gilest Google Group

Settling in

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:30:16 UT

It takes time to settle in to a regular writing gig.
I'd barely had time to settle in to the TUAW rhythm before the Cult of
Mac gig came sailing by and I jumped aboard. So now I'm trying to
discover the Cult rhythm.
Alongside that, my posts for O'Reilly's Inside iPhone site
([link] - henceforth known as II) have been

The cult of Giles

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:35:48 UT

I was only there a couple of months, and now my time at TUAW is over.
Leander Kahney and I got chatting by email one day, and he offered me
the chance (and a bit more money) to write for his Cult of Mac site.
So I said OK.
[link]
Cult of Mac doesn't have anything like the resources that TUAW has,

Oh freddled gruntbuggly

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:31:49 UT

As an old fuddy-duddy, I still enjoy playing CDs on the family hifi. I
know, I know, *so* old-fashioned. Old habits and all that.
But those old habits can get in the way sometimes. I find, when
browsing the dual ranks of Ikea Billy CD racks in the kitchen (doesn't
everyone keep their hifi in the kitchen?), that my eyes are

Art, language, and a Kentish seaside town

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:56:57 UT

My home town, Folkestone, is undergoing something of a regeneration.
Millions of pounds have been invested to kick-start a cultural
revolution and make the town a hub of artistic and creative activity.
A Creative Foundation has been established to manage it all, and has
purchased run-down properties in the harbour area, renovating them and

Audio recorders and iFoons

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:23:07 UT

I've been exploring audio recorders this morning. It started with the
off-the-cuff download of EccoNote, which is free and simple and works
rather nicely. Its developer promises that emailing of audio notes
will be coming soon, and that had me scurrying back to the App Store
to see if any of the other audio recorders already support that.

A smug iPhone user writes

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:59:51 UT

A day out in London; unusual, for me, and something I feel I ought to
make the most of. Twitter does a good job of finding companions to
meet and old friends to catch up with. Now all I need is to find them.
I stroll down Old Street, smug and confident that my shiny iPhone 3G
will guide me to the right place. I don't need a paper A-Z anymore. I

The meaning of "whakate"

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:31:43 UT

A friend of mine who lives in New Zealand decided to investigate the
"whakate" thing in more detail, and had a chat with a Maori friend of
his to find out more. The conversation went like this...
<aaaa> hello?
<bbbb> heya
<aaaa> are you familiar with the word whakate?
<bbbb> hmmm nope
<aaaa> [link]

To squeeze something out

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:25:02 UT

Whakate is a new web site - a "journal of self-improvement, personal
effectiveness and time management":
[link]
I did a tiny bit of research work for the Whakate editorial team
earlier this year.
You might be wondering about the name. It's pronounced "war-KAH-tee",
and is of New Zealand Maori origin. It has the most fantastic

How parents get through the summer hols

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:08:49 UT

And I replied:
I've just got one, he'll be six in August.
He can entertain himself, but moans about it and won't do so for very
long. He prefers to have a playmate, so I make a point of allowing him
to invite friends round as much as possible. We've had a different pal
round to play every day this week, which has been a bit exhausting,

Some thoughts about a phone

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:26:39 UT

I've had to get used to my iPhone now. I have some conclusions.
- Before buying, I was a little worried that it would feel bulky in my
pocket. After all, it's larger than my old Sony Ericsson handset.
Larger in width and height, yes, but so much slimmer that this turned
out to be a non-issue. If anything, I notice it less than I used to

A story of replication and journalism

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:36:59 UT

A few months ago.
I pitch a story idea to a national newspaper, and they say it's
"interesting," but they don't actually commission an article.
I think it's interesting too, so I decide to write it anyway. If they
don't want it, someone else will.
The story is this: the RepRap project, overseen by Adrian Bowyer from

Stewing time

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:20:31 UT

Most of you will know this, I suspect, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
Unlike Douglas Adams, I have respect for deadlines. I wouldn't make a
very good living if I didn't. Pretty much everyone I write for needs
to have the copy by a certain day, and heaven help me if I fail to get
it to them in time. At the very least, I'll get a telling off, but far

Ideas, as they say, rot

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:46:19 UT

The following is an email I sent to Danny back in 2002. I've just
found it lurking on my hard disk. I never did do anything about this
idea (despite Danny sending an encouraging and helpful reply). There
are still legs in it, I think. But it has as much chance of actually
happening as it stood of happening between 2002 and 2008. Hey ho.

Stop fretting about your iPhones for a moment and listen

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:56:58 UT

Now, see, I didn't set this list up to be *fashionable*. Oh no.
But hey, look: where I lead, people like Jason bloody Calacanis *follow*:
[link] ( -> calacanis.com)
He says he's quitting the bloggery in favour of a mailing list! Ha!
Steady now, Jason. Or all the A-listers will want one. I'm not sure I

Anarchy in the UK

gi...@gilest.org (Giles Turnbull) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:39:27 UT

It would seem that Apple's big plan - starve the market of iPhones,
build up demand, then unleash the 3G to acclaim and PR-tastic queues
at Apple stores everywhere - has backfired, at least here in the UK.
Everywhere I look this morning, I see people grumbling about how
broken the system is.
The following quotes are pulled from various sources. No, I haven't