On the passing of a legend (Mr Lee Kuan Yew)

My facebook feed has been flooded with status updates, profile photo changes, and various shares and comments following the death of Lee Kuan Yew on 23 March 2015. As I was reflecting on some of this bombardment on Monday night, the first two lines of this poem formed in my mind. I then decided to try to build upon it, and what follows is a rough draft (which, in all reality, will likely never be worked on again) of some thoughts on the passing of a legend.

A nation mourns, a people cry
The death of mister LKY
I knew not he whom people grieve
Just that in him they did believe
Right man, right time; met SG's needs
#NoYewNoUs, their hashtag reads
By world's standards he's done a lot
His deeds and words won't be forgot
His legacy: this li'l red dot
Up in the world it quickly shot
I wonder what the future brings
A new world now, who'll be its kings?
Like all who live, his journey ends
His resting place, on God depends.

I was a bit hesitant about sharing it, given it was composed in all of about 15 minutes, and some of it felt a little bit forced. Plus, I'm hardly an authority on the man's life and history, so part of me was wary of coming across as ignorant / too simplistic. But hey, it's a poem, and there's poetic licence, and actually I think there's sufficient ambiguity in what I've written that it's not so easy to immediately pigeon-hole me into a particular camp when it comes to the spectrum of feeling about LKY. I will say this though, (and it's perhaps a bit of a random analogy, but I've been watching The Walking Dead, and there's some parallelism in the thought that) you don't get to lead (and keep leading with majority support) in difficult times without ruffling some feathers, getting some people off side, and making enemies. Of course dictators and despots could also fit this description, so I'll just leave that thought hang (and no I'm not saying that's what he was)...

Anyways, I posted it on facebook, and so far have gotten a number of likes, including from various Singaporeans in my network. I'll take that as some validation that the poem is not rubbish :p

Brisbane parking

I have a general aversion to paying for parking, so it's good that I don't often have to think about parking in Brisbane's CBD or surrounding areas. But when that need does arise those few times a year, it's a bit of an endeavour to figure out where best to park, balancing distance from where I want to go, likely availability of spaces (for on street parking options), and the costs. In the past I've used a combination of the carparking.info app or website, and google street view to look at on street parking signs. The latter is not always reliable as the information may be obscured, not clear enough to read when zoomed in, or plain outdated. This ipark map of all of Brisbane's parking meter locations would have saved me a lot of time and effort!

Another potentially useful resource is the Brisbane Parking Guide, where you can find information on parking deals and a map of (commercial) parking stations.

Brisbane recently conducted its "first comprehensive review of on-street parking management" and the report of this review and its recommendations are available (pdf) here. I've only had a brief skim, but it seems to be heading in the direction of good improvements. Part of the special offers flowing from the review is the availability of $5 evening and weekend parking at the two council operated carparks (King George Square and Wickham St). This is almost as good as the $4 offers available to RACQ members at Secure Parking locations, and the availability of such options makes a trip into the city more viable.

CTP (for QLD) revisited

It's been a while since I last looked at CTP, and the associated at fault driver protection policies. It's also been a while since I blogged, but that's a different story. I recently came across this deal on OzBargain whereby QBE is offering up to $50 for people to switch their CTP to them, and someone commented that Suncorp has a similar offer. So I thought it's time to re-survey the landscape. Here are some things I've noticed:

• There are fewer CTP providers since the last time I looked; AAMI and NRMA are no longer in the game.
• Not too much has changed in terms of the things covered by the various at fault driver protection policies.
• It's still difficult to find the full details of the policy QBE offers. I ended up calling them and had a copy emailed to me.
• RACQ still offers significantly less 'bang for buck' compared to the competition, who are all fairly neck and neck, with Suncorp being a nose in front.

Here's a summary side by side comparison based on my skimming of the various policy documents, with the pricing from the MAIC CTP calculator. The providers are listed in best to worst ranking (by my reckoning).

QBE will only give me $25 for switching to them, so that's a $12 overall benefit if I change from my current provider Suncorp. Assuming Suncorp still has their offer next year, I should be able to switch back to them and save another $50. Based on this, and assuming that things stay more or less the same in the coming years, I could just rinse and repeat this process for some easy savings... wonder why I didn't work this out earlier!

Rethinking Church (Francis Chan)

Some food for thought...

rethinking facebook usage

In case this embedding thing doesn't work, basically read this post and the articles linked there in: Post by Nathan Campbell.

Self building lawn chair (and how it was done)

This is just a little bit ridiculous (in a good way). Firstly, see this stop motion story of a lawn chair getting built (seemingly without any human intervention):


Then, watch the video about how the stop motion video was made:

The woodworking for the chair itself was enough to impress me (I got as far as making a chopping board in my high school manual arts class). The stop motion video presentation of the chair getting made just took it to another level or three... bravo!

To do: find replacement to do app

Being forced to replace an app to which you've grown accustomed is, on the one hand, a first world problem, and on the other, a genuine frustration. Particularly so if the app works just about perfectly for your needs. Exhibit A: Google Reader. It wasn't that long ago I made the move to feedly, and whilst it wasn't all smooth sailing I've adjusted to the post-Google Reader/feedly way of life. Now it's Astrid's turn for retirement, and the hunt begins for a suitable replacement.

Features I was looking for:

• free
• support for recurring tasks by due date and completion date 
• notes for tasks (ie separate notes field / additional to the task title/name)
• reminders independent of due date
• sync to cloud / PC / other devices (I currently sync between Google Tasks and Astrid on two devices)
• automatic backup, restore, and export (see next point) 
• data compatibility with other similar apps (ie in case need to transition again) 
• (optional) priority levels

Some of my research:

• http://www.androidauthority.com/astrid-alternatives-201278/
• https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/going-google/top-faqs/task-managers
• http://alternativeto.net/software/astrid/?platform=android
• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0At4J5a3i2zW8dDhUeGFJbFFORFhNQU5vRW8xZmRxX2c#gid=0

My shortlist of candidates and selected findings:

1. Gtasks
• syncs with Google Tasks 
• does not support recurring tasks in free version
• the above limitation pretty much killed it for me, so I uninstalled Gtasks after installing TickTick and importing from Gtasks to TickTick
2. TickTick
• based on/evolved from Gtasks? No longer tied to Google Tasks.
• can import from Gtasks, but sync is with own cloud
• reminder/alarm is tied to due date
• cannot set recurrence by completion date (only due date) 
• cannot set recurrence by more than 2.5 years (30 months) - I currently have one task that I want to recur every 5 years
• overview screen/list only displays 1/1st line of task title
• the combination of the above few limitations meant my search was not yet over
3. Wunderlist
• can only import from Astrid.com
• I wasn't using Astrid.com, but could do a one off sync from Android to Astrid.com, then use astrid.wunderlist.com to do the import into Wunderlist - this produced duplicates of everything, but otherwise worked fine
• sync is with own cloud 
• can maintain multiple lists 
• can set reminder separate from due date 
• email notification setting done via website seems to apply for normal reminders as well as what the website suggests (other things)
• cannot set recurrence by completion date (only due date) 
• overview screen/list only displays 1/1st line of task title… (but at least this is denoted by "…" cf no indication of more text in TickTick)
• selected sort order (eg by due date) does not autorefresh after changing a task's due date (or it might take a minute or more, which is a bit off-putting)
• reminder notification cannot be persistent (as Astrid's could be) 

I liked the cleanness and simplicity of TickTick, but it was lacking in some features I wanted. Wunderlist is in some ways more complex/more bloated than what I need, but it offers some features that TickTick doesn't. Wunderlist also has a much larger user (and fan?) base and potentially greater likelihood of sustained future support.

I also briefly considered how I might extend my use of Evernote, or play around more with Google Keep, but they're notetaking apps and not to do apps. I also subsequently found out I could keep using Astrid offline / syncing only to Google Tasks (which was my syncing regime in any case), but figured I didn't want to be 'stuck' with old and frozen software.

So, Wunderlist it is... but I am going to miss Astrid.

lensaloft does brisbane

Aerial.
Brisbane.
City/CBD
Dusk.
...
beautiful photography by lensaloft (facebook page, from which this photo is taken) take the interactive tour at http://www.lensaloft.com.au/Interactive_tour/BrisbaneDusk/Brisbane.html.

I'm on a roll with this poetry thing

Been wanting to leave but nowhere to go
Then out of the blue a knock knock, hello
"We want you to come, just for a fixed time"
Internal transfer (still on the same dime)

Firstly for three months, but likely for more
Then permanent role could be on the score
If I want to stay they'll fight to keep me
Train me in more things - good growth I forsee

A great chance to learn and pick up new skills
Develop career, maybe pay new bills
Despite added costs and time in commute
Future looked brighter, my choice resolute

Now I have a where but what do you know
The powers that be have dealt me a blow
Supposedly pro- my desire to grow
When put to the test it's "actually, no".

It's unfortunate, the timing they say
For there's more work due, that's coming our way
None can replace me, so short a timeframe
"No succession plans" - the truth of this claim

Don't get me started on what else was said
Ifs buts and maybes, they make me see red
Like stats which can be used any which way
The true reasons hide behind shades of grey

Sick of the BS, double speak and such
Political moves, ass covering much
Bureaucracy stinks, though hard to avoid
Playing this sick game - not something I've toyed

Maybe I speak from heat of the moment
Making emotions that much more potent
Excuse my desire to vent just a bit
Past disappoinment almost a repeat

Last year I was set - career change to make'
'puter forensics - a new job I'd take
A verbal offer accepted in Feb
Like a changing tide, forever did ebb

Never sent they the offer in writing
My contact person nary a sighting
For almost a year this drama dragged on
'til finally 'twas, as good as withdrawn

It's unfortunate, the timing the say
Budget changes giv'n as reason that day
This came much later, so doesn't allay
Your delay between February and May

If only I'd gotten offer in writing
Different place today I would be sitting
This year the story, though not quite the same
When all's said and done, equal the end game

Now that I can't move it's back to square one
Learn again to say "Lord your will be done"
What little desire I had for my role
Has disappeared down a deep and dark hole

How to keep going, keep fighting the fight
All that's before me is bleakness in sight
In need of guidance on where next to go
For now it seems I'll keep the status quo.

Another poem

No disclaimers this time, just some explanatory notes.

A week ago I was sharing with some others how I was feeling like I had nothing to look forward to next year - this is not suicidal talk, but in the context of having a number of things in 2012 either being done and dusted (events, overseas trips / short term missions), or potential things (job changes) return void. I was feeling particularly disheartened about my ongoing attempts to change jobs. The very next day I began some dialogue with another department at work which was interested in picking me up off a "mobility register", for a temporary transfer into a role there. The official offer came through today, but my current area has now refused to release me, so I can't go.

I was starting to get excited, though keeping in mind the need to not count my chickens before they hatched. Hence the inspiration for this poem:

I had no chickens nor eggs to boot
Was given an egg, though now 'tis moot
For the eggshell got broken
Thus my countenance sunken
One again I'm left holding balut!

Another mass shooting

A poem I wrote after reflecting on some stuff I read on recent events.

It's rough, very first draft (not that I'm intending to work on it any further), born of rather rusty poetry brain space, probably clumsy in parts and all sorts of other negative remarks one could make about its quality (or lack thereof)... which reflects perhaps, the 10 or so minutes of effort in coming up with it.

Another mass shooting in the US of A
The world awakes to a mournful day
Innocent lives lost, most people would say
Young children now lost to frolick and play 

A similar act in China took place
But much less damage that effort inflicted
Reigniting the debate which some would argue
Strict gun control is what is needed 

‘Tis of course folly to treat the symptoms
Without addressing the cause of the problems
Less guns should mean less of such an event
But can it entirely a repeat prevent? 

The root of these problems, the Bible tells us
Begins with Adam and Eve his missus
When they turned from God and followed the devil
Their walk with God was longer level 

Our sinful hearts is what causes us to hurt
Ourselves, each other, loved ones and strangers
The only solution God provided for us
Christ Jesus who saves us from the utmost of dangers 

One day he’ll return and right all our wrongs
In fact it begun when he hung on the cross
So we wait patiently for his coming again
All knees will bow and declare him as boss

email watchdog

i recently blogged about how safe is your password, and mentioned the shouldichangemypassword.com website. in the past, you could have placed yourself on their mailing list to be notified each time they find out about new compromises in general. the evolution of this passive monitoring to a new active monitoring service is called email watchdog, which

keeps an eye out for your email address and password, and will immediately notify you if they are compromised in any future breaches that [they] identify.

you can sign up to watch up to 10 email addresses for free.

migrating your whatsapp message history

i've had to change/use a different phone a few times since becoming rather dependent on whatsapp, "a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS." in the past, i've considered it "too hard" to move the message history with a new installation. this time round, in preparing to send my currently primary phone in for repairs, i tried to figure it out on my own. it didn't work... the correct solution is actually pretty easy but dependent on a specific order of steps. nobody will keep using the same phone forever, so this will come in handy sooner or later.

household hazardous waste disposal

when it comes to household hazardous waste, there's some handy information on brisbane city council's website about what sorts of things you can and can't dispose of via the normal rubbish bin collection. according to this page, it's important to know how to dispose of such waste properly, because:

1. disposing of them improperly (eg. via the rubbish bin) creates a hazard for waste collectors, sorters, and the environment.
2. not disposing of them at all (ie. keeping them in your home) creates a hazard for yourself or others who may come into contact with them.

some tips i was able to make use of recently in relation to this topic:

• small amounts of paint can be disposed by pouring the paint over newspaper and left to dry, then the newspaper thrown into the bin (as per pics below)
• the now empty paint tin (with minimal residual paint) can be recycled / thrown in the recycling bin
• CFLs and flourescent tubes can be thrown into the rubbish bin if wrapped in newspaper or put in the original box (or the box your replacement bulb/tube came in).

Initial pouring of paint

Paint spread out to dry

Tax, super and you resource

"Tax, Super + You"  is a new and recently launched resource from the ATO designed to help high school students understand Australia's tax and superannuation systems.

As individuals, we all have our aspirations – a desire to make money, to achieve success in life and maybe raise a family. But no matter how successful we are as individuals, we all rely upon others because we are part of a community.

The basic goods and services that we all need – schools, roads, hospitals and social services – are available because we have all contributed to the tax system to provide government with the funds they need to deliver these services on our behalf. 

Regardless of what you want to do in life, you need to understand the tax system. You do not have to be a tax lawyer or an accountant but you need to understand your obligations – paying your tax is a serious matter, regardless of what area of employment you end up in.

-- the Assistant Treasurer the Honourable David Bradbury MP, during the program launch at MacGregor State High School

I was never taught financial literacy during my school years. Whilst still far from perfect, I think my financial literacy is generally passable these days, thanks to more than a decade in the workforce, doing my own tax returns, engaging the services of a financial advisor, making some pretty big mistakes (some of which I was able to recover from), and time spent dealing with the tax and superannuation systems in the course of my employment.

I can't recommend more highly the the benefit of starting this aspect of education earlier. If you think your knowledge in these areas is lacking but you're past your high school days, fear not as you can still access the material by registering here as a member of the public, and you can also take a preview and sample one of the lessons without registering.

One of the first things you are presented with is this perhaps sobering statement:

You have a legal responsibility to know what taxes you are liable to pay. You can't claim, 'I didn't know I had to pay tax on it'. The Australian income tax system relies on taxpayers self-assessing, which means you are responsible for working out how much you need to declare and can claim on your tax return.

Check it out.

food truck dining

food trucks - not the kind like these that bring/sell breakfast/morning tea/lunch fare to workplaces (sometimes known as smoko vans), but the more gourmet versions helmed by the likes of ex-restaurant level chefs, typically selling a fairly limited menu of items. there's one in brisbane that i know of, the bun mobile, but i've not yet tried it. there are a few more options in melbourne and sydney, and when this type of dining option becomes more mainstream, wherethetruck.at (who have recently added brisbane/the bun mobile to its coverage) will probably be the best place to track them all down and find out, well where they're at!

Image source: FaceBook's photos of The Bun Mobile

btw the bun mobile's offerings are essentially what's known in singapore as a kong bak bao (扣肉包 or chinese braised pork burger), but with a twist on the fillings available. well if you have to copy an idea, might as well copy a good one, cos a good kong bak bao is quite the mouthful of deliciousness ;)

how safe is your email password?

another day, another piece of news about the leaking of email account passwords. this time it's a yahoo server that's been hacked, but the leak includes addresses from gmail and hotmail among other domains.

the security company involved have created a tool where you can check to see if your address was involved in the leak - http://labs.sucuri.net/?yahooleak

for a more general check to see if your password is known to have been compromised, go to https://shouldichangemypassword.com/. some would argue that you should change your password every so often anyway, and this is certainly the requirement in many workplaces. however others argue that such policies either offer no benefits, or actually reduces security - see for example this discussion on an IT security professionals website.

at the very least, use a strong password, and consider using a password manager to help you manage all the various strong passwords you have around the place. i use UPM - universal password manager, and have found it suitable for my needs.

Union Shopper - what you, I and they all need to know

NB minor edit/updated 20160329 

it's been a while since i mentioned union shopper. (it's also been a while since i blogged, but that's another story.) i've used it recently to help friends buy a fridge and an oven, with some pretty nice savings each time, eg $113 saved last week on an oven that retails for around $600+ (i'm not supposed to quote the actual prices i get from union shopper, hence i'm not giving the exact figures).

anyway, to save me the trouble of repeating this in future, if i'm doing you the favour of trying to save you some money through the union shopper electrical buying service, i'll direct you to this post so that you'll know what i need to know from you, in order to submit an enquiry:

Product type?

Brand?

Model?

Colour? (eg white, black, s/steel) / other options (eg for fridge, left/right/double hinge, freezer top/bottom mount, etc)

Other product type specific details? (eg for oven, runs on: electric / gas; type: single / double / portable)

Is item urgent (ie check for available stock)? When do you need it by?

Best price?

Is best price for pickup or delivery? 

From store (name & suburb)?

Choose preferred payment method: American Express / Bank Card / Cash / Cheque / Diners Club / Direct Deposit / EFTPOS / Mastercard / Money Order / Visa

Delivery address? (full, including suburb, state and postcode)

Contact person name and number?

Are you committed to purchase the item if Union Shopper finds a lower price?

a few more things to note before you proceed:

• this is not a price enquiry service, but a shopping service designed to try to help you save money on something you've already decided to buy. so you need to be committed to purchasing the item assuming union shopper can source a lower price.
• they'll respond within 4 business hours with an outcome (ie. either a cheaper price, or that they can't beat your best price).
• assuming they can get a cheaper price, i confirm with union shopper that i want to place an order, they'll pass the order details to the supplier who gave the lowest price. i will not know who the supplier is until they contact me.
• the supplier contacts me to arrange payment and delivery if required - at this point i'll request they contact you directly, and if possible note your name and address somewhere on the invoice (this might be just a comment). if for any reason this is not possible, i may need to pay for the item first, in which case you will need to reimburse me promptly.
• this service does not cater for extended warranties (ie. pricing is for product only, plus delivery if required), nor installation (ie. delivery is just that). there is no scope for me to include these details at the enquiry stage; the winning supplier may offer one or both, however i cannot be certain until the supplier contacts me (which only happens after i confirm with union shopper that i want to place your order).

happy shopping :)

a crook back

i've been waking up each morning this past week with a sore upper back - tense/tight muscles, spasmic sensations, sometimes just not being able to get comfortable whatever position i get myself in. the symptoms improve within a few hours, and i'm pretty much fine by the afternoon/evening, only to repeat the cycle the next day. there's also been possibly increased tiredness and some echoes of headaches.

all of which lead me to think for a while that maybe i've suffered some kind of whiplash like injury, but the only likely cause i can think of were the various bumpy rides during my recent SES deployment to roma/mitchell, which are more of an up and down movement than the typical back and forth of whiplash. moreover, my neck was about as good (or as bad) as it normally is. so, whilst i've discounted whiplash, i did come across a UQ site about the treatment for such injuries which i found of interest - the whiplash evidence based information resource. contrary to (some?) popular belief, the best treatment plans seems to be to basically get on with it - act as usual and keep exercising, in conjunction with seeking multi modes of treatment.

and given that i've not been able to find much info about "bumpy road" type injuries (although this was quite disturbing!) that's basically what i've tried to do... go to work, play my weekend games of social tennis, housework etc as usual, and seeking some additional treatment from my dad (a registered reflexologist and practitioner of various other alternative therapies). he says that part of my spine (upper back) is out of alignment, and this was likely to have been caused by the bumpy rides with the repeated bouncing/shock transferred from the seat/bum up the back...

i'm really hoping that this is a temporary thing and that it'll heal by itself in due course (a few weeks?). i'm trying to sleep more on my side so that i'm not putting as much pressure on my back (when lying down) for hours on end. it might be helping a bit...

now if only the vehicles we travelled in had suspension systems like these...!

alternative DNS server options

as with probably 99.5%* of the online population, i have for years used the default DNS servers that get assigned to me by my ISP as part of the DHCP process. i knew that other DNS servers existed, but never thought about using any alternatives. in recent months, i've found out about two such options, both free:

1. OpenDNS, which claims to be "the leading provider of Internet security and DNS services", featuring
• Industry leading malware and botnet protection 
• Award winning Web filtering 
• Faster, reliable, more secure DNS 
• Ultra-reliable, globally distributed cloud network 
• Simple, Smart, Easy
2. Google public DNS, which claims to give performance and security benefits

i haven't tried google's public DNS, but have been using the familyshield product from opendns, which comes preconfigured to block adult websites, on top of other standard opendns features. it's quite easy to setup, and seems to be working fairly well thus far, though i can't say i've really noticed much difference (performance wise) compared to my ISP default. well it is meant to be a set and forget thing, so here's hoping i don't need to remember it much.

* yes i totally made that up, but that doesn't mean it's wrong :p