Author name: Ian Robinson

My current podcast subscription list

| | General, Science, Technology, Writing

I recently pruned the number of podcasts I subscribe to in Downcast. I was deleting too many episodes without ever listing to them. Here is a list of what podcasts survived the cull, with links to the feeds to subscribe to them.

Innovation as entertainment

| | Technology

Apple has changed the way I use technology for the better in 3 major ways. In the late 1980’s I first used a Macintosh. It was a revelation that changed the way I thought about and interacted with computers. There was no going back. I’ve been a Macintosh user, and evangelist, ever since. That was the first major change they delivered to me.

The 2nd was the introduction of the iPod. Coupled with iTunes it completely changed the way I listened to music. No need to go get a CD if I wanted to hear a song. Think of a track and boom, it’s playing in seconds. Apple devices are still the way I listen to music. I can’t foresee that changing any time soon.

The 3rd major change in technology they provided was the iPhone. This put a powerful computer in my pocket that I actually wanted to use. As a side benefit it was also a phone. iPhone is also my iPod now. I see iPad as an evolution of the iPhone technology. This does not mean I see the iPad as a big iPhone!

Those 3 major technology introductions were spread over the last few decades. Sure they have been tweaked and refined over the years, but the core ideas for the technologies were separated in time. There has been a lot of talk on the technology blogs of late about Apple having to come up with something new and groundbreaking in technology. It seems to me that most of the people talking about this see innovation as entertainment. They often don’t articulate what part of modern life they think Apple could innovate in. They just want something new to talk about.  The technology sector as soap opera.

If they do mention something it’s television that usually comes up. I’m not an avid watcher of television. My limited needs are met by current BBC iPlayer services and AppleTV, iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match. 

I can’t think of any need I have where Apple could make a major difference with a hardware/software solution that would sell the numbers required to make it worth their while. Something in the kitchen? Not really. Household appliances like cleaning robots? Cars? No. 

What I would like is more incremental improvements in the areas they currently play. Faster devices with better battery capacity certainly. Retina displays everywhere. Apps from 3rd parties on AppleTV would be good. Better software tools and services linking the devices. More push services based on location to tell me about things happening where I currently located. Better interaction with 3rd party household appliances and cars would be great. Dock my iPhone in my car dashboard and it sets the car up the way I like it if someone else has adjusted any settings. Plus logging my journeys and adding to my daily journal.

So the innovation that I think we need over the next 5 years is in software. Software on the devices, software in the backend systems linking various information sources together, and analytics software so that relevant information is pushed to me. 

 

Started the Fast Diet

| | General, Science

There is a new lifestyle and diet scheme in town. It’s called the 5:2 Fast Diet. Fast as in fasting, not as in speedy. Unlike most (all?) other diet regimens, this one does seem to have some science and data to back it up. The 5:2 bit of the name equates to the fact that you can eat normally for 5 days a week, and then on 2 days you restrict yourself to 600 calories. Thats for men. It’s 500 for women.

Extreme fasting, and its sibling prolonged calorie restriction, have been studied for a while. Current research is showing that the gentler, and more easily doable 5:2 Fast Diet can provide many of the benefits that extreme fasting does. 

Grab the book by Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer to get more info. Only a few quid in paperback and Kindle formats on Amazon UK. They also have a web site.

I’m making Monday and Thursday my fasting days. Starting today. Will fast from breakfast until dinner then until breakfast next day on those days. With the 600 calories allowed split between breakfast and dinner. That’s the same as what Michael Mosley does. Seems sensible. 

My current weight stats are:

Height: 188 cm.

Weight: 87.8 Kg.

BMI: 24.8.

Not overweight, but BMI close to entering 25+ danger zone. I know from when I was playing cricket regularly that I feel better when my weight is about 79 Kg. So I’ll make that my target.

Weight Target: 79 Kg.

BMI Target: 22.4.

It’s the biochemical changes, as outlined in the Fast Diet book that are the real prize though. 

Follow me on Twitter to comment or discuss. 

Windows 8 Launch day is here

| | Technology

Just watched the New York Windows 8 launch event video. It does look like a great stride forward for Microsoft. I think iOS is better choice for consumers, but it’d be hard to be really annoyed about using Windows 8 if forced via work or for other reasons. With the new UI of course. The Windows 7 style desktop is a daft idea for mobile devices. They should have split the OS UI across devices, with core technology on both and had the ability to run new UI apps on desktops/laptops in another Windows 7 style window.

Who’s planning on going all in on Windows 8? Let me know on Twitter or App.Net I’m happy in the Apple ecosystem myself. Will use Windows 8 VM when in office (cant ditch Windows 7 until remote access VPN and Anti-virus supports Windows 8) with Office 2013 apps.

Typed and posted from my iPad 🙂

Going to be busy few weeks in Mobile Computing

| | Technology

Amazon holding press event on September 6th: new Kindles on the way? http://j.mp/R4joE1

Going to be busy week. Nokia & Microsoft event on 5th September. Motorola (now owned by Google) event on 5th as well. Motorola marketing their event as the main one of the day. They announced after Nokia & Microsoft.

Apple set to announce event for early September as well. New iPhone, iOS 6 and maybe new iPad mini. iPod touch needs a refresh to.

Apple now most valuable company ever

| | Technology

Who would have predicted this in 1996? Another story here is how much Microsoft has gone down in value since 1999. Same thing will happen to Apple of course. Wonder who will be top of hill in 2025?

Apple overtakes Microsoft as most valuable company ever

http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/20/3255593/apple-now-most-valuable-company-ever-overtaking-1990s-microsoft

Apple hit a market capitalization of over $620 billion this morning, breaking the record of $618.9 billion set by Microsoft back in 1999. The company is now worth over $200 billion more than the second largest company in the world, Exxon Mobil, and almost $400 billion more than the $256.7 billion Microsoft is today.

Apple’s valuation is a factor of its share price, currently just over $660 per share, and the number of outstanding shares available to investors. The company’s share price has been steadily increasing as of late, as rumors of a new iPhone and a smaller version of the iPad have gained steam.

 

AppDotNet is ticking over well

| | Technology

I wrote previously about winding down my usage of Twitter. It turned out more drastic than that. I stopped dead in my tracks on Saturday morning with this Tweet. 

I did post a followup Tweet telling anyone looking at my Twitter timeline where they can find me now. One of the pointers was to my account page on the new Alpha.app.net site. AppdDotNet, or ADN as it’s also being called, is a proof of concept for the open social API envisioned by Dalton Caldwell and others. I’d recommend listening to Dalton Caldwell on This Week In Google Episode 159. It’s a great interview that provides insight into what the AppDotNet API work hopes to provide. 

AppDotNet is off to a good start. There have been 120,000 messages posted so far. You can watch realtime stats here. There is loads of development activity around it. With several very nice apps in early release testing. Other services beyond AppDotNet will also be built on the API that provide social interaction services. There is already a rudimentary weblog comment system that uses it.

My activity on AppDot Net so far is as follows. Posts: 88. Followers: 49. Following: 76. I was user 530 to be granted access. 

Giving up on Twitter

| | Technology

The web is full of articles about the tightening up of the guidelines and rules that Twitter will have for use of their API. I won’t rehash them here. Twitter have the right to do what they want. It’s their service. They have to make money to pay the VC’s and other investors they have. They have chosen the follow the sponsored tweets and advertisement model.

Most of the changes they are requiring from applications that display tweets (if said applications are allowed access the tweet stream at all), is that they don’t filter out the new Twitter Cards, promoted tweets and any other advertorial content that will be inserted into the main feed. Most people won’t care. Most people may not even notice. I will.

I hate ads. I don’t use any apps on iOS that are ad supported. If I can’t pay for the app to get an ad free version than I don’t use the app. The same applies for Twitter and other social network sites. I deleted my Facebook account partly for this reason (that and the fact that the content on FaceBook is mostly awful).

Whilst it’s true that the rules that will probably require 3rd party apps like TweetBot to display the advertorial content haven’t kicked in yet, it’s only a matter of time. So I’ve started to wind down my use of Twitter. I’m still debating with myself whether to just freeze it as is, or delete my account.

It’s all very disappointing. I loved Twitter. It was by far and away the best social feed on the Internet. But I refuse to be fodder to be advertised at. If that’s their plan I wish them well. I’m not staying to be part of it.

They won’t notice.

Seven is the new black

| | Technology

So Google have announced the Nexus 7 Android tablet. Available to pre-order now from the Google play store and shipping in a few weeks. It’s priced very aggressively at £159 in UK ($199 US) and will be running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It actually looks pretty good. No carrier stuff stuck on top of the base Android. Consensus seems to be that the main competitor to this is the Amazon Kindle Fire.

I think that this new Nexus 7 will also have an impact on the iPad tablet market. The cheapest iPad in the UK is £329. That’s for the iPad 2 that is still for sale. The 3rd Generation iPad, with its simply stunning screen, starts at £399. That means that the Nexus is well under half the price of the cheapest iPad. It’s true that the iPad, with its higher resolution screen, can be used for different types of tablet apps than are possible on a 7 inch screen. But I think that the low entry price of the Nexus will cause people to stop and think about what to buy. Especially in schools. Getting two Nexus tablets for each iPad will help schools deliver on a 1:1 device programme.

So what should Apple do? I think that they should do a 7 inch tablet device. But I don’t think it should be an iPad 7. They should use the iPod brand to fill this space. It’s clear that over the last few years that the iPhone has cannibalised some of the iPod sales. The iPod touch with the 3.5 retina display still sells well. It’s like an iPhone without the mobile radio, which is useful in a lot of situations. I think that Apple should target the 7-inch touch device market with an iPod touch 7. It would give people the option of using the iOS platform, at a lower price point than the £329 and higher cost for iPad. This would leave the iPad name for the premium tablet space (which Apple owns). An iPod touch 7 could run current iPhone and iPod touch apps doubled up. On a 7 inch retina screen this would be okay. Developers would need design new apps targeted at the 7 inch screen as well.

I wonder if we’ll see an iPod touch 7 at this years September iPod event.

Reading list

| | General

Books I want to read this year. List is in no particular order. I’ll select from the list based on whim. Let’s all gather round the glow of our screens in December to see how many I managed to read. 

Lonely Planets (David Grinspoon) – Finished

Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success (Ken Segall) – Finished

Chocky (John Wyndham) – Finished

The Geek Manifesto (Mark Henderson) – Finished

By Light Alone (Adam Roberts) – currently reading

Solaris Rising (Various) – partially read. Short stories.

Manhattan in Reverse (Peter F. Hamilton) – partially read. Short stories.

The Fabric of the Cosmos (Brian Green) – partially read

The Devine Wind (Kerry Emanuel) – partially read

Paradox (Jim Al-Khalili)

Why Beauty is Truth (Ian Stewart)

The Rough Guide to the Future (Jon Turney) – Finished

The Equations: Icons Of Knowledge (Sander Bias)

Very Special Relativity (Sander Bias)

It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science (Graham Farmelo)

The Quantum Universe (Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw)

Why Does E=mc² (Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw) – Finished.

Calculus Made Easy (Silvanus P. Thompson)

China: Illustrated History (Patricia Buckley Ebrey)

America: A Narrative History (George Brown Tindall, David Emory Shi)

The Seven Basic Plots (Christopher Booker)

Writing Fiction: A Guide For The Narrative Craft (Janet Burroway, Elizabeth Stuckey-French)

Reading Like A Writer (Francine Prose)

How Not To Write A Novel (Howard Mittlemark, Sandra Newman)

The Etymologicon  (Mark Forsyth)

Snuff (Terry Pratchett) – Finished

Dodger (Terry Pratchett)

The Long Earth (Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter)

Starmaker (Olaf Stapledon)

Odd John (Olaf Stapledon)

Last And First Men (Olaf Stapledon)

Jack Glass (Adam Roberts)

Novelists Boot Camp (Todd A. Stone)

God: The Failed Hypothesis (Victor J. Stenger)

The Comprehensible Cosmos (Victor J. Stenger)

Irreligion (John Allen Paulos)

The Universe (john Gribbin)

Why Business People Speak Like Idiots (Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway, Jon Warshawsky)

Consider Her Ways (John Wyndham)

Land Of The Headless (Adam Roberts)

Gradisil (Adam Roberts)

50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need To Know (Tony Crilly)

50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need To Know (Ben Dupré)

50 Physics Ideas You Really Need To Know (Joanne Baker)

Logic: A Very Short Introduction (Graham Priest)

Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction (Timothy Gowers)

Guerrilla Home Recording (Karl Coryat)

 


 

 

 

 

 

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