22 Mar 2012 - It's possible to survive on the run for 7 years

Today I read in the newspaper about a criminal that has been on the run for seven years. His name is Malcom Naden, and he has spent most of his time in the bush land in northern New South Wales, apparently surviving on fruit, stolen food and whatever he could gain through his network of contacts. He has been credited with many break-ins over the seven years, and has been sighted many times. The bounty on his head has been raised from an initial $50,000 to $250,00 and today he was finally captured by police.

I didn't think that is would be possible for someone to survive on the run in this day and age in a country such as Australia. I know that we have many vast areas of bush land, but much of it is populated, if sparsely, or often visited, so avoiding people and having police hunt for you at the same time would be no easy feat. I wrote about a man that had survived on a remote island in the forest (see blog 24 Jan 2012), however very few people visited that forest, and nobody was looking for that man, so his story is quite different from that of Malcom Naden. Malcom survived on mainland Australia and managed to avoid capture for seven years, even though he had been moving between bush land and populated areas. So I guess what I learnt today is that it is not only possible to survive living on the run in Australia for 7 years, but also that eventually, you will get caught.

If you would like to read the timeline of Malcom Naden's 7 years on the run, check out The Age.

21 Mar 2012 - The precariat

Today I was reading The Age online on my way into work, when I read an article about the 'precariat', now I know what you are thinking and it is not some sort of sinister organisation that arranges shady international business ventures, although that is what I thought when I first heard the name. The precariat is a new name for the growing group of people in our society who have unstable employment. Those people have previously been known as, casual or contract workers, and work week to week for hours or on short term contracts. Most hospitality workers and many government employees are part of the precariat. I have been a member of the precariat since 2008, although I only learnt this morning that the group that I belong to is called the precariat. 

Since we have been given a new label in our society, I wonder, does this come with new superpowers? Or is it just a fancy new name for the group that we form, as part of an overall marketing strategy to give us a higher profile in the media. Maybe now that we have this new name, we can form some sort of organisation that can arrange some shady international business deals? I mean the name suggests as much, maybe that can be our new super power. I am concerned however, that if we do get a new super power as being part of the precariat, it will be similar to my existing super power, which is the ability to not yawn when I see other's yawn. 'Yawn Aversion Man' is the brand I was given by my friend, but unfortunately my super power is all but useless, and often ineffective. Hopefully the precariat branding will not suffer the same fate.

To read the original article, check out The Age online.

20 Mar 2012 - The third degree

Many times over the years I have heard people say that they have given someone the 'third degree,' which means they have put them through tough questioning. You often hear it in relation to fathers questioning their daughter's new boyfriends or dates. Until a friend emailed me the history of the term today, I had never known how it came about that to give someone the third degree, meant to question them intensely. This phrase was one that I had always defined as meaning to question someone, but without ever thinking about it might mean that.

After reading the definition my friend sent me, it turns out that the 'third degree' was originally used by the Masons. In Masonic Lodges, there are three degrees of membership, and in order to gain the highest level of membership, the third degree, candidates would have to be subjected to activities which included an interrogation, this degree was more physically challenging that the first two degrees. It was from this that the term was then applied to any type of intense questioning, as once the questioning was complete, the people being interrogated would say that, 'they felt like they had gone through the third degree.' So from people likening intense questioning to the third degree, people have then gone on to describe any type of intense questioning as being given the third degree. This revelation of the story behind the third degree has got me wondering what other phrases has stories behind them, such as, "I could eat a horse and chase the rider."

You can read the definition of the Third Degree on Phrases.

19 Mar 2012 - Jacques de Molay curses executors

Today I was looking at my book '365' and the fact for today was that the last Grand Master of the Templar Order of Knights, Jacques de Molay, was executed on the 19th of March 1314. I already knew that he had been executed, but have never known the date, because I played a game called 'Broken Sword' when I was younger and the storyline of the game was around the Knights Templar. The game was set in modern day Paris, however it followed the Knights through history and although the details of the game were all fiction, the foundation story was based on fact. One such fact being that the last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake.

The part of the story that I didn't know, and thus the thing that I learnt today, was that the last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, requested that he be facing Notre Dame's Towers, which were far in the distance, whilst he was burned.  Also that he placed a curse on his executors, King Phillip the Fair of France and Pope Clement V. He said, 'God will avenge our death. Phillip, thy life is condemned. I await thee within a year at the Tribune of God." Pope Clement V died suddenly only 31 days after Jacques de Molay, and King Phillip the Fair died just over 8 months after, thus proving true, Jacques final words. I have never really believed in curses, but when a man about to die makes a declaration that comes true, it is hard to discount as fiction. Although having said that, as these events happened many thousands of years ago, stories do have a way of adapting themselves to fit events, rather than events dictating the stories. However given the long period of time that has passed, and the lack of people around today who can prove the story correct or false, we just have to accept the fact, that Jacques de Molay did curse his executors to death within a year of his own passing.

18 Mar 2012 - World's shortest commercial flight

Today I was watching 'QI' and I learnt that the shortest commercial flight in the world is between two of the islands in the Orkney Islands, off the north east coast of Scotland. The flight is between Westray and Papa Westray and covers less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) in the air. In fact the main airport runway in Edinburgh, in Scotland, which is 1.6 miles (2.56 kilometres) long is about the distance of this entire flight! The flight is completed in under 2 minutes, so you would spend much more time in the airport, than for the entire flight and apparently upon completion of the flight, tourists are presented with a certificate signed by the captain and a bottle of Orkney whiskey.

I found this fact fascinating because I have taken a few long haul flights before which have consisted of 20 plus hours in the air, which to put it in perspective is more than the time in the air for 600 flights between Westray and Papa Westray. It also begs that question, that if this flight only covers about 2 miles, couldn't they just build a bridge between the two islands. I suppose however, if they built a bridge, they would no longer be operating the shortest commercial flight in the world, and that is probably generating some tourist interest in the area. Additionally to the flight you can reach Papa Westray from Westray via a daily ferry service. However it appears that the ferry services takes much longer than the flight, so I can see why people would be opting for the two minutes in the air.

17 Mar 2012 - Pronation

Today I decided to go to a shoe shop, "Complete Feet," where they assess you walking and running style to determine the best type of shoe for you style. Whilst I was there I learnt what pronation meant, and no it is not what you would expect if you saw the word itself, it isn't a person who is in favour of their country. It actually means the way that you foot rolls inward when you are walking or running. It is normal for the foot to roll inward, or to pronate, about fifteen per cent, however if you are an over pronater, then you foot rolls inward more than fifteen per cent. Depending on how much you pronate when you are walking depends on what type of shoes you require in order to properly support your walking or running style.

For years I have only bought shoes based on price and whether they fit my feet, I have also based my purchases on looks. However now I have had this assessment I have decided that it is probably best for me in the long run to actually purchase shoes that support my running style. My style was determined to be normal or slightly pronated, which meant that I can purchase shoes that are suited to a normal running style, as this style supports runners who are also slight pronaters. I would recommend to anyone who exercises regularly to have their style observed and shoes recommended for their style, as this could reduce the likelihood of injury if you exercise regularly.

Read more about pronation on the Runners World website.

16 Mar 2012 - A new analogy for change

Today I had a training course and there was much discussion on change within the workplace, the discussion was around how different people in the workplace handle change. There are some people who are first on board with the change, and then there are others who do everything that they can to try and prevent the change from occurring. The facilitator shared a great analogy with us about people and change. "People will either be on board the bus, or in front of the bus, but either way they will move," I thought this was a great analogy, because I know many people who would be standing in front of the bus of change, and it is usually the case that those people get out of the way once the bus starts moving because they have no other option, or in some cases, chase after the bus and jump on board as to moves away.

After thinking about this analogy, I decided that although it is true in most cases, it is not always the case, that people are moving. One instance is where the change is not one that anybody wants, and if more people are in front of the bus, than on the bus, then often the bus doesn't move. One of these instances is where a community stands up and petitions not to have something built in their area. Mostly these petitions lead to the building happening anyway, but sometimes these petitions can lead to the change not occurring, or the bus not moving, as it were. This can be for many reasons, it might be that the petition represents too many people in front of the bus, or it might be that the organisers for the change forgot to arrange for a driver (an adequate reason for the change to occur) for the bus, so it is not able to move forward. Whatever the reason, I like the analogy of change being represented by a bus because you can twist it in many different ways to support whether the change does, or does not occur.

15 Mar 2012 - Red Deer Cave people

Today I was reading The Age online and I read an article about the Red Deer Cave people. These people were a race that existed about 11,500 years ago, and their bone structure is not related to any other humans, living in the past or present. It is believed that this find could represent a new line of humans that existed in the past, but that did not contribute to any modern day humans. Their bones were discovered in Muladong, in the Yunnan province of China, by a team of Australian and Chinese university researchers and are now considered to be the youngest people discovered in the world, who do not look like modern humans.

I found this interesting because I have long had a theory that the world is so big, that there must be at least one small portion of earth, somewhere in the world, where nobody has ever stepped. It would be very difficult to determine this fact, and to prove that you were the first to step there, but I am certain this must be true. I have based this on the fact that there are vast places in the world which are still wild and unexplored. Also that you often read about new species of insects, plants or animals discovered each year. Now after the discovery of the Red Deer Cave people, I am starting to think on a bigger scale. What if there is a race of humans living somewhere in the world that look like us but that are of a different evolutionary line and we have just not encountered them. These are the questions that plague me! Seriously though, it would be amazing to think that somewhere in the world right now, maybe the hidden depths of the Amazon jungle (if we haven't already bulldozed that for notepads), there is a family of a similar human race eating a meal together. It would be pretty amazing, and not entirely impossible to believe.

If you are interested in reading the article about the Red Deer Cave people, check out The Age.

14 Mar 2012 - Spiro Agnew

Tonight I was watching 'The Wire' and they commented that a person would be thrown out of office if people rioted whilst they were in charge of a place, unless that person was Spiro Agnew. I had heard the name Spiro Agnew before, I think it was in an episode of 'The Simpsons,' but I didn't recall the reference made to him, just his name. So I was intrigued enough to do a Google search, and it turns out that he was the 39th Vice President of America. Spiro was Governor of Maryland in 1968, when the riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jnr. took place. He further angered the African American community after the riots, however this did not prevent him from going on to become Vice President in 1969. So I guess that is what the characters on the show were talking about when they referred to Spiro Agnew.

Furthermore I went on to learn that Spiro Agnew was the only Vice President in American history to resign due to criminal charges. He was charged with accepting bribes to the value of 100,000 dollars over his political career. I found this interesting because you often hear about how corrupt American politicians are, and that many of them use their powers for their own self gain. However, if Spiro was the only Vice President to resign in the History of American politics due to criminal charges, then maybe this stereotype of politicians is not accurate. Or perhaps it is just more prevalent among the lower level politicians and the majority of Vice Presidents are honest. Most likely it is that when politicians rise high enough they are better at hiding their corruption. A cynical view perhaps, but that doesn't mean it can't be accurate! Whatever the reason, the main thing is that I now know Spiro Agnew's place in history.

Check out Wikipedia to read more about Spiro Agnew.

13 Mar 2012 - African Nations boycott 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games

Today I was on the train on my way home, and this guy came up and started talking to me, asking me definitions of words and telling me about the television shows 'The Simpsons' and 'Neighbours'. I found this a little odd, but he was wearing clothing with the Scope logo on it, which is an organisation that supports people with disabilities, so I thought that this guy might have a learning disability. I will admit that I was a little annoyed initially because, to be honest, I don't particularly like being interrupted on my journey home at the end of the day, but he seemed to want to talk to someone, so I decided to oblige and have a chat with him. He was very inquisitive, asking me questions on a range of topics, and for each topic he had a fact that he had memorised. He had an amazing memory for dates and definitions of words and events that occurred, however he didn't seem to be able to apply these things in everyday life, and asked questions about why things would have happened in that way because he seemed to want to understand. After my initial annoyance I started to enjoy talking to him because he was curious about a broad range of topics.

After about five minutes of conversation, something he said prompted me to mention that I had previously lived in Edinburgh. When he heard this he told me that the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh were boycotted by many African nations. I had never heard this before and so checked this fact when I came home. It turns out that it was true and that the reason they boycotted was because they didn't like the fact that Margaret Thatcher's government supported Britain's sporting links with the apartheid-era South Africa. This boycott lead to the Edinburgh games being one of the lowest attended Games since the 1950 Games and additionally the low attendance lead to the Games running at a large loss. The city of Edinburgh did not get this debt paid off until three years later. So today, aside from learning about the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, I learnt that sometimes listening to people who start talking to you on a train can lead you learning some interesting facts.

If you would like to read more about the Edinburgh Games, check out Wikipedia.

12 Mar 2012 - Karaoke means Empty Orchestra

Today I was watching "How I Met Your Mother," it was an episode that I thought that I had seen before, however during the episode I learnt a new fact, that karaoke means 'empty orchestra'. I verified this fact via Google, as I don't trust the researching skills of most television authors. I found it interesting because I don't remember ever hearing this fact before, even though I am certain that I have seen the episode previously. However as I am certain that I had seen the episode before, I realised that I must have forgotten this fact. This got me to wondering how many other facts I had learnt over the years but had forgotten, or was it that I have drunk so much that I killed all the brain cells that remembered these facts?

I then remembered the theory that I had when I was at university about the little man in your head that runs around the filing cabinets in your head and finds all the information that you have stored. So my new theory is that the little man isn't as interested in the facts that I find interesting, so he is a little careless with the filing of these facts. I now think that the little man has lost many facts over the years that I would have liked to keep because he wasn't interested. I also think that often when he has lost something, in order to cover his tracks, he makes you feel like maybe you have learnt the fact before, this is the feeling we know as deja vu. However sometimes when the little man really wasn't interested, you don't even get deja vu, which was the case with the empty orchestra fact. So I have decided to claim learning about Karaoke meaning 'empty orchestra' as something that I learnt today, even though I must have heard it before. I have also decided that writing this blog is my way to combat the little man's lack of interest, if he is forced to think about the fact whilst I am writing the blog then he will have to remember it!

11 Mar 2012 - Definition of Antipode

Whilst I was living in the United Kingdom, I was referred to, by English people, as an antipodean. This word is used to describe anybody from Australia or New Zealand. I thought nothing of this for years and had always just assumed that it was a name given to us for some arbitrary reason. Today however I was looking at my phone, at my word of the day application, and the word today was antipode. Antipode means a direct or exact opposite. My first thought upon learning this, was that antipodean was used to describe Australians because when people were first using the term, all Australians were convicts from England, and so the English saw that we were their exact opposites, as they were law abiding, and we were law breakers. If this was the case then it seemed quite insulting that they still used the term to label all Australians in England. It seemed to be implying that they still saw themselves as better than us, even though we are now a nation in our own right, not simply a colony of convicts.

After I jumped to my initial conclusions, I decided to click and see the full definition. This further explained that antipodes was the plural of antipode and actually had a different meaning. Antipodes means places diametrically opposite to each other on the globe and can also mean the people that dwell at this diametrically opposite place. Antipodean is the related form of this plural version of antipode. This means that most likely the reasons that English people refer to Aussies and Kiwis as antipodeans, is probably just because we are almost diametrically opposite their country on the globe, and they are most likely not looking down upon us each time they use the term. So today, aside from learning the meaning of antipode, I also learnt that sometimes more investigation is required before you jump to conclusions. Although jumping to conclusions can often be more fun!

The definition of antipode and many others is on Dictionary.com.

10 Mar 2012 - Moomba means 'up your bum'

I was out for dinner with some friends and we were discussing the fact that it was Moomba weekend. One of my friends told the group that Moomba actually meant "up your bum" in an Aboriginal language. We were all a little sceptical, even my friend who told us, so we as we all agreed that it seemed a bit far fetched to be true, we decided that we needed some further proof. After a brief Google search on my friends phone, she happily declared that Moomba does in fact mean, "up your bum." We all accepted this because we knew that my old friend Google wouldn't steer us wrong, and to be honest we were a little tipsy.

Later I checked into it a little further and found an article about whether this definition of Moomba was actually correct. The article outlined that Bill Onus, who was a former president of the Aborigines Advancement League, suggested the name as a joke because of it's interpretation to mean 'up your bum'. Over the years many have studied Victorian Aboriginal languages and determined that this meaning is correct, one such individual being the linguist Barry Blake. The article that I was reading however was still sceptical of this explanation, and offered many other plausible reasons as to why Bill Onus might have suggested the name Moomba. Overall the article agreed that since Bill Onus passed away in 1968, and only he can verify his reasoning behind the suggestion of the name, we will never know for sure if he did suggest the name as a joke, meaning 'up your bum,' or if he was actually offering a serious suggestion for other reasons. Since I am a fan of linguistic mix ups, I will from this day forward accept that 'up your bum,' is the true definition of Moomba.

Read more about the definition of Moomba in the article that I read on Crikey.

9 Mar 2012 - Ska Music

Tonight I was out for some drinks with friends of mine from work, and we got onto the topic of music (mainly because the music being played was bad). After a little discussion a song came on that both my friends liked, but that I had never heard. Neither of my friends could believe that I had never heard the song before and told me that it was scar music. This conjured up images of people with scars writing and performing music. They clarified the phrase by spelling it out as s k a, Ska music.The style of music playing wasn't one that I had really heard in the past, and my friends telling my the type of music didn't really clarify any further. So my friends explained a little more about what Ska music was and the conversation went on to different Ska bands that they liked.

I decided once I got home to Google Ska music, and I found that it originated in Jamaica. It is a blend of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues, which fitted with the definition my friends had given. I must say that the song that I heard was not really to my liking, so I am not surprised that I had never heard of Ska music prior to this evening. However, overall I am glad that I learnt about Ska music, so that I could blog about it, but also so I know another type of music that I can cross of my list of music I enjoy.

If you want to read more about Ska music check out Wikipedia.

8 Mar 2012 - Weasel Coffee

Today as I was on my way to get my morning coffee with a friend of mine, she was telling me about Weasel coffee, that can be found in Vietnam. I was intrigued and a little disgusted when she explained the concept. The basic process is that the coffee berries are fed to the weasel and as it passes through their digestive system, the coffee bean remains formed, to be passed out the other end. The beans are then processed and ground as usual. However the coffee produced from those beans is much less bitter than the original coffee would have been undigested. My friend later sent me a Wikipedia article explaining the process further. The Vietnamese produced coffee is known in English as Weasel coffee, however it is not in fact weasels that digest the beans, it is actually civets, mainly the Asian Palm Civet, but also other types are used. Kopi Luwak is the Indonesian name for the coffee, which is also called civet coffee. All types of this coffee are quite exclusive and prices can reach as much as 160 dollars per pound.

My first question was, who first decided to feed coffee to the civet? Was it because they were afraid that the animals were having trouble staying awake? My second question was, who then decided to eat the product that was defecated at a later date? Also was the coffee fed to the civet with the specific purpose of brewing a coffee at a later date? The more I thought about it, the more I thought the whole thing was disgusting! How did this form of coffee manage to become so popular and exclusive? It turns out that when the plantations were originally built, the locals who farmed the coffee were never allowed to taste the beans because they were worth so much money at export. So when they discovered that the civets in the wild would eat the berries on the coffee plants, and pass the beans out undigested, they decided this would be their only chance to try this new flavoured beverage. This method of collecting beans spread through the local population and was eventually heard about by the plantation owners who tried and liked the blend. This is how the Weasel coffee was born, and became a viable option to normal coffee.

Read the Wikipedia article for more information on Weasel/Civet coffee.

7 Mar 2012 - Australian prisoners of war had higher survival rates

Today I was listening to a motivational speaker at work, who was talking about ways to motivate and lead staff. One of her strategies was to lead by example and to participate with staff in training programs that are linked to major change in the workplace. Staff would then see that the managers were on board with the changes and would feel more supported by their managers. This would then lead the team to become a more cohesive work unit that is better able to tackle the challenges presented in the workplace. An example she used of how successful this strategy was in practice, was, that during World War II in the Prisoner Of War (POW) camps, leaders such as Sir Weary Dunlop created a kind of calm within the storm, they lead by example and got all the prisonsers to see their commanding officers were right beside them. This boosted morale and made the prisoners feel like part of a whole, which made them feel more supported, and better able to live in the harsh circumstances. The benefit of this form of leadership was later shown in the statistics, that Australian prisoners of war were reported as having a higher survival rate compared to other nationalities in the same POW camps. 

I think it is amazing that our officers, like Sir Weary Dunlop, were able to lead their fellow prisoners in this way, and assist people to survive these harsh conditions. Having said that, I did find it interesting that the speaker compared our workplace to a POW camp. I know that sometimes people don't have a great time at work, but I think that the conditions are much better than those to which the prisoners were subjected. Also people at my workplace get paid to be there! I do understand the point the speaker was making, that the leadership method is an effective way to form a more cohesive work unit and build morale within a team. However I don't believe that the comparison of achieving workplaces goals with this leadership strategy is in any way similar to the goal of surviving the harsh conditions in the POW camp.

6 Mar 2012 - Credit card sized computer

Today I was reading The Age online and I discovered an article about a computer that had been invented that was the size of a credit card, and cost only thirty-five American dollars! The Raspberry Pi is the name of the computer, and it sold out it's first ten thousand stock in just minutes from when it was made available. I thought the idea of this computer was amazing because I had learnt at university about Moore's Law of computers, which states that a computer chips density will double every 18 months, but I never really imagined that we could have a computer that small. If you think about it, the Raspberry Pi is currently the size of a credit card, and although it is a little slow, in roughly 18 months time, according to Moore's Law, it will be twice as fast as it is now, so eventually we could be looking at our household computers being as powerful as they are now, but only the size of a credit card. This got me to thinking, what use would I have for a computer that is the size of a credit card? I have enough trouble keeping track of my phone, I don't really need a computer that I could easily lose around the house!

As I read further down the article I realised that the purpose of the computer was not for me to be able to eventually downsize my computer at home, it was actually designed to make it affordable for children who might be interested in computer coding who might not able to afford to buy one. The Raspberry Pi is easy to program, cheap enough that anyone could afford to buy one and small enough to fit inside a backpack. The Raspberry Pi Foundation, who invented the credit card sized computer, states that they are "about teaching kids to program, not making a computer," and are now looking to launch their product into schools. I believe however, that as with the Ouija board (see post 4 Mar 2012), that this product may become more famous for a different purpose than that which the creators intended.

The original article was on The Age website.

5 Mar 2012 - Children unaware of origins of food

Today I read an article on The Age website about Australian children's knowledge of the origins of food and other materials. It turns out that 75 per cent of year six students and over 40 per cent of year ten students believe that cotton is derived from animals. Also 27 per cent of year six students and 13 per cent of year ten students think that yoghurt comes from plants. The article presented these facts as a problem and stated that it was the agricultural industry's task to fix this problem. I admit that I was concerned that the next generation was lacking fundamental knowledge, but then I thought about why I was concerned and I realised it wasn't actually that this fact concerned me, it was the way the facts were presented in the article and the tone of the article that incited my concern.

When I actually thought about it, I couldn't remember how old I was when I learnt about the origins of yoghurt or cotton. The more I thought about, the more I couldn't decide whether these facts were really even a problem. Is 13 per cent of people in Australia not knowing about the origins of yoghurt by the age of about 16 really an issue? Some people are just not that interested in the origin of things, and I will say what everyone is thinking, not everyone is that bright! It is also fun to have a good laugh with your friends later in life when you realise that you didn't learn something in school, that everyone else learnt. An example is that I recently found out that a friend of mine didn't know that the term 'kilometres per hour' actually meant, how many kilometres you will travel in an hour, so didn't know how to guess how long it would take to get to a destination based on the approximate speed of the car, and the distance remaining to the destination. Me and another friend of mine had a great laugh when we learnt this about our mutual friend. I think this highlights that these figures are not really a problem because if everybody knows everything about the origins of food and other facts by the time they leave school, then people are going to be deprived of laughter and simply put, nobody wants to live in a world where you can't laugh at the lack of knowledge of others!

The article was on The Age website.

4 Mar 2012 - The Ouija board is only a board game

I was again watching QI and the fact that is discovered tonight is about the Ouija board. If you are unfamiliar with the Ouija board, it is a board covered with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers zero to nine and the words yes, no, hello and goodbye. I have only ever seen this board used in conjunction with a seance or something supernatural, where sombody is trying to communicate with the spirit world. However the Ouija board is just a board game, which was released in 1890 by Hasbro, who also owns games such as Monopoly, Cluedo and The Game of Life and was never intended to be used as a seance tool. The game's original premise was that you would learn things by asking questions of yourself. To do this you would place your fingers on a small heart shaped piece of wood, called a planchette, and concentrate. The planchette would move around the board and answer the questions posed to yourself. It was expected, as with most board games, that you would have fun playing and not take the game too seriously. Somewhere along the line, around  World War I, the paranormal community adopted the Ouija board as a means of communicating with the spirit world and thus changed the perception of the board's purpose. In essence a game that was supposed to be harmless fun was actually made more famous as a tool of the occult.

I find it funny how products can be created for one purpose, however the intended purpose is often not what makes the product famous. One example that comes to mind is elastic (rubber) bands, or, as they are often referred to in Australia, lacka bands. These bands were originally invented so that kids in school could flick them across the room at each other, which would cause the recipient of a direct hit to feel a sting. However now they are used in offices across the world to hold stacks of paper together or to keep a scroll from unravelling and many other uses. At least that is how I think the sequence of events happened, maybe it was the other way around. In any event, when you think about it, you would be surprised how often a product that is invented for a specific purpose can find more widespread use fulfilling another role.

3 Mar 2012 - Ponce de Leon

Today I was reading my book '365', which has a different historical fact for each day of the year. Today's fact intrigued me as it was about the Fountain of Youth and Ponce de Leon. I had heard the name before but had never really known who he was, so I was intrigued to know more. Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer in the 1500s, he became the governor of modern day Puerto Rico, and whilst he was there he heard about the legendary Fountain of Youth. On the 3rd of March 1513, Ponce de Leon, and his band of explorers, set sail in search of this fabled fountain. Apparently his information lead him to the area which he named 'Pascua Florida' which is how modern day Florida in the United States got it's name. Unfortunately he never found the Fountain of Youth because whilst searching Florida in 1521, a number of years after he set off on his quest, he was killed by an arrow when his exploring party was attacked. Not a happy ending for a man who was looking to live a long life using the waters of the Fountain of Youth!

I found this story interesting, mainly because Florida is now known as the place where many Americans go to retire. I wonder if maybe it is every American's dream to live forever, and they set aside the later part of their life to go searching for the Fountain of Youth. I have been told that when people retire they need to replace work with some sort of hobby, otherwise they get bored. I think searching for the Fountain of Youth is a great hobby. In light of this new information about the Fountain of Youth, it really makes sense that so many retirees head to Florida, because they are obliviously continuing the quest that Ponce de Leon started so many years ago.

2 Mar 2012 - A Venetian Gondola must be black

This evening I was watching QI again and I discovered that there was a decree passed the stated that all gondole (plural of gondola) in Venice must be black in colour. I was intrigued by this fact and I wanted to know more, such as why? I Googled, as I am want to do, and discovered a website called Life in Italy. On this site there was an article about the Gondola. It turns out that in 1562, the Doge (chief magistrate) in Venice passed a decree stipulating that 'only gondole in the service of transporting important personages could be coloured.' So the reason why the decree was passed was because important people wanted to stand out in the crowd and they wanted everyone else to travel in drab vehicles. The article I was reading went on to say that due to this decree people further developed the shape and form of their gondole in order to make them more stylish, so that the colour was no longer what made their gondola stand out in the crowd.

I thought this was quite amusing, because if you look at important people nowadays, they all choose to be driven around in black limousines and other black vehicles. The president of the United States of America, always seems to have a cavalcade of black vehicles driving him around. When you watch any awards ceremonies on television, you see people arriving in black limousines (although the level of importance of these people is debatable). It is amusing to think, that a decree was passed to ensure that all ordinary people's gondole are required to be black, in an attempt to make important people stand out, however this decree in turn actually spurred people on to spend more time designing sleeker and more beautiful designs for their gondole. It was probably the stylish designs of these black gondole which have contributed to the notion that black cars these days are more stylish. Hence why unimportant people nowadays choose to be driven to important events in black vehicles, and why important people choose to be driven to any event in a black vehicle. A book I once read stated the law of unintended consequences, for each decision you make, three consequences that you have never imagined with occur as a result. I think this relates well to this situation, because I am sure that the Doge would not have imagined at the time when he passed his colourless decree, how a modern gondola would look at a result, or that he might influence others to adopt colourless transport modes as a result.

You can read more about Gondole on the Life in Italy website.

1 Mar 2012 - Phones replace credit cards

Today as I was walking to lunch with a friend of mine, she was telling me about how she had forgotten her purse, but if she had that payment thing on her phone, it wouldn't matter. I had no idea what she was talking about, so she expanded a bit further, enough that I could understand the concept but without knowing all of the details, and the concept piqued my interest, so I decided to do a little research. I found an article from May last year on The Age website about "Google Wallet." It turns out that Google has launched, in the United States, an application for Android platform phones, that allows uses to pay for products using a MasterCard PayPass terminal. Instead of tapping your credit card on the PayPass terminal, you tap your phone! This would enable people to leave their wallets or purses at home and only take their phone out with them.

This technology is actually quite scary, we depend on our phone so much these days, for all of our contacts, appointments and directions. We use it for our entertainment, to play games and music. We also set reminders in our phones so that we remember to complete tasks. Not to mention the fact that we carry them around with us so that people can contact us at any time. As it is people are devastated when they lose their phone, which happens often, without having the option to rely on their phones to hold money as well. I think this might be a step too far for me. I am the type of person that likes to rely less on my phone, rather than more. I like having a separate MP3 player, so that I can go jogging without my phone and I like that my money and credit cards are separate, so that I can nick down to the shops without taking my phone. Basically I like to leave my phone turned off or at home as often as possible. Although I am a fan of technology making my life easier, I just don't feel that I need to have one piece of technology that performs every task for me. In regards to my phone, I think that I have reached the level where I am happy with what tasks it can perform.

29 Feb 2012 - Rich people more likely to lie, cheat and steal

I read in The Age online today that a study was completed, by the University of California in Berkeley, that concluded that richer people were more likely to lie, cheat and take things that are meant for others, aka steal. When I stop to think about this, I realised that I was not surprised that this was the finding. If you take for instance Hollywood, over the years many movies have come out of Hollywood where rich people are the villains. Cruella de Vil  in '101 Dalmatians' was a rich person who stole people's puppies in order to get what she wanted, a Dalmatian fur coat. Goldie Hawn played a rich woman in 'Overboard', who ruthlessly pushed a poor carpenter off her boat and refused to pay him even though it was her fault that his work was not what she wanted. There are a number of other movies where the rich people are the villains and this can't be because people have vivid imaginations, most people who write do so drawing from their own or other's experience, so if we are finding many characters in movies who are rich and who lie, cheat or steal from poorer characters, then this is probably because people in real life have had similar experiences.

Now I am not suggesting that all rich people lie cheat and steal, and the study didn't conclude this, it only concluded that they were more likely to commit these offences than poorer people. I do however find it interesting that public perception of poorer people is that they are likely to lie, cheat and steal. I mean in Australia, we have the concept of a 'dole bludger', who cheats their way through life, rorting our government assistance programs. People on these government allowances make very little money per week, and by restricting the system to reduce the amount of dole bludgers, we make it harder for the genuinely poor people to get a break in life. I find it interesting they we don't have a similar term for those rich people who avoid paying taxes that would benefit out nation. I would say, obviously with no specific facts just a feeling, that if we looked we would find that of the percentage of dole bludgers in our country is a much smaller proportion that the percentage of tax avoiders. Also it seems to me, that we go to greater lengths in terms of legislation and process to restrict the dole bludgers than we do to minimise the tax avoiders. However we probably stand to gain more from making the tax avoiders contribute, than from restricting the poorer people on government allowances.

The original article was on The Age online.