Chindie

Don't think I'm really in the position to buy a phone to make do with over the period waiting for decent tech to come out. I think I'll either see if the Nexus S can win round, decide that the Desire HD is good enough for me, or just hold onto the N97 past the contract end and see month to month whats likely to take my fancy.

Haven't had chance to hear much from CES. did any imminently available Android phone get announced, ala the Apple thing of announce right before going to market? I've less than a month to find the perfect phone and suspect the waiting post Christmas probably didn't help me out at all... Perhaps it might be better to say this - if you were buying an Android phone in the next couple of weeks, what would you be gunning for?

Thats not surprising to me at all. Microsoft don't make much hardware PC wise at all. Their main output hardware wise is peripherals - keyboards, mice, etc. You don't see Microsoft branded computers, meanwhile Apple have long been hardware centric. Apples hardware differentiates itself to create effectively it's own market as well, whereas Microsofts hardware goes to market with inumberable competitors, many of which outdo it at that level, companies like Logitech for example. I'd have been worried if Apple weren't making more money on hardware than Microsoft to be honest.

He's not wrong, the iPod is a great bit of kit. At the time I bought mine it represented the best gb per £ value possible. Well made, well designed, probably is still just about the best mp3 player on the market. Never owned anything else Apple and likely never will, as the iPod was about the only thing they've made in recent years that even approached value for money over the competition.

Apple were saved by the iMac in 98, and arguably even more accurately by design engineer Jonathan Ive who designed the iMac and then iPod, etc. It's the iMac that puts them in the public eye as a kind of cool computing solution with good simple design. The iPod just continued that 3 years later, and a even that only really went genuinely massive a few years later and a couple of gens in.

Kranjcar is an interest for the Mackems and Everton I've heard funnily enough, and with his contract done in the summer apparently he's definitely off. Not really a loss for Spurs, he's a highlights player.

Pienaar allegedly a done deal for Spurs, not clear if he'll move now or in the summer apparently. EDIT for brainfart.

You'll be wondering a long time, I can't foresee Nigel Reo Coker doing anything near that kind of ability any time soon in a Villa shirt. But that's by the by of course.

We didn't play well. We looked brittle still. We showed flashes of quality. Otherwise for vast swathes of the match if Sheffield United were actually good, we'd have been further under the cosh. Final 20 mins barring our third is all them and us cluelessly lumping away. And the first half wasn't much different. We won there because of the quality we have sometimes making itself show. Walkers worth a mention. He was good, very good, but not flawless. That silly pass across the front of the box stands out, stupid play and nearly cost us. I also worry his forays forward if unfettered will sometimes land us in trouble. Petrov's goal was a bit of quality play and really should have been second. That first chance he did everything right imo, trying to commit the keeper with a shuffle and feint to shoot for the far post, unfortunately Simonsens trailing leg made the save. It's good to win but, hey, I still ain't convinced.

Bubbo Ho-Tep is a great film if you buy into it's humour. The humour is dumb as **** and played pretty dry and straight. It's a cheap B-Movie, the humour is entirely in the premise of it. If you don't find the idea of Elvis not being dead and in a carehome being attacked by a mummy funny, you won't like it one bit. If you do think that sounds like it might be funny, it's about 80mins long and has some great moments and lines. I'm a great fan of JFK for example .

I got watching that Penn and Teller show that was on earlier. I've always liked magic shows so this was made for me. Especially as I like Penn and Teller. The premise, simple. Penn and Teller are **** good magicians, a bunch of British magicians go on and do a trick of theirs in the hope they can fool Penn and Teller, that is have them watch as any audience member would and hope they can't work out how the trick is done. One bloke goes on and does classic close up card tricks. He does them brilliantly well. But at the end of the day, you're going on to try to fool 2 guys who've been doing this lark for 30 odd years. They'll have seen every card trick in the book and know exactly how to do them, so he'd not got a hope of fooling them.

Machiavelli, the man who's name has become synonymous with immorality and the end justifying the means thanks to his short work the Prince, wasn't actually Machiavellian. He was a largely moral man and seems to have written the Prince as a kind of joke at how a politician shouldn't be.

I'm not sure his weird teams and subs have been rumour. Cuellar dropping jumps immediately to mind. Nor have the awful performances - he's actually been making us worse. He's employed to make us better. And all the putting his foot in it is straight from the horses mouth. There are quotes saying that Irelands done here IIRC, and then quotes saying no, wait, he has a future. And then he doesn't give him the opportunity to make that future by not allowing him in the squad. Hes indefensibly bad. And should be counting himself lucky he's employed.

Bizarre subs and team choices Falling out with an awful lot of people Woefully inadequate performances Constant ability to put his foot in it, began from the moment he started right through to his post match comments the other night. Including his hilarious Ireland turn around that made him look a fool. Off the top of my head, and I'm confident theres more because theres nothing about the fellow that's been good. He's just not very good.

I agree with the preference for the Blades than a nothing club like Wigan in the league. Anywho, No idea with this game, kinda don't care somehow. I get the vibe that the club doesn't either.

O'Leary was right, we are fickle. No he wasn't and no we aren't. Certainly not me, I don't think I've at any point liked Houllier and only hoped he might prove me wrong, and that was only because that would be good for us. As it is, since Liverpool at least I've been quite staunch in 'sack him' opinion. So not really fickle at all.

My opinion hasn't softened. Should have been sacked by now.

Clearly framed by the Tories.

I don't think I said the fans should have a say in how the club is run. When I said it gives us a chance to have a say in our fate, I mean it gives Aston Villa a chance at rerolling the dice in our favour, because the current incumbent is taking us one way - down. The window already is looking like it's going to be a wash out so I'm not overly bothered about us missing out on signing players. Besides which, this side isn't one that should be threatened with relegation. It can survive without augmentation. It just needs to lead by someone who isn't a buffoon.

It gives us a chance to have a say in our fate. Houllier has shown nothing to say he can do better. We can bring in someone who has something that says they can.

To back Houllier is to back him on nothing but hope. I don't like our survival being based on hope.

I still doubt that MOU stuff is true. I give the board the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn't be that stupid to sign such a thing. If it is true... damning. Utterly, utterly damning. What a **** idiotic thing to sign. But I'll say it again, I think it's untrue.

To back him would either be dithering by fearing to sack him or based on sheer blind hope we pull through.

Utter shite.