15/02/2004 Interview with Neil Brown- PDA247 editor, juggler and he likes Ken Dodd?
What PDA do you currently use and why?
I use a Palm Tungsten T3- I do a lot of document editing, and thus appreciate the extra screen estate. Having Bluetooth is also very useful – I could not imagine going back to a PDA without it- as I think that being able to communicate wirelessly is the way forward. Lining up IR ports was a nightmare…Oh- and the amount of internal memory- makes storing apps I use regularly so easy, although, with the speed of the processor, launching from the card is not a problem. And having an mp3 player is a definite bonus, and the sound quality is excellent. Shame about the battery life, though… What the heck… why not just read my review of it (http://www.clieuk.co.uk/t4.shtml), and see why I like it so much. Nothing like a bit of shameless plugging of my own articles…
How many PDAs have you used (list them) and which is the best of the bunch?
I have owned a Sony Clie SJ30, and now a Palm Tungsten T3. I have used: Psion II, Psion III, Psion V (I think!), and various early Palms Shaun: It's a Psion '5' Neil:)
What one feature would you miss the most if I came to your house and stole your PDA?:)
I would miss the constant news updates to the site, as you would be unable to do them, having been beaten up for stealing my PDA :) Seriously though… Not really a feature as such, but, I would miss the ability to be able to do what I wanted wherever I was. I love not needing to boot up a PC just to check my e-mail, and, if I want to write a paragraph to a paper, I can do whilst sitting in the bar having a quiet drink. Basically, I would miss its convenience.
What are the best 5 books you have read?
1.) C.S. Lewis: “The Chronicles of Narnia” –is it cheating to have all of them as one entry? It is? Tough… 2.) The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling 3.) “Rainbow Six”, by Tom Clancy- although any of his NetForce books are excellent in my opinion. 4.) Anything by John Grisham 5.) The Blackadder scripts .
What are the best 5 songs you have heard?
Now, this is where Shaun will start pretending I have nothing to do with the site… 1.) “I Would Do Anything For Love”- Meatloaf. Although I like virtually all of his music Shaun: Meat Loaf=zero talent. Jim Steinman who wrote it all=genius! 2.) “Barcelona”, by Freddie Mercury and Monserat Cabelle, although same as above Shaun: You just saved yourself from being barred from the site with this one:) 3.) “Be Thou My Vision”- traditional, and I find it really relaxing 4.) Scott Fitzgerald’s “Thunderdrums” when I am stressed- which is quite often :) 5.) Any song from a West-End musical- especially “Whistle Down the Wind,” “Rocky Horror Show” “Fame”… actually, this list just goes on, so I shall stop here, before Shaun bans me completely :)
Name one unique fact about yourself...
Help yourself, Shaun… 1.) I can juggle 5 balls, or 3 machetes whilst blindfolded. 2.) I have designed explosive and smoke systems for theatres and (mostly musical) shows 3.) I am 20, and enjoyed Ken Dodd’s stand-up show. All 5 hours of it… 4.) I have a hamster called Gizmo 5.) I am a student, but don’t drink alcohol, and don’t believe in sex before marriage. (Sad to say, that will be regarded as strange, rather than normal ) Shaun: I was going to pick the 'hamster' one and delete the rest to make you look REALLY dull:)
What are your favourite 5 web sites (ignore PDA247:))
1.) BBCi (www.bbc.co.uk): my daily news, as well as allowing me to listen to “Dead Ringers” and “Just A Minute” 2.) The Register (www.theregister.co.uk): technology news and humour 3.) Westlaw (www.westlaw.com): allows me to do most of my degree research without having to go to the library :) 4.) Erm… no, I am going to have to cheat, and use PDA247 and the forum as my 4th and 5th answers- I don’t spend much time randomly browsing 5.) Although, if you are up for a laugh, have a look at www.badgerbadgerbadger.com
What worries you most about the world today?
In the narrow sense, the impending deadlines I have, and the work I must put in, in order to get a decent degree… In the wider sense, the number of people forgetting that God put us on this earth to love others, and to help others.
What do you love most about the world today?
How lucky I am. I have been blessed with a wonderful, loving family, a good education and a huge level of motivation, to succeed in what I do, and to help others benefit from my actions.
What one feature would you like to see added to PDA247?
A separate section, just for me. It would have a lot of photos of me, and would soon become the most popular page on the site. Millions of women would flock to see whether I had added another photo of myself or answered their adoring postings, and still be able to check the PDA news at the same time. Shaun would be able to retire early on the proceeds of authentic Neil-based merchandise (ranging from styluses through t-shirts to limited edition sports cars), and advertisers would be begging to be included in the publicity. PalmOne would jump on the bandwagon, and announce that they were going to be renamed PalmNeil. Shaun would then reply, saying that to include “Neil” in anything of theirs would be an infringement of the site’s trademarks… Alternatively, a section for technical articles, and a dedicated Java-based chat server would be nice :) Shaun: I was actually going to do that Neil but feedback from PDA247's female visitors suggested I should not- the bandwidth would just not cope:)
Thanks to Neil for taking the time to answer my questions- if you want to read more of Neil's stuff just visit the site and forum each day:)