My texting prayers have been answered.

I know it sounds overly dramatic, but what I am about to tell you about is, for me, a literally life changing piece of technology. This evening I learned of Mighty Text, the service that allows me to receive and reply to text messages - using my web browser of choice (Google Chrome). Made by ex-googlers, it links seamlessly with my Google account, and with a very simple Android app setup it is ready to go in minutes. For Chrome users, there is a nice little extension that gives you nice little notifications, just as the Google Mail add-on does. Nifty.

It is, essentially, iMessage for Android. Except that it is browser-based, meaning no matter where I am, or what platform I am using to connect to the web, I can check my text messages. This, to me, is the first very stable reason that would mean I would never contemplate switching from Android.

I am not a fan of SMS. In fact last year I wrote a blog entry on the topic (sadly, I can no longer find it...), yet people still insist on using it. Using it a lot in fact. But for me, I find replying takes time and not something that is efficient and in any way enjoyable, especially not when I am sitting in front of a computer. If that person uses Twitter, or Facebook, and I am sure that they will get the message on their phone, I will always switch to one of those services. Nothing to do with cost or signal coverage, purely due to the fact that I can use my trusty keyboard and type a message in literally 1/100th of the time.

Mighty Text has finally offered me a way to do this. So, to all my SMS-using friends, this is great news... I will actually be replying in a much quicker fashion!



Of course, there are little things that need working out. It only syncs with the Google account, and only Google contacts. If you are like me, with many contacts on the Sim (from older phones, perhaps) or even using service such as Facebook to store contacts and numbers, those will not appear (they will always appear as messages, just names may be missing). There is also an issue of not being able to send group texts to more than 3 people (but the amount of times I do this is very small... New Year and Christmas?) It also isn't the nicest-looking of apps at the moment (it isn't ugly either), but it gets the job done - that is all I care about.

Oh, and it also shows you who is calling and allows you to dial number from the web app as well. All in all, I think it is safe to say... I'm a fan.

An awesome day for Commercial Spaceflight.

Being a bit of a space-junkie, I naturally had to get up and watch this morning's launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, propelling the Dragon capsule, for the first ever time, into space to resupply the International Space Station.

Photo Credit: MICHAEL R. BROWN/REUTERS

Source: The Globe and Mail

A completely commercial company delivering supplies to the ISS. That's pretty cool.

I am not an American citizen, I am just a fan and on-looker from across the seas in the United Kingdom. I do, however, have a big belief that a fully functioning commercial space program is a very positive step for the American space industry. The Shuttle program demonstrated that it was possible to have routine trips, with relative safety. Now commercial players should be able to continue that work, all the time striving to take standards up and costs down.

Although we are a long way off from "2 for 1 Tickets to the Moon", this idea is of course what a lot of people think about when "commercial spaceflight" is mentioned. Commercial spaceflight can be much more than this, however that concept of private trips to space is nothing to shy away from. In my opinion getting more people excited and interested in space exploration is no bad thing at all. Anyway, wouldn't we all love a trip to see that view of Earth we've seen on TV countless times? I know I would.

There is another reason that commercial spaceflight is a huge step forward for the industry. It takes the "relatively mundane" tasks*, and allows government agencies such as NASA to get on with carrying out even deeper exploration into space and the universe we live in. Something I can't help but get excited about.

Although they have a long way to go with this mission, SpaceX have got off to a flying start (sorry...), I will be following the news avidly, and really wish them and their partners in NASA and the COTS team the very best of luck!

*By mundane, I really mean... "still breathtakingly exciting, but not quite as exciting as getting a human to mars" - just to be clear!

Internet World 2012: Lunchbreak

So, it's lunchtime here at Internet World 2012 in the London Earl Court exhibition centre.

It's been a fantastic day so far, with myself and friend/colleague Ben managing to see some really cool and interesting talks by representatives from some of the industry's "bigs".

The first talk of the day was by UK Cisco CEO, Phil Smith. He had some really interesting insights into the how the future of the interconnectedness of the United Kingdom will be shaped, as well as how the industry is crucial in the growth and expansion of the economy.

The second talk we attended was by Microsoft "Chief Envisioning Officer", Dave Coplin. Less about the technicalities, more about the human element of technology and how it we can push those boundaries.

Both of these talks had so much depth, and it was great to listen to people from right in the middle of the industry, on their outlooks to the future. While not all of what they said quite aligned with my thoughts, it just pointed out how everyone has differing views on what will, or will not be - no one truly knows where technology will take us - even those at the top, all everyone knows is that it will take us somewhere new. It is that resounding sentiment that really makes me excited.

I'm looking forward to some more great talks this afternoon, including a representative from Skype discussing how the mobile ecosystem is changing and what Web 3.0 really means for the future.

Once the event is over, I'd like to touch on a few of the sentiments that they offered, and turn them into a couple of blog posts. See you then!

Hackathon London: The Aftermath

Looking back over the last couple of days, I cannot believe how much was achieved in such a small amount of time. It was my first Hackathon, I wasn't quite sure of how these events go... but after the this weekend, I'm certain that it will be the first of many!

Firstly, I would like to send out a huge big thank you to everyone involved with the weekend, especially the people organising it! Even though it was the first event from Markco Media (http://markcomedia.com), it was run impeccably. The generosity (so much free food and drink, let alone the chance to treat an amazingly cool office that is just a minute's walk away from Tower Bridge as my own for the weekend), the enthusiasm and the general fun-loving spirit of the people at the event was truly awesome. Nothing was too much trouble, and nothing was asked for in return.

There was also the chance to be utterly inspired and work with some of the great successes within the industry. Having those people on tap to give you advice and direction while you are creating is just something you could not get anywhere else, and it left me just itching to get out there and achieve!

The hacking itself was just so much fun. We created a tool which I genuinely think could grow into something useful that people would like to use - all based on the ideas of two entrepreneurs I was lucky enough to chat with. With out team of 3 developers and 3 multi-talented individuals in the areas of business, marketing and design, I was really pleased with just how far we got and what we achieved. OUr software also utilises the Pusher API to interact with their awesome service of pushing data, in real time, to clients concurrently - the chance to work with the direct support of one of their guys was great and helped us no end in incorporating their technology effectively into what we were building.

It wasn't only our hack which I got to get a good look at, either. There were a lot of other people developing other software which I found just as cool. Ranging from money management systems to music discovery systems based on colour, to a service ensuring 100% safe QR-codes - there was loads to look at and loads of great people behind the ideas! I'm really hoping to see some of these ideas develop into something great and being able to say - "I was there at the start!"

So after 3 days with 4 hours sleep, an unlimited supply of a hacker's favourite kinds of food, brilliant ideas, equally brilliant chances to meet new people with the industry and, probably most importantly, caffeine on tap, I really feel that this experience has been one of the greatest I've had in some time.

I really hope that Mark and the other guys at Markco Media decide to put on another event - I would be first in line to sign up!

(Also, I should be posting some photos of the weekend at some point when I'm not on a train!)

Hackathon London

This weekend I am off to my very first Hackathon. Along with 4 of my fellow computer scientists from here at Aberystwyth University, I am travelling down south to the Markco Media (http://www.markcomedia.com/) offices in Butlers Wharf, London.

I have wanted to go to one of these events for many years, with lots of like minded people to talk to, eat and drink with and most importantly - hack alongside! There will also be some really cool and interesting people to gain advice and insights from, from a range of fantastic UK tech companies. I am especially exited to get to meet them and listen to what they have to say!

The basic principle of the hackathon is that there are many groups all working on different projects over the course of 48 hours. Sleep is scarce, coffee is plentiful and hopefully there will be some awesome projects emerging from it.

Leaving tomorrow morning at 9.30, I will try (as long as there is time in the busy hacking schedule!) to blog on the progress of my group and about the project we are undertaking. Oh, and I'll be tweeting all weekend long as well, no doubt.

I love my new toy.

So, yesterday my new toy came through the post. It's not one of those "useless toys", or one of those toys that I will "use once and never use again". This toy was something that has real uses. Not only real uses, but useful uses too!

You've obviously guessed it by now; I got myself an Arduino.

Ok, so the stuff I have done with it so far hasn't exactly been ground breaking. Well, unless you call making a Red LED blink "Hello World" in morse code, with a nice Yellow LED blinking to inform you the end of each letter... but it had to be done, right?

Above: My new toy blinking "Hello World"

To be honest, I have always wanted to do some programming of actual hardware. Ok, so in a sense you are always telling certain pieces of hardware to do things, but there is just something really cool about actually seeing which circuits you are switching on and off and being able to see, physically, the result of your programatic statements.

So, so far I have managed to make a few simple sketches, just learning the very basics (I need to crawl before I walk, don'tcha know). I am however, really exciting about the things you can use this awesome little piece of kit for, though. I would really like to get it to do something useful in my car. Gather and display some technical data maybe? Or interact with the "entertainment system" in some way?

The thing I really love about this piece of hardware is the software that comes with it, and just how easy it is to setup and then proceed to get it working. There is nothing hard to understand (maybe a fairly basic knowledge of programming, but nothing harder than that), pretty much anyone could have a go at doing something cool with one of these - something which I think is awesome.

Fancy getting your plant to call out when it needs watering? Want to create that security system for when someone ventures into your cupboards? Maybe you just want to make something pretty with lots of little flashing LEDs - the Arduino is perfect for all of these (and obviously much, much more!)

I will keep you updated with all my latest and greatest creations, you can be sure of that!

The iPad... just a content consumption device?

So, recently I bought myself an iPad. And I love it.

Seriously, the iPad (contrary to my girlfriend's scathing belief) is a serious tool that any techy should own. Vital, in fact. I can read my daily tech news sites (in some really cool ways actually... enter, Flipboard), I can listen to my favourite tech-podcasts and watch my favourite review videos. If I'm on a train, I can catch that movie I keep trying to find time to watch or catch up on my favourite TV show. I can also read my email, read a book, check my Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, check the Snooker results... honestly the possibilities are endless.

Actually, I say all of the above with utter sincerity. The iPad, to me, is one of the best ways to consume content. All of the daily content I would usually look at on my laptop, I actually choose to view on my iPad. It's nice, luxurious, and - most of all - has an element of fun about it.

Just the other day, however, (when I was out, killing time, with only my pad) I began to think... when, exactly, will I be persuaded to do things that are not just about consuming content on my iPad.

Could I do any serious work, using nothing else, only my tablet? I'm not just talking about updating my social networking status, or writing a little blog post, I'm not even talking about the odd time when I've taken lecture notes using nothing but the shiny little device (Evernote, by the way - I cannot recommend enough!) I'm talking real work. Could I actually do the same kind of work I could do on my computer, and more importantly - could I still be as productive?

Alongside being a student, I also work in software development. A lot of this development takes place online. At this time (when I was stuck with no laptop) I wanted to make some additions to a PHP script I had been working on... but how? Was it even practically possible?

Enter, Gusto.

Gusto, so I found out, is a fantastic tool for any web developer looking to do some work on the iPad. It's still work in progress of course, but it's really very stable. Packed with loads of great features, it actually allowed me to do what I wanted. It allows the browsing and editing of files. It highlights all code for easier development. Once the code is finished it has a nice "upload" feature, storing all of the connection details for all of servers on which I manage content. One click, choose the server and destination for my script - and I'm done.

So was it as easy? Well, in a lot of ways - yes. Of course, there is always the issue of it not being as easy to type, or as easy to edit script in general (as I cannot see as much of the code as I would be able to on an average sized laptop/monitor). However, the features built into this app meant that it was absolutely possibly to make small edits, and be productive.

This concept makes me very excited for the future of apps for devices such as my iPad. Developers are beginning to get applications out there on which you can actually do work. They are also packing apps such as Gusto with features that somewhat compensate for the harder typing and the limited viewing space. As long as these apps always remember the limitations of the device they are being developed for in terms logistical terms, I can really see people beginning to use them for real work.

So after all that, would I ditch my trusty Macbook? No, definitely not. However I do think that this year is going to be the 'year of productivity' when it comes to tablets. What is stopping, for example, a company developing an app that is completely specific to roles of work that they have? Nothing - and I'm sure there are a lot of them out there already that take advantage of this idea. Maybe, just maybe, the day will come when it is easier to be productive in certain things on an iPad. Exciting stuff.