Brislantis and Suburbs, During Jan 2011 Flood Peak

Here's some photos a friend of mine sent me today from in and around Brisbane.  Thanks Termy!  :)

Regards,


The Outspoken Wookie

Brisbane on 12 Jan 2011

Here's an update of what's happening in and around Brisbane today...

Sewage treatment plants upstream of Brislantis have been inundated by water, which has resulted in raw sewage pouring into the Brislantis River - so don't think about going swimmin in it for quite some time... (not to mention IT IS FLOODING you idiots!)

A bull shark was found this afternoon in a flooded street in Goodna, near Ipswich.

The XXXX Brewery in Milton is flooded, too!  :(

Riverside Place

Brisbane CBD

Western Freeway near Seventeen Mile Rock Road

West End

Rosalie

Yup, it's not looking all that good.  We're lucky (so far) here at Coopers Plains, however later this evening/tomorrow morning we're expecting to see water from the creek behind our place making its way onto our property.  Suncorp Stadium is also completely flooded up to about 3 rows of seats from the field - and all the basement in there will be totalled by now.  I've not seen it, but I'd imagine Ballymore would also be completely flooded, too.





Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Why is the Toowoomba Range Closed?

This is what the bottom of the "down" side of the Range crossing looks like:

Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Brisbane Flooding (So Far)

We're far from the worst of what we'll see over the next few days, but here's a start:

Brisbane CBD (Bikeway)

Brisbane Botanic Gardens

Milton

Oxley

West End

Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

New Rivers in Queensland

Here's a photo a client sent me that was taken from the front of their property this afternoon.

Yes, their data is safe, but I'm not too sure if their cars are!  :)
Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Did Sarah Palin Call For The Shooting Of Gabrielle Giffords?

Anyone with a brain knows that Sarah Palin is the amongst worst of the right-wing Christian nutters that America has ever produced.  Back in March 2010, she uploaded a picture of the USA with gun targets representing the Democrats that she wanted her nutter right-wing followers to take aim at - maybe not literally, but her sheep aren't all that smart.

Now, yesterday at a Congress on Your Corner event on Tucson, Arizona (one of the States with one of Sarah Palin's targets over it), while Gabrielle was talking at this event, a (no doubt, but yet to be proved) right-wing religious nutbag shot Gabrielle at close range in the head, shot and killed US District Court Judge John M Roll and apparently as many as 18 people may have been hurt.

So, is it alright for an American Christian terrorist to go around shooting politicians that he's been told are "bad" whereas it is an abhorrent state of affairs if an Islamic terrorist does the same?  Is America going to step up here and treat this terrorist the same as all other terrorists?  Is America going to launch an investigation into why he did this and if Sarah Palin's "Unrelenting Dumb" is part of the cause, will she be held responsible for her part in this terrorist tragedy?

Now, I truly hope that Gabrielle pulls through this well and that she stands for re-election and comes in with a stronger vote than she did last time.  I also hope that her husband, NASA Astronaut Captain Mark Kelly still gets to fly the last planned Shuttle mission on which he is rostered.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of the public downfall of one of the worst periods in American political history - Sarah Palin.

(Edit: Also, I forgot to post this link to a Flickr photo of Sarah Palin's Twitter account where she asked her right-wing religious nutcases last year to "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD".)

(Update: It seems that Jared Lee Loughner (the alleged shooter) isn't a religious nutter, just a nutter needing a cause and it seems that Sarah Palin's "crosshairs" cause was the one he felt suited him best.  And that Sarah Palin's spent the day scrubbing the Internet of her hate links and posts seems to indicate that at least *SHE* think that there is some validity in the link between her actions and calls to arms and Jared's actions in shooting people today.)


Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Google Wins Injunction Against Microsoft Cloud Deal

Talkin' Cloud reports that Google has won a temporary injunction against the recent Microsoft BPOS sale to the US Government on gounds of deficiencies in the procurement process.

Now, the end result will be that the US Government will still go with BPOS, however this at least will give Google Apps legitimacy in the Government and enterprise segments.


Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Microsoft Security Hard At Work

This comment is taken from here, the "Advance Notification Service for the January 2011 Security Bulletin Release":

This month we will not be releasing updates to address Security Advisory 2490606 (public vulnerability affecting Windows Graphics Rendering Engine) and Security Advisory 2488013 (public vulnerability affecting Internet Explorer). We continue to actively monitor both vulnerabilities and for Advisory 2488013 we have started to see targeted attacks.

Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

You Can't Handle The Truth

If you're one of the many people who don't cope well with the truth, reality and such, then join your friends on listening to Fox News.  A University (you know, a place where they teach things, study things and perform research) study recently found that "people in the survey who had the most exposure to Fox News were more likely to believe falsehoods and rumors about national and world affairs when compared to those who paid attention to other news outlets".

Yes, Fox News dumbs you down.  OK, so prolonged exposure to *ONLY* Fox News may well dumb you down, but there's a way out - it is called having a "balanced view" and watching news sources that contain real news and deliver real facts, not just the over-hyped, fact-free mind mush that Fox spoon feeds its regular audience.

You need more proof that Fox News is causing your Stupidity Quotient to rise?  Have a read of this.  Yes, Bill O'Reilly - one of the most well known Fox News personalities - has no clue how the tides work.  Well, as indicated in this article, anyone with an early high school education should know that the Moon causes the tides due to its gravitational pull on the Earth.  Does this mean that Bill O'Reilly knows less than an Eighth Grader, yet is one of Fox News' most respected personalities?  Sure seems that way.


Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Microsoft Security Essentials Update

On 16 December, Microsoft released their latest version of Microsoft Security Essentials - version 2.0.657.0 for both x86 and x64 systems running Windows XP SP2/SP3, F^HVista RTM/SP1/SP2 and Windows 7.

Microsoft Security Essentials is licensed for use as follows (more complete information can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/eula.aspx#mainNav and should be carefully read before installing MSSE):

1.INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.

    a. Home Use. If you are a home user, then you may install and use any number of copies of the software on your personal devices for use by people who reside in your household. As a home user, you may not use the software in any commercial, non-profit, or revenue generating business activities.

    b. Small Business. If you operate a small business, then you may install and use the software on up to ten (10) devices in your business.

    c. Restrictions.

        i.The software may not be used on a device running an enterprise version of a Microsoft Windows operating system.

        ii.The software may not be used on devices owned by government or academic institutions.

    d. Separation of Components. The components of the software are licensed as a single unit. You may not separate the components and install them on different devices.

    e. Included Microsoft Programs. The software may contain other Microsoft programs. The license terms with those programs apply to your use of them.


Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Green Buildings

A large part of what we do in Quark Automation revolves around building energy management - helping make buildings greener and reduce their ongoing running costs.  The Tyee, in British Columbia, Canada, has just started a series entitled "Five Myths About Green Building" that looks, from this first installment, to be a rather interesting read.

During the next several weeks, The Tyee Solutions Society will explore trends and within green building -- call it Green Building 2.0 -- with an eye for ideas that could pay off by helping create sustainable jobs in British Columbia, lower energy bills and make a real dent in emissions causing costly climate change.

Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Microsoft's Cloud Strikes Again

It seems Microsoft's inability to keep their cloud services online and reliable continues.  This time with Hotmail.  PCmag.com reports that a number of users are reporting that their entire Hotmail accounts have been completely deleted without warning.


However, it's not as if Microsoft has - for whatever reason - pulled the plug on the accounts themselves. Users can still log in sans issue. However, they arrive at empty inboxes: No custom folders, no messages in "Sent" or "Deleted," nothing. As one might expect, the abruptness (and unexpectedness) of the purge has left some of Hotmail's long-time users a bit in the dark.

If I have my data on-site and backed up reliably - something *I* can control - then I know what state my data is in.  When I have to rely on someone else keeping my data safe, then if they don't know what they are doing, as in this case, what hope is there of a stable, reliable cloud with data that remains viable?

Come on Microsoft - if you're "All In" for The Cloud, this is a pretty piss-poor example of "All In".

Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie