Alex Kidman

OK, that’s probably the oddest subject line that my self-enforced policy of only using the music I’m listening to at the time has led me to. And yes, I did have to look up the lyrics to make sure they were correct.

Keeping on the subject of oddities: When I was much, much younger, I made the mistake of losing my library card somewhere. It was found and a very nice gentleman posted it back to me with an accompanying letter. Which was all well and good, except that he then tried (within the attached letter) to chat me up. Which was disturbing on two counts:

• I’m not female, although he presumed I was
• I was about ten years old at the time.

There’s only been brief periods where I’ve had to so forcefully assert my masculinity thereafter, but it’s a theme that plays strongly in today’s published work, which is at CNET.com.au and concerns, of all things, watches:

Sony Ericsson MBW-200 Bluetooth watch: “There’s no doubting that the MBW-200 is designed as a ladies’ watch, and the technical reviewer for this watch wasn’t, in any appreciable sense of the word, a lady. No, not even in the Little Britain sense…”

Ah, such a happy lyric. Not entirely indicative of my mood at the moment, which is all busy, busy, busy and busy.

It wouldn’t be a blog update without me droning on endlessly about my latest piece of work, which today comes courtesy of the fine folk at GadgetGuy.com.au:

Macbook Pro 13″ : “If you’ve been holding off on upgrading an older Macbook, this is an excellent upgrade choice. If last year’s slightly underwhelming Unibody models didn’t impress you, these will. First time Mac buyers will find a lot of value here too.”

Those who aren’t here for the endless self pitching.. hmm.. what can I offer you?

Ah. Yes. The Australian Cavy Sanctuary. Full of more adorable Guinea Pig action than your widdle hearts can bear. Guinea Pigs are almost as cute as Hippos.. but nowhere near as dangerous.

But I am a bit worn out from dealing with twenty-odd couriers today. And some of them were very odd/irritated/irritable/pungent. Some of them even managed to tick multiple boxes there.

Such is the life of a busy working journalist, and I guess I should at least be grateful that I am working right now.

For a start, online, where I penned some unusual internet filtering news/analysis for APCMag.com today:

China delays Net filtering; Australia sticks to its guns: “As China backs off from controversial PC filtering plans, Australia is looking to expand its censorship net, with plans to ban computer games too.”

Then into the print realm we travel….

That’s not me on the cover of Australian T3 Magazine, just in case you didn’t know what I looked like. For a start, I can afford an actual pair of pants. But I can at least appear in the “contributor” column. I guess I’ll just have to work my way up to the esteemed position of cover model — if it’s got any esteem to begin with, that is.

To be slightly more specific, I’ve contributed to the roundup of GPS systems reviewed in the July issue. Go forth to your agency of news and pick up a copy today!

And while you’re there, be sure to pick up the July issue of PC Authority Magazine, where I’ve contributed a review of the Vin Diesel-tastic Wheelman. Who said I don’t hob-nob with the Hollywood A-List? Oh yeah, that’s right. I did.

I never should have purchased that soundtrack. Now it’s stuck in my head, and I keep pondering whether it’d be a bad idea to have the Bad Horse theme as my ringtone. Or an awesome one.

In the meantime, I’ve been chasing work in all sorts of interesting new nooks and crannies. Does anyone ever just look in a single cranny? I doubt it. Regardless, I’ll have a few new projects to announce and shamelessly promote shortly. And I need to make some time to update my list of writing clients. While I work on that, why not read my latest Mac blog, live now at the aptly named MacTheBlog.com?

Mac The Blog: The Old Or The New?: “In any case, it’s been a workhorse, but like many heavily-used farming equines, the old grey MacBook ain’t what she used to be…”

A new working week, and a lot to do, including sending myself deaf with iPod Docks. Docks with clocks. Docks with clocks that rock socks. Docks with clocks that rock socks and look like blocks. But Docks with clocks that rock socks and look like blocks but don’t go tock. In fact, a flock of Docks with clocks that rock socks and look like blocks but don’t go tock.

And if you just followed me here via Facebook or Twitter, yeah, I did just quote myself being obsessed with Dr Seuss. Sorry about that. Although you did get the longer-than-140 characters version, so everybody wins!

Meanwhile, a couple more reviews of mine have gone live at CNET.com.au.

Panasonic DMR-XW450: “Panasonic’s upmarket DVD recorder has oodles of functionality, but it’s hidden behind a somewhat obtuse remote control.”

Kodak Zx1: “If the early models of Motorola’s RAZR and Nokia’s mobile phone handsets were to engage in some kind of illicit affair, and somehow work out the differences between their competing interfaces, the mutant child that they’d come up with would look a lot like Kodak’s Zx1 pocket video camera…”

Largely because she’s awesome.

Last Saturday, she finished off a hand-knitted Dalek, which was pretty awesome all of itself. For those that care, our youngest now insists on taking it to bed with him. I’m sure he’ll grow up to be a fine, well adjusted young man. Or ruler of the universe. Either one is fine by me.

In cheeky fashion, I quipped at her that “Daleks are dead easy. Bet you can’t do Davros!”

So what did she do? Answers after the jump…

(Read on …)

I came up a theory this morning about my continued use of “Um” as an interjection to allow my brain to catch up when I’m talking. It’s been suggested to me that talking too fast is something of a Kidman trait, and that’s probably true, but as I get older, my brain’s getting slower, which means I need more pauses to catch up. Hence “Um”.

Anyway, for whatever reason, this morning I decided that Um has became a fully fledged nation intent on invading my speech patterns, which led to this rather extraordinary utterance mid-sentence:

“Well, I’m not sure that she, um, should.. um.. Damn! The Um people are invading my speech patterns again! They must be um.. stopped.. Now they’re invading my Um thoughts! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

This did have the effect of reducing my beautiful wife to giggles (and she’s very cute when she smiles) but now I find myself looking out for Ums whenever I talk. Today at least I’m working by myself so speech should be at a minimum. Still, if you want further Um-proof, you can check out the freshly minted MacThePodcast — Episode 10, live now on iTunes. You can click here to subscribe, or if that doesn’t suit you, it should hopefully be live soon on the MacThePodcast page:

MacThePodcast: Episode 10: Intel: “MJCP and Alex Kidman talk with Philip Cronin, General Manager Australia/New Zealand for Intel. Intel has gone from being the enemy of all Mac users to the heart of our computers. We discuss how that transformation has taken place and what clues it gives for the future”

And clearly, I go “Um” a bit. See if you can count how many times.

How on earth did that happen?

While I ponder the imponderables (and try to work out where all my hair went), why not check out this review of mine at CNET.com.au?

Sanyo PLC-XU355: “Sanyo’s projector is notable for the inclusion of wireless connectivity, but not much else.”

That’d make a great album title, now that I think of it.

Some recent twittering reminded me that the Hippos section of the site hasn’t been updated in a while. Trusting to Google news to ferret out the latest in Hippopotamidae related facts, I headed there, ready for the usual mix of “cute” Hippo stories and “Zoo Keeper eaten alive by Hippo” stories. They’re cute, sure, but they’re also not exactly safe creatures to cuddle, either.

Except that, right now, if you enter the term “Hippo” into Google news, the first result you get has the headline

“Sexy little city Canberra comes of age”.

WHAT?

I don’t even want to click on that link. Instead, to calm my nerves, here’s a randomly chosen picture of a Hippo grabbed from Google Image Search instead:

(image originally on this site. Looks nice. Go there.)

It’s been a bit quiet around this blog for a little while — a necessary side-effect while I take on board some rather drastic changes to the way I work, who I work for and what I do. Interesting times, and all that.

In the meantime, though, it hasn’t stopped already written material appearing, both in print and online.

Online, first, at CNET.com.au, you’ll find these two reviews:

Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T: “Since when did vendor battery claims actually represent the truth?”

Belkin Powerline AV Networking Adapters: “Belkin’s take on power line networking benefits from a streamlined design compared to many Ethernet over power products, but still doesn’t deliver on the hype.”

Then in the print world, I’m all over the place. That’s not a reflection of my mental state, and more a reflection of the widespread use of my words across the consumer tech magazine marketplace right now.

In the July issue, which will also now be the penultimate issue of Australian Netguide, you’ll find my reviews of GPS devices from TomTom, Navman, Mio, Uniden, Nokia and Garmin, as well as standalone reviews of Roxio Easy VHS to DVD, Quicken QBi 2009, Genius BT-03i Touch Wireless Headset, AOC Verfino V22 Monitor, Asus SDRW-08D1S-U External DVD-RW Drive, Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10EXBK HD Dual Camera, Canon Digital Ixus 95 IS, Kogan Agora Pro Netbook and Nintendo DSi, as well as games reviews of Wheelman, Stormrise, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Singstar: Queen with Wireless Mics and the Broadband Buyer’s Guide.

The July issue of PC User magazine features a comprehensive guide to iPod-compatible earbuds, featuring brands such as Ultimate Ears, Altec Lansing, Panasonic, Philips, Genius, Sony and Sennheiser. My regular gig reviewing mobiles kicks into gear with reviews of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Blackberry Curve 8900, as well as gadget reviews of the Nintendo DSi, Genius Trio Racer FF and Altec Lansing Orbit-M speaker.

Meanwhile, in PC Authority’s July issue, you’ll find my words — and even a small picture of my face, back when I had a goatee — plastered across the Apple pages. This month’s column deals with essential Mac OS X Leopard Tweaks, and how I apply them. Some obvious, some not. And in games, EA’s The Godfather II gets involved in a bizarre comparison between itself, Grand Theft Auto and Peggle Nights. It all makes sense. Trust me.