Entries Tagged 'Interesting' ↓
May 16th, 2008 — Interesting
My recent home theatre buying binge left me completely devoid of space in the tiny Ikea TV stand I’ve been using for the past couple of years. So short of space that I was relegated to setting my new Onkyo 605 on the floor!
I decided to build a new stand for my TV and home theatre gear based on the TNT Flexy design. A friend of mine built a similar stand a few years ago, and the minimalist industrial design really appealed to my tastes.
The finished product consists of a primary centre section that’s 1175 mm wide and two wing sections that are 450 mm wide each. I decided to make the side sections removable so that if I move into a new house with less room I can take them off and be left with a stand that is the same size as my TV. As it is currently, the wing sections hold my two front speakers.
The unit is three shelves high, and 600 mm deep. 600 mm is slightly too deep, but the alternative was current down each piece of MDF to the same size. Given my lack of experience with power tools I’m certain I wouldn’t have been able to get a nice finish doing this, so I left the panels at the 600 mm size they came from Bunnings.
The total cost for the materials used was around AU$200, which is pretty reasonable for it’s size. Everything was bought from Bunnings at Molendinar on the Gold Coast.
Here’s the cost breakdown:
| Item |
Quantity |
Unit Cost |
Total Cost |
| Black Tips |
2 |
1.66 |
3.32 |
| 5/8″ Hex Nuts |
2 |
12.80 |
25.60 |
| Box Washers |
1 |
15.49 |
15.49 |
| 36 x 5/8″ Whitworth Rod ZP Steel |
4 |
9.27 |
37.08 |
| MDF 16mm 1200×450mm |
3 |
11.50 |
34.50 |
| MDF 16mm 1200×600mm |
3 |
14.50 |
43.50 |
| 2L Acrylic Primer |
1 |
32.40 |
32.40 |
| 1L Satin Black Enamel |
1 |
24.03 |
24.03 |
| Total |
|
|
AU$215.92 |
Other Flexy Builds:
November 15th, 2007 — Interesting
The Brisbane Times today has an article on South-East Queensland’s car theft hot spots.
The worst locations for car theft are on the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane and in Ipswich.
“Most stolen cars are used for joyrides, to commit crimes or just for transport,” he said. “Usually they’re dumped reasonably close by but often they’re severely damaged.”
Motor vehicle theft in Queensland has risen 7 per cent from the previous year, with Southport, Surfers Paradise, Biggera Waters and Ipswich the hardest-hit local government areas.
Older cars without mobilisers are frequently stolen, with early 1990s model Commodores hot property.
You know that feeling you get when it seems like something was written about you, specifically? My car was stolen earlier this year, joy-ridden and dumped relatively close with enough damage for insurance to write it off. I live in Southport, and my car was a 1989 VN Commodore Wagon.
Damn…
August 19th, 2007 — Australia, Interesting, Money
If I ready one more Baby Boomer whinging about how all young people these days are too picky about where they live, and back in their day their first house was a fibro shack in the outer suburbs so “stop whinging” I think I’ll just stop and scream. Too picky, my arse!
The point of this post is, of course, going to be about the “housing crisis” in Australia. It’s about how the Baby Boomer’s have the nerve to insult us for bringing up this point, to tell us that they remember paying 17% interest under Labor and how it was all so very bad back then, so quit your bitching and buy some tiny place in Ipswich that you can afford.
Continue reading →
June 5th, 2007 — Australia, Interesting
For many young Australian’s, tertiary study is financed by a government-run loan program known as “HECS-HELP“. Basically, the government loans you the money to cover tuition fees; and the loan is only “indexed” at rate equal to CPI. This loan is repaid through automatic deductions taken out using the same system as tax (PAYG) once you’re earning over the minimum repayment threshold, which is currently just over $38,000 per year. After this threshold, a percentage of your entire paycheck is automatically deducted; not the amount above the threshold as happens for income tax.
Unfortunately, many young Australians have no idea exactly how the repayment of this debt affects them day-to-day. Is this a loan that is easily paid off? How long will it take? I decided to do a little bit of number crunching and work out exactly what it means.
Continue reading →
May 17th, 2007 — Interesting
Thought I’d repost a couple of pretty cool animated GIFs the guys over at Something Awful made in this weeks’ Heroes thread.
Linderman being de-brained by DL
Sylar going “Boom”
Hiro’s Dad being a bad-arse Samurai
May 3rd, 2007 — Interesting
A study outlined in the New York Times today has found evidence of racial bias in the way referees call fouls. Over 13 seasons, the study found that white referees called fouls against black players at a greater rate than against white players.
After accounting for a large number of factors, which are outlined in the article, it was found that:
“[W]e find that black players receive around 0.12-0.20 more fouls per 48 minutes played (an increase of 2 ½-4 ½ percent) when the number of white referees officiating a game increases from zero to three.”
The NBA disagrees of course, stating that it’s own study found no evidence of bias. The NBA’s study was less formal and academic, and also didn’t adjust for the various factors such as position and veteran status as the original article.
From Freakonomics
April 30th, 2007 — Australia, Interesting, Money
On the way home from work I was chatting to a colleague about money, and remembered a phrase I heard a while ago: “Don’t put money in the bank, own the bank!”
While I can’t recall the exact place I heard it (although I’ve found at least one site that looks at the concept), I thought it was at least quickly looking into it. I compared putting money in a ING Direct “Savings Maximiser” account to buying stocks in four major Australian Banks: Commonwealth, Westpac, Suncorp, and Bank of Queensland.
The amount invested was $1000; I’ve taken into account capital growth and dividends; and the time frame of the comparison was 1 year ending today. The current interest rate of the ING Direct account is 6% pa.
It should be noted that in the time period shown, Commonwealth and Westpac paid two dividends whereas Suncorp and Bank of Queensland only paid one.
The comparison shows that even the poorest performing investment, Suncorp-Metway, still earnt $38 more than a cash account - that’s an effective interest rate of 10%!
Now, I’m not a financial adviser, nor am I any sort of economist or analyst, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I also didn’t take into account brokerage fees, nor did I account for the tax benefits of the dividends being fully-franked. Investing is also carries a higher risk, so you could possibly lose every cent you invest.
Nonetheless, What does this mean?
It’s more effective to own the bank!
April 12th, 2007 — Interesting, Online
The Village Voice has a beautiful (parody) dissertation on why the number one song in the US, “This Is Why I’m Hot” by Mims, is actually hot - complete with Venn diagrams and flowcharts.
Hot Hot Heat: A graphical dissertation on the number one song in America
March 30th, 2007 — Interesting
I just saw an interesting piece on Catalyst (on ABC2) about the effects of choice on our psychology.
Our entire market economy is based on one idea, the more choice you have the happier you get. But science suggests we’re going against human nature. In fact, too much choice can actually make you sick.
From here: “Choice”
You can see the vast amount of choices we are faced with when taking a trip to the supermarket. Do we really need half an aisle of toilet paper to choose from? How about 20 different brands of olive oil?
I think there are a couple of factors that affect our response in the face of “over-choice”:
- The importance of the item - If we’re faced with a large number of choices for a trivial item, such as toilet paper, it induces frustration. One ply, two ply, or three ply? Plain, or pictures of dolphins or puppies? Who cares!
- Our knowledge of the items - If we can’t distinguish between the choices, then more frustration. My favourite example is olive oil. Who knows the difference between the different types and brands, and who could be bothered learning when we just want something to cook with? I just want some oil!
- The cost of the item - High cost and high choice is the worst, for me at least. The Catalyst piece spoke about how this leads to anxiety, and for some people depression.
This topic has been playing on my mind a lot lately, mostly because I’m a chronic over-thinker. I think the turning point was truly realizing that, for small items, the choice really doesn’t matter. Just pick one, whichever captures your attention first - it’s not that big a deal!
It’s been harder to deal with choice in the face of high cost items, such as when buying a camera for my US trip or my recent purchase of a new TV. I’ve been working on trusting my instincts and not second guessing myself, which appears to be working. Formulate what it is you want, find what is available in that area, and see what other people think. Internalize as much information as possible, and see what decision “bubbles” to the surface.
