the hottest year...

...for Australia ends with the hottest day of the year in Melbourne. The mercury will touch 42 today.

Wish you all a Happy New Year!!! I am off to watch the fireworks tonight,provided it's not canceled due to the total fireban.

I wish the world will be a less violent and less hungry and a more green place in 2008.

most important thing of 2007...

...is Labor winning 2007 Australian Federal Election. Time will tell whether it's the best of 2007 or the worst of 2007... :)

Is Christmas all about shopping?

I recently bought a digital camera. This has nothing to do with Christmas. I wanted to upgrade my camera for a while. Since, I am going overseas soon, I decided to buy now so I can claim the GST back using TRS.

But, I got swept up in the shopping spree and almost bought a new mobile phone as well. At the last moment I came to my senses and didn't buy it. My expensive XDA is just over an year old.

This made me think. These days Christmas is all about gifts, shopping and spending. So much ads are constantly on about "Christmas Sales" and "massive price cuts" worst yet "but now don't pay anything till 2010". The ads are constantly in your face, you end up getting in to a shopping mode, without actually realising it. People are just buying stuff they don't really need, thinking they are getting a real bargain. I just went to the shopping centre the other day, it's just a frenzy. How many people are going to get massive shock when they see the credit card statement in the new year? Not a great way to start the new year.

The ironic part is, the true meaning of Christmas is lost in all this frenzy. Shopping mall car parks are like battle grounds. People are screaming and abusing others and being rude to caught up in the stress and frenzy of finishing their shopping. Is it all about shopping? How many people have actually stopped and thought about the less fortunate, let alone tried to help them?

Like all other special days (Valentine day, Father's day, Mother's day, the list goes on) Christmas also has become a victim to commercialisation.

Merry Christmas!!!

someone started leaving Far side comic strips on the white board...

...in our office kitchen. My colleague Andy started putting up the Garfield strip next to it and I wrote the comment below it (just as a joke) :0)In my opinion Far Side comics is the the modern art equivalent of comics strips

Unlike, comics such as Garfield, the humor in Far Side comics is not obvious. You have to think about it and interpret it. Each person interpret them differently and find it funny in different ways.

Bellagio Fountain eat your heart out!!!

have you ever smelt the rain?

I am not talking about the city rain where you smell either the garbage or oil and petrol.... In my opinion, the best place to smell the rain is a village in a tropical country.

After a long dry spell, when the first few rain drops of pending monsoon down pour hits the ground an aromatic steam rises from the soil. This what I mean by the "smell of rain". Each and every village has it's own unique aroma depending on the soil. When sun comes out after the down pour and heats the ground, more vapor rises from the ground and makes the whole environment balmy & humid. It's so uncomfortable yet fun.

I am lucky enough experience this, along with watching -over a field, with an
uninterrupted view to the horizon- cascading sheets of water coming down from the dark clouds during during a tropical deluge.

in 1971...

...Alan Kay said "The best way to predict the future is to invent it". I think this (sorry...Windows Media format only) video is a classic example of this process.

The bits and pieces of the technology is already available. It's a matter of putting everything together and streamlining it.

election results are in...

...and Labor wins. I am happy with the results, I wanted Labor to win.

I am not a hard core Labor or Kevin Rudd supporter -In fact I am nervous about Labor's economic management skills, their inexperienced team and whether Labor will fulfill their ambitious promises without affecting the economy too much. I am also worried about Trade Unions abusing their powers and ruining small businesses-rather, I was really getting tired of John Howard's conservative policies, his inaction towards climate change, his lack of long term vision for Australia (not investing for the future while Australia is enjoying a resource boom) and most importantly him mis-leading the country (not him directly, but using plausible deniability)-Remember "Baby overboard" and his compassion less stand on refugees -Remmber Tampa

Said that, I do acknowledge he is a great leader and a very clever politician [latter is not exactly a complement :)]

Hope Labor makes full use of this win and prove to Australia they can govern. We have to wait and see...

i just realised....

...the Australian Federal Election is on tomorrow.

No, I wasn't living under a rock for last month or so. I was aware the election was on. But, just didn't realise it is on tomorrow.

It has been interesting...both major parties has been releasing "me too" policies. Liberal has been focusing on how the interest rate is going to go up and unions are going to ruin the country if labor comes to power. Labor is focusing on AWA. I am getting really tired of listening to this. Nobody seems to want to tell voting public what their policies are and what they stand for.

Last couple of elections Liberals played the Migration and National Security cards. This election they have been put away. Liberal is trying hard to convince the voters of their green credentials. It's bit of a lost cause, considering John Howard used to deny global warming is real.

One funny thing is, I totally forgot about Democrats. I literally forgot them as a political party. It's sad really, I used to respect them and their views before they drowned and imploded due to infighting.

Well I better go find out where is the nearest polling booth is.

you can come, but on....

I recently read the quote "you can come, but on British terms" by former British foreign minister, Jack Straw, with regards to the migrants.

It seems Australia has adopted (or adopting) similar attitude towards migration, with recent rhetoric about "Australian values".

Ok, I have I have no problems with Australia (or any country) telling prospective immigrants on what terms they will be allowed to migrate. But, what I don't agree with is, asking the migration to conform to Australian way of life (I thought "Australian way of life" is accepting and appreciating different cultures) and using it as a selection criteria .Claiming Australia is a multi-cultural country will become hypocritical, if you do that.

Lately, Australian politicians (led by Prime Minister John Howard) seems to have a problem distinguishing the difference between "assimilation" and "conformation".

what happens to your emails after you die?

An interesting article in The Age website.

If you've got a web-based email account and a mobile phone, and you're under 50, chances are you don't have a physical address book. So if you suddenly died, would your partner or parents know how to contact your friends to let them know? full article...