Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Ebay Auction :The Life You Have Always Dreamed Of!

Have a crappy life? The bid on this charity auction for a blog of your imagined (or wished for) exploits over a 30 day period. If you can imagine it, "your" blog will chronicle it daily!

read more | digg story

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Flashing before my eyes

Not a bad start today.

I left home at 6:15am today, for the 40minute drive up to my Boss's place at Hornsby.
I took it nice and easy, not driving too fast, not too slow. Everything was going great.
I hopped onto the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, as per norm, off of Pennant Hills Road.


After a few minutes of driving, i watch as everyone starts to gain momentum to climb the massive hill which is: Mount Colah.

I drop my car into fourth gear, at 110km/h.
Flat to the floor, i start to accelerate, from about 3600 rev's.
110, 120, 130, 140.. then it happens.

I'm about to hit 5th gear when i look up from my Phone - Hooked up to my headunit, which i had 'Rage Against the Machine- Killing in the Name of' playing through, when i see a car, which was a car infront of the semi, which was infront of me - start to lose control.

The Semi slams on his brakes. He had an empty trailer, so he instantly jacknives.
It takes me a second to react.
I first hit the anchors hard, then depress the clutch to the floor.
The rear-left locks up.
Then, the front-left.

If anyones ever locked up a cars brakes, you know that once your front wheel(s) have locked up, you've got no chance of turning.

So i pull back some pressure off the brakes, and swerve off to the Mount Colah exit.

I'm sure it was only a few seconds, but it seemed time was going so slow.
There was so much shit running through my head like you wouldn't believe.

Due to experience I avoided an accident.

I can see so easily how people kill themselves on the roads.
Sorry P Platers (I am one too), but knowing your cars limitations, handling, and how your car will react in emergency situations - and how to correct them - and the lack of, is the reason why so many of you die each year.

I will be going for an advanced Driver course soon, in my own car.
I think this should be part of the progression to your license.


And that's my two cents for the day.

-Simon.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Wanna See My Brain?

Some odd things have been happening that I thought was a MS relapse. So today I dqueezed in to see the neurologist (whom I have not seen in about 4 years!). She listens to me mumble on... 6 week long headache, stabbing pain to the eyes, dropping feeling causing adrenalin rushes, nausea, confusion, loss of emotional control, lethargy, sparkly thing that floats around in my vision...

and she goes

"Hmm I can't really equate those symptoms to your MS" ...so she starts doing the usual physical tests and they were all fine

So she books me in for an MRI, which will be the first one I have had since diagnoses
And if that doesn't show anything I have to have a lumbar puncture

Don't know what she is looking for but it doesn't sound pleasant. Especially when she booked me in for the MRI herself for the "earliest possible spot available".

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Self-Cleaning Underwear Goes Weeks Without Washing

By Bill Christensen

posted: 05 January 200709:03 am ET

Self-cleaning fabrics could revolutionize the sport apparel industry. The technology, created by scientists working for the U.S. Air Force, has already been used to create t-shirts and underwear that can be worn hygenically for weeks without washing.T

he new technology attaches nanoparticles to clothing fibers using microwaves. Then, chemicals that can repel water, oil and bacteria are directly bound to the nanoparticles. These two elements combine to create a protective coating on the fibers of the material.This coating both kills bacteria, and forces liquids to bead and run off

.The U.S. military spent more than $20 million to develop the fabric, deriving from research originally intended to protect soldiers from biological weapons.Jeff Owens, one of the scientists who worked to develop the process, said, "During Desert Storm, most casualties were from bacterial infections—not accidents or friendly fire. We treated underwear for soldiers who tested them for several weeks and found they remained hygienic.

They also helped clear up some skin complaints."Science fiction writer Neal Stephenson wrote specifically about nanotech fabrics that stayed clean; he referred to "fabricules" in his 1995 novel The Diamond Age: ...with a quick brush, John and Gwendolyn were able to transfer most of the dirt onto their white gloves. From there it went straight into the air. Most gentlemen's and ladies' gloves nowadays were constructed of infinitesimal fabricules that knew how to eject dirt... (Read more about fabricules)

British news organizations pointed out that an earlier reference to the general idea of clothes that never got dirty can be found in the 1951 film "The Man in the White Suit." Sci-fi fans can console themselves with the fact that the lead role was played by Alec Guiness, who of course played Obiwan Kenobi in the original Star Wars films.

Don't miss these other futuristic clothing advances:

* Fabrican - spray-on clothing

* Chameleon T-Shirts With Electrochromic Polymers

* Carbon Nanofiber Makes Smart Yarn Read more about the fabric here.(This Science Fiction in the News story used with permission from Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction.)

LiveScience.com - Self-Cleaning Underwear Goes Weeks Without Washing

Friday, January 05, 2007

NetXperiment - Race to a million for MS...DIGG IT!

Someone started to DIGG NetXperiment!

To DIGG it too, click on the bookmark link and select DIGG...

read more | digg story

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Terragen 2 Technology preview

My first render with this beastly revision on the old 0.9

My first Terragen render
I developed DeQuervain's Tenosinuvitis in my right wrist during my pregnancy with Nubbit. It never went away. I'm supposed to wear a wrist guard when working but I lost one of them and they itch (due to sweating) when on so I tend to leave them off. It's also a pain in the arse seeing as my hand is in water much of the day (I'm a cleaner).

For the most part it's been OK. The worst pain is on waking when it has locked up with cramping but twisting it for a minute, though painful, frees it. At other times it's only the occasional shooting pain when I move it the wrong way or bump the side of my wrist. Until now anyway. I tried to do some ironing yesterday (I have around 6 hours a week of ironing) and I couldn't. Not only has my wrist gotten worse but there's a pain radiating from my right shoulder down to it. I use to have hell with that shoulder for years but it went away when I started studying IT and quit my biggest job.

So, next step is cortisone injections in my wrist. I used to have them in the AC joint of my shoulder and they worked a treat. Hopefully they do again. Surgery comes next. I like that option. I think I've developed a spur in my left heel too so getting rid of that would also be great.

I don't want to give up cleaning. I enjoy it.

Spent wants another child. Pregnancy absolutely ruined me last time. Could it get worse a second time?