A mate was iQueue person #10 this morning. Everything was going fine until the staff attempted to start signing up Optus customers. This is his latest text message. 71mins since opening and still yet to be served.

"They have booted one of
(the) macs with windows. I guess
they will try anythinh to get
things moving. They have
also broken out the paper
applications"

UPDATE: 9.26am - iQueue person #4 has been served. Sorry, Peter, it's going to be a long morning in there ;-p

NOT sent from my iPhone. ;-)

Come on Apple, show me how to do a 1sec slow exposure like this.

(Platform #23, Central Station Sydney)

Shame there's no voice guidance though. Not that I need it on a train, I guess. ;-)

(iPhone screen-cap)

(iPhone pic)

Snapped this in one of the meeting rooms with the light off. Sun had just about set so little natural light. Rather noisy but still passable.

For a change, I think I am going to appreciate the warm (albeit stuffy) conditions inside the carriage.

(Platform 3, Wynyard Station)

The Optus Direct staff are just finalising the paperwork.

After we (the first 30) spilled inside to the warmth of the store, we had to form three queues, depending on your preferred carrier. The numbers shaped up like this:

Optus: 29
Vodafone: 1
Telstra: 0

The one Vodafone punter, Chris, was next to me in the queue outside (iQueue idiot #4). Top bloke and it was great to have someone normal* chat with. He is in real estate (agency in Drummoyne) and had to go with Vodafone as it's his company's carrier.

#1 - Busy on his laptop posting to Mac forums (iFanboi)
#2 - Watching Buffy on his Ipod Touch and reading a World of Warcraft strategy guide (iFanboi)

Person #3 in a mini iQueue outside the Apple Store Sydney. 40mins till opening time. Freaking cold day to be doing this. Someone bring me a straight jacket!

Odometer reading 003688
(VPower from Shell @ Parramatta, NSW - $1.669 per litre)

Last fill was at 002995. Therefore, it's 51.39 litres for 693 kilometres, or 7.49L/100km. BEATEN the manufacturer spec of 7.7L/100km at last!

You'll be calling iPhone 3G handset #6 at the Apple Store, Sydney. Have a chat to a random punter who might be nearby, or perhaps send a TXT message. The replies are kind of funny.

See this from time to time. What gives?

Walking of the Apple Store. It was easy enough to get up to the 2nd floor (was expecting people everywhere) and they have heaps of iPhone 3G units on display to play with.

I was in the mood for a spur of the minute purchase and asked the shop assistant about what I had to do. "Come back tomorrow" is an executive summary of her advice. They closed off the queue about two hours ago and there's still two dozen people waiting to be served before the store closes in 2hrs time.

But it wasn't an entirely wasted exercise. I finally got to go hands-on with an iPhone. And, to be honest, I was a bit let down. It promises so much, but it just looked like and felt like a toy to me. I'm having second thoughts (again).

I asked if they had plenty of 16GB black phones in stock, you know - should I change my mind, to which the iSalesDroid(tm) replied, "The security cage is full of them buddy. Just head down when you're ready."

Buddy? WTF?! This is Australia, mate. ;-)

The last time I walked past here was 11 July 2008. iPhone 3G crowds were queued up through the building, onto the footpath and around the corner. Seems MUCH quieter tonight. Time to go in and see if i can convince myself to get an iPhone.

FWIW, it's almost two weeks since the iPhone 3G was released and people are still waiting outside the shop before opening time each morning to ensure they get hold of one. It would seem that Apple Australia are reserving the bulk of their stock for their own store as most Optus stores are quoting a 2-3 week wait.

I'm trying to focus on the detailed numbers discussion, but all I'm hearing is the thumping in my head.

I doubt you'll find this (arguably boring) viewpoint reflected in any other web photos of the Sydney skyline. Can't reveal my location, but it's not accessible to Joe Public.

Why did I choose to start a caffeine and sugar detox on a Monday? A Monday chock-a-block with meetings and decision making.

Less than a day into the detox and I have an horrfic headache, nausea and lethargy. I'm a caffeine addict alright.

(Westin Hotel, Sydney)

We can finally dtop dragging around the data projector - to one of our meeting rooms, anyway. Late on Friday night they installed this new NEC unit, suspended from the ceiling. The video signal, being carried over a cable length of around 20 metres, is VGA over CAT-5.

All of the WYD pilgrims I've met/observed up till now have been friendly, polite and generally on their best behaviour. Unfortunately, this bunch of Catholic Clowns from Melbourne are carrying on like complete dickheads - yelling, running around and throwing stuff through the train. I'm not the only commuter who's just a little pissed off at the moment.

A member of our local mentally ill homeless community has scored himself a new polarfleece jacket.