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And right on cue…

...Twitter breaks down.

Let’s hope some of that $20m investment they’ve just had is used to buy some hardware.

Christopher Doidge : 11 Feb 2009 10:22 |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Only the dotty buy into new technology

I bought a new phone on Monday. I didn’t have much choice. Sunday had seen me take it out in the rain shower to end all rain showers, and despite wearing a waterproof coat and, you know, trousers, it’s dead.

I went first to Argos. I hadn’t taken leave of my senses, but this was the geographically closest shop that sells mobile phones. They were, predictably, overpriced. There was also no chance of negotiating – buying a mobile is a lot like buying a car. Don’t pay the sticker price, or you’re a mug.

Then I tried the Orange shop, which helpfully seems to have a policy of not displaying its prices ANYWHERE. Not next to the phone, not on a poster, not even in the catalogue. As much as I love to strike up a conversation with a twenty-year-old man with a bit too much facial grease, I moved on.

I went next to O2, which happens to be the network I’m on. Here there are still prices on display (what an old-fashioned idea). I was courted by a very good salesman (i.e. he didn’t get told to bugger off like normal) and soon I was under his spell.

There’s just one thing… I had no intention of going on a contract. I didn’t want a Blackberry. I don’t need an iPhone, nor am I stupid enough to pay several hundred pounds a year for something that costs £80 to make.

No, instead I spent the grand total of £4.

Yes, there was a half-hour period where I thought “What have I done”? That quickly subsided. Not only was this a financially miniscule gamble, but the Nokia 2630 (right) is, for £4, an absolute miracle.

First, I should explain how I came to pay £4. You see, the phone costs £30 on Pay as you Go. But thanks to my loving relationship with O2, I got a £26 discount on any phone I wanted. Naively, the shop assistant was hoping this might help trim a little bit of money off a Nokia N96. No, not so stupid. I bought the cheapest phone they had.

And yet… it still does everything! More, in fact, than the £120 phone I destroyed while doing a raindance.

I can check my e-mails on it by pressing one button! It doesn’t push my e-mail like a Blackberry does, but I can get it to check it every 5 minutes if I’m feeling especially lonely. Two buttons gets me to Twitter or Facebook applications. I can read blogs through Google Reader too.

It has an FM Radio which the dearly departed phone couldn’t even manage.

True, it doesn’t have an MP3 player. I, on the other hand, do. I actually saw someone with one of those Nokia Xpress Music phones the other day. She was texting with it while listening to her iPod. There’s a lot of wasted electronics going on there.

What I’m saying is, while I love new stuff, a) do I need it? and b) is it worth paying 5000% more for?

When I eventually ruin this phone, I’ll shed a brief tear for the £4 it cost me. And then go and buy another one. For roughly the same amount. Give it a year and that £4 phone will probably levitate.

Christopher Doidge : 13 Nov 2008 15:15 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

United find a replacement for van Nistelrooy

Wayne Rooney just didn’t cut it. Cristiano Ronaldo was never in with a chance. Darren Fletcher was a close call. And Alan Smith was trying too hard.

But finally, Man United have filled the gap left by Ruud van Nistelrooy for United’s Ugly Forward. Yep, Carlos Tevez has big shoes to fill.

Christopher Doidge : 09 Jul 2007 15:07 |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Doidge and Snoddy – two peas, same pod

Make cuts to BBC News, or scrap BBC Three? I’m not alone in preferring the latter:

So-called ‘linear’ channels aren’t the way of getting 18-30 year olds interested in the BBC. I speak from experience here. We’re far more likely to watch something on YouTube or through the BBC’s forthcoming iPlayer. I’m not saying that BBC Three’s programmes should be scrapped. Just that the genuinely original ones should be broadcast somewhere else. BBC Three’s content often isn’t that original (there must be more repeats than on any other BBC channel), and the original programming could return to BBC One and Two, where it used to belong. Or be a web-exclusive, promoted on TV.

How about saving money by making BBC Three a largely interactive broadband service? It is after all aimed at the young. Hit shows could still get a broadcast slot. Space could then be made for a repeats channel for those with neither laptop nor iPod.

Christopher Doidge : 11 Jun 2007 17:53 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Good news, bad news

Good news…

Ahhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha… Shut your face and get back in jail.

Bad news…

O2 are putting up their phone call prices. Tossers.

Christopher Doidge : 09 Jun 2007 10:12 |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

What's he up to?

Writing about web page http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6629877.stm

John Reid will stand down as Home Secretary within weeks and return to the backbenches.

Umm… Why?

Christopher Doidge : 06 May 2007 12:37 |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Blair's final snub to the Commons

Last week, Margaret Thatcher was given the rare honour of having a statue placed in the Members Lobby of the House of Commons. It was an even rarer event as she’s still alive.

It seems unlikely Tony Blair will ever follow her.

While she was recognised as one of the greatest parliamentarians of the century, Blair has begun to indicate (according to the News of the World) that he’ll leave his Sedgefield constituency this year, causing a by-election.

It’s proof – if it were needed – that he has little time for parliamentary democracy. He’ll always prefer ‘sofa politics’ to the green benches.

Christopher Doidge : 26 Feb 2007 21:09 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

University Challenge

Bloody hell, I didn’t think University Challenge could have you on the edge of your seat, shouting at the television. Well done to the four in Paxman’s firing line.

Christopher Doidge : 26 Feb 2007 20:38 |  Comments (7) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Oddities

I’m not sure which of my experiences this evening was weirdest. They happened within about two minutes of each other.

Was it:
a) the chav in front of me in Tesco who was filling his jacket pockets with Lemsip Max Strength, then pegging it out the door, or
b) the pile of carcasses blocking the end of my road

Incidentally, what sort of street value is there for Lemsip Max Strength?

Christopher Doidge : 16 Feb 2007 20:01 |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The view from my window, 7.48am

Christopher Doidge : 08 Feb 2007 07:48 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

In Brief…

• Just seen Flags of our Fathers by Clint Eastwood. Pretty good film, with a great performance by Adam Beach as Ira Hayes. Film should have had him as the central character and suffered because it didn’t.
• I’m up in Blackpool. The weather is atrocious. The forecasts have been telling us it’s been blowing a gale, and it hasn’t been… until now. Anyone going out in this must be mad.
• Why are menswear shops determined to make all men look gay? I’m sick of stripy, skinny sweaters with lapels on the shoulders. I’m not a sailor, and don’t want to look like one.
• Two course meal planned for tonight. They don’t match. Smoked salmon starter. Fajitas main course.
• That Saddam bloke got hung. Turns out original video made it look much more peaceful than it was. Hanging was clearly timed for American audience. Only tried for a tiny % of his crimes. Iraq still dominated by killings. Happy New Year, things can only get better… surely?
• Jools Holland… what an annoying little man.

Christopher Doidge : 31 Dec 2006 18:09 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Websites

Tetbury Online

Tetbury Online is a local community website that I created in 2000. It’s had a few reincarnations since then, and in its current one is finally making a bit of money. It’s got an enormous Business Directory with over 300 local businesses listed. And there’s some shiny new desktop backgrounds to be downloaded. Tetbury Online gets a few thousand hits a month.

Tetbury Badminton

A small web presence for the local badminton club. I designed the site about five years ago and it’s now updated by the club themselves. Content includes league tables, results and fixtures. It gets a handful of hits every day.

Radio Warwick

I did the graphic design for RaW’s new website in 2006. It went through about 20 drafts before the final effort was agreed on – my advice is don’t design a website by committee! The implementation was done by Simon Pain. I did a similar job for some of RaW’s behind-the-scenes software including the award-winning Digiplay.

JM Forss Opticians

A simple website design for Malmesbury-based JM Forss Opticians. I created this about three years ago and it’s now maintained by the business themselves.

Christopher Doidge : 28 Dec 2006 10:01 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

About Chris Doidge

I’m Chris Doidge and I’m a journalist based in the East Midlands.

I was born in Bedfordshire, and since then have lived all over the place.

I first got into politics on May 1st 1997, when I was on a school trip. I listened to the radio all night and let people know what was happening. Not surprisingly – as this was in Year 7 – I was the only person interested in a landslide general election. Since then I’ve absorbed a huge amount of utterly useless information, and this blog became the receptacle for much of it.

I’ve been blogging since October 2004. In my first entry, I wrote: “I have no idea why anyone would want to read this”. Tens of thousands of people have since ignored my advice.

I’ve interviewed many British politicians and been featured by The Guardian, The Times, the London Evening Standard and the French newspaper Le Monde. In 2006 I contributed to a book on Labour Scandals. A second edition was released in 2007.

In my spare time, I maintain Tetbury Online – a local community website based in the Cotswolds. Despite being far more interesting, it gets far fewer hits than this blog. I’ve also created other websites for small businesses and organisations.

My favourite band is The Divine Comedy, my favourite book is Atonement by Ian McEwan, and my favourite films are Shooting Fish and Sideways. I’m a big fan of 24, Lost and the best TV show ever made, The West Wing.

My heroes are Gavin Hewitt, Matt Frei, Jon Sopel and Andrew Marr. Oh, and Jack Bauer.

Christopher Doidge : 27 Dec 2006 22:32 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Cost of democracy? £24,000,000

The government wants to change the rules about Freedom of Information because the current system is too expensive.

How expensive is “too expensive”? £24m per year.

Sounds like a bargain to me.

Wisely, many are suspecting that it’s not about cutting costs but is more about trying to cut down on the amount of information that is being ‘set free’.

FoI requests are denied if they cost more than £600 to process, but Lord Falconer, who is in charge of Constitutional Affairs, wants to include more things within this cost calculation, thereby making more claims ‘too expensive’ to process.

This is really bad news and a number of MPs seem to agree.

Organisations like the BBC could actually be given a set limit on the number of FoI requests they make each year. If that doesn’t sound like creeping Stalinism then I don’t know what does.

The government’s never liked the Freedom of Information laws it introduced. It watered them down once they got into government, and has been doing their best to make them ineffective ever since.

This time it might just succeed in its wish.

Christopher Doidge : 17 Oct 2006 13:16 |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Sorry, you should have watched this instead…

Follow-up to Don't watch that, watch this! from Chris Doidge's Blog

I made a grave error a few weeks ago by saying that Annually Retentive was the funniest comedy of the year.

I'm sorry.

For we seem to have a new contender in the form of Armando Iannucci's Time Trumpet, a series devoted to nostalgic television. The twist being that it's nostalgic about TV from 2007–2025.

Check out the preview clips here and you can see the first full episode on August 3rd on BBC Two.

P.S. The website's got a bit of a nod to internet geeks – the source code says the following:

And the tagline seems to be: "Do you remember petrol? The 2012 Olympic hoax?"

Looks good.

Christopher Doidge : 26 Jul 2006 22:20 |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem