A large set of new laws governing content in Australia have been passed and go into affect on 20 Jan 2008. Here’s the skinny on what their government will do:

• “Content service providers” are required to check the consumers age and apply restrictions according to an examination done by the Australian Office of Film and Literature (OFLC)
• The examination sets a rating of the content based on their own rating system
• They can enforce it by banning content or sites, sent take down notices to hosts, or even blacklist whole sites or companies with themandatory Australian Internet sensor.

Australian government, I’m happy to consider complying with your new Australian laws even though I live and am hosted in the U.S.A. I will need the following from you:

1. An overview or summary of these new laws.
2. Clear detailed documentation, in electronic form, on the laws, rating process, ratings, and any other related items needed to comply with these new laws.
3. A government accepted method to check the age of Australian consumers. All electronics or servers involved will need clear documentation along with a one year proven track record of 99.999% uptime before integrating it with my systems.
4. An Australian government liaison to work with my project manager and my accountant.

After this information is provided, I’m happy to consider it with the intention of finding an acceptable solution between us both. At this point, any delays, blacklisting, censorship, or take-down will be due to your own delays or neglect. I am ready and waiting to jump into action.

All expenses will be summarily tracked by my accountant and invoiced to you; each due within 30 days. Please have your liaison provide a clear method for reimbursement back to us. Starting in 2008, these are the hourly rates (outside of hard expenses) for taking on this project:

• Project manager, $175/hr
• Accountant, $250/hr
• Owner supervision, $275/hr
• Web developer, $75/hr
• SQL developer, $125/hr
• C++ developer, $125/hr

Thank you, and I look forward to this new cross-Pacific partnership. You may contact me using the information listed in the WHOIS database for this domain.

My grandmother, Mama, recently had her 80th birthday. The family decided to surprise her by bringing in many of her immediate and extended family, elementary school friends, church family, and many of the other people that she has welcomed into her life.

She’s a very smart woman. I think she figured out something was up. I came in Friday night and drove over to my father’s home. She was to come over for dinner there. When she arrived, she found my Uncle Larry and me in the living room. Of course, she and I immediately began gabbing about anything and everything. The “gift of the gab”…I got it from her. We had dinner and I caught up with some of the family.

She headed back to her house with my Aunt Carol shortly after then. My step-mother, Lynn, and I went out in the back yard with the fireflies and the dogs. It was nice to have some time alone with her. We took the dogs back in and I decided to stay over at my Mama’s home; sort of a slumber party that night.

We woke up and had breakfast with real grits. YUM! Carol had to go run some errands (decorate the church). Mama and I hung around and gabbed more. I love my Mama! My job was to get her to the church on time; I did. Once there, she found dozens there and more to come over the afternoon. So many people with smiles and hugs. Mama seemed truly happy and glad that people came, as she might say, “just for her.” You can click on any of these pictures to see more of them.

I got to visit with my aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and friends of the family. It was good to spend some time with Shaun and Jeff. They are both my cousins and we’re closest in age to each other. Shaun has a great family with kids and is good with technology. Jeff and I had a chance to talk about music; we both have that love.

By luck, my Aunt Ann and Uncle Cecil were in town. They came to the party and I made plans to see them at their home later that night. We caught up, sat in their huge empty home (selling it), and spent some quality time together. They love where they are living now in Florida.

The next day was full of goodbyes. Most of the out-of-town family left before I did. I was the straggler and I was quite happy being that. Mama and I looked through some of my pictures of New York City and I told the story behind them. You can find some of those same pictures in the blog you are reading. Later in the afternoon, I too said “goodbye” and “I love you, Mama.” Then off to the airport and back to New York City for me.

Or not. Read my rant on mistakes by Delta and the Birmingham airport.

I had a wonderful time today. I got together with my friend David’s family and enjoyed the afternoon together laughing, playing with the dog and chowing on some really good food…and pie. Thankfully David and his mother, Chris, can cook well. The rest of us had beer and wine and stayed out of the kitchen.

June, his grandmother, is a gem and I love spending time with her. She’s got a sharp wit and was joking that her son, Skip, hit her on the chin. Nate, David’s brother was also there and I’m so very thankful that all of them welcome me as part of their family in Seattle.

I was up late last night doing my taxes. Still. My Uncle Cecil woke me up early asking how I was. Then he handed me over to my Aunt Ann. You see, I had dropped an email to my Aunt a few days back. They had recently moved to Florida from Alabama and I wasn’t sure if the address was correct. So they were calling me to see what was up. I told them I was moving and like everyone else they were excited for me and sure that I would love it.

I also got an email back from a nice guy named Chase that I met through Bob. He’s lived in New York City for maybe a decade and I wanted to touch base with him on any advice me might share. He was nice to reply and offered to give me some guidance.

[Update: Turns out that from his demonstrated lack of action, Chase had no intention of sharing any advice. And I gave him a bed in my house to sleep overnight in Seattle. Sheesh. Seems like him and Bob have a common trait of deciding not to do something without telling the other person. Bob would do that and I wasn't very compatible with it.]

And the rest of the day was spent finishing my taxes. Still. I’ve got several questions for my CPA queued up and I’m waiting to hear back when she gets in on Monday.

And of all crazy things. My Pioneer plasma died today. It was the first HD plasma made in the US; back in 1999. Yes, I was extremely bleeding edge and, yes, it was crazy expensive back then. The timing of it dying really sucks. Its a little too far away from when I move to NYC. I don’t know if I’m man enough to be without TV or movies at home for three months. That’s a long time. But, I don’t want to buy a new plasma because I’m moving and won’t take it with me. Seems kinda crazy to buy one for only 2-3 months. Any ideas anyone?

My grandmother, I call her Mama, is doing well. She lives in Alabama and had knee replacement surgery on 20 March 2007. She’s off the morphine now so it hurts a lot but she’s got a great spirit. We talked probably 30 minutes, which is kinda short for us. We both love to talk about all kinds of stuff. Today, she asked how I was and quickly asked if I was thinking of moving. Either she’s amazingly insightful or my Aunt Carol told her. Probably the former because my Mama is brilliant and wise. She was excited for me and said, “I was wondering if you would ever be happy if you didn’t try it [New York City] out.”

She’s amazing and I love her.