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July 31, 2006
Family photo drawer is converting to the digital era
Every house has one. Go on, admit it. You know what I mean - a drawer stuffed to the brink with photos of dodgy clothes, questionable hairrcuts, smiles, tears, forgotten friends, and dearly departed. Precious memories all.
I just got myself a scanner, a Canon 4200F. Not the best scanner in the world but hopefully good enough for the task. Most importantly it has a film scanner.
We have many slides and film negatives at home but no photos (or very old faded photos) to go with them.
I know it is going to take ages to scan, edit and safely store all the images but I am really looking foreward to rooting through a drawer, literally stirring up memories in their tangible form as photos, but also tingling memories of the days when the photos were taken, possibly.
There are many years and quite a few beers between then and now :)
Posted by dottie at 6:48 PM | Comments (0)
Sony Ericsson mobile phones suck donkeys (donkey's?)
There.
I said it.
(exhale)
I feel SO much better now.
Even though I still have my (P.O.S.) Sony Ericsson phone in my possession I am technically an ex-Sony Ericsson user.
This is because the only detachable part of the phone has 'suffered' what Sony Ericsson would deem to be water damage and therefore the phone will be deemed to be out of warranty.
There is a little indicator on the battery (yes, the battery that easily detatches and is covered only by a flimsy cover that has HUGE reveals) that turns pink when it is hit by water, How much water? I dont know. Mild humidity could do it - the helpful chap in the O2 store claimed that it could be from walking in the rain while using the phone.
Yes, Really.
The phone itself has been a source of great frustration and misery since I got it. The menu system is bewildering, confusing and maddening and seems to have been designed ON PURPOSE just to cause frustration to the user.
There is really no stand -out feature that acts as a saving grace for this phone. It has functions and they deliver the functionality they are supposed to, as long as you can get them to function.
What was it that renedered my phone unusable in the end? The center of ALL the functionality of the phone - the joystick.
The joystick stopped working, after working only intermittently for months.
Goodbye Sony Ericsson, goodbye and good riddance to bad rubbish. You won't have me as a customer again and hopefully someone who is considering buying your phone will read this and think again.
Posted by dottie at 6:14 PM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2006
The New Michael Bay Movie
Hey Look! It's the new Michael Bay movie out next year!
Who?
You know, the guy who did Pearl Harbour? No?
Look he's really famous - a great director, by Hollywood's standards...
You don't believe me? Check out the credits on the trailer.
This new Michael Bay movie will rock, not because its the transformers movie, but because it is directed by Michael Bay.
Yeah, Pearl Harbour in space.
Do we get to watch that Ben Affleck chick blow up like they did in Total Recall? Please?
Posted by dottie at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2006
I am proud of RTÉ
I know it doesnt happen often, but I am actually proud of our state supported television broadcasting (almost) monopoly.
In all the coverage of the current Isreali-Palestinian strife they have never once used the word kidnapped to refer to captured Isreali soldiers.
Good for RTÉ.
If they could now go the whole hog and present a more balanced view of the palestinian press conferences then I would be a happy man.
To have a justifiably irate Palestinian barking in rapid fire arabic doesn't create as favourable an impression as a stoic Israeli calmly laying out their plan of 'retaliation'.
It's a classic case of public relations. A sustained image makeover for the Palestinian authority, a charismatic spokesperson and some sympathetic members of the 'liberal' U.S. media would see a sudden turn-around in the fortunes of the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian people should be waging against the ignorance of the general public and especially the public in the U.S.
And let's boil the sea while we are at it....
Posted by dottie at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2006
'Pro Lifers' really are against education - all types - just in case, like.....
This is too good to be true.
A so-called 'pro life' site (with the tag line - 'We will end abortion through our unity and the Monthly Call for Life' - who knew that the shedding of the uterine wall was a call for life?) has made a mockery of itself by denouncing an article posted on The Onion (which as you will remember is a satirical site).
Check it out while it's still online
'Pro Lifer' proves that they are against all forms of education, just in case
Meanwhile here is the Onion article for reference
The Onion takes the piss out of everybody's stance on Abortion
Posted by dottie at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2006
It's not a kidnapping - it's Israel and the World Media vs. Palestine
The link is to an interesting article that points out the differing viewpoints used to describe the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Blaming the Victims
Its well worth a read as it points out all that Israel has done to Palestine in the weeks leading up to the capture (it's not a kidnapping when a member of a beligerent force is captured by the opposition) of the Israeli soldier.
Of particular note is the language used by media to report incidents:
Israel - captures, detains, arrests
Palestine - kidnaps
Israel currently holds nearly 10 thousand Palestinians. Palestine has one captured soldier.
Israels (re)actions to the 'kidnapping' have been described as 'relatively restrained'. This in reference to a series of attacks that left a major Palestinian electrical generation station destroyed cutting off power to a huge region and rendering essential services such as medical, sewage treatment and water supply - as a result of which people are dying. The Israelis also cut-off the water supply to refugee camps by destroying the water pipes.
I am NOT suggesting that Palestine is innocent of all aggression - far from it.
I am saying that the representation of the situation is completely biased in favour of the Israeli viewpoint.
Then write to your local media and ask them to correct the imbalance.
Posted by dottie at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2006
Hitler Youth
A Second world war anti-nazi propaganda cartoon from Disney studios.
It works up the anti-Nazi fervour by depicting the German people as barbaric, bloodthirsty, killing machines.
I can't help but see some parallels to the U.S. in some of the scenes though (sent a shiver down my spine to be honest): the daily pledge and also the last scene where the nazi soldiers march off to die seeing nothing but what the state wants them to see, saying nothing but what the state wants them to say and doing nothing but the states bidding.
It was said that the First World War was the war to end all wars, then came the second world war. These wars were fought by and over empires.
If I didn't know that they were a democratic republic, I would think that the U.S. was turning itslef into an empire too. It certainly is fighting it's wars like the old Empires....
Posted by dottie at 1:34 PM | Comments (0)
July 8, 2006
Early Morning Wakey wakey rise and shine
The one problem that tends to crop up when you are living in town is that from time to time there are necessary repairs and upkeep around the area. Drills, cars, workmen clanging tools, revving generators and diesel engines. These things are natural.
But outside my window at eight o'clock on a saturday morning? It's not natural I tells ya.
And when I say outside my window, I dont mean down in the square - I mean OUTSIDE MY FUCKING WINDOW!!!
Check it out
They were just doing their job I guess.
I thought about asking them to clean my windows in the living room (unreachable normally) but seeing as I glared at them and took their photo I didnt think they would be amenable.
I still have no idea what they were doing - something to do with a wire brush and dettol....
Posted by dottie at 1:45 PM | Comments (0)