I suspect that toddler computer rage is a relatively new phenomenon. We had a computer when Kathleen and Michael were little, but they weren’t allowed on it and didn’t really start using it until they were seven or eight.
We now have three computers, including one that’s pretty much free for James and Margaret to use. [...]
We have a new Dell Dimension PC running Windows Vista. Setup yesterday went well enough.
It’s always exciting to unwrap a new computer and get it going. It’s like getting a new car; the smell is unique.
First impressions of Vista are positive. That’s all they are though at the moment, just impressions, so anyone stumbling across [...]
We haven’t been able to close the CD-RW drive on Kathleen’s computer for a month or so now. We figured the toddlers stuck something in there.
I wasn’t going to let the computer be packed with a dangling drive, so looked under the hood tonight to try and extract the foreign object.
I’m not knowledgeable about the [...]
I installed Suse 10 on my Linux hard drive this week. It was a tough decision to override my faithful Kanotix, but being a compulsive experimenter I couldn’t resist the temptation.
Suse installed easily and comes packed with software including commercial products such as Java, Flash and RealPlayer. (more…)
What are your favorite Firefox extensions? I’ve tried many, but there are two I simply MUST install immediately I get Firefox running.
They are Add Bookmark Here by Daniel Lindkvist and Gmail Notifier by Doron Rosenberg.
I can’t browse without them!
I don’t know if it’s a symptom of the modern age, or a peculiarly Australian phenomenon, but the average citizen isn’t very culturally aware.
I like to think that I have a broad general knowledge and a moderate IQ, somewhere between Einstein and George Bush on the scale, but I have to admit that my [...]
It’s a cold wet and miserable Saturday; good weather for reading and experimenting on computers. I couldn’t hold myself back from testing Kanotix, despite being very happy with its Debian cousin Mepis.
I decided not to install it on the hard drive of my spare computer. I don’t have an ethernet card on that one and [...]
My enjoyment of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series has caused me to rediscover the library. I simply couldn’t afford to keep buying them!
Apart from computers and electronic bar codes, libraries haven’t changed much since I last visited regularly some 20 years ago. Funnily enough they’re still full of books.
I picked up an interesting non-fiction book at [...]
According to Beta News, Microsoft is about to start testing Windows OneCare.
This is Microsoft’s entry into the world of anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware through an integrated package. It’s ironic in a way that operating system flaws have created an industry to protect computers from outside attack. (more…)
Dude is something of a computer wiz at the age of nine. He asked me for a blank CD this morning to burn some music, and assured me knows how to do this. I have no reason to doubt him.
It paused me to reflect on how much I knew about computers at his age, which [...]
The population of Victoria is five million people, but I was the only one of them today on the summit of our second-highest peak, Mt Feathertop.
The mountain was awe inspiring, humbling, powerful and beautiful in a mesmerising package of contradictions.
Normally I have Friday spare to pursue private business, but I swapped it for today to [...]
I saw a disturbing report on SBS news last night about the Aral Sea disaster in Kazakhstan. The world’s fourth-largest inland sea has been decimated by commercial exploitation and mismanagement. Here are some of the facts:
Forty years ago the Aral Sea surface was 66,100 square kilometers with an average depth of 16.1 metres and a [...]
Well it’s almost sunk in that I’m a Dad again. The twins were dragged reluctantly into the world at 10.26am and 10.27am on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 almost two weeks before Juliet would have been full term in her labor.
The vital details:
James Peter, weight 6lb 12oz
Margaret Johanna, weight 6lb
Mum and babies are doing well. Hopefully [...]
I wrote this article in February 2002 in response to a campaign by Senator Julian McGauran and Tim Fischer to obtain a pardon for English officer “Breaker” Morant, who ordered the killing of prisoners in the Anglo/South African War.
I was annoyed that McGauran took up this issue without any community consultation. It was the only [...]
I'm a 41-year-old father of four working as a newspaper editor at Mount Gambier in South Australia.
