Personal
New Design
Aug 19th
Since Fruit Bytes is almost 3 years old, I decided to give the site a fresh lick of paint. The old theme was feeling dated and didn’t support many of the features available in the newest versions of Wordpress.
Hope you like the new look 
(+1 rating, 1 votes)
Loading ...The Art of Mac
May 9th
I’ve been looking around for a canvas art print for my home office to brighten the place up, but everything felt so manufactured and common. I wanted something a little bit unique, something that wouldn’t be hanging on everyone else’s wall.
That’s when I decided to look at myself. What was stopping me from grabbing a blank canvas, some paints and my creativity? I’m quite handy in the art department when I put my mind to it 
The tools for the job cost me around £20. That’s for a canvas, a big box of acrylic paints and pack of 15 paintbrushes. I got down to it this afternoon and this is the result.
For my first time painting on canvas with acrylics I’ve got to say I’m pretty pleased with this. I shall be finding a suitable wall to hang it tomorrow. Now that I’ve mastered the technique, I rather have the taste for creating some more of my own artwork and it won’t all be Apple though I’m sure. But, I do think a favourite iPhone app logo on a black background would look quite striking. But which one? Stay tuned.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Hug Your Mac
Apr 22nd
At the end of February I wrote about ordering the Finder icon pillow from Throwboy and the positive (and friendly) experience when doing so. Two weeks into my home renovations, my beautiful pillow arrived. It was a bittersweet occasion. There it was infront of me but because I was elbow deep in dust and debris I couldn’t open it from it’s plastic wrap for fear of it getting harmed.
It wasn’t until 10 days later that I could finally remove it from it’s plastic bag and give it a jolly good squeeze. It was worth the wait. These things are *so* well made.
I know many people have commented on both Flickr and Twitter in the past few days when sharing photos and have asked me where this wonderful pillow comes from, how big it is, how soft it is, etc…! So, here is a little FAQ just for you:
Where can I order one? Throwboy.com
How much was it? $29 (+ $8 shipping to UK)
How big is it? The Finder icon pillow is 11 inches by 9 inches.
Is it really soft and cuddly? Yes, 100% fleece with polyester fiber filling. Very squishy and huggable!
Was it easy to order? Yes, very simple order procedure and very friendly service from Throwboy.
Would you recommend them? Absolutely, infact I’m thinking of ordering another pillow but can’t decide which one to go for!
How long did it take to arrive? I ordered on February 24th and got notification of shipping on 3rd April – it arrived at my door on 8th April.
I know from some comments I’ve received on other sites that people are a little put off by the 3-6 weeks estimated for shipping due to the fact that they’re handmade. My response would be don’t be. The sooner you order, the sooner you will have it in your hands. It’s well worth the wait – the time absolutely flew by for me and just think how great it will look alongside your Mac set-up or on your sofa/chair/bed. It’s the ultimate Mac Geek Accessory
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Electric Nightmares Part 2
Apr 16th
Today is the first weekday in 21 days that I have been able to get up post-6am and do what the hell I wanted with my day. Yes, the electrical rewire and subsequent repair work finally came to an end yesterday. I’m a few pounds (in weight) lighter and also a few pounds (in sterling) lighter. Not quite so happy about the latter!
When I wrote about the impending rewire last month, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on what was about to happen, what the disruption would be and what kind of mess I’d be met with each day. I’d been briefed by the team who were about to kick seven shades out of my house and believed I’d prepared myself sufficiently. I was actually way off. These past 3 weeks have been some of the most stressful in my life. Living out of boxes for 3 weeks, coming home to clouds of dust, broken walls, broken floors, men in and out of my house as if they owned it. Relentless work for 21 days, 8am to 4pm daily.
Now that I have my privacy back I now have the task of re-decorating every room that was affected. That is every room in the house, every wall and every (upper) floor. The lucky room to get attention first is, unsurprisingly, the home office. One of the things I have missed desperately during these past 3 weeks is my routine and structure. The home office was always my cocoon to get things done and focus. Not having that place to escape has been extremely draining – instead I’m having to sit in a broken shabby room with my PowerBook on my knee, looking around at a sea of cardboard boxes and ripped wallpaper. Not a chance of me being productive or creative, not that I’ve needed to be, mind you.
So, that’s where I’m at right now. Painting of skirting boards have been done today, tomorrow and the rest of the weekend will be repairing walls (covering with wallpaper), emulsioning said wallpaper, laying a new wood floor and fitting a new door. I hope to be back in The System Attic early next week.
One of the things I will do when I’m moving my things back in is hug my iMac. Next Monday will be exactly one month since we parted and I have so many gifts to present it with from the MacHeist Bundle I bought a few weeks ago. All year I waited patiently for the bundle and it was released on the eve of my rewire when the iMac was packed away. What are the chances?
My posts here, naturally, have been greatly reduced and affected during my downtime. I didn’t have regular internet access for 2 weeks as my router was packed away and my only source for getting net access was the iPhone. I had hoped to write occasionally, but inbetween the work I had only a few hours to eat, drink, shower and sleep and that’s pretty much all I wanted to do. Once I’m settled back into my office then I hope to get my writing routine back as soon as.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Electric Nightmares
Mar 12th
In less than 2 weeks my worst nightmare will come true. The whole house needs to undergo the most major and invasive work that it will ever need to undergo – a full electrical rewire.
About two weeks ago some lights in our house started flickering. Being concerned that this wasn’t the first time strange electrical things had occured at home, we decided to call in an expert and check our wiring. We were told that it would be a full rewire and that it would be almost certainly done in one day. Our wiring is mid-1970’s, meaning we’re around 75% more likely to have a house fire or death caused by electrical shock than with those who have ‘modern’ wiring. And that’s a statistic we don’t want to be part of.
So, last week began the de-clutter to get everything out that we didn’t need from old PC’s and software, to clothes that many a charity shop have benefited from this week. Then yesterday we met with the electricians to be briefed on what exactly was going to happen and what we needed to do prior to the work being carried out. I was hoping that they would tell us that the work would be minor and that new wires could be replaced by making just a small incision, a bit like keyhole surgery. However, as you can see from this tweet it wasn’t quite that sugar-coated.
Just 5 weeks ago I completed the redecoration of my home office which I’d so cosied myself into. In less than 2 weeks it’s going to have the floor pulled up, holes cut into that and the walls mauled to death. One day was a bit ambitious and although we’re assured the electricity will be back on within that one day, there will be men coming and going from our property for several days after to plaster and patch up everything that they unpatched. There’s also no way we can stay in our home while the rewire is taking place as it will be noisy, dusty and uncomfortable.
While I’m in the middle of a mini breakdown, I’m also finding my head bursting with a ‘to-do’ list that just keeps on growing. I have no idea where to start, but I shall need to get the mental notes out onto paper so that I can check things off as I go. If that wasn’t bad enough, the estimated “end of the month” could be brought forward a bit, which will give us just over a week to pack up our life into many boxes to ship out. It may sound silly to the non-Geeks out there (not sure this blog gets that kind of readership, however) but the only thing I will be personally physically dragging around with me on the big day is my iMac, aside from my iPhone that doesn’t need dragging, just tucking away quietly in my pocket. The iMac has my worklife on here and there’s no a chance in hell that I will put it into storage in a deep dark cupboard at home, nor will I let family take this incase they have a break-in. Yeah, I’m a classic case for Cognitive Therapy
So, since my router will be packed up for a while, I shall be solely accessing the internet (um…Twitter, mostly) with my iPhone over 3G (god bless these two technologies!). A few nights will be spent with my parents while the dust, literally, settles. Then of course will be several weeks of cleaning up, redecorating and re-laying wood floors. I’m just hoping it’s now safe to install/update apps over the air on 3G because you can bet the new super-duper version of a super-duper app I’m using will become available during my downtime. Please say it’s so.
Maybe it’s time to invest in one of those GTD apps on my iMac which can sync to my iPhone. Any recommendations?
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The new WWW = Web Without Wasps
May 8th
Now that Spring has finally sprung wonderfully in my part of the world this week, I am looking forward to spending more time in the garden with my PowerBook to do some gentle work during the day, then moving to the home office which will be cooler in the evenings. One of the problems that comes with nice weather, for me, is my phobia – wasps. Over the past couple of years there seems to be an increase in these bothersome insects which means my garden time is severely reduced as they chase me into the house.
This week we have bought a new gazebo for the garden which has netting all around it meaning I can sit inside and stick my tongue out at the wasps and work peacefully without having to run indoors every 2 minutes. However, there is sometimes a downside as they can lurk around the entrance near the zip, waiting for me to come out (seriously, this isn’t just me being paranoid, haha). This is where my new purchase will come in. Enter the Waspinator.
One of my Twitter friends pointed me in the direction of it yesterday so I promptly bought one, costing just £9.95. As you can see from these photos, it mimics an enemy nest so they leave the area for somewhere safer. No traps, no poison, just fooling the wasp into thinking enemies are nearby, leaving me in peace to enjoy my day. Last year we bought a portable insect killer (the Wasp Sunbed I liked to call it) which means the insect would be drawn to the blue light and meet a sizzling end. However, I was always quite put off by the fact that you would see the dead insect and worse still have to clean it out. Plus, wasps give off a scent when they’re dying which means other wasps could come and investigate and I’d have a load more to contend with. We don’t want that.
I’m really looking forward to this arriving so I can sit in the garden, outside of the safety of the gazebo netting, get a tan, work on my PowerBook/browse the net without being disturbed. I’ll also be able to hang it beside the window in the bedroom, home office or kitchen so I can let fresh air into the house without worrying that I’m going to come face to face with my fear. I’ll let you know how I get on with it when it arrives and see if it really does do what it says on the box
Image courtesy of Waspinator
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