I’ve finally relented to self-induced peer pressure and bought myself a smartphone. I researched long and hard for the best phone and the best deal. I couldn’t afford an iPhone so I chose the Nokia E71 instead.

A note for the Phones4u salesmen/women/robot, don’t offer me a completely different phone when negotiating a deal. Although top marks for listening to the convoluted explanation of my requirements.

I’m trying to write the blog post from the phone itself on a fast, tilting train without the safety of the Firefox spell checker.

Some thoughts:

• The phone has a pleasing form factor. The keyboard is easy to use. The side buttons are useless.
• Mobile Facebook is as addictive as it sounds.
• The organisational satisfaction of synchronising contacts and calendar to the cloud.
• I’m now a social networking demon. Although it feels like I’ve sold out to someone.
• I don’t have to carry around a bible anymore.
• Could this be the end of my Moleskin diary?
• It’s like an iPhone, but less cool and more geeky. Perfect.

I’ve been spending a hard earned week’s holiday back in Liverpool. I’ve rediscovered the art of being bored out of my brain, over-sleeping and late-night Rocky movies. Bliss.

I was shocked to discover that there had been a Chinese Triad knife fight at one of my favourite Chinese retaurants – Chilli Chilli.

Chilli Chilli Restaurant

It’s made national and international news. Some links:

• The Sun
• The Daily Star
• Liverpool Echo – The original article in the Saturday Echo included an (impressive) misspelling of the proprietor’s name.
• Liverpool Daily Post
• Liverpool Click

The police wanted to shut down the restaurant. But that’s an irrational reaction.

• Statistically speaking, the triads aren’t likely to do the same thing twice. The restaurant is now safer than ever.
• A bouncer has been hired.
• The restaurant still offers the most authentic SiChuan food in the North-West.
• I’ll continue to go there and continue to invite my friends. I think I might be eating by myself.

I spend close to 8 hours a day in front of a computer. 4 of those hours are in front of Excel spreadsheets. This is what my world looks like. This is my ideal desktop setup.

1. Black desktop – Utilitarian, plain, simple and no distractions. The main reason for this is that Windows loads up 2 seconds faster. This saves 32.4 minutes over an average lifetime. Staring at such a boring and demoralising desktop takes 32.4 hours off your life expectancy.
2. No crap on the desktop – Utilitarian, plain, simple. Desktop crap is distracting and unproductive. I keep a "current" folder off the desktop for that purpose.
3. Lots of quicklaunch icons – One-click access to the 16 most-used programs/folders. That includes one-click shutdown. The seconds seem trivial, but it is also easier and less frustrating.
4. The sidebar – The most striking feature of my desktop setup. When I’m working, I usually have 20+ windows open. I need to see them all at once. With a sidebar, I can see all the windows and select them easily. Also, there is plenty of horizontal space on today’s widescreen monitors, vertical space is at a premium*.

*Thanks to Andy Liu for this insight

I’m off to find a new hobby so I can write about something else.