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iPhone 3GS: Vodafone vs. Optus

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:57:00 +1100

[Disclaimer: If it needs to be disclaimed, I used to work for a digital agency on Vodafone, once upon a time. At that time I chose Optus iPhone 3G, but no longer.]

I sold my Optus iPhone 3G before leaving on a 9 months trip overseas, thinking the 3G reception wouldn’t be so great in the jungles of South America.

When I returned, I had to decide whether to stay with Optus, who I’d enjoyed a moderately decent relationship with over the past 11 years, or jump ship. I went with Vodafone for these reasons:

Value: This Vodafone/NRMA deal is just too good to pass up: 2 months free plus 10% off a 24month contract.
EDGE support (outside of metro);
Visual Voicemail: This is the win. I HATE the asynchronicity of voicemail, this cuts that back to something more like “audio email”;
Faster 3G speeds than Optus: Technically true, from side-by-side tests using the Speedtest app. But I’ve noticed Vodafone drops down to 2G more often in Sydney CBD;
3G Tethering supported by Vodafone: Just call them up and they switch it on;
Vodafone don’t revert to 2G when talking on phone;
You can tether and talk on phone at same time;
No Blacklisted Numbers (unlike Optus policy as of late 2009): So you can use VOIP account such as Pennytel.

I loveLoveLOVE it when talented designers and UI/UX/IA thinkers...

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:36:00 +1100

I loveLoveLOVE it when talented designers and UI/UX/IA thinkers demo their skills by re-furbing daily use systems.

In the creator’s words:

“The Facebook Facelift is a self initiated project to challenge the form and functionality of Facebook. It’s streamlined, structured and linear interface is more comprehendible, enhancing the user experience and absorbability of content.”

Scroll down to bottom for his frustratingly brief design notes. I’m really interested in his concept of the “Facebook Publisher” interface for better managing one-to-one and one-to-many communications, a function that Facebook could really start to compete against email and Twitter.

Facebook Facelift - New UI design by Barton Smith

Facebook Facelift - Home & Profiles from wearetol on Vimeo.

Whoa, Google Local Business Centre added support for...

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:18:54 +1100

Whoa, Google Local Business Centre added support for coupons?

Google Local Business Center

Book Outlines

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:46:09 +1100

Book Outlines:

Because reading the whole thing is usually for suckers.

"Texas has more than 73,000 sworn peace officers — roughly one for every 330 people."

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:41:40 +1100

“Texas has more than 73,000 sworn peace officers — roughly one for every 330 people.”

- Via NPR

The staff at online ladies’ mag “doubleX”...

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:13:26 +1100

The staff at online ladies’ mag “doubleX” experiment what it’d be like to actually drink as much as Draper and the boys do on Mad Men. Via: Slate V

” … And Arts degrees that make us come to...

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:03:09 +1100

” … And Arts degrees that make us come to you.”

Hey SCU, today’s world also needs Arts grads who can string a line of copy together, too.

6 degrees of Kevin Bacon - The Web App

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:46:07 +1100

6 degrees of Kevin Bacon - The Web App:

Connects any two actors (defaults to Bacon) via IMDB and returns a degree of separation.

JuraSEOic Park - Velociroflcoptersaurus Battle

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:37:50 +1100

Have you heard about this crazy Velociroflcoptersaurus competition taking place?

Basically, the term “Velociroflcoptersaurus” didn’t exist about a month ago, then some Sydney digital media types decided to hold a SEO competition to see who copuld optimise for that term the best.

My vote is on Shifted Pixels, who even have a velociroflcoptersaurus blog.

p.s Nick, you owe me :)

[ValleyWag] Which iPhone apps make the most money?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:40:53 +1000

[ValleyWag] Which iPhone apps make the most money?:

Valleywag re-posts Medialet’s financial projection on which iPhone apps are bringing in the most coin. Of the 12mil+ downloaded so far, they’re using the amount of reviews of each app to guage its “relative volume”, i.e a certain percentage of downloaders will review.

I’d say this is a flawed approach, because as the chart shows, it’s the niche offerings (a pilot-training app, LionClock Plus and Omnificus for Freelancers/GTD/Project Management nerds) that are bringing in substantial amounts of reviews.

Seeing as they’re some of the most expensive apps on the store, I’d propose they’re getting the most reviews as customers try to help out the rest of the iPhopne community by a)justifying the price or b)whingeing about how it sucks and they want their money back.

Banksy unmasked ... as a former public schoolboy from middle-class suburbia

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:26:06 +1000

Banksy unmasked ... as a former public schoolboy from middle-class suburbia

From the “Snack Foods That Sound Like Sex Acts”...

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:50:05 +1000

From the “Snack Foods That Sound Like Sex Acts” Flickr group

Reebok ad feat. some old-school Pumps, nu-skool moves and a tidy...

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:08:12 +1000

Reebok ad feat. some old-school Pumps, nu-skool moves and a tidy little remix of a Yelle track.

Hmmm… isn’t Yelle like, sponsored by Adidas??

Where the Hell is Matt? Dancing Matt Harding got paid to make...

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:38:03 +1000

Where the Hell is Matt?

Dancing Matt Harding got paid to make this viral for “Stride Gum”. Matt dances all over the world and Stride reap the inbound links from YouTube, Matt’s blog and marketing sites.

Content isn’t just “king”, it’s sometimes pretty cheap. This probably cost less in talent and crew fees than most TVCs, let alone those with a big star. Watch the YouTube hits add up.

See: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/about.shtml

Teens use Google Earth to locate pools for Guerilla Pool Parties.

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:43:36 +1000

Teens use Google Earth to locate pools for Guerilla Pool Parties.:

Oh, those were the DAYS, man. As a young turk, living and working in Whistler-Blackcomb, British Columbia, I’d often scurry across the lower trails of Blackcomb mountain to the Marriott or Whistler Chateau Marmont resort for a NINJA HOT-TUB RAID.

View Larger Map

Bag Raiders - Fun Punch Video Clip I love pretty much anything...

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:17:52 +1000

Bag Raiders - Fun Punch Video Clip

I love pretty much anything these guys do. I even have a special private list. Now i can add “video clips” to that list. And put little love heart as the dots on the i’s.

Hilarious print creative for Panadol Menstrual by...

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:54:29 +1000

Hilarious print creative for Panadol Menstrual by Ogilvy&Mather, Singapore.

FUrez Hilton outs Michael Caso - Secret blogger discovers the...

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:53:22 +1000

FUrez Hilton outs Michael Caso - Secret blogger discovers the true identity of the orange guido guy

A snarky Fordham University (NY) student runs a hilarious gossip blog about his own university. The jewel in his tiara is definitely the section “Guido Nation”, where he publishes the true identity of that fake-tan-and-hair-gel guy that everyone laughs at. His name is Michael Caso and he wants to be your freind on Facebook. Go search for him.

American Ap-perv-el

Fri, 30 May 2008 03:41:29 +1000

American Ap-perv-el

FORTUNE: Fatal bandwidth: AT&T clocks 6 cell tower deaths in 5 weeks

Thu, 29 May 2008 22:20:52 +1000

FORTUNE: Fatal bandwidth: AT&T clocks 6 cell tower deaths in 5 weeks:

Remember that scene in Rainman where Dustin Hoffman’s character refuses to fly AA because of their crash statistics, and instead wants to fly QANTAS?