Time to go shopping
Both my digital camera and my electric shaver are on their last legs, in need of replacement.
I don’t think either has done too badly.
The Canon A70 camera was bought in April 2003, and from memory cost me about $600 at the time. The technology has got better and cheaper, and I expect a replacement (hell yes I’ll get another Canon) will cost about a third of that amount, and certainly won’t require 4 AA batteries to run.
The Philishave 6867 shaver was, as I recall, bought in 2002. From memory it cost a bit under $200. It too has gone the distance, though a couple of years ago the battery started misbehaving, making it necessary to shave while plugged into the mains. Now however one of the heads has broken, so it’s at two-thirds capacity.
Sadly Choice magazine hasn’t reviewed men’s shavers since 2004, but I’d happily buy Philips again.
Also in the land of consumerism, I invested in two bananas yesterday. At $11.98/kg, the two of them cost $4.65. Ouch. Tasty though.
Oh yeah, I also have to buy new shoes. I hate buying shoes.
Tags: bananas, cameras, shavers
9 comments
A 4WD actually used for 4WDing
I’m not the world’s biggest fan of four wheel drives, but it’s nice to see one that’s obviously used for its intended purpose, rather than just cruising around the suburbs.
It appears to be real mud, not those stick-on blobs you hear about.
Peugot 308: Turbo-powered sneaker
For some reason, every time I see a Peugot 308, especially in white, it reminds me of a giant sneaker.
In fact specifically it reminds me of the sneaker in The Magic Portal (around the 12:30 mark).
Tags: cars, Peugot
3 comments
Commuter Club Myki
Last week I started using my shiny new Commuter Club Myki.
It’s worked well, and as I would expect it… with some exceptions, documented in this short video:
1. It beeps twice at the readers. This is the case at the standalone readers, on trams and buses and at Myki gates (currently seen at Parliament at Melbourne Central) and retro-fitted Metcard (“Frankenbarrier”) gates.
It’s unexpected because two beeps normally means a Concession, and it has me wondering how many people within hearing range think I’m cheating by using a Concession fare. Yearly/Commuter Club Metcards do not do this.
I have enquired about this with the Transport Ticketing Authority. It is unclear when and if it will be fixed.
2. Unexpected credit. Before the March price rise, when travelling on a Zone 1 Pass in Zone 2 on a weekend (or public holiday), the system would use a nominal amount of $2.94 (the Zone 1, 2-hour fare), calculate the difference between that and the weekend daily fare of $3.00, and charge you the result: 6 cents.
Now that the Zone 1, 2-hour fare has gone up to $3.02, one would expect the system to not charge you anything, right? Well it goes one better: it actually charges you minus 2 cents; in other words it credits your account with 2 cents.
I would call this totally counter-intuitive, and I’m betting it was not as intended. Again, it’s not clear if this will be changed.
(The precise charging is slightly more complicated than as noted above; it apparently goes through a couple of steps before getting to that end result.)
3. The expiry date.
Never mind. I thought it was wrong and missing a day, but it isn’t, because 2012 is a leap year.
I first used (activated) this pass on Wednesday 16/3/2011. It’s a 365 day pass, which means it should expire at the end of the day on 15/3/2011. The business rules say that the end of the day for the public transport system is 3am, so the precise expiry time should be 03:00 on 16/3/2012.
That’s not what the system is telling me. Both the web site and the on-system readers say 03:00 on 15/3/2012.
I haven’t queried this with TTA yet, but will do so.
None of these are huge issues of course, but while Myki mostly works fine now, it doesn’t exactly instil confidence in the system.
Perhaps it’s little niggly things like this which has the Baillieu government reluctant to make a call on whether they’ll keep or scrap the system.
Realistically, any new system will have problems. Metcard certainly did. If the government keeps it, they can probably get plenty of mileage out of blaming the previous government for it, as long as they can get it working well before the 2014 election rolls around. At that point, if they played it right and it was humming along (which with the right effort, it could be), they can cover themselves in glory by claiming credit for it.
But sooner or later, they have to make the call (whichever way) and get on with the job.
(Thanks to Nathan for tipoffs on the 2 cent credit and the double-beep.)
Update 9:45pm: Removing the stuff about pricing; will put that in another post; it just distracts here.
Update 9:50pm: Thanks to Nathan, figured out the expiry date issue is not an issue.
Update Monday lunchtime: For those playing at home, Myki Commuter Club cards cause a double-beep, but not a flashing light at the Myki-only gates. Marvellous. Inconsistency in its inconsistency.
Update Tuesday morning: The Age: Smartcard miscalculation gives travellers 2¢ worth
Update Tuesday evening: An update from the TTA:
2 cent credit for Zone 1 myki pass customers
myki customers who use a Zone 1 myki pass will see they receive a 2 cent myki money credit when travelling into Zone 2 on weekends.
The 2 cent myki money credit is not an error, but a result of the system working as it should to calculate the correct fare. While it may appear to be a quirky outcome, the fare calculation is the same as that made prior to the recent fare adjustment.
The system calculates the difference between the weekend daily cap and the Zone 1&2 fare, taking into account the fact that the Zone 1 portion of the journey is covered by the customer’s myki pass. In the past this has resulted in a fare of $0.06 and under the current fare structure it results in a fare of -$0.02, or a 2 cent credit.
I had a look in the Fares and Ticketing Manual; it is true that the way the system works doesn’t contradict what it says in there. But it’s still not logical. Claiming it’s exactly to plan is… well, it’s an interesting interpretation of how a cap should work.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-03-19
- Footscray and Maribyrnong residents, that noise you can hear is Top Gear Live at the Showgrounds. #Melbourne #
Tags: Twitter digest
1 comment
Arachnocide
I don’t like spiders, but if they’re not invading my territory, I try to leave them in peace. I figure they’re doing their bit to keep the erky insect/annoying fly population down.
I don’t know what variety this one was, but unfortunately for it, it was invading my space. It was found unexpectedly waiting, having started weaving a web between my two undercover (“priority”) clothes lines outside my back door.
I’m sorry spider-lovers, but this one was disruptive enough and scary-looking enough that it had to be disposed of.
Tags: spiders
11 comments
Almost new phone time
I’m about due for a phone upgrade.
I haven’t made my mind up whether it’ll be iPhone or Android. Some will have very strong views on these. I’ll make up my mind closer to purchase time, but meanwhile there are some other factors I’m considering.
Radio waves
All phones emit radio waves. Some more than others.
The Nokia web site lets you look up different phone models and find out what the SAR (Specific absorption rate) value is. For my last few phones:
- Nokia N95 (Type RM-160) (2009-) 0.72 W/kg
- Nokia 6230i (Type RM-72) (2006-2009) 0.70 W/kg
- Nokia 6100 (Type NPL-2) (2004-2006) 0.60 W/kg
- Nokia 6210 (I think this would have been 2002-2004) — I’m not sure precisely which model variant. 0.75-0.91 W/kg
I’m not clear on why different model variants would vary so much in their output.
According to Wikipedia, the US standard dictates an SAR level of 1.6 or below; the EU standard is 2 or below.
Most other brands seem to have web sites, but CNet has a big list of lots of brands. If you were wondering, most of the recent iPhones have SARs of above 1.0 W/kg, as do many of the other Smartphones from the likes of HTC and Samsung, it appears.
I try not to get paranoid about such things, because it doesn’t seem like there has been a proven link to health problems. But equally, sometimes my ear is hot when I get off the phone, which just seems wrong. It’s probably a good idea to minimise your exposure.
Good reception
The other thing I’m on the lookout for with my next new phone appears trickier: which Android or iPhone earns Telstra’s blue tick for good reception in rural areas? My current Nokia N95 earned the tick, and gets a good signal even in far flung places like M’s parents’ farm, which lesser phones have trouble with.
At present it appears that none of the Android phones have the tick, and neither do the iPhones (though this Whirlpool thread suggests some older HTC models had it).
Tags: Android, iPhone, mobile phones
17 comments
Japan’s disaster (or as ACA put it: “Catastrophe!”)
The trilogy of disasters: earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency, bringing untold misery and tragedy to the people of Japan — and what does ACA do? They use a caption which makes it sound like it’s a scene from a musical.
It was clear from the time the first videos were shown on Friday afternoon that this was serious. And perhaps the fact that it’s happened in a technologically advanced country (as well as one with relatively close ties to Australia) makes the impact all the more powerful — with saturation media coverage not seen for some other recent disasters. (Cyclone Nargis, anybody?)
I suppose it’s the nuclear aspect that has really focussed people’s attention. We’re a long way away, but it’s scary stuff — and it’s unclear what will happen next.
One can only hope they bring it under control as quickly as possible so the recovery and rebuilding can proceed quickly.
Tags: Japan, Media
12 comments
