Sydney was great.
The weather the first few days wasn't exactly wonderful, as I already mentioned, but it improved while I was there.
Australia is not Sydney, but if Sydney is any reflection of Australia then the country is great!
Now I'm back in Ireland trying to get over the jetlag (again!). Why anyone would fly all the way to Australia for only a couple of days is beyond me!
Recently in travel Category
I've been using Google maps quite a bit in the last few months to get me from point A to point B in cities that I don't know too well.
Most of the time the maps are accurate and the directions are good.
So what about this one?
Granted, there could be some very good reasons why Google wants to route me by this rather circuitous route (and yes I did specify "walking", so it's not a "one way system" issue) but it still strikes me as odd ..
So much for the shortest distance between two points being a straight line ...
Most of the time the maps are accurate and the directions are good.
So what about this one?
Granted, there could be some very good reasons why Google wants to route me by this rather circuitous route (and yes I did specify "walking", so it's not a "one way system" issue) but it still strikes me as odd ..
So much for the shortest distance between two points being a straight line ...
Sydney's Opera House is probably one of the most recognisable images of Sydney and even Australia.
The ferry from one side of the harbour to the other takes you in really close to it, which is when I took this snap
It's nearly 3pm here in Sydney and I've been on the go now since Saturday - catnapping along the way.
Sydney and Australia is a whole new experience and I'm loving it.
Photos and more to come, but I really need a hot shower and a change of clothes first...
Sydney and Australia is a whole new experience and I'm loving it.
Photos and more to come, but I really need a hot shower and a change of clothes first...
My packing for trips is always chaotic...
This time round I've run into two silly problems
Maybe one of these trips I'll actually get organised enough to feel like I haven't forgotten something silly, but I wouldn't hold my breath .. It's usually nothing essential, but the nagging feeling at the back of my mind is a hard one to suppress
Now to find a decent book to read ...
This time round I've run into two silly problems
- Adapters - I have plenty of them, but they all seem to be for the wrong country
- Space - For some stupid reason I managed to actually fill the suitcase. It might take up less space by the time I repack it, but I normally don't have that problem ...
Maybe one of these trips I'll actually get organised enough to feel like I haven't forgotten something silly, but I wouldn't hold my breath .. It's usually nothing essential, but the nagging feeling at the back of my mind is a hard one to suppress
Now to find a decent book to read ...
I got back from Rome earlier this afternoon. If I could find the cable for my camera I'd upload photos, but failing that I'll use a card reader to pull them off it ...
Rome was fantastic, so now I have to get geared up for Sydney ..
On the phone side ...
I'm currently using a backup phone, but can't use my E71!!
Why?
Because Three still haven't given us the unlock codes!!!
So not only did they manage to disconnect me from the world last week (and seemingly they didn't "allow" several or our numbers to be ported, so some of my staff were left in "limbo") but now I can't even use my phone!
Three win the prize for most inept and useless company I've dealt with ever. Seriously.
If you want to get a mobile phone DO NOT use these jokers!
Rome was fantastic, so now I have to get geared up for Sydney ..
On the phone side ...
I'm currently using a backup phone, but can't use my E71!!
Why?
Because Three still haven't given us the unlock codes!!!
So not only did they manage to disconnect me from the world last week (and seemingly they didn't "allow" several or our numbers to be ported, so some of my staff were left in "limbo") but now I can't even use my phone!
Three win the prize for most inept and useless company I've dealt with ever. Seriously.
If you want to get a mobile phone DO NOT use these jokers!
I'm heading over to Rome next week to attend a friend's wedding, but being a small bit disorganised I only got round to organising the trip in the last couple of days.
Rome is the capital of Italy. Dublin is the capital of Ireland. You would think that in 2009 the cost of getting between two capital cities wouldn't be horrendous and that you'd have a reasonable number of "sane" options open to you.
Unfortunately that isn't really the case, so I've ended up extending my trip to Rome in order to justify it. There's no point going to one of the most important cities in Europe if you're not going to get a chance to see anything and Irish wedding aren't exactly renowned for being "dry" affairs!
So timetable wise ...
There are several airlines that handle the route from Dublin to Rome. Unless you want to take a rather circuitous route, that won't actually save you much money, your options are a bit limited. It's basically down to Ryanair and Aer Lingus. The other airlines, such as Alitalia, Air France, KLM and Swissair aren't really viable (I don't really fancy being stuck in Zurich for four hours!)
So I opted for Aer Lingus.
Flight price, including taxes supposedly saved me 13.50 (not sure where they got that figure from). However it actually cost me a lot more ...
The charming little stealth charges kick in...
First off there's an extra 30 euro to check a bag. So unless you're only flying with a carry on bag that 13.50 saving is already gone...
Now I don't know about you, but I would have thought that a plane ticket gave me the right to sit down for the duration of the flight. Seemingly not .. When you go to choose your seat you're then hit with another charge - 5 euro each way!
So I pay an extra 40 euro for the ability to carry clean clothes and sit down?
Presumably I've also been charged extra for credit card fees as well...
And if you don't pay attention they'll also charge you for travel insurance that you never asked for as well!
Lovely!
PS: Seemingly you can avoid the seating fee if you don't choose your seat during booking, but that's not made clear at all
Rome is the capital of Italy. Dublin is the capital of Ireland. You would think that in 2009 the cost of getting between two capital cities wouldn't be horrendous and that you'd have a reasonable number of "sane" options open to you.
Unfortunately that isn't really the case, so I've ended up extending my trip to Rome in order to justify it. There's no point going to one of the most important cities in Europe if you're not going to get a chance to see anything and Irish wedding aren't exactly renowned for being "dry" affairs!
So timetable wise ...
There are several airlines that handle the route from Dublin to Rome. Unless you want to take a rather circuitous route, that won't actually save you much money, your options are a bit limited. It's basically down to Ryanair and Aer Lingus. The other airlines, such as Alitalia, Air France, KLM and Swissair aren't really viable (I don't really fancy being stuck in Zurich for four hours!)
So I opted for Aer Lingus.
Flight price, including taxes supposedly saved me 13.50 (not sure where they got that figure from). However it actually cost me a lot more ...
The charming little stealth charges kick in...
First off there's an extra 30 euro to check a bag. So unless you're only flying with a carry on bag that 13.50 saving is already gone...
Now I don't know about you, but I would have thought that a plane ticket gave me the right to sit down for the duration of the flight. Seemingly not .. When you go to choose your seat you're then hit with another charge - 5 euro each way!
So I pay an extra 40 euro for the ability to carry clean clothes and sit down?
Presumably I've also been charged extra for credit card fees as well...
And if you don't pay attention they'll also charge you for travel insurance that you never asked for as well!
Lovely!
PS: Seemingly you can avoid the seating fee if you don't choose your seat during booking, but that's not made clear at all
I had a chat the other afternoon with Bernie Goldbach about video and digital camcorders. Bernie pointed me in the direction of a camera which he thought cost a few hundred dollars, but it turns out he'd left out a zero!
Since I'm heading off to Sydney in June for a couple of weeks I'd really like to be able to video some of the sights etc., but I'm at a total loss when it comes to choosing the "right" camera.
What am I looking for?
I'm not 100% sure, but I have a few ideas.
It needs to have a reasonable number of inputs / outputs, as I don't want to be too constrained. I'll be editing / processing footage on a Mac.
I want to avoid proprietary formats.
Optical zoom is essential. Digital zoom is nice and all, but I know from still cameras that you really need proper optical zoom.
I'm not overly concerned about the storage format, though proprietary is "out".
Battery life - better would be preferable
Size - smaller is better. Apart from anything else I don't want to carry extra weight.
In terms of budget.. I've no idea how much I want to spend, but ideally below 1000 euro. I'm not interested in getting a "cheap and nasty" camera, as that's a false economy.
So can anyone make any sane (or insane) recommendations?
Today was a reasonably productive day...
No day is every really as productive as I'd like it to be, but today was pretty good!
To start with I finally had a few quiet minutes to myself and was able to book my flights to Sydney for the ICANN meeting. I had tried to book it online, but I couldn't make sense of the times / dates ie. if you leave Dublin on Friday, which day would you arrive in Sydney. Solution was to just ring Trailfinders and let them worry about it. They also gave me a better rate on the ticket than I'd found online, so it was a "win win" situation. Now all I have to do is either persuade the Hilton to give me a better rate or else find a different hotel....
The other bit of progress today was that we finally launched Windows 2008 with IIS7 on our shared hosting platform. We're giving the first 100 signups for a Windows 2008 Minimus plan a massive 20 euro off, so you can get your site hosted on the latest Microsoft server platform for a mere 29.95 for the first year!! (More details here)
Now if only I could work my way through the rest of my todo list...
No day is every really as productive as I'd like it to be, but today was pretty good!
To start with I finally had a few quiet minutes to myself and was able to book my flights to Sydney for the ICANN meeting. I had tried to book it online, but I couldn't make sense of the times / dates ie. if you leave Dublin on Friday, which day would you arrive in Sydney. Solution was to just ring Trailfinders and let them worry about it. They also gave me a better rate on the ticket than I'd found online, so it was a "win win" situation. Now all I have to do is either persuade the Hilton to give me a better rate or else find a different hotel....
The other bit of progress today was that we finally launched Windows 2008 with IIS7 on our shared hosting platform. We're giving the first 100 signups for a Windows 2008 Minimus plan a massive 20 euro off, so you can get your site hosted on the latest Microsoft server platform for a mere 29.95 for the first year!! (More details here)
Now if only I could work my way through the rest of my todo list...
I'm heading off to Germany in the morning to attend WebHostingDay (bit of a misnomer, as it runs over 3 days)
It looks like there will be quite a few people going that I know from ICANN meetings, so it will be a good chance to meetup and catchup (aka drink beers )
If anyone wants to meet up please let me know
It looks like there will be quite a few people going that I know from ICANN meetings, so it will be a good chance to meetup and catchup (aka drink beers )
If anyone wants to meet up please let me know
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