view original Originally uploaded by lylamerle I thought we did a really good job of cleaning house and getting rid of a lot of things that we’d likely never use again before taking off for Aotearoa in January. We sold a lot of things in a garage sale, some went to the Salvation Army, and anything left over was taken to the dump. Our perspective on clutter changed a bit after our experience in New Zealand. We only brought those things that we felt we needed to survive, and likewise we bought few things that would need to be sold…
Going To The US Sucks?
Bernie Tweeted a link to this story about some poor soul who found out he was going to be fingerprinted and photographed upon entering the U.S for a software developer’s conference. Here’s a quote: I want to give a clear signal to the US members of the Drupal community: this is unacceptable and hinders development and business. I’m sure the U.S. Department of Commerce, Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security are quivering with fear about Drupal developers mobilizing to protest this horrific injustice. Another quote: …it’s the last time I’ll be going into the United States while…
Magma from Dunedin
view original Originally uploaded by Irish Typepad Bernie Goldbach found this piece of polished magma from Dunedin while visiting Edinburgh, Scotland. He says it reminded him of me. Other than the strong Irish chin I don’t see the resemblance. 😉 There are stong historic ties between Edinburgh and Dunedin. Dunedin’s name comes from the original Scottish-Gaelic for Edinbugh – Dùn Èideann. I’m sure the plaque at the base of this masterpiece documents some aspect of it. We have one full week left in our flat, and four days in a local motel as the accommodations office was not able to…
My Dunedin Top Ten Lists
We are just a bit over two weeks away from leaving Dunedin, and I have very mixed emotions about it. Obviously I’m anxious to get back to our home, work, family and friends, but it has been an amazing semester down here as well. I put together a list of the 10 things I will miss most, as well as those things that I definitely will not miss about Dunedin 10 Things I’ll Miss About Dunedin The short walk to the music department, library, markets and nearly everything we need. Sunday dinners with the Leoni family. Wonderful, wonderful people. Sundown…
Pixenate: Photo Editing On The Web
One of the reasons I had neglected to use pictures in posts here for so long was the fact that in order to do any kind of editing (other than simple resizes) of the pics I needed to fire up Photoshop. Let’s face it – I’m not that into photography to take the extra steps required. When Scott came onboard and began to use pictures in every post I decided I needed to get with the program. A few weeks ago Walter Higgins posted a Jaiku asking for people with WordPress 2.5.1 sites who were willing to test his Pixenate…
Celbration of Life: Winona Kapuailohia Beamer
The Beamer family invites everyone to come and share in celebrating the life of one of Hawai’i’s Treasures, Winona Kapuailohia Beamer, who touched and impacted the lives of many people throughout the world through music, dance, and the sharing of Hawaiian values. Please visit Keola Beamer’s website for details.
Ingore This Pic
I’m just testing a graphic editing plugin for WordPress for a fellow in Ireland. Nothing to see here, move along now…
A Cold, Cold Night Coming
We’ve been very lucky during our time here in that the weather has been relatively mild by Dunedin standards. We do have a few cold nights coming up, but this one is clearly the worst of it. Hopefully it will be the last before we leave. Needless to say I don’t think we’ll be leaving the house this day and will be sure to have food stocked and things to burn to keep warm.
Twitterfone Live In NZ
Irish serial entrepreneur Pat Phelan has hit another home run with his Twitterfone service, which allows users to record a voice mail, have it converted to text and posted to their Twitter accounts. Pat kindly offered to set up a phone number for me to call in NZ, and while it took about a week for his technicians to work out a caller-ID glitch, but it now seems to work beautifully. Here is the first Twitterfone call from Aotearoa, and how it showed up on Twitter about 2 minutes later. If you’re on Facebook, consider joining the Twitterfone group. If…
Honolulu Hypocrisy
One of the ways I monitor the news back home by subscribing to the the “Breaking News” feed of the Honolulu Advertiser in Google Reader. Today the news feed brought these two tantalizing headlines: Hawai’i must redouble war on child obesity and L&L Drive-Inn rolls out 3-pound plate lunch. Personally, I can’t even finish a standard plate from L&L Drive-In and usually opt for the mini-plate. Shame on the Honolulu Advertiser for treating this advertisement as a news item.