goldcoaster

Jan

Forever Young, me in 70s Australia

By goldcoaster 1 Comment

Categories: Entertainment, General, Toy and Video
Tags: australia, 70's, skateboard

Way, way back when I was a teenager in the seventies the big thing was skateboarding. I loved it. I loved hanging out with friends who boarded as well - I guess it was a bit of a club that the oldies couldn’t understand and maybe that is what we liked even more. Actually the recent song ‘Forever Young’ by Youth Group is exactly how I remember it to be in Australia.

Fast forward to now and I doubt I could ride a skateboard any more, well not without losing my balance but my son has suddenly and I mean suddenly is interested in skateboarding and scooters. A few friends of his have them and I am sure this was a major reason why he is into boarding - back to my ’70’s club I guess. I was thinking that maybe he wants to be in the cool club but watching him with his friends he already seems to be the cool leader type.

He asked, on the weekend, to go to a skateboard park so he can skate around and learn some tricks and hang out with the cool kids. A skateboard park, gee, where is one near our house? I had no idea. A quick internet search showed a few skate parks needing only a little drive to get to and away we went.

Well, not quite away we went… first he had to have the skate shoes that needed to be just the right look. So, of course, me being the sucker took him to a few skate shops to start looking. We went to the Globe store - absolutely chock full of the latest skate and scooter gear, my son was almost drooling as we walked in. Dad, look at this cap, Dad look at this board, Dad look at these skate shoes, Dad look at this Razor Pro scooter.

My reply was pretty much something like , “Wow that’s amazing” but at the same time my brain was saying “Wow that’s expensive!!” I guess I am showing my age because years ago I would have loved any of this gear; now when I picked up a pair of Globe thongs (flip flops in some other countries) I can’t see myself paying $60 for them when I know they probably cost $2 to make. Another thing my son loved about the Globe store was that the front was a mini skate park. So before the store opened he could practice doing his thing on his scooter and skateboard.

We ended at a Surf and Skate store looking at more shoes and he ended up finding a pair of Kustoms that he loved. Of course they were not much cheaper than the Globes but he liked them better. The next few hours was him lacing them up over and over until he got it just how he likes. One fussy boy!

Now he has the look, the skater look - the right shoes, the right cap, the right shorts, the right t-shirt - now all he needs to be able to do is ride a skateboard

(btw, I have copied this post. I wrote it at today.com but they locked my account so I am taking this back)

Jan

Windows 7 Beta, Download ISO From Microsoft Direct

By goldcoaster 0 Comments

Categories: Computer, Internet, Technology and Vista

Reading around the place the public release of Windows 7 Beta is out right now. Unfortunately Microsoft is having a little trouble with their site because of the massive traffic and interest of Windows 7.

They have posted

Due to very heavy traffic we’re seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta… best possible experience when downloading the beta.

Windows 7 looks to be a must have OS even though I am completely happy with Vista (and my guess is the ones whinging about Vista haven’t really used it - I know this from friends that bag it but have never used it!)

If you are one of those types that must have the latest and greatest and must have it right now, here is a little help.

Here is the direct download link from Microsoft that they have removed from their site for Windows 7 Beta Public 32bit and Windows 7 Beta Public 64bit . Go get them now!

Also don’t forget to update Windows 7 when you have it installed as there is a bug the could currupt your MP3s (info here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961367 )

Nov

Pokemon Master - A World Record

By goldcoaster 1 Comment

Categories: Gadget, General, Technology and Toy
Tags: pokemon

Just doing a little web surfing and came across the Guiness Book Of Records site. Lots to read there, some interesting, some fascinating, some just weird. Anyway , I found a bit of a weird one.

This woman is called Pikabellechu (not sure what her real name is) and she is one mad Pokemon collector. She has collected more than 8000 Pokemon memorabilia, all Pikachu, even has a Pikachu shaped VW bug - she says its an official Pokemon car - can’t see how unless she works for Nintendo. Wow, ten long years to collect all this and I would think many thousands of dollars as well. She has a bumber sticker in one photo saying “Pokemon Put Me in the Poorhouse”.

Now, my son really likes Pokemon games on his NDS plus some online pokemon games like his one time favourite Pokemon Crater but games and being a crazy collector are two completely different things.

Takes all types I guess and I guess she really likes doing what she is doing.

Oct

Review Top 10 Best Online Multiple-Services Blog Pingers

By goldcoaster 5 Comments

Categories: Computer, Gadget, Technology and Vista
Tags: ping services

Blog and Ping! Blog and Ping! I have read about doing this to increase your blogs popularity. I don’t know how true it is but I thought I would list what I think are the Top 10 Online Multiple-Services Blog Pingers. The Best there is.

So what does pinging do? Well a Blog Pinger lets a service, which tracks and connects to blogs, to know you have updated you blog (made a new post) so they can come and visit to check you out. In other words they crawl and index your site, publishing your blogs contents, and in turn increase your blog’s popularity. I have used Pingomatic and as it goes it is pretty good but maybe too many bloggers use it because, for me, it does not connect sometimes.

So I have put Pingomatic as one but what are other alternatives to Pingomatic, the other 9 of the top 10 Best Online Multiple-Services Blog Pingers?

Ping-o-Matic is one of the best known blog ping services around. It pings to 19 general services and 5 specialised services. It says on the site they regularly check downstream services to make sure that they’re legit and still work. So while it may appear like they have fewer services, they’re the most important ones.

BlogBlip is the big one for me. No fancy logo - It currently sends pings to 44 web services plus it says you can request addition of more directories to its list using the form on the site. Not all services work (well not for me) but still, it’s very, very good.

Feed Shark Is number three. It pings 16 services that accept blogs as well as 12 services that accept RSS feeds and a further 8 services that accept podcasts. Impressive and with a neat page that shows your submission status on the same page as the entry.

Autopinger is a little different from most. It handles the pinging task for you automatically, Autopinger will check your blogs and podcast feeds every 30 mins. and if you have posted it then pings a variety of services (25 English services , almost as many non english) - no need to manually ping. (well, if you need to ping immediately you can do manual pinging as well).

King Ping is a free automatic pinging service that makes pinging faster and easier for bloggers and online publishers. A huge 57 web services are available.

PinGates has 44 pinging services listed and notifies them to auto-ping your blog. Neat layout and works well for me. This site has been around for a while now.

MyPageRank Ping is a very simple pinging service - well to be honest they are all simple aren’t they - and it pings 25 different services.

Ping.IN is another blog ping service that notifies Blog Services like Blog Search Engines and directories that your blog has been updated. This lets them index your blog fast and make your content available for larger audiences ie: more popular.

iPings is just a plain old ping service. Pinging around 31 services. the reason I have included it here is probably because of the Apple type name

Pingoat - a strange name but is another site that pings a number of services that keep track of weblogs and publish them. By pinging, you let the services know that your blog has been updated and so, they crawl and index your site, publishing your blog contents, and then increasing your blog’s popularity. I have to say this is not my favourite.

Aug

Googles New Adsense For Feeds

By goldcoaster 0 Comments

Categories: Computer, General, Technology and Vista

I was just checking my adsense account and noticed a new option - Google adsense For Feeds, it wasn’t there yesterday! I remember reading over at Feedburner ages ago that this was going to happen , well it has arrived.

Ads in RSS Feeds, good or bad? To be honest ads in feeds don’t worry me except for some animated types. One RSS feed I have has certain ads that keep refreshing (something like that) and this makes the page scroll back to the top - so when I start reading down it pops back to the top again every few seconds, very annoying!

Hopefully Googles version will be fine. You can only have one ad and can choose whether it is placed at the top or bottom. you can also say ads only go in posts of a certain size and every X amount of posts. Also the ads are auto sized - which is good , no huge ads spamming everyone. Not bad at all.

If you want any help about it just ask and I will try. You can also try Google’s help page.

Jul

Starbucks To Close - Coffee Lovers Cheer

By goldcoaster 4 Comments

Categories: General

I have just heard that Starbucks is to close a heap of stores - 61 out of 84 in Australia and 600 in the US.

Starbucks Coffee International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Starbucks Coffee Company today announced plans to restructure its business in Australia …. This decision will result in the closure of 61 locations throughout the country by August 3, 2008.

That’s a pity for the staff that are about to lose their jobs but buggered if I feel sorry for Starbucks. Their coffee is and always has been terrible. The same quality as MacDonalds - at least Maccas is cheap.

Last time I went was to the Pacific Fair Starbucks on the Gold Coast - i picked up two flat whites and they looked and tasted like instant coffee - no crema or froth from the milk at all. I asked for another and they said thats how they make flat whites! What do I do? Well all I could think was to write on one of those customer service cards and post it off, I never got a reply!

Well, Starbucks, maybe if your service and coffee were any good you would still be around, hey.

Jul

Hack AntiVir - disable the nag screen

By goldcoaster 0 Comments

Categories: Computer, Technology and Vista

I have just bought a new notebook pc and was looking for a FREE antivirus program to install.

I have used AVG free before but since it went to V8 and you had to upgrade I haven’t liked it. It just seems a bit too big and lumpy now. Search Search Search and I found Avira AntiVir.

But the one thing I don’t like, fairly minor I guess, is the “Buy the Pro Version” nag screen that pops up after it updates each day .

Well, here is a little work around hack to stop it popping up.
My PC has Windows Vista Home Premium by the way, please no Apple Macs don’t get viruses comments .

Go to C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avnotify.exe

Rightclick avnotify.exe and chose Properties then Security

Under the “Group or Username” SYSTEM click Edit

Put a checkmark under the Deny column for “Read and Execute” (one will also check at Read automatically)

Jun

Telstra to offer iPhone - Australian plan prices revealed?

By goldcoaster 6 Comments

Categories: Apple, Gadget, Technology and ipod

I am thinking that for sure Telstra is going to have the iPhone now. I have read news reports that Telstra were struggling with Apple about wanting their own applications on the iPhone and not the standard ones that all iPhones have.

And costs for the Australian iPhone , no one is saying but…. I have a little information by way of a survey emailed to me. I have screenshots of the survey, not all questions but the most revealing ones. At first I didn’t know it was Telstra in the survey but guessed by the questions (asking about Yellow pages on the iPhone…) - and the last screen said the survey was for Telstra.

Notice the price mentioned - $220 plus $80 per month, no mention of data included and no questions about data at all so who knows what you get for $80 per month. It did also ask what the maximum I would expect to pay.

Anyway this looks like the first hint at plan prices from an Australian carrier for the iPhone.

Jun

Charge your iPod with an Onion

By goldcoaster 1 Comment

Categories: Apple, Computer, Gadget, Sound, Technology and ipod

I was just surfing around trying to find some little science project for my young son to do at school and came across this youtube vid on how to charge your Apple iPod with just an onion and some gatorade, of all things.

Amazing! I’ll have to try this myself now.

May

System Update for M3DSreal

By goldcoaster 7 Comments

Categories: Computer, Gadget, Technology and Toy

m3dsreal goldcoaster A new update for the M3 DS Real has been released recently.

It looks like it is only a few bug fixes, nothing major. An update from the M3 Group to get towards 100% compatibility even though I have never had any compatibility problems. This update fixes a few problems with certain games.
To download, see Hand Held Resources . Once you have it, just unzip and put those files on your M3DSreal microSD card and overwrite any files it asks.