According to the latest rumours going around, the iPad 3 (yes, it is apparently definitely the iPad 3) will be constructed from a lattice of unicorn tears and fairy breath. It will have a super Retina display that will show you what will happen tomorrow in vivid HD video. It will also be half the width of current iPads and will usher in peace and friendship between Dachshunds and small children. I can't wait.

Ok, ok, it won't usher in a new era of peace and friendship between Dachshunds and small children. That's impossible.

Ok, ok, ok. You got me. I made that rumour up. Just.like.most.of.the.other.rumours.on.Twitter.right.now. Unless you have super top secret clearance to the super duper top secret lab deep within Jonny Ive's laboratory, chances are the rumours you are spreading to get clicks are wrong and if you are buying into these rumours, you need to go outside, get some fresher air and some of that stuff called sunshine.

Rant over, as they say in the Classics (no, that's not an app).

Like any geek sitting down in a new location for more than 5 seconds, I ran a Speedtest on the MTN network here at Melrose Arch. The download rate is awesome but the upload rate is unusually slow for cellular data, in my limited experience.

This is on Sandton City's elevator doors. It's a little disturbing.

I upgraded to an iPhone 4s yesterday (my iPhone 4 home button responds to 1 out of 3 or 4 presses). I haven't compared photos between the 2 phones (plenty comparisons on the Web already) but this sunflower looks pretty good.

The darker photo is as the camera captured the image. The slightly lighter one is with HDR enabled.

Valentine's Day - because "National put-out for jewellery and flowers Day" sounds a little crass.

— Gareth Cliff (@GarethCliff) February 14, 2012

Valentine's Day isn't just the overly schmaltzy opportunity to exploit you commercially by guilting you into buying fake roses, heart shaped boxes of chocolates and mass produced furry animals imported from China. For those people who forget the everyday romance V Day cynics suggest should be in your life all the time, Valentine's Day is a little nudge to make a point of letting the special people in your life know you care about them.

ag, men... listen up, you don't have to spend any money on vday or bday. Make her favourite meal, watch a fucking girlie flick, oral. Win.

— Danaë Botha (@ThePixelPoet) February 13, 2012

There are lots of different ways to express how you care and they don't have to be the fake roses, the chocs and furry animals (but those are ok too). Sometimes all it takes is a seemingly innocuous gesture that let's that special person know you are thinking about him or her. So if you are not the everyday romantic (and so few people are), let Valentine's Day be a little reminder to reach out in your special way.

In the last 100 years, twelve people have stood on the moon, more than 500 have been into space, and more than five thousand have climbed Everest. Yet the journey Captain Scott and his team died trying to complete a century ago remains unrealised. No one has ever walked from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back again.

In 2012, the year of the London Olympics and the Queen’s 60th Jubilee, Ben and his team mates Alastair Humphreys and Martin Hartley take on arguably the most ambitious polar expedition in the last century: the four-month Scott 2012 – the first return journey to the South Pole on foot, and at 1,800 miles, the longest unsupported polar journey in history.

They published this video in which they talk a bit about the expedition and show some of their training in spectacular Skye. The scenery is beautiful and you get a sense of how tough the training there was and an inkling of what lies ahead when they reach Antarctica:

(Source: Om Malik and Rich Mulholland)

All I want from @MTNSouthAfrica is ubiquitous, high speed data access everywhere I go. Is that so much to ask?

I tweeted this fairly facetious complaint this morning more due to a silly mood than any real complaint about MTN's data network coverage. Our DSL line was on the fritz, apparently due to some Internet Solutions maintenance work on its lines, so we switched to cellular data on our phones for our morning data fix. My house sits in an spot on the network and we can't get decent 3G signal there. Some parts of the house have 3G, others have EDGE and others have almost nothing. I'm not sure if its the roof or just location.

Anyway, I tweeted what I tweeted, realising that network technology is probably just not at the point where it is cost effective to truly blanket everywhere with a fast data connection (still dreaming of the fictional and possible worldwide data communications skin that spans the globes with high speed connectivity and costs almost nothing). Generally I am happy with MTN's network and where there is crappy signal, its usually not the end of the world (it would be great if the Drakensberg had more than minimal EDGE connectivity, though – we enjoy going there and still like to stay in touch).

MTN surprised me, again, with a message from an MTN representative asking if he can help resolve my connectivity issues. I explained that I was just being silly and it wasn't anything for him to spend his time on. It was still really great that he took the time to get in touch.

Update: I just received a call from an MTN engineer who is going to look into reception at my house. What started out as a silly tweet and vaguely serious rant has turned into a very solid example of great service from MTN. Short of MTN shutting down one day, I am not moving to another network for the foreseeable future! These (crazy) people rock!

You can change it but if you don't tap on the title field and just add note content or an attachment, the note will have that title. Very handy!