A Short Story: UPS Blues
Posted by Daniel in Cars, Models & Gadgets on 25. Jun, 2010 | 1 Comment
“Ha! Suckers!” I thought, ambling into work at 9:30, pleased at being almost on time for work for once. I’d queued up at silly-o’clock once before, for the launch of the iPhone 3G two years ago. It hadn’t gone well — my store ran out of iPhones before I got to the front of the queue and I wasn’t that far back at all.
For the iPhone 4, I pre-ordered for delivery instead. I sat at work smugly tweeting about not having to queue. You can set your watch by the UPS van here — if your watch is only accurate to 15-minutes, at least — so I was confident I’d have my iPhone by 4pm.
Refresh refresh refresh. Online tracking assured me my parcel was out for delivery?. Refresh. Out for delivery.
The Performa of my Childhood
Posted by Daniel in Cars, Models & Gadgets on 20. Jun, 2010 | 0 Comments
Sometimes you see something that you absolutely must have. The reason might be stupid, but the instant you see this thing you know you have to have it in your life. A few days ago I saw something on eBay that had just that effect on me. Thankfully, I won the auction for only £10 — making it the least expensive “must have” item ever.
How I got a Vodafone Sure Signal for FREE!
Posted by Daniel in Cars, Models & Gadgets on 18. May, 2010 | 0 Comments
Unfortunately, my office is located in a very small mobile phone signal blackspot as it’s nestled at the bottom of a small hill — move a few metres away outside and signal returns to normal. Recently, Vodafone released a little device called the Sure Signal — a mini cell tower (femtocell) that provides your phone with signal.
Pretty much anywhere you see a Sure Signal review, you’ll see comments talking about Vodafone’s evil plans for ripping off the consumer by charging extra to supply their service over the customer’s internet connection. Well, I managed to use a SUPER SECRET method to get my Sure Signal absolutely free.
Why crashing your car on purpose is a smart thing to do… Sometimes.
Posted by Daniel in Cars, Models & Gadgets on 18. Dec, 2009 | 0 Comments
Many people I know will tell me I’m being irresponsible for doing this myself, let alone telling others to do it. However, I saw one of those people nearly trash £55,000 worth of Porsche by simply letting go of the wheel and hitting the brakes when the back end broke loose, so what the hell do they know?
When you’re dealing with a car that’s losing control, you need to know how the car behaves in order to concentrate on getting it back in check. When you start losing control, you have seconds to react and fix it before you go past the point of no return. If you’re already compensating for your car’s tendency to pull right under heavy braking in the snow by the time it happens and putting in exactly the right amount of steering in to stabilise the car and allow stability control to do its job, you have a much better chance of coming out of it without a dented car or skull than someone who’s thinking “Shit, what’s what crunching sound?! Why is my car pulling to the left? Why has my car lost power?”
PRS-505 and PRS-600 display comparison
Posted by Daniel in Cars, Models & Gadgets on 11. Sep, 2009 | 0 Comments
I bought my Sony Reader PRS-505 nearly a year ago, and as a direct result the amount of books I read skyrocketed from around 1 per year to 2-3 per month. I adore this thing, and even considered importing a PRS-700 from the USA — but I was put off by the reports of a very glare prone screen. For the first time in a long time, I’d actually prefer to keep my old gadget than replace it with the “better” model. In my opinion, an eBook Reader should be like a car – provide enough technology to get the job done well, and don’t distract me with needless crap, especially if it gets in the way of the primary functionality.
Day-To-Day with a Sony Reader on a Mac in the UK
Posted by Daniel in Cars, Models & Gadgets on 06. May, 2009 | 0 Comments
Look around the web, and you’ll find many a review of the Sony Reader. If you’re looking for another one, you’re in the wrong place – this is an account of managing the device on a Mac.
As a Mac user living in the UK, I’m pretty much S.O.L when it comes to using the Reader’s built-in software. The Sony Store, which is an online book store not unlike iTunes’ Music/Video/etc store. However, it only works in the USA due to “licensing restrictions”. Even if I was in the USA, the software that lets you access the store and manage your Reader’s content is Windows only. Super.
How to navigate to a co-ordinate with a Garmin Colorado
Posted by Daniel in Cars, Models & Gadgets on 04. May, 2009 | 0 Comments
I’ve had a Garmin Colorado for quite some time now, and although it’s great, it’s really a pain in the ass to just enter a GPS co-ordinate and go there. I couldn’t find a simple, with-pictures guide online, so I thought I’d create one.
On Great Customer Service
Posted by Daniel in Cars, Models & Gadgets on 10. Apr, 2009 | 0 Comments
In November 2008, I bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 595 headphones. A few weeks ago, they developed a really annoying rattle in the left can, so I set about looking for the receipt so I could take them back. It or the original packaging were nowhere to be found. I don’t live near the [...]
A New Ambition
Posted by Daniel in Cars, Models & Gadgets on 24. Mar, 2009 | 0 Comments
Today, I’ve decided to add a new ambition to my list: I, Daniel Kennett, would like to – one day – buy a new car that works and stays working. Not that I’m contributing to the disposable car culture or anything, but in the past year or so I’ve bought (or bought on behalf of [...]
It Has Begun!
Posted by Daniel in Cars, Models & Gadgets on 16. Jan, 2009 | 0 Comments
A little while year ago, I wrote about although I’m all grown up and have a job and live in a house and drive a car, I still want a kick-ass dog and a model railway. Well, as discussed at the time I can’t (fairly) own a dog at the moment. Maybe in a year [...]
