Rowan's Blog » Random

If this ain’t a bubble…

Rowan — Mon, 03 May 2010 21:00:43 +0000

A little worker’s cottage in Coppin Street, Richmond, just sold for $1 million. It’s a pretty good indication that there is a massive bubble in the Australian residential market at the moment. Ponder this:

The house sold for $1 million at auction on Saturday, almost double the $533,000 its owners paid just five years ago and more than four times the $218,000 it sold for in 1996.

The housing market in Australia escaped the worst of the Global Financial Crisis, but it is hard to imagine that we’ll be that lucky forever — with such inflated housing prices, how can mere mortals possibly expect to be able to pay back such huge loans within 30 odd years?

iSnack 2.0

Rowan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:33:52 +0000

….how incredibly lame.

A Thoughtless Prank

Rowan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:14:22 +0000

Since when is punching a random stranger for $10 a thoughtless prank? It’s thoughtless, yes, but where’s the prank bit? Answers.com defines the noun prank as “a mischievous trick or practical joke”. Well, randomly punching someone isn’t really a mischievous trick — it’s bewildering yes — but not mischievous. Nor is it a practical joke, for reasons that should be obvious, but apparently — I’m looking at you Justice Stephen Kaye – aren’t.

Dishonour Fee

Rowan — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:22:00 +0000

If Banks have the capacity to check your account balance for sufficient funds prior to letting you withdraw money from an ATM, why don’t they use the same technology to check your account balance for sufficient funds prior to accepting an automated debit request? Technically speaking, it wouldn’t be that difficult — it just requires a little will.

Unfortunately they don’t appear to have the will. The cynic in me thinks that it’s so they can charge you a $30 dishonour fee — but come on, it’s Banks we’re talking about here, they wouldn’t do something like that…

My Favourite Podcasts From 2008

Rowan — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:24:35 +0000

I got into podcasts in a big way in 2008. I find them a great way of ensuring that I go outside for an hour+ long walk or run everyday — even when it’s -11 and snowing as it was today.

Bill Moyers Journal — mostly politics
Bloggingheads.tv – mostly politics
Stack Overflow – programming
Herding Code – programming
Late Night Live – a little bit of everything
Newsweek On Air – politics, business, technology, etc
BBC World Service (Documentaries) – a little bit of everything
BBC History Magazine – history
Crikey Podcast – politics
BusinessWeek Cover Stories– business
BusinessWeek Global Outlook — business

All of them are highly recommended!

Russian Professor (ex KGB) Predicts End of U.S.

Rowan — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:19:28 +0000

Russian academic Igor Panarin thinks that the U.S., as we currently know it, will cease to exist in 2010 — torn apart by civil war:

Mr. Panarin posits, in brief, that mass immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation will trigger a civil war next fall and the collapse of the dollar. Around the end of June 2010, or early July, he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces — with Alaska reverting to Russian control.

Ha, yep, good luck with that prediction – especially the Alaska part. He obviously hasn’t heard of Sarah Palin has he?

Source (WSJ): As if Things Weren’t Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.

Bolts Sense Drowned*

Rowan — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:06:29 +0000

I know Bolt doesn’t like to let facts or reason get in the way of his daily diatribes — and as a general rule, I leave most of his nonsense alone. But this bizarre referral to the below graph as evidence that we — silly global warming alarmists — shouldn’t worry about rising sea levels because they haven’t risen in the past couple of years, is a gem.

What do you think when you look at the below graph? Would you feel confident in saying that we shouldn’t worry about sea levels rising anymore because they don’t appear to have risen in the past couple of years?

He’s really grasping at straws. Only a true denialist could get any sort of consolation out of this graph.

There’s also a discussion of this graph going on over here.

* Then again, there’s no evidence — scientific or otherwise — that it ever existed.

Mario Kart Love Song

Rowan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:40:45 +0000

A great little mario tune:

Crimes Against Australianity?

Rowan — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:49:52 +0000

Yglesias appears to be upset that he doesn’t get to see Nicole Kidman play an Australian in the latest Baz Luhrmann blockbuster, Australia.

When I saw that she was going to be starring in a movie called Australia, however, I just took it for granted that she’d be playing an Australian. But no!

…and if you’re going to make a film called Australia that would be a great opportunity to write some Australian parts.

???

Evidently they don’t teach Australian history in America. Just teach’em about the crocodiles, spiders, snakes, sharks and the… you call that a knife?

Obama Can Do Whatever He Likes

Rowan — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:37:15 +0000

They should get this guy on SNL.