Blog Marco - Random Stuff

Random Facts and Figures

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 18:08:40 -0800

Welcome to my random information dumping ground.

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What does "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" mean?

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:56:05 -0700

Teaser:
What does standong in the shoulders of giants mean? Oasis album cover

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I've always wondered what "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" meant. It was the title of one of the mathematics books we had in university - knowing now what the phrase actually means gives it some significance doesn't it? Well, to me anyway. The phrase also makes an appearance on the British £2 coin (2 pound coin) as the inscription on the edge and also on an Oasis album. So what does it mean? "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" is a metaphor which means "One who develops future intellectual pursuits by understanding the research and works created by notable thinkers of the past". Many great thinkers have used the metaphor including Bernard of Chartres and Isaac Newton his letter to Robert Hooke where he very modestly claimed that his success had been built on the achievement of others: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants".

What is the Minimum Wage in Australia?

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:46:59 -0700

You may be wondering what is the minimum wage in Australia: This week, the Fair Pay Commission raised the federal minimum wage in Australia by $21.66 a week, which calculates to $14.31 per hour and the weekly rate to $543.78 (compared to the previous minimum of $13.74 last year or $522.12 per week). This minimum pay scheme in Australia starts from October 2008.

Funny Jessica Alba Video

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:43:28 -0700

Here's a funny video of Jessica Alba. It's a YouTube video of our sexy Jessica Alba acting as Jessica Simpson on a Newlyweds parody/spoof on comedy show MAD TV. Enjoy her video!

Outsourcing Your University Studies

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:44:07 -0700

Teaser:
Outsource your university work and studies

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I read an article today about university students outsourcing their uni studies through websites called RentACoder and Kasamba. There are other websites out there called Elance and Guru that do the same thing. You can write down what work you want done, post it on the outsourcing website and wait for the incoming bids from service providers from all over the world including India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

In the article, it discusses computer science students using these outsourcing services to have their programming assignments done by other people overseas. Perhaps it is more worthwhile for them to find part time work - being paid around $20 per hour and trading it with the arbitrage advantage of outsourcing with hourly rates starting from $2 per hour.

But don't stop with Bachelor of IT or Science in computing sciences. You can apply this outsourcing magic with any uni course. Journalism - you can hire people to do your research for you. Engineering - similar with programming - hire someone to "show you" how to do things, calculate equations, etc. Commerce - assignments can be tendered out to the best bidder. What if you can outsource the actual exam taking? You could probably do it with those computer multiple choice questions. Good luck!

Softcore Porn Music Videos

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:38:49 -0700

A song with a mathing softcore porn music video: Alex Gaudino Ft Shena with a dance song called: Watch Out. Okay, we've featured the all time sexiest music videos (also here and here). We also had a list of controversial music videos. Today we are looking at another sexy music video by dance music master Italian DJ Alex Gaudino (of Destination Calabria fame). Obviously the video is referencing the World Cup but with sexy dancing girls in their bikinis and panties, what are you supposed to be thinking? Find the youtube music video and screencaps below.

Australia's Deadliest Animals

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:18:13 -0700

Teaser:
Horses are Australia's deadliest animal

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A horse is Australia's deadliest animal. Next comes a cow then dogs. Followed by sharks, crocodiles, spiders, emus, cats and fish. These are according to statistics compiled by the National Coroners Information System whereby it shows horses are morst likely to cause a human death. Probably a great reason to discourage your daughter about dreaming to get a horse.

According to the coroner the deadliest animal in Australia is the horse: 128 deaths were recorded to be caused from an animal between 2000 and 2006 and of that 40 human deaths were due to horses. Although, this statistic is slightly flawed because the cause of the deaths were mostly due to the riders falling off and not a direct result of the animal attacking the human. 20 deaths were linked to cows and bulls which was usually caused by a car running into one or swerving to avoiding hitting one. Dog related fatalities broke down into: 7 being attacked, 2 falling over them and 2 from swerving to avoid them. Sharks 11 fatalities, 8 death by snake, crocodiles:4, spiders: 3, emus:2, sheep:1 (vehicle crash) and cat:1 (tripped over).

Obama Gobbling a Hotdog

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:13:00 -0700

Obama gobbling a hotdog in Montana on Independence day 2008. While we're on the topic of politics, remember this funny photo of Bush?

What Mobile Phone to Buy?

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:41:13 -0700

Teaser:
What Mobile Phone Should I Buy? Something I Want? or Need? Based on the Model or the Plan?

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Which mobile phone should I buy? Should I base my decision on the mobile phone model type or the cellphone plan and the amount of credit I get during the usual 24 month contract?

If I base my decision on what type of phone - which mobile phone type of function should I buy and look for? A Camera phone - mobile phone with camera as key feature, although there could be other fuctions like music player, but less advanced? Music phone - mobile phone with music playback capability as key feature, although there could be other functions such as camera / but less advanced? Multimedia phone - mobile phone with equally good functions of camera, music and video? Or a Smart phone - mobile phone with PDA like function?

If I base my decision on the mobile phone plan what numbers and costs should I look at? What will be my usage like? How many minutes will I be talking on the phone? How many SMS' will I send? How much credit will I need? Am I comfortable with a two year plan? What is my budget for a phone? Different mobile phone carriers have different flag fall rates and charge either per second or per 30 second block - perhaps I should calculate which carrier's plan is cheaper depending on how they price their call rates?

Prank Calls (Again)

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:23:25 -0700

I did a post in the past with quite a few funny prank calls and here is another one to add to the list...

This funny prank call video is from the early 90's from public access TV in New York. This guy keeps a straight face while being steadily receiving prank calls for over five minutes and trying to talk seriously about gun ownership. He keeps up a one sided conversation all the while. Hilarious.

Philippine Food Festival Sydney

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:28:33 -0700

Philippine Food Festival was CRAP. Rating at a 5 out of 10 (maybe even a 4 out of ten). Around 100 people turned up. This Filipino Food festival wasn't great. The food was bland, dry and very mild in taste. Here's what the flyer claimed the meal was to be: "Enjoy tantalising South East Asian cuisine rich in exotic flavours, specially created by Michel Le Teuff, who will be our guest Executive Chef for this Festival. Chef Le Teuff joins us from the prestigious Travel Cafe Philippines, Makati City. Luscious dishes bursting with flavour will bring the essence of the Philippines to the Grace Brasserie." So where is the "tantilising" tastes we were promised Chef Le Teuff? Where are the "exotic flavours" and luscious dishes?

At AUD$45 a head at this buffet meal we were expecting much more from an international imported chef. I wasn't even "full" (busog). Compare this with a really tasty meal at Dampa in Paranaque (which is just a stone's throw away from the international airport). We were able to feed three people there for only $40. Or how about the masarap (tasty) lechon from cebu?. Hell we fed 5 people for only AUD$15 and we were soooo full then. Perhaps we should have just ate at one of my usual restaurants near UTS or just venture to Newtown for some exotic tastes from all the Thai food out there.

Whats So Good About Battlestar Galactica?

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:19:36 -0700

Teaser:
Whats So Good About Battlestar Galactica? A remake of a series, this is a highly successful Science Fiction TV show

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Battlestar Galactica or BSG for short, is a franchise of American science fiction films and television series, the first of which was produced in 1978. Season 2 of the reimagined series was rated by TIME magazine as the best TV series of 2005. It was that series which raised many discussion points relating to life, philosophy and religion among watchers. It is the title of series of book adaptations, original novels, comic books and video games have also been based on the concept. A reimagined miniseries aired in 2003, with a 4 season television series starting in 2004 and continuing onto 2008-2009.

All of the Battlestar Galactica productions share the same premise: In a distant part of the universe, a civilization of humans live on planets known as the Twelve Colonies. In the past, the Colonies have been at war with a cybernetic race known as the Cylons. With the help (knowing or unknowing) of a human named Baltar, the Cylons launch a sudden sneak attack on the Colonies, laying waste to the planets and devastating their populations. A few thousand of the human survivors flee into space aboard any spacecraft they can reach. Of all the Colonial Fleet, the BSG appears to be the only military ship that survived the attack. Under the leadership of famed military leader Commander Adama, the Battlestar Galactica and its crew take up the task of leading the ragtag fugitive fleet of survivors into space in search of a fabled refuge known as Earth.

Battlestar Galactica Spoof

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:13:31 -0700

Fans of the TV series Battlestar Galactica will enjoy this spoof opening credits in the style of TV comedy series The Office.

Giant Squid in California

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:21:28 -0700

Teaser:
Old photo but here are Giant Squid in California

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Here's something I dug up from the Internet that's a little odd. Here are some giant squid found on California beaches back in the summer of 2002. Usually this jumbo squid, aka Humboldt squid or Dosidicus gigas is found along the Americas from Peru north to Baja California. However, warm water events such as El Niño can extend the range of these squid to Oregon. The first reported squid stranding was on July 18, 2002 at Swami's Beach in Encinitas, California, USA, where approximately 200 squid were found over a mile stretch of shore. Their mantle lengths ranged from 16 to 24 inches, and they weighed between 2 and 2.5 pounds. On July 25, several thousand squid beached themselves at La Jolla Shores (pictured above), about 15 miles north of San Diego. Scientists believe they squid were following prey, possibly grunion, a small fish, and washed ashore alive but were unable to get back into the water and died. City work crews were called to help remove tons of dead squid.

Car Bike Crash

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:07:07 -0700

Here is a picture of a car smashing into a group of bike riders. It looks like something out of a cartoon but this is in fact a true occurrence. The photograph shows a car ploughing into cyclists in a race along a highway near the US-Mexico border. One bicycle rider was killed while 10 were injured. The 28-year-old driver was apparently drunk and fell asleep when he crashed into the cyclists, said a police investigator, Jose Alfredo Rodriguez. The driver, Juan Campos, who said he was a US citizen living in Brownsville, has been charged with killing Alejandro Alvarez, 37, of Monterrey. Authorities said the accident happened just 15 minutes and 11 kilometres into the 34-kilometre race - billed as a family outing - on Monday morning along a highway between Playa Bagdad and Matamoros. The accident is similar to one involving the Australian women's cycling team in Germany in July 2005.