Tag: gadgets

May 11, 2011

Arduino

Is anyone else (who reads this) playing with Arduino? It’s a kind of open source electronics kit.

I’ve just ordered the StartFun Inventor’s Kit to get me going, which is a heap of varied components together with an Arduino Uno controller – an easily programmable microcontroller. It looks a lot of fun, and it is possible to build quite a bit of stuff with a minimum of soldering, which suits me. It means I can play away developing my prototype, then call in a friend with a steadier hand when I have something worth building.

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April 14, 2011

Kindle – I’ve Got It Covered

I’ve been making good use of my Kindle since I got it, in particularly reading successive Dresden Files novels.

I think Amazon should actually give this device away – it makes it so easy to buy another book.

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April 1, 2011

Gadget: Pure Siesta Flow

FM radio reception has always been a bit hit and miss in my area, which is why I have a couple of DAB radios around the house. However, my bedroom clock radio is still an old FM model (10 years!), and lately, I’ve found things worse than ever – decent reception when it wakes me up, but the moment I start walking around the bedroom, the signal comes and goes.

So I have just bought a replacement – the Pure Siesta Flow. This has a total of 4 alarm registers, which can be set to different day ranges – hence you can have a totally different wakeup routine at the weekend, without having to change anything. When the alarm goes, you have a choice of sources:

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March 29, 2011

Kindled

Back in January, I wrote that I had been thinking of getting a Kindle, but had been put off by the relative prices of ebooks to paperbacks.

A couple of things have happened since then to give me a new view on things.

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February 27, 2011

Duh

Wanting to copy some MP3 files to my HTC Desire, I have been frantically searching for the USB lead for it, which had to be there somewhere. Then I realised – it is the same lead that is dangling out of the power supply.

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February 25, 2011

Playing with VOIP

I mentioned in my previous post that as my HTC Desire is a work phone, I will not be using it for calls while I am in the States, due to roaming costs. Which is why I wanted to look at VOIP again.

I have had a VOIP/SIP client on my phone for some time – SIPDroid. It is a popular client, and I could use it to make calls through my work VOIP phone system. However, it would never ring when a call came in, which limited its use.

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February 24, 2011

Packing my bags

Today is my last day at work for a while. I have a busy weekend ahead of me, getting all my clothes and stuff together and packed, and doing my guitar practice; then on Tuesday next week, I fly out to San Francisco for a 3 week holiday.

The trip will include staying with various filkers throughout the California state, attending Consonance, and spending time exploring both Los Angeles and San Franciso.

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January 24, 2011

Microwave – a change of heart

Earlier this month, I was asking Do I Really Need A Microwave. Having had my old one blow up just before Christmas, I wondered whether I need to replace it.

I decided I did, and have bought this. Much smaller (and cheaper) than my previous model, it has a round back and fits nicely into a corner. It doesn’t have a convection oven setting, but it does have a grill.

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January 15, 2011

Kindling

For some time, I have been looking at the Kindle, and wondering if I would get on with it. Packing away my books last year, many of which I knew would never be re-read, made this even more relevent.

A little while back, I actually downloaded the kindle software for my HTC Desire. While knowing it won’t be the same experience as a proper Kindle, I was surprised how easy it was to read on the Desire. Not wishing to buy yet another gadget I would get no real use out of, I thought I would see if I made use of the Desire at all, by downloading a few free books.

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January 5, 2011

Do I really need a microwave?

A short while before Christmas, my combination microwave went up in a puff of smoke – quite literally. There was no actual fire, but a smell of burning, and a minor temporary smog.

I immediately unplugged it, and it has been sitting in the corner waiting for an opportune time to take it to the tip.

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August 19, 2010

Decisions, decisions

I’ve wittered about this to two people on the phone today, and sent one of them a long email because the poor soul sounded vaguely interested in my demented enthusiasm. So I thought I might as well post about it.

As some of you have gathered, I have been having fun with BBQ. In fact, I have been grilling regularly for about 2 years now, but have only recently tried to do some proper advanced BBQ, like smoking and slow-cooked joints of meat, which I have covered here.

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July 30, 2010

Pulled Pork II

No, I haven’t been cooking again, am going to a BBQ on Sunday, and that will be plenty enough for me this weekend.

But I did pop in to my local butcher’s today, which is run by the local pork farm, and asked about the specific cut of meat that the pulled pork recipe I have asks for. In the States, it seems to be called a “Boston Butt”, but I described it to my butcher as a “bone-in blade shoulder of pork, 4-5lb approx.”

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