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Finishing up with a client recently has meant that hardware VPN/firewall/router I used to get access their network needed to be unplugged, and I thought it was high time I did a refresh of my home network.

So I’ve plumbed for an Apple Time Capsule as the main wireless access device, and a Netgear DG834G router, but with the wireless component switched off.

I spent a bit of time in Maplins looking at pure ADSL modems, but just figured it’d be more useful to have a wireless router “just in case”, than a simple modem without such. Still a bit puzzled I had to go to Maplins at all, as Apple staff in Glasgow were largely bemused at my request for their ADSL modem recommendation, given the Time Capsule doesn’t have an ADSL modem I would have thought they’d get that question a fair bit more.

The Time Capsule looks good, but it’s proving rather slow to do the initial backup. 133Gb of data won’t be done in a hurry, certainly. This, I should add, is on top of my second hard disk in my Mac Pro. Given Time Machine makes doing backups so easy, it’s as well to have a few alternatives, so that if ever there’s a problem, or a burglary, I’ve got a few fall backs if my main computer gets nicked. Insurance covers the cost, but it’ll never cover the data, and to be honest my data is infinitely more important, so I don’t mind spending a bit of cash to ensure it’s safe.

An Apple network should also put me in good stead for the Apple TV when it comes out in the UK. Well, it is out in the UK, but when movie rentals comes here, I’m keen to get one. It’s the ‘killer app’ I’ve been waiting for. Of course, I’ll also need a TV with HDMI too…

There is a peril associated with dependency on a gadget. When it misbehaves, or you forget it, you can find yourself at a bit of a loss. My Garmin Forerunner 305 is a case in point: I forgot it on my first Cross Country race, and today I decided to go out for a quick run before the darkness set in only to find it utterly unresponsive: I presumed it was out of juice (sometimes if I don’t switch it off properly or get it charging in the cradle, it sits trying to find a satellite and drains the battery) so I left for a lap of Pollok Park with it on charge.

On my return from the run, and finding that it hadn’t charged at all, I suspected something more was afoot. A spot of googling later, and I discovered this isn’t an entirely uncommon ailment. Because it also wasn’t being detected by the Garmin Software either, it had clearly frozen in some way (or died). So holding down the lap/reset button on the top and the Mode button on the side for a few seconds – then release and press the power key as normal. Much to my relief (the hassle of returning it for repair/exchange was feeling like a distinct possibility) it all came back on as normal. But frustratingly a decent 5.5k loop of Pollok Park at what felt like a good pace was not to be recorded.

No matter – there’s certainly something to be said for ‘running as you feel’, rather than forever trusting to the heart rate monitor, or pace indicators, to let you know how you’re performing. The big benefit I’m feeling from having joined a running club is improved endurance. Knowing that I can keep running at a fast pace, even though I know it’s hard work (and my body is telling me that in no uncertain terms), and that I would really rather stop. It’s helpful, but not critical, to know what pace I’m at, and what distance we’ve run. But the gadget has to be a secondary source of information, rather than a primary indicator of behaviour.

The other realisation I’ve come to is that running is just as much of a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge. Keeping a sustained and challenging pace, willing yourself on, ensuring that you don’t fall much further back from the group you’re with. These things aren’t helped by gadgets, and are ultimately more important in keeping you going.

Taking the tough decision to go out in the cold, dark rain, knowing full well it’s going to be hard, but knowing too that you’ll feel a whole lot better having done it, than take the easy option and staying indoors with a cup of tea and a decent TV show, or even just running at an easy pace which is, well, easier. Whilst there are plenty of reasons to do these things (illness and recovery), improvement doesn’t come without pushing your limits. Gadgets don’t really help you do that.

So my “lost run” as a result of an non-functioning gadget is a bit of a shame (as I think it was quite a handy pace), but it’s still useful to have gone for a run simply to see how I feel and how I manage my running, without a gadget giving me accurate pace figures.

The dark and gloomy winter months are almost at their peak, but I’m looking forward to a few events over the next few weeks. The Clevedon Boxing Day 4m road race, to burn off a bit of the Christmas pudding, and a couple of 10k races (Jack Crawford 10K and Nigel Barge Memorial 10k in early January – Doubly good as the 10K’s are both in my running clubs winter handicap competition, and I’m hoping my times should be a lot better than my last 10k (which was the hilly and very very wet barrhead 10k). This time forms the basis of the winter handicap, so fingers crossed the last few months of training and a flatter, hopefully drier, course should help my cause

So after almost a week of use, I’m in love with the iPhone. It’s absolutely great, and I’m really happy with the call package I’m on. I can’t wait for my number to port over. But it’s not perfect. Thankfully this is the first time I’ve had a phone that gets patches and updates seamlessly applied to it, so hopefully most of the following will be sorted out soon.

• No obvious ‘Contact Management’ interface: I’d have expected something on the landing page. You’ve got to go to ‘Phone’, then contacts. Deleting is hidden away inside the ‘Edit’ option for a contact, rather than the yummy ’swipe-to-delete’ gesture used for Mail. Indeed, on that note, the ’swipe-to-delete’ interface feature doesn’t apply everywhere where you expect it to.

• The auto-correct feature is great, but hit the delete key to correct a glaring typo, and it seems to stop trying more suggestions.

• Why don’t the Notes sync up to my computer at all?

• Why is there no TODO support in the calendar application!? This and the previous point are new Leopard Mail features. I suppose the Mac and Windows iTunes versions may need to work differently, and in Windows at least, it can depend on what other software you have.

There is one thing that I puzzle over slightly – and that’s the lack of an easy ‘Make emergency calls’ option. Not for me, but if that bus hit me, and my iPhone was the only phone available to be used, would a non-techie be able to work out how to make a call for the ambulance? My old phones always allowed 999 to be dialled through the keyboard lock. But the iPhone requires a slide-to-unlock, click phone, select keypad, dial 999. It’s straight forward, but I’m not sure it’s intuitive in a potentially high-stress situation for anybody unfamiliar with the phone.

I’m a big fan of anything that is shiny, or has buttons. Regular readers will know this. If not, well, can you guess what phone I have? It’s not a difficult question….

So when Frances was designing our kitchen, I was delighted to discover that my love of shinybuttony things could be brought to bear on such an important part of our new house.

My Kitchen Gadgets post from last year has merited a few e-mail exchanges with readers about how good (or not) Induction hobs are, and I’ve been meaning to collate them all into a dedicated post.

Needless to say, I’m still extremely pleased with ours. It always features in a ‘tour of the house’ when we have friends staying for the first time. This isn’t as bad as it sounds. Mostly friends are interested in what we’ve done, and like the kitchen…. So don’t worry

The only real negative is you need special pans, and the ones I’d spent ages choosing 3 or 4 years ago weren’t suitable (we just had a ‘normal’ electric hob). That said, I have found some nice pans with a good thick base which work just fine. They’re not a rare commodity either: Just be sure to keep it in mind when you wander around a department store choosing new pans.

I’d challenge anybody who thinks that “gas is best” to give induction a try. I find that the time to get water to the boil with our hob and pans is surprisingly fast. Much faster, I think, than gas ever was in my experience. Plus it returns to the boil in no time, after, say, you add rice to a boiling pan of water. Oh, and it’s a whole lot more energy efficient.

We purchased AEG 4 ring induction hob model. I think they do a few models, but I was quite insistent we get all induction rings, rather than 50/50 (which Frances was favouring, not least that it was cheaper), but I didn’t want one style for some rings, and another for the others. Would confuse me endlessly, and mess up my timings if I needed to switch around. They may do a five hob model, but we didn’t want something that big.

Do be aware that the ‘power boost’ function is limited: There’s only so much ampage that can be supplied to the rings, so you can’t have them all on ‘power boost’, so they arrange the rings in diagonal pairs, and it’ll alternate which as power for a second. Can be a bit odd to get used to, but makes sense. I’ve never needed them all on that anyway, and if I need two on power, I know how best to arrange things.

Some folk feel that woks are no use on Induction hobs, but we picked up a Ken Hom one, with a flat base of course, that is fine, and we do a fair bit of stir fry cooking. OK, here Gas may win out in the grand scheme of things (ie. the flames heat more of the wok), but not by much: I’ve used both and don’t find it’s that much of a problem.

It’s extraordinarily easy to clean (no burnt in residue as the hob surface simply doesn’t get that hot). The hob is heating the saucepan directly, so the surface is just warmed by conduction from the pan. So much lower maintenance!

A couple of caveats: Induction hobs are quite thick compared to ‘normal’ electric hobs – this is because they have fans underneath to keep the magnets cool. About 1.5″ thick in total (roughly), perhaps compared to a 0.5″ on a normal hob? Just bear it in mind if you’re thinking of getting one.

We were worried enough when our (incompetent) kitchen fitters had mounted the oven right underneath, such that the hob appeared to touch the top of the oven. Insulated it may be, I didn’t want to risk it, so had them lower it to give space. Check the clearance heights and so forth on the model you go for, and ventilation requirements too.

I do sometimes find the water-sensor makes fiddling with the controls a bit fiddly, as I’m not the tidiest of cooks I often have wet hands from washing veg and so on. The water-sensor ensures it all switches off if a pan boils over, so I just need to dry my hands: A fair exchange for a useful feature. The power-on is a half-second too slow for impatient old me. That said, the flush-to-worktop surface makes it integrate very well, and there’s nowhere for gunk to build up which would have been the case if we’d gone for tactile controls.

In short, I love it. At least as good as gas (my view is it’s much better). Very efficient. No gas burning. Very controllable. We’ve not had any problems or hassles, and certainly don’t regret spending the extra money to get induction hobs. Highly recommended.

See also

• See my sponsor here, for possible products if you’re searching?

• Wikipedia on Induction Cookers

So I did succumb, and picked up a shiny iPhone on Saturday afternoon. I gather that the Glasgow store had somebody queuing from the morning on Friday (I just can’t understand that level of expectation), but certainly would have been shocked myself it there had been much of a shortage: Apple have had almost six months to get production up to capacity for the Europe launch.

So I didn’t actually activate the phone until Sunday evening. Delay was mainly that I wanted to be entirely sure there was a decent O2 signal at home. My brother was visiting and he had an O2 signal, so that checked out. But the pre-activated emergency signal on the iPhone had me a bit worried (it bears no relation to the actual O2 signal). I was also wanting to check a few of the finer points of the O2 contract, specifically that I could transfer my number later (it’s not clear that you can), and whether the inclusive minutes covered any network or just O2 and landlines. The great news is it’s every UK network, includes 200 text messages, The Cloud access and Edge data transfers, so it’s a much better deal than my existing Orange contract.

Anyway, after activating the phone I get a decent signal, and the call quality, even with just one bar of signal was still very good. Hooking it up to my home wireless made sure it was all working perfectly.

So, yes, I love the iPhone. It’s a decent phone, and fits well with what I want to do, with (to me) a great tariff. Orange were always reasonable enough, and the free cinema tickets were always nice. But I’ve a suspicion my details were sold to a third party around contract renewal, as I had a couple of phone calls trying to get me signed up again that didn’t strike me as originating from them.

Any gripes with the iPhone? A few. That the landscape/rotated thing doesn’t work everywhere, that the camera is really rather sub-par (but as I’ve a digital SLR, it’s not a biggy, but it’d be nice if it was a better camera for instant snaps), the one-recipient-per-SMS, the lack of Java, the US-centric Stock application (it does UK stocks just fine it seems), and the lack of choose-your-own Ringtones. I really am not prepared to pay money for some song excerpt. I have one I like (and many friends despair at it when I explain), and I’d like to use it on the iPhone. Also that it has speakers, quite good ones all said. Although I’m doubtful too many teenagers will be playing iPhones on the bus…

As far as the user-experience is concerned, it’s a delight. I find it intuitive, and judging how much my brother seemed to enjoy using it, for him too. The lack of keys is great, as I inevitably have problems with moving parts in phones. But I am worried the phone is a bit fragile with all the glass: Especially as I’m sometimes a bit clumsy. So I’ll be looking for an iPhone protection case of some description. Consensus was that it’s a bit heavier than my old k750i, but I prefer the iPhone form factor over a condensed – but thick – phone.

The cost is certainly something, but I looked at it more as an iPod/mobile-browser than a phone. Exclusivity to one provider is a surprise, and I’m puzzled that Apple think the cut they take from O2 (and other providers in other networks) outweighs the money they’d make by getting more providers on board to support it and sell more units. I remain terrified I’ll drop it to find the screen has broken, but there’s not much to be done about that.

In short, I like it, and expect most of the software shortcomings will be fixed in due course, especially as the SDK is due out next year. I’m sure the platform will make for some interesting software solutions. It’s not for everybody, but Apple have certainly given the existing mobile phone manufacturers (and network operators) something to think about, and that’s got to be good for everybody in the long run.

Update

• So I got a text on my old mobile phone that my number porting date has been set for 20th November, which is a week away. Quite a bit longer off than I had hoped. I’ve only done this once before (Vodafone to Orange after we moved to Glasgow, as Vodafone had an atrocious signal around Glasgow)

• I didn’t mention that I actually have an Edge signal at home. I’m a long way from the M25 people, and not really that close to the centre of Glasgow either (I’m in Shawlands, if you wondered). So some hope the Edge service might be more useful to me than I’d expected.

iPhone fever begins to grow is the BBC’s headline, and it’s true there’s a growing anticipation, including up here in my office The fevered press clearly seem to adore the whole thing, as the filler piece on Radio 4’s Today just before 9am showed. James May and a technical journalist from ‘Stuff’ both seemed to quite like it.

John Humphrys really seems to revel in his curmudgeonly reputation when it comes to all things vaguely “modern”, but did seem to find the iPhone reasonably easy to get things done. He took a photograph, and seemed intrigued by gestures. He certainly wasn’t impressed by the queue that formed yesterday. As much as I’m never going to be that passionate about anything, and am largely bemused given the products been available for months if you really wanted it. But I still can’t help being ever so slightly impressed at the level of dedication that sees you sitting in Regent Street at 3am, avoiding talking to the drunks and bums, and trying to ensure your sleeping bag is as dry as possible. For a phone. That you could already have if you wanted.

Will I be getting one? Probably. I’ve got my PAC code on order from Orange, which should arrive soon. Getting it involved, I fear, upsetting somebody in a call centre somewhere in the north of England. After a delighfully bizarre exchange where she asked for my password. I said I didn’t know (I’d already keyed in a numerical passcode). She said it didn’t matter as “I can set it to one for you if you like”. I suggested that might be a bit counterproductive on the security front. I wanted a PAC, and had to be politely refuse various attempts to talk me through the ‘great offers’ I’m sure they have. To be honest, given it takes 5 days to get a PAC code, I quite like the idea of shopping around if the iPhone doesn’t work out.

I primarily need to check there’s a money back policy so that I can take it back if there’s no signal to be had at home, presuming of course I can’t find out from somebody beforehand with an O2 contract. I’ll certainly not be jailbreaking the phone. It seems a largely pointless exercise given the moving target that Apple present, plus I think the French unlocked ruling has some hope for us here in the UK (ie. Apple may have to offer unlocking codes, or just give up and open it). Primarily though I use Apple products because they make my IT life easier and more productive: I’ve no desire to return to the hacky-hacky Linux fiddling that I used to enjoy so much.

Frances is, you’ll be surprise to hear, unimpressed. £280 before the contract seems like £280 too much for “something you already have”, but my iPod is dying, I like the design, I like the interface, and, yes, I’m a fan boy.I suspect Apple will have done a good job with syncing too: This is where I’ve struggled immensely with all my previous phones. They just seem hopeless at managing contacts with my computer. Plus the free WiFi access with The Cloud, and WiFi access at home (for when Frances has my laptop , should all be quite handy. 3G doesn’t impress me at all (I barely use my iSight on my computer, why would I want to video conference out and about?), and whilst the EDGE (2.5G) network is rumoured to be pants (presuming it exists outside of the M25), I’m not really too sure quite how much I’ll need it: GPRS has suited me just fine along the way to be honest.

So, yes, I’ve come around. Not that I think I really had that far to come mind…

I’m sorry to report that a dear friend that had become an integral part of my life has very recently departed. This has left me feeling somewhat at a loss for a few days, although I seem to have found a way of coping with this most unexpected of exits. This is probably the reason I’ve not posted much in the last few days. It’s tough dealing with loss, as I’m sure every reader can relate.

You see every morning for the last couple of years this close friend has felt like, no not ‘felt like’, was an integral part of my morning routine. It really felt like we knew each other in a very intimate way. We certainly had a mutual dependency that, I like to think, made my friend feel they were instrumental in my productivity – I certainly felt I couldn’t go about my day without our brief encounters each morning.

The first signs of a serious problem only occurred one day before they departed. I put it down then to my being distracted with work pressures, but I fear they knew the severity of the situation better than I. In retrospect, it felt an altogether mournful day, despite it’s successes in other fields. So the sad reality dawned the next morning (Wednesday just passed), when they weren’t there to great me with the usual aplomb I’ve really come to expect.

In the few days since the departure, I’ve struggled to cope. I found solutions to my pangs, but it really wasn’t the same. No excited look about it when I saw it, and so much more effort that really didn’t work for me in the same way.

So today I went to look for new member of my family. All struck me in different – exiting – ways, each with their own unique appeal. However, whilst you can’t really rush a decision like this, my internet searching hadn’t revealed many candidates, so I ultimately decided that I should go for the first that jumped out as me, without breaking the bank. I made my choice, and I think it’s fair to say I await our first full encounter with some trepidation: They are big boots you are filling, but ultimately I think the relationship should be one of mutual benefit and pleasure, although I feel I need to stay current with developments, just in case.

I’m a bit of a gadget freak. People that know me know this. I very much like shiny things, and for some years now I’ve been a huge fan of Apple computers. It has everything I want (in particular Unix under the hood, but also the great user interface and superb reliability), and with the new Intel chips, I can even run a few Windows programs to make supporting one of my clients a bit easier. They also make an MP3 player which you might have heard of… iSomethingorother…

Anybody vaguely following the technology news will have heard about the iPhone, Apple’s long expected entry into the mobile phone market. Ever since the rumours were confirmed, I’ve been quite excited by the prospect. Not simply because I’m an Apple fanboy, but also because I’ve found almost every phone I’ve ever owned a frustrating experience in some regard. With the iPhone, it finally appears as if somebody has sat down and thought through the user experience, and done it properly. At the very least, it’ll shake up the established manufacturers. At best, it’ll turn the market upside down and give us all a great new phone.

Either way, my existing phone (a Sony Ericsson k750i) is rapidly approaching the end of it’s life. I’ve lost the charger, and need to use the USB connector to charge it. It’s battered, the “joystick” (ahaha) is barely functional, and the camera comes on at random points. It’s been a good phone, but not a great phone (other than the few days after I first received it, when any new gadget it in a Special Place in my affections). So an iPhone was always going to be on the cards.

The story was “Autumn 2007″ for the iPhone entry into European market, but rumours abound about who the partner was going to be. Analysts thought Vodafone was likely, given it’s large network. Then T-Mobile seemed likely. But The Times is now reporting that O2 are leaders in the race to sign with Apple, at least here in the UK (via Mac Rumours, and also on the BBC: So it must be true!). Have to admit I was hoping for T-Mobile, as I know they have good signal strength at home here. I’m on Orange right now, and a little fed up with some of their customer service. Vodafone’s signal in Glasgow was pants. So O2 is a bit of an unknown quantity. Given I work from home, I’m a little nervous about picking one up only to find that the signal quality is non-existent on the O2 network here. But there are ways and means through that. So if you visit, and I ask strange questions about your phone provider, now you know why

Of course, rumours are just that, but it’s fun stuff none the less. Also rumoured are 3G functionality, but that’s not something I’m too fussed about all said: Wireless does it for me most of the time. I’ll be relieved they’ll have a chance to settle any manufacturing issues by the time they get launched over here, but the reports seem good so far, but manufacturing problems can take a while to appear. Apple have had a few historical problems, although generally minor ones, and ones they’ve been happy to fix.

But anyway, providing I can put my network worries to bed, the iPhone is very much on my shopping list for this year. Providing I can keep my existing phone going for a few months longer.

I’ve just stumbled on a new and important philosophical problem:

In a fight, which would win? Gadgets or coffee?

I give you:

The Year of Coffee, including a nice little remix interlude. You may also be interested in this flickr set.

For the gadget side, control panels? Or anything from his steviness perhaps?

So. To the point. Which would win? In a fight. Coffee or Gadgets?

The ultimate irony of it all is, having thought about this for all of ooooh, 5 seconds, we can’t really ever know. For in a fight between coffee and shiny gadgets, the coffee gets spilt, and the gadget gets ruined, and that would never do. To enter is to lose. Thus, the ultimate irony, I suppose, for the coffee loving gadget geek is we simply cannot know.

It’s all very quantum. That or I’ve been watching too much of Harry Hill’s TV Burp.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any ‘new gadget’ reviews, so felt it was time to put that right. I’m very pleased with my iPod Nano, and the Nike+ pedometer is proving a great success (more here).

However, until recently I’d been carrying my iPod in my hands, which wasn’t very good – it affected my posture, and exposed the iPod to the elements. I was not convinced that the Nike armband carrier for the iPod with Nike+ sensor attached was any good – it seems a poor design and makes it difficult to see or control the iPod. I was hopeful then that US outfit Marware would come to the rescue.

And come they did. Unfortunately for UK residents like myself, their new “Sportsuite Relay” setup was not available from any of the main Marware importers after it’s launch a month or so ago. However, I decided I’d buy it direct, and pay the $12 shipping on top of the $29.95 for the iPod Nano and Nike+ arm/wrist-band, and the ‘pouch’ for the Nike+ pedometer. The total in proper money was £22.83p, which compares extremely well to the poor Nike-branded strap. I’m pleased to say that the shipment was about a week (I don’t know precisely, as I was away for the week when it arrived), and there wasn’t (for me anyway) any customs duty to pay – presumably because ‘computer case’ didn’t really warrant attention, much less for such a small amount. Your mileage may vary of course.

The arm-band/iPod carrier is excellent. Surprised you need the ‘extension’ strap to get it around your arm, but I’ve already found I’m not so keen on it being on my arm (given I’m forever jumping tracks), and prefer it on my wrist right now. But then I’m faffing about with playlists all the time, and haven’t found my ideal just yet.

The shoe attachment makes me much more confident that it won’t fall off than with my original hack. Whilst the hack is fine, it’s preferable to have it in a shower-proof holder, and feel more secure.

My only criticism is the iPod is a bit of a pain to get in and out of the sleeve, out of necessity I suppose that it won’t fall out when running. However, it’s a trivial hassle all said.

This is an excellent, I’d say mandatory, accessory for anybody using the Nike+with their iPod Nano, and importing it from the US really isn’t very expensive at all. But I imagine it’ll be available in the UK before too long if you’d rather deal with UK companies.

Sportsuite Relay details here.