Miniature Elm Tree

This one was rescued from the gutter of a car park two years ago when it was about 20 mm. tall. it is now about 180 mm. tall (including the pot) and has been shaped using string and light nylon springs allowing it to move in the wind giving the branches a more natural look.

Spring Festival 24

 

Spring Festival 2021

 

If you have an opening at Eurovision let me know!

Happy Lunar New Year

Brought in the new year in style performing a Qi Kong and the Kung Fu Fan routine on stage in China Town.

PIRATE SONG

With International Talk Like A Pirate Day almost here - Sep.19
I've decided to contribute my Pirate Song.

PIRATE SONG

Oh, we sail the seven seas,
Adventuring we go,
We like to stay relaxed,
And take it nice and slow.

( Start of Chorus ) 
There is just one thing
That will get me in a state,
When you take the ‘P’ off pirate…
(SHOUT) I become irate.
(Make angry noises) Grrr Grrrr
( End of Chorus )

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Robo Brush

I re-purposed a vintage vortex mixer (test tube mixer) to make an electric scrubber
- saves me a lot of work.
Shown here with optional blade sharpener attached.

The Anatomy Lesson

While  I was busy pointing out the finer details of the anatomy inside a lizard my partner took this photo  without anyone noticing it was being done.
Some Dutch bloke called Rembrandt tried to do a similar picture:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_Lesson_of_Dr._Nicolaes_Tulp

But I think Donna's is better.

A Better Sediment trap; for potters etc.

I was asked to design a sediment trap that could cope with several litres per minute of heavily sedimented water.
Came up with this cheap and easy to build design that uses less space than the conventional approach and is light and easy to clean out.

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Why Do Koalas Only Eat Eucalypt Leaves? (English Version)

Having dissected a few Koalas and being familiar with their gastrointestinal (GI) tracts I considered that if they ate anything more fermentable than eucalypt leaves (i.e. Grass, fruit etc.) then the gases produced from fermentation would remain immobile as they would not be able to overcome the backpressure created by the size of their enormous GI tract and its contents. This would cause extreme bloating and pressure incompatible with long-term survival.

Warning - contains picture of koala guts

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Why Do Koalas Only Eat Eucalypt Leaves? (Technical Version)

Having dissected a few Koalas and being familiar with their gastrointestinal (GI) tracts I hypothesized that if they ate anything less bactericidal and with more digestible carbohydrates than eucalypt leaves (i.e. Grass, fruit etc.) then the gases produced from fermentation would remain immobile as they would not be able to overcome the backpressure created by the size of their enormous GI tract and its contents. This would cause extreme gastric distension and intra-abdominal pressure incompatible with long-term survival.

Warning - contains picture of koala GI tract

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The Most Sophisticated Animal Maceration Plant on the Planet

Fast throughput, multi-stage, aerated, continuous flow, insulated, temperature and pH regulated.
Click below for more pictures.

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Convert FASTA files to One Read / One line in WINDOWS

Some of the Big Data coming off the interweb unfortunately doesn't have each 'Read' starting on a new line - programmatically, this makes data reading and manipulation more difficult. Here's the quick and dirty (and suprizingly fast) fix.

The shortcut keys are for Windows - if you have a computer named after a fruit or that other one which makes you type a lot there will be something similar.

1: Open the FASTA file in notepad.
2: Open "Search and Replace" <Ctrl + H>.
3: Replace All ">" with "<br>".
4: Save the file and open it in your favourite browser - Now you see!
5: Select All <Ctrl + A>, Copy <Ctrl + C> and Paste <Ctrl + V> back into notepad.
6: Optionally Replace All "<br>" with ">" and save - Job Done!

Folder -> HTM index - FREE Program -

Folder to HTM index creates a web (htm) page in the folder of your choice with links to all the files in that folder.
Works on any version of Windows - no need to install, just download and doubleclick to run it.
I created the program because browsing files in some mobile devices can be very tedious - and after having downloaded almost fifty chapters of a book, each in individual webpages.

Click Here to get for free

Australian magpie (Cracticus tibicen) Skull

Excessive Earwax Cure

Short answer - Cup of warm water with a pinch of salt.

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Nototherium Skull (Partial)

BEFORE

And AFTER

GEEK CHIC Retro VHS case for 7 inch Android Pad

1. Get your hands on a VHS case - as a last resort there's always http://www.ebay.com.
2. Find and print a suitably cool cover from somewhere like http://serialkillercalendar.com/VHSWASTELAND/VHS-WASTELAND-SEPTEMBER-17.html.
3. Make yourself very familiar with the location of your femoral artery.
4. Use something sharp to hollow out the VHS case and make holes for cables.
5. Use foam tape (the stuff used to weather seal around doors and windows) to provide impact protection and make a nice snug fit for your pad.
6. Put a bit of Blu-Tac in there - it can be used to make the pad sit at the right angle for desktop viewing.

Add a USB hub, a full sized keyboard and a mouse; If you shop carefully, you have something you can actually do useful stuff with (like post to blogs) for less than $100.

Learn Japanese Karate terminology

One problem with studying traditional Karate is the need to learn the terminology in Japanese.
It only took me a few weeks to realise that I was going to need more than osmosis to learn this, so I wrote a language training program.

It can be viewed here:

Easy - http://www.meetmychef.com/karate1.htm

Challenging - http://www.meetmychef.com/karate2.htm

The whole thing runs in a Web Browser and requires cookies and javascript enabled.

幸運

www.meetmychef.com - New Website Launched

I've launched a new WebSite http://www.meetmychef.com Australia's premiere one-stop directory for anyone seeking catering services.

Welcome to meet MY chef - mobile chefs that bring to you your very own personal catering solution.
Select from our hand-picked team of food professionals to supply your

• HOME
• BOARDROOM
• VENUE

with a superior dining experience. Dinner party, celebration, special occasion or just to treat yourself - our extensive range of chefs can provide anything from a personalised menu to authentic traditionally prepared regional specialities.

http://www.meetmychef.com

Selfish Genes, Why Dawkins is Wrong - Again !

Selfish genetic elements are genes or groups of genes that appear to promote themselves in an evolutionary sense irrespective of the organism they are a part of. The idea being that evolution is a competition for survival of the fittest gene and that it is the most successful genes that will gradually become more numerous and be transmitted to later generations.

Sexual reproduction is the means by which the genes of two organisms that have successfully survived to the point of being able to reproduce, are combined in a somewhat haphazard way to produce new organisms that will go on to face the trials of evolution. The fittest of these new organisms going on to recombine their genes in the next generation and so on.

As genes are the architects of the phenotypes that face the trials of evolution it is necessary that the most evolutionary successful phenotypes will have been the result of having certain genes and this will be reflected in the frequencies of the occurrence of a population's genes.

However, although it may appear that evolution is acting at a genetic level, evolution can only

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