Category: Personal

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CopyTrans Manager

For quite a while I have found iTunes to be thoroughly frustrating. It has issues with my music collection, randomly adds songs I’ve deleted and doesn’t like updating the artwork on my albums. iTunes also takes an age to synchronise my phone and when it does it fails to update artwork, copy playlists or new songs across to my phone. It seems to be a pretty bad and bloated piece of software. I don’t use iTunes to back up my phone and rely on the cloud for that, which I am thankful for as iTunes probably wouldn’t cope very well with it.

I searched the internet thingy and found a free piece of software called CopyTrans which has a suite of iPhone utilities. I was rather hesitant about using it as it could really mess things up. Would it work with iTunes and my phone and help me do the following:

  • Edit my playlists on my phone without me having to add songs one at a time?
  • Update the artwork on my phone without me needing to delete the songs and then load them again?
  • Copy music onto my phone quickly and efficiently?
  • Actually read my phone database and allow me to edit it (kind of)?

I do still need iTunes but only to manage my playlists on the NAS drive as that is where my Sonos system reads the files. I guess I could use a completely different music manager but iTunes works well as long as I don’t connect my phone to the PC (which is kinda the point of the software).

I downloaded CopyTrans and started it up. The Manager part of the suite is free to use. I was quite wary of doing this. I love my music and have spent ages making sure I have the songs I want and the correct artwork. It’s quite a time investment.

“Connect Your Phone”

CopyTrans wanted my phone. I connected it and waited. CopyTrans read my database and a song list appeared on my computer. I tried to copy some new songs across to my phone.

IT WORKED

AND QUICKLY

I tried editing a playlist – easy. I even tried making sure my artwork was up-to-date (I had noticed two albums only had artwork on the first song), this was really easy and IT WORKED.

The online help files are really good. It all seems so easy.

CopyTrans you have made my life a lot easier and I am thankful. I hope millions read this and use your software, but unfortunately this website only gets ~270 hits a month. More people should use CopyTrans.

Confession –  I have absolutely nothing to do with CopyTrans. I just think their software it worth a mention here.

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Football Chat

I was sitting in the staff common room the other day and chatting to a female member of staff when another male member of staff came in.

Ian, I was at the ‘Stones match last night”

This was an interesting comment. Firstly it was directed at me and not me and the female in the room. It was also about football and the local team Maidstone United.

Now, I really don’t do association football. I just don’t find it interesting. I’m happy to go to a match and I have seen a few premiership teams play [Southampton, Everton, Tottenham and whomever Spurs were playing]. Watching the match live is an experience and one I enjoy but on the whole, football [or association football as I insist on calling it] just plain bores me. I really don’t understand watching it on television. I also don’t really follow it. I pick bits and pieces up from the radio in the morning and I have a working knowledge but not enough to have a major “bloke” conversation.

I do have a team: Tottenham Hotspur. I have this team for the simple reason that my father and other family members support them. That’s it. Geographically this is a good choice as I grew up in Essex but my ancestors are from the east end of London and so any of the north east London teams would be a good choice [except Arsenal, as much as I don’t care the ‘Spurs thing runs deep]. I keep an eye on the scores and results of ‘Spurs matches, that’s about it. I find it hard to get fanatical about the England team when they enter big competitions as it all seems rather jingoistic and I have issues with the English “identity” [more on that another time].

So, back to the conversation starter:

Ian, I was at the ‘Stones match last night”

This would have been better directed at the female in the room for all I cared. But I was now stuck in a quandary. Should I say:

Sorry, I don’t really do football. Could we talk about the NFL?

What I ended up doing, and in my head I could see the IT Crowd episode when they learn how to talk “football”, was say:

Oh, how was it? I heard they were doing well in the league.

This formed the basis for a conversation that I had no interest in completing or taking part but words were exchanged and as much as I wasn’t fussed I think the other person felt we had a meaningful exchange. I felt a little more “bloke”. Funny how it’s assumed that I must know about a particular topic because of my sex. Now, if everyone had read my twitter profile, that might help!

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Back To The Future

Every now and then you will see something on the internet which makes the rounds every year or so. This is just one example. Marty McFly is meant to visit us in the current (future) on a particular date. So far every one of these predictions has been wrong. The actual date is given below:

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Let’s save the date and make it more special than all those dates where people Photoshop the movie clip to make it now (or then).

If you ever suspect anything on the internet of not being what it says it is (and that’s pretty much everything) then you should look at Snopes. It’s a brilliant website that looks at the evidence for particular news/popular internet claims.

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Robocop

I saw this at the local IMAX. I knew nothing about it when I went and only a vague memory of the original film and thinking it was a good film.

This film was a 12A certificate. The original was an 18 (and directed by Paul Verhoven). So, it was clear that there was not going to be the same amount of violence or language involved in the new film.

[Note: I have since watched the original again and the new film stinks in comparison to the old one (which I consider a classic, probably due to where it appeared in my lifetime)]

Overall, the new film was rubbish. There were some nods to the original but they were poorly done. The news-caster opening the film and being generally very republican and Fox News about it all was there in the original but more cleverly done 20 years ago. I don’t think the news section added a thing to the film whereas it gave a much better view of the future world in the earlier version.

The original film had more menacing corporate politics, more menacing criminals and a far better plot line. This latest version of the film was too politically correct. Murphy’s wife gave consent for him to be turned into Robocop in this film and knew about him. When Robocop tries to overcome his programming in the new version we just see him flash loads of video over his display. In the original you can see a man dehumanised and then struggle with memories and his inevitable return to humanity. His wife and child have gone. He’s left alone. The original film makes more of the “struggle” to overcome his computer identity.

To improve the new film there were certain aspects that needed to be included. Murphy spinning his gun after shooting is surely a pre-requisite. That and the ED-209 saying “you have 20 seconds to comply”. I missed these as I thought they were certain shoe-ins.

So, as a film for the latest generation who can’t cope with the 80s excess this is a very neutralised version. Less language, less nasty. It’s a shame, but then they probably wouldn’t make any money if it was an 18 certificate.

The final scene of the film, much like this final paragraph, was a waste of time.

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Lone Survivor

It’s an American war film made with plenty of US military backing.

It was interesting to see a war film in the cinema again after such a long time. It was ok. It was trying to play on the heartstrings. Clichéd it was.  I got the idea that the SEALs were hard and “superhuman” from the opening and after that the action went on to prove it. The result of them following the rules of engagement was lots of pain and death, but we have rules of engagement for a reason.

Ultimately this film fails to deliver any critical view of a “just” war (hence the military backing) and just provides action based on real events with photos of people who are now dead as a coda.

Entertainment this is. Art or discussion forming it is not.

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Typing Stuff Wring

I have a tendency to type the wrong thing when I am using any form of keyboard (PC, tablet, laptop or touch phone).
Part of this is my spelling ability which, at times, should be improved and I work hard on it.
The other part of this is the arrangement of the keyboard. The QWERTY keyboard in use in English speaking countries has its letters arranged in such a way that the most common letters are in the quickest positions to type. This way the speed of typing is increased.
This arrangement means that the vowels, which are pretty common, are placed close enough to each other so if one is pressed instead of the other the resulting word is generally spelt correctly but no longer the word you wanted to type.
I don’t think there’s any particular thing that can be done about this, apart from me increasing my accuracy or decreasing the size of my fingers. Neither of these is going to happen. I guess people will have to cope with and carefully read what I really meant, rather than did write.

Problem words:

shot and shit
shut and shit
bigger and bugger
black and block

You get the idea. It’s like an “‘Allo ‘Allo” sketch all over again.

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Arrrrrrrrrrrgh

I don’t understand the logic or reason behind this:

BBC Rounding

My questions are:

  • What colour would 54.4% be?
  • What colour would 59.15% be?
  • What colour would 64.5% be?

Why are they coloured using whole numbers to differentiate the boundaries and then why tenths for the light blue-ish colour?

Ohhh, I think I get it. Because the national average is 59.2% that means it’s ok to have three colours below that and only two above it.

Does this chart say that no local authorities managed to get the average but some were below it and some were above it?

There are about 52 areas below average. There are way more (I got bored of counting) above that. Does this mean there is positive skew?

Do you know what?

I CAN’T TELL FROM THIS DIAGRAM. IT TELLS ME NOTHING OF ANY USE.

 

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Cutting It Close

I love Gran Turismo.
It can be a frustrating game but it is beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable. I have crashed a few times because I looked at the scenery!
I like the Goodwood Festival of Speed section but I have found the course tricky. Although a basic layout the shadows and look of the course change depending on the time of day. The sun has been modelled brilliantly (pun recognised but not intended), the shadows move and change how the course looks depending on the simulation time. This makes finding the braking point quite tricky. I need to find other track markers for braking points. Also turn-in points change because of the shadows. It takes a few runs on the track to find my pointers.
Such an excellent game and I haven’t even mentioned the fireworks and star maps.
I beat this particular trial by 0.004 seconds. Well done me.

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Xmas Tree Boxes

A few years ago I bought a plastic reusable Christmas tree from Homebase. It came in a box. It was nicely packaged in the box.

This late December I found myself spending more time fixing the box than I did actually taking down the decorations and tree. By mass, my box is nearly more duct-tape than cardboard. It turns out that the boxes in which Christmas trees are sold aren’t very good for the storage of Christmas trees.

I paid money for the tree and also, I assume, for the box in which it came. I would have happily spent a little more if the box was advertised as being stronger than the others and lasting more than two years in the loft.

I understand that the box is the cheap part. I also understand that my loft is at times very cold, very hot and occasionally just a little bit damp. However, should there be a manufacturer who takes notice of this communication then I will happily buy their product.

Perhaps I should start a twitter campaign for decent accommodation for reusable Christmas trees. Look out for the hash-tag: #decentboxesforxmastrees

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I Don’t Get It

About five years ago there used to be three or four burnt out cars by the footpaths surrounding my village. The were rusty and were old, plants had grown in them and I couldn’t see a track or pathway to get them there. At some point there was a clean up and the footpaths and surrounds were back to a more natural look.

This morning on my run up the Downs and down them again I found a freshly burnt out car. It was still smoking. I don’t understand why someone would do this. I really don’t. It’s not that I care for cars, I just don’t get why you drive a car to a relatively quiet spot and set light to it. Seems pretty shit to me.

Here’s the route I ran:

 

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRun

 

Here’s the car I found along Common Road at the top of the Downs.

Burnt Out

Possibly a Vauxhall Corsa. I don’t really care.

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