General Invite ::

What :: Harry Potter 4
Where :: Hoyts, George St City (meet at hoyts)
When :: 01/12/2005, meet 10:45, movie at 11
Why :: Final Movie b4 Alexis leaves to get 'Renaldino'-ized

There u have it.

Well then - How many ppl r planning on playing WoW these holidays?

Awesome. I've done 3 CSE electives + Software Engineering.

The guideline from the Handbook says I need to do 2 "Science Electives" one in 1st and one in 2nd year. At enrolment way back in first year, I was told that a "Science Elective" (exact words) consituted a whole list which included Accounting 1A & B which I have done.

To cut a long story short, CSE faculty requirements say that I have not completed by Sci degree while the handbook says I have.

Whoop whoop! I'll be damned if I have to do another Sci course because some retard was too lazy to change 1 item in the page. Especially in my $ituation.

Excellent point.

To that, speaking for myself, I'd say, its not about the destination, its about the journey

You guys should decide what is a higher priority:
- Having the experience of a road trip
or
- Seeing reef

If it's the latter, I suggest a quick fly down there, take a one day reef package, stay another, then fly back. Currently the fuel cost is roughly the same as flight cost. But that's not factoring the hotel cost along the way to Townsville. If you fly direct, you avoid all that cost.

If you're after a 'road trip', then one to the reef will cost at least $600 once you've factored in fun. Do think hard about what you really want out of this. If it's a road trip, go somewhere closer.

Perhaps I could try to be a bit more conservative.

In the city premium 98 costs about 10-12c more than regular unleaded. So that amounts to about 10% more. To be over-the-top, say it is 20% more in rural areas. That means $1.30x1.2 = $1.56/L of premium. Say 1 tank fuelling is 40L (note we will not be using full 55L capacity and run on empty to the next station), so that equates to $62.40 per tank.

Both the E230 and the 190E have 2.3L engines. For the 190E, the fuel gauge is busted, so I use the odo to measure when I should refuel. Typically I fuel at 400kms and that usually comes to 40L of petrol used and that comes to about $50-5 a tank, in the city. The E230 is slightly heavier than the 190E (anywhere between 100-200kgs) at 1410kgs. Take into account an extra weight of 4 others and maybe the fact that not braking on country highways is offset by the extra weight ie maybe we'll do 400km on one tank with the Benz.

• 3500/400 = 9 tanks rounded up. 13 if we go to Townsville.
• 9x$62 = $558
• 558/3 = 186 worse case scenario
• As for Townsville, 13*$62 = $812 / 3 = $270 in which case would not be cheaper than 2x$129. We'd need carhire in that case or we'll be stuck in Townsville for 7 days with nothing to do unless we spend lots of money.

I could estimate the distance per tank as even less but even conservatism needs to have a line drawn. If we have a second car, it most likely wouldn't use as much fuel as the E230 coz most of you have lighter, regular ULP using, < 2L engine cars which means that it will bring the average cost fuel slightly further down. Damn, I forgot to account for Aircon usage. Anyone care to guess what impact it would have on our mileage?

How was your experience with the last roadtrip? You should have more intimate knowledge of how far the Excel goes normally in the city with just you driving alone. How did consumption fare on country roads with more people in the car? Did it use more or less fuel than it normally would in the city?

$40/day for food? Damn, thats gourmet! I don't think we need to estimate food because ultimately the individual will be responsible for what they eat etc. They can make their own estimates about it because if we eat out, we will probably go capitalist so what one person eats is of not really great significance to another. Not true for travel cost though. As for me, Japanese instant noodles and occasional eat out is fine :D Its a roadtrip, not a spa-holiday. I can survive on it for 7 days.

So in summary, the figures provided are based on the following assumptions (against and for minimising cost):

1. Regular ULP costs $1.30
2. Premium costs 20% more than Regular in rural areas as opposed to 10% in urban
3. We'll be fuelling up only at rural areas
4. We'll do 400kms/40L
5. Fuel consumption does not take into account the fact that we will be using Aircon which we will most probably need if we go North!
6. The trip will be 3600kms in total. NRMA states that the trip should be 3000kms if we go straight there. 5200kms if we go to Townsville
7. There will only be 3 people per car and 6 people in total which maximises the 2 variable costs: accomodation and fuel
8. Accomodation will be $120/night which is a maximum we are willing to spend
9. Modelled on E230 which is a higher fuel consumer (in quantity and quality) than other cars in our group. If we get a second car, the average will come down a bit
10. $40 a day for food. The figure is considering that we will be eating out most of the time

But I think an upper limit of $460 sounds good. Very conservative, I like it :) I just hope it doesn't scare away too many people.

1. Are you sure filling up an E230 (Mercedes?) with Premium will cost only $60? My 40 L hyundai excel will obviously cost $45-50. Considering something like a Landrover/Pathfinder costs about $200 a tank. In other words, does the E230 only have 40L or so?

2. Try 8 people over 2 cars. Then try 6 people over two cars. You don't know how many people are coming for sure.

3. At worst case scenario,
- 3 per car
- 3500km to Rock with misc travel
- 3500/450 = 7.8 tanks per car
- 7.8 x $60 = $470 per car
- 470/3 = $157 per person

But that's worst case scenario.

4. Accomm roughly $120 per night for a 4.5 star place (gourmet, worst cost case scenario).
- $120 x 6 nights = $720
- $720/6 people = $120 per person

5. Food $30 per person per day assuming you don't eat fried instant noodles whatever. Try $40 if you have a warm breakfast too, snacks and alcoholic drinks occasionally. $180 food 6 days. Or $240 luxuriously.

160 + 120 + 180 = $460
minimally, for food, transport and accomm.

Add theme parks, entry fees, other fees, photograph film, souvenirs and there's your ceiling cost.

Just for comparison to airfares, we'll say that we go to Townsville by car.

As per the NRMA figures, its 3000kms to get to the Rock and back. So if we want to go to Townsville, that will be about an extra 1500kms. (I'm trying to be really conservative in using figures for the car). Lets say that a tank of fuel does 450kms as mentioned before and costs $60 per full tank (for Premium at least). I'm basing these figures on my parent's E230.

• 4500/450 = 10 tanks of fuel per car
• 10*$60 = $600
• $600/5 = $120 for fuel, per person (optimally there will be 5 people in each car)
  

Looking at jetstar.com.au, the flight to Townsville costs $129 one way. Another $129 coming back. Thats a total of $258. Then there's carhire. If we're lucky we might be able to get a discount on it from the ticket. Even if we get a discount for booking airfares in bulk, I doubt it would be greater than 50% to cover the return ticket and carhire fully.

Note: the $120 is for a trip to Townsville which is pretty damn far. I suggested the Rock (Gladstone more like it, as Charlie pointed out) which would save us 1500kms of travel. KJ, if you think Gladstone would be gay, then we could compromise for a destination between there and Townsville, especially if we extend the trip for an extra day (making it 7 days).

Hey ppls,

I was watching ACA today and fuel prices in the rural areas can hit 1.30 per litre. I am assuming that is the price for normal 92 octane. Also, fuel prices are the cheapest in Brisbane according to that show. 400 bucks worth of fuel equates to around 7 tanks, assuming we spend around 60 per tank. A small car should be able to handle 600 to 700, depending on the engine and your driving. You guys do the maths.

Brisbane is seriously not that big. I've been there and seriously, Chinatown should be called "Chinastreet". It is THAT small. Their equivalent of George Street is comparable with say...Elizabeth Street? Not even. But they do have a lot of pubs down there! Lolz. James's suggestion of flying up there, then renting a car is by far the best. It saves time and money.

The touring/accomodation guide for NSW is actually 5.50 if you are an NRMA member. Dunno what i paid 10 bucks for now! Lolz. My mistake. Sorry. Please bear in mind that my guide dated as 2003-2004. That means prices and the availability of the place still being there is questionable.

Sweeeeeeeeeet

you guys should come visit me up in Newcastle on day 1, we can hit the beaches, have a brekky/lunch.

it's 2 hours drive so fairly close and en route for brekky/lunch.
:)

Just a suggestion

Ok I'm too lazy to contact everyone individually so DIY like my birthday script in the bulletin.

Tamworth sounds awesome, country music baby!=)

fair enough...
so our main decision is whether rockhampton will happen or not..
the other parts seem to be ok...

i say we go tamworth
(regional cap of australia)
if time is too tight

Lol, change of plans, don't think its gonna happen in December. It was too ambitious. Most likely will happen during 2nd-3rd week of January. The itinerary will be the same. I'll reform the roadtrip spreadsheet.

It'll most likely take place between 20th Jan (when KJ comes back) and 31st Jan (when I start Summer)

Sounds good, keep up the work.

Cairns/Townsville is too friggin far. We won't make it. Besides, if we did go that far, I'd agree with James in that we should fly up. Driving there is too tight on time and money.

If you don't need to rinse the instant noodles then by all means get it. But the ones Renee and I got from the Japanese store outside my bus stop are awesome. No rinse needed. The water isn't murky after boiling.

Everyone get their own plastic bowl and mess tin. It is an option to drive closer there on the first night so we can maximise our time at the park but if you guys don't want it then at least it will be cheaper on us :)

Char can you get the books off Eric sometime soon? We'll meet later in the week to chisel out more detailed plans on stoppage.

KJ: I made a mistake before, we either leave on the 4th or 5th. Those are Sunday and Monday respectively.

Looking at your itinerary ..
I see 5 confirmed people....

i say optimum is 8-10 but meh that's something that we just have to wait on...

btw for food .. i figured if each of us buys a box of food.. (im bringin instant noodles) kettle cooker... itll minimise costs dramatically
at least for the first 2 days anyway
i say we get 3 ppl buy a box of instant noodles (try gettin the bowl noodles .. not the packeted ones) then that should cover dinner for day 1 an 2 (possibly leading to 3)

Im obliged to agree with char here..
if we're going to a theme park for 2 hours ... thats not worth it

however, i would like to explore more of the Gold Coast since i've never been there before...

I'm also beginnin to doubt the possibility of seeing the GBR .. in terms of distance etc etc, if we get to Rockhampton, which i think is the FURTHER possible for us.. we can only see like the little tail section of the reef an somehow that might not be as appealing as the big mofo....

just a suggestion: how bout we shape the trip a bit for emphasis on brisbane a bit more... cos seriously the part i regret bout last road trip was that we had absolutely no interaction with melbourne (tho me james an i think eric did)

.. and Friday seems to be a great day to go... less traffic jam compared to say
monday

Also, on our way back, i think we can give tamworth a visit too .. (but we may need sacrifices for that.. )
more brainstorming to come either tomorrow or wednesday

The theme park will be down to a vote then. Like I said, we can power on closer to Gold Coast on the first day so we can get to the park at opening time or around 10am

I'll get some japanese instant noodles and maybe a kettle too.

Gladstone tours

Fitzroy Reef Jet Cruise sounds enticing. Booking info is here. Note that the day trips depart on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. It's $125 each and I think we depart from the Town of 1770, southeast of Gladestone, which means less travelling to get there.

On the last road trip, we ate fast food along the way, backed up by instant noodles at night. Occasionally, we scored a decent meal or two like steak at Dubbo and pizza at Griffiths.

Theme park? Phuc dat =). It's not worth spending 40 bucks and staying for only 2 hours, I'd rather spend more time exploring Brisbane.

Do we have 10 people going? There's only 5 confirmed so far on your spreadsheet. Can we have some confirmations from others? What of second car? I can ask around to see if others are interested. Dec 4th is a Sunday I think. Oh and we might want to invest on another walkie talkie.

John: if you haven't seen already, according to one of the new episodes, 25% of British males would prefer to be in the car with this:



Than this:

Charlie: agreed. Depends if theres anything to see at Gladstone. The cost breakdown will most likely involve: fuel costs, theme park entry and a day trip to an island.

I have no idea how much its gonna cost though. According to NRMA the total distance we need to travel is: 2999kms.

So (conservatively estimating), assume we will do an extra 500kms outside of the given path (is this realistic?). We do 450kms/tank (2.3L engine) we'll use about 8 tanks of petrol per car. 8*50 = $400. So thats roughly $80pp. But...we will most likely have aircon during the whole trip so I'm not sure what effect that will have on fuel economy. Note, from Top Gear, winding the windows down may end up costing the same due to drag at high speeds.

Accomodation, well you guys who went last time would know more about estimating. We'll get Eric's handbook for NSW accomodation, but we need to buy the QLD one. Eric said it was $10. We also need a sites guide to QLD so we can get happy snaps and do stuff other than driving. 6 days, 5 nights. Again, conservative ~$100pn.

Theme Park entry. KJ suggested Wet and Wild theme park as being the best. Parking is free. Wet and Wild entry fee is $40 per adult. The site mentions no discount for being a uni student. The park closes at 5pm so that doesn't give us much time. Alternatively we can power through the central coast and stop closer to Gold Coast to maximise time spent at the park. Right now we are set to arrive at ~1pm coming from Coffs Harbour. Don't forget to factor in food costs if we eat at the park.

Food costs? How much are we gonna eat or do we just go capitalist and pay for our own food etc.

Total costs: $400/car ($800), $500 accomodation, $50pp theme park. So thats $130 + $50 = $180 not including food or the reef daytrip. Assuming a day reef trip is $100pp (?) that will get to $280 without food. Can someone scrutinise the fuel costs? Are they realistic?

Can someone have a look into Reef trips around Gladstone etc and see what the costs of it are? We'll get more detail when we can get our hands on those books.

To cut food costs down, we can pack in simple food like bread and canfood until we get to larger cities and restock from there maybe? Dunno what you guys want to do.

If we are to make this roadtrip, we need to leave on the 5th of December, latest. Ideally we leave on the Fri 4th which means we won't have to rush as fast as if we were to leave on 5th Sat.

Edit: The prices given are assuming we have 10 people going on roadtrip.

pho

Marc:

The reef extends from 368km north of Brisbane all the way to Papua New Guinea. However, Rockhampton is located a little bit inland, and not on the coast. Gladstone is actually closer to the reef

In any case, I would imagine to catch a glimpse of the reef, we'll need to get out onto one of those islands along the coast or get on a boat.

It all depends on how much people are willing to spend.

Here's something I whipped up in the last hour or two.

Roadtrip 2005

The last two days will be pretty rough and I am assuming that there are pretty looking water thingies at Rockhampton so can someone confirm? I gotto go to sleep now, working for pez tomorrow.

James suggested that seeing as airfares are cheap lately, we can go to townsville or another QLD coastal town. From there, we may be able to hire a car and drive just a little around the coast. Consider both options.

Attempted murder? Don't worry jono, ur only guilty of negligent driving (or culpable driving). I think that would be a few points off your licence though :)

UNSW security is not wholly greater. One time, after an exam I think, I was out with darren and paul and we saw a duster on the floor ooutside the physics labs and I challenged darren to see if he could throw it back into one of the windows in OMB. The duster fell back onto a security car and the guy inside went nutes. Literally. He got out of the car and Grabbed Darren by the shirt with both fists (like pub brawl/bouncer move) then threantened him or something. I can't remember what he said.

I just shouted "What's your problemm, man, it's just a duster" and he realised, apologised and shook darrens hand. Kinda weird, but that guy was wound up tight.

By the way, my litigation teacher told me that security guards and other bodies' power of enforcement, which is not backed by regulation or legislation, is actually similar (if not equal) to a citizen's arrest. So mall cops can only detain you until the police arrive to charge you with whatever, they don't have any real power like the police.

Ummm...Jono, you remember Tim Holland in year 12? I think that's how he died. Because he was sitting on the boot, and someone decides to move the car, he fell, hit the pavement and yeh.

Also, law ppls, i thought they are suppose to issue the fine then and there. You can't issue a ticket/fine AFTER the event has occurred?...unless they've already written a copy of it and they are waiting for Jono to walk back in so they can send it off...

Anyway, even though it's average speed, isn't there an infinite amount of ways that we can get a certain average speed?

eg, (50+10+90)/3 = 50
(20+70+60)/3 = 50

They all give average speeds. (assuming AGAIN that the numbers in tens are speeds) If we agree that 80 is the speed limit, the only driver breaking the law is the first driver which exceeded the speed limit. I just think that the higher the acceleration, the faster the person will reach a certain speed, and hence, more distance travelled. But in order for someone to avoid getting pawned by the cameras, the person must slow down enough so that the time taken will not be shorter than the time taken by the law abiding citizens.

The argument here being, those stpuid cameras might actually do have loopholes. It's just that it's a waste of petrol and time to drive above the speed limit, then just slow down and still be safe from the stupid RTA. Hahahah, for those who did economics, aren't economic/finance theories like that? THey work in THEORY, but practically, it's not gonna work?! Eg, CAPM. When frictionless markets my arse!

In other news, thanks to super-uptight, power-hungry Sydney University cops, Cheong, Yael, Smithy and I are now banned from Sydney University campus for 4 years.

That would be the president and vice president of the UNSW outdoors club, trying to go climbing on friday night.
:)

mmm...seriously time to sleep now...
Story later.
:)

(No we were not speeding, drugging or drinking)
(ok by coincidence, Yael and Smithy happened to bump into us driving into campus as usual, and jumped on my bonnet/boot while I drove them 150 m at 10 km/h. For the first time in the history of my frequent presence on USYD campus, there happens to be USYD officers there, just as we pull up to the ledge (climbing gym). Power hungry villains, with nothing better to do on a friday night at 7:30pm, issue us these "citations", wasting a good half hour, but with no fine. Which also seems ridiculous to me...Oh and they also issued my passenger, Cheong, one, even though he has jack all to do with it (no, not even an "accessory"). Also threatening us with "attempted murder" if Yael fell off the bonnet and "criminal charges" if we attempt to set foot on USYD campus without authorisation in the next 4 years (that would be until Nov 2009). It was all quite a bit funny, almost, to the four of us at the time, trying to hide the stupidity of the situation from the officers.

Anyway, we can write a letter of appeal as the "good" officer suggested (there were actually 5 officers by the end of the fiasco, including the supervisor...seriously bored...though he said, "We don't have time for these things". Argh, hypocrite.), but I don't think my shitty view of USYD staff will really ever improve...(except the guys and girls at the Ledge gym, they're uber cool) Gosh UNSW security is so much cooler, even though they're starting to get a bit stricter. I almost pity those silly USYD officers, if they didn't now waste my time requiring me to write a pointless letter of appeal. I have all summer to do it.)

Blah. Enough bitching

The cameras measure an average speed, so the acceleration is irrelevant isn't it?

Recall: dy/dx and d2y/dx2 :)

hahaha, in a good way or in a bad way? All these hypothetical situations/assumptions. Makes me sound like an economist.

A work colleague suggested taking a sandwich break inbetween, then speed to "catch up". ;)

i don't think the camera uses the car next to you as the benchmark for speeding.
if the speed limit in between two points is 100km/h, and the distance between the two points is 1km, that means for you to stay under the speed limit, it would take at least 36 seconds. go under that and you were speeding.

it also means you can travel at 10km/h for 20 seconds, take 8 seconds to accelerate up to 200km/h, and stay at that speed for 9 seconds and still not get caught... unless there's also an officer standing on the side of the road with a radar.

You amaze me Eric... with each passing comment.
:D

Hypothetically speaking, we will assume there is a camera at Point A. Before this camera, the speed limit is 60km/h and once we pass point A, the speed limit will increase to 80km/h. the 2nd camera is located 200m down the road, which will we call point B.

Now we will assume there are two cars, travelling at 60km/h before Point A and will be accelerating to 80km/h after they pass that point. However, Driver A has a high power vehicle which allows it to reach 80km/h within 2 seconds while Driver B has a underpowered vehicle which only allows him/her to reach 80km/h after 5 seconds. Both drivers will stop accelerating and drive at a constant speed of 80km/h until they reach point B.

If we apply the physics we've learnt in year 12, with everything else constant with acceleration being the only variable, we will get a difference in time for both drivers to reach Point B.

I mean, doesn't the cameras use the time taken to travel between the two cameras to determine whether we actually did speed? IF that is the case, a person can accerlate to 90kms, then slow down again to imitate the time taken by a vehicle travelling at a constant speed of 80km/h. The cameras wouldn't know the difference. Of course, this is a hypothetical situation with very strict assumptions.

Well it doesn't apply to me that much, I need to have a mode of transport before i can get caught speeding on it.

FINISHED EXAM !!!!
YES!!!!!

Now to find a job
ne1 know of some coding/hardware job that i could do?

i don't understand what you mean eric... if you take a shorter amount of time than the time required by an average speed fo 60km/h, then you must have went over the speed limit at some point in between the two cameras.

That is such a stupid thing to do. What happens to those who likes to redline their cars, rev up to 60 in a 60 zone, then cruise along at 60?! The time taken for these people to travel the distance between the two cameras will be relatively shorter than others. They aren't speeding, they just accelerate faster!


Side note: Rosalie is happy to "drop by" afterwards. Probably around 4. So if that's going to affect food supply, please add her name to the list. However, she's only interested in kebab runs at night. Lolz. Also, James, your B52 has arrived. IF you still want it, please tell me so I can purchase the bomber while i'll try bargain it down so you get an ICBM with it as well. Lolz. But it's at Hobbyco in the cti.

Yes, Clarkson. A man of wisdom. He also said: speed doesn't kill - suddenly becoming stationary does. Thats why we all need cars with an HUD :)

Damn, my eyes are playing tricks on me. I keep seeing other people's nicks.

It really does piss you off doesn't it?
It pisses me off.

All I do these days driving to and from uni is stare at my dash (when i'm in the harbour tunnel) to make sure I'm doing about 85-88 max (assuming traffic allows this), since I don't know where speed cameras are. Granted, I should not be speeding, but 85-88 accounts for speedometer offset as well as speed camera tolerances.

And yes, sometimes, you do risk weaving by checking your speedo so much.

I drive at my best when I'm not focusing on my bloody dash.

--------

On another note, one of the best anti-speeding measures seems to be quite a simple one which the goverment may or may not have already realised. Traffic. Traffic in the harbour tunnel about 15 hours per day (7am - 11pm), all through the morning, all through the afternoon, there's...always...traffic.

My best solution is simply me moving to coogee. Sweeeet.

--------

Much cooler than the RTA.
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/2005/11/21/1132703304110.html

as jeremy clarkson said, that thing is going to kill people.
instead of having motorists looking at the road, we're going to get a roadful of people staring at their dashboards, ready to hit the brakes in case they go 2km/h over the limit.

This will annoy some people.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/speed-cameras-to-time-your-journey/2005/11/24/1132703316765.html

With all due respect Hash,

Does the fact that the disease came from the fleas specifically on rats than the rats themselves when killing it? Maybe I should have just sprayed the rat with Mortein and let it be on its way. I'm sure the Mortein would have not only killed the fleas but cancelled out its blindness.

Rats as pets are fine as long as the owners are competent, ie keep them clean and caged. The same applies with rabbits, as long as the owners can keep them confined (confession: I am an incompetent owner - James' house last summer. Stupid rabbit).

I agree, hash, that rabbits are worse pests than rats in Australia specifically because some supremely stupid retard thought it would be a good idea to release them and go hunting for them. Practicallity aside, do you think throwing boiling hot water on pest rabbits is a good idea? Maybe not.

But what about myxamatosis as a form of killing them? 90%+ effectiveness when first introduced. Have a look at the really awesome way they get to die. But then again, you might be of the view that slowly suffering blindness and giving way to bacterial infection in an AIDs like manner (although greatly accelerated) over 13 days would be better than a near instant death. Despite this, I'm not against its use merely because I own adorable fluffy white rabbits who fart rainbows and kittens. They're pests and they need to be controlled (though, its unfortunate that some domestic pets, including my own, may die from this disease). A bullet would do better, but unfortunately biological disease seems to be the only viable option.

What about locusts? Mmm the biological control they released is delicious, they get eaten from the inside by a fungus looking growth. But, hey, those are locusts and they deserve to die.

As I said before, the rat was blind. Release it into the forestry so it could live a long, meaningful life and write his autobiography about how he worked his way in the face of adversity and managed to live without being able to tell if its day or night? A heart-warming tale for all ages. I don't go killing pet rats for fun.

I mean I did it to keep my house free from disease etc but pest-controllers? They do it for money - they earn a living off of this. How can they live with themselves!?

On a side note the jihad I was referring to was not the Islamic jihad based on 'struggle (with one's self and with the greater world) in the cause of god'. Rather I was talking about the Team America type jihad. "And It was on that day I put a jihad on them. If you don't believe me, you'd better just kill me now because I'll put a jihad on you too."

Scott's busy with the love boat XD

YAYYYY LUNCHHH YUMMM

CAN SOMEONE BRING A PUMP FOR MY SOCCER BALL?

LET ME KNOW IF YOU WILL. THANKS

Howdy folks! Hope exams are wrapping up nicely. Food, fun and star awaits on Saturday.

I'd like to get the numbers of guests right this time. Last time certainly people rocked up who I didn't expect. That didn't help with the already under-supply of food. So this time I'm expecting:

Alexis
Benny
Char
Darren
Eric
Hash
Irene
James
Jono
KJ
Kwong
Marc
Renee
Scott (uni trip)
Yi

I like the numbers as it is (~15), maybe one or two more but that's about it. JJ's not around to help this time so I can't handle much more. If someone wants to come but isn't on the list, let me know.


Details once again:

Event: Post Exam Luncheon
Temporal Coordinates: Saturday 26th of Nov 11:30AM
Spatial Coordinates: 16 Boulton St. Putney
Cost: $5-10 Per Person
Afters: Benny's Pho~ + Star (Bring star-equipped laptops)

Food will be served at 12:00 sharp.

Technically Marc,

If you declaring jihad on the rodents, you are declaring that you will go and speak to them of your religion, quote to them from your holy texts and attempt to convert them to you religion by any peaceful means possible.

We have enuf ppl dissing the Muslims without continual misunderstanding of key concepts due to media sensationalism.

Also - rats did not cause the Black plague. Rats were only carriers.
Humans accelerated the spread of the bubonic plague into what is called the "black death" by gross negligence and unhigenic living conditions / sewage treatment systems.

In Australia - rabbits are a worse pest than rats, so I don't know y u felt u needed to kill it.
With boiling water, as well.

Just contain it and go to you closest forestry area and release it.

For you Optus people here wondering if the new plans are better value, if you are on the 12GB plan at the moment, then it's not a better deal. I think you get 5GB less for the same amount of money.

However you are not forced to switch to the new plans. What's even better is that you get the increased 256Kb upload and the 12am to 12pm off peak extension!

0. Thanks Darren

1. I think you mean Charlie, Marc, not Yi?

2. Are we really have celebratory drinks tonight? I'm down.

I was at the Rege at 3am with a friend and it was basically just the two of us, and a few other drunk people. Felt a bit like a depressed alcoholic. Interesting experience haha Hmmm

SSH into your own account and use it from there?

Yi, that article no longer applies, because...

I just received a machine recording telling me I've won a cruise to the Caribbean. Now they just pay for the machine and ditch the human resources altogether.

But then again, no one would feel any conflict (and therefore resentment) about hanging up on a machine as opposed to another human being.

I suppose a response of anger is not such a bad thing when faced with a human telemarketer. It could be worse if we decided to treat a person on the other end like a machine and just hang up instantly without any feeling.

The problem is the whole commission-based remuneration. It encourages them to strive harder at the expense of an increasingly annoyed community.

Gah, I have too much time to think. I have to pace myself for my DIY James Wang lose 10 kilos of embitterment in 10 weeks programme. Celebratory drinks tonight!

Just...so...tempting to rip into that article.

ah, gz.. one of the lazier 2 letters born from the world of MMORPG.

In these worlds, leveling up does not happen often, and when it does, others feel the need to show their respect for the hard work and hours put in by the leveler; ie congratulate him. But typing out all 15 letters in 'congratulations' takes too long, so people started to shorten it.

Congratulations -> Congrats -> Gratz -> Gz.

And there you have it, a saving on typing time of 86 2/3% over the original message to convey the same message.

In other news, 6 people working in one room sharing one person's worth of internet quota. Its not going to work. But it is what happens at work. I should just go to the cse labs and use my quota from there.

haha thanks Marc
What's Gz mean? Good...zone...Good sleep...tell me about good sleep, might be time to hit the sack

I start work Monday Dec 5 (1.5 weeks from now), Will be back just before Christmas (maybe 22nd, not sure) for two week's break over new year's, go back early Jan I think, until uni starts.

For the next 1.5 weeks, I'm going to some Terrigal beach house with Scott and some of the Mech Eng guys (Pete, Marty etc?) from Sunday evening ish until either Tuesday night or Wednesday night, depending on when I feel like coming back. Haven't hung out with them for ages, and activities will include the beach every day, bumming every day, drinking, cricket/footy/soccer (scoreeeeee), and in general taking some good time off. I think some of them are bringing laptops. I jumped on this boat also since I had nothing else organised around this time, and beach/soccer bumming etc sounds really good for 3 days of my short break before some more good old fashioned engineering work again.

This saturday should be awesome :)

Four years...incredible.

Hmmm...does that include the 6 months free thing? For adsl anyway. It looks pretty good....and if they still have the 6 month free bonus, I am going over to Optus!

Theres a new set of Optusnet cable plans. Obviously we haven't been ported over to them. I can't really tell if they're more value for money specifically because I don't know how much a month the bill is right now.

The alternate perspective to telemarketing.

If I was declaring jihad on rodents I would be actively seeking them out with a kettle, or a suicide vest.

The rat was just an isolated incident, but I'm so glad you all take an interest in my daily activities :)

NB: The George Bush comment was not literal.

Gz jono. Whats status for roadtrip anyway? Who is tied to committments during the Summer holiday and when do they have to start?

In light of all motivational conversation...


... I"M SO DONEEE!!!!!

4 years...

...and 1 more to go.

Well, all aero subjects are finished. Thesis time here we come.

Grrrararar

"Yes, James, nature made rats and the black death and they also made those nasty ants that climb on my body and bite me for no reason."

to them, you're in their terroritory. ants are ants, they don't need mens rea.
don't declare war on the rodents and ants, just call pest control. because doing so would make you look like a crazy person.

Territorial defence, it's inbuilt.

Its not like I enjoyed killing it seriously. Its just doing what needs to be done even though its slack and is horrible to watch. I mean, I own rabbits which are rodents but rats are a health risk and can't just be caught and released into the wild (recall black death anyone?). Perhaps, if theres a next time, you would like to be the host for this guest? Besides, are not you the one who thinks my rabbit and your webber are a match made in heaven?

Yes, James, nature made rats and the black death and they also made those nasty ants that climb on my body and bite me for no reason. If they climb my body, I'd kill them. I don't go looking to kill them, but if they're only my body chances are that if I leave them there, they'll bite me. But maybe you'd take the rat to Club Med and after the ants have bitten you, you'd reward each individually with a bravery medal.

But not me. I'm the George Bush of nature. I steam-roll everything in my path. And if theres nothing there, I'll put something there so I can roll over it muahaha!

If anything I'm passionate about hygiene but I just don't see how I can be passionate about telemarketers :)

I think humans are the only ones to have the capacity to be evil (with the exception of killer whales and cats).

I'm well aware that my posts may come across as bitter but its just realism.

Marc,
You are quite a bitter man aren't you? From the "pick up the phone and don't talk" just to beat a salesman to the "pour boiling water over rat", it seems you always treat the world as a form of evil going out to get you; and you have the god-given (lawyer) right to crush it with your full capacity. Consider passion over embitterment. It's a much better policy.

I don't think a BB gun would kill it as fast. Specifically, your BB gun :p

ahhhh.....I didn't know rat poisoned blinded....

mmm yeah....boiling water doesn't sound too comfy either...

a bullet....that'd do the trick...shottie style...

Uh, didn't you read my previous post?

Rat Poison blinds them and kills them slowly. In fact, my parents just told me they put rat poison under the house which explains why it was so bold as to venture into the house in broad daylight - it couldn't see.

Killing it then and there was probably the best thing to do as it would probably starve to death from then.

True...

I was thinking about that, how to actually kill it...even if you trap it

I'd definitely not prefer the boiling water idea...Maybe just feed it some rat poison...

But dettol's awesome...I love dettol handwash...dabomb....

Trapping won't work. If we release it outside, its either gonna come back or find some other poor person's Command Centre to infest and plague.

I'm afraid killing it was the only sensible thing to do.

Dude....can I say that you sound like you've sort of...lost your mind...
You boiled a rat to death on your kitchen floor?

Dude....that's messy....Try maybe grabbing a bucket and trapping it, and release it outside somewhere...

maybe...

yeah today's exam was hard. Simply. Grf.

The holiday kicks off with me staying at home and dealing with an unwelcome visitor. In the form of a rodent.

I trapped it in the kitchen, put the kettle on and splashed it with boiling hot water and it wasn't a pretty sight. It was kinda hard to stomach it screaming and squealing in its throes of pain. Harder still to splash it some more to end its suffering.

Mmm then I had to deal with the corpse. I poured more boiling water on it just to make sure I didn't get any surprises when I picked it up. Took it outside and buried it.

Then I proceeded with the mop up the couple of litres of water I threw onto the ground followed by dettolling the floor.

I guess that method was a lot better than using rat poison which makes them go blind and they eventually starve coz they can't find food to eat. Plus I the boiling hot water kills the germs around.

These wacky holidays, who knows what will happen next?

Day 177

Now that my exam has finished, its time to start thinking about enrolling for next semester: Enrolment appointment for UNSW starts on 13/12/05

This is what I been saying all along.

Her position is different from someone like Chappelle. Even though how he conducts himself does not conform with fundamental ideals of Islam, he is not public about his faith and admits that he is not qualified to be a representative of Islam.

Leslie, on the other hand, went public about it, so much so as to use the headscarf and went public about her faith, which coincentally was not at all raised before the trial or before when she was an underwear model. If she had announced she was a Muslim but did not wear the headscarf, then this probably wouldn't have been an issue.

But because she did, the ideals of the headscarf came into direct conflict with her profession. For example, you don't see Chappelle publicly announcing he's gonna be a mamma's boy then changing his mind and going back to crude humour.

In all probability, her use of the head-dress was a stunt and when it no longer suited her purposes, she discarded it.

We need a server for jk2. Could this be YOUR comp???

Its a celebration, bitches! I'm Rick James...



What the hell am I gonna do for 3 months lol.

James,
Go join Google.
They are eventualising your idea.

And now I'm going to bore you with some Boeing news

I'm just surprised by these two statements:

"Emirates ordered forty-two 777 jets in a deal worth $9.7bn"

"Earlier this year, Boeing announced it was selling 60 of its 787 "Dreamliner" jets to China for $7.2bn."

I didn't know 777's are that much more than the new 787's...learn something new every day :)

But also very cool...
"China's deal with Boeing was hailed as a promising sign for future co-operation between China and the US by China's official news agency Xinhua."


------------------

In other news....ah crap...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4454152.stm
The mission has been going pretty awesome too, and they've been pretty quiet about it it seems.
(Original story here )

Sweet plan charlie, sounds like a good dealio, yo

So does soccer and tennis.
:) If i'm in Sydney around then.

I think I was talking to Yi about this one, but not entirely sure...

The difference between centripetal and centrifugal (the so called "non-existent" force).

* Centripetal (meaning "center seeking" in Latin) means directed towards the center.
Centripetal force is a force that acts upon a body moving in a curved path.
This force is directed towards the center of the curvature of the path. It is equal
to, but opposite the centrifugal force.


Similar to the weight force of a box on the floor acting downwards, with a reactive "normal" force acting from the ground upwards on the box.
:)
What's in a name...

In order of priority:

1. Liberation Drinks
2. More drinking
3. Drink till I drop.

Ok, Seriously:

1. Securing Honours for Psychology and thesis research.
First preference is in the field of Psychoanalysis on unconsious conflict and personality issues such as Machiavellianism and pathological Narcissism.
The topic is inherently theoretical and qualitative. Given the lack of supervisors for a qualitative thesis, I may have to settle for second preference.
This is an attempt to link Psychology with Economics, both behavioural sciences. The topic is on the influence of emotions on rational choice and logic.
My hypothesis at this stage is that when emotions kick in, logic and rationality are dismantled which totally obliterates the underlying assumption in Economics that we are rational. This was inspired by a quote in the Matrix 'emotions are designed to overwhelm logic'
There was another topic which I've discussed with Darren over at Bennie's at one stage. But I just can't, for the life in me, remember it.

2. Find a permanent casual position in the field of Psychology/Business fitting in with Honours year.

3. Play a bit of soccer if we can securing enough people, or tennis. People we still need one more person for a 2v2.

What is everyone upto in the Summer anyway? I get the feeling the first week is gonna be awesome followed by drudgery

See? engineering and computing CAN be fun..

Heh, when I first saw that link to De Moivre's Theorem, I got confused between that and DeMorgan's Theorem..

Last exam tomorrow, yay. Then I get to look forward to 2 months of full time work. I'm going to spend more time at uni than I did for the whole of this session.

dude that's amazing

best christmas lights ever.

The name rings a bell.
The actual theorem looks alien to me.
Glad the real world ain't that complex, pun intended.

A trip back to memory lane .

Can you believe it's only been 4 years since we did De Moivre's Theorem?

Pronounced deh-mwahve, not deh-moyver, for all those rusty cogs, incidentally including myself.

haha
some funny stuff three John - tho the Gansta rap is ancient, the "switch to the dark side" is pretty funny

I oughtto pop a cap in yo ass fo dat.

Seriously, john, I really should...I closed it after cloud city.

i didn't see the game either.

a special 3d edition of the star wars gangsta rap.

Haha noob eric, everyones already seen it.

haha Alexis - "Viduka lacks the vision to lead all out attacks, mostly relying on individual talent, which he lacks."

Good analysis overall, but soccer is just bloody awesome.
:)

Gold....simply gold.

Definitely down for some class-action soccer darren!

Well, Benny sent this to me...and he said Renee said it to him...so let's all share the joys of making Pho...they should make it for Kebabs as well...

Is it just me or does anyone feel like playing soccer?

That tactical switch by Hiddink was awesome. It came right after Popovic, despite receiving a yellow card, gave a crushing head blow to the opposition danger man Recoba. True aussie style!

There was an element of luck though. After the third goal in the penalty shootout, I was beginning to think Uruguay's goalkeeper Carini has right-side neglect.

It was mayhem in my house. My father going for Uruguay and I for Australia. At the end of the day the best team won. However lets not get our hopes up, Australia may have qualified, but winning the Cup is totally another different matter. We have the coach, but the players are still lacking. Bresciano and Emerton are very uncoordinated when kicking for goal. Viduka lacks the vision to lead all out attacks, mostly relying on individual talent, which he lacks. Our crosses most of the time are either too deep or too short of range. We lack skill, and this is mostly attributed to the fact the most of our squad plays in England, where football is mostly played with an emphasis on speed. There is none of the flair or the skill found in the Spanish and Italian leagues.

Dutchman Guus Hiddink is easily among the top three coaches in the world, alongside Favio Capello and the infamous Jose Mourihno. To turn a second rate team into a formidable opponent for South American opposittion in less than a month of training ranks up there with Greece winning Euro 2004. It was no fluke that South Korea made it to the semis (and beat Italy in the process), and that PSV managed to thrash the all mighty AC Milan 3-1. This dude can excel in any situation, no matter the odds.

Its gonna be a good world cup

EUROPE
Germany (hosts)
Croatia
England
France
Holland
Italy
Poland
Portugal
Serbia and Montenegro
Sweden
Ukraine
Switzerland
Spain
Czech Republic

SOUTH AMERICA
Argentina
Brazil
Ecuador
Paraguay

ASIA
Japan
Iran
Saudi Arabia
South Korea

CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean)
Costa Rica
Mexico
USA
Trinidad and Tobago

AFRICA
Angola
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Togo
Tunisia

OCEANIA
Australia

Of course unless something out of the ordinary happens, I can't see Brazil loosing this one. They are just so strong in every deparment. Even without Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Cafu they managed to thrash Argentina in the final of the Confederations Cup 4-1, a team considered to be alongside Brazil the best in the world at present. On paper Italy, England and Holland should be up there as well, but I don't know what bit them as of late.

OMG...DID ANYONE TAPE IT?! I was so absorbed in my corporate accounting, I've totally forgotten to even tape the match! STUPID ACCOUNTING! SERIOUSLY ACCOUNTANTS HAVE NO LIFE!!! MYSELF INCLUDED!!!

well done Australia

well deserved victory

I just feel bad for Vaduka - after an orsome performance all nite, he was the only 1 to completely miss the goal in the penalty shoot-out

Course Marc,

Maybe she can make some money sharing some of her tips she got from Punchbowl Public.

Show em how it's really done

COMMMMEEE ON AUSSIE COME ON, COME ON!!

GOLD! ABSOLUTELY GOLD!!

GERMANY HERE WE COME WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Oh man, the atmosphere was bloody *awesome* at the Rege, what a night

It was the Sydney Olympics all over again, for just one night

(PS Rege is the Regent hotel, the local bar around the corner from Uni)

tell her to have lots of fun by participating in the riots

Where is everyone dammit...
Who else is up celebrating the Socceroos magnificent well deserved victory?!
10 hours till i lose one of my personal servants...

Found out... everyone's starring heh
Definitely exam time

Where are my wild horses?!

SCHWARZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!
I'll be online all night if anyone wants to go see The Whitlams!

thanks for reminding me marc. i will be waiting a couple of weeks until my exams have finished and when the vuk (350mb) ones are released before i watch them.

My point exactly = ) Eye for Eye.

if you strike someone down communist style, wouldn't that make you a terrorist?

Have a safe trip.
And if you see any terrorists, strike 'em down the communist style =)

Flying out to Townsville to see my cousin in a few hours. Will get back on Tuesday. Good luck with exams everyone. Look forward to a big nice meal on Saturday.

john, Top Gear is is on again

Top Gear Car Survey Results 2005

One final thing: In terms of vehicles, what is the difference between luxury and prestige? (Something more specific than "prestige is better than luxury because the dictionary says so" please)

sounds bloody great...
I'll start confirming that my house is free for New Years or else we check out James' place...
I still haven't booked the tickets to see the Whitlams yet...
James' after party looks mitey fine now...

brainfart. yes i meant woolich.

No eric, you just haven't spent a NY with me. I was with John, Char etc when we split up from darren's place, presumably before you met up with them :)

My god ppls, just looking at the 01 to 04 NY events, i realised i haven't spent a single NY with you ppls!

01 Darling Harbour watching fireworks too...but not with NSBs
02 Working at Double Bay...
03 HK watching fireworks
04 Random picture-taking at Olympic Park with John, Charlie and Alan
05 ????

I suggest we go get drunk somewhere then Star and mahjong while playing poker. What a better way to spend NYE drunk with friends while playing Star/Mahjong and poker at the same time! LOLZ...

We didn't go to Putney park. :)
It was Clarkes Point Reserve at Woolwich.
But yeah, the view of the city there was good. Though there's no view of the Opera House side...

Putney park where we went to for Yi's thing would be ideal. Perfect view of the harbour bridge, though I don't know how many people will be there...could be packed. It should be free of drunk white kids starting members of our group. But anything is better than last year's celebration if any of you who were with me remember.



Thank you, john. It feels good to tell the truth every now and then.

2001 - City CBD observed fireworks.
2002 - La Perouse. Fond memories for Han.
2003 - Group dispersed into 2. One at little manly, the rest at my parent's place.
2004 - Darren's place then separate ways before it even turned midnight.

$150 and byo?

i doubt if any girl james hires will be as sexy as marc...

What if it's men that we want? =P

After all that and he asks for $150?! What's the world coming to?

$10 at my place folks, $10. Unlimited pizza, beer and 'fanbloodytastic lawns'. Beat that!

And if women is what you'll want, we'll up it to $20 and I'll hire some.

A message from a friend:

Hello everyone!

I know a lot of you may think New Year is a long way off but time flys and I had an email from a friend of mine with the idea of hiring a boat on the Harbour. I'm quite keen although is a little expensive but when I compare this to being rammed into a busy Sydney bar taking 30mins to get served and paying for $5 schooners I didn't think it was a bad alternative. No hussle or bussle, get dropped off in the park and carry on until the early hours.

There are 31 people going at the moment. Obviously the more people the cheaper the ticket but the boat company wants a confirmation soon (by the end of this week) or they will hire out to other interested parties. Places will be limited to 48-50 and each ticket will be $150. BYO food and drinks.

Feel free to spread the word to other friends and let me know

Cheers,

Blanca


I highly recommend this to those singles our there. Let me know asap if you're interested.

Bird of Prey? May it got that huge by eating spinach :)

I remember there were tonnes of Indian minors pissing it off, which is probably why it panicked and flew into my window.

Saturday 26th of November is the final date.
11:30AM, 16 Boulton St. Putney

James: regarding your lunch, if its on Friday i will only be able to make it to your post luncheon operations. Saturday is more ideal for me as I can make it the whole day

Also, with that bird, a quick search of all the major native australian birds of prey failed to turn up a picture that resembled your photos, so i'm thinking its an introduced species of bird.

$245?!

I can get 9 tickets to see The Whitlams!

So when's the luncheon guys?

But yeah I think I'll definitely be going to see them on Saturday night...

yipes $245
that is a bit much to climb a bridge.

Who came up with these prices?

Benny :: What is that series about? The Movie is some Sci-Fi assassin flick

I'd have to agree. Bridge Climb has been around for so long that I thought the prices would have fallen by now.

Besides, we could have gone skydiving with Jono for that amount ^^

How did that go anyway? you guys got some pics?

$245 dollars?! I can buy a life time's worth of mozzarella di bufala with that much money!

I'm in ^^

for the 25th thing that is

anyone interested in a harbour bridge climb on december 4th? we will be climbing at 18:05. cost will be $245 per person.

all interested parties should contact me.

James: Another lunch sounds like a wonderful idea, unfortunately I don't think I will be able to make it to this lunch either. I've got prearranged plans for both the 25th and the 26th... Thanks for the invite though! You will have to cook for us all another time, I don't think I've had the chance to taste your cooking ever...

Alexis: I envy that you're travelling during the summer holidays. I wish I was going beyond the shores of Australia too! Any chance of packing me in the suitcase?

Benny: Would you like for me to ask around to see if anyone I know is interested in going to the Whitlams with you? Otherwise, I say, be a brave boy and go alone *nods*

Aeon Flux?
Is that anyway related to Aeon Flux the rv series that was on SBS/MTV?

26th...
someone come see the whitlams with me...

Alexis : Just read what u had planned, and i have to say you are just plain evil, but have a good trip.

Btw - it is gonna be difficult to fund u for movies if u disappear like that, so watch as many as possible b4 hand.


Some interesting titles
Aeon Flux (assassins galore),
Underworld :: Evolution (actually it is devolution to the prime ancestor),
Harry Potter 4 (hogwarts and dumbledore - yay),
Chronicles of Narnia (prolly miss this),
Munich (and this),
Jarhead (this is good for all u war fanatics),
King Kong (u mite miss this too)

Alexis, can you make it for the lunch part on Saturday? That would make things easier for everyone.

Jam: Saturday 26th is preferable.

Alexis: Have a fun and safe trip and good luck with shaping up.

Marc: Why don't you get Irene in here and she can tell us who is sexier?

Kwong: Get close to the airport prior to landing and you won't need telephoto lens to capture the world's largest passenger carrier.

Airbus A380 Sydney Harbour flyover - 8:30am 13th Nov 2005. Landing at Sydney International at 9:10am. Who has a telephoto lens? :)

That looks like a cross between a pigeon and an eagle...and the beak looks like it's been gold plated...ahahahah. One way or another, it looks evil...check out its eyes....maybe you should send it to some bird watchers site and ask them...

Does anyone know what the hell this thing is?





I was browsing through my photos and remembered I had this pic. It crashed into a window on my veranda and it was taking a timeout when I took the pic, but I didn't approach it coz I didn't want to piss it off even more. It was a while back, like about a year ago.

haha love the title of your thesis topic James...Gadget Builder

chances of me attending are remote, as i do not finish until the 28th.

25th is great by me.
I do prefer off-weekends; makes me feel like I'm on holidays. :)

However, isn't Yi still working at that point, including Fridays?

hahaha...James I just read your lunch thing down the bottom, esp the PS part. Lolz, make good use of it!! I wanna eat pizzas made from that! Nonetheless, your party was great, and cooking for that many people is a great feat. Considering many of us are true devourers who can probably consume a group of 12 zerglings in one go...hahahahah.

Star at Benny's ey? Hmm...might as well just have a Lan party at Benny's! Goddam all you ppls with Laptops!!

In conclusion, yes James, lunch sounds good!

So currently we have Friday 25th as the op date.

Confirmed for lunch so far are:
-me
-Alexis
-Jono
-Yi
-Benny
-Marc
-Char?
-Eric?
-Hash?
-John?
-Linda?

Can we get some solid confirmation please.
Post your status.

Sexiness is measured as a deviation from my dear Kiera. You marcus, are hyper-planes away. ^_^

misery loves company.. so bring along your friends Jim, Jack and Johnny

there could be many reasons why MJ wasnt included in singstar 80s.. Maybe the royalties costs were too high, maybe due to the recent negative publicity he has had it may not be a good move, or maybe the will release Singstar Motown featuring Michael Jackson..

ugh, too much talk about singstar makes me want to go to K..

heh
If Alexis is leaving early...
We can always hold Star at my place another day...
So yeah... anyone wanna come enjoy some loneliness with me?
And Charlie I'm always ready to lose money to friends XD

That is an insult. Both Irene and I know that I'm the sexier.

I just realised - Singstar 80s has no Michael Jackson in it. How can it profess to be all about the 80s...without thriller

Problem is that if you use a line break and not a new paragraph, imagine what the product would look like if you had 2 or more multiple line entries.

This clip brings back memories...when Game Boys and Super Nes were DA BOMB!

My Thesis if anyone's interested (2.2MB PDF)

Because you, marcus, are not as sexy as Irene.

Interesting trip you have planned Alexis.. I want to see you do one armed pushups by the time you come back, as well as a perspective-correct drawing of the interior of the Salt Lake City temple.

Marc: instead of a <P> after each post, put a <BR> and the spacing problem will be solved, although it would be more cluttered. Or you could include another symbol that will put a <BR> after the post instead of a <P>, such as a Þ or Å or Œ or ? or ¢ or §

I thought you were catholic. How did you become Mormon?

Why can't the champagne flutes be from me huh? ^~

Do you guys mind if the get together is on the 25th? This just in, I am leaving this country for three months on the Sunday. I am going to head to Utah first, live in the ice cold with my uncle for around a month. He was a professional football referee (he refeered two matches in France 98) and he has promised my parents to put me in shape in four weeks.

Seeing how I am still a Mormon, I still have access to the Salt Lake City temple (which is said to rival the Vatican in interior riches). First though I need to get a certificate of membership, and only those who watch the ordinances and attend Church frequently can get one. So I have to resume my Church attendance for the next two weeks, pretend I have come back for good, and get that certificate. Once in Salt Lake, I can enter the temple and marvel at what so few have seen. Then I will mail my local Bishop in Sydney and tell him that I am through for good with the faith.

Then I head to Peru for one and a half months, and finally to the southern states of Brazil with its beautiful beaches and hotels.

Hey marc,
I know those were from you and Irene -- in my mind the wine glasses came from you and the champagne glasses came from Irene. =D

Benny, you can come for Lunch, go to your concert and still come back for Star.

Theres a paragraph after every entry. The reason behind this is coz it will look very ugly if I have several long entries without any space between them. I could make case exceptions when the entry is one full line or less so that they stick together without a new paragraph, but then that would involve very complicated code to determine how long one line is and to account for varying screen resolutions.

So I'm afraid you'll have to live with it. Thanks for ordering it btw :)

haha...don't know how tempted I am to pick up the phone and say nothing...to me that feels quite unnatural, but that's just me...

I just say sorry not interested or go ahead and participate in the survey, not too fussed. Doesn't take long.
:)

Oh silly john! Very 28th...my solution is, you're coming anyway

Also how come in the wikibulletin I can't enter a new line without going two spaces down? It's either on the same line, or two spaces down. I really thought I've tried everything by now...

I'm not sure how you guys deal with telemarketers and this probably may not be news to you, but a good way to beat them is to pick up the phone and just say nothing. Always wait for the other side to introduce themselves and they usually announce their intentions at which point you can wait another 5 seconds and hang up. Obviously if its family, friends or something which actually needs your attention you would respond.

This way they will think its a bad line or something and you a) waste less time arguing, b) minimise yourself to future threat especially if you answer them and hang up (eg them giving ur details to other parties because you were so rude to them). Afterall who would get annoyed and give telephone details of someone who has a faulty line or headset (even though the chances of this are small..i hope)?

Note this is particularly useful nowadays with major cost-cutting methods eg proliferation of VOIP and outsourcing telemarketers to less affluent (and coincidentally less scrupulous) countries who may just "accidentally" give your details to other parties.

Sorry I didn't get a card, that way I would have avoided confusion as I see some other people got you wine glasses as well :)

Just to clarify the ones from the Myer bag that contain the streaked wine glasses and champagne flutes were from Irene and I.

Bennie save your money for Poker. That way if you lose, the money stays in the family =).

If it's on Saturday night of 26th...
The Whitlams are playing on that night at the metro....
Anyone interested?
I'd go alone but as Anthony said anyone going alone to see the Whitlams play is either on heat and single...
Or about to lose their life savings at Star City...

Folks,

I don't know how quite to respond to your 'thanks', since most of you left rather hungry, execept to say -- I'm going to do it again!

So this is as offical as it is:


Event: Post Exam Freedom Lunch
Format: Lunch at Putney (Mark II), Star & midnight run at Benny's
Date: You guys decide, when we all finish our exams


Why again?
- Sunday went a little weird with the gourmet stuff and I failed to feed you guys properly
- Some key crew didn't make it; hash that means you
- I didn't get to play Star at Benny's; a reason as good as any other

So start voting for a date. I finish on the 15th but that's early.
Jono finishes on the 23rd.

Let's run it on a Saturday.

So that looks like 26th of Nov as a good tentative date.
What do you reckon?

PS. Thanks for the great present! Honours goes to Eric for maximal impact. Kudos to Charlie for the extra thoughtfulness. The rest were great. Come and use the wine glasses next Sunday!

PSS. We'll have to chip in for this op. Last one costed $300. Still got plenty of pomodori though :D

haha sounds pretty cool Darren...mmm 12 foot projector screen.

Maybe you and yi can team up for an honours thesis and set up the virtual reality gear and software for my fire-fighter training thesis... : )

Singstar 80s is already being advertised in Target, Kmart, BigW and the likes,with the actual case on shelves with a 'coming soon' sticker on it.

Its probably going to come out a few weeks before christmas, which is any time now.

Thanks again James for the wonderful selection of italian cuisine and seafood. Truly delicious.

And in case anyone had not heard, I am finally a working man! (for the next 8-10 weeks) So I'll be spending more time at uni than I have for the whole semester over the summer break, locked in a windowless, air-conditioned room with a 12 foot projector screen, playing around with VirTools and 3ds Max. The perfect way to spend summer..

Singstar 80s has been announced.

This will sound repetitive, but a huge thank you to:
James for hosting a fantastic pizza party; fantastic food, fantastic game of trivia, and fanbloodytastic lawns.
Bennie for inviting us over at night. Hope our intrusion did not hinder your sister's HSC progress;
Edman, Darren, and Marc for a wonderful game of poker!
Hail to you all, champions!

Meanwhile, at last we've got some supportive evidence for the helplessly inclined.

So wrong, so lame, so fag

James,
Thanks for the great food. :)

Jono,
Tell me more. Though a giant database doesn't appeal at the moment. ;)

I would like to thank James once again for holding such a spectacular 21st/22nd with great food, people and weather.

It's sad to say but as James said, this will probably mark the decline of gatherings of so many esteemed people. Even this year not everyone could make it like Hash, Renee, Han... It's going to be harder to sabotage with less people to subvert...

Some comments...

It was also a nice change to Barbeque meat although there's always other places for cooked meat. On related note my sister will get some mesquite back for me to tinker with maybe... This year it also seemed there'll be less pictures too...

Congratulations on Darren for getting the job!

Good Luck to everyone on exams and we'll see one another again when the weather is fine.

Btw if anyone can recommend a digital camera for the uninitiated feel free to give suggestions...

Folks,

Just like to report that thesis is offically concluded -- 7 days and five minutes late, with up to 12 marks of deduction.

I've scraped a lot of deadlines but I don't even believe what happened for this one. Let me tell you all about it at the next gathering.

Until then, to bed I go.

Yi - I need your opinion on this fairly urgently...respond on blog or msn if this appeals at all.

There might be a chance for you to work on virtual reality (VR) gear for this fire fighting stuff...

Leonardi and Tracie are both great people as supervisors and I will talk to them about it tomorrow (Tuesday)


TOPIC 1152*****************************************************************
Supervisor(s): Prof Eddie Leonardi, Room 109B, Tel 9385 4252, e.leonardi@unsw.edu.au
Dr Tracie Barber, Room L209A, Tel 9385 4148, t.barber@unsw.edu.au

Title of thesis topic: Development of a Compartment Fire Behaviour Training (CFBT) database

Brief summary: Compartment Fire Behaviour Training (CFBT) was recently introduced to Australia to train fire
fighters in advanced fire fighting. This involves fire fighters being trained in full scale flashover fire fighting
techniques. Accurate numerical simulations are a useful method for raising the awareness of fire fighters to the
different types of scenarios. The outcome of the project will be a database of scenarios to be used in fire fighter
training - an accurate and versatile computational database will allow fire fighters to experience one fire
physically and a large of number of fires virtually.
Requirements: Mech. students should complete MECH9620 if they wish to incorporate CFD into the project.
Laboratory access required: No
Suitable for: MECHANICAL, AEROSPACE

they should rename that show "the biggest loser" to "Survivor: Fat Camp"

I have to admit a lot of it is coincidentally similar, but whos to say who copied who. The differential between release is only a year and that could have been delayed due to touchups on the film or red tape etc. Just coz it was released earlier doesn't mean it was the first.

Dark City vs The Matrix

original link in Spanish for Alexis

Darren and Hsin-Chu, that's some amazing work right there. :)

Though we need Siege Tanks to win that battle!!!

Looks Like my house is off since my sis has her Eco HSC left still...
so yeah... Marc's house anyone? XD
I will continue trying.

Aeon of Strife is finally done.. (well not really, but we dont need to do any more)

See the fruits of our labour here

I have seen many horror movies and sometimes I have become tense, but I can honestly say Wolf Creek is the only movie I have ever seen that has truly terrified me. It shocked me and kept me hooked right up to that final haunting shot. It amazed me that it never swayed into Hollywood formula, McLean (the director) knew what he wanted to day and did it. John Jarratt was bone chilling, simply because he was so friendly.

The R18+ rating was well deserved and I'm glad that it didn't get an MA15+ rating. High Level Realistic Violence sums the whole situation perfectly. It didn't get that rating for the swearing. The violence was sickening because it was so real. Hollywood almost makes it cartoonish, with an outrageous villian. None of this wish-whashing rubbish about the villian killing the annyoing teenagers - I liked the characters very much and didn't want any of them to die. This is where the McLean is so smart. By having that story and character development, we become attached to these poor people. He also has an uncanny talent for exposition, giving pieces of information that are needed in interesting and fresh ways.

The last hour was truly harrowing to watch.

You'll never want to go on a raod trip ever again after this.

Aussie cinema makes a comeback...

lol, I only just noticed that you got ur braces off. Talk about lag

haha thanks Charlie
don't know abotu the flood; if there was one, we can go swimming/rafting

mmm interesting analysis
"...seem to suggest that while the rest of your colleagues engage in profuse alcohol consumption, you opted for soberness"
not quite, though impressed I am I don't look drunk to you.
Well I was driving people around that night, but we spent long enough at each place to have some drinks, though I never have one in my hand. In short I had a few drinks through the night wherever we went, but was never off my head, especially not behind the wheel.
:)

If taht makes any sense. anyway, off to class i go

Congrats Jono on securing the internship! Newcastle sounds all fun, except the bit about it being flooded recently?

As for road trip, most of the people from the original road trip will either be engaged during the 3-month break (overseas travel, work etc), or intends to be engaged, or simply indifferent about it. Though some people outside this immediate circle of friends has expressed their interests quite convincingly.

In regards to those Halloween shots, I can't help but notice a willing tongue was greeted with reciprocity in shot 11,
but was shunned when offered by the opposite sex (shot 21). Oh I get it, one's not enough! (Shot 80).
In shot 39, I'm not sure whether that's an expression of joy or pain.
Shot 30 (and all shots for that matter) seem to suggest that while the rest of your colleagues engage in profuse alcohol consumption, you opted for soberness, which may justify that shot 40 is not an act of drunken stupor. What is it then?

It's 6am now, and yes we all procrastinate. Meanwhile, may I entertain you with the following article from Macquarie Conception Day. The witty article is on page 4 by Alana Smith.

Effective, and truthful.

Q&A at the bottom is a must read.

For further humour, try listening to the audio on the front page of this

Otherwise if you're still bored and are procrastinating madly like me, you can look at silly photos of me, on our combination halloween/birthday celebration (Tristan's 23rd) last saturday night.
http://www.jettte.net/albums/2005-10-29_Halloween/index.html

Yi - In crappier news, I didn't get any of my round 1 thesis topic preferences. I am one of 10 people who didn't get topics, out of about 200 odd thesis students...(which means all the good topics are now gone, and there are only a bunch leftovers.)

So I needa submit an alternative preference by next Wednesday Nov 9th.

As a result, I am still open to team ideas and new suggestions, if you like.

(Pete has been allocated his scooter thesis, and I think he's happy with it.)

So yeah, let me know if you have any ideas or still want to work on something together

This is just to notify anyone who was thinking of planning a summer trip/roadtrip etc:

I've been offered the internship by Boeing up at the RAAF base, Williamtown, north of Newcastle. I finish exams on Wed Nov 23, and will start work Mon Dec 5 (1.5 weeks' break).

I'll get another 2 weeks off during Christmas.

After that, it's solid work all through until uni starts again.

Though I will have weekends off, and you guys/girls can come visit me! : D
Newcastle is nice...it's NSW's second biggest city after sydney...and there's beaches...and I will have some apartment or some place to live hopefully...

Top Gear 31/10/2004

Jeremy's review of the Enzo - Nick Mason's biography, what a book!

So goddamn hilarious!

ahahah!!
a pizza shovel

why thankyou. :)

Pizza Peel

SIGH AT PPLS for doing the flash thing! I really wanted to see my 1 1/2 min exposure dammit! The photo that costs me my shutter release cable!.....Next time ppls...next time...(and no flashes!)

dude james, what teh crap is a pizza peel? = pizza screen?

I might possibly give her one after Church but I'm dropping Renee off at the city first. If someone else from the South could give her one it would probably be better.

Unlikely, but the overexposure could have been caused by...i dunno...USING CAMERA FLASH AGAINST ME (AND OTHERS) IN THE DARK?! I should have just taken your cameras and broke each bulb...

4th year uni - what I've learnt: combined computer science is a mistake because its a waste of time. Stick with straightout subjects, kids.

Hey KJ,
I'm hosting an Italian Luncheon at my house this Sunday.
Locaton: 16 Boulton St. Putney
Time: 11:30AM

I would like to have an 'afters' someone else. Possibly Benny's house? Some star action and kebab runs would be awesome. Can't do that in my area.

So start the day at my place and we'll end up somewhere else.

Irene needs a lift.

My apologies if this makes anyone feel giddy, but it shouldn't.

You know what I just realised?

I can't believe this is the very end of my 4th year of university.

1st year went by pretty slowly, pretty uneventfully.
2nd and 3rd year, where I worked the bloody hardest I've ever worked, had the most fun I've ever had, and learnt the most about everything in life that I've ever learnt, have vanished into the depths of time. Wow. Party on! :D W0000000hooooo!!