The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown has been top of the bestseller list in Australia for several months. I don’t need to review the book in much detail, because presumably most literate people in the world have already read it and formed their own opinions.
I don’t know why it took me so long to read it, but on Sunday in Albury I finally succumbed and bought a copy.
So what do I think? It’s a great story, flows at terrific pace, has wonderful elements of suspense, and is generally a great read.
Is it a literary masterpiece? Probably not, but it’s well written and covers some fascinating ground in the worlds of crime, religion, history and finance. They’re a potent mix and Brown is great storyteller.
The tale is that a secret society protects the legend of the Holy Grail. In Brown’s fictional reality the grail is more a metaphor for documents that support the supposedly true status of Mary Magdalene as the wife of Jesus.
From what I can tell, much of the research appears to be based on true but limited facts surrounding the Gnostic Gospels and subsequent legends regarding Mary Magdalene’s rumored flight to France.
In Brown’s fictional account, four senior members of the secret society are murdered simultaneously, with responsibility indirectly linked to the Catholic organisation Opus Dei and more remotely to the Vatican itself.
The mastermind is someone unexpected, a cunning manipulator, who seeks to use others in his obsessive pursuit of the grail.
If this sounds far fetched, it doesn’t feel that way while reading the novel. Brown has the uncanny gift of making the incredible sound highly likely.
Unlike some other crime thrillers, which rely on surprising coincidences to link unlikely events, Brown is a genuine master of scene and suspense.
I can see why his previous works have also shot up the besteller list. I’ll check them out myself in months ahead.
As a Catholic, I know the history of the early Church is clouded in the murky waters of personalities, expedience and politics.
I like the fact that Brown doesn’t denigrate Catholic teaching, but rather draws out the mystery of whether alternative thought survived the early forcible attempts at orthodoxy.
Babies done a runner
The babies escaped today. Juliet was mowing part of the back lawn while they were roaming on the verandah. She turned around and saw nothing but vacant space.
After some investigation it transpired that James had opened the back gate. With his accomplices, Margaret and Snowy the pup, all three decamped the yard.
Juliet scanned left and right, becoming more alarmed with each passing millisecond. Finally, she heard dogs barking and saw the three troublemakers across Seamer Street in a neighbor’s yard, playing with their rather large canines.
It’s quite extraordinary that James was able to open the gate, more so that they toddled across the road in less time than it takes to mow one length of ordinary fenceline. Needless to say, security will have to be further upgraded to counter this new terrorist threat from the BLF.
Tasty Milawa visit
Juliet and I went with the twins to Milawa today. Strangely, it was
the first time we’d experienced the "gourmet" attractions that little
town has to offer in the eight years we’ve been living at Porepunkah.
We started at the cheese factory. It’s an attractive complex that
also includes specialty sweets and ice-cream, a bakery, wine cellar and
a furniture showroom!
According to their tasting notes: "All cheeses are hand made at the
historic Milawa Butter Factory using traditional methods, without
preservatives and using non-animal remnant."
That last part is bad English. I don’t know if they use non-animal remnant (whatever that is) or not?
The cheese varieties are mainly soft and tasty. There was none of
that mouldy hard-rind stuff. We concentrated on the goat milk cheeses,
as this was something completely different. I had never tasted goat
milk cheese before apart from feta.
We enjoyed it and purchased Cajun Pepper Chevre, which was just mildly spiced, and Goat’s Camembert.
Boutique preserves were also sold there. We bought delicious peach pickles, hot Bengal chutney and Juliet chose an Indian dip.
The bakery next door had wonderful cakes and bread. We ordered
coffee and sampled butterscotch mousse, hazelnut blueberry muffin and
slices of sourdough bread with a thick crust.
There were outdoor tables available and it was family friendly in
that the babies could roam safely without breaking anything or injuring
themselves.
We resisted the additional temptation to buy locally made chocolates
or ice-cream after the consumption of several thousand calories in a
few mouthfuls.
Next stop was Milawa Mustards. This unique business grows,
manufactures and sells more than a dozen varieties of excellent mustard.
Curiously, neither Juliet or I eat much mustard. We both like hot
foods, but more your chilli and curry type hot. Nevertheless, I
appreciate an occasional mustard dab on sandwiches, so I purchased a
jar of the garlic version.
The shop is neatly laid out, again with preserves and other foods for sale.
The mustard tasting counter is lined up in order from mild to hot. I thought
to myself the last in line must be super super burning hot and,
although I can’t exactly recall the label, it was something to that
effect. The staff were friendly and helpful.
We then went to Brown Brothers winery, where I tasted a few varieties and purchased six bottles. The Roussanne was very nice.
We drove home via Tarrawingee and stopped for a cold beer and lemon
squash at the historic pub. It’s hidden on the Beechworth road, and
this was the first time I’d been there.
We were the only patrons, and again, the twins were free to roam as
we sipped outdoors. James discovered a horse trough and proceeded to
immerse himself.
It was a very enjoyable day close to home.
Phone book flop
You’ve got to hand it to Telstra and its phone book subsidiary, Sensis, for subtly demeaning the indispensable White Pages every year.
This year’s book was delivered recently and is simply an advertising document with useful information buried inside.
It’s now entrenched that the White Pages are at the back. The commercial Yellow Pages are at the front.
Last year I managed to adjust; however this year the covers are indistinguishable.
The main cover shows both Yellow and White Pages, so you don’t know if you’re at the front or back. The situation is confused because when you go to the “back” (where the Yellow Pages used to be), there’s a full-page ad for Sensis in a yellow border, but that’s where the White Pages actually are.
I haven’t seen the Melbourne phone books yet, but normally there are separate editions for White and Yellow Pages given the sheer volume of numbers.
If that continues to be the case, country people are being singled out for unfair advertising promotion. We’re the suckers who have to weigh through ads before we get information that we need.
Advertising has also infiltrated the White Pages, with more use of color and bold entries. It’s nostalgic to remember that a phone book used to be a phone book.
Kodak DX7590
My new digital camera arrived today. It’s a Kodak DX7590, which I bought from TechBuy for $643. I just noticed another one elsewhere online for $626, but most that I saw have been advertised at $700 or more. Kodak’s direct sale price is US$499, which converts to $635, so my purchase price was close to the mark.
It’s my first digital camera upgrade in four years. I’ve been using a trusty Kodak DC280 for work and home, which was top of its class half a decade ago.
Follow the Kodak link above for product information and technical data. These comments are simply my first impressions comparing a new camera with a much older model.
Firstly, the differences: The 7590 uses a Li-Ion rechargeable battery and SD/MMC memory card. The 280 uses 4xAA rechargeable batteries and a CF/MD memory card.
The zoom is more powerful on the new camera and there are many more picture settings, eg close-up, portrait, landscape, wide angle, etc.
The zoom is easier to adjust and I like the plastic docking tray that holds the camera securely on a desktop while it’s not being used.
The 7590 has an easy toggle mode between the electronic viewfinder and liquid crystal display screen. It can save photographs at a higher resolution than the 280 (230dpi compared with 180dpi).
I inserted a 512MB memory card, which can hold 149 pictures at the highest resolution, or 31 minutes of MPEG video. Photo downloads to the computer were around 1.2MB each compared with 500kb on the older model.
The 280’s power management wasn’t great. After taking several photos it needed a break before it could capture again, which was frustrating at times.
The 7590 has a “sport” capture mode, with a faster shutter speed, which I’m keen to try. I had to give up any thought of taking action photos with the 280.
Close-up photos were a no-go with the 280 as well, but my brief test today suggests I’ll get excellent quality and clear focus with the new camera.
So far I’m very impressed and I look forward to testing the various settings.
Linux v Windows head to head
I’ve been using various Linux distributions for over a year now, trying to migrate from Windows with varying levels of success.
I still consider myself a novice user, mainly because the technical language of Linux overwhelms me.
I enjoy the mental arithmetic and logic that’s necessary to get things working; at other times I feel frustrated and disappointed.
This review will focus on the best of Linux, which I’ve experienced from Mepis and Suse (with credits to Conectiva and Puppy). I’ll match their applications up against the best of Windows and give ratings for each.
Office suite
I’m typing the first draft of this article in OpenOffice, which is open source and available in both Linux and Windows. I find that it’s fine for everyday use. I use Word a lot as well, Excel occasionally and Powerpoint infrequently.
I’m giving the nod to Windows here, partly because its dominance has established the various formats as pretty much universal. I know that OpenOffice can save and open doc files, but that can sometimes be a hassle and formatting can change.
Bullet points appear much more neatly in Word, for example. I find it easier to add the sum of columns in Excel.
Textmaker is a good commercial word processing alternative in Linux. But if you’re going to pay for the software you may as well use Word. If you want a good free alternative, then OpenOffice fits the bill. I won’t say anything positive about AbiWord, which is also cross platform, until it automatically prints curly quotes.
Linux 7 Windows 9
Personal Information Manager
Outlook is a tremendous integrated software package. However, it’s been my experience that Outlook crashes more easily and more frequently than any other Microsoft program. It also hangs when trying to shutdown on at least two of my computers.
Windows has many excellent Outlook alternatives, some free and some cross platform.
Linux has the KDE suite, which isn’t bad, and Evolution, which I prefer. Windows offers more choices for those who want them and gets the nod here again.
Linux 7 Windows 9
Web browsing
I’m a Firefox fan, so the points here are shared. I enjoy tabbed browsing and appreciate the extras that you can install optionally with Firefox.
Of course, it works in both Windows and Linux, so I can’t split the difference. Internet Explorer has never appealed to me, but there are some neat tabbed browsing clones, especially Maxthon and Avant Browser. I’m not big wraps on Konqueror, Epiphany or the main Mozilla browser in Linux.
Linux 8 Windows 8
I could have covered this under office suite, but for many people it’s an important standalone feature. Outlook is great, except for the crashing I mentioned earlier.
Outlook Express is fine. Thunderbird works in both. There are some good Windows programs, such as Scribe, and good Linux programs, such as Evolution. The points are even.
Linux 9 Windows 9
Web design
I previously used Dreamweaver for all my standard HTML design work. I’e moved on over the past few years to mainly using PHP content management systems, most of which can be maintained through WYSIWYG editors. Occasionally though, I need to create a page from scratch.
I no longer have Dreamweaver. I do have Adobe GoLive, which to me seems a difficult program to learn. I prefer to use Nvu, which is a native Linux program that also runs in Windows. Again, the points are shared.
For editing PHP files on the server I’m equally happy in Linux with Kate, or in Windows with PSPad.
Linux 8 Windows 8
Accounting
The points here go clearly to Windows. Since I established my business in 1999 I’ve used a commercial program called OwlGST to handle all my bookkeeping. It’s never let me down and transfers easily from an old PC to a new one, with all files intact.
I’ve yet to come across a Linux accounting program. There is some personal financial management software available, but with Internet banking, who needs it, regardless of the system?
Linux 2 Windows 9
Images
I’m a keen amateur photographer and I take a lot of digital photos for my clients as well. I need pictures for the web, brochures and newspaper reproduction.
Both Linux and Windows recognise my digital camera and download easily. Both systems have good editing programs, although Windows offers a wider choice, including some useful freeware options.
For press work I need to convert images to CMYK format, which so far I’ve only been able to do in Adobe Photoshop. Until Gimp offers this feature as standard it will lag behind, in my view.
I like Digikam for album management in Linux, but there are many similar programs in Windows, some of them free, such as Google’s Picasa.
Linux 6 Windows 9
Desktop publishing
My work involves producing press-ready materials such as newspaper pages, color brochures and marketing products.
I was weaned on Pagemaker 5 many years ago and followed Adobe through to its current Creative Suite and InDesign. I taught myself how to create banners, ads and graphics in Illustrator. The Linux alternatives just don’t match up, and my crossover experience with Illustrator just didn’t work.
I’ve been impressed with Inkscape for vector drawing in Linux, but can’t embrace Scribus as a commercial option for page layout at this stage.
Linux 5 Windows 9
Audio
I don’t play CDs much on computers, but when I do I expect them to work. Sound issues frequently occurred for me with various Linux distros, but for the most part they’re now resolved after much research, trial and error.
Having installed Windows ME on a couple of older computers recently I can say the same problems arose there. Windows XP is superb for its hardware and soundcard detection.
Linux 6 Windows 7
Video
I won’t rate this section, simply because I haven’t tried Linux for downloading video from my camera, or editing. I suspect Windows will be stronger though, simply because there is greater choice.
Utilities
I class utilities as gadgets such as rulers, color pickers, calculators, system monitoring devices, etc.
In this regard both Linux and Windows compare favorably. There are good freeware options in Windows, if you know where to look, and many others that say they’re shareware and want money. Linux is free.
Linux 7 Windows 6
Look and feel, hardware
Windows and its software seems to be more polished. Suse and Mandrake do a good job for Linux, but there’s always an underlying feel that something is not quite right.
Hardware detection is great with Windows XP, although some older items (like my Canon scanner) have problems. Linux is getting better and I’m big wraps for Mepis in this regard.
Linux 6 Windows 8
Value for money
Most Linux distributions are free and the commercial ones are much cheaper than Windows, likewise with software. Most people respect the intent of licensing rules for Windows, but I question the fairness of restricting an operating system to one PC, especially when that PC might become redundant or used for another system.
I’ve crossed old systems over to Linux and then wanted to dual boot for the kids’ study and home use. Under the Windows regime the Windows ME CD that I paid for can’t be used again. Who can keep track of what CD was applied on what computer eight or nine years ago?
Linux 9 Windows 3
Total
Linux 79 Windows 96
Summary
I use Linux for 60 percent of my personal computing and 20 percent of my business computing. That equates to about 60-40 overall in favor of Linux. I prefer to use Linux for email, web browsing, web site updates and writing personal letters.
For these functions it can match or exceed Windows, depending on your personal preferences.
I have to use Windows for bookkeeping and desktop publishing, which also causes me to use it for some personal requirements. Most of my business documents are written in Word, although I’m slowly migrating to OpenOffice. I support Linux as a value alternative and want it to succeed. I offer no adverse
criticism here, just my observations.
Search any Linux forum and you will find people who have had problems with modems, audio or something else. It isn’t perfect, but in most cases it’s free or low cost. We should all be grateful for this.
Bread and milk
Bread, milk and water are pretty much the staples of life. Until this year I’ve never really taken much notice of what they cost.
Excluding water, which we purchase from a government utility, I’ve now become a keen observer of what it costs to buy the other two.
As a family of six, we consume so much bread and milk that it’s beginning to impact on our bottom line, so value is critical.
Now that James is no longer drinking formula we go through two litres of milk per day. That’s 14 litres a week, plus an extra two litres of low-fat milk for me.
We seem to go through about 10 standard loaves of bread per week and one loaf of multigrain for me.
A standard loaf of white bread costs about $2.50. You can pay much more for special types of bread. Two litres of brand milk cost about $3.50.
That’s a lot of money when you purchase the volumes we do, so we go for the “no name” brands, which taste just as good, but are much cheaper.
The best deal on bread is five loaves from Bi-Lo for $6. With milk, I bought three litres of the house brand at IGA today for $3.30.
The summary is that we’re spending about $15 a week on bread and more than $20 on milk. That’s if we don’t run out and have to stock up with branded products at the local shop.
And Margaret isn’t drinking milk yet! She’s just finishing on formula and will start soon with soy because of allergies.
Free Roy Bennett
I’m way behind the times when it comes to understanding the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe. I caught up with some news today and was shocked to learn that a Member of Parliament, Roy Bennett, was jailed for shoving a Minister in the House.
Bennett admitted to unparliamentary behavior and apologised, but to be jailed for one year is most certainly a vindictive and excessive sentence. He has already spent more than 100 days in prison.
Bennett has been victimised for his political beliefs. His workers and family have been attacked by government militants, his cattle have been killed and his wife suffered a miscarriage from the stress.
The Opposition MDC has reluctantly agreed to contest the forthcoming election, knowing the system is rorted against it. Bennett has been nominated unanimously to represent the MDC in his constituency. I admire the courage of those who fight evil when the odds are stacked against them.
The evil triplet
As a father of one-year-old twins I’m pleased to say the babies are delightful most of the time. They’re now toddling and climbing; soon they’ll be talking.
I know they both subscribe to the BLF, the Baby Liberation Front, a little-known terrorist organisation (or freedom fighters, depending on your perspective). We’ve learnt to live with the demands and blackmail of this sinister but cute group.
I’ve also come to suspect the twins may have an evil triplet.
Margaret and James are so sweet it’s hard to believe that either could possibly trash the kitchen cupboards. It must be their evil triplet.
Likewise, Margaret wouldn’t cry in the middle of the night for no reason. It must be the evil triplet.
It must also be the evil triplet who: smacks Snowy the pup, pulls the hair of the other baby, runs towards the road when let in the front yard, pulls out the DVD player cables, sticks little fingers in the video player, makes phone calls on my mobile, loses the keys, empties the dog’s water bowl and has an unhealthy interest in the toilet.
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