I'm in Love (again)

My Touch Diamond died a while ago when once again, I left it in my back pocket and broke the screen, I reverted to my trusted HTC S710 while I waited for something great to come along.

I waited and waited until last week I was shown the "Google Phone", before this time I wasn't really fussed about this as I have been a lover and owner of smart phones since they came along in 2003 (I think), however I am a changed man. The Google Phone (running Googles' "Android" OS), is absolutely amazing. I have had this phone less than 12 hours and already think I'd be lost without it.

Unboxing


The Phone comes with charger (not shown), sync cable, pouch and some books (that I never read) and headphones (not shown).


The main home screen (Left) and the application screen (Right) which you drag from the bottom in a similar fasihion to te Touch-Flo system on HTCs. (I have installed "A LOT" of applications already).

My Bedside clock which is looking favourite to replace my iHome bedside clock due to it's "Stupidly bright display"

First impression

This is the future, there is a "Market Place" for apps which are either free or very cheap, every app you can think of is available, I have downloaded for example.

The Clock seen above, Sky Planner (with remote record facility for Sky+/HD), compare everywhere (barcode scanner that compares prices), facebook (of course) various GPS trackers for biking & running, fitness apps for gym work, Roadsync (Exchange synchronisation) media players to stream music and videos from the net or my own shared music at home).

There is no keyboard, input is via the onscreen keyboard which I admit, altough I like 'real' keyboards, the onscreen one is very good and others are available via the marketplace. There is also no stylus meaning your finger is good enough.

A 2Gb Micro SD card is included with it and 16Gb cards are readily available from eBay for around £30

Does this mean there is finally something to beat the iPod touch / iPhone - in my opinion, Absolutely, I will need to test the media playing capabilities, so will reserve complete judgement, but if you can get your hands on one of these beauties, hurry up.

They are currently only available via T-Mobile or Vodafone (or eBay) but there's rumours of an Orange version later in the year.

9.5/10


Quick Update : 9.5/10 - Have just remebered "Beebplayer" which is a version of iPlayer and lets you watch BBC programmes, tested withh Episode 11 of the Apprentice - works perfectly !!!

The Garden Project

I have been made decided to do the back garden to;

• Make it look bigger
• Make it private
• Give Leah somewhere to play
• Give me somewhere to relax in the sun

This involves digging (deep), pulling (plants and trees) and fencing (fence panels not swordy type things !!!)

So far so good, I have managed to put fence posts in straight, which makes attaching fence panels a lot easier. Plants (weeds) have been removed in preparation for the decking (Uncle Steve) and what SWMBO describes as "Readymade grass" (turf to you and me, all that remains is to dig the already made grass up.

Before


During

So Far

The Boss helping (Giving her Orders)

Britains Got Talent 2009

Ladies and Gentleman, the winner of Britains' Got Talent 2009 is


Flawless


... and a massive "Big Up" to Steady, from Derby.

(New Years) Resolutions

At a time when most people have fallen of the new years resolution bandwagon, I am about to start mine, albeit the same as it is every year (get fit, lose weight, save money - It actually gets quite boring).

The best thing about starting this in February is...

• I can finish all the rubbish left over from Christmas (Chocolates, Beers, Cheese etc)
• I can still have a good January without feeling guilty
• Everyone else will have given up now so there will be none of the "you can't eat that - how many calories"

Today I managed to get a heart health check at work. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. If you know me, you'll know that I eat quite a lot of junk food. in the last 7 days alone I have had 2 Dominos pizzas, been to a party, out for a curry, and out on a beer session (Derby v Forest forced that one).

I was expecting to get my results and be scared into a dramatic change of lifetsyle, I am, however happy to report the following results.

• Height :- 6' 2.25" (I seem to have grown a quarter of an inch)
• Weight :- 14st 10lb
• BMI :- 26
• Waist :- 35"
• Blood Pressure :- 140/106 (I demanded a recount which was 137/94)
• Cholesterol (Total) :- 4.35
• Cholesterol (HDL) :- 1.40
• Cholesterol (Ratio) :- 3:1
• Blood Glucose :- 5.55
• Risk of Heart Disease in the next 10 years :- 1.8%

Although some of these are bad (especially the Blood pressure), I am 3 days away from changing this, My goals are:

• Lose 2 stone of bodyfat while maintaining a weight of 14 stone (if that makes sense), thus lowering my BMI
• Target BMI 20-22)
• My bloodpressure was high because I have had a stressful week, going to the gym will help this.
• Cholesterol is ok however with my change in diet, this is also likely to drop.
• Waist :- 34"

My office is full of unhealthy males (one healthy female) who also have similar goals, this should make it easy during the day, SWMBO eats 99% healthy (at home anyway) so I have no temptations at home... in theory, this should be easy.

Harrison, Dhadli, hLacey, Johnson, Hallam, Lort, Earp....Bring on the weight loss challenge.

Happy(ish) New Year

Long time no post and what a crazy time it has been in the world of... everything
Companies are disappearing from our high streets and the internet (Zavvi, Woolworths, Empire Direct, Adams etc).
Car firms are stopping production for the time being and some car dealers are doing BOGOF on Vauxhalls. Whereas Land Rover, Jaguar, Honda and others are worringly shedding jobs.

The interest rate has dropped so low that people are actually glad to be on a variable rate although first time buyers still can't get houses as there's about 3 mortgages available to everyone.
My Xbox had the dreaded red ring on Christmas Eve, meaning a whole two weeks of no Xbox playing. I had to resort to spending time with the 'real' family rather than the online one, I don't even have a Wii as a backup.

I guess I should count myself lucky, I have no plans to move house, no need to buy or sell my car, I don't work in retail. Although you can't predict the future and I wouldn't try to.

New years resolutions started on 1st January and were quickly postponed to 1st February due to the insane amount of chocolate and beers that were left over after Christmas.

My Little Darling can count to 13 and loves her kicthen (like father like daughter) and her bouncy zebra thing.
My older darling loves her Girls Aloud concert tickets although doesnt want anyone to know (oops!!!)

My mother darling loves her new iPod although wants a manual type thing so she can learn how to use it.I only have 1 new gadget to report on - the new Palm Treo Pro (running Windows 6.1) is very nice. I have been using it for a month now so it must be good.

In other News... it's business as usual as The Rams (Derby County) continue to play as dreadful as ever, although we now have a "Clough" in charge to get it sorted (we hope).