On the 6th of April 2006, requiem.net.au - Weblog for a Sunday afternoon came to a close. This page along with the photo gallerys and forum exist as an archive reference. Forum posting has also been disabled. All content is now being posted to v2.0 of requiem.net.au, My Indecorous Oeuvre.

Time: 12:47:02 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Site Updates) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Hello everybody, the last of the bugs have been ironed out and I'm planning on launching requiem.net.au version 2.0 this weekend. Old content will be left in place, but may have some link bugs.

Time: 12:33:51 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Site Updates) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Not my usual style, but this was just too good not to post.

Time: 01:07:44 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Interesting) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Everytime I read a strip from half-life comic, it makes me want to play! Work continues on requiem v2, slowly.

Time: 16:00:28 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Humour) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Being a recent convert to the world of mac, I found this Penny Aracde strip to be particularly hilarious. Ah, relational humour.

Time: 13:27:55 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Humour) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Creators of The Simpsons have filmed the show's entire intro sequence using real people. The sequence is being used to generate attention ahead of the launch of series's 17th season. Shot in Britain over a period of 18 months, the sequence has an impressive level of detail; naturally some of the little things could not be easily translated. The Sun Online has the full story. One slight correction to the article, the intro sequence used in the filming is the full-length regular version used from season 2 and onwards.

Time: 09:43:00 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Interesting) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Déjà vu. All over again.

Time: 15:05:40 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Life) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

An invention at the heart of modern society, but often overlooked. Some high-brow musings about a low-brow subject; rather chuckle worthy.

Time: 12:12:15 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Interesting) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Still working on version 2 of requiem.net.au. Progress has been delayed somewhat the paid research work I've been doing, but I'm hoping to launch the new site within the next three weeks.

Time: 11:55:35 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Site Updates) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

The University of Newcastle is running an online music-perception study. You listen to pairs of tunes and get to pick which of them are the same or slightly different. I scored 30 out of 30, the average is somewhere between 15 and 30 (obviously). The quiz is fairly easy and should be a breeze for most musicians. Not really having done any ear tests before I'm not sure what grade these would be considered to be.

I've come across a number of online music participation studies now. This is great for me as later in the year I'll be doing a similar thing.

Time: 09:55:18 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Music) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Did you know that Microsoft Windows 'Automatic Updates: Turned ON'.

Time: 16:38:17 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Humour) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

1.21 Gigawatts?!

Time: 09:26:26 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Humour) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

On Monday Microsoft released Beta 2 of its recently aquired AntiSpyware suite. The program sports a new name, "Windows Defender" to fit with its new look and feel (Vista). There seem to have been a lot of improvements in terms of how the program looks, "feels" (graphically snappy) and an overall redesign of the program interface and menus.

My only negative comment at this time is the new systray icon, resembling a brick wall it gives the misleading impression that Windows Defender is a form of firewall software.

Time: 15:43:08 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Tech) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

It's called Leap-A, amongst other things, and it may be piece of malware that OS X has seen. While there is still debate over whether it's a worm or a Trojan (majority view), it is agreed that this is the first OS X exploit to be found in wild. The exploit propogates via iChat as a .tgz file and claims to contain the latest pics of OS X's upcoming Panther 10.5 release. Once unzipped, the code masquarades itself as an image file, while in fact being an executable.

Time: 22:17:15 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Tech) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Over the next few weeks requiem will be getting the Travolta/Cage treatment. A beta of the new site is up and running. As for the current requiem site and content, I'm not yet sure what to do. I will attempt to keep it as an archive, but it may be broken in parts. My new site, as mentioned, will be predominantly technical. I've had a number of idea bubbling away for a few years now, time for them to float.

Time: 15:05:32 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Site Info) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Some would say that the biggest news story of the day was the UN's human rights commission calling for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, citing torture and deprivation of liberty. Others though would argue that the biggest story of the day was the huge rating's success of the remake of the Japanese cult classic Monkey (Saiyuki). I fall firmly into the latter.

Time: 20:56:14 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Interesting) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Like the dead sea, where the existence of life is fleeting and restricted to seasonal rainfall, so to is an application's chance of survival while RDP'ing from a windows box to a Macintosh. I hate you sometimes Steve Jobs.

Time: 17:10:55 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Tech) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

We've all seen the floating touch screens and holographic 3D interfaces littered throughout futuristic Hollywood movies (e.g. Minority Report). Until now I had not seen a touch screen that came even close to that reality. They're called multi-touch screens, and what sets them apart from traditional touch screens is not only their ability to sense varying degrees of pressure at multiple locations, but also the software's ability to makes use of this capability.

I would like to see a coupling of this technology with the 3D holographic displays that were used at this year's American Super Bowl. More information on Multi-Touch screens can be found here.

Time: 10:06:43 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Tech) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

For those of you out there in OS X land, you may know of Adium, the 'must have' chat software. It is my personal choice as the best chat software on any platform, and that includes MSN mesenger that's been messpatched (ads removed). Today I discovered one of the coolest add-on's for software I can remember; customised systray (doc) alert icons that look like Gir from Invader Zim. Oh yeah, feel it.

Time: 11:37:28 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Tech) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Somewhere along the way I lost my car keys, but I think I've just found them again. Time to get back on the road and remember who does the fucking driving around here in this theatre of the absurd.

Time: 16:03:16 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Life) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Everyone, let's thank Thomas for sharing himself with us.

Time: 14:12:55 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (General) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

I finally understand Beethoven's Moonlight sonata. The sadness of understanding (1st movement), the ether of waiting marked with twinkles of hope (2nd), the rising crest of anger and intensity (final bars of 2nd) as the work concludes with the eventual exhaustion of all emotions wrought by love and its failure (3rd).

Later tonight I'm going to see "Loaded", a cutting-edge new artwork to be displayed at UQ's VISualisation and Advanced Computation laborarory (VISAC). During the work I'll be immersed in a virtual reality with the aid of stereo VR goggles. Should make for a good watch.

Time: 10:33:24 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Music) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

It appears that requiem.net.au has been nominated for "Best Australian Tech Blog" in the 2006 Australian Blog Awards. Thank you to whoever nominated my site. Personally I always felt requiem to be rather variable in its quality, I never really desired, or was concerned with getting wide spread attention.

You'll be pleased to know though that I am working on my next web project. My plans are for a far more professional site, given my immanent ejection from the womb of studentship. It will be tech-based, with a focus on my academic output.

Time: 13:51:18 :: Comments: (1) :: Category (Interesting) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

It's Mozart day here at requiem.net.au. This Friday, the man that this site is themed after*, turns 250. There are many things happening to commemorate this occassion. Firtly, Donovan Bixley has released an illustrated biography entitled Faithfully Mozart. Based on the letters written by Mozart, the book is beautifully illustrated (caricatures) and quite enjoyable. The images on the web pare are really quite something. Next there's the BBC quiz "Is this Mozart or not?". 10/10, so how well do you know your Mozart? And lastly the release of the first major feature-length documentary chronicling Mozart's life, "In search of Mozart". If you're interested in learning more about the old guy, take a look at this wiki entry.

* The banner image for requiem is an excerpt from the original transcript of Mozart's unfinished work, the Requiem mass.

Time: 23:52:34 :: Comments: (1) :: Category (Music) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Over the last two days eBay seems to have had quite a few database consistency issues. Specifically, auctions have been listed that were never created by the seller. This week I have been considering an upgrade to my Apple laptop, and during this period three auctions that I was monitoring have simply disappeared. In the last instance, prior to auction being removed, I sent the seller a question. His reply was that he did not sell computers, and that, consequently, eBay seems to be having some rather serious issues.

Time: 08:09:55 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Interesting) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Whereis has unveiled a beta view of its new site, beta.whereis.com. The most interesting new feature is the "get directions" page. You simply plug in your origin and destination, and it finds you the fastest path. From my brief play, it seems to be operating on a pretty cluey algorithm. It continually picked the most efficient routes, coinciding most times with those I had built up for my own common driving paths. The algorithm clearly operates on road significance, with it prioritising major roads, so it may not always be the fastest route. All in all though, I imagine this new feature could prove to be quite useful.

Time: 22:34:22 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Australian News) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

Do you know what a duvet it?

Time: 11:49:20 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Humour) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

This post contains religious overtones.

Time: 14:11:54 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Humour) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

I want this shirt.

Time: 14:37:50 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Humour) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)

By now I'm sure most of you have heard of MIT's OpenCourseWare, MIT's learning initiative which propels their philosophy that "[the] open dissemination of knowledge and information can open new doors to the powerful benefits of education for humanity around the world." I first posted out OCW some months back, but until now had no experience to report. Recently I undertook course 6.001 to assist in my learning of the computer language Scheme. I have found the course notes to be straightforward, insightful and of a very high quality. While OCW has its critics, my first experience has proven to be a good one. If you are interested in a few statistics, Wired published the top ten OCW nations as of 2003.

Time: 14:12:31 :: Comments: (0) :: Category (Interesting) :: Source (requiem) :: Track(url)