Indigestion and Oesophageal Cancer
by John Radford on May.24, 2010, under Health, Humans, Vegetarianism
I certainly never expected to post on this subject, but I’m posting this simply as a warning to others to not dismiss indigestion as just a bit of gas resulting from eating too much, or too spicy. If you have indigestion for more than a couple of days, get to a doctor and get tests done, it may just save your life.
My story probably goes back about about 18 months ago when I felt something wasn’t right in the stomach region. I had a little indigestion, but nothing major, anyhow I had blood tests etc, but nothing was shown, and it seemed to clear. However I continued with ongoing blood tests and had a Colonoscopy Oct ‘09 which found a 3mm sessile polyp which was removed on the spot and everything else was fine; it’s a pity they didn’t do an Endoscope at the same time, cause they might have found this shit earlier.
Anyhow a bit over 2 months ago I started getting some bad indigestion again, so off to the doctor, more blood tests. while waiting for results he put me on Nexium 40 which was supposed to reduce bile production, but a week and a half later I was still suffering and taking a pack of Quikeze each day as well as Nexium. The blood test came in and showed the presence of H. Pylori bacteria, but to see if it was active or not, an Endoscope was required. Unfortunately I had to go on the public waiting list; 6 weeks have passed and there’s still 3 to 4 months to go … but we’ve bypassed that now.
I went to my Naturopath, and without telling him anything, took one look in my eyes said ‘bacteria’ and preceded to open a book on the gastric section; I said H. Pylori, he nodded. So after a brief discussion he advised gluten free, sugar free, and yeast free for a month to allow the bacteria to go back to it’s proper levels. Within 3 days my stomach settled and it was then I became aware that the indigestion had been masking something else.
Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx
by John Radford on May.04, 2010, under Computers
Friday WA time was when I was able to download the latest Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx), I then decided to perform an upgrade of my existing 9.10 (Karmic Koala) rather than a clean install – that was a big mistake.
Apart from taking over 3 hours to perform, once it was complete I found that my desktop effects wouldn’t work – Lucid had broken the ATI/fglrx graphics drivers, and it wasn’t possible to uninstall all components in order to re-install and fix the problem (major bug there). And on Ubuntu’s forums I wasn’t the only one having that problem. After a day of stuffing around, I had it fixed … sort of.
But it wasn’t good enough, so I bought a new WD 500 GB ‘black’ hard drive, replaced the 640 GB (Ubuntu 8.04 LTS) drive, and performed a clean install of 10.04 which it only took about half an hour – next was installing my usual applications and then migrating my data across to the new OS. Once done everything worked as it should, the new desktop ‘dark’ scheme looks great, and does it boot fast – from POST to a ready desktop in just 35 seconds, damn that is fast!
My new desktop 2560 x 1024 (spanning 2 x 19″ monitors @ 1280 x 1024 each)
more later …
Open ID – access our favourite sites with one ID
by John Radford on Apr.26, 2010, under Computers, Humans
Some may have heard of this, but I suspect many wouldn’t have, and I didn’t know about it until I found that I could login to my YouTube account with my Google ID.
Put simply, you register for an Open ID account , and then you can access sites like Google, Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Live and many more with just the one username and password – much easier than having separate account access at each site.
You can get an Open ID from any provider listed here http://openid.net/get-an-openid , and with a central Open ID profile you can also link all your sites, as well as search friends/contacts from all your Social Networking sites and much more *.
As for security, I don’t think all the ‘big guns’ of the Internet would use it unless they knew it was a secure service; in fact many of them are sponsors of the Open ID Foundation, as well as having representatives on the Board of Directors; so it seems relatively secure in maintaining some of your personal information.
* the above is purely my summation of the Open ID service, please check with individual Open ID providers for exact usage, features and benefits available.
Nokia N97 mini – I like it!
by John Radford on Apr.08, 2010, under Computers
Well, I’ve had the N97 a couple of weeks now, and I’m reasonably impressed with it. Getting use to a ‘Touch Screen’ phone/PC is a bit of a pain, but not so much that I’d replace it with an ordinary ‘keypad’ type phone.
Battery life is good considering the applications it can run and the screen graphics it supports; not as good as my previous Nokia 6233 for Standby Time, but far better than the Samsung Ultra Touch. I’m getting about 3 days Standby with reasonable phone use; even when using the GPS drive function, it consumes very little battery capacity, and that impresses me.
Although the text size is relatively small (even on maximum setting), it’s very handy having a ‘micro PC’ in my pocket; I can hit the Web, check emails, lookup phone numbers, get directions, do banking, check eBay and social networks etc etc
Ulysses Club AGM – Albany, Western Australia
by John Radford on Mar.27, 2010, under Humans, Motorcycles
The 2010 Ulysses Club AGM ran from 8th to 14th March and was held in Albany, Western Australia – each year it is held in a different Australian town or city. As I’ve only been a member for a little over a year, and this AGM was being held in our ‘own backyard’ as such, it was a perfect opportunity to checkout what a Ulysses AGM was all about. It was my first AGM, as well as my brother’s, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.
Ulysses AGM Site - Centennial Oval Albany
Samsung Ultra Touch OUT, Nokia N97 mini IN
by John Radford on Mar.27, 2010, under Computers
Well after a further couple of weeks persevering with the Samsung after buying a new ‘aftermarket’ battery, I phoned 3 (Three – Vodafone Hutchison Australia) and informed them the 700 ma battery time was better than the factory 880ma battery, but only just and I still couldn’t get more than a day and a half from it on Standby, and only with minimal use.
In the intervening weeks since my last contact with 3, the new Nokia N97 mini had been released and 3 could let me have it ‘free’ on the $49/mth cap plan; all I had to do was send the Samsung back and all cancellation fees would be waived – ok, give me the N97 and I’ll see how things go from there.
The N97 is definitely a better phone in so many ways, but mainly in ‘Standby’ battery life; I’m getting 3 days + with average use. (continue reading…)
Samsung Ultra Touch from 3 – not happy with either
by John Radford on Feb.05, 2010, under Computers
Well, what a disappointment this phone has been. According to Samsung’s website this phone has a Standby time of up to 300 hours (12.5 days) dependant on network and provider. And according to Three’s (3) website a Standby Time of up to 160 hours (6.5 days) is quoted.
With virtually no use from a fully charged battery (half dozen short calls and as many text messages), this phone is battling to get 36 – 48 hours maximum before it NEEDS recharging. Infact, after 1 day’s use, on the 2nd day if I go out, then the phone will need to be charged first, otherwise it’ll run out sometime during the day – not very MOBILE. And I’m incredibly pissed off with 3’s service & support calls being routed to Mumbai in India – I live in Australia and support should be here too (I feel the same regardless of product or service; if it’s being sold here, then support/service should be located here too).
So, after multiple calls over the 3 weeks I’ve had this phone, I finally drove the 50kms round trip to Perth where the ’service centre’ is located, and after explaining everything to the people there, I’m told that 1 – 2 days battery standby is normal for this phone. When I got home I phoned support again and had that opinion confirmed. (continue reading…)
Samsung Ultra Touch GT-S8300T – hmmm
by John Radford on Jan.30, 2010, under Computers
Well, I finally had delivery of my new Samsung Ultra Touch mobile phone from 3 on Monday last week, and have spent the past fortnight getting use to it.
It’s certainly not been a trouble-free move from both Nokia and Telstra; the latter being of concern as the 3 network is way behind Telstra in terms of network coverage and reception. I am experiencing regular ‘dropped calls’ and am keeping a log of them for 3, and if they can’t rectify the problem, then I may have to opt out of their contract and return to Telstra.
The Ultra Touch certainly is an interesting piece of technology with its large AMOLED screen and touch navigation. (continue reading…)
Bike is fixed – now with added ‘bling’
by John Radford on Jan.26, 2010, under Motorcycles
Dropped the Bike into RR Motorcycles on Wednesday last week, and picked it up Thursday with all the new bits fitted – thankyou RAC Insurance.
Apart from the new fairing, headlight, cowling brace, tank, indicator & mirror fitted under insurance; I’ve also fitted anodised (blue) clutch & brake levers, matching rear pegs (front ones are on back order), and headlight protector. Yesterday my Iridium tinted double-bubble windscreen arrived and doesn’t it look good 
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John Radford
JohnnoI installed window tint for 23+ years, 11 of them self employed in my own mobile tinting service (MobiTint); installing film on cars, trucks, homes, high-rise buildings, cargo ships, etc-etc. But after a work related injury, I was forced to stop installation and decided to start an online DIY tint shop as a new business. Consequently I had to learn about computers and the Internet. This led to another business venture; I now also build websites, as well as host and maintain them for myself, non-profit groups and business', and led me to become a member of the Australian Web Industry Association. I'm also a 'hobby' builder of new computers for myself and friends. To get away from it all, I head to the hills or out bush on my TL1000S Suzuki and let loose for a few hours.
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