Monty's Gaming and Wireless Outlook - Issue 180

It's nice to see a decent TV show catch the imagination of the British public and such is the case with the excellent Life On Mars currently showing on the BBC.

For those unfamiliar with the format, a modern-day detective is shot and, while seemingly in a coma, is transported back to the good old 1970s when policing methods were somewhat different. Matched with an old-school detective who is so unfit he'd wheeze if he jumped to conclusions, the two of them eventually bond as they use their different methods to bring felons to justice.

It's all great stuff and brought back memories of a story an ex-copper once told about using photocopier machines as lie-detectors. If somebody refused to confess, the criminal was brought in front of a photocopier and told to put his hand on the machine. He was told that if the light turned green he was guilty. Apparently this method had a near-100% record of bringing about a confession.

Another gag in the show is when the transported detective bemoans his lack of a mobile phone, a situation this newsletterist had to endure at 3GSM World in Barcelona this week. How long is it since you last lost your phone? Believe me, it gets worse every year. Like a child who's mislaid his comforter, I was useless, bereft of confidence and utterly miserable for three days... and, surprise-surprise, my operator refused to send me a new SIM card by courier.

The show itself was chaotic or Barcelunacy as a wag dubbed it. Terrible traffic, networking parties spread out across the city, difficult to get taxis and lots of people having their bags stolen, but a big shout to the MEF/Vodafone party and the reliable Infospace shindig for bringing the usual suspects together, including good ole boys such as Paul Palmieiri, Brian Greasley and Juan Montes.

However, like the detective in Life On Mars, it would have been good to go back in time when the show was held in Cannes. Those were the days when everything was easy to get to, there were no Spanish practices and taxi-drivers used to return mobile phones when they were left on the seat. Not that I'm bitter.