That Was The Year That Was

2006 has been a memorable year for me. In the space of less than 12 months, I have moved house, changed job role (again), got engaged (thanks SWMBO), got pregnant (well SWMBO did).

2007 is clearly going to be a very busy year with our new arrival in May, with this in mind, I have decided on the following New Years resolutions and putting them down on (blog) paper starting 1st January (funnily enough).

• Save for the future
• Learn something new
• Get fit
• Give up smoking*
• Re-gain contact with family members

29 December - I have already managed to give up smoking.

By the way, Happy Birthday SWMBO

*OK OK I never started smoking, but I'm aiming high.

Damos' Wishlist for 2007

Message to SWMBO
To officially forewarn you, (after calling our new TV Chavvy and too big), Here are the things that are a must own in the new year. Therefore please can I buy them.... Thanks

Video Camera - Sony DCRS R90E








Digital SLR Camera








XBOX 360










PS3*











HD DVD/Blu Ray Player **







Upscaling DVD/DivX Player









SWMBO Doesn't actually read this blog, does this, therefore give me the OK to go ahead?, plus... Baby needs some of these items too.

* May have to put this on my 2008 list, "£500 for a games console is a little high !!!!
** This may actually be on 2008 wishlist as I am waiting for the Blu Ray vs HD DVD War to end

Pipex...

So we moved into the house on 7th November, couldn't transfer my old telephone number so had a number, I then arranged for my broadband to get activated.

The previous owners' broadband hadn't been cancelled, therefore ADSL was still active on the line, I had to arrange the cancellation myself, so called BT and was advised this would take 6 working days.....

8 working days later it was done, called Pipex again, the line tests etc were required and I broadband would be active within 10 days,

29 November - Back online and flying

9 December - Problems, I got home from watching Derby thrash Leeds to find my Internet running slower than , did the usual speed checks to find my line was connected at 0.2Mbs (should be 5.5Mbs). Had to wait until Monday to call Pipex to log the fault, not sure what the problem was, but it seems to have now been fixed,

After reading a ton of forum entries on the net, it appears the problem with ADSL Max is that it's constantly being monitored for the best speed, unfortunately it gets a bit confused and fixe the connection at a daft speed (in my case 0.2Mbs),

All these forum members were slagging off Pipex and its customer/technical support, but I haven't had any problems with them, the worst part of it all, everything needs to be passed to BT to work on the lines etc. Now these are the people who dont seem to care.

Luckily I have moved my phone calls to Pipex too.

If only I could ditch Severn Trent Water.

We're Home - A life-changing 5 weeks if ever I've had one.

The hardest part of moving house... (apart from saying goodbye to my old house)

Moving the bloody fish/fishtank - having to catch the damn things (that don't want to be caught) ,and put into polythene bags, then into a polystyrene box and seal it , letting the water get colder and colder for a couple of hours while chasing solicitors etc. emptying 180 litres of fishtank water. Then reversing the whole process at the new house.

The second hardest part of moving house...

Moving my internet account - This, I thought would be fairly straightforward, how wrong I was, firstly I had to cancel my internet at the old house, couldnt just transfer from one to another, has to cancel and re-register (getting a different username etc). I couldn't take my phone number as it was a different exchange,


All in all, a bit of a nightmare, Pipex were really good, BT didn't seem to care at all, finally got connected (at a measly 5.5Mb) on 29 November, and it's broken already. (Ill blog about this separately).

The easiest part of moving home, living with SWMBO, and my wonderful new TV the all singing, all dancing Toshiba WLT68 - 37 inches of pure HD viewing please.

just need the XBOX 360/PS3/HD DVD Player to complete the setup, oh and the camcorder and SLR camera (for baby of course).

£6.10 for a taxi ride from town too, rather than a 5 minute walk. But I love my our new house

Thanks to Clare, Mum & Hugh, Stuart (Poppa Blurters), and C&F Removals (Yes I'm doing your website)

More Soon...

R.I.P Uncle Dean

Dean Lawe (21 August 1956 - 5 November 2006

So Bad..... Its Brilliant

If (When) this gets released, this WILL be number 1, Who knows, it could beat the X-Factors to the Christmas Number 1 (Here's hoping).




I haven't blogged lately due to lack of internet at home. Pipex can't seem to decide whether or not I have had my ADSL line terminated due to moving home, Let me tell you this Pipex.... I HAVE BEEN DISCONNECTED... Sort it Out.

Byrne Baby Byrne...

I knew there was some good news.... Damo is officially the happiest Man in the universe.



Oh By the Way.... We are having a baby, all that midwifery training paid off you see, I know all about trimesters and stuff this time.

Yeeeee Haaaaa

Still Not Moving House

... However, Buyer came to look round at the house today, he had been told by his (rubbish) solicitors to ensure the heating and taps worked.... Wow, what a solicitor. My buyer had no interest in the receipt for the windows.

So there is some good news.

Moving House - It Had to happen didn't it

...Yet
I was sitting in the office yesterday and happened to mention that our move was going very well, it was at that point PM/Naked Jim said something along the lines of "it hasn't gone wrong... yet"

Bloody Project Managers, I'm sure they're all cursed,

Went to sign the paperwork this morning, solicitor mentioned she has received a letter from buyers solicitors who are concerned about there not being a receipt for the windows which I had installed 3 years ago, my buyer isn't concerned, his solicitors are. Tw**s !!! (sending the letter 3 days before we all move)

So we signed our lives away for the next million years and off we went on our merry way, not more than 2 hours later, I received a call from my solicitors....

The top of the chain has gone into hospital and theres no way we will be completing on Friday

AAAArrrrggggghhhhhh

So I came off the phone mentioned a few harsh words as "Damn", "Blast" and something about 'kin Jim, I calmed down, picked the monitor, desk, chair and Project Manager up off the floor, now I'm ok (I think).

Called BT - Cancelled the cancellation
Called Pipex - delayed the cessation of my line
Called Sky - delayed the installation at the new house.
Called Removal Firm - Cancelled the removal van

So the next time, you think of doing something and think of saying, "What could go wrong", look around for a project manager, if they are within hearing distance, keep it to yourself.

Although on a good note ...
Erm...

Moving House - T Minus 4 Days

So far so Good except

• Bank didn't listen when we set our joint account up, therefore charging us for a Select account causing us to go overdrawn in the account we haven't started using yet - Moaned - all charges refunded.
• BT say I can't keep my number as I am moving to a new exchange, new number set up and ready at the new house from move date
• Pipex can't transfer my account so I have to close my current one down and set another one up will set me up as soon as I get my new number activated, I will also need to advise everyone of my new email address (Bast...)
• Sky are more than happy to move/keep me, have an engineer coming to turn me on (!!!!) next Tuesday, 40 bleedin quid, for what, to plug some cables in, Well I told them I don't have a dish at the new house, If I do, Ill take it down and put in on t 'bay (Damos' attempt at recouping the cost).

Talking of Sky, I called them to confirm receiving my online move request form which they didn't, rather than pay over inflated prices when calling these big companies, have a click at www.saynoto0870.com Normal Price for a sky call (0870 2403000) - 9p per minute, alternative number ( 01506 484000) free....ish

So as you can see all going well, at least the solicitors and estate agents are doing an half decent job.

On a good note -
Erm...

Joe Public 1 - Police 0

How to avoid SPECS speedHere's a great way of avoid those £60 fine and 3 points on your license, without having to resort to spending £400 on a road angel of "getting Damo" to install the speed camera software for your TomTom.

And how is this done you may ask...

Change Lanes

As this site states, simply by changing lanes, you fool the second camera which needs to take the second picture to work out the average speed over the distance.
For some reason, the Police aren't happy with this. They've asked the public not to exploit this loophole (Hmm, let me think, wonder why, could it be they'd miss the mi££ions made from fining us poor tax paying drivers, Police cheifs wont get their annual Piss up/Bonus/Christmas stats accident reduction figures. and accident will increase, because there's something else they've still not proved (Lie 1: cameras reduce accidents - Not True)

BIG NOTE AT THE BOTTOM : - This doesn't work for Gatsos and all the other cameras out there, but its a start, and better than setting fire to them.

I'd love to know if this worked, but Im not foolish/brave enough to test it,

The Good The Bad & The Ugly

The Good
Orange - Had a call from the upgrades department at Orange, offering me a great deal on my tariff and a free upgrade to my phone, 500 minutes and 500 texts for the same price I am paying now, apparently this is a Select 500 tariff, after literally seconds of googling found this to be a brilliant deal which, it seems is not available to everyboday (sorry SWMBO). The lady I spoke to also stated that the phone was not yet available, but will call me and let me knoe when it is. This lady was genuinely nice, helpful professional and polite. So much so, I even decided to email Orange to thank her on my behalf. If you know me, then you'll know this is something I NEVER DO....

RESULT: Well done Orange, one customer that shall remain so.

The Bad Another company who I shall not name - I purchased a PDA Phone last year from, this device developed a fault and was returned on 27 April....

... I AM STILL WAITING, not only for them to acknowledge that I they have recieved the device, let alone repair the device. Despite my constant emails and phone calls chasing this, still nothing has been done.

What Damo Did (or what Pissed off Damo did) I decided to do something - I emailed the returns department to escalate this, I did some Googling and found the name of the Chief Executive, Finance Director and Operations Director and Copied them too:

RESULT: within 33 minutes I received an email from the Customer Services Manager apologising for the lack of communication, stating they will get back to me in the next day or 2.

.... Watch this space (Day 1 is now over!!!)

The Ugly



WTF

Lunchtime Playing
Heres one to look at when you're on your lunch....

Virtual NES (Nintendo Entertainment System for the kids), relive the olden days in the days of only 8 colours and fast tapping keys on a keyboard, 1943,Track 'n' Field, Mario.... They're all in here,

Happy timewasting.

Every Man and his Dog is Blogging Nowadays

All of my colleagues in my former job now have their own blog

Gaz - "The Daddy" (not literally), and his oh so happy ways
Daz - The Ladies Man, The Love Monkey
Tao - The Non-Vegetarian Vegetarian -
Cookie - The Longman of the Midlands and his trusted sidekick - His bike
Wendy - The Ruler, she knew how to keep us all in check

So fellow colleagues, get a move on. no excuses Jim (PM/Naked Jim no less) with your "I was blogging before blogs were around"

You've all got something to say, so do so

- Dave - Stu - Steve - Andy - Ade - Lee - Laura - Ash - Alex - Dave M - Luke - Martin - Gary - James - Jim

Nick Stuff Easier

If, like me, you like to "evaluate" your music/console games/films/applications etc, before "purchasing" them, you'll no doubt know all about Bit Torrents. The 2 problems I have with torrents, is a:- knowing where to find the torrents listed and b:- the upload speed.
BTCompare compares the top 10 used BitTorrent sites along showing the how many torrents are listed and amount added each day, for example, the top ranking site is btjunkie, currently listing 964,773 torrents (3913 added just today). It's just a shame my 8mb download isn't maxed when downloading from BitTorrents.

Some of the sites require registration (Doesn't everything on the net), I haven't registered for any listed, so am now sure if you'll get spammed.

Just remember, downloading this stuff is illegal and shouldn't be done,

Enjoy nicking stuff downloading.

BBC Top Gear - (SOS) Save Our Show
There's been a lot of publicity about Top Gear since it was brought back to our TV screens back in 2002, especially the environmentalists and saddos stating it glorified speed, dangerous driving and promotes irresponsible driving,

This all seems ridiculous, the driving shown on the program mainly takes place on the track when required for speed, yes the presenters also do ridiculous timed races against sky divers, cyclists and even fellow presenters, I've no doubt the driving tha takes place on the public roads is completely legal.

Yes, Richard Hammond had an accident while driving a jet powered car at 300 mph on a private road, but accidents do happen, whether at 25 mph or 700 mph, does this mean we should ban the program he was filming it for. How stupid, secondly all safety checks were in place and nothing was left to chance Jeremy Clarkson has written an article about it here.

While we're at it, lets ban motor racing for the speed the drivers drive at, movies for promoting violence, horror, death etc, house music for drugs, rap music for guns, and don't forget to ban Fifth Gear on Channel 5 and Pulling Power on ITV as they are car shows that sometimes show interesting fast cars, we actually need to ban all cars that can do more than 70 mph, anything that can go above this speed is obviously promoting excess speed.

(Then again, why not just ban Fifth Gear and Pulling Power for being crap Top Gear wannabees anyway, Sorry Quentin and Tiff).

There are 350 million Top Gear viewers worldwide, they don't all want to drive their Mondeos Vectras, and MPVs as fast and stupid as possible, they just enjoy the show, and watching what The tall one, the hamster and the posh one do.

Sign the petition and tell the Anti Top Gear people what you think. Top Gear should be back on 8 October, we'll see.

1 Year of Blogging...... (and Here's an Iron)Happy Birthday to Me... (Blog)
Happy Birthday to Me... (Blog)
Happy Birthday Dear DamianLByrnedotBlogspotdotCom
Happy Birthday to Me (Blog)

A year ago today I started blogging about bugger all, what do I have to show for it, the same - Bugger all , no new gadgets, no flash car, no big TV, nothing new..... (I think I can hear them violins).

I guess I should think myself lucky however as I do have lots of lovely things despite not being new, my lovely car (not new), my our new house (soon/new) , my fiancee (new), my our TV 2 (soon/new), my pisshead friends (new every so often), my forever growing family, my new drink.

Oh and I bought an iron yesterday.

Fit The Best....

I've just been watching Inside Out on BBC, (The East Midlands regional version) and a blast from the past appeared on the screen...
Ted Moult - while racking my brains trying to remember where I knew the name and more recognisably, the voice, it suddenly came to me, Everest Windows. He's the man that said

"Fit the Best, Everest"

What shocked me however, is that he is a Derbian (i.e. from Derby), not only a voice everyone remembers, but a local legend too, he even has an entry at IMDb. I wondered if there is any other famous people born in my wonderful town.

Simon Groom (Blue Peter)
Kevin Lloyd (The Bill)
Terry Lloyd (ITN News Reporter)
Keli Young (Liberty X Singer)
Judith Hann (Tomorrows World Presenter & The sister of my home economics Teacher at School).

Derby - What a place, what history, with all these Derby links, its a wonder we're not overcrowded with tourists. Home of the first Public park in England, home of the one time largest housing estates in Europe, Home of Rolls Royce since 1908, birthplace of the Hot Dog, home of Richard Arkwright, Sir Frank Whittle and The Rams, (Well we can't be 100%)

So Come on Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Nottingham. What have you got.... Apart from more than one football team?

Wikipedia - Natives of Derby, Derby Photos

If It Ain't Broke, Dont Try to Fix it - If It Is Send it Back

Read a great idea over at Lifehacker.
Rather than throw all your old damaged crap out of warranty broken items, why not send it back for a new one. Although I'm sure this is highly unlikely, trying it should only cost a couple of quid,

"Rather than just sending your broken stuff to a landfill, pack it up and ship it back to the manufacturer with a letter asking for a new one. You will be amazed by the results. There are no guarantees with this method, but you definitely won't get a replacement if you throw the product away. This method gets rid of the product just as much as throwing it away does, but it gives a human being at a real company a chance to demonstrate just how much they stand behind their products. You'd be surprised how many will. A squeaky wheel gets oiled. It works, and the trick is all in the letter."

You could try this with your broken ipod nano screens, PDAs, Mobile phones. Slim chance of getting a new ipod from Apple I'm sure.I'm going to have to try this, just to see.

Full Story @ Lifehacker

* Doesnt work with broken hearts,

New Home

Just over 4 weeks to go before we move in together, I have resisted in buying anything for both my house and our house, Im leaving SWMBO to buy the plates, bed linen, towels, cutlery, bathroom stuff. As long as I dont have a pink bedroom I'm not that fussed.


When it comes to the Electrical equipment, that's a different matter, while trying to explain the requirements of the LCD HD TV (37", 3 HDMI inputs (SKY HD, HD DVD Player and PS3), as well as a DVI just in case and 1080p ready). SWMBO gave me the blah blah blah look, Wimmen !!!

As I have already picked the TV that does all of the above, when SWMBO agrees to make the purchase, Ill go and get it and show her how to work it (The TV that is), after all, she is fully SKY+ savvy, HD should be a doddle once we do upgrade, at the moment there aren't that many HD channels to justify the extra £10.00 (10 channels of which 2 are Sky Box Office) and I'm sure SWMBO isn't too bothered about neighbours being in standard def.

Richard Hammond - Wishing you a speedy recovery

Richard 'Hamster' Hammond, The presenter of 2 of my favourite TV shows (Top Gear & Brainiac) was involved in a car crash while filming for Top Gear today.

From BBC News

The presenter is being treated at Leeds General Infirmary
Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is in a critical condition in hospital after a crash in a jet-powered car while filming for the programme.

The presenter, 36, was taken by air ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary which has a special neurological unit.

A North Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesman said he was unconscious when they got to the scene and a hospital spokesman described him as "critical".

The BBC confirmed the presenter had been injured during a Top Gear shoot.

Inspector Mike Thompson, of North Yorkshire Police, said officers were dealing with the incident at Elvington airfield, a former RAF base, in North Yorkshire.

He said: "At 5.45pm this evening we received a report via the fire service of a male person trapped in what was described as an overturned jet car which had been driven on the airfield.

"The male occupant has received serious injuries and has been airlifted to hospital at Leeds."

The presenter was born in Birmingham, educated in Yorkshire and lives near Cheltenham.

In addition to presenting Top Gear for the BBC, he also fronted Brainiac on Sky One until recently.

Here's to a speedy recovery

Remembering 9/11

- Sold -

And who said this house selling was hard work.

3 days on the market and my wonderful Bloke palace has been sold, thats the good news

The better news is the house we were desperate to buy is ours (Well "Subject to Contract" anyway).

Its all running scarily smoothly, even the solicitors seem to be working efficiently, I keep thinking there's something I'm obviously doing wrong, so far without a hitch, I did my usual Interweb search to see how to make my life easier when moving house, having a new mortgage, getting house insurance, there are some seriously helpful sites out there to help with the hardest of tasks when moving house

Help I Am Moving gives a guide to moving, printable checklist, moving quotes for removal firms.
I am Moving lets you add your current address, new address and helps with the address changing stuff for utility companies, credit card companies, councils etc, I have only added my details as I haven't got the moving date yet, but so far so good.

The following sites are the ones which have the potential to save a great deal of money, not just when moving house.

Money Supermaket and Money Saving Expert have the ultimate guides in to mortgages, home insurance etc. Personally saving approx. £200 a month on a mortgage and halving my home insurance all in less than an hour.

Officially Olde

Not content with selling up bachelor pad and buying a house with SWMBO, I have have had further reminders that I am getting old. During my Friday night in alone, flicking through my 200 channels of crap Sky. Channel Five were doing a typical "50 worst things nobody really gives a shit about". aka ""

This one was "Now That's Embarrassing: The 80s: Eighties". I confess to watching 2 minutes and then had to watch the rest of it to see just how sad I really was (I remember the eighties you know).

Some Highlights...

Dallas/Dynasty (Watched it)
Shootings, shoulder pads, oil barons balls and the longest dream ever

The Krankies (Didn't watch it)
So right but Oh so wrong, A Man and a boy that was actually a man and his (short) wife...... (Nuff said)

Sam Fox with her song "Touch me" (Bought it)
I bought that on a 7" (For younger people, a 7" is a vinyl record, before the days of Cee Dees), seems to have been remixed

The Wide Awake Club, (Wacaday) (Watched it - all the time)
Malletts Mallett (Its a word association game, musn't pause, mustn't hesitate or you get a bash on the head) (Alcohol version of Malletts Mallet)

Number 2 - The Shellsuit (Had one)
Cheap, bright coloured crap looking crepe paper styled tracksuits. That when accidently set alight !!!! burnt "quite well"Damn - I had one of these, mine was a Nike Michael Jordan Black and White - 80's Chavwear

and Number 1... (remember watching it)
That Weather report from Michael Fish"Phone call woman rang the bbc and said there was a hurricane on the waym if youre watching dont wrry there isnt"followed by the worst hurricanes in 300 years ,winds of over 110mph, flooding. Poor Michael....

Not sure if I missed it, but surely the rubik's cube must be somewhere, (DOWNLOAD)

Therefore...I am bloody old....

The end of an Era

So now, the time is here
the time to sell, with carpets & curtains.
to all, I'll say it clear
I am nervous, that much I'm certain

I've lived here 7 years, I'm selling up
Ill do it my way
Move in, with SWMBO now
Joining "couple" highway
=--------------------------------------=

That's it, Damo is selling his "bachelor pad" to buy up with SWMBO, I say bachelor pad, of the 7 years I've been here, 5 have been with SWMBO, however it was exactly what I wanted;

lads night Saturdays, DVDs, Playstation 2, Fishtank, Surround Sound, Big TV, Lots of kitchen utensils, TV with Sky in every room.... BLISS

So now its all gonna change, it'll more like, Lads night Saturdays, DVDs, Playstation 3, Fishtank, Surround Sound, Big(ger) LCD HDTV, New kitchen utensils, TVs with Sky HD In every room

Women eh, they don't half change you......

Its all down to the Estate Agent and Rightmove to get my house sold, although I thought I would give them a helping hand. For some reason I don't entirely trust estate agents, although I have picked the best of the bunch (hopefully)

Life Wife Laundry

A few Months (Years) ago, I made a promise to SWMBO. I promised I would clear out all the crap and clutter from my house and make the 1 bedroom studio flat into the 3 bedroom semi it actually is, well despite all the visits to various websites (Lifehacker, OrganizedHome, Yell etc) giving advice on life laundry, house clearances and the best way to sort through years and years of clutter, nothing ever got done....

That is, until SWMBO decided to make even more of an honest man of me and decided she wanted to move in together (Cue the Duh Duh Duhs). We She has found a house (unfortunately near to the Monster-in-Law) and wants to buy it, we have put the offer in and done all the calculations to ensure we cant afford it and hopefully should be moving soon.


SWMBO has done in less than 2 weeks, more than I could managed in 6 years, Its a shame I cant show before and after pics, but previously, no-one could get in 2 of my 3 bedrooms, now they are empty. Its all gone,

Advantages - My house is a home and not a storage area full of crap
Disadvantages - I can't actually find anything, nor do I know if I still have the stuff I am looking for.

Moral - Guys, Dont waste time and money looking for those Kim & Aggy style life laundry people or looking at websites advising on how to clear years and years of shite. Simply invest in a Clare. In my opinion "everybody needs a Clare", Ive had 2 (One didnt work but thats a story not for the blogs).

The other advantage - Damo gets "HD Ready" (TV, SKY, PS3, DVD), I just wont tell SWMBO just yet !!!!

By the way - Thanks Clare !!!!!

Testing BlogJet

Irony \I"ron*y\, n.[L. ironia, Gr. ? dissimulation, fr. ? a

   2. A sort of humor, ridicule, or light sarcasm, which adopts a mode of speech the meaning of which is contrary to the literal sense of the words.

———————————————————————

Found on BBC news site

Alan Carr, the anti smoking man who helped millions of people to give up smoking (these people helped him make millions too) is fighting lung cancer. The site goes on to say he quit his 100 a day habigt 23 years

WARNING LINKS NSFW (Not Safe For Work)

BitTorrents - Its all getting nasty

I have been a regular downloader of bittorrents for a couple of years now, Bittorrents are a great way of people to share files using small client (I use Burst), music, movies, games and Pron can all be traded using this method.

I have been reading about "Saz" who used to moderate a number on a few bittorrent sites, mainly Filesoup.

Saz then left filesoup, and decided to set his own adult bittorrent website empornium, with at one point over 1 million members, he needed cash via donations in order to pay for hosting etc.

Then came the problems, Saz had some interest from a company Targetpoint who stumped up a wad of cash, they then decided to take over the whole thing and used all legal loopholes to be able to do this, now empornium is effectively run by Targetpoint who have (alledgedly) adverts over the whole site, not only this, but they have resorted to making new users to pay for sign-ups.

To say this has pissed off the members, admins and moderators is an understatement, the majority of which have left empornium and set up shop at Cheggit

Now a war has broke out between the illegal file sharing websites, never mind the record and film companies.

More Info over at Wikipedia

Congratulations SWMBO

.....................................................................

Just wanted to say Bloody well done to my fiance who graduated (again) today, She is now a fully qualified Midwife with a Degree in Midwifery. Thats twice in 12 months she has graduated (the last one was for her Diploma).

So I Guess it's now SWMBO BSc

TWTMTW

Or for the Acronym un-friendly - That Was The Month That Was

Not blogged for almost 6 weeks, Ive either been so busy Working/Drinking been on Holiday getting Brown(er) or generally not been arsed to blog. So what have I missed then.

• Longman Ian "Ronnie" Barker leaving us - saving us money on crisps/drinks etc
• Taoski Dumping RoyalMail (CSC) for a big redundancy payoff*
• The Cookie Monster dumping Royal Mail (CSC) for a big redundancy payoff*
• Yet another potential PMP Player
• My Wonderful holiday with SWMBO and the Outlaws

* Not Necesseraily true

So it appears the company I used to work for is not a great employer at all, Pay Freezes, Compulsory Redundancies, Takeovers etc. The good old days of working for Royal Mail IT have well and truly gone, as soon as the IT business was sold off, everything changed. Not one to slag off former employers...
I'm, well, not going to say anything. Nothing at all, Nada, zip, zilch. Nuff said, even the old timers like Tao and Cookie are off.
You see - Outsourcing is definately not a bad idea, moving your call centres and helpdesk is even worse, just ask HSBC and Powergen (Hey I used to work for Powergen on the call centre, what a loopback)

More on my holiday and The thong wearing Mother-in-Law next time... keep reading

The PMP Search Continues

Q. Take 1 Archos AV500, add Bluetooth, and ....
A. The iUbi Blue 2500B
Yes I'm still on the hunt for my PMP (Portable Media Player), Even my colleagues are buying them (albeit the Archos AV700)

But this has to be the best yet (I know I say that every time). Specs include

• Video support for MPEG-1, 2, 4, DivX 3.x, DivX 4.x, DivX 5.x, Svid, WMV9, 8, 7, H.264, AVI, OGM, Mov, Real Media, meaning no need for converting my (legally backed up) Movies.
• Audio Support for MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AC-3, ASF, AAC-LC and G.726
• Wolfsan 3D Sound Enhancement
• 4.3" Widescreen LCD screen (larger than the Archos AV500)
• 8 Hour Video/15 Hour Audio battery life
• Record directly from TV, DVD or Video (and I don't even have a video)
• USB OTG (On The Go) support, ability to download for USB connected devices
• Weight 260g, 1.9cm deep
• Bluetooth

advancedmp3players advise this is availble from 30 June for £249, do I get this or wait for the next-gen players with built-in Freeview TV Tuners

More links

- Amp3 - Stuff - engadget - gizmodo

Is this It (again)
.
Still on the search for the ultimate PMP (Portable Media Player) and I have found this..... with bonus points

It's called the Blufin by a company called Tinnos, Specs as follows

• Windows Mobile 5 Operating System
• 30Gb Hard Drive
• SD Card Slot
• 4.3" Screen
• Multiple Codec Support (WMV, DivX, MP3, WMA) - This is the big one
• USB 2.0
• 2MP Camera

The good thing about this is that it also acts as a PDA, however the bad point is that it states there is no phone built in this may be an error, and if it is an error, Put me down for one

PS3 = £425 - Are Sony taking the piss



UK Prices have just been announce for the Playstation 3.

So thats US$ 500, €425 or £425 - Something does not eqate here.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a Playstation boy through and through and wouldn't even consider defecting, but the massive difference in price will surely get a few people wondering.

With the rumours also surrounding the different versions of PS3, the lesser (cheapest) model lacking Wi-Fi, Memory Card reader and most importantly, a HDMI input, also having a smaller 20Gb Hard drive, which may not be upgradable. Just how much do they plan on ripping us off with charging for the top spec model.

I know the PS3 will have a Blu-Ray player as standard but can this justify the difference in cost to the 360 (top spec model is £280).

I wonder, will we all rush out and buy one....

... Probably

Beat Box .

I've always been fascinated by Human Beatboxx, ever since the good old days of Doug E Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew back in the 80s, to the modern day equivalent Rahzel, I think they are all absolutely amazing.

Then.... I saw this guy (Yuri Lane), who uses a Harmonica while beatboxing check the results for yourself!

Test your IQ
Did my 3 monthly checking of my hotmail emails earlier, among the crap, spam and invitations for free everything, I got a link from my cousin Daniel for an online IQ Test at tickle.com

I got 129 which seems not too bad judging by this site although I missed out te next level by 1 point - Damn

Have a go...

Getting there

I posted a while ago about my bad state of health and that I am going to try to get "fit", it took me a while but I am now going at the gym 4 - 6 times a week, I have managed to lose a bit of weight, although am losing "inches" rather than weight, I am feeling loads better, my blood pressure has gone back to normal and my cholesterol is at 4.8 although this is still classed as moderate risk, (4.7 becomes a low risk - Damn)

I have now even got my ass back on my bike after a year, I rode for 7 miles today which, although made me feeel I was going to either be sick or have a heart attack, also made me feel great - Before you say it Cookie , I know 7 miles isn't that much, but it's a start eh. I aim to go out on my bike 3 times a week and build up to riding to work a couple of days a week (12 miles each way.

I burn roughly 500 - 1000 calories on each session at the gym, and am taking approximately 1500 - 2000 calories a day through food/drink etc, with these calculations I aim to lose 2lb a week - I have 5 more weeks before I go on holiday.... fingers crossed.
signing up to Sparkpages was a great help, it gives guidance on fitness and nutrition as well as ideas for varying meals and exercises to try.

Here are some other links I have find helpful.
- Link 1- Link 2 - Link 3 - Link 4 - Link 5 - Link 6 -

Poor Jim


As Blogged yesterday, Jim has pulled a sicky called in sick, he states he has fractured his arm and cracked a rib or 3.

We are all concerned work colleagues and wish him a speedy recovery (so we can laugh when he falls over again), we have also decided we are going to be caring and call him.....

So... What to call him, his name requires a change (again),
PM Jim, Naked Jim - Time for a change !

Suggestions so far include;

Anti Weeble Jim - (Weebles Wobble but they don't fall down)
Jim "McDonalds" - "He fell over"

suggestions please?

Naked Jim Takes a Tumble ...Again

I remember the first time I went drinking with PM Jim, he decided on an early night, blaming the mixing of alcohol, only to call us (Bossman Dave and I), with what I remeber as

"Fallen... Blood.... Everywhere." - I managed to get my First aid practise that night, and Jim managed to get 13 stitches in his arm,

His version - "Slipt on the bathroom floor and sliced his arm on the toilet roll holder"
The Truth - "had his head down the toilet - shouting Ralf, got up and slipped on said ralf, sliced his arm on a toilet roll holder"

He was right about the blood everywhere though, it looked like a scene from Psycho.

The second time I went out with Jim, he fell off a pub chair in Bristol, after having a shoulder massage. (Nothing dodgy I promise) - Excuse "He was so relaxed"

The third time, I didn't go out with Jim, it was the works christmas party, I won't say much except this is how he got the name "Naked Jim".

Now this is something else, there was no alcohol involved, he has not had a massage, in fact it was a usual day at work and apparently was challenged to a running race with a colleague Ash.

Ill leave the rest to the video, but its definately 2 minutes of your life....

Thanks to Ian "Longman Ronnie" Barker from Rennuff for the video, the commentary and challenging me to convert the .3gp to a video format "Everyone can see" (and making me blog it).

*Spelt correctly as Rennuff.

Here is The News - My Slant

I was thinking of blogging on recent news reports such as the BNP gaining what seems to be more and more votes due to their "special way" on canvassing votes. They're telling people they are against the immigrants coming into the UK and taking classroom places, hospital beds, jobs etc. Unfortunately they dont tell these people the other issues they fight for.

I also had thoughts on the England football managers' vacancy - it all seemed a bit dodgy that everyone is talking about who they believed would be best for the job, Curbishley, Allardyce, McClaren or O'Neill then suddenly it's announce Felipe Scolari is offered it, I neve believed he would be the next England manager, it did seem to lessen the hype and pressure on all the other "runners" however I believe was the purpose.

I read this morning Scolari has "Declined the offer" - Surprise surprise (Ladbrokes Odds - Place your bets please)

Then I realised I didn't really give a shit and decided to watch Chelsea v Man Utd, wash the car, go to the gym and go out for several cheeky Jack and Cokes, life's too short, although the BNP could pose a problem for me, (and millions of other non-white Brits) living in the UK.

It won't come to that though ... will it

links - (For obvious reasons, I refuse to link to the BNP)
- Link 1 - Link 2 -

Pipex Reply

Update to my Pipex Issue - Here is their reply
------------------------------
Thank you for your e-mail.

We have implemented various network traffic management systems in an effort to provide optimum levels of service to each of our customers.

We are constantly trying to improve the reliability and performance of our network which means such systems and strategies will be implemented and tested.

The network traffic management systems are active on all of our packages.
P2P services are among some of the types of usage that are involved in this process.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards,
-----------------

Does it appear that they haven't actually replied to me, more like sending a "standard template email", well did to me, see if they reply to this time to...

-------------------------------------
"Hello there
None of my questions have actually been answered, rather than send me a standardised email, could you please respond to my email. "
-------------------------------------

We'll see

Philly Y'all (Bloody Hell - I've gone blogging mad)
I have just been told I am going to be an uncle - Damn that made me feel old, despite being a Dad for the last 10 years, an uncle sound so much older. My Sister in the US is having twins (Bless). Got me thinking - Im off to America for a week or so, last time i thought that was back in 1999, 3 days later I was there....

Unfortunately the last time I went, the flight cost £199 with BA from London to Philadelphia, I am getting prices now of over £500. What the hell happened. Did 9/11 cause this, surely not.

I have looked at all the travel internet sites, (Opodo , BA , Ebookers , Virgin Atlantic & Priceline), but are all roughly the same price, I (we - SWMBOs' coming too) have 2 options.
1 - Fly to "Philly" and stay with my dad, or
2 - Fly to New York and stay in a hotel, then get the Greyhound train to my Dads' for a couple of days.

The flight to New York is silly cheap, in fact a flight and accommodation in New York is cheaper than tha flight to Philadelphia. We can then get the Greyhound train from New York to Philly for $80 return (for us both), we then get to do it properly and get to see more of the east coast, eat Hoagies (2) , speak "English", tell people we know the Queen etc (cos they always ask),

If I can't find a site that can do a better deal, looks like I'll have to resort to Teletext (on the Tele that is - Old style) or asking around...... anyone.... anyone.... Ah come on, (here comes he hint) someone must know a good site to get cheap flights to Philadelphia (Airport code PHL) from Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), Manchester (MAN) or Birmigham (BHX) any time in September (as long as we're not flying on the 11th - She won't have that)

Taoski - You really should help - Its your trip to New York that got me thinking.

Is it Time to say Bye Bye Pipex

After 4 good years, it appears Mr Byrne is forced to end a relationship, one of the most important relationships one could have, that with my ISP, not only is my secondary email address @pipex, I have also referred several family and friends to them as they have provided great service and support when i needed it.....

However....
Just as I was looking forward to upgrading from a 2Mb to an 8M connection, it appears that the sneaky Bast.... people have decided to limit my download speeds for torrents, with my 2Mb connection I could download from Easynews (Newsgroups) at almost 240kps, but with my bittorrent client (Burst) I seem to be capped at 20kps (very bad).

It seems that there is really no point waiting for 8Mb when it won't make a blind bit of difference to torrent speeds, and let's face it Everyone is doing it, no matter what they tell you.

Looking on t'internet shows there are several sites proving this, Pipex T&Cs state that if you exceed the "Acceptable Use Policy" and your connection will be "Managed". Unfortunately, Pipex do not state what is acceptable and I doubt I really take the piss.

Not one to be Hasty, I am going to email Pipex Support and ask them if my account is being "managed". If so, then I would like to know a) what is regarding as "acceptable use" and b) how much I have downloaded.

I will update when I have emailed them

link 1 link 2 link 3

Email to Pipex

"I am writing to discuss my account as it appears my download speeds have dropped to what I would regard as an unacceptable speed, I understand that the changes to your terms and conditions mean you have been forced to introduce "network traffic management" for heavy users.
I would be grateful if you could let me know if you have this in place against my account. If this is the case, please could you advise me of the following

A) - What do you regard as "Heavy Usage" for a 2mb connection ?.
B) - What amount of data have I downloaded ?.

I appreciate that you have introduced this, however I don't feel that I have been "taking the piss" when it comes to usage. I have been a very happy customer of Pipex for several years now (since Pipex was set-up), I have recommended you to several family and friends who have since joined, but recently, not only am I paying considerably more for my service that the people I referred (something I feel strongly against - not really a reward for being a loyal customer) but I feel I am not getting the level of "Service" I am paying for, I have stayed with Pipex for its "unlimited usage", not only this, I stayed and am looking forward to my Pipex Max 8Mb connection, but fail to see any benefit of staying if you intend on "restricting" my speeds.

Please advise asap, if these restrictions are to be held against my account indefinately, please could you advise what options I have, or how I would go about cancelling my service in order to move to another ISP.

kind regards

Damian Byrne"

A World of Alternatives

Almost been a month since I last blogged, it's not down to the fact that I've had nothing to say, but to the fact I've had no time to say it.....

So I'll be sure to report on the Villa/Blues Game, The engagement party (although can't remember too much apart from SWMBO giving orders to the boss and the fantastic DJ),

Any Hooo

As Taoski recently blogged on an alternative to iTunes, it got me thinking about the other alternatives. He mentioned Yamipod (which I thought was iPods for people living in Wolverhampton).

I have been "mostly" using;
Anapod Explorer as an alternative to iTunes.
Firefox as an alternative to Internet Explorer
Google Calendar instead of ..... Nothing (not quite ready to quit Outlook as I use it at work)

Some other useful apps and links to get me through the day are;

Desktask - Displays Outlook Calendar items and tasks on your desktop
Scribble - Handmade and handwritten cards that get there next day - perfect when you're stuck in the office and forget your Boss'/Monster-in-Law/Missus/Mistress/Masters' birthday/wedding/bar-mitzvah (I have Outlook and Google calendar so really have no excuse - nor do I know anyone Jewish - That I know of).

2 Days and Counting




2 days until the engagement party, where the Byrne clan descending from Ireland/England (with a more recent small input from Jamaica) meet the Wilks clan.

If this hasnt been stress, I dont know what is, I remember someone saying "How much" to the buffet caterers, shortly followed by "We'll do it our bloody selves".

Now then, how do you cater for 150 people with a normal sized oven and normal sized kitchen, we (They) had the brilliant idea to get the family to help, so come Friday its off aon a massive shopping trip with SWMBO, then deliver the food stuff to the aunties and come home and start to prepare my own stuff.

If thats not enough, we cant make the sandwiches until Saturday or they'll go hard (sod that I say), as well as get pretty for the evening.

Now I wish we'd have paid the caterers for the stress, I've even resorted to going to the gym EVERY DAY!!!!!! to get away from it all.

Never again - Ever

3 -Sixty

Although I'm not a big fan of the XBox, Mainly due to Mossy is constantly slagging off my wonderful amazing PS2, (despite the fact Singstar and Buzz isn't available for his lesser console).

I'm still interested in the Xbox360 now the hype has settled

From Tao's constant rantings about how happy he is to be "360 Enabled". Its got me thinking. Maybe Just Maybe...

Now the PS3 launch has been put delayed to November, I can put that on my Christmas list to SWMBO and possibly purchase the 360.

The only thing that puts me off with the whole "Next Generation Console" saga, is the price of the games, and the lack of "Modding them"

However, Engadget and Max Console report the firmware has now been hacked, although the hackers are refusing to release the code to allow one to do this. (The video proof of it working can be found on any bittorrent site such as mininova - "Xbox 360 DVD Hack - 18.74mb")

... Must ... Resist ... Shopping...

(Note to Mother-in-Law: Yes I think an Xbox 360 would make a great engagement present for me and SWMBO - Hint Hint)

Simeon Grignon -

Just to update my Simeon Grignon post as this was appearing on google searches.

The family of Simeon Grignon said they were overwhelmed by the crowds of people who attended his funeral.
More than 1,000 mourners paid their respects yesterday to the keen footballer described as a "shining star".
The 26-year-old died after being stabbed in Becket Street in the early hours of January 29.
He had been out celebrating a friend's birthday.
About 600 people packed into the Assembly of the First-born in London Road, with a further 400 standing outside, to listen to the funeral service.
Speaking after the funeral, Mr Grignon's father, Michael, said: "It has been so unbelievable the amount of people who have come to be here.
"I feel so proud as a father that this many people paid their respects.
"When I came to the church I thought people were all waiting to go inside but then I realised the church was full already and people were outside as well.
"It was really touching and absolutely lovely."
Mr Grignon (45), of Lewis Street, Derby, said support had come from all areas of the community.
He added: "I'm a normal guy and I just brought up my son to be respectful to other people.
"People who only met him once were coming up in the street to me and saying what a nice lad he was and bursting into tears.
"Simeon's family would like to say a big thank-you to everyone.
"We feel very proud."
During the service, Simeon's partner, Jenni Saunders (24), said: "I was always proud to be your girlfriend.
"I'm glad I had the pleasure of being your chosen one. You made me feel so special.
"We worked so hard to build our dreams. I'll miss your smile and I know you're always with me."
His cousin, Rachel Grignon, said Simeon would be missed by everyone.
She said: "Sim was priceless, precious and angelic.
"The community has lost an invaluable member and a real role model."
Simeon's aunt, Marcia Anderson, added: "He was a shining star. As a family, when we look at him, we feel proud of what a great man he was."
Family friend Jimmy Cousins played a saxophone piece in tribute and everyone joined in the opening hymn, How Great Thou Art.
Pastor Melroy Daley led the opening prayer.
He said: "Simeon was a great son and grandson.
"As the family look around, they can see the love that Simeon had in his life."
He told the congregation that in May, a national knife amnesty would be held, but that anyone could hand in a knife to police before then.
Simeon is survived by a younger brother, Otis (11), father Michael and mother Marilyn Anderson.
He had just bought a house with Miss Saunders and had recently been employed by an agency to work as a technician for Rolls-Royce Fuel Cells.
Simeon's coffin was placed in a horse-drawn carriage for burial at Nottingham Road cemetery. There was also a separate car for dozens of floral tributes.
Police officers directed traffic along London Road and the roundabout near Strutts pub after the service.
A police spokeswoman said: "We had been working with the family because we expected there to be a lot of people.
"We knew we needed to be prepared to direct the traffic, especially with a horse-drawn carriage."

Glenroy Reid (22), of London Road, Alvaston, appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court on January 31 charged with Simeon's murder. He was remanded in custody.

(from www.thisisisderbyshire.co.uk)

Related links
- link 1 - link 2 - link 3 - link 4 - link 5 - link 6 -

Meet My Wife (to be)

Mrs Byrne

Well Big thank yous to Ian B for recommending the restaurant, Full Range UK for the Fantastic chauffeur service. The World Service Restaurant for the amazing meal, the Park Plaza for the hotel room.

But Most of all, thank you to my beautiful fiancee for saying yes. She has agreed to marry me (one day). I’d better start letting the millions of women* know I am now taken. Unless of course you have supermodel looks, supermodel money and lack the supermodel bitchiness.

No Monster-in-Law, that doesnt qualify you, although you do have the supermodel money…

LINKS

PMP - Is this it? (and it has an "i" at the beginning

I think I may have hit the PMP Jackpot at last. many hours of searching for an alternative to the "won't play my files" Archos AV560, it seems there are a few devices out there that might just do the trick.

Mustek PVR H140 - Creative Zen Vision - Mac Vision MC3007 - Neuros 442 - Cyberhome PMP4000 - Maxian T600

But This seems to be the one, The iStation v43 seems to do/have everything I, (being a gadget freak), need and want, and whats more it has to be great, it has the "i" at the beginning.

Features

• AMD Processor
• Linux Operating system
• Larger than normal screen (4.3")
• Touchscreen
• Codec Support
• Ebook Reader
• Dictionary
• File Manager
• FM Radio
• Calendar
• Remote Control (iStation Power)
• GPS (iStation Navi)

Unfortanely it doesn't seem to be available as yet in the UK so the only place I can get it from is this guy on ebay, which doesn't normally bother me, however if it went wrong then I'd probably be in deep shit trouble.

Addtional features from the v43mania site seem to suggest even more features including the ability to play NES/SNES/GBA games on the device too.

Very Tempting! , Just the ebay price is a bit on the steep side at £400 (+£12 P&P, +4% PayPal).

Other Links

V43Mania - Digital Cube - Engadget - istationhq - Misticaudio

... My more recent internet search for the Archos AV560 didn't bring up horrible stories from owners hating the device, although some were complaining about the device locking up and needing a reset. I decided to take the plunge and buy one from Dixons - Great news, the offer was still on. I asked Mr Dixon about what the device will play , obviously I will be using it to play my "Legally owned" DVD backups, ripped to Divx and Xvid , as well as my TV downloads and MP3s. He reliably informed me that it "should" play anything, but if it didn't, I can take it back for a full refund.

I wasnt conviced about this however and asked him to mark the receipt that I can take it back. Although he couldn't do this, he said the store policy is a "14 day money back guarantee" - "Argos Stylee"

Got it home, and spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get the PC to recognise the device without RTFM, then had to do an IT workers no no and opened the book... Of course, I needed Windows Media Player 10.

After the download and install I was ready to dump everything onto my brand new PMP.

B*ll*cks - It wouldn't copy 24 (Season 5), or any other TV program for that matter, in fact none of the film files I have stored in my "backed up" folder. Music, photos would copy ok, tried the firmware upgrade and still nothing.

Another search on the interweb and I found the bitrate of my files was too high, as well as the Archos not having the correct codecs, I could convert the files to play on the Archos, but this would take hours for each file. I THINK NOT !!

Back in the box it went and back to Dixons and I am back at the drawing board unless Archos AV440 owning Mr Moss can convince me to go and buy one again.

EDIT: CONVICED
Well Mr Moss brought his Archos AV440 round tonight and I have copied the same files to his..... It bloody works, He got his as a 2nd user model from Ebuyer, it seems this model is being phased out, but you can get it from several places, or ebay