About
Who is OzSoapbox?
OzSoapbox is the product of one Australian and a computer.
I grew up in Melbourne, Australia and moved to Taiwan in late 2009. Currently based in Taiwan, OzSoapbox is a project of mine to see just how far I can go with a website.
During the week I tend to write about current events and life in Taiwan and on the weekends I relax and write about my hobbies or whatever is taking my interest at the time.
News and current events
I’m a bit of a news junkie and as such the bulk of material you can expect to read on here will relate to Australian news and current events.
I’m happy to get into heated discussion about the various things I write about so feel free to throw a punch or two via the comments.
My Surly Long Haul Trucker and cycling
I own a 2008 olive green Surly Long Haul Trucker and weather permitting try to make good use of it here in Taiwan. Unlike in Australia’s cooler climate, Taiwan offers much more humidity so cycling around isn’t always practical.
Still for fitness I aim to get on the Trucker 2-3 times a week at least and cycle around exploring Taiwan.
My ride a 2008 Surly Long Haul Trucker complete that’s equipped for commuting. It’s nearly completely stock but I have modified it a bit. Currently it’s running:
- Brooks B-17 saddle
- SKS P45 mudguards
- Busch and Muller S6 dynamo
- Busch and Muller Lumotec Plus front dynamo light
- Busch and Muller Toplight XS Plus rear dynamo light
- TopPeak Super Tourist Rack
- Delta Airzound 2 115db airhorn
Life in Taiwan
Life in Taiwan is an ongoing experience and rather then develop your standard travel blog I’ve decided to put my own spin on it.
Writing about life in Taiwan from the inside so to speak my aim is to cover Taiwan from the mindset of someone here for the long haul, as opposed to being on holiday.
Sure there’s lots to see and do but I found most of the stuff written about Taiwan was very city specific. With only about 1/5th of Taiwan’s population actually living in cities there’s a whole lot more to explore on this beautiful island.
Stick around and join me on my journey through Taiwan. Thanks for stopping by.
June 19th, 2009 at 2:07 pm fairbloodydinkum(Quote)
G’day….I like the idea of your site…dinkum stuff..
August 10th, 2009 at 6:46 pm Chris(Quote)
Hi Oz
As you know, I quote like your blog and writing style.
Just wondering, how come my Avatar pic thing is always pink?
Can I change it? Also it would be cool for us to be able to “quote” other comments or parts of your article like you can.
Keep up the good work mate.
August 10th, 2009 at 10:54 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Thanks for the feedback Chris.
The avatars on OzSoapbox are hosted by Gravatar (you’ll notice they are clickable). Basically it’s a global avatar bound to your email address. They are quite well known on WordPress blogs and I’m happy to reccomend them (they won’t do anything dodgy with your email address).
Simply head over to http://gravatar.com and signup. You’ve reminded me I need to fix mine up at somepoint as the bottom is cut off
.
Quoting can be done via < .blockquote.>text< ./blockquote.> (without the ‘.’) but yeah it’s a pain in the arse and not very intuiative. You’ve given me some stuff to work on next weekend, I’ll try to code in a blockquote button off the comment box so you can just copy and paste comments in as well as adding a note about the Gravatars. I’m also going to spend some time implementing a search feature too.
Again thanks for the feedback it’s always good to hear how I can make the site more user friendly.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:27 pm Jenny(Quote)
Love the idea of the quoting feature being made easy to use. Am very new to contributing on sites like this, so the easier the better. Have seen how popular quoting is from whirlpool, so being able to do it here too would be great.
August 16th, 2009 at 9:48 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Ok I’ve implemented a quote system which seems to work, you just need to click the quote button on the bottom right of every comment you want to quote.
If you don’t want to quote the entire comment simply edit it out the text you don’t want quoting.
I’ve also added a search function through google which I’m not 100% happy with as the search results seem a bit hokey.
Google searches the entire page, including what’s on the sidebars which might not be relevant to the article. I also can’t turn off the massive ads with search (the ones I already use on the site are enough I feel).
I might look at implementing the native search at a later stage. Had enough code for one weekend
.
August 16th, 2009 at 10:26 am Rod(Quote)
Just testing.
August 16th, 2009 at 11:29 am Martin(Quote)
It works!!
August 16th, 2009 at 11:57 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Hey you all sound surprised! Of course it works, geez you don’t think I’d have tested it before going live?
GUYS!
August 16th, 2009 at 12:16 pm Rod(Quote)
Just testing
August 16th, 2009 at 1:32 pm Martin(Quote)
Oz. Hope you’re ok with posting this link.. the guys at whirlpool are rallying to the cause: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1206044&r=20377795#r20377795
August 20th, 2009 at 8:37 am Citizen-D(Quote)
Any chance of getting comment previews (perhaps something like the following – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/live-comment-preview/)?
August 20th, 2009 at 10:11 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Sure I’ll have a look at it on the weekend, also planning on installing a plugin to make comment formatting a bit easier too (bold, italics) etc.
August 24th, 2009 at 7:58 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Ok I’ve implemented comment preview and it seems to work ok enough.
The comment doesn’t align properly in the preview but I’m kinda not sure how to fix that without playing with the plugin itself and that’s a bit beyond me.
It also can be a bit fiddly with updating like when you hit the quote button it might take a sec to show below, other then that seems to be working. Let me know if there’s any problems.
Enjoy!
August 25th, 2009 at 12:18 am Chris(Quote)
Sweet. Maybe now I will proof read my post before hitting the button.
An edit option may come in handy too… just an off-the-cuff suggestion.
September 17th, 2009 at 4:58 pm another douglas(Quote)
Hi Oz,
Been following for a while – good reads. Is there anyway wehn we come back to follow up on stories, that we can see how many additional comments there are since lat visit?
Keep up the good work.
Cheers
September 18th, 2009 at 1:37 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Gday Douglas, I think that might be beyond the scope of WordPress to deliver. You can subscribe to a post which will then email you when additional comments have been made. I think it emails you for each comment, annoying if it’s a busy thread but gives you an idea of how many new comments there are.
October 7th, 2009 at 2:52 am Torpedogirl(Quote)
Have you heard the latest? Finally some justice. Shellay Ward’s ‘mother’ sentenced to life for murder for deliberately starving poor little Shellay to death.
October 7th, 2009 at 9:02 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Hey Torpedogirl I certainly have, infact I even wrote about it!
October 25th, 2009 at 7:10 pm Stephen McBride(Quote)
Hi there,
I’m not sure if you’d like to use this in any further columns in regard to the topic / article of my brothers death (Edward McBride – Suicide)
I’m at work and stumbled across this.. You may find it interesting ??
http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/McBride_Findings_Final.pdf
Also, I sent a very blunt email to the Scientology, I’ll probably get a restraining order put up against me, but basically just said I’m going to blow this thing wide open (not literally !!) with going to A Current Affair / 60 minutes / Today Tonight / National newspapers..
PS:- I was trying to find a “contact me” option on your website to email the above (like I said, I’m at work and cant access my Gmail account – prohibited) – so I didn’t know your email address..
Regards,
Steve McBride
October 25th, 2009 at 10:30 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Sorry mate I don’t have a email form setup, just the mailto link off the nav bar on the right.
Co-incidentally I’ve had that very link open on my desktop now since Friday. It’s a lot to digest!
I wouldn’t mind a copy of the email if possible (understandable if it’s not). Although we didn’t start off on the best of terms, I’m glad we’re on the same page now as to who’s responsible.
I simply cannot believe the gall of this mob shipping off evidence to the US and then claiming nothing in there was relevant.
October 25th, 2009 at 10:42 pm motiv8dan(Quote)
i read all the info in the link as well, very weird behavior..
November 1st, 2009 at 8:09 am Mezza(Quote)
Hi Oz,
Have been seeing the advertising for McHappy day that’s coming up soon, and had the same thought that i have each year…. Curious to know what sort of profit McDonalds makes on thses days. The ads are basically “look how great and socially responsible we are “..but actually only $1/big Mac is passed on. Who only goes in and buys that?? I’m willing to bet that on the McHappy Day Saturdays, McDonalds profit are more than any other Saturday. I’m glad that the charity gets lots of money, but cheesed that it likely doesnt cost the multinational at all, and in fact they get more profit for that day.
End rant
Cheers Mezza
November 1st, 2009 at 12:00 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
McDonalds aren’t silly, they easily make more then $1 on a BigMac and I think the retail price is pushing what, $4-5 standalone for the burger and $5.50 for a small meal?
The $1 would easily be offset by an increase in sales and the fact that the franchises are pretty much cash cows anyway. With or without the charity donation I’d imagine McDonalds would be able to take the $1 hit in profit.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:29 pm Citizen-D(Quote)
Death threats, cults and pyramid schemes chasing you, links on Lifehacker – congrats on the growth of this little blog Oz!
November 4th, 2009 at 10:50 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Thanks for the support D. It’s been a challenging few weeks to say the least.
November 11th, 2009 at 2:29 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
I’ve been playing around with the ‘related posts’ plugin and have made some changes.
Hopefully the results picked now will be more relevant to the article being published rather then just being the most recent posts in that particular category.
Some of the related results might be off if I haven’t posted about a topic so a bit of randomness is to be expected.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:31 pm Robyn Grigorovitch(Quote)
Hi,
Great site. It is because of all the Liberty League stuff I got to know of you as I was caught up in that major $ loss. Great job there because it stopped me putting any more money into it thanks.
Anyway, when I was reading your OzSoapbox site in mid October a link down the side appeared for ACACIA Berries and their weight loss advantage, etc. I clicked on it and ordered “Free” samples of the product for a small $2.00 P&H fee. I have never received any samples but my credit card has been charged over $270 via 8 different transacions in a 3 week period related to this initial “FREE” trial offer! I have disputed the charges at the bank and they are following up however, they suggested I contact the company and formally cancel whatever it is they think they have. This is easier said than done because I have no documentation for the companies charging my credit card so no contact detaiks however, in my google attempts to track down the companies I have been directed to a site called http://www.canyoutrustthem.com
WELL – I was amazed as there are a heap of people all telling the same story about signing up for a ‘FREE’ sample offer at extremely small P&H costs and then within weeks being charged repeatedly on their credit cards with no recourse from the banks for various reasons. Apparetly the small print says if you do not cancel within 14 dys you will be charged the full amount for the samples but do have 30 days after that to still request a refund. Well, it seems no-one is getting any refunds and most have no recourse for getting their extra charges back as they never formally cancelled with the cmpany – the company who claims payment under several different names – Beauty Sculpt/Get Stronger/ E Health/ Trading Planet to name but a few. As I have never received the FREE samples my 14 days can’t have started yet but letting them know that is proving impossible! I would like to start a topic to warn other aussies about this but sorry – this illiterate computer mind of mine can’t figure out how to get a topic started on your site. Can you please advise me how to do that and also, can you advise if you have any posts already lsted under the above names I mentioned? I am happy to add to them if there is one.
Love the site, you lierally saved me thousands with Liberty League / Polaris so please keep it going – don’t give it way when you go off to Thailand – we need it!
Robyn
November 16th, 2009 at 9:51 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Sorry to hear that Robyn! Hopefully your bank clears a cashback soon, I’d keep pressing them until they do. If you’re being billed by companies you’ve never heard of or had direct dealings with that’s extremely dodgy.
I’m always weary of any ‘free’ products being offered on the condition of you giving up some sort of debit details. As you’ve found out usually this means you have to cancel something later down the track or you get charged a subscription fee of some sort.
OzSoapbox is run as a blog and as such there isn’t the functionality for readers to write their own articles as such. I had a look into Beauty Sculpt and this site in particular is a real eye opener.
Might be worth contacting Adsense over too if they’re still carrying this company as an advertiser.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:58 am Galima Akhmadullina(Quote)
Hello!
My name is Galima and I am a producer on the Russian nation wide TV-channel. I found your blog very interesting and would like to offer you to comment on your post about scientology. We are making a feature for our evening news and would like to record your short (just 1 minute) comment on the subject. Here you can see how it looks – http://www.youtube.com/user/zvezdanews#g/c/F746C716DC95DF38
PLease, let me know if you are available. Thank you for considering this idea
November 19th, 2009 at 8:25 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
OzSoapbox on the Russian news?!
At first I thought this was typical Russian spam but after watching some of those videos I’m not so sure.
Ah well I can always mark it as spam later if it turns out to be. In any case I’ve left you an email let’s see what happens.
November 23rd, 2009 at
[...] I was contacted by Galima Akhmadullina from Zvezda News. My name is Galima and I am a producer on the Russian [...]
December 22nd, 2009 at 1:08 pm john(Quote)
The cycle is very good though,Real Cheapie,
February 9th, 2010 at 6:52 pm Anthony(Quote)
Hey.. reading your blog in google reader causes some if not most images to display this.
http://ozsoapbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ozsoapbox-godaddy-archive-300×285.jpg
February 9th, 2010 at 7:25 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Uh really? The only post that should be using that image is the One year review post.
Did you just subscribe today, maybe Google reader had a random screw up reading the feed (?)
February 9th, 2010 at 7:52 pm Anthony(Quote)
Yeah.. just subscribed today. I stopped reading after the 4th or article came up with that image. I’ll check it again, hopefully it’s gone.
February 9th, 2010 at 7:57 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Sorry about that mate. Hope it’s not a permanent problem with the feed, so far nobody else has mentioned any problems.
Might be worth unsubscribing and resubscribing? Again sorry about the inconvenience, let me know if it’s still doing it when I publish tommorow.
July 25th, 2010 at 2:35 am Richard(Quote)
Hi ozsoapbox,
My name is Richard and I’m the site admin for Cruisy, (http://www.cruisy.com.tw) a brand new website for English speakers living in Taiwan. It is up and running and inviting Taiwan bloggers to contribute. At present this offer is only open to WordPress bloggers, so I really welcome you to try it out.
The overall aim of the Cruisy website is to give people living in Taiwan a place to read and comment on the latest of Taiwan blogs, browse and comment on Taiwan Flickr photos, and catch up on international news.
If you decide to become a contributor, there would be plenty of links through to your site and all links in your blog entries (including comments) would remain in tact. Featured blog entries will be promoted on the homepage, other pages throughout the site, and through the site’s facebook page.
How do you contribute your blog? Just register and click the “Yes, I want to contribute” button and, once your blog has been approved, your blog entries will automatically be grabbed and displayed as an article on Cruisy. And if, for any reason, you find it’s not right for you, you can just hit the “No, I don’t want to contribute button” on the user profile page at any time.
You can read more about becoming a contributor at http://www.cruisy.com.tw by clicking the contributor link at the bottom.
I’d be interested to hear what you think!
Regards,
Richard Lovell
Cruisy Site Administrator
July 27th, 2010 at 1:29 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Hey Richard,
I had a look and was immediately put off by the front page displaying nothing but syndicated newstories tha that had nothing to do with Taiwan. I know the site is new and everything but you’re going to have to put in a lot more effort if you want to compete with Taiwanderful, Forumosa and Tealit.
Combining third party blog posts with syndicated irrelevant world news isn’t going to cut it if you want Cruisy to go anywhere as a website.
August 11th, 2010 at 2:11 am Richard(Quote)
Thanks for the constructive feedback (ouch!). I can see your point about the front page.
My plan is to gradually fill it out with Taiwan content, but it’s slow going. I’ve started with a Featured Blog subsection on the front page and I’m going to introduce a buy and sell section in the coming days, which will show latest items for sale on the front page.
After that, I plan to add a discussions section and a few others like jobs, which will also have subsections on the front page. Hopefully, this will break things up a bit and not make the international content so overwhelming.
You’re right about competing with the more established sites in Taiwan – it’s not easy to get started, but all I can do is try!
Cheers,
Richard
August 12th, 2010 at 4:23 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
No worries mate, my aim wasn’t to offend but just to be to the point about it. Glad you’re appreciative of the fact that success (if it happens) won’t occur overnight.
I myself only have been blogging about Taiwan for a few months and know it’s going to take a few years before I develop enough content to be an authority on blogging about Taiwan.
Good luck with the site, you’ve definitely got some stiff competition to compete with (Tealit and Forumosa probably being your two biggest established rivals).