Music Monday – A

Feb 142011

A

A are a fantastic British rock/punk/alternative band who were pretty big in the late 1990′s and early 2000′s. My mate, Jim, who I met at uni got me into them and I was surprised that I’d not actually heard of them before then! I got to see them at a few festivals but never got to one of their own gigs before they went on hiatus. They have recently reformed and I was lucky enough to see them supporting Bowling For Soup at the end of last year. I was blown away at how good their songs are and tight they are as a live band.

Foghorn (from ‘How Ace Are Buildings’)
Monkey Kong (from ‘A Vs Monkey Kong’)
Bad Idea (from ‘How Ace Are Buildings’)
Nothing (from ‘HiFi Serious’)
Old Folks (from ‘A Vs Monkey Kong’)

Can I Be Committed?

Blogging, Music Monday, Random Musings No Responses »

Feb 082011

There’s this thing called ‘Music Monday’ that @girltaristhan does on her blog. Admittedly she stole it from Rickie (and probably numerous other folk across the interwebs). Basically, every Monday you do a short blog post about a band and 5 songs of theirs that you like or that have some deep meaning in your life that you can pretend your readers actually care about. You start with the letter ‘A’ and work through the alphabet right through to ‘Z’. If you miss a letter then and angry set of wild elves ride in on a pack of wolves and chew through your phone line or broadband connection thus rendering your life useless. Continue reading »

The Pro’s and Con’s of Working At Home

Family, Life, Work 2 Responses »

Jan 252011

Since October 2006 I’ve been self employed doing web design & hosting with Chris / Salt & Light Solutions, the odd bit of computer repair work and, primarily, doing the day to day admin for PocketGPSWorld.com‘s speed camera database. The latter essentially being a full time job (along with app development, web site stuff, customer support etc). I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Well, as the title suggests, working at home this way has it’s pro’s and it’s con’s…

Has My Love of Music Faded?

Gigs, Life, Music 1 Response »

Jan 132011

When I was younger, probably half my current age, I used to know every single word to virtually every single song of every single album that I owned. Some may call this a bit sad, I prefer to say that it was simply quite anal! It had it’s advantages though, it meant me and my mate Neil could challenge each other to pass the time in mind-numbingly boring jobs. One such job was at Multiserve in Shipley (StreetView: the grey building with the zig-zag roof). The job entailed sticking lolly’s to the front of kids magazines; another was sticking packs of seeds onto the front of gardening magazines. I always thought that these things were automated by machinery – well, perhaps they are for real publications, but these things were incredibly obscure. I remember the ‘boys’ magazine that we were sticking the lollies onto featured an interview with, and I quote, “Someone Who Knows Tiger Woods”. I had some crap jobs, but that’s for another blog post I think!

* Top left image from MediaMonkey

Students

Life, News, Work 1 Response »

Dec 102010

I generally don’t get political but the last couple of days have really annoyed me. Pictures like this make my blood boil:

Luke Macgregor/REUTERS (via Guardian)

These kids are only out for one thing – to cause havoc. Why else would they need to cover their faces and hide their identity?

I’m all for students having a moan about tuition fees although I completely disagree with their thinking that uni should be free. They have a right to protest, but not to cause criminal damage and to assault people. They have a right to an education too. The thing is, they’ve HAD that education. You see, education is only compulsory up to the age of 16 and it is paid for by the government. Not everyone in the world has that privilege even though education it is one of our human rights. On the subject of human rights, today is actually Human Rights Day; Another human right is the protection of your own property – something the students seem to forget about when they start breaking stuff! Continue reading »

Schrödinger’s Microwave

Home, Random Musings No Responses »

Nov 252010

Perhaps the title itself will give this slightly bizarre blog post away before I even start. Perhaps though, I am misrepresenting you as physics geeks. Time shall tell!

There is a theory in Quantum Mechanics (a branch of physics) that matter can both exist and not exist at the same time – this is referred to as a ‘superposition’. Admittedly it is somewhat more complex than that – feel free to Google or Wiki it. Back in 1935 a few boffins got together to discuss this, and other ‘life-threatening’ physics mumbo-jumbo, to which Schrödinger came up with a purposefully absurd rebuttal involving a cat in a box. Continue reading »

10 Things i Hate About My iPad

iPad, Random Musings 2 Responses »

Nov 212010

[this page intentionally left blank]

Warning: Current Phone Scam

Computers, Life, Scams, Uncategorised 7 Responses »

Sep 272010

I would hope that most of my friends and family would be savvy enough not to fall for something like this but, just in case, here’s a brief overview of an attempted scam some Indian bloke just tried. He wasn’t alone either, as I could clearly hear at least two other people in the background. Continue reading »

Game Center – the best and worst social network… ever!

iPhone No Responses »

Sep 082010

So, with the launch of iOS4.1 and Game Center I thought I’d write a brief blog on my thoughts so far.

Why Game Center is the worst social network… ever:

You can’t send/receive annoying/amusing messages to your friends
You can’t see any information about your friends
That trumpet sound when friend requests are received
There are no games for it (and hence no way to see what animal your friends have just rescued on their farm)
There’s actually no networking or social aspect to it (meaning you are unlikely to spend much time skipping work to ‘just check Game Center’)

And now for the good parts;

Why Game Center is the best social network… ever:

You can’t send/receive annoying/amusing messages to your friends
You can’t see any information about your friends
That trumpet sound when friend requests are received
There are no games for it (and hence no way to see what animal your friends have just rescued on their farm)
There’s actually no networking or social aspect to it (meaning you are unlikely to spend much time skipping work to ‘just check Game Center’)

Congratulations, Apple, on pleasing everyone – those who love, and those who hate, social networking!

The EULA Will End All of Apple’s Woes

iPhone, Random Musings No Responses »

Jul 162010

With the on-going ‘saga’ of the iPhone 4′s reception issues (if you’re not aware then, sorry but, where the heck have you been?! Mars?!) Mr Jobs is giving a Press Conference later today about it.

Lots of people are talking about product recalls or free bumpers (cases for the iPhone 4 that, because they stop direct contact between sweaty fingers and the phone’s antennae, stop the ‘reception issue’ from showing as much). However, my theory is quite different:

When you update the firmware on the iPhone you are given a great big End-User License Agreement (EULA) that no one ever reads. Ever. Yesterdays iOS 4.0.1 release will likely have said something along the lines of:

…by installing this iPhone software update you are hereby acknolwedging that there are no issues with the iPhone 4′s antennae and there is no reception issue. Ergo, you cannot sue us or complain any more. Ever. About anything. Love from Mr Jobs.

So, later today, when Mr Jobs stands up in front of the worlds media and blogosphere he will stand there all smug and say “Well, 4 million iPhone 4 users just updated to 4.0.1 and, by doing so and agreeing to my terms, have confirmed there are no issues. Please go home and relax. Good night.”

There you have it, how many times have you been told to read everything before you agree? Now you know why.