Disabling front row via the apple remote

This is really just a post so I remember to do this when I get home...

http://theappleblog.com/2008/08/18/disable-apple-remote-control/

I'm sick of the laptops bursting into life every time I'm trying to control the appletv

So that last post was supposed to be longer

... I was mid sentence in that post when I accidentally hit send and then after it posted I was going to finish it but STREET FIGHTER IV for iPhone somehow got started and well.... that was the end of any more blogging...

So back to what I was saying, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have the river walk to calm/occupy/put to sleep the cranky pants. I know in a lot of suburban places they have some pathways and footpaths by the road but I know from the walk to day care in the mornings this can be about as stressful as the scream at home with all the dodging of traffic crossing roads etc.
We are out on the walk almost every morning it's fine and on the weekends (or afternoons if it's light enough) we're out there as much as we can. I think if I was still with a little one I would find it very hard to get through the loud patches without a similar sort of space.

The reason it's such a topic today is it's been a week of very long nights and the escape to the river walk has probably been a little overused (in defence of the too young to blog he does have a cold/cough and is getting some new teeth all in one go). But there is nothing like a 5:30am walk to watch the sunrise and a double macchiato to cure some sleep deprivation.

I must admit that I restarted this post with something else insightful to add, but of course now I'm halfway through it I can't remember what it was....

Anyway... on to other events of the weekend, we took advantage of the waterpark at southbank after a very cruisy bike ride with a few other friends. Fortunately the off and on rain for the day meant there were only a handful of kids in the water and we could roam free the whole time.

I finally did some gaming on the Wii that didn't involve "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" and plugged away at another level of Fire Emblem. I swear the AI is targeting healers because it knows if you loose a character it's game over. It's possibly one of the most difficult games I've every played and it's not difficult in a good way... Never the less this just seems to make me want to play it more... either that or throw the controller at the TV, such a fine line.

The iPad was available for preorder in the States yesterday and I've been trying to steer clear of the news because I know I want to buy one and the release seems like such a way off for Australia. I'm thinking that the WiFi only device is the one to get because with two iPhones and a 3G enabled MacBook Pro how often am I going to need the iPad to be online out of the house.

Lastly but not least... is one of the best things about having someone little running around the house... no one wonders why you're sitting on the floor playing with toy cars (complete with brum brum noises. Yes I'm still that much of a kid at heart)

A quiet afternoon....

It's not often I get to sit and just type out all my random musings
any longer. Not that I'm really complaining most of that time now is
filled with playing and running around like a crazy thing. As I
haven't really grown up myself it's really the perfect past time for
me. This afternoon though the little time occupier was particularly
cranky (because he's tired from running around the waterpark for ages
and going for a long ride and refuses to have a nap) so we set off for
a walk along the river. Of course after about 2 mins he was asleep and
rather than tempt fate and move him we've camped on a park bench
(obviously he's in his pram) and are watching the afternoon pass by.
This is how I've managed to have a quiet afternoon and have time to
ponder my thoughts. The wind is just strong enough to be rocking the
pram and keep him peacefully asleep.
It made me wonder "what do people in the suburbs do. The walk by the
river is really my coping mechanism and having a small child I think
you need one.

Photo by TiltShift Generator

A pointless post while on a train.

First off let's get the point of this post is to pass the time while
I'm crammed into a train (which means I can't effectively game).

It's been a long time since i've travelled on a train in peak hour.
And after all the cramming at the station and now in the train I think
I'd almost prefer the bus. The bus I catch (which I don't do much
anymore) is almost always full 3 or 4 stops after I catch it and I'm
more often than not standing but it somehow feels a little less cattle
like. I think it's all the people in the doorway of the train doing
the shuffle at each and every stop.
In either case I still think (given the distance) walking or the bike
is the best option and it makes me feel a little less guilty about the
environmental impact the rest of my gadget obsession has.

In other news it seams that many more of my childhood memories are
getting remakes. I wonder if this generation will be remembered as
"remakeorama"? Probably not but still is nothing safe from a remake.
When I see remakes for "gone with the wind" I know it'll have gone too
far. We've already had Astro boy with A-Team, Tron (ok this one is a
sequel but I do wonder) and karate kid. It seems that popular media is
just living off the remake which is sad, certainly people are thinking
of great original content.

On the gaming front I worry for the longevity of my DS. Since I've
picked up the iPhone the DS has suffered a lot in play time. One of
the major reasons I think is cost vs play time. A new DS game retails
for $70 and an iPhone release fo a lot less and with the addition of
titles such as Final Fantasy it's hard to justify the games on the ds
at the high price as I typically use it as a pick up and play
console. Obviously big titles such as Mario will always have appeal
but smaller mini game style titles will probably be an iPhone
purchase. I imagine Nintendo are having similar fears even with their
strong "we aren't worried by the iPhone" exterior.
Sent from my iPhone

February and another festival

Almost a exactly a month since we went to Big Day Out in Adelaide and
we backed it up with a trip to Future Music. First of all I'd like to
point out that it was wet and by wet I mean probably the most
saturated I've been when not swimming. It's definately the muddiest
i've ever been. So in that light I'd take any review with a grain of
salt.

Overall I was pretty disappointed. I think I was still basking in the
afterglow of Big Day Out and combined with the weather it was going to
be hard slog for it. I found the change overs took entirely too long
and the sets were too short in comparison. No one I saw (with the
exception of the fill DJ baby gee) seemed to play their full set time
and a quite a few of them started late.

Ok enough of the complaining there were highlights.
Franz Ferdinand: these guys were pretty good. Heaps of hits and some
great drum improvisation at the end of their set.
Prodigy: Great. Perfect run of songs from breath (almost opener) to
firestarter. I spent pretty much all of the set jumping. Almost felt
like I was back in highschool when voodoo people hit.

Unfortunately that was about the end of the highlights other than done
excellent crowd movement control.

Empire of the Sun: I was really looking forward to these guys and
after being very late, which was not their fault, I imagine the
continual downpours gave the set crews a major headache they were just
a bit weird. They really put on a show but it was more like a bad
musical theatre performance than a set. There was a comment that the
choreography was akin to a performance by Phoenix musical company.

I could go on and on but I think overall the stage setup, the sound
setup and the lineup were far below the standard of Big Day Out and
for the same (or more for VIP) ticket price combined with the weather
made it disappointing. While Prodigy were really good they weren't
enough to save the festival for me.

The biggest thing of note was the weather though it rained so much. We
were lucky we went late and had VIP tickets so we could hide in the
tents but by the end of the night we were all soaked to the bone and
covered in mud. When I saw the weather I chose to wear some water
proof shoes which was a great idea *until* they filled up with water
then they were not so great. For empire I was ankle deep in mud. The
shoes are all heading for the bin, hours of walking around in a horse
track filled with mud (or worse) makes them not worth resurrecting.
I'm just thankful that I came home with my shoes, more than I can say
for many other goers.

I didn't get many photos as I was trying to save the iPhone from the
weather (I had to keep it in a bag in the end because my pockets were
soaked through) but I will post some soon (mostly shoe mud progress).

Sent from my iPhone

This was supposed to be a post

I was going to post something informative and insightful today,
somewhere between thinking of that and actually putting finger to
touch screen it's disappeared.

There had been a lot going on lately but nothing of very much interest
to those browsing the interons.

The only real technology based news is I've decided to go back and
give 'Buzz' another try. With much of the security plugged back up i'm
willing to give it a second run. Still not sure if I can support yet
more social media services but I like the levels of potential
integration.

Well that's about all the padding on this I'm willing to do. Until
next time when I actually have something to blog about.

Sent from my iPhone

Clearoutathon

I am a bit of a hoarder. I come from a family of hoarders so it's not
surprising I've picked up the behaviour. I've tried to cut back but
every so often I slip back into some hoarding. This week though it's
been the complete opposite. Ness was watching an (heart wrenching)
show on compulsive hoarders. These people (often as a coping mechanism
for some incredible hardship) have so much stuff in there houses they
haven't seen the insides of rooms for over 5 years. This was enough
for me (one because I found it depressing to watch and two if they
could throw out things then I could at least clear out my study). In
the end it was pretty easy all thd documentation from my past working
life went and the odds and ends went with it. The bug seems to have
stuck though as I've continued to the kitchen tonight. Who knows where
it will go next.

In case any of you are wondering why there is a rather self indulgent
post at midnight. The Littleone(tm) is sick and has woken up with a
high temp again tonight. After some nurafen, milk and a cuddle he's
back asleep. I'm trying to stay awake to make sure his temp keeps
heading away from the 40 mark, hence the blogging.

Sent from my iPhone