Hamarana

I posted about GPP back in February and suggested it could close as early as August. Later, we were given a close date at August 31st.

That did not happen, even though the required 100,000 membership was reached before the end of August. Seems a lot of people got cold feet about going through with it, and did not complete their details as requested. However we have been told that closure will be December 31, with paperwork to be completed and returned before the end of January, and payments being completed before the end of February.

The website is now down for maintenance and has been in this state for a few days. One hopes its the preparation for making paperwork available, sorting out all the login issues etc etc, and not the disappearing act.

Fingers crossed. Again.

I thought I would write a general post regarding the iPhone, now I have had it for a month (well almost, its about 25 days).

The phone itself is eminently useable. I like the way the contacts are laid out and I like the onscreen keypad which beats the pants off any of my previous phones. I can read and use this keypad without removing my specs (I’m shortsighted on the way to being longsighted so I can no longer… usually… leave my specs on to read).

I love the iPod part of the phone. I’ve always liked carrying a bit of music around with me but to be honest, even though I have a 20G iPod, I rarely carried it because it was a pest carrying that and a phone as well. Now I don’t have to, and since I am space challenged, I am going to get some external speakers/radio for the 20G pod, and get all my music onto it. Thats right, I dont have a HUGE amount, but the pod will be excellent. No more futzing about with CDs in the house and I’ll get rid of the elderly stereo which is almost at the end of its life. My old audiotapes are going into the trash today. Most of them are 20+ years old and well past it.

I love being able to sit outside at home and get some fresh air and sunshine and still catch up with emails, via my home network. The iPhone screen is fantastic in direct sunlight. Really.

The camera is excellent. Many people pooh-pooh the camera because its “only” 2MP. thats 1600×1200. I think for a point and shoot happy snapper, thats pretty good. We aren’t going to be taking art-shots here. Thats why you have your DSLR. That said, it does a damned fine job. I’ve taken shots in all kinds of lighting and with the exception of dark (ie no light or very little light) it works just fine. Indoor under fluoro or tungsten work out fine. The lower the light the more grainy the shot but you know… if you are going someplace where you really need to take shots with a flash… take a dedicated camera, because I don’t think any phone cams are good enough for that, not even the ones with builtin flash.

Battery Life: I must confess I have not actually tested this out much, because I drop it in its dock whenever I am not using it or whenever I get home from work. One day at work last week I discovered that the battery had dropped half its power but I also discovered i had left WiFi on, and whilst continually polling for an access point, it had drained half the battery. The lesson is to switch off things you don’t use. There’s no wifi near work, so theres no point having it on. I do need to drain the battery once a month, according to conventional wisdom, so I guess I’ll do that this weekend.

What I use, of all the features: iPod, phone, sms, camera and wifi. Happy with all of them. Would I buy iPhone again? Most certainly. Hopefully they will be available in Australia next year and everyone can enjoy having one

That is, ADSL or DSL without having to be connected to a telephone company. I don’t know what happens in other countries, but in Australia you cannot get ADSL without also having a telephone landline account.

This is set to change in November when iiNet, one of Australia’s largest ISPs starts offering naked DSL.

Read the article in the Syndey Morning Herald online edition.

What does it mean? Well, for me it means not having to fork out to Telstra for a phone account I don’t really need. I also use VoIP which means I can use that for outgoing calls. As far as incoming are concerned, I may organise myself a DID, but my number is a Sydney number so probably long chats coming in will be a thing of the past.

Apparently the plans will cost more than standard plans because of the fees charged by Telstra for ULL, but unless they are higher than what I currently pay Telstra, plus the additional DID cost, I’ll be switching as soon as Internode offers them. I won’t switch unless its financially beneficial to me

Anyway, Internode (my ISP) is saying Q1 2008, so it will be interesting to read about the experiences of iiNet users before that.

[Edit: 22nd October, 2007] Sadly, it seems I won’t be able to get naked DSL after all. My connection is from a RIM to a remote exchange and back to the regular exchange. I’m on Telstra lines and equipment and unless a miracle occurs, that isn’t going to change any time soon. And Telstra isn’t going to let the line rental go. Oh well, nice dream while it lasted.

Thanks to Michael I’ve discovered a traffic map, there have been a number of them available over the years but I kinda like this one. Naturally it won’t show traffic generated prior to the installation of the script. I’m sure I get a few visitors from time to time

Take a look in the sidebar at “Live Traffic Feed”: Yes I know I need to do something about the colours, I was guessing!. I’ll look later, I am practically on my way to work

I know a lot of people are hankering to upgrade their iPhones to the next version, and are waiting on the iPhonedevteam to provide a hack. Well, one is available BUT ONLY for people who did NOT USE AnySIM or iUnlock to unlock their phones.

If you used TurboSIM or IphoneSimFree, apparently its safe.

I’m not in any rush, anyway. I’m not given to upgrading firmware in phones unless I have a problem. And I don’t. It seems there are some people who never even attempted an unlock, and who are responsible little AT&T users, who ended up with an iBrick… these people will be able to jailbreak their phone successfully with the new hacks available.

And, sorry… no links from here, a google and the word hackintosh will probably get you what you need.

I thought I would post a few photos I’ve taken with the iPhone cam. Remember its only 2mp, in a world of 7mp being almost a standard. However, given what it is, and all of its limitations (a single exposure, single speed, single ISO, single aperture setting) I think its pretty good.

You can read about iPhone at Apple and drool over the features. If you are a 3G user, forget it, 3G SIM cards will NOT work in this phone even after it is unlocked. In any case, the current version firmware cannot be unlocked. Yet.

I am wondering what madness Steve Jobs has ventured into, in locking down the availability of the iPhone to specific providers in specific countries. Try ordering at the US Apple store and you will be rejected. It only allows for US credit cards.

However there are ways and means, and mine arrived safe and sound and is now unlocked and fully functional on the old firmware. There are some minor shortcomings for me…
a) Its bluetooth does not connect to my MIO GPS device which is used in the car… so I’ll be selling the MIO, not the iPhone.
b) Its bluetooth does not work with my Mac computer… but its not really at issue, because I have it connected via a cable and dock for syncing, and thats all I ever needed.
c) I cannot update to the latest firmware because I will have a completely bricked phone. An expensive paperweight… until the devteam manages to hack the current firmware.

That said, these are minor issues.

I use my phone for
a) SMS sending and receiving
b) Making a few calls and receiving a few
c) WiFi within the home network if i do not feel like sitting at a computer desk
d) iPod: love it.
e) voice recording via a third party application: very useful after I home visit a client for making short notes before returning to the office computer system
f) Carrying a few favourite photos about
g) Taking “happy snaps” with the built in 2mp camera… its pretty good quality for a camera in a phone and blows my other camera phones out of the water.
h) Taking a few books with me. I currently have the Mars trilogy from Kim Stanley Gardner on board, plsu a few others

And the phone’s flash drive is only half full.

To say that I am impressed at this stage, is putting it mildly. I’ve gone from “I couldnt be bothered with an apple phone” to “this is the best thing since sliced bread”

Be on the lookout for it next year in Australia: but, again, it won’t happen until Apple has tied up a contract with a phone provider here. Will there be any 3G? Only time will tell. I don’t need or want it, so its not an issue for me, but… oh well, its a matter of wait and see.

In the meantime… I’m enjoying what I have