iPod Repairs

I've finally plucked up the courage to open up my dead iPod. It was working perfectly upto a few months ago, when it just refused to even start up. Its out of warranty, and I've always felt the cost of a repair would be better spent towards a new iPod (particularly if its a new shiny one!).

So I figured, what have I got to loose? I've always wanted to see whats inside anyway. I found some straight forward instructions on the web on how to open it. Forget buying the specialist tools. I used a butter knife, and it didn't leave a scratch!

Once inside, I checked all the usual things I check when fault finding: Loose, dry connections - reseating all the components, etc. To my surprise after doing this, the iPod burst back into life, and has been happily playing songs all afternoon. Hurrah!

But I didn't stop there. I have an old 3G iPod from many years ago. My first ipod, in fact. For the last two years it's been completely dead - not even showing anything on screen, or spinning the drive up. So in I go, performing the same checks, and presto! I now have two working iPod!

It just goes to show what you can achieve with a butter knife. :o)

24 Mbps

It is done.

We've switched to Be* Broadband, and while I wasn't expecting to get the full 24Mbps download speed, I was pleasantly surprised to be getting a healthy 18Mbps on my speed tests.

18Mbps!

The benefit is not immediately obvious - as browsing from page to page is only a tad snappier. The real noticeable difference is with high-bandwidth applications such as video (BBC News website videos load in a flash!), podcast and music downloads, etc.

I've even managed to get HD video streaming from Apple.com's Quicktime website, which I had no hope of doing before.

Probably the most impressive stat I have is when I downloaded Linux Mint the other day. It's a 900Mb ISO file, and it downloaded from a server in the US in just under 3 minutes.

Finally - and coincidentally - the same day we had our connection upgraded, Apple launched the movie download and rental service through the iTunes music store. My Apple TV is very happy now. :o)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have to put on my safety goggles, and get back to surfin' the web. :o)

Wow

This is a helluva snapshot. It's of Phoenix with its parachute open during the landing on Mars ... view the full resolution picture for the full effect ;o)

Back on the Red ...

It's nice to be back on Mars ... its beginning to feel like the 21st Century now. All we need is those flying cars! Well done everyone involved with Phoenix.

Be*

I've done it ... I've finally gotten rid of BT Broadband and their £28/month. In a few days I'll be switching to Be* Broadband (part of the O2 group).

Why you ask?

24Mbps download, 2Mbps upload, static IP, No contract, Unlimited everything - and only £18/month. :o)

See you on the other side.

PS: The process was surprisingly easy. A quick phonecall to BT, who tried to talk me out of it (they even offered to reduce my current BT package to only £18/month!), got a MAC code, and filled in the form on the Be* website. Done.

The web has no standards ...

... is that a good thing? :o)

BT or BE? Time to move on.

I've been thinking for a while now that I'm paying way over the odds for broadband.

I'm with BT, on their UBERSUPERMAX package, where I fork out £27 a month for a 6Mbps-ish connection (which I usually get about 2-3Mbps out of). I've been with them for several years now, and cant fault them on service ... but £27 is a lot of money! Also, you'd think that being a loyal customer (both for broadband and telephone) for so many years now I'd get some kind of discount ... but it turns out I'm actually paying more for my broadband than a new customer would on the same package.

So, I started to hunt around. I had a brief look at Orange, as I have a mobile phone with them. They were offering either free or cheap broadband, which all sounded promising until I disovered they were actually Wanadoo ... who were previously Freeserve. Yuck. NEXT!

Then I moved onto Sky. I have a Sky+ subscription, and no plans on cancelling, so their free broadband seemed promising. However, it turns out its not available in my area. They did, however, offer me a £17.99 alternative, which was not too bad ... but the important point they fail to mention is that you have to enter a 12 month contract not only for the broadband, but also for your Sky TV. Damn them!

So I carried on ... I looked at Tiscali (ha!), AOL (for a laugh), PlusNet (hmm) and some others ...

... and then I discovered BE*. Their services were enabled in my area only a week ago, and this is what they can offer me:

• £18/month
• Upto 24Mbps download speed
• 1.5Mbps upload speed
• No traffic shaping
• Unlimited bandwidth usage
• Static IP
• Free wireless router
• No contract
• Very good reviews
• Just been bought by O2 - also good reviews

Not bad. Most users are reporting about 15-16Mbps connections upto 2 km from the exchange. Since I'm only 0.5 km away, it should be pretty fast.

So I'm figuring - £18/month ... no contract ... its got to be worth a try.

I'll let you know ;o)

Betamax to HD-DVD Converter anyone?

52" Mac Mini :o)

I think I need a bigger screen.

We're all gonna' die!

It's official. The world is going to end ... in May.

Scientists in Hawaii are trying to stop the final work being completed on the Large Hadron Collider (a huge particle accelerator in Europe), believing that there's every chance we'll end up creating a black hole which will consume in entire Earth. OMG! Run for the hills!

Here's the full story:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,342854,00.html

I wonder if we're going to see any of those safety and preparation videos we saw during the cold war. "Black Hole - Complete annihilation of the entire planet - Are you prepared?"



I'd better start stock piling tinned spam and powdered milk.

It was nice knowing you all.

Hate Sky, Love Film

I've finally done it ...

Having put up with Sky's boring lineup of movies for over a year now, I've decided to ditch my movie subscription altogether, and subscribe to LoveFilm.com.

That way I get to pick the films that I actually WANT to watch, and I save £10 a month in the process :o)

Arthur C Clarke: 1917 - 2008

Goodbye Arthur. Thanks for all the stories.

Access Denied

Dear Registered iPhone Developer,

Thank you for expressing interest in the iPhone Developer Program. We have received your enrollment request. At this time, the iPhone Developer Program is only available in the US and will expand to other countries during the beta period. We will contact you again regarding your enrollment status at the appropriate time.

Thank you for applying.

Best regards,

iPhone Developer Program

Ah, alas. I guess I'm not going to be an iPhone software developer any time soon :o(

Touchy Feely

I’ve discovered something new.

(Actually, I discovered it before Christmas ... but I’ve been too busy playing with it to post here)

OK, some clarity is quickly required before you press the FLAG BLOG button! I’m talking about Apple’s iPod Touch. Ah, what a marvellous device.

I got one just before Christmas, and had the pleasure of using it during my three week holiday to Florida. At first I thought I was being a little indulgent getting on to replace my existing 4G ipod ... after all, it’s just an iPod isn’t it? It just does everything my 4G did – but with a glitzy interface ... right?

Well, it turns out I was wrong. I’ve found so many things I can do with the Touch that I never considered before I bought it. There’s all the obvious stuff, like listening to must and podcasts. I have to say that I was slightly disappointed in the way it handles some of the music and podcast UI ... but I quickly learnt that the Touch isn’t a “newer” 4G or 5G ipod. It’s something very different, and the UI – although very easy to use – takes some getting used to.

After being mesmerised by the touchscreen interface for a few weeks (trust me ... it’s not like any touchscreen device you’ve used before ... I found myself simply spinning through my track lists just because it looked nice!) ... I started to discover some of the other less obvious things that the Touch could offer:

Video. Because I’ve never had a video iPod (My old 4G only did photos), I was initially uninteresting in this feature. After all, who wants to watch a movie on a tiny screen? Well, it turns out that’s exactly what I wanted to do on the train the other week. I happily watched the first half of “The Third Man” on the train, and was so engrossed I had to find the nearest Costa to settle down to watch the rest! Since then I’ve explored so many other options including video podcasts, iTunes U (Lectures from MIT!), and actually paying for episodes of programmes from iTunes (crazy, I know!). I have to say I’m hooked. And the Touch’s ability to dim its backlight waaaay down means I can secretly watch those brain swelling MIT lectures while my wife snores away in bed next to me ;o)

Safari. Browsing the web on the Touch is amazing. Since the majority of my web access is to check a host of my favourite sites for news, I found the touch a perfect replacement for my PC. I can sit in my kitchen each morning over a nice hot mug of coffee, and within 2 minutes I’m up to speed. Compare this to clumsily carrying my breakfast and coffee down into my study; booting up my PC; logging in; loading IE ... blah blah blah. You get the picture. Throw in some of the iPhone-Webapps some sites offer (such as Facebook), and the whole internet experience changes.

Email. OK, I admit I initially jailbroke my Touch to get the iPhone applications working (but I’ve since paid the measly £12 to get the suite from Apple.) Since getting mail on my Touch, I’ve hardly used my PC. In fact, combined with Safari, my PC usage at home has more than halved – which is impressive for an ipod!

iTunes Music Store. This is another feature I immediately ignored. Why would I want to buy songs from the iTMS from my ipod? Surely its easier from my Mac or PC? Well ... turns out its just as easy from the iPod ... dangerously so. (For example, I was really getting into an album by Jonathan Coulton the other week. Curiously, I looked to see what other albums were on iTunes (from my iPod) ... 60 seconds later I’d bought his latest album, and had already started listening to it!) Its just a shame they don’t offer their audiobooks via the iPod.

Maps. The google maps app is so easy to use, and was a life saver in Florida. Want to know where the nearest Best Buy is? It’s all there. I can see the attraction that app has on the iPhone, where you always have an internet connection.

I know that’s not everything the Touch does, but its the features that I’ve been most blown away by. I can’t help but feel like its something off Star Trek every time I pick it up. It doesn’t seem right to have something that thin; that small offer so much (and run for so long without charging ... my record is over 25 hours over several days. Compare that to the Pocket PCs or Palm devices I’m currently using as door wedges ... I recall you’d be thankful if you got 2 hours continuous use out the PPC!

The other benefit of owning an iPod Touch is that everyone who sees it thinks you have an iPhone. That helps me feel a little richer. To be honest, I still don’t feel I want and iPhone. The Touch offers everything the iPhone does ... just without the phone ... or camera .... or Bluetooth. I miss the ability to take photos, but that’s about it.

So, there you have it. I’m impressed. However, it doesn’t stop there. Last week Apple released it’s SDK for the iPhone platform (iPod Touch included), with plans to release a major iPhone/iPod update in June. The update alone promises some exciting features (including the ability for me to connect my iPod to my works Exchange server to get my contacts, email and diary). But it will also open the door to 3rd party developers to create their own software. Already there are demos of console quality games, and productivity apps. The list will undoubtedly grow, and my nerdy dream of the Touch turning into a kick-ass PDA-type device will potentially come true.

My advice – buy one. Dont think about it. Just buy it. Now. Do it already.

:o)

Oh yeah ... I have a blog!

Hi everyone,

Sorry – I’ve completely forgotten I even had a blog. It’s been a while, and looking at the last few posts I’ve not been making that many posts!

I have to admit, I’ve been swayed towards Facebook, where the amount of effort you need to put in is a lot less ... however, I’ve felt the urge to talk about random stuff recently, and thats the primary purpose of my blog ... so some posts are to follow ...

:o)