Jun 29

The main reason there haven’t been many updates lately is because I just haven’t had the time. Freshbytes seems to work all the time, so it’s not because we’ve had huge amounts of downtime or anything, it’s just cos I’ve been super busy on a Sunday night.

Unsurprisingly, it’s all my fault. I’ve volunteered to do verious tasks that mean my Sunday nights aren’t as free as I would like them to be – combine this with other blogging commitments, and you’ve got one hell of a mess…

So, what have I been up to lately?

Well, the Radi8 Youth website idea fell over. It’s gone. No more. In what I would call a smart move, they decided that social media was the way to go – hence why they chose to make a Facebook Group and Myspace page (which I haven’t yet found), instead of a dedicated website. I can totally understand why they would choose to do so – it means far less work for me, but also means I get less say in what/how things get run. Which isn’t altogether a bad thing, I’ll let you know – sometimes, it’s nice to just let things “flow”. If you’re interested, you can hit up the Facebook group.

I’ve got to ask the question – what about those Radi8er’s who don’t (or simply aren’t allowed) to use social media? It’s not uncommon for kids to be banned from “unnecessary” internet usage, let alone social media sites, considering the amount of bad press sites such as Facebook and Myspace get… Will those kids “miss out” on updates because of it?

It’s late, so I’ll leave you to ponder that in your own time, but think about it – social media. Good or bad?

written by Benny Ling \\ tags: , , , , , , , ,

Jun 03

Once again now…

Blog Comments Off

Yes, it’s that time of year again, that wonderful time of year when Study Time > Blogging Time.

Instead of writing some long-winded post that some of you may or may not read anyway, I’ll just link you to some phishing article over on my personal blog.

Happy holidays to all you school kids.

written by Benny Ling \\ tags: , , , , ,

May 25

So… no updates for a while, huh?

As one of my Uni lecturers put it – we’ve now entered the business end of the semester. Exams are in 3 or so weeks, and there’s no time for blogging when you have 3 assignments due in the next 3/4 days, especially when each assignment is more than 50% of your internal mark… :(

So, no updates. Deal with it – I’ll try and update my personal blog, but Twitter’s where it’s at. ^_^

Comments below.

written by Benny Ling \\ tags: , , , , , ,

Feb 03

Yes, yes, I know.

I haven’t had a post on here in a while. For those who have absolutely no idea of what I’ve been up to…well, I’ve been on holidays.
No, not the same kind of holidays that most of ‘us’ are on now. A genuine holiday away from home.
Last week, I enjoyed myself in Scamander while it was nice and warm (borderline friggin hot). I quite enjoyed it, mind you we got out of there just before the hottest temperature was recorded there ;-) .42.2 degrees C, I couldn’t think of a better place to be in hot weather, mind you!

So, now I am up here (Ulverstone) with broadband access, unlike the free dial-up we got at Scamander (SLOW). And this would be the worst location to fry in the heat. Ok, maybe that’s not true, there is air conditioning here.

But anyway, on Saturday I went to watch my older cousin play 2nd grade cricket for Ulverstone in Burnie. 3 caught-behinds and some fantastic cricket shots by the better batsmen in the team, nothing better to watch. If only….if only the canteen was open all day and it wasn’t so bloody hot. That day, Burnie recorded a temperature in the 30’s which was higher than most of the temp’s in the state! Overall, a good days spectating.

Sunday was a little different. Cooler temps were a nice change, but the Ulverstone cricket ground is no more than 800m from the house at which I am staying. This time I was watching my younger cousin play 3rd grade. 1 caught-behind, plenty of ‘chirping’ and a steady 22n.o. with the bat later, it was a good day.  Mind you, for the group of which I hang out with, it would be a very different experience. These cricketing guys are fairly social beings, their friends hang around the club rooms to watch their mates and their mates’ mates play cricket. A little different to what I’m used to, that’s for sure. Offtopic for a second, but a good beer afterwards went down really well, I kid you not :-) !

Boag’s Classic Blonde, or something like that. Very nice. Even better when you don’t pay for it :D .

A good weekend of spectating cricket, and then to head home to watch the Aussies play cricket and Federer and Nadal in the Tennis…a really great day to watch sport. YUM!

Depending on what happens this week, I may not be able to publish another post. I’m away until Saturday, unless something changes. Hey, this looks like my shortest post in a while, WOW! Less than 450wds, wow.

Catcha later,

/weed

written by Chris Jacques \\ tags: , , , , , ,

Nov 10

These days it seems like I’m stuck in a rut:

Wake up, eat, study, eat, study, eat, study, sleep.

After rinsing and repeating for x number of times, you start to go a little crazy.

You start having weird dreams which have don’t reflect reality, but the truth is that your subconscious mind is processing information – stuff that you might have learned, thoughts you might have floating about, and anything else which it can lay it’s ever-reaching arms on.

Sometimes, your subconscious mind tells you things which you madly wish were true – ah, if only such things could happen in reality!

Anyways, if you haven’t noticed, I am, along with the rest of my known universe (because you guys matter to me that much) busy studying.

This has lead to what I call study syndrome – where you stay up really late every night, cramming examples, formulas, and just about everything bar the kitchen sink onto your information sheet, in the feeble hope that you’ll have enough information to take into the exam with you.

It’s exam week now, and everyone is in full study mode; in particular, I’d like to make a shout out to those lucky guys and gals who have Biology and Legal Studies exams today. I salute you for your valour.

I won’t, however, wish you luck – if you need luck at this point in time, you’re in the wrong reality.

Reality – you’re doing it wrong!

You can tell by the quality (or lack thereof) of this post that it’s very late (or is that early), and I need some sleep.

I’ll catch y’all sometime later.

There might even be something (better than this, to be sure) up tomorrow morning.

Heh, just noticed that this was Freshbytes’ 50th post. Wow, how utterly anti-climatic… :D

written by Benny Ling \\ tags: , , ,

Jul 06

I think I’m suffering from writer’s block or something, because I can’t think of what to write for this post. I had a few good ideas about where this was going, some punchy-one-liners, something profound, but now they’re all gone :(

So I’m going to start off with the tech news of the day, and no, it’s not iPhone-related. You can definitely expect something on that front next week though, when the holy grail of all phones is actually released…

Guys, VOIP is the word of the day. Get into it! If you have a computer with a microphone (USB or what-ever, doesn’t really matter) and speakers, you’re all set! All you need is a client (piece of software that lets you talk with other people all around the world – for FREE, all it uses is your internet connection) such as Skype, and you’re all set!
To the NoSpoon crew, I know we use TeamSpeak for group chat, but maybe we should cut out the middlemand and get VOIP-ing. So get Skype, get a Skype name, and get chatting! My Skype username is “bennylingbling”, (without the quotes) so whenever you want to chat, I’ll usually be there. If I’m not, contact me by IM and I’ll be on Skype faster than you can say Voice Over Internet Protocol!

Radi8, as usual, was awesome – the 4th of July meant that there was the movie Independence Day being shown. The games were based on Uncle Sam, so we had some US General Knowledge questions and a couple of other fun games. Unfortunately, Black Team didn’t win – we lost to some other team I can’t remember by either 4 or 6 points. On another note, the Radi8 website has been changed to incorporate a MySpace and a static (non-MySpace) page, where those of us who don’t have Spaces or Facebooks can see what’s going on – without all the extra crap that a MySpace usually has.

And on that note, MySpace is utterly ridiculous. I don’t know how people can stand using pre-built, shocking-CSS themes, but they just, look, horrible! In this blogger’s humble opinion, MySpace has degenerated into a [insert derogatory word here]-fest of people who don’t know their Verdana from their non-repeating backgrounds.
Facebook, on the other hand, is just an upper class version of MySpace – just without the crappy “custom layouts” and all that other junk. I really like Facebook, just because everyone uses the same layout, the design is clean, and there are cool things like “Walls”, “Pokes”, “Gifts”, and the insanely awesome Facebook chat. MySpace just pales in comparison.

ANYWAY, after that mini-rant, it’s time for what you all came here for: the moral guidance/deep and meaningful. That stuff that makes the world go around, that wonderful, excellent stuff that so few seem to have, and yet long for in the deepest, darkest corners of their hearts… Or something.

Now, I’m not one to be affected by change, but when it’s world-shakingly huge, I stand up and take notice. The 3G iPhone is a good example of this – it’s a device which has generated so much talk, yet has one of THE biggest pedalstools in the history of gadget-goodness. If it doesn’t stand up to be all that it’s hyped up to be, then Apple will take a huge hit because of it.

However, there is one aspect of change that worries me – the fear of the unknown. That part that’s completely open to interpretation, up-for-grabs, and all that kind of stuff. You never know what’s just around the corner in respects to change – that new employee might be a complete clown who doesn’t know anything, or just generally not a very nice person. I think it’s up the individual in regards to how they deal with change – accept it and move on, or rant continually on a small blog that they have… You can see which path I have chosen to take, ya?

There was this event on the weekend that I wasn’t invited to. Sure, I was just a little, tiny, tiny cut, (my ego did take a hit) but then I realised that it didn’t matter that I wasn’t invited. I had been to the ‘event’ two years ago, and yeah, it was awesome, but in that two years – mate, so much has changed! I know I’ve changed, I think that other people have changed, and people just aren’t the same as they were.

If I say any more, you’ll probably stop reading altogether, so I’ll leave you with one last thought and another video from the Radi8 Digital Scavenger Hunt:

“When times change, you’ve got to change with the times.”

This time, it’s Emily J, Lyndsey H, Hannah M, Rachel O, Lucy O, Laura V and Rachel W doing some crazy things, examples of which include: singing the National Anthem in front of a public Australian flag, breakdancing on a cardboard box, cartwheels on the beach, walking out of an elevator backwards, and some other crazy things… You’ll just have to watch the video.

Comments below.

written by Benny Ling \\ tags: , , , , , , , , ,