Yep .. I’m a Blu-ray fan. If you’ve got a HD flat panel and you haven’t sprung for a player .. you’re missing out. The colours are natural, the sounds clean and clear, the full 1080 picture crisp. Regular DVDs upscale ok, but I still need my HD fix. Who’s Blu-ray for? Everyone! not just the action & effects crew. Scenic movies retain their cinematic quality (Australia, Assassination of Jesse James, Flags of Our Fathers, Iwo Jima ..), dramas play out beautifully .. but it’s the old stuff I like. Bullitt, The Getaway, 2001 A Space Odyssey, The Deer Hunter, even the old Superman 1&2. These movies are specifically remastered for Blu-ray release and the results are superb. The colours are true, the image fantastic. The special features also kick in with plenty of background info on these old classics. Old school. Get into it.

You could have knocked me over with a feather.  Absolutely stunned. Turned 40 last year .. 29 December .. and with a birthday between Christmas and New Year’s Eve it’s never a big event for me. Last proper party I had was my 21st (egads) as a New Years Eve/Birthday bash. I ended up doing the same this year for my 40th, but was a much quieter affair with a few friends over for dinner. ANYWAY .. the gist of it is birthdays aren’t a big deal, so when my son says I’ve gotta close my eyes and go into another room, somethings up. I come out and there’s this big thing in the living room under a sheet. I have no idea whats under it. I start to pull off the sheet and my mate Daz jumps out, g-string on and all. Ok .. rewind no g-string. But underneath is a flat panel tv and Blu-ray player to come. WHAT? I’m used to not spending .. years of getting APPLEBOX to where it is today (& props also to everyone involved), bootstrapping to my eyeballs means ordering the cheap meals, not pissing on at the pub, holidays? bah!, clothes? I’m still wearing the same black t-shirts I’ve worn for years. My car was written off and I haven’t even replaced it. So when friends and family band together and give such a goddamn generous gift .. left me speechless.

And I LOVE it!

Blu-ray with a full high-def TV screen is an absolutely gorgeous, immersive way to watch a movie. I’m not a torrent-head who waits days to get a ripped movie with crap sound and down-sampled video that I watch on my computer. Movies are an experience that I love to be drawn into. I dim the lights, pull out the bean-bag/lounge on the sofa, watch and enjoy. My old CRT did the job ok .. but this full hd with Blu-ray is stunning. HD-TV is also stunning, with some broadcasts pushing out 1080i which almost matches Blu-ray resolution (at 1080p). The poor old DVD, even when upscaled, just can’t compete in this hi-def world. To those that argue Blu-ray is going to die .. bollocks! The experience is just too good, the stats are positive and VOD is a mess that is going to take a long, long time to evolve to the point it gets used by the majority market. In the meantime I’m a-grinnin’ and the APPLEBOX Blu-ray library will be a-buildin’.

And a very special thanks to Daz, Gillie and Andrew.

Cheapest PS3 - $699
Cheapest Blu-ray - Olin $358

Not that long ago, you couldn’t get a standalone Blu-ray player any cheaper than a PS3 (which has it bundled within). So .. prices are coming down. Another 12 months and we might see standalone players around the $200 level .. bring it on!

I just had a dreadful experience at Pulse pharmacy in Northcote Plaza. I was accused of lying, treated with suspicion and contempt.. all as I was trying to return a completely unused pair of sunglasses with tags still on and receipt intact that I bought from them under 30 days ago.

I was dragged into store policy discussions with staff and told they were unable to do anything because it was the law! They confused store policy that obviously allows them no discretion with LAW and had the stupidity to try and throw that at me. They told me the staff member who had told me it would be fine to return them, signed her name on the receipt and instructed me to say Maria said it was OK if there were any problems should not have done so! I explained this is not my problem and the customer should not be involved in their internal miscommunications. There appeared to be no one in the store willing to show any initiative.

I then witnessed a staff member complain loudly about me in front of others. I can not believe the lack of understanding about service and all for a $30 pair of sunglasses! They just lost a heap of business - my business over the next few years, my brothers and my partners and anyone who will listen to me I say to you… do not use Pulse pharmacy at Northcote… I have always found the ones on Station St great anyway

Am I alone in my fight for good customer service?!! Andrew, Mara, Simon and I will never treat you like this in our store…

So there is a rally organised to demonstrate against the proposed changes I have waxed lyrical about below.

When - Saturday 19th July
Where - Fido the giant dog sculpture on the Corner of Station St and Wingrove Place (at the train crossing opposite the Commonwealth Bank)
Time - 11am

No dogs please, could end up working against the cause, we don’t want them on the streets we want them running around Darebin parkland together!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - please get in touch with Darebin Dogs if you can help with any of the following:

1. Printing posters/handouts (probably $300-500)
2. distributing posters/handouts around the area
3. Digital photos of the rally (professional standard)
4. Collecting signatures on a petition, both at the rally and elsewhere
5. Making poster/banners for the rally

Darebin Dogs can be contacted via email at darebindogs@hotmail.com

Even if you don’t have a dog come along and make some noise… this is wrong!

now… back to group certificates and BAS…

So you all know about soapbox Simon… stand clear Sir.. make way for Soapbox Sarah!

Last night at Darebin Parklands I was presented with a brochure showing the planned amendments to off lead areas for dogs a the parklands. Currently I walk my dogs in the lower part where I and usually about 30 other dog owners regularly and responsibly (picking up after them, keeping them out of non off lead areas etc) get our own exercise in a great part of the world. It is rare to see anyone without a hound in this section of the parklands, the non dog owners stick to the upper areas where there are bike paths, bbq facilities, bike and walking tracks. We dog owners are the ones that trudge through the mud and steep hills! And our animals and our health love us for it.

Darebin council are planning on closing the whole lower area off to dogs off lead and want to make the only dog off lead area a small grassed area bounded by bike paths, the bbq area & duck ponds (what do you think dogs off lead are going to do around duck ponds?!). What I do not think the council has done is actually been there on a Sunday late afternoon and seen the sheer amount of people and pooches exercising. It would be absolute mayhem and carnage to put that amount of dogs in a small area and expect them not to fight and cause havoc to the surrounding areas which are principally for bike riders, families and lets not forget the ducks!

One of the factors….. alright there was this little thing called applebox too!……… that helped make my decision to move from Sydney to Melbourne was the forward thinking of Melbourne Councils in making the city so livable. This includes the transport, culture, community and believe it or not…. places I can walk my dog!! Sydney is incredibly restrictive, they have a lot of national park sure but you can not take dogs anywhere in Sydney. There are small oval sections of parks policed heavily. It is hard for the owner to get any exercise other than walking round in circles on an overcrowded bit of grass trying to keep your dog clear of all the dog fights that naturally occur when large numbers of dogs are confined to small areas. Come on Darebin…… we just took over as the fattest nation in the world… don’t discourage a group of people who are actually healthy out there and exercising as part of daily life. Shame shame shame..

This change is due to go through on the 17th of July (THIS THURSDAY) so please contact the council by writing to

Animal Management Strategy , City of Darebin, PO Box 91, Preston 3072;
or by email to Council at mailbox@darebin.vic.gov.au or by contacting
Council on 8470 8529.

You can see for yourself what this change will mean by opening the following link:

www.darebin.vic.gov.au/Files/Consultation_Plan_On_Off_Lead_Areas_June_2008.pdf

Ok .. that’s not our membership (yet) .. it’s the total downloads of Firefox 3 with 4 hours left. Check it out. That’s surely going to break 6 million downloads in a single 24 hour period. Nice work!

UPDATE
Ok .. that didn’t take long. Only an hour later and the 6 mil mark has been broken.

UPDATE
8,290,908 downloads in 24 hours. Not bad!

Just came across songza .. billed as google but for music. OK me thinks .. lets give this a shot. Type in a song and BOOM! there it is. And now here it is. Funky Drummer:

Cool!

Check it out.

This is quite stunning. These are web browsing stats by platform, as provided by Net Applications:

The iPhone hasn’t hit worldwide release, but already more people are browsing the web from it, than from all the Windows mobile devices, from all manufacturers, put together. That’s a pretty decent achievement for a first generation product.

Here at APPLEBOX we are Apple fans - we exclusively use iMacs in our shop, simply because they look so great and work so well. The new iMacs are even better, and we can’t wait til the iPhone gets here!