Being Anonymous on Google+

Anonymity online has been a staple of the Internet community since it's conception, and although Google+ feels like it forcibly identifies you to the world, you can actually use it anonymously. One of my favourite tips for new Google+ users is to embrace the opportunity to be anonymous on it. You may be looking for gift advice for your someone's birthday and you don't them to find out. Or perhaps you're discussing something politically sensitive, and you don't want anyone to know your opinions. It could be something as innocent as wanting to write about something deeply personal, that Google+ Communities could give you support with.

[EDIT: Don't do this, as it may be against Google+ policies]

Create a separate Google account

The easiest way to be anonymous is to sign up for a whole new Google account. Google does not have any process for verifying that the name you use is correct and factual - the most important thing to them seems to be how your social graph works around you, so that you can get the right information at the right time. The main downside to this approach is that when you want to be in "anonymous mode", you have to logout and log back in (although you could try using Chrome profiles to get round this).

Creating a Page within your existing Profile

This option creates a Page for you, to which you can switch without logging in and out every time you want to switch to your anonymous identity.

1) First, go to your sidebar and choose Pages.

2) From here, you can click Create a page to begin setting this up. I've blacked out my anonymous identity, but you can see my Test Page here as an example.

3) For your category, choose Other.

4) Finally, choose your name and determine the appropriate age restriction for your Page.

To use Google+ as your new page, you just need to click on your profile photo in the top right.

Google Play Music beats Spotify for music discovery

Source: pianetatech.it

I've been discovering and listening to more music since switching from Spotify to Google Play Music. I boil this down to three reasons:

1) The idea of building a Library of music without having to create Playlists. There's a difference, and it matters.

2) Google Play Music makes it significantly simpler to download albums and singles to your device by taking out the playlist step that Spotify forces.

3) The radio on Google Play Music actually plays the song you chose first. This means I actually use it, and discover new music this way.

On the other hand though, Google Play Music's big missing piece is still an iOS app - wtf Google? Close this gap, and there's no debate to be had. Since Google have consistently supported both iOS, Android and Web with almost all major services, we have to wonder what is happening behind the scenes to create this issue.

Should I Go Android?

The decision to leave your iPhone and join the world of Android is not easy. For many people, it may not even be the right thing to do. I think it all boils down to three questions you can ask yourself. By answering these you should know the truth about which ecosystem you'll be happiest in.

1) Do you want to customise your user interface?

The easiest difference between Android and iOS to notice is that Android allows a ton more options to customize the user interface. This goes further than just icons and widgets however. Android opens up the opportunity to replace your keyboard, replace stock apps, and of course use widgets to view app content, change settings, amongst other things. Take a look at some creative home screen customizations below, and decide if this would appeal to your tastes. I took these from the last few days in the Android Themes community on Google+, but the creative options are virtually endless.

https://plus.google.com/117990190438959642727/posts/Xni4pBANZai

https://plus.google.com/112162095736133226513/posts/K7dV7u8KW3Y

https://plus.google.com/115319832733106589841/posts/dPvHy7minuF

https://plus.google.com/112498623532480607566/posts/fAMQ64PNCzD

2) Do you use Google often?

Do you use Google Now? Calendar? Gmail? Google services are born and bred on Android, and while on rare occasion the iOS experience is stylistically better, the Android version is typically a step ahead and a step more functional. A lot is said in the tech community about Google getting better at what Apple is good at, faster than Apple is getting better at what Google is good at. The meaning of this statement is ultimately that today an Android phone isn't far off the "perfection" of the iPhone, but the cloud services Google supports it with are stronger. If you use Google's services more than the competition, Android will bode well for you.

3) How much do you love mobile games?

This is a question to swing you back in the opposite direction, and I feel it's important. While the tides may slowly shift as Google improves its strengths here too, today games are still better on iOS. They tend to launch first on iOS (think Temple Run, amongst many others) if they launch on Android at all (think Kingdom Rush - my favourite mobile game, only available on iOS). The only exception to this seems to be Angry Birds, which is generally cheaper on Android (at one point a version of Angry Birds was free, but $4.99 on iOS. I forget which and when.) For the time being if you think of your device as a gaming device before all else, you might stick with iOS for the time being. That said, I love playing mobile games, and waiting a little longer for major titles hasn't bothered me much. There is a large app store full of indie games waiting to be discovered on Android, as well the opportunity to install an emulator, so you can replay those classics!

Google+ Photos: An Offline App to Replace Your Gallery

Image from healthwired.com

Earlier this week I had a conversation via Hangouts with my mum and sister, both users of Google+ since I talked them into it. We were talking about our photos, in particular the ones we had taken on our vacation in India last month. (It was awesome, by the way!) During the conversation, my mum asked a peculiar question, which was, 'Can I view our Google+ photos offline?'

In our modern, super fast internet world, this question had never come up in my mind. At home and work I have a fast wireless network. But when I heard this question I immediately felt the value that we could harvest from this app. This 'Google+ Photos' app.

Let me talk about two services where their value propositions offer great user experiences - values that a Google+ Photos app would bring to Google+.

Spotify Premium

When you have a phone or iPod Touch that you use as your primary music device, Spotify Premium's download option is indispensable. Even though I exist in my wireless networks most of the time, having my favourite playlists and albums on my device all the time gives me the comfort that wherever I am, I can listen. Shouldn't this be the same with photo albums? It's an even bigger issue for photo albums actually, because a lot of the time you want to get them out you are showing them to other people, when you're in other places. You just want them to open and be displayed - no one wants to sign into their friend's WiFi just to show a few quick snaps.

DropBox

Of course, the above point seems ridiculous when the photos are actually stored on your device anyway. Often times you took the pictures on your phone, so you just open your phone gallery. Firstly however, this isn't always the case. If you use another camera, you still want to reach those albums, and they won't be on your phone unless you download them. Dropbox is a cloud service that does file backup in an intimate and close way on your computer - it acts like a local folder. On a Mac or on a Windows device, Dropbox creates a folder that feels at home and comfortable to use. Why should you have a gallery app here, and Photos in this other app over there? Google+ Photos should bring you the feeling of your albums and memories being local, while utilising the cloud too. Think about an app that retrieves +1s and comments when connected, and keeps them even when offline. The key value of DropBox is that it makes you forget about the difference between your machine and the cloud.

So, Google+ Photos. In my vision I see a separate app, to replace your gallery app, where when connected you can view albums and pictures shared with you and shared by you. When you come across albums you love and want to keep local, you select an option to do so, just like you can on Spotify. It doesn't download these files into some abstract folder on your device, but like Spotify, it simply marks them as available offline, and like DropBox, you can forget about the difference between cloud and local.

What's in the way of Google Glass?

When it was first shown to the world, I was amazed by Google Glass. With some time however, I became a little fatigued by seeing so much press and hype, but no consumer product. Eventually I realised that Google Glass in it's current form isn't all that great. There's a long way to go, but I saw a video today that revived my interest in Glass, and the future it lays ahead for us.

The above YouTube video completely blew me away. For the past few months the media's interest, in the product has somewhat dwindled. Hands on videos of the product are interesting, but where most people see something they find cool, they don't seem to see something they wish to buy and own.

Glass is young. Watching this video, I saw a clearer vision of what potential lies ahead on the road that Google is paving. I saw a future where a blind man that speaks Italian had a face to face conversation with a deaf woman that only understands French. And why not? All the tools we need exist - we just need to refine the technology, develop the platforms, and wait for time to do it's thing.

The biggest technical issue holding Glass back at this point is the battery. Powerful abilities like those shown above can only be leveraged in day to day lives if the device is able to be constantly on, watching and listening. This is just a technical limit though, and improvements in technology are likely to solve this problem with time. The difficult part is their privacy issue - one that will only get harder with time.

The Moto X phone that Motorola and Google have just released will be a decent test of where the public's privacy opinion lies right now. The future we're heading to will require a lot of consumer confidence in Google and other tech companies to protect data. I'm very curious to see how Moto X's 'always listening' ability plays out once it's available. For the time being, the tech bloggers seem to love it.

Having said that, always watching seems to be a whole different ball game. We can't say people completely hate the Xbox's new eyes, but reaction to the Xbox One's always watching Kinect has been a little resistant. Who wouldn't be a little freaked out by a device that is so sensitive it can see your heartbeat? All the time.

Will we tolerate a Glass device that is constantly recording, I wonder? If not, what does Google need to do to convince users that this is beneficial. The advantages will be impeccably clear, as this video above can demonstrate (a visually impaired worker can be given prompts about what lies ahead, without any interaction with the device), but the privacy concerns might raise a solid brick wall for them to negotiate.

ICE on Emirates: Information, Communication, Entertainment, Amazement.

I must have serious technophilia right now if while on my holiday in India, the first thing I want to blog about is the in-flight entertainment system! But I do, and I can't help it.

The ICE system on Emirates (an acronym for Information Communication and Entertainment) continues to exceed my expectation of what's reasonable. A small bit of background - I've been flying Emirates for years, since their connections to different Indian destinations are fantastic. They are frequent, comfortable flights, and have always had incredible entertainment.

Today, ICE features what looked like an 11" touch screen with the same collections of big Hollywood blockbusters, classics, international movies, TV shows, music etc. I'm used to being spoilt for choice, but I was not expecting the high level hardware that houses this service. The screen was responsive - more like an iPad that what you'd expect on-board a flight - and the interface was intuitive and simple. I remember being amazed by the choice of ICE in it's early days, but the UI was difficult so I often opted for my laptop instead. Now I find myself wondering what use my iPad and computer possibly serve on a plane.

Below the main screen was another new addition - a touch screen controller styled like a games controller. It's not a necessity, but when hoisting your arm to navigate the main screen starts to ache, you thoroughly appreciate the easy of use this remote device offers. Solid feeling buttons, a nice screen again, and a surprisingly well designed mobile UI of the main OS.

If all this isn't enough, seats on this Emirates flight came with mains power and USB ports too. This means little to most, but my phone battery was a genuine concern for me, till sitting on the plane. I've recently become somewhat of a shutter-bug with my phone camera, and like to keep GPS tagging on when on holiday. This had me whipping out the charger at the departure gate, desperately trying to keep enough juice in my phone to get me to Hyderabad and last me a little while there. That's all I hoped for, but I landed in Dubai on a full charge, and played Temple Run for hourrrs throughout the flight.

I'm amazed, and so excited for the next wave of improvements. The bar that Emirates sets is one of continual improvement, so I have to look into the future. Internet is notably missing, although some micro updates are being delivered in the form of news headlines (I kept up with the Murray match at Wimbledon). Emirates have nailed the hardware and software,  so if their next iteration can deliver even simple social media access and YouTube, I'd be thrilled. Some airlines now offer wi-fi too, although I'm not convinced this is worth doing until it is reliable and fast enough. To me, simple internet apps and integration is the obvious next step. I'm thinking a 'Share' button: "El Kanagavel is watching Life of Pi on his Boeing 777, Emirates flight to Hyderabad - with Stacey Cass", complete with location tagging and relevant links. A bit of polish and design and you've got a compelling and engaging social media marketing tool. Regardless, however Emirates choose to further improve ICE and the tech that goes with it, they can count on me being there to see it!

Is It Time for a Google Watch?

Less than a month ago, I wrote a piece about why I'm more excited about the rumoured iWatch that Google Glass. Today, +Mike Elgan, a globe trotting technology blogger, wrote an article for cultofandroid.com (link) that came to similar conclusions, but focused heavily on what a Google watch might be like, and what specifications it might have.

Although I agree with his sentiment that a watch and Glass are just two parts of the unfolding next era in mobile (wearable) computing, I disagree with his idea that a wearable computer has to do everything that the computers that came before it have to do.

When we moved from desktop to mobile, the biggest problem for developers, publishers and advertisers was the impossibility of a big screen with lots of space for information. But even though our phones had less on them, we still expected a lot from them. That's because we live in a time where devices are still expensive, and we demand complete experiences from them. We've moved considerably far down this road, and many of us now have a powerful computer in their mobile device. I can't imagine spending another €400-600 on a device like Glass, or even €100-200 on a device like Elgan's watch, when my phone already serves these essential purposes.

For one thing, a watch does not need a camera. Can you imagine how weird you would feel taking a picture with your wrist, when your phone (or even your Glass) will definitely be more (or just as) convenient and higher quality? What the watch does need to do, is keep things really simple, and just tell me the really important things happening in my cloud.

• Message or call notifications, with haptic feedback
• Navigation, using the GPS from my phone
• Google Now, using the data from my phone through bluetooth (I don't believe in any need for WiFi or cellular here)
• Some app functionality - Spotify can tell me what song is playing, with few buttons; Facebook can tell me if I'm tagged in something; no apps should try and mimic the mobile features my phone can do. I don't want to post things, I don't watch to record things, I don't want to "like" or "download" or read anything for longer than 3 - 5 seconds. 99% of the time, things on my watch should be 'see and dismiss'.

If a Google watch takes voice commands I'd be truly disappointed. Voice is great for Glass, and I get why it's there. But on a watch where we have a touchscreen and a free hand of fingers, Google need to think about making very little to interact with. What would Jobs do? Remember how he said a device is a collection of decisions about which features you want and which you don't? I think voice control is best left on the phone, or on Glass, if you're lucky enough to own one.

Elgan is thinking too much about a smartwatch bringing another computing leap with it, with tonnes of features and functionality, and all the gizmos and flashing lights. I think the watch should be simple, with minimal UI, minimal functions, and minimal tech. It should market cheap, as a neat accessory to your phone. As long as it does a great job of delivering my cloud services, we'll have something that I can buy into.

Life update - India

After a summer of tech news, I'm somewhat blown away and exhausted for tech/internet things I want to blog about. WWDC, E3 and I/O have come and gone, but I failed to write about these properly because my focus was on the next item on my personal list of life: travelling to India.

Our journey includes around 15 hours of flying/airport-waiting from Dublin to Dubai to Hyderabad. Not my longest stint by a long shot; the time will fly on Emirates. I don't generally have problems with long haul flights, although when I think back to times before there were TVs in each seat, I shudder. This is either because as I've grown older, I've grown more patient, or as inflight entertainment technology has become awesome, travelling has become a breeze. Yeah, probably the latter. I might be a teeny tiny bit excited about seeing what new features and movies await us inflight.

From Hyderabad's cosmopolitan buzz, we're flying down south to the town where I was born, Madurai. A smaller, less overpopulated area, Madurai is home to the Meenakshi Amman Temple. After  a short day, we'll be making our way to Bodinayakanur, the town where my dad's side are from. My cousin's wedding, the main event of the trip, will be a week long ceremony, where we'll visit relatives, play cards, walk in the sun, and possibly do a lot of errand running.

Words can only get me so far. It's been a long time since I've been to India, and this time I'm more excited than ever. I don't know if it's because: I'm older, and have new found appreciations for the exclusive luxuries I'm afforded, so rarely available to most people living close to or within their country of origin; or if it's because this is the first time I will be traveling with a friend from home, notably a girlfriend, which will bring it's own interesting stories; or if it's because since weekly hangouts with my family, I feel more in touch, and more eager to meet with them again; or if it's because since moving out of home, I'm eating less spicy, delicious Indian food. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm really excited about India this year, and that's a good thing.

For Mac Beginners: 3 Really Simple Things

Getting used to such a completely different operating system can feel weird. After buying your first Mac or Macbook, you might feel like the small fortune you just spent wasn't all that worth it after all, and you begin wondering what exactly is so much better here than on Windows. There are many things, but these are my favourite, because they are the features that converted me. They are simple and powerful things that really make me feel at home on Mac, and completely lost without on Windows.

1. Command + Space

Get used to hitting ⌘ + Space. It might just be the best thing about Mac OS. The Spotlight search bar, as it is known, let's you not only find files and applications, but it can also return dictionary results and do simple sums. It's completely system wide, and (importantly) really fast, meaning wherever you are, a dictionary and calculator, as well as all your files, folders and apps are just a moment away. Mac OS X let's you worry much less about where you stored files by making searching your computer miraculously easy compared to Windows. There's more to Spotlight, and you'll see as you use it. Try searching for all sorts, and it just might work. For instance, you can go straight to the settings for a particular thing (your mouse, for example) without having to visit System Preferences first. Just search "mouse", and hit enter.

2. "Preview" Movies and Photos

Mac OS X has this highly underrated feature for previewing video files. Basically, you click a button and it plays the video. In it's entirety. Immediately. What if I told you, you didn't need to load up a movie player application ever again to watch a movie on your drive? Well next time, try clicking the Quick Look icon when you've selected your movie file. It's the one that looks like an eye.

Just a word to the wise: in the preview you can pause, mute, full screen and skip ahead, but if you want anything fancy like subtitle menus and aspect ratios, you'll have to open up your application of choice.

3. Need Space? Add a Desktop.

Using the key below, you can get to something called Mission Control. I've saved my favourite feature till last... 

Source: support.apple.com

Working on a few different things at once? Work stuff here, personal stuff there, and windows for music, IM and PDFs all over the background. This is an organizational nightmare, and what you need is several different computers. With Mission Control you can create them. Well, the illusion of several computers.

Enter Mission Control by hitting the key pictured above (usually F3), and move your mouse over to the top right of your screen. See how a picture of your Desktop slides out from the side? Click it, and you've got a whole new, clean desktop space to play on!

If you have a trackpad (either on a MacBook, or a Magic Trackpad on your Mac) you can use a three finger swipe gestures to pass between different desktops too. This is probably the easiest way to get around, rather than hitting F3 every time.

Photos, Communities and Circles - The Holy Trinity of Google+

After months it happened. Not long ago, I reached a point where I honestly felt content to stop trying to have my friends join Google+. Since that point, we've had the redesign, the relaunch of Hangouts and the amazing improvements in Photos, and Google+ is ever more of a pleasure to use. The icing on the cake is feeling no pressure for my "IRL" friends to be constantly present there. I'm going to try and help give a guide on how to crack open Google+, without touting too much about it's superiority to Facebook, Twitter or the like. I'm going to just explain why you might enjoy it, additionally to everything else.

Store Your Photos There

For a moment, forget the social network you use, and think about your pictures. They say a thousand words, and they keep our memories safe. I use Google+ to organize my photos. Now a lot of pictures of me are still on Facebook, where I'm tagged, and me and my friends can enjoy them. If I want to share something with my friends, I'll still upload to Facebook and enjoy the likes. But my photos and memories get organised first and foremost on Google+. This is because Google+ nails the services side of photo management. Even in the early days, Google introduced auto-backup, where your photos are synced to the cloud in private storage until you choose to share them. Facebook has since adopted this, but it still lags behind on the second part of this wizardry. While in the auto-backup space, Google enhances all your photos with common adjustments, where needed, perfecting each one. Then, where it can, it will even create a simple animated GIF. I have seen the delight this creates with my friends and family, and for my favourite pictures and moments, there's simply no other place, Facebook or even my hard drive, where I'm better off keeping these moments than on Google+.

Just a short point worth adding is privacy. Google is great at making photo management and editing easy, but it makes managing your privacy super easy too. Every share and post you decide the exact scope of that post, and this matter most to me with Photos. Knowing each and every time exactly who can see my albums and pictures is reassuring, and a constant frustration for me when using Facebook. 

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/photos/

Discuss Hobbies and Interests You Don't Share With Friends

No I'm not talking about "adult" interests, or the like... get your head out of the gutter! I mean things you are into and care about. Take fishing. You might have a handful of friends that go fishing with you, who will give perhaps a like or two when you post a picture of your new rod. But Google+ (and Reddit too I should add) are networks of people built for people to talk about their interests. Communities in Google+ are effectively forums brought up to the modern age, and adjusted for the wider public. Simple interfaces and real names make for a really pleasant place to share and discuss things you are into, in more depth than with your real world friends. Don't expect it to be as engaging as Facebook - afterall these people aren't your friends. But you can expect to have some interesting conversations, and get some useful tips and ideas. My current obsession is scouring the Android Themes community for tips and ideas for theming my phone. No one I know in real life is willing to waste as much of their time as I am theming their phone, but on Google+ I can share this interest with the 14,885 members of this community.

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/communities/

Get Your Content Delivered

I'll finish with my first use case of Google+. When I first started getting into it, Communities didn't exist and Photos were good, but not as great as today. When I started, I found Google+'s key use to be the stream that just focused on stories I wanted to find. Find stuff you want to read online, and circle away. Pro-tip: Create circles not just of friends, but of Pages and people that follow a theme. For instance, I have a circle named "Bloggers", where I can keep up with all the blogs I follow. Next to it I keep "Tech News" and "News", appropriately adding the relevant Page to each. Having these circles display at the top of my home page, I can quickly switch to different streams of content as I please. So don't look at Google+ and think "Where are all my friends? This is empty." Rather, find some Pages to follow, and see what they post. Comment on their threads and reply to people who are also into that story.

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/circles/

The Internet Is Not a Zero Sum Game

Mark Zuckerberg stated this point at last year's AllThingsD conference, D10. Using Google+, don't just look for your friends. In fact, recently I started getting prompts to wish people a happy birthday (as more people I know join it, I guess this has started popping up more), and I almost wish I could turn this off. I have Facebook for that! Google+ is about social on the internet - the big internet. Look beyond your real world friends. And store your photos there - you'll save loads of time, and your photos will look better and come to life.

Why iWatch Excites Me More Than Glass

Since last year, tech enthusiasts have gleamed at every drop of news on Google Glass. Heck, I was among them myself. But over the last few weeks, I've thought a lot about what having Glass would be like, and thought too about the rumoured smart watch that Apple could be working on. Maybe it's the exciting leading up to WWDC. Maybe it's hearing Tim Cook at D11 last week. Or, maybe its just that Glass is not as exciting as we all think, and watches could actually do the same thing better.

Credit: Huffington Post

The biggest problem for Glass to succeed in the market is going to be it's intrusiveness. As sleek and as lightweight as it may be, that device is still an intrusion on your face. I only had the opportunity to wear Glass for the brief period of less that 1 minute, and in that time I didn't notice anything uncomfortable or intrusive about it. However, the more I observe pictures of Glass Explorers and various Googlers wearing the device, the more I think it's kind of silly. I think it was on the Engadget podcast from several weeks back, where a presenter noted that Glass is a good idea, but will only be cool when it is directly implanted into your thoughts. Until all the tech is completely hidden in the power of your brain, this idea isn't good enough.

It also sounds like there are some real problems with the device. We've heard that when video recording, the device gets hot. Battery is a particular weak point too. From what early users are saying, it's becoming clear that the video Google released in April last year is not really possible at all. In this video (see below), the user would need to use GPS, Hangouts, a good bit of either Wi-Fi or mobile data, and he takes Glass out with him all day. By the time he's playing the tune to his special friend at the end, we can bet his battery is on it's nervous edges, along with his phone battery from all the tethering. The title of this video then still rings true today: One day we will have a device this good, but it's not today, or even this year.

Ok, no more lamenting about Glass. Let's talk about watches.

Watches already have an established place in mind of the mainstream consumer. They've been around with us for centuries, and like phones, have a central function that all the smart features can revolve around. And like few mobile phones serve mainly as a phone, I'm fairly confident that in a few years, few watches will primarily function as a watch.

Watches have more advantages over Glass. They are off the face, so have no problems when it comes to the intrusive look or the fashion statement they might send. Okay, they might have some fashion implication, but it's probable that with enough function behind a smart watch, and with the design focus Apple brought to the iPhone and iPod, we could see the fashion implication become smaller over time. Watches are also easy to access, like Glass. They are easier than using your phone, for instance, to check messages, missed calls, directions etc. I think a big misconception with Glass is that it will offer some sort of augmented reality, and that having it right in front of your eye is critical for this. This is not true; Glass doesn't do this. It's just a screen, placed next to your eye for convenience. I'd argue that a watch face on your wrist is just as convenient. It's going to be far easier to ignore when you want to, and it will appear less rude to someone you're talking to when you check your watch, than if you flick your eyes up every 6 or 7 seconds. This comes back to watches already having an established place in our world.

I don't know if Apple is working on a watch, we've only heard rumours. If any company is going to open up this category of devices though, it should be them. It potentially suffers the same pitfalls of Glass when it comes to battery, but we've seen Apple execute the incredibly small iPod nano (previous generation), so it would seem possible. Since they don't have to cater for the photo/video requirements that Glass is currently trying to live up to, a good battery life is completely feasible.

Glass is exciting, but I don't think it's ready yet. We are several iterations away from seeing a truly magical experience with Glass, but the smart watch space is ripe for the taking. The technology is feasible, real use cases exist, and the fans are just waiting for Apple to do something awesome again.

What Will WWDC Bring in 2013?

With WWDC just round the corner, I wanted to post about some of the changes I'd like to see from Apple this year. It's been turbulent for the company in the last couple of years, with many people suggesting that the magic has gone. Analysts have eyed the declining stock price closely. Customers had a poor experience with Apple Maps. Some tech writers even believe that the iPhone is no longer the best built phone, touting the HTC One instead. What can, and what should Apple do to fix this situation?

iPhone/iPad/iOS

The iPad mini seems to have been a well executed product, but unfortunately behind the competition in it's launch. Apple needs to step it up again with innovation, and move the market forward with some bold new changes in iOS. We know iOS 7 will arrive, but we don't know just yet what it will bring. We have heard inklings that Jony Ive has been key to the design, and that it is potentially going to open up a little, but we don't know if Apple can still lead in design or manage a more open system.

iOS 7 needs to allow developers to access many more parts of the iOS platform. I would love to see the option to develop keyboard apps, widgets, and have some more control over the lockscreen. These are elements of Android that delight users, that there is no real reason for Apple to completely barricade against. As Tim Cook noted at D11 last week, they can open up a little and still maintain a solid user experience.

Mac/Macbook

I'm completely uninterested in the desktop Macs, and I'm actually expecting nothing from Apple on this range. However, a MacBook Air update needs to come. Apple have rolled Retina Display out to the rest of their MacBook line, and the Air is the only one missing. It's seems impossible that they wouldn't announce a Retina Air with some boosted specs. This is arguably the most important product for WWDC - laptops are still the most important device for many, many people, and the Air range attracts a big fanbase by defining the thin laptop category, and Apple advancing faster than the competition consistently. We can probably expect to see an update to OSX too, but where Apple will go with this I'm not sure. They want to focus on services like FaceTime and Messages, and talk about how Apple devices form a really cohesive experience, and one that can't be matched without Apple products. This isn't true today, so Apple's got some work to do there.

Wearables/iWatch

We are least likely to hear about the rumoured iWatch, but it's high time (see what I did) Apple took a real stab at creating a new category. We know that watches are of interest to them, and personally I find the concept of an iWatch very compelling - perhaps more so than Google Glass. Watches are less intrusive that glasses, they are comfortable and lightweight, and already have some establishment in the form of iPod-nano-watch thingy-ma-bobbies. The only thing Apple has left to do here if provide an interesting UI with easy of use and clear benefits. They are good at this, and I would love for this to be the big announcement of WWDC.

TV

The TV space is a complete mess, and I doubt Apple can fix it just yet. They need to bring together their great hardware with a bunch of difficult content partnerships. TV has a long way to go, and maybe Apple will show one or two things that might demonstrate some movement, but nothing game changing is going to come this year.

Who Should Fix TV?

TV sucks. It's an expensive, anti-competitive, non-innovative medium, where technology has stagnated and stank for years. Box sets are clunky, user interfaces are slow and subscription services are a rip off. I myself don't own a TV for these reasons, and because I believe alternates are available that make for adequate entertainment. However I do think TV is a problem we need to solve, and one that can be solved. The big screen is the best way to experience great films, family TV shows, perhaps even the Internet (in some ways).

The question then arises around who should fix this. For a long time, eyes have glared at Cupertino, while Steve Jobs continually explained how TV's problem is getting to the market. The market is riddled with boring bureaucrats who maintain their oligopolistic strangle on the consumer. So it seems that even though Apple can deliver a tidy, sharp looking box like the Apple TV, with leading online services like YouTube and Netflix, the lack of premium content holds back any real sense of success. But the iTunes library could be reckoned with. Apple has worked hard in years past to built an impressive catalog of premium content, and the premium relationships that must exist in the offices to uphold it. Developing a more consumer friendly way to deliver these services to customers is not impossible, and Apple might have the right people to do it. My biggest concern for Apple's delivery will be their insistence that the hardware is also their own - it will be a cold day in Hell when Apple offers iTunes through the Xbox One.

I think out best bet is Google, and YouTube. TV is an ads business; it has been for years. Not only have ads funded TV for years, but ads have also delighted viewers and built huge brands in the process. Today's TV landscape is trembling under a serious lack of good ads. The problem was cable and satellite, and the arrival of the quadrillion channel service. Channels narrowed out audiences, and ads no longer appeal to the masses in an engaging way. They do sometimes, but often-times it's better to just scream and shout, so there's some slight trinket of a chance your voice is heard before your recipient inevitably switched focus to another channel in his or her saved list of favourites.

Google is a powerhouse of ad delivery expertise though. They innovate, like YouTube's skippable ads for example. With this product, Google gave a win-win to advertisers and viewers. An advertiser never pays if an ad is skipped before 30s, which means bad ads can get out of your way and doesn't hurt the advertiser's marketing budget. It creates a powerful incentive for the advertiser to use YouTube over other channels. Because Google will lose revenue if you don't watch the ad, it also creates an incentive for them to make sure the person viewing the ad will like it.

Since your TV experience also demands high quality, premium content, YouTube recently introduced an option for paid subscription channels. While these are few and far between, the options are laid out for a big content producer to take a chance on building an online audience here. And the audience is here - YouTube has engagement rates comparable to, if not higher than TV. But this will be a waiting game. The pieces are laid out, but TV production companies seem to have their hearts set on drawing out a stalemate as long as possible. They will neither make the risky bets to try and win market share, nor will they provide competitive online services on their own turf. I hope that just a few key industry players choose to test the waters, and offer show based paid channels, and we will see a big slide in the TV landscape. However I think it is far more likely we will wait for months, while the production value of online entertainment seeps up slowly.

Alongside Google, Netflix and now recently Amazon are also eyeing up their own slice of the pie. I for one am a frequent Netflix user. It mainly suits my needs by being cross platform, avoiding ads all together and providing reasonably quality content, although the offering in Ireland fares poorly to the US. Amazon seems to be building too similar a strategy, and I wonder how sustainable their goals of developing such high production value shows is. I feel that both of these companies fight an uphill struggle to continually build partnerships that we mentioned earlier that Apple had built. They may be better placed making some move similar to Google's, where content producers get the opportunity to deliver content on the platform under their own terms.

I've talked enough now, and I'm tiring at the weight of problems that face all these players. Hardware is something we've not yet touched on much; gaming, sports and movies are others that each bring their own challenges along with them. I'm sure we'll find a more sustainable TV solution, with great on demand services, premium content, and high quality relevant ads that are skippable. This seems almost certain to me. The only question that remains in my mind is whether we'll see a generation of cord cutters rise up before this problem is solved, a large body of users like myself who will find the entry costs too high to ever rejoin the market, and stick to enjoying their entertainment via simpler means, on a laptop in the comfort of my bed.

MSN Messenger, The Long Lost, Perfect Social Network

Recently, I've been making my small attempts to migrate friends and family to Google's new messaging platform, Hangouts. As a slight Google fatboy, it was music to my ears when my girlfriend exclaimed that it was "like having MSN [Messenger] back, but better." It's damn good: where WhatsApp is trapped on mobiles, Hangouts is cross device; where Facetime and iMessage are trapped on Apple products, Hangouts is cross platform; and where Facebook Messenger lags and the Android app acts clunky, Hangouts works smoothly and the Google cloud never fails to deliver a message on time. All this considered, I still can't agree with my girlfriend. To me, MSN Messenger is the long lost, perfect social network.

No seriously, it was just like a social network!

Some justification to go with the statement. Firstly, MSN Messenger felt closely knit to just those closest to you who you messaged often. Being a messaging platform first, it meant that interactions on the network were completely focused on talking to each other (you know, like, socialising.) But it was a social network. It had status messages, an earlier version of posting publicly. It could replace this status with the music you were playing, an early version of the frictionless sharing that Facebook still can't quite get right. It even let you keep records of all conversations, something we only just started reintroducing in messaging services. Throw in file sharing, a crazy load of emoticons, plugins and extensions and you've got a service that was way ahead of it's time, and for many reasons can't work on today's internet.

What happened? Who killed IM?

Over the years though, being social online moved slowly away from messaging, and gradually into a more "profile" based service. MySpace and Facebook delivered their service with the online profile in mind, as opposed to the actual talking to each other. Sharing was posting to a wall, for everyone to see. Having a presence was customizing your profile (even down to HTML on MySpace), adding movies and music you liked. The most important thing started to be you, and what people saw of you, rather than the conversations you were actually having with your friends. Chat moved into a sidebar.

The photos came along too. As Justin Timberlake said perfectly in the character of Sean Parker in The Social Network, we would come to re-live parties and other social events online, after they happened, and remember them forever. This is arguably the most important feature of modern social networking. Sharing pictures and memories. Messaging alone can't really deliver this service, it's an offshoot of the profile based social network. Your profile is not only where you house likes and interests, but the pictures you're tagged in.

Can we get MSN Messenger back?

I'd love for online networking to go back to something more similar to the days of MSN Messenger. Conversations were constant, and private. Group chats were easy to pull up, and sharing was simple. It was not about sharing everything with everyone.

This is where I really hold out for Hangouts. Google+ is the social network that's really built for all these services, more than any other. Sharing is much more easily managed with each and every post, messaging is integrated effectively across all major platforms and devices, and photos have never been better or easier. The new photos experience on Google+ auto-uploads your shots to it's backup service, curates hundreds of snaps, picking the best, auto-tunes these up, it even creates some animations and panoramas, and then gives you an album for review that can easily be shared with whomever you wish.

The only thing missing to bring the old MSN experience, is the crowd. While Google+ is still great for finding great content and networking with people across the web around your own interest and passions, even with Hangouts it still doesn't live up to the days of MSN Messenger.

TL;DR I'm going to blog much more this summer

It's 8:21pm, Monday the 27th of May, and I have decided I should blog more.

Back in college I had an Economics tutor who beat my brain into a religious discipline for good writing. We would write essays upon essays until we deeply appreciated the need to construct careful arguments, divide points neatly and in discussion with one another, tell a story with these points, and conclude with strong summaries. I miss the days I could whack open a test paper, read a daring statement, and generate pages and pages of academic evaluation. I miss college and university in this way.

"Discuss the difficulties of controlling inflation."

"Should the main macroeconomic aim of the government be full employment."

"Evaluate the benefits and costs of economic growth".

Nowadays, I can't even begin to answer these questions. That doesn't bother me, as knowledge fades and changes. What does bother me is that I can't replicate the integrity and detail that I approached these questions with, even when the topic at hand is something I have so much knowledge and opinion about.

With repeated practice, however, habits can be built. With real determination then, habits turn into talent. I'd really like to write better than I do today. I read so many great articles online by talented bloggers, especially since Google+ took off in a big way and drew a lot more content towards me. I read these bits and pieces and would love to challenge some of the opinions in them, but since University my writing has been out of shape. It's become sluggish without regular exercise. I can't only blame my work for this, but having less time is certainly a part of it. But I accept that it's on me to improve and develop skills that I want.

Merely writing this short realisation down on Blogger would not hold me to my conviction. I should quantify my success, know my KPIs (key performance indicators), and prepare my OKRs (objectives and key results).

For the first time ever, I will blog with the intent of growing an audience. I never liked the idea of it before, but it would act as a clear indication that my writing was improving, if my readers grew steadily. Secondly, quantity; I will aim to post informed and relevant content thrice a week. Probably 2 at weekends, and 1 during the week, reflective of when I have most free time.

So that's my summer challenge. I can't wait to get started, so I better get started and go hunting for my first topic.

HTC vs. Samsung

It feels like this battle may be coming to an end. With executives and engineers alike fleeing HTC, the One not meeting expectations, and the First also selling less that desirable, I'm sad to say a competent and respectable OEM may be on the way out of the mobile handset market.

As the owner of a Galaxy S3, I blame myself. At the time I was new to Android, and the marketing was all too much to bare. But as a tech enthusiast, I should have researched further, and harder. I wish I could say now that I had stood behind a great hardware manufacturer, instead of living in a Touchwiz world of plastic.

I'd like to get a conversation going about HTC, and whether they will be missed? I think I will. It's a great company for Android to have on it's team, for all those Apple fanboys who claim no-one makes hardware like the iPhone. While it may be true, HTC came pretty darn close, and a lot closer than Samsung ever have, and I believe ever will. Or am I calling this in too soon? Is there room for success yet?

Phone networks should drop minutes and texts, and just sell data.

Not long ago I was called by a sales rep of my mobile network provider (Three Ireland). Being a support centre worker myself, and being blissfully relaxed in weekend sun at the time, I decided to go easy on this chap and actual take his call and hear his pitch. To my genuine surprise, there was nothing valuable he had available for me.

The problem was that he had good plans designed to fit two users: those who want minutes, and those that want messages. He asked me which I was, and seemed disappointed to hear that I was neither. It dawned on me here that what I actually wanted wasn't a data focused plan; ideally I want a data only plan.

It's basically how I use my phone anyway. Most phone calls that I make are to Three, in order to check my balance and top up (I never got the hang of the text service). Who phones people these days, unless it's an absolute emergency? If I actually want to have a conversation with someone, rather than a text based chat, I'll video call them on Hangouts or ring them on FaceTime, and I'll do this through the comfort of WiFi. I'd love to have a mobile that I'd be happy to use as a phone, but the idea that my network provider is counting the minutes I use just seems nuts to me. Even when they are free, doesn't it seem weird? Imagine if you had a 1000 minute limit for FaceTime, or a 1000 message limit on Facebook Messenger. Even without charge, it doesn't seem like a good deal. SMS is a rip off, even in big bundles, and it's why WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage and recently Hangouts enjoy so much of our texting. Although not as poor as SMS, voice calling is also a poor service by carriers, and it's on the way out. Data only please.

The problem for carriers is that they were never going to win in the long run with these services. Internet giants and social network sites are much better placed to build the communication services themselves, where the network companies have to be the ones providing the network. Makes sense.

This is why I think we are very close to a time when we move over to data only plans. My prediction is that in less than 2 years we will see the first plan of this sort offered. Within 5 years I would expect it to be standard. The only thing making me nervous about these bets is the general public unwillingness to challenge their provider, and the provider's bitter unwillingness to compete aggressively on this front.

With a data only plan, the carrier only has to ensure a 3G or up connection for your device, and you're basically free to go with video, voice and text, with no issues. Of course, this is a little unimaginable for the time being, but on the 5 year timeline, its not completely unrealistic. Then what you want is your mobile OS to store contacts based on their service profiles. I, for example, would be in your contacts as a Google+ account. When you call me, through data only, my phone rings, and I see an incoming Hangout from you. Doesn't that make much more sense than using up your "minutes" when you call me? All we need for this to work is for carriers to provide strong data services.

Alright, over to you carriers. How competitive can you be with a data only plan? 

A Podcast A Day Keeps Boredom At Bay

When I was 13, me and a close friend of mine used to listen to Ricky Gervais' famous podcast, with Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington. I'd consider us to be one of the earlier adopters of podcasting, although certainly not the earliest. The Ricky Gervais Show was one of those podcast series that helped bring podcasts to the mainstream, but for the last few years I had completely lost touch with them. Before I stopped listening, I observed The Bugle for a long time, The Russell Brand show, till it hit an unfortunate scandal, and I could never forget the numerous IGN gaming podcasts through the week. I'm glad to say that in the recent weeks, my podcast affections have returned. Podcasting has come a lot further since Ricky Gervais proudly touted about having the most popular podcast on the web, but it's not changed by leaps and bounds.

On the one hand, it's a much more popular format, so much so that I can have enough podcast to fill my 90 minutes of commute every day. It's weird, because about 2 or so months ago I was trialling Spotify and other music discovery apps, to try and keep myself discovering new music I liked, because my commute was filled with tired crap, and a huge collection of overplayed songs from my earlier years. Now I don't have to care about music, because I've got enough podcast to fill all that time. Apologies if this is not news to you, but the amount of interesting podcast available out there was news to me!  It shouldn't be a surprise really - we've had 24/7 radio for years, and if they can fill the airwaves with that endless drivel, there was bound to be enough content amateurly produced once the format was available and simple to use. Podcasting arrived full fledged at some point. I'm not sure when it happened, but it has, and there's so much of it!

One thing the format could definitely use is more video adoption. I'm supposing YouTube harbours most of the online video content because of its underlying utility as a social network, as opposed to being simply for video consumption. However, since many podcasts seem to post their videos on their YouTube channel anyway, there definitely seems to be some work we can do to bring some collaboration between these formats. Could we foresee a future where podcasting has social plugged in? Who is even meant to work on these standards - leaders in RSS or someone like Apple who manufactures to most widely used platforms for podcasting? I haven't really thought much about this yet, and I don't really understand a lot of the technicalities involved - but I'd love to talk to someone who does know about this stuff.

Anyway, I'm glad I decided to come back to listening to podcasts. I'm really tempted to start my own, but I wouldn't know where to start, or with whom. There are probably many factors that led to me listening to less, but one important one is that there's no prominent podcast app plugged straight into Android; I'm guessing because Google doesn't really provide such a service. Furthermore, since the sunsetting of Google Reader the company seems to be leaning further away from doing this, rather than the other way round. It would be great to see them build something, not least because I'm sure YouTube and Google+ collaboration might bring about some of that built in social functionality.

Podcasts I'm currently subscribed to:

Answer Me This

The Vergecast

The Verge Mobile Show

The Bugle

Engadget

Lifehacker

Freakonomics Radio

The Android app I ended up going for was Pocketcasts. At €3.13, I'd consider it premium for what it does, and it's not flawless, so I'm keeping my eyes open for alternatives.

Facebook Home: Day One

I've installed Facebook Home for a field test today; here are some of my initial thoughts after a couple of hours of use.

Initially, Home felt needlessly disruptive. I'm used to seeing a highly customized Android experience, with rooted access widgets, launchers, customer icons etc. With time I got accustomed to this apperating system (courtesy: wired.com), and am starting to warm to having the social network come before any other interaction. Facebook could really do with some stream management though. As a Google+ user, I'm spoiled with great ability to distinguish which posts I want to access when, but Facebook has always found this hard. While they use lists, these are simply not as solid as Google's circles, which make it easy to manage what I see in the stream. Of course on Facebook, everything is based around being "friends", while Google+ respects that friends are just one part of my online social activity.

This small issue aside, I can't say enough about the build quality of Home. It's smooth, it's slick, it's reasonably fast, although it got a little laggy on the train where data is scarce. All in all, I'm super impressed. My favorite thing about Android is the ability to customize, but I can appreciate that most people don't have time to waste adjusting and tweaking their mobile. I've long wondered why companies don't spend more time developing different launchers, and finally put it down to technical road blocks. Maybe Android isn't as open as I thought. Wrong - Facebook have done an awesome job at refreshing your phone, and if you love Facebook, you've no choice but to go Android now.

3 Things To Do With Your New Android Phone That Will Help You Get Over Your iPhone

This post comes from watching a friend of mine buy his first Android device (a Nexus 4, after much deliberation) which reminded me of the time I made the switch. Coming to Android from an iPhone can be hard, especially since in many ways Apple are still ahead of the curve. However, with time, there is much to love on Android that can't be done with iOS, and this is where your new phone comes into it's own. These three things should make you happier with your decision, and avoid that awkward month where your phone feels daft and clunky, where you iPhone felt soft and smooth.

1. Find your love of widgets.

Preloaded on most Android devices is some generic clock, perhaps a Flipboard or Facebook and something else fairly simple like a Google search bar. There are fine, but they aren't yours. If you just leave the widgets that came on the home screen, you will not feel the love. Widgets come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, so one of the first things to do with your new phone is find the ones you need. Apps you need instant access to. Tool, settings, notes you need right there in your face.

Minimalistic Text: Let's you put a small box of text somewhere, horizontal or vertical, with all sorts of formatting options too. You can have it read things like time, battery status, date etc. I have a line to tell me what Wi-Fi network I am currently connected to. This is a pretty useful widget.

Power Toggles: This widgets give you some quick access toggles, and although a lot of phones come with some sort of toggle widget as stick, this has been my favorite to use so far.

Circle Battery Widget: Not for everyone, but with my device's short, one day battery, I like to know on immediate glance what kind of shape my battery level is in. I need this reminder right in front of me to make sure I plug in when needed.

2. Get ROMs and forget about the App Store

After years of being spoilt by the App Store's super easy usability  the Play Store can be a bit daunting for game hunting. However, this is because your Android has a lot more capability than an iPhone, and it's not easy to show off here. Android phones can play ROMs, and all you need is a decent emulator.

John GBC: I loved my Gameboy as a child, so this is go to games console for me. John GBC is inexpensive, and opens up a huge back catalog of classic games. Once you're playing Pokemon or Mario on your phone, you will really start to feel the freedom that comes with Android.

Word to the wise: Downloading ROMs of games you haven't purchased is illegal. There, I've told you. Whatever you choose to do with that information is on you now. Having said that, if Nintendo hunts you down for a game that hasn't been on store shelves for over a decade, then well, the world has really gone to shit hasn't it.

3. Get an icon pack and customize your look

All you really want here is the MetroStation Icon Pack. It's free, and quite customizable, so it should be all you need to get into a bit of customization on your icons. You're no longer a subject to your phone's strict UI. You can have it looks however you want now. Icons may not seem like a big deal, but they are one of the simpler things to do in terms of customization, and it's something not at all possible on your iPhone. If you love it, and want more, you can try some of the following medium/advanced steps...

Medium/Advanced

Get a different launcher. The launcher is essentially the UI that you see when booting the phone, so launchers can give you the feeling of a completely different phone, with tonnes more customization options. I use Nova Launcher.

Root it, and do awesome stuff. There's a lot of option possible once you have root access, that I won't even start going into. With Android being so open source, there's a big developer community building custom ROMs, so there's lots of fun stuff to try.

Torrent files straight to your phone. Don't download copyright stuff though cos that's evil etc. Think about those poor musicians who can't afford private jets anymore.

Rooted and Booted

My phone has been rooted, and the first course of action was to install the LMT Launcher that gives the phone pie controls. I've wanted this for a while, so I'm super excited that it's up and running. Moving round my phone feels super fast now, and after playing with a few other gripes (turning of Tag Buddy in the Gallery, for example) everything feels much faster than the out of store product.

But damn it's annoying how much effort this requires! It's great that Android it so customizable, but we've got a long way to go before most of the general public can appreciate these advantages. PC users were never able to clasp this - apps like GeekTool are used by a select minority because of the painful time investment in creating aesthetic desktops. But with mobile, I hope that this problem can be solved.

On mobile, there shouldn't really be as many barriers. Custom ROMs aren't exactly required either - a lot is achieved with launchers. What we do need however is a collection of launchers that don't offer customization and flexibility, but instead force settings and icon choices on the phone. Most people will be happy with this, and it will encourage people to see a new personality in Android. You can choose your own case for your phone, and if you get Android you can choose your own style of OS too. And while I know little about the challenges that may be ahead of designing a launcher this way, I suspect it will be a well rewarded effort.

Having to install Kies and drivers so that the computer can see my phone. Tiresome...

whoops, my phone never showed up in Odin. Weird. Need to keep reading.

Preparing to root my Galaxy SIII for the first time - super nervous...

CPA

At my day job, CPA means cost-per-acquisition bidding. But last night it meant nothing else but Chrome Packaged Apps.

I'm making a fresh start and giving it another go. Previous attempt ta app development stopped right after Hello World, but inspired by the Kendo video here, I've got fresh blood in my veins.

The idea is a simple reminder app. You see, at work we sometimes have need to consult a particular product expert, of which there are many, and depending on the area of expertise, they would hold office hourse at a specific time, day and place. This can become an awful lot to remember for most customer service reps. You soon realise you can't possible remember all office hours times and places, not to mention keeping tabs on when they change. This ends with tediously looking up online resources each time an issue comes your way you can't troubleshoot. Worse yet, sometimes you may forgo office hours, and send an email consult. I know... bad times. Office hours are way better than sending emails - the problem can be resolved there and then, instead of the ~24hr turnaround time for an email reply (in most issues).

We can't have that system. As soon as we know a situation is beyond our knowledge and immediate resources, we need the computer to take this off our hands, and tell us when the right expert is available and where. If necessary, a calendar entry should be easily entered based on this. That's the plan.

I am here too early. Oh so early.

Sum 41 etc.

I've spent the last few weeks reliving my teen years. Old Blink 182 albums, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Fall Out Boy and Sum 41 albums. Next on the list is Gym Class Heroes and Panic At The Disco!...

A Boring Life with Tasker

Urgh, biggest waste of €4.49 and possibly the most impulsive app I ever bought. I spent a few solid hours applying to automation to my phone with this app that fans consistently herald as the way to unlock the true power on Android. Probably true, but less than amazing in actual reality. Although it's great I can automate my phone to turn of stuff, and launch stuff and whatever, it's really down to a bunch of stuff I should really be expecting from the phone anyway. One popular use is to launch Google Music when the headphones are plugged in. Cool, but why not do it anyway. I guess part of the issue is the huge list of possible customisation for your automation. Or, maybe my phone just needs to get smarter on it's own. Seriously, I wasted time with this app, and highly doubt it's saving me enough frustration to warrant it.