Middle Aged Tip

I have so many remote controls, I have had to start stacking them as I haven't the space on my desk. Today though I put into practice an idea I'd had a few days ago. It involves buying a meter length of Velcro (furry side) and another meter (hooky side). I've cut a small piece of Velcro (furry side) and stuck this to the back of each remote. I've then cut a small piece of Velcro (hooky side) and stuck this to the shelf edge of my desk unit.

Now each remote 'sticks' in place where they are easily visible and more importantly, off the desk.

A Week of Finds

The past week hasn't been at all bad. I have come to the conclusion that I am at my happiest rummaging through the contents of a local charity shop or better still finding a new toy or gadget. It's not an age thing - I've been like it all my life, buying things no one else has a use for and giving them a home. Having said that I am by no means a hoarder like those you see on TV at the moment. My wife prevents things from getting out of control and I have perfected the art of hiding things and making them fit seamlessly into my existing collections. Two items have been given a new lease of life. Yesterday I came across a rather nice turntable in a local charity shop window. I knew it was 'rather nice' as it was by Acoustic Solutions and I could see it was in excellent condition. The price tag of £5 also played a large part in deciding to buy it. I had actually been saving a £5 note for a few weeks hoping to find something like this. I had hoped to find a cassette deck (to replace the one my wife encouraged me to sell a couple of years ago), but it wasn't to be.

Although I already have two record decks, I do have problems with the stylus weight finding that it is far too light for the majority of records I buy. This causes it to jump rather too often, treating a spec of dust in a groove as a speed hump. The deck I had found had a perfectly weighted stylus, I could tell. As I went to walk away with it, the woman running the shop pointed out there were two speakers to go with it. Well this I didn't expect as I was planning to simply connect it to my amplifier. The speakers in question were actually made by Sony and rather expensive looking - and very heavy. These were included and I left the shop just managing to carry everything with a big smile on my face.
Although I had no need for the speakers as I have them built into the ceiling at home, they would come in very useful for my Blue Skies group especially for watching films or playing music. I was very pleased with my latest haul hurrying home to test it. Needless to say it worked perfectly.
My second 'find of the week' was a D-Link MediaLounge Wireless Media Centre. Now I already have one of these and we use it every day to stream TV and films from hard drive array. I knew its potential straight away and being on eBay, it's opening bid bid was just £4.99 which I met straight away expecting others to bid against me. To my surprise they didn't and that evening I won the auction paying just £4.99 and £8 postage(!) Nevertheless, this was a real bargain. Again this would be ideal to use at my group as it can play DVD's and stream media from a variety of different sources.

Being wireless, it negates the need for cables and I know from experience of my own that it will connect to the projector we will be buying in the next few weeks. I took delivery of it yesterday and it too is working perfectly, seamlessly integrating with my other equipment.
I think it is true that I am happiest when I have something new to fiddle with or configure. My mood certainly improves at the prospect of a Saturday morning rummage and I am like a teenager with his first Sony Walkman or PacMan game when I do find anything slightly 'gadgety'. What's even better is the fact that, for the most part, the people selling these things haven't a clue what they are or even less what they do and sometimes I struggle to maintain a normal expression for fear of appearing too excited. Only when I have paid for my treasure and leave the shop do I allow myself a little triumphant 'yes!' and head for the safety of my car.
That is why this past week has been good for me. We are all different and different things make us feel good or content with our lot. I think the people around me have come to accept that the same things that fill me with excitement now are those same things that would fill me with interest and delight when I was a teenager. Back then I was intrigued by how things worked. Now I'm just glad that they still do.

RIP Richard Briers

Such sad news to hear of the death of Richard Briers. I will always remember him with fondness for his role alongside Felicity Kendal in The Good Life but he his acting skills extended to all genres including stage where he was an accomplished and acclaimed Shakespearean actor.
A remarkable man who will be very much missed.

Just Around the Corner

A sure sign that Spring is just around the corner, daffodils planted in neat rows in a field opposite my parent's place here in South Holland begin to emerge from the soil and will soon form a huge carpet of yellow flowers.

40 Years & Metroland

It is 40 years since John Betjeman's Metroland had its first TV broadcast in February 1973, shown to a record audience and repeated two weeks later.

 
I was reminded of this by a feature in the Sunday Express newspaper which explored the  creation of the programme and its appeal. The article was superbly written and for me filled in many gaps in my knowledge relating to its origins and its production. To this day, Metroland remains my favourite work by Betjeman though his rediscovered programmes on Swindon & North Lew and Marlborough come a close second.

My introduction to Betjeman was through Metroland. I was compelled to find out more about him and in doing so I amassed a large collection of his television, radio and literary work. His love of the music hall is reflected in Metroland including his passion for the railways and architecture. It is a programme that has everything. To learn about Betjeman is to watch Metroland.

Metroland is actually as old as me - we are both 40 years old, born in February of 1973. In a way, I have literally grown-up with Metroland. With every year that passes, my affection for Metroland grows stronger yet each time I watch it, I never tire of it. Like a masterpiece in a gallery, it finds new audiences year after year. For me it is a particular work of Betjeman's that keeps giving, and this I think is its lasting appeal.

A Lucky Find

I love second hand shops. I can spend hours in them sifting through stacks of records and rummaging through boxes of bric-a-brac. You never  know what you might find from one week to the next. It is also important not to dismiss the humble box. Open it and look inside, you never know what it might contain. It was just such a box that caught my eye this morning in Long Sutton. The box in question was quite blank apart from a BT label. Opening it, I found two mains plug adaptors, both wrapped and an Ethernet cable. There were no instructions but on closer examination, I realised what they were.

A few years ago, I had read an article about how someone was experimenting with the mains circuit in a house and using it to transfer data from one point to another. In effect, it was being used as a data network as well as carrying domestic power to sockets. The idea seemed to me a little fanciful at first and the thought of high voltage and data mixing wasn't that appealing but as I thought about it a little more, it did all begin to make sense. It occurred to me that every home does have its own ready made network. It's primary use is to get electricity to every room but in theory, it could certainly be used to carry data if the current could be separated from the data stream.
Holding the adaptors it became clear that someone had in fact made the idea a reality - I had to have them! Looking at the box more closely, I could see that £5 had been written on the lid. I know for sure that they are worth a lot more than just £5 and to be honest I doubt if they have ever been used. I bought them instantly and was eager to get home so I could try them. As I drove home, I thought about how I could put them to practical use. I already have a good wireless network covering the house, well three in fact - each for a different type of data. But there is one gadget that would benefit enormously by being 'hard-wired' to my data network. We have a wireless media centre that streams video and TV programmes from a set of hard drives to our TV set. It's a few years old, but works very well. Not having a cable long enough and being loathed to drill a hole through our lounge wall, we have plumped for the wireless option but I've always been aware that the device can be hard-wired. Wireless is brilliant, but it can be subject to the odd stutter and this can be quite frustrating when watching a film.
I set about plugging in the adaptors, connecting data cables between the 'access point' adaptor and my data hub and between the 'receiving' adaptor and the media centre. A button on the front is all that is used to configure the devices and in a few minutes they were talking to each other. This was a very good sign so I tested the media centre and it worked perfectly, markedly quicker than it is on WIFI.
I always set out hoping to find something different, unusual and 'gadgety'. I was lucky today, doubly so as I was able to put it to really good use. I like days like this.

Falling Sky

It's not often you get two asteroid events in one day, but that's what has happened today. This morning we awoke to stunning pictures of a meteorite streaking across the clear central Russian sky and exploding. The resulting explosion caused significant damage to buildings and caused over a thousand injuries. It's a miracle that the meteorite didn't strike a heavily populated area or the fatalities could easily have been in the many hundreds or even thousands.

What is particularly stunning about this event is the fact that it has been recorded in crystal clear clarity by so many who were either on their way to work in their cars or walking to their offices and factories. This is due to the fact that many cars in Eastern Europe have 'dash cams', an insurance requirement in most cases used to record journeys and the actions of other drivers. The ease at which mobile devices are able to capture video literally makes everyone a potential reporter able to capture news-worthy events as they happen.
What is slightly worrying is the fact that this particular meteorite wasn't spotted. Whether no one was actually watching out for it is the subject of much conjecture but I'm assuming most eyes (and telescopes) are focused on '2012 DA14' which is due to pass Earth at about 7pm GMT at a distance of just 17,000 miles. This may sound a lot but when you consider that some of our communications satellites orbit at approximately the same distance, in cosmic terms, this is really very close indeed and certainly the closest near Earth object in recorded memory.
So it's been quite an interesting day, the sort of day when you half expect something just as weird and fantastic to happen. One thing's for sure, we've certainly had a stark reminder of just how vulnerable we are to the many lumps of rock floating round all around us in space. I wonder if we'll be as lucky the next time?