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Electronic goodies in the UK tend to be pretty expensive, and since Gerrod was coming from the US, I thought it would be a good time to invest in a new MP3 player. I have had several different audio devices in the past, including a mini-disc player and an IPod, both which i have used for quite some time. I had wanted to new mp3 player for sometime and had the following constraints:

• Must have a replacable battery - As much as I have enjoyed my Ipod in the past, I disliked the fact that I couldn’t take it with me on long haul flights or long journeys without being too far from a powerpoint, or forking out additional money to be able to feed in more power.
• Must have solid state memory - The capacity of microdrives these days is astounding but the moving parts still make it a liability when using it during simple exercise.
• Must have at least 1GB of space - Solid state memory is getting bigger and 1GB is enough to have several albums and be reasonable as a way of transferring files as well.

After a bit of research I decided to go for the Creative Zen Nano Plus (it’s the bottom item in the picture below) which matched all of my requirements and had additional features like:

• FM Radio Tuner
• Recordable line in and from radio
• Protective case and armband carrier
• Simple drag and drop to load/unload music

Some of the things that it does not have but are not that much of a deal to me include:

• No playlist facilities
• No physical hold (there is a hold but you need to access it via a menu)

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This morning I got up relatively early for a Saturday in order to meet some Australian friends, Gerrod and Kristy from their intercontinental haul from New York. This was all part of a grand scheme to surprise their good friends, Ben and Michelle who had not seen them for some time and had no idea they were coming.

Karl had convinced both Ben and Michelle to meet the gang for breakfast at Raoul’s in Notting Hill. I was going to meet them there, and unbeknownst to them I was going to arrive with a couple of additional guests.

I first walked in, and then seconds later Gerrod and Kristy followed and the stunned look on Ben and Michelle’s faces said it all. All in all it was completely worth the early morning and the fun weekend that would follow.

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This post comes out of a discussion I had a while back with some other Thoughtworkers in my home city, Brisbane, and must credit both Vladimir Sneblic and James Webster for bringing this up. Since they are not frequent bloggers, I thought that this little gem was still worthwhile sharing.

Anyone who has ever dealt with software would have heard the term spaghetti code. It’s a great term used to describe software that is difficult to maintain or change because parts of the system are intricately entwined, and a change to one part can adversely affect another. After reflecting on a system that was developed using techniques found more so in agilest development teams such as Test Driven Development (TDD) and dependency injection, they observed that the parts of the system were more loosely coupled and more easily interchangeable, good indicators that it would be a better system to maintain. The code is better described as ravioli code instead of that of its more common pasta brethren.

This analogy has really stuck with me since because of the number of parallels it draws. Take one such example – the reason that ravioli is typically more expensive than spaghetti, even though they are both made from the same fundamental ingredients, is that making good ravioli takes a lot more skill than it does spaghetti. This idea is,of course, not new, and can be taken to extremes (see Wikipedia’s entry) but I know which one is is my favourite.

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Last night my sister and I went to see the Chinese State Circus and the Shaolin Wushu Monks at London’s Southbank. The Chinese Circus is unlike any other circus act you may have seen. Though it has nothing like the drama of Cirque du Soleil, the use of the Monkey King as the narrator for the entire show was effective in presenting all the different acts to the audience made up of the very young to the very old.

Though many of the circus acts when you list them appear standard such as acrobatics, juggling, contortion and tightrope, there is just so much more to the way that the Chinese State Cirucs managed to execute them. There was an elegant lady with long sleeves that was also used to throw daggers to pop balloons with precision, clay pot jugglers that performed some amazing balancing and juggling feats with heavy pots, a traditional dragon dance that was visually spectacular, and a lady that effectively become a human candelabra balancing five sets of lit candles all whilst rolling around on the ground in different ways. There was amazing hoop diving, fantastic tightrope walking/running/skipping/jumping not to mention the stunning feats of the Shaolin Wushu warriors.

It is an entertaining show that I think everyone of all ages could easily enjoy.
The Kua Rating: 8.5 out of 10

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The easiest problems a business or team faces are usually solved by using the right algorithm or technology. Using these same techniques on the harder, and generally less tanglible ones is futile. Remember that there are many other ways to helping someone out without resorting to code.

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After spending Christmas in a more provincial town, we reached our final destination of St Petersburg via an overnight train. The train experience was quite good, with the four berth cabins having enough space to fit everyone’s luggage as well as their owners. The beds were relatively comfortable and the loud local Russian radio that served as a wake up call in the morning was quite a surprise.

St Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great during Russian’s Northern War with Sweden. Unlike Moscow, this city appears quite flat and is subject to frequent flooding due to its location and the number of canals and proximity to the Neva River and the Baltic Sea. Peter the Great had quite a passion for Amsterdam and you can see these influences in the design of the city. St Petersburg was also the capital for some time, until the Second World War where it was moved back to Moscow to protect it from being captured by the enemy.

To me I got the impression that St Petersburg is a bit more like the cultural capital of Russia in comparison to Moscow, filled with both the historical artefacts and the more up to date interests in art and culture. It seems like St Petersburg is to Moscow what Melbourne is to Sydney but it could be because it is filled with over fifty universities, albeit many smaller ones and the number of many more accessible cafes, bars, clubs and restaurants.

Road traffic in the city is horrendous, particularly leading up to the New Year. The local buses seem to be the best way of getting around the most effectively and although there is a metro system, it is not as wide reaching as Moscow’s due to the city’s susceptibility to flooding.

During our stay in St Petersburg we visited the Peter and Paul Fortress, Catherine the Great’s Summer Palace, St Isaac’s Cathedral, Church on Spilled Blood, and The Hermitage. The Hermitage is probably one of the most awe inspiring buildings, once Catherine the Great’s winter palace, and home to a huge collection of classical art and sculpture work from the likes of Da Vinci, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Monet and more. Apparently if you spent one minute looking at every item in their current collection you would have to spend eleven consecutive years to get through. Before departing we even managed to spent some time attending a few cultural events including a somewhat touristy Cossack show and the more famous and more impressive Russian Ballet.

The entire Christmas in Russia experience was great and is something tha I can now vouch for as a worthwhile experience.

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Our next destination after spending a few days in Moscow was Vladimir, a former capital of Russia. Our first day in this region was spent in Suzdal, where we visited a local church to witness the noon churchbells played by a local monk. We also had the opportunity to experience a traditional Russia sauna. The sauna is called a banya and is a winter activity that is embraced whole heartedly during the winter months. Unlike any other sauna, part of the banya experience involves laying down on a bench inside the sauna and being beaten on the back by veniki (birch twigs and leaves that are softend in warm water). Apparently the purpose for the thrashing of the veniki on the back is to use its essential oils to ease the aches and pains and encourages the release of toxins the body stores from eating the nutrient restrictive Russian diet. After spending enough time, you plunge into pools of water outside in the snow and this process is repeated several times. It sounds strange, but is an exhilarating and relaxing experience which served to cure several aching heads and bodies.

Vladimir also proved an ideal place to participate in other winter activities such as ice skating and cross country skiing. I decided to try the latter, as the former is readily available in different places around London. Although there seems to be a certain skill to doing cross country skiing well, it did not seem too difficult to just get started, and was as easy as simply walking with long skis on. Skiing was cheap at only 200 rubles (about £4) for over an hour and included low cut soft boots that reminded me very much of football boots and were both comfortable and easy to move about in. The skis as well, though long, were also quite flexible and manoeuvrable. I can understand cross country skiing’s popularity as there is something magical about being surrounded by pristine white fields, and peacefully trekking through them.

We celebrated Christmas back at our hotel, a strange place where the second floor seemed to be a popular hang out for locals. It contained several pool tables (all with a slight slant), several bowling alleys and a club that played crazy Russian disco dance and some Western pop songs. There was a folk show over dinner and as strange as this was for a Christmas evening, everyone still had a great night.

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In just over ten minutes (including the time to backup all my files), I’ve updated this site to use Wordpress 2.0. It was a smooth and painless upgrade and I look forward to using all the new features and benefiting from all the improvements. Well done Wordpress guys!

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