The End

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?!?

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...

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anyone?

Coffee coffin...

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

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

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

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

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

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

May the research begin!

Small victory

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

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

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

Thank you Apple. Much better. Carry on.

Just take the money and run...

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

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

iTunes had sold me a dud!

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

Thank you for contacting the iTunes Music Store.

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Shawn
The iTunes Music Store team

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

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

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

They could be on to something here...

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!