As the Apple adverts say, you can get an app for everything these days.

The NHS has released an iPhone app to keep track of the amount of alcohol that you are drinking.

Downloading it will allow a user to work out how much alcohol they are consuming, and whether they are drinking too much.

It does sound like a good idea, but I’m not sure how useful this is going to be. For instance, much of the problem that Britain has is over binge drinking, and I’m not totally sure this is going to help this particular issue.

Imagine the scene, Friday night in the pub. You’ve just had a round of drinks - time to get your trusty iPhone app and try to work out how many units you have in your drink.

Can you already see the problem here?

OK - now you’re on your fourth drink. It’s been a pain to do all these calculations - but you’ve just about managed it.

Whoops. You’ve dropped it. It’s logged out of the app before you’ve saved the data from the last drink you’ve had - dammit got to put those details in again - what was it that I was actually drinking?

Hi! What is this you bring me - a shot of sambuca?

Oh crap - I need to put this in my phone. Hang on a second while I work out what this might mean unit size.

Wait a sec! OK, you’ve drunk it. My turn.

One hour later

You what? My iPhone app? What about my iPhone app? Oh that. I can’t be bothered any anymore with it.

Four hours later….

Where’s my iPhone?

So  as an app to measure a night’s drinking for many people - it’s not practical. But if you do remember how much you’ve drunk the night before and manage to type details for every day of the week - yeah it could be useful.

The real solution would be an iPhone breathlyser app

I don’t think this is even possible, but what could be really useful is a way that you can breathe on your iPhone, which can detect how much alcohol you have on your breath.

They’ve got that stupid Carling beer drinking app. Surely this won’t be too much of a stretch?

On a serious note though, I do think that it’s good that public sector healthcare is trying to experiment with the technology to improve things for people.

If used properly, the app could be used to help people, but most people already know what moderate drinking is for them - it’s simply the case of following it. Problem is that the Brits don’t really know moderation.

A simple solution would be to do what the continentals do and go with 24 hour drinking, so that people didn’t drink so fast, but this hasn’t really been the biggest success either, normally because nothing ever stays open 24 hours in this country.

So what do you do?

Solutions aren’t easy. But one thing is that nobody forces alcohol into your mouth. It’s a personal choice how much you drink, and in nannying state days, maybe you just got to face the consequences.

It’s nobody’s fault but your own.

OK, I’ve finally gone and done it. I got the iPhone. After a lot of debate about getting the thing. And I’m happy with it.

It’s what I expected. Less of a phone and more of a little computer in my pocket - it’s pretty awesome actually.

But I knew that anyway. I’m going to talk about the apps.

OK - one of the first apps I got was Gym Babes. It’s exactly what it sounds like. I was just looking through the top 25 free apps and for some reason it managed to pull my attention. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I got this..

It’s basically films of two women of probably Eastern European origin and fairly large proportions on a treadmill. And you only see the top half. And you can do it in slow motion.

That’s it.

OK, I have had a bit of stick for downloading this app, but I wasn’t the only one to do it. I’m was quite surprised - after all the stories I heard about Apple banning apps I thought this could be a candidate.

But then again nothing rude is actually happening. It’s just a bit pointless really. Kinda like a moving version of Page Three but with no nudity. But of course that’s no reason to ban an app!

Anyway I then proceeded to download some games. I got a Poker one and the Civilization game and was impressed, but they weren’t anything special.

It was Zenonia that really showed me what an iPhone (or iPod Touch) app could do.

I’ve was a bit of a gaming geek in my youth. I used to play the Final Fantasy games on my SNES and even managed to download some emulators for my PC to download games like Chrono Trigger. I loved the Playstation Final Fantasy VII and was highly addicted to the World of Warcraft.

Thing is though, I thought I was over it. I have no games machine or TV, and my PC is completely useless for gaming now. Until I downloaded Zenonia for about a pound.

It’s like my SNES games revisited. Probably most similar to the old Zelda games, it’s a proper old fashioned Japanese RPG - trying to get your kid with spiky blonde hair to avenge the death of his father by killing monsters, gaining experience and completing quests.

It’s brilliant, but what really surprised me was the fact its supposed to have 40 hours of gameplay. On a mobile app??

OK, I am beginning to tire of sounding like an Apple fanboy but for me personally, if I knew about it, this would be the killer app.

Screw Spotify - yeah that’s cool, but actual old school SNES-style roleplay gameplaying on the move? I will never be bored on the train or on a plane ever again!

Although that’s if the battery holds out.

Oh yeah - the iPhone battery does really suck. Sort that out Apple!

After a lot of umming and urring, much debate, and loads of review checking, I decided what to do. I’m getting the Apple iPhone.

It’s funny getting an iPhone these days. It almost feels like I’m being a sheep, following the millions of people who have chosen to buy Apple’s device. I reckon I must see the bloody gadget everywhere now.

And yet, here I am still getting one of the things. Why? Because for what I need it seems ideal. I actually don’t make that many phone calls on my phone - i don’t actually like talking unless I have to in order to find a story.

But that’s not what the iPhone is. It’s very much a mini-computer- it’s the email, web browsing and iPod capabilities I’m after. Yeah its gonna be £180 plus the £35 quid tariff. But sod it. The amount of use from the damn thing will make it worth the cash (I’m telling myself).

I was looking at Android phones, and I can definitely see the appeal. But so far in my opinion none of the Android phones have reached the standard of what I needed from a device, and I’m really not bothered to wait for that killer Android device that may or may not come out for Christmas time.

Although I have bugged Apple about security in many of my news stories, that hasn’t nothing to do with the fact I do love Apple stuff.

Even though the plastic MacBook I bought a couple of years ago is a bit crippled (I dropped it on the floor to break the mouse thing and spilt juice on it to break the keyboard - this is my fault, but unbelievably the Mac OS is till working).

But yeah. I’m getting it - and that was before I heard that Apple has allowed the Spotify app and the Facebook 3.0 app,

Now I’ve already blogged about the intense joy I get from Spotify, and I reckon I might well pay to get rid of the ads as well a having it playing on the mood.

As for the Facebook 3.0 app - heh. It’s got to the point where I’m on the damn site so much I’m playing games like Mafia Wars and Farmville. Very sad indeed. But yeah - more reasons to get the damn thing. Arrrggghhhh!!!!!

We’ve already covered the news that the Spotify has been developed for the iPhone, and I was away on holiday when this happened.

However it hasn’t been approved by Apple for the Apps store yet - and I am going to be very surprised if it does.

The reason for my doubt - I question if Apple is really going to allow an application on its precious device that could really make a big difference in the use of iTunes as a way to download and buy music.

I’m just thinking of the way it has made a difference to the way people listen to music on desktops. First of all with Spotify on my computer at home I’ve virtually stopped using iTunes as most of the music I want to listen to is already on the streaming service.

And also, if the Spotify app works like it should, then people will find it easier to buy music after they’ve streamed it on Spotify - not many people are going to listen to a song and then decide to go back to iTunes to download it.

To whet people’s appetite Spotify has already issued a video on what its app can do - but this will cut no ice with Apple - if there’s a reason to not allow the app in its store, it will not let it in.

The only reasons why I think Apple could allow the app is if it feels that Spotify is no threat to some kind of streaming service it is promising itself.

Spotify has also stuck rigidly to developer guidelines (so its says), and it could be persuaded that the simple move of allowing Spotify could encourage more people to purchase iPhones - as IT PRO editorial has already made clear for desktops - it’s that good.

It’s interesting to see what Apple does here.

Charlie Miller, well known in the security world for hacking Apple’s Safari browser in seconds, has found a new vulnerability in the iPhone that security vendor F-Secure has described as “bad as it gets”.

According to the original article,  the vulnerability appears to allow unsigned code to run which circumvents a core part of the iPhone’s security model. Usually it is only able to run signed code, like Apps approved by Apple.

Miller said it doesn’t even need user-interaction, and exploits a weakness in the way the iPhone’s handles SMS text messages. He wouldn’t provide more details of the problem, and it looks like Apple are trying to hurry a patch to secure the exploit.

He also claimed that the malicious code could have been used to monitor the location of the phone using GPS, turn on the phone’s microphone to listen to conversations, or even make it join a botnet or denial of service attack.

It isn’t the first time that Miller has found weaknesses in Apple products. As well as the Safari hack, in April Miller found a different weakness in the previous version iPhone.

However, he says that the iPhone OS is more secure than the full Mac OS X as it removes applications and features like support for Adobe Flash and Java, which PC users have learned is a serious weak point on Windows.

However as the Register also reports,  an SMS attack is very crafty, and something very difficult for iPhone users to protect against.

Charlie Miller will reveal more at the Black Hat conference later this month.

Before I started working as a journalist, all I knew about Apple was that I liked its stuff. They had persuaded me to spend hundreds of pounds on iPods and Macbooks, and the reason why was its equipment was quality - it still is.

Though not much has changed with the Apple 3G S - it’s an object of desire and is one of the best smartphones out there.  Then I became a tech journo, and my opinion has hardened to the company even though they are still coming out with some quality products. Why?

It’s because of its secrecy. It’s got to the point where they will say nothing unless its a press release or the device launch. The Apple Press hotline? Useless. The company might as well write a disclaimer saying “We will never say anything ever, because you smell.”

In terms of my beat my biggest issue with the ‘cult of secrecy’ is in the fact that with computer security - secrecy will probably be a very bad thing and something they won’t be able to  continue to do in the future.

As the Mac becomes more popular and increases its market share, the sooner or later they’re going to have to work with the security vendors as well as the public to make transparent what the actual threats are on a Mac device.

At the moment, nobody knows, because Apple never ever says anything about it.

But generally, the ‘cult of Apple’ works. Just seeing the look of joy when an Apple user gets a device like the new iPhone shows it does. The expectation and the hype is a proven winner.

Thing is, that’s the Apple way. It’s all about the products, and the constant expectation for new ones makes people overlook the fact they are paying more money for products which are generally less powerful.

Shame that they can’t be a little bit more transparent though. The fuss over Steve Jobs and his liver transplant at some point reached parodic levels as Apple people feared saying anything about it. A clear press statement would have probably have made the shareholders a little bit happier anyway.

I’m after a smartphone. It’s been a long time since I’ve actually had a phone on contract, and I think it might be about time to replace the one I have now (which is from my old contract that finished months ago).

It’s an investment for the future - at least 18 months - and its starting to become the case where a smartphone will be very useful for me at this point of time, for both enjoyment and for work where immediate access to email and social networking is becoming more and more important.

The ones I’ve decided not to go for are any of the Google Android models out at the moment or the Nokia high-end ones. My reasons? Well for Android my main problem is that there aren’t any made-for business models out - although the HTC Magic looks impressive, it is not aimed specifically for the business market.

I’ve seen a high-end Nokia in action and it looks nice, but for me the words smartphone and Nokia still don’t work together for me. I reviewed the Express Music phone that had a touchscreen and it looked nice, but it just didn’t seem very ’smart’ to me - it still had a stylus! The other BlackBerry styled devices look nice and shiny, but for £35 or so a month I’ll spend I wanted something more up to date.

On BlackBerry - I’ve played with the Bold that my sister recently bought, and I did love it. It’s a great phone and I was very impressed. However the lack of touchscreen is a problem again, and I’m well into my music - I’m not sure that as a music playing device the BlackBerry does it for me at the moment.

At the moment its actually a straight fight between two devices that aren’t out yet - the Palm Pre and the upcoming third generation iPhone (it’s going to happen soon I’m guessing).

As much as I dislike following the herd and the fact is I see so many in people’s hands at the moment, the iPhone is a great device. I have Apple stuff already I’m using, and even though I’ll be paying a premium and there are a few important things it is missing, I’ll be happy with one. For me it’s struck this good balance between consumer and business, and its simply fun to use, as well as having syncing ability with everything I use, which will be very important when it comes to iTunes and music.

However there is also the Palm Pre, which still hasn’t got a UK release date, curses and blazes. I like the styling, I like the fact it has a touchscreen rivalling the iPhone and I like the fact it has a sliding keyboard, as the iPhone’s can be a frustrating bugger to use. If these live up to the hype and also has that media experience I was talking about before this may be my final choice - but then I haven’t seen what the next generation iPhone is going to offer us.

Be interested to here your view - Am I being completely foolish about my choices? - either here commenting, through my Twitter or simply through an email at ash@dennis.co.uk.

It’s been reported that a hacker has claimed responsibility for hacking Steve Jobs’ Amazon.com account.

According to Cult of Mac,  the hacker identifying himself as Orin0co attempted to sell journalists his credit card details as well as other details of his Amazon.com account, such as his purchase history in the last 10 years.

Orin0co claimed he managed to fool Jobs simply by sending him a fake Amazon.com email that convinced him to log onto a fake Amazon.com website.

Apple will not comment on the claims, while Amazon.com were said to have no knowledge about whether his account had been hacked or not.

It does seem highly unlikely that somebody as technologically savvy as Steve Jobs would have fallen victim to something as simple as an email phishing scam.

The hacker also claimed that Jobs bought 20,000 items from Amazon.com in the last ten years -  a total of five a day!

It seems very doubtful - though he’s hugely rich, where exactly would have he have found the time to do this shopping? - considering he’s had things like Apple world domination, the iPod and the iPhone to keep him busy.

Spotify is riding high on a wave of good publicity, signing a deal with 7digital that means users will be able purchase tracks - possibly giving iTunes a major run for its money.

If you haven’t discovered or used it, then what you are missing out on it is a free, legal music service that pretty much allows you listen to unlimited streams of virtually any track or album that you might think of.

Too good to be true you might say - there must be lots of artists and record companies that haven’t signed up. Although it does lack songs by the likes of the Beatles and Pink Floyd, it has struck deals with all the major record labels - load it up for the first time and you’ll be surprised at what you can listen to, with no fee.

The way they manage to make this pay is by is 20 minutes or so, hitting you with a short advert. Considering that listening to the radio many stations seem to hit you with a advert every second song, this isn’t too much of a big deal. Spotify is also trying to make its premium paid-for service more attractive to users - it remains to be seen how successful this will be.

Spotify celebrates its third birthday today,  and their founder Daniel Ek has blogged about how the service first started with the aim of providing a way to allow listeners to be able to listen to whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, but without having to act illegally.

The next move for Spotify is to open up to a wider community, while at the same time respecting rights holders, as well as generating enough money to provide users with a decent service.

Ambitiously, it wants to be the platform for people to consume, manage and discover music.

Ek says: “To reach our goal it’s important for Spotify to be wherever our users are. Music should be accessible on your favorite platform whether that’s a social network, an IM service, a mobile device or a media centre in your living room.”

Personally, using Spotify has been great. It slaps the iTunes store with a wet fish, considering you’re only allowed to listen to any song by purchasing a track.

It also encourages you to listen to music you don’t necessarily have access to or just want to test out. I’ve listened to the entire back catalogue of Jimmy Hendrix and Stevie Wonder in this way - if you want to discover new music, this might be the best way that you can do it.

Importantly, it does have a role to play against piracy. Many people download songs because there is no other way to listen to them without having to purchase it online or buy a CD. This way, you can listen to the album for free, and then decide to purchase it if you want to keep it.

As one user commented: “Spotify really IS BETTER than piracy. Neither I nor many of my collegues have downloaded one single song illegally since we got Spotify accounts.”

The Swedish owners of Pirate Bay, one of the most notorious file sharing websites in the world, seem to be bulletproof.

It was today revealed that on the second day of their highly-publicised trial for copyright infringement, the prosecution has already had to abandon half of all the charges.

They are completely open about what they’ve been doing - hence the name, symbol and much of what they say on the website.

Their main defence is that none of the files shared are saved on their server - only torrent files, which technically means that the owners of the site don’t hold any of the copyrighted files.

Many of the companies whose property is being downloaded are pretty unhappy with what the Pirate Bay does, and how the owners stick two fingers up and laugh, as they feel they are protected under Swedish law.

Here are some of the cease-and-desist notices that companies have sent to Pirate Bay, together with some of the rather cheeky replies that its owners have given.

Microsoft

The big daddy of tech has already sent what Pirate Bay owners describe as a ‘ton’ of cease and desist letters like this one.

Pirates Bay contains a number of Microsoft files which users have uploaded and shared, including different versions of Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and many more.

 Apple

Like Microsoft, Apple sounds very serious in how it intends to “take further actions to stop the sites illegal activities.”

However the Pirate Bay sent a rather mocking reply, together with the insult: “Instead of simply recommending that you sodomise yourself with a retractable baton, let me recommend a specific model- the ASP 21 inch, the previous lawyers tried to use a cheaper brand, but it broke during the action.”

The MPAA and the Swedish government

The Motion Picture Association of America and Swedish authorities thought they scored a victory against the Pirate Bay by ’shutting down’ the website in 2006.

However, the Pirate Bay returned.

They said: “Just some stats… here are some reasons why The Pirate Bay is down sometimes, and how long it usually take to fix.

Tiamo gets “very” drunk and then something crashes - 4 days

Anakata gets a really bad cold and no-one is around - 7 days

The US and Swedish government forces the police to steal our servers - 3 days…. yawn