Jack Yan on Vox

Not bad for ten bucks

2009-11-05T11:52:47Z

I managed to get NZ$20 credit thanks to the Real Groovy loyalty card, meaning that I paid a grand total of NZ$10 for these two purchases today:

Casino Royale (Collector's Edition)

   I already had the first Casino Royale set, but it lacks a director’s commentary and many of the features one would expect for the NZ$35 I originally paid. I refused to buy the collector’s edition originally because I felt Sony would be getting my money twice. But for NZ$5, why not? Well worth it for all the extra stuff, deleted scenes and fascinating documentaries about the connections Ian Fleming had with the Bahamas (which many Bondphiles would not even know).
   There is even a documentary about the 50-year journey of the novel to this version of the movie, and clips from the first James Bond (with Barry Nelson) and the first time Casino Royale hit the big screen (in 1967, with David Niven—and we do get clips of Barbara Bouchet, Jacqueline Bisset, etc., too).
   Given how basic the Quantum of Solace DVD set is, my bet is that Sony will do this again.
   Secondly, this CD was on special anyway (NZ$5), and it has a few John Barry tracks, plus one Chet Baker one. It’s not the special album that Barry and Baker put together for this film, but considering that was never released in New Zealand, it’s the next best thing.

Playing by Heart

Original Soundtrack

A bit “1990s” in some respects (the Moby track in particular), but it has been ages since I treated myself to some music.

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Gina’s doing well

2009-11-04T10:48:56Z

Leverage Season One Character Recap: Sophie Devereaux

I had a moan about this yesterday on Twitter and Facebook, but seeing another ad for Leverage on the NZ City site brings it all back. Prime is promoting this TNT show a lot, but just as with TV One and Jekyll, they miss the fact that lead actress Gina Bellman is a Kiwi. Come on, folks, how about a bit of national pride? Our Gina is doing well!

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QotD: kids and social networking

2009-11-04T10:33:22Z

How old do you think children should be before they join social networks like Facebook and MySpace?

If they have parental supervision and have a good record of heeding a parent’s warnings, I think one can be flexible on the age. Otherwise, at least 13.
Are there not some networks just for kids?

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Vox Cars’ group: eight months on

2009-11-04T08:42:05Z

It’s nearly eight months since I started the Cars’ group here on Vox. We are now seven members shy of 100, the group is vibrant and spam-free, and I want to thank all members for making it a great place to be.
   We have had spammers come in, but I have been quite active in deleting the obvious ones before they caused any trouble. One or two have got through, and were deleted after they sneaked in one spam post.
   To see how badly things could have got, I visited the old Cars Rock! group today. It still looks like no one is managing it, despite my suggesting to the group creators that I would be happy to help. There are a few legit posts there, but since mid-2009, spammers pretty much control the place, right down to multiple Russian porn posts.
   No problems with that here. We have great posts from all over the world—Japan, the US, Australia and New Zealand most often—and it’s exactly what I hoped the group would become. Thank you.

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Complying with Hyundai

2009-11-04T08:21:21Z

We watched this (thanks again to Tanya) at the office a few days ago:

[Original Video]Worst Parking Job Ever - Extreme Fitness BMW X5 Parking Epic Fail!(HQ)

Hyundai, which made one of the cars that got squashed by the 62-year-old woman in the BMW X5 (she has since been arrested), saw a publicity opportunity, and presented the owner with a brand-new i30 Wagon (Elantra Touring in Canada). I know, it’s an opportunity made for bloggers to blog about worldwide, but you know, I really don’t mind being a sucker on this and post this video knowing its purpose. It is a happy ending, as the company says, but it’s also a great brand equity-builder on a global level.

Hyundai Canada Response: [Original] Extreme Fitness BMW parking failure. Worst parking job ever!

It shows that Hyundai is responsive to web culture, and has given its concessionaires and subsidiaries the clout to pull these things off for the good of its customers. It ties in to a promise at the start of the recession that the company would help with customers’ car payments if they lost their jobs.
One big mistake is that the Toyota Avanza (the car behind the lucky recipient) is in shot for a lot longer than the Hyundai that the owner, Todd Jamison, was presented with.

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Wellington city shots

2009-11-04T05:35:44Z

Vox was dead again for the last couple of days. Daisy has been very good and has replied to my messages, though it’s a bit annoying that no one else at Six Apart has. It still seems this problem is unique to me, but it can’t be if I can’t compose messages on Vox on any one of three different computers. (I’ll be trying from another office shortly, too, and we are both on the same ISP.)
Complaining about Vox interrupts the flow of these posts a bit, especially when I just wanted to share these Wellington images with you. Christchurch seemed to have better weather when I visited.

Bridging the town halls

Did you spot the City Art Gallery

Dangerous right turns

Manners Mall at 8.40 a.m.

The third one is interesting and deserves an email to the City Council. The top arrow in the two-arrow sign should be an L shape, not a gamma one (the lettering beneath reads ‘Turn into nearest [sic] lane’. Looks like an accident waiting to happen.

And yes, voters, these places will be covered if I get my way on Wellington’s city wifi plan.

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Walking to lunch in Christchurch

2009-11-01T08:09:05Z

Looks like Vox has fixed its problem.
Here are some shots of Christchurch, at ground level, that I wanted to share. It’s quite a charming city to walk during the day, and these were taken one lunch-break.

Warm day on Worcester

Crossing Manchester Street

Gloucester Street 1

New Regent Street Mall

Gloucester Street 2

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Renault Sport Mégane 250 v. Ford Focus RS

2009-11-01T05:28:38Z

I think Vox might be back. I clicked ‘Create’ and the compose box came up instantly.
How’s this for a sparring match? The Renault Sport Mégane versus the Ford Focus RS. The Renault has a 50 bhp deficit but still manages to keep up on the corners. No surprises which car I was rooting for.

Renaultsport Megane 250 v Ford Focus RS by autocar.co.uk

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Well, the guy in the Camaro costume is kind of cool

2009-10-31T22:19:32Z

I wonder if Vox is fixing its problems. I have been trying all morning to get the compose screen up, and here it is, after a couple of hours (as opposed to days). The only problem is, two hours on, the inspiration for writing the post has kind of left.
Let’s see what I’ve put up lately that I had an intention to mention: how about this guy in a Chevy Camaro Transformer costume? Watch on: there’s a bit of a surprise. (Thanks to Tanya for this one.)

Chevy

I assume this is México from the cars on sale, which includes several Chevrolet-badged Daewoos from Korea.
Meanwhile, this was an oddity from a few days back. I would have loved to have commented on this site, but putting an ad (it’s the scenic view) in front of the comment box (which did not disappear even after you clicked on it) is not smart:

Ad over comment box

Mind you, they are not alone in having fumbles. Our Lucire site had some problems, thanks to a cars.com ad that messed up our layout:

Cars ad forcing wider column

Cars ad forcing wider column (widened ad)

I haven’t seen it since these shots were taken, so I assume they have taken it back to the shop to retool. But it really annoyed me, since the other expanding ads we have had there stayed within their space, and extended the extra bit over the existing content (which is how it should work).
Any bets I can still compose on Vox later today?

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Views from the Christchurch hotel

2009-10-31T12:24:29Z

How odd, the compose screen comes up twice over a short period, despite being out of action for two solid days. Even before those two days, it was only working intermittently (but I could deal with clicking refresh for a few hours—a few days gets boring).
Before the service goes away again, here are some shots I wanted to share with you of Christchurch from my last visit. These were shot from my suite at the Hotel Grand Chancellor.

Christchurch at night

Holiday Inn Christchurch 1

No idea why this linespace appeared (I never clicked ‘Enter’), so let’s put that down to Vox, too, shall we? (Vox won’t let me type after the below photographs, anyway, so I may as well end the post here. Don’t hold your breath for the next one.)

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