To 4G or not to 4G

This week we saw the unveiling of the UK's first 4G mobile network under the moniker EE. 4G will offer mobile data at roughly five times the speed of 3G but is it a good idea to jump straight in?

Firstly let's address the most controversial part of this announcement. That Everything Everywhere, already the UK's largest mobile operator, will get exclusive access to the super-fast mobile highway for up to twelve months. Monopolies are not a good thing. When a company controls a market, it doesn't need to innovate. It doesn't need to improve upon something that is already on top. They don't need to offer their product at a fair price. Why should they? It's not like you can move to a competitor.
Competition is what drives the human race forward. Competing companies must innovate. They must keep improving their product. If they take their foot of the gas they'll quickly lose ground on others. Most importantly, they must offer consumers a fair deal at a fair price. Many people complain about home broadband in the UK lagging behind a number of other countries in terms of speed but getting internet access for under £10 per month is completely unheard of in nearly every nation around the world. Entirely due to the shear number of competing broadband suppliers.

This is the first negative regarding the early adoption of EE's 4G network, (4GEE for you acronym fans). It won't be cheap and from EE's perspective, why should it be? This is the only place you can have the iPhone 5 on a 4G network. That isn't because of some exclusivity deal the mega-network have struck with Apple. The iPhone 5 features a radio that works on EE's 4G frequency but is completely incompatible with the spectrum up for auction next year.

This brings me onto the next issue at hand. The technical problems that will arise with the use of multiple frequencies. In the UK we've been lucky over the years that every handset works on every carrier's frequencies. This will change when 4G rolls out. LTE, the technology that brings us 4G speeds is notoriously complicated and around the world runs on over 40 different frequencies. Phone manufactures cannot be expected to produce phones that work on every one of these bands and they won't. Sure, you could just jump straight in with EE. The new iPhone and the Galaxy S3 work on their 4G network. However, this is the same frequency Orange and T-Mobile use for 3G. So if you're out in the countryside or inside a building, you still won't get signal. The 800MHz spectrum up for auction next year is much better suited to tackle these problems and will offer you better coverage. So you're faced with a decision; join up to 4G now and get an expensive new handset that will be incompatible with the much better suited 800MHz band or you could just wait a year. Also, when your contract with EE expires, will you want the option to take your phone to a new carrier? Tough. You're stuck with them. (Though O2 have requested to use the same spectrum for 4G as EE so you may end up with a choice between the two).

There are always drawbacks to being an early adopter of new technology. There will inevitably be many kinks that need to worked out. Usually, these early problems are outweighed by the benefits the new technology brings but if you ask me, in this case, it's just not worth it.

Chester FC: Our City, Our Community, Our Club

Whilst the majority of football fans around the country are eagerly anticipating the climax of the Premier League season, they are oblivious to a fans-owned club winning their second league title in just their second year in existence down in the lowly seventh tier of English football.

Chester FC is a club close to my heart. I've always been a Chelsea fan but growing up in Chester I went to see my local club on an almost weekly basis. Back then they were Chester City. A small town club who attracted a few thousand fans each week to watch them struggle to stay in the football league. They were never going to be a big club but they had their moments with some great cup runs. I recall being brought to tears after a 6-0 thrashing away to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.

In the late 1990s, Chester City began to really struggle. They went into administration and were later relegated out of the Football League, ending their 69 year stay. In 2001 Stephen Vaughan became Chairman of the club and after a few years grinding it out in the Conference, City were promoted back to the Football League in 2004. However, after years of financial mismanagement and irregularities at the hands of the Vaughan family, City were relegated back to the Conference and in 2009 docked 25 points for going into administration. They were £7million in debt with £5.5million owed to Stephen Vaughan.

In February 2010, Chester City were suspended from the Conference for failing to fulfil their fixtures and a month later they were wound up. It was a dark day for football fans in Chester but a day everyone saw coming. The club was run into the ground by owners who only cared for their wallets. Owners who ultimately didn't care about the club.

That's where Chester FC comes in. In the final days of Chester City, supporter's group City Fans United put in motion plans to form a new club from ashes of the former club. Chester FC would be a club owned by the fans and run by the fans. Anyone can buy a share in the club but no matter how much money you put in, you only get one share. CFU ensured the club would always be owned by the fans.

Open top bus parade in April 2012, courtesy of ChesterFC.com

In 2010, on appeal to FA, Chester FC were instated to Northern Premier League Division One North in the 8th tier of English football winning the division at the first time of asking. A solid start to their second season kept them in contention for another promotion. One defeat in their final twenty-five league games meant they ran away with the title. They will start the 2012/13 season in the Conference North and in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup.

Chester FC are a fantastic example of how fans can run the club they love. Too many clubs are in danger of administration and liquidation. Rangers have shown that even being Champions of your nation on a regular basis might not be enough to keep the club afloat. Chester FC will never be in trouble of administration again because the fans won't let it be. They love the club and its survival is far more important than overspending for short-term glory.

Chester FC have shown how a football club should be run. Let's hope the world takes notice.

Happy Birthday Mario

On this day in 1985, Super Mario Bros. hit the shelves in Japan and Nintendo have never looked back.

For the first time, the world's gamers found their first '?' block, and as intended by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, they thought "what's this '?' thing?", clenched their fists, and gave it a swift jumping uppercut. They were each rewarded one coin and 200 points for their curiosity. Then, now that they all knew how to jump, a walking mushroom thing approached them. Some of them jumped on this first Goomba’s head, and were rewarded with another 100 points but some of them didn’t make it and had to start over.

This game has been so popular that many of you reading that last paragraph would know exactly what I was talking about. If not, you would still undoubtedly recognise the theme tune, (see here) created by Koji Kondo.

We have all played this game at some point over the last 25 years. If not the original, one of the many reworks Nintendo have given us whilst all along, never changing the basic principles of gameplay; you jump on bad things, you jump up into good things, (there's probably some metaphorical life lesson in there somewhere). Over the years we have journeyed through the eight (or nine) worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom, the seven dream worlds of Sub-Con, the four kingdoms of Sarasaland, Dinosaur Land, and the Star Road, and even across time and space. We’ve traveled by aeroplane, tail, cape, spaceship, dinosaur, rafts made from bones, cannons, winged hats, and stars that launch us across space. We’ve turned into frogs, raccoons, tanookis, ghosts, springs, balloons, drills, clouds, boulders, penguins, solid metal, and more. You can see all this summarised in a special commemorative video Nintendo have released to mark this anniversary below.

Mario has been so popular over the years, it has been parodied in many other video games including LittleBigPlanet and even World of Warcraft and after 25 years the franchise has sold over 240 million copies. That's nearly 40 million more than it's closest rival Pokémon and double that of third placed Tetris.


It would be fair to say that Nintendo have milked Mario's popularity for every penny they could. Even I have been heard numerous times over the years to say, "not another bloody Mario game" but something has to be admired in the long standing success that this franchise has endured. Shigeru Miyamoto and Koji Kondo created something that appealed to everyone and would last more than a quarter of a century and that is something we should all be thankful for.


Happy Birthday Mario!

America versus Islam

In two days time, the US will mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11th and Pastor Terry Jones thinks he's come up with a fantastic way to celebrate such an event; by enticing extremists to do it again.

The pastor believes it is time for the US to stand up and say no to radical Islam. His actions however seem to be saying no to all of Islam. Muslims believe the Koran to be the word of God. Damaging or destroying such a book intentionally is the biggest insult one could give to the religion. Yet it seems Terry Jones didn't realise this until he was told by the likes of General Petraeus that an action like this would endanger US troops, not just in Afghanistan but around the world. The pastor's response? "We can't back down now".

Now I ask myself why does Terry Jones and his fifty-strong congregation think they need to send a message to Islam? It has been nine years since the attacks on the world trade centre. Surely by now they should be trying make peace with the Islamic community. It seems the answer lies with the nation's media and in particular, Fox News.

Over the past few weeks there has been heated debate about the proposed construction of an Islamic community centre and Mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero. The idea was for this community centre to help Muslims reach out to Americans and become part of the same society and not two societies living side by side. However, the US media has termed it the "Ground Zero Mosque". Most Americans take what they see on news channels as gospel. Especially the Fox News audience who have been trying to portray those behind the project as evil. I bet people such as Terry Jones haven't come close to reading up on the so called Ground Zero Mosque. If so he would have learned the the community centre will contain a performing arts centre, a fitness centre, a swimming pool and a basketball court along with a September 11th memorial. Does that sound like an evil building to you?

Islam in general doesn't have a problem with America. There are plenty of Muslims in the States who are living their lives peacefully within their communities. America does seem to have a problem with Islam though. However it seems this hatred that some members of the population have towards Islam is in fact aimed towards what they see in the media. Stories that may be born from a small truth but have been warped and exaggerated to a point that they no longer resemble any real part of Islam.

It seems Americans think they hate Islam when actually they don't. They hate this fictitious portrayal of Islam that they themselves have dreamed up. Let's hope the silent majority of US citizens, those that have no qualms with other faiths and religions, speak up before someone like pastor Terry Jones takes a step too far and brings on another attack from the minority of Muslims who think bloodshed solves problems.

Let's not have any more innocent people die over such nonsense.

Another cheating footballer but should we care?

This week we have seen national newspapers revealing secrets about a footballer's private life once again. It seems that this sort of thing is happening on a monthly basis. So far this year we have already endured days of front page articles about John Terry's bedroom misadventures and the seemingly endless Ashley and Cheryl Cole affair. However, this week Chelsea players took a back seat in the game of 'who can be the worst role model' when it was revealed Wayne Rooney had an affair with a prostitute while his wife was pregnant.

Now I have never been a fan of the red-top papers and I've never understood this country's fascination with rumours and gossip regarding celebrities. I will not bash these papers in any way though. What other people want to read is up to them. What I don't like is how these newspapers time the release of these articles. Right from the first day of the World Cup earlier this summer, the press have been proclaiming just what a disgrace the England team is and calling for Capello to be axed. Now we have our first international break of the season. This is supposed to be the start of a new England. We stroll to victory over an admittedly weak Bulgaria team and just as the side prepare to travel away to what should be our toughest game during the campaign, The News of the World decide to let everyone know about Wayne's domestic mishap. This lead to people questioning whether Rooney should be in the squad or even travel to Switzerland.

Now can somebody tell me why The News of the World would release this story at this time? It seems they want to unsettle the England team. Distract Rooney from the game. It's as if they want England to fail, giving them more ammunition to fire towards Capello.

As it turned out, Capello did take Rooney to Switzerland. He played well. He put all the tabloid stories behind him and scored England's first goal in an impressive 3-1 victory. He will now return to the country to face a barrage of questions and allegations. As a Chelsea fan I hope this does in fact distract him from his game. However, from an England perspective I worry about what stories the press have lined up for England's next games. Why do they not brush these stories under the carpet until we reach a lull in the international calander? The answer? It's because despite how much they claim to be behind the team in the build up to a major tournament. Despite their claims that this is a new era in English football, a new generation for us all to get behind. At the end of the day, they are out to make money. If this means disrupting the national side, knocking them off their stride as they go for glory, they won't care. As long as they get paid, it won't matter how many years we go without winning a competition.

What I want all of us to do next time an England game rolls around is ignore the papers. Ignore the press. Ignore all those who aren't saying this is going to be another great win for England. Let's just focus on the game.