Sat-Nav on the iPhone . . .

Yep, it's big. Read the review of Tom-Tom on the iPhone (FIVE stars) and all its competition on other hand-held devices, in the Sunday Times, at

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article6805394.ece

If you have time, there's also the article on getting restaurant info, ATM locations, etc using GPS, and projecting it on a 'heads up' photo you've just taken of where you're going; read more at

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article6718216.ece

iLove my iPhone . . .

I got it on Thursday, and goodbye expensive Vodafone. iPhone is so intuitive, it's like a teeny computer with FREE unlimited internet 24-7, using all sorts of communications technology to give you seamless access to all sorts of stuff you might want. It's the same as having a laptop in your shirt pocket.

It's a 'too good to be true' story, and I've only had it three days . . . Stephen Fry wrote a piece in the Guardian about the launch of 3G-S, at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jun/19/stephen-fry-iphone-3gs-review

He talks the techno-talk for me . . . there's also scary 'Big-Brother' stuff on the link

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/images/set3/iphone_forensics_580x.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/cat_sms_used_as_evidence_in_court.htm&usg=__HnHtY4c1umopiGLMCGDhfYvMjdE=&h=387&w=580&sz=71&hl=en&start=39&sig2=GZIGdDxAc91_gi4e2r6H-g&um=1&tbnid=Zup_egSiY9Z_5M:&tbnh=89&tbnw=134&prev=/images%3Fq%3DiPhone%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20%26um%3D1&ei=DBKRSoaENYSnjAeux7DfDQ

I am getting used to using 42 new FREE apps from the iTunes store, and know there's another two or three hundred FREE ones just waiting to load on. Apps do stuff like convert areas and volumes, or go from Gregorian to Chinese calendar system, or make annoying noises, or give you ring-tones you couldn't imagine and sort your status on FaceBook (no, I didn't make that up, I've got it FREE from iTunes).

I found a FREE Google Earth for iPhone, and it is great twirling the phone to see horizon-encompassing landscapes of friends' and family's dwellings. British Columbia never looked so good, with the snow-capped peaks right in front of you . . .

There's Tom-Tom (cost £50, so I'll let that go for now). I do have free Google-Map. which is like a Sat-Nav, but doesn't talk to you. Must be good . . . My friends were more entranced by the compass app than by the super-duper video recording, but that's boys for you . . .

And I've got 75 albums on it. And 600 photos. Yes, and I can make telephone calls.

de Botton at London Heathrow Terminal FIVE

An absolutely fabulous article about what de Botton does as artist-in-residence at Heathrow. I read about it in the Manchester Guardian, and in the Sunday Times at

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6806507.ece

Gripping, visceral . . .

Leibovitz may lose all her photos . . .

I love her story, her enthusiasm, her career trajectory, and her images. Leibovitz is one of my culture heroes, and I followed what she did from when she worked for Rolling Stone . . . I went to her retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery here in London last year and, well she just couldn't be bigger or better.

BUT, she may be about to lose it all, including title to her life's work, if the media are to be believed. I read about her in the Sunday Times today, you can too at

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/celebrity/article6806363.ece

It all sounds like royalty gone mad, wild extravagence leading to ruin . . . there are some great one-liner quotes, and overall the tone of the article is well-researched . . . I'm sure there's more to follow, as it ends in September, with Leibovitz and the loan company in court . . .

Flip4Mac

HURRAH !! I can now watch all those dodgy *.wmv videos my friends send me . . . I can also listen to American and Canadian radio on the 'Net (it automatically slots them into iTunes, pretty cool huh !) and who knows what else. Yes, mine's a Mac, and you can 'fix' yours for receipt of the Windows information tide easily at

http://www.telestream.net/flip4mac-wmv/overview.htm

Some radio stations want you to load Silverlight, found at

http://silverlight.net/

You CAN pay, but I've got the FREE version . . .

Is there other software I don't know about, which will revolutionise my listening and viewing ?