State of Origin Game 1 - Did Queensland have an extra player in referee Shayne Hayne?

The annual NSW vs Queensland State of Origin game was on last night and no-one can deny that it was a rip snorter!

However, I can't be the only one to think that something very fishy was going on with the decision making process in the last ten minutes of the game by referee Shane Hayne.

Shame Hayne

NSW were 4 points up and Queensland were on the comeback. It was a tense time (particularly for NSW fans who haven't seen too many wins recently and suddenly, inexplicably, all the referee decisions were going Queensland's way. Let's got through them here..

71 minute mark : NSW are on the offensive ten metres from the line and the ball is knocked out of a NSW player's hands by a Quneensland player. DECISION: Knock on NSW. MY VERDICT: Debatable. In match games this would quite often be given as 6 again to the attacking team but as a commentator pointed out on the night officially it is a "lost ball".

72 minute mark: A Queensland player tries to throw a quick offload, it bounces off another Queensland player's hands forward into a NSW player's hands. DECISION: Penalty to Queensland. MY VERDICT: WTF????

79 minute mark: With less than one minute to go a Queensland player Justin Hodges loses the ball as he is getting up to play it. Play is called to a halt for an injured player nearby. DECISION: Queensland to play the ball when play recommences. Bizarrely, it is not Hodges who plays the ball. He is allowed to go back into his rightful position in the line up while Greg Inglis plays the ball. MY VERDICT: Too weird to be just a bad decision.

79 minutes and 50 seconds: With ten seconds to go, Jarod Hayne at marker appears to push the man playing the ball away and grabs the ball. DECISION: Penalty to Queensland. MY VERDICT: At the time, I thought it was awrong, but I must admit, out of the heat of the moment and watching replays this morning, the ref may have been right. It was a HUGE call at that moment in the game however.

So what can we surmise from all this? There is no doubt in my mind that Queensland were given every opportunity to do what they are expected to do every year - as Ray "Never let a cliché go unsaid" Warren so tediously stated at least two times near the end of the game - "snatch victory from the jaws of defeat".

This time however it did not come off for them. Now it's up to NSW to hold on in there home ground.

Is the Internet Boring You?

It's been about 30 years now (give or take) since the Internet was invented and I have started to come to a terrible realisation. The internet is BORING!!!

I remember when the internet was young, as was I, and seemed to define a time of endless possibilities. The world wide web was my oyster so to speak. I sat eagerly with my 28.8k modem bleeping and honking, waiting to connect and then surfing, surfing, surfing until the night wore on. Back in those days, of course I may have only ended up looking at two or three sites in that time. Such was the speed of downloads, that it might take ten minutes to download one photo - just enough time to pop out to make a cup of coffee. 

I remember dreaming of the time when we might have fast internet - where you could maybe watch a video! Or see 10 images show up on the page at one time! Oh the possibilities!

Now of course, here we are. Internet videos take a blink of an eye to load. Streaming movies are just a click away. TV shows are available on demand. Shopping sites are everywhere.

This is of course all terrific, so why do I find myself being bored with it all? Perhaps it's just complacency. Perhaps I'm just a spoilt brat. Whatever it is, I increasingly find I am going to my laptop out of habit, looking at the one or two sites I normally go to (Facebook, Gizmodo, SMH) and then.....I'm stuck. Where to? No idea. I find I want to surf, but yet I don't know where.

How about you? Do you find it hard to know where to go on the Web? Or maybe you have some suggestions about sites I should visit? Comment below and let me know.

By the way, I do know about Stumble Upon, and it has been my saviour on numerous occasions, but even that gets a bit boring after a while. Hard to please aren't I?

Optus Premium Speed - Worth the Money?

I'm getting upgraded to the premium speed pack on my Optusnet Cable plan so thought this would provide a good opportunity to do a comparison of before and after.

So, this is my result on my laptop on 14/11/13 though wifi connection before the upgrade using the OOkla Speedtest..




And another from 15/11/13



I will update once I get my new DOCSIS 3.0 modem to see the changes. Hopefully they'll be worth the extre $10 a month!

UPDATE: I now have the speedpack added and a spanking new Docsis 3.0 modem to go with it and I have to say the new speeds are pretty damn impressive. Below are the new speed test results where the results speak for themselves.

Pepperjack Shiraz on its way

As part of a marketing campaign that I am lucky to be part of I have the chance to try some Pepperjack Shiraz...mmm. Just got my email today that my package is on its way. Nothing like free wine!

Can't wait. I'll let you know how it is.

UPDATE: Yum! everyone that tried the Shiraz agree that it is a mighty fine drop!

Ten Play - Ten Don't Play?

Channel Ten have recently launched their new catch-up web page - Ten Play.

Trouble is the title seems misleading. I tried watching something on the browser through the PS3. The whole system crashed. OK, maybe a Playstation fault...the browser never was PS3's strong point.

This morning I'm trying to watch something on the site on my laptop. Waiting....waiting....nada.

Hard to see how ABC can get it so right with IView and to a lesser extent, SBS with their catch-up site but the big boys in Australian TV lag behind.

Seven's site is OK at best, with fairly ordinary quality of the streaming, Channel Nine's is mediocre and I'm yet to get anything on Ten.

Oh well, back to Aunty I suppose.

UPDATE: the teething problems seem to be over for TenPlay. There's only two things wrong with it in my opinion..,.too many ads and not enough shows I actually care that I missed. I did LOVE Puberty Blues though and am quite sad that it has finished. Quality acting and writing on Australian TV is hard to find.

My boy sends me strange messages...

Breaking Bad

Is it just me....or are you champing at the bit for the next installment of BREAKING BAD?

Now...if only there was some way of getting it moments after it finishes screening in the States....

[evil laugh grows louder and louder]