Archive for June, 2008
Vodafone, part 3.
Posted by sam in Uncategorized on June 26th, 2008
So as I mentioned earlier, I’ve got two sim cards on my Vodafone account. One has a Talker voice plan, and the other has a 1gb data plan. I’ve got a Huawei PCMCIA data card that I used to use when connecting to the ‘net from my laptop. I recently replaced my laptop with a Dell Vostro, which hasn’t got a PCMCIA slot. Given that swapping my data sim card in and out of my phone is a pain in the ass, I figured I’d phone Vodafone and get them to shift the data plan onto the same sim card as my calling plan. Sounds simple, right? Not when it’s Vodafone.
So I phoned them during the day on Monday and was told that while it was possible, they (for some unexplained reason) were not able to do it over the phone and that I’d have to visit a Vodafone store to get it shifted. This seemed strange, but I opted to not press the issue and drop by the Manners Mall Vodafone shop on the way home from work. I did so, but the sales guy there told me that while they could give me a new data plan on my existing sim card, the Vodafone branded stores aren’t able to cancel existing plans.
Armed with this new knowledge, I phoned Vodafone back today. This time around, both people I spoke to told me that it’s not technically possible to have a voice plan and a data plan on the one sim card, despite my assertions that I know people who have exactly this setup. When I asked what happens when someone wants to get on the Internet from their phone without paying the eyewateringly expensive casual data rate, I was met with absolute silence.
The guy I spoke to on the technical helpdesk did let slip that it would be possible if I was using a Blackberry. The phonecall ended something along the lines of -
"So if I called Vodafone and lied and said I had a Blackberry, you’d give me a data plan on the same sim card?"
"Yes. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Thanks, Vodafone. Thanks heaps.
I think the best course of action is to go into a Vodafone shop, find someone with at least half a clue, and get the Vodafone helpdesk on speakerphone.
RIP George Carlin :(
Posted by sam in Uncategorized on June 23rd, 2008
EA is at it again
Posted by sam in Uncategorized on June 17th, 2008
Way back in May, Electronic Arts announced that the PC version of Mass Effect would need to re-validate itself with SecuROM’s servers every ten days. It didn’t take them long to back down after the inevitable outcry. Well, mostly.
They’ve now decided to simply cap the number of times you’re allowed to install the game to 3. Unlike Bioshock (which used the same copy protection method), however, you will not be able to increase the remaining number of installs you’re allowed by deactivating an existing copy before uninstalling it. Once you’ve installed it three times, you’re screwed. Need to reinstall Windows? You’ll have to go out and pick up another copy of Mass Effect if you want to play it again.
Software pirates, as always, will have no problem circumventing whatever copy protection measures get developed; it never takes more than a couple of days for cracked versions of new games to appear on torrent trackers. The only people these elaborate copy protection measures inconvenience are legitimate customers. Perhaps one day the video game publishers will realise this.
Denon’s US$499 Ethernet cable
Posted by sam in Uncategorized on June 16th, 2008
http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3429.asp
“Denon’s 1.5 meter (59 in.) ultra premium Denon Link cable was designed for the audio enthusiast. Made from high purity copper wire and high performance connection parts, the AK-DL1 will bring out all the nuances in digital audio reproduction from any of our Denon DVD players with the Denon Link feature. Attention to detail when building this cable was used by empoying high quality insulation, tin-bearing alloy shielding and woven jacketing to reduce vibration and to add durability. Additionally, signal directional markings are provided for optimum signal transfer. Rounded plug levers help prevent breakage.”
The worst thing is, I bet they sell plenty of them. You’d be pretty pissed when you broke the clips off the plugs.
Peanut sesame noodles
Posted by sam in Uncategorized on June 15th, 2008
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/main-dish/recipe-cold-peanut-sesame-noodles-053032
I made it tonight, and it came out really well. The taste:effort ratio is awesome 
I didn’t get my chicken slices to come out looking quite as nice as theirs – I think my knives need to be sharper. It wouldn’t really need the chicken to be an easy lunch though.
Vodafone are still a bunch of cocks.
Posted by sam in Uncategorized on June 6th, 2008
So for the past four months I’ve been having an intermittent fault with my Vodafone mobile data connection. Every so often (as frequently as a couple of times a day sometimes) I’ll find that while I’m able to resolve DNS names, ssh out, ping Internet hosts and pull down my mail via imap, I can’t retrieve webpages by http. When this happens, it generally lasts at least half an hour or so before coming right all by itself.
Making the HTTP request by hand shows that there’s some unhappiness between their transparent proxy and the Internet. The 504 response takes about two minutes to appear after making the request:
GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: stranglethorn.linux.gen.nz
HTTP/1.1 504 Gateway Time-out
Server: WebProxy/3.1.1
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:29:01 GMT
Content-Length: 0
Connection: keep-alive
I get the problem both with my Huawei E618 data card using Vodafone’s Mobile Connect software and with my E60 and Nokia PC Suite. It’s also persisted through both a Windows reinstall and later a laptop replacement.
So after this had been going on for a month or so, and it seemed it wasn’t going to come right on its own, I logged a fault on Vodafone’s customer service webpage. A week later, a customer service rep phoned me to ask if the issue was still happening. I confirmed that it was, so he closed my support ticket. So started several months of phone calls in which I was asked to upgrade my Vodafone Mobile Connect software, reinstall Windows, reproduce the problem on a different cell site and all manner of other completely unrelated diagnostic tests. Eventually the guys on the regular helpdesk ran out of ideas and agreed to bounce me up to the mobile data tech support guys. Why they couldn’t have done this in the first place, I will never know.
Unfortunately the mobile data technical support team proved to be even less helpful than the lower rung on the helpdesk ladder – pretty much all they would tell me was that there were no known problems on their network. The idea that I might just be the first person who was persistent enough to battle through two months of the level 1 helpdesk zombie army didn’t hold much weight with them. Additionally, every time I dealt with the mobile data tech support group I needed to explain my issue from the start as they appeared to consistently fail to record the fact that I had spoken to them on my account, despite their assurances that not creating a record on the account simply wasn’t possible.
In the most recent call today I was told that there was no more they were able to do to help me, as they weren’t getting regular reports of similar issues from other customers. The guy I spoke to refused to escalate my call any further, asserting that the problem must be with my hardware, not with their network. My insistence that the problem occurs on my new laptop using Nokia PC Suite didn’t get me anywhere, because they don’t support using a phone as a modem. That’s right – Vodafone, a mobile phone provider, will not give you technical assistance for faults with their network if you’re using a phone as a modem on your PC.
Right now I’m just waiting for the rest of the two year term on my data connection to run out so I can switch to Telecom. Congratulations Vodafone, at the start of this year I was a loyal (since 2000) customer; now I just can’t wait to escape.
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