Gadgets

I have not one, but 4 new gadgets, I have upgraded my Personal phone from the SPV C600 to a Nokia N93, not really being a Nokia. I only upgraded to get a better talk plan package, the phone was free, got a good camera though,

Managed to get a Sony Ericsson 6301 and Motorola Krzr K1 from a certain Mobile Phone supplier, not had chance to play but will certainly "fully evaluate them".

Finally and most important of all, is the HTC P3300 (Codename Artemis), this is the dogs danglies, slim, 3G and most importantly, built in GPS. Now you can get lost without losing the damn thing that got you lost in the first place (A separate receiver that is).

Iphone, Schmi-phone

Top Man Gun

Been away too long again, this baby growing thing is hard work, shopping for puschairs, nappies, cots and stuff is taking up all of my free time, well it's either that, or endless hours of Xbox playing although I do have a half-decent gamer tag score now....


..and a pushchair

In the meantime.
Saw this on Youutube and it made me smile, how the hell i found it I don't know, and it definately wasn't looking for gay pron.



More soon...

Not Got me Yet...

Let it be said.... I LOVE GADGETS, if it's techy, new and does something technical I will have it.

HOWEVER...

Stick an "i" before a word, It'll sell by the millions

The iPhone from Apple is something the world seems to have gone mad over, sure its another Apple product which means all the iPod lovers will want (and buy) one. I have an iPod but I don't. I'm either getting responsible in my old age or there is nothing that appeals to me.

I currently have 2 phones (like to keep my work and personal life separate) and both of these do
Qtek 8500
HTC Tytn

The Qtek is a great slimline phone (a real weekend phone) dual screen, camera and Micro SD storage, A2DP support (Geek Alert)

The HTC is simply amazing, touchscreen, slide out keyboard, 3G, wi-fi, bluetooth, Outlook synchronisation for emails, tasks and contacts, TomTom sat nav, and Micro SD.

Although Micro SD cards currently have maximum storage of 2Gb this will no doubt change, at £30 however why not get a couple of cards. what's more, 8Gb is not enough for a device playing movies... trust me, it's not

I can play movies on my HTC, use as a modem plus lots more that the iPhone won't do, whats more, these devices are application unlocked you can bet your bottom dollar the devices will be application unlocked allowing you to install 3rd party applications - this, I LOVE.

The iPhone will be more secure than the Bank of England and I bet you wont' be able to play ripped DVDs back ups of films you legally own.

Until someone releases a device that has;

• 3G (Video) Phone
• Built in GPS,
• Slimline
• Keyboard
• 80Gb storage
• Multi-Codec Video playback
• TV Tuner

I'll Stcik with Windows Mobile 5 devices

Add to that the $499 or $599 pricetag and the 2 year contract period. Who's iPoddy enough !

Links
Modaco - coolsmartphone - xda-developers - mobilegazette

Xbox Friends
I am going to create a blog with the Xbox gamertags of people I know or play regularly.
EDIT: Even better - http://whosonxbox.blogspot.com/

SWMBOs' sad book love
When I met SWMBO almost 6 years ago, she confessed to never reading books, 3 years ago however she discovered Sophie Kinsella, her best friend lent her a book entitled Shopaholic blah blah blah, she was hooked.

I made the stupid mistake of buying the rest of the Shopaholic books from ebay, not a mistake in that she didn't read then, I mean a mistake as she DID, she even took them on holiday and read all day long while sunbathing.... meaning Damian "I don't need a tan" boyfriend sat around all day bored out of his mind. (Seriously, I really don't need to sunbathe).

Yesterday was a new chapter however (See what I did there). I noticed another Shopaholic book is soon to be released. When mentioning this to SWMBO, she got so excited, and still is. She says her and the subject of this book have so much in common, even more now shopaholic "Becky" is pregnant too.

It must be catching... there are 8 reviews on Amazons website and the book isn't even available yet (Sad people).

The Book is available at Amazon and Play.com 1 February

XBoxed

I've finally bitten the bullet and gone down the XBox route, I vowed never to leave the Sony camp, however looking at what's available for the 360, the amazing High Def graphics and the high price of the shortly to be released PS3, I had to do it.

Now I'm wondering whether I am actually going to get a PS3, the interface on the Xbox is stunning, online gaming, chatting to mates while beating them at PGR3,

I must say I am sold.... I just need to find a way of stopping 11 year old girls beating my around a race track.

White Rabbits

Happy New Year - Here's to a great 2007

Damo

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.