Obvious Product Placements

End of an Era

2007-01-28T00:23:00.000-08:00

Blogger was my early companion when I started blogging. I have had lots of fun keeping this blog and writing stupid things for no-one to read. Now my focus is different and you can continue to catch up on my whereabouts on my professional blog www.psychsplash.com - reviewing the web for Psychologists.

Join me in my move!!

Slow on obvious product placements

2006-11-26T02:59:00.000-08:00

I gotta admit I have been really slack on the "obvious product placements" front over the past month. I thought life would slow down following completion of the PhD but well................its got faster. This month I have:

Gone away to Clare Valley!
had one of my ideas at cambrian house enter the finals!
looked for jobs
helped move my partner out of her house
started looking for a new rental place
kept psychsplash up-to-date
got back on my bike
tried to catch up with friends
cleaned out my room

On the Cambrian House front, things are really motoring along. Their main product "Prezzle" is booming, they have a number of cool market tests happening (my favorite is Spoil my Spouse), the forums are abuzz with confidence for the future of CH and my idea "Spot Light Special" is in the second Idea Warz Tournament "The Golden Axe". Head over to check it out.

OMG! - I have finished

2006-11-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

Phew - the last couple of months have been the craziest period in my 29 years on this planet.

Finishing the Phd counts as the single most stressful activity I have completed. Here are some facts about how it turned out!

for the last month, i did average 15 hours per day
i left the house rarely during that time
in the last 6 months, i read over 300 articles, of which 150-200 ended up in the thesis
total length of thesis, including references, and appendices - over 600 pages!
number of redbulls consumed - estimated at around 30 (doesnt sound that much actually! - i should have had more)
my partner was an absolute gem - she did the reference section and edited the full thesis - WHAT A CHAMPION!
i slept on average around 5 hours per night
i lived mostly on chicken and rice
i pretty much completed my entire thesis on a laptop
the binder had a nice scottish accent
when I ventured outside for the first time a few days ago, it was like being in a different world
I now know I am capable of working at an extremely high level, but also know I never want to - lol

If i think of more - i will add them in the next couple of days as I reflect on the process.

Untitled

2006-10-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

Invisible man - collection of kick arse creative souls

This looks really cool. Just one of many sites I have found recently late at night after trying to mentally wind down from working 15 hours on the thesis (two weeks to go by the way). I have been searching out creative inspiration. This is also the first post I have done from Diigo - head over to Diigo.com if you want to know what I am talking about.

Obvious product placements has obvious product placements

2006-09-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

I looked at my blog today and saw that the little google ad above the most recent post says "product placements. What could be better for a blog called obvious product placements?

As usual I will reel off the updates for today:

1) For the first time in 6 months, I can actually see an end to the PhD. Holing myself up in the parent's lounge-room has been a highly successful strategy

2) I have been using a small timer to work in 45 minute slots. Keeps me focused and it is kind of like attending 6 lectures a day

3) I am eating too many kettle chips

4) my sister had her birthday on the 29th - Happy birthday Sis. Hope you enjoyed the birthday dinner.

5) I am building plans for the next version of PsychSplash. It is going to be awesome. I may need to earn some money first and pay off the original version - lol

6) Big planes flying low overhead appear to disrupt the electricity supply and cause momentary darkness.

7) I won at scrabble last night. This is a first, and testament to my left brain.

8) check out www.mojizu.com - awesome little characters

9) some of my cambrian house ideas are moving back up. I think it was that $10000 i wired them yesterday.

10) google mail is the best - sign up and get rid of hotmail forever

22nd September - Report from the wilderness

2006-09-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

Actually, this is not really the wilderness, it is my parent's house, who are off galavanting around the UK. I am holed up in the lounge room, attempting to drive the final nails into the coffin that is my thesis.

Today's points of interest
1) I have written over 150 posts here at Obvious Product Placements. I do not think however I have done enough obvious product placements.

2) Cambrian House is exploding all over the place (in good and bad ways). Waiting for the new Ideawarz system to get in place so that my ideas stand some chance of not scoring -182343459. There seems to be a Guy Kawasaki love-fest going on there at the moment.

3) I watched the first series of Extras last night (long night!) - awesome series, easily as good as the office.

4) I am dining at Greedy Goose tomorrow night to celebrate 4 years with my partner - She is beautiful and i love her lots. This restaurant won "my restaurant rules"

5) my parent's TV makes a high pitched noise that would be out of their hearing range, but is well within mine. I wonder if the dog next door can hear it?

6) this isnt going to be a 10-point post, so you will have to make do with 5.5 (you cant really count this as a point)

Rant and rave

2006-09-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Its been a few days since my last post. Plenty for me to rant about this fine saturday morning.

1) my friend Jess gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Congrats Jess, you are gonna make a great mum
2) the chicken and chip shop around the corner does a 1/2 chicken and chips for $9. They put so many chips in there that the meal could potentially feed about 3 people.
3) I have 1.5 months to go on the PHD. Everything else has come to a standstill while I finish the monster.
4) I think I wil learn how to use Drupal, the content management system to build a psychology news-site. I am also thinking of building a guitar news-site as well. These are post-PhD projects of course
5) sister is on a crusade to take the perfect sunset photo. Good luck sis, they are a bugger. FLickr buddy Allan took a great sunrise photo.

6) I have watched the entire first season of LOST - kick ass TV show
7) jet li is an awesome martial artist, but his hollywood films have been pretty lame
8) my friend penny sends me lots of nice messages when I am struggling with work. She is very considerate
9) One of my projects - the psychology and health forum - a networking community of psychologists, counsellors, therapists, students and researchers in SA is growing nicely.
10) my ideas at cambrian house are going really badly. I will reconsider the whole creative entrepreneur thing :)

Vodka Scooter

2006-09-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

I thought everyone knew this!

Does this ring a bell?

The Vodka Scooter... How many times have you woken up in the morning after a hard night drinking and thought,

"How on earth did I get home?"

As hard as you try, you cannot piece together your return journey from the pub to your house.

The answer to this puzzle is that you used a "Vodka Scooter".

The Vodka Scooter is a mythical form of transport, owned and leased to the drunk by Bacchus, the Roman God of Wine.

The Vodka Scooter works in the following fashion - The passenger reaches a certain level of drunkenness and the "slurring gland" begins to give off a pheromone.

Bacchus or one of his many sub-contractors detects this pheromone and sends down a winged Vodka Scooter.

The Scooter scoops up the passenger and deposits them in their bedroom via a Trans-Dimensional Portal. This is not cheap to run, so a large portion of the passenger's in-pocket cash is taken as payment.

This answers the second question after a night out, "How did I spend so much money?"

Unfortunately, Vodka Scooters have a poor safety record and are thought to be responsible for over 90% of all UDI (Unidentified Drinking Injuries), such as bruised legs, stubbed toes, scratched hands and a sore spot on the top of your head.

An undocumented feature of the Vodka Scooter is the destruction of time segments during the trip. The nature of Trans-dimensional Portals dictates that time will be lost, seemingly unaccounted for?

This answers a third question after a night out, "What the hell happened?"With good intentions, Bacchus opted for the REMIT (Removal of Embarrassing Moments in Time) add on, that automatically removes, in descending order, those parts in time regretted most.

Unfortunately one person's REMIT is not necessarily the REMIT of another's and quite often, lost time is regained in discussions over a period of time.

Independent studies have also shown that Beer Goggles often cause the Scooter's navigation system to malfunction thus sending passengers to the wrong bedroom with the wrong person, often with horrific consequences.

Vodka Scooters come equipped with Thump-A-Lot boots (Patent Pending). These boots are designed in such a way that no matter how quietly you tip-toe up the stairs, you are sure to wake either everyone else in the house or your downstairs neighbours.

Special anti-gravity springs ensure that you bump into every wall in the house and the CTSGS (Coffee Table Seeking Guidance System) explains the bruised shins.

Don't forget the on-board heater, which allows you to comfortably get home from the pub in sub-zero temperatures, wearing just a small outfit for the ladies or for the men no jacket.

Vodka scooters.........the wonders of modern technology...have you ever had a ride on one??!!

Sunday 3rd September - rant and rave

2006-09-03T01:43:00.000-07:00

Today's 10-point rant

1) I have changed bookmarks to my diigo bookmarks, viewable in my sidebar. I am a tad promiscuous with my bookmarking services. I hope that I have found something with Diigo.
2) My sister bought me the spongebob showbag. I will post some photos of the goodies in subsequent posts.
3) Ate counter meal at the Seacliff today. Chicken schnitzel with salad and chips. I did not see the heart foundation tick on it anywhere. I ate it all just in case the tick was on the plate, obscured by the food.
4) I found out that whittaker's dark block chocolate is dairy free. Good news for me, bad news for my bottom.
5) Skwoz my pet lizard is happy to eat dog food.
6) The walk from glenelg to brighton is rejuvenating (for some! - lol).
7) I now know the names of quite a few Bold and the Beautiful characters - my current fave is Dante. Speaking of which Ron Moss will be in town soon.
8) The Dukes of Hazzard is not the complete diaper filler I expected it to be.
9) We have season 1 of LOST on DVD.
10) This is an awesome guitar blog.

Chumby Industries

2006-08-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

Chumby Industries
This is a damn good idea. Can't wait to get my hands on one of these.

10 things I noticed in the last couple of days

2006-08-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

I was pretty happy with my last Soapbox 10 post. It was a pretty neat way to blast off a few observations without really having to commit to any of them!

Continuing that trend..........

10 things I noticed in the last couple of days

1) the sun is shining and I am stuck in the lounge writing a stupid !@#$^$%&@#$ introduction to my thesis.
2) the bins in my local seaside suburb have dolphins cut out of the metal casing.
3) I have an extraordinary number of pigeons that feed on the lawn just outside my loungeroom window.
4) I am fatter than last year.
5) The band Tool are amazing and danny carey is one the greatest living drummers ever. 10 000 days is truly a feat of guitar, bass and drum engineering. Track 5 - wow!!!!!! I may be old but my inner headbanger is young for sure.
6) A publishing company in the Netherlands have released a free and easy way to catch up on how the web2.0 bubble is inflating.
7) My sister posted a funny entry on her blog about Skwoz missing me while I spent the week at my gf.
8) I have cut vanilla coke from my diet. This should help alleviate #4
9) When I made a comment at the university colloquium on friday, people stared at me like I was a stranger. Clearly I have been out of the loop for a while.
10) FLickr have released geotagging

Soapbox 10

2006-08-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

I call this post Soapbox 10. I am sure it will be considerably more popular than Matchbox 20.

So, assuming this is a once-off, here are my random thoughts for today:

1) Health-psych has included me on her list of psychology blogs - perhaps she meant "in need of psychology" blog. Bless her heart.
2) this is a great photo of a fat jamie oliver.

3) Psychsplash now has 30 RSS subscribers and 20 email subscribers! - wow, that is way more people than will ever read my thesis.
4) Time.com released list of 50 coolest websites. Why didnt I get a phone call?
5) I have been wearing asics shoes for ages. The gel is squishy and comfortable. Why dont more clothes have gel in them?
6) people are voting my ideas down at CH. I think i might need to reconsider my career as an ideas man.
7) I am trying to drop a few kilos that I put on while sitting on my arse writing something no-one will ever read. I am trying the cut portions method. My bum will write a post and tell you how it is going.
8) I once started a post on "100 things you can do with a KFC bucket". I never even got to #1.
9) People who visit pikapet regularly are lonely.
10) I am about to catch the bus to university. Have fun without me!

Cambrian House - Consulting Suite

2006-08-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

This week I am shamelessly promoting Consulting Suite, my idea for an online space in which professionals can conduct full IM/Phone consultations with clients. The decriptions below are from where the idea resides on the CH website. Big thanks to Imhotep for their suggestions and research on the idea.

The Idea:
Software integrating the features of Campfire, LinkedIn, Paypal and freshbooks. Enables any professional to create an online consulting space in minutes, draw in clients, and charge/invoice for services, as well as network with similar professionals.
Stand-alone site or developed as a module and linked with professional's existing website. Revenue through monthly fee or percentage of consulting fee.

I thought of this idea when I was...
thinking about what was needed to create a good quality online counselling service. This would be drastically increase the availability and quality of online counselling services, and it is applicable to any consulting professional.

Think of it like this:
* Customer visits website of professional and reads about that profesional's services and skills.
* They contact the professional through a contact form expressing interest in learning more about what the professional offers.
* Professional responds to them via email, and suggests a time they could "meet" in the consulting suite. They organize a time.
* Professional and client meet in the consulting suite either using IM or Skype (can handle both). Consulting suite at the professional's end contains all the various documents/information/questionnaires they may wish to give to the client. Professional shares the relevant files with the client. They can both read and edit files in teh consulting suite in real-time (aka writely).
* Professional and client agree to a treatment/consultation contract. This is drawn up immediately in the program (they can both see it and edit it). Price is negotiated and consultation ensues with appropriate invoicing.
* Consulting suite (at the professional's end) also contains list of other similar professionals so that referral and sharing is possible between professionals, that is a quasi- social network but specifically focused around professionals in particular areas who consult. Not only can professionals consult with clients in consultation suite, they can also consult with colleagues and students etc.
* No reason why consulting suite can't integrate with email, calendering, bookmarking etc so that key resources are always fed into their consulting suite.

amateur illustrator

2006-08-21T00:37:00.000-07:00

amateur illustrator
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

If you can draw - go here
http://www.amateurillustrator.com/

Amazing picture of a Sea Horse

2006-08-20T00:35:00.000-07:00

AmazingpictureofaSeaHorse
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

This is darwinian theory at its finest.

Joke of the day

2006-08-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

I don't often post jokes but this one tickled my funny bone. Thanks Alicia for sending me this one.

I have a Labrador retriever and was buying a large bag of Purina (dog
biscuits) at Coles, waiting in line to check out. A woman behind me asked if I
had a dog. On impulse, I told her that no, I was starting The Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital the last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry, that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it one more time.

I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a tall, black guy who was behind her.

Horrified, she asked if I'd been poisoned to end up in the hospital.

I told her no, I'd been sitting in the street licking my balls and a car hit me.

Cambrian House - ideas rage on!

2006-08-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on the Cambrian House situation. I now have 29 ideas battling it out. They are doing alright but I must admit the ideas currently at the top are strong ones, so my poor little ideas have some work to do if they want to make it to reality. Congratulations to steven, andy, aidan and techguy for rounding out the top 5. There is a lot going on at Cambrian (CH) and I urge people to head over and have a look.

Latest Updates:

CH are looking to get over 20,000 members by end of August so they can launch the worlds biggest dietcoke/mentos experiment.
CH looking to build a crowdsourced book. Contribue your ideas here....I have some rather bold ideas in the forum.
I have a few new ideas. I am particularly a fan of "Character t-shirts for kids", "video mobile to newsdesk", "social toymarking meets super nanny", "queer eye for the online guy" and "riffr - onling guitar community". Vote for any of my ideas by visiting the sidebar.
The forums at CH are full of great ideas, debate and news about the site
there are some projects already up and running. If you are a programmer, you might want to get involved.

beachhouse glenelg

2006-08-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

beachhouse glenelg
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

If you have some spare seafront, why not build a waterslide?

Scrubs - what daytime TV should be

2006-08-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

Days of our Lives, Bold and the Beautiful - These are the shows most attribute to daytime TV. However I support a totally different genre - medical comedy - Scrubs is easily one of the funniest shows ever made. The website is actually super cheezy - you should see the gallery section. Australian viewers check in at 11.00am on channel 7 to catch it. I have also seen it going at midnight sometimes when I am up, bleary-eyed trying to calculate incomprehensible statistics. Note to potential gift-buyers: - scrubs dvds are now available.

Google called me spam

2006-08-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

Google thought I was spam. They reviewed my blog and decided that I was not actually spam.
The question remains......Were they to decide that I was spam, would that make me spam? Google is pretty big. If they told me I was spam, I might have to totally reconsider my beliefs on self. Could I come to terms with being spam and if so, would my friends stop talking to me.

Peeping Tom - &^#@!$ awesome

2006-08-06T00:39:00.000-07:00

First music I have bought in a while (been on a musical hiatus!), Peeping Tom is a musical triumph. I have always been biased towards Mike Patton projects. Most people just stare at me blankly when I play them Fantomas or Patton's Adult themes for Voice. I will totally accept they are very inacessible. Peeping Tom, however is going to re-ignite a few FNM fans, and hopefully bring in a few new converts. This taken straight from the Ipecac website.

Years in the making, PEEPING TOM, noise rock renaissance man Mike Patton's most accessible work since his days in Faith No More, is finally a reality. The 11-track opus, featuring a lengthy and incongruous cast of guest performers, is set for a May 30 release on Patton's own Ipecac Recordings label.

In keeping with the landmark 1960 psychological horror film that inspired its name, PEEPING TOM had its genesis as a modus operandi devoid of physical intimacy. Patton would write songs with a wishlist of theoretical collaborators in mind, then hope for a reply in the form of a finished track. "It's an exotic way of working for someone accustomed to a band environment," Patton says. "It was charming, really. None of the usual Animal House stuff. Instead of swapping spit and underwear, we were swapping files."

Lack of face-to-face interaction did not keep long-distance collaborators from turning in exceptional performances: Norah Jones' lascivious "Sucker," Kool Keith's "Getaway" and Massive Attack's "Kill The DJ" are intense and passionate as anything a live band environment could have produced-despite the fact that Patton has still never met Jones or Keith. "Plenty of people on the record are still complete strangers to me," he says.

The initial PEEPING TOM offering also includes contributions from Amon Tobin, Bebel Gilberto, DubTrio, Kid Koala, Dale Crover, Rahzel and several of Patton's Bay Area running buddies, such as Dan "the Automator" Nakamura, and Jel, Odd Nosdam and Dose One of hip hop collective anticon. The end result is an utterly unique multi-genre/multi-artist departure from Patton's more recent noisy output-one that would ultimately have to be classified as a pop record, alas a Mike Patton pop record, but a pop record nonetheless.

"I don't listen to the radio, but if I did, this is what I'd want it to sound like. This is my version of pop music. In a way, this is an exercise for me: taking all these things I've learned over the years and putting them into a pop format. I've worked with many people who have said to me, 'oh you have a pop record in you, eventually you'll find it,' and I always laughed at them. I guess I owe them an apology."

The first single from the self titled record will be “Mojo”. It is accompanied by a music video featuring appearances by Danny Devito, Mark Hoppus (blink 182), Rachel Hunter as well as song collaborators Dan the Automator and Rahzel. The video was created by buzzed about music video director Matt McDermitt.

As work on PEEPING TOM began some six years back and was interrupted to accommodate Patton's recording or touring work with Fantomas, Tomahawk, Lovage, General Patton vs. the X-ecutioners, Kaada/Patton, Rahzel and guest turns on Bjork and Massive Attack records, two feature film scores, his film acting debut in “Firecracker”, videogame voice work in “The Darkness” and an ultimately "ridiculous" major label flirtation, enough material has massed for a second and possibly third record. A PEEPING TOM tour is also in discussion, pending various collaborators' schedules.

Check this out whatever way you can!!

Slash Signature Series Les Paul

2006-08-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

oooooohhhhhhhhhhh............

Slash had a huge influence on me as a young guitar player. I never really liked les pauls but I would probably reconsider given this sweet looking signature edition.

On a related note, Electric Guitar Review are running a series on signature edition guitars. Their blog is awesome and definately worth looking at if you are guitar minded. The link provided is to a review of the slash signature edition.

Mentos + diet coke = explosion

2006-08-02T22:54:00.000-07:00

Cambrian want to make a mess. They want to combine mentos and diet coke and cause the worlds largest nerd explosion. Actually exploding nerds isnt the main goal. I will let them explain:

What's this about, you ask?

By now you've probably noticed the big Mentos countdown in the header. All of us at Cambrian House, members included, want to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. Ya ya, we know what you're thinking, there's only a gazillion Mentos and Diet Coke videos on the net - but have you ever seen an explosion using 25,001 Mentos that sends Diet Coke to SPACE??? We didn’t think so!

We're driving to have 25,001 community members by August 31st. (If you’re wondering how many members we have right now it’s 4304.) When we hit that mark, we'll detonate the biggest Mentos and Diet Coke geyser the world has EVER seen!

So we need YOU to join. And your friends, co-workers, family and remote acquaintances. So what are you waiting for? Join up, and Tell A Friend! The more people you refer, the more points are awarded to you and if you come out as the Top Astronaut, you’ll get to pull the rip cord and detonate the geyser!

Join Our Community

When we're listed in Guinness your name will be listed with ours for the world to see.

More than just the Guinness Book...

Join before August 31st and get the exclusive Low Earth Orbit badge.
Automatic bonus membership to TFAC (It's only the most awesomest, funnest most prestigious astronaut club on earth.)
Gather points like a butt-muncher grabs underwear and YOU could be the one to detonate our geyser. Yes, YOU!

Click these buttons below and I get immortalized for all the wrong reasons:

Whoooaaa Cambrian House goes ballistic, literally

2006-08-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and expected to watch the goat video again. In fact, I was kind of looking forward to it! Instead I was greeted by a whole new Cambrian House. This new version is pumping with features. I kind of feel overwhelmed (*cry*). Which link promote do I use? Which project do I support? How do i vote? Why would they put mentos with diet coke, dont they know what happens? Why was the goat only 38 lbs? Should I purchase a limited edition cambrian hoodie and make all my friends think I have gone all tom cruise/scientology on them?
So many questions and yet only enough caffeine in my house to keep me up for 3 days solid.

I don't even have enough web-space to include all the link promotes. I am just waiting for someone to set up a blog devoted entirely to their cambrian house ideas, hmmm.............
I might have to hijack my own site www.psychsplash.com to promote myself. Do you think the psychologists will wait for me?

All these questions I will try to answer over the next few days. For the time being......did you know that McAlister et al 2005 reviewed a total of 63 randomized controlled trials of secondary prevention? I do, and I am better for it.

Cambrian House - Journey to Norse Forge

2006-08-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

Gotta hand it to those Cambrian folks. Cursed by a total lack of enthusiasm for the PhD, I sat watching the clock tick down on Cambrian's site. I was kind of hoping that I would be instantly transmogrified (Calvin Style) into some kind of animal capable of flying away. Alas no, this did not happen (hmphff) and I am therefore currently reviewing Sinclair et al. 2005.

They were kind enough however to provide me with a video of a goat sailing to new shores. Yes....that is what I said.

Take note: I hate to dote, but if goats, boats and moats float your boat, give it your vote here

Phew!!

partner graduation

2006-08-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

I attended the graduation of my partner yesterday, who after years of hard work and dedication, obatined her masters in clinical psychology. She was downplaying the achievement, as most people do, but I think it is huge and I am immensely proud of her, knowing full-well how hard she worked both at uni and her hospitality job to get through those 6 years. This post is thus dedicated to my very smart and beautiful partner - well done!!

2006-07-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

Make sure you head over to Pikapet to vote for skwoz in the August competition. He will be pitting his might against some furry competitors. A worthy winner if I say so myself (possibly a little biased).

strange artistic expressions

2006-07-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

two of my pieces of art
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

Only yesterday did I get around to actually taking a photo of my two favourite pieces of art work. The colourful one on the right was my first real attempt at doing a biggish painting. The orange one, my favourite was a very unusual project involving multiple designs and mistakes along the way. You may notice a little yellow dot on the top right corner. This is to commemorate all the different layers underneath, the various incarnations of the work. Visit the picture to see a larger version.

Must get album - peeping tom

2006-07-28T18:58:00.000-07:00

On my list of must-get albums - Mike Patton always seems to deliver the goods. Multiple guest stars. Head over to myspace to learn more. I will probably post again once I actually have the album!!

brighton art2

2006-07-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

brighton art2
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

the colours and textures of this photo just really seemed to work. It is of some local art down at brighton, painted on a big steel container. It is actually an advertisement for an upcoming surf-livesaving/beach swimming type competition coming up soon.

workshoplive

2006-07-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

workshoplive
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

My guitar idea appears to already have a home!
Now i just need to raise the money to join. Perhaps a post-PhD project.

Cambrian House - t-shirt 2.0

2006-07-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

tshirt copy
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

Support my latest idea at Cambrian house!

It is about time we all started to wear our web 2.0 allegiances on our chests!

T-shirt2.0 will enable you to print an optimized version of your favourite 2.0 logo on heat transfer paper, ready to be ironed-on to that boring white t-shirt you were wondering when you would ever wear it.

I have started the process already - behold Flickr-T - now all my friends will ask "where did you get that weird-ass t-shirt"

I will be able to tell them - TSHIRT 2.0

Cambrian House � Idea Warz � Idea Promoter � Ideas Id � Nt4v3tb � Crowdsourced Software

2006-07-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

Cambrian House Riffr - online guitar teacher/community

One of my ideas that is getting some good feedback relates to a simple idea for helping guitarists learn online. The easiest and fastest way to learn, is to learn how to play songs you like. The explosion of music sites has ensured that just about any song you want to learn is available online. There is also a stack of tablature (produced professionally in guitar magazines) and informally (by keen players) showing you how to play these songs. Riffr (a play on the flickr spelling phenomenon for those wondering why the strange name) combines the two in a single interface, that is, you can control the song and follow the tablature at the same time. Essential features for learning are:

Ability to manipulate the speed of the song without pitch loss

Ability to make comments on tablature for other users

Abiity to form groups with other guitarists learning the same songs

Ability to submit corrections to the tablature

Explanations of difficult sections or notes on tablature to help newbies interpret what symbols mean

Playing tips from professionals

Instructions on writing your own tablature

Meeting forums for guitarists looking to form bands

Most popular song lists based on who is trying to learn which songs

Users can record their own riffs/enter competitions (best riff!)

Users can produce a play-list of songs they know

Grading of difficulty (help you pick a song)

Provide advertising for guitar merchants

Noticeboard - "looking for guitarist in Adelaide area!!"

Ability to jam along with the song

While I have a bias for guitar, I believe the concept could work just as easily for any instrument. Literally you could set up an entire site devoted to music tuition. It could turn out to be considerably cheaper than paying for lessons (sorry music teachers!). Of my ideas, this is by far my favorite non-work related idea. I would completely use this site all the time!!

Cambrian House � Idea Warz � Idea Warz All Ideas � Crowdsourced Software

2006-07-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

Cambrian House � Idea Warz � Idea Warz All Ideas � Crowdsourced Software

No shortage of ideas over at Cambrian House. Over 1000 ideas currently in the ideawarz. I am pretty chuffed to have a few of my ideas in the top20 and feel like I have some good company:
Web-chat with people of other languages - a very bold but essential step for cross cultural collaboration
Corporate sites reviewed by accomplished pros - a network of professionals reviewing websites and offering varying depths of functionality analysis. "Tell me if my site sucks or not" basically.

The addition of comments has really made the creative process flow. Nothing like getting challenged on your idea to force re-invention. Generally, I think the people making comments have been constructive and polite. It is always going to be hard to hear "its been done!" but that is part of the process. I found a whole stack of "virtual world sites" that i never knew about

Pig with eyes way too close together

2006-07-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

BR73
Originally uploaded by agedpeas.

The "agedpeas" have launched their flickr account. First off the rank? This scary looking pig

Susan's Photoblog

2006-07-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

sbf
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

My sister has just set up her photoblog. Pretty neat template and some great floral work to start it off. I am a big fan of photoblogs and this one looks like a winner

Crazed PhD student grows fridge animals

2006-07-15T00:46:00.000-07:00

IMGP1344
Originally uploaded by susanfurber.

If you lack a social life due to heavy PhD commitments, creating some "fridge friends" is an options. All you need is tupperware, meat dish and time.

Cambrian House #6 - Justgiving.com

2006-07-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

just giving
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

The Cambrian crew have just released comments, allowing people to rate ideas more comprehensively. This is great as you can really start to get a feel as to whether your ideas have merit or not. One of my ideas, community charity is actually up and running as www.justgiving.com. Good stuff!!

UPDATE: - whoops, the way that was worded, it kind of implied that my idea was taken up and developed into justgiving.com. Actually what I meant was there is a site called justgiving.com that has already put into action the concept outlined in my "community charity" idea. I think i will remove that idea from my list.

Skwoz at pikapet

2006-07-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

skwoz at pikapet
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

I have entered skwoz in the pikapet competition. Visit his page http://www.pikapet.com/pet/view/739 to vote for him. I am sure he will be happy to get your vote.

UPDATE: Actually, skwoz is entered in the August competition. You will need to wait until August to vote for him, but you can still view his page at the link above

Inspiration series

2006-07-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

webcreme
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

There are few sites like webcreme. A constant source of inspiration. The simplicity of this site is its strength. I would be very proud of a site like this.

PsychSplash en fran�ais

2006-07-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

PsychSplash en fran�ais

The question mark is a c with a squiggly tail!
PsychSplash in french - how cool

Cambrian House - Part 5

2006-07-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

The heat is on over at Cambrian House - they have just reviewed the ranking algorithm, rocketing some of my ideas into the top 20 - I think I even might have one in the top 10 at the moment! I have added a few more ideas in the last few days. I am up to 16 ideas in total, 12 "battling it out", 1 "rejected" and 3 "pending". For those concerned about PhD, I assure you I am working on it. I do this stuff frantically in my 30 minute breaks. I have added cambrian links to my sidebar - it just seems a way more efficient way of doing things!!!
Head over to Idea Warz to vote in the ongoing battle!! - there are genuinely some really great ideas being paraded.

psychsplash down

2006-07-09T23:34:00.000-07:00

psychsplash down
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

this is not a sight I enjoy!

Where is my server???

I have over 3 readers desperate to read my material - haha

New Fuel Gauge

2006-07-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

Resourcemeter
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

Thanks to Jess for sending this one through!
With prices as they are in Oz at the moment, i almost need to install this on my bike!!

Cambrian House #4 - New Ideas and new friends

2006-07-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

The Cambrian experience continutes to grow. My previous post managed to make it onto the Cambrian blog and I got a visitor (read here) . Uproar has posted their ideas in the comments section. Uproar - I went in and voted for them!!!

A few more of my ideas have made it out of the pending stage, although they are keeping my "commemorative prints" idea secret......hmmm - is it truly crap or do they really like it?? I also added a new one this morning (a pretty neaat one if i say so myself, that I hope will pass the initial stage)

Here are the links to my more recent ideas

Give a website as a gift

Party Central

Blog to Street Mag

Cambrian House - Part 3 - Links to my ideas!!!!

2006-07-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

I currenty have 8 ideas battling it out at Cambrian House. Below are the links to these 8 ideas, if you feel like supporting any of them. I still have two ideas awaiting approval. I think they might be sick of them (haha!!).

Online Secretary

Blog Newspaper Creator

Community Charity

Blog Gangs

Research Assistant

website voucher widget

Coldplay concert - Adelaide 5th July 2006

2006-07-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

(Photo taken from gpod at flickr)

In all my excitement recently with 1) having completed the analyses for my PhD and 2) everything going on at CambrianHouse (see previous posts), I had forgotten to write about the awesome concert my partner and I saw on Wednesday night. We almost missed it, given that I had got the tickets a while ago (thanks Anna) and had them sitting on the fridge.

I am a big fan of coldplay, always have been, but wasnt expecting anything huge with regards to their live performance. It takes a lot to impress me live nowadays! Well.....they delivered in big gobby, juicy chunks of musical sweeeeetness. We were sitting up the back and got a great overall vibe from the entertainment centre. The light show was awesome and almost overwhelming at times (I had fears I would have a seizure!!), not to mention the large yellow balls, filled with glitter dropped onto the audience during the song Yellow. The band were insanely well rehearsed and Chris Martin's vocals were surprisingly strong and clear. They seemed to genuinely enjoy playing (despite probably having played this stuff thousands of time) and were gracious in their response to the very loving and coldplay-starved audience here in Adelaide. I would definately rate this one the best concerts I have seen. Thanks COLDPLAY

PS - Will, the drummer beats those skins with fire in his arms!!

Cambrian House - part 2

2006-07-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

The whole Cambrian House experience is turning out to be a fascinating and strangely rewarding one. In the space of a few days, I have submitted 6 ideas, got a comment on my blog, received an Amazon voucher from Cambrian and multiple emails from "HAL" their friendly computer thanking me for my input. I may be stressed out due to thesis and clearly I am hallucinating!

No, in all seriousness, it is a great project and I look forward to contributing more to it in the next couple of weeks. Visit Cambrian here.

PS - if anyone knows where to find their link promoter tool, I would love to use it!!

UPDATE - I have found the link promotion tool and added three of my ideas to my sidebar - please support my ideas by visiting the 3 funny looking orange pictures under my profile. These are the three that are currently doing the best.

Cambrian House � Crowdsourced Software

2006-07-03T05:17:00.000-07:00

Cambrian House � Crowdsourced Software

This is the perfect site for someone like me. Submit your ideas for potential web-based software applications and watch the community vote on those applications they wish would come to fruition. If Cambrian decide to build it, you get royalty points (and potentially some money) from the project. I can't see this being financially lucrative, but it is great to have a forum in which to throw my software concepts. I have submitted 3 already and am waiting to see what the community think of them.

Susan's floral photograpy - lesson1

2006-07-02T23:38:00.000-07:00

IMGP1155
Originally uploaded by susanfurber.

Susan purchased herself a pro-flickr account at the same time she bought me one as a gift! I'd like to think we are both taking full advantage of it. One of her latest entries that caught my eye.

National Public Toilet Map

2006-06-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

National Public Toilet Map

This is totally serious. An in-depth guide to public toilets in Australia. You can even subscribe to a newsletter and receive updates on new toilets!

2006-06-29T00:18:00.000-07:00

Batman ponders how to model 3-way interactions in a linear regression..........
Actually, I think it might be me who is doing that!

Magazine - suburban celebrity

2006-06-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

I would love to see a magazine called "suburban celebrity" that tracks the antics of everyday people. Written like a tabloid, it would actually introduce real people and the work they do and lives they lead. Informative but funny. It could also double as a personals ad!

Fake shots of people caught at lunch with their friends.
Stories where "a close friend reveals" secrets about their life.
Everyday people paid 4million dollars for shots of their new baby.
Reverse stories - i.e., where a celebrity gets the chance to meet and hang out with a regular person

I dont see why the lives of celebrities are any more interesting than our lives. If i had time, this would make a really interesting website.

Pet Lizard Skwoz roaming the lands

2006-06-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

skwoz on grass
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

Skwoz in his role as lawnmower.

dr who2

2006-06-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

dr who2
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

Why would people store their money in anything else. The only thing that truly worries me is if the money crosses into a different dimension. I need it here on earth.

change the world

2006-06-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

change the world
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

My friend Penny gave me this book for my birthday. Inside are multiple simple ways to change the world. If ever there was a project that I probably needed to take on, this is it (I am thoroughly self-absorbed). Ill try the first one by the end of this week.

superman pyjamas

2006-06-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

superman pyjamas
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

not really superman material but geez i love these pyjamas. I plan on finishing my PhD in these pyjamas.

view from radisson

2006-06-25T06:13:00.000-07:00

view from radisson
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

This is the view from our hotel room looking towards the hyatt. We had dinner at Blakes from the hyatt. Very toity but thoroughly enjoyable.

birthday celebrations continue

2006-06-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

birthday celebrations continued this weekend with a night at the radisson on North Terrace. Dinner at Blake's restaurant (Hyatt Hotel) where I ate raw venison! (wow) and an amazing steak. Peter Lehman Rose, Annie's Lane Shiraz, some late night room service and spa bath completed an awesome weekend. Some photos to be posted soon.

ps - i am totally enamored with my superman pyjamas!

Birthday goodies

2006-06-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

Photos will follow soon but I have been very lucky with this year's birthday haul. Everyone went beyond the call of duty to celebrate my 29th. I am now the proud owner of
1) superman pyjamas (i am writing this post in my superman pyjamas)
2) batman returns DVD (superhero theme coming on strong!)
3) Little Britain DVD's first and second season.
4) year's hosting for PsychSplash (watch out psychology - here I come)
5) pro-flickr account (watch out world, my camera is poised and ready to shoot)
6) Loads of Chocolate mmmmmmmmm..........................
7) Loads of Wine mmmmmmmmmmmmmm................................
8) Juicing kit (probably to clear out the alcohol and chocolate toxins)
9) Dr Who money box with stacks of cash (in $2 coins)
10) new wallet (ill take a photo of the old one - you will understand the need)
11) little cake (just enough for me - moohaaahahha)

A big thanks to all the following people who wished me best on my special day. It means a lot to me that these people remember.

Auntie Sis
Auntie Les and Uncle Max
Matt
Jess
Mum and Dad
Susan
Lauren
Adam
and the mice living in our kitchen (damn mice!!!..grrrrr)

Further updates to my birthday weekend are inevitable. Stay tuned

Google adsense puppet

2006-06-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

I am now a google adsense puppet and I really dont feel cheap at all. Easy to set-up and sure to bring in millions of dollars (haha). My first cheque for 1c is going to get framed.

South Africa - 2004 068

2006-06-21T06:40:00.000-07:00

South Africa - 2004 068
Originally uploaded by susanfurber.

great photo from my sister's travels in South Africa

edited tulip photo

2006-06-21T00:13:00.000-07:00

edited tulip photo
Originally uploaded by gareth_furber.

wicked tulip photo - essentially just an opportunity for me to play around with blogger and flickr. I did edit this photo in photoshop slightly

Procrastination city

Flickr pro account for Gareth

2006-06-21T00:07:00.000-07:00

My sister very kindly purchased me a flickr pro account. I have yet to explore all of what that means but i know straight away that i have heaps of uploads and the ability to create as many sets as possible. This couldn't be better timed with the plans for garethfurber.com progressing and my flickr account playing a bit part in how that will be made pretty. In the meantime, visit my sidebar to see random shots from my flickr account.

Bugger - i wish i had a camera at the time

2006-06-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

I was rewarded on my walk home along the beach this morning with broken dark cloudy skies, emerald coloured water and dolphins in the distance. It broke me out of my self-absorbed headspace. Now that is a gift!

Speaking of gifts - my partner's parents gave me two bottles of wine and haighs chocolates for my upcoming birthday! thank you so much

Flickr: Photos from allanmcelroy

2006-06-20T00:45:00.000-07:00

Flickr: Photos from allanmcelroy

I have a new friend in flickr - thanks for looking me up allan!

USB bear - "hey booboo, somebody stole my head"

2006-06-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

and I thought I had memory problems..............

Memories #1 - great concerts that I remember

2006-06-16T22:36:00.000-07:00

I have a memory like a sieve, hence the birth of the "Memories Series", a desperate attempt to locate memories in my otherwise tangled consciousness. I may need to update this in parts!

#1 - great concerts that I remember (no particular order)

primus
Mr bungle
faith no more
pantera
dillinger escape plan
rage against the machine
regurgitator
tea party
fantomas
rollins band
helmet
pearl jam
fear factory
portishead
shihad

Ill update some more when i remember...................

Update:
add the following to the list

jamiroquai
beastie boys
antonio forcione
tori amos
slava grigoryan
aphex twin
chemical brothers

the site caffeine.com has nothing on it

2006-06-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

How is it that caffeine.com doesnt have anything on it?

Surely this is prime territory. Of course, I am only thinking about it because I am up at 12.30 at night writing my bloody thesis.

Sweet dreams to everyone else

Flickr: Photos from susanfurber

2006-06-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

Flickr: Photos from susanfurber

My sister's flickr photo collection is starting to take off. Check out some recent South Africa photos.

Pierced Eyeglasses [The Publisher’s Ring]

2006-06-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

Pierced Eyeglasses [The Publisher’s Ring]

I love those crazy body mod folks! Up until now, the functionality of body mods was in question, but with the development of "pierced eyeglasses", body mod is now available to the conservative bookworm.

Butt Face Funny Towel - Soft, Fluffy and Funny From The Prank Place

2006-06-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

Butt Face Funny Towel - Soft, Fluffy and Funny From The Prank Place

indispensable bathroom gear. I know this is a joke but it really addresses a fear of mine.

increasingly fat and hairy

2006-06-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

I have grown increasingly fat and hairy during the course of my PhD. But I am monkey-like and proud.

The Two Inch View

2006-06-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

The Two Inch View

Another site meeting my very high standards for design!
I am a very big fan of orange, blue and green as a colour combination. The layout of this site is really intuitive as well.

mellow life

2006-06-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

mellow life

This is the blog of a friend who I never really got to know. Sound weird, well yes it is. Thankfully due to her trigger happy photo finger and desire (like me) to document life for others to see, I can now rectify that. A big hello to Jude and Rob.

Blogging Goals - Reader Submissions Part 1: ProBlogger Blog Tips

2006-06-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

Blogging Goals - Reader Submissions Part 1: ProBlogger Blog Tips

I have participated in Problogger's "blogging goals" group writing project - head over to psychsplash to see my "entry"

I am just stoked that i have a link from problogger! That is about as famous as I have ever been.

Haigh's Chocolates

2006-06-05T01:51:00.000-07:00

Haigh's Chocolates

Its been a while since I posted a blatant product placement

"Haigh's chocolates keep me going on those nights when all hope seems lost. 50gm of the finest and I am back in the land of the living, a little fatter but generally more hopeful"

Please keep that mirror away from me

A couple more inspirational site designs

2006-06-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

A few more site designs that have me thinking about the structure and layout of garethfurber.com

the simple, elegant but very well thought-out cre8d design blog

the phenomenal layout and colour of bartleme design

the cool and sophisticated 31three

Drew Curtis' FARK.com

2006-06-04T18:22:00.000-07:00

Drew Curtis' FARK.com

Do you have one of those people on your email list that always seems to send through funny or thoroughly inappropriate material? Ever wonder where it all comes from?

One potential source is Fark.com
Up-to-the-minute news, submitted by readers that stretches the boundaries of what is considered "must-know"

Beware - some adult content

New Scientist Tech - Technology - Chocolate generates electrical power

2006-06-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

New Scientist Tech - Technology - Chocolate generates electrical power

Cool! - the article claims that the process described could "provide a use for chocolate waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill"
Who is putting their chocolate in landfill? - i would like their names and addresses. grrrrrrrrr

rasorial - definition of rasorial by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

2006-06-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

rasorial - definition of rasorial by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

word of the day: - characteristically scratching the ground for food. Amazing the lessons we learn watching someone complete a crossword!

KFC listen to this

2006-06-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

A while back i posted on KFC. Little did I know at the time that it would cause me much amusement in the future. Check out the comment from Frankie:

http://garethf.blogspot.com/2006/04/welcome-to-kfccom.html

Frankie - thanks for making me laugh

Anxiety Culture: Contents

2006-06-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

Anxiety Culture: Contents

more great web magazine content for those looking to take a holiday from "anxiety culture". I particularly enjoyed the article on it being my duty to phone in sick.

Modern Drunkard Magazine Online

2006-06-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

Modern Drunkard Magazine Online

I have always pined for a magazine that talks directly to my liver.

StumbleUpon

2006-06-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

StumbleUpon

I have been playing with this for 15 minutes and I am already in a position to declare this the most exciting tool I have used on the net since I discovered delicious. Funnily enough, I signed on to the service in January and didnt even use it. It wasnt until I went to use it tonight that i realised I had an account!

It works like this
1) download toolbar for firefox (takes 10 seconds).
2) click "stumble" - it takes you to a random website.
3) if you like it click the thumbs up, if you do not like it, click the thumbs down.
4) The more you click, the more your preferences are noted and content delivered that matches your preferences.
5) you can add broad categories to your profile which influence the sites that you will "stumble upon". I added the psychology category (surprise, surprise)
6) you can tag sites (i.e., give them a keyword)
7) you can review sites if you want!
8) if you visit a site and click the thumbs up, and that site has not been logged before, you get to provide a quick review
9) central database stores all your preferences, so you can revisit sites that you gave the thumbs up.

wow - i wonder what i was thinking in january???

Inspirations for garethfurber.com

2006-06-01T01:39:00.000-07:00

Check out forgetfoo
There is a lot about his site that I love:
1) colours - someone who has successfully used gray
2) simplicity of main body text - articles and clear navigation
3) search bar (top right)
4) understated title
6) graphic design stuff under the main menu
7) drop down menu, photos and dilbert cartoon

Small warning first though - his site does contain "adult" content (reasonably tame), so make sure you do that "act all innocent" thing when someone walks in and clumsily attempt to open solitaire.

Choice Magazine wine dozen

2006-06-01T01:28:00.000-07:00

Cleaning up the lounge, I happened upon a poorly scanned article from Choice magazine given to me by my father outlining their top 13 affordable (that is the crucial element) Australian red wines. Instead of losing the article and forever wondering why I was drinking crap plonk, I thought i would write them on here!

Cabernet Sauvignon
jacob's creek reserve 2002
penfold's rawson's retreat 2004
james busby barossa 2002
lindemans bin 45 2004

Merlot
lindemans bin 40 2004
yellow tail 2004

Shiraz
wyndham estate show reserve 2003
ingoldby mclaren vale 2003
jacob's creek reserve 2002
penfold's thomas hyland 2003
taylor's jaraman 2002
lindeman's bin 50
saltram next chapter 2003

Happy supping!! (is that a word?)

hard at work - all areas of life

2006-05-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

Currently cranking out logistic regression statistics and designing the concept for garethfurber.com

I have the address. I have the concept in mind. Now I just need to design the specific layout and functionality of the site. Then it is over to some creative soul to code it for me.

Hope to launch in September!

Currently garethfurber.com displays this ol' industry favourite

Why do we continue with boring cardboard business cards?

2006-05-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

There must be an alternative to business cards!
1) they are a pain to produce.
2) when you change your details, all your old cards are worthless.
3) people always lose them
4) they are never handy when you need them
5) they can only contain a small amount of information

Visualize this:
You meet someone at a networking event. They ask "do you have a business card?"
You reply "do you have a mobile phone?"
"Yes" they say (i would have a few cardboard ones just in case the answer is no!)
You tell them to SMS a special number (free of charge) and they are immediately sent your electronic business card.
If their phone is old and archaic, it displays as a simple SMS. If their phone is nice and new, the card can actually be interactive (i.e., it is linked to a mobile ready website) and you can display all sorts of content!!

Update - found something!

Report writing - originally posted 16th Feb 2006

2006-05-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the first of my posts carried over from "projects needing a home"

"My work in Child and Adolescent Mental Health is punctuated (in my opinion) with opportunities for a web-developer (probably with a conscience) to develop some cool projects. For example, the writing of notes and client summaries requires attention to many details. Many notes are handwritten and difficult to interpret for the next clinician. Developing a neat little html program that uses prompt questions and form boxes to develop a “summary proforma” would be fantastic. There are probably some cool networking and clinician community projects that would be good. Ill expand on these in future posts"

Since writing the original post - I have found a couple of services offering advanced versions of the concept. I have not pursued these any further, mostly due to time. However, I am likely to review these at a later date for PsychSplash.

a taste of success - originally posted 21st Feb 2006

2006-05-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Another post from the days of "Projects needing a home". I remember this well as it was one of the first times that one of my ideas had been well received. Since that time, I have been in contact with Dean from Mobilised.net, chatting through a few potential versions of the phone voucher system. If you are a business in Australia looking make your website mobile-ready, get in contact with Dean on the website. You can also view his website through your mobile device (visit http://mobilised.net)

"I was pleasantly surprised (actually stoked) to discover this afternoon that not only did bluepulse receive my email, they headed to this blog to make a quick comment and followed it up with an email.

They were very positive (bless their hearts) about my idea and asked me to post it to the bluepulse forum (visit here - but you will need to register - its free though). I will be curious to see if other users of the forum believe it is a worthwhile idea. Ill keep you posted through this blog.

To make it clearer what the concept is:

1) Website is developed that enables companies to produce electronic vouchers/coupons

2) widget is installed on bluepulse platform that enables the user to search and download these vouchers based on search criteria (e.g., fashion, hardware)

3) user needs only to display this voucher (actually on the phone) at the store to receive their discount

4) users themselves can visit the website and create their own vouchers (e.g., a massage therapist could advertise 1/2 price massage for 1 week)

My previous life as an ideas man

2006-05-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

In a previous blog (garethfurber.wordpress.com) I documented ideas for new businesses that built upon my reading in the areas of web2.0, internet communities, and mobile internet. I had originally planned to return to that blog when I had more time and energy to pursue these concepts (I am currently writing a PhD for those that dont know me!). I have decided instead to bring a couple of those posts over to this blog, rendering my wordpress.com days over (never fear though, I am still using wordpress for the wonderful PsychSplash). Over the next few days I will re-post some of my original ideas from "projects needing a home" to Blogger. The cool thing about this is that I can provide updates as to how the ideas have (or have not) developed since their original conception. I also have a new idea brewing that is a ripper!

Learning about the Web

2006-05-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

Learning about the Web

remember to visit my sister's blog - I will give you regular reminders in case you havent done so.

Despair, Inc.

2006-05-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

Despair, Inc.

ahhhhhhhhh....demotivation. Wonderful concept to embrace. Cant get enough of it.

Camera Toss (The Blog): Camera Toss, Mini-HOWTO

2006-05-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

Camera Toss (The Blog): Camera Toss, Mini-HOWTO

keeping with the theme of stupid hobbies and pretty colours, the art of flinging your digital camera into the air, with the shutter open and your hands ready to cushion its landing actually produces really cool images.

Couple of examples - please visit flickr to see more

Fish footy's a big hit - Football - Sport - smh.com.au

2006-05-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

Fish footy's a big hit - Football - Sport - smh.com.au

Not necessarily the hugest soccer (football) fan but I am fan of bright colours, fish and stupid hobbies. This meets all three criteria. Plus who can resist a photo like this!!

PsychSplash logo and link

2006-05-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

Dont forget about this of course

Mr. T still pities the fool - TV Squad

2006-05-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

Mr. T still pities the fool - TV Squad

According to this, Mr T (famous for his A-Team work) will be starring in his own "Dr Phil-esque" advice show, touring the nation telling people how to solve their professional and personal dilemmas. "Pity the fool" better feature prominently, and this fine example of TV better make it to Australia.

Firewheel Design | Fueling Icon and Interface Design for Web 2.0

2006-05-22T04:56:00.000-07:00

Firewheel Design | Fueling Icon and Interface Design for Web 2.0

Id love to work with these guys. Way way way out of my price range but amazing graphics and icons. A man can dream can't he?

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Finnish monsters rock Eurovision

2006-05-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Finnish monsters rock Eurovision

Keeping with a musical theme - monster metal band wins eurovision song contest. This is a victory for all of us who have wanted to dress up as monsters and have fireworks blast from the top of our guitars.