All posts by MichaelQ

Malware sneaking into Android market

Double Pepperoni, Google,

Thank’s to Google’s “open” application marketplace (ie: No review process, post what you like), already 1% of the Apps on there have been detected as having Malware included in them – including several that were posing as Bank Apps and simply capturing your Bank details and sending them off to someone else.

The iTunes App store is a pain in the ass for developers for a reason – it stops assholes doing crap like this.

Craig Ferguson 14th Jan 2010, Late Late Show Open

Double Pepperoni, TV, , ,

I love late night TV. More to the point – I love Late Night / Late Show / Tonight Show TV.

I’ve loved Letterman, Kennedy, Lane, Vizard, Conan, and Roberston. I really liked Robbo.

Jay? Not so much. Apart from the whole underhanded way he got the Tonight Show – he’s just not that funny to me. Too scripted – man has never ad-libbed in his life. Talking to dumb people on the street – not funny.

I even found the politics and behind the scenes stuff of The Late Shift to be fascinating. Of course it’s all happening again – Leno said he’d hand over the Tonight Show to Conan so he could retire, Leno announces 10pm Prime Time show at the last minute to undermine Conan’s debut, 10pm Show sucks, NBC want to move Leno back to 11:35 and the “Tonight Show” into “Tomorrow” starting at 12:05am.

Apparently Leno retiring isn’t an option anymore – he still wants to be #1 TV Boy.

The funniest bastard in all of this has been Craig Ferguson – the one Late Night Show we don’t get in Australia – and probably the one show after Letterman I would watch. But he has made some great opening monologues regarding it all.

Last night, he nailed it. In the midst of the disaster in Haiti – Who Really Gives a Fuck.

Also – See this page for loads of other highlights from last nights shows when the gloves started to come off.

[Update: Original video taken down on video. This video of entire show instead]

Originally posted: https://michaelq.com.au/2010/01/craig-ferguson-11410a-late-late-show-beginning/

New personal blog for MichaelQ

Double Pepperoni, Geek

Very happy to launch this week my new personal blog.

I’ve had the blog MichaelQuinn.com.au for many years and never really been sure what to do with it. Do I use it for posts about my family, or use it as a general blog for anything I want to go on about?

Obviously there is different audiences for both – direct family members just want to hear about Eliza, and not necessarily about the latest widget. Other friends might want to see what I am interested in – but could care less about what Eliza did last night that was sooooo funny. I know – bloody “Breeders”.

So during my work-break over Xmas 2009, I decided to split things up – the bleeding obvious after years of indecision. My old blog – MichaelQuinn.com.au will be particularly directed at friends and family who just want to keep up with what myself, Fiona, Eliza and Jhett are up to. This new blog – MichaelQ.com.au will be my “personal” daily blog for whatever stuff happens to come along. I’ve also set up Down Under Geek as my tech blog – it’s been around for a while too but hopefully I’ll be using it a bit more in 2010. We’ll see.

I’ve learnt a lot about WordPress over the last 7-10 days. Looked at probably 100+ designs, narrowed that down to 30-40 to try out before eventually ending up with 2-3 designs I really liked for this site. This design was the first one I tried – and the first one I discard initially. But having experimented with a couple of others over the week I came back to this one for its style and simplicity.  I’ll have to do one of those “Top 20 Plugins for your WordPress Blog” posts soon – got some nice ones helping me out here.

This blog will be a combination of “point to” other posts I find interesting, plus some of my own thoughts and ideas. Hope you can sign up for the ride.

Matt Cutts: Giving up Twitter for three more weeks

Double Pepperoni, Geek,

I saw Matt posting about giving up Twitter for a week last week, and thought it was a good idea.  I’ve actually been off it (and Facebook) myself since last Sunday.

While I haven’t probably gotten as much done as Matt, I have taken this week to get 5 WordPress blogs (including this one) either updated / refreshed or started from scratch (including this one).

I’ve missed the Twitter banter a bit – but not as much as you might think.  I really missed my “Twitter Brains Trust” when I needed help with things. But a few people have been more than helpful via email – mind you I only had contact with many of these people because of my Twitter history.

I like some of Matt’s suggestions for more 30 day challenges – might approach 2010 with some more myself.

Official Google Blog – 2009 Search Review

Double Pepperoni, Google

Some interesting highlights from Google for 2009 searches. Click on the link for more about Snow Resorts.

Official Google Blog: This week in search 1/8/10.

Proportion of Google users in the United States making more than one query per day: 7 out of 10

Proportion of Google users in the United States making more than 10 queries per day: 1 out of 7

Fraction of Google queries, duplicates excluded, never seen before: More than 1/3

Fraction of Google queries, duplicates included, never seen before: More than 1/5

Country with the greatest increase in Google web search traffic in 2009 vs. 2008: Indonesia*

Approximate percentage of Internet users in Indonesia: 11.1%*

Average amount of time it takes a user to finish entering a query: 9 seconds

Average amount of time it takes Google to answer a query: Less than 1/4 second

Australian Idol Dumped By Ten

Double Pepperoni, Music, TV

“Australian Idol will not return in 2010. Network 10 has decided to “rest” the tired talent quest after years of falling ratings.”

No huge surprise. Been saying for years they would be better running Idol every second year. Gives them a better pool of talent to choose from, plus lessens the burnout from viewers.

2009’s format was a dud. Should have had the elimination at the end of the show. Too often we just tuned in for the first 15 mins to see who was booted and then watched something else.

Judges need to have a say too. IMO the best format is Rock Star. Judges picked the 3 worse performances on the night and then the viewers voted on that.

Bring back Kyle. And Big Brother!

Main problem I see is what will Undercover.com.au do now for Australian Content now that Paul can’t bitch about Idol? ;)

Dell previews 5-inch tablet concept akin to large iPod touch (nee iPad)

Double Pepperoni, Geek, Geek Stuff, ,

AppleInsider | Dell previews 5-inch tablet concept akin to large iPod touch.

This looks pretty nice.

Makes me wonder why companies like Dell etc have waited till now to release a Tablet device?

The hype around the Apple Tablet has been huge over the last year or 2 – why wait till supposedly 2 weeks before its announcement to release their own?

Dumb.

Originally posted: https://michaelq.com.au/2010/01/dell-previews-5-inch-tablet-concept-akin-to-large-ipod-touch/