Silver's Corner

ACT Citizens Disenfranchised

Silver — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:23:26 +0000

My first major disappointment in the new Labor government. This argument shouldn’t be about whether homosexual marriage is right or wrong, it’s about whether citizens of the ACT have the right to govern themselves. As a territory, we already do not have the full set of rights the states have. If we do not have the right to govern ourselves, then we should return to being directly governed by the Federal government.

8 Random Facts About Me

Silver — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:36:57 +0000

I unexpectedly got tagged by Currawong. I don’t think there’s much point in these memes, but I’m happy to give it a try. Here’s the rules:

Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

Well, what can I say.

I greatly enjoyed building the technical framework to host a blog.
While I have strong opinions and a great desire to share them through this web log, I have almost a fear of posting them. (Hence the feebleness of this site, and the length of time it took to post this).
I find it much easier to communicate with text then I do with speech, especially in social situations.
I have been learning foil for more than 10 years.
I collect comic books. My favourite artists are Frank Cho and Budd Root.
I think the likelihood of any deities existing to be extremely low.
I love reading books and watching documentaries on science history.
I lived in Poland for three years growing up.

Now, the meme dies. The people I know I’d be comfortable inflicting with this don’t have web logs.

Group Assignments

Silver — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 06:14:12 +0000

I’m doing a masters degree at the Australian National University. I hate group assignments.

80% of the group doesn’t contribute. There is an over-eager team leader, who annoys everyone, and the subject matter isn’t brilliant. It’s a pain.

LOL POLS

Silver — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 04:10:30 +0000

I can’t say I understand the whole LOLCATS thing, but these LOLPOLS are brilliant.

iPod Touch

Silver — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 11:43:36 +0000

I decided to treat myself to a new iPod recently. The iPod Touch is a blow your mind product. I am extremely happy with it, but there are a few things that could make it the most amazing product released this year. (Well, the iPhone might be better, but it isn’t available in Australia easily).My main complaint is the lack of calender editing and a notes application. The reason for their exlusion seems to be to avoid canabalising iPhone sales. After having used this for a while, I’d sure get an iPhone. Typing is much easier than I thought it would be.This post was written on my new iPod.

Australian Election 2007

Silver — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 04:52:21 +0000

I live the Federal electorate of Fraser. Bob McMullan is virtually guaranteed to retain this seat. I don’t have a problem with McMullan, and think he’s a reasonable performer. Although the ACT is under represented. Fraser had 116,527 people on the roll in 2004, and Solomon in the Northern Territory had only 53,873 people. You could split the two ACT seats into 3 and still have more people per seat than the Northern Territory. The ACT votes Labor and the current government is Liberal; coincidence?

What’s interesting is the Senate in the ACT. The Senate currently has a single seat majority in the government’s favour. Newly elected state Senators take their seats the following July, but Territory Senators take their seats immediately. This means the ACT and NT are in the unique position of being able to take back control of the Senate immediately. Both territories typically vote for one Liberal and one Labor Senator. In the Northern Territory, both Senators have higher margins, the Liberal Senator in particular. In the ACT, the Liberal Senator was only elected with just over the required 33% before going to preferences. It would take very little to go to preferences which would make it significantly more likely that the Liberal Senator will lose his seat.

ACT residents should seriously consider this when casting their vote. The Senate with a government majority has been neutered of its oversight role. No party should be allowed to have a Senate majority again.

On Death

Silver — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:18:12 +0000

Our pet Budgie just died two weeks ago. I was holding him in my hand when he gave up. He seemed to have some kind of cancer, as he had at least two tumours; one on his leg, and one his chest. He didn’t appear to be in much pain, but did pick at the tumour on his leg and make it bleed, hence the reason I was holding him. He was struggling as usual one moment, staring into my eyes with his left eye the whole time. Then he stopped struggling, but kept looking at me. I couldn’t say the exact moment he died, but it was clear that he was giving up in the moments beforehand. The first I was sure he was dead, was when his head went slack, and his eye started to close.

I’ve never had anything die that close to me before. Sure, I’ve swatted a mosquito, but this was quite a bit different. I hadn’t realised how much the incident affected me until the last few days. The last look he gave me has been replayed in my head quite a few times, and I can still see his resignation. I can’t say I feel particularly sad or torn, he was just a budgie after all, but that moment of death was quite a shock.

Birthday

Silver — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 01:39:52 +0000

Yesterday I turned 25. It is scary how fast time goes by. This year looks to be quite different from previous years, however. Much more going on professionally, personally, and socially. I will be starting a Master of Engineering shortly, which will eat up a lot of my spare time, I’m sure.