My blog has now moved location. Therefore this will be the last post on this blog.

To view all new (and old posts), please point your browser at: http://www.jonathanisaacs.com/blog

This site is being kept open solely to host the media from previous posts, all new comments will not be actioned upon or approved. If you wish to comment on a post, please do so on the new blog.

Best Wishes, Jonathan

The times when I have needed to use my iPad when out have been few and far between, meaning that the most economical way has been to purchase a daily allowance from O2 giving me 200mb of data for a nominal fee of £2.

With the areas I visited most covered by free WiFi I have enabled data on my iPad a handful of times since it was purchased, and only used my MiFi time times of emergency internet outages.

As described in my original blog post, I am one of those people who have fallen in love with the internet. In fact so much so that the idea of being disconnected from the world is a thought that really does fill me with dread. Everything is done online, with ordering a birthday card for your grandmother, to finding a local rate number to avoid paying premium call charges; very few people today rarely give an always connected broadband a second thought, until it goes down. Therefore I have always made sure that no matter where I am based for an evening, I have at least two of my three internet enabled devices; iPhone, iPad and MiFi.

Broadband, just like any utility can suffer outages, which has been the case in my student house today. I am moving out on Friday so whilst it would be nice to have it fixed im not going to lose too much sleep over it. The reason being is that I could still remain connected either via my iPhone, iPad or dust off my MiFi.

I started weighing up my options. My iPhone whilst it does have 3G connectivity already paid for under my current contract, using twitter browsing the internet and replying to emails on such a small screen for a few days would be quite a challenge; especially as I am used to using a 27-inch iMac with duel display. The iPad was discounted at this point for similar reasons, with the addition of it meaning me have to fork out additional cash to purchase data. The only option was my MiFi.

This is where the fun began, connecting my iMac to the MiFi was easy. My iMac found the WiFi signal and all I had to do was select the MiFi rather than my Airport Extreme base-station and I was cooking with gas. The reason for purchasing my MiFi from 3, was that last year credit didn’t expire, and the data you had purchased remained until used, the perfect deal for someone who would use the MiFi once in a blue moon. I purchased 1GB of data a year ago, and had approximately 50mb remaining when I switched on this morning. An hour later my connection went dead, as to be expected really, so a quick phone call to 3 technical support to activate an additional £10 worth of credit (already stored on my account) gave way to a mixed bag of emotions. First was relief that I had got through to someone who was happy to help and easy to understand (he wasnt based in a UK call centre, but still two out of three isnt too bad), second was anger. I was now told that whilst the cost of data hadnt gone up, any data not used within 30 days would expire!

Personally I think this is a very cleaver ploy by the network providers, they offer you data packages which work out rather cheap on a £/mb basis, knowing full well that the average user will use around half of their allowance in the time frame given, in affect doubling their profit.

For example 3 offer 1024mb of data for £10.49, costing 35p a day, not a lot by anyones standards. However if you only use half of your data for that month, it wont be brought forward, if you use half of your allowance it costs 70p a day, and if you only use a quarter of it you are set back £1.40 per day, not as cheap as it first looks.

Is there any reason why my data should expire after a given time? I don’t think there is, it is not perishable and as I am charged based on usage the networks cant claim that by one person using 2gb is affecting the experience of others, as its a service that is being specifically paid for by one party, and not the other. Surely if I pay for data, I should be allowed to use that data, and not subject to time restraints and be pressured into using it prematurely.

We in the UK live in a 1st class technological country, the cost of gadgets are getting lower, however the costs to run them are increasing. In the case of mobile technology, mobile phone contracts may not have increased in price significantly, however for the same price the service you receive will have decreased. Looking at mobile broadband, it was once ‘unlimited’ data for all, however things then changed with data being capped; now not only data being capped, but given a timeframe of which it is to be used or it will be forfeited. Once again the technology of a 1st world country is being priced at 3rd world prices.

A Snap Shot Of Prices Currently Charged For PAYG Data, How Can Networks Get Away With Charging Such Prices In A 1st World Country?!

Final Months At University:

Being a final year student and heavily involved in student politics it seemed only right that I ran for office within the Students Union. Previously there were four Vice President positions available, one for each of the faculties The University of Salford had. However due to the restructuring into three collages, the number of VP positions had been reduced by one. Campaigning was a successful, tiring and very educational experience, however it wasn’t meant to be, with me coming fourth by around 30 votes from over 2000 cast. Naturally I was disappointed, however I was happy in the knowledge that if the restructuring had not taken place I would have got in. All was not lost tho, as even though becoming Vice President was on my life path, it wasn’t the only stopping point.

Carer Steps:

Career wise I had always been interested in both business and law. My love of business and management was encouraged by Martin Port the former Managing Director and Founder of Masternaut Three X. Martin gave me the chance to work within a team as well as see the inns of highly successful business during four years of summer jobs. This did mean that I had did not take a traditional holiday abroad, instead working was my holiday as the knowledge  and stimulation which I got was far more beneficial than sitting by a pool.

Whilst working in business is still one of my dreams, I do feel the need to have something more academic to fall back on, which is perhaps a value that my parents gave me. The message I picked up (whether it was intended or not) was “having an education you can be proud of and fall back on is priceless”. The world of business is a risky one, so having qualifications under your belt to go into a profession gives not only peace of mind, but several transferable skills.

Law was the subject which I enjoyed the most, a theory that was confirmed when I did work experience at Kings Chambers in Leeds for a week and sat in on some high-profile cases. The skills that the barristers showed collecting evidence, researching previous judgements, putting their arguments across and thinking quickly on their feet was something that in my opinion was one of the most impressive professions I had seen (to understand what I mean, watch an episode or two of Kavanagh QC). Sadly my A-level grades were not enough to allow me to do a straight law degree, however after consulting family friends in the legal field it was decided that this was not the best option anyway. By doing a degree in something other than law it would allow a much greater understanding of the world as a whole.

Therefore at University I studied business, with one module of law in the first year, and four in the third year. Now that I have completed my third year of studies and finished my undergraduate degree, the time has come to take the next steps on the ladder to become a barrister.

Postgraduate Study, And Funding It:

After much research I applied to do my GDL (graduate diploma in law) at Manchester Metropolitan University – one of the most successful GDL providers and was offered a place. Here lieth the problem. Cost.

As with everything in the world today, education costs money. Previously education was funded by the government in the forms of grants being awarded to those who were academically able, with the cost of the grant being repaid in the form of increased tax contribution from a higher paid job. Today student loans are offered to cover the cost of tuition, interest is charged at the rate of inflation making it cost effective for all, however this is only available for Undergraduate studies.

The cost of the one year GDL is £4,550, with the BPTC (Bar Professional Training Course) to be taken after the GDL currently costs £10,300. Therefore I am looking at an education bill of £14,850 BEFORE accommodation and living costs are included. Where am I supposed to find this kind of money? Student loans are not offered for postgraduate degrees meaning that funding can come from one of two places, grants or private.

Lets look at the grants first. The vast majority (if not all) of grants available are means tested. A method which on principle I believe in, funding should of course go to those who need it most. The method of means testing tho is a principle which I disagree with completely, as the means are tested against ‘household income’. For most grants funding is divided into two categories, those with households less than £20k a year, and those between £20k and £40k a year. I am fortunate enough to have two highly successful parents in the medical profession giving us a household income of more than the higher limit, however I am not part of their household. I am an independent student, living away from home during term time, attempting to stand on my own two feet. At the age of 21 there is no correlation between my parents salaries and the ‘style of life’ which I lead as a student. I took out the student loan to pay for my undergraduate degree, and used savings from my summer jobs to pay for living expenses. In my opinion students means should be tested on their means, not their households, as it should be my responsibility to fund my education, not my parents!

The second option available is to fund it privately, with the main option in this category being the form of a bank loan. A quick reminder the taxpayer has a 84% stake in RBS and 41% share in Lloyds (Guardian Online) from our action bailing them out in a time of crisis, so it would stand to reason that those who have paid tax (which includes me) should be able to get a loan for a valid reason, one of which being education. Very few banks offer Professional & Career Development loans and have withdrawn them as they did not make a significant return. Therefore the only loan available is an unsecured loan with the interest rates of 15.4%+ attached to them; however even then, this is not an option, as a student poses a level of risk that many banks simply don’t want to take. To sum up, the banks which taxpayers own, and I have contributed towards, wont lend me money for the purpose of education.

Why cant the Government help fund postgraduate studies? Naturally the budget deficit left to us needs to be reduced so cost cutting measures have to be made, however where these are made is where people need to look. I have been told that the NHS funds or partially funds medical students wanting to take postgraduate courses to specialize within a certain area of healthcare, so why should the legal profession be treated any different from the healthcare profession? The NHS get their return on investment through their doctors, the legal profession would return the services by offering legal aid to the state.

We could also look at the loan system for undergraduates, which has increased from the year 2012/13. The loan is provided to cover the cost of tuition, being paid directly to the university. However should all courses receive the same level of state funding? Viking Studies provided by The University Of Nottingham, in my opinion should not be given the same level of support as core academic subjects, for the simple reason that the level of return given in the form of increased tax paid from earnings will be significantly less. By reducing the amount of funding given to ‘Micky Mouse’ courses, more funding can be put towards those which do offer real return on investment for the British taxpayer.

What is the way forward. For me it will most likely be a combination of a private loan and asking my parents for support. Having stood on my own two feet more than most from the age of 16, asking for support from my parents is an idea that goes against the grain on so many levels. It is not their responsibility to fund my education, it should be mine. Given the chance I would take out a loan to pay for it myself – however this simply isn’t an option. Many students in my shoes wont have parents who are able to pull together the funds – what options do they have? Their parents taking out a second mortgage, securing loans against their house? Why should parents be put in the position of risking their homes for the benefit of their children’s education?

Education should be made available to all who are academically able, and not all education is of equal value. In my opinion the student loan which is made available to all undergraduate students should be extended to postgraduate study as well, either done via the Students Loan Company, or via the banks which are owned by the tax payer. The student loan should be offered to cover different levels of course fees depending on their projected level of return for the taxpayer. This is to say that those who are accepted to study a professional degree be offered more than a ‘Micky Mouse’ one, with means tested grants testing the means of the student, not the household the come from. Funding for those attending college for vocational qualification should not be affected.

Free education is a model that we are moving away from as a country, and the right to state funding should be offered only to those who prove themselves as academically able. If this country is to lead on all levels, we have to start funding the next generation, and remove the barriers preventing students who are wanting to study core postgraduate degrees.

If only I were able to cash this cheque!

When I returned to my house in Manchester after the Christmas holiday the wall in the garden had collapsed, no one was hurt and the landlord was very good and had organized builders to come round during the holidays to begin rebuilding it. Ive had past experiences with builders many years ago when we had an extension on our house, however rather than the building trade maturing, they seem to have got worse.

So in order to help those who are new to builders understand what they say, compared to what they mean. Here is a dictionary I complied whilst I waited like Hadrian to have my wall rebuilt.

“Ill be here around 8:00, is that ok?” Means “Provided my dad doesn’t die again, gear stick come off again, dog get run over by a car again ill be here by 8:00. But they cause any problems ill be here by 11:30.”

“Its a simple job that love” Means “I should know what to do, but if not ive got a mate who I can ring and can Google ‘How to build a wall’.”

“Shouldnt take more than two days” Means “If I arrive when I say I am going to, dont mess around on my phone, reading the newspaper and trying to fill in the crossword it may take double that. But lets be realistic, I am so its going to take 6 days plus.”

“Its a two man job” Means “If I wanted it done properly and safely I should have a four man team, however I dont have enough boys as they are busy ripping off one of your neighbors further down the street.”

“We couldn’t trouble you for a cuppa tea could we love?” Means “Ive been working so hard on this crossword my brain is over heating, I need a break.”

“The weather is no good for this kind of construction love, it simply ruins the work we do” Means “I dont wanna get wet and cold and ruin my hair, id rather stay in the van and read the Daily Sport.”

“I just gotta pop off and get some more materials.” Means “I have all the materials I need in the back of my van, I just want an excuse to go for a walk about so I can delay working.”

“I need part of the money for the job up front so I can buy materials.” Means “My holiday for the wife and I needs paying off tomorrow.”

You've Got To Love Builders, They Are A Law Onto Themselves!

Life can be divided up into three main areas; work, love and relaxation. Each shall be looked at in turn demonstrating that no matter how much effort you put in, usually you don’t get back what you deserve.

The most common area of life, and what the majority of us spend doing is work. From an early age we enter into school life and the joy of assessments. Almost everyone reading this post will remember how little fun exam season brought; studying all hours of the day, writing and rewriting notes and completing past exam questions – for most it was the bane of their lives; but not for all. We all know the person who was ‘academically gifted’, who didn’t turn up to, or payed no attention in class and did no revision. They were the teachers favourite, for the simple reason that they brought their grade average up. The majority of students who worked hard did do well, however not nearly as well as those who didn’t. Personally I found it infuriating to be around people who could get A’s by being absent; however we were told ‘you get out of life what you put in so just knuckle down’.

Love can be best analysed by observing the world through watching day time chat shows, reading the papers. I fully understand that these views are tinted to make good entertainment, however there is an element of truth contained. The number of times lie detecter results have given grounds for the breaking up of a relationship only for the victim to claim ‘im sure s/he wont do it again’ or my personal favourite ‘I love them’. Not having a psychology degree I cant comment on it professionally, however from the point of an outside viewer it is clear that the victim has been conditioned to ‘need’ the support of his/her other half, making it hard for them to leave. If good things come to those who wait, and you get what you deserve, why are there so many violent relationships, or relationships that have one party cheating? Surely these people who are treated sub-standardly deserve the same love and respect that they give their violent other half?

Finally, relaxation. Now this is perhaps one of the hardest areas of life to analyse, for the simple reason that we naturally gravitate towards hobbies that we are good at. So perhaps this is the one area where that as we have power influence over, we do get what you deserve.

What can be done about all of this? The only person we have influence is ourselves. I have found that by understanding that there will always be people who seem to skip through life is a good motivator, for one reason; it makes you stronger. Those who never worked at school or in employment don’t know the satisfaction of getting a well deserved grade, or completing their first project. Without the knowledge and experience of becoming 2nd occasionally, they will be unequipped with the skills necessary to rectify their first significant mistake, something that could prove very costly.

I was never the best student, I studied/study hard at university and put all the effort I had at work. Am I currently number one, no, having lost occasionally on all three fronts do I have the skills to become number one; yes. Being number one isn’t about always winning, its about knowing what to do when you lose. For that reason, by not getting what you deserve you will be a stronger person than those who always do.

Even Though We May Not Always Get What We Deserve, It Does Make Us Harder, Better, Faster & Stronger

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 8,600 times in 2010. That’s about 21 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 58 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 81 posts. There were 120 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 11mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was May 28th with 291 views. The most popular post that day was TNT – You Sure Can!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were twitter.com, facebook.com, jonathanisaacs.com, tipb.com, and iconfactory.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for chicken run, jingle all the way, bad santa, ipad mail, and ipad.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

TNT – You Sure Can! May 2010
1 comment

My iPad And I June 2010
3 comments

3 Mifi – Huawei E5830 April 2010
4 comments

Top Christmas Films December 2009

Why Women Shouldn’t Drive In Snow! January 2010
8 comments

However as time went by, and the Apps that I used became more demanding, my little MacBook was running out of steam; Aperture was sluggish and running EyeTV, writing an essay and having a web site open wasnt nearly as responsive as I would have liked. Sadly I couldn’t upgrade my RAM (as this would be the first step), so I upgraded to a MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo maxed out at 4GB of RAM. Now this was a perfect machine, Aperture ran like a dream and it served me well for over two years, however upon purchasing an iPad I realised something. I hadnt unplugged my laptop for a couple of months.

I had always owned a laptop, for the simple reason that when I went to school/university or went away for the weekend (and needed a computer), a laptop was the only solution. Laptops are great, they are portable and can handle most day to day tasks, however these tasks were now being fulfilled by the iPad, so was there any need to keep a laptop?

Even tho I am a student, I have am very demanding of my technology. My computer needs to be able to record programs off EyeTV, edit photos on Aperture, play music in iTunes as well as have several other programs open at the same time. This worked beautifully with my MacBook Pro; to a point. However over time I had to quit one application after another just so that I could complete one task in Aperture, a task that I had to complete without music playing. It was time to upgrade.

As mentioned previously, I had always had a laptop as I needed portability, however my portable needs were covered by the iPad, so I decided to take the plunge and look at buying a desktop.

I have always wanted a MacPro, and being the tech lover that I am, I wanted the 12-Core 2.93GHz version. However being a student I couldn’t afford £5,000+ investment, and even if I had the funds, my family would have had me sectioned under the mental health act for spending that amount on a computer.

So that left me with the Mac Mini or iMac. My brother has a Mac Mini and he loves it; it is fast, responsive and does everything that he asks from it, however his demands and my demands are slightly different. Looking forward the current Mac Mini can be maxed out at 8GB of RAM. Considering my previous Mac had 4GB of RAM, it made little sense to me to purchase a Mac that I would max out in RAM right from the off; I wanted room for expansion.

The iMac was the only choice left. We have two iMacs in our house; my sister owns one of the original white iMacs, and my mother one of the newer 24-inch aluminum iMacs. They both love theirs, however compared to the MacPro I had lusted over it seemed a poor relation. By comparing the iMacs to the basic MacPro I could receive a newer processor, and a 27-inch screen for a much lower price.

So another day dawned, where I was verging on a mid-life crisis, I wanted a new mac I just didnt want to admit it to myself. Upon confessing that I wanted to buy one, my housemates confiscated my wallet for my own safety and would only return it upon verbal confirmation from a woman who speaks sense (my mother) that it was acceptable. I rang up my mother who instantly knew why I had rung, and confirmed to my house mate Harry that buying an iMac was a much better idea than spending £5,000 on a MacPro.

Which one to choose? Well there was only really ever one choice, the biggest and the best. I rang up the Manchester Arndale store and reserved an 27-inch iMac with the upgraded i7 processor. Having paid for the Mac, and AppleCare we suddenly realized how heavy it was. The plan of getting the bus home went out the window and instead got a taxi back.

Transfer of data was a dream. I plugged in my time machine backup, selected it from the introductory setup screens, came back an hour later to find my old Mac setup on my new Mac. Data, applications and settings were all as I left them, it was a walk in the park.

Since I have purchased my iMac, I have upgraded the 4GB of RAM to 8GB with memory from Crucial, and attached my 20-inch Apple Cinema display to it, giving me a massive 47-inches of screen real-estate.

Performance is AMAZING, applications open with not even 2 bounces on the dock, photos render in Aperture within the blink of an eye, and I never get the spinning pizza wheel of death.

My total cost was £1,635.92 for the iMac and the AppleCare, it may not be the MacPro I have dreamed of but I am still very happy with my purchase and will be for some time.

My New Baby Along Side My Old Cinema Display, Giving Me A Total Of 47 Inches Of Screen Realestate!

I was lucky enough to get a seat in the IMAX, the large cinema screen. Normally I refuse to pay extra for either the IMAX or 3D experience, however with this film receiving so much hype I thought why not.

Having seen both Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint grow up on the silver screen, in parts it is hard to believe the teenage roll the now mid twenties actors are playing. There is action with wizard battles, comedy with the Weasley Brothers, and a lot of romance (a bit X-rated in places) which all adds to the film.

Speaking to some Harry Potter purists, they do believe that it deviates from the book, however having not read the book I wouldn’t be able to comment on this. I do know that having split the final book up into two parts is probably a wise move, as part one was over two hours twenty minutes long; meaning that if part two was to follow suit, there would be the need for a toilet break half way through.

Overall I did enjoy the film, however I do feel that it fell far short of the hype and praise that had been drummed up in the press. The majority of the screen time is shared by Harry, Ron and Hermione, and whilst they are the stars of the show, the humor of the sexual tension between Ron and Hermione wears thin, as does powerless acting of Harry. Magic was a little thin on the ground to. Having seen Hollywood at its best in the first handful of films, only a fist full of spells were cast; after all they are magicians, so a little bit of magic wouldn’t go a miss.

Not being a Harry Potter fanatic I left the cinema wanting to know what I gained from part 1, what I would not gain from part 2. There were lovers tiffs, which I expect to see in part 2 and the hunting down of Horcruxes, which I expect to see in part 2. Ultimately whilst the story splitting into two parts was necessary from a time point of view; from a story point of view I feel that nothing which wasn’t said in this part, wont be said in the second.

To give Harry Potter And The Dealthy Hallows – Part 1 a rating, I would have to say 6.5 out of 10. Special effects were good if few and far between, humor was good if not a little thin, but the biggest draw back of all was that I didn’t feel any element of Harry’s story being told that wont be mentioned in a years time.

Overall I Give It 6.5 Out Of 10, Main Down Fall, Is That Nothing That Was Said In This Film Wont Be Repeated In The Next

“Holding onto ones youth”, “Being young at heart” all common phrases for someone who simply refuses to grow up. Now I personally love to ‘play the kid’ at times, by this I don’t mean trying to get into a child cinema ticket, I mean playing the odd occasional joke; a joke that both parties can laugh upon. An example of this would be walking into a shop that sells egg timers, setting them to go off in five minutes, then walking out of the shop. No one was hurt, and both parties can laugh. In my opinion, one joke is acceptable; if I were to re-enter the shop and play the same joke, the funny side would wear thin quite quickly.

I can see why the youth of today want to remain young. The fear of growing up in todays world can be a daunting experience. Not knowing if they will get a job, having the worst country finances of a generation etc etc, however holding on to the bubble wrapped childhood that they experienced several years ago is only going to make matters worse.

The reason why this is so, is simple. High school and university provide the forum of being able to showcase the qualities that each person has to potential employers. Whilst some employers may look for the ‘class clown’ this post is being dropped in more businesses as they look for people who can demonstrate the ability to work well in a team and communication skills. Personally I wouldn’t want to work with anyone who found it ‘funny’ to constantly test people nerves or patience, after all; they should be focusing on their job, not acting the fool. Would you?

Ok so to sum up. everyone has a little kid inside them, wanting to act the goat and try to make people laugh, and in my opinion there is nothing wrong with this. When the humor wears dry is when the same joke that once was funny is repeated over and over and over again. That is when holding onto ones youth, simply becomes acting childish.

Im not saying that you should be boring and act your age constantly. Im simply saying that there is a fine line between funny and childish.

There is no doubt that when you speak of horror films, the one franchise of films that spring to most peoples mind are the Saw films by Twisted Pictures. Now if you think I am messed up by enjoying watching the films, how ill are the people who write them? The Saw series released their first 3D venture in their seventh film, and even though I am strongly apposed to paying the 3D tax, I thought that if there was a film that 3D summoned, it would be Saw.

The fact that I like seeing the story pan out is good in any dimension, where the third is useful is feeling the horror, pain and suffering that you see on screen. I am quite immune to the pain that is displayed before me. Having Crohn’s disease means that I know the true meaning of discomfort and as such found the previous 6 films, not a pleasant experience to watch, but I didn’t run for cover nor cower behind my popcorn. Saw 3D was different.

Trying to touch the storyline as little as possible, 3D allowed you to be part of the action and get involved in the film. I wasn’t scared of the horror that I saw before me, I did however jump and wince on occasion.

Now touching the storyline briefly. The Saw films are good for one thing, for being gruesome, and there is plenty of it, you see blood, guts and hear people screaming; what it isn’t good for is a great storyline. For those who watched the first six you will know that Jigsaw is no more, the seventh film is about continuing the game to rehabilitate people. In my opinion the ‘chosen one’ and the connection to the ‘victims’ is wooly at best, and only solves as an excuse to show gory torture.

To sum it up, I dont think that this is the last Saw film that we will see, as it is not only gets peoples heart racing but is guaranteed a loyal following. The only thing that I feel this film fell down where the others didnt is the level of mystery was lacking. Previous Saw films had you saying ‘ahhhhhh so thats how it happened’, this film I left with the feeling ‘what was the connection’. Ultimately I give it 6.5 out of 10; great horror and gore, but lacking the story lines and mystery that the previous Saw films had given us.

Great film for horror and gore, lacking the mystery that other Saw films had.