Here’s another tip.

If you didn’t know already, you can now combine multiple Hotmail / Live email accounts into a single account (or pretty close to) - which means you only have to log in using one account to check the mail in all of the others.

For someone like me who rarely uses my Hotmail accounts these days, it’s handy to speed up the process by merging my hotmail.co.uk and hotmail.com addresses.

You can do this by:

1. Logging into Hotmail as usual
2. Click on your email address in the top right hand corner of the page (right above the Sign Out text link)
3. From the drop down, select Link other accounts
4. Follow the instructions to tie in your Microsoft Passport/Hotmail/Windows Live Mail

You will be asked to enter your password and email address for the other account, then once the process is complete, you will be able to click on the same menu as in step 2, and change to your other email account inboxes on-the-fly.

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Maybe I’d missed this before, but I’ve just discovered a fantastic little app (that runs on Windows, Mac and ‘Nix) that allows you to watch all the UK channels for free, live.

Zattoo just requires an email address, and the funky little program allows you to watch the following useful and semi-useful channels:

• BBC One
• BBC Two
• BBC Three
• BBC Four
• ITV 1
• Channel 4
• five
• BBC News
• BBC Paliament
• Al Jazeera
• CBBC
• CBebbies

According to the website, it’s completely legal and I’ve been really impressed with the quality so far. It comes with an inbuilt schedule too.

My advice? Go try it.

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I’ve been a iPlayer fanatic for a good while now, and I think the popular response it’s seen in the past few months means that a lot of other people think the same way.

So now the new iPlayer Beta is live and after a good play I went back and reread my article about the service when it launched six months ago.

Undoubtedl the big, indeed massive, benefit to me is the rolling together with the BBC’s Radio iPlayer service which is long overdue, and for a audio junkie like myself I am more than delighted with the results. The antiquated RealPlayer has been axed (why do I still need it on my Mac come to think of it?), and has been replaced with a beautiful full-size iPlayer window with a decent sized image - a visual cue that until now has been sorely missing even if I never realised it.

Sticking with radio, they have also cleverly replaced the full-screen option with a more useful ‘pop-out’ player which due to a bit of javascript wizardry makes sure you don’t lose your place when you switch between the two player types. The pop-out also allows you to browse related programmes again without losing the audio.

Even the exceptionally long radio programmes (3 hours for example) are now 100% skippable back and forth - a long time bug bear of mine. The old solution of limiting skipping to only going forwards in 5 and 15 minute intervals only, was highly frustrating, and for a long time I’ve been using Firebug to get the url and just loading up the RealPlayer window option, just like you had the option in the shorter 30 minute programmes. Good riddance to nasty interfaces.

All that said, the streaming interface still uses ASX files, although these do load in Quicktime with the Flip4Mac plugin. I’m unsure if the intention is that this is going to stay this way (I’m not sure of flash’s realtime streaming capabilities) but it is one of the few unpolished edges in the system.

The drill-down category menus, search and enhanced descriptions for radio shows is delectable - I now can get exactly where I want, although there is one really big missing feature (and the same applies to the new TV iPlayer) and that’s the ability to sort all programmes by date (everything is done alphabetically). I try to listen to new comedy almost daily, but it’s hard to find what’s new today across the board.

Switching between media types otherwise is very clear, a three-buttoned TV & Radio, TV or Radio option on every category page making filtering very simple, and the new and big icons work well. Dare I say it I think the radio logos come into their own on their own page - thank god they decided not to leave them all on white backgrounds.

Scheduling (and past days programming) is now built in by default and it’s bliss not to have to leave the pages to get there, and this makes it a lot easier to check the week ahead. A nice touch is that it also already ‘fills-in’ the schedule with repeats that are in the existing library, so you know it’s already there somewhere and available to watch. They’ve also started bundling programmes from the same series into expandable sections within the listings, so you can also backtrack through a series right from the point you find it if the episodes are still available.

The default iPlayer window has been super-sized, and although it’s not immediately obvious if the video size/quality has been altered, if it has I’m sure the UK’s ISPs will all be hopping mad… fantastic :)

The related programme link has also been bundled in with the description, category tagging, a much more discrete title and a very exact expiry date - all in a hide-away box on each programme page which gives a lot more open real estate for that big screen to fill…

Of course, the interface has become very busy with all the new options, cluttered maybe, but I would imagine that if that is the general response they get they could always implement an iGoogle style customisation system where you could pick or choose your version, or more likely what could happen, a ‘simplified’ option or ‘show more’ style interface. That said, as someone who looks at the new homepage and thinks there is nothing they’d want removed, I’d keep the whole lot on there all the time.

My prediction of playlists hasn’t really come to form, but I wonder whether this is down to complexity of interface reasons (e.g. they don’t want to make it anymore complicated). They could have taken the cue from 4radio, so the idea is out there, but clearly is has been dismissed for some reason. I can’t say it troubles me much however, and would only be a bonus if they do ever introduce it.

You may have deduced that I am elated, delighted and brimming with anticipation to really get going with the new iPlayer. Already proved as a very good product anyway, the new version considerably raises the bar for other broadcasters (ITV, C4, and I would imagine, five - like I even know) and this will make this service even more popular; it can’t do anything else.

Well done the Beeb. For all the criticism that could be hurled at you for other reasons, the iPlayer is one place you excel and exceed expectations.

(Now I’ll sit back and wait for Lloydy to complain I wrote this too quickly… ;P )

Once in a while I see some truly ingenious thinking, and it’s rare to see a product that is so functionally trend-defying, especially when often concept cars are beautiful, but little else.

The Gina prototypes with fabric ‘skin’ is a really good demonstration of how approaching a problem from a different angle can reap big rewards. I can remember as a kid watching Thunder in Paradise (yes, a truly masterful programme) where Hulk Hogan’s boat could morph shape. Incredibly futuristic, but now here is a real and simple alternative to produce lightweight, flexible, form-altering products.

Of course spaceframe technology has meant this has been possible for years, but I’ve never seen it put into practice. There are inevitably ‘issues’ too - how many times would you return to your posh looking cloth convertible to find someone had slashed it - but it’s not like a new paint job or sidepanel doesn’t cost a lot of money anyway.

Unfortunately, I don’t ever really expect to see a car like this in production, at least not in such a stark and complete form. Clearly cutting down weight and simplifying panel creation would be very desirable for manufacturers (each being expensive in their own way), but metal isn’t likely to be thrown out for fabric in the foreseeable future. However I do think it gives a good platform for moving car design forward and hopefully will stimulate truly beautiful, lightweight solutions to problems that are currently overlooked because their remedies appear ‘essential’.

I think I knew this day would return, but I had sort of hoped it would happen a bit more slower and obviously than last time, but it didn’t.

On Tuesday Will was using the Macbook for some notes when it suddenly froze up. I shut it down and left it after being unresponsive for over half an hour (really unusual) and when I started it back up the next morning I was faced by the flashing folder of doom.

So I knew it was curtains, but thought I’d better just check, and all the tricks I learnt from the last this happened (a faulty drive going in the first weeks of having the laptop two years ago) just confirmed it for me. Dead drive.

For those curious to know how you can tell whether you’ve got a pretty nasty situation:

• Incredibly long start up wait then the flashing folder of doom (comes complete with question mark)
• Rebooting takes no effect
• Holding down T while booting and linking to another machine via Firewire: if it fails to show a big firewire symbol on the screen/it’s non-mounting as a disk-type device on the other machine
• Booting from DVD setup disks and running Disk Utility demonstrates no reference to the hard disc, only the mounted DVD
• Additional clicking noises are not a good sign (the stylus may have collapsed or similar - potentially scratching the disc face)

If you meet this criteria, you’re probably in for some fun and games.

Luckily, I’ve been using SugarSync for a month, which silently syncs everything up to a big S3 vault, so I’ve lost very little thankfully. That’s damn good timing though - there were some critical files still on there from the last time I remote worked; this time last month I’d have lost it all.

The only other thing affected was my calendar and address book, but luckily I also run a regular automated iSync (using Proximity and an AppleScript) which keeps a complete and up-to-date version of both of these on my phone. Still, it’s a hassle having to transfer it all back into the appropriate multiple calendars. I’m going to start using gCal I think.

Anyway, the new hard drive with five year warranty is in the post. All I’ve got to do now is wait for the fun of installing and configuring every single app again. Hurray.

Thanks Yahoo!

It’s like you read my mind… all I want it IMAP now…

And it now officially supports Safari 3 - even better - no more nag screens for Yahoo! Mail.

Only every twelve months do I upgrade my phone, so it is truly a ‘special’ delivery when the postman arrives with a little white note and a pen asking for my autograph.

This is the first time I haven’t really thought long and hard about which phone came next, I’d resigned to the fact that Sony Ericsson tend to make fantastic mobiles, and so plumped for the highest spec one they do in what I call the ‘work’, and they call the ‘K’ series. I don’t know what the K stands for, but much like CYMK, it doesn’t really matter as long as you know it’s important (the K in CMYK stands for Key actually).

I approached my contract renewal with the sole aim to keep my bill down yet gain as many minutes as possible. I have therefore, ended up on an 18 month contract for the first time. No iPhone for me anytime soon I predict.

The fact is, I only really buy phones for two reasons (excluding phone calls, obviously). The first is the camera. I could have gone for the N95 with all it’s bells and whistles, but even the owners who really should love the thing can’t say much nice about it. Much like Cameron Diaz in a chastity belt; everything you could ever desire is inside, but it’s just so damn hard to get at.

At the moment, 5 megapixels is king (that is unless you want to spend the GDP of a small African nation on a handset). As a person who in 2003 used to parade around with a 5MP camera as the greatest thing I ever bought whilst most people were still asking what ‘digital’ was, I feel slightly wary of my newest purchase. After all, it’s only 3.3 megapixels less than my DSLR, and in the 12 months since I bought my last phone we’ve gained 1.8MP on the previous version.

Anyway, I digress. Five million dots was the lowest I was going to settle for, so if it was going to be a Sony, it had to be this model.

The second major feature I need is synchronicity. My Mac’s, my phone - they both have to mirror all of my contact details for reasons including theft, loss and the knowledge that everyone I know is contactable no matter how drunk I am or what time it is.

Well all modern phones have that feature these days (Bluetooth), but the calendar and contact updating always impressed me on my W800i and K800i previously, so no reason to change what works.

So, I made a blind purchase. The guy on the phone offered me a deal I couldn’t refuse and although I’d never seen anything but a photo of the thing, I knew it was the handset for me.

Well, I may have been a little naive in not having a proper play beforehand. Although on the whole it is a very nice Sony Ericsson from the same mould as it’s two predecessors, it does lack a little in joined-up thinking. It’s not the software which has been improved upon - very well in most cases. It’s not the battery, SIM and memory stick access - a brilliant improvement. It’s not the display - brighter, more clear and sharper than ever. The main issue I have is with the keypad.

It maybe a ‘getting used to it’ thing, but my major bug bear is that although the keypad buttons are beautifully spaced, they are just about the same height as the amount of flesh required to squash-in when you try to press them. Hence, much like a overweight cat sitting on a remote control, the buttons are completely covered, but don’t actually press in.

My solution to this would be my nail (thankfully since I stopped biting them in India, I now have some), but the convex shape of the buttons means all but the most concave of fingernails can press them. This means that my rather ‘pointy’ and ‘nail-like’ nails slide around as though they’re competing in the Winter Olympics.

I do seem to be getting the grip of it, but it has taken a day or so. It will get easier with time, but after just picking up and playing with my old K800i again for five minutes, I think I will miss the big, hit-them-with-a-baseball-bat style buttons.

The other major button errors are the navigation keys. For the K850i, the joystick has become a thing of the past which is unfortunate if you like amusing yourself with Java games, because it’s not so easy anymore. However I’m not overly enamored by games, so I’m just trying to get used to the Big Blue Thing that replaces the joystick and loops around the 2 and 5 keys. It isn’t really bad, but still, bring the stick back - we’re in the middle of a 1980’s revival, we should be embracing these types of old-skool technologies.

The four (or two) silver navigation keys (depending on how you look at it) really are too small considering this a phone and accepting calls/hanging up are pretty important in my old fashioned view of things. However the biggest departure in navigation is the touch-sensitive (light-sensitive) menu buttons at the base of the screen.

Initially I didn’t enjoy them, but I’m pretty fond of them and their animations now. With no tactile response, it seems odd that you’d implement just three buttons using this technology. Then again, they didn’t use much logic in designing the rest of the keypad, so why start using those brains now.

Otherwise, they’ve taken a big step in the right direction. The camera is a real camera. It has ISO selection, metering, a proper mode switch, shutter release and on/off button on the side. The lens is now sensibly protected by a clear cover rather than the fantastically effective crumb and dust pit that previous models came with. It also lights up like Kit from Knightrider, which means if the spinning light ever dies on your Sky+ box you can just sellotape your K850i to the front of it with the shutter open and party on down.

Ok, so it’s missing optical zoom, and WiFi. It’s not really a cutting edge departure in design, and it’s sort of ‘gone a bit Britney Spears’ on the keypad layout. But hey, it’s new, it’s shiny, it’s a SonyEricsson and I’ve got so many more minutes now that I’m going to have to start making new friends just to mop up the call allowance.