By Dave Adamson in Reader
Posted in Uncategorized on February 6, 2009 at 6:34 pm
So, after saying I wouldn’t, I did.
I managed to get hold of a netbook. More specifically, the Asus Eee 900A.
I’ve not put it through any heavy use yet, but so far I’m pretty much impressed.
There I am, using Linux for the first time in years, and I was thinking about enabling the full KDE environment. However, I ended up not bothering and don’t think I will any time soon.
Why? I hear you ask.
Do you remember when you used to have all your shortcuts on your desktop? You’d find the application you wanted and double click it. Then, at some point, we seem to have given up on that and prefer the slightly longer clicking of Start, Programs, etc, etc.
Using the Linux platform on Eee has returned me to that ‘ease of use.’ If I want to word process, I click the icon. Some say it’s a ‘childish’ way of accessing the software. I prefer to think of it as working smarter. Okay, it’s not revolutionary, nor is it ground breaking, it just gives me access to what I need when I need it. It is a bit frustrating that so many of the applications are just links to internet pages, but there’s still that ease of use thing running through the whole interface.
I’ve got to say, it’s a nippy little beast. I plan to try video on it later just to see how far I can push it.
Speaking to others, I’m torn between upgrading the 8GB SSD to something larger or just using SDHC for storing data.
Anyway, initial evaluation - fantastic bit of kit.
I’ll keep you posted on my netbook life as I go on.
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Loading ...By Dave Adamson in Reader
Posted in Uncategorized on January 25, 2009 at 10:07 am
Sooooo, you’ve got a mobile phone, games, DVDs or god knows what else kicking around your place and you’re wondering what to do with them.
May I recommend, very late in the game, that you take a look at www.cex.co.uk before you look anywhere else?
You see, on the CEX website, you can search for stuff and find out just how much it is likely to be worth. It means no more of that embarrassing experience where you nip to the shop, hand over your stuff hoping for a few quid and they offer you… a few pence… and you just know they’re taking the mick!
Obviously, you’ll get more for exchanging than you will for selling, but needs must, I suppose.
If you’ve never been into a CEX before, you’re going to be amazed at the vast queues… sometimes out the door on a weekend! More than that, however, you’ll be amazed at the stuff that they have for sale. Admittedly, some of it is a bit… bizarre (especially the DVDs, just how many copies of Alligator 3 did people buy), but occasionally they get absolutely fantastic stuff in at decent prices (not Professor Layton on the DS, which they think they can sell for £45.) It’s worth, if you’re like me, browsing eBay just to see if you can make a bit of profit from stuff there.
With exchange shops, I’m told, becoming more popular due to the economic downturn, it’s the perfect opportunity to turn you stuff into a bit of cash.
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Loading ...By Dave Adamson in Reader
Posted in Uncategorized on December 29, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I read, with interest, about Government plans to explore certification of websites. Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, it seems, wants to explore the possibility of film style certificates for websites, to help users better judge the content that they are about to see. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7800846.stm
Of course, this will work! Even if the Government manage to get the US involved as part of their “Let’s make it happen for all English language” sites initiatives, do they really think it’ll be an achievable goal?
There are already initiatives in place, but most of them require the end user to actually take responsibility. Yes, such things as choosing a date of birth, or clicking Enter if you’re an adult, are blatantly open for abuse, but any government led age rating system is going to have the same issue! “This website is only suitable for those over 18. Click here if you’re over 18.”
It could be mandatory, of course, to have a paid age-verification system in place. But, are people really going to want to sign up? Will webmasters want to be involved? And, what if your website spans age ranges!
There is unacceptable content on the website, we know there is; there always has been. Whilst the government may claim that they are “protecting the public from unacceptable material” they cannot balance this with an argument that they are curbing free speech! Isn’t that the wonderful paradox of any attempts to limit what we say/see/do? It does curb free speech by the very act. Instead of putting enforcing age restrictions, perhaps more should be done to help people understand how to best use the Internet.
As if a certification system, or age verification system or content restriction system were not bad enough in theory, think about it in practice. You can pretty much guarantee that if this were to become mandatory in certain countries, websites with ‘unacceptable’ material would just do what they’ve always done and move to countries that don’t have such moral objections. On top of that, what’s to say that what I find ‘unacceptable’ is the same thing that you might find ‘unacceptable.’
I’m hesistant to shout ‘nanny state’ or ‘Big Brother,’ but it does smack of a Government desperate to show that it knows what is best for everyone in an arena that, sadly, they won’t understand. The Government can call in all the specialists and professionals that it wants, but (as often happens with things like this) they end up listening to the bits that they think they can understand, instead of the things that they need to understand.
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Loading ...By Dave Adamson in Reader
Posted in Internet on December 1, 2008 at 8:03 pm
The other day, Saturday evening, I tried to log into eBay and found I couldn’t!
Rated: 70% (2 votes)
Loading ...By Dave Adamson in Reader
Posted in Uncategorized on October 28, 2008 at 5:31 pm
So, my classic N95 is a brilliant piece of kit.
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Loading ...By Dave Adamson in Reader
Posted in Uncategorized on October 8, 2008 at 5:18 pm
So, it turns out that RealNetworks isn’t going to be allowed to sell it’s RealDVD software which have legally allowed a user to back up their DVDs.
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Loading ...By Dave Adamson in Reader
Posted in Uncategorized on September 14, 2008 at 9:16 am
Okay, okay, I’ve said before that I wasn’t impressed with the idea of an ebook reader and, more over, the idea that they’ll ever replaced the printed book.
My reasoning, you see, is plentiful.
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Loading ...By Dave Adamson in Reader
Posted in Uncategorized on August 31, 2008 at 1:57 pm
There you go.
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Loading ...By Dave Adamson in Reader
Posted in Uncategorized on August 13, 2008 at 6:05 pm
There’s nothing worse than having a bit of kit that you no longer use, or a DVD or video game that you’re thinking of getting rid of and taking it into one of the many trade-in stores. You know the ones…
they sell a mix of new stuff but also pre-owned stuff (we used to call it second hand, of course) at a slightly reduced cost, or at bargain prices. You take your stuff in, they give you a price - less for cash, more for store credit - and you end up coming out with a ton of stuff that you wouldn’t have bought otherwise.
There’s nothing bad about that, I hear you say.
Rated: 70% (2 votes)
Loading ...By Dave Adamson in Reader
Posted in Uncategorized on July 20, 2008 at 5:03 pm
A colleague recently took an interest in my N95 phone, having bought himself a different make/model of phone.
This should have been an interesting conversation really, except it seem to be reduced to an ongoing series of bizarre challenging statements, thusly:
Rated: 80% (1 votes)
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