Have a great Year of the Ox!

Lots and lots of garlic. The very picture of healthiness.

‘Tis good for you when you’re sick (and in general). ‘Tis true!

So now that’s all out of the way, we’ll go back to our normal broadcast schedule.

It appears that being connected is no longer just the domain of Generation Y (and whatever they call the generation after us). Generation Y consists of late teens to 26 year olds, so I’ve been told. GenY is the iPod/ mp3, laptop, instant messaging, social networking, always connected generation. We think we’re cool, hip and suave.

So why do I find it so concerning when I see that my friends parents have joined Facebook? They’re the baby boomers. They’re our parents, they’re the ones that never seemed to get it, never understood how important it was to always be on MSN and how we could do our homework while listening to mp3’s, chatting, and watching the TV. Now they’re having conversations with their kids on their FB walls, checking out what their kids and friends did on the weekend, and probably doing background checks on everyone, all courtesy of them having found out how to be ’switched on’.

What’s even MORE disconcerting is when my 86 year old grandma gets a computer and internet connection. Did they even have switches back then?

But order restores itself in the world when they come asking me how to send an e-mail. For the 52nd time.

So here I take up the mantle of blogging once again. To establish that yes, I am a GenY’er, and that I am more connected and ‘hip’ than my parents.

What has the world come to?

Micro-blogging is becoming increasingly common. The most common of this would be the ubiquitous Facebook Status changer. Everytime you change it to say “I am really annoyed at the new Facebook” or “I feel so full after that massive dinner”, you’ve engaged in micro-blogging. It’s becoming even easier with FB being available on mobiles.

I would sign up for that, except three sucks. Apparently my mobile isn’t good enough to use their X series, even though it is the same generation as other X-series phones. Just because I went and bought it from HK shouldn’t be a discriminator! I have considered buying a new phone, I even toyed with the idea of an iPhone, but the sheer cost associated is quite daunting, considering I am unemployed Also, the fact that the ‘other’ flagship, the Nokia N95 was around over a year ago, is quite sad imho. I would have thought that we would have seen some more progress.

I’ve started looking at mobiles in Japan, and they SERIOUSLY blow you away. Sharp seems to be a key brand in Japan, which is surprising, as it barely makes a ripple here in AU. I would love to buy one of the high end ones, massive crisp screens, 5MP+ cameras, yet it appears that Japanese phones don’t have 2G capabilities, which means that when I brought it back to Sydney, I would quite often have a brick of a phone, because Three Mobile’s coverage sucks. Heck, I’m in the city most of the day, and chances are, if I look at my phone I’ll be roaming.

Which brings us back to the issue of blogging. I feel a time of change. I feel like expressing my ever more cynical views of the world with you. And who knows, maybe we’ll learn something together.

In 1990, just under a third of the world’s population lived on the coast. By 2002, that figure had risen to to 41%, and coastal populations are now growing at four times the global average.

Why does this matter? “People are attracted to the coasts because of the high density of ecosystem services, but then the concentration of population has the side effect of depleting those same services.” – Uni of Vermont

Consider what happened with Hurricane Katrina. Grand Isle is regularly hit by severe storms, yet federal building subsidies continue to pour in. One statistic quotes over $1 million of public money has been spent for each of Grand Isle’s 600 or so permanent residents over the four decades leading upto 1990. It has been summed up as welfare for the wealthy. The US populace are paying for people to live in a hit zone.

Food for thought. I might expound on this point, and a few similar ones after my exams=p

We had been talking about the fact that the university is pretty isolated. There isn’t that much to do around here, esp compared to other universities like BeiYu. Foreign Students also get screwed over, as all the expensive stuff is on their side of campus. The bus stop on our gate is called “Lonely/Isolated Lion” or something, which is fair enough.

But get this. Apparently there used to be a cemetery here. Like…I was like…You guys build universities and high schools over cemetery’s? Think of the children!!! But the thinking behind it is that no one would build a house on top of a cemetery, and live there with the family, all sorts of bad luck. But having a school/uni, with lots of people around constantly, is ok. Which kinda makes sense.

But totally freaky…

I even get a funky uniform, thou i’m not sure that I’d wear it out of APEC. The drizabone i’m sure would earn a through word-thrashing if I wore it at uni. People seem to think that by helping to facilitate the APEC evet, that we somehow are fully condoning it. Now i’m not saying anything either way, but I mean, seriously, I’m just working there. I’m not making any of the decisions, or even influencing them. I might as well be the janitor for all the difference it makes to the big outcomes of the APEC meetings (well I guess in effect I am=p)

Well, we’ve been advised not to say toooo much, cos some ‘undesireables’ might decide to target us or use us to gain entrance. So mum’s the word

Edit: A word of warning. Some people have told me that new-comers to anime may not appreciate the series, as they won’t understand a lof of the jokes, sublte and otherwise, and that the series may put them off anime. So my advice to you is: go watch some good series, become an Anime connoisseur then come back and watch the series. You’ll love it.

“Why do reason, logic, and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the way America [and the world] now makes important decisions?” - Al Gore

A very loaded question indeed. Something that I am exploring while reading Al Gore’s latest book “The Assault on Reason”, which is proving a very interesting read. More on that once I finish the book, but I mention it now in the hope that you go and read it and come up with some ideas for discussion. I got my copy for $22.95 from Borders, who, incidentally, are having 20% off at the moment for Students and Teachers.

My blog has been rather silent for the past week, as my net access has been minimal to non-existent. Which, surprisingly enough, has not been a bad thing. I have had a FABULOUS time in Brisbane, meeting lots of people, bumming around the city and eating lots of food. And yes, I am now back in Sydney, for one week, before heading off to Melbourne for a week. More on that later too. I will do a big post on the actual Brisbane trip and what happened later =)

I have put up a selected 50 pictures which detail some of the fun times and places I have been to. I will probably put the Dent Dinner pictures up later, as there are too many to go through, and I have several new anime series waiting to be watched, not to mention the ever present Scrubs.

Enjoy the photos =)