Alex Kidman

Things were so much easier when I picked subject lines based on what I was listening to at the time. Still, the above subject line does make sense. Of a sort.

Firstly, the T-Shirts, over at PC Authority, where I’ve looked over Internode’s new “T-Shirt” 1TB broadband plans:

Internode enters the 1TB race with “T-Shirt” plans: “Internode’s new “T-Shirt” plans offer up to a tantalising 1TB of data. But will they cost you the shirt off your back? We investigate the real value.”

And then over at MacTheMag, my regularly weekly blog considers the exact details of Apple’s new product offerings, by working out how much choice is included. Fifty Cent makes a guest appearance, as apparently Apple’s new Ping social network figures I should follow him. Which I guess goes to prove that Ping may be many things, but a Genius it is not.

MacTheBlog: Please, Apple, can I have less? “The confetti has been swept up, Chris Martin has vanished off to … well … wherever it is Chris Martin vanishes off to when he’s not performing, and what we’re left with is, to my appraisal, not all that satisfactory. To put some specifics to this, it seems that Apple’s gone all out to remove elements of choice.”

I was actually going to take today off as a sick day. Dropped everyone in at their respective places of work and education, and headed home to spend the day in bed getting better. But then the phone rang. Again and again. Couriers started turning up, and it became clear that my plans to recover would have to be put on hold, as would recovery. It’s enough to drive a man mad.

Which is a clunky but effective segue into this week’s Hydrapinion column, which is all about screen protectors:

Hydrapinion: The complete lunatic’s guide to putting on a screen protector: “In the interests of preserving the sanity of future screen protector applicators, I’ve assembled this handy how-to-checklist.”

I can’t explicitly say that iiNet’s gone insane. For a start, the company can afford really fancy lawyers. But I can imagine an iiNet advertising campaign shouting about KERAZY VALUES! in a distinctive Irish lilt after today’s announcement of new broadband plans, which forms the basis of my weekly broadband value column at PC Authority:

iiNet rejigs plan values, announces first 1TB download plan: “The ISP price war we’ve alluded to previously? It’s well and truly on. iiNet today announced the first plan in Australia to offer a combined 1TB of downloads.”

Today, it’s all about data, data, data and waves. First up at Hydrapinion, I opined about the odd nature of Optus’ latest data promotion:

Hydrapinion: Half price data pricing makes half as much sense: “I mean, really, which sounds better to you — the ‘fake’ 4 to 8c per MB, or the actual 0.5-1c per MB?”

I’m not done with data analysis yet, though, as Internode’s announced changes to its broadband plans go under the analytical hammer at PC Authority:

How do Internode’s new mega-allowance plans stack up? “How do Internode’s new plans compare to Telstra’s recent drastic price drops? We crunch the numbers to assess the real value.”

And then finally at Geekspeak, I go over the basics of Google’s soon-to-be-defunct Wave product:

Geekspeak: Waving Goodbye: “Not every tech product is an instant hit, even when it’s backed by a big brand name.”

That’s broadband data, that is. Not so much Brent Spiner, if you know what I mean. In this case, another analysis of broadband plans article for PC Authority, looking at this week’s announcement by Optus of “off-peak” mobile broadband plans:

Optus launches off-peak Mobile Broadband – but is it good value? “We crunch the numbers on Optus’ latest broadband deals.”

A busy week here wraps up with Apple’s launch in Australia of the iPhone 4. I covered the queues overnight in Sydney for MacTheMag, and video blogged it as a result. It’s the first time I’ve bothered with a midnight opening, and the first time I’ve ever been pushed out of a venue by security. Apparently Optus didn’t want media coverage. Who knew?

MacTheBlog: iPhone 4 Arrival Events: “Alex Kidman and MJCP spent the evening flitting between the three telcos (and the hardy souls lined up outside the Apple Store despite the fact it wouldn’t be open until 8am) to check it out the launch of iPhone 4 in Australia.”

Keeping with an Apple theme, I also covered Ravon’s rather nice iPod Mini HiFi for CNET.com.au:

Ravon Fidelio Mini Hi-Fi: “This is an iPod Hi-Fi that eschews frills in favour of superior performance. It’s a striking pity it’s not shielded for iPhone use.”

At PC Authority, the last Vintage Tech for a while deals with a computer called Colleen:

Vintage Tech: Looking back at the Atari 400: “Like we said, this was back in the 1970s. Don’t throw your shoes at us.”

And finally, at Hydrapinion, I didn’t write (but did contribute) to Adam Turner’s guide to writing product roundups. It’s so good, frankly, that I’d link to it even if it didn’t contain some of my writing work:

Hydrapinion: The Golden Rules of writing tech “Round-Ups”: “Reviewing a dozen of anything at the same time is generally a nightmare. Tech journos might get to play with cool toys, but mostly the life of a product reviewer is far less glamorous than it might seem. Testing one product can be tricky enough, but testing a bunch of them can drive you mad – especially when you’re dealing with bleeding edge technology.”

The theme for today’s stories is clearly “large”. Such as the dimensionally challenged (to be nice) netbook I’ve reviewed for CNET.com.au:

MSI Wind U160: “There is one fashion faux pas that the U160 commits, however. It’s the U160′s six-cell battery, and there’s only one thing to say. Yes, U160, your bum does look big in that.”

Meanwhile, at PC Authority a new column looking at broadband price announcements, and what they mean in the context of existing offers kicks off:

How do Telstra’s new BigPond prices stack up? “Is it time to reconsider Telstra’s ADSL2+ and Cable broadband?”

This week’s Vintage tech continues the theme of having guest contributors, after a fashion. Last week, rather aged video of Steve “Woz” Wozniak adorned my Apple II article. This week, the video is even older and the star even more stellar, as James T Kirk makes an appearance…

Vintage Tech: Looking back at the VIC-20: “Before Commodore wowed the world with the C64, it sold a million VIC-20 computers. We look back at Commodore’s first “affordable” computer.”

I don’t only write stories about Apple, it should be noted.  Except.. well, this one. But at least this story is about something Apple doesn’t sell any more. I know. I checked. This week’s Vintage Tech covers… Apple.

Vintage Tech: Looking back at the Apple II: “If you check out the Apple Australia online store and type in “Apple II”…. you don’t find anything. Nothing at all but a command that “No results were found. Please try a different search.” Then again, as noted, Apple did stop selling the IIe seventeen years ago, so it’s not surprising that they’re a touch out of stock of the Apple II line. Yes, even in the refurb store.”

Meanwhile, at Geeks2U, I step away from the fruit orchard with a quick primer on alternatives to the NBN:

Geekspeak: NBN Alternatives: Unless you happen to be in just a few spots in Tasmania (or shortly a few more in mainland Australia), the chances are you’re more than a year or two away from being able to access NBN services. So what do you do in the meantime?

Having spent most of last week in Adelaide (or en route to and from Adelaide, as followers of my Twitter stream might have been able to work out), I haven’t updated with all of last week’s published works. There were, to put it mildly, a few articles going up while I was heading west.

First up, a new head of mine sprouts as I join Hydrapinion, penning a weekly gadgets column. This week spins off my recent Hong Kong Printer trip into a discussion on smartphones and icecream:

Hydrapinion: Are we smart enough for a smartphone world? “A phone made of Ice Cream would have its melting problems, to be sure, but retailers would love all the repeat customers.”

Keeping with the theme of using recent launches to write columns, last week’s Geekspeak was also rather printer-centric:

Geekspeak: Making The Most Of Your Printer: “Putting it simply, printing is sadly boring stuff, and something that most of us don’t care about a jot up until the printer jams or runs out of ink or toner.”

At CNET, I shifted away from printers into the world of iPod AV docks:

Pioneer XW-NAV1: “Pioneer’s NAV1 might have a silly, Avatar-esque name, but the design is straight out of the ordinary iPod Dock Designer’s Handbook, 2010 edition.”

At PC Authority, the latest (or is it late?) system to fall under my Vintage Tech gaze was the ZX Spectrum:

Vintage Tech: Looking back at the ZX Spectrum: “We were particularly impressed by this rather astonishing bit of code, which makes the Spectrum Twitter-compatible.”

And then finally a hearty four reviews at MacTheReviews:

LogMeIn Ignition: “The iPad client — and it’s a universal app, so if you’ve already purchased the iPhone client you’ll automatically qualify for it — is another kind of critter entirely…”

Marvel Comics/Comics: “The status of the iPad as an ebook reader is well understood, but when you say ebook, most people tend to think “Pride & Prejudice” a lot sooner than, say, “Power Man & Iron Fist”.”

iPad Keyboard Dock: “I’m not what could be called the greatest fan of Apple’s peripherals. Within a desktop metaphor, I’ve long held that while Apple’s keyboards are technically functional and certainly aesthetically pleasing, they’re outclassed by the competition.”

The Orange Box: “The Orange Box still represents value for money even though its components are a touch on the older side.”

It’s been a bit quiet on this blog this week. I wonder why that was?

Oh… right. There was this:

While I was busy dealing with the fun and games of having no reliable mobile phone signal (thanks Vodafone!), an awful lot of content was being generated. First, at CNET.com.au, a slight departure from the norm for me, with a photo gallery/story covering the event I was in Hong Kong for:

HP unveils printer apps and cloud printing: “HP has unveiled its latest range of printers in Hong Kong which now enable you to print from anywhere in the world. Its printer line-up starts at AU$129 and each one comes with its own email address. We check out the flashy launch and ask the tricky questions.”

Perhaps there’s a career ahead of me as a travel journalist/photo journalist. Perhaps not. Just in case,  some more regular, review-centric content for CNET:

HP Compaq Presario CQ42-136TU: “The Presario CQ42 is an inexpensive entry-level system. There are no surprises here, either nice or nasty, and those seeking a basic office workhorse-type system will find it perfectly suitable.”

HP Compaq Presario CQ62-116TU: “The Presario CQ62 is a decent but unexciting laptop that doesn’t stand out enough to make it a must-buy system.”

MSI Wind12 U230: “The U230 offers more processing grunt than a comparable netbook, but fails in the crucial power stakes.”

Bush Walker BPR07DAB: “We can’t fault the Bush Walker’s simplicity or portability, but it’s still a DAB+ radio that is only of interest to those who spend a lot of time outdoors.”

The trip also afforded me the ability to do some genuine road warrior (or is it air warrior?) testing for MacTheMag:

MacTheBlog: AirPad: “One of the big claims of the iPad is that it’s portable. Perhaps not as portable as the iPhone, unless you’ve got particularly large pants, but still portable. I decided to put that to the test this week by using it (or attempting to use it) on an international economy flight from Sydney to Hong Kong. That’s right — I’m a sucker for punishment.”

And then with my strictly retro hat on, not one but two Vintage Tech columns for PC Authority:

Vintage Tech: Looking back at Karateka: “Karateka offered up smooth animation and simple yet evocative storytelling years before anyone though it possible. We look back at this classic game.”

Vintage Tech: Looking back at MiniDisc: “More durable than a cassette or CD, Sony’s audio format never really took off in the way the company would have liked. We look back at MiniDisc.”

That’s a lot of content, even by my relatively prolific standards. Clearly, I should travel more — it’s good for my productivity, albeit poor for my sleep patterns…