About time. Adding Myself to Technorati

Wondered why I took so long to do this. Been tied up with the business for so long. But us bloggers need all the help we can. So here's goes.

Technorati Profile

3 Wraps up deal with Skype

The UK's 3G network 3 have finally sewn up a deal with Skype, by providing cheap budget handsets with built in Skype. Skype has been available on Windows powered smartphones for some time now for the geeks, but this new deal brings free internet calls to the masses. So no more need for miss calling, "call me back" texts, or "are you on T-Mobile" from your cheap skate dry bread friends.

Mobile Revolution in Africa

The mobile has been sweeping across the plains and towns of Africa for some time now. Mobile networks have been over taking stagnant infrastructure development and trailblazing how business, commerce and grass roots politics can be done. Much the same way as in the Caribbean and elsewhere in the world. Paul Mason from BBC's NewsNight explores the story of Africa's mobile revolution and how it's transforming people's lives.

Blogger.com on Opera. Arrgghh!

Forgive me for the misleading image. This isn't a comparison piece on the pro's and cons of the respective blogging platform, but precisely the pain I suffered using Google's Blogger on my favourtie browser Opera.

Without risking the need for another comparison piece here (maybe for another day), I've been flirting with Opera since 2001, after a Norwegian colleague introduced me to it's ferocious speed. I must admit I was blown away back then, but for some reason never switched over completely. Even so, it was usually on my handheld device or as a second or third browser lurking somewhere in the background. Well I finally switched over from IE to FireFox completely last year after playing with it off and on for years. However, even on the gorgeous Mac OS X Tiger, Open Source heaven FireFox is not. So many crashes, freezes, go slows and hang ups, hair pulling and cursing my poor ISP for something which is totally not their fault. Thus despite it's Open Source heritage, FireFox has become more bloated than even it's Microsoft rival. More like SloFox or FatFox. So after yet another umpteenth crash, I returned to my Norwegian friends and the cool embrace of Opera. Ahhh, solace at last. Well so I thought.

Opera runs like a dream. The only issue I've encountered thus far, is when logging into Blogger.com via my Google accounts. First few tries I kept getting a strange refresh after seeing a white rectangle in the top right hand corner of Blogger's front page. After a few clicks I was forced to sign in again to Blogger after already signing into Google Accounts. things got worse when I changed my Opera cookie settings to "only accept from sites I visit". Then no matter what I did, Blogger.com would just not accept my login attempts. I then came across this post after a Google search and changed my cookie settings back to "accept all sites" - which I don't like, but going back to that little white rectangle, I could see some almost invisible white text teling me to "continue here". I clicked and I was in. Well shame. Hope it gets fixed sometime soon, together with the odd Ebay on Opera interface issue. Small price to pay for bullet train browsing, or major security headache? Whatever, I'm gonna persevere as it's much less headache than FatFox.

Simply Sublime: Bye Bye Thierry. Thanks for the memories...

Not much to say on this one. The images speak for themselves. I'll only add that I watched Barcelona a few times already this season and watched them against Rangers just before the Arsenal game. Yup Henry's problem seems to be Arsenal's problem a while back. Barca play it narrow and like to walk the goals. No matter how good you are, sometimes that way just doesn't work. Henry loves space and he's not getting it in Barca's game. Now he's gone the young Gunners have grown up and our game is more varied. It's like the best of the Henry Arsenal with the speed and power of the Anelka/Overmars Arsenal.

I'm getting my wallet out!

Geek out! We gotcha! Or thinking out loud. I'm sure you're not interested...

My mate Dave has been loyal to the Sony Ericsson camera phone line, ever since I introduced him to the old T610 way back when in 2002. and stuck with almost every one right through to the K series. Now he's on the hunt for a new one and was looking for the ultimate. So much so, he almost got swayed by the Nokia N95. Despite me telling him to forget it and just buy a camera, as he never answers his phone anyway, he finally came to his senses and decided he wanted as he put it, "a camera that can be a phone if I switch it on. The 850i is a match made in heaven." So he and Sony Ericsson are back together again and he's happy as Larry.

My mission for the ultimate or most suitable mobile companion has been always more complicated and painful. Finding the perfect balance between form, function and productivity has never been easy. Gadget for gadget's sake, has never been my cup of tea either. So here's my reply to David when he told me the good news.

Well David my old mate. Didn't tell you I've been gadget hunting myself. I've got my W880i and whilst I love it for the slimness and okay MP3 playback my sausages can't hack the tiny keys. Apart from that it's a great multimedia phone with some good PDA functionality, but due to the data entry issue doesn't quite get the balance right. So my main gripe is data entry. I decided that a phone screen is not ideal for lengthy data input even with a portable bluetooth keyboard, so it's best to use the phone just as a note/ideas jotter. Not for full blown productivity. So in that case all you need is a powerful multimedia phone with a good keypad rather than a full PDA phone, as you can never get full productivity with such small screens.

My short list was the HTC Touch, Motorola Q9H, Sony Ericsson W960i, and the Nokia E90 and N95 (after you mentioned it) for all of 5 minutes. I'm a Nokia traitor now, so there's bad blood there straight away and although I have sentimental attachment to the E90 due to it's Psion EPOC heritage, the issue of restricted productivity looms it's ugly head again. Essentially, why buy a phone/notebook for the price of a brand new top of the range laptop, when you can buy a cut down notebook for a third of the price. The Nokia E90 retails from £500 to £600 plus. So go figure. You can get cut down Linux machines or second hand laptops for much less these days. In any case, I may be geek under my skin, but I don't want to walk around and shout to the world about it.

Crossed off the Q9H, as it's two Blackberry-ish. There'll be too much temptation for heavy typing and I've already got a RSI problem. Tried and just finished testing the HTC Touch, and being Microsoft it's buggy as hell. Hangs every minute for the smallest of tasks and can't take the slightest of abuse let alone heavy usage (forgot to mention that to the next guy I sold it too, oh well). Shame as Skype and Google Maps on Wi-Fi was fun for all of 5 minutes.

All my experiences keep compounding the fact that a phone is not ideal for full productivity. Try editing a Excel spreadsheet or Powerpoint presentation on a phone, or simply sourcing and referencing items when writing. So occasional quick emails, texts, notes/ideas jotting I think is the ideal scenario for me, together with some good multimedia capabilities such as MP3 playback and a so so snapshot camera. Don't need anything grand like your beloved K850i, I've got my Casio for that. Yes they make much more than just calculators and watches. So that leaves me with the W960i, with it's 8GB built in memory for MP3's and 3.2 megapixel camera and decent keypad. However, it's not available till December and I can't wait that long too test a phone only to feel it's not for me. So my search brings me full circle to Motorola!

I left them after a whirlwind affair way back in those heady days of the mid 90s. StarTac was her name and she did everything I wanted back then, but had no staying power. After that was the many years of Nokia's corporate gloom, until Samsung and Sony Ericsson got their act together and brightened things up. Now Motorola are tempting me back with this killer - the RIZR Z8 or Jason Bourne banana phone! Yes I eyed her a while back during the recent movie hype, but thought her to be another one of Motorola's quirky glitzy all fur coat and no knickers kind of girls, so stayed well out of it, as any decent gentleman would. Well wadduya know, I saw her in a symbian top phones line up whilst searching for the P1i. She looked good and for some reason something told me to check her out later. Well it kept niggling at me and I finally did after your email. After viewing the demo video I fell in love. We're not together yet but soon my friend, soon. Then we can all go out together in a foursome.

Motorola's new line up. Worth a look. Finally, a very good RIZR Z8 review. Beware serious geek alert!

Jena 6 Update: Yo' Fiddy Where are you man?

Ironic that roughly 40 years ago black Americans fought, marched and struggled for liberty, justice and human rights. For what? To "booty pop it, smack that bitch up, show my rims, where's my money ho" in another sad MTV Bass video? Where are these super powered African-Americans when some innocent kids needed them? I'll shut up, as I think Mos Def says it all, but times are really strange these days. When we had nothing, we would share our last sip of brew. Now we got so much money, we can't share nut'n.

Source

Lucky Dube - 'Jah Jah Son' Dies

Sad to hear early this morning about the sudden death of one of `South Africa's favourite sons. Lucky Dube was killed in a car-jacking after dropping his children off in Johannesburg around 8pm on Thursday evening.

Much loved by his fellow South Africans, I'm sure he will be thought of at tomorrow's world cup Rugby final against England.

For me Dube was one of those many African artists who adopted Jamaican reggae music as their own and helped spread the true message of reggae across the continent. By doing so, they inadvertently helped bridge the gap between Jamaica and the motherland, Africa.

Born outside Johannesburg in 1964, Dube was named "Lucky" by his mother because he was the first child to be born after several failed pregnancies.

Dube started singing in 1982, joining a band playing Mbaqanga, or traditional Zulu music. It was only later that he began recording reggae tracks as a solo singer, but the genre was to dominate and define the remainder of his career.

Source

Budgie Poppers

Thought I was going mad recently after spotting parrots flying nearby on a regular basis. Finally discovered their roost not too far from home. Whether global warming encouraged migration or escaped domestic birds, I don't know, but they look very much at home here in the UK.

Well after hearing this one on Radio 5 had to just see it to believe as thought this was just too much. A bird that bops too the Back Street Boys. You're kidding right? No. Well check him out for yourself, and while you're at it, spare a donation for his feathered friends at the rescue centre.

May you live in interesting times

My how apt this ancient phrase feels these days. I've been enjoying a series of films and documentaries BBC's Newsnight has been showing recently on democracy around the world and China. All the programmes possess common themes of change, upheaval and uncertainty in what seems like a tumultuous world right now. Ironic that the BBC itself is facing dramatic upheaval as it shows the films with the threat of the axing of 2500 jobs in a revolutionary cost cutting move to haul the institution into the 21st century.

Watching one of the China films I can't help but appreciate my fortune by being born just a few years later in England so that I didn't have to wait back in Jamaica like my brother. Xiao Zhang's little girl doesn't fare so well as I did, as her mother follows the 150 million migrants to China's coastal boom towns to seek a new life for herself and her family.

China: White Horse Village

White Horse Village - part one

White Horse Village - part two

Return to White Horse Village

Villagers Fight Redevelopment


Why Democracy?

Why Democracy? Japan

Why Democracy? Bolivia

Vote for me: Democracy in a Chinese classroom [watch]

Why Democracy? Kenya

Why Democracy? Pakistan