| Arrrgggg! Me upgrade! |
[Nov. 3rd, 2009|06:06 pm] |
Before
After
It takes 1 - 2 years to accumulate that 30Kg lot. The smaller gold coins are $1 and $2, however in the 'upgrade' picture the larger gold coins are chocolate :D
The idea was I take it to the bank when the bowl fills up, but I got a bit lazy, hence the second bowl, and now with the chest I'm never going to get around to it. |
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| My second youtube video |
[Sep. 23rd, 2009|10:27 pm] |
This is what happens when I strap a camera on backwards and say "hello" to a magpie. Luckily it's not one of Australia's venomous ones :)
I've run some motion stabilising software over it this time, I'm quite impressed with how smart and automated (and free) the software is and how much it fixed up the video - the source footage is quite poor (much like the pedestrian video).
I think this guy wins though. |
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| One less mystery in the universe. |
[Sep. 13th, 2009|07:11 pm] |
I'm so glad to finally have this question sorted out.
(Even though people who employed moronic reasoning ended up at the right conclusion, to a degree)
Can squeezing the air out of the Coke bottle before putting it in the fridge prevent the Coke from going flat? Yes it can - and yes I know how stupid that makes me sound :)
Also, Fizz-keeper pumps do not work.
Many people assume it is the pressure in the bottle that prevents a softdrink from going flat. This is correct. This leads to the belief that squeezing the air out of the bottle will result in the softdrink having to re-inflate the entire bottle before it can start to build up that all-important pressure - i.e. squeezing the bottle is nearly as bad as leaving the top off... which leads to face-palming whenever you see people do it.
But there's a catch to building up the pressure: Dalton's law of partial pressures roughly states that in a mixture of gases, each gas has a "partial pressure" which is the pressure the gas would have if all the other gases were removed - i.e. if it occupied the volume alone. (this was poorly explained, and so counterintuitive that for many years I wasn't sure if I was interpreting it correctly)
When it comes to keeping softdrink fizzy, it's actually the partial pressure that matters and not the total pressure. See Henry's law which states:At a constant temperature, the amount of a given gas dissolved in a given type and volume of liquid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of that gas in equilibrium with that liquid.
Wikipedia actually uses softdrinks going flat as an example of how this law can be applied.
Since the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is 0.04%, the air you leave in your non-squeezed half-empty bottle of coke has all the partial pressure of a vacuum, and the non-squeezed bottle is a large volume that must be filled to raise the partial pressure.
If on the other hand you squeeze all the air out of the bottle, then the softdrink will build up a partial pressure of one atmosphere before it can start inflating the bottle (and the bottle will take a bit more than one atmosphere to change its shape).
Now even partial pressures of one atmosphere (and less - since you won't really get all the air out) can be useful, here is some math to put one atmosphere into perspective (stolen from the guy who cleared up Dalton's law for me):- The partial pressure needed can be calculated via Henry's law, and for carbon dioxide the equilibrium constant is 29.4 L·atm/mol
- A fresh soda bottle contains about 4.8g of CO2/L = 0.11 mol/L
- Partial pressure needed = 0.11 × 29.4 = 3.2 atmosphere. The value is directly proportional to the concentration of CO2, so if the bottle is half 'flat', it only needs 1.6 atm of CO2 partial pressure to reach equilibrium.
(I think I'm finally getting a grasp on why its partial pressure and not total pressure that determines the gases behaviour, but that would be a whole other wall of text)
tl;dr, When the coke is already a bit flat and there's not much left in the bottle, it will last longer if you crush the bottle. My advice: Get a Sodastream, then you never have to worry about any of this again. |
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| My first video on youtube |
[Sep. 13th, 2009|07:04 pm] |
"Since cars had come to a halt this person wasn't looking for traffic before running across the road / bike lane, I think to catch a tram. Fortunately it's a steep upward slope so I was hardly moving - from the other direction things would have been messy. "
I got a video camera, so though I'd find out how this youtube things works. Given what youtube comments are like it's damn tempting to turn them off, but it gave me an "allow with approval" option, so I'm trying that.
Can't do much about the narrow field of view, but I'll get my hands on some motion stabilizing software and learn how to use it. |
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| Aussie tip |
[Sep. 5th, 2009|12:24 am] |
This is what an Australian tip looks like :)
See what I have to work with! |
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| Rrrraaaa!!! |
[Apr. 5th, 2009|09:45 pm] |
Once when we were kids, our parents took us to see someone's taxidermy museum. We thought this was pretty neat and wanted our own... our parents made it clear that this wasn't a hobby we were going to be allowed to try :(
A friend has taught herself taxidermy from books and internets, and seeing her stuffed animals reminded me that (a) I had wanted to do this as a child, and (b) we're grown-ups now and can have whatever hobbies we feel like. It seems enough people had expressed some sort of interest that ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) abbaddon decided to do something about it.
Over the years I have lost the desire to get into taxidermy, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to actually try it :)
We each got a mouse to skin, make a form for, stuff and then sew up. Together we made a mouse army. I still don't think it will become a hobby for me (I don't even get around to the ones I already have), but having had some hands-on experience is most excellent.
Because we had good guidance, we didn't make mistakes, which is a shame in some ways because I suspect one of the finer skills of such crafts is dealing with and recovering from screw-ups (or existing damage to the animal). It sounds like correcting mistakes often involves the use of superglue, or poses/dioramas which obtruct the view of the bad area. It's reminded me that I should visit Melbourne's Museam - I went years ago but most of it was closed for renovations and the sections that weren't closed weren't of much interest to me. I presume it will have as much taxidermy as the Christchurch Museam.
My mouse was inspired by a Far Side cartoon
I think I captured it nicely in the photo on the left, but it doesn't quite work from every angle.
Rrrraaaa!!! |
Unfortunately I don't have a macro lens.
As a child I didn't understand why it was so expensive, now I see that it's the time. |
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| For anyone who isn't in Melbourne. |
[Jan. 30th, 2009|08:32 pm] |
This evening's drop to 32° actually feels cool and refreshing now after days at 43°+ (nights at 30°), which is lucky since there's no power, and thus no aircon.
(I'm typing this on the battery powered laptop with nary a WiFi connection in sight).
It's my first experience of a heatwave (the hottest in 100 years so far, potentially hottest EVA!1!) and we're only a few days into it. Most of the trains were grounded due to buckling tracks, temperatures they're not rated for, and various other reasons which change depending on who is making them. That screwed a lot of things up, and today public transport was free across the board as compensation - the trains still weren't running so the people who were screwed the most yesterday still had no transport today, they just wouldn't have had to pay for it if they did have it.
The trams seemed to be unaffected though, so it worked well for me.
Getting a tram with working aircon is luck. I figured out last year that cycling in 35° with wet clothes (black looks no different wet) and a water spray bottle is luxury next to sitting inside a crowded sweltering steel box with no aircon for 40 minutes, but as temperatures started reaching 40° I started to play the tram aircon lottery (and use a spray bottle).
The electricity demand is huge and a power cable from Tasmania has gone down. There are brownouts and scheduled blackouts - I assume/hope I'm in something scheduled. The power in South Melbourne went out just as I was leaving for home, taking out all the traffic lights in that area. Trams were still powered though, and while I missed the aircon lottery coming home (meh - it's a cool 32°), I wouldn't have wanted to be on a bike - in a city suffering severe transportation issues, no traffic lights = my car ain't ceding. I wouldn't have been able to get across intersections on a bike but a tram has implied right of way and doesn't really care if a car disagrees - the driver plays chicken at slow speed, ringing the bell :D
Yesterday I ate frozen mixed veges and skipped the step of un-freezing them first, tonight I'll sit here and starve rather than open the frige before the power comes on.
We're going to Luna Park tomorrow and the forecast is 37° in the shade... I hope they have shade there.
It might be time to bravely investigate the ceiling crawl space, everything up there should be dead by now - what temperature do spiders cook at?
Again I wonder about the viability of solar-powered peltier air-conditioned bird-houses, and contemplate a device to emit a fine mist of water from the handlebars of a bike, toward the rider. |
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| I haven't been slack enough |
[Jan. 14th, 2009|06:33 pm] |
Got paid today (after taking a holiday), allowing me to finally decrypt what my holiday situation is.
Turns out the four week holiday in NZ over Christmas and New Year only wiped off 47% of my leave, and since more will accrue by winter it means enough leave for a proper length trip to the States, with a bit left over in the meantime for adding to long weekends and some weekend jaunts to Christchurch - I have no excuses anymore.
(I work in a company that doesn't like unpaid leave :( ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 17th, 2008|12:55 am] |
Stiches came out of my mouth today and I hear there's a solid-food binge waiting for me at the supermarket.
The new bike (nearly 3 months old) has also rolled over its first 1000km, leaving only 10,984km to go before fulfilling the New Bike Resolution (try to get 12,000km on this one before some bastard nicks it).
I'll be in Christchurch Friday.
( and have opened up the wireless while I'm away )
Update
Nobody used the wifi while I was away, not even to download kiddie porn.
Personally, I only check for open networks, so I wouldn't bother to read the SSID of a locked one either. |
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| Headless Chickens |
[Dec. 3rd, 2008|07:30 pm] |
I'm going to the Headless Chickens reunion concert tomorrow. You can come too, but only if you want it bad.
HiFi bar, 8pm Thursday
There are still tickets available ($28), and you can book online, or get me to if you don't want to create an account, or buy one at the door. |
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| Metlink, simply the best |
[Nov. 9th, 2008|08:02 pm] |
Apparently Google have asked Metlink Melbourne for access to the timetable data so they can integrate it with google maps, as they've just done in Perth.
While Transperth was able to give Google a valid Transit Feed for testing in a day, Metlink Melbourne just said no.
While not as nice as Google maps, you can sneak Tramtracker into your own pages (until they change it):
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| Trip to NZ |
[Oct. 26th, 2008|10:58 pm] |
Tickets are booked.
Arrived Chch 11:40pm Thursday 18th.
Leave 6:25am Monday 12th January.
I failed to come over multiple times this year, but unless vetoed by work, this is four weeks to make a nuisance of myself. |
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| Wharetiki House |
[Sep. 29th, 2008|08:20 pm] |
Wharetiki House - the house we wanted to live in, but which was instead going to waste as a preschool (like what happened with Airdmhor), was turned into a Bed and Breakfast. Not as cool as it becoming available for rent or sale, but it does mean you can go stay in it.
That was my plan - accomodation inside the four avenues for Christmas at Christchurch, but rooms are $250 - $300 a night and I have metal teeth to pay for, so it may as well still be a preschool.
It's strange that their website, while full of Christchurch tourism clip art, doesn't have a picture of the coolest house in the city on it. |
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| I'm going to be poor for a very long time |
[Sep. 23rd, 2008|08:31 pm] |
I found out today I have four more teeth that need to be crowned, at $2000 a pop¹.
I knew two more would be necessary, but having five (one today, and four to go) at 32 is not good, having pocket money was nice once too.
The reason I don't have dental insurance is because I never believed anybody would usefully insure such heavily filled teeth (and remember that my teeth are bad if this lj entry is making you fear having yours checked up).
For the folk wisdom, I didn't start buying Coke until university and by then my teeth were already well gone - softdrinks wouldn't have helped, but are not the culprit.
On the bright side- I did claim the bike with my insurance, and they were fair about the price, bringing my costs down to $750 after the excess - this new bike being my last new toy for the next bazillion years. My goal to get more than 11,600km on it before it's stolen.
- In a time of global economic meltdown and an uncertain future, my monies is all being placed in something which will remain of long-term value to me (though this feels a little like the broken window fallacy)
- I got my first crown put in today, and I quite like it - sure an original tooth would be much preferable, but it's not a tacky gold colour for a start (wikipedia says they are an alloy of many metals, including but not limited to gold, platinum, palladium, silver, copper and tin). The surface looks like a dark tinted mirror - highly polished, and feels so smooth yet contoured compared to real teeth that I'm still running my tongue over it. I haevn't tried ice-cream yet, until recently my teeth were not cold sensitive, I hope the cement will insulate against the conductivity of the metal.
- The good things in life are free, right? Right?
¹ Their cost is so high because they each need periodontal surgery, adding about $700. |
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| Bike stolen last night from outside RMIT, doh |
[Sep. 6th, 2008|11:36 am] |
That was the first new bike I ever bought, and went 11,598km before someone thieved off with it. Works out at about 8.7¢/km though I have no idea if that's good.
It was locked and is covered by insurance, but probably not worth claiming.
I currently weigh 73kg, and when I find myself a new bike will see if not having one makes any difference. |
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| The pitter-patter of big feet |
[Aug. 18th, 2008|09:31 pm] |
turbodeathninja is living with me now, over from New Zealand. His plan is to find gainful employment then locate a nice apartment nearby, so I reckon he'll be out of here in roughly 10 months.
In the meantime it seems to be a sort of holiday and savings spending-spree - every day I come home to more loot and now I want to have a spending spree.
(I don't think he reads LJ) |
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| Unexpected |
[Jul. 20th, 2008|05:24 pm] |
I often don't read the EULAs, and wasn't expecting this one when installing a little app I've been using for years:
WordWeb 5.x Free version licensing
 WordWeb free version may be used indefinitely only by people who take at most two commercial flights (not more than one return flight) in any 12 month period. People who fly more than this need to purchase the Pro version if they wish to continue to use it after a 30-day trial period.
⋮
The licensing model is designed to allow relatively non-wealthy people to use the program free of charge, and to provide a small incentive for other people who fly a lot to cut down.
⋮ (The full licence page is here, and has spawned an explanation page here)
I currently qualify, but this year I hope to make two return flights :) |
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