stephen o'sullivan
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Info
- Executive Manager, Academic Planning and Research at Box Hill InstituteHigher Education | Melbourne Area, Australia, AUExperience
- Mar 2007 - PresentExecutive Manager, Academic Planning and Research / Box Hill InstituteA cross-organisation executive management role with primary responsibility for the Institute’s course delivery profile including contract negotiations with the relevant State Government offices.
- Jul 2011 - Aug 2011Executive Director Learning and Academic Affairs (acting) / Box Hill InstituteExecutive Director's role responsible for oversight of Boards of Study, Registrar's office, Library, Academic Planning, Research and Blended/online learning.
- Apr 2011 - May 2011Executive Director Learning and Academic Affairs (acting) / Box Hill InstituteExecutive Director's role responsible for oversight of Boards of Study, Registrar's office, Library, Academic Planning, Research and Blended/online learning.
- Jan 2004 - Mar 2007Project Officer – Planning / Box Hill InstituteA cross-organisation executive management role with primary responsibility for the Institute’s course delivery profile including contract negotiations with the relevant State Government offices.
- Jan 2001 - Jan 2004Organisation Development Coordinator / Kangan Batman TAFEA cross-organisation role responsible for Institute-wide organisation development and staff development, particularly as it relates to strategic planning and change management implementation.
- Nov 2002 - May 2003Organisation Development Manager (acting) / Kangan Batman TAFEA cross-organisation role responsible for Institute-wide organisation development and staff development, particularly as it relates to strategic planning and change management implementation.
Education-
2011 - 2013RMIT UniversityMaster of Professional Accounting in Accounting
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1998 - 2000University of MelbourneMaster of Arts in English
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1991 - 1997University of MelbourneBachelor of Arts (Honours) in English
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Interests:writing, reading, literature, philosophy, music, cooking, running, cycling, technology, linux, statistics
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Tweets
- Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo http://t.co/AAHENF32
- Phew... Passed both my subjects (one hd actually)
- A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel http://t.co/8xYqNigC
- reviewed gmusicbrowser in Ubuntu: ★★★★★ Outstanding, best interface and collection management
- Wonderful, pragmatic presentation at Skills Australia conference by Linda Nicholls
- good discussion at Skills Australia conference between Heather Ridout and @BernardSalt
- Photo: Washing the car (Taken with instagram) http://tumblr.com/xfh3jjexw2
- Photo: Lunch at Bread & Jam for Frances (Taken with instagram) http://tumblr.com/xfh3ixp7jg
- Photo: Climbing (Taken with instagram) http://tumblr.com/xfh3h5ko9v
- Photo: Lost hat (Taken with instagram) http://tumblr.com/xfh3h0f279
- Australians: If you think that we pay too much tax, read this. http://zite.to/pst5Ad via @zite
- Reflections on climate change, and the quality of Australian economists - On Line Opinion - 7/7/2011 http://bit.ly/n0tiX7
- Freedom by Jonathan Franzen - I think Franzen’s Freedom is poorly served by the rapturous response of some... http://tumblr.com/xfh3cgf0sj
- Freedom by Jonathan Franzen http://post.ly/2LC87
- Photo: Discogirl (Taken with instagram) http://tumblr.com/xfh3an1v7a
- Photo: Picked up our new car (VW Tiguan) today! http://tumblr.com/xfh39o6o66
- Photo: Melbourne city (Taken with instagram) http://tumblr.com/xfh39f9duz
- Photo: Melbourne dawn (Taken with instagram) http://tumblr.com/xfh38pqusd
- Photo: My best sourdough yet (Taken with instagram) http://tumblr.com/xfh31yxoj1
- Photo: Orange mouth (Taken with instagram) http://tumblr.com/xfh31y80ak
- Elodie drinking a hot chocolate http://instagr.am/p/FpO_j/
- Just posted a photo http://instagr.am/p/FpAYU/
- Photo: A perfect day for lunch and a stroll through the galleries at Heide http://tumblr.com/xfh2yl1nf9
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Status
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Posts
This was, for me, a riveting read. Steve Jobs is a polarizing figure, and his story is a remarkable one. It was also one I was fairly familiar with. But Isaacson has achieved a feat here, creating a balanced portrait of a man with multiple character flaws and yet so many extraordinary achievements. Many commentators have expressed shock at how unpleasant a person Steve Jobs could be, but it is the great achievement of this biography that it is so successfully “warts-and-all” and yet,…
This is a difficult review to do, because so many of Neal Stephenson’s novels are among my favourites of all time, with Cryptonomicon somewhere near the very top. Reamde is an enjoyable read but suffers by way of comparison to the outstanding work preceding it (from The Diamond Age to Anathem, by way of Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle). Expectation can be a difficult burden, and my expectation of a new Stephenson novel is very high indeed.
In all the previous novels of his I…First hot day of the season in Melbourne, 34 degrees. After a stinking hot bicycle ride to school from work, straight into the pool
- A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mantel’s style is distinct, and as such can be jarring. Which is the reason I like reading her novels, of course.
In the outstanding Wolf Hall this idiosyncratic style has reached a level of maturity perhaps missing in A Place of Greater Safety, published as it was some 17 years earlier. Perhaps this wandering, jumping, diffuse style works better when applied to a single subject, as it is in the former, and risks losing the reader when applied to a broader cast of characters as is the case in A Place of Greater Safety.
Nevertheless, this is a fascinating story, told by a great writer in truly epic style. At times longer than necessary, at others engrossing and always extraordinary. Men’s memories are uncertain and the past that was differs little from the past that was not.
Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
- Steve Jobs
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Steve Jobs
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Posts
- Mar 20, 12
This is the first novel by DeLillo I have read, which is a shame I will rectify in the coming years. He has long been on my list of to-reads.
I enjoyed Cosmopolis in several ways, but most notably the language which struck me as similar in tone to Cormac McCarthy. For much of the novel I felt I was reading an urban McCarthy. This language fit the context of the story perfectly, to my mind, by which I mean, the NYC setting and the slow wander to oblivion. The story itself is secondary, episodic and wholly unbelievable. Not that it should be believable. It appears more as a parable.So in short, a hyper-modern parable, in tone like a post-modern western.However, the story lacks, and that lack is telling. Throughout the novel I felt the story was leading to something, that the characters' deliberations were building together with the action of the story a broader and more complete narrative. Perhaps I simply missed something, but the end I found dissatisfying. The threads that appeared to be coalescing stopped, and then there was an ending. I don't want to say it seemed contrived - as I have said, it is a parable. It just seemed unrelated.Nevertheless, it was beautifully executed.
View all my reviews - Dec 15, 11
This was, for me, a riveting read. Steve Jobs is a polarizing figure, and his story is a remarkable one. It was also one I was fairly familiar with. But Isaacson has achieved a feat here, creating a balanced portrait of a man with multiple character flaws and yet so many extraordinary achievements. Many commentators have expressed shock at how unpleasant a person Steve Jobs could be, but it is the great achievement of this biography that it is so successfully "warts-and-all" and yet, in the end, the reader can still be full of admiration for this man.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars - Dec 06, 11
This is a difficult review to do, because so many of Neal Stephenson's novels are among my favourites of all time, with Cryptonomicon somewhere near the very top. Reamde is an enjoyable read but suffers by way of comparison to the outstanding work preceding it (from The Diamond Age to Anathem, by way of Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle). Expectation can be a difficult burden, and my expectation of a new Stephenson novel is very high indeed.
In all the previous novels of his I have read, there were several key features that define the experience as characteristically "Stephenson-ian", a definitive style and deeply observant humour for instance, the most critical of which is the seeming effortless juxtaposition of major philosophical or conceptual themes with action sequences directly derived from those themes. This is entirely lacking in Reamde, which appears to be a series of ungrounded action sequences, lacking the usual humorous flourishes and most critically, lacking the overarching thematic thread that gave meaning to his previous works. I kept waiting for the narrator to snap into Stephenson's usual witty observations of the world around him, but for such humour to work, Stephenson typically overlays a character's particular view of the world onto events, such as Lawrence Waterhouse observing the mathematical distribution of sheep in the fields by the rail line he travels on. The characters in Reamde lack either the characterisation or the philosophical framework to operate at that level. This is a surprising lack. I assume the game-world of T'Rain was to fulfil this overarching role, but in the end it is all but forgotten, with a somewhat clumsy reference to the parallel actions of both Richard and his online character.It is true that there were moments of some excitement, and as action thrillers go, I'm sure it's far better than most, but as a Stephenson, Reamde is lacking.
View all my reviews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars - Oct 24, 11
Hilary Mantel's style is distinct, and as such can be jarring. Which is the reason I like reading her novels, of course.
In the outstanding Wolf Hall this idiosyncratic style has reached a level of maturity perhaps missing in A Place of Greater Safety, published as it was some 17 years earlier. Perhaps this wandering, jumping, diffuse style works better when applied to a single subject, as it is in the former, and risks losing the reader when applied to a broader cast of characters as is the case in A Place of Greater Safety. Nevertheless, this is a fascinating story, told by a great writer in truly epic style. At times longer than necessary, at others engrossing and always extraordinary.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
- Oct 06, 11
"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
- Steve Jobs
- Jul 05, 11
I think Franzen's Freedom is poorly served by the rapturous response of some mainstream U.S. media. It is difficult to approach this novel without expecting a masterpiece. Reading it, I found a good book, but by no means a masterpiece.
Many reviewers point to his reference to War and Peace, that Franzen is explicitly placing his novel in a literary context, he is articulating the novel's ambition as epic social realist novel in the great tradition. In 2666, Roberto Bolano suggests that the novelist must struggle to attain the epic, and in so doing explicitly positions his novel. And he emphatically succeeds in his ambition. Franzen does not.This is not to say that he doesn't succeed in some measure. This novel has many worthy features: an interesting story and a largely well constructed, multi-layered storyline; engaging characters; and most crucial I believe to the unbalanced media response to this novel, a story that is immediate and contemporary, confronting American identity today and the complex underpinnings and conflicts that national identity entails. It is also often very funny, lending the narrative a happy flow, from the opening moments, that is sustained throughout.It is not, however, a particularly well written novel. The language is for the most part pedestrian and often clunky or cliched, and occasionally just poor. In the end, it is as though Franzen is not equipped with the language or the writerly skills to achieve the vision he has set himself in the novel. What is strange is that so many reviewers appear to have assumed he had achieved the vision merely by setting out its framework, but a great literary novel must be more than a topical story, it must be a sustained work of brilliant writing. Freedom is not.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars - Apr 20, 11
Pinot the pig at Holm Oak vineyard in the Tamar Valley, north western Tasmania. Truly lovely Cabernet Sauvignon (2008). I'm yet to try the Pinot Noir, but I expect it will be excellent. - Mar 28, 11
As I get more familiar with baking sourdough loaves, I am getting a better feel for the dough. I baked this loaf a few minutes ago, but I mixed it about 26 hours ago.
The dough has formed a great shape, and is quite firm. In lieu of a couche or banneton I rested it overnight in the fridge, wrapped in a teatowel in this quickly constructed mold.
You can see from the cuts that the dough is quite airy
After thirty-odd minutes at 245c, the finished product...
- Mar 21, 11
I have been feeding my sourdough starter, which I am thinking of calling Marlinspike after Thomas Cromwell's cat in Wolf Hall, for some months now, and it is behaving beautifully: bubbly, pleasant bready smell, and best of all, it is making beautiful bread. The baking process is somewhat more involved than in baker's yeast bread baking, so it really is a Sunday-at-home sort of operation, but the results are so much better than either baker's yeast bread or bought bread that it is a real pleasure. The crumb has lovely air pockets, the crust is blistered and crisp. This loaf came out of the oven about an hour prior to these photographs, and had all but cooled. The perfect time to eat bread, in this case with Crottin de Chavignol.
- Mar 21, 11
The Windup Girl is founded upon a very interesting premise, a dystopian vision of the future in which gene/cell manipulation has developed to a state near computer hacking, and viruses have version numbers like applications, and in which this manipulation has lead to such a dearth of food that wealth is calculable in calories.
In many ways this novel mirrors William Gibson's breakout sci-fi vision <em>Neuromancer</em> by setting the novel in a foreseeable future no too distant from our own time, and tailoring a bit of action around it. However, although I enjoyed this novel, I feel that in several ways the promise of the book's premise was not entirely lived up to.
Speculative genre fiction often errs in so limiting the internal logic of the created world that suspended disbelief is impossible. Worlds created new entire typically suffer from a radically reduced species ecosystem, for instance, that well serves the necessity of narrative and plot, but is hardly realistic. In <em>The Windup Girl</em>, Bacigalupi has developed a world that, though based on our own, in fact predominantly Thailand some time in the future, at times suffers from this fault. His vision is detailed and at times scarily realistic, but I felt sometimes settled for convenient simplicity. Furthermore, the potential for playing out the premise was somewhat lost in a simplistic political power-struggle plot with some interesting twists and some intriguing characters but ultimately little redemption and, I felt at least, little link to the original premise.
Enjoyable, but could have been better given it's early promise.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
- Mar 20, 11
The success of Wolf Hall is, to my mind built of several key features: 1, the character of Cromwell is wonderfully conceived, he is a great character, complex but admirable, and the reader follows his rise and rise with pleasure and growing respect; 2, stylistically, the novel mingles action (by which I mean, physical activity not "fighting") and dialogue and verbalised thought in a way I have never quite experienced before, which lends the book a solidity of purpose but also a dreamlike quality at times, that is very difficult to explain but thoroughly works; 3, the story, well known, is one of the more interesting in western history.
This book came very highly recommended by my wife, and it more than lived up to it. A wonderful, enjoyable and fascinating read throughout. A more than deserving winner of the Booker in 2009 and one of the best books I have read in the past few years.
I found myself longing for Mantel to revisit the era in a future novel, and though I could not put it down I found myself reading slower as I neared the end, so as not to leave her wonderfully constructed world.My rating: 5 of 5 stars
View all my reviews - Mar 03, 11
Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner
Faulkner wanted Go Down, Moses to be read as a novel rather than a collection of short stories. There were times when that made absolute sense, particularly at the end. But at others it did, indeed, feel like a related collection of stories. "Pantaloon in Black", for instance, seemed to me largely unrelated to the rest.Be that as it may, I read this mostly for "The Bear", the heart and soul of Go Down, Moses, and what a wondrous piece it is. By far the the longest (in fact, alone I would consider it a novella), the stylistic changes are remarkable and so apt to the content. In "The Bear" the language is heightened, and in part 4 particularly, the style tends toward prose poem, with paragraphs started without a capital, punctuation largely omitted.A beautiful and haunting read.My rating: 5 of 5 stars
View all my reviews - Feb 19, 11
Using the starter shown in the previous post, today I baked my first full-size sourdough loaf. I used the same recipe as yesterday's baguette. It tuned out very well, with a nice crust and good, airy crumb. Delicious with cheese and pinot.
Here are some staged pictures, the dough just after folding, the dough proofing, and the loaf just out of the oven - Feb 18, 11
My starter after a 1 to 2 to 2 feed (1 part starter, 2 parts water and flour), light and airy, more than doubled in size, and ready to bake with.
- Feb 18, 11
I cooked a baguette for my first sourdough loaf using the starter I prepared in the last 2 weeks, following this recipe.
There really is no comparison with bread cooked using bakers yeast. The taste of the sourdough is to my mind far better, the texture of the bread is more interesting, and no matter how I tried I could never get a good airy crumb to the loaf. The sourdough was in many ways, for a first go, perfect, and full of airy holes.
I refrigerated the dough overnight before baking it to improve the crust, resulting in a lovely blistered effect and nice crunch.
The process is far more demanding though. Not only do you have to feed the starter twice daily (or weekly/fortnightly if refrigerated, but then you have to get it out of the fridge a couple of days before cooking it, and return it to the twice daily feeding regime), the proofing period, from initial mix to bake is about 5 hours (much of that 5 hours is actually just waiting for it to rise etc). Nevertheless, the results are promising. - Feb 11, 11
I have successfully made my first sourdough starter using this guide. Now to start baking sourdough bread...
Day 1 - the first mix
Day 3 - big signs of life in the morning (probably leuconostoc), more subdued in the evening
Day 5 - steady growth now
Day 6 - lovely smell (5yo Elodie said, 'it just smells like bread') and silky consistency with big bubbles throughout
- Feb 04, 11
I have been making tagine's more and more lately, and though we have variously made fish and chicken tagine's, the one I continuously come back to, in one form or another, is pumpkin and chickpeas.
The core ingredients are:
- Cubed pumpkin - think about the same size as the chickpeas
- Chickpeas (I tend to use 1 or slightly less than 1 can in my tagine or the equivalent amount if I take the time to use dried/soaked)
- A yellow chili (these are long, chili shaped light green or yellow peppers - not hot, nor do they have a strong capsicum taste either)
- Onion and garlic
- 1 small stick of cinnamon and a teaspoon or so of cumin seeds
- I or two bay leaves
- Fresh mint (some at the start, some resenved fresh to sprinkle over before serving)
- Preserved lemon (I love preserved lemon so tend to use 2 rinds, cut in strips)
- 1 teaspoon of harissa chili paste
- Pine nuts, gently dry fried, to sprinkle over at the end)
With the tagine on the stove on a low heat, I gently fry cumin seeds in generous olive oil, then add sliced onion and crushed garlic, the cinnamon stick and bay leaves.
In a bowl I add chickpeas (pre-soaked/cooked or striaght out of a can) and cubed pumpkin; drissle with olive oil, generous pinch of sea salt, cracked pepper, a teaspoon of harissa, and sliced preserved lemon (rinds only, rinsed before using). Mix around to ensure good coating. Add torn or whole mint leaves. Add sliced (round) yellow pepper.
Take the tagine off the heat when the onion and garlic have cooked through. At this point I sometimes just place the mix on top of the onion and garlic, put the lid on and into the oven. Alternatives include:
- Put the mix on top of the onion and garlic, then add a generous bunch of sliced silverbeet or spinach leaves;
- Or, add slices of zuchinni on top of the onion and garlic, also quartered small tomatoes; then add the mix on top, etc
If you add leaves on top, before serving you will want to mix it all together; if not, it is nice to serve still in its intact layers, with the pine nuts and more fresh mint sprinkled on top.
Serve with cous cous and pinot noir or a Cotes du Rhone.
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Posts
- Mar 20, 12
This is the first novel by DeLillo I have read, which is a shame I will rectify in the coming years. He has long been on my list of to-reads.
I enjoyed Cosmopolis in several ways, but most notably the language which struck me as similar in tone to Cormac McCarthy. For much of the novel I felt I was reading an urban McCarthy. This language fit the context of the story perfectly, to my mind, by which I mean, the NYC setting and the slow wander to oblivion. The story itself is secondary, episodic and wholly unbelievable. Not that it should be believable. It appears more as a parable.So in short, a hyper-modern parable, in tone like a post-modern western.However, the story lacks, and that lack is telling. Throughout the novel I felt the story was leading to something, that the characters' deliberations were building together with the action of the story a broader and more complete narrative. Perhaps I simply missed something, but the end I found dissatisfying. The threads that appeared to be coalescing stopped, and then there was an ending. I don't want to say it seemed contrived - as I have said, it is a parable. It just seemed unrelated.Nevertheless, it was beautifully executed.http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/406.Cosmopolis
View all my reviews - Dec 15, 11
This was, for me, a riveting read. Steve Jobs is a polarizing figure, and his story is a remarkable one. It was also one I was fairly familiar with. But Isaacson has achieved a feat here, creating a balanced portrait of a man with multiple character flaws and yet so many extraordinary achievements. Many commentators have expressed shock at how unpleasant a person Steve Jobs could be, but it is the great achievement of this biography that it is so successfully "warts-and-all" and yet, in the end, the reader can still be full of admiration for this man.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars - Dec 06, 11
This is a difficult review to do, because so many of Neal Stephenson's novels are among my favourites of all time, with Cryptonomicon somewhere near the very top. Reamde is an enjoyable read but suffers by way of comparison to the outstanding work preceding it (from The Diamond Age to Anathem, by way of Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle). Expectation can be a difficult burden, and my expectation of a new Stephenson novel is very high indeed.
In all the previous novels of his I have read, there were several key features that define the experience as characteristically "Stephenson-ian", a definitive style and deeply observant humour for instance, the most critical of which is the seeming effortless juxtaposition of major philosophical or conceptual themes with action sequences directly derived from those themes. This is entirely lacking in Reamde, which appears to be a series of ungrounded action sequences, lacking the usual humorous flourishes and most critically, lacking the overarching thematic thread that gave meaning to his previous works. I kept waiting for the narrator to snap into Stephenson's usual witty observations of the world around him, but for such humour to work, Stephenson typically overlays a character's particular view of the world onto events, such as Lawrence Waterhouse observing the mathematical distribution of sheep in the fields by the rail line he travels on. The characters in Reamde lack either the characterisation or the philosophical framework to operate at that level. This is a surprising lack. I assume the game-world of T'Rain was to fulfil this overarching role, but in the end it is all but forgotten, with a somewhat clumsy reference to the parallel actions of both Richard and his online character.It is true that there were moments of some excitement, and as action thrillers go, I'm sure it's far better than most, but as a Stephenson, Reamde is lacking.
View all my reviews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars - Oct 24, 11
Hilary Mantel's style is distinct, and as such can be jarring. Which is the reason I like reading her novels, of course.
In the outstanding Wolf Hall this idiosyncratic style has reached a level of maturity perhaps missing in A Place of Greater Safety, published as it was some 17 years earlier. Perhaps this wandering, jumping, diffuse style works better when applied to a single subject, as it is in the former, and risks losing the reader when applied to a broader cast of characters as is the case in A Place of Greater Safety. Nevertheless, this is a fascinating story, told by a great writer in truly epic style. At times longer than necessary, at others engrossing and always extraordinary.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
- Oct 06, 11
"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
- Steve Jobs
- Sep 17, 11Notwithstanding my previous post, there is a lot to like in the latest Ubuntu.
Although I quite like the default theme, I far prefer the Elementary family of themes, and have turned to Radiamentary by ~NanaBuluku which looks amazing. I obviously changed the icons to Elementary as well (installed via apt-get, as they already reside in the repos).
The Unity dash allows for full-screen mode, and remembers your selection. The standard close, minimise, maximise buttons toggle the dash between its default and full-screen and, of course, closed. The active blur mode looks great.
The revamped Nautilus is refined and beautiful (whether in default theme or, as in this case, the Elementary inspired Radiamentary)
Newly improved features such as the "open with" dialogue, with recommended applications, and the option to see a comprehensive list of alternatives.
Every update brings a new version of the expo view. This is the current one.
In addition to changing the theme (using Gnome Tweak Tool, also available in the repos), I have made a couple of minor tweaks.
I have set the top right screen edge to activate the expo view when I move the mouse there
After installing xdotool from the repos, I have added a command (ensuring commands are enabled in Compiz Settings) to open the dash on top left of screen.echo “KeyStrPress Super_L KeyStrRelease Super_L”| xdotool key Super_L
And I have modified the Unity settings, reducing the size of the launcher icons, and making the launcher fully transparent, as well as setting the icon backlight to toggle on (off when the applications is not in use). - Sep 17, 11Exploring a beta version of an OS is by definition fraught, and any concerns raised can be immediately dismissed by the proviso that label applies. Nevertheless, while the improvements (or rather refinements) are numerous in the newest iteration of Ubuntu, many of these are as a result of the upgraded version of Gnome, and many of the issues are as a result of the instability of Compiz.
I have used Compiz, Compiz-fusion, Beryl, Emerald etc for many years in many iterations of Ubuntu. My preferences ran to desktop cube and wobbly windows. With Unity, Compiz becomes fundamental rather than a decorative addition. If Compiz, for whatever reason, fails to work, the desktop shell fails to work. A case in point: today I ran the update manager. On restart, I logged into a desktop that was reduced solely to a Nautilus menu bar at top of screen. I could open the file manager, and nothing else. The reason was that the update to Compiz introduced some plugin conflicts the resolution of which was to not startup the Unity plugin. So no desktop environment. The solution for me was to logout (the windows inspired ctrl+alt+del brings up a logout dialogue) and log in using Ubuntu 2d, open Compiz Settings Manager and re-enable Unity. As I prefaced this post, this is Beta software, but it raises a question: one plugin fails to start because Compiz rules dictate certain dependency relationships, and the entire desktop environment fails to load? Isn't that a recipe for failure? Isn't that like building a brick house, and setting it on matchstick foundations? Shouldn't the system recognise as I logged in that the required plugin is not loading and instead load the fail-safe 2d version? Or better yet, the basic Gnome 3 desktop?
In short, this desktop environment has some nice features, and is in no way competitive with either Windows or OS X, not because of its design, structure or principles but because of its architecture. This is a beta version, as I say, so I can expect Compiz to crash 20-odd times an hour. But to rest the weight of the desktop on the flimsy foundation of a Compiz plugin is calling for failure. - Jul 05, 11
I think Franzen's Freedom is poorly served by the rapturous response of some mainstream U.S. media. It is difficult to approach this novel without expecting a masterpiece. Reading it, I found a good book, but by no means a masterpiece.
Many reviewers point to his reference to War and Peace, that Franzen is explicitly placing his novel in a literary context, he is articulating the novel's ambition as epic social realist novel in the great tradition. In 2666, Roberto Bolano suggests that the novelist must struggle to attain the epic, and in so doing explicitly positions his novel. And he emphatically succeeds in his ambition. Franzen does not.This is not to say that he doesn't succeed in some measure. This novel has many worthy features: an interesting story and a largely well constructed, multi-layered storyline; engaging characters; and most crucial I believe to the unbalanced media response to this novel, a story that is immediate and contemporary, confronting American identity today and the complex underpinnings and conflicts that national identity entails. It is also often very funny, lending the narrative a happy flow, from the opening moments, that is sustained throughout.It is not, however, a particularly well written novel. The language is for the most part pedestrian and often clunky or cliched, and occasionally just poor. In the end, it is as though Franzen is not equipped with the language or the writerly skills to achieve the vision he has set himself in the novel. What is strange is that so many reviewers appear to have assumed he had achieved the vision merely by setting out its framework, but a great literary novel must be more than a topical story, it must be a sustained work of brilliant writing. Freedom is not.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars - Apr 26, 11The netbook in question is an HP 2140, and until the other day it was running Meego 1.1. I installed Meego out of interest and because the functionality I was looking for was akin to the iPad. Having just bought an iPad, I wanted to return the netbook to a more productive guise by installing a more feature-rich OS. As I run Ubuntu 11.04 beta 2 (in triple boot with Windows 7 and OSX 10.6.7) on my desktop, the most obvious option was Ubuntu.
There are some benefits to running the Unity shell, a feature of the new Ubuntu version, on a netbook, notably because it started its life as an adaption specific to the netbook edition of Ubuntu. However, I have some doubts about Unity, and was keen to try out the new Gnome shell, key feature of Gnome 3.0. I didn't want to run either of the Suse or Fedora versions of Gnome 3 because I like Debian-based systems, and was looking forward to getting away from the Fedora-based packaging used in Meego, and returning to apt.
The default Ubuntu 11.04 desktop
The global menu in Ubuntu 11.04 means more screen real-estate and less chrome in a netbook
Installation, Part 1
Installing Ubuntu 11.04 is extremely simple - the installer sports a pared down desktop, so I could even connect to wifi after ticking that I wanted proprietary software, necessary for the Broadcom wifi driver. Once the OS was installed, I installed a few additional applications, notable Dropbox, Chromium, Comix, Postler, GIMP and Rawstudio. I also installed the Meego interface for Banshee, which I far prefer:sudo apt-get install banshee-meego
This adds a logo button to the standard Banshee interface which when pressed switches to the pared back Meego interface, a far more suitable interface for a netbook (and I think my preferred interface on a desktop too). To always start with the Meego interface, append " --client=MeeGo" without inverted commas to the Banshee launcher (i.e. in the "Command" section of properties for the launcher).
Banshee sporting the Meego interface or "Netbook Media Panel" (see below for similar view in Gnome 3)
Installation, Part 2
Installing gnome-shell:sudo apt-get remove gnome-accessibility-themes sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3 sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Log out, then after choosing your user profile from the list, change the type of session from "Ubuntu" to "Ubuntu Gnome shell".
Installation, Part 3
Install theme:sudo apt-get install gnome-themes-standard
This package has the default Gnome 3.0 desktop including windows borders and icons.
Install Gnome Tweak Tool:sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool
This tool allows far more options for tweaking the interface than the default settings menu.
The Gnome 3.0 interface
The default Gnome 3.0 desktop
Hovering the mouse cursor at screen top left activates the shell overlay
Applications
Banshee Meego interface in Gnome 3.0
Simple and elegant default applications chooser, under System Info in Settings
Issues
There are two quite significant issues I have encountered:- Closing the lid doesn't automatically put the netbook in suspend as it did in Meego, and I cannot find the relevant setting to do so
- More critically, the battery power manager icon won't show (it popped up very briefly when the power had run out and I restarted under AC)
I suspect both issues may be related to the less than optimal installation process and if I want to continue using Gnome 3.0 the battery status issue at least MUST be fixed. I may try installing the Fedora version despite the obvious issues with Yum to see if this rectifies it.
Another "issue" is that the introduction of a global menu to Ubuntu 11.04 means that apps have that bit more screen real-estate, a rather crucial matter for netbooks. I think the new Adwaita theme that Gnome 3.0 uses is quite beautiful, but it is not thin on chrome, and that is most evident when using a browser maximised.
Advantages of Gnome Shell over Unity
I far prefer the look and feel of the Gnome shell interface to the Ubuntu Unity experience, with that one caveat regarding the global menu. Workspace switching is elegant and intuitive, and I felt (entirely subjective insight) it ran faster than Unity.
The most obvious advantage is that with a simple move of the mouse to the top left corner of the screen you have immediate access to everything: application menus, files/folders, workspaces, task switching. In unity (by default) access to workspaces is had by hitting an icon on the left-hand taskbar; access to applications is by clicking the Ubuntu icon in the top left; files and folders by hitting a different button on the taskbar; the home folder is accessed via a dedicated icon on the taskbar, the other folders from a different button on the taskbar, which doesn't link to the Home folder as well (!). In comparison to Gnome shell its organisation is all over the place. Very inefficient.
Workspace organisation is a case in point: the Gnome shell solution is dynamic, adding new workspaces as you need them; the Unity solution is to use 4 by default and allow you to set a fixed amount of spaces in settings, but it is a fixed number. - Apr 26, 11The netbook in question is an HP 2140, and until the other day it was running Meego 1.1. I installed Meego out of interest and because the functionality I was looking for was akin to the iPad. Having just bought an iPad, I wanted to return the netbook to a more productive guise by installing a more feature-rich OS. As I run Ubuntu 11.04 beta 2 (in triple book with Windows 7 and OSX 10.6.7) on my desktop, the most obvious option was Ubuntu.
There are some benefits to running the unity shell, a feature of the new Ubuntu version, on a netbook, notably because it started its life as an adaption specific to the netbook edition of Ubuntu. However, I have some doubts about Unity, and was keen to try out the new Gnome shell, key feature of Gnome 3.0. I didn't want to run either of the Suse or Fedora versions of Gnome 3 because I like Debian-based systems, and was looking forward to getting away from the Fedora-based packaging used in Meego, and returning to apt.
Installing Ubuntu 11.04 is extremely simple - the installer sports a pared down desktop, so I could even connect to wifi after ticking that I wanted proprietary software, necessary for the Broadcom wifi driver. Once the OS was installed, I installed a few additional applications, notable Dropbox, Chromium, Comix, Postler, GIMP and Rawstudio. I also installed the Meego interface for Banshee, which I far prefer:sudo apt-get install banshee-meego
- Mar 28, 11
As I get more familiar with baking sourdough loaves, I am getting a better feel for the dough. I baked this loaf a few minutes ago, but I mixed it about 26 hours ago.
The dough has formed a great shape, and is quite firm. In lieu of a couche or banneton I rested it overnight in the fridge, wrapped in a teatowel in this quickly constructed mold.
You can see from the cuts that the dough is quite airy
After thrity-odd minutes at 245c, the finished product...
- Mar 21, 11I have been feeding my sourdough starter, which I am thinking of calling Marlinspike after Thomas Cromwell's cat in Wolf Hall, for some months now, and it is behaving beautifully: bubbly, pleasant bready smell, and best of all, it is making beautiful bread. The baking process is somewhat more involved than in baker's yeast bread baking, so it really is a Sunday-at-home sort of operation, but the results are so much better than either baker's yeast bread or bought bread that it is a real pleasure. The crumb has lovely air pockets, the crust is blistered and crisp. This loaf came out of the oven about an hour prior to these photographs, and had all but cooled. The perfect time to eat bread, in this case with Crottin de Chavignol.
- Mar 21, 11
The Windup Girl is founded upon a very interesting premise, a dystopian vision of the future in which gene/cell manipulation has developed to a state near computer hacking, and viruses have version numbers like applications, and in which this manipulation has lead to such a dearth of food that wealth is calculable in calories.
In many ways this novel mirrors William Gibson's breakout sci-fi vision Neuromancer by setting the novel in a foreseeable future no too distant from our own time, and tailoring a bit of action around it. However, although I enjoyed this novel, I feel that in several ways the promise of the book's premise was not entirely lived up to.
Speculative genre fiction often errs in so limiting the internal logic of the created world that suspended disbelief is impossible. Worlds created new entire typically suffer from a radically reduced species ecosystem, for instance, that well serves the necessity of narrative and plot, but is hardly realistic. In The Windup Girl, Bacigalupi has developed a world that, though based on our own, in fact predominantly Thailand some time in the future, at times suffers from this fault. His vision is detailed and at times scarily realistic, but I felt sometimes settled for convenient simplicity. Furthermore, the potential for playing out the premise was somewhat lost in a simplistic political power-struggle plot with some interesting twists and some intriguing characters but ultimately little redemption and, I felt at least, little link to the original premise.
Enjoyable, but could have been better given it's early promise.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
- Mar 20, 11
The success of Wolf Hall is, to my mind built of several key features: 1, the character of Cromwell is wonderfully conceived, he is a great character, complex but admirable, and the reader follows his rise and rise with pleasure and growing respect; 2, stylistically, the novel mingles action (by which I mean, physical activity not "fighting") and dialogue and verbalised thought in a way I have never quite experienced before, which lends the book a solidity of purpose but also a dreamlike quality at times, that is very difficult to explain but thoroughly works; 3, the story, well known, is one of the more interesting in western history.
I found myself longing for Mantel to revisit the era in a future novel, and though I could not put it down I found myself reading slower as I neared the end, so as not to leave her wonderfully constructed world. This book came very highly recommended by my wife, and it more than lived up to it. A wonderful, enjoyable and fascinating read throughout. A more than deserving winner of the Booker in 2009 and one of the best books I have read in the past few years.My rating: 5 of 5 stars
View all my reviews - Feb 19, 11
Using the starter shown in the previous post, today I baked my first full-size sourdough loaf. I used the same recipe as yesterday's baguette. It tuned out very well, with a nice crust and good, airy crumb. Delicious with cheese and pinot.[[posterous-content:pid___0]]Here are some staged pictures, the dough just after folding, the dough proofing, and the loaf just out of the oven
[[posterous-content:pid___1]]
- Feb 18, 11
I cooked a baguette for my first sourdough loaf using the starter I prepared in the last 2 weeks, following this recipe.
There really is no comparison with bread cooked using bakers yeast. The taste of the sourdoung is to my mind far better, the testure of the bread is more interesting, and no matter how I tried I could never get a good airy crumb to the loaf. The sourdough was in many ways, for a first go, perfect, and full of airy holes. I refrigerated the dough overnight before baking it to improve the crust, resulting in a lovely blistered effect and nice crunch.
The process is far more demanding though. Not only do you have to feed the starter twice daily (or weekly/fortnightly if refrigerated, but then you have to get is out of the fridge a couple of days before cooking it, and return it to the twice daily feeding regime), the proofing period, from initial mix to bake is about 5 hours (most of that 5 hours is actually just waiting for it to rise). Nevertheless, the results are promising. - Feb 11, 11
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- Apr 19, 12
Last day in the US. We got into the frontier spirit of Fort Worth with a visit to the Cowgirl Museum and a lunch of BBQ ribs at the Stockyard Hotel. A wander through the stockyards area included a purchase of a Texas cowboy hat for S. We then rested at the Star Cafe for bottomless cups of coffee, apple pie and a root beer floater for E. Grand finale was the viewing of the daily herding of longhorn cattle through the streets of Fort Worth.
- Apr 19, 12
Our second to last day. We stayed overnight at the Hotel San José, another great hotel.
Breakfast was next door at Joe’s, before heading to Barton Springs for a dip and a play.
After that, we checked out of the hotel and headed for lunch on the shores of Lake Austin at a Tex Mex joint called Hula Hut, before hitting the open road bound for Dallas.
Last night, we ate at a seafood restaurant Perla’s, just up the road from the hotel, then had an ice cream at Amy’s, before a short walk.
- Apr 17, 12
- Apr 17, 12
Our hotel in San Antonio, the Hotel Havana, was a beautiful old mansion set on the river walk, a beautiful winding walk along the river in the heart of San Antonio.
After breakfast in the hotel restaurant, Ocho, looking out over the river..
…we went walking along the river walk and to the market.
Lunch was tex-mex on the river, then more exploring the river walk and downtown San Antonio.
Classic Dillonism: K to S, who is walking along the river walk going ‘quack, quack’, ‘for a second there I thought that duck was you…’
- Apr 16, 12
Our last morning in NYC was several days ago, and since then we have flown to Houston (by way of Atlanta airport) to visit with Emily for a night and a half day, and driven from Houston on the I10 to San Antonio, about 3 hours drive, to the Hotel Havana.
Saturday morning we went for one last coffee/hot chocolate at Toby’s in Williamsburg, then brunch around the corner. Then to JFK for our flight, with a one hour stopover in Atlanta, to Houston, where Emily was waiting to drive us to her beautiful apartment.
A lovely evening and following morning spent catching up before some quick sale shopping and delicious lunch at a Latin American buffet-style restaurant, Seco’s.
The food was wonderful, with much unfamiliar fare, and E loved it, helping herself to several different serves, and three separate desserts!
Kitted out with a cooler full of drinks and snacks aplenty (E’s eyes bulged) courtesy of Emily, we set off on the first leg of our short Texas road trip. S behind the wheel, K navigating.
The three-hour drive to San Antonio was surprisingly easy (given driving on the other side of the road etc), and we had no trouble finding our beautiful hotel, the Hotel Havana.
- Apr 13, 12
Our last full day in New York. What a wonderful city. Such a livable city. It’s difficult to imagine it any other way, but we have been reminded several times that 10, 20 years ago, NYC was a dangerous place. Walking today through Central Part with E, it’s hard to imagine.
On the subway, the number of men who have stood up to offer E a seat has been astounding. It’s difficult not to reflect on our own city, Melbourne, and wonder if that sort of public thoughtfulness is as prevalent.
There are so many people, and they are all out all the time: the children’s playgrounds and public parks, great and small, are all so well used and so inviting. We have stumbled upon wonderful eateries by chance, and they have been universally excellent. This evening’s dinner is a case in point. After a late start, and lunch in midtown, K went to MoMa for a second look around, while S and E went for a play in Central Park. Then down to SoHo for a wander (while S scooted off to buy ties and shirts from Century 21). Then, we went to Snack, the Greek cafe/restaurant in Thompson street, for dinner. We had noticed it a few days ago, as we were walking past after playing for a bit in the Thompson street playground. We were taken by the Michelin Recommends sign on the window, which had served us so well the other day with Yuba. If it was dinner time we would have stopped in then and there, but as we were reading the sign in the window, a woman walking past said ‘it’s great, really great food,’ then walked on. She was right. The food was excellent, classic Greek in a small, intimate cafe setting.
Our stay in Queens/Brooklyn has been excellent, and we love the L train. The weather has been universally perfect all fortnight. Very sad to be leaving NYC, but looking forward to our brief road trip in Texas too.
- Apr 13, 12
Today, our second last full day in NYC, we decided to have a quiet day, exploring Williamsburg, then resting in the afternoon, all in preparation for a late night out on the town. We promised E she could stay out late one night. So, first a lovely dinner at the beautiful Balthazar in SoHo, classic French bistro fare…
…with an American slant…
After dinner, which was lovely, a train to midtown, to walk the city streets at night (or evening). We then went to the top of the Rockefeller for views across NYC at night.
One tired girl piggy-backed home by 10.30pm.
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