When The Rain Stops Falling

Source: QLD Theatre Company

Each year in the QLD Theatre Company program there is one show that simply amazes. One show that always stands head and shoulders above anything else in the line-up. It could be script, it could be something to do with one or more of the cast involved. It could be the lavish production design. Whatever it might be, there is always one show that is easily the best thing they offer in the entire calendar year. This year, it was Andrew Bovell's brand new script When The Rain Stops Falling, which I had the pleasure of viewing last weekend in the Playhouse Theatre in Brisbane. While it's easy to assume that any play which opens with a man screaming his lungs out just before a dead fish flops onto the stage, complete with a live rain effect, is going to be a great piece of work, the simple fact is that as the narrative for When The Rain Stops Falling unfolds, with its unconventional use of time keeping things interesting, you are moved to understand the simple set of links that intertwine a large group of characters over 3 entire generations. Complete with some shock twists in the plot, it's certainly this year's stand out production.

The play opens with Gabriel York (Neil Pigot) delivering a monologue about his relationship to religion, and the nerves he is feeling about meeting his son, Andrew Price (Yalin Ozucelik). This scene, set in the year 2039, sets the stage (no pun intended!) for what ends up being an interesting journey from Australia in 2039, back to England in the 1950s, and everywhere else in between. We meet a large group of people, who stem from two families on opposite sides of the globe. The Laws and the Yorks are two families that are due to become intertwined over time, thanks to the actions of one troubled individual who attempts to flee from the mistakes made in his life, only to eventually create a scenario that kills his own son, and yet sets the stage for everyone's redemption in the end. When The Rain Stops Falling is ultimately a tale of loneliness and isolation, in which each character attempts to deal with these feelings, and in each case it ultimately destroys them. Whether it be through alcohol, suicide, or grief, each character reveals a dark side to their emotional state, and we see how each person's actions affect those around them.

Andrew Bovell's script contains a nice line in complexity, not just in the over-use of the name Gabriel within the characters. The unorthodox use of time in the script (despite it becoming very common in dramatic structure these days) makes for an interesting dynamic within the script, as you learn about the unfolding events in an extremely non-linear fashion. This is particularly relevant when examining the end of the play, in which foreshadowed events come to pass and some real "edge of your seat" stuff occurs surrounding the revelation of a particularly strong relationship link. The cast assembled by Director Chris Drummond are more than capable of realising the complexity of the characters, with Neil Pigot headlining a stand out cast which also included Kevin Harrington, someone I've wanted to see in a live performance for some time now, ever since his Seachange days. The production design on the show, by Hossein Valamanesh, is minimalist but excellent. What makes the show so effective is the highly evocative live score by Quentin Grant, and some brilliant lighting design by Niklas Pajanti. This was certainly a moody production.

Overall, When The Rain Stops Falling is an amazing piece of theatre, and is well worth checking out before the Brisbane season ends next week. If you somehow miss it here, the show is touring around Australia right up until the end of the year, and even then, if you somehow manage to miss any of the inter-state performance, grab a copy of the script and read it. While you'll miss out on some amazing acting and production design elements, you'll get to enjoy the core of what makes this play so good - the highly effective storyline in which a bunch of people are slowly revealed to be connected to the actions of one man, and how this one man's actions create and re-enforce and air of isolation and loneliness within everyone else. It's powerful stuff, and is perfectly suited to the Australian backdrop of landscape that is used by the play as its setting. Andrew Bovell has written a brand new Australian masterpiece of theatre in this script, and I feel confident that When The Rain Stops Falling will be held in the same high regard going forward as texts such as Away and Don's Party. This really is Australian theatre at its very best.

HTC Mozart 7 review

I have finally managed to get my hands on a Windows Phone 7, and boy it is cool! OK, so that sentence is hardly an in-depth review, which is something I am very keen to do. So, rather than write a 1500 word review about the software and hardware, I thought it would make sense to break it up into two installments. This first chapter will focus on the particular hardware device I have purchased, a HTC Mozart 7 from Telstra. The second chapter, one that will follow in a week or two, will examine the software stack, Windows Phone 7. I think this is an important distinction to make, since the OS itself is the more revolutionary aspect here. That, and the fact that any review of Windows Phone 7 does need to, on some level at least, be divorced from the hardware, given how many different devices this OS will be running on by Christmas. I also want to have a bit more time to play around with the software side of things, since that has no much packed into it that any review I did now, a mere 3 days after first getting my hands on the device, would be shallow at best. So, without further adieu, let's get the HTC Mozart 7 hardware review going!

The first thing that really strikes you about the Mozart 7 is the sheer lightness of the device. It feels so light that at first you assume there isn't a battery installed, until you press the Power button at the top and it comes to life. Only then do you realise that, yes, this phone really is as light as it feels. This lack of weight makes it a nice phone to hold, and combined with the thin profile of the device, it fits ever so comfortably in your hand. It feels nice as well, given the majority of the device is made out of a single piece of aluminium (thanks, Apple, for starting this unibody craze!). Aside from two rubberised areas (one for the antenna, another for the battery cover), the entire aluminum feel of the device is really rather nice. With gently curved and rounded edges and corners, the only worry I think I will have with this device is that it could be quite easy to drop. The aluminium body is accented by a few chrome buttons - a Power button at the top (next to the 3.5mm headphone jack - about time someone finally put that thing on top!), a dedicated Camera button (yay!), and a Volume rocker (which feels ever so slightly flimsy).

The front of the device is all glass, with a set of capacitive buttons at the bottom for the Back, Start, and Search features of Windows Phone 7. I have to say, I am not a huge fan of capactitive buttons on my phone, as I do prefer dedicated physical hardware buttons. The problem with capacitive buttons is that they are far too easy to accidentally tap, and I've lost count of how many times I've launched Bing Search by mistake, or been in the middle of a game and suddenly dropped back to the Start screen. This is probably the biggest flaw on the device, really. HTC should have gone with three real buttons. Thankfully, the S-LCD screen on the phone just about balances out this minor negative. It's quite simply the best looking mobile phone display I've yet had, and while I suspect it isn't as good as the SAMOLED screen on the Samsung Omnia 7, it's got excellent viewing angles and great colour reproduction. Certainly, it's a heck of a lot better than the screen I had on my HTC HD2. At 3.7" it's a bit tiny for my liking, but given how pint-sized the device is anyway, the screen feels about right. This size also helps with pixel density as well.

The phone itself comes with an 8 megapixel camera, which so far seems to take fairly decent shots. The autofocus is quite nice, although I do think the flash is a bit over-eager to offer its services. Even in decent daylight, it still occasionally comes on. Hopefully a software update in 2011 will allow one to adjust things in a more granular way there, or maybe HTC can patch the phone to make the thing less sensitive. The built-in speaker on the device is satisfactory, with only minor peak distortion on offer at the highest levels. Non-existent bass is always a problem on these speakers, and so while you will hardly be using it to play your music, it serves well for the occasional phone call and talk-based podcast. The actual design on the back of the phone is quite pleasing, with a strange pattern etched into the aluminium backing. As you can see from the above picture, it almost looks like an homage to the old HTC logo. Either way, HTC manages to continue its tradition of designing attractive-looking handsets which offer exceptional build quality, although on that point I do want to raise a few minor issues I've noticed with my handset.

Give Apple their due, but they certainly know how to design good hardware. The "all in one" design of the iPhone is something that I find interesting, although not particularly to my taste. Having said that, at least it does mean there are very few joins in the iPhone, and very little chance of bits of the device working their way loose over time. The Mozart 7, or at least mine, seems a bit weak in the two non-aluminium areas of the phone, the top antenna area and the lower battery cover area. There is some definite give in both sections, and I am slightly concerned at this. Am sure in the grand scheme of things it won't be a problem, but it would be nice to have purchased a premium product and not have some gaps and give in the device so early on in the game. Let's just hope its more to do with the rubberised material used for these sections, and not indicative of a broader issue with the build quality of the device, which as I said above, is usually more than excellent on any and every HTC device I've ever owned, or indeed owned by anyone I know.

Overall, I am very happy with the hardware side of my new Windows Phone 7. The HTC Mozart 7 is an excellent device, although in conclusion I should point that that this really is the hardware version of the HTC Google Nexus One that came out back in January. The comparisons are there for all to see, but this isn't a problem for me. Right now, the 9 Windows Phone 7 devices planned for release between now and the end of the year are essentially the WP7 versions of each company's respective Google Android phones, so that isn't too surprising. Thankfully, in this device HTC have produced an excellent phone with a great set of features. Supported by the excellent Windows Phone 7 OS (more on that next week!), it's clear that the first device to launch in Australia with WP7 loaded is a winner right out of the gate. Well recommended if you are looking for a new smartphone, and want to try something different to the iPhone.

Joe Hockey vs The Big Four

Source: ABC Online

Let me be totally up-front and honest. I am not the biggest fan of Joe Hockey. Sure, I used to enjoy his debates with Kevin Rudd on Sunrise back in the day, but aside from being someone with a slightly appealing personality, I honestly believe that since the Howard Government lost the 2007 election, the poor bugger has been on a hiding to nothing. Especially since he was appointed as Shadow Treasurer, a position in which he had has failings in economics so soundly exposed time and time again. He seems to suffer at times from a serious case of Foot In Mouth disease, with the most recent case being his apparent request that the Government should be regulating interest rate rises. Boy did he cop a bit of grief on that one in the media, and from various Government sources. Least of all the RBA, who quite pointedly stated it was, in essence, a dumb idea.

Which is why his recent calls for a full inquiry and reform of the Australian financial system, in the wake of the 2009 GFC, seemed odd. Not because they were good ideas (it makes sense to learn from the past, otherwise you are deemed to repeat the same mistakes in the future), but because they were coming from Joe Hockey. The logic behind it is sound - since the GFC, we've seen reduced competition in the financial sector, and given the lessons learnt from the USA and Europe are that unless you have a strong banking system, any downward spiral on the global economic scene is going to have dire consequences for your local economy, it makes sense to ensure that with the latest financial crisis now essentially over, we've got maybe several years at most to prepare ourselves for the next one, since these things do tend to come in cycles.

Here in Australia, we have the four big banks - and Hockey is essentially calling for some regulation to be put in place to ensure that they don't undertake risky behaviour in the wake of the GFC, thus potentially exposing us to undue risks going forward. Which makes sense - one of the reasons why we didn't have as big a downturn here in Australia verses places like the USA and Europe was the solid foundation our major banks had, especially in the area of not being terribly exposed to risky loans and overseas creditors etc. So to suggest putting in regulation to prevent any behaviour that might change this makes sense, as well as particularly ensuring that interest rate rises taken by the bank are not higher than what the RBA sets in the form of the official cash rate. Banks cannot keep claiming higher loan costs, when that simply isn't true anymore.

What is strange about this whole situation is that until now, Wayne Swan, the Treasurer who so deftly handled Australia's response to the 2009 GFC, seem to have not had as much forward-thinking comments to say on this particular topic. His stock response thus far seems to be that we already have competition, in the form of the minor banks (such as Bendigo Bank) and the various credit unions. This is fine, yes, but this is one issue the Government cannot be seen to be lagging on. Financial reform should be a key plank in any Government's platform these days, and despite our modest downturn in 2009, the fact is that there will be another financial crisis at some stage in the future. This Government cannot seem to do much right at present, and are flagging in the polls. So take Hockey's advice, Swan, and go do some decent reform of the Australian banks.

For further reading on this topic, check out these excellent Crikey articles by Bernard Keane: Hockey gets it right on banks, Hockey on banks saying what Labor should be, & Hockey to Labor: get serious about banking reform.

The epic failure of the Aussie WP7 launch

Source: Microsoft

So on Monday Microsoft released Windows Phone 7 to the Australian public. It was originally meant to be a massive launch, with 5 handsets launching on the same day across the 3 major providers of Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone. Microsoft were even shipping in the Old Spice Guy from YouTube Land to help launch Windows Phone 7 on the Telstra network. It should have been a launch to rival that of any Android handset, and possibly even nip at the heels of Apple's various iPhone launches of recent years.

So what on Earth went wrong? Why did it become a major cock-up? Let's see if we can look at some of the problems, and what it meant for the end user.

The biggest problem the launch had here in the country was quite simple - there simply wasn't any devices available on launch day. There were massive supply issues in this last week. Optus and Vodafone have not released any devices at all at the time of writing, while Telstra have only managed to get 1 handset out to about a dozen stores nationwide. All of which are located in the major capital cities, no less. So forget about it if, like me, you live in a regional city. You haven't got a chance at getting a handset for at least another week or two.

I knew there were problems emerging when, last weekend, Vodafone still did not have any information up on their web site about the planned launch for Monday. Despite numerous customers asking on their web site, as well as forums such as Whirlpool, it became clear that Vodafone would not be attending the party, as it were, on Monday. Optus weren't much better off, with nothing more than a single information page up on their site, which had been placed there earlier this month when the official launch occurred for WP7. A quick call to my local Vodafone store at lunch break on Monday resulted in a strange conversation, which signalled yet more alarm bells for me - the sales assistant I spoke with had zero idea what I was talking about, assuming I was talking about Windows 7, not the new phone OS. It wasn't until she looked at the Vodafone web site herself, that she even realised they were meant to be selling it on that day.

So, quite clearly, they weren't. Since she hadn't even heard about it. And still haven't heard about it to this day. I suspect I will be making the switch to Telstra next month, leaving behind a decade-long association with Vodafone, if I cannot get my hands on one of these new phones soon.

Now, you might be thinking that I am over-reacting - that surely it's just a mobile phone, and that this isn't a big issue, and that I should be patient? Well, that's certainly a valid statement to make - but the other side of the equation is that Microsoft are already well behind in the smartphone race, and cannot afford any more stuff-ups or delays in launching new hardware and software. They have a real image problem at present, Xbox 360 & Windows 7 aside, and need to have a few home runs in a row to get consumers back on their side. This needed to be an Apple-esque flawless launch, but instead it's stuttered out of the gate like a wounded animal.

Hardly the most reassuring message to be sending to potential customers who are already using a slick and modern device like the iPhone, is it? Let's just hope that Microsoft can get it together with their partners, and have things running smoothly in time for the US launch on November 8.

Windows 7 - One Year On

Source: Wikipedia

In just 2 days time, Microsoft will be celebrating the 12 month anniversary of Windows 7, the latest (and some might say greatest) version of the Windows operating system platform. It's hard to believe, in retrospect, just how much skin Microsoft had in this particular game. Back in October 2009, things were not looking good for the Windows brand, and as such there was a lot riding on the success of Windows 7. Thankfully, all reports are that Windows 7 has become the best-selling version of Windows in recent history, outselling both Windows XP and Windows Vista within equal time frames. Microsoft were being completely outgunned at the time by Apple, who were still running their highly successful (even if they were chock full of lies) "Mac vs. PC" ad campaign, the reputation of Windows Vista was in the pits (most of the accusations made against it were completely false and/or unfair), and while Windows 7 wasn't a return to the heady days of Windows 95 (complete with its midnight releases and massive queues to purchase), it's still been a huge success, and now's a chance to reflect on the reasons why.

Of course, one of the biggest reasons for Windows 7's success was quite simply the poor reception that Windows Vista received. As someone who used Vista solidly for 3 years (I purchased a brand new PC the week it was released, and ran it as my primary OS until August of this year), I can safely say that almost all of the criticisms levelled at it - slow performance, incompatible hardware and/or software, security issues et al) were almost always completely false. It seems that most people's perceptions of Windows Vista were based on 2nd and 3rd hand reports, because I know anyone who did use it found it quite an enjoyable experience. The amazing thing is, however, is that a lot of the features that people love about Windows 7 - the Aero interface, system-wide search, the more advanced underpinnings of the OS) were all features originally found in Vista. While it might be unfair to say that Windows 7 is nothing more than "Windows Vista given a spit and polish", in a lot of ways that is very true. The coding team somehow managed to take what was a diamond in the rough, and polish the thing up until it really did shine brightly.

Any discussion of the place of Windows 7 in the marketplace has to include more than a passing mention of Apple, whose extremely negative "Mac vs. PC" ad campaign contributed a lot to the woes of Windows Vista between 2007 and 2009. Microsoft did the honourable thing in that time, and refused to sling mud back. Which was a mistake - it allowed the iCabal's opinions on Vista to take hold in the mainstream, but thankfully the increased performance and UI refinements found in Windows 7 really did make people sit up and take notice. If there is one single piece of evidence that confirms the success of Windows 7 in turning the tide, it's this - Apple shut down their "Mac vs. PC" ad campaign earlier this year, since I guess it was becoming more and more difficult to put Windows down when so many people were discovering just how nice Windows 7 was. Sure, Mac OS X is a good operating system (even if it isn't my cup of tea), but it's hardly the shining light of sheer advancement over Windows that Apple has tried to claim it is. Seems even the customers realised, even if it was a little bit too late for Vista's fortunes.

Microsoft also used the release of Windows 7 to respond to something that they missed out on forseeing with the release of Windows Vista in late 2006. That is, of course, the netbook revolution. These pint-sized underpowered mini laptops are now all the rage, and I myself see more netbooks around the place than I do either desktop PCs or full-sized laptops. Windows Vista was the final Windows release to adhere to the old Microsoft adage that if you can just get it to run, then Moore's Law will take care of speed and performance issues. As soon as a new category emerges, and one that places more emphasis on size over performance, then Vista didn't stand a chance. So Microsoft had some serious catching up to do, and thankfully they did manage to pull it off with Windows 7. It completely displaced Linux as the preferred OS for netbooks, and while we did see a brief reprieve for Windows XP, the fact is there are now more Windows 7 netbooks selling than there are with any other OS at all. Which is good, since the thing really does run well on an Atom-powered netbook. Just a shame battery life isn't better. Ho hum.

I even remember the hype that surrounded the release of Windows 7 last October, with the idea of people around the globe hosting "house parties" to celebrate the release of Windows 7. I myself managed to score one of the party packs, and threw quite a successful Windows 7 House Party for several friends here in Hervey Bay. Scoring a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate (complete with Steve Ballmer's autograph!), along with a host of other goodies in the box, was all very exciting. It was all part of the wonderful feelings surrounding this much anticipated release. Sure, it might not have reached Apple levels of hype (one just has to look at any iPhone launch for proof of that sort of hype), but it was still fun to be a part of something like that. Let's hope Microsoft do it again in 2012 for the release of Windows 8. Well, it would be nice to score a new party pack.

A Windows 7 House Party Pack

So, here's to Windows 7, and another excellent 12 months. While it was clearly a response to Windows Vista, Microsoft need to not become complacent. Windows 8 needs to ensure it is yet another evolutionary step, in much the same way that Windows 7 was over Vista, and Vista was over XP. Once again, Microsoft have missed another tech cycle with Windows - this time, it's tablets and not netbooks that they need to respond to with the next shipping version of Windows. Sure, I have a Windows 7 tablet here, but I've also used an iPad, and I can totally see why that thing is selling so well. Microsoft still have a lot of work to do if they wish to ensure that Windows stays relevant for all people, not just corporate types (who take forever to update their OS' anyway!). Windows 7 has proven to be an excellent platform of success to build from, and so long as Microsoft can deliver Windows 8 on time in 2012, then things should continue to chug along quite nicely. For now, however, let's finish off by looking at one of the more adoreable ads that Microsoft was using 12 months ago when plugging Windows 7 to the masses. Enjoy.