Flickr Photo Sessions - Great!

Yesterday Flickr finally launched their Android app. This two years after launching their iPhone app. Yay! I have been looking for this app for ages and it is actually a really nice app. It allows you to do all of the standard stuff, I.e. upload photos and look at yours and your contacts photos. It also has access to filters to allow you to add different filter settings to your photo before upload. This is not a real selling point for me but for Instagram fans it might work. The filters don't have quite as many options as are available within Instagram, but if they are used, I could see future versions adding to the selection of effects you can add to your photo prior to upload.

I actually think the viewing of your contacts photos feature is far better in the android app than that which is available in the iPhone app. On Android you can see a selection of photos that each of your contacts has uploaded on a single screen. In the iPhone app you can only see photos that have been uploaded recently and you cannot see the relevant contact who uploaded the image until you click through. Might not sound like a big issue? When you are on a mobile network and it takes a good while to actually download an image to find out who the contact is it becomes one ;-)

So aside for the fact that finally having an Android app for Flickr is great, Flickr also announced the Flickr Photo Session product. More about this product here. This is really a fantastic Flickr feature and allows the user to share a Flickr set in real time with their friends. There is a chat window to allow your friends to comment on your photos, but best of all there are drawing tools that allow you to draw on the photos you are sharing. This can be seen on the title image of this blog.


Starting a photo session is simple. Open one of your sets and from the sharing menu select start session. Then you can share the link specified in the session settings with your friends so they can access the content. the photo below shows this.




Seriously I really love collaboration tool. I cannot wait to try it out in anger. Combining this feature with voice will be killer! OK for now you would have to do this with a Skype session on the side, but who knows with two product launches in a day, maybe there might be life in the old Flickr yet! I certainly hope so!

Well done Flickr folks. this is the beginning of a great innovation. I hope you continue to push updates to this and many other features!

Thanks

cheers

m

ADDITION: Honestly I cannot help myself. Give me the tools to add a smile and some hair and I cannot but help abuse the power! :-)

The iPad Will Always Be A Safer Consumer Choice Than Any Android Tablet

The iPad will always be a better consumer choice than any Android Tablet. The reason is simple - the UI is so simple to navigate that even a child can use it.

;-)

Have fun

cheers

m

ADDITION: The not so entirely interesting thing about this post is that if you read it on an iPhone or iPad it doesn't actually work! For those poor bastards who are accessing it from one of these devices (well you may not have been poor before you purchased your iPad, but you are now ;-) ) you can access the video that this post was all about here. It was sort of supposed to be a joke ;-)

Gowalla 4.0 Review - Crowd Sourced City Guides

I have been very keen to try out Gowalla 4.0, ever since it was announced the other week at TechCrunch Disrupt, described at the time as a crowd sourced city guide or a social atlas, the opportunity to be more than  a simple check in app sounded very promising.

I really love the concept of crowd sourced city guides, in fact it is a product close to heart as we were planning developing something very similar to this in my final days at Yahoo! Whatever happened to that Yahoo!? If you check you have several patents on something very similar ;-)



So now in Gowalla, instead of simply checking into a location you can view a city guide containing locations of specific interest, I am assuming based on number of check-ins, or as it may be now - stories shared. This gives you an instant overview of the must see locations in the city you are looking at.

Each city guide also contains a set of lists of things you can do. for example in London:

• pub crawl
• tourist trot
• best markets
• etc ...

These equate to the trips in the pre v4.0 of Gowalla, and as a tourist guide offer a great overview of collections of locations, or activities, that may be of interest.

Instead of simply checking in at a location, Gowalla now asks you to start a story at a location. I like this concept of starting a story. A location all of a sudden grows a life, with this feature, as opposed to being simply a number of check-ins. A story can contain a number of people, photos and comments. So a history of a location can be created. 

As part of the revamp of Gowalla, a users passport has had the number of locations visited removed. I must admit that I do miss this. The concept of the number of passport stamps for locations visited was great. Now you can only see a feed of places that you have been that you can scroll back through. However I found that this meant that I would only use Gowalla when I went to new locations as opposed to locations that I went to regularly. If I already had a stamp for a location there seemed to be little need to check in there again the next time I went. So now, with story creation, as opposed to simply checking in to get a stamp, I can see that users will be encouraged to check in to create a new addition to the history of a location. I love that you can now see a location and view what has gone on there.

One thing that might impact usage though. I really like exploring the city guides. However would I do this when visiting another country? With data roaming rates so high I don't think I would. I could see myself reading up on a city before I got there, which in itself is still a great use for Gowalla, but I am not sure I could afford to use it real time when I am in the city! Previously I would definitely have checked into a few places to ensure I got the country pin of the country I was in, and it appears that country badges are still available, although all other badges have been removed. So this I would still do. not sure I would be surfing, except of course on WiFi, while in the city I was visiting in a foreign land ;-). Guess the WiFi use case still works though, but it does limit your usage of the app as a true city guide you refer to regularly during the day as you wander around in tourist mode.

A small gripe with the Android app. I am using it on a HTC Desire S and after shutting down the application the GPS is not switched off. This is a battery drainer at the best of times! When you are wandering about in a foreign city the last thing you want is to have to recharge your phone every 3 hours! I expect this is a bug as opposed to a feature and hope it is fixed soon, so as I say a small gripe. I will test on the iPhone later on, as I have to upgrade to iOS 4.2 before I can!

What I would love to see in an upcoming release of Gowalla, and now as it is modelled as a collection of city guides, I feel these features would work really well,

• In the lists section actually have maps which provide navigation, maybe walking, driving and public transport, between the locations in each list. This would be great as it would allow users to find their way between points of interest. Social navigation for tourists! Perfect.
• Allow users to specify how much time they have, and based in their current location, and based on the number of stories within the area, actually map a route of interest that the user can follow to get the most out of the area they are in.
• Add time into the routes mentioned above. Based on the stories that are nearby take time in to account for the best tourist walk through a city. As an example Buckingham Palace is a building, but when you add the changing of the guard to it, it it a quintessential London tourist destination! Also a bar that loads of people have created stories for might be completely dead before 11pm. Why as a tourist would I want to end up at an empty dive at 9pm, when it doesn't kick off before 11?

There is seriously loads that can be done with the data that Gowalla are collecting. Will be interesting to see what they do with it. The above features I have described are all very close to my heart as I was trying to do these 5 years ago now! To my knowledge none of the LBS apps are yet to introduce the concept of time into the mix as well.

All that being said I really like what Gowalla are trying to do with their revamped app. It has the chance to become so much more than a collection of numbers in a location. It gives the chance to add a social context and history to all of the locations that it's users visit. Shame about the removal of passport stamps but I am sure I will get over it ;-)

Have fun

Cheers

M 

Late Summer, Early Autumn Colour.

Just over halfway through September and there is still a little colour in the garden. It's all just hanging in there although with the nights closing in it does feel a little forboding. Ho hum, fingers crossed the garden will burst back into life next Spring! The Heather, well at least I think it's heather is putting on a fine purple display. Tidy.

The Hortensia, below, which sprang back from the dead earlier this Summer is still holding out very strongly.



Even the chocolate flower is still holding on! Officially known as Cosmos Atrosanguineus as it smells a little like chocolate it is far simpler to refer to it by its smell as opposed to its real name ;-)



A few old timer roses have also made a come back. Guess this makes sense. May is the real strong month for our roses. September is the same, mostly, weather wise as May so why wouldn't they make another appearance. The Old Timer below is sharing the limelight with a spider



The Japanese Anemone is also still clinging on in the garden although it has seen better days. Don't think there are many days left, although they do hold out from July through August and September so they have put on avery good show all up



The Asters are also going fairly mental in the front borders. They really seem to be taking over the beds in a weed like fashion at the front of the house. They are really growing out of control a little. They could do with a little pruning back but honestly it is hard to find the time at the moment! These are their best throughout late July and August, but they too are really hanging in their through September.



Finally this hedging plant, I am really not sure of it's name is putting on a great display. Its a shame these berries are not edible! There is a house up the road with a fantastic manicured display of this plant as well as a similar one with yellow berries. I will try to take a photo later of it, but it's London and I don't want to be arrested for photographing something I don't own! Will try to introduce myself before I take the photo ;-)



There are also a few Fuschia hanging about and the lawn is going mental due to the continued warmth, we are averaging probably 20 degrees Celsius during the day, and rain. but no photos of those right now! Phew I hear you say! ;-)

Anyways have fun

Cheers

m

How Do You Save The Euro?

This week's Economist asks 'How to save the Euro?'. While many economists and governments are struggling to figure out a way to keep Greece in the Euro and to save the embattled currency, Peter has a far simpler idea. Simply rip it up! As evidenced from the above photo this is clearly a great deal more fun than worrying about it.  

As soon as Peter has any good stock or futures tips I will post them here. For now he's sleeping on it ;-).

Cheers

m

What Do You Call A Guy/Girl Who....

In case you need an instant laugh or groan. Yes it's been one of those days.

I have shed loads of these, so a few for your delectation

• What do you call a girl balancing 3 pints of beer on her head? Beatrice
• What do you call a girl balancing 3 pints of beer on her head playing pool? Beatrice Potter
• What do you cll two guys hanging out above your window? Curt 'n' Rod
• What do you call a guy with a couple of seagulls on his head? Cliff
• What do you call a woman in a stiff breeze? Gail
• What do you call a guy in a pile of leaves? Russell
• What do you call a guy with no legs in the surf? Bob
• What do you call an Irishman sitting on your front verandah? Patio Furniture
• What do you call a guy sitting at your front doorstep? Mat
• What do you call a guy with a shovel in his head? Doug
• What do you call a guy without a shovel in his head? Douglas

I could go on but I digest.

Cheers

m

Do Roses And The Remnants Of Hurricane Katia Mix?

May might have been the best month for roses in our garden however towards the end of summer, after much deadheading in May and June, a few roses did make a comeback. The one pictured above bloomed late last week. As can be seen there are a few buds behind it as well. These pretty much well are the last of the roses this year though I feel.

Of course today along came the last remnants of Hurricane Katia. This has caused carnage on the East Coast of America, however by the time it reached the UK it has far less strength. That being said up in Scotland and Northern Ireland they are getting 80 mph gusts of wind. Down here in sunny London, although I can hear the wind howling around the window frames we are only getting the odd 50 mph gust down here in London. Still not to be sneezed at I guess. Looking at the picture below, the gusts have been enough to move our garden furniture by about a meter.

The winds have also sent our Christmas tree tumbling! I hope it recovers OK. I will have to have a look at it tomorrow after the wind has died down. It's pretty sturdy though so hoping it will be OK for Christmas this year. Looking at the new growth it seems to be going just fine! The photo below is from July and it continues to grow new branches all over the place. I didn't have the heart to get rid of it at the end of last Christmas. Now I am going to see how long I can keep it growing, potted, so I can move it in and out of the house each Christmas ;-)

Anyway the roses! Have the last of this sturdy bunch survived the ravishes of an ever diminishing Hurricane Katia? Well so far the answer is yes! I was stunned to see the rose in the title picture of this blog still in tact when I got home! Those climbing roses are made of sturdy stuff I tell you! I will check again tomorrow morning, as I believe the winds are with us all evening, but so far it is still in one piece!

Will have to have a quick look around the garden tomorrow in daylight to see if there have been any other wind related casualties. Still I think the Christmas tree will be fine ;-)

Have fun

Cheers

m

Tasty Morsels For Your Delectation

So each Monday I come into my office to find a new sign, printed out on an A4 piece of paper, stuck on the walls around the office. They provide a slogan for the week to live by. They are so fantastic that they need to be shared with the world. I will update this blog entry each week with the tasty tidbits, or possibly write a new entry each week, not sure. Either way you will be able to keep right up to date with the goings on of the Office Tasty Tidbits! Gradually you will see how fantastic they are and before you know it they will become the mantra for your life.

• Week 32 - Why not ask - I read this and asked what is this about. At this stage not realising the benefits of this new philosophy of weekly instalments I left it at that. Oh how wrong I was, but read on for further tidbits to see the benefits of this new lifestyle choice.
• Week 33 - Why not update software you installed - Again the benefits of the 'why not' ethos were still to creep into my life. Most people in this company have a PC without admin rights so are unable to install any software themselves.
• Week 34 - Why not shred once read. It was becoming clear that there was a message to be heard in these abstract wall hangings. I read this sign and promptly shredded it. As I say once you get into this philosophy you want to practice it every waking moment.
• Week 35 - Why not talk not text. I read this and promptly texted it to everyone. Once realising my mistake I texted everyone to apologise.
• Week 36 - Why not use OTA Mail - to this day no-one actually knows what OTA stands for. The closest we have come to guessing is that it might be 'Over The Air' email, or hooking up your Android phone to read your corporate email? We are not sure, but if it is this has anyone actually ever described this as OTA mail? I thought it might be a dyslexic representation of OAT mail, which is an ancient form of communication in which all communication is transcribed on oats before consumption. It never really caught on as by the time you had written your mail on oats you were starving and the said person who transcribed the message quite often ending up eating it. As far as a means of message distribution, recycled oat messages were far from pleasant to read ;-)
• Week 37 - Why not confirm the caller. After reading this I walked up to a chap in the park who was calling out to his dog to confirm who he was. He freaked out a bit thinking I was either a. a policeman or b. trying to chat him up. I showed him the sign from the wall and all was made apparent. He ran off in another direction as fast as he could but I think he got the message. I am pretty sure he is on board and with the program now.

As you can see there appears to be a common theme. They all start with 'Why not'. There is also another common theme - They are all life changing. Once you follow these simple rules life as you know it will change forever. Forget every iPhone launch changing everything once a year, or so, this changes everything ONCE A WEEK!

You know you want to be a part of this. Get on board and consume these tasty morsels and incorporate them into every minute of your existence. You will be happier for it ;-)

Delectation

Why not have fun?

Cheers

m

Emergency Roof DIY Required

Evidence of a water stain in the bedroom ceiling the other day suggested that either the roof was leaking, or it had leaked in the past and the water stains were coming through the paint work again. We have had such a wet August, with many torrential rain storms, that I figured currently leaking, as opposed to leaking a while ago, was the obvious answer. This despite not actually seeing, or feeling, any moisture on the ceiling.

So up a borrowed ladder very early this morning to be greeted with the gaping whole in the roof that you see above. Luckily I had fixed the garage roof this time last year, so had access to the necessary goods to temporarily fix the problem. A bit of flashing tape, coated with some roof sealant provided the perfect, temporary, solution.

To get the flashing tape as flush with the roof service as possible I simply use a wallpaper roller. After using it on flashing tape there is no way you can ever use the wallpaper roller for it's said purpose again, i.e. wallpapering ;-), as it gets coated in a filthy black tar like substance from the flashing tape. Still they are pretty cheap so it's not exactly going to break the budget ;-)

Once you are happy with the flashing tape, remember to start at the bottom of the incline you are placing the tape on and work upwards - that way the overlaps are facing downwards and water cannot collect in them, then give it a good coating of roofing sealant.

Use an old paint brush though as there is no chance you will be using it again for anything else. Roofing sealant is essentially liquid rubber and you are not going to ever get that out of the brush! The picture above is the first coat of roof sealant.

You should be able to apply a second coat of roof sealant 6 hours after the first if you feel the need. I usually coat it pretty thick though and in this instance I am not going to add the second coat. I really need to get on with it and replace the roof! As I say though - next Spring!

Oh and be careful on the ladder while you are up there. ;-)

Cheers

m

Testing The Blogger iPhone app

It's pretty similar to the android one, 'cept a little different ;-)

Attached picture show the Android and iPhone versions side by side. Well not quite side by side. iPhone is above, Android below.

Both let to add location and photos to your blog entry.

Simple to use but a mobile interface is never going to be as easy a a PC one. Guess you use them for different reasons. Mobile does give you more immediate access ;-)

Cheers

M

ADDITION: Annoyingly it doesn't seem to let you position your photos. So I have had to come in via a PC to change the location of pictures. Believe this is the same as the Android version. Essentially images are appended to the end of you blog entry. Not the end of the world I guess ;-)

The Continuing Saga Of Who's Suing Who In Mobile - HTC Vs Apple

So in the continuing epic saga of who's suing who in mobile, HTC have announced a fresh complaint against Apple for patents regarding Wi-Fi Capability and processor communication. More toys being thrown out of the pram!

The difference this time is that HTC is launching this handbag attack, seemingly, using patents that it purchased last week from Google! So now it's appropriate to pick and choose patents that you need to attack another vendor. Sure this probably goes on all the time, and I am probably incredibly naive, but this is the first time that I have heard of a company buying a patent one week and suing another a week later. Or does this go on all the time?

Also were Google privy to the reasons why HTC were buying said patents? I guess so. Does this mean that Google are using other vendors to do their dirty work for them?

Guess the only shame in this is that it isn't actually drawing another line on the who's suing who in mobile web of intrigue! the only thing it is doing is making the line between Apple and HTC bold maybe?

Cheers

m

ADDITION: more coverage from Bloomberg. Apparently Google won't discuss why these patents were transferred to HTC. Apparently Google helping HTC os a 'new front' on the ongoing patent battle between these children .... errr sorry companies ;-)

Sooty Mould On The Holly Bush - How To Deal With The Ants And Aphids?

Earlier this summer, towards the end of June, I was presented with an odd sight on my holly bush. As the above photo shows the undersides of many of the new growth leaves were coated with a think sticky mould which in turn was covered in some kind of aphid infestation. Turns out that this was 'Sooty Mould'. To top it off the areas that were affected were crawling with ants. This is shown to a lesser extent in the picture below. All very odd. Well in the overall scheme of nature, not the oddest thing you will ever see, that award possibly goes to the platypus, but in small time gardening land perhaps an issue to deal with.

Sooty mould apparently doesn't infect plants, as such, but grows on surfaces where honeydew accumulates. Honeydew is a sweet sticky liquid that plant sucking insects, such as aphids, excrete after consuming sap from the impacted plant. The aphids cannot completely digest all of the nutrients in the sap and therefore excrete what is left as a sticky substance known as honeydew. So honeydew it turns out is a rather gentle way of naming aphid crap ;-). I thought it sounded nice until I figured out how it was made. I wonder if the key ingredient in Honeydew Organic Beer is aphid crap? Hmmm I might have to think twice before buying one again. Still, if it is, at least it is organic aphid crap they use ;-)

So it turns out that ants really get off on honeydew. It's similar to the ant behaviour that I saw on the Peonies in May, where apparently peonies excrete small amounts of nectar to encourage the ants en mass to wander around the peony bulbs in a high. The ants in turn apparently help the peony bulbs bloom. A tidy nice little ecosystem. One not worth messing with. Whatever you do don't try and get rid of the ants on your peonies!

In this case however the ants, who are apparently over enjoying the honeydew, go out of their way to protect the aphids who are consuming the holly bush's sap. A tidy little ecosystem whereby the aphids are protected by the ants, who are in turn, it seems, paid in an endless supply of aphid crap! Each to their own I guess! ;-)

There are various suggestions about how to control the sooty mould, but all in all, a healthy plant should more than be more than able to handle small amounts of it. Suggestions range from spraying with soapy water to using chemicals pesticides to remove. In honesty I did neither. I kept an eye on it, and gradually cut out the infected areas. After a while the rest disappeared of its own accord. If the holly bush had been completely infected then I think I might have taken more drastic measures. In this case though who am I to argue with the nice little party the aphids and the ants were having. It didn't impact the plant or the garden unduly, so why not let them have their summer fun!

Cheers

m

Is That A Samsung Galaxy Note In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

Samsung have launched the Galaxy Note at IFA 2011. Sporting a tidy 5.3 inch Screen its sure to have you permanently walking in circles, or at least impress whatever lady you are trying to impress, if you house it in your pocket.

Is it a phone? Is it a tablet? Who knows? It's bound to be a winner though. Keep an eye out for it on a local scrap heap near you soon ;-)

Cheers

m

ADDITION: Guess I should add some detail of the Galaxy Note as opposed to assigning it to the waste pit of rampant consumerism. If you would like to know a little more about it, have a gander here.

I Was On The Other Side Of Town When We Burnt Her

CROWD:  A witch!  A witch!  A witch!  We've got a witch!  A witch!   

VILLAGER #1:  We have found a witch, might we burn her?   

CROWD:  Burn her!  Burn!   

BEDEMIR:  How do you know she is a witch?   

VILLAGER #2:  She looks like one.