Zurich by day

Follow-up Gigaset Communications

Short update on my last post. 

Ten days after my last email to Gigaset Communications (which included a link to this blog), I received an email from a Customer Care Frontline representative expressing their shock about my customer experience and informing they had taken steps to ensure this would not happen again. As compensation for my troubles, they offered a free SL400A phone with a base station, which I accepted. They also promised to keep working on a way to update the firmware of their phones via Mac computers. 

Sl400

It was easy to add the SL400 to the base station of my existing network of SL785 and SL78h phones. Whereas I still can't update the phones' firmware from my Mac, I hope this episode has shown Gigaset Communications that there is a need for such Mac compatible software.

Gigaset Communications GmbH customer support hell

Gigaset Communications sells some nicely designed and functional cordless phones. I've had the SL785 phone since two years and still like it. It was introduced in Germany in November 2008. In my initial enthusiasm I created a quick video walkthrough of the phone and placed it on Youtube (over 50'000 views).

Gigaset provides software for PC and Mac which allows contact syncing and give users some additional customization possibilities. The Gigaset software is named "Quicksync". A number of firmware updates for these handsets have been provided to customers running Windows OS on their PCs. Alas, the Mac version does not provide firmware updates. This means my phone still has the original firmware, including all the original bugs and some promised but missing functionality which was remedied during later firmware updates.

On an annual basis I ask Gigaset customer support when the Mac version of Quicksync will support firmware updates. The latest version of Quicksync for Mac (v.1.3.2) informs me that I have an old firmware version and need to update it. This is how my discussion with their customer support went this year: 

I filled out a form on the Gigaset website on 8 January 2011 and asked this question: "The Quicksync software version 1.3 informs me that my handset has outdated firmware. I have an Apple Mac running Mac OS 10.6.6. Q. How can I update the firmware?"

(Note: The answer to this question is in the help menu of the Quicksync for Mac software on page 1: "The handset software cannot be updated with firmware.")

I immediately received an automated response "Dear Customer, thank you for your e-mail to Gigaset Service. Your request will be processed by our staff as soon as possible - you will be receiving a response from us within a two working days period. Please note: Your request has been assigned a reference number, which you can see in the subject line. This reference number is assigned to your request in order to assure flawless correspondence and allows our personal to address it directly. Thank you very much."

As promised, I received a response after two days (on 10 January 2011):

"Dear Customer, recently you have sent an e-mail request to Gigaset Service. Your request has been forwarded internally for further clarification. We ask you for your comprehension since the reply might take some time. Please note: Your request has been assigned a reference number, which you can see in the subject line. This reference number is assigned to your request in order to assure flawless correspondence and allow our personal to address it directly. Thank you very much. Best regards, Your e-mail support for Gigaset Communications products"


Ok, so my response was another automated response. On 17 January 2011, I received this answer:

"Dear Mr.Bassfeld, Thank you for your e-mail. We are glad to be of assistance.

- Connect your phone to your PC over USB data cable.
- Start the programm Gigaset QuickSync on your PC.
- Establish a connection to your handset.
- Select (SETTINGS) --> (DEVICE PROPERTIES) to open your (DEVICE) tab.
- Click on (FIRMWARE UPDATE).

This launches the firmware update. 
Freundliche Grüsse, einen schönen Tag und herzlichen Dank, dass Sie sich für ein Gigaset Produkt entschieden haben.
Ihr Gigaset Support Team"


As I speak German, I don't mind the language mix in their customer support emails. My immediate response was "I'm sorry, but your response was of no assistance to me. If you read my question, you would have noticed that I have an Apple Mac computer running OS 10.6.6. The Quicksync software available for Apple computers running this operating system does not offer firmware update functionality to my knowledge. Or am I mistaken? "

The Gigaset Communications customer support team must think I'm a polyglot, because on February 10, 2011 (!) this email arrived in my inbox: "

Bäste Mr. Ralph Bassfeld
 
Först och främst så skulle vi vilja tacka er för er förfrågan. Vårt mål här på Siemens är att ge dig som kund ett svar ni är fullständigt nöjd med, och därmed hanteras varje enskild fråga från er med högsta prioritet. 

The Gigaset QuickSync version 1.3.0 supports Mac OS X 10.4.9 and higher.

With this software, you can easily synchronize your contacts on your Macintosh with your Gigaset handset via Bluetooth® or USB connection. You can download the newest version from http://gigaset.com/hq/en/cms/PageQuickSync.html website.

Features:

    * Synchronisation of Contacts
    * Download of screensavers and Picture CLIPs
    * Download of ringertones* 

New in version 1.3.0:

    * Support for DL500A, DX600A ISDN, DX800A added (Bluetooth and LAN connection)
    * Dialing support. Select a phone number and choose "Dial with..." from context menu in nearly all applications. Supported devices: SL78H, SL400H, S79H, DX500A, DX600A ISDN and DX800A.
    * The OS X Bluetooth connection assistant will be used to pair new devices
    * Interface improvements
    * General bug fixes 

Gigaset QuickSync Software is compatible with: Gigaset SL785, SL780, SL78H, SL565, SL560, SL56, SL400, SL400A, SL400H, SL375, SL370, SL37H, S790, S795, S79H, S685, S680, SX685 isdn, SX680 isdn, S685 IP and S68H, DX600A ISDN, DX800A, DL500A

Only with Gigaset SL785, SL780 and SL78H

Tack för ditt intresse för Siemens-Gigaset-produkter. Skulle vidare assistans vara nödvändig i framtiden för någon av våra produkter, är du välkommen att kontakta oss via e-post eller telefon. För frågor om Gigaset Communications trådlösa telefoner kan du kontakta våran Gigaset Communications Customer Care Centre under arbetsdagar från 09.00 till 18.00. 

Med vänliga hälsningar".


My immediate and succinct response sent on February 10th: "So does the new Quicksync for Mac version allow me to update the firmware of my SL 785?"

To my surprise after only a six day wait, on February 16th, this fantastic news arrived per email:

"Dear Mr.Bassfeld,

Thank you for your e-mail. We are glad to be of assistance.

Yes, of course.

Freundliche Grüsse, einen schönen Tag und herzlichen Dank, dass Sie sich für ein Gigaset Produkt entschieden haben.

Ihr Gigaset Support Team".


This email was followed on 17 of February by another explaining how to do this:

Dear Mr.Bassfeld,

Thank you for your e-mail. We are glad to be of assistance.

- Connect your phone to your PC over USB data cable.

- Start the programm Gigaset QuickSync on your PC.

- Establish a connection to your handset.

- Select (SETTINGS) --> (DEVICE PROPERTIES) to open your (DEVICE) tab.

- Click on (FIRMWARE UPDATE).

This launches the firmware update.

Freundliche Grüsse, einen schönen Tag und herzlichen Dank, dass Sie sich für ein Gigaset Produkt entschieden haben.

Ihr Gigaset Support Team"

 

On February 19th, my response was:

 "Dear Mr (redacted),

I'm sorry, but I'm not intelligent enough to use your QuickSync for Mac v1.3.2 to update the firmware on the Gigaset SL785 and SL78H on my Mac running Mac OS 10.6.6

I am grateful if you would kindly explain how I can upgrade the firmware of these phones by using this software version. In the email, you clearly state this is possible, however in the Quicksnyc quick help file Gigaset Communications does not mention firmware updates as being possible with the Mac version of your software. I did not find the menu item Settings>Device Properties in Quicksync for Mac 1.3.2. Please indicate (preferably with screenshots) how to get to this menu item in Quicksync for Mac 1.3.2.

Please note again, that I am on a Mac, not a PC. 

Best regards,

Ralph Bassfeld"


The Gigaset Communications customer support team responded on March 10th, 2011. I started to wonder if they were using an online translation program to translate their native German to English. 

"Dear Mr.Bassfeld,

Thank you for your e-mail again. I am sorry for the very late respond. I have taken over your case and would like to help you further.

You need to have a pocket with Mac OS x 10.4.9. To pursue a Firmware update you can do it from the handset SL78H. Gigaset QuickSync automatically searches the Internet for new program versions and makes these available for download and for updating the software.
Access to the Gigaset server must be ensured to enable automatic updates. Please adjust your Firewall/LittleSnitch preferences accordingly. User data is not transferred; only new program versions are searched for.

This launches the firmware update. 

The update process can take up to 10 minutes (not including the download time). 

Do not interrupt the process or remove the USB data cable. 

The data is initially loaded from the update server on the Internet. The amount of time this takes is dependent on the speed of your Internet connection. . 

The display on your phone is switched off and the message key and the talk key start flashing. 

Once the update is complete, your phone will automatically restart.  

Freundliche Grüsse, einen schönen Tag und herzlichen Dank, dass Sie sich für ein Gigaset Produkt entschieden haben.

Ihr Gigaset Support Team

<NAME>

E-Mail Support für Gigaset Produkte

Gigaset Communications GmbH"


As usual, I immediately responded, but couldn't help letting my frustration about the process and Gigaset customer support's lack of proof-reading to start showing through in snarky questions:

"Dear <NAME>,

Please explain what a 'pocket with Mac OS X 10.4.9' is. I only have a 3.06 GHz intel core 2 duo iMac running Mac OS 10.6.6. Do I need to buy new hardware or downgrade my Mac OS software version? 

Does my hardware/software combination as described above allow for a firmware update of the SL78h handset? 

If I understand you correctly, I can initiate a firmware update directly from a menu setting on the SL78h. What is the name of the relevant menu setting on the SL78 handset that permits me to initiate the firmware update, and how exactly do I find this setting on my handset? Please note that my handset is set to the English language. Also please note that I have a very old firmware version on the phone, as I'm currently using the same firmware version that was present on the phone when I bought it.

What are the necessary conditions for the firmware update via SL78h handset to function? For example, should QuickSync for Mac v1.3.2 already be running on my iMac and the USB cable connection be in place? 

Please confirm that my understanding of the firmware update process is correct: the SL78h tells QuickSync for Mac v1.3.2 to automatically search the Gigaset server for firmware updates. The correct firmware update is automatically downloaded and the update process is started automatically and finishes when my handset has finished restarting. If this is not correct, please explain step by step what happens and which actions I need to take at which stage to ensure the firmware is updated.

Thank you for your clear and quick response,

Best regards, Ralph Bassfeld"

 

Today, March 19th this response arrived.

"Dear Mr.Bassfeld,

Thank you for your e-mail again. A pocket means computer or labtop, hence your computer works fine with Quicksync software. 

However I must truly apologize for all the inconvenience. You cannot update the firmware on you MacOS with the Quicksync Software. This information is to be found on the first page in the Quicksync Software manual for Mac, http://customercare.gigaset.com/medias/sys_master/Manual_1_3_0_eng.pdf. You can use the program to exchange data and contacts between your handset and your Mac. 

In my ambition to help you I have mixed up the instructions for how to update the Quicksync software, which I stated in the last e-mail, and how to update the firmware in your handset. To update your firmware, you need a PC with an installed Quicksync software. Perhaps you can pursue the update at a friend of yours. Please observe that the handset will continue to work on your Mac after the update  

Please follow these steps to update the firmware on a PC:

  • Connect your phone to your PC using a USBdatacable.

  • Start the "Gigaset QuickSync" program on your PC. 

  • Establish a connection to your handset. 

  • Select [Settings]  →[Device properties]to open the [Device] tab. 

  • Click on [Firmware update]. 

The update process can take up to 10 minutes (not including the download time). Do not interrupt the process or remove the USB data cable. The data is initially loaded from the update server on the Internet. The amount of time this takes is dependent on the speed of your Internet connection. . 

The display on your phone is switched off and the message key and the talk key start flashing. 

Once the update is complete, your phone will automatically restart.  

Freundliche Grüsse, einen schönen Tag und herzlichen Dank, dass Sie sich für ein Gigaset Produkt entschieden haben.

Ihr Gigaset Support Team,

E-Mail Support für Gigaset Produkte

Gigaset Communications GmbH"

 

After 9 weeks, Gigaset Communications customer support notices that the answer is on page 1 of their user manual. And they still haven't told me if I will ever be able to update the outdated firmware on their premium cordless phones.

I know about Parallels Desktop, Bootcamp and VMware Fusion, but don't want to have to buy these programs and a full license to Windows 7 and spend a day installing the software and configuring my HD just to be able to get a firmware update that fixes the supplier's own software bugs.

 

Are the iPads in restaurants on par with the food in Apple stores?

Apple’s iPad device has made its appearance in restaurants, hotels and wine bars over the globe. There are many reasons a restaurateur might consider using the iPad for interacting with customers, but what is in it for the user?

The case for restaurants

One of the most cited usage examples is Pearl, a restaurant in Melbourne, Australia. In June 2010, The Australian newspaper interviewed the manager, Chris Lucas, who is using the iPad to provide diners with detailed information of the menu, the wine list, food ingredients and their producers. He says “I think a lot of traditional restaurant situations can be very intimidating. This is a way to liberate the consumer."

In Sri Lanka, the owner of Nihonbashi Japanese Restaurants, Dharshan Munidasa, explains in an interview with the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror “describing an original dish without a picture is tough and hard copies are time consuming and expensive”. He is using the iPad to show customers what the dish is like. Much like Sharp’s proof-of-concept iPad application which replaces the laminated sushi menus typically found in Japanese izakayas. The demo video is on Youtube.

Various restaurants have replaced their wine lists with an iPad-based version. South Gate, a  New York City restaurant launched custom design iPad wine tablets. The Wine Spectator details some of these restaurant initiatives and interviews Johnson Chan who remarks “for a large wine list, it offers the convenience of [being light-weight], as well as selection by price range, vintage, size, year, grape variety”.

While establishments like Das Brechts in Berlin simply use the iPad to replace complementary newspapers or magazines for in-restaurant reading, others are using it as a point of sales device to process credit card payments after customers have used the iPad to place orders.

A Lecere demo video shows how they envisage the iPad as the basis of a restaurant management system. Menupad offers to customise applications for restaurants to allow patrons to use the iPad “to call the waiter or place an order with one touch”.

Craig Simpson of Global Mundo Tapas in the Rydges Hotel in Sydney, Australia demonstrates the customer user experience of ordering via the iPad. Another video demo is here. Simpson emphasizes that the iPad is “one of the points of difference for our restaurant”. It is an element of this restaurant’s brand.

From the point of view of a restaurant manager, the iPad gives establishments the flexibility of changing the menu and wine list on the fly according to stock levels. It empowers the customer to make informed decisions and showcases dishes and beverages. As Craig Simpson notes “We have something that presents really well, sells our food really well and is absolutely dynamic”. As part of the restaurant management workflow, the iPad is touted by vendors as saving time and personnel.

Just how the iPad affects the relationship between restaurateur and diner varies depending on the use case. Dharshan Munidasa is clear: “no, you cannot order from the ipad”, possibly fearing an erosion of this relationship. As Delicias general manager and sommelier, Gino Campell, tells Wine Spectator “a lot of guests are regulars and prefer to talk to me. They prefer to have interaction with a human."

What do customers think?

Gil Fewster is adamant that “screens have an inherently detrimental effect on interaction between people.” A place made for social interaction should not be atomised by single user devices.

On his weblog “Shanghaied”, Marc van der Chijs recounts his dining experience at the Shanghai based Satsuichimae restaurant. His overall reaction is enthusiasm over the possibilities of extending the usability of the iPad restaurant applications. He proposes ideas such as “let clients log in with Facebook Connect, Twitter or a Chinese non-blocked service, so they can see what they ordered last time. Show stats of the most popular food today, this week and this month, and give people the chance to log in at home to leave a review that appears in the iPad app.”

Amy Wisniewski writes for Chow about her experience perusing iPad wine lists at the Barbacco, a San Francisco restaurant. She discovers the awkwardness of leaving it to the customer to decide where and how to place the iPad on the confined space of a small table, and mentions the fear of breakage.

Usage issues need to be addressed. Waiters are not only detracted from service time by having to explain an application‘s use to diners, but they must also wipe the iPad display of fingerprints after each use, for aesthetic and hygienic reasons. How are special customer requests dealt with such as “I'd like a martini, but dry, with 4 olives, shaken, and can I have Xellent vodka?” Chompstack has compiled a list of additional challenges.

Clearly the restaurants mentioned above are pioneers. The functionality of the demoed iPad applications is rudimentary and the user interface design lacks sleekness and polish.

The role of iPad in the relationship between restaurateur and customer already differs widely. The potential for expanding application functionality is considerable. Certainly, restaurants are another area where power is devolving away from the sommelier or chef to the user. I, for one, welcome our new overlords.

7 year old daughter with a Nikon D40

Have no fear of giving your children better photographic equipment than a cheap point-and-shoot. At a recent party, my 7 year old daughter asked if she could take some photos. So off she went with my Nikon D40 equipped with an AFS 50 mm 1.4/f G lens and an SB400 flash set to point upwards (for indirect flash). Her advantage was that other children would act completely natural with her and that she'd be able to get shots I'd have trouble obtaining. Following some examples of the photos she brought back.

(download)

Example of Aperture 3 adjustments and the Neat Image noise reduction plug-in

I was invited to a evening birthday party this week and took some souvenir photos in low light conditions with my Nikon D40 and the AFS f1.4G lens. I've just started using Aperture 3 with the Neat Image noise reduction plug-in. Even though I'm completely inexperienced with this software, I think the power of these tools is apparent in the images below.

The first image is the original. Taken with a flash and ISO 560 at f4.00. Not a keeper at all.

Dsc_2687

I only used Aperture 3 adjustments to make the second image:

Dsc_2687_1

Then I added noise reduction via the Neat-Image plug-in. With my settings, the plug-in reduces the quality of the details. However, I think the person pictured will be happy with the results.

Dsc_2687_2

An eBook is no longer a "carbon copy" of written text, but a digital media experience

An eBook has traditionally been more or less an electronic text-only copy of a paper book, unless it was in static pdf format. The buyer gets immediacy but usually compromises on the reading experience (to which degree is dependent on the eReader/computer/phone screen size) and mobility (eBook tied to a single electronic device, although the Amazon Kindle allows for sharing and synching to a limited number of devices).

In the eye of the buyer, these compromises, the risk of electronic formats becoming unreadable over time and the strong reduction in distribution costs for the publisher amount to a justified reduction in price as compared to the paper version. The eBook provides less value for the buyer than the paper version (these arguments also apply to documents only published as eBooks).  

For publishers the discussion should be less about “how much the market will pay for a barebones eBook” and more on “how do we increase the value of the reading experience”.  Multimedia and interactive reading experiences, such as those which will be technically possible on the Apple iPad, add value to the reading experience.

As an eBook reader, I want to take advantage of the digital medium to its full extent: immediate dictionary/thesaurus look up of a word; search the internet for references and locations mentioned in the eBook; receive updated/corrected content; highlight, comment, copy and paste book extracts for further reference for a dissertation or review; view video referencing scenes from the book or explaining complex concepts; read the author’s Twitter account or his blog directly from links within the eBook; video chat with the author or other people currently reading the book (not possible on iPad as presented in January 2010); share my thoughts directly through a multitude of social media channels and link to passages from the eBook which can be accessed by others. I also want to be able to share the book or sell it.

Think of new revenue opportunities: in an improvement on the product placement rampant in the movie industry, product placement in eBooks can translate immediately to clicks if done right (unobtrusively and honestly). Enable people to buy the music the author is writing about directly from within the eBook, let the reader rent the cottage, ski the slope, drive the car, live the experience, enter into virtual worlds and games based on the book or rent/buy the movie. Think of how the "Harry Potter" books could be reborn as multimedia experiences with moving pages.

An eBook is no longer a "carbon copy" of written text, but a digital media experience. Stop thinking book.

Update 05.02.10: Interesting post about the future of books in the era of the iPad by Craig Mod

Some thoughts on Church logo design

Church logo design is the delicate balancing of universality with uniqueness. The logo must convey togetherness with the rest of Christianity, but also brand a specific Church. The ultimate goal is to be with God, the message is salvation, but a local Churches' identity needs to be conveyed as well. So how do you bring these seemingly diametrically opposed goals into one simple image?

Another dichotomy is weighing the thousands of years of Church history against  today's living faith. How do you create a simple image that communicates both the authority and steadfastness of millennia, and modernity?  Timelessness and contemporaneity?

Traditional symbols of christianity are the cross, fish, the eternal flame of the Holy Spirit, water, dove, steeple, the cup, the Holy Book and the Holy Trinity. 

Since I have absolutely no experience of logo design and am not a theologian, I picked some examples which I think have successfully achieved this symbiosis.

Good examples

The Church of England has a beautifully simple logo with the cross as the main symbol encompassed by the letter "c", but also by “e”. The "old" character of the logo contrasts with the modern lettering of the name. 

C_of_logo_small

The logo of Mariners Church successfully marries water and fire, a modern wave form and the eternal flame of the Holy Spirit. 

Mariners-church-logo

Bethlehem Baptist Church shows a number of green dots converging towards a cross. The dots form the cross itself. This logo conveys the sense of people uniting to form the church, the light green colour symbolic for the renewed growth in faith, a new life.
Bethlehem-church-logo
Finally, the logo of Christ Church gives a human touch to the cross. 4 simple dabs of hand painted blue. 

Bad examples

Plenty of bad example abound. These cheap web 1.0 logo examples are so naive it hurts.
Logo factories will quickly churn out “the cross plus some custom elements, such as a globe, swoosh, the open Bible, etc.” You choose. Click on the logo option when ordering. 

Other unfortunate examples:   Greater Southside Church logo design. African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church where someone went crazy with 1990s clip art and WordArt 3D effects. By the way, their home page is a wonder to behold. 

It is mistaken to want to pack every single symbol you can think of into one logo.

For further reading

Collide Magazine has an article giving a few good principles to consider when designing a Church logo:  http://www.collidemagazine.com/article/271/church-logos-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly

Should I buy the 21.5-inch iMac or the 27" model?

If you're asking yourself this question, you'll find some facts here which will help make up your mind. If cost is not the deciding factor, consider screen size and processing power as your main decision criteria. 

Screen size
598252

Start with the gargantuan 27-inch iMac screen. You probably have a good idea where the iMac will be placed in your office or home. Measure the space to see if it will physically fit and consider how near or far you'll be seated from the screen. In any case, go to an Apple store or reseller to check it out.

Remember: the screen is huge. The 2560 by 1440 resolution has so many pixels that you can play high-definition (HD) 1080p movies in native resolution and still have about 77% free space on your desktop. To watch full screen movies, the iMac will need to upscale the HD movies. At 109 pixels/inch density, make sure that your eyes will still be able to see the small type without fatigue (you may want to adjust system preferences to a default larger type). 

The size of the 27" iMac screen is great for people who work with multiple windows opened side-by-side or enjoy viewing movies from a distance. If you need to hang the screen from a wall (the 27" has a VESA wall mount) or want to use the iMac as external monitor, the 27-inch model is for you.

Normal mortals resistant to the Siren's call, will be very happy with the size of the full HD equivalent 1920x1080 screen resolution of the 21.5" iMac. That is still over 2 million pixels of glorious color.

Processing power

I'm talking graphics processing unit (GPU) and central processing unit (CPU). The NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor in the basic 21.5-inch iMac will play HD movies without skipping and runs all iLife apps. If you want to future proof your iMac to greater extent, run pro apps from Apple or play high-frame rate games, I recommend you invest in a dedicated graphics card.

The higher priced 21.5" model comes with an ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics processor with 256MB of memory, which is the same GPU installed on the basic 27-inch iMac.  Since the GPU in the 27" iMac has more screen to fill, games will run faster on the 21" model. To beat the gaming frame rates on the 21.5-inch iMac, you'll at least have to order the basic 27" model with the optional ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card. 

Both 21.5" iMacs and the basic 27" iMac come with a dual core 3,06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processing chip. The same chip which was built into the former high-end 24" iMac.  For most people, the performance of this chip is more than sufficient for any number crunching tasks you will throw at it in daily life.

For maximum processing power, only the high-end 27-inch iMac will do. It comes with a 2.66GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core processor, which can be upgraded to an even more powerful Core i7 chip. Once Mac 10.6 Snow Leopard technologies have been included into more apps, you will see a performance boost for these 4-core chips. Presently the real-life performance isn't stellar compared to the 21.5" iMacs.

Conclusion

The 21.5" iMac is probably the sensible option for many people, but the lure of having the largest LED-backlit computer screen on the block may be too hard to resist. I first ordered the 27-inch iMac, then cancelled the order and went for the love-it-to-bits 21.5" model. No regrets.

(Updated 04.12.09):  In the meantime a number of performance tests with Core i5 and i7 chips have been made. Bare Feats's 3D shootout at 1920x1200 resolution ( http://www.barefeats.com/imi7g2.html ) shows  that "depending on what 3D app you run and what settings you use, a dual-core iMac with a good GPU often run just as fast as a quad-core iMac or octo-core Mac Pro." You can find more comparisons here: http://www.macworld.com/article/143970/2009/11/core15_imac.html and 

(Updated 14.12.09): and the ultimate ars technica review of the 27" iMac: http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/12/imac-27-core-2-duo-review-yep-it...

Muse — The Resistance

Image

Is this new album by Muse an 80's rock opera revival or just a genial remix of Queen and Depeche Mode?

http://www.museresistance.com/

I haven't decided yet if it is an original composition or just copycat 80's music. 'Uprising' and 'Resistance' sound to me like the former, whereas 'United States of Eurasia' reeks of Freddy Mercury. 'Exogenisis' is pure rock/pop opera, with a touch of Klaus Nomi.

Rarely has an album perturbed me so much and I'm not sure why.

Fahrrad Diebstahl

Als ersten Blog Eintrag hatte ich mir etwas anderes vorgestellt, als einen Diebstahl zu melden.  
Ich nehme an, die Fahrräder werden irgendwo weiterverkauft. Falls dies so ist, und der Käufer aus Neugier die Rahmennummer googelt, hoffe ich dass er oder sie auf diesen Eintrag stosst.
Naja, viel Hoffnung habe ich nicht. Falls ihr eine Website kennt, wo solche "Vermissten-Meldungen" aufgegeben werden können, wäre ich froh, wenn ihr dies als Kommentar hier schreiben würdet. 

Zwei Fahrräder wurden im Dezember aus unseren Schuppen gestohlen, welcher direkt neben unserem Haus steht, in Illnau, Schweiz. Das genaue Datum vom Diebstahl kennen wir nicht, da wir die Fahrräder im Winter kaum benutzen.

1x Kinderfahrrad. Marke Wheeler 240 Unisex. Rahmenfarbe Blau. Rahmen Nummer YQ50920179. Haftpflichtversicherungsmarke 56101322628 gültig bis 31.05.09.

1x Damenfahrrad. Marke Gudereit. Model RC-30. Rahmennummer WS009006.11. Rahmenform: Damen-Trapez. Höhe 53cm.  Rahmenfarbe Blau. Schutzblechfarbe Schwarz. Bereifung: Schwalbe Country Cruiser.

Unsere Kontaktangaben: bassfeld@gmail.com