Windows Phone 7 is a slow burning fuse compared to the iPhone’s hand grenade. It’s beginning to intrigue me, and if the rumours I’ve been hearing are true, the development platform and process will be excellent.

I’m sure you know my position on consumer electronics, but I’ll reiterate for clarity: large volumes of bovine faeces, with the occasional (albeit grubby) gem. If you dig around for the gems, you’ll notice a common theme: single-mindedness. A willingness to keep pushing back. Or as The Stephen says, an ability to say “not good enough”. So it pleases me to see Microsoft pushing back on so much that was wrong with previous WinMo iterations. I hope the team are taking the protests around non-backward-compatibility as a compliment.

I’m certainly diving in at the deep end of the USA, flying direct to Las Vegas via Los Angeles. In New Zealand, one can’t avoid being force-fed a diet of American entertainment and filtered news. I’m expecting a certain level of surrealism, which I plan to embrace. I’m not interested in gambling, but I’ll place a few bets. I am planning to visit the Hoover Dam (with appropriate backing music), and the Grand Canyon.

So dear reader, two questions, if you could be so kind:

1. What do you want me to find out about Windows Phone 7? What do you want to see?
2. What do I need to do in Vegas to enhance the surrealism?

But this one image gives me hope. Just look at it. Like something straight out of Star Wars.

Snap Internet offered to help, and in a comedy of errors, Chorus ended up connecting us to Snap today incorrectly (it should have been via a second line). The upshot is, about 30 minutes ago our line was switched from Snap back to Orcon. I managed to start a test just before the line was switched.

Below is a picture of the speed graph from uTorrent. Let’s summarise:

• Same copper pair.
• Same ADSL router.
• Same jackpoint.
• Same computer.
• Same file.
• Same bittorrent peers.
• Different ISP termination in the Te Atatu Exchange.

You make your own conclusion:

Click to Enlarge

Don’t be distracted by the higher speed on Orcon. Yes this implies a lower SNR, but we’ve tried changing the Orcon ADSL profile to reduce the speed and increase the SNR, but the disconnect behaviour is identical.

I believe there is a bigger story behind this, but I need to get Orcon’s opinion before I go to print with it.

It’s completely cliché to say 2009 has been an incredible year, but I’m saying it with sincerity. Thank you for your kind patronage. Your comments and posts have been enlightening, and I’ve genuinely enjoyed writing stuff for you.

After tomorrow night’s live draw (yes, there’s still time to enter), I’ll be signing off and heading to the beach for a week. Yes sorry, that means winners won’t get their prizes until the new year, but I hope you can allow me some lee-way.

There is one small thing you can do for me during the break. Click that banner up at the top of the page and make a small donation. If you’ve never had an encounter with hospice care (like me before August), you really can’t possibly imagine the depth of their compassion and the simply stunning job they do. They helped our family immensely, and lent amazing dignity to Dad’s passing.

Thanks again. Merry Christmas. Go and hug your family for me.

The parties are, from left to right: Tee Twyford, unnamed girl, me, Paul Henry, Alison Mau (back to camera) and I believe Francesca Rudkin and child. You can click through for a video with context.

Best caption in the comments below gets a 10-pack of Hotteeze heat pads.

Screen grab courtesy of @sponno.

What is New Zealand’s negotiating position on the various components of ACTA?

This, to my mind, is the key question. ACTA negotiations are being held in secret. The NZ Ministry of Economic Development (MED) is representing us in these negotiations. As such, we need to know what position the MED is taking into the negotiations on our behalf, and whether this position is representative of our economic, cultural, and philosophical requirements.

As with any international treaty, the terms of ACTA are up for negotiation. I’d like to know what negotiating position the NZ MED is taking into the ACTA talks on our behalf. Why is New Zealand entering into ACTA, and what do we expect to get out of it, other than protection of New Zealand products and copyright (which are already protected by international law)?

What provisions does ACTA make for protection of personal privacy and freedom of speech?

Based on information to date, it is hard not to assume that the majority of ACTA provisions relating to copyright infringement are designed to protect large copyright holders. What (if any) counter provisions are in place to ensure that these terms do not result in degraded privacy (e.g. deep packet inspection) for individual internet users?

Given the public and political reaction to the proposed S92a legislation, what provisions are in place to require evidence and recourse in the event of a “3 strikes” requirement from ACTA?

Additionally, what is the MED’s position on ACTA’s notice-and-takedown provisions, and specifically the documented chilling effect caused by abuse of such a provision?

If ACTA is implemented in its current (leaked) form, what steps are being taken to ensure legitimate internet use is not impeded?

There is a blistering pace of change in entertainment and the internet. New business models are emerging. Creators and artists are discovering and utilising new direct sales channels, and many have found value in allowing more open use of their content to generate ticket and merchandise sales.

What steps are being taken to ensure that the implementation of ACTA does not adversely affect these artists and business models? How does the MED propose, for example, that legitimate and infringing uses of similar content are differentiated? Are there any provisions in ACTA that protect individual content creators from predatory and discriminatory treatment by corporations?

What do you think?

If you want to add to my queries or comment on them, please reply below, or directly on the Acta.net.nz site.

I love the internet. It’s all about creating and sharing content. I’m more than happy for you to re-use my work on your own site, or perhaps “remix” my work (hey, we can all use editing help). There is one caveat: you must attribute the original source to me, preferably by linking to my site.

This is all outlined clearly by my Creative Commons license, linked at the bottom of all of my pages.

What not to do

If you want an example of what not to do, you can use doyouflip.co.nz, a site owned (I presume) by Flip Video (and therefore Cisco). They have lifted one of my reviews in its entirety and pasted it on their site. Perhaps surprisingly, this is not actually against the terms of my license. Where they have failed abysmally is they have given no attribution whatsoever. There is nothing on the page that suggests the content was created by anyone other than Flip themselves.

If you have a poor moral compass and need additional reasons to not steal content, it might pay to see the buzz generated by this within social media circles inside a couple of hours. Flip Video has an open social media strategy, so it’s easy to post on their Facebook wall, for example. A search for “flipnz” on Twitter also uncovers a couple of choice comments.

The sad thing is, it would have taken all of about 10 seconds to provide an attribution link on the original page. I wonder how much time Flip Video and their PR company will spend dealing with this today?

I’m not going to grace Flip or Cisco with a link, but the evidence is in the image below. I’m sure you can find the site while it’s still up.

How to use my content

It’s pretty damn easy. Use my content, but make sure you attribute.

Obviously, it would be lovely if you’d like to pay me to use my work (for example in print), but this is not strictly required. I do reserve the right to switch to a “non-commercial” usage license in future, but of course that is not retroactive.se to a

• On Tuesday I’m picking up the new E-Class Coupe from Mercedes for a test drive, and swapping it for the sedan on Friday. I’ll be writing a number of articles on the incredible technology in this vehicle. If you’re around Auckland on Sunday afternoon, follow me on twitter and you might get a ride.
• Wednesday is my TVNZ Breakfast gadgets day. This week’s topic is boating and fishing.
• On Thursday afternoon XBox is launching their new karaoke game Lips: Number One Hits, complete with an appearance from MC Hammer. My inner 14 year old is giddy with excitement. Not sure if I should wear my parachute pants though.

It’s a hard life being a technology reviewer.