17th March 2020

Just remember: People are good!

For a long time i have described working in IT as a thankless job. Even more thankless on the frontline. I recall my days working on the helpdesk, and there was never a time anyone called to say "Just ringin to let you know my Microsoft Office launched quickly" or that "I returned from leave and my PC booted really fast, and i was able to resume working as if i hadnt left". I would have fallen out of my chair. Instead it was "I cant recall my password, what are you guys doing up there, ive had to wait in this queue for 9 minutes to get my password!" , and in my mind im thinking "well im sorry you cant remember your cats name and your daughters birthday put together mate" as I did everythgin i could to get them back up and running ASAP.

More recently, I recall the countless nights working on updates and maintenance for applications and systems, to either get them back online, or keep them up to date, protected and performant. Ive had to learn not to watch social media during these types of events, because it can break you! You see these comments, and then the reality of things set in. You havent seen your family for 3 days becuase your working so many hours, and you have eaten nothing but take-away, and are surviving on Dare Iced Coffee, cigarettes and sour worms. Maybe you didnt go to a family dinner, and your mates who dont understand think "stuff that i wouldnt work at 1am for anyone". Well, I do! I personally do it becuase I love what I do. That doesnt stop it being very difficult to get back on the horse when seemingly, the people you are doing it for (all be it only the noisy ones on keyboards), just think youre trying to do it to annoy them!

SO, now I have finished my rant, the real point of me sitting down to type this out, was as a result of watching the evening news. Seeing the lines of people lined up to buy essential items was very concerning, however the creation of a dedicated window for elderly and disabled made me feel really happy, happy that we can act dynamically and try to address a problem. This whole event has alot to playout, and its a mix of necessary precaution and irrational fear, and everything in between. I was thinking how great it was that we were doing our best in a seriously trying time.

That feeling didnt last long at all, the reason for this was the news teams interviewing the elderly as they left, asking them questions and airing them saying things like "I cant believe they havent stocked the shelves!" , "Be nice if they bloody had some stock there!". Well, you know what, I bet they are trying, and trying their best! I worked in a supermarket when I was 16, and recall stocking the shelves every night to keep it up and running, I cannot begin to imagine what my life would have been like as a 16yr old, during the current pandemic, where a whole supermarket might need to be restocked completely overnight. I was still at school, and to be honest, work was as much a social outing as it was a mechanism to learn some life skills, and a few bucks to buy the latest CD I wanted.

Behind the doors at supermarkets and retail outlets all across the country, I have no doubt they are pulling additional shifts, planning how they can get stock on the floors, how they can get whatever they can from suppliers and get it into the shelves for people to buy, ways to limit those items that need to be rationed etc etc. They certainly are not sitting around thinking "how will we make peoples lives worse tomorrow?"

So spare a thought in this current climate for the things people are doing, and dont focus on the things they are not. These are people like you and I, they are participants in the same society, and are also worried about the same things we are. And think about this next time you ring up to server someone up over something that isnt going well in your life, did they actually cause the problem, and are you spraying the person thats actually there to help you.

Be courteous, be kind, be thoughtful. Youll actually be amazed how much further in life this will get you!

~AA

5th February 2020

Put that device down!

There is a new bunch of people I have had to get to know, courtesy of youtube. I had never heard of Collins Key, the Dobre Brothers or Troom Troom before, and I certainly didnt know anything about the Spy Ninjas or Chad Wild Cay and how they are doing their best to uncover the secrets of the Project Zorgo hackers, but i certainly do now.

I had heard other parents of older kids than mine talk about the screen time, and what their children were like after too much time on an iPad or Tablet etc, and said those words "that wont be happening with my kids!" , famous last words.

So, after a lazy weekend where it had been a bit rainy, and as a family we had some quality couch time, the attitude coming from 1 of the small people was outrageous, and the build up to this had been that I felt the screen time was having an impact. Events like; tantrums if a device was flat, asking them to do ANYTHING that didnt involve watching their device (im certain they were scheming how to use it in the bath/shower) and particularly meal times, became an issue. This was about to stop!

I did some reading and found Google Family link, and how to create an account for your child under 13. Its pretty much mobile device and account management for you kids. Really works best in conjunction with Android devices to get the full value, however a subset of the settings around the account etc work for Apple/Windows.
You can check it out officially from Google here https://families.google.com/familylink/

In summary;
- Family Link locks down the devices so you can provide the active hours. You say when bedtime should be, and the device doesnt work outside those hours without you providing 'bonus time', i thought this was going to be the biggest hurdle, but far from it. Tilda loved knowing 'You have 15 mins left' etc, and that she could be rewarded with 'bonus time', so that was a win, this knocked the sneaking around at night pretending to be asleep watching YouTube on the head. There is reporting for how long they can use certain apps etc too, its very thorough in this space.
- App installs need to be approved a parent, you can either put a code in on the device, or it sends a notification to your own phone, to approve the app. Excellent, and no more 17 pages of every app installed from the play store, the devices perform better, less risk of accidental in-ad purchses (as they were signed in using MY google account) and also, dodgy apps with chat etc you dont know about dont make their way in.
- Creates an email address for the kids, that is converted to a fully fledged google account at 13. This has been handy for signing up to anything TBH, originally I wasnt sure it was required, but it hasnt been too bad being able to seperate things like Milo Cricket etc, also allows the linking of a school account to their google account. Any emails sent to the kids, are also sent to the adults so you can make sure you are across what is being emailed to them.
- The biggest hurdle was Youtube, kids cannot use the official youtube app until they are 13, so you cant even install it, you need to use youtube kids, which is actually, lets say, 80% there from a content perspective and 100 safer than youtube regular. Some of the content they want isnt on there, but theres still ALOT, and its safe, Google have verified it safe and therefore it can appear in the kids app. This wouldnt have been such an issue if they hadnt already had a taste for youtube, but TBH, theyve moved on and if they really want to watch something on youtube, Wifey and I can look it up on our phones and cast it for them..

All in all, these little tweaks and changes, have really moved the dial on the device attitude, its provided them enough access to do majority of what they want, but it appears to have sent a message around this device isnt just a free for all, and that if attitudes and usage is abused, we can lock out and shut down the devices for as long as we choose.

Good luck!

~AA

18th July 2019

Tech meets Hobbies

For me, my hobbies are really important tools in my Digital detox kit. Think about a normal day; Outlook, command line, structure, rushing to the clock, SMS, slack and who could forget the big 2 ~ Powerpoint and Excel! (There will be another writeup about them pair one day soon too).

Getting out the bush, or in the boat, naturally removes the dependancy on most of those things, sometimes the hardest bit is escaping. Too many night has my long term wingman Gribbo had to witness me pressing my phone to the window, heading across the Hay Plains trying to get 'one last email' out on a Friday night. This is when I clearly needed to disconnect for a bit.

But increasingly Technology has started to play a huge part in these Hobbies. And its something that there isnt a great deal of information around, and can largely confuse people. Insert the IT guy, who manages to squeak the most out of this tech, and just enjoys everything it has to offer. One of my more recent projects, has been how to use Satellite imagery overlaid on the tracking devices we now rely so heavily on to assist us. Do we catch more becasue we have these devices? I certainly dont ... But do they assist? Absolutely.

This evening, during a moment of reflection something dawned on me ... Perhaps I do this as its a way to engage with those hobbies, when i'm sitting at home. A way of thinking about driving around the scrub, and how being able to see where we are in relation to the water was going to be a game changer. Or how floating around Lake Mulwala casting at submerged timber, that only I knew was there because of the historical satellite data overlaid on the sounder was going to put me closer to a huge Cod hiding near it somewhere. Maybe not, maybe its just the challenge of getting it working? This is coming from the bloke who built a Hackintosh only to put it on the shelf when it was finally working.

Anyone who landed here Googling about mapping for Lowrance sounds or using Birdseye Imagery for Garmin ALpha, so as not to dissapoint, sneak along and check out some of the great work on these sites that might help you get a leg up, or feel free to reach out Ill do my best to point your nose in the right direction.

Garmin & Birdseye
https://www.gundogsupply.com/garmin-birdseye-tutorial-astro.html
https://support.garmin.com/en-AU/?faq=0TbnfRvN725yvq1H6cNSv7
Lowrance & CMAP
https://gofreemarine.com/2017/06/01/how-to-download-a-free-insight-genesis-social-map-chart-for-fishing-cruising-or-sailing/
https://www.lowrance.com/en-au/lowrance/type/mapping/c-map/c-map-genesis-be9e3bb7/

~AA

9th July 2019

Talbingo Trip.

School holidays had rolled around, and Wifey was asking the question "What are we going to do this Holidays? Are we heading to the Snow?". I had a couple of days in the bank from earlier in the year, and come up with a plan that involved being able to take the familiy away and do some winter activities, but also incorporate some fishing for a mate and I - Solid Planning AA. So the Austins and the Burrages were off on the next installment of our Family Holidays.

For those that havent spent much time in the Snowy Mountains we setup base in a beautiful little place called Talbingo, not far from Tumut. Just up the Mountain are the Selwyn Snowfields, and the Yarrangobilly Caves, meaning making Talbingo a great home base to access multiple adventures. Talbingo has a bit of a shop/supermarket/hardware, a Country Club, Servo and everything you neeed to get by if you do your shopping on the way through Tumut. Between Talbingo and Tumut is my newest nemesis, Blowering Dam. It holds some of the biggest Muray Cod in Australia, according to the photos of all the other fishermen ...

We rented a lovely house off Stayz (Millers Retreat), we had beautiful weather while we were there and the kids had a ball. Im not too sure the Impromptu hike, and subsequent carrying of a 4yr old through a canyon, on an uphill trail was really what 'holiday' is about, but there were some very beautiful sights for the effort. Nothing is as dark, as being in a 200 million year old cave, and the guide turning the lights out PITCH BLACK.

Great times with mates, always fun to play 'Cards against Humanity' with people who have never played, and some more stories in the bible, and new creative reasoning as to why i didnt land a metre Cod AGAIN at Blowering Dam.

~AA

ashaustin.net - blog

17th March 2020

Just remember: People are good!

5th February 2020

Put that device down!

18th July 2019

Tech meets Hobbies

9th July 2019

Talbingo Trip.

9th July 2019

Initial Commit