The woes of Microsoft Internet Explorer 6

For the past 15 minutes or so, I've been trying to embed a YouTube video into a blog entry, but this ruddy awful browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer 6) just keeps crashing!

I find myself wondering why iDivision (Our IT department here at work) didn't slipstream the latest stable release of Internet Explorer 7 into their recent rollout of a Windows XP SOE. If someone can think of a reason, please share it as I'm a little lost on this one :/



I DO have a portable version of Mozilla Firefox (an alternative to Internet Explorer) on my USB thumbdrive specifically for use on public terminals and I DO know of the proxy configuration here (go me!) but due to potential security hazards and software licensing issues, the use of non-approved software is forbidden. Ugh.

Now that I've had my whinge about it, I guess I'll just have to improvise and make do with IE...

Would you like Wi-Fi with that?

So I was at a McDonald's in town yesterday (the one in the Wintergarden Shopping Centre, to be precise) when I noticed a little sign on the order counter, "Free McDonald's Wi-Fi". I couldn't help but sit down with my laptop and give it a shot.

The first thing you are greeted with when you connect and open up your browser is a standard captive portal page, forcing you to accept the terms and conditions of access (McDonald's wont be held liable for anything, please dont abuse this service, blah blah blah) before being able to proceed with browsing.

Customers receive a 50mb data allowance per day, and the connection speed leaves much to be desired (YouTube = Awful), though it is enough to check e-mails and update one's self with the latest happenings in the news (yayyy?).

Me being the awesome geek that I am and all, I managed to use my 50mb allowance up in a period of 30 minutes but I used my uber-nerd powers to find a way around the data allowance :) It involves changing the wireless adapters network address (or "MAC address") to fool the router into thinking you are a new client!

I think that more places should offer their customers free Wi-Fi access, be it with or purchase or not. It's great incentive to stop by and grab a bite to eat/a coffee, and is very convenient! I wouldn't have eaten at McDonald's had it not been for the Wi-Fi ;)

Libraries in particular are ideal places to provide Wi-Fi access and it is great to see that Brisbane Square and a couple of other BCC libraries do provide this... BCC's internet is VERY FAST too, unlike the wireless provided by the State Library of QLD over at Southbank, which is SO SLOW it is near impossible to retrieve mail.

Screen 1:

Screen 2:


I hope you enjoyed reading and can make use of these services :)

Microsoft Technet!

Apparently the guys at the Microsoft TechNet Australia Blog are giving out a free polo shirt to anyone willing to 'bling up' their site/blog with some TechNet linkage...so here's my contribution! Hopefully linking to all 5 gives me extra credit? :)

(I highly recommend subscribing to the TechNet flash, it's quite informative)



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EDIT (5/12/08): I got my shirt, yayyyy! Thanks Microsoft TechNet! ... and people laughed at me for being a fanboy of an "evil" multi-billion dollar corporation. Hehe where's YOUR free shirts, Anti-Microsoft folk? ;)

My thoughts on Flickr

As part of one of the exercises of the 23Things program I am participating in, I was asked to search Flickr for "Brisbane City Council Library". I did just that and what I was saw didn't surprise me. Most photos were of the big Brisbane Square Library in town.

What did surprise me though was the amount of photos that were taken INSIDE of the library. The last time I tried to take a photo in there (just me and a friend hanging out and having some fun) a security guard accused me of being a terrorist! :( Anyway, that's beside the point of this blog post, I really do have a tendency to trail off-topic at time, so you'll have to excuse me.

I've found a favourite picture and with any luck, it will have embedded below:


An absolutely beautiful photo, I think. It really looks as if the warp engines are powering up and it's about to zip away into the night... Once upon a time, that was a sci-fi themed restaurant, the "Starship Pegasus". Oh how I would have loved to have gone!

Flickr is great and there are some great photos on there. Personally though I think I'll just stick to keeping my photos backed up on a good old fashioned CD-ROM and the worthy ones printed on paper. I prefer to use Facebook for sharing photos online, as my friends/family are notified when an album is created or new photos are uploaded to an existing one. Facebook also allows for better privacy.

My first blog entry.

This is a placeholder until I have something interesting to put in here.