I have no real excuse for not posting. I’ve been busy, but not too busy. I just haven’t had the inclination really. I seem to get in this mood for a few months every couple of years. There’s lots I could blog about, but the motivation just isn’t there. So, here follows a collective update, without form or structure and in an almost free-associative manner.
I’m absolutely loving my new phone. the major update to it (commonly called Cupcake) came out last week, and its looking great so far. It comes with an on-screen keyboard which is pretty cool for short messages or text entry where you don’t want to flip out the keyboard. I like the auto-orientation feature; turn the phone on its side and the it orientates sideways. Turn it back up, and the orientation changes likewise. Its awesome. This works on any screen apart from the main screen (default screen? top page? home screen? Not entirely sure of the terminology), which makes sense even though I’ve read complaints about it on teh internets. Widgets are now allowed, and some of then are just cool. I’ve downloaded some brilliant apps for it so far, such as a travel planner for the German transport system, a shopping comparison package (scan the barcode of something in a shop and see if it really IS cheaper than the place down the road), and the Google maps tracks app. That one lets me set the GPS to record, and then allows me to track where the phone has been. For example, we went on a trip to the Englisher Garten last weekend, and then to one of the museums. That trip was recorded and is documented here.
I still have to get my bike repaired. I buckled the back wheel back when I fucked up my finger, and haven’t done anything about it yet. I’ll get that done soon.
I’m doing physiotherapy about three times a week at the moment. It hurts like hell, but is starting to pay off. I can move the last knuckle on the finger again, which is very cool. I have to remember when I’m doing the proscribed exercises that I need to concentrate on extension as well as flexion. Apparently if I don’t then the finger could end up in a permanent “dipped” state, which would obviously be bad.
Tickets for U2 have arrived, and July 18th can’t come around soon enough. I’ve also scored some tickets for Bell X1 next week. I don’t know that much of their stuff, and may have to look out for some over the weekend, but it promises to be a good gig. They are being supported by Duke Special, who I also haven’t heard before, but whose website produced some interesting sounds.
I have Windows 7 running now on both my laptop and one of the desktop machines. The release candidate is incredible. It has a stability and speed that frankly leaves Vista kicked face down in the dirt. I’ll do another blog post on it later, but if you don’t have it already then download it from Microsoft.com. Its free to use until march 2010.
I shouldn’t have tried to install Windows 7 on the spare laptop. I’ve porked it, as I knew I would. There just aren’t good drivers for Windows for that machine, so I’m going to re-install linux and… hmm, I’ve just had a VERY interesting idea about what to do with it. It’d be in addition to what I was using it for with linux a couple of days ago – to monitor some specific chat rooms for news about Android. I could use it to handle the nzb files that we process. There’s a pretty good handler for newzbin files for linux that might just do the trick. Have to look into that more…
I have an idea for an app I should write. Its for Android, and its just an different implementation of something that exist on that platform. It exists in such a way that it is cumbersome and unwieldy I have to say. I know how it can be done better.
London was dirty. I’ve been here in an almost sterile environment for the last year, and getting back to London was a touch of culture shock on a couple of levels. Firstly, there’s soot on everything. Its a lovely old city, but the operative word in that phrase is old. Many of the buildings haven’t had their exterior cleaned since the industrial revolution. You know what I mean… the old red-brick buildings where the soot and car exhausts have left the red covered in a thin layer of black smoke and soot. Its horrible, and I forgot just how pervasive it all is. I had also forgotten what it is not to have to walk around and constantly look at the ground to avoid things like dig shit. Secondly, and nothing to do with dirt, I realise that the feeling I get when talking to people here is fear. When I am required to talk in German, although I can mostly get along, it is a frightening experience. I don’t mean scary frightening, but it is definitely something that I prefer not to have to do. I didn’t have that in London – I was able to go in to shops and simply ask for stuff.
The sushi in London is awesome. The rice underneath a piece of salmon nigri (for example) was exactly the right sweetness, texture and moisture that it should have been. Here in Munich for some reason (that might have something to do with living two hundred and fifty thousand kilometres from the nearest ocean) the fish never tastes as fresh as in London, and the rice is always a little crumbly and more bitter. I miss sushi for lunch every day. Each time I pick up some here hoping for something that meets my taste expectations, I am disappointed.
We ate in the first Wagamama that I have ever been in that had windows in it! Its down by the Tower of London, go check it out.