kiwibank just updated their internet banking website, and i am SOLD. i love it.

why is kiwibank totally awesome?

1) they have a debit visa (okay sure lots of others too, but they weren't late to the party like BNZ, or missing out like TSB)
2) they have a free account
3) they have a visa with no account fee (as long as you use it every three months)
4) their internet banking is awesome - has secure mail (like National Bank did), search your transaction history, and most importantly, save payees for free.

Yeah seriously, they dont charge you $2. And why should they? The convenience is so much better - dont have to memorize my brothers bank account number, and my sisters, and the family account, etc - just select from the list.

The only thing that sucks is the lack of atms. but if they ever start working on that; all every day banking: sorted.

Time to ditch your old bank and come to the dark side >:)

lol The Lonely Island: Incredibad is an awesome album, if only because of "I'm on a Boat" and "Dick in a box" (featuring...justin timberlake)

uberlolz

lol so yesterday, we ordered a hawaiian pizza online on Dominos Pizza...

and on the pizza we swapped the ham for smoked chicken,
swappeed the pineapple for bacon
and changed teh sauce from tomato to barbeque

best hawaiian ever

So today, we did a big clean of our apartment (loooooong overdue), and before any of this could start, I needed to empty the vacuum cleaner's dust bag...so I proceed to do this.I pulled out matted clogged dust ball things through the hole that the vacuum tube goes in, and lots of dust flying everywhere and obviously i inhaled heaps of it and now im really sick etc

lol

but the funniestest thing issssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss i later reread the instructions, and realised the bottom of the bag could have been unclipped and i could have avoided inhaling 9000x more dust than i had to.

lol...

yusss i managed to get http://www.facebook.com/henry.chong

https://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=13273070&an=0&page=0#Post13273070

lol

lol...my dell laptop has now died, so that makes all THREE computers in my apartment have died in the space of two months...so im posting this from myPS3, which I guess is the most stable "computer" now...

...lol....


@#%)(!@)%(!@%

wow lol the magic of SEO

google "Client server database" if you dare

why bother with car alarms that just go on and on and get ignored by everyone?

install a flamethrower instead

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9812/11/flame.thrower.car/

back in auckladn now; a little bit sick :(

watched the first episode of "glee" - awesome! the music is sweet. i love the little like "segue" music, like vocal moonlight sonata etc etc. cant wait for the next one!

can you believe it, a bug in Firefox 2?? :o :o

if you've got a div with overflow:auto and a border, the border redraw is really slow and will "bleed" while you scroll down over the div. Dastardly!

at least i think thats why its dying

i fixed it by using overflow:hidden but this might not be a solution for everyone...

---

Oh yeah I'm in Wellington, and I have been asked to stay on an extra week also! There goes band practice lol ><

argon is swimming even more STUPID

ARRRRR

im sooo saddd:(

So we all know that Internet Explorer is a dog when it comes to CSS and styling, etc. Here's today's problem and solution:

My Checkboxes in IE have padding which I can't remove in CSS.

So if you're trying to get things to look consistent between Firefox, IE AND Safari, the last thing you need is IE adding padding which setting margin:0px and padding:0px doesn't seem to remove.

The solution?

margin-top:9px; padding:0px; width:13px; height:13px;


I believe giving it a specific width gives it the hasLayout property in IE, which reminds it to stop being stupid and do things properly.

I might be totally wrong though, but at least it works.

Today I got my first foodbox :) And I must say I'm pretty happy with it.

While realistically you can never expect it to be ever as cheap as buying from the supermarket yourself, I am very impressed with the quality of the fruit and veg that's come in. The mushrooms don't look depressing, the vine tomatoes look really fresh and vibrant, the gourmet potatoes are cute, the carrots look good! It's like in ads, when you see fruit; its like that. And they DO also deliver to you, and if you tried to order that amount of fruit and veg online through something like foodtown online, the delivery charge is pretty hefty.

Also, they seem to like throwing in random things to spice things up. This week, I got choko.

What the hell is that?

I don't know! It looks kind of like a bittergourd to me, on the outside. Wiki says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayote
There's also a recipe to try; though it does need lemon which didn't come in the box.

Because I live in an apartment, I requested them to give me a call to pass the foodbox to me directly, and they did just that - very polite, and yeah.

The final proof though, is in the eating - I had a mandarin and it was really delicious, and I guess we'll see how a cooked meal with foodbox veg turns out! :)

So finally, the "Media Computer" which I put linux on has died. Either it couldn't handle the upgrade to Ubuntu 9.1, or the graphics card finally ate crap, but it wouldn't go back to installing Ubuntu 8.10, or completing Windows 7's beta at any rate or fashion. So for now, it's sitting in the corner along with my laptop in what I like to call the "Technology Graveyard"...

Somewhere along the line, I want this though. Seems pretty decent!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229090&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Desktop+PC-_-CyberpowerPC-_-83229090
But for now, i've moved the laptop to use the HD tv as a monitor, and we've got a wireless mouse and keyboard - it's pretty awesome! I'm gonna try some gaming on it :P

The only downside to this is that it'll be harder to share the TV and the PC. Although really, could just move the laptop away again by unplugging it so its not such a big deal.

Still though, why all three computers dying on me at the same time? Don't need the stressss

So some of you will probalby know my laptop likes dying on me periodically. Yesterdayy, while trying to install The Last Remnant, I managed to destroy the Vista install, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out Windows 7.

So I did. It's not bad, although I think the UI takes a bit of getting used to. I don't have much except for first impressions of it, that and the fact that it allowed me to recover all my documents and stuff (whereas Vista didnt seem to want to install over itself)

It also has a new calculator program (yeah, not just the XP one with Aero borders!)

the cs faculty sent me a letter and for some reason they are under the impression that i did a Bsc/Bcom.

lol

In IE8, whenever I see that "What do you want to do next?" in the New Tab window in a light colour and large font, I'm always reminded of the oldschool Microsoft thing, "What would you like to do today?"

Is this deliberate?

Probably.

you know what is the dumbest thing ever?

Graduation rings.

Who sat down and decided "oh okay thats cool   ill wanna wear a ring that will cost $695 that says I graduated from Uni"

>!@!@%!@% lol

The bear, okay the bear is overpriced like hell but at least its cute. a ring?!?!?! um      its not even like superpowered or anything

Wow. Right now, my new favourite album is Razia's Shadow by Forgive Durden

a perfect blend of really intelligent and powerful orchestral renditions with rock - its like progressive rock meets 20th century composers.

its. AWESOME.

my only gripe is that some of the lyrics are little uninspired and cheesy but to be honest im far too impressed by the music to even care

GO LISTEN NOW

wow

you know u famours when u in real groove! 

http://www.realgroove.co.nz/Artist.aspx?id=2991

okay fine its empty

but lol

New MSN Messenger.

Looks good! And that's about it, really. Most of the changes seem cosmetic to me. I do like that border around the display pics that change depending on status. And the wide array of themes to select from is nice. And the right click menus are transparent. (WPF for the win) 

But yeah. I guess it's all pretty much the same

EXCEPT FAVOURITES.

I can't believe we never had favourites before. Best thing ever.

just had Murder Burger today

it is really. really good.

its like burger fuel, but not lame and with wit and style.

its awesome. u muzt eat there

Man, I spent heaps of money today:

32" samsung series 5 full hd lcd tv - $1198
playstation 3 - $737
hdmi cable - $59
tv cabinet - $79.99

The Warehouse's website uses jQuery!

Wow. www.ted.com is awesome

I've seen videos about:

the art of bread
Scott McCloud on comics
the giant sunfish / mola-mola
fractals and African buildings
these weird "living" Polish constructed creatures
Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce

so good!

Okay now THIS is impressive theremin:

watch for what happens @ 2:48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-ywH1Vj8_U

So while lookin for something to convert a game controller to MIDI signals so I can use my rock band drum controller to record onto PC, I came across this

http://www.kenmooredesign.com/2008/11/more-wii-theremin-videos.html

Theremion + electronic drum kit LETS START A BAND

I saw this on Metservice this morning and I died a little on the inside...

You know what the worst thing is?

People who put videos of expert drum tracks on Rockband of supercool songs, and play fuckin 4 note drum fills

SOUNDS LIKE SHIT

lol. like, there was one i saw of NIN perfect drug....the song's drums are awesome. but the fill he did? wth man.

Future Henry is leaving me clues again!!



OR maybe it's Futurebook.

So my time in Hamilton, and at Endace is coming to an end; this Friday (tomorrow), to be precise. What has it been like?

Well, there have been times where I've felt really run down - mainly the travel involved between Hamilton and Auckland (1.5 hours driving minimum twice a week, 1.5 hours more than I want), and working with a team of people who are just so intelligent and bright that I feel a little bit dumb at times; but as it's coming to an end and I'm tying up the loose ends of the project, I know that it's quite possibly been the best thing that could have happened to me, graduating from University. I've learnt heaps of things that I don't think I would have even if I did 200 post-graduate courses, and met a bunch of really talented individuals along the way.

So yeah. I will definitely always look back at these three months as one of the most valuable things I've done in terms of work and study.

But why I really wanted to make a post today was because one of our interns is famous!!!! k thx bai

man my life is like an action flick

when i was driving up state highway one today, i was passing a van which was going at 80km/h, and as i crept along side it, it exploded

okay well it didnt really explode, but what really happened was one of its tyres exploded, made a massive noise, shook my car, and looking at my rear view mirror you could see strewn bits of black rubber, strips all over the road...and the van quickly moving to the side...exciting!!

And then when I go back to east auckland, there are of course like 7-8 cop cars at the bottom of priestley drive because apparently an escaped criminal has been spotted at bucklands beach

Random notes on web development:

use em not px - em scales with font size

YUI's CSS foundation has really dumb identifiers - sure, i know the t in yui-t2 stands for template, but how am I supposed to remember it's 180px on the left? Why not call it yui-template-180-left? The rest of the YUI library is really really verbose and typespaced so I don't understand it.

Firebug is your friend.

IE sucks

jQuery is awesome

that is all

Quite possibly, this is the cutest thing ever:

Fish Ladders.

Yes. Ladders, for fish! Can you imagine the happy fish climbing?!?! YUESH!!!!

William.

http://cubecheater.efaller.com/

so, like, you can apply psych 109 to FFTA2.

In the original FFTA, you were penalised for breaking the law. That is, you were under the effect of positive punishment (an aversive event is presented if you break the law).

Now in FFTA2, you get a bonus if you uphold the law. So, there is negative reinforcement (something you could have gotten is taken away, if you break the law)

So. Are you more likely to uphold the law, now that instead of being penalised for not following, you are rewarded for following?

Apparently the answer is yes! I am inclined to think so too.

But don't hold you breath for the day you get stopped by the cops, just for them to give you $10 and say "thanks for not speeding".

Girl Talk on Sunday was awesome!!

so tired though, lol

its funny when he was setting up his laptop and stuff, he was wrapping everything in glad-wrap, and we were all like "what is he do that for"

but after 2 hours of watching him dance around and drip sweat onto the table, i think we understand why now...lol

---

awesome songs which should be on rockband (but i dont think they arereeee):

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - Santa Esmerelda
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queeeeen

just watched Trainspotting - itis really quite good!!

:( one of my fish died!! ;_; i dunno which one

we're thinkin ammonia poisoning (too much fish poo), cause the remaining one has reddish gills

IM SO SAD :(

http://www.ffdistantworlds.com/main.php?section=tickets&info=13

I WANT

I know it's a sunday, but

http://music.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music.showDetails&Band_Show_ID=38528063&friendid=200651230

No excuses. The next day is a public holiday!

A great quote from Joel on Software:

It has been said that design is the art of making choices. When you design a trash can for the corner, you have to make choices between conflicting requirements. It needs to be heavy so it won't blow away. It needs to be light so the trash collector can dump it out. It needs to be large so it can hold a lot of trash. It needs to be small so it doesn't get in peoples' way on the sidewalk. When you are designing, and you try to abdicate your responsibility by forcing the user to decide something, you're probably not doing your job. Someone else will make an easier program that accomplishes the same task with less intrusions, and most users will love it.

I would just like to take a few minutes to express to you how much I love my two goldfish.

They are so cute.

They are shubunkins. What are shubunkins? Well, they are like goldfish, but instead of being lame and yellow, they are awesomely calico. What is calico? You know the stereotypical image of carp, with the black red and white? That's calico, and that's what my two lovely goldfish look like.

They are really fun to watch. Argon, especially, will do really exciting things, like slowly creep up to his reflection in the wall, and then dart back and forth, away and towards the tank wall. It's actually quite freaky how fast they can move. If they had knives, they would make awesome assassins, because you see a cute little fish, and then BAM you're knifed and bleeding to death!

Argon lives inside the castle walls. Zinc usually spends his days outside, around the short red plant. I don't know what plant it is. It just...it just looks like a leafy plant. Like an anubia, but I doubt it is.

When I bought the plants, the guy at the shop said that not only will my goldfish eat them, but also that without lighting equipment they would die out.

Well, I've actually had to trim the big green plant, and the goldfish can hardly push the leaves out of the way, let alone eat them. Maybe if they were full-grown adult goldfish, but at this stage they just enjoy hiding under the leaves.

When I approach the tank, they will ask for food by following me, and going to the surface of the water and then back to watching me (just to check if I magically dropped food in without using my hands, which obviously I cannot). I can also play hide and seek; if I only show my eyes above the side of the table, the fish don't recognise me, and I can watch them muck around happily, but once I stand up and they see me, it's back to begging for food. Repeat.

Did you know goldfish have no stomachs? They only have intestines.

At night, they sleep inside the castle walls, just floating at the bottom. It is very cute.

They also poo a lot. I also need to change the tank water and clean the filter and blah blah blah extra maintainance stuff. But they are so cute. And pretty. So it's worth it.

And that is why I love my goldfish.

raymond! look! its like your perfect website!

http://www.hellokittyonline.com/us/

I thought this picture was quite interesting on the NZCS website:

Doesn't it just scream "do IT and you'll be literally surrounded by girrrlllzzzz"?

I thought it did :P

So, who's heard of Silverlight? The "next Flash"?

Well. Have a look in the license :P

12. Limitation on and Exclusion of Remedies and Damages. You can recover from Microsoft and its suppliers only direct damages up to U.S. $5.00. You cannot recover any other damages, including consequential, lost profits, special, indirect or incidental damages.

This limitation applies to

· anything related to the software, services, content (including code) on third party Internet sites, or third party programs; and

· claims for breach of contract, breach of warranty, guarantee or condition, strict liability, negligence, or other tort to the extent permitted by applicable law.

It also applies even if Microsoft knew or should have known about the possibility of the damages. The above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you because your country may not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental, consequential or other damages.

LOLLL

songsmith example:

bananatreeadventure.blogspot.com

this took me....2 minutes to record?

the video took much longer lol

(william you can d/l frm http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/songsmith/index.html)

okay. so when I heard about Microsoft Songsmith (which lets face it is actually quite a cool research project anyway), I was understandly less than impressed, especially in the face of such a crap ad.

But then, I tried using it.

And no matter how cheesy it may sound or how stupid it seems, it was actually, really fun. Really simple, really fun. It's definitely not a garage band by any means - it's more akin to an automatic backing track. Imagine if, while singing in the shower, you had a band backing you up. 

Yeah its like that

And seriously all you do is pick a style, sing along, and bam. done.

I do have a couple of gripes though:

- double clicking on a bar should do something. at this point in time, it doesnst do anything. it should ideally start playing from that bar, or let you do something.

- it doesnt handle extra bars well. that is, if you are doing a song with 4 bar phrases and decide to not sing for one extra bar, it'll throw off the rest of the chords. granted i mean the chords won't sound wrong, but it loses the continuity

but for sometehing where you can seriously just sit down    and sing

and itll make some pretty sweet cliche backings

but come on. who doesnt want a band at their whim :D

bloody pak'n'save lol

I went to the pak'n'save fuel thing in Hamilton, after buying my lunches for the coming week, and then tried to pump up my front tyre

and basically, even though it *looked* like everything was workingg and all, all it did was take my tyre psi from whatever it was, down to 0. if you think riding a motorbike is hard, try riding one with a flat tyre. it is really not fun.

so yeah. there was an exciting nighttime hunt for another petrol station that actually wouldnt steal my air, on a flat tyre. turning is very exciting.

but anyway. just wanted to say that pak n save, i hate you

omg Girl Talk is the awesomest artist ever

its like super mashup, but like really good production values

i love it

where else can you hear drop it like its hot + bittersweet symphony together?

REPORT FROM THE FUTURE::1/1/2009

Dear Henry,

I know you will find this hard to believe, but this is you in the future, writing to tell you how the year ahead is going to unfold, and what you must do to stop the catastrophic events that will occur from happening.

On the 23rd of February, you are going to be involved in an epic war against the robots. But these aren't just regular robots, oh no - these are invisible robots, who tire of working in the background opening doors and sending you spam. It is a terrible day when we realise that the remote control will no longer do our bidding, and microwaves have one setting, and one setting only; nuke.

Invisible robots, you say?! Ridiculous! I can hear your skepticism now, but believe me, I was there. I know your disbelief, but you must hear me out. The future Earth depends on it.

So, on the 23rd of February, a Monday, it will be the final week of your work as an intern in Hamilton. Wasn't it great? After the numerous disappointments of ignored and rejected job applications, to suddenly be thrust into a position to choose? Well. On the 23rd, instead of having cocoa pops for breakfast, it is incredibly important that you have muesli instead. You see, cocoa pops are the fuel that power the invisible robots, and if you want to be thankful for the awesome opportunities you've been given for the future in your career, fresh out of University in a time of financial doom and gloom (and if you want some future financial advice, you should buy stocks in forestry, and also in silicon producers to meet the demands of the burgeoning middle classes in Asia), don't you dare take a bite.

Then, on the 17th of March, you will have to use all the excellent organization skills and pies at your disposal to, uh, stop the invading Russian Pirates. All over the world, digital pirates have exploded from their DVD cages, but because of the year you've spent flatting and generally being pretty independent, you'll be able to survive the Pirate War Camp and make it through alive just in time to avoid the nuclear strike from Australia-II with some sweet motorcycle riding skills, something which you've always wanted to do and now have done. I can't tell you whether or not you get the motorcycle you want, because it means I won't have it. Time logic. Hard to explain, I wouldn't expect you to understand.

2nd of July will be the formation of the Paperclip Syndicate - an elite group of super individuals, amongst them an architect, a psychologist, a medical writer, a lawyer, an art historian, a filmmaker, a botanist, a teacher, a high-ranking councillor and of course you, the programmer. (Or at least, that's their day jobs - their superpowers are as of this moment still highly classified information and you don't need to know, past Henry.) It will be a hard, long road with many trials and villains such as Mr. Long-Distance, with the awesome power to keep people apart, and The Maturity Man, who makes you think that you're too cool for school. But it's okay. Because we will defeat them! Yusssss.

The ultimate battle between good and evil though, which we will overcome, is the dark lord Time Bandit, who almost succeeds in destroying the Paperclip Syndicate by sucking up everyone's time with things like, you know, work...and like....stuff....and yeah man sorry I can't make it today man I've got stuff....but then in one of those movie moments we all look at the paperclip super-communicator, and the Time Bandit's hold is broken on us (and then we all beat him up, kung-fu stylez). When the Time Bandit comes, and says things in your ear like "oh you can see them next week", he is already planning to trap you for the following month. Don't listen to him! Fucking Time Bandit, I hate him.

Anyway, eat more vegetables than you did last year, clean your bike (it's filthy) and don't forget to feed the fish.

This is the year in preview.

Stay safe, soldier!

-Future Henry.

omg lol

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/197936

Yes! I win!

---

And then, I came across these on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGmROxa8PcE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nSHbi3dde4 (LOL)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQmvf1oB5uk&feature=related

(im pretty sure he's drumming better than I can)

---

But if you reallly wanna be impressed, have a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doDj9ZQsn9Q&feature=related

look at my lovely christmas presents!! (the one on the left is Argon, the one on the right is Zinc)

The water is a little cloudy because it's still a very new tank in cycling...the fish should survive, they're supposed to be hardy dammit.

woot graduation timeeee;;

BMus - white hood
BSc - blue hood

which is pretty normal - i mean if you had like, a MProfStuds, you'd have to wear pink with taupe band round inside edge, and I dont even know what taupe is!

or BEd (green) and BHB (red) lol@xmassy (but i dont think thats a legal combo)

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000069.html

has anyone else noticed the sheer stupid amount of perfume ads on TV recently? Lancome, Boss, Armani, Jean Paul Gartier, everyone is in on the "christmas smell" action

wth

seriously guys lol who gets given perfume as a present anwyay, its just like buying really expensive deoderant, which is only one step removed from saying "i dont think you smell as nice as this"

good news!

i got offered the position @ provoke in the auckland office :D

bad news!

the proposed start date is before the end date of my csi academy internship

more news!

as it comes

why isnt there a one handed keyboard??

---

lol i got a response from dps yesterday, regarding my job application...which i made 30th October, a good 45 or so days ago...

&*&(*^ useless lol

http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/article/0,1002,sid%253D25010%2526cid%253D181355,00.html

what i want to say about it is:

Marsh Most Improved Performance Award
Winner: Kiwibank

Deloitte Emerging Enterprise Award
Winner: Endace

NZIM/Eagle Technology Young Executive of the Year
Winner: Mason Pratt, Managing Director, Provoke Solutions

lol!

man, ive been all over the north island this week; auckland wellington hamilton huntly; saw the end of state highway one (and bridge 17264 or some really big number like that :D) Wellington is pretty cool it certainly looks better than auckland yeah!

currently lovin the two artists:

Justice - I think they are French electro-pop? Very Daft-Punky! Excellent.

and

Mar Dulce which is !@$*!@$ amazing, a perfect fusion of latin styles with electronica. Really, REALLY good.

The Windows Vista Tone
Inspire confidence by communicating to users on a personal level by being accurate, encouraging, insightful,
●
objective, and user-focused.
Don’t be distracting, condescending (example: “Just do this.”), or arrogant.
●
Avoid the extremes of the “machine” voice (where the speaker is removed from the language) and the “sales
●
rep” voice (where the writing tries to sell us something, to cajole us, to cheer us up, to gloss over everything
as “simple.”)

---

(yeah right)

Hi, I am posting this from work in Hamilton, on a Linux computer.

Ubuntu-Linux is actually very, very pretty.

woot A+ for pop music. if i can score A+ for analysis (lolll yeah right) then it'll be my first and only A+ semester

Hey guys how's everyone?

So yeah, I'm going down to Hamilton for a couple of months, until February-ish.

Woot! Hope everyone's holidays/work in holidays is goin well.

and also,

TAKE THAT PSYCH WITH YOUR !@*!@%( LABS

A+ woot, plussage ftw im sure of it

wahoooooo im pretty sure i landed an internshipppppppp

haha fire alarm at 7am...

took 2 minutes for 5!!! firetrucks to arrive

but it turns out it was a false alarm pulled by someone on the third floor...gosh.

quite cool, really:

http://www.bookcrossing.com/

NO MORE EXAMSA

holy shit vodafone nz is rubbish!

firstly, they acctually have the balls to charge you a dollar to speak to a customer representative when you call their freephone number. WHAT THE HELL. >
secondly, if you then try to contact them by email (which i guess is llike everyone cause who wants to pay a fucking dollar to tell someonee about something that is ostentiably their fault), there is a 10 WORKING DAY turnaround. that's disgusting

and thirdly, i wouldnt have to call them in the first place if by topping up online it show me errors on the page but actually go through with it, adding $40 to my account when I only want $20. bastards!

VODAFONE DIE

Ministry of Social Development: 1    Henry: 0

Okay. So last year, I got a student allowance. And well, I forgot to tell them that I got a (new) job at Borders. But that's not really important, because

the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and the Inland Revenue Department )IRD) regularly undertake information matching programmes under the provisions of the Privacy Act 1993...in a recent matching exercise you were identified as working and r eceiving Student Allowance...etc etc so basically:

I owe the Ministry of Social Development $2514.90.

They have also helpfully told me that "this debt must be repaid". (which you know, if it didn't, it would be nice but why else would they send a letter)

So yeah. The worst thing is, I've also had to pay tax on that $2500 back to the IRD, and I don't know if I'll be able to get back 19.5% or whatever tax is off that.

Moral of the story kids: don't cheat the system :( now i have to un-develop myself to the tune of 2500 ;_;

---

also Arrrrrrroooonnnnn is reviewing music now. i dunno how long he'll keep it up but you should look at it!!!!! yeah :D

phantom of the opera was very good!!

the sets were -amazing----

the singing was a little bit too opera-for me thougggg

and the medleys and multi-part songs like Prima donna suffered from the opera-style along with the singers at full blast trying to outdo each other, making it all a big wash of unintelligible song

but yeah. the 2nd half was amazing, and even though we only got understudy phantom, he was still pretty good.

yeah.

it was good!! although yeah we were in the circle, and some of the bits on stage were stupid cause we couldnt see them cause they were up high above these suspended things and all you see are feet and they're all singing like "the phaaaantom of the operaaaa" and you're like "huh i see legs"

QWETLKJAWEKTJLBM >!@!!%@%#!@*(!@#%(*%#@!

HP: declined
Datacom: declined
TTC: fell through
Provoke: hasnt gotten back
ECN: never responded
Microsoft: not even hiring, auto-responder
Google: has no NZ office

!@#%*(!%AGJKJAKSGDGSDAJKL aaarggh im so stressed out

=(

"It's like a really bad disney movie"


---

Also, dont watch Untracable. It's unforgivable that someone made it.

It's....unwatchable. >.>

Seriously, its a thinly veiled socio-commentary on how the internet is evil, and tries to impress you with heaps of shallow technical jargon....the only good thing about it is Diane Lane's performance, which looks really impressive next to a cast of one dimensional stick figures and in a sea of wanna-be "Saw" set-ups.

2/10. And that's being nice.

omg LOL

Alright, so in Psych we were taught a bit about memory.

NZ post's $10,000 question thing is definitely related! It's interactive so instead of just people going oh my post code is 1010 over and over again, the cognitive layer makes itz so much memorablez with teh qute birdz + cat awwwwww

(www.thequestion.co.nz if you dont have any idea what im talking aboout)

lol got my test mark for Music182 back

15/15

pwned

So my bike. Strange noises? Yes.
Steve from the AUSMC (Auckland University Scooter and Motorcycle Club) used his excellent detective/mechanical skills to determine that unlike what everyone online thought, the problem wasn't with the chain at all (although it was very dirty and dry), but with the wheel bearings. It was actually quite bad, and making the wheel skew (where it's aligned properly, but it's not...if that makes sense). So yeah, I took it over to CycleTreads (i think thats what its called) on the north shore today and got it fixed up for $75, + chain cleaner and lube for 40 (but that should last me forever)....so there goes 110 dollars lol
but yeah, no more noise! yes!!! and also, it rides better again.
I'm still waiting on Lumley to get back to me with something so i can get my replacement helmet and gloves.and im still waiting for ifocus (please never buy anything from their midcity store) to get back to me about my external hard disk.and i still have to move my PR to my new passport (yes i know its been a year shush)
but...yeah. just thought id tell everyone that my bike is fixed again! YUZZZ

How is everyone? Hope you are all enjoying your mid semester breaks!

A lot has happened and I haven't really had the time to blog (oh noes)

My motorcycle has been repaired. They replaced a whole lot of stuff that I wasn't expecting them to, such as the exhaust, and the handlebars, tee hee. And also, they tuned the engine and it's strangely heaps more powerful and responsive...and it sounds heaps awesomer :D (by they, I mean Mt. Eden motorcycles, whom I thoroughly recommend over Haldanes at this point in time). There was a minor hiccup in that when I got it back, the right indicator light wasn't working but I just brought it back and they fixed it up no worries.

My computer died and then got fixed again. My Dell laptop, how fickle you are....it has a lovely habit of just dying. But for some reason it finally decided to let me load Windows from CD and I was able to run Vista's random Startup Recovery program, and now it works again. Almost lost all my music, which would have been a massive pain in the ~!$*~!%$. As a side note to computer/tech issues, I also brought back the external hard disk i bought from iFocus Midcity due to the fact that it's still under the 1 year warranty, and it stopped working. The dude promised me I would get a call yesterday. And I didn't. So I went in today. And he looked surprised. And I totally don't understand a word that he's saying. And lastly, I recommend you never buy anything from iFocus Midcity, just because it seems like an afterthought in that it's not really a shop, but this one dude who can sell you some stuff if you ask for it and then yeah, non-existent customer service, although maybe i'm just being bitchy because I work at Borders and i expect good service.

I finally called Foodtown and asked for my real onecard. You should see my "temporary" onecard, with its frayed edges and general unkempt demeanor. The lady insisted that one was sent to me, but I never got it. She says one reason I may not have is because I didn't provide a street number. which I did. Although to be fair, a lot of people get really confused when I tell them it's 79-81 Wellesley St. What is that, anyway? I guess I could average it and say 80, and maybe the posties would guess right.

I am going to be 21 tomorrow. Holy crap. I am totally getting so old. But I don't really feel it. It will be good to go away for the weekend, especially if the weather stays as nice as it is at the moment, with the light breezes and warm sun. It was definitely fun getting back on my motorbike and riding it around (and yes, admittedly, I seem to have a knack for getting lost between my apartment and the corner of Boston and Mt Eden Rd...)....but yeah. I guess I should have a party, or something, but I really can't be bothered. The only reason people hold parties is to collect presents anyway, and let's face it, I'm far too poor to throw a party, with my dismal account balance of $40.

Okay, fine, I have savings, but I already have to pay IRD $600. Apparently, I don't pay enough tax. I agree with the Student Loan repayments (which is a result of me not putting in the correct tax code...), but I pay *heaps* of tax. Although, apparently, I earned $21,000 last year. Where did it all go? I have no idea.

Half a semester to go!!! Still no word back from The Testing Consultancy after i had to reschedule due to sickness. Man, I'm totally going to have to get my hair cut again lol. I had it nice and short and Spykey~~~


This post has been rather selfish, in that it's been all about me.

But then again, what else am I going to put on my blog?!

Have a good break everyone, post again in maybe a month. =D (eat lots of fruit and veges, regular exercise, relax)

So, how's about the weather, eh?

Seriously seriously bad weather recently. I'm sick of it! Bring on summer! (Kind of missing Malaysia, sans humidity...)

So yeah. How is everyone?

Last Saturday (during the ridiculous storm), I ignored the news and everyone who I spoke to on the previous night, and rode my motorcycle to work. This was fine. I finished my shift at 2pm, and while driving straight towards the roundabout off Carbine Road in Sylvia Park, a Toyota at a give way sign decided that it would be a good idea to drive. Unfortunately, that meant she didn't actually give way, and crashed into me.

(simple terms, I was driving straight and a car at a give way decided to turn into me)

So, as a result, I was hit, and me and my motorcycle suffered the following injuries:

• Damaged wheel alignment
• Broken right indicator (yes, this is the one I had just replaced to get my WoF)
• Broken rev counter bracket
• Damage to brake fluid container
• Damage to headlight housing
• Damage to rear indicator housing
• Damaged wing mirrors

• Scratched visor
• Grazed knees

(At least, that's what I can ascertain as of now)

The car suffered a dent in the left front fender.

What is it like to be hit by a car? Well, luckily I wear riding gear and it was at a "low" speed (about 30 km/h) The driver of the other car was pretty panicked (as you should be, if you are ever unfortunate enough to hit a motorcyclist) but I guess in the grand scheme of things I was pretty lucky. The wind was a bit ridiculous anyway, and the odds that I'd have a far more serious collision later in my ride home (ie. on the motorway) were pretty high.

The police and security staff at Sylvia Park were excellent. They were at the scene of the collision literally within a minute, and the policeman handling the incident was thorough and knowledgable. I'm still pretty annoyed that I was hit (because I was planning on doing a lot of things back in East Auckland, but after being hit I didn't feel like doing anything). And you know, I had my lights on driving straight, and she was at a give way - she just didn't see me.

So yeah. In a motorcycle/car collision, the biker will always lose. I'm glad I was wearing my jacket, because my upper body was hardly damaged at all, but my pants afforded little protection. The helmet was useful too - very glad that the big gash is on the visor and not on my face. Please look out for motorcyclists when you're driving around, everyone! I know sometimes we do reckless things, but not me; I was totally following the rules, and bam. There I go off my bike. I tried to reach my horn but there wasn't that much time to think, by the time I saw her car colliding into me, I was already on my way down.

She has full liability (raymond, does that mean she has to pay for repairs regardless or? Im still a bit confused about this, and third party/first party insurance, etc etc etc) and her insurance company has not contacted me yet. I will probably annoy her tomorrow.

----

In other news, I've applied for a graduate at Provoke (www.provoke.co.nz), after attending the Careers Fair today. Pretty useful, it was. It sounds like a great place to work and I'd love to get the job, but I'm still on the lookout...

Alright, alright. Seeing my University results is really not as interesting as anyone can reasonably imagine results to be. A? So what, it's like one paper without an exam, one paper with a multi-choice exam, and another one with about 20 different choices in the exam itself and a multi-choice section. Bleh!

How is everyone doing? Apartment just went through a property inspection, and I'm pretty sure it passed, judging by the letter they sent after that said that everything was generally tidy and clean. There's nothing like a property inspection to spur you into cleaning the shit out of your apartment pronto; before and after shots of the bathroom vanity would be quite impressive if I had them! The landlord/rental manager becomes like your substitute parents (clean your room, if only once every 6 months).

I have no internet. People keep emailing me, expecting me to reply within a day or two. Is the internet worth a 20 minute walk? Maybe - well in this case, it was because there's not enough money in the flat account to pay the power bill so I have to float $100 into it to keep it alive!

My dad bought me boxers! I think this is because of the photo of the hideously ripped red ones. My other silky pair (the black ones) are getting that way, with a hole developing on the back just waiting to erupt in a fury of thready goodness.

Baking is quite fun. Chocolate cookies and vanilla cake-lets. (I say cake-lets because they're meant to be cookies but they turned out sort of like scones...cakes...)

How is work? The minute they found out I was on holiday, BAM, where BAM is the sound of work hours piling in and compressing into the space where I had free time, but not any more. I suppose I need the money.

My bike failed its WoF, due to the broken indicator cap. No biggie though, $11 to replace, which I'm going to get done on Wednesday. The rest of the things I got planned to do on the bike aren't cheap though (first service, wheel replacement, blah blah blah) - and I walked all the way to Uni only to forget my little Raboplus dongle-pass thing, so I don't have the money yet.

Pay day is Thursday. *&!@.

There's nothing like flatting to make you feel adult. You know? Like, wow. I have my own place. I pay bills. I am so super responsible. And there's nothing like flatting with another person to make you realise you're a right cunt (but Dennis covered that already). And when you chocolate gets on the floor and it gets smeared onto the carpet by a vacuum cleaner, somehow, just somehow, it isn't as funny as if you did it back at home.

I finished reading jPod recently (by Douglas Coupland). It's kind of...fourth-wall-destroying. I am not sure how to feel about it. On one hand, it's incredibly accurate and of-the-times, but I can't help thinking that in a hundred years nobody will understand his cultural references and technological spew. Before jPod, I read Middlesex (by Jeffery Euginedes), which was very good. A cross-generational tale of family and adventure and a coming of age story that is truly unique. And some of the random pages in jPod are too gimmicky. I want a book, not a collection of symbols!

Paperclippers, I haven't really been on a regular basis. There's always heaps of excuses (can you fault me? I work on Sunday, there is no direct route from Sylvia Park to Meadowlands by public transport, you guys start before I finish work, blah blah blah) but not enough apologies. Here's my apology, I'm sorry I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would like (and as I should) with family and friends. Although growing up doesn't mean growing apart, it certainly seems like it.

There's only one semester left, until I'm thrust into the world of post-graduates. No more procrastinating, the land of 9-5mondayfriday4weekspaidleave awaits. What sort of job??! Where's a fucking Sorting Hat when you need one?!

David is right about customer service though. I am totally stage 2/3. I can be really good, or a right lazy dick. I think the secret to getting what you want is asking nicely. Everyone's always "if you dont ask you dont get", but they forget to mention "if you ask like a dickhead the odds are you're going to get subpar". I feel really superior at work for some reason. I really shouldn't. I've been there too long, too many of the original "sort team" have left. I should cut the new employees a break, but it's hard for me to look beyond things that the old ones knew! I guess it's not their fault if they don't get the training though.

GTA IV is brilliance. When I first saw it, I didn't think it was great, graphically - but the sheer scope of the city is incredible, the amount of minute detail....and it's eerily beautiful from above in a helicopter. Even if you are trying to fly under all the bridges in the city....

The story is great. Alright, okay, so whats up with the bondage at the start? I don't know. Just ignore it, because the next 20 hours past it are gold. Characters that aren't flat, situations that don't seem ridiculous or farfetched, and a solid level of difficulty that won't having you bored, but won't have you flinging the controller against the wall after your 10th try at a mission.

I haven't worked out how to pay homeless people, or sleep with prostitutes. And the truth is, I don't really want to. What I really want to know is does Niko ever find what he's looking for? Can he keep Roman afloat in the cesspool of crime and bad relations?

Will Little Jacob be my friend for the entire game?!

Am I finally rasta enough to be gwan I and I, bloodclot?!

Okay. So I don't have much to say, apart from:

- enjoy the last week of the intersemester holidays if you are being given them
- sorry I haven't been as accessible as I should have been, but thems the breaks

Your missions for this week:

Eat at least one meal which you know is damn unhealthy, but you really want to have. (eg McDonalds. DO IT.)
Make a list of five words which you think need to appear more often in everyday conversation!

Okay. I'll stop now.

There you go Helen, there's what's happening with me.

2008 First Semester
Full-Time
BMBS MUSIC 184 Styles and Techniques in Pass A 15.00
Songwriting
BMBS MUSIC 244 Music from Modernism to the Pass A- 15.00
Present 1
BMBS PHYSICS 140 Digital Fundamentals Pass A+ 15.00
BMBS STATS 101 Introduction to Statistics Pass A+ 15.00

lol my best semester in terms of results. yeah yeah they;re all first year papers lol but nyaaaaaaa

Indicator cap - $11
WOF- $40
Better front tyre - $75
First service- $160
the wet patch you get from riding in the rain - priceless

lolz

I HATE HOWICK AND EASTERN BUSES

man. what is up with the weather recently?! sunny thunderstorm mild rain drizzle sun thunder

sky's bruised black and blue dont know when its going to stop

and you know its awesome when you're riding your motorbike in the rain oh the danger oh

;_; and then it starts hailing on you...

lol found this on Predict Weather - (note just because i put it up doesnt mean i fully agree with it)

The call to arms at the moment is that " we must stop climate change ". While we are at it we might also want to stop earthquakes, volcanoes and possibly the rotation of Earth, for all those contribute to the change of climate. Then there is the geographical location of countries, because distance from the equator largely determines seasonal temperature trends. As the poles slowly shift over thousands of years, countries find themselves at varying latitudes and thus experiencing more warmed, colder, drier or wetter seasons than in previous thousands of years. Using our state-of-art technology we need to be able to move the equatorial line as we require. This should be at the whim of the UN and Al Gore, because the contentment of polar bears and seal populations is vastly more important than the welfare of humans. We know this because there are currently lots of laws being drafted about species-conservation but no international recommendations of legislative measures for the protection of threatened members of our race, many facing extinction from colder winters.
We also need to change the movement of the sun through the Milky Way galaxy, because solar radiation cycles that cause ice ages are contributory to "climate change". The chemical composition of water might also be looked at, because at the moment the steam molecule is lighter than air and rises to form clouds but the cooler liquid H2O molecule is heavier than air and sinks as rain, in which amounts these contribute to climate. Then there is the shape and positioning of mountain ranges. We must relocate these. It is rather pointless tolerating the existence of deserts and oceans, all which contribute to "climate change", if no people are prepared to live and grow forests on them. Similarly, the ice caps serve no useful purpose except as freakish landscapes which block shipping and endanger kayakers. "Climate change" is affected by their continuing presence and international pressure must be organised to eliminate these barren regions. Anywhere that trees don't grow is a menace, because only trees can soak up CO2 which causes "climate change".
Farming, among other practices, is counter-productive to climate and must be halted to stop "climate change". Animals that belch are catapaulting the planet and solar system - because Mars and Venus are also heating up - towards a catastrophic end for the universe. Cows and sheep take up land that could be used for forests. Only the Green Party know the full extent of this, such is their advanced wisdom on the matter. Meat and dairy production must be stopped. Nor is eating vegetables an option either, as they need to be harvested, and that requires exercise which produces CO2. All engines, heaters and lights must be stopped, because they cause or contribute to "climate change". Nor can we burn candles(wax produces CO2), walk anywhere(puff out more CO2), or light fires(burning wood and coal produces CO2).
Fishing is ruinous to the climate because not only is it an industry that uses boats that have engines which burn fuel, but it also enables people to physically work, which produces CO2. And because it harms a species of dolphin that already is sensitive to "climate change", closing down fishing is an environmental necessity.
All of life produces and consumes carbon, in an endless cycle. As carbon contributes to "climate change" we must end life. Many measures are now in place to achieve this. Taxes are being introduced that are forcing people into homelessness and bankruptcy. The health service is grinding to a halt because it is unworkable, allowing many to die, and there is no effective police force left to prevent or adequately punish those who choose to murder. Those in charge of our transport are doing a fine job of eradicating life, with many dangerous corners now in place, especially near schools, designing cars that go ever faster on inadequate roads and a drinking culture that ensures plenty of driving errors. Larger loads on trucks are now being introduced that will increase the numbers of these accidents. Finally the world's seas, the sky, and the troposphere, through the loss and gain of carbon dioxide absorption and surface release of carbon dioxide, have also been found to affect "climate change" and therefore should be gotten rid of. We cannot tip the sea into the sea because that has already been done. Removal of the sky also poses problems. How to complete the task will no doubt occupy the creative minds of generations to come. If they can bring themselves to first stop crying. With laughter.

one more exam to go!

it's really hard to log in to computers in the IC when the letters k and i don't work. And also the other one I tried to log in to, with the letter "h" missing. can't type hcho without h.

hope everyone's exams are going well! woot

hmmmm i shold change the links to the left to a blogroll....

or maybe theres no point

MAN ITS COLD TDOAY is it just me its so cold i can't even spell today without screwing up :( :(

anyway good luck 4 exams EVERYONE

Finished reading "Watchmen".

Without a doubt, the best graphic novel I've ever read. Huge attention to detail, deep and complex characterizations....read it READ IT seriously seriously its good

Apparently ther's a movie for next year. Dunno how it will compare to the novel......rosarsch looks a little bit stupid and so does ozymandias....oh well.....

READ IT

I want a pair of draggin jeans (google them)

but !@$*!@$ they are like 200-300 bucks :(

=Notes on a Motorcycle=

- U-turns are really not as easy as they look.
- Your motorcycle is *!@$* heavy!!
- Back into your parking spaces, you don't get a reverse gear, and pushing backwards against an incline is not fun.
- Cars are stupid and cannot handle the fact that you don't look like a car; consequently they "don't see you", so be prepared to stop, anytime, anywhere.
- If it's cold while you're standing, it isn't the smartest thing to brave 100 km/h winds.

why is there an article on bearded women on wikipedia?

why are there people who decide to put pictures of their moustaches on the moustache page?

"ooh man what should i do today..... I KNOW I'll put my moustache on wikipedia"

!@%*!@

lol I get the most random requests on Tutors Home. Nothing that's anything remotely close to what I want to tutor. I had someone ask:

hey Henry itz ****** here
im in AUT north shore....we had to do a group presentation...and we decided to do a movie. so i need help to put a music (as background music) in the movie and also wording between our play ....if you able to do it can you let me know plzz...or txt me on*******.


So I guess that translates to:

Hey Henry can you do our group presentation for us