Gadget Love

The End

2007-02-26T18:58:00.000Z

So this is it... the end of a blogging era. I've decided to call it a day - my new job begins in earnest in a couple of days, and I just won't have the time or inclination to keep this up to date.

That's not to say that I won't have a presence on the web - I definitely will - it's just that I won't be blogging regularly.

There will be new and exciting (?!?) additions to www.lowfidelity.co.uk in the coming months, so keep an eye on it.

But for now, it's been huge. Peace. Out.

Are you TRYING to piss me off George?!?

2006-09-17T19:11:00.002+01:00

Okay then...

Back in the day (when I was but a young boy) a man called George Lucas released a film called Star Wars. And it was good. And then he followed it up with The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. This much you know already.

Then, on the 20th anniversary of Star Wars, Mr Lucas did some tinkering with the original films. He added in some bits that had been cut out, and he re-did the special effects. I went to see them all again at the cinema. And this too was good. Nice to be able to see them in the cinema, and the new additions were fun - if a bit unnecessary.

And then, a couple of years ago, the trilogy was finally released on DVD. Legions of Star Wars fans rushed out and bought them. And then it transpired that our man George had messed with the films again! He had added in some more stuff to make them match with episodes 1 to 3 - things like getting Ian McDiarmid to play the emperor in Empire and Hayden Christiansen to be Anakin Skywalker at the end of Jedi. Collectively, the fans breathed a slightly disappointed sigh and begrudgingly accepted it.

And then - oh praise be to Mr Lucas - news broke of the DVD release of the ORIGINAL ORIGINAL ORIGINAL versions being released on DVD. The ones that everyone remembered and loved. The ones with the clunky effects, without the ridiculous fireworks at the end of Jedi, the ones where Jabba the Hutt was never in A New Hope, and the ones where Greedo doesn't shoot first (Han Solo's a bastard... yeah, get over it).

So the DVDs are now here, available to buy. And have I gone out rushing to get them so that I can enjoy the pure unadulterated versions in the comfort of my own home? Have I feck. And why not? I shall tell you.

These are two-disc editions. The first disc contains EXACTLY THE SAME SPECIAL EDITIONS THAT I ALREADY OWN. Now, this may be worth ignoring if disc two had the original film on it as promised. But that would be too simple. Disc two does indeed have the original version on, but it's in CRAPPY LETTERBOXED WIDESCREEN and not anamorphic, and the sound is GODAWFUL DOLBY STEREO and not digital 5.1.

Mr Lucas. It is official. You've lost the plot. You money grabbing bastard. True fans will just have to wait a bit longer before he deigns to grace us with the not-screwed-about-with originals.

How can the man that brought us all so much joy give us so much pain and frustration too? Mind you, he thought Jar Jar Binks was a good idea.

Not bad I suppose...

2006-09-12T23:30:00.000+01:00

So the Apple event is over. And what have we got?

The iPod nano is now aluminium, and available in different colours. It looks kinda like a little iPod mini. Not bad.

The iPod shuffle has been revamped - it is now INCREDIBLY tiny. I like it. It's cool.

iTunes is now on version 7.0. It seems like quite a good upgrade. The cover flow feature is nice. Good to see a proper implementation of cover artwork at last. And the iTunes Music Store is going offer whole movies, as well as music and TV programmes.

And - perhaps most significantly - there's a new piece of hardware on the way. It's currently codenamed iTV and it's like a thin client computer that plugs into your TV to display your videos and photos and play your music and podcasts.

Not bad Steve. Good effort.

So what's the go Steve?

2006-09-12T18:22:00.001+01:00

Apple have one of their big "events" today - in fact, as I type this, it is already underway.

I'm hoping - really hoping - that they unveil something truly exciting. Their last few events have been all a bit uninspiring. Just incremental updates to existing kit, rather than anything actually new. Ooh, look - you've put Intel chips in all your computers. Ooh, look - you've increased the capacity of your iPods. Ooh, look - you've released a boom box that you can plug an iPod into. It just hasn't been very... erm... Apple.

I think they may just pull something interesting out of the bag today. Fingers crossed then... I'll be back later for an update. And hopefully, pictures of something very pretty and shiny.

Self-contained

2006-07-26T14:37:00.000+01:00

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...

2006-07-16T11:56:00.000+01:00

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

2006-07-10T21:12:00.001+01:00

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...

2006-07-10T13:56:00.000+01:00

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.

They could be on to something here...

2006-06-25T12:22:00.000+01:00

I'm fairly certain that this would - after about thirty minutes - become incredibly irksome and you'd be begging to have your old, tried-and-tested desktop back again, but IT JUST LOOKS SO FRICKIN COOL!

New, new DS Lite

2006-06-24T18:47:00.000+01:00

I took the DS Lite back to Game. I showed the shop assistant my dead pixel. Fortunately, the gods of videogame shops were smiling on me. He was sympathetic to my cause. He said he wished he had the money to buy a DS Lite, and that if it were his, he'd want it to be perfect too. He went and got me another one.

He handed it over (without even looking at the receipt or ringing it through the till) and said "Better luck with this one". I was sorely tempted to get it out of the box there and then to check for BIG NASTY DEFECTIVE ANNOYING PIXELS, but the growing queue behind me made me think otherwise.

I got the new DS Lite home, and (whilst praying to the mighty Miyamoto to spare me yet more torment) unpacked it. I pluggged in the Tetris cart, and switched it on...

Perfect. Pristine. Lovely.

My faith in gadgets has been restored. For now, at least.

Pixellation Fixation

2006-06-23T23:25:00.000+01:00

After months of waiting, today was DS Lite day! I went and collected it at lunchtime today, but only had a brief chance to play with it. I switched it on, did the initial configuration, oohed and aahed about how pretty it was, and then put it back into its box. It was not until about 10.30pm that I got a chance to fire up a game. I bought two games - Tetris DS and Metroid Prime: Hunters. I opted to play Tetris first, so I slotted the cartridge in and prepared to play.

I had been playing for about two minutes when something in the corner of the screen caught my eye. What's that? There was a small red dot in the upper right corner of the touch screen. How odd, I thought. Maybe it's a programming glitch. I quit out of the game, and went back to the selection screen. But sure enough, there was the red dot again. Fearing the worst, I interrogated the internet. I went to Google, and with some trepidation, typed the fateful words "Nintendo DS Lite dead pixel".

It would appear that I am not the only one to have a rogue pixel on my shiny new DS Lite. Inevitably, for any device that has an LCD screen (or two in the case of the DS), there are going to be some pixel defects. The old DS was noted to have them, and not even the mighty PSP is immune. In fact, the PSP seems to have had far more complaints about it's defective pixels than the DS. Apparently it's not uncommon for the PSP screen to have five or more dead or stuck pixels.

But I digress. My beautiful new DS Lite was defective. I kept trying to convince myself that it wasn't that noticeable, and that it was only on the edge of the screen, not in the middle. Surely it wasn't that bad? But now I KNOW THAT IT'S THERE it's bugging the hell out of me. According to the internet, Nintendo are being very good about the whole issue and repairing any faulty units under warranty, but really I don't want to send my brand new handheld off for repair! I want a new one.

God I'm petulant.

Decision made

2006-06-20T16:39:00.000+01:00

So I've spent all this time contemplating what colour of Nintendo DS Lite to get. Fortunately I got to see both of them in real life today, and at that point the decision got a lot easier.

There's no doubt that the black one is nice, but it has to be the white one for me. It looks really slick and sophisticated, and there's that crisp, clean air of Apple about it. It'll match my iPod and iMac quite nicely.

So, Friday is release day. Not sure exactly what games I'll be getting with it yet. We'll have to see what's what then. I reckon Tetris has to be a given, and as much as I hate to admit it, Nintendogs looks really good. I'm looking forward to playing the less "mainstream" games on it - and let's face it, that's what owning a Nintendo machine is all about.

Full report and "grand unveiling" photos on Friday.

Black and white

2006-05-23T12:49:00.000+01:00

So not only have Apple released both black and white versions of their new MacBook, it looks like Nintendo have had the same idea for their DS Lite.

It's going to be released on 23rd June and will be available in the standard glossy, Apple-esque white model, and a new gloss black version as well.

So this creates the same problem that I have with the MacBook. Both colours are fabulous. SO which one should I get?

White matches the iPod, which is always good. But black is sleek and mysterious. White is clean and sophisticated, but it shows the dirt. Black is understated, but it's a bit ubiquitous.

So which is it to be?

It's... so... pretty...

2006-05-16T22:58:00.000+01:00

Must..... buy..... new..... shiny..... thing.....

:o)

Are we nearly there yet?

2006-05-08T07:43:00.000+01:00

"It's like a week of Christmas, but worse, because it brings only the hopes and dreams of presents to come."

It's E3 week again. Seems to have been ages since the last one (even though it has only been a year, obviously) but it's finally here. Time for the annual merry-go-round of hyperbole and oneupmanship of the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

I haven't been genuinely excited about E3 since the year they were announcing the Gameboy Advance. Since then, it has all been a bit ho hum. There have been some interesting products, but nothing that has made me sit at my computer, logged on to all the gaming websites and continually hitting refresh every two minutes.

However, this year might be different. Unlike the technical hiatus of the last few years, we're about to be treated to some hard-and-fast facts about these new next-gen machines - namely the PS3 and the Nintendo (I can still barely say it) Wii. Yes, we know stuff about them already, but not that much. Nintendo have the most secrets to divulge, and they could just steal the show if they have some truly exciting stuff. And if that happens, I'll even stop caring about the stupid name...

And Microsoft? Well, they've already shown their hand. Last Christmas in fact. Everyone knows about the Xbox 360 already. Mind you, MS won't let E3 pass without a few announcements of their own. And, almost certainly, there will be news of the one thing that may get me to buy a 360, providing the it's enough of a crowd pleaser. And what's that?

Halo 3.

You've got to be taking the wii...

2006-04-29T13:02:00.000+01:00

I was really excited about the upcoming Nintendo Revolution console.

But now they have destroyed my enthusiasm in one fell swoop. So what could they have possibly done to ruin this apparently amazine console? I shall tell you...

They've decided to drop the name "Revolution" (this was just a working title apparently).

The official name is the Ninteno Wii. Which, when written down, looks kind of cool. Very short, snappy, graphical, has all sorts of connotations with wi-fi and iPod and similar tech-sounding gadgetry.

But when it's said out loud?

We.

Which, when spoken sounds completely identical to "wee".

I can see it now: "So what console have you got?". Answer: "I've got a wii."

Oh. My. God.

Burning a hole in my pocket?

2006-04-20T18:11:00.000+01:00

So I've been away on my holidays over the past week, and I had promised myself that I'd buy a new gadget as a reward for all the long hours I have been doing at work. I had a Sony PSP in mind (see previous posts) but when I was in the shops, I couldn't bring myself to part with over £250 for something that only seems to have a library of "been there seen it done it" games available for it. Yeah, okay, the multimedia aspect is great, but first and foremost it's a games machine, and if there are no games that grab my attention, it'll rapidly get very boring.

After doing some extensive browsing around, I could find far more games that I wanted for the Nintendo DS than for the PSP. Problem is, the DS Lite is just around the corner, and I couldn't bring myself to buy something that would be obsolete almost as soon as I'd bought it.

This led me back to thinking about the Xbox360. A beautiful machine for sure, but the price of that thing is just astronomical. £280 for the console itself, and then £50 per game?! You've got to be kidding me. Particularly when I don't even have a high def television.

So what could I buy? I had promised myself a gadget, but I couldn't find one that I wanted. Or at least, not wanted badly enough. I even started thinking about a satnav for the car, but again, after finding out that the one I wanted was £300, I couldn't justify the expense.

After thinking about it for over a week, I've come to a decision. I'm going to buy some games for my two existing consoles (as there are some great games I've never played which are now available very cheaply) and hang fire until the DS Lite is finally released in the UK. I'm also very taken with the Nintendo Revolution, which looks like it's shaping up to be an awesome console, and may well be more deserving of a place under my telly than an Xbox360. Roll on E3 so we can all see what Nintendo have lined up.

So despite all the marketing hype and the "high definition multimedia wireless next-gen" bells and whistles, I've opted - for once - to keep my cash in my pocket and wait for the thing I actually WANT, rather than just buying what the magazines say I should have.

How's that for progressive thinking?

Oh, how we laughed. Not.

2006-04-06T16:09:00.000+01:00

I did a huge search around the web trying to find out some more about this rumoured "PSP 1.5" - the one with dual analogue sticks - in order to ascertain if, and when, it was coming out in the UK. Try as I might, I couldn't find anything about it anywhere. Not even any posts in forums about it. Which was more than a little strange.

So I began to wonder... is this really true? Would Sony really bring out an updated PSP so soon after the original? Why is no-one else reporting the story?

And then I realised. It's April.

I went back into Smiths, and found the magazine where I'd first read the rumour (It's called 'Pure PSP' if you're interested). Sure enough, I hadn't imagined it. There was the article, complete with a photograph of the new model. But then I noticed it. At the bottom of the text, it said "turn to the bottom of page 97 for more information". So I did. And there it was...

"APRIL FOOL! There's no such thing as a Sony PSP 1.5. We made it up, and photoshopped the image."

How stupid did I feel?

But at least that makes the buying decision a little easier, knowing that there's no imminent update to the PSP in the pipeline.

Wait! There's more!

2006-04-05T11:54:00.000+01:00

So, following on from my brief and slightly random post about the PSP/Nintendo DS Lite dilemma, I thought I'd follow it up.

Whilst flicking through magazines in Smith's the other lunchtime, I read a report that reckons a new, slightly revised Sony PSP is due out soon. It's almost identical to the existing PSP, but it has a second analogue stick on the right hand side of the unit to match the one on the left. This should make it much easier to play things like first-person shooters on the console, because you'd be able to replicate the control setup of larger consoles. I don't know whether this is true or just a wild rumour, but it would seem to be a bad time to buy a PSP right now just in case a new one really is in the pipeline.

However, the PSP has a lot going for it. There's no doubt that it's a sexy-looking gadget. Its price is a bit steep (over £200 for the Giga Pack) but it does have a host of multimedia capabilities. The idea of watching one of my DVDs on it does have a certain appeal. I've also found out that it plays AAC files, which is what I've encoded my music collection as. The games - which are obviously the important thing - are really pretty good, and I can spot at least five that I'd really like to own.

But then we come onto the DS Lite. It's not available in the UK yet - and there's no release date on the horizon - but from what I've seen of the Japanese units, it's a very desirable little console, and a huge leap forward from the slightly dodgy design of the original DS. It doesn't have the multimedia potential of the PSP (so movies and music are out of the question) but the games are intriguing. Plus the fact that it should - hopefully - only cost about £80 when it hits the UK.

So does that make things any simpler? No, not really. Neither the DS Lite or the "new" PSP have official UK release dates yet, so my plan of getting one over easter seems to have been scuppered. I could go with the ordinary PSP, but I'll be kicking myself if Sony release the new one about 6 weeks later.

This is getting a bit tricky. I can't seem to decide. Any thoughts?

Another Earth-shattering dilemma!

2006-04-02T14:11:00.000+01:00

So then... it's a matter of great importance. It's up there with such existential old chestnuts as "Is there life after death?", "Why am I here?" and "Where do all the odd socks go?".

So the question is... Should I get a Sony PSP or a Nintendo DS Lite? Or perhaps neither?

It's got me stumped for sure. There is no easy answer. This may take some time...

Soundbridge Over Troubled Waters...

2006-03-31T14:28:00.000+01:00

Just taken receipt this morning of my second Roku Soundbridge. I've been so impressed with the one that I bought a while back that I thought it was time to invest in another. Turns out that it's an updated model with built-in wi-fi (rather than it being an add on with a compact flash adapter) and it has its connections on the back of the unit as opposed to having them under fiddly end caps. Both are definite improvements over the original design (which was almost perfect to start with).

The other nice thing is that Roku are very good at releasing firmware updates to give the Soundbridge new features, which is a great idea. Well designed, genuinely useful, and works seamlessly. All in all, an almost perfect gadget!

Barmy Origami

2006-03-09T19:39:00.000Z

So then, it's here. Microsoft unveiled its mysterious Origami Project at the CeBit show in Hanover earlier today.

After all the hype (which naturally I've been completely taken in by) I have to say that now it's "out there", it's not actually that exciting. It is, in a nutshell, a tablet PC. It's got a slightly revised version of the Windows XP operating system, with some enhancements known as the "Touch Pack" to make it easier to operate through a touch screen, but other than that, it's just a fairly bog-standard machine. Which is a bit dull really.

Mind you, it might make a nice substitute for a laptop, and it'd be a bit more usable than a Pocket PC. I dare say it'll fill a certain niche.

I'd still rather have an Apple version though. I can just envisage a beautifully designed and made tablet Macintosh. Mmmm, lovely. I hope the rumours of such a machine are true. There are allegedly a number of patent applications submitted by Apple for a touch-screen device. These may just be for some kind of touch-screen video iPod, or maybe (just maybe) for a tablet computer. That really would be something.

Keep us hanging...

2006-03-02T16:42:00.000Z

Just as I suspected... the Origami Project website has a bit more information, but nothing concrete. Just some more teaser stuff, and a closing comment of "Find out more on 9th March".

So we have to wait at least another week to find out just what this confounded contraption is!

The art of paper folding...

2006-03-01T22:25:00.000Z

So then, what exactly is Microsoft's Origami Project? There seems to be plenty of speculation about it on the web, but at this point, no-one is entirely certain. It would seem to be some kind of connected handheld computer. There's a piece of video doing the rounds which allegedly shows the Origami. According to Microsoft the video is real, and was comissioned by them, but shows "old hardware" and not actually the Origami itself. There are some still images here if you can't be bothered to watch the video.

There's a date of 2nd March 2006 on the Origami Project site (which is tomorrow!). Whether that means the device will be fully unveiled, or just more teaser information will be released remains to be seen. I'm hoping they're going to tell us exactly what it is, along with specs, prices and release dates, because it looks genuinely intriguing.

Working at height

2006-02-19T23:07:00.000Z

We went geocaching again today. There was a bit of an "obstacle" between us and the cache though...

The photos don't quite reflect how steep and high it was! We peaked at 1350 feet above sea level.

Despite the climb (the view was worth it at the top) we found the cache, plus one other that was nearby. So that takes the total to eleven. Not bad. We're aiming for 30 by the end of the year. Problem is, we're rapidly running out of ones near our house!

The mobile has landed...

2006-02-18T18:27:00.000Z

After much procrastination and research, I've finally got myself a new mobile phone. Drumroll please...

It's the Samsung SGH-D600 (to give it its full name) and - on initial impressions - it's a fairly sexy bit of kit. Nice matt black casing, an awesome screen and nicely laid out operating system.

My only reservation so far is that it doesn't work with iSync on the Mac. Not sure why not, but allegedly a fix is in the pipeline. Not that it's particularly important. I can still bluetooth contacts to and from the phone, along with pictures and music, so all is not lost.

So there we are.

The great outdoors... with a gadget

2006-02-05T17:22:00.000Z

Just got back from our first solo Geocaching trip. I finally got round to buying my own GPS unit this week (after a year of using other people's!) so I thought we had better try it out. We went on a very nice five mile walk around Beningbrough Hall, and found the geocache on the way. So that takes our total up to five, but it's the first one we've done on our own. I'm pleased to say that everything worked just as it should have (despite starting the route at the opposite end to the one that we thought).

And if you're interested, here's our Geocaching profile:

It's not gadget-related, but...

2006-02-03T22:26:00.000Z

I found this meme over at Dooce.com and I thought it was kind of interesting, so I thought I'd add my twopenneth... I'm slightly concerned that I can't think of four answers for some of the categories. Does that make me boring?

Four jobs I’ve had:

1. Sales assistant in a toy shop - a great job for reliving your childhood
2. Pallbearer - I fear that having this in my CV may make me a little strange, but I have my father to blame. He's a funeral director.
3. Primary school teacher - for two years.
4. Museum education officer - which is my current role, and one which I'm trying desperately to escape from (although I fear I never will...)

Four movies I can watch over and over:

1. Star Wars - A New Hope (although if I'm allowed to have the original trilogy as just one choice, then I will)
2. Heat - starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, directed by Michael Mann. It's an awesome film. Makes me goosebumpy just thinking about it.
3. Raiders of The Lost Ark - action adventure at its finest.
4. A Few Good Men - "You can't handle the truth!"

I wish I could have more than four, because I'd really like to include Ghostbusters, Top Gun and The Usual Suspects. Although if I'm allowed just four, I suppose the list stands.

Four places I have lived:

1. Holmer Green, Buckinghamshire - the house I lived in for the first 18 years of my life
2. Cambridge - in a variety of grotty student houses
3. Cambridge - in proper houses after I was a grotty student. My favourite has to be 62 Ditton Walk... it was lovely on a Saturday morning in the sunshine. Sheer bliss. I'm going to move back to Cambridge one day, just because it's so damn beautiful.
4. Harrogate, North Yorkshire - my current residence.

Four TV shows I love:

1. "24"
2. “Without A Trace”
3. “Cold Case”
4. “The X-Files” (I know it's not on any more, but I have it on DVD)

Four places I’ve vacationed:

1. Cornwall - all over the place
2. Les Gets, France - skiing
3. New York
4. Bristol

Four of my favorite dishes:

1. Pizza Express Quattro Formaggi
2. Take away curry from Asda (but it's only any good on a Friday night)
3. Subway Melt
4. A pasta dish that Mrs Lacey makes with fennel and pepperoni in it... dunno what it's called

Four sites I visit daily:

1. BBC News
2. eBay
3. Wired
4. Flickr

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Cornwall
2. Cambridge
3. On the sofa
4. In bed

And all of the above would be made infinitely better with Mrs Lacey

Four people I am tagging:

1. OliTee
2. Tim
3. Tom
4. Rich

So there you have it. As I said, nothing to do with gadgets, but I don't care. Feel free to respond with your answers - either on your site or by leaving a comment.

Still on an Apple theme...

2006-01-27T12:15:00.000Z

It would seem that my initial lack of enthusiasm about the new Intel-based Apple machines unveiled at the Mac Expo may actually be backed up by some hard facts according to this Wired News article.

In a nutshell, it says that at present - due to the fact that there are very few applications that are written specifically for the new Intel based system - the stated speed increases, in the main, don't exist. Worse still, if you want to run something like Aperture, Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro (and I think that would apply to a huge number of Mac users) they won't run at all at the moment.

In some cases - for example in Adobe Photoshop - the whole thing runs SLOWER on an Intel mac than it does on a G5...

Obviously, that won't be the case forever. Things will get updated and everything will be optimised for the Intel/Mac experience. However, I really like the quote in the Wired article that sums things up quite succinctly: "The Apple faithful are coming to terms with one troubling fact -- the whole platform has gone beta again".

This might explain it...

2006-01-12T19:41:00.000Z

So, according to this post, there was a very good reason that Steve Jobs keynote speech at the Mac Expo was so uninspiring. Allegedly - according to "an anonymous source" - Steve was unable to talk about the "very, very cool stuff" due to the fact that is wasn't quite ready to unleash on the world at large because of a shortage of Intel Core Duo chips.

So, maybe we should take it with a pinch of salt, but I can't help but feel more than a bit excited about whatever it is that Apple has lurking just around the corner...

I'm trying to suppress a yawn...

2006-01-10T19:00:00.000Z

So then... the Mac Expo has been and gone. And, to be honest, it was really very uninspiring.

Yes, they've put an Intel chip in the iMac. Yes, they've got a new laptop to replace the Powerbook, again with an Intel chip. Yes, they've updated iLife and released a new app called iWeb (but it only works with a .mac account). Yes, there's an incremental update to OSX 10.4. Yes, Garageband now does Podcasting and iPhoto can support more pictures. Ooh, and don't forget the remote control for your iPod.

SO WHAT?! COME ON APPLE! Where's all the cool, innovative, "never saw that one coming" stuff? Where's the media hub version of the Mac Mini? Where's the PVR update to Front Row? Where's the new iBook? Where's the updated Shuffle? Where's "Asteroid"?

Frankly, I'm disappointed.

Expo-nential

2006-01-10T14:20:00.000Z

So, it's that time of year again. The time when Apple afficianados the world over start getting giddy about what delights lie just around the corner. Yes, that's right. The Macworld Expo. This is the annual event where Steve Jobs stands up - and with consumate showmanship - unveils an array of goodies that collectively turn the IT world upside down once more.

For those of us who love all things Apple, it's an exciting time. Last year, we were treated to the Mac Mini, the iPod Shuffle and iLife 05. This year, it looks like we'll have updates to all three (including some kind of media hub/PVR functionality for the Mini and a new app called iWeb which looks to be some kind of web design program). It's also likely that there will be the first of the Intel-based machines on show, likely to be a newly-redesigned iBook.

So, we all wait with baited breath. The keynote starts at 5pm GMT. Updates to follow...

Flickr clickr

2006-01-08T17:01:00.000Z

Bolton Abbey

After much faffing around, I've finally got round to uploading some pictures to Flickr. Not many on there yet, but I'm hoping to get out and about with the camera a bit more in 2006. Feel free to browse!

High Resolution

2006-01-05T20:04:00.000Z

Now it has been traditional (well, for the last three years at least) for me to announce my new year resolutions to the world at large, just to give me a bit of impetus to actually try and keep them. I've thought for quite a while about what it is that I want to achieve in 2006, and I've come up with some things. None of them are of particularly big consequence, but here we go:

1) Get outdoors some more and enjoy the fresh air.
2) Cycle more (this should help me to achieve resolution 1!).
3) Only drink proper coffee, not instant (shouldn't be too hard, as I've grown to loathe instant coffee recently).
4) Take more photographs. I have a great camera, and I don't use it enough.
5) Buy more clothes - preferably decent ones that I'll actually wear. Hopefully this will include good shoes!
6) Get rid of the CDs that I no longer listen to. They're just taking up unnecessary space.
7) Get to work earlier!

So there you have it. Nothing earth-shattering, but all worthwhile I think.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T00:25:00.000Z

Yeah. Here's to 2006 and all that...

Review of the Year 2005

2005-12-31T16:16:00.000Z

So, here we are on the last day of 2005, so it occurred to me that I should review the resolutions that I made back in January, and attempt to pick out a few other interesting bits and pieces for you!

My 2005 new year resolutions were as follows. So how did I do?

1) Buy an Apple Mac computer. I don't know what sort, but I will buy one in 2005.
I achieved this one. In fact, not only did I buy an Apple Mac, I bought two! Following the San Francisco Mac Expo in January, where Steve Jobs unveiled the Mac Mini, I was so smitten that I ordered one straight away. The, at the beginning of May, Apple unveiled their new iMac G5 models, and (despite having bought a Mac Mini only a few months earlier) I ordered one. I then sold the Mac Mini to colleague for a very respectable price. The new iMac arrived with the new operating system - OSX 10.4 Tiger - installed.

2) Successfully pass all my assessments and become a Special Police Constable.
I achieved this one too. I started my training in March and was sworn in at the end of May. And I’ve been loving it ever since!

3) Buy that expensive pair of shoes that I keep harping on about. Loakes probably.
Nope, didn’t manage this one. Couldn’t be bothered really. The closest I got was a nice pair of Clarks.

4) Weigh eleven stone. I shall do this with the help of resolutions five and six (see below).
I’m still only ten stone. I didn’t manage this because I didn’t achieve resolutions 5 and 6.

5) Eat breakfast.
Not exactly. A breakfast bar and occasionally a banana was as close as I got.

6) Go to the gym at least twice a week.
I gave up going to the gym. Too many other commitments on my time unfortunately.

7) Go skiing. Not sure where or when, but I do rather fancy it.
Yeah, I did this one and it was fantastic! We went to Les Gets for a week in March.

8) Organise my CD collection.
I have had several attempts to organise my CDs, all of which have been moderately successful, but here we are at the end of 2005 and they all still seem to be muddled up.

9) Avoid buying gadgets that I later regret and sell on eBay.
A better year than 2004 for this one, but not great. I bought an M-Audio Fast Track in February, but then sold it two months later on eBay. It just didn’t work very well.

10) Update this website regularly.
It was going quite well, but then I had a bit of a hiatus in the middle of the year. But here we are, back again.

Other highlights of 2005 included:

We discovered geocaching - essentially treasure hunting using GPS. And very good it was too (if a little cold). I still haven’t (a whole year later) decided whether to buy my own GPS unit.

In February, I acquired the gadget to rule them all - an iPod. And it has been absolutely awesome. I love it. I still haven’t filled it up, but that’s beside the point.

I also upgraded my mobile phone to a Sony Ericcson k700i - and I’ll be upgrading again in about three weeks. Don’t know what I’m going to get yet.

I sold my mountain bike on eBay in June and got a very healthy £1100 for it. I bought a road bike instead and, whilst a very different experience to mountain biking, I think I like it more. I may still get another mountain bike in 2006. Not sure yet.

After my blogging hiatus over the summer as I busied myself with policiing, cycling and a spot of freelance web design, I moved the blog to a new location, hosted at Blogspot.

I put some more RAM in my iMac which speeded things up nicely.

The Xbox360 was released a few weeks ago, but because I didn’t get my arse into gear and pre-order, I was unable (like a lot of people) to get hold of one. Ah well, I’ll get one in 2006.

And that’s about it really. Not particularly exciting, but 2006 promises to have a few surprises in store. Hopefully.

See you next year!

Brave New Music World...

2005-12-26T18:20:00.000Z

Well, that's it. Christmas is over and done with. Not much to report really.

However, I did take my first tentative steps into the world of the iTunes music store today. Mrs Lacey bought me a £15 iTunes music voucher, so I bought my first track just a few moments ago.

Now a while back, I pontificated on this blog about the fact that I didn't want to buy music online and that I'd rather buy a real CD. Each to their own obviously, and I know some people get all their music via iTunes. However, I think I've discovered the perfect niche as far as I'm concerned. There are a few tracks that I love but I don't want the entire album, and iTunes is perfect for this. For example, the track that I just bought is the Michael Buble/JXL Remix version of the Spiderman theme tune (weird eh?!). Now there's no way that I want any of the other tracks from the Spiderman soundtrack, but this one tune is just fantastic.

So there you have it. I've purchased digital music. Only £14.21 left to spend now!

It's taking over my (half) life!

2005-12-22T17:03:00.000Z

I got Half Life 2 for Xbox for my Birthday, and I've spent quite a few hours playing it over the past few days. Needless to say, it's absolutely awesome. So far, it's easily up there with Halo as one of the best games I have ever played. If it maintains the current standard, I think that it may even surpass Halo as my favourite ever game. Half Life - the original game - was amazing, but this is better. Once you've played with the gravity gun, you'll wish you had one in real life! I love it. Once I've completed it, I shall report further.

360 degree feedback

2005-12-04T19:17:00.000Z

So then... the Xbox 360 launch day came and went. And here I am, without one.

It would appear that my "early adopter" zeal may be starting to wane. Although I do want an Xbox 360, I'm not in any desperate rush for one. And at the moment, there doesn't seem to be much of a compelling reason to upgrade. I'm - at present - quite happy with my current Xbox, and there are some good games around for it at the moment.

If I had a high def television, and/or there were some absolutely killer titles that I really wanted to play, I'd probably be more enthusiastic, but as it presently stands, I'm not really that desperate. Sure, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Perfect Dark Zero look like good games, but I can't help feeling that I wouldn't really be getting my money's worth if I was playing them on a standard definition telly.

Maybe the price will come down, or an absolute "killer app" will arrive, or maybe I'll splash out on a high-def screen. But until one of those things happens, I'm content with my big, black, obsolete, old, ordinary Xbox. And Half Life 2 is on my Christmas list, so that's definitely something to look forward to.

On your bike. Again.

2005-11-21T20:05:00.000Z

I have succumbed. The lure of the great outdoors has proved too much. I've just ordered myself a new mountain bike. Nothing like as flash as the one that I sold six months ago, but then that was the point.

The new one is a 2006 Scott Reflex 20 Disc. And the best bit is that I'm saving £200 off the £600 list price via a friend who works for Scott.

That means I've only spent £900 of the £1100 that I got for my old mountain bike, leaving £200 to spend on accessories. I've already spent some of that on roadie kit, and the rest will go on bits and pieces for the new one.

And Christmas is coming up, so I should be fully kitted out ready for the new year.

Excellent.

It's terminal (part 2)

2005-11-09T20:35:00.000Z

Part two! The extra RAM stick is installed, and now Terminal says:

phil-laceys-imac-g5:~ Phil$ ioreg -p IODeviceTree -n memory -S | grep ram-
| "ram-layout-architecture" = <00000002>
| "ram-bus-width" = <00000080>

I'm slightly confused, as the "architecture" value is unchanged, but the "bus width" value is now 80 instead of 40.

So does that mean I've changed from 64-bit to 128-bit or not?!?

Startup from cold now takes 38 seconds (18 seconds faster), and iPhoto takes 9 seconds to load (6 seconds faster).

I'm not sure whether these speed improvements are down to just having twice as much RAM, a 128-bit pipeline or a combination of both.

I fear there needs to be some research done. I feel an email to Apple coming on. :o)

UPDATE:
Not sure whether this is at all relevant, but 00000040 is hexadecimal for 64, and 00000080 is hexadecimal for 128.

Clear as mud.

It's terminal (Part 1)

2005-11-09T19:10:00.000Z

Okay, here's part one of the memory experiment. Terminal tells me the following:

phil-laceys-imac-g5:~ Phil$ ioreg -p IODeviceTree -n memory -S | grep ram-
| "ram-layout-architecture" = <00000002>
| "ram-bus-width" = <00000040>

Which allegedly means that I'm currently running on a 64-bit architecture.

Startup from cold takes 56 seconds, and iPhoto takes 15 seconds to load.

Standby for part two!

RAM bam, thank you ma'am

2005-11-09T14:21:00.000Z

So there I was, casually browsing the Apple technical support pages (yes, I am a geek) I came across a knowledgebase article entitled "iMac G5: The benefit of using matching memory modules". Intrigued, I read on, and they have this to say:

"If your iMac G5 has matching memory modules, which are known as "DIMMs," it will operate with a 128-bit data path. If the DIMMs aren't matched, then it uses a 64-bit data path. A 128-bit data path allows greater throughput than a 64-bit data path, in the same way that a 4-lane highway allows more traffic than a 2-lane highway. This allows the computer to manipulate large files faster. With a 128-bit bus, you would see better performance from the iMac when you have multiple applications open at the same time."

So it would appear that, because I've just got the single 512MB stick of RAM that came preinstalled in the iMac, that I've only been working with a 64-bit data path. The sacrilege! I've been missing out of 64 bits of lovely data goodness ever since I got it out of the box!

Not wanting to be missing out on this potentially earth-shattering upgrade, I ordered another myself another 512MB of RAM from Crucial.com and it arrived yesterday. I haven't had time to install it yet, but when I do I shall report back to let you know about the amazing performance enhancement it has given me...

Foxy

2005-11-05T12:42:00.000Z

I know that I keep harping on about the Firefox web browser, but there is a good reason. The BBC website reports that now 1 in 10 people use Firefox globally, and the percentage is still rising. And with good reason too - Firefox is a much better browser than Microsoft's tired old Internet Explorer. According to the article, 14.1% of US computer users browse with Firefox, whereas it is only 4.9% in the UK. COME ON PEOPLE! What are you waiting for?! Download the Firefox browser now! There's no excuse. It's very easy, it's free and it's better than the crappy browser you're using at the moment. Talk about a no-brainer!

I have both Firefox and Safari on my Mac, and both of them are leaps and bounds ahead of Internet Explorer. To be honest I can't decide which one is better, but I do know that I prefer both of them to IE. However, you only have that luxury if you've got an Apple machine, so if you're a Windows user this makes the choice very simple indeed. Firefox. Firefox Firefox Firefox.

So go on. Do yourself a favour. Get Firefox.

Okay. Browser evangelism over.

Let's take a moment...

2005-11-04T15:46:00.000Z

I'd like to take this opportunity to send my heartfelt condolences to my friend and colleague OliTee, who has suffered once again at the cruel hands of fate. His iPod is no more. It is an ex-iPod.

My thoughts are with him at this difficult time.

Video, Schmideo...

2005-10-16T17:25:00.000+01:00

So Apple have finally released the video iPod - but I was fairly surprised to find out that it isn't a completely different machine, they've just cleverly squeezed video playback into the existing design. Admittedly, there are a few cosmetic tweaks - including, if you can believe it, making the iPod thinner than the 4th generation model, even though it contains more hard disk space.

When I heard that a video iPod might be on the cards, I was envisaging a completely different kind of device that would sit alongside the music iPod but do a fundamentally different job. I'm quite pleased to say that the route they've decided to go down is much more elegant than that.

If you remember, they combined the ordinary iPod and the iPod photo a few months ago so that all new iPods had the colour screen and photo capability. Now they've taken it one step further and dropped that model completely in favour of the iPod video. This goes hand in hand with their decision to do away with the iPod Mini in favour of the iPod Nano. It's quite a nice looking line up all in all.

It makes my 4th generation, monochrome screened, music-only iPod look a bit out of date - although I prefer to think that I'm a retro purist. And to be honest, this isn't far from the truth - I don't want my iPod to do video and photos, I just want it to be a music player. The majority of the time, I use it in the car, so the ability to play video and look at photos is really very redundant.

So there you go. Well done for all your innovation, Apple, but I'll be sticking with my distinctly out-of-date iPod thanks very much.

Playing catch up

2005-10-11T18:37:00.000+01:00

So then, in case you're interested, here's a brief outline of the things that have been happening during the last couple of months whilst I've been "offline". Admittedly, there's not much to report, but here goes:

1) I sold the mountain bike on eBay, which went for a mighty impressive £1100! I immediately spent £500 of that on a nice shiny road bike - a Trek 1000. Then obviously the next step was to buy all the associated road bike paraphenalia - new helmet, pedals, shoes etc. Well, if you're going to do it, you have to do it properly don't you? I haven't bought a new mountain bike yet, because frankly I'm having too much fun on the roadie at the moment!

2) I seriously toyed with the idea of buying a Sony PSP, but then decided against it. In reality, I would have absolutely no use for one, nor any time to play it. If I have any game-playing time, it is spent on the Xbox.

3) Microsoft revealed the release date and cost of the Xbox360 - and it looks fairly impressive. £209 for the basic pack, or £279 for all the bells and whistles, with a release date of 2nd December 2005. I'm sorely tempted to get one, but I think I'll leave it until at least the new year.

4) I've been putting in lots of hours with the Special Constabulary - and I'm loving it. Not arrested anyone yet though!

5) I've spent quite a bit of my spare time on a freelance web design project for a local dental surgery - have a look at www.chdental.co.uk if you're interested.

6) We had double glazing fitted.

7) Work has been... erm... busy.

So a combination of work, being a policeman, web designer and cyclist have pretty much consumed all my spare time. Nothing else to report really. Apart from the road bike, there have been no major purchases, so the bank balance is looking very healthy. All I have to do now is to find something worthwhile to spend it on!

So there you go. You're up to date.

Enter via the back door...

2005-10-10T14:12:00.000+01:00

I'm back! It's been a while, but I'm back on the blogosphere with this new look and new location. I'm no longer hosted on my own webspace, I've moved over here to Blogspot in order to avoid some... ahem... unwanted attention.

If you received an email from me to let you know that I've moved, you're one of the chosen few. Update your bookmarks accordingly. Or trash the email and ignore me. Your choice!

I've been fairly busy since my last post back in June, and quite a lot has happened, but I won't attempt to go into it all at the moment. Needless to say, I will update you all in due course. Watch this space.

It just doesn't feel... right.

2005-06-12T18:32:00.000+01:00

I have a peculiar problem - and you're probably going to read this and think I'm even more weird than you do already - but I'm going to tell you anyway.

Last September, I got a new mountain bike. Thing is, that although it was new to me, it wasn't brand new. It was an ex-demo bike from the local bike shop. I had done loads of stuff for them on their website, so they owed me quite a bit of money, and they offered me this bike. Now it's a really flashy machine, and would have cost the best part of two grand when new, so I thought it seemed like quite a good deal.

Thing is, now I've got it, I don't really like it. It rides really well, the kit is top-notch, and it's probably a better bike than I'll ever need. But it just doesn't feel right somehow. It doesn't really feel like it's mine. I've tried my best to just forget about it, because, let's face it, I'll never actually spend £2000 on a mountain bike, but that's not the point. I don't feel comfortable on it.

I think the time has come to just admit that I don't like it, put it on the mighty eBay and then spend the proceeds on a replacement. I fully appreciate that I'll only get about £900 to £1000 for it, and that the replacement bike that I'll buy for that kind of money won't be as good as the bike I've got at the moment. But at least it'll be mine. Properly mine. And it'll be of a quality commensurate with my bike riding ability, as opposed to being completely out of my league, which is what the current one is.

I think I'm just not very good at "second-hand" stuff. I bet you're all reading this and thinking that I'm ungrateful, and maybe I am, but I'm just not feeling it at the moment. And that's never good.

Widget, it's got a widget...

2005-06-10T18:40:00.000+01:00

Well, this is a bit exciting - or at least it is if you're a geek like me. I've just installed a Tiger widget that lets you post to your blog direct from the Dashboard. What a great idea! If you want the widget, head on over to the Dashblog site to download it.

Lots of things, all rolled into one!

2005-06-04T20:46:00.000+01:00

It's been a bit busy round these parts, so please excuse my lack of posting. Let me briefly give you a run down:

1) My new iMac is just LOVELY. I want to stroke it.
2) Roku released a firmware update which solved the Tiger/Soundbridge incompatibility problem.
3) I've discovered the wonders of www.photobox.com, not only to get my digital photos printed, but also to create and share online photo albums. Have a look at Matt & Bec's wedding photos or our skiing photos if you feel so inclined.
4) I got sworn in as a Special Constable on Tuesday, so I'm now a copper! A part-time one admittedly, but a copper nonetheless!

Right then, now I've got all that off my chest, I shall be gone.

Broken

2005-05-09T21:59:00.000+01:00

It would appear that Tiger (the new Mac operating system) doesn't work with my Roku Soundbridge, meaning that at the moment I am without streaming music.

Roku support assure me that they're aware of the problem and are working with Apple to create a solution. Should only be a matter of days. It's just one of those little bugs that need ironing out when you've got new software. Ho hum.

So, for the time being I've had to resort to using CDs! How very last century...

Big Mac

2005-05-07T20:48:00.000+01:00

So you may remember (after all, it was only a few days ago) that I ordered one of the new G5 iMacs, and therefore needed to sell my three-month old Mac Mini. Fortunately for my bank balance, that proved to be a very easy task as several colleagues were more than keen to stump up the asking price. Also - because the iMac has a built-in screen, I also found a buyer for my existing 17" TFT screen.

Best thing of all, Apple - despite quoting a five day build time and three day delivery time - managed to get the iMac to me by Friday, meaning that I had the weekend to play with it!

I started off by backing everything up (I did a complete clone of my Mac Mini) to the external hard drive, and then I reinstalled Panther (OSX 10.3) on the Mac Mini so that it was back to factory settings, ready for its new owner. Once that was done, I boxed it all up, complete with all the original manuals and disks etc. Then I disassembled my TFT monitor and boxed that up (good thing I keep all the boxes!) and put that to one side. By the time I'd done all that, it was past midnight and the iMac was still in its box!

Not wanting to rush the "new gadget installation process" I waited until earlier today to get it all set up. Fortunately this was an incredibly easy process. One cable for mains power, and we were up and running. The install process found my bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and then seamlessly connected to my wireless network. After booting up, I copied by user file across to the iMac from the external drive and the job was done. Simple!

Moving on up

2005-05-03T19:55:00.000+01:00

Apple released their new G5 iMac models today, and they're incredibly impressive. They've obviously been listening to what the punters want, because they've addressed every single one of the issues that people had with the original models. I, for one, cannot find them lacking in any way.

Apple have increased the processor to a 2GHz G5, upped the RAM to 512 MB, added a 16 speed DVD burner, put a 160GB hard disk in, installed Airport wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0 as standard, and to top it all off, it comes with the new operating system, Tiger, installed. And if all that wasn't enough to convince you - and here comes the killer blow - they've priced it at £999 including VAT.

Needless to say, I've ordered one. Anyone want to buy a Mac Mini?

Just do as you're told!

2005-05-02T10:48:00.000+01:00

So there I was, merrily surfing the web, when my Mac Mini popped up a little box which told me that my bluetooth mouse was running out of batteries, and that I should replace them immediately. Obviously, I chose to ignore this warning. Surely there would be enough juice in the batteries for another couple of days? The computer was just being alarmist.

Ten minutes later, another message appeared. "Your mouse batteries are critically low. Your mouse may fail at any time". So clearly, this time, I leapt out of my chair and replaced the batteries, right? Nope. I ignored it. Again.

Then the batteries failed.

I begrudgingly went and got two new batteries and installed them in the mouse. Did it work? Of course not. So - without any mouse and using just keyboard shortcuts to navigate - I went to the system preferences to see if there was a "reconnect mouse" option or something. I managed (after a bit of faffing) to get to the mouse preferences, but unfortunately there was no immediately obvious solution. Then I had a brainwave. I'd switch off bluetooth, start it up again, and then that would probably make the mouse work. Clever eh?

I tabbed to the button that said "Switch off bluetooth" and hit the space bar. A box popped up. "If you switch off bluetooth, you will no longer be able to control your computer. Are you sure you wish to continue?"

In my panic, I pressed enter. "Bluetooth is now switched off".

AAAAAGH!

Anyway, here I am, 45 minutes and a USB mouse later, and everything seems to be working again now. Next time my Mac tells me to do something, I'll do it. It's clearly cleverer than me.

I want that one... and that one...

2005-04-30T11:30:00.000+01:00

Gentlemen, start your engines... it looks like Xbox 2 is here. Or rather, Xbox 360 as it now seems to be called. Various sites around the web have images that are allegedly the "real deal" - the final design that Microsoft will be unveiling at E3 in May. And if they're accurate, then it's a distinct improvement on the current Xbox.

For a start, it's silver and shiny, rather than matt black, so they're on to a winner straight away as far as I'm concerned. Then there are the system specs - apparently, the Xbox 360 contains three (yes, three!) IBM PowerPC processing chips, which are essentially the same ones that Apple use in their G5 machines, so there is some SERIOUS power in there. The controllers are wireless as standard, as is wi-fi networking. The hard-drive will be an add-on, but seems to me to be almost essential. And word on the street says that it'll be in the shops in time for Christmas. Have a look at the Definitive Xbox 360 FAQ over at ign.com for more details and images.

Before then, however, is the Playstation Portable (PSP). The European launch date has now been confirmed as 1st September 2005, with a price of £179. Which is a bit pricey for sure, but it won't stop me buying one on launch day!

No turning back...

2005-04-20T15:14:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine told me yesterday that he had sold his entire CD collection on eBay, as he now has them all stored on his computer as MP3 files, and therefore no longer needs the original discs.

Crikey.

I can't see myself being in that position any time soon. I think I'm too worried that technology will change to the extent that it could make my digital music files obsolete. Over the last two years, I've already ripped my CD collection twice - once as WMA files, and then (after getting my Mac) as AAC. Who is to say that next year, another (better) format won't turn up, making my AAC files out of date? If I don't have the original CDs, how will I take advantage of this new technology?

This is the same quandry which has - up until now at least - prevented me from purchasing any music from the iTunes Music Store. I have no doubt that it's an excellent innovation, and it's very convenient, but not actually possessing a physical item is slightly disconcerting for me. I appreciate that I should (as a hardcore gadget freak) be advocating the completely digital approach, but I can't do it. Not yet anyway. Follow my friend's example at your peril...

Tiger, tiger, burning bright

2005-04-15T12:14:00.000+01:00

Looks like 29th April is the launch date for Tiger then...

Which leads me to ask myself whether I should go for the upgrade straight away (and start playing with all the lovely new features immediately) or whether to hang fire for a few weeks so some other hapless users can iron out all the undiscovered bugs!

Going, going, gone

2005-04-14T18:39:00.000+01:00

I've been flogging stuff on eBay again. The M-Audio Fast Track that I bought a couple of months ago to use with my Mac Mini has gone, mainly because it didn't perform particularly well, and because I just don't have the time to sit around making computer music. Also, I've flogged my old Creative Labs Muvo NX MP3 player because all my music is now encoded as AAC files, which it doesn't support. If I need a little solid-state player for whatever reason, I'll get myself an iPod Shuffle instead.

One of my New Year Resolutions was not to buy any gadgets on impulse and then have to flog them on eBay, so it looks like I've failed on that one. However, some of the others are going quite well. I've bought an Apple Mac, I've been skiing and I'm half way through my Special Constabulary training. I've packed in going to the gym though - I just don't have the time any more.

Familiar?

2005-04-10T12:27:00.000+01:00

I've got this curious feeling of deja vu...
I've got this curious feeling of deja vu...
I've got this curious feeling of deja vu...

Down a mountain with two bits of wood strapped to your feet...

2005-04-03T16:39:00.000+01:00

I've just got back from my skiing holiday in Les Gets. It was amazingly good fun (once you get over the initial fear of falling over) and the scenery was genuinely breathtaking. We're already planning to go again in 2006!

I'll put some photos up when I get a chance.

Roll on May...

2005-03-15T23:06:00.000Z

It might take a while to download it, but it's definitely worth watching the new trailer for Star Wars: Episode 3...

I hate to admit it, but I'm excited...

Automotive Jiggery-Pokery

2005-02-27T22:29:00.000Z

So it's all very well having a lovely 4th-gen iPod, but what if you never have an opportunity to listen to it? I hardly ever use public transport or walk anywhere (activities that are, traditionally, the preserve of the iPod owner) so I was beginning to think my purchase was a little rash...

I really wanted to be able to listen to it in the car, but there was a significant obstacle. There is no - standard at least - way of connecting an iPod to my car stereo. I had already experimented with using an FM transmitter a few months ago when I had my Creative Zen NX, but the quality was shocking, so that wasn't going to be an option.

Another possibility was to buy a whole new car stereo - Alpine have just brought out a head unit which has integrated iPod compatibility. There's a bit that stows away in the glove box which connects to the iPod itself, and then the head unit controls the Pod's functions. Excellent, except that it costs £275. A bit steep, even for me.

So I finally plumped for the option that required a bit of DIY, but was a good compromise of cost and functionality. I got myself one of these units that plugs into the CD-changer port on the back of the standard radio. I extracted the radio, connected up the new box of tricks, hid it away down the back of the centre console, and then routed a standard stereo RCA to 3.5mm jack cable through to the base of the dashboard. This way, I can pop the Pod in the cup holder, plug the cable into the headphone socket, and enjoy all my tunes in the car.

Job done. Lovely.

Pod

2005-02-22T19:47:00.000Z

Just got myself a 20GB fourth-gen iPod.

Mmmm. Pretty shiny thing.

Hubba Hubba

2005-02-20T16:39:00.000Z

An event this afternoon made me realise that I have truly embraced the Mac ownership experience. I realised that I had run out of USB ports on the back of the Mac Mini, so I went an unearthed a USB2.0 hub that I had previously used with my old PC. I hooked it up, and arranged it nicely on the desk, and it was then that I realised something was gravely wrong...

The hub was made of black plastic. Everything else on the desk (even the lamp and phone) was shiny and silver. IT DIDN'T MATCH!

So the hub has been relegated to a position underneath the desk where it is less aesthetically offensive. Still works just the same, but doesn't upset the gadget feng shui.

Here endeth the lesson.

Coming back to the fold...

2005-02-14T19:30:00.000Z

Well here's a turn up for the books - I've been so preoccupied with my new gadgets, I've had no time to write about them!

Following on from the Mac Mini, I got myself a nice shiny silver LaCie external 250GB hard drive to back everything up on, and then - in order to use GarageBand, I got an M-Audio Fast Track, which is basically a breakout box which plugs into the Mac via USB and allows you to connect instruments and microphones so that you can record in real time.

It's been gadget overload (if there can be such a thing) over the past couple of weeks. I love it!

Out of the box

2005-02-02T23:44:00.000Z

I finally got round to unpacking the Mac Mini earlier this evening (I've been giddy as a kipper about it all day, as I'm sure you can imagine). Having to wait over 24 hours before I could set it up has been killing me, but I didn't want to have to rush it. It's all about savouring the experience when you get a new gadget. Even taking it out of the packaging has to be done properly. Then you make sure everything is neat and tidy, and you work out where you going to put it all.

Then, finally, you can start hooking it all up.

Fortunately, it all worked seamlessly. I've been spending some time getting the software installed (Dreamweaver, Fireworks, iLife etc etc) and then it took me a while to get it syncing properly with my Pocket PC and phone over Bluetooth, but it's all sorted now. And it's lovely. I like it.

Early arrival

2005-02-01T11:09:00.000Z

Much to my surprise, the Mac Mini has just been delivered! I was expecting it tomorrow, so this is a very pleasant surprise! The downside is that I won't have time to set it up this evening, so I'm going to have to be exceptionally strong-willed and leave it in its box until tomorrow.

I have taken it out of the packaging, just for a quick look. It's very pretty. And incredibly small!

It's on its way...

2005-01-31T12:04:00.000Z

I had an email on Saturday from Apple saying that my Mac Mini had been dispatched. They're quoting a "2-3 working day" delivery time, so all being well it should be delivered to work on Wednesday.

In the meantime, I have ordered a new 17" TFT monitor for Mrs Lacey so that she can finally be rid of the monster CRT screen that currently resides on her desk. In addition, she's going to get my Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse, which I currently use with my PC (because the Mac is coming with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse) so she'll be all set up with some nice new gadgets of her own.

I can feel a big "strip down and rebuild" of our desks coming on. The arrival of new gadgets is a perfect time for a spring-clean. I'll remove everything from both our desks, unwire all the components, dust and polish, and then refit everything. As I'm sure you're aware, cables get tangled up even if you never touch them, so it's always good to get everything back in some semblance of order. It's the only time I ever actively set out to do housework!

Firefox Rox

2005-01-25T22:49:00.000Z

It's what I've been saying for months: Firefox is the business when it comes to web browsing, and it would seem that millions of others agree with me.

Even Wired News says so. So it must be true. Do yourself a favour. Switch. If you can't quite stretch to a new Apple Mac, at least change your browser. Trust me. It'll make your life better. And you can't say fairer than that.

k700i

2005-01-22T11:17:00.000Z

Got myself a Sony Ericsson k700i mobile phone today, and it's really rather nice. I only have one gripe with it though (and it would appear that I'm not the only one) - Orange have installed their own "version" of the operating system on it, which replaces the standard Sony Ericsson one. For example, the right hand soft key on my old T610 brought up a menu that let you activate silent mode, switch bluetooth on and off, lock the phone etc etc. But on this new k700i, this button's functionality has been removed, and instead it activates the camera when you press it. This might seem like a good idea, but there's already a button on the side of the phone to switch the camera on! They've also installed their own "orange-themed" icons on the phone's main menu.

I've scoured the web, but try as I might I can't find a way to change it back again. Ah well, I guess I'll just have to put up with it. The phone itself is splendid, and there are a lot of good features on it. I'm looking forward to pairing it up with my new Mac Mini and exploring all the bluetooth features. I'll keep you posted.

It is done.

2005-01-12T23:04:00.000Z

I ordered a Mac Mini today. Fully loaded - 512MB RAM, 80GB hard drive, DVD writer, bluetooth and wireless keyboard and mouse. Pushed the price up a bit, but still a bargain for such a lovely machine. Should be shipped at the end of the month, but I want it NOW!

I can't help it... it's soooo pretty...

2005-01-11T23:32:00.000Z

My god, that's just beautiful.

The world is about to change... again

2005-01-11T15:18:00.000Z

At 1600hrs GMT (40 minutes from now), Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, will give his annual keynote address at the San Francisco Mac Expo. There has been soooo much hype surrounding this year's event that it's really difficult to ascertain which of the rumours are true, but some of them keep cropping up again and again. I've been holding off buying an Apple Mac until today's keynote speech, just in case they unveil something really revolutionary, so this is quite a big deal!

As far as I can ascertain, the main new products that are rumoured to be announced are as follows:

1) A "headless" iMac - A fairly low-spec but very aggressively priced barebones Mac computer without a screen.
2) A flash-memory iPod - 1GB of solid state storage, no screen, but tiny in size and relatively cheap.
3) iLife 05 - a revision of all the iLife apps, including iMovie, iPhoto and Garageband.
4) "Asteroid" - supposedly a hardware breakout box for use with Garageband, allowing users to plug in multiple guitars and microphones simultaneously.

It'll be interesting to see if any of these rumours turn out to be true! It would seem that the flash iPod and iLife 05 are pretty much definite, but the other two could be complete fiction. If they do release the headless iMac, it'll have to be pretty special and/or cheap to convince me to buy one. I suspect that nothing announced today will steer me away from either a G5 iMac or PowerMac. But I could be wrong!

Geocaching!

2005-01-09T22:13:00.000Z

Tried something completely new today - we went Geocaching! If you've never heard of it, the best place to find out is to check out the official website, but if I was to try and describe it succinctly, it would be "treasure hunting using GPS". The idea is that people all over the world have hidden "Geocaches" - which are essentially plastic boxes full of little goodies and a notebook - and then published their coordinates (latitude and longitude) on the Geocaching website. Anyone that wants to find the "treasure" simply inputs the coordinates into their GPS unit (you have to have one otherwise you won't get very far) and then trudges off into the wilderness to try and locate it. If you're successful, you sign and date the log book, take one of the items from the cache and leave something else in its place. There you go, simple really.

So Mrs Lacey and I went over to Skipton with our friends Oli and Donna (Oli owns a GPS - a rather fetching Garmin 60CS) and went in search of a couple of Geocaches that were allegedly hidden in the area. And, surprisingly, we found both of them! Even though you know the coordinates, it's still quite a challenge to find the caches themselves, because they're well hidden. And in the first one, we found a soft toy with a Travel Bug attached to it, so we've removed it and are going to take him to a new home in the next couple of weeks.

It was cold and very windy, and we all got wet feet, and by the end of it we were knackered - but it was superb fun. I can see us going and doing it again soon.

Have a look at the photos from our geocaching exploits here.

Happy New Year!

2005-01-01T13:07:00.000Z

Well here we are then: 2005. Funnily enough, it seems just like 2004. At least so far it does.

So then, I suppose I had better start the year by declaring my resolutions, and then when it comes round to 31st December again, you can laugh at how many I failed to complete. I've carried some of the uncompleted ones from 2004 over to this year (just because they still seem valid and/or sensible) and I've got some brand new ones. I admit that none of them are particularly awe-inspiring or world-changing, but they are important to me. So there.

1) Buy an Apple Mac computer. I don't know what sort, but I will buy one in 2005.
2) Successfully pass all my assessments and become a Special Police Constable.
3) Buy that expensive pair of shoes that I keep harping on about. Loakes probably.
4) Weigh eleven stone. I shall do this with the help of resolutions five and six (see below).
5) Eat breakfast.
6) Go to the gym at least twice a week.
7) Go skiing. Not sure where or when, but I do rather fancy it.
8) Organise my CD collection.
9) Avoid buying gadgets that I later regret and sell on eBay.
10) Update this website regularly.

I'm hoping that they're all reasonably achievable. Some of them will be a challenge certainly, but none of them are impossible.

Anyway, happy new year to you all. Here's hoping that 2005 is a good one.

REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2004

2004-12-31T13:43:00.000Z

So it would appear that it’s December 31st, and I guess that means I should do some kind of “Review of the Year” type thing. I’ll go through some of the successes and failures of the year, tell you about the gadgets that I acquired (and subsequently got rid of) and generally remind you of how 2004 panned out.

JANUARY

So we started off this year with my declaration of my new year resolutions, but looking back I don’t know how well I stuck to them. They were:

Go to the gym regularly. Yeah, I did this one.
Get an "all in one" mortgage and pay off as much of it as possible. I did this one too, and it has proved to be an excellent decision. Highly recommended.
Learn to play the guitar properly. I’m not sure that I’ve learned to play it “properly” but I’m certainly a lot better than I was.
Buy expensive shoes. No, I didn’t really manage this one. The closest I got was buying two pairs of £60 Merrell trainers at the same time, rather than buying the pair of Loakes I’ve been coveting.
Weigh eleven stone. Again, no, didn’t manage this. I’ve put on three or four pounds, but I’m nowhere near eleven. This resolution will be carried over to 2005!
Eat better food. Not sure about this one. We’ve certainly eaten a lot of different food over the last year, and we’ve relied less on frozen packet food, so I guess we managed it.
Go scuba diving. No. Didn’t do it. Plain and simple. I rather fancy skiing instead now.
Buy a new mattress. No didn’t do this one either. But we did buy new pillows.
Keep in touch with friends more. Thanks to the sterling efforts of Mrs Lacey, we have managed to do this. Still not good enough, but certainly getting there.
Read books. I’ve read three whole books this year (Northern Lights, Angels and Demons, The DaVinci Code). Does that count?
Keep this website up to date. Well we’re still here aren’t we?

January was also the time of the “Great Attic/Cellar Swap Round”, when we changed over the study and the spare room. It was a great decision. The cellar makes a superb study, and the newly redecorated attic room is a great spare room for guests.

Gadgets this month:
I bought a Creative Labs Zen NX hard-disc MP3 player. It was a poor decision. I sold it later in the year because I didn’t like it.
I also got myself my lovely Takimine electo-acoustic guitar. My guitar playing has improved no end because of it.

FEBRUARY

February was the month when I first dipped my toe in the water of eBay. I sold my old iPaq and all the accessories and my old mobile phone. I remember thinking at the time that it was amazing that people would pay good money for my old unwanted junk. And it has just gone on from there. Who’d have thought that in less than a year I’d have a rating of 45 and have made nearly £1000 in eBay sales?

Gadgets this month:
I got my new Sony Ericcson T610 mobile phone this month.

MARCH:

Apart from a couple of new gadget purchases, not much occurred in the month of March.

Gadgets this month:
I finally got round to getting myself a new iPaq – the Hewlett Packard 2210. It had proved even more invaluable than my old one. Partnered with my T610 phone, it meant I could check email, surf the web and even post to this website remotely! It’s also quite a good MP3 player too. I think I’d be lost without it.

I also bought (from lovely eBay) a Belkin Tunecast FM transmitter for my Zen NX MP3 player. Whilst it was good in theory, the execution was poor. I never really used it. I sold it later in the year when I got rid of the Zen NX.

APRIL:

April was a month of rash impulse purchases that I later came to regret. More of those in a moment. It was also the month when Mrs Lacey and I went away to Bristol on holiday. What a fantastic place! We loved it. If we ever got the opportunity, I think we might go and live there.

April also was a time of CD collection upheaval. I sorted them all out, and redistributed them around the house. You’ll be pleased to know this was a futile exercise, because they’re all over the place again, and in no particular order.

Gadgets this month:
I bought myself a Line6 Guitar Port – a box of tricks that lets you plug your guitar into your PC. It was great to start with, but I quickly got bored of it. It went on eBay later in the year.

I also – and this was the most disappointing gadget of 2004 – bought a Netgear MP101 digital music player. This was supposed to stream my music files from my PC to the hi-fi in the lounge. I never got it working properly. It was flaky in the extreme, and it was a stressful experience from start to finish. I have a friend who bought one a couple of months ago and he experienced the same problems. It would seem they still haven’t got it sorted. If you’re thinking of getting one, don’t bother. This too went on eBay.

MAY:

I did something in May that I should have done months ago. I ran an Ethernet connection to my PC instead of relying on wireless. It made my whole computer-using experience immeasurably better.

May was also the month when I started my obsession with collecting Qees. I bought three from Firebox.com, and it just spiraled out of control! I, at the moment, have 18 of the little fellas sat here on my desk. I shall attempt to fight the Qee addiction in 2005.

I bought a Sega Dreamcast arcade stick from the bargain bin of WHSmith for £3 and sold it on eBay for £40. This is definitely my best eBay profit to date.

The final design for Sony’s PSP handheld was revealed in May. At the time I said I wanted one. Now, I really want one!

Gadgets this month:
I got Xbox Live in May, and it has proved very enjoyable. I’ve mostly played Rainbow Six 3 and Halo 2 this year. I’m hoping that a couple more of my friends will get online in 2005, and then things will get really fun.

JUNE:

I got myself a Gmail account in June, and made quite a bit of money by selling invites for it on eBay. If you’re thinking of doing the same thing, don’t bother – the market is now officially dead.

I sold the Line6 Guitar Port and the Netgear MP101 on eBay this month. They were bad purchases. At least I only lost about £15 on each one.

There were no new gadgets this month.

JULY:

Inspired by my eBay success, July saw me venture into the world of selling stuff on Amazon.co.uk’s secondhand marketplace. This has also proved very worthwhile – I’ve got rid of loads of unwanted CDs, DVDs and books on there over the last six months.

Gadgets this month:
July saw the arrival of my most extravagant gadget of the year – the Nikon D70 digital SLR camera. It’s beautiful. I love it. End of story.

AUGUST:

We went on holiday to Cornwall in August. The weather was fantastic. Two days after we returned home, the terrible floods hit North Cornwall – particularly Boscastle - which was where we were camping. I fear if we had still been there, we may have been a little damp.

On returning home from Cornwall, I realized that the Gameboy Advance SP and the Creative Labs Zen NX that I had taken with me on holiday had stayed in my bag unused for the whole two weeks. So they both went on eBay.

The new G5 iMac was revealed by Apple this month, and the world collectively went “Oooh!”. They then tried to decide if they were impressed or not. I too am still undecided.

Gadgets this month:
I finally got my hands on my new mountain bike – a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Expert. Normally I’d never contemplate such an expensive bike, but I received it in payment for my work on the local bike shop’s website, so it cost me nothing apart from the trade-in on my old bike.

SEPTEMBER:

I nearly made an expensive mistake by ditching my hi-fi speakers in favour of a mini sub/sat 5.1 speaker system. Fortunately I decided against it. However, I did decide that maybe my ageing KEF Q35s were in need of an upgrade, and when I saw the lovely KEF Q4 speakers in a hi-fi shop in Leeds and decreed that they would be mine.

There were no new gadgets this month.

OCTOBER:

In October, I discovered the wonders of the Firefox web browser. If you’re sat there reading this blog with Internet Explorer, I implore you to switch. Firefox is so much better. Try it. You’ll like it.

Other than that, October was relatively quiet. Things were very busy at work.

Gadgets this month:
I got myself the KEF Q4 speakers and matching Q6C centre speaker to replace my ageing KEF 35s in the lounge. They’re lovely. They look almost as good as they sound!

NOVEMBER

My computer was suffering from the adverse effects of XP service pack 2 in November. The solution was to do a clean install from my ghost drive image. This solved the problems instantly. I refuse to install SP2 again. It is junk. As are most things that Microsoft churn out these days. I can tell that 2005 will be the year of the Apple Mac for me.

Halo 2 was released this month. If you have an Xbox, buy this game. In fact if you don’t have an Xbox, buy one just so you can play it. It’s that good.

Gadgets this month:
I went to the Mac Expo in London, and came home clutching a Roku Soundbridge. This gadget does almost exactly the same job as the Netgear MP101 that I bought back in April – streaming music files from my PC to the lounge hi-fi – but the difference is that this one actually works properly. I took it out of the box, plugged it in to the network and seconds later, music was playing through my hi-fi. This could be my gadget of the year.

DECEMBER:

You won’t have to cast your mind back too far to remember this month.

Perhaps most notably, I turned 30.

I bought Mrs Lacey an iPod Mini for Christmas (and now I want one too), and received multiple small, shiny, silver gizmos in return.

Gadgets this month:
I got myself a Sony RDR-HX900 Hard-disc/DVD recorder to replace my DVD player and VCR. They both went on eBay (along with all my VHS tapes) and now the RDR-HX900 has pride of place underneath the telly. This is another gadget that has really impressed me. It does everything I want it to, simply and effectively. I like it.

And that just about bring us to this point, right here. December 31st. What will 2005 bring? Who knows? But I’m sure it will involve gadgets.

2004-12-27T22:51:00.000Z

Well, this appears to be an interesting turn up for the books - Sony have FINALLY given what everyone has been asking for and added MP3 support to its latest Network Walkman. Only two months after releasing the NW-HD1 player (and it getting universally slated by every magazine and website ever) they have release the NW-HD3.

Essentially, the problem with all their previous players is that they have forced the owner into using their woefully inadequate SonicStage software, and converting all your music to ATRAC3 files - which, quite honestly, no-one in their right mind was going to do whilst the Apple iPod was kicking around for the same kind of money. So now, finally, Sony have conceded and produced this new player which has native support for MP3 and WMA files. No AAC though, so it could still be better, but some magazines are already heralding this as an "iPod killer". I'll believe that when I see it.

2004-12-23T15:59:00.000Z

It's either my age (I am in my thirties now after all) or I'm losing my edge, but I bought a magazine called "Custom PC" the other day which is all about building your own computer and overclocking it to make it faster. Now I consider myself to be pretty up on that kind of thing, and I've built my last four computers myself, so I reckoned that the magazine would be just the thing for me, bearing in mind that I'm considering a computer upgrade in the near future.

But here's the thing - and I'm quite appalled to admit this - but I don't understand half of the articles in the magazine, and even I find it unbelievably geeky. Actually, no, scrap that. It's not geeky, it's for dweebs. I consider myself to be a geek, and wholly embrace the term, but "Custom PC" magazine is aimed at a whole strata of uber-nerds that I (thankfully) will never be able to compete with. I get the impression that its core audience is sad, spotty teenage boys in Nu Metal band hoodies who spend their lives in their bedrooms, building ultra-fast PCs and going to LAN parties. There's even a section at the back of the magazine for people to send in photos of their own modded PCs. Guess what it's called? "Reader's Drives".

Oh, please....

2004-12-19T17:52:00.000Z

So Friday was my 30th birthday, and last night we had a party to celebrate. And in the usual fashion, a great many digital photographs were taken of the proceedings. Fortunately for you, I've edited the original 200 pictures into just the highlights (althought there are still 117) and put them up here for your delight and delectation. Enjoy!

2004-12-03T11:18:00.000Z

I decided to bite the bullet and get myself one of these Sony RDR-HX900 hard-disc DVD recorders to replace my ageing DVD player and VCR. So, as you can imagine, this took a great deal of thought about how to reconfigure my home cinema system to accomodate the new component. But eventually I sussed it all out - and I know you're itching to know the details, so here we go...

My NTL digital set-top box is sending an RGB signal via SCART to the RDR-HX900, which in turn is sending an RGB SCART signal to the widescreen TV. The analogue aerial is looped through the RDR-HX900 to the TV in order to provide a time signal to the clock and to let me watch analogue channels whilst I'm recording digital. A coaxial digital cable is providing Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS to my amplifier, which is hooked up to my nice new KEF speakers. The Xbox is connected directly to the second SCART input on the TV and connected via an optical digital cable into the amp in order to provide in-game 5.1 surround sound. The Gamecube is looped through the second SCART on the NTL set-top box. Finally, the shiny new Roku Soundbridge is sending an optical digital signal to the amplifier.

In addition to all that, my Wireless Netgear router is hidden away round the back of the telly and provides my NTL broadband connection via CAT5 to my computer, the Xbox (for Xbox Live), the Roku Soundbridge and via wireless to Mrs Lacey's computer and my laptop...

Blimey, it's like spaghetti junction round the back of the telly - good job no-one can see it round there!

2004-11-29T13:17:00.000Z

The more times I experience the joys of GPS, the more I want my own - they're really good when travelling in the car (and for avoiding speed cameras). And now, as if by magic, several companies have released add-on units for the Pocket PC, which allows you to add GPS to your exisiting handheld, such as this one by Navman (which rather cleverly works via Bluetooth), or this one which slots into the CompactFlash slot on the back of the iPaq. Genius!

2004-11-16T17:10:00.000Z

I'm writing this whilst sat on the train on my way home from an exceptionally dull work-related excursion, but my Pocket PC has more than proved its worth today. I've cumulatively spent nearly four hours on a variety of trains, but I've got six different albums stored on my Compactflash card, and with Media Player set to "shuffle" I've not heard the same track twice yet! Also, the Pocket PC has supplied me with reading material via AvantGo and I've been able to look up train times on the web. Not forgetting the fact that I can email and publish to my blog using it as well. This is a great gadget!

2004-11-11T22:45:00.000Z

I've only managed to play about thirty minutes of Halo 2 so far, but I have to say that I'm impressed. I like it. The only thing I'm slightly curious about is Bungie's bizarre widescreen implementation. The game plays in widescreen quite nicely, but they haven't bothered to re-render the game's HUD graphics - so whilst all the in game action is formatted for 16:9 ratio, the radar, weapons info and targetting reticule are all bizarrely oval and squashed. Surely it wouldn't have been that big a job to redo it for those people playing in widescreen? Ah well, I'll forgive them. I can't wait to try it out on Xbox live!

2004-11-10T21:42:00.000Z

Halo 2 day tomorrow! I'm very excited!

2004-11-07T21:37:00.000Z

So I've had a couple of weeks of using my newly-configured computer with Firefox instead of IE, and I can happily report that all seems to be going well. Certainly a lot more smooth than it was previously anyway. Just goes to show that you shouldn't jump head-first into upgrading things straight away. There are always teething troubles. And the other lesson is that if it works okay, don't mess with it. I'm forever tinkering with things, and sometimes I just come unstuck. From now on - hopefully - I'm going to leave things alone. I've switched off automatic updates in Windows XP now, so maybe things will just tick along nicely for a while...

2004-10-25T16:49:00.000+01:00

Now this is what I call a gadget!

2004-10-20T22:57:00.000+01:00

I may have mentioned this already, but I'm really impressed with Firefox. It's a very, very good browser. It makes you realise how slow and clunky Internet Explorer is. And once you've tried tabbed browsing, you'll never go back to IE...

2004-10-17T19:30:00.000+01:00

So in an attempt to rectify my slugglish internet problem, I have taken two steps. Firstly, I have rolled back my install of XP to a time prior to SP2 - good old Norton Ghost. Secondly, I have installed Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, and veyr nice it is too. Very reminiscent of Safari on the Mac, which isn't surprising seeing as they're both based on the same underlying engine. I like it. And, for what it's worth, it seems like these two things have improved my surfing no end. So I shall say my thanks to the nice people at Firefox with a banner advert....

2004-10-17T11:38:00.000+01:00

I can't say for certain, but I think that Service Pack 2 for XP has made my internet connection dodgy. For a couple of weeks now I've been wrestling with intermittent connection and slowdown and the like. The two things that could possibly be responsible are a) XP SP2 or b) NTL's broadband speed increase that they implemented about a month ago. But to be honest, I can't see a speed increase making my internet connection slow down! I'll have to research this SP2 problem a bit more - if I can make the damn internet work obviously!!

2004-10-02T18:53:00.000+01:00

After giving it due consideration, I went along to the hi-fi shop in Leeds and purchased the aforementioned KEF Q4's, along with their matching centre speaker. The KEF Q35's are, for the time being, residing in the spare room until I decide what to do with them. I shall sell the old centre speaker on eBay, but I don't know whether to keep the Q35's and hook them up to my old amp and CD player up there, or stick with the little standmounters I already have and flog the Q35's. We shall see. I need to tidy that spare room up before I do anything else, and that could take a while!

2004-09-30T15:33:00.000+01:00

Well I like the look of this! A Sony Playstation2 that's 75% of its original size, and only costs £99. Bargain! Maybe Father Christmas will bring me one...

2004-09-25T22:16:00.000+01:00

I discovered that the Apple Store in Leeds were getting their first shipment of new G5 iMacs in today, so I went along to the shop first thing this morning to see one in the flesh. And do you know what? I was distinctly unimpressed. Compared to the G4 iMac, it's just a bit ordinary. I realise that it's damned clever to get all the computer gubbins in that tiny little enclosure, but it just hasn't quite got the same "wow!" factor that the previous two incarnations have had.

However, whilst I was in Leeds, I popped in to one of the multitudinous hi-fi shops and spotted some real things of beauty - KEF Q4 speakers. I already have some KEF speakers which I bought about seven years ago when we lived in Cambridge, but these are just beautiful by comparison. They're quite a bit smaller and slimmer than the ones I've got, and are finished in lovely real wood veneers. My current ones are rosewood, which is nice enough, but it doesn't really match our pale colour scheme in the lounge. These new ones come in a very fetching maple finish. Just the ticket. And there's a very nice matching centre speaker to go with them too. And all for half the price of a G5 iMac.

Maybe I'll get new speakers and an eMac instead....

2004-09-20T20:31:00.000+01:00

Well what a tumultuous weekend I've had! I nearly made a costly error - let me explain...

For a while now, I've been debating getting some smaller speakers for my home cinema system in the lounge. My existing ones - which, amongst other things, comprise some rather nice KEF Q35s - are quite sizeable, and do, admittedly, take up quite a bit of space. Mrs Lacey has been "mentioning" the possibility of getting some smaller speakers in order to free up a bit of space.

So over the weekend, I went round to the new hi-fi shop that has just opened up round the corner (what a terrible place for them to put it!). I auditioned three different speaker systems costing £299, £449 and £799 respectively. Each was good for its price, but I still couldn't decide on the best course of action. I managed to convince the manager to let me borrow the £450 set overnight so that I could test them with my amp and DVD player, and see how they sounded in my lounge (which is obviously different from the shop's audition room).

So I brought them home, set them all up (including the rather fetching but very large cherry-finish subwoofer) and proceeded to give them a good hammering with a range of music and films. I had just about convinced myself to get them, when Katey asked for me to put the exisiting speakers back, "just for comparision purposes".

And guess what? There was no comparison. My KEFs blew the new speakers away. Loads more detail, tighter bass, and more refined sound all round. So, I've avoided spending £450 on something I don't need, and managed to convince the wife that although they're big, my speakers really are better. You see, size does matter.

2004-09-12T13:11:00.000+01:00

Okay, I'm having having a huge internal conflict here. Let me set the scene...

I really want a new iMac. But my PC is perfectly functional, and it does just about everything I want it to, but it doesn't do it very elegantly. I realise that this is just me being a computer snob, but there we go. The other thing to consider is that if I get a Mac, we will have four computers in our house. Is that really necessary? Mind you, since when have I been bothered about "necessary"?

Help me out. Please?! Leave me your advice using the comments section below!

2004-09-09T16:48:00.000+01:00

I've just taken receipt of a couple of very nice miniDV camcorders at work. They're Panasonic NVGS11Bs, they were only £300 each, and they're really rather good. Five years ago I bought some similarly-specced Panasonic camcorders for work and they were £800 and twice the size! It makes me think that maybe I need a camcorder. Maybe if I get a nice new G5 iMac, I'll get a miniDV camera to go with it...

2004-08-31T18:03:00.000+01:00

I realised earlier (when they sent me an email about it) that the BlogSnob adverts that were on the old version of Low Fidelity got lost by the wayside in the grand redesign the other week - my mistake. You'll be pleased to know that they've now been reinstated, and can be found over there in the right hand column, about half way down. Go on, click it. In fact, whenever you come here, click it. It'll be different every time - it's a bit like weblog Russian roulette!

2004-08-31T15:01:00.000+01:00

It's here, and it's a pretty shiny thing. Apple's new iMac G5 was announced today at the Paris Apple Expo (as I predicted it would be last Thursday). And needless to say, I want one. Now. I wonder what else I can sell on eBay?

2004-08-26T18:51:00.000+01:00

I'm still waiting for news of the new Apple iMac G5. It sounds very intriguing. Apparently, in addition to having a G5 processor in instead of a G4, the new iMac will also be a completely new design. I'm wondering where else they can go with the iMac really. Obviously the whole point of the iMac is that it's a single self-contained unit, so I'd be surprised if they didn't stick with that idea, but other than that I haven't got a clue what they're going to do with it. The general consensus on the web is that it'll all be announced at the Paris Apple Expo but we'll just have to wait and see I suppose. After so many desirable machines in the past couple of years, I'm hopeful about this one. If it's good enough, I may even buy one...

2004-08-22T17:20:00.000+01:00

I've just installed a photo upload program that allows you to post pictures on your blog, so I thought I'd test it out using a picture of St Ives I took a couple of weeks ago. What d'ya reckon? Incidentally, you may also notice that you can leave comments on here now, so give it a try if you like. Go on, try it. You might like it...