Sailing

Weymouth Dawn
Weymouth Dawn
Just had four days’ sailing in a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 35 on the South Coast. Port Solent – Poole – Weymouth – Yarmouth – Lymington – Port Solent. Great weather. Lots of pics on flickr.

Olympus E-P1 Preview

Imaging Resource have got a preview of the new Olympus E-P1.

The E-P1 is a Micro Four Thirds format camera. Put simply, it’s a DLSR with the mirror removed to make a much smaller camera. The lenses are interchangeable and a 17mm f/2.8 and 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 will be available at launch in July. The sensor is the same 12.3 megapixel sensor used in the Olympus E-30 and E-620 DSLRs.

Also available will be an external flash (FL-36R and FL-50R will work as well), an optical viewfinder and adapters to connect OM and Four Thirds lenses to the Micro Four Thirds mount.

More on the Imaging Resource and Olympus sites

Hmmmm. Lust.

Rendezvous in Paris

Update: The video doesn’t seem to be on YouTube any more but a copy can still be seen on this website.

On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck speed through the heart of Paris.

The film was limited for technical reasons to 10 minutes; the course was from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur. No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit. The driver completed the course in about 9 minutes, reaching nearly 140 mph in some stretches. The footage reveals him running real red lights, nearly hitting real pedestrians and driving the wrong way up real one-way streets.

Wikipedia entry

How to (partly) avoid the O2 iPhone 3G S upgrade rip-off

So you bought the original iPhone when it was released in November 2006 and upgraded it to the 3G in July 2007 on an 18 month contract. Now you want to upgrade to the new iPhone 3G S on the 19th of June.

iPhone 3G S (32GB)
iPhone 3G S (32GB)

The problem – you’ve got six months left on your contract and O2 are going to charge you 6x £35 = £210 to get out of the contract, then £274.23 for the new 32GB iPhone and a new 18 month contract. Grand total £484.23.

A better way is to buy the new Pay & Go iPhone at £528.30, swop your old sim card into it, and sell your old 16B iPhone to MazumaMobile for £200. Grand total £338.30. A saving of £145.93.

As pointed out in this thread on Macworld UK, you’ll be able to continue your old contract until July 2010 and then be able to upgrade to the inevitable next iPhone release. O2 have confirmed to a couple of customers that your current sim card will work in a new Pay & Go iPhone.

Anything wrong with this logic?

[Update] Apparently not, as O2 confirm at the bottom of this page that your current sim card will work in a new Pay & Go iPhone.

[Update 2] Apparently yes. @rickythegeek (thanks Ricky) points out on twitter that you can sell the old iPhone to MazumaMobile whichever route you take. That brings down the price of paying off your old contract and taking out a new one to £284.23, the better deal by £54.

On further reflection I think I’ll stick with Plan A and buy a Pay & Go iPhone and continue the old contract. Although it will be £54 more expensive the contract will have expired by July 2010 making the next upgrade cheaper and easier.