Dr Plokta

iPhone Impressions

mike@plokta.com — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:07:46 GMT

The executive summary is that while its functionality is lacking in a number of areas (some of them important, and some of them not), and it's buggy in some respects, it's the most engaging gadget I've acquired at least since my first Mac (a last-generation TiBook 5½ years ago). It's simply fun to use, which makes up for a lot.

And now some details.

Form factor: Very acceptable. It's both wider and taller than the Nokia N70 it's replacing, but a good deal shorter and narrowed than the Nokia N800 that it's also replacing, and it's much thinner and lighter than either. It's the first allegedly portable gadget I've had that is comfortable in a shirt pocket. It also looks good, like a single lump of obsidian hewn from an iPhone quarry somewhere.

Functionality: Things it doesn't do, in decreasing order of annoyance:

Bluetooth network tethering -- really needed for the TomTom to download traffic updates (at least unless and until they do a TomTom iPhone app --for more on that see below). Would also be handy to let me use the 3G Internet connection from the laptop, although I appreciate that that would annoy O2 -- but it shouldn't, since they're selling an allegedly unlimited Internet connection.
Bluetooth file transfer -- would be a nice handy way to get stuff on or off the phone. I can't imagine why it's not there (except see notes below about the file system).
Bluetooth sync -- why does it need a wired connection to sync calendars and contacts with a Mac or PC when Bluetooth would do it nicely?
Bluetooth GPS lookup (are we seeing a pattern here?), to let my Kodak V610 camera acquire the location automatically from the phone at the time of taking photos. Presumably missing because a) Apple didn't put any useful Bluetooth profiles on the phone and b) the GPS chipset isn't powered unless an app specifically calls it, to save battery life.
SD card slot.
MMS -- I think I've sent two or three MMS messages in two years of having the capability, so no big deal.
Video calls -- I've never made a video call except to try it out, so I really doubt I'll miss it.

Power: As other have mentioned, the battery life when using a 3G Internet connection is alarmingly short. A heavy Internet user would need to recharge during the day. I think I'll be OK as long as I remember to charge it every day.

Bugs: Crashes worryingly often when running third-party apps, to the extent that I'm not sure I see the point of the "walled garden" approach. Backup to the Mac takes several hours, which is just insane. Mobileme just doesn't work with Outlook calendars stored on an Exchange server, and also should sync with different categories in a single Outlook calendar rather than creating a new calendar for each category on the iPhone (and iCal).

App Store: A number of developers seem to be waiting a long time for their apps to be approved, and while I'm sure they're snowed under, Apple need to do whatever it takes to get apps approved in a reasonable time -- let's say two working days from submission. "Whatever it takes" may include relaxing their standards and cutting down on the amount of checking they do, until the backlog is cleared.

Apart from that, the App Store is going to be a raging success, and some developers will make an awful lot of money. It makes it ridiculously easy to buy software. It could do with some standard way of creating a time-limited free trial version of apps, however.

Navigation: The GPS seems reasonably quick and accurate outdoors, and pretty slow indoors. Which is to be expected. I tried it out in the car (while stationary), and it seemed to get a lock reasonably quickly, so it should be good for in-car satnav. The terms & conditions of the SDK prohibit turn-by-turn navigation programs, and there are all kinds of theories about the hardware not being up to it or Apple trying to suppress competition for a program they'll sell themselves, but I believe the real story is simpler. The map data on the iPhone comes from Google, who license it from TeleAtlas, who are owned by TomTom, and I suspect they're simply not licensed to use the maps for turn-by-turn navigation. Which would thus not exclude such a program from a company that actually owns the map data and can provide the data along with the app, which would be TomTom or Garmin, and I hope and expect that we'll see such apps later this year.

Camera: The Internet is full of complaints about the 2 megapixel camera, but a tiny camera in a phone is never going to be great quality. It's actually OK as long as you have reasonable (i.e. low) expectations, and in particular seems to perform well at low light levels, which is a good thing in a mobile phone camera. Shutter lag and time delay on startup are a bit of a problem.

Price: For once, the UK comes out pretty well on international price comparisons. The ex-VAT price for phone and contract for the full 18-month contract at the lowest level is £544. In the US, it's $1,459, which is around £730 -- you get a lot more minutes (which I wouldn't use) but no texts unless you add another $45 or £22 over 18 months. And after 18 months, you're still locked in for another 6 months and $420.

Individual applications (briefly):

AIM (IM client -- free) -- seems like a pretty reasonable implementation, no problems, have hardly used it
AirMe (instant photo uploads to Flickr -- free) -- 1.00 was buggy and crashed a lot, 1.02 seems stable, works pretty well. I'm using this one regularly.
Banner Free (scrolling banner -- free) -- a bit of a gimmick, but might be useful one day. Not used it seriously.
Bookshelf (ebook reader -- £5.99) -- the best ebook reader to date, and probably the app I'm going to spend most time in. Have already read a fair chunk of a novel. It's a bit buggy, and a new version is apparently awaiting approval.
Break (Breakout game -- free) -- played it for five minutes and stopped. Doubt I'll try it again, but I've not deleted it yet.
Byline (Google Reader RSS client -- £5.99) -- much better than Google's own web-based version of Google Reader for the iPhone, but it needs more ways to mark items as read. I'd wait for the next version.
Comic Touch (Adds speech bubbles and captions to photos -- £2.99). Lots of fun, and will doubtless come in handy for the odd amusing photo post.
Cube Runner (Flying game, temporarily withdrawn -- free) -- not very engaging, and I doubt I'll play it much.
eReader (ebook reader, links to ereader.com and Fictionwise -- free) -- handy way to download books you've already bought, but not very user friendly, and certainly not as smooth as Bookshelf.
Exposure (Flickr client -- free ad-supported, but paid version available) -- this is a pretty good client, and I especially like the ability to see Flickr photos near your current location. I'll probably upgrade to the paid version at some point.
Facebook (Facebook client -- free) -- the new version works well, and this is one of the most polished apps available. I'll be using this one regularly.
Fizz Weather (Weather forecasts -- £2.99) -- Much prettier than the built-in weather app, and with more information. I'll be using this one regularly.
Go Figure Lite (Calculator for pre-determined formulae) -- will probably use it occasionally for conversions and suchlike, but doubt I'll ever have more than three formulae of my own and thus need to upgrade to the forthcoming paid version.
iMaze (Mercury maze -- free) -- I find it very hard to control, but have barely touched it.
iPint (Beer simulator -- free) -- In the "funny once" category, I think.
Light (Torch -- free) -- all this does is give you a blank white screen to maximise the illumination from the phone. Other apps are available with more options (different colours, strobes, etc.), but this one is good enough for me. Have used it occasionally.
Mandelbrot (The Mandelbrot set -- free) -- seems not to calculate sufficiently precisely, so there's too much black at high zoom levels.
Morocco (Reversi -- free) -- Plays a better game than Othello, but it's really annoying that you can't save your preferences.
MotionX Poker (Poker dice -- £2.99) -- purchased on bohemiancoast's recommendation, and it's great. Beautifully implemented, and pretty addictive.
NearPics (Finds photos near you on Panoramio -- free) -- does what it says on the tin, but downloading the pictures can be slow.
Numba (Pattern matching game, £3.99) -- Just bought it, haven't tried it yet. Has very good reviews.
Othello (Reversi -- free) -- Better implemented than Morocco, but a very weak player.
PayPal (PayPal client -- free) -- Just what it says, Haven't used it yet.
reQall (Voice notes -- free) -- Not used it yet, as you have to set up an account, but it supposedly lets you make notes and have their timetable be automatically recognised.
Shazam (Music recognition -- free) -- play it 12 seconds of music and it will tell you what it is. I've tried it a couple of times, and it seems to work really well.
Stanza (ebook reader -- free) -- iPhone client for the Mac ebook reader Stanza. Not as smooth as Bookshelf, but seems to work OK.
Sun Compass (compass -- £0.59) -- draws a compass rose with the current positions of the sun and moon based on the time and your GPS coordinates, so you can find your bearings. Nicely implemented and very pretty, but not terribly useful.
Super Monkey Ball (Game -- £5.99) -- Looks fantastic, but pretty hard, and you can't stop and restart where you left off, which is pretty poor for a casual game on a phone.
Tap Tap Revenge (Game -- free) -- A game rather in the vein of Dance Dance Revolution. I've barely touched it.
Twinkle (Twitter client -- free) -- Not used yet, due to not having a Twitter account.
Vicinity (Location program -- £1.79) -- The best program I've found for showing nearby information, photos, shops, restaurants, etc.
Where To (Location program -- £2.99) -- Much prettier than Vicinity, but all it does is a Google Map search, and despite claiming to be optimised for the English language it's actually American -- it searches for "movie theaters" and "gas stations", for example.

And the ones I've already deleted:

WeatherBug -- free weather client, not as good as the built-in app let alone Fizz Weather.
Local Picks by Trip Advisor -- free restaurant and shop guide, but doesn't work very well.
MoPhoTo -- free Flickr client, but not as good as AirMe or Exposure. Supports some other photo sites as well, but I don't use them.

File System: An oddity of iPhone OS is that there's no file system available to the user or to apps. In fact, apps seem to have no way to share data with each other. This causes a number or problems, and I suspect Apple will have to retrofit a file system into the OS at some point. Every app that needs files from your Mac/PC has to invent its own sui generis method of transferring them. If you want to get something back to your Mac/PC, email is the easiest way. Even if it had the hardware for an SD card reader, nothing could read the files. And so on.

Future: In version 3.0, I'd like to see:

A decent selection of Bluetooth profiles
Better battery life
A shared file system accessible as a USB drive on a Mac or PC
Increase in screen resolution to 720 x 480, but keeping the size the same
Better camera

That's all that comes to mind right now, but I may well post a followup.

Baby Birds (and Crocodiles)

mike@plokta.com — Sat, 24 May 2008 16:06:27 GMT

Our cygnets are starting to grow up.

This is a non-standard duckling, because its mother is mostly black with a white front.

The woodpeckers seem to be spurning the nest-boxes in favour of an actual hole in a tree.

The great crested grebes who were riding on their mother's back recently are now growing up, but still spending 90% of their time letting their parents know that they're starving to death and need to be fed right now.

We finally have some baby coots.

And finally, we seem to have a nasty infestation of crocodiles.

A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!

mike@plokta.com — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:31:54 GMT

http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/3318

He does get around

mike@plokta.com — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:33:14 GMT

This (not entirely SFW) video of Gary Kasparov being attacked by a remote-control flying penis has been linked everywhere today, but what I want to know is what dougs was doing sitting behind the table in Moscow with the other dignitaries during the attack.

Cygnet Update

mike@plokta.com — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:45:31 GMT

Mixed news, I fear. Apparently eight eggs were laid with one lost soon afterwards (which we knew). Five have hatched, but three of the cygnets have died. One more egg has been lost, and one has still not hatched, so it must be looking pretty dubious now. So we may only have two live cygnets from eight eggs, assuming that they both survive from now on.

Cygnets!

mike@plokta.com — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:41:48 GMT

We finally have cygnets -- I think three have hatched and four are about to hatch.

A New Element

mike@plokta.com — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:05:02 GMT

This (gacked from Slashdot) is an astonishing story, if true. The first element discovered (as opposed to created, or found in nature after first having been created) since 1939. And they think it has atomic number 122 and a half-life of over 100 million years. Poul Anderson was right all along.

Ghastly Effects of Facebook

mike@plokta.com — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 19:34:28 GMT

I just realised that there's probably an entire generation of first year undergraduates out there who think that they're the class of 2010, not the class of 2007.

Cygnet Update

mike@plokta.com — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:53:04 GMT

I was clearly deluded in this post, as we got a good look at the eggs a couple of hours ago, and they're still eggs. But I was expecting there to be five of them, and there were seven, so she must have carried on laying for a few days longer than we thought, and the hatching will be correspondingly later.

Wildlife Update

mike@plokta.com — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:12:25 GMT

No cygnets yet (due to hatch any day now), but add Chiffchaff (not seen last year), Peacock (the butterfly, not the bird), Small White, Blackcap, Willow Warbler & Swallow.

Moorhen and chicks

Great Crested Grebe chick on Canada Water (how fast they grow up)

Duckling on Canada Water

Grey Heron by Albion Channel

The Reality Distortion Field at work

mike@plokta.com — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:12:20 GMT

In January this year, Apple agreed that within six months it would revise its pricing on iTunes to bring the UK price of 79p per track more into line with the Eurozone price of 99 cents -- when the original complaints were made, the Eurozone price was around 70p, so 79p was over 10% more expensive. Apple have now done it, three months early, and without changing their pricing at all -- 99 Euro cents are currently worth 78.9p.

Torchwood thought

mike@plokta.com — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:15:10 GMT

So, do we think it significant that Jack was buried at (to within the limits of available evidence) the exact same time as the crucifixion was happening, two thousand miles away?

I don't have to walk 27 miles next week

mike@plokta.com — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:24:42 GMT

Tube strike is cancelled.

Baaa

mike@plokta.com — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:55:15 GMT

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach?
12. Shoes worn for sports.
13. Putting a room in order.
14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
17. How do you eat your pizza?
18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
19. What's the evening meal?
20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?

And my answers:

1. Stream.
2. Shopping trolley.
3. Lunchbox.
4. Frying pan.
5. Sofa.
6. Gutter or drainpipe, depending on what bit they mean.
7. Does not exist in my culture. If it did, I'd probably call it a veranda.
8. There is no term that includes all such drinks and excludes all other drinks. There used to be one, which was pop, but it's dropped out of use.
9. No such thing. However, pancakes are a flat round dessert served with a variety of sweet substances.
10. Sandwich. All more specific terms are American imports.
11. Swimming trunks or shorts, depending on whether we're talking about swimming trunks or shorts.
12. Trainers, plimsolls, football boots, rugby boots, cricket boots, tennis shoes, etc.
13. Tidying up.
14. Firefly.
15. Woodlouse, but it's not an insect.
16. See-saw.
17. Knife and fork, generally.
18. eBay. Apart from that, it's an American concept, so there's no term for it in English.
19. Dinner.
20. Basement. But it contains neither a furnace nor a rec room.
21. Drinking fountain.

This survey will distinguish between different national varieties of English, and probably between different regions in the US, but is going to be hopeless for regional variations in the UK.

Baby Birds

mike@plokta.com — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 14:57:43 GMT

The great crested grebes on Canada Water have hatched a couple of chicks. And there are ducklings too.

Here are the grebe chicks on their mother's back.

Here's dad hurrying over with a fish for the chicks.

The chicks seem keen on that idea.

And finally, here's a gratuitous duckling picture.

T5

mike@plokta.com — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:32:27 GMT

In irritation at comments on news sites, I've been checking Wikipedia. If Heathrow T5 gets its problems largely sorted out by next weekend, which still seems entirely possible, then it will rank as a triumph of efficient British management and engineering, by comparison with almost every other airport project of similar scale in the history of the world.

Compare with Singapore Changi (half the airport was still being built at the time it opened), Hong Kong International (cargo traffic was moved back to the old airport after months of chaos), Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (domestic traffic was moved back to the old airport after months of chaos), Paris Charles de Gaulle (the ceiling of the new Terminal 2E collapsed, killing four people, and the entire terminal is now being demolished and rebuilt), Denver International (opened 16 months late with a baggage handling system that never did work and was eventually scrapped) and even Tokyo Narita (riots killed several people, and opening was delayed due to sabotage).

The only surprising thing about the trouble at Terminal 5 is that it seems to be coming under control already, mere days after opening.

Hugo Nominations

mike@plokta.com — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:08:04 GMT

Note that due to a fortunate coincidence with the scheduling, you can purchase a DVD containing all three Hugo-nominated episodes of Dr Who, and no others, for £6.98 from Amazon.co.uk.

Eggcam Update

mike@plokta.com — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:48:42 GMT

No photos of eggs today, I fear, as there seems to be something large and white in the way.

Yes, Petronella seems to have finished laying and started incubating, so there are six or seven eggs and (all being well, which it wasn't last year) you should all expect cute cygnet photos around Friday 25 April.

Still Going

mike@plokta.com — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:23:18 GMT

Eggcam update

mike@plokta.com — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:02:02 GMT

Another egg!

mike@plokta.com — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:34:29 GMT

Expecting the splish-splash of tiny feet

mike@plokta.com — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:03:06 GMT

No, not those kind of tiny feet...

The swans have clearly not read the bird guides that say they should use the same nesting site every year, because when the nice Trust for Urban Ecology people dumped a load of reeds at our end of the dock for use as nesting material, they decided to come and sit on the pile and call it a nest, instead of lugging reeds back to the corner where they have nested previously. So we can keep a closer eye on them this year.

Spring is here

mike@plokta.com — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:38:28 GMT

Here's a grey squirrel coming to check if I have any food for him.

A black-headed gull in full breeding plumage:

A greylag goose, also waiting to be fed:

Another robin:

A great spotted woodpecker:

The first butterfly of the year:

Daffodils:

And a magpie:

Species added since last time: Pochard, Little Grebe (neither of which I got last year), Redwing, Red Admiral. That makes 43.

Photos

mike@plokta.com — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:39:01 GMT

95 photos (out of over 2,500) from our South Africa trip are here.

South Africa Photos

mike@plokta.com — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:24:55 GMT

Bandwidth is pretty limited in South Africa, so I can't upload all 2000+ photos taken so far to Flickr, but here are a few of the best, behind cut-tags. They're not all birds.

Yzerfontein beach -- this is where James & Simoné's wedding was, a bit further up the beach and out of town.

James & Simoné with Simoné's family -- on the beach after the wedding.

James and Simoné after the wedding

The (upside-down) Moon, shining on the reception in the evening (check out the large version)

Kite-surfer in Langebaan, where we were staying

Kite in the air in Langebaan

Tortoise in the West Coast National Park (which is between Yzerfontein and Langebaan)

Very scary Yellow Canary in Geelbek restaurant in the West Coast National Park. You get half a dozen of these on your table stealing your food. This photo is not cropped at all -- it's the original framing. Look at the full-size version for the full horror.

Southern Double-Collared Sunbird near the Geelbek restaurant