https://dalts.com/ Recent content on Kind Acts of Randomness Hugo -- gohugo.io Wed, 20 Mar 2019 04:22:09 +1000 https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-18-things-you-see-in-sf/ Wed, 20 Mar 2019 04:22:09 +1000 https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-18-things-you-see-in-sf/ Crazy water leak - truck smashed into a hydrant https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-15-denver-airport/ Fri, 15 Mar 2019 11:15:12 -0600 https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-15-denver-airport/ Love this! https://dalts.com/post/2020-03-15-startup-community-leaders-day4/ Fri, 15 Mar 2019 10:13:54 -0600 https://dalts.com/post/2020-03-15-startup-community-leaders-day4/ Startup Community Leaders Mission - Day 4 To clarify - Heather was actually talking specifically on Mental Health. Investors in Colorado seem to be paying a lot more attention on this now and we saw this theme at a number of places we visited. The Founder is the vehicle to get you there, look after it like you would your car! https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-15-startup-community-leaders-day3/ Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:43:54 -0600 https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-15-startup-community-leaders-day3/ Startup Community Leaders Mission - Recap of Day 3 https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-14-startup-community-leaders-snowed-in/ Wed, 13 Mar 2019 22:40:04 -0600 https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-14-startup-community-leaders-snowed-in/ Community Leaders Mission - Snowed in by the “Bomb Cyclone” in Denver! https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-13-community-leaders-mission-day2/ Wed, 13 Mar 2019 17:21:46 +1000 https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-13-community-leaders-mission-day2/ Community Leaders Mission day 2 -TechStars, Galvanise, Canopy, SU Boulder, Unreasonable Group https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-12-community-leaders-mission-day1/ Tue, 12 Mar 2019 17:21:46 +1000 https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-12-community-leaders-mission-day1/ Startup Community Leaders Mission day 1 - Boulder, Solderworks, Boomtown https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-04-community-leaders-mission-intro/ Mon, 04 Mar 2019 17:21:46 +1000 https://dalts.com/post/2019-03-04-community-leaders-mission-intro/ Introducing the Startup Catalyst Community Leaders Mission https://dalts.com/post/2019-02-13-adventures-in-deeplens/ Wed, 13 Feb 2019 17:14:32 +1000 https://dalts.com/post/2019-02-13-adventures-in-deeplens/ We’ve been playing around with DeepLens again lately. They’ve been sitting on the bench for some time so the software was pretty badly out of date and as this still isn’t really a mainstream device yet, the old software didn’t work and the auto-upgrade from the AWS console didn’t work. I’d highly recommend just SSHing (I do hope you kept that SSH password when you set it up!) into the deeplens and manually upgrading. https://dalts.com/post/2019-02-11-jocko-willink-leadership/ Mon, 11 Feb 2019 05:21:07 +1000 https://dalts.com/post/2019-02-11-jocko-willink-leadership/ “A leader must lead, but also be ready to follow. They must be aggressive, but not overbearing. A leader must be calm, but not robotic. They must be confident, but never cocky. A leader must be brave, but not foolhardy. They must have a competitive spirit, but be a gracious loser.” - Jocko Willink https://dalts.com/post/2019-02-10-welcome-to-hugo/ Sun, 10 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2019-02-10-welcome-to-hugo/ After a very long absence (yes - it’s over 7 years!), I’ve decided to revive this blog. This was partially to do with the fact that my old blog was written in Octopress, and while it still worked fine, it’s now way out of maintenance - but also because I wouldn’t mind collecting my thoughts somewhere and not everything is all about the day job eh! Anyway - this was possibly overkill but I didn’t want to lose the old posts, so migrated everything over to Hugo, a great static site generator written in Go and now host on the awesome gitlab pages. https://dalts.com/post/2012-10-15-arduino-controlled-raspberry-pi-pandora-radio/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-10-15-arduino-controlled-raspberry-pi-pandora-radio/ We have a nicely running little Raspberry PI that we use as a Pandora radio at the Gold Coast TechSpace. It’s a great setup and people have enjoyed upping and downing tracks on the playlists to get a good mix of tunes that we all like. We run the pianobar application which gives a really simple command line interface that works beautifully with us. I wanted to make it even better by having some big buttons that people could hit to like/dislike a track or just move on to the next (don’t want to ban it - just tired of it). https://dalts.com/post/2012-10-14-lego-mindstorms-on-ubuntu-12-dot-04/ Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-10-14-lego-mindstorms-on-ubuntu-12-dot-04/ We’ve been doing some Lego workshops at Gold Coast TechSpace lately and with the older kids we’ve been spending a lot of time on Lego Mindstorms. I quite like the Lego NXT software that comes with the kits for a simple introduction, it’s easy to teach and there are plenty of resources available to help. However 2 things really irk me a bit about it: It’s a bit limiting at times, I start the workshop talking about programming and what I and others do for a job - but when students ask me about how to do more advanced things I’m sometimes stumped on how to do it in the GUI - even sometimes quite simple things that would be ridiculously easy in REAL code. https://dalts.com/post/2012-09-17-how-to-build-a-startup-steve-blank/ Mon, 17 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-09-17-how-to-build-a-startup-steve-blank/ Our first lecture in the Steve Blank Lean Startups Course is this Wednesday at 8am. Please be on time and be prepared for an awesome course. Please RSVP I’ve watched ahead on the first lecture to get a feel for it - and it looks excellent. Would be great if all those attending watch Lecture 0 in their own time. You can get to it via the Classroom page, the video links are on the right-hand-side. https://dalts.com/post/2012-09-14-lego-workshops-are-back/ Fri, 14 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-09-14-lego-workshops-are-back/ I am running the Lego workshops again at Gold Coast TechSpace during the school holidays. They were a huge success last time and I am following through on my promise to Parents to continue with them. There’s a more details post on the Gold Coast TechSpace Blog So, if you’re a Gold Coast parent with a Lego obsessed child like mine - send them my way! I’ve now introduced an additional “Machines” class for younger kids that doesn’t involve the programming or mindstorms, but does teach them a thing or 2 about Physics and Mechanics in a fun way. https://dalts.com/post/2012-07-17-building-pianobar-on-ubuntu/ Tue, 17 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-07-17-building-pianobar-on-ubuntu/ I’ve been using Linux since slackware 0.9 and I’m quite used to compiling software and kernels from source, but in recent years it’s very rare that I have to do this anymore. I run Lubuntu on my desktop as I just like things things to be clean, simple and just work - I often sacrifice the latest and greatest for stability. One of the tools I just can’t do without is pianobar which is a command line tool for listening to music on Pandora, which incidentally is now available in Australia without the use of proxies! https://dalts.com/post/2012-07-04-gctechspace-storage-funding/ Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-07-04-gctechspace-storage-funding/ I am very happy to announce that Gold Coast TechSpace managed to raise $1709 for our shelving and storage project. Our target was $1500 and we will use the extra to go towards storage boxes & lockers. We purchased the first of the racking on Monday and have already installed a couple to get some stored items out of the way. Additional money will be used towards storage boxes and lockers and once everything is in place I will make sure I post plenty of pictures for you. https://dalts.com/post/2012-06-12-gold-coast-techspace-storage/ Tue, 12 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-06-12-gold-coast-techspace-storage/ One of my big projects over the last year outside of my day job has been helping to setup the Gold Coast TechSpace. It’s been a really rocky ride; things like this are really difficult to setup in a place like the Gold Coast and it’s been a huge learning experience for myself and the founding committee. However, it does feel like we are over the hump now with people starting to get what we are trying to achieve and a handful of loyal members paying a membership fee of $40/month ($20 for students) to help cover our rent. https://dalts.com/post/2012-06-01-barcamp-gold-coast-this-sunday/ Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-06-01-barcamp-gold-coast-this-sunday/ Just a quick reminder that Barcamp Gold Coast is on again this weekend. A few people couldn’t make Saturday so we are trialling running it on a Sunday this time. The day will take place at the Gold Coast TechSpace again which is at 3b/51 Johnston St, Southport just behind the Johnston St Cafe (map here) To RSVP please go here Our sponsors are again: Dundas Lawyers (Coffee) Ninefold (Lunch) Freetronics (Prizes and giveaways). https://dalts.com/post/2012-06-01-noteboard-olpc-project-at-griffith-uni/ Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-06-01-noteboard-olpc-project-at-griffith-uni/ Last night I had the pleasure of attending the presentation of 4 Griffith University Gold Coast Students Yukito Tsunoda, Harold Haigh, Ben Cowley & Maryam Nemati. They have been working on an OLPC Activity “NoteBoard” as part of their Industry project. The students developed the activity based on specs supplied by Sridhar at OLPC Australia. This approach differs from some of the other OLPC Activities in that it was based on a real customer need rather than the meandering evolution that we sometimes see with some of these projects. https://dalts.com/post/2012-05-25-happy-geek-pride-day/ Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-05-25-happy-geek-pride-day/ Happy Geek Pride Day everyone! Today is a perfect day to: Tell people all about Gold Coast Tech Space.... spread the word, point them at http://gctechspace.org or better still get them to join our meetup group http://meetup.com/gctechspace Join Gold Coast TechSpace - all the info you need is at http://gctechspace.org/membership/ - membership is just $40/month or $20/month for Students/Concessions Support our crowdsourced shelving project at http://ipledg.com/projects/gc-techspace-storage1/347, we are now half way through our funding application and every little bit helps. https://dalts.com/post/2012-01-11-podcasting-at-conferences/ Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2012-01-11-podcasting-at-conferences/ For podcast hosts out there that attend conferences, especially those that only do Face-to-Face interviews like us, I'd so recommend making the most of these moments. 
 You get to speak to people you wouldn't normally come in contact with, plus you get to ride on the coat-tails of the buzz that the conference creates. 
 Craig and I have experienced this recently attending Open Source Developers Conference and YOW, recording for our podcast Coding By Numbers. https://dalts.com/post/2011-09-02-gr8confau-call-for-presentations-now-open/ Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-09-02-gr8confau-call-for-presentations-now-open/ We are pleased to announce that the CFP for gr8confau is now open. Gr8 Conference Australia will be held on 15th November 2011 at ANU (Australian National University), Canberra 
 As this is our first time running the conference in Australia, it will be run as a mini-conf of Open Source Developers Conference (OSDC) 2011 which runs for the entire week from 14th -18th November. To attend the gr8 conference you will need to have a ticket for OSDC (which is very reasonably priced) or pay a small fee (expected to be around $50) for a miniconf ticket. https://dalts.com/post/2011-07-21-the-lean-lego-game-at-exite/ Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-07-21-the-lean-lego-game-at-exite/ Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking at the E.X.I.T.E camp for girls at Bond University. Exite is a programme organised by IBM and has the aim of encouraging girls to pursue careers in engineering and technology. Our local event is organised by Carol Woodhouse at the Gold Coast IBM Lab. I was going to do a programming exercise, but in the end I chose something more hands on a did " https://dalts.com/post/2011-04-29-single-parenting-it-ain-t-easy/ Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-04-29-single-parenting-it-ain-t-easy/ This week I completely take my hat off to single parents, especially those with more than one kid. It certainly isn't easy juggling parenting, work and general day to day stuff when there is only one of you. 
 My wife's been away for the last 3 days and I've discovered this first hand - it's certainly doable, but you end up with no...zero....zilch time to yourself and this can't be good for your state of mind. https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-21-first-codingbynumbers-meetup-on-golang/ Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-21-first-codingbynumbers-meetup-on-golang/ @aspinall and I have finally got around to arranging our own meetup. It’s based around a lot of the things we talk about on the podcast, but we are trying to focus on all the topics that none of the other meetups cover (we’ll leave the Java stuff to QLDJVM). We are holding the meetings at Brisbane Square (Suncorp, L28) on the 2nd Monday of each month and the first meetup (March 14th) is on #golang. https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-15-coding-by-numbers-php-interview-from-lca2011/ Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-15-coding-by-numbers-php-interview-from-lca2011/ As promised here is the PHP interview that I did with Adam and Jethro at #lca2011. Hope you enjoy it and can keep up with with us! https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-08-coding-by-numbers-lca-conf-au-wrap-up-episode/ Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-08-coding-by-numbers-lca-conf-au-wrap-up-episode/ I didn’t get a chance to do any blogging at linux.conf.au this year - not even a wrap-up, but perhaps this is better. We did a codingbynumbers wrap-up episode where we summarized our time at the conf. In case you were wondering where the PHP episode is that I recorded at LCA - that’s the next episode, thought we’d get this one out quickly first. https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-07-got-root-rooting-your-nexus-one/ Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-07-got-root-rooting-your-nexus-one/ During linux.conf.au I tried to do a talk involving an Android phone and a live demo onto a projector. I didn't have time to root the phone again to install vncserver - so I took the simple option and installed http://code.google.com/p/androidscreencast. It worked when I first tried it but then failed miserably during the talk. 
 Anyway - I decided to root my phone again so that I could use a proper vncserver - but the internet is really not very helpful when it comes to rooting Android phone. https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-04-fossil/ Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-04-fossil/ I'm playing around with a new DVCS (Distributed Version Control System) called "Fossil" at the moment. So far I really like it. 
 If you are familiar with git and mercurial then you'll find the source control part pretty similar to what you are used to. What makes fossil rather special is that it is also a bug tracker and wiki too, and these are also distributed. Clever eh! https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-04-google-go-interview-with-andrew-gerrand/ Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-02-04-google-go-interview-with-andrew-gerrand/ For those that attended the Google Go Tutorial at linux.conf.au here is the link to the podcast interview that I did the week before the conference. Hope you find it useful. For those interest in Go that live in Brisbane we are hoping to do a session on GO very soon - watch this space. http://www.codingbynumbers.com/2011/01/coding-by-numbers-episode-20-interview.html https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-30-winston-churchill/ Sun, 30 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-30-winston-churchill/ We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give. https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-29-lightning-talk-from-open-programming-miniconf-at-linux-conference-australia/ Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-29-lightning-talk-from-open-programming-miniconf-at-linux-conference-australia/ I did a short lightning talk about podcasting and codingbynumbers.com. I was talk number 7. I must apologize on behalf of my laptop for completely screwing up Pete Leong's talk at number 6!
 You can find the full list of talks here https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-29-my-java-talk-in-the-open-programming-miniconf/ Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-29-my-java-talk-in-the-open-programming-miniconf/ My first attempt at a talk at a conference, hopefully I will get better with more practice. You can find the slide for the talk here on slideshare. Java: Rumours of my demise are greatly exaggerated from Steve Dalton https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-25-read-on-a-calendar/ Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-25-read-on-a-calendar/ Happiness is a continuous creative activity https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-20-albert-camus/ Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-20-albert-camus/ Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend. https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-20-things-change-but-stay-the-same/ Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2011-01-20-things-change-but-stay-the-same/ Things change... but stay the same. 
 Had a great week in Sydney this week. It's been a couple of years since I've been back (that was for a conference and I didn't see much) and 6 years since I lived and worked here properly. 
 Living in Queensland I'm so used to seeing change all around me.... whether it's roads, new buildings or just shops and cafes changing hands a lot. https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-31-mercurial-and-subversion-good-playmates/ Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-31-mercurial-and-subversion-good-playmates/ We've had a couple of Subversion outages recently. As usual, development ground to a halt. People couldn't update their projects, couldn't get the history - we shelved some changes in Intellij for checkin later in the day... in short a pain we could live without. Such is life with centralised version control. 
 Since the advent of bitbucket I've been using Mercurial a lot for my own projects, so thought why not try it at work as a fallback for when subversion is down. https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-31-riddle-by-j-r-r-tolkien-in-the-hobbit/ Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-31-riddle-by-j-r-r-tolkien-in-the-hobbit/ This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel, Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down. https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-30-another-big-break-my-plan-for-jan/ Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-30-another-big-break-my-plan-for-jan/ Tomorrow is the last day of the year, and also my last day of work for a month. It's a long story as to why I am off for another month, but I'm planning on using the time wisely - well that is the plan anyway! 
 So here's my plan - I'm writing it down here so that I might actually stand a chance of sticking to it: https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-09-take-a-big-break/ Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-09-take-a-big-break/ First day back after the holiday today and my first task of the day... a toastmasters talk. What was I thinking of doing my final talk (Exercise 10 - The Inspirational Talk) the day after a holiday? 
 I'd planned to prepare the talk while I was away but just didn't get any time.... so as usual I winged it. 
 Put about 35 slides together of my holiday for a 10 minute talk. https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-08-christchurch-gold-coast/ Wed, 08 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-08-christchurch-gold-coast/ Christchurch - Gold Coast 
 Last day. Pretty sad, but we are ready for home. Returned the van with hardly a scratch. They were impressed I hadn't had a bump (apparently this is quite rare!). 
 Then off to the airport for our flight. The kids were so good. Jaron is now a cool calm and collected air traveller and took it all in his stride, even snoozing during takeoff. https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-08-little-river-akaroa-christchurch/ Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-08-little-river-akaroa-christchurch/ Little River - Akaroa - Christchurch 
 Our final full day in New Zealand. It's a little sad, but we have a beautiful place to spend our last day. Akaroa is quite stunning, great scenery and the township itself is rather interesting. Had a big French influence as the French set up a colony here in very early settler days (despite the darn British beating them to the peninsula and plonking their flag in first). https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-08-lake-pukake-lake-tekapo-little-river/ Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-08-lake-pukake-lake-tekapo-little-river/ Lake Pukake - Lake Tekapo - Little River 
 Spent some time this morning at the Salmon Farm that we were staying at - fed the King Salmon which the kids enjoyed. I'm usually quite wary of fish farms, but this looks to be a really good one. Highest altitude Salmon farm on earth, the fish get a good workout due to the fast flowing water and the water quality is as good as it get's. https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-05-curio-bay-invercargill-catlins-dunedin/ Sun, 05 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-05-curio-bay-invercargill-catlins-dunedin/ Curio Bay - Invercargill - Catlins - Dunedin 
 Set off from Curio Bay around the South Coast, destination - "The Catlins", an area that had been recommended to us by a few people. 
 First we had to go through Invercargill though, which I'd been told by someone was "The Arse-End of NZ" - so didn't have high expectations. It turned out quite a nice city - the city planner had put in very wide streets when it was gazetted which makes for a nice place. https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-05-dunedin-muraki-boulders-oamaru/ Sun, 05 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-05-dunedin-muraki-boulders-oamaru/ Dunedin - Muraki Boulders - Oamaru 
 Dunedin is lovely - the centre has some beautiful stone colonial buildings and it doesn't seem to "sprawl" to badly as I've seen in a lot of cities around the world. 
 Parked up at the Railway Station (which is one of the best buildings in city in itself) as a base to do a bit of city exploring (which we haven't done much of since Christchurch). https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-05-oamaru-lake-pukake/ Sun, 05 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-05-oamaru-lake-pukake/ Oamaru - Lake Pukake 
 I really like Oamaru... it's got a really nice feel about it. I think it used to be a big port - but a lot of the industry died away. It could easily have gone the way of Westport but it seems to have created a nice little arts scene for itself and has retained and maintained a lot of it's old buildings. 
 We headed for the Whitestone Cheese Factory and bought a load of stuff (I am munching on crackers with their Waitaki Camembert as I write this - yum). https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-04-manapoura-curio-bay/ Sat, 04 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-04-manapoura-curio-bay/ Manapoura - Curio Bay 
 Heading for the South Coast now and the road getting very quiet, lots of little stops today, one that was a nice surprise was Monkey Island (not related to computer game and sadly no monkeys there) kids loved this little island and we ended up having a nice lunch there. 
 Then onwards around the south coast - lots of really impressive windswept trees, we wanted to stop to take pictures but the kids were sleeping nicely so - ONWARD. https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-02-manapoura-curio-bay/ Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-02-manapoura-curio-bay/ Manapoura - Curio Bay Heading for the South Coast now and the road getting very quiet, lots of little stops today, one that was a nice surprise was Monkey Island (not related to computer game and sadly no monkeys there) kids loved this little island and we ended up having a nice lunch there. Then onwards around the south coast - lots of really impressive windswept trees, we wanted to stop to take pictures but the kids were sleeping nicely so - ONWARD. https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-02-queenstown-te-anau-milford-sound/ Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-12-02-queenstown-te-anau-milford-sound/ Queenstown - Te Anau - Milford Sound 
 A big drive today (and start of a bit of an Internet blackout) - we decided to drive straight through to Milford Sound so we can get an early boat in the morning and beat the crowds (and not get stuck behind 10 coaches) 
 Queenstown - Te Anau was a beautiful drive - Carla picked the timing of our trip to perfection and all the wild flowers are out in full force. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-29-queenstown/ Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-29-queenstown/ Queenstown. A day of action (and our highest budget day!). It's amazing what you can fit into a day when you put you're mind to it and hat's off to Carla for organising lots of really cool things for us. Quick summary: 
 Carla and Jaron on the Shotover Jet Boat. They loved it - even Carla the scare-de-cat!
 Boat trip on the TSS Earnshaw to Walter Peak Highland farm. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-28-wanaka-arrowtown-queenstown/ Sun, 28 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-28-wanaka-arrowtown-queenstown/ Wanaka - Arrowtown - Queenstown 
 On our way out of Wanaka today we checked out Puzzling World. It's a great place to visit if you have kids or geeks like me in the family. Lots to see and the guy that started this place (Stuart Landsborough) has really gone to a lot of effort to get this place right.... very impressed. Had a go in the maze afterwards but only got 1 tower as Jaron was getting a little overexcited and just ended up running around aimlessly. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-26-fox-glacier-wanaka/ Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-26-fox-glacier-wanaka/ Fox Glacier - Wanaka 
 Started the day with a Hike to Fox Glacier. The smaller of the 2 glaciers here in NZ - but you can get closer easier. It's about an hour walk - and it got really hot (didn't help that I carried Keira most of the way). 
 The view at the end is pretty good for a short walk. Met some Brits on the trail (from Burnley) and they were disappointed - apparently in Europe they are much bigger and you can get right up to them. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-26-franz-josef-glacier-fox-glacier/ Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-26-franz-josef-glacier-fox-glacier/ Franz Josef Glacier - Fox Glacier 
 One thing I've never done in my life is fly in a helicoptor. I've been secretly wanting to fly over the Franz Josef for a while (sorry to all my green friends - I know this is probably not very environmentally friendly, but I am on a driving holiday here - so I'll use up all my credits here and be good next year). https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-26-greymouth-hokatika-ross-franz-josef-glacier/ Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-26-greymouth-hokatika-ross-franz-josef-glacier/ Greymouth - Hokatika - Ross - Franz Josef Glacier 
 A lot of driving today and a certain child was pretty naughty today so lots of very little stops and driving driving driving. 
 Hokatika is a nice little town, we stopped for diesel and drove right on. 
 Next was Ross, we stopped there because our friend Trevor Ross from NZ recommended it and the local pub. In no mood to do this though so we had a quick look around the gold mining museum before another meltdown (the children kind, not forging gold or anything). https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-25-cape-foulwind-pancake-rocks-greymouth/ Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-25-cape-foulwind-pancake-rocks-greymouth/ Cape Foulwind - Pancake Rocks - Greymouth 
 Backtracked a bit to Taranga Bay where the Seal Colony was. Seal pups just being born around this time of the year - so was pretty cool to see a few of the little ones are about. The viewing platform are right out of the way of them, so people can't get too close and disrupt them like we have seen elsewhere. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-25-neudorf-lake-rotaroa-buller-gorge-westport-cape-foulwind/ Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-25-neudorf-lake-rotaroa-buller-gorge-westport-cape-foulwind/ Neudorf-Lake Rotaroa-Buller Gorge-Westport-Cape Foulwind. 
 Crazy day. It started so calmly though - with a nice walk around the farm before we set off. We were heading for Westport area, but did a lot on the way (FYI - we often stop at a few other places, but I am just mentioning the main ones for brevity) 
 Lake Rotoroa was great - nice and quite and stunning views over the lake with snow capped mountains in the background. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-24-nelson-kaiteriteri-neudorf/ Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-24-nelson-kaiteriteri-neudorf/ Nelson-Kaiteriteri-Neudorf. 
 Ok, I'm a little behind, so I'm play quick catchup. Quick change of plan (our travel plans have been very Agile, lots of emerging requirements) and we've gone up towards Able Tasman NP on recommendation of a friend. Didn't quite make it all the way into the park, but did get to an awesome beach town called Kaiteriteri. Beautiful little spot. I kept thinking that I was up at Palm Beach, Sydney or somewhere like that - the sand was similar, and looks like there's some pretty nice mansions on the hillside. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-21-blenheim-picton-nelson/ Sun, 21 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-21-blenheim-picton-nelson/ Blenheim-Picton-Nelson. 
 Big day today - we started in Blenheim retracing some of Carla's childhood steps. Found her old school (but old house didn't seem to be there anymore) and the place where here Dad worked (they've expanded a bit!), then off to Picton. 
 Not a massive amount for us to do in Picton drove through the town, saw a big protest march - people not happy about the Marina being expanded, sounds like some developers are going to stuff up a waterway again. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-20-kaikoura-blenheim/ Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-20-kaikoura-blenheim/ Kaikoura - Blenheim. 
 Carla always comments that we don't take enough pictures of her, so today's photo is of my lovely wife with the Seaward Kaikoura Range in the background. 
 Had a little more of a walk around the other side of the Kaikoura peninsula - just a short one, we are pretty limited with our walks at the moment with a 2 year old. Picked up a hitch-hiker on the way back into town - a Frenchman we had said hi to earlier. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-19-christchurch-kaikoura/ Fri, 19 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-19-christchurch-kaikoura/ Christchurch - Kaikoura. 
 Finally we are on the road! The camper is HUGE and really is like driving a bus. I started driving from Christchurch, but once Carla got behind the wheel she was having so much fun I was passenger for the rest of the trip. I think we are going to be fighting for the drivers seat. 
 Roads are pretty good in NZ, they aren't massive highways but everyone is pretty safe. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-18-christchurch-day-3/ Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-18-christchurch-day-3/ Christchurch Day 3 (Still). 
 Ok - all holidays seem to be a bumpy road for us - and here is our first roadblock. The previous people that had our campervan had a big smash (and didn't tell the hire place when it happened... naughty naughty). 
 This means we have a delay getting a new van and have to stay in Christchurch another day. However, every cloud has a silver lining - it gave us a chance to have a punt ride on the Avon, which was actually a very nice experience and not as cheesy as I expected. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-16-christchurch-day-1/ Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-16-christchurch-day-1/ Christchurch Day 1. 
 Christchurch is lovely.... I really really like it actually. Kind of like Oxford, Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon (it even has a river Avon - with Punting!!!) but on the opposite side of the globe. Very friendly people - this tram driver Vern (and his conductor George) were particularly nice to Jaron and I and let us ride up front in the 100 year old tram - Jaron was a little in awe, but loved it. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-16-christchurch-day-2/ Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-16-christchurch-day-2/ Christchurch Day 2 
 Another fun packed day in Christchurch with the Dalton Family - weather was so much hotter than yesterday, hard to believe such a rapid change. 
 For those that care, our action packed day was roughly: 
 Ron Muick exhibition that we missed in Brisbane. We loved it, but Keira rather freaked out by the massive baby so had to take her out for a bit. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-15-flying-with-kids/ Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-15-flying-with-kids/ Flying with Kids 
 It's been a while, but we are flying with kids again... this time 2! The last time we flew was when my eldest was about 9 months to the UK and it was a complete nightmare to say this least. 
 This time we were determined to have a better time of it. We arrived early - we had the little trunki ride-on suitcases which the kids absolutely loved and we seemed to attract the attention of the whole airport. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-12-the-fifth-day/ Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-12-the-fifth-day/ Ever since about 2005 I've only worked 4 days (or less) a week. It's only in the last year I’ve had to go back to 5. 
 When I worked 4 - I LOVED my 5th day off... it's great being able to get all those odd jobs done. You know - those things that either spoil your weekend (waiting in queues) or you end up trying to squeeze them in during your lunch hour or the working day as they are only weekday things. https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-11-has-the-internet-made-our-lives-better/ Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-11-has-the-internet-made-our-lives-better/ Has the internet made our lives better? I pondered this question yesterday as I sat at Glen's Espresso having coffee with a friend. 
 Glen has a little chalk board that he puts something funny on every day. On this particular day he had put up a tally along the lines of "What couldn't you live without? Sex or The Internet". I noticed a few young girls were marking the " https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-10-leave-em-to-it/ Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/post/2010-11-10-leave-em-to-it/ Leave em to it! 
 I was recently inspired to pull out the XOs again - they had been sitting on my shelf doing nothing and I thought I should make use of them. Anyway - I've given one to @aspinall for his daughter and one to my son Jaron (5). 
 I've pretty much just left him to it, and he's steadily working it out. 
 Anyway, tonight I find him in his room playing around with the speech application. https://dalts.com/page/about/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://dalts.com/page/about/ Tech Freedom Advocate, Leader, Hacker, Community Unorganiser, Early Riser, Fake Gardener, Wannabe Pianist & Geek Dad. My history You seriously want to know this? Ok, here it is in 1 line with no spaces in my own crazy structure! Wolverhampton->BirminghamUni->IBM Warwick->BirminghamUni->London->3Com->Contractor->Australia->GoldCoast->Sydney->GoldCoast->CrazyJuggler