Category: Life

(Today, sadly, I get to use the word ‘disabused’ in a sentence.)
I have today been disabused of the notion I may be descended from good old Captain James Cook (R.N.) – the one who claimed Australia for Mother England back in 1788. Other family members may have already realised this, but I only discovered the truth myself today.
It seems Captain James Cook’s line died with his children in the 18th century. None of his children were married, nor had any children of their own. So anyone claiming to be descended from the good captain is telling you a fib.
Some excellent genealogical work is here at Captain Cook’s Family Tree.
Don’t worry, I’ll continue with the family tree work! There are still some people living in Bathurst who I haven’t discovered a connection with.

The following exchange from C.S.I. last night had a profound effect on the Robinson-Cook house:

Nick: Why’re you tossing me a softball, putting everyone else on real cases?
Grissom: You wanted to work solo.
Nick: Yeah but it’s like night of the pufflings out there and I’m on a smash and grab.
Grissom: [Confused] Pufflings?
Nick: Puffin. Offspring. First time out of the nest every year, they crash land in this town near Iceland because they’re attracted to the lights of human civilization. It’s the same way people flock to Vegas for a fight.
Grissom: [Suddenly understanding] … Animal Planet.
Nick: How come when you talk about bugs everyone says you’re a genius but when I talk about birds everyone says I watch too much television?
Grissom: [Walking away] I don’t know.

Puffling. Use it in a sentence today and lift your mood.

Being the owner of a Palm Tungsten, I’m looking for new software every now and again: having a fairly powerful computer in your pocket means you can use it for certain situations where you’d never take a full computer (I’ve never understood why people keep their main phone book on a desktop computer where you can’t get to it unless you’re sitting at the desk).
It’s pretty much taking the place of my short-term memory at the moment; all my schedules, phone numbers, birthdays, things to remember… Were I to lose this thing, I may as well stay indoors for six months, because I wouldn’t be able to function in polite society without it.
I thought I was pretty heavily Palm-reliant until I saw some of the amazingly anal-retentive-friendly programs people are churning out for this device:
Shoes Rack 1.0 helps you organize your family’s shoes. You can store all the information about them: their type, colour, owner, some notes about where you bought them, and even – get this – current location. Presumably, you’d have to update this database pretty frequently, especially in wet weather.
There are plenty of others, too. Databases for remembering when to take the videos back to the video store (even with a setting for ‘overnight hire’) and programs for keeping track of what shape the moon is right now, even if you can’t see it.
But I think the best example of an application which goes a little too far in the brain-replacement stakes is “Parents +“. It starts well, keeping track of little details about your kid which are hard to remember, like their medical records and wish lists… but it lost me when I got to the screen called “My Child’s Details”. It records the child’s height, weight, hair colour and eye colour – just in case you forget – as well as marks and scars (poor kid), ostensibly as a way to make it easier to report them to the police or shopping center manager when they are lost. I can almost understand why that information might need to be recorded somewhere. Almost.
But what about the section on that page marked ‘Currently wearing‘? How would I use that? Update it every morning? Ask the kids to wait and hold still while I updated the Tungsten with today’s police report just in case?
I don’t know what scares me more; that people feel a need to record that information in a handy place these days, or that I have actually spent 5 minutes of my life seriously considering a use for that function.

You might notice a few more tweaks to Bonwag today; especially to the Photo Album, which has been fixed and has a bunch of new photos in there. Let me know what you think.

The things you see: Error 404 is usually known as a ‘file not found’ error on a website, but these guys have turned the error message into something more revealing…

If you’ve ever attempted to open up a game of Pictionary around me, you’ll have recieved the benefit of my fulsome opinion that it’s one of the most interesting, but most cheat-worthy games of the last 10 years. Maybe it says more about my chosen competitiors than the game itself, but I’ve never been a part of a Pictionary game which hasn’t dissolved into rampant cheating after about the 4th round. I don’t enjoy it. It’s a great example where the laws make sense, but they’re impossible to enforce.
That’s why I like iSketch so much. Ever since the demise of the brilliant ‘Acrophobia’, I’ve been looking for a decent, fun internet game to get stuck into. iSketch is an online game of Pictionary, where people from all around gather to try and figure out what squiggle means what. The scoring system, timing, everything is set up just right.
It’s also pretty hard to cheat, which is the best thing. I’ll see you there (name is, naturally, ‘bonwag’)

Excellent. The International Rules game is coming to Perth this year for the first time in a while (if, indeed, ever).
It’s not like it’s a particularly earth-shattering event (jaw-shattering, maybe), but it’s a curiosity which has invited a few inflammatory email exchanges with a good (albeit Irish) friend over the years.
If you hear of any tickets going on sale in the near future, let me know!

Who says nothing interesting happens in Perth. Passed on of these things on the freeway today. Luckliy it had a website address on the side, or I’d have been thinking about turning myself in for treatment (It has been a long week). I never knew these things were seriously roadworthy. Huh.
Add this to the list of cool things you’re considering buying me for a present.

There’s an episode of The Simpsons which deals with a massive car they called The Canyonero. (12 yards long, 2 lanes wide, 65 tons of American Pride!).
You may be pleased to know that Cadillac has built a real one. You may not. Either way; this review of the EXT is one of the better car reviews I’ve read in a while.
It’s a truck that’s hard to miss. Plus, you can frighten small children and suburban livestock with it.
The article says it the best: Only in America could something like the Cadillac EXT be built.

Februrary 9, 2003 is a significant date for two reasons. One, it was the hottest day in Perth for 5 years at 41 degrees celcius. Two, it was the first physical exercise I have done out of doors for, oh, 10 years, say.
Not to detract anything from the beautiful, gentlemanlike sport of Paintball, but it ain’t the sort of sport you play on a warm day, let alone a scorcher. I survived, narrowly. Now I know *precisely* why George is so keen to make sure his ground troops don’t have to suffer the same fate in Iraq. Check out the link to see what we have to wear.
Despite all the heat, it was actually a lot of fun. Wanna see my bruises?