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tcpipProsper Australia planning day went well. Organisation has a new mission statement, objectives and means of implementation - all that is needed now is acceptance by the executive. On a related subject, the great Aussie home boom is over. John Symonds of Aussie Home Loans is telling residential property investors to sell, because their property value will go down in value over the next couple of years; a position supported by a spokesperson Australian Property Monitor (who advise the Reserve Bank).
CCNA modules tests this week were not good. My ISO management test received a paltry 82.5% and my Access Lists an unacceptable 71.4%; not my worst result, but pretty bad. I really need to review both those chapters. In fact, I really need to work more on my semester 2 material - the sheer diversity of my grades (from 71.4% to 96.2%) is unacceptable. In other Cisco related fun, I engaged in some password recovery on the Catalyst switch I just bought on the cheap and discovered the joys of minicom. Reminds me so much of Telix, my favourite DOS dialup.
Dramatic news of the week; Cameron Jones, who has fungus based music, has had his website pulled by Swinburne University (most of it is still available under archive.org). Why? Well on Wednesday his work on using CD technology to detect pathogens (e.g., anthrax) was screened on Beyond Tomorrow. Suddenly the University, having steadfastly ignored his work (and grant applications) for months flipped and saw dollar signs. Chances are they weren't terribly impressed when Cameron suggested that the software he's developing should be released under GPL. (Either that or our good doctor is about to go missing under the new terrorism legislation).
Weekend consisted of Labor for Refugees meeting on Saturday where Simone Elias of the Fitzroy Legal Service gave a presentation on the experience of refugees and the racial/religious vilification act. I expressed my criticisms of the bill (that is, truth is not a defense, loosening up defamtion law would be a better direction and you can't oppose the anti-sedition laws unless you also oppose this law). Following thi a very late night for Denny's return to Melbourne visit. Spent a great deal of time chatting to Robbie who I hadn't seen for some three years and her little daughter Nyssa (not so little at all now - eight to twelve is a big jump!). Managed to drag myself up after noon on Sunday to run Outbreak of Heresy. The valiant troupe managed to convince the pagans not to launch war on the neighbouring Christian lords and cure Count Magnus of the insanity that he could actually win said war; even if all this did include manipulating some very trippy iconographic prophetic cards.
Cute link of the week: from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
usekh mice sing. Kinks are getting very specific. The latest spam of amusement I've received has the subject: "Two wet lesbians playing water soccer". They've finally admitted it; Vietnam War incident 'faked'. So how many millions of lives were lost on that lie? That earthquake in Pakistan (which everyone seems to have forgotten about) now has an official death toll of over 73 000. Finally, the left finally gets it's act together in Europe.
CCNA modules tests this week were not good. My ISO management test received a paltry 82.5% and my Access Lists an unacceptable 71.4%; not my worst result, but pretty bad. I really need to review both those chapters. In fact, I really need to work more on my semester 2 material - the sheer diversity of my grades (from 71.4% to 96.2%) is unacceptable. In other Cisco related fun, I engaged in some password recovery on the Catalyst switch I just bought on the cheap and discovered the joys of minicom. Reminds me so much of Telix, my favourite DOS dialup.
Dramatic news of the week; Cameron Jones, who has fungus based music, has had his website pulled by Swinburne University (most of it is still available under archive.org). Why? Well on Wednesday his work on using CD technology to detect pathogens (e.g., anthrax) was screened on Beyond Tomorrow. Suddenly the University, having steadfastly ignored his work (and grant applications) for months flipped and saw dollar signs. Chances are they weren't terribly impressed when Cameron suggested that the software he's developing should be released under GPL. (Either that or our good doctor is about to go missing under the new terrorism legislation).
Weekend consisted of Labor for Refugees meeting on Saturday where Simone Elias of the Fitzroy Legal Service gave a presentation on the experience of refugees and the racial/religious vilification act. I expressed my criticisms of the bill (that is, truth is not a defense, loosening up defamtion law would be a better direction and you can't oppose the anti-sedition laws unless you also oppose this law). Following thi a very late night for Denny's return to Melbourne visit. Spent a great deal of time chatting to Robbie who I hadn't seen for some three years and her little daughter Nyssa (not so little at all now - eight to twelve is a big jump!). Managed to drag myself up after noon on Sunday to run Outbreak of Heresy. The valiant troupe managed to convince the pagans not to launch war on the neighbouring Christian lords and cure Count Magnus of the insanity that he could actually win said war; even if all this did include manipulating some very trippy iconographic prophetic cards.
Cute link of the week: from
usekh mice sing. Kinks are getting very specific. The latest spam of amusement I've received has the subject: "Two wet lesbians playing water soccer". They've finally admitted it; Vietnam War incident 'faked'. So how many millions of lives were lost on that lie? That earthquake in Pakistan (which everyone seems to have forgotten about) now has an official death toll of over 73 000. Finally, the left finally gets it's act together in Europe.![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-11-06 04:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-06 06:54 pm (UTC)Minicom is so close to Telix. It was a great program. Indeed, I only stopped using it a few years back when I discovered that Uni of Melbourne still had a rogue 2400 baud dial-up... I wonder if the number is still operational?
Gasp - 2400 baud
Date: 2005-11-07 03:46 am (UTC)Re: Gasp - 2400 baud
Date: 2005-11-07 01:29 pm (UTC)Heh. I *still* use Lynx on occassion. Amazingly, livejournal works really well with it.
Telix was magnificant; minicom is just the thing for configuring switches and routers. Beats hyperterminal hands down.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-06 04:56 pm (UTC)As to how many lives were lost in the Vietnam War, the government of Vietnam itself claims, about two million, from 1945 to 1975. They attribute about 1.5 million of these to the war with the Americans and their allies.
I am sceptical of the Left's ability to get its act together. Historically, every leftist group has a schism within about two years of its foundation, usually along the lines of whether it's better to be a part of the political process (as run in that particular country) or to oppose it by violent action. Further schisms then appear within each of the idealist and "action" groups.
Foundation followed by rancorous schisms. Socialism's a bit like Christianity in that way;)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-06 06:53 pm (UTC)I agree with everything you've written ;-)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-06 06:58 pm (UTC)When you going to come visit again? We still need another player or two, that one you sent us didn't like us much, I think he wanted a Gygaxian module...
no subject
Date: 2005-11-06 08:14 pm (UTC)I think he wanted plot hooks from his description ;-)
You play on Wednesday nights right? That's not good for me. That's when I do my CCNA classes.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-06 10:01 pm (UTC)Now we game Tuesdays.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 01:36 pm (UTC)That's dangerous ;-)
Now we game Tuesdays.
That's possible. I'll see if
no subject
Date: 2005-11-06 09:17 pm (UTC)I for one couldn't be happier. Am currently finalising the purchase of a house that is less than 3 years old in a fast growing area at an agreed price that is 90% of what the current owner forked out for it (stamp duty included). I do feel genuinely sorry for her...
no subject
Date: 2005-11-06 09:54 pm (UTC)Well, those of us with sober senses realised some time ago that the real estate housing boom was a bubble economy. You can't increase the price of something without adding value assuming supply and demand stay the same. It'll bite in the long run.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 02:22 pm (UTC)It was rather silly of them a few years back to remove house prices from calculations of inflation. The house I buy this year for $400,000 I sell next year for $425,000, having done absolutely nothing to the place. If that isn't inflation, I don't know what is...
Not that inflation is some great evil which must be fought or anything. Hyperinflation makes things messy, of course, but a little, so what. It's only when some things inflate more than others that there's a real problem. Homes going from 4-5 years' average wages to 10 or more is... a bit miserable.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 02:28 pm (UTC)No, inflation is increasing price due to supply decreasing and demand increasing (supply has actually increased) or increases in the cost of production (the cost of building has actually decreased slightly). Inflation also usually results witha an increase of money supply.
This has been pure speculation; and the bubble has burst.
Goring Quote
Date: 2005-11-07 04:02 am (UTC)"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger" -- Herman Goring at the Nuremberg Trials.
Re: Goring Quote
Date: 2005-11-07 01:34 pm (UTC)His comments have particular resonance today, don't they?
Re: Goring Quote
Date: 2005-11-07 02:32 pm (UTC)Remember the US President standing in the ruins of the WTC in late September 2001? "U S A! U S A!" They wanted war.
Remember the papers before Australia went into East Timor? There was speculation that our intervention could lead to war with Indonesia. Letters to the paper, people I spoke to, all said, "then so be it! About time we dealt with the Indons." I had an old Army friend who worked at the recruiting centre in Melbourne... he told me applications were down. Plenty of civilian war fever, though.
Goering's words resonate with us not because of their great truth, but because they speak to a comfortable illusion we have of ourselves - that we're all innately peaceful and kind people, and only the madness or evil of some Leader will drag us off into war. We conveniently forget that even a dictator's power is not absolute. Hitler couldn't have, say, declared that Germany had converted to Islam.
In the end, wars happen because someone thinks he can win. Enthusiasm is almost always great for a victorious war. The moral qualms tend to come when you're losing.
Which is not to say that I believe that people are all bloodthirsty freaks. But I do believe that we are not all dragged along kicking and screaming into war by some Evil Overlord. Many of us trot along to war quite happily and enthusiastically - though we're usually reluctant to volunteer personally;)
Re: Goring Quote
Date: 2005-11-07 02:46 pm (UTC)I think Goring is referring more with what you do to people who raise any criticism of war.
Home boom...not only over but about to crash like never before
Date: 2005-11-07 03:30 pm (UTC)Think about the Melbourne growth corridors, ghost towns every one.
Re: Home boom...not only over but about to crash like never before
Date: 2005-11-07 06:36 pm (UTC)That's an interesting thought. Unlike Venice after the plague of course, where the population plummetted leaving a handful of people with some magnificant real estate.
This will be more like the famed ghost city of Cyprus.
Weren't you supposed to meet me yesterday? ;-)
Re: Home boom...not only over but about to crash like never before
Date: 2005-11-07 08:00 pm (UTC)My bad actually I think we are even :)
Gah, Cyprus... all I can think of now is DADDYYYY!!!!!!
(Think HOC trilogy n_n )
Re: Home boom...not only over but about to crash like never before
Date: 2005-11-07 11:02 pm (UTC)Well we both had legitimate excuses then... HOC trilogy? Je ne sais pas.
Re: Home boom...not only over but about to crash like never before
Date: 2005-11-08 03:39 am (UTC)Cyprus plays an important part in "The final cut".
Surely you have seen this...if not we must rectify this absurd situation immediately.
Re: Home boom...not only over but about to crash like never before
Date: 2005-11-08 01:42 pm (UTC)I have not seen House of Cards, although I remember at the time thinking "I should watch this".
So how are you placed 12.30 next Monday?
Re: Home boom...not only over but about to crash like never before
Date: 2005-11-08 04:25 pm (UTC)There is no God. (So we're gonna fix this.)
> So how are you placed 12.30 next Monday?
Sounds like a plan. (this time for sure!)
Re: Home boom...not only over but about to crash like never before
Date: 2005-11-08 08:37 pm (UTC)OK, 12.30 next Monday, Flinders St... and we'll talk about HoC.
Re: Home boom...not only over but about to crash like never before
Date: 2005-11-08 09:03 pm (UTC)talk =! I will lend you HOC.