Another Long Weekend!

How sweet is that! What are you up to?

Facebook Friends

What is your approach to adding friends on facebook?

Do you have a 'rule'? As in, I won't add anyone who I haven't spoken to in x years? Or, I won't add anyone who I have never met face to face?
I have seen a couple of familiar names/faces from the blogosphere who I haven't added for that very reason.

Scrolling through some friends-of-friends-of-friends recently, I came across someone I knew from a few years ago. It would be hard to 'define' our relationship - but it would be somewhere between 'colleague' and 'passing acquaintance'. Anyway, I wasn't sure whether to add them, so I didn't.
A few days later, I saw this same person walking through town at lunchtime. I walked straight past them and made a half-hearted attempt at eye contact, but apart from that , there was no interaction.

Is that a sign that I made the right decision in not adding them? Or do you think, maybe if I had, we could have had a long and meaningful catch-up conversation?

2000 hits!

Sweet.

Is this bad journalism?

OK you media types... tell me what's going on here.

I posted a comment here on Gordo's blog in relation to this story about a man "arrested for jaywalking".

It was splashed across the front page of the Sun Herald on the weekend. There is an accompanying video (needs IE).

Now it seems to me that the writer(s) reporting this story has gone in with a definite "angle". The vibe around police and APEC seems to have been that Sydney was turning into a police state. So when this incident occurred, it seemed like evidence to back this up.

The man arrested was painted in a very positive light: accountant, father of three, from the North Shore, spending quality time with his son. I know plenty of people like this, and none of them deserve to be pushed to the ground and arrested.

However, the article only briefly mentions the reason he was able to be held for 22 hours - he has an "outstanding assault charge". Under laws implemented for APEC, this meant he could be refused bail.

None of the accountants, fathers-of-3 or glasses-wearing North Shore residents I know have outstanding assault charges.

Looking again at the video, the footage cuts straight from police chatting to him, to him being pinned to the ground and arrested. Not exactly conclusive. I find it hard to believe that the police weren't incited in some way to take the action they did.

So is this bad jounalism? I suppose we are given the whole story. The information is there even if it is not fairly balanced.

Is it wrong for a journalist to go into a story with a preconceived idea of the "angle" they want to take? What is the difference between an "angle" and bias?

(PS - this certainly wouldn't be the most biased piece of writing I have ever seen - but its topical.)

UPDATE - Read an eyewitness account of the arrest on Crikey.com... This guy saw the situation very differently to the way it was reported in the paper!

They say a change is as good as a holiday

What do you think?

Day Off!

Got to love a public holiday.

So far we have been to the gym, hit up The Little Marionette in Balmain for some coffee, had a wander around some shops and I've done some study.

Tomorrow is Adri's dance concert, so a bit more study for me (and hopefully some Rugby in the evening!)

What does everyone else have planned for their long weekend? How about those who aren't enjoying a Friday off?

5 posts in 5 days - I've gone crazy with APEC!

(I know! I'm amazed too!)

It seems the whole town has gone ape for APEC. There is so much going on.

Yesterday, Adri and I saw the Riot Squad with their brand new water canon go zooming past on George St.

This morning, Sussex St was totally devoid of traffic when I arrived at work. Police had cleared the street and disabled the traffic lights. About 30mins later, two ambulances (one looked like it could have been Georges) went flying past with sirens blazing. The street was then reopened for business as usual.

At least half a dozen times today I've jumped up and run to the nearest window, motivated by sirens, helicopter noises or the sound of a jet.

It's all kind of exciting! Hopefully we can catch a glimpse of George W. as he passes by on the way to the convention centre tomorrow.

Why do I end all my post titles with ellipses...

...and start my posts with them too?

Still at work....

...and it's after 8pm

Half doing my Investments assignment (was up til 2am doing it last night) and half doing some work.

This is poo.

Did anyone else notice...

...that Matt Damon looks like a robot when he runs?

pretty quiet around here...

...but I will try to maintain my 'one-post-per-month' minimum.

I am working on an assignment for my Investments course.

I am calculating an efficient frontier and then applying that to find an optimal lifetime investment strategy.

It is, unfortunately, about as exciting as it sounds.