I’m spending the weekend in London for mobileCamp, a sort of ad-hoc gathering of people who work with mobile, or just outright love them. I’ve already posted a few pics on Flickr, and will add more throughout the weekend.
The first panel was on the topic of S60 Web Widgets, which was a bit on the geeky side for me, but this second one is on Digital Kids and Disruption is looking interesting. More later once I find somewhere to plug my laptop in!
I bow down to xkcd, the best geek cartoon in the world.
Wow, well this was a pretty easy upgrade! I managed to make it as much of a pain as possible for Andrew; forgetting to disable plugins, upgrading from a pre-widgets theme, and being a whinge-bunny.
But now it’s done, with that new swish “Tags” feature at the bottom of the post. I love the ease with which I can tag posts, and I bet that tag cloud (currently at the bottom of the sidebar) will grow to show just quite how nerdy my blog posts are…
Great job, WordPress team!
Both Andrew and I are used to having friends, acquaintances and outright strangers asking us for advice on buying their next computer. However, in recent months, I’ve been amazed at the sheer volume of people who have been asking whether they should switch to Mac.
In many cases, the answer is an easy one: “Most definitely! Get your skates on, let’s go buy one now!” But despite the fact that I have Apple juice running in my veins and that if you gave me open heart surgery, I most likely have a Mac Mini instead of a heart, I still strongly believe that Mac isn’t for everyone. In some conditions, OS X just isn’t right.
So here are the questions I think anyone on the fence about switching to Mac should ask themselves before giving Steve Jobs their credit card details…
1. Do I use any particular Windows-only software on a regular basis?
2. Do I have anything to worry about compatibility-wise?
In 99% of cases, no you don’t. However, if you use very specialised software, again, do your homework before the Big Move.
3. Will it take me time to get used to the difference in user interface?
Yes, it will. There’s no way around it.
It takes some time to get used to a new way of doing things. You’ll need to think differently, far beyond simply going to the other corner of Firefox to close a window. Shortcuts are different. The way installs and uninstalls are handled is different. Using the hardware itself is different: For example, with a Mac laptop, you’ll hardly ever need to turn it off, as shutting the lid sends it to sleep so comfortably that I only turned mine off once since Christmas, and rebooted a handful of times for updates.
You’ll also need to get used to… things just… working! Plug a peripheral in and it works. Add a printer to the network and there it is. Your stress levels will definitely go down.
It’s a complete mentality shift and it will take time to adapt. So give yourself time, have patience and be ready to relearn. Once you get up to speed, you WILL love it, I promise!
This is one of many reasons that, for example, we didn’t encourage Andrew’s parents to move to Mac. Their use of computers is pretty simple: browsing, email, photo management. They know their way around these features in Windows. There was simply no benefit in shifting them into a whole new environment.
4. Will it cost me a lot more than a Windows machine?
Actually, it probably won’t. Sure you can buy Dell’s loss leader at £395 and be sorted for a few years. But if you need to spec up your Windows machine to a similar level to what’s the bare minimum offered on Mac, you’ll find that the prices are similar.
This can be argued, and I’m sure my smart ass friends will come disagree with me on this point, but as far as personal research goes, that’s my observation.
5. Will I get special treatment and a secret handshake?
No. That’s fanboy nonsense.
Ten years ago, meeting another Mac user was a revelation and a bit of a dirty secret. I certainly didn’t know any other Mac users my age. They were all middle aged men, usually my dad or grandpa’s acquaintances.
Today, well… Show up at a conference and count the laptops. Odds are a vast number of them will be Macs. In fact, somewhere between 15 and 20% of all laptops bought in the US since March are Macs. It doesn’t get a second look anymore, and in a way that’s good.
Hopefully that’ll send the fanboys away to play with a different new shiny toy. Hopefully…
6. Am I doing it just because all the other cool kids are doing it?
Yes? Then piss off, I have no interest in giving you support. 
In summary, Macs are probably a good solution for Chantal, a graduating student who’s living space is limited and who wants a fast, reliable machine. It’s also a great solution for my dad who’s still living in the 90’s using OS 9.2 (that’s a hint, dad! 
) but it might not be the best solution for, say, my sis-in-law Lisa who just wants a bog-basic laptop to use a couple of times a week to check email.
To each their own, pick whatever you feel most comfortable with!
One last piece of advice. Oi! Here! Pay attention or it’ll cost you!
The new OS X operating system, called Leopard, is coming out within the next three or four weeks, so my advice is to wait until it comes out to buy a new Mac, to ensure you get the latest OS.
[Update: Leopard came out in late October, and it’s fantastic. So go ahead and upgrade now if you’re ready!]
If, like me, you’re using WordPress, you’ll be pleased to hear that version 2.3 has now come out of the oven. It’s upgrade time!
Some highlights: Tagging now comes as default (so no need to faff with third-party plugins), notices when plugin updates become available, automatic non-www domain forwarding, old post slug forwards to the new one if changed (Halleluia!), some improved post management and a big handful of ubergeek features. All in all, some pretty exciting changes!
It’s so funny to see that the very adorable Matt Mullenweg, founding developer of WordPress, is even throwing a WordPress upgrade party at his place tomorrow. Shame, San Francisco is a bit of a trek for me. Cambridge upgrade party anyone?
If Post Secret is too heavy for you, and i can has cheezburger is too silly, then find the perfect mashup of the two of them in LolSecretz.
The photowalking Bojangles, originally uploaded by thatcanadiangirl.
Last night, I went out to see “Run, Fatboy, Run!” with Andrew and my lovely friend Celia.
I’m already pretty fond of Simon Pegg’s older movies, but I think this one tops them all. The theme is more appealing to girls than zombies or village cops, so that might have something to do with it. It might also have to do with the fact that the spotlight is much more on Pegg, rather than sharing it with Nick Frost and some guns. And it might have to do with Thandie Newton being so adorable, Hank Azaria playing the over-confident American so well and a handful of classic cameos from the likes of David Walliams and Stephen Merchant.
Take all the above, mix them gently together and you’ve got my favourite comedy of the year by miles.
Definitely comes with two thumbs up, and a big toe too.
Well, it’s here. The iPhone has now been officially announced for the UK and the rest of Europe.
There’s coverage everywhere; Engadget, PocketPicks, TechDigest, TUAW… And I think we’ve all got the same feeling. We’re slightly underwhelmed by the announcement, seeing as there won’t be any 3G.
However, the partnership with The Cloud is interesting. Free WiFi for all iPhone users where The Cloud is available. Having a look at the areas covered by The Cloud, it should be pretty good for Londoners and those based in busier centres, with a few hotspots sprinkled across the rest of the UK.
For the past few months, I’ve coveted the idea of having an iPhone instead of my clunky N95, but there are definitely pros and cons, and I’ll have to mull it over for a bit longer before I decide what to do. I WANT the iPhone to succeed in the UK because I want to see more phones with smoother user interfaces, better thought-out features and less Symbian-like crashes and grey screens. But at the moment, the £35-£55/month tariffs are at the very high end of what we’re willing to pay, and considering the network speed limitations, I’m not sure I’m willing to stump up the money just yet.
What about everyone else? Are you getting one? Are you disgusted by the deals? Are you waiting for the 3G iPhone which might come out next year?
After a few quiet no-blogging days, I thought it was time for a light-hearted post, while I’m sitting in this hotel lobby in Helsinki. I’ve been tagged by Whatleydude, a fellow mobile industry colleague and iPhone addict.
But first - here are the rules:
Right well… here goes nothing…
Now I need to tag people. Well, let’s go for a few friends and a few work people.
For making conversations like this possible.
Steve Jobs writes an open letter to all iPhone owners today, offering them all $100 gift certificate in return for their loyal, early adoption.
Within hours, Robert Scoble has responded with his own open letter of what he’d like instead of $100.
Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a few posts about my amazement at many people’s fear of cooking unknown foods, resulting in Britain households cooking on average 4 meals each.
But while watching Hell’s Kitchen (the Marco Pierre White version, not the Gordon Ramsay one), which is a worthless show by the way, I saw an interesting advert by Asda which got me thinking.
Fish is a type of food many people have issues with. It’s wet. It’s slimey. It looks at you funny with its beady eyes. It can smell funny sometimes. So Asda found a low-cost solution for that problem.
They simply put the fish in a sealed bag which can be put straight into the oven, but also add a few bits of herbs and some lemon. This means a non-foodie can easily get a lovely steamed-in-the-bag meal without the hassle of touching fish.
Asda didn’t need to reinvent cooking or teach anyone to cook. Simply remarkable.
Do I really even need to say it? Or does the picture on the right and my empty wallet say it all?
Yes, I’ve given in, I’ve got a red iPod nano on order. In my defense, it’s my birthday on the 19th so it’s my pressie. And it’s the “good cause” iPod too. I’m helping fight AIDS in Africa by giving my money to Mr. Jobs.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had the luxury of music in my pocket. My N95 is far too rubbish to be used for music, and while I have an old iPod Shuffle (the kind that looks like a USB key, not the slick tiny clippy one), I’ve never liked the shuffling concept.
So here it is, my first real iPod. It’s red. It’s lush. I can’t wait to get it! Shame it won’t arrive before I go to Finland and Russia next week though… :S
Just a quickie to let everyone know that if you receive an invite from a friend to a social network called Quechup, don’t sign up. I received one from Hugh MacLeod, quickly followed by a blog post apologising to everyone for the unwanted invite.
As Pete from Mashable says in his post on Quechup:
The issue lies with their “check for friends†form: during signup you’re asked to enter your email address and password to see whether any of your friends are already on the service. Enter the password, however, and it will proceed to mail all your contacts without asking permission. This has led to many users issuing apologies to their friends for “spamming†them inadvertently. Hopefully the bad PR on this one will force them to change the system.
So if you MUST go have a look at it, ensure you don’t enter the email address and password for it to go “check for friends”. In other words, I better not get an invite from anyone!
It’s a work thing but I wanted to crosspost my entry on testing for mobile, because I just love the screenshot. Neil, our testing dude, is a god of focus and dedication.
I can’t imagine doing all this thumb-RSI-inducing testing without getting distracted to death… Oooh look a butterfly, ooh I wonder what’s happening in San Francisco this weekend… Ooh I wonder what that scribble on paper was supposed to mean…
Along with the rest of the team, I’ve been searching, clicking, browsing and trying to break the search, and I really can’t wait for us to go live with the beta so that I can show off what we’ve done to everyone. But patience, still a bit of testing to be done!
Tonight, my aim was to figure out how to make the best pomegranate juice-based cocktail. It took three tries but this last one is definitely the best one. Here’s the recipe, and anyone who comes up with a name for it, since “pompom” and “pomtini” are taken already… will get ummm… something nice. Like a thatcanadiangirl moo sticker or something.
So here it is…
Shake it all with lots of ice in a cocktail shaker, and pour into a nice cocktail glass. Enjoy!
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