When Vodafone launched their PC/mobile tandem music download service this week, the first thing that entered my mind was the realisation that we are beginning to observe a convergence between the telecommunications and media industries. As Vodafone customers enjoy the convenience of reaching into their pockets and obtaining their music on demand, traditional outlets are now undoubtedly under threat. Another good example of a telco flexing its muscle in the media world is Telecom's Ferrit web (read the entire post)...

Well, it seems that the Christmas marketing has now kicked off and yet again I am amazed to see big box retailers promoting LCD TVs, cameras, and whizz-bang phones as potential Christmas gifts. This, of course, is also noticeable around mother's day and father's day.

Do they seriously believe that ordinary people purchase items in the $500 - $2000 price range while shopping for Christmas gifts? If you needed proof that marketing people are out of touch with reality, this is it (read the entire post)...

It was recently reported that Nelson authorities have been contemplating the possibility of ridding an inner city car park of boy racers by playing Barry Mannilow music over the loudspeakers. It sounds like an absurd idea but when you really think about it, there's every reason to believe that it would work.

The only critism so far appears to have been the idea that the boy racers will simply turn up their own stereos to drown out the music which they dread so much. Okay, so they& (read the entire post)...

Well, I had every intention of buying a Fuji F30, but made a last minute decision to get a Panasonic FX01 instead. There are plenty of professional reviews of this camera if you want a lot of detail, so I'll stick to offering a few observations.

Panasonic cameras have a reputation for being let down by noisy sensors. I have found noise to be quite bad at ISO400, but not really noticable on 6x4 prints at ISO200 except in very underexposed areas of a photo. Having said that, the ima (read the entire post)...

Why is it that marketing droids insist on talking up their products by using and abusing the term 'mega'? Whether it's mega burgers, mega style, or a mega sale, we just can't seem to escape that M word. The problem is that in mathematical terms, 'mega' refers to multiplication by a factor of 1,000,000.

So is that mega burger 1,000,000 the size of a regular one? It seems unlikely. (read the entire post)...