My first tablet post

Today I received a Motion LE 1700 tablet to play with, in preparation for our UMPC trial. of course I am inking this as we speak, which is very nice. Not quite as fast as typing (yet), but I am sure I will improve as time goes on. For those of you who have not experienced the joys of writing rather than typing, I sincerely hope you will be able to experience the pleasure of plain old pen and paper with a modern touch.

The drawing by my five-year old. We had a lot of fun, and no child should have to battle with a mouse when holding a stylus is so much easier.

Punk rocker Arnold later becomes thirsty

Why are we different?

What sets us apart from animals? From Animal Planet, Animals did it first: Spoken language, religion, drug use and self-destruction. My colleague DM added the role of grandparents. With animals you seldom see grandparents getting involved in the raising of the young.

Anyway, back to the show, which then went on to state that there is another characteristic, our inclination to care for those less fortunate than us, extending even to other species - helping animals, especially those that suffer because of our human actions. Embracing this altruistic behaviour could see us taking much better care of our planet.

My view is very similar. We were placed here to govern. But we are not necessarily doing a splendid job. Whether global warming is caused by us or not is irrelevant. Fact is that we pollute more than we should.

But the solution is not simple. We have developing countries wanting to grow, and even introducing a carbon trading scheme will not curb the rapid growth in emissions. If we ever get a sensible carbon tax (~USD50/t), will this stop people emitting? I doubt it. Ultimately industry can pass on this extra cost to the consumer, and the world will still exist.

So what exactly is the solution? How do we find the balance between short term financial gain (which is very important to the shareholders who invested their money in companies, and expecting the highest possible return) and our responsibility to care for our planet? ANd why do they seem to be mutually exclusive? Are they? It seems that tonight I have only questions, no answers.

Time to get some sleep. Answers will come, as always.

C+C Music Factory-Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...

This is from 1990, and I just saw the video for the first time on MAX music channel courtesy of Foxtel. Anyway, guess why I like the video so much (embedding not allowed). Could it be Zelma Davis? Or the fact that it is such a funky song? Or both? It's both.

Excel VBA model enhancements

Right now I am working against a very tight deadline of Monday morning to completely rewrite a part of my main model at work. As a bit of background, I am moving my Excel-based database into Jet, and all my different customer files will follow in due course.

But to make that transition easy for my user base had me scratching my head for a good deal of last week. So my conceptual database design now complete (after a few revisions when special cases would make the concept fall over), it is time to commit fingers to keyboard, and start coding. If the first page goes well this morning, the rest should be easy.

Wish I could share more, but this model is what gives my company its competitive advantage in many areas. I do have some other ideas that I do not mind sharing. Some of you might find them useful.

In other news, I am still waiting on my Samsung Q1 Ultra and the OQO 02. Yesterday they were not yet ordered, and I am starting to think that I will have to lug my 4kg laptop around the world again instead of a 1kg Q1 Ultra, or even better, a 500 gram OQO.

Oh well, can't have it all, can we?

God is Faithful

After a week's worth of prayer, the answer came.

Competition - how fast can you go?

Let me know your score. In my opinion, iiNet is the best.

The children in July 2007

Tablet aids Old Testament's credibility

From the Australian, courtesy of Phil's blog.

Japanese IQ test

Very interesting. So far I do not qualify. Yeah, yeah, I know you did it the first time.

Verse of the day

This verse made it to my Inbox today, and caused me to reflect for a while. Why is it that we choose not to acknowledge God's handiwork everywhere around us? Just stop, and smell the roses. Look outside, and marvel. And be humble. We are so privileged to be made in His image. Ever wondered what God is like. Look around you, and look at yourself. Your heart is the same as His. Able to love, care with infinite ability. Yet sometimes we choose to do the opposite.

Psa 19:1
(AMP) To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. THE HEAVENS declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. [Rom. 1:20, 21.]


Rom 1:20
(AMP) For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], [Ps. 19: 1-4.]
(MSG) By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse.

No, we don't have good excuses. We as a human race think we are so clever, and masters of our own destiny. But we are not. And yet we can be. When we know God intimately, we can fulfill His purpose, and actually be all those things. Profound.

And my daughter just said I should write "God, you're the greatest one in the world."

Dreaming of the ultimate UMPC

This from the GottabeMobile website:

Unboxing the surprise package

What could it be? Pretty big box.





Oh, I see...

Run as if your life depended on it

I had some fun on Saturday night as I arrived home. Saw three boys, probably about ten years old, looking very suspicious near a street sign. I drove past, but then turned around, and drove toward them, catching them in the act of desecrating the sign with graffiti .

All I can say is, they ran quite fast. At the street corner they split up, and I chose to follow two of them. At one point I decided they had run anough, and accelerated to cut them off at the next intersection. They reversed, and now ran up the hill.

By the time I had turned the car around, they were gone.

I am reminded of the new advertising campaign against speeding. It associates speeding with men with small appendages, if you know what I mean. Apparently the previous campaign of showing blood and gore had lost its effectiveness.

So I am left wondering, why would someone choose to write illegible writing on a street sign, just to have it removed within a week. It just does not make sense. Unless, of course, the person feels he/she has something to prove...