Archive for category Musings
Scan barcodes with your iPhone!
Posted by martin newham in Apple, Musings, Web/Tech on October 13, 2009
Its something in human nature, we like to browse – looking in windows at all the shinny stuff. Of course we all love a bargain and feel really pleased with ourselves when we get something cheap, but there its always something else nagging in the back of our minds; that little voice saying “but I want it now!”
But hey! we can help you out with at least one of those little voices; check out this great little iPhone app that will scrape the net for the best prices.
RedLaser; scanning the safe way
I was testing out a new application for the iPhone called “RedLaser” (£1.19 from the iTunes App Store).
The developer says “The RedLaser app lets you search for online prices using Google product search. You can also keep a list of products and send them to yourself or a friend (because sometimes you just need to check things out on a bigger screen.)”
With this little app you can scan a barcode for a album, DVD, camera or a book and moments later results from Amazon (in your country) and a Google search showing the best prices.
In HMV (a well known music store in the UK) I decided to perform some price checks using the new app. The first image shows the shop price, second the barcode snapped from the application, the third shows the results and in this case the fourth shows the cost of the album from iTunes. Check out the screen shots below; Read the rest of this entry »
iTunes Play Count: Don’t judge me!
Posted by martin newham in Musings on September 18, 2009
Was playing around on iTunes sorting out some songs & playlists and I thought Id create the following “Smart Playlist” just to see what I got out;
I was a little surprised; so here is the tops 20 list created using the “Smart Playlist” …
… try out the playlist yourself, see what you’ve got.
Weekend of Celebration – Tim & Belinda’s Wedding
Posted by martin newham in Holidays, Musings, Travel on July 20, 2009
17th ~ 19th July 2009
Ceremony occurring on the Saturday 18th July 2009
Update: I’ve posted the Slideshow video from the DVD at the bottom of this post
What a fantastic couple of days; a good friend of 20+ years honoured me by inviting me to his very exclusive wedding located in Winchelsea near Rye in the UK.
They had converted a small hotel, into what can only be explained as an extended family home for 3 days. The whole hotel was reserved for the wedding group, and the setting and location was amazing.
We arrived late Friday afternoon and we shown to our room, the 18th Century building can only be described as unique, its exposed beams and low ceilings really brought home the historic charm of the building (I have the bruises to prove it).
2,000+ people snuffed out in Twitter, helpdesk ignores plight *updated
Posted by martin newham in Musings, Web/Tech on June 22, 2009
Updated 22nd & 23rd June 2009
Just sent this email to the BBC’s Click program, hopefully they will be able to investigate..
Hi Click, I would like to highlight a issue thousands or tweeters as well as myself currently experiencing with our mutual friend Twitter..
You can see from the link, that I’m just one of 2,000+ people (People are missing from Find People search) that have been silenced by a bug in search that Twitter doesn’t seem to be looking at, and it seems that more and more are experiencing the same problem on a daily basis.
So what’s the symptoms? Not appearing on search may not seem like a bit issue, but imagine if the BBC website suddenly stopped showing up on Google ?! The effect in Twitter is the same – no-one can find your tweets anymore, if you reply to more than 1 person at a time *ONLY* the first person will get the message;
“@mate1 @mate2 Hi Guys” – only @mate1 will ever see the message.
Why? Because all Twitter clients on PC, MAC, iPhone etc supplement incoming tweets using the Twitter search engine (it saves Twitter API calls) If you’re not in search you’ll only be seen by a few. Being the search engine, it also means that in some cases you won’t show up in the people search tool.
I hope you’ll be able to investigate this issue and get some information, as repeatedly victims receive helpdesk updates saying the issue has been fixed; which it hasn’t. If you wish to see my case log with Twitter, please let me know.
If you are experiencing the same problems; perhaps you can send the BBC an email as well…
Putting the fun back into design
Posted by martin newham in Musings, Web/Tech on June 21, 2009
I’m really glad I found this new site; http://www.bitrebels.com/ – its fun, and looks into the tech and gadgets in the design world. You’ll find the friendly staff writers have a broad set of skills each having their own unique views in this digital world we live in, you can also follow them on twitter;
IoW Day14: Bye bye island – sad all round
Posted by martin newham in Holidays, Musings on April 17, 2009
It was a strange day; it was grey misty and sad – it was my last day on the island…
IoW Day13: Snow tops and Sunsets
Posted by martin newham in Holidays, Musings on April 16, 2009
It started out a damp morning which seems to be following a trend; but thankfully on my last full day by 1pm it was a beautiful day. I drove down the Shanklin and parked up the Beatle before walking along the promenade to Sandown. The views are breathtaking as always;
IoW Day12: Devils Chimney to Quarr Abbey
Posted by martin newham in Holidays, Musings on April 15, 2009
Wow what a day! 3 places I’ve never seen before; how an earth did I miss them before?
Crompton Bay was dark and misty this morning, the west side of the island is usually the last to wake up…
Beetle ready to go… power packed 200BHP turbo; lovely!
IoW Day11: Island-Wide
Posted by martin newham in Holidays, Musings on April 14, 2009
Weather was certainly changeable today; early wet and windy, nothing like yesterday! Wrapped up warm, I ventured out into the chilly/breezy outside.
Had a couple of tasks to perform, so stopped into Newport to see VW & get a in-car power adaptor for my 3G Access Point (what a geek). I was somewhat surprised to get stuck in a traffic jam, 15 minutes to travel 300yrds! it was even worse than at home…
Travelling North, I headed into Cowes; for some reason all the way I kept saying “Moo” but in different voices; must be may age… ha-ha
Cowes can only be described as “twee”, a quaint High Street crammed full of shops selling nautical items; such as those long sleeved polo/ruby shirts, life jackets more shirts, and then… same again.
IoW Day10: A day in Freshwater Bay
Posted by martin newham in Holidays, Musings on April 13, 2009
The weather looked promising early morning at 7:30am, streaming through the slit in the curtain; with bleary vision I squinted through the gap and was greeted by a perfect morning, I was so overcome by the experience I returned to bed for another hour!
I spent the morning reviewing the papers sitting on my rooms balcony, I had visited a majority of the attractions the island had to offer so really my time was my own. As the day progressed the climate only improved – with renewed confidence in the weather I booked a further few days in the hotel returning to the mainland on Thursday morning.
