A Welsh View

Nokia E90 Review

For the past couple of weeks I have been getting used to my new gadget - the Nokia E90 Communicator. I had wanted one for quite a few months and even though my Nokia E61i did pretty much everything I want from a phone, the E90 was just too desirable (and had quite a few extra features not present in the E61i).

Rather than giving you a rundown of all the features here is my list of pros and cons.

Pros

# Large screen capable of displaying most pages without horizontal scrolling.
# Plenty of memory that allows you to run many applications at the same time without them crashing. My Nokia E61i did do a fairly good job at running many applications concurrently, especially compared with the Nokia N80, but the E90 can easily run 6-10 with ease.
# A usable keyboard.
# The smaller outside screen is great for quick access to the phone plus it's 240x320 resolution means that I am able to play a lot more games than I was able to on the E61i.
# Excellent 3.2mp camera that takes pictures that are on a par with those taken with an N73 or N93i and the 30fps videos it takes are of cracking quality (see here).
# GPS. Using GPS with Google Maps on the widescreen is really useful and doesn't take too long to kick in. Users of the N95 complained about it taking an age to lock on to satellites (I think this has been improved in the N95 8GB) but the E90 takes around 3-5mins to start pinpointing your location. This is around the same time that my bluetooth GPS receiver took whilst connected to the E61i.
# I like how the Symbian OS makes use of the extra screen real estate in some of its apps (e.g. Messaging, music player and gallery).
# The ability to seamlessly switch between the inside and outside screens.

Cons

# GPS could be faster (this has already been addressed in a firmware update).
# No email/SMS indication light like on the E61i.
# Form factor - phone is way too big for most people. (not an issue for me)
# Weight - phone is too heavy for most people. (not an issue for me)
# Despite oodles of memory, you still get 'Out of Memory' errors on apps like Messaging. This appears to be an S60 problem as I've experienced it on my N80 and E61i.

Together with my Nokia N800, I have a set of devices that will allow me to do pretty much anything anywhere. I'm looking forward to taking them with me to London to see how much 'regular' blogging I can do.

FedEx Owns UPS

I wonder if there are DHL vans inside those UPS trucks?

Video: Transformers Halloween Costume

America's Craziest Laws

A giant list of crazy American laws. I wonder how many of these actually exist. [via]

Video: The World's Smallest Production Car

Top Gear test drives the world's smallest production car. It's so small you can even drive it around the office!

Anyone Want To Meet In London?

I'm heading to London in November to do some sightseeing (museums, landmarks, historic pubs, etc.) and photography. Does anyone want to meet up? I'll be there from the morning of Thursday 22nd November until the evening of Saturday 24th November. Drop me an email if you're up for it.

Video: C-130 Hercules Lands On Aircraft Carrier

Read more about this historic landing.

Sex Ban On The A380

The AirbusA380 may have the world’s first airborne double bed, but it won’t be put to the obvious use if Singapore Airlines has its way: “If couples used our double beds to engage in inappropriate activity, we would politely ask them to desist,” said the company’s Stephen Forshaw. “There are things that are acceptable on an aircraft and things that aren’t, and the rules for behaviour in our double beds are the same ones that apply throughout the aircraft.”

Pictured are Tony and Julie Elwood from Perth, Australia had booked the first A380 double suite but had no chance to break the rules as they were constantly by journalists knocking on their door. Link

Money Pubs: Home of the World's Most Expensive Wallpaper

American pubs covered in money - lots of money. These places are great for when you are in need of a few bucks for a beer.

'Halloween Zombie' Mistaken For Murder Victim

Passengers on a German train mistook a Halloween reveler dressed up as a gore-covered zombie for a murder victim and called the police.

The 24-year-old man was on his way home from a Halloween party when he fell into a drunken slumber. Believing his hands and face were smeared with blood, passengers alerted police after getting no response from him.

Police and paramedics quickly cleared up the confusion and after making the man remove his make-up sent him on his way. Link

10 Wacky Concept Cars

10 wacky concept cars that you'll probably never see on the road.

Giant Grouper to Feed 500 People

A giant 2.08m grouper weighing 371kg has been sold to a restaurant for $6,700. They estimate the fish will be able to feed 500 people. Link

3.629KM 'Condom'

People tie 30,000 condoms to form a 3.269-kilometers line during an anti-AIDS event in Bucharest, capital of Romania, Oct. 28, 2007. More photos here. [via]

Museum Displays 116-Year-Old Orange

A dried-up orange from the lunchbox of a miner fatally injured on the day he was due to eat it has gone on display in a Staffordshire museum.

The fruit belonged to Joseph Roberts who was injured in an explosion at a Stoke-on-Trent colliery in 1891.

It had been kept by his family but has been donated to the Potteries Museum.

Spokeswoman Deb Klemperer said it may just be a piece of dried fruit but the story behind it made it an amazing piece for the museum.

The orange is completely blackened and dried out - the pips can be heard rattling when it is shaken. Link

Tiny Bird

Even though it probably died shortly after, it's still very cute. [via]

Serial Jailbreaker Escapes For Fourth Time

Michael Schofield would be proud of this prisoner. The self-styled "escape king", Nordin Benallal, has escaped from Belgian prisons no fewer than four times.

His methods of escape so far have been running from a prison van, walking out of jail wearing a wig and sunglasses, scaling the prison wall with a rope ladder and for his fourth, and most audacious escape, his armed accomplices landed in the prison grounds in a hijacked helicopter.

The helicopter crashed on landing but Benallal and his cohorts briefly seized two prison warders as hostages and fled in a car parked nearby.

The World's Fattest Baby

At 7.75 kg (17.1 lb) at birth, Nadia Khalina may have taken the title of the world's heaviest baby. Since birth Nadia has lost some weight but doctors say she could have heart problems.

The heaviest baby ever born weighed 10.8 kg in the United States in 1879 but it died within 11 days. The latest edition of the Guinness Book of Records notes a Brazilian baby born this year weighed 7.57 kg. Nadia was heavier. Link (w/ photos)

Scientists Find 405 Year Old Living Clam

Scientists have found a clam off the coast of island that may well be the world's oldest creature. The ocean quahog clam was dredged up off the coast of Iceland and using the rings on its shell researchers claim it is 405-years-old.

Named Ming, after the Ming Dynasty which ruled China when it was young, the clam is so old that during its youth Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne and Shakespeare was penning his famous works.

Professor Chris Richardson, from Bangor University's School of Ocean Sciences explained that the rings on the clam's shell provide researchers with information about growth conditions year-by-year, and so provide a record of the environmental changes during the animal's life.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest-lived animal was a clam found in 1982 aged 220. Unofficially, another clam - found in an Icelandic museum - was discovered to be 374-years-old, making Ming 31 years older. Link

25 Most Endangered Primate Species Could "Fit Into Single Football Stadium"

According to research by an environmental group, the 25 most endangered primate species could "fit into a single football stadium".

"You could fit all the surviving members of these 25 species in a single football stadium - that's how few of them remain on earth today," said Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservational International's Primate Specialist Group.

[via]

Halloween Photography Tips

Tips on taking great photographs this Halloween.

Artist Creates 5ft Junk Mail Tower

An artist has constructed a 5ft tower using junk mail that she has received since January 1st.

Anne Cohen has been placing all the junk mail delivered to her by hand - but not by postal service - on a metal spike outside her front door.

"I'm using art as a tool to start a debate. I just want to show things up and people can come to their own conclusions."

She will continue adding to the pile until the end of the year. Link [via]

Paris Hilton's Halloween Costume

Paris Hilton could have made more of an effort when she attended a Halloween party in Bel Air on the weekend. She's not going to win any prizes for wearing her Friday night outfit.

Giant Blu-Tack Spider

Artist Elizabeth Thompson has created a giant 200kg sculpture of a spider using just Blu-Tack. It took 4000 packs and is currently on display at London Zoo.

Deleted Images

DeletedImages.com brings unsharp, moved, blurry and unfocused pictures back to life. I've got a few thousand images that I could add to the site.

Man Placed On Sex Offenders Register For Sex With Bike

The Telegraph has reported about a man who has been placed on the sex offender's register after being caught trying to have sex with a bicycle.

"The accused was holding the bike and moving his hips back and forth as if to simulate sex."

He's not the first person to be convicted of having sex with an unusual object. Karl Watkins, an electrician, was jailed for having sex with pavements in 1993. [via]

Jennifer Ellison Rollerblading

Jennifer Ellison must crave the attention of the paparazzi. Here she is rollerblading down a street in a skimpy bikini top and there are no end of pics of her flaunting her bristols on the beach as if she's on a magazine shoot. (e.g. #, # and #)

Game: Sliding Puzzle

I quickly lost patience with this sliding puzzle game. Press the three grey buttons to change the puzzle's layout. [via]

Kraft Cheese Slice Halloween Costume

A candidate for the best Halloween costume ever? [via]

Update: This YouTube costume is pretty original and has some room for people to add their comments.

Update 2: Scrap those two costumes, these iPhone costumes with working LCD screen beat those hands down.

Update 3: Forbes has some printable masks of celebrities and presidential candidates. [via]

Installing Mac OS X Leopard On A 'Hackintosh'

This guide on how to install the latest version of Mac OS X on a PC is way over my head but someone may find it useful.

12 Products From Hell

12 'products from hell'. Well 10. There's nothing wrong with Mr Brain's Faggots and Spotted Dick.

Video: Two Drunks Try To Master The Art Of Standing

[via]

Naked Streaker Turns On Cops

This is one photo that will be doing the rounds at this coppers local nick.

The police had been called after several reports of a naked man jogging in a field. The police tried to apprehend the naturist but as police bore down on him, he suddenly turned and shouted at them. The officer closest to him took fright and sprinted in the opposite direction. It took another 15 minutes before he was finally brought under control and arrested. Link (w/ photos)

Houses With A View

Photos of houses with truly stunning views.

Lorry Crash

The driver of this crane was lucky to escape unhurt when the vehicle crashed through a bridge wall. The BBC has more photos.

Pets And Owners 'Become More Alike Over Time'

A psychologist has claimed that over time pet and their owners get more alike.

Prof Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, asked almost 2,500 people to complete online questionnaires about their characters and those of their pets.

He found that many dog lovers, cat owners and even reptile keepers said they shared many of the same traits — such as happiness, intelligence, independence and sense of humour — as their pets.

But he also discovered that the longer an animal had been with their owner, the more likely they were to have picked up their characteristics.

Prof Wiseman said: "For years owners have insisted their pets have a unique personality.

"Not only does this work suggest they might be right, it also reveals people's pets are a reflection of themselves."

Link

Interview With The Gorilla From The Dairy Milk Advert

The Sun has an interview with Garon Michael, a 'professional gorilla impersonator', who played the gorilla in the well-known Cadbury Dairy Milk advert.

Dozens Of Rescuers Called In To Move 35 Stone Woman

Dozens of firemen and Red Cross workers took part in an operation to transport a woman weighing 35 stones from her home in Colombia's northern city of Cucuta to a local hospital.

The rescuers were forced to knock down two walls and one door, using saws and drills, to get 70-year-old Clementina Rios out of her home, in an operation that took over four hours to complete.

The Daily Mail has more (embarrassing for the woman) photos of her being lifted using a crane.

Man Refuses To Shave Beard Until Metallica Releases New Album

This guy is refusing to shave his beard until Metallica releases a new album. So far he's gone 14 months without shaving. [via]

The Best Place To View The Golden Gate Bridge?

Video: Man Impaled Through the Face by a Fence

I won't put a thumbnail of this crazy video here just in case you don't want to see it. The video shows a man who has been impaled through the face with a fence pole and it looks like he survived it. Not sure how he managed to do it though.

Russian Apartment Daubed In Writing

According to EnglishRussia, the owner of this house in Kharkoz, Ukraine was obsessed with an idea which he tried to express in writing on any flat surface he met. The house would look great in a movie. There are more photos here.

Man Makes Giant Hairball

Barber Henry Coffer has been collecting hair for most of the 50 years that he has been cutting hair. He started collecting hair for a customer who spread it around his watermelon patch to keep coyotes out. Henry kept saving the hair cuttings even after the farmer stopped raising melons.

His hairball now weighs around 167 pounds (75.7kg) and he has submitted it to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Spluch has a news video of the hairball.

Small Fish Takes Big Bite

This fish caught off the coast of Grand Cayman appears to have bitten off more than he can chew. The Great Swallower tried to eat a Snake Mackerel that was four times its size and died in the process.

The Great Swallower was just 7.5 inches in length. The fish it had eaten, an extremely aggressive snake mackerel, measured 34 inches, which is close to three feet in length. Read more.

Prison Break: Cherry Hill

Fox is developing a spin-off series of Prison Break, which would be set in a women's prison.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the series is tentatively titled 'Prison Break: Cherry Hill' and would focus on Molly, a character who will be introduced later in the new series of 'Prison Break'.

Molly is an upper-middle-class wife whose family is destroyed by The Company and who travels to the Panamanian prison where Michael (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) are held in her quest for revenge.
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'Cherry Hill' would find Molly serving life in a women's prison for her acts of vengeance.

She has accepted her fate until she discovers that some of her family may be alive.

If the new series doesn't get the green light, Molly will continue as a regular character on 'Prison Break'.

Link

Video: Timelapse Video Of A House Being Moved

A timelapse video showing a 19th century house being moved in Brown University. Read more about the house. [via]

'Oldest' Elephant A Grouchy Old Woman

This elephant may be the oldest in the world and according to its carers, she's a real grumpy old woman.

She's got no teeth, dotes on youngsters but gets grouchy when her arthritis flares up.

'She is just like a pensioner,' says Sanjeev Gupta of the Panna Tiger Reserve in India, where Vatsala lives.

'She is kind with the calves but is the first to give them a ticking off when they over-step the mark.'

The gentle giant came to the Madhya Pradesh sanctuary in 1971. She had already lost her teeth by then – meaning she was at least 50.

Her carers want to prove she is older than an 86-year-old elephant which holds the world record. Vatsala lives out her retirement being pampered, eating chopped grass and bamboo.

Link

720,000 Hungry Ladybugs Land In Manhattan

720,000 ladybugs have been purposely released in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in New York City Their mission: to annihilate pests destroying the complex's extensive greenery.

The ladybugs are part of an effort by the complex’s new owners, Tishman Speyer, to move away from using chemical insecticides to protect the plants and grass that cover 40 acres there.

Seven hundred and twenty thousand may sound like a lot of ladybugs, but Tishman Speyer officials said they were assured by Planet Natural, the supplier, that it was the appropriate number. Spreading 720,000 ladybugs over 40 acres gives each ladybug an 19-by-19-inch square of turf, which seems like enough space to stretch six little legs.

But will the bugs have enough to eat? Figures supplied by Tishman Speyer claim that a ladybug can eat 50 aphids in a day. So in the course of a season, 720,000 ladybugs could consume 4.6 billion aphids. That’s a lot of aphids.

Link

Innocence

[via]

Google's PageRank Update Affects Many Large Sites

A major Google page rank update has lowered the PageRanks of some very large websites including Engadget, The Washington Times and Forbes.com.

It's speculated that the sites, some of which have dropped from a PR of 7 to 4, may have been penalised for selling text link ads.

My PageRank of 6 remains unaffected and now I rank higher than Engadget. Does this mean that Google PageRank is dead? Robert Scoble thinks so.

Mariah Carey Having Her Moustache Waxed

Divas aren't supposed to do that!