A long weekend was upon us.
Friday, we did think I would take the girls to a National Trust property, but as it turns out they were tired and I didn't.
On Saturday we
Sunday was Easter, and so if course the girls received their eggs. Mum and Dad came over and gave them more eggs. Then we spent the day at a neighbour's house (thank you Chloe). A lovely roast lamb dinner, a game of chess, and Epic - a good way to spend the day .
Monday was the day to go to Silverwoods, our annual pilgrimage to GETH, the Great Easter Treasure Hunt. We yomped across the West Sussex countryside and of course we won - we got the most clues in the quickest time, and Daughter #1 found the champagne as well, but The Wife decided that we would not take it all - at least, not on this occasion.
Today was back to work with a bump - roll on the weekend!
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
So I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 from eBay. It's not like we don't have enough tablets in the house, but this was a proper bargain. The seller described the tablet as 'not working', but in the description she went on to say that the tab was locked because a family member had set a lock code and forgotten what the code was.
Now, you and I know that if you forget your lock code, you can factory reset your device (if it is Android) by pressing a combination of the power key and one or more of the volume keys. So, as the tab was on eBay for less than £20, and the postage was £7 (or £6.95), I put in a bid of £33.75. I knew that would take me over the £40 mark, but I thought that would be an okay price for me. Please remember, I am a skinflint and we already have several tablets in the house, so it was an impulse bid and I would not regret losing the auction if the price went above £40 (incl. postage).
Actually, at this stage let's take a small detour and list the tablets we have / had....
Firstly I started with a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7, the original. I used it as a phone for a while, because it has 3G capabilities. And while my HOX was being repaired recently, I went back to using it. God, it's cumbersome! But a great little device.
Then when the Blackberry Playbook started tumbling in price, I bought one of those. I think it was £129 for a 64gb 1080p 7" device. It had a very nice screen, and I used to watch TV shows on it while commuting to work. Unfortunately the design flaw in the Playbook was that you could put the USB cable into the socket either way, and if you put it in the wrong way, you could damage the socket. Guess what I did? Unintentionally, of course... Luckily I had taken out insurance from Currys, and so they replaced it with a 1st generation Nexus 7. Then I think we bought a no-brand tablet for Daughter #2 for Christmas.
I also bought a Nook Simple Touch when they were being sold off dirt cheap, and then became interested in the Nook HD 32gb when they were being sold off cheap. I managed to get one of those off eBay for £87 or so (the P&P was unreasonable though :) ).
Next I bought a broken Blackberry Playbook for £21 but couldn't get it to work, so I sold it for £25, and now I bid on the Tab 2 7.0.
So for a while the bid was sitting at £16.70 or so, then it rose to £33, just shy of my limit. I hmmed and hawed and upped my max bid to £38.25. With the postage that would have been just over £45. But as it happened, no one else put a bid in, and so I got it for £33 +£7 postage.
So it turned up yesterday and I spent most of last night trying to reset it, The problem was (and this wasn't mentioned in the eBay description) that even when the power cable was unplugged, the device thought it was charging. When it was plugged in, the red 'x' showed in the battery, but it was charging. When I unplugged it and switched it off, if I pressed the power button the screen showed the charging animation. The state of the phone (that it thought it was charging) was preventing me from booting into Recovery and resetting the tab. But I scored a breakthrough, and realised that if I unplugged the charger from the wall but left it plugged into the tab, it could work... And so it did, I was able to reset the device. So I had a working Tab 2 7.0 for £40 including postage.
Then, unfortunately I noticed that the issue with the battery was persisting; that when I was charging it, the red 'x' was on display, and when it was unplugged it thought it was charging. But I noticed that there was a software update available, which would take the device up to 4.2.2 from 4.1.1; would that fix the issue? I was thinking that if the update didn't fix it, I could always put it back on eBay as 'not working', but aim to make a small profit.
As it was, the update did work, the tab is now running Jelly Bean and the battery issue appears to be fixed. So that is a result - perseverence pays off :) .
Now though, I am in a quandary, as She is expecting me to sell one of the tabs we've got in the house.
I am not losing the Nook 8.9", nor am I losing the Nexus 7. So it's down to either the OG (Original Gangsta) Samsung Tab or the Tab 2 7.0. And to be fair, the Tab 2 7.0 is really nice.
I've hacked around with the OG Tab, it's running 4.2 as well, I believe, but I think I will sell that one. I see that they go for about £100 on eBay, even £75 would be okay I guess. We'll have to wait and see, though. I know that until recently I had kept the box it came in, but I suspect I've thrown it away in the moves in and out of the loft, and so I'll have to take a hit on that. It does have a lovely case though... I'll let you know how it goes.
Now, you and I know that if you forget your lock code, you can factory reset your device (if it is Android) by pressing a combination of the power key and one or more of the volume keys. So, as the tab was on eBay for less than £20, and the postage was £7 (or £6.95), I put in a bid of £33.75. I knew that would take me over the £40 mark, but I thought that would be an okay price for me. Please remember, I am a skinflint and we already have several tablets in the house, so it was an impulse bid and I would not regret losing the auction if the price went above £40 (incl. postage).
Actually, at this stage let's take a small detour and list the tablets we have / had....
Firstly I started with a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7, the original. I used it as a phone for a while, because it has 3G capabilities. And while my HOX was being repaired recently, I went back to using it. God, it's cumbersome! But a great little device.
Then when the Blackberry Playbook started tumbling in price, I bought one of those. I think it was £129 for a 64gb 1080p 7" device. It had a very nice screen, and I used to watch TV shows on it while commuting to work. Unfortunately the design flaw in the Playbook was that you could put the USB cable into the socket either way, and if you put it in the wrong way, you could damage the socket. Guess what I did? Unintentionally, of course... Luckily I had taken out insurance from Currys, and so they replaced it with a 1st generation Nexus 7. Then I think we bought a no-brand tablet for Daughter #2 for Christmas.
I also bought a Nook Simple Touch when they were being sold off dirt cheap, and then became interested in the Nook HD 32gb when they were being sold off cheap. I managed to get one of those off eBay for £87 or so (the P&P was unreasonable though :) ).
Next I bought a broken Blackberry Playbook for £21 but couldn't get it to work, so I sold it for £25, and now I bid on the Tab 2 7.0.
So for a while the bid was sitting at £16.70 or so, then it rose to £33, just shy of my limit. I hmmed and hawed and upped my max bid to £38.25. With the postage that would have been just over £45. But as it happened, no one else put a bid in, and so I got it for £33 +£7 postage.
So it turned up yesterday and I spent most of last night trying to reset it, The problem was (and this wasn't mentioned in the eBay description) that even when the power cable was unplugged, the device thought it was charging. When it was plugged in, the red 'x' showed in the battery, but it was charging. When I unplugged it and switched it off, if I pressed the power button the screen showed the charging animation. The state of the phone (that it thought it was charging) was preventing me from booting into Recovery and resetting the tab. But I scored a breakthrough, and realised that if I unplugged the charger from the wall but left it plugged into the tab, it could work... And so it did, I was able to reset the device. So I had a working Tab 2 7.0 for £40 including postage.
Then, unfortunately I noticed that the issue with the battery was persisting; that when I was charging it, the red 'x' was on display, and when it was unplugged it thought it was charging. But I noticed that there was a software update available, which would take the device up to 4.2.2 from 4.1.1; would that fix the issue? I was thinking that if the update didn't fix it, I could always put it back on eBay as 'not working', but aim to make a small profit.
As it was, the update did work, the tab is now running Jelly Bean and the battery issue appears to be fixed. So that is a result - perseverence pays off :) .
Now though, I am in a quandary, as She is expecting me to sell one of the tabs we've got in the house.
I am not losing the Nook 8.9", nor am I losing the Nexus 7. So it's down to either the OG (Original Gangsta) Samsung Tab or the Tab 2 7.0. And to be fair, the Tab 2 7.0 is really nice.
I've hacked around with the OG Tab, it's running 4.2 as well, I believe, but I think I will sell that one. I see that they go for about £100 on eBay, even £75 would be okay I guess. We'll have to wait and see, though. I know that until recently I had kept the box it came in, but I suspect I've thrown it away in the moves in and out of the loft, and so I'll have to take a hit on that. It does have a lovely case though... I'll let you know how it goes.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Cruzer Force (32gb Thumb Drive)
So I bought a Cruzer Force 32gb usb stick earlier in the week and it arrived yesterday. Looking at the photos, I was expecting a large-ish drive that would slope down to a usb junction. How wrong I was.
It's tiny! I don't know how they managed to write 'SanDisk' on there, let alone squeeze in 32gb of memory...? It's a great little invention, and it was in a flash sale on eBay - £9.99.
A bargain piece of tech. And I might find a use for it...
It's tiny! I don't know how they managed to write 'SanDisk' on there, let alone squeeze in 32gb of memory...? It's a great little invention, and it was in a flash sale on eBay - £9.99.
A bargain piece of tech. And I might find a use for it...
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Speek Yer Branez I
So that Maria Miller then, eh? Gone, like that. In a flash of allegation and half-truths.
I'm not going to go into them. I'm sure it's all well-documented somewhere.
But, how depressing must it be to wake up day after day, and realise that your fizzog is going to be all over the news AGAIN, for all the wrong reasons? Politicians are a hardy, egotistical bunch (my own conclusion based on my senses), but to know that your 'misdemeanours' will be driving the news cycle must be depressing. Ah well, we build em up, and we knock en down. And tomorrow's another day.
Sleep well.
I'm not going to go into them. I'm sure it's all well-documented somewhere.
But, how depressing must it be to wake up day after day, and realise that your fizzog is going to be all over the news AGAIN, for all the wrong reasons? Politicians are a hardy, egotistical bunch (my own conclusion based on my senses), but to know that your 'misdemeanours' will be driving the news cycle must be depressing. Ah well, we build em up, and we knock en down. And tomorrow's another day.
Sleep well.
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Windows Vista Service Packs 1 & 2
You know, it's strange. For such a neophile, I didn't realise that I hadn't installed Vista Service Packs 1 & 2. Crazy, when you think about it. I've been fussing about the latest update to Android and sweating on the release of the Chromecast. But my laptop was running an outdated O/S.
So I've updated to Service Pack 1, via manual installation. And I'm currently installing Service Pack 2. It seems to be going well. I'm hoping to get regular updates once this Service Pack is installed. But I know that Vista is at the end of its serviceable life, and really we should get a new laptop. But I like tinkering, as you know by now, so it's a good way to pass the time :)
So I've updated to Service Pack 1, via manual installation. And I'm currently installing Service Pack 2. It seems to be going well. I'm hoping to get regular updates once this Service Pack is installed. But I know that Vista is at the end of its serviceable life, and really we should get a new laptop. But I like tinkering, as you know by now, so it's a good way to pass the time :)
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