artiss.blog

Category: Life

Random thoughts on life

  • Moving Home

    Picture courtesy of Practise

    Last week I moved home, which inevitably meant that the site would be quiet. Little did I realise how quiet (see my following posts!).

    I have some tips for anybody moving…

    1.  Be specific when you mark your  boxes – especially at the end when contents tend to be “assorted”. After the move I found my PVR in a box in the bedroom marked “lamp shades” (which it did also contain). Who’d have thought?
    2. Create a box containing essentials to get you through the day and take it yourself. Assume you won’t find anything else and will need to live from the contents of this box.
    3. Don’t help the removal men – it’s going to be a hard enough day as it is, let them do the job they’re best at. But give them drinks.
    4. Check the removal T&Cs. Mine were handed to me on the day. I don’t even know where they are now and I certainly didn’t read them. If I had, I’d have known that breakages have to be reported by post within a week of the move. I didn’t know this until today, one week after the move. Now I’m stuffed.
    5. No matter how the day goes, keep your cool – it will soon be over.

    But I’m in and most boxes are unpacked. There’s now a lot of furniture to buy for a much larger house!

  • The SPEEDLINK XEOX Gamepad

    I often get press releases from SPEEDLINK – gaming mice and the such for PCs. However, a recent announcement got me interested.

    They are due to reveal at Gamescon a number of console accessories, one of which is named the XEOX Gamepad – the image is to the right (click for a larger version). Here’s how SPEEDLINK describe it…

    The Xbox 360® gamepad from Microsoft® represents the pinnacle of ergonomic analogue stick placement – and now thanks to SPEEDLINK®, PS3® gamers can also enjoy what it feels like to have an optimally positioned analogue stick. The XEOX Wireless Gamepad for the PS3® transports the Xbox® gamepad layout to the PlayStation® world for the first time ever. Its robust 2.4GHz wireless technology also gives you maximum freedom from the console, while the turbo function for controlled rapid-firing offers you a tactical advantage.

    I would describe it as an Xbox controller that works on a PS3. Even the name, XEOX, is just one letter different to XBox – damn it, even the green ringed button in the centre looks rather similar.

    Now I could be wrong but I can’t see that tact going down too well with PS3 owners. Or Sony. “The Xbox 360 gamepad… represents the pinnacle of ergonomic analogue stick placement”. That’s fighting talk and hardly the kind of thing that’s going to get PS3 owners running out to own – I suspect most are quite partial to their Dualshock 3 and wouldn’t want anything else.

    So, it’s a brave move.

    Prices are €34.99 and is due in October.

  • One holiday later…

    If anybody noticed a lack of output from me last week it’s because I was enjoying a holiday! Because of my increasing online presense, I don’t feel it sensible to announce when I’m not around (I’m sure some burglars would have liked to have known). As it turned out, during a week of looting, it was more sensible then I even realised 😀

    Anyway, I took my family to Norfolk – more specifically to a family-friendly complex of cottages just outside Great Yarmouth.

    Lower Wood Farm cottages has an indoor swimming pool (and, boy, is it heated!), games room and outdoor play area. There are 5 cottages available, sleeping 4 to 9 people. Certainly, if Norfolk is for you and you have children to keep entertained, I’d highly recommend it.

    The nearest big seaside resort is Great Yarmouth and it IS a proper resort – all fish and chip shops and arcades. It’s also very windy. The beach is quite stony and the sea goes quite far out. We found the beach at Caister-on-Sea to be better – quieter, only the occasional ice cream shop and the sea was nearer!

    However, if you do visit Great Yarmouth, we’d recommend the Sea Life Centre and, for a bite to eat, Friends bistro & bar. Friends is off the main high street and is a welcome change to McDonalds and KFC. The ladies who work there were friendly and the food very nice (and big portions too).

    Anyway, I’m now back and raring to go – more on plans in a later post!

  • How to perform a master reset of the T-Mobile G2 Touch

    Now that I’ve upgraded to a new phone, it’s time to reset and sell on my G2 Touch (aka HTC Hero).

    However, working out how to perform a master reset (aka hard or factory reset) was harder than I thought it would be. There are all sorts of workarounds involving pressing combinations of keys but I couldn’t get any of these to work. In the end, I found a specific G2 Touch support page on the HTC site that told me how to do it.

    Before I continue I should point out that a master reset restores the original factory settings and may erase all downloaded content, including ringtones, images, programs, and contacts stored in the internal memory. It does not erase data stored on the SIM card or memory card. A master reset will erase all your data and require you to sign in again and go through the set-up screens.

    1. From the Home screen, press the Menu key.
    2. Touch Settings.
    3. Touch and slide the menu upward.
    4. Touch Privacy.
    5. Touch Back up my data & settings.
    6. Verify that the Back up my data & settings check box is selected.
    7. Press the Back button.
    8. Touch Factory data reset.
    9. Touch Reset phone.
    10. Touch Erase everything.

    Now, if anybody would like to buy my HTC (very good condition), let me know!

  • Mobile phone screen protectors

    With many phones using Gorilla Glass you’d think they’d be no need for screen protector – thin layers of plastic that are stuck over the screen of your mobile phone. Sadly, they are as even the toughest of glass can be scratched by a rogue set of car keys in your pocket.

    When I bought my Galaxy S2 I wanted to protect that screen – I’d used a screen protector on my HTC Hero and it had worked well. I’d bought the official HTC version, which cost about £5 for 2. I’d never needed the 2nd as the 1st went on so well – nearly 18 months later the original is still in place perfectly (but now has a scratch on it – that could have been the screen!).

    An “official” Samsung version, though, will set you back £10 for just one. If you apply it wrong, it could be an expensive mistake. Others are available, some more expensive, but users seem to complain about “rainbow” effects across the screen.

    Instead, I went to eBay and bought the cheapst I could – they cost me a couple of pounds for 6. And it was a good idea to get so many 2, as I managed to get a good fit on the 3rd attempt. However, at that price you can afford to go through all 6 in one go if you need to.

    I’d done the same when I bought a Samsung Tocco Lite for my daughter – cheap eBay versions. In fact I too also go through a number before I get the fit 100% right. But the end result always seemed good and, well, they do their job. And it’s the same for my Samsung versions. They’re not as light to the touch as the original glass at first, but over time a build up of grease within the plastic improves this.

    Certainly when it comes to value for money they’re worth it.