In the last few days I’ve been to two very good public lectures. One was on Lake Mungo and the other on William Buckley and William Barak.
If a friend hadn’t pointed out the first one, I’d never have known about it. This got me thinking.
So, if I can use my mobile phone - or any browser - to subscribe to Big Brother news updates, why not future Public Lectures in the Melbourne area?
My technical side says - initially - it could be be quite simple. Just have the providers (The Universities, The Museums, Local Councils etc) add a newsfeed (aka RSS) and I have a web site that subscribes to these XML feeds and then publishes them as a web page.
Adding a RSS feed should be very simple for the Providers. They may already do it. Both my Blogging software and main Web Site software have it built in.
Then my consultant side kicked in and I started to think about the issues: who decides what’s a public lecture? If Big Computer Company has one called The History of the PC from 1979 to 2005, then sweet. But what if they have one called Getting the Best from your Database Server? Is that just a thinly disguised selling-seminar and should it be included in this ‘academic/general interest’ Public Lecture site?
Mmmm. Messy. And is it my decision or should the reader/user decide? Or perhaps limit the Providers to not-for-profit or non-commercial organisations.
The first web browser came out in 1993. In 1994 the comet - or the pieces of the comet - Shoemaker-Levy 9, crashed into Jupiter, creating impact areas bigger than the Earth. At the time I was working for IBM Australia and merged the two.
I gave a presentation to my fellow employees about this fairly new World Wide Web thing and used the example of hundreds of thousands of people monitoring the Jupiter impact via their browsers and the NASA web site. I was one of the many as I think I had Mosaic Version 1.0 on my work PC. Running OS/2 no doubt. The audience was rather impressed with this, as most had never heard of Browsers etc, I’d tip.
So 15 years later, specifically Monday May 26th 2008, it was a nostalgic moment. Except this time I was accessing NASA TV via my Firefox browser. And watching the descent of the Mars probe Phoenix live on (web) TV. The image wasn’t that big, but it was clear and in colour.
And boy was it tense. As you may know Mars is so far away that even at the speed of light, it takes about 15 minutes for a message to get there (and 15 more to get back). So the NASA people simply cannot steer the ship in real time. It has to be a robot; able to work out where it is during the descent, how it’s going and adjust itself.
It was fascinating to see the reaction of the NASA controllers as the reports came in ‘live’. Parachutes deployed. Radar had found the ground. 5 meters to go. Touchdown.
I was about to turn blue, but was soon breathing again.
Someone once said that “Wiki’s were the way the web was meant to be.” Well…okay, it was me who said it. And it was published in The Age newspaper as well.
But anyway, the Wiki concept is web pages that are easy to edit and link up. Wikipedia is a great example.
So rather than use a database on my new HTC smart phone, a techno-buddy suggested I use a mini Wiki. And sure enough I discovered bLADE Wiki.
I use it for Lists (Books to Read or Buy, Movies to …, CDs to…, Good Wines)
It’s very easy to create/edit/link pages. It is supplied with versions for the Phone and Windows Desktop PC. So you can create etc on either environment, then set up syncing, so as to ensure both devices have the same Wiki pages.
Said Tech Buddy also pointed out that another of our Tech Buddies talked about a Wiki on his mobile. And sure enough, yep…it’s the same one. How do I know? Well he’s thanked in the notes that come with the Wiki !
I am a big fan of the movie homage ; when one film pays a small tribute to another film. Indeed it doesn’t have to be film-to-film; current TV shows like The Office (US version), 30 Rock, My Name is Earl and even - wait for it - Australian Big Brother regularly have little in-jokes (asides, allusions) that movie fans give a quiet, appreciative nod to.
Big Brother recently said “love the suit”…thereby making me hungry for some fava beans and a nice chianti.
But back to the business at hand.
Blade Runner (1982) has a model of the Star Wars (1977) ship Millennium Falcon in it. It’s turned sideways and thus standing on it’s edge is transformed into a building. One of the many buildings in the LA of the future.
Lucas et al returned the compliment with his Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace (1999). A Blade Runner ship, called a Spinner I think, is visible during a night scene on the planet Coruscant
Not the only reference in The Phantom Menace either. I believe George Lucas said something like “..before Star Wars there was, and always will be, 2001: A Space Odyssey.” And in Phantom Menace he placed a Pod from 2001, clearly shown in the junk yard scene, where young Anakin works.
And we’re not done yet. In the same movie, Lucas also has E.T. visible. Not just one but a few of them are quickly shown arguing and pointing in the Senate.
Weather forecast was for fog, then clearing and so off I went to tackle Mt Macedon for the first time. Parks Victoria has a good web page on this, including a PDF that has the walk(s) and a map. It’s called “Macedon Regional Park - Walking Trails”
Beware, however that as of late May 2008 the Eastern Lookout is actually closed, so ignore references to it.
Basically I did a walk that starts right in the main street of the township of Mt Macedon, goes along Douglas Road, then it’s up up up as you ascend Mount Macedon itself via the well-marked Macedon Ranges Walking Trail (MRWT). That ascent is about 1.5 km, but can take from 40 to 60 minutes. It was steep and a bit slippery in places.
You literally pop-out right next to the famous memorial cross at the top. From there it’s a welcome cup of tea or coffee at the nearby cafe, then another 4 km of quite level walking to the Camels Hump. A final short, sharp climb and you are there. Two lookouts here; one is raw, rocks (and marked as dangerous, so take care) and the other is the official one. The latter is looking towards Hanging Rock, has a steel viewing platform and a guide to tell you what you are looking at plus how far away it is.
Use the PDF and walk back towards the Cross, but only a few km along turn left into Clyde Track and descend back to good old Douglas Road. Note: the PDF text instructions are in error - or misleading. They advise you to walk back “to” the Cross then turn into Clyde Track, it should be “towards” the Cross. I’ve done the right thing and called Parks Vic to let them know.
Rating: very good. About 7km one-way from township to Camels Hump. So start before lunch. First track is, as I said, a bit slippery, so take a walking pole and sturdy boots.
