DJ Paine

i could write pages and pages here on my experience with Telstra Bigpond over the last 2 weeks. it wouldn’t be pleasant reading. i will sum it up:

Telstra Bigpond is horrible. Every part of the experience was shoddy. The only upside was when i actually got normal customer service. In light of that i want to to point out the two people at telstra who have kept me going this long with them {2 weeks}. The original sales guy who was funny and promised me the moon {at least 30 MBS download!} , and Andy and his crew on the @bigpondteam twitter account who actually cared enough to try and help. *Note to Andy* i picture you in front of a PC with a twitter search open bring you the latest results for Telstra and Bigpond – what a depressing job! i cannot imagine seeing the endless complaining on twitter that comes up about bigpond and telstra! good luck man}. Everyone else i have dealt with at Telstra was pathetic.

anyway.

The proof is in the pudding as they say and in this case the pudding is SPEED. So as i have the both Telstra Cable and AAnet ADSL on here at the paine HQ at the moment, i’ve run some tests:

this is a speed test from University of Queensland:

TELSTRA BIGPOND EXTREME CABLE:

AAnet ADSL2

——————————————-

this is a speed test from OZspeedtest:

TELSTRA BIGPOND EXTREME CABLE:

AAnet ADSL2

——————————————-

this is a speed test from speedtest.net:

TELSTRA BIGPOND EXTREME CABLE:

{sunshine coast}

{sydney}

AAnet ADSL2

{sunshine coast}

{sydney}

——————————————-

this is a speed test from Speakeasy speedtest:

TELSTRA BIGPOND EXTREME CABLE:

{from Seattle}

{from Atlanta}

AAnet ADSL2

{from Seattle}

{from Atlanta}

——————————————-

so what would you do if you were me?

correct. cancel telstra.

long time no post… what can i say i’ve been crazy busy!

but let’s cut to the chase: BACK UP.
Backing Up Your Mac’s….

here is what i have:

PHYSICAL Back Up:
Righteo! Hard Drives. at the moment you can get one TeraByte drives for $99 Australian from the mighty nerd store Umart
i have about 9 drives- 3 of them are what i call “master” drives that are kept here in the office, 3 of them are copies of those masters that are kept here in the office, and finally 3 of them are copies as well but are kept in a pelican case offsite {at my parent’s place to be exact}.
my drives are all “naked” off the shelf “internal” sata drives {i prefer silent samsung drives} – i do not have enclosures on them. instead i use a hard drive dock. at the moment i have a DUAL dock from vantec {once again from umart}

i also back up some “important” jobs to DVD {weddings}, but i am trying to totally ween myself off this practise… they take up too much space and are a total hassle to catalogue… but i’ll probably keep doing it for now.

CLOUD Back Up:
i have decided to go with BACKBLAZE for my online no brainer back up. Don’t be put off {like i was} with the stupid “i’m so confident in my online back up i can set fire to this 20 year old laptap i found at the tip” video they have on the front page. here’s the deal: it works with Snow Leopard, it also backs up my external drives and it’s cheap. if you want to use them use the coupon code “online10″ for 10% off – so that works out to a total of $45 a year for unlimited online backup.

i also use DROPBOX for another type of online back up. it’s what i call online backup and synching, and it rocks the casbah like nobodies business! The great news is that you can use dropbox 100% for free for up to 2 gig, if you have friends who might use it, refer them and you get more space for free! SO PEASE SIGN UP USING THIS LINK: https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTI1Njk5
anyway, you download dropbox to all your machines, sign up for an account and then on each machine you have a Dropbox folder, and whatever is in this folder is synched over all of your machines over the internet.
The files are in the folder are downloaded onto each machine, so you have a local copy of everything, as well as a copy on dropbox online. This is perfect if you have any apps like 1Password or Things that you want to synch over multiple machines, just place the app’s library/background goodness onto your dropbox and booyeah you have the app synched over the machines. i LOVE ME SOME DROPBOX. been a big fan of these guys since they started, seriously check out their tour and then sign up using me as a referal so i can get more space to back up my Chick Tract collectable list.
anyway – check their awesome tour here getdropbox.com/tour

i also back up a LOT of personal photographs on my pro accounts at ZOOOMR & FLICKR – i set them as private so only i can see and download them.
i do the same with video on my pro/plus account at VIMEO

so there ya go. anything i’m missing? what are you doing? let me know!

for those of you {which is most “normal” folk} who are not wrapped up in the ghetto of christian media and entertainment: Derek Webb is an american dude who had a fairly successful christian band called Caedmon’s Call. i wouldn’t call myself a big fan, though i have a few of their albums. i appreciated the band and Derek Webb because there was an essence of authentic-ness to his lyrics and even his vocal delivery… i hadn’t thought about him or the band for a few years until i heard on the grapevine about some broo-ha-ha over his new album. i looked into it and apparently it’s because he says the word “shit” on one song.
sigh.
really?
are we -{and i am using the word we because i am a christian and part of the church in the truest sense of the word.} – still so immature that when one of our artists passionately expresses himself in ART he might use a “profane” word? are we that weak that we can’t take one little artists out pouring? could it be that he HAS to use whatever is in him to convey exactly what he believes Father has shown him?
Anyway…
so i finally heard some of the new album, and blow me down, it is excellent. Right up my alley. The production is fantastic, gone are the rootsy folksy christian nashville sound of Caedman’s Call, and instead there are loops, samples and chopped up electronics. I LOVE IT.
and as for me: i believe that on so many levels:
musically
creatively
artistically
spiritually
and just honouring Father because you are jumping out into that abyss of creating and loosing yourself in it all….
this is the best stuff that i’ve heard Derek Webb do.
but what do i know hey?

here are some videos.
check out Derek Webb online here.

in case you didn’t realize, i am a massive Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant fanboy….

watch it on youtube

OK… so i was born in 1972. When Star Wars “A New Hope” hit the Drive In’s here in Australia late in 1977 / early in 1978 i was at the perfect age of 5 1/2 to 6 years old. So when i, dressed in my flannel pajamas with my dressing gown wrapped around me, saw that film sitting in my families Kingswood at the Southport Drive-In, with the old mono speaker hanging in the car window, i was done for. Star Wars captured my imagination like nothing else had and i became one of the millions of the children of the 70′s that got lost in George Lucas’ creation.
With that in mind you will understand when i tell you that i have thought long and hard about the time when my first born son {and further sons} are of the age for THE introduction to Star Wars.
For the uninitiated – There are now 6 full length films {plus clone war cartoons & clone war digitally animated series, etc } – in the order of their release:
episode # – title – year – abbreviation
episode 4 “A New Hope” 1977 {ANH} also known as just “star wars”
episode 5 “The Empire Strikes Back” 1980 {TESB}
episode 6 “Return Of The Jedi” 1983 {ROTJ}
episode 1 “The Phantom Menace” 1999 {TPM}
episode 2 “Attack Of The Clones” 2002 {AOTC}
episode 3 “Revenge Of The Sith” 2005 {ROTS}
so what order do you do them in? The way George made them {as listed above}? or in the chronological time line of the universe: 1 TPM, 2 AOTC, 3 ROTS, 4 ANH, 5 TESB, 6 ROTJ ?? They seem to be the biggest two debates {other than the hard core haters who believe 1, 2 & 3 should not exist}…

But after much thought i knew there must be a better way to incorporate them all, and i have decided to do what i will call “the flash back method“: 4 ANH > 5 TESB – then “flash back” to 1 TPM > 2 AOTC > 3 ROTS and finish with 6 ROTJ! Now i know this is controversial and many will argue against leaving everything hanging at the end of Ep 5 TESB, but i am sure and determined! you leave the story line of Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader hanging there as you go back and tell the back story of Anakin – Darth Vader. it’s inspired i tell you!
** it was also confirmed to be a stroke of genius when i heard one of the biggest Star Wars geeks in the universe {and i say that with respect}: Arnie from SW Action News prepose the exact same order in one of his podcasts….

Now i also want to try and create a little bit of the atmosphere of what the films are going for and stretch out the experience. So i present to you:

The DJ Paine Star Wars Installment Plan.

How i am breaking up the Star Wars films for my sons when they are almost 6 years old.

Night 1 ANH part 1: to Luke’s decision to follow Obi Wan. {0:40:47}

Night 2 ANH part 2: to getting desperate in the trash compactor. {1:21:00}

Night 3 ANH part 3: to the end of the film.

Night 4 TESB part 1: to Luke passing thru Dagobah’s atmosphere. {0:39:40}

Night 5 TESB part 2: to Luke leaving Dagobah. {1:22:07}

Night 6 TESB part 3: to the end of the film.

Night 7 TPM part 1: to Qui-Gon getting blood test results. {0:49:05}

Night 8 TPM part 2: to “Wesa going home!” they leave for Naboo. {1:32:55}

Night 9 TPM part 3: to the end of the film.

Night 10 AOTC part 1: to after they kiss {0:43:56}

Night 11 AOTC part 2: to after the funeral {1:24:32}

Night 12 AOTC part 3: to the end of the film.

Night 13 ROTS part 1: to “is it possible to learn this power? not from a jedi” {0:46:03}

Night 14 ROTS part 2: Anakin leaves Padme {1:26:15}

Night 15 ROTS part 3: to the end of the film.

Night 16 ROTJ part 1: to the death of Yoda {0:43:30}

Night 17 ROTJ part 2: to the fleet hitting hyperdrive {1:24:15}

Night 18 ROTJ part 3: to the end of the film. THE END!!!

What do ya think?

so my eldest son Drummond is now 5 1/2 years old and he is a Transformers freak. This was not by my choice. About a year ago – while he was still 4 years old – he was at “the cousins” place for the day {my brother Jamie’s -5 years & 5 days my junior a- and his wife Kylie’s place} – when he got back that night Drum was telling me all about Michael Bay’s first The Transformers film – now i was abit taken aback about this, that’s not a film i felt he was mature enough to see, and also i wasn’t a fan of that film. Then before you know he was over at my mum’s place and she had just bought the DVD of the movie! {she had seen the movie at the cinema and LOVED it} so of course Drummond and her watched it and once again i was bamboozled with my family, this time that my mum would show that to her little grandchild…
i was also a bit saddened that literally one week my son could not get enough of Pixar’s cars and then he wanted to be Optimus Prime…. sigh… they grow up so fast!
Anyway, i got a copy of the film on the computer and Drummond and i watched it together, and i was amazed by how petrified and INTO IT he was… he was on the edge of his seat and even covering his eyes in some parts of it. i asked him if he was ok and he was, but then over the next week he started having some “scary dreams”, when we talked about it i was expecting him to tell me about Megatron or Starscream freaking him out but no. he was scared by a 5 second scene in the film where a Mountain Dew machine came alive and fired some cans- here is the scene, slowed down from youtube:

That was what gave him nightmares.
A mountain dew machine transformer.

sigh…
i could inject some witty stuff about the evils of product placement etc, but i’ll continue with this history story:

i then knew what i had to do with Drummond, we sat and watched ALL the “making of” pieces on the Transformers DVD special features. i showed him the old cartoons and explained about movies and how they made them, special effects and what movies are. It totally worked. Drum laughed at what the week before had freaked him out, he even told me that one day he’d like to make a movie too.
He then went on to watch that movie two or three times a week for months and months, he got Transformer toys for christmas, birthday, had a transformers cake for his birthday… he played transformers ALL the time. But a part of me was saddened that my son had become “dull” to something that once had him ducking for cover because of the thrills and spills. Did i want him always freaking out? heart pounding? In wonder? or had i done the right thing in giving him the fruit from the tree of knowledge and opening his eyes?
Earlier this year i had to delete the movie off the computer and cut him off from it abit because his obsession was getting a little bit full on. But he was also happy because i showed him the trailers/previews of the upcoming Transformers 2 film that has just released here in Australia. {to some of the worst reviews ever} I never cease to be amazed at my son Drum’s ability to watch something 10 seconds long and he working out names and motivation for everything he has seen, his imagination is brilliant. BUT as the date came closer to the second Michael Bay Transformers film hitting our screens, reviews and critiques starting to pop up as Drum was counting down the days… i became worried that Michael Bay had really kicked me in the pants by upping the violence, language and “adult content”, then as people i trusted saw it all of those concerns were confirmed. i had to break the news to Drummond that we wouldn’t be seeing it at the movies… fathering at it’s best….

what could i do?
i hatched a plan….
{to be continued}

just a little while ago my oldest son Drummond hopped out of his bunk bed and came into my office and i said “yes???” {waiting for some sort of excuse to be out of bed} – Drummond said “i was just thinking…” and as i grabbed him i finished off his sentence with “thinking of how your going to have a sore bottom if you get out of bed again?” he replied “no dad, i was just thinking about Hell, and i don’t want to go there. i’ve been thinking about it…” as he said this with such an ernest look on his face and the trust he had in his eyes i immediately regretted the crack about him getting a smack for getting out of bed. So i asked him more about what he meant, what he was scared of and what he wanted to do… we ended up in me and benita’s bedroom looking at what Jesus says about Himself and what Paul says about being “saved”. Drummond has heard all these stories since he was small, but tonight it began, just a little bit, to fall into place. in his 5 and 1/2 year old heart and mind he knew that he didn’t always do what was right, he knew Father was perfect & Jesus is the way to Him. i did my best as his dad and as a christian to explain that Hell is Hell because you are separated from Jesus & Father and alone, while Heaven is only Heaven because you are with Father & Jesus and you are not alone. i ended up asking Drum if he wanted to talk to Father {pray} and he did, and he thanked Father for Heaven and for Hell. he thanked Father for Jesus and he told Him he believes. He told Father that he hopes that one day he will be in Heaven with Him and with his two brothers Galvin & Judah. Benita cried a little. i asked Drum if there was anyone he wanted to tell about all of this, he said “yes, Galvin” i said “no Galvin is asleep, is there anyone you’d like to call on the phone and tell?” “Papa Will & Mama Dot?” {benita’s parents} – so he called them and there was much christian grandparent joy. i tucked Drum back in his bunk bed and kissed him, told him how proud and thankful i am of him, he told me “i just don’t know what Heaven looks like…” i told him that i didn’t either, but i told him what a few scriptures say… as he was thinking that over he rolled over and fell fast asleep in a couple of minutes. i wonder what he is dreaming about right now?
tonight is a special night… i wish this quite joy and thankfulness i feel as a christian parent could be shared with all others. i am thankful and so grateful for so much more than i deserve…

is it just me or is this the prototype for EVERY single christian rock song in the late 80′s early 90′s? even the lyrics….
i still like marky mark’s version better. i bought the Boogie Nights soundtrack just for his version of this song.

i got a message from Mr Chris Darling via Twitter: “DJ P would you consider doing a tutorial on how to (you) use Pixel Pipe via your mac & why? some of us blokes R, well not “fully lit” please”
here is my attempt to answer him via a screencast:

how did i do?
more questions?
more screencasts?
let me know!