Ben's Blog

iPhone network switch saved me £280

I've had my iPhone for over 18 months now, suffering on the O2 network. It's a great phone, but O2 have failed to upgrade their network and it's suffering capacity problems. I get poor or no data access, flaky call quality and dropped called. I've been paying £35 a month for the privilege.

18 months ago, if I wanted an iPhone, O2 was the only option, now it's available on Tesco, Orange and Vodafone.

By switching over to Vodafone saved me £280 a year, here were my steps to save the money:

1.  Request your iPhone is unlocked. This can be done immaterially, this doesn't affect your contract. The O2 website states you have to alow for 14 days for the change to go through.
2. Once your phone is unlocked, contact O2 and ask for your unique PAC code. This step is optional, but you'll need it if you'd like to keep your old mobile number.
3. Sign up to Quidco.com. If you sign up to Vodafone via quidco you get £100 cash back.
4. via quidco, purchase on the Vodafone site the £20 a month "sim only" pay monthly contact. I picked the 1gb data option. I use typically about 800mb a month, so wasn't worried about having 1gb as a limit.

And that's it, really, wait for the sim card to arrive, swap your old sim card out, replace with the new.

I used to be paying £35 a month, £420 a year with O2 and now I'm paying £20 a month, with £100 cash back, which works out at £140 a year. this saves me £280.

I'm tied to only a 12 month contract, so next year i'll be free to upgrade to the latest iPhone.

iPad - iPod touch's bigger brother

iPad - iPod touch's bigger brother, originally uploaded by Ben30.

There is a whole blue sky when it comes Apple designed products and it's competitors. Apple leads, others follow. They know how to make seductive devices. I love my iphone, I love my macbook pro, but with the iPod, I'm hesitant.

When I pick up the iPad, I know I'll be instantly seduced by it, but I want to resist. I don't want to be obsessively waiting and wanting this device.

I like producing things, I like tinkering, but I have a finite amount of time to do that. If I'm consuming, then I'm not producing. This is the ultimate consumer device. Owning it will help me passively use up available time purchasing and consuming media, leaving me no time to produce.

The iPad, is a computer completely locked down, everything that comes and goes through this device is controlled by Apple. I want to play, i want to tinker, this isn't the device to enable me to do that. I'd rather own a small macbook. I know the same argument can be said for the iPhone, but I accept that, because with a phone I don't want to tinker, I want it to be reliable and I want it to work.

People say that this is just a large iPhone or iPod touch, there is a noticeable difference though, the iphone can be operated via a single hand, the iPad can not. I love my iPhone, I don't want to start carrying two similar devices. I want my iPhone to expand into the space that this device is trying to fill.

The iPad supports a blue-tooth keyboard, something that the iPhone is currently lacking, I hope they add that with a software update.

Each July Apple announces new iPhones. In terms of market share, Apple considers the iPad as secondary to iPhone. I suspect that come July, iPhone will up it's game. I'm happy to wait. I want my iPhone to be better, I don't want an iPad.

Horse riding in Richmond, Virginia, USA - 2009

Richmond, Virginia, USA - 2009, originally uploaded by Ben30.

This year, I had my first horse riding lesson. She had a lovely nature, very patient. In preparation for the lesson I had to brush her down and attach her saddle. There's something really rewarding about taking care of animals, the sincerity of the bond you feel with the creature.

At one point I lost control while riding bare back, she decided to run with the other horses in the paddock, but I remained calm and didn't fall off.

I look forward to my next lesson.

Over erd, oot & abooot

A couple of months ago, early evening, I was sitting on the bus, on my way home, a willow the wisp of clouds scattered the night sky, picture the scene next to me:

A smiling dad, happily standing over his daughter in her push chair, who must have been about four.
Dad was making the sound of a wolf and said "Look at the full moon, woof, Aoooo, Arooo, O, OOOOOO, Arouooo, ARRRROOOOO!"
His daughter was giggling at her dad being silly, thinking it funny.
Again he said "Arrroooooo, I'm a wolf, Arrroooo, what do we do when we see the moon?"
After a moments thought, she replied "Go to bed."

My first Batizado, my first Capoeira Belt!

 
Last year, at a loss for what to do on a Monday night, I decided to give this thing called Capoeira a try. Did a search and found Acer Capoeira. I knew little about it, other than it was a Brazilian marshal art, that's part fight, part dance, part music. After the lesson, my body ached all over, but it was a good pain, I'd really enjoyed myself and decided to stick with it.

Time flies and ...boom, it's been 10 months. Last Saturday was the Batizado, my first ever grading. I passed and was awarded my belt. I am so proud of myself and fellow Capoeiristas who shared the day with me.  It was the first time in my life that I really worked to achieve something. I would not call it hard work, it was too enjoyable, even with the blisters, bruises and sprains.

We continued the party at a local pub in South Wimbledon, where we had an unplanned Roda and Maculele. I'm not exaggerating in saying that it was one of the most enjoyable moments of my life. Myself, forming a part of the circle, looking around, in that candle lit pub, seeing my friends, my chosen family, feeling, contributing and connecting to the growing energy of the Roda. It was amazing to be a part of something so special, so energizing, so lucid.

After it was over I spoke to a friend saying how special it felt, she turned to me and said with a smile on her face, "Yes, it makes you feel alive doesn't it?". I couldn't put it better.

I'd like to call it home.

I have a reoccurring dream of a home, I've never seen it in real life, one day I hope to either build or find it.

This is how I would describe it. Imagine it's a warm summer day, early evening, We are standing on coconut matting, in the living area, facing south. Strong oversized curved natural oak beams form the framework of the house, huge glass windows form the walls, the ceiling is double height, if you look up then you can see the rafters. If we turn our head to the right, then we can see the sun beaming through the handful of fir trees outside, casting long shadows. The light is just starting to turn a tint of orangey yellow, close to becoming a sunset. Behind us is the kitchen area, off to the side is a staircase leading up to a small internal balcony and the bedroom. Can you picture it? I'm not sure if my words do my dream justice.

Why Iceland melted

Just finished reading a great article on the Vanity fair website, where they go into detail about why Iceland's banking collapsed so spectacularly in October last year. I particularly liked this extract:

Alcoa, the biggest aluminum company in the country, encountered two problems peculiar to Iceland when, in 2004, it set about erecting its giant smelting plant. The first was the so-called “hidden people”—or, to put it more plainly, elves—in whom some large number of Icelanders, steeped long and thoroughly in their rich folkloric culture, sincerely believe. Before Alcoa could build its smelter it had to defer to a government expert to scour the enclosed plant site and certify that no elves were on or under it. It was a delicate corporate situation, an Alcoa spokesman told me, because they had to pay hard cash to declare the site elf-free but, as he put it, “we couldn’t as a company be in a position of acknowledging the existence of hidden people.”

I'm from the government and I'm here to relocate your elves. The full article can be read here.

Communication breakdown

One way communication is so boring, please feel free to say hi, leave me a comment, introduce yourself.

A non definitive dump of things that make me happy

• My imagination
• My Foster Allen shoes
• My Vibram five fingers running shoes
• Travelling
• improving my Capoeira
• Singing in the Roda
• hanging out with friends
• Lost
• Music
• Concerts
• My thick blue Icelandic jumper
• The Tango
• Reading old letters
• Being loved
• Being in Love
• My friends
• my family
• Remembering my grandparents.
• Taking photos
• Making a mix tape.
• Skating
• Lending a helping hand
• Spontaneity
• intimacy
• Laughing so much it hurts
• cycling
• telling a story
• Cooking
• Eating
• running
• meditation
• green tea
• hot buttered toast with Marmite
• learning new things
• the smell of cinnamon
• Security
• Safety
• predictability
• Thrill of the new
• Orange juice
• health
• routine
• Being on top of things
• a sense of accomplishment

Blackcomb Black Crows

Whistler's a lovely place, will go again; I got attacked by the local black crows, it was my own fault though, I shouldn't have fed them crisps, scarily Hitchcockian.

I fed one, who hesitantly jumped towards the crisp then flew off. Another bird came to replace the first, we made extended eye contact, he looked at me, we didn't blink, mutual respect was shown. I decided to offer a second crisp, by this time I could see other birds had flown towards me. As I chucked the second crisp, another flew down and ripped half away from the other.

Many more birds were now sitting in trees, circling me, watching me with food in hand, I decided to end it. I closed the packet and walked away, already feeling slightly worried about the chain of events I'd just started. As I fled, one of them flew down and hit my uncovered head.

It took me a good five minutes for my heart rate to return to normal, I now know better than to feed the crows.