The wireless infrastructure isn’t too much better. Yes, there is a large coverage area but speeds range from slow to slower (maxing out at about 512kbps) and the authentication to get onto the network is crazy – windows requires a client to be downloaded and installed while OSX requires complicated 802.1x profile creation and installation of certificates, which the average user really isn’t going to know how to do.

On top of this, Gods help you if you try and plug a laptop into a network port. I mean, static IP’s are really good and extremely functional but trying to get one is ridiculously complicated. Forms have to be filled out, paper forms which take about 2 days to be processed and even then, the lack of a Standard Software build for staff computers means that someone has to be dispatched to installed all the required software onto the computer in question. Which is highly inefficient when you have 4 people each needing their computer sorted out. Quick builds can take as little as 30minutes and can be run simultaneously from CD’s or even a network repository.

Finally Novell. The clients here use NetWare and honestly it causes more trouble than its worth. It actually slows the computers down. I (thankfully) took some initiative and built my own PC for work, and just swapped the hard drive from the work machine. However, I have it partitioned with a standard build of windows XP with no Novell and the difference in speed is really quite unbelievable. Logging on with NetWare takes a good 2 minutes compared with the 20-30 secs of normal windows XP.

Perhaps I’m spoiled after working for Intel which has a seamless, efficient, yet highly secure network and a great IT department supporting them but this just really seems like a bad way to do things.

Play can handle my return. I’m on my way to game where the special edition is £10 cheaper too.

Battery-life: For me this was the big hitter. I currently own a MacBook Pro as my main laptop (2008 Unibody edition to be precise) and while I love it to pieces for great high powered mobile computing, it’s battery life really sucks – were talking 2-3 hours here with wifi on. With wifi off the max I have been able to squeeze out of it (screen at lowest brightness tick etc) has been about 3 1/2 hours, so its not really amazing.

Some high end netbooks offer 7-8 hour battery lives, but this will diminish to about 5 hours on usage of wifi for web surfing and general, everyday usage. The iPad on the other hand boasts as 10hr battery life…and on top of that it actually delivers on that boast and can actually better it! Which is perfect for a day of usage at uni or work.

Portability: Another big reason for my purchase, the iPad is just so easy to carry around. It’s super slim, and weights next to nothing. For example, I am currently sitting in my car, with my chair rolled back and my iPad on my lap (oh yeah, I’m writing this entry on it) and i can barely notice it. I would have a hard time doing this with a netbook and it would be impossible with my MacBook…my car is very small.

Also after carrying a MacBook Pro around for a few weeks you will welcome the relief your shoulders get. However this can lead to the idea that not bringing s bag to work is a good idea. Perhaps, but remember your keys are in there (that’s why I’m in my car…)

Applications: Everything I would use on a netbook, especially in this final year at uni, has a version or something similar if not better on the iPad. At this point I have to become slightly critical as the only office solutions for the iPad are currently paid apps, but I’m holding out for an OpenOffice variant for the iPad. Other than that though there are tons of free apps dinged for the iPad and lots more on the way too.

Coolness: Ok, I’ll admit, the iPad is one neat piece of kit. Ever seen a Star Trek PADD? I’ve wanted one ever since I was a kid…this is kinda realised (in a slightly more real world way) by the iPad. So I guess there was the typical gadget lust to encourage me to buy the iPad over an eeePC.

Sp what are my impressions so far? I’m impressed. Having never owned an apple product that runs an iPhone (or iPhone based) OS I have to say the iPad has bettered all of my expectations. Its super fast and has caused me no grief thus far. And for someone who’s eyesight normally sucks I’m glad to say that my eyes haven’t suffered from the delicious high resolution screen. Yes it’s a bit odd using a 4:3 format when I’m so used to 16:10 but at the same time its refreshing to have something that little bit different.

For just lazing round the house watching movies or youtube videos it really is easy to use. Even my dad could get to grips with it quickly. And photos look amazing on it. The standard 10.1″ screens of netbooks have a lower resolution of 1024×600, compared to the 1024×768, 9.7″ screen of the iPad, meaning the iPad screen looks much better in comparison (more pixels in a smaller area) and doesn’t suffer from the misshaping of webpages which happens on netbooks.

So far I have only found one thing that really irks me about the iPad and that Is it’s inability to receive files via bluetooth, something that has only bugged me today when I wanted to get some wifi access to the network here at work and needed to install a certificate to my iPad. I know that to wait until I have wifi access so i can receive the certificate via email.

Overall though the experience has been awesome and I’m really looking forward to starting uni with it by my side.

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Just discovered iTunes U #

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And so I come back to the question – what can I do with all the spare time. I browse the web, read interesting things, tweet etc, but oddly enough updating my blog or working on it is something which never really crosses my mind. And in fact its a great thing to do at work because I’m making all the right noises. After all typing continuously is a sign of working hard…right?

I mean I have development tools here and I have super fast web access – by rights I should be updating this way more often.

Anyway, I’m off to England for a week. Heading to see my girlfriend and go to Alton Towers! I’m having iPad urges and think I might end up returning with one, but well see how that turns out too. Additionally, since she will be at work a few days during the week, I really want to try and get some graphics started for this site. Hoping that I can finally make some progress!

Might try something cool with the free time I have…just an idea…

‘But fantasy isn’t real’, I hear you scream. It should be.

Where is all this coming from? Well the E3 trailer for Final Fantasy XIV Online got me to thinking about how boring our lives really are. Sure there is cool tech to be had and interesting gossip in the office, but wheres the excitement and adventure? Where’s the risk, the epicness?

Chances are that its not really there for 95% of us. Times just aren’t as epic anymore. I’d like to believe in a time of dragons, magic and great evil to be overcome but like all things it probably is just a story passed down from generation to generation.

My tea’s gotten cold.

Well I’ll be honest it’s my own doing really but it’s still going to take up quite a bit of my time. At least I get paid for it.

I guess that’s my way of saying the job is going well. They have taken my suggestions on board and decided that we should go on ahead with an overhaul of this, so you can see I have my work cut out for me.

I plan to turn it into this, but well see how it goes.

While I wouldn’t call myself a web developer I seem to be OK at designing things…however the problem arises when trying to code these ideas up, so I am going to be burying myself in books a fair bit this summer. On top of that I need to code up Super-Zero and one of my other projects too for a small independent group.

So yeah, fun summer ahead. However, if I do it right I should be able to do it all, and still have time to play Fallout 3 (which i have only now started playing and its awesome!) and some Red Dead Redemption, which I haven’t actually got yet but hoping to receive for my birthday which is on Wednesday. Plus the lots of gaming nights, movie making and other things we have in store for the summer (StarCraft II).

Which, speaking of, should be an awesome day. I have taken it off work. I have about 39 bottles of Coors Light in the Garage and have from now until Friday free…

Yes, It will be good.

Upon further discussion he explained to me that Instapaper allowed you to save a webpage quickly and easily for offline (or later online) viewing. This all works in conjunction with an Instapaper account – all your saved pages are synchronized to it allowing you to read your webpages offline on your phone while on the move, or online on your PC or Laptop. So it took me a while but I have finally found the answer for Android based phones.

InstaFetch Lite & PRO.

Although not officially developed by Instapaper, InstaFetch syncs with your Instapaper account and allows you quick and easy access to any pages you had saved already (handy when you upgrade or reset your phone) as well as a context menu item for the android browser that allows you to quickly and easily save your currently active website. A brilliant application for those of us that don’t want to listen in class, meetings or just can’t be bothered with squinting at small text while on the move.

The Lite version is free and comes with standard features including text size changes, auto-sync, notifications and the ability to create an Instapaper account quickly from within the App. The PRO version builds on this solid foundation by adding full-screen reading (without the top android bar), Night-mode (white text, black background) and other features such as folders for cataloging cool pages you come across.

One slight issue I have with the free version is that once you have read an article it is automatically deleted, but the PRO subscription is $5 for a year, which the developer has said will probably be free in a years time. $5 really isn’t that much and would buy that developer a well earned coffee, pint or other beverage of choice.

So there you have it. InstaFetch Lite and PRO! Making life on the move that little bit easier and on Android too!

NOTE TO SELF: Fix the post’s not liking right aligned pictures and text-wrapping.

So exam revision finally tried to start today. I have been snowed under with coursework for the past 2 weeks and as a reward to myself I took yesterday off to chill for one last time before the 4-week slog to the end of my exams. I have 1 1/2 weeks to revise 3 subjects, those being Solid State Devices (Microelectronics to the rest of the world), Computer Communications (Networking models + protocols) and Computer Architecture and Organisation (How processors work). This works out as about 3 days per subject. Which isn’t great considering this is course content from 22hours of classes per subject.

So, I have decided to really try and use the next 4 weeks to change my lifestyle – mainly my waking up time. Generally I tend to go to sleep late and wake early (as can be seen from the time of this blog post). But I am really going to try and invert this a bit. What I would ideally strive to do is change my waking time to about 6.30and my sleeping time to about 12. This would allow me to wake up, have breakfast and get all my affairs set in order before leaving for university or work, or just having some extra time before that days activity. This is especially useful with summer approaching as it stops me sleeping until midday.

I also plan to try and use some of this extra time to blog more. It’s sad looking down this website and thinking that I just paid £127 for a domain that was so barely used over the last two years. As I was (pretty much) forced to renew I am really determined to use the space. The extra time will let me think of some interesting things to talk about, and hopefully over the summer I will blog in the morning rather than late at night. Variety is the spice of life so I plan to try and use it.

I have decided to follow some pretty handy advice I found here and hope it works out. Some determination is required but I think that I will be able to do it. I really am trying to change my life a bit, and I feel that now, before my final year hits, is the time to do it. Attitudes, lifestyles and habits need changing and its time I got off my ass and sorted it.