucketloads of crunchy, sweet apples, plus scads of really nice grapes from about $3-$5 a kilo. Went chasing some chickens with our furry little mates up at Rocky Cape on Friday, & discovered that the little blighters (the chickens, not the mates) can figure stuff out really, really ...

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates dropped this one while under trial for heresy & sedition. Here’s a couple of bursts from this fascinating discussion: After his accusers presented their argument for the death penalty he had the opportunity to argue for an alternate punishment. Things like a fine, a fine with imprisonment, exile, or some other punishment. His first suggestion was that the government give him a reward for his selfless contributions to Athenian society. He acknowledged that this suggestion probably freaked some of them out but he assured them that he was serious. He believed that the actions his accusers called criminal, were actually actions of the highest value to the health of the state. He admitted the jury would not be able to comprehend that argument so he went on to consider the appropriateness of imprisonment. [...] If they thought he could just keep his mouth shut and stay out of trouble, that would be impossible. First bec...

Here is a neat little adaptor that emulates a PhotoShop environment well enough to run its plugins. WINE for GIMP . (-: This could be what you’re looking for if you use GIMP for everything “but...”

Took a few interesting shots of Perth on Friday, and jammed them onto my Tullah photo gallery for your viewing pleasure. Also, I’m off today to learn how to track cars during the coming Targa car rally next week. This will be running through many of those squiggly roads I mentioned in an earlier post, which should, um, separate the real drivers from teh wannabees. (-:

On our way back from Launceston past Cradle Mountain yesterday, we spotted a couple of runny fellows. The large, solid kind who would be a real problem if hit with a Toyota wagon. Not that the runny fellow would be problem-free him/herself. Here’s a shot of #2. By the way, if you think that Hellyer Gorge is tight & twisty (which it is, I was averaging ~60km/h over a big section signed at 100km/h), you need to wander west of Mole Creek for a bit. We’re told that the town of Paradise is even twistier. Helicopter-only territory, methinks. (-:

...and because I repaired it myself when it first died (it was that or wait maybe a month), it’s not covered by warranty. However, there are some bright & enthusiastic people in Perth (Hi, Mal!) who have an answer sitting on their shelves. I’m eagerly inspecting our snail-mail (hi, Sharon!) as it arrives in expectation of seeing one shortly. I know that the same peoples’ DC-to-DC converters work well, or at least that one worked flawlessly all of the way across the Nullarbor, in all temperatures & variable humidity (it started raining on us at Eucla and we brought that with us through SA & Vic to Tas), so I’m looking forward to a longer happier life with this one than the manufacturer’s device. The website doesn’t mention compatibility with TwinHead 15D Notebooks, but it’ll learn soon, I think.

...and scores of other people besides, myself included. How is this done? Suddenly pull the plug on the old remote access Internet funding method, announce that the new method will be public on 01 April, then sit on your thumbs. Yup, that’s our gummint for you. I wouldn’t mind so much but I’m living in a town where the only other connectivity option is either dialup or a internally complicated service called OneWire which here seems to be about 20% faster (whee!). Telstra have a petition form where you can ask for ADSL in your area, but first off — as I’ve said before — it appears to be about as useful as weeing upwind, and second off is Telstra’s ADSL plans. Get, for example, a gigabyte limit, a fixed IP address & 1500/256 kilobits or so (note qualifier about “estimated” speeds), & you’re looking down the muzzle of about $90 a month, or $3 a day.

Went for a stroll up the hill today, & after 45 minutes of 45° slopes headed toward Lake Herbert, I was knackered. I carried a camera, but for a change was glad to not be my esteemed sister-in-law. With her camera gear, & her eye for a good shot, she’d still be up there, cursing the darkness & fighting her way down through the underbrush. I also found out more about Wee Georgie Wood, the little steam loco which runs around tracks here in Tullah, & found that I almost completely lack the skills needed to rebuild various parts of the loco & carriages. If you’re in Western Tasmania & are any good at steelwork or the design behind it, they’d like to hear from you. If you have time to labour & want to put it into a worthy cause, they’d like people to nail and/or weld things together, too, not to mention saw, paint, glue or stitch.

Drove home via Hellyer Gorge recently, and got to see a genuine Spotted Quoll, along with 30 or so wallabies & half-a-dozen possums & maybe a Devil. A handful of wallabies & one possum tried for a sudden Michelin Diet but the road is so narrow & twisty that I was only doing maybe 40km/h at the time, so was easily able to thwart their efforts for linear fame. The road’s very pretty — with plenty of ferns & stuff around about — but one has to go so slowly & put up with passenger abuse about corners (at ~30km/h) & “speeding” (~65km/h in a 100km/h zone) that the longer way is, well, shorter. Time-wise anyway. Also had a look at the Fossey River information bay, with signs warning that the toilets don’t contain drinkable water & that you’re under constant camera surveillance (yes, they are serious, both times). They have some excellent polished pine-looking furniture, & lots of detailed information pasted on the w...

Never say dye ? the 10x10cm green demonstration cells generate enough electricity to run a small fan in low-light conditions — making them ideal for cloudy climates. The dyes can also be incorporated into tinted windows that trap to generate electricity. Another bugbear of solar cells — ecological impact — is also eclipsed by these dye cells: they are made from titanium dioxide — a plentiful, renewable and non-toxic white mineral obtained from New Zealand’s black sand. Titanium dioxide is already used in consumer products such as toothpaste, white paints & cosmetics. “The refining of pure silicon, although a very abundant mineral, is energy-hungry and very expensive. And whereas silicon cells need direct sunlight to operate efficiently, these cells will work efficiently in low diffuse light conditions,” Dr Campbell says. “The expected cost is one 10th of the price of a silicon-based solar panel, making them more attractive and accessible to ...

SCOX have finally admitted that GrokLaw is a problem for them, by trying to “out” Pamela Jones as an IBM front or as a group of IBM employees. This is probably quite amusing for PJ, would could probably put the tens of thousands of $US she’s accusedly been paid off with to good use — & SCOX would get the shock of their little lives then, if they thought they were in trouble now . (-:

Came home last night from The Nut (near Stanley on the north coast) along the Hellyer Gorge & saw numerous (about 30 or so) hoppy fellows (wallabies? too small & soft-edged to be ’roos) plus some possums & a genuine Spotted Quoll. All of this while Certain Others were constantly freaking out about the curved road & stunning speed (about 30-40km/hr in a 100km zone), & paying no attention to the masses of pretty ferns, majestic trees & stuff. Hadn’t noticed the speed last time through, but it definitely added time to the trip, which together with the freaking-out puts definite limits to this as a travel choice. That’s a pity, bevause it’s very pretty along there. There was also Young’s Vegetable Shed to the West of Burnie (in Somerset, practically) which had bulk veggies at good prices, including odd specialties like Ginger Honey. Yum! At The Nut, I saw another unusual thing: the Western beach had a variety of slopes, steeper further...

Today I discovered the Fossey river. Perhaps I should write it “the FOSSey River”? It’s north of here, near the Wey River and the Hellyer River and in the Waratah-Wynyard Council. I also discovered that people do make strap-on antennas for mobile ’phones, & that you can buy one (modulo some ordering time) in Burnie. Burnie is a kind of odd town, struggling to make big-cityness. It has parking meters & parking buildings, one-way streets, stacks of traffic lights, a sea-tainer-handling port, something which anywhere else would be called a freeway, bundles of shops (some of them tied to the parking buildings) & scads of little facilities. It’s sort of like a chunk of big city excavated & dropped into a medium-sized seaside town. The drive there was kind of pleasant, with many bucolic cows, some fancy hedges, even the odd road-house or two. Oh, yes, & heaps of hilly curves. (-: I also discovered that Tasmania does indeed have crows. They fee...

Sitting in Tasmania, phoning Western Australia for a link, working on a server there in Perth which is pulling down data from Sydney, and updating DNS delegations in Melbourne for services run in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. Also talking to friends in Queensland — or, more accurately, from Queensland as at now. All I’m really missing is a stripe down the middle (SA and NT) plus a blotch in NSW (ACT)... well, that’s unless you want to count places like Christmas Island, of course... Actually, it’s a bit more than Oz-wide, since the owner of another server I’m working on is in San Diego, I’ve got a little work underway for some people just (literally) up the road & I’m getting regular reminders of a friend who lives in the sticks North-East of Perth, & finally a bloke (mostly) from England wants me to write an article for him. Now I need someone from Africa to make my retinue complete, & maybe someone from Greenland so I’ve hit ...