Entries by Robert

Experiments with Qik

Qik is a little piece of software that enables you to stream videos directly from your phone to the Web. Use it to stream engaging videos to your friends in Facebook, Twitter, etc. or as your camcorder to capture entertaining and special moments.

With Qik you can stream engaging video live from your phone to the world or use your phone like a camcorder to capture entertaining, interesting and special moments. Go LIVE with your life by streaming anytime, anywhere—right from your phone. Be an eyewitness, capture those first steps, or whip up your own streaming video blog. There are just a million and one uses of Qik.

This is one of the coolest Web things I have played with in a long time. Let me know what you think.



... Robert

I can remember when I was 5 years old and had formulated a theory of how electric motors worked. I got as far as electricity, currents and forces but how the forces "knew" what to do was a mystery to me! So began a career in electronics. In the last 23 years I have been involved in product development, embedded software design, engineering management, technology and innovation management, marketing and business development.

In short it has to date been a rewarding and fascinating time. As a self confessed techie, I love being involved in the latest and most interesting innovations, especially those impacting our everyday lives

... Robert

Edithburgh Dive Weekend 17/18th June '06



















Edithburgh Dive Weekend 3rd September '05


















Jennifer & Myself Diving 'The Lumb', 5th June '05


















Andy & Myself Diving 'The John Robb', 4th June '05

















Whyalla Cuttlefish Weekend, 15th May '05

I have been a SCUBA diver for more than 18 years now and in that time have had the opportunity to dive extensively throughout South Australia. I've dived elsewhere and yes, tropical water is wonderful but my soft spot is for the dramatic offshore waters of Australia's Southern coast. It may be cold but the dramatic scale of walls, caves, ledges, kelp, dolphins, seals, reef fish, oceanic pelagics and the odd rather too large for comfort predator make for what South Australian diving stands for!!

My favorite dive location is Allthorpe Island off the coast of South Australia's York Peninsula. My favorite shore dive is Chinaman's Hat, again on South Australia's York Peninsula.

I wish I could say how many dives I have done but for 10 years I kept no record of my diving, an oversight I now regret, many hundreds I'd say at a pinch! I now teach others to dive and my enthusiasm for the salty realm is as strong as ever.

... Robert

I have been involved in this mad sport for nearly 20 years now and can be found at the bottom of the pool on a regular basis. We play weekly at the Adelaide Aquatics Centre with formally organised teams and games. After the game you will almost certainly find us continuing the proceedings at a nearby watering hole!

Underwater hockey is very similar to field hockey in the way it is played with 6 players in the game per side and 4 players as interchange. We use a puck which, although looks like an ice hockey puck, is made of plastic coated lead. The hockey stick is very short, about 20cm long and is held in one hand. The entire game is played at the bottom of the pool while holding your breath!

Underwater Hockey started in England in 1954, but it was not until 1984 that the first World Championships took place in Chicago , USA where Australia made a clean sweep in Men’s and Women’s winning in both team events. Australian Open UWH Championships were held in 1975. The Women’s UWH Titles commenced in 1981, with the Junior UWH Championships commencing in 1990.

... Robert

I could could tell you a bit about who I am but I'm afraid the story would be obsolete before you get to read it. So let me give you a little of who I am at the time of writing this text. I am having a rich and adventurous life, full of "life experiences" as they say and it is my intention to keep things that way!

I presently live in the quiet city of Adelaide in South Australia. Adelaide may be quiet to some but believe me, there is plenty here to keep anyone thoroughly engaged, enthralled and occupied! You might just have to put in a bit of effort to find it sometimes!

My most recent passion has become the pursuit of excellence in teaching scuba divers. For me it has been a wonderful experience in bringing the brand new uninitiated into a world I have had many privileged years to be part of. Such a stark contrast from my previous life in the world of electronics, technology and computing.

That all being said I am still a technologist at heart and keep my ears to the ground and my eyes out for the latest, the greatest and most fun new things to play with. Today's new ideas may seem like fun and folly for the early adopters but history has shown that the future depends on us. If it were not for our insatiable appetite for ever new and more complex things to fill our lives with then I'm sure we would all still be living in caves and wondering "is this all there is!!".

... Robert

Just another moon? Perhaps…

It’s the same one I’ve seen in the sky countless nights and in countless phases. So why is it that when I glance up into the night sky, perhaps for the ten thousandth time, the moon still takes my breath away?

A wonderful question I’ll leave for other minds to ponder.

There is nothing special about this image. It’s identical to thousands like it. What’s special is that this waxing gibbous phase is my favourite moon.

Waxing, growing, becoming; Textured, visceral, visually tactile; Gibbous, solid, substantive with a promise of immanent completion...

These are just some of the reasons why this moon, a few days from full, is absolutely my favourite moon.

#astrophotography #celestial #moon #lunar #waxing #gibbous #moonphase

What an odd shaped blue swimmer crab I thought as it raised it claws to frighten me away.

It was not until we met at eye level did the source of the odd symmetry become apparent.

I quickly took my photo and then sheepishly backed away hoping to preserve some modesty. After all who wants to be photographed in this position?

Still, I kept the photo!

#blueswimmer #blueys #crab #critters #crustacean #diving #jetty #edithburgh #portunusarmatus #scuba #underwater #mating #mirror

Alien Encounter

If scuba diving is a privileged opportunity to experience critters hidden from our world then scuba diving at night takes it into a different, almost alien, world altogether.

Strange creatures come out from their secret nooks to search and hunt for prey. Sea lice and phytoplankton swarm dive lights like insects to headlights. Strange creaks, crackles and the odd indescribable sound fills the inky blackness while our lights illuminates just the tiniest bit of our surrounds.

Diving at night requires giving in to certainty and comfort in exchange for the unkown, the unexpected and alien encounters.

This southern calamari (Sepioteuthis australis) under Edithburgh Jetty on a recent dive was just such and encounter.

#animals #chromataphores #creatures #scuba #diving,juvenile #night #ocean #edithburgh #sea #critters #Sepioteuthisaustralis #squid #underwater #cephlapods #southaustralia

This seagull’s view of Point Lowly holds three of the Whyalla area’s oldest buildings, the heritage listed lighthouse and the two lighthouse keepers’ cottages.

Completed in 1883, the Point Lowly assisted maritime operations for the next 90 years. Today it’s maintained operational as a tourist attraction and the cottages can be rented for holiday accommodation.

#lighthouse #landscape #travel #pointlowly #southaustralia #whyalla #wideangle #aerial #drone

Some may think that the eagle ray is one of the uglier cousins of the ray family but I love them as one of my favourites.

Yes, that snubby nose and mottled skin make it just a little bit ‘bulldog crossed with dalmation’, but I think that they give this ray a unique character all its own.

It is however when eagle rays are swimming that their elegant beauty truly stands out. Their long birdlike wings and slender wipe-like tail are mesmerising in flight and take my breath away every time I see them.

I came here to Point Lowley to see the giant cuttlefish but am so glad this eagle has landed here.

#critters #stingray #diving #eagleray #marinelife #rays #pointlowly #scuba #southaustralia #stonypoint #whyalla #wideangle

Last weekend we made a trip to Whyalla on South Australia’s Spencer Gulf to frolic in the wintry ocean with our Giant Cuttlefish for their seasonal breeding congregation.

This year I was delighted with the numbers, as hundred and hundreds of mating crazed cuttlefish could be found along the shallow coastline west from Port Lowley.

As I have written before, this place is a rare treat for non-divers too with just snorkelling gear needed to completely experience the spectacle. There were in fact some places so shallow you could have stood with a pair of waders and a glass bottomed bucket and still got a good sense of the cuttlefish carry-on.

We got to share this experience with a couple of our dearest friends as well as hopefully making new ones, both human and cephalapod!

The Whyalla cuttlefish yet again remind me why I love South Australian diving.

#critters #cuttlefish #diving #giantcuttlefish #marinelife #molluscs #pointlowly #scuba #sepiaapana #southaustralia #stonypoint #sunburst #whyalla #wideangle #cephalapod

Look at the rainbow behind us Jennifer exclaimed; looking away from the beautiful sunset over Hummocks Range west of Lake Bumbunga near Lochiel.

We both agreed we’d never seen a rainbow like it before. It was if a painter had taken to the sky creating wispy downward brush strokes of colour.

It’s raining a rainbow I sighed as we watched this extraordinary play of colour and rain paint the ground below a brilliant gold.

For a time we looked back and forth from rainbow to sunset until eventually the colours faded and the gold turn to the grey blue of twilight.

It rained a rainbow this evening.

#rainbow #lochiel #hummocksrange #sunset #goldenhour #lakebumbunga #landscape #panorama #aerial #drone #southaustralia

Here anchored in the calm shallows of Sultana Bay, ‘Miros’ epitomises how to do a socially distant holiday.

We are so very lucky here in South Australia with relative freedom to move about and enjoy life with only minor inconvenience.

Still, if we find ourselves in lock-down again I wouldn’t mind being all-at-sea in such a beautiful boat!

#Ocean #sailing #yacht #edithburgh #boats #travel #sea #aerial #saltanabay #isolation #miros

Diving in South Australia would not be the same if every dive was not frequented by old wives!

An odd name for these attractive fish but as I am told their name comes from the way they behave when caught by fishers and the way they carry on when landed.

I am happy to see them down here where they belong. Not so desperate at all.

#Oldwives #rapidbay #jetty #scuba #diving #southaustralia #underwater #fish #marine

I offer no apologies for an obviously tourist snapshot! The boldness of this outback town’s welcome sign is nothing short of ostentatious and I simply had to capture it (along with every other visitor to Silverton)!

This humble little town in the middle of the Australian outback is the birthplace of our largest and most powerful company outside of the banking industry. Even on the world stage, BHP ranks in the top 100 companies (depending on your criteria).

Despite its auspicious heritage, Silverton's notoriety has very little to do with its mining giant offspring. It is the movie industry that brought the current Silverton into the public eye with Mel Gibson and ‘Mad Max II’, a.k.a. ‘The Road Warrior’ as the movie was renamed for international release. Since then Silverton has played host to many other Australian and international productions.

Silverton is a quirky place with fascinating local characters and perhaps is all the more interesting, not because of it being the birthplace of BHP but because of its moments in the show business limelight.

#bhp #silverton #newsouthwales #outback #madmax #roadwarrior #tourism #australia #silver #lead #mining

It’s not rained here for more than three weeks now and it’s starting to show.

The wetlands north of Adelaide are becoming more and more like salty badlands every day.
Marches have turn to mud and cracked like a patchwork of crazy paving.

Time to pray for rain.

#parched #arid #dry #texture #patterns #cracked #outerharbour

Mining is tough. Mining in arid outback Australia even tougher. Imagine your self back in the late 1800s, armed with a pick, a shovel and a wheel barrow and working a 12 hour hard labour day.

If you’re still determined to endure such hardship then throw in breathing silicate dust all day and having your lungs turned painfully into mush in the span of only a few years.

How did those old timers do it? How did they cope with the work, the hardship and the excruciating pain of slowly dying from disintegrating lungs? Even today there are still clues if you go hunting.

This innocent little flower can be found growing in amongst the stones of long abandoned outback mining towns. The opium poppy was grown and used by the old timers and its use systemic. Perhaps it was such an important part of mining life that without it early Australian mining pioneers would never have kept the manpower they needed to forge their then fledgling industry.

I am so grateful to live in a place and time where the gift of the opium poppy is simply its beauty.

#poppy #opium #mining #flowers #outback #desert #southaustralia #Papaversomniferum

When I first lay eyes this extraordinary creation by Australian artist Grant Donaldson I just starred and starred and stared.

I was lost for a time in glorious swirls of light and colour and imagined ghostly entities playing trixy with my my senses.

Is the genie long gone or perhaps still lingering; delighting in its seductive play.

Regardless, I love it!

#art #barossavalley #bottles #craft #grantdonaldson #glassblowing #glassware #gordonstudio #Jamfactory #seppeltsfield

Spend a little time at Outer Harbour watching the container ships being unloaded and you realise our huge reliance on trade and shipping.

For the most part this great machine goes unnoticed. The ships often seen as silhouette curiosities as they move up and down our gulf far from shore don’t really convey their importance. The freight port of Outer Harbour is sufficiently removed from the rest of suburban Adelaide to be simply something most here are only vaguely aware of.

Next time you see a large silhouette far out at sea, or shipping container on a truck as you drive pass, spend a moment to appreciate what they do for our lives.

#shipping #ships #goldenhour #ocean #sunset #aerial #sectionbank #outerharbour #mycommute

As the sun sets on Section Bank, its beautiful sandy beach turns to gold.
A treat for not only the pelicans, but also for my eyes in the evening sky.

A lovely way to end another gorgeous day.

#Goldenhour #ocean #sunset #beach #pelicans #aerial #sectionbank #outerharbour #mycommute

Of all our gorgeous Southern Australian marine critters there are few as beautiful as our Southern Blue Devil.

Timid, elegant, graceful and a dazzlingly iridescent blue, their grumpy expression seems at odds with their vibrant colour. They are a fish that always make me smile when encountered on a dive.

Normally a shy and reclusive fish, I struggle getting close to blue devils. They are are never far from some deep ledge or cave and almost always retreat back into the gloom when approached.

Imagine my shear delight on a recent night dive on the wreck of the ex HMAS Hobart where I counted at least ten of them roaming the sunken growth encrusted decks. I’d never seen so many on a single dive and never out in the open like then.

That amazing dive left me grinning for days and will always be remembered as the night I dived with the beautiful blue devils.

#animals #critters #diving #exhmashobart #hobart #wreck #fish #bluedevil #night #ocean #photogenic #portrait #scuba #diving #underwater #Paraplesiopsmeleagris

It was a churning, swirly night dive under Port Noarlunga Jetty. The seas were breaking over the reef creating confusing eddies. Even my compass seemed to have a mind of its own.

The white light from our torches turned the undersea world into a milky haze like swimming through swirling fog. Pretty soon it became all too bright so I changed to red light and Jess turned off her torch completely to immerse herself in the soft ambient glow from the jetty lights above.

Diving with only red light takes a little getting used to but is a wonderful way to approach critters without alarming them. This little gurnard perch was more than happy for me to nestle down alongside, admire its stoic pose and capture a few images.

I’m looking forward to more red light night dives from now on.

#animals #critters #portnoarlunga #fish #gurnardperch #jetty #life #macro #marine #night #ocean #photogenic #portrait #scuba #diving #underwater

Expansive vistas are hard. Looking out over a landscape that takes your breath away and trying to articulate to someone else why is the realm of poets. It’s not easily expressed.

It’s easy to see why you say; “just look at it, out there, at all of it!’ And that’s it right there, the ‘all of it’. That’s a tall order to share with someone not standing beside you.

Sometimes, in amongst the ‘all of it’, there’s an idea, a theme, a novelty that draws me in. A simple geometry, a minimalist interpretation, a rendered narrative, or an expanse of negative space might be just the thing that inspires me to share.

The sun descending in the west, a landscape in silhouette, and a hint of the ocean beyond an industrial vista is only a tiny part of ‘all of it’ but tonight it took my breath away.

#BarkerInlet #landscape #aerial #silhouette #goldenhour #mycommute #torrensisland #gardenisland #southaustralia

This serpentine landscape has probably lay here unseen, unnoticed, unadored. Perhaps someone keen on Google Earthing may have noticed as they explore in the digital realm.

For me its a wonderful discovery as I fly over this landscape on my way home. The more I discover about the Barker Inlet wetlands the more I love.

#BarkerInlet #Gilman #landscape #aerial #serpent #mangroves #goldenhour #mycommute #southaustralia

You could be forgiven for thinking the Delorean hit 88 mph and landed you back in the 50’s, especially given the authenticity of Bell’s Milk Bar.

Bell’s Milk Bar is not themed, it just never changed being one of Broken Hill’s longest running business.

We ordered soda spiders, milk shakes in aluminium cups and for an hour or so we imagined another time and another place.

#Bellsmilkbar #brokenhill #nostalgia #1950s #50s #icecream #milkbar #milkshakes

The temperature climbed to 40 degreesC today and with 38 degrees predicted for tomorrow.

For now the Gilman wetlands have plenty of surface water with hundreds of waterfowl taking respite from the heat. It will however be interesting to watch this place change over the coming summer months.

For now this Gilman cluster of pelicans are just happy to be in the water.

#sunset #minimal #pelicans #waterbirds #cluster #mycommute #aerial #gilman #southaustralia

The heat’s back and our local beach was jumping this evening.

Social distancing seems to work in the open spaces like on the grassy picnic areas or down on the sand. Those in the water even better.

#sunset #monochrome #summer #beach #jetty #henleybeach

Looking out over the Mundi Mundi plains the allure of the Australian outback is palpable. The vista is breathtakingly expansive, the remoteness liberating.

As that fiery orb sets over the Bimbowrie Conservation Park, bringing a relieving coolness to the day, I’m reminded why we call her a sunburned country.

#Sunset #outback #vista #landscape #sun #mundimundi #bimbowrie #australia #southaustralia #minimal #goldenhour #sunburn

One of the most iconic images of automotive history, the Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstasy, a symbol of opulence and wealth, carries with it a hint of another a story. A story of forbidden love and of tragedy.

Here she sits, no longer being driven, under a carport in outback Broken Hill. Her last steward, with us no more. I wonder what Pro Hart thought of her as he drove her around adorning his own Rolls Royce Corniche?

The work of artist Charles Robinson Sykes, she’s known as ‘The Silver Lady’ or ‘The Flying Lady’ and sometimes as ‘Eleanor’ after Eleanor Thornton, mistress of Baron John Montagu of Beaulieu. It is strongly believed that Eleanor was Sykes model and inspiration.

In 1913 Sykes created ‘The Whisperer’, styled on the ‘Spirit of Ecstacy’, to adorn the bonnet of Montagu’s Silver Ghost. The four inch tall figurine with flowing robes and a finger pressed to her lips belied the secret love affair. Tragically Eleanor drowned two years later when she and Montagu were sailing through the Mediterranean, their ship torpedoed by a German U-Boat.

I’ll never look at a Rolls Royce quite the same again especially one with the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ adorning her bonnet. That statement of wealth and opulence will always be there but now I’ll see a human story too.

#spiritofecstasy #mascot #ornament #charlesrobinsonsykes #rollsroyce #sculpture