Jump to content
The Corroboree

occidentalis

Members2
  • Content count

    2,606
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Everything posted by occidentalis

  1. occidentalis

    Computer nerd wanted

    My brother works at a computer shop and gave me the following advice: Never buy WD 'green' drives. Their other drives are excellent quality but the green ones are shit. I have a 2tb green drive and it's still going... but holding my breath for it to fail.
  2. occidentalis

    Acacia Phlebophylla listed as a Weed!

    Interesting. It seems things have been taken out of context all over the shop. But great that you have got that info. Regarding the conservation status of phleb, what system does the Victorian government use to rank species? I have seen phlebophylla listed as 'Threatened' before, but not rare... while in that document linked it specifically says rare but not threatened!
  3. occidentalis

    Acacia Phlebophylla listed as a Weed!

    This is not a political issue. It's a scientific/management issue. Maybe a mistake has been made (seems likely), or maybe not. Either way, we don't know anything about why this species was added to the list, so we can't actually provide any coherent argument as to why it should not be on the list (apart from the fact that it seems unlikely, which Rod Randall has already addressed by saying "I trust the guy who gave me the information"). Since we can't argue on technical grounds, we can't argue at all. Our opinions do not matter. Writing a letter is just raising a flag. Quite clearly they are not going to do that. A conservation listed species can still be a weed outside of its native range. That in itself is not incongruous. And - I'll say it one more time: as Rod Randall said - "This in no way invalidates the species status as endangered within its native range". This has nothing to do with the anti-drug lobby; don't make it so.
  4. occidentalis

    Acacia Phlebophylla listed as a Weed!

    Further, as Rod Randall said - "This in no way invalidates the species status as endangered within its native range" - ie this has no effect on its conservation status. Just helps managers in relevant areas to control the species if it is present as a weed. Which is still definitely an interesting question, as it seems a pretty unlikely species to go weedy. I guess we can assume it's in NSW since it Rod Randall states it was John Hosking from NSW Agriculture that provided the info. I'd really encourage people NOT to write letters or in any way get involved with this politically; all that will do is turn attention to the fact that this plant has uses that conflict with consensus society norms and make it more likely that the cynical possibilities suggested in this thread become real.
  5. occidentalis

    Acacia Phlebophylla listed as a Weed!

    I don't think there is any involvement of anti-drug agencies in allocation of weed control funding Government agencies are just not that organised or interlinked. Weed control is managed by a mess of environment and agriculture departments, some commonwealth organisations (CRC for weed management) and local govs. They don't even talk to each other properly, let alone any law enforcement type agency. I've been doing some work on environmental weeds lately and it's very difficult to figure out which documents and organisations have any importance when it comes to recommending which weeds are controlled and how. On top of that, I think you're giving far too much credit to our law enforcement agencies to even come up with the IDEA that they could control psychoactive plants by listing them as weeds, and further, to do so with a Threatened native species that is rarely used as a drug. Although funding is always short for environmental protection, I really think you're being too cynical... apart from the reasons that I've mentioned above that this is unlikely, it's just not like this. The people that write weed lists may not even have seen the actual plant, and they definitely wouldn't necessarily know much about the species apart from a few select criteria which they would feed into a spreadsheet. Some of the species would come up with a 'weed risk' potential of whatever high value that would trigger them to be listed. There is nothing more going on here than a bunch of humans doing their best at being machines.
  6. occidentalis

    blacks law dictionary

    Yes, it is commonly used - however most legislation carries its own definitions for specific terms within it, which would override any other definitions. Blacks is not the only source of legal definitions. So make sure you know what you're talking about before you try anything out in court.
  7. occidentalis

    Indoor Oyster Kits

    omsource, I also did some experiments with coffee grounds and found it quite difficult - any tricks to share?
  8. occidentalis

    Indoor Oyster Kits

    Nice work! I've been playing at similar ideas but mine haven't quite got off the ground yet. Good to see someone beat me to it
  9. occidentalis

    Reishi mushrooms in the wild

    Haha, did I? I don't recall saying that... although I did say a lot of stuff that weekend ;). News to me.
  10. occidentalis

    Quinine tree

    Interesting stuff Codonocarpus is common in the Pilbara. Last time I was up there I spoke to a station hand from QLD who was asking me what I knew about 'quinine', but I had never heard the name before. I guess that's what he's talking about . I may be able to collect some next time I go up if anyone can use it for analysis,
  11. occidentalis

    Meet up: Perth

    ok sorry to ask this, but where is it? just scrolled a couple of pages back and couldn't see that info!
  12. occidentalis

    WA Gyms, tis the season

    Ah yes this is one of the ones I was reading recently. Betty Rees is apparently one of the people with the most knowledge about WA Gyms.
  13. occidentalis

    WA Gyms, tis the season

    OK. I'm still learning too. But I was surprised to see a number of undescribed 'phrase name' species - I'll try and get hold of the list - which may make you feel less certain! There are a lot more species out there than most people are aware of, and some of them look pretty similar.
  14. occidentalis

    WA Gyms, tis the season

    Your pics don't seem to have worked. I've been doing some more research on Gymnopilus ID; hopefully I will be able to scan and upload some of the papers I have been reading. Bottom line: these mushrooms are HARD to identify. Basically impossible without a microscope; even then, very difficult as the features are extremely indistinct, and there are many similarities in the microstructures both between Gymnopilus species and across genera (including many similarities in the smaller Gym species with Galerina - if you don't know what that means, do more research before you eat anything). Although it is probably unlikely that the interesting Gyms will be confused with Galerinas, I think it's important to sound a note of caution and suggest people are very tentative with their IDs. These are not mushrooms that you can simply look up photos or drawings of and identify to species level based on the fact that you think it looks similar. There are also a number of undescribed species from the SW that only have phrase names at this point. I plan to do a small research project on this group this winter, so hopefully I will be able to sort out a little bit of the taxonomy of the active species. I went for a quick walk in my local spot last weekend and found some babies coming up, on Banksia and Eucalyptus logs.
  15. occidentalis

    just moved to Perth

    Hey Freaky, we met years ago at EB04. I caught a lift with your mate and we got stuck in the creek. Send me a pm, would be good to catch up.
  16. occidentalis

    Bass in the Valley - WA

    Yeah things didn't quite work out on the transport front as I had hoped - and I had a massive night last night, so I'm happy to let this one go. Enjoy.
  17. occidentalis

    Bass in the Valley - WA

    Awesome, I might try and make it to this - maybe we should have a little SAB get together if a few people can come.
  18. The style is the filament that the female flower parts sit on (well the stigma sits on it, the ovary sits under it) The pollen has to get from the stigma to the ovary in order to fertilise the ovary It does so by growing a 'pollen tube' through the tissue of the style which allow the sperm to get into the ovary As T said the length of that pollen tube is determined by the usual length of the style in the species the pollen comes from; however if you are making hybrids, that may be different(shorter) to the actual length of the style of the mother plant In that case you'll need to pollinate them at a time when the flower is not fully mature; ie the style has not actually grown to its full length hence the raping part! However I think T may have missed the point of the question - as I understand it wasn't specifically about immature flowers, but about whether a flower on an unrooted cutting can successfully develop into a fruit.
  19. occidentalis

    Meet up: Perth

    Interested, won't always (or even often) be able to make it, but I'll try!
  20. occidentalis

    Perth meet 2012

    Meet sounds great We used to have regular meets years ago in King's Park, unfortunately it was not a great venue in the long run, as the park staff informed us we were not allowed to bring any plants or soil into the park. They have a lot of problems with Phytophthora and Armillaria there and are very strict about it. Great spot for a meet and a picnic but not for a plant exchange.
  21. occidentalis

    bush apples????

    it does sound like a datura but is more likely to be a Solanum. There are plenty of them throughout central Australia and some of them are known as bush tomatoes. Solanum aviculare is known as kangaroo apple so could possibly be called bush apple? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_aviculare and Solanum linnaeanum is known as devil's apple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_linnaeanum
  22. occidentalis

    Nikon Cameras - Question on cameras and lenses

    no problem, it's a complex subject and I'm happy to help clarify ;) pixel is actually an incorrect term to use here the correct term is photosite, which are tiny sensor elements which collect the light that becomes each pixel on screen, the pixels will still be displayed at the same size as normal (based on your screen resolution), so there's no loss of quality there or when you print however the photosite is larger, which means it has better signal:noise ratio so the quality of each pixel is better yeah i agree in fact I would take it a step further and say most people don't even need an SLR at all check out the micro 4/3 and other compact mirrorless cameras that are coming out. I'm particularly interested in the fuji x10 and x100, but for many photographic beginners a canon G12 or S100 or a Panasonic LX5 are quite sufficient and can be had for $600 or less these cameras are small and light and don't have interchangeable lenses, but shoot raw and have full manual controls it's not the same as shooting with an SLR but when I travel now I just take my LX3 because I usually can't be bothered lugging the SLR and all the lenses.
  23. occidentalis

    Nikon Cameras - Question on cameras and lenses

    It does mean more quality, because the size of each pixel is larger - I won't bother going into the technical details, but that means you get better high ISO performance and better IQ more MP does not equal better quality, as I'm sure you know. What matters is how much space those pixels are squished on to, and in the case of a full frame sensor the same number of pixels will give better quality as the individual pixels will be larger. you'll get more in the frame if you're using an FX lens, which is definitely the go for landscapes. for macros, not a big deal as usually you'll be zooming fairly close. However you will still get an advantage in image quality. anyway, i think we agree DX is probably better suited for the OP - the fact that he has to ask means his photography is probably not at the FX stage. But - the fact that he is asking means he wants an answer, so I gave it to him ;)
  24. occidentalis

    Nikon Cameras - Question on cameras and lenses

    For landscapes full frame (FX) is definitely better In fact, FX is 'better' for everything. However - full frame cameras are much bigger and heavier, and they are MUCH more expensive. The lenses are also more expensive. It's a trade off between size, weight, and cost, and how much you really need a full frame sensor. If you aren't sure, go DX - unless you have money to burn.
  25. occidentalis

    Wat an incredible EGA

    Jolly Pong!
×