Barry John Williams' Blog

Wow! It is February already and I haven't posted anything on my blog for a while... I better post a quick overview of my 2009. I like to make postings like this as I use the blog as a kind of diary for me to read over in years time.

2009 saw my increased use of Twitter and Facebook. The result of which is decreased blogging.

In May I had my Gallbladder removed, I've had pains which I can trace back to when I was 15 at school. Severe enough for a number of visits to A&E, one of which they noticed unusual blood enzyme levels the investigation into which diagnosed my condition. Whilst this investigation started in 2008 I only requested to be added to the waiting list in February 2009 and had my operation a few months later in May (delayed to the need for an MRCP scan). They called me up and asked if I could go in on a particular Friday, this would have meant missing my prebooked showing of the new Star Trek movie so I requested I have it one week later which they agreed to!! It took a number of weeks for me to fully recover, but I have never felt better! I never realised how much pain I was in until it was gone!

As a bonus I got to watch the Star Trek movie twice at the Imax as I won tickets through Forbidden Planet too!

When our campervan conversion insurance was due we were asked if we had our V5 document updated from "Panel Van" to "Motorhome", we hadn't so we lodged the change request in with the DVLA and were asked to appear for an inspection at the VOSA inspection centre in Bishopbriggs. We got our updated V5 a few weeks later with our camper conversion now official! To celebrate this I treated the van to a some new overhead cupboard fascias and a rebuild of the frame structure to make them more sturdy.

In July we took a 3 week Campervan holiday through Europe to Spain.

On return to Scotland we found out Louise was pregnant which we were both delighted at. Our due date is in May 2010 and I cannot wait! Since then we have slowly been getting pieces together and converting our back bedroom into a nursery, this also meant I get my own room which I have dubbed a Manden. I can now put my posters up on the wall without Louise complaining! We now have loads of baby stuff and a few outfits.

On October 23rd, the company I work for had their official launch event - we had had a few false starts before this event so it was difficult for me to pluck up the enthusiasm prior to this, but I was surprised on the day itself and happy to see everything finally being made available to the public.

We spent Christmas 2009 at my brother-in-law's house in Bristol and enjoyed a snowy walk through a nearby park.

Labels: 2009, review

I have just finished reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it very insightful, although it appears to be set a little into the future (10 or 15 years), many of the technologies covered in the book could exist today! Over the last few years I've been watching with interest the "security theater" happening in Britain. I have enjoyed thinking about how such systems would fail and how people could easily bypass a system - further enhancing my view that these precautions are there for show and not increased security. This is what the protagonist in this book does all the time to fight his war against his own freedom.

When questioned about the increased restrictions; CCTV; tracking; RFIDs; and ID cards people always seem to take the point of view; "if you have nothing to hide, why worry?". I've always had a little bit of difficulty answering this question other than it's the attitude which allows the powers that be to make things worse with even more 'security'; and then point out a few areas where they fail. This book provides an answer to these by example.

It reminded me of a thought I had during the Christmas Lectures by Professor Chris Bishop, in one of the lectures he talked about using RFID technology to pay for items and for your fridge to acknowledge the expiration date of food contained within. As a 'bonus', the RFID could also store the components of the packaging for efficient recycling after being thrown out. My take on this was the superstore tracking you with the item knowing exactly when you picked the item up, from where and how long it spent in your basket - along with the rest of your items - and how you paid for it. The superstore would have an incredible amount of information about you which they could mine. Then when the packaging is thrown out, the recycling agency could have enough information to know exactly who threw said packaging out - and typical of Britain, this could be a taxable service, pay as you throw RFID style. Quite quickly you could obtain and track the eating habits of thousands of Britons! I have nothing to hide about my eating habits - but I certainly wouldn't want this information stored about my household.

I haven't read Orwell's 1984, but I bought 1984 along with Little Brother on Amazon, it is next on my reading list!

In summary I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it!

Buy Little Brother on Amazon

Labels: book, review

Earlier this month I placed an order for the new Nintendo Wii Remote Jackets, 4 days ago I received an email stating they would arrive within the next 10 days. Well yesterday I received them. Two rubber covers and an instruction leaflet informing me how to fit the jacket were in the jiffy bag.

Amusingly on the front cover of the leaflet, it does warn me not to deliberately knock the Wii remote against the TV, furniture or other objects and also warning me the jacket will not eliminate potential damage completely - I was hoping it was gonna be like the Hazard Suit in Metroid...



The jacket itself is quite nice, not too flimsy or thick. The material is soft and not too sticky either and it's ribbed around the edges for extra grip. The air cushion at the end isn't too bulky but looks like it ought to do the job!



The whole thing looks quite nice when it's on the remote. It covers over the power button at the top of the remote (the only button covered by the remote), but it doesn't seem to affect operation. The IR window at the top of the remote is uncovered and recessed by the air cushion so it should be quite safe! It's also slightly curved around the sides so in addition to the grippiness of the rubber and ribs, it should be quite difficult for this to slide out of sweaty hands - useful for a Rayman Raving Rabbids championship!!

There is a dust cover built into the jacket to protect the Nunchuck connector which is a good idea and it is easy to remove the cover to plug the Nunchuck in.

In the hand it feels like a tennis racket handle which is quite convenient as I like Wii Tennis!! Overall very neat and both remotes will be covered by this today!

Not sure how it will operate with the new Wii Guitar Hero III controller, I suspect I may have to remove the cover for the remote to fit in. Similarly with other remote accessories you'll probably have to remove the cover!

I think it's well thought out - and if I saw this in the shops or on eBay, I'd probably have bought one.

Labels: gadgets, nintendo, review, wii

I sold my iMac earlier this week and in the process of completing the online "paperwork" I pressed the button to print a packing slip.

This usually prepared a nice label which I could print and affix to my parcel ready to take to the post office. Except this time was a little different...

It asked me for the weight of the package (14Kgs), Paypal already knew the source and destination so I had a selection of postal options to choose which covered this journey. I chose "Parcelforce 24" and was given a quote of £11.99 - really good value! So I accepted, paid for this through paypal and instead of a nice address label - I actually printed the barcoded label for ParcelForce! All I had to do was drop it off at a post office or arrange a driver collection.

Now this was where the fun came in!

I'd chosen "drop off at Post Office" since they couldn't offer a (free) collection from my house today so I wondered up to the post office and they didn't really know what to do; washed their hands of it and claimed they weren't touching it because it takes business away from the Post Office. However, they did offer to post it if I paid the difference between the £11.99 I paid online and the £23.50 they were going to charge. Yep you guessed it - I turned around and wondered out slugging this oversized, overweight package underarm...

Turns out the post office were wrong to turn me away due to the fact I had all the completed paperwork and barcodes affixed correctly - but not much I can do about that now. I travelled down to Dixon's Blazes and dropped the package off at the Parcel Force depot and it travelled out tonight.

When I spoke to Parcel Force they explained that the Post Office should have accepted it since they are Parcel Force collection points. The lady I spoke to explained that a lot of them don't realise the discount offered by ParcelForce/Paypal for eBay purchases - at 50% it's awesome and the lucky winner of my auction got a £10 refund from the original P&P charge!

Next time you sell something on eBay - check it out for a real saving in postage! It may take away business from your local Post Office, but at those savings with free collection - Post Office, get with the times!

Labels: ebay, grumble, review

I went to watch the Simpsons Movie last night thanks to the Orange 2 for 1 deal at the Showcase Cinemas!

As (oddly) seems to be the case, when Louise and I go to watch a movie, all the other screens are bustling; except the one we're in! The screen last night had about ten people in it in total - fantastic!

I was a bit worried about not enjoying this film as I'd heard mixed opinions and having watched various adverts and clips either I'd watched all the funny parts or that was the tip of the iceberg...

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it! I hate it when people tell me what happens so don't worry I'm not going to tell you anything other than - there is someone credited in the voice credits at the end of the film who doesn't actually appear. Whilst not realising this at the time, I noticed it and later found out it's apparently a joke on "those who obsessively read the movie credits" - D'oh!! Worst Joke Ever! Wikipedia is now telling me they were cut from the movie - oh well, guess I'll have to wait 'til the DVD release now to find out!

Labels: movie, review

Quite by surprise yesterday afternoon a delivery truck came to deliver a package in Louise's name. What could it be?

Later that evening I had built up a sweat, pulled a muscle in my leg and had a sore arm. It was a Wii with Wii Sports ordered early December 2006!

My favourites so far are definitely the Tennis (despite the fact I don't like it in real life), Bowling and Baseball!

My PS2 has GTA: Vice City Stories in it - I'm about 30% through that game and I'm not sure I can go back to sitting on a chair stabbing my fingers at a controller! The Wii is just different and a lot more fun. Louise and I competed last night for about 4 hours before having to give up! Even the dog was trying to join in...

The Wii has WiFi on it, which was a breeze to setup and you get News and Weather through the first menu. The weather is quite swish - it gives you a google earth type map to play with and displays the weather and temperatures for major cities across the globe. You spin the globe using the wireless Wii controller! The news is extremely readable and looks like a newspaper. Cool stuff!

It also plays my old Gamecube games so I may just have a go at finally completing Metroid Prime!!!

You can create your own Avatar or 'Mii' which you can use playing your games - Good Fun!

Labels: coolstuff, nintendo, review, software, wii

The Daily Telegraph has an interesting diagram showing the average prices of everyday items in 1997 compared with today.


(Click to enlarge)

Full Daily Telegraph Article about Tony Blair resigning as Labour Leader

Labels: politics, review

In January of this year I bought a Treo 680 from Expansys on contract from Vodafone, the problem that I didn't realise is that Vodafone won't insure my mobile because it's not from them and they couldn't do a 'like for like' exchange. This meant looking for a 3rd party insurance company...

Most of the ones available are for purchase with a new phone, for example Carphone Warehouse, Argos, etc. I found one quite quickly on the internet, but (to me) it seemed like a bit of a nobody and wasn't sure whether it was a rip off or not.

Left with no choice, I went ahead and purchased the insurance from a company called Insurance4mobiles but with a number of different domain names on the internet. The website claims it is underwritten by AXA and when I called the number I actually got through to someone. The monthly price is £7.99 for my Treo 680 and you pay the first three months up front.

Well, you can't really review an insurance company without a claim, so by luck (or not so) I had to make one recently.

I managed to accidentally crack the screen on my Treo and this is covered by the insurance policy's accidental coverage. I called the company and told them I'd like to make a claim and they wanted proof of purchase of my phone, this was going to be slightly difficult as I'd purchased it from Expansys using Paypal. I forwarded on the paypal receipt and it wasn't accepted; after explaining the situation they would accept a photocopy of the label on the side of the box including the make and model of the phone along with the IMEI number. I compromised by offering a photograph of the phone displaying this information - I sent the photo via email and they were happy with it, claim approved and it would be a £25 excess fee.

They sent me an addressed package for the phone and claim form to sign which arrived the following day. After posting it, a few days later an absolutely brand new boxed and unopened Treo 680 arrived through the post!

After my initial reservations, they've demonstrated they are good - and a lot easier than some insurance companies I've claimed through (T-Mobile).

If you have an uninsured phone or laptop, have a look. They ensure a wide range of mobiles and have a couple of different insurance products.

http://www.insurance4mobiles.co.uk/

Labels: gadgets, insurance, review