Is it just me or is the new TV programme - Red or Black? - just a little disturbing?
I feel sad, in much the same way as when I watch X-Factor. People are pinning their hopes and dreams on the tiniest of chances to win a substantial sum of money, in this case £1million.

Why is it that people with little or no talent feel that they have a right to become famous with little or no effort?

We are still presented with 'Celebrities' on reality shows, celebrities that I and many others around me have never even heard of. The audience for these programmes would seem to aspire to the same goals.

Is any of this really entertainment? I know it's cheap. I know it's easy. But entertainment? I am constantly reminded of the old fashioned 'Freak Shows', or townspeople staking there seats to watch floggings or hangings.The arena stage also conjures up a scene of gladiators and slaves being thrown to the lions.

How far are we from a situation where people are gambling with their lives for real? Is any risk acceptable? And if the risk is only imagined, are we being manipulated?

Of course we are being manipulated. That is what television does. But will we be in charge of setting boundaries? I'm not sure.

I Just Had To.....

After many years using a basic 'dumb' phone, I was contacted by 3 mobile and advised that I was due an upgrade. But what to choose? I regularly listen to 'tech' podcasts and couldn't understand the attraction of mobile phones that seemed to do everything with little discussion of how they actually worked at making calls!

So I started looking. Touchscreen? Ok, why not? Large screen? Yep. Fastest processor? Of course!
The courier arrived a few days ago, with small plastic bag, containing a box that looked a bit smaller than I expected, containing a ........ Samsung Galaxy S 2. What an amazing gadget!

Now I can actually see the internet on a hand held device (eyesight not as good as it was) I can play games more complex than Snake or Tetris. But the best bit? I can ask it to do things and it understands me! This phone is Android based so Google is a significant partner. I say the name of a restaurant and the town it's in and a few seconds later a female voice is directing me straight to the front door! 

Yep, I've been sucked in. But I love it. I guess it's because I love things that work properly and do the things I want them to do. The Samsung is pretty close to my ideal.

I'll let you in on a secret though. I spent the last weekend trying out my new phone. Texting and Calls were easy - I just used the Contacts list. Come Monday afternoon I had to make a call to someone not on my Contacts List. How do you do that? I couldn't find a number keyboard! In the end I gave up! I had to use the Android Forums on the internet that evening to find out how. It wasn't very intuitive having scrolled right for everything then finding out that I needed to scroll left this time! I was just relieved a little to find out that I wasn't the only one with this problem.

Ah well I learn something new every day. (Just didn't expect it to be something so daft on that day!)