I’ve had my iPhone for over a year now. O2 have got more money out of me than they really deserve given how much I actually use it as a phone, but overall I’m still very happy with it. This is all the more surprising when you consider that I’ve been disappointed with pretty much every phone I’ve had over the years. The last one I was actually happy with was a Nokia 6310i, one of those boring but ultra-competent devices that basically just works. I even got nearly two weeks on a single charge; I barely get two days on the iPhone.

In my mind, this weeks PhotoFriday theme, “The Weekend,” is linked with the “Morning Routine” theme a couple of weeks ago. I guess that’s my fault for using my weekend breakfast routine last time. I fought the temptation to use the same image, and instead used this spot we used for brunch a couple of times when we were in Lille, France.

In the end it was the reliability that did it. Over the last few months my trusty 300D has been coming up with odd errors, refusing to recognise memory cards and generally getting cantankerous. Luckily I have always been able to coax it back to life but in the end the thought of travelling somewhere and have it fail became more painful than the anticipated hole in my bank account.

• The Numbers Post (aka Brutal Honesty) – “I hope that this article might serve as a counter-point to the articles that seem to go around the web about devs making hundreds of thousands of dollars off an iPhone app. Everyone within the dev community understands that the odds of that happening are very slim, yet those are the stories that people like to hear.”
• Why we’ve reached the end of the camera megapixel race – I had many reasons for upgrading from my 300D, but the 6MP sensor wasn’t one of them.
• Bring bad design to justice – Do your part…

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Isolation.” It was tempting to use an image in the Himalayas or an empty snowscape in Norway, but I figured being alone and isolated in a crowd was worse. Okay, so this chap isn’t in a crowd but he is in the biggest city in Portugal and he is isolated, alone in his thoughts.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “City Life.” My entry is number 209.

• Ryanair’s New Emergency Instructions Could Be Real One Day – Funny. Though we probably shouldn’t give them ideas.
• Liberal Democrats – Freedom Bill 2009 – I didn’t hear about this first time around, but it sounds like a good idea. As one of the commenters noted, even if it doesn’t go anywhere it might make the Government justify why these laws are needed when there are perfectly good, less draconian one already in place.
• Among the Inept, Researchers Discover, Ignorance Is Bliss – “People who do things badly … are usually supremely confident of their abilities — more confident, in fact, than people who do things well.” I can’t actually remember how I stumbled across this link any more, but it makes fascinating reading. Does kind of make you a little paranoid, though.
• 10 Geeky Tricks for Getting Out of Bed in the Morning – I should probably read this more closely when I’m properly awake. I’m getting worse and worse at getting up in the morning…

I always consider one of the constants of “City Life” — this weeks PhotoFriday — are rows of taxis. In London they’re usually black. In New York they’re yellow. And there are a lot of them!

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Morning Routine.” I’m entry number 173.

• ID Card Database *Already* Breached – “Yes, that will be a good excuse, won’t it: honest guv, I just inadvertently clicked on Gordon Brown’s ID card information….” Does anyone still think they’re a good idea? I especially like the argument that because it’s been broken it’s more secure. Nice.
• Who profits from the App Store? – A rather more balanced piece about the iTunes App Store than we typically see. Certainly I’m nearer the one copy a day end of the spectrum than the quarter of a million dollar in a couple of weeks you normally see in articles like this… (via @neilinglis)
• Straw slaps ban on Iraq debate docs – How, in a democracy, does one person get to decide this? Surely taking a country to war is in the public interest?!

• Does University Challenge really test intelligence? – No. Knowing a bunch of obscure facts isn’t intelligence. If that’s the measure, then Wikipedia is way smarter than Einstein or Newton or Gauss or Darwin.
• Review: Canon EOS 5D Mark II – If anyone wants to buy 5000 copies of Yummy so that I can afford one of these I’d very much appreciate it.
• Creationists are still denying Darwin. Stephen Moss asks why – “What worries me about many of her fellow creationists is that they begin with the Bible and then start looking for scientific evidence to back up what their faith tells them is true.” That and the fact that they keep coming up with the same arguments.

This image represents my “Morning Routine” on a weekend. Croissants and tea are the way to go for a relaxing start to the day.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Pet.” I don’t want to guilt-trip you into voting for entry number 138, but it might give Cornelius’ short life meaning if you do. (No pressure.)