Bend in the Weather

Pauline and I are heading away for about a week on a much needed holiday!

We are spending a few days with my grandmother in Cohuna, and then heading to Mildura in the new year.

As a result, I'm unlikely to post much over the period, as I'll be out and about in the sun and fun!

So I'll wish you all Happy New Year and see you on my return. I may post haphazardly during the period as I populate the site with some happy shots.

It's been a hot 35^oC here in Melbourne in recent days, so I'm expecting Mildura is likely to be low-mid 40's!
I may come back not looking 'like a ghost' as Anne so graciously put it!

Recently we purchased a notebook.

Yesterday Pauline and I picked up a Wireless Access Point so we can use the laptop around the house without the need for an ethernet cable.

We've purchased a D-Link DI-524 Wireless Access Point, which is capable of 802.11b and 802.11g.

I'm sitting here typing away on the notebook whilst watching the cricket and being connected to our LAN at a very nice 54MB/sec!

It certainly makes programming and working on the Internet much more pleasant.

Okay, I'm really enjoying this new camera.

With my shoddy eyes, it's great to have a camera that 'auto-focuses'.

Here is a couple of other shots I took on Christmas Day at Pauline's folks place, and later the following day at Williamstown.

I'm still checking out all the various options on the camera, but it does appear to be quite versatile and takes a very nice shot.

On Christmas Day Pauline and I were the last to leave.

I took a stroll through the gardens of her parents place, which I often do, just to admire the beauty of the garden her folks have.

It was also a perfect opportunity to practise taking some photos with my new digital camera. We had a small passing shower, enough to dampen everything, and make everything fresh and crisp. If you look closely you'll see some of the raindrops!

They turned out better than I expected! I thought I would share them with you all. Some of these will make excellent desktop backgrounds.

Feel free to click on each image to see a larger version.


With shots like these... I could say I'm a budding photographer!

Chistmas Day we headed down to Little River to celebrate it with Pauline's side of the family.

Unfortunately not everyone could attend (Christine, Michael and the kids, as well as Barry, Diane and the kids all couldn't make it).
Besides some people MIA, it was a great and fun day by all that attended.

It was a relaxed and enjoyable time for all. The usual 'Cini Feast' was layed out. After lunch the exchange of gifts occurred and several undertook a game of Bocce.

Feel free to click on the photos to see an larger version of each.

This year we're celebrating Christmas over two days.

This allows us to spend a full day at each side of the family!
Christmas Eve we spent at my side of the family, whilst Christmas Day will be spent with Pauline's family.

So we get the benefit of literally 'two Christmas' days.

Part one (my family) was held yesterday. Everyone had a good time, with enough food and drink had by all!

Here is some of the happy snaps. Apology to AC whom I seem to have missed in the photos!
I'll have to grab one from some of the other happy snappers and put it up!

You can click on each image for a bigger shot.



NB: These shots were taken on my new Chrissy pressie!
I love the idea of a auto-focus camera... as my bad eyesight ensures I normally take shots out of focus. Now I can point 'n shoot with the best of 'em!

WikiPedia for those that have been living under a rock is basically an Internet based encylopedia, that is produced by people like you and me...

It's been created by literally millions of people around the globe.

Recently there was quite a storm in a tea-cup created when some bloke had an article written up about him. Yeah, sure the article was incorrect. But instead of just correcting it, and realising it was a prank, he decided to turn it into a huge issue.

Get over it... it's the Internet... things are wrong on the Internet!

Think the following coming from Penny Arcade sums it up well...



I guess the lesson here is that whilst Wikipedia is a great resource it isn't infallible... always check your sources!
And as for Mr John Seigenthaler Sr... loose some of the starch outta your shirts. The world isn't really going to end if some people don't see you in the same light that you see yourself sigh

For those interested in the whole saga... Wikipedia (and reasonably correct) has an article on the whole issue.

At Christmas we all normally give and receive gifts.

This year I've been given the best gift of all. Better Health.

It's a gift I've given to myself, as well as being received from Pauline.

Without Pauline's constant encouragement and commitment to prepare meals that follow the diet, I would have fallen off the wagon a long time ago!

It's more than a diet... it's actually a lifestyle change.
The high fibre, high protein, high dairy, low sugar, low carbs diet that works.
I thought I would never survive without the pastas, potatoes and other carb rich food, but I've replaced them with much, much more! I don't miss them now.

Whilst, I'm not near my ideal weight I'm heading in the right direction. In due time I'll reach it!
So far I'm close to losing 17kgs! Yup... that's like carrying a large fish on your back all day. (The fish shown below is actually 17kgs!)

Pick up 17kgs yourself and realise how much it is... no wonder I have so much more energy these days.

I'm losing at a nice constant rate... around 1kg a week... so I'll continue until I reach my goal weight.

So for those of you carrying a few extra kilos, and struggling to lose it, I recommend you pick up a copy of the book, and try it yourself! Believe me if I can have results... anyone can!

Pauline also has been doing the diet, and looks fabulous! She's shed some serious kilos and looks trim and terrific! I'm unsure just how much she's lost, but I do know it's quite a lot! She's an inspiration to me... as she's much closer to her ideal weight than I am. She also shows me that it is possible to achieve.

I'm looking forward to a much more active lifestyle next year, with loads more energy and a toned and healthy looking body. We only get one, so lets look after it.

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild

Hark: To listen attentively.
Herald: A person who carries or proclaims important news; a messenger.

For years I would sing this without knowing what those two words meant!

I love carols, they inspire me each year and bring such a message of hope for a hopeless world.

"Peace on earth and mercy mild" - This is my message to all over the next year. May you learn mercy and find peace in all you do.

I'll be celebrating Christmas one day early with my own family, whilst heading to Pauline's parents on Christmas Day.
It's always such a special time of year with so many good thoughts, warm wishes and self-assessment.

May you all enjoy the holiday period, remain close to family/friends, and come back in the New Year renewed and revitalised.

It seems my recent post on blog-spammers didn't hit the mark.

I'm getting hit daily by hundreds of spam messages in my blog, via either the comments or the track-back system.

Well... two can play at that game!

I've been manually removing the comments, though it takes copious amounts of time. Luckily I've set-up the blog that it actually filters most of them so they are never visible... and as such their spamming has no direct result.

I've moved up a gear and am getting ruthless with these spammers. Unfortunately, most of the time it's via 'spam bots' on peoples computers who are infected with a worm or trojan.
I don't have much sympathy for these people (no matter how clueless they are on a computer... the media informs us just how often viruses and spam is transferred), also almost everyone knows someone that is their 'local tech guru' that can help eliminate such things.

A decent anti-virus program (like Avast! Home Edition) as well as tools like Spyware Blaster, Spyware Guard, SpyBot - Search & Destroy, Microsoft AntiSpyware, and Ad-aware are all free tools that help clean out and stop such rot.

Unfortunately until their is a crackdown, these bots and those that use them will still flourish.

I've implemented a restriction system now on the types of words you can enter in the comment system... to stop such crap landing here.

The following words are now 'banned':
"poker", "casino", "holdem", "blackjack", "slots", "propecia", "sonata", "ambien", "adipex", "roulette"

Just to give you an idea of the problem... here is a list of 'users' that posted in the last 48 hours:

online poker
texas holdem
cheap propecia
online roulette
video poker
online slots
texas holdem
blackjack
online casino
party poker
texas holdem poker
free online poker
online poker
texas holdem poker
online poker
online texas holdem
texas holdem poker
slots
sonata
ambien
adipex

As you can see .... they're not your average user!

Just to show you how wide-spread the problem is... here is the list of IPs that these so called users come from. You will see the name of the I.P. in brackets for those that are resolvable.

24.39.145.214 ( rrcs-24-39-145-214.nyc.biz.rr.com )
58.141.243.36
58.224.82.190
61.110.98.33
61.152.145.44
61.219.11.99 ( 61-219-11-99.HINET-IP.hinet.net )
63.70.3.47 ( host47.nokia-boston.com )
66.90.15.61 ( node.smartcityon-line.com )
66.190.103.187 ( 66-190-103-187.static.sprn.tx.charter.com )
69.53.50.159 ( host50-159.dissent.birch.net )
69.93.230.202 ( oslo.dnstraffic.net )
80.58.2.46 ( 80-58-2-46.proxycache.rima-tde.net )
80.58.50.174 ( 80-58-50-174.proxycache.rima-tde.net )
80.105.84.250 ( host250-84.pool80105.interbusiness.it )
80.237.140.233 ( proxy77.net )
81.208.15.24 ( 81-208-15-24.ip.fastwebnet.it )
81.7.90.72 ( adsl-81-7-90-72.takas.lt )
81.174.156.69 ( gltproductions.plus.com )
85.64.53.57 ( 85-64-53-57.barak-online.net )
85.255.115.250
142.176.157.242
150.165.111.250 ( s-info216.nsc.ufpb.br )
163.17.147.254
168.209.97.34 ( netcache1-ctn.is.co.za )
193.171.32.4
193.251.149.11 ( www.socatel.cf )
193.253.112.158 ( AStDenis-105-1-3-158.w193-253.abo.wanadoo.fr )
195.175.37.8
195.175.37.9
195.243.149.2 ( mail.greennet-isp.com )
200.21.21.93
200.30.79.126 ( ce7305-or-mde.orbitel.net.co )
200.206.233.184 (200-206-233-184.dsl.telesp.net.br )
202.72.167.27 ( dsl-202-72-167-27.wa.westnet.com.au )
202.88.129.254
203.160.1.38
203.162.27.195
203.162.27.196
203.162.27.197
203.162.27.198
203.162.27.199
203.162.27.200
203.167.27.7
203.247.156.16
209.200.11.* ( amhotlist.com )
210.211.219.44 ( 210.211.219.44.bb-dynamic.vsnl.net.in )
210.212.204.36
212.49.85.94
212.179.198.80 ( bzq-198-80.red.bezeqint.net )
216.223.54.225 ( mail.xbsolutions.com )
217.34.39.126 ( host217-34-39-126.in-addr.btopenworld.com )
218.55.164.243
218.94.128.70
218.189.216.226
219.93.174.108 ( BRF-CE09-G2-0.tm.net.my )
219.126.90.104 ( i1090104.icntv.ne.jp )
221.203.145.9

Whilst publishing the IPs some wil claim I'm 'breaking' their privacy. Not at all, an IP is an 'address', just like your street address. It's not private, and in fact whenever you surf the web or use anything with TCP/IP you actually freely give it out (that's how the other end knows where to send you the data).

I've published this rather small list (believe me... it's only 48 hours worth!) in the slight hope that some of those users or admins of these networks will notice and get these machines cleaned.

For those interested on learning how to stop the flood of nuisance blog-spam drop me a comment and I'm happy to post further details.