Best products from r/sydney

Easy, just get him a Zombie survival guide from Dymocks/Kinokuniya. What you have to watch out for is that you don't get him a shit one, of which there are many. IMO, The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks is the best one out there. If he hasn't read it, World War Z also by Max Brooks is excellent reading. It's not so much a guide as a collection of individual recounts, reports and stuff from different people over the course of a zombie breakout. It reads realistically which is more than I can say for the majority of Zombie related "survival guides" and books that are just stupid. They're making a movie out of it with Brad Pitt starring - just to show it's popularity.

If he hasn't seen The Walking Dead, getting him the seasons on DVD might be a good idea. Awesome TV show - again, realistic. If he's seen them, don't bother. I mean, he can just download them anyway so I guess this would be a crap gift unless he really likes the show. There are graphic novels that the show is based on which might be good.

If he's a gamer, might be good to get him ARMA II: Combined Operations. The reason I say that there's a great zombie survival mod for it called Day Z which is basically an online multiplayer open-world zombie survival like game. Trust me, he'll like it. Steam summer sale is on right now so ARMA II is 20% - if you can wait, don't buy it yet as it may go on sale for more (possibly up to 75%) if it goes up as a daily deal/flash sale/community choice. There's also a The Walking Dead game which I've heard is good. It's already been a daily deal so 25% is as good as it will get now.

Last of all, making him a kit might be cool. I put together this for a redditor last year. You can probably make a better one than me - I'll admit I cheaped out a little. Get a box or a backpack (you can cheap out on the backpack) and fill it up with things like a flashlight, a med kit (bandaids, bandages, surgical scissors, sports tape etc. things you can buy from a pharmacy), water purification tablets (this especially adds to it IMO), food (canned, power bars or, if you want to go the extra mile, MREs), thick army socks, a compass, etc. Basically just shit you'd take with you if you were going camping. Make it as compact/lightweight as possible.


Well, fuck, that turned out to be a lot longer than I intended. Anyway, good luck.

EDIT: Oh yeah, one more thing. What I did for that same redditor last year was that I wrote a survival plan for him. Basically, if you get him that Max Brooks Survival Guide, one of the things they suggest is hiding out in a prison (fortification, food, water, exercise yard, accommodation, weapons, remote etc.) - what I did was that I researched prisons in the walkable/bikable vicinity of his house and I mapped out routes to them from his house on a map I printed of his house from google maps.

How in depth do you want here? If you want stories that are interesting, original and accurate you should check out Grace Karsken's books. Good reading: http://www.amazon.com/Colony-History-Early-Sydney/dp/1741756375

Thats easily the best book, apart from kusaioshiri's suggestion of Leviathan. It's a cracker of a read.

On top of these good books, you could take a different route by taking one of these fantastic walking architecture tours, by passionate, practicing architects: http://www.sydneyarchitecture.org/

Or you could check out this free museum in The Rocks which is surprisingly good with lots of touchscreen interactive panels: http://www.therocks.com/sydney-Things_To_Do-The_Rocks_Discovery_Museum.htm

Mandatory mention of the consistently good Museum of Sydney run by the Historic Houses Trust. http://www.hht.net.au/museums/mos

You can get a pretty nice Seiko watch for $100. They're a 'real' watch brand not a fashion watch.

Something like this maybe? https://www.amazon.com/Seiko-SNK793-Automatic-Stainless-Steel/dp/B002SSUQF6/

What kind of style though? The fashion at the moment, if you're not a snob, is something like these, super-minimal:

https://www.mvmtwatches.com/collections/all-mens-watches

or maybe look for a Skagan, pretty reputable brand and again, nice and subtle:

https://www.skagen.com/en-us/men/watches

you can get Skagan in big places like Myer and David Jones, check them out in person.

I personally recommend the $32 Anker ones from Amazon. Sound quality is great and they stay in your ears perfectly. Some of the best money I've ever spent.

Edit: These https://www.amazon.com.au/Anker-Headphones-Lightweight-Connection-Sweatproof/dp/B01N6DC2ZE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539064332&sr=8-1&keywords=anker+earbuds

amazon rockport has some options but it doesnt say anything about waterproof...

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https://www.amazon.com.au/Rockport-Cobb-Hill-Collection-Leather/dp/B07F612TZ4/ref=sr_1_148?hvadid=253822488911&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9071818&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=b&hvrand=16929844649871642870&hvtargid=kwd-10170311&keywords=rockport&qid=1562202020&rnid=5367991051&s=apparel&sr=1-148

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kinda like this, but could be just a normal shoe? anyway thanks for the tip :)

Yeah, Interface Carpets have done incredible things. Ray Anderson the owner of Interface did a great TED talk where he explains their journey. You can find other cases along this vein in the book Cradle to Cradle. They give me faith that business and manufacturing can positively contribute to sustainability if they choose to.

I find Gran's assorted fudge to be pretty great, can get it delivered free with prime too from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com.au/Grans-Assorted-Fudge-English-Toffee/dp/B07HHLQQTS/

It's out of print, but if you have a Kindle look out for John Birmingham's Leviathan. It's probably the best popular general history of Sydney.

Consider getting some good binoculars if you're a beginner. Million times easier to use, cheaper, you can explore much quicker, wider field of view. I find it a much more intuitive way to explore!
I have a pair of these - http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00008Y0VN which are perfect for starting out.

Hey there, recent arch-graduate here!

I'd be pretty interested in all of these at the prices listed; always looking to expand my archi-library!

Well... apart from 'Towards a New Architecture' which naturally I already own (unless of course it is specifically this edition: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0892368225/ref=pd_aw_sbs_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=51-O88BGLHL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL100_SR100%2C100_&refRID=0XY1C90GPZWYTM23QMKG which as far as I am concerned is the definitive translation/commentary and would always borrow from the library rather than using my own other edition when I needed it lol).

I could do pickup in the north shore or city also. PM me and we can work out some details :D

Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases

He just put out a book last year called Thinking, Fast and Slow that summarises this and all the work he has done since, but in a Gladwell-ish way. It’s pretty interesting.

OMG I love Alton Brown's stuff!!! I've never made any of his recipes yet THOUGH I do have one of his cool measuring cylinder things.

Thanks but instead of looking at the surface result again, I think you could've done more research. Here's the item on Amazon. As you can see it's not the highest rated option available which would've helped more. But thanks anyway.

edit:link fix

There are numerous approaches, some requiring special gear. I got into it with stuff I already had in the kitcken:

• Mason jar
  
• Plastic funnel
  
• Paper filters (meant for a drip percolator)
  
  Just chuck a few dessert spoons of ground coffee into jar, fill with water and stir well, then leave it overnight (in fridge or on bench). The next day, use the funnel & filter to filter it into another jar. Job done.
  
  Coffee amount & brew time can be tweaked to preference. Start with one dessert spoon of coffee per cup of water, brewed for ten hours, and experiment from there. You can do what you like with the end result - drink as-is, or add heat / milk / sugar.
  
  I also bought a Primula Cold Brew Travel Bottle to try out. It's more portable, and no messing around with filter papers & funnels. It's taken a bit longer to nail down the process for a good result though. The mason jar is still my main method.

Fair enough , you can buy those round Remington head shaver things ,my mate has one and it’s easy and does a good job

https://www.amazon.com/Remington-HC4250-Shortcut-Self-Haircut-Clippers/dp/B014SG66UO

Good point, but:

(a) it's a hell of a lot better than nothing;

(b) on other freeway systems you do get new exits added with intermediate numbering and it seems to work - I've experienced this in New York. On googling, there's even a book about one of them: http://www.amazon.com/Exit-8A-Tales-York-Commuter/dp/1629038415

You have to admit that the present Lib government has done more positives for transportation and especially public transportation than any administration since Wran, and I'd argue has done even more good than Wran.

Amazon has Tacocat, I'm thinking, Dunder Mifflin, Pho Sho, etc... it's great for buying clothes, and a lot of items ship to Australia. Takes about a week or two to get here.

Leviathan by John Birmingham is a good read: http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-The-unauthorised-biography-Sydney/dp/0091842034

http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-unauthorised-biography-John-Birmingham/dp/0091842034