It took a little time, as things have been crazy since I got back, but, the photos from our trip to Sydney at the weekend are now online in this flickr set
Here’s a little sampler for you:
Browsing Posts published in May, 2008
I’m a huge fan, and a huge user of the wonderful Gmail, which I use as part of Google Apps for my domain. However, I’ve been longing, and I mean longing, for as long as I can remember, for an efficent process to sycn and manage my Gmail contacts on my mac. Recently, SpanningSync have introduced Contacts sync alongside their really neat little Google Calendar Sync application, but, I have yet to try this out. However, it would appear that there is no longer a need. Google have just announced, via their mac blog that they have just introduced Address Book Sync, to go in hand with the latest OSX 10.5.3 update. I’m going to be tidying up my Google Contacts today, and heading home to try this out later on this evening to see how it all goes.
Remember however, if you are going to go do this today, to back up both your Address Book and Gmail contacts first, as it has the potential to go wrong and cause you lots of pain!!
I have a thing about the latest craze in social networks. It’s a long standing thing. I ignore them for ages, then, just as all the cool kids are moving on from the latest and greatest craze of the day, I decide to give it a try, get sucked in for about a week, then get bored. I imagine this would be the same with Twitter if I were to start getting involved. Yeah, it looks pretty cool, and by the looks of it, most people that I know are obsessed, but, do I really need to get involved? I’m thinking no, but, I’m interested to hear if anyone out there wants to try and sway me…
Ok, it’s been hectic since I got back, and I didn’t have a chance to write anything about our weekend in Sydney, but, we had an absolutely fantastic time. The city is very, very cool! Aside from the weather, which, as I’ve already mentioned, was more Irish than Australian for the weekend, we had a fantastic time. We were very fortunate to stay in my companies apartment, which is right under Sydney Harbour Bridge and has fantastic views, but not only that, it’s really easy to get around the city from there too. Added to this, we had a car from work for the whole weekend, which makes exploring a city so much easier than trying to do it the usual ways by bus, boat and taxi. As a result, we got to see far more than I had ever imagined we would, and got a good feel for the whole city that way.
Not once did we encounter the Sydney brashness or rudeness that so many people talk about. I guess having spent quite a bit of time in France, and having lived in London and Dublin for so long, I’ve become hardened, but, everyone in Sydney was super nice and friendly, and it is a city that both Kassie and I could very easily live in at some stage in the future. I was also amazed at just how big the city was, Brisbane really does seem like just a small little town in comparison!
Disappointment of the weekend has to have been Jordons Seafood Restaurant at Darling Harbour which is reputed to be one of the best seafood restaurants in the city. We were really unimpressed by the whole experience, and will be in no rush back.
Highlights of the weekend had to be stumbling upon the uber-cool Water Bar in the very, very cool Blue Hotel in the town with probably the funniest name I’ve ever seen or heard – Woolloomooloo!! Try saying that with a few of their amazing cocktails in you! Speaking of cocktails, the few that we snuck in whilst in the Four Seasons were brilliant, all down to the fact that there was a really neat little jazz trio playing in the bar!
I’ve got heaps of photos to sort through and upload over the next few days. Every evening is a bit hectic this week, but, as soon as I’ve got them sorted, they will be up on flickr as per usual!
I’m working in Sydney this week, and Kassie and I are staying down for the weekend, which is really very cool. But, I’ve noticed that Sydney is just like Dublin, it’s bloody freezing! Compared to back home in Brisbane, where the temp still climes to 24 or so during the day, it’s only getting to about 17 here at the moment, and added to the wind that blows off the river, it’s baltic compared to what I’ve been used to over the past few months. It’s amazing just how quickly your body adjusts to the heat. 12 months ago, 17 degrees would have been a nice warm day, and 24 was a stinker! But now, even 24 feels relatively cool!! Yep, I know, I’ve softened up, don’t ask me how I’m ever gonna survive a trip back to Ireland in the winter!!
On another note though, despite having worked here a few times now, I’ve still yet to explore any of Sydney. Last night was the first time I’ve ever stayed down, and the city looks absolutely beautiful. I’m really looking forward to getting out and about for the weekend exploring and taking photos. Let’s just hope that it warms up a little for me! 
So, a bit like Dublin Bus, you don’t see anything here for ages, then I come out with a whole heap of new posts! I suppose at some stage I should probably come up with a decent post about what I’m up to and how I’m getting on over here in Australia, but, for now, this is what I’ve got.
I’ve just heard about a new Mac application that makes browsing and using my most visited site, flickr a whole new experience. Flickery from Eternal Storms Software allows you browse and use flickr from an iPhoto like interface. It looks very, very cool. Whilst the application is currently only in beta (and is not actually available even for beta download at the moment), it does look exceptionally promising, and something that I could end up spending a lot of time using!
You may remember back to last year, when Estonia, one of the most internet savvy, connected countries in the world, came under a widespread and well documented cyber attack, originating for the most part in Russia, and in response to some political moves that were being made in the country at the time.
I’ve just read an interesting paper, written in non-technical terms on the background and implications of the event, both on Estonia, and also on the wider world as we face into a new era of potential cyber warfare. If this sounds of interest to you, I suggest that you take a read.
Wow, Barry brought my attention to some amazing photos on flickr during the week, taken by a freelance photojournalist working in Sichuan, China, following on from the earthquake there last week. I’ve had a look at a few of them, but have just sat down to look at the newer images, and there amongst some of the best that I’ve ever seen on flickr. Usually, you get lots of technically and artistically stunning images on flickr, but, to see real hard hitting, moving images is a little less common. I suggest that you take a look at Natalie’s photo stream as soon as you can, but, I will warn you that these images are very graphic, hard hitting, and do contain images of dead people and severely injured children along the way.
And you just do something that you think, wow, that was pretty special! Well, that’s the feeling that I got twice on Saturday, once after taking this series of images and secondly, later on on Saturday evening when I got home, and produced the following panorama from four stitched shots! I’m pretty pleased with the result!
So, I’m a country boy at heart! I’ve grown up in the country, surrounded by green fields, and, relative peace and quiet. I’ve always wanted to live in the city however, and, over the past year or so, have been lucky enough to have lived in the heart of London, and now in the centre of Brisbane!
I absolutely love city life, but, last weekend, I had a bit of a change of scenery as Kassie and I headed up north to Ayr, in Northern Queensland, where Kassie is from originally. This was my first proper experience of rural Australia, and I loved every minute of it. It was so good to get back out to the countryside for a change, lie in bed, or sit outside listening to birds and peace and quiet, instead of cars and sirens all the time! I was glad to get back to the city at the end of it all, but, the trip was amazing.
Added to that, this was the first time that I got to play properly with my new camera and lens, made it all the more enjoyable! I’m really, really pleased with my new kit, especially now that I also have my new iMac to view and edit everything on, instead of a MacBook.
If you like this shot, and you would like to see more, I suggest you check out this flickr set
