New Gadget...

... and about time too, it's been months since I have had chance to get a new gadget, this is due to the ever increaseing price of Oil - It's not, but hey, let's jump on the bandwagon and lay blame.

Any-hoo

I have managed to acquire the new HTC Diamond.
First impressions.

When I eventually managed to get the box open, I switched the diamond on where I was greeted with the standard Vodafone version of the software, this of course will be changed to the standard HTC ROM as soon as I have a spare 10 minutes. All in all a slim device, similar in size to many of the Samsung phones around at the moment.

I like - the size, interface, the built in GPS, the 3.2Mp camera, the built in 4Gb drive

I don't like - the interface, lack of keyboard, no buit in GPS software, the built in storage (no capabililty to extend with MicroSD Cards etc.)

I recently gave up using the HTC Touch Dual as it became very slow and I am gradually going off full touch screens (yes I know the Dual had a slide out keypad), I reverted back to the trusted HTC S710.

I have been playing with the Diamond for 2 days, but again have reverted back to the S710 while I transfer contacts etc. Check back soon to see if I actually use the Diamond...

Go Go Go !!!!

Fantastic news (for us local people anyway)

It was announce on Friday that the British Grand Prix will move from Silverstone to Donington in 2010, this is due to problems between the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) and Bernie Ecclestone.
Whatever the issues are, I don't care, being an F1 fan for 2o years, (yes even before I was born), I have been wanting to go to a race for about 6 years although never actually bothered to, I had a ticket for last year but had to give it away so I have my knee op, and this years lot of "4 freebies" fell through..

Donington is in Leicester/Nottingham/Derby depending on your choice and is less than 45 minutes from my house, so come race weekend, I'll be able to get there in 2ish hours.

Can't wait - and Leah enjoy it even more then (She is also a fan of F1 - has been since 20 days old).
BTW:- Lewis Hamilton - well done

"...and the Creed and the Colour and the name don't matter..."

I remember the above line from a hymn we used to sing at school.... all those years ago.

As SWMBO is working (again), I have the pleasure of enjoying looking after my little girl, hence the 6.30 morning wake, I have been forced into watching the Baby TV channel, during Leah's sleepy time however, I watched BBC news who report on the adoption crisis facing black and ethnic minority children, this is plain damn crazy, councils and social workers are trying to "match" children and parents based on their ethnic origin etc, this is leading to these children being left in care longer than average, and people who want to adopt, not being able to, this made me think.

What does it matter.

The Flag of Damian Byrne

I am Half Caste (you may want to be PC and call it mixed parentag/mixed race/dual heritage whatever - I don't - I am a full, pure, 100% person), My mum is White (half British/half Irish), my Dad is Jamaican, this means that I am 1/4 Irish, 1/4 British and 1/2 Jamaican. I don't 'fully' match my parents, either in race, background etc, so what the hell would have happened if I had been put up for adoption.

I feel sorry for the poor children that cannot be adopted for the simple reason that they are the wrong colour, and this is the plain and simple fact - it is solely down to colour. I feel sorry for the people who can't have children and can't adopt, I think the majority of people would adopt a child be it black, white, yellow or pink with green stripes. I feel sorry for the perfect people runnig these councils who assume colour matters. (The same people that tell me I can't call myself Half-Caste, we can't say blackboard, blackmail, manhole cover, whitewash etc).

You should concentrate yourself on something that matters more in the world - FFS

"You're Hired"


Congratulations to Lee, Winner of the Apprentice 2008
And to Tao for his prediction...

The Apprentice - The Final

Yay - The final is upon us and the final 4 have been split into 2 teams,

Alex & Helene and Lee & Claire

The winning team of the last challenge have a 50/50 chance of being "Hired", Alex & Helene would be my favourite for Alex to get hired but you never know, if, on the other hand Lee and Claire win, I am edging towards Lee, however his presentation skills are not up to it (I know exactly how he feels when having to stand up in front of people - I hate it).

Here we go...

Tut Tut

Lewis Hamilton - You Tit !!!!

Euro 2008

Euro 2008 is less than an hour away, as there are no home teams there was no-one for me to support, however as I have paid 5 quid to enter the work sweepstake and have drawn France, this is now my adopted team, I am, for the next few weeks going to adopt the french way of life. As far as I know, this will involve the following

• Drinking wine with every meal.
• Riding a bike with a striped top and onions around my neck
• Shout alor and shrug my shoulders
• Drive like a madman

Please note: These "Stereotypes" are taked from the Harraps website and not my perception of French people at all, in fact I only know 2 French people, Bonjou Bonnie from the Royal Mail Days. and Jerome, the chain smoking, drinker Director of an IT company we worked with.

Vive La France

Gadgets

Back to gadgets.

It's been a while since I have looked at replacing my mobile phone for the simple fact that

1. There's nothing out there better than my HTC Touch Dual
2. The iPhone isn't available on anything other than O2.

Now there's a new toy coming very soon, and on Orange. The HTC Touch Diamond.
Orange - despite sending me a text stating you have reviewed my talkplan and I'm already on the best plan, I beg to differ, I want more minutes, more texts, unlimited data and one of these phones FREE.

Now then, isn't there a few football matches coming up..

The Apprentice - Part II

I may have failed in placing my hopes on Signature to win Britains Got Talent. (They came second), but so far so good on The Apprentice, Alex is still in contention as he faces the final week and the final 4.

I never quite got Lucinda, why would someone give up their "in excess of" £100k contract role for a £100k role working for Mr Amstrad. Me thinks maybe this is a self promotion. She stated she didn't "need" the job but "wanted" it. Stupid woman, the rest of these people actually need the job and the money that comes with it.

I am quite happy so far with the "firings"... Here's the Damo B rundown of the final 4


Lee McQueen - lied on his CV (but everyone does) - nice guy "last chance" - if he doesn't get the job, it's because of the CV issue - BIG MISTAKE, but will find work - nice guy.


Helene Speight - tough childhood (but who hasn't) - hard worker, will definately find work if she doesn't get hired by SrrrrrAlan


Alex Wotherspoon - described as a "looker" and "charmer" (what salesman can't charm) - was my favourite and is a nice bloke loves telling people he's " only 24" - I'm now thinking top 2 with...

Claire Young - I'nm not sure about her - she appears to be very good talks too much and get's herself into trouble for doing so, but "Sir Alan" likes her...

They say never talk about politics or religion, but they haven't been in our office....

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr Brown

You know something, you have a bloody hard job running this country and what thanks do you get, - absolutely none....

and why should you, you are ruining this green and pleasant land and (a la Uncle Bryn - "I'll tell you for why"

1. 10p tax
You have cut the lowest band tax meaning we all pay more tax, with the lowest earners suffering the most, not a good move.

2. Knife Crime
When are you finally going to change the law and make it more than "a slap on the wrist offence" to carry a knife, how many more people need to die before you make it illegal to carry a knife, I know of 2 people that have been murdered in the last 2 years, the last one to die was not fighting, not caught it in a drugs war, not at a football match, but while he was cashing up a days takings at the Matalan stored he worked as store manager.

3. Immigration
While I don't share the same views as a fellow blogger who shall remain nameless, I still think we have a problem here, we allow almost anyone into our beloved country with no requirement to work although every right (under the EU) to claim benefits, rumours are that this money is then sent back to their country of origin where the rest of their family live (and spend).

I welcome all people who are prepared to work for a living. The USA don't (or didn't) have a welfare system or an NHS, you don't work, you don;t have any money, you get ill, you pay for your treatment. I'm not saying we need to be this ruthless, but something needs doing. This Mr Brown, is why the "right wing parties" are winning seats left, right and centre

4. Credit Crunch
People being given 10 times their salary for a mortgage to get them on the property ladder, then losing their house when their "fixed rate" deal ends, credit card companies giving people £200k limits when the earn £10k a year, Northern Rock giving loans to anyone to realise these people can't afford it and then requiring the tax paying public to bail out the forementioned bank.

5.Petrol Prices
Don't even go there - £1.15 a litre, how much do you (read - government) make from the taxes from petrol, oil has reached a record high price per barrel, but the oil companies make billions, the government probably make the same, and we - the consumer, suffer as a result, and what can we do about it, use our bikes, public transport etc, if that's possible I'm sure we would (cookie), the other option, join a sodding facebook group or strike, none of which have much effect.

You know, I sit here probably like millions of others and say "I could do a better job of running this country", but I guess you said that years ago when interest rates were 15%......

But I wouldn't vote for you.. EVER

Yours sincerely

Damo

Anyone else have anything to add?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On a good note and completely unrelated however.....

I told you so......

Britains Got Talent - Signature



Sha'Mon

And the Winner of Britain's got talent (2008) is....



We'll See...

A Perfect Day

Yesterday can only be described as a perfect day...

The release of GTA IV on the was only the start of it.
I managed to "land" a freebie day for myself and Bossman Gunn, never mind Golf, Cricket or Footy, this was the dogs danglies.

A day at Palmer Sports Racing at Bedford Autodrome.

That's me that is !!!

The day basically consisted of ragging cars you (I) could never afford around tracks at speeds that would probably kill you.

After dragging myself out of bed at 5.30am and driving to the Gunns's house, we set off for Bedford arriving at 8.00ish.

We were greeted by some lovely ladies who took our details and directed us to our table where we were given a full cooked english Breakfast.

30 minutes later we were given the safety briefings and watched the welcome video, then were let loose on the track.

Bring on the Vroom Vroom !!!!

First up was the Caterham 7


Secondly the Jaguar XKRs (My least favourite as the onboard computers took the fun away from spinning the car out of control - Safety dictates apparently)

Third was the single seater Formula Jaguar


Forth - Palmer Jaguar JP1 - Which I managed to spin (twice)

Fifth - Fun in the karts, (no photo)

We then broke for Lunch... then more fun

The afternoon started by off-roading in the Land Rover then back to the car

Porsche 911 JP3


The final session was in the Renault Clio Cup Racer


We then headed back for the trophies of which I won bugger all - I did manage to come 4th overall (out of 66) which has made me all nice and fuzzy inside - Read "SMUG".

...Now then, Does anyone have Ron Dennis' number.

All in all an absolutely brilliant day and I can highly recommend it for everyone (except SWMBO cos it costs too much).

The guys at Palmer Sports are brilliant, everything is planned with what seems like military precision the food the driving, everything...

Thank you lots Mr Palmer, (and an even bigger thanks to our host)

Birthdays and the Beeb

Firstly a very happy birthday to my (oldest) little princess Lauren, who was 12 on Tuesday.

Secondly - I have become addicted to 2 BBC TV shows.

TV SHOW #1 - The Apprentice

16 "real" people each with an equal chance of getting a job working for Sir Alan Sugar with a "six figure salary"

This programme makes me laugh, cringe and almost swear at the TV, when I say these people are real, they are normal members of the public who have applied to be humiliated on national TV in front of millions of viewers, and boy do they get humiliated, by each other and even more-so by the cockney former barrow boy Mr Amstrad.

Personally, I can't understand how some of the contestants have managed to get to the positions they claim to be in (Barrister, International Car trader, Bank Manager... )

It's a shame to see the talkative Simon get fired. He's a genuine bloke and has/had a genuine job works as a Senior Satellite Television Engineer" and was the project manager. He liked to be in charge and make sure everyone knew it. His team then lost and he took the hit for it.

Next weeks "firee" - Lucinda.

The winner of the show, my money is on Alex


TV SHOW #1 - Gavin & Stacey

Centres around Gavin, his mate Smithy, Stacey and her mate Nessa.

Gavin meets Stacey on a night out, they fall for each other, fall in love and so it begins.
This show is so funny and so real it hurts, I absolutely love Rob Brydon who plays Staceys' uncle.

The show has just finished the 2nd series, I have no idea if there will be a third, but it's definitely a must buy DVD for both series, half an hour an episode, 6 episodes a season, would make a good couple of nights viewing.

Note to Colin: There I have updated my blog to make you happy.....

THIS...... I LIKE

We all know Music/Video/Software theft is a crime. Only today Virgin Media made it into the news by announcing it will be working with the "British Phonographic Industry" (BPI) to stamp out illegal downloaders.


Its refreshing to see then, that the very same level of corporates who are doing their very best to stamp out this kind of illegal activity. Have been busted for running pirated software on four of their servers.

How were they found out you wonder?

"An IT department employee requested assistance for the use of a product called Ideal Migration. When technical support looked into the case, they discovered that the key used to activate the software was a pirated version".

From Zeropaid

I wonder what illegal software Mr Branson has on his virgin network.

Earthquake

I'm not going into it too much as there's no point. as my fellow bloggers Cookie and Tao give it their techy slant

There was an Earthquake, it woke me (and SWMBO) up.

We went back to sleep

The End.

(Global Warming, the demise of the HD-DVD, Apple - who know why it happened)

That Fat Lady isn't Singing Yet.

It was announced last week the High Definition DVD war was over with the HD-DVD camp giving up and going home, (with the ball).

Good news for all you XBOX 360 owners, Microsoft have just slashed the price of their HD-DVD drive to $49.99 (£25),

I know it'll a matter of time before HD-DVDs are as easy to get hold of as Betamax videos are right now.... But

• Could this actually be a turn around
• Could this be a clever marketing trick by the HD-DVD people in their quest to dominate.

Current (but for how long?) HD-DVD Partners

Put it this way, I'm still not going to rush out and get that shiny new Blu-Ray player just yet.
Then again, Im not going to rush out and buy the Xbox HD-DVD Player either.

We'll see.... again

The War is (almost) Over

*** GEEK ALERT***

So glad I didn't go all iPoddy on this oneIt seems like the next generation format war is almost over

I have always taken a (slight) interest in the gadget/computer wars.

First the Spectrum vs Commodore 64 (I had the Spectrum(s) 16k, 48k and the +2A)
Then Atari ST vs Amiga A500 (I had the Atari STe)

Thankfully I missed the VHS/Betamax war so only the VHS was available.

The PS2 vs Xbox was a dead cert (if you dont coount the Xbox Media Centre) (PS2 here)
The PS3 vs Xbox 360 have both seemingly lost to the Wii (How ???) (Xbox 360)
The DVD +/- was settled by combining the 2 (Yippee - I have have a dual burner)

The latest war that is close to ending is the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD. If I had an interest in moving to HD, I would have gone for HD-DVD, I've no idea why, but wouldn;t have gone with BluRay as its backed by the wonderful Sony who have brought such delights as Betamax, Minidisc memory Stick etc.

It has however, all but won this time. Whether or not this is due to the PS3 with its built in player I don't know, but the HD-DVD manufacturers have thrown in the towel and the film companies either backed Blu-Ray from the start or have switched 75% of the new releases on High def will be Blu-Ray.
How do I get my hands on a free PS3?.

*** GEEK ALERT OVER ****

Another Ipod

Far from being iPoddy, I was fairly happy with my Pink, 4Gb, original style iPod, especially since the battery upgrade, however my I was forced... Forced I tell you, into having a new 160Gb Black iPod Classic.

Mine

I say forced, it was actually given to me, brand new, gratis, free, no exchange of money, and definately not stolen etc, by someone who is almost my new best friend.

I have managed to "legally backup" and transfer some of my movies, music, TV shows and podcasts over to it, and still have 125Gb free.

...Wow

I didn't realise the iPod only plays .mp4 movie format, stupidly, I presumed I could just transfer my avi files (legal DVD rips of course) straight to the iPod without too much hassle.
Oh No - I have to convert them first.

I used "A-One Ipod Video Convertor" to do the conversions, can anyone suggest something better, my favourite price is free, but cheaper is not always better.

I need a holiday so I can sit in the sun all day while SWMBO reads her Sophie Kinsella books and I watch Simpsons, American Gangster, Family Guy, Transformers, Debbie Does.. (not that one).

I need a use for my original "Pinky", and the 3 broken grey ones I bought off eBay for £25 will repaired... and sold back on eBay.

ITIL v3
In my quest to further my career, I have spent the last 3 days doing the ITIL v3 foundation course, ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) is the standard IT in all organisations are keen to adhere to.
This is all good learning procedures in a classroom, but trying to put it into practice is another thing.

I also took the exam which requires 26/40 to pass. I took 2 mocks and got 28 on both (dangerously close).

We were told by the lecturer, passing the foundation course means an extra £2k on your salary (£15-£20k if you get the diploma). Who in their company would get an extra £2k as simple as that.

As my role as Service Desk Manager (along with a ton of other stuff "The Goona" and "The Conster" give me, I'll if I can put (some of) ITIL into practice

By doing the course, I have learned I am also the following,

• Service Level Manager
• Problem Manager
• Operations Manager

I'd say that's a £100k salary easily, but I wouldn't take the drop...


I'll find out if I passed in a few weeks time.

Nag Nag Nag

That's all people seem to do to me,

They say if it's not one thing it's your Mother/Mother-in-Law

Firstly
Massive congratulations to my Work Wife (Laura) and her bloke (Gaz) on the birth of their first baby (of many I hear !!!!).
'Erin Sophie' arrived a little early on 24 January weighing just 1lb 15oz.

I haven't blogged about it as I wanted to get her permission fist (Lauras' that is not Erins'), the Nag on my last blog has given me that authorisation.

Our only problem now is getting Laura to do her own collection.

Well done darling, now hurry up back to work as we have no I.T. Chick.

Secondly

My Mother-in-Laws' friend asked about getting free music for her children, as this is not something I do, I have had to ask a few friends who do this kind of thing.

The best bet for this is to use something called Bit Torrents, all you need for this is the "client" and the websites that list the .torrent files. I can't go into too much detail here as the legality of it all is still in question although there are stories of the BBC using the torrent technology to allow people to download content, we'll just have to wait and see. in the meantime, google for bittorrents for more info.

That's it, "Is there anything I can do for anyone?"