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10th
May
2007
Just done a bit of an upgrade on the blog, to the latest version of Word Press 2.1.3. Overall it’s not a lot different though I have noticed a few enhancements here or there. Took a bit of fiddling but I’ve got all my plugins and layout back to where it all should be.
One new feature you might notice is the “What I’m Doing” section on the top left. This links to Twitter, one of the new in-fashion sites. Twitter basically consists of high frequency, low volume blogging – so you just write one or two sentences often to let people know what you are up to. It also features the usual “friends” aspect and social linkage inherent in any Web 2.0 type site. I don’t know how good I’ll be at maintaining it but I thought I might as well throw it on the site and see how it goes. My main twitter page is here : http://twitter.com/baggas
Categories : Housekeeping, Internet |
10th
May
2007
I’m in the middle of upgrading to the newest version of Wordpress, so if the blog looks a bit wrong over the next few hours that’s why. Hopefully it’ll all be back to normal by tonight.
Categories : Housekeeping |
10th
May
2007
Zazz! One Day. One Thing. One Chance.
A friend told me last night about this cool site called Zazz. Rather than try and describe it myself I’ll quote from their FAQ (or wtf?) I especially like the last paragraph…
Q: So what is Zazz?
A: Zazz is a very special internet-based store that only sells one item a day, at a large quantity. Zazz will continue to sell that item until either it sells out, or the 24 hours ends. Should it end prematurely, you’re more than welcome to hang out but a new item won’t be available for sale until midnight the next day. Beyond this, Zazz is also a community of people who love gadgets and buying cool things they’ve always wanted but could never afford, until now.
Q: That’s ridiculous. Are you guys insane? Why on earth would you do something so stupid as to sell one thing a day? 
A: In answer to your first question, No. In answer to your second question, we feel that online stores are too bogged down with items. You know what it’s like, you go to a major internet department store and unless you know exactly what you want it’s near impossible to find something suitable for your 3rd cousin’s 65th birthday. And if we were going to just sell one thing for the rest of the company’s lifetime we don’t think we’d make very much money, so we keep things fresh by selling new things every day.
Q: That sounds an awful lot like impulse buying, is that the case?
A: Look, Zazz really is impulse buying, but at it’s best. We’re willing to say that. A lot of the stuff we sell you DO NOT NEED. But that’s irrelevant; because last time I checked, the things I want (a new plasma tv, swiss army knife and coffee grinder) are much cooler than the things I need (air and water).
These products go on sale at Midnight Australian Eastern time each day, which is cool for those of us in Western Australia since it’s only 10pm here. They also offer an sms alert service via twitter which I am yet to check out. Looking through their list of past products it seems most of them have been selected to appeal to the geeks and the gadget freaks. This may not have been such a timely discovery for me since I’m currently saving towards our upcoming trip and hopefully a new guitar, so I shall have to be strong not to give in to the temptation. I was even tempted by today’s $988 computer system, which is an awesome deal, even though I already have a relatively new PC. Anyway, check it out at your own risk!
Categories : Australia, Cool, Gadgets, Internet, Personal |
10th
May
2007
Christian Today – Christian News – Prince Wants to Study Bible
I think I can see at least one way in which urban myths get started – incomplete media reporting or insufficient background research. The above story [via CraigS], on the Christian News website “Christian Today” details how funk rock star Prince is to “take time off music to study the Bible.” There is no 
editorializing or further detail but the implication of such a headline on a Christian news site has to be that Prince is doing the good Christian thing and studying the Word – ie : “Ain’t it great that another big rock star has joined the Christian flock! Another great moment for the church. Great to have another Christian musician to add to the likes of U2 and … Cliff Richard” Maybe I’m extrapolating too much but I think that captures the basic sentiment that a lot of Christian readers would have when they see that story. And then they’ll tell their churchy friends about how Prince has become a Christian and is studying the Bible, and the message will spread and grow like Chinese whispers, maybe even get printed in other publications, websites, or books…
But in actual fact the reality is somewhat different. In fact it’s more like Cliff Richard in reverse, since The Artist currently known as Prince is actually an active Jehovah’s Witness (see here or just Google for verification). So when he says he is taking time off to study the ‘Bible’ it is most likely the dodgy New World Translation he will be studying, and learning more about the JW religion. For a Christian news outlet to report Prince’s Bible study but to leave out these crucial facts shows gross incompetence in their background research. I would hope that such blatant misinformation would not have occurred intentionally. Either way, it’s a worry. You can’t always trust the headlines.
Categories : Personal |
Just cos it was the best of what I had handy on this work PC #