Before I start, when I say huge success. What I mean is that it won’t sell an anywhere near the similar numbers of the iPhone and iPod.

It does look really nice as you would expect with an Apple product and the pricing is not too bad (in a way).

However, I don’t really know who the iPad is aimed for. If your into gadgets you were no doubt want one but I personally was expecting something as an in-between ipod touch and a macbook. However, to me its just a big ipod touch with 3G (or a big iPhone with the phone).

The 2 main things I think is missing is multi-tasking and Flash. You could get away without both of these on a iPhone but not on a large screen where potentially large sections of a web site are not visible. I know the future looks like the transition to  HTML5 and CSS3 but this could take awhile to happen. Also, without multi-tasking you wont be able to have email client open, the same time as Word processor or IM software. Once again, I think this was OK on a phone but not on a larger device like the iPad. Potentially they can fix this in the next major software update but why not now??

Other less major things I think wont work is the virtual keyboard. I just don’t think it will work and can’t see people typing on it for that long or fast. There is the keyboard dock you can plug in but this is only in portrait orientation.

Its not widescreen so not ideal if watching movies, no HDMI output, no camera and its tied into the App Store so you can only run apps bought from App Store. Also no SD card slot, no USB port and no drag and drop management.

Looking at the memory of the iPad it looks like Apple are not thinking of this as a laptop replacement (which makes sense – they dont want to lose potential sales of their MacBooks) but I don’t see who will be the main users.

I am sure reading this you will think I am just being anti-Apple since I have a PC but was I really was hoping for a great device. (And, I have an iPhone and love it so don’t just hate all Apple things).

PS – It also has a stupid name!

It is the last ever Celeb Big Brother this year (on Channel 4 anyway) and the usual random set of celebs are in the house. This year I have been kind of watching it – properly watching just over half of them.

As usual, the “best housemates” have tended to be evicted first. They may make the best housemates but generally not particularly nice people. People like Sov who was so immature and bratty and Stephen who was a bit creepy and annoying were evicted before HM who generally did less.

Vinnie Jones

At the start of the show Vinnie Jones was the favourite with the bookies. He was arguably the most famous person in the house to the UK viewers. Personally I didnt like him from the start. Hes very arrogant, a control freak and dictating everyone. I really don’t like him. It doesnt seem right in the world when a man famous for being a hardman in football getting tons of red cards, the fastest red card ever and particularly being that good a footballer. He was once banned for 4 matches and told to grow up.  He later said “”The FA have given me a pat on the back. I’ve taken violence off the terracing and onto the pitch.” Idiot!

Hes English but never played for England team but somehow managed to play for Wales team (his gran was Welsh or something like that). There is also (if you check wikipedia) and story about one of the players he injured as a result of his challenge, had to retire from football. Also, in the 50 movies hes made only a handful you will have heard of, he just plays himself really. Just a stupid hardman. In Gone in 60 seconds he doesnt even really speak until the end where he says a couple lines!

Idiot

He seems to be getting worse and now other ppl are realising what hes like. The latest episode had him bragging about the houses he has, the money he spends before getting out of bed with his housekeepers and dog groomers and his big gates and drive so big you get into 3rd gear driving up it. At one point in show yesterday he had a go at Alex for looking like in Englishman in Benidorm. Then later he goes on about the massive 6ft Union Jack flag he has on his house.

From what I have seen my favourite is Nicola. Dane generally seems OK and then Jonas is alright too. One person I cant decide 100% is Alex. Sometimes he seems OK, comes across a bit dim but generally seems alright. But then he says stuff which just isnt helping himself. Stuff like hating the press but then says and does things he knows will just be mentioned in press. Maybe its the associate with the horrible Jordan is effecting him?

Well I went to see Avatar yesterday. I was expecting it to be absolutely brilliant. Some people have said its the best movie they have ever seen. I havent heard any negative review of it so had high expectations!!

(Before you read on, if you have not seen this movie you may want to stop reading as there are some minor spoilers. Kind of…)

Too predictable

First of all I have to say that the movie was good, just not brilliant. The special effects were fantastic, the scenary and the whole Pandora world was AMAZING. However, it was just a bit too predictable. You could easily work out early on in the movie what was going to happen, who was going to die etc. The 2 “bad guys” are very stereotypical. The man in the suit who only cares about the money, and then hard guy who just wants to blow stuff up and has some sort of scar. Also, its very long at just over 160 minutes. It could easier have been cut down a fair bit.

Heard the story before??

Having a look online to see if I could read some “negative” reviews – maybe it was just me who didnt like it. However, I
found several reviews from people who didnt think it was overall brilliant. It is not just me who things its predictable and in some cases very very similar to other movies. First there is its similarity to Pocahontas. Someone has changed the synopsis of Pocahontas, amended in most cases just the name and suddenly its the synopsis of Avatar!!

Also, there is a Russian sci-fi noval  from the mid 60s which has things very similar. The novel is set on a planet called Pandora – same as in Avatar. Both the novel and movie take place in the 22nd century. The people who live on Pandora also have similar names. In Avatar they are called Na’vi, in the novel they are Nave.

3D movies – the future??

Anyway, like I said Avatar is still a good movie. Its a shame it has its faults. I would still recommend seeing it as its one of those movies you just have to see – if anything just so you know what other people are talking about! If you do go
and see it, go a see the 3D version to get the most of the special effects and all the 3D “ness”. If you wear glasses like me you will find the 3D glasses may not sit quite right. It wasnt as bad when watching Toy Story as it was a much shorter movie. Personally I dont think 3D is “the future of cinema” in any way but it has its uses. Still, like I said if you do watch this movie you might as well watch the 3D version on the big screen. You can watch the 2D version another time

Anyway, thats my opinion and I am sure many of you will think I am mad or an idiot!

PS – I had a thought about the main character Jake and how he lost the use of his legs when in combat. With 22nd technology they said he could get the use of his legs again but it was a matter of money and he couldnt afford it. (Still in the 22nd century not looking after the troops!!). Surely, the government could have paid for him to sort his legs out. It would have made his mission on Pandora easier!

PPS – The mineral which is so valuable is called Unobtainium. What a stupid name!! Wonder how long it took them to think of that! (Actually, done some research and the term unobtainium has been used since 50s be engineers to describe unusual or costly material. Still a stupid name! With $500m spent, surely a new better original cool name cool have been thought of.)

PPPS – Not actually about the movie but just read article about its main star Sam Worthington. He has admitted he is short-sighted and struggles to see on daily basis. He says when he squints people thing hes angry but its just because he cant see. He also said he “gets distracted by anything on set”. WTF?!?! Why doesnt he wear glasses or contacts?? Surely he was kidding?!?

The loan deal which would have seen David James move to Stoke on loan has failed. I personally thought it was a strange reason it failed but even stranger why the loan deal was trying to be arranged.

It apparently failed because of wage demands. Portsmouth wanted Stoke City to pay wages up to end of June but Stoke said would only pay his wages up to end of May. All for an extra £200,000 they could have got James. James contract expires at end of season but crucially, if he plays 20 games this season will automatically get a 1 year extension. That will cost Portsmouth even more money!

The reason I think the deal in the first place was an odd one is why would Stoke want James. They have already got a very good keeper in Sorenson who is the no.1 keeper for Denmark national team. (If they did sign James, I am sure Sorenson would have been on his way out or risk losing his national team place – just before the World Cup).

As I sure you know, there was a huge earthquake in Haiti a few days ago. Haiti is already one of the poorest in the world and this makes it even worst with getting help/aid to them.

I was watching Sky News soon after the earthquake and it said up to 500,000 could have died. Latest reports say it could be up to 50,000-100,000.

Aid is struggling to reach the people but I think its slowly getting there. Unfortunately with Haiti being so poor, there are communication problems. The latest is that the US is sending 10,000 troops.

If you want to help, its best to donate money through someone like the DEC or UNICEF. Unfortunately, it seems  some people are setting up fake charities – pretending to get money for Haiti.

President Obama has said that Wall Street must repay the $117bn to taxpayers and has criticised banks for “massive profits and obscene bonuses”. It is similar to the UK where with some banks were bailed out by the taxpayer e.g. RBS is essentially 84% owned by taxpayers. Chief Executive Stephen Hester was grilled by a cross-party group of MPs. He didnt comment on the total bonus pool the bank will pay but it is thought to be £1.5bn. During the grilling he even said “If you ask my mother and father about my pay they’d say it was too high, so some people close to me have that view of bankers.”  Nothing against the bankers themselves, its the bosses and who decides on these bonuses etc.

In the US, the tax is to recoup money US taxpayers are expected to lose from bailing out the banks during the financial crisis. He said “My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are owed.”

Will Gordon Brown say/do anything similar??

Its getting  a bit worrying being a United fan if all the things happening regarding the debt and what will happen to the club/stadium/players/training ground.

The latest in the papers was that United may have to sell Rooney and also to sell their training ground (and lease it back). Everyone knows now that United have a debt of  millions – its £699m to be precise. The big problem with this debt (apart from the amount) is that debt is being paid off at very high interest rates – I know sounds mad in these low interest rate times but there you go!

Anyway, the latest plan (and dont know why wasnt done earlier) is to ease to burden of the debt with a £500m bond deal. This £500, will pay some of the debt off while rewarding the new bond holds with a return at a lower interest rate. The “Preliminary Offering Memorandum” was distributed to potential investors this week and from it their are 5 possible outcomes on what may happen.

They are:

- Selling Old Trafford and Carrington training ground- highly unlikely to sell Old Trafford short term but apparently selling training ground is being “considered”.

- No new players

- Debt could get even worse

- Selling players – as I said there is rumour United may have to sell Rooney. Hes the only player we have who is likely to get anything near what we got for Ronaldo. United only made a profit because of the sale of Ronaldo – without it, it would have been a loss.

- Spending money they dont have

Its just crazy that not that long ago United were, as were as being a great football club, a well run business. Now we are seriously in debt and the Glazers have quite frankly messed with United!  For example, there was loans totally £10m to the Glazers under the heading “Related Party Transactions”. It was also stated in the document that United agreed to pay a company connected to the Glazers an annual fee of £2.9m under “consultancy agreement” and “management and admin fees” of £0.6m, £1.8m, £1.4m, £3.1m and £3.1m have been paid to ‘affiliates’ since July 2006.

You can read more about this in this Daily Mail article. There is also a link to read the document – if you want – it is 298 pages!

A lot of people may think it could never happen to United that we go “bust” or just drop down the league but not that long ago, Leeds United were fighting for the league title and got to semi final of Champions League. Now they are in Division 1 and only this season looking like they are getting their act together properly.

There was an article in The Times the other day that United have, since Glazers took over, paid £325,000,000. I think I am right in saying this is all just the interest!! We could have bought Messi with that money (and just a few others)!!

The Formula 1 2010 season really is lining up to be a great season!! Schumacher is back and is looking quick in testing. Alonso, who will be with Ferrari, has said it will be great to race against a legend.

Also, if Bernie Ecclestone has his way it will be more like Mario Kart than Formula 1. His latest plan to get more overtaking by having an “overtaking lane”. He says drivers will be able to use it 5 times a race so they are not stuck behind drivers! WTF!?! (Although if this happens – which highly doubt – it properly wont be this coming season).

In other F1 related news, I checked the odds for the drivers championship. Depends on the bookies but reigning champion Jenson Button is only 5th or 6th favourite!! At one bookies, hes 14/1 to win. May be worth a bet!!

Favourite is Hamiton then Alonso, Schumacher, Vettel, Massa (some bookies Massa is 6th fav).

Check out the latest odds at all main bookies at Oddschecker.

I think we have had enough snow now!! Its causing lots of problems in the UK and its turning into dangerous ice! (Although in some quieter areas like near my parents it still looks pretty.). The UK is seemingly grinding to a halt, people panic buying and some stupid news headlines are appearing – the other day with all the snow Manchester was “a city under siege”. Oh dear..

Loads of schools have been closed, people unable to get into work, sports events cancelled, airports closed,…. The list goes on. You would have thought by now we would have learned our lesson. The past few years have been very cold and although this year the snow has been pretty extreme (for the UK anyway) I think the government could have prepared better. Compared to some countries around the world we are not handling it particularly well (in my opinion).

For example, the president of the AA contacted the government back in November about the levels of grit/salt. However, we are now in a situation where grit/salt levels are low and salt use is to be reduced by 25% (including no gritting of the hard shoulder on motorways).

I mentioned before that many schools have been closed and this also includes exams being cancelled. Looking at the forecast this cold weather looks like to last at least another 7 days if not more. (If its anything like back in 1963, it snowed from Boxing Day all the way up to March!!). I heard somewhere that pupils may need to do exams in the summer.

The bad weather is also having a effect on business. Insurers RSA predicted it could cost the UK economy £690m a day.

The government now need to get there act together. Its too late to be prepared for this winter but for the future winters we need to be better prepared with things like grit/salt levels. There are many other countries were very cold weather and lots of snow and they handle its miles better – for them this is properly considered mild! If it does snow like this every year, what can be done?? The BBC has an article about what could be done and what is done in other countries.

One thought I have had and I am sure thousands of others have had is global warming and basically where is it then. Isnt it supposed to be getting warmer?? Well apparently the key thing is the difference between weather and climate. Weather is what we get day to day, month by month. The climate is the weather over a 30 year period and apparently this is increasing. Personally I think the UK could do with getting a few degrees warmer in the summer!! (And for longer!)

Anyway, stay safe everyone. Roads are icy and some pavements are lethal!! If you do have to drive there are some tips – basically easy on the accelerator and brake & consider starting off in 2nd gear to reduce likelyhood of wheel spin.

There has been a lot of news in the press recently about Manchester United (and a few other clubs) and how much is owed and how much in debt they are etc. Its starting to get worrying for many clubs.

There is an excellent blog post byMatt Slater on the BBC News sport site explaining it all – a lot better than I can explain it! Basically the owners of United are considering a bond issue to refinance debts which are believed to total £700m.

Just incase you dont remember, back in 2005 the Glazer family completed a deal to buy United which involved them borrowing a load of money from many different lenders. A year later they refinanced all the borrowing and split it between themselves and the club. However, the interest on the debt was to be paid by the club. Dont know how they managed to wing that!!

In no world does it make sence to turn the world’s richest football club into the most indebted football club!

One thing I didnt know is that the list of IOU-holders includes three New York hedge funds charging HUGE interest. The loans account for only a quarter of the total debt but they have “skewed an otherwise decent mortgage deal into the financial equivalent of a ball and chain”. The average annual interest rate for the total debt is close to 10%. Crazy in these times of record law interest rates!

As the blog post says, United will be OK but it could be bad for other clubs like Portsmouth, West Ham, Hull City,….

Related links:

United Rant – United’s bond issue: a primer – Excellent article which explains more about the bond issue.