is this thing on?

I've moved!

2009-01-20T22:00:00.002Z

Yep, I've gone all out and bought a .com domain :o)

Welcome to my new home (and my new blog) at:

olitee.com

Read the welcome message at:
http://blog.olitee.com/index.php/2009/01/welcome-to-oliteecom/

See you soon.

BloggerBeGone

2009-01-16T18:19:00.003Z

Hi folks,

Hmm. No updates since June 2008. That's not very good is it. To be honest, I'm sick of Blogger. It's such a faf to use, and at the rate I post new entries I usually have to hunt around for my login details each time.

I've decided on a few things...

1. I need my own website, not just a blog.
2. I want to move away from Blogger. Wordpress looks nice, and Phil's using it so it must be cool ;o)
3. I need to stop using my sister's website for hosting my own files!
4. I want a snappy domain name.

All this spells the end of this blog. Thank you all three of my visitors for your support and interest over the years.

I've just setup a new web hosting package, so no doubt a server somewhere in Germany or Canada is whirring to life and installing everything for me. In a couple of days I'll post the details, and the new website address.

So long Blogger.

END.

iPod Repairs

2008-06-14T12:34:00.002+01:00

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

2008-06-14T10:44:00.001+01:00

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

2008-05-27T22:36:00.003+01:00

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 ...

2008-05-26T10:46:00.002+01:00

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*

2008-05-25T17:41:00.002+01:00

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 ...

2008-04-14T21:06:00.002+01:00

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

BT or BE? Time to move on.

2008-04-06T15:35:00.003+01:00

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?

2008-04-01T22:46:00.002+01:00

52" Mac Mini :o)

2008-03-31T21:04:00.002+01:00

I think I need a bigger screen.

We're all gonna' die!

2008-03-30T12:39:00.002+01:00

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

2008-03-21T17:41:00.002Z

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

2008-03-19T00:34:00.002Z

Goodbye Arthur. Thanks for all the stories.

Access Denied

2008-03-17T22:47:00.001Z

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

2008-03-15T22:01:00.003Z

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!

2008-03-15T21:13:00.002Z

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)

Merry Christmas y'all

2007-12-25T04:28:00.000Z

Just a quick update to wish everyone back home a Merry Christmas. :o)

BBC Bitesize want me ...

2007-10-08T23:57:00.000+01:00

... well, actually, they want one of my photographs.

I know its a bit of a minor event when you consider the context, and how many photos they'll be using, but still ... it's nice to be asked ;o)

Here's a snippet from the email I got:

My name is Dave Percy and I am a Researcher at GCSE Bitesize at the BBC. GCSE Bitesize is a revision website used by 16 year olds revising for their GCSE examinations in the United Kingdom.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize

We are making a Flash picture slideshow to accompany poetry audio for students to revise GCSE English. We would very much like to include your picture, ‘Passing Clouds', which can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/olitee/127211251/

to accompany the poem ‘Sonnet' by John Clare which can be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetryclare/1clare_sonnetsubjectrev2.shtml

Your picture would accompany audio of the line:

'I love to see the summer beaming forth
And white wool sack clouds sailing to the north'

So there you go ... :o)

HD Here I Come!

2007-09-13T23:15:00.000+01:00

Ah, at last ... a post where I can geek out:

I visited IBC this week in Amsterdam (Flickr Photos), and was blown away by the high-def goodies on show.

I got back thinking that it was finally time to take the plunge, and upgrade the edit suite to fully support HD.

We already have an AJA-IO for input and output from FCP, so the first logical choice was something from the same company that offered HD. AJA have recently announced the ioHD, which is an amazing little portable HD capture and playback device. It follows the same basic design as the IO, in that everything is handled via a single Firewire link (in this case, FW800).

Apart from being a little dissapointed it didn't offer uncompressed or 4:4:4 editing (the IO is only 4:2:2), I figure it was still the best option from AJA, given that the Kona 3 card was SDI only ...

... that is, until I found this:

Blackmagic Design's Multibridge Eclipse was finally confirmed to be shipping only a few days ago, and with the same pricetag as the AJA-ioHD, you get far more for your money.

Not only does the box offer full 4:4:4 editing, support for ProRes422, and 2K HD ... it also has a fantastic array of analogue and digital input/output options.

If you're thinking of buying the AJA-ioHD, check this product out first. You loose the portability of the IO, but you gain an incredibly low-latency system that offers all the connectivity of the IO, but with additional support for 2K, 4:4:4 and hardware support for the RT Extreme timeline in FCP.

I've ordered mine today, and they're scheduled to be in Europe in the next few weeks, so I'll let you know how I get on.

In the meantime, I think my existing AJA-IO must have seen me browsing the brochure, as it's decided to completely die on me. What incredible timing! I would say I'm lucky that I was ready to upgrade anyway, but with at least 4 weeks to wait for the Blackmagic box, I'm going to have to be technically creative with the upcoming film festivals. Eeek!

Anyway. I've geeked out, and I feel a little better for it. I'll have some more geeking to do tomorrow, as I'll be buying a nice 42" 1080-line HD LCD monitor to go with this setup. Oh, how I love my job!

Goodbye Old, Hello New

2007-09-08T00:15:00.000+01:00

Yes, yes, yes ... I change the design of my blog more often than I change my socks, which explains why everyone has been avoiding me lately :o)

Hello again! It's been a long time, but as you can see from my last few posts - I've been a bit busy. Quite a bit has changed. I've moved house, got married ... ok, so that's about it - but it took up a lot of time!

In a lame attempt to rejuvinate my blog, I thought I'd upgrade it to one of the newer Blogger templates. Can anyone spot the difference? Hmm.

The other problem I've encountered is a feeling of guilt every time I've wanted to post some highly geeky comments about some new gadget (say ... an iPod Touch) alongside earlier postings about my wedding. It just didn't seem right ...

... but I've since got over all that rubbish, so lets get back to some geeky posting ;o)

Speak to you soon,

Oli.

I'm married!

2007-08-24T09:20:00.001+01:00

First of all, sorry for not posting to this thing in ages. I've been a bit busy with the topic of this post!

Secondly, to any strange people who are still checking this site after so many months, I thought it was worth a post:

I'M MARRIED! We were Mr. T and Miss. T ... we are now Mr & Mrs T ... how very exciting! If you fancy having a nosey, just click on the image above to view the album.

Oh, and yes - I know my blog has restarted the wedding countdown clock. One day I'll get rid of it ;o)

Oli.

Home Sweet Home

2007-04-30T22:35:00.001+01:00

Hello. I'm back. I just thought I'd post a quick snap from my new home. Very yellow isn't it?

We're all moved in now, with only a small number of boxes yet to unpack. Not bad going really!

If my move is news to you, don't worry - I'll be emailing you soon with the address and phone number.

Speak to y'all soon.

Almost there ...

2007-04-07T23:43:00.000+01:00

I'm just about to go to bed for the very last time at Whitefield Cottage. Tomorrow is the final day of our move (sort of ... ).

One slight problem though: My broadband will take a week to get transferred to the new property, so you'll not hear or see anything from me in that time (hurrah! cries the internet :o).

I just wanted to say what a pleasure it's been blogging all this time from this room, at this desk, on top of this hill here. Soon I'll be blogging from another room, at most likley the same desk, and not the slightest sign of increased elevation relative to my neighbours.

Even my telephone number is changing ... so if you're used to contacting me on the old landline, from Tuesday morning there will be a new number. If you're supposed to call me on that number, you'll get the details soon. If you're not supposed to ring me - FOR GOD SAKE STOP CALLING! (That mainly applies to Kitchens Direct and all those people who are always 'calling on behalf' of some company - you know who you are!)

So then. There it is. Goodbye for a week. Keep the internet tidy whilst I'm away.

Oli.

Whitefield Cottage. 2007.

New Home

2007-04-05T21:54:00.000+01:00

We've got the keys - it's all official!

The move starts tomorrow. Should I have started packing this up by now? :o)

Moving House!

2007-04-01T21:47:00.000+01:00

Well, it's official. We're moving house!

Surprised? So are we. We started looking for possible new properties for 'after the wedding' ... but we found a place we loved so much that we simply had to go for it. I'm not going to tell you much about the new place ... that way it'll be a surprise!

So, not being allowed to upload photos of the new place, I'm afraid all I can offer is a photo of the current state of our living room!

So there you go. This may well be the only post for the month of April, as we're gonna be busy. I'll update you with anything interesting tho...

New Wedding Venue!

2007-04-01T21:30:00.000+01:00

Don't worry, we're not moving the wedding ... but we are having the ceremony in a much fancier location. The hotel were concerned about the number of people we were trying to fit into here:

And admitted that it was their own fault for allowing us to book that venue ... so for no extra cost we're getting married in here:

It's about 10cm due north of the previous venue, but we'll make sure minibuses will be on hand for anyone who doesn't fancy the hike.

We've also booked the DJ, confirmed the itinerary for the day, discussed table decorations and top-table layout. All in all, not bad for 30 minutes work ;o)

Apple TV: Unboxing

2007-03-28T20:25:00.000+01:00

Ok, ok ... so I promised unboxing photos, and I didn't deliver. I'm very sorry for upsetting the internet (aka. Phil). So, here we are:

Click here for all the photos...

How beautiful is that? I've not really had much time to play with it (more on the reasons in my next post), but what I have seen has impressed me. There's been a lot of talk since the Apple TV started shipping of it's lack of features, but its clear to me (if Apple follow their usual model) that this is only the beginning. The Apple TV is basically a small Apple computer running a streamlined version of OSX. A simple software update can easily add new functionality ... and I hope it does.

Out of the box, it does exactly what it said it would do. You can connect to as many iTunes libraries over the network as you'd like, and stream the content directly to your TV. Alternatively you can select one of those libraries, and set it up as a 'sync to' library. Once setup the Apple TV appears in the iTunes device list as if it were an iPod, and you manage it in much the same way. Cool! The benefit being that you can access whatever content you copy across to it without the need for your PC or Mac to be on.

Music play back is just as good as Frontrow, if not better. It's very slick, and quick to access anything. The way in which podcasts are presented is slightly different, and makes it easy to navigate through any subscriptions.

For movies, I can't really comment. I have some H.264 movie trailers that I downloaded a while ago from the Quicktime Trailers website. They're all 720p HD, and they playback quite happily over my 802.11G WiFi network. The quality is pretty impressive, and in fact it's the first decent HD content I've seen on my TV. I mention that to point out I have nothing to compare it to :o)

It's a shame that it doesn't (yet?) support the playback of MPEG-2 content. I was rather hoping to create an archive of films on my server so that I could recall them on demand, but maybe that feature will have to wait. I've been reading that several people have already hacked the Apple TV to playback XVid/DivX material. Hopefully MPEG-2 playback is not to far away. (Not that there's anything wrong with H.264 ... but transcoding all my MPEG-2 content would be a real pain, and loose some of the quality!)

Hmm ... what else? It's very pretty - did I mention that?

All in all, I have to say that for £199 it's a bargain. Not just for me, but NMeM would benefit from a modded version of this beast for HD video playback. The next cheapest alternative is about £300, so it's worth playing with. Just think ... all gallery-based AV playback at NMeM could be soon powered by Apple TVs ... that's would have to get Apple's attention, surely?!

Apple TV

2007-03-26T09:06:00.000+01:00

According to the TNT website, my Apple TV has made it all the way from Hong Kong. As I write it's 'out for delivery' somewhere in Bradford.

Finally ... a reason to go to work :o)

Unpacking photos soon!

UPDATE: Crikey ... I've had no time to play with the thing tonight. We've been too busy viewing a new apartment we're thinking of moving into. It's all very exciting, but the Apple TV got left behind. Maybe tomorrow night. Apologies for my lack of committment! Aparently moving house takes priority over new gadget unboxing photos. Damn the female race!

:o)

Podcasting Apples

2007-03-19T20:57:00.000Z

Well that was fun...

I've just returned from a meeting at Apple's Europe HQ in London about podcasting. Admittedly, it was a Apple-biased view towards the technology behind podcasting, and they made the sweeping claim that 'podcasting' was a merging of the two words 'iPod' and 'Broadcasting'. Hmm ... they say it like they own it!

The day long event took us through the many new an innovative ways podcasts are being used in education, the museum sector and plebs like you and I. It was interesting to see so many universities there, with worried looking IT staff who have obviously been tasked with 'catching up with the bigger uni's' before the start of September term.

What was encouraging is the reinforcement of how simple a podcast is - from a technical point of view. It's just an audio, video or other media file ... and a little bit of XML. OK, so I knew that before I went all the way to London (don't tell my boss!), but I had one of those lightbulb moments sat there in the conference room. A year or two ago I pretty much decided that NMeM wasn't going to be streaming any big videos from their website, as the money involved (i.e. renting space on an streaming media server) usually worked against the constraints of the project (i.e. a project with no money!). So, I resigned myself to thinking of lower-bandwidth ways of delivering content. Audio seemed the most sensible, since we could host the files on our own web server. This worked fine, but as podcasting became more and more popular, it seemed to make sense to wrap these audio files with the necessary podcast XML. That way people could subscribe, blah blah blah ... you get the picture.

My 'lightbulb' moment is that I've been looking at audio-only solutions for too many months now. Whilst I've had my head down the world has moved on, and video podcasting is becoming increasingly popular. So - why not go back to hosting full-length videos? With podcasting there's no media streaming to worry about. OK, yeah - so there's a hit on bandwidth if you have a particularly large file that proves to be very popular, but not to the point of crippling our server.

I have to admit though, I'm not sure I'd fancy watching a 90 minute interview or documentary on that tiny iPod screen. But still ... I have seen the light.

It was also interesting to note that pretty much any file can be embedded into a 'podcast'. In theory you can deliver PDF or even word documents to your subscribers. Not much use for what I had in mind, but a great idea for delivering educational packages.

And then ... Apple talked about Podcast Producer.

Podcast Producer - although it wasn't made terribly clear at their presentation - is a service that will ship with OSX Leopard Server, and it looks set to make podcast production (on a mass scale) much easier. You simply create templates (using XML) for each type of podcast (audio, video or otherwise), and once you're setup you can integrate the service into your 'production pipeline' (I put that phrase in quote marks, as it makes me cringe whenever I use it!). Then, in theory, you can simply post a finished file to the server, and it will not only set about encoding the various versions you want, but it'll also make use of Qmaster or XGrid to speed up the process. Cool!

So that got me thinking ... to the point of asking the technical representative from Apple,

"There seems to have been a lot of hard work and development poured into
creating a solid, scalable encoding solution ... for making tiny MP3 files. Is this
likely to be a technology that we'll see Final Cut Studio v6 making use of?".

He admitted that he had no idea what was going to be included in the next FCP release, but he did point out that Podcast Producer is extremely flexible, and is designed to fit into existing production workflows. That would explain the support for both QMaster and XGrid. But still, this new technology looks far to good to leave out of the Final Cut suite. We shall have to wait until NAB to find out if my guess is correct!

Anyway, regardless of NAB and Podcast Producer, NMeM looks set to take podcasting it's events a little more seriously if I have my way. Watch this space! ;o)

Seussical (the Musical)

2007-03-03T11:40:00.000Z

Ah, the end is in sight.

Today will be a long day ... with a afternoon and evening performance of "Seussical", and then about 3 hours of work to get all our sound equipment out ...

... but then it will be over. It feels like we've done six solid weeks of theatre shows, which in a way we have. It will be nice to get up tomorrow morning, and to not have to think about radiomics, mixdowns or batteries for once!

See y'all soon.

BBC: "Petrol firms say fuel not faulty"

2007-03-01T15:06:00.000Z

This is an odd story ...

I can't quite work out whether there is genuinely something wrong with the fuel from these petrol stations, or whether it's the result of the BBC saying "Hey, there's something wrong with fuel across the country ... anyone having trouble with their cars lately?" ... and of course receiving thousands of emails saying "Yes."

The thing is, if they'd asked the same question two months ago, they'd have probably got the same number of results. There's a nice map here of where those emails are coming from:

Complete with the the following statement:

"... the map shows clearly that motorists are reporting that petrol stations all
over the country have been hit"

Erm ... no. The map clearly shows that motorists all over the country are whining about problems with their cars ... as they do every day of the week. I wish they wouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly.

Then again ... Miss. T's car has been having the symptoms described by many for the last two weeks. Loss of power, cut-outs and sluggish performance. Maybe there is something wrong with our fuel.

Hmm. Thank goodness I have a diesel ;o)

BBC: "Net firms tackle Vista headache"

2007-03-01T14:52:00.000Z

Don't you just love the BBC's technology reporting? I frequently ridicule it here ;o)

This article appeared today, and it got me thinking. The article appears biased towards the ISP's complaint that Microsoft Windows Vista has 'broken' their software...

I'm sorry, but Windows Vista is a significant update to the Windows series, and it's changed many of the ways it handles system-level stuff ... such as networking. In fact, networking was one of the major focuses of the update!

This is an operating system that has been in beta for over a year now, and developers have had ample time to update their software. You'd have thought that these multi-million pound broadband companies such as Virgin, would have realised that some of their customers would be using Windows Vista as of February, and would have checked that their install CDs worked? Clearly not :o)

It almost sounds like I'm sympathising with Microsoft, which is rare. I'm not really ... it just frustrates me when global press organisations report on technology issues such as these, and point the finger of blame at the wrong person. Bah!

(I'm going to make a very good Grumpy Old Man, aren't I? :o)

February - Done.

2007-03-01T14:42:00.000Z

Hello again.

Sorry, February has been a very busy month for me with three musical's to engineer the sound for, (A pantomime, West Side Story, and Seussical). I'm about half-way through the last one and my life should return to normality on Sunday (YAY!).

See you all soon...

"Vista Dawns ... The World Yawns"

2007-01-31T09:00:00.000Z

Well, there you have it ... hello, by the way. Sorry it's been a while, I've been busy!

Microsoft officially launched Windows Vista to the public yesterday. Did anyone feel the earth move?

In the past I've always looked forward to a new release of Windows. Either because I'm sick of all the problems with the current version, or I just fancy a change of scenery. I've even upgraded my PC in preparation for the release. However, after reading all the info on Microsoft's website ... and various opinions in forums ... I find myself underwhelmed by the whole thing. Yes, it's nice to have the latest OS, but on this occasion I'm willing to wait.

Apart from Vista not appearing to be THAT groundbreaking, there appears to be a load of extra 'security' features that I'm simply not interested in. There's been a lot of talk about DRM, and it's integration into the OS (great news for the film and music industry ... bad news for us); there's been talk about the terms and conditions surrounding the 'upgrade' version of Vista ... which apparently disables your old Windows XP product key, so you can't even dual-boot XP/Vista in the short term (unless you fork out the extra for the full product)...

... and then there's one of the primary reasons I own my PC: Gaming. All initial tests show Vista to be a slow performer when it comes to games. Yes, I know Vista ships with the latest DirectX-10, but there are very few games ready to take advantage of that yet.

All in all ... I'm going to wait this one out for a while.

What struck me as funny is this: I'd never do this with a Mac! If I could get hold of a final copy of Lepoard a week before its launch ... I'd take a day off work to install it! Ho hum. I think my conversion is complete. I bow to the almighty Apple Inc.

Whilst I'm on the subject, I had to laugh at this article on MSNBC.com:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16873608/

If you scroll down to the 'Related Content' inset, there's a link marked "Discuss: Which is better - Mac of Microsoft?". If you're using a Mac and click on that link, you get a message telling you the forum software is only compatible with Internet Explorer! Ah, what fun :o)

Until next time....

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T00:51:00.000Z

Happy New Year everyone!

Caught in the act

2006-12-27T15:20:00.001Z

2006: A year in photographs

2006-12-24T14:51:00.000Z

As I did last year, I've compiled a small set of photos that sum up 2006 for me. You can view them on Flickr.

Merry Christmas - I hope you've all been good little boys and girls. I know I have ;o)

Merry Christmas Y'all

2006-12-23T18:19:00.000Z

For the first time ever, I'm actually prepared for Christmas ... like, three whole days in advance. Usually I'm one of these blokes who's still running around the shopping centre on Christmas eve, thinking 'Why didn't I order this cr*p off Amazon?!'.

Well, this year I did order that cr*p from Amazon, and it's all wrapped up and under our tree.

The problem is now I'm getting twitchy. I'm convinced I've forgotten something important. I keep checking my 'Presents Bought For People' list, and cross referenced it with my 'Presents I Bought For People And Have Now Wrapped And Put Under The Tree' list. Everything tallies. Nothing amis. So what have I forgotten?!

No doubt I'll find out on Monday.

Wishing y'all a Merry Christmas.

Oli.

New NEW design :o)

2006-12-23T18:12:00.000Z

Yes, yes. It's all changed again. If you visited this blog in the last three weeks you'll have seen a fairly drab, colourless design that I started working on. Well, it's gone. Some of you complained that the RSS feed was gone: well, its back.

I was inspired through delayed reaction to a comment Tom made about a week ago. When I told him about my attempt to create a table-free design for my website, he said "keep it simple". I don't know why it took me so long to react, but he was right. I'd wasted almost an entire weekend wondering why the boxes in the sidebar were bunching up; why the spacing and padding wasn't consistent; and why my curved edges didn't display correctly...

...in fact I spent almost a week on this before I realised that I'd forgotten the purpose of my blog. Ho well, silly me. I'm back to reality now, and merrily posting away.

This new design is based on something I liked when browsing a couple of MSDN blogs. The header is easily updatable, so hopefully I can keep you entertained with weekly updates to the banner. I'm also looking into updating this template to work with the new Blogger layout tools. There's a host of useful add-ons which become activated once I do this, such as the ability to show RSS feeds from other sites, etc. All in all, I'm quite happy with this new design. Now, I wonder if my Starbucksblog buddies will let me apply the same treatment to that blog? Its long overdue for an update ;o)

A River Runs Through It

2006-12-07T22:05:00.000Z

... I'm pretty sure that river wasn't in front of my house when I left this morning:

I'd better take my wellies to work tomorrow!

It's that time of year again!

2006-12-07T21:52:00.000Z

Compared to the same time last year ;o)

Goodbye NMPFT

2006-12-06T21:56:00.000Z

It may not seem like much, but those red letters mean a lot to me. They've been up there since I was very small and droolled a lot. When I was at that age, NMPFT was a magical place - somewhere I actually wanted to come.

Then I grew up, but NMPFT didn't. For some reason that I'm still trying to figure out I got a job there, and in those six years I've seen a lot changes. It seems that most of those changes involved removing the magic one little bit at a time, and there's not a lot left.

The photograph here marks the moment when NMPFT made one of its biggest changes I've seen whilst working there: It's changed it's name to the National Media Museum. It might not seem like much, and to some it probably makes sense, but to me it just hightlights a growing trend at the museum. For the last four years the museum seems to have been in a state of constant flux. Nothing, it seemed, was good enough and therefore needed to change. And then change again.

Four years of that has taken its toll. I don't think the museum will ever get back to where it was when I was a kid.

As for the future? The name change also comes with an expanded remit, which will no doubt entail further change. Not that I'm afraid of change. Change is healthy. But only if you get a chance to actually benefit from that change before the next wave of changes arrive.

Anyhoo. I've ranted on enough. The National Media Museum has arrived, and that's that. They even have a new website that I helped code. Check it out ;o)

Welcome Back!

2006-12-06T21:45:00.000Z

Sorry, it's been ages since I last posted. I've been so busy. No really, I have!

I figured that I'd make it obvious I'd created a new post by completely redesigning my blog. I did this one all by myself, from scratch. I thought I'd have a go at creating a website without using tables for layout. It's proven a bit of a nightmare, with elements not sitting where they should in all browsers ... but I think it looks quite pretty. Well, for a first attempt it does.

A number of things have happened since I last posted, but I'll post them in the days to come.

In the meantime, Happy Christmas! (Is it too early for that yet?)

Office Fun

2006-09-26T23:40:00.000+01:00

Claire carelessly dies whilst cataloguing the TV Gallery acrylic triangles. SPC, soon to be PC, Lacey takes control of the crime scene ... or something like that.

Tomorrow the team *might* actually do some work, but for now they seem happy. Best not to disturb them.

Who will win?

2006-09-23T19:40:00.000+01:00

Apple iTV Media Hub

2006-09-12T23:18:00.000+01:00

FINALLY! I've been holding back for almost a year now, convinced that Apple must have something in the works that can open up my media library in my living room ... and today they did just that.

I have gotten very close to buying a full blown Mac Mini to allow me to play my music and videos on my TV and HiFi, but I was loathed to spend that much money on a device that was capable of so much more ... and then just play music through it. A few years ago I bought an Apple Airport Express, which allows me to 'send' my music from a Mac or PC to my HiFi. It's been fun, but it's not practical - and since you have to trek downstairs every time you want to change tracks - it doesn't really let you enjoy your music.

So along come Apple today with the announcment of the 'iTV'. A media adapter, for want of a better phrase. It's basically a cut down mac that's sole aim in life is to play music, videos and photos - in HD - on my lovely LCD TV. Although it's not available until Q1 next year, it looks like it may only cost about £170.

So many new things to think about in the space of a single presentation. I tip my hat - that floppy white one I got on holiday - to Apple.

Right ... I'd better start saving!

:o)

Thank You Steve ...

2006-09-12T23:00:00.000+01:00

Apple has today updated it's iTunes software to version 7.0 ... and it's a pretty major upgrade.

It's far easier for you to just download it and use it, than for me to explain what's new ... but this screenshot gives you an idea of how the album art is finally being exploited.

If, like me, you have gaping holes in your music collection with no album art - never fear. iTunes 7 now downloads the art for you.

Along with a host of new organisational tools, this really is a decent upgrade ... and it's free!

Slooooooooow Broadband

2006-08-25T10:20:00.000+01:00

This is really getting annoying. I moved over to BT Broadband at the beginning of August with the hope of getting better download speeds that I had with my existing ISP.

My line was upgraded to ADSLMax, which is very flakey for the first week as it 'settles' down to the optimum speed. Everything looked promising at first, with downloads peaking at around 2Mbit/sec ... but about a week ago the speed dropped a wee bit. In fact, it dropped a helluva lot. If you look at that graphic carefully you'll spot that my download speed is actually lower than the upload. This test reports an average speed of about 124kbps ... but US sites are averaging about 50-60kbps. Wow! I'm paying £26/month for dial-up speeds!

Thankfully, BT in their ultimate wisdom state that the speed is 'below the contractural threshold', and they will perform a number of test to try and fix it.

May not be doing much blogging until then! TTFN.

From PC to Mac ... and back again

2006-08-13T22:07:00.000+01:00

I grew up with PCs.

Actually, I grew up with my parents, younger sister and an imaginary friend called Rupert ... but that's beside the point. Where was I? Ah ...

Yes, I've grown up with PCs. My first 'real' computer was an Amstrad CPC-664. While my friends were busy playing games on their Amigas and Ataris, I was learning BASIC on the 664. Fun, eh? The Amstrad was soon replaced with a 286 PC running a curious operating system called 'Microsoft Windows 286'. It would never catch on. :o). In fact it was useless, so I ignored it - returned to DOS, and continued playing with programs using QuickBASIC.

I'm not going to give you a blow-by-blow account of every PC I've ever owned, but I've had quite a few over the years. It's only in the last five years, as I began working in a more creative AV environment that I discovered Apple, and Mac OSX. I have to admit, I was completely taken in by Steve Jobs' Reality Distortion Field - and continue to be taken in by it. The Mac is a fantastic platform for creative work, and the operating systems is years ahead of Windows. The Mac was the first computer I sat down to use, and didn't have the overwhelming urge to dive into the system settings and tweak everything to my preferences. Everything was just so easy to figure out and use that I just wanted to get on with the important job of actually using the software.

I've been using Macs for almost three years now, and about a year ago I even replaced my home PC with a G5 iMac. All went well until I began to realise the things I couldn't do on a Mac. Don't get me wrong, I'm not thinking of getting rid of the Mac. In fact, therein lies of the problem. I don't want to give up the Mac - but I want to get back to doing so many things that only the PC can offer. I've spent 6 years working in VB and ASP, and have started the move to the .NET platform. It seems a waste to throw all that experience away and learn Cocoa or Carbon - just so I can continue development on the Mac platform.

The other thing I've missed over the last two years is PC gaming. I've tried the consoles (XBox and Gamecube), and even the Nintendo DS ... but it's nothing compared to the sheer range of game genres and performance you get from a PC.

They say you can't have your cake and eat it ... but I disagree.

It's time to go... [CUE: Back To The Future music] ... Back To The PC!

... and if you're going to go back, it's best to do it in style. Yes, that is a Core 2 Duo. A 2.4Ghz to be exact. Combined with a nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX, I expect I'll need to wear goggles when I use this thing!

There's a home for this beast next to my iMac - so hopefully I can continue to enjoy the benefits of OSX. In fact, to highlight the difference, you may notice the PC is a nice jet black to contrast the iMac. How very Zen :o)

I've had no end of trouble getting this thing up and running ... and not for the usual reasons. I have everything ready ... except the motherboard. The company I ordered it from have sent me the wrong one - one which doesn't support the Core 2 Duo CPU - so I've had a very traumatic weekend. So many new toys, but I can't plug any of them in! Nghh!

Hopefully the motherboard thing will be sorted by Tuesday, and I'll be up and running by then. I've bought Oblivion to christen the system with. Its an amazing looking game, and apparently one of the most grueling games for any PC to run. Bring it on!

So then. There we have it. I've gone full circle - learnt a lot on the way - and now feel I've finally got a setup that meets my needs: PC for games and development, the Mac for everything else.

Once it's up and running I'll let you know how it performs. Until then, I've gotta go. I feel the need to go and sit in front of this beast. Maybe tap the keys and pretend it's all working. TTFN.

New Job!

2006-08-10T23:09:00.000+01:00

I've accepted a new job!

For those of you know know me well, don't get too excited. I'm only moving offices. I used to be a 'Media Developer' ... and I've now accepted the completely different role of 'Media Developer'. I'm sure I'll figure out what the differences are soon, but the job looks very promising. More creative work - more development work - less messing around being the jack of all trades.

I start on the 21st of August, so I'll let you know how I get on.

A new month : a new look

2006-08-03T21:26:00.000+01:00

I decided that was now bored with the old irrelevant lighthouse theme, so I've gone with an equally irrelevant dotty theme. Hope you like it ;o)

Too hot!

2006-07-28T20:17:00.000+01:00

We complain when it's cold ... and now we're complaining that its too hot.

Having spent the week sat in an office at 35-degrees, the latest Weebl cartoon cheered me up ;o)

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/cold/

Family Portrait :o)

2006-07-25T22:55:00.000+01:00

Rush Hour

2006-07-25T10:23:00.000+01:00

Hmm ... no one is going to believe why I was late for work ;o)

The Hoff

2006-07-16T22:43:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd swing the topic away from work for once ;o)

My sister sent me this link, and it's one of those videos you watch the first time with a slack jaw ... then a second time with a wry grin; checking over your shoulder to see if anyone is looking your way.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3382491587979249836

I can't figure out whether is good-funny ... or baaaad-funny. It's either a clever attempt at self ridicule, or its a vain, lame, baaaaad music video :o)

Thanks Sis!

PS: Only 3 days to go. Eeeep!

Not Long Now!

2006-07-15T10:44:00.000+01:00

Sorry I've not been posting much lately. If you're desperate for some updates, we've decided to document the final 7 days of the Experience TV project on the Starbucks Blog.

Check it out ... we're either going to succeed or fail, but either way it will be dramatic ;o)

AGHHHH!

2006-07-09T22:15:00.000+01:00

Ah, that's better. Now, lets see what happens this week :o)

Lost for words...

2006-07-03T23:44:00.000+01:00

I really want to talk about that damn place, and everything that's happened in the last two weeks, but I find myself lost for words.

.... nope .... not a single word to attempt to explain what has happened and why. If I ever find out, I'll let you know.

Some of you will know the cryptic nonesense of which I speak. The rest of you will have to remain in the dark for now :o)

Goodnight.

Mmm ... purdy

2006-06-28T20:42:00.000+01:00

Yet more graphical nonsense. Shame I don't have time to animated it as we'd planned :o(

3D Heaven

2006-06-22T23:13:00.000+01:00

I've spent the last few days working on some 3D sequences for the museum's TV Heaven area. I got bored tonight, and started throwing the logo around ...

... I think I broke it :o)

Ooops ...

2006-06-19T17:19:00.000+01:00

Miss T discovers that the delicate Nissan Micra is not suited to off-road use.

Spider vs. CCTV Camera

2006-06-14T00:50:00.000+01:00

I installed a CCTV camera at my house a few months ago. Not because I'm paranoid, but because we can't see our driveway - and it's always nice to know our cars are still there.

So - as always - I got bored with the simple setup whereby I could watch the camera on our TV. So I installed a motion-tracking CCTV DVR ... you know, as you do. Basically - whenever anything moves on my drive way, it records the video and emails me a picture...

...so you can imagine my reaction when this appeared in my inbox:

Hmm. A 4-foot wide, glowing spider. That's something you don't see every day. I think I'll lock the door tonight! :o)

Summer is finally here!

2006-06-04T23:28:00.000+01:00

I took this photo from the end of my garden. It's official. Not a cloud in the sky. Summer has arrived :o)

BBC does it again ...

2006-06-04T22:43:00.000+01:00

Once again I find myself untrusting of the BBCs reporting of technology and science related stories. Here's a nice example:

BBC News: Changing the Face of Wireless

This is a straight forward piece about the future of wireless networking, and how it should help ease the confusion over existing systems.

First of all there's this quote:

"That wi-fi world is full of letters and numbers, a bit like the real world but a lot more complicated."

What the heck does that mean? That has to be the most random thing I've heard all weekend. And whilst that had me stumpted, I continued reading:

"What's happened is the digital world had caught up and demands 10, 11, 12 megabits per second throughput, and 'b' and 'g' and all its variants can't deliver that."

10 megabits? 'b' and 'g' can't deliver 10 megabits/second? Last time I checked 802.11b topped out at 12Mbps, and .11g at 54Mbps ... with Netgear and Linksys offering 108Mbps options. I can see where this quote might have originated: from a discussion about digital media and sustained data rates over wireless ... but existing WiFi systems can easily handle a 10Mbps stream of data. And speaking of data, how many people have the regular urge to pump over 10Mbps of 'digital media' for a sustained period over their network? The average DVD would only need about half that bandwidth to play; digital TV requires even less. This demand from the 'digital world' must be coming from something else, but - of course - they don't state what.

And finally:

"In June 2004, the IEEE started working on the [802.11]N standard and two years on they still have not agreed anything."

They report that fact like it's a bad thing. We've got a perfectly decent - and (if you ignore the 108Mbps offerings) a standardised, compatible wireless system. The brains behind the first two standards are now working on a third (802.11n). They're not going to throw the whitepaper together over beers at the pub ... creating an internationally standardised wireless protocol takes time, I imagine.

I don't know how they do it, but the BBC had once again taken random pieces of information about some current and future technology (seemingly gathered in one phone call, and an afternoon spent on Google), and merged it all together to produce a 'story'. I don't mind the odd bit of 'dumbing down'. After all, not everyone knows the details about wireless networks, and these stories are supposed to inform a wide audience. But it infuriates me when they dumb-down a story to the point where it doesn't make any sense. That doesn't help anyone - it just serves to confuse people, or make them believe something is just so, when the opposite is true.

For a story that set out by saying that the world of WiFi is confusing for consumers, it's done a remarkable job in generating yet more confusion.

To sum everything up using a common expression of mine: "Nghhhh!".

(Have you ever had one of those days where all these little things get to you? :o)

Back to work ...

2006-05-29T22:01:00.000+01:00

Well. That was fun. Almost four weeks has gone by without me doing my 'actual' job. I've had so many things to do lately that the core part of my job (and quite honestly, the fun and creative part) has had to be put on hold.

The end of the b.Tween festival marks my return to work, and I'm kind of looking forward to it. Sure, to say there's a backlog of editing for me to do is an understatement! Still, unrealistic deadlines have the effect of focusing the mind, and I fancy a challenge at the moment.

So, for the next 8 weeks this blog will be my forum for venting my frustrations, and hopefully a few moments of pride :o)

Stay tuned ...

Darth Calls In

2006-05-28T11:20:00.000+01:00

Google video: Genius!

b.Tween Marathon

2006-05-27T11:31:00.000+01:00

Ughh ... that was a long week. I've worked a 63 hour week, and every minute of it on my feet. My legs ache!

Hopefully the result was worth it. We were hosting the b.Tween New Media Forum, and as the name suggests - the technical demands were high. Unlike most events we host, this one had over a week of preparation time - and it needed it.

There was a massive demand on network bandwidth and connectivity, including rolling out a new WiFi network in many areas of the museum (Which, incidentally, I forgot to secure before I left yesterday - so if anyone wants free WiFi, head to NMPFT this weekend!). The event was also webcast, which caused me the biggest headache and a sleepless night prior to the event.

All that said, an hour into the first day of the forum I think I'd pulled it off. Everything was running smoothly, and for the first time in a week I could relax.

My only regret was that I was too busy to see any of the presentations. :o(

Ah well. Back to my normal job next week ...

Eurovision!

2006-05-20T12:37:00.000+01:00

It's that time of year again. Large swathes of the country coalesce into groups to celebrate an evening of audio-visual torture ... and we're no exception.

As usual, my money is on the Moldovian entry. I doubt they'll win, but there's something about them that appeals to my insane nature.

Updates later...

Registrar: Check.

2006-05-17T08:26:00.000+01:00

Today is the day: I'm confirming the date and time of the registrar for our wedding. So - we've got the venue booked, and the registrar. I know we've got a long way to go yet, but if nothing else happens -- at least we'll still get married :o)

I would tell you where and when it's all going to happen, but I'm afraid I can't afford for the whole of the internet to turn up on the day. Sorry :o)

UPDATE: Job done. 1400 on the magic date. It's all downhill from here, providing my credit card doesn't run out :o)

Log cabin anyone?

2006-05-15T22:36:00.000+01:00

We've finally decided on a venue for our wedding next year. We searched high and low; looked at stately homes and posh hotels ... and then we found this place. It's a log-cabin retreat seemingly in the middle of nowhere. :o)

New Month - New Look

2006-05-14T21:47:00.000+01:00

Well? What do you think?

I thought it was about time I sorted out this blog-thingie of mine. I was never happy with the old layout for all sorts of reasons ... the number 1 pain being that it could only display images that were 400 pixels wide, and Flickr serves them at 500 pixels. While the pictures look fine on my Mac (which does a fine job rescaling them on the fly), my photos looked awful when viewed on a PC (Hmm!).

Besides, there's something peaceful about this harbour template. I'm not sure exactly where a lighthouse fits into my life, but I'm sure it's a metaphor for something ;o)

Anyway. I hope you like the new layout, and I'm very sorry I've been such a slacker and havent posted squat for 5 weeks.

KEFin' Hell!

2006-05-14T20:03:00.000+01:00

Ah, new HiFi kit. So small and unassuming, but looks can be deceiving. This thing needs clearance from Air Traffic Control if I want to turn it above -20dB :o)

Gold Hill Geocache

2006-04-04T23:27:00.000+01:00

Didn't find Old Ma' Peggaty's ... But did find a cunningly hidden Geocache :o)

Monkey World

2006-04-04T16:48:00.000+01:00

Yep, we made it. All the way to Dorset to see monkeys ... I'm sure there was a reason for it. I just cant remember what it was :o)

Next stop: Gold Hill and some geocaching. Stay tuned...

D70 n' Chips

2006-03-31T17:04:00.000+01:00

I haven't taken that many photos in 2006, and here's the reason why. Through messing with several old lenses and extension rings to do some marco work I've ended up with an unpleasant amount of dust, hair and other crap on the chip.

I decided enough was enough. It was time to spend a silly amount of money and clean the thing myself. Eeek!

I'm glad I spent that bit extra and bought the Pro kit. I ended up using 6 of the swabs to clean the chip. It took some getting used to, and to be honest the chip was clean after the 2nd swab. I thought it would be nice to make extra sure, and ended up covering the chip in hairs again. Doh!

I suppose I'd better go clean all my lenses now. I think I've learnt my lesson.

Shark!

2006-03-30T20:35:00.000+01:00

We're gonna' need a bigger foyer!

When Label Printers Attack!

2006-03-20T20:57:00.000Z

My Digital Lifestyle

2006-03-14T22:22:00.000Z

First of all, sorry for the lame post about the Microsoft Origami project. It was so poor I deleted it all together and thought I'd start a fresh, more structured post.

Let me start by saying that I am a gadget nut. I love gadgets, and they cause an unhealthy but welcome drain on my savings. The one proviso I have for any gadget is that is must be useful and easy to use. Digital cameras, mobile phones and iPods all fall easily into this category.

But recently I've been having doubts about where some of these so-called gadgets are trying to lead us. The Microsoft Origami project is an example that got my temperature rising last week. Particularly when I saw the media proclaim it as 'Microsoft's iPod Killer'. Have you seen the size of that thing?! I wish the press would excerise some common sense when reporting these stories.

That aside, the purpose of the Origami project is so vague as to cause me some concern. What is it? Why do I need it? Microsoft claim that you can use it to email, surf the web, write documents, watch videos, listen to music, and browse your photo albums ... which is nice. Isn't it basically a PC then? It's a PC, but you've made it smaller? And in all honesty, once you add the keyboard and removable DVD drive, you've not made it THAT small, have you?

But the fact that Microsoft is touting this device as somthing that merges a PC and a PDA, and even aims to take on the PSP and the iPod, you have to ask yourself, 'Do I really need an All-In-One super gadget?'. I mean, do you really need to carry ALL your photographs around with you ALL the time? Sure, I like the feature on my Windows Smartphone to send a recieve emails, but I'd never have it replace Apple Mail, or MS Outlook. Is all this stuff really necessary?

And who the heck decided that the future was 'being able to watch full length feature films in the palm of your hand'? I enjoy going to the cinema, and for the times I can't get there, I've built a home entertainment system that attempts to replicate the scale of the cinema. The idea of paying to watch a film on a PSP or iPod doesn't appeal to me at all. Yes technically it's possible, but how useful is it?

It's all about your lifestyle. About fitting these things in. A truly useful gadget is one that requires very little effort to do this. The iPod is a great example. It's clean, simple and unobtrusive. I already had my music collection. I was already using iTunes. I knew what kind of music I liked, so the iPod just helped me listen to it more often, and in more places.

On the other hand, carrying 25'000 photos around and watching full length movies on a device the size of your wallet ... why? When did that become our most pressing demand?

We're always going to need our desktop PCs. They'll always be more powerful, and therefore more enjoyable to use. They'll always have bigger screens, which give you the space to organise your work. With that in mind, why should we have our hearts set on creating a true mobile 'Everything' gadget?

For this reason I can see why Apple have been so tentative with the development of the video iPod and associated services. For the same reason I can also understand why Microsoft have released the Origami project on us. In most cases Apple seems to wait to evidence of demand before producing something. Microsoft seems to think they can create that demand. "Build it, and they will come!" ... well, it looks like I'm finally getting tired of being told what my life is lacking. I like my life the way it is, and I want gadgets that can make me enjoy it more often.

It's all very well me saying this now, but I know that Steve Jobs' reality distortion field is out to get me at least one more time :o)

Snowed In

2006-03-12T14:57:00.000Z

It doesn't look like we're going out today!

We're Engaged!

2006-02-15T22:32:00.000Z

Donna and I are now engaged to be married. Crikey!

I proposed to her on her birthday, the 14th of Feb. I was terrified, and she was totally surprised ... but thankfully she said yes ... three times in fact :o)

I'm not really with it at the moment. I've been in a far away place for about a week now. Give me a few days, and I'll write some more :o)

One more thing....

2006-01-10T21:37:00.000Z

So then. There it is. The Apple Expo in California. An eagerly anticipated event for anyone passionate about Apple products, as they invariably launch new software and hardware. In the past, even if we've had a pretty good idea about what Apple are going to launch, they always seem to have a trick up their sleeve.

So then. How did they do this time? Personally I thought the event was pretty tame for Apple ... but that's not to say the updates weren't interesting. They just didn't have the 'Oh my, look at that', heart racing, giddy as a schoolboy, dreaming about how this new box will change my life .. kind of effect.

To jump in at the deep-end: Apple released their first ever Intel-based Mac. This in itself is a major milestone for Apple ... but it was overshadowed by the hype they gave the shift to Intel in the latter part of 2005. We were all expecting at least one member of the Mac family to replaced with Intel hardware for this event. Yeah, OK. So they surprised us by having not one, but two members of the family upgraded: The iMac and a complete revamp of the Powerbook (now called the MacBook Pro, thus dropping the IBM/Power association). They're nice looking machines, and they're faster than their IBM counterparts ... but I'm hesitant to start dreaming about owning one :o)

This is the first time that the Intel-based version of the Mac OS-X operating system has been made available to the public, and there are bound to be teething troubles. Especially since any software that has not been recompiled for the Intel CPU will be run through a subsystem named 'Rosetta'. In theory this is great, as it means older applications will always run on these new systems. In reality, however, any application running through Rosetta is bound to suffer some performance degradation, which may frustrate new owners of these super-fast machines. I think I'll wait for a while :o)

The other thing I find suspicious is the lack of information about the new Intel 'Core Duo' chip. Is it a 64-bit chip? Yes, I know the benchmarks show this thing is almost twice the speed of the G5 ... but in order to achieve this has Apple / Intel taken a backwards step?

There were other semi-interesting updates today too: A new iLife suite (iLife 06), which had some pretty tame new features for a major update. The addition of a web authoring package, iWeb, looked more promising ... but it's not clear whether it's only for .Mac subscribers.

With so many recent updates to the iPod, it was hard to believe they'd come up with anything new .... but they managed to squeeze in an iPod remote/radio adapter which allows you to listen to FM radio on the iPod. Great. Just what I always wanted .... oh, wait. It's only available for the new iPod video :o(

All that aside, I think that the shift to Intel looks promising. If anything I would guess that Apple are making a point by keeping the design of the new iMac and the laptop almost identical to the previous model. They're saying "Look. We've shoved Intel chips in these things, any everything stays the same. We're still Apple". I'm sure there'll be many more innovative Apple products over the next 12 months, but for now they're playing it safe.

There'll be more Expos. (Fingers cross for NAB and Final Cut 6 :o)

UPDATE: Apple have posted a TV ad they've made about the Intel switch.

Flickring Boat

2006-01-08T23:18:00.000Z

I've decided to upgrade to a Flickr Pro account.

I figured: What am I going to use Flickr for? Am I going to fill it full of random holiday photos and images of empty coffee cups ... or am I going to put my better photos on it, and see what people think?

I was surprised then, after uploading this photos I took in Tunisia, that it only took 10 seconds to get the first random comment posted about it. Another 10 minutes go by, and all the other photos I uploaded were getting a look in. Not bad, eh?

After hunting around the Flickr website, finally trying to figure out what's available, I discover 'Groups'. Groups are communities of Flickrites who share a common interest, or like a certain genre of photography. There are groups for black n' white photography, photographs taken in West Yorkshire ... even photos of Apple Macs. Joining one of these groups allows you to publish your own photos in the group for comments. They're also a source of amazing and inspiring images.

If you already use Flickr, then you probably said 'duh!' while reading the last paragraph. I can't believe I've been a member for so long, and never bothered to find out how the site works. Ah well.

Hopefully my new year's resolution (No. 6), which is to 'Get out and use my camera more often', will result in a very Flickry year :o)

New Phone

2006-01-08T23:08:00.000Z

I got a new phone last week. It's not the smallest one I've ever owned!

I don't know what happened. I was all set for getting a smaller phone; the story of Tim's Nokia Communicator fresh in my mind ... and then I bought this. Ah well. It's cool anyway!

2005: The Year of Stuff

2006-01-04T21:06:00.000Z

Hmm. I can't think of any better way to describe it:

"Yeah, I remember the year of '05. Stuff happened."

To be honest, I just got on with living. I did some pretty amazing things in the
latter half of the year, which are still hanging around on this front page.

So then, what did I do then? Lets have a look (in no particular order):

I had the most amazing holiday to the USA in July. Cost us a fortune, but worth every centy-Americany-penny-thingy.
Joined the gym in January. I even went to it a few times. :o)
Bought a new car. Ever since I bought my Renault Clio six years ago, I've always fancied owning a Laguna. Yes, I know it's a bit of an old-mans/reps car ... but I've never been too bothered with the outside of a car. It's the inside that I spend all my time in :o)
I've technically owned four ipods this year. Not bad. I'm aiming for less this year.
Attended IBC at Amsterdam. Finally!
Miss T's entire family moved to Spain ... and then back again.
I bought my first Apple computer. A shiny G5 iMac. Miss T has had to fight for attention ever since :o)
I discovered that Miss T and I weren't the only folks to painfully enjoyed the Eurovision Song Contest. Here's to more Eurovision parties.
I went rock climbing in the Lake District with my good friend, Emma.
Hmm ... and I can't quite remember which year I discovered geo-caching ... but I certainly did quite a bit of it in 2005.
I started a blog!
... and a load of other stuff that's probably important, and that I should remember.

Working on the principal that a picture speaks a thousand words (that's about 5 Power-of-TV questions), here's Oli's 'Images of 2005'....

Enjoy.

Christmas Tree

2005-12-04T00:09:00.000Z

I love Christmas. Turning my livingroom into a shrine to a confused mixed-up mess of religion and tradition makes this dark, cold and wet part of the year seem so much nicer.

The Northern Lights

2005-11-30T02:45:00.000Z

Wow. I've just got back from an amazing trip to South Norway at 38000 ft, where I took this photo.

Amazing stuff. I'm very tired, so I'll post more pics in the morning.

UPDATE: My photos are now on Flickr. Click here or on the photo above.

I floo!

2005-11-27T20:39:00.000Z

I did it ... after several years of 'saying' I was going to do it, today I actually managed it: I flew a plane. Me!

We went to the Hull Aero Club, somewhere near Beverley, and I had a one hour flying lesson. Apparently I did quite well ... which I suppose means I didn't barf or scream during takeoff.

The experience was not quite what I had expected. The planes are a lot smaller than I expected, and they're so light they get thrown around quite easily up there. The view was amazing, when I got chance to actually look at it. We flew out to Bridlington and over the sea before turning around and flying over the Humber Bridge.

I was expecting the session to be a case of me sitting back until the pilot got the plane up to about 2000ft and level ... ah. No. I had to do the whole lot! He had me taxi to the runway ... (the runway: it's that field ... made of grass ... very rural!) ... then he had me takeoff ... ascend ... the fly the plane around all over the place ... play with the radio and locators ... then descend an hour later and land. I hate landings, but was surprised when I brought this hunk of metal crashing into the field how light it was.

All in all, a fun day. Thanks to my girlfriend and sister who got me the lesson as a gift. :o)

I've uploaded the photos to Flickr if you fancy a peek.

Flickrtastic!

2005-11-22T18:06:00.000Z

Finally, after months of playing with the website, I decided its time I joined. I can't believe how easy it is to upload and manage photos ... and post to my blog. And it's free!

Anyway, have a look at some of the photos I've posted. Miss T and I went for a walk at St. Ives forest, and took some lovely photos.

iPod Woes

2005-11-17T22:33:00.000Z

My repaired iPod arrived this morning (Yay!). They sent me the original one back instead of replacing it, but that's OK. A coating of Mr Sheen will hide those old scratches :o)

I get it home, and start putting all my music back onto it. 10 minutes goes by, and I notice it's only transferred 5 songs. Not a good start.

I take it out of its dock and discover that the iPod has locked up. I reset it, and all seems fine ... but now I can't get iTunes to recognise it. I take it out of the dock again, reset it ... and this time it starts making weird mechanical clicking noises. This is tres tres not good.

It finishes this theatrical display of clicking and resetting and finally I see a familiar icon on the screen:

Ah heck. Back to Apple.

It worked ... albiet for 10 minutes. I had 10 minutes of iPod pleasure, but alas ... it did not last.

What have I dont to deserve this, Steve?

:o(

Today IMDB, Tomorrow ... Hollywood!

2005-11-15T22:23:00.000Z

Hey, check me out. I did a Google search for myself (You know ... as we all do from time to time to make sure we don't have a stalker), and look what I found:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1399408/

There are a few films missing that I want to get added, but it's not a bad start.

How cool is that?

Well, I'm impressed ... and I'm having a muffin to celebrate :o)

Birthday Bowling

2005-11-13T21:55:00.000Z

I've not been 10-pin bowling since I was a ... well, since I was fairly small and had a high, squeeky voice. I thought I'd include these two photos, since my mum almost knocked me out with the first shot ... and my sister looks silly in the second one. Always a good thing :o)

UPDATE: These photos are now available on my Flickr account. Click here to access the photo set.

Birthday!

2005-11-13T10:49:00.000Z

It's my birthday!

Well, it's actually the day after. I didn't feel it necessary to take time out of my busy birthday schedule to write in my blog.

Hmm. OK, so it wasn't that busy. I spent most of Saturday recovering from the previous night. After loosing the lightweights at around 7.30; Tim, Tom and I carried on. The rest of the evening is a blur (mentally and visually), but I remember a very long walk back to Tim's house at about 1am, and waking up in his spare room. Ughhh! Not drinking that much again! Thankfully I didn't take any pictures, so there's nothing more to post here :o)

I managed to recover enough to go to a Greek restaraunt with Miss T last night. Now we're off again .... this time for Sunday lunch with my family. Busy busy busy.

:o)

Hacking The Airwaves

2005-11-10T19:12:00.000Z

This is weird. I'm sat in my car waiting for those nice people at Pizza Hut to burn by Pizza ... so I open my Powerbook to do some work. Without thinking I open my web browser, and curse myself for being so stupid ... but hang on a minute ... there's my homepage. Wuh?

I try clicking on a link ... and it works ... eh?

Let me go through this one more time: I'm in my car (Check), I'm not anywhere near my house (Check); I'm browsing the web (Wuh?).

After a bit more investigative work I find that my laptop has automatically found and connected to someone's personal WiFi network. Dunno where it is, but it's not secure and I'm connected :o)

Let this be a lesson to all those WiFi users: SECURE YOUR NETWORK!

Hmm. Having said that, my network is not secure. I wonder if the sheep have been using it? It is a risk. Maybe I should turn on the encryption.

Anyway. Pizza awaits.

Oli Out.

One Unhappy iPod

2005-11-04T08:53:00.000Z

Not again!

One moment, everything fine: Happily playing songs. The next minute, a sad face on the screen and its now refusing to play anything.

I think it's depressed and needs to be sent back to the Apple hive for motivational therapy. Either that, or I must live in an area not covered by the Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field :o)

Thankfully it's still under warranty, so it'll get replaced. This will be my 4th iPod ... and the 3rd I've had replaced under the warranty. Not bad, eh? I never knew warranties could be so much fun. That said ... I'm now seriously contemplating extending it!

Just to put this into some sort of context, here's a photo of my previous ipod from only 3 months ago:

Ho hum. Back to listening to the radio in my car for a while.

C'ya.

Sinking Ship Feeling

2005-11-01T20:53:00.000Z

Wow, has it really been that long?

Since my last post I've done another show called "Little Me". Miss T was on stage this time, and despite the fact it was an enjoyable show ... it was hard work, and we're all exhausted. As such, I've completely neglected my Bloging duties. But here I am: Refreshed, Ready for Action ... and fed up with work!

Things have been a bit miserable for a while now, but the last 48 hours have marked a distinct dis-improvement. We had a so-called Staff Day on Monday which did much to improve the general morale of staff ... (Hmm. Sarcasm doesn't really come across in print, does it?!). Then today I've had non-stop abuse from a corporate client who didn't just want the moon on a stick, but most of the solar system stringing on a rope, polishing to a shine, and then electroplating with a Nickle-Aluminium alloy ... and still wouldn't be happy with the result. Nghh! One of THOSE days, huh?

Anyway. Tomorrow can't possibly be any worse. Can it?

In other news: Bonfire night is fast approaching. Our neighbours are having their usual party, and this year they've even hinted at the possibility of fire ... Although I don't hold much hope of that given the current weather. Still, it should be fun. I stupidly forgot to invite everyone this year, so there'll be a reduced selection of friends around this time :o(

Hmm. What else? Oh, that's right. I've been swayed by advertising, and have decided to get Sky+ installed this month. (Yay!). We're fed up with the 38 channels of junk that we currently get on DVB, so we're going to be paying £15 to upgrade to 300 channels of junk. That should keep us busy!

Other than that, life if fairly uninteresting at the moment. Miss T is job hunting, I'm tempted to do the same (!). It'll never happen, of course. It's just wishful thinking :o)

See ya'

"I'm gonna wash that show right out of my head..."

2005-10-05T17:29:00.000+01:00

So, here I am. It's Wednesday, and I'm three performances into "South Pacific" at a local theatre. I have to say that it's not my favourite musical. Despite that fact, I can't get that damn song out of my head!

Ah well, only another 5 to go, and then I'm off to do another show. More about that one in another post, save to say it should be more interesting than this one :o)

On another note: I'm on holiday! (Well, sort of. I'm on holiday 'at home'). So far I have achieved nothing, which is exactly what I set out to do. Everything seemed to be going well until one horrifying moment this afternoon where I thought 'it would be nice' to do some gardening!

Evidently I'm bored out of my head, and didn't realise. Tomorrow shall be more interesting. Don't know how, but it will.

Over and out :o)

Anyone home?

2005-09-28T19:27:00.000+01:00

Hi there. I haven't posted to this thing in a while, and I just wanted to apologise to my audience of zero.

I have neither an excuse, nor an interesting story. I shall, however, make up for it in due course ...

The future is not so bright!

2005-09-18T21:18:00.000+01:00

So ... I bought a new PDA a month ago. I primarily wanted it to act as my diary, but the fact it could also do email -- and that I had GPRS enabled on my mobile phone -- gave me an idea: Why don't I have my PDA check my email every hour during the working day? That way, even when I'm away from my desk, I'll have email. Sensible idea, if you're a geek like me.

So I did the math, and figured checking the emails every hour of every day for a month would equate to about 4Mb of data. Not much, and therefore not much extra to pay on my phone bill. All the same, I thought I'd trial it this month and see what my phone bill came out at.

Oh dear.

Look at this extract from my Orange mobile phone bill:

Now, as you can see, my estimate of 4MB was a little off ... but not too much. 5.4MB to be exact. Then I notice the next bit. You know, the bit that says I now owe Orange £55

£55??! And that's just for the data ... the phone bill was £102! That can't be right?! I put my highly mathematical brain to work, and figured out that they're charging £10 per MB! For God's sake Orange -- this is the 21st century. Not even AOL charges that much!!

I go to their website and check their tariffs. Nowhere does it state anything close to that amount. In fact, according to their website, the most I could possibly end up paying for that amount of data is £9. Something is wrong here, so I give Orange a call. First time I redirected to another number, then I get disconnected. Second call I get through to a human, then get disconnected as she speaks to her manager. I call back, get through to another operator. I get half way through explaining that I was cut off when the other operator calls me back on the other line. So I have to apologise, disconnect, switch calls, get back to where I started. The operator then helpfully tells me that I've been charged £10/MB. I tell her, "I can see that. I figured that bit out for myself." ...

I won't bore you with the details, but after about 5 minutes on the phone, and several trips to the 'manager', I get a £46 refund. Apparently I hadn't setup 'Pay as you use GPRS' on my account. *I* hadn't set it up. Little me. How silly of me. I asked, "How come if I didn't have 'pay as you use' setup, I've still been charged for the amount I used? Isn't that the same?". Reading between the lines it appears that, as a loyal Talk 120 customer, I had been elevated to a special 'Pay Through The Teeth as you use' service.

The moral of the story? Check your phone bill!

Sister T

2005-09-16T21:43:00.000+01:00

Sorry ... I've been spending too much time fiddling with the Starbucks Blog, and have somewhat neglected this one. I tell you what, why don't I post some random photo to keep you all happy?

Introducing Sister T: She's scary, likes orange and has an unhealthy interest in trains.