The real chippper

Last night, we went to an art show at the Royal Arts Academy in Piccadilly after work and found ourselves looking for a place to eat when I remembered we weren't far from The Golden Hind. But, we'd never been there to eat since we came here to live almost two years ago.

On our first trip to London in 1985, we went there for dinner. It was recommended to us as Princess Diana's favourite. And, we weren't disappointed. Since coming here, we've tried a number of chippers around London and some have been very good. The most recent was Nautilus in West Hampstead.

But, I have to say that The Golden Hind on Marylebone Lane, just north of Oxford Street beats them all hands down. The restaurant is tiny and if it's full which it is most of the time, the queue is on the sidewalk outside. No beer or wine, but you can bring your own (even better). If you want to buy your drink afte ryou get there, there is a Tesco and two wine shops just around the corner. We both had haddock and chips and it was great. Perfectly cooked to a golden colour. Cirspy on the outside and perfect on the inside.

The place has had five owners since 1914 when it first opened. They are listed on a board in the restaurant. The first three were Italian and the last two have been Greek. If you come to London, don't miss this place. They do take reservations, but their hours are tricky, so check before showing up.

Will iPhone crush Android?

Some interesting speculation here as to why Android, Google's upcoming mobile platform, won't stand a chance against Apple's iPhone, rumored to be readying a 3G version of the phone to go along with its 2.0 software upgrade release scheduled for June.

According to this piece on the Android Guys blog, Google is not establishing any parameters with developers or carriers when it comes to software developed for the new platform. While the open source community will love this, it could wreck havoc on with ordinary consumers who just want a phone to work and aren't part of the tech elite. Those ordinary consumers could end up with dodgy software that could cause them all kinds of problems.

If this is true, one has to wonder what Google are thinking in terms of what they may be unleashing on the very customers who have placed such high trust in their products.

The Kindle

Does anyone have one of these? Being in London, it doesn't make any sense beause the wireless aspect wouldn't work over here and that's the whole benefit right now. But with the number od commutes every day on public transport, it seems like an obviously lucrative market.

If anyone who reads this has one, please drop a comment about how you like it. I have to assume they're selling quite well as they've been out of stock for some time and Amazon only recently got them back in. If I lived in the US, not sure I'd be all that interested. I do be more reading done here because a) I have an hour commute daily (both ways) and b) there is more time to read (TV isn't as good IMO).

Anybody's who into gadgets would have to like the concept. I especially like the idea of getting the newspapers every day. That's very clever.

iPhone not the hit carriers expected?

There are indications that the iPhone has not been the smash hit in Europe that carriers first expected. Carriers apparently overbought on inventory and are now dumping the 8BG handsets to clear the way for the new 3G models expected in June.

T-mobile in Germany, O2 and Carphone Warehouse in the UK have all discounted the handsets. Orange, the exclusive carrier in France, may be next to offer steep price cuts. In the UK, the price of the 8GB model was slashed more than a third to £169. This new price is only in effect until June 1, however. A spokesperson for O2 denied that the price reduction has anything to do with bloated inventory of the devices.

This is interesting as Europe is a very sophisticated market for mobile phones and has traditionally led the rest of the world in sophistication. The 3G network, for instance, is well built out here and most new multi-function or smartphones offer 3G. Thus, one of the reasons speculated why the iPhone might not have done as well as some expected. Because of its great web connectivity, the iPhone craves for fast connections. When you go to a store to play with one, they are always connected to a local WiFi network, not the cell network.

This is a good article in the Times outlining what may be coming with the iPhone, including some radical changes in form factor when the new models are expected to be announced June 8.

Google's stunning success

Google is the largest advertising company in the world and the largest seller of advertising in Britain. This is an American company, mind you, that recently passed ITV as the largest purveyor of advertising here.

Estimates are that Google ad sales worldwide will reach $21.9 billion this year. Concludes Saul Hansell of the New York Times:

We don’t know what effect this will have. Google will argue that it is making the world of marketing more efficient and thus better for everyone. Many in the media business are not so sure that this efficiency helps them.

When is winter going to end?

When is this f'ing cold weather going to end? Here it is halfway through April and a month into Spring and we're still suffering through freezing temperatures. On top of that, I got a dandy of a cold this week that is just beginning get better. It's the worst cold I've had in years.

This really does seem like bizarre weather. Just a week ago, we had several inches of snow! Then to add insult to injury, London was engulfed in terrible smelling air being dubbed Der Stink. Apparently freak weather conditions are causing the wind to blow foul smelling air over from Germany. So, the wind is making it cold and smelly.

By this time last year, we were all romping around in shorts and sandals. So, my question: Is this part of global warming? I thought it was supposed to get warmer, not colder. I'm confused. I'd really like to just get warm again and get over this damned cold.