The privacy features of the Jolla are what appeal to me most, with the Android app compatibility coming in second.

That said, I think they’d like this Jolla tablet thing. Except they’re not much into tablets. Tablets don’t fit into their skinny jeans. LOL.

The Jolla Tablet project is going gangbusters! I’ve been watching several tech projects, but this is very telling. It reached it’s initial funding goal of $380,000 in just over 2 hours! They’ve sold the first two production runs in 3 days, and have already almost sold the third. Funding has reached $1,057,308, and nobody has even seen one yet! Considering the first batch won’t even begin shipping until May, it’s almost crazy. LOL

Steve would be drooling in his grave! 😉 😀

I think people are pissed with the *big three*. 🙂

The tablet looks interesting, but I really don’t want another device at the moment. If I didn’t have the iPad, I would definitely get one, just to play with at the other house. I may still get one if the iPad dies, because it sounds like it will be cheaper than trying to get an iPad fixed.

I decided earlier this year that unless I am willing to fight for what I believe in, I have no right to complain about it. Or I should say, I remembered. I was that way for a big part of my life, until some years ago. I guess it just became all too hard, and I think I lost a lot of my confidence in deciding who or what was worth fighting for. That and that I was spending most of my time just trying to survive. *shrug*

Here’s another Indie project I found quite interesting! I think primarily because if it really succeeds, it will piss off Apple, Google & M$! So it’s worth it for that! LOL Given that they have raised over $933k for a $380k goal (almost 250%) since the campaign started Nov 19, I don’t think I am alone in that! 😀 However, I do also love the idea of it, so I ordered one. 🙂

It’s a tablet with a new fully open sources OS, that is fully Android compatible, and also comes with root access (unlike Android & iOS that are locked). There are ways around that, but they generally prove to be problematic. 🙂

Jolla Tablet – world’s first crowdsourced tablet

Good thing I’ve made some reasonable money this year for a change! 😀

Abbott’s catering to the wishes of the extraction industries shows a basic misunderstanding of reality – there is a finite amount of minerals available, and when they run out you are screwed. Look at the markets for oil and iron ore – the prices are dropping and may not rise again for an extended period. They have been too dependent on the Chinese market, and that market is changing.

Failing to account for climate change and to expand and modernize manufacturing is a long term formula for failure and people are starting to notice.

The Church and extraction industries are the past, and you need to embrace the future to grow. The only thing worse than standing still is moving backwards when the rest of the world is going forward.

Here’s an update on the Nurse:

17 Nov 2014 — So relieved to report Julie’s surgery went well and she is now recovering in hospital – her doctor is very pleased with her progress and she is obviously very happy it is over! She can already tell that the pain in her legs has gone and is looking forward to taking her first pain-free steps in many, many months! Thank you so much for all your support – now to get the support of Catholic Church Insurance!!

Great to hear all went well, 😀 Now, for the next phase! Perhaps this family will get a win against the notoriously unforgiving & unrepenting Catholic Church! Could start a landslide! Ohhhhh… I really hope so! (I can dream.) 😉 😀

I’m also involved in this petition “Toughen the regulations for Foreign Investment in Australia by Simon Hosking”. We made a submission to the House Standing Committee on Economics. It’s early days, and this will be a very tough battle!

Info & updates here:
Toughen the regulations for Foreign Investment in Australia

I’ve also been involved with the Climate Change Campaign by the Australian Conservation Foundation. Just got a great email from the Campaign Manager, Victoria McKenzie-McHarg:

They underestimated us Paul
Victoria McKenzie-McHarg, ACF

Hi Paul

What an incredible week! Most days, we work very hard to get climate change into the headlines. After this weekend, we barely know where to start.

Trying to sweep climate change under the rug at this G20 was a big mistake. They underestimated the determination for real action.

In the lead up to the G20, across our sunburnt country, our collaborative campaign trended high on social media, and ACF supporters and Climate Reality Leaders hosted 120 events from Cairns to Swansea, and Canning Vale to Wollongong.

The momentum started with a deal between the US and China to cut pollution. Then, the new commitments and statements of action continued. Japan, Turkey, the UK, the EU, and yesterday, even Canada, publicly committed to increase action to cut pollution and support clean energy.

And it wasn’t just our major trading partners speaking out. Across Australia thousands of people demonstrated that no matter what our government said, climate change is on our agenda.

These wins highlight one thing. The government and big polluters can no longer hide from their responsibility to do their fair share on climate change. This weekend, Australia’s backwards steps stood in stark contrast to the large strides progressive major economies are taking.

The part that I loved the most, however, is that you were at the heart of it.

There’s still work to be done. Our government is still stuck in the fossil fuel past when the rest of the world is racing towards towards a clean energy future. Our Renewable Energy Target is under attack, and billions of our hard-earned tax dollars continue to be handed out as subsidies for pollution every year.

But for now, I want to thank you deeply for all your efforts to show world leaders, our own leaders, and other Australians that climate change is on your agenda.

It’s nice to be a part of even a partial victory. It’s early days, and there is a lot to do. Still, it is nice to know that thousands of Aussies are intent on fighting Abbott and his greedy cronies. 😀

Ms Keshishian has no intention of letting politicians victimize her again. She’s right morally and legally. She was due the compensation and politicians changed the law to avoid paying it after they failed to award it in a timely fashion. I don’t doubt for a second that the award was stalled to await a change in the law.

Especially under the previous two Popes the Church has become a corporate entity with all of the ethical problems of that structure. They deny responsibility just like BP or Dow to protect the hierarchy/management.

Katrina Keshishian is one tough lady! I wonder is she is actually a redhead? 😉 😀 She isn’t going to quit, and it seems the politicians are realizing that! She isn’t just fighting for herself, but the many other victims. She can be proud. 😀

Significant win in gang-rape victim Katrina Keshishian’s fight for justice

I wouldn’t call it a “significant win”, but it’s a step in the right direction.

I also received an email from the sister of the catholic Nurse with some partial good news. I’ll just post the email:

13 Nov 2014 — So, we have learned that an opening on the hospital’s public waiting list has become available and my sister WILL have her spinal surgery…immediately!!

Julie has been in regular contact with her amazing surgeon in Orange, who had been preparing her- running the necessary pre-op tests etc. just in case and now she is ready to go!

We are SO relieved for her – she’s understandably very nervous about the whole thing but excited at the prospect of perhaps being able to return to some kind of normality one day soon.

THANK YOU ALL for your support thus far…it has undoubtedly helped Julie get through these past couple of months

A key sticking point remains…Catholic Church Insurance have made no attempt to come to this party! By rights, THEY should be the ones footing this bill for Julie’s surgery – not the public sector.

And by rights, Julie should not have to face financial uncertainty while she is recovering from this major surgery!! Her recuperation will be stressful enough. Surgery offers hope but there are no guarantees – will she be pain free or at least in less pain? Will she be able to move more freely, drive again, work again??

Catholic Church Insurance must be held accountable – there is no disputing her injuries are work related. She deserves to be compensated by Catholic Church Insurance to allow her a better quality of life, which she is fully entitled to!

Julie’s solicitor has been watching our petition grow and I believe they plan to use it in their claim against the insurance company – one woman in rural Australia may only have a small voice but surely, 50,000+ voices in resounding disapproval cannot be ignored much longer!!

I will keep you updated!

It’s a numbers game now. The more who disprove, the more likely something will happen. Although, historically, the Catholic church is loath to change any standing on such issues as they know it would open the floodgates on their many crimes against humanity. Look at how many decades people have been waiting for them to acknowledge the rampant pedophilia and other abuse within their ranks, and put a stop to it rather than being a safe haven for pedophiles. *shrug*

Yes, the child will probably benefit from her own account tailored to her needs and likes. At least she won’t have to wade through the dross her mother collects. When she’s old enough she will figure out how to break out of the restrictions, so it’s a good learning tool. 🙂

Trees are good, especially when you start in trees. It isn’t always possible to free the canopy when you land in trees, but you have to get away from the area quickly, and then find a good place to be invisible until the ground search leaves the area. It’s a lot easier to stay hidden in the trees than on the ground in a lot of areas.

We didn’t deal with toxins, but we were definitely over medicated. Uppers, downers, and antibiotics were handed out like penny candy at the same time command was having a fit over marijuana and hash. I did not get it at all. I also didn’t get buying heroin when all the medkits had morphine caps. Weird time, and not a surprise that so many vets came back with drug problems.

Governments all seem to think that the troops are going to die, so there’s no point in putting a lot of money into veteran benefits. To them the higher survival rates of the wounded is a bug, not a feature of military medicine.

I read about that victim compensation case. All they have to do is pass a bill and the problem goes away, but they don’t seem able or willing to do it. WTF, over? Does the premier have a parliamentary majority or not? Even the Florida legislature speeds these bills through, because it is ‘feel good’ politics at election time. Hell, they even speed wrongful conviction bills through, although they are sure ‘the guy was probably guilty of something’.