Monthly Archive for January, 2006

Stumble Upon

Published on January 28, 2006 in Computers and Internet. 0 Comments
Here’s a tool that I looked at a long time ago but have recently come back to and found it addictive. It’s called Stumble Upon and it’s a small web-browser extension that allows you to click a "stumble" button, which then takes you to a random web-site.

Before you begin you fill in a profile telling the tool what type of
interests you have – it then does the rest everytime you click the
"stumble" button.

You can rate sites you come across by giving
it a thumbs up and "I like it!" or the thumbs down and "Don’t show me
any more of this type of site".

The only downside is it is so
easy to get distracted from what you should REALLY be doing by instead
clicking the "stumble" button and been taken to a new, and in most
cases, interesting site instead. Interest levels – up. Productivity
levels – down.

How to be an extreme recycler!

Published on January 27, 2006 in Being Green. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .
Reached asatisfying milestone yesterday as I put my first bin-bag of rubbish out to be taken to landfill/incineration in over six months. Yes, I’ve not put any rubbish out for the bin-men to take away in six months.How have I done this? Is my garden and home overflowing with rubbish? Nope. Only a very few items have ended up in my bin-bag – every other bit of waste I have has been recycled or re-used somehow including:-

  • Food Waste – Composted
  • Cans and Foil – Recycled
  • Bottles and Glass – Recycled
  • Paper and Card – Recycled or Composted
  • Plastic – Recycled

Unwanted items (such as replaced electrical goods), packaging from parcels, jiffy bags and envelopes have all been given away on Birmingham Freecycle and I’ve even got the GG, her friends and my parents in on the act as they’ve increased their recycling efforts too!

Computer equipment, whether replaced or ready for scrap, have been taken to a local charity who recycle them for re-use.

I’ve even become more aware of the amount of water I use and started doing things like putting the plug in when running hot water, and using washing-up water to soak the house plants with.

Now all this may sound very eco-warrior and might even sound like a lot of time and trouble, but once you come to terms with the basic idea that anything you acquire is yours for it’s life and should only be put into a bin-bag as a last resort… then it opens up your thoughts on how to re-use items, recycle items and even reduce the number of items you
need.

I’ve found that rather than being a pain, taking on this philosophy has made me happier (think of the warm glow you get knowing you are doing some good every day), more aware of the environment around me and has even saved me money as I’m more likely to think “Do I really need that?” when shopping. Less impulse purchases mean more money in the wallet!

I’m not about to grow a beard and wear sandals anytime soon – but I shan’t be giving up my new “green” lifestyle – I’m far too happy with it!

You can find out more about how you can be more “green” by going to http://www.recyclenow.com/

Sony Ericsson k600i, Opera Mini Browser

Published on January 26, 2006 in Computers and Internet. 0 Comments
Not many blog entries lately as I’ve been under the weather a bit. Last week I had the aches, headaches and shakes (all the symptoms of ‘flu without the cold) and this week… I’ve got the cold. Urgh.
 
So in between doing as much work as I can manage, I took the chance to order myself a new Mobile ‘phone. Orange provided me with a lovely new Sony Ericsson k600i. It’s not a lot different to my old k700i, except it is 3G based so allows video calling and the like. A totally pointless service for me, but hey – it’s gadgety. It’s a little bulkier at 105g compared to the k700i at 93g, but feels nice in the hand. One complaint might be that the actual keys are too small for a larger mans hands (or pound of sausages, as my brother would call them) but overall, I’m impressed.
 
The first thing I did with the ‘phone was install the latest Opera Mini browser. It’s a Java application that offers full HTML browsing in colour on your mobile ‘phone… and it works!
 
The screen can be a bit crushed (as you’d expect on a tiny Mobile screen) but reading BBC News, Slashdot and TubbWEB through it is so much better than wading through slow WAP pages.
 
I can see my GPRS bill soaring…

Stick Cricket

Published on January 17, 2006 in Computers and Internet. 1 Comment
Prepare to quit work, give up your partner, ignore the children and generally avoid life.

Go along to www.stickcricket.com and get stuck in. Then get addicted. Then never do anything but play Stick Cricket ever again.

Trust me, you’ll thank me initially and then hate me for telling you about it.

Location Based Mobile Information Services

Published on January 12, 2006 in Computers and Internet. 0 Comments
Attended a very interesting seminar last night hosted by the BCS and presented by Dr. Bin Hu of the University of Central England on the topic of "Location Based Mobile Information Services".

As
well as describing two projects he’s been involved with personally
(including one at an airport which can provide commuters with terminal
information, etc.) Dr. Bin Hu explained some of the suggested
applications of the technology.

One example made was allowing
students with Mobile Phones or PDA’s (or any technology that can
receive, for instance, Bluetooth connections) inside a Campus to be
electronically reminded of lectures they should attend, or pointed
towards books of interest to them in a library, or allowing them to see
whether their tutor is available to assist them if they get stuck with
work – and if not, perhaps direct them to another student who may be
able to answer their study query.

Personally,
I found the whole concept fascinating. However others raised security
concerns with the whole "Big Brother" issue. As for anyone who’s been a
student, the idea of being sent repeated SMS’s asking why you are
skiving and not at your lecture would probably not be a welcome
addition.