The camera is certainly a bit larger and heavier than it looks from a distance, but housed within the slightly oversized shell are some pretty good optics and some snappy performance.

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That's a bit like poor old Philippines Long Distance Telephone, who gets hosed every time someone logs onto Pldt.com, which turns out to be Notquitepldt.com.

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Cultural distance, however, is a bit harder to kill, especially when company and customer are talking to each other on the telephone.

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The maths for working out the average distance to a rat is a bit rough and ready because rodents are not evenly spread.

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Matt Cullen, the President and COO of Rock Ventures LLC, and volunteer chief of the M1 coalition, explained that the additional plans, which nearly tripled the distance and cost, were a bit frivolous.

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I, being in the right lane, gun it a bit at the start in order to get some distance from the guy on my left.

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"I for one don't have a clear bit of wall space that is within easy viewing distance of my desk and keyboard, " notes Scuka.

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And you can actually tweak as well - that's charming worms from a distance with a long-handled fork, in case you're a bit squeamish of the worms, you don't have to get too close.

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Still, the floor-to-ceiling walls of windows offered a mesmerizing, if a bit gray and dreary, view of the Thames and the newly dwarfed skyline of Canary Wharf in the distance.

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