Spacehamster’s Blog

Although Blogsome is great for beginners (not to mention free), I now feel ready to use the more advanced features available to Bloggers. If you want to see an example of what I’m talking about - visit Wil Wheaton’s Blog.

So I’ve decided to start up a new blog using Typepad. You can find it here.

Since I’m unable to import my posts from Blogsome into Typepad, I’ll keep this old site as an archive for my old posts (I had no idea there were so many!). I might also reprint some of my favourite posts in my new blog when I feel the need.

Last Monday, another vehicle ran plumb into the back of my car when I stopped at the traffic lights. As a result, my car is now being perused by the insurers. What’s worse - as the car insurance policy is under my father’s name, I can’t use a hire car while my car is being repaired.

Which means I’m forced to use **shudder** public transport.

I haven’t used public transport since I left Melbourne in 2004. And I haven’t used Tasmanian public transport in more than a decade. From all reports, it’s gotten much worse. And god only knows what it’ll be like for an Asian-looking guy getting onboard a bus. Hopefully, I’ll only have to put up with this for a few weeks. And then I can get back to using a car…like civilized people.

Well, if you lived in the United States it’s either been a defining moment in history or the most upsetting election loss ever. What’s great about the internet is it gives the ability to communicate with other people that live in other countries. And it definitely came in handy yesterday - it was really incredible sharing the excitement, optimism and hope with US residents as they voted in their first African-American president.

What’s been interesting for me is observing how reaction to Obama in my part of the world is divided along generational lines. Those in the below 50 age bracket have a very positive response to his election victory. Those in the above 50 age-bracket really couldn’t care less (ie. the “Meh” reaction). I think that reaction stems partly from cynicism and disillusionment about the political process in both the US and Australia, and also from a lack of understanding of how international events can affect local economies and businesses. They’ve seen it all before (re: Gough Whitlam) and they’ve been burned before (re: The Dismissal).

I think it’s so different for me, because I’m regularly interacting with people who actually live in the country where this election is taking place. And I think I’m aware of how Australia will be affected by the policies of whoever takes over the White House next year.

It’s been an amazing 12 months: First John Howard is removed from power in (what I consider) the most surprising election victory in my lifetime. And then an even more amazing and impossible election victory occurs in the US. After 8 years of Neo-Conservative rule in both here and the US, I’d stopped believing in Governments or people. After this, I might just start trusting in people again.

As I’ve gotten older I like to think I’ve become more pragmatic in my politlcal views. When I was young I was definitely a little far to the Left. Eg. “Save the trees, Hooray Greenpeace!” - that sort of thing. As I got older, I think I acquired more empathy for people - “loggers need to feed their families too, is there a way we can co-exist peacefully with the environment without endangering people’s jobs?”

A few years back, the Road to Surfdom blog used to be run by Tim Dunlop. He left to start a new blog - Blogacracy. As time has gone on, I’ve noticed Road to Surfdom becoming more and more politically extreme, and less willing to entertain rational opposing viewpoints. In other words, it’s an echo-chambers for the rusted-on far-left Howard haters.

For instance, this article bashing self-funded retirees for investing in Cash Management trusts -

The very expression ’self-funded retiree’ is objectionable. Its implicit message is that the person being labelled is of a superior quality, someone who’s conscientiously relieved the community of the cost of paying for their retirement. Once upon a time everyone was expected to take responsibility for their own lives and we had a safety net of welfare payments to support the minority who couldn’t manage to do it. Now this has been turned on its head and people who aren’t eligible for welfare claim some sort of exceptional standing in society - while they shamelessly hold their hands out for as many gifts from the government as they can wangle.

The author slags off and abuses every single self-funded retiree, under the assumption that they’re really a bunch of welfare cheats and good-for-nothing pro-capitalist neo-conservative Howard voters.

My parents are both “self-funded retirees”. My father worked his ass off for 30 long years, acruing enough money so he and his wife could support themselves without relying on Government handouts. I’d remind the author that not every self-funded retiree is a welfare cheat. But I don’t think that kind of politely expressed disagreement would go down well in the far-left echo chamber that is the Road to Surfdom.

It’s a shame really. When Tim Dunlop was running Road to Surfdom (and then Blogacracy) you’d get plenty of dissenting opinion. Some of it was rational and well-expressed, some of it wasn’t. I think a diversity of viewpoints is an example of a vibrant democracy. My biggest problem - especially with political blogs nowadays - is that they’ve become echo chambers for people with extremist views on both sides. There’s no room for people like me anymore.

That being said, here’s the policy that I’ll follow from now on: I don’t care whether you’re a Conservative or you’re a Liberal. I don’t care whether you voted for McCain and Howard or Obama and Rudd. I only ask that you express your viewpoint politely, reasonably and rationally without abusing people with dissenting opinions. Just because we disagree with each other doesn’t mean we have to hate each other too. There’s too much hate in the world, and that’s 90% of the problem.

I couldn’t have put my sentiments more eloquently than this -

Management persona has since evolved so that the people in charge can now make those “hard decisions” without the intervention of consultant or conscience. What has risen to the top is a breed without qualms about the bodies in its wake.

They simply stuff the money in their pockets and go home to a nice dinner behind their mansion doors.

As the world digs itself out of this economic hole, the lessons of the times must be taken to heart. Lessons about values and people and the role of the economy as servant of society rather than its master.

About the type of people who run our corporations and financial institutions. Let’s hear it for the monkeys — people who at some point are satisfied that they have enough and are happy for others to have a share. The pig has had his day.

Firstly, big kudos to Bethesda Software for not implementing an EA-style DRM scheme for their latest release. Nevertheless, software piracy is still a major concern for many major gaming companies, and understandably so.

Many gamers have stated if they reduce the costs of games then they would consider buying. I’m not sure that this argument holds water with me, because it misses one very important fact - that humans (particularly gamers), are a self-centered greedy bunch and will continue to pirate stuff because it’s free. Piracy is prevalent for the same reason the stockmarket crashed - because some (if not most) people are greedy.

So what’s one possible approach then? My preferred approach would be similar to Apple iTunes. The iTunes software allows 5 activations. You use up an activation whenever you install your account on another PC, or upgrade your OS or hardware. Sounds like EA, right? But there’s one big difference - when you use up all 5 activations, you’re allowed to reset your activations and start all over again. What a great idea!

iTunes has been around for a very long time. So why didn’t EA implement a similar scheme? It’s funny how people are screaming about how bad DRM is, but no one ever brings up iTunes as an example. Probably because iTunes implements DRM in such a sensible non-intrusive way that doesn’t punish the consumer.

Perhaps EA should think about that before releasing their next game. And call Steve Jobs.

Nice to see one economic commentator cut to the real heart of the current financial crisis -

It took 50 years for the lessons of the Great Depression, and the consequent rise of fascism and World War II, to be forgotten. It is not surprising that the generation who survived that experience were committed to a “belts and braces” system of economic management to ensure that that global trauma would never happen again — or that the generation who replaced them in the 1980s could not understand that commitment.

My parents grew up with just that attitude. As for me, I’m half-half. I will occasionally spend a little money on leisure goods (like Fallout 3…hint, hint). But most of my money nowadays is invested in my house and other investments. I certainly don’t ascribe to the austerity measures my parents took, but I’d like to think that in comparison to my peers, I’m responsible with my money (my parents would probably strongly disagree).

What my parents don’t see - and I do - is an entire generation of young people that grew up in the “Greed is Good” 80’s and 90’s. They’ve never known a time when they (or their parents) didn’t have money they could spend on whatever they wanted. Impulse buying is a way of life for them. And now they’re paying for their behaviour in the worst way imaginable - up to their eyes in credit card debt and with a huge mortgage that’ll take the rest of their lives to pay off.

Thank god that I adapted my parents philosophy to my own spending: Before you buy something, ask yourself if it’s something essential that you really really need. If it isn’t, then don’t buy it. As our consumerist society is geared towards those in their mid-twenties, I find it gets easier to practice this philosophy as you get older.

It’ll be interesting seeing how this “me-me-me” generation copes with the kinds of economic conditions that our parents had to face when they were younger.

I was originally going to title this “Thank god I’m an Australian”, but considering my parent’s migrant background that probably would’ve antagonised a few too many narrow-minded racist mugwumps.

I’ve just read Jeremy Clarkson’s latest article, and it appears as though he’s put his entire pension savings into…wait for it…AIG. And it appears there are plenty of UK’ers who are in exactly the same boat - whether it be AIG or one of the Icelandic-based banks.

Thank goodness I live in Australia. My superannuation might be hemorrhaging money, but at least it’s still there. And my bank account isn’t likely to go up in a puff of smoke anytime soon…touch wood. It’s odd how so many conservative voters were extolling the virtues of an unregulated market only a few months ago. And yet, it’s now Australia’s regulatory system that’s now being praised for our position in relation to the rest of the world.

And in another indication that the Global Economy is in dire straits, the Reserve Bank has cut interest rates by 100 basis points (that’s 1%). Which is just lovely for mortgage holders (like me), but it’s important to remember that the RBA’s actions are directed more towards jittery Stockmarkets than the little people. The Stockmarkets have always been driven by fear and greed - it’s one of the reasons I’m a subscriber to the Warren Buffet philosophy of investing.

Thank goodness I assumed interest rates would go as high as 15% when I took out a mortgage (that’s about $2000 a month for me) four years ago. People thought I was stupid when I made that assumption. But considering developments over the last 18 months, it doesn’t seem so silly now, does it?

In regards to the “Global” financial crisis, I think this article sums up my feelings perfectly.

There has been a good deal of talk in recent weeks about imminent economic armageddon. In fact, this is far from being the end of capitalism. The frantic scrambling in Washington marks the passing of only one type of capitalism - the peculiar and highly unstable variety that has existed in America over the past 20 years. This experiment in financial laissez-faire has imploded. While the impact of the collapse will be felt everywhere, the market economies that resisted American-style deregulation will best weather the storm.

I’ve always been a believer in Market regulation, and these events prove that support may have been justified. Hopefully, lessons will be learnt from these events. But somehow, considering the nature of those involved, I doubt it.