iWant an iPhone

Yes I admit it I'm a gadget lover (among other things), and like many I can't wait to get my grubby little paws on the new Apple iPhone. An mp3 player that doubles as a phone instead of the other way round, how novel is that!.

I use to be a huge Nokia fan, but they so totally lost the plot. Instead of making continuous improvements in their models and creating a phone that everyone would want to have, new phone upon new phone was released, many of them flawed in my opinion, in an attempt to saturate the market and cater to every possible taste. I got so pissed off with Nokia that I dumped my N80 and moved on, and I'm not looking back either!.

In fact Nokia Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo reportly told analysts that he doesn't think Nokia, the world's No. 1 handset maker, needs to change its business approach because of the iPhone. The word moran springs instantly to mind.

Anyway, back to the iPhone. It combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers.

And if the iPhone has got your juices flowing, then just as sexy and just as sleek, is this little number from the partnership of LG and Prada which is already being referred to as an iPhone Rival. Lighther than the iPhone and with just as many features including an auto focus 2 Mega Pixel camera and touch screen technology this phone is set to turn a few heads .... and its Prada darlings!

Now everyone go .... aaaaahhhhhhhh, and wipe the drool from your chin. Oh, and if anyone out there in cyberland wants to get into my pants .... now you know the price .... one of the above would do nicely, thank you very much!.

Singapore Bans Madonna

It has just been announced that Singapore has banned the Madonna Confessions Tour DVD, specifically because of the cruxification scene. Apart from imposing their Christian values on society it appears that the censorship board cannot distinguish between religion and art, although I'm sure not many Singaporeans will be staggered by that revelation.

Even staunch Christian strongholds like Ireland haven't gone to this extreme so you have to wonder what message the censorship board is trying to get across, or indeed if this is simply bias on behalf of some Christian members within the censorship board itself.

I’d love to know who makes the decisions and on what basis, after all there seems to be no end of bums and tits on display on all the top shelves across the island.

Madonna, it appears that you may need to have a Janet Jackson moment!

The Disappearing Taxi

Getting a taxi in Singapore use to be easier despite the fact that there is now some 20,000+ taxi's on the streets. The problem is that when it rains (which it's apt to do now and again) they all seem to magically dissolve and disappear. And lets not talk about between the hours of 11pm and 12am when they seem to turn completely invisible or just totally ignore you while they wait for the midnight charge to kick in. Yes, you can be sure that When you need a taxi most in Singapore there's never one around.

The cost of taxi's has spiraled out of control as well. For example if you call a taxi in the morning that’s $4 extra, plus $1 CBD charge, plus $1 peak period charge, plus ERP $2 plus a minimum $2.40 before you even go anywhere. So before you've even started your journey the cost is $10+, totally crazy pricing!.

Of course many taxi drivers bemoan the fact that its hard to make a living driving a taxi in Singapore, after all the sun does shine more often than not (incidentally from the $10 above approximately $7.30 of that goes to the taxi driver). Which if you think about it probably explains why they sometimes pick and choose their passengers. Although why they all seem to change shifts at 5pm when people are just starting to finish work is totally beyond me.

And lets face it with pricing as it is the cab companies are not exactly encouraging people to make use of their services. That could be why fewer people want to drive taxi's and why certain cab companies have a surplus gathering rust.

On the plus side the public transport system in Singapore is excellent and getting better, so its only a matter of time before taxi's disappear altogether.