At the weekend, against our better judgement, we decided to go and see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
First problem: Ticket price. Seriously, it cost $44 dollars for the two of us. Apparently this consists of:
$18 Ticket price
$3 3D Surcharge
$1 Booking fee.
$1 3D glasses
We already had 3D glasses from Avatar, so we didn't have to pay that. But dutifully we paid the rest of it.
On the way into the cinema we stopped at the snacks cart, where the girl tried to sell us some chocolate for $6.00, which could probably be bought across the road for $2.80.
So, let me get to the crux of the issue. Why should I have to pay good money, to go and sit in a room full of people who I probably wouldn't like if I met them, and who seem to only exist to annoy everyone else?
Constantly throughout the film people were rummaging with chip packets, lollies etc etc. It got to a point where it was quite distracting, particularly in the quieter parts of the film. The woman next to me seemed to be wanting to elbow me in the ribs for no good reason. Some guy bought a pizza box into the cinema and put it on the floor, but didn't eat it? Are you people serious? And it goes on. Kids giggling, someones phone ringing.
Hollywood, your distribution model and the model of cinemas in general, suck. Do you seriously wonder why people pirate and download first release films which are only on at cinemas? It's because CINEMAS SUCK. If I've got a perfectly good large screen TV and possibly even surround sound, why should I be forced to suffer in going to the Cinema? Oh yes, for the "atmosphere". Well, the atmosphere sucked on saturday night, and this was at Rivoli Cinemas Camberwell. I'd imagine your average suburban megaplex would have been even worse. I'm kind of surprised someone didn't start smoking.
Now I would happily pay a reasonable amount to download a High Definition version of a first release film. I'm not talking about films released on DVD or Blu-Ray... I'm talking about a film that's just been released, that's on at the cinema. I'd do it through itunes or Bigpond Movies or whatever, I don't care where I get it from.
And I'd expect to save a fair amount too. After all, at the cinema I'm paying all the overheads, for the faux art deco styling, to have acne covered kids greet me with disdain, and to be offered the chance to buy incredibly expensive chocolates.
By getting rid of all those overheads, I'd imagine by just purchasing content I'd have to be saving them a bunch of money. However, I know they are still greedy money sucking vampires. So say I paid $10.99 for a first download movie. That's $10.99 they're going to get that they otherwise wouldn't, because otherwise like many others I'll probably just wait for the first DVD quality torrent that became available.
And more than likely I'd watch more films as well. There are lots of arthouse/independent type films that I don't bother going to see because of limited opportunity at cinemas. I'd happily pay to download and watch them as well, and hopefully much of that would go directly to the film makers.
And being shackled with delays just because of where we live on the planet is indescribeably annoying. It doesn't seem to happen so much these days, but particularly with TV shows I like to get online and talk about my favourite shows with others. But I can't do that, not legally, if the show hasn't aired here yet. I don't see why I need to wait to watch something just because TV stations etc are still stuck in the past, no matter how modern and up to date they pretend to be.
It's possible for us to have whatever content we want right now, without waiting, without having to leave our couches. Hollywood, we WANT to give you money. We WANT to consume your content. But you persist with these archaic way of doing things, and then you wonder why people seek other means of watching things. In the majority of cases they aren't thieves or criminals. They just want what technology can give them, without waiting. Why must you be so stupid? Why won't you just let us have it???
Monday, July 25, 2011
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Bunnings Hawthorn!
Bunnings Hawthorn is now open.
When Bunnings Melbourne CBD closed and the site was redeveloped, part of me died. The closest Bunnings was either Northland or Box Hill, and both were 10K away. When I sold my car in March 2007, visiting either of these was out of the question. The only choice was to catch a train to Nunawading and then walk 2k to the closest one there.
Port Melbourne opened but that was also inconvenient (though it is close to the 109 tram).
So when we discovered that the site being redeveloped on Burwood Road (a mere 900 metres from my house), I prayed, and I prayed. I'm not religious, but my prayers were answered, because one day I walked by and saw a big sign proclaiming "Bunnings Warehouse" amongst the construction. And I shouted to the stars because it was GOOD.
Since the store was apparently finished on the outside a month or so ago, I've been watching, and waiting. Finally I could see shelving inside... and then stock starting to go up. So I knew it was only a matter of time before it would open... they would be mad not to open and take advantage of the Christmas silly season, GFC be damned.
Well this morning I logged into the Bunnings Website as I've been doing for the last month. I typed in my postcode... and my heart missed a beat, because it was OPEN.
Finally tonight we arrived there for a brief dalliance at 8:10PM. 50 minutes (they closed at 9) was nowhere near long enough. We (my partner and I) were in a trance... it was like manna from heaven. All the shelves, full of wonderful, wonderful products. A MASSIVE outdoor garden section at the rear. Lighting, paint, hardware, plumbing... it's simply to good to be true. All sorts of cool home automation stuff. I did not even dare enter the power tool section as I may have collapsed.
We were in such a state that we did not even make one purchase, because there was just to much choice to be had. We have had to come home to collect ourselves and will try again tomorrow night.
The place however was basically deserted when we got there, so to have the entire place almost to ourselves was rather amazing as well. Highly recommended.
One thing is for sure... with this, and the impending opening of MSY in North Melbourne, I never have to go to zone 2 again if I don't want to.
Thankyou to the retail gods for blessing this hardware junky. I don't however think my credit card feels the same way.
When Bunnings Melbourne CBD closed and the site was redeveloped, part of me died. The closest Bunnings was either Northland or Box Hill, and both were 10K away. When I sold my car in March 2007, visiting either of these was out of the question. The only choice was to catch a train to Nunawading and then walk 2k to the closest one there.
Port Melbourne opened but that was also inconvenient (though it is close to the 109 tram).
So when we discovered that the site being redeveloped on Burwood Road (a mere 900 metres from my house), I prayed, and I prayed. I'm not religious, but my prayers were answered, because one day I walked by and saw a big sign proclaiming "Bunnings Warehouse" amongst the construction. And I shouted to the stars because it was GOOD.
Since the store was apparently finished on the outside a month or so ago, I've been watching, and waiting. Finally I could see shelving inside... and then stock starting to go up. So I knew it was only a matter of time before it would open... they would be mad not to open and take advantage of the Christmas silly season, GFC be damned.
Well this morning I logged into the Bunnings Website as I've been doing for the last month. I typed in my postcode... and my heart missed a beat, because it was OPEN.
Finally tonight we arrived there for a brief dalliance at 8:10PM. 50 minutes (they closed at 9) was nowhere near long enough. We (my partner and I) were in a trance... it was like manna from heaven. All the shelves, full of wonderful, wonderful products. A MASSIVE outdoor garden section at the rear. Lighting, paint, hardware, plumbing... it's simply to good to be true. All sorts of cool home automation stuff. I did not even dare enter the power tool section as I may have collapsed.
We were in such a state that we did not even make one purchase, because there was just to much choice to be had. We have had to come home to collect ourselves and will try again tomorrow night.
The place however was basically deserted when we got there, so to have the entire place almost to ourselves was rather amazing as well. Highly recommended.
One thing is for sure... with this, and the impending opening of MSY in North Melbourne, I never have to go to zone 2 again if I don't want to.
Thankyou to the retail gods for blessing this hardware junky. I don't however think my credit card feels the same way.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Connex Oaks Day Stuff up
Oh no, some poor overdressed sods were inconvenienced and suddenly Kosky has a rail inquiry. Of course if a few trains are late or cancelled under normal circumstances, nobody seems to bat an eyelid, but when it effects Victorias multi million dollar racing industry we all have to stop what we're doing and ask why. Thank goodness there is no train to Crown Casino, one can but imagine what would happen if there was a problem with that.
Monday, September 1, 2008
How Slack have I been.
Hm, well the Melbourne Reviewer has been incredibly slack lately. In more ways than one.
Basically, I blame Melbourne. Or, more correctly, our disgustly horrible weather.
It's just been horrible lately... it seems like winter has no end. Dreary skies. Cold Mornings. Sniffles and flu and sickness. It's really very depressing.
What was worse is we went on a little holiday to Byron Bay, where during the day at least it was just gorgeous, and we actually wore shorts.
But the worst part was coming back to Melbourne. It was raining, freezing cold. Urgh.
I do really love this city, but sometimes it's just an horrific place to be.
On Sunday we went to visit a friend, and for a few brief minutes the sun came out and it was wonderful. Hopefully now that spring is here this London style doldrum will start to vanish.
Melbourne Reviewer, reviewing... well, nothing, really.
Basically, I blame Melbourne. Or, more correctly, our disgustly horrible weather.
It's just been horrible lately... it seems like winter has no end. Dreary skies. Cold Mornings. Sniffles and flu and sickness. It's really very depressing.
What was worse is we went on a little holiday to Byron Bay, where during the day at least it was just gorgeous, and we actually wore shorts.
But the worst part was coming back to Melbourne. It was raining, freezing cold. Urgh.
I do really love this city, but sometimes it's just an horrific place to be.
On Sunday we went to visit a friend, and for a few brief minutes the sun came out and it was wonderful. Hopefully now that spring is here this London style doldrum will start to vanish.
Melbourne Reviewer, reviewing... well, nothing, really.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Iphone 3G... The Melbourne Reviewer has one!
Okay, so here's my review of the 3g Iphone. Probably showing a tad of bias but stay with me anyway, also I go on a bit, so sorry about that. Also it's not technically Melbourne, but plenty of Melbournians lined up just like me on Friday morning!
I was always an "Apple Hater" and I resisted getting an ipod for a long time, (I had Creative MP3 Players for ages). I couldn't understand using a Mac and thought all those people were nuts.
Now (it's even a shock to me) I figure there is space in the world for both. I've used the Macs that belong to friends. I doubt I'd ever get used to one, but hey if that's what they want to spend their money on then good for them. Anyway last year I got my first Ipod 80gb Video which was great, then switched to an 8gb Nano earlier this year. But Once I saw a first Gen Iphone and played with it, I knew I had to have one.
Was it worth standing for almost three hours in the cold? Well probably not really, considering the very next day I saw them on a shelf of one particular Apple related shop (albeit they are the dealer of a different carrier to my preferred one).
And of course it depends who you are and what you plan on doing with it. For me this is (almost) the perfect device.
The iphone has a lot of strengths, but also a number of weaknesses and annoyances as well.
Strengths> The interface. It is simply a joy to use. The touch screen defines touch screens. I've had two previous Touchscreen PDA's (imate JAMin and Imate JAM), and they are nothing compared to this, and no stylus is required. I was worried about the onscreen keyboard... I needn't have been. It does take a bit of getting used to but after about three days I have no issues with it. Sure, I'm not going to be writing essays or ultra long emails, but it's more than useable, and just as good (if not better) than the touch screen keyboards on other pda's that require a stylus.
Mobile Safari. Internet Browsing is great on the iphone due to two things: The screen size, which lets you see just a little bit more of a real website, and the ability to easily change orientation of the screen from portrait to landscape thanks to the built in accelerometer. You are easily able to view full web pages (not just the mobile versions), pan around them if necessary, and zoom in and out thanks to the two fingers "pinch" gesture.
Safari lets you view PDF's, Excel and Word Documents (up to and including Office 2007). So if someone emails you a PDF, or even a link to one, it is actually readable. All the same rules apply, zoom in, out, scroll up and down, left and right.
Annoyance: Safari doesn't appear to remember logins for forums, websites etc.
Also, famously, it doesn't (yet) support Flash. This was a sore point in the first gen iphone and it's pretty silly that they haven't included it this time round. There are rumours of an iphone version of flash coming out shortly (hopefully).
Safari has full bookmarking capabilities, and complete history capabilities as well, which are easy to use and understand.
There is a feature with like a "lineup" of recently viewed websites with thumbnails of that site, choose the one you want and it loads it up again for you.
Also, bookmarks can be set as icons on the home screen, for instance I use Tram Tracker, and the Mobile Age.
Your Homescreen can have up to 9 separate pages of icons, so you can easily set up your most visited mobile sites for ready access when you are out and about. It's a simple matter of scrolling left and right on the homescreen to access the other available screens. If you want to move icons around or between the home screens, you hold down an icon and then they "jiggle", letting you move them all around, however you want.
Email. You are able to easily setup an Exchange account (assuming your exchange server/IT area supports the device. I'm perfectly happy not having access to work emails however). Also Gmail works beautifully via IMAP. You can of course use standard POP accounts and the new MobileMe service from Apple (though at $119 a year, you'd need to think seriously before wanting that I think). YahooMail is another option.
When reading emails all the same scrolling rules apply. Weblinks, PDF's and Excel/Word documents all open up as viewable (but not editable). I predict some sort of iphone version of Office if Microsoft can swallow it's pride, or maybe openoffice? Haven't read anything about this but it makes sense.
When composing emails, if you start to enter in a name of someone who has an email registered in your contacts, it's like outlook and automatically suggests a name without having to type in the entire address.
It has a perfectly good Calculator, which in portrait mode is just a standard calculator, and in landscape mode is a fully fledged scientific calculator for those that want one.
The camera is great for happy snaps. Some people complain that a lot of other phones have better cameras, more megapixels etc (the iphone is only 2.0 megapixels). I'm of the view that if you want to take real photos, buy a real camera. This is for happy snaps, and taking photos of people for your contacts (which works well), and if Aliens happen to land, you can take a shot of that too, though people will probably think it's 'shopped.
Google Maps and the A-GPS. This is simply AWESOME, works beautifully. However, it CHEWS through the data, as all data is pulled down from Google's server. If you aren't connected via some free wifi, be careful. Although it can be used for tracking you as you drive/walk etc, this would very easily eat through various available 3G data plans. Be warned, or risk appearing on Today Tonight with a second mortgage, depending on who your carrier is. It's probably best used sparingly for finding simple directions and local businesses etc in whatever area you are in. The A-GPS works great and you have your position very, very quickly, far better than any other GPS I've used before. I'm hoping for an iphone version of Tom tom or similar, which is rumoured to be in the works.
The Appstore. This is the highlight so far of the iphone 3G. The Appstore was released on the same day and looks very promising. This isn't just a phone, or a PDA... this is a portable touchscreen computer.
There are a number of free apps, some of them good, some of them bad. Some of them are just geekily awesome for those that are into such things.
Some free ones I've downloaded: Phonesaber (also available for N95). Search your feelings, Obiwan! Shazam: Hold your iphone up to a song playing on the radio... it will tell you what the song is, and point you to a link where you can buy it on itunes. Requires data connection, but it actually works.There are Facebook, Twitter and Myspace clients that access cutdown versions of those sites. I've only tried facebook but it seems to work well and you don't get alot of the superfluous stuff that clutters facebook up.
There are heaps of others, and lots and lots of games. I've only tried one or two of the free games (imaze, ball bearing rolling around inside a maze). The reviews I read of the pay games are good though and apparently put other mobile gaming platforms to shame, as far as graphics and sound goes anyway. I'm still to be convinced on controlling games as the game genres seem limited to racing type games where you use the accelerometer to steer.It's obviously early days for the appstore, but I would say we've only scratched the surface of what the device can do.
Ipod... well, not much to say here. You've got all your standard ipod functionality, coverflow is great and very pretty. The headphones have a microphone built in for handsfree phone calls, and the microphone is also a button. one click pauses music, two clicks moves onto the next track. When the phone rings your music fades out and you can then click to answer.
Watching video's is great. Again, the iphone doesn't support divx (come on apple... even xbox360 supports it now). You can however use something like the free "videora" converter to get divx files playable on your iphone. And they are great to watch on the wide screen.
Phone functionality. Well, it is the iPHONE, though reading what I've said so far you'd almost forget you could make calls on it.
It works well, with 3G the calls are of great quality. There is speakerphone functionality as well. you can browse to contacts, make notes, even browse the web while in a call. Finding contacts is easy, contacts have a myriad of fields and options, you can assign separate ringtones to separate contacts. When syncing with itunes on the same PC as Outlook you are able to import all your contacts from there. You can also, for instance, sync all your contacts at work, and then sync your music separately at home.
You can also set up a list of favourite contacts for fast dialling, this is as close as the phone gets to speed dialling.
For those who use it, there is currently no voice dialling. doesn't bother me, but it might bother some.
You can't change SMS/Alert tones. There are some to choose from, but the choice is limited. Hopefully jailbreaking (as I right this, it's due out any moment from what I'm reading) will workaround this.
Ringtones. The Apple way is to buy ringtones from itunes. You can't by default use any of your own music/sounds. But there is a very simple process to create your own ringtones which I won't go into here, but a quick google search should find it online.
No clipboard... no task switching. If you click on a link in email, it opens safari. You then have to go out of safari, and back into email to get back to your message. This has been a sore point among many, but from what I've read it's a fundamental of the operating system that it doesn't do task switching (well, properly anyway).
You can however listen to music and do other things at the same time, so there is at least some multitasking.
The physical unit. Fingerprint city. I got the white one, which doesn't show prints or greasy stains as easily as the black one. But I went straight out and bought myself a skin because I know I'm going to drop it at some point and i want it protected. Also I got a screen protector with the skin. Reading online, lots of people say that you shouldn't need one since the screen is glass, but I'd prefer to have one anyway, it is still easily cleanable. You understand why they give you the cleaning cloth only a few minutes after you first pick the thing up.
You can load copies of photos through itunes from your PC taken with other cameras onto the iphone for backup purposes or to show off pics of babies, cats, tin dogs to your friends when out and about.
It shows up as a camera in Windows Explorer so you can easily import photos to your PC, but like other ipods it does NOT show as mass storage device. Also, syncing (loading of music) is fairly slow.
I won't discuss the merits of all the various plan offerings, as that's a veritable minefield of information. I will just say that you should DEFINITELY do you research on all of the available offerings, and then make up your mind based on what you think your usage will involve. Good luck!
Anyway that's probably about it. Am I happy with the device? Mostly, with one or two little niggles as mentioned. I wanted something where I could use the web (easily) when out and about. I had a Nokia 6120 and it's just not that great at it.
Several of my previous phones have had music players, but none of them were very good. It's great having my music and some videos and my phone in the one unit.
Some people don't want or need all this functionality, and if that's the case, then the iphone isn't for you. Is it overhyped? Of course. But you've got to give it to Apple, I don't think I've seen any ads for iphone on TV but they all lined up on Friday morning anyway. And I've just read that one million units sold since Friday world wide. I guess I'm not the only insane one :)
I was always an "Apple Hater" and I resisted getting an ipod for a long time, (I had Creative MP3 Players for ages). I couldn't understand using a Mac and thought all those people were nuts.
Now (it's even a shock to me) I figure there is space in the world for both. I've used the Macs that belong to friends. I doubt I'd ever get used to one, but hey if that's what they want to spend their money on then good for them. Anyway last year I got my first Ipod 80gb Video which was great, then switched to an 8gb Nano earlier this year. But Once I saw a first Gen Iphone and played with it, I knew I had to have one.
Was it worth standing for almost three hours in the cold? Well probably not really, considering the very next day I saw them on a shelf of one particular Apple related shop (albeit they are the dealer of a different carrier to my preferred one).
And of course it depends who you are and what you plan on doing with it. For me this is (almost) the perfect device.
The iphone has a lot of strengths, but also a number of weaknesses and annoyances as well.
Strengths> The interface. It is simply a joy to use. The touch screen defines touch screens. I've had two previous Touchscreen PDA's (imate JAMin and Imate JAM), and they are nothing compared to this, and no stylus is required. I was worried about the onscreen keyboard... I needn't have been. It does take a bit of getting used to but after about three days I have no issues with it. Sure, I'm not going to be writing essays or ultra long emails, but it's more than useable, and just as good (if not better) than the touch screen keyboards on other pda's that require a stylus.
Mobile Safari. Internet Browsing is great on the iphone due to two things: The screen size, which lets you see just a little bit more of a real website, and the ability to easily change orientation of the screen from portrait to landscape thanks to the built in accelerometer. You are easily able to view full web pages (not just the mobile versions), pan around them if necessary, and zoom in and out thanks to the two fingers "pinch" gesture.
Safari lets you view PDF's, Excel and Word Documents (up to and including Office 2007). So if someone emails you a PDF, or even a link to one, it is actually readable. All the same rules apply, zoom in, out, scroll up and down, left and right.
Annoyance: Safari doesn't appear to remember logins for forums, websites etc.
Also, famously, it doesn't (yet) support Flash. This was a sore point in the first gen iphone and it's pretty silly that they haven't included it this time round. There are rumours of an iphone version of flash coming out shortly (hopefully).
Safari has full bookmarking capabilities, and complete history capabilities as well, which are easy to use and understand.
There is a feature with like a "lineup" of recently viewed websites with thumbnails of that site, choose the one you want and it loads it up again for you.
Also, bookmarks can be set as icons on the home screen, for instance I use Tram Tracker, and the Mobile Age.
Your Homescreen can have up to 9 separate pages of icons, so you can easily set up your most visited mobile sites for ready access when you are out and about. It's a simple matter of scrolling left and right on the homescreen to access the other available screens. If you want to move icons around or between the home screens, you hold down an icon and then they "jiggle", letting you move them all around, however you want.
Email. You are able to easily setup an Exchange account (assuming your exchange server/IT area supports the device. I'm perfectly happy not having access to work emails however). Also Gmail works beautifully via IMAP. You can of course use standard POP accounts and the new MobileMe service from Apple (though at $119 a year, you'd need to think seriously before wanting that I think). YahooMail is another option.
When reading emails all the same scrolling rules apply. Weblinks, PDF's and Excel/Word documents all open up as viewable (but not editable). I predict some sort of iphone version of Office if Microsoft can swallow it's pride, or maybe openoffice? Haven't read anything about this but it makes sense.
When composing emails, if you start to enter in a name of someone who has an email registered in your contacts, it's like outlook and automatically suggests a name without having to type in the entire address.
It has a perfectly good Calculator, which in portrait mode is just a standard calculator, and in landscape mode is a fully fledged scientific calculator for those that want one.
The camera is great for happy snaps. Some people complain that a lot of other phones have better cameras, more megapixels etc (the iphone is only 2.0 megapixels). I'm of the view that if you want to take real photos, buy a real camera. This is for happy snaps, and taking photos of people for your contacts (which works well), and if Aliens happen to land, you can take a shot of that too, though people will probably think it's 'shopped.
Google Maps and the A-GPS. This is simply AWESOME, works beautifully. However, it CHEWS through the data, as all data is pulled down from Google's server. If you aren't connected via some free wifi, be careful. Although it can be used for tracking you as you drive/walk etc, this would very easily eat through various available 3G data plans. Be warned, or risk appearing on Today Tonight with a second mortgage, depending on who your carrier is. It's probably best used sparingly for finding simple directions and local businesses etc in whatever area you are in. The A-GPS works great and you have your position very, very quickly, far better than any other GPS I've used before. I'm hoping for an iphone version of Tom tom or similar, which is rumoured to be in the works.
The Appstore. This is the highlight so far of the iphone 3G. The Appstore was released on the same day and looks very promising. This isn't just a phone, or a PDA... this is a portable touchscreen computer.
There are a number of free apps, some of them good, some of them bad. Some of them are just geekily awesome for those that are into such things.
Some free ones I've downloaded: Phonesaber (also available for N95). Search your feelings, Obiwan! Shazam: Hold your iphone up to a song playing on the radio... it will tell you what the song is, and point you to a link where you can buy it on itunes. Requires data connection, but it actually works.There are Facebook, Twitter and Myspace clients that access cutdown versions of those sites. I've only tried facebook but it seems to work well and you don't get alot of the superfluous stuff that clutters facebook up.
There are heaps of others, and lots and lots of games. I've only tried one or two of the free games (imaze, ball bearing rolling around inside a maze). The reviews I read of the pay games are good though and apparently put other mobile gaming platforms to shame, as far as graphics and sound goes anyway. I'm still to be convinced on controlling games as the game genres seem limited to racing type games where you use the accelerometer to steer.It's obviously early days for the appstore, but I would say we've only scratched the surface of what the device can do.
Ipod... well, not much to say here. You've got all your standard ipod functionality, coverflow is great and very pretty. The headphones have a microphone built in for handsfree phone calls, and the microphone is also a button. one click pauses music, two clicks moves onto the next track. When the phone rings your music fades out and you can then click to answer.
Watching video's is great. Again, the iphone doesn't support divx (come on apple... even xbox360 supports it now). You can however use something like the free "videora" converter to get divx files playable on your iphone. And they are great to watch on the wide screen.
Phone functionality. Well, it is the iPHONE, though reading what I've said so far you'd almost forget you could make calls on it.
It works well, with 3G the calls are of great quality. There is speakerphone functionality as well. you can browse to contacts, make notes, even browse the web while in a call. Finding contacts is easy, contacts have a myriad of fields and options, you can assign separate ringtones to separate contacts. When syncing with itunes on the same PC as Outlook you are able to import all your contacts from there. You can also, for instance, sync all your contacts at work, and then sync your music separately at home.
You can also set up a list of favourite contacts for fast dialling, this is as close as the phone gets to speed dialling.
For those who use it, there is currently no voice dialling. doesn't bother me, but it might bother some.
You can't change SMS/Alert tones. There are some to choose from, but the choice is limited. Hopefully jailbreaking (as I right this, it's due out any moment from what I'm reading) will workaround this.
Ringtones. The Apple way is to buy ringtones from itunes. You can't by default use any of your own music/sounds. But there is a very simple process to create your own ringtones which I won't go into here, but a quick google search should find it online.
No clipboard... no task switching. If you click on a link in email, it opens safari. You then have to go out of safari, and back into email to get back to your message. This has been a sore point among many, but from what I've read it's a fundamental of the operating system that it doesn't do task switching (well, properly anyway).
You can however listen to music and do other things at the same time, so there is at least some multitasking.
The physical unit. Fingerprint city. I got the white one, which doesn't show prints or greasy stains as easily as the black one. But I went straight out and bought myself a skin because I know I'm going to drop it at some point and i want it protected. Also I got a screen protector with the skin. Reading online, lots of people say that you shouldn't need one since the screen is glass, but I'd prefer to have one anyway, it is still easily cleanable. You understand why they give you the cleaning cloth only a few minutes after you first pick the thing up.
You can load copies of photos through itunes from your PC taken with other cameras onto the iphone for backup purposes or to show off pics of babies, cats, tin dogs to your friends when out and about.
It shows up as a camera in Windows Explorer so you can easily import photos to your PC, but like other ipods it does NOT show as mass storage device. Also, syncing (loading of music) is fairly slow.
I won't discuss the merits of all the various plan offerings, as that's a veritable minefield of information. I will just say that you should DEFINITELY do you research on all of the available offerings, and then make up your mind based on what you think your usage will involve. Good luck!
Anyway that's probably about it. Am I happy with the device? Mostly, with one or two little niggles as mentioned. I wanted something where I could use the web (easily) when out and about. I had a Nokia 6120 and it's just not that great at it.
Several of my previous phones have had music players, but none of them were very good. It's great having my music and some videos and my phone in the one unit.
Some people don't want or need all this functionality, and if that's the case, then the iphone isn't for you. Is it overhyped? Of course. But you've got to give it to Apple, I don't think I've seen any ads for iphone on TV but they all lined up on Friday morning anyway. And I've just read that one million units sold since Friday world wide. I guess I'm not the only insane one :)
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Aviary - Victoria Street isn't all Vietnamese
Yet again my friend D organised a wonderful venue for us. The Aviary is in Victoria Street Abbotsford (just down from North Richmond Station).
It's a bit hard to identify what kind of venue this is. Is it a restaurant? Is it a bar? Is it a pub? Or is it a refuge for out of work actors (more on this later).
On arriving we were advised all tables (of which their currently aren't many) were booked but we can find some small tables down the back. They were near the toilets but it wasn't really intrusive at all, it was actually kind of private down there.
The Aviary's speciality is various plates of Tapas, which on a Sunday night are only $5.00 a plate. Three or four plates would be plenty for even the hungriest person I'd wager. But there is also a traditional pub menu of sorts, and so I ordered my staple of a Chicken Parmigiana which was $19.
Well, when it arrived I was simply flabbergasted, it came out on a wooden platter with a massive pile of chips, salad, and the Parma itself was simply gargantuan. The Terminus Hotel in Richmond could definitely learn from this one. As our waitress said (more on this later), "It could feed a small african nation", and I'm inclined to agree with her.
Drank quite a nice red, there's obviously an extensive wine list and every sort of drink you could want. Atmosphere is relaxed and happy. There was a sign up saying that a beer garden was coming (though hopefully not til after winter!) and also there's an upstairs which it would appear is going to be maybe another bar or perhaps more restaurant tables?
Anyway, to our waitress. As soon as we walked in I looked at her and thought "Hm, I know you", but couldn't place where from. But then it hit my like a bolt of lightning. She was an actress in a show that nobody in Melbourne can possibly have seen yet, but the rest of Australia is all over it. This was kind of exciting, but made me wonder... is she down on her luck, or does she own the place? I was to shy to ask and also even mention the show she was in that I can't possibly have seen, though I think she knew that we knew. Personally if confronted by some sort of celebrity in ordinary situations I invariably leave them to their own devices because I doubt there is anything original I could say to them outside of the situation without making myself look like an incompetent dweeb. But she was an excellent waitress.
Anyway, I'm not sure why it's called The Aviary but this is one cage it's a pleasure to be locked up in for a while.
http://www.theaviary.com.au/index.htm
It's a bit hard to identify what kind of venue this is. Is it a restaurant? Is it a bar? Is it a pub? Or is it a refuge for out of work actors (more on this later).
On arriving we were advised all tables (of which their currently aren't many) were booked but we can find some small tables down the back. They were near the toilets but it wasn't really intrusive at all, it was actually kind of private down there.
The Aviary's speciality is various plates of Tapas, which on a Sunday night are only $5.00 a plate. Three or four plates would be plenty for even the hungriest person I'd wager. But there is also a traditional pub menu of sorts, and so I ordered my staple of a Chicken Parmigiana which was $19.
Well, when it arrived I was simply flabbergasted, it came out on a wooden platter with a massive pile of chips, salad, and the Parma itself was simply gargantuan. The Terminus Hotel in Richmond could definitely learn from this one. As our waitress said (more on this later), "It could feed a small african nation", and I'm inclined to agree with her.
Drank quite a nice red, there's obviously an extensive wine list and every sort of drink you could want. Atmosphere is relaxed and happy. There was a sign up saying that a beer garden was coming (though hopefully not til after winter!) and also there's an upstairs which it would appear is going to be maybe another bar or perhaps more restaurant tables?
Anyway, to our waitress. As soon as we walked in I looked at her and thought "Hm, I know you", but couldn't place where from. But then it hit my like a bolt of lightning. She was an actress in a show that nobody in Melbourne can possibly have seen yet, but the rest of Australia is all over it. This was kind of exciting, but made me wonder... is she down on her luck, or does she own the place? I was to shy to ask and also even mention the show she was in that I can't possibly have seen, though I think she knew that we knew. Personally if confronted by some sort of celebrity in ordinary situations I invariably leave them to their own devices because I doubt there is anything original I could say to them outside of the situation without making myself look like an incompetent dweeb. But she was an excellent waitress.
Anyway, I'm not sure why it's called The Aviary but this is one cage it's a pleasure to be locked up in for a while.
http://www.theaviary.com.au/index.htm
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Connex and the Case of the Whiff.
So since I sold my car in March last year, I travel virtually exclusively by Train/Tram (mostly Train).
For those who never use them, Melbourne trains are changing. Since I started using them regularly about 8 years ago, they have changed markedly.
Weekend travel for instance. When I first started, the patronage can be best described as "Bogan Central". It really did appear that public transport at weekends was mostly bogans and drunks and rednecks. At least that's how it appeared to me. I didn't particularly like travelling by train at the weekend.
But as petrol prices have risen, and Melbournes population has grown, this appears to be changing, thankfully for the better. It's simply due to more and more people using trains at the weekends. People who never would have dreamt of it 8 years ago are now forced to either through economic circumstances, or it's simply easier to use the train. I know even if I did have a car (and this is one of the reasons I sold it) I would never dream of driving into the city, and certainly not parking there. It's much easier to jump on the train and get where I need to go.
Peak hour is another example. Again, due to rising petrol prices and other socio-economic reasons, patronage on peak hour trains has increased substantially. I always try not to catch a train after 8AM, as it's just Sardine City onboard. Also, trains seem to run on time (mostly) before 8AM, but after that, it's potluck if they are on time or not. If you have something you have to be on time for, it pays to leave with plenty of margin for lateness, delays sitting for what seems like hours in the Flinders Street Rail Yards, or the odd arrival at Platform 13 which requires a GPS and a knowledge of Stalactites to navigate.
The actual trip in however is fraught with peril. You have the crowd of St Kevin's schoolboys (who thankfully get off at Burnley). There's always the good old person on a mobile phone who seems to forget that most people don't care if somebody forgot to take the mince out of the freezer. And loud Ipod's are prevalent... though because most people have them, most people can't hear everybody elses. Heaven help the one poor sod who doesn't own an Ipod. (The Melbourne Reviewer does own an Ipod, but always tries to turn it down so that it's not audible to other commuters.)
But by far, the most annoying and offensive thing about travelling on Public Transport, at least to me, is The Whiff.
Last time I checked, there seemed to be an absolute plethora of Personal Hygiene products for sale at our supermarkets. There are also other merchants, such as chemists and pharmacies who sell soaps and body washes and things like that, all designed to keep the human body clean.
And, in my experience, most people do succeed. Not that I go around purposefully sniffing people, but if you are jammed up against others in a packed Comeng, it's always much nicer if you can't smell them.
Now, this is where I have to tread lightly. So I'll just say it. People of, shall we say, particular... extractions, well, the do tend to exhibit The Whiff much more so than those who aren't of those... extractions.
That's not to say you don't get it from all sorts. You do get the odd homeless dude who obviously hasn't showered since Big Brother 1 stumble onto the train in a seemingly genius effort to escape the city (though invariably he'll end up in a lockup somewhere out in the burbs).
But those of these particular... extractions, they do tend to emit certain unpleasant aromas on a more regular basis than others.
Recently we've had cab drivers and now oldies baring all at the Flinders street steps. Should we bare all for personal hygiene?
Would it be rude to loudly and jarringly say "Somebody on this train stinks!"? Who would be more embarrassed, me or the stinkee? Would it be offensive to carry a can of Rexona around for such emergencies?
Or should I just attempt to move away (as I have done in the past). Though on packed Sardine trains, this is easier said than done.
I guess in the end it just comes down to another one of the vagaries of Public Transport that you have to put up with. I'm not sure what conclusion we can come to except that we need to grin and bare it.
Meanwhile, beware of, The Whiff.
For those who never use them, Melbourne trains are changing. Since I started using them regularly about 8 years ago, they have changed markedly.
Weekend travel for instance. When I first started, the patronage can be best described as "Bogan Central". It really did appear that public transport at weekends was mostly bogans and drunks and rednecks. At least that's how it appeared to me. I didn't particularly like travelling by train at the weekend.
But as petrol prices have risen, and Melbournes population has grown, this appears to be changing, thankfully for the better. It's simply due to more and more people using trains at the weekends. People who never would have dreamt of it 8 years ago are now forced to either through economic circumstances, or it's simply easier to use the train. I know even if I did have a car (and this is one of the reasons I sold it) I would never dream of driving into the city, and certainly not parking there. It's much easier to jump on the train and get where I need to go.
Peak hour is another example. Again, due to rising petrol prices and other socio-economic reasons, patronage on peak hour trains has increased substantially. I always try not to catch a train after 8AM, as it's just Sardine City onboard. Also, trains seem to run on time (mostly) before 8AM, but after that, it's potluck if they are on time or not. If you have something you have to be on time for, it pays to leave with plenty of margin for lateness, delays sitting for what seems like hours in the Flinders Street Rail Yards, or the odd arrival at Platform 13 which requires a GPS and a knowledge of Stalactites to navigate.
The actual trip in however is fraught with peril. You have the crowd of St Kevin's schoolboys (who thankfully get off at Burnley). There's always the good old person on a mobile phone who seems to forget that most people don't care if somebody forgot to take the mince out of the freezer. And loud Ipod's are prevalent... though because most people have them, most people can't hear everybody elses. Heaven help the one poor sod who doesn't own an Ipod. (The Melbourne Reviewer does own an Ipod, but always tries to turn it down so that it's not audible to other commuters.)
But by far, the most annoying and offensive thing about travelling on Public Transport, at least to me, is The Whiff.
Last time I checked, there seemed to be an absolute plethora of Personal Hygiene products for sale at our supermarkets. There are also other merchants, such as chemists and pharmacies who sell soaps and body washes and things like that, all designed to keep the human body clean.
And, in my experience, most people do succeed. Not that I go around purposefully sniffing people, but if you are jammed up against others in a packed Comeng, it's always much nicer if you can't smell them.
Now, this is where I have to tread lightly. So I'll just say it. People of, shall we say, particular... extractions, well, the do tend to exhibit The Whiff much more so than those who aren't of those... extractions.
That's not to say you don't get it from all sorts. You do get the odd homeless dude who obviously hasn't showered since Big Brother 1 stumble onto the train in a seemingly genius effort to escape the city (though invariably he'll end up in a lockup somewhere out in the burbs).
But those of these particular... extractions, they do tend to emit certain unpleasant aromas on a more regular basis than others.
Recently we've had cab drivers and now oldies baring all at the Flinders street steps. Should we bare all for personal hygiene?
Would it be rude to loudly and jarringly say "Somebody on this train stinks!"? Who would be more embarrassed, me or the stinkee? Would it be offensive to carry a can of Rexona around for such emergencies?
Or should I just attempt to move away (as I have done in the past). Though on packed Sardine trains, this is easier said than done.
I guess in the end it just comes down to another one of the vagaries of Public Transport that you have to put up with. I'm not sure what conclusion we can come to except that we need to grin and bare it.
Meanwhile, beware of, The Whiff.
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