Archive for year 2007
Have Yourself a Very Techy Christmas!
24 years ago
Hope you all had a great Christmas with friends, family and more importantly GIFTS 
I received mostly money from friends and family as it seems I have been quite vocal about wanting a new Digital Camera (don’t quite know how that could have happened!), so everyone thought it may be a good idea to give me cash so I can get what I want. I’ve been browsing through some of the online sales and there’s quite a lot to choose from. Some great deals on Canon, Fuji and SONY. Now I just have to do some comparing to see what will be the best for me.
Today I spent a little bit of my festive funds on a LaCie 320GB external hard drive from Amazon – for £49! A bit of a bargain that I couldn’t pass up. I’ve been meaning to get myself an extHD for quite some time. It’s a practical thing to have, but I don’t always think of practical when I have the money in my hands! I’m just glad I didn’t order the Seagate 250gb HD I saw on the Maplin website last night for the same price!
So, apart from wanting a new Digital Camera I am also considering buying Pixelmator. Sadly the 15 day trial I downloaded expired before I had the chance to play with it. I have no idea how it performs on Leopard or indeed what it’s capable of. Any experiences out there, good or bad?
Snap Unhappy
154 years ago
by Sam
in Photography
For the past 7 years I have used one digital camera primarily and that is the SONY Cybershot DSC-S50, with 2.1 Megapixels. Back in it’s day it was a good spec camera and despite it’s inferior stats compared to todays offerings, I’ve got to say it’s rarely let me down. Having said that, I do think the time has come to put my SONY into semi-retirement and look for something newer, bigger and better.
I read this blog post today and I couldn’t agree more with the author. Taking a bunch of photos which look fab and wonderful on the little LCD screen, only to get home, upload them to the computer and realise that only one or two out of the fifty-seven I’ve taken look halfway decent. Aaargh, it’s so frustrating. I feel like going all the way back and having another go. This happened to me just last week. Before I continue, this is one of the pics I took that did turn out well.
It was a cold and windy night so I had difficulty keeping still while I attempted to take the shot. This resulted in lots of blurred photos but I was determined to get some good shots so I persisted. I came across a bit of a wall that I could rest the camera on and take some shots that way. I figured that since it was steadier I’d get far better results. I took this photo and on the camera’s LCD screen it looked awesome, almost in HD. I was happy. That was until I got home and viewed it on the big screen. Over exposed is the only way to describe this mess. The only way of assuring that the photos I do take are decent is to hook it up there and then to a laptop and check each image before I leave. Either that or I just fill up my MemoryStick taking photos of the same thing more than once on different settings so that I’ll at least get something out of it.
Over the past seven years I have bought other cameras yet surprisingly I let them go and favoured my old faithful. The first camera was a £300 Fuji 6MP. It took some quality shots but I had some difficulty with it’s settings and functions. I was quite a keen night photographer with my SONY and had become familiar with the exact setting I needed to take a crisp night shot. So, since the Fuji didn’t measure up in that department I sold it on some months later. A couple of years after that I bought an Olympus 8MP camera and I got on even worse with this. It took 2 AA batteries and unfortunately it took them, and took them and took them. I was only able to take around 10 shots before the batteries needed replacing. That wasn’t with me for long
So, my main requirement for a replacement digital camera is Lithium rechargeable battery. Something over 5MP would be good. And since my SONY has not let me down I am quite keen on sticking with the same brand although I’m open to anything else. I’d love a DSLR at some point but it would probably take me a year to learn how to use it. Around the same amount of time it took me to finally get to grips with my Cybershot. I kid you not.
I won’t be in the market for a new digicam until the New Year which may possibly be the best time to buy, what with the sales and all. If you have any recommendations (or avoid-like-the-plagues) then as always I’d love to hear them.
Technology ganging up on me!
0Last night our not-much-older-than-2-years Toshiba CRT TV in the bedroom died. Lots of switching itself off followed by lots of fizzing, flashing and beeping. How were we ever going to survive waking up in the morning without being able to fumble around on the bed for the TV remote, catch up with what’s happening in the world with BBC News 24 whilst munching on marmalade on toast and drinking that first vital cup of coffee of the day? But, we did and it was miserable. Our task for the day was to open up the TV and see if it was a fuse or something else that could be repaired quickly and easily. However, at approximately 3pm this afternoon the TV was pronounced dead.
We checked out some websites of various electrical high street stores to see if we could get a new LCD TV for around the £250 mark. Ordinarily we would have looked harder and longer for something maybe around the £400 mark but it’s unfortunate (perhaps) that both of us have recently spent a lot of money on other technology. I’ve spent £1,000 on an iMac and iPod touch in just 6 weeks and he has spent over £3,000 on recording studio equipment in the past 6 weeks also. That was all completely budgeted for, but of course when good technology goes bad during this time then it’s not ideal.
We had seen a couple of Philips 23/26in LCD’s on a local stores website but they didn’t have any in stock. So, we went for an Acoustic Solutions 26in LCD HD TV, priced at £269.
We quickly set it up this evening but we need to attach the DVD/VCR to it later tonight.
But, it’s not just TV’s that have been dying on me this week. Our several-years-old BT Digital Cordless phone also developed some problems so yesterday we bought a BT Mango Digital Cordless with answering machine as a replacement. I’m just worried about what electrical appliance is going to go wrong next.
Still, this sudden splurge of cash does mean that I shall be prompted to sell my Apple Mac Mini as soon as possible. I hadn’t felt much urgency to sell it on after getting the iMac but now I will erase and install Tiger and then either try to list it in a local ad magazine or online. If you happen to be in the UK and looking for a Mac Mini, 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD then why not get in touch and make me an offer 
SIMplicity
44 years ago
My 12-month mobile phone contract with 02 was up for renewal on Wednesday so I called them on Monday to see if we could negotiate another great package for the next 12 months. Last November I spoke to a lady who gave me a really good deal: 400mins/500texts inclusive for £14.99 per month instead of £30 for 12 months. Perfect for me. Since I was so used to paying this I wanted to see if I could simply continue with this package or at least get another good deal. The tariff I was on prior to this was around £20 per month with less perks.
I spoke to a girl and told her that I was quite happy to keep the current handset I have, the 02 XDA Mini S. She went away for a minute or two and then came back to say I could switch to o2 Simplicity which basically means I keep on as I am, paying £15 per month with the same handset. I’ll get 200mins/400texts *and* unlimited free calls to other o2 numbers. Since almost everyone I know is on o2 this is just perfect for me. It’s also just a 30 day contract so if anything goes wrong with my current phone then I can just simply go from that tariff back to a 12-month one and get a free handset – or maybe I’ll find myself in a position where I can buy the iPhone and fund the 18 month contract…but we’ll see about that sometime 2008
Speaking of the iPhone, today it’s FriDay 9th November which means that approximately 2.5 hours ago the Apple iPhone finally went on sale in the UK. My buddies Graham and Nik were at the front of the queue at Regent Street Apple Store in London and they’ve been all over the British media today including interviews on ITN News, SKY News and BBC News. My Twitter friend James captured the video from SKY News and uploaded it to YouTube. You can see Graham and Nik wearing white ‘The Cloud’ hoodies running into the store to the applause of the Apple Store staff.
Here’s Graham looking rather pleased with two iPhones in his hands. One for him and I’m hoping the other one is for his favourite Geordie friend (photo credit)
Anyway, check out the gorgeous photos Nik took at the Apple Store at 5am this morning – this one is incredible.
Sounding and Looking Good
6Last week I mentioned the lack of punch the iMac built-in speakers had. Since I love listening to music while I work and browse the net this just wouldn’t do. But, because I’d just spent £799 on the iMac and another £199 just weeks before that on the iPod touch I didn’t have the big bouncy budget that I’d have liked.
I asked for some recommendations and several came in ranging from Bose Companion 2, JBL Spot and Harmon Kardon Soundsticks. These were pretty much around the £80-£100+ mark. Since I am still feeling quite poor I did some more looking around and found some interesting Altec Lansing speakers ranging from £20 to £120. I remember reading some reviews on this brand a short while back which praised them. I then came across the Altec Lansing VS2321 2.1 speakers for £39-99. My other half has Altec Lansing speakers built-in to his HP laptop and I’ve always been impressed with the sound.
I bought them today and was almost blown out of the room. Really rich sound and as much or as little bass as you like. I have the subwoofer under the desk on the floor. I have tried several of my favourite music tracks on today and realised just how much I was missing out on all this time. Prior to getting the iMac I was using JBL Pro which came with my Compaq Presario 7 years ago. Even though the PC is long dead the speakers lived on. And I was happy with them even though they did nothing to compliment my set-up. The Altec Lansing do compliment the set-up and they look and sound much more expensive than they are.
So, for now at least my set-up is complete. I hadn’t planned on buying external speakers as some reviews of the iMac actually went so far to say that those built-in were more than sufficient for big surround sound. I beg to differ. Now my ears are happy…and so are my eyes.
They’re calling it iDay
1Just 5 days left until the Great British public can finally get their hands on what they’ve been waiting to get their hands on for 5 months now and that’s the Apple iPhone.
When I heard that o2 were going to be the exclusive carrier of the iPhone I was very pleased. I’ve been an o2 mobile customer for as long as I can remember and the reason for my sticking around is not only because I get great coverage where I live but also because I have managed to get myself the best online tariffs and the customer support is excellent, not least because the call centres are UK based. And now I’m an o2 Broadband customer! But, alas, I won’t be buying the iPhone…..yet My phone upgrade date actually comes on 6th November so I’d be perfectly seated to rush into my local o2 store and pick up that black box of shiny goodness. But, having bought myself the new iMac I’m just not in the best place financially at the current time to buy the iPhone, but also to commit to an 18 month contract. If the iPhone cost £400 and we could pop our own SIM card in (without hacks of any sort – I’m a good and honest girl) then I’d be at the front of the queue this Friday!
On my current package I get 400 inclusive minutes and 500 free texts for £14.99 per month. I sealed this deal last November when I called to upgrade my handset to the o2 XDA Mini S. The lady I spoke to lowered the price of the handset to £129 and gave me the great tariff for a 12 month period. I need to call them up this week to see whether I can simply continue on that tariff and keep the handset I have as to be honest other than the iPhone there isn’t a handset out there that remotely interests me. The XDA Mini is fine for my needs at the moment as it has a QWERTY keyboard which is good for a texter like me. I’m not a very heavy user either it seems as I have sent only 36 out of 500 texts this past month and I haven’t used any of my inclusive download limit.
Even though I won’t be freezing my bits off standing outside of an Apple, o2 or Carphone Warehouse retail store I am still feeling very excited about iDay. My Twitter and Flickr friends Graham, Nathan and Nik are going to be queuing in Manchester and London for their iPhones and I’m hoping one or more of them will be sending me a text from it once they’re all set up Once iDay has passed I will be going to an o2 store to check out the iPhone in the flesh but I will first make sure that I am not equipped with a credit or debit card when I do so. That would be just too dangerous and I simply don’t trust myself to leave the store alone!
New iMac – 4 days on
74 years ago
I’ve been using my iMac now for four days and the novelty still hasn’t worn off. Since it never did with 2.5 years of using a G4 Mac Mini then I don’t expect this to wear off anytime soon.
Before buying the iMac I had been reading some posts on the official Apple Support Forums regarding the 20in display. There were lots of complaints about a gradient look – dark at the top, fading at the bottom to the point that icons in the dock looked washed out. This was one of my biggest concerns especially when spending £800 – the most I’ve ever spent on a computer. When I first switched the iMac on the display was a lot brighter than I felt comfortable with but this was quickly remedied by going into System Preferences and selecting Displays and then Colors. I calibrated the monitor and switched from 1.8 Standard Gamma to 2.2 Television Gamma. This made it much less bright and colours looked more real.
Another concern was the possibility of dead pixels. This can happen with any monitor, of course, but I haven’t had dead pixels on any of the past couple of displays I’ve used and I’m happy to say that continues to be the case with the iMac. I changed the wallpaper to a black background to check this and it’s all clear
I already touched on the Glossy Display in my initial entry regarding the iMac. Because I hadn’t physically seen/touched the new iMac before my purchase I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It’s absolutely fine for me. Yesterday we had quite a bright and especially sunny morning and although I could see my reflection a little, it wasn’t to the point where that’s all I could see or concentrate on. As I sit here now I wouldn’t be able to find my reflection even if I was looking for it.
The other thing I’m enjoying with the new iMac is the keyboard. I’m not new to the slim aluminum keyboard as I ordered mine back in August moments after the Apple Event announcing the new iMac/keyboard. But, I have been plagued by one minor niggle which I can see now bothered me more than I realised. I suffered from a sticky key. Sounds painful I know. My Caps Lock key needed two strikes before it would come on or off. Because I loved everything else about the keyboard I was reluctant about sending it back for a replacement. Infact I thought it was perhaps down to it’s newness and would loosen up in time. But, since receiving the new keyboard with the iMac I now realise that was more of a glitch than anything else as this one is perfect and I don’t feel like I’m going to get RSI in my left wrist through striking the caps key hard.
So, what about Leopard? Well, I haven’t played around the iWeb, iMovie, iDVD or iPhoto yet. I was previously using iLife 05 with my Mac Mini which lacked iWeb. I did have a quick wander in and the themes looked very nice. Seems like a great little package for people wanting to set up a website quickly. I am not sure I will find any use for it just yet.
One of the things I was looking forward to using with Leopard was Photo Booth. Again, since I was using a 2005 Mac Mini I didn’t have the pleasure of iSight or Photo Booth, but now with the added backdrops I was looking forward to having a play around. My first attempt didn’t work out too great as the lighting has to be right for it to work correctly, otherwise it can look a pixelated mess, but last night I cracked it by switching on the main light in the home office and I think these turned out rather well…
Even though I don’t use Instant Messaging hugely, I do think the new feature in iChat which allows you to screen share with a buddy is really very cool. Yesterday I was having an issue where I couldn’t bring up certain websites on the new iMac yet was able to do so quite happily on the iPod touch and iMac G3 which all share the same internet connection. As I sat scratching my head, Graham kindly offered to have a look around my Mac on screen sharing with iChat and although we didn’t get around to it (as it seems everything is okay now) it’s a marvelous feature for those times when you’re having a technical issue and don’t quite know how to fix it yourself.
I will be buying some external speakers for the iMac soon. I find that the built-in speakers lack punch which disappointed me a little. I have been using JBL Pro speakers with the Mac Mini which previously came with my Compaq Presario desktop computer in 2000! And yes, they are beige and boring which would look completely out of place in my current set-up! So, I’m on the lookout for some new speakers. If you have any recommendations then do pass them on. I don’t want to spend huge amounts of money so if you can suggest some between £60 and £100 then even better.
o2 Broadband
41Up until yesterday I had been getting my broadband from BT Total Broadband for 16 months. When I joined it was around £22 for up to 8mb speeds with a useage limit of 4GB per month. Because I wouldn’t call myself a heavy downloader I was happy with the package. Recently the price came down to around £20 and a useage limit of 8GB per month. However, I was experiencing some problems and poor speeds a couple of weeks ago so I was considering making a move quite soon.
One evening I went to the o2 website to look at the mobile phone handsets as I’m due an upgrade shortly. I was just about to click on the ‘Shop’ button when I noticed o2 were now offering broadband. I’ve been an o2 mobile phone customer for several years now and have had no isses at all. Infact I’ve often said I wish that o2 would supply broadband! The packages are as follows…
Standard: 8mb speed, unlimited useage, £7.50 per month for o2 Pay Monthly customers (standard price £17.50)
Premium: 16mb speed, unlimited useage, £10 per month for o2 Pay Monthly customers (standard price £20)
Ultimate: 20mb speed, unlimited useage, £15 per month for o2 Pay Monthly customers (standard price £25)
I opted for the Standard package as it was the only speed my line is capable of. Since I’m already an o2 mobile phone customer then I get it for £7.50 – a saving of £13 per month compared to what I was getting with BT. Plus, since they only just launched their broadband service 2 weeks ago they are not only giving customers the usual 14 day cooling off period but also an extra 100 days in which you can cancel and get your money back if you aren’t happy.
o2 sent me the o2 wireless box on Monday, which is a Thomson 780 router. My broadband with o2 was activated yesterday so I swapped my Netgear wireless router for the o2 wireless box and I find this a much better set-up – and my speeds have increased. I also like the admin panel for the o2 router which gives far more detailed statistics about the devices which are using my connection, as you can see here
So, I’ve been up and running with o2 broadband for 24 hours and it’s been plain sailing so far. The £7.50 price tag was one of the attractions, but also the UK based call centre and the other features of the package including 10 e-mail accounts (and POP3), 100 free texts to send to any mobile via your PC or Mac and o2 e-mail to mobile (free).
If you’re looking for a new ISP then I would definitely recommend that you check out o2 Broadband. Since you have the extra security of the 100 day money back guarantee if you sign up before January 2008 then it’s well worth a try
iMac 20in – Initial Thoughts
3My new 20in Apple iMac arrived today. After unpacking I started it up, then installed Leopard which took around an hour. Once that was complete I hooked up my Mac Mini to the iMac via firewire and migrated my user accounts, files and folders and applications to the new machine. That took half an hour or so which was quicker than I anticipated.
I haven’t even touched on half of the new features in Leopard since today has just been about setting up and making sure all my info is in place. I have a lot to play with tomorrow after a good nights sleep. But, the Migration Assistant is an absolute godsend. It’s a new computer yet it’s familiar as everything I had on my Mac Mini is now on here…and with the most minimal fuss of getting it across.
So, just a quick entry – my first from the new iMac and Leopard. I’m sure I’ll have more to say in the coming days when I’ve settled into it all. It’s a gorgeous machine – so quiet, so sleek. The one thing I was a little concerned about was the glossy display given I hadn’t touched one before. I’ve read about how some people thought the glare was too much for them. But, for me it’s a non-issue. When the computer is on and you’re sitting infront there is no glare/reflection whatsoever. Believe me, the last thing I want to see when I’m looking at my screen is my own reflection. So, no problems here for me at all in my environment I’m happy to say
My 3rd Apple Mac
3This evening I ordered myself the 20in iMac from the Apple UK Store. I originally ordered it around 6 weeks ago but due to a shipping delay I decided to cancel and wait it out for it to ship with Leopard.
So, this is my 3rd Mac in two and a half years. My current set-up consists of Apple Mac Mini 1.25GHz Power PC G4 purchased in June 2005 and an iMac G3 purchased from eBay for around £90 in April 2007. Both of these run Tiger and surprisingly the classic iMac runs it rather well.
I will, of course, be hanging on to my classic (there’s that word again) iMac G3 but I have plans to sell my Mac Mini in a month or so as I don’t have the room for it. Yes, I know that sounds crazy since the Mac Mini is so tiny, but I won’t have any monitors to hook it up to once I sell my Samsung 20in widescreen display. Plus, it will be nice to get a little money back for what I’ve spent on Apple goodness recently. With the new iMac and iPod touch I have spent a whopping £1,000 just in the past 3-4 weeks alone. But, I’m sure it will be totally worth it and I am so looking forward to getting to grips with Leopard.
So, shipping is between 26th-29th October and is estimated to arrive between 29th-31st October. So very excited about having a new and more importantly faster machine on my desk than anything I have had in the past few years I hope the migration process is as smooth and easy as I’ve heard it is. I shall be making some notes over the next few days of what I want to pass over to the new machine. See you on the other side…or maybe before then
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