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Opera 9 Beta 2

Nothing, but nothing will convince me that Firefox is better than Opera. Opera was around before Firefox hit the market, and has been a lighter, faster and more efficient browser than firefox from the get-go. It also doesn't require clunky plugins to get any decent functionality.

The latest version includes bittorrent support, customisable inline address bar searching (type g fred and you get a google search on fred). You can add any search engine, dictionary, download site or wikipedia you wish. Since version 8.5, it has come with voice support (you can control the browser by voice). And now, it has Ajax-based widgets (for time, rss feeds, weather, sport scores, etc etc).

And, since version 8.0, it has been completely free.

Opera is also pushing the boundaries of mobile browsers. Its delivered a series of browsers for pda's and phones - browsers with real functionality (not the IE bastard child). Oh, and for you l337 h@ck3r dudes... its available for most flavours of unix/linux as well. And for you art student, you can get it on Mac.

Da Vinci Code

I'm not entirely sure what the critics were expecting? Apparently the Da Vinci code got a very lukewarm reception at the Cannes Film Festival, and other media critics were also laying into it. I saw it last night.

I didn't think it was dull, weary or overly long at all. Whilst there were no Oscar winning performances, Hanks did a effective job of portraying the academic type. As usual,Ian McKellen was sparkling. He really brought some effervescence to the screen. Jean Reno was rather subdued in this. Paul Bettany was truy frightening in his role as Silas - an excellent performance, I thought.

The film was not a fast paced thriller - but did include the obligatory car-chase scenes. However, I felt it was more thematically powerful. Religious politics aside, the reverence for history and the "Grail" was powerfully portrayed. And I thought the last scene (Langdon kneeling at the inverted Pyramid in Paris) was fantastic.

In fact generally, the cinematography was captivating, particularly with the famous locations they had to work with. And Ron Howard (the director) was able to move effectively between framing the personal interactions, and framing the grandeur of the location. The score (Hans Zimmerman), whils not being a John Williams epic, I though was very evocative and effective.

The Da Vinci Code is not a mind-blowingly awesome movie. But then, who was expecting that. It was, however, and excellent implementation of the novel into film form. I enjoyed it, and would highly recommend seeing it.

4 Hail Mary (Magdalene)'s out of 5


It has been a while since I read the book, but I felt in movie form, the film promoted faith and reverence for the past. I see this as an excellent thing, where we should attempt to clear away the dogma and imposed "rules" of religion, and seek a true faith. Another key theme of the Da Vinci Code was the repression of women's power in society. And in fact, in many ancient societies, women always have a equal if not more powerful role to men - for example, ancient Hindus, many of the South American societies, and our own Aboriginal societies. I don't think its a bad thing to try and re-empower women in a religious context. And I think the Catholic Church would do well to address some of its past wrongs. As the biggest institutional religion, it would be fantastic if the church could shed the dogmas that have been built into the church for political reasons over 100's of years, and re-embrace what true faith is about. Finding and bringing out the best in humanity.

I would be very interested if people have any comments about this. (Click Comment link below)

New and creative internet scam

I like this guy - I really do. Original and creative. www.savetoby.com is a website, posting photos of a cute little bunny rabbit, that the guy will eat, unless the public donates to raise a certain amount by November. He even has a list of rabbit recipies!

For mine, can I just pay $10, and get the rabbit? I've always wondered what Rabbit tastes like.

Libya

How times changes! America has restored full diplomatic ties with its former "Enemy No 1.", Libya. The Gadhaffi regime, previously believed to have sponsored terrorism (in fact, it admitted so) has bent over backward to regain the trust of the U.S., including paying reparations to familes affected by sponsored terrorism, abandoning all nuclear facilities and giving up anti-Israel stances. The White House is probably seizing on any opportunity for (relatively) stable allies in the Middle Eastern region. But the biggest reason, I believe, for the backflip by the US, is the massive untapped reserves of oil in Libya - oil that the 'States will have free market access to now. It should be noted, however, that the country is still undemocratic - it is still largely a police state. Of course, when there is Texas Tea on offer, such petty considerations do not matter.

As an aside, I was listening to "All Things Considered" - a current affair radio show on NPR (National Public Radio) in the US (re-broadcast on Radio National). Apparently, the Bush Administration is beginning to lose some of its hard-line support from the ultra-conservative right. And the Republicans will struggle unless the Evangelicans come out at vote - like that did in the last 2 elections. As a result, they are driving through a conservative agenda of Judicial appointments and laws (governing abortion, stem cell research and the like). In this haste to re-appease the ultra-right, the Administration will leave the U.S. with a regressive and even more backward (if that is possible) legacy.

Balanced Meal

Yesterday, we fired up the ol' Weber BBQ, and put on a bit of a roast. We have a very balanced meal - including 3 of the 4 major food groups. We roasted a Tandoori-marinated Leg of Lamb, and Chinese BBQ Sauce shoulder of Pork, and a Pepper and Worsterchestershiresause (whatever...) piece of Beef. 3 key food groups - right there.

But seriously - if you ever wanna roast, you CANNOT go past the Weber. Just chuck it all in, and it cooks perfectly!

2006 Budget

In a nutshell - lotsa goodies for upper-mid and high income earners. Some lipservice to roads and childcare. An improvement in the super policy.

But the Government is behaving like someone who has just won the lotto, bought a mansion, a Porsche and is now off on a 1st Class around-the-world trip. Problem is, when they get back, they won't have enough money to pay the electricity bill, or put petrol in the car. What I'm getting at is the commodities boom - its raking in millions of dollars in tax revenue at the moment. Fine. But what happens when it all ends?

Australia will have nothing to show for the years of boom, and leave behind no lasting infrastructure or nation-building improvements. There was not an iota to address the skills shortage in the budget. Nothing for telecoms. Not much for key transport infrastructure.

Right now, we are extremely fortunate. And the Government should be using this windfall to expand the Australian economies capacity. Instead, its being frittered away on political expedient expenditure.

What is even more worriesome, is that whilst Australia's commodities are highly sought after, and we are making a motza, instead of building Australian industry, the Government is encouraging us to purchase more overseas goods. Australia's export debt is running at 6.5% of GDP - a very unsustainable level. Eventually, our borrowings will come back to bite (not to mention the billions of dollars of interest flowing overseas each year!). At a time when our export performance is up, we are INCREASING our overseas debt faster than ever. What will happen if and when the boom ends? We could be setting ourselves up for a major economic disaster.

Furthermore, on interest rates, this budget was highly stimulating - and unless the capacity of the economy, particularly in the workforce, is increased, there will continue to be upward pressure. Demand will not reduce, so the only way to keep downward pressure is to increase the entire economic capacity. I sympathise with Paul Keatings indignation that he set up the modern Australian Economy, and Howard has claimed credit for it. And Labor are doing nothing to correct this perception in the minds of Australians. Somehow, the Liberals are the "good economic managers". No, they are lucky to get in when they did, and have done nothing to better the future of this country. THere is every possibility of a major economic correction, and with the slashed public services, health, education and particularly, IR protections, any downturn will hurt - and will hurt badly. And the resale value on Plasma TV's is probably not going to let you fill your car more than twice.

Old drivers

Sophie's horrific accident is a case in point to prove that many older driver are too stubborn and arrogant to know when they should not be driving. Politicians love to target young drivers as being reckless and dangerous drivers. What about these 70+ people with failing eyesight, hearing and mobility? I heard a story of an 80 year old driver who couldn't turn her neck sufficiently to look over her should when changing lanes. She also had tunnelvision. I pity any motorcycle riders anywhere near her on the road! Not to mention brain function. Driving, particularly on modern city roads, requires rapid mental processing of visual and audio information. Split-second decisions need to be made. Older people begin to lose this level of brain function. The same 80year old mentioned above, drove for 2 years on a cancelled licence, because she forgot to renew it. Its time for mandatory physical and mental testing (akin to the computer tests P Drivers need to take) for drivers over the age of 75. And they should be placed on P licences after the age of 80.

Live Garage Session

GET IT WHILE ITS STILL UP: Triple M's Interview and Garage Session with Ed from Live

Thats what I love about Live - its just Ed and his acoustic guitar - and the songs sound FANTASTIC! This is real music - this is what its all about.

God Bless Live.

Just another thing - its interesting that Triple M has changed its targetted demographic from under-40's to older folk. Its pretty much competing with WSFM. And this suits me just fine. I'm not trying to spruke Triple M (well, I sorta am) - but where else can I here a list of songs that goes something like this:

Dolphins Cry - Live
I Was made for Loving you - KISS
Hollywood Nights - Bob Segar
That song by Dido in that song by Emiminem
Thunderstruck - ACDC
Dancing Queen - ABBA
Alive - Pearl Jam
We Built this City - Jefferson Starship
and Bat out of Hell
... all within 1 hour!?! Its like they've copied the playlist from my mp3 player!

Anyway, enough spruiking... but you should see this Live video.

Richard Carleton: 1943-2006

Veteran reporter Richard Carleton died today in Beaconsfield, whilst covering the mine disaster. What I found particularly facinating is that he was captured on-camera literally minutes before he died. Its facinating to see the last few minutes of someone's life. And just seconds before he died, he signed an autograph for a little girl, saying "have a healthy life". Did he know something was happening?

Anyway, before selling out to 60 minutes, it would seem he was a reasonably respectable journalist with the ABC. He famously asked Bob Hawke: "Mr. Hawke could I ask you whether you feel a little embarressed tonight at the blood that's on your hands?" on national TV (of course, whilst he was with the ABC). THat takes guts, and I respect the man. In fact, his career is much like Anakin Skywalker's - he lured from the good side (the ABC) - to the easy path of the Commercial TV. Perhaps somewhere, in Journo's heaven, he is repenting. And then again, maybe not.

Were Beazlys comments inappropriate

Beazley made some comments at a May Day Rally yesterday, linking the plight of the two trapped miners with the new IR Laws. He essentially said, that under the new system, these such accidents could occur more frequently, since the right for unions to include training in Enterprise Agreements was forbidden.

He probably has a point. But his timing was terrible. I think it was rather inappropriate to be saying such things, when the two blokes were still not to safety. I do believe, however, that there would have been a useful time to make such comments but that time would be much, much later. Perhaps during or after any investigation surrounding the accident.

Beazly's really not making any ground, and these constant gaffs and misjudgements are not helping the ALP.

I'd just like to note however, Bill Shorten of the Mining Workers Union (and recent Labor MP electee), has managed to raise his public profile significantly through the mine disaster. I'm not implying any deliberate cynicism on his part, but he has essentially been the spokesperson for the miners on this issue. And he's handled the issue with sensitivity and thoughfullness. This certainly won't harm the political ambitions of the man sometimes touted as the next Bob Hawke.