Those of you more familiar with ComSci (now CSSE I guess) these days may already know about the downloadable Auslan Tuition System.
One of the developers is EJ, who was kind enough to thank me in her thesis (annoying .ps.gz file) for providing computer support 
Friday as I left work I got an MMS announcing the birth of Riley. Conveniently I was already on the way to the pub, so a toast was in order (even if Jem and Kris had beat us to it)! Weeks compared, gadgets discussed and gossip exchanged. Then off to pick up fish and chips and head home.
Saturday was the church fete, shopping and then BBQ with Comrade and friends to enjoy the weather (’til it turned cloudy). It must have been the record ozone hole.
Today was Yum Cha with Comrade and good company, followed by coffee at The Moon. A brief attempt to tidy the shed and the office, take the rubbish out, a cup of tea and a read of the paper and then it was time to take Puggle to the park. Someone at the park was playing with an electric remote controlled helicopter. As they’re notoriously difficult to fly, especially when there’s a bit of wind blowing, it was frequently winding up sideways on the ground. Puggle was fascinated by this. After they’d packed up (batteries needed recharging), I asked Puggle if he could be a helicopter. Expecting him to spin around with his arms out, he instead just fell over backwards to the ground and rolled around as that was pretty obviously what the helicopter had been doing!
Bilby is still yet to emerge, which means it’s off to work again tomorrow.
According to the Wikipedia, Graham’s number is quite possibly the largest number ever to have been seriously used in a mathematical proof. And also possibly the worst upper bound estimate
Not only have BP and others gone green, now Westpac is getting into the act and is running TV advertising that it has signed the Equator Principles, that “encourage greater consideration of social and environmental issues before lending”. I guess as more big business claims to go green it will be easier to invest in them and claim it’s ok. The Equator Principles only apply to loans with a capital cost of more than $50 million though, but at least it’s a start.
November 3rd is Cross Dress for Red Cross day.
If you’re responsible for a network you may wish to fill out the Australian IPv6 Readiness Survey.
With all the discussion about Australian nuclear reactors, I’m hoping that the fusion folks manage to get to first light real soon now. Except then we’ll probably still have to build nuclear reactors to keep the uranium miners employed.
So, is anyone actually going to buy T3 shares? It would seem that having cast off the spectre of being half government owned, Telstra’s now laboured with what is essentially a government appointed board member. Not to mention that it and the ACCC have differences of opinions over what constitutes a monopoly, and it’s still subject to government regulation.
According to ABC’s Lateline Business, Channel 9 is taking icetv to court, claiming that it has violated Channel 9’s copyright on its TV guide information that it has owned since 1956, when it began broadcasting.
It also seems that Channel 9 will be arguing that the company’s software to record TV programs digitally is also illegal. So, this could be the battle for your PVR or set-top box’s future.
My understanding is that recent changes under the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement made recording of TV programs legal for timeshifting purposes, provided that you don’t share recorded programs with other people. Previously actually recording anything with your VCR in Australia was a breach of copyright.
Some amusing entries on the BBC’s h2g2 (inspired by “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”) pages about chocolate.
