tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43035423960461218692024-03-06T00:10:08.652+11:00On Writing, Tech, and Other LoquacitiesMusings and scribblings from a writer and geek in Canberra, AustraliaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.comBlogger193125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-11176378410093082322011-04-10T20:20:00.002+10:002011-04-10T20:22:09.240+10:00What the blog is going on here?!I've been talking about it for years, but never quite got around to it before. Finally, though, I can claim to have my very own domain. What that means is that all the really decent content from here (and a few other places around the intertubes) has been transferred over to lanabrindley.com. I suggest you head over there and check it out. And don't forget to update your bookmarks ... this blog Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-43893891085026223792011-02-15T22:41:00.003+11:002011-02-16T07:25:07.304+11:00Louisa Lawson and The Digitise The Dawn ProjectLouisa Albury was born in 1848 in Mudgee, the second of twelve children. Although she was offered a position as 'pupil teacher' at school, she was encouraged by her parents to leave school in order to look after her younger siblings. It was a fairly common thing to happen to eldest girls at the time, but judging by Louisa's later life, it seems that she regretted it most severely. And who can Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-18325757611920725972011-02-10T09:49:00.000+11:002011-02-10T09:49:46.514+11:00Computer Engineer BarbieEarly last year, I wrote this blog post about Computer Engineer Barbie. It took me a little while to get the logistics sorted, but with a little help from an expat friend in the US, two of the dolls arrived on my doorstep yesterday. One to keep in the box, and one to play with. Because I got swamped with questions when I announced their arrival on Twitter, I thought I'd photograph the unboxing Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-5694664141045703212011-02-09T13:08:00.004+11:002011-02-09T13:13:29.741+11:00The Language of MarketingI was absently staring at a new tube of toothpaste this morning as I washed my hair. You have to look at something, right? This one declared “healthy, whiter teeth for longer”. An image of extremely long (but healthy and white) teeth filled my mind, and was immediately pushed out by the technical writer in me asking “whiter and longer than what, exactly?”
Most marketing slogans give technical Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-3122948896191720222011-02-01T20:55:00.001+11:002011-02-01T20:56:34.720+11:00LCA Day 4 & 5: It got better before it got worseI've taken a bit longer than planned to write this final post, as it has required some ruminating. Apologies for the delay, and a trigger warning for discussion about (and links to) sexual and offensive behaviour.
The Good
Thursday was hot and humid, but it was nice to have my official duties over for the week, and to be able to kick back and just be a conference-goer for the day.
I went alongAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-22425050825585875902011-01-28T18:21:00.001+11:002011-01-31T20:12:35.163+11:00LCA Day 3: Beer, Heat and Throwing KnivesWednesday morning dawned and with it the rising awareness that today I had to perform. I was last up in the day, so I had some time to prepare. I started by waiting until everyone had left the hotel room. I'm quite happy to stand up in front of all sorts of people to give my talks, but I draw the line at rehearsing in front of anyone. When the hotel room was empty, I sorted out all my props: the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-9505975024802140662011-01-25T10:59:00.000+11:002011-01-25T10:59:37.715+11:00LCA Day 1: Haecksen, Geeks, and Flying UnicornsToday was awesome. That's about all I need to say. I'm exhausted, I'm feeling very anti-social (too many people for my reclusive heart!), and I wish I had my own bed to sleep in. But today was absolutely, marvellously, amazingly awesome.
The day started with the opening address for the conference, where the organisers stepped us through just some of the major organisational maneuvers they've Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-87448897816080026742011-01-25T10:20:00.001+11:002011-01-25T10:21:20.885+11:00linux.conf.au 2013 bidThis isn't the only sekrit plan I've working on recently, but it's the only one I'm allowed to tell you all about so far ;)
For the last several months, a small group of people in Canberra including myself have been preparing a bid for LCA 2013. This is not just to give us more time to make the conference the most awesome, froody LCA you've ever been to. No - 2013 is also the centenary of the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-21729378263475421812011-01-21T14:39:00.001+11:002011-01-21T14:40:48.057+11:00The Next AdventureWith the kitchen now (almost) completed, I'm leaving Bananaman in charge of project managing the tiler next week, and popping off to Brisbane for linux.conf.au. Despite the recent floods—which wiped out their conference venue, most of the social event venues, and the open day venue—somehow or another the LCA crew have managed to persevere, and the conference is going ahead as planned Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-23495721179510664462011-01-15T18:58:00.001+11:002011-01-15T19:01:49.235+11:00Kitchen - Day 5Today, our first real hiccup: the tiles haven't arrived. They should be here on Monday, but the tiler is going on holidays for a week. So the earliest we can get the tiles laid is Tuesday week (incidentally, I'll be in Brisbane for linux.conf.au that week, so the lovely Dermott Banana will have to project manage that!). Never mind, we got the benchtops in, and they look OMGAWESOME:
Want a closerAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-24399533485962895222011-01-14T10:48:00.000+11:002011-01-14T10:48:33.969+11:00Kitchen - Day 4By the end of today, we have something resembling a kitchen again. And you know what? I'm absolutely stoked with it! The colour, unfortunately, doesn't come through in the photographs, but it's probably best described as a pale olive. They call it 'paperbark', and if you've ever seen the smooth pale green wood (not the brown falling-off bits!) of an Australian paperbark tree, it's pretty close. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-43338294960143088432011-01-12T23:13:00.001+11:002011-01-13T06:48:55.931+11:00Kitchen - Day 3By lunchtime, the tiles were finally up, and the concrete dust covering absolutely everything was starting to settle:
I have a sink:
But, perhaps most exciting, I have a dishwasher!
The cabinets that have been stored in my dining room all week, are now starting to shift into place:
Although there are still bits of cabinetry stored just about everywhere. This is my hallway:
Tomorrow, the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-9536684038212907592011-01-11T18:14:00.000+11:002011-01-11T18:14:27.379+11:00Kitchen - Day 2Today, my cabinets arrived (just ahead of the rain!):
The sparky turned up, and moved a few power points:
The plumber turned up, got rid of the old sink pipes, and installed a gas line for the new stovetop:
And the demolitions guy started taking out the tiles:
Even though I didn't think it was possible, the place is even more of a bomb site than it was yesterday:
Keep an eye on my Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-92169588712912939752011-01-10T17:48:00.002+11:002011-01-10T18:02:25.614+11:00Kitchen - Day 1Well, today my kitchen started out looking like this:
And ended up looking like this:
On the way, it went through various states, including this:
This:
And this:
So where did it all go?
Here:
And here:
And good riddance to it too!
For the full collection of photos, check out my Picasa album. I'll keep updating it and the blog as things progress.
Tomorrow, the sparky and plumber 'rough Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-78159645435146233932011-01-01T23:32:00.004+11:002011-01-01T23:40:50.068+11:00Tron Legacy: now with extra rantingI've been looking forward to seeing Tron: Legacy for a while. I saw the original on VHS when I was a kid, and thought it was pretty awesome then, so I could only imagine what 3D and modern special effects could have done. And I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. While my partner had some trouble with the 3D and effects (for some reason it all seemed flat and kind of blurry and washed out to Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-63172367682208247162010-12-09T19:29:00.000+11:002010-12-09T19:29:03.213+11:00Kitchen UpdateWell, after a slight hiccup the kitchen is back on track. It won't be done in time for Christmas, unfortunately, but we're locked in for the week of 10-14 January now. So, with that in mind, what do you think of the colours I've picked?
Improvement?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-39597044426477326262010-11-30T22:33:00.005+11:002010-12-01T15:57:13.374+11:00MODY3 for the newly diagnosedReceiving a MODY3 diagnosis can be a threatening, frightening time. However, by understanding the disease, and knowing what to do about it, you can live a long and healthy life. This booklet will explain what MODY3 is, and will outline some of the changes you will need to make.
Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of diseases that impact the pancreas and how the body stores and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-80951133649618846792010-11-29T12:46:00.014+11:002010-12-02T14:15:44.674+11:00A letter to Origin EnergyUPDATE: I have just heard from Kym Diercks at Origin, and called Veda to confirm it, but the defaults have now been removed from my credit report. Not just marked as paid, but completely removed. It only took three weeks, endless hours on hold, about $50 in long-distance phone calls, an ombudsman investigation, a Veda investigation, and lots of swearing.
Thanks to everyone who followed Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-90907829384641120712010-11-08T20:48:00.003+11:002010-11-08T20:50:48.484+11:00We got the 'bete
Visit TuDiabetes
For every view of this video, Roche (the company that makes Accu-Chek diabetic products) will donate life-saving insulin to a child. And if you have diabetes, participate in the Big Blue Test on 14 November, as well. Just test your blood glucose, get active for 14 minutes, then test again. Here's the vid:
And as for "We got the 'bete" well, I can't take the credit, as Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-87219345020213368382010-11-08T20:14:00.000+11:002010-11-08T20:14:00.099+11:00KitchenAstute followers of this blog (if any of you actually exist) might remember this post about the kitchen in the house I bought last year. Well, according to plan, the house has appreciated in value enough for me to fork out (read: "beg the bank for more money") to get the kitchen ripped out and replaced. It's due to happen during December, and I'm really terrifically excited about it. Even Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-92110042066533634622010-11-06T07:23:00.001+11:002010-11-06T07:23:00.697+11:00For my birthday, I got a new diagnosisI've been a type 2 diabetic for about ten years. Or so I thought.
I've been lucky so far. For the past ten years my diabetes has been well controlled using diet and exercise. No pills, no injections, no six-times-a-day blood testing (just every so often). Even when I was pregnant with T, I only had to have injections once or twice daily, and I have never suffered a hypo (short for hypoglycaemia,Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-84692881641932319162010-11-02T10:02:00.003+11:002010-11-02T10:14:32.359+11:0030 Things I Have Learned So FarThis blog turned three a couple of days ago. This auspicious occasion is usually marked by the precipitous drop into the crazy novel-writing month of November (see the NaNoWriMo website if you're not sure what I'm talking about). This November, however, the only crazy writing will be the penning of assignments, and the ordinary crazy writing of work-as-usual. Yes, this year (and probably next Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-9774164593695222522010-10-25T13:15:00.009+11:002010-10-25T14:30:39.710+11:00A Desperate Message from Jackie FrenchI received this on email today. My parents live in a little rural area called Majors Creek, close to Jackie French's property, and the proposed Dargues Reef Goldmine. The trucks rumbling up and down the road just 15 metres in front of my Mum and Dad's house, are likely to push the little 130 year old building off its ancient foundations.
Have you ever read "Diary of Wombat"? My daughter and I Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-44769650557217288872010-09-07T21:10:00.000+10:002010-09-07T21:10:36.829+10:00Call for Papers: Haecksen Miniconf LCA2011The Haecksen miniconf is on again! This year, linux.conf.au is going to be held in sunny Brisbane, and we want to invite women who develop, administer and play with FLOSS to come and join us again at the miniconf.
Important: The CFP closes at midnight 24 September 2010. Selected talks will be announced early in October. That's not much time, so get cracking!
We're attempting to mix it up a bit Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303542396046121869.post-52486751346054328432010-07-13T10:51:00.000+10:002010-07-13T10:51:38.101+10:00Keeping It Stupidly SimpleEveryone has heard the old adage about the "KISS Principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid". Easy to say, easy to remember, but often hard to do. At least, hard to do well. When we simplify our language, it often comes across as patronising, dumbed-down, or just plain rude. So how should Stupid keep it simple, without making it stupidly simple?
Consider the sentence:
"Insert the writable media into theAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04441639648185651632noreply@blogger.com2