Mark brought his paraglider up to the Lickeys last night, check out the photos here.

Si raises an interesting point about how the act of mobile data on mobile phones contradicts the current rich Web 2.0 ideals of having rich applications in a browser. Which caused me to do something I don’t often do, comment on someone else’s blog. So as to raise the points nicely, I’ll re-paste my comments:

But isn’t this more to do with data bandwidth and having the logic locally rather than keep downloading it? And with the Java standards you target that platform and have it work, rather than deal with the rubbish implementations of browsers on the different platforms….

As an addition, Java on mobiles seems to finally be doing what Java was meant to do, write once, deploy on lots of different platforms….

I want to comment on some of these points further. Web 2.0 is cool, with all the AJAX mechanisms going on, the DHTML etc, but it works well because it is mimicking a metaphor we are all familiar with: windows, keyboard and mouse navigation and interaction. You click on a label with your mouse, it changes and allows you to edit the text, you click save and the label is changed and the web server notified. This rocks. But not on mobile devices, because we fundamentally interact with them in a completely different fashion. When entering text, it isn’t in place – it is done in an separate screen – which means the whole AJAX thing wont quite work, which in turn leads to odd behaviour. The other problem is size of downloads, Web 2.0 usually comes with a price, the size of Javascript files that provide the programming libraries that make things work across the different browsers, and when you are charged at £3 a megabyte, each and every byte has to be important.

Now, assuming that the data issues weren’t an issue, we then move onto interaction with these sites. The state of the web browser on phones it poor at best. Ok, there is opera and the NetFront browser on my K800i isn’t too bad. But it isn’t an enjoyable experience. So, how do you get a good experience? Build your own custom front end that talks to the back end over a small GPRS or 3G link. You can optimise the data transfer but also effect things as you want, but the interaction according to the ideals of the mobile phone. With Java on phones have a decent standard and generally good implementation on most devices and can therefore you can target more phones that you would with WAP/HTML. I would go as far to say that the killer deployment engine for data driven desktop applications is the web browser, and the MDIP Java runtime is the killer deployment engine for data driven mobile applications. I am absolutely amazed at the SSH client I have found, the MSN client is very impressive, Google Maps Mobile is just amazing and the irc client is cool. I am even planning on getting the SDK so I can play myself. What is impressive is when you look at the list of devices and manufacturers that each of these applications support. As I said in one of my comments, Java, with all the stigma it has on the desktop, works well on these devices and you would be forgiven for thinking they where native applications. I for one am very impressed.

So Friday morning, a group of the Lickey Hill Flyers jumped into their vehicles full of gubbins and camping kit and drove to Shell Island with the sole aim of tearing up a beach on buggies and boards. Having arrived and got the camp setup [after about 2.5 - 3 hours of driving], we found out the first bad point of the island. The sand dunes. They were big, exceptionally soft and very long. Almost like a modern roll of toilet paper. The second bit that was really bad, no wind. So we spent some time on the beach and then gave up late afternoon. Came back BBQd and had a laugh although all of us slightly peeved at the lack of wind.

Saturday wasn’t much better. Much the same thing happened, except we went back again after leaving the first time because we thought the wind had picked up. The life of the wind chaser eh? So by this point we were all really cheesed off. It didn’t help matters that we were all dying from the heat and pulling this kit all over the dunes. In the evening things were fun when we got a fire going and messed about with stick with glowing ends and over exposing settings on our cameras. The weekend so far hadn’t too bad, it was just the dunes and the lack of wind that wound us up.

Sunday, however, was a different story. There was wind. Not just no wind, but great wind. Ads and Sariah knew of a place, about an hour drive away that was guaranteed to be better than Shell, even with wind. So Most of us packed down quickly, got in the cars and went on a road trip. All I can say is that blatting through the Welsh hills was awesome, even if there was, at one point, a serious chance of a pile up! We arrived at this secret location [don't want to broadcast it because as it turns out, we + 3 others were the only people on it], got the kite out, down to the beach and had the best time I have had in the last 3 years or so. It was the nuts. The wind, unlike inland wind, was clean and blowing nice and constant. It didn’t matter if you were dragged or pulled up in the air – you could trust it not to spank you left, right and center. The beach was 2 miles long, lovely and flat and about 200 metres wide.

Anyway, I had a go on my board and got moving but didn’t feel convinced that if I went too much further away from base camp I’d get back in enough time for me to have a really good time. So I borrowed a buggy and spent a fair amount of time racing up and down the beach at stupid speeds. The blade 4.9 kicks serious arse. It was pulling really nicely and when hooked in it felt really comfortable. I only had a couple of accidents where I got flipped out the buggy but getting back in was no chore All in all, I think I must have covered about 20 miles on the buggy It was also cool because when racing along you could see people pointing and looking. There were also people near-ish and had the kite been kept in the window, it’d have hit them, so it was fun flicking the kite over their head and swinging it back down and getting even more acceleration! Another time there were people cycling near the sea, so I came up, powered down, chatted to them, then said good bye, dropped the kite and accelerated away. There was also one or two points where I was getting too dangerous [and I was starting to shit myself] so it felt a good point to test the safety on my bar and harness – both excelled themselves which I was really pleased, although de-powering the kite still meant stopping the buggy which took about 70 metres of my heels dug in]. I need to find a cheap video camera to strap round my arm/neck to get some footage!

The afternoon was so much pissing fun it was unbelievable. I now need to lay my hands on a buggy. Damn they are good. I can’t wait for the next trip down there which should be in a couple of weekends time. Woo. I love this sport. It is, well, wow. In the evening some of us stopped off at a pub [well we stopped off at many but there where issues with all of them] for some grub and got back to Birmingham about 10pm ish. Where I tucked into some nice cold beers. All in all, the best weekend I have had in years and I look forward to plenty more

If you want to see all the photos have a look here.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar… and the coffee…

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles then rolled into the open areas between the golf balls He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with a infamous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things. Your family, your children, your faith, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions. Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter. Your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal unit.

Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

Y’know” said the Scotsman, “I still prefer the pubs back home. In Glasgow there’s a wonderful little bar called McTavish’s. The landlord there goes out of his way for the locals, so much that when you buy 4 drinks he’ll buy the 5th drink for you.”

“Well”, said the Englishman, “at my local, the Red Lion, the barman there will buy you your 3rd drink after you buy the first 2.”

“Ahhhhh, that’s nothing”, said the Irishman. “Back home in Dublin there’s Ryan’s Bar. – Now, the moment you set foot in the place they’ll buy you a drink, then another, all the drinks you like. Then, when you’ve had enough drinks they’ll take you upstairs and see that you get laid. All on the house”.

The Englishman and Scotsman immediately scorn the Irishman’s claims. But he swears every word is true.

“Well,” said the Englishman “did this actually happen to you?”

“Not me meself, personally, no,” said the Irishman … “… but it did happen to me sister.”

Thanks to Si for this joke.

In preparation for my trip to Shell Island, I popped out at lunch and picked up very sweet Ocean Rodeo harness, this should allow me more ride time without getting too tired. Next I need a cool box for my entire body to stop me melting. Woo.

So after months of deliberation, frustration and changing my mind, I have finally upgraded my mobile to the shiny new Sony Ericsson K800i. I have taken, and uploaded, some pictures from its 3.2 mega pixel camera. They are a mixed bag, some of the pub, some from kiting and some from where I was sat at my desk when it arrived. You can check them out here. The only thing the camera seems to suffer from is noise in low light conditions but I think that is because I need to have a play with the settings on it. I’ve also found a msn client which seems to work nicely as well as a irc client which is good. Combined with the inbuilt email, web and RSS client I wont be disconnected completely from the world. I’ve also found a ssh client which I shall also check out!

Coming soon: a comparison between my digital IXUS 3.2mp camera and my phone. I am sure the IXUS will take the better pictures but I am curious to see how they differ in their range of conditions.

Well, it was a great evening kiting. Did some proper jumps on my kite which was ace. It was more impressive considering that I had about an hours sleep and was working from 3am. I also managed to barter a brand new Flexifoil Extreme Bar for my kites about 1/4 of the price off. Bargain. I now just need to get myself a harness.

This weekend I think I am going to be flying over at Hydro and probably going to Shell Island for some beach kiting fun the weekend after It looks like the weekend after I will be heading south for a kiting/surfing weekend before I meet up with me mum and sister to go camping for a week. All in all some great times looming

So I knew that iTunes kept various metrics on music that you listen to, and people are curious what music you like. So I thought I’d combine the two ideas and show you the top 30 played tracks in my 2500 track strong iTunes library.

For me, what is interesting is that the large majority of the music is either Pirates of the Caribbean, The Rock or Gladiator soundtracks which have a very similar sound to them. There are a few pop songs there and the winner is a computer game theme tune which, once again, holds a very similar sound to the film sound tracks. There is some dance, some indie, an 80s classic ‘The Touch’, and some old school classical. Anyway, this is the music I like. Infact, I like a lot of music but these are the tracks I have listened to _a lot_.

I also thought I would do a couple of calculations. As a play list, the tracks last 2.1 hours, I have, on average listened to all these tracks 55 times each, which gives a total amount of time spent listening to these tracks at about 116 hours. For just these top 30 tracks.

I had assumed that I was alittle bit hardcore when it came to coding. For instance, I have my own programming language that is actually used and shit. But this comment in a channel has made me re-assess my opinion:

[12:29] The_Tick: I tend to stay up until my eyes burn
[12:29] The_Tick: and then it’s time to go to bed
[12:29] The_Tick: one time they bled when I had some awesome code though
[12:29] The_Tick: it was for sorting beers by size/flavor