Tried using Google while out and about on O2 3G but Google thought I was a malware bot and produced the following message:
Since when has performing a search on Google been classed as suspicious activity?
My Powerbook battery has slowly lost its capacity to hold charge for any reasonable amount of time. I recently read about the free Coconut Battery utility and some tips on how to recondition your battery to recover some of the lost capacity.
After downloading Coconut Battery, I found out how bad my battery had got: From an original capacity of 4200mAh, my battery capacity had reduced to only 1225mAh, a mere 29%! (see left)
I then set about reconditioning the battery. This involves firstly charging until the computer shows 100% and the power plug changes from amber to green. Then the power is disconnected and the laptop used as normal until it goes to sleep on low power. Leave it for a couple of hours then charge it again back to 100% without using it.
After this the battery capacity had increased by to 1737mAh (see right) – an increase of 41% but still only 41% of the original capacity (a strange coincidence). I will try another cycle to see if I get another improvement. I also have a spare battery which I’ve just checked is in an even worse condition – its current capacity is only 11% of its original capacity so that will also need conditioning.
It is interesting to note that in trying to drain the battery, the laptop carried on running long after the low battery warning and after the battery was shown at 0%. I have drained my iPhone in a similar fashion (and intend to do so on a regular basis) and this also continued to function long after the 10% battery warning. If most people do, as I did, and plug the charger in when the battery warning comes on, it is hardly surprising that batteries lose their capacity as they are not being properly cycled. Perhaps battery warnings should be set much lower.
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If you’re looking to buy an iPhone and wondering whether it will pair up on Bluetooth with your TomTom GPS, I can confirm that my iPhone 3G pairs successfully with my TomTom GO 500. The firmware versions are: iPhone 3G (v2.2.1 (5H11)) and TomTom GO 500 (v7.903).
It actually pairs up better than my Nokia 6300 which, as noted in a previous post, fails to properly import the phone book into the TomTom, choosing only to offer one number per contact. By contrast, the iPhone clearly tags each number with work, home, mobile.
I also now have names and numbers of incoming callers showing again on the TomTom. Since switching from my SE k750i to the Nokia 6300, I had lost this, as the Nokia did not pass any information to the TomTom about the incoming call.
Back in 2005 when looking for a ringtone for my mobile that sounded like the Trimphone from the 70s, the only one I could find was unfortunately an American style single ring version that someone had posted on a forum, but I have recently edited it in Garageband to shorten the ring and make it the proper UK style ring-ring.
I thought I’d share it so you have the choice here of an m4a version that will work on Sony Ericsson and Nokia, and an m4r version (essentially the same file but renamed) which will go straight into iTunes for syncing with an iPhone.
Trimphone image based on image from FunkyWorm on Flickr used under Creative Commons Licence
Kerbside recycling of household waste got off to a shaky start here in Bolton with some properties not given recycling containers while properties in the neighbouring street were (a farcical situation which still exists at our old address). The council also tried to reduce the non-recyclable waste collection to fortnightly without first providing sufficiently large bins for recyclable waste – an issue on which the previous council administration lost power in the local election.
I must say however that household recycling now works very well for us.
We now have four bins for waste collection:
Oddly, according to letters in the local paper, this is somehow confusing for some folk.
The black bin is emptied every week, while the others are emptied once a fortnight. As a family of four, even with this frequency we find that we usually only need to put the recyclable bins out once a month and often find that we can skip a week on the collection of the black residual bin.
Although the green bin meant that the amount of kitchen waste going into the black bin was reduced*, we found that we had a problem with fruit flies and smells in the green bin, especially in the summer.
We decided to buy a composter and settled on a ‘dalek’ type. This means that we can also dispose of other items such as eggshells and teabags which would otherwise have gone in the black bin. Unlike the green bin, you can wrap the kitchen waste in newspaper to reduce the problem of fruit flies. I would recommend doing some reading up on composting as you need to keep a balance between what are called ‘greens’ and ‘browns’.
We have been using this for over eighteen months now and have yet to take anything out of it; it just keeps rotting down. The green bin is now hardly used expect for larger garden items such as pruned branches.
Not everything can be collected at the kerbside but used or redundant items can still be recycled or reused. Used batteries go to the local Asda who have a collection point for recycling. Anything that we no longer need but is still serviceable, particularly children’s toys and clothes, are taken to charity shops or sold. I’ve even sold a 32″ widescreen TV with a picture fault on ebay; I’d rather see someone else get use out of it whether for spares or by getting it repaired. Clothing that is worn out is usually turned into rags for use in the garage.
* I have since read a letter in the Bolton News, stating that the council are telling people that the green bin is not to be used for kitchen vegetable waste, except that the Council’s own Waste & Recycling website clearly states in the A-Z under ‘V for Vegetable Waste’ that uncooked fruit and vegetable kitchen waste can be put in your green bin. (Screenshot here in case their website is down, which is often the case)
The lamp in the bathroom just went pop – No problem except once I opened the fitting, I find it’s an Edison Screw (ES) type for which I don’t have a spare. I’m guessing that the previous owner installed this light fitting themselves.
Why, when we already have a superior standard in the form of the Bayonet Cap (BC) fitting, do we allow Edison screw type fittings to be sold in this country?
The problem lies partly with retailers such as Ikea – Rather than selling fittings with a standard BC lampholder, they choose to impose ES fittings which are usually made abroad. This also means that the lampshades they sell will not fit standard BC lampholders as the ring is made for the larger ES lampholder and a separate adapter ring is required.
Although the same thing would not happen with socket outlets, inferior standards for sockets in other countries has already caused a hazard to materialise in the UK.
Unlike the majority of foreign socket outlets, the UK BS1363 standard for socket outlets is designed with shutters to prevent the insertion of objects into the socket. Other countries have had to resort to the use of plastic ‘safety socket covers’ to prevent children inserting foreign objects into unprotected live sockets. Unfortunately, several toy manufacturers have marketed a UK version of these socket-covers, which are not only unnecessary but whose use can actually negate the safety features of the BS1363 sockets creating a very real hazard.
While Sky+ works well most of the time, I have found a bug in the software when faced with a dual recording.
Normally if you have a concurrent recording set for channels A and B but are watching channel C, the box will pop up with a message saying that you have to cancel a recording to continue watching channel C – fair enough as it needs both tuners to do the recording. If you do not respond to the pop-up it will assume you are not there and record both programs, switching away from channel C.
Having two young daughters, Sky is often still tuned to CBeebies when they go to bed. CBeebies closes down at 7pm. If Sky+ now has two recordings set it still displays the pop-up but doesn’t time out meaning that one of the recordings fails unless you come back, switch the TV on, see the pop-up and respond to it, which normally results in missing the start of the one of the recordings.
It would seem that if the channel C in the example above is a channel which is not currently broadcasting, Sky+ fails to time out and you lose one of your recordings.
Here’s a cracker. Don’t know how many derail.
Watch out for the extremely cool chickens.
If the scroll wheel on your Apple Mighty Mouse stops working, try this solution.
I used a slightly damp kitchen roll and it works perfectly.
