When I woke up Wednesday morning the day was looking up; it was my first day off in quite some time and I rejoiced at the thought of being able to sleep in, have a nice lunch for a change, and maybe even spend a couple of hours up-side-down on a couch reading a book (my preferred reading position). In the space of six hours I received two phone calls that would change everything: someone had broken street-date on Mass Effect 2, allowing me to convince the girl behind the counter at EB to hand my copy over “nice and slow-like”; and the framers had worked their magic on my lithograph over two weeks ahead of the expected schedule. One 15 minute journey later and my addiction had reached a beautiful critical mass.

In the months since December of last year I have immersed myself so deeply within the world of Mass Effect, in preparation for the prodigal sequel, that it has started to affect me on a fundamental level. Just the other day I legitimately pondered the required energy to significantly remove the gravitational influence of a pulsar, and began a rough calculation until reality came creeping back into the foreground of my thoughts. I dare say it will not be long before I start demonstrating the positions of known Mass Relays at the Planetarium and am subsequently fired for the preaching of gross falsehoods. I listen to the soundtrack to the first game whilst reading the novelised prequels, and when I shut my eyes I sometimes inadvertently visualise the spinning Mass Relay loading screen.

The degree to which this game has entrenched itself into my cortical lobes gives us the context we need to continue. You see, every time I search for Mass Effect on the Internet, read about it in a press release or through one of my many aggregated RSS feeds, or even talk about it with other sapient beings, something strange happens. I get confused and disoriented! All of a sudden, the world has turned topsey-turvey and I grasp blindly as my brain tries to piece my shattered world back together.

To the rest of the world, Shepard looks like this
	Which is confusing because for me, Shepard looks like this

The blatant identity crisis would be understandably crippling for Shepard herself (himself?), yet somehow I find myself thinking for her whenever confronted with this discontinuity. Seeing a male Shepard is like looking into a mirror and seeing someone else’s face staring back, even though the face is an avatar for an imaginary character. There is no logical reason why it should unnerve me so much, and yet I find it physically distressing to see “John” Shepard conversing with the Normandy’s crew instead of “Jane”.

While I applaud BioWare for their efforts in creating a game that is (largely) gender-independent in terms of character interaction and development, I find it incredibly interesting to note how severe my reactions are to resulting conflicts created in both the game’s advertising and general public discourse. The role of gender in a games avatar is a topic for another day, but for now I would love to know:

Do you ever find yourself identifying with a specific portrayal of a character in games, books, film, etc.?

Have you ever encountered this alienation when encountering a non-idealised version of these characters?

I would love to hear your comments below!

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photo credit: Alice Bartlett

As a child I was often promised, among other things, a future who’s hallmarks were flying cars and holograms. Growing up I was regaled with tales of robots, instant meals, and all manner of things wonderful and fantastic. Furthermore these stories were always suppended with comments in the vein of “…and that is where you will get to make your mark, my boy!”. In those golden days of my youth, no-one expected humanity to try so hard to shoot themselves in the foot.

Moore’s Law stated initially that the number of transistors on a silicon chip would double over a period of two years. Moore himself placed limits on this theory, though the trend outlasted his wildest expectations; the result was a relationship that constantly underwent redefinition as the notion of “technology” evolved. Society had been skeptical in the past, steadfast in their belief’s that this kind of progress was pure fantasy, yet time and time again they were forced to sit slack-jawed in wonder at the latest in computing technology. The wiki article has a great history of the “Law”, and coincidentally one of my favourite blogs has just posted a fantastic article on how things could have turned out differently. What truly baffles the mind, what denies all plausible sensabilities, is how people seem to resent and resist this progress. Right here in Australia, planning is under way for a National Broadband Network that would potentially bring our fine nation into this nascent age of high definition internet access, connecting the entire country to the rest of the world in ways never before thought possible. For those of us isolated on the West Coast, the prospect of such a connection was akin to platform nine-and-three-quarters; a secret realm hidden between fantasy and ecstasy. On the cusp of such a monumental step forward, how does the populace respond?

They complain! They actually make statements like “The internet is fast enough[sic]“.

The argument that faster connections will only lead to greater instances of piracy are so unintelligent that I actually find them offensive. It is reductio ad nauseum to make the connection between faster downloads and the absence of any legitimate use of this extra bandwidth, and I don’t doubt for a second that Godwin is next to take the stage in this inane debate. Making things worse still, the population at large simply has too few sources of reliable and unbiased information from which to make an intellectual opinion. The media feeds this burning ignorance by stoking the flames of fear and mania, publishing and presenting stories designed only to create hyperbole and spread misinformation. It is the unfortunate state of our media monster, that if a news story is outrageous enough, other news sources will report on the first news story, thus creating a vicious cycle of publicity that all too soon spews out falsehoods masquerading as gospel.

I ask you now to imaging this, a near future where the right choices were made. The laying of fibre-optic cabling across the nation allows bandwidths capable of hundreds of Gigabytes per second (Gbps), with a fibre-to-the-home connection allowing a full 1 Gbps connection for each connected device. Using this connection, Television stations are capable of delivering HD Programming in addition to the high speed Internet afforded by the ISP. The cable-based TV station suffer less signal degradation than conventional antenna based transmission, resulting in a more reliable signal uninterrupted by local electromagnetic interferences such as washing machines or microwaves. With the TV stations no longer utilising the radio-wave transmission, this new “White Space” in the spectrum can be filled in by conventional wireless transmission currently being restricted to the frequency ranges around 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz. This greater freedom allows better signal penetration and less interference; it is now possible to have a single wireless router that will happily fill your house with no dead spots, and more than likely into your neighbours house as well. These freed-up frequencies also allow telecommunications companies greater opportunities in providing wireless broadband services to mobile phones and laptops on the move. The fibre-optic network also gives ISPs the chance to realistically offer competition to the current Telecommunications Conglomerates, driving down service charges and making communication easier and more affordable. The concept of being constantly connected to your family in England, or your children in the United States, is no longer some fantastical dream from a fantasy realm. Information becomes something people are entitled to, and able to access with ease and freedom.

Can you imagine it?

Now weep for it.

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photo credit: the|G|™

In this most recent binge of bettering myself I have been mustering up the motivation to do some of the things I wish I did more often. This can be shown in the fact that I have now run Jacob’s Ladder twice this week and fully plan on a third assailing of that mocking dastard this Friday. While this has temporarily halted my attempts at starting Tai Chi for purely physical limitations (namely my complete inability to hold a low horse stance without my calves deciding that this is a monumentally stupid idea and leaving), I truly believe that they both work towards a common goal.

This, however, has nothing to do with what I wish to talk about today.

I read, on average, 5 – 6 small essays every day from the various vestiges of the Internet. Some are aggregated courtesy of my compulsion to add every RSS feed ever into my google reader account. Some are linked to me in posts made by those same subscriptions. Some fall out of Wiki-loops and some even appear as a legitimate part of my studies. I often save these articles, or leave the tab open in my browser of choice until it reaches a sort of critical mass and they all collapse for form… well… a memory error. I do this because  I often want to link them here and comment about them, but this is always a cop-out on what I really want to do; I want to write the articles. So, I am going to make a concerted effort over the next couple of months to knock out a decent quality mini-essay per week. The first is definitely going to be about Communication, hence the post title. Peel an eye for that one.

In the meantime, fantastic things I have found on the internet that will allow me to close some tabs!

All credit goes to Phill for finding this one, but he didn’t post about it so I will. This is one of the most emotional and amazing videos I have ever seen. I just wish I could save it somehow.

Keeping it real with my boys in the Astro community, I should point out that this was actually discovered by an amatuer Aussie astronomy outside of Canberra. He forwarded it onto NASA who were very glad that he did so, as you can read.

Else, in the land of Astro, the Lunar Recconeissance Orbiter has spotted some pretty lucky shots on it’s way to… well… do what it did before it got there!

Any audiophile worth his salt would jump at the chance to have been this lucky. A tour of the Dolby labs is my idea of the best first date ever! In all seriousness, however, if you ever wondered what makes one sound better than another, have a quick read of this article. Sound is very much like wine…

Finally, a sneak peek into my first mini-essay, this one in particular inspired me more than most I read on a daily basis. Not long now before Internet kills the Video Star.

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photo credit: duncan

“Because once I start I cannot help myself…”

After yet another successful annual trip to Prevelly, I have found myself in a pre-metamorphic state. The trip itself consisted what anyone would expect from a bunch of university students desperately clinging onto the last shreds of their sanity post-exams. Discussions of philosophy, the preparation of gourmet delicacies, and meditations of self worth;

Also, drinking.

In all seriousness, I have decided I require more discipline in my life. Short of forking out $1800 per hour for my favourite Dominatrix every night, I have decided Tai Chi will do as a viable substitute. I will be sure to update regularly on how this is going, however one thing I would like to investigate is the possibility of blending some of the philosophies of Tai Chi and Fencing. Food for thought, that is for sure. On the topic of food, I have no doubt that a post will be up very soon at my second favourite food blog, detailing the scrumptious exploits of one of the best amateur chefs I know. Let this man anywhere near fresh marron and I assure you that what follows will leave you a husk of a man who’s digestive tracts have transcended to a higher plane. Yes, it is that good.

My own escapades in that realm were met with kind words of their own, a heart 1.6kg slab of quivering meat marinated in one of my own concoctions and slow roasted over 4 hours to something that closely resembles perfection. While I feel it could have been rarer for my tastes, with the quality of the kitchens in these small cedar cabins I believe the results exceeded expectations. The marinade, however, was my real victory here. The base constituents of this alchemy were maple syrup, vinegar, Cajun peppers and lime zest. Not what anyone would call traditional, in fact some have expressed their abhorrence at this aberration, yet the combination has merit beyond comprehension. I can only ask you save your vitriol until after you have let me cook it for you.

Segue: Speaking of food and discipline, I have noticed recently that while I have a fantastic espresso machine that I use every day (hourly is probably a better term) I have not yet once used the milk steamer attachment. This is primarily because I am a lazy person, and I like to be able to consume the caffeine part of the coffee as quickly as possible, such that I can get back to my addiction of the moment. Today I broke that particular “hymen” (admittedly, a metaphor one should never use in conjunction with coffee) and I must say that it is something I should do more often. For little extra effort my caffeinated beverages could be much nicer; I am simply just too lazy. All this, however, shall change very soon.

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While it is no secret to those of whom I see on a regular basis, I may as well come clean with the rest of you. I have started collecting Pokémon cards. I say started in the most poetic sense possible, as of the 600+ card collection was purchased during the early months of 1999 when it was first released in Australia. The more correct term would probably be ‘resume’ or even ‘continue’; sometimes I like to pretend I have dignity. When a friend oh-so fortuitously came across a set of the cards I was immediately reminded of the healthy stack of cards sitting in a shoebox in my wardrobe. Urged by carnal powers stronger than any man has ever faced, the cards were sought, dusted off, and brought to bear the harsh light of day once more. It was immediately apparent that the dusty old ripcurl packaging was no throne for my Pokémon and thus began the quest for a more fitting container. With Pokéballs in short supply (I blame the recession), small plastic forcefields would have to suffice.

With my accomplice trainer (whos identity has been expurgated* at his request) at my side, each Pokémon was lovingly acknowleged and cared for, catalogued and stored away. It is our common goal to one day catch them all.

Now for the change. Wanting to keep updated on some of my favourite webcomics, I have found myself checking my Twitter account more often. I created my account sometime during the Triassic period, only ever having made a single “Tweet”. The original account was made for an experiment I once ran in the name of science; an attempt to use a series of Twitter accounts for in-character banter between sessions, allowing for an expirience above and beyond normal character interaction. Interestingly enough, the user name I managed to acquire tends to attract the attention of those who believe they are getting something else entirely. My ‘followers’ are an interesting bunch, that is for sure.

With the account in my posession, and keypresses of F5 occuring at an alarming rate, it was an obvious (to some) descision to start making posts of my own. Ergo, if you are a purveyor of ‘Tweets’ like some I know, hit me up  on the site and see if anything I say is worthy of reading.

*Word of the Day: I refuse all and any who judge me for its usage!

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The past month has been a tiring one yet, as it would turn out, a satisfactory one. Exams are always a stressful period, for anyone taking them, and this is compounded when you have a Project Report due on an experiment that just refuses to work. However, exams are over and the report has been completed and submitted (and soon hopefully marked). It is fantastic to be able to sit down and not have to constantly think whether or not there is something earth-shatteringly important that I should be doing right now. Even better news was the fact that I have already passed two of my exams, and hopefully a third if mid-semester results are anything to go by. The best news was delivered via telephony less than 10 minutes after putting down my pen in my last exam.

I am pleased to announce that I have been selected as the newest addition to the team at Perth’s Horizon Planetarium as a Planetarium Presenter. While the selection process is not as gruelling as some other professions, I like to think that my unique set of skills and experiences will make a fantastic contribution to the Horizon team.

Thus we come to the final section of today’s post, where I like to make some unfounded claims, pre-broken promises, and generally set myself up to disappoint others. Now that my schedule is lighter, and I have figured out some sort of plan for the immediate future to save myself from drowning in commitments like I usually do, I plan on three posts a week for the next month. Small (relatively) easy goals are the way forward to a more productive me, I think. Let us see how things go, hey ol’ chap?

Today’s links of pure awesomeness:

• Not so much a link as a request; one of the reasons my posts kind of stopped recently was due to the WYSIWYG editor no longer working after upgrading to Wordpress 2.8. That is right, I wrote this entire post in html tags. If anyone feels like giving me a hand in figuring out how to fix this, please give me a buzz in my email: corsair@corsairsanchorage.com (and yes, I have posted in the WP forums too).

• Back to linkey goodnes – Like zombies? This is a really interesting look at the way augmented reality might be used in the near future. Personally, I am foaming at the mouth with excitement for what this could do to a DnD campaign. Are you listening Wizards?!?

• It turns out that Call of Duty 4 is actually making me a better driver. This kind of study usually makes me really sceptical, however I must say that the ABC science team have actually written something that does not sound too skewed and biased for a change, and that makes me very happy. Small victories are better than flat-out defeats, I guess.

• I am a regular reader of Dan’s Data (no, not that Dan) and rarely find myself glossing over what he writes. This obviously means that I find what he writes to be interesting; this article is no exception. I agree with almost everything he says here, and I think people should look at the way they use computers with this article in mind. Also, I think people should cut their whinging and whining, and simply make the effort to learn how to use these contraptions. I never tire of listening to people tell me that computers “should just work”, thus absolving the user of any and all blame. This is doubly true for people who complain about bad coding, but this is a rant for another day.

• Speaking of computers – This is possibly the most amazing case-mod I have ever seen. Actually, I do not think it can be called a case mod; there were no real modifications, so much as being built out of raw awesomium and refined into awesomite. Called Edelweiss, it truly is a thing of beauty. Something I would be proud to have sitting on my desk, seriously, this thing would be in photos inside my wallet!

• This just makes me angry, especially when I am looking at starting up a small business myself in the next 6-8 months. To slam small businesses with fees like this is outrageous to the point of being purely malicious. Seriously, how can the be surprised when we torrent all out music and television episodes? The answer to Piracy is not to increase tariffs and taxes, that is how you ENCOURAGE it!

• In summation, I do not think I have ever seen someone make a heartbeat sound so epic!

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In the meantime, look at some of these fantastic things I have found while desperately trying to procrastinate!

• The only magazine I would consider buying has done another fantastic article on the Terminator. The movie tie ins are obvious, but the content is interesting independently (see previous post).
   
• I always feel compelled to let everyone know when important astrophysics comes out of Australia. Just click this link to find out why.
• Keeping the astronomy theme going, these are the only pictures ever of a shuttle in solar transit. Read up for how he did it, which is the truly amazing part!
• This is just freaking cool! From the same guy who brought us that fantastic Steampunk IBM keyboard and the amazing Steapunk Laptop, don’t be too shy to delve deeper into his site and look at all the other fantastic creations within. May hat is eternally tipped in respect.

Alrighty now, back to it. This project does not write itself… little bastard that it is.

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This chap has turned old cassette tapes into something truly amazing. My personal fav is definitely Mr Smith of Cure fame; the surly look is perfectly rendered in magnetic tape splendour!

Using X-Rays to see inside of things is something we take for granted, but someone has decided to use them to artistically show the innards of our favourite objects. The nostalgia aspect of seeing inside a SNES holds particlar sway over my heart.

What possessed this man to actually do this, I do not know, but the result is truly breathtaking. Is there a little artist inside every Roomba, trying to break out? Part of me kind of hopes so.

Of course, what better way to finish the day than with a perspex blue glowing COIL GUN!

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photo credit: pvera

Quitting ones job just before a global recession may seem an unwise decision. Some have led me to believe that the act showed a lack of foresight or planning; or common sense. I like to think that walking out on my job just started a global trend. While the lack of income has stopped me from doing some of the things I really enjoy (eating, bathing, etc), I have been resourceful in funding the bare necessities (internet, electricity, etc). Getting a teaching position at my University was a fantastic move, though a stopgap measure in the long run. What I truly have found myself poor of is time. Between my classes, my Astrophysics Project, and instructing the public in key survival techniques; there is little interesting to talk about, and less time to say it in.

However, none of us have it as hard as the Russian Cosmonauts. This makes for one hell of an interesting read, and I wholly recommend taking in the whole article, because there are gems a-plenty throughout it.

Of course, talking about space just makes me want to start paying Mass Effect again; something that is beyond my power until my computer is restored to a respectable standard. One thing that I have been doing to help me forget the woeful state my computer is in, however, is playing a lot of Xbox 360. Namely: GTA IV. I full well understand how far behind I am in the grand timeline, I just never expected myself to buy a 360 to be perfectly honest. The act of purchase itself was one of my last while working at that godforsaken place, somewhat akin to a last ditch attempt at trying to validate all those hours toiled away in futility. I do not regret it.

Next: A Segue!

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photo credit: bjornman

It is the International Year of Astronomy and you are all invited. Since this is the first week of the new teaching year at my University, and this is my (theoretically) last year of my Astro degree, what better time than now to quickly talk about all my favourite celestial endeavours that are happening this year.

• ->  How to make a telescope out of a kilometer cube of pure ice. One of the most ambitious projects I have seen in this modern epoch, and yet it receives a backseat to less fruitful endeavours.

• ->  The AEGIS project is a utilisation of the worlds three largest land-based telescopes plus the orbital Spitzer and the aging Hubble to analyse a ultra-high resolution strip of the sky smaller than your little finger nail. 56k users beware, these images are approximately 20mb each (and there are a lot of them) but I promise you, the result is fucking breathtaking and truly humbling.
   
• ->  How do scientists use such a stupidly high res photo? Why, on the worlds highest resolution monitor bank, of course! Anyone up for a game of Crysis?
   
• ->  If you like your astro pictures to be more “Desktop Worthy”, then The World At Night project is another fantastic undertaking. Go now and start your wallpaper crusade!
   
• ->  Want to know how to take those photos yourself? You would be amazed just how simple it is (and how expensive it can become once the addiction gets its claws in)
   
• ->  I am amazed that my favourite blogospheric misanthrope has not made mention of his inspired avatar.

Last but not least, I promise this is the last time I mention Windows 7; this guide is a glimpse of how to make the new OS really work.

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Underneath the GUI, what does Windows 7 bring to the table. The first thing you are likely to do it bring up the start menu, and it is interesting to note some new icons there. The two that stuck out like a sore thumb to me were “Sticky Notes” and the “Snipping Tool”. Their names pretty much say all that needs to be said; Sticky Notes are Post-It style text boxes that you can place on your monitor, while Snipping Tool is a glorified Print Screen button. While both programs may become a staple diet of new users to the Windows environ, older customers are likely to throw them both out the window in favour of tried and true techniques that still work just as well.

What I personally dislike about Stickey notes is that each note seems to be a seperate process, and is always shown on the Applications Bar, making it an ugly program to be running when compared to programs like PostIt or others like it which usually have a single process  that (turns out the multiple processes was a bug and is now fixed) sits in the SysTray. Furthermore, I am way too ingrained into the habit of opening a Notepad.exe file whenever I need to jot something down. In fact, hitting the Windows button and typing “note” to bring up a notepad document no longer works as the Sticky Notes programs holds some kind of Trump card when the order is defined; this brings me to a jarring halt as I close the unwanted program and then use the mouse to open notepad instead. I will most likely uninstall Sticky Notes ASAP.

Snipping Tool as a concept, as I said earlier, will probably become second nature for some. Maybe, like the Amish, I fear change; I simply cannot bring myself to use this feature. Print Screen and Photoshop will always be my port of call when I feel the need to take a screenshot.

Now onto the good news. The talking heads over at MS Public Relations have been vomiting rainbows everytime they talk about Windows 7’s battery conservation “skillz” and its 1337 Power Management. As a University student who frequently has 2 hour lectures and 5 hour lab sessions, being able to work without the constant fear of my battery being depleted halfway through a data run is a huge turn on (yes, a power-pun!). As such, I decided to start catalogueing my battery life a couple of weeks prior to installing W7 onto my laptop. My old Dell portable utilised a 9-Cell battery; when I had to replace it however, Dell was not offering anything larger than a 6-Cell battery for their new laptops. As such, the longest time I could use it from 100% charge was usually about 2 hours on a good day.

As you can see, while I have significantly fewer data points for W7, the battery life is undoubtably longer on average. The data was taken over a week with varied levels of use, from simple web surfing using a wireless access point, to rendering flame fractals using apophosys while listening to music. Each data point was taken in minutes from Power On until the Critical Battery Warning which is displayed at <1% battery power (about 5 seconds before the computer shuts down and refuses to turn back on). However, for ease of reading the data, it was converted into Hours (Base 10). To ensure that W7 was not pulling the wool over my eyes, I verified the complete discharge of the battery using the LED indicator that is now standard on the new Dell data batteries. My data is available as a .csv file for anyone interested in reproducing my statistical analysis.

Further good news, and something I am sure a lot of people are aching for, the User Account Controls have completely been redone. Not removed, and I don’t believe they should be excised from the OS entirely as it is a good feature for the elderly and the very young (or stupid); experienced users now have the chance to run their computer at a level that matches their capabilities. Want to be in control of everything your compter does while maintaining your own sense of security? Turn UAC off with a single click from the control panel. Don’t want Windows to tell you that UAC is off and that it should be on? That is simply smashing; since you turned it off we just assumed you knew it was gone. In fact there is a nice big ol’ button in the control panel that lets you chose what windows will announce at any given time.

All this is now in a catagory called the Action Centre which seems to be an amalgamation of UAC, Windows Update and Error Reporting all in a single panel. I personally feel like it has been thought out by a rational person this time, so that is a nice change from the Redmond team.

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The first impression is very much a “Oh, it is Vista?” reaction, but this only lasts a brief moment. Quickly you notice the lines seem sharper, more defined and cleaner than vista. There are the usual Quick Launch icons next to a familiar Windows button bottom left, and a System Tray looking thing bottom right; only on second inspection do we realise neither of these are what they seem.

Starting with the Application Bar and Start Menu in the bottom left, I must say I like that new glowing Windows button. Here comes our first big revelation and an indication that maybe things are different. The Quick Launch and the Task Bar are now the SAME THING! This is a difficult concept to explain as it goes against everything the typical windows user knows, however I will try my best. The Quick Launch icons will sit happily where you expect them to be, until you open their respective applications. As you click the icon, the application loads; it’s Task Bar icon now Replaces the Quick Launch icon, preserving it’s location in the grand order. The amount this reduces clutter is unfathomable. Suddenly I feel compelled to have a Quick Launch, which is something I would always remove in favour of more desktop real estate. In addition, new instances of the same program automatically stack on the Application Bar.

There is a graphical indication of how many deep the windows are stacked; in the screen shot I have one Windows Explorer instance, two Firefox 3 instances, two Pidgin instances and one Adobe Photoshop instance. Windows Media Player 12 (yes, a new WMP to review, but not today) is not running, yet it’s icon will remain there for rapid deployment to your desktop. As you can see, hovering over an application will show you a dynamic thumbnail of the instances open, allowing you to hot-switch without hesitating. Another feature not seen in the image is the glassframe map that appears on the desktop as you hover over each application/instance. Read on for a better explanation in the section on the Notification Area.

Let us click on that new pretty Windows button, shall we? The Start menu looks much like it’s Vista counterpart, and as far as I am concerned behaves almost identically. The only new feature brought to the table here is the inclusion of a hover-activated context menu on applications that have multiple files accessed regularly. Those little right-facing arrows will expand to a list of recently opened files on Photoshop and Notepad, where as Dreamweaver has not been opened yet (but will most likely use the same feature when I save/open some files with it). Now, an update requires Windows to restart, so I will meet you back here after the boot.

Always a good time to be productive! The Notification Area (often mistakenly called the Task Tray, System Tray, combinations thereof, etc. Microsoft maintains it’s correct name is the Notification Area) looks much the same as previous incarnations of the OS, and behaves accordingly. To expand the Notification Area we no longer slide sideways, but pop upwards. I guess that is new… not really a feature though, is it. Nothing new here except the empty nub of glass on the far right. Let us click it and see what happens.

OH! As soon as our cursor approached the button, all our windows turned into pieces of glass! A clean and intuitive representation of where all the windows are located is displayed; clicking the button minimises them all to the desktop. Much the same as Windows+D function(s/ed), the command gives you quick access to the desktop, only now it does it with style and aplomb! Personally, the feature is somewhat gimmicky, especially for those who already use hotkey combos like they are a second language. I have to say though, I reallly like it, and now that it is there I find myself using it all the fucking time. Sometimes I will just hover, look at my gorgeous Desktop Wallpaper, and then go back to work. Crazy!

Next: Applications! Batteries! User Account Control put to the pasture!

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photo credit: Toothsouper

It has been quite a month for the living dead in my little corner of this blue marble. First I become totally hooked on the musical artist Voltaire. Then Valve releases Left 4 Dead, their latest singularity whose event horizon marks the death of all my spare time. The game on Steam is one of the most innovative multiplayer games I have seen implemented  in a long time, and I strongly believe the gamble has paid off in their favour. Left 4 Dead, however, is not the highlight of this reanimated flesh-pile’s week (although I do so desperately want to talk about it soon!). Rather, it was last night’s intimate encounter with a certain Mr Nick Cave and his misbehaved Seeds that has set my heart a swoon. The concert was a punch in the face by my good friend Nostalgia who is always there to remind me of my childhood before the millennial shift. I have to say that the concert-goers were about as varied as a pack of licorice all-sorts, something that took me off guard. Ages ranged from what looked to be 16 all the way through to about 60; there were IndieKids, Hippies, Ravers, Goths, Metalheads, and Blingers in any given aliquot. Imagine that!

After the warm up band wrapped up their little contribution, mostly the same tune over and again with lyrics on such pressing topics as suicide machines and porcupine love… something that will hunt my sleeping hours evermore, the pit of the Belvoir Amphitheatre swelled with the bodies of all these different breeds; all united in their common passion. The noise of the crowd as Mr Cave entered the natural stadium was otherworldly, and subsided instantly as he raised his microphone laden hand to his mouth. As far as my post-concert emotionally-drained brain can recall, the setlist looked something like this: 

Hold On To Yourself

Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

Tupelo

Red Right Hand

Today’s lesson

Moonland

We Call Upon The Author

Jesus Of The Moon

Midnight Man

Nature Boy

Straight To You

Papa won’t leave you Henry

The Mercy Seat

Deanna

Into My Arms

More News From Nowhere

Encore:

The lyre of Orpheus

People Aint No Good

Get Ready for Love

Hard On for Love

Jesus Of The Moon

Stagger Lee

Highlights for me are most certainly the revamped Weeping Song which seemed to take on the feeling of a swollen ocean, storming and crashing with the emotion of a million souls; Mercy Seat and its machine gun tattoo drilling pure remorse and fear into my skull; and Into My Arms, a song intrinsically tied to thoughts of my beautiful partner. That said, every single song performed that night was simply amazing. It is doubtful that a non-Cave cd will be gracing my car’s stereo for some time now.

If I have made a mistake in that setlist, maybe the order isn’t quite right or I have missed something (or worse, imagined a song they didn’t actually play!), please let me know in the comments or email. Lastly, I would like to thank Mr Nick Cave for coming all the way out to Perth, and then all the way out again to the Belvoir (a good 40 minutes from the City), and giving us a memory that will stay with all who attended for the rest of our lives. Also massive thanks to Mr Tooth Soup for the epic lift to and from, and the photos from on high.

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I have never known a day of my life without my dearest cat, Casper. For as far back as my memory stretches, Casper was there. As a kitten, he was brash and playful, but powerfully independent. From his first days to his last, he would disdain being picked up and cradled in anyones arms. Like an indignant child he would squirm and writhe until he was released and allowed to stand on his own four paws. This is not to say he did not love company; Casper loved nothing more than to curl up in a warm lap at night, purring himself into a ecstatic torpor. While aloof and seemingly uncaring, Casper consumed affection like a fire consumes air. Gorging himself on your love at any possible encounter, he could redefine gluttony in but an hour of your time.

As an old cat, he lost his left eye and most of the vision in his right. The impairment slowed him down as much as a bullet being fired through damp rice paper. Like the proverbial “grumpy old man”, he would never miss a chance to remind you that he was there, howling and crying louder than anyone could possibly imagine whenever he wanted something.

In his final days, he stopped eating or drinking. He lost his omnipresent voice to a hoarse sigh, and his stiff joints dragged him aimlessly from room to room. Lost, dehydrated and in pain, I simply couldn’t bear to watch him suffer. The Vetenarian claimed he had only hours left to him, and I knew that for him, this would simply be one drawn out agonising ordeal. My family and I made the hard decision to end his suffering; the hardest order I have ever been forced to give to anyone. Holding Casper as he took his last shuddering breath will forever haunt me as the most foul and despicable act I have committed. I felt a dirty great stain on my hands that I will never completely be rid of, and the permanent knot in my stomach reminds me of it every time the hour hand circumscribes the dozen judges that look down on me from the wall.

My hat sits upon my breast and I will always remember him fondly.

I will raise a stone for all to see;

A rune carved to his memory.

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photo credit: Midnight-digital

I have been told many times that my lifestyle is a brooding monolith on the corner of Hedonist Ave and Obsessive-Compulsive Blvd. The sustainability of such a lifestyle has been debated at length; I maintain it justifies the mindless hours lost behind the event horizon of the heartless singularity that is customer service. Sure, spending 4 hours changing soft-returns to hard-carriages a 26 000 word document can be perceived as obsessive-compulsive; having an intricate zombie plan can be percieved as crazy, but we all have one. Personally my Zombie Plan involves a certain well fortified building with supplies, near a mechanical workshop and a readily available supply of chemicals. Of course, I can’t divulge anymore for security reasons, and my meager fortress can only sustain a manageable number of zombie-plague refugees. In case of emergencies, however, there is a quickly accesable bag of clothes and equipment should the Zombies catch me at a moment of weakness in my ever vigilant stand. This, however, is not the point.

Hypothetical Me is confronted with two products or services; one of a high quality with a matching pricetag, and the other its inverse. Hypothetical Me doesn’t hesitate to spend the extra dollar, and feels justified in doing so. I concur wholeheartedly with my hypothetical doppleganger, of whom I now feel needs a name. This is not to say I will squander my earnings on pointless lavishness. Comfort where comfort is due should not be seen as a sin. However it should be pointed out that with a premium product comes premium service. A case example at hand, my leather jacket by Sinikka. A $500 pricetag adorned its sleeve, extravagant for someone on a student income, however the value is in the lifetime service from the store. One button thread came loose four months after purchase, and upon my return to the store, the friendly leatherworker removed the rotten cotton (I hear a song title there) and replaced the button while I waited. I should note that he also did this to the exclusion of other customers entering the store. I thanked him and within 10 minutes I was on my merry way, freshly stiched fasteners and all. Should a customer come to myself or my colleague at my work and purchase a couple of $2000 DSLR Cameras, we are more than happy to go out of our way to track down an obscure lens for them at zero profit for us. Head on over to Headphonic in West Leederville and you will be amazed at the fantastic service you are immediately presented with. A staff member will walk you through your needs and custom select the perfect audio device for you, making sure you trial it first and are happy with the choice. Why? Because it is a premium headphone store. You spend $600 on a set of AKG 701’s, but you come away knowing that you now possess exactly what it was you wanted. Again, I digress.

I love boxsets. There, the words have been given form and now roam free in the ether. I have been recommended to experts in the field, and common concensus is that I have something akin to bibliomania. I maintain, however, that I just really like them. The words Collectors Edition and Limited Print drive my blood into a wild frenzy that threatens to boil out of my very pores. I simply cannot pass up a chance to own something as beautiful as the leather-bound Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide. Their silver etched pages and gilded edges sparkl in the dim light of a dungeon crawl, as if their brilliant display was put on specially just for me. Deluxe Ghosts I-IV sits in a large matte-black box, standing resolute against the feable attempts of photons to reflect off its surface. Thrice I own Nightwish’s Once, each a different special release. Opeth’s discography graces my drawers in its entirety twice over, myriad limited editions and re-releases scattered in their midst. In more recent days, I hunted down the last collectors edition of Warhammer: The Age of Reckoning from a small warehouse in Towoomba! The harrowind ordeal of nearly being unable to attain a copy left me a broken shell of a man, cradled only in the warm glow of hope and determination.

What brings this bout of self-convincing revelry you may ask? I am in the middle of my fourth year exams at Curtin University and sitting next to me are a disgusting pile of collectors editions of games that I can’t touch until next week! The pain of having Fallout 3 so close to my body, yet so far away in time is simply agonising!

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