See previous post for context.

So I finally conceded that the only way I’d jump to the first position was to get a phone line connected. We take possession on the 2nd (July, it’s the 29th June as I type this) and it turns out that Telstra can connect a physical line on the 3rd.

So once you’ve got an actual line (with days notice) getting ADSL2+ is easy, although getting ADSL2+ Naked is still hard. Spoke to Internode, who resell Telstra ports for ADSL2+. 5-10 days, guaranteed, because Telstra does it. If it was their own Naked ADSL…limited to no ports, 20+ days (like iiNet and more).

The key to get ADSL2+ connected at a new place is to connect the phone line with Telstra, and then connect the ADSL2+ with a Telstra reseller. You can switch to others later, but you can’t match 5-10 days

Mind you, this is all sorts of wrong, but to some degree it’s always been the case. Telstra connections have always had priority in an exchange over non-Telstra connections. I might be connecting with Internode, but it’s a Telstra wholesale connection.

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I discovered today that in 2009 it’s as hard, if not harder to transfer an internet connection than it was in 2004 (the last time I tried to move an ADSL connection was ironically with iiNet as well)…and in 2004 I lived in country WA where choice wasn’t exactly thick on the ground.

First I tried to transfer my Naked ADSL2+ with iiNet to the new place. I’m told that the cost is $450 ($300 supposedly because the place is new) and that they can’t tell me whether there’s room at the exchange anyway. If I did apply, I’d find out in 10-20 days (presumably working days) if there was space for me (there’s limited or no space according to a couple of online services). I move next week. Even better: I can’t keep my iiNet VOIP number or my user name….that’s BS, given the number isn’t based on the exchange.

I’m pissed about the $300/ $450, but I’ll cop to it if it means that I’ll definitely have a connection…which they can’t tell me.

So then I start the hunt. Internode, a company that is probably the most loved ISP in Australia at least admitted that if I read online that there are no or limited availability in the exchange (iiNet wouldn’t admit to this…despite me looking at it on the screen) that this means there’s really no ports. They said I could try, but were honest and upfront about the chances. As soon as I get the opportunity in the future, they have my business.

Next stop Netspace. Limited of No availability listed. Didn’t bother ringing.

TPG and Primus: availability, but they won’t connect a Naked plan unless there’s a pre-existing phone connection…which sort of defeats the purpose of not getting a phone connection on a naked ADSL plan.

So now I’m back to square one. It seems that the only safe route at this stage is to get the phone connected with Telstra, get a standard ADSL2+ with someone (god knows who) then eventually churn to a Naked ADSL2+ plan. So much for living a life online without a landline phone.

It proves to me, as Chris Were pointed out on Twitter, that we need an NBN. Fuck the cost, we need it any which way but blue.

It’s complete bullshit that in 2009 I cant get a high speed internet connection put on in less than 2 weeks, or even as the case is so far, in 4 weeks, if it all. And it’s not as though we’re moving to the country, the exchange is Box Hill in Melbourne. Middle Urban Melbourne (although we live a little closer in, just at the end of Zone 1 on transport).

The NBN can’t come fast enough.

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News.com.au: Malcolm Turnbull’s political career has been smashed in just one week, and senior Liberals believe there could be moves within the party to remove him as Opposition Leader within days or weeks.

It takes an awful lot of specialness to completely fuck up Utegate, and yet Malcolm Turnbull has. Instead of Rudd and Co being on the ropes, it looks like Turnbull is history now. The alternatives to Turnbull aren’t clear, but Hockey looks like he’s the short price favorite.

Welcome to the thousand year Rudd Reich.

It’s actually a little sad to see Turnbull go. His complete cock-up of Utegate aside, here’s a man who could have made a great Prime Minister. I was never a fan in the past (particularly when he headed ARM) but there’s no doubt that he understands money and unlike the current mob may have been able to balance the national books.

Hockey on the other hand…. well, I guess the positive there in a political sense is that he’s a lot like Rudd so he’ll be a small target, but that’s not enough to win elections.

I might have voted for Turnbull at the next election, but I won’t be voting for Hockey, but I can also remember him well from his younger days, and he’s representative of what was, and still is wrong with the Liberal Party.

With no effective opposition going into the next election, how the hell do we stop internet censorship now?

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Ben Grubb called us out tonight on Twitter for using Short URL’s for links within posts. I’m surprised it took so long to some degree, but likewise I should explain.

We’ve been trialling on and off short url’s on links in posts for the better part of the last 6 weeks. The primary purpose was to track outgoing clicks, and in that regard the trial has gone very well.

But likewise the intent has never been to steal link juice to those we are linking to, and I’d be the last person to do that. I only need to note at this point the evidence: our own internal links in posts get the same treatment. We input the actual URL in the post, and it gets a short URL on publication, we don’t manually do it.

My experience so far is that Google has zero problem in following the short URL to the end page. I obviously don’t know for external sites, but I know following internal linking that those links react as they always have, that is, as if there was no short URL on the page.

We’ll continue on, with a note that we mean no harm to external sites and that we hope, and believe, that when we link out that although you may not see the raw link, the link is there, and counted, in Google and others.

Oddly we also have the option of framing links. I won’t say that we never will, but I’ll need a far stearner set of balls to do so

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So for those not in the secret society of Riley (modeled on Opus Dei, but with far more alcohol ), we finally acquired a house in Melbourne.

When I say house I use the term loosely, because it’s technically a townhouse, but it has separate title, so you could argue both sides.

House hunting in Melbourne requires stamina, and a strong volition not to attack real estate agents, who are in the most part lying scum sucking vampires. The short story: if it’s listed at auction for $540-$580k, it will sell for between $630 at $780k, and I’m not exaggerating on the last figure.

End of the day we needed to live within a reasonable circle from the golden child’s school in Hawthorn, because we had no interest in changing schools. After nearly two months of looking, we ended up buying a brand new town house in Mont Albert. It’s a little further out than we’d wanted, but likewise I can probably do the school in a solid 20 minutes (in peak traffic.)

Buying a brand new place helps, for example we have A/C, garage and more… something you really can’t get at our price bracket, and we also have ducted vacuuming…. I hope the cleaners know how to use it (don’t judge me there, it’s the only service we have done once a week, but we both work)

There is a little catch though: the townhouse is only 2 bedrooms…and I work from home, hence introducing the bat cave.

The garage is sunken under the two story townhouse (so it’s really sort of 3 stories) but it is 2 cars deep, and a huge alcove off to the side.

Pics as follows. If I need relief from the bat cave, the complex has an indoor heated pool, sauna and gym, so there is some balance

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I was on The Age website today reading an unrelated matter, and I saw an internal site promo for iPhone pricing details (note is was in a group of content related internal ads, and isn’t an ad for an external site)

So I clicked through, and ended up on this page which reports on price drops by Optus and Virgin (note Virgin is a fully owned subsidiary of Singtel Optus.)

Then I scrolled down the page….and I found this

Note the circled bit. The first three results are for Optus iPhones, the 4th is a Virgin Mobile deal, and the 5th is a Telstra iPhone (after that point it seems to switch between the three in the top 20.)

But look at the Telstra mobile result (circled bit)

No telephone number… but the Optus result does.

Clicking through the link takes you to a more detailed page about the phone.

Here’s the contact details on the Telstra iPhone pages

Yet here’s the similar page for an Optus iPhone

But it’s not a one off: all the Singtel companies get a full sales spiel, Telstra doesn’t. Here’s the Virgin spiel:

Now I don’t disagree that Optus phones offer better value; Telstra’s deals are blue murder, and I’m surprised they even featured once in the top five. But there’s also clearly a commercial relationship between the editorial and Singtel, because the Optus/ Virgin phones get extra details, and I’m sure Fairfax hasn’t offered that out of the goodness of their heart.

But here’s where it gets dodgy, because out of the full top 20 list (or out to 22 in an extended view) the number of Vodaphone iPhone deals mentioned is 0.

If this was actually fair consumer advice, there would absolutely have to be a Vodafone iPhone listed there somewhere, and although I’m not a Vodafone customer (I’m with Optus) I’ve seen their plans and they’re competitive with Optus, and leave Telstra’s plans for dead.

So why have they been excluded? Could Telstra have been included sans contact details because they are an occasional Fairfax advertiser (the Bigpond page takeovers a couple of months back come to mind) and Vodafone isn’t?

Either way: this would appear to be advertising content masquerading as editorial consumer advice with zero disclosure from Fairfax.

Update: just noticed that although Vodafone’s logo is offered as an option in “filter mobile plans by carrier” you get this result

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I’m betting it’s probably a bug, although we’ve jumped around before a few hundred spots at a time. Last time I checked we were in the top 300, out from about 170.

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Rudd hit by car scandal: SMH

With PM Kevin Rudd now in more than a little bit of trouble, the question comes down to will heads roll over the matter?

What I still find amusing is Rudd’s insistence that he doesn’t do favors for donors, when there would hardly been an MP or Senator past or present that hasn’t. Large donors to candidates rarely give out of the goodness of their hearts alone, but as a way to gain access, and on occasion for the odd favor or two. It’s the way the system has always worked and having worked in various capacities with Federal and State members, I’ve seen it first hand.

Of course there’s a big difference between making a representation on behalf of a donor who is also a constituent, and having the Prime Ministers Office, and Treasury Department intervene….that takes it to a whole new level.

However I’d argue that the issue isn’t so much that it happened, but Rudd denied it in Parliament and in the public arena. The validity of the email aside, it’s known fact that Treasury helped Rudd’s mate, how they got to that point may only be a matter of semantics.

But what next, because there’s no precedent that I can recall like this given it is more than just a case of misleading Parliament.

If it is just a case of misleading Parliament, Rudd gets a slap on the hand, but he all but loses the public’s trust.

If it’s more, could he be forced to resign?

I’m betting unlikely, but that’s without knowing if any laws were breached in terms of the lobbying to begin with. Maybe an abuse of office…. hard to say.

On the other side, Turnbull is playing high stakes poker and he may not win yet. But if Rudd is proven to have lied, the next election becomes a whole lot more interesting .

Update: of course Rudd has the numbers in the Rep, but this is isntereting (via Oz Politics)

Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 which has limited and clarified the privilege and contempt powers of the Federal Parliament. Each House may impose penalties for contempt limited to imprisonment not exceeding six months for a person, or a fine not exceeding $5,000, or not exceeding $25,000 in the case of a corporation. It has also made the imposition of penalties subject to judicial review. This Act also prevents members of parliament from being expelled.

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Follow up to this Apple fail post: Leopard 10.5.7 causes freezing, overheating issues

I haven’t completely stopped my Macbook Pro from freezing, but I have all but (least it has happened only once since I worked out what might be happening.)

Write this on all over the Apple forums: it was Safari that did it.

Well, I fib a bit, because I suspect that it’s not Safari alone but multitasking full stop, but it’s clear that Safari causes the most issues.

If I have Firefox and Safari open at the same time (which I usually do), the computer freezes. If I have Safari open alone the computer freezes (but not as quickly), if I have Firefox open alone….nothing happens (although it did freeze once in maybe 2-3 hours.

The key indicator is that when Safari is open, the computer starts to heat up, and by that I mean from 38 to over 60 C in the space of minutes (and with fans at various settings, I’ve tried them all.) Firefox doesn’t cause the heat spike.

Go figure. Either way: Apple, please hurry up and fix this.

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