Raspbmc firewall por...

This is how I managed to adjust the Raspbmc firewall port rules to allow external connection to my ZNC server running on the Raspberry Pi.

eBooks and physical ...

I’ve been involved in or heard the eBook and physical book conversation several times, which can take many different forms from heated to jovial but I feel rarely actually reaches any real conclusion. Why? Because I believe people are approaching the conversation entirely the wrong way...

Graphical upgrade

This year my present was a shiny new graphics card (my thanks to my folks)! Specifically the Gigabyte HD7870 2Gb OC version which is a pretty tasty piece of kit, and a substantial jump up from the Radeon HD4870 which I had previously in terms of overall performance. This was purely for additional power in terms of gaming, and indeed in Starcraft 2 all of my settings immediately jumped to their highest which was nice to see.

Of course it wouldn’t be my latest PC without there being some teething issues!

Honest trailers

Every once in a while you come across a true gem on Youtube and recently I came across these series of “Honest trailers” where a group of enthusiasts have cut together their own trailers for box office movies. Instead of the classic marketing script for the voice over they pick out flaws, faults and cliches whilst still making it sound enthusiastic for the most part. The comic timing is great and well worth a watch! Below are my favourites but there are a couple more, and undoubtedly more to come.

Upgrading the core

Computers are always changing these days and have been for the last few decades. I remember my first Windows computer, a 486 processor running at 33MHz with 300Mb hard drive, which I later upgraded to a blistering 100MHz. Now PCs have up to 8 times as many processors and run at speeds up to 50 times higher with storage simply unthinkably large compared to the days of floppy discs. Heck even the CD / DVD has ceased to be what people save their transferable files onto due to cloud storage or USB keys which store many gigabytes of data. Something buddies and I were having a laugh about over a couple of beers today in fact!

Endomondo review

For those of us who like to get out and about technology can add a whole new element to the experience with GPS tracking software. Since the majority of android and iOS smart phones come with GPS built in it is possible for apps to record your outdoors activities and give you some pretty maps afterwards, and a whole host of other things as well! For instance you can see what your pace was like (and maybe realise why you were so tired at a specific point) as well as things like the altitude and even overlay on satellite maps, as well as sharing with your friends via Twitter, Facebook etc.

Kindle gen 4

For quite some time I had been considering buying a new tablet. My trusty Archos 5 has done me well but it is ageing and I would like a lightweight device which lets me do many basic web tasks without needing to boot a PC and read eBooks. However most reasonable 10″ Android tablets aren’t that light, and they aren’t all that cheap either considering you are paying for a portable low power computer now.

So as I read regularly, and indeed have an increasingly large eBook library for web related subjects and fiction, I decided to get a Kindle.