Ms Fifikins

There has been a bit of chatter online about the Rudd government’s Internet Filter. Basically the Government wants to dictate what is appropriate and inappropriate for Australians to see. It is for the safety of the children. Or something.

Now the pollies are tight lipped about what is going to be filtered. Perhaps it won’t be as bad as one government department that looks at all incoming photos and if there is ‘too much skin’ an email is sent to the recipient as to why they need to see that photo. Happened when I sent someone holiday photos of our kids together at the beach. And they were wearing sunshirts.

Yes, children need to be protected, but by making something taboo you really are just encouraging people to explore what it is. Rate a movie M and you have an army of 7-15 year olds dying to see it. Good marketing really.

What are we going to do? Put plastic bags over web sites? Dictate what words are appropriate and what are inappropriate? And what will it achieve? I suspect that the areas with the greatest level of violence and crime are lower socio-economic areas where there is limited access to the Internet.

These are just my random ramblings. Mark Newton is a lot better with words than me! See this. So is Stilgherrian. What is left is for us to contact our local members. Go on, do it now!

Poor Sweetie. She was the poor bugger who copped me at the Telstra Shop today when my jebusPhone had not risen on the third day.

On Friday, my phone froze mid call (it was in my locker at work and I was not there to answer it) and I had to force it to restart (menu and power button for 10 seconds if ever you need it!) Forgot to sync it to the computer that night, but thought nothing of it.

Saturday though it decided to act funny! Kept asking me for my SIM pin and then restarting without being asked to. Then I noticed there was no reception. Tried turning it off, nothing happened so I force quit it again. It told me to plug it into iTunes. So I did and it told me it was terminal and I should take it to my nearest Apple shop.

So I got online and tweeted what I should do and was told to put it in DFU mode to restore it. So I did (by holding down the menu button and plugging it into iTunes. It appeared ok for a while in that it synced again and downloaded apps. Then it asked for my SIM pin again. And it told me to plug it into iTunes. iTunes told me it was not able to restore, so I did the DFU thing again and got nothing. Zip, zippo, zilch.

Went to the MacTalk forums and was basically told it seemed terminal. First thing today I was at the local Apple repair agent. No- they could do nothing- I had to go to Telstra. Was told to push for a new iPhone though.

Off to Telstra where poor Sweetie comes into it. She told me it had to be sent away and could be away for up to 6 weeks. 6 WEEKS! I almost hit the roof. She then told me it might be back in 2, but it could take up to 6 weeks. 6 WEEKS! I think I looked like I had been shot! She assured me she would give me a loan phone, but it wouldn’t be an iPhone.

So she produces one of these:

A used pre-paid phone that costs $129 outright. But it does have these features:

• Next G mobile
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• Video Calling
• 262K colour display
• Bluetooth
• Next G ready

Got that- it is a Next G phone. It says so on the website.

Then poor Sweetie clinched it. I told her that if my phone was away for more than 2 weeks I would want a credit on my bill for all the things this phone didn’t do that my jebusPhone does. Her reply was that this phone could do everything my iPhone can.

OK, sweet, sweet child,let me enlighten you!

1. The iPhone syncs to my computer. It contains my calendar and lets me access my email on the run. The Telstra 256 does not.
2. The iPhone has a GPS thingy built into it. Using Next G technology (you know that stuff you are always sprouting off about at Telstra) I can access maps and get directions as to where I am going. Can’t do that on on the Telstra 256.
3. I have downloaded 31 applications from the iTunes store. Perhaps if it were the Telstra iTunes store you would care. I can’t see the BOM weather radar on the Telstra 256 or upload pictures directly to Flickr or use a lightsaber.
4. You know music, well I can listen to it on my iPhone! I know! Who would have thunk it! It syncs to iTunes and I have some of my favourites on there. I can even access iTunes and through the meager downloads I pay megabucks for each month download music.
5. Then there are the little things- like threaded SMSs- They rock!

So Sweetie, I’m sorry but perhaps you need to find out some more about the iPhone. Just think of your commission if you can get customers onto iPhones and not Telstra 256s. Oh and also, you are going to get sick of me bugging you asking if it is back yet.

*I was going to call poor Sweetie by name, but figured I might embarrass the poor child, more than her parents who named her after the surname of a cricketer turned TV presenter, or US singer who wants to dance with somebody…

My posts don’t often carry disclaimers, but this post contains images that may upset some viewers… Yeah! There is blood, there is gore, and there is a mushy bit!

The gorgeous MIML™ (’man in my life’ for the acronymally challenged!) celebrated a birthday on Thursday. Last night we had barbecue for around 20 colleagues, friends and their families. It was a top night! I have that many leftovers that we will not starve for the next week or so!

Oh and the cake… well it had to be geeky and it had to be chocolaty (although I think any cake would have done!) I tossed up between Nigella’s Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake and her Chocolate Fudge cake and after a rough poll on both Twitter and Plurk, the Fudge Cake won out! I am no good with piping or such things so decided to keep it simple! And added the geeky element- binary ftw!

Bonus points if you can work out how young MIML™ is!

Oh and MIML™- thanks for letting me cook! You know how much I love it! Wishing you a lovely year and I look forward to celebrating your 100100th birthday next year with you!

Stolen from Devyl Gyrl!

“You have to use 3 words to answer each question. No more, no less. It’s harder than you think.”

Where is your cell phone? · In the kitchen
Your girlfriend/boyfriend/hubby? · Is super sexy!
Your hair? · Purple, red, brown
Where is your father? · Died in 1990
Your favorite thing to do? · Surf the net
Your dream last night? · Strange chocolate butterflies
Your favorite drink? · Gin and Tonic
Your dream car? · Racing Green MG
The room you’re in? · The back deck
Your fears? · Loneliness, wild rats
Who did you hang out with last night? · My lovely bf!
What aren’t you good at? · Cooking not cleaning
Muffins? · Raspberry white chocolate
One of your wish list items? · More cook books
The last thing you did? · Assembled a tiramisu
What are you wearing? · Black work clothes
Your pet? · fish, snails, rats!
Your computer? · Matilda the Macbook
Your life? · Ups and downs
Your mood? · Tired but excited
Missing? · My interstate friends
What are you thinking about right now? · Friday night’s barbecue
Your car? · Blue Ford Focus.
Your work? · Sucks at times
Your summer? · Preparing for cyclones
Your relationship status? · In a relationship
Your favorite color(s)? · purple, pink, red
When is the last time you laughed? · Earlier this evening
Last time you cried? · Few weeks ago.
School? · Tintern Girls Grammar

@nickhac has developed a ranking of Australian Twitters based predominantly on their following. Yes, I could have embedded the list here, but 1) It is too wide for my blog design and 2) you should go and see Nick’s work in context with the comments that follow there!

The list has drawn much comment about the formula used, however I believe much of the debate is about the type of influence people have.

As at 11.30am (AEST) today, I appear to be ranked 28. Numbers don’t really matter to me, in the same way karma on plurk is fairly irrelevant to me, but what the numbers actually mean has got people talking.

I am not on twitter to promote or market anything (well sometimes I pimp this tiny blog, but I am not blogging to make money!) or for professional development. I do bounce ideas off people, find and share news and generally engage in community. For me, twitter is community. For others it is a platform to market and promote and to grow professionally and these are good and valid uses of Twitter.

I follow back most people who follow me. Often if someone is overseas I am more reluctant to follow back because it is hard to create community when I am twittering away whilst you are sleeping! But if someone directs an @fifikins to me then I (9/10) add them.

Because someone has a large following it does make them influential- people do want to read what they are saying and doing. However many they choose to follow back and how they choose to use Twitter is up to them. By choosing to follow someone you are deciding how influential they are. Ranking systems are always going to be open to criticism, but I think Nick’s formula is pretty accurate. Malcolm Turnbull’s foray into Twitter last week shows that he is influential! We have all tried to tell him how to do it better and he is listening to some things! By following him we are showing that what he says has some sway- no matter if we agree with it or not. We are listening to what he says and how he says it. He is trying something new and the medium he is using resonates with a lot of us.

I have (as of now!) 773 people who have chosen to follow my rants, raves, random stuff and verbosity! (Yes, you can be verbose in 140 characters!) I often wonder why people would choose to follow this ‘Thesis writing, retail working, sole parenting, music loving, verbose Aussie dreamer on the intertubes. G&T princess and meme queen.’

I am not influential! Perhaps I am, in the words of (Aussie) Kath effluential at times, but what I say doesn’t result in the world changing. Except perhaps when I call gin o’clock!

(Yes, the original pre-Monty Python and yes, it is Tim Brooke-Taylor from The Goodies!)

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it can also be distorted. I grew up in a typically middle class family. We had enough, but perhaps not excess. We certainly didn’t live in a rolled up newspaper! Times are tough at present, however we are not ‘extremely poor’ as in the definition of poverty. Yes, I live from pay day to pay day and usually have to make arrangements to pay off bills over time. When unexpected bills arrive, I stress, but then I find a way of getting by.

I am fortunate to have the support of family who help out with the kids’ expenses. Whilst I can’t give them everything they want, I hope they will grow up thinking of what they had, rather than what they didn’t have.

I am always telling the kids we are rich in so many ways, and for fears of turning into a Yorkshireman, I can focus on what can be done for others to help ease their impoverishment.

For all my enmeshment in new media occasionally I like to get my hand on something analogue. My choice is often The Big Issue, partially because it is not sold up here and when I do get it I have time to sit and read it, but also because it is a micro-business designed to help people get back on their feet. Not only do I get a great read, but I am helping the vendor from whom I purchased the magazine.

The other way to help stop the spread of poverty is a topic very close to my heart- breastfeeding. If only people accepted that breastfeeding is the natural and normal way to feed a baby then so many issues could be addressed. Breastfeeding has a positive impact on the baby, the mother and the environment. It is the source of food designed for the baby. It changes to meet the needs of the baby and it is always sterile. It helps protect the mother against breast cancer and osteoporosis and saves her time and money. This is not only the money for purchasing artificial formula, equipment and paraphernalia, but also the health costs- breastfed babies have fewer illnesses and are less likely to develop chronic illnesses such as asthma and juvenile diabetes which cost the taxpayers money. And also for the environment- processing costs, packaging and fuel costs in production and preparation.

And the good news is that with education and support the majority of women can breastfeed, even those in malnourished parts of the world. By upholding the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (WHO Code) we can help promote that breastfeeding is the normal way to feed infants and the implications of not breastfeeding can lead to hardship. If you are pregnant, or know someone who is, tell them to attend a Breastfeeding Education Class in their area. If you are having troubles breastfeeding, ask for help. The simple act of breastfeeding your child can have an immense economic benefit. Just do it!

(Hat tip @ Jane on facebook!)

Looks like they had a lot of fun! No idea who they are, but I do hope they have a long and happy life together!