Published by Si at 12 January, 2008
in Random.
It’s official, there’s no denying it. My brain has regressed a solid 11 years in the space of a week.
Watching Lockie Leonard and cacking myself senseless at the unbearably embarrassing puberty jokes. It has a C rating for crying out loud! And cringing at the oh-so-scarily-accurate portrayal of church youth group.
Watching Pokemon and worrying that Pikachu might fall into some water and be upset. And seriously considering getting an Ash Ketchum cosplay costume just to freak people out. Remembering Alt+0233 (as if I would forget).
Watching Sleek Geeks and waiting patiently for my childhood love of science to be rekindled. Nothing yet but I’ll keep watching. And being jealous of the guy who memorised Pi to 3000 places. Bastard.
Listening to Hit Machine 14, Real McCoy, Oasis, and playing Jazz Jackrabbit for hours on end. I got these all one Christmas. Best. Christmas. Ever.
This week I’ve had a few random thoughts. Observe, as I now proceed to dump them ungracefully into a single post.
- Achievement: I got my full licence. Yay! Ritualistic destruction of P plates successfully completed.
- Annoyance: Drivers who overtake when you’re travelling at the speed limit and then leave a 0.5 second following gap. If you’re gonna overtake, get away from my car! Don’t force me to slow down and create the safe following gap.
- Theory: David Duchovny is only doing that show to make himself appear less old. And possibly to offset Mulder’s extreme sexlessness.
- Suggestion: Tony Robinson should start a new show called “Passion 101.” I wouldn’t say I’m hugely fascinated by history but his pure unrestrained zeal could turn anyone into an anthropoligist.
- Ambition: To sell several random bits of junk on eBay before the end of the year.
- Hope: So there are still some creative computing projects out there.
- Desire: This and this (still) and one of these.
- Procurement: This and one of these.
I spotted this convincing display of Engrish on the front of our local Chinese takeaway shop.
Published by Si at 23 July, 2007
in Random.
I hate having pockets full of change. I hate having most things in my pockets for that matter, but change is the most annoying probably because there’s a very simple fix for it. Introducing the ShrapCard. Instead of receiving coins for remainders of your change indivisible by $5, you give the retailer your ShrapCard which works like an EFTPOS card and your change is credited to the ShrapCard.
I think the cards should have a limit of about $50 or $100 because you could empty it out for cash or pay for inexpensive items. You would buy it for a small fee (I’d pay 5 bucks in a heartbeat) from an automated ShrapCard dispenser machine which at the same time allows you to enter your own PIN onto the card. It would be anonymous for simplicity and ease of implementation. For those who just thought “anonymous = crime” - cash is pretty anonymous already isn’t it?
There could also be ShrapBins which you dump your coins into and have the balance credited to your card. They could also dispense coins for use in stone-age coin-only equipment. But to be honest, ShrapBins would have a limited lifespan. If everything from trains and trams to payphones and vending machines accepted ShrapCard, there would be little need for coins apart from having something to toss as a 1-bit random number generator.
But it could be more than just a solution to an annoyance. It would replace coins entirely, which have a pretty pathetic value:weight+volume ratio. There would be a minimal amount of new infrastructure required for retailers, as they’re basically just EFTPOS cards. It’s replacing all those bulky coin-hungry devices that would take time and money. The service would make its money the same way prepaid phones do; gobbling up the interest on your money that’s sitting there doing nothing
Actually, CoinCard is probably a catchier name. This post is prior art, you know.
Published by Si at 23 September, 2006
in Random.
My pirate name is:
Dirty Sam Rackham
You’re the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean — not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network
I saw Dave’s and couldn’t resist. *swash* *swash* *buckle* *buckle*
Frost Nova presents Bleauette, everyone’s favourite blue duck. Fabled to journey through the miscellany of our collective psyches for all eternity. From far away the animals come gather round to see, but she knows not how they feel, and she knows not what it means. Here’s the first chapter in this fateful saga, a collaborative effort between Josh and myself, made possible through the wonders of technology and boredom; not to mention the countless hours alone with a certain blue duck in a certain dark room watching way too much anime till the early hours of the morning. Thanks to Dave for the pic :-) Enjoy!
Continue reading ‘Introducing Bleauette’
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