Carbon Footprint

I recently visited http://www.1degree.com.au/ and worked out the house-hold's carbon footprint using their "Carbon Calculator".
Here are the results:
Your carbon footprint6.79 tonnes CO2 per year
Household 8.32%, 0.57 tonnes of CO2
Transport 91.68%, 6.23 tonnes of CO2
Flights 0%, 0 tonnes of CO2

I think because I'm in Tassie and most of our power is produced by Hydro, the calculator factors this in and thus our household output is quite low. What is surprising is the transport component, which I estimated at a total 40,000km pa with two vehicles.

The JasJam .. much improved!

Last week whilst trawling the i-mate forums (which now work!) I found you can upgrade the JasJam for FREE to Windows Mobile 6! This upgrade has been available to Telstra Next G customers since October 2007 .. yet, I don’t recall any communications about it in the Windows Mobile eletters or from Telstra informing me it was available. Further information can be found HERE: http://clubimate.com/jasjamsupport/ and the download link is HERE: http://member.htc.com/ruudownload/CDL/CDLWM6Step1.aspxFirst of all - don’t forget to download and install Activesync 4.5 BEFORE you backup your phone to make things easier. After entering the devices serial number to download WM6, then backing up the phone, the process was pretty straight forward as per the given instructions. While I was at it, I also upgraded to Spb Pocket Plus 4.0.2.
The biggest benefit of this upgrade for me is definitely in relation to the Bluetooth stack. It’s not only more stable, but now I can enjoy STEREO sound on my Motorola HT820 Bluetooth stereo headphones, which I haven’t been able to achieve before, so for me, it was definitely worth the hours spent setting all my stuff back up again.Another advantage is that you get better access to free browsing of Telstra and Bigpond sites, which includes news, maps, yellowpages, weather and one particular part of their site I previously couldn’t access .. their V8 Supercars site! Mind you, I’ve found that most of Telstra’s site leads you to things you need to pay for, like video downloads, memberships and the like.
One thing the upgrade didn’t fix, was the clumsy “open file” path in Media Player required to play music from a storage card, as the library wouldn’t add files from my card. I read up on this and it advised media files should be syncronised onto the card thru WMP10 (PC version), simply dragging and dropping files onto the card wouldn’t do it! So, I removed all my music files and syncronised away, but to no avail. After finally getting one obscure message telling me the card was write protected, I looked further. Accessing the card’s properties through File Explorer told me the card wasn’t write protected. I figured a card reformat may fix the problem, and FINALLY, it did!

After more than 12 months with the JasJam, I’m now MUCH happier with it. It’s always been a good phone, I’ve had no trouble with the hardware, it’s even been dropped a few times with no affect, but now the software is easier to use, looks better and is more stable and there’s some handy free stuff to browse too.
I still haven’t seen a phone around that I would want to replace this one with. I thought Apple’s new iphone would have me ‘wanting’ again, but from the reviews I’ve read, no thanks! I’ll stick with the JasJam.

10 years has passed .. well, a birthday at least ;)

Seems a lot has happened since my last post, but it seems everything is working it finally working out around us. Down to a 4 days a week, Mr Taxman was generous this year providing a needed boost to finally put funds on track and business has begun to settling in and the parties over. Enjoying my much appreciated gifts - Logitec G15 gaming keyboard & Logitec MX Revolution mouse. Very nice interaction indeed.

MOST REALISTIC 3D GAME EVER JUST RELEASED!!!
BE WARNED: An army of gingerbread men, each with a chololate candy coated button has been unleashed in Tasmania. Troop numbers are rumoured to already be in thier thousands. You must help eliminate this army before they take over the island. Your mission is to eat them - one by one. Visit Tasmanian Gingerbread to ID them and locate their spawn points and enjoy the taste of victory! Good luck soldier. You will not need your mouse, just your mouth.

JasJam Connection and Audio problems sorted!

Connecting the JasJam to a WLAN is not quite as straight forward as the devices generalised and incomplete instructions would have us believe, but it's not difficult once you know what to change. It only took me 4 months to find the "hidden" setting which needed changing. Initially, the device could see my Lynksys WRT54G Access Point, said it was connecting, but wouldn't actually connect. I bought the version 1.0 AP about 4 years ago and had never upgraded the ROM. After the upgrade, there were more options in the AP setup and the JasJam stayed connected! Progress, but it still wouldn't access the internet. After about the 500th time checking all the settings, going round in circles and almost doing my head in in the proccess, I stumbled across it, and not where I'd expect. Through the settings/connections tab/connections, I had set up a new "modem" connection using "cellular (GPRS, 3G) to use the AP, as buried in the instructions somewhere and the HINT lies there... The undocumented setting to change is settings/connections tab/GPRS Setttings: change PAP Authentication to CHAP - bingo, it works! Well, mine does now anyway - and there was great rejoicing. This MAY apply to Aust Telstra supplied phones only - not sure, I'm thinking they changed it so you could only access their networks (I could be wrong there), but it will still connect through the Telstra G3 network with this Authentication changed to CHAP!
I'd also had trouble connecting to a mates phone using bluetooth and the GPRS change seemed to fix that too!

Now for a behind your monitor chuckle at me.
Audio thru the provided USB headset seemed to be getting quieter over time, despite applying max volumes in the media player and overall device. I was struggling to hear music ofer passing traffic! It's had me miffed for weeks! Walking home last night, I had a thought. "I wonder if there's a volume control on the mic box attached to the headphones?" I found a slider which I'd forgotten about hidden away on it's side and when turned up nearly burst my ear drums!! Noise at last!
Needless to say, this week, the JasJam just got way better. "Free" downloads @ home and drown out the traffic music!

Whilst strolling to work this morning listening to Muse finally uninterrupted by the sound of log trucks trundlling down Macquarie St, I was interrupted by an occassional notification on the device. Upon inspection, I was picking up wireless networks because I'd forgotten to turn it off! It picked up 11 networks on the way, and 2 of them were un-protected! I think I might go for a "WarWalk" at lunch!

Homebrew ...

EDGE LABS have been busy putting down its first two homebrews in 12 years. Tone was previously a Master Brewer with 24 various experimental batches under the label "Pigs Arse", including the infamous award winning batch 10 of '93, "Wheat Bix and Black Jellybean Stout", honey meads, ales and the favourite malt draught.
This time starting off with more modest wheat beers as detailed below:

Brewing Notes

Batch ID: 001 Edge Labs Maiden Draught
Date Started: 070105 Date Bottled: 0701
Duration: Days
Subject: Cascade Draught "Spicy Ghost"
Ingredients: 1 kg Coopers brewing sugar
Yeast: Cascade Bohemian
Bottle Primer/Additives:
Volume - Start: 24 L End: L
Temperature - Start: °C End: °C
Specific Gravity - Start: 035 End:
X 0.14 + .5 % = Total Alcohol: %
Notes: Lid seal failed, replacement lid fitted after 24 hrs. Slow, steady action.
___________________________

Batch ID: 002 Golden Edge Wheat Beer
Date Started: 070105 Date Bottled: 0701
Duration: Days
Subject: Morgans Golden Sheaf Wheat Beer
Ingredients: 1 kg Coopers brewing sugar
Yeast: Morgans Ale
Bottle Primer/Additives:
Volume - Start: 24 L End: L
Temperature - Start: °C End: °C
Specific Gravity - Start: 030 End:
X 0.14 + .5 % = Total Alcohol: %
Notes: Sugar not put in till after all water, so may not have disolved properly. Over active start pushing froth thru airlock.
________________________________

Laughable Loundes ...

So Craig Lowndes - or "Clowndes" as I like to refer to him - thinks his 888 team are "the moral victors" of the 2006 V8 Supercars Championship after being run off the road in the last round at Phillip Island by Holden. It wasn't a good way to end the championship, but earlier in the calander at Pukeko, Clowndes shunted a Holden up the date, resulting in it leaving the track, for which Clowndes was not penalised. I recall him doing it also in another race in the same meet, as well as in an earlier meet and a serious corner cut incident (in Adelaide I think). If not for these incidents caused by him, he would not have been leading the championship into the last round. I don't care if Ford OR Holden win, as long as it's fair. Revenge is a dish best served cold - personally, I think Clowndes got his just deserts!

It's over ...

Christmas that is. Well, almost, the inlaws will be up for lunch when I get home from work soon. Some of us have to keep the country running. Well, Anne is at the moment, the rest of the work is finished and we're just waiting for the "word".
I got a playstation for Christmas! Well, OK, the Borgs got a Playstation for Christmas, with a couple of Singstar games to kick them off and boy, have we ALL had some fun with it! This was one of the most highly anticipated Christmas' for me since I was a kid, as it will likely be the last year the kids "believe" unquestioningly. Well, Zars did ask me THE question on Christmas Eve. I said "I like to think he's real, and if you believe, then he IS real." She was happy with that. I think we all had a great day, with lunch out at my sisters with my side of the family.
The Borgs and I went for a pretty difficult bushwalk on Christmas Eve. Well, difficult for two young girls who haven't grown their legs fully yet. I parked the Mini at the "Challet" on the upper reaches of Mt Wellington and we walked around and up to the Organ Pipes. Not an overly long walk, but unstable underfoot in parts with old rock falls, and a VERY steep and slippery section up to the base of the cliffs. We had a spot of lunch on a big slab of rock, with Hobart spectacularly falling away beneth us. The kids did well, with no complaints. I let them set their own pace and we made good progress, but still managed to be late home and in trouble as usual.
The last few weeks I've been occupied around the house reducing fire hazards, like trimming trees, removing debris, cleaning out gutters, installing spray lines across the roof and setting up a fire pump, so it was nice to just spend some time with the offspring doing something we all enjoy.
I start holidays on New Years day so hopefully we can have lots of fun together now I've got some of the more important chores out of the way. I'm sure the missus will keep me busy though, there's always something. Always.