Software, Technology

Android vs iOS – why I’m not yet with Google on this one

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I love Google. My relationship with the company is very different to my relationship with Apple (grudging respect) or Microsoft (mild, perpetual frustration). I use the company’s products all over the place. But I’m not yet unequivocally recommending Android phones to anyone but the early adopters for a few reasons.

Am interested in others’ thoughts, especially those who have been in both camps (I’ve trialled, but not owned, and Android device):

1) Experience uniformity. There isn’t any, because device manufacturers can customise it massively. So fine for early adopters, but for mass market – every Android device will feel slightly different and you’ll have to learn it again.

2) Software upgrades are fragmented. Because of the device fragmentation (some screens are 3.2 inches some 4.3, some 2.7, different resolutions, processor speeds etc), Google can’t roll out upgrades for everyone at the same time. This means where with an iPhone you potentially always have the latest features, with an Android phone you have to wait for your phone manufacturer to catch up and update the software for you. And worse, potentially your operator too.

3) Application sprawl. It’s bad on iOS but Apple’s Appstore’s quality control and consumer feedback mechanism protects you from dodgy apps and malware in a way Android does not always manage. Also, there are now multiple appstores for Android. Is that much choice good for a consumer? Theoretically yes, in practice it’s a little confusing.

4) Security. For the same reason it’s hard to patch the OS, it’s hard to provide uniform security. Exploits will occur on individual handsets customisations (HTC Sense, Motorola Motorblur etc) and legacy Android versions (a large number of handsets in the field are running Android 1.5, 2.0, 2.1 and the latest version is 2.3).

5) Skype doesn’t work with front facing video on Android, and one of the major uses my iPhone gets is letting Emily speak to her Grandparents from it and the iPhone plays a key part of that.

6) Peripherals are more easily available for iPhone at the moment – manufacturers only have to design for one/two form factors so there are tonnes about, from cases to docks and beyond. Not so with the Android jobbies…

7) Product creep. At least with Apple I’m guaranteed a year before I start to feel Phone Envy. Google’s iterative development cycle is seeing point releases and new features coming out several times a year, and hardware seems to be changing at least twice a year too. I can’t afford to keep up with that and I like being at the edge of things…!

There are tonnes of reasons to choose Android, don’t get me wrong – Google integration, great hardware from a number of manufacturers, loads of great apps, more affordable than iOS, and better on a number of individual features – but I can’t help but feel that on the whole ithas the potential to be a little more confusing than the average user might like – and so I’m sticking with iOS for now.

Running

My first running club experience

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So last night I ran with the Chineham Park Running Club and had my first ever experience of club running.

Today, everything hurts. Not knowing how much you’ve got coming makes it hard to pace yourself sensibly!

It was a great experience and if I can fit it in around my commute when I go back to work next month I’ll be keen to join proper. There’s something about running in a pack that sets the adrenaline going and makes you push yourself more than you ever would running alone, no matter how much the group encourages you to take things at your own pace. Man is a competitive animal, even me, sometimes.

The session was a ‘coached run’ – in which we did a warm-up run (about 2.5k, which I completed in 14 odd minutes), followed by ‘stride’ training on a short loop of road (a few hundred metres). This involved another 45 or so minutes of running in circles focussing on different things – first just thinking about the stride, then trying to get a sense of falling forwards whilst running, then trying to run silently, then bouncing from foot to foot.

It brought back memories of PE sessions at school, with a kindly teacher working to coach through encouragement rather than drill-sergeant esque barked orders.

There was a persistent feel of good natured, supportive, encouraging camaraderie throughout the club and think I’d enjoy running with them. However… despite claims that its a club for people of all abilities, I was near the back of the pack and was probably one of the only people there without a race booked – apparently most people are running two races a month at the moment!

So it’s a little intimidating. But maybe when I find my metaphorical stride, it’ll feel more natural. I’m still coming to terms with fatherhood, commuting, country life and all the rest of it, so imagine in time two races a month will seem like a sensible thing to do!

Running

Welcome, The Long Slow Run readers

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…both of you.

For the best part of a year, I’ve run a second blog, the Long Slow Run – initially in collaboration with a colleague, then solo, charting my newfound passion for running – which I took up last March and has seen me run two races (so far) and subject myself to hundreds of miles run and at least three pairs of trainers in the last 12 months.

Keeping up two separate blogs – when most people who seem to follow my antics do so via Facebook rather than RSS – seemed increasingly pointless, and a brief poll on LSR confirmed that people weren’t too bothered.

So – all my posts from LSR have been imported to division6, and a separate page (up in the nav, or here for those of you keeping up via RSS/Facebook) will now capture all my running related posting. I hope you either enjoy it, or will forgive the further profligacy on here. I can promise that my blogging volume is likely to drop to relatively normal levels once the sabbatical ends in a few weeks…

Music, Software, Technology

Shazam alternative for sung/hummed tunes

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If you, like me, have a good memory for tunes but a shoddy memory for lyrics or song titles, then you’ll have loved Shazam – the smartphone app that recognises music when its being played and tells you what it is and where its from.

Whilst staying with Sarah and Ilkka we tried it with a hummed tune, which – to be fair – it doesn’t claim to be able to cope with. It didn’t. So I researched alternatives and found Soundhound – it works on both Android and iOS devices and when I sing to it – it works out the song title pretty regularly.

Fantastically clever, and good for spontaneous singing competitions!

Dadblogging, Writing

Nursery rhymes for our time

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Sensei Paul and Rach came to visit this weekend and Paul got me thinking about alternate, modern nursery rhymes. He had a few, but one in particular stuck in my memory:

Oh the great old duke of York
He had 10,000 men
But due to government cutbacks now he has just one man
And due to the strain and the stress
Of doing all the work
The Duke of York’s man
Has PTSD

Certainly not all of the nursery rhymes we sing to Emily could make this transition but certainly many of them could. Another one (all of these are paraphrased as my memory isn’t that good):

Twinkle twinkle little star
What a flaming ball of gas
When you get too cool you may explode
But if you’re not you might collapse into a black hole

This one occurred to me today whilst we were singing to Emily:

There were ten in the bed and the little one said
Roll over! Roll over!
We’re in this mess because of poor housing planning
The government’s overspent and now inflations running
So please, remember, to mark a check in your ballot
Single votes they count for me and you

Also:

Little Miss Muffett
Sat on her taffeta sofa
Eating her curds and whey
But lactose intolerance
Increased her flatulence
And scared all the small boys away

And…

Mary had a little lamb
Whose fleece was white as snow
This was due to genetic modification
The EU had yet to approve

And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go
Due to sophisticated neural implants, RFID and GPS tracking

The scansion on some of these needs work. Any more for any more? The whole thing puts me in mind of Katie Melua’s response to Simon Singh’s complaints about "9 million bicycles" – well worth watching this.

Media & Marketing

Journalism for ethical business

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A friend of mine, Damian, has founded a not-for-profit initiative with some of his journalist and ethically minded peers which launches in a couple of weeks time. I hope you’ll help spread the word and support the launch event.

In a nutshell, from the the website of "Public Business":

The financial crisis showed the need for more serious, dedicated reporting on business actions. We are a small, independent and collaborative non-profit, supporting original journalism looking into the wider economic, environmental and social implications of business – from the causes of the next crisis to the impact of business on climate change.

I’m all for this. The world of media is one of finding information, interpreting it and communicating it with useful context. Increased regulation has resulted in increased corporate reporting – but drawing this data to the attention of the general public is increasingly left to ‘churnalists’ – people that recycle press releases. (Another post will follow soon on what journalists and PRs need to be equipped to do to visualise and interpret this data)…

Despite the fact that my business involves (amongst other things) sending out these press releases I firmly believe that the media has the potential to serve a vital public role – as I mentioned in my recent post on the Sarawak Report – to provide a forum for discussion of important social issues. Where in Malaysia the issue is political, in much of the west its a commercial issue – news media cannot justify the expense of true investigative business journalism (we still find the money to do scoops on celebrities…) – so I hope and wish Damian and co the best in getting this one off the ground and funding some valuable reporting work.

The event launches the initative, and there’s a parallel one in New York for American readers – like the Public Business Facebook page for more details. I can’t make either unfortunately but Damian will be at the London one, hosting with his usual manic aplomb.

General update

One vs two blogs?

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I blog on a lot of different topics over here and since my partner in running blogging crime, James, has been absent for the last 9 months or so I’m wondering if I shift my running posts to the other blog and retire LSR as a separate entity. I think most people keep up with my via syndicated content on Facebook/ Twitter anyway, so the actual address of the blog doesn’t matter too much, but please let me know by responding to a few questions on this poll. Thanks!

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Running, Training

David Cameron’s running gait

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I loved this story. It talks about the limitations of David Cameron’s running gait, criticizes his small stride, and makes any number of ridiculous but entertaining comparisons between managing your running and managing a country.

The proportionality between the angle of your running stride and the distance covered does alway surprise me (“…you cover two per cent more ground with each stride for every degree you increase your stride angle”. I really need to do some more stretching… although as much of my training this sabbatical has included heavy-lifting in the garden as it has running and stretching so limited progress has been made.

Unfortunately, unlike David Cameron, I can’t afford to hire personal trainer Matt Roberts to sort out my running stride. I’m still thinking about getting a running coach but not sure where to start. I may start by joining my local running club (blog here) and see if anyone there has any good advice for me.

Training

Training through barriers

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Since this year’s winter weight gain and running hiatus, I’ve struggled to run through the 5k distance barrier. When I took up running a year or so ago, I’d never run more than 5k in my adult life. When I started, I found that I managed 10k without too much extra trouble and was able to inch upwards until my LSR was 14-15k without too much trouble – and ultimately delivered my 2h9 half marathon time. Not record breaking by any means, but for me it was quite an accomplishment.

Anyway, the last week has seen two very different 10k runs as I begin to knock down the psychological distance barrier. The first, a tech-free run, saw me complete my 10k in 65 minutes – substantially slower than my previous efforts. My benchmark has always been 30 minute 5ks – so a 60 minute 10k is the thing to beat.

Today, I managed it, crossing the 10k mark at 59m20s – not massively speedy but hopefully the beginning of a return to form, and a whole load better than my previous effort. It was Runkeeper supported and I guess having a voice tell me my current pace does put effective pressure on me to up the ante…

Anyway, will continue to keep up the pressure on myself and see where I end up. I’ve not had the stones to enter another half-marathon yet – it’s difficult to be sure I can manage it with my extra weight and without having yet put in the time to build up to the distances I’d need – but we’ll see how we go.

Thoughts go out to the injured Sensei-Paul, who I’m seeing next week and will no doubt discuss running with for all of our edification.

Hopefully I’ll be able to churn out a > 10k run in the next week or so…

Personal

@Lactofree cheeselicious

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I recently discovered that Lactofree, those nice people that remove the lactose from milk so intolerant people like me can enjoy cereal etc., make cheese – both soft cheese (like Philadelphia) and “hard cheese” – which is meant to resemble cheddar but really tastes more like Swiss cheese.

This is absolutely wonderful news. Amanda made Nigella’s London Cheesecake and it was possibly one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. Ever. And this is on top of the celebratory lasagna I made for her using Lactofree milk and semi-hard cheese (for the white sauce and lasagna topping) after she had her mid-maternity leave back-to-work day.

I’ve also tried the soft cheese on a bagel and its really indistinguishable from traditional soft cheeses. The semi-hard cheese is a bit thin on flavour, hopefully they’ll keep working on it.

So, kudos, you nice people at Lactofree. I’ll try your yoghurts if they ever get stocked by one of my local supermarkets, will look forward to you experimenting with lactose free creams, and getting a proper hard-cheese recipe right. I’ve love to know more about the process by which you get rid of the lactose – it sounds too simple from your website:

 

Lactofree semi hard cheese is made from cows’ milk. As part of cheesemaking, bacterial cultures are added to the milk to create acidity, aroma and flavour. These cultures need a source of food and this food is lactose. The bacteria uses up the lactose naturally found in the milk to give Lactofree cheese its distinct flavour. The bacteria will stop working only once all the lactose has been used up, leaving cheese that is lactose free.

Lactofree soft white cheese is also made from cows’ milk. The lactase enzyme is added during the cheese making process to break down the milk sugars into simpler forms that your body can absorb. So what you get is Lactofree soft white cheese, with the taste and nutritional goodness of regular soft white cheese, just without the lactose!

Clever stuff.

 

Armand David's personal weblog: dadhood, technology, running, media, food, stuff and nonsense.