Kyle Sandilands Should Not Be Sacked Just For His Comments
By now, everyone has heard about Kyle and Jackie-O’s segment on 104.1 2-Day FM where a 14-year old girl was hooked up to a lie detector and admitted that her first sexual experience was when she was raped as a 12 year-old. She had been brought to the studio by her mother, who would have received free tickets to Pink’s Australian concert.
Quite rightly, there has been a huge uproar amongst the Australian public, over the treatment of the young girl, the decision of the mother to bring her along, the nature of the contest and the comments made by Kyle Sandilands in response to the young girl’s admission.
The above hyperlink links to a newspaper article containing a transcript of that portion of the segment, including the response from Kyle and Jackie-O.
In my opinion, blame should be apportioned in the above order, starting with the mother. What sort of mother would sell out her own daughter in exchange for concert tickets?
Disciplinary action may be appropriate against those who approved the airing of this segment. The management of the station should have imposed clear guidelines on the sort of topics and people who who are allowed to be on this show. I would suggest that for sexual topics, contestants must be over 18, and all parties must consent.
There have been many calls for Kyle Sandliands to be sacked. I do not agree.
He and Jackie were caught by surprise by the young girl’s statment and did not know what to say. Kyle nervously made the comment “Right. (Pause.) And is that the only experience you’ve had? “
I do think that Kyle is untalented (or rather, his sole talent is speaking in a crude and offensive way), and ask why he is in the position he is in, but that is another matter.
Music Legend Michael Jackson Passes Away
Online media has reported that Michael Jackon suffered a heart attack at his home and could not be revived. He was declared dead earlier this morning at the UCLA Medical Centre.
His artistic contributions to pop music will withstand the passage of time. His trademark ‘moonwalk’ is widely known and imitated by many (including me), and some of his most played songs on video hit shows include ‘Thriller’, ‘Beat It’, ‘Billy Jean’ and ‘Bad’.
He was not a living god, but a human being with imperfections. It is my opinion that media gossip about his private life was a mixture of truth and fiction, his prominence and eccentricity fuelling opportunistic individuals seeking attention and money.
Perhaps his suffering children and family may now live a more normal life, with fewer media intrusions.
Is The Pattern Of The World’s Weather Changing?
This was an ad for AGL gas in 1983, broadcast on Australian TV, showing their future vision of Sydney’s weather.
In it, you can see beautiful shots of Martin Place covered by snow, and people ice-skating in Circular Quay, with the Harbour Bridge visible in the background.
You see, climate change afficionados had slightly different expectations back then.
I am in full agreement with the first comment on the video:
“Is the pattern of the world’s weather changing?” Ha Ha. Al Gore must have been in town. This ad of course dates from the days when the coming ice age was the big climate scare. Back when silly religions used to sacrifice a goat in a futile effort to influence the weather, rather than trying to sacrifice entire economies.
Tips for Singing Karaoke
For some, Karaoke is a way for drunk people to take the piss out of songs by singing them badly. For others, it is a way of releasing their inner ambitions and displaying latent performing talent. The fact is that good karaoke will be enjoyed by all.
When I was travelling alone in the USA, I found singing Karaoke a good way of generating a good vibe and meeting people. Here are a few tips I picked up along the way:
DSD Offers Pittance for Australian Cyber Defence
If you were a top notch IT security expert living in Sydney, would you be enticed by a job offering $52,000-$72,959 in remuneration so you can be subjected to a gruelling interview process that involves digging up your past, being analysed by shrinks, and if you succeed, having to move to Canberra to get bored out of your brain?
The Australian Department of Defence thinks so!
A short while ago, I logged into my gmail account and noticed a banner ad that really caught my eye
“DSD Tech Security Jobs – www.dsd.gov.au – Malicous IFRAMEs? Heap overflows? You’ll love what we do.”
The Australian Defence Signals Directorate (the equivalent of the American National Security Agency), who are a division of the Department of Defence, is recruiting experts to work in Cyber Operations.
The following is quoted from their FAQ:
I’m not sure what level I should apply for, what should I do?
If this is the case, you should apply for all three levels. If you are a successful applicant you will be offered an APS Position (APS 4-6) commensurate with your performance during the selection process. If you only wish to apply for a specific level, you must clearly state this on your application form.
The current salary ranges are:
APS 4 – $52 009 – $57 094
APS 5 – $58 009 – $62 135
APS 6 – $63 550 – $72 595
These rates will increase by 3.1% on Christmas day (2008). Superannuation is in addition to this!
We will be holding assessment centres in Canberra during the week of 8 September. The 2 day process will involve an individual technical assessment and interview, some group based exercises, some paperwork and an interview with our friendly psychologists. Don’t stress too much.
What other benefits are there in working for DSD?
- Generous superannuation (15.4%)
- Free gym
- Free parking
- Opportunities to salary package
- Flexible working conditions
- Generous study provisions and developmental opportunities.
OK, I was a bit too hasty – there is free parking, as we all know about the terrible shortage they have in Canberra. The gym is also good – when you’re bored of Canberra life, you can vent your frustration by pumping iron. Oh yes, and the job is secure.
But seriously, it troubles me that the sort of people are prepared to work for peanuts are going to be on the front lines of our country’s cyber defence. I know a number of programmers in Sydney who get over $90,000 (plus super) for far more trivial activities.
Furthermore, when I think of true security experts, I think of reformed hackers, like Kevin Mitnick and Kevin Poulsen. Would they pass a security clearance?
Of course, there may be a reason for the low pay. Perhaps our country is not really under threat, and the job consists of merely watching packet dumps scrolling down a monitor or playing network computer games? I really don’t know – it’s all classified.
I Am Rich!
Filed under: Business, Finance and Investment, Humour, International News, Pop Culture
In these difficult economic times, people have to be creative to get ahead.
An enterprising fellow by the name of Armin Heinrich, capitalised on conspicious consumption centred around Apple’s much-hyped iPhone, released last month.
He created an iPhone application named “I Am Rich”, whose sole function is to display a computer-generated image of a glowing red ruby, as a status symbol in order to flaunt the wealth of the owner.
Apparently, 8 people purchased this application, for the listed price of $999.99, before it was removed by Apple, following a complaint from a purchaser who claimed he accidentally clicked on the buy button.
The LA Times has a fantastic article, with pictures of the Apple store advertisement and an application screenshot.
Saving Money on Tea
I enjoy drinking all varieties of tea. I usually have black tea with one spoon of sugar. I usually drink green tea and white tea plain. The only exception is Moroccan green tea, which is made by taking green tea and adding a fresh mint leaf and lots of sugar. I consider the presence of milk in tea to be an abomination, but this is probably a result of my upbringing.
My favourite supermarket brand is Twinings. Usually, I buy tea in tea bags, but I discovered that loose leaf tea is far better value for money. The other day at my local Woolworths supermarket, I found a large pack of loose leaf Lady Grey for less than half the price of a much smaller pack of teabags.
The traditional problem with loose leaf is that it is hard to make a single individual cup – people usually make a whole pot, which is messy and requires a lot of paraphernalia.
I have solved this problem for myself with the aid of a split-sphere mesh tea infuser (the top utensil in the image below).
When you want to make a cup, you squeeze the handle, scoop up some loose-leaf tea into the bottom sphere, and then release the handle to close the spheres.
You then put the tea-filled infuser in an empty cup or mug, and pour in some freshly boiled water. You can optionally add sugar, and then stir it using using the handle of the infuser, saving the need for a separate spoon.
Once you’ve brewed the tea to the desired strength, you can remove the infuser from the cup.
To clean the infuser, hold it over a waste container and squeeze the handle. You may need to gently knock the handle against the side of the container. The bulk of the used loose-leaf tea should fall out in a ball-like mass. Rinse the infuser under a tap to remove any remaining tea leaves.
After many uses, tea residue may build up and discolour the mesh. I found that I could return the infuser to mint condition by standing it in a glass of dilute laundry bleach for a few minutes, then rinsing it under a tap.
I purchased my infuser from the local gourmet tea store T2 for just under $4. They can also be purchased from most tea shops and online.
F*** the Macarena
In 1996, a horrible sonic plague was unleashed upon the world. By this, I mean the song ‘Macarena’ by Los Del Rio. The song had a few mixes and covers, but the most played release was the Bayside Boys remix.
I dislike it for the following reasons:
- The repetitive accompaniment consisting of maybe four notes tops
- It would somehow sneak into playlists at parties and get a crowd into a retarded synchronised frenzy
- The song’s lyrics teach women that cheating on your boyfriend is a cool and fun thing to do
- The outfits of the women in the video
- Having the two old guys (who wrote the song) in the video was clearly an afterthought
- The fact that after this was a hit, they came back for a second money grab with the “Christmas Joy mix” that replaced the English portion with snippets of Christmas Carols.
For those of you who dislike this song as much as me, I bring you “F*** the Macarena” by MC Rage, courtesy of Youtube. It’s hardcore techno (gabba) and apparently was a hit in the Netherlands. Good on ’em.
WARNING: Profanity – use headphones if at work
Oh, and if you really need to be reminded of the original:
