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Eat your heart out Riker… this is how to get on a bike.

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Once again MSM ( Main Stream Media for you newbies ) is missing critical questions.

I am dedicating this blog post to address them.  Sure, I may have my tin foil hat on at the moment, but don’t let the MSM telling you that get in the way.

Sandwich Gate… the sandwich that was thrown at the PM as she visited Marsden High is already showing major signs of a cover up.  In the 2 hours since the event so much information is missing, I don’t have all the answers yet, but I am putting just a few of the questions out in the public domain.  I hope like with other high profile cases social media can find the real answers, the real truth and possibly a sandwich for me as well.

1. Who threw the sandwich, what is their Facebook link and what is the worst photo of them that media can use.
2. Was the sandwich even thrown.  Sure the PM said it was, but where are the photos. Where is the proof.
3. Was the sandwich thrown by a boy or a girl, this goes straight to the heart of the misogyny/#womenofcalibre debate.
4. What was the carbon impact of the sandwich?
5. What was in the sandwich?
6. How could a child afford to throw away a sandwich, did they go hungry, or was it more likely part of deal with the Newman Government to replace school canteens with Clive Palmer Burger stores.
7. Has the media interviewed an expert in culinary ballistics to ascertain where the sandwich was thrown from.
8. Was the sandwich the owners, or was it part of a contra deal for a better tasting sandwich, a deal that went sour.
9. Has Newspoll conducted detailed push polling on sandwich
10. Has Abbott claimed that the sandwich would be better off under a Liberal Government yet.
11. Was the sandwich a distraction from Queensland signing on to the NDIS.
12. How old was the sandwich, was it fresh or had it been in the bottom of the school bag for months, showing this was a premeditated attack with months of planning.
13. This was a false flag operation.  After the success of the Howard Govt Gun Buy Back Scheme, Gillard will just before the election introduce a Sandwich Buy Back Scheme.

And these are just the starters.

I will keep fighting the good fight for you my dedicated readers.

Update…

The Downfall Version of this story…

 

Tags: General // 4 Comments »

I love when a new shiny device arrives in the mail. For some reason an Aston Martin DB9 doesn’t fit in the mail box, so a new phone will just have to do. This time it was the LG Optimus G, which is the “street name”, whereas LG E975 is the device name.

A beautiful 4.7” 1280×768-pixel resolution (WXGA) screen meets you as open the box. Not quite as black as the Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1, still it draws you in, wanting to lift the device and see what secrets it holds inside.

Being the owner of Samsung Galaxy SII, I did the simple thing Android owners do. I plugged it to charge. No worries about new custom power adaptors, just use my existing Micro USB chargers and I am away.

Of course switching from one Android phone to another shouldn’t be that much of a problem, should it. Punch in my Google username and horribly long WIFI key and I am away. At this point I would just back up a whole bunch of my apps to the phones micro SD card, swap the card to the new phone and I am back getting three stars on Angry Birds before you know it. But I can’t. Taking a leaf out of Apples book the back of the phone is bolted down so that user can’t access the battery or add storage. Further from Apples book is the “redesigned” paperclip for accessing the sim card on the side. My #headdesk moments have started and the phone hasn’t really been on for more than a minute.

So off to my computer I go, expecting the phone to have its own software for connecting, isn’t that new, but Android should just drop back to MTP so I can drag and drop from my Win7 machine. But no, the phone taking a leaf out of my old HTC Desire’s connection settings has 4 settings when you plug in USB. Why, for the love of all that is good, why. So I install the drivers as the phone thinks it is a CD drive, once again #headdesk. Now this isn’t that much of a problem at home, because once the drivers are installed the phone works just fine via MTP. But in a corporate environment Win7 locked down with no option to install drivers this becomes a problem. I’ve yet to get my work computer to see this phone via MTP ( works fine via PTP ( Camera Mode ). The corporate environment sees the phone as a portable drive wanting to install the software. This may well prove to be a major issue for a number of people, it is for me.

Now, this isn’t just an LG issue, but a number of Android phones do it, and it is a little thing that just makes me want to cry. Why is the back button swapped with the home button, compared to my SII. Two years of using a phone means muscle memory. This is just plain silly, frustrating and well to put it bluntly, not something Apple would do. Why is scrolling images in the camera different as well. Sure these are little things, but lots of little irksome things start to add up quickly.

The power of the 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor is something that is simply stunning. Seamlessly shuffling a 2gb bluray rip I made on the 1280×768 screen is amazing. Then adding LG’s zoom mode to this video as it is playing is a show off trick to amaze most people. Zooming in to and shuffling a video file that is 2gb in size on a device that fits in one hand is still in this day amazing.

The camera is very good for a mobile phone sensor. I carry a DSLR with me at all times, and the phone is just a backup. In going for the more megapixels are better theory, a 13megapixel shooter is onboard. Interesting to note however was that on first use the camera is only in 8megapixel mode. Outdoor shots are sharp, crisp and with a good richness of colour. Indoor shots get very noisy very quickly. Once again, megapixels don’t make up for sensor size. Leaving the camera on 8megapixel mode also seems to make autofocus faster. I found trying to get shots of children on playground equipment ( daylight and shade ) a bit hit and miss at times, with more blurry than sharp shots. The ability to grab still shots whilst taking HD Video is very nice, and is a feature I do use myself a lot, especially with my children.

I have found the battery life very good, especially when you take into account the power of the device. My old SII battery was dying and in need of replacing, something you can’t do with this device though. However, if you were to buy this phone, you would be replacing it within a year anyway.

If this phone was released in Australia at the same time it hit Korea ( August 2012 ), not April 2013, it would be easy to say, despite its faults, buy it. However it is no longer August 2012, with the HTC One X, Sony Xperia Z and of course the Samsung Galaxy S4, this phone isn’t the breakthrough device it once was. LG have shown they can make good hardware, their software needs a lot more TLC. The next iteration of this device I will at least give more than a passing look at.

I’m not the buy a phone and use it as is kind of audience. I am looking forward to stripping LG out of the phone, putting on a custom launcher at least, if not rooting it and going native Android, just to fix some of the issues I have. It is a stunning phone and for those on a budget looking for a 4G phone put it in your look at list, but check the price of the competition, you might regret not spending that little bit more.

( This post originally appeared on Neerav’s Blog )

Tags: General, Mobile // Add Comment »

And thus one of the #wolfcatcubs proves my point in under 13 seconds.

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There is an old axiom in programming… “Garbage in, Garbage out”

A combination of hubris from certain members of the Labor party, and desperate trawling for a spill story since the media missed the last Labor leadership spill, ( no point in mention the last 2 first term Liberal leaders getting rolled, that seems to be a non story ) all combined into an unholy mess today. Garbage in, Garbage out.

Now, this is not to discount that certain members of the Labor party really did want Kevin Rudd back in the top job.  The desire to put Kevin in the top job, was seemingly defined as “at any cost”.  The real cost here is the chance of a two to three term Abbott Govt.  such is the damage they have inflicted on the Labor brand.  They wanted Rudd, and were going to leak and spoil till they got it.

Couple this with a media hungry for a leadership spill, once again, we ignore the two first term ( one not even in the country at the time ) spills that the state Libs have had.  Over 81 stories about the spill being any time soon have been written since 2011. All declaring the Gillard is toast, Gillard is dead, too late for Gillard, Rudd will save the day.

Now the media took any titbit of info leaked from Labor, gave it massive prominence and ran with it.  Creating nothing more than and old fashioned feedback loop.  Media run story, Rudd leakers sensing blood, leak info, Media run story, spill about to happen. Add in some old fashioned “Polling Data” around “who would you vote for if the election was held today” questions and you have the makings of today’s shit storm.

The media so desperate for this to become true finally got its story.  The Spill was on, called, history may well show based on a media fiction, wrapped in a poll enigma, bundled in hubris. Yet when it came down to it, the truth, which the media seemed to ignore, so proud they had finally predicted the spill ( just don’t mention all the times they got it wrong ) is the Kevin never had the numbers.

There is no point in even going into the media reporting everything the Liberals said about the lead up to today as true.  All those, Gillard gone tomorrow, Gillard is toast, special Cabinet meeting, #spill, #itison, “a taxi driver told me Gillard is gone” shit that the media printed lock stock and barrel. ( Note to media, if an Opposition say something, check their agenda first you IDIOTS )

Poor Kevin, or his supporters, they ended up believing their own hype.  A hype that the media cycle, wanted, needed, demanded, created and when push came to shove since 2011, just bloody made up turned out to be just that. Hype.

Even the bookies ran with the media perception of the event.  At around 2pm the odds were $6.00 Gillard to 1.10 Rudd.  The bookies often held up to be such an accurate reflection of real world events got done over because they fell for the hype.

Of course, nothing changed today.  That doesn’t fit the narrative.  Kevin didn’t run, why would he, he didn’t have the numbers. But his supporters given the last 1000 days of a Gillard Government, will keep leaking.  The media, having tasted blood in the water will keep circling.  The cycle begins anew.

Let us just not mention, Ashby,  Torbay, Wall punching Mr Teflon, the we lied about getting our policies Audited, or just for the fun of it, let’s sack 25,000 public servants to start with, that sounds like a good policy.  No, most of those things require research, not just relying on leaks from vested interests from Rudd supporters and Liberal Party members who still feel pissed the Julia out negotiated them hands down to form government.

Come Monday, the cycle starts again, you have been warned.

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The similarities are just so close…. and I am not just talking about how they look they same.

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Poor The Age, the printed version went Tabloid, just like the Web…

So The Age has a poll in regards to the just slightly changing weather in Melbourne.  By slightly changing I mean, 157 years of records have never produced more than 6 days in a row over 32c, we just had 9 of them.

March days in a row over 30c was previously 7, yep, just had 9 of them.  The longest run of days over 30c was 8 in any month, we just had 9. Hottest March night on record and most nights over 20c in March as well.  So it is not like we haven’t broken a whole pile more “Climate Records” as well.

Of course, this is just the end of the 123 extreme weather records (+) broken during Australia’s “angry summer”.  Long term records for everything from hottest day ever in Australia, to rainfall rates and flood levels.

My beef isn’t with the weather though; I am just annoyed at The Age.

Poll: Has the current heatwave changed your opinion of climate change? (Yes/No)

Now, how do I answer a question like this.

Unlike most of the Liberal and National Parties and mining magnates, I don’t think Climate change is a global conspiracy to put scientists into fast sports cars with expense accounts.  I do think Climate Change is real, based on something called evidence. So do I answer this question NO, because that is the logical answer, or do I answer YES.  If I answer No, am I not seen as supporting a fundamentally flawed argument that extreme weather is not part of climate change, or belonging to the “we have had hot weather before” brigade. If I answer “YES”, then oh suddenly I am on-board with Climate Change being real, which isn’t the case either.

What about a different option for the question “Do you think the current heatwave is due to climate change”, see not that hard, please where do I send the bill.

Tags: Annoyances // Add Comment »

Wow, I finally got the lightning shot I’ve been hunting.  By finally, I mean after 5 years of owning a Digital SLR.

This of shot of course was not without a bucket load of luck.  Luck in the form of the following, lightning at the right time, not raining at the time, not windy at the time, the #wolfcatcubs down and asleep, and that is just for starters.

Taken at my favourite location at the end of North Road, I was chasing a certain storm cell I had seen on radar 30 min before. A cell that hit Ballart hard with hail and severe winds causing a lot of damage as well.

Setting up in my fav location, phone in hand with WeatherzonePro+hooked up to my Weatherzone Pro account I could track the storm cells and lightning as well.  The first batch of photos were shots chasing the cell which passed near Geelong.  Whilst I managed to get a few strikes on camera they just weren’t that “photogenic“.

Checking the radar told me to wait a bit longer, whilst a few drops of rain had fallen, I knew it wasn’t going to rain hard for a while yet.

I repositioned the camera to focus on a potential cell over the city.  Whilst visible on radar, it wasn’t to the naked eye. I had the intervalometer mode enabled on the D7000, shooting an 8second exposure every 9 seconds.  At which point a lot of luck came into play.  A lightning strike lasts for less than a second, so I had the camera shooting for exposures which would have been to dark for ordinary use, but to compensate for the bright flash that lightning would produce.

I had joked with some people at the location, what I was after was a couple of bolts dropping just over the CBD, for that magic shot.  My joke came true. As you can see in the radar capture from the time, my location was in a hook in the rain, even more luck.

I took over 100 shots that night at one location.  But this shot is a one shot wonder, all of these strikes are as you see in one shot.  Often people merge multiple lightning strikes into one image, this is an in camera image, which is how I prefer to shoot.

The corrections in lightroom were a small crop, lens correction and a slight push to black levels, nothing more. Whilst I could have corrected the white balance, the blue cast adds to the image in my opinion.

I hope you enjoy this shot as much as I did.

Please support my camera habit by buying this image by click on it below.

The EXIF Info:

Tags: D7000, gps, Missing from the Exif, Redbubble // Add Comment »

It was very sad to learn late last night that Peter Giafis had passed away.  Peter was an institution in the ABC at Southbank Melbourne, always with one of his Nikon’s over his shoulder.

For my last few years at ABC Southbank Peter was someone I looked up to ( and not just because he was tall ), but for his help, guidance and amazing knowledge of photography.  Knowledge that he shared so willingly with all those that asked. I am a better photographer than I could have ever been thanks to his guidance and support.

His curiosity about cameras and photography helped shaped my photography is many ways.  His quiet nature in taking “the” shot and how he blended into the background is a skill I struggle to master. His use of light and subject have lead to many photos that recorded history in not just the ABC, but around Australia.

I will always have fond memories of chasing lightning photos with Peter on the roof of the Southbank building, discussing the latest in Nikon gear and which lens to use for which purpose. Sharing what I had shot with him over the weekend to see what I could improve on.

His generosity even lent to him bring his prize 600mm F4 lens to work so we could test if the D90 really could run any lens. Which the camera passed in flying colours of course. Even with the Bigma lens, my camera still misses the beauty that was the 600mm lens.

In 2010 it was amazing to be a finalist in the  2010 Getty Images Grab competition along side Peter,  ( Finalists Flickr Link ) and whilst neither of us won, to be shortlisted along side Peter gave me a major confidence boost.

After I left Aunty I still ran into Peter at a number of events that he was photographing.  I had the pleasure of a whole day with him at the Point Cook airshow early this year. The last time I saw Peter was a discussion just before the Moomba fireworks on the best place to shoot them.

Of course he got the one shot that I missed that day at Point Cook, that killer shot of luck and the real photographers eye, but I still have the daytime lightning shot that he missed.

Peter was a true gentleman in every meaning of the word.  The world of photography suffered a loss this week.

My deepest sympathy to those the knew him and to his partner  condolences to his partner Effie Katrakazos.

Vale Peter.

(The photos are in order: ABC photo of Peter, daytime lightning taken at ABC Southbank Vic, Peter’s photo of me with his 600mm lens, Peter at Point Cook this year, and Peters shot of a Mustang with the Moon from Point Cook )

Tags: D7000, General, Missing from the Exif, Nikon D90, Photos // 2 Comments »

It really is quiet simple when you take the time to think about it.

The “Catholic” God does nothing to stop child abuse by priests. The young and vulnerable are abused by those in a place of authority. Yet the church relies on priests being able to admit there crimes in confession. That way they have made peace with god and thus can go to heaven after saying a few Hail Mary’s. The victims, well they suffer, they committee suicide, they remain broken with some harbouring violence inside that lashes out at those around them.

But what did God do during all of this. Nothing, nothing at all.

Then today comes the statement from a former Catholic priest accused of molesting boys “God made us this way and it’s his fault”.

So when Pell addresses the media going on the attack, then explains that  “seal of confession is inviolate” can go take a running jump IMHO.

The church DOES NOT have a right to hide behind an archaic system that has no place in a secular state. The law exists for a reason, not for those to say oh but my invisible sky friend will fix everything when the perpetrator of the crime dies.

Any priest that uses the excuse that “I was told something in confession I can’t tell” is guilty of covering up what is a most horrendous crime. Why do they feel that they are above common law. Because a 2000 year old book, most of which they ignore anyway tells them to do so.

If the Royal Commission doesn’t address this serious short coming in the Church children will continue to suffer.

Tags: Annoyances // 3 Comments »