A phrase which is being thrown around in some circles (particularly government) recently is the Chatham House Rule. Perhaps it’s always been around, but I’ve only noticed it more recently. I think some of those using it don’t really know what it means. What it strictly means is: You can talk about whatever you hear, ... [More]
Year: 2007
Categories
Buy, buy, buy!
A comment on a very funny Scott Adams’ post about a Las Vegas casino sucking money out of his wallet led me to this fascinating post about casino design. In turn, some of the comments there are very interesting too. It reminds me a bit of supermarket design. How things like milk (that you might ... [More]
Categories
Ailments of the week
So far it’s not a good month for minor ailments. Last week Jeremy had a coughy-coldy thing; this week Isaac’s had it worse, knocking him out of school… thankfully he’s got over it in time to go off to camp this morning. As for me, I must have eaten something bad, and my over-sensitive stomach ... [More]
Categories
It’s not my place
It’s not my place to elaborate on all the specifics, but a good friend of my sister passed away in quite tragic circumstances on Friday. One can only feel for her family, in particular her husband and two young kids. BeyondBlue: Postnatal depression. Donate (no online option unfortunately). PANDA: Postnatal and Antenatal Depression Association. Donate ... [More]
Categories
Will you be my Friend?
I have a profile on Facebook. I don’t spend a lot of time there; mostly playing the Scrabble clone Scrabulous, actually. (I’m winning one game thanks to “zit” on a triple word score; the other is heading for a photo-finish.) And seeing what my friends are up to. I’m not doing the free-for-all friends thing. ... [More]
Categories
When two worlds collide
Sometimes my brain doesn’t join the dots. Context in particular can throw me. I’ve had numerous emails over the years contributing to my Weird News page, most of them from a fairly small number of dedicated contributors. A few weeks ago at the Walk Against Warming, one of those contributors came up and said hello, ... [More]
Categories
Who is Vladimir?
Who is Vladimir, and why does Connex think he’s affected more than anybody else when the trains are out?
Categories
The Prime Minister
It’s like writing the wrong year in January. I keep hearing the words “The Prime Minister” on the news and thinking they’re still talking about John Howard. Is it just me? At first glance, I’m impressed with the code of conduct Rudd’s written up.
I’ve seen Google and Yahoo put out reports on the top search terms of the year, and we’re only a week into December. (Happy Hannukah by the way.) Seems a bit odd to do that before the actual end of the year, but what the hell, I’ll jump on that bandwagon. Here are some stats ... [More]
Categories
Reference works
I’m in two minds about the kids using Wikipedia as a reference. On the one hand, it’s known to be a generally accurate source of information, with studies showing it can rival the big commercial encyclopaedias such as Britannica. And I love the idea of the information in it being free, helping to spread knowledge ... [More]
Categories
Snippety snippets
A few brief snippets: Okay, so it’s December now. And I’ve sent precisely zero Christmas cards. Really should get into action, shouldn’t I — I’ve already got some from overseas. Who Do You Think You Are with Stephen Fry on Sunday night was gripping, fascinating, poignant television. Looking forward to the rest of the episodes. ... [More]
Categories
It doesn’t really help
Andrew blogged on this subject on Friday, so I though I’d jump in too. The Pakenham bypass ($242 million) opened over the weekend, and is already expected to cause traffic problems further south. The Tulla-Calder interchange ($150 million) is almost finished — which may be why it’s still showing red on the Vicroads Travel Time ... [More]