From simon at rumble.net Wed Jul 1 04:04:30 2009 From: simon at rumble.net (Simon Rumble) Date: Wed Jul 1 04:04:49 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Be sure to wear your purple ribbon on Friday! Message-ID: <1234ca4a0907010204m16a55978r14774b125abc0d82@mail.gmail.com> http://media.crikey.com.au/Media/images/090603-First-Dog-55e70cb7-3428-4464-87d6-8e5121505a4a.jpg -- Simon Rumble -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090701/94c1a5b6/attachment.htm From flippy at internode.on.net Sun Jul 5 23:29:14 2009 From: flippy at internode.on.net (Ben Dixon) Date: Sun Jul 5 23:29:25 2009 Subject: [eclectika] 100 Dimensional Gold Sphere Message-ID: <018d01c9fdf2$5208a120$f619e360$@on.net> http://www-ee.stanford.edu/~hellman/playground/hyperspheres/hyper01.html From ralf at muhlberger.com Mon Jul 6 00:24:53 2009 From: ralf at muhlberger.com (Ralf Muhlberger) Date: Mon Jul 6 00:24:59 2009 Subject: [eclectika] 100 Dimensional Gold Sphere In-Reply-To: <018d01c9fdf2$5208a120$f619e360$@on.net> References: <018d01c9fdf2$5208a120$f619e360$@on.net> Message-ID: <0FE13F76-738A-41C7-91C5-96AEA5494ECE@muhlberger.com> Ah yes, the most excellent curse of dimensionality. The ratio flips between 6 and 7 dimensions, which is also around when having more dimensions of information to evaluate things by (e.g. mobile phone plans) becomes less rather than more useful... Ralf On 06/07/2009, at 2:29 PM, Ben Dixon wrote: > http://www-ee.stanford.edu/~hellman/playground/hyperspheres/hyper01.html > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika From anna.e.milan at gmail.com Mon Jul 6 04:59:55 2009 From: anna.e.milan at gmail.com (Anna Milanowicz) Date: Mon Jul 6 05:00:18 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Tesla will be driving from Darwin to Adelaide in the Global green challenge. Message-ID: ... and hubby is driving it. :) http://www.crn.com.au/News/149352,internode-md-in-green-car-race.aspx How are they going to recharge it? Well, some mates will be driving a generator on the back of a ute to power the tesla up every so often. :) I can't wait!!! Anna From subs at phatpad.com.au Wed Jul 8 22:10:43 2009 From: subs at phatpad.com.au (Nathen Street) Date: Wed Jul 8 22:11:04 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Letter From LSD-Inventor Albert Hofmann to Apple CEO Steve Jobs Message-ID: ?Steve Jobs has never been shy about his use of psychedelics, famously calling his LSD experience "one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life." So, toward the end of his life, LSD inventor Albert Hofmann decided to write to the iPhone creator to see if he'd be interested in putting some money where the tip of his tongue had been.? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-grim/read-the-never-before-pub_b_227887.h tml -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090709/8e74550e/attachment.htm From keith.duddy at gmail.com Thu Jul 9 00:53:16 2009 From: keith.duddy at gmail.com (Keith Duddy) Date: Thu Jul 9 00:53:28 2009 Subject: [eclectika] A nice take on the Brady Bunch opening credits Message-ID: And not a bad Jap-Pop song either: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfBlUQguvyw&fmt=18 |< * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090709/5a5e1c17/attachment.htm From woody at wudee.net Sat Jul 11 00:29:44 2009 From: woody at wudee.net (Andrew Wood) Date: Sat Jul 11 00:29:51 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer Message-ID: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> The person who wrote this and I have exactly the same taste in / number of bicycles... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/jul/10/serial-bicycle-buyers Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer Is it an indulgence to own more than one bicycle? Maybe ? but at least it's cheaper than yachting or cocaine [image: Bike Blog: Dunwich Dynamo 2009] A bike for all seasons ? bicycles on Dunwich beach. Photograph: MJS There are many ways of classifying the various types of cyclist, but one in particular separates people into two clearly defined camps: those for whom one bike is plenty enough, thank you very much, and those we might call serial bicycle buyers. Like a branch on the evolutionary tree, members of the latter group begin their cycling life in the first faction, but are one day struck by a realisation, usually while in a cycle shop or poring over a magazine advertisement: "Hang on ? I could buy another one." For me, the defining moment came around eight years ago, when a silver-tongued sales assistant raised the notion that my elderly, rigid-framed mountain bike, till then used for all riding, both on and off road, was a bit outdated, and guided me gently towards a rack of gleaming new models. To my slight shame, I now own four bikes, something that mystifies not only non-cycling friends but those, my girlfriend among them, who happily make do with a single bike. To me, it makes perfect sense: I have a mountain bike, a road bike, and an older, slightly scruffier bike I use for commuting and leaving locked up around London. The fourth, a single-speed machine fashioned from an old road frame, is perhaps an indulgence, but it is at least on long-term loan to a friend. I have also met many worse cases, people who have entire rooms in their house filled with bikes, frames and the assorted components of half-finished "projects". Such habits raise a series of questions, the most obvious of which ? where do you stop? ? is a popular one on internet cycling forums. One oft-repeated answer is that the ideal number of bikes is X plus one, where X is the number you currently own. The other debate is more obvious still: why? Isn't it an indulgence? To an extent, yes, but my argument would be that when set against many other leisure pursuits (classic cars, yachting, cocaine), cycling is absurdly economical. The New York Times motoring column recently published some apparently back-of-the-envelope calculationsabout the relative costs of running a car and a bike, and concluded that cycling costs an average of about $390 (?240) annually, even spreading the purchase price of the bike over a series of years. If it's that cheap, I could always get another one. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090710/931b39b8/attachment.htm From flippy at internode.on.net Sun Jul 12 23:25:27 2009 From: flippy at internode.on.net (Ben Dixon) Date: Sun Jul 12 23:25:35 2009 Subject: [eclectika] unadorned Message-ID: <029401ca0371$f3d4fc90$db7ef5b0$@on.net> http://unadorned.org/untitled/1.html From ralf at muhlberger.com Mon Jul 13 03:11:20 2009 From: ralf at muhlberger.com (Ralf Muhlberger) Date: Mon Jul 13 03:11:32 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> My brother in law is in the "room full of bikes" category, including a beautiful 1880s Pennyfarthing. Such a gorgeous old bike, that one.. :-) I only have two :-( Ralf On 11/07/2009, at 3:29 PM, Andrew Wood wrote: > The person who wrote this and I have exactly the same taste in / > number of bicycles... > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/jul/10/serial-bicycle-buyers > Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer > Is it an indulgence to own more than one bicycle? Maybe ? but at > least it's cheaper than yachting or cocaine > > > A bike for all seasons ? bicycles on Dunwich beach. Photograph: MJS > > There are many ways of classifying the various types of cyclist, but > one in particular separates people into two clearly defined camps: > those for whom one bike is plenty enough, thank you very much, and > those we might call serial bicycle buyers. > > Like a branch on the evolutionary tree, members of the latter group > begin their cycling life in the first faction, but are one day > struck by a realisation, usually while in a cycle shop or poring > over a magazine advertisement: "Hang on ? I could buy another one." > > For me, the defining moment came around eight years ago, when a > silver-tongued sales assistant raised the notion that my elderly, > rigid-framed mountain bike, till then used for all riding, both on > and off road, was a bit outdated, and guided me gently towards a > rack of gleaming new models. > > To my slight shame, I now own four bikes, something that mystifies > not only non-cycling friends but those, my girlfriend among them, > who happily make do with a single bike. To me, it makes perfect > sense: I have a mountain bike, a road bike, and an older, slightly > scruffier bike I use for commuting and leaving locked up around > London. The fourth, a single-speed machine fashioned from an old > road frame, is perhaps an indulgence, but it is at least on long- > term loan to a friend. > > I have also met many worse cases, people who have entire rooms in > their house filled with bikes, frames and the assorted components of > half-finished "projects". > > Such habits raise a series of questions, the most obvious of which ? > where do you stop? ? is a popular one on internet cycling forums. > One oft-repeated answer is that the ideal number of bikes is X plus > one, where X is the number you currently own. > > The other debate is more obvious still: why? Isn't it an indulgence? > To an extent, yes, but my argument would be that when set against > many other leisure pursuits (classic cars, yachting, cocaine), > cycling is absurdly economical. > > The New York Times motoring column recently published some > apparently back-of-the-envelope calculations about the relative > costs of running a car and a bike, and concluded that cycling costs > an average of about $390 (?240) annually, even spreading the > purchase price of the bike over a series of years. > > If it's that cheap, I could always get another one. > > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika From ralf at muhlberger.com Mon Jul 13 03:12:46 2009 From: ralf at muhlberger.com (Ralf Muhlberger) Date: Mon Jul 13 03:12:57 2009 Subject: [eclectika] unadorned In-Reply-To: <029401ca0371$f3d4fc90$db7ef5b0$@on.net> References: <029401ca0371$f3d4fc90$db7ef5b0$@on.net> Message-ID: <63642ECA-8116-494A-9E43-1475B2355E31@muhlberger.com> Very nice. Also reminds me of http://municipalarchive.wordpress.com/ R On 13/07/2009, at 2:25 PM, Ben Dixon wrote: > http://unadorned.org/untitled/1.html > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika From stephen.viller at gmail.com Mon Jul 13 03:30:39 2009 From: stephen.viller at gmail.com (Stephen Viller) Date: Mon Jul 13 03:31:09 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> Message-ID: <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> Great article--agree with the X+1 formula. I only have 2 at the moment, but our garage housed 10 bikes altogether at the last count (only 1 of which counts in the 'project' category). Steve. On 13/07/2009, at 6:11 PM, Ralf Muhlberger wrote: > > My brother in law is in the "room full of bikes" category, including > a beautiful 1880s Pennyfarthing. Such a gorgeous old bike, that > one.. :-) > > I only have two :-( > > Ralf > > > On 11/07/2009, at 3:29 PM, Andrew Wood wrote: > >> The person who wrote this and I have exactly the same taste in / >> number of bicycles... >> >> http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/jul/10/serial-bicycle-buyers >> Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer >> Is it an indulgence to own more than one bicycle? Maybe ? but at l >> east it's cheaper than yachting or cocaine >> >> >> A bike for all seasons ? bicycles on Dunwich beach. Photograph: MJS >> >> There are many ways of classifying the various types of cyclist, >> but one in particular separates people into two clearly defined >> camps: those for whom one bike is plenty enough, thank you very >> much, and those we might call serial bicycle buyers. >> >> Like a branch on the evolutionary tree, members of the latter group >> begin their cycling life in the first faction, but are one day >> struck by a realisation, usually while in a cycle shop or poring >> over a magazine advertisement: "Hang on ? I could buy another one." >> >> For me, the defining moment came around eight years ago, when a >> silver-tongued sales assistant raised the notion that my elderly, >> rigid-framed mountain bike, till then used for all riding, both on >> and off road, was a bit outdated, and guided me gently towards a >> rack of gleaming new models. >> >> To my slight shame, I now own four bikes, something that mystifies >> not only non-cycling friends but those, my girlfriend among them, >> who happily make do with a single bike. To me, it makes perfect >> sense: I have a mountain bike, a road bike, and an older, slightly >> scruffier bike I use for commuting and leaving locked up around >> London. The fourth, a single-speed machine fashioned from an old >> road frame, is perhaps an indulgence, but it is at least on long- >> term loan to a friend. >> >> I have also met many worse cases, people who have entire rooms in >> their house filled with bikes, frames and the assorted components >> of half-finished "projects". >> >> Such habits raise a series of questions, the most obvious of which >> ? where do you stop? ? is a popular one on internet cycling >> forums. One oft-repeated answer is that the ideal number of bikes >> is X plus one, where X is the number you currently own. >> >> The other debate is more obvious still: why? Isn't it an >> indulgence? To an extent, yes, but my argument would be that when >> set against many other leisure pursuits (classic cars, yachting, >> cocaine), cycling is absurdly economical. >> >> The New York Times motoring column recently published some >> apparently back-of-the-envelope calculations about the relative >> costs of running a car and a bike, and concluded that cycling costs >> an average of about $390 (?240) annually, even spreading the purch >> ase price of the bike over a series of years. >> >> If it's that cheap, I could always get another one. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> eclectika mailing list >> eclectika@wudee.net >> http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika From loch at pobox.com Mon Jul 13 03:56:36 2009 From: loch at pobox.com (Lochy) Date: Mon Jul 13 03:57:11 2009 Subject: [eclectika] unadorned In-Reply-To: <63642ECA-8116-494A-9E43-1475B2355E31@muhlberger.com> References: <029401ca0371$f3d4fc90$db7ef5b0$@on.net> <63642ECA-8116-494A-9E43-1475B2355E31@muhlberger.com> Message-ID: If you are interested in that, you may also be interested in this (doing my best Amazon impersonation): http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do The Poetry Archive exists to help make poetry accessible, relevant and enjoyable to a wide audience. It came into being as a result of a meeting, in a recording studio, between Andrew Motion, soon after he became U.K. Poet Laureate in 1999, and the recording producer, Richard Carrington. They agreed about how enjoyable and illuminating it is to hear poets reading their work and about how regrettable it was that, even in the recent past, many important poets had not been properly recorded. On Mon, 13 Jul 2009, Ralf Muhlberger wrote: Very nice. Also reminds me of http://municipalarchive.wordpress.com/ R On 13/07/2009, at 2:25 PM, Ben Dixon wrote: > http://unadorned.org/untitled/1.html > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika _______________________________________________ eclectika mailing list eclectika@wudee.net http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika From keith.duddy at gmail.com Mon Jul 13 08:43:08 2009 From: keith.duddy at gmail.com (Keith Duddy) Date: Mon Jul 13 08:43:21 2009 Subject: [eclectika] unadorned In-Reply-To: <63642ECA-8116-494A-9E43-1475B2355E31@muhlberger.com> References: <029401ca0371$f3d4fc90$db7ef5b0$@on.net> <63642ECA-8116-494A-9E43-1475B2355E31@muhlberger.com> Message-ID: My web browser didn't seem to be working - the pictures never loaded, so I gave up :-| |< 2009/7/13 Ralf Muhlberger > > Very nice. > > Also reminds me of http://municipalarchive.wordpress.com/ > > R > > > On 13/07/2009, at 2:25 PM, Ben Dixon wrote: > > http://unadorned.org/untitled/1.html >> >> _______________________________________________ >> eclectika mailing list >> eclectika@wudee.net >> http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika >> > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090713/8d4405e6/attachment.htm From jamie at goatforce5.org Mon Jul 13 08:59:55 2009 From: jamie at goatforce5.org (Jamie Wilson) Date: Mon Jul 13 09:00:07 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> Message-ID: On 13-Jul-09, at 4:30 AM, Stephen Viller wrote: > Great article--agree with the X+1 formula. I only have 2 at the > moment, but our garage housed 10 bikes altogether at the last count > (only 1 of which counts in the 'project' category). 2 at the moment. Hybrid with rack and fenders that's my work horse. Road bike that I probably should ride more, particularly since I now live near a large park (where 'park' == 'cemetery') with meandering paved roads and hills and lots of weekend warriors in their team riding kit. (The cemetery is really quite pretty. Apparently Conrad Black has a plot waiting for him there.) But, i'd _really_ like a hardtail mountain bike. Turns out the ravines near me hide many unofficial trails if you look closely. I lust for Xtracycles too. I probably should get a beater for when the snow and salt returns. I lack the storage space though. Old apartment building had communal racks in the underground garage that were pretty safe to use. New apartment building has a rack in the lane way behind the building that doesn't seem safe... So I use my storage locker and jam the bikes in there. Only sensible thing to do is to rent another/larger storage locker. :) ...j From queazel at gmail.com Mon Jul 13 18:35:33 2009 From: queazel at gmail.com (Michael Norris) Date: Mon Jul 13 18:35:48 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> Message-ID: What I don't understand is the trend for single speed bikes. I've read articles that try to explain it - maybe it's something you just have to try, but the shops here are full of single-speeds. I'd like to think there's something better than the derailleur. This seems a nice idea -cute mechanism anyway. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVPjhmTThPo -m. On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 6:30 PM, Stephen Viller wrote: > Great article--agree with the X+1 formula. I only have 2 at the moment, but > our garage housed 10 bikes altogether at the last count (only 1 of which > counts in the 'project' category). > > Steve. > > On 13/07/2009, at 6:11 PM, Ralf Muhlberger wrote: > >> >> My brother in law is in the "room full of bikes" category, including a >> beautiful 1880s Pennyfarthing. Such a gorgeous old bike, that one.. :-) >> >> I only have two :-( >> >> Ralf >> >> >> On 11/07/2009, at 3:29 PM, Andrew Wood wrote: >> >>> The person who wrote this and I have exactly the same taste in / number >>> of bicycles... >>> >>> >>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/jul/10/serial-bicycle-buyers >>> Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer >>> Is it an indulgence to own more than one bicycle? Maybe ? but at least >>> it's cheaper than yachting or cocaine >>> >>> >>> A bike for all seasons ? bicycles on Dunwich beach. Photograph: MJS >>> >>> There are many ways of classifying the various types of cyclist, but one >>> in particular separates people into two clearly defined camps: those for >>> whom one bike is plenty enough, thank you very much, and those we might call >>> serial bicycle buyers. >>> >>> Like a branch on the evolutionary tree, members of the latter group begin >>> their cycling life in the first faction, but are one day struck by a >>> realisation, usually while in a cycle shop or poring over a magazine >>> advertisement: "Hang on ? I could buy another one." >>> >>> For me, the defining moment came around eight years ago, when a >>> silver-tongued sales assistant raised the notion that my elderly, >>> rigid-framed mountain bike, till then used for all riding, both on and off >>> road, was a bit outdated, and guided me gently towards a rack of gleaming >>> new models. >>> >>> To my slight shame, I now own four bikes, something that mystifies not >>> only non-cycling friends but those, my girlfriend among them, who happily >>> make do with a single bike. To me, it makes perfect sense: I have a mountain >>> bike, a road bike, and an older, slightly scruffier bike I use for commuting >>> and leaving locked up around London. The fourth, a single-speed machine >>> fashioned from an old road frame, is perhaps an indulgence, but it is at >>> least on long-term loan to a friend. >>> >>> I have also met many worse cases, people who have entire rooms in their >>> house filled with bikes, frames and the assorted components of half-finished >>> "projects". >>> >>> Such habits raise a series of questions, the most obvious of which?? >>> where do you stop? ? is a popular one on internet cycling forums. One >>> oft-repeated answer is that the ideal number of bikes is X plus one, where X >>> is the number you currently own. >>> >>> The other debate is more obvious still: why? Isn't it an indulgence? To >>> an extent, yes, but my argument would be that when set against many other >>> leisure pursuits (classic cars, yachting, cocaine), cycling is absurdly >>> economical. >>> >>> The New York Times motoring column recently published some apparently >>> back-of-the-envelope calculations about the relative costs of running a car >>> and a bike, and concluded that cycling costs an average of about $390 (?240) >>> annually, even spreading the purchase price of the bike over a series of >>> years. >>> >>> If it's that cheap, I could always get another one. >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> eclectika mailing list >>> eclectika@wudee.net >>> http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> eclectika mailing list >> eclectika@wudee.net >> http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > From simon at rumble.net Mon Jul 13 18:53:14 2009 From: simon at rumble.net (Simon Rumble) Date: Mon Jul 13 18:53:32 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> Message-ID: <1234ca4a0907131653m1de5caa5t2d42c0a36a1d057b@mail.gmail.com> 2009/7/14 Michael Norris > What I don't understand is the trend for single speed bikes. > I've read articles that try to explain it - maybe it's something > you just have to try, but the shops here are full of single-speeds. > > I'd like to think there's something better than the derailleur. I would too but after a very frustrating experiment with a hub gear (Shimano Nexus) I've given up on that dream for now. The thing to remember is that you need to remove your wheel much more often than you need to replace your derailleur, and all the other methods of attaching the wheel _suck_ big time. This from someone who wrote off a derailleur by having a plastic bag blow into the back wheel halfway along my commute along a canal in the badlands of North West London, somewhere about Harlesden. (Google "shooting" and "Harlesden" to see why this was a Bad Thing.) I'm no fan of derailleurs, but they seem the least bad design. I have a few mates with those expensive Rohloff 14-gear hubs which are mechanically amazing and apparently a lot more durable than the Shimano rubbish. That doesn't solve the removing wheel problem. Every time I had to take my wheel off I required a full-size spanner, half an hour and ended up covered in grease. Even after a fair amount of practice (I had a run of punctures). -- Simon Rumble -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090714/8c525a9d/attachment.htm From woody at wudee.net Mon Jul 13 19:35:20 2009 From: woody at wudee.net (Andrew Wood) Date: Mon Jul 13 19:35:30 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> Message-ID: <3c2c94740907131735s5db3c9behb6abc56b3c17d764@mail.gmail.com> So yeh, I got 4 bikes - though Old-Faithful (an old red MTB) is on extended loan, so there's only 3 (of mine) at home. Of those, Trixie the Fixie is a fixed gear bike - that means no gears and no freewheel - just direct chain drive from cog at front to cog at back... and it's REALLY FUN to ride. Great clip of the continuously variable transmission - thanks Michael. I can sort of see the value, but my road bike (Fausto) has 10 cogs on the back and 2 on the front giving 20 gears, and my commuter bike (Jaydn) has 9x3 for 27 - that's getting pretty close to an even coverage across a wide range of gearing - Chains are messy and all, but it's hard to beat the derailleur for lightweight efficiency - there's a reason it's been popular for 70 years! So, I understand why it's appealing to make a new drive-train - but it's going to have to be pretty good or very well marketed to be commercially viable. Myself, I'm often happy with 1 gear. Woody. On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 4:35 PM, Michael Norris wrote: > What I don't understand is the trend for single speed bikes. > I've read articles that try to explain it - maybe it's something > you just have to try, but the shops here are full of single-speeds. > > I'd like to think there's something better than the derailleur. > > This seems a nice idea -cute mechanism anyway. > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVPjhmTThPo > > -m. > > On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 6:30 PM, Stephen Viller > wrote: > > Great article--agree with the X+1 formula. I only have 2 at the moment, > but > > our garage housed 10 bikes altogether at the last count (only 1 of which > > counts in the 'project' category). > > > > Steve. > > > > On 13/07/2009, at 6:11 PM, Ralf Muhlberger wrote: > > > >> > >> My brother in law is in the "room full of bikes" category, including a > >> beautiful 1880s Pennyfarthing. Such a gorgeous old bike, that one.. :-) > >> > >> I only have two :-( > >> > >> Ralf > >> > >> > >> On 11/07/2009, at 3:29 PM, Andrew Wood wrote: > >> > >>> The person who wrote this and I have exactly the same taste in / number > >>> of bicycles... > >>> > >>> > >>> > http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/jul/10/serial-bicycle-buyers > >>> Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer > >>> Is it an indulgence to own more than one bicycle? Maybe ? but at least > >>> it's cheaper than yachting or cocaine > >>> > >>> > >>> A bike for all seasons ? bicycles on Dunwich beach. Photograph: MJS > >>> > >>> There are many ways of classifying the various types of cyclist, but > one > >>> in particular separates people into two clearly defined camps: those > for > >>> whom one bike is plenty enough, thank you very much, and those we might > call > >>> serial bicycle buyers. > >>> > >>> Like a branch on the evolutionary tree, members of the latter group > begin > >>> their cycling life in the first faction, but are one day struck by a > >>> realisation, usually while in a cycle shop or poring over a magazine > >>> advertisement: "Hang on ? I could buy another one." > >>> > >>> For me, the defining moment came around eight years ago, when a > >>> silver-tongued sales assistant raised the notion that my elderly, > >>> rigid-framed mountain bike, till then used for all riding, both on and > off > >>> road, was a bit outdated, and guided me gently towards a rack of > gleaming > >>> new models. > >>> > >>> To my slight shame, I now own four bikes, something that mystifies not > >>> only non-cycling friends but those, my girlfriend among them, who > happily > >>> make do with a single bike. To me, it makes perfect sense: I have a > mountain > >>> bike, a road bike, and an older, slightly scruffier bike I use for > commuting > >>> and leaving locked up around London. The fourth, a single-speed machine > >>> fashioned from an old road frame, is perhaps an indulgence, but it is > at > >>> least on long-term loan to a friend. > >>> > >>> I have also met many worse cases, people who have entire rooms in their > >>> house filled with bikes, frames and the assorted components of > half-finished > >>> "projects". > >>> > >>> Such habits raise a series of questions, the most obvious of which ? > >>> where do you stop? ? is a popular one on internet cycling forums. One > >>> oft-repeated answer is that the ideal number of bikes is X plus one, > where X > >>> is the number you currently own. > >>> > >>> The other debate is more obvious still: why? Isn't it an indulgence? To > >>> an extent, yes, but my argument would be that when set against many > other > >>> leisure pursuits (classic cars, yachting, cocaine), cycling is absurdly > >>> economical. > >>> > >>> The New York Times motoring column recently published some apparently > >>> back-of-the-envelope calculations about the relative costs of running a > car > >>> and a bike, and concluded that cycling costs an average of about $390 > (?240) > >>> annually, even spreading the purchase price of the bike over a series > of > >>> years. > >>> > >>> If it's that cheap, I could always get another one. > >>> > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> eclectika mailing list > >>> eclectika@wudee.net > >>> http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> eclectika mailing list > >> eclectika@wudee.net > >> http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > > > > _______________________________________________ > > eclectika mailing list > > eclectika@wudee.net > > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > > > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090713/d110260b/attachment.htm From aliak77 at gmail.com Mon Jul 13 23:10:54 2009 From: aliak77 at gmail.com (Kath O'Donnell) Date: Mon Jul 13 23:11:06 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: <1234ca4a0907131653m1de5caa5t2d42c0a36a1d057b@mail.gmail.com> References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> <1234ca4a0907131653m1de5caa5t2d42c0a36a1d057b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <383607190907132110o63c2c7c4rdd58b4ad69dcc00e@mail.gmail.com> I prefer a single speed bike but that's because I'm not used to the gears & hand brakes & the single speed reminds me of my bike when I was a kid & used to ride the streets all the time. there's also the 'Slow Bicycle Movement' http://theslowbicycle.blogspot.comwhich many people use single speed bikes for & I'd like it if we could ride like they do in copenhagen (if the roads in aus were similar, but prob too much to ask for considering the distances differences) http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com - they DO look chic! :) I bought a (girls mountain) bike a few weeks back as I don't have a car atm. I mostly ride it on the bike tracks around the neighbourhood on the weekends though (still getting used to riding again - bit shaky). some of the bike tracks are great. I didn't realise there were so many & they're starting to link up with each other. I don't like riding on the road though - feel like I should be wearing a seatbelt. 2009/7/14 Michael Norris > >> What I don't understand is the trend for single speed bikes. >> I've read articles that try to explain it - maybe it's something >> you just have to try, but the shops here are full of single-speeds. >> >> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090714/65ea410d/attachment-0001.htm From flippy at internode.on.net Tue Jul 14 00:43:19 2009 From: flippy at internode.on.net (Ben Dixon) Date: Tue Jul 14 00:43:34 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: <3c2c94740907131735s5db3c9behb6abc56b3c17d764@mail.gmail.com> References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> <3c2c94740907131735s5db3c9behb6abc56b3c17d764@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <031901ca0445$feacc330$fc064990$@on.net> Rolhoff speedhubs, and their poorer cousins, the shimano nexus series (ahh you nexus six! I made your eyes ) are a great if somewhat expensive alternative to a derailleur. they are pretty much indestructable, and with no external moving parts, are much less prone to being trashed. Beautiful bits of engineering. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/rohloff.html http://www.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/0/nexus.html From: eclectika-bounces@wudee.net [mailto:eclectika-bounces@wudee.net] On Behalf Of Andrew Wood Sent: Tuesday, 14 July 2009 10:35 AM To: Eclectika Eclectika Subject: Re: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer So yeh, I got 4 bikes - though Old-Faithful (an old red MTB) is on extended loan, so there's only 3 (of mine) at home. Of those, Trixie the Fixie is a fixed gear bike - that means no gears and no freewheel - just direct chain drive from cog at front to cog at back... and it's REALLY FUN to ride. Great clip of the continuously variable transmission - thanks Michael. I can sort of see the value, but my road bike (Fausto) has 10 cogs on the back and 2 on the front giving 20 gears, and my commuter bike (Jaydn) has 9x3 for 27 - that's getting pretty close to an even coverage across a wide range of gearing - Chains are messy and all, but it's hard to beat the derailleur for lightweight efficiency - there's a reason it's been popular for 70 years! So, I understand why it's appealing to make a new drive-train - but it's going to have to be pretty good or very well marketed to be commercially viable. Myself, I'm often happy with 1 gear. Woody. On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 4:35 PM, Michael Norris wrote: What I don't understand is the trend for single speed bikes. I've read articles that try to explain it - maybe it's something you just have to try, but the shops here are full of single-speeds. I'd like to think there's something better than the derailleur. This seems a nice idea -cute mechanism anyway. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVPjhmTThPo -m. On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 6:30 PM, Stephen Viller wrote: > Great article--agree with the X+1 formula. I only have 2 at the moment, but > our garage housed 10 bikes altogether at the last count (only 1 of which > counts in the 'project' category). > > Steve. > > On 13/07/2009, at 6:11 PM, Ralf Muhlberger wrote: > >> >> My brother in law is in the "room full of bikes" category, including a >> beautiful 1880s Pennyfarthing. Such a gorgeous old bike, that one.. :-) >> >> I only have two :-( >> >> Ralf >> >> >> On 11/07/2009, at 3:29 PM, Andrew Wood wrote: >> >>> The person who wrote this and I have exactly the same taste in / number >>> of bicycles... >>> >>> >>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/jul/10/serial-bicycle-buyers >>> Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer >>> Is it an indulgence to own more than one bicycle? Maybe ? but at least >>> it's cheaper than yachting or cocaine >>> >>> >>> A bike for all seasons bicycles on Dunwich beach. Photograph: MJS >>> >>> There are many ways of classifying the various types of cyclist, but one >>> in particular separates people into two clearly defined camps: those for >>> whom one bike is plenty enough, thank you very much, and those we might call >>> serial bicycle buyers. >>> >>> Like a branch on the evolutionary tree, members of the latter group begin >>> their cycling life in the first faction, but are one day struck by a >>> realisation, usually while in a cycle shop or poring over a magazine >>> advertisement: "Hang on ? I could buy another one." >>> >>> For me, the defining moment came around eight years ago, when a >>> silver-tongued sales assistant raised the notion that my elderly, >>> rigid-framed mountain bike, till then used for all riding, both on and off >>> road, was a bit outdated, and guided me gently towards a rack of gleaming >>> new models. >>> >>> To my slight shame, I now own four bikes, something that mystifies not >>> only non-cycling friends but those, my girlfriend among them, who happily >>> make do with a single bike. To me, it makes perfect sense: I have a mountain >>> bike, a road bike, and an older, slightly scruffier bike I use for commuting >>> and leaving locked up around London. The fourth, a single-speed machine >>> fashioned from an old road frame, is perhaps an indulgence, but it is at >>> least on long-term loan to a friend. >>> >>> I have also met many worse cases, people who have entire rooms in their >>> house filled with bikes, frames and the assorted components of half-finished >>> "projects". >>> >>> Such habits raise a series of questions, the most obvious of which ? >>> where do you stop? ? is a popular one on internet cycling forums. One >>> oft-repeated answer is that the ideal number of bikes is X plus one, where X >>> is the number you currently own. >>> >>> The other debate is more obvious still: why? Isn't it an indulgence? To >>> an extent, yes, but my argument would be that when set against many other >>> leisure pursuits (classic cars, yachting, cocaine), cycling is absurdly >>> economical. >>> >>> The New York Times motoring column recently published some apparently >>> back-of-the-envelope calculations about the relative costs of running a car >>> and a bike, and concluded that cycling costs an average of about $390 (?240) >>> annually, even spreading the purchase price of the bike over a series of >>> years. >>> >>> If it's that cheap, I could always get another one. >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> eclectika mailing list >>> eclectika@wudee.net >>> http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> eclectika mailing list >> eclectika@wudee.net >> http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > _______________________________________________ eclectika mailing list eclectika@wudee.net http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090714/ea19b9de/attachment.htm From simon at rumble.net Tue Jul 14 00:54:05 2009 From: simon at rumble.net (Simon Rumble) Date: Tue Jul 14 00:54:10 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: <031901ca0445$feacc330$fc064990$@on.net> References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> <3c2c94740907131735s5db3c9behb6abc56b3c17d764@mail.gmail.com> <031901ca0445$feacc330$fc064990$@on.net> Message-ID: <1234ca4a0907132254q28acfcf7j18710315d0d48b70@mail.gmail.com> 2009/7/14 Ben Dixon > Rolhoff speedhubs, and their poorer cousins, the shimano nexus series > (ahh you nexus six! I made your eyes?) are a great if somewhat expensive > alternative to a derailleur. > > > > they are pretty much indestructable, and with no external moving parts, are > much less prone to being trashed. > I don't know which Shimano Nexus you're referring to, but mine shit itself and went back to Shimano three times before I ditched the bike to go back to a derailleur. -- Simon Rumble -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090714/fef5bb9d/attachment.htm From flippy at internode.on.net Tue Jul 14 01:07:44 2009 From: flippy at internode.on.net (Ben Dixon) Date: Tue Jul 14 01:07:58 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: <1234ca4a0907132254q28acfcf7j18710315d0d48b70@mail.gmail.com> References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> <3c2c94740907131735s5db3c9behb6abc56b3c17d764@mail.gmail.com> <031901ca0445$feacc330$fc064990$@on.net> <1234ca4a0907132254q28acfcf7j18710315d0d48b70@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <033c01ca0449$67b24320$3716c960$@on.net> I was more talking about the Rolhoff. Don?t have any personal experience wth the Nexus, other than noticing that a lot of hire bikes in Japan have them, presumably because of low fuckupability. But the planetary gear arrangement is inherently a lot tougher than a derailleur. That said, a decent quality well maintained derailleur is light weight, smooth shifting, and more than adequate for most jobs. The Rolhoff is fantastic on a touring bike, or a mountain bike that does harsh trail duty. That said, I've been more than happy with the derailleurs on most of my bikes. I modded my cheap Japanese folding bike with half decent (compared to what was there) front and rear derailleurs (http://benjisan.blogspot.com/2006/10/evolution.html ) and its taken me on some crazy tours over there. From: Simon Rumble [mailto:simon@rumble.net] Sent: Tuesday, 14 July 2009 3:54 PM To: Ben Dixon Cc: Eclectika Eclectika Subject: Re: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer 2009/7/14 Ben Dixon Rolhoff speedhubs, and their poorer cousins, the shimano nexus series (ahh you nexus six! I made your eyes?) are a great if somewhat expensive alternative to a derailleur. they are pretty much indestructable, and with no external moving parts, are much less prone to being trashed. I don't know which Shimano Nexus you're referring to, but mine shit itself and went back to Shimano three times before I ditched the bike to go back to a derailleur. -- Simon Rumble -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090714/0bb83894/attachment-0001.htm From scott at plimpton.org Tue Jul 14 01:23:25 2009 From: scott at plimpton.org (Scott Plimpton) Date: Tue Jul 14 01:23:29 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: <033c01ca0449$67b24320$3716c960$@on.net> References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> <3c2c94740907131735s5db3c9behb6abc56b3c17d764@mail.gmail.com> <031901ca0445$feacc330$fc064990$@on.net><1234ca4a0907132254q28acfcf7j18710315d0d48b70@mail.gmail.com> <033c01ca0449$67b24320$3716c960$@on.net> Message-ID: <1247552605.22596.1324937085@webmail.messagingengine.com> I've got a Specialized hybrid with a Nexus 8 on it. Hasn't missed a beat commuting for over two years both in London and Hobart. Having said that, I haven't yet had a rear puncture...... ----- Original message ----- From: "Ben Dixon" To: "'Simon Rumble'" Cc: "'Eclectika Eclectika'" Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:07:44 +1000 Subject: RE: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer I was more talking about the Rolhoff. Don?t have any personal experience wth the Nexus, other than noticing that a lot of hire bikes in Japan have them, presumably because of low fuckupability. But the planetary gear arrangement is inherently a lot tougher than a derailleur. That said, a decent quality well maintained derailleur is light weight, smooth shifting, and more than adequate for most jobs. The Rolhoff is fantastic on a touring bike, or a mountain bike that does harsh trail duty. That said, I've been more than happy with the derailleurs on most of my bikes. I modded my cheap Japanese folding bike with half decent (compared to what was there) front and rear derailleurs ([1]http://benjisan.blogspot.com/2006/10/evolution.html ) and its taken me on some crazy tours over there. From: Simon Rumble [mailto:simon@rumble.net] Sent: Tuesday, 14 July 2009 3:54 PM To: Ben Dixon Cc: Eclectika Eclectika Subject: Re: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer 2009/7/14 Ben Dixon <[2]flippy@internode.on.net> Rolhoff speedhubs, and their poorer cousins, the shimano nexus series (ahh you nexus six! I made your eyes?) are a great if somewhat expensive alternative to a derailleur. they are pretty much indestructable, and with no external moving parts, are much less prone to being trashed. I don't know which Shimano Nexus you're referring to, but mine shit itself and went back to Shimano three times before I ditched the bike to go back to a derailleur. -- Simon Rumble <[3]simon@rumble.net> References 1. http://benjisan.blogspot.com/2006/10/evolution.html 2. mailto:flippy@internode.on.net 3. mailto:simon@rumble.net scott plimpton | hobart | tasmania | australia h +61 3 6234 4090 | m +61 404 733 033 e scott@plimpton.org | w www.plimpton.org ***please consider the environment before printing this e-mail*** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090714/df6749f3/attachment.htm From jamie at goatforce5.org Tue Jul 14 09:01:04 2009 From: jamie at goatforce5.org (Jamie Wilson) Date: Tue Jul 14 09:01:19 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Confessions of a serial bicycle buyer In-Reply-To: <1247552605.22596.1324937085@webmail.messagingengine.com> References: <3c2c94740907102229h7b264477x55cefe5a252ca8fa@mail.gmail.com> <877EC504-C9CA-4BDF-A8EF-973F4420EEBC@muhlberger.com> <6A491588-EBB2-469B-B8F2-D049879FAAB0@gmail.com> <3c2c94740907131735s5db3c9behb6abc56b3c17d764@mail.gmail.com> <031901ca0445$feacc330$fc064990$@on.net><1234ca4a0907132254q28acfcf7j18710315d0d48b70@mail.gmail.com> <033c01ca0449$67b24320$3716c960$@on.net> <1247552605.22596.1324937085@webmail.messagingengine.com> Message-ID: On 14-Jul-09, at 2:23 AM, Scott Plimpton wrote: > I've got a Specialized hybrid with a Nexus 8 on it. Hasn't missed a > beat commuting for over two years both in London and Hobart. > > Having said that, I haven't yet had a rear puncture...... Having not had any punctures for years. i've had 3 in the last two weeks. 2 in less than 5km a few weeks back, thwarting my trip to the mall to be a good consumer. The one upside to that is that I now know I can effectively use a patch kit on the side of the road, and not just swap tubes out. And then a couple of days ago I broke two spokes on my rear wheel during a 20km ride (luckily spokes broke in the carpark of my building, about 15m from my storage locker). Friend in Boston bought a lovely hybrid from Harris Cyclery (employer of patron saint of bike tinkering, Sheldon Brown) last week, rode it once, and then had someone rear-end her car - when the bike was on a rack on the back. Bad bike karma in north east North America at the moment. Be careful out there! Finally: iPhone owning bike riders should download the RunKeeper gps tracking app. It's super duper fun, and free. Here's a ride I did recently: http://bit.ly/NtBTf Ignore what it was in the instructions about mouting your phone, etc... Just turn off wifi on the phone, start the app and stick your iphone in your pocket or bag, with the screen facing outwards, towards the sky as much as possible. ...j From aliak77 at gmail.com Tue Jul 14 20:43:00 2009 From: aliak77 at gmail.com (Kath O'Donnell) Date: Tue Jul 14 20:43:08 2009 Subject: [eclectika] starting a Philip K Dick reading group - first book is "The Man in the High Castle" Message-ID: <383607190907141843q65c878dud5573d1e28980088@mail.gmail.com> hi all, we're starting a Philip K Dick reading group on the MLA forums. there's a few of us who've done some of Erik Davis' classes where we read & discussed PKD books - always interesting discussions! we're starting with "The Man in the High Castle" and if things go well we'll continue with other books. first week is next week (19/07), though people can start reading now. we're aiming to start with reading 3 chapters per week, though this is flexible if people need more time. it's free to join in, you just need to create a login name for the site to see the messages. http://tinyurl.com/n7xrqm is where the discussions will take place if anyone is interested, we'd love to have you join! cheers kath -- http://www.aliak.com http://www.brisbanedancepartiesarchive.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090715/929ef21c/attachment.htm From keith.duddy at gmail.com Tue Jul 14 23:22:22 2009 From: keith.duddy at gmail.com (Keith) Date: Tue Jul 14 23:22:38 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Back to the Moon? Message-ID: <0016e64af60cd3d08c046eb6e6cd@google.com> Musings on moon missions from my current fave Sci Fi author... |< Sent to you by Keith via Google Reader: Back to the Moon? via Charlie's Diary by Charlie Stross on 7/13/09 I was thinking I ought to be looking for something creative to say here ? blogging gets old, after the first eight years ? when a bright young thing at $PUBLISHING_COMPANY emailed me to say: "on the 20th, it's going to be the 40th anniversary of moon landing day, wanna blog about where you were and what it means to you on our corporate soapbox?" To which I said "sure, but I was only four years old at the time ..." I hope to live long enough to be four years old that way all over again, some day. Why didn't Apollo stick? Well, for one thing, it was a stunt. Wernher von Braun and his colleagues didn't see it as a stunt, of course. They saw it as a stepping-stone, a valuable intermediate step in establishing a metaphorical beachhead in space. And rightly so (given the state of knowledge of how biological organisms handle zero gravity and high radiation environments at that time). Unfortunately, the real goal of the rocketry pioneers called for something a bit bigger than an ICBM. Funding their requirements ... not easy. The price of a launch to orbit scales roughly in proportion to the cube of the payload. A modern, miniaturized H-bomb weighs about 200-400Kg (more for the really big stuff, but they're not terribly effective militarily). An ICBM that can lob 3 warheads around the world is actually only lifting about one ton of payload, and it doesn't even reach orbital velocity: it's around the bottom end of a viable space launcher. Von Braun and his Soviet counterparts like Sergein Korolyov knew this well. Korolyov had the relative luxury of the USSR's plutonium shortage and lack of proficiency in guidance technology to help him justify building big rockets: these factors forced the Soviet ballistic missile forces to use single multi-megaton H-bombs (weighing several tons), which in turn needed a 300 ton monster like the R-7 Semyorka to achieve their military goals. The R-7 was big enough to throw a small satellite into orbit without upgrades; with incremental improvements, it has continued to evolve (long after its military obsolescence) into the R-7 family of space launchers, one of the safest and most reliable multi-stage liquid fuel rockets ever. But the United States had much better guidance technology, and more plutonium (and could therefore use numerous small, efficient, accurately-targeted warheads to do the job for which the Soviets had to rely on a few cumbersome city-busters). While the early US ICBMs were reconfigurable as space launchers, the really big job of going to the moon required something new ? the Saturn series of boosters. And the Saturn V configurations that eventually flew to the moon and launched Skylab were far from the largest variants planned. Let me put it this way: the goal of going to the moon by 1970 forced design compromises on NASA. The objective of putting a man on the moon and bringing him back would be achieved using the lightest lunar lander conceivable ? one so flimsily built that, on one occasion, an engineer working in the cabin of one of the LEMs dropped a screwdriver point-down and it punched right through the spacecraft's skin. The LEM weighed under 15 tons, fully fuelled; the ascent stage, in which the crew were to live until they returned to dock with the command module, weighed barely 2000 kilograms (plus crew and 2350Kg of fuel). Not only does the cost of putting a payload into orbit increase with the cube of the payload weight ? this rule holds true in the opposite direction, too. Stick a LEM on the moon and bring the contents back? Easy. Increase the mass that the LEM brings back? Very expensive ? the price goes up as the sixth power of the weight you're returning from the lunar surface (because you have to loft the heavier LEM into Earth orbit to begin with). Think about it. The real mission wasn't to go to the moon; it was to bring two astronauts and 100Kg of moon rocks back from the lunar surface and into lunar orbit (to rendezvous with the CSM stack for the journey home) ? and it took a 3000 ton behemoth to accomplish this. Launching a bigger, more useful LEM (one that could carry 3 or 4 astronauts to the lunar surface, along with a decent-sized rover and supplies for a couple of weeks) would have added tonnes to the LEM payload ... and hundreds, if not thousands of tons to the launch stack. With cost scaling as the cube of the vehicle mass, you don't need to be an accountant to realize that the US government, stuck fighting a war in South East Asia, wasn't going to give NASA the money to build in even one kilogram more of payload than was strictly necessary. Indeed, the mushrooming weight of the LEM (it gained about 15-20% during development) threatened to jeopardize the whole mission profile ? except that the Saturn V performance exceeded expectations. The per-launch cost of even a minimal Apollo moon shot was $431M, in 1967 dollars ? call that $5-10Bn today. So: the original Apollo moon shots couldn't have easily scaled up to achieve more ? not without throwing a lot more money at the program in 1968-70, at a point when NASA was already consuming 0.5% of US GDP. For comparison, NASA's budget in FY 2008 was $17.3Bn; if NASA was funded at 1967 levels today, its budget would be closer to $75Bn. Is NASA capable of going back to the moon? I want to believe. But ... First the argument in favour. The Soviet manned lunar program (cancelled in 1969) were running on less than a tenth of NASA's budget; they nevertheless got four flights into the test program for the N1 before it was cancelled, and may have been on the edge of solving its engine problems. Today, with better simulation and modelling techniques, new materials science, and much better electronics ? not to mention 30 years more experience in space exploration ? we ought to be able to design and build better (and importantly, cheaper) spacecraft. Moreover, on the basis of the current estimates, a lunar round trip in Orion/Altair will represent a huge bargain compared to Apollo ? delivering 60% of the lunar astronaut surface duration of the entire Apollo program, for a tenth to a fifth the price of a single 1960s moon shot. Even if it undergoes a 100% cost overrun, it'd be cheap compared to Apollo. But there are problems. Today we lack a vital resource that both Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolev took for granted: thousands of engineers with the experience of designing, building, and launching new types of rocket in a matter of years or even months. We used to have them, but some time in the past 40 years they all retired. We've got the institutions and the data and the better technology, but we don't have the experience those early pioneers had. And I'm betting that the process of rebuilding all that institutional competence is going to run over budget. While NASA's Constellation program might work, and while it could deliver far more valuable lunar science than Apollo ever did, it will inevitably cost much more than NASA's official estimates suggest, because it's too big a project for today's NASA ? NASA, and indeed the entire space industrial sector in the USA, would have to grow, structurally, to make it work. Constellation won't survive a 100% cost overrun ? or even a 25% one. Instead, it will almost certainly be cancelled. The fiscal realities of the second decade of the 21st century are horrendously worse than those of the sixth decade of the 20th. The sixties were a boom decade; a better comparison would be the stagflation era of the seventies (never mind the Great Depression). The Shuttle program survived the 1970s but only just ? its budget scraped through by a single senate vote at one point. And the Shuttle's specifications were mutilated by the political need for it to support an Air Force mission (one that it never flew, but which nevertheless ultimately doomed the Columbia). Project Constellation has no such USAF mission to cling on to for dear life when the budget axe is swinging. And so I very much fear that I'm going to have to stay fit and aim to live for a very long time if I want to feel four years old all over again. Things you can do from here: - Subscribe to Charlie's Diary using Google Reader - Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090715/40ddcadb/attachment.htm From flippy at internode.on.net Wed Jul 15 00:01:48 2009 From: flippy at internode.on.net (Ben Dixon) Date: Wed Jul 15 00:01:58 2009 Subject: [eclectika] graf taxonomy Message-ID: <040001ca0509$5c40de00$14c29a00$@on.net> http://fondation.cartier.com/ From keith.duddy at gmail.com Wed Jul 15 03:34:46 2009 From: keith.duddy at gmail.com (Keith Duddy) Date: Wed Jul 15 03:34:58 2009 Subject: [eclectika] graf taxonomy In-Reply-To: <040001ca0509$5c40de00$14c29a00$@on.net> References: <040001ca0509$5c40de00$14c29a00$@on.net> Message-ID: Interesting content, perhaps, but shocking web design.... the spash page with nothing obvious to click (except the name of the web design firm which is a good un-recommendation), and telling you what browser to use... then a bunch of shitty flash that starts sound and video unbidden, and falls of the edge of my 12" screen. Score out of 10 Dave Humphries? |< 2009/7/15 Ben Dixon > http://fondation.cartier.com/ > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090715/f9b3e4fb/attachment.htm From aliak77 at gmail.com Wed Jul 15 19:04:10 2009 From: aliak77 at gmail.com (Kath O'Donnell) Date: Wed Jul 15 19:04:54 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Re: starting a Philip K Dick reading group - first book is "The Man in the High Castle" In-Reply-To: <383607190907141843q65c878dud5573d1e28980088@mail.gmail.com> References: <383607190907141843q65c878dud5573d1e28980088@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <383607190907151704r5e3983d9qb5e911de5c4d274@mail.gmail.com> update: we've moved the discussions to the public area of the site. so you can read without being logged in, though you need to login to post a reply. *http://tinyurl.com/la5s45 is the new url for the discussions.* 2009/7/15 Kath O'Donnell > hi all, we're starting a Philip K Dick reading group on the MLA forums. > there's a few of us who've done some of Erik Davis' classes where we read & > discussed PKD books - always interesting discussions! we're starting with > "The Man in the High Castle" and if things go well we'll continue with other > books. first week is next week (19/07), though people can start reading now. > we're aiming to start with reading 3 chapters per week, though this is > flexible if people need more time. it's free to join in, you just need to > create a login name for the site to see the messages. > > http://tinyurl.com/n7xrqm is where the discussions will take place > > if anyone is interested, we'd love to have you join! > cheers > kath > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090716/d23b928a/attachment.htm From timbomb at timbomb.net Wed Jul 15 21:36:12 2009 From: timbomb at timbomb.net (Tim Mansfield) Date: Wed Jul 15 21:36:50 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Warbots Message-ID: <35565cab0907151936ge9c92c4kb87832dafd7ecb77@mail.gmail.com> So excited to see this get announced in the same month as Terminator: Salvation http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8149043.stm From keith.duddy at gmail.com Thu Jul 16 20:20:38 2009 From: keith.duddy at gmail.com (Keith Duddy) Date: Thu Jul 16 20:20:51 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Petition to the ATO to open up eTax to other OS's In-Reply-To: References: <4A5F1442.5060208@qut.edu.au> Message-ID: If you're an Aussie tax payer, this might interest you.... ------ Forwarded Message *From: *Jared Ring *Date: *Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:51:30 +1000 *To: * *Subject: *Petition to the ATO to open up eTax to other OS's Given that it is tax time again, and once again the ATO restricts eTax usage to Windows users. Anyway, an online petition has been started up out of the Whirlpool community: http://www.petitiononline.com/FreeEtax/petition.html Relevant thread: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1232567 Cheers j~ ------ End of Forwarded Message -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090717/70209641/attachment.htm From flippy at internode.on.net Fri Jul 17 22:09:46 2009 From: flippy at internode.on.net (Ben Dixon) Date: Fri Jul 17 22:09:54 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Fwd: [lowercase-sound] Instant Chavires Message-ID: <4A613CFA.3060403@internode.on.net> > > Suspended Instants > > > On Thursday July 2nd 2009 we were shocked to learn that the balance of > the operational subsidy allocated to our Association by the General > Council of the Seine-Saint-Denis Department had been slashed by no > less than 25,000? ? a drop of more of 19%. This in addition to a > 7,000? cut in our municipal subsidy (at the beginning of the year, the > town of Montreuil had announced a reduction of 15,000?, 7000? being > the amount eventually decided upon by the end of June). This means > that we have lost 32,000? in 2009. > > The lack of funding has forced us to cancel our Autumn season of > concerts, video projections and exhibitions, in its entirety. Even > maintaining a strict minimum of programmed events would lead to a > budgetary deficit that we simply could not contemplate. > > We have serious questions regarding how the Council reached its > decision, and what factors might have influenced it in so doing, and > to date do not know on what opinions or analyses the said decision was > based. We also deplore that the decision was taken so late. > > It would seem that the Department has deliberately adopted a policy > designed to weaken our Association, resulting in a slow asphyxiation > that will put the entire future of the Instants Chavir?s in jeopardy. > How are we to plan for a 2010 season in such conditions? > > "Art must be where it's indispensible, which means everywhere" - > Claude L?v?que, artist > > We maintain that an intermediary cultural space like the Instants > Chavir?s is an essential complement to existing institutions, and that > it has made a major contribution to the diversity of the cultural > offer, playing an essential role in discovering and promoting art for > over 18 years. > > Does the Seine-Saint-Denis Department still have the political will to > maintain an internationally acclaimed artspace dedicated to > contemporary creation, however modest it may be? > > We demand the setting up of a round table with all our institutional > partners to rehabilitate a relation which is clearly deteriorating. It > is essential to redefine the financial framework together, regarding > the unique nature of our artistic commitment as well as our > geographical and structural specificity. > > We urge you then to sign the online petition > (*http://instants.mollo.fr*), and write to Claude Bartolone, President > of the General Council of Seine-Saint-Denis, and / or to the Mayor of > Montreuil, Dominique Voynet, to inform them of what the Instants > Chavir?s represents in the local, national and international cultural > landscape, and express your own commitment to the lasting nature of > this project. > > You can address your correspondence directly to us at the following > email address *soutiens@instantschavires.com > *, or by regular mail to > Instants Chavir?s, 7 Rue Richard Lenoir 93100 Montreuil - France. We > undertake to forward it to the parties concerned. > > Please circulate this communiqu? as widely as you can, amongst > everyone you know. Thank you. > > Association Muzziques ? les Instants Chavir?s > > > /Our apologies for cross-posting > / > : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : > > > P?TITION ON LINE > http://instants.mollo.fr > THANK YOU > > : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : > > : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : > > > www.instantschavires.com > From bigk at disinfo.net Mon Jul 20 04:46:06 2009 From: bigk at disinfo.net (Kath Williamson) Date: Mon Jul 20 04:46:21 2009 Subject: [eclectika] 7 More Australian Activists Break into U.S./OZ Military Training Area Message-ID: <1248083166.4a643cde0906c@secure.terabolic.com> Good to see that Queensland news is being reported by Indymedia Ireland! http://www.indymedia.ie/article/93188 From andynehl at optusnet.com.au Wed Jul 22 07:32:20 2009 From: andynehl at optusnet.com.au (Andy Nehl) Date: Wed Jul 22 07:32:32 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Forces Of Evil tell Senate we don't need high speed broadband In-Reply-To: <1248083166.4a643cde0906c@secure.terabolic.com> References: <1248083166.4a643cde0906c@secure.terabolic.com> Message-ID: So supposed "experts" have been telling a Senate Inquiry that we don't need a high speed broadband network. See: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/20/2630917.htm?section=justin Does anyone know which particular branch of consolidated corporate evil is backing these bastards? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090722/06eeffcd/attachment.htm From simon at rumble.net Wed Jul 22 20:16:10 2009 From: simon at rumble.net (Simon Rumble) Date: Wed Jul 22 20:16:16 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Forces Of Evil tell Senate we don't need high speed broadband In-Reply-To: References: <1248083166.4a643cde0906c@secure.terabolic.com> Message-ID: <1234ca4a0907221816m24ff03fcm86f5fd1f733a70b2@mail.gmail.com> 2009/7/22 Andy Nehl > > http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/20/2630917.htm?section=justin > > Does anyone know which particular branch of consolidated corporate evil is > backing these bastards? > Google and SourceWatch are your friends. Dr Rowan Gilmore: Australian Institute for Commercialisation "a leading service organisation helping innovators achieve commercial success." My translation: "Privatise the lot, no matter that it was developed using public money." http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Australian_Institute_of_Commercialisation Dr John Ness: EM Solutions, telco pimps to the military, perhaps they didn't get a slice of the cake? Perhaps ubiquitous high speed networks reduces the need for expensive microwave links in remote areas? http://www.emsolutions.com.au/ Infrastructure Partnerships Australia: representatives of the primary beneficiaries of the PPP model of doing public works (badly and expensively, see extensive UK experience). Of course they're in favour of $42 billion being tipped into their sector! And the Deutsche Bank guy is absolutely right. If the government insists on a commercial rate of return on their investment, Australians will be paying enormous amounts of money for the telecommunications and there'll be a huge incentive to close down the existing copper network to stop it competing. The government has form on picking telecoms winners like this. We paid for Telecom's poor choice of exchanges for years with overpriced line rental and ISDN. -- Simon Rumble -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090723/acdb8ea9/attachment.htm From flippy at internode.on.net Thu Jul 23 03:35:41 2009 From: flippy at internode.on.net (Ben Dixon) Date: Thu Jul 23 03:36:04 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. Message-ID: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> My macbook power supply died yesterday. I bought the machine in Feb, so it's still under Warrantee. Should be a pretty straightforward take in, wave paperwork at store person, swap for new one operation. So this morning, I left home early and dropped into the Big Shiny Apple Store to get it looked at and hopefully replaced. All the ColouredShirts were busy downstairs, so I went up to the 1st floor. there was one ColouredShirt on duty but he was busy, so I waited. Then I heard a cheer from downstairs. Kind of a weird football team yay-team solidarity cheer. Something something something aaAAAPPLE! YAAAAAH! Woo! yeah! I gave up waiting and went downstairs. If they have time for teambuilding, then someone must be free. Wrong. Maybe it was a recording, because they all seemed to be busy again. Didn't sound like a recording to me... What planet am I on? Finally got hold of a greeter. (can't remember what flavour of ColouredShirt she was. green? pink?) Explain that my power supply died. Machine is under Warrantee. Can I get it fixed or replaced? "Yes!" she says. brief glimmer of hope... "you need to go to our Genius Bar..." Genius Bar? They have Genii here at the Big Shiny Apple Store, on standby, waiting to do a warrantee replacement of my power brick? Apparently so. "But, you have to make a reservation. And I think they are booked up for the next few days - but you can do it online!" Online. Online on my macbook, perhaps. Oh. Wait... Macbook. Needs. Power. A reservation. Some days hence. With a Genius. To peer at my dead powerbrick over half-moon spectacles, scratch wayward grey hair, and proclaim "Eureka! I think your powerbrick is dead! Lucky its under warantee!" and reach into a drawer and pull out an identical but working powerbrick and hand it to me. Maybe. If I was lucky. My experience thus far would suggest some other, more convoluted process. I look at the ColouredShirt. I put every shred of appeal to reason and humanity into my look - not in a nasty way. In a human-to-human, isn't-the-world-a-crazy-place way. My eyes search hers for a glimmer of shared understanding of the implications of the exchange we just had. Some tiny spark of "Yeah, look, I know it's nuts, but that's just how it is. I'm sorry." I think I saw it. I think... I hope. I need to hope it was there. Right. Acceptance. No solution here, now. "Is there somewhere else..." I start to say. "We have another store!" she says, brightening a little. "It's in Chatswood..." In Chatswood. No Genuis for me today. Or tomorrow. Or even next week. I'll never know what colour shirt a Genius wears. There is a hole in my life. I leave the store, finish the ride to work. Here, I sit down at my PC, fire up eBay. Find a cheap Chinese mac powerbrick, one third of the asking price in the Big Shiny Apple Store. Almost certainly made in the same factory as the real ones. I buy it. It will be here in a few days. I'm now curious. Would I get my Chinese brick first, or an audience with a Genius? I'll go try making a booking online now. The Chinese brick has had half a day's head start. Only fair, given that its coming from China, I think. I'm a curious fellow. Part of me wants to follow through the warrantee process, just to see how twisted it can possibly get. I do enjoy the surreal nature of it all, and given that the macbook is a luxury, not my main work machine, I can afford to enjoy the process for the parody it seems to be. I'm lucky to be able to enjoy (and share with you, my friends) the humour of it. I'll let you know how it works out... :) Ben From queazel at gmail.com Thu Jul 23 05:04:50 2009 From: queazel at gmail.com (Michael Norris) Date: Thu Jul 23 05:05:33 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. In-Reply-To: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> References: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> Message-ID: After watching the interview with Eno the other night I can see Apple rebranding the Genius concept as "Scenius". My eee power supply died a few weeks ago, so I took it in under warrantee. No such Apple weirdness, but no less disappointing. They sent it off to the place where warrantee stuff happens and I've heard nothing since. Of course I could just buy a generic power supply from Jaycar - no special connectors to deal with. -m. On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 6:35 PM, Ben Dixon wrote: > My macbook power supply died yesterday. ?I bought the machine in Feb, so it's still under Warrantee. ?Should be a pretty > straightforward take in, wave paperwork at store person, swap for new one operation. > > So this morning, I left home early and dropped into the Big Shiny Apple Store to get it looked at and hopefully replaced. ?All the > ColouredShirts were busy downstairs, so I went up to the 1st floor. ?there was one ColouredShirt on duty but he was busy, so I > waited. Then I heard a cheer from downstairs. ?Kind of a weird football team yay-team solidarity cheer. ?Something something > something aaAAAPPLE! YAAAAAH! Woo! yeah! > > I gave up waiting and went downstairs. ?If they have time for teambuilding, then someone must be free. ?Wrong. ?Maybe it was a > recording, because they all seemed to be busy again. ?Didn't sound like a recording to me... ?What planet am I on? ?Finally got hold > of a greeter. ?(can't remember what flavour of ColouredShirt she was. ?green? pink?) > > Explain that my power supply died. Machine is under Warrantee. ?Can I get it fixed or replaced? ?"Yes!" she says. ?brief glimmer of > hope... "you need to go to our Genius Bar..." Genius Bar? ?They have Genii here at the Big Shiny Apple Store, on standby, waiting to > do a warrantee replacement of my power brick? ?Apparently so. ?"But, you have to make a reservation. ?And I think they are booked up > for the next few days - but you can do it online!" ?Online. ?Online on my macbook, perhaps. Oh. Wait... ?Macbook. Needs. Power. > > A reservation. ?Some days hence. ?With a Genius. ?To peer at my dead powerbrick over half-moon spectacles, scratch wayward grey > hair, and proclaim "Eureka! I think your powerbrick is dead! ?Lucky its under warantee!" and reach into a drawer and pull out an > identical but working powerbrick and hand it to me. ?Maybe. ?If I was lucky. ?My experience thus far would suggest some other, more > convoluted process. > > I look at the ColouredShirt. ?I put every shred of appeal to reason and humanity into my look - not in a nasty way. In a > human-to-human, isn't-the-world-a-crazy-place way. ?My eyes search hers for a glimmer of shared understanding of the implications of > the exchange we just had. ?Some tiny spark of "Yeah, look, I know it's nuts, but that's just how it is. I'm sorry." ?I think I saw > it. ?I think... ?I hope. ?I need to hope it was there. > > Right. ?Acceptance. ?No solution here, now. ?"Is there somewhere else..." ?I start to say. ?"We have another store!" she says, > brightening a little. ?"It's in Chatswood..." > > In Chatswood. ?No Genuis for me today. ?Or tomorrow. ?Or even next week. ?I'll never know what colour shirt a Genius wears. ?There > is a hole in my life. > > I leave the store, finish the ride to work. ?Here, I sit down at my PC, fire up eBay. ?Find a cheap Chinese mac powerbrick, one > third of the asking price in the Big Shiny Apple Store. ?Almost certainly made in the same factory as the real ones. ?I buy it. ?It > will be here in a few days. ?I'm now curious. ?Would I get my Chinese brick first, or an audience with a Genius? ?I'll go try making > a booking online now. ?The Chinese brick has had half a day's head start. ?Only fair, given that its coming from China, I think. > > I'm a curious fellow. ?Part of me wants to follow through the warrantee process, just to see how twisted it can possibly get. ?I do > enjoy the surreal nature of it all, and given that the macbook is a luxury, not my main work machine, I can afford to enjoy the > process for the parody it seems to be. ?I'm lucky to be able to enjoy (and share with you, my friends) the humour of it. > > I'll let you know how it works out... > > :) > > Ben > > ?_______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > From flippy at internode.on.net Thu Jul 23 05:25:19 2009 From: flippy at internode.on.net (Ben Dixon) Date: Thu Jul 23 05:25:25 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. Still. In-Reply-To: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> References: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> Message-ID: <001501ca0b7f$e1a8ab00$a4fa0100$@on.net> I tried making a reservation to see a Genius. It wasn't easy - you are first confronted by an intelligence. Here was my answer: http://www.apple.com/au -> Support -> Computer+Server -> macbook Then under troubleshooting, click "Troubleshooting MagSafe adapters" So far so good. At the end of a series of questions to make sure you haven't left your MagSafe Adapter in your fishtank or other such possible problems, you are given this: "Whether your product is in or out-of-warranty, you can take your adapter to an Apple-Authorized Service Provider or Apple Retail Store for evaluation and replacement if necessary. You may be eligible for a replacement adapter free of charge provided there are no signs of accidental damage. If you plan to visit an Apple Retail store please make a reservation at the Genius Bar using http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ " Right. Paydirt. Not. Quite. That link takes you to the US site, not the Australian one. Clever folks would have noticed the /au/ that is present in URLs that are part of the Australian site. To move on to the next stage, you have to edit the URL for the Geniusbar to: http://www.apple.com/au/retail/geniusbar/ bingo! Here we are. You then pick your store, enter your name and email address, so they can spam the crap out of you later, select 'mac' Now, if you are lucky (I was the first time, but not subsequent tries) you will then get to 'choose' what time to meet your Genius. First you are offered a day. I was offered Sunday 26th. No other choices. Take it or leave it. Ok. Sunday then. You are then offered a time range. I was offered 5:00pm till 6:00pm. No other choices. Hmm. ok. Click. Now you are offered actual times. 5:45pm. That's it - that's all that's offered. The concierge has decreed that a Genius will be made available to inspect my power brick and render his or her wisdom unto me at 5:45pm on Sunday the 26th. I wonder what I'm supposed to wear? 5:45pm on Sunday the 29th of July. This is apparently my one and only shot at getting my power brick replaced. Not next week, next month or even next year. Blow that date and it's all over, sonny Jim. I thought there must have been a problem with the website. Or that I was impatient and it hadn't loaded properly. So I clicked out, and went through the booking lottery again. This time the concierge took one look at me and gave me the "Sorry mate, too casual." No reservations were available. None at all. I should have seen that coming. Apple must have somehow slipped a cookie in my pocket at the Apple Store labeling me as trouble. At this point, I happened to notice some email in my inbox. A message from the Chinese eBay vendor telling me that my Chinese powerbrick has been shipped. Perfect timing. The universe is having a lot of fun with me right now, and I admit, its cracking me up too. :D Ben (a note: I did notice after all that a direct link to the genius bar from the support mainpage - it was just off the bottom of the screen on my display, at the bottom of a list of 'contact us' links. Though I suspect that they only just put that there to improve the joke.) -----Original Message----- From: eclectika-bounces@wudee.net [mailto:eclectika-bounces@wudee.net] On Behalf Of Ben Dixon Sent: Thursday, 23 July 2009 6:36 PM To: 'Eclectika' Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. My macbook power supply died yesterday. I bought the machine in Feb, so it's still under Warrantee. Should be a pretty straightforward take in, wave paperwork at store person, swap for new one operation. So this morning, I left home early and dropped into the Big Shiny Apple Store to get it looked at and hopefully replaced. All the ColouredShirts were busy downstairs, so I went up to the 1st floor. there was one ColouredShirt on duty but he was busy, so I waited. Then I heard a cheer from downstairs. Kind of a weird football team yay-team solidarity cheer. Something something something aaAAAPPLE! YAAAAAH! Woo! yeah! I gave up waiting and went downstairs. If they have time for teambuilding, then someone must be free. Wrong. Maybe it was a recording, because they all seemed to be busy again. Didn't sound like a recording to me... What planet am I on? Finally got hold of a greeter. (can't remember what flavour of ColouredShirt she was. green? pink?) Explain that my power supply died. Machine is under Warrantee. Can I get it fixed or replaced? "Yes!" she says. brief glimmer of hope... "you need to go to our Genius Bar..." Genius Bar? They have Genii here at the Big Shiny Apple Store, on standby, waiting to do a warrantee replacement of my power brick? Apparently so. "But, you have to make a reservation. And I think they are booked up for the next few days - but you can do it online!" Online. Online on my macbook, perhaps. Oh. Wait... Macbook. Needs. Power. A reservation. Some days hence. With a Genius. To peer at my dead powerbrick over half-moon spectacles, scratch wayward grey hair, and proclaim "Eureka! I think your powerbrick is dead! Lucky its under warantee!" and reach into a drawer and pull out an identical but working powerbrick and hand it to me. Maybe. If I was lucky. My experience thus far would suggest some other, more convoluted process. I look at the ColouredShirt. I put every shred of appeal to reason and humanity into my look - not in a nasty way. In a human-to-human, isn't-the-world-a-crazy-place way. My eyes search hers for a glimmer of shared understanding of the implications of the exchange we just had. Some tiny spark of "Yeah, look, I know it's nuts, but that's just how it is. I'm sorry." I think I saw it. I think... I hope. I need to hope it was there. Right. Acceptance. No solution here, now. "Is there somewhere else..." I start to say. "We have another store!" she says, brightening a little. "It's in Chatswood..." In Chatswood. No Genuis for me today. Or tomorrow. Or even next week. I'll never know what colour shirt a Genius wears. There is a hole in my life. I leave the store, finish the ride to work. Here, I sit down at my PC, fire up eBay. Find a cheap Chinese mac powerbrick, one third of the asking price in the Big Shiny Apple Store. Almost certainly made in the same factory as the real ones. I buy it. It will be here in a few days. I'm now curious. Would I get my Chinese brick first, or an audience with a Genius? I'll go try making a booking online now. The Chinese brick has had half a day's head start. Only fair, given that its coming from China, I think. I'm a curious fellow. Part of me wants to follow through the warrantee process, just to see how twisted it can possibly get. I do enjoy the surreal nature of it all, and given that the macbook is a luxury, not my main work machine, I can afford to enjoy the process for the parody it seems to be. I'm lucky to be able to enjoy (and share with you, my friends) the humour of it. I'll let you know how it works out... :) Ben _______________________________________________ eclectika mailing list eclectika@wudee.net http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika From aliak77 at gmail.com Thu Jul 23 06:56:19 2009 From: aliak77 at gmail.com (Kath O'Donnell) Date: Thu Jul 23 06:56:24 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. In-Reply-To: References: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> Message-ID: <383607190907230456v7e07a851g960f7f31db95690b@mail.gmail.com> I think for apple problems just call apple direct, don't go through resellers. I'm not sure if apple store in city is real apple or reseller? I had awful problems getting my laptop fixed via a reseller (where I'd purchased it) - dragged on for ages (+I was overseas part of the time). called apple & they sorted a replacement within a few days. they said the reseller didn't repair them anymore and had to get in line just as I did by calling up. maybe it's changed again since then. if I'd purchased the machine off the internet it would have been replaced much quicker - didn't know this at the time. plus not sure I would have spent that much online. good luck! kath -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090723/a29edfaa/attachment-0001.htm From bill at segall.net Thu Jul 23 07:22:52 2009 From: bill at segall.net (Bill Segall) Date: Thu Jul 23 07:23:04 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. Still. In-Reply-To: <001501ca0b7f$e1a8ab00$a4fa0100$@on.net> References: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> <001501ca0b7f$e1a8ab00$a4fa0100$@on.net> Message-ID: <4A68561C.7010600@segall.net> Ben, Buy a website. Get a google ad banner set up. Blog this as it progresses and I'll slashdot you. You've hit paydirt :-) Bill. Ben Dixon wrote: > I tried making a reservation to see a Genius. It wasn't easy - you are first confronted by an intelligence. Here was my answer: > > http://www.apple.com/au > > -> Support -> Computer+Server -> macbook > > Then under troubleshooting, click "Troubleshooting MagSafe adapters" > > So far so good. At the end of a series of questions to make sure you haven't left your MagSafe Adapter in your fishtank or other > such possible problems, you are given this: > > "Whether your product is in or out-of-warranty, you can take your adapter to an Apple-Authorized Service Provider or Apple Retail > Store for evaluation and replacement if necessary. You may be eligible for a replacement adapter free of charge provided there are > no signs of accidental damage. If you plan to visit an Apple Retail store please make a reservation at the Genius Bar using > http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ " > > Right. Paydirt. Not. Quite. > > That link takes you to the US site, not the Australian one. Clever folks would have noticed the /au/ that is present in URLs that > are part of the Australian site. To move on to the next stage, you have to edit the URL for the Geniusbar to: > > http://www.apple.com/au/retail/geniusbar/ > > bingo! Here we are. > > You then pick your store, enter your name and email address, so they can spam the crap out of you later, select 'mac' > > Now, if you are lucky (I was the first time, but not subsequent tries) you will then get to 'choose' what time to meet your Genius. > First you are offered a day. I was offered Sunday 26th. No other choices. Take it or leave it. Ok. Sunday then. You are then > offered a time range. I was offered 5:00pm till 6:00pm. No other choices. Hmm. ok. Click. Now you are offered actual times. > 5:45pm. That's it - that's all that's offered. The concierge has decreed that a Genius will be made available to inspect my power > brick and render his or her wisdom unto me at 5:45pm on Sunday the 26th. I wonder what I'm supposed to wear? > > 5:45pm on Sunday the 29th of July. This is apparently my one and only shot at getting my power brick replaced. Not next week, next > month or even next year. Blow that date and it's all over, sonny Jim. > > I thought there must have been a problem with the website. Or that I was impatient and it hadn't loaded properly. So I clicked > out, and went through the booking lottery again. This time the concierge took one look at me and gave me the "Sorry mate, too > casual." No reservations were available. None at all. I should have seen that coming. Apple must have somehow slipped a cookie in > my pocket at the Apple Store labeling me as trouble. > > At this point, I happened to notice some email in my inbox. A message from the Chinese eBay vendor telling me that my Chinese > powerbrick has been shipped. Perfect timing. The universe is having a lot of fun with me right now, and I admit, its cracking me > up too. :D > > Ben > > (a note: I did notice after all that a direct link to the genius bar from the support mainpage - it was just off the bottom of the > screen on my display, at the bottom of a list of 'contact us' links. Though I suspect that they only just put that there to improve > the joke.) > > -----Original Message----- > From: eclectika-bounces@wudee.net [mailto:eclectika-bounces@wudee.net] On Behalf Of Ben Dixon > Sent: Thursday, 23 July 2009 6:36 PM > To: 'Eclectika' > Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. > > My macbook power supply died yesterday. I bought the machine in Feb, so it's still under Warrantee. Should be a pretty > straightforward take in, wave paperwork at store person, swap for new one operation. > > So this morning, I left home early and dropped into the Big Shiny Apple Store to get it looked at and hopefully replaced. All the > ColouredShirts were busy downstairs, so I went up to the 1st floor. there was one ColouredShirt on duty but he was busy, so I > waited. Then I heard a cheer from downstairs. Kind of a weird football team yay-team solidarity cheer. Something something > something aaAAAPPLE! YAAAAAH! Woo! yeah! > > I gave up waiting and went downstairs. If they have time for teambuilding, then someone must be free. Wrong. Maybe it was a > recording, because they all seemed to be busy again. Didn't sound like a recording to me... What planet am I on? Finally got hold > of a greeter. (can't remember what flavour of ColouredShirt she was. green? pink?) > > Explain that my power supply died. Machine is under Warrantee. Can I get it fixed or replaced? "Yes!" she says. brief glimmer of > hope... "you need to go to our Genius Bar..." Genius Bar? They have Genii here at the Big Shiny Apple Store, on standby, waiting to > do a warrantee replacement of my power brick? Apparently so. "But, you have to make a reservation. And I think they are booked up > for the next few days - but you can do it online!" Online. Online on my macbook, perhaps. Oh. Wait... Macbook. Needs. Power. > > A reservation. Some days hence. With a Genius. To peer at my dead powerbrick over half-moon spectacles, scratch wayward grey > hair, and proclaim "Eureka! I think your powerbrick is dead! Lucky its under warantee!" and reach into a drawer and pull out an > identical but working powerbrick and hand it to me. Maybe. If I was lucky. My experience thus far would suggest some other, more > convoluted process. > > I look at the ColouredShirt. I put every shred of appeal to reason and humanity into my look - not in a nasty way. In a > human-to-human, isn't-the-world-a-crazy-place way. My eyes search hers for a glimmer of shared understanding of the implications of > the exchange we just had. Some tiny spark of "Yeah, look, I know it's nuts, but that's just how it is. I'm sorry." I think I saw > it. I think... I hope. I need to hope it was there. > > Right. Acceptance. No solution here, now. "Is there somewhere else..." I start to say. "We have another store!" she says, > brightening a little. "It's in Chatswood..." > > In Chatswood. No Genuis for me today. Or tomorrow. Or even next week. I'll never know what colour shirt a Genius wears. There > is a hole in my life. > > I leave the store, finish the ride to work. Here, I sit down at my PC, fire up eBay. Find a cheap Chinese mac powerbrick, one > third of the asking price in the Big Shiny Apple Store. Almost certainly made in the same factory as the real ones. I buy it. It > will be here in a few days. I'm now curious. Would I get my Chinese brick first, or an audience with a Genius? I'll go try making > a booking online now. The Chinese brick has had half a day's head start. Only fair, given that its coming from China, I think. > > I'm a curious fellow. Part of me wants to follow through the warrantee process, just to see how twisted it can possibly get. I do > enjoy the surreal nature of it all, and given that the macbook is a luxury, not my main work machine, I can afford to enjoy the > process for the parody it seems to be. I'm lucky to be able to enjoy (and share with you, my friends) the humour of it. > > I'll let you know how it works out... > > :) > > Ben > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika From dmj1977 at gmail.com Thu Jul 23 07:51:08 2009 From: dmj1977 at gmail.com (Daniel Johnson) Date: Thu Jul 23 07:51:25 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. Still. In-Reply-To: <001501ca0b7f$e1a8ab00$a4fa0100$@on.net> References: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> <001501ca0b7f$e1a8ab00$a4fa0100$@on.net> Message-ID: <7D447A0C-A194-45E1-84A2-ED5F95C5AAE9@gmail.com> Hey Ben fwiw, I've been going through a similarly elaborate maze with a faulty iphone 3G (after no less than 7 calls to apple support, sending my phone to a mate on the gold coast via courier -- no apple store's in brisbane -- so he could take it to the apple store in robina... my journey (so far) culminated with the news that that they wouldn't replace the phone under warranty because it has been wet; according to the little sensor on the inside -- I don't know where I was at the time but I'm pretty confident I would remember my phone getting wet... anyways, i digress....). My point is, if you want to make another time, just hit the website again tomorrow -- although it is in no way made clear on the site, one of the genii at the store warned me that they only open the slots exactly 3 days before they are available. So you need to time your run to get a slot (ie., if you want Monday at 4pm, then minus 3 days and make your booking at that time). Apparently, when you get to the store (on time) they then make you wait some more as the genii are very busy doing genii-like stuff (like telling people that the phone probably got wet at a bar when they weren't looking........ that'll be the time I didn't notice rum and coke all over my phone, i guess) hope that helps...(and that you get a happier ending than me) D On 23/07/2009, at 8:25 PM, Ben Dixon wrote: > I tried making a reservation to see a Genius. It wasn't easy - you > are first confronted by an intelligence. Here was my answer: > > http://www.apple.com/au > > -> Support -> Computer+Server -> macbook > > Then under troubleshooting, click "Troubleshooting MagSafe adapters" > > So far so good. At the end of a series of questions to make sure > you haven't left your MagSafe Adapter in your fishtank or other > such possible problems, you are given this: > > "Whether your product is in or out-of-warranty, you can take your > adapter to an Apple-Authorized Service Provider or Apple Retail > Store for evaluation and replacement if necessary. You may be > eligible for a replacement adapter free of charge provided there are > no signs of accidental damage. If you plan to visit an Apple Retail > store please make a reservation at the Genius Bar using > http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ " > > Right. Paydirt. Not. Quite. > > That link takes you to the US site, not the Australian one. Clever > folks would have noticed the /au/ that is present in URLs that > are part of the Australian site. To move on to the next stage, you > have to edit the URL for the Geniusbar to: > > http://www.apple.com/au/retail/geniusbar/ > > bingo! Here we are. > > You then pick your store, enter your name and email address, so they > can spam the crap out of you later, select 'mac' > > Now, if you are lucky (I was the first time, but not subsequent > tries) you will then get to 'choose' what time to meet your Genius. > First you are offered a day. I was offered Sunday 26th. No other > choices. Take it or leave it. Ok. Sunday then. You are then > offered a time range. I was offered 5:00pm till 6:00pm. No other > choices. Hmm. ok. Click. Now you are offered actual times. > 5:45pm. That's it - that's all that's offered. The concierge has > decreed that a Genius will be made available to inspect my power > brick and render his or her wisdom unto me at 5:45pm on Sunday the > 26th. I wonder what I'm supposed to wear? > > 5:45pm on Sunday the 29th of July. This is apparently my one and > only shot at getting my power brick replaced. Not next week, next > month or even next year. Blow that date and it's all over, sonny Jim. > > I thought there must have been a problem with the website. Or that > I was impatient and it hadn't loaded properly. So I clicked > out, and went through the booking lottery again. This time the > concierge took one look at me and gave me the "Sorry mate, too > casual." No reservations were available. None at all. I should > have seen that coming. Apple must have somehow slipped a cookie in > my pocket at the Apple Store labeling me as trouble. > > At this point, I happened to notice some email in my inbox. A > message from the Chinese eBay vendor telling me that my Chinese > powerbrick has been shipped. Perfect timing. The universe is > having a lot of fun with me right now, and I admit, its cracking me > up too. :D > > Ben > > (a note: I did notice after all that a direct link to the genius bar > from the support mainpage - it was just off the bottom of the > screen on my display, at the bottom of a list of 'contact us' > links. Though I suspect that they only just put that there to improve > the joke.) > > -----Original Message----- > From: eclectika-bounces@wudee.net [mailto:eclectika- > bounces@wudee.net] On Behalf Of Ben Dixon > Sent: Thursday, 23 July 2009 6:36 PM > To: 'Eclectika' > Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. > > My macbook power supply died yesterday. I bought the machine in > Feb, so it's still under Warrantee. Should be a pretty > straightforward take in, wave paperwork at store person, swap for > new one operation. > > So this morning, I left home early and dropped into the Big Shiny > Apple Store to get it looked at and hopefully replaced. All the > ColouredShirts were busy downstairs, so I went up to the 1st floor. > there was one ColouredShirt on duty but he was busy, so I > waited. Then I heard a cheer from downstairs. Kind of a weird > football team yay-team solidarity cheer. Something something > something aaAAAPPLE! YAAAAAH! Woo! yeah! > > I gave up waiting and went downstairs. If they have time for > teambuilding, then someone must be free. Wrong. Maybe it was a > recording, because they all seemed to be busy again. Didn't sound > like a recording to me... What planet am I on? Finally got hold > of a greeter. (can't remember what flavour of ColouredShirt she > was. green? pink?) > > Explain that my power supply died. Machine is under Warrantee. Can > I get it fixed or replaced? "Yes!" she says. brief glimmer of > hope... "you need to go to our Genius Bar..." Genius Bar? They have > Genii here at the Big Shiny Apple Store, on standby, waiting to > do a warrantee replacement of my power brick? Apparently so. "But, > you have to make a reservation. And I think they are booked up > for the next few days - but you can do it online!" Online. Online > on my macbook, perhaps. Oh. Wait... Macbook. Needs. Power. > > A reservation. Some days hence. With a Genius. To peer at my dead > powerbrick over half-moon spectacles, scratch wayward grey > hair, and proclaim "Eureka! I think your powerbrick is dead! Lucky > its under warantee!" and reach into a drawer and pull out an > identical but working powerbrick and hand it to me. Maybe. If I > was lucky. My experience thus far would suggest some other, more > convoluted process. > > I look at the ColouredShirt. I put every shred of appeal to reason > and humanity into my look - not in a nasty way. In a > human-to-human, isn't-the-world-a-crazy-place way. My eyes search > hers for a glimmer of shared understanding of the implications of > the exchange we just had. Some tiny spark of "Yeah, look, I know > it's nuts, but that's just how it is. I'm sorry." I think I saw > it. I think... I hope. I need to hope it was there. > > Right. Acceptance. No solution here, now. "Is there somewhere > else..." I start to say. "We have another store!" she says, > brightening a little. "It's in Chatswood..." > > In Chatswood. No Genuis for me today. Or tomorrow. Or even next > week. I'll never know what colour shirt a Genius wears. There > is a hole in my life. > > I leave the store, finish the ride to work. Here, I sit down at my > PC, fire up eBay. Find a cheap Chinese mac powerbrick, one > third of the asking price in the Big Shiny Apple Store. Almost > certainly made in the same factory as the real ones. I buy it. It > will be here in a few days. I'm now curious. Would I get my > Chinese brick first, or an audience with a Genius? I'll go try making > a booking online now. The Chinese brick has had half a day's head > start. Only fair, given that its coming from China, I think. > > I'm a curious fellow. Part of me wants to follow through the > warrantee process, just to see how twisted it can possibly get. I do > enjoy the surreal nature of it all, and given that the macbook is a > luxury, not my main work machine, I can afford to enjoy the > process for the parody it seems to be. I'm lucky to be able to > enjoy (and share with you, my friends) the humour of it. > > I'll let you know how it works out... > > :) > > Ben > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika From andynehl at optusnet.com.au Thu Jul 23 08:13:51 2009 From: andynehl at optusnet.com.au (Andy Nehl) Date: Thu Jul 23 08:14:01 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. In-Reply-To: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> References: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> Message-ID: <2982B6E9-D574-49DC-9F6F-D5CD06D5BAC5@optusnet.com.au> Hi Ben, what do they call those Chinese Mac power bricks to find them on ebay? Andy On 23/07/2009, at 6:35 PM, Ben Dixon wrote: > My macbook power supply died yesterday. I bought the machine in > Feb, so it's still under Warrantee. Should be a pretty > straightforward take in, wave paperwork at store person, swap for > new one operation. > > So this morning, I left home early and dropped into the Big Shiny > Apple Store to get it looked at and hopefully replaced. All the > ColouredShirts were busy downstairs, so I went up to the 1st > floor. there was one ColouredShirt on duty but he was busy, so I > waited. Then I heard a cheer from downstairs. Kind of a weird > football team yay-team solidarity cheer. Something something > something aaAAAPPLE! YAAAAAH! Woo! yeah! > > I gave up waiting and went downstairs. If they have time for > teambuilding, then someone must be free. Wrong. Maybe it was a > recording, because they all seemed to be busy again. Didn't sound > like a recording to me... What planet am I on? Finally got hold > of a greeter. (can't remember what flavour of ColouredShirt she > was. green? pink?) > > Explain that my power supply died. Machine is under Warrantee. Can > I get it fixed or replaced? "Yes!" she says. brief glimmer of > hope... "you need to go to our Genius Bar..." Genius Bar? They > have Genii here at the Big Shiny Apple Store, on standby, waiting to > do a warrantee replacement of my power brick? Apparently so. > "But, you have to make a reservation. And I think they are booked up > for the next few days - but you can do it online!" Online. Online > on my macbook, perhaps. Oh. Wait... Macbook. Needs. Power. > > A reservation. Some days hence. With a Genius. To peer at my > dead powerbrick over half-moon spectacles, scratch wayward grey > hair, and proclaim "Eureka! I think your powerbrick is dead! Lucky > its under warantee!" and reach into a drawer and pull out an > identical but working powerbrick and hand it to me. Maybe. If I > was lucky. My experience thus far would suggest some other, more > convoluted process. > > I look at the ColouredShirt. I put every shred of appeal to reason > and humanity into my look - not in a nasty way. In a > human-to-human, isn't-the-world-a-crazy-place way. My eyes search > hers for a glimmer of shared understanding of the implications of > the exchange we just had. Some tiny spark of "Yeah, look, I know > it's nuts, but that's just how it is. I'm sorry." I think I saw > it. I think... I hope. I need to hope it was there. > > Right. Acceptance. No solution here, now. "Is there somewhere > else..." I start to say. "We have another store!" she says, > brightening a little. "It's in Chatswood..." > > In Chatswood. No Genuis for me today. Or tomorrow. Or even next > week. I'll never know what colour shirt a Genius wears. There > is a hole in my life. > > I leave the store, finish the ride to work. Here, I sit down at my > PC, fire up eBay. Find a cheap Chinese mac powerbrick, one > third of the asking price in the Big Shiny Apple Store. Almost > certainly made in the same factory as the real ones. I buy it. It > will be here in a few days. I'm now curious. Would I get my > Chinese brick first, or an audience with a Genius? I'll go try making > a booking online now. The Chinese brick has had half a day's head > start. Only fair, given that its coming from China, I think. > > I'm a curious fellow. Part of me wants to follow through the > warrantee process, just to see how twisted it can possibly get. I do > enjoy the surreal nature of it all, and given that the macbook is a > luxury, not my main work machine, I can afford to enjoy the > process for the parody it seems to be. I'm lucky to be able to > enjoy (and share with you, my friends) the humour of it. > > I'll let you know how it works out... > > :) > > Ben > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika From subs at phatpad.com.au Thu Jul 23 16:25:36 2009 From: subs at phatpad.com.au (Nathen Street) Date: Thu Jul 23 16:25:54 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. Still. In-Reply-To: <001501ca0b7f$e1a8ab00$a4fa0100$@on.net> Message-ID: Ben, I have also had a Apple power brick die on me however, not under warranty. I thought buying a cheap Apple-esqe brick from eBay would do the trick, given new Apple branded bricks are $106 or so; and the one from eBay only $30. When it arrived it looked dodgy and we shouldn't have plugged it in. About 3 weeks after using it and a few sparks flying from the plug it died. Taking with it any ability to charge a somewhat new battery. We have a new power brick now, but the battery doesn't hold a charge because of the cheap eBay brick. Lesson learnt: Apple doesn't play well with cheap imports. nath On 23/07/09 8:25 PM, "Ben Dixon" wrote: > I tried making a reservation to see a Genius. It wasn't easy - you are first > confronted by an intelligence. Here was my answer: > > http://www.apple.com/au > > -> Support -> Computer+Server -> macbook > > Then under troubleshooting, click "Troubleshooting MagSafe adapters" > > So far so good. At the end of a series of questions to make sure you haven't > left your MagSafe Adapter in your fishtank or other > such possible problems, you are given this: > > "Whether your product is in or out-of-warranty, you can take your adapter to > an Apple-Authorized Service Provider or Apple Retail > Store for evaluation and replacement if necessary. You may be eligible for a > replacement adapter free of charge provided there are > no signs of accidental damage. If you plan to visit an Apple Retail store > please make a reservation at the Genius Bar using > http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ " > > Right. Paydirt. Not. Quite. > > That link takes you to the US site, not the Australian one. Clever folks > would have noticed the /au/ that is present in URLs that > are part of the Australian site. To move on to the next stage, you have to > edit the URL for the Geniusbar to: > > http://www.apple.com/au/retail/geniusbar/ > > bingo! Here we are. > > You then pick your store, enter your name and email address, so they can spam > the crap out of you later, select 'mac' > > Now, if you are lucky (I was the first time, but not subsequent tries) you > will then get to 'choose' what time to meet your Genius. > First you are offered a day. I was offered Sunday 26th. No other choices. > Take it or leave it. Ok. Sunday then. You are then > offered a time range. I was offered 5:00pm till 6:00pm. No other choices. > Hmm. ok. Click. Now you are offered actual times. > 5:45pm. That's it - that's all that's offered. The concierge has decreed > that a Genius will be made available to inspect my power > brick and render his or her wisdom unto me at 5:45pm on Sunday the 26th. I > wonder what I'm supposed to wear? > > 5:45pm on Sunday the 29th of July. This is apparently my one and only shot at > getting my power brick replaced. Not next week, next > month or even next year. Blow that date and it's all over, sonny Jim. > > I thought there must have been a problem with the website. Or that I was > impatient and it hadn't loaded properly. So I clicked > out, and went through the booking lottery again. This time the concierge took > one look at me and gave me the "Sorry mate, too > casual." No reservations were available. None at all. I should have seen > that coming. Apple must have somehow slipped a cookie in > my pocket at the Apple Store labeling me as trouble. > > At this point, I happened to notice some email in my inbox. A message from > the Chinese eBay vendor telling me that my Chinese > powerbrick has been shipped. Perfect timing. The universe is having a lot of > fun with me right now, and I admit, its cracking me > up too. :D > > Ben > > (a note: I did notice after all that a direct link to the genius bar from the > support mainpage - it was just off the bottom of the > screen on my display, at the bottom of a list of 'contact us' links. Though I > suspect that they only just put that there to improve > the joke.) > > -----Original Message----- > From: eclectika-bounces@wudee.net [mailto:eclectika-bounces@wudee.net] On > Behalf Of Ben Dixon > Sent: Thursday, 23 July 2009 6:36 PM > To: 'Eclectika' > Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. > > My macbook power supply died yesterday. I bought the machine in Feb, so it's > still under Warrantee. Should be a pretty > straightforward take in, wave paperwork at store person, swap for new one > operation. > > So this morning, I left home early and dropped into the Big Shiny Apple Store > to get it looked at and hopefully replaced. All the > ColouredShirts were busy downstairs, so I went up to the 1st floor. there was > one ColouredShirt on duty but he was busy, so I > waited. Then I heard a cheer from downstairs. Kind of a weird football team > yay-team solidarity cheer. Something something > something aaAAAPPLE! YAAAAAH! Woo! yeah! > > I gave up waiting and went downstairs. If they have time for teambuilding, > then someone must be free. Wrong. Maybe it was a > recording, because they all seemed to be busy again. Didn't sound like a > recording to me... What planet am I on? Finally got hold > of a greeter. (can't remember what flavour of ColouredShirt she was. green? > pink?) > > Explain that my power supply died. Machine is under Warrantee. Can I get it > fixed or replaced? "Yes!" she says. brief glimmer of > hope... "you need to go to our Genius Bar..." Genius Bar? They have Genii > here at the Big Shiny Apple Store, on standby, waiting to > do a warrantee replacement of my power brick? Apparently so. "But, you have > to make a reservation. And I think they are booked up > for the next few days - but you can do it online!" Online. Online on my > macbook, perhaps. Oh. Wait... Macbook. Needs. Power. > > A reservation. Some days hence. With a Genius. To peer at my dead > powerbrick over half-moon spectacles, scratch wayward grey > hair, and proclaim "Eureka! I think your powerbrick is dead! Lucky its under > warantee!" and reach into a drawer and pull out an > identical but working powerbrick and hand it to me. Maybe. If I was lucky. > My experience thus far would suggest some other, more > convoluted process. > > I look at the ColouredShirt. I put every shred of appeal to reason and > humanity into my look - not in a nasty way. In a > human-to-human, isn't-the-world-a-crazy-place way. My eyes search hers for a > glimmer of shared understanding of the implications of > the exchange we just had. Some tiny spark of "Yeah, look, I know it's nuts, > but that's just how it is. I'm sorry." I think I saw > it. I think... I hope. I need to hope it was there. > > Right. Acceptance. No solution here, now. "Is there somewhere else..." I > start to say. "We have another store!" she says, > brightening a little. "It's in Chatswood..." > > In Chatswood. No Genuis for me today. Or tomorrow. Or even next week. I'll > never know what colour shirt a Genius wears. There > is a hole in my life. > > I leave the store, finish the ride to work. Here, I sit down at my PC, fire > up eBay. Find a cheap Chinese mac powerbrick, one > third of the asking price in the Big Shiny Apple Store. Almost certainly made > in the same factory as the real ones. I buy it. It > will be here in a few days. I'm now curious. Would I get my Chinese brick > first, or an audience with a Genius? I'll go try making > a booking online now. The Chinese brick has had half a day's head start. > Only fair, given that its coming from China, I think. > > I'm a curious fellow. Part of me wants to follow through the warrantee > process, just to see how twisted it can possibly get. I do > enjoy the surreal nature of it all, and given that the macbook is a luxury, > not my main work machine, I can afford to enjoy the > process for the parody it seems to be. I'm lucky to be able to enjoy (and > share with you, my friends) the humour of it. > > I'll let you know how it works out... > > :) > > Ben > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika > > _______________________________________________ > eclectika mailing list > eclectika@wudee.net > http://laika.gnusto.com/mailman/listinfo/eclectika From simon at rumble.net Thu Jul 23 18:20:27 2009 From: simon at rumble.net (Simon Rumble) Date: Thu Jul 23 18:20:31 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Life is Art. Still. In-Reply-To: <7D447A0C-A194-45E1-84A2-ED5F95C5AAE9@gmail.com> References: <000901ca0b70$914325a0$b3c970e0$@on.net> <001501ca0b7f$e1a8ab00$a4fa0100$@on.net> <7D447A0C-A194-45E1-84A2-ED5F95C5AAE9@gmail.com> Message-ID: <1234ca4a0907231620mc7c24f6w72226cc957bb19e4@mail.gmail.com> 2009/7/23 Daniel Johnson > My point is, if you want to make another time, just hit the website again > tomorrow -- although it is in no way made clear on the site, one of the > genii at the store warned me that they only open the slots exactly 3 days > before they are available. So you need to time your run to get a slot (ie., > if you want Monday at 4pm, then minus 3 days and make your booking at that > time). > Wow, that's up there with the British privatised railways! To get the cheapest fares you have to book >1 month in advance. Often the tickets aren't released until <1 month in advance. A brilliant system, if you can get someone to pay you to take their monopoly off their hands for them. -- Simon Rumble -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090724/d99c6e53/attachment.htm From justien at gmail.com Sat Jul 25 04:37:39 2009 From: justien at gmail.com (jstn) Date: Sat Jul 25 04:37:54 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Charles Babbage's autobiography Message-ID: Oh rather glorious, and containing all sorts of tables! "From my earliest years I had a great desire to enquire into the causes of all those little things and events which astonish the childish mind." http://books.google.com/books?id=2T0AAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover - ix_hel -- the connotation depends on the beacon, as usual From davemonkey at gmail.com Mon Jul 27 16:21:43 2009 From: davemonkey at gmail.com (David Humphreys) Date: Mon Jul 27 16:21:56 2009 Subject: [eclectika] A new Threadless Tshirt for anyone who's had their bike stolen Message-ID: http://www.threadless.com/product/1941/Missing?utm_medium=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=July-27-2009_072709+Monday+%2f+Actives&utm_source=072709+Monday+%2f+Actives -- Cheers and beers David and or Dave http://twitter.com/davemonkey http://davemonkey.tumblr.com/ http://davemonkey.vox.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://laika.gnusto.com/pipermail/eclectika/attachments/20090728/1bfc96cb/attachment.htm From loch at pobox.com Tue Jul 28 18:34:06 2009 From: loch at pobox.com (Lochy) Date: Tue Jul 28 18:35:40 2009 Subject: [eclectika] Tony Fitz serves it up to pollies Message-ID: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25850066-952,00.html good man From flippy at internode.on.net Wed Jul 29 18:44:52 2009 From: flippy at internode.on.net (Ben Dixon) Date: Wed Jul 29 18:45:01 2009 Subject: [eclectika] when driving a car becomes writing Message-ID: <015a01ca10a6$91d7b950$b5872bf0$@on.net> http://infosthetics.com/archives/2009/07/toyota_iq_font_when_driving_a_car_becomes_writing.html