I bought a Treo

December 2, 2008

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Not quite what you were expecting! As a child, when palmtops seemed cool, I always wanted one. In particular, I wanted a palm pilot. The thought of being mobile, but connected was really appealing to me. Now I’m older, I’ve got a Windows Mobile smartphone, but now I can finally say I own a Treo.

Also, they’re bloody delicious.


NYRA UK: An Update

November 16, 2008

If you remember, a while back I started NYRA UK, as a totaly autonymous spin off of NYRA US. I’ve done little with that, but that’s soon to change. I’ve had my own personal stuff to deal with, such as exams, but I’m beginning to work on some material for it.

Just give me time. I promise, things will get going again after Christmas!

Kindest regards,

Matt Hughes


(Don’t) get a mac

November 14, 2008

I’ve owned a Macbook for almost a year now, and it has become a staple of my daily routine. It is my tool for productivity, entertainment and without it, I’d be rather buggered. All my work, films, music and pictures are stored on my laptop, and this worries me, because my macbook is constantly overheating, and is a fragile, flimsy piece of crap, and an over priced one at that.

Now, let me just say that OS X is a far more robust, stable and fast system compared to Vista and XP. I’d happily take my macbook over my old Compaq any day. There are many things I like about OS X, but many which cause me to tear my hair out.

I think the biggest problem with OS X is that Rosetta is the biggest pile of crap ever to be released. This however is a problem within a problem as Apple have long legacy of developing platforms, only for them to be abandoned. Since 1999, Apple has gone from OS 9, to PPC OS X, to Intel OS X. This has caused older applications to regularly break on newer incarnations of OS X.

Not only that, but applications designed for OS X 10.4 refuse to work on OS X 10.5. If one wants to use an older PPC application on Intel, it runs as slow as molasses, and that is if it works at all.

Removing applications is often less than straightforward, and requires a third party application like apptrap. Applications are bulky, and removing this bulk can damage them. Most of the eye candy slows down the machine like a backpack full of bricks on a geriatric and the software of it is flaky, at best.

Their support leaves a lot to be desired. Seeing an apple store ‘Genius’ (and I use that term very loosely), is kind of like being berated by a whisky sodden randomer, who then subsequently fixes your computer. You constantly feel like a lowly, sinner, who can’t use your computer.

The hardware is often underpowered, overpriced and unreliable, and you pay through your nose for the privilege of owning locked down hardware, which is unreliable. My HDD is on the way out and the plastic chassis of my laptop is actually melting.

I’ve sworn never to buy an apple laptop ever again. This isn’t me returning to Windows, quite the opposite. I’m buying a Windows Mobile 6 palmtop and my next laptop will be running linux.


Tip 01: The Bite Card

November 13, 2008

For those who travel a lot, this card gives you 20% off food in train stations. Now, I spend most of my time in different towns, and I travel on the train mostly, so this card is good for me, as I can now get Burger King for a fraction of the normal price.

Clicky


Written by a Woman…

November 6, 2008

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Apparently, this site is written by a woman… I love these online tests and analysers, because they’re hillariously inaccurate.


Ross and Brand have done nothing wrong.

November 6, 2008

If you don’t meet your responsibilities when you have a mortgage, you lose your home. If you don’t meet your responsibilities when you are in university, you fail your course. If you don’t meet your responsibilities when you work, you get fired. These facts are obvious, and for society to function, these rules have to be obeyed. If you don’t meet your obligations, consequences happen.
Recently, Andrew Sachs agreed to go on the Russell Brand show. He provided the shows host with his telephone number, and arranged for Brand to phone him. However, when he didn’t pick up the phone, he was subjected to a barrage of prank phone calls left on the answer phone of Sachs, where Jonathan Ross said that Russell Brand had slept with his granddaughter, a burlesque dancer.
Allow me to be the first to applaud Ross and Brand. They were not in the wrong, and they were damn funny, as they gently reminded Sachs that when you fail to meet your obligations, consequences happen.
This show, with the prank calls intact was broadcast on BBC Radio 2. Upon hearing these prank calls, two people complained to the regulatory body. When the cretins at the Daily Mail discovered what had happen, they simply had to ruin the fun of every open minded, intelligent person.
The sexless journalists and editors of the Daily Mail, who use sensational stories as a mask for their petty faith driven prejudices, and blatant stupidity decided to launch a crusade against Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross for having a sense of humor and not being in touch with the typical Daily Mail reader, whom I sorely hope, for the sake of the gene pool that their genitalia are as small as their brains are.
The contrived drama, fuelled by the two worst newspapers in the UK, whose readership consists of the dregs of society, has severely damaged the careers of two of the funniest, most articulate and observant celebrities the world has ever known.
It’s a true insult to freedom of speech and, frankly, intelligence when a borderline racist newspaper creates such a fury that 60,000 Daily Mail readers complain to the regulatory bodies. Please note that I didn’t use a synonym for ‘stupid’ before or after ‘Daily Mail readers’ as that itself is the highest measure of stupidity one can find.  These 60,000 people hadn’t listened to the programme, but had read a transcript.
You read that right. They hadn’t even listened to the programme. And the wonderful thing about that is that the Daily Mail can describe the events themselves, with as much emotive language and sensationalism as their empty brains can muster, which is an awful lot indeed.
When the imbecilic staff at the Daily Fail starts a moral outrage, you know that trouble is about to be started. Now, some of the most forward thinking staff at the BBC have been forced to resign in shame. Russell brand has left the BBC. Ross has been put on suspension for 3 months, at a cost of over £1.3 million to him.
For what? Because 60,000 idiots have no critical thinking skills, are easily offended and have no sense of humour.


Obligatory Obama Post

November 5, 2008

Jax Panik Interview

November 5, 2008

Hey guys,

Today I had the great fortune to interview Jax Panik, who is a South African rock star. We discussed self promotion online, other bands, indie music and how to be a successful musician.

He’s really cool, because he is really forward thinking with regards to Bittorrent and going it alone without record labels.

You can download the file here.

This interview will be broadcast on HCR 92.3 FM in the near future.

Much love,

Matthew Hughes


Crave podcast

November 5, 2008

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This picture is something only members of the Crave podcast and the CNET UK forums will find funny.

Lets just consider it an inside joke.


Maintainance

October 30, 2008

Hey guys,

I’m just informing you that I’m doing a bit of maintainance on the blog. All the posts that sucked, or would look bad to a future employer have been taken off the front page. The ones that I like, stay up for further editing.

Warm regards,

Matt Hughes