While I realise the shutdown of the M1 eastbound on Tuesday was probably misery for those caught up in it, the lengthy article on it in yesterday’s Age I think vastly overstates the impact. The article basically has the road lobby saying that the whole thing doesn’t work (and the $1.4 billion of improvements won’t ... [More]
Month: September 2009
Categories
Regards or Cheers?
Lifehacker on signing-off emails: The Yanks might think “Cheers” is too “mock-Brit”, but Australians are comfortable with it. Personally I use Cheers on most. Regards on formal stuff. Or nothing when I’m talking to a regular correspondent and am in a hurry and/or on a mobile. An older Lifehacker article noted “Best” was awkward. I ... [More]
Categories
CFLs
Lights again. I seem to have reached the point where the first of my compact fluorescent light globes are starting to be replaced. Many of them I installed about two years ago, and most in the house are still going strong. The three that have expired get switched on generally for only short periods of ... [More]
Categories
LED traffic lights
If you’ve wondered about the LEDs being increasingly used for traffic lights, apparently they use 60% less energy. They also last about ten times longer than conventional bulbs. I assume the design, which includes a whole bunch of individual LEDs, also allows for some redundancy, so some can fail but the entire light doesn’t stop ... [More]
Melbourne’s tram operator also set a target of catching more than 60,000 commuters over a nine-month period. — Herald Sun, 11/9/2009, “Tram inspectors pushed to meet their quotas“ See, after all these years, they’re still going about it the wrong way. I don’t think the deterrent of fines is really working. The measure of success ... [More]
Categories
Melbourne’s streets
Always interesting to hear the view from an outsider. Melbourne: A Pedestrian Paradise from STREETFILMS on Vimeo. I don’t think I disagree with any of the praises given, and there’s some interesting comments from Robert Adams and others about some fairly subtle design features that have gone into the streetscapes, such as the City Council ... [More]
Categories
Wacky idea
I’ve previously joked to my architect brother-in-law that given the relative space in my front garden (larger, somewhat wasted space) and back (smallish) garden, I should organise to have the house moved forward by 2-3 metres. We laughed it off, but by chance I found there are companies that move houses from anywhere to anywhere, ... [More]
Categories
It’s the Beatles!
Today’s release of The Beatles Rock Band video-game and the remastered CDs is enough to get me excited about the band all over again. Not that I’ll rush out and replace my collection of CDs with these new ones, but it’s sorely tempting to buy my the new versions of a few favourites, such as ... [More]
Categories
Melway nerdery
I’m a bit of a Melways nerd. I got a new (2010) edition for my birthday. They’re no fools, the people at Ausway, putting the new edition out in time for Father’s Day (which in Australia is the first Sunday in September). My 2006 edition will go into the car (where it may get a ... [More]
Categories
Cool wheels
Very cool. It’s like the Cadillac of bikes. Just the thing for a spin down to the beach.
Categories
Back to the future?
Back to the future? New ticketing system with a distinctive new name and look to start… in late-1994!
The saying used to go: You’ve got two chances — Buckley’s and None. I was always told it was based on the homophone department store Buckley and Nunn, combined with the older expression Buckley’s chance, which was probably from William Buckley, convict who escaped into the bush and was said to have had little chance ... [More]