Samuel's Blog

The difference between a female and a male superb fairy-wren

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a male and a female superb fairy-wren (other than the obvious)?

Click of Creativity has an answer:
The male superb fairy-wren and the female superb fairy-wren.

To quote another Canberran, “now you know”.

Samuel

February 20th, 2008 at 03:26pm

A definition of atheism or the big bang theory

Prophet, over at Random Brainwave, posted the following quote about atheism last week.

The belief that there was nothing and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason what so ever into self-replicating bits which then turned into dinosaurs.

Makes perfect sense.

Whilst I’m not sure that it’s quite a definition of atheism (I actually think it’s a definition of the “big bang theory”), it certainly could be a definition of an aspect of atheism as that usually implies a disbelief in the “intelligent design” theories. I personally think intelligent design is more likely, but I doubt that anybody will ever truly know (whilst they’re alive anyway).

Samuel

1 comment February 20th, 2008 at 01:21pm

Alan Jones leads 2GB to massive victory

The metropolitan radio ratings were released yesterday, and whilst 2GB’s victory might not be the exact definition of “massive” there can be no denying that Alan Jones’ victory in the breakfast timeslot is massive. Alan Jones has almost double the audience of any other breakfast show in Sydney, he commands an extraordinary 19.1%. His nearest rivals 2DAY FM and 702 ABC Sydney both get a 10.9% share, leaving everyone else in single figures.

Ray Hadley’s morning show continues the extraordinary figures, being the only morning show in double digits. Ray Hadley has a 17.8% share, well and truly ahead of 2DAY FM on 9.6% and everyone else on 8.3% and lower.

Overall 2GB leads on 14.3% (a gain of 2.6), followed by 702 ABC Sydney on 10.5% (a gain of 1.1), and 2DAY FM on 9.8% (a loss of 0.2). 2GB had the largest gain, whilst Mix 106.5 had the largest loss (1.4). Much of 2GB’s success can be attributed in a jump from 0.8% to 6.2% in the 10 to 17 year old age group.

A big congratulations is in order for all the staff at 2GB. Incidentally Alan Jones was interviewed by their online news service livenews.com.au. It is well worth a watch…it really looks like Alan is (deservedly) pleased with the win, but not letting it go to his head.

One does have to wonder if Fairfax are questioning the merits of buying 2UE. Every single shift except for the weekend lost ground, some by as much as 35% of their audience.

Full results of the Sydney ratings can be found at http://www.nielsenmedia.com.au/files/sydney108.pdf. Others are as follows:
Melbourne
Brisbane
Adelaide
Perth

Samuel

1 comment February 20th, 2008 at 09:29am

Dim-witted idiots and traffic cones

I was coming home along Coranderrk Street at about 5:15 this morning and noticed something which I can only describe as an act of stupidity. Next to the National Convention Centre a new building is being constructed and there have been some minor roadworks in the area (see the green mark on the map below)…as such there are traffic cones. Some dim-witted idiots (or probably the plural thereof, even if it is a partially redundant description) decided that it would be a good idea to move them on to the road in a haphazard manner, effectively blocking one lane, and turning the other into an obstacle course. The road was not in this state (and there were no construction or roadwork staff on-site) when I went past at 7:45pm yesterday, so these dimwits obviously did it during the night.

Map copyright: Google 2008. Map data copyright: MapDataSciences Pty Ltd. Green marker added by Samuel

Just so we’re clear about this, I am not talking about the “witches hat” type of traffic cone, I’m talking about the tall skinny ones which are about a metre high, so you can’t really negate the obstacle course by running over the cones.

The area was still navigable, but at a lower speed, and only for one car at any given time. If left in this state, this “generally busy during the day” road would undoubtedly have an accident before long. I live short distance away, so I stopped at home, then made my way back and called the police. A friendly lady answered the phone and I explained the situation to her, and she let out a sort of “some people are really dumb” moan when she heard that traffic cones had been spread across the road. I mentioned to her that I would have fixed it myself, but it most probably would not be safe for me to move the cones at night (especially as I was wearing fairly dark clothing), and if somebody saw me moving the cones and called the police about it, I would be the one getting in trouble.

I wasn’t quite sure if the lady on the phone wanted me to wait around for the police to arrive, and as I generally don’t like to leave the scene until they arrive when I call an emergency service, I decided to wait. A few minutes later a police car arrived, “the police officers activated their vehicle’s warning lights” as one of their press releases would say, and got out to assess the situation. I walked over and explained who I was and why I was there, and then assisted the police with the cleanup (which was now much safer thanks to the flashing lights on the police car). A security guard who was just leaving the nearby CIT campus also assisted.

I must say that the two police officers, who must surely have been wondering what was going through the minds of the people who moved the traffic cones, did not seem phased by the sheer stupidity of the situation. They were very professional and friendly, and I think the response of the police to this incident was absolutely fantastic.

It’s just a pity that, in all likelyhood, the chances of catching the dimwits who moved the traffic cones is almost zero. With that in mind, if you saw anything suspicious in the area during the night, I would urge you to give crimestoppers a call on 1800 333 000.

Samuel

6 comments February 20th, 2008 at 06:54am