Life2go.net Get a life ...to go.

Just upgraded my Sony PSP to firmware 2.0 and tested the new built in browser - it works wery well.

The screen is a lot better than this photo leads you to belive, but if you have used the PSP you know how good the screen is. Still, 480x272 is quite a small screen but the two "fit to screen" modes available in the browser do a decent job at compensating for the limited resolution. And 480x272 is certainly a lot better than 320x240 on old PocketPC devices or the tiny screens of Symbian Series 60 devices.
And I love the default font, it is really estetic.

Still, the PSP will not replace my Nokia 9500 when it comes to browsing. The 9500 has a bigger screen, both in size (width) and resolution (640 pixels compared to the PSP's 480). The 9500 also has a keyboard (witch is the reason I was willing to spend such a lot of money on it) and it allways works - regardless if there is GSM, GPRS, Edge or WiFi coverage.

But considering how much cheaper the PSP is, this is indeed a great device. No other device offers you such a good mobile surfing experience at this price.

GPS track showing one week of walking during a vacation in Shanghai, China. Shanghai has got more skyscrapers than the entire west coast in the US, so it is not particulary GPS friendly. Especially when going by subway, walking a few blocks and then back down into the subway - usually the GPS did not manage to lock on to enough satellites to get any positions at all in between subway rides and going into department stores.

One week of walking the streets of Shanghai from morning untill evening and my shooes are just slightly dusty. In almost any other city they would look like this after thirty minutes and after a week they would have been light grey from all the dust.

Shanghai is an incredably clean city.

And I love the fact that I have not seen any trash being put out on the street. Seeing the sidewalks lined with garbage bags in Dublin was a cultural shock for me. In this respect, China is much less of a developing country than Ireland.

On the last day I found it - gadget heaven on earth: Cybermart (www.cybermart.com.cn). Well over one hundred technology shops in one large shoppingcenter. A large lan party like Assembly in Helsinki came to mind. Small shops next to each other with lots of salespersons playing Counterstrike while eating noodles, empty soft drink cans everywhere and electrical and network cables covering the floor.

One thing I learned in Mongolia was: never ever eat the local food. So here I am in Shanghai, enjoying a delightful Häagen-Dazs breakfast while mobile blogging.

I would not trade this for a local dumpling, no matter what.

Oriental Pearl Tower! Wheee!

Well, actually, it's more like "uuuh" than "wheee". Crowded and warm. But quite a spectacular view of Shanghai. "Asia's tallest tower" said the lady in the flight attendant uniform operating the elevator. No Finnish Kone elevator though but one by Otis.

That is what they seem to call the department where they DON'T sell clothes: "Lifestyle Living Goods". Six floors with nothing but clothes and then everything else crammed into the seventh floor wich is also the top floor at this particular department store. By size and style, it puts most American and European stores to shame - but what is it with this obsession with clothes?

An English magazine here in Shanghai - That'sShanghai (www.thatssh.com) - had a two page spread about game consols and portable game devices. They presented a number of devices, including the hard-to-find Sony PSP, and next to each presentation they mentioned that it could be bought at stall number 246 on Wanhangdu Lu.

Street names are presented in both English and Chinese in Shanghai, in an attempt to make the city feel more international. A nice touch, but when streets seem to change name at random every now and then, it doesn't help that much. I started out a couple of blocks from the shop, but there "Wanhangdu" was called something else, so it took a while before I found it.

... or whatever that olympic thingie was before it became "money, money, money". Both slogans fit Shanghai as well.

Resting my feet and enjoying a $6 watermelon smoothie at the Marriot hotel lounge bar on the 38th floor.

This city grows at an incredable rate. The dark building in the lower left of the picture, is Park Hotel - the tallest building in Shanghai until quite recently and now a dwarf in comparison with all the skyscrapers that have sprung up in the last 10-15 years.

Clothes, food, clothes, temples, clothes, museums, clothes, silk, clothes, parks, clothes...

Where are the gadgets? Ok, department stores here in Shanghai sell cellphones and cameras at about the same price as in scandinavia, but I still have not seen anyone selling any "gadgets". In particular, I have not seen anyone selling the Sony PSP.