I have just completed a speed test of the XT and Vodafone 3G networks around various landmarks in Dunedin City. From 6 locations in Dunedin where you might typically use mobile data, I ran the Speedtest.net iPhone app using an XT SIM as well as a Vodafone SIM one after the other, standing or sitting in the same place.


The full results are here: XT Faster in More Dunedin Places for iPhone 3G


In summary, I found that data speeds were significantly faster "in more Dunedin places" on Telecom XT, at least when it comes to downloads. I also found that upload speeds and pings were consistently faster on Vodafone 3G, for whatever reason.


I am a simple man, and am purely an end user of telecommunication services. I don't fully understand why XT may be blazing fast when it comes to downloads, but be a third of the speed when it comes to upload, and have longer pings.


I have since been told that "many sites in Dunedin are W900", including some that support 3G exclusively over 900Mhz. The iPhone is 850/2100 capable when it comes to 3G access, meaning that it cannot connect at 3G speeds to these sites.


However all my testing happened in the central city area, and as can be seen from the results, "3G signal" was available to the iPhone on the Vodafone network except for in the basement food court of the Meridian Mall (which can be expected due to the in-building signal deterioration on 2100Mhz).


It appears that if you "live, work, and play" around the central Dunedin area, that your iPhone 3G will run significantly faster on XT compared to Vodafone 3G when it comes to data speeds.


Comments welcome (and go easy on me - I am not an engineer).

I'm surprised that over 700 people would visit my spartan blog containing a post about a TV game show.

Well this week TVNZ have changed the viewer TXT competition - it is no longer pre-recorded in front of a studio audience. With clever splicing, it still has the feeling of being recorded during the live show recording, but since Monday night this week the segment has had a new format.

Instead of the TXT puzzle being the one that the contestants solve, it is now a separate puzzle that the contestants do not participate in (and therefore one they, and the audience, are unaware of the answer of). The host Jason Gunn asks the contestants to "take a break" from the game, and then after the obligatory audience applause, they go silent as Jason attempts to solve the TXT puzzle.

Jason guesses letters and tries to solve the puzzle while home viewers TXT their answers to the show. After watching a few episodes this week I am certain that Jason's consonant and vowel guesses are pre-determined.

Tonight, I also noticed a new message printed on screen informing viewers that this segment of the show was not recorded in front of the studio audience. I'm not sure if that has been present since Monday (I don't recall it), but it is further proof that TVNZ have responded to feedback and suspicion about this competition.

I wonder if there is any case for entrants to claim for their 99c TXT charges back for all the shows that have screened until this week? It certainly wasn't a level playing field and not fully explained by the organisers of the competition!

I'll admit that I'm a bit of a fan of Wheel of Fortune. Shameful as it might be, I've been watching it quite a lot, in particularly I'm very impressed with some of the literary nuts out there that can solve a lot of the puzzles even without seeing any of the letters come up on the board!

Anyway, there are a few things I've noticed about the reincarnation of Wheel of Fortune with host Jason Gunn. Some of them are my conspiracy theories. While others are simply feedback for the show which I believe could easily be changed to improve the show.

1. Why can't we see the wheel being spun? In these days of advanced television technology, is it really that hard to show the spinning wheel inset in the corner while displaying the puzzle board? We are currently unable to watch the black bankrupt wedge approaching dangerously - our cues that this might be approaching come solely from the show's audio feed. Jason, the contestants, and the studio audience warn us of the impeding danger, but we are not allowed to see this for ourselves. For a pre-recorded show is it really necessary to hide the spinning wheel from us?

2. Text to win - great concept but what about friends of family of studio audience members who attended the pre-recorded show? :D

3. Scoreboards - why are we not given a running total of the scoreboard? We often see the round totals but don't often get to see the overall scores - once again do the show's producers not want us to feel the excitement of a close scoreboard where one spin could change the entire complexity of the game?

4. The bonus wheel - why are the wedges not openly labelled? Is it because the "car" that is supposed to be on offer isn't actually on the wheel? How can we be assured that there is even a "car" envelope if it is not able to be seen? Just look at Lotto's winning wheel - everyone knows where the $1 million dollar lies, and that adds to the excitement and anticipation of the spin. The current envelope system is a dog.

5. The bonus wheel puzzle - with an electronic scoreboard, it is not like the "old days" when the board was set up prior to the round itself. Now with the puzzle appearing after the spin, there is nothing to stop the producers from putting puzzles that are graded more difficult up when a more valuable prize (a car perhaps?) is spun up. Remember that the free consonants and vowels are pre-determined, so these puzzles can be given a difficulty level based on these factors.

Anyway, food for thought  I'm probably just taking this far more seriously than I should

Wheel of Fortune screens weeknights on TV One at 5:30pm.