Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The force is strong with this one

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  • BenWilson,

    The prequel could be a half hour....really it only had enough material for 2 short movies or one long one. That said, I did really enjoy the Revenge of the Sith.

    LOTR in one hour? Clerks II managed to do it in 30 secs.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Excellent - I'm off to that show on Thursday night, courtesy of a rather excited mother who seemed to catch the Star Wars buzz in the 80s even more than the sons she was allegedly buying the toys for...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Brian Murphy,

    I went with the Orcon Gold + on the Mt Albert exchange.

    Getting 10Mb+ down and 880+Kb up according to the speed tests. I am over a k from the exchange, not 2k though.

    The phone rings with a US ring (have a call in about this), but otherwise my telco bills will be down and the services up.

    Still running on the Dynalink ADSL2+ capable modem I was on before, still with a fixed IP address(which changed) to run servers at home on.

    Maybe working in IT helps me navigate support desks better, but I have no problem with them, they had tracked my call, and the issue has been escalated.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 48 posts Report Reply

  • Alan Macdougall,

    With regard to the iPhone, nowhere does it say there's an *exclusive* agreement - so maybe Telecom can remain hopeful...

    Since Nov 2006 • 24 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Maybe working in IT helps me navigate support desks better, but I have no problem with them, they had tracked my call, and the issue has been escalated.

    Anthony's no slouch on IT -- he was a specialist IT journalist before I was, and that's a while. It seems that Orcon just doesn't have the technical resources to resolve certain line issues, and doesn't have Telecom's contractors to call on.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    (don't hold your breath for a version of the prequel trilogy, because really, what was that about?)

    That any galaxy defended by clones of Jake The Muss is asking for everything it gets?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And could Charlie Ross please offer his services to Peter Jackson? I've fond memories of__The Hobbit__, but I'm seeing how its going to fill two features -- especially if they're bloated out to the usual Jackson length.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    (don't hold your breath for a version of the prequel trilogy, because really, what was that about?)

    I've watched Clones about three times now - it was on TV a while ago and I videoed it for my son who is a star wars fan.

    Every time I watch it, by the next day I have basically no memory of it. It's the movie of so little point as to be instantly forgettable.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    And could Charlie Ross please offer his services to Peter Jackson? I've fond memories ofThe Hobbit, but I'm seeing how its going to fill two features -- especially if they're bloated out to the usual Jackson length.

    Hobbit will be film 1. Film 2 will be entirely between the end of the hobbit and beginning of fellowship. How they're going to hollywood that sufficiently, I don't know, but the new director has been in talks with Jackson and Wilde about it and all three are in agreement there's a good movie there.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Nat Torkington,

    Re: the DSL experience, it's just variation on the same old. In the US, DSL was managed similar to NZ, where a former (and still effective) monopoly owned everyone's last mile (Qwest in Colorado's case, Telecom in NZ's) and gave ISPs hooks into the installation system to get DSL running for people.

    ISPs then become the first line of tech support for something they don't wholly manage. They can get irate customers because of the telco's failings. And, of course, they can always blame the telco and make the irate ISP customer problem (temporarily) go away. Customers would often end up in loops between ISP and Telco ("it's Qwest's fault, here's the number to call", "our systems show no faults at that address, it must be an ISP fault", "if you can't do X, the ISP mustn't have you in their system, call this number", ....).

    Phone support systems are often designed defensively, not offensively. In other words, they're viewed as a cost and a necessary evil, and they end up constructed as cheap-labour firewalls between ignorant consumers and the expensive technicians. The assumption is that the technology works, most customers are fine, so most people who call in are incompetent or misconfigured. Therefore cheap labour can sort them out, and the few genuine problems can get bumped to the few clueful techs.

    It's a nice idea, but it's a fantasy if you're selling cutting-edge or multi-vendor technology. This stuff breaks. No long are very few customers experiencing genuine problems. Cheap call-center labour gets in the way of solving their genuine technical problems. Most importantly, your call center is now your customers' primary brand interaction. When it fails and is frustrating for a lot of your customers, you're failing your brand and linking it tightly with that frustration.

    I know a company in the US that uses caller ID to put return callers through to the person they talked to last time, if possible. Do you think customers think of that company as an impersonal money sink? Hell no. Caller ID should bring up customer details. The only thing I hate more than long wait times is when I have to give my customer number and pin to three different people. Money spent on call centers and their underlying systems is money well spent.

    Something, of course, that we customers know but the managers of ISPs could stand to learn.

    Ti Point • Since Nov 2006 • 100 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    but the new director has been in talks with Jackson and Wilde about it ...

    That'll be Walsh. Fran Wilde is the one who freed teh gays.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    Film 2 will be entirely between the end of the hobbit and beginning of fellowship. How they're going to hollywood that sufficiently, I don't know, but the new director has been in talks with Jackson and Wilde about it and all three are in agreement there's a good movie there.

    Ahh.... that will be the story of Aragorn and Arwen then, as the centrepiece maybe. Goody - more Viggo.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    Sigh - $700 for something that costs US$400? - are they going to be plated in gold? at today's exchange rate that US$400 is NZ$505 .... I predict the "I'll unlock your iPhone for $50" people will do a brisk business

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Wow! Looks like it just might be non-exclusive ...

    But most of the important details were missing from Vodafone’s press release. When does the deal start? Is it exclusive? Is there a revenue sharing agreement? Will Vodafone be selling first- or second-generation iPhones? (Some of the countries listed don’t have a 3G network.)

    All of which made us wonder why Vodafone spilled the beans on this day, and in this way.

    We didn’t have to wait long for an answer. It came in a press release from Telecom Italia (TI-A), which also announced on Tuesday that it had signed an agreement to carry the iPhone in Italy.

    This marks the first time Apple (AAPL) has signed non-exclusive contracts with two carriers in the same country.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    but the new director has been in talks with Jackson and Wilde about it and all three are in agreement there's a good movie there.

    Oh, do not even get me started on Guillermo Del Toro -- whose Pan's Labyrinth kicked Kong's arse, IMNSHO and should have won the Oscar for best foreign film in 2006-- pissing away four years on this project. While I'm really looking forward to the Hellboy sequel, Del Toro's deliciously Gothic sensibility is more interesting when he's generating his own material.

    And while I'd definitely frak Viggo with the lights on, I don't know how many more vaseline-caked shots of Liv Tyler looking vaguely confused I can handle.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    sadly those elves are very long lived .... just be glad he's not doing the Silmarillion

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    sadly those elves are very long lived

    So will Brett McKenzie get to reprise his role as Figwit?

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    Sigh - $700 for something that costs US$400? - are they going to be plated in gold? at today's exchange rate that US$400 is NZ$505 .... I predict the "I'll unlock your iPhone for $50" people will do a brisk business

    More than that..AT&T are planning on offering the 3G iPhone for US$199

    With the price gouging on roaming, when did Vodafone decide that it was big enough to become greedy, to drop the 'cool' front that served it so well in NZ.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Sue,

    ok stop me if i get too nerdy

    I've fond memories ofThe Hobbit, but I'm seeing how its going to fill two features -- especially if they're bloated out to the usual Jackson length.

    I'm crossing fingers for things that were in LOTR that weren't included in the film being shifted to the hobbit film
    eg tom bombadil

    Also i suspect saruman before he got evil and gandalf freeing mirkwood from the hold of the necromancer is possible

    ooop think i passed nerd threshold, but i don't care :)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 527 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    Also the meeting that Thorin and Gandalf have in The Prancing Pony, before the start of The Hobbit, in which they discuss the danger of the dragon (recounted in The Book of Lost Tales, I think).

    I think I'm coming out as a nerd too...

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Rowe,

    Hobbit will be film 1. Film 2 will be entirely between the end of the hobbit and beginning of fellowship. How they're going to hollywood that sufficiently, I don't know, but the new director has been in talks with Jackson and Wilde about it and all three are in agreement there's a good movie there.

    How many years are there between the two stories? If Bilbo is 111 at the beginning of LOTR and he's relatively young in the Hobbit (if coming of age is 33 then maybe he's in his 40s?), that leaves a substantial amount of ground to cover - travels of Gollum, rise of Sauron, evilisation of Saruman, mirkwood etc. Difficult to make something coherent there I would have thought?

    Lake Roxburgh, Central Ot… • Since Nov 2006 • 574 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    He turns 50 during The Hobbit.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I would imagine this could be a bit of family fun for any household. I want one....just need a bigger house!

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    I'm crossing fingers for things that were in LOTR that weren't included in the film being shifted to the hobbit film
    eg tom bombadil

    I'm guessing no chance.

    Also i suspect saruman before he got evil and gandalf freeing mirkwood from the hold of the necromancer is possible

    Agreed about Saruman - but didn't teh necromancer episode occur before the events in the Hobbit?

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    <quoteZ>that leaves a substantial amount of ground to cover - travels of Gollum, rise of Sauron, evilisation of Saruman, mirkwood etc. </quote>

    And the recolonisation of Moria by Balin. And presumably his demise...

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

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