Android

I am a big fan of Android because it is open source, not tied to a single handset, comes with some really great software (including satellite navigation), some new and innovative software (such as Google Goggles and Google Layers) and has a very good user interface. Plus it is JAVA based so easy to develop for and has a very strong developer community.

The only problem is that there are no handsets that I want at the moment. The best one available in the UK is the HTC Desire, but that doesn’t have a front facing camera (neither will the HTC Desire 2). The best (most fully-featured) Android based phone in the world at the moment is the HTC Evo 4G, but this is only available on the Sprint network in America (plus it has really bad battery life). The DELL Streak is nice, but at 152.99mm is really too long for what I want.

There will be a lot of good Android based phones coming out this year – but I don’t know when (and when I am lusting after a new gadget, I don’t like waiting!).

Windows Phone 7

Previous versions of Windows mobile have been out for years and although pretty good, they have always been a bit buggy. I have owned several Windows based phones and have always had problems with all of them (6.1 has given me far fewer issues than previous versions – but it has been far from perfect).

Windows Mobile has always had an okay developer community and you can get most types of applications for it for free with no adverts.

The Windows Phone 7 operating system is due out later this year and it looks promising. All applications for Windows 7 will need to be written in Silverlight and all games will need to be written in XNA. I am a big fan of both Silverlight and XNA.

It doesn’t have Zune incorporated into it, rather a facsimile of it (so basically the same) – this is a very good thing.

The Windows Phone 7 interface as a whole looks very good – I like the concept as they are really making the phones interface personalised to the user.

However I don’t think they are doing enough. While the music interface will be good, I think the mobile interface will end up being clunky and slow to navigate around.

Microsoft do make some really fantastic software, but they suck at promoting it. For example, compare their official Windows Phone 7 website (which was hard to find via a Google search by the way!) to the official iPhone 4 website – if you didn’t know anything about the phones and just saw those 2 websites side by site, the clear winner would be Apple.

Apple iPhone 4

I am not a big fan of Apple. They keep bringing out devices with low-spec hardware – and software missing features that competitors have had for several years. Plus as people spend lots of money on apps, they then feel obliged/trapped into sticking with Apple so that they can retain those apps (with Microsoft or Android, if you buy an App you can then use it on any hardware with that operating system, not just a single device).

I see the Apple iPhone 4 as being a good smartphone for the mainstream, unlike Android which although is gaining on market share, I think is still being bought more by the technical community.

The iPhone 4 was announced this week and it does have some very good features – noticeably:

• A really good quality screen (although small in size compared with other phones)
• Very good battery life
• 802.11n WiFi
• Physically small phone
• The resolution of the iPhones and iPad screens are proportional, meaning that applications can be scaled to run on any of them (although they are better if they are custom-developed for each device)
• Gyroscope

The bad points of the iPhone 4 are:

• Small screen
• Non-standard screen resolution, so it not true 720p (this is because it is 4x the resolution of the previous iPhones – so that applications can be scaled to run on it).
• No kick-stand (so you have to hold it if you want to watch videos, etc.)
• Glass on the back (I think this will be reflective and annoying when it is on your desk)
• No FM Radio (I use the FM radio on my Windows phone every day when I walk into town to get my lunch!)
• CPU is likely to be under-clocked (as per previous versions of the iPhone) in order to improve battery life
• Only 32GB’s (max) internal storage
• No expandable memory (e.g. Micro SD card slot)
• The main camera has a small diameter lens
• Main camera is only 5mp (other mobiles have 8mp)
• Only single LED flash on the main camera
• Only a VGA quality front facing camera
• Video chat is iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 only (this is likely to change in 2011)
• Video chat is only possible over WiFi (this is likely to change in 2011)
• Currently no video Skype support (this is likely to change soon)
• No standard USB connection (this is a big deal when you go to a friend’s house and want to charge your phone!)
• No HDMI output port
• No free satellite navigation software (this is a big deal for me as I use it a lot on my current phone). You can purchase TomTom for £60 – but I would much prefer Google maps
• Not true multi-tasking
• The App Store encourages developers to make all apps either paid for, or to include advertising (many Android and Windows Mobile applications are free with no adverts)

Many applications are being written for Android and Windows first, then the iPhone. This is because the iPhone is:

• Harder and slower to code for
• Many applications are banned on the App Store which are allowed on other devices (this has resulted in some high-profile developers moving from Apple to Android)
• You can develop Apple apps on PC’s, but you need additional software to do this (more hassle) – Apple are not making it easy to do this. There are many more PC’s out there than macs, therefore there are many more PC and JAVA based developers out there than Apple ones.

Summary

The Android and Windows operating systems are more open, have cloud based technologies (this is becoming increasingly important) and have better hardware, but the Apple iPhone 4 is a nice phone (albeit with some serious limitations) and does have a good range of apps.

My personal preference right now would be the Android operating system with HTC hardware (but with the iPhone screen technology – only bigger).

If there was a decent handset for Android I would get that. I am half-tempted by the iPhone – but only half-tempted. I really want Android, but I think I’m going to have to wait a few months for some decent hardware to come out. Then again, I don’t like to wait. So I’ll make my decision once the iPhone comes out.

As in most societies, there are nice trolls and naughty trolls. Plus there is a hierarchy of trolls – and trolls have jobs.

The nice trolls like: Flowers, cleanliness, toys and ice-cream.

The naughty trolls like: To misbehave, create disorder, chaos and are messy. The really naughty ones have to be locked up.

I flew from England to Pennadomo, Italy in the hope that I could catch sight of a troll in its natural habitat. I was hoping to meet a nice troll (although they are very shy) and to avoid an encounter with a nasty troll. Even the local Italian villagers rarely see them, although they sometimes hear them scuttle around at night.

Pennadomo  is in the foothills of a mountainous region of Abruzzio, Italy and is a long way from any large town.

The Pennadomo mountainous trolls are not large like most trolls, in fact they are only around 4-5 feet tall and mostly come out in the evenings and early mornings – not in the middle of the night (unless there is a lot of ambient light, e.g. moonlight) and not in the day. It is believed that this is because they are shy and do not like contact with humans.

Also unlike most trolls, they have developed a taste for cats – which is why you do not see many around the area.

Upon first entering the village of Pennadomo, everything seemed normal. The people looked friendly:

People walking in the village of Pennadomo, Italy

Work was being done:

Construction in Pennadomo, Italy

The area was clean and tidy. The residents were obviously religious:

Religious statue in Pennadomo, Italy

However I quickly came across a troll signalling device – their version of a French Horn. So I blew into it with as much air as my lungs could give. This was necessary in order to make them aware that I would be looking for them. You don’t want to surprise a troll – Trolls don’t like surprises (this is partly why they eat cats):

Blowing a troll horn in Pennadomo, Italy

Blowing a troll horn in Pennadomo, Italy

Trolls don’t eat chickens, although in July-August they do like to collect their eggs to make blueberry pancakes:

A chicken - trolls don't eat them

As I walked further up the mountain, into the village; more ‘troll signs’ appeared, such as umbrellas, well-kept plants:

Troll signs - umbrellas and well-kept plants

Troll signs - well-kept plants

Troll signs - umbrellas and well-kept plants

Troll signs - well-kept plants

Troll signs - well-kept plants

Also water bottles and water sources:

Troll signs - water bottles

Troll signs - water sources

Troll signs - water sources

Then I found a troll house:

Troll house

As it was day-time, the door was locked. I noticed the lollypop stick (top left of the door) that had been left there before the troll went inside to sleep.

Troll house

There was a faint zzZZZZzzz noise coming from inside. I didn’t attempt to open the door because:

a) There was a big lock on it

b) It isn’t a good idea to disturb a sleeping troll. Even the nice ones can be aggressive if you interrupt them while sleeping (or eating)

So I kept walking until I came upon another entrance to a troll residence. Note the hole at the bottom of the door:

Troll house

I had a close look and behind the hole was a large piece of cheese. The cheese was resting on top of a large mouse-trap with a rusty spring. As the trolls eat the cats, there are a lot of mice around. Trolls like to skewer mice and roast them in front of an open fire.

Further on (and higher up the mountain) I found the doorway to the house of a naughty troll:

House of a naughty troll

You can see that a naughty troll lives here by the cigarette ends in the doorway.

Half-way up the mountain, near the top of the village I could see the trolls handy-work. Lots of well-kept plants, often in make-up pots, such as paint-pots:

Pot-plants maintained by trolls

Then as I walked I found something a little odd – an entrance to a troll-house with a metal door:

Troll house

Within it I could see a troll’s scooter. They use scooters to get around the twisty streets of villages such as Pennadomo, Italy because they don’t have an engine so are silent.

Troll house and scooter

I opened the door a little and had a quick look in there. I couldn’t see or hear a troll, but I didn’t want to risk disturbing one, so I left.

Then I made my way up a steep part of the mountain, towards the very top of the village where I looked up and saw a troll’s house up high, with a balcony which surrounded with metal bars. This was obviously the home of a level 2 troll:

A level 2 troll's house

A level 2 troll is a senior troll who commands and organises worker trolls. The metal bars of this and the previous houses I had seen gave me the impression that I was in the part of the village where the naughty trolls lived. Lucky for me, it was still day time so I was (relatively) safe – as long as I snuck by quietly without disturbing any trolls.

Onwards and upwards I went – my legs were getting quite tired from all the walking, but I didn’t want to stop (not in naughty troll territory).

Village of Pennadomo, Italy

Then I found something quite disturbing – a troll entrance that had been boarded up and large stones placed against it. This was obviously the dwellings of a very nasty troll who had to be kept under lock and key:

Naughty troll's boarded up house

This was the troll’s rear door:

Naughty troll's boarded up rear door

Then I went just around the corner and stumbled upon something interesting – a troll shrine. Notice all the well-kept plants that the trolls have been looking after:

Troll shrine

Religious troll candles

This is a troll prayer:

A troll prayer

And this was clearly a troll sign:

A troll sign - directing to something

I wasn’t sure what it was leading me to, but I had come all this way so was urged to investigate! So on I went…

Cautiously through the tunnel (trolls often jump out at you and demand payment of a toll if you try to walk through them):

A tunnel

Luckily though there were no trolls to be seen.

As you can see, I was now high above the village of Pennadomo:

Village of Pennadomo, Italy from above

Far in the distance was lake Lago di Bomba which is where trolls like to go at weekends to play and take a relaxing swim (trolls are deceptively good swimmers, learning to swim 25 metres at the age of 4):

Lake Lago di Bomba, near Pennadomo, Italy

Lake Lago di Bomba, near Pennadomo, Italy

Then, after following the troll signs for a while, I discovered a rare sight – and not one I was expecting to see. I actually saw a real-life Italian troll! It looked friendly enough, but was placed behind a series of rusty bars.

An Italian troll

I didn’t know if the bars were to protect me from it, or it from me, so I decided to keep my distance, politely wave back and then make my way all the way back down to the car. That was enough excitement for one day!

It will work great with my Canon 40D which is a digital SLR. I have always had an interest in photography and did a photography course in Italy last October. Plus I would like to get more into food photography, so I can make better photographs for my cooking site GetMeCooking.

The flash can be used on the body of the camera and can also be used as a remote flash, so I can use it as a slave flash, to get rid of harsh shadows when shooting food. I am thinking of getting some light diffusers to go over the flash and also maybe turn my dining area into a mini food studio. I plan to photograph the recipes I make ‘on the go’ with my camera, only making a really good photograph for the end result. Taking really good photographs while cooking is too time consuming so isn’t really practical.

Speedlite 580EX II Specifications

Canon ‘Flash Work’ document – as you can see from this document, there is a lot to learn!

Canon Speedlite 580EX II

Plus I got a Feedback Sports, Pro-Elite Bicycle Repair Stand, which will make it so much easier to work on both my road bike and my mountain bike! Just as well as I have already entered the 2010 Questars series of 4 races with Dave and I will also enter some Triathlons this year. Plus lots of training!

Feedback Sports Pro-Elite Bicycle Repair Stand

Plus I got a few other things such as mountain bike specific socks, CO2 based type pump and some travel books on Nice.

I wish I hadn’t been given so much chocolate and biscuits. After losing a few Kg’s recently, I think I’ve put it back on again – I’m afraid to jump onto the scales! Time to crash diet again…

I got up at 0615, left my house at 0635 and got to the school at Roade at 0650. I thought I would be one of the first competitors there but actually the car park was already pretty full! The air was very cold and there were patches of fog, but it was dry and there was no wind, so conditions looked good.

Roade Sprint Triathlon - 0700 hrs

I registered, then walked back to my car to fetch my bike and kit, then set it all out in the transition area. Then I saw my parents who were there to see me compete for the first time. I also saw a couple of people from Team MK and Brian from work.

By 0800 the sun had come out, the fog had disappeared and it was feeling quite warm – very good racing conditions.

Swim:

At 0815 I entered the pool area and sat with 3 other competitors who would be starting at the same time as me. I think they have 3 people in each of the 4 swimming lanes at the same time. One of the marshals have us each a chip to wear around our ankles and some instructions for the swim. We were to do 18 laps.

When it was my turn (along with the other 3 people starting at the same time as me), I jumped into the pool (which was warm). Then I was given a 1 minute, then a 30 second notice – then we were off… The first 25m went okay, I was breathing on every 4th stroke (on my left side), but I quickly got tired so began to breathe on every 2nd stroke. Then I got really tired and tried not putting my head under the water, I had to stand up a few times, etc. Half of the lane was really shallow, which actually made it hard to do breast stroke because my legs kept hitting the floor.

Plus it was hard to keep track of the lengths. I think I got it right though (I was counting every 2 laps, i.e. up to 9). So on my 9th lap I looked over to another lane where I saw someone who had set off at the same time as me stop (I wasted about 10-15 seconds doing this). That was confirmation enough for me, so I got out and ran towards the transition area.

Bike:

My hands just weren’t working properly after the swim, so it was hard to put my race belt and helmet on; but once on I ran with the bike to the bike out area.

After crossing the bike lane, I got on my bike and tried to slip my feet into my shoes – which wasn’t easy. Nor was it quick or easy to put them on. I wasted at least 1 minute trying to put them on, while slowly cycling along the road. I really need to get some Triathlon cycle shoes.

The first few km’s were hard because I was recovering from the swimming (poor swimming technique meant that I had worn myself out too much) but after that I got into it okay. Once going I saw 1 rider about 100m in front of me – very distant, so I tried to catch him up slowly. I was catching him up slowly but then he stopped to talk to a marshal, I don’t know why because he looked like a good competitor and wasn’t in any trouble.

Then I proceeded onto Stoke Bruene where I went a little too fast over a small bridge which is followed by a sharp left. I couldn’t stop (left a skid mark with my rear tyre) and ended up in the other lane, which had a large Land Rover in it, heading towards me! So I went around the right of that and carried on. Going through Roade there was some traffic, but nothing that slowed me down too much.

I was feeling better on the 2nd lap, however I had to slow to a crawl on a few occasions because of traffic (cars) and horses.

During the bike stage I overtook quite a few people and was not overtaken at all.

At the end of the bike stage I dismounted, took off my shoes and ran to the transition point. The bike racks were not numbered on this end, so I went to the wrong rack which cost me some time. Once I had found my place, I racked my bike and put on my running shoes.

Run:

This started badly as I assumed that the run out section would be near the bike out section (as both exited the same school gate), so I ran towards that. However I then realised that the run out section was on the opposite corner of the field, so I lost some time there.

I had thought that the course was going to be at least half off-road, so I had bought my trail shoes, however it was mostly on-road. Another thing to put on my shopping list is a pair of Triathlon running shoes with a quick-lace system.

I found the first few km’s quite tough, I didn’t really get into a good long stride or breathing pattern for the whole running section (just lack of practice recently do to doing the 3 Peaks training and lack of running training), I even walked in some places which I didn’t in my previous Triathlon (or in the half marathons I have done!). However I still managed a good sprint finish which got a good response from the crowd who clapped for me

Also at the finish, the 2 commentators said my name and said that I was from Team MK. They also said some other things (like well done, good finish, etc.) but I wasn’t really listening.

During the run stage I overtook a few people and was only overtaken once.

Then I gave my chip to the marshalls and grabbed some water and banana.

Result:

I finished in around 1:20. I will post my official times here when I get them.

Overall:

I think that looking for confirmation of swum laps, traffic, poor transitions, getting lost in the transition area (looking for bike rack and looking for run out) and putting bike shoes on cost me around 5 minutes.

My swimming is rubbish, with some training I should be able to be at least 5 minutes faster.

My running should have been ~3 minutes faster, I have just been out of practice recently.

My cycling was okay. More practice will bring the times down. Being a Techie and into new gadgets and new kit, I’m sure I can get Nathan to persuade me to buy some new kit next year.

My transitions were not good. next time I will note where the biking and running out points are as well as keep a mental note of where my rack is.

I need to buy a pair of Triathlon cycling shoes and a pair of Triathlon running shoes – I will get these next year. I should also but a road cycling helmet (I am currently using my mountain bike helmet).

I think a time of close to 1 hour would be achievable for me next year – after I have had some swimming lessons and get serious(ish) on the training. If I could give up cakes and chocolate that would be a real boost (or I might just buy a lighter bike instead – same diff right?).

I am looking forward to going on holiday in Italy next week. It will be the first time I have gone away to do something relaxing (for the body at least, maybe not the mind) in years!

As stated in my previous posts, by way of winning a prize in a competition, I got free entry into the For Goodness Shakes! Sponsored Sprint Triathlon (750m swimming, 20km cycling, 5km running) at Dorney Lake, Eton with less than 2 weeks notice!

I read the letter carefully which stated that registration would open at 07:30, the races will start at 10:30 and competitors should get there 2 hours before the race (i.e. 08:30). So I got up at 06:30 (after going to bed at 12:30 that morning), had some porridge, loaded all of my gear into my car (and the bike on the back) and set off at 07:30.

At 08:08 I arrived on-site to see a couple of traffic attendants and an empty field. There was 1 other car in front of me but he clearly wasn’t a competitor as he didn’t have a bike. We parked up alongside each other and I asked the parking attendant if I was the first competitor and he confirmed that I was. The person in the other car was just a spectator. The parking attendant then told me that the race start was 800m away. So I had to put my relatively large plastic crate 9containing all my gear) on top of my handlebars and awkwardly walk with the bike to the main area.

There I was presented with a registration tent that was closed until 09:00, some marshals complaining about how disorganised the set-up was (e.g. transition area barriers) and an empty transition area.

Empty transition area

Trade tent being set up

At 09:00 I registered (I think I was the first person to register) then I walked over to my bike which I had leant on the railings by the transition area. I then got talking to some friendly marshals. I told them it was my first time and they all gave me lots of really helpful advice – most of them competed too. Then another competitor came over and it was his first time too – it was good to meet someone else who didn’t know what to expect either!

Dorney Lake boat house and viewing balcony

After watching some competitors set their bikes up in the transition area, I decided to set mine up too. How does this look?:

Paul's bike in the transition area

Note – next time I will put the bike facing the other way to the other bikes around me (although it made no difference in this instance as I wasn’t elbowing for space in the transition area).

I was still nervous about the 750m swim which was going to be out to a yellow buoy, then right to a yellow buoy, then right again and onto land.

View of Dorney Lake from the transition area

There were going to be 4 waves (groups) of competitors, starting from 10:30. I was in wave 3 which started at 11:30.

Before the start I got kitted out. I put on my Tri-suit (which I had bought the day before)

Tri-suit

and waited until the last minute to put on the wetsuit (as it was a really hot day).

Then the time came. At 11:20 I got into the water with about 60 other people in my wave (age 30-34). Then the bit I hadn’t counted on – we had to stay afloat in the water (treading water) for 10 minutes while listening to a safety briefing! I managed to doggy-paddle to the side and hold onto the pier, but even that wasn’t easy because due to the buoyancy of the wetsuit, my legs wanted to go under the pier instead of stay beneath me! Plus I was right at the front of the pack which is not a great place to be – although I did keep out of the way at the start so didn’t get kicked and slapped too much.

Once the starting horn went we were all off and it was immediately obvious that I was in trouble with the swimming. For some reason I was finding it hard to breathe, plus I wasn’t used to swimming in a reed infested lake! So I gave up on the front crawl after about 30m and did the rest using backstroke, a little breaststroke and some other made up swimming methods. The problem with swimming backstroke is that you can’t see where you are swimming, so I was zig-zagging a lot. At one point I was even swimming back towards the start Plus I swam into the 2nd buoy which wasn’t good. I need lessons!

Once I eventually got out of the water (I wasn’t the last, but one of the last) I went into the transition area, took off my wetsuit, swimming hat, goggles and grabbed my bike. That part of the transition went okay. Then I crossed the white line leading out of the transition area and tried to put my feet into my shoes (which were clipped into my bike). I hadn’t practiced this before and it didn’t go so well, so I was forced to stop, remove the shoes from the bike, put on my shoes and then get on the bike. Once on the bike I was happy and I went for it, passing lots of people (and also getting passed by people on nice looking bikes!).

The biking circuit was 4 laps around the lake (each lap was 5km). It was fairly flat and quite an easy ride although one side of it was very exposed to wind which made it a little tough. I was in 16th/17th gear most of the time. At one point a girl rode past me and then stayed not too far in front, so that motivated me to overtake her. As I tried to overtake, she sped up and we were neck-a-neck for about 2km until she eventually backed off and I powered on and left her for dust

After the 4 laps, I parked my bike in the transition area and put on my running shoes – which I should have loosened more as they were a bit hard to put on. I also need to get some clever shoe laces that you just pull instead of manually tie. Then I proceeded to do the 5km run at what I thought wasn’t too fast a pace, although I was overtaking a lot of people and only a few overtook me. It was really hot so I slowed down for the 2 water points to get a gulp of water and pour some over my head (I didn’t see anybody else pour water on themselves so maybe I looked a bit silly doing it, but it helped with the heat!).

At the end of the 5km a marshal hosed me down with cool water – which was nice, then I collected a For Goodness Shakes! milkshake and t-shirt, chatted with a few competitors, then packed up and left. After driving 5 miles I realised that I had left my phone behind, so I went back to get it – luckily it was where I had left it Then as I made my way back to the car park a girl (another competitor) asked me how to cycle to the train station. Although I had TomTom on my phone, as I was in a big field it couldn’t precisely show me where I was, so being a gentleman I gave her (and her bike) a lift to the train station which was 6 miles away. That was nice as I got to see a glimpse of Windsor Castle and the nearby villages.

My timings were:

• Swim: 28:11 (most people did it in 20 or less). I did backstroke the whole way. I tried doing front crawl but I couldn’t breathe properly. Because I was on my back I couldn’t see where I was going, so I kept zig-zagging – and was even swimming back to the start at one point which wasn’t good lol
• T1: 1:01 (plus an additional 45 secs or so I took when I was out of the transition area, trying to put my shoes on!)
• Cycle: 41:25 (not too bad)
• T2: 2:04 (I must make my shoes easier to get into next time!)
• Run: 23:16 (faster than most other other people! It felt slow to me. I’m really surprised! I even slowed to a walk twice at the 2 water stations!)

Transitions are easy to improve upon – and I hope the swimming will be too…

My positions were 313/360 overall and 58/62 in my class (age 30-34). So not very good really. If my swimming was 8 mins faster I would have been about 230th.

Full results here.

Although my swimming was rubbish, I had a really good day, met some nice people and am keen to do more!

Over the past 18 months I have competed in several Adventure Races which are great fun, but there is always an element of luck in them because competitors can choose multiple routes. So I would like to try a sport that would allow me to better measure my performance against other people. I did amazingly well in the Birmingham Half Marathon last October (2008) with a time of 1:39:30, 643rd place out of ~9,000 and I consider myself to be better than average on a mountain bike, so I am thinking that I would be okay at Triathlons…

A couple of months ago I joined Team Milton Keynes which is a club that encourages its members people to do various types of events such as Triathlons, Marathons, Mountain Bike races, etc.

So after joining the club I investigated getting the equipment that I would need for a Triathlon. I was thinking of getting a Triathlon starter kit, but in the end I have opted to get the things seperately (costs more but it means I can get better items).

So I have started with:

• Trek Madone 4.7, 58cm (carbon frame)
• 2 water bottles
• 2 Trek water bottle carriers
• Saddle bag
• Keo Look Classics pedals
• Specialized Pro Road shoes
• Specialized cycling shirt

Trek Madone 4.7 2009

I took it out for a ride today and it was tiring – using different muscles to the ones I use when I go mountain biking. Plus I really miss the suspension on rough roads and pathways.

Plus been used to a mountain bike, I’m used to the brakes and gears being in a different place!

I’m going out for a 35 mile ride with Team MK tomorrow morning (at 09:30 – I should be in bed!) so I’m just hoping I can keep up and complete the distance…

I will keep this list updated. Feel free to comment.

All software is freeware unless otherwise specified.

• HTC Hot Fixes (all need to be re-installed if you hard-reset the phone)
• .net Compact Framework 3.5. Some of the program listed below require this. To install: Connect your PDA using to your PC. Ensure that Active Sync is running. Run the program and follow the instructions. Then you need to reset your PDA (on the HTC Touch HD you need to remove the back cover in order to press the reset button)
• Auto Call Record (automatically record all telephone conversations)
• BBC iPlayer (good for catching up with BBC TV and radio programs)
• Bing (Web search, maps/directions, weather, etc. Replaced Windows Live Search)
• Bluehoo (a social networking program, uses BlueTooth). Good in theory but I have yet to find anyone else using it
• CERegEditor (registry editor – installs and runs on the PC)
• CleanRAM (Cleans your RAM)
• CurrencyConv (Currency Converter)
• Depth of Field (a Depth of Field calculator for Canon photographic lenses)
• Diamond Light Saber (Star Wars light saber)
• DivX Player (plays DivX videos)
• Dog Whistle (a dog whistle. I don’t know if it works, I need to find a dog to annoy…)
• eWallet (place to keep secure data such as passwords, credit card details, etc.). You have to pay for this, although I got it bundled with a PDA years ago and this version still works
• F1 2009 Mobile (Formula 1 2009 information on your Pocket PC)
• Fennec (Mozilla based Web Browser). I prefer Opera
• Flix (shows local cinemas and listing the film showtimes)
• Fring (IM and VOIP – lots of formats)
• Friendmobilizer (Facebook client). To be honest I don’t like this… I’ll give it a fair try for a couple of weeks but I’ll probably end up deleting it
• Fonebook (Facebook to Outlook synchronisation – far better than OutSync which only synchronises photos). Not strictly mobile software, but is useful if you synchronise your mobile with Outlook. It allows you to get photos, telephone numbers, birthdays and other information from Facebook. It also allows you to associate Facebook contacts with existing users in Outlook (e.g. David/Dave) as well as allowing you to create a new contact sourced from info in Facebook.
• G-Shotgun ()
• GClippers (pretend hair/beard clippers)
• Google Maps (Google mapping program. Includes Google Latitude which lets you share your current location with friends. It also includes Google Streetmap functionality)
• Google Mobile App ()
• GYRATOR (uses the G-Sensor to auto-rotate applications to match the screen orientation). Lots of customisation options. It does need some setting up. I very rarely use this, but it’s nice to have installed
• HTC Light Saber (Star Wars light saber). Diamond Light Saber is better, but it is nice to have this one installed too
• i-nigma (reads 2D barcodes. Can be found on sites such as http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/)
• IGIndex (online sports betting and financial spread betting). Note: To get this to work you have to change the default protocol to the socket option (this is on on the logon screen | Settings | Protocol | Socket). Even on the largest font setting, the text is very small, but it is usable
• Lighter (a pretend lighter – for concerts, etc.) It’s actually not very good
• leTour 2009 (information on le Tour de France). A poorly written application and hard to read on the screen. Otherwise it would be good
• Media Centre for Windows (access your music, photos and videos)
• Microsoft MyPhone (Synchronises and backus up information between your phone and the web )
• Mobi Cocktail (Popular cocktail recipes)
• Mobile Manager for Netflix ()
• MoorHuhn ()
• MTreeSize (Displays the size of each folder on your internal disk)
• NoData (disables data connections – good for when you are on holiday and don’t want a big data connection bill!)
• Octrotalk (IM program)
• Omniano the Band ()
• PHM Soft Reset (enables you to soft-reset the phone without having to press the physical reset button – which on the HTC Touch HD is a pain because you have to remove the rear cover)
• Pocket Last FM (a lean but decent Last FM player)
• Pocket Scrobbler (requies a LastFM account – free. Mine is http://www.last.fm/user/Techboy_UK)
• PockeTwit (Twitter program – cool interface. Better than Tiny Twitter)
• Power Radio (a radio client)
• Qik (Stream video to http://qik.com in real time. My account is http://www.qik.com/techboy). This program works, but it does run very slowly
• S2P – Slide to Play (a stylus-free MP3/WMA player application. It fully integrates with S2U2)
• S2U2 – Slide to unlock (a simple lock/unlock application which has the iPhone style slide unlocking)
• Shoot Me (has a variety of weapon noises)
• Skyfire (web browser – plays more content, such as video; than other browsers)
• Skype (VOIP)
• Throttle Storage (Graphically shows used space)
• Touchtris (Tetris clone). It works, but it’s a bit fiddly to miss with a finger interface
• Track My Run (Tracks progress as you run/walk)
• VXUtil (network applications)
• WiFi Monster (WiFi discovery software)
• WirelessTime (lets you schedule when you want your phone, Bluetooth, WiFi and sound to be active or inactive. It comes with English and French languages installed)
• WSpeedMeter (shows current speed, co-ordinates and altitude, uses GPS)

I have tried, but not currently got working on HTC Touch HD:

• Betfair (online sports betting and gambling program)

I haven’t got around to installing yet:

• tnyynt SD TuneUP (speeds up the SD card)

Useful Notes:

1. To make Opera the default browser:

You can actually reinstate Opera Mobile as the default browser (PIE would have been made the default browser if you had installed another browser such as Skyfire or Iris, and uninstalled them subsequently).

Launch Opera Mobile manually via Start Menu > Programs. In the address bar, enter “opera:config” and go to the page. The “Preferences Editor” page will be shown. Scroll down until you see “Install“. Tap on it to expand the section. Enable the tickbox for “Browser First Time Launch“, then tap “Save“.

You have now reinstated Opera Mobile as the default browser.

Leave a comment to let me know of any other cool/useful apps!

After exchanging a few e-mails with Stephen from Transition Cycles (in Bedford), I popped over to have a look at the X1 today. I took it out for a test ride, but as it was 0C outside, my breath was frosty and my fingers were frozen it was only a short ride. However I could tell that it felt light, was easy to control, the front and rear suspension worked well when I rode over large cobbles and it looked good! It was clearly a very impressive bike so I bought it

Giant Anthem X1 - My new bike!

Full Specs:

I also bought a pair Altura skin tight, thermal trousers which look kind of funny, but will keep me warm over the Winter months.

Altura Kinetic Bib Tight