I want to be all clever, and write some amazing account of the myriad of emotions that I’ve experienced over the past two months, culminating in the pinnacle of nerves that was my afternoon commute into the familiar territory of what was once my undergraduate campus. But frankly, I cannae be bothered. I can barely put a sentence together right now; I don’t think mornings agree with me. Most of my day was quite “meh”, tbh. I only had two lectures, one of which was a safety induction. Yawnsville!

There are about 20 of us, maybe less, on the course. 1:1 ratio of guys to gals, with the majority of gals being bionerds, and a smattering of various other disciplines amongst the guys. One of the women was actually more research experienced than me. Not only did she have a PhD in Endocrinology (she worked on growth hormone, whereas I worked on progesterone signalling), she also spent a year as a postdoc afterwards. Isn’t that a poke in the eye for the people hating on me for taking this course? Okay, maybe not ‘hating’… I’ve just heard a lot of “Haven’t you studied enough, Mehzabeen, har har”. Yeah, hilarious. Hrm…

Though, the absolute highlight of my day was when I asked the computing lecturer if having a Mac would be problematic for the programming aspect of the course. I have spent the last fortnight worrying that I’d have to buy a regular laptop, or figure out how to install Windows/ Linux on my MacBook. The head professor – the one I refer to as the ‘bad cop’, from my initial interview – gives me a half smile and says: “You have great taste!”. Then a few moments later, speaking over the computing guy, “We all use Macs in the lab”. And then, the cherry on the double chocolate sundae: “You know what? You’ve already passed!“.

Talk about making an amazing first (or more accurately, second) impression! Alhamdulillah – thank you God! Much happiness. And thanks to Apple too! Let’s pray that it only gets better from here on in, insha’Allah. :)

I reckon that I’ve had my iPod Touch for a couple of years now, and in that time I have discovered some great applications – and some terrible ones! But let’s stick with the goodies for now, shall we?

Islamic Apps

I’ll admit, I haven’t done a proper survey of all the Islamic apps available. However, my most treasured app in this respect, is certainly iQuran Pro. I have been using it for over a year now, and it became especially useful during Ramadan, alhamdulillah. As well as simply displaying the Arabic Qur’an, it also allows you to download a variety of translations, recitations (played ayah-by-ayah), create bookmarks, notes, and has a nifty search function. I purposely went for the Pro version after downloading the feature limited (but still useful) free version. I think it’s important to support quality Islamic products where possible, and so had no problem with shelling out a few dollars in that respect.

In terms of prayer times, and Qibla finder, I downloaded Guidance a while ago. I don’t claim it to be the best, but it works, so I kept it!

Social Apps

Facebook for iPhone and Echofon (formerly known as Twitterfon) are used frequently throughout the day, to keep me in touch with my online buddies. Echofon is free, and does the job, so I haven’t bothered to experiment with the paid Twitter apps.

I also use WordPress for iPhone from time to time. It’s useful for writing short posts on the go, and making quick edits, when you notice a horrible typo that must be killed immediately. It works with both WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress blogs. Coolio!

Utilities Apps

Light is pure simplicity. All it does upon launch is display a blank white (or colour of your choice) screen, turning your iPhone into a torch. It might sound daft, but I use it almost daily!

Tube Status is an important app for Londoners who are reliant on the Underground network for daily commuting. It simply tells you the status of each tube line, regularly fetching updates from the TFL database.

Air Sharing is a great app for storing files on your iPhone, transferred from your computer via Wi-Fi, i.e., you don’t actually plug in your iPhone to transfer the files. It can display the content of pdfs and certain docs, so it is also useful if you want to read files on the go.

Dictionary by the guys at Dictionary.com is amazing! Especially for someone as vocabulary-challenged as myself. I already have dictionary.com as my home page, so I was very happy to have it as an app on my iPod. It contains both a dictionary and thesaurus, and you don’t even need to be connected to the net for it to work! Useful for iPod T owners when no free Wi-Fi is available.

Wikipanion allows you to easily search for content on the Wikipedia database. I don’t think it’s a ‘must-have’, as I believe the mobile version of Wikipedia that automatically loads in Safari is quite good… but it’s a free app, so no real harm either way, insha’Allah.

Fun Apps

The largest part of the App Store has to be the Games section! I have downloaded several free games, and have even risked buying a few cheap (usually 59p) apps in recent months, as the free ones are usually quite – well – “pants”, is a word!

The exception to the free=pants rule, however, is Sol Free, i.e., a Solitaire app. This is one of the few games that I have seen other iPhone users play while sitting on the Tube. So I reckon it’s quite popular. Anyway, it rocks, and it’s free (last time I checked), so go for it!

Most of the following paid apps have a free version that you can download to trial the game.

The best paid app that I have ever played on my iPod – by far – is Toki Tori. I was freakin’ addicted at one point! It’s basically a puzzle game, where you have to manipulate certain elements on the screen to allow little Toki Tori to collect all his eggs. It sounds lame, but I loved it, and check the App Store nearly every day in hopes of an update! More levels pleeease!

The next best, and one that has been on the most popular download list for a long time, is Flight Control. The basic aim is to land as many planes as possible. They introduced local and global leaderboards, so you’re not just competing against yourself, but a lot of other peeps too. I loved this game initially, but am now kinda bored of it. Once you land a certain number of planes, you realize how much time you’re wasting on such a pointless activity! That’s why Toki Tori is the best, because you actually feel your mind working; it may actually increase your IQ a little bit, as opposed to turning you into a plane-landing zombie.

Harbour Master is similar to Flight Control, but instead you have to bring ships in and out of harbours (wow…). I thought it was even more pointless than Flight Control after around five minutes of game play, but haven’t deleted it as I paid for it!

AirPort Mania (there seem to be a lot of these aeroplane games about!) is actually quite good. Maybe even better than Flight Control (certainly cuter), but it’s a game you can complete, so it’ll lay idle on your iPhone eventually, as it is doing on mine.

Ragdoll Blaster is a recent find, which I quite enjoyed. You have to shoot ragdolls out of a canon, and make sure to hit the target. There are obstacles which you need to shoot out of the way in order to reach the target. The fewer ragdolls you use, the better!

Labyrinth was the first app I ever paid for. It kept me entertained for quite a while, but I haven’t opened it for months. You have to get a little metal ball through various mazes without letting it fall in any of the holes. It makes great use of the iPhone’s accelerometer, and I think the free version is definitely worth a look. There is a database of user-created mazes, so in a way, the fun will never end (unless you are easily bored, like me!).

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Okay, I think that’s all – for now. I hope you found my list useful, Ammena!

Which are your favourite iPhone apps?

As a side, if someone had mugged me on my way home (yes, I have strange thoughts like that) they would have done very well. In my coat pockets I had the following:

• two mobile phones
• an iPod Touch
• £250 in cash
• a Canon digicam, that cost around £150 at the time of purchase

I was also carrying a laptop bag containing the MacBook that set me back £900 earlier this year, and my purse – but that only contained £15.

Anyway… Alhamdulillah, I was not mugged, and I am now in the relative safety of my own living room. Still, I can’t help wondering how silly I was for carrying all that stuff around. It couldn’t really be helped though…

Regent Street (towards Piccadilly Circus)

Outside The Apple Store

Xmas Lights

Finger-powered graphics drawn with the iDoodle Lite app on the iPod Touch.

My New Mac Family

From right to left (also from oldest to newest): My faithful iMac G4 (aka the “iLamp”); my ‘foster’ iBook (soon to be wiped and returned to its true family: my old research lab); my iPod Touch (the ‘baby’ of the family); and finally: my funky MacBook (the black sheep of the family – badoom tish. Hang on, the Touch is also black. Oh pants!).

I am donating the iMac to my father, as he still doesn’t have his own computer after all these years. Though I will still probably use it from time to time, as I am sure to miss that bootiful 17″ flatscreen!

Btw, if I haven’t said it before… I needs a job! This recent purchase has put a serious dent in my already weakened finances. I haven’t been earning for over 1.5 years now. A new record, since I received my first pay packet back at the tender age of 17… sniffle.

Muslim Aid are taking on paid helpers during the Ramadan period, but I’m wondering whether I will be able to work full time while I’m fasting. I was quite looking forward to a super-chilled fasting month, insha’Allah. At the same time, it would be nice to have something to distract me from the extra hours of daylight without food or water. And I will have time to recuperate from 5.30pm till Maghrib… so maybe it’s worth a shot? Working five days a week, for four weeks will earn me enough to pay off my MacBook, insha’Allah, so I am seriously tempted. What do you think?

I have tried to blog from my iPod before, but there were too many problems, such as the inability to select categories, to consider it as a feasible method for regular blogging.

But this new app fixes all that, and could prove useful for jotting down thoughts on the go – as long as I am in a free wifi zone.

Another nice, free app is iQuran produced by Guided Ways. I like the fact that I can easily browse the Qur’an, surah by surah, verse by verse, selecting whichever one I want recited. It should prove useful for times that I need to check my recitation, insha’Allah.

There is a Pro version that has more reciters and more translations available than the free app. I am considering investing in a copy… though I’m not sure if it has been released yet.

So, what’s your favourite App?

Plus a big “what the hey?” at the election of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London. And a huge “May God save us all” at the election of a British National Party rep to the London Assembly. They needed 5% of the total vote to get in – they got 5.33%.

Not cool, people. Not cool at all.

It really makes me wonder what Londoners have been smoking lately – and how desperate certain members of the white population must be to vote for a bunch of bigoted racist scum, like the BNP?

At this rate, I may consider spending the next four years back in Leicester.

Btw, I only bought this one cos the old iPod died. It has now been recycled so I don’t feel so bad about contributing to the techno gadget waste pile.

Okay… I’ve had enough of this. The End.

When you get to the site, search for the AlFurqan iPod; an MP4 player with lots of goodies installed, mashallah. Only £99 at the mo, so it’s cheaper than the Apple alternative (and it has a camera!).

Oh, while i’m here, if anyone was planning to get me an iPod Touch for Eid (laughs), you can give the money to charity instead, cos i went the more sensible route, and bought the £15 USB/Firewire lead for my existing iPod. May Allah reward me for not wasting my money (or yours), with an iPod Touch – in Jannah! Now that would be one sweet, Apple experience…

A reminder to please pray for me! Thesis deadline approaches. Jazakallah.