My iPhone application, Yummy, has been on sale in iTunes for a couple of months now and, as a number of other developers have noted, after the initial launch sales figures take a significant nose dive very quickly. I’ve been trying to think of ways to increase visibility without taking too much time away from actually making enhancements to the software.

As luck would have it, I got a “free trial” of Google AdWords and thought I would give that a try. Results have been… well, not exactly what I was expecting.

• OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7 – Everything you wanted to know about the next version of OS X and Windows but were too afraid to ask…
• Questions for Anyone Who Voted for Proposition 8 – Prop 8 was California’s ballot asking whether the state constitution should define marriage as between a man and a woman. Religious groups (mainly) raised enough money and support to pass it.

• Smith ID comments ‘beggar belief’ – I did wonder myself when Smith said that people couldn’t wait to get their own ID card. What do they think they’re going to do with them? Also regarding the cost: “It is already accepted there are associated costs when people apply for identity documents including driving licenses and passports such as the Post Office’s check and send service or costs for photographs.” Yes, but those documents give the holder some kind of benefit.
• Blears attacks political bloggers – Is it any wonder that “people [have] disdain for the political system and politicians” when, as Blears says herself, most MPs are ‘career’ politicians with little experience of the world that their constituents inhabit. Also (sorry, it’s only a short rant) does it not point to a failure in the system when so many people can be aganist ID cards, 42+ day detention, etc, yet the governing party repeatedly tries to push through laws for the same?
• Brits accolade for Pet Shop Boys – This kind of award normally indicates the end of a career. Hope that’s not the case this time!

• E-mail error ends up on road sign – Never use a translation that you don’t understand!
• A third dimension: Ars reviews Photoshop CS4 Extended – “With the tabbed interface, Adobe has clearly reached for the lowest hanging fruit, and it’s rotten in every way.” The new version of Photoshop is faster and with some neat new features but takes a step back on the Mac UI-wise. But I’ll be sticking with PS Elements until I win the lottery…
• Oct. 29, 1675: Leibniz Sums It All Up – Much of this was discussed in the BBC’s recent “Story of Maths” series (well worth seeing). It’s fascinating how critical getting the right notation is. Having said that, even the ‘right’ notation was too hard for me when it came to multiple integration!

George W. Bush stars in the latest (and little publicised) in the gory Saw movie franchise. In it he discovers some interesting new “enhanced interrogation” techniques and finds that getting out, with no recourse to legal representation or trial, is, quite literally, torture.

• Sarah Palin; ‘I’m voting Obama’ – “Sarah Palin represents the latest in a series of high profile Republicans who have come out for the Democratic candidate. John McCain refused to accept that having his running mate vote for his opponent represented any sort of a set-back and claimed that many people would be switching their allegiance back and forth over the next week or so.”
• Peter’s Evil Overlord List – “If an advisor says to me ‘My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?’, I will reply “This.” and kill the advisor.” Bond films would be much shorter and less fun if the bad guys had read this list…
• UK confirms e-voting death – Voting machines are a great way to steal an election. Looks like British politicians will need to find a new angle.
• WordPress 2.6.3 – I’ve upgraded ZX81.org.uk to the latest version of WordPress, the underlying blogging software. Usual drill: if you see anything broken please let me know.

• ‘No God’ slogans for city’s buses – I like the idea. Looking forward to seeing the buses on London’s streets next year!
• First Quantum of Solace Reviews Arrive, Unveil Dark Adventure – “It seems the fun, flippant Bond of Sir Roger Moore (and even Pierce Brosnan) is long gone.” Good!
• Timeline: 42-day detention – Although defeated in the Lords, I suspect that this is not the last we’ll hear of this. But well done peers for voting sensibly.

• Some soothing words from Sir Bonar about the latest MoD data loss episode – “We have well-rehearsed procedures for playing down the importance of such incidents, and launching the requisite internal enquiries to establish the precise chain events leading up to the loss. This has been refined over the course of 658 laptop losses and the reported losses of 26 portable memory sticks so far this year.”
• Tattoo clue led police to thief – I love these “dumb criminal” stories.
• 17-85 Exposed – A fascinating look at how the Canon EF-S 17-85 lens is put together. The number of components kind of explains why it is so expensive! I think I’d hesitate before doing that with mine even if it had broken!

After fretting about my level of fitness and my ability to do the cycling less than a week ago it’s odd that I am now feeling sad that today is the last on a bike. And there’s not even much in the way of difficult terrain. It’s 46km mainly on good cycle paths and a little on roads.

The plan is to cycle from Pirna, stop for lunch in Dresden and spend the night, the last in Germany before heading back to Prague, in Meißen, a town famed for, well, we’ll get to that soon enough.

Maybe it’s being born on and spending most of my living on an island, but there’s always something a little special about crossing a land border. Today I would be crossing from the Czech Republic into Germany.

But first I stock up on supplies and check out the main attraction in Děčín, a castle. It dates back to 1305 and, unfortunately, looks like it. It’s had many and varied uses, but the last occupants, the Soviet army, did not leave it in pristine condition. They are busily working on restoring it — from a distance it looks great — but there is an awful lot of work still to do.