I write this with three pintst of cider in me, that said, I’ve been to the mens room thrise too. I’m out for Saint Patrick’s Day and once again, I’m sitting by myself.

I arrived to help at this event at five, it started at six, I took pictures till eight, became second in some kind of contraception contest at nine and now at ten am sitting on my own.

This seems to be the way of most events, my past psycologist warned me of this; I can’t say that helped.

Further to my rants on becoming more creative, I have now secured a
flat in Dundee which is a simple five minute walk from the city
center. Not quite west end, but close enough. We move in a
fortnight and so the endless joys of packing commence.

Back in my favorite ground floor coffee house I’m pondering what
amount of stuff I’ll pack. Curiously we seem to acquire an endless
amount of rubbish from who knows where, the kind of stuff that you
shout, “Yes, I will buy your ridiculous gadget and use it everyday!”
and of course we know the rest of said gadgets story as the refuse
gentlemen take it away several months later.

What I’m curious about this time is that although I must rid myself
of a lot of junk, this new place has a lot of storage space, so how
long will it take me to let said storage space tempt me into buying
brand new junk?

I’d rather if it didn’t, I’m no millionaire.

So i’m writing this post on my phone and realising just how difficult that is, then again, it is nice not having to fold out my laptop and look for a WiFi spot whenever i want to write.

So i’ve checked on ebay and it would seem i can buy myself a full size bluetooth keyboard that fits in a pocket thus enabling me to simply fold it out and type where ever i am as long as there’s mobile reception.

So which one of you readers wants to buy me it?

Strange thing, theft, isn’t it interesting how we can all accept it as a crime, that it is wrong to steal, funny that the most part of us can say with all seriousness that we would not steal a thing… but is it true? In this digital age, how many of us have downloaded music without paying for it? More to my point, how many of us have connected to a person’s wireless Internet connection without first asking? If it’s ok for you, is it ok for a business?

I’ve just checked my emails, and reviewed the afternoon’s news using the WiFi connection that is clearly advertised in this Costa Coffee in the center of Perth. I sat down, opened my laptop up and was automatically signed on to the open network, I opened up the wireless menu to check I was signed on correctly to find a list of three networks available, expecting to see a network name such as Costa I am surprised to only find three generic looking names that are the sign of a basic network with little expertise managing it, a home network. Confused I step up to the counter and ask the barista which network I should be using, she smiles and tell me just to try the one with the best signal, after spotting my raised eyebrow she explains to me that “We just use the ones that other people have running upstairs.”

A little shocked I go back to my table and look up at the picture on the wall that tells me that this is indeed an Internet enabled cafe.

So why does a company like Costa Coffee feel it’s ok to use someone else’s wireless internet access that has been paid for with the owners money and advertise it to the public as their own freely distributed account? Is it not stealing?

I enquired with some as to what their beliefs on this matter were, it was surprising to hear just how many thought it was perfectly fine to use other peoples internet access. Now I’d like to point out that I am not a hypocrite and so I must confess, I have regularly used other peoples’ internet access, I have often sat on a bench and connected up to a near by network without any knowledge of whom it belongs to. I usually justify this with an excuse like I’m just checking my emails or reading the news. I generally think it’s ok to use peoples internet access, but I think there is a limit where as some of the people I spoke to said that they don’t actually have internet access at home but that they take it from the neighbours wireless connection.

People pay for their internet to work at a certain speed and a person connecting to their access point won’t take away from that as long as they’re not using it for heavy use, such as gaming, or downloading large files. But then, if a large amount of people are connecting at the same time as is the case in Costa Coffee of Perth, then there is no way that the access point can be running at its full potential, so the justification is gone, because yes, I may be checking my emails, but then so are two other people behind me, and those guys in the corner are playing multiplayer computer games with each other using the same network, so this establishment is running a fully operational, illegal internet cafe and all the while, the owner of the wireless router we’re all connected to, is wondering why they can’t download a simple file in less than twenty minutes.

I’d like to finish my rant with this small point, Costa Coffee of Perth, you have a phone line, you can run a WiFi network for less that

So I want to boost my creative side, take more photos and do more of my writing. This I think I shall make my target: To write a new piece and capture a decent picture every week. My problem here is my location. For to take a fine photograph and write a most glorious article I require inspiration and that there inspiration has to come from the experience of what I’ve seen while I’ve been out, no one wants to read about what I watched on television last night. Problem is, I don’t see very much out here in the countryside, I need to be where everything is happening, I need to be in the city.

I’ve been looking for a flat in Dundee for a while now. This summer I’m going to be transferring my studies to Dundee University and thus with one change I want to make them all. So I’ve figured that if I’ll move to the west end of Dundee, I won’t have to catch buses to the shops anymore and thanks to fiber optic cable, I’ll actually be able to rely on my broadband connection, and I’ll be free of paying line rental each month. Generally city living is a lot cheaper.

This said the flat hunt proves to be a little more difficult than previously hoped. What I’m requiring is a spacious flat in Dundee’s west end near the University and the city center, I need two double bedrooms, a decent sized living room, bathroom with shower and a kitchen with a fridge freezer in it, the flat must be heated throughout preferably using gas to cut costs. This all seems rather basic but then for some reason, people believe these essential needs to be modern luxuries that merit a monthly rental of