Apparently “governments are spending more money on intelligence” after September 11th.
Strange that I’ve not noticed any spontaneous outbreaks of common sense from them recently..
Category Archives: Writing
How To Kill All ADSL In Victoria
An organisation was doing their annual generator load test, when this happened:
It appears our upsteam ADSL telco has had a failure of an Ethernet switch. This has dropped ALL adsl circuits in Victora. (sic)
Just under an hour later it became obvious why:
It appears that the switch in question had not been connected to the essential power circuit. The telco’s switch had its power restored when the generator test was completed. We will working with the telco to get the switch transferred from mains to essential power on Monday.
Their summary of the testing:
Besides losing all ADSL in Victora, the generator power test went fine. (sic)
Oddly enough I didn’t notice anything that day with our home ADSL, so somebody likes me..
A Very Important Slideshow
An Inconvenient Truth
Year: 2006
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Media: Film
ID in Amazon: An Inconvenient Truth
Rating: out of 5
Went to see “An Inconvenient Truth” last night and was impressed. Al Gore is does pretty well here, stays (mostly) apolitical and has some nice self-deprecating humour as he tries to get a very serious point across. He knows that climate change is a tough sell in the US where science literacy is so low and the popular press is easily manipulated by lobbyists so he tries to make it all as accessible as possible.
Whilst all the graphs of CO2 levels and temperature variation are extremely persuasive the most emotionally gripping part for me were the photographs of glaciers from different periods demonstrating the massive retreat they have undergone in living memory.
There is a fair bit about Gore (I suspect mainly used as a break from the “hard stuff” of science), but I don’t think it detracted from the film and there was some useful background on how he became involved.
Tags: climate+change global+warming al+gore an+inconvenient+truth
LUV Server Down – Colocation Power Work Again!
It appears that Eftel have took the power down again at the colocation facility in Collins Street, but unlike last time it would appear that the server isn’t back up yet. This could be because the outage is still going on (it’s still listed as current on their site as I write even though it was scheduled for just Saturday) or it could be that there’s a problem with the box.
The LUV sysadmin has tried to get permission to go and investigate today (Sunday), but it appears it won’t be possible until Monday.
An Awesome Night of Drumming
Drum Tao
Event type: Concert
Date: 2006-09-08
Rating: out of 5
If you are under the misguided impression that drummers are people who hang around with musicians then run, do not walk, to see Drum Tao play!
We went to see them on Friday night at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne and were astounded by their performance. They have a huge amount of energy, great style and their timing is immaculate. Their playing is just great and you can see that they enjoy the performance as much as the audience – they got a standing ovation at the end.
Just brilliant!
Strong Earthquake in Flores Sea
USGS has reported a magnitude 6.2 quake in the Flores Sea, off Indonesia.
RIP: Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter
ABC news is reporting:
The naturalist and television star Steve Irwin has died in a diving accident in far north Queensland. He was 44. Police say he was stung through the heart by a stingray while diving off Port Douglas.
Update: Donna, my lovely wife, has written a nice piece about Steve Irwin.
SMART-1 Goes Out With A Bang
Spacecraft down at 0542 GMT, the BBC says:
Astronomers are now analysing a plume of fresh lunar “soil”, or regolith, kicked up by the crash. They have also been looking for the bright flash as the probe hit the surface. The impact was expected to leave a 3m by 10m crater on the Moon’s surface, spreading debris over 78 sq km (30 sq miles).
The Planetary Society reports:
SMART-1 scientist Detlef Koschy confirmed that mission control lost the SMART-1 signal at 10:42:19. He reported that folks at ESOC applauded when the “mission ended just as planned.” Team members at ESOC are now downloading final pictures. SMART-1 took images up to about 5 minutes before impact.
Astrobiology Magazine reports:
The European Space Agency’s Smart-1 mission ended on September 3rd 2006, at 07:42 CEST (05:42 UT). Its final lunar resting place is located at 46.2º West longitude and 34.2º South latitude.
Update: the Canada France Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea has the following image of the impact!
SMART-1 Lunar Impact Coming Up Today
By my reckoning SMART-1 will impact the moon at 15:43 Melbourne time (also see the BBC report).
FAA : Passengers Considered Harmful
From that ever reputable source of news, The Onion:
Under the proposed reforms, the FAA would institute a strict ban on adult passengers, passengers 18 and under, international travelers, and domestic customers. A battery of questions and ID checks will be used to determine whether an individual is a pilot, flight attendant, or federal security officer—the only humans who will be allowed to board an aircraft flying within or headed for the U.S.
Sounds like someone’s finally done a root cause analysis and come up with the obvious solution, a sensible policy from the US at last!
“Frankly, we’ve tried everything else,” Blakey said. “We’ve put up more metal detectors, searched carry-on luggage, and prohibited passengers from traveling with sharp objects. Yet passengers still somehow continue to find ways to breach security. Clearly, the passengers have to go.”
Via the ever good Mikal.