Blame the propellerheads...

(2^8) + 1

2012-01-17T21:50:00.001+08:00

Intermediate Egret (Ardea intermedia, Lake Joondalup, Western Australia). Photograph has been cropped.

After attempting (and failing) to twitch the White Wagtail at Lake Gwelup, Alan Collins and myself checked out Lake Joondalup for the Intermediate Egret that was reported there. We found the bird relatively easily as it moved about on a large patch of weed/grass. This takes my life list to 257! Interestingly, in the last fortnight or so I have doubled the number of egret species I have seen (*).

* I had actually seen three egrets prior to adding the Cattle Egret and Intermediate Egret (I had forgotten about the Eastern Reef Egret). Thanks Alan!

Recent Bird Sightings

2012-01-08T21:05:00.004+08:00

Here are a few recent (and one not-so-recent) sightings:

Eastern Cattle Egret (finally at Lake Richmond, I have been looking for one of these for a while);
Broad-billed Sandpiper (in a flock of Red-necked Stint at Nairns);
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (a member of the long-established feral posse at Lake McLarty, not a very satisfying tick but a tick nonetheless);
Red Knot at Nairns (have seen these before but this was a fantastic view alongside Great Knot);
Gull-billed Tern at Karratha (seen a few years back but finally ID'd by photo).

The first four birds were seen on a Lake McLarty/Nairns area trip with Alan Collins and John Graff. This takes my life list (Western Australia & Australia) to 256 species. A nice, neat number for a nerd like me...

And I finally pass 250!

2011-12-29T21:09:00.001+08:00

Brown Songlark (Cincloramphus cruralis, near Wongan Hills, WA, Australia).

With the sighting of a Common Tern at Cape Lambert (identified by John Graff and Alan Collins via a series of photographs) and many Brown Songlarks at Wongan Hills I have finally passed the 250 bird mark for my Western Australia list. I am now on 251.

My Apple History

2011-10-08T20:29:00.003+08:00

With the passing of Steve Jobs, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the impact Apple Computers has had on me. Here is a rundown of my "main computer" Macs. I haven't included those acquired for my (rather out-of-control) collection.

It all started in the mid-1990s and involves playing the original version of Cyan's Myst with Simon Wright on his Apple clone (the brand was Umax if my memory serves me correctly). Simon and I used to prepare all our group assignments on this setup (he had a scanner and a printer as well I think). This got me hooked on all things Apple.
In the mid-1990s my folks bought us a second hand Apple Macintosh IIci (8MB/80MB) from Simon's Dad's work. It was fantastic. Mum and Dad then splashed out and bought a brand new StyleWriter 1200! I still have the IIci and StyleWriter. Years later I discovered the IIci had come with a Nubus ethernet card, making it even cooler. The IIci remains my favourite Apple product.
After a few years of University studies I purchased (for a ridiculously high price) a Performa 5400 (160MHz/32MB/1.6GB). Not one of my better decisions. I foolishly chose the higher clocked 603-based Mac over the slower clocked 604-based one. I bought my first (of many) boxed Mac OS version for the 5400 - Mac OS 8.5 (I updated to 8.6 by downloading all of the disk images over a 33.6 modem). I did get it to boot MkLinux from a 250MB Zip Disk (once).
Early in the piece I purchased (for about $500 I think) my first PowerBook, a PowerBook 150 (4MB/500MB). I sold it a few years later. I spent a while trying to find more RAM for it but had no luck at all. I now have a handful in my collection...
My next PowerBook was a PowerBook 1400 (133MHz/Passive Matrix Screen/40MB/1.3GB) and a PowerCD (as the 1400 had no internal CD drive). I sold the PowerBook a while later but have kept the PowerCD. I think I paid about $1400 for this. The 1400 also ran MkLinux briefly... Needless to say I have kept the reasonably rare and unusual AppleCD in my collection.
For the last few years of Uni I had a Lombard G3 PowerBook (400MHz/192MB/6GB) until upgrading to a brand new PowerBook G4 12" 1GHz (256GB/40GB). Later I upgraded the RAM to 768MB and the hard disk to 320GB. This is the only new Macintosh I have ever bought.
The latest upgrade (nearly three years ago now) was a second hand MacBook 2.16GHz (2GB/120GB). I later upgraded the hard disk to 320GB. I'm currently typing this post on it! It has been a good work horse.
I guess I should also include the iOS devices. I started with a 2nd Generation iPod Touch (8GB), followed with an iPhone 4 (16GB Black, I was a late adopter) and the latest acquisition has been an iPad 2 (Black/Wifi-only/16GB). They are incredible pieces of kit.

For the record I think it is perfectly normal to remember the specifications of all computers you have owned.

Bird List Anomalies

2011-08-18T11:47:00.001+08:00

There are a few anomalies in my birding list. I'm referring to families or groups of birds where I have seen a member that is rare (or difficult to find) yet I am missing "straightforward" members. Here are a few:

Terns: I have seen an Arctic Tern (a rare vagrant to Perth) yet I am yet to see a Bridled Tern or a Roseate Tern (both semi-regular along the coast near Perth);
Emu-wrens: I have seen a Rufous-crowned Emu-wren (apparently a potentially difficult bird to find) but not a Southern Emu-wren (relatively common along the south coast of WA);
Ducks: I have seen a Northern Pintail (the third record for WA - BARC accepted) but not a Freckled Duck (probably the hardest resident/regular duck to find in Perth but still... Northern Pintail?!?).

I am fortunate to have a group of very talented birding friends: these people are the source of most of my rarities and are fantastic companions when I do get out and about birding. One way or another they are all involved in the "rare" or difficult to find birds in the list above. I've just got to search out all the common birds missing on my list now...

Arctic Tern at Hillarys

2011-08-13T22:44:00.002+08:00

Bird number 248 on my life list is a successfully twitched Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) that has somehow found its way to Hillarys Boat Harbour. Arctic Terns are rare visitors here and this particular bird has been hanging around for most of the week. John Graff and I saw it in the late afternoon as it meandered its way around the harbour walls amongst the Silver Gulls. The bird was quite cooperative and performed several close flybys for us before perching on a jetty post.

I took a lot of photographs but the fading light (and weather closing in) has meant that not a lot are very sharp. Thankfully they are good enough for me to convince myself of what I am looking at! Below is the best photograph of a rather ordinary bunch that I took.

Only two more birds to go and I hit the magical 250!

iPad

2011-07-24T17:09:00.000+08:00

I now have an iPad (iPad 2 16GB/wifi/black to be precise). I am thoroughly impressed. A friend of mine has the first generation equivalent (so I knew roughly what I was getting into). I went with an STM cover as the Apple versions did not protect the back of the iPad (what on earth were they thinking?). The STM cover functions the same as Apple's with regards to unlocking/locking the iPad.

The only "additional" apps I have running on it at the moment are:

GoodReader, for reading PDFs (highly recommended);
Apple's Numbers, for managing my birding lists;
The Battle for Wesnoth (slowly learning how to play this);
YouVersion Bible.

I'm really enjoying having it with me on the (increasingly frequent) flights I am taking northward.

2011 WA AMRA Model Railway Exhibition

2011-06-29T21:35:00.003+08:00

Once again this event crept up on us: surely 12 months haven't elapsed since the last exhibition? As usual I attended twice, once with my father-in-law and children on the Saturday and once with a friend (who is also into model railways) on the Sunday. According to the brochure this is the 35th such exhibition.

While the number of exhibitors and vendors seemed the same as previous years the floor space had increased significantly (this year both the Robinson Pavilion and the Silver Jubilee Pavilion were used). This was great news as it made navigating the crowds with small children a little easier. Popular exhibits with the children included anything with Thomas the Tank Engine in it....

My favourite layout by a fair margin was "Avalon", a British N gauge layout. We saw this layout as a "work in progress" last year and were very impressed. Running were a variety of steam and early diesel locomotives (mostly Graham Farish as far as I could tell).

Another highlight was the "Northern Districts Model Engineering" display. This included a ride-on train that we all enjoyed and some fairly impressive large scale locomotives.

Study Rearrangement

2011-05-07T23:43:00.002+08:00

I have just finished rearranging the study (again). The motivation this time around was to make the model train layout more accessible to me (and the kids of course - Declan has been complaining he can't see trains). It now sits approximately one metre off the ground and (when I clear out some stuff) is accessible on three of the four sides (including both "long" sides). The study is quite a high use room: anything of any value that we want to keep the kids from damaging tends to get stored here. My laptop is in the study, as is Kylie's G5 iMac, the printer, the ADSL modem and network switch and so on and so forth. The study is now much easier to access and egress.

The only downside of the movements was that a track section switch on the train layout was destroyed by the door frame. Thankfully I had a spare and was able to solder (with only minimal burning of flesh) a replacement in situ.

Class 14 and Class 20 Diesels

2011-04-26T23:04:00.006+08:00

New birds in the Pilbara (for me)

2011-04-13T22:37:00.003+08:00

In the space of one week I managed to find:

A group of Crimson Chats (at least 6) in the area around Wickham (mentioned in my previous post);
A Masked Lapwing (northern form, race miles) at the Karratha sewage ponds (near the Gap Ridge Camp);
A Spinifexbird in the area near Roebourne.

All three are lifers for me and take my total to 245!

Belated update of sorts

2011-03-18T14:53:00.006+08:00

Well, so much for my plans to update this blog more often... Life has been busy so here is a quick summary:

I am working away regularly again, splitting my time between jobs at the Rio Tinto ports at Dampier and Cape Lambert.
The model train layout is progressing, albeit slowly. I am now starting to consider building an OO gauge layout to run the Wrenn rolling stock I have been acquiring of late. If I were a betting man I would put money on the era being early British diesel (LMS).
I am slowly getting though all of the home maintenance jobs that have accumulating over the last few months. Still have plenty to keep me busy though.
Birding has been good. Trips north have allowed me to pick up birds like Western Bowerbird, Black-necked Stork, Eastern Curlew and most recently Crimson Chat. Haven't had the time to do as much birding as I would like (especially around Perth, I have missed twitching a few "easy" ones like Chestnut Teal and Cattle Egret). My life list (Australia/WA) is currently at 243. Only 7 more and I hit 250!
My G4 Mac Mini is now hosting a development website (via MAMP) allowing me to develop and test a new Birds WA sightings page. The project is coming together nicely (but too slowly).
For those of you interesting in birding, may a I recommend the following blog published by some friends of mine: Leeuwin Current Birding.
I have purchased an Australian reptile field guide and am in the process of working out what reptiles (monitors mainly) I have taken photographs of in the Pilbara. Stay tuned for some updates on this theme.
Oh and the iPad 2 has been announced.... drool....

Class 25 Diesel

2011-01-06T14:43:00.006+08:00

Weathered Graham Farish Class 25 Diesel (this is the locomotive mentioned in the last post,
click on the photo to see a larger version)

Graham Farish Class 25 Repairs (split chassis type)

2011-01-04T10:17:00.007+08:00

I finally repaired my N gauge Graham Farish Class 25 Diesel locomotive. I took it apart when it first arrived and would not run (in this instance I think a wire had come loose). Apparently I didn't put it back together quite right. What I neglected to do was to make sure all of the copper conducting tabs (between the bogies and the chassis) were below the chassis (and therefore able to maintain a conducting contact) and not captured inside. It turns out that the locomotive will run reasonably well with one of the four tabs out of place but will stall on bends. If by some chance you have made the same mistake as me you may find you need to bend these tabs slightly with a small screwdriver to restore contact.

Birding Lifelist Update

2010-12-20T12:13:00.001+08:00

My Australian lifelist (which is my WA lifelist as I haven't birded in any other states) is sitting at 239.

I was aiming to hit 250 by the end of this year (and may very well have come close had the Rottnest trip paid off and had I survived the Twitchathon*) but I'm still happy with my progress.

Thanks to Alan I finally got a decent look at a Square-tailed Kite (whilst driving down the hill from Lesmurdie, apparently this is a regular haunt). Also finally sorted out the three Corellas that inhabit the Perth environs. I have half decent pictures of all three now.

Some birds that are in my immediate target list:

Little Grassbird (heard them a few times but really want a good look);
Cattle Egret (they are around, I really need to see them in full breeding plumage);
Royal Spoonbill (rapidly becoming a bogey-bird, Mandurah area may be my best bet);
Red-browed Finch (I know they are a feral population but I still would like to see them);
Chestnut Teal (I'm now double-checking all the Grey Teal I see);
Bridled Tern (perhaps a trip to Penguin Island is in order);
Masked Lapwing (there seems to be a couple each year that show up in the extended metropolitan area).

* - I retired sick early Sunday morning with a bout of what turned out to be tonsillitis. It was a shame as The Big Twits went on to see 152 birds in the 24 hour race and claim the title!

Return from intermission

2010-11-25T20:27:00.005+08:00

I have come to the realisation that it has been almost two months since I have posted anything on this blog. Apologies to my dedicated readers for the unscheduled hiatus.

The last two months have unfortunately been dominated by work. I had hoped to reduce the amount of site time I was doing but have found it steadily increasing. In an effort to stay in Perth more often I am taking on more managerial roles, something that I am not too comfortable with to be honest. I am, however, grateful to have a job.

Computer-wise, not a lot has changed. Kylie has a "new" iMac G5 (replacing her eMac G4 which was becoming decidedly long in the tooth). I haven't added much to the computer collection (I think a complete Apple IIC was the last acquisition). Recent Apple announcements have been a roller-coaster of emotions for me: the new MacBook Air looks awesome (the 11 inch model in particular) but why oh why have they canned the Xserve?

The model train layout I have been building for the last year or so is progressing nicely. The under-board wiring has been neatened up and more work on the scenery completed. I have also started to fix the location of buildings. Still a very long way to go but I'm not sure I ever want this project to end...

The last few months have been fantastic for me with regards to birding. The highlight was a trip to Neale Junction with Martin Cake and John Graff. You can read the trip report here. It was a fantastic adventure into an area that I have never travelled before. Already there are plans to go back. In all I got 17 lifers.

Model Train Layout Progress Update

2010-09-09T22:00:00.004+08:00

IMG_5590, originally uploaded by gjhmac.

I am slowly making progress with the modifications and improvements to my British N Gauge model train layout. My previous attempt at a branch line has been dismantled (I salvaged any useful parts) and I have added a more sensible and carefully constructed branch line (with storage sidings).

As can be seen from the above photograph I have painted the horizontal "rails" on all of the buffer stops - as far as I can tell (from a few Google image searches) this is the colour they should be. Eventually I will paint the wooden uprights and the stone ballasting as well.

From the point of view of locomotives and rolling stock I may have reached the point where I have everything I want/need. In fact you could probably argue I reached this point a few months back... Anyway, the latest additions are running very well. I am particularly happy with the new Graham Farish Class 08 shunter - it is a work of art (and it doesn't stall on my points when running very slowly like the older version).

Declan and the trains

2010-09-03T22:10:00.004+08:00

IMG_5579, originally uploaded by gjhmac.

Declan REALLY enjoys watching the trains run in the study. Surprisingly he doesn't break much or try and touch the trains as they pass. The only problem is that it is difficult to get all three of them in the room at once watching trains (and none of them like to be left out when there are trains running). Of course I can fix this problem by building my dream layout in the shed....

BirdSight Australia has been updated to version 1.8

2010-08-14T22:10:00.008+08:00

The iPhone and iPod Touch application BirdSight Australia has just been updated to version 1.8.

The good news is:

The upgrade keeps all of your previous sightings (so don't stress about upgrading and losing all of your precious sightings that you haven't backed up because the process is too tedious);
The location data entry form allows Google maps (if you have Internet access obviously);
You can cache Wikipedia articles locally. This sounds like an awesome feature that I must try out.

The bad news is:

The App now has a 17+ rating (why?);
The main view of lists of sightings show the same information twice (once in a large black font and the again immediately below in a smaller grey font) EDIT - this behaviour is just for existing sightings made with the previous version - new sightings now show site and date/time on the main page (which is actually good news);
The apostrophe bug I mentioned earlier is still present;
If you click "Share Data" in an observation and then click "Cancel" the App crashes completely.

There is so much that could be done to improve this App. I guess the underlying good news is that someone is working on it again. Hopefully it'll get better. This is still the only App I have ever paid for.

Train Layout Progress

2010-08-13T13:47:00.005+08:00

I have been spending some time tinkering with the train layout lately. I find it relaxing at the end of the day. Here is a summary of the work in progress and completed:

I have completely removed the rather badly installed branch line track and started replacing it with a more professionally installed set of sidings and a small station. It is still a branch line but it only connects to the main line at a single junction. Eventually I plan to run separate power supplies to the main and branch lines to allow for the operation of two trains simultaneously (one train could run a continuous loop and the other perform shunting duties).
I have started improving the scenic elements of the layout. I still have lots of work to do here. I am finding the wall plastering putty to be quite useful in creating rock shapes. I am also starting to ballast areas of the track but I am less confident with that.
I have repaired the buffers (again) on the old Class 37 Diesel. I still have to finish painting the blue and yellow Class 31 and work out why the Class 08 shunter is misbehaving. The Class 08 shunter needs fixing as soon as possible - it's Cameron's favourite. The Class 31 was painted but I was unhappy with the result so have started again. I also discovered it could be taken apart - a fact that makes the paint job much easier!
As a result of these upgrades I still have a fair amount of wiring left to do. Time to get the soldering iron out again...

Northern Pintail

2010-07-29T11:41:00.004+08:00

Northern Pintail (IMG_5545), originally uploaded by gjhmac.

Definitely the biggest sighting in my birding life - a female Northern Pintail at Erskine Lakes (near Mandurah, WA, Australia). Many thanks to John Graff for finding it on the day - we were there looking for a Royal Spoonbill. Apparently this bird is the third recorded Northern Pintail for Western Australia.

Apple 17" LCD Studio Display

2010-06-29T21:09:00.002+08:00

Just scored a working and complete Apple 17" LCD/ADC Studio Display for the princely sum of $2.25. Currently paired with my Mac Cube and working very nicely. The Cube has the RAM maxed out at 1.5GB, making this quite a nice little setup.

Another rambling update...

2010-06-27T21:07:00.005+08:00

Here's an insight into what I have been up to recently:

Started basketball training again (with the intention to play a season on a team). I really need the exercise...
Still tinkering with model trains. I'm in the process of re-doing a whole heap of track work I did earlier in the year (or late last year) that I'm not entirely happy with. Contemplated (briefly) a new, much larger N gauge layout but decided to continue with the one I have been working on. Still acquiring random trains/rolling stock/buildings and other miscellanea. Lots of fun.
Not bird-watching/photographing anywhere near as much as I would like. Don't like my chances of reaching 250 species by the end of the year (currently sitting on 215).
I have finally delved back into Mac programming. Just working on a simple project to start with but hopefully things will ramp up once I get familiar with it again. Seriously liking the new version of Xcode.
Still working (probably too much). Got to pay the bills somehow. While the downturn means less project work it does mean we are putting together a lot more quotations and proposals.

Road Trip

2010-06-01T11:14:00.010+08:00

A recent drive from Perth to Karratha yielded four new birds for my lifelist:

White-eared Honeyeater (Lichenostomus leucotis);
Little Crow (Corvus bennetti);
Torresian Crow (Corvus orru);
Mangrove Grey Fantail (Rhipidua phasiana).

Separating the two crows required a fair amount of preparation (as far as I can see they look identical). I had located some mp3s of the calls of both of these birds (and also the Australian Raven for good measure) and loaded them onto my iPod touch. This enabled me to compare the live call to a few typical calls on the iPod. Thankfully the crows cooperated and treated me to textbook renditions of their voices.

I did the drive to help my brother-in-law Wes get his car back up to Karratha (he works up there at the moment).

View Larger Map

Google Maps reports this trip as 1,547 kilometres. These four birds take the life list to 215.

Rottnest Island Birding Trip

2010-05-04T21:29:00.006+08:00

On Saturday May 1st 2010 three of us (John Graff, Mark Newman and myself) headed to Fremantle to catch the ferry to Rottnest Island. We departed at 0730 and returned at 1645. The weather was overcast for most of the day. Our targets were the Rottnest specialties (Peafowl, Common Pheasant, Rock Parrot) as well as any waders or seabirds that happened to turn up.

We dipped out on Rock Parrot and Peafowl but had good sightings of both male and female Common Pheasant. We suspect that the Peafowl may have been culled out of existence (or any that are left are hiding really well). Given how common they used (and the fact that they stand out like a sore thumb) this is unusual. The following is my list for the day (Common Pheasant being my only lifer):

Common Pheasant;
Galah;
Welcome Swallow;
White-browed Scrubwren;
Red-capped Robin;
Silver Gull;
Silvereye;
Crested Tern;
Pied Cormorant;
Australian Raven;
Australian Shelduck;
Singing Honeyeater;
Brown Skua;
Laughing Dove;
Spotted Dove;
Eastern Osprey;
Australian Pelican;
Ruddy Turnstone;
Australian Magpie;
Caspian Tern;
White-fronted Chat;
Red-necked Stint;
Black-winged Stilt;
Grey Plover;
Banded Lapwing;
Pacific Black Duck;
Grey Teal;
Spotless Crake;
Australian Pied Oystercatcher;
Nankeen Kestrel;
Red-necked Avocet;
Australasian Gannet.

The Common Pheasant takes my list to 211 (bird 210 was a Wood Sandpiper that I photographed and needed a second opinion).

Red-capped Robin

2010-05-02T21:40:00.001+08:00

IMG_5331, originally uploaded by gjhmac.

Red-capped Robin (Petroica goodenovii, Rottnest Island, WA, Australia).

Review of iPod Touch Software I Use

2010-04-29T21:48:00.006+08:00

BirdSight AU (Natural Guides, LLC) - the only app I have paid for, unfortunately it cannot handle any strings with apostrophes in it (ie. Thomson's Lake, a fairly basic bug in a database app I would of thought), otherwise this is a good app, would be better if there was a way to get all of the sightings out of it in one email (as opposed to one "observation" collection at a time);
Files lite (Olive Toast) - does what it does perfectly, highly recommended, I am seriously considering buying the full version;
Mactracker (Ian Page) - awesome, highly recommended, very slick interface;
TouchCalc (Alexander Clauss) - very good, I use it regularly;
To Do's (AustinBull Software) - basic ToDo app, does what it needs to do well;
Sudoku (Mighty Mighty Good Games) - addictive;
Solitaire (MobilityWare) - very good fun.

Upgrading to Snow Leopard

2010-04-13T22:35:00.003+08:00

I have finally gotten around to updating the MacBook to Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6). Just running the Software Updates now (thank goodness we have decent broadband). I've still got to install some applications and copy across all my data but so far so good.

Also took the opportunity to upgrade the 120GB HDD to a 320GB HDD. Compared to the 12" G4 PowerBook HDD changeout procedure the process was trivial (take battery out, remove panel fixed with 3 screws, pull HDD sled out, replace disk, put everything back together). This future-proofs my MacBook for at least a few years (hopefully).

Birds #208 and #209

2010-04-11T21:32:00.004+08:00

After the somewhat unsuccessful Cheynes Beach trip I had good birding day on Saturday picking up two new species:

On the BAWA walk at Woodman Point we saw Arctic Jaegers (Stercorarius parasiticus) - thanks to the crew that ran this walk! The majority of the jaegers kept very high up but a few passed by at low altitudes offering great views.
As the walk finished mid-morning I headed on to Herdsman Lake with John Graff and we located a pair of Red-kneed Dotterels (Erythrogonys cinctus). Thanks John!

I didn't get any photographs of these - too focused on getting a good view of them. I don't like my chances of hitting 250 by the end of 2010 (we are in April already) but I'm going to give it a shot anyway.

Rainbow Bee-eater

2010-04-05T21:46:00.002+08:00

IMG_5187, originally uploaded by gjhmac.

Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus, Dampier, WA, Australia).

Recent (Apple) Purchases

2010-04-04T21:46:00.003+08:00

No, I haven't gone and bought an iPad. They do look good though...

Just picked up a copy of Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) and one of the wired (USB) Apple keyboards with a full number pad. I'm using the keyboard now and it is awesome. Very minimal yet almost impossibly sturdy. Snow Leopard will be installed on the MacBook when I get the chance. I'm going to do a full (format the disk) install so it could take a while to get everything up and running again.

A positive story about ISPs and Telcos

2010-03-13T12:28:00.005+08:00

Recently we upgraded our Internet connection to TPG ADSL 2+. This was an effortless transaction with TPG providing good progress feedback and the required modem/router settings.

Our house has always had a very noisy telephone line (to the point of making it difficult to hear the other person in a conversation) so the ADSL connection had issues from the start. Connections would drop out after a few minutes and take multiple retries to re-connect (and then drop out anyway). The best connection we had would have been less than an hour in duration. Having inspected some of the internal telephone wiring in the house I wasn't convinced the problem was with the Telstra side of the wiring (Telstra provide our home telephone line).

At this point I was spending a fair amount of time away with work and didn't get a chance to look at the issue any further. TPG telephoned us (without me contacting them) and said that they had noticed the connection dropping out and suggested a few configuration changes. They also speed limited the connection in an attempt to increase uptime. Needless to say I was very impressed (I knew at this stage TPG were not at fault).

After talking to TPG I lodged a line quality complaint with Telstra. This was a bit of a gamble on my part as if the problem was on our side Telstra would charge a $405 callout fee and I would have to get an Austel electrician to look at the house (costing hundreds more). Telstra came out two days early (I was staggered at this) and fixed the fault in the line at the street a few houses down. The technician was very polite and everything was sorted in an hour or two. We now had a crystal clear phone line!

A quick email to TPG and a modem reboot removed the speed limit on the line and the ADSL hasn't dropped out since! Given the horror stories that circulate on the Internet regarding Internet service providers and telo-communications companies I thought it would be good to share a positive story.

Black-faced Woodswallow

2010-03-02T10:45:00.002+08:00

IMG_4753, originally uploaded by gjhmac.

Black-faced Woodswallow (Artamus cinereus, Dampier, WA, Australia).

This is one of the first photographs I took with my "new" Sigma 170-500mm 5-6.3 APO DG lens. Needless to say I am very happy.

Beach Stone-curlew at Dampier

2010-02-10T08:39:00.005+08:00

IMG_5000, originally uploaded by gjhmac.

Beach Stone-curlew (Esacus neglectus, Dampier, WA, Australia). Now I have seen both the Bush and Beach Stone-curlews at Dampier - another lifer!

I have turned on the image verification security feature for the comments on this blog as I seem to be getting a fair amount of spam posts. At least someone is reading my blog I guess...

Brown Falcon at Miaree Pool

2010-02-10T08:33:00.004+08:00

IMG_4933, originally uploaded by gjhmac.

Brown Falcon (Falco berigora, Miaree Pool, WA, Australia). Another lifer for me!

Rocks near Miaree Pool, WA, Australia.

2010-01-07T12:14:00.002+08:00

IMG_4614, originally uploaded by gjhmac.

Rocks near Miaree Pool, WA, Australia. There was a reasonably large rain front coming through too, hence the cloudy sky.

Birding targets for 2010

2009-12-28T21:02:00.003+08:00

For 2009 my target was to increase my life list to 200+. It is currently sitting on 202 and will remain there unless something unusual appears locally...

For 2010 I am aiming to pass 250 - this should prove quite a challenge! A few of the target species are below:

Common Pheasant and Indian Peafowl - going to have to take a day trip to Rottnest Island for these. Should also be able to pick up Rock Parrot and a wader or two hopefully as well.
Noisy Scrub-bird/Western Bristlebird/Western Whipbird (a.k.a. the Big Three) - we are planning two trips to Cheynes Beach in 2010 so hopefully I can see these birds.
White-browed Babbler (the first of many "inland from the metropolitan area" birds I want to see.
Stubble Quail/Little Button-quail/Painted Button-quail - so far all quail apart from the Brown variety have eluded me.
Cuckoos (generally). I have seen a few but should be seeing a lot more...
Miscellaneous honeyeaters.

Please note that by targets I mean that I want to see and photograph these birds, not shoot them...

Grey-crowned Babbler

2009-12-26T22:34:00.004+08:00

Bird number 202 on my life list is the Grey-crowned Babbler. I found a group of about 4 of them creating a ruckus amongst the trees on the edge of the Maitland River at Miaree Pool (near Karratha, WA, Australia). The name is descriptive on all counts.

It is worth noting that I have taken a bird off my list. The more I talk to other birders the more I realise that the Mute Swans at Northam aren't really a free, breeding population anymore. Perhaps at some stage in the future they may be (again) but given that they are introduced I'm not too fussed.

BAWA Twitchathon 2009

2009-12-21T21:48:00.002+08:00

The BirdsWA Twitchathon was held over the 12-13 December 2009.

I was a member of The Big Twits - other members were Martin Cake, John Graff and Alan Collins (all seriously good birders). I have learned a lot from these guys.

The event was a great experience - I added 12 species to my life list including (but not limited to):

Little Penguin (swimming in the ocean, not at Penguin Island);
Jacky Winter (Dryandra Forrest);
Nankeen Night Heron (at Herdsman Lake).

We finished 3rd with 139 species in the 24 hour race. First place had 149 species, second place had 143 species.

New gadget/early Christmas present

2009-12-15T09:39:00.004+08:00

I recently picked up my own Christmas present - a 3rd Generation 8GB iPod Touch. So far I have been very impressed. Current apps that I like are:

BirdSight AU (pretty good, could do with some extra features like lumping/splitting);
Convert Units (does the job well);
Holy Bible;
Mactracker (very good for a computer collector);
TouchCalc;
Sudoku (great apart from the fact that it tells you when you have placed a number incorrectly, which makes the game much easier than a paper version);
To Do (basic To Do list manager);
File lite (superb application that allows files to be stored on the iPod Touch and viewed).

All of the above are free (apart from BirdSight AU).

I also purchased a Belkin leather case and screen protector for it.

Bird #187

2009-11-09T15:05:00.002+08:00

Bird number 187 on my life list is the Black-tailed Native-hen.

I saw a single bird at the Peninsula Ornamental Gardens in Maylands after a tipoff from the Birds WA sightings page. On two consecutive days I located the bird within 5 metres of the same spot. It seems to prefer foraging along the scrub/lawn edge where it can quickly duck for cover if disturbed.

Thanks to Peter Clifton for finding it!

More model train photos

2009-10-28T13:50:00.002+08:00

Peco N gauge Shell/BP Petrol Tanker.

Graham Farish N gauge Class 47 (number 47635).

Mac mini Server

2009-10-21T14:57:00.003+08:00

I think this is a really cool idea - a Mac mini with dual HDDs (no optical drive) and a copy of Snow Leopard Server. If only they had 2.5" HDDs bigger than 500GB.

I also think Apple should have dropped a few of the USB2.0 ports and added a second gigabit ethernet port (although that would have required a motherboard change, the second HDD just requires the internal adapter and case to be modified).

Still - very cool. If I only had the spare cash...

The Burrup again...

2009-10-20T22:25:00.000+08:00

I really like this photo - I took it while on the Painted Finch and Rock Art "expedition" I mentioned earlier.

Formatting drives in 2.5 inch external enclosures

2009-10-18T21:27:00.006+08:00

I have a somewhat generic BlueEye O2 USB2.0/FW400 2.5" external drive enclosure. I was recently trying to format some older laptop drives (2.5" PATA) and discovered that the "erase" and "partition" options in Disk Utility (Mac OS X 10.5.5 version) always fail when I was connecting using USB but work fine when connecting using FireWire. The error message is along the lines of I/O error or something. I'm sure glad my MacBook has FireWire...

I wonder whether this is a limitation of the BlueEye chipset or the Disk Utility software. I really should upgrade 10.5.5 to 10.5.8 too...

Oh my!

2009-10-08T15:27:00.001+08:00

It's October already?

Nothing much happening besides work really...

Burrup Peninsula, Dampier, Western Australia

2009-09-20T20:16:00.002+08:00

Took this photo when I went looking for Aboriginal rock art and Painted Finches. Didn't find any Painted Finches but saw and photographed some impressive rock art.

Sigh...

2009-09-18T12:32:00.002+08:00

From my office window I can see a pair of Australian Wood Ducks with a duckling in tow. They have been roaming around the park across the road for the past few days. What a nice life...

Updated (again) Planes to Karratha

2009-09-02T19:48:00.003+08:00

The Embraer E-Jets E-190 is the latest addition to the list...

A bit of an update

2009-08-05T22:33:00.003+08:00

It has been a while since I have blogged anything so here is a bit of an update:

Work has been insane (both in terms of difficulty and work load) recently, so much for the downturn (I guess that is a good thing for me);
Went on my second pelagic bird watching trip (both have been off Hillarys in Western Australia), added two new birds to my life list but felt quite seasick...
The model trains have been going well - starting to clean up sections of ugly wiring, fix dodgy sections of track etc. Adding bits and pieces to the collection (most of it second hand). Starting to work on the scenery a bit too.

Yellow-nosed Albatross (Diomedea (Thalassarche) chlororhynchos, race bassi).

SBS Ashes Coverage

2009-07-12T11:43:00.002+08:00

I have been really enjoying the SBS Ashes coverage (although I have been only watching the first few hours of each day). The three Australian hosts have been entertaining and the Sky commentators in Wales have been excellent.

The only unusual aspect of the SBS coverage has been the advertisement breaks. Each one starts with a glimpse of one ad followed by a completely different ad played in full. Has anyone else noticed this? Is the first ad a mistake? Or is it a new subliminal advertising scheme because enough of the first ad is shown for you to know what it is?

You've got to love the Newton community...

2009-07-05T13:28:00.002+08:00

Check this link out - the Apple Newton fights on!

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/06/impending-newton-y2k10-apocalypse-narrowly-averted.ars

I really need to get my Newton 2100 out and apply the patch - I now have my PowerMac 7500 set up as a dock for the Newton(s).

Late afternoon at the Zig-Zag

2009-07-04T15:13:00.000+08:00

Kalamunda, WA, Australia.

Awesome birding at Flynn Road

2009-06-21T21:22:00.002+08:00

I spent Saturday morning bird-watching with the BAWA crew at Flynn Road (The Lakes). I added seven birds to my life list, taking the total to 184. Here are the new additions:

Elegant Parrot (Neophema elegans);
Dusky Woodswallow (Artamus cyanopterus);
Yellow-plumed Honeyeater (Lichenostomus ornatus);
Crested (Western) Shrike-tit (Falcunculus leucogaster);
Restless Flycatcher (Myiagra inquieta);
Varied Sittella (Daphoenositta chrysoptera);
Hooded Robin (Melanodryas cucullata).

It rained on and off for most of the morning but it was definitely worth it. While we could only locate a female Hooded Robin, close examination of the photographs confirmed it's identity. This means I have now seen all five robins that frequent the south-west of Australia. The Crested Shrike-tit and the Restless Flycatcher were seen in close proximity near the spot we stopped for morning tea. With the assistance of Steve I located a group of Varied Sittellas working the bark of a tree over and got some very good views (and some photos that, while not brilliant, confirm the identity).

Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo

2009-06-11T12:50:00.000+08:00

Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites basalis, Karratha, WA, Australia).

New to the list

2009-06-05T13:36:00.003+08:00

Over the last week or so I have added three new birds to my life-list:

Rufous Treecreeper (Climacteris rufa) - seen on the Wungong/Bungendore BirdsWA walk - thanks to those who found it;
Western Thornbill (Acanthiza inornata) - I have seen these before but I can now reliably identify them thanks to John Graff;
Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites basalis) - I found a single bird on the beach at Karratha - it was either exhausted or hiding from birds of prey as it was content to let me approach quite close.

This take the life list to 177 - my aim is to pass 200 by the end of the year.

Track layout complete (for the time being)

2009-05-23T22:54:00.002+08:00

After many hours of tinkering the track layout of my N-gauge model railway is complete. The new sections aren't powered yet but a few hours with the soldering iron should sort that out. I have also taken the opportunity to add some extra lighting.

The layout features:

11 turn outs (or points) - all are Peco electrofrog;
7 sidings (of varying lengths, 5 can be isolated to park locomotives);
3 tunnel mouths (1 double width, 2 single);
2 station platforms (may be more to come);
3 "loop" paths.

Package from Hattons

2009-05-21T12:48:00.003+08:00

This is the package from Hattons. The order was placed on 01/05/2009, it was packed in the UK on 07/05/2009 and it arrived in Perth (Australia) on 12/05/2009. Everything was intact and exactly as I ordered. This was a test order to see how things went - I will be ordering some more significant stuff from them sometime soon.

Rain!

2009-05-21T12:33:00.000+08:00

Finally, some rain. And not just a light shower...

Class 50

2009-05-05T15:47:00.003+08:00

Class 50 (50004) Graham Farish (N gauge).

Dynamics of birding

2009-04-30T12:15:00.004+08:00

I find it amusing how it will often take me a long time to find a particular bird for the first time, yet once I have found it I seem to find them everywhere. This has happened with:

Australasian Pipits (saw my first near Dampier recently, have now seen them 2 minutes from the office in an area I had looked before);
Western Spinebills (first seen in Pinnaroo a few years back, we now have a family of them frequenting the backyard);
Australian Reed-Warblers (seen first on a BAWA walk, now I see them in the reeds everywhere);
Brown Honeyeaters (for years I thought they were small Singing Honeyeaters);
Common Greenshanks (seen first on a BAWA walk, now I see them all the time in Dampier).

I suspect that the same will happen with the Little Grassbird and a few other conspicuous absentees from my list.

Help name my layout

2009-04-26T00:04:00.002+08:00

My N-gauge model train layout is progressing well. I spent a few hours tonight wiring block switches and covering foam with plaster-of-paris strips for the tunnel section. The layout is predominantly 1970s-1980s British diesel but also tends to have anything else that catches my eye...

I think the layout needs a name (most others around the place, especially those on the web, are named). Therefore, if you are reading this (I think at least a few people read this?) and have a suggestion please comment. Thanks!

Progress?

2009-04-24T14:52:00.002+08:00

"Trying" to transfer the firmware off a NOE card using Modbus. This was going to take over 12 days...

A few new birds for the list

2009-04-13T16:19:00.004+08:00

Australasian Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae), seen in the Dampier and Karratha area;
Horsfield's Bushlark (Mirafra javanica), seen in the Dampier and Karratha area;
Purple-crowned Lorikeet (Glossopsitta porphyrocephala), seen at both Gnowangerup and Wagin;

The list is now at ~~173~~ 174.

Class 31

2009-03-22T17:40:00.001+09:00

Class 31 (31421) Graham Farish (N gauge).

Class 08

2009-03-20T11:36:00.002+09:00

Class 08 (13365) Graham Farish (N gauge).

A rather rambling update

2009-03-17T10:44:00.006+09:00

It has been a while since I have posted here - so here goes:

Added a few new birds to my life list - most notably a pair of Bush Stone-curlews (Burhinus grallarius) seen on the road to East Intercourse Island in Dampier in the middle of the night (I was on night shift, not going for a midnight twitch);
Work on my British N Gauge model railway is progressing well (tunnels are under construction, some buildings have been added). The locomotive and rolling stock collection is growing also (I have three Graham Farish locomotives: a Class 08, a Class 31 and a Class 37);
I seem to be continually adding Macs (in particular iMacs) to the collection - thanks Alex! Thankfully I have a shed...

Edit: Changed Beach Stone-curlew to Bush Stone-curlew after consultation with experts.

Western Wattlebird

2009-02-24T14:45:00.001+09:00

Western Wattlebird (Anthochaera lunulate , Wireless Hill Park, WA, Australia). This bird is endemic to Western Australia.

Going with British Diesel

2009-02-21T21:42:00.009+09:00

With the acquisition of a Graham Farish BR Class 37 Diesel (37035), I have made the decision to go with British Diesel on my N-gauge model railway.

There are a lot of reasons to go for American locomotives (reliability and availability being the biggest two) but for some reason I am attracted to the British locomotives. At some point in the not-to-distant future I may add a shunter to my fleet (probably a Graham Farish one again).

As it turns out, my daughter Olivia (who loves playing trains) has taken a strong disliking to the Class 37 locomotive. Kylie (my wife) thinks it looks like a slug...

(edit: Kylie claims she called it a caterpillar).

Decisions, decisions...

2009-02-14T23:00:00.003+09:00

So, I now have a partially constructed N-gauge model railway. It is now time to start considering what locomotives and rolling stock to run. The question is: English or American?

I am leaning towards English (mainly diesel) at the moment. I like the locomotives more and I can run small consists with some degree of realism (running an American diesel with three box cars just doesn't look right). There are other prototypes out there (Japanese is one that comes to mind) but I don't have much knowledge and experience with them.

A quick tip found out the hard way: I'm sure it has uses but Flex-track is a real pain. Set-track is much nicer to work with (just a little more expensive).

Thomsons Lake Crakes

2009-01-21T14:38:00.006+09:00

Went to Thomsons Lake last week with Martin Cake for a bit of a look.
With Martin's expertise we saw all three of the common crakes for the area:

Baillon's Crake (Porzana pusilla);
Australian Spotted Crake (Porzana fluminea);
Spotless Crake (Porzana tabuensis).

They were all seen in the typha at the southern end within a few metres of each other!
Also seen was a tiger snake and a feral fox (inside the perimeter fence at the northern end of the lake).

Red-eared Firetail

2009-01-14T11:19:00.005+09:00

My first new sighting for the year!

Red-eared Firetail (Stagnopleura oculata) - a small group (about 4) seen at Lesmurdie Falls. I managed to take some photographs but they were for identification only.

Lesmurdie Falls is local to me now - the birding there is quite good. There is still a fair bit of water flowing and most of the (unburnt) vegetation is thick and green. Also seen:

Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides);
Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens);
Common Bronzewing (Phaps chalcoptera).

New (to me) MacBook

2009-01-12T22:08:00.003+09:00

I am now the proud owner of a 2.16GHz C2D MacBook (2GB RAM, 120GB HDD, SuperDrive). I purchased it locally. It is my first Intel Mac (and at the moment I have skipped the G5's completely). I haven't used it for long enough to form an opinion but so far I am impressed.

Google Picasa for the Mac!

2009-01-07T11:10:00.002+09:00

The good news is that it finally exists, albeit in beta form. (1)
The bad news is that it is for Intel Macs only. (2)

(1) Not a big problem really, after all Gmail is still in beta and that works fine.
(2) Mainly an issue because I don't have an Intel Mac.

Hot rod 7500

2009-01-05T22:18:00.002+09:00

I have finally finished building (I think) my hot rod Power Mac 7500. It has:

256MB of RAM (using 4 of the 8 slots in case I find some more 64MB sticks);
An IBM 18GB SCSI disk;
A PowerLogix PowerForce G3 350/175/512K G3 (Spartan) upgrade card running at 300MHz;
A fairly generic USB 1.1 PCI card;
An Apple Fast Ethernet 10/100 Base-T PCI card;
An iXMicro Ultimate Rez Twin Turbo 128 PCI graphics card;
An AppleVision 1710 Display.

Everything else (floppy and CD drive) is stock. It runs Mac OS 8.6 like lightning.

Very Shallow Blue

2009-01-05T11:19:00.003+09:00

I can now beat the chess program (Apple Chess) that ships with Mac OS X (as long as the computer is set to the easiest mode). I think it is time to start cranking it up a bit... Most of the time I can beat the computer using less than 40 moves. Sometimes it takes me up to 60 (which is not a good thing).

Also found this site - MacChess - Dedicated to chess on Mac.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T12:15:00.001+09:00

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Playing Chess

2008-12-23T11:39:00.004+09:00

I have started to play chess again (for the first time in many years). I am not very good at it but I am keen to learn and find it intellectually stimulating. At the moment I am playing against the computer but I may play against real people (online) at some point. I purchased some basic chess books as my Christmas present and am slowly working my way through them.

For some reason I have always been intrigued by the game. Grandad and Grandma Howell gave us a really nice wooden set when we were younger (I have it in the shed) and Chris and I would sometimes play games. From memory he would usually beat me...

At the moment I am just playing the version of Chess that ships with Mac OS X. I have installed Deep Green (by Joachim Bondo) on the Newton 2100. I will be having a look at Glaurung as well.

Red-capped Plover

2008-12-13T22:15:00.003+09:00

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus, Point Walter, WA, Australia).

I stumbled across a pair of Red-capped Plovers while walking to the end of the spit at Point Walter. I was initially trying to get a better look at the birds further out into the river and didn't see them until I was 2-3 metres away.

New Mobile Phone

2008-12-12T22:50:00.006+09:00

My Sony Ericsson K610i has had a hard life - busted screen, poor battery, numerous scratches. I have replaced it with a Sony Ericsson W610i. I purchased the phone outright.

So far it has been a nice phone - has the same connection cable (for charging and data) as the K610i (so I have less "redundant" chargers lying around) and a few new features (you can use it as a torch, it has a radio tuner). It also has much nicer buttons (that don't try and connect you to the web the moment you brush them accidentally).

The torch/light feature comprises of two white LEDs. One of the applications on the phone signals SOS continuously...

Declan Oren Howell

2008-11-29T21:31:00.003+09:00

Declan was born a few hours prior to this photo...

Safe and sound

2008-11-29T20:48:00.003+09:00

Declan is finally home after a 4 day stop over in PMH. No one is really sure what he caught but the staff at both PMH and KEMH (where he was born) were fantastic. He is now more active, less yellow and generally happier. He had his first bath at home today (in the kitchen sink).

Thanks to all who have prayed/visited/called/sent gifts/cooked meals - we all really appreciate it.

New Howell

2008-11-20T22:15:00.001+09:00

Declan Oren Howell was born 19/11/2008 at 11h30. At birth he was 45cm tall and weighed 2.315kg (about 5 pound 2 ounces for those who work in imperial). He was born by C-section (sort of in a hurry). Kylie and Declan are both doing well.

Stay tuned for some photographs...

Birding trips I need to do

2008-11-10T13:59:00.005+09:00

In my ongoing attempt to see more of the birds of WA, I think trips to the following locations are in order:

Rottnest Island (seabirds, waders and odd introduced birds like the Indian Peafowl and the Common Pheasant);
Dryandra (bushbirds and hopefully some of the nocturnals);
Albany (seabirds and some of the SW rarities);
Broome (for reasons that should be obvious).

If anyone is interested in coming along (especially for Rottnest Island) send me a message.

Review: Twinhan Alpha Mac Edition (DVB-T USB 2.0)

2008-10-30T13:48:00.006+09:00

Harris Technology have these for under $60. I thought that was a bargain so I picked one up. I have recorded a TV show and was very impressed (it is my first foray into digital TV as well). Here is a brief review:

Pros:

It's cheap;
It includes EyeTV (version 2.x, still great);
It works exactly as advertised.

Cons:

The box is big (and mentions that you need a FireWire port?);
The printed documentation is average (thankfully you don't need it);
The included aerial is useless unless you live under a transmitter (use a rooftop antenna).

Umm... Yes?

2008-10-23T10:17:00.005+08:00

Observed when copying files out of a zip file in Windows Explorer under Windows XP SP3.

Chasing Birds on ABC1

2008-10-22T13:23:00.002+08:00

For those that don't know, Chasing Birds is screening on ABC1 tomorrow night (Thursday) at 2135.

Birding Life List Update

2008-10-20T08:58:00.002+08:00

My birding life list has now passed 150! Not really that impressive...
For comparison, Sean Dooley saw over 700 species on 12 months.

A will update the online version shortly.

Mission Accomplished

2008-10-18T20:16:00.003+08:00

I have finally finished re-building my PowerBook G4 12" (1GHz). I have upgraded the hard drive (40GB to 160GB), replaced the broken combo drive (got one cheap off eBay) and upgraded the operating system (10.4 to 10.5).

To others considering a similar mission:

The hard drive is much easier to replace than the optical drive;
The 160GB 5400 RPM Western Digital Scorpio disk runs warmer than the stock disk (to be expected really *);
Remember where all the screws came from (I didn't);
Use the right tools for the job;
There are a few service manuals available on the web. Use them.

I can't really justify a new laptop at the moment. I think these upgrades have extended the life of my old one a bit longer.

* Edit: this may be due to the fact that the original disk was 4200 RPM.

Buff-banded Rail

2008-10-16T15:39:00.001+08:00

Buff-Banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis, Ascot, WA, Australia).

Hoary-headed Grebe

2008-10-15T14:41:00.000+08:00

Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus, Ascot, WA, Australia).

This is another first for my list!

List = List + 2

2008-10-13T11:15:00.004+08:00

Went on a Birds WA walk on Saturday and added two more birds to my life list:

Inland Thornbill (Acanthiza apicalis);
Grey Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica).

Both were seen in the Dell Forest in Kalamunda. Thanks to Maris Lauva for helping me find the Grey Shrike-thrush - it helps if someone knows it's call.

Thousands of tiny screws...

2008-10-02T10:48:00.003+08:00

The 12" PowerBook G4 is a real pain to take apart. I am in the process of replacing the HDD and optical drive and you have to strip the PowerBook down completely. Everything from the motherboard up needs to be removed before you can extract the optical drive. The HDD is only marginally easier to get to.

Anyhow, last night I reached a milestone. I am now putting things back together instead of taking them apart. In all honesty I probably have another 6 hours of tinkering to do.

The end result will be a very usable PowerBook with a working optical drive and a 160GB HDD. I think it's worth it...

Photo Updates

2008-10-01T15:45:00.002+08:00

Check out my Flickr page for more...

Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena, Ascot, WA, Australia).

Percy, Thomas and Toby.

Birding Target Groups

2008-09-21T19:57:00.002+08:00

There are a few groups of birds that I haven't been very successful in seeing (and identifying). The more obvious groups (parrots, finches, honey-eaters etc) are well covered in my list but the following are not:

Cuckoos (I have only seen two species);
Waders (especially migratory);
Penguins (a trip to Penguin Island was a failure);
Quail (and other small ground-based birds);
Some of the more difficult water birds (Crakes, Rails etc).

A pelagic trip earlier this year helped me out in the seabird category, now all I have to do is organise some excursions to see some of these. Looking at the Birds WA Sightings page, now seems to be a good time for the cuckoos...

Ordering from the Australian Apple Store rocks!

2008-09-05T10:37:00.003+08:00

I ordered a copy of iLife 08 (Family Pack) from the Australian Apple Store late on Wednesday and it arrived early on Friday morning. Maybe I am new to the whole web ordering thing but I think that is sensational service.

We will be using iLife primarily for iPhoto - not much else will run happily on our G4 and earlier Macs.

Updating the Macs

2008-09-04T11:02:00.003+08:00

Migrated Kylie from her Sage iMac (450MHz G3) to her "new" eMac (1.25GHz G4) last night. All I need to do is install iLife (which should arrive tomorrow from Apple). The big advantage is the USB2.0 ports on the eMac - allowing her to read camera memory cards and use her iPod a little more effectively.

As a result of the upgrade I moved the RAM (a single 512MB stick) from the iMac to my dual-G4 500MHz PowerMac, giving it a total of 1GB of RAM! This is my first home computer to reach the magical 1GB mark :)

I will be keeping the iMac - it is too nice a machine to get rid of.

Edit: Yes, this means that Kylie's Mac is the fastest in the household and the only one running Mac OS 10.5. And I am OK with that...

Website Migration

2008-08-26T12:10:00.005+08:00

In an effort to be independent from whatever ISP I happen to be using, my website is now hosted on the Google Sites servers. Here is the URL. I guess I am now tied to Google (what with email, Blogger and now Google Sites). At least Flickr is separate...

The old Optus webpage will be removed and redirect to this one shortly.

Mute Swans at Northam

2008-08-22T14:47:00.004+08:00

Last weekend we went for a drive to Northam. It was a nice day for a picnic and it allowed me to see the famed Mute (White) Swans. There were only two I could find and they were located in a pond separate from the Avon River that has been set up to help build up numbers.

Mute Swans are on the Australian list, but given that these two were in captivity (I assume they can't fly over the 1.5 m fence) I can't really count them.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2008-08-10T12:22:00.004+08:00

Work switched from using a web-based Citrix login system to a Remote Desktop Connection system, making it impossible to login in to the company system from the main site that I work on up north (they block outgoing RDC);
The workaround provided was a PCMCIA Telstra Wireless Broadband Card, which I installed on my laptop;
The (very buggy) installer required a reboot (why?);
On reboot, I could no longer log into my laptop (cached domain logins had expired, normally I just hibernate the laptop);
Thankfully I knew the Local Administrator password so I can get to my work.

Firstly, why replace a working solution for people on site with one that only works for a very limited number of sites (certainly not out main client sites)? Secondly, is there any rational use for Windows Domains? *

* I know the reasons that domains are used, they just seem to be the main cause of grief for me at the moment.