I'm Ariel's Sister ...

You're the direct anti-thesis of Ariel, and don't
hesitate in making that clear every chance you
get. You're bursting with confidence, which
enhances your direct outspokenness, a trait
that causes both admiration and fear in others.


Which of Ariel's sisters are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Porn watchers and poll volunteers wanted

Support ASP in Higgins

The Australian Sex Party (ASP) are 10 days out from the by elections in Higgins and Bradfield and would love to have lots of happy faces wearing yellow t shirts on the polling booths promoting the Australian Sex Party. If you can spare a couple of hours on Saturday 5 dec please contact ASP. There will be some poll parties etc and it should be fun.

Contact fpatten@sexparty.org.au

Now for porn volunteers- sorry this is just for women!

Cosmo and Emma Tom are looking for three women aged between 18 and 30 who watch porn and would be prepared to talk about it on the record as well as be photographed for the mag. It can be about blogs, movies books whatever arouses you.You need to be Sydney based and happy to speak about why you like to watch or read sex!

Contact info@emmatom.com.au

Facebook Fan Badge

Carla Jayne Paterson is a fan of

Brisbane City Rollers

Create your Fan Badge

The code to make this little facebook snippet is so incredibly long ... but it is an example of yet another effective way Facebook are marketing themselves through badging other people's sites. I could physically make my own add for BCR's facebook group and post it on a website, but this took 3 minutes as opposed to 15.

It's great that things are getting easier, but its kinda frustrating how much easier things are now ... in particular when young developers think they are genius because they can link 2 applications together, which were written in the first place by someone who they now have no respect for.

Work whinge aside, if you want to check out what I've been doing in my spare time lately to keep fit and have a bit of stress relief, click the facebook fan badge for Brisbane City Rollers - that's right, ROLLER DERBY IS BACK!

Roller Derby is Totally Awesome Dude!

You may have heard of Roller Derby, or remember it from the 70's, but if not here's 10 minutes from a game on the 22nd August that shows you a pretty good preview of how totally awesome it is!

I recently started learning about Roller Derby and have been joining the BCR league occasionally for training... check out fresh meat days at their website, here: http://www.brisbanecityrollers.com

Good guy Depp plays bad boy Dillinger

Johnny Depp is public enemy number 1, John Dillinger, bringing charm and obnoxious confidence to the real life story of the 1930's bank robber.

Public Enemies (Michael Mann 2009) is based on part of the book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI by Bryan Burrough, an evolutionary story of crime and crime fighting in the 1930's.

Set in Chicago this historical drama focuses on the crime sprees of John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd. The classic cinematography blurs the lines between good guys and bad as we grow to love Depp's character and despise the police. The American hero cop Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) is the good guy who breaks his own rules, fumbling to chase Dillinger and his friends across state lines and highlighting the lack of shared intelligence across state lines.

I was left craving knowledge of this real life criminal who hid openly among society and escaped the law for so long. It's an interesting story told with the Miami Vice style of director Michael Mann, and beautifully concluded . The numbers say audiences agree - 6 weeks after its USA launch Universal Pictures have made $160 million from a $100 million investment.

Ladies will love the variety of leading men while the guys will envy the Chicago gangsters, their money and the company of beautiful women. Public Enemies is equally suited to a date night out or a girls night in, but get comfortable - it's 140 minutes long.

Watch for: An appearance by Australian actor David Wenham
Best Bit: Great casting, performances and an interesting story
Worst Bit: The length, 140 minutes
Interesting Fact: Robert DeNiro is the Executive Producer
See It: At home so you can take a break
Rated: M15+
The obligatory and dramatic Hollywood love story takes place between the irresistible Dillinger and Billie Frechette who was played by Oscar winning French actress, Marion Cotillard.

Olympus MJU 6000 Tough Underwater Digital Camera

So I ended up going with an Olympus U Tough 6000... a brand I've never owned before, and I made my decision on price in the end. * Ok so its not a U tough, its some greek symbol which I don't know how to type although the olympus website calls it a MJU tough 6000.

It's a great 10 megapixel camera, nice and light fitting in my handbag or pocket and I love being able to capture movies of W playing footy on the weekends or video the great barrier reef on holidays!



The movie quality isn't fabulous, but it was amazing to be able to take a video while snorkelling on the great barrier reef and for all of us to get some decent shots only days after purchasing the camera.

I really liked the Olympus underwater cameras, but wanted to keep my purchase at around the $400 mark so the newer model of this camera (mju tough 8000) was more than I wanted to spend at $519 - although it made me drool. Harvey Norman had this camera on sale for $419 (I guess it wasn't moving once the updated model came out) but after waiting too long for a sales assistant (enough time to get a few photos of the camera and price sign) I left and went to Ted's Camera House.

I showed them the photo advertising the special so they matched it, and while I know it probably left them without much margin I would rather give them my money as the service is always really good and the staff know what they are talking about.

Pro's

• Lightweight, compact, fits in a pocket
• More than enough features for most photographers
• You can drop it, take it under the water or in the snow
• Comes in blue, orange or white

Con's

• The buttons are too close to the sides, meaning its impossible not to press those buttons when carrying the camera. They happen to be important like flash, macro etc and I was often accidentally changing settings just by carring it around.
• It's a bit of a pain to change settings, I hate having to spend ages figuring out how to switch macro on but hopefully this will become easier as I learn the shortcuts
• Already an old model, and that may be an issue for some people
• Video quality isn't as good as it could be

Basic Features

• 10 Megapixels
• 3.6x Optical Zoom with wide angle lens
• Waterproof to 3m
• Shockproof to 1.5m
• Snowproof to -10°c
• Dual Shakeproof CCD Shift Image Stabiliser
• Tap Control
• In-Built Panorama
• Face Detection and Shadow Adjust
• 2.7" HyperCrystal III LCD Screen

> Official Website and MJU Tough Specifications

Shopping for a waterproof digital camera

I have been considering for years whether to buy a new digital SLR, but just can't justify the $2000+ price tag when my existing camera is still working so well. *TOUCH WOOD* I had also considered purchasing a 'pocket camera' so I had something to take with me to weddings without carting 2 lenses, a flash and a camera bag in my tiny sparkly purse. This means I get new camera excitement while only spending a couple of hundred dollars.

We're planning a holiday to Cairns (North Queensland, Australia) in a few weeks, so camera shopping is on my mind once again. On a trip to Vanuatu last year we got an underwater disposable camera and got a few great shots, but just as we got the hang of it we ran out of photos and the whole exercise cost us about $49 by the time we got them printed.

This time, I thought I'd look at the options for underwater cameras and WOW ... its amazing how quickly 6 hours online and 2 hours visiting stores goes. I figure if we are going to spend about $500 on a trip to the reef, I want the option of being able to get a few hundred photos!!!!

Here's the current leading option:

Fujifilm Z33WP Digital Camera

• Waterproof up to 3 meters, for maximum of 2 hour
• 10 Megapixel sensor for high resolution pictures

• 3x optical zoom lens

• Picture Stabilisation – reduces image blur

• Face Detection technology – with red-eye removal

• SR Auto to ensure perfect pictures every time

• Choice of five daring colours – Kiwi Green, Hawaiian Blue, Daredevil Black, Liquid Gold and Rock Chick Pink

• Large 2.7 inch LCD Screen

• Excellent low-light capabilities for underwater shots
• Protective silicon jacket and wrist strap available

> More Information at TEds
> More Information at Harvey Norman

Other Colours ...

It looks like a great little camera for the maximum price of $349. It would be even better if it were around the $249 to $299 mark.

The other options that really stand out right now are:

Olympus
> Olympus MJU-8000
$599

This is one of the toughest looking cameras I've seen. It's designed for underwater and for snow, going to a depth of 10m and standing freezing temperatures.

-12 Megapixels
- 3.6x Optical Zoom with wide angle lens
- Waterproof to 10m
- Shockproof to 2.0m
- Snowproof to -10°c
- Crushproof to 100kg
- Dual Shakeproof CCD Shift Image Stabiliser
- Tap Control Mode
- In-Built Panorama
- Face Detection and Shadow Adjust
- 2.7" HyperCrystal III LCD Screen

Canon
> Canon Powershot D10
$599 - $549

It's a little bubbly in its design, or a bit too 'underwater', but the features are spectacular. So is the price.

- Waterproof 10m
- Freezeproof-10
- Shockproof 1m
- Dustproof
- 12.1 megapixels
- 3x Optical Zoom
- TruCapture technology

Nikon
I really do love Nikon camera's the best, but I don't feel comfortably buying housing for my digital SLR and emersing it in water. What if I accidentally don't seal it properly?! Most of the Nikon camera's appear to be a camera plus housing.

I'd really just rather a simple option of a camera that's waterproof for a few metres, like the Fuji for $349. I don't scuba dive, just snorkel, so it should be a plenty decent enough camera to get some great photos and video of us enjoying the amazing wonders of the Great Barrier Reef.

I'll let you know what I end up deciding on! Please let me know if you have any advice before hand ....

'KFC Kills Chickens' Protest

If you happened to drive past KFC at Kangaroo Point today, (or if you were watching Channel 10 news, browsing their website or listening to the radio) you may have seen or heard about the naked chicks boycotting KFC.

Regular nude protestor Fawn Porter stood with a banner reading "Chicks Agree: Boycott KFC" as passing cars honked their horns and truck drivers struggled to focus on the road!

Here's a few snaps of the girls getting their message out there ...

Channel 10 news piece:

http://ten.com.au/video-player.htm?channel=News+Daily&clipId=2683_news-kfc-030609

Check out me in the background taking photos ;P

Cuisine Australia

Does anyone remember this site which I had years ago, selling ebooks with recipes in them?




I never really finished it properly but its been online since, except for a 2 year period where I didn't renew the domain and nobody else wanted it - so I just reregistered it a few weeks ago and started planning the new website.

http://www.cuisineaustralia.com/



To the left is the mockup of how the new front page will look, so if you happen to see the link above before the end of june you'll see the old site and can compare the amazing lack of progress in the design ;p

David Nash is setting the site up for me using an open source CMS called Silverstripe with a few customized modules such as a gallery and image manager. Drew and I have taken hundreds of photos over the past few years of meals that we have cooked for ourselves and our friends. I'm always being asked to send the recipe after a dinner party but I forget to write down recipes and have no idea how to make it again!

Hopefully this site will get me into the habit of writing down ingredients so I can share the recipes with my friends and eventually sell them as eBooks.

Stay tuned for more details in a few weeks!