The new addition
After many weeks of discussions... and lust, I would like to present the new addition to my family.
It doesn't need any introduction, this picture says it all.
I have more photos of the launch, which i will upload later today, but it was a great launch by Optus.
Free food, drinks, snacks and massages! It will put Telstras free Apples and Water to shame.
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Add CommentiPhone 3G day nears...
Well unless you have been hanging out with Osama and last few weeks, you most likely have heard that on July 11th the iPhone 3G will be released.
Since that announcement, I've been waiting day after day for the pricing to be released ... and finally, last week, Optus and Telstra announced their pricing (the only one who hasn't so far is Vodafone, but the hint that is that it will be Monday ot Tuesday... if you can believe rumours).
So since the announcement of Optus' prices, I've put together a spreadsheet to determine overall costs and pricing on different options on their plans (not prepaid - stuff that! :-).
Here is a screenshot of it in use.
If you want to view all the columns and plug your own figures in, get the Spreadsheet here.
I will update it once Vodafone releases their pricing.
Flight of the Conchords
29th May, 2008
Life, WWW, Music,
These guys are hilarious.
If you haven't checked it out, check out their TV show as well - It has stars Arj Barker and Kristen Schaal.
Here is an example of one of their songs. I think it's one of their better ones ;-)
Iron Man
Tonight I had the pleasure of watching Iron Man. And it really was a pleasure.
It has been a while since I've seen such a well put together movie, which only had very minor flaws. I had seen the trailers for it a few times, and I was looking forward to the movie for some time, but it still managed to beat my expectations many times by the end of the film.
I really suggest getting down to your local cinema and watching it (even if cinemas can be overpriced!).
Check out the trailers for yourself at the official Iron Man website.
PS. The comedy in it helps to break things up - and the robots are just so funny .. especially the one who mans the fire extinguisher.
New System
23rd April, 2008
Gaming, Life, Linux,
I know it's been a while, but I figured I should make mention to my new "rig" I got.
I decided it was time to upgrade, and for now, I will probably most likely use this as a gaming box, and eventually it will become my general desktop machine.
Specs
- Intel Quad Core 2 Processor (Q9450) - 2.66ghz each core.
- 4gb of DDR2 1066mhz (for the technical, 5-5-5-15)
- 2x500G Seagate Sata HDDS (its not really meant to be a storage box)
- Antec Nine Hundred Case (but this case definately has drive space!)
- Gigabyte 9800GX2 1GB (naturally it's PCI-e)
- And for those who care, motherboard is a EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 (nF780i SLI A1 Version)
So far, since getting it, I have been playing games on it nearly non-stop, something I have missed doing for such a long time. Sure I had the my Console games, but nothing really beats PC Gaming -- And it's true!
Some of the games I've been playing include Assasins Creed, SWAT 4, HL2, Empire Earth and Battlefield 2142.
I did do a 3d Mark rating of it, and it seemed to perform quite well -- of course no where near what the other machine rates at!! (Yes, that's right, it is running Vista -- not because I really want to, but because unfortunately, if i want to run Windows Games, I'm going to need a Windows Install, and in my honest opinion, Cedega is yet to get you close enough not to need one..)
In the next few weeks I will install Linux on it (onto the second hard drive it has), and will post about how that performs. Hopefully I can find something that will challenge the video card under linux (oh and I will give Cedega another try under this machine to see how it goes).
For now, Adios!
This is Phun
Someone randomly linked to a forum post with this in it today.
Boy is it Phun!
You can check out Phun at www.phun.at. There is versions for Windows and Linux 32 and 64 bit.
Don't think this is how you repair a laptop
Back in November of last year, I noted that my laptop which was in service for a month, was finally returned back to me, and was as good as new! However, in late January, the laptop locked up, and would not boot anymore. So, it went back in for service, again under extended warranty. From what they told me, the motherboard in the laptop had died, and it needed replacing, but the part was on back order and would take some time to get shipped in. They kept me up to date with the latest on the status of the repair and waiting for the part, which was good, but was often the same thing, "Waiting on the part".
However, on Thursday I got a call in the morning to say that my laptop repairs had been completed and was ready for collection. On speaking to the person calling me, I confirmed with him that the Motherboard was the reason for the problem. I then discussed with him, my disappointment that the laptop had to be serviced again, for a problem that was supposedly fixed last time the laptop was in for service. He didn't seem to care, so I switched questions and asked if they were open on the Weekend. He said they were not, but could organise a Courier to deliver it for me.
It was at this stage I was hesitant, because I could just see them saying they would courier it, but only for $100, at my expense. So i asked the obvious question, "at my expense?". He assured me that it would not be. Great, I thought. About time they took some responsibility for their faulty repair, even if it was just delivery.
Today, the laptop arrived by courier, and I booted it up tonight, expeciting to be able to start reinstalling Linux back onto it.
But this is where the story goes sour..
I noticed as i was getting it out of the box they had shipped it back in, that the cdrom drive (which is slot loading), had some of the plastic facia coming away:
On seeing this, I was quite annoyed, because it seemed that they had damaged the laptop during fixing it. For now I figured, I would check to make it booted, before sending it back to get that replaced^. I was relieved when the computer started to boot, as they definately had fixed the problem. And this is where the relief finishes and ends for tonight.
The screen then came alive and I was greeted by the Acer bios prompt.
And then I became annoyed again, because it looks like the laptop that was supposedly fixed ... was not!
So now, on Monday, another call to the good old Extended Warranty place to tell them what has happened, and then to the repair (Highpoint) on Wednesday to show my disaproval and get it fixed.
Wonder if I can get it replaced for a newer model this time.. atleast that way I can almost be sure they haven't broke it .. yet.
OMG IT ROCKED!
12th January, 2008
Life,
WOW, Not long home from Spicks and Speck-tacular, and I must say it did ABSOLUTELY FREAKING ROCK!
You must go see this if you can if you can (only very few shows in Sydney, and Perth to go).
The show had some great bits, but as to not spoil it for anyone, I won't go into detail. I do however have some memorable moments:
- Shaking Kit Warhust hand while he sang Brother!
- Being less than 60cm away from Myf!! (silly me, I didn't even ask to shake her hand!!!)
- And it must be said, poor Sancha who got dragged up onto stage after admitting she threw her knickers on stage at Dave Grohl once during a Foo Fighters concert. And then preceded to not cross her legs while on stage, and show the audience proof she was still wearing her current pair (which Adam hills keep bringing up for the rest of the night).
Oh, and Myf can dance! .... and Alan just thinks he can :p
We now return you to your regular programming.
Two Thousand and Seven
31st December, 2007
Blog, Life,
A lot has changed in 2007, for me, and everyone. So I figured it was time for a review (and hey, everyone else tries to do one...).
The year started off with me moving to a faster internet service (ie ADSL2), with iiNet, which made things much easier, becuase unlike 2 years before it, 512/128 just did not cut it anymore. But while I celebrated for speed, others celebrated for a totally different reason, but that didn't last long.
In March, Sydney decided to put the environment before itself, and together, we turned off our lights for an hour, and saw drop in usage of about 10%!
In April, America yet again came into the spotlight, when it proved that its Gun Laws really do need a review, when a student at a American University killed 32 people. Unfortunately, violence sometimes comes to play very close to home.
In July, I put the pen down for the last time, as I completed my final exam required to complete my Bachelor of Computer Science. Also in July, I was able to work at and enjoy the atmosphere of Live Earth, Sydney, which ended up not being too bad at the end of the day. Oh and who can forget that also in July, smoking was finally banned in pubs and clubs in NSW and Victoria. Making these places more appealing for non-smokers.
In September, after having received my results for everything, I graduated! In 2007, I was also able to grow some bad habits, which have unfortunately not been able to shake yet. Tho, maybe that is for the best.
In October, I went away with work to at the Bathurst 1000. Fun times were had, and I will never look at a car race the same way again. It is just a tad different to watching it on TV, when you can hear, and smell the atmosphere. Even the toughest of critics may be swayed. It was also in October, that Australia was fasinated by big flying things.
In the lead up to the end of the year, unfortunately this happened. Saddness broke out everywhere, even in Australia.
In the home straight of the year, I was offered a position at work, that I had applied for, and started in early December, and have almost racked up 4 weeks there! :) And I got a PSP (but thats a story for another article :))
In Politics, we saw a few common names go, and new ones come (finally) and hopefully bring about a needed change.
So, like most years, while there was a bunch of good, I sometimes did make a silly decision or two, but in the end, I did achieve some really big goals. Lucky I didn't make this mistake.
To finish off the year in review, a look back at some of those faces that we will no longer see anymore: Anna Nicole Smith, Billy Thorpe, Boris Yeltsin, Bobby Pickett, Stan Zemanek, Benazir Bhutto.
I know I have most likely forgotten some really important parts of 2007, but that will do for now. I know for sure tho, that next year will contain something about this.
I leave you with a song that made 2007.
POP
31st December, 2007
Life, WWW, Music,
Well this year is almost over, and as the year starts to fade into the sunset and while we wait for the sky to be lit up with taxpayers money, I share the following YouTube Clip with you (care of James Dumay).
Houston, the laptop has landed
19th November, 2007
Life, Rants,
As can be noted by the title, my Laptop is now safely at home again, which is the good news.
The bad news is:
- I had to ring them today to find out the status, only to find out that it was "ready since last week"
- When i went to collect it, I was told I had to paid the unpaid invoice - Which should've been paid by the Underwriters. In the end, after I had to stand there and phone the underwriters, It came down to it was a stuff up by Highpoint, who had not invoiced the underwriters to pay. All they had sent was the quote, which was approved, but no formal invoice.
- The above took me 45 minutes! Too damn long. Atleast I made them use their own phone and call me a cab. It's their fault.
Good news:
- Laptop is back
- Battery has been replaced (tho I haven't powered on to check this yet)
- the fan and screen replaced.
If everything works fine, hopefully this is the last you hear from me on this topic :)
Laptop Update and stuff
17th November, 2007
Life,
It's been a month since the original post, and my laptop is still not ready for me to collect it!
They had to get in a part (the mainboard), so they could repair it.. but seems it is taken too long, so they have decided to just attempt to repair it. Thankfully all this labour is on their own time .. doesn't cost me a cent... I just want it back!
Meanwhile, I have ordered a bluetooth GPS Receiver so that I can play around with that on my phone. Fun times definitely to come!
Extended Worries
17th October, 2007
WTF,
At the beginning of 2006, I purchased a Acer Aspire 1694, and an extended warranty for 2 years, thru Dick Smith Electronics, which is handled by Prestige Protection.
I had to put in a claim once before, within a few months of owning the laptop, about a faulty fan, which was rectified in no time, as it was under the manufacturers warranty. This was repaired by their approved repairer, Highpoint. At the end of it all, I was impressed with the turn around and service, to fix a small problem.
Now of late, the fun has started to have the same symptoms as before (I'm guessed that the fan isn't as great as it should be), and has started making a lot of noise when it spins up.
So the other day, I rang the extended warranty company and filed a claim. They gave me a claim reference, and noted that all I had to do, was to drop it off at the same company again, Highpoint, and quote the claim and it would be taken and inspected and they would get back to me if it would be covered.
Well today, leaving the organising of dropping it off to my mum, she rang them just to find out what time they were open, as to not miss them.
On calling, the number provided by Prestige, it was a number for Highpoint, but more so someone's desk phone. They were great and transferred her to the right place, where she spoke to a person who noted that in order to lodge the laptop, that a Job ID would need to be obtained, and this can be obtained via Acer Technical Support. After explaining that the Claim ID had been provided by the Extended Warranty company, and that the laptop was more than 1 year old, it wasn't covered by the manufactueres warranty, the CSR representative agreed to create a Job ID for her, but would not be covered under any warranty, instead would be charged and invoiced to her. Knowing that this is not the case, with the notes that I had left her. She rang me to ring them. After I spoke to them, no one else was none the wiser, and I suggested that with the Extended Warranty documents in hand, ring Highpoint again, and note which company had provided it, and get them to look it up, as they must have some information about that companies extended warranty account. Again, she was told that it was irrelevant, and that she should ring Prestige.
On phoning prestige again, they reiterated what had originally been told. That the Claim ID was all that was needed, and just note that it was a claim from Prestige under extended warranty.
Fed up of being tossing back and forth on the phone, she went down, with warranty, laptop and all other details to Highpoint, to find out what the matter was. The staff member on the desk, again, had no clue what this Claim ID was, and how it related to the them, and was unwilling to deal with anything. So while, at Highpoint, Prestige was called again, to note that Highpoint was refusing to accept the laptop with that Claim ID, because it had no Job No. In the end, on my mum's mobile, the Highpoint staff member spoke to Prestige, and they worked out in the end, that while the documents from Prestige were sent to the right place email address, Highpoint had no reference, because the email address in question, could not be addressed, or seen by anyone except service staff. And thus, they would not accept the laptop, because they had no indication of who would be paying for the laptop service, or where to send the invoice.
Finally thinking they had made a breakthrough, the Highpoint staff member created a Job ID, relevant to the Claim from Prestige, and started to process.
Now, I should note that before I sent the laptop off, I backed up and wiped any files that I had on there, formatted, and installed Ubuntu on the laptop. When I did so, I created a user/pass combination that I couldn't remember. I was under the full expectation that when I got the laptop back, I would be formatting and reinstalling again in any case, because I really don't trust my documents or that with anyone else.
And this is where it gets interesting. Highpoint who by now had the computer turned on to see what the problem was, and that, noted that the screen was "black" for a long time during boot, and considered that this may be a problem with the laptop (It's actually unrelated to anything, I noticed this as soon as I installed the latest Ubuntu, that it wouldn't display the fancy graphics on boot, but instead nothing - Gentoo didn't do this). But this is a fair point. It can easily be misconstrued.
It was about this time that I got a phone call from my mum again, who shocked me with the information that they are after. They wanted to know the username and password to log into the system. Now, sure, if the error was software, I could understand that they would want to log into the system. But no, it was the fan. Part of the Hardware. Part that had been replaced already once! After nothing this to her, they were still ademant they wanted the password. And as noted before, I cannot recall what password I put on the system, but the laptop will make the noise without the need. I said if they really want, format the computer and install something else - there is nothing on it that needs to be - but there is nothing wrong with the software.
The only valid reason I can see they need to get into the system, is so run some intensive application, to cause the CPU to heat and the fan to activate. But then this isn't even neccesary, as the system still gets warm, even without going much.
Finally they took the system in, to be looked at, and in their benefit, said that they may even replace the case near the hinge, as it is starting to crack (go plastic). But that was only after forms were signed that it was okay to format the HDD and that, so they dont get into shit.
For some reason I can see that they are going to charge for the format/installation of Windows or whatever crap they put on. Which will then cause me to go down and complain a bit more myself.
It's times like this, that Dell actually look good when it comes to after sales service/warranty issues.
Graduation
25th September, 2007
Life, University,
Today I had my graduation from my Bachelor of Computer Science course. Feels good to finally have it done, and interesting in a way that I should now be looking for full time work. There is the option of going back to studies for a while longer, but at the moment, I don't think I would do that.
I have included a couple of photos in the post below of the testamur and me in my gown, hood and mortarboard!
My Testamur, which will be hung up, as soon as I get a hook....
Me in my Gown, Hood and Mortarboard.
Spicks and Speck-tacular
3rd September, 2007
Life,
I got my tickets to Spicks and Speck-tacular, the Live Show for Spicks and Specks in January today.
It is bound to be a great show, and will be good to see the cast live in person, especially Myf!
Anyone else going?