Cluck!!!

Okay, fine, I'll join Twitter. My handle is Blue_Chicken. Look for the new feed thingy appearing on the right.

Word Up!

Hey! I just found this new Java-applet-site called Wordle. It lets you create works of art using typography and word frequency. All you need to do is provide a block of text, let the program generate the pattern of words, and tweak according to taste.

This being totally relevant to my interests, I naturally had to have a go. I cut and pasted a paragraph from Alice in Wonderland (courtesy of the Gutenberg Project). Click the picture to see it bigger at the actual site.

If you want to have a go, remember this: Anything you post on the site will stay there permanently, so don't go posting anything personal or obscene.
Have fun, and let me know if you create anything nice!

Making Comments

I should also point that I've adjusted the settings of the blog so that anyone can post anonymously, because I know that not everyone who knows me has a Gmail account or similar.

If you want to make a comment on a particular posting, click on the text that reads "[n] PEOPLE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT THIS BIT". You can type in your comment, and then follow the directions as shown on the form.

The only thing I ask is that, if you do post a comment, please include your name, as in "Hi! Bob here! I just wanted to say..." or something like that. That way I know who's been following this stuff, and I can answer appropriately.

And if I get inundated with spam or flame, I'm switching it back to the way it was. So behave yourselves.

...and Hello!

An explanation for the previous post is overdue...
and here it is! Along with some extra news:

1. For those of you who did not get the hidden message in the last post, Please Read It Again. Admittedly, I posted it a few days late. But no, I have not decided to suddenly get a life and quit blogging. Yep, there will be more mundane postings to come!
   
2. Things are crazy at work at the moment. We are in the process of changing our cash registers to a new touch-screen interface. So far, only one site has made the upgrade, and they have been having LOADS of issues with it. Like f'rinstance, when they installed the central control unit - the first time they tried it out, it worked perfectly. But when they tried to install it permanently, it threw sparks, and caused about 80% of the petrol pumps to blow their circuits! YIKES.
3. The other thing that worries me about the new system is that, although I am experienced enough to know how this one will work (because it's very similar to the old system we had when I started working here) I am worried that all of the new staff who have arrived in the meantime will look at this thing and PANIC because they have no idea what to do! I can see myself becoming very busy over the next few months...
4. Well, I guess I know that I'm wanted. I'm a wanted man! Look out!
5. Other stuff. We had another earth tremor about a week after the last one I mentioned, but I was outside sitting on the ground at the time and didn't feel a thing. Apparently it affected the same area it struck last time, and of course everyone in the City was freaked out by it, as if they were the only ones who felt it, but never mind.
6. Last week, I was serving a customer when I heard this strange creaking sound coming from one of the aisles. I look up, and sure enough, tiles were starting to bulge up and crack out of the floor! O_O Very strange stuff. It took about an hour for the damage to stop, and at the end, we had about a 2 metre long run of cracked and shattered tiles. Why did they do this? I'm not 100% sure, but I think it may have been all of the rain we've suddenly been getting. (Most of the town is built on clay, and it's been a long dry summer. A day's worth of rain ought to make all the clay swell up, and then, things start moving about...)
7. Easter is coming, and I've done all the shopping I need to do. Now I just have to visit everyone and give out all the gifts and things I've been holding on to for too long... I still have Chrsitmas gifts to give out, for crying out loud! slack slack slack
8. Aaaand... Krys and Andrew are in a play together, involving nudity. Well, imitation nudity - I've been told that the "nude" cast will actually be wearing modesty garments and those flesh-coloured lycra things that give the appearance of nudeness, so it won't be a total shock when I invite my polite 50-ish friend to come along with us to see it. :D
   

That's about it. And no, I haven't got a Twitter account yet. ;P

Murals, Street View of

I wish I could show you photos of the "finally finished" murals that I've spent most of this blog rabbiting on about, but unfortunately, getting my Mural group together has been a logistics nightmare. How difficult can it be to organise three people?! Well, very difficult, apparently. (To T. and &., I'm sorry. I know you both are really busy too, but I'll try to get us all together again somehow.)

Anyway, I can't show you any new mural photos... or can I?

You may have heard all the hoopla about Google Maps' Street View application invading people's privacy, and all that whatnot, but thanks to this innovative program, I can show you exactly how the murals look!
Go to the Australian Street View site, and type in this address: 7 Christian Street, Boolarra, Victoria, Australia 3870. Or, try this link. Your PC needs to be reasonably high-powered in order to use this site; it just barely works on mine.
This now solves my earlier question of whether the Title/Stump Mural has been installed yet (it has). And you can clearly see where the Lest We Forget mural has wound up.
You can rotate the camera in any direction, and move along the road to get a better view of the murals. You can zoom in for a closer look of the murals if you like, though I personally think that you find better pictures right here!

Also, see if you can spot all of the murals that were installed on Rutherglen Road in Newborough, postcode 3825... There used to be more of them, but some have been removed (or have fallen off - whoops).

What's Up This Week?

Aside from seeing my nephew in a play (see last post), I've done this stuff, in no particular order:

• I sent my Dad a Father's Day parcel, and hopefully he's got it by now... basically the same old stuff I usually send him, but it's usually well appreciated - at least I've never heard any complaints from him... :)
• I worked 20 hours over the weekend due to a serious lack of staff... most unfortunate, but this only happens very rarely I keep telling myself.
  
• I found a copy of Zork: Grand Inquisitor that just refuses to run. At all. mutter grumble...
• I also purchased a DVD-ROM burner drawer for the computer. After a bit of fiddling around with the master/Slave settings I managed to get it working just fine! at least SOMETHING I bought is working...
• I went and had more dental work done this week, to the tune of $250, entirely out of my pocket because I don't have private health cover yet. I have however paid up my Ambulance membership - I don't fancy paying over $1000 for an ambulance trip when it only costs me $60 to join.

One of the things I would like to do this week is attend my friend's 30th Birthday dinner, but, sadly, I can't thanks to my job. Oh well...
Happy 30th Birthday, Slink!
Hope you enjoy the new PS2 game, whatever you pick!

New Monitor

I acquired a "new second-hand" computer monitor from a friend a few months ago, and last night I decided to set it up and see if it works.
Yep, it does! Now I have a lovely 42cm screen with which I can look at stuff in 1024x768 pixels... and it is a weird experience seeing stuff in a familiar size, only bigger!

Naturally I took a Dinkycam photo to commemorate the occasion.


I also took a photo of Jiji the cat, who was inside for some reason.


Yes, I did turn on the lights! I was a bit worried that these wouldn't work at all, because the camera wasn't uploading photos properly the last time I used it. Eep.
My Ma has told me that I can borrow her older Digital Camera, in case I feel inclined to take better photos. That is, photos with recognisable subjects.

I've also been doing some games stuff, and I'll also be upgrading my website sooner rather than later (yes, you'll finally be able to see things on it rather than just "coming soon, visit my blog in meantime").

Making Comments

Hey Folks!

Some of you have told me that you have tried to make a comment on one or two of the things on this blog. Well, okay, it was just Ma, but her question will do for you all.

In order to make a comment through a Blogspot site, you need to be registered with one of these participating services:

• Google Mail / Blogger
• LiveJournal
• WordPress
• TypePad
• AIM
• OpenID

Most of these are standard Internet journal-keeping sites or social networking sites. However, OpenID is merely a system of on-line identification, and you can immediately sign up for one if you wish. You need to have an account with one of these groups to be allowed to post a comment.
Not all weblogs are like this - some, like this blog let you get away with just an email address and a name - but, unless there is a way of altering it, I'm afraid the only way you can comment on anything on this site is in person, or in an email.

EDIT: I have fixed the situation so that you can now post anonymously, without having to go through all of that hassle. Check this out to see how you do it.