Showing all posts about Australia
Someone out there knows who Adelaide’s ‘Somerton Man’ is
22 August 2011
The “Mystery of the Somerton Man”, or “The Taman Shud Case”, where the body of an unidentified male was found on Somerton beach, near Adelaide, capital of South Australia, in December 1948, remains one of Australia’s most perplexing unsolved “missing persons” cases.
Was the dead man, who became known as “Somerton Man”, the victim of an elaborate murder plot, or did he take his own life? Why is it that no one was able to positively identify him, despite extensive publicity given to the case at the time? What is to be made of his apparent association with an Adelaide nurse, and rumours of links to espionage groups?
The police had brought in another expert, John Cleland, emeritus professor of pathology at the University of Adelaide, to re-examine the corpse and the dead man’s possessions. In April, four months after the discovery of the body, Cleland’s search produced a final piece of evidence — one that would prove to be the most baffling of all. Cleland discovered a small pocket sewn into the waistband of the dead man\’s trousers. Previous examiners had missed it, and several accounts of the case have referred to it as a “secret pocket,” but it seems to have been intended to hold a fob watch. Inside, tightly rolled, was a minute scrap of paper, which, opened up, proved to contain two words, typeset in an elaborate printed script. The phrase read “Tamám Shud.”
Efforts to solve the mystery remain on-going, which includes determining the man’s identity, and what exactly occasioned his death, are being lead by a University of Adelaide team. More information about the case can be found on Wikipedia.
UPDATE: researchers believe they have identified the dead man.
Originally published Monday 22 August 2011.
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Australia, crime, history, legacy
Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, December 2010
2 December 2010
This article was originally posted in December 2010. As such the climb packages referred to may have changed, or be out of date.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been over Sydney Harbour Bridge, whether by foot, bus, train, or more often while driving to and from the NSW Central Coast. Too many to count. But there’s no escaping the kick that accompanies each crossing of one of the best known bridges in the world.
And in the next few days I’ll be experiencing the bridge in a completely different way when, thanks to the people at BridgeClimb, I go on my first BridgeClimb.
Sydneysiders, and those familiar with the bridge, have doubtless seen the small — almost ant-like — groups of climbers making their way up or down the bridge’s gently curving arches. Or watched climbers pausing to take in the vistas of the city, harbour, and surrounding Sydney Basin, once they reach the summit, one-hundred-and-thirty-four metres above the water.
But a trek to the top of the bridge isn’t the only aspect of the BridgeClimb experience.
Depending on how much time you have, and how bold you’re feeling, you can venture right into the heart of the bridge, traversing catwalks and steel stairways as road, rail, and pedestrian traffic streams below your feet.
Thinking you’d like to try it yourself? I don’t blame you. There are numerous climbs to choose from, which take place during the day and evening, seven days a week. It is also possible to arrange dawn and twilight climbs.
Of course you might like to treat someone else to the experience also, especially given it’s that time of year. And just as there are several climbs to choose from, there are also a number of BridgeClimb Gift Certificates available.
A Blue Gift Certificate for instance permits the holder to take one of the three climbs at night time. For a little more flexibility, a Gold Gift Certificate allows climbs during the day or after dark. If you really want to push the boat out, a Titanium Gift Certificate also includes the option of climbing at either dawn or twilight, in addition to the day and night slots.
Climbs — which take place in all but the most extreme of weather conditions — can range from 2¼ hours in length for The Express Climb, to 3½ hours for both The Bridge Climb and The Discovery Climb. Before setting off you will be outfitted with a BridgeSuit, and other clothing if needed, depending on weather conditions at the time of your climb.
While it’s a good idea to read-up about the climb beforehand, about the only thing you really need to know is that photography is a no-no during the climb. But that doesn’t mean you won’t come away without photographic evidence of your time on the bridge, as the guide, who has a secured camera, will take photos throughout.
Obviously cameras — and any other loose items, including phones — pose a risk to pedestrians and traffic on the bridge, and possibly even vessels on the harbour, should they be dropped or fall. This then is an experience that you will mostly have to file to memory.
That shouldn’t be too difficult though. After all, it’s not everyday you’ll have the opportunity to saunter around one of the world’s most iconic structures.
My thanks again to BridgeClimb for the opportunity to partake of the BridgeClimb experience.
Originally published Thursday 2 December 2010, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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Book launch: Futuretainment by Mike Walsh, Sydney, 1 December 2009
2 December 2009
Last night Mike Walsh launched his new book Futuretainment – which looks at the future of media and marketing – at the Hotel CBD in Sydney. He spoke with technology journalist Brad Howarth, and offered a few of his insights into advertising and marketing, particularly in Asia, together with a couple of trend predictions for 2010.
- People born after 1994 are digital “naturals”. They have never lived in a world without web browsers.
- “Naturals” have never known a time when they cannot access decent content somewhere online.
- Content producers and creators (copy-righters) such as musicians are effectively marketers.
- Musicians, for example, encourage “content theft”… they don\’t make revenue from recorded music, that comes from sales of merchandise, live performances, etc.
- Social networks drive TV programming. People increasingly watch what is forwarded to them (videos, links to videos).
- Viewers are deciding what they will watch, not the TV networks.
- How will content producers make money? Become a celebrity… cue Ashton Kutcher and his declaration to become “the next new-media mogul“.
- Japan excels at producing content for mobile phones.
- The Chinese know how to make money with social networks. QQ, a Chinese variation of Facebook, made US$1 billion last year.
- In Korea people watch more TV shows on mobile phones than a television.
- Digital consumers in Asia are generally very tech savvy, have access to unlimited bandwidth, and have little regard for copyright.
- Ninety per cent of Chinese internet users have broadband, which is considerably faster than that available in Australia.
- Augmented reality will put consumers in control by way of real time product and service reviews and critiques.
Originally published Wednesday 2 December 2009, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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Australia, books, legacy, Mike Walsh, technology, trends
Winged Creatures movie ticket giveaway
26 June 2009
Together with Icon Film Distribution I have five double in-season passes to giveaway to Australian film maker Rowan Woods’ (director of The Boys and Little Fish) newest movie Winged Creatures.
Starring Forest Whitaker, Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Hudson, Winged Creatures follows the lives of the people who were in a diner during a violent armed robbery…
A moment of random violence erupts in an ordinary Los Angeles diner. The survivors find that the meaning of their lives has changed and that they must find trust in a world that now seems unforgiving. No matter how much their families and friends attempt to understand, these individuals must follow their own paths to recovery.
To go into the draw for a double pass (valid in all Australian State capital metro areas from 9 July 2009) please leave a comment below (none will be published).
First in first served. Winners will be notified early next week. One entry per person please. Sorry, only open to people residing in Australia.
Update: thanks for your interest, the giveaway has closed, passes are on the way to the winners.
Originally published Friday 26 June 2009, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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Tastemakers to get a bite of Star Trek at Sydney Opera House
26 March 2009
The Sydney Opera House will host the world premiere of the new Star Trek movie, on Tuesday 7 April 2009, before an audience of 1600 tastemakers (Internet Archive link):
Director JJ Abrams’ new Star Trek movie will have its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House next month, presented by Aussie star Eric Bana. Abrams, Bana and co-stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban will present the blockbuster to 1,600 tastemakers in art, design, entertainment, fashion, media and politics on April 7. It is only the third time a film has debuted at the Sydney Opera House, and the first time a premiere has been held in the concert hall.
I wonder what it takes to become a Star Trek tastemaker then?
Originally published Thursday 26 March 2009, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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Australia, film, legacy, science fiction, Star Trek, Sydney
SPAMVENTDOCUMENT the blog, again, by Justin Fox
11 August 2008
I’ve mentioned Australian Infront founder, and web designer about Sydney, Justin Fox’s latest personal blog before, but in a blogosphere choke full of make-money-online and blogs-about-blogging… blogs, it is refreshing to read something again that is the no-strings-attached real deal.
I feel like I’ve been sitting here all these years watching the world go by, in my “only dead fish go with the flow” sort of way, while Justin is out there doing all sorts of different stuff with hotted-up bikes, hotted-up cars, hotted-up web design, and all sorts of other stuff.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
The Met helmet was awesome, so cool. Nice to see a couple of other riders out there with them on too. The TLD XC gloves, whilst suuper comfy for the first hour, are a bit thin. Might look into thicker gloves. The Joplin seatpost is a miracle which I called on a billion times today on the fly. It gives you power when you need it for the climbs and gives you bucket loads of confidence for the tech downhill stuff.
I don’t what half of that means, but it’s fun to read.
Update: Justin’s blog can now be found here.
Originally published Monday 11 August 2008, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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Australia, blogs, legacy, self publishing, Sydney
The Australian Typography Club
1 August 2008
Australian typography enthusiasts are being sought (Internet Archive link) to help establish The Australian Typography Club, an informal group that will “promote choosing, using, and creating great typography”.
The mission of our club will be to promote choosing, using, and creating great typography. On a day-to-day level, the purpose of the club would be to create a real-life community for type enthusiasts to meet, collaborate, and learn. Meetings would be held periodically (in my studio if needed), where Sydney typography enthusiasts of all ages can discuss choosing, using, and creating great typography.
Check out this thread on the Australian INfront forum if you’re interested in being involved.
Update: both the Australian INfront and its discussion forum are no longer online, and links here point to the Internet Archive.
Originally published Friday 1 August 2008, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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OpenAustralia: opening up the Australian Parliament
17 June 2008
OpenAustralia, a new website that allows you to track debate and discussion in the Australian Parliament, launched on Sunday. Nathanael Boehm, who is on the project team (in a post on his no-longer online website purecaffeine.com), describes OpenAustralia far better than I could:
OpenAustralia is a site that aggregates House of Representatives debates with data about the Members of the House of Reps and presents it in a way that makes it easy to see what debates your Member in your electorate is participating, what they’re saying and whether they’re doing a good job of representing you. You can see statistics of how many debates they’ve been involved with. You can comment against any Member’s contribution to a debate and discuss that with other users of the site.
OpenAustralia also lets keep tabs on your local MP, and while learning that my local representative Peter Garrett (he of Midnight Oil fame), is one of the more vocal MPs (is that really a surprise?), I also learnt a few other things:
Has spoken in 50 debates in the last year – well above average amongst MPs. This MP’s speeches are understandable to an average 20 – 21 year old, going by the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score. Has used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. “she sells seashells”) 138 times in debates – well above average amongst MPs.
Originally published Tuesday 17 June 2008, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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The Aussie Bloggers Forum launches
1 January 2008
A brand new discussion forum for Australian bloggers — which I was invited to help setup — goes into soft launch (I hope: this is the timestamp speaking again…) today: Aussie Bloggers Forum (update: no longer online).
Of course it’s not just for Australians, and everyone, where ever you are, is welcome.
So whether blogging is your major or minor, head along and say hello, network, and strut your stuff.
How’s that for an easy, not too demanding way, to spend New Year’s Day?
Originally published Tuesday 1 January 2008.
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Grow your DVD movie collection each time you visit the supermarket
9 December 2007
Going to the supermarket is increasingly becoming a one-stop-shopping experience. In addition to sourcing groceries, some stores now offer not-half bad coffee, which you can enjoy as you pace the aisles. And for movie fans, a visit to the supermarket is only going to get better, with news that DVD vending machines are being rolled out across Australia:
Instant DVD has installed vending machines in 12 supermarkets throughout Melbourne and Sydney and intends to expand to 500 throughout the country, creating yet more competition for the traditional video shop.
The hire prices are too bad either, and the “late fee” for not returning the title by the due date may not — depending how much you like the film in question — be so terrible either:
All movies cost $2.99 a night to hire and can be returned to any of the service’s vending machines. If you fail to return a movie within two weeks its price is charged to your credit card and it becomes yours to keep.
I’m not really up on the state-of-play when it comes to late fines on hire movies, since returning hires is about the only thing I actually do promptly, but it seems to me someone who’s a little more casual in this regard could end up with quite an impressive DVD collection.
If nothing else it makes for a good way to try before you buy. If you like the movie enough simply keep it, and two weeks later it’s yours. I wonder how the price of the “to keep” hires compares with those on weekly special at the supermarket though?
Originally published Sunday 9 December 2007, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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