7/1/08

And the fight started.

Posted by Dave at Wednesday, July 30, 2008

If you've had a bad day at work like me, You must read this, I received this in an e-mail and thought i would share it with you all. I hope it gives you a laugh and brightens up your day.

After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's license to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home.

I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.

The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'.

So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my Social Security application.

When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office.

She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too'

And then the fight started.....

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My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.

My wife asked, 'Do you know her?'

'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend.

I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.'

'My God!' says my wife, 'Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'

And then the fight started.....

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I rear-ended a car this morning.

So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car.

You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah, well I couldn't believe it.... he was a DWARF!!!

He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, 'I AM NOT HAPPY!!!'

So, I looked down at him and said, 'Well, then which one are you?'

And then the fight started... .

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A woman is standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She is not happy with what she sees and says to her husband, 'I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'

The husband replies, 'Your eyesight's damn near perfect.'

And then.....Guess what....The fight started.....
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The future of space travel.

Posted by Dave at Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Richard Branson has unveiled the plane that is intended as the launch aircraft for his Virgin Galactic spaceship full of the first of his paying passengers, In July 2007, three Scaled Composites employees were killed when a test of a propellant system failed at the Mojave Airport which had put a hold on the unveiling of the new spaceship.

It has been called The WhiteKnightTwo (Which has the nickname Eve after Richard Branson's mother) and it was on display for a small group of invited guests and reporters at the California desert headquarters of Scaled Composites, the aerospace firm where it was built.

It is designed as a high-altitude aircraft that will launch SpaceShipTwo from midair. It has a 43-meter wingspan and twin fuselages and it will carry SpaceShipTwo under the center of its wing, between the two hulls, It is the longest single carbon composite aviation part ever manufactured. The plan is for The WhiteKnightTwo to free the spacecraft at about 15,240 metres, from where it will rocket into space under its own power.

Virgin Galactic is part of Branson's airline, vacation and retail company Virgin Group and he hopes to send his first paying customers into space within the two years at a cost of US$200,000 each.

Richard Branson already has 200 people signed up for the ultimate sightseeing trips into space, The ticket price is expected to drop significantly over the next five years. Among the first passengers that are expected to make the first trip into space are physicist Stephen Hawking, actress Victoria Principal and designer Philippe Starck. Each flight into space will carry six passengers up to 50,000 feet.

Virgin Galactic is one of several contenders in the new commercial space race. Other contenders include Europe's EADS Astrium, Blue Origin which was started by Jeff Bezos who is the founder of Amazon.com Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) which was created by Elon Musk, who is the PayPal founder, And Bigelow Aerospace, a venture aimed at creating space hotels, started by hotelier Robert Bigelow.
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Gateway to the Olympics.

Posted by Dave at Sunday, July 27, 2008

Beijing International Airports new terminal (terminal 3) opened back in march this year. This is another huge piece of architecture that has been built for the Olympic Games which start on the 8th of August.
This terminal is not just any ordinary airport terminal, It has been referred to as a small country rather than an airport, Its the worlds largest covered building in terms of area and cost $3.6 billion to construct, It is larger than all the terminals of London’s Heathrow airport put together, And was also designed by the same architect - Lord Norman Foster.

The terminal has taken just 4 years from conception to completion whereas most airport projects take a decade or more to complete and usually involve lengthy reviews, detailed assessments, planning committees, public hearings and environmental impact statements... but not so in China.

Approximately 45.5 million airline passengers visited Beijing last year which makes it the ninth busiest airport in the world and Beijing is expecting 60m visitors this year, thanks to the Olympics which is why terminal 3 had to be built (and quickly). The annual passenger capacity of Beijing International Airport has been increased from 35million with two terminals to 85million with all three.

But what use is the busiest airport and largest terminal without a massive baggage system. Beijing Airport has a new computerized system that can process 20,000 bags per hour. Passengers will apparently be able to pick up their baggage within 5 minutes of the plane unloading.

The structure is said to resemble a Chinese dragon divided into three sections and the triangular windows signify the dragon's scales. The terminal is two miles long and half a mile wide, And the center on Housing Rights and Evictions, says that 1.25 million people have been moved from their homes to make way for construction.

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Its a fact..

Posted by Dave at Friday, July 25, 2008

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee. (Not really worth yelling is it?)

If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, There would be enough gas produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb. (Now that's more like it!)

The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.

A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes... (Who wants to be a pig in their next life?)

A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death. (Creepy.)

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour. (Try this at work, Not at home)

A flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like a human jumping a length of a football field.

Some lions mate over 50 times a day. (Do you still want to be a pig in your next life?..quality over quantity or quantity over quality)

The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue. (Hmmmmmm......)

Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people.

Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump. (Okay, so that would be a good thing)

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. (I know some people like that.)

Starfish have no brains (I know some people like that too.)

Polar bears are left-handed. (If they switch, they'll live a lot longer)

Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure. (What about that pig??)

Do they really know whats best.

Posted by Dave at Wednesday, July 23, 2008

LCD televisions are being promoted by store salespeople over the plasma television, So when your shopping for a flat panel television, What do you get? LCD or plasma, I did a post a few months back entitled LCD VS Plasma TVs, It states all the pros and cons to each, And the truth is most of the salespeople don't actually have any idea of the differences but still have a ready answer: buy LCD, The reason for this is they are more expensive and over a third of salesmen are still under the impression that "burn-in" is still a problem with plasmas, That was the case several years ago but no longer and the longevity of plasma displays is now on par with LCDs.

Three times out of four, salespeople steer customers to a liquid-crystal display television sets rather than a plasma screen, And even though they have a preferance for the LCD they still dont mention some of the differences between the two, The LCD is lighter, and they consume a lot less power than a plasma, but by how much? They just dont make a comparrason.

Plasma televisions were the first mainstream flat-panel display technology, but LCDs have gained ground. Sony Corporation have stopped making plasma TVs now and are focusing on LCDs. Samsung Electronic Co. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. which is the parent company of Panasonic, still make both LCDs and plasmas. Pioneer is the premier name in high-end plasma sets and have announced that it will stop manufacturing the displays, and will buy them from Matsushita instead.

Recommendations from salespeople carry so much importance when buying larger ticket items like this, But don't always believe everything they say. My advice is to do your own homework before making that purchase. My opinion is LCD's as the pros outweigh the cons, It depends what your using your television predominantly for, IE: Gaming, Sports viewing, Movies etc.
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Blogger or splogger?

Posted by Dave at Monday, July 21, 2008

I read an article recently stating that there are around 10 million new blogs that are created each week, I was thinking that can’t be right, That seems a little too much. To my surprise it wasn't too much, Most of these so called blogs are spam blogs (splogs) and they are automatically created to sell rubbish like hair restoring pills, penis enlargement pills, promote porn, and the list goes on and on.

This still leaves the question, How many blogs get created only to die the next day? There is website called one post wonder, The title is pretty much self explanatory, So if you’re into peering into the lives of pretty lame people, then check it out for yourself.

There are also blogs around that rely on other peoples content, A few weeks ago when dropping on Entrecard, My wife came across a site that copied and pasted from her website, She contacted this clown and all he did was link the post he copied back to her site, But then (just to be a prick) he copied and pasted another one. Where do these idiots come from... I would say but their might be a few bloggers that might get offended.

What about you? Have you ever started a blog only to have it fall over? Ever started a blog only to not post any new entries for a week or longer because you were busy with dropping on Entrecard?
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Shweeb, A world first.

Posted by Dave at Saturday, July 19, 2008

New Zealanders are the masters of adventure sports and the latest is the Shweeb which is located in Rotorua at Agroventures, The Shweeb is the world's first human-powered monorail racetrack, The Shweeb consists of high performance pedal powered vehicles hanging from two 200m long overhead rail circuits which vary in height between two and four meters above the ground.

The pods swing from side to side and as your speed picks up, you swing more around corners (up to 60 degrees). A single rider can reach speeds up to 45kph and teams can exceed 70kph, Each pod has seven gears.

One to four people can ride the shweeb at one time and you need to be at least 1.4m tall to ride but those that are shorter than that can ride as a passenger. The shweeb opened to the public in November 2007 and is a world first adventure activity.Currently the world record stands at 1 minute flat for the 600m circuit and the oldest person to ride so far is 82.

Geoffrey Barnett is the inventor of the Shweeb, He has spent six years working out a way to efficiently transfer pedal power to drive wheels enclosed within a monorail track and allowing the vehicles to swing freely underneath. The reclined seating position means that the vehicle’s frontal area is very small, and greatly reduces aero drag. The Shweeb is said to be the most efficient vehicle on earth.

Agroventures also offer Rotorua Swoop, Freefall Xtreme, Agrojet, New Zealand's fastest jet-boating experience and of course, bungy jumping. Rotorua is approximately 3 hours drive from Auckland.

No replacement for real exercise

Posted by Dave at Thursday, July 17, 2008

Lately ive read many posts stating the benefits of the Nintendo Wii and how people are using it to get active and fit, Parents are encouraging inactive children to get active using the Wii, But its not exactly doing what you think it is. Nothing can replace being active on the field or the swimming pool etc.

Interactive games such as the Nintendo Wii are far better for children than conventional computer games like the Xbox or Playstation but they do not tackle the obesity problem in children.

A study has shown that playing virtual sports such as boxing, tennis, bowling and aerobics on the Nintendo Wii burned around 50% more energy than playing computer games where you remain motionless. Real boxing burns over twice as much energy as Wii boxing, Real tennis is 77% more demanding than the electronic version, and conventional tenpin bowling uses more 15% more calories than virtual tenpin bowling.

A child who plays Wii sports will use about 2% more energy than a child playing Xbox or Playstation and the activity isn't enough to be counted as recommended daily physical activity. However these games can play a role in weight management and are preferred over Xbox and Playstation.

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Blogger dies at age 108

Posted by Dave at Monday, July 14, 2008

Olive Riley was born in 1899 in an outback mining town called Broken Hill in Australia, She was 107 years old when a friend of hers suggested that she start her own blog about her life, Including raising her children, Surviving two world wars, the depression and the opening of the Sydney harbor bridge in 1932. Most of her posts started with "You 21st-century people live a different life than the one I lived as a youngster in the early 1900s" During the time she was blogging she posted over 70 posts and had a following of thousands from around the world.

Her final blog entry was on the 26th of June and she confided "I still feel weak, and can't shake off that bad cough."
She died in a nursing home on Saturday July 12 aged 108, She would have been 109 in October.

A blog in her memory has been set up. http://worldsoldestblogger.blogspot.com/ Read More......

AB's beaten by world champion springboks

Posted by Dave at Saturday, July 12, 2008

The second game between the All Blacks and South Africa for the tri-nations was a real thriller. The game was played at Carisbrook, Dunedin (New Zealand). South Africa proved that they are one of the best teams in the world by beating the All Blacks, This loss to the AB's means that their world record run of home victories comes to an end at 30 and South Africa end a decade of losses in New Zealand. It's also South Africa's first win at Carisbrook in eight visits.

Heres how the points came.

(NZ)Dan Carter penalty 5th minute. 3 - 0
(NZ)Dan Carter penalty 9th minute. 6 - 0
(SA)Percy Montgomery penalty 12th minute. 6 - 3
(NZ)Dan Carter penalty 17th minute. 9 - 3
(SA)Percy Montgomery penalty 19th minute. 9 - 6
(SA)Percy Montgomery penalty 21st minute. 9 - 9
(NZ)Dan Carter penalty 25th minute. 12 - 9
(SA)J.P.Pietersen try 32nd minute. 12 - 14 unconverted.
(SA)Butch James Drop goal 36th minute. 12 - 17
(NZ)Dan Carter penalty 41st minute. 15 - 17

Half time: All Blacks 15 South Africa 17

(NZ)Sione Lauaki try 55th minute. 22 - 17 Converted by Dan Carter.
(SA)Butch James penalty 62nd minute. 22 - 20
(NZ)Dan Carter Drop goal 65th Minute. 25 - 20
(SA)Butch James penalty 68th minute. 25 - 23
(NZ)Dan Carter penalty 73rd minute. 28 - 23
(SA)Ricky Januarie try 75th minute. 28 - 30 Converted by Francois Steyne.

Full time. All Blacks 28 South Africa 30

It looks like its going to be a great tri-nations series again, South Africa play Australia next weekend followed by the All Blacks playing Australia the following week.

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2008 pollution games.

Posted by Dave at Friday, July 11, 2008

With the Olympic games less than 4 weeks away the focus at the moment seems to be on the pollution in Beijing. The International Olympic Committee president said that he hopes to see the cleanest and most drug free Olympics in modern times. It may become drug free but im not to sure about the cleanest. In a few days time Chinese authorities will be taking over 1 million cars off the road and close factories and heavy industry to try and improve the air quality, I think they should have started that 6 months ago.

The medical commission for the international olympic committee has said breathing problems could occur in events of more than one hour, For example, the marathon could turn into a coughing competition, But if the pollution levels exceed the limits recommended by the World Health Organization, the events could be postponed, rescheduled or even cancelled. Why did the IOC decide on Beijing to host these games, The worlds finest athletes in the most polluted country in the world, It doesn't make much sense.

Chinese authorities in Beijing (The environmental protection bureau) are saying that the air quality in the city has improved enough to meet Olympic targets but still remains shrouded in smog, It now depends on the wind and rain to disperse the pollution that Beijing gets from the sourrounding areas. Too little and way to late in my opinion, But good luck anyway, I hope the billions of viewers worldwide see the games as a success, not a failure due to pollution.
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Disappointing iPhone pricing plans.

Posted by Dave at Tuesday, July 08, 2008

With the release of the iPhone 3G which is due to go on sale this Friday here in New Zealand, Vodafone have released the prices, much to the disappointment of many people. The prices when compared to the iPhone around the rest of the world is just ridiculous. There is even an online petition asking Vodafone to have them available as a pre-pay and to review the pricing structure.

Vodafone New Zealand is selling Apple's 8 gigabyte iPhone 3G from $199, but only on a 24-month contract and charging $250 per month. The plan includes voice calls, SMS and 1GB of data per month. A two year total of $6000.

In Australia the 8GB iPhone wont cost anything on a 24-month plan from Optus, And only charges A$79 (NZ$105) per month for 700MB of data. A two year total of $A1896 (NZ$2520).

In the UK, O2 sells the 8GB iPhone for £99 (approx NZ$250), on a 18-month plan, £30 per month contract. This plan has unlimited data and runs at £819 (NZ$2137) over a two year period.

In Canada, you can get the 8GB iPhone for C$199. However this is on a three year contract but still works out to C$1639 or (approximately$NZ2100) over two years.

Vodafone New Zealand wont sell the iPhone on pre-pay, however people can purchase the iPhone outright without a data plan and no contract to use only for voice and SMS on vodafones origional plans, Which doesnt make sense to me, You may aswell just stick to your origional phone, But anyway for those that just want an iPhone to look the part you will be able to buy the 8GB model starting from NZ$979 and the 16GB model for NZ$1129, PLUS the monthly cost of the plan, and it can't be used on the net nor can you download emails unless you buy a separate data plan. Australian company Optus will sell the iPhone on pre-pay, The 8GB model will cost A$729 (NZ$926), And the 16GB model A$849 (NZ$1080).

I haven't come across any price plans from Asia but would definitely be interested to know.
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First 500 day.

Posted by Dave at Sunday, July 06, 2008

I just want to say a very special thank you to "Monkey Fables" and "Make Every Day Your Lucky Day" for such a successful days traffic from Entrecard, Also thank you to everybody who has dropped on my blog.

I have received over 500 drops today (06 July) for the first time. It was only about 4 weeks ago that i received my first day of 300 and only a week ago i got my first 400. Thanks again.

Tri-nations, AB's Vs Springboks.

Posted by Dave at Saturday, July 05, 2008

The first game of the 2008 tri nations series started tonight with the game between the All blacks of New Zealand and the Springboks from South Africa who are the current rugby world champions. Its been 10 years since the springboks have won a game in New Zealand. With Richie McCaw out injured, Rodney So'oialo was appointed captain of the All Blacks.

Daniel Carter was the first to score in the fifth minute with a penalty from directly in front putting the AB's in front 3-0. All the points that came in the first half came from Daniel Carter's penalty kicks, The only try in the first half was to South Africa's winger Bryan Habana who scored in the left hand corner, The try was unconverted and the half time score was 9 - 8 to the AB's.

The All Blacks first try came soon after the second half started and was set up initially by Dan Carter but it was the No 8 Jerome Kaino over for his first test points. Dan Carter landed his fourth penalty with only nine minutes to go which secured the win for the All Blacks and extended the All Blacks world record winning streak at home to 30 matches, And a ten year undefeated winning streak against the Springboks in New Zealand.

The final score was All Blacks 19 South Africa 8
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Truck drivers protest.

Posted by Dave at Friday, July 04, 2008

Truck drivers throughout New Zealand took part in a stand-off this morning (Friday 4th July) in a protest against a road-user charge increase. There was about 4,400 trucks that took part in the protest which is approximately 20% of New Zealand's commercial transport fleet. The protest took place across all six of New Zealand's major cities, plus many more smaller cities. The minister of transport raised the price of road user chargers overnight after saying a year ago that one months notice would be given to any future price increases.

This has come at a time when the cost of living has increased by around 30 percent over the past year, All food, Drink, Fuel etc is delivered by trucks and the increase means that they have to pass on the increase to the consumers, So no surprises that the truck drivers recieved a huge amount of support from motorists. there were some motorists that couldn't help themselves and had to abuse the protestors, I guess some people dont understand how these increases affect them. Internet polls showed over 90% support for the truck drivers

The hardest hit city was Auckland where over 2,000 trucks slowly made their way into the city at a slow five kilometers an hour, and holding up thousands of motorists by blocking motorways, One particular motorway was backed up over 30 kilometers. Transit New Zealand asked the truck drivers to keep the fast lane free on the motorways to allow traffic through.

The protest officially started at 7:30 am and the congestion wasn't cleared until well after 1pm. As i looked out of the office window at work, all i could see was trucks, hundreds of trucks all tooting their air horns and rallying support, It was an amazing sight and sound, And if the government dosen't do something about it, They say they will protest again but next time it will disrupt even more.
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