Thanks largely to smartphones, those networks are under greater pressure every day – one streamed YouTube video has the same effect on the network as half a million text messages sent simultaneously, the equivalent of everybody in Newcastle sending a text at once.

o2 Chief Executive

So then why do text messages still cost 10p each (once you run out, as even business tarrifs do not have unlimited) when they are obviously not very demanding on the network?

When I get my new iPhone 4, and switch to a business tarrif, I think I shall switch to an IM app instead of texting.

Andrew’s friend at work has had kittens so we’re considering getting one! And yes it will have it’s own Tumblr blog with pics and videos 😉

Andrew’s niece (Daisy, age 6) sent us a thank you card and a drawing for having her and her family round at the weekend awww so sweet.

There are so many websites offering to buy your old phones (yes I am looking to upgrade my iPhone 3G) that we now need a comparison site for them!

Never mind flowers, I’m not even capable of successfully giving a compliment. Well, that’s not quite true. I have no trouble with many compliments, such as, ‘Nice couch,’ or ‘What a well-dug hole,’ or ‘I thought you delivered that calf expertly.’ I don’t have much call to give them, admittedly, but if I ever need to, I’m confident they will trip effortlessly off my tongue. What I can’t do is successfully compliment anyone on their appearance. ‘You look nice today.’ Such a simple pleasantry, but I find it almost impossible. I mean, how personal. Look at the assumptions it makes: I have been scrutinizing your appearance, I think you look better now than you usually do, I consider myself a fit judge to make such a call. Any one of those, I would find deeply embarrassing. Together, they’re an embarrassment neutron bomb.

David Mitchell

Right now I can click, right-click, middle-click, scroll, three, four, or five-finger swipe in four different directions, pinch, expand, rotate, four-finger tap… and those are just the options I’ve enabled. With multitouch, my trackpad can recognize up to eleven different points of contact, meaning the possibilities are nearly endless. All of that on a trackpad with only one button.

7 anti-Apple cliches that need to die – the old “your mouse only has one button” cliche.

My hobbies include “not collecting stamps”, “not skiing” and “not Morris dancing”. What about you? (argument against “atheism = a religion”)

If you find yourself saying “I’m not racist but…” then chances are you probably are racist! (same with “I have lots of gay friends but…”).

Skeptical Energy

A common admission from those who claim to have supernatural powers (and something that is illustrated well in Derren Brown’s new show) is that their supernatural abilities dry up whenever there is a skeptic in the room.

This is the thing that stops them getting thoroughly debunked when they meet someone willing to do a scientific test on their “gift” – be it reading minds, talking to the dead, or X-Ray vision – they simply explain their failure in any tests (or refuse to do any such tests at all) by claiming that “skeptical energy” is inhibiting their power.

This is a perfect way of making sure they can continue making extraordinary claims whilst at the same time avoiding any opportunity for doubt.

Or maybe I am being too harsh here – maybe there is some truth in this…

In the (now cancelled) hit US TV show Heroes, many seemingly ordinary citizens have amazing gifts. Some can read minds, others can move objects telepathically. But one person – known as “the Haitian” – has something very similar to the skeptical energy. Whenever he comes near someone with an ability, he drains them of their power. He is a skeptic.

Believe what you will about the supernatural, but I sleep safe at night knowing that if there are people out there who can move objects with their minds or shoot lightning from their fingers, all it takes is a bit of reason and a basic understanding of the scientific method to render them powerless.

RT @codinghorror: Apple’s walled garden bothers me a lot less than Facebook’s. That’s because Apple doesn’t hate their customers.