Activities to see Autumn out

Kim1 Comment

So here it is May 31, the end of my second autumn back in Australia. Nothing like the same time in West Virginia when the Fall was well and truly over and we were bracing ourselves for the approaching winter. Apparently Brisbane does have a winter — a question often heard is “what day is winter this year?”. 🙂

In recognition of the end of May, I had a sleep in — when I eventually surfaced at 9:00am, I realised that the air was somewhat chilly — and of course that reminded me that I left most of my cold weather gear back in the States. Now, I hope none of my work colleagues are reading this — because I am forever throwing off at them for complaining about the “cold weather”….but here I was thinking I needed to go buy some trackie daks and maybe a sloppy joe.

In addition to it being chilly, there was also some rain pouring down (unheard of in Brisbane lately) — so then the quandry occurred to me — did I take my own car out into the rain, or should I con a friend to bring her brand new Honda Civic Hybrid for a spin on the slick roads. The gentleman in me said, no take your own car. However the sensible part of me suggested that the Honda needed some extra road experience, and seeing as it rarely rains, experience today was the obvious choice. So, a quick phone call to my friend and we were soon on the way to Toowong in search of fashion bargains.

Alas the fashion bargains were there — my size wasn’t — yes folks, the girth has increased somewhat since I arrived back. I put that down to the difference in the air — others I believe have made rude suggestions that it is because I am lazy. So begrudingly I wandered out of the KMart mens fashion centre and headed to the place that all males like to hang out in — the electrical department. 🙂

Now if you know anything about me, you’ll know that I am a fairly honest kind of bloke — however, last night I experimented with the much used art of DVD ripping. I happened across some software that allows me to make legitimate copies of personally purchased DVDs — I see it as a providing a back-up service to movie companies, and I am sure there are many others out there in cyberland who are providing that exact service. So I needed to pick up some larger capacity blank DVDs — so with the help of Gen Y associate, I was able to ascertain ways to make the dvd ripped copy fit on the 4GB disks that I had. So he saved me some money. However, I did need a DVD player for the TV, so I picked up a good deal on a Sony, though I did have to haggle with the woman in charge — and as any male knows, that’s just about impossible. 🙂

More on another day…..

Boolean searches made easy

Kim1 Comment

A new site that I think addresses some of the issues that people have with boolean searches:

Boolify

The developers of Boolify have come up with an extremely useful tool to assist people to learn how to create boolean searches and then graphically allowing the search strings to be changed with the results appearing as if by magic.

From their site:

“Dede (2000) astutely remarked that “children must learn how to sift vast quantities of information through their fingertips” and “thrive on chaos”. In our lifetimes, the quantity of information available for sifting-through has increased exponentially. Yet, the tools for “teaching how to sift” have not maintained pace with the need for sifting.

With this challenge in mind, the Boolify Project offers a piece of software that helps model Boolean operators. Its primary audience is Elementary and Middle School children, but it may find relevance with others. Ultimately, its goal is to increase learners’ ability to perform effective web searches. Just how will it accomplish this?

It is hypothesized that visual cues Boolify provides will help learners build a mental model of the search that they are performing. A mental model is an internal visualization that can be used to guide practice and, in the case of Boolify, the software helps make explicit and graphical the formation of their search.

Of course, the mental model is visualized as puzzle pieces that fit together and provide real-time feedback to the learner about the efficacy of the search.

Dede, C. (2000, March). Emerging influences of information technology on school curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 32(2) 281-303.”

The value of good friends

Kim3 Comments

Well, it was my 51st birthday on Wednesday — and I took the day off to relax and get some things done that have been put off of late.  Even managed to get my ears lowered.  🙂

In my family, there wasn’t ever much emphasis put on birthdays — not sure why, but there just wasn’t.  As an adult that changed a little and I would usually get a nice gift from my wife and in-laws.

Since I moved back to Brisbane I have been slowly meeting new people.  I’ve got a couple of close friends and it’s helped having them for me to settle back into the Aussie way of life after my time in the USA.  Sometimes I think we forget about the value of a good friendship — I had dinner with 2 of my close friends here and they literally showered me with gifts.  But it wasn’t just the physical items — it was that unbridled enthusiasm that they had for wanting to have a good time to celebrate the birth of me.  Little old me.

Then I checked my mailbox and there were 3 cards from friends locally and in other states; a check of my email box saw one from my sister who lives out of the country, my ex-wife, as well as a couple of people I had worked with back in the US.  Each one of those people had taken the time and effort to remember me and that felt pretty darn good.

So today I celebrate having great friendships — as they say, you can’t pick your family, but you can your friends.  I am thankful of those people who are happy to share life with me.

With that, I’m off to work.  TGIF!  🙂

Photos from my area of the world.

Kim1 Comment

Well, yesterday a friend and I went for a drive to my hometown of Toowoomba. She took some great photos and I thought I’d share a couple of them here (my friend reckons she doesn’t take great photos — I beg to differ).

The first is just out of town and is kinda typical of what you’ll see if you get off the main highway and head down a country road. The other is from the Japanese Gardens in Toowoomba — located at the University of Southern Queensland, and built entirely on public donations. It apparently lays claim to being the largest such garden in the southern hemisphere, outside of Japan.

Enjoy!

Being a web 2.0 citizen

Kim1 Comment

Every day I get an email in from Digital Inspiration and today’s had a great link to a post that someone put up showing a graphical look at the path that a citizen of Web 2.0 might traverse.  Check it out here. I think I’m between levels 3 and 4.  What it did do was remind me of all of the things I have experimented with over the years…flickr, myspace, facebook (which I don’t really enjoy), delicious, wikis, linkedin, to name but a few.  At work recently I was showing  a colleague a wiki that I have been building, and got to talking about virtual worlds that I’ve also been involved with over the years.  He had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, and gave me the “geek look”.  You know, I don’t mind being a geek, if that means I get to try technology out.  🙂

What is bliss?

Kim2 Comments

Each morning when I get up I log into my computer and read a posting at one of the many blogs I have subscribed to. I find it quite a relaxing way to start the day — to read about what someone else did for the day; or a thought they had etc.

This morning I picked a blog called “at home with the farmer’s wife” and scrolled down to read a posting simply titled “sweet nothings”. I’ve pasted it below because I think it really strikes a note with me today, as she comments about the life a pig has and how it chooses to be happy, and the message for we humans:

“My goal this morning was to make you smile and to get you thinking about “bliss”.

The dictionary says it means joy, rapture or ecstasy and as in many things those words are woefully inadequate to describe bliss.

Nowhere in the dictionary do I see any reference to it’s fleeting nature, or that bliss is as individual as a fingerprint. For me bliss comes in moments not in hours. It’s like jumpin in the air and experiencing that split second when you’re weightless, the moment before gravity snatches you and brings you back to earth.

Chickens are noisy and gossipy, roosters are mean and turkeys are as dumb as rocks, but pigs……pigs have a certain quality I’ll call “dumb goofy”. It’s as if they’re blissfully unaware of their situation. They live in dirt, bathe in slurry and love to eat other people’s garbage. But their dumb goofy nature doesn’t realize that any of these things might be undesirable. And in life I’ve met some dumb-goofy people who were happy in some pretty trying circumstances.

But I think the pigs and the dumb-goofy people are on to something. Basically what they’re saying is, I choose to be happy. It’s a choice, everyday, whether we’re going to let really insignificant things chink away at us. You need to clear your plate of worry which will leave you open to living in the moment and snatching some bliss of your own.

And look, the pigs have found some bliss outside their comfort zone. They’ve taken a cool shower and are resting in a fresh bed of wood chips. In an hour they’ll be strutting their stuff on stage. But for now they’re weightless and waiting for gravity to do it’s thing.“

Included in the post is a photo of the pigs — and the smile on the face of one of them really does give one the feeling of bliss — that is just priceless. I know that I myself have been trying to live by this belief — choose to be happy and let the niggly stuff go. God knows there’s plenty of annoying stuff out there — but at the same time, there’s a whole lot more available to help one travel along in a much happier place. Have a blissful day!

Catching up

Kim3 Comments

A lot happened in the time between my last two posts. In October, when I did the last posting for a few months, I had no hint of what might be ahead. First up, I decided to buy a car — I had been back in Brisbane since August of 2006, and had purposely not bought a car, as I wanted to do my bit for the environment as well as getting to know the city — and Brisbane’s public transport system certainly allows you to do that.

City Cat

Anyone who visits the city should take advantage of the various transport options — there are the traditional modes of train and bus, but we also have a well developed (and extremely efficient) river transport system of Citycats and inner city ferries. They traverse the Brisbane River and really make for a wonderful way to see the city sights. I used to catch one home of an afternoon after work and found it to be the perfect way to wind down and de-stress.

So, I bought the new model 2008 Subaru Impreza hatch — I tell people that the deal was clinched because it had a connection for my iPod straight to the car’s stereo. I also tell them that I’ll be set if ever Brisbane gets hit by a rogue storm, because Subaru’s are so good in snow conditions. I’m thinking if we get any form of snow, it will be a sign that the world is on the brink of destruction. One never knows these days I guess. I’ve really enjoyed getting out on the highway and visiting friends, as well as exploring some new places. Those places visited as a kid have changed somewhat over the years, which in a lot of ways is quite sad.

The next major thing that happened was that I decided that I needed to move — closer to the city (which also meant closer to work). So I found a place in the sought after West End area of the city — it’s an interesting suburb — close to the city, but with a real community feel to it. I share an apartment with a woman who was looking for someone “mature” — I guess now that I am 50, I could be classified in this manner — certainly age, but not outlook (well, not always — old people with old ideas tend to become boring, and I am anything but that). The view from the large balcony we have is impressive, especially at night — there’s something about the lights in the central business district — they never change, yet I seem to be able to spot things unnoticed in the past.

West End is diverse — no other word to describe it. Many ethnic places to eat — which is great because I love Indian and Asian food. There’s a coffee place down the road called 3 Monkeys — apparently has been there since Adam was a boy, and it’s a favourite place of mine to go to with any visiting friends.

So…this is why I have been a little slow in my writing. But I feel that may be changing. 2 posts in 2 days, that’s pretty good. 🙂

More soon….

Stung into action…

Kim2 Comments

So here I am again posting, again trying to explain my absence. Suffice to say that I have had a lot going on the past few months and the blog had to be shelved for a while. Thanks to Dawn for making a comment on my blog (which automatically sends an email to let me know) — because her action (and interest in my blog) raised my interest again. For now, I am going to leave it at this, because I have a friend coming over soon. I’m loading a new friend — a very loveable lab called Zeke. More about him later.

zeke_small.jpg

Acts of kindness

Kim1 Comment

Anyone who knows me well will know that one of the things I like to do to relax is to listen to music — I particularly enjoy discovering artists unknown to me, and I like that I can listen to 30 seconds of their songs at iTunes and then if they get me, it’s likely I’ll go buy the song (or perhaps find it somewhere). I’ve found some great music over the years doing that and I think when people look at my collection in my iTunes on the Mac, they have no idea who I am listening to. I give thanks to my ex-wife for this — it was she who introduced me to this fun time — many times we would sit on the couch, drinking coffee, appreciating the diversity of music available. One of her favourite things to pass some time was to make cds with various combinations — she said it was what she did when she was stressed and I can attest that this was her “thing”. Some people drink, others run a marathon — she made music cds for friends and family. Great memories!

So here I am sitting posting to my blog about this. The title of the blog is acts of kindness, and I came across some just now as I was listening to new music. Michael Stipe (frontman for REM) created the In the Sun Foundation in late 2006:

More than five months later, many are still displaced by the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with no relief imminent, and yet, the news cycle has moved on, taking our focus, as a nation, away from something which still should be at the center of our attention. In this spirit, Stipe felt moved to join others who have remained dedicated to the cause, reminding the public in his own way, through music, that there is still an incredible amount of work to be done: ‘Things are not fine. The storm is still impacting people’s lives in very real ways and many have been left desperate. I want to remind each of us that as humans, and certainly as Americans, it is our responsibility to help those in need… I had to do something as a public figure. The one thing I can do is sing, and it’s probably the best way to get people to pay attention.‘ To that end, Stipe recorded a charity EP featuring six versions of a song, In the Sun, which the singer hoped would remind the public of the continued suffering of survivors of Hurricane Katrina. All proceeds would go directly to Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian agency, via the In The Sun Foundation, to aid those in the Gulf Coast affected by the August tragedy. ‘No matter where you go in the world, people are the best agents of their own recovery in situations like this,‘ said Mercy Corps CEO Neal Keny-Guyer. ‘Michael and everyone he mobilizes to buy the song are investing in the people of the Gulf Coast, giving them the resources they need to get back on their feet.‘ “

So I came across those 6 versions of In the Sun, and was blown away by the richness of the sound, the lyrics and the emotions that were worked over. I lived in the USA during a tumultuous period in her history: the Clinton administration; the rise of Bush and the equal slide of the country as a result; 9/11 — perhaps the most horror I have ever experienced; the aftermath of that event, which really did change the fabric of American society; Hurricane Katrina and the pathetic “rescue” provided by the Bush administration; the invasion of Iraq and subsequent monumental loss of human lives and destruction of a country and its culture and traditions.

The lyrics to the version I like the most (Stipe, Chris Martin and Coldplay):

I picture you in the sun wondering what went wrong
And falling down on your knees asking for sympathy
And being caught in between all you wish for and all you seen
And trying to find anything you can feel that you can believe in

May god’s love be with you
Always
May god’s love be with you

I know I would apologize if I could see your eyes
’cause when you showed me myself I became someone else
But I was caught in between all you wish for and all you need
I picture you fast asleep
A nightmare comes
You can’t keep awake

May god’s love be with you
Always
May god’s love be with you

’cause if I find
If I find my own way
How much will I find
If I find
If I find my own way
How much will I find
You

I don’t know anymore
What it’s for
I’m not even sure
If there is anyone who is in the sun
Will you help me to understand
’cause I been caught in between all I wish for and all I need
Maybe you’re not even sure what it’s for
Any more than me

May god’s love be with you
Always
May god’s love be with you

I continually hear the Bush administration going after singers and actors, calling them ineffective (among other names) — yet here we have another example of what they can do and do often.

Call to action

Kim3 Comments

So, I just remembered that today, October 15 is Blog Action Day, where bloggers the world over post to their blogs articles relating to the environment. So, in the time remaining on this day I am thinking about the environment and what it is that I have done to help reduce the stresses on our planet. One thing I have done is to purposely not buy a car, preferring instead to walk or use Brisbane’s excellent public transport. Sure, there are times when it would be convenient to have a car to go down to the store, but I can achieve the same result by getting out on my legs. In my mind, it is all about caring. I’ve also joined a community group called SOWN (Save Our Waterways Now) whose aim it is to work to restore the habitats of creeks and waterways in the catchments of Enoggera, Ithaca and Fish Creeks in Brisbane’s north and west.

I purposely don’t use the air conditioner at home, instead choosing to open the windows — good for the environment and also for humans.

So…anyone who comes across this post — what, if anything, have you done to make your mark environmentally?