Avvenu heard of it?

I have been trying out a new service recently called Avvenu. It's quite cool, you install a small program which sits in your system tray, that then enables you to access (and share) all the files on your computer via the web. It bypasses problems like firewalls and handles image and music files quite nicely. You can also download entire folders at a time as a ZIP file. Security is one concern, and I don't personally leave it running on any of my PCs (you can include up to 4 computers) if I don't need it. I have even accessed my computer via my WAP enabled phone, although I can't think of a single reason why I would actually want to do that. The basic service is free, they make their money by offering a premium service which allows you to save files on their web space, enabling access while your computer is offline. I've been quite impressed by the service (as you may be able to tell). It's ideal for people who want to share files between several machines without the fuss of firewalls and creating shared folders etc. etc... My only concern is that it encourages people to leave their computers on all the time - just think about the carbon emissions!

Scrapheap Challenge

Saturday was bad car day, as Josh had some major car issues after someone drove into his car at 3:30am and then drove off. So we went down to Leamington Police Station to make a report. After that we went to a car wreckers to look for a windscreen wiper. Would you believe that some yobbs snapped the wiper off Clare's car one night last week? What has Kenilworth become? Do these people not know they are building a Waitrose here? Anyway, having never been to a car wreckers before, it was quite an interesting experience. A note for next time, bring a pair of wellies and tool kit, because you have to wade through large amounts of mud before you can take apart the car parts you need. Anyway, the mission was successful, and Clare's car wipes again.

The Future of UI?

Just watched this video on some research into a 'hands on' way of interacting with computers. It's very 'Minority Report', and a welcome break from the boring keyboard and mouse.

I'm sure it'll be years and years before anything like this makes it to the market place - but one day, perhaps computers will be easy to use.

B&Q start selling wind turbines

So B&Q have started selling windsave wind turbines on their website and in the their larger stores. They cost £1,500 which includes a survey and fitting. You can't buy for self install. Their claims about money saving seem quite high, I'm not convinced that everyone will see their money back before the end of the turbine's 10 year life.

However I think this is a great move, and I'm sure the price of turbines will drop, when some more competition move into the marketplace, so the payback period will improve in the future. I think the law also needs to change to relax planning permission, allowing turbines like these to be bought like any other appliance, with 'Do it Youself' fitting (something I'm sure B&Q would welcome!)

Personally I'd like to open a small wind farm with some much bigger turbines, but sadly I lack the space. Perhaps I'll put some in the local park instead. It's either that or a domestic nuclear power station.

Wind turbine on B&Q

richorama :: music

In my spare time I produce music on my computer. I thought I would publish some of my recent compositions as a separate blog for you to listen to and download if you're interested. It's mainly drum 'n' bass (so don't worry - I don't sing!) produced using Reason 2.5. I'm no professional, so if you have any tips - let me know. I'm also interested in obtaining more sounds and influences, so if you play an instrument send me some samples!

richorama :: music

An app a day

Some fella called Dana Hanna has decided to write an application (computer program) every day for 30 days. Ok - so they're not all that useful, in fact they're not useful at all, but I take my hat off to him - some of them are quite impressive.

You can view his blog here:

http://www.anappaday.com

And download his applications here:

http://www.anappaday.com/downloads

You can also 'chat' with him to influence his ideas - perhaps by the end of the experiment he will produce something useful.

My kind of workout

Clare showed me this video last night (while I was painting the sitting room). I thought it was quite good.

Peak Practice

We went for a walk in the Peak District on Saturday. The weather was great and the eight mile walk, which took us up Mam Tor, was good. Needless to say, we all ached by the end of the day.

View the album

Man blows up speed camera

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5320092.stm

Just seen this (rather amusing) article on the BBC news site. A guy basically gets flashed by a speed camera, already has 10 points on his licence so in fear of loosing his licence, he blows the camera up with thermite.

Great plan - and I guess even though he's been found guilty of damaging property, he still retains his licence - although I think four months in jail is considerably worse.

Perhaps it's better to keep to the speed limit when you have 10 points.

New wheels

The time came for Clare to have her own wheels - so last week we bought this little motor. It became apparent that the last owner had not been doing too much servicing, so I changed the air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, engine oil and even the gear box oil (unintentionally). I also removed an extra 'gary boy' tin can which made the exhaust look bigger, badder and quite stupid. Sadly not all parties considered this to be an improvement - I was stopped before I could remove any other non-standard components.