True fulfillment is chaff in the wind To the seeded analytical mind Which inveterately labours to abscind The endless emotional experience of human kind

A Two Old Men Disputing by Rembrandt (1628) - cropped Every now and then, whether it be at the Christmas dinner table or a friend's get-together, we find the conversation tends to meander its way to one of the most incendiary and charged topics of all: politics.1 In my experience, this usually happens later in the...

I recently went to Dorrigo Rainforest in NSW, Australia. I'm really happy with the pictures I got. Enjoy! I feel especially lucky to have seen these glowworms in action! If you're not familiar with these little creatures, then I highly recommend you spare three minutes to watch this video by David Attenborough. The...

I should start by saying that Kagi is a paid product. For those who want to look at what other search engines are out there, Startpage and DuckDuckGo both offer great services free of charge. Why pay for search?As the oft-repeated adage goes: "if you're not paying for the product, you are the product". We all know...

Astrophotograph-ingLast night was the first clear night in about a week in Marlborough, New Zealand. So I hopped onto the lawn with my DSLR and my EF 75-300mm II lens (zoomed in to ~80mm from what I remember) and took a crack and photographing the Carina Nebula. This is what I ended up with: It's something like...

Above photo by (David Fairchild, Marian Fairchild), 1914. 1 I'm currently on holiday in Blenheim, New Zealand, enjoying a hot still afternoon outside. As I was walking around earlier, I was lucky enough to spot a few jumping spiders! If you're unfamiliar with these marvelous little creatures, then go read this or...

Below are a list of sites that I think are worth both sharing with others, and archiving for my future enjoyment. If you're done looking around here and are looking to surf the web old-school by following links, then click away on whatever strikes your fancy! Note: this will never be a complete list. I will add to...

How to propose in 8 easy steps: Step 1: Give no indication that you are ready to propose. Act a little blasé or disinterested whenever any related conversations come up. Say that you're definitely not going to do it while travelling New Zealand and Australia. Step 2: Order a ring and get it shipped to NZ. Faff...

Below are some pictures I took at one of the Australasian gannet colonies at the Cape Kidnappers Gannet Reserve in New Zealand. Nearly all of the chicks have grown up and left by this time of year. I've got a large panorama of the whole colony here (warning: loads large 50MB image).

I've noticed nearly all new cars these days incorporate safety features which seem to benefit only their own drivers in isolation. Are we not looking at the net safety of everyone on the road? HeadlightsWhy are headlights so bright these days? It seems I'm not the only one to hold this opinion. I suppose it doesn't...

Nothing on the internet is private. We all know that. But to what extent is it not private? And are we powerless to do anything about it? I personally don't know. But I'm sure it's something we should all look into and inform ourselves on, instead of just burying our heads in the sand while Big Tech seruptisiouly...

We all know it's important to manage our money well, but holy mother of mackerel can it feel overwhelming to actually do so. At least on the surface. I think that personal finance1 can be complicated, but for most people, it's one of those fields where 20% of the knowledge takes you 80% of the way to where you want...