Self-contained

I realise that it's not actually a gadget as such, but it is gadget-related. The time has come to get myself a man-bag.

Since ditching the grotty rucksacks of my university days, I've had a succession of bags that I've used for work over the past ten years. They've all been much of a muchness - fairly ordinary things that hold a ring binder and a few other bits and pieces, but certainly nothing special. Functional, but most of all, they've been cheap.

After reading this article I've been inspired to take the plunge into the heady world of the "proper" manbag. As the article states, they are "practical portmanteaus for money, keys, phones, papers, books and valuables, without lugging an enormous briefcase or scruffy rucksack... Men are practical beasts, laden with more gadgetry than ever, from iPods to BlackBerrys, and realise they not only need a bag for work but could use a weekend bag and perhaps even a casual bag".

Quite right too. I'm definitely in that category. I want something that looks good (dare I say it, expensive, even?) but that is practical, and just the right side of the masculine/feminine divide...

The thing is, everyone's needs are different. I don't have a PDA, I have a Filofax (it's a deliberately retro statement) but I do have an iPod, a mobile phone and a Nintendo DS. I want to be able to pop in a book and maybe even a folder from time to time, but I don't want it to be cumbersome or mis-shapen. It' got to hold my keys and a wallet too. It's a tough nut to crack.

In my search I've discovered the website eBags, and now I'm positively overwhelmed with choices. Problem is, without seeing the bag in the flesh (or, perhaps more accurately, the fabric) I'm not sure which one is right for me. I need some purchasing help...

Anyone?

Coffee coffin...

Our Sunday mornings would not be complete without the ritual long-winded making of the Americano coffee to accompany toast and Michael Parkinson.

But this morning, things did not go according to plan. The espresso machine was taking AGES to make the coffee. Not only that, but it was billowing out steam and whistling like it might just go into orbit. Worse still, after ten minutes of this aberrant behaviour, there was only about a thimbleful of sludgy looking coffee in the bottom of the little pyrex jug.

I feared there may have been some user error. Maybe not enough water in the first place? Coffee tamped too hard? Machine not assembled properly?

None of the above. After extensive scientific swap-out testing, I have come to the conclusion that it is officially shafted.

Ah well, it was nearly seven years old I suppose. But it was a wedding present, so it has some sentimental value.

But as we know, every cloud has a silver lining. This means that I can buy a new, shinier, better coffee-making gadget.

May the research begin!

Small victory

Seems like I got a more sympathetic Apple operative this time round...

I'm sorry the item you purchased didn't meet the standard of quality you have come to expect from the iTunes Music Store. Apple takes the quality of the products offered on the iTunes Music Store very seriously and will investigate the issue you reported in depth.

I have issued one replacement song credit to download the song of your choice.

Thank you Apple. Much better. Carry on.

Just take the money and run...

I was browsing through my iTunes library over the weekend, when I noticed an anomaly. One of my songs was encoded at 63kbps. Which is weird, because I've encoded all my CDs at 128kbps, and everything you buy from the iTunes Music Store is 128kbps as well. Where could this rogue file have come from?

On closer inspection, it turns out that this file is in fact a song that I bought from the iTunes Music Store. I checked the file size to see if this was just an ID3 tag error, but, sure enough, this song - which is over eight minutes long - was only 4 megabytes in size. All my other songs of similar length had file sizes over 8 megabytes.

iTunes had sold me a dud!

I sent iTunes support an email explaining the problem. And here's the very helpful reply that I received:

Thank you for contacting the iTunes Music Store.

I am sorry for the frustration that this issue has caused you.

Your request for a refund for was carefully considered; however, because your purchase is over 60 days old, my system will not allow me to refund your purchase. It also appears that this song has been removed from the iTunes Music Store. Please remember that according to our Terms of Sale, all purchases made on the iTunes Music Store are ineligible for refund. This policy matches our refund policies and provides protection for copyrighted materials.

For more information, please review the entire Terms of Sale for the iTunes Music Store at: http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/legal/policies.html

Sincerely,

Shawn
The iTunes Music Store team

So, basically what they're saying is that they admit they sold me an inferior song, and now that I want the product I originally paid for, I can go and boil my head. They have my money, and that's the end of it.

Seriously. I'm starting to have my doubts about Apple. It'd never have happened in the old days. I preferred it when I was one of a happy few, not one of the unwashed masses.

I've replied and told them this isn't good enough, and I either want a 128kbps version of the song or my money back. We'll see what happens I guess.