Samsung's Galaxy S2 ICS mess
Sun, April 1, 2012 
Last year I bought a SIM-free Galaxy S2 from Samsung. I was kicking around the idea of waiting on the Galaxy Nexus, but at the last minute I went with Samsung's highly rated S2. I assumed at the time, with the Galaxy S2 being the most kick-ass phone on the market and Ice Cream Sandwich (the latest and greatest version of Android) being around the corner, it would only be a matter of a month or two before I received the update.
Christmas came and went before finally Samsung anounced that the Galaxy S2 would get ICS in Q1 of this year. Today is April 1st -- and I have synced my G2 with the its Kies software and still no update.
I am pissed.Last month Samsung released its Galaxy S2 ICS update in certain territories in Europe and promised imminent roll out to its UK customers. The code was passed to UK carriers, some of which have already released the update to their users. I understand some SIM-free S2's in the UK have received the update, suggesting a staggered roll-out, but I and many more hacked-off users haven't.
How can Samsung be in a position where contract carrier-based users get a much anticipated firmware update before people who bought the device unlocked at full price?
I buy my Android phones unlocked. I like the freedom of having no carrier limitations. This is because I like to tinker and run the very latest software. I am still shocked that I haven't installed an insecure kernel and loaded a custom ROM. It was only a matter of weeks before I had dumped HTC Sense on my Desire handset for the Oxygen ROM. I liked Oxygen, but the lack of an ICS build for the G2 meant that I sat and waited for Samsung to send me an official update. I was a good boy.I am a good boy no longer. I will be rooting the phone today. And this will be the last time I buy a handset from Samsung. I have always disliked the iPhone fanboys criticism of Android's many forks and slow updates, but they have a point. Less than 2% of Android users have ICS and it's been out for half a year. Half a fucking year.
Gruber, Brooks, Speirs, Blanc and the rest of the Apple blogging royalty are damn-right, the Android user-experience is a mess. Apple's universal annual roll-out, with generation specific builds, is lightyears ahead of the god-awful mess that is the Android ecosystem.
I have a dual-core phone that was the best in its class 6 or 7 months ago, and I can't even run Chrome because my OS isn't up to date. Not good enough, Samsung. Not good enough at all.
Naturally this has been a PR disaster for Samsung UK. The twitter feed, @samsunguk, has had its ass handed to it over the past 3-weeks, and I sort of feel sorry for the guys handling the account. But it's the nerds like me who buy unlocked phones -- we want the best tech and we don't want to be locked into a 2-year contract. You piss these nerds off at your peril. We all have twitter accounts and busy keyboards.
Anyway, as I said, me and Samsung are done. The phone gets rooted today.
Back on the bike
Sat, March 3, 2012 Recently I have begun cycling again. In my early-to-mid 20's I was an avid and passionate mountain biker. I rode most evenings, and I would be out on the trails almost all of the weekend. I stopped cycling when working shifts and having kids meant time had become a premium commodity.
When I was about 24 I was fit -- I mean really fit. I regularly went away to the Lake District for a long-weekend and rode up and down hills for 8-10 hours a day. I loved it. But then I stopped. I stopped and I got fat. I even gave up football.
I am now several stones over my ideal weight (if several can be stretched to about 5?). I'm unfit and I drink too much. My weight has meant that I have a bad back and I get out of breath if I try moderate exercise.
I started cycling again before Christmas. I took on a local trail that before would have been a quick week-night blast in my heyday. I was fucked. I could barely do it. If it hadn't have been for a puncture half-way around, I think my riding buddies would have just shot me.
Obviously, with long winter nights and working through the day, riding opportunities are rare. But I have made sure I get in at least one ride each weekend -- even when the ground is covered in snow and ice. And yes, I've started to build up my stamina and general fitness. The impressive leg muscles I used to display have woken from their decade long slumber, and while still yawning and getting used to the bright light of routine exercise, awake they certainly are.
Cycling isn't cheap. Well it could be if I wasn't such an insufferable geek. Anyway, since December I have bought a £1,000 slick-tyre hybrid, and my beloved Orange mountain bike has been booked in for a serious overhaul (well-worn late 90's kit is no good on the fashionable trails). A full new 2012 Deore XT transmission, Race Face finishing kit and set of fancy new Rock Shox forks are sitting in a Merlin Cycles checkout basket, waiting for me to find the funds to pay for them.
To finance my rekindled interest in cycling I have started selling my hi-fi and other gear on eBay. I have never sold anything on eBay before so it's a new experience for me, and I have to say it, I've been bitten by the eBay bug... C'mon everybody, let's party like it's 1997!!
Every ping of my phone gives me the shivers. Is it a bid on my loudspeakers or my CD player? Or maybe it's another 50p placed on the XBOX X-Factor game the kids never even opened? Anyway it's all coming along beautifully, and my Paypal account is beginning to swell, ready for the day when I click buy on that bumper Merlin shopping cart.
To make the most of this cycle-based spending, I need to continue to work hard on my fitness, and that includes making time in the evening to do some exercise every day -- either on my hybrid, my fixed bike, or getting out for those runs I've been threatening for weeks. So that's why I have written this post. I want to document (and shame myself into) getting down to the twelve-and-a-half stone target I have set myself. I have 18-months from today. You with me? Great.
UPDATE: While I've just posted this, I actually wrote this on Tuesday. Since then I have got two of those runs in and a decent bike ride today.
Windy ride
Sat, February 18, 2012 
I went out on my bike again today. 23 miles on mixed surfaces. Some riverside single-track, some hateful damp grass tracks, gravel access roads and a whole lot of tarmac.
Had a run in with a douche bag in a 4x4, who beeped and pointed aggressively at a narrow pavement. I gestured and swore. He slowed but then thought better of it and sped off. Go die in a fire dude. I had every right of way. The pavement is no place for a fast slick-tyre bike. Also, I had a high visibility windbreaker and was doing near 20mph.
Weekend ride
Tue, January 24, 2012 
Saturday's epic ride was cut short after a nasty twisted chain. I was pretty much beat anyway. :)
Boardman hybrid Pro
Sun, January 8, 2012 
I am loving my new Boardman hybrid. Really nice kit. Thinking about adding some thicker cyclocross-esque tyres for an all-purpose urban rider. Great for the gravel tracks that cut through Newark.
Dominik Raab - Vienna 2011
Sat, December 31, 2011 Dominik Raab - Vienna 2011 from UMF Bikes on Vimeo.
My Mac starter pack
Fri, December 9, 2011 Last year I posted my essential free downloads for new Mac owners. With the arrival of the Mac App Store this year, and the fact that my dear friend @ImTheBigOJ has finally bought a Mac, I thought that I would revisit this topic, whilst also including a few paid apps you will love.
Applications are free unless stated.
System
I mentioned Alfred last year, over the past year it's become absolutely essential, and I'm lost on any Mac without it. Be sure to create a system-wide Alfred hotkey (i.e. ⌘ + Space). Alfred can be a supercharged Finder, app launcher, and if you learn the system commands, a terrific GTD tool.
You need Caffeine. Fact. A simple task bar icon that overrides your Mac's battery management and stops the screen dimming/going off.
CloudApp -- share screen-grabs easily.
FormatMatch -- copy and paste sans formatting (like shift-ctrl-v on a PC).
Dropbox -- what do you mean you don't use Dropbox?
TextExpander -- accelerate your workflow. Warning! Once hooked, you will need miss this like crazy if you use a machine without it ($35).
1Password -- brilliant password management software ($50).
What I said about Growl last year:
It's amazing that Apple hasn't just built Growl into the Mac. I couldn't imagine a Macintosh without it - it just wouldn't feel like a Mac. It's an app that displays messages to alert you of changes to programmes you're running. New emails, IM updates, or that a download is complete. It might sound a bit intrusive (not-to-mention anti-GTD), but the levels of customisation are insane, and you can create a version that suits your needs perfectly.
Video
Three of the apps I mentioned last year are still worth having: Perian, VLC, and Handbrake.
In addition to this list I would add the great video player MPlayerX, which is my go-to video app whenever we watch anything. It will play almost any format you will throw at it. Aces.
Other Apps
MarsEdit -- the best blogging software on any platform ($40).
Twitter for Mac. YoruFukurou is ace, but I prefer the official application (for now) -- at least while it still resembles the original Tweetie app.
Sparrow -- I prefer this lightweight IMAP client to Apple's Mail.app. Partner with a Gmail account for email perfected ($10).
If you want a simple task list for your Mac, Wunderlist is probably the best option, as it syncs with Windows, Android, iOS and Mac.
If you have a Kindle you need Calibre.
Reeder is the perfect Mac RSS reader ($10).
I think that is pretty much it for must-have apps. If you know of any application that I absolutely must add, drop me an email and I'll add to the list (and give you a credit). If there is a specific type of app you're after, email me and I'll help if I can.
Laters.
"Rumpole of the Bailey fantasies"
Sat, November 12, 2011 Beverley Turner in The Telegraph:
In my opinion, nobody has emerged from this whole farce worse than Tom Watson. It was nauseating to watch him over-act his Rumpole of the Bailey fantasies. His theatrical buffoonery might have been entertaining if it weren’t costing so much taxpayers’ money.
The media equivalent of someone leaving a flaming paper bag full of shit on your doorstep. I'm sure the Beverley Turner had a giggle with her friends when she penned this, but she's still a prat.
Nothing to do. Seriously?
Wed, November 9, 2011 For the past few years I haven't stopped. My action folder has always contained plenty of tasks, and there has always been several projects that need progressing in some shape or form. In other words, whenever one task is completed, there is always another waiting for me.
Today I can honestly say, I have nothing to do.
There are things I should be doing, but I'm relying on a few inputs from other's before I can move forward, and I'd be more than likely wasting my time until the project specification is clear. So I'm at a loss. What to do?
I have recently been promoted, and I'm in the process of being trained in a new and exciting role. I've gone from being the Senior Planner at a large food factory, to being the group-wide network logistics planner. The scope is huge. The opportunities for making business improvements are many. And right now I have bugger all to do.
You see the role has been designed by a team of business improvement experts. They have come into the business and overhauled the logistic operations, and my role will be at the fulcrum of the new management systems. It's massively exciting but it's all new. And as today my "mentor" is in meetings all day, and I've batted off all the tasks I've been given, I'm without anything to do.
It's killing me. I cannot understand how people get through the day with nothing to do. We have people in our organisation with poor line managers who openly admit that most days they have no work to do. I find this baffling. How can you sit at your desk, at a loose end, and not take the initiative to go and find and solve a problem? In every business there are necessary tasks not being done.
If day after day, you just sit there at work pretending to look busy, while knowing full-well that you've nothing to do, then what defence will you have if one day a director passes your desk and asks, "what does this person do? Why are we paying their salary?"
You get up and you go and find something not being done. Take on a responsibility. Make an improvement. Find someone who's battling with an old creaky spreadsheet and design them a new one. Run some reports, check them, are our business assumptions correct? Help someone who's stuck trying to reconcile an inventory. There is always something you can do.
Self-worth is all about how much value you contribute to the people in your life: your relationship, your family, your friends, your employers and your colleagues. If you don't present any value to one or more of these groups, how can you be maximising your self-worth?
Anyway, that's enough from me, I'm going to find something useful to do.
A reasoned look at Atlas Shrugged
Mon, November 7, 2011 Zhizou is reading Atlas Shrugged, as usual he takes a balanced view on Rand’s canonical Objectivist text.
The bad guys are only interested in the greater good not their own selfish needs. This is an interesting twist to make concern for others and society into “evil” and concern for personal gain into “good”. The dichotomy is far too simplistic of course – things are rarely so black and white and good and evil are not directly linked to these two schools of thought, they – such as they exist – can be in equal measures spread across both. Rand’s bad guys are all two-faced doublespeakers, not a backbone between them. They are corrupt, they lie, they are “looters”. It is quite feasible to be concerned with the good of society and not be corrupt and incompetent. This is just silly. What a pity she didn’t put up a real argument from a real character instead of a bunch of weak straw men.
Sparrow for iPhone
Sat, November 5, 2011 I have just spotted some excellent news over at Business Insider, the Sparrow team are working on a Gmail client for the iPhone.
I've been using Sparrow on the Mac for over a year and it's by far the best mail client I have used for OSX. I can't wait to see what they do with an iPhone app. I can move all my Gmail accounts over to Sparrow, and leave the stock mail app for Exchange.
Over in the States, Google have released an official iPhone app, and apparently it's cat-meat. Shame, the Android app is fab.
