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I was trying to dig up some conveyancing articles today and came across a real estate blog. Its probably not very interesting until you decide you want to buy a house. It does contain a lot of ACA and TT style crying. In any case, I couldn't help but think what idiots Yi and Kwong were for complaining about conveyancing costs (sorry :p)

The site unrelentingly bashes real estate agents, and rightfully so. You pay a fixed cost to your solicitors-conveyancers prior to exchange precisely to protect/advise you against real estate agents. If you want to complain about something, go bash the real estate agent who stands to make at least a tidy 10x more in commission and who is predisposed to working against your interests. Afterall, the only people who fight in your corner are the ones you paid. Though, as a purchaser, you are not paying for the agent's fees directly, if you're not clued up, you could end up paying a whole lot more XD

To Yi's credit though, his conveyancer was old and really cbf. Find someone younger than his, who still has years ahead in the profession, preferably with a family to feed so theres some assurance that [s]he'll do things right.

Really? I was so sure it was a shoe-in for the Oscars but only just missed nomination. I mean, come on, its got Holly Vallance in it.

omfg....its got Kevin Sorbo in it. oh lol.

My god, DoA movie is shit! Lucky I didn't buy it. The movie is non-stop eye candy. NOTHING ELSE. The same as the Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter movies. Even though there were rumours of Tekken movie coming out, they only deserve a download and not the 15 bucks to watch.

Anyway, soccer next Saturday and Tennis on Sunday?

Hey so is anything happening Monday? Or did something happen already?

Put your names down on wiki. Please do it quickly because KJ needs to organise food you fuckers.

Edit: it looks as though its Hash's place starting 6pm

I really want the BBQ to be on Saturday since its Australia Day and all, but since so many people can't make it on the Saturday, it'll have to be on Sunday I presume. I'll be getting to Hash's on Saturday night and probably chill there for the day but that's it. If we want, we'll try to organise some sort of other dinner party then or alteratively have two BBQs ( depending on availability).

We also need to gather food for BBQ. I'll try and talk to Hash about it soon. But till then we need numbers, and from what day we're headed. So reply ASAP.

What a pathetic existence, Giacomo.

Speaking of suits...:p

Unbreakable logic

fact A: Apple symbol == bitten apple
fact b: snow white went into a coma from an apple
fact c: apple products like white

supposition: Apple products are reliable only in a fairy tale

I am not going to do law. I wouldn't like my colleagues and I wouldn't enjoy wearing suits. If I want a playground for logic, I'll just read the blog and tear up some poor fella's post.

Well that joke fell flat.

No they don't teach it in law school. Law has very little to do with logic. Hurry up and do your LSATs if you want to know more.

I fail to see the correlation. Are you making another logical error? XD

Better still, do they even teach logic in law school??

I'm sure Neville Chamberlain did a better job at appeasing you.

Your amendment does not remove induction. I am not appeased.

(Seriously now, I'm just fucking with you. ;D)

Take for example: many motorists around the world acknowledge that French cars are notoriously unreliable. Would you enter a Peugeot dealership thinking that all those motorists are full of shit? Aesthetics aside, until you can prove that it is truly shite, you have absolutely no reason not to buy one despite a torrent of advice not to?

Also theres something called goodwill. Businesses/purchasers pay a lot of money for this intangible substance when purchasing a business/product. If it fucks up, then so does the goodwill. Quite simple yet so irrational. We should all think more like you and eliminate this "bullshit, affront-to-logic" called goodwill.

Personally, I'm not into logic diagrams, K-maps and modular arithmetic. I just want my phone to work. But if you insist, I will lawyer up that last passage to appease you:

2007 they had the iPhone, which while I thought was a cool and aesthetically pleasing toy, may be hideously unreliable (reminiscent of the Motorola RZR) given their track record for small devices ie iPod.

You sure use a lot of words simply to point out the difference between "possibility" and "certainty".

Alexis: I'm simply saying that Tsonga f-ing owned. But when Federer is perma-dominating, do you really blame people for seeing a spark in this new guy? People want to see something fresh.

Marc last year at the Australian Open there was a Chilean named Gonzales who was playing ridiculously good. He beat Nadal in 3 as well. Everyone thought the same as you did now, Federer is going to have his hands full come final day. Federer beat him in 3 sets, he didn't break a sweat. As soon as people spot someone who comes out of nowhere and starts demolishing the top ranked players everyone jumps on the 'he is going to beat Federer bandwagon'. Its been almost 4 years. Apart from Nadal at the French, Federer is untouchable. Federer is another class of player, and he always plays his best and is fully composed against the top seeds and upcoming challengers.

Edit: 7-5 6-3 7-6 .... UNITY! - Marc

I never said the iPod or iPhone is realiable. I simply point out that their general reliability or non-reliability, vis-a-vis the competition, can not be determined by your personal experience or the number of users expressing their grief online.

Further, your statement:

2007 they had the iPhone, which while I thought was a cool and aesthetically pleasing toy, but would be hideously unreliable (reminiscent of the Motorola RZR) given their track record for small devices ie iPod.

is doubly erroneous. In the first instance it falsely correlates HDD based iPods to flash based iPhones. In the second instance it employs inductive logic, which is flawed.

So let me get this straight, because I am slow and stupid, you are saying that the statement:

"the lack of rants on a product means its reliable"

is as valid as saying

"the presence of rants on a product means its unreliable"

Where did this Tsonga guy come from??? I saw the match last night and he was f-ing dominating! M-m-m-m-monster Killllll!

Seriously, Nadal couldn't do shit, the poor guy, it was like a Tekken juggle. After that performance, Federer has plenty to be worried about...of course if he makes it to the final.

Of course Dell makes less toxic products than Apple! They use a lot less pink

All I am saying is that the amount of online rants about a product can not be used to deduce the relative reliability of a product.

Apple users are just about the most vocal, obsessive and opinionated people around. They're far more likely to have their own blog, start 'groups' to talk about their products (and their defects), start class action law suits etc.

Their products end up more scrutinized than everyone else's.

When Greenpeace was asked why they keep ranting about Apple and not bigger PC makers like Dell, they said it's because Apple's brand is more prominent and influential. Does Dell make less toxic products than Apple? Of course not.

lol you tell me. you used to own it.

I can't find any reliability rants online about my old phone. It must be really reliable.

They so should have marketed the Mac Book Air with a name like Fat Boy Slim or something similar.

The presentation is somewhat funny. You can install products in '15 easy steps' or you could buy a real comp and do it in 1.

It kinda seems Apple is running out of steam. 2006-7 were exciting years, but this year seems lacklustre. 2006 they had the exciting revelation that they were crossing platforms and bringing down major barriers releasing the chic and sexy Macbook Pro (which I bought). 2007 they had the iPhone, which while I thought was a cool and aesthetically pleasing toy, but would be hideously unreliable (reminiscent of the Motorola RZR) given their track record for small devices ie iPod. If they can't get a non-essential music device right, then theres no way I'm letting them take over a phone which is much more central piece of electronic kit.

Edit: Good lord, doing a google search of "iPhone reliability" fetches one article which is reproduced exactly the same on dozens of sites. They've sold 1.3m units in the US, I would have thought someone would have written something about it. Does nobody write anymore??

In 2008, the Macbook Air, which is the centre product of the keynote speech this year, would have been more appropriately called the Macbook Meh. Nothing about it excites me. It is expected to cost AU$2,499 for the base model and a whopping AU$4,338 for just a flash drive (which has 16GB less storage as opposed to a regular disc drive on the base) and +0.2GHz. That is one hell of a hefty price tag simply for being slightly more green. In any event, this is definitely a case of "Less is More" gone wrong.

Yawn. Zzzzz and =.=

Hey Guys....

I was thinking... If people aren't busy on Bogan Day (I mean Australia Day ) this Sat, how about a nice BBQ out at Centennial Park, with a bit of kickball involved as well (Since we should be going out more often). Please express your interest. (I'll email post it as well)

Reminds me of River Phoenix: on the face of it, they were both young, accoladed and died young from drug overdose. Except one was partying too hard, the other was working too hard...

On slightly more retarded news...in fact, why is this news at all? People have been crossing oceans in a carbon neutral fashion for millenia using bizarre and completely innovative things called...."sails"

Dang, I hope filming for Dark Knight had finished before this unfortunate incident

Whoa dude...

Why so serious?

Grief for Heath

Some fuckin random.

Who's the lucky girl?

Would you like to elaborate on that at all?

But yes, tis true. Everyone is getting marrieeeeed! Wheeeeeeeeee.

*Everyone* is getting married.

WTF IS UP WITH THAT?!?

Dude...I was ROFLing at Blades of Glory. Gotto watch that part again.

I feel like watching Der Untergang again XD

Oh God this is too funny: The "Downfall" of HD DVD

It now becomes clear why Alexis is championing Xbox.

That article was absolute gold. Especially the part about the serial killers.

I am staunchly against the sexualisation of the young as I am sure most of you are (setting aside the Dave Chappelle "How old is 15 really?" argument). I just find it ironic that republican conservatives who are so against it, support things like child beauty pageants which dress them up in makeup and swimsuits, the very things that turn them into objects of desire. What part of innocence and being a kid does that belong to ftw??

But if the parents give the children a credit card and say go nuts, then they have only themselves to blame. The current parenting generation face difficulties that their parents didn't. Society was either more sexually repressed (or more sexually moral) and control over children's activities was easier given they generally had more time off work and no internet to monitor.

Parents now give children video games and tv to shut them up and when it is used for an inappropriate purpose they want to blame the government for their oversight. Times change and successful parents adapt, they don't just blame the government.

Cloverfield comes out tomorrow.

Joel wishes to watch it!

When: Thursday or Friday
Where: George St Cinemas
Time: 6 or so (or a roughly convenient time)

This:

I hope someone hits you over the head with a dictionary, putting you into a coma. The financial strain on your family would eventually force your son to sell his video games. Your son would have to go several years without a father figure in his life, giving him a handful of psychological and emotional complexes.

Then, years later when you wake up from your coma, you find your son to be a full-blown adult. He lives far away now. You track him down to let him know that youre back. You meet up with his lovely friend Jim, whom he must blow for drug money. You try to change his ways, but he wont budge.

It all comes to a climax when he bludgeons you to death in a particularly heated argument. He then empties your pockets, strips you naked, sodomizes your corpse and uses his connections in the rough part of town to have your body dumped, leading Police to believe you picked up a tranny, were robbed, and then killed.

was a response to this

That's why I said "home cinema is a different thing all together."

LCDs are good for watching TV and news.

Front projection is good for watching movies.

Since most households use a TV for News/Tv Shows and the odd console, a HD tv would be better than a projection system (especially if you couldn't see oncoming traffic from Burn Out on your older TV)

Yes, the screen and bulbs can contribute to the cost of projection. But that's money worth spending, IMO.

I like projection because the images are from reflected rather than emitted radiance. The result is softer and more moody, just like cinema.

Emissive devices will look better for digital content -- PS3 games especially. But for film transfered content on Blu-ray, I dig projection.

That depends. A projecting surface may also cost a bit in addition (unless you have a very white and very smooth wall). Also what is the lifetime of a projector bulb and how much do they cost to replace?

Don't buy. HD technology is fixed for at least a decade. Price will depreciate proportional to Moore's Law. A TV is a very lame thing. Not worth spending over $1000 on.

Home theatre is another concept all together. For that, you want front projection, which incidentally, should also cost no more than a $1000 once things settle).

Here was the smh article on buying TVs. A bit late for some of you.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/reviews/be-fully-aware/2007/11/21/1195321793430.html
(Ed: silly butters, you didn't link it and the link was chopped off :P )

Triple-click the line and open in new tab you lazy bastards

I don't know too much about Italian, but Paolo sounds Spanish or Portugese to me...

Also the colour scheme looks like a bad throwback to Italian restaurants of the 70s-80s...or was that the theme you intended? XD

Just remembered that Channel 9 bought Kitchen Nightmares which is shown on Thursdays 9:30pm. It is pretty entertaining to watch as he grills the crap out of the staff and offers some interesting insight into whats involved in running a restaurant.

You need a disclaimer in the title "I am actually Asian and have no Italian ancestry"

Alas, I have started my own blog. It'll record all the things too ME ME ME to stuff down Der Wasserfall. It will mostly be about Italian food and wine. There will be the occasional movie review. And once every year, I will discharge raging black bile against Slashdot.

Giacomo is my Italian name. Christened by my friends Massimiliano and Paolo.

Feel free to drop by and say hi.

Well duh!

"and i would gladly fuck connelly over yee lee"

-Fat Fuckin' Tony

Absolutely.

Time? Location

Beach is a go gents. Lovely weather today.

Be there, or be impotent.

I'm keen

I'm busy before 11am and have dinner at 6pm, so arvo is good on my side!

Beach this weekend, bitches! Saturday looks promising.

I fucking HATE Slashdot.

Reports on NOTHING except open source software and networking crap. Which CREATIVE GENIUS picked that BILE GREEN color scheme? Those deranged user comments, more twisted and unnavigatable than MEDUSA's hair, where do they come from? The whole site is an assault on every faculty of human sensibility. Those who read it: network administrators, kernel programmers, GIMP worshippers -- in short NERDS of every denomination, end up more deranged and insufferable than they ever were.

GOD DAMN PIECE OF SHIT.

Hey Jono, if your bro is running a restaurant in Wuhan, he's gotto watch Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Its awesome! Seriously.

Also Charlie, theres a Christmas special for Extras in the same fashion as The Office. I keep forgetting to dl when I get home.

According to that site, we are all wankers. Woohoo!

haha that page is frigg'n hilarious!!! ah wow. Good entertainment. Some interesting perspectives, they clearly don't like Labor, but good entertainment.

Alexis is such a noble person that I'm sure he'll honour the agreement even if the evidence arrived seven days too late. :D

I'm having a really hard time trying to figure out if this was intended to be a joke or even a slight mockery or is it supposed to be serious?

There are actually a few things (note: very few) here and there that are quite spot on which makes me think that its not all bullshit. In any event, its pretty funny. His/her/their bashing of Catholics is reminiscent of Borat's running of the Jew.

It was clearly written by a combination of arts and law students.

Unfortunately for you it didn't mature on or before 11:59pm 31 December 2007

Warner Bros drops HD DVD support, moves to Blu-ray only.

HD DVD camp implodes.

Gibbon.

The quote was food for thought.

The arguements came before hand.

I love you too Marcus Pangus Aurelius.

You really should get around to doing those LSATs, James. A world full of lawyers is begging for you to piss them off =P

Quoting a famous scientist is not a valid argument. It is the inverse of the ad hominem argument.

In any case, Einstein was not a Buddhist, he was a Pantheist.

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description .. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism. (Albert Einstein)

Which is why Buddhism is the fastest growing religion (way of life) in the world.

Nibana is defined as the end of rebirth. What state that entails is not clearly defined, so most people assume that its nothingness. For all I know, it could be the 'heavan' that the Christian God proscribes his followers for belief in him.

Buddhism is not based on the fear of the ephemeral, it is based on the truth that the 'ephemeral' is by its nature impermanent. It is based on achieving true happiness.
e.g. Alexis describes Mario Galaxy as sublime. If it truly was the rapture he sees in it, then I am sure he would give up a lot to experience it permanently.

While the tenets of Buddhism encourage everyone to work towards enlightenment, the emphasis is to better oneself as you see fit. You don't have this obligation to drop all your belongings and go live in the forest. You can reject whatever teachings you wish. All Buddhism promises is that you are informed if you wish to be.

The Buddha and others like him achieved enlightenment over the course of several thousand rebirths after they made a commitment to such a task. No one demands that commitment of you ...

Of course those in search of a higher truth would go down the path of material divestment. It's quite a logical step in removing distractions.
If you want to get any work done at uni, you don't go installing Star and Dota on your laptop (hence i got no work done at uni).

I suppose no one deep inside believes the fairy tales.

The Buddhist outlook can be summarised as: life and the world is full of suffering. The only way to escape this suffering is to reach enlightenment, at which point one can escape the reincarnation cycle and forever be removed from this world and enter 'nirvana'. Nirvana, funny enough, is nothingness, which is no different from what atheist face. The only difference is that atheists have no need for unnecessary postulates (ie. reincarnation).

Buddhism is the outcome of a temperament that cannot enjoy anything ephemeral for fear of losing it. Buddha, born into prosperity and palacehood, could not reconcile his privileged life with the poverty of his surroundings. He found no joy in food, life, or sex. This thus led to the rejection of all material and worldly things and the embrace of the ascetic life. In this he is not unique -- St. Jerome, the Franciscan monks, and Benedictine monks all went down this path.

Buddhism and medieval Christianity are products from periods of chaos or social ills. In periods of prosperity, their appeal inherent declines. People instead turn to religions or 'ways of life' that offer them means to preserve their wealth and prosperity. Viewed in perspective, Buddhism, like all religions, is an outcome of worldly events. It hardly constitutes a reliable and robust world view, much less a guide for living in the 21st century.

seef, anti-life.

gimme some examples and I'll give clear evidence to refute your propaganda.

and it's more a way of life than a religion

Anything can make sense if you say it slowly, loudly and often enough.

Or the anti-life religion, Buddhism.

Indeed - take the Church for example

Um.. illogicality and stupidity are not orthogonal to making sense.

He is often illogical, stupid and stubborn but he still makes 100% sense.

Um, Clarkson makes perfect sense?

Now for someone who is purposefully stupid:

"As a motoring journalist, you spend much of your life on exotic car launches, feeding from the bottomless pit of automotive corporate hospitality. And then you come home to tailor a story that perfectly meets the needs of the PR department that funded it. For sure, you dislike the new 'xyz' but what the hell. Say it's fabulous and you're sure to be invited on the next exotic press launch. And so what if some poor sucker reads what you say and buys this hateful car? You're never going to meet him because by then, you'll be on another press launch, in Africa maybe, trying out the 'zxy'.

I used to live like this, and it was great. But sadly, when I climbed into Top Gear, I had to climb off the gravy train. This is because, all of a sudden, people in petrol station forecourts and in supermarket checkout queues started to recognise me. These people had bought a car because I'd said they'd like it. And they didn't like it because it kept breaking down. So now, they were going to fill my trousers with four star. And set me alight.

I learned, therefore, pretty quickly that the single most important feature of motoring journalism - or any kind of journalism for that matter - is speaking your mind." -- J Clarkson

One of the stupider articles I've been blessed with reading on smh. I hope the author is duly punished:

In tribal societies, people routinely give each other jewellery, weapons and ritual objects to cement their social ties. On Facebook, people accomplish the same thing by trading symbolic disco balls and hula girls.

Oddly enough it comes from the New York Times which I've started reading more frequently and am quite fond of.

Happy 2nd of January!

Bye James! Hope you had a good time.

Also I didn't thank you for the meal. It was supremely well done and organized. Heh something I can say you can't really appreciate until you've tried to do it yourself :)

Happy New Year!!!!!!!