First Day of Year 2006

It's just the start of the year, and they're already saying today is going to be the hottest day of the year. Actually, it's the hottest day on record - 44.2 degrees C. I remember the weather well because it was my lucky day to be assigned to do carpark duty. It was hot, hot, hot. When the wind blows, it feels like it came from a furnace.

We went to the nearby Westfield to cool off. Looks like everyone has the same idea. Even if the shopping mall was closed with only the cinemas open, the place is packed. We decided to go to Broadway Shopping Centre since it's open. The attendance is even worse, and the airconditioning can't cope. The temperature inside Dymocks is a bit better, so I killed a few hours there reading books. Met a colleague who's doing the same thing.

Capped the night by watching the (televised) annual New Year concert by Vienna Philharmonic at Musikverein, conducted by Mariss Jansons.

Nybble 2006.01.01

N Y B B L E   B I - W E E K L Y   N E W S L E T T E R
A Free Ezine about Anything Tech and Everything Else
2006.01.01 Issue No. 171

As they say, there's a first time for everything. This is the first
time I failed to publish Nybble for over a month. That's right - no
Nybble for the whole month of December. A bit busier at work during
the holiday period. A visiting sibling from abroad. My first holiday
break in years. For 2006, I resolve to be more consistent with
Nybble's publishing dates.

Without further ado, enjoy some tech news from yesteryear. Happy new
year, everyone!

Have an answer, comment, suggestion, or violent reaction? Send them my
way by clicking on Reply or join nybbletalk@yahoogroups.com to
discuss a topic. If you think Nybble is good enough, do tell the new
year revelers about it. Thanks.

_________TABLE OF CONTENTS_________
* Power-Generating Car Ramp
* E-Paper as Packaging
* Potential Hearing Loss from Earphones
* A Dollar for a Pixel
* Google Music Search and Mobile Gmail
* Likeable Links
* Questionable Question
* Quotable Quote
* Trivial Trivia
* Laughable Laugh

_________POWER-GENERATING CAR RAMP_________
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/4535408.stm

Dorset inventor Peter Hughes has developed a road ramp that uses
passing cars to generate power. Called Electro-Kinetic Road Ramp, it
has plates that move up and down as vehicles pass over them, driving a
generator. Depending on the weight of the vehicle passing overhead,
between five and 50kW can be generated. The generated electricity can
be used to power traffic lights and road signs. According to Mr.
Hughes, the ramp is silent, comfortable and safe for vehicles.

Mr. Hughes developed the concept over the past 12 years, and recently
approached councils across UK with the final patented project. The
prototype was created and tested at Hughes Research unit at the
Westland Helicopter base in Somerset, at a cost of £1m. More than 200
local authorities had expressed an interest in ordering the £25,000
ramps. Around 300 jobs are due to be created in Somerset for a
production run of 2,000 ramps next year.

Can't they just build a new expressway will these ramps placed every
few meters? Will definitely generate lots of power.

_________E-PAPER AS PACKAGING_________
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,69839-0.html

Electronics maker Siemens is readying a paper-thin electronic-display
technology so cheap it could replace conventional labels on disposable
packaging, from milk cartons to boxes of Cheerios. According to
Siemens, the technology could transform consumer-goods packaging from
the fixed, ink-printed images of today to a digital medium of flashing
graphics and text that displays prices, special offers or alluring
photos, all blinking on miniature flat screens.

Siemens' paper-thin display -- composed of a polymer-based
photochromic material -- is capable of displaying digital text and
images when prodded by an electrochemical reaction powered by a
low-voltage charge. When the electric charge is no longer applied, the
chemical reaction is reversed, and the electronic ink is no longer
visible -- which is how a flashing effect is created. The power source
is based on commercially available, ultra-thin batteries. Electronic
memory strips store the images.

For commercial applications, it is the very low cost of the display's
substrate that largely sets Siemens' display technology apart. A
1-by-2-inch, paper-thin electronic display that Kodak developed costs
more than $40 to make, for example, while Siemens' costs just 30 cents
to produce. Siemens says its display substrate, unlike competing
materials, does not have to be produced in a clean-room environment
since it only requires the level of cleanliness needed for paper
printing. If and when Siemens can mass-produce the material, the
company still has to sell the idea to packaging companies.

Miniature displays in color could appear on consumer-goods packaging,
including medicine vials, in 2007, with a resolution of 80 dpi. Three
or more images could flash consecutively, creating a crude animation
effect or cycling through multiple messages. By 2008, the resolution
could double.

_________POTENTIAL HEARING LOSS FROM EARPHONES________
http://www.startribune.com/789/story/150546.html

Hearing specialists are warning that iPods and MP3 players may be bad
for your hearing health. The big culprits aren't the devices
themselves, but the tiny "ear bud" style headphones that the music
players use. In a study published in the journal Ear and Hearing,
researchers at Harvard Medical School looked at a variety of
headphones and found that, on average, the smaller they were, the
higher their output levels at any given volume-control setting. Other
studies have shown that because the tiny phones inserted into the ears
are not as efficient at blocking outside sounds as the cushioned
headsets, users tend to crank up the volume to compensate. A study
done by Australian researchers last summer found that about a quarter
of iPod users between 18 and 54 years of age listened at volumes
sufficient to cause hearing damage. Moreover, having music players
with longer-lasting batteries and more storage capacity encourages
people with portable players to listen longer, not giving the ears a
chance to recover.

Hearing advocates are pressing for people to turn down the volume. The
rule of thumb suggested by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital
is to hold the volume of a music player no higher than 60 percent of
the maximum, and use it for only about an hour a day. The National
Hearing Conservation Association also recommends that parents try to
find audio gear for their kids that have volume-limiting devices built-in.

_________A DOLLAR FOR A PIXEL_________
http://snipurl.com/l766

Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, was
lying in bed thinking out how he would pay for university. He had an
idea, and after four months on the Internet, he's on his way to
earning a cool million dollars. No, he doesn't sell porn, drugs, or
organ-enhancing pills. All he sells are pixels, the tiny dots on the
screen that appear when you call up his home page called
www.milliondollarhomepage.com.

His cool idea is to turn his home page into a billboard made up of a
million dots, and sell them for a dollar a dot to anyone who wants to
put up their logo. A 10 by 10 dot square, roughly the size of a letter
of type, costs $100. He sold a few to his brothers and some friends,
and when he had made $1,000, he issued a press release.

That was picked up by the news media, spread around the Internet, and
soon advertisers for everything from dating sites to casinos to real
estate agents to The Times of London were putting up real cash for
pixels, with links to their own sites. So far they have bought up
911,800 pixels. Tew's home page now looks like an online Times Square,
festooned with a multi-colored confetti of ads. he site features
testimonials from advertisers, some of whom bought spots as a lark,
only to discover that they were receiving actual valuable Web hits for
a fraction of the cost of traditional Internet advertising. Meanwhile
Tew has had to juggle running the site with his first term at
university, where he is studying business.

_________GOOGLE MUSIC SEARCH AND MOBILE GMAIL_________
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/searching-for-music.html
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/47883.html

Google now has a music search function. Type in an artist name, and
Google will show some information about that artist, like cover art,
reviews, and links to stores where you can download the track or buy a
CD via a link at the top of your web search results page. Right now
the music search feature mostly works for artists popular in the U.S.
and a more limited number of artists from other countries, but the
Google guys plan to expand it to classical music, worldwide artists,
and lesser-known performers. The list of music stores will also grow
over time.

Google has also launched a mobile-friendly version of its popular
Web-based e-mail service, Gmail, offering a streamlined interface
meant to be more compatible with small screens. Anyone with a Gmail
account and a Web-enabled phone can access Gmail remotely. Google said
the service detects the type of device being used to access the mail
account and returns message listings and e-mails in an appropriate
format based on the size of the screen and other factors. The service
will also automatically synchronize Gmail accounts, showing messages
viewed remotely as read the next time a user logs on from a PC, and
will enable mobile users to open certain attachments, including text
files in Office or in PDF format.

_________LIKEABLE LINKS_________
The Freesound Project
http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/
The Freesound Project is a collaborative database of Creative Commons
licensed sounds.

IVR Cheat Sheet by Paul English
http://paulenglish.com/ivr/
find-a-human, fight back IVR phone menu hell

How To Write Unmaintainable Code
http://thc.org/root/phun/unmaintain.html
Ensure a job for life ;-)

Beginner's Guide to Quantum Entanglement
http://www.joot.com/dave/writings/articles/entanglement/

Functional Paper V8 Engine
http://www.yeesjob.com/v8engine.htm

The Ultimate Guide to Google Services
http://www.tipmonkies.com/2005/11/17/the-penultimate-guide-to-google-services

_________QUESTIONABLE QUESTION_________
Why is the hot on the left and the cold on the right?

_________QUOTABLE QUOTE_________
"I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take
care of themselves."
~ Lord Chesterfield

_________TRIVIAL TRIVIA_________
How do animals that live underwater keep their eyes safe from salt and
other irritants?
Nature always provides for its creatures. Underwater animals are
equipped in different ways to see underwater. Whales and dolphins have
special "greasy" tears that protect their eyes from salt. Fish do not
have eyelids to protect them at all, but they do have hardened lenses
that keep the water from hurting them.
Source: Arcamax Trivia

_________LAUGHABLE LAUGH_________
A devoted wife had spent her lifetime taking care of her husband. Now
he had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet she
stayed by his bedside every single day.
When he came to senses, he motioned for her to come near him.
As she sat by him, he said, "You know what? You have been with me all
through the bad times. When I got fired, you were there to support me.
When my business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by
my side. When we lost the house, you gave me support. When my health
started failing, you were still by my side. You know what?"
"What dear?" she asks gently.
"I think you bring me bad luck."

That's all for this week. Nybble is and will always be a work in
progress. Please do send me your comments and suggestions on how to
improve Nybble. Just hit the reply button to you know, reply.

Last Day of Year 2005

This blog is starting to look like an online diary. Ok, lest I forget what I did to end the year 2005. Had lunch with my former grade school science teacher and her family at her house with some other Uneans from way way back. Then, off to visit my brother's buddy at Blacktown. Chatted and ate (again) till late afternoon. From Blacktown to Chatswood to have NYE dinner with my parents' classmates. Didn't stay too long, as we have to drive to Pyrmont for the midnight fireworks.

Happy New Year, everyone!

The Dog on the Tuckerbox and the Princess Bride - Melbourne Tour Day 4

It's another 12 hours on the road back to Sydney. The only thing worth mentioning is our stop at Gundagai. There's a famous local landmark called the Dog on the Tuckerbox, which features well, a dog on a tuckerbox. Its origin goes all the way back to the days of the early pioneers in the Australian bush. In 1824, the trail around the Murrumbidgee River was opened up for prospectors and cattle drovers. Times were hard and hazardous, with all supplies having to be manhandled by bullock carts along the makeshift track. Each wagon would usually be accompanied by a dog, who guards his owner's tuckerbox.

To pass the time during rest periods, "bullockies" would make up doggerel verse and rhymes, telling stories of their exploits. Rumour has it that the legend of the tuckerbox was born in 1850, on a river creek north of Gundagai. One particular story tells of the hardships of Billy the Bullocky - getting bogged down at nine mile creek, Nobby breaking the yoke, generally getting fed up. To make things worse, his trusty dog sat on the tuckerbox, ruining his meal for the night. Another version says the dog on the tuckerbox is meant to represent the dog's loyalty and trustworthiness in guarding his master's possessions.

Below is the original version of the story. It was later amended and made into a poem by Jack Moses. In 1937, Jack O'Hagen's popular song about it immortalized the Dog on the Tuckerbox.

Bowyang Yorke's Poem
As I was coming down Conroy's Gap,
I heard a maiden cry;
'There goes Bill the Bullocky,
He's bound for Gundagai.
A better poor old beggar
Never earnt an honest crust,
A better poor old beggar
Never drug a whip through dust.'
His team got bogged at the nine mile creek,
Bill lashed and swore and cried;
'If Nobby don't get me out of this,
I'll tattoo his bloody hide.'
But Nobby strained and broke the yoke,
And poked out the leader's eye;
Then the dog sat on the Tucker Box
Nine miles from Gundagai.

During the 12-hour trip, I also managed to finish reading William Goldman's The Princess Bride. It's easy to see why the book is a cult classic. Believable characters, fast-moving plot, a smorgasboard of action, adventure, drama, romance, comedy, tragedy etc. - storytelling at its best. The blurb goes, "Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles." The book purports to be an abridgment done by Goldman of an older version written by S. Morgenstern. I was lucky enough to have the 25th anniversary edition, which comes with Chapter 1 of the sequel called Buttercup's Baby. I don't believe the sequel was ever published.

The book is about the haughty but beautiful Buttercup, who fell in love with farm boy Westley, whom she keeps on bossing around. Westley goes off to America to make his fortune, but was killed by the dreaded Dread Pirate Roberts. Buttercup died (inside) that day, and was later selected to marry Prince Humperdinck. Weeks before the wedding, Princess Buttercup was kidnapped by the Sicilian Vizzini, the Spaniard Inigo Montoya, and the giant Fezzik. The plan was to kill her and dump her body on the Guilder frontier, thus giving Prince Humperdinck an excuse to mount an attack. A man in black gave chase through the Florin Channel and up the Cliffs of Insanity. He bested Inigo Montoya in swordplay, Fezzik in a battle of strength, and Vizzini in a game of wits to finally rescue Princess Buttercup. The man in black turns out to be the Dread Pirate Roberts, who turned out to be the missing Westley. (Long story.) The book then goes into how they dropped into a ravine, how they traversed the Fire Swamp, how they escaped the Lightning Sand, how they fought off the R.O.U.S. (Rodents of Unusual Size), and how they ended up in Prince Humperdinck's clutches. Buttercup gave herself up on the condition that Westley be freed. Unknown to her, Westley was brought to the Zoo of Death, where the Count Rugen tries out his toys of torture on him, especially The Machine. On a particularly bad day where Buttercup found out that Humperdinck never sent ships to look for Westley, the Prince charged down to the Pit of Despair and activated The Machine on maximum, which ultimately killed Westley. Yes, he died - but not for long. Fezzik and Inigo Montoya rescued him from the Zoo of Death and brought him to the miracle man Miracle Max, who brought him back to life for 65 dollars. Off they went to storm Humperdinck's castle. Westley rescues Buttercup from her husband-to-be. Inigo Montoya kills the six-fingered Count Rugen (who killed his father) in a bloody duel. Fezzik finds them four steeds to take them to safety. And they lived happily ever after. The End.

Boxing Day - Melbourne Tour Day 3

Today being another holiday, our breakfast consisted of bland bread and silly cereals. This morning, we're supposed to go to Sovereign Hill. We first dropped by the Gold Museum across the road, while waiting for it to open. The Gold Museum gives quite a comprehensive history of the gold rush in Ballarat during the 1850s. The place is packed with replicas of gold nuggets, mining equipment, and interactive displays showing how mining is done. There's a souvenir shop selling gold trinkets (what else), which made the girls quite happy. The tour guide wasn't so happy because a few of them were late in getting back to the bus. Right outside the Gold Museum is a sculpture of Sir Henry Bolte.

At Sovereign Hill, you're transported back to 1850s Ballarat. The 25-hectare Sovereign Hill has about 60 building spread over the recreated goldfields township. There's a main road with quaint little shops on each side of the road. The shops are real and manned by costumed staff. You can walk in any shop and make your purchases. Other volunteers in period costumes walk around, so don't be shy to take pictures with them. (What a job!) Feel free to hop on horse-drawn carriages passing by, but don't forget to pay your fare. Our designated guide walked us through some huge steam machinery, then to the underground mines. The place is dark and cool, and the air is thin. The guide showed us where the gold deposits are, how the miners communicate with the people above, etc. We also watched a multimedia show depicting life in the mines. After the tour, everybody rushed to the Red Hill Gully Diggings to pan for gold. Everyone was so serious in shovelling up the sediments and sifting through them in shallow pans, in hopes of finding real gold. I was skeptical; I mean, all the gold must've been sucked out by done. Only after reading the park brochure did I learn that $30,000 worth of real gold is put into the creek every year for people to "discover." Chanced upon a Redcoat soldier giving a musket firing demonstration. Somewhere in the park is a gold smelting demonstration, where a $50,000 pure gold ingot is poured. Too bad we ran out of time. Twelve Apostles is a few hours' drive away, so we had to leave early. Is it worth the $32.50 entrance fee? I don't think so.

My colleague advised me to sit on the left side of the bus when we're driving along the Great Ocean Road. Sit on the right, and you won't see a thing. Well, we're on our way to the Twelve Apostles, I'm staring out the windows, but all I see are trees. Later on the trees started thinning and the ocean came into view. A few minutes later, we're parked at the grounds of Port Campbell National Park. Huh?! Where did the hours of Great Ocean Drive go?! We must've taken a different route or something. Anyway, we crossed a tunnel to the viewing platforms and we see the majestic Twelve Apostles. It's now a misnomer because a couple of the Apostles broke down and plunged into the Southern Ocean. One of them crumbled just last year. For the geology-inclined readers, the Apostles were originally part of the cliffs behind them millions of years ago. Through years and years of waves and wind, the soft limestone started to wear away, leaving caves in the cliffs. As the sea retreated, the caves became archways, and when they eventually collapsed, the rock islands isolated from the main cliffs became known as the Twelve Apostles. We didn't stay too long because the kissing flies were out in full force. The sun was at maximum brightness and coupled with reflections from the water, my pictures appear washed out. It's still an impressive sight though.

Merry Christmas! - Melbourne Tour Day 2

Today is the official start of the Melbourne tour. After a bland breakfast at the hotel consisting of toast and jam and cereals (today being a holiday), the coach brought us to the Parliament House. Everyone spilled out of the bus and started taking pictures. Designed by Peter Kerr and J.G.Knight, the buildings were constructed at the height of the gold rush. Parliament of Victoria officially opened in 1856, and so will be celebrating it's 150th anniversary next year. Further to the right of the Parliament House is the Princess Theater, which dates all the way back to 1886.

On our way to St. Patrick's Cathedral, I noticed the upside-down statue of La Trobe in Gordon Reserve, which took me by surprise. (Charles Joseph La Trobe was the first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria.) I didn't notice this the last time I was in Melbourne, so it must have been a new installment. After some research, I found out that the contemporary art piece was created by artist Charles Robb and unveiled around October. It looks like a typical 19th-century bronze sculpture, but is actually made of plastic and fibreglass. Mr Robb said the inversion of La Trobe questioned the purpose of public monuments and their meaning in contemporary society. Uh-huh.

St. Patrick's Cathedral is another great place to take pictures. It must be Melbourne's answer to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral. Designed by William Wardell in the Gothic Revival style, St Patrick's is regarded internationally as the finest ecclesiastical building in Australia. Construction started in 1858 and took 82 years to complete. Too bad there's mass going on - I would've liked to take a picture of its organ for my Bavarian friend.

Next stop is Cook's Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens. For those who don't know, Captain James Cook is the discoverer of Australia. The original Cook's Cottage was built by Captain Cook's parents in 1755 in in Great Ayton, Yorkshire, England. There's quite an amazing story how the cottage ended up in Fitzroy Gardens. In 1933, the owner of the cottage decided to sell it. However, the patriotic owner didn't want it to end up in American hands, so she made it a condition of sale that the building must remain in England. The forthcoming sale was featured in the Melbourne Herald, and got the attention of Mr. (later Sir) Russell Grimwade. Next year was Victoria's centenary, so he thought he should make a bid for the cottage and have it moved to Melbourne, as the capital of Victoria, whose coastline included Captain Cook's first Australian landfall. The owner was persuaded to change the wording of the condition of sale from "England" to "the Empire," and accepted the Australian offer of £800 vs. the highest local offer of £300. The structure was dismantled brick by brick, and shipped in 253 crates and 40 barrels, complete with a cutting from the ivy which had grown on the original building. Today the house is covered by the ivy. Near Cook's Cottage is Sinclair's Cottage, named after James Sinclair. Mr. Sinclair is pretty much responsible for the development of Fitzroy Square and Elms Avenue. Also within Fitzroy Gardens is the Conservatory. It opened on March 13, 1930, and has flower displays all year round, depending on which flowers are in season.

Next on the agenda is the Yarra River Cruise, which I opted out of in favor of a walk along the river. One thing I noticed is that some of the bridges are built quite low. I wonder if the ferries can traverse them during high tide. After lunch, we went to the Rialto Towers to visit the Melbourne Observation Deck on level 55. Rialto Towers stands at 253 meters, has 63 storeys, and used to hold the title of tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. That honour now goes to Eureka Tower, which is still under construction. Once completed, it will be 297 meters tall and have 92 storeys. Admission to the Observation Deck is $14, and includes entry to the RialtoVision Theatre, where one can watch the award-winning 20-minute film entitled "Melbourne the Living City," featuring the many attractions and events that Victoria offers. A high-speed lift (25kph) took us to level 55, which offers spectacular 360-degree views of Melbourne, 60 kms. to the horizon.

We still have a bit of time to spare, so the tour guide took us to the Crown Casino. Comparing it to Sydney's Star City Casino, I'm quite impressed with the decorations and scale of Crown Casino. At the Atrium, Crown's light-and-sound Christmas Spectacular show happens every 30 minutes. As the giant clock counts down to showtime, the whole place is transformed into a giant circus with flying acrobats, dancing reindeers, plus the whirling carousel, the big top with the marionette show, and of course, Santa.

Last on the list is the Penguin Parade at Philip Island. The tour guide stressed to us that the night is going to be very cold, so we spent some time first inside the Visitor Centre, watching some clips about the little penguins (Eudyptula minor), and observing them in their underground burrows. Just before showtime, we headed off along the boardwalks to the outdoor viewing stands. The place is just packed with people. There are rangers around who make sure you don't sit at the sides, and absolutely no photography allowed. I saw a few people trying to sneak some shots, and were promptly accosted by the rangers. I think they actually confiscate your camera, but I could be wrong. What happens is that the little penguins go out to sea fishing all day. At night, they swim back in and waddle to shore into their underground burrows to rest. Watching the penguins come in, you can see how evolution has influenced their behaviour. Once they get to the beach, they mill around and form a single file. Oftentimes, a wave would come crashing down on them, and they wash out to sea again. If they have the numbers and conditions are right, they make a run (more like a walk) for it. The others who are too slow fall back and wait until they get their numbers up again. Watching the penguins do this again and again is quite entertaining.

Done with Dan Brown - Melbourne Tour Day 1

At long last, I've finally finished all four books by Dan Brown. If you're totally new to the author, I suggest you read his books in the following order: Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, then Deception Point. No doubt Da Vinci Code is good - that's what got me hooked in the first place. Angels and Demons is almost a copy of the previous - same type of characters, same story development, but in a different setting. The plot's not too bad though. In Digital Fortress, Dan Brown tries his hand in the techno-thriller genre and fails miserably. In Deception Point, he goes for a political suspense, and again fails.

Off to Melbourne for a 4-day tour. It's 880 kilometers from Sydney to Melbourne (or so I was told), so it's a great time to catch up on some reading. For the trip I brought Deception Point (just to get it over with) and The Princess Bride. You would think a guy can finish 2 books in 12 hours, but distractions abound. I look out the coach window from time to time, hoping for great pictures to take. Then, there's the pit stops every 2 hours or so. Other times the tour guide would put on a movie and leave the TV's volume on max. Not really conducive to reading books or listening to MP3s. During these times, I nod off to sleep. One of the stops we made is at Albury, the last town on NSW before we cross over to Victoria. According to our tour guide, Albury was originally selected to become the capital of Australia. On the day of site inspection, it rained and everything was dark and gloomy. That's how Canberra got the title instead. Yeah, blame it on the weather.

Had a sumptuous dinner at the Dragon Boat Restaurant in Holiday Inn, then off to a Comfort Inn called Crest at Barkly. It's pretty far from the city. (I believe it's quite close to St. Kilda Beach.) Took the tram back to the city centre where lots of people are about as it's Christmas Eve. There's a long queue outside Myer with its Santa Kid window display. A big Xmas tree is set up at Federation Square, but it's nowhere the size of the one at Martin Place or QVB. St. Paul's Cathedral is open at this time of night, and the church choir is having a concert. Of course, Carols by Candlelight is also happening tonight at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. We're all a bit tired, so we didn't go for that anymore. Watched the traditional event on the telly. Found out later that the Christmas Eve concert is not a free event, unlike Carols in the Domain in Sydney. Tickets range from $30-$70 for an adult and $90-$185 for a family of 4. (Now we know which one's the better city. Kidding.)

I am Tim Canterbury

Why is it I feel I'm stuck in a world filled with characters from The Office, and I happen to be Tim Canterbury? I quote his character profile from the website: "Tim is a Sales Rep who is crushingly aware of the pointlessness of his work and the mediocrity that surrounds him. He is the classic under-achiever who rolled life's dice and got a three." Remember the scene where Gareth finds a gift-wrapped bottle of wine on the table, and he goes, "That's a bottle of wine." Tim gives a look of (mock) surprise, and asks, "You reckon?" And Gareth goes, "Yeah, just look at the shape." Spare me.

Missed Again!

To all the drivers out there. Always make the shoulder-check when changing lanes because blind spots really do exist, and they can be dangerous. Simply looking at the side mirror is not enough.

I've been driving for years back in Manila, and I never got the habit to shoulder-check. I drive pretty fast, so there never was a need. Every time I switch lanes, I'm pretty sure noboby will be behind me. Here in Sydney, I have to keep within 60kph, and everyone else is on the same speed. Just a while ago, I had a near-collision. After making sure there was no car on my side mirror, I accelerated a little bit, and started turning the wheel. At the last moment, a white car magically appeared right beside me. I swerved back to my lane, and saved myself from car insurance hell. Obviously, the guy was not happy. I immediately gave him the universal peace sign between drivers, and he was appeased, I think.