ozanzac

A true shame.... This probably will cripple Bali's economy. Once is recoverable, twice, is too much. Me and some mates were saving, and planning to go to Bali some time next year for a short holiday, we'll definitely plan to go elsewhere now. One thing is for sure, you won't find me in Bali until it becomes fully independent from the rest of Indonesia. Until then, I don't think it's worth the risk.

What I'll find most intriguing about this 'concept', would be seeing what kind of new weaponry and technologies would be developed to counter the new 'threat', if any.

Recently, I finally got around to getting my motorcycle licence, (but have been riding on and off since the age of 7) and I'm just wondering about what other peoples attitudes towards them are. Everyone's welcome to vote. And for those who have had (or had an) experience with them, your welcome to post those good, bad and scary experiences; The bikes you've ridden; how you got your licence and just about anything else motorcycle related. The results of the poll will not only tell me people’s attitudes towards them. But also what types of bikes people are most likely to get, thus what people would most likely use them for. Cheers.

Recently, my Microsoft Sidewinder Precision Pro gave up the ghost after countless hours of use. I was kind of saddened by it's departure, because it was a great design. Big, sturdy base and ergonomic yet subtle styling. Perfect for my core gaming genre's of simming and racing. I first got it just shy of three years ago. But after opening it up, it's beyond the point of cost effective repair and just time for a new one. But......... I'm not really too happy with what's now on offer at the local stores. Whilist a Thrusmaster Cougar HOTAS setup would be nice, it's overkill for my needs. I wouldn't mind another MS stick, but I thought I heard that Billy got out of that business some time ago. So I'm asking for a bit of advice. What's available. What's good. What's overrated. Your experiences. e.t.c. Cheers.

The japanese have already tried: http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/wwii/jbb.htm

Whilist no, the threat a DIY cruise missile has on creating destruction is minimal, it could certainly create death. Imagine one of these things, set up to release a 'biological spray' once it reaches a certain waypoint. It'd have a relatively low radar signature, compared to say, a crop duster; there'd be very few defenses prepared to counter it, and if set up right, could be programmed to fly straight down the middle of a city street, close to the ground, spraying whatever onto the helpless people below. The GPS 'code', as such, has been cracked by civilians. Surveyors have GPS total station backpacks that are as accurate as the US military can get. Though these things cost a hell of alot of money to obtain..... there isn't much that a crafty theif couldn't obtain for free minus his troubles, if he knew he was looking for. Add that these things could be launched without detection, or traced back to it's launch point, and you bet your bottom dollar, this is a very real threat, which is very difficult to counter.

Anyway, here they are. Photos aren't great, but I wasn't trying to set the bikes up for shoots, and were all taken in different lighting conditions, dates e.t.c. but they're all here... My VTR 250: Larger version: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/picsofoz/bikes/DSCF0263.jpg Dads Trimuph Thruxton: Larger version: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/picsofoz/bikes/DSCF0111.jpg The old XT 250.... complete with a lack of air filter cover! Larger version: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/picsofoz/bikes/DSCF0264.jpg

Hi all. A couple of weeks ago, my trusty old bike blew up whilist dad was testing to see if it had a throttle cut out point. Dad's a mechanic by trade, so I was under the impression he knew what he was doing (and risking) whilist tuning and testing the bike, so I didn't say anything when I heard him revving the life out of it... but in hindsight, I definitly should have. So, if anyone else out there is wondering, no, a '90 Yamaha XT 250 doesn't have a throttle cut out point, and yes, the near bullet-proof, 4 stroke, air cooled single, will self destruct; If, and especially if, the throttle is held wide open through the redline for any period greater than a few seconds. Backfiring is a tell tale sign that one should back off the throttle...... Every man and his dog could just about tell you that, but for dad, the bike just simply had to blow up, just to be sure. In due time, the engine will be rebuilt, but in the mean time, I was left without personal transport, thus, putting my employment at risk, and making getting to uni, difficult, to say the least. I needed transport, and I needed it ASAP! After waiting a couple of weeks, hoping that the bike would be mended in time for the university mid-semester break (which means two weeks full time work), I simply had to buy a new bike.... For me, this was an absolute last resort.... I'm still legally restricted to 250cc motorcycles, and was hoping the XT-250 would last until July next year, when I step up to an unlimiited licence. For my next bike, I had my heart set on a mid sized enduro. The loss of the XT simply accellerated my desire for the next aquisition, and I found an '01 XR400 in excellent condition with low kays, took it for a test ride, had the cash ready to hand over and everything, but my insurance company shot me down at the last minute, condemning me to a 250cc, or risk breaking the law, and having no insurance in the event of an accident. Thanks, but no thanks. Thus, I was stuck in the hapless position of getting another 250.... having had a trail bike, I went back into the market looking for a road bike. Dad found an '02 VTR 250, still under warranty. By sheer coincidence, it was owned by a guy I knew (I didn't even know he had a bike), and after taking it for a test ride, I knew this was the one for me. Dad, being the 'expert' opinion, concured, and it was sold within the space of an hour. I was ecstatic, until I rang the insurance line to get a cover note.... damn it, they were located in the eastern states, which meant it was out of business hours over there when I rang..... This meant, I couldn't ride it for the weekend..... but all was not lost, because I'd be celebrating the beginning of the uni mid semester break anyway...... by the time I'd sobered up from two big nights partying, by mid-Sunday morning (today), I was just itching to take it for a ride. Dad could see it, and he suggested that I follow him on his Triumph Thruxton 900 to a motorcycle swap meet in the Adelaide Hills. A temptation too much to resist! The comments, and looks of curiosity from other bikers at the meet were great.... I just knew that I'd definantly made the right choice of bike, as the bike stood out, even amongst a few hundred other bikes.... I've nick named it the 'little terror', after someone said it looked like a mini-ducati monster! Wow! What a ride! What a bike! About the only complaint with it was that at high speeds, it's hard to tell what RPM the motor is doing with no tacho, and all the wind noise..... especially when riding with dad, seeing as his Triumph is about three times louder than my bike! I'll upload a picture of the bikes, sometime tommorrow..... Too dark to take a photo right now! PS: Before anyone accuses me of digging up an old thread, I asked for, and recieved the proper permission!

If you look closer at the edges of the flag in the picture (and the position of the sun, dead centre in the flag), and at the examples in your link, it's actually the Ground Self Defence Forces flag. Yeah, you're right. Had to look twice to see that!

Proof, that bureaucracy is nothing more than an impediment, and has no place in an emergency situation. It's this exact bureaucratic BS, that has caused so many to die needlessly, yet it's still rife. So long as the cause is justifiable, and that all agencies are working for a common goal, for what good honest reason would you deny help that's on your doorstep? Needless heads, and hopefully lot’s of em, will role from the so called ‘in charge’ agencies.

Not sure about the rest of my country, but at least in my hometown. The Rule of thumb, is that pubs serving after 12:00 midnight in an urban environment, as part of their liquor licencing, must provide liceneced security personell during peak periods. (Friday & Saturday Nights, during Special Events & Public Holidays) Entry to pubs is restricted after 1:30am, and last drinks generally start to wind down at around 3:30 am. Works effectively, for a town with 9 pubs, population of 18,000 people, and 2 or 3 local police cars.

Has anyone else come across 'The Interdictor's blog'? He's been holed up at an ISP at New Orleans from the beginning of the storm, running security detail whilist his team isworking to ensure some client servers don't go down during the hurricane, and it's aftermath. Good first hand account on what they've had to endure and witness. http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/ I recomend starting at Saturday, August 27, and reading from there.

It's good to see that the aid and order is slowly trickling back to New Orleans, but the speed, and general lack of efficiency and organisation in which it came about was deplorable. If the authorities knew it was gonna hit, and plans set up so that the Superdome would accomidate those that couldn't leave the city; why on earth weren't the necessary supplies needed to wait out the storm, rushed into position at the dome itself, before the storm hit? At the very least, a sizable contingent of troops, should have been stationed at the dome to ensure at least some kind of law and order was maintained. Whilist I applaud the evacuation order, there seemed to be very little in the way of a survival contingency plan for those who stayed at the dome. The response time of the federal government, considering that this was an impending disaster with all the indicating signs, was absolutly shocking..... This wasn't like an earthquake that just popped up at a random time. This was a weather induced phenomenen, for which we DO have the ability to predict the outcomes. As a result, the NG should have been at the ready to move out from barracks before it hit. To get the ball rolling with activations a few days after is far too late. The response from the US government and it's emergency agencies, was not the type of response I would have come to expect from the worlds most powerful nation..... Or maybe it was.....afterall, Bush was dealing out Oil Reserves before dealing with the disaster itself. Whilist yes, it would ease the burden of the rest of the nation at the fuel pump......There are people are dying of dehydration in a western country during the 21st century FFS! Kind of puts into perspective the misplaced priorities of TBA....God I hope the Republicans get kicked out next election. They've f***** up one too many times now, and it's starting to cost some of your own citizens their very lives.

Thank you for setting up the nail in coffin for this thread, Denior. Â Calling for a hour of prayer is bullshit to you? Good for you! Praying gives hope to many people in these kinds of situations. You might want to take off your cynical bastard glasses this time, Denior. Anyway, the hour of prayer is more directed to the citizens and not the rescuers. Edit: Â I gather that Denoir is saying is that declaring an hour of Prayer, is nothing short of pointless. And I concur. It does nothing in the way of returning services, and life back to normal. If the people want hope, then maybe footage of the Governor getting down and dirty, trying to restore civility, or doing something constructive, would probably make a hell of alot more difference than such nonsense as to declaring prayer for an hour. If a mention of religion had to come into it from a state level, a simple 'Prayer for us and the people of Louisiana' at the end of the speech would have sufficed.

Your map, though a good concept, should not be used to reflect the attitude of the people of those nations towards America and its policies, nor be used as validation that the people of those nations support America over it's military operations over the last few years. While yes, my fellow countrymen acknowledge that Australia's relations with the US are very good, probably among the best, in fact....the mood of the people is that we look forward to the day that Bush and his neo-cons are kicked out of the White House, because the whole Iraq issue has thus far, been a counter-productive lie, and Afghanistan has seemingly been left out in the cold. Both of which have left a sour taste in the eyes of Australians.

C'mon.....as if this would stop a hardcore gamer anyway. Cracks, hacks and mods anyone?

The Hutt River Province has always in my eyes, been the result of an eccentric crackpot who bent the rules to his favour. That website proved it.

No please, tell us now! I'd love to know why communism is still a major threat...... Or is it merely a major phobia?

Thankyou for reminding me there is light at the end of the tunnel.Even if this was not the case, Sophion-Black, if you were of voting age, would you vote him back into office? If yes, why is it you have a blind faith in President Bush? You seem unable to accept that the current war in Iraq, was his decision, and that ultimatly, it has been a bad decision? I don't beleive you can pass the buck onto former President Clinton. He may have made his suspicion of Iraq clear during the latter part of his presidency, but it certainly wasn't him who pressed the invasion button. You can waive the "I support the president because I'm a patriot" flag bullshit all you like. But fact of the matter is, you can call out against, or at the very least think about the decisions the current president has made, without thinking it's an 'unpatriotic' act. To be a true patriot means the country comes first, everything else, including the president, comes second..... So ask yourself.....Has Bush and his administration really done the right thing by America, by first claiming to be searching for WMD's, (and failing). And then switching over to claim the war is part of the 'War on Terror', despite the fact that the war has been counter productive on that front? If all the above seems like a bit too much 'liberal' thinking for you, and just that, then perhaps the best thing you could do for your country is give the ultra nice recruitment officers at www.goarmy.com a call! Remember, Uncle Sam wants YOU!

You're post made me jump outside to see if I could see it...... I think I did, but can't be certain either!

One last one from the rally from me..... I reckon I might try to hunt down some nature next weekend to mix it up a little. Anywho, I couldn't resist showing this one once I figured out how to convert it from it's RAW form to JPEG. And the one below is just a birds eye view of one of the water splashes. I wanted to shoot some cars from that spot, but seconds after taking that shot, we were chased off the hill by an irate landowner! The funny thing is, when the stage safety cars came through, a police officer in one of the safety cars stopped his vehicle, and asked us how much we valued our lives, because apparently, we were in a dangerous position. (Yeah right, off line, Â on the inside of an off camber corner, up the bank, protected by a tree!, and ordered us to get over the fence of the property that just half an hour beforehand, we'd been chased from! We knew there was no time to argue, so we just jumped the fence to satisfy the officer, that yes, we were safety conscious...... which is a bit contradictory really, considering the land owner would have shot us on sight if he saw us on his property again!...... Once the cop was out of site, and taking our lives into our own hands rather than some hick sheep farmer, we jumped back over to the roadside of the fence...... again. That was on Saturday, there was a similar incident on sunday, in which a marshall at the Super Special tried to chase us through the forest after we decided to get a little adventurous and leave the designated spectator areas..... of course we out smarted him, resulting in some great shots, unattainable in the spectator areas. Unfortunatly ,there's too much emphasis on occupational health and safety down here, and the system is attempting to turn such a raw sport like Rallying, into a sanitized, typical nanny state affair. The real shame is, had I dared to go into semi-manual shutter priority mode, with semi-auto focus, I probably would have got some better pictures with greater clarity.... as I learnt just today that most of the shots were taken at 1/120 of a second, wheras the camera can shoot at 1/2000 in the right mode. Oh well, practice is the only way I spose.

Cheers, highly appreciated GoOB! Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro it is then. And yeah, you're right, I am a student, and yeah, we did get rebates....... until last year. But that's OK, the Uni probably has something somewhere on it's servers, and I'm sure they'll let me 'borrow' it for my 'extra curricular' activities. Â In fact, one of my courses this semester is focused on Imaging Technology, so who knows what I'll have access too.

A few shots from todays action...... I love this shot below, because the two figures in the background at centre, are the bastard local plod.....And I'd get a real kick out of screaming past them and showering them in mud! I'm quite pleased with the camera! ....... Now if only I was as pleased with the software package that came with it. Can anyone reccomend some good Editing Software?

Dusty sideways action: Saving the best til last:

Here's some of my better pics from thus far this weekend. Apart from resizing, they're as shot. Some night shots from the opening ceremony. Todays transport, my mates sweet Liberty RX. Glad it wasn't me at the wheel.