“Should Children Do Homework?

I don’t like homework. It stops people doing what they want to do. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense how kids are supposed to learn with it. We also do enough at school. Maybe we should go to school for longer to do our homework at school. Homework is a bad thing especially for people to learn.

By Angus Gray”

Personally I don’t think it needs to any more than that Angus. Who I might add has some pretty valid points. I might decide that there is some merit in learning discipline but then I had a hard time accepting that homework was good for me.

Angus; I hope that this was “whole world” enough for you. But just to be sure I’ll post it on facebook and share it on twitter as well!

I also added a poll, I thought that Angus might be interested in the opinion of the world:

We have all had that happen to us, especially those of us using Apple devices like iPhones and iPads. The auto correct can be somewhat unkind at the best of times. This conversation however was one of the funniest I have ever had on twitter. Making it funnier was the fact that my wife (@Kate_Gray) was sitting right next to me as it happened. She was laughing her head off.

This is an attempt by myself to reconstruct that conversation as best I can. It is unfortunate that the timeline in twitter will only go back 7 hours. So I had to construct this using links and trying to remember what happened. So it might not be 100% perfect. But what it does do is convey the general idea and I don’t think the meaning is lost.

Have a read and you’ll know what we are talking about when we say; “You’ve been thong rigged”. Thong rigging also has it’s own hash tag #thongrig so feel free to use it and spread the meme.

Many Thanks to:

• @Kate Gray
• @Jameswilliams90
• @Space_Cadet
• @Fifikins
• @BZB
• @Superspeechie

for the damn funny experience!

Back on the 28th of December 2010

The_Rooster: PLEASE follow @Kate_Gray she has so few followers she is checking up on what I tweeted like a freaking day ago!!!! Please save me….

space_cadet: My wife @Superspeechie has 4 followers, me, my brother, his wife, and Julia freakin’ Gillard…please follow my lovely wife

The_Rooster: @space_cadet: retreated in sympathy mate

The_Rooster: @space_cadet make that retweeted – stoopid auto correct

The_Rooster: Ok now she is covering up her iPhone not wanting me to see her tweets… Before they are tweeted geeze

BZB: @The_Rooster @Kate_Gray This is going to be fun *makes popcorn, gets comfy* ;D

Kate_Gray: @The_Rooster go bite me can’t keep up with those people i’m friends with

The_Rooster: @Kate_Gray but your quoting my bloody tweets!!! Not the interesting people

Fifikins: @The_Rooster @Kate_Gray Twitter is not a place for domestics

Kate_Gray: The things that @The_Rooster talks me into

Fifikins: @BZB My money’s on@Kate_Gray (sorry @The_Rooster!)

BZB: @Fifikins I’m with you!

Kate_Gray: @The_Rooster I have better thongs to do and someone has to look after the lifs

jameswilliams90: @Kate_Gray @The_Rooster damn autothongy!

space_cadet: @Kate_gray btw, whats a “lif”

The_Rooster: Shit a bloody brick now there is a book going on who the winner is going to be. She might wear the f^*%ing thong but I wear the pants baby!

space_cadet: @Kate_gray @the_rooster lol – thongs to do

The_Rooster: @Kate_Gray ROFLMHO that’s gold and the old auto correct bit you rig on the arse!!!

BZB: @The_Rooster Bwahahahaha!

space_cadet: @the_rooster bit “rig” in the arse…wow – snapped!!

jameswilliams90: @Kate_Gray @The_Rooster damn autothongy!

jameswilliams90: @space_cadet @the_rooster @kate_gray don’t want to get your thong caught in the rig…

space_cadet: @jameswilliams90 for sure – getting anything stuck in a thong rig, arse or not, is gonna give you the shits. Especially if you have lifs!

space_cadet: @the_rooster @Superspeechie my rig never gets stuck

superspeechie: @space_cadet pretty cool though. Julia is interested in my tweets lol

The_Rooster: @space_cadet @jameswilliams90 yeah byb gosh those lifs can be a pain in the rig

Fifikins: @The_Rooster do they fit you rig on the arse?

The_Rooster: @Fifikins the are no rigs on my arse just for the record….

Fifikins: @The_Rooster that’s what she said

jameswilliams90: @The_Rooster @space_cadet @kate_gray *crying*

Kate_Gray: Laughing so much have tears in my eyes

The_Rooster: @jameswilliams90 @kate_gray she’s wetting herself….

Kate_Gray: @space_cadet kids

The_Rooster: @jameswilliams90 @space_cadet @kate_gray yeah it was that funny here as well

space_cadet: Bed time – night all.

jameswilliams90: @space_cadet night night, don’t let the rig thongys bit.

Kate_Gray: Going to have to watch that auto correct or fix up my typing on small keyboard

The_Rooster: @Kate_Gray excuses excuses…

I hope that goes some way to explaining Thong Rig…

Feel free to follow me on twitter @The_Rooster

I have had the most amazing few weeks in relation to podcasting. Last night I recorded the first of many podcasts that I am going to be doing with James Williams of the LifeStyle PodNetwork. The show is called Podcasters’ Emporium. But that is the end and the beginning of a journey.

James and I have been talking for a while about many things but we usually end up talking about something to do with podcasting. There has been a gradual hatching of a plan that we probably did not see coming but now that we have come this far we are glad we did.

James was struggling with trying to find a vision and a path for his show. We had so many discussions about it, I kept coming up with ideas and suggestions. My motivations were a tad selfish in that I was really wanting a podcast out there for podcasters. A show full of tips, tricks, advice and interviews. So yeah I was pushing him in that direction. The reason being is that I believed that he could pull it off! The other reason was and is that there is a great need for a podcast like that in the podcasting space. Just go and take a look at the podcasts on podcasting in iTunes.

So we decided to relaunch Podcasters’ Emporium with a difference, a podcast for podcasters with a vision to build a quality community full of podcasters from all over the globe and strive to be a “go-to” resource for the community. But James wanted me to co-host, easy decision.

Much of what else I would want to say was said at the first recording of the show together which will be episode 10. The energy and the enthusiasm for this project is huge and it comes out in the podcast. We have some great stories and ideas. I am so excited about it. So take a listen and find out why it will be worth listening to.

If you are a podcaster, you need to listen to Podcasters’ Emporium. Not only that, we don’t want a passive audience, we are committed to building this community and making it a valuable resource and not for us; for you. There are details in the first show about how you can become involved and be a part of the community.

Also check out the show synopsis before the fist show is launched tomorrow.

The Revolution Starts Now. Your going to love it!

It took a while to wrap up the finishing touches, with the biggest headache caused by the carpet. But all done and dusted now and I have also taken a buch of photos and thrown them up on flickr.

We are yet to finish up outside as we had some clearing done and the grass was taken out as a result. We are also going to move the fence forward to give the boys more room to play in.

The extension is awesome and we love it. It had transformed our family and our lifestyle. We now have segmented living areas and some space to get some time out. Entertaining will be a lot easier now and we also have room for guests!

Take a look at the flickr page as pictures speak louder than words.

On the 19th of July the final Global Geek was posted. But this was not an end for myself and co-hosts. We decided to strike out on our own server and with it rebranding the show. So was born the Aussie Geek Podcast.

The reasons were many and we thought long and hard about making the move, it was a difficult decision. I really appreciated The Podcast Network and what C.E.O Cam Reilly is trying to achieve. The people and the community are awesome. We left T.P.N with no hard feelings that I know of and did not go out of our way to create any. Cam was aware however, that we were frustrated with not being able to tweak the blog in the way that we wanted to as well as having the fine level of control that we as geeks craved. Although it was very disappointing to have seen that comments on the last GGP referring to the new URL of the podcast were deleted by someone.

But we are off on a big adventure and we are loving it. We have built the site and are posting madly. It was awesome to see that we are already making great gains in Google results. Although I am sure that we have taken a big hit in numbers. That true figure is yet to be known as we have not posted a show as yet. The long and the short of that is that we are waiting on an update to the WordPress plugin called PodPress to be compatible with WordPress 2.6.

I am really enjoying the collaboration and multiple authors that we were not able to fully realize before. In addition Tim has been posting some awesome Quick Tips in video format and we have some great plugins that our readers and listeners can take advantage of.

It would be great to pull our community over to the new blog and podcast, so jump over and say hello. Don’t forget to upgrade your links and RSS feed while you are there! We will be posting the first full show as soon as we can.

I was bummed that we did not make it to the 100th show, at 90 it was so close. We have decided to start at 1 for the AGP.

I can start planning the new built in desk layout and function. Looks like there is going to be heaps of room to play with. Looking forward to the big desk and built-in cupboards.

In thinking about the layout of the new office I am also considering the associated work such as the home network. I am planning on hard wiring most of the house to the Internet. Including a wireless access point upstairs to provide wireless access over the whole house.

As far as wireless access points go I am currently considering two models from Netgear:

1. PROSAFE™ 802.11G WG102
2. PROSAFE™ 802.11G WG302

Both are pretty good wireless access points. The one thing that I have to consider is that I am trying to provide wireless access over two floors and I need the signal to travel both horizontal and vertically. The point will be upstairs and most of the coverage will be over this area. So the additional areal on the WG302 may be distinct advantage, being able to position it at a different angle. Both units are capable of PoE which is a must as the access point will be on a small shelf high on the wall. I am going to have a chat to my brother as he is a guru with this sort of thing… he should be, since he is an IT manager!

The hard-wiring over the rest of the house is mainly to the entertainment areas such as near TV’s etc. This is not so much essential now but more a future proofing measure. I firmly believe that in the future all our “Television” will be delivered via the Internet and not as a signal through the air as it is now (in Australia at least). So I figure that hard wiring it with CAT6 cable is the best option for this application.

So getting back to the office layout; I’ll need a shelf or cupboard dedicated to routers, power, switches and access terminals. So being able to see the walls is starting to make the decisions as to where these things go a lot easier.

Maybe by the end of the week we shall see a second floor start to emerge.

I managed to get out before it got too dark and take some photos. I took the boys down as well and they had a great time walking around and getting a feel for what it will look like when it is finished.

Initially we were concerned about the size of the rooms. We had the plan revised before they started. But we were never 100% sure that we allowed enough and made the rooms large enough. Today I was pleased to have a look at what will be my study and actually visualize the room size and where things will go. The rooms are going to be great. No regrets so far as to design and sizing. Although we do have the upstairs floor to go yet. But things are looking good.

No doubt with the dividing frame tomorrow there will be yet another hole into some fixture. But I am getting used to that!

More images on flickr

I had a bit of an advantage in that there were two computers to unbox and set up. Cool, I can make mistakes on the wife’s and mine will be perfect (don’t tell her that). So I unboxed the “ruby red” version that Kate got, set hers up and got onto mine. No major dramas with hers at all.

Pictures are good and I took some, check out the whole unboxing there. The model that I purchased was a Dell Inspiron 1720, 2.4Ghz processor, 3 Gig of RAM, Audigy soundcard, NVIDIA 256mb 8600M GT video card and TV tuner. That’s the basics of it.

I was expecting to have a laptop full of crapware, but to my surprise there was not much at all. The major one being IE and that was gone as quick as I could download Firefox. IE did have Google Toolbar, which is not a big deal. There is a trial of McAffee Security Center installed. Again not a big thing, I am actually giving it a try because it is there, seems to be doing the job and it is not as if it is Norton. Plus there was the usual stuff from Dell that you might expect and in fact you don’t have that much choice about. Again OK by me and not irreversible.

One thing I had to get used to was Vista. Now I feel kinda dirty saying this, but Vista has it’s good ponts. For example connecting wirelessly to the Internet was as easy as pie. The interface is pretty much XP but prettier. But there are some nice gems among the nice graphics. Such as uploading pictures from my camera. Again very easy and straight forward. I really do like the way that Vista handles images, having them sorted into dates and tags turns what used to be a complete mess into something actually useful. I have not found the UAC to be as annoying as I thought it would be either.

I have to admit that my bashing of Vista was unwarranted in the generalized fashion that was prone to doing. I said I would never get or use Vista. This time I was not given a choice. I am kinda glad that I had no choice. Sure Vista has issues but so does every operating system, the ones regarding Vista are not as bad as people would have you believe. Sorry but I am yet to find a “puke” factor to Vista. I still might and I’ll be the first to let you know.

One peripheral purchase that was a real winner was a Logitech V450 mouse. I still work faster with a mouse and I am using the trackpad as well. But this came in handy when I wanted to feel more at home on the laptop. Setting up was quick and easy, batteries, wireless USB and done in about 1 minute. Only one criticism is the hardness of the scroll wheel button, otherwise a real winner.

Well I am going to enjoy the blogging from bed that I will now be able to enjoy. I am pretty satisfied with Dell and the new laptops. More configuring tomorrow, no doubt that will go on for a week or so. Feel free to ask me anything about the laptop or Dell in the comments!

So I got out today and got some photos so that I could post an update. Yesterday the concrete was poured for the footings. Now the builders won’t be back for the rest of the week because they want these to settle and set. Then we should see some real progress. The small slab was poured for the new stair well last week but that was not that exciting. But now we can actually see the beginnings of something.

See not that exciting, a slab of concrete. The window that is there will disapear. Not even sure why it is there as it is under the house.

This is looking from the side, that slab is to the left. The 2 metal poles are holding the front of the house up. The ground floor joists and bearers are partly in place. This extension is going to extend out towards the front and this is the begining of the ground floor. The footings in the foreground are for the new upper deck. Here under that deck will be a water tank. To the right in front of the lower floor are some more footings for a smaller lower deck that will open out from the 4th bedroom. The office that will be most distant in this image will have a small deck as well and will join by a walkway to the lower bedroom deck.

This is exciting for me because this is my new office. I know it doesn’t look like much now but it will! The concrete slab to the left will be the stairs. The office will have it’s own external access and a small deck landing. Not huge but big enough to have a few chairs and enjoy a beer in the hot summer evenings.

There are more images on my flickr page, I have linked these to there. I am trying to keep this up to date now things are started. Sorry if it is boring everyone to tears. But this will be great to look back on over the years. Pkus the listeners of the podcast are wanting some photos and a blog post. See I do listen! More updates to come.

In 2005 Matt Harding created a video of all the places that he had visited that year, with a twist. He was doing this weird dance (no not a good one and I am sure that is half the appeal). The video was a viral hit, it should be – it is fun and had that viral quality that marketers would die for. In addition he got sponsored to do it all again! So in 2006 he created another video. They became known as the “Where the Hell is Matt?” series and a website was born with all sorts of stuff like his journal and map tracking.

Now in 2008 Matt is Back with “Where the Hell is Matt 2008″. This time round you can see the video in HD glory at viemo, which is very nice. Starting to appreciate the HD with video, but you need a pretty good connection to get the best from it. I am only too happy to contribute to Matt’s viral success, I think the videos are great and have that feel good effect. Which is perfect given the crap week I have had.