Alan Alda Interview

I found a six-part interview with Alan Alda (most notably, Hawkeye Pierce of M*A*S*H fame), in Google Video.

This is an interview for the Archive of American Television, and is in 6 30min 'tapes' (so a total of 3 hours). But if you have the time, i would highly recommend watching these. There are some great insights into Television, and Alda comes across as modest, straightforward and unassuming. And of course, there are the little glimpses into M*A*S*H - which I still regard to be the best television series ever put to air.

Muppets on Movies.com

Some time ago, Disney bought the Muppets franchise. For some time, movies.com has been using Stadtler and Waldorf for a online movie review segment.

Its appalling. The don't use the original voice actors. The personalities are different, and they even look a bit different. I believe the orginal Muppet actors protested when Disney asked them to do this, and were replaced when they refused. The Swedish chef makes an occasional appearance, but whoever is doing the voice is terrible - it sounds like a poor imitation of the chef, and the mannerism aren't quite right either.

The show itself is poor. It neither achieves any degree of effective humour (let alone any semblance of the Muppets unique style), nor provides informative reviews. I can perhaps understand if the characters are sacrificed for some substance, but there just isn't any.

The Muppets are an icon, and shouldn't be desecrated in this way. Shame, Disney, shame.

It all over now...

What a disappointing way to go out. A solid, skillful and controlled game by Australia, but we just didn't have the firepower upfront. But to go out on a very controversial penalty is very painful. Having said that, I'd like to think that as a Nation we don't slip into the "We woz robbed" mentality. It was fantastic while it lasted, but the party is over.

Locally, if Football Australia is serious about raising the profile of the sport, they NEED to get a free-to-air station to cover some of the A-League. Whilst it is pay TV only, it will always be a marginal game in the Australian psyche. There is a wealth of enthusiasm out there waiting to be tapped (as we saw in Circular Quay, Norton Street, Lygon Street, Federation Square....) but i'm not sure if any commercial channel has the balls to support what was once called "wog ball". We shall see.

We're Through!

Australia Vs. Croatia 2:2

Opera 9 released

Opera 9 has just been released: see www.opera.com. I've been running the beta for a while now, which has been pretty good. But this has the most unbelievable rendering speeds i have ever seen!

Tests have shown that Opera canes the rest of the pack in all areas, for Windows applications. (Tests) Click on "Show Graphs". So all you Firefox lovers who keep telling me that its the fastest free browser... read 'em and weep.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Firefox requires you to add plugins to get fuller functionality - Opera doesn't. Its one of the most customisable applications i've seen, and has no problems migrating settings during reinstallation. In fact, I started using Opera a configured it as I wanted it, with version 6. Every upgrade makes no change to my customised settings (Skins, panel placement, shortcuts, download paths etc etc)... and is totally seamless.

Version 9 comes with Widgets, which for mine, are largely useless. But they can be cute. 100's of widgets available, including weather, clocks, stock market and news css feeds, football results, etc.

Give it a try... i haven't looked back.

This brings back memories

...now, does anyone speak german?

Moscow

Objects in the Rear View mirror

I found the film clip to one of my favourite songs: Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are, by Meat Loaf. I thought it was a very well put together clip.

Clip on YouTube

Nutjob appointed to ABC Board

Howard has appointed an absolute nutter to the ABC Board - Keith Windschuttle. This is a guy who strenuously believes that the whole idea of Aboriginal genocide was made up (presumably by pinko hippies). APparently, white settlers only killed 118 Aboriginals, who were robbers and ne'er do wells anyway, so that OK. He also believes that Arts faculties in Universities are feminist and marxists breeding grounds, and should be shut down. Oh, and the 30 years ago, the ABC was hijacked by leftwing marxist radicals, and they have had control ever since. From what I've read, the man has no tolerance or understanding of other peoples views (so not exactly a towering intellect). ANd to cap things off, he says having no advertising on the ABC is unfair to commercial channels. Apparently, the ABC has a competetive advantage over others, since it can provide commercial-free news and current affairs. Right.

Howard hates the ABC, he always has. There was a large chunk of funding in this years budget for the broadcaster, but I suspect that was to silence critics within the ABC, whist they quitely stacked the board. The ABC board is now made up almost exclusively of capitalistic businessmen. Howard also hates academics and intellectuals - he discards expert advice from people with real facts, and instead relies on the recommendations of business "leaders" who obviously have a stake in the matter. Under this Government, clear sighted thinking people (such as academics) are marginalised. The attack on the ABC is just part of that trend.

I really, really hope that Howard is hit by a bus or something. This cannot continue, and I would like to see an alternative government (if they can get in), reverse these changes, and put professionals and academics on the boards.

Sysadmin's Prayer

Quick dump

Hey y'all. Preparing for exams now, so haven't been (and won't be ) posting much for the next few weeks. Anyways, some thoughts...

Socceroos:
Could that game have been ANY better? Bloody unreal! Tune in Sunday night when the green and gold take on the ... errr... gold and green?

Politics:
Beazley announced at the NSW Labor conference, that the Labor policy would be to abolish AWA (Australian Workplace Agreements). Studies (including government studies) have shown that the vast majority of AWA's have worse conditions than awards - its clear that their purpose is singularly to circumvent minimum conditions. And AWA's are relatively rare. Most "white collar" workers are on common law contracts. Howard has been busy trying to paint AWA's as the preferred employment instrument for "Aspirational workers"... whatever that means. Most people moving "up" in the workforce move to common law contracts. If Labor can prosecute the argument effectively, this could be very potent. The question remains as to whether they are capable of doing that. They need to sell the message that the Howard IR laws are about enforcing maximum conditions, and putting downward pressure, whilst their proposed system is about enforcing minimum conditions and putting upward pressure. THe debate on IR credibility seems also to be prosecuted on a macro vs. micro level, with Howard arguing the macro issues of employment show him as a better employment manager, whereas Labor showing individual stories (on a micro level) about conditions being stripped away. The message that could potentially bite here is if they sell the line that the economy should serve the people... in this case, Howard is sacrificing people to serve the economy. Although probably not based on sound economics, that is a potent message for the "battlers". And since when has sound economics been a policy consideration?

Nuclear Power

I think i've mentioned it a few times, but I do believe there is a place for Nuclear Power in Australia. However, this is conditional.

Nuclear power should only be pursued as an alternative if the core outcome of the project is to replace NOT supplement coal power. It should only be considered if we remove the highly polluting alternatives (rather than just increasing power output so North Shore yuppies can run their AC's 24/7). I can't see the Howard government doing that.

Furthermore, now, i believe is not the time to do it. Fission reactors are very long-term investments. Currently, there is an international project by leading Nuclear scientists, to find a way to commercialise Fusion. Fusion is a "magical" energy source that leaves no radioactive waste, and requires only heavy water (tritium based water) to start the reaction. Its the same nuclear reaction that powers the sun, and offers a new energy source paradigm. Apparently, initial works have been quite promising. We should wait and see what emerges from this technology, because we would look like absolute geese, if we put up nuclear fission power stations, and 10 years later, fusion power is commercially viable.

Politically, there have been some strange decisions by Howard. The backflip on the Snowy Hydro, whilst leaving NSW and VIC out in the cold, was very strange for a government that sets its mind to something, and achieves it. Typically they KNOW what will and won't be a problem in the electorate well before proceeding. Ideologically, the fed goverment is all for selling the Snowy Hydro - but for some reason, did not read the mood of the electorate properly. Further to this, the sudden thirst for a nuclear debate is strange. After the world luxury tour 2006, Howard suddenly seems to want to push for a nuclear industry. Fine, that makes sense, but why the sudden urgency? And why play it out so publically, when it is a very contentious issue? Granted, it is excellent wedgbe politics against Labor, due to the varying views within the party on the Nuclear matter.

It almost looks like Howard is trying so hard to split his political opponents, that he's over-extended himself, and ended up shooting himself in the foot. The pursuit of the wedge has backfired slightly. Many political commentators (particularly in the SMH, Age and Australian Papers), saying the Howard has made a big mistake, and this could be the turning point in his political fortunes. *Sigh* call me cynical, but i'll believe it when I see it.

Bat III

The Monster is Loose: Bat out of Hell III is in production. There is a leaked (possible not completely produced) version of the track The Monster is Loose availabe from www.meatloaf.net. Click here for the mp3.

Its defintely an interesting sound - with some POD or Staind influences. What IS dissapointing, is that whilst there will be songs by Steinman (the genius behind BAT 1 and 2), he did not produce the album. INterestingly, Steinman actually owns the rights to the "Bat out of Hell" trademark, so have been some agressive negotiations to obtain its use.

Anyways, this is most likely going to be the big man's Last Album... so I shall be very interested to see what its like.

A Contrarian View of Open Source

A very ...creative look at the software industry by Sci-Fi novellist Bruce Sterling.

Aaargh! We be Sunk me hearties!

The Pirate Bay (www.thepiratebay.org) has been shut down by Swedish authorities, pending a court case. All PirateBay trackers are down. Some more information here.