Lisa has done a terrific amount of work in the back yard over the last few days. I went out early this morning and took a few shots of things that caught my eye…

A very cool video showing the extent of the known universe.

The interior of this car looks remarkably like Lisa’s Commodore. Hey, the outside of the other cars look like Commodore sedans too!

Maryborough is hosting a Relay for Life event in April 2010. This is an 18 hour relay event aimed at raising money for the Cancer Council. They use the funds for education, advocacy, research (which is where the bulk of the money goes) and to support cancer patients and survivors.

This evening I attended one of the Relay for Life committee meetings in the council chambers. It’s early days in the planning of the local event but it’s pretty clear that the local SES will (a) have a team entered, and (b) assist in the planning of the event.

Attending this meeting tonight was especially poignant given that earlier in the day I went to the funeral for the wife of a fellow SES member. His wife succumbed to cancer last Friday. We haven’t chosen a final name for the SES team but it will certainly be something dedicated to his wife.

Lisa is considering entering a team of her own (given that she’s a cancer survivor herself) so if you’re interested in being part of the relay give Lisa a shout.

(Side note: It was the second time I’ve been in the council chambers in 48 hours. I was there Monday evening as the SES liaison officer during a MECC emergency simulation).

David Tennant’s final two episodes of Doctor Who will air on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, the BBC has confirmed.

Provisional schedules for the Christmas period will see ‘The End Of Time, Part One’ air from 7.30pm to 8.30pm on BBC One on Christmas Day, sandwiched between episodes of EastEnders.

‘The End Of Time, Part Two’, in which Tennant’s Doctor will regenerate into a new incarnation played by Matt Smith, will air on New Year’s Day. The hour-long episode will go out at 7.30pm, again sandwiched between episodes of EastEnders and also ahead of the last ever episode of Gavin & Stacey.  [Via Digital Spy]

For the first time in living memory (well, maybe 12 months) I got out on my bike this morning.

I did an easy 20km at a slightly embarrassing average of a shade over 24km/hr. This is a long way from the pace I used to ride at, but for my first ride back on the bike after so long it was a really enjoyable ride.

There’s nothing quite like riding in the bush on a warm summer morning, the road to yourself as the bike crunches across dried up gum leaves and magpies and kookaburras ridicule you as you drift through the bush. Lovely stuff. I need to do this more often.

I got a pre-paid USB modem key for use when I’m on the road. After a few little niggles with the Das Keyboard (which I’ll get to in a minute) I found that I couldn’t activate it at all yesterday. The Telstra activation service was offline.

I whined about it on Twitter:

And this morning, Tom from Telstra replied:

I’m not a huge Telstra fan because of the cost of their services, but you’ve gotta give them a thumbs up for this degree of interaction. Nice to see.

Oh, and the Das Keyboard issue? I found that if I have the keyboard plugged in I can’t connect either the USB modem or the iPod. Neither works. Unplug the keyboard and both work perfectly. I’ve done a little trawling of a few forums and it’s apparently a pretty common problem. The Das Keyboard draws a huge amount of power from the USB connector and a lot of laptops just don’t supply enough power. Word is that if you connect the Das Keyboard via a powered USB hub everything is golden. I’m pretty sure I’ve got an old one out in the office so I’ll have to dig it out.

I know it’s technically not summer yet, but given that we’ve had like a bazillion days over 30 already it sure feels like summer. Days like this are just made for late afternoon barbeques.

While the snags were cooking I grabbed a half decent shot of Adelaide bathed in the dying glow of the sun.

I’ve gone through a lot of keyboards over the years. Most of those I’ve encountered have been cheap and flimsy pieces of junk. The OEM keyboards supplied by the likes of Dell and HP are nothing but rubbish unless you opt for the “Premium” keyboard, in which case they’re slightly less rubbishy, but still a joke.

My current go-to keyboard for serious work is a trusty IBM Model M keyboard made in 1994. It’s beautifully crafted: solid as a rock, proper mechanical key switches that feel good, and decent feedback.

Ever since I heard about Das Keyboard (maybe 9 months ago?) I’ve been interested in them. They have the same design philosophy as the model M: solid build, gold plated mechanical keys and beautifully finished. The dollar has been getting better and better, and I finally decided to get one.

They have two models: a professional and an ultimate. They’re the same price and have exactly the same features with one subtle difference. The Ultimate is blank.

Yes, completely blank. No labels. Nada.

I’ve spent 30 years touch typing so I never look at the keys. After using my new Ultimate all day I didn’t have a problem.

What I bought this keyboard for is the keystroke, however, and I have to say that the feel of this keyboard is heavenly. It is without doubt the nicest keyboard I have ever, ever used. The feedback and the feel of each keystroke is sublime. Beautifully weighted, each keystroke has the perfect amount of feedback and a well balanced ‘click’ as the keystroke registers.

This keyboard is that good that I’m actually looking forward to getting back to work on Monday so I can start typing again.

It’s a beautifully crafted piece of hardware that stands head and shoulders above the junk that people sell as keyboards these days. A truly great product. 10/10.