Driving to work this morning was a bit of a drama. I was driving along my regular route, came to a round about and the car stalls. I get it re-started, it stalls again….btw did I mention it’s an automatic? Start the car again, pump the gas and manage to get it moving, I could feel it was about to stall again so I drove it around the round about and back down the hill so that I could get out of the traffic and find somewhere to pull over.

Once I managed to pull off the main road and came to a stop I dug around in the car’s manual to work out which service light was blinking at me. Lucky me, it was the Engine Management system light. I tried starting the car again, still no luck.

Being that the car was less than 7 days old, yes that is correct….7 days old!, I rang the dealer I bought it from, John Patrick Prestige Cars in Port Macquarie, to find out what was going on. They immediately suggested I ring Peugeot’s ‘Roadside Assistance’ team to get it taken care of “quickly”.

Peugeot Australia’s roadside assistance, like many other brands, is operated by a 3rd party company named Mondial Assistance who couldn’t find my car in the system at all. Not by the registration number, the VIN, business name, dealer name, my name, nothing….. Fortunately they believed me enough to log some details and from their they booked a tow truck to come and pick the car up.

About an hour later the towie arrives, he’s a pretty nice guy and goes through a bunch of little ‘tricks’ he said sometimes work’s on the Peugeots. They didn’t help at all, so off to Regal Motors in Newcastle which is the nearest Peugeot repair centre to me.

A little later in the morning I ring Regal Motors in Newcastle, and after being transferred to the service department find out that they’ve definitely received my car in but they don’t know when they’ll be able to look at it as they have a few mechanics off sick.

By now I’m pretty peeved as I’m getting nowhere fast. I decided to give the dealer, John Patrick Prestige Cars, a call and speak to their service manager. He tells me that I should ring Peugeot’s ‘Roadside Assistance’ as they should be able to organise the service for me, he also said they should be able to sort out a loan car.

The girl I spoke to at Peugeot ‘Roadside Assistance’ tells me that it’s the dealers issue to sort out and that they only provide loan cars when you break down outside 100km from your home. She suggested I get back on to the dealer and give them a bit of a serve.

Back to the dealer I go… The service guy from the dealership I bought the Peugeot from wants to know who I was talking to at Peugeot ‘Roadside Assistance’, as I think he wanted to finally get to the bottom of the “whose responsibility is it” issue….but I couldn’t remember her name so he was left trying to sort something out with Regal Motors because by now I was very peeved and told them that I really needed this sorted out.

And that’s where I’m up to now… Still no closer to a loan car, still no closer to knowing what’s wrong with my car, still no closer to any damn answers.

Update: just heard back from John Patrick Prestige Cars service manager that Regal Motors is working on my car today. They don’t know what’s wrong with it but they reckon it’ll be fixed this afternoon. I love their confidence!

Update: apparently the ‘fuel sender’ has failed. Should be replaced first thing in the morning, along with the fuel filter, so hopefully I should have the Pug back around lunch time tomorrow.

Posted originally on Mathew Packer's blog.

Dead car, dead car three times..

Today is Melbourne Cup day, the race that stops the nation…..well almost the whole nation. We’re expecting a pretty quiet day in the office today, and from the sound of the phones this morning (or lack of) I think it’s definitely going to be quiet.

Anyway I just had a quick look through the form guide this morning so that I was at least partially informed when it comes time to place a bet. And so I figured I’d publish my tips here just cause I feel like putting them out there.

Anyway, this is who I’m having a little punt on today.

1st – Viewed, Alcopop, Leica Ding

2nd – Viewed, Alcopop, Leica Ding, Basaltico

3rd – Viewed, Master O’reilly, Mourilyan, Roman Emperer, Zavite, Alcopop, Kibbutz, Newport, Warringah, Basaltico, Lecia Ding

Oh, and this is a boxed Trifecta. Bit too hard to pick a single winner, I’d maybe be leaning toward Alcopop just slightly. A $1 investment will cost about $50 or so.

Disclaimer – Use these tips at your own discretion. I’m no expert, and if you use these tips and lose, it’s your own fault.

Posted originally on Mathew Packer's blog.

My awesome Melbourne Cup tips

I always like to have a little project on the go, and since I’ve started simplifying my life I’ve found that I have a lot of time on my hands so I figured I might try and get one of these little projects happening.

Listed below are a few little creative things that I’ve wanted to do for a while now, ie. write a book, record a regular podcast, and giveaway desktop backgrounds, and I figured it might be a good motivator to actually write them down and try and motivate myself to get started on one of them..

So here goes……

I want to write a book

I’m not exactly sure why, but I’ve always wanted to write a book. Most likely it’ll be non-fiction, and probably about beginning web design, or maybe something photography related. I’ll probably give it away on my blog here, as a pdf ebook, and maybe even as a Kindle book too.

I think I’ll try and get it done and ready to release some time early in 2010.

I want to do a weekly podcast

I love podcasts, I listen to 10-12 different podcasts each week, and I think I’d like to record one myself. I think I would do a podcast about music, that seems like it would be the easiest one for me to do as I would be able to release it under the I’m With The Band brand, and I still get sent a large number of press releases and music for review.

Hrmm, I might do a play / test podcast at the end of this month.

I want to give away desktop images

I have a boatload of photos that I think would make pretty cool desktop backgrounds. So I think I’m going to start cropping, resizing, and uploading some of them over the next week or two. I’ll release them under a Creative Commons license, or maybe even remove the copyright altogether.

I think once I get the workflows sorted out in Aperture I’ll end up releasing a few new desktops every week or so.

So the challenge has been set, I’ve posted this on my blog and there’s not much I can do to take it back.

Hrmm, not sure where I’ll start. Maybe the desktop backgrounds would be a good place as I can do some quick resizing and workflow things in Aperture, after that it’s just exporting and uploading. Easy peasy!

Posted originally on Mathew Packer's blog.

Some things I want to do…

Last night was the closing night for entries in Canon’s 2009 Photo5 competition and unfortunately I didn’t get to upload my images as there was some bug or something stopping the uploader from working.

Pretty disappointed that the uploader was buggy for me, and the error it was giving implied the images were too large when in fact they were only 275kb. I guess I could email Canon Australia’s PR company who I’ve dealt with before but it would be a little unfair for me to do it now after the close of competition. I only hope that no one else was having the same problem I was uploading last night.

Anyway, these are 2 of the 3 photos I was entering.

Posted originally on Mathew Packer's blog.

Canon Photo5 entries……almost

Here’s a real quick, 5 minute edit, from a recent photo shoot I had with a local model by the name of April. I had a friend come along to do Aprils makeup, Alisha from Beauty By Blush (website coming soon)..

Anyway, I’ll hopefully get this and the rest of the photo shoot edited some time this weekend and I’ll post a few more images once I’m done.

Posted originally on Mathew Packer's blog.

Quick edit from a recent photo shoot

Amazon started shipping the International version of the Amazon Kindle last week, and mine arrived on Friday. After spending a couple of days playing with my new Kindle I figured I’d do a little write up of my impressions so far, so here goes…

Feels good in the hand

It weighs next to nothing and is so thin, the pictures really don’t do it justice. The positioning of the next and previous page buttons makes it really easy to ‘turn the page’.

Easy to read both indoors and outdoors

Being an e-Ink display, and not a backlit LCD, it’s equally easy to read both indoor and outdoor. You don’t get any harsh lighting or reflections back on the display that would stop you from being able to read books on your Kindle outside in your lunch break, under fluorescent lights in the office, or even in bed at night with a bedside lamp.

Easy to buy books

With the integration of Whispernet, Amazon’s 3G download service, it’s really easy to search the Kindle store for books to purchase. Once you’ve found and purchased your book, you only have to wait approximately 60 seconds (in Newcastle at least) and your book is downloaded and ready to read.

Books are generally cheaper

As you would expect, or at least hope, the books are quite a deal cheaper than buying them in your local Angus & Robertson, Collins, or even Borders. So far the books I’ve purchased have been between $10 and $15 dollars cheaper than their regular store bought counterparts. In most cases the cost of the book also includes the Whispernet delivery so that keeps greedy Australian telcos from trying to get in on the action.

Easy to transfer eBooks to your Kindle from other sources

If you’re like me and you’ve bought a few eBooks from various websites you’ll be wanting to transfer them to your Kindle asap, and it’s actually quite easy. Amazon gives you a handy email address where you can email your eBooks, and other documents, too and they’ll convert it for you for a small fee. If it’s a non-commercial document there is a free email address, I think but am yet to confirm, where you can have book converted.

Battery life is awesome

After charging my Kindle on Friday when I arrived, I started downloading and reading straight away. Since then I’ve downloaded 2 more books, searched the Kindle store a few times, and of course done quite a bit of reading, and the battery is still close to full. That’s quite amazing, specially considering that I’ve charged my iPhone twice in the same amount of time.

And now for the negatives….

Screen seems sluggish some times when moving page to page

Flicking from page to page quickly, the screen can sometimes take a second or two to completely render, particularly when you’re going through the search screen. It’s not a big deal, and certainly not a reason to not buy one, but it was just something I noticed.

Not all my favourite authors have Kindle books

At this point in time there are still a few publishing houses who are yet to jump on board and make their represented author’s books available as Kindle books. I’m sure in time every publishing house will be sending their books the Kindle’s way, so this isn’t something that’s likely to be an issue for long.

Too easy to buy books, ie. drunk kindling

Yep, you read right. It’s ‘too easy’ to buy books.

I can see myself chatting to people over a beer or two, three, four, or five, and them saying “hey have you read such and such’s biography?” and later that night when I get home I end up buying the book and maybe reading half a dozen pages before thinking, “hrmm maybe that wasn’t a good decision”…meanwhile Amazon’s already got my money.

And now for the verdict…

The Verdict

Well as you can read above, there are far more positives than negatives and really on the negative side of things they are only small criticisms. In my opinion the Kindle is a game changer, just like the iPod was back in 2001, because the Kindle makes it so easy to buy, read, and enjoy books.

I’m sure there will be better eBook readers in the future, but where the Kindle wins is the size of their library, ease of purchase, and the overall simple experience.

The Amazon Kindle is a great eBook reader, and you should definitely purchase one.

Posted originally on Mathew Packer's blog.

Amazon Kindle, first impressions

Some days I want to write something really awesome and prophetic, something that will bring in loads of hits, and more importantly loads of comments…….and then my mind goes blank and / or I second guess the tangent I’m heading toward.

So instead of reading this junk I’m writing, go read one of these blogs because they’re all awesome and completely worth your time;

I met lexiphanic on a number of different websites, namely Suicide Girls and Twitter, and since we’ve been chatting online he’s given me so much advice, so many ideas, and plenty of laughs too. On top of that lexiphanic also shares some really interesting articles via Google Reader.

Kristarella, she’s my Thesis ‘go to guy gal’ as well as being a great contributor to the internets

Definatalie, who creates the most awesome desktop artwork that adorns my computers every month. I also wish I was even half as talented as her at drawing, her ‘whimsy’ also makes me chuckle…

Duncan Riley from The Inquisitr, coz he broke away from a safe & easy place to build his own start up….and it’s definitely amongst my most read RSS feeds each and every day.

Leo Babauta has been authoring one of my favourite blogs, Zen Habits, for a while now and whilst I’ve found some of his suggestions hard to implement they’ve always been the sort of things that have opened up my mind…..and particularly of late when I’ve been trying to simplify my life and get back to the things I enjoy.

and last but certainly no least, Darren Rowse of Digital Photography School, ProBlogger, and TwitTip fame…Not only has he set the bar when it comes to blogging in Australia, he’s also one of those guys that is very approachable and quick to offer help and advice….not to mention he’s a Carlton fan so that’s like a super win right there….oh wait I think Duncan’s a Carlton fan too.

Definitely go check out all of those links, you’ll certainly find some great reading.

Posted originally on Mathew Packer's blog.

What to write, what to write

Just got this email from Amazon, nice one…..

Hello,

Good news! Due to strong customer demand for our newest Kindle with U.S. and international wireless, we are consolidating our family of 6″ Kindles. As part of this consolidation, we are lowering the price of the Kindle you just purchased from $279 down to $259. You don’t need to do anything to get the lower price–we are automatically issuing you a $20 refund. This refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a credit on your next billing statement.

We’ll also send you a follow-up e-mail to confirm the refund once it has been completed.
We hope you enjoy your new Kindle. Please send us your feedback at: Kindle-feedback@amazon.com

Sincerely,

The Kindle Team

Posted originally on Mathew Packer's blog.

Amazon says, ‘Oh Hai, here’s twenty bucks”

With the impending arrival of my Amazon Kindle I’ve started to look around for some books to read. I’ve been racking my brain to come up with a list of authors I used to read regularly, ie. before I turned into this ridiculously busy person, and somewhat struggled.

In the end I scraped together a smallish list and fortunately most of the authors have new books, or at least new to me, for sale in the Kindle book store. Here’s the list for far;

Richard Laymon, Ben Elton, Poppy Z Brite, Nick Hornby, Elmore Leonard, Louise Welsh, Daniel Handler, Kim Jeeble, Dean Koontz, Steven King, Chuck Palahniuk, James Patterson, and Jonathan Kellerman….

I ended up ordering Nick Hornby’s book Slam;

Just when everything is coming together for Sam, his girlfriend Alicia drops a bombshell. Make that ex-girlfriend—because by the time she tells him she’s pregnant, they’ve already called it quits. Sam does not want to be a teenage dad. There’s only one person Sam can turn to—his hero, skating legend Tony Hawk.

DHL just can’t get here soon enough, I’m like a little kid at Christmas…..I want my Kindle now. waaaaaah…haha pretty sad hey. So my order’s been sitting in the DHL warehouse in LA for about 12-14 hours now, I guess it’s probably waiting for a flight to Sydney…..hopefully there’s one later tonight / today.

Anyway, got any suggestions of books / authors I should check out?

Posted originally on Mathew Packer's blog.

Just added to my reading list…

Loved this quote by a friend on Twitter tonight…

@Conjure tweeted

IMHO technological change is such that progressive generations are now unteachable by their parents. Children are unreachably On Their Own.

I know the tech gap is widening in our family. Me on one side is so completely and utterly immersed in tech, I embrace everything that I can. The same can’t be said for my parents some times. My Dad tries to keep up, Mum tries to get him to be a bit more realistic.

Thoughts?

Posted originally on Mathew Packer's blog.

Technological Change