Rubenerd

This post originally appeared on the Annexe, in a post series pointlessly documenting every train I took.

T43 from Bardwell Park to Central.

Cleanliness: Refurbished and squishy!

From a reputable news source:

In an unprecedented sociological shift, the number of people voicing disdain for April Fools Day jokes now outnumber those making the jokes.

Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling of the Peter Cook Institute chalked the shift up to smugness.

“[..] denouncing a day of fun while feigning intellectual superiority provides high returns with minimal effort. One is left surprised they don’t see the irony that their complaining is now more deafening than that which they’re complaining about.”

The uniform makes him (and therefore this post) look more legit.

I get one lift home, and I leave an impression! Sort of. From my friend Emily on The Twitters:

My dad was like, “I just realised, I don’t know what this Ruben guy looks like – just that he’s blonde, tall and kind of skinny.”

To the right is an artist's conception based on that description.

To quote my dear friend Sebastian, you're not firing me Google, I quit!

The backstory

So I was sent a link to Google+ this afternoon, which necessitated me blowing the cobwebs off my Google credentials and logging in for the first time in months.

Turns out Google suspended my Google+ account, on the following basis:

Your profile has been suspended.

After reviewing your profile, we have determined that the name provided violates the Google+ Names Policy.

While suspended, you will not be able to make full use of Google services that require an active profile, such as Google+, Reader and Picasa. This will not prevent you from using other Google services, like Gmail.

If you have changed your name in accordance with our policies, please submit an appeal and we will review your profile again.

If you believe that your profile has been suspended in error, please submit your profile for reconsideration.

Your profile will be reviewed again and re-enabled if it complies with the Google+ Names Policy. Reviews are usually completed within a few days.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience.

We understand that Google+ and its Names Policy may not be for everyone at this time. We’d be sad to see you go, but if you do choose to leave, make a copy of your Google+ data first. Then, click here to disable Google+.

Come again?

I had my name set as Ruben Schade, esq. While a little tongue in cheek, the name itself could be verified from any number of links I had to my own domains and profiles on other websites. The "esq" portion is a honourific which can be legally used by any individual in Australia and Singapore. For all intents and purposes, this is my name.

In any event, I have neither the time nor inclination to fight with Google bureaucracy. I've deleted my Google+ profile, and the Rubenerd.com page. If this is how they're going to treat their users, I don't want anything to do with their (albeit failing) site.

So, I deleted it!

From the deletion page:

You’ve successfully deleted Google+ and associated social content

We’re sorry to see you leave! Please help us improve by telling us why you are leaving and what we can do better. This survey is optional but your feedback is much appreciated.

Under "Please tell us why you're leaving", I left this:

The lack of time and inclination to fight Google bureaucracy, your heavy-handed and knee-jerk suspension of accounts with legitimate names including mine, ever increasing concerns over the privacy of my data with Google, my replacement of this and other Google services with better alternatives, lack of use of Google+, and finally in preparation to delete my Google profile entirely.

With my move away from Gmail, Google Code, Google Reader and their other services, this means I'll no longer be logging into Google at all anymore. Once I'm sure everyone knows my new hosted email address, I'll be deleting my Google account that I started in 2003.

As for Google+, I suppose my deletion won't count for much given I barely used it anyway. To answer myself from July 2011, not me.

The depth of field and manual focusing on my D60 will be challenging for a rank amateur such as myself, but the sharpness in the focused areas is nothing short of breathtaking. The dust on the leaves… I didn't even see that with my own eyes!

Coincidentally, this is the first photo I've uploaded to my 500px account. Not sure whether I'll give up Flickr just yet, but giving it a try :).

From TODAYOnline, a Singaporean news site:

The first 250 US Marines will arrive next month in northern Australia where a permanent joint training hub will be based. [..] In November, the United States and Australia announced plans to send more US military aircraft and to rotate up to 2,500 Marines through the northern city of Darwin to better protect American interests across Asia.

They're not evening hiding who this arrangement benefits any more.

I had studies practically all day today (hence my de facto birthday!), but I met up with my awesome sister for dinner at the Yum Yum Cha restaurant in Chinatown for a birthday dinner! We had a real heart to heart talk about all kind of things and laughed a lot :)

Out of the blue, she surprised me with a metal wristband for the iPod Nano watch she bought me last year, and the present my old man left me at home turned out to be a brand new Tokina 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens! The thought that went into those presents… speechless.

The iPod Nano watch I'll be wearing every day, problem is now I'll want to take more photos when I should be studying. A great concern!

Also got more birthday hugs from dear friends, and an extraordinarily friendly post from my friend Sebastian. Speechless, again. Thank you so much :'D

As I sit here in the remaining few hours of being 25, I suddenly realise I hadn't written about my wonderful de facto birthday party that took place last weekend!

Uh oh, it’ll be a rambling post!

Had you spoken to me a few weeks ago, you would have been inundated with stories about my struggles with the UTS enrollment system. Turns out several subjects I thought I could get an exemption for fell through, but by the time I realised it the semester had already started and all my required classes had prerequisites! To my delight, the illustriously fabulous Chris Wong was able to patch through my enrollment, and I was able to do a full semester of work again. Whew!

Why am I regaling you with this? Well for one simple reason, I suddenly found myself with far less spare time to celebrate my de jure birthday, and as much fun as I find programming, the idea of wearing party hats and watching Sherlock while stuck in a several hour long classes on application development seemed less than appealing. Not to mention other people in my classes would probably want in.

With this in mind, I decided to do something I'd never done before; partly because I'm obviously not the brightest lightbulb in the ceiling, and because I hadn't ever had enough friends to pull it off! The world's smallest violin playing, just for me. I decided to host an Sherlock marathon tea party; nothing out of the ordinary if I'm to believe it's what rugged, manly people do. In response to several Twitter conversations prior regarding anti-social behavior over dinner with electronic devices, the bringing of laptops, tablets and mobile phones was actively encouraged; I'd mulled over installing a metal detector near the front door with entrance being barred for those without any gadgets on their person, but the cost would have been prohibitive.

Look out, he said Starbucks!

My closest friends from UTS and I started the day at the Starbucks in Capitol Square, not to be confused with a geometric square or an American Capitol. Come to think of it, why is it called Capitol Square? I had my traditional Caramel Latte which I've had at Starbucks in various cities on my birthday since I was 13, and despite specific instructions not to these lovely people showered me with gifts! Adorable Haruhi nendoroids, a plushie block of tofu, some of the most original, tastiest sweets I've ever had, and several manga volumes of Toradora and the recently re-released in English Sailor Moon! My sister even chipped in with some bright, colourful, clever Threadless shirts! :)

We headed to Chez Schade on the train (fortunately one with plushie seats) where I demonstrated to a rapped audience the ability of a singular tunnel with uniform appearance to give wildly different phone reception strengths depending on our location. We all had our phones out attempting to best each other's dropped reception; being on Optus I was able to hold out fairly well during the early run but was successful in achiving the glorious "Searching…" status as we approached Earlwood! I guess it was my birthday ;D.

We made it up to my house no thanks to the gigantic hill, then proceeded to spend our afternoon troubleshooting my family's media server, and finally watching some brilliant BBC Sherlock for kicks! Tea was had, presents unwrapped, WiFi passwords set, the works!

They had Japanese mints!

Finally to top off the evening, we headed to Ken's Sushi Bar Dining in Bexley North, a single stop from Bardwell Park but an area with staggeringly wondrous phone reception and my favourite Japanese food in Sydney! We huddled around the table in the small place and ordered; several took the opportunity to render me nervous by choosing items I'd recommended… what if they didn't like it!? Fortunately, either they all enjoyed the food or were able to pretend convincingly ;).

We talked and Tweeted, they put up with my terrible jokes, parting hugs were had as we made our way back to Central. ^^

Of note

With all the studies, assignments, family work and other commitments in my life right now, it was so lovely to be afforded a (for want of a better word) blessed reprieve and spend a single day just being happy with super friendly people without feeling guilty. I still miss mummy so much it hurts, and obviously on my birthday (the day she obviously played a large part in originally!) those feelings were very close to the surface. Having a great time was a huge weight off my chest, and I really appreciated it. Sincerely.

Thanks to Sashin, Vadim, Cindy, Clara, Sebastian and Emily for an absolutely wonderful time! :'D We must do this again at some point; with the limit on the size of the restaurant lifted we could have even more people, provided they like British television and anime! :D. HUGS.

Travel back in time!

As always, my ever increasing list of birthday posts here on Rubenerd!

• 2011: A quarter century of Ruben Schadeyness
• 2010: It’s my Jack Bauer, 42 backwards birthday
• 2009: My 23rd birthday photos from Hahndorf
• 2008: I’m 22, but I won’t wear one!
• 2007: Ruben’s 21st eve musings!
• 2006: I’m 20! And Useless eBay Purchase!

Michael G. Nastos reviewing John Pizzarelli's 1996 album One Night with You:

If you like your contemporary jazz crooners smooth and sweet, then likely John Pizzarelli is your main man [..]

Aww! I'll admit it, as a kid his name was enough to reel me in. His distinctive jazz, big band style was what kept me listening ever since. In my world of ripped audio and iDevices, his physical CDs grace my precious shelf space with Michael Franks :).

Ironically, I'll bet I'm of the few people who heard of him before his famous dad.

So last night we were Twittering my attempts to eat pizza with chopsticks. I also unabashedly invented the title of UTS Anime Club Moeblob Liaison Officer for myself. Somehow, these two conversations folded into one, and we decided if I were to have a badge it should be of Mugi-chan… eating with chopsticks.

Needless to say, our art director wasted no time sketching up a concept, after I'd already gone to sleep! That she could do that at an ungodly hour of the night and have it look like the character so much it's uncanny only confirms the fact the Anime club voted for the right person for art director. I'm just saying :)