I so wanted Newsstand to be the answer. The concept is perfect: digital copies of magazines delivered to my device without me having to a) leave the house/rely on the postal service or b) find space for physical paper. Unfortunately, it’s just not that simple. I started my digital magazine explorations with Zinio, and then moved on to Newsstand when Apple kicked off their version of digital newspaper and magazines.

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the great bargains to be found on Zinio, if you took some time to browse. I also mentioned that it might not be a foolproof process to buy, as Mr C had been having troubles. He even commented on the post, suggesting that it was a pretty rubbish service but there is no real alternative so it has to be done. Or words to that effect.

Just recently, F1 Racing magazine finally made the switch to offer up digital publication alongside the traditional paper editions. To investigate, it meant revisiting the Zinio store, something I hadn’t done for a long time. When I perused the Zinio magazine store for the first time, there was a specific UK section but very little in the way of digital content to offer up. This time, I was amazed at the number of magazines available, but after a quick browse, I wasn’t that inspired.

It’s getting to that time of year when the inevitable will happen. It’s unavoidable, you will be sucked in. It’s that dreaded period of indulgence known as: Christmas TV. Actually it’s not all that bad. This is the one time of year that I buy a TV guide to help keep track of what is on and when. Most of the year I can rely on perusing the iPlayer and keeping tabs on some excellent TV blogs, because I’m likely to be relying on the On Demand services more than live programming.

Browsing through Kottke, I stumbled across this interesting item about a potential future for the magazine industry. It links through to the original article, and a brilliant video. It’s a little dry, but the production is great and the concept is fascinating. Things I found of note: The idea of people enjoying completing a magazine, as a sense of satisfaction rather than neverending blogs I know it’s only a prototype but the spine is bigger than the other side.

Another reason print is dead (to me). Once a month, F1 Racing falls through my letterbox on a Saturday morning at 8am with a massive clonk and wakes me up. PDFs do not do this.

Towards the end of December, I ordered something off the internet. I really wanted to support the project, because I’m becoming more and more interested in people self-publishing. Plus I like photographs. The money was taken in early January but I didn’t see anything for a month. After emailing to chase it up, I discovered the order had got lost and would have to be redone, meaning another 2-4 week wait.

Okay, I have been proclaiming several things as rubbish the past couple of days and every time I have been proved wrong. The most important one is the new comedy Green Wing which has just begun on Channel 4 and stars a whole host of comedians. The adverts didn’t really get me chuckling and I was determined that it was going to be rubbish, but when we sat down to watch it, couldn’t stop laughing.

I just finished reading the whole of the Heat special double Christmas issue, with all the TV listings and I’m sulking because I can’t find Mary Poppins in there anywhere. I know she has to be in there someplace, but I can’t find her.

Things that are getting on my nerves: I can’t stop listening to Queen. And if it’s not Queen, it’s We Will Rock You. I’m currently playing Tomb Raider 2 in an attempt to kill time before the new one arrives. I got stuck in Venice (level 2). All those waterways! Once I’d got through that, I breezed through the next four levels and now I’m stuck again… grr… We headed to Borders, to their Paperchase section, for wedding present wrapping paper, but we ended up browsing through all the books and DVD’s and the computer magazines.