Chaos Love: love, life, design and more.

Today was day that embedded itself into history. July 11th marks the worldwide day known as the release of the new iPhone just in case you didn't notice. Crazy geeks and hipsters gathered at Apple stores and AT&T outlets in order to claim the ultimate prize: a phone.

But wait, you say, who took all these pictures? Uh, that was me of course; in line to get my phone, because I am neither above or below everyone else. I am a whore to new shiny gadgets. It is all Sam's fault really. He is my capitalist consultant. It was Sam who got me to sit in front of Toys R Us to get a Wii at 3am in order to buy my $299 Wii in order to sell it on Craigslist before Christmas for $500 and now it is Sam who convinced me to sell my old iPhone for $400 and buy the new one for $199. Sam is going places in life.

Anyway, back to the Opening! Sam and I arrived at the Apple store at 6:30 in the morning. The line was pretty timid. Maybe 75 people back after some of these folks had been CAMPING outside the mall since midnight. Their determination makes them much more worthy than us to receive the coveted iPhone. Sam and I had to work sometime that morning but we were pretty confident that the line would scoot along pretty speedily. I began to feel like we were in an airport after awhile wainting to check into our flight as stood between our rope barriers. But the Apple staff were very genial and passed out bottles of water and even cups of coffee as people piled up behind us. We half expected a breakfast cart to come out next stacked with hotcakes.

We did find a fellow coworker at the beginning of the line - excuse me, not the beginning but NUMBER ONE in the line. He had been there since 12:30am. The store opened at 8. Sam and I waited another 1.5 hours before we got in the store. We were so relieved to get out of the halls of the mall as it has become very claustrophobic.
Getting in the store was a breath of fresh air. The staff was overly friendly and helpful and my iPhone was purchased, activated, and in the bag in under 10 minutes. We met up with our coworker who had nothing but trouble buying his iPhone as activating it with AT&T is mandatory and the network kept failing. So although he waited nearly 10 hours for his phone we ended up walking out around the same time. Poor Sam on the other hand was not granted the miracle of the phone as he was not the sole account holder for his AT&T account. He took it well enough, although I'm sure he would have killed someone given the chance. He had to go to and AT&T store to get his iPhone. But by the time he got there, the phones had sold out.

This whole AT&T shenanigans is the whole reason why Cam could not participate in the good times of waiting in line to pay money.

Afterwards, Sam and I went back to work 2 hours late and had to apologize to customers that although we were an Apple Reseller, we didn't have iPhones to sell them . *insert evil laugh here*

If you are wondering what is so great about an iPhone but don't want me to write 5 more pages of blogginess then you can check it out here!

Posted in: apple, chaosgurl on July 11, 2008 at at 9:42:00 PM 0 comments    

Hey there.

I know its been some time since I've done this crazy blog. It's not like we have been super busy, but maybe just getting more and more super comfortable. And with winter coming in, we'd better get used to it.

But I was thinking tonight of all the things that Cam has done since he's arrived to this wacky country. Like tonight in particular. We went to our favorite rock climbing gym, The Portland Gym, and Cam was fabulous. He had just exchanged his new shoes the other day and he was flying up walls. Whereas a month ago, I was practically hauling him up on my end of the rope. He has adapted and is getting better all the time. Since I have a year head start on him, I must be the patient one, but I'll make him catch up with me sooner or later. There is so much trust in rock climbing. And the more confident he gets, the more he trusts me that I won't let him plummet to the floor just for a laugh. It's good. We really need to take pictures, but it's always weird taking pictures in a gym where other people are sweaty... and wary of lenses.

Also, Cam has taken over my projects. I'm not fussed whatsoever, as it keeps him quite the entertained while I slave away the day at work. Colin's new website looks amazing - www.colinlake.com - and also he is not quite satisfied with the Wellington Road Moores site which he is taking into his own hands soon. I keep feeding him missions so he can keep his mind busy. Whether it's laundry or design, it seems rare when he is bored.

Not to mention that we have been suckered into technology more and more. Cam has made our house a network mecca. Everything connects to something else wirelessly. And now with our new iPhones we can connect to the outside world even easier (Cam had the cheapest T-mobile phone and I had the oldest, both of which met their demise) and makes our lives more integrated with the pizza joints nearby in our neighborhood. You know, wherever we are, that will be useful for the winter ;)

Posted in: apple, chaosgurl, general musings, sport on September 24, 2007 at at 10:34:00 PM 0 comments    

So, its not the most exciting aspect of my life but I thought I would touch up on work here. While Cam gets to lounge at home I get to answer iPhone questions but mostly tell people that we don't have them. Its a cool product, don't get me wrong, but I am really enjoying how this product has taken over everyone's mind. People are crazed I tell ya. They come in and get MAD that we don't offer them. One woman tried to trade in her iPod. And its not that we wouldn't take it, she just wouldn't have it any other way than to get an iPhone in return. Store credit just wouldn't do. People should be lucky that Portland has some left at all. Chicago sold out in 50 minutes. So if you want to get an iPhone, get one, and then come to me for all your accessories. Cause, Apple will let us carry those. It's still fun watching the ongoing scurry.

We made our own iPhone.*


*Not real iPhone

Posted in: apple, chaosgurl, weirdness on July 2, 2007 at at 3:07:00 PM 0 comments    

Hey! So I've been off the blogs for awhile. Even though I just got this new fantastic super nice 23" Cinema Display for my laptop. I have been doing fun big screen related stuff like a 300 party, and seeing how many different windows I can display at once on it. Other than that, this illustration portays my life in modern day evenings.

Being completely procrastinatory is not all I have been doing. I have been sending out a few 3D renderings or so hoping to score a modeling job so that my screen will be able to be used more industrially than recreationally and I can ween may way away from the Mac Store. I am terribly excited about this hardware. It fills me with joy.

Other than that, I have been wishing I could go to the beach on my days off. Coogee preferably.

Posted in: apple, art, chaosgurl on April 4, 2007 at at 7:11:00 PM 0 comments    

... with Chaosgurl, we all know that! But I'm talkin' a different kind of love here, a digital kind of love for computer software that fits the way I want to work so perfectly that I wonder what I did without it all this time. This wondrous piece of computer wizardry is Adobe's latest offering, Lightroom. Aimed squarely at photographers, it promises to help you cull, sort, rate, organise, develop and output your digital photos in a fraction of time that it used to take. And you know what?

That's exactly what it does.

Import and rename your JPG or RAW files directly from the camera. Compare and flag photos. Mark the duds for deletion. Add huge amounts of keywording and metadata with ease. Apply development settings in a completely non-destructive way. Export output files in your desired format, resolution and file type. It's all quite wonderful! And thanks to my gorgeous Chaosgurl, I laid my hands on it at the US wholesale price - around $AU150 cheaper than if I bought it here in Oz. Happy days!

Adobe have a free 30 day trial on their website; if you use a Mac, you may also like to check out Apple's Aperture, which takes a completely different approach to the same problem. I love Lightroom's module-based system, which makes it very clear where you sort photos and where you edit them, whereas others will rave about Aperture's free-form approach, which lets you take any action at any stage of the process. Each to their own, I say, and it's great to have the choice between two great programs like this!

Posted in: adobe lightroom, apple, chaosboy, photography on March 5, 2007 at at 3:13:00 AM 1 comments    

So, im working as a manager at a reseller at the moment called The Mac Store. The job is easy and I generally am on the internet or looking at cool new products. However, the bar has just been raised and I have realized a lot of things. First of all, in America, a customer's needs are met at the top cost. If they don't like it, it is replaced even if the item was bought months ago. People are particular, and they want the best they can get for the least dollar. We are told to meet these needs.
However, I worked in Apple Centre in Sydney for a year and a half. If someone had a problem we were trained to say NO. Sorry mate, try the manufacturer, try Apple, try somewhere else besides here. Thats the way it was. Someone would have a problem with an iPod and exclaim "In LA, they replaced it for me on the spot!" And we we'd say Wow. This isn't LA.
These expectations have suddenly become real to me because this is exactly what we do at the Mac store. We match that price, we replace your printer, we give you a student discount just because you might leave if you don't get it. The customer is not allowed to leave without being happy because they come first, money for the business comes second. It works out in the end.

The American consumer has an expectation that I now must strive to meet. Its so hard to break out of saying "NO" all the time after what I was trained to do in Australia, where the meaning "customer service" is radically different. Here in the US, we bend over backwards for someone, just for the hope that they might come back. We offer advice, set-ups, repair, whatever they need in order for them not to make a fuss.

The funny thing is I feel like a complete tool doing this. I really enjoyed just saying NO. Get your whining ass out of my store because you don't know how to work an ipod that you bought. No discounts, no free support, no replacements! It was a clear cut line. It was a backwards system where the customer is always at your mercy.

It's a clash of culture, sure, but it really makes Americans seem like complete jerks when they go abroad and are used to people like me replacing their faulty products on the spot. I think its an important lesson to be learned that the service we get here is superior but don't expect it worldwide. Other countries have different rules, hard to believe but true. So, basically, I'm just boiling down some cultural faults that cause Americans in general to be regarded as consumer whores...

More rants later...

Posted in: apple, australia, chaosgurl, united states on February 23, 2007 at at 11:15:00 PM 0 comments