Brilliant!

It’s about time "The Man" started recognising that sharing is not the same as stealing.

Barack Obama’s amazingly consistent smile from Eric Spiegelman

Who needs round wheels anyway?

Maybe this will help you understand why I’m referred to as the "Chief Geek"!

The awesome Bugatti Veyron is no longer the worlds fastest production vehicle. That mantle has been passed to the SSC Ultimate Aero. It costs less than half the Veyron and is capable of well over 400km/h and yes – you can buy one. One powerball.

Just listen to that engine! No blow-off valves… and no radio.

Check out Jay Leno’s Garage to watch his review.

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=275184

A funny and clever video clip showing how quick a PC can be with 24 SSD Drives in RAID.

I asked Steve "Grumpy" Collins (Executive Producer to the Stars) to take a couple of shots this morning while I was doing Weekend Breakfast on 882 6PR.

I’m still not sure why I have such a passion for broadcasting – but it’s something that has been with me since 1989 when I got my first gig at 1080am – The Eagle.  Admittedly little more than a Cart Boy, there was something about radio that pressed my buttons.

I love the immediacy. I love the LIVE aspect of radio. It’s flying by the seat of your pants with so many things capable of going wrong. It really is an adrenalin rush.

I think talkback radio is especially challenging. You never know if you’re going to get callers – and if you do, you don’t know who they are (or if they are who they say they are). You never know what they’re going to say. The Dump Button is always in mind!

I look forward to the weekend shifts at 6PR – they leave me feeling like I’ve walked a tightrope and made it to the other side.

What’s your passion?

I don’t hide away from the fact that I have a disease called Multiple Sclerosis – commonly referred to as MS.

There seems to be a lot of ignorance around this disease – and that’s to be expected. It’s not an infectious disease like the flu and the vast majority of people with MS experience it quietly and without obvious problems. Many in the Medical Industry refer to it as "the silent disease". It’s not contagious and because the symptoms primarily occur internally, you would not be able to pick the vast majority of people with it.

The symptoms vary enormously – from person to person and day to day. Some suffer short term memory loss or an inability to find the correct word when they’re speaking. Others can suffer balance problems, bladder control issues or double vision. Or any combination of these and many,many other symptoms. Every part of the human body (& mind) is controlled by the brain and central nervous system. So you can imagine, if they’re not working properly – you’re not working properly.

Multiple Sclerosis means "Many Scars". This scarring refers to the tissue that grows to replace the fatty myelin sheath coating the nerves in your brain and spinal cord.  Why do scars occur? Because for some currently unknown reason, the body’s own immune system is attacking it. When the myelin sheath gets damaged, scar tissue grows to replace it and this affects the nerve’s ability to carry a signal properly. Damage enough nerves and you start to experience problems. Unfortunately, the myelin sheath does not grow back and there’s only so many nerves and only a finite amount of brain tissue.

Wikipedia covers this really well here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis

I was first diagnosed with MS in 2004. I had experienced a number of unusual physical events that lead me to do some research on the Internet. After much filtering of information, I established I either had a brain tumour or multiple sclerosis.  My GP was no help whatsoever and basically accused me of being a hypochondriac and malingerer. The curse of the silent disease! Because the symptoms weren’t overt – he couldn’t make the mental leap.

The last time I went to see my GP, my feet were burning, I was slurring my speech, had short-term memory loss and I’d had a double-vision episode that had lasted about an hour. I was seriously worried but he seemed to think "it’ll pass". It didn’t and looking back I’m happy I insisted on a referral to a Neurologist. The snotty tone of the referral making it clear the patient had "self-diagnosed MS" made me rather angry.

The Neurologist had clearly seen many cases of MS as he was able to establish within 5 minutes of probing questions that there was something wrong. I was sent for an MRI and within a week I was back in his office to hear the verdict. I not only had MS, I had had it for quite some time.

It was a massive relief when I found out it was "just" an auto-immune disease. A tumour may have given me months to live whereas MS won’t shorten my life, it’ll just affect the quality of it.

With the wondrous 20/20 Retrospectoscope, it’s easy to pick medical events in my life from as early as the age of 21 that can now be explained by Multiple Sclerosis. That time the Doctor claimed I had a double-ear infection that affected my balance? MS. The unusual drop-foot way of walking that used to occur on the odd occasion… MS.  The weird feeling of a belt being tightened around my chest? MS. And finally – the sign that gave it all away… the bizarre electrical buzzing I get in my feet when I drop my chin to my chest… that’s called Lhermitte’s Sign and it’s an almost 100% indicator of Multiple Sclerosis.

So, now we have a diagnosis. What’s next?

Well I’ve never been a big fan of taking medicines, so I encouraged the Neurologist to just let things ride until my next attack. My MS is a type called "Relapsing-Remitting". That means I can be fine for weeks or even months and then something sets it off. Usually a stress event, but often things like excess heat or being run-down can get the symptoms or "exacerbation" happening.

Usually I’ll have my exacerbation and then things return mostly to normal. Damage has been done, but the brain and central nervous system are wonderfully engineered technology and there’s plenty of excess capacity to take up the slack and re-route around the damaged areas.

Unfortunately, about 2 years ago, the episode started to pick up pace and ferociousness. The Neurologist jumped on it and put me on an immuno-suppressive injectable called Betaferon. This needed to be mixed from a powder and saline solution every other day and injected into my belly. I coped with this for 9 months and it actually did a great job of suppressing my symptoms. I used a auto-stabbing device called an Autoject. You load the syringe into it and press a button which releases a spring that sinks the needle into your flesh and presses the plunger for you. Horrible 8-\

I was tired of injecting into my tummy.

I returned to the Neurologist and was moved onto another immuno-suppresive called Avonex. It’s still injected, but it’s now once a week. That’s bearable – especially knowing that since I’ve been on these 2 medications, I haven’t had a serious set back at all.  I’d like to thank all Australians for allowing these medications to be on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme – because if they weren’t, there’s just no way I – or any other MS Patient – would be able to afford them. They cost many hundreds of dollars per injection.

It still does my head in to think my MS is caused by my body’s own over-active immune system – and that the thing that’s saving me is a substance that effectively reduces how capable my immune system is!

So these days, I’m down to minor symptoms but they can still be reasonably debilitating.  I get rotten headaches – and they’re a very specific type that are quite unlike normal headaches. Normal painkillers don’t do very much at all.  I’m clumsy and I suspect that’s because I have poor balance. I often bounce off doors and walls. A Type-A Personality with no coordination is not a good recipe!  I have burning feet – or maybe feet that feel like they’re in really cold water – it’s just a constant, never-ending tingle from halfway down my calves to the ends of my toes.

But I’m happy. I’m happy I’m on treatment. I’m happy it’s not rapidly getting worse. I’m happy it’s not a tumour. I’m happy I’ve made it to 38 and I’m still completely functional and although a little tubby – I’m as fit as a Mallee Bull.

I’m going to use my blog to document my ongoing treatment, my symptoms and how I deal with it all. I’m probably going to reveal far more information than I really should – but that’s me. If this helps anyone at all, I’ll be over the moon.

Other than PCGURU, I work in radio. It’s something I absolutely love. Whilst I don’t mention MS very often on air, I want to use that platform to help others deal with the concept of having MS and I want people to know you can carry on. I know my family were all quite upset when the diagnosis of MS was made, so I’d like to help communicate it’s not the end of the world!

There is massive variation in the severity of the symptoms people get with MS. I am fortunate to be on the lighter side. There are people who have been knocked off their feet from the very first attack. No platitudes are going to help there. Research is progressing and better medications are coming. There’s even talk of reversing some of the damage we previously thought permanent.  I hope everyone with MS can be treated – and soon.

The silent suffering can make for some dark and dreary days.

More to come.

‘Green Box’ Product Promo (Pizza Box) from Green Box

I just made a loan to someone in Mozambique using a revolutionary new website called Kiva (www.kiva.org).

My loaner page is here: http://www.kiva.org/lender/jasonjordan

You can go to Kiva’s website and lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business – like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent – and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.

The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back – and Kiva’s loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

It’s finally easy to actually do something about poverty – using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they’re using it for. And most of all, I know that I’m helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

Join me in changing the world – one loan at a time. I’ve only just started but I’ll be continuing to add new money to my loans as well as re-investing as the loans are re-paid. You don’t get a financial dividend on your investment – but that’s not what this is about. This is all about helping out because you can.

Visit Kiva now and find out more: http://www.kiva.org

Thanks!

———————————————————

What others are saying about www.Kiva.org:

‘Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.’ – BBC

‘If you’ve got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you’ve now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.’ – CNN Money

‘Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.’ – The Wall Street Journal

‘An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity…All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.’ – Entrepreneur Magazine

Everything is amazing, nobody is happy…

It seems like the road toll is increasing disproportionately to the increase in drivers. I guess it could be a media beatup – but ultimately, that’s not my point.

Any road trauma is a problem.

I’ve been hearing lots of arguments about how to lower the incidence of these events – but many are expensive and others will be ineffectual.

I agree our roads suck. I agree that "traffic calming" devices actually have the opposite effect on many types of drivers. I agree that speed limiting vehicles is dangerous in and of itself – and pointless – 90km/h is still too fast in a school zone.

So what other options are there?

Initially I thought using a GPS with GPRS feeding data back to a central computer would be useful. Not *that* expensive, technology is already here but I can forsee the outcry over "Big Brother".

The only option I see now is a cultural one. If we can’t stop drivers acting irresponsibly and outrageously we have to get over our fear of dobbing in a mate and report it. Every time.

Yes – there will be issues of malicious reporting and other such foul play… but I don’t think that should stop it. You can always warn those who make frivolous reports.

Perhaps it could take a number of complaints about the same driver within a certain period of time from different people before anything is done. All it would need is for 3 drivers to report that Green Lancer heading north at 130km/h+ on the Kwinana – and they get a visit from the Plod.

I know that in effect this can already happen, but if the Government is willing to spend millions on campaigns for drink driving and seatbelts, surely a "Dob in a Dickhead" campaign would be even more effective?

It’s a big cultural mindshift for us to make, but with the amount of people (families, friends, innocent bystanders) currently being affected by idiot drivers surely we can all agree to report the goons who are clearly risking not just their own lives?

I’m not a particularly politically motivated person – but I’m almost pissed off enough to get this whole "Dob in a Dickhead" thing going myself.

We’ll see if this is a good idea or not … but at the moment yeah I like it.

iKarma allows you to build a reputation online by creating a profile and then having your network of contacts link to you and provide 3rd party feedbacks and comments about you on both a personal and professional level.

As I have little to hide… (apart from the bodies) … I’m happy to give it a go and see if it works.

Check me out at: http://www.ikarma.com/id/106 and join in!

I love these optical illusions where it makes it so obvious that our brains are fuzzy meat processors.

Have a look for yourself!

Here’s a few more pics. I’ll hopefully get access to some more taken on another digital camera soon and I’ll post the best! These are just thumbnails but check out the photos on the top right – they’re clickable – but they’re not all Katherine.  All of hers are here.

She’s beautiful and very, VERY alert! I also need to mention the staff at King Edward – espcially Devon & Nicola. They were just terrific. Whilst everyone was really helpful, professional, fun and sympathetic, it was Devon & Nicola who delivered Katherine and really helped us feel at home. Child-birth is always a scary time, but they helped us through and as a result we now have a gorgeous, healthy baby with all the right bits in the right places.

Katherine Helena Jordan arrived at 17:35hrs on Monday, January 23 2006.

She weighed 4530 grams and was 53cm long.  Her head was 38cm around.

She’s a very big girl.  Very robust.  Mostly quiet – but when she shouts…. hoooo boy!

Mum has had a few complications. but hopefully both will be home soon.

Katherine is Number 4, after Elizabeth, Jennifer and William.

We’ve worked out whats causing it, so I think we’ll stop now.

I bought a HP HW6515. It’s a Windows Mobile Based Cellular with inbuilt GPS.

I immediately started pursuing software to allow for realtime tracking via a web page.

I found
Navizon but there are others that I’ll post about soon.

I need one. You need one.

It’s on my Christmas List.

Cool It Systems – USB Beverage Chiller

VoipCheap

Free calls from your PC to any Australian Public Telephone Number.  Very cool.

You can also call the UK, Poland and many other countries.

Can’t see this lasting long.

Technorati Tags: voip, technology, free stuff