Now, it is back again, running on WordPress, which has come a long way since I last used it.

So, who knows whether it will stay running this time. To be honest, I have no idea what to put on it. But at least I’m getting value for money from my hosting account now – their server is having to work a little bit again.

Hannah and I refer to this as doggy self service. They go to the distribution point, make their selection, and then proceed to tear it apart.

Jeff has just walked out with a nice heavyweight piece of paper and proceeded to tear it apart – using his ‘paws as hands’ – another cute trait of dogs. It got me thinking as to why our two dogs both love doing this so much. My only thought is that it has something to do with simulating the act of ripping flesh from a carcass. Perhaps that is the call of the wild? The tearing sensation of the paper and its associated sounds might relate to a canine pleasure?

In any case, doggy self service makes a huge mess with paper bits everywhere. But given the joy they get from it, and the cuteness that it offers me, I’m happy to live with it.

In any case, his list has inspired me to consider my own top ten links and sites, so let’s see how we go:

1. Google Reader – it’s how I stay up with everything on the net. I’d be lost without my RSS.
2. Twit.tv – Leo Laporte’s podcasts provide me with the majority of my entertainment during my daily long-winded commute to and from work. I particularly enjoy This Week in Tech, MacBreak Weekly, Windows Weekly and of course The Daily Giz Wiz!
3. Ozhoopsboards.com – Hardly a day goes by that I don’t visit this site. Plenty of rumour mongering, but also plenty of breaking news too.
4. OmniFocus – not a site, but an amazingly great GTD program by the folks at Omni Group that runs on both my Mac and my ipod Touch, which ensures that I know what to do at any particular time.
5. Gmail – I filter all my email through this service, it is fantastic. Conversation view is a great feature that can’t be beaten. But it also offers total IMAP links so I can use Mail.app if I like. I can’t wait to see Google Wave, though!
6. Evernote – I seem to have a never ending search underway for the perfect note taking and file archiving application. Evernote is getting closest given its ubiquitous access across multiple devices, operating systems and the web.
7. Presentation Zen – much of what I have learnt about public speaking I have learnt from this guy. Fantastic insights and provides excellent examples both of what works, and what doesn’t!
8. Wedding List Co. – got to get a plug in for our business! If you are thinking about your bridal gift registry, you will not find a better quality of service and range of products anywhere else.
9. Dropbox – a great file syncing service, that you don’t have to think about. Great for working with files across multiple computers, with version control added to boot.
10. Daring Fireball – If there is one Mac site any Mac fan must read, it is Gruber’s.

Anyway, I’ve given twosittingducks.com a fresh lick of paint, updated WordPress to the latest version (a program which, incidentally, has travelled leaps and bounds since it was first released and was a poor man’s Moveable Type), and have gone so far as writing this blog post.

I can’t guarantee that much more will happen here, but rest assured, I’m still on the interwebs somewhere.

It is interesting, though, how the original view of web publishing was to get away from “the man”. It offered the chance for everyone to be their own media mogul, with their own voice. But it would seem that the man is having the last laugh. The growth of the large community based sites, notably Facebook, has given the ability to blog and share information to everyone – at least within their walled garden. Not that I am really in a position to complain, since I have fallen for it as much as everybody else.

But at the very least I know that if it all goes pear shaped, I can always come back to my blog at twosittingducks.com. I don’t pay hosting fees for nothing!

Anyway, without any further ado, I present the meme:

Copy this list and put it on your blog. If you’ve done it, bold it.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (and DisneyWorld!)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (Am I at sea, or the storm? I’ve done the latter.)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty ( I cheated, use elevator, great view, years ago)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill –ssshhh!
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied–most of the time
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Wow, going through that list, I’ve done quite a lot of things. Some of which I had even almost forgotten about. It also makes me realise that I’m pretty fortunate, all up.

Much has changed since then, and the upshot is that I simply don’t really have as much time nor inclination to post here. However, I do still post quite a few comments to Twitter which get fed through as Facebook status updates, for those who don’t get the Twitter thing. These comments, plus all the other meta stuff I do on the web, such as saving bookmarks to delicious, sharing items from Google Reader, and highlighting favourites on Flickr, plus other stuff, ends up at andrewcanion.com.

I encourage you to either try these excellent individual sites, or at least subscribe to the RSS feed at andrewcanion.com.

Thanks!

This created the need for a new computer. One that she could love. For some years now, I’ve been extolling the virtues of the Mac, and my brainwashing, combined with timely demos of how I was able to do stuff so efficiently on my Mac, had sunk in sufficiently for Hannah to make the jump.

So now, Hannah is the proud owner of a MacBook. One that is faster than mine. But at least my keyboard still glows in the dark.

Put it on the record that Han loves her Mac. Our relationship is suffering, but she is just so happy! It’s incredibly cute to see how attached she has become to this new computer. It’s amazing – she has always hated using computers, now she looks to use it all the time.

So now, we are both Macheads. My perfect wife just got perfecter.

It’s actually been a very long time since I last stepped into a public library. I don’t think I’ve been an active library user since I lived at home with my parents, so that would be about 10 years now. In the intervening years, I’ve never felt like I was going to be living in the location long enough to warrant being bothered to sign up as a member.

Now though, I don’t see us moving anytime soon. Our financial budget is also much tighter these days (and thanks to the Reserve Bank’s interest rate policy, getting tighter all the time) so the option to buy new books isn’t really there now. Also, more recently, I have really gotten back into reading in a big way. I’ve always enjoyed reading but have struggled to find the time to do it, with it losing the free time battle against other pursuits like TV, internet, etc.

So, after ten years of library absenteeism, I once again walked into a book building. It was great! Wandering the aisles, seeing what might jump out at me. I put in a request to receive a book that was at another library. I used the catalogue to search for a book, then felt the excitement of scanning the shelves looking for the corresponding Dewey Decimal.

Now I am halfway through the first of three books I borrowed, and am excited about reading again. But I haven’t completely given up on the internet – you can track my reading at either www.shelfari.com/andrewcanion or http://www.librarything.com/profile/Splinky (I haven’t yet decided which of these two websites are better – any comments?)

Just to give you an idea of how good this guy writes, especially from a basketball perspective, I present the following quote:

If you’re scoring at home, the Hero Complex manifests itself in the following ways during close games: Insistence on making every big play; propensity to make out-of-control drives that lead to offensive fouls; overeagerness to take advantage of a potential two-for-one by hoisting up a horrible 3-pointer; and most importantly, insistence on being isolated on beat-the-buzzer plays so that everyone can stand around while you dribble for 17 seconds, fake like you’re going to the basket, then pull up for a horrendous jumper. The success rate of the buzzer-beating shot by someone suffering from the Hero Complex is roughly 11 percent. And that might be high.

Anybody who has watched or played basketball, at pretty much any level, will identify with this affliction!