Posts by TracyMac
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I'm quite happy that there are more alternatives to frigging iTunes. Not everyone is happy with Mr Jobs attempting to control their computer or their devices. We might bitch about Microsoft, but at least they don't try and sneak software on (Safari) that is completely unrelated to the functionality of the actual software you want to use. (Let's not talk about compulsory IE bundling with the Windows!)
Also, frankly, a BIG chunk of binary code to pay for and download bloody songs from the Internet? How ridiculous.
Finally, add me to the brave and the few who Don't Get It in terms of Akka Dakka or any other metal group. I like a couple of Black Sabbath songs, and one Metallica song where they don't actually sing. For some reason, though, nearly all of my partners have been rock chicks. Well, they've all been mostly femme too - obviously I like people who aren't too much like me (I wouldn't complain if a femme-type electronica fan threw herself at me - I'm sure they exist somewhere).
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Jesus Christ, Angus, you're giving me a stabby pain. As has been pointed out, more than once, there is more than one possibility:
1. She realised that the fantasies could cast her in a bad light and deliberately withheld information from the police.
2. She didn't think the information would be at all relevant to the case, so didn't bother to mention it. Or thought it was none of the cops' bloody business.
3. She may or may not have thought the information could be used against her, but was too embarrassed to mention it to the police.
4. She didn't even remember writing the fantasy down until being surprised by it in court.From what you're saying, you're assuming it was option 1., or as the argument has morphed slightly over time, perhaps option 2. It's just as likely - with the information we have - that it was one of the other two explanations as well.
If you're happy to tell the cops about your entire sexual fantasy life on the off-chance it may be relevant to some case, good luck to you. Me, I don't want them knocking on my door every time there is an assault with a knife, just because I've fantasised about using knives in the bedroom. And purchased them for the purpose. And even if I were arrested for a knife crime, I wouldn't dream of mentioning it to them - it wouldn't be relevant (unless I did have someone in the boudoir, and tripped over while holding a knife in my hand).
On another tangent, I just deleted some TMI about how I feel about the semantics of "rape" vs "sexual violation" in the law in NZ. I'm glad I wasn't "raped" due to my abusive step-father's choice of orifices - it makes all the difference. Not. FWIW, they should ditch that paragraph, and make all just sexual violation.
Getting back to Emma's post, that is an excellent sporking of the beliefs of some stupid feminists and their hatred of prostitution screwing up that whole quaint notion of "consent".
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Regarding driver attitudes, I don't know if it's Australia in general, but Canberra is definitely shocking. My second bike ride here, I was cycling in a green-painted bike lane and whole carload of bogan fuckheads drove past shouting abuse. To this day, I don't know why. I've had a few more incidents, and not one Canberrean I know who cycles hasn't had one.
Bizarre, since Canberra is actually a more bike-friendly town due to large areas of flatness and quite a comprehensive cycle path network.
Central London is a horrible place to cycle - I tried it from New Cross to Bloomsbury a few times, but once you get north of Old Kent Rd or Elephant and Castle (all those old narrow streets and BUSES), it's really not worth it. Of course, doing it in rush hour probably wasn't the best idea. It's a shame, because it's a pretty flat route, although 45mins was a teeny bit long (for me) for a cycle commute. Cycling around the City on the weekends is a doddle, it must be said.
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I forgot to say, thanks for the dub[step] stylings; a pleasant ditty, but the remixes have some nice morphings.
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Yep, that cycle route's been there forever. I used to ride the GI - Mission Bay bit every weekend when I was 16, in the mid-80s. I'm slightly ashamed to admit that the terminus was the Robert Harris shop, where they actually made cappucinos.
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I would just like to say, in terms of upcoming music, MASSIVE ATTACK. I've never been to the Vector Arena, but screw it for attending the concert here in Oz.
As for bogan witticisms, I prefer the hysterical UTERUS to one that's common over 'ere: "No its not my boyfriends" [sic].
I certainly understand why these women feel the need to label their utes as such (although often the BRIGHT PINK bling should give it away), but I don't think they should feel they have to.
Do ladeez-with-utes in NZ run into the same set of assumptions? I've never seen one with that kind of label in NZ, and never heard of any hassle, but then I ran around in the queer milieu, so results may vary (the nearest I got to utehood myself was an HQ Kingswood station wagon. My current upgrade is an HT sedan.)
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@ Just Thinking, I'm sorry, what do you mean by a "constitution"? Do you mean one overarching document, or do you mean the various legislative components that make up our constitution, such as the Bill of Rights Act, the Treaty of Waitangi, the Electoral Act, the, um, Constitution Act, and a few other bits and bobs?
What, exactly, do you think is missing from our constitution, that you want another document? It's not as if who rules us and the mechanisms they use is at all under question.
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Just as a note, the Australian payroll tax applies to all contractors, whether or not you operate as a "company" and whether or not you're an individual. A lot of companies in Oz prefer contract employees (especially in IT) because then they don't have to fork out the payroll tax themselves, the wankers. I don't know it'd be represented that on the pie, though, assuming you could find out the percentage of contract employees.
There's also the super contribution, which is a minimum of 9% of your income if you earn more than $450 a month gross.
It makes my blood boil when I go home and listen to my relatives whining about the tax rates in NZ. And they're the middle class ones, who are doing quite nicely, thank you.
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Getting back to CDs, I still buy them. I will install iTunes over my dead body, and other than the indie outfits like Magnatunes, that don't carry the artists I want, the DRM and shite quality are reasons not to buy from most online vendors. Trent Reznor is doing the right thing, as far as I'm concerned.
By buying CDs, I can rip my nice OGGs (hell, if there was more 224 kbit AAC or VBR MP3, I'd buy those - I'm not a complete dork about music) and copy them onto any device I so choose.
Pitch Black released something recently that had OGG files on it, and I thought, COOL, no need to rip this one... until I found out they were 48kbit. Why the hell would I want to listen to AM-quality music?
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Ahem, my bad. As a journalist, embellishing headlines for effect is... actually, it kinda *is* journalism.
I know I should change it... but it's a tomahawk of a headline: simple, balanced and brutal.
Trouble is, it's completely misleading, i.e. unbalanced. It's not great if your tool isn't right and you whack off your own foot.
Sure, headlines can be punny, exaggerating or sly. But outright wrong is something best reserved for the crappiest tabloids.