Poke! What I've read today! (20th August 2011)

The entry for today isn't really in the main news category, but something I find quite interesting to read!

Wildlife getting close to Brisbane residents [Courier Mail]

Back in Hong Kong, the only place to see wildlife and getting up close to nature is by travelling to forest parks and country zones, but in the cityscapes of Hong Kong you would only see little sparrows and pigeons and that's it. Not much more to peek on while you're having a tea out at the street. But here in Brisbane, it's another story. I found there are so many things to look at even in the city, like crows, magpies, and some more interesting birds. While travelling a bit outside to the northern suburbs like Narangba, there are even peacocks, bandicoots and turkeys at my friend's yard! I felt so close to the nature where wildlife are just within your sight. Some people though, don't really want any disturbance from the animals so they decided to drop them away from their habitat making them starve and suffer. I think having wildlife so close to residence is a very special feature of Australia, where not every part of the world has the same in their countries, and for me it's a good thing!

Rising building reshapes suburb views [Courier Mail]

I like Brisbane, but I don't really like the city, because simply, I don't like crowds. And since I don't like crowds, I prefer living far away from the city just to escape the noise and traffic. A new high-rise is now under construction in the Brisbane city and the skyline has changed because of it. The Soleil was the newest addition to the 'skyscrapers' in Brisbane and it is the highest building under construction at the moment. An absolute view is now become a talking point for the suburb people where they found it amazing and they think the building adds a special significance to their houses's view because they can see the skyline even though their houses are located outside the CBD. Well, personally I don't really mind having a needle stuck out into the sky, but maybe it's just me who prefers not having that to be included in my plato's scenery. I just wanted to escape the city view and yet the high rise is giving me another thought that I'm included in the city's border. Well, maybe next time if I need to buy a house, I'll choose ones that face all directions except the city.

Watching TV shortens your life? [Brisbane Times]

Aha, looks like parents will have another reason to get the kids away from Teles thanks to a study reveals that for every hour an adult spends watching TV their life expectancy shortens by almost 22 minutes. What I believe is, from not moving in the sofa for 6 hours doing nothing is a complete waste of time so I don't really do it. But the other thing I'm thinking is what about people who sat in front of their computers playing games? Will they be loosing years from that as well? But fair enough, it's really your responsibility to manage your time and make the most of your day, and I believe going out and have a stretch is good for anyone. Trust me. I don't watch much TV and I feel much better when I go out than stay at home.



D.

Poke! What I've read today! (19th August 2011)

Sorry again for not posting. I went out for a trip out to Scarborough and sort of lost there, so I couldn't mae it back to finish a Poke today.

3 ABC journalists feared dead [Courier Mail]
3 journalists, Reporter Paul Lockyer, pilot Gary Ticehurst and cameraman John Bean were feared dead as the helicopter they were in has crashed last night at the outback national park of Lake Eyre, while they are making a documentary about Lake Eyre filled up with water. Eyewitness saw the helicopter was going down in flames, and police confirmed that 2 person in the crew was dead and the remaining one is believed to be inside the helicopter. This is the saddest tragedy in ABC journalism history. My condolences to their colleagues and family members and my thoughts are with you today.

Terrier destroyed after killing a little girl [Brisbane Times]

On Wednesday night, a pitbull terrier ran into the residence of Anchito, in the melbourne suburb of Albans, attacked the 2-year-old Ayen. While her cousin was desperately trying to save her from the senseless biting, she suffered from bite wounds and other members as well has been attacked by the dog. Neighbours heard from the anguished mother's screaming for help and after a while the dog's owner ran into the house and pulled away the dog. The council destroyed the dog yesterday, and while all dogs are required to be registered, this dog hasn't. The dog was described by neighbours as "aggressive". It's tragic to have such a young child being mauled to death by an animal.

New Brisbane suburb named as "Brisbane Airport"? [Brisbane Times]

From what I know, I've been calling the airport "airport" since I was a kid, and in Brisbane, I have no idea on what other suburbs surrounding it are called, so I might as well call it "airport" as well. Now, the new suburb area in parts of Eagle Farm where the airport is and a small part of Pinkenba next to Priors Road and Main Myrtletown Road are now officially called Brisbane Airport. Next time as you have to send a letter to friends living around there, write that down instead looking for alternative names of it.

D.

Poke! What I've read today! (17th August 2011)

6 year old left at bus stop / too young to travel alone? [Courier Mail]

Meet 6-year-old Cody, he forgot to tell the driver to stop at the bus stop where he would meet her mother at her workplace so he missed it, but the bus driver didn't escort him back to the stop where he should hop off, he just put him down in the next stop, angrily yelled at him, and leaving him alone on the side of the road crying. I mean, this should have avoided and that sparked a little bit of shades of Daniel Morcombe incident where he was also travelling alone in Sunshine Coast. Bus drivers are responsible to take care of their fellow passengers, no matter their age and disability. Simply dumping a kid off the road is totally unaccceptable at all.

(Photo gallery) Wild close-ups of rare mammals [Wired]

I do photography as my hobby, but I could never have any chance EVER to head into the bushes and take shots of kangaroos and other wild animals in the outback. Here in this series of wild photos, unlike other animal photos which looked a bit fabricated and posed, these shots showed how the wild animals look and behave at its most nature way possible. Go check it out!

3 years to keep your meat fresh? Oh yeah! [Popular Science]

I think many people might get frustrated when every time they bought a pack of meat back home and found out they didn't need it, so they'll put it into the freezer and forgot about it, and the next time you want to use it you take it out and the meat has already off. Well, for those lazy bums who doesn't even care about expiry dates, here's a new invention for you that will help meat to keep on shelf for an extended time for up to 3 years. Sure! Why not? #sarcasm

D.

Poke! What I've read today! (16th August 2011)

Man arrested over bomb hoax [Courier Mail]
Finally, the man behind the shocking incident of the bomb hoax in Sydney's suburb has been arrested in Kentucky, US as an FBI SWAT team operation jointed with NSW police. The man was suspected to be identified as he logged into his Gmail account at Kincumber Library on the NSW central coast. Great job for the NSW police force and FBI who spend and massive amount in manpower and effort to finally got someone arrested so quickly. Man, this looks so like the plot in those action movie.

US student found dead in dorm shower room [Brisbane Times]
A US student at her few weeks of Journalism course at the University of Southern Queensland at Toowoomba was dead in her showers, found by a fellow college resident. The fact is police believe that her death is not suspicious and they currently refused to provide any more information about this case. Condolences.

Child dies after hospital doctors failed to diagnose him with burst appendix [Courier Mail]
On 28th March, 2009, a 8-year-old boy died at the Royal Alexandria Hospital for Children at Westmead Hospital in Sydney's west. Before his death he was suffered my abdominal pain, fever and vomiting. The inquest has found he was already suffering major illness at Liverpool Hospital prior transferral to Royal Alexandria Hospital, and the staff there did not make reference to appendicitis as a possible diagnosis. He died on the table as the emergency surgery failed to rescue him. The delay and mistreat for this little boy was indeed a tragedy. But this kind of failed treatment are largely hidden from news and there might be so many near misses we haven't heard of. I think the medial department should have a reflection on this.

D.

Focus: Lecture - Telling facts with Sounds

Unlike other lectures we've had in the previous weeks, this one was put online so we can go back home and listen to it whenever we want. It's so flexible for us but I kind of missed the "lecture" feeling where all students are gathering in the room and listen to the speaker. I reckon it's more fun that way.

So anyway, this week we're learning about telling factual stories with sound. Sound, as everyone knows, happened to be on TV, on radio, and now in podcasts. But to be precise this time we will going to learn only pure soundwaves - Radio and podcasts.

Radio itself is a completely different media to TV, where TV is usually where viewers sit on the couch and swtiching channels to see if anything interesting is on, it's more like the content comes to you across the distance. While radio is more like you're driving, you're having tea or something, you'll listen to the radio. You multitask while you're listening.

The important thing about this is to you have to make listeners feel included in the conversation, not just simply talk without anything getting the involved.

Radio shows often have interviews with special people, and as a host you have to be genuinely interested about the guest. Before starting the show, you've got to research and find out something about that person and let him know what to expect in the show, so he/she can be more relaxed and will trust you during the recording/live.

Radio shows has to be interesting, and it needs to encourage people to participate in the show. For example, ask questions on the show, and make it simple so you'll have a faster response from callers. But being a host, you must be standing in different viewpoints depending on your audience. Sometimes you've got to switch your opinion because your viewpoint does not always reflect the ones from the audience. So it's important to remember that.

As a host, your voice and pronunciation affects a lot of people so it is crucial for you to have a correct lingo to use. Or else listeners would feel the show was kind of alienating them.

There are so much to cover in this 2 radio segments and I just couldn't have learnt more from it. Minding you that radio is not dying, it's thriving and it is gradually shifting into a new form of audio - Podcasts. People would subscribe to them if they're interested on it, and radio shows are exactly where it comes from. So in the meaning time both platforms are blending in each other, it will be a fantastical media source for busy people and housewives.



D.

Focus: Baby Einsteins DVD doesn't work at all?

I'm a young man, and young people should do something like partying, having fun, hanging out with mates, while I'm reading articles related to parenting. That is kind of odd I believe. But I am so interested that every time I stumble upon an article about kids and their well-beings, I'll instantly read through it bit by bit, unlike other articles which I usually skim through and see if it worths my time to read it. Maybe I'm just having such a potential to be a good father, or am I not?

So this one that I just read (3-year-old article by the way) was about debating the effectiveness of purchasing Baby Einstein videos where they advertised it will help boosting your little pumpkin's intellect, prepare them for sooner education, or outsmart your neighbour's kid. Since it was so well-packaged into a suite of merchandise, guilty parents who feared they aren't doing enough for their baby flocked to stores and buy them, hoping that by listening to those music and watching those videos will make their baby smarter and maybe become an Einstein in the future,

Parents! Give me your money NOW!

Well this study showed us actually by plonking your infant children in front of these videos may do more harm than good to them! They said, when they put them in front of baby DVDs and videos, they learned six to eight fewer new vocabulary words than babies who never watched the videos. Wow, shocker. Also this especially affect babies for those aged between 8 to 16 months old, where their language skills and verbalising abilities are starting to form. "The more videos they watched, the fewer words they knew," says Dr. Dimitri Christakis, who worked on this study with the research team at the University of Washington. "These babies scored about 10% lower on language skills than infants who had not watched these videos."

So apparently the more you let your little babies to watch these videos from TV screen, the less they will learn and the more parents paying these disks from their precious, invulnerable wallet, those companies who made all these counter-intuitive materials will earn all the profits from these poor parents, who just want their babies to be a little bit smarter and brighter. Reality is brutal.

So what should the parents do? Well, that's easy! You can just simply spend more time interacting with your little ones, play with them, talk to them, have some fun times and more importantly, stop drilling your babies little brain with those useless DVDs. They learn everything from you, copying your acts, your lingo, just do your best to be a good influence and example. Your grandfather turned out great even without television, let alone flash cards and stuff like these, right?

Source



D.

Focus: Let's log your media consumption/creation!

Hi all, as a requirement for this course's assessment, I have now begun recording my media usuage since Sunday (14th August) and as far as now, I have logged roughly 2 days and now I can see that I'm obviously spending a lot of time on the Internet as that was my (almost) only medium to get information from around the world, and the TV in the lounge room area isn't always turned on.

I have divided them into 3 sections: multimedia, circulation, and creation. I have to write blogs so that counts, and sometimes I will head out and take picture with my camera, and that also counts in the "creation" section. And for multimedia, it's everything, videos (notably from YouTube and Internet; TV shows and movies on my computer, oddly enough), music (songs that I own), Podcasts (I have multiple subscriptions on iTunes so this would be quite a large proportion for me), and general browsing/surfing the web (Facebook which I don't really dig into; reading news online; and many more text and pictures!!)

Let's see how much time will I spend on different kinds of media and how much percentage will each of them represents!



D.

Poke! What I've read today! (15th August 2011)

Translink FAIL at Ekka ticket queue chaos [Courier Mail]
I have a GoCard because I have to travel between Uq and my place every time and I don't have the luxury of owning a car or even a bike, so public transport is a major necessity.for me. But on the other hand, every time for example if I forgot to top up my GoCard, I have to go through the annoyance caused by the ticketing system on buses and trains. This situation now has multiplied by hundreds of people queuing up at Ekka playgrounds where people who don't carry or own a GoCard have to buy a single ticket and ANOTHER ticket to return home, which completely took away the fun of Ekka. Now Translink has to change the rule for the single ticket where in this period travellers to Ekka doesn't need to buy another ticket back home, and that means the 2 hour period was waived, for the moment. Brisbane transport has to do some re-considerations regarding this issue.

Man accused will apply bail and fight the charges against him [Courier Mail]
The first day of the trail for the Daniel Morcombe case. The man (P7) who is accused of murdering Daniel has faced court today on charges of murder, deprivation of liberty, child stealing, indecent treatment of a child under 16 and interfering with a corpse. In all seriousness, this man is trying to and will be defending himself from the charges against him, and apparenly, he will also make a bail bid as he could not apply for a release. The story continues.

Birmingham mourns riot dead [Courier Mail]
People in the Birmingham community have held a peace rally as three Muslim men were killed during the violent looting riot. They were part of the group guarding Pakistani-owned shops from looter. But they were killed as a high speed car ran over them. Two males were charged in the attack, and one was under 18 years of age, while the magistrates court has worked nonstop and stayed open to help processing the charged related to the riots.



D.

Poke! What I've read today! (14th August 2011)

Apologies for not posting yesterday because I had to attend a very special birthday for the whole day.

Girls remain undetected of ADHD [Courier Mail]
Boys are quite easily distinguishable when they have behavioural disorder as they tend to show hyperactivity and inattention more often than girls. Girls are more like sitting in the back of the class and they would later harming themselves for attention. About 6 per cent of Australians are thought to have ADD or ADHD, but the figure is likely to be higher because of the number of girls going undiagnosed.

Finally, a man was charged in Daniel Morcombe disappearance [Courier Mail]
After 8 years of investigation, a 41-year old man was finally charged with murder, child stealing, deprivation of liberty, indecent treatment in the Daniel Morcombe case, the largest manhunt case in Queensland. This case has been a very complex one where Daniel was first disappeared in December 2003, and police has since gathering clues and searching for person-of-interest. But since it has been 8 years and Daniel has a very slim chance that he's alive, but his parent Bruce and Denise Morcombe has vowed to find his remains and put him to rest. Now that the case has progressed significantly in this week, I will be personally watching this case closely. Hopefully the verdict will be out soon and end this case once and for all.

Free helmet to be implemented to bikes [Brisbane Times]
People might think a free helmet will be able to settle the frustration where people don't own a helmet just for a few rides in the city. Well, I think it's a waste of resource and it is impractical. No one has notice the hygienic problem when everyone wearing the same helmet again and again, and including vandalism and people destroying the helmets, basically a helmet can be gone or replaced within days. Not cool, Quirk. Besides of helmets, there will be software changes for the CityCycle stands as well as express cards available for subscription.



D.