Recent News

I heard it on the grapevine…

A long time between drinks

9th November 2007—One might be forgiven for thinking this site was dead after this four month hiatus. In truth I have just been absurdly busy. University is over for the year now, save for two more exams (14th and 15th) and then my rehabilitation may begin as I slowly ease myself back into fellowship with the human race once more.

This semester has been especially harsh: and even now I am still feeling somewhat butthurt by the whole affair. The endless late nights and early mornings took its toll on my health and added to my growing collection of grey. At this rate I’ll be an old man one day.

One must keep busy, however, so while my mind is on holidays until February next year, my body will take up the slack now that my old karate club has opened in the fair town of Bendigo. I submitted myself to a double-session this Tuesday and I’m still not walking right yet. What uni hath given (love handles), martial arts shall taketh away.

In news a little left of centre, it appears by all outward signs and portents, my wife and I may be appearing on national television sometime next year in what could potentially be our big chance to get ahead of the game. Possibly February or March.

Once more into the breech

22nd July 2007—Second semester starts tomorrow. I have a lecture clash on Mondays between Data Communications and Database, both of which are needed if I am to get an IBL spot next year. I’m sure others people have endured worse on their road to world domination. I could potentially have 10 months of practical (and paid!) experience as well as my degree by the end of next year if all the balls drop where they should.

Sadly, the uni farewelled two of its most awesome lecturers last week, particularly so because they taught many subjects I am enrolled in and yet to be enrolled in. On the bright side, I came home with over 30 of their old books so it wasn’t a total loss.

There may be new content somewhere on the horizon here, then again, maybe not.

A new featurette

1st June 2007—I have added The Toolkit, as an excuse to tinker with Javascript for the good of all mankind. Actually it was my wife’s idea. After all the time I have spent telling her how wonderful Javascript is, she finally suggested that I put it to some use beyond my own personal amusement. This has resulted in The Toolkit. Enjoy it; it’s free.

What! New content?

30th March 2007—It is raining as I write this, a rare enough occurance in this time of drought. The drought of updates has also broken with a big session on the soapbox. Ensure you are seated comfortably before you begin.

The site is still only partially scripted—at present it is a tangled mess of SSI and Perl, and that’s the way it will stay for some time. Work, both of the uni kind and the paid kind, is abounding at present.

I also added a new feature, but don’t use it. And don’t blame me if you do.

Grand Opening…maybe later

24th February 2007—It’s the start of a new year and I am a married man. I also go back to university on Monday and as you can tell by the total lack of CSS that I’m running a little behind schedule. Still, it is the content that counts, nay?

This site is now partially generated by Perl, but many functions are still missing, so there is still more manual HTML work than I would like. But for now, it exists and that is enough. More to come later.

Of Holidays and Holy Days

5th January 2007—Christmas and New Year’s are over, and I'm still alive. My recently acquired P3 became a recently donated P3, so I'm back down to three, although my fiancée said I could put her 2.8GHz beastie to use, not that I will. It’s hers afterall and she may one day have to give back the laptop.

So my plans now consist of running BSD on the P2 as my file, web and email server. I will be on a dynamic IP but fortunately my router has DDNS support, so that will do until I can afford something better. My plans will probably change when I get a more accurate idea of what I want and what is feasible. But for now, aim for the sky!

I am also nine days away from being a married man, and nearly everything is organised and paid for now after writing a $3,200 cheque to the venue organisers today. The reality of it probably hasn’t hit me yet because I’m still not feeling the urge to leave the country despite the daunting prospect of being the centre of attention for close to three hours. I’m sure my bride to be will deflect most of attention away from me anyway. Here’s hoping.

Of all that has happened, and yet to come

17th November 2006—I completed my final exam for the year on the Wednesday afternoon. I probably still have trace amounts of alcohol in my system from Wednesday night. As for my results, they won’t be in for about a week, so in the meantime I predict three As and a C. A lot of things will be happening over the next 3½ months, most notably:

In other news, I’ve come into the possession of two free PCs, one of which is an ex server. That brings my total count up to four: my very manly 3GHz Tower of Power™, two P3s of around 750–900MHz, while capabilities of the fourth are currently unknown. These shall one day become my FTP, HTTP and email servers, and Disgraceland shall have what it has never had before, a domain name of its own.

There was movement in Disgraceland…

5th September 2006—Refusing to die, the Diaries have laboriously pushed out another convoluted read for the easily distracted or clinically misguided. I had decided that it had been far too long since the last time I rebuked Right To Life Australia, an oversight that is verily corrected.

The test results for Discrete Mathematics revealed that I somehow managed to render 510 as 1102 in binary. In spite of this, I still scored 47/50.

A most major update

23rd July 2006—A new semester begins, and so too do the Disgraceland Diaries. I scored rather decently in the first semester, but did I go out too hard too early? Time will tell whether I capitalise or capitulate. History is against me.

I declaration: festivities!

1st June 2006—Uni results roll in, slowly and in some cases even slower. I aced the second programming assignment, and scored an A for the IT Fundamentals web project, despite the fact that I buggered up some links of all things. Today was the last day of class time for the semester, so all that is left is to prepare for exams in the last half of June.

I also slapped together another diary entry. And in other news, I threw caution to the wind and got myself engaged. There’s no going back now. So here’s to my missus, may she be verily blessed for her ability to tolerate me for any length of time.

Our Lady of Disgraceland

4th May 2006—As promised in the last update, I have offered up something a bit more thoughtful than inane lecture notes. You have probably also noticed the new background. She is a symbol of what this site stands for and endeavours to be. Don’t panic, all is explained in the new diary. Much thanks to tracie76stock for granting permission to use her work in its creation.

A new layout! (and another diary)

2nd May 2006—Today’s trifecta includes a new, more flexible layout, along with a new diary entry and the finally completed first Photoshop tutorial, Photo-restoration 101. The diary entry isn’t exactly top quality, but instead just another serving of delirium-induced uni drivel. I promise that better stuff is on the way. Maybe not soon, but definitely on the way.

In other news, I have some academic results to report: 25/30 for the IT Fundamentals test; 18/25 for the maths test; and A+ for the first programming assignment. Still awaiting results for the IT Fundamentals assignment.

Another Diary

21st April 2006—Another new diary. The photography section will be updated soon. Maybe. Have you checked out the Archive? You really should.

Diary & uni pages updated

31st March 2006—A new diary entry has been added, and the uni page has been updated to include a timetable. Now the world knows when I’m not home, which makes it just that slightest bit easier to break into my home and steal my stuff.

The next item on the agenda is to complete the first of my Photoshop tutorials, after which I may even add another one.

Disgraceland relaunched!

17th March 2006—After a merciful two year hiatus, Disgraceland once again lurches back into action with all the crushing familiarity of a continually dislocating pelvis. A photography page and a university studies page have been added while most of the bitterness and angst is thankfully removed. A few of the old editorials found their way in before I could lock the door, but they’re safely contained in an archive page.

Also, the background is now a slightly different shade of grey.