Not So iPod Touch Heaven

This guy really needs to take a chill pil and take stock of things. Kill the arrogance and start listening to your customers. Says me, one definitely pissed customer right now.

Well there I was last weekend mosing around London town when I decided to pop into the Apple store on Regent street, just to see what the latest was. The guys in the genius bar told me they knew nothing about any upcoming plans for the Touch or iPhone, and they were geniuses! It said so on their t-shirts! They added that even when Lord Steve visits them they are not permitted in his presence, and they have to leave the store. I asked if he was God, they told me it seems so. In any case, they advised me to at least stick with my original plan and don't hack the device just yet, as this would void my warrantly and the new third party apps will require official certificates. I left somewhat a little bemused.

Anyway, a couple days later I check Google Reader to discover that a new update is available for the Touch. Entitled version 1.1.3, it enables movie and TV programme buying via the iTunes store for later viewing on the Touch. In addition you require this version in order to add the new mail and weather apps etc, but wait for it, at a fee of $20. That's £12.99 to us Brits. Yes I heard you gasp, so did many journalists at Apple's keynote speech when Jobsy announced it. Aparently, he still kept a straight face. It seems the price may have something to do with Apple's accounts reporting. Some complex Sarbanes-Oxley compliancy or whatever.

Well like all the other poor sods (sucker for the Yanks) out there I handed over the cash, only to get a few apps, and a customisable home screen that jiggles like jelly. You wonder why, well I still cherish that warranty, the only reason why I haven't hacked the damn thing yet. So I plan to persevere for the next few months until Steve shaft's me proper next time.

What you get? A pretty cool mail app that can support IMAP, but no landscape browsing or search. It's a shame as Google's mobile web offering is pretty cool now, with full optimisation for iPod Touch and iPhone screens. In consolation, the beauty of the Touch email client is that you can switch off the WiFi and still read email, which is a must as WiFi eats battery power like a cookie monster. So not that bad, but would have been much happier if it were free Steve!!!

Tune Out, Switch Off, and Drop Out

I know what the original guy meant when he said, "tune in, turn on and drop out", but these days it seems we are tuning in to the wrong points. Yeah those all prevalent devices that dominate our lives like futuristic demons. You can really view this as one man's version of hell where human contact can only be mediated via a device or some artificial interface.

Getting the so called 'balance' right is not easy. I've managed to claw back precious time by remembering old work habits before the digital age. That is to always work in batches of tasks or windows as I like to call them. This way you ignore the incessant stream of mail and phone interuptions and return to a more civilized and sedate mode of work a la the ancient answer machine way. Yes remember those days when you got on with your life and actually talked face to face to people and got home to be greeted by those reassuring little LEDs. Then you'd put aside 30 minutes or so to catch up with messages and friends. Great unh? Well here's a nice piece from a fellow blogger telling you how to do much the same.

BBC iPlayer: Wonderful Idea. Horrible Implementation

Have been using the Beeb's iPlayer now for some time, and whilst it fits with my 'on demand' viewing preferences, it is still not totally bereft of issues.

I started digging around trying to find where all these huge downloads were saved and came across a mysterious folder I had not seen before called "Kontiki". So the BBC is using some third party malware ridden P2P client! Horror of all horrors! And there I was all snug and cosy wrapped in Aunty Beeb's false sense of security. Apart from Data Protection issues, I suggest to anyone that runs this to check there settings, as this bloatware and seriously damage your bandwidth health in addition to leaving maliscious malware lurking on your little PC. Check this piece.

Visions of the Future

BBC 4 is launching string theorist Dr. Michio Kaku's "Visions of the Future" this week in which he explores the possibilites that technology presents for humankind in the not so distant future.

Already technology has been altering our culture and behaviour, particularly through the mobile phone and internet, so just what impact will the technology of the future have on the way we live and interact with each other? This quote from Prof Rodney Brooks of Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the scariest in that the line between human and machine may become so blurred, who can tell whether the machine is more human than the person? Was that being born human or machine? Will we care?

"As a species, we are starting to put our information-processing technology inside our bodies – we're becoming a little more robotic. At the same time, our technologies are becoming more biological. Over the next 50 years, we'll see robots with more biological components and people with more electronic components"

Tiger Tiger Burning Bright

As I sauntered into my sanitised local Tesco the other day, and spotted another alarming story on the front cover of the Independent. No not another sensationalist racial story, but this time a very scary environmental piece. The fate of the Indian Tiger. The story read that India's current Tiger population could be as low 1300, which conservationists say is just unsustainable.

When such a symbol of nature in all it's glory passes into the pantheon of formerly extinct species, what does this mean for us? Probably an increasingly sanitised Tesco experience, and not a furry friend in site. Hey no worry, I'll be all nice and cosy and totally detached from the outside world, in my Tesco house, with my Tesco electric car, watching the Tesco news on my Tesco branded TV. Paranoia you say? Well right now, I'm sure you've must have noticed what's going on down your local high street, and I'm writing this on my Apple MacBook, with my Google Blogger account, on my Orange broadband who also provide both my mobile and landline services. I once suggested to a friend the prospect of a T-Mobile branded home and he laughed. Well it's starting. The future's arrived, and I'm scratching my head right now, looking a little lost and confused.

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.

The Seductiveness of the Internet: Or how not to get caught in the Web

No I'm not promoting anyone's book, but this guy Andrew Keen is pretty much interested in the same things as me. Namely, the impact of the internet and wider technology on our culture and society. However, where I generally see both the positives of empowerment of the masses and the negatives of disconnection and dumbing down, Keen seems to promote a pretty hopeless picture, where authoritative integrity (if there was such a thing) is swept aside by the tide of individual opinions.

Whereas much of his argument is sound, I find it hard to wholeheartedly agree, as I feel the challenge of traditional business models a refreshing thing, since now the dis-empowered no longer have to face those old barriers to entry. Now anyone with an idea can put it out there, and in doing so, challenge the status quo. Thus, new forms of power are created which exist outside of the traditional's dynamic.

The internet or more generally, technology, is a good thing, if only we understand it's power and learn to shape it, rather than allow it to shape ourselves.

How to sync Google Calendar, W880i and MacBook

I've promised myself I'd post my first 'How To' one of these days, but it's late right now and I can't be arsed. Sorry. But I'll come back to it one of these days. Meantime I'll just post some useful links where you can find the relevant info, rather than wasting your precious free time trawling through the web like I did. Imagine what you can do with all that time saved. Here goes, and this should work for other Java enabled phones as well.

1. Subscribe to Google Calendar
First we want to get our Google Calendar events and the kids at Google let you do this via RSS. Read these links here & here and you should have Google Calendar (gCal) in your MacBook's iCal (gCal in me iCal?) by the end of it.

2. Get the Mac iSync Plugin for the Sony Ericsson W880i
You'll need a little plugin. That's a little piece of software that plugs right in. Sorry it's late and I get like this when tired. So, oh yes, you'll need the plugin to allow iSync to talk to your sexy and svelte W880i. For the show offs and brave among us they can try all the pain and hacking here. For those like me who believe in working smarter not harder (in other words can't be arsed) then try here.

3. Sync W880i with iSync
Finally you simply pair the W880i or Java enabled phone with iSync, specify your settings (Contacts etc) and sync away. For those of you porting from Windows then you can check here. Or if you're porting without MS Outlook, you can use that little ancient piece of software in the Windows Accessories folder called Address Book to import your old phone contacts as vCards. Then you can import these into the Mac's Address Book application. Nifty eh? ;-) There are so many old pieces of tiny software that can make things a little less painful, but we don't use them as they're always tucked away and forgotten just like old toys from yesteryear. Better stop, getting poetic.

You can also use the above link to sync your iTunes playlists with your W880i using iTuneMyWalkman. So bin that iPod and brick of a phone and welcome to SE W880i nirvana. Device convergence eat your heart out.

* If you want to use your phone as a bluetooth modem for your Mac then check here.
* For those porting from Yahoo PIM check here and here.

That's enough to be getting on with for now folks. Man you are a demanding bunch. Next time I'll show you how to make an omelette using a bluetooth phone. Did I say I was tired?

Gonna Get My Spidey Suit

I recall sometimes musing about why it almost always rained on Sundays in Bristol, England and why can't they make an invisible suit? Why I don't know, but I didn't understand the difficulty in doing so or why my partner at the time could not see the connection with pollution and the local weather patterns. Well all the above have been proved to be possible and now the Journal of Physics is talking about utilising the natural technology of Geckos and Spiders to build a suit that will allow us to do everything a Spider can, just like our favourite neighbourhood Web Slinger.

Thus far, the only practical application the boffins can think of is cleaning windows. Just wonder what additional voyeuristic advantages this will give to our humble window cleaner.

Scrumping and the moral question of free Wi-Fi

There was once a time not so long ago that despite being frowned upon, nicking apples from your neighbour's tree didn't receive such a severe reprimand. You would possibly get a clip round the ear for trespassing or even have to endure the shame of going round to do odd jobs for the old granny whose apples you had scrumped. Things would not be so bad, and you might get a piece of apple pie and a few pearls of wisdom from old Mrs. Davis from number 23. It seemed like a good trade. She got her place cleared up and some company, and you gained something in your moral development. After all, people may have been particular about trespassing on their property, but feelings were pretty moderate as this was a time we still left our doors open.

Fast forward to 2007 and a new kind of scrumping is sparking moral debate. Wi-Fi freeloading or line phreaking. Call it what you will, the issue seems to be the same as every other technological impact on society. Namely, the issue that the technology is far ahead of our social norms and current laws. Until the outcome of the moral debate in the meantime it would be good to ensure the following:

• Ensure only your computer can access your network
• Use a secure key to restrict data being 'sniffed' over the air
• If you see your internet L.E.D. going like crazy whilst your mac or pc is off then you know you've got problems

Happy surfing. I hope I haven't increased any paranoia here. I feel like having an apple now. ;)

Tech Hell: when did these tiny pieces of plastic become so indispensable?

Seriously considering buying a BlackBerry to meet the increasing demands of the business, and to capture all those fleeting thoughts and ideas. Maybe the BlackBerry 8800, since it appears to tick all the right boxes. But with my penchant for marathon MacBook sessions, will I succumb to information overload or device fetishisation?

I am not sure if we all would feel the same pain as poor Dennis Kneale, Managing Editor of Forbes magazine, but particularly for those urbanites amongst us, if you lost your treasured cellphone, you'd probably get that initial feeling of disconnection that you just never used to feel. My how times have changed?