Some of the sidebars are a bit knackered as a result, but I’ll be working on fixing those up.

More often than not, they’re a little link buried at the bottom of the page which to be honest, doesn’t help.  I know why they do it, but at the end of the day, I don’t want people to keep emailing me about some TV I could win (if I lived in America), or the best loan offer (if you have a squeaky clean credit rating and are prepared to commit debasing acts to get one), or even the best insurance offers (normally not the best).

So today’s tally is upto an amazing 4 unsubscribed emails.  I wonder how many more I can get rid of?

1. This domain will be moving hosts, as such it is possible it will disappear for a while, and I’m really sorry but those of you who are registered on here will need to re-register (as I can’t work out how to migrate the user tables – might ask someone I work with if they can help).
2. There will be a new domain set up that this domain will sit under, not saying what it is yet, wait until I get the site up and running.
3. I’m going to be “killing” a lot of old blog posts, a lot of them are badly composed and are just taking space with their pointlessness.
4. The main site will be the new domain will have a few concepts that I want to re-focus my blogging on.

That’s all… apologies in advance if you come here and the site is missing.

With the advent of iTunes and the iPod, Apple did what many hadn’t, and in essence, they started the MP3 revolution.  Music at your finger tips so to speak.  No longer did you have to have shelves full of LPs that were prone to warping and getting dusty.  Neither did you have to worry about the CD, which never ended up back in the right cases.  No, instead, you’ve got your MP3 player, your computer and the ability to browse for music when you hear it, rather than waiting to find a shop that stocks it.  Many said at the time, that the MP3 revolution, and the internet would kill copyright and people would stop buying music, well the jury is still out on that one, and Zavvi did die (although possibly unrelated), so no conclusions drawn from that one yet.

I said many years ago that PDAs were a fantastic idea (somewhere around 2001 to my friend and colleague of the time BNUG).  Instead of carrying around a diary, a note book etc, you have everything in one device.  Only, you didn’t.  You still had to carry your mobile phone and you didn’t have access to your emails, it was far from perfect.  If you were (and at the time I was) a commuter on public transport, you ended up carrying around a PDA, a mobile phone, something to play music on, a book and various other bits of miscellany.  So, with the advent of the iPhone, all your prayers are answered right?  Well, not quite.  It’s a fantastic device, don’t get wrong, I love mine.  It ticks so many of the boxes that you were missing before, it has your diary, your email, your phone and an endless supply of gadgets to make your life easier.  You are however, still left without the all important book to go with it.

So 2010 is apparently the year of the tablet (although I’m sure I have a feeling of deja vu) .  Microsoft has already launched their version in partnership with a hardware vendor (who’s name I can’t remember).  Amazon have launched the new and improved Kindle (in the UK now as well), and Sony have already had their reader available for sometime.  So as an avid reader, why don’t I have one?  It’s very simple, it’s another expensive gadget that only does one thing.  In my mind, a complete waste of money.  At least with my iPhone, it gets used, a lot.  I’ll browse the internet on it from home, I’ll read blogs, I’ll twitter from it and I generally use it more than my somewhat decrepit PowerBook (to be replaced this year).

Another item to add into the mix of this failure to buy an ebook reader.  I love the feel of turning a page, of the paper between my fingers, of seeing something achieved as I motor from one end to the other.  There’s something so comforting about curling up with a really good book.  Of course it has its downsides, like book snobs sneering at you reading Harry Potter or Twilight books on the train, instead of the latest booker winning master piece.  You can also get cramp from holding something as big as The Deathly Hallows or Breaking Dawn.  It’s still a book though, I have a couple of hundred of them, I can look at the stacks of them that are dotted around the house and see an actual sense of accomplishment.  I wouldn’t get that with something digital.

Of course I can really see the upside to having a device like an e-reader.  Going on holiday would be a dream, instead of worry about how many books I could carry with me, I could load up the device and off I go.  Brilliant!  Only I like to re-read old books, so I’d have to either take old copies with me or re-buy all my books, there isn’t a way to “rip” books to put them onto the device like  you could do with music.  Then there’s the cost of these books, having had a look all of the authors I like sell their e-books at either the full hardback price, or more in some cases.  How does this work?  Surely there should be a saving involved here, you take out the printing and publishing costs and there’s more money to be made from selling them at a lower price?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for authors making money, really I am, I want to be an author, a successful one, but c’mon guys, cut us some slack, if you want us to take it up, give us an incentive to do so.

Which brings me back to the rumoured new Apple product.  Will it do for books what iTunes and the iPod did for music?  Will you be able to pick up the books cheaply and easily?  Will they kill Amazon and Waterstones?  Who knows.  However, the rumours are gaining pace that the “iSlate” will have the ability to browse the internet, play video content & music, and have applications.  Now if this is the case it’s a fantastic opportunity.  Given how well thought out the iPhone, iPod and larger Apple devices are, it’s going to be an killer toy that’s for sure.  I’m just not convinced that marketing it at a rumoured $1000 is going to win many hearts and minds.  I could by a MacBook for less than that.  Sure I think it’d make me a convert to eBooks, but I’m not sure the price tag will.

I’ll add as a final note, as I’m sure someone *might* pick up on the fact that there is a Kindle app for the iPhone.  I know, I’ve got it.  The problem with it is that my iPhone screen is a LOT smaller than a standard sized book.  I read very fast.  Give me a bigger screen and something I can hold, and I’m sold on it, only I’m not buying a Kindle to do it.  If you want to read more about ebooks then the lovely Tom Reynolds of Random Acts of Reality fame has started a new blog with several contributors called Paper Not Included, I encourage you to go have a read.

Also, the statement by one woman saying she’s connected to hundreds of thousands of people world wide, could be interpreted that people who use Mac’s are not… hmmm, I may not have the largest connection of friends but there’s little my Mac can’t do that a PC can.

So if battle lines have been drawn, then I’m going to put my hand up and say “I’m a Mac”.  I’m not a designer, I’m not an arty type, I don’t do photography, but I love my Mac.

Nerdic, apparently, is the language of Nerds (yeah, you’d never have guessed that would you now).  It means the person is fluent in all things technological.  Like Wi-Max (yes I know what that is), Dongle (they say it’s a new word but Dongles have been around for years) and 3G.  Well stone me, everything on the list I read I knew about.  Eeeks.  Now speculation on whether or not I can include “Fluent in Nerdic” on my CV.  What say you readers?

More about this item can be found in the following locations:
http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/14022/15046/nerdic-geek-speak-fastest-growing-language.phtml
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/parlezvous+nerdic/2030047

Anyway, I’m currently reading a book about the Bell, which is rumoured to be a device developed under the Nazi’s that has inexplicable powers (I say this because nobody knows what’s happened to it, only that it did exist).  There’s tons of conspiracy theory in there, and lots of information about the various technologies that the Nazi’s were developing.  Before I carry on, I don’t condone the Nazi’s but as I said, I love a good conspiracy theory and I love science & technology.

I can’t tell you much about the book yet, but I guess I picked it up in the hope that it might give me some ideas about writing.  I have lots of little ideas in my head but they go nowhere, so I need a theme, a pique, something that will grab my head and a whole story will come flooding out of it.  Given that I loved John Twelve Hawks books, James Rollins latest books and various other books that are pseudo-sci-fi (i.e. they’ve got a bit of science fiction in there, but not enough to make it a bona fide sci-fi book).

I have to focus, I have a goal this year and that’s to write more.  I’m not really doing well so far, mainly because the move down here has been the only thing on my mind really.  However I’m going to try really hard to start thinking about writing again.  Picking up my writers notebook and making little meme’s to myself.  I’ve already started by attacking the word of the day on dictionary.com.  So perhaps I should challenge myself on here to write something each day.  Not that I often seek responses from people, but what are your thoughts?

“To Beat the EU ban on right-hand drive cars BMW uninvents the wheel”

“By the end of 2007 you will not be allowed to use a right-hand drive car on the roads of mainland Europe.

It’s a ruling BMW has vigorously opposed, but our lawyers were eventually routed and it was left to our engineers to fight a rearguard action.

Their riposte was one of startling elan: hands-free steering.

It uses a combination of sensors and VAT (Voice Activated Technology) and does away with the steering wheel altogether.

All the dials and controls are mounted in the centre of the dash on a pivoting section which can be angled towards either of the front seats.

While crossing the channel, simply tilt the instrument panel to the left and change seats with your passenger. Pedals are recessed into both footwells, the relevant seeat becoming active when the position of the central section is fixed.

The sensors work as an intermediary between the driver’s eyes and the road and combine with voice command to steer the car wherever you want it to go in complete safety.

Early prototypes were prone to sudden U-turns if the driver swung round to shout at the children in the back, but a satellite monitoring system developed by Dr Bitt-Fischi, our head of R&D, has eradicated this minor flaw.

An additional advantage of the system is a new feeling of liberation for the driver. Indeed, at first this is almost unsettling, so a retractable, padded bar can be elicted from the dash and grasped or leant upon until the driver is fully acclimatized to the unfamiliar freedom.

The hands-free option will be available across the BMW range by next spring, in plenty of time to beat the ban.

If you would like more details in advance, please click on www.uninventthewheel.co.uk or call our Customer Liason Chief, Herr Huhr-Huhr, on 0800 777 129.”

I’m not a dumb blonde (well not much of one), so I do know this is an April Fool, but bloody hell its funny!!