Shock horror: Wii Fit only works if you use it! http://ping.fm/PUd2Y

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Excellent article on Canberra riders like Rogers, Hayman, Stephens: http://ping.fm/qsuwa

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Excellent article on Canberra riders like Rogers, Hayman, Stephens: http://ping.fm/qsuwa

Interesting first-hand account of the Mascot road rage court case: http://ping.fm/RTpL0

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Interesting first-hand account of the Mascot road rage court case: http://ping.fm/RTpL0

I finally saw those baby Koels and they are actually juvenile Channel Bill cuckoos.. http://ping.fm/OVtM7

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I finally saw those baby Koels and they are actually juvenile Channel Bill cuckoos.. http://ping.fm/OVtM7

No idea what this is...

No idea_0752
Originally uploaded by gtveloce

It's got six legs but lots of 'pseudo legs' as well. It's got horns, too! It's also kinda furry. It's small, about large finger-nail size. It looked like a caterpillar in a cocoon at first, until it got up and walked away. Perhaps it's a... or it's a - I have no idea. If you know, let me in on it!

Why stop at software-related patent reform - what about IP law generally? http://ping.fm/SOtPh

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Why stop at software-related patent reform - what about IP law generally? http://ping.fm/SOtPh

Graeme Brown finally got his win at Le Tour Down Under: http://ping.fm/ZyQIx

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Graeme Brown finally got his win at Le Tour Down Under: http://ping.fm/ZyQIx

Wondering if I broadcast via http://ping.fm/ to http://utterli.com/ will it self-generate a tweet that broadcasts itself? Yep, bored again.

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I do like that ping includes video... just so hard to choose btween these social micro-blogr tools!

Wenatex? Beds? What?

Every so often I get a letter from Wenatex. I just got another one. I always wonder which mailing list sold them my name before throwing it in the bin, however I opened this one just to remind myself of "what's what". OK, so you get enticed by a free meal at the local Bowlo. Big deal, don't particularly like (or frequent) bowling clubs. They also offer vouchers redeemable for $20 free gifts that I'm certain won't be something I need or want. So in the bin it goes!!

But wait, there's more. Wenatex offers "sleep research" and "trends" information. Yawn. It's working already!! So I googled them and found an amazing wealth of contrasting information. Check this out. Wow.

So either it's a reputable business selling sleep-related products at decent margins through a niche marketing campaign, or it's "a scam". Well it has scam potential, but it's not really a scam per se, although it depends on what you call a scam. Enticement via free gifts is not scamming, at least as long as it's all up front and genuine. There are indeed products to be bought and they appear to be real, although their efficacy is perhaps unproven and may be matched by cheaper alternative retail products.

If there were no products, or the offer was not genuine (such as no dinner at all) then it would definitely be a scam. But this appears, on balance, to be a real free meal, free (if lousy) gift, and a sales pitch for an expensive bedding product.

The pseudo-science that accompanies the sales pitch may be another matter, however. For the record, once more, I tossed it in the bin.

Just nit-pickin'

I just read this: The cars that result are packed with sole destroying usability

OK, he (Rod Halligan, whoever he is) meant "soul destroying", but I have a vision now of this poor guy with rotted feet, blaming car designers for it all. I think the article itself is just hilarious, that an apparent "car-guy" can be so detached from reality as to think that the collapse in car sales is because of "boring" cars. As though only building exciting cars will fix everything. Hmmm.

He also writes of "Gordon Ghekos", a weird sort of gherkin crossed with a lizard, I guess. Stumbling forward the poor guy managed to write "Mulally though through this whole mess is gaining my respect with his management without hand outs and therefore keeping independence from the Car Tzar." Whatever that means. Sad, really.

From the archive

Qantas ed kit_0747
Originally uploaded by gtveloce

Can't resist this old Qantas fleet list from March 1973. 707s, a few 747s, the HS-125 trainer - and 2 Douglas DC4s! It seemed incongruous enough then... but they were needed for the flight to Norfolk Island. Today it seems quite bizarre.