I also have to make a confession that I have a bit of an addiction problem with new versions of software – I’m just a sucker for a Beta version of everything. So a few weeks ago the beta developers’ version of Windows Phone 8.1 came out – and I just couldn’t resist it. I ignored all R’s suggestions that I should wait for the production version, I ignored all Microsoft’s warnings about ‘once you install this you can’t go back’. I installed it. It looks lovely. It has great features. It keeps crashing.

R also has his problems. His Android Sony Xperia has suddenly decided to stop charging properly. Intermittently (and often) he is having to rebuild it because that is the only way to get it charging again.

So neither of the very expensive phones we have are working properly at the moment. This explains how we nearly came to blows last night over a somewhat elderly iPhone 4S which I have been using outdoors as a music player because it has a ruggedized waterproof case. We both suddenly got the idea that we could ‘just use the iPhone for the time being’.

Actually iPhones have a lot going for them – I’ve never been a huge Apple fan (there is something about the sort of people who use Macs that make me think of Miss Piggy – “Pretentious? Moi?”) but they are beautiful, largely secure, and have every app and accessory in the world built for them. Still Windows Phones are better for me because I have two Surfaces and a deep investment in the MS ecosystem – but if it all goes the way of the Zune I could use an iPhone without too many qualms. I also have to say that if the iWatch comes out this year and there is no sign of a corresponding MWatch – I am going to be seriously tempted.

Many years ago I was working for Customs and Excise as a VAT control officer. My brother bought one of the early 486s and I saw a game called Doom which I didn’t think I would like. A few hours later, I realized I did like it. A few days later I discovered other games and how difficult it could be to get them to run in DOS (the infamous Master of Magic which needed expanded memory, extended memory and 600+ K free conventional memory). A few weeks later I discovered that I liked fiddling with DOS more than I liked playing games; chucked in the tax job, bought a PC and went back to College to study computing.

So that is the sort of sad geeky person I am. Over nearly twenty years I’ve worked on Windows Server and Workstation (all versions since 3.1), Novell Netware/NDS, Domino, OS/2, Exchange, SharePoint, AD, Solaris, Networking, Software Development (alas in the now unfashionable VB) and latterly Security testing. I’ve been everything from the person who fixes the printers to the head of the department.

This is really sad – I just counted my personal tech items.

• 1 Desktop PC, Quad Core 16G RAM. Running Windows 8
• Three monitors attached to above PC – one touch screen (more on that elsewhere)
• 1 Lenovo laptop, 8G RAM, Windows 8
• 1 Microsoft Surface RT (latest and greatest tablet)
• 1 Innovia W500 Windows tablet (currently out on loan)
• 1 Xbox 360 with Kinnect
• 1 HTC 8X WP8

R’s Tech items – just as sad.

• Desktop and Laptop as above
• 3 Monitors including an enormous 27″ monster
• iPad 3
• iPhone 4 S (you can see he is falling behind here – but more later)
• Playstation 3
• Rasberry PI

It gets sadder. There are two of us remember. In addition to the kit above we have:-

• Hyper-V 3 Server hosting Windows 2012 DC, sundry test VMS
• Linux machine spec’d as an ESX host (with all that entails) but now running Linux for a visitor who won’t touch Windows.
• Linux machine for Security testing
• Sundry pieces of networking kit supporting two broadband internet connections from different providers
• Solaris workstation
• Printer/Scanner/Fax
• Spare Android phone for testing
• Nexus Tablet for Wireless testing (honest)
• Apple TV and associated speaker connections
• Home NAS

In the house as a whole we have more than 30 devices with IP Adresses. That is very geeky – but I did say we liked Tech.

Like – Tech in general, cats, mountains, cookery, alternate history, Scotland (where I live), Highlands or Shetland (where I would like to live), MS Surface, swans, WP 8, cats, Pathfinder, Web App Testing, Art Deco, PowerShell, cats, India, wildlife (of all sorts but particularly the Scottish variety), VBA, World War II, Microsoft. And I really like cats….    

Dislike – Luddites, political correctness, big cities (as places to live), chocolate, Google, NSA/GCHQ, flying, reality TV, celebrity gossip magazines, adverts, hackers and pseudo-hackers. I like cats though. And Swans.

Our two snow Bengals, Tora and Schrodi make their first appearance on this page. They have some pretty definite opinions on things too:

Like – Prawns (Tora), Ham (both), Chicken (Schrodi), Smoked Salmon (Schrodi), Fillet Steak (Schrodi), Cat food (both – sometimes), mice, squirrels, small birds, large birds (Tora) clawing furniture, clawing people, biting

people, sleeping, Bagpuss (of which more later), game for a cat on the iPad (no taste), stealing chairs, newly made beds.

Dislike – Vets, cars, dogs, other cats, each other (sometimes), hedgehogs, toads, rain, water in general, Hitler (of which more later), snow, wind, bad weather in general, baths, closed doors.

My husband R may also get an occasional mention.

Likes – Tech in general, cats, Ruby, Linux, iPad, Apple, burgers, comics, Sci-Fi, Pathfinder, Web App Testing, iPhone, PowerShell, Wireless Testing, Security in general, cats, computer games, chocolate, our Jaguar XF, Twitter. He really likes cats too. And Swans.

Dislikes – Seafood, house cleaning, Python (the language not the snake), people who make him late for things, weird tests of things neither of us have heard of because he always ends up with them, shopping, catching live mice at 3am.