House Audio Project

The house audio project is nearing completion. I have an AppleTV downstairs linked to the main TV and Stereo. I have another AppleTV in the main bedroom linked to the TV there. I then have an AiportExpress in the rear bedroom linked to a set of satellite speakers. Finally in the bathroom I have an AirportExpress liked to an in-ceiling audio system. With all this I can watch movies down or upstairs and use any computer on my network running iTunes or either of the AppleTVs to play through any set of speakers (the house is effectively zoned and can play the same music in every room or different in each). I can also use K's iPhone as a remote to the whole lot. Sorted!

Bathroom Audio

I unboxed my bathroom audio system to have a look. There are two 2.5" speaker units, one with a built in IR port. they connect to a central unit hidden in the ceiling. You operate it via a 2-way remote control. Reviews state it sounds great - I'll let you know once I've fitted it.

UPDATE: sounds pretty good - needs a better radio aerial though.

New Pedals

I swapped my pedals over this lunchtime. Out go the old Crank Bros Smartys and in come the Candy Cs. They're a smaller and lighter pedal and are better protected against the dirt and wet. Plus, they're black so they look better on my bike :) The Smartys are off to Crank Bros for bearing replacement under warranty - not sure if I'll keep them or not though once they are back...

I also bought a crud-catcher and have a frame-guard coming to give my bike that battle ready look :)

Busy Weekend

What a busy weekend... I had quite a lot of Uni coursework to get done and as such spent around 12 hours over the weekend! On a lighter note I received my module results from last term (B1 and an A2). I also took delivery of my bathroom audio setup (pics later) and some new Candy C pedals for my bike - just in time as my current ones are feeling very rough. I went out for an hour on Sun morning and can feel them grinding away. We also went into town on Sat night for a friends surprise birthday which was awesome! Also, went to the dentist this morning - apparently I have excellent oral hygiene, but more importantly no work needed. Busy busy busy...

Short MBK

J and I went for a short but to the point ride last night. Only 7 miles but had a couple of excellent runs - the part labelled in red was just fantastic! You need good lights though - it was pretty dark!

Le Manoir

K and I went for lunch at Le Manoir on Sat. It was very VERY good. We stated with a pumpkin soup, then a mushroom and truffle risotto, followed by gurnard with squid, then chicken beast with a foie gras sauce and finally a pistachio souffle. Probably one of the best meals I have ever eaten :)

Night Snow

It started snowing yesterday evening and by night time we had a good 3cm on the ground. I braved the cold to take a few snaps (link in title).

Knebworth ROCK Festival

It's official - the Knebworth Rock Festival is returning. When I first moved here there was one happening every 4 years - that stopped (actually, pretty much when I moved here) - but now it appears to be back on - albeit under a different guise.

So, Aug 1/2nd we shall be hosting Metallica, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and some others.

Check it out...

Google Latitude

I've been playing with Google's new product - Latitude. This allows you to publish your location from either a mobile phone (in my case WinMo 6.1 on an HTC Diamond) or from your computer - either automatically running Gears or manually.

It is pretty easy to set up although you might have to specifically point your browser to http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en to stop the 'not supported yet' message that the V1 interface shows.

It promises to display the location of all your friends and track them as they move about. Of course, you can turn off reporting if you are on a private trip somewhere and to track people you must be invited by them. Seems pretty good to me!

Shuffle...

K bought me a shuffle on the weekend so I can take it MBKing instead of my Nano (which I use almost exclusively for the car). It seems ideal as it has no screen to crack if I fall on it :) She also bought herself a second shuffle - now she has a silver one for the gym and a pink one for Yoga! I worry she is going Mac mad!

Snow MBKing

A and I went out for a ride in the snow this morning - managed just under 10 miles (pics linked in title). It is REALLY hard work - much more so than mud. The snow and ice makes you slide everywhere with the only advantage being it is soft to land in. We stopped half way for A to make a Snow Angel (YouTube here). Exhausted by the end of it and ready for a hot bath to warm up in!

Snow again...

Yet more snow today - not as persistent as earlier in the week but it is set to be coming down throughout the day. Secretly I am hoping for 20cm :)

Xbox returns

At last my beloved Xbox was returned - apparently with a new motherboard and optical drive! Seems happy although it sounds noisier than ever :) I also took delivery of an Apple Airport Express allowing me to play itunes wirelessly in another room - if I like it I'll get a couple more and 'sound up' the bathroom and spare bedroom :)

More snow....

It snowed again last night - but not as heavily this time. However, the freezing temperatures meant it is now very icy. There are large patches of ice all over the lcoal roads. As such many things are closed - like University where I was meant to be this afternoon.

I am also waiting on 3 seperate deliveries now - all with UPS and all delayed due to the weather... my xbox is in one of them!

SNOW!

It started last night - when I was out MBKing - and continued into the small hours. This morning we awoke to roughly 10cm and it is still snowing now - link to pics in title! Times like this you wish you didn't work from home. No matter what the weather is like - my office is always open :)

Xbox fixed...

According to MS my Xbox has been repaired or replaced and is now on its way back to me - huzzah!

K's car is dead :(

I was awoken this morning by a worried looking K - her car would not start. It shows a one-bar error code when you try and start it. We tried the usual - fuses - disconnect battery - but nothing worked. In the end we had to be towed to the Smart garage for them to look at. They think it is as simple as recoding the keys - I am worried it is a broken immobiliser or key sender unit. We await their findings...

Update: car is in overnight with suspected dead ECU :( We'll know more tomorrow...

£600 job, Warranty Direct claiming they will not cover it despite salesman specifically saying this part would be covered when we bought the policy - let battle commence...!

Sticky....

Went out for a short 11 mile ride last night with J but after the rain it felt like a 20 miler! The ground was so soft that, although I had grip, it was like riding in glue - the tyres did not want to let go of the mud. So, exhausted but good fun. Also got a chance to put the R3 to a proper test - it performed well. The 50% light came on after one hour which is ok for a brand new battery, the LiPoly should get a little better after a few charge cycles.

Exams!

Today I sit my last exam of my Masters degree. From here on it is coursework only. Yesterday I sat a 2 hour paper on Quality and Change Management and today I have a 2 hour paper on Risk Management. Yesterday went better than expected - Quality and Change is such a huge topic I wasn't sure where to concentrate my studies. It turns out I hit it about right. Today worries me less as Risk Management is quite well defined and I am sure there will be at least one question on quantitative methods (which are nice and easy). Wish me luck!

Update: exams done and both went well. Can relax a bit now...

Diamond ROM 2.03

I've just flashed my Diamond with HTC's latest ROM (2.03). Seems ok so far - more news on xda-developers of course...

Image published :)

I was visiting Grandma in Padstow just before Xmas when I was asked to take a picture of a cheque being presented. Grandma emailed me a press cutting today - my pic made it to print :) Not sure which paper yet - but I suspect it may be one of the ones I work with in the area.

Unlucky.... or lucky?

I switched my Xbox360 on tonight and was just starting to play a game when it froze - never done that before. I restarted it and then I saw the red ring of death! I've heard so much about this but could not believe that it had happened to me. I was gonna wait until Mon but I got my laptop and did some research - luckily MS offer a 3 year warranty against this and so I signed up and they confirmed my eligibility for it - sorted.

It was then that I wondered just how old my 360 was? I searched my old blog (original post linked in title) and found that it was purchased on Jan 17th 2006 - WHAT!!! That is EXACTLY 3 years ago! If I had even waited until tomorrow morning to register the fault I would have been out of warranty! WOW!

New Headphones

I popped out at lunchtime today to the Apple store in Bristol. Whilst there I bought the new in-ear headphones (link in title). These have two drivers per earbud and have a button for volume/track control. They also have a mic letting you record voice memos on your ipod :) Quality and fit is good and the sound is pretty nice - lovely and clear and not overly bassey. Best of all they come with a triangular carry case that stops the wires getting all knotted up.

Quiet Room

In a bid for lie-ins K and I are going to use our spare room as a weekend room. It escapes the noise from the street and does a surprisingly good job of isolating the trains too. So, we have a new mattress on order from IKEA and this new TV from Play. Once installed it will offer us all the luxuries of our main room.

I'm ill :(

Headache, sore throat, shivers, fever, cough, stiff limbs, painful joints - ring any bells? Sounds like I have a touch of flu - one is not impressed.

Oh, btw - K got back safe. THANK GOD! I was starting to get so hungry that the cats were beginning to look like walking kebabs ;)