iTunes Match – what happened when I tried it

1 Feb 2012: It's been available for a week or two here in the UK, and so it's time to see what Apple's iTunes Match is like.

Virgin Media “Customer Service” lives up to its reputation

9 Aug 2011: Oh come on, you didn't think it'd end happily, did you? If it had, maybe I wouldn't be needing the therapy of writing this.

Big upload speed increase from Virgin Media cable internet

23 Feb 2011: Nice: Virgin Media cable internet just gave us considerably faster upload speeds as part of the deal. Here are the results of a speed test.

How to get the screen locked in position on your iPad

23 Nov 2010: Without even thinking about it, when lying in bed with my iPad, I get the screen into the orientation I like, then flick the little switch on the side to lock it in place. Now I can roll around as much as I like without the screen deciding I’m pointed 90 degrees in the other direction. Until the new iOS 4.2 update, that is. Magically, or should I say tragically, it’s turned the little switch into a mute button. Why? Sometimes the folks at Apple really should leave things alone. You can mute the iPad just by pressing the “volume down” rocker switch for a second. Anyway, to get to the point, here’s how you get the screen locked into [...]

Delete and move to the next message with GMail keyboard shortcuts

14 Oct 2010: I’ve got very used to using keyboard shortcuts in GMail, especially “]”, which just archives the message you’re reading and moves on to the next one. Bang-bang-bang through my email, luvvly jubbly. Now, I know Google doesn’t really want you to delete messages, but I often like to, because I don’t want junk messages appearing in searches in the future. So what I really want, alongside “archive and next”, is “delete and next”. Unfortunately, that’s not available, but there’s a quick enough way to do it. If you hit “#”, it deletes a message. Herein lies the problem – at this point, you’re sent back to the main inbox view. So how do we delete and move to the next [...]

Building a tiny bookcase/bookshelf hi-fi

12 Jul 2010: OK, here’s the task: I wanted to build a discreet music system to go in a room with a bookcase, using an old third-generation iPod from about 2004, whose battery had long since died but which worked perfectly sitting in its original dock. The challenge was to make use of two nice Gale speakers, which sat neatly on the bookshelves, rather than buying a brand new (and poorer-sounding) iPod speaker system. Clearly then, the missing link was an amplifier which could sit inconspicuously in the bookcase. With a depth of 170mm, the bookshelf didn’t lend itself to this sort of thing, as hi-fi manufacturers’ idea of “small” tends to refer to a unit’s height, and occasionally width, but almost never [...]

First thoughts on the iPad

30 May 2010: I’ve had my Apple iPad for 48 hours now, and here are a few observations on what’s happened so far. It’s extremely covetable. The only person outside of the family who’s seen it took about ten seconds to decide she wanted one. And she’s a completely IT-illiterate (but smart) mother of two, who wouldn’t know what the term “fanboi” meant even if you tried to explain it. The bloggers who said “everyone in the family will want one” were right. Mrs R wants one of her own, seriously, as soon as possible. It’s exactly what she wants: a lightweight, portable device which will allow her to look things up online and service her emails. And before you say “she can [...]

New Panasonic Breadmakers launched

20 May 2010: Stop Press: Full Panasonic SD 257 review – with video – now here. My online review of Panasonic’s SD255 breadmaker has been one of the most widely-read pages on this site for the past three years. Now the Japanese electronics outfit has introduced a couple of replacement models, and although I’ve yet to get my hands on them, there are just a couple of small upgrades to the design. Anyway, here’s everything you ever wanted to know about the new Panasonic SD-257 WXC breadmaker.

Woo. Just had 50Mb/sec internet installed

18 Feb 2010: OK, bit the bullet and had my Virgin Media cable internet connection upgraded to 50Mb/sec. Quite painless, smart guy did the installation. That’s the result above. The only problem is that my Devolo dLan 200AV, which I’d used to connect the internet around the house, turns out to max out at around 20Mb/sec, which was OK for the old connection, but not now. I’ll have to do some homework on that one, but in the meantime, I’ve had to go wireless (that’s a wireless result on the iMac above). No problem for the main PCs, which are Macs, but the old Windows box is going to need a wireless adapter. Fortunately the guy from Virgin was able to supply one [...]

So, it’s the iPad is it?

28 Jan 2010: So, it’s the iPad is it? Lots of potential. My predictions were at best average, but considering so many people are saying the device is “nothing more than everyone predicted”, I can’t find a commentator who accurately described it beforehand. I think there are a few problems. Note they show people watching video on it in a strange curled-up seating position with the iPad on their knees, putting it at the right angle for viewing (which a laptop screen does automatically). That’s not great, although the opportunity of dumping it in a stand and having it as a video player or digital photo frame is very cool. And it’s not e-ink. If you’ve used a Kindle, you’ll know what I [...]

Apple “Tablet” Launch – live blogs and coverage

27 Jan 2010: One of the most irritating things about Apple launches is that you can’t accuse the company of “overhyping” them, because they do nothing of the sort. They just sit back and watch people work themselves up into a sense of excitability precisely because they haven’t hyped up the announcement. One thing I will say though: by doing so, Apple are that rarest of companies in the tech market: one which only tells everyone about a product once it’s ready to launch, or even already shipping. Anyway, I’ll be as worked up as anyone following the launch this evening (which is when it’ll be, here in the UK). Not least because I’m one of about 6 people in the world who [...]

Exclusive: full details of Apple’s forthcoming launch

19 Jan 2010: In a Cherry Hinton Blues exclusive, I can reveal full details of the new Apple “tablet” computer which has completely occupied the tech media for the past few months. To be launched next week at one of those Apple presentations where, halfway through, Steve Jobs pretends to have an afterthought and says “…one more thing…”, the new device will be three things: 1. Very desirable; 2. Rather expensive; and 3. Wildly successful. So, what’s it going to be like? Here’s the real exclusive, based on total speculation and no inside information whatsoever. But everyone else seems to be having a go, so why can’t I? If any of these are right, I’m going to be so smug. First of all, [...]

Cherry Hinton Hall Park in the snow with my GH1

10 Jan 2010: Took my Panasonic GH1 and new tripod over to the park yesterday afternoon and shot an hour or so of people in the snow. It was cold. There are a few rather over-long panning shots, for which I apologise, but I wanted to see how smooth the tripod could pan horizontally and – as you’ll see – vertically. It’s not going to win any prizes, but I was quite happy. Everything was shot in Creative Movie mode, on manual, using the little histogram, because I’ll need to use that when doing talking-head shots for work, and I needed the practice. Below is the view from where the Folk Festival beer tent is, looking towards the main stage. I must take [...]

Fix for Google Reader “You don’t have permission to view this feed”

26 Nov 2009: Ever had this irritating message when you click “All Items”? Here’s the fix. 1. Add an “s” after “http” in the URL, so it reads: “https:// www.google.com/ reader/ view/ #stream/ user%2 …etc…” 2. Er… 3. That’s it. And that’s all for this public service announcement.

“Your AdWords Account Suspended Due To Repeated Site Quality Violations”

27 Sep 2009: Google seems to have decided it doesn’t want the money from many people using AdWords to drive traffic to thin affiliate sites, which it’s already been penalising out of its organic results for several years. The move became clear on Friday 25 September 2009, as noted here, when AdWords advertisers were sent the following abrupt message: Hello, Your Google AdWords account has been suspended due to multiple submissions of poor quality landing pages. We are unable to revoke your account suspension, and we will not accept advertisements from you in the future. Please note that our support team is unable to help you with this issue, and we ask that you do not contact them about this matter. As I [...]