Brighthouse? I don’t think so…

Yesterday when I was wondering around Longton I popped into Brighthouse to have a nosey around when I came across the below…

Not only do Brighthouse charge ridiculous prices and then add interest on top they can’t even name products correctly. The picture below shows the HTC Wildfire phone being sold as HTC HD Mini. This isn’t the staffs fault as the accompanying blurb states that the phone is an android handset where the HD Mini isn’t.

So please, if you’re going to rip people off Brighthouse, get your facts right first.

An introduction for 7wondersin7days.com

Ok… So I’ve been asked to write an introduction for myself for 7wondersin7days.com so here it is!

I’m Dan, 25, bit of a Geek, a Christian, lover of life. I’ve worked quite a few jobs in my time including working for RBS, the jobcentre and even Alton Towers for a week… Now I just do some nondescript government work.

I’m also worship leader at Longton Community Church in Stoke-on-Trent. (http://www.longtoncommunitychurch.org.uk/)

What are you looking forward to the most during your trip on the 7 Wonders in 7 Days project?

I’m most looking forward to going abroad for the first time since I was 12 with my parents. It’s an exciting prospect experiencing new cultures. Especially going on my own! I’ve had a few friends going to Brazil and heard good stuff…. Wish I could be there for a bit longer though!

What do you think you bring to the project?

As the date draws closer I hope to bring publicity to the cause and hope to get people donating!

What made you want to get involved?

I wanted to get involved as this seemed like a fantastic way of raising publicity using social networking, of which I am a great fan.

Also i’m currently in the process of trying to set up a virgin charity account but not having much luck as it’s trying to get me to set up a charity! Once I’ve sorted it I’ll update this with a link to which you can all donate.

The adventure begins….

So, apparently I’ve won a holiday in Brazil!

Exciting times…. The reason for the competition is to try and raise £777,000 for 7 charities.

The well deserving charities are;

Sport relief,
Diabetes UK,
Alzheimers Research Trust,
Feed the minds,
Open doors,
Victory Outreach Manchester,
Young Minds.

If you want to find out more head over to 7wondersin7days.

I’ll be blogging more here as I know more details so keep checking back for more!

To iPad or not to iPad.

Right, to start with I think I should inform you all of how much of a hypocrite I am.

I have bought an iPad. Why does this make me hypocritical then? Well, when it was first announced I slated the iPad for using iOS. This is for three reasons mainly; lack of multitasking, no flash player and restricted app store.

So why did I buy one then? Well the battery life is awesome and does indeed last all day. It is has a fantastic touch screen. I believe it will take around a year for any competitor to catch up with touch screen technology.

Also with the introduction of iOS4 I know multitasking is on it’s way. So all is not lost.

Nick Owen, What are you wearing?

Nick Owen on BBC Midlands Today. What’s with the bright green tie? Are you trying to stay politically neutral? It looks ridiculous! Sort it out!

Facebook vs Twitter.

Facebook vs Twitter.

This is getting an old argument now.

Facebook has 400 million active users. Twitter has only 6 million active users. So you’d think Facebook would win hands down, right?

I don’t think so. I’m spending more and more time on Twitter than Facebook. I believe that twitter is the superior platform due to being able to access all of Twitter’s services on a variety of platforms including mobile phones and the computer platform. The main barrier Twitter faces is trying to compete with the established user base of Facebook and getting people to understand that Twitter is best when you are following people/feeds that you feel genuinely interested in. A lot of people join twitter once and never log in again… never investing the time to make those connections that matter.

I understand the Facebook format, I really do. But I feel it has gone too far down the road MySpace took around 3 years ago. Facebook is becoming a place to play games, to farm, to win trophies, for horoscopes and even to sell stuff! Although everyone you know is on Facebook it doesn’t develop the same sense of community as Twitter.

If you’re a Facebook fan I sincerely hope that you give Twitter a chance. For a week at least. People in Twitter land are some of the lovliest you could wish to meet. (Or should that be tweet?!) If you need advice on a problem, ask on Twitter and you’ll get helpful real answers back. Not just random search results.

I’m tired now and this feels like a really long day and I’m rambling so I’ll leave this here… Just let me know in comments. Which do you prefer and why?

Facebook or Twitter?

Palm: For Sale.

If you know me you’ll know I’m a pretty huge fan of mobile devices. There has been some developments over the last 48 Hours that could alter the landscape of the existing Smartphone Market.

Bloomberg have stated that Palm have instructed Goldman Sachs to try and find a buyer for the company.

Palm currently have the Palm Pre for sale in the UK on O2 and Palm Pre and Palm Pixi for sale on Sprint in the USA. These exclusivity deals have backfired on Palm and they have not shipped as many units as they had hoped. Due to this there is a lack of interest by developers of applications on the handset. Lack of applications then in turn affects sales. It’s a catch 22 situation.

WebOS (the operating system Palm phones now run on) is a fantastic operating system. Innovative and forward thinking. The problem Palm have had is in the quality of the hardware the operating system runs on. I have held the Palm Pre myself and I just wasn’t impressed. The phone felt very plasticky and build quality was questionable. I have read reports of people being on their fifth handset but are still adamant fans of the Palm platform.

So why could all of this change the Smartphone Market?

Well, it all depends on who buys Palm. There are a wide range of reasons why different companies would want to buy Palm.

The first would be for a computing company to enter the Smartphone Market.

Lenovo, Dell and HP are all rumoured to be interested in purchasing Palm to enter the market. Why is this important? Well Palm with a new cash injection working with companies experienced in supplying quality hardware could be an exciting mix! WebOS with hardware that doesn’t fall apart after 3 months sounds good to anyone entering a 24 month contract. Obviously the merger between Palm and a PC/Laptop manufacturer could take time for the new owners to get used to the different operating model of selling Smartphones. If this takes too long then Palm would be left behind Android, iPhone and Windows Phone 7.

The second option would be for an existing phone manufacturer to purchase.

HTC and RIM (Blackberry) are touted as the most likely contenders to purchase Palm. I personally feel HTC would be the best company to buy Palm, I believe this due to HTC having experience in building quality and innovative hardware would be a potent mix with WebOS. Currently HTC build phones running operating software by Google and Microsoft. Having their own mobile operating system would give them much more flexibility with their own platform. There is also another reason HTC could want to purchase Palm. Currently HTC are facing various lawsuits from Apple due to patent infringements. Palm have a fairly sizable file of Patents which would help HTC in fending off Apple.

The third option, and the most scary, would be Palm to be bought out by Apple.

Apple, being very cash rich at the moment could easily purchase Palm without it affecting their balance sheets. If Apple did buy Palm it would be a very sad day indeed. I believe Apple would buy Palm purely for the Patents and would use them to suppress competition. As history has shown a lack of competition brings about a lack of innovation. As only the patents are needed Apple would shut down Palm.

I hope I have made it clear why the possible sale of Palm could change the landscape of the current Smartphone Market, who would you like to purchase Palm? Leave your ideas in the comments below.

UKIP Cash for Gold?

After seeing UKIP’s Election Manifesto Launch it looked like a cash for gold advert. Apologies for the poor picture but it was a quick snap on my mobile.

UKIP cash for gold election manifesto.

Ben Folds Chatroulette. Awesome.

Ben Folds singing about random people on the internet live. This is truely awesome.

Nick Clegg vs Jeremy Paxman.

I watched the match off between Nick Clegg and Jeremy Paxman tonight and was really surprised by how the interview went. Being completely honest Paxman seemed unprofessional and just disinterested throughout the whole interview.

The first third of the interview was Jeremy Paxman talking about immigration policy. Good topic to talk about I thought. As we got into this topic Paxman just wouldn’t leave it alone after Nick Clegg carefully explained the Liberal Democrats’ proposal of adding a third layer to the points based system on immigration, which looked at the geographical needs of the nation. After explaining the proposal and a couple of examples Paxman tried to push Clegg for details of exactly who would move to wear. This just isn’t practical as the needs of a nation are changing all the time so you can’t legislate all immigrants must move to Bradford as they need paper hat designers (not true). The nation just doesn’t work like that.

Paxman sounds like he wants strict control on population levels. How? Why?

Paxman couldn’t get around the fact that dealing with an overpaid management structure in the NHS could create cuts without affecting frontline services. Nick Clegg was patient every time but Paxman wouldn’t listen to the answer.

Also Paxman asked if the Liberal Democrats came to power would they repeal the hunting ban? At an election time surely more pressing questions could be asked. What about policing? What about education?

Even saying only giving £1.5 billion back to the poorest in the country is nothing.

I don’t know this but judging by the interview tonight Jeremy Paxman is a Conservative and is just not very good at hiding his political views. It’s not a tried and tested method but blue shirt and blue tie? Come on. (Granted Clegg is wearing a red tie…)

Also ending in a coughing fit at the end? Bring a level of professionalism to the game Paxman or you’ll get replaced. Plain and simple.

BBC: Jeremy Paxman Interviews: Nick Clegg.