Wifi not so reliable…

I am just back from a vacation to Scotland – took some of my buds over with me!! In preparation for this trip I kind of went on a tech gadget spending spree.  Shock  horror, yes I spent some of my hard earned dosh.

Picked up my Ipod Touch and a netbook and some headphones with the special built in microphone for the Touch. Then I signed up to Skype, iCall and FlightStatus.

All of this was designed to make it easy for me to stay in touch with UK and US people while I was in the UK. Needless to say, actual performance of this did not live up to expectations.

Not that it was the hardware that was a problem. Wasn’t even the software that caused me much in the way of issues. No, it was the darn wifi network connectivity that was dismal!

The hotel wanted to charge me $15  for 24 hour wifi access – or use the PC for free in the reception area – guess what I chose! So then I was like, no biggie, just got to find one of these wifi cafe places – like McDonald’s or Starbucks. Yes, they had them, but we were never going to them when I needed the access. Can’t very well drag my friends of to McDonald’s while I make a Skype call to book a restaurant for dinner!

Even at the airport which had signs posted all around about free public wifi – never once was I or anyone around me able to connect to it. Sometimes I could connect, but the response was so slow I would have used up my battery before I got my tweet out!

In Edinburgh I gave up and bought a pay as you go cellphone for $50. The cellphones there are so much more advanced than US ones – it even has an FM radio in it! Everyone texts over there, and I now understand why it is so popular – no PC and always connected!

The Skype account was actually quite good – I created an online number that was local to the UK so that anyone calling me in the UK can use a cheap call to get to me – even when I am in the US. It also lets you forward the call to another phone number – cell or land-line and then to voicemail.

Verizon gave me  global cell phone before I left, but even with the plan it would have cost 99c a minute – even to check voicemail. I was much to worried to use it often. Wouldn’t bother with this again.

The touch was still good – even without my precious internet access.  I downloaded an app before I left called Stanza which is like an ebook reader. They have a bunch of library books that are free – got a nice Agatha Christie one and then a new release book too. Invaluable when jet-lag kicks in at 3.30am!!!

So next time, I will take my new phone over to the UK and just get a new SIM card for it – sound all geeky now, but the lady in Carphone Warehouse set the phone all up for me – phew!!! Then I can text my buds and not feel like such an offline loser when I have to ask how to send an SMS….

I am just so Touched!

A few weeks ago I bought an Ipod Touch. It was one of those gadgets that had been sitting at the back of my mind, but not enough to make me run out and buy one. I don’t know what happened though…oh yes, I remember now. I am going for a vacation trip to Scotland and won’t be staying with my Mum. How is one to stay connected on the web if you have no PC with you?

I didn’t want to bring a laptop – too much hassle. So I was looking for alternative. Just needed something that would let me surf basically. I looked into a blackberry, but I was dubious about the whole cell phone data transfer costs.

Into my radar pops the Touch – uses wifi so no cell phone contract and it looks cool and is cheaper than a laptop. Who could ask for more? Course, I had to have one right there and then – instant gratification and all that!

Oh, how it changed my life…well maybe not quite that extreme, but I do love it. Amazing how many places have wifi available now. I downloaded some free apps that let me do quick currency conversions, bank account checking, free voip calls, airline checking options, weather and time for specific locations, Google maps and toilet finder based on location and of course games.

I’m not a big gamer – but I am addicted to Solitaire again. It also changed my TV viewing habits. I can surf while I watch TV on the couch. /never realized how distracting Twitter could be when watching CSI!!! I now find that every 10 mins I have to check if I have new email of tweets. I check the news before I go to sleep at night. Ahhh, portable web surfing in the palm of your hand – I LOVE it!

And there are so many cool FREE apps that let you play. I have one that lets you make your own bobble heads out of any picture you have loaded. Another one lets you tap a drum set along with any music you are playing. Stupid little things, but fun to amuse friends with.

I got the 8gb version and I still have a load of space left. Probably if I was really into the games I would be better of with a bigger version. For now though, this little gadget suits me just fine.

Scrabble

So I played Scrabble for the first time in years with my Mum the other day – she has been ill so I have been back in Scotland helping her recover. For all that she has been ill, she managed to beat me in both games!

Got me wondering though, does Scrabble in the US have more z’s in it than the UK version since there are more words that use a z where we (proper English types) use s’s?

Prioritise – prioritize!

Now I can’t think of anymore, but I know there are quite a few.

Amazing how your mind can go a complete blank when faced with trying to think of a word with a J in it somewhere! Course, my Mum used to be a nurse so she had all these words that I felt were a little dubious. We actually had to dig out the dictionary because I wasn’t convinced. She was right though!