Moving In

I'll be moving in to my house in London tomorrow, and I'm probably not going to be on the internet until Sunday at the earliest. Just in case you are wondering where I am.

Personal Google

Fresh from the google labs (or at least this is the first time I've seen it), Google are going to make their homepage 'personalisable' if that is even a word...
You can view your GMail inbox, news and weather, stocks...and to top it all, you can add your own news/RSS feeds to the page. All you need is a GMail/Google account.
Clickety click here to have a look.

Sure this will mean that Google's* squeaky clean interface is now user corruptable, but still looks like a good way to get your 'must have' information on your favourite homepage.


* We'll have to start refering to the original Google as 'Google Search' or 'GSearch' as Google have expanded into so many different realms of the internet now. Like it or not, Google is the next emerging superpower, not China.

iPod Nano Spoof Video

iPod nano spoof video.

See here for the original.

MSN Adverts

Slots on Flickr

I think quality control at MSN Messenger is a bit relaxed at the moment. I just caught this unfortunate mistake today.

.Mac Updated

Finally, Apple have updated .Mac. Most notible features are:
Backup 3:

At last Backup is a decent competitor on the data backup market. Backing up multiple macs to the same iDisk will be my favorite feature I think, really useful if you have a iBook/Powerbook and a desktop iMac/Powermac.
The interface feels more like a real app, rather than some kind of Applescript front-end. There are also a lot more 'default' backup items for quick backups of common data, such as mail messages, app settings, keychains etc.

And my other favourite has to be...

iDisk:
The iDisk now has a 1GB 'minimum' size, so anyone with the 250mb iDisk now has 1GB to play with. Which brings .Mac to a level with other off-site disk providers. Sure it's not exactly a dedicated server, but the level of integration with the OS is unparalleled in any other service.




These were the only things I was waiting for, I've not had a chance to look at this new 'Groups' thing. Still, .Mac is now better value for money, which makes me happier for spending the money on it.

Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu Linux on Flickr

Sweet, my free Ubuntu Linux discs arrived today. 20 CDs shipped for free, awesome. I ordered 10 PC versions and 10 Mac (PowerPC) versions, each come with the install and live CDs in them.
Why don't more companies do this with their distributions? It's a great way to get them out there into the users hands.
Not sure how long these puppies took to come, I ordered them a good few weeks ago, but again, they are free so I'll forgive their tardiness.

Hey, wait...

I just saw a friend acting in a programme on BBC 1. One of those "Hey wait...isn't that..?" moments that makes you wait till the credits to find out if it really was them. Well it turns out it was him. Funny old world isn't it.

Blog Map

Just found this on another blog. Pretty novel use for online map technology, you enter your website/blog address, then enter your street address or you Lat/Longitude (I got mine from streetmap.co.uk), then it shows where you are and a link to where other bloggers in the area are.

[edit]I did have my own blogmap here, but had to remove it as it was making the page load funny. I guess it isn't that brilliant after all.[/edit]

Not sure if I'd put this on my blog as a permanent feature, as it may draw from the 'keep it simple stupid' mantra I've been living by recently with regards technology.


Now Playing in iTunes: Politik by Coldplay

ROKR

Is it just me, or do Apple seem to be forgetting that mobile phones have been playing MP3s for some time now?
My last two phones (Motorola MPx200 & Nokia 3260) have had full MP3 support, yet Apple are claiming this new ROKR ("Rocker") is some kind of revolution and brand spanking new innovation. Ahem...it's not.
Having a phone that syncs to iTunes is neat, but nothing to really go mad about.
When Apple design their own phone, then people will be impressed I'm sure. However the ROKR is horrible, I would have thought Apple and Motorola would come up with something like the RAZR V3 and promote that instead, which looks more like a modern phone.


This is better idea for getting music on your mobile. :-)

Vista Versioning

Paul just gave me this link. The article describes the 7 versions of Windows Vista that will be out sometime in 2006. Yes, 7 versions.

• Starter Edition
• Home Basic Edition
• Home Premium Edition
• Professional Edition
• Small Business Edition
• Enterprise Edition
• Ultimate Edition

Christ, that's just the client side, not the Server side.
Come on, Microsoft should be making it easier to get people who arn't that computer litterate to use computers. How do they expect that when people are stumped at the first hurdle of in-store questions of "Which of these pretty boxes do I need?".

Now Playing in iTunes: Never Let You Go by Third Eye Blind

A Weekend in London

Just spent the weekend in London sorting some stuff out before I move in to the new house in a fortnight's time.
On the house, we've really got a good-un down there. Three storeys high and located on Lillie Road, Fulham near West Brompton tube station. It's a stones throw away from the Earls Court Exhibition Centre and 25 minute's walk from Imperial. There is plenty of stuff around in the area too. A number of pubs in the immediate area as well as take-aways, cafes and shops. North End Road isn't that far for places like Iceland, HMV and all that. Fulham Broadway is not much further for cinemas, restaurants and the like.
I went for a Vietnamese meal with a housemate and his father. My first try at this cuisine, though I found it very similar to Chinese food but with just a bit of Thai influence. Maybe that is just the British 'take' on Vietnamese food, as is the case normally. After which the few of us who were in the house went to South Kensington to the Zetland Arms pub. This decision was met with some argument as the pub was 20 minutes away and expensive. Yet they do a good pint of Abbot Ale in there. We ended up in Covent Garden with a bunch of Americans that Charlie's friend Tim had found. Events led to us splitting with them and we attempted to get a bus home. The bus driver was a bit of a dick-head and ended up stopping the bus at South Kensington to have an argument with a passenger. We walked the rest of the way home, grabbing a burger on the way. This is what I've been missing over summer, freedom and just having fun rather than being at home or work.

Anyway, I also managed to sneak into the Apple Store on Saturday. I ended up with one of these:





Yes that is a 2GigaByte black iPod nano. £128 with the Higher Education discount. It is without doubt the coolest iPod Apple have made to date, if not the coolest thing they have ever made. It's small (see my latest Flickr photos) for more size-comparisons. As a flash-memory-drive thing it is great, and good value. The last check I did on Ebuyer.com put 2GB USB drives at £100-120, so getting a stylish one that is also an MP3 player...what beats it?
The colour screen is fab and the nano has all the features of a full iPod photo it would seem. So it's a great replacement for the Mini and was the only logical way forward really.
iTunes 5 did well filling it up. As I have more than 2GB of music, iTunes found my favourite artists by total songs, play count and ratings etc*, then puts a few of their albums on it up to 2GB.
The only problems so far are that it scratches too damn easily. I put it in my pocket with my Nokia 6230 for 30 minutes, took it out and it appeared the nano had lost the fight with several light scratches on the screen and black bodywork. Shame, but I'll invest in some of these polish/scratch remover things.
Another thing is they don't give you the wall-plug power brick like they did on the older iPods. Instead you charge via USB 2.0. You can buy one from the Apple store, and existing ones do work (I charged my nano using my old 3G iPod's charger). Still, if this was all because they wanted to put it in a smaller box, then shame on you Apple.

In short:
It's small, it's good value, it looks amazing, it sounds amazing, and it's an iPod.
Go figure, it's great.


* At least I assume this is what it did

Now Playing in iTunes: Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles

OK Apple

iTunes 5 on Flickr

What have you done with iTunes, this isn't iTunes. You must be hiding it somewhere.
The new iTunes 5 interface is terrible. I can't believe they dropped the brushed steel look for this.

iPod nano

The iPod nano is now on the Apple US and UK websites. It looks so cool. And tiny to boot. Costing £139 for the 2GB version and £179 for the 4GB version, no Higher Education discount as yet. However they do look good and may drop in price in a few months. By which time my 3rd Generation iPod will probably die.
One thing that puzzles me though, is why they release the iPod nano so soon after the iPod shuffle. I know that they have different purposes, but the iPod ranges have changed a lot this year, with the release of iPod Photos, then merging the lines. Now this? Will it be worth investing in an iPod now, or are they going to bring another one out as well?
I ask thee Apple, where is the sense?

Paul likes the black one, and I agree, it is the best of the two colours. So cool.

New iPod

Photo 60 on Flickr

This is Apple's new Mini-Mini-iPod. It's colour and I think it uses solid-state flash memory instead of hard drives...I want one, nay, I need one.

Additional: Typical, the Apple store is out of action too.

Vista Requirements

Nnamdi sent me this link today describing the requirements for Microsoft's upgrade to Windows XP, the underhyped Windows 'Vista'. More or less every low-to-mid-end computer system out now will be incompatible with it at some level, either with insufficient RAM, an incompatible graphics card or the fact that your spiffy new 20" TFT monitor will need to be binned if you plan to be watching movies on it in a few years time.

And people complained that Macs were expensive to buy. Thanks to Hollywood and Microsoft, Apple computers will only become more desireable, I predict anyway.

Flickrbooks

These look really cool. QOOP will take all your Flickr photos, a specific set or photos from a certain date. Then they print them on good quality paper! I've heard from a friend of a friend that they are pretty good quality. Plus they ship international.
Perfect gifts maybe? Or just a good way to present a portfolio to potential clients. We'll see.

Wanted

This thing is hilarious.

The Historian

The Historian on Flickr

I don't think I ever reviewed 'The Historian' by Elizabeth Kostova, though I feel I should.
This is possibly the single best novel I have read all year if not this millenium. Kostova's writing style is different yet compelling. She keeps you reading and makes it very difficult to find a chapter to end your nights reading on. Her descriptive style of writing, which can sometimes be seen as dragging on a bit, allows you to picture every scene with great detail so that when she switches to the action again, you can perfectly envision the action taking place.
The story beneith the writing is fantastic. A whole new take on vampire myth set in our recent history. You find yourself in a story where you are convinced that vampire's don't exist and it's all just a coincidence, but never knowing untill the end if your doubts are founded or not. All the time you are being whisked around Cold-War Europe following the stories told from a father to his daughter.
I once read somewhere that this book was the Da Vinci Code for intelligent people, and I must say it's true. The story can draw similarities to the Da Vinci Code's "cryptic mystery" genre, but adds a whole new depth to the style of writing and the attention to historic truths as possible. Kostova has really done her research on this. I feel I've learned more about the Ottoman Empire and 15th Century Romania than I have anywhere else.
An excellent read, I recommend it to anybody who likes a good story.

In short:
It's got Vampires, violence, mystery, romance, trains and torture in it. All splashed with a bit of history.
What's not to love?

See more reviews here:
The Historian

Listen and Act

Just listen to this interview with New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. How the man's voice and attitude changes from anger to a deperate plea to his nation is heartbreaking.