funwithstuff

If you've finished work or study for the day, try making a Fantastic Contraption.

I have to agree with 37 signals that Madewell is a great example of how clothes should be sold online. Videos of people (well, a model) actually moving wearing the clothes are markedly different to a single-angle still photograph.

Yesterday, Hazel managed to say "Hello Daddy" with all the diction and clarity of Scooby Doo. We know what she meant.

Today, though, was a milestone of a different sort. She took her first steps.

You know when you've been waiting for something forever, and it arrives? And it's not an iPhone? Just like that.

Haven't convinced you to see Star Trek: The Experience yet? Here's Wil Wheaton's experience of it. Warning: Contains spoilers and the article is on Suicide Girls, which isn't really safe for work.

If you can, get to Las Vegas before September 1, when Star Trek: The Experience sadly closes. It was awesome, but I'm not telling you just how why until you can't experience it for yourself. It's all about the surprise.

NSFW Gummi Lighthouses?

So sunny, so happy, such a simple way to while away a few minutes.

Vote for me! Vote for me! Vote for me! Vote for me! Vote for me! Vote for me! Vote for me! Vote for me! Vote for me! Vote for me! (Please?)

Joe Cocker, translated with captions. Enjoy.

Remember The Naked Gun? Played GTA IV? This will make your day.

Let me just spew out some discussion here on what the hell I'm going to do about the new iPhone. I have to get one; I've been waiting for a year now. It's looking likely that an unlocked iPhone will be available locally. They'll be on prepaid from Optus and Vodafone here (if not for the subsidised US$199 promised) and even if they're tricky to unlock they'll definitely be available somehow. Apparently phone locking is illegal in Belgium, for instance.

Anyway, I really don't want a $60+/month contract to get one. Many people don't view this as a big deal — some don't even have a home line any more — but that's not an option for me.

ADSL is the only way I'm getting fast internet here, so I need a phone line. The line rental on Homeline Budget is only $20/month, so it's not too painful. We make all our outgoing calls through VOIP with MyNetFone (one of many providers, and they've been OK) for 10c untimed national calls and 20c/min to mobiles. Telstra rates can't come close.

My current mobile plan is so cheap I can't use it all. I pay $25/45 days for Virgin Mobile's Bean Counter (only available online) which offers 10c/minute calls to any Australian number, including mobiles, plus free voicemail retrieval. Nothing else is anywhere near as cheap, not even VOIP if I'm calling a mobile. Virgin resells the Optus network.

Of course, one reason I can't use all my credit is that making calls from home isn't really an option as the reception isn't good enough to make calls and I can barely receive them. Could be partly down to the handset, of course, but we're on the edge of all the maps and not even part of the planned Optus/Voda 3G network expansion. Yay.

So, I can stick with my kinda crappy reception at home but very cheap calls and add some data, right? I don't really need data except for Google Maps while somewhere new and for a little mobile browsing. I don't need data while I'm at home on Wi-Fi, which is at least 3-5 days a week, and I can always call people back on VOIP if mobile reception is especially iffy. Very sadly, Virgin don't offer data for prepaid people. If they did, everything would be easy: I'd sign up for their $10/month for 300MB deal.

Move to Virgin post-paid? All the "capped" plans on any carrier are horrible to compare because of the confusing mix of call rates and "included value". So, I can get "$50 worth of value for $20" but my call rate increases to 80c/minute? Working the maths, that means my call rate roughly triples. Unless, of course, I go over that $50, in which case it goes up by 800%. Yipes. Every cap plan I've seen has nasty, expensive call rates around 80-95c/minute. The only way to justify this is if you're sure there's enough included credit to cover you, which is just what they'd prefer.

So what else is out there? A minefield. Most of these plans are relatively expensive because they're subsidising a handset. I can recognise that it's worth paying an extra $10/month over two years to save $240 or so, but the maths are not in your favour. There are lots of carriers out there (Boost, Crazy John, Virgin Mobile, 3, Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Soul) but only a few networks. Telstra, Optus and Vodafone run the standard (2G) mobile networks; everyone else resells. Telstra and 3 do share a 3G network, though Telstra's now pushing Next G -- just 3G on the 850MHz frequency, exclusive to Telstra. Vodafone and Optus are building a competing 3G network on 900MHz — not supported on this iPhone and not going to Mt Nebo.

Oy. This is getting long, but I still have a baby asleep in a carrier on my front, so I'm still typing.

I'm going to discount Vodafone because their reception is even worse than Optus out here. The phone often won't even ring. Optus could be OK, which makes Virgin possibly OK too. Telstra on Next G should be good (according to their coverage checker) but they're expensive. More expensive than I'm paying now, anyway.

For now, you really can't go past this mega-spreadsheet of all the carriers and their cap plans. Just change the info at the top right to match your average usage patterns and it tells you your best plan. Lucky me: Bean Counter is my best option right now.

If only this was the real news.

Ever have problems taking photos in public? Read this, then download the linked wallet document that explains your rights at the end.

So, I can get my album uploaded for sale on iTunes for around $30? Suddenly all that mucking about in Garageband and Soundtrack Pro might actually be useful.

Wow. Macs were floundering just a few years ago, but today, in the US, Macs comprise 66% of *all* computers sold at retail for over $1000. Sure, not everyone spends over $1000 on their computer and not everyone buys through a physical store, but it's still pretty amazing.

In education, Macs are even more popular than in general retail terms, but I didn't expect to see Mac usage like this.