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News

  • FryUp: A bougette of capralalia

    — A bougette of capralalia
    — Left hand/right hand
    It’s always Hammertime!
    — Hardest SuperWigga Ali I raps into the Budget

  • FryUp: Simon says KTHXBAI!

    — Forty years of video art
    — Simon says KTHXBAI!
    — Subsidise Me?
    Forty years of video art
    Not many people know this, but occasionally I enjoy a spot of mathematically choreographed dancing, featuring the primary colours. It’s like a TV screen — well, it is, because Beckett shot it on video tape for ZDF in Germany — with actors doing the coloured go-dot back and forth movements in strictly measured patterns.
    Wulff Herzogenrath of Kunsthalle Bremen was quite right to keep us waiting for that masterpiece, during his speech on how the selection process for maintaining Germany’s cultural heritage.
    All due credits to Herr Herzogenrath for reminding us to take care of our Digital Cultural Heritage.
    — 40 Years Video Art
    — St Paul St Gallery
    — Nam June Paik: “Piano”
    — Beckett: Buster Keaton tries to evade the all-seeing eye, Part 1
    — Beckett: Buster Keaton tries to evade the all-seeing eye, Part 2
    — Beckett: Buster Keaton tries to evade the all-seeing eye, Part 3

  • FryUp: Going backwards

    — Going backwards
    — Yebbut why?
    — Who blinked?
    Going backwards
    Having ADSL2+ from Orcon was great. Imagine getting 20Mbit/s downloads over a phone line. No, seriously — I escaped all the problems that plagued the launch of Orcon's @Home service, and had the DSL line humming along rather nicely in Freemans Bay.
    Orcon deserved the pat on the back from Communications Minister Cunliffe at the recent TUANZ Telecommunications Day, in my opinion.
    Now however I've returned to the wondrous North Shore, to a non-LLU area. Due to some mix-ups that weren't anyone in particular's fault, there's no DSL in the house yet. I'm not sure how well it'll work either, as I believe the part I'm in is serviced via roadside cabinets. Here's hoping it won't be the ones with a meagre 2Mbit/s backhaul shared with all other customers.
    Meanwhile, Vodafone's HSDPA worked really well at my place. Got full strength, which meant around 2.5Mbit/s downloads and the ususal 384kbit/s uploads. Telecom's T3G EV-DO Rev A doesn't seem to cover our house though, unusually enough, and only finds CDMA 1xRTT to lock onto. A couple of days ago though, something happened... now I'm lucky to get one bar of HSDPA and 120kbit/s downloads. The modem drops down to GPRS much of the time, and that particular connection alternative is painfully slow to use for anything beyond simple emailing.
    I'm not sure what's going on with the 3G connections, but suspect the nearby roadworks are to blame. I'm guessing some access points have either been turned off or relocated.
    I can see the magic black band on the Sky Tower, so maybe it's time to go back to wireless? I think Compass still has the Wired Country service running; it was very good and stable once the initial network issues had been ironed out, and I was quite happy with it. It's maxes out at 2Mbit/s down and 1Mbit/s up though, and it'd be nice to have something quicker in 2008.
    A WiMax connection could be a faster alternative, but don't think anyone's beaming a signal towards the Shore, unfortunately.
    Connection suggestions would be very welcome.

  • FryUp: An Easter sermon

    — Easter Trash Disco
    — Cookiethievery?
    — Hare today, gun to marrow. Easter Safari.
    — Going over board

    Easter Trash Disco
    Sinitta for the Weatherboy!
    — So Macho
    http://www.youtube.com/v/m0eVeHVJ7wA&hl=en">

  • FryUp: No, minister?

    — No, minister?
    — Woo$h
    No, minister?
    Close, but no unlimited performance-incentive cigar for Telecom Wholesale. That's in essence Communications Minister David Cunliffe's reasoning for rejecting Telecom's Amended Separation Plan.
    Cunliffe says that he was swayed by public submissions to the Amended Plan, and says that while Telecom's revised undertakings came close to meeting his Amending Determination, a few areas of undertakings still need clarification. Right. And so the rusty wheels of bureaucracy grind on ... Telecom now has until March 25 to sort out its amended operational separation plan so that it pleases the minister.
    Separation Day was supposed to be March 31, on which date Telecom's undertakings become legally binding and enforceable. I see however that there's a "tbc" next to that date in Cunliffe's latest release, which presumably means "to be confirmed". That, and Cunliffe now being "hopeful" that Telecom will respond quickly so that "we may" still be able to meet the March 31 date, points to the separation plan time-table sliding.
    I'm wondering if we'll see any real unbundling action until 2009 at the earliest. i haven't had official confirmation of it yet, but I am told that Telecom has gone through all it's budgeted capex money for the current fiscal year already. If that's the case, unbundling progress could slow down even further. Would anyone from Telecom be able to enlighten FryUp on this, please?
    — Cunliffe rejects Telecom separation plan
    Woo$h!
    If you had a business that lost money — a good chunk'o'change, like millions of dollars — and it did so year after year, would you still carry on operating it? Moreover, would you expect others to invest in it, and lend the business loadsamoney to carry on?
    Common sense dictates that the answer to the above is an emphatic "no". However, I must be missing something subtly clever because Woosh the wireless provider carries on losing money, yet is able to raise capital with apparent ease.
    Last year, Woosh lost over $21 million, despite a 77% revenue surge. That didn't deter shareholders, who continued to prop up Woosh to the tune of $48 million in new equity, and $12 million in loans. In November and December last year, some overseas entities called Baytik SPC and Clarity Partners handed Woosh US$3.225 million and NZ$4.2 million. The money can be converted into equity, with four shares for each US$. With some 314 million shares issued, it would seem Baytik and Clarity Partners have taken quite a stake in Woosh. Clarity has been investor in Woosh for a while now.
    The accumulated deficit for Woosh is $117.36 million, according to the accounts, and there's over $89 million in tax losses that can be offset against future assessable income.
    It looks like Mercury Telecommunications, aka the internet provider Quicksilver, cost Woosh $2.918 million to buy. If, as was said, at the time Quicksilver had 10,000 customers, Woosh paid $291.80 per capita.
    Figures apart, Woosh says it's placing its hopes on WiMax rather than betting on local loop unbundling taking place. This sort of sensible, but depends on WiMax taking off overseas so that Woosh has access to cheap, mass-produced equipment; also, Woosh needs radio spectrum to build a WiMax network, and it'll be interesting to see if the company jumps into bed with another wireless provider to supplement the 35MHz of 2.3GHz spectrum it got in the recent auction. Persistent rumours point to Callplus and Woosh merging soon, but there are others too, like Craig Wireless with WiMax spectrum.
    Where's the technology roadmap for Woosh though? Should the company go down the WiMax route, what will happen to existing customers using the UMTS 3G broadband service? If there's no future in local loop unbundling, what will Woosh do with its 10,000 fixed-line broadband customers that came from Quicksilver?
    — Challenging year' sees Woosh raise more capital
    — Clarity Partners LP
    "Woosh Wireless is a New Zealand based broadband wireless telecommunications service provider that has a national UMTS spectrum license and is targeting both small and medium sized enterprises as well as residential customers. Partners in Woosh Wireless include Todd Capital and Vodafone New Zealand."
    XKCD

  • FryUp: No! Pigs fly!

    — You Loggy
    — No! Pigs fly!
    — A Google Docs Treasure
    — Whither Vista SP1?
    You Loggy
    My very good friend Nat would love the language in this Aussie gem, which means that everyone else's ears will turn blue and fall off listening to it, especially towards the end.

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