Posted on May 19th 2008 by Ryan.
Dell have released a new high tech pedestrian safety device. They are calling it the “Dell Inspiron 6000″. It features a hard outer casing and a protective LCD screen to take the brunt of any impacts pedestrians may face due to vehicular collisions.
I tested out this new device this morning. I placed it in my backpack and headed off to work, then whilst crossing the road a crazy women crashed into me from behind, sending me tumbling across her bonnet. I landed splat on my back on the road. My trusty Dell took the brunt of the impact and I was able to stand up unscathed 
The only injury I have is a sprained ankle which wasn’t protected by my computer. And guess what! The computer is still working and I’m posting this message on it right now
Apparently the little green man was indeed flashing when I crossed and the lady who hit me is in a whole lot of trouble. She will probably be charged with careless driving or careless driving causing injury. My computer will live for another day - and thankfully so will I!
EDIT: Thanks to my cousin Alison Petrie for the following photos (she saw it happen).
There were two ambulances, a fire truck and two police cars. Kinda overkill for an itty bitty test of a new safety device, but anyhows …
The woman on the right is the one who drove into me.
EDIT: It also turned out that I was badly bruised behind me knee. The woman who hit me lost her drivers license for six months and was fined for $250 for her failed efforts to remove me from the gene pool.
Posted on Feb 12th 2008 by Ryan.
I’m out of action from playing sports at the moment due to my silly shoulder popping it’s self out of the socket again 
But the chemistry department soccer team said they were usually short of female players so I dragged along Becky Brassett to help them out. The games are played 9 a side on a field hockey turf. Here are some photos I took at the game.
Aggression
Here are some demonstrations of why NOT to play soccer on a sand turf!
First up, Graeme trying to get the ball by running through his opposition.
Next up, a girl from the opposing team wipes out quite spectacularly trying to change directions.
This aint track and field …
Graeme … WTF?
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Posted on Nov 23rd 2007 by Ryan.
The field hockey team I usually play for (The Soft Sticks) had no opposition at our last game. So they played a game amongst themselves while I took some piccies from the shade on the sideline - I’m still recovering from a dislocated shoulder. The temperatures were searing (26 deg. C I think) so there were some very hot looking pink hockey players by the end of their game.
Mallory Handcock (left) and Natasha Munro (right)
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Posted on Oct 27th 2007 by Ryan.
Some photos from my parents 35th Wedding Anniversary. Thanks to Scott and Marthah for organising everything and eventually remembering to invite me The lighting was utter crap so the photos are a bit blurry.
My Mum (Joan Hellyer) and Dad (Ken Hellyer) posing for the camera.
The cake. It was a carrot one and tasted damn nice!
Siblings: Robyn Reid, Ken Hellyer, David Hellyer and John Hellyer. Or as I know them, Aunty Robyn, Dad, Uncle David and Uncle John.
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Posted on Oct 1st 2007 by Ryan.
Our uber awesome, wonderful and truly incredible professional ice hockey coach Jenel Bode is leaving Hopefully she’ll be back next year though
Rhyan McMillan and our uber awesome coach Jenel Bode
For her goodbye bash, she organised a goodbye party in a cave at Longbeach. It sounded boring, getting stuck in a cave all evening on a cold, wet, rainy day Luckilly Sarah was heading out to take Jane so I hitched a ride along so I could make an appearance and bail home early with Sarah. Darn glad I went though, coz it was totally awesome. The cave was wicked, the fire kept us all cosy warm, everyone had fun and there was loads of entertainment provided by my teammates who provided firebreathing, guitar and flame throwing demonstrations for us all. There were even baby blue penguins in the back of the cave hanging out with us!
Neil Dudley and Rob Owens demonstrating how much effort it takes to burn human skin
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Posted on Sep 30th 2007 by Ryan.
After playing a round at Stewarts Gully Mini Golf, the Beasts found other ways to stay amused, including swinging and tandem bike riding aroung the golf course.
Jane Soper providing amusement to the team by swinging towards a tree at full pelt
Neil Dudley doing a jig while Rob Owens learns why Jane Soper was so scared on the swing
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Posted on Sep 30th 2007 by Ryan.
The Beasts (my ice hockey team) headed to Stewarts Gully Mini Golf. The facility is owned by Clive Murphie, a top bloke who is also heavily involved with the Aardwolfs Ice Hockey Club who we played against in Christchurch. As it says on the label, this is “Mini Golf”, so basically big golf shrunk to a small size, no castles, water features or other fandangled things to navigate, just good old putting greens.
Clive Murphie, the owner of the course
Estelle Baker expertly sinking the ball in the hole after some advice from Jane Soper (on right). Conveniently I clicked the shutter just as the ball was falling into the hole.
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Posted on Sep 14th 2007 by Ryan.
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about GimpCam and NetCam recently. To save me feeling like a broken record, here’s a selection of pre-prepared answers …
- Yes I did look like a gimp while wearing it
- No I’m not going to lend it to you to wear to school
- No it doesn’t have X-ray vision
- No I don’t use it to spy on girls in the changing room
- No I’m not going to lend it to you for that purpose!
- No I’m not going to buy a pinhole camera instead (too expensive)
- Yes GimpCam and NetCam have the same internals
- It cost $80 from a dodgy computer store in SE Calgary
- Yes NetCam is housed inside a tupperware container and no I’m not going to integrate it inside the goal post instead
- Yes GimpCam looks stupid and no it can’t fit inside the lip at the top of my helmet
- Yes I am considering allowing goalies to wear GimpCam but I need to find an appropriate way to protect it as its unlikely to survive a puck impact in it’s current form
- No I’m not planning to stream it direct to a projector screen in the warm room
- Last of all, NO! You are not allowed to fire slapshots at my head while I’m wearing GimpCam!
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Posted on Sep 10th 2007 by Ryan.
I’m now famous! My rather crappy videos have made their way onto the What Now TV show. I received an email from them the other day asking if they could screen some of my videos of the recent New Zealand Ice Hockey National Championships on their show. Pity I didn’t know before hand as I’d have prepared some far better quality footage for them.
What Now: If you are reading this and don’t want it posted here, then email me via the form on my contact page and I’ll remove it ASAP.
Posted on Aug 31st 2007 by Ryan.
I’ve been trying to avoid over-running the site with hockey videos from the Nationals, but this one definitely deserves it’s own post 
I’ve also posted a higher resolution version here.
