Undecided

MIT's Freaky Non-Stick Coating Keeps Ketchup Flowing

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:52:30 +0100

MIT's Freaky Non-Stick Coating Keeps Ketchup Flowing:

Why has it taken this long?

Black pudding sausage roll on Flickr. Benefit of working from...

Tue, 08 May 2012 13:27:00 +0100

Benefit of working from home sometimes.
Lunch was Nigel Slater’s Black pudding sausage roll (with onions inside too).
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00lr24f

Mmmm good!

Twelve Character Posters for The Expendables 2

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:15:43 +0100

Twelve Character Posters for The Expendables 2:

Excitement trails off towards the end.

Neil deGrasse Tyson - We Stopped Dreaming

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 16:31:00 +0000

Neil deGrasse Tyson - We Stopped Dreaming

Paddy Power - Chav Tranquilizer advert. For some reason this is...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:15:24 +0000

Paddy Power - Chav Tranquilizer advert. For some reason this is frowned upon.

Hollywood Still Hates You (Apple Outsider)

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:22:44 +0000

Hollywood Still Hates You (Apple Outsider):

Netflix US users will have to wait 56 days after DVD release for Warner Brothers Movies, including 28 days before adding them to their queue.

Also under this new deal, pirated movies remain free of charge, free of non-skippable ads, free of five-minute load times, and are now nearly three months ahead of the competition.

iTunes changed the music industry because it was more convenient than stealing.

You Have Downloaded - We show what you downloaded

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:02:50 +0000

You Have Downloaded - We show what you downloaded:

Online service showing how easy it can be for others to track your torrent downloading.

The other side of the argument

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:18:10 +0100

The other side of the argument

Rob's New iPhone Guide for non-geeks - Part 2

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 10:49:33 +0100

You can talk to it and it responds

Talking to it is the only way you can show off that you have the new one as it looks exactly the same

It probably still can’t understand a Scottish accent

"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact..."

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:23:53 +0100

“The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”

- President Obama

Rob's New iPhone Guide for non-geeks

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:58:25 +0100

It’s called iPhone 4S not 5

No there won’t be a 5 anytime soon

iPhone 4 is brilliant

S stands for speedier

You can talk to it

iPhone 5 or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the iPhone 4

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:44:00 +0100

Yesterday Apple announced an upgraded iPhone 4. Not a major redesign, ground breaking, revolutionary or *insert another over blown marketing term* device.

Was this surprise or let down? No. There were leaks and rumours, and little real evidence supporting a major revamp. Apple has done this before too iPhone 3G to 3GS (minor) to 4 (major). I wouldn’t be surprised if the iPad follows the same pattern although I don’t expect to see a major case redesign.

The iPhone 4 is a fantastic phone with the best screen I’ve used on a mobile device and camera that I’m happy to use as my only camera. The few complaints I have are mainly software related and a most of those are solved by iOS 5. From a phone hardware point of view I can think of these:

The you’re holding it wrong Antenna problem. You can get less signal strength when holding it a specific way. We heard about it a lot when first released and then everyone seem to stop caring. When wrapped in a case it’s not a problem so I had pretty much forgotten about it until I recently tried going without a case.
Battery life: I’m a heavy user with lots accounts syncing and regular network traffic. Battery life is a problem for all smartphones. We all want more battery sapping features without any performance hit.
Speed: some things can occasionally seem relatively slow and unresponsive. This is often a software problem and is sometimes more evident because so much of the iOS experience is fast and fluid. I’ve been told many Android phones are quite unresponsive all the time so I probably shouldn’t complain.
The glass back. When case-less the glass back is pretty but can be a little impractical. You become reluctant to put it down on potentially scratchy surfaces and mine seems to have gained a habit of sliding off the arms of the sofa.

iPhone 4S New Features

Better dual-core A5 chip that should fix the odd speed issue and more.
New antenna design for better call quality and I expect less problems from holding it wrong.
Improved Camera, SQUIRREL!

one example iPhone 4S photo and more examples

iOS 5 and iCloud. You can get these on any iPhone 4 and 3GS too (October 12th update if you can). Excellent but don’t really count.
Siri your digital personal assistant. For me this was the most impressive addition. Think somewhere between old phone voice recognition and Ironman’s JARVIS.
Just talk the way you talk. Siri understands what you say and knows what you mean.
If they can hook in other apps this could eventually become a huge feature across all Apple products but only if you can get used to talking to someone that doesn’t exist. I only want one to play with this.

iPhone 4S Drawbacks

Other missing features according to questionable reviewers include no Larger display - no thank you, I’d like a smaller device but the same size screen, and no 4G data capabilities which may be a disappoint for the big US cities but in the UK we can expect 4G in 2013 at the earliest. A slightly less reported drawback is that the iPhone 4S has been reduced battery life when you’re not really using it, compared to an iPhone 4 -100 hours standby.

Recommendations

Usually when talking to non-geek friends about buying iPhones, once you reach a certain month, geeks say wait for the next iPhone. Not necessarily to get the latest model but because other models become cheaper. So my recommendations based around the now standard 2 year contract are

iPhone 4S: get it if you can afford it or if you want an iPhone that will support the latest software updates for as long as possible. Also if you travel around the world a lot. Available October 14th

iPhone 4: still an excellent choice. Especially if you can get a reduced price 16GB rather than the new 8GB.

iPhone 3GS: surprisingly still available. Only good for 12 month contracts or if you really can’t afford to anything else. It’s still an iPhone but is now a bit dated. Don’t expect anything new in future software updates and expect to be envious of your friends newer phone.

And finally, the funniest review I’ve seen has to be

Biggest problem to me is the unchanged design. Seriously, what’s the point of getting the new iPhone if nobody can notice that you have the new iphone? - Engadget commenter

What if Don Draper had presented Facebook Timeline? (TechCrunch)

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:07:00 +0100

What if Don Draper had presented Facebook Timeline?

(TechCrunch)

George Lucas Strikes Back (via Daring Fireball)

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 15:38:10 +0100

George Lucas Strikes Back

(via Daring Fireball)

Copyright law overhaul 'will allow fans to copy music to iPods' - Telegraph

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:38:18 +0100

It will surprise many of my UK friends that this is not already allowed.

John Travolta and Chuck Norris Join The Expendables Sequel | WorstPreviews.com

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 10:50:12 +0100

John Travolta and Chuck Norris Join The Expendables Sequel | WorstPreviews.com:

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, John Travolta, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke… who else? Of course, Bruce Willis

The State of Web - The Oatmeal

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:29:19 +0100

The State of Web - The Oatmeal:

Summer 2011 edition

Paranormal Activity 3 Trailer | WorstPreviews.com

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:55:06 +0100

Paranormal Activity 3 Trailer | WorstPreviews.com:

Back to where it all began.

Back-heel penalty kick by UAE's Awana Diab | guardian.co.uk

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:31:54 +0100

Back-heel penalty kick by UAE's Awana Diab | guardian.co.uk:

Diab may be punished over cheeky spot-kick

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Trailer. A little bit...

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:38:09 +0100

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Trailer.

A little bit disappointing after watching a more interesting fan made one first.