Just another WordPress weblog
Lamest Screenshot Ever, originally uploaded by Mitch Malone on flickr.com.
Claire is at the Gold Coast for the entire week for the Australian University Games. I kept saying to myself, “she is coming back in 8 days,” forgetting that 2 days have already passed. So the geek in me downloaded an OS X Widget to keep track of when she is coming back.
I can’t wait!
I honestly almost peed my pants while watching LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE, but when I found out it was a dude, that’s when I really lost it. Amazing how little lives some people have.
Okay, firstly I am well aware that the deviantART administration will, most likely out of spite, take away my membership as a senior member of their website, but this must be said.
It was a long time ago that I first noticed deviantART on the interweb. In fact, as of writing this post, it was 3 Years and 154 Days ago. At the time I was doing freelance design work and wanted a space that I could post some of my photography.
Now let’s make one thing clear, I pretty much suck as bad as anyone on that site, but don’t shoot me. The thing that kept me around wasn’t the warm comments from every user on the site and it wasn’t the fact that was popular, it was because it was just an easy way to do something I wanted to do.
Later I became an administration on dAmn, then latest still I had to leave the administration because I didn’t have enough time to give to what they were doing. No hard feelings, it’s just something that happens.
Last night I wanted to upload some photos to their website that I had taken recently. Now, these weren’t any better than the crap I’ve always uploaded, but I was proud of these photos and wanted them displayed.
Nothing could have prepared me for the ass-ache of uploading these photos.
At a guess I would say that it took me 5 minutes to work out the process. I consider myself very geeky tech-savvy and I can’t remember the last time it took me 5 minutes to do anything on a computer.
Clearly, the term “usability” has completely escaped the guys at deviantART.
Then, the mother of all, the absolute crowning glory, the mother of all… adCast
When I was a regular member and user it was not uncommon for people to abuse the site, spam the hell out of it just to get clicks to their page. But now for just a few dollars, you can get 500 pageviews. That’s right kids, don’t spam, just pay. We here at deviantART know how hard it is to fit in and be cooler than the other deviantART members, now just steal a credit card.
Okay, so I am sure the administrators/owners/site-thiefs don’t really want to see kids stealing, but I have never been more appalled by how commercial deviantART has become until tonight.
I am sure °jark can barely believe what he sees when he goes to a site he poured his absolute heart into for such a long time.
Mitch. Disgusted. Over and out.
MikMorley_GiveMyself, originally uploaded by mikmorley on flickr.com.
One of my best friends, Mik Morley, is currently the Featured Artist on MP3.com.au and next month will be the iTunes featured artist for a period of a week! I’ll be writing again when he is on iTunes!
Please download his tracks and support a local artist and a top guy!
Please spread the word to friends and family and support a rising artist!
You won’t be disappointed when listening to Mik’s music!
From the site
Give Myself, Mik Morley’s independent solo debut, introduces the world to a soulful and enigmatic young artist. The brief 5 song collection is a first-class debut effort, offering both raw mood and catchy radio ready song crafting, which has already been drawing fans to the 25-year-old singer/songwriter/guitarist’s music.
“They’re perfectly crafted modern rock songs with a meaningful lyrical mood, could easily fit into any radio play list in the country, a definite hit” Says Chartsong producer and Festival/Mushroom’s published artist, Stuart Stuart (The Veronicas, Small Mercies).
Give Myself won’t disappoint, with catchy radio ready songs as “Come So Far”, and “Run Along” to atmospheric “Midnight Sky” and the heartfelt title track “Give Myself”. From a lyrical perspective, Mik draws on Friendship, Life, and Loss through remarkable emotive presence for one so young.
Mik’s past is one of life experience of which most of his peers could only dream of. Growing in a small town, pushed Mik into finding solace in music, and later stability as Guitarist in the band Lik-Wid, which since 2001 has had a series of successes and credits to its name (Finalist in 2004 National SOYA MUSICOZ completion, “Breathing For The First Time” 2005 National Release - Mixed and Engineered by 2005/2006 Aria Award Nominated Matt Lovell - ‘Inxs’, ‘Silverchair’, ‘Grinspoon’, ‘Sarah Mcleod’).
As you’ll know if you read my blog or follow my Twitter, last Thursday (September 6th) was my birthday. It was seriously a great week and turning 25 wasn’t half as scary as I thought it might be, but it’s all due to the care and consideration of my wonderful girlfriend, Claire.
On Friday night of last week I asked Claire a very important question; I asked her if she would take our relationship to the next level. The question that I asked her was if she would be my internet girlfriend as well as my real-life girlfriend. That’s right, we’re now cyber-dating as well. The next step.
Now, this may sound weird, but my blog and various other geek haunts I frequent, have long been considered “Mitch’s Domain”. Claire had always considered posting comments to my blog, or replying to my Twitters, to be something that was just a bit out of reach for us and something she wasn’t comfortable with.
So during my birthday week, Sunday was possibly the best day. We got Claire’s blog rolling along it’s final steps, installed Twitterific onto her Macbook and got everything running to successfully place her in geek mode. Be sure to check out her writing, photography, film work or musings over at 19hundred.com and be sure to say hi if you’re a twitter member.
Of all the social networks
I must say I hate you most
Get raped by a stick
by Mitch Malone © 2007
Do you have a Haiku you’d like to share?
A year ago I wrote a blog entry called “24 beers in a case, 24 years in my life…”, had an awesome party, paralysed myself with Absynth and was hungover for a week.
I think some people like to call it “denial”.
Some people, if you’re like me, prefer denial than waking up and realizing that some of your better years are behind you. This morning was one of those days: my 25th birthday.
Gone are the days when I could get slammed with friends and wake up and go to work, these days I am more likely to have a glass of one and an early night and still wake up hungover.
I’m old and I know it, and I’m still no wiser.
I’m going camping tommorrow night. Miss me.
Before I begin I would like to make the following statement: I completely support the employers to choose which websites and activities are banned within the work place and I believe that as an employee of said workplace, you should adhere to these guidelines. This being said, the rules don’t apply to me, so leave me alone while I have a little rant.
My colleague who sits opposite me fields calls from his on-again off-again girlfriend several times a day, is nagged by her for a whole bunch of unimportant stuff, hangs up and complains to me. This equates to, approximately, an hour to an hour and a half of his day, every day. Not only this, but the same colleague has several lunch’s, spends significant time singing to himself and generally being unproductive.
Another colleague of mine is a heavy caffeine addict. She makes several cups a day, coupled this with numerous visits to Starbucks, plus the additional time spent at the thermos collecting hot water and chatting. She also has a boyfriend who likes to phone a few times a day. I know this, because when I get coffee she is always there and tells me so.
I raise these two points not as issues, but I think they illustrate that there are only so many hours that an employee can be productive. I think if you spend 10 – 12 hours a day in your office space working, there come periods in your day that to maintain your productivity, and sanity, you just need a break.
Until three weeks ago I would occasionally log on to Facebook and check messages once a day, which usually takes around 10 minutes, I’m not a very popular, and I’d do this once a day. Also, I may log on to MSN via meebo.com once or twice a day to arrange my evening with my girlfriend/friends and/or catch up with a few friends from back hom.
Now thanks to my good friends down at MimeSweeper I no longer have either. You see, as a business decision my company has decided to block these websites due to the fact that it’s a time wasting sites and it promotes a lack of productivity.
I tend to think the fact that during my 10 – 12 hours a day, the fact my mind wanders for an hour a day is pretty insignificant, especially since I don’t even break for lunch. Is it impossible to fathom that these websites are a pretty minor distraction in the work place and that letting staff send the occasional message to plan their weekend/evening, rather then letting them worry about it, could actually be more productive?
Consider it.
As I eat my lunch and read an interesting article on SMH and Flickr it, I realize something about the internet that is a massive frustration to myself, and possibly everyone else. Let me try and paint a picture of a modern-day, net connected, 20-something suburban geek.
When I am browsing the net and I see an interesting link, I post it to del.icio.us.
When I am doing something noteworth, I take a photo on my k800i, and use Shozu to send it to Flickr.
When I think something profound, I write it here at bananas on toast.
When I am doing something even slightly of interest, I Twitter it.
I have a splash page, MMdN: Mitch Malone dot NAME, full of links to me and about me.
I even use Facebook from time to time to stalk the wonderful Claire.
I have an account I haven’t used in a little while at deviantArt and I am a member at around 25-50 forums that I never frequent more than once a year.
I have accounts I have never really used at iStalkr, Pownce and Yumondo.
So how does one keep track of it all? Wouldn’t it be fantastic if there was just some way of knowing where all these accounts were, what they were doing and what was happening with them all. And isn’t there a better way to write a site bio than trying to be witty in a million different sites?
It’s just too much people! Bring on the iPhone, I don’t ever want to be un-connected!
