Proceeds of crime are now being sold on eBay at knock down prices, or should that be knock off?
All goods are legit, but the process of obtaining them was not. Items range from Mont Blanc pens to Armani watches, all very tempting, but would you really want a Mont Blanc pen worth £200 that’s been originally bought by dishonest means, and is now on eBay for £30? I thought so, I do too!
Another great from Google – Search by taking a picture!
This is available as an App for Android (exclusively on Android systems?); it’s downloadable on the Android Market and should come in handy when I return to Cologne this Christmas to do some shopping in the Christmas markets!
I’m bad enough when travelling through London filming everything as I go so that my Augmented Reality App “Layar” tells me stuff about what it sees and I’m constantly talking into my phone so that it searches by voice control alone – it’s pretty dam amazing, it’s only got it wrong a couple of times, which surprised me because voice control normally requires a dodgy American fake accent… Now I’ve got the power of Google via my camera, there’s just no stopping me!
This is what Google say about it:
A picture is worth a thousand words. No need to type your search anymore. Just take a picture.
Find out what businesses are nearby. Just point your phone at a store.
This is just the beginning – it’s not quite perfect yet. Works well for some things, but not for all.
Your pictures, your control. Turn on ‘visual search history’ to view or share your pictures at any time. Turn it off to discard them once the search is done.
FINALLY!!!! My prayers have been answered. Not less than 3 Pico seconds from dumping my Humax PVR9200T in the bin (I’ve loved it like a limb for years) did I get an email from Humax themselves (thank you also @HumaxDirect) explaining that an Over The Air (OTA) software update will be broadcast shortly to fix issues with sluggish, unresponsive remotes and program guides – and bloody freezes! Hopefully it will also include a fix for the fact that it forgets what I’ve asked it to record (series linked) as it will for example record every airing of FlashForward (not just the Monday night episode!)
I’VE HAD IT WITH HUMAX ARGH!!!!! or have I?
I’ve been through all sorts of batteries, I’ve deleted stuff hoping it was a hard drive issue, I’ve whacked the remote and everything (like tried to catch it out by acting nonchalant, then suddenly pouncing on a button)… This morning I mentioned it to my misses that all had started to go pear-shaped since the last update; perhaps she went to the Humax HQ and attacked them or something, as now suddenly there is a light at the end of the tunnel and they fixing the problem!
HOWEVER, this situation was panning out quite nicely, as I was planning on buying the newest version with FreeSat HD via HDMI (I already have it built in to my Panasonic 50″ but can’t record it) it will finally get me off the old gold Scart cable (only use HMDI with the PS3 currently)
Here’s the letter from Humax:
Dear Humax user,
The Granada region phase 2 digital switchover (DSO) 3rd of December 2009
As discussed in my last correspondence the UK “Digital Switchover” or “DSO” is now in full swing.
On December 3rd the second and final phase of this process will take place for the Granada TV region, so I thought it only right to drop you another line so that you may be prepared in advance.
A twelve page booklet which outlines all of the options for the switchover and offers advice on all of the available technologies, not just Humax, is available on the following link. www.humaxdirect.co.uk/DigitalSwitchover
For TV retune guides for popular manufacturers currently supplying products in the uk, please click www.tvretune.co.uk, and for Humax specific issues please feel free to email us at uksupport@humax-digital.co.uk or telephone our support line on 0844 669 8800.
Over the air software updates for all Humax Freeview+ PVR users
While in writing we are aware that a small number of Freeview+ PVR users are experiencing issues with their remote controls being sluggish or unresponsive, and boxes occasionally locking up following the recent “National retune day” and the DSO’s. This has been caused by minor changes (that Humax were not made aware of) to the broadcast signal in certain areas, and is not a hardware fault.
Due to this situation our engineers visited from Korea some weeks ago, and working alongside the various broadcasters, have developed over the air software updates that correct these issues. We have already commenced broadcasting these updates for the PVR9150T and PVR9300T (series) units and hope to be broadcasting the PVR9200T (series) version in the coming weeks.
As long as your box is in standby at night (not on and not off at the power socket), you will automatically receive an update for your Freeview+ box overnight during the transmission period, and the update will install automatically when you next turn the box on (just follow the on screen instructions). Please note that these updates will not delete any recordings already done, but may require you to re-enter your forward looking schedule to ensure the programmes you wish to record in the future are scheduled to record. If you believe you may have missed one of these updates, fear not, as they will be repeated every couple of weeks for the foreseeable future to ensure all of our users receive them.
This broadcast is being sent to all Humax Freeview+ users in the UK to ensure similar issues are not encountered in other areas as the DSO’s continue to roll out over the next 2 years.
Please Note: The “Digital Switchover” (DSO) only affects households which receive their TV signal through a TV aerial, and will have no consequences for satellite or cable TV users.
To help make tomorrow journey into work more pleasant, im writing this poem which I’ll attach to a sandwich board and wear so you all know.
If you: pick up a new copy of the Metro, bend it, then put it back and pick up one you didn’t ruin I kill you.
If you: Stand next to/ infront of me when we are the ONLY 2 people on the platform, trying to get into MY door before me I kill you.
If you: Were either of the two sprinting in from each door in an attempt to beat the other to the last remaining seat I kill you.
If you: Stand on my toe I kill you.
If you: Stand on my toe and leave a mark I kill you.
If you: Leave your train intercom on playing white noise for 5 minutes I kill you.
If you: Decide to play commuter tennis in your big warm control room by making us all walk from platform to platform while the train/platform information changes back and forth I kill you.
If you: Give me a funny look or don’t look super happy to be at work when you let me through your gate and the tube station I kill you.
If you: Stand infront of me on the tube with your bag in my face I kill you.
If you: Stand infront of me on the tube with your bag crushing my newspaper I kill you.
If you: Sit next to me trying to read my paper I kill you.
If you: Sit next to me trying to read my paper, when you have your OWN paper I kill you.
If you: Sit next to me checking out the picture of Jordan in the Jungle I kill you.
If you: Stand infront of me on the tube reading MY USED PAPER over my head in my no fly zone I kill you.
If you: Are obese and squeeze yourself in to the seat next to me that’s half your width I kill you.
If you: Sit next to me, wake me from my meditation to avoid the smelly one, then try to fit for the armrest I kill you.
If you: Stand infront of me, pressing your chest out in a pathetic attempt to either make me offer you my seat, or check you out, I will then I kill you.
If you: Don’t move out of my way to allow me out of my seat or to stand up or get off the train I kill you.
If you: Break your neck to get infront of me at the escalators only to walk as fast as a snail up them I kill you.
If you: Walk up stairs slower than me I kill you.
If you: Walk slower than me I kill you.
If you: Force me to walk in your nicotine cancer riddled smog trail I kill you.
If you: Cut me up? I’ll trip you up then I kill you.
If you: Walk towards me like you own that part of the pavement and force me to move I kill you.
If you: Drive your bus past the BUS STOP without STOPPING, I’ll get a taxi, overtake then I kill you.
If you: Talk louder then the music playing in my earphones I kill you.
If you: Try to shut the lift door before I get there, even though you saw me I kill you.
If you: Use the last of the milk I kill you.
If you: Allow my PC to load slower than a Commodore +4 I kill you.
If you: Float around over my shoulder trying to read what I’m typing I kill you.
This is awesome!! I love it, projections on building is old school, but these guys have made it cool again, very very clever how they project a picture of the building on itself, and then do crazy cool stuff.. If I was next to the church which had a sudden flash flood from the roof, I’d run screaming, very cool!
Ooooh I love sweets! So many memories flooding back while browsing this cool site, www.aquarterof.co.uk I MISS COLA CUBES! and cola bottles, aniseed balls – in fact EVERYTHING THAT’S ON THERE lol
Can you still get “proper” sweet shops? I know it’s probably impossible to get 1p or “penny” sweets these days, inflation has probably pushed it up to 10p by now, but it’s the actual shop I miss most…
I loved going to the sweet shop as a kid, with some pocket money in hand, perhaps a 50p, and with it all the dreams that a 50p could make possible (50p was very powerful back than, especially in a childs mind, I could take over the world with 50p)..
I’d get in to the shop and stare at acres and acres of chocolate bars and crisps all laid out perfectly, and beyond the counter stood paradise! a wall a mile high, and 3 miles wide, FULL of jars of every conceivable sweet.. and often a ladder they would used to get the top jars..
I’d spend a good half an hour just staring, going over and over in my head all the possibilities, choices and combinations that would give maximum ROI (ROI back then was popularity amongst friends, sugar rush, E-number poisoning and having pockets rammed full of slightly sticky thin paper bags, full of sweets.
After a while, the shop keeper would usually prompt me to choose something, I’d hesitate, then ask how much a quarter of kola cubes were – or which ever sweet took my fancy – and he’d reply something like 20p, I’d consider and probe the store keeper some more to try and get a better deal. Finally I’d load up and go, satisfied I’d done good business, and got the best bang for my buck.
I was always a sucker for sweet that mad you pull silly faces, then shake your head involuntarily in disgust, then say yum. Never understood that, and I’m still like it. Wasn’t a fan of UFO things, sugar paper and sherbet YUCK, eating those was like scrapping your nails down a black board – I’m cringing now just thinking about it. Chocolate never lasted, many failed attempts of stuffing my pockets with chocolate made me realise that boiled was the way forward.
Things don’t really change, 25 odd years later I still stand and stare for ages, ask questions and annoy shop keepers – but its usually over a mobile phone, TV or car..
Could you get a gob stopper in your mouth? could you get it out again lol… And what about bricks of honeycomb? awesome! popping space dust stuff – brilliant, did you do the popping space dust and coke thing? hahahah those were the days! 3 or 4 packets straight in, then the Coke – stand clear! That reminds me of a friend who put 2 tubes of sherbet in his mouth with a some Coke or Dr Pepper, human fire extinguisher! not instant, and not out his mouth – he refused to open his mouth as we wanted his cheeks to explode (you don’t think forward as a kid lol) but they didn’t, but it did produce two jets of foam from his nose!
I’m seriously in a nice place right now, gonna go and remember some more.
Don’t let sweets fade out, boycott bars, stick to sweets!
What was your favourite sweet? How do you remember the good old days?
I never knew T-Mobile was German, and Orange was French! I’ve been with T-Mobile since they were known as One2One… ah the good old days, having to REQUEST that your mobile phone be SMS enabled (lol) and the thrill of recieving a 160cahractor message in pure unadulterarte grey and white text. ah.. magic. Perhaps now, I can get in on the Orange Wednesday cinema thingy.
Only good thing can come with this merge, hopefully Orange will smack some morals into T-Mobile, and T-Mobile will force Orange to come up with better cinema adverts.
The future’s bright, the future’s orangey pinkish.
At last! my beloved Spotify is available on my Android (G1) Phone! [also on iPhone and my iPod Touch yay], not a moment to lose – I must download immediately.
*play some dodgy lift music* : downloading, installing, entering details..
“Premium users only” – WHAT! its free on my computer, why isn’t it free on my phone?! Who the hell would download and pay for this on their phone.. oh hang on, no I know why its availiable on iTunes for the iPhone now – cos no one will use it! clever Apple. Please make it free, I don’t mind the adverts.
Ah well, I’ll not being uninstalling LastFM just yet then..
bobbyllewRT @markrock: The police really are their own worst enemy sometimes: http://bit.ly/PiVYm This is really terrible
C’mon guys, you know what’s really going on – I can’t fit a reply into 140 chars – the police have a massively difficult job made harder by idiots like the pair in this video. I do agree with Bobbyllew, it always looks terrible on TV, and yes, there are times when it’s absolutely unacceptable for officers to behave in such a manner, but they are dealt with. One of the biggest battles is making the removal of someone’s liberty look pleasing – no one wants it, and most people fight against it, so police have to deal with it quickly, fairly and efficiently, which also looks dreadful!
Which is better:
1 cop, 1 man, both punching, griping and kicking each other, man is then sprayed/baton and falls to the floor, then cuffed, still flailing his legs about.
8 cops on 1 man, but they’re all using finger tips, every limb is under control, he lashes out, quick administration of pain to a pressure point (which isn’t torture!!!), he stops, legs are tied so he cant hurt himself or someone else.
The link posted on Twitter of some protesters being “brutalised” by the police has touched a nerve with me personally (as normal given my background lol). I’m SICK of police getting bad press, and YES I’m aware that its the Guardian reporting this, I also read the Guardian as a creative, but so do lots of tree huggers, hippys and middle class anarchists that think they know the law, and will buy the paper because of this article.
The way the police dealt with this gets my approval 100%, the officers aren’t doing anything illegal, no? ok, I will explain why this has pee’d me off enough to waste 15 mins of my life writing about it.
An officer does not need to give you his details under certain circumstances – fact
An officers can arrest you for taking his picture without consent, it’s against the law! – fact
A power station is a likely terrorist target, and is monitored for the sake of keeping the country running! – fact
All officers should be wearing there collar/shoulder numbers* – ok, bad cop and will be reported internally and disciplined* (name tag can be removed under certain circumstances*) [*most forces]
Emily Apple is a trouble maker, wearing a hoody and sun glasses like some geriatric teenager trying to remain anonymous, if she believed what she was doing was innocent, why the stupid outfit? She behaves like a teenager, believing she knows the law, that the world revolves around her, and feels she can push the law to its limit and remain lawful – idiotic time waster – meanwhile, people are being attacked and robbed and cops are stuck dealing with this plank.
Emily Apples attempt at trying to cry on camera was almost good enough for a BAFTA award, however, no tears just a slight wobbly voice doesn’t convince. No entrance to Rada for you.
If you resist arrest, you will be man-handled – fact
If you attempt to strike an officer, you will be immobilised – fact
Often it takes many officers to SAFELY control someone as each officer only needs to used slight force, which looks dreadful to passers by -I accept that, but better than one officer struggling and using maximum force, and possibly injuring themselves too isn’t it?
Thumb in the neck – this is a pressure point, there’s no lasting effects, it provides a little pain and reward to those idiots who think they are above the law and refuse to move. If the pain isn’t removed after the suspect has complied, then it’s torture, however keeping your thumb in the right area allows for instant application of the pressure point as and when it’s required – I cant see if it was held for longer than it should have been.
Holding head up to the camera for evidence – ok, looked bad, but who else will you get this deviant to look at the camera?
If you continue to lash out, misbehave under arrest, you’re going to be dealt with in a manner that IS uncomfortable, you will probably be pined to the ground, cuffed and stuffed! Cuffs aren’t design to tickle either.
Swearing is no way for a lady to behave – oh, and that’s an offence too! so if you swear in public, and a police officer tells you not to, and you take pictures of police officers when they have told you not to, and you also kick and lash out at them, don’t complain when your on the floor and your foot is being held down!
“We turn the table on them” – smacks of serious mental issues and paranoia to me, credible member of society? hmmm, perhaps not… perhaps the “watchers” wouldn’t need to go “watching” if people weren’t wasting time and doing pathetic things next to sensitive landmarks..
leg tape – stops animals (protesters) from hurting themselves, and officers. Oh and I saw you scratch your face into the dirt too. If behave like and animal, accept being treated like one, complain if they had stuck and apple in your mouth, for bad irony.
You went to prison? oh dear! perhaps we should re-write the law books on what to do with criminals!
You have a 4 year old child, and you went out on a law breaking jolly! ha! nice mother – should you be allowed to look after children?
There’s are right way and a wrong way to voice your opinion, and perhaps testing the waters of criminality isn’t the way forward, reasonable people would have listened to you without these stupid stunts, and crying to a paper that we all know would sympathize with you just to sell papers was pathetic. Did you write to the Times? Telegraph? no, but I bet you got front page on the Big Issue burning your bra eh?
Get a life and get your eyebrows bleached to match your hair, you twat.
