After a five year long distance relationship, a mountain of paperwork and a lot of stress we finally have our decision from the UK Border Agency.
They say YES! I almost can't believe it, after all this time Neroli can finally come to the UK and not have to leave after a few weeks.
It's been a long and expensive process, and we still have to get married sometime in the next few months and apply for the FLR probationary visa which is good for another 2.5 years. Then we apply for another FLR visa for the following 2.5 years, and then finally, after a total of 10 years together we will be able to apply for ILR and she will be a permanent UK resident. Doing it the legal way takes serious time, money and commitment! Well worth it though.
So we still have a way to go and thousands of pounds to pay, but at least we can finally be together every single day and not spend months apart.
Sorry for the somewhat waffling post, I'm drinking a celebratory cognac, so not at my most eloquent.
They say YES! I almost can't believe it, after all this time Neroli can finally come to the UK and not have to leave after a few weeks.
It's been a long and expensive process, and we still have to get married sometime in the next few months and apply for the FLR probationary visa which is good for another 2.5 years. Then we apply for another FLR visa for the following 2.5 years, and then finally, after a total of 10 years together we will be able to apply for ILR and she will be a permanent UK resident. Doing it the legal way takes serious time, money and commitment! Well worth it though.
So we still have a way to go and thousands of pounds to pay, but at least we can finally be together every single day and not spend months apart.
Sorry for the somewhat waffling post, I'm drinking a celebratory cognac, so not at my most eloquent.
There has been much shouting and screaming around the blogosphere recently, as well as in the main stream media, about the iPhone 4 signal problems, and with the recent press release from Apple, things have only got worse.
Apple seem to be insisting that the issue is not a problem with the antenna design and is simply the way that they are displaying the signal strength. I think this is partly true, however there is more at play here and it's possible that Apple are trying to save face and avoid a costly recall.
As with all Apple stories, the anti-apple mob are out in force, with many of those shouting the loudest never having seen an iPhone 4 in the flesh, let alone used one. I will say now that I do own an iPhone 4 and have been pretty happy with it. I get a very slight drop in signal when cupping the bottom left corner, however I don't see how you can cover this area when making a call without holding the phone in a very weird and unnatural way. The only time I naturally cover this area is when surfing or checking email, but I still do not lose signal completely. I do however live in a strong signal area, so I may not be the best test case.
If someone has not actually used the phone, then perhaps they should read (and understand) the excellent analysis by Anandtech before commenting on the issue at hand.
Below is my understanding of the problem. I've tried to be as fair to both Apple and those with problems here. I know this is not the norm with Apple stories and it's traditional to place yourself firmly in either the Apple or anti-apple camp, but hear me out.
From what I read in the Anandtech review it seems that the bars are so heavily weighted towards one end that a small signal drop will display as a massive loss in 'bars'.
The scale goes from -113dB to -51dB, so it has a range of 62 units. The problem is that bar 5 is range -91 to -51 (40 units) and bars 1-4 are range -113 to -91 (22 units). This means that if you currently have a signal of -90dB (only just 5 bars) and you drop 20dB (roughly what is lost when using the 'death grip'), you may have lost around 1/3 of the possible range, but the bars will show a drop from 5 bars to 1 bar (bar 1 is range -113 to -107). That's a pretty big drop in 'bars' for only a 1/3 drop in the range. You would have a signal of -111dB which as Anandtech points out, is actually usable on the iPhone 4.
The problem is that the iPhone 4 is more susceptible to signal attenuation than most phones (as pointed out by Anandtech), so when you couple this with the weird 'bars' scale the problem appears far worse than it is.
Yes, there is a genuine problem with the iPhone 4 that at first glance could be easily fixed with a coating over the antenna. A lot of people online are complaining about dropped calls, which is a big issue, however I also think that a lot of people are making noise about lost 'bars', which may not be as bad as it seems. Add to this the general shouting from the anti-apple crew and it amounts to a lot of noise.
Are Apple maliciously trying to cover up the problem, or do they genuinely believe the issue is signal display and not strength? Personally I think it's a little of both. I'm sure they are aware that their antenna design is more susceptible to signal attenuation than most other phones, however I think they have made a rod for their own back with the dumb scale they used to display signal strength. I also think that with the more sensitive baseband hardware in the iPhone 4 (again, as attested by Anandtech) Apple may well believe that the phone can still outperform others in real world usage, even with lower signal numbers.
Perhaps the software update will weed out all those complaining about bars dropping rather than calls dropping. Although I'm sure they will just moan that they used to have a 5 bar signal when sat in Starbucks and now only have 4.
It will be interesting to see how Apple responds after this update is released and if someone undertakes some serious technical research into the issue. I will reserve my judgement of the company until then, although they are going to have to tread carefully. Personally I feel they should recall and replace with a version that has a coated antenna. Costly yes, but probably less pricey than the hit to their credibility for not doing it.
EDIT:
There's a very interesting chart here that displays the issue in a fairly clear way.
Apple seem to be insisting that the issue is not a problem with the antenna design and is simply the way that they are displaying the signal strength. I think this is partly true, however there is more at play here and it's possible that Apple are trying to save face and avoid a costly recall.
As with all Apple stories, the anti-apple mob are out in force, with many of those shouting the loudest never having seen an iPhone 4 in the flesh, let alone used one. I will say now that I do own an iPhone 4 and have been pretty happy with it. I get a very slight drop in signal when cupping the bottom left corner, however I don't see how you can cover this area when making a call without holding the phone in a very weird and unnatural way. The only time I naturally cover this area is when surfing or checking email, but I still do not lose signal completely. I do however live in a strong signal area, so I may not be the best test case.
If someone has not actually used the phone, then perhaps they should read (and understand) the excellent analysis by Anandtech before commenting on the issue at hand.
Below is my understanding of the problem. I've tried to be as fair to both Apple and those with problems here. I know this is not the norm with Apple stories and it's traditional to place yourself firmly in either the Apple or anti-apple camp, but hear me out.
From what I read in the Anandtech review it seems that the bars are so heavily weighted towards one end that a small signal drop will display as a massive loss in 'bars'.
The scale goes from -113dB to -51dB, so it has a range of 62 units. The problem is that bar 5 is range -91 to -51 (40 units) and bars 1-4 are range -113 to -91 (22 units). This means that if you currently have a signal of -90dB (only just 5 bars) and you drop 20dB (roughly what is lost when using the 'death grip'), you may have lost around 1/3 of the possible range, but the bars will show a drop from 5 bars to 1 bar (bar 1 is range -113 to -107). That's a pretty big drop in 'bars' for only a 1/3 drop in the range. You would have a signal of -111dB which as Anandtech points out, is actually usable on the iPhone 4.
The problem is that the iPhone 4 is more susceptible to signal attenuation than most phones (as pointed out by Anandtech), so when you couple this with the weird 'bars' scale the problem appears far worse than it is.
Yes, there is a genuine problem with the iPhone 4 that at first glance could be easily fixed with a coating over the antenna. A lot of people online are complaining about dropped calls, which is a big issue, however I also think that a lot of people are making noise about lost 'bars', which may not be as bad as it seems. Add to this the general shouting from the anti-apple crew and it amounts to a lot of noise.
Are Apple maliciously trying to cover up the problem, or do they genuinely believe the issue is signal display and not strength? Personally I think it's a little of both. I'm sure they are aware that their antenna design is more susceptible to signal attenuation than most other phones, however I think they have made a rod for their own back with the dumb scale they used to display signal strength. I also think that with the more sensitive baseband hardware in the iPhone 4 (again, as attested by Anandtech) Apple may well believe that the phone can still outperform others in real world usage, even with lower signal numbers.
Perhaps the software update will weed out all those complaining about bars dropping rather than calls dropping. Although I'm sure they will just moan that they used to have a 5 bar signal when sat in Starbucks and now only have 4.
It will be interesting to see how Apple responds after this update is released and if someone undertakes some serious technical research into the issue. I will reserve my judgement of the company until then, although they are going to have to tread carefully. Personally I feel they should recall and replace with a version that has a coated antenna. Costly yes, but probably less pricey than the hit to their credibility for not doing it.
EDIT:
There's a very interesting chart here that displays the issue in a fairly clear way.
Recently I was looking for a decent Mac based phrase trainer to help me learn some tricky guitar solos and found very few around. What I did find looked complicated, fiddly and were pretty expensive for what they are.
So as always seems to happen when I can't find anything that works exactly as I want, I reinvented the wheel and wrote one myself (I've really gotta stop doing that!). It's got most of the features found on hardware phrase trainers (like the Tascam models). For example pitch shifting, tempo changing and looping.
I'm making it available to others at a pretty low price, so check it out if you're a musician. Works on Windows and Mac btw. http://rjvmedia.co.uk/irehearse
A little screen shot:
So as always seems to happen when I can't find anything that works exactly as I want, I reinvented the wheel and wrote one myself (I've really gotta stop doing that!). It's got most of the features found on hardware phrase trainers (like the Tascam models). For example pitch shifting, tempo changing and looping.
I'm making it available to others at a pretty low price, so check it out if you're a musician. Works on Windows and Mac btw. http://rjvmedia.co.uk/irehearse
A little screen shot:
Well I thought it was about time I posted a blog here, been so busy recently (between work and looking at all the beautiful SG girls) I've just not had time to write anything, but now I have a good excuse!
My beautiful girlfriend has just become a hopeful, so everyone go and make friends with her and welcome her to the SG community. Her set doesn't go live until mid July, but her account is active now.
So go! Show her some love!
Neroli
My two favourite things together in one place
Still here?!?! Go!
My beautiful girlfriend has just become a hopeful, so everyone go and make friends with her and welcome her to the SG community. Her set doesn't go live until mid July, but her account is active now.
So go! Show her some love!
Neroli
My two favourite things together in one place
Still here?!?! Go!
JANUARY 2013
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
DECEMBER 2012
NOVEMBER 2012
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
OCTOBER 2012
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31