Archive for September, 2009
The New South Wales Police really do produce some amusing press releases in between the continual stream of carnage.
Shortly before 8am on Monday, 14 September police were conducting enforcement operations at the intersection of Park Road and The Northern Road at Luddenham.
Police stopped a car which had failed to stop at the stop sign and spoke to the driver.
The 67-year-old Wallacia man told police he had never held a licence during the 50 years he had been driving. He was charged with not stop at stop sign/line and unlicensed driver never held. He will appear at the Liverpool Local Court on 5 October.
If it has happened in the ACT, the press release would have been very different. It would have droned on and on about “compliance” and “lives at risk”…and the number would probably have been lower than 50 years. In New South Wales, they recognise it as such an annoying regular occurrence for Police that it’s hardly worth the extra effort of press release paperwork unless the number is a big one.
In the ACT, we would have also heard about how the wondrous technology of number plate recognition is getting these people off our roads on a daily basis…they may be right, and I have no doubt that it is harder to get away with unlicensed driving now than it used to be, but I am continually amused by the different approach used by New South Wales and ACT Police on the matter.
Samuel
September 17th, 2009 at 02:33pm
According to Alan’s fill-in Jason Morrison, via The Right Aussie, Alan Jones will be back on air on Monday the 28th.
This will be good news for 2GB who lost ground in every daytime rating slot in the latest radio ratings, however still remain number one in every slot except for Drive, and will be keen to move Jason Morrison back to Drive to boost the ratings again.
Samuel
September 17th, 2009 at 01:20pm
Google are very pleased with themselves at the moment as they recently purchased reCAPTCHA, one of the many organisations behind those squiggly sets of letter and number which attempt to make you prove that you are human and not an evil spamming robot.
CAPTCHAs, in order to work as intended, rely on the fact that computers have a hard time reading the squiggly text, but Google and reCAPTURE seem to want to make it easier for computers to recognise the squiggly text.
Since computers have trouble reading squiggly words like these, CAPTCHAs are designed to allow humans in but prevent malicious programs from scalping tickets or obtain millions of email accounts for spamming. But there’s a twist — the words in many of the CAPTCHAs provided by reCAPTCHA come from scanned archival newspapers and old books. Computers find it hard to recognize these words because the ink and paper have degraded over time, but by typing them in as a CAPTCHA, crowds teach computers to read the scanned text.
In this way, reCAPTCHA’s unique technology improves the process that converts scanned images into plain text, known as Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This technology also powers large scale text scanning projects like Google Books and Google News Archive Search.
In this way, reCAPTCHA’s unique technology also improves computers’ ability to read CAPTCHAs, therefore defeating the whole process…although, it could already be defeated. If the letters are coming from ancient scanned newspapers, and reCAPTCHA is relying on you, the human, to teach it what the letters are, does that not therefore mean that reCAPTCHA has no idea what the letters are in the first place, and will let you in regardless of what input you provide?
Presumably reCAPTCHA is providing a combination of characters that it does and does not know in each capture, requiring you to enter the known characters correctly and hopefully the others correctly as well…but this still defeats the purpose of the CAPTCHA, as by teaching the computer how to read the squiggly text, CAPTCHAs would have to grow in complexity over time in order to stay ahead of the reading ability of computers.
And surely it is just a matter of time, if it hasn’t already happened, until malware starts taking note of what you enter for a given CAPTCHA, so that the bad guys have a CAPTCHA based Optical Character Recognition database of their own.
Samuel
September 17th, 2009 at 12:19pm
Samuel writes: Sorry that the column is late this week. Maritz submitted it yesterday afternoon but I didn’t get around the reading it until this evening.
Dear to hello for everybodyone who is do of read today and I am today for do the recipe and instuctiungs of promised for the compostings which are much good for helping with the graderens. I am often to do use the compostings with the gradens as I am do find that some of plants but not the all are much better when having been do if some compostings for use in the feedings.
The setting up of compostings is much important stages as can be faster if done the properly and do bring the worms in which can then be good as the worms do the learn quickly of this being goodly spot for the eatings and then they do provied the good of compost in quality for higher than otherwise to be do. For starting must place the small amount of the manures where the composts should go and is best if in area with shadings from tree in most of day time but some bit of the morning sun for some of morning but not all, and must not be doing get the afternoon suns as this can be too hot and heated for the good quality in composts.
I do use the horse manure for the compostings and should be use only small amount making height of the five centimetres covering of all base the area for compostings and then to be leaving there for a week. When do the week is over can then be placing more of the soils on top plus the special lures for the qorms. I am do not know of why but the worms are very much of the liking of my mixings and so I am do make the special tea to pour of on the compostings at this time. It is tea made in teapot but with added the cough syrup I am do use of the amount of the one dosage in strawberry flavour and also the same amount of the vodka. The dosageings of the cough syrups are of different in the different ones but it is level of main ingredient which is what worms are much of do like and so must always be using one dosage. The vodka does do enhance of worms doing like of the special tea and must be equal to level of cough dosages.
Tea should be brew for the five minutes before doing pour on to the compostings, then do place more of the soils on top with again half of previous amount the manure, then to be take the tea leaves and place them in clear plastic bag on clothes line for two days and not more before placing them on to compost as well. Then must be mix of compostings with shovel by picking up and turning but of gentle do so as for not the hurtings of worms who are much lovely.
Leave for three days before do come back to do singing of songs for half an hour to the worms and then can begin the compostings by adding the food scrpa s and of extra which is much lovely and tasty for the worms. I am also do find that compostings are better if do add the special tea and tea leaves every fortnight of two weeks as well for happy worms.
The smell of the compostings can be much strong at times so I am do say for that much most compostings should be in back for of garden where the house is away and not gettings winds of smell, or should be closing windows.
Please have much wonderful compostings now as this will be good for gardening and be making much lovely and wonderful for using on gardens.
Tomorrow I am to be do go to Mrs. Porrit of the English teachings house for doing build of compostings and slao for the working of the verbs which are the favourite words of the Englishes. Mr. Boss is still doing vistis for interstate and has done send of letter to say for call on tephlephone in week time of coming the Thursday morning. It is much lovely to be do hear from him and I am do hope that he is to be coming home and back of soon as I am not yet done finish of building the compostings in gradren for him.
I am do hope that you are all of well and good in healths.
From Maritz
September 15th, 2009 at 10:11pm
Perhaps I’m overreacting, but I’m shattered. Livenews.com.au is dead. The product of the 2GB newsroom which has grown in to arguably the best news website in the country on a skeleton staff, had the plugged pulled this afternoon.
This will require grieving. This will require serious adjustments to my online rituals…livenews.com.au is the only Australian news website which I visit regularly, with others being the result of searching for specific stories on Google News. This is personally devastating. News.com.au could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn’t care…but for livenews.com.au to die suddenly like this…
I’m starting to hope that this week is just some awful dream and that I will wake up before it spirals further.
Farewell livenews.com.au, your faithful combination of AAP material (which you kept in context, unlike some other places) and Macquarie National News material will be sorely missed.
(Thanks to Frank for the heads up…I wouldn’t have know for another hour or so otherwise)
Samuel
September 15th, 2009 at 06:02pm
I’m back in Canberra and was planning on resuming the Musicians Of The Week award tonight, but I’m not in the mood due to events which I don’t really want to discuss. I’ll resume normal operations tomorrow.
Enjoy your night.
Samuel
September 13th, 2009 at 07:48pm
Water and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong is in desperate need of a nickname, and I’m in desperate need of a new poll, so let’s attack a plural of stones with a singular bird.
Which of these is more appropriate for Penny Wong?
-
Water Princess Penny
-
Water Witch Wong
Total Votes: 90
Started: September 11, 2009
I was leaning towards “Water Princess” for a while because I like the sound of Princess Penny…but in many ways that is just a rip off of Princess Pelosi (US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi), and somewhat confusing seeing as I already call Clover Moore the Queen Princess of Sydney, so I’ve shifted to the “Water Witch”.
I’d love to know what you think…or if you have a better (non-defamatory) suggestion, leave a comment. I should point out though that I may decide to use any nickname of my choosing, and not necessarily the one indicated by the poll.
Incidentally, off-topic, but I was reminded to write this while I was having a shower and thinking about another topic which I intend to write about soon. You’ll probably work it out when you see it.
Samuel
September 11th, 2009 at 11:22pm
Kevin Rudd on The 7:30 Report last night
ALI MOORE: After today’s numbers though, and looking at the trends for the last couple of months, where do you think unemployment is going to peak now?
KEVIN RUDD: Well of course the Government, advised by the Treasury, will put out our estimates come the time for the mid-year financial and economic outlook.
ALI MOORE: But do you think 8.5 is still realistic?
KEVIN RUDD: Ali, I have been around long enough to know that you don’t pluck a number from space. We have had some encouragement in terms of these most recent numbers. Remember the unemployment rate in the United States at present is tipping 10 per cent.
And also bear in mind Treasury’s advice that had we not engaged in our stimulus strategy, our nation building for recovery plan that we too would have been headed in the direction of 10 per cent and right now we’d be in the depths of recession, but we still have a long way to go.
What? We haven’t reached US unemployment levels, and so we should be happy? Come off it Kevin. The US have a president who said unemployment would be kept below current levels, but has since been killing jobs with his policies. We would have to have a major collapse to reach US levels.
The reality is that, whilst the official unemployment numbers have not moved, the number of people in full time work has decreased significantly, and of course none of this takes in to account the people who can’t be bothered dealing with the Centrelink bureaucracy and therefore don’t register on the unemployment figures…me being one of them. The amount of time I have spent out of work this year far outweighs the amount of time I have spent in work, but from previous experience, I have no intention of dealing with the Centrelink paperwork nightmare surrounding my intermittent employment, or deal with their need to shoehorn me in to any old job they can push me in to.
Kevin, there is plenty of work to do. It is not the time, right now, to pat yourself on the back because you haven’t caused the carnage that your mate Barry Bamster has.
Samuel
September 11th, 2009 at 11:24am
Victoria’s “10/30 right” land-clearing laws for bushfire protection were passed in to law yesterday, allowing landowners to take practical steps to help protect their property.
Landowners in Victoria now have the right to clear vegetation, including trees, from within ten metres of their house, and any ground fuel within 30 metres of their house without a permit.
The Local Government and Shires Association of New South Wales’ water conference wraps up in Deniliquin today.
The Victorian Government is reminding residents that the fruit fly season is about to start again, and that residents can help to control the pest.
Agriculture minister Joe Helper says disposing of old fallen fruit, harvesting and consuming fruit as soon as it ripens, and not leaving ripe fruit on trees are the best ways to help stop fruit flies from breeding.
Changes to Australia’s private health insurance laws were voted down in federal parliament yesterday, and federal member for Farrer, Susan Ley, says this is good news for the 70 per cent of people in the Farrer electorate who are covered by private insurance.
Police are still searching for an elderly Echuca man who has been missing since Monday afternoon.
The New South Wales government is reviewing its Bovine Johne’s Disease program, to see if restrictions can be lifted.
And Dr. John Williams, the New South Wales Natural Resources Commissioner is touring river red gum forests in the Riverina.
Greenham Murray Football and Netball is in Finley tomorrow. In the football seniors, the first preliminary final between Moama and Barooga, the winner will meet Tocumwal in the grand final, while in the netball A grade preliminary final, Numurkah verse Tocumwal for a spot in the grand final against Tongala.
In the Goulburn Valley Football semi-finals, Tatura verse Rochester in Benalla tomorrow afternoon, and Mansfield verse Kyabram in Maroopna on Sunday.
In GV Netball’s semi-finals, the Shepparton Swans clash with Shepparton tomorrow, and Shepparton United verse Echuca on Sunday.
The 125th Jerilderie Gold Cup is on tomorrow.
And in Deni Ladies indoor netball last night, Monkey Magic defeated the Mixtures 30 to 12. Odds n Ends were too good for the Amcal Crocs 33 to 18. The RSL Retreads had an eight point win over Whatever, 38 to 30. And the Mixtures returned to the court but went down again, this time to NSS, 38 to 27.
Samuel
September 11th, 2009 at 08:51am
Your “Jerk of the Week” submission
The idiot who parked behind me at the motel yesterday
Why should this person be the “Jerk of the Week”?
When I am leaving for work at 4am, I really don’t want to spend three minutes doing the “reverse a bit, forward a bit, reverse a bit” shuffle just to get out. Go and park in a parking space you jerk!
Your Name (Optional)
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Alan Stock is on jury duty, so Casey Hendrickson is filling in for Alan on The Morning Source which probably leaves Heather Kydd on her own for today’s show…and as the KXNT website emails the Jerk Of The Week nominations to Casey, you should probably submit yours sooner rather than later. Jerk Of The Week airs shortly after 6pm Thursday in Las Vegas (11am Friday in Canberra) on Newsradio 840 KXNT.
Samuel
September 11th, 2009 at 01:40am
There was an ad on the TV a few moments ago for HarVey Norman, who were pushing an 850 day interest free offer.
That’s odd…I could be sure that Gerry Harvey who runs Harvey Norman said just a couple months ago that they were canning the deals:
“I’d love to do business with no interest-free [deals] but that’s not possible.”
It’s always refreshing to know that Gerry’s offers are valid for longer than his words.
Samuel
September 10th, 2009 at 09:57pm
European style socialism is where Obama wants to take the US, and even the spammers know it. A short time ago I received two identical emails supposedly from the Internal Revenue Service advising me that I had under-reported my income (aka, they want more of my money) and that I should click the link in the email to go to my tax return and fill in the correct details.
The link was to a .eu website…a European website.
It must be a good day if I can compare Barack Obama to a spammer.
Samuel
September 10th, 2009 at 12:22pm
The Commonwealth Bank issued a press release via AAP which made me laugh this morning.
The Commonwealth Bank has launched an interactive online competition aimed at encouraging teens to understand the value of money.
[..]
The competition is for existing or new customers, aged 14 – 17 years who have, or open, a Youthsaver or Streamline account with the Commonwealth Bank and deposit $10 before Friday 27 September 2009.
Give us ten dollars or you don’t get to play!
Who better to teach the value of money than the people who know how to take it.
Samuel
September 10th, 2009 at 10:49am
The Deniliquin Pastoral and Agricultural show, which celebrated its 130th year this year, has been cancelled for next year due to financial issues and the extended drought.
Echuca Police are concerned for the welfare of an elderly man who has been missing since Monday.
82-year-old Sydney Ferres was last seen at his home in Landsborough Street on Monday afternoon by a neighbour.
The Southern 80 Waterski race has put a call out to local businesses for help, as it struggles to find the funds required to continue beyond this year, after it posted its fourth straight annual loss.
The Victorian government is set to divert further water to Melbourne, this time taking 12,000 mega litres from the Wimmera Mallee pipeline, and ten thousand mega litres from the Thomson river.
10 school children and a bus driver were taken to Deniliquin Hospital yesterday after a school bus and a four wheel drive collided at the corner of Blackett and Ochetyre Streets in Deniliquin around 8:40 yesterday morning.
They were all taken to Deniliquin hospital in a stable condition. An eleven year-old boy has been transferred to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne since then for further treatment, the rest of the children have been released, and the bus driver remains in the hospital in a satisfactory condition.
51-year-old Des Campbell will face the New South Wales supreme court on the 2nd of October, accused of the murder of his wife, former Deniliquin woman Janet Anne Campbell in March 2005.
In round two of Deni Badminton’s spring competition, Mars 4 games 415 points were barred a win by Snickers 10 games 432 points on Monday.
In the night’s other game, Picnic 10 games 455 points defeated Aero 4 games 376.
And the Deni Rovers Football and Netball Club’s award and presentation night will be held tomorrow at the Deni golf club.
Samuel
September 10th, 2009 at 10:29am
10 school children and a bus driver have been taken to Deniliquin Hospital following a collision between a school bus and a four wheel drive at about 8:40 this morning, at the corner of Blackett and Ochetyre Streets.
Police, seven ambulance crews and the fire brigade attended the scene and treated 11 people for relatively minor injuries. The ambulance service says one patient had a head injury, they’ve taken spinal precautions with another, and treated nine patients for minor injuries including abrasions, lacerations and bruising.
They are all in a stable condition.
The occupants of the four-wheel drive, believed to be a woman and four young children, were not injured or taken to hospital.
Police have seized a large amount of drugs, weapons and illegal fireworks in a series of raids in Cobram and Numurkah yesterday, putting a serious dent in the illegal drug supply in the region.
More than 150 delegates are converging on Deniliquin today for the start of the three-day Local Government and Shires Association of New South Wales Water Management Conference.
Hundreds of school kids across the region got a chance to meet their AFL heroes, and heckle their AFL opponents, when over half a dozen AFL players came through the area yesterday for footy clinics as part of the Toyota Aurion V6 All Star Tour Bus program.
Cattle graziers who formerly grazed their cattle in the Barmah Forest are being offered financial assistance and free professional advice by the Victorian government, now that grazing in the forest has been banned.
Organisers of the Deni Ute Muster are trying to set two world records this year.
And the Port of Echuca have announced that the annual Celebration Of Steam, showcasing 100 years of steam-powered transport, will be held on the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of October.
The lineup for this weekend’s Murray Football and Netball finals has been announced. It all takes place in Finley on Saturday from 9am.
In the footy, Barooga Verse Tongala in the reserves, and Barooga Verse Moama in the Seniors, whilst in the Netball, Numurkah verse Tocumwal in A Grade and Congupna verse Numurkah in B grade.
And finally, in last week’s golfing action at the Tocumwal Golf Club, Marg Lemsing, Edna Lloyd, Anne Brown and Gwenda Walsh won the ladies drop-out ambrose. Phil Dungan was the A grade men’s winner, and Pam Brierly was the ladies winner in the Legacy Charity Day stableford. And in Saturday’s medley stableford, Edna Lloyd was the ladies A grade winner, while Geo Martin took out A grade for the men.
Samuel
Note: Before anybody has a go at me for contradicting the police press release about the bus/car crash, the ambulance press release is the one I’m using for numbers as it is much more detailed and was issued locally, not through the Sydney Media Centre…and nobody in the local police is authorised to speak about the issue.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:36am
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