Ah for the days when we were all voting on class captains. A rather meaningless role with no actual consequence except for getting a shiny badge. Or maybe that was just my school. Although at my school no one ever promised coke in the bubblers. I don't think they ever promised anything. It was just a popularity contest. At any rate, it had about as much depth as the Coke in the Bubblers Party.
Their website is rather sparse on details. They do have a page where they say modern politician's are forced by the system to promise big and then not deliver. They then have many pages where the content simply says "Coming Soon". I'm not sure if this is very clever satire or people not realising just how much work they've gotten themselves into setting up a party.
They don't appear to have any policies per se, instead saying that there are a number of issues that they want to encourage discussion on. These include education, the economy and aged care, so it's not like their raising issues being ignored by everyone else.
They also seem to need a better web admin. They have tons of icons suggesting various social media with links that don't work. Hell, my old school style of doing html in vi (I'm sorry emacs, it was on my mac and it was easier than trying to get emacs to work) would result in less links that don't work. They don't even have a twitter account for crying out loud.
Overall, just like the school kid promising Coke in the Bubblers, the Coke in the Bubblers Party have made a promise that sounds good, but they've overlooked all the practical stuff that goes into actually doing what they've promised.
Website: http://www.cokeinthebubblers.com/
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Party Games 10/54 Smoker's Rights Party
First up on the single party roadshow is the Smoker's Rights Party. They feel smokers have been hard done by. High taxes on cigarettes, not being able to smoke in public venues, winnie blues no longer coming in a blue packet, it's a hard life. Apparently, slowly killing yourself is too expensive, and not being able to see the logo of your brand and instead getting a picture of what you're doing to yourself is unfair to the manufacturers and promotes black market activities since it's easier to counterfeit a plain packet (because everyone buying on the black market expects to be getting a legit product, or or they think supermarkets, local stores, and servos are going to buy cigarettes of guys off the back of a truck).
That said, I must concede they have a point. Given that I generally put drugs into the "I won't recommend it but I won't stop you from doing it" category, tobacco is just as much a drug as marijuana or alcohol. I guess I disagree with them on the level of taxation. They want taxes on tobacco at a level that covers the costs to the health system, while I'm happy to add on an extra "If you're stupid enough to want to die early, you deserve to be charged more" tax on top of that.
I also think banning smoking in public venues is a good thing. While living abroad I've been to places where there are no restrictions on smoking, and been to bars where the amount of smoke is so much it has stung my eyes. Not having to deal with this in Australian is a good thing.
I am a bit concerned at their claim that 20% of Australians smoke (the Cancer Council would disagree with them though). I had hoped that number would be lower, although I'm confident that they won't get the entire smoker vote.
Website: http://smokersrights.org.au/
That said, I must concede they have a point. Given that I generally put drugs into the "I won't recommend it but I won't stop you from doing it" category, tobacco is just as much a drug as marijuana or alcohol. I guess I disagree with them on the level of taxation. They want taxes on tobacco at a level that covers the costs to the health system, while I'm happy to add on an extra "If you're stupid enough to want to die early, you deserve to be charged more" tax on top of that.
I also think banning smoking in public venues is a good thing. While living abroad I've been to places where there are no restrictions on smoking, and been to bars where the amount of smoke is so much it has stung my eyes. Not having to deal with this in Australian is a good thing.
I am a bit concerned at their claim that 20% of Australians smoke (the Cancer Council would disagree with them though). I had hoped that number would be lower, although I'm confident that they won't get the entire smoker vote.
Website: http://smokersrights.org.au/
Party Games a/54 - Single Issue Party Roundup
I've fallen a bit behind with where I intended to be with this project by this point in time. In order to catch up a bit, I'm going to shuffle around the order a bit and tonight I'm going to focus on some one issue and no-issue parties, as these won't involve as much reading to make sure I'm not misrepresenting them. So let's begin
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Party Games 9/54 Australian Sovreignty Party
The Australian Sovereignty Party brings us once again into the realm of the economic fringe. They have two main economic policies that just make one want to weep and then whack them alongside the head with Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (which fortunately for this purpose is a pretty hefty tome. That diversion into the history of grain prices may not make for thrilling reading but does help you pack a punch).
First up is their plan to once again have the government create money, and to use this to fund government expenditures. One of the consequences of this will be bringing inflation down to zero. I'll repeat, the government creating money to pay its expenses will have the effect of reducing inflation to zero.
The second is their plan to revamp the tax system. They are going to replace all existing taxes with a debit tax. Every time money leaves one of your bank accounts you get charged a tax of 1% of the amount. This tax will apply to every transaction, so this means each time you transfer money between your accounts, or send money to a family member, or give to charity, you get charged the tax. It also means that there will be ripe opportunities for those who want to work on a cash basis to avoid the system. They estimate that this will bring result in a surplus of $235 billion mainly because it will bring in about twice the revenue the government currently gets. which when they also say that we will all be paying less tax because 1% is less than the current 10% GST does make it sound like someones getting charged somewhere that we're not being told about. Businesses doing lots of bank transactions are going to raise their prices to cover the costs of the extra 1% on every transaction, and I'm sure people aren't going to be happy if the go into overdraft because of the tax being taken out of their bank accounts.
They do better on some other matters. On internet privacy they oppose internet filters, and quite rightly put the onus on parents wanting to protect their children to do so themselves rather than restricting what everyone can access. They support the medicinal use of marijuana, and while not outright supporting decriminalization, encourage a full review of drug laws with that in mind. Their defense plan emphasizes good relationships with neighboring nations, but then diverts into a bit of anti UN spiel.
The ASP is also another proponent of Citizen Initiated Referendums, which again is set up as a way of binding parliament without going to the trouble of changing the constitution. I'm still not sure why so many small right wing parties think these are a good idea.
Website: http://sovereigntyparty.org.au/
twitter: @Aus_Sovereignty
First up is their plan to once again have the government create money, and to use this to fund government expenditures. One of the consequences of this will be bringing inflation down to zero. I'll repeat, the government creating money to pay its expenses will have the effect of reducing inflation to zero.
The second is their plan to revamp the tax system. They are going to replace all existing taxes with a debit tax. Every time money leaves one of your bank accounts you get charged a tax of 1% of the amount. This tax will apply to every transaction, so this means each time you transfer money between your accounts, or send money to a family member, or give to charity, you get charged the tax. It also means that there will be ripe opportunities for those who want to work on a cash basis to avoid the system. They estimate that this will bring result in a surplus of $235 billion mainly because it will bring in about twice the revenue the government currently gets. which when they also say that we will all be paying less tax because 1% is less than the current 10% GST does make it sound like someones getting charged somewhere that we're not being told about. Businesses doing lots of bank transactions are going to raise their prices to cover the costs of the extra 1% on every transaction, and I'm sure people aren't going to be happy if the go into overdraft because of the tax being taken out of their bank accounts.
They do better on some other matters. On internet privacy they oppose internet filters, and quite rightly put the onus on parents wanting to protect their children to do so themselves rather than restricting what everyone can access. They support the medicinal use of marijuana, and while not outright supporting decriminalization, encourage a full review of drug laws with that in mind. Their defense plan emphasizes good relationships with neighboring nations, but then diverts into a bit of anti UN spiel.
The ASP is also another proponent of Citizen Initiated Referendums, which again is set up as a way of binding parliament without going to the trouble of changing the constitution. I'm still not sure why so many small right wing parties think these are a good idea.
Website: http://sovereigntyparty.org.au/
twitter: @Aus_Sovereignty
Party Games 8/54 The Australian Sex Party
With a name like the Australian Sex Party you know that they are after attention. Given the rather civil rights focused approach they take with their policies they could easily have chosen other less controversial names to go by. But the Sex Party they are, and they take pleasure in the name they have given themselves.
Their policies cover a wide range of issues but are not comprehensive. They mainly focus on ensuring personal freedom and allowing consenting adults to do what consenting adults want to do. On matters of technology they do well. Opposing mandatory data retention and internet filtering is how they initially got my attention. Easing up on censorship laws, and working to make them uniform across Australia works for me. They are pro gay marriage, pro women's choice for abortion, pro euthanasia, and want drug usage decriminalized and marijuana taxed.
They are also for a secular state. They want to ensure that public schools are free from religion which includes ending the school chaplains program. They also want to remove special tax exemptions for religions, which while something that should be done, they are pushing it in a way that seeks to be confrontational (given the likely response of religious groups, this may just be a matter of getting in first).
When it comes to sex itself, the areas they focus on are better treatment for those working in the sex industry, ensuring equal rights for LGBTIQ (that acronym keeps getting longer doesn't it), better access to sex education, and getting drugs that help with sexual dysfunction on the PBS.
They don't have a policy on the environment (the first party I've come across to lack this), refugees and immigration (again the first party not to have one), and the NBN, while I think that they'd be on the positive side of these issues, given that anyone getting elected will need to deal with these issues, it would be nice to see them state a position on these.
Website: http://www.sexparty.org.au/
twitter: @aussexparty
Their policies cover a wide range of issues but are not comprehensive. They mainly focus on ensuring personal freedom and allowing consenting adults to do what consenting adults want to do. On matters of technology they do well. Opposing mandatory data retention and internet filtering is how they initially got my attention. Easing up on censorship laws, and working to make them uniform across Australia works for me. They are pro gay marriage, pro women's choice for abortion, pro euthanasia, and want drug usage decriminalized and marijuana taxed.
They are also for a secular state. They want to ensure that public schools are free from religion which includes ending the school chaplains program. They also want to remove special tax exemptions for religions, which while something that should be done, they are pushing it in a way that seeks to be confrontational (given the likely response of religious groups, this may just be a matter of getting in first).
When it comes to sex itself, the areas they focus on are better treatment for those working in the sex industry, ensuring equal rights for LGBTIQ (that acronym keeps getting longer doesn't it), better access to sex education, and getting drugs that help with sexual dysfunction on the PBS.
They don't have a policy on the environment (the first party I've come across to lack this), refugees and immigration (again the first party not to have one), and the NBN, while I think that they'd be on the positive side of these issues, given that anyone getting elected will need to deal with these issues, it would be nice to see them state a position on these.
Website: http://www.sexparty.org.au/
twitter: @aussexparty
Party Games 7/54 Australian Democrats
Oh how the mighty have fallen. They who kept the bastards honest. They who forced John Howard to make compromises on the GST. They who then self destructed into what now appears to be farcical oblivion. I didn't realize just how bad things were for the Democrats until I was reading the statement the Pirate Party made on their preferences, and learned of the wreck that the Democrats currently are.
At the moment there are two separate groups claiming to be the Australian Democrats. One has the old logo I remember from years of yore and has candidates and has submitted preferences, the other has the no 1 spot on Google searches for Australian Democrats and better social media presence all round. The AEC are treating it as an internal matter and not really taking a stand other than saying until it's sorted out they won't change the registered officials. There are now questions as to whether the party still has the required 500 members to be a registered party.
So, how do I do this write up. Fortunately, their policies are pretty similar. They support the carbon tax, raising the tax free threshold, better treatment of refugees, greater access to schooling for children with special needs, a national curriculum. Without the personal squabbles, there's really no reason for the split.
As a centrist party they don't take any extreme positions, so there's not much to find there. I really wish they could get back to being in a position to keep the bastards honest, but I'm really not sure if they'll be around for the next election after this one. I'll miss them as they were the first party I was interested in, even if it was due to the fact that Natasha Stott Despoja was on Good News Week a lot, rather than any true political conviction, but I feel that they showed that there was room for a third party to contribute to the Australian political scene by being able to force the major parties to have to make deals rather than just follow their ideologies untempered by others (and indeed, Howard's downfall came only after he finally gained power in the senate). Others have followed in their footsteps in this role, and indeed the last parliament has been a great example of this.
Ultimately I'm still going to have the Democrats high on my ballot paper, but not as high up as they once were.
Website: http://www.australiandemocrats.org.au/ (the one without candidates)
Website: http://www.australian-democrats.org.au/ (the one with candidates)
Twitter: @AusDemocrats (the one without candidates)
At the moment there are two separate groups claiming to be the Australian Democrats. One has the old logo I remember from years of yore and has candidates and has submitted preferences, the other has the no 1 spot on Google searches for Australian Democrats and better social media presence all round. The AEC are treating it as an internal matter and not really taking a stand other than saying until it's sorted out they won't change the registered officials. There are now questions as to whether the party still has the required 500 members to be a registered party.
So, how do I do this write up. Fortunately, their policies are pretty similar. They support the carbon tax, raising the tax free threshold, better treatment of refugees, greater access to schooling for children with special needs, a national curriculum. Without the personal squabbles, there's really no reason for the split.
As a centrist party they don't take any extreme positions, so there's not much to find there. I really wish they could get back to being in a position to keep the bastards honest, but I'm really not sure if they'll be around for the next election after this one. I'll miss them as they were the first party I was interested in, even if it was due to the fact that Natasha Stott Despoja was on Good News Week a lot, rather than any true political conviction, but I feel that they showed that there was room for a third party to contribute to the Australian political scene by being able to force the major parties to have to make deals rather than just follow their ideologies untempered by others (and indeed, Howard's downfall came only after he finally gained power in the senate). Others have followed in their footsteps in this role, and indeed the last parliament has been a great example of this.
Ultimately I'm still going to have the Democrats high on my ballot paper, but not as high up as they once were.
Website: http://www.australiandemocrats.org.au/ (the one without candidates)
Website: http://www.australian-democrats.org.au/ (the one with candidates)
Twitter: @AusDemocrats (the one without candidates)
Monday, August 26, 2013
By the Numbers 34/52
A rather mixed week.
Wealth
Net cash: $480.88
Got my tax return, but a chunk of that was taken out by the doctor telling me to her an MRI of my knee, something my health insurance doesn't cover (there's a whole rant on that matter).
Jobs applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: 1581 Calories
Less cardio due to the bad knee and lack of a working treadmill has hit hard, and increased snacking hasn't helped.
Fitocracy points: 385
Weight: I'll check and update this evening as I'm doing this on the bus to work
Life
Bike riding: 92km
Bike broke down on Wednesday. Haven't got it fixed yet. We'll see how it goes. Pushing it home was a good workout.
Books read: 2
I finished Y: The Last Man and the churned through The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Kind of curious how they handled making a movie out of it as it was very much driven by the narrator's internal voice which I'm not sure is easily adaptable to film.
Games played: 13: 11x magic the Gathering (including my first draft tournament) and 2x Hanabi
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Party Games 6/54 Australian Protectionist Party
This one's going to be rough. I've haven't sworn at my computer as much as I did while reading the Australian Protectionist Party's policies in quite a while. From the leaflets explaining how mosques in you neighborhood reduce house prices to a tax plan put together by someone who likes round numbers more than actually paying for the expenses of government to a zero net immigration policy, the Australian Protectionist Party are I can't quite decide what.
Let's start with taxes. They're against them. The carbon tax, the mining tax, the GST, payroll tax, it's all bad. It hurts business, it causes paperwork, it reduces incentives to work, it's too high. They'll cut them all. And instead bring in a flat 20% tax with a $20,000 tax free threshold. Now, while I've not gone and found all the stats to work out just how much money this would bring in, it will be a lot less than the existing income tax (less income gets taxed at a significantly lower rate means less tax revenue). So we've got lots of taxes gone altogether, a massively reduced income tax and not much about how they'll cut spending to compensate for this huge drop in funds.
They're also a big fan of trade tariffs, wanting to impose a 10% tariff for all manufactured goods imported. I think I need to do some separate posts on why I disagree with certain policies as I feel I may end up repeating myself a bit. A more unique idea they have is forming an agricultural OPEC to get more money for agricultural exports (because if cartel for oil works, why not one for food?).
Immigration. A zero net immigration policy. Immigration on a one out, one in basis. This pretty much means no immigration. They also want an immigration policy that supports a homogenous society, by which they mean excludes Muslims and people from the Third world (although South Africa is on the list of countries it's ok to immigrate from).
Before I get too negative they do have some ideas I agree with. As part of their environment policy they want to encourage new energy sources such as solar, wind, and nuclear power. They want to build light rail networks and cycle-ways, and have more electric cars. They also want to have all government documents printed only in English to save paper so you can't win them all. Another positive is the cute girl they have modeling their t-shirt (you can tell I'm stretching for things here).
They have some people running for the house in WA, and senate candidates in Queensland and New South Wales. Senate preferences have the Coalition ahead of Labor.
website: Australian Protectionist Party
twitter: @AustProtParty
Let's start with taxes. They're against them. The carbon tax, the mining tax, the GST, payroll tax, it's all bad. It hurts business, it causes paperwork, it reduces incentives to work, it's too high. They'll cut them all. And instead bring in a flat 20% tax with a $20,000 tax free threshold. Now, while I've not gone and found all the stats to work out just how much money this would bring in, it will be a lot less than the existing income tax (less income gets taxed at a significantly lower rate means less tax revenue). So we've got lots of taxes gone altogether, a massively reduced income tax and not much about how they'll cut spending to compensate for this huge drop in funds.
They're also a big fan of trade tariffs, wanting to impose a 10% tariff for all manufactured goods imported. I think I need to do some separate posts on why I disagree with certain policies as I feel I may end up repeating myself a bit. A more unique idea they have is forming an agricultural OPEC to get more money for agricultural exports (because if cartel for oil works, why not one for food?).
Immigration. A zero net immigration policy. Immigration on a one out, one in basis. This pretty much means no immigration. They also want an immigration policy that supports a homogenous society, by which they mean excludes Muslims and people from the Third world (although South Africa is on the list of countries it's ok to immigrate from).
Before I get too negative they do have some ideas I agree with. As part of their environment policy they want to encourage new energy sources such as solar, wind, and nuclear power. They want to build light rail networks and cycle-ways, and have more electric cars. They also want to have all government documents printed only in English to save paper so you can't win them all. Another positive is the cute girl they have modeling their t-shirt (you can tell I'm stretching for things here).
They have some people running for the house in WA, and senate candidates in Queensland and New South Wales. Senate preferences have the Coalition ahead of Labor.
website: Australian Protectionist Party
twitter: @AustProtParty
Party Games 5/54 Australian Fishing & Lifestyle Party
It's probably not going to be a big surprise if I tell you that the Australian Fishing & Lifestyle Party are fans of fishing, both commercial and amateur. They say that we should be able to do much more of both with much less government interference.
The general framework they set out for their policies have some hits and misses. Use of scientific data in the decision making process, respecting ethnic diversity, standardization of transport and communication services Australia wide, and recognizing the value of research and investment are all sensible starting points. I find it harder to get behind placing Australian sovereignty above international obligations because 1) it is an exercise of sovereignty to agree to a treaty in the first place, and 2) if we set a precedent of not complying with an obligation just because we don't like it anymore, it will be that much harder for us to convince other nations to comply later on.
The policies they have specifics on are encouraging greater commercial fishing where they believe we can significantly increase catches without impacting fish populations, making amateur fishing something promoted by all levels of government (provide infrastructure for, sure, I'm not sure if the government should be an advocate for a hobby though), the encouragement of the aquaculture industry, and greatly limiting the power of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
This last part is where I start to see some inconsistencies. Despite stating that use of scientific data in the decision making process is a part of their policy framework, in making the case that there is no threat to the reef from humans they say that the existing threats to the reef are weather events such as cyclones (no humans there), climate change (we've pretty much been caught red handed on that one), and sea level change (melting icecaps anyone?). To say climate change is not caused by human activity makes me doubt their commitment to the use of scientific data in making decisions, which then makes me wonder about their other policies such as where they say that catch levels can be set much higher without impacting biodiversity or population levels. They also say pollution and invasive species such as the Crown of Thorn are not significant threats to the reef (although given the size of the Great Barrier Reef, the word "significant" probably gives you a lot of wriggle room in these matters)
I have them pegged as a bit of a mixed bag. Some good ideas, some doubts, and ultimately their focus is on something I don't particularly care about (I've been fishing once in my life, and while it was a pleasant enough day it's not something I'm going to dedicate my life or my vote to.
The AFLP has two candidates running for the senate in Queensland. Preferences are to some small parties first (Australian Independents, Australian Christians, and the Australian Motor Enthusiasts Party are the first 3 preferenced). The LNP comes before Labor, and the Greens are placed last.
website: Australian Fishing & Lifestyle Party
The general framework they set out for their policies have some hits and misses. Use of scientific data in the decision making process, respecting ethnic diversity, standardization of transport and communication services Australia wide, and recognizing the value of research and investment are all sensible starting points. I find it harder to get behind placing Australian sovereignty above international obligations because 1) it is an exercise of sovereignty to agree to a treaty in the first place, and 2) if we set a precedent of not complying with an obligation just because we don't like it anymore, it will be that much harder for us to convince other nations to comply later on.
The policies they have specifics on are encouraging greater commercial fishing where they believe we can significantly increase catches without impacting fish populations, making amateur fishing something promoted by all levels of government (provide infrastructure for, sure, I'm not sure if the government should be an advocate for a hobby though), the encouragement of the aquaculture industry, and greatly limiting the power of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
This last part is where I start to see some inconsistencies. Despite stating that use of scientific data in the decision making process is a part of their policy framework, in making the case that there is no threat to the reef from humans they say that the existing threats to the reef are weather events such as cyclones (no humans there), climate change (we've pretty much been caught red handed on that one), and sea level change (melting icecaps anyone?). To say climate change is not caused by human activity makes me doubt their commitment to the use of scientific data in making decisions, which then makes me wonder about their other policies such as where they say that catch levels can be set much higher without impacting biodiversity or population levels. They also say pollution and invasive species such as the Crown of Thorn are not significant threats to the reef (although given the size of the Great Barrier Reef, the word "significant" probably gives you a lot of wriggle room in these matters)
I have them pegged as a bit of a mixed bag. Some good ideas, some doubts, and ultimately their focus is on something I don't particularly care about (I've been fishing once in my life, and while it was a pleasant enough day it's not something I'm going to dedicate my life or my vote to.
The AFLP has two candidates running for the senate in Queensland. Preferences are to some small parties first (Australian Independents, Australian Christians, and the Australian Motor Enthusiasts Party are the first 3 preferenced). The LNP comes before Labor, and the Greens are placed last.
website: Australian Fishing & Lifestyle Party
Party Games 4/54 Australia’s First Nations Political Party
The Australia’s First Nations Political Party is a Northern Territory based party advocating for Aboriginal issues. Their focus is pretty strong on this area. Major policy objectives they have include a roll back of the Northern Territory intervention, recognition of First Nations peoples leading to a treaty with the government, respect for the environment, and statehood for the Northern Territory.
I'm pretty positive on most of these matters. I think the intervention was horribly conceived and executed, so agree with rolling it back. A treaty similar to the one New Zealand has with the Maori people is something I support in principle, but would want to see specifics before committing myself. Respect for the environment is a given.
Statehood for the Northern Territory is an interesting one. The constitution doesn't require a new state to get the same level of representation in the house and senate as original states (Tasmania has more representatives than its population would otherwise entitle it too because as an original state it gets a minimum of 5 members in the house of Representatives) so the issue of such a sparsely populated area getting a significantly beefed up presence in government isn't a necessary outcome, but I think those pushing for statehood would want to see a greater presence than there currently is. This would be a delicate negotiation. In becoming a state NT would get greater independence from the federal government (I don't think something like the intervention would be possible). I'm sure there would also be some transfer of powers from the federal government to the new state, but I don't know enough about how the NT is currently set up to say with any certainty what powers would specifically be involved. I won't say I support NT statehood, but I don't oppose the idea, with caveats that I'd need to see a specific proposal before making a decision on the matter.
The Australia’s First Nations Political Party is only running candidates in the Northern Territory. They have two senate candidates and two candidates for the house of representatives (which is every available seat in the NT). Preferences are to all the other small parties first, then the Greens, the Country Liberal Party, and in last Labor. Given that NT's two senate seats usually get split 1 each Labor and Country Liberals, the preferences probably won't come into play.
website: Australia’s First Nations Political Party
I'm pretty positive on most of these matters. I think the intervention was horribly conceived and executed, so agree with rolling it back. A treaty similar to the one New Zealand has with the Maori people is something I support in principle, but would want to see specifics before committing myself. Respect for the environment is a given.
Statehood for the Northern Territory is an interesting one. The constitution doesn't require a new state to get the same level of representation in the house and senate as original states (Tasmania has more representatives than its population would otherwise entitle it too because as an original state it gets a minimum of 5 members in the house of Representatives) so the issue of such a sparsely populated area getting a significantly beefed up presence in government isn't a necessary outcome, but I think those pushing for statehood would want to see a greater presence than there currently is. This would be a delicate negotiation. In becoming a state NT would get greater independence from the federal government (I don't think something like the intervention would be possible). I'm sure there would also be some transfer of powers from the federal government to the new state, but I don't know enough about how the NT is currently set up to say with any certainty what powers would specifically be involved. I won't say I support NT statehood, but I don't oppose the idea, with caveats that I'd need to see a specific proposal before making a decision on the matter.
The Australia’s First Nations Political Party is only running candidates in the Northern Territory. They have two senate candidates and two candidates for the house of representatives (which is every available seat in the NT). Preferences are to all the other small parties first, then the Greens, the Country Liberal Party, and in last Labor. Given that NT's two senate seats usually get split 1 each Labor and Country Liberals, the preferences probably won't come into play.
website: Australia’s First Nations Political Party
Friday, August 23, 2013
Party Games 3/54 Australian Christians
First up, I'm an atheist, so the Australian Christians are always going to find me a tougher sell than other people. When you say that you have formulated gold standard policies, based on biblical principles, I'm going to ask just why those principles are relevant to 1) Me, and 2) governing Australia. We have a nominally secular government (section 116 of the constitution) so to say that you want to govern using religious text as the basis for your policies gives me cause for concern.
Given that they are a Christian based party, some of the policies that they have aren't all that surprising. No to gay marriage, no to abortion, more funding going to religious schools, no to euthanasia, yes to internet censorship, abstinence only sex ed. They don't specifically mention contraception, but I don't think I'm going out on a limb saying they're against it.
Their environment policy says we should take care of the planet god gave us which includes doing things like reducing pollution and ensuring development is sustainable, so they aren't as bad as some Christian groups that say global warming can't be happening because God wouldn't let it. They don't go into much detail, but their environment policy does follow the broad outlines I look for, so they do have that going for them. I am a little worried that "Recognising our shared global responsibility in reducing pollution" might mean not doing anything about pollution while China and the US continue to pollute, but don't have much to back that up with.
I'm not sure they quite get the meaning of religious freedom though. In that section of their policy list they say that they want to see parliament continue to be opened with Christian prayers and that the government has a responsibility to uphold Christian traditions. That their understanding of religious freedom is limited to freedom for their religion shows that they've kind of missed the point of religious freedom. They also want to give preference to Christian asylum seekers over Muslim asylum seekers.
Australian Christians are running candidates for the Senate in Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, West Australia and South Australia, and candidates for the House in WA, Tasmania, and Victoria. Preferences are to various small parties first, and putting the Coalition ahead of Labor.
website: http://australianchristians.com.au/
twitter: @OzChristians
Given that they are a Christian based party, some of the policies that they have aren't all that surprising. No to gay marriage, no to abortion, more funding going to religious schools, no to euthanasia, yes to internet censorship, abstinence only sex ed. They don't specifically mention contraception, but I don't think I'm going out on a limb saying they're against it.
Their environment policy says we should take care of the planet god gave us which includes doing things like reducing pollution and ensuring development is sustainable, so they aren't as bad as some Christian groups that say global warming can't be happening because God wouldn't let it. They don't go into much detail, but their environment policy does follow the broad outlines I look for, so they do have that going for them. I am a little worried that "Recognising our shared global responsibility in reducing pollution" might mean not doing anything about pollution while China and the US continue to pollute, but don't have much to back that up with.
I'm not sure they quite get the meaning of religious freedom though. In that section of their policy list they say that they want to see parliament continue to be opened with Christian prayers and that the government has a responsibility to uphold Christian traditions. That their understanding of religious freedom is limited to freedom for their religion shows that they've kind of missed the point of religious freedom. They also want to give preference to Christian asylum seekers over Muslim asylum seekers.
Australian Christians are running candidates for the Senate in Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, West Australia and South Australia, and candidates for the House in WA, Tasmania, and Victoria. Preferences are to various small parties first, and putting the Coalition ahead of Labor.
website: http://australianchristians.com.au/
twitter: @OzChristians
Party Games 2/54 Australia First Party
The Australia First Party. Where do I start? Xenophobic, jingoistic, over the top on law enforcement, economically niave. I have to say there's not much about this party I like.
Their law enforcement plan is to eliminate all the state police departments and the AFP and create one nationwide police force, constitutional issues not withstanding, eliminate trial by jury, the reintroduction of capital punishment, and the abolition of parole. They want a zero tolerance approach to drugs.
On economics they are just woeful. They want to create a domestic oil market independent of the world market. This they expect will result in lower prices in Australia than on the international market, because of course oil companies won't sell to overseas buyers who will pay more. They want to create a national bank that will provide subsidized loans for home buyers and businesses. They want to set up a national market and pricing system for food with the government setting prices. They want to nationalize all superannuation funds and restrict them to investing in Australia. On the tax side of things, they want to replace most taxes with a debit tax, so each time money comes out of one of your bank accounts, you get taxed on that. Note this includes paying a friend back some money they lent you, donating to charity, giving money to a family member in need and more, and doesn't pick up anything done on a cash only basis.
They are very much of the Australia is for Australians only persuasion. They want to eliminate foreign ownership of land and resources, the promoting of European culture and values in schools and government, and renouncing all international treaties we have signed.
They are one of several parties wanting the introduction of citizen initiated referendums. Given how well this has turned out for various states in America, I have my doubts about this. Like other parties wanting citizens initiated referendums they want the referendums to have the strength of a constitutional amendment without having to go through all the work of amending the constitution.
Their preferences seem to be going to other small right wing parties first. They have done something interesting when it comes to the two big parties, which are about halfway down the ticket. They have alternated between Labor and the Coalition, starting with the lowest ranked candidate in each party and working their way up to each party's no 1 candidate.
I've not sent them an email with questions about their policies as I couldn't find an email address or any contact details on their website other than a phone number on one of their press releases from a year or so ago which I haven't tried. They also appear to have no presence on facebook or twitter.
website: http://australiafirstparty.net/
Their law enforcement plan is to eliminate all the state police departments and the AFP and create one nationwide police force, constitutional issues not withstanding, eliminate trial by jury, the reintroduction of capital punishment, and the abolition of parole. They want a zero tolerance approach to drugs.
On economics they are just woeful. They want to create a domestic oil market independent of the world market. This they expect will result in lower prices in Australia than on the international market, because of course oil companies won't sell to overseas buyers who will pay more. They want to create a national bank that will provide subsidized loans for home buyers and businesses. They want to set up a national market and pricing system for food with the government setting prices. They want to nationalize all superannuation funds and restrict them to investing in Australia. On the tax side of things, they want to replace most taxes with a debit tax, so each time money comes out of one of your bank accounts, you get taxed on that. Note this includes paying a friend back some money they lent you, donating to charity, giving money to a family member in need and more, and doesn't pick up anything done on a cash only basis.
They are very much of the Australia is for Australians only persuasion. They want to eliminate foreign ownership of land and resources, the promoting of European culture and values in schools and government, and renouncing all international treaties we have signed.
They are one of several parties wanting the introduction of citizen initiated referendums. Given how well this has turned out for various states in America, I have my doubts about this. Like other parties wanting citizens initiated referendums they want the referendums to have the strength of a constitutional amendment without having to go through all the work of amending the constitution.
Their preferences seem to be going to other small right wing parties first. They have done something interesting when it comes to the two big parties, which are about halfway down the ticket. They have alternated between Labor and the Coalition, starting with the lowest ranked candidate in each party and working their way up to each party's no 1 candidate.
I've not sent them an email with questions about their policies as I couldn't find an email address or any contact details on their website other than a phone number on one of their press releases from a year or so ago which I haven't tried. They also appear to have no presence on facebook or twitter.
website: http://australiafirstparty.net/
Party Games 1/54 The Animal Justice Party
First up is the Animal Justice Party. Opposed to anything that may harm animals. The core of their philosophy are the five freedoms they say all animals should enjoy. These are
1: freedom from hunger and thirst
2: freedom from discomfort
3: freedom from pain, injury and disease
4: freedom to express normal behaviour
5: freedom from fear and distress
From these five freedoms they build up their policies which include banning circuses and rodeos, banning the sale of dogs and cats by pets stores, prohibiting animal shelters to put down animals, legal recognition of animals as sentient being, greatly reduced experimentation on animals (one of the conditions that they place on animal experimentation is that it benefits the species of animal being experimented upon), banning the hunting of animals for recreation, massive reforms of farming practices, banning live export of animals, greater protection of wildlife, eliminating the property status of animals, and more.
In terms of policies and positions the Animal Justice Party reminds me a lot of PETA, a fact that does not help them to get my vote. While I certainly agree one should not be cruel to animals or cause them pain for no reason, animals don't require the same level of care and protection as people. Giving them special status that they can not be considered property seems to me to be counter productive to helping protect animal welfare, and would open up the mother of all demands for compensation from farmers (Can you imagine a farmers reaction when told he doesn't own his livestock anymore?).
For me the answer of how do we protect animals from human cruelty (because I see little here about protecting animals from each other) is not to put humans and animals on an equal footing in terms of laws and rights, because quite frankly we're not, but to educate and enlighten. For many of their policies I find I agree with the intention, but the implementation is too much (yes, I would like to see koala populations restored, but a target population of 1 million (which is around 200 times the current population) seems very high)
The Animal Justice Party is very much a single issue party. They have no policies on the NBN, healthcare, education, the economy, or the carbon tax.
The Animal Justice Party is running candidates for the Senate in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, West Australia, South Australia and the ACT, and are not contesting any seats in the House of Representatives. They have given preferences highly to the Australian Democrats and the Stable Population Party, but I'm guessing most of the preferences will end up going to the Greens in the end.
website: http://www.animaljusticeparty.org/
twitter: @AJP_Australia
1: freedom from hunger and thirst
2: freedom from discomfort
3: freedom from pain, injury and disease
4: freedom to express normal behaviour
5: freedom from fear and distress
From these five freedoms they build up their policies which include banning circuses and rodeos, banning the sale of dogs and cats by pets stores, prohibiting animal shelters to put down animals, legal recognition of animals as sentient being, greatly reduced experimentation on animals (one of the conditions that they place on animal experimentation is that it benefits the species of animal being experimented upon), banning the hunting of animals for recreation, massive reforms of farming practices, banning live export of animals, greater protection of wildlife, eliminating the property status of animals, and more.
In terms of policies and positions the Animal Justice Party reminds me a lot of PETA, a fact that does not help them to get my vote. While I certainly agree one should not be cruel to animals or cause them pain for no reason, animals don't require the same level of care and protection as people. Giving them special status that they can not be considered property seems to me to be counter productive to helping protect animal welfare, and would open up the mother of all demands for compensation from farmers (Can you imagine a farmers reaction when told he doesn't own his livestock anymore?).
For me the answer of how do we protect animals from human cruelty (because I see little here about protecting animals from each other) is not to put humans and animals on an equal footing in terms of laws and rights, because quite frankly we're not, but to educate and enlighten. For many of their policies I find I agree with the intention, but the implementation is too much (yes, I would like to see koala populations restored, but a target population of 1 million (which is around 200 times the current population) seems very high)
The Animal Justice Party is very much a single issue party. They have no policies on the NBN, healthcare, education, the economy, or the carbon tax.
The Animal Justice Party is running candidates for the Senate in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, West Australia, South Australia and the ACT, and are not contesting any seats in the House of Representatives. They have given preferences highly to the Australian Democrats and the Stable Population Party, but I'm guessing most of the preferences will end up going to the Greens in the end.
website: http://www.animaljusticeparty.org/
twitter: @AJP_Australia
Party Games 0/54
As many of you are aware, an Australian Federal election is coming up on September 7th. You may not know that a record high 1,717 candidates are standing for seats in the house or senate around Australia from 54 different parties. Rather than going by some of my previous voting methods which have included rolling dice, asking questions on the day, and going by how many of their members have appeared on Good News Week (I joined the UQ Australian Democrats club but never attended any meetings on the basis of Natasha Stott Despoja's many appearances on GNW), this time I'm making an effort to be informed.
To achieve this I'm reading up on every one of the 54 registered parties, and I'm going to give each one a bit of a write up here. I'm currently at around 30/55 so still have a bit to do, but I'm hoping to churn through the rest before the end of next week.
I'm also sending an email of questions to each party. Depending on how detailed the information they have on their websites are, the questions are usually about 1/3-1/2 questions about their policies, and the rest are some general questions I'm putting to every questions. These general questions include "Who would you try to make a deal with in the event of a hung parliament?", "How does your party decide on policies?", "Why should I vote for you?", and some other similar questions. These general questions may be cut where the policies are pretty clear where they stand on a matter (I didn't feel the need to ask the No Carbon Tax (Climate Sceptics) party what they thought of the Carbon Tax for example).
In doing the write ups I'm going to try to be fair, but I'm also going to be giving my assessment of the parties. If I think they're crazy, I'll say so, but I'll give my reasons why. I'll try and present pros as well as cons, things I agree with and disagree with.
So far I've not had much success in getting responses to my emails (1 actual response, 3 read our websites, and a few automated we've got your email and will get back to you as soon as we can). I had initially been planning on waiting for responses before doing the write ups, but since it turns out I've been wildly optimistic about the response rate I'd get, I'm going to do the write ups and if I get a response I'll do a follow up.
In terms of order of write up, I'm generally going in alphabetical order, with a few exceptions. A half dozen parties were registered after I got my initial list of parties from the AEC website (the full list of parties), so they got tacked onto the end of the list. I'm also going to save the major parties (by which I mean parties with more than 1 person in parliament already, so the ALP, the Coalition, and the Greens) for last, as they get a heck of a lot of coverage already.
To achieve this I'm reading up on every one of the 54 registered parties, and I'm going to give each one a bit of a write up here. I'm currently at around 30/55 so still have a bit to do, but I'm hoping to churn through the rest before the end of next week.
I'm also sending an email of questions to each party. Depending on how detailed the information they have on their websites are, the questions are usually about 1/3-1/2 questions about their policies, and the rest are some general questions I'm putting to every questions. These general questions include "Who would you try to make a deal with in the event of a hung parliament?", "How does your party decide on policies?", "Why should I vote for you?", and some other similar questions. These general questions may be cut where the policies are pretty clear where they stand on a matter (I didn't feel the need to ask the No Carbon Tax (Climate Sceptics) party what they thought of the Carbon Tax for example).
In doing the write ups I'm going to try to be fair, but I'm also going to be giving my assessment of the parties. If I think they're crazy, I'll say so, but I'll give my reasons why. I'll try and present pros as well as cons, things I agree with and disagree with.
So far I've not had much success in getting responses to my emails (1 actual response, 3 read our websites, and a few automated we've got your email and will get back to you as soon as we can). I had initially been planning on waiting for responses before doing the write ups, but since it turns out I've been wildly optimistic about the response rate I'd get, I'm going to do the write ups and if I get a response I'll do a follow up.
In terms of order of write up, I'm generally going in alphabetical order, with a few exceptions. A half dozen parties were registered after I got my initial list of parties from the AEC website (the full list of parties), so they got tacked onto the end of the list. I'm also going to save the major parties (by which I mean parties with more than 1 person in parliament already, so the ALP, the Coalition, and the Greens) for last, as they get a heck of a lot of coverage already.
Monday, August 19, 2013
By the Numbers 33/52
Mixed results this week.
Wealth
Net Cash: $178.67
Pretty much balances out last week.
Jobs Applied for: 1
A friend said their company is recruiting someone for data entry type stuff, which if it pays better and gets me off the phones is probably worth switching for, but still not my end goal. Haven't heard back yet from my current work about the interview from the week before last.
Health
Net Calories: 3844 Calories
Yeah, an entire pizza for dinner on Friday was not a good idea, even if it was one of the smaller chef's best ones from Dominos (that said adding bacon to a Hawaiian pizza is genius). Snacks while watching World's End on Sunday also contributed.
Fitocracy Points: 0
Yep, no exercise this week. My knee is still sore.
Weight: 93 kg
And with all that, I manage to drop some weight.
Life
Bike riding: 448 km
Books read: 0
Still working through The Art of Thinking Clearly as well as Y: The Last Man
Games Played: 10, Gunship:Afterburners, 3x Dominion: Intrigue + Guilds, 1x Hanabi (which I now own a copy of), 5x Magic: The Gathering
Movies seen: World's End
Not as great as the other Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright films, it had its good moments but just didn't have the consistency of quality the others did and it was harder to buy into the scenario (which given we're talking about zombies and a homicidal conspiracy to win town of the year is saying a lot)
Wealth
Net Cash: $178.67
Pretty much balances out last week.
Jobs Applied for: 1
A friend said their company is recruiting someone for data entry type stuff, which if it pays better and gets me off the phones is probably worth switching for, but still not my end goal. Haven't heard back yet from my current work about the interview from the week before last.
Health
Net Calories: 3844 Calories
Yeah, an entire pizza for dinner on Friday was not a good idea, even if it was one of the smaller chef's best ones from Dominos (that said adding bacon to a Hawaiian pizza is genius). Snacks while watching World's End on Sunday also contributed.
Fitocracy Points: 0
Yep, no exercise this week. My knee is still sore.
Weight: 93 kg
And with all that, I manage to drop some weight.
Life
Bike riding: 448 km
Books read: 0
Still working through The Art of Thinking Clearly as well as Y: The Last Man
Games Played: 10, Gunship:Afterburners, 3x Dominion: Intrigue + Guilds, 1x Hanabi (which I now own a copy of), 5x Magic: The Gathering
Movies seen: World's End
Not as great as the other Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright films, it had its good moments but just didn't have the consistency of quality the others did and it was harder to buy into the scenario (which given we're talking about zombies and a homicidal conspiracy to win town of the year is saying a lot)
Monday, August 12, 2013
By The Numbers 32/52
I got back from Sydney late last night so I left the write up to tonight.
Wealth
Net Cash: -$182.63
Taxis account for a good chunk of this. Eating out in Sydney was another chunk. A bit too much snacking while at work didn't help either.
Jobs Applied for: 1
I once again put my name forward for a different job at work. The same one I've applied for 3 times before. But since they didn't appoint anyone last time, and they gave me another interview, I can't have been completely ruled out.
Health
Net Calories: 889 Calories
I indulged a little in Sydney, and ate a bit more in general expecting a rather big deficit that didn't occur
Weight: 95kg
Fitocracy points: 790
I did a 5km jog/walk on Monday, some circuit training at a place on the corner on Wednesday, and indoor rock climbing on Friday. Notably absent is the 14km fun run I mentioned last week. I banged up my knee on Friday night (it was ok after the rock climbing, but I woke up on Saturday with it being sore and a bit wobbly), and while it's ok to walk on, I don't think it was up to 14km of jogging/walking. I was fretting all day how I'd tell my sister who got me to sing up for the run that I couldn't do it, then an hour before my flight got a text saying she wouldn't meet me at the airport because she'd twisted her ankle. So we just had a relaxing day hanging out in Sydney instead.
Life
Bike riding: 282 km
Books read: 1
I finished the Thrawn trilogy. I'm now working through "The Art of Thinking Clearly", which is more a field guide to cognitive biases than a how to guide. I bought it at the airport as according to Dymocks it was National Bookstore Day, which was a good enough excuse for me to buy a new book (I think it may be just a made up thing to encourage people to actually go to book stores instead of buying online, but still who doesn't need more books?).
Games played: 2: St Petersburg and Fruit Ninja: The Card Game
Wealth
Net Cash: -$182.63
Taxis account for a good chunk of this. Eating out in Sydney was another chunk. A bit too much snacking while at work didn't help either.
Jobs Applied for: 1
I once again put my name forward for a different job at work. The same one I've applied for 3 times before. But since they didn't appoint anyone last time, and they gave me another interview, I can't have been completely ruled out.
Health
Net Calories: 889 Calories
I indulged a little in Sydney, and ate a bit more in general expecting a rather big deficit that didn't occur
Weight: 95kg
Fitocracy points: 790
I did a 5km jog/walk on Monday, some circuit training at a place on the corner on Wednesday, and indoor rock climbing on Friday. Notably absent is the 14km fun run I mentioned last week. I banged up my knee on Friday night (it was ok after the rock climbing, but I woke up on Saturday with it being sore and a bit wobbly), and while it's ok to walk on, I don't think it was up to 14km of jogging/walking. I was fretting all day how I'd tell my sister who got me to sing up for the run that I couldn't do it, then an hour before my flight got a text saying she wouldn't meet me at the airport because she'd twisted her ankle. So we just had a relaxing day hanging out in Sydney instead.
Life
Bike riding: 282 km
Books read: 1
I finished the Thrawn trilogy. I'm now working through "The Art of Thinking Clearly", which is more a field guide to cognitive biases than a how to guide. I bought it at the airport as according to Dymocks it was National Bookstore Day, which was a good enough excuse for me to buy a new book (I think it may be just a made up thing to encourage people to actually go to book stores instead of buying online, but still who doesn't need more books?).
Games played: 2: St Petersburg and Fruit Ninja: The Card Game
Sunday, August 04, 2013
By the Numbers 31/52
A rather standard week overall
Wealth
Net Cash: -$391.43
Big ticket item was return plane tickets for the Sydney City to Surf my sister has roped me into participating in. I fly down Saturday evening, Sunday morning is a 14km run, and then I fly back 7pm Sunday night. Should be fun. Also, the first proper grocery shopping since getting back from Melbourne (I shouldn't need to go shopping again for 2 weeks)
Jobs Applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -2494 Calories
A good result, mainly from extra exercise in preparation for the aforementioned City to Surf.
Weight: 94 kg
Fitocracy points: 3035
A lot of time on the treadmill at a faster pace than I usually do to the point I may have burned out the motor on the treadmill, and some indoor rock climbing on Saturday
Fitocracy level: 16
Life
Bike riding: 364 km
Books read: 0
Games played: 8, Through the Ages, Castle Dice, 6x Magic: The Gathering
Wealth
Net Cash: -$391.43
Big ticket item was return plane tickets for the Sydney City to Surf my sister has roped me into participating in. I fly down Saturday evening, Sunday morning is a 14km run, and then I fly back 7pm Sunday night. Should be fun. Also, the first proper grocery shopping since getting back from Melbourne (I shouldn't need to go shopping again for 2 weeks)
Jobs Applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -2494 Calories
A good result, mainly from extra exercise in preparation for the aforementioned City to Surf.
Weight: 94 kg
Fitocracy points: 3035
A lot of time on the treadmill at a faster pace than I usually do to the point I may have burned out the motor on the treadmill, and some indoor rock climbing on Saturday
Fitocracy level: 16
Life
Bike riding: 364 km
Books read: 0
Games played: 8, Through the Ages, Castle Dice, 6x Magic: The Gathering
Thursday, August 01, 2013
Because of Nothing, the Confusion is Great (paghmo' tIn mIs)
So I got around to seeing Much Ado About Nothing. Not my usual fare, but with Joss Whedon directing and the cast including Amy Acker, Nathan Fillion, Alexis Denisof, Tom Lenk, Agent Coulson (I should know his real name and I can't be bothered doing an IMDB search), Toufer (Franz something, another IMDB search I should do), Garkunkel (or Oates), and more, I was prepared to try something out of my regular fare. Overall, I enjoyed the film and thought it was well done.
I quite liked the way Whedon mixed the old language of the play with modern visual cues. The lords and princes are identified by suits, official photographers and bodyguards with earpieces talking into their wrists, the watch are cops with CSI sunglasses, and so on.
In terms of the language, they appear to have stuck pretty well to the original play (I say appear because I've not really read the original play. I own a copy but it's a dual language copy and when I attempted to read it I was more focused on the non-English version), which apart from a few instances where Beatrice and Benedick were verbally sparring where it got a bit too quick, was easy to understand.
The casting seemed very much to have been Joss Whedon calling up people he's liked working with before, as nearly all the cast have been involved in at least one Whedon production before this. A random thought I had during the film was what sort of character Amy Acker would have had if she'd appeared on Firefly, but I think Firefly was over before Acker entered the Whedonsphere.
Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof both put in great performances, especially when playing off each other.
The only bit that I didn't get fully behind was the plot, which seemed to be highly contrived and not make much sense at all, but I'm sure it worked better with the crowds of Shakespeare's time, and the fact that it's being remade says it still has some resonance.
Thank you to the various people who recommended it to me, as otherwise it may have gone onto the I'll watch it someday list rather than the I've seen and enjoyed it list it now sits in.
I quite liked the way Whedon mixed the old language of the play with modern visual cues. The lords and princes are identified by suits, official photographers and bodyguards with earpieces talking into their wrists, the watch are cops with CSI sunglasses, and so on.
In terms of the language, they appear to have stuck pretty well to the original play (I say appear because I've not really read the original play. I own a copy but it's a dual language copy and when I attempted to read it I was more focused on the non-English version), which apart from a few instances where Beatrice and Benedick were verbally sparring where it got a bit too quick, was easy to understand.
The casting seemed very much to have been Joss Whedon calling up people he's liked working with before, as nearly all the cast have been involved in at least one Whedon production before this. A random thought I had during the film was what sort of character Amy Acker would have had if she'd appeared on Firefly, but I think Firefly was over before Acker entered the Whedonsphere.
Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof both put in great performances, especially when playing off each other.
The only bit that I didn't get fully behind was the plot, which seemed to be highly contrived and not make much sense at all, but I'm sure it worked better with the crowds of Shakespeare's time, and the fact that it's being remade says it still has some resonance.
Thank you to the various people who recommended it to me, as otherwise it may have gone onto the I'll watch it someday list rather than the I've seen and enjoyed it list it now sits in.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Why I Bleed
Last week I went and gave blood. This would not normally be blogworthy, but this marked a milestone in that it was my 25th donation so I felt some sort of reflection on the topic was in order.
There are two main reasons I give blood. The first is that it's one of the few pure, selfless things I do. Apart from some sausage rolls afterwards and the getting a badge every so often I don't gain anything out of it. A random stranger gets something that will help them live and all it costs me is some time. The ethical calculus is pretty clear this is a good thing to do. And in a life that isn't big in getting involved in things and doing stuff to contribute, a pure selfless act is a good thing to throw in every now and then.
The other, bigger reason why I give blood is that it is something that I grew up with. Many were the times as a kid when my sister and I would sit on the sides of the bed/chair bit while my mother was giving blood. Mum is O-, and while she was able to was a pretty regular donor. Giving blood was even a rite of passage. On my sixteenth birthday after school Mum came into town (I was at boarding school at the time) and we went and I gave my first donation.
Since then I've not been as consistent as I'd like, and living overseas for a bit didn't help either. That should no longer be a problem as the Red Cross are much more organized about this now, and will automatically book your next appointment for you and send you reminders a few weeks out, making it much easier to not forget about it. In fact, why not make an appointment now?
There are two main reasons I give blood. The first is that it's one of the few pure, selfless things I do. Apart from some sausage rolls afterwards and the getting a badge every so often I don't gain anything out of it. A random stranger gets something that will help them live and all it costs me is some time. The ethical calculus is pretty clear this is a good thing to do. And in a life that isn't big in getting involved in things and doing stuff to contribute, a pure selfless act is a good thing to throw in every now and then.
The other, bigger reason why I give blood is that it is something that I grew up with. Many were the times as a kid when my sister and I would sit on the sides of the bed/chair bit while my mother was giving blood. Mum is O-, and while she was able to was a pretty regular donor. Giving blood was even a rite of passage. On my sixteenth birthday after school Mum came into town (I was at boarding school at the time) and we went and I gave my first donation.
Since then I've not been as consistent as I'd like, and living overseas for a bit didn't help either. That should no longer be a problem as the Red Cross are much more organized about this now, and will automatically book your next appointment for you and send you reminders a few weeks out, making it much easier to not forget about it. In fact, why not make an appointment now?
Sunday, July 28, 2013
By The Numbers 30/52
Not quite back into the regular swing of things.
Wealth
Net Cash: $216.85
eBay sales cancelled out post-PAX splurge in Melbourne, and frugal living the rest of the week made for a nice result
Jobs applied for: 1
I did do this this evening just so I wouldn't have two zeros in a row, so could be better.
Health
Net Calories: ?
Monday was a bit hard to keep track of as I was out socialising most of the day between a coffee shop walkabout with some other enforcers and the after party in the evening. For Tuesday to Sunday I'm 94 Calories over my target
Weight: 94 kg
I guess Monday wasn't that bad, or there was more walking than I thought.
Fitocracy points: 0
Bad me
Blood donations: 1
Blood donation badges received: 1
I add a 25 donation badge to my 10 donation badge. I hope to get to 50 before 2020 (It's a long term goal)
Life
Bike Riding: 155 km
Back to work on the weekend after having most of the week off after PAX
Books read: 1, The God Argument by AC Grayling. Somewhat preaching to the choir for me, but good to be exposed to the arguments I try to put forward for my philosophy of life presented in a much better way than I can usually manage. He did seem to put a bit more emphasis on the right to euthanasia than I was expecting.
Games played: 2: bowling and an online game of Roll Through the Ages. Missed all my semi-regular gaming nights this week
Wealth
Net Cash: $216.85
eBay sales cancelled out post-PAX splurge in Melbourne, and frugal living the rest of the week made for a nice result
Jobs applied for: 1
I did do this this evening just so I wouldn't have two zeros in a row, so could be better.
Health
Net Calories: ?
Monday was a bit hard to keep track of as I was out socialising most of the day between a coffee shop walkabout with some other enforcers and the after party in the evening. For Tuesday to Sunday I'm 94 Calories over my target
Weight: 94 kg
I guess Monday wasn't that bad, or there was more walking than I thought.
Fitocracy points: 0
Bad me
Blood donations: 1
Blood donation badges received: 1
I add a 25 donation badge to my 10 donation badge. I hope to get to 50 before 2020 (It's a long term goal)
Life
Bike Riding: 155 km
Back to work on the weekend after having most of the week off after PAX
Books read: 1, The God Argument by AC Grayling. Somewhat preaching to the choir for me, but good to be exposed to the arguments I try to put forward for my philosophy of life presented in a much better way than I can usually manage. He did seem to put a bit more emphasis on the right to euthanasia than I was expecting.
Games played: 2: bowling and an online game of Roll Through the Ages. Missed all my semi-regular gaming nights this week
What I kept
I used to play Warhammer 40,000. I quite enjoyed it and spent a fair bit of cash and time on the hobby. However, then I went overseas for a few years, and when I came back to Australia where my collection was there were new rule books and the relative power of certain units shifted, and I thought I'll get back into it in a bit when I have more cash, and for several years left it at that. Since then there's been even more new rule books at an even steeper price, and I recently made the call that I'm never going to play regularly again, and that the best use I could make of my collection would be to liquidate it. And now, thanks to the power of eBay, I'm now several hundred dollars richer (ignoring the 3-5 times that much I paid for the models and paint in the first place).
I didn't sell everything. There were a few pieces I wanted to keep as display pieces as I was particularly happy with how they turned out. So within the limits of iPhone photography here are the ones I kept.
I didn't sell everything. There were a few pieces I wanted to keep as display pieces as I was particularly happy with how they turned out. So within the limits of iPhone photography here are the ones I kept.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
By The Numbers 29/52
A bit late, and a few numbers that aren't as well defined as I'd normally have, but there's a reason for that: PAXAus. It was a bloody amazing weekend and even though it was a hard slog I'll be there again next year trying to cram even more fun in (I'm not sure if that's humanly possible, but let's see). Here we go
Wealth
Net Cash:-$236.41
Edit: I forgot to include my rent for this week. That makes this a bit more bleak purely on a numbers basis. However, since the purpose of getting money is to let you pay for the things you enjoy in life, this money has been used to great effect.
Jobs applied for: 0
Standard excuse for this week, PAX
Health
Net Calories: ?
Bad eating at PAX I hope was mostly cancelled out by various amounts of heavy lifting, walking all over the place, walking to and from trams, yelling with excitement, clapping, cheering, etc, etc, which brings us to a figure a bit easier to get
Weight: 94 kg (as of Tuesday night)
So a gain of 1kg. Could have been a lot worse. Bordercon was worse, but I was a lot more active at PAX.
Fitocracy points: 0
I could have put in all the walking but I've no idea of an exact figure and fitocracy doesn't really work on about 12 hours of walking
Life
Bike riding: 0 km
Books read: 1, Book 2 of the Dark Force Rising trilogy, I'm now working through The God Argument by A.C. Grayling
Games played: 13: Zombie Fluxx x2, Lords of Waterdeep, The Resistance x3, Hanabi x2, Magic: The Gathering x5
Wealth
Net Cash:-$236.41
Edit: I forgot to include my rent for this week. That makes this a bit more bleak purely on a numbers basis. However, since the purpose of getting money is to let you pay for the things you enjoy in life, this money has been used to great effect.
Jobs applied for: 0
Standard excuse for this week, PAX
Health
Net Calories: ?
Bad eating at PAX I hope was mostly cancelled out by various amounts of heavy lifting, walking all over the place, walking to and from trams, yelling with excitement, clapping, cheering, etc, etc, which brings us to a figure a bit easier to get
Weight: 94 kg (as of Tuesday night)
So a gain of 1kg. Could have been a lot worse. Bordercon was worse, but I was a lot more active at PAX.
Fitocracy points: 0
I could have put in all the walking but I've no idea of an exact figure and fitocracy doesn't really work on about 12 hours of walking
Life
Bike riding: 0 km
Books read: 1, Book 2 of the Dark Force Rising trilogy, I'm now working through The God Argument by A.C. Grayling
Games played: 13: Zombie Fluxx x2, Lords of Waterdeep, The Resistance x3, Hanabi x2, Magic: The Gathering x5
Sunday, July 14, 2013
By the Numbers 28/52
No fancy intro this week
Wealth
Net Cash: $249.78
Jobs applied for: 5
better
Health
Net Calories: 117 Calories
I pigged out on a block of chocolate today which was over a days worth of calories in one go.
Fitocracy points: 965
Weight: 93kg
Life
Bike riding: 107km
Books read: 1
Games Played: 16. Lost Legacy x2, Expedition, Ticket to Ride - Team Asia, The Walking Dead x3, Glory to Rome, Kingdom Builder, Pass-ack Words, Hanabi x3, Attika, Innovation x2
Wealth
Net Cash: $249.78
Jobs applied for: 5
better
Health
Net Calories: 117 Calories
I pigged out on a block of chocolate today which was over a days worth of calories in one go.
Fitocracy points: 965
Weight: 93kg
Life
Bike riding: 107km
Books read: 1
Games Played: 16. Lost Legacy x2, Expedition, Ticket to Ride - Team Asia, The Walking Dead x3, Glory to Rome, Kingdom Builder, Pass-ack Words, Hanabi x3, Attika, Innovation x2
Sunday, July 07, 2013
By the Numbers 27/52
Into the 2nd half of the year
Wealth
Net Cash: -$126.46
Wealth
Net Cash: -$126.46
Ouch.
Jobs applied for: 2
Bad me.
Health
Net Calories: -1103
A while ago the app I use to track my calories suggested I need to revise my target intake to suit my current weight, but I didn't do it at the time as I didn't want to change the baseline I was reporting to, but since we are now half way through this seems like an ok point for a disconnect in the data. The new baseline intake is 1850 Calories a day, down from 1970 Calories a day (this is about one muesli bar or half a chocolate bar less a day).
Fitocracy points: 2542
This includes a few hundred bonus points for completing a quest (a recommended set of exercises), and I've leveled up to level 15.
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike Riding: 134 km
Books read: 0
Games Played 9: completed games of Through the Ages and The Hanging Gardens online during the week, 6 plays of Dominion (Dark Ages with a mix of other sets) and Battlestar Galactica with both Pegasus and Exodus expansions. Not bad for having missed the regular Wednesday and Friday gaming nights.
Jobs applied for: 2
Bad me.
Health
Net Calories: -1103
A while ago the app I use to track my calories suggested I need to revise my target intake to suit my current weight, but I didn't do it at the time as I didn't want to change the baseline I was reporting to, but since we are now half way through this seems like an ok point for a disconnect in the data. The new baseline intake is 1850 Calories a day, down from 1970 Calories a day (this is about one muesli bar or half a chocolate bar less a day).
Fitocracy points: 2542
This includes a few hundred bonus points for completing a quest (a recommended set of exercises), and I've leveled up to level 15.
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike Riding: 134 km
Books read: 0
Games Played 9: completed games of Through the Ages and The Hanging Gardens online during the week, 6 plays of Dominion (Dark Ages with a mix of other sets) and Battlestar Galactica with both Pegasus and Exodus expansions. Not bad for having missed the regular Wednesday and Friday gaming nights.
Monday, July 01, 2013
By the Pictures 1/?
Halfway through the year, lets convert all these numbers into some pictures
Wealth
One of the more varied graphs. Overall more positive than negative, but a bit more discipline is needed (at least until I get a better paying job).
A graph of Jobs Applied For is just a few delta spikes and mainly a testament to my slackness.
Health
Net Calories
In only 6 of 26 weeks did I go over my weekly target. It would appear I'm getting used to being hungry, although the realization that exercising let's me eat more food has helped as well.
Weight
Steady progress for most of the year, but that seems to have plateaued over the last month or so.
Fitocracy points
A slow start that's picked up as the year progresses. Getting the dumbbells a while ago has added some variety and made it easier to get more points (I can do a treadmill session and a dumbbell session in a day and not feel too put out, but to get the same number of points with just the treadmill would be tough).
Life
Bike Riding
Yeah, pretty consistent most of the time.
Wealth
A graph of Jobs Applied For is just a few delta spikes and mainly a testament to my slackness.
Health
Net Calories
Weight
Fitocracy points
Life
Bike Riding
Sunday, June 30, 2013
By the Numbers 26/52
Half way through the year. Probably time to try some of those graphs I talked about way back in week 1. Look for something tomorrow
Wealth
Net Cash: -$288.12
I splashed out and bought some stuff for my place, the main one of which was a robot vacuum cleaner.
Jobs applied for: 4
Health
Net Calories: -4058
A good result, combination of exercise and lack of eating, although I suspect I got too much credit for rock climbing today
Fitocracy points: 2030
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike riding: 204 km
Books read: 1
Neil Gaiman's new book Ocean at the End of the Lane. A bit disappointed, mainly in that their was not more of it, and also that it seemed more "I'm Neil Gaiman, I write stories of people who get caught up in a world that's bigger and weirder than they knew and it changes their life" than "I have an interesting idea for a story." I would also agree with the person on twitter who said it was really a young adult novel, not a novel as American Gods or Neverwhere were. Today I picked up 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (of Red, Green, and Blue Mars fame) mainly on the basis of one of the blurbs on the back being from Iain M Banks.
Games Played: 8 x Dominion (Guilds + Intrigue x 2, Guilds + Prosperity, Dark Ages x 3, Dark Ages + Hinterland, Dark Ages + Alchemy)
Wealth
Net Cash: -$288.12
I splashed out and bought some stuff for my place, the main one of which was a robot vacuum cleaner.
Jobs applied for: 4
Health
Net Calories: -4058
A good result, combination of exercise and lack of eating, although I suspect I got too much credit for rock climbing today
Fitocracy points: 2030
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike riding: 204 km
Books read: 1
Neil Gaiman's new book Ocean at the End of the Lane. A bit disappointed, mainly in that their was not more of it, and also that it seemed more "I'm Neil Gaiman, I write stories of people who get caught up in a world that's bigger and weirder than they knew and it changes their life" than "I have an interesting idea for a story." I would also agree with the person on twitter who said it was really a young adult novel, not a novel as American Gods or Neverwhere were. Today I picked up 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (of Red, Green, and Blue Mars fame) mainly on the basis of one of the blurbs on the back being from Iain M Banks.
Games Played: 8 x Dominion (Guilds + Intrigue x 2, Guilds + Prosperity, Dark Ages x 3, Dark Ages + Hinterland, Dark Ages + Alchemy)
Sunday, June 23, 2013
By the Numbers 25/26
Another week. We're at 5 squared, and according to wikipedia there's not much more interesting about 25.
Wealth
Net Cash: $255.77
Yay for living cheap.
Jobs applied for: 3
Still not hitting the 1 a day I'm aiming for
Health
Net Calories: -4952 Calories
Living cheap is also living on low calories (Calories = $?)
Fitocracy points: 1989
Fitocracy level: 14
Weight: 95 kg
Life:
Bike Riding: 178 km
Books Read: 3
Finished rereading the Amtrak Wars. Now starting on the new Neil Gaiman book
Games played: 10: Dominion Guilds x3, Notre Dame, Troyes, Through the Ages, DnD, Settlers of Catan, Monty Python Fluxx x2
Wealth
Net Cash: $255.77
Yay for living cheap.
Jobs applied for: 3
Still not hitting the 1 a day I'm aiming for
Health
Net Calories: -4952 Calories
Living cheap is also living on low calories (Calories = $?)
Fitocracy points: 1989
Fitocracy level: 14
Weight: 95 kg
Life:
Bike Riding: 178 km
Books Read: 3
Finished rereading the Amtrak Wars. Now starting on the new Neil Gaiman book
Games played: 10: Dominion Guilds x3, Notre Dame, Troyes, Through the Ages, DnD, Settlers of Catan, Monty Python Fluxx x2
Friday, June 21, 2013
Thoughts on Winning Friends and Influencing People
I finally finished reading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carneggie a while ago. I can't say I was really enthused by the book, as evidenced by the fact that it took me over a month to read it. My main interest in reading it was due to it having percolated into popular culture as The Book for learning how to deal with people successfully. Whether this is just due to it's age or the name recognition of the author vs it's actual merit is something I am not sure of, although I'm less inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt now that I've read it.
So why do I feel like I've not learnt much from this book that so many people swear by? Part of it is presentation. Each point is only illustrated with a series of anecdotes, and as we all should know, the plural of anecdote is not data. This is a collection of feel good stories, and if presented as such I wouldn't be so unsatisfied, but the claims it made starting out were of scholarship and research and on that basis the book oversold itself (I'll admit my background might make me view research in a more mathematical orientated way, but even loosening those standards I still feel it didn't meet the standards it claimed). Overall, it's made a claim that this is a good way to deal with people, but hasn't backed up the claim.
Another reason I didn't like the message conveyed in the book from a number of stories such as the salesman who found out a potential buyer's son liked stamps, so went out and bought a rare stamp as a gift and so got the sale, which to me feels like a bad message. The person didn't get the sale because he was selling a good product at a good price that met the needs of the buyer, but because they did something nice that was irrelevant to the transaction. I don't think it's cynical to say that if you're making a large purchase on behalf of your company, giving the sale to the guy who was nice to you just because he was nice to you is a dereliction of duty. Some of the tactics suggested in the book do seem cynical, or at least some of the applications described are. A salesman finding out the needs of the business he's trying to sell to and altering his pitch to suit is sensible and a good thing. A salesman finding out the manager is a baseball fan and spending the meeting talking baseball with the potential client is being manipulative rather than standing on his merits.
The last problem I have with the book is a message that I partly find contradictory and partly makes me feel as though I fail at being a human being. Several times the book stresses that when showing an interest in people it must be sincere, and not just flattery, but then gives examples where the interest is insincere. The part where this makes me feel like an incomplete person is that in general I don't find people interesting. Specific individuals yes, but it generally takes me quite a while to get there, and it usually requires some sort of context where I have the time to get to know them (university, work, board gaming, etc). So being told that the essential key to good interactions with people is something I don't have (and that faking it is bad) is discouraging at the least (at the most it makes me feel like a failure as a person that something fundamental to the human experience is missing in me).
So what can I gain from all this? Be nice to people? I already try to do that. Start with a positive and then move to the negative? The "You're doing this thing great but need to work on this other thing" routine just makes the first part sound phoney. Do something that doesn't come naturally to me but don't fake it. The final section on tips for married life quote clearly dates the book quite markedly. I get the point the book is trying to make but the implementation it suggests seems flawed and impractical.
So why do I feel like I've not learnt much from this book that so many people swear by? Part of it is presentation. Each point is only illustrated with a series of anecdotes, and as we all should know, the plural of anecdote is not data. This is a collection of feel good stories, and if presented as such I wouldn't be so unsatisfied, but the claims it made starting out were of scholarship and research and on that basis the book oversold itself (I'll admit my background might make me view research in a more mathematical orientated way, but even loosening those standards I still feel it didn't meet the standards it claimed). Overall, it's made a claim that this is a good way to deal with people, but hasn't backed up the claim.
Another reason I didn't like the message conveyed in the book from a number of stories such as the salesman who found out a potential buyer's son liked stamps, so went out and bought a rare stamp as a gift and so got the sale, which to me feels like a bad message. The person didn't get the sale because he was selling a good product at a good price that met the needs of the buyer, but because they did something nice that was irrelevant to the transaction. I don't think it's cynical to say that if you're making a large purchase on behalf of your company, giving the sale to the guy who was nice to you just because he was nice to you is a dereliction of duty. Some of the tactics suggested in the book do seem cynical, or at least some of the applications described are. A salesman finding out the needs of the business he's trying to sell to and altering his pitch to suit is sensible and a good thing. A salesman finding out the manager is a baseball fan and spending the meeting talking baseball with the potential client is being manipulative rather than standing on his merits.
The last problem I have with the book is a message that I partly find contradictory and partly makes me feel as though I fail at being a human being. Several times the book stresses that when showing an interest in people it must be sincere, and not just flattery, but then gives examples where the interest is insincere. The part where this makes me feel like an incomplete person is that in general I don't find people interesting. Specific individuals yes, but it generally takes me quite a while to get there, and it usually requires some sort of context where I have the time to get to know them (university, work, board gaming, etc). So being told that the essential key to good interactions with people is something I don't have (and that faking it is bad) is discouraging at the least (at the most it makes me feel like a failure as a person that something fundamental to the human experience is missing in me).
So what can I gain from all this? Be nice to people? I already try to do that. Start with a positive and then move to the negative? The "You're doing this thing great but need to work on this other thing" routine just makes the first part sound phoney. Do something that doesn't come naturally to me but don't fake it. The final section on tips for married life quote clearly dates the book quite markedly. I get the point the book is trying to make but the implementation it suggests seems flawed and impractical.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
By The Numbers 24/52
A less than stellar week
Wealth
Net cash: -$241.59
This is a two week figure as I didn't keep track of things as well as I should have last week. Based on a rough idea of where I should have been last this works out to about +$100 or so for the week.
Jobs Applied for: 1
Yeah, I got slack after getting back from Bordercon.
Health
Net Calories: 1640 Calories
More slackness I'm blaming on Bordercon. I got back after a delayed flight to no food and ordered pizza, which then meant I had enough pizza for three days. Bad Kevin.
Fitocracy points: 734
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike Riding: 227 km
Books read: 1
Book 3 in the Amtrak Wars
Games: 11: Glory to Rome x 3, Ad Astra, Hanabi, Ricochet Robots, Race for the Galaxy, Mamma Mia, Sole Mio, Dominion x2
Wealth
Net cash: -$241.59
This is a two week figure as I didn't keep track of things as well as I should have last week. Based on a rough idea of where I should have been last this works out to about +$100 or so for the week.
Jobs Applied for: 1
Yeah, I got slack after getting back from Bordercon.
Health
Net Calories: 1640 Calories
More slackness I'm blaming on Bordercon. I got back after a delayed flight to no food and ordered pizza, which then meant I had enough pizza for three days. Bad Kevin.
Fitocracy points: 734
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike Riding: 227 km
Books read: 1
Book 3 in the Amtrak Wars
Games: 11: Glory to Rome x 3, Ad Astra, Hanabi, Ricochet Robots, Race for the Galaxy, Mamma Mia, Sole Mio, Dominion x2
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
By The Numbers 23/52
Later than I expected due to Bordercon and after a delayed flight back to Brisbane I felt watching the season finale of Game of Thrones was a higher priority than doing this.
Wealth
Net Cash flow: ?
a significant negative number, but I don't have a precise figure (on the order of -$300). I wasn't careful enough keeping track over the weekend and while I now have everything up to date, back tracking to get a figure for where things were on Sunday evening would be a lot of hassle. I will post a two week figure next week that will once again be exact.
Jobs Applied for: 3
A new record, tripling previous best results. I am again planning to improve on this.
Health
Net Calories: 298 Calories
This figure is probably low as I ate out a lot and so couldn't just scan barcodes of what I ate to get the actual numbers.
Weight: 95 kg
This has crept back up again. Need to hit the treadmill some more, as dumbbell exercises score points by don't burn much calories
Fitocracy points: 1430
Not bad considering I was away for half the week
Fitcracy level: 13
Life
Bike riding: 9 km
Books read: 2
I'm going through the Amtrak Wars series in one go, as while I've read the complete series, there were significant gaps in time between books due to availability at different libraries, so this time I'm going to go straight through.
Darts: skipped this week
Games Played: 25 (woo Bordercon) Zombie Flux, For Sale (x2), Shadow Hunters, Cartagena, Fantastiqa (x2), Glory to Rome, Hanabi (x3), Innovation with both expansions, King of Tokyo, Merchant of Venus, Vanuatu, A Study in Emerald, Clubs, Klunker, Mamma Mia, Potion Making Practice with both expansions, Win Lose Banana (x3), Love Letter, Tichu,
Wealth
Net Cash flow: ?
a significant negative number, but I don't have a precise figure (on the order of -$300). I wasn't careful enough keeping track over the weekend and while I now have everything up to date, back tracking to get a figure for where things were on Sunday evening would be a lot of hassle. I will post a two week figure next week that will once again be exact.
Jobs Applied for: 3
A new record, tripling previous best results. I am again planning to improve on this.
Health
Net Calories: 298 Calories
This figure is probably low as I ate out a lot and so couldn't just scan barcodes of what I ate to get the actual numbers.
Weight: 95 kg
This has crept back up again. Need to hit the treadmill some more, as dumbbell exercises score points by don't burn much calories
Fitocracy points: 1430
Not bad considering I was away for half the week
Fitcracy level: 13
Life
Bike riding: 9 km
Books read: 2
I'm going through the Amtrak Wars series in one go, as while I've read the complete series, there were significant gaps in time between books due to availability at different libraries, so this time I'm going to go straight through.
Darts: skipped this week
Games Played: 25 (woo Bordercon) Zombie Flux, For Sale (x2), Shadow Hunters, Cartagena, Fantastiqa (x2), Glory to Rome, Hanabi (x3), Innovation with both expansions, King of Tokyo, Merchant of Venus, Vanuatu, A Study in Emerald, Clubs, Klunker, Mamma Mia, Potion Making Practice with both expansions, Win Lose Banana (x3), Love Letter, Tichu,
Sunday, June 02, 2013
By The Numbers 22/52
Next week may be a day or two late, as I will be going away to Bordercon next weekend.
Wealth
Net Cash: $129.22
Not great, but after the last two weeks it's good to be positive again
Jobs applied for: 0
Look for this to be higher next week
Health
Net Calories: 321
I slacked off with the diet and exercise this week, but it could have been worse.
Fitocracy points: 1386
Life
Bike Riding: 353km
Books read: 0
Darts: 501 in 9 rounds
I got lucky
Games played: 6 Roll Through the Ages, The Hanging Gardens, Maori, Masons, St Petersberg, Factory Manager (all but the last were played online)
This will be higher next week (see earlier note about Bordercon)
Wealth
Net Cash: $129.22
Not great, but after the last two weeks it's good to be positive again
Jobs applied for: 0
Look for this to be higher next week
Health
Net Calories: 321
I slacked off with the diet and exercise this week, but it could have been worse.
Fitocracy points: 1386
Life
Bike Riding: 353km
Books read: 0
Darts: 501 in 9 rounds
I got lucky
Games played: 6 Roll Through the Ages, The Hanging Gardens, Maori, Masons, St Petersberg, Factory Manager (all but the last were played online)
This will be higher next week (see earlier note about Bordercon)
Sunday, May 26, 2013
By the Numbers 21/52
Once more onto the breach
Wealth
Net cash: -$147.47
Given that I bought $200 bucks worth of bike gear (boots, new gloves, and a balaclava) and paid for some more expenses for bordercon/PAX, I was kind of surprised it wasn't more negative.
Jobs applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -2023 Calories
A bad week. A full pizza for dinner last night didn't help. But exercise kept me in the negatives.
Fitocracy points: 1749
Fitocracy level: 12
Life
Bike riding: 381km
Books read: 0
Darts: 501 in 24 rounds
Games played: Hacienda, Resident Evil: Mercenaries, Ticket to Ride (team variant), a session of DnD, and I finished an online game of Stone Age (it took about 3 weeks to play)
Wealth
Net cash: -$147.47
Given that I bought $200 bucks worth of bike gear (boots, new gloves, and a balaclava) and paid for some more expenses for bordercon/PAX, I was kind of surprised it wasn't more negative.
Jobs applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -2023 Calories
A bad week. A full pizza for dinner last night didn't help. But exercise kept me in the negatives.
Fitocracy points: 1749
Fitocracy level: 12
Life
Bike riding: 381km
Books read: 0
Darts: 501 in 24 rounds
Games played: Hacienda, Resident Evil: Mercenaries, Ticket to Ride (team variant), a session of DnD, and I finished an online game of Stone Age (it took about 3 weeks to play)
Monday, May 20, 2013
By the Numbers 20/52
Wealth
Net Cash: -$145.10
I bought my plane tickets for Bordercon and PAX this week, so I don't feel too bad about this. It also helped that the monthly bonus was paid this week. I'll also have to pay for some accomodation and some other related expenses so I shall endeavour to be a bit more frugal in day to day life in the coming weeks to make up for that.
Jobs applied for: 0
I continue to suck
Health
Net Calories: -1926 Calories
A few instances where will power gave out was mostly but not completely countered with exercise
Fitocracy points: 2769
While taking the benefits for it, I still believe strength exercises get more points than cardio for the amount of effort put in.
Fitocracy Level: 11
Yeah, I leveled up again.
Life
Bike riding: 397km
Books read: 0
Darts: 501 in 20 rounds
Games played: 0
Net Cash: -$145.10
I bought my plane tickets for Bordercon and PAX this week, so I don't feel too bad about this. It also helped that the monthly bonus was paid this week. I'll also have to pay for some accomodation and some other related expenses so I shall endeavour to be a bit more frugal in day to day life in the coming weeks to make up for that.
Jobs applied for: 0
I continue to suck
Health
Net Calories: -1926 Calories
A few instances where will power gave out was mostly but not completely countered with exercise
Fitocracy points: 2769
While taking the benefits for it, I still believe strength exercises get more points than cardio for the amount of effort put in.
Fitocracy Level: 11
Yeah, I leveled up again.
Life
Bike riding: 397km
Books read: 0
Darts: 501 in 20 rounds
Games played: 0
Sunday, May 12, 2013
By The Numbers 19/52
Wealth
Net Cash: $63.41
Jobs Applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -2448 Calories
Weight: 94kg
Fitocracy Points: 1632
Life
Bike riding: 366km
Books read: 1
The Geek Manifesto, a call for greater prominence of science and the scientific method in the public sphere.
Darts: 501 in 25 rounds
Games Played: 2 Age of Industry (the Japan map) and Steam Barons
Net Cash: $63.41
Jobs Applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -2448 Calories
Weight: 94kg
Fitocracy Points: 1632
Life
Bike riding: 366km
Books read: 1
The Geek Manifesto, a call for greater prominence of science and the scientific method in the public sphere.
Darts: 501 in 25 rounds
Games Played: 2 Age of Industry (the Japan map) and Steam Barons
Sunday, May 05, 2013
By the Numbers 18/52
No comments about the progress of time this week.
Wealth
Net Cash gain: $388.37
In this I'm counting $150 worth of Coles gift vouchers I received via work this week, as they're almost equivalent to cash. Not sure if I'll just use them for groceries and bank the cash I'd otherwise have spent, or use them for a slightly bigger purchase such as a new chair or a filing cabinet.
Jobs applied for: 0
Man I suck at this
Health
Net Calories: -1793 Calories
Back in the negatives, but could be better
Weight: 96kg
Fitocracy points: 614
In addition to the gift vouchers, I also got a set of dumbbells to get a bit more variety in the exercise I do. I've noticed that for the amount of effort I put in, I get a lot more points for doing strength exercises vs cardio exercises.
Life
Bike riding: 156km
A lot of public transport this week as my shifts were during peak hour ($5 petrol + $9 parking = $14 bus fare + less stress)
Books read: 2
So I finally got round to finishing How to Win Friends and Influence People. Unsure on my feelings about it, and will probably write something about it to get my thinking straight. I then went and tore through Inversions by Iain M Banks, and can only lament the fact that there will be no more Culture novels (damn you cancer)
Darts: 501 in 18 rounds
Games Played: 2 Roll Through the Ages and Twilight Struggle
Wealth
Net Cash gain: $388.37
In this I'm counting $150 worth of Coles gift vouchers I received via work this week, as they're almost equivalent to cash. Not sure if I'll just use them for groceries and bank the cash I'd otherwise have spent, or use them for a slightly bigger purchase such as a new chair or a filing cabinet.
Jobs applied for: 0
Man I suck at this
Health
Net Calories: -1793 Calories
Back in the negatives, but could be better
Weight: 96kg
Fitocracy points: 614
In addition to the gift vouchers, I also got a set of dumbbells to get a bit more variety in the exercise I do. I've noticed that for the amount of effort I put in, I get a lot more points for doing strength exercises vs cardio exercises.
Life
Bike riding: 156km
A lot of public transport this week as my shifts were during peak hour ($5 petrol + $9 parking = $14 bus fare + less stress)
Books read: 2
So I finally got round to finishing How to Win Friends and Influence People. Unsure on my feelings about it, and will probably write something about it to get my thinking straight. I then went and tore through Inversions by Iain M Banks, and can only lament the fact that there will be no more Culture novels (damn you cancer)
Darts: 501 in 18 rounds
Games Played: 2 Roll Through the Ages and Twilight Struggle
Monday, April 29, 2013
By the Numbers 17/52
And April's almost done
Wealth
Net Cash: -$97.25
I reverted to form on eating takeaway in the later part of the week due to some bad planning on the groceries front (if you're going to run out of food on the day before ANZAC day, don't think you can get your groceries home delivered on ANZAC day), plus I went out and saw a movie on Saturday
Jobs Applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: 1166 Calories
A positive no. A consequence of eating too much takeaway during the week (it doesn't help that they make it cheaper to get a meal than just one item by itself, but I should have known better).
Weight: 96 kg
Fitocracy points: 590
At least I walked to and from the cinemas on Saturday.
Life
Bike riding: 289km
Books read: 0
I've all most finished How to Win Friends and Influence People
Games played: Glory to Rome and Tichu
Wealth
Net Cash: -$97.25
I reverted to form on eating takeaway in the later part of the week due to some bad planning on the groceries front (if you're going to run out of food on the day before ANZAC day, don't think you can get your groceries home delivered on ANZAC day), plus I went out and saw a movie on Saturday
Jobs Applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: 1166 Calories
A positive no. A consequence of eating too much takeaway during the week (it doesn't help that they make it cheaper to get a meal than just one item by itself, but I should have known better).
Weight: 96 kg
Fitocracy points: 590
At least I walked to and from the cinemas on Saturday.
Life
Bike riding: 289km
Books read: 0
I've all most finished How to Win Friends and Influence People
Games played: Glory to Rome and Tichu
Sunday, April 21, 2013
By the Numbers 16/52
Another week down.
Wealth
Net Cash: $197.45
Jobs Applied for: 0
Successful Interviews: 0
So after a few delays at work, they final told me that they'd decided to appoint no one to the position I applied for, and also that I might be better suited in a slightly different role, which I suppose is at least more constructive feedback than any of the other job application this year.
Health
Net Calories: -2431 Calories
I noticed a trend this week. If I don't get enough sleep I eat more. I should try to get by on more than 5 hours sleep.
Weight: 95kg
Fitocracy Points: 1361
Fitocracy level: 9
The arbitrary no increases again, hooray!
Life
Bike riding: 360km
Books read: 0
Games Played: 4, two plays of Dominion base and intrigue, and two new games, Discworld and Twilight Struggle (note to self: If you're going to replay the entire cold war, expect it to take a while)
Wealth
Net Cash: $197.45
Jobs Applied for: 0
Successful Interviews: 0
So after a few delays at work, they final told me that they'd decided to appoint no one to the position I applied for, and also that I might be better suited in a slightly different role, which I suppose is at least more constructive feedback than any of the other job application this year.
Health
Net Calories: -2431 Calories
I noticed a trend this week. If I don't get enough sleep I eat more. I should try to get by on more than 5 hours sleep.
Weight: 95kg
Fitocracy Points: 1361
Fitocracy level: 9
The arbitrary no increases again, hooray!
Life
Bike riding: 360km
Books read: 0
Games Played: 4, two plays of Dominion base and intrigue, and two new games, Discworld and Twilight Struggle (note to self: If you're going to replay the entire cold war, expect it to take a while)
Monday, April 15, 2013
By The Numbers 15/52
Here we go again
Wealth
Net Cash: $163.03
Not bad, but about half of the surplus comes from gifts, so it's not too sustainable, but I spent more than usual as well, so it probably balances out. If I'd given in too temptation, this would have been a very big negative number, but I've decided my current computer will have to do for now.
Jobs Applied for: 1
Interviews Attended: 1
A new field! Now, I don't think I gave them the answers they were wanting to hear so I'm not too optomistic, but I should find out how I went today (it was for a different position at my current work).
Health
Net Calories: -2583
Yeah, eating a packet of mint slices on Sunday probably wasn't the best lunch
Weight: 96kg
It's going down again. Yay!
Fitocracy points: 243
I'd forgotten about some exercise I did early in the week and was thinking this was going to be a terrible week for exercise, but instead it's just ok.
Fitocracy level: 8
Life
Years lived: 32
I'm older! Yay! If I use hexadecimal I'm only 20
Bike riding: 214km
I caught the bus in to work a few times this week to avoid traffic and weather.
Books read: 0
Still plodding through How to Win Friends and Influence People. After that I have two very interesting books to read, The Physics of Wall Street and Scepticism and the Possibility of Knowledge.
Darts: nope
Games Played: 6
Glory to Rome x3, Eminent Domain x2, and Dominion
Things done
Worked on the jigsaw puzzle, read a bit, went to Critical Mass, got a haircut, did some cleaning around the house, exercised on Monday, walked to and from the bus stop on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (although I forgot my go card on Friday, so the return trip was in the morning and then followed by riding the bike into work).
Again I haven't really lived up to what I'm trying with this section.
Wealth
Net Cash: $163.03
Not bad, but about half of the surplus comes from gifts, so it's not too sustainable, but I spent more than usual as well, so it probably balances out. If I'd given in too temptation, this would have been a very big negative number, but I've decided my current computer will have to do for now.
Jobs Applied for: 1
Interviews Attended: 1
A new field! Now, I don't think I gave them the answers they were wanting to hear so I'm not too optomistic, but I should find out how I went today (it was for a different position at my current work).
Health
Net Calories: -2583
Yeah, eating a packet of mint slices on Sunday probably wasn't the best lunch
Weight: 96kg
It's going down again. Yay!
Fitocracy points: 243
I'd forgotten about some exercise I did early in the week and was thinking this was going to be a terrible week for exercise, but instead it's just ok.
Fitocracy level: 8
Life
Years lived: 32
I'm older! Yay! If I use hexadecimal I'm only 20
Bike riding: 214km
I caught the bus in to work a few times this week to avoid traffic and weather.
Books read: 0
Still plodding through How to Win Friends and Influence People. After that I have two very interesting books to read, The Physics of Wall Street and Scepticism and the Possibility of Knowledge.
Darts: nope
Games Played: 6
Glory to Rome x3, Eminent Domain x2, and Dominion
Things done
Worked on the jigsaw puzzle, read a bit, went to Critical Mass, got a haircut, did some cleaning around the house, exercised on Monday, walked to and from the bus stop on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (although I forgot my go card on Friday, so the return trip was in the morning and then followed by riding the bike into work).
Again I haven't really lived up to what I'm trying with this section.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
The Human Mind is a Chinese Room
The following is an essay I wrote as part of an Introduction to Philosophy course I finished recently on Coursera that I felt like sharing more generally.
Could a computer have a mind?
In the debate over can a computer have a mind, one of the most well known arguments for the negative is Searle's Chinese Room Argument. To make his case, Searle asks us to consider a man locked in a room. In the room with the man are some pens, some paper, and a large book. From time to time, the man will receive a piece of paper with some symbols on it which the man will look up in the book and then copy some other symbols onto a blank piece of paper and send that out of the room. Unknown to the man, the symbols are words in Chinese and the book is telling him what to say in Chinese. Searle claims that since the man is just following instructions based on the symbols and not their meaning he doesn't understand Chinese, and since any computer program would also just be following instructions based on the symbols, it too can not understand Chinese. That is, a computer can operate on a syntactic level, but it can not operate on a semantic level, and thus can't be said to have a mind.
I disagree with conclusion, and to explain why I wish to present a counter example, namely the human brain. The human brain is made up of around 86 billion neurons. Each individual neuron is functionally very simple. It receives electrical impulses from other neurons and from time to time based on the received impulses it will send out an electrical impulse to other neurons, who go on to do the same thing. Now for an individual neuron all of these electrical impulses only have syntactic information. Either there is an impulse or there isn't, that's all. It might have originated with a pain receptor in your foot after stepping on a nail, or in a photoreceptor in your eye when you look at a red rose, but to a neuron it's just an electrical impulse with no semantic information associated with it.At this functional level, a neuron is very similar to a circuit in a computer, various electrical inputs are received, and based on that, a certain output is made. From this we can see that a neuron operates on a syntactic level, and not on a semantic level.
So what happens when we start grouping together neurons? For a moment, let us go back to Searle's Room, and this time instead of just one person, we have two people, each with their own book, receiving and writing symbols and passing them between each other as their books instruct to achieve the same outcome. Again, everything is happening on a syntactic level so no semantic understanding occurs. If we continue to add more people to the room each with their own book of instructions, nothing changes to move us from the syntactic to semantic level. So if we remain operating on a syntactic level by adding more people to the room, we will also remain at the syntactic level by adding more neurons to a brain. So a human brain (and indeed any other creatures brain) must operate at a syntactic level and not a semantic level.
But the human brain does operate on a semantic level. We know a rose would smell as sweet by any other name. Semantics are who we are, it's how we think.
We can come to either one of two conclusions. We could look at Searle's claim that a system that operates on a syntactic level can not also operate on a semantic level and say "well, the human brain does that, why cant something else?", or if we concede that yes, the human brain only operates at a syntactic level, then the question is "If the human brain operates only on a syntactic level and we say people have minds, why can't something else that only operates syntactic level also have a mind?" In either case, Searle's argument does not provide a reason to believe that a computer can not have a mind.
Could a computer have a mind?
In the debate over can a computer have a mind, one of the most well known arguments for the negative is Searle's Chinese Room Argument. To make his case, Searle asks us to consider a man locked in a room. In the room with the man are some pens, some paper, and a large book. From time to time, the man will receive a piece of paper with some symbols on it which the man will look up in the book and then copy some other symbols onto a blank piece of paper and send that out of the room. Unknown to the man, the symbols are words in Chinese and the book is telling him what to say in Chinese. Searle claims that since the man is just following instructions based on the symbols and not their meaning he doesn't understand Chinese, and since any computer program would also just be following instructions based on the symbols, it too can not understand Chinese. That is, a computer can operate on a syntactic level, but it can not operate on a semantic level, and thus can't be said to have a mind.
I disagree with conclusion, and to explain why I wish to present a counter example, namely the human brain. The human brain is made up of around 86 billion neurons. Each individual neuron is functionally very simple. It receives electrical impulses from other neurons and from time to time based on the received impulses it will send out an electrical impulse to other neurons, who go on to do the same thing. Now for an individual neuron all of these electrical impulses only have syntactic information. Either there is an impulse or there isn't, that's all. It might have originated with a pain receptor in your foot after stepping on a nail, or in a photoreceptor in your eye when you look at a red rose, but to a neuron it's just an electrical impulse with no semantic information associated with it.At this functional level, a neuron is very similar to a circuit in a computer, various electrical inputs are received, and based on that, a certain output is made. From this we can see that a neuron operates on a syntactic level, and not on a semantic level.
So what happens when we start grouping together neurons? For a moment, let us go back to Searle's Room, and this time instead of just one person, we have two people, each with their own book, receiving and writing symbols and passing them between each other as their books instruct to achieve the same outcome. Again, everything is happening on a syntactic level so no semantic understanding occurs. If we continue to add more people to the room each with their own book of instructions, nothing changes to move us from the syntactic to semantic level. So if we remain operating on a syntactic level by adding more people to the room, we will also remain at the syntactic level by adding more neurons to a brain. So a human brain (and indeed any other creatures brain) must operate at a syntactic level and not a semantic level.
But the human brain does operate on a semantic level. We know a rose would smell as sweet by any other name. Semantics are who we are, it's how we think.
We can come to either one of two conclusions. We could look at Searle's claim that a system that operates on a syntactic level can not also operate on a semantic level and say "well, the human brain does that, why cant something else?", or if we concede that yes, the human brain only operates at a syntactic level, then the question is "If the human brain operates only on a syntactic level and we say people have minds, why can't something else that only operates syntactic level also have a mind?" In either case, Searle's argument does not provide a reason to believe that a computer can not have a mind.
Monday, April 08, 2013
By The Numbers 14/52
I'm a bit late this week as I stayed over at my uncle's as my mother is staying there while she's in town. I'm now doing this while at work, so will need to come back a bit later to fill in some blanks.
Wealth
Net cash: $191.30
Jobs Applied for: 0
I'm working on an application for different job at my current work, but am uncertain as I've applied for this role twice before and each time I've had a crash on my bike just after applying, so there's a certain irrational fear associated with it.
Health
Net Calories: -3809 Calories
An ok week but hurt by a few overindulgences along the way seem not to have had too big an impact
Weight: 97kg
Fitocracy Points: 347
So much lower than last week, but still my 2nd best result for the year
Fitocracy level: 8
Life
Bike Riding: 339 km
Darts: let's call it a miss this week
Books read: 0, but I have been churning through Race for the Iron Throne, a political analysis of A Game of Thrones, which also has a lot of interesting history as well
Games Played: 0
BGG stats not withstanding, as I entered a bunch of online plays of games in bulk the other day. I've decided online plays of games against other people I will keep track of, but not if I just play against an AI.
Things done
A big fail on the three things a day this week. However, things done last week include starting a jigsaw puzzle, exercised once, visited Mum while she's in town, and procrastination. As always, I will try to do better next week
Wealth
Net cash: $191.30
Jobs Applied for: 0
I'm working on an application for different job at my current work, but am uncertain as I've applied for this role twice before and each time I've had a crash on my bike just after applying, so there's a certain irrational fear associated with it.
Health
Net Calories: -3809 Calories
An ok week but hurt by a few overindulgences along the way seem not to have had too big an impact
Weight: 97kg
Fitocracy Points: 347
So much lower than last week, but still my 2nd best result for the year
Fitocracy level: 8
Life
Bike Riding: 339 km
Darts: let's call it a miss this week
Books read: 0, but I have been churning through Race for the Iron Throne, a political analysis of A Game of Thrones, which also has a lot of interesting history as well
Games Played: 0
BGG stats not withstanding, as I entered a bunch of online plays of games in bulk the other day. I've decided online plays of games against other people I will keep track of, but not if I just play against an AI.
Things done
A big fail on the three things a day this week. However, things done last week include starting a jigsaw puzzle, exercised once, visited Mum while she's in town, and procrastination. As always, I will try to do better next week
Sunday, March 31, 2013
By The Numbers 13/52
Three months in to the year.
Wealth
Net Cash Gain: $63.93
Not much, but I still have a lot of cash on hand which I don't recall being the case at the end of last week. I've also played a bit with timing things to make this a bit better by delaying paying my phone bill until tomorrow so it counts for next week's expenses.
Jobs applied for: 0
I've averaged one job application per month. This needs to improve.
Health
Net Calories: -3799 Calories
An ok week. It would have been a very good week but I ate a bunch of chocolate today and take out on Friday.
Weight: 98kg
A slight move in the wrong direction
Fitocracy points: 1408
A big week. A major step up in the use of the treadmill at a much higher setting. I am getting blisters on my feet though so I may have to actually start wearing shoes while using the treadmill.
Fitocracy level: 8
So after spending most of the year so far getting from level 6 to level 7, I then managed to reach level 8 in one week. I'm not sure if I can repeat this next week.
Life
Bike riding: 402km
A bit of non commuting riding this week
Darts: 501 in 36 rounds
Books read: 0
Games Played: 3. 2 games of Dominion (just the base set) and Battlestar Galactica with the Pegasus Expansion. My second time as a cylon, and I did a bit better at not getting caught, but the humans got a very good start and the cylons weren't able to hit them hard enough during the last jump, but we got close (two of the dials were down to 2)
Things done
Monday:
Tuesday: exercise
Wednesday: exercise
Thursday: exercise
Friday: Social gaming,
Saturday: exercise
Sunday: exercise, Coursera work (Greek History quiz and peer review of Philosophy essays)
So much for the three things a week. Let's have another go next week.
Wealth
Net Cash Gain: $63.93
Not much, but I still have a lot of cash on hand which I don't recall being the case at the end of last week. I've also played a bit with timing things to make this a bit better by delaying paying my phone bill until tomorrow so it counts for next week's expenses.
Jobs applied for: 0
I've averaged one job application per month. This needs to improve.
Health
Net Calories: -3799 Calories
An ok week. It would have been a very good week but I ate a bunch of chocolate today and take out on Friday.
Weight: 98kg
A slight move in the wrong direction
Fitocracy points: 1408
A big week. A major step up in the use of the treadmill at a much higher setting. I am getting blisters on my feet though so I may have to actually start wearing shoes while using the treadmill.
Fitocracy level: 8
So after spending most of the year so far getting from level 6 to level 7, I then managed to reach level 8 in one week. I'm not sure if I can repeat this next week.
Life
Bike riding: 402km
A bit of non commuting riding this week
Darts: 501 in 36 rounds
Books read: 0
Games Played: 3. 2 games of Dominion (just the base set) and Battlestar Galactica with the Pegasus Expansion. My second time as a cylon, and I did a bit better at not getting caught, but the humans got a very good start and the cylons weren't able to hit them hard enough during the last jump, but we got close (two of the dials were down to 2)
Things done
Monday:
Tuesday: exercise
Wednesday: exercise
Thursday: exercise
Friday: Social gaming,
Saturday: exercise
Sunday: exercise, Coursera work (Greek History quiz and peer review of Philosophy essays)
So much for the three things a week. Let's have another go next week.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
By The Numbers 12/52
Almost at the end of March. My time flies.
Wealth
Net Cash: $167.74
Jobs Applied for: 0
If job hunting is a numbers game, I'm definitely playing it wrong
Health
Net Calories: -5248 Calories
My will power seems to be improving. On Thursday among my groceries I bought two packets of mint slices, and I'm still making my way through the first packet.
Weight: 97kg
A lean diet this week hasn't really translated into weight loss. At least my pants seem looser around the waist.
Fitocracy points: 165
Walking to the shops instead of getting home delivery really helps with getting exercise
Fitocracy level: 7
I leveled up! Yay for arbitrary numbers increasing
Life
Bike riding: 352km
Books read: 0
Still working through How to Win Friends and Influence People (I'm forcing myself to keep going, once I'm done I'll post some of my thoughts) and The Geek Manifesto on the side
Darts: 501 in 37 rounds
An all round atrocious effort
Games played: 1 St Petersberg
I'm going to add a new section which I'm hoping will make me do more things with my free time rather than just watching tv shows and playing around on the internet. The aim is to do at least three things each day. I've not done it every day this week, but I'll see what I can remember
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday: wrote Intro to Philosophy essay (I'll post it next week after submissions are finalised)
Thursday: Walked to the shops (exercise in general will count as a thing for this), watched English Composition lectures and wrote "I am a Writer" essay,
Friday: read a chunk of How to Make Friends and Influence People
Saturday: watched Microeconomics lectures and completed quiz, looked at handbrake on bike to see why the brake light isn't working properly (the switch isn't working, I'm getting it fixed tomorrow), checked the oil and lubed the chain, played St Petersberg with Simon and Dan and learnt a bit about roofing (social things in general will count)
Sunday: Watched Games without Chance lectures and completed the quiz, watched the storm, mopped the floor (aftermath of the storm), read a chunk of How to Make Friends and Influence People
I'll make notes next week so I can provide a more complete list
Wealth
Net Cash: $167.74
Jobs Applied for: 0
If job hunting is a numbers game, I'm definitely playing it wrong
Health
Net Calories: -5248 Calories
My will power seems to be improving. On Thursday among my groceries I bought two packets of mint slices, and I'm still making my way through the first packet.
Weight: 97kg
A lean diet this week hasn't really translated into weight loss. At least my pants seem looser around the waist.
Fitocracy points: 165
Walking to the shops instead of getting home delivery really helps with getting exercise
Fitocracy level: 7
I leveled up! Yay for arbitrary numbers increasing
Life
Bike riding: 352km
Books read: 0
Still working through How to Win Friends and Influence People (I'm forcing myself to keep going, once I'm done I'll post some of my thoughts) and The Geek Manifesto on the side
Darts: 501 in 37 rounds
An all round atrocious effort
Games played: 1 St Petersberg
I'm going to add a new section which I'm hoping will make me do more things with my free time rather than just watching tv shows and playing around on the internet. The aim is to do at least three things each day. I've not done it every day this week, but I'll see what I can remember
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday: wrote Intro to Philosophy essay (I'll post it next week after submissions are finalised)
Thursday: Walked to the shops (exercise in general will count as a thing for this), watched English Composition lectures and wrote "I am a Writer" essay,
Friday: read a chunk of How to Make Friends and Influence People
Saturday: watched Microeconomics lectures and completed quiz, looked at handbrake on bike to see why the brake light isn't working properly (the switch isn't working, I'm getting it fixed tomorrow), checked the oil and lubed the chain, played St Petersberg with Simon and Dan and learnt a bit about roofing (social things in general will count)
Sunday: Watched Games without Chance lectures and completed the quiz, watched the storm, mopped the floor (aftermath of the storm), read a chunk of How to Make Friends and Influence People
I'll make notes next week so I can provide a more complete list
Sunday, March 17, 2013
By The Numbers 11/52
A milestone I've been working towards was achieved this week, but I fell a little short of another one so let's recap
Wealth
Net Cash: $223.58
It was bonus week at work this month, which accounts for a bit over half of this surplus. I've also been on earlier starts which means the free parking spot near work had spaces available, which saves about $45 on parking. The milestone I achieved was this has allowed me to finish paying off my credit card, which was about half of the debt I had at the start of the year. Hopefully the second half will be paid off a bit quicker, and the 2nd creditor offers much more flexible terms.
Jobs applied for: 1
A friend sent me a link to a job being advertised at their company, and it looked good so I sent in an application.
Health
Net Calories: -2385 Calories
I slipped a bit on Saturday as my DnD group reverted to getting pizza instead of going out for subway, but a bit of exercise today helped a bit
Weight: 97 kg
Fitocracy points: 148
Fitocracy level: 6
I only exercised once this week, and while I did 100 jumping jacks and some pushups while doing the prep for this post I'm still 72 points short of leveling up
Life
Bike riding: 351km
Just the regular commute to and from work
Books read: 1
The Flight of the Horse, a collection of stories by Larry Niven. An enjoyable read, and a pleasant distraction from How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Darts: 501 in 16 rounds. Amazing how much better you do when you go out on your first try instead of busting for 15-20 rounds
Games played: 3 Battlestar Galactica with the Pegasus expansion, Through the Ages, and a session of Dungeons and Dragons
Wealth
Net Cash: $223.58
It was bonus week at work this month, which accounts for a bit over half of this surplus. I've also been on earlier starts which means the free parking spot near work had spaces available, which saves about $45 on parking. The milestone I achieved was this has allowed me to finish paying off my credit card, which was about half of the debt I had at the start of the year. Hopefully the second half will be paid off a bit quicker, and the 2nd creditor offers much more flexible terms.
Jobs applied for: 1
A friend sent me a link to a job being advertised at their company, and it looked good so I sent in an application.
Health
Net Calories: -2385 Calories
I slipped a bit on Saturday as my DnD group reverted to getting pizza instead of going out for subway, but a bit of exercise today helped a bit
Weight: 97 kg
Fitocracy points: 148
Fitocracy level: 6
I only exercised once this week, and while I did 100 jumping jacks and some pushups while doing the prep for this post I'm still 72 points short of leveling up
Life
Bike riding: 351km
Just the regular commute to and from work
Books read: 1
The Flight of the Horse, a collection of stories by Larry Niven. An enjoyable read, and a pleasant distraction from How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Darts: 501 in 16 rounds. Amazing how much better you do when you go out on your first try instead of busting for 15-20 rounds
Games played: 3 Battlestar Galactica with the Pegasus expansion, Through the Ages, and a session of Dungeons and Dragons
Sunday, March 10, 2013
By The Numbers 10/52
And we're into March now.
Wealth
Net Cash: $66
Could be better, but a positive figure
Jobs applied for: 0
I'm slack. But I've been browsing seek more regularly, which is a step forward
Health
Net Calories: -5094 Calories
A pretty good result
Weight: 98kg
Fitocracy points: 271
Fitocracy level: 6
I'm almost at level 7, if I do as much exercise next week I should level up.
Life
Bike Riding: 371km
Books Read: 1
Drift by Rachel Maddow of MSNBC fame. A pretty dismal look at how America has made going to war much easier and with less oversight. Also, the Iran-Contra scandal was even dodgier than I previously understood. I had thought the reason they were using money from arm sales to Iran to help the contras was just to keep it secret. It turns out the reason they did that was because Congress had specifically said you can't spend our money helping the Contras, but Reagan wanted to anyway. I'm now part way through Flight of the Horse by Larry Niven
Darts: I'm skipping this week
Games Played: 1, Cranium, and may I just say I suck at the green ones.
Wealth
Net Cash: $66
Could be better, but a positive figure
Jobs applied for: 0
I'm slack. But I've been browsing seek more regularly, which is a step forward
Health
Net Calories: -5094 Calories
A pretty good result
Weight: 98kg
Fitocracy points: 271
Fitocracy level: 6
I'm almost at level 7, if I do as much exercise next week I should level up.
Life
Bike Riding: 371km
Books Read: 1
Drift by Rachel Maddow of MSNBC fame. A pretty dismal look at how America has made going to war much easier and with less oversight. Also, the Iran-Contra scandal was even dodgier than I previously understood. I had thought the reason they were using money from arm sales to Iran to help the contras was just to keep it secret. It turns out the reason they did that was because Congress had specifically said you can't spend our money helping the Contras, but Reagan wanted to anyway. I'm now part way through Flight of the Horse by Larry Niven
Darts: I'm skipping this week
Games Played: 1, Cranium, and may I just say I suck at the green ones.
Sunday, March 03, 2013
By The Numbers 9/52
Wealth
Net cash gain: -$50.18
A major once off expense this week, my accommodation for PAX is now sorted out, I'll be sharing a room with a friend from bordercon in the city within hiking distance (4-5km) from PAX, so I'm pretty happy with it.
Jobs applied for: 1, a graduate analyst position in Melbourne, which might mean the above payment for a hotel room for PAX might end up being unnecessary, but that would be a problem I'm more than happy dealing with if it arises.
Health
Net Calories: -1903 Calories
A hermit-like weekend made up for a major blowout on Friday.
Weight: 99kg
Fitocracy points: 0
This is especially bad as on Sunday I got a free pass to a gym for 5 days and I managed to go to the gym exactly 0 times. A combination of logistics (having to bring in a complete change of clothes including shoes and a towel on the bike), bad weather (any change of clothes I did bring would be drenched when I got in) and distance (when they called me up to offer the pass, I was thinking they were only a block or so from work, turns out the place was about a 30 minute walk away). But that still doesn't excuse not doing anything at home.
Life
Bike riding: 326km
Books read: 1
I finally finished Mr Gatling's Terrible Marvel. Main points were amateurs inventors good and American style patents good. Very light on technical details though. Not sure what my next book will be, contenders are Drift by Rachel Maddow, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carneggie, and My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor (2 of these have been featured on the Daily Show this year)
Darts: 501 in 30 rounds, half for the first 498 points, another 15 for the final 3
Board Games played: 2 Through the Ages and Eminent Domain
Net cash gain: -$50.18
A major once off expense this week, my accommodation for PAX is now sorted out, I'll be sharing a room with a friend from bordercon in the city within hiking distance (4-5km) from PAX, so I'm pretty happy with it.
Jobs applied for: 1, a graduate analyst position in Melbourne, which might mean the above payment for a hotel room for PAX might end up being unnecessary, but that would be a problem I'm more than happy dealing with if it arises.
Health
Net Calories: -1903 Calories
A hermit-like weekend made up for a major blowout on Friday.
Weight: 99kg
Fitocracy points: 0
This is especially bad as on Sunday I got a free pass to a gym for 5 days and I managed to go to the gym exactly 0 times. A combination of logistics (having to bring in a complete change of clothes including shoes and a towel on the bike), bad weather (any change of clothes I did bring would be drenched when I got in) and distance (when they called me up to offer the pass, I was thinking they were only a block or so from work, turns out the place was about a 30 minute walk away). But that still doesn't excuse not doing anything at home.
Life
Bike riding: 326km
Books read: 1
I finally finished Mr Gatling's Terrible Marvel. Main points were amateurs inventors good and American style patents good. Very light on technical details though. Not sure what my next book will be, contenders are Drift by Rachel Maddow, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carneggie, and My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor (2 of these have been featured on the Daily Show this year)
Darts: 501 in 30 rounds, half for the first 498 points, another 15 for the final 3
Board Games played: 2 Through the Ages and Eminent Domain
Sunday, February 24, 2013
By The Numbers 8/52
Now for week 8
Wealth
Net cash gain: $171.14
a big asterisk on this week. Issues with my iphone caused me to have to reset it, which caused me to lose the data in the app I use to keep track of my finances. I've put all the data back in, but the bank records date things by when the transaction is processed rather than when the transaction actually occurred, which means the dates before and after the reset won't exactly match, hence the asterisk. From now on making a back up will be a part of process of preparing this weekly write up
Jobs applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -2802 Calories
Weight: 99kg
Fitocracy points: 84
Fitocracy level: 6
Yeah, I slacked off this week
Life
Bike Riding: 354km
Books read: 0
I didn't even make any progress on Mr Gatling's Terrible Marvel this week.
Darts: 501 in 40 rounds. I need to work on accuracy, since 21 rounds trying to go out on 7 and then 2 is just plain terrible, especially since it only took 19 rounds to that point.
Board games played: 0
An early start on Saturday meant no Critical Mass on Friday night, and there was no other gaming this week.
Wealth
Net cash gain: $171.14
a big asterisk on this week. Issues with my iphone caused me to have to reset it, which caused me to lose the data in the app I use to keep track of my finances. I've put all the data back in, but the bank records date things by when the transaction is processed rather than when the transaction actually occurred, which means the dates before and after the reset won't exactly match, hence the asterisk. From now on making a back up will be a part of process of preparing this weekly write up
Jobs applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -2802 Calories
Weight: 99kg
Fitocracy points: 84
Fitocracy level: 6
Yeah, I slacked off this week
Life
Bike Riding: 354km
Books read: 0
I didn't even make any progress on Mr Gatling's Terrible Marvel this week.
Darts: 501 in 40 rounds. I need to work on accuracy, since 21 rounds trying to go out on 7 and then 2 is just plain terrible, especially since it only took 19 rounds to that point.
Board games played: 0
An early start on Saturday meant no Critical Mass on Friday night, and there was no other gaming this week.
Monday, February 18, 2013
By The Numbers 7/52
Still going seven weeks in. At the very least, this is the longest I've stuck with an attempted self improvement process, so that's some progress right there. But now for the bits that really count. I'm late for this entry but I had a really bad headache last night so only did the working things out bit but skipped writing it up until now.
Wealth
Net Cash gain: $532.30
The greater part of this is because I got a final payout from the NOVA bankruptcy process. Excluding that, a modest surplus for the week.
Jobs applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -3288
Weight: 100kg
A change!
Fitocracy points: 336
Good
Fitocracy level: 6
Life:
Bike riding: 433km
Books read: 0
Darts: 501 in 25 rounds
I had a hard time going out on 7
Board games played: 4
Glory to Rome, The Pillars of the Earth, Nefarious, and Twilight Imperium
Wealth
Net Cash gain: $532.30
The greater part of this is because I got a final payout from the NOVA bankruptcy process. Excluding that, a modest surplus for the week.
Jobs applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -3288
Weight: 100kg
A change!
Fitocracy points: 336
Good
Fitocracy level: 6
Life:
Bike riding: 433km
Books read: 0
Darts: 501 in 25 rounds
I had a hard time going out on 7
Board games played: 4
Glory to Rome, The Pillars of the Earth, Nefarious, and Twilight Imperium
Philosophy 101 With EsonLinji
I'm currently taking a few online courses through Coursera one of which is Introduction to Philosophy. The following are a few of my thoughts on the topics from week two, which focused on epistemology. Since the lecture had two main parts, so to will I split this into two corresponding parts.
A few general statements first. Epistemology is looking at the question of what is knowledge and how do we know what we know (and how do we know how we know what we know (and how do we know how we know how we know what we know (and so on and so on))). My science and analytic background makes me take a very empirical view of such things (which is part of why I've tended to not look so favourably on philosophy and related disciplines. This will become very significant in the second part).
So, what is knowledge? What does it mean to know something? The initial idea that was presented was that knowledge is a belief that is true and for which there is a justifiable reason for being true. Notwithstanding a certain unease at the use of the word believe (while here they are using it to mean "an idea of how the world is" too many discussions with religious types who use it as "an idea of how the world is without explaining why" has led me to try and avoid the word. If more people used it in the first sense and then tried to justify their beliefs, I'd be happier using it), this seems to be a reasonable definition.
Unfortunately, the lecturer then went on to shoot down this definition, by poking what was considered to be a big hole in the justifiable reason part of the definition. This was done by setting up scenarios where what one believes is true, and you think you have a justified reason for believing it, but that justified reason is not true. A few amendments to the definition were considered, but suffer from the same flaw.
Now, in my arrogance, I'm going to try and do what philosophers for the last half century or so haven't been able to do, and see if I can come up with a definition of what is knowledge (or at least one that works for me). Let's consider a few important points
To know something it must be true. I can know 30 Rock is a TV show starring Tina Fey because this is true. I can't know that it is a TV show that went for 10 seasons because this is not true (however much I'd like it to be). I can think it went for 10 seasons, I can believe it, but I can't know it. So truth is essential.
All my next ideas were all just trying to finesse the justification side of things, and since a long checklist of things doesn't seem that satisfying, I'm going to throw out a new idea and see how it goes.
Knowledge is Understanding based on Meaningful Applied Data. Nope, that's Justified True Belief in different words. Dammit. This is trickier than I thought.
Actually, I like the Justified True Belief idea. The tricks they used to poke holes in that idea don't seem big enough to throw the whole thing out, more requiring more care in what can be considered a justification for a belief. So let's go with a Justified True Belief that is subject to revision as more information is learned (You can see the science background there)
The second part was on Radical Skepticism. The position of the Radical Skeptic is that since we can't be sure we're not just brains in a jar being fed sensations, a la The Matrix, we can't really be sure of anything. This I find less than satisfying mainly because it is a theory that makes no testable claims and in science when you put forward a theory that makes no testable claims you get a pat on the head and asked to come back when you do have some testable claims, and if you build your theory to completely avoid testable claims, well don't even bother. So the whole brain in the jar scenario being reason to doubt our ability to know just doesn't fly. If we have two possibilities as to how the world works, we don't just decide we can't know anything. We find out which one it is and build up from there. The Radical Skeptic is a defeatist position.
That's it for now. The next set of lectures is on Minds, so I'll probably have something I disagree with there I'll want to write about.
A few general statements first. Epistemology is looking at the question of what is knowledge and how do we know what we know (and how do we know how we know what we know (and how do we know how we know how we know what we know (and so on and so on))). My science and analytic background makes me take a very empirical view of such things (which is part of why I've tended to not look so favourably on philosophy and related disciplines. This will become very significant in the second part).
So, what is knowledge? What does it mean to know something? The initial idea that was presented was that knowledge is a belief that is true and for which there is a justifiable reason for being true. Notwithstanding a certain unease at the use of the word believe (while here they are using it to mean "an idea of how the world is" too many discussions with religious types who use it as "an idea of how the world is without explaining why" has led me to try and avoid the word. If more people used it in the first sense and then tried to justify their beliefs, I'd be happier using it), this seems to be a reasonable definition.
Unfortunately, the lecturer then went on to shoot down this definition, by poking what was considered to be a big hole in the justifiable reason part of the definition. This was done by setting up scenarios where what one believes is true, and you think you have a justified reason for believing it, but that justified reason is not true. A few amendments to the definition were considered, but suffer from the same flaw.
Now, in my arrogance, I'm going to try and do what philosophers for the last half century or so haven't been able to do, and see if I can come up with a definition of what is knowledge (or at least one that works for me). Let's consider a few important points
To know something it must be true. I can know 30 Rock is a TV show starring Tina Fey because this is true. I can't know that it is a TV show that went for 10 seasons because this is not true (however much I'd like it to be). I can think it went for 10 seasons, I can believe it, but I can't know it. So truth is essential.
All my next ideas were all just trying to finesse the justification side of things, and since a long checklist of things doesn't seem that satisfying, I'm going to throw out a new idea and see how it goes.
Knowledge is Understanding based on Meaningful Applied Data. Nope, that's Justified True Belief in different words. Dammit. This is trickier than I thought.
Actually, I like the Justified True Belief idea. The tricks they used to poke holes in that idea don't seem big enough to throw the whole thing out, more requiring more care in what can be considered a justification for a belief. So let's go with a Justified True Belief that is subject to revision as more information is learned (You can see the science background there)
The second part was on Radical Skepticism. The position of the Radical Skeptic is that since we can't be sure we're not just brains in a jar being fed sensations, a la The Matrix, we can't really be sure of anything. This I find less than satisfying mainly because it is a theory that makes no testable claims and in science when you put forward a theory that makes no testable claims you get a pat on the head and asked to come back when you do have some testable claims, and if you build your theory to completely avoid testable claims, well don't even bother. So the whole brain in the jar scenario being reason to doubt our ability to know just doesn't fly. If we have two possibilities as to how the world works, we don't just decide we can't know anything. We find out which one it is and build up from there. The Radical Skeptic is a defeatist position.
That's it for now. The next set of lectures is on Minds, so I'll probably have something I disagree with there I'll want to write about.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
By the Numbers 6/52
February continues apace. Let's see how I did.
Wealth
Net cash gain: $301.33
Yay. I can haz cash. Actually, I can pay off credit cardz. A bit. But a good result. I should buy cheap microwave meals for lunch more often.
Jobs Applied for: 0
Yeah, I need to do more. If I say that enough, I might actually do it.
Health
Net Calories: -3702
A good result after the last two weeks. It seems like the key to not eating is not to buy food to be eaten.
Weight: 103kg
Fitocracy points: 106
Watching Coursera lectures while using the treadmill is a winning combo.
Fitocracy level: 6
Life
Bike Riding: 355km
Books read: 0
Still going on Mr Gatling's Terrible Marvel
Darts: 501 in 21 rounds. Too many shots on the edge of the board.
Wealth
Net cash gain: $301.33
Yay. I can haz cash. Actually, I can pay off credit cardz. A bit. But a good result. I should buy cheap microwave meals for lunch more often.
Jobs Applied for: 0
Yeah, I need to do more. If I say that enough, I might actually do it.
Health
Net Calories: -3702
A good result after the last two weeks. It seems like the key to not eating is not to buy food to be eaten.
Weight: 103kg
Fitocracy points: 106
Watching Coursera lectures while using the treadmill is a winning combo.
Fitocracy level: 6
Life
Bike Riding: 355km
Books read: 0
Still going on Mr Gatling's Terrible Marvel
Darts: 501 in 21 rounds. Too many shots on the edge of the board.
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