Qantas and Air New Zealand, two 'local' airlines, have introduced a new 'no men near children' policy. If any unaccompanied child is seated next to a man, the man is forced to move seats.

1) Why shouldn't the child be forced to move seats? Hell, the man was there first! Why can't they seat the child somewhere else?

2) Since when was it decided that all men are paedophiles, and untrustworthy sitting next to unaccompanied children? Obviously since now.

3) Can someone tell me the difference between this kind of blatant and disgusting discrimination, and the discrimination once meted out to black people (still is in some places)? "I'm sorry - no, I take that back, I'm not sorry, you scumbag - you're not allowed to sit next to this (white) person. Get to the back of the plane, or we'll throw you off."

This is another example of stupid fracked-up political correctness that has absolutely no place in modern society. As so rightly pointed out in the linked article above: "It's insane. It's political correctness and cautiousness gone mad."

People should be arrested for the crimes they commit. Until they commit a crime, they should not be treated as if they are criminals. This is placing all men in the categories of 'criminal' and 'paedophile'.

I really wish that an unaccompanied child is seated next to me on a plane when I go over to Australia. I'll tell them to go to hell. Their 'policy' is illegal, discriminatory, and unethical. And if they insist, I'll start raising my voice. I'll make it so embarrassing for them, that they'll have to move the child somewhere else.

Frack 'em.

However, I might consider offering them the opportunity of upgrading me to business class and refunding my airfare for the major inconvenience they've caused me. :-)

UPDATE: it seems that this policy has been in place for a number of years now.

Today was my birthday. 29th November. I'm 39 now... Yuk.

What WASN'T yuk was the day. I had the best birth day of my life! You're probably wondering how. It's so good that I'm going to tell you. *grin*

1) I had the day off today so I took Deidre into work this morning at around 8am. Her car was in for repairs, so that's why I drove her into work. I also drove her into work so that I could go to Starbucks.

2) I was at Starbucks from 8:30am through to 4:30pm, with a lunch break with Deidre in between. Now THAT was fantastic! Being there all day, with no real distractions, enjoying the atmosphere and the time to do NOTHING! Well, by 'nothing' I mean 'time to do what I haven't done yet, but have always been meaning to do'. And that's create the photo album to give to my parents for xmas, which I talked about in this post called My life in photos.

3) After meeting up with Deidre again at 4:30pm, she took me to my birthday present. There's no way to do it justice with words, so I'll do it justice with photos instead.















And this is Deidre looking very pleased with herself, and as happy as I was, that she had bought me a gift that I hadn't expected, and loved so much!


Thank you Deidre. You are so the best thing to have come into my life, and I'm so very happy that I'm the best thing to come into yours. *hugs*

Merry christmas everyone! I already have my xmas present under the tree. *smile*

I've started to make use of Flickr for displaying bunches of photos. I've created a 'Best of' album on there, which is the best of the photos since early 2003. I've also found a way of embedding a slideshow of that album in here. Please enjoy.

[UPDATE: Unfortunately, the slideshow didn't work as well as I wanted in here. It screwed up the right-hand column in IE. So please go to the following link to enjoy the slideshow, thanks.]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzalan/sets/1469573/show/

The main reason I created this album is because I'm going to get the photos printed out. I'll then put them into a photo album and give it to my parents at xmas as a xmas present - photos of my life.

It'll include photos from prior to 2003, of course, but they'll be prints that I already have. Basically I want to give them something that will show them my life oer the past few years, which they've missed out on.

I've seen things and done things that they have only dreamt about. I'm going to give them something that shows them their dreams haven't been wasted, and that I've been experiencing a small part of what they wanted to.

I hope one day to make enough money to allow them to achieve the same dreams. Until then, I can only show them photos of my own adventures.

It's been over a decade since we've seen each other. As I was compiling this album I got a little teary-eyed, seeing all these amazing photos that they will soon see for themselves. And yet, the emotional bit for me is that I've lived it, whereas they'll only see it in photos. It's not quite enough.

Last week, Friday, I went for the interview for the team leader role. I wasn't too sure about it after I had the interview, as I was left with a bit of a sore throat from all the talking I did, the lack of water I drank, and the inate nervousness that goes with job interviews. I didn't have a good feeling in my stomach, thinking that they might have thought I wasn't up to the requirements they were looking for.

I'm still not sure if they think I am, but at least I've got short-shortlisted to the next step, a second interview, so that's a very good sign. Woohoo!

I've got the day off for my birthday tomorrow, and then I have the 2nd interview on Wednesday morning. Apparently, if I do well on this 2nd interview, I'll have to do a psych test. Interesting. They asked me if I have done one of those before, and I said that I had, but it was when I joined the Army Reserves in Australia. The test included questions like, "Have you killed anyone before? Do you sometimes imagine what it would be like to kill someone? How would you feel if a member of your family was killed? How would you feel if you killed someone in combat?"

They assured me there wouldn't be any questions like that in their psych test. :-)

Please visit this article's new location. Thank you.

According to you, the reader, politics is one of your favourite topics in this blog. Since you comment on political and news posts in here, but you don't (or rarely) comment in my Eyes On The World blog, and since I said I was going to do more posts in here on what you seem to like, I'm cancelling Eyes On The World. Again. But at least I'm not stopping the political commentary. Instead, I'll continue with it in this blog, keeping 'life through my eyes' focused in here, rather than spread across a couple of blogs.

If you don't like reading politics, just ignore those posts. You know the drill. :-)

Back in the beginning of this year, I wrote a timeline to provide a 'history of the future', to be used for a roleplaying game I created that was set in 2030, a combination of the Werewolf and Cyberpunk genres. I created this history based a little bit on how I saw current events developing, and also some of the 'historical facts' that were provided by John Titor, an alleged time traveller. Bringing it all together, and using established Cyberpunk themes (eg. cybernetic developments and early space flight, etc), I created my own history. Interestingly, I had Russia and China supporting Iran in 2006. They beat my 'prediction' by a year.

Anyway, for your entertainment, I present the timeline I created. It's part of the same theme that I like following, where I create timelines in order to provide a foundation for the stories that result from it. I think that with everything you write or plan to write, it's worthwhile creating a timeline leading up to that point, especially if it deviates from historical fact and moves more into alternate realities or the future. If you know the history leading up to where your story starts, you've got more background to draw upon.

Star Trek: Rebellion timeline
Scorpion Fleet timeline
Scorpion Fleet future timeline
Cyberpunk / Werewolf timeline:

2005

• America enacts military draft, and public unrest in America becomes more apparent

2006

• America cleans up Iraqi resistance then attacks Iran, who successfully defends itself, causing incredible losses to American forces
• Unknown assailants, claimed by some commentators to be Israel, explode 3 nuclear bombs on Iranian targets
• Iran fires 4 nuclear missiles at Israel, believing it was responsible for the attacks. Israel and Palestine cease to exist
• Russia and China announce their support of Iran
• America withdraws all of its forces from the Middle East
• Middle Eastern refugees flood Europe and Africa
• The world pulls together to help the refugees and those countries holding them
• America refuses to help

2007

• America cuts off media syndication with the rest of the world
• The Vatican decrees that the Pope, being the voice of God, has immunity to the laws of mankind
• Australia and UK, affected by trade sanctions over their alliance with the US, renounce said alliance in order to continue being competitive on the global stage
• Michael Moore dies in a car accident. Suspecting foul play by the government, armed civilians assault the White House but are all killed
• Various conflicts rage around America, with the National Guard sent in to restore order
• US government declares martial law and cancels upcoming elections. The US Senate is disbanded
• A Second American Civil War becomes obvious, with the rest of the world only hearing about it via the internet and American blog authors

2008

• American anti-government websites are censored by authorities, preventing them from being visible on the internet
• Most countries of the world (excluding America) offer free aid and support to those affected by the Middle Eastern refugees
• The Pope declares that, with the support of host countries, Catholics will now have their own armed force, useful in heathen countries that threaten the safety of missionaries and resident Catholics
• Advanced identification technology becomes active around the world, identifying every citizen (except Americans) as a 'global citizen'
• With increased fears of petrol shortages due to a radioactive Middle East no longer able to supply oil, Shell and BP unveil their new hydrogen fuel cells that are meant to replace fossil fuels

2009

• Cybernetic enhancements become available to the general public
• The first Catholic Special Forces unit is formed and sets up base in Brazil
• An estimated 15 million people died from radiation sickness in the 3 years since the nuclear war
• Most of the Middle East is uninhabitable, with northern Africa affected the most by radiation fallout
• The first mass-produced vehicle to use hydrogen fuel cells is put onto the market by Ford. With power output equivalent to 6-cylinder petrol engines, but much cheaper to run, they are gratefully received. Being cheaper than standard cars and fuel prices, they are grabbed up like hot cakes

2010

• Heavy campaigning by the United Nations results in all airlines around the world announcing free travel to all countries (except America), with the support of the petrochemical industry and advertising companies
• Specialised cyber-hospitals begin to open around the world
• Internet 2.0 goes online, allowing real-time virtual reality interactions with people and places, all in cyberspace
• BMW completes their new models of fuel cell vehicles, and most car manufacturers follow suit with the refined fuel cell technology produced by BMW

2011

• With the success of the free global co-operation initiative, the United Nations, now based in Moscow, announces a new 'Social Reform Act 2011' to unite the world with free trade and free supply of goods and services. Only the European Community, Russia and UK sign into the Reform Act, but without the support of all countries, it's deemed a failure. The signatories to the Act form their own free trade and services agreement
• Holodecks' become popular, allowing people to enter a booth and experience the virtual reality of the internet

2012

• Civil unrest occurs in many places around the world, caused by fear of identity and possession loss. These incidents are suppressed by police
• America opens its doors to the world again, welcoming renewed trade and globalisation efforts with the rest of the world. The civil war is still going on between the Free Militia (on the side of the people) and the Federalists (Federal government and its forces), but news about it continues to be suppressed
• Neural implants, integrated sensory links to computer devices, become popular around the world. They increase response times of interactive electronic devices, as well as with the internet. Many 'holodecks' have them installed

2013

• After the US 'Corporate Riots of 2013', the government is bullied by large corporations into creating laws more favourable to the corporations, including allowing corporate armies and defence forces. These are used to protect corporate assets from damage by civilians and the Free Militia
• The first mass-produced car to fly is created by Audi, using engines that operate similar to the Harrier jump jets, but smaller and quieter due to the fuel cells rather than jet engines. Public reception is minimal at first, until it becomes obvious that the 4-seater vehicle is safer and faster than ground vehicles. With a cruising speed of 280mph and automatically deployed parachutes in case of catastrophic engine failure, public interest improves

2014

• Civil disturbance incidents around the world are discovered to be caused by US-sponsored corporate intervention in various parts of Europe, causing America to receive a warning from the UN
• Anti-capitalism riots in Australia are suppressed by the Australian military
• Ford produces their own 4-seater flying car, with a top speed of 300 mph, as well as a flying van that seats 8, with a top speed of 180mph. It has a range of 1,800 miles on a full fuel cell
• Over 100 cyber-hospitals are in operation around the world
• Cyberdecks' become available, allowing people with neural implants to plug directly into the internet, allowing total sensory immersion into cyberspace

2015

• A US corporate plot to sabotage the European Union's free trade agreements and return power to corporate entities is uncovered by Germany
• Russia launches nuclear strike against major cities on the east coast of America, as well as all major US military bases within America. American nuclear retaliation is prevented by a coup within the military by members sympathetic to the Free Militia, and they assume command of the country. 148 million Americans dead from the missile strikes. The Federal Government was destroyed. The civil war was over

2016

• Martial law is ended in the US, and a new American government is formed, with each of the 5 regional 'states' being led by a Governor in each. Each state is 'protected' by corporate military forces, who replace the old Federal military
• Internet-enabled devices populate many houses built in the past 5 years, allowing electronic technology to use the functionality of the internet. Houses can be remotely accessed from work, and internal features can be externally controlled, etc
• Hermes Space Plane is built, allowing quick and easy takeoff into orbit and back again. The Plane can land at any large runway
• A joint Russian-Chinese project to build an interplanetary vehicle begins, with the goal of allowing space travel to the moon and beyond

2017

• China takes over the International Space Station and begins upgrading it, using a Hermes plane as a shuttle for the station
• Basic anti-gravity devices are built and produced, being mainly for toys and small devices
• Capital cities , or 'MegaCities', were formed in each of the 5 American states: Carson State - San Francisco; New Dakota - Cheyenne; Great Lakes - Chicago; Central State - St Louis; Texas - Houston
• The megacities become the main areas of population within America. Automated agricultural machines built by the corporations begin replacing farming communities.

2018

• The first 'nomad pack' causes havoc in outer suburbs of Chicago. Police response was ineffective, as the nomads had superior weaponry, with some of them apparently enraged by drugs. The police were forced to use military force to disband them
• Werewolves enter the public eye, with people claiming to witness them. Some of the 'nomads' are claimed to be werewolves. Authorities dismiss this as public hysteria
• 'Skyways', the highways for flying cars, are completed between all major cities around the world. Using anti-grav beacon technology linked with vehicle computers, the skyways allow flying cars to safely travel domestic routes at varying altitudes

2019

• China completes initial upgrades to the Space Station and it goes operational for citizens who can apply their skills on it. A section is made available for visitors

2021

• 'NetDB' was launched, a worldwide database that allowed identification of almost every individual in the world

2023

• The first interplanetary vehicle is completed at a 'shipyard' near the International Space Station using nuclear fusion. Testing is successful with manned missions to the moon and back taking only a few hours. The first manned mission to Mars is planned
• The First Corporate War begins and ends in America, with over 700 corporate soldiers dead in the conflict over agricultural territory between 3 corporate entities

2024

• Earth Force is formed, with regional military forces being disbanded. Formed by regional police units and using military hardware, they answer to the UN instead of their regional governors
• Mars 1 leaves earth orbit, planning on reaching Mars in 3 months, but contact is lost with the vehicle less than one week from Mars

2025

• Mars 2 leaves earth orbit, consisting of 2 vehicles and a backup probe following along behind
• The first fully operational Cyborg is announced, comprised of cybernetic parts but with the brain of a human volunteer. Volunteers were those with severe physical disabilities, and therefore their 'quality of life' was improved by being more mobile and of greater use to society. Cyborgs were used in dangerous and high-risk situations, like disaster rescues and space construction

2026

• Mars 2 lands on the moon. No trace of Mars 1 is found en route or on Mars, nor is there any apparent signs of alien life on the planet, disappointing many who believed otherwise
• A cyborg goes on a rampage and destroys 3 suburban blocks. 183 people are killed, with 480 injured. Earth Force's first response unit is destroyed. Three more heavy units are deployed before the cyborg is destroyed. Earth Force realises that cyborgs are extremely effective in combat situations
• General Electric announce commencement of new project to investigate the feasibility of using black holes and singularities as energy sources

2028

• The Second Corporate War between America and South America ends with the detonation of an electro-magnetic pulse weapon in the jungles of the Amazon
• Earth Force Ultra is formed, a highly specialised organisation that is designed to combat the growing threat of renegades, nomads, mercenaries, cyborgs - and corporate wars. A cyborg unit is developed for backup and space operations

2029

• The Trade Agreement of 2029 is ratified, setting out boundaries for corporate land ownership and resource development around the world. A United Trade Group is created to act like the United Nations, to help resolve disputes between corporate entities. Enforcement of the agreement is carried out by Earth Force
• China and Russia announce that a base has been formed on Mars, and is open to relevantly-skilled colonists. With a flight time of 3 weeks, they expect it to be open for public visits within 3 years

2030

• 'Today'

(The story that the players of this game were going to be involved in would have them as werewolves, but they didn't know it. It wasn't until their character was killed during the course of play that they would find out, as instead of dying, they would instead regenerate and turn into a werewolf. The type of character they played up until their death would determine the type of tribe their werewolf was part of, as they would have inadvertently been playing the qualities of the tribe.)

There's always going to be a time when you need a gift idea, and a beautiful picture is often the perfect choice when you're just not sure of what to get. If you would like to purchase any of the photos featured on this blog, contact me to organise it. The pricing is:

15 x 10cm (6 x 4 inch): $12 (US$8)
18 x 13cm (7 x 5 inch): $20 (US$15)
25 x 20cm (10 x 8 inch): $28 (US$20)
30 x 20cm (12 x 8 inch): $40 (US$30)

Postage & handling: $5 (US$4) NZ or international

Please note that any photos taken before mid-November 2005 can only be supplied at a maximum of 15 x 10cm (6 x 4 inch). This is because I wasn't taking the photos at a resolution that would allow for good-quality sizes larger than that.

Contact me to place your order today. Please include the following in your email:

1) The web address of the photo you want. (Click on the photo to enlarge it, and then copy the address of it into the email.)
2) The size that you want.

Please allow 1 - 3 weeks for delivery, depending on your location.

I will be setting up a new website soon to promote the photos that will be available. Until then, anything that is in this blog is available (according to above stipulations).

Note: if you get in quick, you may get your gift in time for Christmas!

I went with Deidre and Rani, a friend of ours, to a place called Castlepoint, which is about a 2 hour drive northeast of Wellington. Today was a great day for photos...

We went to Martinborough first. This was a view over the valley...

Then we had brunch in a cafe, and I had to take this photo of an old piano that was there...

This is the Martinborough Hotel...

After leaving Martinborough we headed to Castlepoint. I saw a winery along the way and got this photo...
Finally, we arrived at Castlepoint! There was a surf up...

The lighthouse is the attraction at Castlepoint. Take notice of the top of the cliff to the left of the lighthouse, as there's a few photos further below taken from that point...

A view of the small harbour from the path heading up to the lighthouse...

Here's the lighthouse, and with Deidre included, just to prove it was me taking the photos ;-)





Some random person, standing on the beach, watching the waves come in...




I met a man in Martinborough today who was selling photos at an indoor fair. I could see that he was good, but I also considered that some of my own photos were as good. I got to talking to him, and found that he had his own business which he does part time, selling his photos.

I'm going to start selling my own. If you want to buy poster sized prints of any of the above, let me know. I'll start work on a website presenting them for sale.

I've been at Starbucks this afternoon, doing some writing, playing around, watching people... A guy sat opposite me on these comfy chairs, who I've seen a few times over the past few weeks when I've come here. We got to talking, turns out he's into IT as well, from Canada, travelling around. We shared some interests in news so I emailed him my Eyes On The World site, and so he emailed me his blog. Funny thing is, he's into growth as well, and is adventuring around for a while, taking a bit of a break from work.

The really cool thing is that he's found a 'backdoor' into one of the wireless providers in NZ, which he rang them about, and they didn't seem particularly interested in it. He shared this backdoor with me, so whenever I can't use Telecom here at Starbucks (which is free for me anyway, as I have a home broadband account with them that allows me free access to their wireless service), I'll be using the backdoor to this other wireless provider and getting something for free.

Friends help each other. Friends talk to each other. Friends share things with each other. It's cool that you can find new friends in the strangest places. Strangers are friends not yet met. Until you start talking to them.

Before I knew it, he'd added me to his blogroll on his own blog, so naturally I did the same.

I love travelling. When I travelled around the north island of NZ last year, staying at backpackers everywhere, I was very pleasantly surprised about how friendly and interesting travellers are. Nearly all of them were foreigners, visiting NZ. I was the only 'local' using the backpackers. It changed my mind about backpackers, as I discovered they were cheaper and often better quality than most hotels, and the people are more accessible and friendlier. I was converted.

Anyway, check out his blog - isystech.net. It's not bad.

This is a story I created in the Star Trek play-by-email game I ran, but which finished early this year. This story began during game play, but never continued beyond April 2383 (see below), when the game ended due to lack of interest. The story was supposed to be for the background story of the galaxy, which the players and games would be part of. The 'Erratan Galactic Republic', or the EGR, was based on the Empire from Star Wars. The following is a timeline I created with my friend Garry's help, and which may one day be turned into a story. (If you want to write it, contact me. As an idea, it's copyrighted by me.)

2383, March
- EGR Task Force (8 destroyers, 2 battleships, 1 factory ship) enters Kaerine space, sends out probes throughout the galaxy
- Federation goes on alert at all the mysterious probes entering their territory

2383, April
- EGR successfully control all of Kaerine space, begin building a military base there. Initial probe results informs them of all the races of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants (Humans, Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans, Cardassians, etc, etc)
- Probes provide the EGR with information about the Delta Quadrant and the Dominion, including the Founders, the Vorta, and the Jem'Hadar
- Federation stands down from their alert status a couple weeks after realising there's no more probes

2383, May
- The Dominion questions the Federation about the probes, but no one is any the wiser for the exchange of information about them
- The EGR gets information about the Borg, but that information is sketchy. All their probes are destroyed on the edges of Borg territory
- The EGR finishes building a shipyard

2383, August
- A plan is implemented where an ERG destroyer is used to lure a Borg cube into Federation space. The Borg chase it in the hope of assimilating it. The destroyer looks like it tries to make a stand against the Borg cube in an area within scanning range of a Federation starbase. Five Starfleet ships attempt to come to its aid, and the Borg cube makes short work of two of them before 2 more ERG destroyers appear. Together the 3 ERG ships and remaining Starfleet ships destroy the Borg cube. First Contact is made between the EGR and Federation and the EGR open diplomatic negotiations with Federation representatives at the starbase. The EGR request information from the Federation about the Borg, claiming to need that to help them defend themselves. The Federation gives all the information it has. The EGR thanks them and leaves 2 destroyers at the Federation starbase in case the Borg return.
- An EGR Ambassador is assigned to the starbase

2383, September
- Two Borg cubes attack the starbase, and the 2 EGR destroyers meet the Borg cubes before they can get close enough to engage Federation forces. One destroyer is destroyed and both Borg cubes damaged before another 3 destroyers jump in and assist just as the Starfleet ships arrive. The Borg cubes are destroyed.
- The EGR asks the starbase if they would like more EGR ships to assist against further Borg attacks, as well as an exchange of technology. The EGR will provide the starbase their advanced shields in exchange for the Federation transporter technology. The Starbase CO agrees to the extra EGR ships as well as the technology exchange.

2383, October
- The starbase's shields are upgraded
- Seven EGR destroyers are based permanently in the same sector as the starbase, with 5 on patrol and 2 permanently assigned to defend the starbase
- EGR ambassador travels to Earth to meet with the Federation Council and discuss a permanent treaty. After a couple of days of talks, the Federation welcomes the EGR's application to join the Federation.
- The Federation Council requests more technology exchange, in particular the EGR's hyperdrive. The EGR Ambassador quotes the Federation's own Prime Directive and states his own race has a similar policy of non-interference. Any major developments really have to be on the Federation's initiative, rather than as gifts from advanced races. The Federation Council is unable to argue against the foundation of their own Prime Directive.

2384, January
- Evidence suggests a Cardassian ship attacked and destroyed a Federation farming colony on the Federation side of the Cardassian border.
- The Cardassians deny their involvement in the attack, but the colony's sensor logs show it was definitely a Cardassian ship
- The EGR Ambassador influences a member of the Federation Council to suggest that the Cardassians may be attempting to take territory that they consider was once theres, and after having rebuilt their military over the past 8 years, feel that they are now in a position to regain what was lost to them. The Council member suggests that the EGR, with their hyperdrive-capable ships, might be in a position to help provide security along the Cardassian border. The EGR Ambassador says he would need to talk to his superiors about involving themselves in the internal security matters of the Federation.
- A week later the EGR Ambassador agrees to the Federation Council's request for providing security along the Cardassian border on the condition that their Federation membership be fast-tracked accordingly. The Ambassador suggests it might be wise to ensure that only Federation members provide internal assistance to the Federation.

2384, February
- The United Federation of Planets welcomes its newest member, the EGR
- Within minutes of the announcement, EGR places a number of destroyers on patrol along the Cardassian border
- The Cardassians protest this action, and reinforce their own border

2384, April
- The EGR finish building a shipyard at Jupiter Station and use it to help increase the production level for Starfleet, being able to turn out an increased production run of ships for Starfleet using EGR industrial technology. Two destroyers are permanently assigned to it, along with other Starfleet ships, and Federation personnel man the shipyard with EGR advisors.
- EGR spies provide the Romulan Tal Shiar with details on technology that might be useful to them, at the 'poorly defended' shipyard at Jupiter Station, along with implications that the EGR would provide further support in the future

2384, July
- EGR ships detect gravitational anomalies approaching the shipyard at Jupiter Station at warp 8 and request Federation assistance in determining what they are. Federation personnel realise they must be cloaked ships and request reinforcements. The 2 EGR destroyers move out to intercept the anomalies and then 28 Romulan ships decloak and attack the destroyers. Four Starfleet ships become involved in the battle. At the end of it, both EGR destroyers were destroyed, along with three of the Starfleet ships. 21 of the Romulan ships were destroyed in the battle, and the remaining 7 ships retreat when Starfleet reinforcements arrive from Mars.
- Public opinion, which up until this point was mildly suspicious at EGR ships in Federation space, and so close to Earth, is instantly turned around at the news of the EGR's sacrifice to protect Jupiter Station.
- The Federation accuses the Romulans of blatant disregard to their alliance
- The Romulans deny involvement, stating it was a rogue organisation that wasn't sanctioned by the Romulan Senate
- The Federation cancels the alliance with the Romulans
- The Federation requests an EGR presence along the Romulan Neutral Zone, which is welcomed by public support

2384, August
- A fleet of 93 Borg cubes attacks Kaerine space, surprising the EGR. 76% of EGR forces are destroyed in the battle, but all Borg cubes are destroyed. All of the EGR battleships remain intact.
- The EGR withdraws non-essential ships from Federation space to reinforce Kaerine space.
- The EGR begins construction of a secret base on the outskirts of the galaxy in an empty resource-rich area of planetary systems. This base is given high priority, in an attempt to create a fallback location should the Kaerine sector fall to the Borg.
- The EGR announce to the Federation that they are at war with the Borg.
- The Federation offers all the assistance to the EGR they can provide.
- The EGR requests that more EGR ships be allowed to help protect Federation resources, as the Federation is likely to be attacked by the Borg for being allied to the EGR.
- The Federation agrees, and EGR destroyers are assigned to all the major systems within the Federation.

2384, September
- Romulans ally with Cardassians and Breen
- EGR uses a Starfleet ship to unsuccessfully attack a Vorta colony in the Delta Quadrant, with it being destroyed from a 'warp core breach' in the battle with Jem'Hadar ships
- The Dominion accuse the Federation of attacking their colony
- The Federation denies all knowledge of the attack, but reinforces DS9 near the Bajoran wormhole
- Skirmishes occur between Klingon and Romulan forces along their borders

2384, November
- The Romulans engage in talks with the Dominion, advising that the Federation and EGR are attempting to subvert the balance of power and take control of all the quadrants. They suggest the Starfleet attack against the Dominion was a test of Dominion reactions, and the Romulans propose a treaty between them and the Dominion.

2384, December
- The Dominion joins the new 'Allies', offering their support to the alliance now comprised of themselves, the Romulans, the Cardassians and the Breen.
- The Federation hears about the 'Allies' and sends diplomatic teams to each of the races to try and resolve things.
- A 'Cardassian ship' intercepts and destroys the ship carrying the Federation delegation to Cardassia, and is then destroyed by the EGR destroyer that was escorting the delegation.
- The EGR expresses their sincere apologies at not protecting the delegation, saying they believed the Cardassian ship's claim that it was there to greet the delegation.
- The Federation declares a state of war with Cardassia.
- The Cardassians denial of involvement is ignored by the Federation

2385, February
- A fleet of 18 Romulan ships attacks a Federation starbase. The closest reinforcements are at DS9, comprised of EGR and Federation ships. They receive the request for reinforcements and the EGR ships jump to help repel the Romulan attack. While they are involved in the defence of the starbase and chase the retreating Romulan ships, it turns out to be a decoy, as a large co-ordinated force of 87 Romulan ships, 35 Cardassian ships, 12 Breen ships, and 76 Dominion ships coming through the wormhole, attack Deep Space Nine. The Federation defences there are overwhelmed, and the Allied fleet takes the station. However, the EGR ships, destroying the fleeing Romulan ships that attacked the nearby starbase, jump back to regain control of DS9. In the battle, approximately 60% of the Allied forces are destroyed before they run for it, seeing that EGR forces are not seriously hampered by the Allied ships defence of DS9. Just before they retreat, another 'Cardassian ship' arrives and fires a missile at DS9. All EGR ships were involved in battle, so the missile gets by them. Deep Space Nine explodes in a huge explosion, destroying 3 of the EGR destroyers in the process. The Allied ships retreat. Over 10,000 people on DS9 were killed.
- The EGR expresses their sorrow to the Federation for the loss and the EGR's inability to defend DS9 with its limited number of ships available in the area, and the Federation requests increased EGR assistance with defence. The EGR agrees to the Federation's request to place more of the EGR's ships in Federation space.

2385, March
- The EGR Ambassador offers a solution to the Cardassian problem, pointing out that the entire history of Federation involvement with the Cardassians has shown that they are completely untrustworthy and interested only in military conflict. The EGR offers to decisively end the war with Cardassia.
- The Federation Council agrees after discussing this for over a day.
- Minutes later, a fleet of 480 EGR destroyers and battleships appear near Cardassia. Twelve minutes later the entire Cardassian defence force is decimated. One hour and twenty eight minutes later, Cardassia Prime has been destroyed by orbital bombardment by the 480 EGR ships. When they leave, there is nothing left of Cardassian civilisation except for the molten surface of a decimated planet.
- EGR announces to the Federation that they will not be bothered by the Cardassians any more. An uproar occurs as a result of the action, but the EGR Ambassador advises that countless numbers of people have been killed in wars with the Cardassians, and were likely to be killed if the Cardassians were allowed to continue their aggressive stances. All the attempts by the Federation to prevent bloodshed have failed. Now there will be no more bloodshed. The Federation Council agrees.
- The Federation President resigns. Ambassador Spock receives unanimous approval and becomes the new President of the Federation.

2385, April
- The EGR sends a fleet of 820 destroyers and battleships into the heart of Borg territory - Unimatrix 01, where the Borg queen lives and where all the Borg throughout the galaxy are controlled from. After a vicious battle with the initial Borg defence force which ends up decimated, the remaining 460 EGR ships attack the Borg unicomplex, which was composed of thousands of connected structures and hubs that housed hundreds of ships and trillions of Borg drones. The weapons employed against it cause a chain reaction throughout the unicomplex, resulting in its complete destruction. With the Central Nexus of the Borg Collective destroyed, the shielding for the Transwarp Hubs and manifolds is gone. The EGR sends in hundreds of droid ships that race throughout the network, dropping powerful mines at each hub and new conduit they find. The Borg transwarp network is destroyed, along with all the cubes that were using it.
- The EGR announce to the Federation that the Borg threat has been dealt with, and all that is required now is the mopping up of remaining Borg cubes that are helpless without central control. The Gamma Quadrant is safe.

2385, July
- A fleet of over 2,000 Dominion ships enters via the wormhole and joins up with other 800 Allied ships that are attacking the EGR force that is defending Bajor. The battle is brutal, but the EGR ships are defeated, at the expense of close to 80% of the Allied ships. However, the main EGR fleet appears just as the Allied ships are celebrating, and the 600 ships are easily destroyed by the 800 EGR ships.
- Half the EGR fleet goes through the wormhole to lay waste to the Dominion
- The EGR requests the Federation Council give them permission to bring peace to the Alpha and Beta Quadrants through attacking the Romulans and Breen.
- The Federation agrees.

2385, August
- The EGR attack the Founders homeworld and, after destroying the Jen'Hadar fleet defending the planet, demand the Founders surrender or be destroyed completely.
- The Founders surrender. The EGR destroys their homeworld anyway, using the weakness the Founders displayed as sign of EGR superiority.
- The Jem'Hadar go into a frenzy and vow to destroy the EGR

2385, September
- The EGR announce to the Federation that the last of the Dominion has fallen and the Delta Quadrant is safe.
- The EGR request that the Federation allow them to bring peace to the Alpha and Beta Quadrants as well. The Federation agrees.
- With the Dominion gone, the remaining Allied powers capitulate and surrender.
- The EGR moves ships over the non-Federation homeworlds and set up EGR military leadership, dismantling current leadership structures.

2386, January
- The EGR has control of the entire galaxy, with approximately 4,000 ships PER QUADRANT, and EGR leadership on all the resource-rich and once-powerful worlds. Allied with the Federation, which is now effectively a puppet government, the galaxy is theirs.

I received this by email from one of my work colleagues yesterday, and loved it. I showed it to Deidre last night, and she loved it. So now I'm sharing it with you. Maybe you'll love it too. (Note: if you're experiencing a slow download, pause it and let it download before you start playing it.)

Title: mimi in NY

Description: 40 countries, 12 boats, 37 flights, 46 assholes and 6 months later... Writing for The Village Voice, avoiding Bill O'Reilly and campaigning for immigrants whilst musing on anal sex and pissing off the religious right.

Mimi, as the author of this blog calls herself, is an illegal immigrant in the US, having come over from the UK. She's been trying to find ways of legalising her stay in America, becoming a citizen. It hasn't been going according to plan. While she's been there and doing this, she's been writing about her 'adventures'. And what adventures they are.

Not just with her beaureacratic adventures around immigration, but also her adventures in life. She's a writer, and so she's done a bit of travelling around; around the world, and around America. She's used her writing skills to relate her experiences concerning travel, immigration, sex, stripping and exotic dancing.

To support herself in America she's been an exotic dancer, dancing on the inside of the seedy underlife that New York City seems to be founded on. This is probably why the site is so popular, as people keep on coming back to read about her sexual and exotic - not to mention erotic - misadventures in various stripper bars.

Lately her writing has been verging on the darker, more depressing side of things, where there is a large hint of desperation and sadness. Not to mention bitterness. She's been fighting a battle, and it looks like the darkness is winning.

Being a writer however, means that the reader is left wondering: is it real, or just a fictional story created for the promotion of the writer? We may never know, but the story is worth coming back to.

Thanks to all my friends who sent me such important emails in 2003 & 2004! It's so wonderful that you included me in your quest to inform!

Because of all of you I stopped drinking Coca-Cola after I found out from you that it's good for removing toilet stains.

I stopped going to the movies for fear of sitting on a needle infected with a disease.

I smell awful, but thank goodness I stopped using deodorant because you said it causes cancer.

I don't leave my car in any parking lot even though I sometimes have to walk about seven blocks, because you said that someone might drug me with a perfume sample and then try to rob me.

I also stopped answering the phone because you said that they will ask me to dial a stupid number and then I get a high phone bill with calls to Uganda, Singapore, Tokyo and maybe the Mars Rover.

I stopped eating chicken and hamburgers because you told me they are nothing more than horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers that are bred in a lab so that places like McDonalds can sell their Big Macs.

I also stopped drinking anything out of a can - you said that I will get sick from the rat faeces and urine.

When I go to parties, I now don't mix with anybody - you said that someone will take my kidneys and leave me taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.

However, the police are also after me at present because you said not to pull over as they could be fake policemen trying to kidnap me.

I went bankrupt from bounced checks that I wrote, in anticipation of the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL were supposed to send me when I participated in their special e-mail program.

It's weird, though, that my new free cell phone never arrived, and neither did the passes for my paid vacation to Disneyland.

But I am positive that all this is because of the chain I broke or forgot to follow and I got a curse.

OOPS I ALMOST FORGOT, IMPORTANT NOTE: If you don't send this e-mail to at least 1200 people in the next ten seconds, a bird will crap on you tonight at 7:00 PM.

Here's to an even better informed 2006!

Armed forces personnel are trained to deal with combat, and with death. They're trained to go to war at any moment. They accept the fact that they signed up to be warriors, and warriors fight, and often die fighting. If they didn't want to die, they shouldn't have signed up.

I used to serve in the Australian Army Reserves in my youth. I was a patriotic but part time member of the Australian armed forces. I knew I might go to war. I knew I might get killed, and that I might have to kill someone else just like me. Knowing this didn't stop me from knowing I would fight if I had to.

So why all the fuss about the deaths of soldiers in Iraq? Why are they complaining? And why are others complaining about them dying?

When a person signs up to join the armed forces, they do so knowing they might fight. Invariably, they believe the cause they'll be fighting for will be a just cause, one that is deserving of their noble sacrifice. They will fight in a war and willingly sacrifice their lives for a cause they believe is worthy.

And a country will support them if such a war is a just war. Where the cause is noble, and the sacrifice worth making.

"...we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender..."
- Winston Churchill, June 4th 1940

World War II was a noble war, a war worth fighting. Millions of people sacrificed their lives in order to support that cause. Battles involving many hundreds of thousands of men, with many tens of thousands killed in single battles, occurred throughout the war. And the sacrifice was worth it.

Everyone supported their country, and their armed forces personnel, because the war was just, it was worth fighting for. Without such sacrifice, the consequences were too horrible to imagine.

The war in Iraq, and against 'terror', is not a war worth fighting. The war is not noble, and is not just. Where Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 and brought about world opinion against it, so has the US invading Iraq brought about world opinion against it. There was no cause for the invasion of Iraq. Everything that the US used to justify their actions has been proven to be, if not outright lies, then at least incorrect. Their actions were wrong, and based on wrong information. There was no clear-cut, noble cause to be fought for.

As a result, armed forces personnel are dying daily in a country they invaded, and that doesn't want them there. They are not only fighting the local resistance movement of that country, but they are also fighting foreigners that are joining the 'noble cause against the US', as they see it. The longer the US stays in Iraq, and the longer they engage in a war against terror - which has no real enemy or target, and is instead a war against an idea - the more resistance the US is going to get from the rest of the world.

The Iraq war and the war on terror are not wars that the rest of the world can stand up and unite with the US on. The soldiers who fight in these wars are killing civilians in their attempts to flush out terrorists. And the terrorists are themselves civilians, acting against the US occupation and oppression. The more the US engages in such acts, the more they distance themselves from nobility and justice.

People are complaining about the deaths of soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere around the world because the war is unjust, and noble ideals are given lip service by an increasingly untrustworthy US government that daily is losing face in the eyes of the people it is supposed to be representing.

The people don't want the war. They don't want their loved ones, those serving in the armed forces, dying for a cause that is unjust. They don't want their loved ones killing or torturing civilians. They don't want their loved ones becoming the kinds of brutal and uncivilised antagonists that the US says it is trying to fight.

"Whoever battles with monsters had better see that it does not turn him into a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

It seems there's a bit of a crackdown occurring around the world on 'Holocaust deniers'...

Ernst Zundel. In the early '80's he published a book called "Did Six Million Really Die?" He was charged in 1985 with 'publishing false news.' In the two attempts to trial him in '85 and '88, he called upon gas chamber experts and cross examined a number of Holocaust survivors, who apparently fell apart under questioning. He was found not guilty. In 2003 he was arrested in America for an alleged immigration violation and deported back to Canada, where he was held in solitary confinement for 2 years until being deported to Germany, where he has been charged with 'Holocaust denial' and faces 5 years in jail. This is after having lived in Canada since 1958.

Germar Rudolph. In 1989 he conducted scientific analysis of the chemicals used to gas people at Auschwitz and Birkenau. He was unable to find evidence to support the claims that 6 million jews were gassed. For his scientific findings, which he tried to use to get further investigation done into the Holocaust, he was charged with Holocaust denial and sentenced to 14 months in jail. He fled the country however, and settled in the US, marrying an American woman and raising a family. In October 2005, he was arrested by US authorities and deported to Germany on 14th November.

David Irving. He has spent many years travelling around the world challenging the official story of the Holocaust, presenting evidence that contradicts the official story. Many countries have banned him from entering. He was arrested on 11th November 2005 in Vienna, Austria for Holocaust denial. Under Austrian law he faces up to 20 years in jail.

Siegfried Verbeke. He publicly questioned the facts of the Anne Frank story, and was arrested in August 2005. In October he was extradited to Germany, where he faces 14 months in prison.

Rene-Louis Berclaz. Currently serving the 11th month of a 17th month sentence for publicly doubting the gas chamber story, a story which has been changed a number of times over the years.

These and so many others are being arrested, deported, charged and imprisoned with Holocaust denial. This year.

Why this year? Why the sudden clampdown on people expressing their findings or thoughts? Why are people arrested and thrown into jail simply for disagreeing with the official version of events?

What are they trying to hide, that's so important to really start hiding this year?

None of the people mentioned above denied the Holocaust occurred. They all agree that a major tragedy occurred. What they don't agree with, however, is the extent of the tragedy, or the facts that have been associated with that tragedy.

In 1948, the Red Cross released a report on their activities during WWII. This report showed that the Germans allowed them unrestricted access to all POW camps, and that the Red Cross was allowed to arrange for supplies and medications to be transported and given to POWs. This was eventually stopped when Allied bombing campaigns targeted the supply convoys. The Red Cross found no evidence of genocide at any of the alleged gas camps, and reported instead on the tragedy of nearly a quarter of a million Jews dying at POW camps from the conditions. They found the German army co-operative, which they couldn't say with the Russian army. They had no access whatsoever to any camps within Russia. This report was from a neutral humanitarian organisation.

On November 1st 2005, the UN unanimously and without a vote, declared January 27th to be “International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.” At the same time, the new resolution for this included an 'absolute rejection for any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or part'. What does this mean?

It means that questioning the Holocaust is illegal. Talking about it being different to the official version is illegal. Finding evidence to question it is illegal, and such evidence will be - and has been - destroyed, to 'protect the memory and honour of those who died in the Holocaust.' The very fact I'm writing about it like this is, apparently, now illegal.

When questioning something is considered illegal, a step has been taken into a draconian, dictatorish way of life. "Don't question what we tell you, accept everything we say. It's the truth, because we say it is. If you don't believe us, we'll throw you in jail."

I never used to question it, but now I do, because now they're trying to hide something.

I just got back from a walk during lunch time, where I took a few photos.

I've been playing around a little bit with the new camera. I took this photo yesterday, of a building in Wellington:


And I took this photo this morning, another sunset shot from my window.


Not bad... I'm happy with the quality. :-)

"I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?"
- Chuang Tsu

"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?"
- Morpheus, The Matrix

Where do you go when you dream? Are you really a human dreaming you're a butterfly, or are you a butterfly dreaming you're a human? How do you know you're not actually travelling to, or experiencing realities other than this one? When you dream, the reality you're part of seems real. How do you know that when you wake up from that dream, you're actually waking up? You might be falling asleep in the 'other reality' and dreaming again that you're a human.

It's a philosophical and a spiritual question that has plagued mankind for ages. It's now even a scientific question, as theorised by quantum physics, as it explores alternate realities and multiple universes. At the moment, no one is really sure. We have our feelings after we wake from vivid dreams that seem so real. We create descriptive ideas to make us wonder about reality and what it is. But we don't really know.

There's a lot to reality that we don't understand. Spirituality goes some way towards explaining the mysteries, but many people don't believe in spirituality either, and so the unexplained, to them, remains that way. Most of those who 'don't believe' feel there is a completely legitimate scientific explanation for the unexplained - they just haven't scientifically found that explanation yet.

I agree with those people who say there has to be a scientific explanation for psychic or spiritual events. But in order to find the scientific explanation for it, science will need to disover a way of measuring psychic and spiritual realities beyond the three dimensions that we exist in. There are far more dimensions than just these three, including the dimension of the mind, as well as the dimensions of life after death. Ghosts, for example, exist in some of these extra dimensions, and since all the various dimensions are part of each other, just like the three dimensions that we know about, that's why we can occasionally see or feel them. Parts of their reality are mixing with our own - especially as it really is all the same multidimensional reality.

Many years ago, Estera and I woke up from a dream that we both had, at the same time. We had come back from Adelaide that day, a 13-hour drive, and the dream we shared was brief, but vivid. It was even more interesting because we both had it. There was a long, barren road, at dusk. The trees - what few trees there were in the barren Australian semi-desert that this road passed through - were lit up by the cyclic flashes of red and blue lights. There was an overturned car, remarkably similar to the one that we had rented for the trip, along with miscellaneous debris from the crash strewn about on the road. There were police cars, ambulances and fire engines around, their flashing lights illuminating the darkening landscape around the sight, and emergency workers milling around.

That was it. We woke up from that, and looked at each other.

Her: "Did you...?"
Me: "...have a dream?"
Her: "...about us having an accident?"
Me: "Yep."
Her: "Cool..."

My automatic writing the next day confirmed it. What we had dreamt was actually a glimpse into an alternate reality where the possibility of an accident had become an inevitability. We saw the consequences of actions that we hadn't experienced ourselves, but which were experienced by our alternate selves in another reality.

Spooky stuff.

But there's an interesting lesson with all this. The theories of quantum physics say that for every choice available to you, an alternate reality exists where that choice becomes real. You may have a smooth drive home, but in other realities, other choices play themselves out. Anything you can imagine - anything - is being experienced by you in some other reality. If you can imagine it, it's happening, plus a whole lot more that you can't imagine. There are an infinite number of realities popping up from the infinite number of choices we make on a daily basis. All of us, all the time, are creating realities as we think, and as we act.

Some realities are created just for an instant, replaying over and over again the reality that was created. They're the ones that are least likely to occur as fullblown realities, like the one you're experiencing now. This universe, to us, is a fullblown reality. It goes beyond now, and includes the passage of time. Sometimes realities that are created and replay themselves undergo a transition into this one, and we see the repeated experiences of what we call ghosts.

The consequences of your actions go beyond what you experience here. What you imagine will become real. Not necessarily in this reality, but your imagination has created a reality based on it. You can use this knowledge to help yourself make better choices. Imagining the consequences of your actions and seeing how it plays out in your mind is a great way of determining if you really want to do whatever it is you're imagining doing. If what you imagine has bad results, don't do it. If what you imagine has GOOD results, then do it! Reach out and grasp that reality, make it your own.

You've become a God, in a way, where you have the power to create realities and influence this one. What kind of God do you want to be?

Just for the geographically unaware ;) here is some maps of our travels.

Map 1: Australia
This map shows the general travel paths we're taking. The blue dotted line is the flight between Sydney to Adelaide and back again. The red solid line is the driving that will be done.

Map 2: South Australia
Driving from Adelaide to Berri, and back again. If you look north of Adelaide, you can see Pt Augusta and Quorn, which I talked about here.


Map 3: New South Wales
Driving from Sydney down the coast via Ulladulla (just north of Batemans Bay, where we head inland to Canberra). Ulladulla is where my good friend Kath lives, who we'll be dropping in on. We may be doing that on the way down, or on the way back. That's uncertain at this stage.


Map 4: Global location of Australia and NZ
For the forementioned geographically unaware (hi chance! :)), this shows you where Australia and NZ are in the world. Please note that NZ is not an island of Australia, just like Cuba is not an island of America.

Deidre and I will be travelling around parts of Australia for a month, and this is our itinerary.

2005
Saturday 10 Dec
Wellington 6am - Sydney 7:40am
Sydney 1:45pm - Adelaide 3:20pm
(Notes: while in Adelaide, will be staying with Deidre's dad and catching up with the following people: Phillip and Stephen (my brothers), Simon and Ben (friends I haven't seen for over a decade), and Jocelyn, a friend of Deidre's.)

Sunday 11 Dec
Xmas party at Deidre's dad's

Tuesday 13 Dec
Renting a car and driving to Berri, to visit my parents

Wednesday 14 Dec
Driving back to Adelaide

Friday 16 Dec
Adelaide 12pm - Sydney 2:25pm
Renting a car and driving to Canberra
(Notes: while in Canberra, will be staying with James and Kylie, and catching up with the following friends of mine: Peter C, David G, David O, Nick, Darlene, and Damien. Very disappointed not to be catching up with my friend Mel, but she'll be in Perth at the time.)

Friday 23 Dec
Driving back to Sydney, dropping off car and then staying overnight at Novotel, Darling Harbour.

Saturday 24 Dec
Catching train to Wollongong, to stay with Deidre's mum.

Sunday 25 Dec
Christmas Day. Party of some kind with Deidre's family

Monday 26 Dec
Relaxing

Tuesday 27 Dec
Catching up with my friend Dan, staying overnight.

Wednesday 28 Dec
Deidre returns to Wollongong to stay with her mum, I'm staying with Dan.

Friday 30 Dec
Deidre rejoining me, catching up with my friend Peter H, staying overnight.

Saturday 31 Dec
New Year's Eve. Catching up with Deidre's friends David and Celeste, staying overnight.

2006
Sunday 1 Jan
Relaxing. Return to Wollongong?

Tuesday 3 Jan
I'm leaving Sydney 6:05pm to Wellington 11:15pm. Will be seen off at the airport by Deidre and Dan. Deidre's staying at her mum's.

Saturday 7 Jan
Deidre leaves Sydney 6:05pm to Wellington 11:15pm.

If you click on the Categories 'button' to the right there, you'll see the del.icio.us tag cloud that I have. This is a different way of showing categories, by sorting them as tags. When you click on any of the links in the tag cloud, you'll go to the del.icio.us website where you'll be able to see all my pages that are tagged with whatever you've chosen. Over to the right of this new page you'll see my full tag cloud again. The red tag is the tag you're looking at. The green tags are other tags (and content) associated with the one you're looking at.

Enjoy.

(I was hoping to show my Blink List tag cloud, but del.icio.us came out with it first. One day Blink List might bring it out, and then I'll change the tag cloud to theirs.)

I have an interview this coming Friday for the position of Team Leader. :-D

This was my application, just to share with you...

To whom it may concern

I am applying for the position of Team Leader on the Service Desk, as recently vacated by [...]. I believe I am suited for this position for the following reasons:

• I have been with [the company] for 5 and a half years, having spent 4 of those years on the Service Desk as an analyst and senior analyst.
  
  
• I have been responsible for providing training material for [the company] on the [new intranet], when it was being implemented, using my skills of documentation and implementation.
  
  
• I have spent all of 2005 so far as a Systems Administrator..., maintaining and administrating internal systems. This has given me a detailed familiarity with the processes going on behind the scenes concerning the Service Desk and internal support.
  
  
• In the latter part of the year so far I have learnt and been responsible for [VOIP (Voice Over IP)] administration and support, giving me a detailed familiarity of how this works in relation to the Service Desk's requirements.
  
  
• In the past year I have been involved with client implementations, understanding the processes involved in bringing new clients into the Service Desk, and bringing about successful implementations with the Service Desk and the intranet.
  
  
• I have seen the need for having greater communication with service desk-only clients and taken the initiative to bring about processes to help that happen, showing an ability to see a client relationship problem and try to fix it using service delivery management.
  
  
• I have had management experience previous to my time in [the company], which has helped me understand the value of building successful relationships amongst staff, and performance management to meet company expectations.
  
  
• Throughout my time in [the company] I have been a team player, providing information and documentation where needed, encouraging and assisting those around me to be team players, and mentoring some people to find ways of performing better.

My reason for wanting the position of Team Leader is:

• I know I can be of value as a Team Leader, as the Service Desk staff already know me and seem to respect my skills and authority as a more senior member of the service desk staff.
  
  
• My interest in IT has been more aligned with relationship management around technological requirements, thus my interest in service delivery management and client implementations. I believe that being a Team Leader within the Service Desk would be an ideal next step for my personal and career development in an area of great interest to me. This results in a win-win situation for both myself and [the company].

I have a passion for helping people develop better relationships, with each other, with management and with clients. I believe that if people are happier where and how they work, and able to communicate better and freely, they will perform better. For this and all the above reasons, I feel I am the ideal candidate for this position.

Since all my relevant experience and abilities over the past 5 years within [the company] are already known by my immediate management, I felt a CV may be irrelevant to this application and therefore did not attach it. However, I can provide one if it is required.

Kind regards...

I've got an interview, so it impressed them enough to get me that far. We'll see how things go after that.

This was my old camera. Details here.


This is my new camera, a Canon PowerShot S2 IS:

You can see details here.

I bought it on the weekend via online shopping, and it'll be delivered to me tomorrow. I'm going to use it to start getting into some semi-professional photography. It's an upgrade that'll help me take better photos (higher quality), and which I'll investigate selling, etc. Thanks to you guys (eg. Deborah and co.) for inspiring me. :-)

At least, what if it didn't happen as 'they' say it did?

When investigation of the Holocaust is banned, or done under official monitoring, and when any evidence that fails to support the official story is destroyed, and when anyone that says 'more research needs to be done' is put into jail for many years, you really have to wonder what 'they' are trying to hide by preventing such investigation and research.

If the Holocaust is as true as 'they' say it is, then any research into it should be allowed, to show the truth, to prove the truth, and to convince the world, regardless of the claims of the Holocaust deniers, that the truth will always be the truth - over 6 million Jews died due to German atrocities.

However, when any such research is banned, and when the findings of such banned research contradict official claims, resulting in the destruction of such findings and the imprisonment of the person or people publishing those findings, you have to ask yourself something.

What are they trying to hide?

Are you psychic? I am. Or used to be, over a decade ago. I was able to see a person's past or future, feel the presence of 'lost souls', and channel the words of spirit guides through automatic writing. I even ran a spiritual development group for a while, to help other people develop their own psychic abilities.

There was a spiritual church I went to a couple of times, but I stopped going when I realised that most of the people there were trapped in the past. They were there to talk to their dead loved ones through a medium. These spiritualists, as they called themselves, were so fixated on the past they couldn't move forward.

To me, spirituality is about life. It's about embracing everything that life can offer. It's about understanding yourself, the life you're living, and the life you want to live. Spirituality is about moving forward rather than staying stuck in the past.

My spirit guides talked to me through automatic writing. They talked to me in this way for over 2 years, giving me a lot of useful and informative advice and insights. They also confirmed to me that Estera - my partner at the time - and I would be together for the rest of our lives. However, we were together for less than 2 years before she decided to leave me.

This was particularly traumatic for me, not just because I lost someone I loved very much, but also because it went against what my spirit guides confirmed. Since they were wrong about that, what else could they have been wrong about?

My entire world view was shattered. The faith I had in my spirituality was shattered. I left behind the practice of psychic abilities, while still retaining my beliefs. It had seemed to me that my spirit guides were wrong due to the likelihood of me editing their message as I wrote it down, editing it to tell me what I wanted to hear. I felt that I couldn't trust myself with automatic writing any more. Over a decade later, I felt the same way.

The spiritual and psychic experiences I'd had, however, were real. They had been shared with or confirmed by others, so I knew spiritual reality was real. My life has continued over the past decade with that knowledge being the backbone of my experiences.

Spiritual reality has been the core of my existence, manifesting in how I live my life, the conversations I have with people, and the articles that I write. Last year I started transcribing into my website the automatic writing I'd done a decade earlier. A big project, which I really should finish sometime... I discovered an interesting little fact which I hadn't previously seen.

Q. Is Estera to become my life-partner?
A. So it is planned.

"So it is planned." And plans, as we know, can change. I had only remembered it being a 'yes'. They hadn't confirmed it at all, that her and I would be together forever. They only said it was planned that way, at that time.

I spent a decade believing the wrong thing.

Most of you reading this probably won't be into roleplaying game, never have been, and never will be. Some of you won't even know what roleplaying games (RPGs) are, and some of you will only know them as those activities you get up to in your bedroom. And really, that's where we'd rather you keep them, so please DON'T tell us about it in the comments section. For those of you who have been a little sheltered, let me give you a bit of background into what roleplaying games are.

You've all heard of Lord of the Rings, haven't you. Of course you have. (If you haven't, you must be an African shepherd or something. You won't get much out of this post, so you might want to go somewhere else.) Well, Lord of the Rings, written by J R R Tolkien, inspired roleplaying games. In fact, it inspired the creation of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), the original roleplaying game.

Roleplaying games, as the name suggests, are games where you play the role of someone (occasionally something). The attraction for most roleplayers is the creative challenge of playing a character in ways that make sense to them (but often make no sense to others who are playing with them!). How many movies have you seen or books have you read where you've groaned in agony and frustration at the stupidity of the characters in those stories? How many times have you thought, "If I was there in that situation, I SO would be doing something better than that!"

Roleplaying games allows you to exercise your creativity and have you playing characters involved in various situations run by a game master (GM) that force you to make decisions for your character that affect its future. Like life, the game only ends for that character when it's dead. During the course of its adventures, it (you) interacts with other characters run by the other players (player characters, or PCs), and also with non-player characters (NPCs) that are played by the GM. The goal, apart from the goals of the scenario its involved in, are to grow, to become more powerful, to be a bigger 'fish in the sea'.

I've been roleplaying ever since 1988. The very first roleplaying game I played in was a James Bond game, being secret agents. I moved from there to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (2nd Edition), which is a fantasy game with warriors, magic users, clerics, rogues, etc, along with all manner of creatures including orcs up to the most powerful dragons. In my time since then, I've played that game on and off, as well as a number of science fiction games including Cyberpunk (based on the Neuromancer series of books by William Gibson), Star Trek, Vampire: The Masquerade, and Werewolf.

I've even run a few games of my own, creating entire worlds around the creativity in my mind, having the players play their characters within the stories I create for them. My favourite genre was Cyberpunk, but I've also mixed a few genres, with Cyberpunk, Vampire and Werewolf being a very popular mix. Imagine a war between Vampires and Werewolves (the movie Underworld, if you've seen it, was inspired by the roleplaying game of Vampire and Werewolf) that takes place in the near future, around 2020, with advanced technology, etc. The future in Cyberpunk is often dark, dangerous and depressing, which lends well to vampires and werewolves running aroud them.

I was very pleased that Deidre's also a roleplayer. She used to play D&D in college, but never got back into it until she met me. She came with me to the roleplaying group I'm part of (which also includes my friend Garry, whom I've mentioned previously), and took over a character that had been left by a player who'd left the group. Nawen, a fighter.

In the time that she's been playing this fighter, I've had about 4 different characters, each of the first 2 dying for various reasons. The first one was a knight who ended up as a pincushion for about 20 javelins thrown by a horde of lizard men. The second one was a gnome mage who was slightly evil. The party couldn't pin anything on him though, but they ended up voting him out. The third was a Paladin, a holy warrior, who got ripped apart by a tiger. The 4th, the one I'm playing now, is a pacifist priest who abhors violence and tries to promote the philosophy, "Can't we all just... get along?" She's an interesting challenge, as she tries to keep everyone alive - good and bad (except for the pure evil or nonreasoning creatures that just want to eat her and her companions - she doesn't want to keep them alive!) - and that often goes against the party's goals.

This is an example of the type of conversation that happened after she joined the group and she was confronted with:

"Listen up. We're the good guys, and they're the bad guys, and if you start helping them, you and this here sword are going to get real acquainted, real quick."

"Right. And you're the good guys, right?"

"That's right, you better believe it."

"And if I help the 'bad guys', you're going to kill me, right?"

"Hey, now she understands! Yeh, that's right."

"Right. So... you, being the good guys, will kill me if I help people."

"Yeh...."

"You did say you were the good guys, right?"

"Shut up. Just don't help the bad guys."

"I'll help whoever I want to help. If anyone is injured, I'll be helping them. If you don't like it, you're quite welcome to kill me now for wanting to HELP people, Mr 'Good Guy'."

"You better just stay out of my way..."

Getting back to the mechanics of the game....

Interaction, similar to what I just described, is 'acted' by the players using verbal acting only. We sit around a table and discuss our plans, or talk to each other as if 'in character', which is what the above represents. It's roleplaying, remember?

In D&D (and most other genres) If you want to engage in any kind of action, you first have to be skilled in it. If you have the skills, then you have a skill rating of sorts, that shows how good or bad you are at it. If you don't have a particular skill, you may still be able to do it if you have some other skill or attribute that could allow you to do it, but with a penalty. So, if you want to, for example, hit someone with your sword, you would roll a dice to see if you hit. The result of the dice is modified according to any bonuses you might have due to skills or attributes, and this result is then compared with the number you need to hit your opponent, which in itself is a result of their own skills at dodging, or the armour they may or may not be wearing.

If your roll is equal to or greater than what you need, then you have successfully hit them with the sword. You then have to roll another dice that represents the damage, and add any bonuses (or penalties) to that roll. The result of this is then taken from the 'hit points' of the opponent. Hit points are a reflection of the health and stamina of a character. The more they have, the harder they are to kill, and the higher they advance, the more hit points they get.

Magic users are often the weakest characters, getting only 1-4 hit points per character level, not including any bonuses due to a high constitution. Fighters are the strongest, getting 1-10 hit points, and they often have constitution bonuses on top of that. However, where fighters have to be stronger because they're most often engaged in hand to hand physical combat, the magic users are often at the back, avoiding being hit, and casting their spells.

Along with fighters, clerics and magic users, you can also play rangers (specialists with nature and bows), thieves, holy warriors, and others. You can also be human, dwarf, elf, etc. There are many combinations that can be chosen from, with all kinds of character combinations able to be created. The only limit is your imagination.

Roleplaying games are limitless in how they allow exploration into character concepts, ideas, and plans of action. If you think you would just love to play someone like Aragorn, Gandalf, Neo from the Matrix (pure Cyberpunk), or even Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there are roleplaying games out there that allow you to play any kind of character you want, in any kind of genre or setting. The only limit is your imagination.

The adventures of the group I'm playing with are being recorded here: The Group. It's only new, started a few weeks ago, and it doesn't have the many years of history in it that should be there, but everything has to start somewhere, right? The purpose of the website is to record the roleplaying adventures of 'the Group', as they experience various adventures and advance in power and experience.

It's a lot of fun to play, and I've been doing it a long time. I plan on doing it a lot longer. I play it every week (except when it's cancelled due to one or more of the players unable to play for that week), and thought I'd just relate it a little bit in here. Maybe you've learnt something new, maybe you haven't. Maybe I've bored the hell outta you. Sorry about that. Go read something else then. :-)

Roleplaying can also be done on the internet, through online games, or even through email roleplaying games. I used to run a Star Trek email roleplaying game between 2000 - 2005. Go here if you're interested and click on FAQ. I don't run that any more, but I may get back into it again future. The website was all my own design and creation. I'll be keeping it there, for when the game starts back up again. (Hey, let me know in an email to me if you'd like to play on it, and you might convince me to start it up again sooner....)

Very soon I'll be posting a story that I created as a future timeline / adventure within the Star Trek game, that was never played out. I thought I'd post it in here as a possible story, which I might just develop that way.

I better go now... I've been at Starbucks all afternoon, and I now have to go home to pick up Deidre and we're going out to see Serenity tonight. Everyone else has seen it, it's our turn now. I'll review that in a post maybe tonight or tomorrow. I promised my friend Emily. :-)