The notion of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's is one of the few real fears I have about growing old. The idea that everything that makes me me can be stripped away, leaving a shell that others must care for until it finally collapses elicits a cold horror. There's no history of it in my family that I'm aware of, but the fear remains.

I hope that there's a cure, or a treatment of some kind, long before I grow old(er). One person for whom that's not an option is one of my favourite writers, Terry Pratchett. Recently, he spoke, or rather, had someone speak for him, on the topic of dealing with Alzheimer's and seeking dignity in death. It's worth reading.

So the name was "iPad" after all, and jokes about feminine sanitary products aside, it was probably the best of a bad lot, if also one of the more bland options. (I quite liked "iSlate" myself.) The product itself is a thing of beauty, and a shoo-in for any number of industrial design awards. Yes, it's the same as an iPhone, but tweaked and massaged to suit the larger form factor.

Obviously I want one, but the response isn't as clear cut as that. There's much to love but a few questions to be asked as well.

The Good

Books: The iPad is first and foremost a media consumption device, and at the size of a hardback book (if not the depth), book reading will be a major draw. The screen is as high quality as could have been expected (OLED was always going to be too expensive, and e-paper too limited), which will help. That it uses ePub books is even better - if the Stanza app on my iPhone scales to the new screen, I won't need much more.

Other Media: Movies and music are present and correct, as on the iPhone/iPod Touch, with that screen definitely benefiting the former. The only blemish is the need to go through iTunes to get them onto it - not too bad with music, but a bit of a pain with films and TV.

Battery Life: Ten hours sounds good, assuming that claim holds up to real-life experience. The lengthy standby time sounds even better - without constantly churning 3G or Wi-Fi, the iPad can last a lot longer than its smaller cousins.

Size: Much as I love my 13" MacBook, I preferred the smaller size of my older iBook. This is smaller still, a lot thinner and much lighter. Even wrapped in a protective slipcase, it'll fit neatly in a shoulder bag or in the hand. I want to get my hands on one to try it out, but it seems like it's just right for its many uses.

Apps: The iPhone was a success even though the App Store didn't open until a year later. The iPad is launching with 100,000+ apps that will work from day one, and many of those will be optimised for it by launch day. When was the last time a brand new product had such an advantage?

iWorks: This is a big deal for me. With the addition of a word processor, I can do 90% or more of what I do on my laptop on the iPad, all the more so when you consider the keyboard dock. Spreadsheet and presentation apps are just as important to other people. And where these go, others will follow. What odds a cut-down version of Microsoft Office appearing on the iPad within the year?

Price: Sure, it could have been cheaper. But the base model has as much memory as my iPhone 3G, and the top end one would likely hold all of my photos and music. For the quality of the machine, I can't really complain.

The Bad

Lock-In: This is Apple, and a certain degree of buy-in to Apple's online ecosystem is required, especially if you want to watch videos. Still, the payoff for that is a reduction in hassle - you get what you want with minimal fuss - and that will matter to a lot of people. Plus, the App Store and the absence of a contract for 3G service help to loosen the shackles somewhat.

No Camera: Of course, the iPad is too big to be used to take photos, but a front-mounted camera for video chat was widely hoped-for. It's not a major failing, but it is a disappointment.

No Expansion: The iPhone, engineered to within an inch of its life, can be excused not having an SD card slot. The iPad's lack is less forgiveable. An Sd card slot would have been a boon for photographers, even amateur ones like myself, and reduced the need for tethering to a laptop or computer.

Not Standalone: The iPad, like the iPhone, doesn't stand on its own - it needs to be hooked up to a computer at regular intervals. In a way, this is understandable. It's not meant to be a laptop replacement. But a little more effort could have made it a more genuine replacement for the netbooks that were disparaged at the start of its introduction.

No Flash: One suspects that Apple is waiting for something to supplant Adobe's grasp on the Internet. In the meantime, we have to suffer a slightly crippled online experience.

Price: Yeah, it could have been cheaper, but the cheeky bit was Phil Schiller (I think) having a go at companies who introduce products with high prices and high margins, only to drop the prices later. One wonders if he was aware of the shards of glass falling all around him.

Thoughts

It's all about the Apps: During one of the live keynote feeds I was following was one particularly insightful quote: the iPad is designed to disappear. Which is true: it's just a screen with one button, nothing unnecessary between you and the software. More than anything Apple has made, the hardware is purely a vehicle for the software experience. I'm fascinated to see what developers will come up with as they come to grips with the iPad's Apple-developed innards and leverage two years of experience developing for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Comics: Slightly related to the books situation above. I've read comics for years, and in the iPad I see a new future for the industry. I'd gladly read a lot more monthly comics if I could subscribe to them online for a reduced fee. The collected editions could then be bought in nice hardback or paperback editions for my bookshelf. Sadly, the only reaction thus far from a major publisher has been from Marvel, complaining that the iPad wouldn't work with its somewhat wonky, Flash-based online store. Adapt or die, my friend. (And remember that you're part of Steve's empire now.)

Laptop Replacement: The iPad comes very close to making me want to trade in my MacBook. The combination of iWorks, a better battery life and the keyboard dock would allow me to do as much writing as I want, where I want. There's little else that I need my laptop for, though the lack of an optical drive or an SD-card slot is a real pain. Which leads onto my last issue.

1st-Gen Blues: It's an old law that you'd be wise to heed - hold off on buying the first iteration of a new device. Wait until all the kinks and bugs are worked out. Presumably, Apple will have made the iPad as solid as they can, but there will inevitably be improvements, and those may well include the expansion slots that are the big missing feature that I can see. Perhaps even a camera too. The only question is, can I wait a year for iPad v.2.0?

*Edit* A quick look at the Apple site reveals that my concerns over the lack of an SD-card slot were foreseen. There's a photo-connection accessory that connects SD cards and USB-equipped cameras. Still, the fact that this isn't in the box is a bit of a pain. If/when I get one, I'll likely be picking up numerous accessories (keyboard dock, camera connector, iPad case, mains adaptor) that will ratchet up the price a bit.

The greatest mark of Apple's success in manipulating public interest in it's products? The fact that you'd struggle to find any media outlet that hasn't offered an opinion on the upcoming iPad/iTablet/iSlate/iJesus. This despite the fact said product hasn't even been announced and exists only as a void at the centre of a boiling cloud of rumour and speculation, expertly stirred by Apple's hidden team of media provocateurs.

Now some of this interest derives from the fact that Apple makes products that people (such as myself) like. However, the majority must come from the combination of secrecy and carefully leaked noninformation. Even the announcements of the company's financial results get dragged in, with Steve Jobs and others practically bubbling with excitement as they "let slip" their unofficial confirmations of what's coming. I'd love to believe that the bright new thing will be all that the speculation promises, but I'm not going to buy into the hype - yet.

I'll take a look this evening then, and watch the latest Jobs unveiling. Maybe I'll have something to add to my shopping list. Maybe I'll be disappointed. Either which way, plenty of people have already been entertained by the speculation.

There are a lot of places where the four gospels contradict each other and vary in their messages. Having been written for different audiences, that's hardly surprising. So when you get three of them putting across the same message, more or less verbatim, you have to assume that you're within touching distance of how the historical Jesus thought.

Matthew 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Mark 9:42 "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.

Luke 17:2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.

The fact that the Catholic Church placed its own well-being above that of the children in its care, and indeed continues to do so should demonstrate clearly enough for anyone that this is an organisation that exists for its own benefit and the benefit of the clergy, not for the benefit of the many genuine believers, for whom it has been, and remains, a key part of their lives.

Well, after having watched that match last night, some points can be made.

1. It was a very deliberate handball. You can't really blame Thierry Henry for trying it, but you can blame him for claiming it was accidental.

2. FIFA's match report has no mention of the foul. Is anyone surprised? They got the result they wanted.

3. The entire Ireland team played out of their socks last night, and it was a crying shame to lose the way they did.

Oh, and...

4. Dermot Ahern is an attention/sympathy-seeking idiot.

When the BBC's Merlin series first started airing, I took a look at it and deemed it promising, if somewhat vacuous. Sadly, the first series went nowhere and I stopped watching. Imagine my surprise then, when I caught an episode of the latest season on Saturday and found it to be excellent.

"Sins of the Father," the episode in question, was replete with the tragedy, deeply hidden secrets, raging passions and scheming enemies that mark some of the best Arthurian myths. Admittedly, the ending was something of a cop out, and the actor playing Merlin is a little bland for my tastes, but the actor playing the young Arthur had real presence and really seems to have grown into the role.

I hope it was representative of the series as a whole - if so, I may go back and watch the rest of it. Certainly, compared to what I was expecting, it shone.

The recession seems to be making a lot of companies uncomfortable, and the relationships between suppliers and retailers might be breaking down a little. A few months ago, Bulmers cider started an advertising campaign stating that it had cut the prices it was charging retailers for its products. In other words, if the prices hadn't come down for customers, it was because the pub owners were keeping the extra for themselves.

Not exactly a friendly move, but it must have been successful. Buses all over Dublin are adorned with Unilever brands, such as Hellmans and Ben & Jerry, proclaiming that they have cut prices so that retailers can pass on the savings to customers. It's a great piece of brand building, I suppose, but given that different shops charge different prices for the same goods, and that consumers are unlikely to monitor the price of a jar of mayonnaise from day to day, it's difficult to verify. I just wonder how happy Tesco and other retailers are about it.

Without any real fanfare, Apple updated the consumer end of its Mac lineup yesterday, offering up new iMacs, iBooks and Mac Minis. The absence of one of the company's "media events" was reflected in the fact that these were not major updates, but there were things worth noting nonetheless.

Mac Minis: A minor update here, which is a shame, because I'd be in the market for a Mac Mini with decent storage and a HDMI port. The home server model, with no optical drive but two 500GB hard drives, is aimed at small businesses. Sadly uninspiring.

MacBooks: A form factor update here, with the occasionally damage-prone case of the old MacBook replaced by a hopefully more robust unibody. Better screen and battery bring it into line with the MacBook Pro line, but the pricing means that spending a little more for its metal-clad sibling seems a better deal.

iMacs: Not too many changes to a device that has one of the most attractive form factors in the business. Apart from larger screens, the big change is that customers can now order iMacs with the new Intel Core i5 and i7 chips, providing a serious power boost. If I had the money and the need, I would seriously consider getting one of these.

Magic Mice: Further adding appeal to the iMac is this replacement for Apple's much-maligned Mighty Mouse. Rather than a scroll wheel or s fiddly scroller ball, this sleek device has an upper surface that's also a multitouch touchpad. Quite how comfortable it will be to use, or how apt to mistaken touches, is something that only time will tell, but this has an immediate visual appeal that makes it Apple's first real mouse contender in a very long time. (And all the more amusing given Microsoft's very recent preview of some early multitouch mouse prototypes.)

Not a particularly exciting lineup then, but this is a good time to get consumer devices out, just before Christmas, and the iMac speed upgrades will be popular. Those who traffic in rumours can now go back to obsessing about Apple's mythical touchscreen device, which may actually show up some time next year.

The Daily Mail is a hate-soaked rag. That is all.

The link is not to the Mail itself - I wouldn't give it more traffic than I had to.

Edit: Charlie Brooker responds in a far more eloquent way than I could. The text of Jan Moir's non-apology apology can be found here.

In 1999, Warren Ellis, a rising name at the time among comics writers, thanks to the success of his Transmetropolitan series, created two superhero comics very different from anything else on the market at the time. In May* came The Authority, an offshoot from Ellis's earlier work on Stormwatch, featuring large-scale action and violence. These factors helped Ellis's 12-issue run on The Authority revitalise an at-the-time stagnant superhero genre, but the series benefited even more from Ellis's dark humour and his light touch with characters, making them more than the caricatures that they could have been.

However, the previous month, Ellis had brought out another series, Planetary. Less directly influential than The Authority, Planetary was an exploration of the superhero genre, tracing its roots in pulp fiction, and all the way back to the gothic horror, detective, and cowboy genres of the 1800s, to name but a few. Plagued by delays due to personal and professional issues, it remained a high-water mark in terms of quality whenever it appeared on comic store shelves, and two days ago, the last issue, number 27, came out, a little over ten-and-a-half years since the first.

( Planetary Greatness )

*The dates printed on comic books were, at the time, somewhat in advance of their actual publication dates. For example, a book dated May would actually come out in March. Whether this is still the case, I don't know: I no longer pay attention to those dates.

After a week doing a circuit of southern and central Norway, I'm back - though I suspect that my brain still remains partway over the North Sea. It's a fantastic country, well worth visiting, and not as expensive as I had feared (though that may be partly due to the fact that I already live in Dublin). There are plenty of photos to present and thoughts to expound - I'll offer more when they're in a presentable form.

So Intel has been promoting its new chip, designed for consumer electronics, the announcement of which even managed to hit the BBC Web site. At the same time, falling stocks, price cuts and groundless rumour indicate that Apple's AppleTV could be seeing some changes before Christmas.

All eyes have been on the rumours of Apple's touchscreen device (now looking set to emerge in early 2010), so the AppleTV stuff has been drifting more or less below the horizon. All the same, there's a space beneath my TV for something that can play my media and hook me up to the Web, and I'd be interested in what Apple can offer, either a new Mac Mini, a more capable AppleTV, or something in between. I'll be watching for this.

Something that occurred to me at the weekend (and posted here for the purposes of amusement rather than gloating): entirely without forethought or planning, I'll have managed to hit all four extremities of Europe during 2009.

Westmost: Ireland - and on the west coast too.

Southmost: Spain - likewise on the south coast.

Northmost: Norway - sadly not taking in the Arctic Circle. That will wait for a later trip.

Eastmost: Turkey - Actually, Ukraine is easternmost in Europe, but the Asian part of Turkey extends further east, so I'm claiming it. Besides, crossing the Bosphorus to Asia was a real highlight of the year.

This morning, on my way to work, I spotted an actual early (black)bird catching a very unproverbial worm. While I feel a little sorry for the invertebrate, I have to congratulate the little bird on its hard work supporting our linguistic cliches.

So NTL/UPC finally got around to offering a HD service. And I, being unwilling to subject myself to several months dealing with their online ordering service in order to save Eu30, had it installed yesterday morning. Some early thoughts follow.

It's a Dust Magnet: The new HD box, being blacker and slimmer, is better looking than the old one, but it certainly needs its heat dissipation. The top is entirely taken up with ventilation holes, and the interior is going to get filled with dust very quickly.

The Software is Flaky: UPC is fairly good at updating the software on its boxes regularly. It's going to need to - although the HD box is quicker than the old DVR to respond, if you try to change channels through the guide before it's ready, it'll give up and start again. The picture also disappeared on me once or twice, but it seems to have stabilised a bit.

It's a Very New Service: There are only nine HD channels on offer, of which two (ESPN and Disney Cinemagic) are unavailable unless you subscribe to sports or movies, respectively. Most of the rest are documentary channels, which I'll admit appeals to me. Also, the guys who installed the box connected up both the Scart and HDMI cables, which seemed a bit excessive, so I took away the Scart and it seems to be working fine.

The Picture is Great: I'm not sure what the UPC HD standard is (720p or 1080i, both of which the box offers), but it certainly looks great - a lot better than digital, which was itself much better than analogue. For Eu2.50 extra a month (above the cost of a standard DVR), it seems worth it if you have a TV to make the most of it.

You'll Lose Your Recordings: I forgot to ask about this until it was too late. Most of what I had recorded onto my DVR was stuff I can live without, but my Eggheads appearance went along with everything else. Although there are other copies of that, I would much rather have been offered a way to transfer my recordings onto the new box. Hopefully, UPC will figure out a way to do that.

The weekend just past was something of a busy one. Friday was steaks in Ryans of Ratoath, followed by a late-night game of Risk and much beer, and Saturday started with recovery from the aforementioned and a fry-up breakfast before seguing into a gathering to watch West Brom's first match of the new season (a disappointing 1-1 home draw), finished off with the first half of The Fellowship of the Ring, watched from the comfort of the couch. Sunday, though, was the killer: The Battle of Badon Hill, where King Arthur's knights finally faced and defeated the Saxon menace.

I've been running a Pendragon campaign using the "Great Campaign" sourcebook since the start of 2007. That's just about two-and-a-half years, not counting a gap of around ten months in the middle. It's been fascinating, frustrating and hard going, and the fact that it has been so rewarding is mostly down to having four excellent players (plus a few others who have dropped in from time to time), who have put up with my mistakes and entered into the spirit of things at all times.

It's now time to take another break, and let someone else run something. The notes for my campaign have become unwieldy and disorganised, and the list of NPCs is more than I can keep in my head at any one time (though the great Badon cull will help with that). Time to take it all back, rejigger it with one eye on the future and the other on the weak points in the campaign just past. Hopefully, when (not if) it returns, it'll be even more satisfying, both for the players and for me.

...is Madonna a talent vampire?

Sean Penn was never so good while he was married to her as he has been since, and Guy Ritchie looked like he was heading for oblivion until he got shot of her: now his Sherlock Holmes looks like a film I'd actually like to see.

Admittedly, that may be a combination of Robert Downey Jr. and my love of all things Holmesian, but still, whichever Hollywood flavour-of-the-week she hooks up with next ought to watch out.

There's been too much cinema on this journal lately, or perhaps too little of anything else. Still, after a summer in which "witless" was the highest form of praise, to come across a genuinely interesting and affecting piece of cinema shouldn't go without notice.

The film in question is Moon, a low budget piece that looks down on the Transformers and Terminators of this world from great heights. Its minimal cast, with Sam Rockwell front and centre almost all the time, packs in nuance and personality aplenty. Yes, there are twists to this tale of a lonely miner serving a 3-year contract on the dark side of the moon, but they're not the point. This is all about character and predicament, and with the help of Clint Mansell's haunting, uplifting score, it manages to be bleak and beautiful and many other things besides.

The only potential downsides are a couple of slightly too-clever nods to SF predecessors, but they're borderline cases at worst. Go see it: it won't change your life, but you'll come out of it with a feeling of an hour-and-a-half well spent, and that's rare enough this summer.

P.S. Another thing worth mentioning was the venue in which I first saw Moon (yes, I've watched it twice now). The Lighthouse cinema in Dublin's Smithfield district is a most uncinema cinema, pared back to the bare essentials, with plenty of space to sit down and hang out before, during or after the film. Comfortable too, as its seats don't bother with that spring-loaded action, and offer plenty of legroom. Definitely somewhere to come again in the future.

The complete lack of posting here lately is reflective of the general lack of productive activity I've been engaging in lately. Around the halfway point of the year, I made a concerted effort to get back to writing and set up a few projects to work on. Unfortunately, "concerted" turned quickly to "half-hearted", and I'm back where I began.

So let's start again. Due to work and a few other factors, I have a bit more free time each week than I've had for a long time. Apart from writing, I've had a pretty good year - lots of travelling, and my Pendragon campaign is now only a session or two away from Badon Hill, which will be very satisfying (and provide a place for a break, providing me for more free time). If I can get back into the habit of spending an hour writing whenever I get home, before anything else, I'll be halfway to being productive again.

I'll let you know how it goes.

I ended up watching The Mummy 3: Revenge of the Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (or something) the other evening and was witness to the following scene, which summed up most of my problems with the movie.

Brendan Fraser is leading the rest of our heroes through a snowy valley somewhere in the Himalayas. He looks up and points into the distance.

"We'll camp there for the night."

Cut to: A long shot of a CGI valley in the Himalayas, where some ruins perch implausibly on a ledge. As we watch, day fades quickly into night, revealing, yes, a campfire in the middle of the ruins.

Cut to: A close up shot of our heroes huddled around a campfire.

Now, I know I've been harping on about bad writing in movies (a lot) lately, but is there any part of the above that isn't redundant, other than the last shot? Other than providing work for hungry CGI artists, is there any reason why we can't just jump to the campside scene? Human brains, even those of children, are remarkably good at filling in the gaps in narratives. Stuff like the above might just train it out of us.