How to (partly) avoid the O2 iPhone 3G S upgrade rip-off
So you bought the original iPhone when it was released in November 2006 and upgraded it to the 3G in July 2007 on an 18 month contract. Now you want to upgrade to the new iPhone 3G S on the 19th of June.
The problem – you’ve got six months left on your contract and O2 are going to charge you 6x £35 = £210 to get out of the contract, then £274.23 for the new 32GB iPhone and a new 18 month contract. Grand total £484.23.
A better way is to buy the new Pay & Go iPhone at £528.30, swop your old sim card into it, and sell your old 16B iPhone to MazumaMobile for £200. Grand total £338.30. A saving of £145.93.
As pointed out in this thread on Macworld UK, you’ll be able to continue your old contract until July 2010 and then be able to upgrade to the inevitable next iPhone release. O2 have confirmed to a couple of customers that your current sim card will work in a new Pay & Go iPhone.
Anything wrong with this logic?
[Update] Apparently not, as O2 confirm at the bottom of this page that your current sim card will work in a new Pay & Go iPhone.
[Update 2] Apparently yes. @rickythegeek (thanks Ricky) points out on twitter that you can sell the old iPhone to MazumaMobile whichever route you take. That brings down the price of paying off your old contract and taking out a new one to £284.23, the better deal by £54.
On further reflection I think I’ll stick with Plan A and buy a Pay & Go iPhone and continue the old contract. Although it will be £54 more expensive the contract will have expired by July 2010 making the next upgrade cheaper and easier.
Air France 447 – Analysis of Weather Conditions
Tim Vasquez, of Weather Graphics, has carried out a detailed meteorological analysis of the likely conditions that AF447 flew into on 1 June 2009. It’s extremely interesting reading for all professional pilots.
Solent Sunset
We’re having some fabulous sunsets on the South Coast. The photograph was taken this evening, in fact, it’s five photographs, each at a different exposure, blended together in a technique called High Dynamic Range (HDR).
[Update] Just after I uploaded this photo, I saw this article online – “There are at least 10 great pictures within 10 meters of you right now.” What a great idea! Anyway, I submitted my sunset…
This photo will probably appear on Picture of the Day in due course…
Karen’s Day Skipper Course
Karen set off on her Day Skipper Course today. I was going to go sailing as well but my sailing got cancelled so I was on hand to record her departure.
Moo Cards
I just wanted to put a shout out for Moo mini cards. They’re small business cards, probably more suitable for personal use than business as they’re less formal than the kind you get given in meetings.
Go to their web site, upload a few photos, and arrange the personal information that you want on the back. You order Moo mini cards in batches of 100 and the photos you select are divided equally, so you can upload anything from 1 to 100 images! You can see some great examples on Flickr.
I’ve been using them for a couple of years. £10 for 100.
Time-Lapse Photography Captures Galactic Core of the Milky Way
From gizmodo:
This gorgeous video is a compilation of shots taken with a Canon EOS-5D every 20 seconds over about nine hours at a star party in Fort Davis, Texas. It’s a humbling sight. Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo. Some specifics: The Canon was equipped with a fisheye lens (an EF 15mm f/2.8 lens) and powered with an external battery to capture all that goodness. The more interesting part is the replacement anti-alias filter the photographer, William Castleman, used: The Canon’s stock AA filter blocks out certain red wavelengths to achieve a “more desirable” skin tone, but if it’s replaced with a filter that lets those wavelengths in, you’ve got yourself a camera capable of shooting a galaxy, as seen here, even if we can’t see it with the naked eye. Really, really cool stuff. [Vimeo via Crunchgear]Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.
Logitech Harmony 1100 Universal Remote
I recently picked up the new Harmony 1100 Universal Remote to replace my very tired Philips Pronto RU890. The Pronto is very powerful but took weeks to program satisfactorily and I dreaded having to reprogram it if I found an error in a sequence of IR codes or I replaced a home entertainment component. Part of the dread was due to the Windows only software and part to the old serial port which required something like a Keyspan USB-Serial adaptor to connect with – the whole process was hit and miss…
Japan Airlines B747 engine sucks up cargo container
BBC news report Not sure what the delay code would be for this!
Hong Kong Photos
Some photos from my last trip to Hong Kong – more on Flickr and an island panorama on the panoramas page.
Virgin Galactic’s White Knight 2 in flight
HDR Images
I’ve downloaded and installed the Photomatix High Dynamic Range plug-in for Aperture. Here are my first efforts at HDR images, from a walk around Lac de Montriond, near Morzine, France.
