Month: January 2007
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The strange, strange world of tax
As I mentioned below, I just got a new laptop. Despite the fact that it cost twice as much as a desktop. Why? [Section 58X(2)(h)](http://www.austlii.edu.au//cgi-bin/disp.pl/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fbtaa1986312/s58x.html?query=laptop) of the [Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986](http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fbtaa1986312/), which says: > each of the following is an eligible work related item : […] a notebook computer, a laptop computer or…
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18/1/07
Weight: 109.0kg Breakfast: Weet Bix & OJ Lunch: Vegemite Sandwich x 2 Dinner: Chilli with Cous Cous Snacks: Beer after work Total Calories: 1,326 cal Exercise: None (raining 🙁 ) Ladder: na
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What’s stranger?
That someone made a [film about the Helvetica font](http://www.helveticafilm.com/)? Or the fact that I really want to see it now… (Via [Daring Fireball](http://www.daringfireball.net/)).
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My shiny new laptop
Shortly before Christmas my [old Powerbook laptop](http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=pg4_12&performa=off&sort=date&order=ASC) started doing two distressing things. Firstly, it started getting really, really hot and was working really slowly. Secondly, and even *more* worryingly, the hard drive was making funny noises every time it got used. So I very quickly stopped using it, which is the other excuse that I…
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Wii unboxing
In the rest of this entry are the pictures from when I got my shiny new [Wii](http://wii.nintendo.com) back in December. I didn’t post the pictures at the time due to my laptop explosion. Warning: only geeks will care. For the rest of you: the Wii is great fun, and I wish I had some more…
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Papercraft Christmas
One of my christmas presents this year was this a papercraft penguin. This weekend just past I found the couple of hours to make the thing, and here it is, looming from the bookshelf in my home office. ![Paper Penguin 1](http://www.exasperatedcalculator.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/paper_penguin_1.jpg) Some more pictures after the cut. This thing is huge: 53cm tall.
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17/1/07
Weight: 109.1kg Breakfast: Weet Bix & OJ Lunch: Vegemite Sandwich x 2 Dinner: Fillet Steak with Potatoes and Peas Snacks: None Total Calories: 1221 Exercise: Cycling, 20 mins Ladder: na
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What the???!!!
Via [Washington Monthly](http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_01/010565.php) is this unbelievably strange [story in the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1990795,00.html): > Britain and France talked about a “union” in the 1950s, even discussing the possibility of the Queen becoming the French head of state, it was reported today. > […] > When Mr Mollet’s request for a union failed, he quickly responded with another…
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No comet
Went out tonight to try and find [Comet C/2006 P1 McNaught](http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~rmn/C2006P1.htm) with no luck so far – too much haze, and Canberra is just too bright. This continues my near perfect record of not being able to see astronomical phenomena from Canberra, having also missed a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse, and I could never…
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So very,very wrong
Last night I very nearly posted a long rant about how it’s ‘Macworld’, and not ‘iPodworld’ or ‘iPhoneworld’. [Good thing I didn’t…](http://www.tuaw.com/2007/01/09/macworld-2007-keynote-liveblog/) Apple only announced two big new products at the Macworld keynote, neither of which are computer hardware: the [Apple TV](http://www.apple.com/appletv/) and the [iPhone](http://www.apple.com/iphone/). The phone looks very, very nice, but there’s no word…