iPhone 5 to be made soon?

January 26th, 2012

I’m really excited today because there are rumours that the iPhone 5 might be on its way. Apparently, someone who works for a manufacturer in China called Foxconn has claimed that it’s about to go into production.

With ‘leaked’ information, you never know whether it’s true or not… but it would make sense, as if they start with trial products now, it would be ready to launch by summer. That’s what industry experts seem to be predicting, anyway. I’m still very happy with my iPhone 4S, but if a newer model becomes available, I fully intend to be one of the first in the queue!

Quite a lot of my friends have Android phones instead of iPhones. They do seem really good, but for me, nothing really matches up to Apple. The company’s rise in the last decade has been phenomenal – a combined achievement of style and substance. That’s the main thing standing in the way for Android phones, I feel – there’s no key brand identity in quite the same way. As for BlackBerry… well, it hasn’t gone well there in the last year or two. They have a clunky image, in terms of style, public relations and the product itself.

I’m a technology person, first and foremost, so branding isn’t generally my area… but it’s impossible not to consider image and aesthetics when it comes to items like phones, as they’re a style accessory as well as a functional item.

In terms of appearance, the word is that the iPhone 5 will have a larger screen and generally be longer and wider than previous models. This will make it more difficult to fit in pockets – but if it brings with it the same quality of new features that the iPhone 4S did, I don’t think people will mind too much about that.

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Recruitment agencies

January 25th, 2012

I’ve been dealing with a lot of recruitment agencies recently, because of my ongoing hunt for a part-time shop job. I’ve had very mixed experiences, which has made me realise that it’s really, really important to deal with decent ones. The bad ones drive me crazy.

It shouldn’t be complicated, really. There are companies out there who want to employ decent workers, and people who want to be employed by decent companies. But, somehow, a lot of recruiters manage to make their role as middleman into some strange unhelpful role that doesn’t solve anything.

I’m someone who generally prefers to communicate by email than by phone – I guess it goes with my personality and life choices, seeing as I work with computers – and it really frustrates me when I provide all my details in writing, in an easy format, then they call me anyway and ask me all the same questions. Sometimes it’s just not convenient to talk – and I get the feeling they’re not listening anyway. I’m just lucky I’m not jobhunting while in other employment.

There are some good recruiting agents, though. The best ones are those who listen to what you want and read your CV and preferences properly before contacting you for further information. And, in short, who just act like human beings instead of gatekeepers. A lot of the time, the job might not even be a good one. Recruitment should always be a two-sided process. I don’t want to be expected to impress a company unless it’s also prepared to try to impress me and deliver a good role. Otherwise, why would I go and work there? It just wastes everyone’s time if someone is recruited, then gets disappointed and leaves. So, yes, in summary – I am going to keep a note of the good recruiters I’ve encountered and ignore the rest.

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Car production booming

January 22nd, 2012

I read recently that more cars were built in the UK in 2011 than 2010, despite the difficult financial climate. That’s great news… especially for people like me, who love cars. It’s not as if they wouldn’t be available if they were made anywhere else, but it’s nice to know that there are more homegrown products of any kind, really.

A total of 1.3 million cars was built in UK factories in 2011, according to the Society Of Motor Manufacturers And Traders (SMMT) – with engine production going up to 2.5 million. In fact, vehicle manufacturing went up by 4 per cent worldwide, showing that prospects are good everywhere for the motor industry.

I don’t actually have a car at the moment, but I may get one – especially if I manage to get a part-time job that requires a bit of a commute. I’m not really keen on public transport. I know it’s better for the environment, and means you don’t have the stress of maintaining a car… but it can be really unreliable… and whenever I use it regularly, I seem to catch colds all the time.

It’s not actually very cheap to use public transport, either. If there are two or three of us travelling together, it’s often just as cheap (if not cheaper) to club together for a taxi than to get the bus. How ridiculous is that?

I’m not keen on cycling, either. My friends say it’s because I’m not keen on any exercise at all, but it’s not that – it’s just cycling in particular that I don’t like. Most of the year the weather is awful, which takes a lot of enjoyment out of any outdoor activity – and it can be dangerous, too, cycling on the roads. That’s probably mostly because of inconsiderate or reckless car drivers, but there’s no point in placing blame – it doesn’t change the actual problem.

So… yes. When the time comes, I think I’ll continue to support the car industry. Hopefully, one day, the motor gods will smile on me and I’ll be able to afford a sports car.

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Choosing products

January 20th, 2012

My friends are always asking me to for product recommendations, when it comes to computers and general electronic stuff, as I’m seen as an ‘expert’. I don’t think I am, really, but I suppose I do know more about technology than the average person.

Sometimes I find it funny, though, the kinds of things I get asked. For example, my friend Nigel recently asked me about which phone I’d recommend for his business. Not a flashy smartphone or anything like that – just a desk phone for his office. It’s hardly my primary area of expertise, so I had to do a bit of research (I should have told him to do it himself, lazy get, but I like to be a good friend…) and the best one I found was the Converse 2300 Black from BT. A lot of people don’t realise that BT makes phones as well as operating a nationwide telephone network, but they do – and they’re really reliable machines.

This one in particular has a caller ID function, which is great if you want to avoid calls from spam companies – or perhaps avoid calls from annoying people in general! It also has a mute button, a big directory for names and numbers and a LCD screen that shows the call time and things like that.

When choosing products, a lot of it does come down to being sensible and doing lots of research. It’s good to check and compare features – and also to check user reviews, to see what other people think of products that you’re considering. Once you’ve done that and narrowed your choice down to an appropriate model, you can look for the most cost-effective place to buy it from. Providing it’s a reputable company, it doesn’t matter too much – it’ll still be the same product and you’ll have the same consumer rights. Follow that advice, and you can’t go wrong! I know my friends will still ask me though, no matter how many times I tell them…

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The Costa Concordia – yikes

January 18th, 2012

Is Friday 13 unlucky? Well, we had pretty good evidence for it in the last week, didn’t we? I’m talking, of course, about the gigantic cruise ship disaster. I can’t believe these things actually happen.

For those who don’t know, the Costa Concordia was an enormous cruise ship carrying over 4,000 people. It hit a rock off the Italian coastline on Friday 13 January 2012 and keeled over. Even after seeing the photographs and videos, it’s kind-of difficult to picture it, as it’s nearly a thousand feet long – even bigger than the Titanic was. Fortunately, unlike the Titanic, the vast majority of people were safely evacuated – though there have been several confirmed deaths and numerous more people unaccounted for, which is really sad.

No one is quite sure exactly why it happened – though I’m sure the full truth will unfold with time. It seems that it cruised closer to the coast than it should have done and hit an underwater reef, then ran aground and began listing to one side. It must have been really scary to be a passenger! Apparently most people were in the dining hall, as it was between 9pm and 10pm – there was a loud bang, then the power went out, then the boat started shaking. But the evacuation didn’t begin until over an hour later, when the ship had started to tip over – and it was hard to launch the lifeboats because of that.

I wonder how they’ll remove the wreck? It’s going to take about a month just to get rid of all the fuel, experts have said. There’s some speculation that the whole thing could be refloated and tugged away. I’d be fascinated to see that.

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Vital jobs are often dull…

January 12th, 2012

My computer crashed this morning – I’ve had to reinstall a load of things to make sure it’s properly up and running again. It’s so annoying! Resetting everything is extremely boring, but needs to be done. I depend on my computer for my income, so it’s essential.

A lot of the world’s most boring jobs (or, at least, boring-sounding jobs) are very important. For example, working on a factory line. Fair enough, fastening household gadgets together isn’t life or death, but if you’re putting together plane or car parts, it suddenly becomes a bit more serious. It’d be terrible if a crash was caused because you didn’t check that a bolt was in the right place!

Inspection jobs must also be pretty dull at times – though I imagine some are better than others. Checking on the hygiene standards of restaurants could be quite revealing at first, but you’d probably get bored of it pretty quickly once you started to see the same issues cropping up all the time. Same with ticket inspectors… it must give some people a thrill to have that little bit of power – but surely the novelty must wear off. But then, there are also things like pipeline inspection, which are really, really important when it comes to looking after the environment and keeping things running smoothly. Industrial pipelines can carry anything from oil to water to waste, all of which can cause big problems if they leak.

I think knowing how essential something was would definitely keep me working hard. But there are some jobs we’d all be better off without, in my view. For example, in the world of boring jobs, one thing I could never do is telesales. My friend Brian does it and it’s so, so dull. He rings random people all day and tries to get them to sign up for things they don’t need or want. I can’t imagine anything worse. Maybe I shouldn’t complain so much about having to mend my computer…

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Mobile broadband and freedom

January 9th, 2012

Apparently, ICT regulator Ofcom has said that 4G licences will be auctioned to operators later this year, which means that mobile broadband will become more widespread. The idea is to ensure that at least 98 per cent of the UK population will be able to access the internet via phone handsets, if they have the inclination and the right equipment.

I think it’s a great move forward, as demand for mobile data can only get bigger. I’m lucky at present because I work from home most of the time and can choose how I spend my time and access the internet on my computer whenever I want. But if I got a standard job again – or a part-time job, or did contracts that required me to work in-house for another company – I would really miss being able to check things out on the internet whenever I want to. Having reliable access to mobile broadband would be a big help.

By that, I don’t mean that I would skive off work to use it – but it’s good to know the option is there, for tea breaks and so on. It always seems strange to me that some companies are draconian about use of phones and the internet, yet still allow staff to chat to each other in person about non-work things, or take cigarette breaks! But I suppose the latter is now becoming much rarer, too. I don’t smoke myself, as I don’t like it – but I have quite a few friends who do, and I don’t think the odd five minutes here and there really hurts anyone. If I manage to get a part time job, I’d hope it’s the kind of place that’d let me use my phone at my own discretion. Otherwise, I suppose I’d use it on the bus there and back!

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Back to work and other things…

January 4th, 2012

Wow, it’s now 2012. Only three years until 2015, the year featured in Back To The Future Part II. THREE YEARS. It’s amazing. No sign of flying skateboards or cars yet, but some other stuff they showed, like voice-controlled televisions, might be less of a wild prediction!

I was busy seeing people over Christmas and New Year and really enjoyed it, but it’s nice to have a quiet existence again. The festive season definitely has a shelf life, as far as I’m concerned. Once you’ve caught up and celebrated with everyone, you can’t help feeling a bit worn out and antisocial.

From Christmas Day onwards, I had a great time on my own searching for sales deals online. There are so many things you can buy at better prices. It’s not worth trudging out into the cold weather and crowded shops. I got myself quite a few things, but I’m particularly pleased with my new Plantronics CS60 headset. I’m always getting new stuff from my home office – it’s one of my guilty pleasures. For some people it’s buying clothes and for others it’s too much chocolate… but for me it’s electronic accessories!

I wouldn’t mind getting myself a new desk and chair too, at some point, and generally restyling my work space – but it’s important not to do too many things at once. I need to make sure I concentrate on my work. I’m still hunting for a part time job too, but had a bit of a hiatus over Christmas because it’s hardly a prime time for interviews. So it’s full steam ahead now we’re past New Year…

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Internet speed

December 14th, 2011

Apparently more and more people across Europe are now using broadband internet, so they can use things like voice over internet protocol (VoIP) to stay in touch and do business. In the EU, it’s said there’s been a broadband increase of 30 per cent to 60 per cent between 2006 and 2011.

Dial-up internet as the mainstream option seems like such an incredibly long time ago now, but there are people still out there using it from time to time. I last used it when our home broadband stopped working for a whole week. That’s an internet service provider I’ve never gone back to! But yes… it was really weird, but it was immediate to set up, which was handy.

Though if it happened again, I’d probably use a mobile broadband dongle instead. It’s so much tidier – even though the speed is a bit unreliable.

The problem is that sometimes, broadband is inconsistent and isn’t necessarily as fast as advertised. I’m lucky because my house is quite close to the local telephone exchange – but in some areas, especially rural ones, it can still be very slow. That must be such a pain. I can’t imagine having to wait five minutes every time I uploaded or downloaded an image, or sent an email! I definitely couldn’t run my computer programming business like that.

Another thing about broadband is what I mentioned above – that if it breaks, it can take ages to sort out. The worst thing is when you’re moving house. My friend Dave moved house last year and the house hadn’t had a phone line for many years, so they had to wait for that to be set up, then wait again for the broadband to be sorted out. It took about a month!

I recommend lots of research and organisation, when it comes to setting up a broadband connection.

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Christmas presents

December 12th, 2011

Hmmmm, I suppose I should start thinking about doing some Christmas shopping, seeing as it’s Christmas Day in just under two weeks’ time. I can’t be bothered, though!

It’s unlike me to be disorganised, but I seem to have a mental block when it comes to Christmas shopping. It’s the sales that interest me! A few weeks ago when I should have placed all my online shopping orders, I kept getting sidetracked by stuff that I plan to buy after Boxing Day. Ooops.

It is difficult, though. I’ve been pretty busy with my home-based work, and then jobhunting on top of that. It’s amazing how fast the week disappears! I might have to go tomorrow or on Friday, though. I think quite a lot of schools finish for Christmas on Friday, so the shops will be a nightmare after that. Saturday will be crazy!

I don’t have many people to buy for, really. Just my parents, my sister and a few friends. Though I don’t know about my friends, actually… it seems a bit girly to get each other presents. I’ll just have to make sure they’re not chocolates or anything. I might give them vouchers for my computer services. Haha!

We always open our presents on Christmas morning – then lots of relatives and friends come round to eat with us, which is great. My mum is cooking a couple of massive ducks, this year, instead of the standard turkey. They’re so much tastier. It’s a good thing we’ve got an oven big enough, as some of the ones I’ve seen at other people’s houses wouldn’t even fit a roast chicken.

Cooking equipment isn’t a bad idea for a present for my mum, actually. She’s been using the same things for years – some of them must be wearing out. I think I’ll find some ideas online and then go to the shops tomorrow.

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