Mother's Day

Mother's Day is this Sunday, 13th of May (in Australia) so don't forget your mom. Get her some gifts, pamper her for a day, take her to a movie and let her enjoy the day.

Do Not Call Register

Are you annoyed by telemarketers ? Great news (if you're in Australia), now you can list your phone numbers with the Do Not Call register, an initiative by the Australian government. Once in the list, your phone numbers cannot be contacted by telemarketers. If they do, the telemarketers will face a hefty fine. You can put in your home phone and mobile. If you want to put your number, just register at the website https://www.donotcall.gov.au/.

This service was launched yesterday and the website crashed. Apparently, around 50,000 Aussies registered and the website could not cope. I think the problem has been rectified.

The service will not eliminate all calls, there are some exemptions like calls from political party, religious groups, and so on. However, the worst of them all can also still call you, the market researcher.

I think the problem with telemarketers is they are really pushy. I mean it is their job but if somebody doesn't want the product or service then that should be it. I don't hate all telemarketers and sometimes I think they have genuine deal. I got my pay TV service through direct marketing and I was allowed 12 month contract instead of the normal 24 months.

I hate telemarketers that are pushy and hard to understand. I'm not trying to be racist but how can you expect me to buy the product or service if I can't understand anything that the person is saying. And if I said that I don't want to change my phone 100 times, then stop asking me to change it.

Market researchers are actually alright until you actually realise that the survey is going to take half an hour. It should just be short survey and the answer should be simple as well or do an online one, always better.

It is amazing to see that every people has their own tactics to combat telemarketers, from diverting the call to an answering machine to reading gospel to the telemarketers.

Well, we can just hope that with the register, our phone will be quieter.

Paris, Je T'aime

I am sure everybody knows about Paris, Jet T'aime. It is a collection of short love stories that is packed into a single movie. It's about Paris and it's about love. There are 18 short stories to be exact. It starred some of well-known stars (French and international), like Gérard Depardieu, Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Willem Dafoe, Wes Craven, Steve Buscemi and so on.

I recently watched the movie. Here is my honest opinion, I came out not understanding a single story at all. In other words, I didn't really like it. I wanted to like it cause of all the hype surrounding the movie but I can't. I laughed when the rest of the cinema was quiet and when they laugh, I don't know what they were laughing about. It's bizarre.

I understand that the movie is about love, in Paris (the city of love) especially. I just don't understand the message it's trying to convey. Maybe I'm a bit dumb or I don't understand short stories cause my missus was really happy with the movie. She thought it was excellent and beautiful. I couldn't really agree with her.

If you ask me for my favourite story, I would say the last one. It's a story about an American tourist in Paris. I think she was learning French and she was traveling in Paris to practice her French. The story was narrated by herself in French, like a report back to her language class. It's really touching, both sad and heart-warming. My missus said that it sums up the movie really well.

An interesting story is one about an American tourist that got beaten up in a subway. He accidentally 'made eye-contact' with a kissing couple across the platform.

Overall, I'd say don't watch the movie if you just want to see Natalie Portman (or any other stars in it). The film is deep and requires a lot of concentration, with mix of feelings. Because each story has a different director, it offers different takes on the storyline. Watch this if you are into the beautiful scenery of Paris, its culture and the love that surrounds Paris.

Well, I think I will re-watch it again when the DVD comes out. Maybe it's as good as everybody says, maybe something got lost in translation.

Tiger in Melbourne

Only yesterday I mentioned that Tiger Airways is coming to Melbourne and was still deciding its base. Well today, it has been decided. It will be in Melbourne. This decision is expected to open more jobs for Victorians and bring a bigger price wars between the budget airlines.

Tiger Airways is 49 percent owned by Singapore Airlines. It is believed that the airline will start operating within months however no exact date is confirmed.

Jetstar Sale

Yesterday, I told you that there was an exclusive 3 hours sale for Jetstar email subscriber. Well now they have another sale to celebrate their 3rd birthday. It's "Take a Friend for $3 Sale". Basically on selected routes, you can take another person with you for an extra $3.

The sale is not only for domestic but also for international routes. For example:

• Melbourne - Christchurch : $111 per person one way
• Melbourne - Bangkok : $221 per person one way
• Sydney- Osaka : $251 per person one way
  

Sale ends 7th of May so be quick to grab the bargain. It's not valid for all dates, check the website for offer validity. The normal terms and conditions apply (such as credit card surcharge, etc), again check on the website. For more info go to their website, http://www.jetstar.com/sale-fares.html.

May oh May

Wow, it's already May, nearly halfway through the year. I think they'll be selling Christmas trees pretty soon. I don't think I've done anything much this year. But anyway let's check what's making headlines.

NO Interest Rate Rise
This morning, the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to put the interest rate on hold. This is good news for all home buyers/owners that has a mortage. Although it is 'safe' for another month, we will never know what is coming ahead.

A New Attraction
Melbourne will soon have a new attraction for tourists. It is a glass box. Now you may ask how can a glass box be a tourists attraction. Well, it can if it is sticking out from the 88th floor of the new Eureka apartment (Eureka is currently the tallest building in Melbourne). But this is not for the faint-hearted, don't believe me ? Just have a look at these pictures (picture: Herald Sun),

So far from the pictures we know that it can suspend 1 person safely. If I was inside, I would make sure that I'm the only one inside.

Budget Airline Ticket-fight
Yesterday night, between 8pm -11pm, Jetstar made a huge sale. $3 to fly on selected routes. Yup, only $3 and nothing more. It was only offered to Jetstar email subscriber, Jetmail (I read the email an hour late so all I could do was cry). Anyway, some sources said that this (very low ticket prices) might be more common when the new budget airline, Tiger Airways, enter the Australian market. Tiger is currently flying in South East Asia and based in Singapore. There is still no details when Tiger will start operating in Australia or which route it will cover. So I say, bring on the competition.

Less Tax for Cars in Victoria

The state government of Victoria has just announced a reduction of duty rates payable when you purchase a new vehicle. The reduction mainly affects cars that are priced between $35,000 to $45,000. The new duty is a 2-tier system as suppose to the old, 3-tier system.

Here are the comparison between the old and new rates (taken from the State Revenue Office website - www.sro.vic.gov.au)

Old Scale		New Scale
Price	Duty Rate*	Price	Duty Rate*
$0 - $35,000	2.5%	$0 - $57,009	2.5%
$35,000 – $45,000	4%	$57,009 +	5%
$45,000 +	5%

It seems that duty reduction aims at family cars. Small cars like Holden Astra, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla (normally priced from $15,000 to $25,000) will miss out on the new rates. However, Australian favourite large cars such as Holden Commodore, Ford Falcon, Toyota Camry will benefit from this new duty. It is expected to cut the price of new family cars by around about $600.

The new rates will apply from the 1st of May 2007. For more information on this, go to the State Revenue Office Victoria website. A media release is also available on the site.

Breaking Nintendo News

I just received this SMS from Nintendo:

Breaking News Nintendo: Pokemon Diamond & Pokemon Pearl 2b released in Oz June21. Dont miss out pre order yours now! For more info or 2 opt out nintendo.com.au

Nice!

Hamish and Andy Now Closer Than Ever

picture courtesy of Fox Fm

Do you know Hamish and Andy ? They are two young radio presenter. Their radio program is called the Hamish and Andy Show airing daily on weekdays at 4pm.

Anyway, they always have crazy ideas for the show. Even though they only have a radio show that didn't stop them from doing 'interesting' activities. Their past 'activities' have include,

• Testing a nappy - Andy wore a nappy and let Hamish filled it with drink. They checked when the nappy started to leak.
• Nude camp - Hamish went to a nude camp to confront his fear of being nude.
• Hen's night - Andy had to strip in a listener's hens night. He had some dancing tips from Jamie Durie. A listener also borrowed Andy his fireman suit for the night.
  
• Helmet bet - Hamish and Andy bet on who will win the Celebrity Race during the F1 2007 between both of them. The loser will have to wear their helmet for a whole week. Hamish lost and he had to wear the helmet for a whole week. During the week, Andy also 'tested' the strength of the helmet by making Hamish do some 'stunts'.

Their latest antics is to strap themselves together and lived as conjoined twins for 5 days. They will do everything together even going to the toilet. They made special shirt and jeans that allow them to be stuck together.

They are doing this not for charity but because a listener suggested it after they made fun of conjoined twins. They intended to do it for one day but Rove McManus (from Rove Live) challenged them to do it until Sunday. They agreed. So, they will be 'freed' from each other on Sunday night during Rove Live.

There has been several issues that come up because of this latest stunt. Hamish's girlfriend is having her birthday during the weekend and Andy needs to play guitar for his band on Saturday so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Follow their progress on their website, www.hamishandandy.com.au, you can also podcast what's happening during the show. Video webcast should be available soon. Also, tune in to Rove Live this Sunday to see them being freed.

Missy Higgins

If you're an Australian, you would know Missy Higgins. She made a huge hit with her album, The Sound of White. After a few years, she is now back with a new one. Soon to be released to the Australian market is her newest album, On A Clear Night.



The first single to be released from her new album is Steer. I must say after listening it on the radio, I find it to be a very nice song. I liked her previous album but I won't say that I am a big fan. But this new song sounds different. It has a little bit of that 'old' Missy Higgins style but it brings something new and refreshing. The song feels more mature. I really like it.

The music video for the song is kind of funny. Missy is working as a test driver to crash cars. She drives a few different old cars and every time she has to drive it (and crash it) to a huge concrete wall. After each impact, she will be examined. At the end, she didn't crash the car but took it instead and drove off. I don't know how she did the video but one thing is for sure, don't try it at home.

The single will be released on the 16th of April 2007 and you can pre-order it from BigWEntertainment.


The album will be released later on this month and you can pre-order it from BigWEntertainment as well.

Mac Pro 8-Core Out

The top of the line Mac machine has just got its upgrade. It is now available with the newest processor from Intel with 8-core technology. Configuration starts at AU$3999 for the Australian version. Shipping is available within 24 hours from the Online Store.

Along with the announcement of the new Mac Pro, Apple also seem to be discounting its display line (a sign of an upgrade soon ?). The new prices are:

• 20 inch - AU$899
  
• 23 inch - AU$1399
  
• 30 inch - AU$2798

For more info on Mac Pro, click here.
To get the it, go to the Online Store or any Mac retailers.

Interest Rate Steady

For Australians home owners and buyers, today comes as a good news. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decided to put interest rate on hold (at 6.25%) for another month. Speculation has been growing these couple of days that interest rate will go up again because Australians are still on a spending spree. It is reported that even though there had been 2 interest rates rise late last year, Australians are still coping.

However, it might not be a good news next month as the data suggest that another interest rate is likely. But we can only wait and see. For home owners that are already struggling with repayments, maybe it's a good idea to look at your loan and making the interest fixed for sometime.

DRM-less Music

Today in the London (UK), Apple and EMI has just announced that they will offer DRM-less music. Sound quality of the tracks will be doubled at 256 kbps AAC. This DRM-less tracks will be offered at a higher price rather than the normal tracks, about $0.30 more (US$1.29).

Music videos will also be DRM-less and the price will remain the same unlike the music.

Album will also be DRM-less and with no premium charge as well.

OK, that's a lot of jargon and weird languages. Let's start from the beginning. DRM is short for Digital Rights Management and basically it's a copyright control. It allows the major companies to control the distribution of its product (music, movies, etc) cause as you know, it's harder to control digital stuff as suppose to CDs or DVDs. Let's have a look at Apple iTunes as an example. The music that you download from iTunes can only be played in iTunes. You could also transfer it to your iPod and burn it to a CD as a backup for several times. But this is not the same with all provider, other might have different rules.

That's why you need to always check what is the terms of your download purchase whether it can be played everywhere, by anything, and so on.

So one advantage with having no DRM means that you can buy music from iTunes and play it with your iRiver, Creative Zen or any other player instead of just using your iPod.

This is a big move by EMI and one that will definitely 'rocked' the music industry. There is no plan by other major record label to follow EMI footsteps. Even though the main focus of the announcement is about DRM, people seems to be more excited with the fact that the music from EMI will be better in quality, something that has been an issue in the past.

The DRM-less music will be available from May. For more information, refer to Apple's press release here.

Earth Hour

picture courtesy of The Age

On Saturday, 31st of March, Sydney 'celebrated' the Earth Hour. It is an initiative to combat global warming, a campaign to reduce Sydney's greenhouse emission. At 7.30pm, Sydneysiders were invited to turn off their lights for an hour.

For more information on this initiative, check out their website at www.earthhour.org.

Picture: above - Sydney on normal nights, below - Sydney during Earth Hour.

Mobile Phone = Personality ?

Does mobile phone really say something about the owner ? I don't have a fancy mobile myself but according to the latest research in Australia, they have managed to stereotype people based on their mobile.

So have a look and does your mobile really say something about you ? Maybe next time, we will be more cautious showing off our mobile phone.

Here are the results,

Nokia

• Family-minded
• Middle aged managers
• Balance seekers
• Health conscious

Motorola

• Fashion conscious
• Under 24
• Fun seekers
• Individualistic

Sony Ericsson

• Ambitious young men
• Professionals
• Success driven
• Individualistic

LG

• Favourite of mums
• Stay-at-home parents
• Success driven
• Harmony seekers

Samsung

• Young women
• Career focused
• Success driven
• Fun seekers

Source: Nielsen Media Research

SALE!!!

Play-Asia is having a sale from today (30th of March) for a week. The sale is 20% off items that are in stock. Only in-stock items will be discounted and new releases will miss out on the deal as well. New release is define to be any product that was released 30 days before the sale.

Play-Asia has games for all type of consoles, console accesories, old school or next generation, movies, music and toys. It offers really cheap postage to Australia and other countries. Payment by major credit cards and Paypal.

So, what are you waiting for ? It's an excellent time to complete your games library and to get on that one game that you have been wanting for a long time. Go to Play-Asia.com.

Xbox360 Elite Announced

As previously posted, Xbox360 is launching an 'improved' version of its console. It's called Xbox360 Elite. As expected, the Elite version will offer bigger hard drive and HDMI connection built-in. There is no change of drive to be HD-DVD.

The Xbox360 Elite will be available in the US on 29th of April. It will retail at US$479.99. There are no announced details for Australia yet but it will be expected to sell around winter.


picture courtesy of Microsoft

As a summary, the new features are:
- 120 GB hard drive
- HDMI connection built-in
- Black finish - console
- Black wireless controller
- Black headset

Microsoft will also line up accessories with a black finish to match with the new console.

Goodbye Quota for Yahoo Mail User

If you have an account with Yahoo Mail, you're in luck. Yahoo is going to offer unlimited storage for its web-based email service, Yahoo Mail. Currently, the quota is 1 GB for normal user and 2 GB for the premium ones. These will all be unlimited starting May.

Yahoo is doing this as a 'present' to everybody for Yahoo Mail's 10th birthday. This makes Yahoo the only provider (that I know) to give unlimited storage for email. Gmail (Google Mail) gives a generous 2.8 GB and Hotmail quota is 1GB (if you upgrade to the new service).

Yahoo has been rolling out their new service, Yahoo Mail Beta (still under development) that enhances the use of web-based email. The new service allows users to use keyboard shortcuts, preview messages, more interactive commands with the mouse and so on. Basically, it wants to have a look and feel of a desktop application (for example: MS Outlook, MS Outlook Express) as suppose to a web-based service. The catch is you need at least broadband to use it comfortably.

Yahoo Mail first started out with only offering a tiny 4MB (although at that time, it was already very generous compared to Hotmail's 2MB).

Domestic Airfare Easter Sale

It's on now until the 2nd of April. As usual, Virgin Blue and Jetstar (not to forget Qantas) are having a domestic sale. The sale if for travel between the 24th April and 21st of June 2007. So if you haven't planned your June holiday, now is the time to grab a bargain.

For more details, go to their website
www.virginblue.com.au
www.jetstar.com.au
www.qantas.com.au

New Breed of Xbox360

There has been emerging reports that Microsoft is going to launch an 'elite' version of their Xbox360. This is done to coincide with the 1st birthday of the console. The 'elite' Xbox360 is rumoured to be black in colour, has bigger hard drive (120 GB), has HDMI built-in and possibly an HD-DVD as well.

It is expected to be sold around US$479 and only available in limited quantities. Major announcement is expected tomorrow so I guess we will have to wait and see what is up Microsoft's sleeve.

picture courtesy of TheAge