Goodbye OPSM - Hello Zenni Optical for Prescription Glasses

I don't think I've ever been very satisfied with prescription glasses purchased from OPSM or the advice they've given me. I haven't tried the other stores - but I imagine they are similar. It's all marketing hype and the sad reality is expensive products with no real technical advantage over glasses offered by online stores.

My most recent OPSM purchase was a pair of occupational glasses (for computer use). Cost $159 for the frame, and $289 for the lenses (Invisibles Ultra - Plastic 1.49 progressives smudge resistant and anti-reflection coatings). The frame they suggested for me is huge and heavy. The lenses are thick and are already showing scratches despite care in handling and cleaning. Other OPSM glasses have cost $500 or more and I haven't been impressed. Typically it's taken 14 to 21 days to get the glasses once ordered.

In frustration I thought I'd buy a couple of cheap pair of glasses on the web to try different styles and configurations (bi-focal, progressive, occupational, etc.). I bought a pair of bifocal glasses from www.ozglasses.com for $70. They arrived in a week and were great. Then I bought a pair of progressives with bendable frame from www.zennioptical.com for $47. They were also good and arrived by courier to my home within 14 days of the order being placed on the web. Now I've just received a pair of featherweight no-rim glasses with lightweight progressive photochromatic lenses for less than $80.

Now progressive lenses are "evil" (distorted on the sides and very poor for intermediate distances). So I tend to use the bi-focals for reading and computer work (at my desk) and the progressives everywhere else. The point is that the OPSM progressives are no better or any higher quality that those from Zenni Optical. For the same price as one pair of OPSM glasses, I can experiment with half a dozen Zenni glasses to get the frame and lense combination that suits me the best. All with home delivery. I'm a satisfied customer.

So ignore the best efforts of the scare-mongering shop owners. Do your homework. There is plenty of information online about lenses, frames, online retailers, etc. Be happy to buy a few pairs on line to get the best results. It's still a hell of a lot cheaper and maybe you end up with a few spare pairs.

Extract thy Digit Tom Tom Navigator People!

I purchased 2 TomTom Via 160 navigation units for Christmas presents for my wife and daughter. The specs looked pretty good and I was certainly impressed with the TomTom One and OneXL that my other daughter and son had.

What I enjoyed about the previous TomTom units was the "HOME" application that allowed downloading of new voices, maps, car icons, etc. Easy to use and very effective.

The new range of TomTom units don't appear to use "HOME". They appear to use a web based system called "MyTomTom". But the stupid thing is that this software IS NOT FINISHED. In other words, TomTom have happily released new models (just in time for Christmas) with INCOMPLETE functionality - and only with a promise akin to "we'll get around to it later".

The following is a summarised extract from the TomTom site under the guise of "Important information about devices connecting to myTomTom".

(From TomTom support site - summarised)
"We are currently introducing MyTomTom for the latest generation of TomTom devices. MyTomTom helps you manage the contents and services of your navigation device.

Some features are not yet available but will be in the near future.

* Latest Map Guarantee - Currently this functionality is not available for your device.
* Backing up - Currently this functionality is not available for your device.
* Adding POIs - Currently this functionality is not available for your device.
* Map updates - To ensure you always drive with the latest map, we offer our Map Update Service. Visit tomtom.com/mapupdate to find out if you are still up-to-date.
* New maps - Maps other than the one available on your device cannot be purchased at this point in time.
* Downloading voices - Currently this functionality is not available for your device.
* Activating promotions (service cards, etc) - Currently this functionality is not available for your device.
* Map Share™ - Currently this functionality is not available for your device.
* Sharing favourites - Currently this functionality is not available for your device."

Come on TomTom - pull your finger out and deliver on your promises!!

UPDATE : 12 January 2011

When I composed the above post, I emailed TomTom with a copy of it's contents. Today I got a phone call from a young man from TomTom apologising for the delay in the release of the fully functional MyTomTom software. He could not indicate a time for full deployment, but assured me that the 4 free map update promotion was still valid and I could expect to have my first update within a few weeks.

TomTom : Thanks for the call. Glad to see you taking customer service seriously and I look forward to the new software releases.

Some Xmas Pressies I got this year

Some of the bestest Xmas pressies I got. A pedomoter (to keep me fit - 10,000 steps per day), a Jesus on a Spring dashboard icon (Google "Church of Jesus on a Spring"), and a T-Shirt that reads "You read my shirt - thats enough social interaction for one day". All good.

SPOT GPS Messenger

I do a bit of bushwalking - a lot in areas not well covered by mobile phone. My wife gets worried when I'm away and often I have to climb hills to get some sort of mobile phone message to her to say I'm ok.

So for my birthday she bought me a SPOT GPS Messenger. This little device is like a personal EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) but with the added extra that it can send pre-formatted email and mobile phone SMS recipients. So I can send my wife a "Checking In / I'm OK" message a few times a day. The email and SMS messages also send the GPS co-ordinates and a link to Google maps. If I get into trouble (like being stuck), I can send a "I need Help - come and get me" message. If I'm in a life threatening situation or seriously injured, I can send a "911" emergency message that goes to the US rescue center, who then relay the message to Australian rescue centres.


Relying on private satellite communication links (Globalstar) the service is subscription based. But for $115USD per annum you get unlimited email messages and 200 SMS messages. You can have up to 10 email and/or SMS recipients per message type - so I can not only keep my wife informed, but also my kids. The system also lets you set up a web page showing the last 30 logged locations. So in my mind the pricing isn't too bad.

There are certainly some pros and cons compared to conventional EPIRBs.

Pros of SPOT GPS Messenger

• Cheaper to buy (around $300 vs $500-$800 for a personal EPIRB).
• Can send non-emergency and or low priority help messages to friends and family - Check In/OK and pre-formatted custom messages (EPIRBs just send emergency messages).
• Non emergency messages go to your friends and family (email and SMS), whereas EPIRBs send messages through an emergency response centre.
• Sends "911" emergency messages through the emergency response centre (just like EPIRBs do but using a different satellite communications channel).
• Can be used for tracking your trip (additional subscription).
  
• Generally lighter than EPIRB units.
  
• Replaceable batteries.

Cons of SPOT GPS Messenger

• Relies on a commercial communications network (Globalstar) and private service provider to get messages through - maybe less reliable?
• Emergency response in Australia relies upon a Memorandum of Understanding between the service provider (SPOT), the US rescue services (who will take the call initially), and the Australian rescue services (who get handed the call to act on it). You can download the unsigned MOU from here.
  
• No homing beacon function - relies on GPS co-ordinates contained in the message to get the rescue people to you. If you move (for example to avoid flood waters), you would have to send another message with an updated position.
  
• Annual subscription needed - $115 USD per annum.
• Battery life is limited - EPIRB batteries generally last 5 years, SPOT uses replaceable lithium AAA batteries that last about a year (quite a bit less - some 7 days - if the unit is set for tracking mode that send a message every 10 minutes). Having said that, if you only turn on SPOT when you want to send the batteries should last some years. On a fresh set of batteries, SPOT should send continuous emergency messages (every 5 minutes) for a number of days.
  
• Not 100% global coverage - most land areas but marine areas not covered well.

Just a note on the first bullet point above - Globalstar has been having all sorts of problems with it's satellite telephone service. Apparently the problem is failing satellite transmitters. Apparently this does NOT effect the "simple message service" used by SPOT.

Anyway, if you want to check out my location have a look at http://www.smithonline.id.au/?Greg:My_SPOT_Page. Yes, the map is "live".

You can get more info at www.findmespot.com and Google "SPOT GPS Messenger" to get some local retailers.

Cassette Kids in Perth

Went to Amplifier to see the Cassette Kids in action in Perth. Great super dynamic show as always. Supported by KO88 from NZ.