https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/Recent content in nicholasperkins.com (2008–2009) on Nick Perkins ArchiveHugoenSun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/lap-band-surgeryeating-disorders-and-loudmouth-golf-pants/Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/lap-band-surgeryeating-disorders-and-loudmouth-golf-pants/<p>Today I discuss why it’s important to think carefully about Lap Band Surgery, especially if you have an eating disorder. I also plead for LoudMouth Golf Pants to make me some pants in my size!</p> <p>ETA: These are the pants I want so bad!</p> <p>[Image not archived: Loudmouth Pants - Sand]</p> <p>Loudmouth Pants - Sand</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/im-appearing-on-today-tonight-tonight/Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/im-appearing-on-today-tonight-tonight/<p>I have crawled from my sick bed to let you all know that I will be appearing on Today Tonight tonight discussing the issue of why fashion excludes sizes 16+.</p> <p>Tune in tonight from 6:30pm, Channel 7 and have a look at what I and others have to say on the issue. When I can find a copy online to embed on the site, I’ll be sure to do so!</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/excel-tutorial-countif/Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/excel-tutorial-countif/<p>Have you ever had a spreadsheet with 150 lines of data and you need to know how many times “Red” appears in a cell? The COUNTIF function in Excel is for you. Here is a run through of how you can use this in your spreadsheets.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/testing-excel-expressions-with-the-if-function/Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/testing-excel-expressions-with-the-if-function/<p>I figured it was time for another Excel tutorial. This time I’m looking at the IF function. IF is really just like it would be in a sentence. If A=B then “something”, else “something else”. The syntax is :</p> <p><code>=if(logical_test,value_if_true,value_if_false)</code></p> <p>Check out the video for more.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/brisbane-event-the-illustrators-exhibition/Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/brisbane-event-the-illustrators-exhibition/<p>This Friday night at <a href="http://www.kiln.com.au/artgallery.htm" title="KiLN :: aRTS :: gallery">KiLN Gallery</a> is the opening of their latest exhibition called The Illustrators. The exhibition features work from some of Australia’s premier illustrators, including <a href="http://www.nigelbuchanan.com" title="Nigel Buchanan">Nigel Buchanan</a> (image above), <a href="http://www.tsinganos.com/" title="Jim Tisinganos">Jim Tsinganos</a>, <a href="http://www.brettlethbridge.com/" title="Brett Lethbridge">Brett Lethbridge</a>, <a href="http://www.ronmonnier.com.au" title="Ron Monnier">Ron Monnier</a>, <a href="http://www.courtneybrims.com" title="Courtney Brims">Courtney Brims</a>, <a href="http://www.squidtank.com" title="Shaun Campbell">Shaun Campbell</a>, <a href="http://lucialtrove.blogspot.com/" title="Lucia Masciullo">Lucia Masciullo</a> and <a href="http://www.definatalie.com" title="Natalie Perkins">Natalie Perkins</a>. (Psst. Did I mention I’m married to one of them? See if you can guess who!)</p> <p>The event starts at 5pm and goes through to around 8pm, so it’s perfect to drop in on the way home from work. KiLN is located in Paddington (see map below) in one of the old Brisbane Tram substations, and it is a beautiful place with a lovely exhibition space. It isn’t huge and daunting like some galleries can be, but very inviting. The curators (is that the correct term? I’m not the artist in this family!) do a wonderful job to make you feel welcome.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/even-a-man-can-fat-it-all-over-the-place-and-look-fancy/Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/even-a-man-can-fat-it-all-over-the-place-and-look-fancy/<p><em>This is my first post over at the new blog<a href="http://www.axisoffat.com/">Axis of Fat</a>, which is bring run by Natalie and her friends. You should check it out, or not.</em></p> <p>Axis of Fat is an idea of my wife. It’s something that Natalie and some of her some of her friends thought was a good idea – a place to blog about being fancy in the world while being fat. Fat and fancy is possible, and I’m sure you will hear them talk all about it.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/there-was-movement-in-the-station/Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/there-was-movement-in-the-station/<p>I’ve moved the blog this evening to a subdirectory of my website. You’ll now find my blog at <a href="https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/blog/" title="Nicholas Perkins Blog">http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/</a>. For the next month or so you will be automatically redirected, so please update your bookmarks/delicious tags/etc. The RSS feed is still located at <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/NicholasPerkins">http://feeds.feedburner.com/NicholasPerkins</a> so if you have subscribed (and there are more of you there than I remember last time I checked – welcome!) you need do nothing but wait for the next glorious installment.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/training-yes-that-thing/Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/training-yes-that-thing/<p><em>(A quick update from<a href="http://bit.ly/AkpC6" title="Sponsor me!">my Bridge to Brisbane 2009 donation page</a>. I’m still raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, so go and donate now!)</em></p> <p>So I’ve been training hard for the Bridge to Brisbane. I’m doing pushups to get some upper body strength. This will allow me to push people out of the way and to support myself when I get to the end and need to lean on something.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/varsity-veggies-a-big-success/Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/varsity-veggies-a-big-success/<p>My mum has been working hard over the last three years to organise a community garden in her local community. The official opening was today and <a href="http://www.definatalie.com/" title="Definatalie">Natalie</a> and I went down to check it out. Natalie has even put together a video of our trip (and also a review of some new pens she recently bought). You can check out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/definatalie" title="YouTube - definatalie's Channel">her other videos on YouTube</a> as well.</p> <p>It’s a space to allow people who don’t have the space, or who enjoy community company, to get together and grow their own veggies. There are around 40 plots of 3 meters x 3 meters which is plenty of space to grow enough veggies for yourself and to have some left to spare. There are even raised beds for the physically disabled to allow them to enjoy the fun in the sun.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/why-do-men-want-to-run-marathons-all-the-time/Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/why-do-men-want-to-run-marathons-all-the-time/<p>I read a blog post today by Undomestic Diva titled “ <em><a href="http://undomesticdiva.typepad.com/undomestic_diva/2009/07/quality-vs-quantity-in-the-bedroom.html" title="Undomestic Diva: Quality vs Quantity in the bedroom">Quality vs Quantity in the bedroom</a>“.</em> If you haven’t read it yet, then I’m not going to spoil the fun. Go and have a read (men especially) and then come back and continue from here.</p> <p>You’re back? Ok, let’s get into it then.</p> <p>Undomestic Diva’s post got me thinking about sex and why men feel they have to be “marathon men” and last for hours and hours. Why is this so important to men and why is it that there is this (seeming) misconception that women are thinking the same way? I think there are a number of reasons this has happened.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/btub-meet-ups-grow-ever-larger/Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/btub-meet-ups-grow-ever-larger/<p>[Image not archived: A bunch of people at BTUB]</p> <p>A bunch of people at BTUB</p> <p>As always for the first Friday in the month, it was the regular BTUB meet-up at the Ship Inn. It seems that the group is getting too big for the venue now (over 80 people attended) so it will be interesting to see where we end up next month. It’s great to see so many twits in attendance and there are so many networking opportunities - it’s more than likely you will find someone with similar interests to connect with. The problem I often have with BTUB is working out who to talk to next!</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/always-something-informative-on-the-net/Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/always-something-informative-on-the-net/<p>Thanks to a find for mine for pointing me to this <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=106484775090296685271.0004681a37b713f6b5950&amp;ll=47.100045,9.316406&amp;spn=34.792294,79.101563&amp;t=h&amp;z=4" title="H1N1 Swine Flu - Google Maps">Google Maps link</a>. It’s a custom map showing details of the current <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_Flu" title="Swine Flu - Wikipedia, the free encylopedia">Swine Flu</a> outbreak.</p> <p>It is amazing the information that is now available to us. Ten years ago something like this would be hard for ordinary people to imagine. Just think what the world will be like in another 10 or 20 years time.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/genetic-defects-is-this-evolution-in-action/Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/genetic-defects-is-this-evolution-in-action/<p>I had a very interesting thought today, and I want to share it with you. This isn’t based on any scientific evidence, nor am I suggesting that I am right. But perhaps others are thinking the same thing. That Genetic Defects are a part of the evolutionary process and that perhaps they are there to help reduce the number of defects.</p> <p>I never said it was politically correct. I’m also not forcing you to read on. This is my hypothesis.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/organisation-getting-my-blog-back-into-shape/Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/organisation-getting-my-blog-back-into-shape/<p>Hi loyal reader. I’m sure there is at least one of you.</p> <p>When I began blogging back in December 08, I didn’t put too much forethought into this place. All I wanted was a site which allowed me to express my opinions on things. So each time I had a bright idea, I’d create a new topic. Eleven topics later (you can’t count them on your fingers, unless you’re special) and I decided that enough was enough. I’ve cleaned up my list of topics to just five.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/reproductive-rights-and-family-planning-hillary-clinton-has-the-balance-right/Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/reproductive-rights-and-family-planning-hillary-clinton-has-the-balance-right/<p>US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has recently been asked to comment on her views regarding Reproductive Rights and Family Planning, including abortion. Rather than summarise, here is the YouTube video of the question and her answer.</p> <p>There will be those who disagree with her view and you are entitled to that right. I am with Secretary Clinton on this one. It must be the individual’s right to choose whether abortion is suitable for them. Providing good family planning advice, including information about contraception and safer sex practices is important no matter where you live. Providing the tools for girls and boys, men and women to make sound and informed decisions is much more important than running scare mongering campaigns.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/queensland-election-day-one-too-many/Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/queensland-election-day-one-too-many/<p>So welcome to day 3 of Election ‘09. Or is that two days? That’s neither here or there. What is important is a look back at the last few days of the election. At the end of the day, it is important to remember that we people are smarter than to believe the drivel from the election adverts.</p> <p>We see Anna Bligh talking about stability during long projects. What the? Just because Anna isn’t there holding the reins doesn’t mean the <a href="http://www.gatewayupgradeproject.com.au/asp/index.asp" title="Gateway Upgrade Project">Gateway Duplication</a> (or any other number of projects) are going to fall over. Sure, they might change a few projects (like getting rid of the stupid <a href="http://www.qldwi.com.au/TravestonCrossingDam.aspx" title="Traveston Crossing Dam">Traveston Crossing Dam</a>).</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/queensland-election-its-time/Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/queensland-election-its-time/<p>So it’s time for Election ‘09! ALP v NLP. Bligh v Springborg. The electors of Queensland, sick of the tired Labor government will do the only thing it can. Re-elect Anna Bligh.</p> <p>Does that sound a little strange to you? Well it should.</p> <p>You see I have always been a staunch conservative when it comes to my politics. I have voted Liberal federally every election since I turned 18 - except the last election. I just had to vote for Kevin Rudd. Was it my politics that had changed? No, I felt the government was tired. We needed change.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/how-the-internet-brings-childhood-friends-together/Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/how-the-internet-brings-childhood-friends-together/<p>Think back to your childhood for just a moment. Ponder back to when you were 3, 4 or perhaps 5 to your earliest memories of being in existence. Think back to the friends you used to play with, whether they were at your place or down the road. Everyone has these memories, but in most cases you lose touch with all but a few of these people. But not anymore.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/australia-day-is-not-invasion-day/Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/australia-day-is-not-invasion-day/<p>January 26 is Australia Day for me, not Invasion Day. I don’t agree with the word ‘invasion’ and think it is divisive.</p> <p>Over the Australia Day long weekend, Australia has been pulled kicking and screaming into community discussion on the day that we celebrate our country. For those not from this nation, January 26 celebrates the arrival of the <a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/first-fleet.html" title="The First Fleet">First Fleet at Botany Bay</a> and the British colonisation of Australia.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/its-time-to-take-action-now/Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/its-time-to-take-action-now/<p>Senator Stephen Conroy has posted a new blog post called “<a href="http://www.dbcde.gov.au/communications_for_business/industry_development/digital_economy/future_directions_blog/topics/civil_and_confident_society_online" title="Minister Conroy on: Promoting a civil and confident society online.">Minister Conroy on: Promoting a civil and confident society online</a>“. Sounds like crap, Senator.</p> <p>Sen. Conroy’s blog post is nothing more than Government spin doctors working the media. What concerns me most is this section:</p> <blockquote> <p>We are happy to have an open debate about these technical issues. However, the Government does not view this debate as an argument about freedom of speech.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/christmas-decorations-are-a-waste-of-public-money/Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/christmas-decorations-are-a-waste-of-public-money/<p>[Image not archived: GLOW in the dark &hellip; Brisbane]</p> <p>GLOW in the dark &hellip; Brisbane&rsquo;s Christmas tree near the southern end of the Queen Street Mall. (source)</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/" title="Brisbane City Council">Brisbane City Council</a> is under fire for <a href="http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24825135-952,00.html" title="Brisbane City Council skimps on Christmas lights | The Courier-Mail">not spending enough on Christmas decorations</a>. Unlike some, I think this is great.</p> <p>Some people think it is all about promoting ourselves to tourists. Some think the council has been down to <a href="http://catalogues.crazyclarks.com.au/adrt/home.html" title="Homepage | Crazy Clarks Online">Crazy Clarks</a>.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/not-good-enough-translink/Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/not-good-enough-translink/<p><a href="http://www.translink.com.au/" title="Translink - Public transport information">Translink</a> have my money and they won’t give it back!</p> <p>Back on 1 December I topped up my <a href="http://www.translink.com.au/go" title="Translink - go card">Go Card</a> at Roma St train station. However the ticket machine that I used decided to fail on me and didn’t add the amount to my card. Since I had to have money on there to get home I tried again and this time it worked.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/gay-penguin-couple-make-great-parents/Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/gay-penguin-couple-make-great-parents/<p>Seems being gay doesn’t make you a bad parent after all - at least for penguins.</p> <p>First item in the “Just Plain Weird” file is a story from the UK’s <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1094977/Gay-penguins-expelled-zoo-colony-stealing-eggs-given-look-following-animal-rights-protest.html" title="Gay penguins expelled from zoo colony for stealing eggs are given their own to look after following animal rights protest | Mail Online">Daily Mail</a> detailing the exploits of two gay penguins from Polar Land in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbin" title="Harbin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Harbin, China</a>. It seems being a gay penguin couple is considered as evil as being a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/25/2428794.htm" title="Same-sex marriage won't happen: A-G">married gay couple in Australia</a>. I wonder how you determine a gay penguin from a straight penguin?</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/do-australians-really-support-mandatory-internet-filtering/Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/do-australians-really-support-mandatory-internet-filtering/<p>Some sections of the media are reporting that a majority of Australians support mandatory Internet filtering. This is misleading, quoting a biased survey from a biased source.</p> <p>ABC radio ran a story yesterday on <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/am/default.htm" title="AM">AM</a> reporting on the planned <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2445637.htm" title="AM - Day of action against internet filtering">rallies against mandatory Internet filtering</a> (link is to the transcript). In this story they spoke to Professor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Hamilton" title="Charles Hamilton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Charles Hamilton</a>, Vice Chancellor at Charles Sturt University and former Executive Director of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Australia_Institute" title="The Australia Institute - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">The Australia Institute</a>. Here is part of the transcript:</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/fcc-proposes-opt-out-filter-on-free-wireless-broadband-service/Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/fcc-proposes-opt-out-filter-on-free-wireless-broadband-service/<p>The US <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Communications_Commission" title="Federal Communications Commission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Federal Communication Commision</a> (FCC) recently cancelled a meeting which could have resulted in free wireless broadband being made available, reports <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10122586-94.html" title="FCC cancels meeting for free Internet vote | Wireless - CNet News ">CNET</a>. Strangely enough, the home of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act" title="USA PATRIOT Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">PATRIOT Act</a> was considering an <strong>opt-out</strong> pornography and ‘material deemed not fit for children’ filter for this free service.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/some-more-thoughts-on-todays-rally/Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/some-more-thoughts-on-todays-rally/<p>(Reposted from another online forum)</p> <p>I’ve been stewing on this for a bit but I think it needs to be said.</p> <p>In my opinion, a major error with today’s rallies (and it seems not just the Brisbane one) is the connection to other political parties/agendas. I’m glad that there are many groups interested in this as an issue, but as soon as you bring the Socialist Alliance, The Greens, or the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,24795948-5014239,00.html">Raelians</a> you’ve lost Joe Public.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/manditory-internet-filtering-protest/Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/manditory-internet-filtering-protest/<p>I attended the Mandatory Internet Filtering protest held in Brisbane today. Here is my thoughts on the rally.</p> <p>There was a good turnout of people considering the heat and humidity around at the time. 11am isn’t the best time for anything in Brisbane in summer, but when is a good time? I handed out some of the flyers and it makes me happy to know that others are interested in being informed on the issues.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/australian-internet-censorship-protests-december-13/Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/australian-internet-censorship-protests-december-13/<p>If you are into protesting of the peaceful kind, why not consider attending your <a href="http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/december-13-filtering-protests/" title="December 13 filtering protests - Something Think of the Children">local internet censorship protest</a>. I will be at the Brisbane event. You could come and say hi, but that would be kinda creepy. Plus who would you say I to? I could be anyone.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/internet-censorship-not-tested-on-animals-or-humans/Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/internet-censorship-not-tested-on-animals-or-humans/<p>More news has come to light on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_Australia" title="Internet Censorship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Great Australian Wall</a> trails which are due to begin. The trials are going to be huge apparently, featuring hundreds and hundreds of non-humans. Yes, no people.</p> <p>What did you expect? ISPs to deal with complaining customers and have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Conroy" title="Stephen Conroy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Senator Conroy</a> on stage with egg on his face? Sorry, <a href="http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/live-filter-pilot-will-not-involve-real-customers/" title="Live filter pilot will not involve real customers">not a chance</a>.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/atheists-sue-to-get-god-out-of-homeland-security/Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/atheists-sue-to-get-god-out-of-homeland-security/<p>From <a href="http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/35374219.html" title="WYMTNews.com">WYMTNews.com</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - A group of atheists has filed a lawsuit in<br> Kentucky seeking to remove God from the state’s homeland security<br> detail.</p> <p>American Atheists Inc. filed the lawsuit in Frankfort on Tuesday, claiming Kentucky violated the Constitution by enacting a law in 2006 that stresses God’s role in protecting the state.</p> <p>Of particular concern to American Atheists is a clause that requires the Office of Homeland Security to post a plaque that says the safety of the state “cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God.”</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/bloody-alarms/Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/bloody-alarms/<p>[Image not archived: PaPeRo]</p> <p>PaPeRo</p> <p>I hate alarms. Particularly building alarms that go off and then continue to sound for ten to fifteen minutes. It sounds like a really sick car engine - a whiny metallic squeak. But loud. Very loud.</p> <p>You might suspect that the sound is meant to be a deterrent. For me, it would deter me from turning it on. I propose that in the 21st century, we should have much better alarm systems than this.</p>https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/on-being-an-atheist-reading-the-god-delusion/Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000https://archive.nickperkins.au/nicholasperkins/on-being-an-atheist-reading-the-god-delusion/<p>I’ve been reading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins" title="Richard Dawkins - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Richard Dawkins’</a> book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0618918248/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1228485296&amp;sr=8-1" title="Amazon.com: The God Delusion: Richard Dawkins">The God Delusion</a>. And no, I don’t make no money from that link. The book has really opened my eyes to the world. I come from a Christian background but have been a “non-believer” for a while now.</p> <p>The God Delusion is taking me in another direction. It shows you the arguements that have been used throughout the ages to defend religion. It gives you thinks to think about while giving referenced facts balanced against the opinion of an emminent Atheist.</p>