journal
Thanks to the miracle that is stumbleupon, i found this really nifty site called the World Sunlight Map. It shows a satellite image of the earth with it’s current light-coverage (ie; it shows you where it’s day, and where it’s night). Not really important or useful, but very cool 
I’m an avid reader. I read all the time. I used to go through at least one book a week. I would sit on the way to school, on the way home, after I’d done my homework, and read. I still love to read, but I’ve started, instead of reading fiction or narratives, reading Lonely Planet guides to the destinations I want to go to at the end of year 12. I haven’t actually bought all those guidebooks myself, I’ve only bought South East Asia on a Shoestring, Europe on a Shoestring and Japan, but my parents have a collection of about a dozen (mostly the UK and continental Europe, but also Egypt, Africa, etc) and the school library has a very interesting collection. They even have a second edition of South East Asia on a Shoestring. Now if only i could find a copy of “Across Asia On The Cheap”…
Anyway, as I read these books, I jot down anything important or useful, like a place I definitely want to go, an important tip, etc, etc. And with all this information, I’ve been slowly, ever so slowly, planning my trip. I’ve been doing a few things to try to cut back on spending as well, like brining lunch when i go to work (or trying to remember to bring lunch…).
I’ve been setting up and working on a website or two as well, which will hopefully bring in a little bit of money to go towards those savings…
Anyway, the point of this post is…I’m obsessed. Everything I do is somehow related to or will somehow influence my travels…I just had to let it out.
I recently launched a new blogging, web-mastering, web design, web marketing and online money-making blog called Blogmastr. It’s only been up under two days, but I’ve already got a fair bit of content up including a very in-depth article on my oppinion of Web 3.0. In a few weeks time I will be holding a competition over there at Blogmastr, offering a cash prize, although I can’t release details just yet (it won’t be happening until next month!). So if you’re interested in web design, graphic design, css, blogging, web marketing or just making money online, please take a second just to hop on over to Blogmastr.
Up until now, all of my Blog-of-the-week posts have been varyingly independent. Someone going on their private little RTW trip or walking across Europe. These blogs are awesome, and generally they’re my favorite type of travel blog, but today I’m going for something a little bit different. BraveNewTraveler has it’s fair share of on-the-road travel posts, but also focuses a little more on things like feature articles. Most of their articles are either fun, interesting or inspiring (or a mixture of all three) so they’re well worth a look!
Okay, I’m 16, right? So I still go to High School. I’m in year eleven. Average teenager, blah blah blah. But I also happen to have a website/blog. A proper one. Not some something.blogger.com or something.wordpress.com thing. I have a proper domain name, with proper hosting that i paid for myself, not a free account on blogger where i whine about my middle-class life in the suburbs.
So anyway, as i was saying, i go to school in NSW. As some of you might know, the NSW government has introduced a state-wide proxy for all schools called the “DETPortal” (Department of Education and Training Portal) that blocks anything it deems “unappropriate’. Such as you.travel (a travel guide), any google search with the term “mp3″, most forums and even blogs. Even all the pictures on wikipedia are blocked. Maybe some little kid was looking up mammary glands?
This makes it awfully hard to complete any internet research tasks at school. For example, last year we were told to look up images of different products (clothes, for example) online and then make our own designs. Now, you’d think the first thing you’d do is go to google images, and search for, say, “shoe” or “shirt”. WRONG! Google Images? Blocked. Okay well…then maybe go to an online shoe shop? or shirt shop? WRONG! 99% of online shops are blocked, and the chances of that 1% that isn’t blocked having high-quality pictures of what you’re looking for are even smaller.
Now, I guess you’re getting an understanding of how hard it is to work within the boundaries of this “DETPortal”, so this brings me to today. I went to go to my website (www.darcyjohnperkins.com). It was blocked! Rediculous. Why would they block me? I don’t have anything inappropriate on here. Skip 5 minutes later - I’m now in computers class, and i go to my website to see if it works. Still blocked. How about if i google my name, and then click the link to my site? What’s this? It works. Magic! Right now I’m in class, writing this up whilst my teacher tries to access a page he needed to teach us - which just happens to be blocked by the DETPortal…
This post/rant really is meaningless, but I just enjoyed getting it off my chest about how truly ridiculous this DETPortal is. I can’t wait until they realise it’s negative effects on our learning and just remove it.
North Jakarta dawn #3, originally uploaded by r_o_n_n_i.
A beautiful Indonesian Sun rise. Stunning colors and a beautiful setting.
I’m trying to prepare now, as much as possible, for when I leave for my trip. So a few weeks ago when mum went to get me a new school bag, I got a nice 29L bag by Analog. It has padded back support, an Audio cable thing so you can leave your MP3 player in a side pocket, and 1 major pouch which can fit most of my stuff, plus 4 side pockets and 2 extra pockets.
It can fit all my stuff right now. Actually it can fit more, but the thing is i don’t have my camera[s] yet. I have my small Powershot G7 compact, but i think a D-SLR would take a lot more space. The bag also has a padded pouch for my laptop - so no need to buy an extra case or anything. So I’m really just writing this all down…but if anyone has any advice, then feel free to comment.
The stunning black silhouette of a lady sitting in an alley in Cuba.
Click above for full size image.
As you can see, more people go to Google, and search for “google” than for porn. I just don’t get how more people can go to google to search for the website that they just went to, than search for porn? I mean, half the internet is porn, right? I guess maybe people are idiots.
On May 31st, 2003, Paul and Helen Webster set out on an immense journey - walk from Spain, to Turkey. As you may have guessed, their journey was actually undertaken in 2003-2004, but Paul has just started blogging about it. So far he’s up to day 14, and has plenty more to go!
