I must have taken a trip back in time while asleep, because this morning according to my sites it’s now mid December 2008, with every single thing afterwards gone.

Luckily I back up more often than WebHostingPad’s pathetic annual backup, but the awful timing means I really won’t get a chance to get everything right again for at least a week.

Email still works thankfully and I’ve ranted on Twitter about how awful and crappy WebHostingPad have been in regards to data security, uptime and general nonchalance, so if you want to contact me and don’t have my details best to tweet me until it’s all back to normal.

I apologise to everybody I’ve recommended to the substandard hosting company that is WebHostingPad, I hope none of you have been unlucky enough to be on the same shared hosting box that I was.

See you all in 2010!

When you see advertising for CPL filters there’s the stereotypical before+after of sky or Koi in a pond; I was all outta’ Koi. The before photo is on the left, and the second photo has the CPL filter attached. No, I didn’t get these around the wrong way, the CPL filter I bought is actually just smoked glass. The end result drains the natural colour from the photo and darkens shadows into obscurity, resulting in some awfully muted skies.

The guilty party; a Made In USA^III quality Fotodiox, that famous optical company everybody has been telling you about. Nothing is outwardly wrong with the case or the filter, the screw thread is perfect and the case looks more modern than most other brnads, but as the photos show it’s a worthless piece of glass. There’s nobody I hate enough to give this to, so I guess I’ll hold onto it in the case that it finds a use. Needless to say, a $40 Hoya CPL is on it’s way, my lesson fully learned.

For the m4/3 readers: you can actually use a regular linear PL as there’s no phase detection AF to cause trouble, but for the cost of finding a multi-coated PL, it’s cheaper and easier to source a good quality circular.

1. a 400D, which I’ve only had since October 2007
2. UV filters do not count.
3. Lens/case/cardboard made in China, Sticker made in China but applied by an illegal immigrant in USA.

Dad bought himself a nice 701 (in matte black) which looks incredibly cool, but there were just too many compromises for my needs. The screen was just too small, and the much maligned keyboard meant learning how to type again. Those two reasons coupled with the inability to store photos from my camera meant that I couldn’t enjoy the portability of the 700 range.

The 900 range was to be my entry point, but the complete lack of availability in Hawaii^I meant that I had to wait until I got home. Lucky for me the 901 was announced shortly thereafter, and along with it a brand new 10″ form in the 1000 series.

The 1000H was a happy middle-ground between the 700 and what that model lacked, and I was almost convinced until I saw the $900+ prices on eBay for early Hong Kong^II models. Everybody on the forums were saying the same thing; nice, but way overpriced. The MSI Wind looked enticing (considering the same sized model) and was set at a lower point. Again the availability stopped me from securing one, and I was left to wait for the USA release date, and eventually the Australian scheduled drop.

After checking the forums at EeeUser every few days, I’d almost given up on a domestic release. My brother-in-law has a couple of technology wholesalers on speed-dial, so I asked him to enquire for me about a price. He subsequently copped an earful from one^III because of the supply vs. demand problem, coupled with a more than meager profit margin per unit (something like $50). To add to their frustration, the 1000H is only being supplied to retail stores in Australia. According to one wholesaler, Harvey Norman would have exclusive distribution.

This was some seriously bad news, because Gerry Harvey’s franchise empire wasn’t known for competitive pricing, consistant stock levels or helpful service. I’d almost given up on finding a 1000H domestically, until I was surprised to find that somebody reported that JB-HiFi already had them stock.

I visited their website, a hopeless static advertisment for their stores, without any online purchasing available^IV. On the front page the 1000H was listed at the unbelievable price point of $648 AUD.

Lacking any product page or printable version, I printed a screendump of their website, and grabbed their phone number to call on opening the next day.

An hour or so later I checked the forum thread again, to find that JB had changed the advertised price up to $698, a fifty buck leap. Always inquisitive, I had a gander at the filename for the 1000H image on their site, and noticed the letter b suffixed. Removing it revealed the original image with the old price. I’m sure the webmaster was only doing his due diligence, but any enterprising bargain hunter could easily swap the old image back in and give themself a nice discount for little hassle.

The next morning I called the store, and a guy told me that they were out of stock. “Wait a sec-”, he added, “- oh no, we have some left.”

We were working in Surfers Paradise so it was a quick journey to the store where (firmly holding my printout) I approached the computer salesman. He fetched a ladder to reach the small pile of 1000H‘s perched away in a far corner of the store, and brazenly I asked, “I don’t suppose I can be picky enough to choose a colour?”. For those who aren’t aware, Asus has always released white before black, so even though I would have preferred it, chances are I was walking away with a white model.

“Yeah sorry, we’ve only got black.”

As he got down I saw the price on the tag, the corrected $698. Knowing that I had to essentially pretend not to know that the price had risen, I casually noted that it didn’t seem right, and slyly produced my printout. “Oh, they’re always doing stuff like that to us,” he said flippantly, “but that’s okay.”

I was expecting at least a small argument, but a few minutes later I was headed back to work with an almost too-cheap laptop. That happy to have got such a good deal, I was halfway back before I realised it was preloaded with XP, something nearly impossible for the price. If I had the choice I would have picked a Linux version (the price would be cheaper) but I doubt there’ll be non-XP versions out here any time soon.

After giving it the initial charge, I booted it up to find a bountiful amount of useless^V software preinstalled. Whoever decided to put both Microsoft Works and StarOffice on the same machine is asking for user confusion. Since XP will only be as a dire failsafe, I stripped it down to a bare shell, my only mistake was removing bluetooth. Removing it is a complete waste of time, as whenever you turn WiFi off you nearly always shift bluetooth on, and Windows instantly wants to install it again.

I also managed to have one dead pixel, and unlike any that I’ve had before it’s a lime green flickering-star type. As with all dead pixels, it’s just short of being in the very centre of the screen, seemingly just so you won’t forget that that yes, you don’t have a perfect display. No single dead pixel is worth returning a unit for though, and considering how lucky I was to own a 1000H so early it’s little to whinge about.

The best news though is this entire post was written with it, something I doubt I’d be saying with a smaller model.

1. Out of the ten or so places we tried, nowhere even stocked the 700‘s.
2. Which have annoying dual-language keyboards.
3. Sorry about that, Ian!
4. Why no store has put their hand up to accept online orders is beyond belief.
5. Okay, useless for me.

Imagine what you’ve done in the span of your life as part of “long way” I mention. It very well might not be a great deal^I but odds are you will, by the time you die, have contributed positively in some small way. Now imagine something terrible; that everything you’ve contributed is undone by somebody else after you die. You may as well have not done anything, and lived only for yourself.

Now scale this up and imagine something more terrible, a disaster that destroys your whole country. The implication again remains; all of your efforts and your countries’ domestic efforts since colonisation have been for nought. No future generations will get any benefits of the civilisation built by the generations before them; everything that was unlucky enough to be in your country is gone and anybody that was to do their part of humanities “long way” will never get the chance.

Not a nice thought in the least, but bear with me.

Scale up once again; something wipes out the entire human race. The stuff of films, books, and many doomsday religious tales. Every single thing that humans have achieved, discovered and invented will be completely nullified in one fell swoop. We may has well have never existed.

Nobody likes to think about this, and it’s amazingly easy to never dwell on it too much at all. No doubt this never even occurs to a lot of people, and ignorance really is bliss when it comes to the end of human existence.

But whether it be the cause of Man or Nature, our future is almost certain – unless we manage to spread ourselves fairly extensively throughout the universe (not only to other planets in our solar system nor into space and planets in our galaxy) we are set for extinction, one way or another.

DISCOVER Magazine have compiled an excellent list of 20 Ways the World Could End, which could very well have the subtitle; “And humanity if we’re too complacent to get as far away from it as possible.” It’s not the newest article as you’ll notice, but reads as a comprehensive look at what we’re up against – that we know of.

Well worth the read, even if it is a little disheartening. The more you know about it, the more you’ll realise that nothing we do matters if it’s going to be wiped away in the future – yet our priorities are definitely Earth-bound, and it’s going to be one hell of a slog to change thought on the topic. It’s almost as hard not to sound like a conspiracy theorist or (worse-still) a treehugging greenie when talking about it – hopefully I’ve skirted the line.

1. And I certainly can’t pretend otherwise myself.

While reporters were quick to find (or is that hire?) the usual group of excited Indians burning effigies^I here in Australia everybody seemed polarised by the walk/no walk argument.

What the news media ignored – the question people should be asking each other is; why is there any room for error in cricket decisions in this 21st century?

Another sport competing with cricket on the box this year, Tennis, even allows players on-court to challenge any decision they see as wrong, whereby a hawk-eye bounce simulator pinpoints the exact fall of a ball. All human eyes can be overruled by it, and more than a few bad judgements have surfaced.

As with tennis (and any other televised sport nowadays) essentially everybody watching cricket from home is getting superior vision than the umpires; more replays, angles, slow-motion, heat vision, even estimated bounce projections. Umpires have proximity and experience as their only allies, whilst having the liability of concentrating endlessly without distraction and at risk of being caught up in an exciting moment.

The sad truth is, with all this technology we’re all better umpires than any professional in the industry.^II The infamous example; when Andrew Symonds led Australia to a resounding victory in the second test after dodging what the umpire saw as close calls. We saw Symonds get out, from multiple angles and as clear as day. A single umpire using his own eyesight ruled against what millions of people could see. Twice.

The solution is a radical one, and there’s no gentle way to propose it; leave one umpire on bowling end with an earpiece, and have an umpire box off-field for informed decisions, which are fed to the on-field umpire.

I’m not old enough to remember if there was much argument about the addition of the third umpire,^III but I can guess there was a fair share of detractors. Similarly, the main reason that there’s still umpires on the field today is tradition. While skill and tactics might be constantly evolving, rules and tradition seem to be set in stone with a game as old as cricket. Drastically changing something as fundamental as on-field umpires’ decision making abilities is no mean feat. That, with the collateral damage of less umpires being required, surely seems to make for a ludicrous proposal.

You can often hear the commentators’ breathy pause when they see a bad decision. They (just as we) have access to all the vision they need to make a decision, yet are left only to weasel-word and mince their way around one man’s mistake. What if they could make the decisions instead of discussing them?

As for slandering and in regards to who-said-what (another hot topic at the moment), there’s even a simple solution to once and for all solve disputes. Sound should be recorded on the pitch and stored, not for public ears, but for reference if somebody does raise an issue. Considering the game is played in an open field, how hard could it be to have something the likes of audio-grabbing directional amplifiers^IV pointed at any conversations between batsmen and the field? The key is recording everything, so any complaints can be swiftly decided upon. No sport on a world class level should face national boycotts because of what somebody might have said – courts of law find it inadmissible, yet the ICC takes it seriously. Again, you can bet all sides on field would be against any such recording.

There’s simply too much invested into Cricket for these two things not to happen, and it’s a real shame (not to mention diminishing) for the game to repeatedly make the news, not for the performances, but from fallout due to the lack of evolution of this great game.

On the flipside, I overheard somebody last week with another plan, “Just ban all the replay camera angles. If we only see an umpire’s view, this would be a non-issue.”

Easier, though I’m sure not so popular.

1. And just who makes these pathetic likenesses? I can see a growth industry in Professional Effigy Services.
2. And not to say that umpires aren’t skilled, being able to make calls using only line of sight gets more amazing as you think about the variables.
3. Which, if you’re cricket deprived, is a third-party whom the umpires can call upon to make a judgement with difficult decisions. Interestingly enough, they use replays to decide.
4. Which I originally saw in Enemy of the State, and later for sale as a kids toy; go figure.

If you’ve been in the last two years you might have noticed attendance was down considerably – the hammer horror specials of 2004^II would have only drew a crowd of no more than fifteen people each, and that was after they provided free popcorn. 2005 had no free food, but screened film-fan favourites like Little Shop of Horrors, Beetlejuice, and my personal favourite of the bunch The Princess Bride. While more people turned up for these, the cinema was still under 50% full.

Last year we didn’t have enough time to see everything, and with the theme this year being Bollywood (no thanks) we only managed to catch the animated-noir Renaissance, the “evil cow on a farm” flick Isolation, and the amazingly original Pan’s Labrynth. It was also the first year the the new venue^III, and away from the awful Robina Cinemas with their conjoined chairs^IV. Another nice feature were the live zombies giving everybody walking by a hard time.

Let’s hope that 2008 brings not only the Festival back but the classic film as well – there’s something great about about old flicks at the movies.

1. The only Gold Coast film festival, which has been operating since 2001.
2. At least the ones I saw, they canceled the most anticipated Lust for a Vampire at the last minute
3. the Reading Cinemas at Harbour Town.
4. Anybody that’s been there knows all too well – chairs are attached to each other in groups of twenty, so if somebody ten seats across leans back, everybody leans with them.

Around two years ago I stumbled upon TheOpenCD site and thought (like many) that it was a great idea. I sent an email off to the project founder Henrik Nilsen Omma^III, saying that I could help out whereever needed. Although there wasn’t a great deal for me to help out with, being that the disc was a one man job at that point, he said I could at least help moderating the forums. A new version was being prepared, and most time was spent between Henrik and a few others (Matt Oquist stands out in memory) creating a mini Ubuntu live cd that would let users boot into Linux with TheOpenCD, as well as further development of DiscTree^IV. During that time I basically sat by the sideline, kept the forums active and helped out where I could.

The Ubuntu disc had a fair share of supporters but overall wasn’t as great a success as they’d hoped, and a lot of time went by – so much so that a lot of people started asking the same question, “when is the next version out?”. From what I can remember it was about nine months since the last disc, and over the course of that I’d emailed Henrik more than a few times about helping him work on the next version.

Four Point Zero

A few months later a fellow supporter, Robert Schumann, offered his help at much the same time as I did and ended up helming the much awaited 4.0, which had the dubious honour of not including the Ubuntu LiveCD of the previous TheOpenCD. The strange thing about 4.0 was the huge momentum it had right up until it was due for release, where unexpectantly it stalled and didn’t materialise. I found later (after a few more emails) that both Robert and Henrik had moved (one another city; one another country) and even though it was completed, it sat for over a month unreleased. Even stranger was that it had been uploaded, but nobody had got around to letting the mirrors know that it was available.

By the time Henrik let me take over as project lead^V I had to download the finished 4.0 image and update nearly every program with a new version. Only after that did TheOpenCD 4.0 hit the streets.

Shortly afterward I was given access to the sole email account (admin@) via GMail. I was shocked by the volume of mail coming in daily from people offering help, suggestions or with general questions about the project. I can only wonder what happened before I had access to answer the email; I certainly never saw anybody else offer help to the project nor any of the program suggestions make it through to the disc.

Over the eighteen months I’ve been the sole developer, email answerer and general caretaker for TheOpenCD. There have been some good moments, but for the most part it’s been fraught with problems. I’ve expanded on the main ones I encountered, because they’re essentially the reason why I decided to start OpenDisc:

Unacceptable software

TheOpenCD is sponsored^VI by Canonical^VII and thus all the software restrictions that were present in Ubuntu also counted for TheOpenCD as well. The single most requested addition to the disc was VLC, but soon after taking over I was forewarned that it was not to be included because it was risky software. It included decss libdvdcss, a famous^VIII DVD-Video copy-protection stripping code that allowed you to play DVDs on any platform.^IX For that reason I could never include an otherwise perfect candidate on TheOpenCD. After deliberating on the old forum, the answer was to request a special version to be made especially for us that didn’t include libdvdcss; something I’m sure the developers had a chuckle over, if they ever got the request at all.

Likewise I couldn’t include other decoders/converters or anything that would jeopardise the neutrality of Canonical and TheOpenCD project.

With OpenDisc I’m free from any company rules that stop inclusion of specific open source software. At the end of the day, users don’t care if somebody thinks certain software is risky, they just want stuff that works.

Forums

As already noted, when I’d first found the project and offered my help I was given the task to moderate the forums. As far as I remember they were either Mambo or bbphp forums, and for the most part they were always active and of little trouble. I noted that some older users complained that the threads of the previous forum were gone, and wondered why they weren’t migrated or at least mirrored for future.

The original forums that disappeared when MoinMoin replaced the old site.
The only trace of them I could find was this screen capture of TightVNC on the disc.

It was decided at some stage that the current site would be changed to wiki software, called MoinMoin. This was the same software that ran other Canonical sites, so naturally it was favoured over anything else and accepted without much hurrah or discussion. The forums disappeared, instead to be hosted by the wiki as well. Again, I couldn’t find any trace of them for preservation.

It was quickly discovered MoinMoin wasn’t a great solution for forums at all. There was however somebody designing a plugin for us to improve the state of things, but I never had contact with them and it was soon abandoned. After six months of trawling through all-but-ignored threads (and endless spam) I closed the forums and began deleting what was left of them, as the great majority were either spam or of questionable legitimacy.^X

The MoinMoin ”forums” which were just a basic wiki hack.
Users could even edit other users comments or delete whole topics.

I’ve ensured the new OpenDisc forums are easy to navigate and post on, and once users are registered with either the project or the forum they won’t have to register for the other. And if I ever change the forum software, the old discussions won’t be left behind.

Pushing Out

Contrary to what some might imagine, TheOpenCD was assembled, packaged and made into an image locally, and not dynamically online. It’s then uploaded to a private server, then moved from that onto the mirrors. The image itself has to then be moved onto TheOpenCD server, after which the mirrors are notified.

I handled everything up to uploading the image. Once that was done, I’d send an email off and would have to wait until I got the word back that everything had been done. Obviously I didn’t work for Canonical so I had no access to their servers, but the channels I had to go through almost always meant a delay in getting a new version out. A new release depended on every party being able and active at the time of release, with just one link out of the proverbial chain missing and the release was stranded until they returned.

Now I can simply upload new versions of OpenDisc to SourceForge and point to it on the site; no fuss, delay or people to go through to push a new version out. Expect to see OpenDisc release more often than was possible with TheOpenCD.

More Unacceptable Software

I’d raised my concerns to Henrik about the unsuitability of MoinMoin, and to my surprise he agreed that it didn’t really suit the purpose too much. I suggested a simple WordPress installation, which would handle everything the project required sans forums. bbPress could handle that, and linked in with WordPress so that users wouldn’t have to register twice on the site to post comments or forum threads.

TheOpenCD’s website, including the year-old logo which I had no access to update.

I got a reply saying that WordPress was probably on the list of okay software to run on the servers, but that bbpress most likely wasn’t. Now I realise that Canonical had to be careful what software they ran considering what traffic they got with the other projects, but I couldn’t see the sense in the well-developed, open source and highly supported bbpress.

It was suggested instead that Drupal be installed (again, it was being used on other Canonical sites), so I reluctantly obliged and we settled on the proposed Drupal installation. I was given the email address and was cc’d to the person responsible to install it, but even after a couple more direct emails I never got a single reply. Looking back this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Once I’d decided to start OpenDisc, I secured hosting and got to work on developing the project’s new home. Free to install anything I liked, with WordPress/bbPress I quickly got to the point where I was happy with both the design and flexibility where I could launch the project publicly. I also organised a SourceForge account to host the large files the project releases.

OpenDisc website, which hopefully looks a lot more pleasing and is certainly easier to use.

Derivatives and Translations

At least once a fortnight I was contacted by somebody making a derivative^XI or localised translation for non-English speakers.

Since I had no way to host and nurture major derivatives, they often released once then faded away into the obscurity of old versions and a total lack of availability. The same unfortunately is to be said about translations; often after the first version was released there was never another translated update available, so non-English users were left with dodgy old software.

With OpenDisc I can now look after major derivatives better. OpenEducationCD (created by Peter Kemp) has flourished and received some great exposure throughout UK and the greater educational world. Where I couldn’t do much for it before^XII I can now host a web site and organise file hosting, providing a fuss-free operation for somebody already burdened enough by keeping the project up and running in their spare time.

I’ve also started a translation project for OpenDisc where anybody fluent in English and another language can contribute to present and future versions of the disc.

Server problems

On the 15th August 2007 the Ubuntu community servers were hacked^XIII – I’d read it at the time but hadn’t twigged that it meant the file hosting for TheOpenCD was included on one of them. When I came to release 07.09 I found out through Henrik that it was indeed so. In the mean time I was told I’d have to find somewhere else to upload the image, providing it could be transfered later from there via ssh to another server for release.

As I described above, you can appreciate that TheOpenCD really didn’t need another layer of complexity in the method of releasing new versions, so I decided to push out a torrent early for those starved of a release and leave it at that for the time being. Henrik did ask initially to meet me on freenode to work out a plan, but by the time (I was away for a few days) I’d returned I was determined to start OpenDisc.

It wasn’t all bad though…

I got to add some worthwhile features to the disc, like Tux, in aid of starting a stronger way to educate users of Linux. Aside from that and the disc artwork changes (and the origami cover I designed) the largest thing I think I brought to the project was the release cycle. Even so, it was only five releases in those eighteen months, something that will be improving with OpenDisc.

If you made it through the entire post you’ve done quite well. Finally, hello and thanks to all the users, developers and distributors that I’ve talked to during my time at TheOpenCD, and here’s to seeing you again soon at OpenDisc.

1. And there’s the last pirate pun I’ll use this post.
2. I know, I know, again with the pirate puns.
3. Who I have nothing but kind things to say about; my decision wasn’t based on any argument or impass between us personally.
4. Which is a whole other story, and unfortunately for those who spent time developing it, not one with a great ending either.
5. Robert had just finished his PhD. from what I remember and was swamped with RL commitments
6. Only the hosting and domain costs were covered.
7. If you aren’t sure, the parent company of Ubuntu.
8. or infamous, depending on which side of the moral fence you live.
9. Which incidentally is more important for Linux, but still included in the Windows version.
10. “Please send copies to my PO Box in Nigeria, Thank You Sir!”
11. what we termed as a version of TheOpenCD customised in some way for a specific event or group, like Software Freedom Day.
12. except for a quick news post
13. Digg.com carried the story – http://digg.com/linux_unix/Ubuntu_Servers_HACKED.

Aside from the obvious drawbacks^I wearing prescription glasses is just no fun at all, and anybody who tells you different is lying. The list of annoyances is endless; eternal cleaning on rainy days, instant fogging up every time you move into different temperatures, nose-slide, blind-spots, night-blindness, light flaring; all key features of the package deal that is my myopia.

The LASIK eye exam typically costs $80, but for some reason when you book it online they waive the fee. The first time around I listed my Ballina phone number, and got a call the next day from the Parramatta office. After first mistaking Ballina for a (northern?) suburb in Sydney, she asked, “so would it be possible to drop down to our Parramatta office next month?”. After I mentioned the slim possibility due to the 1800km round-trip journey she assured me she’d pass along my details to Queensland.

A week later I figured she’d decided not to, so again I filled the form in but with my regular phone number, and magically the Gold Coast office called. After giving me a date a month and a half away, she said somebody just cancelled their appointment next week. Quicker than I could say “yes, I’ll take it” she added, “oh, just missed that one, sorry. If another one opens up I’ll just grab it for you.” Not even a minute later another date cleared, so I got locked in for a fortnight’s time.

The Gold Coast office is basically attached to the Gold Coast Hospital, so I expected parking to naturally be a horrific experience. To my surprise, not only was parking a breeze^II I was also pleasantly surprised not to be greeted by hundreds of sick, injured and zombified people lining the streets. It was also only a few days since the arrest of the alleged terrorist-assisting doctor Mohamed Haneef, and for some reason it was odd to think I was in such close proximity to where he worked. Considering how the GC and most of Australia has been untouched^III as far as terrorism is concerned, it was disquieting to be in such proximity.

I arrived at the somewhat small office expecting again to be surrounded by people, but the friendly receptionist and somebody booked ahead of me were the only people in reception. I was taken to the ‘viewing room’, which is no bigger than a toilet. There I was told to watch a twenty minute video featuring the benefits and risks of LASIK. This is probably the first time they tell you the real no-frills story of the surgery, and exactly how the operation occurs.^IV After the video is over you’re instructed to (a) turn the DVD player off, and (b) exit the room and sit down again until they want you.

Another door opened and another equally friendly lady ushered me into a room that resembled an optometrist office. Immediately your eye catches the array of five strange eye machines, which you instantly think are the very ones ready to shoot lasers at you if you look at them the wrong way. Turns out they’re all for analysing your eyes, and the eye test basically consists of sticking your head inside each one while they do their thing.

I’m asked the typical questions (prescription medications? epilepsy? necropsy?) before I look into the first machine. From a layman’s point of view they all seem to do the same thing; you have to blink and keep you eye open in a set pattern, while light scans across your eyes from various angles. About half way through the tests the lady stopped, frowned, and said she’d take a minute to calculate something.

After spending a couple minutes with a $2 calculator she told me that my cornea is 459 microns thick, and the bare minimum needed for LASIK to slice into was 500, so I instantly disqualified myself. If they tried to operate they’d likely cut too deep and blind me, so they discourage operations on skinny-eyed folk such as myself. The instant feeling was equal to entering a competition only to find at the final stage that only US citizens are eligible.

Undaunted she said that PRK^V might just still be an option (but only if the doctor agreed) and with that we continued the rest of the tests. At the end of the test she ruffled past a bunch of glossy catalogues about LASIK and handed me an old photocopied and stapled leaflet on PRK.

So with a smile and a promise to call me regarding what the doctor thinks about my eyes and PRK, I was sent on my way.

I had a natural reluctance of PRK beforehand, her mentioning the term ‘open wound’ certainly didn’t convince me, and the look on everyone’s face when I explained PRK pretty much sealed the lid on the procedure.

A week later I’ve had a new eye test (the first in six years, incidentally) and I’ve raised my prescription by three steps to just under 5 for each eye. Until another procedure like FLEX comes along I’m stuck with good ole’ spectacles – I’m undecided about contact lenses so far, since I subsequently found out (through the LASIK video no less) that extended use creates blood vessels in your eyes.

And I never did get that call-back from LASIK, either.

1. I’ve been told by at least a few people I’d look better without them, so now I vainly believe it
2. the cheap, credit-card metered parking mind you
3. As much as the powers that be let us know, in any case.
4. with real surgery video, which was far less gruesome than it sounds
5. a shudder ran up my spine when she said this, as I’d read about it previously

Hi there, the last two orders I’ve made with Amazon have arrived in pretty bad shape. In both cases the airbags were totally deflated which left the books/dvds free to play twister in the box. I’ve got photos on my blog for you to see the damage. I’m not after a refund or replacement; I want to bring to your attention the fact that the last two orders I’ve received just haven’t been packaged well enough to survive the trip to Australia. Thanks, -Chris

The top right-hand corner of the book.

From the inside of the book, you can see the damage to the hardcover.

The damage done to my second last order.

The completely deflated air-bags sit on the damaged books.

The box from the latest shipment, deflated airbags and a large knock in the side.

It’s pretty clear in the latest case that the airbags deflated, and afterwards a large knock busted the corner off the book and tore the dustjacket up. If I was buying second-hand it’d be a different story, but I think anybody buying something brand new from Amazon should at least expect things to arrive okay.

Update: Here’s the reply from Amazon…

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

I’m sorry to hear about this problem with your shipment’s packaging.
We always appreciate customer input on how we can improve our store,
and I’ve passed your message along to our shipping department.

The packaging methods we use have been proven to protect a variety
of items effectively. Virtually every Amazon.com order is shipped in
a corrugated container. Air-filled cushions are sometimes used to
protect the items. Some shipments may contain Flo-Pak polystyrene
loose fill packing material, commonly known as peanuts.

I realise that the air cushions were deflated in this case. I also
saw the picutures on post on blog, which clearly show the damage.

Again, we sincere apologizes for any inconvenience caused.

Oh and while still on the topic of books (and not rants), I’ve managed to get all but half a bookcase into my LibraryThing, and scan the remainder of what didn’t already have covers available. They’ve also added a neat javascript blog generator, which I’ve added on the sidebar on the right. So if you haven’t already, join LT and get your collection online, it’s the easiest and neatest way to catalogue your books. Oh and here’s a Simpsons quote for you non-bookies to chew on:

Dr. Taylor: Hi Lisa. I’m Alison’s father, Professor Taylor. I’ve heard great things about you.
Lisa: Oh really? I…
Dr. Taylor: Oh, don’t be modest. I’m glad we have someone who can join us in our anagram game.
Alison Taylor: We take proper names and rearrange the letters to form a description of that person.
Dr. Taylor: Like, er… oh, I don’t know, uh… Alec Guinness.
Alison Taylor: [thinking] Genuine class.
Dr. Taylor: Ho ho, very good. Alright Lisa, um… Jeremy Irons.
Lisa: [looks worried] Jeremy’s… iron.
Dr. Taylor: Mm hmm, well, that’s… very good… for a first try. You know what? I have a ball. Perhaps you’d like to bounce it?