Mr Altruistic

2 months in oblivion, but I’m back and busting to update The Silencer. So what have been my thoughts over the last couple of missing-in-action months:

(i) I was appalled at the beheadings carried out by the fundamentalist/extremist/terrorist groups in recent weeks, though I have watched several of the videos, including the one involving Nick Berg (be warned the video is extremely graphic). No one deserves to die that way. Whilst I can understand the killers motives behind taking and killing hostages, their method of execution is barbaric and will only prolong the conflict and create greater tension. I can see no end in sight anytime soon for this. We will also have to put up with hoax videos.

(ii) I think the Tahitian Temptress from Barker College in Sydney, Francesca Willis, is a total babe, and I wish the girls were more like that when I was at High School (Barker College was in close proximity to where I went to school hehehe). The school uniform photos were done in an artistic and professional way, and whilst sexy, I don’t think brought the school into disrepute. I’d be more worried, if I was the Headmaster, about Barker students drinking under age. Hey, I’m not preaching, I know it happens I’m not suggesting that 16 and 17 year olds don’t get on the piss… BUT, Francesca was suspended for portraying the school in a bad light. Surely, teenagers photographed having alcohol is far more damaging to the school and its faculty than a couple of sexy photos - My $2 worth hehehe.

(iii) I think Australia Big Brother 4 has outplayed itself, and is no longer a viable show (though you can still view my comments at the BB forum under the pseudonym RaGe). The Hot Tip? I think Paul or Trevor will take out the Million Bucks on offer.

(iv) The Day After Tommorow (2004)? saw it, and found it to be (like Independence Day (1996) before it) wallowing in self-praising American patriotism, that quite frankly detracts from what otherwise would’ve been a very good film… The plus out of the film is that it is arguably Dennis Quaid’s best performance and showcases his transition from ordinary to established actor.

Well, It looks like I’m back peeps. Woo hoo! and with a vengeance. Whilst Andrew Johns was too wrapped up in his comfort zone to switch from Rugby league to Rugby Union, I’ve taken the giant leap and moved from PC to Mac. However whilst Joey Johns had to make an all-or-nothing decision, I have the luxury of switching back and forth as it suits me. At this stage I’m looking at purchasing perhaps a low cost PC desktop to complement this laptop. That isn’t something that will happen in the near future though, as I want to really get to know this OS and machine back-to-front, and know I won’t whilst jumping back and forth between the 2. So you never know I may put the hot box (the Lian Li customised PC desktop I was building) back on the construction list… who knows? anything is possible at this stage.

So what incarnation of mactology did I get? Well if you know me, then you know I don’t do things by halves so I went out and got the 17″ G4 Powerbook, so that I had the combination of portability and power.

First Impressions? Well I have used Macs before so it’s not really first impressions lol. The first thing I notice is that I am heavily reliant on the mouse. The trackpad, whilst being nifty and clever, is still one of the most annoying things about a laptop. I am a little torn on the whole meese issue. I’ve never been a fan of the Apple one-button mouse. I know they think it’s ultra cool, but seriously, it’s perhaps the most backward thinking idea i have ever come across. They advertise it as “no scroll wheel”, like that is a good thing - umm I like the scroll wheel - its why im so reliant on the mouse. Getting rid of that is just plain dumb. Having said that I am conscious of the fact that Dave from Shintara will call me a dirty windows user if I stick with their mouse technology so I’m contemplating adopting the apple meese even though I don’t like it. I plugged in my mate Filthy’s optical USB PC mouse and it works superb on this, I nearly walked out of his place with the mouse still attached hehehe.

The whole comfort of having applications that you know everything about, plus being able to plug all the holes in windows, now all go out the window (along with that operating system hehehe), and I think that as much as anything is the challenge that I am looking forward to. PC’s for me are a bore and a chore. After using them for over 20 years in an expert capacity you get to the point where they are no longer a clever tool and become extremely tedious.

What’s creamed my daks me about this machine straight up? The screen… Its huge and it is exceptionally sharp - I’m sorry but unless you are using something like a 21″ SGI monitor on your PC then my screen absolutely and utterly shits all over yours. The other thing is the user friendly apps, like iTunes where you’re libraries are all sorted out by the application itself not the user. A lot of the tedium is taken out of the housekeeping tasks so that you just get to do what you are on the machine to do. The last thing is the speed. This thing flys, and I know in a previous article I haven’t noticed too much of a speed difference between say a 3Ghz P4 and a Dual-2Ghz but this is different. I think it is probably a little unfair as the machine is almost brand new and therefore devoid of garbage, but as far as straight out of the box goes, this thing is ultra fast - I was surprised - and that’s rare.

So what else has been happening? I’ve cracked the no-KFC ton, and I’m looking for a double century (and after that I guess Bradman’s 334 looms) and haven’t had Maccas or Burger King either in probably just as long a time… Take-away pizza and hot fish and chips still get a large workout though so I have to work on removing them from the diet.

I am about halfway through an ADSL application, so I will be a broadbander in the next few days, which will also be a welcome change. I’m looking at it for several reasons. First off, I find it ridiculous to have such a powerful machine and to have to sit and wait for shit to load on the net. Secondly, The deal that the geek put me onto looked too good to resist. 16 gig download a month, for a slight amount more than what I was paying for dialup - Un-fucken-beleiveable. Thirdly, I’m looking at getting back into the xBox scene, and thought what better way to do that than shift to xBox live in anticipation of the release of Halo 2, which is set to be the best multiplayer game ever released, bar none…

I’ve been back on the bass guitar a couple of times, care of the completion of the Time Signature Studios, in which I played a hand at building. I was a bit rusty, but it doesn’t take too long to get a few riffs and licks happening again. I’d love to get a fat Musicman Bass one of these days, but it’s not a high enough priority for me at the moment, given that they cost about as much as a new car. Oh By the way I have some dakcreaming before & after shots of the TSS studio which I will share once I get settled on this machine. Hopefully by next update so stay tuned on that one.

Vilesilencer Version 2.0 the second coming of the site is close to beginning construction. I have an idea for a brand-spanking new banner, and that usually prompts me to overhaul a site. Also in keeping with the new line on technology that I have taken, I want the site to reflect that. Previously I have dabbled with making the site available to as many browsers as possible. Now my thinking has changed. By making this site available to shit browsers like Netscape 4.7 (and just about every early version of IE), I have been one webmaster prolonging the use of those browsers - Time to cut the cord. Either download the latest versions of browsers or live in the past…

I hope fellow webmasters, who I know also contribute to the longevity of those dodgy old browsers, take the same steps to help remove them from the ‘net. I want the site to be super easy to build, maintain and render - so it will be a full CSS site in a very basic format. I still want to be friendly with search engines so I will cater to their whims for a little bit longer…

Until next time peeps. Maintain the rage!

I’ll just let you know im a couple of glasses into a 2002 Tatachilla partners Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz. But tell me, whats with the screw top lid these days? no corks? Don’t like it. Anyways If I start slurring my typing, you’ll know why… I nailed another good red the other night that I’ve been cellaring for a couple of years. It was a d`Arenberg “The Footbolt Shiraz” 1998. I cellared it and a ‘96 on advice from my boss a few years ago now, and it’s paid off, the ‘98 was exceptional. I’m pretty sure the ‘96 is going to be super special. I’m saving that one for a special occassion, perhaps to share with another wine afficionado (you might have seen me spell this with one “f” in previous threads - it can go either way - I swear it’s not the fault of the booze ;).

Other news? Im surrounded, bombarded if you will, by KFC. First off my friends live next door to a KFC and secondly where I currently work you can walk halfway up the street and smell the aroma from a KFC. Walk the other halfway and you are standing at the front door. I had a healthy lunch today, and after reading through the North Shore Times and ogling the houses in picturesque locations that I would never be able to afford I went for a little walk up the street just to think through a few things, and I was piled-drivered by the all-pervading aroma of the KFC - so much so that I very nearly went and got some, I had to force myself not too. Then there’s the ads. I was watching the v8 supercars last weekend, which I don’t do very often, and every second ad was a KFC ad. On top of that they seem to have tripled their advertising in prime time… arrgghhhh!!!!

If that’s not bad enough nearly everyone I chat to eats the stuff and goes on and on about how good it tastes. So why the self-imposed KFC ban? I hear you ask. Well, I’m a KFC addict. If you start me on that stuff I’ll eat it nearly every day. I used to work for a large firm that was across the road from Maccas and KFC. Now, I probably had Maccas once or twice a week, but I had KFC at least 3 times a week. It was shocking I put on so much weight. I’m losing it now, and that’s because I have banned myself from ingesting this junk. Hey I still love it, much like a smoker loves a cigarette, but I’m forgoing it so that I can graduate from the Brad Pitt School of Buff.

I’m tossing up what direction I’m going in at the moment. I’ve been working at a digital printing place for just on a month now, and I’m dead bored of it. There’s no autonomy and access to a PC is a first-come basis. We are all sitting there waiting to use the machine it is just pathetic. I’m seriously thinking about returning to my former place of work, something I told myself I would never do, but there I had my own desk, own machine, own clients and a position that had a decent level of responsibility and respect. It wouldn’t be a position I could see myself in forever, but it’s stable and at least I’m using a computer all day in order to keep my skills fresh.

So what’s happening with the silencer? The version is now 1.7 of this current design. I decided to remove the random banners again as they were repeating on resos higher than 1024 x 768. I’ve gone back to the charred face, as its been synonymous with the design and vilesilencer name for some time now.

Since the bandwidth has been increased on the site, I’m planning on adding some more photography in weeks to come, so there’ll be more viewing pleasure. My motivational level is lacking but I plan on getting a laptop very soon too, and then broadband, so if that all goes ahead expect to see a lot more new stuff on the silencer. I might even start the long-awaited version 2.0 - an all new look on an all new back-end design.

Looks like the sites popularity exceeded itself this month. For the past 12 days vilesilencer has been in bandwidth oblivion having exceeded its “unlimited” bandwidth limit. Enjoy the photography whilst it remains on the site, because if the bandwidth for next month (which has been increased) is exceeded then I will be trimming the fat from this Hog… mmmm bacon. So get in early and get your side of ham and crackling with lashes of apple sauce.

Also a casualty of the site being down is my PR dropping with Google updating right on the week the site went down. I’ve also lost all rankings for keywords I was sitting top 10 in. The silencer doesn’t give up though. The rocker will be back on those ranks in force! So look out competition

Master of multi-tasking? Well this just has to be told.

What do u do when you see a guy with a bottle wrapped in brown paper in one hand, a spray of urine flying off to his left hand side, all whilst strolling at pace up the street?

Anyone that can consume and commute whilst controlling their trouser snake’s yellow venom hands-free is a master of multi-tasking in my opinion. Well, naturally I was intrigued by the gentleman, so intrigued in fact that I chose to move to the other side of the street and kept enough distance between us that if he actually noticed me i could do the harold holt straight up the street to escape! hehehe… Why do we have these freaks in our society?

Apologies for going MIA this month… I have a new job, and that means less time to play. Which is another reason I’m making this a quick update. I’m tired and the case of cougar cans isn’t inspiring me, though the bourbon is getting me rather tanked. No photography, search engines or bot updates this week, perhaps over the weekend I can get around to updating those lists.

Big Brother Australia is back with season 4 of the popular series set to kick off any week now. BB4 forums and chatrooms are buzzing in anticipation of what the much-hyped secret is going to be. In preparation for the coming series return, the webmaster at iServ and myself have revived the immensely popular #Big Brother Chatroom, and have also added a Big Brother Forum this year to catch up on all the gossip and insider info from the show. It’s going to be very big, so I suggest people get into the rooms now, while there are still hosting positions available and make your presence felt. Also register on the forum early, and get to know everyone there in advance. I’ve stuck 2 easy to get to links to the BB4 Forum and the BB4 chatroom on the left under the SEO resources menu. Big Brother is watching you

I’ve added a new information line above the user agent list count, where I will inform of what digital photography has been added to the site. Since I don’t add photography with each update, that line will only appear when I do add a new gallery of digital photos. This time around I have added the shots taken from the trip to Melbourne. Funnily enough, only 2 of the shots that are added are actually from Melbourne. The weather was so dreadful that most of the shots that were taken weren’t up to the usual standard so I scrapped them. The other shots are taken on the trip back to Sydney via the South Coast, at such places as Eden where we spent a night, and Bermagui where we had a couple of brilliant days of fishing (remember the puffer fling Dave? hahaha, I’m still cracking up), as well as Lakes Entrance and Bega.

Other updates? Yup, there’s more peeps. I’ve been spending a fair bit of time at my favourite Webdesign and SEO forum, and shortly I will be including a link to their Feature Site. This will be an ongoing thing, where the Web World Geek community bands together to improve a lucky persons site design and rankings. It’s a novel idea and so I’ve decided to jump on the bandwagon and support it with a free link from my site. Stay tuned, it will more than likely take place next update.

Lastly, I’ve added 3 more random banners. That makes a set of 11. Hit refresh a couple of times and you’ll see what the hell I’m talking about. 2 of the banners are shots taken from Lakes Entrance which I have converted, and the other one is from Bermagui, though it doesn’t do the fantastic fishing area justice.

Melbourne photos added to the digital photography gallery.

Slowly recharging the batteries after the recent marriage of 2 great friends from Chicago.

Congratulations Andrew & Dana!

So, what did we all get up to on the week they were here?

On Thursday we had the wedding rehearsal at Vaucluse House, before scooting off to Wildfire Restaurant at the Overseas Passenger Terminal overlooking the Sydney Harbour and Opera House.

Then on Friday we jumped on the Silver Spirit and cruised around the harbour sinking drinks, engaging in mirth and taking many many photos, before retiring to the Cargo Bar for more drinks, and more mirth. We bumped into old friends from High School on their Hens night, which was fun. Great to catch up with them. Back to the Sheraton after that after a bout of taxi rage, and it was all goodskies for the wedding at Vaucluse House the next day. The wedding was pretty fantastic. Perhaps the best I’ve been to or witnessed, and I’ve been at tonnes. The speeches were both heartfelt and humourous, and the guests were exceptionally friendly.

I’ve created a new subdomain info.vilesilencer.com that I will be using to house tutorials, PC articles, plus webdesign and SEO resources. It’s brand spanking new (googlebot has already crawled it though - love that), so there is only one tutorial currently available the CSS rollover tutorial which I previously had on the old redline tripod site in a javascript mouseover version. I’ve also taken the search engine and webmaster resources offline for the time being as certain myths have been dispelled and I’m not entirely encouraged by the format in which I presented the material.

I will re-introduced both of these, as well as adding the long-ago compiled directories list and user agent list (which will both remain updated on here for the time being) on the new subdomain when I get the time. Which could take a while. Either way the links will remain on this site, they will just send you to the subdomain pages. The pure CSS format of that site is more pleasing to the eye.