Unless they have plans for world domination then we’re probably all screwed.

Anyway I do have a point here, kinda. I was just thinking how much information they have access to, either because I’ve given them it or if they decide to be naughty (network scanning and buzz privacy issues aside).

As I use Chrome as my browser and search using google, there’s pretty much all my internet activity available to them (chrome shouldn’t transmit this but if it did then they’d have it and I’m sure its something you can turn on), also with an igoogle home page they have more hist to my interests, through my internet use. On top of that I use gmail as my primary client even if I don’t use my google address, so they have access to all my emails and contacts.

As I’ve just recently got an android phone, oh look they now have access to all my communication apart from in person, by snail mail, or landline. And thanks to latitude they know where I am too.

And with Google+ starting off, possibly replacing facebook who knows this  early, they have all the other people not in my other address books and access to all the photos they post of me.

Oh and before I forget all my photo’s get uploaded to picasa too, so chances are they’ll be geotagged and commented.

Erm yeah, so basically they have access to just about everything and anything you could possibly want to know about me, maybe its not such a good thing to all be in the hands of one company but its’s probably all available to other companies too, via my ISP (they could just read almost everything to or from your router) or phone company or all the other companies that nave it all too.

Good job I’m not paranoid then

Do we really need them?

Ok I think I closed my myspace as no one uses that anymore, but now I have a facebook account 2 twitter counts, one for friends feeds and one to get all the twitter news that I’m interested in, I kinda have google buzz but don’t use it, a Linked in account I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with as it linked to work and I don’t really want to update that with the rubbish I post on twitter of facebook, and now I have Google+ too.

Problem is I don’t actually have anything worth saying, and neither do most people really, the problem with social networks is that people will update with anything, and the feed will show you everything they say, even if its not something that interests you. Take for example me commenting on the giant spider at work (that I’ve not seen and I believe is a lie) but really no one’s that interested, and if I hadn’t asked for weapon advice I wouldn’t have even got the facebook responses to it. Occasionally someone might post something of interest but there’s no way of filtering the junk around it that’s of no interest.

The problem with facebook is also I think the main draw, the games, which then spam your wall and fill other peoples news feeds with requests for help or just to say they’re being played, then you now have a page and news feed from every interest you listed if it matched something, so tv shows have pages and update you with news and stuff, its information overload.

Twitter suffers the same problem, you follow people that are of interest or your friends and you then need to filter it all into lists so you can at least see your friends posts, in the mix of all the celeb gossip and website news or whatever is on your feeds. This is why I have 2 accounts one I keep in touch with friends on and one for all the news and things I’m intersted in but would probably flood my readers so I’d never see my friends tweets.

Ignoring the privacy issues google buzz seemed to have when it came out they did one thing I liked, it was basically a facebook status feed with none of the games or apps or anything else, it was just back to the social talking side, then it never got going here so lets forget that.

So no Google+ wants to move in on facebook’s territory, its still in beta so maybe not fully working, but what I see is a clean google branded facebook, you can group your friends etc together and post just to certain groups feeds, and is a nice threaded feed like facebook have had for a while and buzz used too. Thing is the Sparks feature just doesn’t appeal as its a search on a topic and I can’t see a way to limit it to specific sources. I guess if I want that it’s clutter your feed again facebook style by “friending” pages for things I’m interested in.

So far Google+ doesn’t offer anything that facebook doesn’t apart from a less busy stream/feed, but then I only know 3 people  on it at the minute and there’s no games. As it is I don’t think many people will be leaving facebook because that’s where everyone is, some people will use multiple services, others will stick with just one, but as that just one tends to be facebook, that’s where I think most will stay.

Me I’ll use the lot and find someway of combining them so I can still follow the people that refuse to use facebook, the people that refuse to use twitter and those that move to google+, those that refuse to use any? Well there’s always email or the phone.

Well thanks for reading this far, I’ve just relised I didn’t have a  point to make or I made it right at the start and the rest is just waffle.

TL;DR – Doesn’t matter really :p

Too many phones, too many contracts, and so many free gifts too

Starting with some history, When I took out my current main contract, I phoned to cancel my T-mobile contract and as they do to keep their numbers I waws offered a cheap contract with a PSP, it worked out as an 18 month contract to pay for the PSP, it’s actually a £20 contract with £15 discount. Figured what the hell its not a lot of money a month and I get a PSP for no upfront cost.

Leading upto when my contract was ready for upgrade, I was thinking about getting the HTC Wildfire, then just before the upgradable date HTC announced the Wildfire S, which I’ve been waiting for them to announce its available, but its not looking like its happening.

While I’ve been waiting, I looked a little deaper and the Wildfire S isn’t much smaller than the Desire, I was after a smaller phone but as its only about 1cm, maybe I should get a Desire, but the Desire S is coming out so why get the old model when I could get the new.

So again waiting for a phone to be available, I see good reviews of the Sony Ericsson Arc, it sounds pretty good, has Andiod 2.3, the reviews show a good quality camera and they like the interface that’s been added to it. This is a bit too big for my taste, so I’m looking and see that the Neo has just been announced and should be available, so looking at it it has the same quality screen but smaller than the arc and the same camera.

I’ve not had a problem with my Sony Ericsson, if I ever used its camera its actually pretty good, so as everyone seems to have HTC Desires I think I’m going to be different and go with the Sony Ericcson Neo, just as soon as there’s some stock!

So new phone this or next month, if there’s stock available and I can get it on my T-mobile, or wait till its in stock then cancel my contracts and take out a new one on t-mobile transfering my number from Orange.

I wonder what phone I’ll want by the time that one’s available!

On a side note I have a third contract, that costs me absolutely nothing unless I use it, so I always have access to Orange Wednesdays, wonder how much data would cost, maybe I should just buy a phone and cancel my other contracts and just pay for what I use.

seems I don’t have much to say

but its my birthday soon, ick, I’m getting old

I’ve decided its time for some new snowboarding gear to go with my new board, so:

A Salomon Ranger Custom Air helmet (medium) it fit quite well in the store and is actually a better fit than my current helmet. I would actually prefer the version shown on the right but thats an extra ~£150 for speakers and a built in bluetooth phone, and I’m not sure I really need a phone in my helmet.

Some new goggles, I”m looking at these Dragon Alliance Red ones, they come with a bright conditions mirrored lens and a bonus spare that I’m told will be a low light lens.
These will be replacing the ageing pair I’ve been using for a while now.

An iPod nano, I’m thinking the Graphite or Silver rather than the blue that I have showing there, preferably the bigger 16GB model, or something similar, really what I want is a good small mp3 player with controls I can clip onto my jacket so I can reach them and stop the music while I have gloves on, but I can’t find anything like that, so something that looks good and will work with my car for when I’m not snowboarding will be nice.

I also need some new gloves but having just read a bad review of the Flexmeter ones I thinking of getting to replace my wrist guard and glove combination as its an all in one, I’m not quite sure what I want here, maybe just some that fit and fit over my wrist guards too.

I’m thinking next season for new boots and clothes, the ones I have will be fine this year after a bit of reproofing.

I’m looking into a decent home cinema system and new monitor for my computer, but at the minute I’m not really decided what I want, I am thinking around 24″ full HD or higher, with HDMI input on the screen and I’m after 5.1 surround with an optical input and I think HDMI pass-through so it can sit between maybe a playtation that I don’t have yet and my tv.

Other than that, there’s always DVDs n music, I think for books maybe just give me a voucher or something so  can get them electronically , and maybe a few computer games too.

Anyway its all on My Amazon Wishlist and I’ll just keep adding to it as I find things.

So the board itself is an Endeavour Live, bought for a good discount, thank the sales and a small defect for a good reduction, the defect in the board is pretty minor really, when they printed the art work it went through the laminator before the printing, how they managed this I’m not sure but there’s a batch of boards with teh art work printed on the surface instead of under it. Basically all that’s wrong with the board is the design will scratch off over time and with use, leaving me with a more or less plain black board, no complaints there and for the price I’ve got a new board for what my old one should have cost if it wasn’t half price

So riding the board last week on its factory wax only, it slid over the snow very easily, and I’m sure I could turn it on a 5p, it also felt lighter if not slightly more flexible than my old, I’m assured by the sales guy that it will flex more as I use it and it loosens up a little. Its really just a shame that I’m such an unfit wuss and my little weedy legs couldn’t cope with the slope time, I must go more often to get used to it again and maybe actually make a proper effort on this getting fit thing.

On the subject of getting fit, the plan is to join the gym and go swimming 3 times a week using the fact we’ve paid for it as motivation to go, and I think I’ll try to Wii Fit a little more to gently build up my legs and all the stretches that should only be helpful to my wrists too. There its on the internet so it has to be true.

Last thing to mention I have now finished Dracula and I’m sure I’d seen the film based on the book, I honestly can’t remember it that well but I seem to remember some warrior losing his wife and making some unholy deal to become the first vampire, then at the end is destroyed as you’d expect but Mina his victim turns vampire at the end, but I might be mixing up my movies a bit and it might be and I might have completely made up that ending, I have seen a lot of them. What to read next?

The cause? That’s lost in the mists of time, I think it was probably triggered by helping to lift a heavy sofa, as I probably didn’t have hold of it very well, but it could already have been building up then anyway.

So what’s the cure? It seems to be rest, ibuprofen and some specific exercises, my Dr mentioned surgery too last time I was there.

And what can aggravate the problem? Pretty much everything! Or some days that’s how it feels, if an activity uses my hands there’s a good chance it wont be helping.

Heres a small list of everyday things that either hurt instantly or will after a while

• Typing (if I’m not careful writing this will hurt)
• using a mouse – its uncomfortable as soon as I try to use one, pain wont be far behind
• writing – using my graphics tablet might be better for me than a mouse but its not a cure
• picking things up
• getting dressed
• eating – both with or without cutlery
• using my phone
• using a tv remote
• holding a book
• driving
• holding a wii controller
• lifting a glass to drink
• opening bottles
• opening cans
• Some part of snowboarding, probably ratcheting my bindings and boots, or maybe its just from carrying my board
• fastening laces
• carrying things
• sleeping wrong – s lying wring will do more damage than is healed over night

That’s just a list of things that seem to have caused pains and then only the ones I could think of.

Primarily the problem is in my right wrist but that’s mostly because I’m right handed, my left is actually not fine I can’t just switch to it, partly because it really is an effort to use the wrong hand for some tasks but mostly because it’ll then have the same problems because its both wrists that hurt at times.

In the time I’ve been suffering I’ve discovered a variety of pain, all in my wrists, arms or even back (thanks to the physio!), from the sharp stabbing pains on the under side of my wrist, aches on the top, burning on the inside nearer my elbow, sharp pains shooting the whole length of my forearm.

Pain killers are great, I take them all day so I can work,  but they only hide the problem while they’re effective and they’re not a cure, the damage is still being done I just can’t feel it for a while. Imaging taking pain killers so you can put your hands in a fire, you mightn’t feal it, but your still going to have pretty crispy hands and it’ll hurt like hell later when they wear off.

As for how it works, all the tendons and nerves are packed together in the wrist, if one gets inflamed for whatever reason its swells, putting pressure on the others and causing them to rub more and get inflamed and swell making the problem worse, once the damage is done you do far more damage by continuing because of that.

So if you’re wondering why I’m lacking motivation, avoiding driving, trying to avoid the computer, or any activity that might possibly hurt, its all because I know it will hurt and being in pain isn’t fun, it really is quite hard to find the motivation to do something you know will leave you in pain with no gain from it. Hurting myself falling over snowboarding is just part of it, the snowboarding is fun and enjoyable and well worth a little suffering afterwards, but to spend time doing something that really hurts and is limiting my ability to continue and also limiting my entertainment options due to the pain levels, that’s really not fun.

If you haven’t worked it out, it really does suck, reading and tv are fine pass-times, but they’re not interactive and I want to shoot aliens not watch someone else do it, but if I spend too much time playing then I can’t work and then I still can’t (shouldn’t) play, or if I drive too far, or do too much work at work, you get the picture…

Oh on the plus there’s been a study that showed playing video games distracts from painful things, which explains how I can actually play games and not be in pain, but will be in pain within minutes of starting work, just a shame I’ll suffer for it anyway.

As this is the internet I’m starting with computer stuff

• A new 1TB+ HDD, I have 3 drives at the min its a bit silly, I’m tempted to get 2 or 3 and RAID them but cant decide if I should stripe or mirror, might need a RAID card to do RAID5
• Keyboard and mouse, my current ones are a little worn and faded
• A ram cooler, my custom balanced fan’s working but a bit unstable
• 5.1 surround speaker, I really want  a centre speaker

Snowboard stuff

• A helmet with built in speakers
• New Goggles
• New Gloves
• Would like a new board too, as mines getting a little old and is probably time to become a wall decoration

I guess I need a new source of income to pay for all this too!

there’s also the stuff on my Wishlist too, which contains a link to my Amazon Wishlist too. The amazon wishlist has a huge collection of stuff mostly games, movies and music, and I’ll update that soon

New things to add to the list

A new Pc case, I’m  looking at a case set up with 12cm fans and acoustic damping built in, so lots of air flow and should be quiet too.

5.1 sound system, I’ve had 4.1 for ages becasue originally I didn’t have room for a center speaker and I think 5.1 was a lot more expensive when I bought, but since getting a flat screen I’ve got room now and could do with a new set of speakers.

1TB hard drive, don’t think I need bigger, but I’m tempted to have 2 and set them up in raid 0 just to see if theres a performance gain from it

A new sound card I’m thinking creative X-fi to go with the new speaker system, not really needed and Im not sure how much an improvement it’ll be over my audigy 2

A new cpu cooler, probably the most important item to quieten my pc down, as thats the noisiest thing in my case unless my graphics card ends up needing full cooling

And becasue I need some exercise and would like to enjoy it a bit
a new black wii, with wii fit plus, this comes with the new motion plus and all the improved versions of the games the original came with ordered 

I also want a new snowboard, its time to retire my current one at the end of this season and maybe turn it into a stylish shelf or wall art I’m looking at a Ride Prophet at the minute, it sounds about the right kind of board, but lots of time to decide what I want

I’m sure I’ll think of more later

must remember save settings before testing when setting things up