Jet-Set

Next Monday, seven days from today, I will be visiting Ireland, for seven days. I'm looking forward to it, I haven't been home since I set off two and a half months ago with just a rucksack of clothes and a laptop in tow. Hopefully I'll be able to have some fun during my brief stay. Arranging a cinema trip just in case.

In retrospect, I was possibly a little naive to think that a bag of clothes and a laptop would be enough for a three month, now four month stay. Of course, I've picked up some trinkets since then. A couple of books and an inkjet printer of all things. I'll have to get rid of that somehow, though I kept the box so I might be able to ship it home.

Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman Phone

The only thing I brought that's really worse for wear is my Walkman phone. Seeing as I've been using it exclusively as a Walkman over the past couple of months, the adapter cable for the headphones has become twisted and frayed to the point where I can short out my sound if I hold the adapter cable at a certain angle. Being a specialised adapter that's been phased out of newer Sony Ericsson models I can't see myself getting a replacement. Thankfully newer phones just use normal headphone jacks. A side effect of mandatory adoption of USB on newer phones but one that I'm thankful for.

Of course, I intend to upgrade to Sony Ericsson's budget Android handset in the near future. Mostly for the opportunity to test my software on physical hardware, and my intention to write an app for my final year project. I'll miss the elegant capacitive interface of my Walkman. Even without buttons, I could turn it on, change tracks, start and stop without looking. Though I found this a lot easier to manipulate holding it upside down in my left hand. I'm sure there'll be lots of fun apps that take advantage of the capacitive screen on the Xperia Pro to keep me interested for a while, and a good case should make it stand up a bit better too. Even if it's overall not as classy looking.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro