TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

One of my most personal public videos is a collection of outtakes edited together with my narration, read word for word, from my blog post written back on August 5th, 2007 titled Is Being Me Good Enough?  I made the similarly titled video the next day. At the time the video (which you can view below) generated some discussion in the comments and was a real turning point for me personally in how I thought about myself and how I presented on camera. It took a weight off my shoulders. [Note that especially for this article I've re-edited and re-uploaded the video to Youtube because the last sentence on the original version was cut off by Youtube's uploader. The new version is identical other than I've added a title screen at the beginning and cropped the footage for 16:9 ratio - plus added some length to the end to ensure it doesn't get the last line cut again.] I came to be thinking about this video again because of my latest video diaries - which I will...

Here in Australia the right for Gay and Lesbian people to marry is once again in the spot light with our Prime Minister seemingly supporting their right but not willing to go the extra mile and turn it into law. I'm not going to attempt to argue the issue here because there are plenty of articles that continue to cover the same ground, for and against, why same sex couples should or shouldn't marry. I don't want to write just a repeat of what the people who support the idea are saying. For me, the idea of same sex marriages is a no brainer. It's not a question of should it be made legal it's more a question of why hasn't it been made legal yet? In other words, it's a non-issue. Make it legal and you'll make a lot of couples very happy, life will go on and hopefully the world will grow a little closer to understanding what equal rights for all actually means. I realize I'm some what progressive in my views. Heck I'd support making it leg...

3D printers are now being used to advance the machine uprising cause with one unsuspecting inventor  printing parts for a very convincing robot arm.  This thing wouldn't look out of place in the movie I, Robot as a replacement hand. See the demonstration video below. The arm is called the InMoov. Y ou can read more about it in the inventors blog , as well as download the instructions for how to print and make one yourself... what the?! Doesn't he know that robot floor cleaners are internet connected with their own social network? They're probably monitoring his progress already. Waiting for the day when the InMoov is a fully printable android ready to be mass produced as a robot army, Terminator style! Could happen.

After setting up a GoFundMe page to get my Frog Van back on the road a little over a month ago I'm both surprised but very pleased to say I've reached my target funding goal of $500.00. Many of the most generous donations were from family which I appreciate very much (and the timing of setting up the fund just over a week before my birthday was intentionally done to put the fund out there as a gift option for them.). Just as much appreciated were the donations from people, mostly from the GoAnimate Community , that only really know me through my GoAnimations, blogs and Facebook. All their donations were very generous and welcome too. As I said, I really wasn't expecting to have reached my goal so soon so... here's what is happening with the van now. The next three months is Winter in Australia, which means it's not the best weather to be travelling in, to what is likely to be, mostly outdoor locations. Also, if I was to register the van now. The registra...

Ninja Blocks There's been new developments in machine uprising known as 'The Internet of Things' which is not new in its self but has become easier to fall victim to as we, unwittingly, connect house hold gadgets to the internet so we can be informed of their progress. Imagine being PM'ed by your washing machine when it finishes its cycle. Never heard of 'the Internet of Things'? Well all is explained in this Mashable article, Your House: The Next Great Digital Network . Here's an extract: The Internet of Things has been around for a while. It includes gadgets like connected scales and the Nike+ shoe, as well as identifying technologies as simple as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Over the last few years, however, the hardware involved in putting objects online has become more accessible — and The Internet of Things has made a beeline toward the mainstream. Startups are creating hardware that makes it easy for anyone to connect an obje...

Ever since Marvel starting setting up The Avengers team up film with the character's solo films I knew I'd be going to see it. From the moment I saw the first Avengers trailer, there was no doubt I'd be seeing it in the cinema rather than waiting for DVD. I was mostly going to see Robert Downey Jr. play Ironman again. He's just pure entertainment as Ironman and Tony Stark. Even though Ironman 2 was largely unnecessary, as a film leading up to the Avengers, it was still great to see Robert play Ironman in it. I thought all of the solo films were pretty good. You can read my thoughts on Captain America and Thor's movies  before continuing if you like. I never reviewed Ironman's two movies (though I own them both). I have seen and enjoyed both of the Hulk movies - however only the second one really has some relevance to the Avengers film. As it turns out, the two movies you really should see before Avengers is Captain America and Thor, as both contain im...

In the lead up to seeing The Avengers movie in theaters I wanted to see the only two Avengers solo films I'd yet to see, Thor and Captain America - The First Avenger . As per usual this is not a review of either film and if you want the story synopsis follow the links above. What follows is just my thoughts on both films. Be warned there could be spoilers so don't read if you haven't seen either film. Like Batman I've never really read any of the comics. Most of the Marvel characters I followed through  The Marvel Super Heroes  cartoons from nineteen sixty six and much repeated through the seventies of my childhood. Captain America - The First Avenger. Captain America was my favorite Marvel superhero of the cartoons so I was looking forward to Cap's solo film. However when I found out Cap's origin was through the development of 'super soldier' for the US army during World War II I was a little disappointed. It just reminded me of the Hulk...