Wednesday, 21 January 2009

FINALLY!!!





Finally! A President with a brain.

Finally! A President I can respect.

Finally! I have some hope for the future.

Finally! I can feel proud to be an American.

Congratulations, Mr President.

Monday, 19 January 2009

Jon Stewart Says It Best

Jon Stewart was my constant companion during the recent Presidential campaign, and I think he says it best as we count down the final hours of the Presidency of George W Bush. Today, Monday the 19th of January. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Did You Lose It in The Divorce?

When HRH was in Year 7, aged 12, I was talking to one of her friends during school holidays. She told me about the plans she and her family had and she asked me "What are you and Em doing this school holidays?"

I said, "Well, I'm working every day so we aren't going to be doing anything special."

"Really?" she said, a surprised look on her face. "You aren't even going to spend any time at your beach house?"

"No," I answered, "we don't have a beach house."

She leaned in and, with a look of understanding that belied her years, she said, "Did you lose it in the divorce?"

Saturday, 10 January 2009

Fun iPhone Apps

I had lunch with some friends yesterday and, as you would expect, the conversation turned to iPhones. Being a bit of a GadgetGirl, I have fallen in love with my iPhone. Not just because it looks cool, which it does, but because of the fun apps (applications) you can download for it. Why be all grown up and mature if you don't have to? So, I've decided to share some of my favourite iPhone applications to encourage all you normal iPhone owners out there to explore your Inner TechNerd.

You can download these applications to your iPhone through the App Store on iTunes and most of my favourites are free. How can you go wrong?

Lightsaber
One of the first applications I downloaded for my iPhone was Lightsaber. When you turn it on, the screen changes to a light saber, just like in the Star Wars movies, complete with sound effects. When you move your iPhone around, like you are Luke Skywalker fighting Darth Vader, it makes all the sounds of a light saber battle. And, with the latest version, you can turn on music so it's almost like being in the movie.

Too cool. Check it out.

Shazam

Ever hear a song during a TV show or on the radio and wonder what it's called and who recorded it? Your days of wondering are over.
Shazam is an application for your iPhone that listens to the song and then does a Google-like search for it in cyberspace. When it finds it, it shows you the album cover art, song title, what album it is on and who recorded it. It also gives you links to the song on iTunes and any videos on YouTube, the biography of the band and their complete discography.

Too cool Check it out.

Just a word of warning, though. Don't Shazam a song while you are driving. :-)

Nightstand

This is an application that displays the time on your iPhone like it's a digital clock. I plug mine into a small docking station on my desk or on my bedside table and use it instead of a proper clock. I turned on the Disable Auto-Lock feature under Settings and it stays on all night long. There are a couple of different display layouts and it works a treat in either horizontal or vertical orientation.

You can set alarms through the Clock app that comes with your iPhone but you might want to mute your phone before you go to bed. I find those pesky calendar reminders at midnight to be a bit of a nuisance. But the alarm will still sound even if you have muted your iPhone.

Too cool. Check it out.

Friday, 9 January 2009

Pill Pollution

According to this recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Vatican is holding women who take the contraceptive pill responsible for polluting the environment with excessive amounts of female hormones and, in turn, causing the decline in male fertility rates.

I am trying not to let the absolute lunacy of the Catholic Church's position detract from the irony of a bunch of celibate men who are concerned about the decline in male fertility. I'm not surprised that this bastion of male arrogance and superiority is blaming women. Misogyny has always been a critical part of The Holy See since the days of St Augustine, whose own personal problems with sex and women are an early source of this lasting legacy. How long before they blame women for global warming and the world economic crisis?

I did a bit of a Google search on male fertility and found that each source advocated a different theory as to the cause of the decline in male fertility rates, including the chemicals found in pesticides, plastics, shampoos and cosmetics as well as the chemicals found in meat. But only The Vatican is blaming women and The Pill.

Fortunately, the SMH article doesn't mention just how men in the West end up consuming the urine of women who take The Pill. Obviously, I don't hang out in the right kinky sex clubs.

Please ... don't enlighten me. :-)