Sunday 18 March 2007

Road Signs


We got a chance to go away for the long weekend down to Peppermint Grove Beach, which is near Capel, just south of Bunbury Western Australia. It is a beautiful location, nestled in among the sand dunes on the edge of the coast.


Getting there is an interesting drive through forest, farm paddocks and the like, until you reach the crest of a hill, and bam! instant suburb.

The road signs on the way caught our eye.

Not really that close to the edge, eh?

How can I overtake - the bridge is only as wide as the car!

Huh? What does this mean??

Proper John, but not a proper road??

What they mean is that they can't afford to make the road wider...


What CAN I do at this beach?

So we decided that they should all really be replaced by this one sign...

(This isn’t a real sign)

Monday 5 March 2007

Bill Gates and email

Received this from a friend the other day:

Got a strange email today saying that Bill Gates is doing beta testing and will pay you for sending on and email to all your fiends coz he is going to track it for 2 weeks??scam/junk?? any way I don't use outook express for my email. Below is a copy of it (deleted).


It's a hoax. I typed "for every person you send this email to" into Google, and the top 3 hits were pointers to sites that say it's a hoax. For example:


From the Urban Legends website:
Comments: This is a hoax, and a recycled one at that. Bill Gates isn't sharing his fortune via chain letter. No merger between Microsoft and AOL has been announced; indeed, it's hard to imagine an unlikelier event. Two of Microsoft's biggest rivals, America Online and Netscape, merged in 1998, making AOL Microsoft's main competitor. Trust us, if these two behemoths were to merge, you'd have seen it in the headlines a thousand times over.

Moreover, Microsoft cannot track the chain letters you forward, nor will Bill Gates pay you for replicating this insipid message. Why on earth would he?

Statement from Microsoft:

REDMOND, Wash., May 12, 1999 - Recently an email has been circulating on the Internet about a new "email tracking system" from Microsoft.
As you may have suspected, this is a hoax and did not originate from Microsoft.
Microsoft does try to investigate the source of these hoaxes and take appropriate action. However, many times the hoaxers take elaborate steps to shield their true identities and we cannot identify them. Privacy and security are very important to us here at Microsoft, and we work every day to build great software for the Internet that keeps information safe, secure and private.
We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you.
— Message to Customers on "Email Tracking Program" Hoax

Statement from Bill Gates:
Even more annoying than spam, in some respects, are hoaxes. I'm acutely aware of this because my name was recently attached to a hoax email message that was widely distributed.
People embellished the fraudulent email over time, as it was forwarded from electronic mailbox to electronic mailbox, but an early version read this way:
"My name is Bill Gates. I have just written up an e-mail tracing program that traces everyone to whom this message is forwarded to. I am experimenting with this and I need your help. Forward this to everyone you know and if it reaches 1000 people everyone on the list will receive $1000 at my expense. Enjoy. Your friend, Bill Gates."
The bogus message was widely forwarded, which surely led to some disappointment from people who hoped to receive $1,000 for passing along what was essentially a chain letter.
— On Spam: Wasting Time on the Internet


Bottom line, please tell your friend it's a hoax. Suggest that before sending it next time, that they Google the text of the message and see if it pops up on the hoax sites.

Budweiser Frogs

I received this from a well-meaning friend the other day:

READ IMMEDIATELY AND PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW !

Someone is sending out a very cute screensaver of the Budweiser Frogs. If you download it, you will lose everything!
Your hard drive will crash and someone from the Internet will get your screen name and password!

DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!

It just went into circulation yesterday. Please distribute this message. This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it. This information was announced yesterday morning from Microsoft. Please share it with everyone that might access the Internet.

Once again, Pass This Along To EVERYONE in your address book so that this may be stopped. AOL has said that this is a very dangerous virus and that there is NO remedy for it at this time.

This is VERY important. If you receive a screen saver from a friend or anyone you may not know with the Budweiser Frogs in it, DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT OR OPEN THE FILE!

Press the forward button on your email program and send this notice to EVERYONE you know. Let's keep our email safe for everyone

This is a hoax. I typed "screensaver of the Budweiser Frogs" into Google, and within a minute got a stack of hits to prove that this is a hoax. Please check the links below:


In future, if you receive a warning of this type, please take a few moments to check it out for yourself before you just forward it onto others. I'm fairly sensitive about these, having a number of well-meaning friends emailing me these sorts of warnings all the time. A quick trip to Google usually confirms the virus (or not).

Don't worry be happy ...

I was listening to the song written by Bobby McFerrin called "Don't worry, be happy" the other day. The lyrics from Digital Dream Door are below:

Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy.
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy.
Don't worry, be happy now.

(Chorus)
Don't worry, be happy. Don't worry, be happy.
Don't worry, be happy. Don't worry, be happy.

Ain't got no place to lay your head
Somebody came and took your bed
Don't worry, be happy.
The landlord say your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy.

(Chorus)
(Look at me -- I'm happy. Don't worry, be happy.
Here I give you my phone number. When you worry, call me,
I make you happy. Don't worry, be happy.)

Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style
Ain't got no gal to make you smile
Don't worry, be happy.
'Cause when you worry your face will frown
And that will bring everybody down
Don't worry, be happy.

(Chorus)
(Don't worry, don't worry, don't do it.
Be happy. Put a smile on your face.
Don't bring everybody down.
Don't worry. It will soon pass, whatever it is.
Don't worry, be happy.
I'm not worried, I'm happy...)

My wife said "Didn't he commit suicide?". The ultimate irony I guess. Well, I thought it'd be interesting to find out for sure. I couldn't remember his name, but a quick Google search revealed all.

It seems that rumours of his death are greatly exaggerated. Bobby is alive and well, and still doing stuff, which is a good thing.

So, no ultimate irony this time.

First Post

Hi there and welcome to my blog.

I've been thinking for a while about what to do with all the random thoughts running through my head from time to time, and figured this might be one way to deal with it. That way my head won't explode.

I'm going to put up stuff like touring country Western Australia, because that's where my heart is, and various random snippets that flit in and out of conscious thought.

Hope you like it,
Clark.

Great Big Stupid World

I love Randy Stonehill. One of my favourite songs is "Great Big Stupid World". The following lyrics I found on the Daniel Amos website:

Great Big Stupid World

©1992 Words and Music by Randy Stonehill Terry Taylor
Recorded by Randy Stonehill for his album "Wonderama" (1992)
Well we worship at the shroud of Elvis
And we're waiting for that money from Ed McMahon
And we're drinking from the Perrier fountain of youth
While we follow what the daily horoscopes saying
Taking lethal doses of MTV
Delving into pet psychiatry
Trying to treat cancer with a fruit juice cure
And waiting for the Beatles reunion tour

'Cuz it's a great big stupid world
And we're feeling kinda queasy as it turns around
Great big stupid world
And we're never really sure if we're up or down
We're on a dirt clod out in space
Where it stops nobody knows
If Jesus came back today
They'd try to book him on the Oprah Winfrey show
'Cuz it's a great big stupid world
Great big stupid world

Well we're hot on the trail of Big Foot
And we're wearing the crystals to feel the power
We're hoping that the creatures from outer space
Come to set us free in that final hour
Trying to tell the future from the lumps on our heads
Getting melanoma from our tanning beds
Channeling Houdini with Shirley MacLaine
And trying to figure out what the dolphins are saying

CHORUS

Well it's a Great-Big-Stupid world
Dumb dumb da dumb dumb baby it's a stupid world
It's a great big stupid, great big stupid
Great big stupid world

Well we're studying the National Enquirer
Is it true Sonny Bono is the Anti-Christ
We debate if T.V. wrestling is really a sport
While we're testing rock 'n' roll and it's effect on mice
Bonding with our little computer screens
Getting anorexic on our Lean Cuisines
Turning plastic surgeons into millionaires
So everybody finally gets to look like Cher

It's a great big stupid world
And we're feeling kind of queezy as it turns around
Great big stupid world
And we're never really sure if we're up or down

It's a great... big... stupid world Dumb dumb da dumb dumb baby it's a stupid world etc., etc., etc.

My boys like Randy too. They're a bit young for the references, so I explained all of them except the one about Ed McMahon. Being an Aussie, I have no idea who he was. I guessed he might be some politician or something. It seemed reasonable at the time. Anyway, a look on Google recently showed who he really was - a game show host on American TV, and the face for the American Family Publishing sweepstakes. In this role he used to appear unannounced on the sweepstakes winner's doorstep and present them with a whopping great big cheque. I guess the Australian equivalent would be like waiting for the Reader's Digest sweepstakes. Doesn't quite have the same ring about it though ...