Rubenerd

In Australia and New Zealand we have something which most of the world does not, though in this case it's not something to be proud of. Our internet service providers have this fabulous system that serve their customers needs first: bandwidth shaping.

For those lucky enough not to have to put up with this system, bandwidth shaping is a system that restricts how much data you can download (and in some cases upload) per month. And it doesn't come cheap; for a measly 40GB per month here in Adelaide my sister and I pay just over AU$100. Comparing this to our home connection in Singapore where (according to our router) we download hundreds of gigabytes of data a month for less than SG$80, it's rather pathetic.

ASIDE: It also doesn’t exactly make a technical person such as myself who has lived overseas and has experienced proper internet want to return to Australia to start a tech related business. Australia is a beautiful place with really good food and an enviable lifestyle, but if I can’t get internet I can rely on, it’s just not a viable option :(

Anyway in anticipation of going back to Singapore over the holidays, my sister and I have been celebrating by burning through a months worth of quota in less than a week. We'll be out of the country during most of our next 40GB allocated month, so we figure we'll take advantage of it. We're both very wild people you see.

I've been torrenting all the disc images for the latest beta versions of FreeBSD, Slackware and NetBSD; I've been compiling huge ports such as GNOME 2.22 from source; I've been downloading the H264 video versions of Cranky Geeks, I've been listening to the high quality versions of internet radio… the list just goes on and on!

This graphic was just so terrible I had to include it!

We must be doing something right, because we just got this email from Internode (our ISP). Sorry guys, but we paid a ridiculous sum of money for 40 gigabytes, and by golly we're gonna download 40 gigabytes!

Dear Internode customer,

This is an automated message […] We have sent this message in order to assist you to manage your account usage. Your current downloads for the account […] have exceeded 70% of your download allowance this month. At the time this message was generated, you had downloaded 29630 Mb. Your monthly download allowance is currently 40000 Mb.

No excess usage fees are incurred on this plan; however your download rate will be reduced if you exceed 100% of your download quota before your next rollover date. You do not need to take any action, however if you exceed 90% of your monthly quota we’ll send you another email as a reminder. Once you’ve used 100% of your quota, we will apply ‘shaping’ which will reduce the speed of your service until your next rollover date. After 3,000 Mbytes of shaped traffic, additional access constraints may be applied. You have the option of:

• reducing your downloads (eg by disabling peer to peer filesharing or other high download services); or
• purchasing additional data blocks for an instant quota upgrade; or
• upgrading to a plan with a higher monthly quota (though this only takes effect at your next rollover date)

Thank you for using Internode!

We must ask ourselves… What would Haruhi do? She could kick their arses… into another space time continuum :)

It's almost as if a divine power is somehow punishing me for allowing comments on my blog posts! I've said numerous times I love having comments left by people because unlike hits or unique visitor logs it shows that someone has read my material and has thought it worthwhile to leave a message, question or reply to a previous message or question. It's what makes sites interactive, otherwise you may as well just watch TV.

I've been getting my fair share of rude messages both here and on other sites I host content, and I've been getting my fair share of generic spam messages (if by share I mean deluge) and unsolicited targeted advertising. They're aggravating, but I can deal with them. I like to think of them as the side effect to having a successful blog, right? As my father would say: "Uh, yeah"!

ASIDE: Speaking of religious salvation (below), I was visited by a pair of Jehova’s Witnesses this morning. They were both quite old ladies, one of which looked as though she was about to faint, the temperature today is 31C (high 90s F). I offered her a glass of water, then promptly told her I was an atheist and wasn’t even slightly interested in what they were preaching. I admired the fact she didn’t spit the water out once she found out! A heathen offering water… I would have thought she would have suspected I had put a drug in there to force her to believe in evolution or to get a same sex marriage!

What I have a much harder time dealing with is unsolicited targeted advertising that gets added to the comments sections for blog posts where I discussed my mum's funeral, or my mum's oncologist, or benefit concerts for jazz legends who have been diagnosed with cancer. I can deal with people trying to take advantage of the fact I posted about a game console or a piece of software and they so happen to be selling related material for it, but people advertising funeral services, miracle cures, religious salvation and dodgy counselling services and somehow infinitely more offensive.

I know spammers don't care about the sites they fill up with their junk, because that's their aim. At the very least spammers could check with some sort of automated system that a post they're spamming isn't about the death of a loved one. I know spammers are doing it for the money, but even this is lower than low. And besides, as Jim Kloss so rightly put it in an audio magazine back in 2005, if spammers want people to buy their products, they're not helping their cause if they make the people they're pitching to hate them in the first place! It's ethics we're dealing with here, but even if it weren't, there's also some Bidness 101 common sense here too.

Common sense, we hardly knew thee…

I don't want to turn off comments on my blog posts about my mum because I get so many nice messages from people, and I've even got in contact with some family friends that way. I'm running out of ideas though. Perhaps with time I'll just get used to seeing these kind of messages. After almost one year though since it happened, it ain't getting easier so far.

I'm off to buy myself a new pair of brightly coloured 100% cotton socks, then I'll go for a coffee. That always cheers me up.

Photos of Harry's from their website, linked below

UPDATE: Unfortunatly for all of us who appreciated him and his music, Michael Stanton passed on. I send my sincerest thoughts to his family and friends during this difficult time. Having just gone through the death of my mum to cancer I can empathise with your positions even if I can’t imagine what you yourselves are going through. Remember the good times and his music.

For those following this in your blog readers, you’ll want to check out the comments section of this post.

Had I known this post would become such a focal point for Michael I would have put more effort into it. I appreciate you all taking the time to post comments, as I’m sure his family is too.

Thank you again.

I really wish I were in Singapore and could have gone there. Harry’s on Boat Quay is a cozy jazz bar and lounge right on the water in Singapore. I had a beer there with my dad after my very quiet 21st birthday in 2007. I imagine the atmosphere there during this event would have been amazing, and for such a noble cause.

I wish Michael Stanton all the best. Cancer is a f-ing scary thing, but the support of friends and family can make a huge difference. You’ll be playing poetry with those keys again soon sir.

(Even if some jackarses deleted your Wikipedia page… what a crock.)

From Channel News Asia:

Jazz community holds concert for cancer-stricken musician
By Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 07 December 2008 2140 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s jazz community got together for a good cause on Sunday evening.

Top jazz artistes and musicians performed at Harry’s Bar at Boat Quay to raise funds for fellow jazz musician Michael Stanton, who was recently diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

Mr Stanton, who is now hospitalised, needs between S$15,000 and S$20,000 for his hospital bill and his trip back to the United States.

The artistes at the Concert of Life included Alemay Fernandez, The Jackson Twinz and friends, as well as a host of Singapore artists and musicians.

Mr Stanton arrived on the Singapore jazz scene some ten years ago.

The concert at Harry’s Bar ends late Sunday night. Entrance fee is a minimum donation of S$30.

This surprisingly beautiful excerpt from an article at TODAYOnline (JavaScript required, temporarily disable NoScript if you use it) outlines the history of Mr Stanton's Jazz career in the US and in Singapore:

MUSICIANS have never shied away from giving support to a worthy cause from Live Aid to Live Earth. And this weekend, several of the top musicians in Singapore are rallying to help an ailing friend in need: Jazz keyboardist Michael Stanton.

The American keyboardist, based here since 1997, was diagnosed last Thursday with terminal pancreatic cancer, and some of his closest friends and collaborators are holding a benefit concert to raise funds for his medical treatment, and to send him safely home to his family in Compton, California.

Stanton, a consummate pianist, arranger and songwriter, has performed with some of the top names in Asian jazz, including pianist Jeremy Monteiro, singer Anne Weerapass, Malaysian jazz drumming legend Lewis Pragasam and saxophonist Greg Lyons.

However, even before reaching our shores, the Californian perfected his chops with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, ChakaKhan, Patti LaBelle and Stevie Wonder — you can hear him on Wonder’s groundbreaking album from 1977, Songs in the Key of Life.

Stanton arrived here at the behest of fellow musician and Compton native, Christy Smith, who played bass with Harry’s resident band Chromazone. After a stint at the now-defunct Somerset Jazz Bar at the former Westin Stamford Hotel, Stanton decided to make Singapore his home, performing at Harry’s at Boat Quay, Swing@Cuppage Terrace, Raffles Hotel, Jazz@Southbridge and most recently, QuaruBar@Dempsey Hill.

Yes you're right Wikipedia editors… he isn't notable at all is he?

Doesn't that one photo just make you feel so good about the world again, if only for a short while! It was taken of course by Dave Wares from DavesPhotoGallery.net.

Canadian Parliament in Ottawa. Photo by Steven W. Dengler

I know people who revel in Japanese culture are Japanophiles, and those who are obsessed with high quality audio equipment are audiophiles, so does that mean people really interested in Canada are Canadaphiles? Or Canadophiles? Or Maplesyruphiles? Mmm, maplesyruphiles. I was trying to figure out how to link this post to my previous post about Canada and how I wanted to visit there, but I just couldn't figure out how to do it.

Fun introductions aside, there is something much less fun going on right now in Canadian politics. That was a lousy segue.

Just as Australia did this time last year, and the United States did this time last month, Canada is going through the process of weighing up the performance of the incumbent against an opposition who the majority of citizens now support. Unlike Australia or the US though that were both able to relieve their previous governments and make a fresh start, the Canadians are locked in a power struggle.

DISCLAIMER: Alas I really do not know enough about Canadian politics, but Canada’s and Australia’s governments and election processes are broadly equivalent (both being based on the British parliament thingy), so I’m mostly confident I can still comment on it.

If I’ve made a mistake though, I am open to corrections!

As I understand it from reading about this over the last several weeks, the incumbent Steven Harper and his Conservative party are fighting to maintain a minority government having won the last elections. However, the Government's failure to respond adequately to the economic times and represent the views of the majority of Canadians have resulted in a call for a vote of no-confidence.

NDP Leader Jack Layton, left, shakes hands with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, centre, and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe on Monday after signing a coalition agreement on Parliament Hill. From CBC.ca

The group calling for this vote is a an unprecedented new coalition of the Liberal and NDP parties with the support of Bloc Québécois. If the no-confidence vote is successful, the current minoroty government would be forced into opposition and this new coalition which has the support of over 60% of Canadians (a majority!) would form Government.

ASIDE: How am I going so far Canadians? Which of the mistakes I’ve made so far is the worst? :)

But there's a problem. As with most Parliamentary systems of government, the Prime Minister can advise the Governer General to "prorogues" parliament which is essentially a stall tactic. And what a surprise, he did. This means a vote of no-confidence can't be introduced until next year, which means any attempt by the new Liberal/NDP coalition to form government and work on economic policy — which the majority of Canadian people are so desperately calling for — is already dead the water.

Given Steven Harper's party and government are in minority, this all does seem awfully un-democratic. It also could explain why there have been so many protests and such an outpouring of anger and dismay over the decision. The Australian media has even started running stories about it, and I've been told the paper in Singapore has reported it. This is big news.

If I've understood what's going on, I am willing to show my (hopelessly irrelevant!) support for this new coalition who are supported by all my Canadian friends and internet friends. Steven Harper and the Conservative party should not be allowed to do this in a democracy.

ASIDE: I vote for the Aussie Greens and generally support Green parties and ideals… any chance the Canadian Greens can get into this party? :-)

I'm not a Canadian, but I will be showing solidarity for the cause. Now I just need to create a "Aussies for the Liberal/NDP Coalition" or "Aussies for Canadian Democracy" badge just as I did with the "Aussies for Obama" during the American elections. With a global medium such as the internet this makes much more sense than renting out ad space in an Australian or Singaporean newspaper for example!

According to my server logs, a disproportionately large number of the people who visit this site and subscribe to my feeds are Canadians. To you guys, I hope this whole mess gets sorted out and you get the Government you're calling for. If you guys have any links to other information, news stories or opinions I'd love to read them. And feel free to correct me if I've made any mistakes here.

Coalition Yes! Coalition Oui!

In both languages. From nupge.ca

Okay, I just wanted an excuse to post this picture. I thought it was sort of funny in a weird way… or weird in a sort of funny way!

Given my dad's interest and positive talk about Canada especially in the last few years since he started consulting for several firms there, I thought I'd broaden my horizons and subscribe to the primary CBC News RSS feeds in Google Reader, and @CBCNews on Twitter.

Canada and Australia have a heck of a lot more in common than I could have imaged. Both were former British colonies. We both peacefully federated/confederated from Britain. We have Queen Elizabeth as our head of state, represented by a Governor General. We have her mugshot on the observe side of all our coins. We call them solicitors not attorneys. Our landmasses are huge, and close to another member of the Anglosphere. We use "dollars". We're in the Commonwealth and compete in those Commonwealth Games things. The makeup and structure of our economies and our exports are scarily similar. We have "lively parliaments" with question times and verbal jousting. We use SI units of measurement (mostly!). We have Prime Ministers. We have states with elected Premiers and royally appointed and largely useless Governors. Our judges and barristers wear those ridiculous woolen wigs. We have indigenous brothers and sisters who are fighting for recognition and dignity. Our names have three "A" letters in them. We both have similar hearty, self depreciating senses of humour :).

That's not to say we don't have our differences. For one thing Canada is somewhat colder than Australia and has somewhat different landscapes (no, really?!). Canada has upwards of 30 million people when Australia has upwards of 20 million. Australians aren't so good at hockey, Canadians aren't so good at cricket. Australian's drive on the proper side of the road, Canadians drive on the incorrect side of the road. A large minority of Australians can't speak French. Canada doesn't have cuddly marsupials and monotremes. Australia no longer has an incompetent, unpopular Prime Minister who has lost the confidence of Parliament and his or her people. Ooh, I can see the topic for another post surfacing! Update: done!

Some day I'd love to travel to Canada, detouring of course to visit Alaska first. Something tells me I'll need much more winter clothing and gear… and a lot more money!

Welcome to your fifth grilled cheese sandwich observation lesson. If you missed our first lesson on 2008.08.12, second lesson on 2008.08.21, third lesson on 2008.11.04 or fourth lesson on 2008.11.14, feel free to refer back to them before proceeding. And as usual, feel free to take notes.

As far as I know this is not a grilled cheese sandwich, and quite frankly it concerns me that you think it is. Please seek counselling.

Photo of a Singapore NEL trainset by Oahiyeel on Wikimedia Commons

The new Google Reader interface

I was really worried I was going to have to ditch Google Reader because the new blazing white interface with heavy black text was just too difficult to look at as I mentioned yesterday (Google Reader takes a turn for the bland).

Fortunately some quick thinking people have created some great scripts that make me remember why I love Greasemonkey! If you do a search for "Google Reader" on UserStyles.org or UserScripts.org there are hundreds of scripts you can install with two clicks, many of which have been hastily updated to work with the new interface.

If you use Greasemonkey and were also put off by the new Google Reader interface, give these scripts a try:

Google Reader (12/05/2008) Tweaks

This script by trashrockx reintroduces colour on the sidebar and other elements to decrease the contrast back to the level it was before. It quite literally makes Google Reader usable again!

Google Reader vertical space maximiser

This script by Simon Lieschke removes everything above the feed heading bar which gives you MUCH more space for feed items. I tend to use the Search box a lot myself, but if you never do you may want to check this out.

Another Dark Google Reader Style

This updated script by KullDox inverts the background which is much easier on the eyes first thing in the morning and late at night. I like to toggle between this and the first colour scheme above during the day.

If you have any cool Google Reader Greasemonkey script ideas, post a comment :-).

It seems I unwittingly irked a fan of Bill O'Reilly and Fox News on my Flickr profile earlier this year without realising it! It all started with this photo I uploaded in November 2007 along with the following caption.

Quote from the cable TV magazine:

“With his irreverent sensibilities, veteran journalist Nill O’Reilly breaks through the spin and rhetoric of news events to reach the crux of the matter.”

They called him “NILL”! That can’t possibly be a typo!

Also ironic that the article next to his is “The Sacred Balance” which details global warming, something which I’m sure Nillo denies is happening :)

I thought the addition of the smiley face at the end of the sentence and the general jovial tone of the comment was fairly obvious, but a fellow Flickr user by the name of nicksmultiverse had other ideas:

No actually see, your statement right there is wrong. They may have misspelled Bill’s name, but you are a fool for “assuming” that he doesn’t think Global Warming is happening.

Maybe if you lefty loons listened for a change, watched his show, instead of this “assuming” and believing by “word of mouth” you would get your facts straight. Bill DOES believe in Global Warming, but he’s on the fence like most of us. (Us, the people who believe it is naturally occurring) Hence, the planets own heating and cooling and Human activity.

Wise up!

I tried to come up with a witty line to put here, but one isn't coming to me right now. Grilled cheese sandwiches.

You may be right sir, or you may be wrong, or you may be very wrong. The point though is that I think you misunderstood the tone of my comment; I’m willing to chalk up your response to this. You should also make sure you’re not assuming anything about me ("lefty loon") or other people ("on the fence like most of us") when you’re arguing against assumptions in the first place.

Bill O’Reilly has been caught out numerous times distorting facts and lying. You should attempt to "wise up" to this sir before you start crassly instructing others to do so. And please try to be less rude in your comments; when we keep discussion civil we can have far more fruitful conversations. Cheers :).

Photo from my Flickr profile taken a few nights ago

Definitely quieter than Singapore Changi Airport at this time of night, and just a wee bit smaller!

Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 by Eternal Dragon on Wikipedia