Richard Flynn: Combined

Comment on ‘Social Networking Sucks! (Or, why I left Facebook)’ by Eduardo Grüdtner

Eduardo Grüdtner — 2013-05-17T23:20:08+10:00

Richard, you did what you had to do. Facebook sucks, Orkut sucks, photolog.com sucks, myspace sucks, and all social network suck. I´ve been to FB for nearly 9 years now, and last year, after some kind of indentity crisis, I´ve realized FB was the great satan of my life. ‘Mean it got me too looking foward to get an answer, to get people going to my events, to date, or whatever. Maybe I’m just a looser. But rather be a looser offline, with more discription, then online, with all the attention people do to other’s disgrace. It is not only about facebook. ‘Tis about out dependence on tecnology. Tecnology is been misunderstood by consumism. We don’t need all this sh*t. Otherwise, how have we managed to live up so fara, without them? Maybe I’m getting old before the time. But its true when you say most people in your friends list just ain’t your real friends. It’s like they are proud to have a lot of friends, and not have real friends. Our world is getting superficial, starting by the relationsips. I see younger people in college (and everywher else) who need desperatly to have some gadget on their hands, like a touchscreen celphone or a tablet. They believe that’s what they are. Take it out from them, and they’´ll freak out. Maybe in the US or UK, as first worlds country this phase has already passed and maybe you’re already in another one, probably more complex. But here in Brazil, economic-social gap is larger, so the rich, as always lead the way with news that came from, mostly North America or Europe. And the poor always try to copy. Why? Because TV, with stupid soap operas, soccer matchs, mostly recently internet (specially the ads at fb)and other telecomunications channels tells them that! Buy a nike, or be a looser, no matter how expensive it is. Maybe even the counterfit version, dont matter, you HAVE to wear a nike, in order to look cool. In 2007 I went to US. And I noticed that nike wasn’t such a poweful trademark there. Maybe because unitedstatian market has more competition, with better trademarks, so its more balanced then here. Also, nike there, is just not as expensive as here, sometimes less the half the price for the same pair of sneakers here. Another exemple: mcdonalds: there, they eat it in breakfast, sometimes on a dayli basis. Here, it is for special ocasions, mostly on weekends. Some freaky children even get to celebrate birthday parties there. The proof of being poor, not as individuals, but as a whole contry, that follows first world’s failed trends. I dont want to mislead the subject of facebook, and social networks, but I see it is all related. In less then 10 of facebook existence, most of us people living on Earth became dependent on it. No just FB or social networks, but all tecnology. Ok, I also use e-mail, send and recieve, sms, and things like this. But, for X-sake, if you’re walkin on the sidewalk, hear the sound of sms or email incoming, can’t you stupid wait to cross the crossinglane to answer it? If you’re on a meeting, an important one, reunion, can’t you turn off you cellphone for a few moments, in order to be really present there? I see a lot of dumb walking ant txtmsgin. I see a lot of people leaving the meeting/class rooms to answer the phone, and have louds and emotional/angry conversations. This means that we always want to do more thant one thing at a time. Thus, we do no one, nor the other well done. Worse: we annoy other like me, that have nothing to do with they’re hyperactivness, by bumpin on the St., or makin them (me included) listen to celphone conversations. Bottom of line: facebook is designed to be vicious, get you addicted. You are the product, the longer you stay online, the larger will be their profits. I thought about writing a book about it all. Initially in portuguese, of cours.But could use some help translating it, or even other ideas. I’m open to your suggestions. ‘Mean the ones who agree with Richard and me. Not the ‘slaves’ blinded by fb. Sorry about the english mistakes,it has been a while since I last wrote english.

Two Trips to Jenolan Caves

nobody@smugmug.com (Richard Flynn) — 2013-05-11T03:45:48+10:00

Richard Flynn updated gallery 'Two Trips to Jenolan Caves'

A prelude to insanity

Richard Flynn — 2013-04-08T16:39:09+10:00

‘He was talking very excitedly to me,’ said the Vicar, ‘about some apparatus for warming a church in Worthing and about the Apostolic Claims of the Church of Abyssinia. I confess I could not follow him clearly. He seems deeply interested in Church matters. Are you quite sure he is right in the head? I have noticed again and again since I have been in the Church that lay interest in ecclesiastical matters is often a prelude to insanity.’

The Vicar of Llanabba: Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall I.8

Comment on ‘Jonathan Ive on Blue Peter’ by Mummy

Mummy — 2013-02-25T06:16:27+11:00

Excellent! Didn’t know you still watched Blue Peter, Richard!

Jonathan Ive on Blue Peter

Richard Flynn — 2013-02-23T15:52:13+11:00

Sir Jonathan ‘call me Jony’ Ive on Blue Peter. Ive’s name has now become so recognizable that no one is too surprised that he’s featured like this on a general-audience show like Blue Peter—he’s ascended beyond just being the unknown designer of all those gadgets we like. In my first semester at COFA one of our tasks was to write a profile of a designer, but (because of his ubiquity among common-folk, I think) we were told in no uncertain terms that anyone who chose Ive would be disqualified.

Ive gives a valuable piece of advice: that a brief should define what an outcome is expected to achieve, without being dragged down by a description of form, however inadvertent. In other words, the brief should specify ‘why’ and perhaps ‘how’ rather than ‘what’. So, as Ive says, it’s potentially problematic for a designer to be presented with a brief including the words ‘lunch box’, since that seems to assume that a box in the traditional understanding is what is required. But, to be fair, for the purposes of the Blue Peter audience ‘lunch box’ is far more comprehensible than ‘food container’.

Ive comes across as humble, and genuinely touched when presented with the gold Blue Peter badge. In fact, for me this video portrays him as the most human of the public faces of Apple.

Five Factoids about Popes and their Appointment

Richard Flynn — 2013-02-12T11:45:10+11:00

With Pope Benedict XVI’s announcement that he will be resigning from office at the end of February, news organizations the world over will be scrambling to provide their audiences with interesting titbits about the Pope and the Holy See. I therefore have compiled this list for the benefit of media outlets everywhere, and fully look forward to seeing it reproduced in newspaper sidebars everywhere:

Before going into the conclave all cardinals are measured by the official tailor to the Holy See, Sticciuppi, so that the turnaround between election and announcement and appearance of the new Pope is not delayed by the production of the necessary white cassock, socks, Popemobile seatbelt, etc. While being measured before the last conclave, Joseph Ratzinger was gesticulating so wildly that his sleeves were famously short when he was presented to the world as Pope Benedict XVI. Ratzinger was complaining to anyone who’d listen about how Cardinal Scheefo had not properly cleaned the microwave in the Sistine Kitchen, even though it was his turn, and in spite of the strict set of instructions stuck to the wall next the sink: Ratzinger is well known for his strict requirement that the shared kitchen be kept immaculately clean.
When a Pope resigns, the first person who publicly says ‘I knew that was coming’ (or words to that effect) must have his hair shaved off (all his hair) by the Barber to the Holy See, who must be appointed for the purpose. Part of the reason that no Pope has resigned since 1357¹ is the extremely arduous and time-consuming process mandated for the appointment of the Barber to the Holy See, which requires the participation of every living Bishop and the entire staff of the Roman Curia. In recent years Canon Lawyers have been trying to establish why the appointment of the Barber is so much more rigorous than the appointment of the Pope (which is itself a pretty involved process).
The group of men in dark suits who can be seen surrounding the Pope at public events are known as the Dutch Guard. The group is known to have been founded well after the Swiss Guard, but its history and relationship with the Holy See is otherwise surrounded in mystery. What is known, however, is that the same men also accompany the Pope within the confines of the Papal palaces—they swarm around him at breakfast (where they will pass butter, eggs, and milk, but requests for them to pass the bread rolls go ignored), and also accompany him when he goes to plug in the Papal iPad to charge.
The Pope may not speak by telephone. This is mandated in Canon Law. Instead, he must write letters to those he cannot address in person. The Law was introduced when the Holy See entered into an agreement with the international paper-makers’ union at the time of the proliferation of the telephone throughout the world. The Pope at the time, John XXI² had a brother who owned a chain of paper mills across eastern and central Canada.
Every Pope watches the 1968 version of The Producers at least three times during his first year in the job. This is not required by Canon Law, but is customary. Pope John Paul I was only able watch the film once before his demise. A new Pope can be recognized by his efforts at greeting people with the badly-pronounced Swedish expression ‘God dag på dig’, accompanied by amused glances from the Dutch Guard.

Footnotes

Editor: you might want to check this date. ↩
Again, editor, please check this lest we all look stupid. ↩

Sydney Harbour heliport: collected news coverage

Richard Flynn — 2012-12-24T12:28:47+11:00

The fall-out continues over Newcastle Helicopters’ proposed floating heliport/helipad in Sydney Harbour, the application for which was abysmally mis-managed by the NSW Government. The project was finally declared ‘indefinitely on-hold’ on Saturday afternoon after residents and other interested parties had begun to kick up a stink.

What was telling about the whole project was how little information was made available to the public until it could be announced as a fait accompli. I have been gathering together all of the reports from local newspapers on the project,¹ and give links to them below. I have also made PDFs for posterity.

Pre-history: before the floating heliport plan was announced

5th July 2011 Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Heliport a must-have for CBD, says lobby’ [PDF]
28th July 2011 Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Funding to find harbour heliport’ [PDF]

20th November 2012

Sydney Morning Herald (AAP): ‘Floating heliport for Sydney harbour’ [PDF]
At this point in the proceedings, the Herald just seems to be printing pro-heliport press-releases. The picture included with the article, supplied by Newcastle Helicopters, would go on to be used with many articles on the heliport; it is amusing to note that the image depicts a helicopter banking sharply to land on the helipad (the kind of manoeuvre which Newcastle Helicopters subsequently promised that they would never permit in order to limit helicopter noise), and that many of the buildings of the Sydney skyline are not included—Sydney Tower (Centrepoint) has just completely disappeared from Newcastle Helicopters’ idealized world-view.
Daily Telegraph (AAP): ‘Heliport for high flyers of Sydney’ [PDF]
The Telegraph’s first article on the project is clear and non-judgemental, a far cry from the tone of what little subsequent coverage it produced. Here we see that ‘artist’s impression’ again.

26th November 2012

Daily Telegraph: ‘Councils reject heliport plan for Sydney Harbour’ [PDF]

28th November 2012

Mosman Daily: ‘North Sydney Council moves to ground heliport’ [PDF]

5th December 2012

Wentworth Courier: ‘No consultation over floating Sydney Harbour heliport’ [PDF]

13th December 2012

Wentworth Courier: ‘Gabrielle Upton learns about heliport plans from media’ [PDF]
Local State Liberal MPs—Gabrielle Upton for Vaucluse, and Jillian Skinner for North Shore—have been predictably mealy-mouthed about the whole project.
Mosman Daily: ‘Time for truth on heliport in Sydney Harbour’ [PDF]

18th December 2012

Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Outrage as floating helipad gives harbour suburbs sinking feeling’ [PDF]

19th December 2012

Wentworth Courier: ‘Malcolm Turnbull attacks Sydney Harbour heliport decision’ [PDF]
News.com.au: ‘Sydney Harbour helipad a trial: Stoner’ [PDF]
Plane Talking (Crikey Blogs): ‘Lake Burley Griffin to become Sydney Harbour heliport? No’ [PDF]
Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Heliport move reckless, Turnbull tells O’Farrell’ [PDF]
Mosman Daily: ‘Angry North Sydney residents fight heliport proposal at public meeting’ [PDF]

20th December 2012

Daily Telegraph: ‘A narrow view of the bigger picture’ (comment) [PDF]
The Telegraph displays a concerted campaign against residents who would be seriously affected by Newcastle Helicopters’ heliport, trying to drum up ill will towards higher-income demographics.
Daily Telegraph: ‘Sorry Premier, not in my pad’ [PDF]
The Telegraph’s position is illogical and, ultimately, untenable. They try to make hay out of the fact that the federal and local politicians involved in campaigning against the heliport have homes which would be affected by it, and that therefore the elected officials are using their position to campaign in their own self-interest. The Telegraph fails to realize that it is precisely because they have these homes that the politicians are in a position to represent the interests of residents who elected them; indeed residents are more likely to vote for candidates who are similar to them in the belief that those candidates will be best-equipped to represent their interests.
Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Helicopters as noisy as a quiet office, company says’ [PDF]
Newcastle Helicopters comes up with spurious claims about the semi-serious noise-tests conducted from our building and from Cremorne Point.
Wentworth Courier: ‘Sydney Harbour heliport plan has us all spinning’ (comment) [PDF]
Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Premier’s helipad is not cleared for any landings’ (comment) [PDF]

21st December 2012

Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Chopper plan in tailspin as harbour anger grows’ [PDF]
Sydney Morning Herald: ‘“Expert” had never reported on helicopter noise levels’ [PDF]
The ‘consultant’ employed to shill for Newcastle Helicopters was revealed to have lied about his qualifications and affiliations. Anyone who read the report which Newcastle Helicopters has since removed from its website could tell that he was ill-equipped to deal with a major civil development. His presentation at the North Sydney/Mosman residents’ meeting underlined this: the only previous project which he could cite having worked on was with the airport at The Oaks, an aerodrome with three grass runways on the outer edges of a rural Sydney suburb. This, of course, is something completely different to a high-traffic floating heliport in the middle of one of Australia’s most famous landmarks and beauty-spots, among some of the densest population in the country, close to hundreds of thousands of residents.

22nd December 2012

Morning

Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Harbour heliport wants more flights’ [PDF]
Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Heliport approved without safety check’ [PDF]

Afternoon

Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Floating heliport plan put on hold’ [PDF]
Sky News online: ‘Sydney Harbour heliport plans on hold’ [PDF]
Brisbane Times (AAP): ‘Feasibility of Sydney heliport questioned’ [PDF]
Plane Talking (Crikey Blogs): ‘Sydney Airport issues being exposed by new media focus’ [PDF]

Footnotes

I am ignoring coverage from international sources, as those are more likely just to report on the development with no interest in discussing its controversial negative aspects. ↩

Rosetta Stone: Bad at Languages ➻

Richard Flynn — 2012-12-21T11:38:27+11:00

Rosetta Stone (the language-peddling company, not the stone of the same name) has embarrassed itself with its Christmas advertising campaign this year:

[They use] the song “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow” with “snow” translated into German, Dutch and Swedish, respectively. …They’ve taken the noun form of “snow” in all three languages, rather than the verb.

What is interesting though, and on reflection not surprising, is that Rosetta Stone spends more than seven times as much on its advertising as on the development of its core product, language-learning software.

Vivid Sydney motion exhibits

Richard Flynn — 2012-11-27T12:13:15+11:00

Vivid Sydney 2012 motion exhibits from Richard Flynn on Vimeo.

Following on the heels of my photos from Vivid Sydney 2012 (which took place in, er, May–June) is my video of a couple of the motion exhibits. I’m afraid I didn’t capture what was probably the most amazing motion exhibit, projected onto the façade of the Customs House building. Fortunately someone else has captured the full display elsewhere.

Vivid Sydney 2012

nobody@smugmug.com (Richard Flynn) — 2012-11-20T18:28:30+11:00

Richard Flynn updated gallery 'Vivid Sydney 2012'

All-out superpower confrontation?

Richard Flynn — 2012-10-29T19:15:13+11:00

Reminds me of something else from a few years ago.

YouTube link for those who didn’t spot the reference in this post’s title.

Comment on ‘Apparently Google hasn’t heard of phishing’ by frank meyers

frank meyers — 2012-09-17T16:34:18+10:00

Just received similar request also with English grammatical error. However no visible link. Onlt a button to click for connection.

Since I never setup Google Wallet, I did NOT connect. However when searching for a way to report suspicious phishing activities to Google, I could find none.

Very strange.

I will stay with PayPal. At least they are serious about protecting my info.

Sorry, Broken Hill

Richard Flynn — 2012-09-14T17:45:43+10:00

In Apple’s world-view South Hedland is more important than Port Hedland;¹ Canberra doesn’t warrant its own label; and the western division of New South Wales and north-western Victoria are not quite civilized enough for day-one delivery.² The fact that Hobart doesn’t get a label (nor Launceston) makes it look like in fact some of these iPhones are shipping from Antarctica—otherwise why are there those darker bands at the south of Tasmania?

Footnotes

Presumably South Hedland is the locality where there is actually a TNT landing-site for Australia. ↩
Not many surprises there ↩

Comment on ‘Overheard on the train, again’ by Thomas Flynn

Thomas Flynn — 2012-09-06T18:09:50+10:00

You say “solicitor”, I suspect she said “lawyer”. She clearly needs to benefit from the wisdom of James Duane and Officer George Bruch Officer George Bruch of Virginia Beach PD. Summary: “DO NTO TALK TO COPS!” I fully intend to follow their advice even though the 5th amendment does not really apply in New South Wales.

Comment on ‘Apparently Google hasn’t heard of phishing’ by Mummy

Mummy — 2012-09-02T17:17:37+10:00

Ninnies.

Apparently Google hasn’t heard of phishing

Richard Flynn — 2012-08-30T11:43:06+10:00

I was surprised to get this email this morning.

‘Important information’ in the subject-line? Check.
No mention of my name, just a generic user-title? Check.
Poorly-defined threats of accounts being disabled if I don’t take action? Check.
Pleonastic not-quite-English jargon phrases like ‘confirm your home address where you reside’? Check.
Links to make it oh-so-easy to log in to my account and fix the supposed problem? Check.

It all looks far too much like a phishing scam, and the semi-educated user who has been told to steer clear of these things will probably see it as such. The sad thing is, though, that this appears to be a genuine Google email: the links actually go to Google domains, rather than to the too-obvious-to-my-mind made-up domains of phishing scams.

Comment on ‘A question of priorities’ by Mummy

Mummy — 2012-08-30T10:21:54+10:00

The trouble is, I can’t remember the first things, but I think I do remember the last…

Nice updated website, Richard.

A question of priorities

Richard Flynn — 2012-08-11T11:33:01+10:00

If you can remember all the accessories that go with your best outfit, the contents of your purse, the starting lineup of the New York Yankees or the Houston Oilers, or what label ‘Hang On Sloopy’ by The McCoys was on, you are capable of remembering the difference between a gerund (verb form used as a noun) and a participle (verb form used as an adjective).

Stephen King, On Writing (2001)

Taronga Zoo, 24th April 2012

nobody@smugmug.com (Richard Flynn) — 2012-08-08T18:55:58+10:00

Richard Flynn updated gallery 'Taronga Zoo, 24th April 2012'

Christopher’s Third Birthday Party, 24th June 2012

nobody@smugmug.com (Richard Flynn) — 2012-08-08T17:04:58+10:00

Richard Flynn updated gallery 'Christopher’s Third Birthday Party, 24th June 2012'

Digital self-deprecation

Richard Flynn — 2012-07-27T21:43:14+10:00

This is nothing new, but it’s always nice to see application or website developers who have thought about their error messages. A little bit of humour can do a lot to mitigate the frustration of an application crashing.

Of course if the application is crashing nearly continuously that humour gets very old very fast, but I’m happy to report that I have only once seen Tower throw up this error message. On that occasion I think that there was some bug in the way Lion was handling the retina resolutions on my new MacBook Pro. The scaling stopped working, and so everything suddenly turned tiny as the computer was displaying 1:1 at the panel’s 2880×1800-pixel resolution. This seemed to co-incide with Tower crashing.