Singapore's Sim Lim Square - actually a multistory shopping plaza - is no longer a den of pirated software. Nevertheless, during my visit yesterday I did see some crazy gear, plus a number of little-known hardware makers with a "casual" approach to copyright (pitch-perfect iPod Nano knock-offs were a particular favourite).

There are also now fewer of the cage-style shops and fewer vendors who bargain (though there's still some very keen pricing. I was able to pick up a SanDisk 1GB SD card for $S21 - $NZ20 - which cost up to $S60 elsewhere in the city, and often $70 to $99 in NZ).

But on the upper floors things are still agreeably old school. Veterans will appreciate the ladies with soldering irons still in situ.

Some of the gadgets onsale I hadn't seen anywhere else. Stuff like a Tamagochi-style digital photo frame that you wear around your neck. I picked one up for $31, and it holds 74 pics. Very cute. Also popular: wireless, match-box-sized spy cams, sheets and sheets of solar panelling (with USB adapters for transferring the sun's rays to whatever device), "privacy film" for cellphones (a hand-held version of 3M's magical PC monitor filter) and of course the good old 100-pack stacks - and stacks and stacks and stacks - of blank DVDs (good to see the locals are so careful about backup).

Also spotted: an atomic clock with a fingerprint scanner and on a more lifestyle, less James Bond-paranoid level, the Eubiq system that replaces a standard multi-plug adapter with this cool strip that lets you twist in individual plugs, then slide them along along your wall.

Then there's scads of hardcore geeky stuff I'd been hitherto unaware of, such as USB 2 to SATA IDE cables. And even where stuff is extreme but not unique - like 1000 watt power supplies, or the latest motherboard of every stripe - there are few other places where dozens of examples of each product are on display, ready to be pawed and picked through.

I took these pics on my cellphone, so they're pretty crappy, but a little local flavour:

Looking down on the first floor: a bit cage-like, but still the most formal area and known the "tourist trap". Heading up to the 9th floor, I was able to bargain down a 1GB SD Card to $S21 - compared to $S29 on the first floor.

The soldering iron ladies do their hardcore geek, DIY PC thing up on the top floor.

Yup. Okay ...

One wireless, minature spycam: $S45.

Geek and green.

One digital photoframe, worn around the neck and holding 74 pics, which rotate on slideshow: $S35 (which I bargained down to $S31, including a mini USB cable). I bought one of these for my toddler son. He loves it, though the manual did turn out to be incomprehensible pigeon English, and it took me a hair-pulling hour to work out how to load pics. Still, cool toy.

For those filthy pxts and txts ... where was it when Shane Warne needed it?

Sim Lim goes Martha Stewart: this wall slider system replaces a multi-plug power adapter. You twist in a power plug, then slide it along the wall to where you need it.

No freaking idea.

Posted by Chris Keall at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

Singapore blogger "Mr Brown" recently toured NZ, and duly dissed our nosebleed broadband charges, noting his hotel charged $NZ33 a day for 50MB.

Well, here I am in Singapore (for a Microsoft/Notel VoIP launch), and I'm writing this from a hotel that's charging $S30 a day for internet ($NZ25). It is uncapped cable. But still, that's up there with the worst of them in terms of treating broadband like the minibar rather than a workaday tool.

Residentially, it's a similar story. The whole island is wired with fibre optic cable. During my last trip here a couple of years back, I was helping someone get set up in a new flat. She wanted to get a dial-up connection as she was on a very tight budget - but the guy from the phone company was dumbfounded. It's theoretically possible, just not done here. Everything's broadband. And very fast. But having said that, it's not that cheap. A 10Mbit/s uncapped plan from SingTel costs $S87 ($NZ74) a month. A 6Mbit/s uncapped plan is more like it at $S50 ($NZ42), especially as, like all plans, it includes free public wi-fi until 2009. But again, there's a kicker: like a number of other cities with public wi-fi, the free version is relatively slow (512Mbit/s). To upgrade to a full-blooded connection you have to chip in an extra $S10.59.

Then there's mio, an IP TV service that delivers high definition, on-demand movies and television over your broadband. Again, very cool, but not cheap. The required HD settop box costs $S535, and a $16 a month minimum for programme and movie charges. Still, on-demand IPTV a nice option to have. In New Zealand, Sky TV is testing a new decoder that supports IPTV, but you've got to wonder how it would run on our crummy copper.

Posted by Chris Keall at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 5 )

Interesting to see fresh reports about Microsoft buying into Facebook It could be coincidence, but I've noticed a sudden surge of Microsoft New Zealand staff on Facebook lately, with a couple of them adding every conceivable feature (though admittedly, that also applies to a few of our staff, who I'm pretty sure don't have $US300 million for a 5% stake).

The bidding war for Facebook has put 1990s dot.com craziness in the shade. Last year, the 20-somethings behind the site turned down $US1 billion from Yahoo. Earlier this year, Microsoft was rumoured to have offered a stonking $US6 billion. Now, Microsoft's alleged bid for a 5% state implies a value of $US10 billion.

Three things I find curious:
1. Where is Google in all this? The giant has done almost nothing to promote its own social networking site, Orkut (named after its founder and officially the worst brand name in Google's stable. It sounds like a discussion group for Eskimo serial killers). Is Google preparing its own bid for Facebook?

2. What would Microsoft be buying? Facebook has around 300 staff, and cool graffiti art on its walls (was just watching a video tour of its building on the wsj.com) and, more famously, 30 million members, most of them older and better heeled that other soc-net site devotees. But will there be any loyalty to the intellectual property that is Facebook? Murdoch shelled out a fortune to buy MySpace, only to see its teen constituency defect en masse to Bebo.

3. A lot of Facebook's fresh burst of wild-fire success this year has been due to it opening up its platform, willy nilly. Now, almost anyone can add an application that helps users say, compare movie tastes with their friends, or get bitten by a vampire/werewolf etc. For the most part, I apps insanely annoying, but many have been huge successes in viral marketing. Could the more buttoned-down Microsoft - which earlier in the internet revolution shut down a chat service for being too racy - handle such development anarchy?

Posted by Chris Keall at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Well, not as rich, in real terms, as you might think. Which could explain the David Bain jumpers.

We in the media doesn't usually let inflation get in the way of a good story. The continually updated list of movie blockbusters doesn't look nearly so dynamic if calculated in constant 2007 dollars (forget Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, Gone With the Wind is still way out in front).

It's interesting to apply this principle to Forbes' annual rich list (out today) which, to its credit, Forbes' website did recently.

Forbes.com ranked the richest-ever Americans in constant 2006 US dollars, weighted against historic GDP at the peak point of each person's wealth: Dominated by old economy railway, oil, retail, real estate and banking moguls (often combining nearly all pursuits), the list looks like this:

1. John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937)
$305.3 billion

2. Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)
$281.2 billion

3. Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877)
$168.4 billion

4. John Jacob Astor (1763-1848)
$110.1 billion

5. Stephen Girard (1750-1831)
$95.6 billion

6. Richard B. Mellon (1858-1933)
$82.3 billion

7. A.T. Stewart (1803-1876)
$80.8 billion

8. Frederick Weyerhauser (1834-1914)
$72.2 billion

9. Marshall Field (1834-1906)
$60.1 billion

10. Sam Walton (1918-1992)
$58.6 billion

11. Jay Gould (1836-1892)
$58.2 billion

12. Henry Ford (1863-1947)
$54.3 billion

13. Bill Gates (1955- )
$53.0 billion

Despite his foundation being a more generous donor to health research than all Western governments combined (according to The New Yorker), Microsoft's improving fortunes see Gates climb to $59 billion in the 2007 list, consolidating his place as the US' richest man (though he's now tied for the worldwide number one with Mexican cellphone and-much-else magnate Carlos Slim Helú).

Tech continues to dominate the Top 10.

America's Cup loser Larry Ellison is 3rd on $26 billion.

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin tie for 5th on $18.5 billion.

And Michael Dell clocks in at number 7 on 17.2 billion.

Posted by Chris Keall at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

Palm's business shenanigans have always been fascinating, but usually with a negative effect on its products. Witness the destructive Palm vs Palm battle when Palm Pilot inventor Jeff Hawkins defected to found HandSpring (subsequently reabsorbed, along with its hit Treo smartphone) or the stumbling split into Palm hardware and Palm software divisions (a development now superseded by the the re-re-united Palm's latter-day conversion to Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS).

But the latest development is intriguing, and on the face of it very positive. Palm's Australia-New Zealand Country Manager Olivier Rozay was in here earlier this week to show off two new handsets. I can't tell you anything about those (both are under nondisclosure until mid-October).

But Rozay did point out that Palm's shareholders have just approved the sale of 25% of the company to Elevation Partners - a private equity outfit that's named after a song written by its most famous board member: U2's Bono.

So what's next: the U2 Treo? Probably something much more radical, as part of Elevation's deal was even more tantalising: the appointment of Jonathan Rubinstein - formerly head of Apple's iPod division and one of the original movers behind the iPhone - as Palm's new chairman.

Good stuff. It's time for some new thinking at Palm. The Treo was - and is - one of the best tech products of the past decade. But Jeff Hawkins latest trick - a stripped down notebook called the Foleo (left, with Hawkins) - drew derision and was scrapped, at a cost of $10 million, almost immediately after its launch.

Posted by Chris Keall at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Two years ago the New York Times became a poster child for web fees, or charging for online content that most surfers expect for free. The world's most-read newspaper online started charging $US49.95 a year if you wanted to read its columnists, and access its archives (collectively called 'Times Select').

Hooked on my Maureen Dowd fix, I actually signed up, and I wasn't alone. Today, the Times says it has 227,000 people paying to read its online edition (which print subscribers can access free), generating $US10 million a year. The Times apparent success was enough to provoke nzherald.co.nz and stuff.co.nz into momentary paid content forays for star columnists and archives.

But all was not what it seems. The Times' 23 columnists complained they were losing influence as the vast majority of the site's millions of visitors stuck with the freebie content. And the advertising bods said money from more visitors would easily outweigh the income from paid subs. So: from tomorrow you'll be able to read all the columnists - and everything else, including the past 20 years' of archives - for free again. Though there is one difference: Times Select is now brought to you by American Express.

Posted by Chris Keall at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Navman has some competition. TomTom, the Dutch company that's number one worldwide in GPS navigation systems for cars, will launch product into NZ next month.

There's some very cool stuff in TomTom's line-up, including a system for bikers, and its GO series, which accepts spoken commands courtesy of a tie-up with Nuance, the people who make Dragon Naturally Speaking for PCs.

However, TomTom's first two models here will be the relatively meat-and-potatoes TomTom One V3 and One XL. While the GO series' speech command option is a whole lot safer than trying to touchscreen-type an address as you drive (officially, you're supposed to pull over), the folk at Nuance are still grappling with some of our place names. We may see some product in that area in a few months.

Meantime, the more meat-and-potatoes TomTom One and One XL are being released here (we hope to have a hands-on review in our Nov or Dec-Jan issue). At first glance, there's nothing radically different from Navman's units (or those of the lower profile Uniden, Garmin and Goldfinger). That's no coincidence. The same outfit - AA-owned Geosmart - creates the maps that both TomTom and Navman incorporate into their scrolling, 3D interfaces. Geosmart also supplies both with its points-of-interest (ATMs, petrol stations, speed cameras etc), so there's a notable similarity there. And TomTom's female voice option has the same Lara Croft-posh accent as Navman's.

TomTom says its Home software is a point of difference. You can use it to manager or back-up maps on your PC, or get a free upgrade of your country's map after you buy your GPS, or to run virtual trips to work out the best route before you jump in your car. There are also some unique safety features such as speed alerts, and a "quick fix" system for quickly re-engaging the GPS signal after you come out of, say, a covered car park that you regularly use.

Other features will go begging, such as the ability to receive real-time updates about traffic jams or accidents via GSM - a function not supported here.

Interestingly, one of the Geosmart guys said the EU's coming Galileo Positioning System, which will compete against the US govt's Global Positioning System is now in the testing phase. Apparently it will have more satellites, and offer a stronger and more accurate fix than the older US network (though like the Yankee version it will restrict its most accurate data for the military) - to the extent it will even be able to track vehicles under cover. Hmm, will have to see about that one. Galileo won't be commercially operational for four or five years, however.

Posted by Chris Keall at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Owners of car navigation systems seem to be suffering a theft epidemic.

At TomTom's NZ launch last week, I related how my sister-in-law just had her Navman GPS stolen from her hatchback - for the second time in months. This on top of one of Navman's new 'n' series systems being snatched out of our Reviews Editor's car while on loan for a PC World test. Scott had taken the trouble to always remove the GPS system from his car at night - and in fact it wasn't on its stalk when he ducked into a shop for 10 minutes - but when he got out a theft had smashed his window and grabbed the hidden Navman.

None of my lunch companions were surprised. The editor of another tech publication said he'd had a Navman stolen out of his car too. And a guy from Geosmart (the AA-owned company that sells maps to both Navman and newcomer TomTom - much more of which tomorrow) said while his GPS system was not stolen, a wannabe thief had seen the stalk (the sucker thing that holds it to the window) and smashed his car window on a fishing expedition.

Wow. Admittedly my sample of people who use in-car GPS systems is not huge. But every single one of them has been targetted by a thief.

Incidentally, only commercial systems used by truckers etc have a transmitter as well as a receiver, which would allow a stolen system to be traced (sorry, Natalie). Not that the boys in blue are working shifts to solve this problem. The editor whose GPS was nicked actually managed to grab the thief's license plate number and immediately called the police - but apparently they weren't interested.

Posted by Chris Keall at 3:39 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

It's notoriously tricky to rate the speed of an ISP's DSL service. Each customer's experience varies - often wildly - depending on physical factors such as how close they are to their local phone exchange (for DSL bandwidth degrades with distance; you can be 6km away, but people 2km and closer will be surfing much faster), and the age and quality of the copper phone lines running up to your house (every bend in the road, or other kink in the line, causes interference, again sapping your broadband experience).

Then there are environmental variables, such as the time of day (at peak times, more people have to share the same bandwidth), or whether your TV decoder, home-office fax or poorly-configured modem is crimping your line at any given moment.

Epitiro, an independent ISP testing company from the UK that set up shop in New Zealand earlier this year, seeks to eliminate as many variables as possible.

The company's NZ MD, Mike Cranna, says that for Epitiro's first NZ survey, it signed up to premium plans on TelstraClear, Slingshot, Orcon, Xtra and iHug.

It then used five PCs to access each of the five ISPs simultaneously from a CBD location in Auckland, with the same exercise mirrored in Wellington and Christchurch. The five PCs in each city accessed each of the five ISPs every 15 minutes, 24/7, from July 20 to September 10.

Cranna, who claims his survey is the first "definitive" broadband analysis carried out here, says TelstraClear's DSL service (as opposed to its Wellington and Christchurch-only cable broadband service) easily came out on top - and in fact rated very well by international standards, clocking a higher average speed than UK providers. Slingshot was second, Orcon third.

TelstraClear came out top because it's the provider that's gone furtherest in creating its own, Telecom-independent network, Cranna says.

"TelstraClear has a relatively new network which extends close to the customer and far into the global internet. Consequently, without needing to use Telecom's older and more contended network, they are able to offer a better service"

And by Epitero's analysis, Telecom's older network is not a good place for Orcon, iHug and Slingshot to be. ”The data shows that there are ongoing issues with Telecom's network, which is dragging down the performance of those ISPs piggy-backing on it", he says.

But not all problems can be laid at Telecom's door: "Our data shows some ISPs are not managing their traffic as efficiently as others, or purchasing enough international bandwidth to cope with peak demand. We see packet loss or response times go through the roof once demand increases," Cranna says.

Hopefully the overall situation's going to improve, rapidly, as local loop unbundling allows Orcon, iHug and others to install more of their own DSL gear inside Telecom's exchanges (as I write, they are only inside two, in the Auckland suburbs of Ponsonby and Glenfield).

Posted by Chris Keall at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

The Microsofties have joined forces with the NZ Rugby Union to offer a Vista gadget that streams World Cup headlines and video highlights to you desktop (via your browser, and highlighting Microsoft's new Sliverlight technology - a Flash competitor - in the process).

The gadget was due to be available for download today from microsoft.co.nz/gadgets, but in good Vista tradition it's running late. A Microsoft NZ rep expects it to go live before the end of the week. Meantime, here's a couple of sneak-peek screen shots.

In other breaking news: Meadow is in NZ! I knew she was real. Final episode ever of The Sopranos tonight (though I'm still half way through Season 3 ... ).

Plus: Ernie from TUANZ freaks out on YouTube. Musically - and I'm being serious here - he's actually a couple of notches better than Bob Dylan at his recent Auckland concert.

Posted by Chris Keall at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

If you're not already tracking the World Cup via the app going around Facebook, or indeed the most excellent spreadsheet being circulated via pressf1.pcworld.co.nz - or if you're looking for some supplemental software action - then checkout the rugby World Cup additions Google has just made to its iGoogle personalised home page service. There are live scores, result tables, a noise-maker, fan videos around YouTube, plus Google Earth satellite pics for tracking your boss if he happens to be spending six weeks in France following the action (hi Dave!).

Check it out at www.google.com.au/rugby2007

Posted by Chris Keall at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

Last week, I was amazed that Telecom was still inviting all-comers to check out Yahoo!xtra's new Bubble service at a time when its existing customers were still swamped in email foul-ups.

This week, it seems our favourite ISP is still swamped. It's hard to believe the situation's almost resolved when a reader - who was in fact attempting to get an Xtra support person to telephone her - was sent this email yesterday:

We are currently experiencing a high volume of enquiries which may cause a delay in replying to your email. We apologise for this and will respond to your email within 5 working days.

How could things have got so out of control?

Posted by Chris Keall at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 4 )

Justin Long, aka the Mac Guy in those Mac Guy vs PC Guy ads, has started dating his soon-to-be co-star Drew Barrymore.

Unfortunately People doesn't run any concurrent update on PC Guy's romantic life. But he's a compatible guy, so we'll just assume he's, um, doing OK.

In more formal Friday dispatches:

Oh, Brother
Our colleagues at the Christchurch Press have been following the 'error 41' printhead problem that's been dogging Brother printer owners around the world, and has now reached NZ. Check out their initial report here, and their follow-up on Brother NZ's inaction here.

Kordia launches 'Hotzones'
State-owned enterprise (SOE) Kordia announced its 'Hotzones' today. Unlike a wi-fi 'hotspot' that you can only use while you're sitting in, say, the Starbucks hosting it, a Hotzone lets you stay connected inside or outside, anywhere within the designated zone.

Kordia says it will target "areas like university campuses, city CBDs, shopping precincts [and] transportation hubs" for hotzones.

The SOE has feinted at WiMax and wi-fi plans before, but previously it's had trouble getting an A-list ISP to support its broadband infrastructure initiatives. Now, of course, Kordia's bought Orcon, the country's fourth largest retail ISP, and as night follows day, Orcon has duly signed on to the new Hotzone concept (wi-fi specialist RoamAD is also onboard).

The coverage area is so far extremely limited, but you can check out locations on Kordia's site here.

A Hotzone roadtest
UPDATE: After the reader comment below, I walked up to K-Road, where there's a slender Hotzone running along the cafe strip between Upper Queen Street and Mercury Lane - it's up on a ridge, if you don't know central Auckland, so very wireless-friendly. Anyhow, I have been able to log-on without pre-registering, as our correspondent claimed, and I'm sitting in a comfy chair in Starbucks as I type (as ever, I'm almost the only customer - go Restaurant Brands!). Web surfing speed is crisp, and I'm playing a Rove video off TV3's site that started playing almost instantly, and is streaming smoothly ... though then again I'd hope so, since I'll wager I'm one of few - or perhaps the only one - currently one the network .. who likes to share bandwidth ...

wi-high pricing
In registering-on-the-fly, however, I did encounter the pricing structure, which I will moan about. One day costs $9.95; seven consecutive days $49.95. Alternatively, there are two data plans, both twice the price of Telecom and Vodafone's 3G plans, which themselves are hardly the most economic broadband solution on the block. You can get 500MB for $49.95, or 1GB for $79.95. There's also a 100MB option for $14.95.

It's outrageously over-the-top pricing that's going to drive most punter away.

Also, I connected to Kordia Metro WiFi, which appeared top of the list on my notebook's wi-fi finder. Orcon's incarnation of the same service is listed further down, so I'm not sure if it matters in the great scheme of things which you choose.

No luck with Orcon WiFi
UPDATE II: After logging off Kordia Metro WiFi, logged onto Orcon WiFi. The following message popped up:

To celebrate local loop unbundling in the Ponsonbly [sic] area the Orcon WiFi service is currently FREE! In the future, Orcon Broadband customers will have free access to the Orcon WiFi service in all major metropolitan areas around New Zealand. Data used will count toward their monthly data quota. For the moment we just need a few details from you and you can surf for free!

Cool, I thought. Free! But after I'd filled in my personal details to register, I was told my account needed to be 'recharged', though there was no immediately obvious way to do so. Then my browser crashed. Twice. Nevermind. My coffee's going cold.

Posted by Chris Keall at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 )

1978: Philips debuts a prototype CD player
1979: Sony releases the Soundabout portable tape cassette, later renamed the Walkman
1982: First commercial CDs sold
1984: Sony releases the Discman portable CD player
1990: Sony releases a digital audiotape Walkman
1992: MP3 developed. Sony's Minidisc first to use MP3 encoding
1994: Sandisk releases first compact flash memory card
1997: MPMAN releases first portable MP3 player in Europe
1999: Napster and file sharing explode
2001: Apple introduces the iPod
2005: Apple introduces the Shuffle, the first flash memory iPod

I got the above list from the Aug 06 issue of Fortune, which has a nifty gatefold pull-out of key developments in audio tech going back to 1965, plus schematics of portable devices dating back to Panasonic's Dynamite. Well worth checking out if you're into that sort of thing.

It's also got some interesting stats:
In 2007 dollars, CD sales peaked at more than $US15 billion in 1999.
It's been all downhill since, with CD sales slipping under $US10 billion for 2006.

Things aren't so grim at the mill as Fortune's timeline makes out.
Young 'uns may be attuned to never paying for anything on the net. But they'll line up like lemmings to buy cellphone downloads, and record companies clocked up more than $US2 billion in ringtone revenues last year. And on top of that, more than 3 billion songs have now been downloaded via iTunes alone on the street-legal internet download scene ...

Posted by Chris Keall at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Happy the anti-spam law kicks in today? You should be. It means companies now need your consent before clogging your inbox.

But pause to consider the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act (2007) covers end users too.

If a spambot hijacks your PC to use it as a staging post for its next volley of junkmail, you could be in for a fine of up to $200,000. The onus is on you to prove you didn't know about the hack. Ouch.

Swot up on the Act - for companies (who're in line for $500,000 fines) and individuals by reading Geoff Palmer's Consumer Watch column on the topic here.

Read Computerworld's report about the Department of Internal Affairs' new AntiSpam Unit here, and check out said unit's new website here.

Posted by Chris Keall at 6:57 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 )

Roiling change in the telco market is throwing up some attractive-looking deals. Orcon and Vodafone/ihug are offering a year's free broadband if you sign a 12-month contract for their new landline phone services. And Telecom is offering a year's free mobile connection if you stay with is landline service.

The small print isn't quite so attractive. Vodafone and Orcon cap their free broadband at a modest 1GB (how Mr Brown laughs), and Telecom's "free" mobile plan is, in reality, a $30 credit on your mobile account - and then only if you upgrade your homeline account to one of its Anytime Plans (which cost $20 to $40 a month for a set number of minutes, after which you pay by the minute for calls. Details here).

But anyhow, as local loop unbundling and naked DSL really kick in, the war for your custom will grow considerably more fierce - and there could well come a point when you do want to switch providers for financial reasons (yes, there is another motivation beyond Bubble rage).

The game will be helped along by another welcome regulatory change: number portability (introduced on April 1, it means being able to take your Telecom phone number with when you switch to Vodafone or Orcon or whoever, or vice versa).

Or will it? One school of thought is that people won't be that inclined to change, because changing telco (or ISP) these days involves your email address too - and there's no such thing as email address portability. In Japan, for example, number portability was introduced last year, but takers were in single digits.

Aside from moving Gmail or similar, one solution is to get a personalised domain name. Then you're free to hop around different telcos/ISPs without any need to change your address (the price of independence: from around $60 a year, see Domainz.net or one of the internationals like Register.com - where I live).

I've been using a custom domain name for my personal email for a year or so. Yes, there is a little bit of hassle involved in letting everybody know. But it's the people who don't know that are the real joy: spam and unwanted hangers on disappeared from my inbox. The clean break was -and still is - joyous.

Posted by Chris Keall at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 )

Amazingly, over the weekend Yahoo!xtra ran full-page ads in the Sunday papers, apologising for the email mess then - and this is what really made me gag on my brunch - cheerily asking all-comers to check out the new service. Sign-up! Sign-up!

This on a day when many were (and still are) battling the original glitches, and the Yahoo!xtra help line had an hour-long queue. This Monday morning there's a 20-minute queue. And I'm not surprised. Officially, the stuff-up might be over, but two members of my family and one PC World contributor are still having problems, just in my immediate universe.

Singapore subversive blogs around NZ
"Mr Brown" is a Singapore blogger who's cleverly exploited the internet to mock some of the city state's sillier laws.

By our standards, his humour is gentle, but in a country where the government wields financially crippling libel suits to keep the official media and most commentators compliant, it's pretty brave, edgy stuff. He's been in Godzone for the Karajoz Great Blend series, and you can read his tour blog here.

Yes, he does laugh at our "broadband", and its price. You can say what you like about Singapore - and Mr Brown does - but at least they make the trains to run on time. So to speak.

Posted by Chris Keall at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )