CCNA , Game Development, Speaking, Taxes, Bigotry and more

[tcpip]

Because I have an upcoming two weeks in Perth, I've had to move ahead somewhat in my Cisco classes at NMIT. Last night I sat the final two module tests (85.7%, 94.6%) and the end of semester exam (89.2%) and have therefore passed a couple of weeks early. Onward!

Visited Kyle Schuant on Thursday, designer of the d4-d4 roleplaying system which is quite a sound publication. He has also been making some good contributions to the Mimesis RPG list, which will receive a pretty thorough upgrade over the weekend as it beginning to attract a fair bit of traffic. For the Outbreak of Heresy game, I've taken the opportunity to put up some maps for Europe in 1560, Central Europe 1547, Medieval Commerce, the Ottoman Empire (two maps), and Medieval Universities. Links via the Heresy page.

Ever thought there was something unfair, upside down and back the front with our tax system? Apparently, under this government, it is designed to reward single income families with children who earn a lot of money. How about that for ideology? For an opportunity to hear about a voluntary tax system where you only pay for what you use, come along to tonight's Prosper Australia dinner.

Bronwyn Bishop is just a regular racist who hates freedom when it doesn't comply with her point of view. Leslie Cannold is a different sort of bigot - one who thinks that the way to achieve equality is through suppressing choice. On a related note, mainly because of a dissenting figure on the Committe of Management, the Melbourne Unitarian Church is having a debate (September 18) on the recent state legislation on racial and religious vilification. Speakers include Mark Zirnsak (Uniting Church, for the legislation), Anne O'Rourke (Liberty Victoria, against the legislation) and I'll be conducting the service; with a couple of choice readings, I assure you..

Pat Robertson called fro Chavez to be assasinated. In response? Venezuela to Provide Discounted Heating Oil and Free Eye Operations to U.S. Poor, Venezuela's CITGO to Provide Cheap Gas for U.S. Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Schools, Venezuela to Completely Overhaul Its Health Care System. I so enjoy seeing "actually existing socialism" that is libertarian, democratic and functional.

Meanwhile, in the UK publishers are desperate to stop the research findings of British academics being made online for free. A case of vested interests against the public good.

Comments

[amarynth.livejournal.com]

In other news, next time you see Kyle, say hi and tell him Res Dura III is chugging along quite nicely. :-D

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

The genius of the action is that it increases his support in the heartland of the nation that opposes him and it's in line with his political and economic principles. Smart guy.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Not at the moment they don't. They've been pretty belligerent in the past. Mind you, at least in their cases however it has been over border issues. It's not as if they've tried invading countries on the other side of the world.

[shorxrore.livejournal.com]

yea, that was my point. you just...know words better :P

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Roger that... (Googles)

Hmmm... This it?

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pbm_list/descriptions/1076916295.15233.html

[amarynth.livejournal.com]

That's the version Kyle ran. I'm re-writing it. Launch time is maybe late September.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Cool. Very cool. Stay in touch.

[nvcarnie.livejournal.com]

You make me want to live in Australia.... *grin*

[monkeygirldiva.livejournal.com]

exactly... hearts and minds, hearts and minds... :)

[zey.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, it's demonstrative of typical Liberal Party incompetence: unwilling to do the simple and basic research required to learn the "down, not across" rule, let alone the smarts to lease a motel room and draw a warm bath. Heaven help the Libs and NSW if an idiot like that really was the best person they had in the parliament to be leader.

[spinner.livejournal.com]

And I certainly don't want to imply that it was a trivial affair.
The reports of "minor injuries" don't really correlate to a genuine suicide attempt.

Although you're quite right - the hyper-inflated self-confidence is quite a blinding sheild. Is it pre-req, for the populous or perhaps hinting that things aren't all that together under the surface.

Mark Latham (to reference to obvious) seems like a pretty clear cut case of this uncertainty.
Slightly unstable and self destructive or brash and over-confident?

[amarynth.livejournal.com]

I dunno... their feud with Vietnam seems to be pure power politics. And I don't think fucking people next door is really preferable to fucking people on the other side of the world.

[zey.livejournal.com]

Hey, well done on those Cisco results :-). Best of luck with the cert exams.

Yeah, it's been interesting seeing some normally conservative economists and accountants in the media being quite dismissive of Howard/Costello's tax record.

Re Venezuela, I really do think they'd be best off just turning around (especially now, just after the huricane) and refusing US Dollars and demanding Euro. Make a big announcement of it even, along with a sale of any US Dollars their central bank holds.

Re the UK publishers vs Brit academics thing... In the end, I think it should be the Copyright holders decision. That might be the research authors or the research councils or publishers (if they purchased the Copyright rights). As far as the public good goes, I'd rather see governments fund more research, buy the Copyright from the researchers as part of that, then release the data as the Copyright holders :-).

[amarynth.livejournal.com]

Actually, now that I think of it, while Chavez may not have a great ammount of faith in the democratic system, given how it's being manipulated against him, it's a bit like a kid goading an old dog. Sure, when the dog snaps, you can say "Oh, he reverted to type", but if you don't give him any reason to play by the rules...

This metaphor has been returned to the factory for testing.

Mark Latham

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Who was it that remarked the guy's like a bomb, about to explode?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

You make me want to live in Australia.... *grin*

Heck, I keep on going on the ridiculous problems the place has.

[darkstardeity.livejournal.com]

I'd rather see governments fund more research, buy the Copyright from the researchers as part of that, then release the data as the Copyright holders

It seems to me that in a round-about way that is what they are doing, by making online archiving a requirement of research grants.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Indeed. If the public is funding higher education research then it stands to reason that research should be available to the public!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Hey, well done on those Cisco results :-).

Thanks. I'm reasonably pleased seeming I was a bit rushed.

I would have received 100% for module 11 except it I forgot that FTP uses two ports rather than one and I didn't guess right. Oops.

[zey.livejournal.com]

I forgot that FTP uses two ports rather than one and I didn't guess right.

Hey, topical! The two port issue is precisely what's been annoying me most with re-implimenting the FTP protocol in my little app.

[zey.livejournal.com]

Sort of. Just making the distinction between the academic and scientific research done for the personal and private sector gain and that done on behalf of government.

I do think that a University funds research directly then the uni should be able to exploit that research to gain funds independent from government grants (considering the political strings attached these days -- hell, Brendan Nelson will be demanding "Intelligent Design" be taught in 3rd Year Genetic Engineering next).

I also do believe that if someone writes something off their own bat (eg, humanities/social science profs writing their books, or someone doing participant observation for their own journal articles) then they should be entitled to make an income from their work.

[cptjohnc.livejournal.com]

because something is (apparently) a symbol of oppression that therefore we should attack the symbol and not the oppression

Well said! I have to say that Ms. Cannold's piece was very well written, quite persuasive and comes to a completely wrong conclusion! Ms. Bishop was easier to dismiss out of hand.

[xsophiax.livejournal.com]

Good job on the exams. :)

I'm quite suprised why so many people are pro-Chavez. I interviewed a Venezuelan a few weeks ago, on a fairly casual basis, who went into great detail about how when people peacefully marched on Chavez to remove him, his supporters ran into the streets and started randomly shooting people. He's also a very good politician, far better than Castro ever was. Still, it rings alarm bells when nobody besides right wings nut-jobs seem to be attacking him.

[taavi.livejournal.com]

It was largely because Vietnam invaded China's allies in Cambodia after Pol Pot launched an unprovoked attack, and then had the indecency to beat the chinese army to a fare-thee-well when they launced a raid to punish vietnam. In a longer term, it's because Vietnam is an uppity ex-colony that keeps forcefully refusing to be re-colonised.
On a recent visit there I went to a river where they sunk two Chinese invasion fleets 400 years apart, using exactly the same tactics. "Oh, the chinese are here again? Pull the records, what did we do last time?" >grin

[taavi.livejournal.com]

Remember that the gulf war was launched after Saddam wanted Euros for his oil, or so I hear in the marxist-conspiracy circuit...