ooh...cool

http://neilgaiman.com/stardust/

BTW I've just finished reading The Pinhoe Egg (Diana Wynne Jones), that I only knew was out because it was mentioned on Neil Gaimans blog The Pinhoe egg was also cool. Part of the Chrestomanci series.

well, that was weird

Being at a university with large mailing list setups, you get used to the hackers who use the mass mailouts to send you pharmaceutical crap emails, usually with the name of someone from the list on top. Today I got one from me.

Outlook lets you look at the internet headers under options (something I see the NCIS guys going on TV...and any other cop show for that matter), so I did, feeling all investigative. And lo and behold, one of the lines says "recieved from localhost (local host [series of numbers] (may be forged))"...I sent an email from myself and this line said "recieved from my computer name, mycomputer .proper university address"...no may be forged thing. There's also another line where message ID clashes with recieved from ID.

Now, what I'd like to know is, if the header can identify possible forgeries, why can't the university system flag these, stop them getting through and require a manual check from a wetware technical person to see if it can legitimately be passed on?

I can see why a fake outside name might not be picked up, but with internal people, the email addresses are known. Maybe its because so many people have multiple addresses, with setups to get return addresses to their alternative address.

I'd do without all that flash if it meant I didn't get so many viagra commercials.

BTW if you got something from me entitled "And Jerusalem, And I will not perish at noon", with a pharmaceutical advertisement in it, I didn't send it. So far as I know, I've never sent or recieved an email with those words in it either, so its not a hack into my email, just the system storing my email address.

a little hygiene experiment

I was given an Enjo face washer for Christmas. This is a soap free face washing glove, where you just wet it and wipe over your face, then rinse off the washer and squeeze it out - no soap, no soap free soap, nada. I was dubious about the value of this so I tried a two week experiment where I used only the washer or straight water on my face...no soap for cleaning my face for two weeks. Theres been no obvious detrimental effect from this. Today I wiped over my face thoroughly with a clean and clear deep action cleansing wipe (on the basis that that would pick up all the gunge and I'd be able to see it on the wipe)

Results: Face - no dirtier than you'd expect after a days worth of work grime
Back of neck (that gets shampoo on it every night) -eeuuuw must clean that more...maybe with the enjo wipe

Now my face feels tight and stripped of the protective natural oils (which it didn't before, with the glove it just felt clean and scrubbed).

So waddaya know, the enjo glove actually works.

Not thrilled

The web page inside my blogging entry thing is still there. To add to my annoyance, the new blogger is supposed to recognise me for commenting on my own blog and not ask for confirmation that I am human(with the weird coloured letters). But unlike the old blog where I was automatically recognised as being me (choose ID: blog, anonymous, other) I have to log in each time I turn on the internet and go to my comments page...so it doesn't recognise me to start off, which means I have to do the weird coloured letters AND type in my name and password. At least before all I had to do was the weird coloured letters.

Yet I was able to set it that I don't have to type in my ID on this computer to actually write a blog. Just to comment on it. Go figure.

Its raining

This is weird. The post section of blogger has the whole website inside the blog entry section...so to blog I have to get to the blog entry section inside the blog entry section. I suppose I should be glad its not infinitely doing so.

All the buttons function. It really is a web page inside another webpage.

BTW its raining up here in sunny Brownsville, cloud creeping over the hills, creeks running enthusiastically with brown rapids, gutters indicating a lack of drainage. Ah, the wet season. Frogs outside my window waking me in the morning, bedraggled birds that have never been this wet before and look rather stunned about it, people not prepared and using their windshield screens as makeshift umbrellas (very entertaining to watch)....I'm all cheerful

Happy Brithday for yesterday Andrea

or happy birthday, if your fingers don't type in a funnny order

The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-01/uoc-wst010907.php

heh

http://www.procrastinus.com/ link to "test your own procrastination level"

my score was 38/100. I am a moderate procrastinator...it did say I only answered 51 out of 100 possible shapes before exiting, but I didn't choose to exit...a glitch, or did my subconcious hit the exit button. Fastest reaction time 0.36 seconds. Slowest, 0.64 seconds.

and unlike most online quizzes, this is actually real research. I'm helping someones work (there is a disclaimer page you have to click on to allow them to use your results...but no ID info apart from age, gender, education level type stuff.

Finally, the PNG pics

I went to PNG in November to field test an updated kit I'd been working on. The kit is for testing for L. filariasis and the uni is involved in a monitoring program for this in PNG. So I helped with their sampling in return for using learning about field limitations. We went to Oro province. The people were lovely. These are people from Saiho. The first place we went. They fed us well and had a feast for us one night.




Here are some shots of me working...



While we were there, we went up to Kokoda. This is me on the Kokoda Trail. Now I can say I've walked (a bit of) it.


We also went to Oro bay to work....beautiful paradise, in which I unfortunately got food poisoning after finishing my work.


While this goodbye photo looks fine, I was actually feeling very queezy at the time

Once I'd recovered we went to Port Moresby and I shopped at the markets before coming home. The mesh bag is a real highland billum.

One of the authors I read

is writing an online book. For every $300 donated, they'll put a chapter online. They aren't starting for another fortnight and the first 12 chapters is paid for already. I shall keep an eye on it.

This is my new hair

It has faded a bit since the original tint...That was vibrant! ...and just to try it, I did the face recognition too. I think I liked the first one better.

lets kick off the year in the manner in which I intend to continue

A 70% match to Yasmin bleeth…bwah ha ha…bet it wouldn’t be if I had a whole body match done...btw I'll do this again tomorrow when I bring in the shot of me with new fancy hair...

don't worry, I haven't forgotten

I do remember I promised to put up piccies and a spiel about my PNG trip, but I've been busy, and disorganised, and sleepy...and the photos are at home. I will get to it...just sooo sleepy.

BTW my thesis is submitted.

one step closer

I have a second examiner...paperwork is grinding through

I'm back

I've been in Papua New Guinea for a week and a day. The last night we spent in Port Moresby at a swanky hotel near the airport (think rolls of razor wire around the inside of the walls, and poolside orange juice). We also caught a PMV (public motor vehicle, small bus) into town to the Baroka markets, then into the city centre. We took some locals with us so we were less likely to be hassled and went in the morning (ditto - don't go into town after 4pm). So, I've now done something very few westerners have done - caught a PMV. We were the only white people I saw outside the hotel and airport. I will write more (eg why I was in PNG) after I finish my official report...andf put up piccies

If I can't find it, how can you?

I got a comment from an old blog entry the other day...well, September some time. I had been talking about tapas at a restaurant I went to & how I had trouble figuring out the ordering/paying/seating system, but the food rocked (Rhino Bar : try it you'll like it). In spite of the entry now being archived, I got a comment from the Rhino staff explaining how to do said functions. Now, it being a whole month and a 1/2 ago, I couldn't remember what I'd actually written so I looked it up.

I assumed they'd googled it, but did not find anything. I had to do a search from inside my blog page to find the entry.

Obviously I suck at googling.

I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

I also wish I didn't have the first line of this song going over and over in my head. Or at least that I knew more than the first line of the song to sing.

Whats your musical meme today?

for those who play guitar hero..

http://xkcd.com/c70.html

Man! not the D12

The only thing I like about D12's is they have pentagonal faces.
You are the rare, the overlooked, yet incredibly useful dodecahedron: the d12. You are a creative, romantic soul. You often act without thinking, but make up for your lack of plans with plenty of heart. You easily solve problems that stump others, but your answers tend to put you into even deeper trouble. You write long, detailed backgrounds for all your characters, and are most likely to dress up as one or get involved in cos-play. You can be silly at times and are easily distracted by your own day dreams, but are at the end of the day you're someone who can be depended on.

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

did I do a good thing?

First a disclaimer; I've never gotten round to reading Lovecraft, I've played the game, but I've never read his books.

I was showing Kathy an online t-shirt company and as one of the themes was Cthulu, I had to explain the concept (at least - of the game, as I haven't read the books) & she said they might be interesting to read. I did a quick online search of the JCU library and there's tonnes of stuff, including one with Call of Cthulu and other stories. So off she went to borrow out a couple. She's 1/2 way through the first book and enjoying it.

Why is this blog worthy you say? Little did I know when I looked up the book online, but Kathy has not read a novel without being forced to do so since primary school. So depending on your point of view, I've either introduced another person to the mind broadening subculture of readers or I've corrupted her and am dragging her away from productive work. (and I haven't even read this author).