Oh yeah - and it was very cool to plug in the extra monitor I have at home and use it to work on the blogg comments thing - how can anyone cope with just one monitor - mind you I decided that 3 monitors would be the absolute perfect number to work on website. On the left is the sql control panel for the database and any reference pages; in the middle the main code pages and ftp program; and on the right the pages of the site itself live off the net.

Done - after a few false starts and some troublesome coding the blogg comments database is now up and running!!! I am very excited.

w00t! as they say.....

I have learnt a bit about php and sql - enough to know it hurts - but then again it has been a while since I have had to hand code anything so I had forgotten the sublime joy which is searching for the wayward ; or missing > - not that anything tells me that - and of course the joyful "parse error" is wonderfully ambiguous whilst just tempting enough to have me spend 20 minutes staring at the code before deleting it and starting all over again and this time finding it works. Anyway - now you can comment on my comments - if you want to - and if you don;t well, that won't reduce the pleasure one little bit [but I hope you do!!!]

Coming soon In Blogg Comments Version 2: this page will show the current comment count - cookies to remember your details - privacy statement to make us all feel very mature ;)

Something that annoys me is when computers act like mechanical devices and not digital devices - what that means is that a digital device should act the same in the same circumstances, whereas mechanical devices will act anyway they like even in the same circumstances - like cars for instance. [maybe that is just my cars - but I rekon chaos theory would support me, in that the small differences in mechanical devices are certain to have a huge impact on the end product - as in the Butterfly Effect]

I have just finished the last of the marking I have to do [I still have reports to write] and thought I would invest an hour into creating my own blogg comments database idea and see if I could work out why I kept getting no results from my database searches. Well, today it worked - what has changed - nothing, as far as I know - all the files are the same, the php script, the Database, none of it has been touched my me - and yet today it all works.

Oh well I should be thankful, and I am, so that I can now continue on my merry way creating the blogger comments database thingy and dazzling myself and you 10.1 humble readers with not just my usual wit and charm but also my towering intellect. :P

Yes, towering.

I am reading an interesting book - "22 Steps to Global Tyranny" by Graham L strachan - a bit of a wake up and smelll the roses about what is going on in Australia re: Globalisation. This is the back comment thingy "There is a small window of time left in which to protect yourself, your family, your freedom, your assets, your future, and that of your children. By the time you finish reading this book you will know what has to be done." I am close to finishing but haven't worked it out yet :) - so I will obviously have to read it again. He has many amazing pieces of info and draws many conclusions about the ultimate reasons for them - and some of them I agree with, some of them I have wondered about myself and some of them I think he is a nutter!!!

While I am doing that may I recommend this and maybe even this.

Apparently I have to go to work in about 7 hours so I had better say Goodnight.

"goodnight"

One day everywhere will be like this and it will be sooner than you think.

Not soon enough for me though.

Google goes l33t - lol. If I had any idea, I am sure I would be impressed. So come on all you script kiddies now you too have a search engine you can understand!

The craziness and the propaganda is amping up here in Australia - more terrorists are attacking Muslims in Sydney and the government is suddenly telling us about plans JI have to create a "muslim superstate" which would include northern australia. Wow, wonder why they didn't say anything before - this is the same govt who is under fire for stirring up racism to win an election by lying before, during and after the Tampa Boat People infamy. And now they rekon al-qada is linked to the Russian thing.

Another piece about the current Iraq situation from a website called Middle East Online. Lots to think about a reflect on. It includes the idea that the war is about Oil, although also links in the Israeli issue very well.

I was thinking about the oil thing again - and still feel it is not the real story here at all. So I thought - ok - the article linked above says the war could cost $100-$200 billion - I check the CIA world fact book and it rekons the US defence spending for FY99 would be $280billion [3% of GDP]. So maybe this year it would have been $300 to $400 billion so $200 billion extra is significant - although not for a country the size of the US.

google then helped me find info on US Oil Imports [pdf] which priced them at 86.9 Billion 1992 US$ for August 2002. So if this is for oil - and control of the price and dropping it to $13 by destroying the power of OPEC - then the plan goes we fight a war for $200 billion plus deaths of US Soldiers, possible Israeli deportation of palestinians or invasion, possible retaliation by Arab nations against any Isreali moves, all the negative publicity which the action of US Soldiers will produce to save $40-$100 billion dollars of oil import costs per month. AFTER the war has been won, and assuming the US gain control of Iraq in such a way to be able to flood the market and drop the price on oil.

Economically it makes a bit of sense. Although I would have thought investing in breaking the dependancy on oil would make more sense, help the environment and mean that your young people don't have to die - but then the oil companies are powerful creatures who would not be glad to see the loss of revenue.

But considering all the other side effects, I just can not see how invading Iraq for oil makes any sense. While invading to reassert US imperialism in the region and to bow to Israeli pressure to further their own ends does make sense and I don't buy the nuclear threat, although I am concerned about nuclear terrorism.

So what do I think - I think we don't really know what is going on, that Bush has let the pressure groups push the US into a corner from which they might have no choice but to shot their way out of, that this is more about Israel and old advisors finishing off a job Bush snr wouldn't let them finish, that a lot of people are going to die, that the whole middle east could blow up and that more terrorism will spread around the world.

And - that in the end - there is nothing worth killing someone over, that God can turn the sins of man to some goodness, and that He died for us and although it doesn't seem like it, He does know what He is doing and what is going on.

Life is short, live it to the full while you can.

Well the site is back up and running - not sure what it was all about but every site, including their own servers, seemed to have been off line - this is the first time in about 3 years that there has been such a large and surprise outage. I am sure you all missed the site greatly - but it now back up and running :)

Not sure when you will get to see this - as it appears that my hosting companies servers have disappeared - not just the computers which host my website but all the companies server. I called their support line and left a message - at least there wasn't a message saying they had gone bust.

Fixed - and I am downloading the trial version of NAV [I will bring home the full version from work on Monday] to just make sure nothing else is there, and I will put the Firewall back on, just to be sure. I got what I deserved though, leaving an open port - especially a windows port is just stupid if you have cable connection.

The PC caught a Worm - it's annoying, because on the old setup I didn't have file sharing bound to the network card which connected to the outside world - but I hadn't checked to make sure the same was true under the new settings, and obviously it wasn't true. So I have disconnected the PC and am working at removing the evil worm - grrr.

WorldWide WarDrive - for the information of members and their guests.

Planet GameCube FEATURES: The Other Side I haven't read all of this but what I have read of it makes it clear that it is a much more indepth study of XBL from an outsiders perspective - and if the US prices translate to AUD then I think I am interested.

Xbox Live Bootcamp - what colour is green. Well written with some nice pics. bjd wonders, "will it ever come to Australia and how much will it cost?" |MentalNote| start collecting sets of "an arm and leg" |MentalNote|.

Hackers target wireless networks - is a completely outrageous headline for a story which doesn't say very much - except that this Satruday is an International WarDriving day - I might put up my site to celebrate.

May I just add that I really am not into this to steal web access or corporate secrets or trash networks - I am just curious and had the spare cash to get a wireless card for the work laptop. Scanning for networks is no different to walking by a house and noticing the door is open - if you head into the house, THAT is when you start breaking the law.

I am not even keen on scanning the network to "just see what's on it" or to try and use a printer to print a message that informs the company of their insecurities. No I have enjoyed driving around picking up networks and working out where they may be - and of course, thanks to praetor, I am enjoying the freedom of using the laptop anywhere around the house.

Oh, and I guess you would have worked it out by now, but the new idea is to have the ability to post comments related to the blogg entries - I am trying to work all this out myself - which means it might take a while to get it in place - especially when the database I have set up to do the comments is NOT working at all like the one I set up for the LinkDB - although I am learning a heap about PHP and SQL - which is very interesting - and I am even beginning to understand a little about how it works :) when it does work that is .... I have just about worked out the logic of how to work it, coding it is the next step.

And for those long term readers - you may recall that in may I spent many a weekend at work trying to get the new servers to work - with no success - well I had brainwave last nightand now have worked out a bit of how it works - enough to be able to set the servers up at last!

I have a friend who is on mission in Tibet - he sent me these as a part of his latest update :

• Recent floods and landslides have killed over 300 people and made over 700 families homeless.
  
• In the first two [emphasis mine] attacks as the monsoon ends, Maoist rebels have killed over 200 policemen and soldiers.
  

Please pray for the people of Tibet as they struggle with the rebels and natural disaster.

Two things that I want to mention:

1] HSC starts [end of High Schooling exams in Australia] tomorrow: to all those students I wish you well - once the first one is over it is much better - remember that God is in control and that no matter what happens, your life is being planned and watched over by God who loves you so much that he would die for you.

2] A note of rememberance for all those people who died in the Bali Bombing - but also for everyone around the world who is dying as a result of the sinful nature of the people who are in this world. There is hope and a chance to understand what is going on - but it takes the faith to trust the God who made us and keeps us going, and who died for us so we can know him personally.

Pravda.RU Iraqi War Price $13 per Barrel - this is another article about the impact of a post US overthrow of Iraq and it's impact on oil prices - much clearer in explaining the logic.

This assumes that the US action does not lead to a complete and utter destablisation of the whole region which will actually increase oil prices - if not cut off all the oil supplies in the region.

rollo has reminded me that many thoughtful people in the world believe that the US action against Iraq is all about oil. These thoughtful people haven't got much of a hearing in the world's media though.

At the moment I am taking the stated reasons for the US actions as the real reasons - at the moment I am not convinced that oil is the final motive - although I did read a pravda article which puts the case in some detail. The translation made it hard for me to get the full idea of what they were saying - other than that oil is behind all this.

They seemed to be saying that the US wants to open up the Iraq oil fields to drive down the price of oil - stuffing up the OPEC countries once and for all, and doing it in a way which ensures that the US controls that oil though.

I don't know, on the one hand I can see the logic in all that, and I am not completely naive - well not completely - so I certainly don't discount it. But then again, OPEC, is notorious for being unable to working together, over selling their quotas. So I guess I pay that the oil factor is important.

In the end, I don't support war on Iraq.

I am sad to say that terrorists in Australia have attacked a Muslim family in the west of Sydney - but I also know that the human heart is evil above all things, and that God has clearly warned us that things will keep on getting worse as time goes on.

There is no hope in this world - it is in Jesus and a faith in Him which offers real hope and an undestanding of the world and what is going on.

Watching The Panel now, and Kelly Osbourne just admitted to throwing breadrolls at Richard Wilkinson during the ARIA award presentation held last night :) lol - I have some respect for her now, well only a bit, although she seems fairly normal considering the family and the fame she has had to grow up with. Mind you her accent is atrocious - hmm ironic for a nasal aussie to say it, but there you go.

Wow!!! what's that statement about a world that has such wonders in it.

Sick of people calling you on the phone? Want to get a bit of your own back? have a bit of spare time? then try the anti-telemarketing EGBG counterscript!!!!

I missed this bit of microsoft evilness. Even that isn't enough to overcome the back-to-work blues. Mind you the more-people-die-due-to-terror-attacks-close-to-home-and-many-are-australian blues aren't all that easy to get rid of either - makes you wonder where was God?

Both houses of government in the US have given Bush authority to invade Iraq requiring him to inform them within 48 hours. And so the US continues to walk the road to war. A war that may spread through the whole region. I don't know about all this, I mean on the one hand I still can't think of anything that is worth killing someone for, but I also can see that evil people need to be stopped and all the more when they have access to resources and weapons such as Sadaam has. But so many innocent people will die and the US will not spend the same amount on rebuilding as they will on killing.

This represents a fundamental change in the way evil is dealt with, instead of waiting for it to strike, the US is planning to attack it before it can act. Of course Sadaam has acted in the past so perhaps that does justify the action. But then then the US has helped Sadaam as well and so they are accessories to the acts and thus guilty in part as well.

The final act of hypocrisy on the part of the US is to say that by the UN not acting on Sadaam then the UN is in danger of becoming irrelevant. This is the same country which has ignored many a UN initiative, not paid it's dues, declared it's troops beyond the scope of the International Court of Justice and so on - the only way the UN can ensure it continues to be relevant is if the US stops ignoring it rather than expecting that it becomes a forum where the whole world agrees with everything the US wants.

The US has also begun to publicly discuss what happens after an invasion.

You Call That Evidence? | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - interesting piece about Iraqs current Atomic readiness, includes a link at the bottom of the page to another story from March 1991 discussing the Iraq atomic program - it is very in depth and I haven't read it all at this stage.

With only 3 to 6 weeks before the US begins their compaign against Iraq - it was only last night that I heard a UK Public Servant stating that they and the US had created Sadaam and that, if no other reason, was why they need to go in and remove him.

This was said whilst reassuring Iran that they were not next on the list. I have already thought that it was foolish of the US not to acknowledge their culpability in the acts of Sadaam Hussein. In fact to my mind that is possibly the only reason that the US could offer to justify their decision to invade - the US has supplied arms and equipment to Iraq and stood silently by when the Iraqi's used chemical weapons.

Rather than taking the high moral ground - after all the US is the only country in the world which has used Nuclear Weapons, twice at that - the US should be honest and offer the world that it is willing to sacrifice it's people to clean up the mess that previous US governments have made.

I am not sure how you get to this from within the site [maybe they removed the links] but as gabe from Penny Arcade said "While I respect the fact the Microsoft is trying to be clever and/or funny, they really should have considered hiring people who were clever and/or funny to create their irreverent flash advertisements". But they didn't, I think it was a 15 year old fan boy who made it.

Well today was a much nicer day - in fact a great day with very fine weather. I stayed up until 5am this morning playing CivII [which I thought I hated but got sucked in] - I had arranged for the Noble One to come over at 10am to help me with moving the old red ford. I dropped off about 6am - awoke at 8am and sent him a message to come at 11ish.

At 11 after I had had a shower and wandered out for a coffee - surprise surprise Praetor was over to help to. I just grunted, cos I felt crap still. Had got a coffee going and started getting the red ford ready to move. Anyways - it started first go, Ford's are GREAT cars. I felt better after that, cos it meant that it would be very easy to move it down the street.

So we got Big Red all set for removal - swapped the tyres and rims, got the starter motor and console and a few other bits. Rung up Pete and he arranged for it to be taken away Thursday :) Thanks Noble One [Praetor had to go to work after it started]

And Happy Birthday to Kylie - she whose selfless service inspired Kylie Kam. It was Oct 9th in fact.

30 degrees plus was way too hot. I walked down the hill to the car and back up and then saw the pile of roadbase behind the old red ford and decide - forget it - so no big red work today. However, tomorrow looks like a cool day and so I will be doing the car thing then.

Started working on the wardriving site today - just a bit of a start - so still coming soon - oh and for those who are wondering why bungie cam is now filling the fourth cam spot it's cos I love bungie - myth got me hooked on them and I bought the xbox really just to play Halo [which they made] - so of course when I remembered they had a webcam it was only natural to add them to the front page.

The task for today - get "Big Red" ready to be towed away. Big Red can just be seen through the window on Kylie Kam. It was the ford I drove before my current one. There were thoughts of using it as a demo derby car but no one is game to enter into the 6 cylinder class where it all seems much more serious :) So I will put the tyres back on and then see if we can get it started and move it to the top of the driveway before stripping what I want off it. Then we just roll it down the hill [I want to take the starter motor] and arrange for it to be taken away.

It has been a while since I found something in Pravda that was worth passing on [although I recommend it to round out your news intake] but this Pravda.RU Sensation is worth a read - only took them 6 years to report it.

Well, Praetor has got the wireless back running again - it seems that the USB card was the problem. So that is that I am - at the moment wireless again and this was posted from the Wireless WarBook. A few thanks to the Praetor for his effort - now i know how those people at work feel who work their macs and can't fix it and I just walk in and fix it for them :)

Anyway the Final starts soon so I say goodbye - Go Roosters !!!!

Today is the NRL Grand Final - which will see the young guns and the old farty pants get together at our house to watch the game. Should be a great afternoon - the weather is great at the moment fine and sunny with a light breeze.

Right now, well in a few moments, we [me, steve, kylie and thommo] will all get to it and do some tidying up - which I don't really understand cos by the time everyone leaves we'll be doing the cleaning all over again - probably even more :) - but anyway, that's just the way it goes. I will probably set up /cam2 to overlook the BBQ as well as kylie kam in the usual place.

Now, since the post of 4/10 things haven't been good on the wireless front - in fact the wireless front is no more. I shutdown the box to find out the problem with the remote admin thingy and fixed that. I then restarted the machine and NO WIRELESS NETWORK. Argghhhhhhh. So I spent until 6am on the 5th trying to get it working again and then until 2am this morning - with no success. Praetor helped a bit but didn't really have any other ideas. So I am not a very happy camper - to have been so close and now to have nothing - not happy at all.

I am feeling a new Inside Out coming on .. maybe in a few days.

Yikes! - hot out of the Bungie labs the latest weapon for Halo 2 - if they are all as good as this then Halo 2 will be simply awesome ;)

Just cos I cam and to celebrate the wireless world running full steam ahead here in bjd land. So while I clean my room you can have a look out my window - the quality is crap cos of the drivers for OSX, however they are free and that is the right price :)

Kylie Kam is back online and I am just about to shutdown the wireless router box and move it into it's new home - so shortly I shall know if Praetor has been completely sucessful - if he didn't then I am off to bed to have a read - at least books don't crash, nor do their drivers become corrupted.

Update: well it worked - I plugged the box in without monitor or keyboard, turned it on and it all still works - well done Praetor. Well it all works except the remote admin thingy - but I am happy with what we got for now.

Praetor came over and put in the hours tonight and got the wireless network back up and running - although we are not sure how long it will last for. Oh well that's WinTel for you. He also set it up so it will work without keyboard and mouse, added a remote admin tool and made it a bit more secure. Wasn't feeling all that chatty tonight so not as excited as last night - but thanks Praetor you are a pro. Hopefully this will also see the return of the Cams.

Speaking of the cams - look some of you 10.1 people a day who visit me click on the cam buttons which send me a message - now if you don't fill in the name and comment section all I get is your ip address - which is very interesting and all but not very friendly - so why not actually type in a message, hey maybe even your name :)

CNN.com - Official! World's funniest joke

SHUT UP!!!! Don't tell ME Praetor is a legend >| true to form he managed to then set about breaking the wireless network trickery so that I am once again grounded to the earth via the ethernet cable - oh yeah and due to the need for replacing the USB card with the WiFi card that is why Kylie Kam is having a break. I now go to fix the wireless drivers to hopefully return myself to wireless goodness. I mean sure Praetor solved the routing issues - but did he stop there, no, no, no, his motto "S'il n'est pas cassé cassez-le" [bet you didn't know that Praetor was French ;) actually thanks to Sherlock3 in OSX 10.2 for the translation] meant he just had to add one more thing - and now it doesn't work. Oh well - Je veux l'étrangler - as they say ;)

Shh, don't tell anyone, but Praetor is legend :) He has come over and got me wireless network trickery all happen most spiffingly. It is so good to just know how things should work - cos then you sit down and do it - and guess what? It did. Posted from the wireless joy which is the laptop - all I need now is wireless power and I will be a very happy man - or a 12 hour battery. Thanks Praetor - good to see all that TAFE time [more like hacking time] has paid off - keep using those powers for good man.

I am sure I never knew this existed - though I should have - the noble one told me to take a look and so should you. You don't know him but he is funny and thoughtful - so be amused.

Steal Your Interface: A History - an interesting little tidbit. And that last sentence should have another about how OS X is not themeable at all. In fact if you read this you will see that the company which set things up to create so much innovation by the little guy has taken it all away in OS X :( Oh well I like OS X, Aqua and even the Dock SO as long as I can change my dekstop pict I am happy.

WarWalking - even the US Secret Service is doing it. Of course they are using their evil Pringle Powers for good.

Feeling Hungry?