FIFA10
FIFA10 has been around for a lot longer than PES, so I’ve played it an awful lot more. It’s also had some updates, which did resolve some of it’s initial niggling problems (like not multi-tasking properly). I’ve played a about 7 seasons worth of manager mode, and most of a season in Be A Pro mode. I’ve played in Amateur, Semi-Pro and Pro levels, too.

Pros
– Manager Mode and Be a Pro are excellent additions to the game, increasing it’s longevity and playability
– The variety of button combinations makes for a very in-depth (albeit complex at times) control system
– The game play is fast
– Menu system is responsive
– Good “training” subsystem

Cons
– Mis-hitting controls is easy to do, and it seems to misregister at lot of the time (this is possibly a problem with multi-touch on the HTC Desire – I am investigating further at this point)
– Some moves which should be simple aren’t – double-tap for a cross is very hard to get right.
– “Manager” mode doesn’t really involve much management beyond formation. You can’t see health or fitness levels from the team screen, so you can’t make tactical decisions based on player’s suitability
– Free kicks seem overly complicated to get right – scoring from a free-kick should be an art form, not black magic.
– The change in difficulty between amateur and semi-pro is _huge_; it was bad enough I almost gave up. Semi-pro to pro has been easier to handle.
– You basically run everywhere because the slower option is much harder to achieve

PES2011
PES I have played mostly on the Nook, which has a much bigger screen, which shows off the graphics nicely. I’ve been playing in Regular and Professional levels. I’ve played a European club competition, an international cup and most of a league season.

Pros
– Quick-game – auto-picks the teams and just jumps straight in. Perfect
– Controls are big and simple. Complex passing manouvers are simple
– Scoring overhead kicks! It’s easy, and it’s fun
– Replay system is excellent, and offers saving your replays to a gallery

Cons
– Sometimes it’s hard to select items on the menu.
– No manager mode, despite having better team management system – you play 1 season on a league, and that’s it. No cups, or anything
– Not the real teams – usually find, but surely “Merseyside Red” should at least have a red team strip, not blue…..?
– Player selection is mostly automatic, which can be frustrating
– Penalty kicks are too hard to take (IMO)
– Menu system with slide-then-press is awkward – often it slides when you’re trying to tap; “Tap Anywhere” splash screen is pointless
– Training system only offers free-play and penalties

So – which one do I play the most? Well – it depends on a number of other factors. PES is more “arcadey” – easy to pickup and play a game. FIFA feels more in-depth, but it does require an investment of time to get used to the controls and difficulty level. If PES had a better “manager” mode (seasons, transfers, etc) then it would win outright.

mrBen

Looking back over the years since that happens, I am aware that, along with the ‘physical’ changes in my life – children, houses, jobs, etc – there have been a number of spiritual changes to contend with. While much of the church have been steeping themselves in the teaching from Bethel Church in Redding, California, I’ve mostly been drawing on the wisdom of Mark Driscoll, and through him John Piper, Tim Keller, and a few others. All of which has made the decision to move back into leadership a lot harder – my view of leadership has been challenged by rereading the passages in Titus and Timothy that identify the quality of a leader. The call to be “above reproach” is a scary, but valid, one; I’m pretty sure that I fail that one on a regular basis. Equally, the call to lead my family in a way that indicates that I am “fit for purpose” is something that I think about most days as I look to be a not just a good, but a godly father to Mira and Jamie, and a godly husband to Heather.

I am reminded of a bit from the end of the film Prince Caspian where Aslan calls on Caspian to rise as a King of Narnia, and Caspian says “I do not think I am ready” and Aslan replies “It is for that very reason that I know you are.” I am not sure I am necessarily ready for the rigours of leadership based on the criteria of the New Testament, but I do know that I want to do my best. I’ve been at Whiteinch for as long as I have because I believe in it and the work that it does. It’s not perfect, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying to make it so. It is an honour and a pleasure to be able to serve in this way.

mrBen

Unboxing

The bike arrived completely unscathed from the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative, and opening the box revealed a bike that looked shiny and new and big. First impression seems to focus on the tyres. They are _huge_. 26″ wheels with 1.95″ wide tyres. Likewise the handlebars are _wide_. The bike came with a little dual-ended allen key which handles adjusting the stem, bars and seat, along with a little EBC bag, some instructions, and a flat multi-spanner for attaching the pedals. Putting the pedals on was a piece of cake, as was adjusting the handlebars. Getting the saddle right is a lot trickier, because the angle of the seatpost is extremely laid back, meaning my usual measurements didn’t work very well.

Considering the size of the bike, and the “extras” – built-in rack with board, kickstand, bell, full mudguards – it’s actually reasonably light.

There were only 2 real disappointments in the package. Firstly, the pannier that I had bought attaches with plastic clips that are far too small to clip onto the oversized railings of the integrated rack on the bike. Secondly the (very nice) wooden deck appears as if it may have been incorrectly attached to the bike, although I’m not 100% and it hasn’t in any way hampered the bike, so I’m not actually bothered.

First ride

Going from a road bike to this is like going from black and white TV to colour. Essentially it’s the same thing, but it’s really a whole lot different. The geometry of the frame is so laid back that you do feel as if you are reclining. The bike is ultra-stable, which is great for commuting on Glasgow roads. The handlebars are so wide that it feels a bit like you’re riding a Harley. The brakes are fantastic and, being internal, don’t degrade in the wet Glasgow weather. The gearing is just about right for my commute – lowest gear is probably a shade higher than my old bike, and highest is maybe a touch lower, although it’s difficult to tell because of the difference in riding position.

Interestingly the bike makes me want to go both faster and slower than before. The stable geometry and wide handlebars make riding slow very easy and relaxing. The geometry and the brakes make going fast great fun and much less scary. The enormous tyres make for a smooth ride over potholes and have loads of grip in this mornings slush. The saddle is sprung which is also nice and comfy, although the seat-tube is angled so far back that the saddle can’t actually go horizontal, which I’m not sure I like, but will leave for the moment.

Under heavy pedalling one of the cranks does knock against the chainguard slightly, but it’s not bad enough (or frequent enough) to be a proper annoyance. Riding out of the saddle will take some getting used to because of the width of the bars.

Probably the hardest thing is getting used to a more laid back riding position. It feels like I’m using different muscles, and at times it feels somehow less efficient. It also doesn’t feel like it’s accelerating all that quickly when I first start off. It will be interesting to see whether this is actually true over a long period of riding and timing my commute.

Conclusion

This is a cruiser bike, and it lives up to it’s name. I feel like cruising around in it. I feel like I would be much more likely just to jump on it and ride, which was part of the plan. Not that I didn’t like riding my previous bike, but this feels inherently more practical for some reason. It’s also more fun to ride, and more comfortable.

Watch this space for long(er) term review.

mrBen

My initial choice (for various reasons) was the excellent Kona Ute, the cheapest cargo bike on the market. Having a longtail would certainly have been fun, although possibly not as practical is it might have been. However, it was not to be, mostly for financial reasons.

And so, arriving in my life tomorrow, is the Charge Steamer, purchased from the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative. Charge is a UK company too, and they make some really decent kit. The Steamer is a bit of a quirky bike, with it’s integrated rack, and hub gears and brakes. But I think that it will make an excellent low-maintenance commuting bike, as well as attracting a few looks for it’s odd shape.

Interestingly, I think that this choice of bike is indicative of a number of changes and realisations about my life:

• It’s not a speed machine, but I’m more interested in getting there than getting there quickly
• I’ve realised that I will rarely do weekend long distance runs, or touring, or LeJOG. I need a bike that will be reliable for commuting and short runs
• I like quirky. I didn’t want just another ordinary looking bike.
• I want a bike that’s useful and pragmatic. While not a cargo bike, I hope that the built-in rack will proved useful for carrying stuff
• I want a bike that’s comfortable, for me and occasionally Heather.

Delivery is due tomorrow, so hopefully my first ride will be Wednesday morning

Along with a new bike comes a new target. Given the increase in distance I gained from moving house, and the increase in diesel costs, I’m aiming for 2500 miles this year. It’s a bit of a stretch, but I am confident that it is achievable.

mrBen

If you find a broken link, please post the link here, and I will endeavour to fix it ASAP.

mrBen

Last week I finally achieved one of the targets I set forth in January, namely cycling 1000 miles on my ‘new’ bike. All but a handful of those miles have been done whilst commuting, although I am still a few days short of my 200 days (assuming I’ve been tagging my rides correctly…). Even discounting costs I will have saved over £400 by the end of the year, and I plan to continue with the cycle commuting, even with the longer commute now involved.

Most importantly, I still enjoy it. Sure there are days when it’s cold and rainy, but you’d be surprised how few they actually are considering the reputation of Glasgow. My commute is still 50% cycle path, which is quite relaxing (although when the ice arrives that will have to stop by necessity). Oh, and I’ve (so far) only had 1 puncture the entire year, which is also quite surprising.

I’m hoping to get a new bike at some point in the new year, to save on a long list of things that are likely to need repairing on the old bike that would add up to distinctly more than it’s worth. Given that my mileage is likely to double to 2000 miles next year, this seems like a decent investment. I might get my brakes done first though, as they’re getting a bit urgent (well…. the brakes are actually get less urgent by the day, which is the problem….)

Roll on 2011…

mrBen

1. I’ve lived in Glasgow for 14 years now. This is the first time I will have lived outside the Scotstoun/Whiteinch area (1 year in Scotstoun, 13 years in 5 flats in Whiteinch). It may only be 2.6 miles (as the Google drives) from our current flat, but it feels like a lot further when you’ve lived in flats all with a mile radius of each other.

2. Although 2.6 miles isn’t all that far, it’s not reasonably walkable, especially with small children. (Not impossible, I grant you, but not ideal). But most of our friends, and most of the things we go to, are still in Whiteinch. This will probably mean that the bike will get more usage for going to meetings and the like.

3. We’ve been married 11 years, and we’ve spent 5 of them in this flat.

4. Both our children were born while we were living in this flat.

5. We’ve not had a window in the bathroom for the last 10 years! (Nobody seems to understand how significant this is….)

6. Lastly, and, I suspect, most importantly, this is very much an investment in a number of ways. We’re obviously investing financially, and this will require a certain amount of rejuggling. Also, though, we’re investing in our future and the future of our children – we don’t expect to be moving again (God willing) for a number of years, and so this house will be the house that our kids grow up in, and probably the one they will remember the most. And we’re investing spiritually in both our ministries – looking to make more space for hospitality for starters, but also a better living space for us to live and work in. With Heather’s work with Source kicking off, things for her (and consequently for the rest of us) could well be changing significantly in the next few months.

So – looking forward to it, but with a certain awareness of changing times. House warming party will follow At Some Point (TM)…

mrBen

3G Watchdog
One of the first apps I installed, and it’s never going away. In order to get a cheap deal on my phone, I only have limited mobile internet (80MB). This isn’t a big problem, because I’m mostly in range of wifi wherever I go. But keeping track of what I have used is really handy. This little app sits in the notification bar, and monitors all your mobile internet usage. You can set up warnings based on your billing dates and allowance, and it’s even possible to have it turn off 3G when you’re about to hit your limit (via an additional app). Small, but perfectly formed. I can’t see why anyone wouldn’t have this installed….

Aldiko
It’s an ebook reader. I haven’t read huge swathes of books, so I can’t comment a lot, but the app seems competent enough. Doesn’t handle PDFs, which is a shame for some of the books that I have that don’t come in ePub format.

Angry Birds (beta)
This was a MASSIVE hit on the iPhone, and the beta was released a couple of weeks ago on Android. It’s great fun. I’ve played through all the levels and am now going back to try and get 3 stars on all levels. (Currently all but 5 are on 3, and those 5 are on 2). Massively addictive with cute graphics and sound. Can’t wait for the full version to arrive.

Astro File Manager
Do you really need a file manager on a phone? If you do, then this is the one to have I do use it every now and then, and it also has a good task manager and a load of other little administrative applications that are quite handy.

Barcode Scanner
Just about every website that talks about Android apps shows a QR code for you to scan, but the phone doesn’t come with a scanner built in! This is one of the recommended ones, and I add my recommendation.

Bible
CrossConnect
OK – I have 2 Bibles installed, although I’m really waiting for the ESV guys to finish porting their iPhone app across. The first one here is from YouVersion, an online Bible reading community that was created by LifeChurch.tv. The CrossConnect Bible does come with a nice daily verse widget for your homescreen. I tend to use the CC Bible more, although the interface is a bit ugly, and the YouVersion team have made a number of updates to their app since I last used it in anger.

EnRoute
Nifty little app that links with a web service to tell people where you are based on your GPS. Great if you travel long distances to family, so they can see you coming.

FIFA10
I love football games, and I’ve always had a soft spot for FIFA on the PC. I’ve played quite a lot of this game since I got it. Sadly, it’s not perfect. On-screen controllers aren’t ideal in any situation, but these can be pretty bad at times. Plus the number of press and swipe options for the 2 “buttons” is quite bewildering. On the plus side, the graphics are nice and the sounds are OK. And you get the “Be a Pro” mode where you get to play a single player rather than the whole team. I’m not convinced as to how much management the computer does in “Pro” mode, although I’ve not played that the most. In manager mode it’s far too easy to buy players – I bought David Villa and Lionel Messi to Liverpool without any problems – and there doesn’t seem to be any good way of tracking things like player fitness and form in the middle of a game. Plus, it seems to forget my team management changes quite a lot.

All these things would be bearable if it wasn’t for the fact that the difference in difficulty between Amateur and Semi-Pro wasn’t so huge. I played a season at Amateur level and won the Premiership, then switched to Semi-Pro and got relegated. I scored about 3 goals in the whole season, with 2 being from corners. Now – I may not be brilliant at the game, but I would expect the gaps between difficulty levels to be smaller. Heaven help me if I ever try “Professional”, let alone “World Class”!

gStrings
It’s a guitar (and other stringed instrument) tuner. I downloaded it when the battery in my built-in tuner died and I didn’t have a spare. Seems to work really well. If you’re a musician, definitely worth having to hand.

Heavy Gunner
Futuristic game where you have 2 big guns (and rockets and plasma rifles, etc, etc) and have to shoot loads of baddies. Basic premise. Brilliant game. The controls are great too – 1 circle under each thumb a bit like a D-Pad, but the aiming system makes it really usable and great fun. Good graphics, good sound. Highly recommended.

IMDb
Same as the website, but on your phone. Nicely implemented, although I only use the search function rather than all the (seemingly US-centric) content on the front screen.

LinkPush
Android 2.2 _should_ be on my phone by the time you read this, at which point this app goes away. Simply put, this ties in with a little plugin on my laptop’s web browser. I click the button on the browser and it sends the link to my phone. Start up the app on my phone, and it loads the page on my phone browser. FroYo (Android 2.2) does this (and a whole lot of other clever stuff) better, but if you don’t have 2.2 this can be quite handy.

Remote Notifier
Found this recently. It combines with an app on my laptop and pops up notifications on my laptop screen whenever I get a phone call, text message, and things like that. It also does battery state notification too. Most usefully, it mutes the audio on my laptop when my phone is ringing – perfect if I have headphones on!

Skies of Glory
I got this game along with a guy in the office to try out the multiplayer between iPhone and Android. It takes a while to get used to the controls – it’s a “proper” flight sim rather than arcade style. It seems like a really competent game, although I haven’t played enough to give an informed review.

Soccer Livescores
Does what it says on the tin. Does it well. Notifications and stuff too. There’s a whole betting community system built in, but I’ve never used it so can’t comment. Covers pretty much every league in every country.

Super KO Boxing 2
An arcade style boxing game with great cartoony characters. Nice progression of difficulty too. Great graphics and sound and controls. Can’t complain

SwiftKey
Installed this only yesterday. It’s a keyboard replacement. It tries to guess the next word you are likely to type in your sentence and offers it. A bit like standard predictive text, but guessing the next word as well as the current word. Initial impressions are that it’s pretty good, although I think it’s a bit ugly compared to the stock HTC one.

Time-Lapse-Lite
We do a fair bit of time lapse photography at work and I thought it would be fun to play around a bit with it. The Lite version of this app only does a small resolution, but it was enough for a bit of lunchtime animation. I might get the full version for a bit of time lapse for church.

Visual Task Switcher
This is basically the same as what you have when you Alt-Tab on a PC, or a bit like Expos̩ on Mac Рyou get a visual representation of all the open applications when you press the Home key (or another configurable key). Plus you can force close them from there if you require. I had been looking for something like this for ages, and I love having it.

WordPress
For handling your WordPress blogs. Does exactly what you need.

Force Close Button
Adds a force-close option to the slide-down notification panel. Works brilliantly – thoroughly recommended.

Winds of Steel
Another flight sim. A bit more arcade-y than Skies of Glory, but great fun to play.

• EuroDroid – not only because it’s for non-US news, but because the humour is quintessentially British.
• Android and Me – probably my favourite Android news site (other than EuroDroid) although I do read a couple of others.
• Android Game Reviews – a small site by one man, but he posts reviews frequently, and I find them to be accurate and fair.

That’s just a taster of all that is out there. I will hopefully post some of my pick of apps and games within the next few days.

mrBen

My Shinies!

....sleepy...

mrBen