Surround Sound

So we went out today to look at surround sound receivers and speaker systems. We did not intend to buy but we did. At some point I will need assistance moving the very heavy TV we have and the armoire so we can wire it all up. We will also have to wire the rear speakers through walls and the loft. It is going to be quite a project. Sony Receiver and Speakers to go with the Sony TV. The DVD player (when it arrives) will be a JVC. We got a decent amp and speakers because we want to kill several birds with one stone and use the TV surround sound for playing music CDs so that we don’t have to buy a Hi Fi as well. At the moment we have to listen to our music on a boom box or in the car.

DVD Player

I have ordered a multi-region DVD player - a difficult thing to get here in the USA. This will allow me to play my PAL DVDs coded for the European region here on my American TV. "Coded for Europe? What do you mean?" I hear American readers ask. The global movie industry has decided that it is too expensive and difficult to launch movies simultaneously across the globe. So they launch (usually) first in the USA and then other parts of the world a few months later. This means that the DVD is usually available in the USA sometimes before, sometimes just after the movie launches in Europe. In order not to hit cinema takings the USA DVD will not play on European machines. "All perfectly reasonable" you may think, after all these movie companies have invested millions in the movies and deserve to protect their income.

There are, however, a couple of side effects.

Firstly, if you live in the USA and you want to buy a European DVD that has not been released to the US market you need to make sure it will play on your DVD player. There are European movies, comedians and TV shows on DVD that the USA has never seen nor heard of, and will not be able to, because you can't play the DVDs. As a European in the USA I cannot play some of my DVDs unless I acquire a multi-region player.

Secondly, this practice also allows differential pricing. You can charge more for the DVD in Europe than in the USA. European residents are all too aware of this. As a result many of them re-code, re-chip, acquire or generally customize their DVD players to play all regions and then buy their DVDs online in the USA at a reduced price.

How long will the competition authorities allow big corporations to get together to "protect" their income from consumers who have the temerity to protect their own pockets by buying in a global market? The same global market that the media companies want to sell into?

Economist.com | Afghanistan

Economist.com | Afghanistan: "The Bush administration is considering awarding a further $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan. The Americans want to show that their wars can bring democracy and prosperity. But Afghanistan is still poor and lawless"

It looks like the USA will be "in" Iraq and Afganistan for some time to come.

So what was the war for then?

It is entirely predictable that the war would have this effect, and this result should probably have been expected. So if this is the case why was the war fought to make us safer?

News: "The war to topple Saddam Hussein may have damaged the campaign against international terrorism by driving Muslims into the arms of al-Qa'ida, an all-party committee of MPs said yesterday.
The Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee said al-Qa'ida remained a 'significant threat' to Britain, after hearing that the terrorist network may still have the loyalty of more than 17,000 militants in up to 60 countries."

Driving Habits

I don’t know if it is an “American Thing” or just a “Southern Thing” but driving styles and habits are certainly different over here. Being allowed to “undertake” or pass on the right means that lane discipline is less important, but it does mean that you have to keep your wits about you when driving. Which makes it a pity that so many American Drivers seem not to! The number of last minute dives for an off ramp and even backing up along the shoulder to get to an exit that was just passed amazes me. There have been construction works at my local interstate exit that resulted in tailbacks on the interstate at peak times. The number of people running into the back of the tail back astounded me. This is all despite state troopers parking a mile before the exit and despite all the warning signs.

Americans seem slower away from the lights as well. European drivers whiz away accelerating quite hard compared to Americans. Europeans seem far more comfortable driving round corners as well. Maybe the Americans have so many roll over accidents in their SUVs that they dare not take corners at more then 20mph.

That said I do like the American roads and car parks. Wide roads, good access to most places and plenty of parking. In England I began to hate the planning policy of not allowing offices to have one space per employee, especially in areas where there is poor public transport. Instead of encouraging car sharing and use of busses it just results in illegal parking.

Car use and congestion are going to increase whatever policy governments have towards the car and transport. We have to learn to live with it, learn to reduce congestion by effective junction rebuilding and new road construction. We also have to learn how to reduce the pollution generated as a result. The US car manufacture and oil lobby does itself no favors by telling us how expensive fuel efficient vehicles will be – the same way oil companies told us lead free gas was uneconomic!

Why do they do this?

Google News: "Khaled Amer's family tilled their vegetable fields and guava groves for three generations -- until Israel cut their land in half with a security barrier it's building in the West Bank. "

Why does Israel deliberately deprive Palestinians of a livelihood? Do they think the Palestinians will blame their own terrorists? It seems to me all they do is alienate more Palestinians and so make the problem worse.

Customer Service in "The New South" - Part 2 of an occasional series

Well the garage door guys arrived looking like they came direct from jail. Apparently they were under the impression that the door wouldn't close (despite the fact that the door was closed behind them after they arrived). After they were reminded that they were here to replace the torsion spring they decided that they would have to order one. So they were reminded that the man in the office said they would be bringing one with them. So they looked in the truck and found one. So a new (or maybe used) spring was fitted and the door was serviced. It nows opens and closes as before with much less noise. We also feel a lot safer when driving and walking under it.

BBC NEWS | Education | Sexy pop stars 'threaten childhood'

BBC NEWS | Education | Sexy pop stars 'threaten childhood': "'Kylie Minogue might be a great singer but in many of these things you can see more of her bottom than you hear of her voice,' said Mr O'Neill. "

Some of us are not convinced that she is a great singer either.

Banks and E-Payments

Readers in the UK will be interested to hear about the "e-payment" services available via web service companies like Yahoo and my own bank. Automated payment systems here seem a little behind those in the UK. I was not able to (easily) set up a draft or similar payment to my electricity and water provider - so I set them up for e-payment via my bank's on-line services. Would you believe that I instruct them how much to pay and when and my bank prints a check and mails it to them! One of these days they will computerize this.

Filters and Customer Service

You will all be pleased to hear that I managed to get the correct filters at last. You will also be pleased to hear that Lowes took the wrong ones back for full credit without question, even though I had opened the packaging of one of them.

Customer Service in "The New South" - Part 1 of an occasional series.

Our garage door needed a new torsion spring. So a maintenance company was identified and called. They said that they would fit a new spring and service the door "first thing" on Monday. My wife waited to 9.30am to call them and ask when "first thing" was. The reply was that they were unsure where the crew were and what they were doing. They appeared not too bothered about the situation. We decided to wait awhile before calling another firm and getting them to do the job. A couple of tattooed workmen arrived to fix "your garage door that won't close". "No," my wife replied, "a torsion spring needs replacing". The response was that they had no torsion springs and that it would be a couple of days before they would be delivered. My wife told them that she had been informed last week that they had them in stock and would bring them today. The truck was checked and lo and behold torsion springs were found! The door is now fixed and seems to be a lot quieter than it was.

Tax Rebate

Well I don't have any children and so I will be paying more taxes than someone with the same income as me who has. Having children is a lifestyle choice. It is neither a duty nor a right. I object to subsidizing those who choose to have a family. Now of course co-workers who are happily displaying their $800 and even $1,200 checks from the taxman surround me. I who will be paying more tax than them get nothing.

At least I understand that life is not fair! I shall try not to be too envious as they go on a spending spree this weekend - which has been declared purchase tax free by the local authorities.

The Iraq Thing

I was and continue to be stunned by the US media over the whole "Iraq Thing". I am amazed at how they accept everything the government says as true and then act as if it is their duty to back their government in a war. I would have thought that the duty of an independent media was to truthfully and accurately inform the public, analyze policy and methods in detail and to question the government actions - especially in a time of war. The way Fox News uses the "War on Terror" banner when referring to Iraq also adds to the widely held belief in he USA that Sadaam was responsible for 9/11.

Why does it suit the government’s purpose to have people think this? Why do Fox News wish to confuse people this way?

I wonder if the US decision to go to war will make the USA and its citizens safer or not? I think not. As far as I can tell no Americans feel safer as result of the war - so why did we fight it?

Thermostat Wires

We think that the old mechanical thermostat was inaccurate and not providing us with proper control. So off we went to Lowes to buy a new electronic one. Fitting these is quite straightforward. You note and label the wires as you disconnect them from the old one. Each terminal is labeled with a letter code you see, and you simply attach the wire that was labeled "RC" on the old thermostat to the connector labeled "RC" on the new one. We expected there to be 4,5 or 6 wires attached to the old one and had instructions and a plan to deal with any number in that range. Imagine our surprise to discover 7 wires. We put the old one back together again and decided to seek further advice.