Hey, you're always asking me where I find stuff...
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Pocky! (Special offer)
Pocky is one of my favourite snacks. I just went and got a box from the Chinese grocery nearby, as I wanted to check something out.
On the back of the box is one of these:
It's a QR Code. The basic idea is, after you've finished eating your Pocky you take a photo of the QR Code with your phone and send it to a website. Software on the website recognises the code and then sends you a reply SMS with a "special offer" or a "free gift". Of course, it doesn't just have to be like that - you could also use it send people info about a statue they were looking at, or timetable info, or news, or anything really.
On the back of the box is one of these:
It's a QR Code. The basic idea is, after you've finished eating your Pocky you take a photo of the QR Code with your phone and send it to a website. Software on the website recognises the code and then sends you a reply SMS with a "special offer" or a "free gift". Of course, it doesn't just have to be like that - you could also use it send people info about a statue they were looking at, or timetable info, or news, or anything really.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Little Link List #004
A great Dixie band (check out the "Ace of Spades" cover) - Hayseed Dixie;
Meet Karl:
.
Meet Karl:
.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Little Link List #3
An article by William Gibson about the mechanics of building and rebuilding U2's stage show every night;
Bob Moog died the other day which is a bit of a shame - a friend once gave me a record of music made with a Moog synthesiser;
If you have enough people and you are stuck for something to do - try playing "Mafia".
Bob Moog died the other day which is a bit of a shame - a friend once gave me a record of music made with a Moog synthesiser;
If you have enough people and you are stuck for something to do - try playing "Mafia".
Beerbase
Having the work phone has made me think about how I can do tedious things more easily. Now something I do quite regularly is brew beer, and my fellow brewers asked me to keep track of our brews in a database so we can learn from what we've done before.
And of course I knocked something up in Access, but then I had the problem of carrying bits of paper around, and of having multiple versions of the same database.
So instead, I've created a database on a server with an upload page, which loads up very nicely in the phone. So now I can update the database using the phone, while we make the beer! Yay! I made an app!!!
(It's a bit hard to see the field names, but trust me - they're there.)
And of course I knocked something up in Access, but then I had the problem of carrying bits of paper around, and of having multiple versions of the same database.
So instead, I've created a database on a server with an upload page, which loads up very nicely in the phone. So now I can update the database using the phone, while we make the beer! Yay! I made an app!!!
(It's a bit hard to see the field names, but trust me - they're there.)
Monday, August 22, 2005
No wires!
Work's given me a phone to experiment with. So this would be experiment #1 - posting with mobile phone. It's a bit tedious really, so that would be why I'm stopping nnnn...now.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Brew brew brew
Things have kicked into high-gear on the home-brewing front. Today we bottled 38 litres of pilsener, and then while I headed off to the radio station, Dave and Adam brewed another 38 litres. Here's some pictorial highlights from the brewing action, as well as a play-by-play account of how it all works.
First up, the fermenters. You put all the water, malt, hops and sugar in these and then wait for the yeast to do its stuff:
While the yeast does its stuff (turning sugar into alcohol) noxious gases are released, so the gas has to be expelled through the airlock on top of the fermenter:
Once everything is fermented and stabilised, it's time to decant the brew into bottles. Of course first the bottles have to sterilised, which is a pain in the arse:
And then of course, once you've added sugar and beer to all the bottles and sealed them up, you still can't drink 'em - you have to wait about six weeks for secondary fermentation to finish and for the taste to mature a bit.
Still, it's worth all the work when you get to drink your own beer.
First up, the fermenters. You put all the water, malt, hops and sugar in these and then wait for the yeast to do its stuff:
While the yeast does its stuff (turning sugar into alcohol) noxious gases are released, so the gas has to be expelled through the airlock on top of the fermenter:
Once everything is fermented and stabilised, it's time to decant the brew into bottles. Of course first the bottles have to sterilised, which is a pain in the arse:
And then of course, once you've added sugar and beer to all the bottles and sealed them up, you still can't drink 'em - you have to wait about six weeks for secondary fermentation to finish and for the taste to mature a bit.
Still, it's worth all the work when you get to drink your own beer.
Radiothon 2005
Yes, it's that time of year again - the RRR-FM Radiothon. I'm doing a few stints as a phone volunteer this year. As always it's a mixture of enjoyment and sheer boredom. The enjoyment comes from meeting people who are vaguely like yourself, and the boredom comes from staring at the phones, waiting for the lines to fill up. I think that will do for now, but here's an action-packed picture of one side of the RRR-FM green room.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Koan Streetart
Whilst I've been walking around Melbourne's CBD I've noticed a few stencils and streetart. I even took a couple of photos of some:
Turns out these are by an artist known as Koan. There's a lot more of Koan's work on display here. I quite like the rabbit sitting on a couch eating a burger.
Turns out these are by an artist known as Koan. There's a lot more of Koan's work on display here. I quite like the rabbit sitting on a couch eating a burger.
Neutron Bomb
There was a post on BoingBoing today about the inventor of the Neutron Bomb, Sam Cohen. The post quoted some paragraphs from an article written by a journalist. So I downloaded the article, read it, and realised I wanted to learn a bit more. The article is bascially a review of Cohen's autobiography. Fortunately the autobiography is available online as a PDF.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Monday, August 15, 2005
Little Link List #002
If you have an interest in subways, cities and obsessive behaviour - Metro Bits!;
Or you could always check out urbanrail.net;
Continuing the theme - Subways to scale;
And finally - tram-related photos from Melbourne.
Or you could always check out urbanrail.net;
Continuing the theme - Subways to scale;
And finally - tram-related photos from Melbourne.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Back to the original idea - Little Link List
In addition to shorter/longer posts about various things, from time to time I'm also going to do a short list of links that I found interesting. Here's the first instalment:
Unintended consequences of war - electronic bugles;
Cleverfun graffiti (esp. "Indoor") - Banksy;
A good article about work - "What Business Can Learn From Open Source";
Unintended consequences of war - electronic bugles;
Cleverfun graffiti (esp. "Indoor") - Banksy;
A good article about work - "What Business Can Learn From Open Source";
Friday, August 05, 2005
Lunch
There are a number of reasons why I wouldn't mind working for Google. At the moment this would have to be Number 1.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Pilsener
The homebrewing madness continues - we're up to Brew #3 now (Brew #4 is fermenting as I type this), and this time around we made Pilsener. This was the first time we added hops to the brew and it's made a big difference to the flavour. The bitterness is there, the smell is there, and it comes out of the bottle with a fine golden colour. It's our best yet.
Hm, I could do with a pint:
Hm, I could do with a pint:
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Demented Moles Update - Panic!
Last night the Demented Moles played off in the Division 5 Grand Final. And for the third time we lost. 3-3 at fulltime - we then played 3 minutes of extra time with a Golden Goal to win it - and the other team scored the Golden Goal in about 30 seconds. Here's the runner-up trophy:
Finals are funny - some players lift and do well in them - other players sort of panic and never quite get into the game. Unfortunately we had a few players who freaked out. We did well to level at 3-all, but really we should have beaten them. So much yelling...
Ah well, there's always next season. Which starts next week.
Finals are funny - some players lift and do well in them - other players sort of panic and never quite get into the game. Unfortunately we had a few players who freaked out. We did well to level at 3-all, but really we should have beaten them. So much yelling...
Ah well, there's always next season. Which starts next week.
Vale Aurelio
Aurelio Vidmar announced his retirement yesterday. I always enjoyed watching him play for the Socceroos. I'll never forget his goal against Argentina in the World Cup Qualifier in Sydney in 1993. And now at the age of 38 he's decided to retire and "get a little pot belly". Here's a photo of him and his brother Tony. Aurelio's the one with terrible hair.
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