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My favourite August image.
090506_OakBeck_006
Random Image from my Flickr Stream
O2 support fails again
In another display of “Reply with a irrelevant template” award of the year, O2 have won, yet again.
I replaced my iPhone with a Samsung Nexus S. O2 provide wifi access to the BTOpenzone network of public hotspots. Each time I try and connect, I just get a 404 Message. So I asked O2 to explain why and look into why. This is the reply I got.
Hello Michael
I’m sorry you can’t use WiFi on your Samsung phone.
To connect to BT Openzone essentially you will need to follow the same
steps as if connecting to the Cloud Wi-Fi.The only key differences to bear in mind is that in order to connect to
BT Openzone you will need to have upgraded to Connection Manager v2
before hand, as well as have made one connection to the O2 UK Cellular
network prior to attempting to connect to a BT Openzone hotspot. This is
so the details can register with BT Openzone and cuts out the necessity
of registering the MPN when connecting for the first time as is the case
with the Cloud connection.To be able to connect to BT OpenZone the following prerequisites must be
met1. You should be using O2 Connection Manager version 98 or higher. The
latest version of O2 Connection Manager can be downloaded from
o2.co.uk/mobilebroadbandupdate
2. You should have made at least one successful connection to O2-UK (the
data network)Connecting to BT OpenZone
1. If O2 Connection Manager isn?t open, open it by select Start > (All)
Programs > O2CM-CE > O2 Connection Manager > O2 Connection Manager
2. Click Show Available Networks
3. Double click O2 UK Wi-Fi (BTOpenzone)
4. If prompted to confirm, click Yes
5. You will now be connected to BT OpenZoneIf you still face the same issue, please call our customer service team
on 4445 (charged at 25p a call) from your mobile or 07858 366 753 from
BT fixed line 5p a minute.Our lines are open on weekdays 8am-9pm, on Saturday 8am-8pm and on
Sunday 8am-6pm.If there’s anything else I can help you with, let me know or check our
online help centre atRegards
Ashwani
O2 Customer Service
Well, that really helps. The Nexus S is more than able to connect to WiFi, in the same way as the iPhone. So I wait for the latest gem of knowledge from O2 support based on my reply. I await with baited breath.
Shooting Toddlers
I’ve had quite a few toddler sessions recently and have discovered a few things: They actually love being sent to the corner.
1. Put them in the corner. I’ve found that a great corner (I love bricks) can be very useful when photographing little ones on the run. They really have nowhere to go! Of course, that won’t stop them from running right between your legs, but it always buys me enough time for a few great shots and when they run away, we just go back to the corner again!
2. Ground them. Getting their little feet off the ground will give you time to get the shot. And by time, I mean 20 seconds tops. And that’s a lot of time for a toddler to not be moving so get ready before you set up the shot. For this shot, we sat him on an old tire which got his feet off the ground and satisfied the grubby boy in him for a moment. He didn’t sit still on the chair, but boy that tire was fun!
3. Bring a chaperone. They’ll hate you for it when they’re teenagers, but a partner in crime is much appreciated during a toddler photo session. They get sick of the whole idea pretty fast, but if you’ve got on-hand entertainment via a super bubbly (and kid friendly) ‘baby wrangler’, then you’re in business.
4. Include their parents without ruining their street cred. I rarely photograph families. My sessions are entirely focused on the little person. Have you ever noticed in cartoons like Muppet Babies (from the 80s) the parents were present, but never shown above the knee? The premise was to stay down low in baby world. I love bringing this idea into my sessions with something as simple as a mother’s guiding hand.
5. Shout at them. I love this spot on the farm where I shoot. The fence on the left, the trees on the right. Not much space to escape. So I have them run away but at the right time, I shout their name and wait for them to look back. Let them do what they want and when you feel the moment, shout their name. But don’t waste your shouts because if you just keep shouting, they’ll drown you out pretty fast. I find that I get one chance – two if I’m lucky – to get a true reflex-reaction out of shouting their name.
I love toddlers. They’re so honest. They don’t know how to fake it yet and I feel like when I get ‘the shot’, I’ve really earned it.
Call it what you will, farcebook,f**kbook, its one of those sites I want nothing to do with. And with todays news of App developers having access via the API to your address, and phone numbers, is just frightning.
Just always remember, on facebook, you are not the customer, you are the product. The Customer is the Advertisers.
Great Facebook allows you to stay in contact. But personally if my mate called me up especially to tell me his son had just said his first word, or had just managed to go potty all by himself, then I’d think he was a bit odd. It’s nice to passively hear about these little snippets of other peoples lives, on your own terms, but I wouldn’t want a daily phone call from each of my friends, so why would I want to read drivel?!
I’ll gladly be a rebel and not activly use facebook.
How Lexar Work
A really interesting video showing the process behind the manufacture of the memory millions of people use every day.
Lord it’s cold
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Kings Club Is Now Open
Published Date: 25 July 2009
‘A NEW breed of gentleman’s club’, which will feature private naked dancing, is set to open its doors in Harrogate tonight.
The £250,000 Kings Club, formerly Mansion, on Kings Road, will offer a cocktail bar and sports bar as well as a private dancing facility where guests can watch nude table dances in VIP rooms.
The gentleman’s club, dubbed a “new breed” by owners, will launch at 8pm.
The club applied for a variation of its premises licence in April, resulting in its opening and licensing hours being extended after Harrogate Borough Council approved the application earlier this month.
The new licence means alcohol can be served until 5.30am seven days a week, previously 3am and 4am, and it can remain open until 6am, when entertainment must finish.
The application was approved subject to a number of conditions imposed by the council on the grounds of the prevention of crime and disorder, protection of children, public nuisance and public safety.
Riot police stormed a man’s 30th birthday barbecue for 15 guests because it was advertised as an “all-night” party on Facebook.
Four police cars, a riot van, and a force helicopter were dispatched to a privately-owned field in a small village near Sowton, Devon in the UK on Saturday, ordering the party shut down or everyone would be arrested.
Andrew Poole, a coach driver from Sowton, said his birthday barbecue was busted up before they even had a chance to plug the music in, reports the BBC.
“What effectively the police did was come in and stop 15 people eating burgers,” Poole said.
The event was shuttered under section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which grants police powers to remove persons attending or preparing for a “rave” (defined as playing amplified music “wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats,” during the night).
Poole said it was about 4pm when eight officers with camouflage pants and body armor jumped out of their vehicles and ordered everyone out about an hour into the party.
He claims his party was advertised on Facebook as an “all-night” affair in case his guests wanted to stay the night.
A police spokeswoman told the BBC the helicopter was deployed for less than 20 minutes, costing about £200.
“The decision to close down a rave or illegal music festival is not taken lightly,” she said.
“On this occasion, we were extremely concerned how the event had been advertised on the internet as an all-night party and it was therefore necessary to take the appropriate steps.”
The spokeswoman added if the party hadn’t been stormed the officers, riot police and accompanying helicopter, “far more resources would have been used to police the event and there would have been considerable disruption to neighbouring properties.” ®
Office 2010 Tech preview has been released. And I am still going to do everything I can to stay away from the heaving pile of steaming shit. At least while it has that horrible, disgusting ribbon toolbar. God I hate that. Give me OpenOffice any day.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/13/office_2010_preview/
Last.fm
I just love last.fm
I can instantly get recommendation for music I have listened to, see what Gigs are coming up, and connect with people. It is a great service.
I love the fact that when I sync my iPod, iPhone it looks and sees what I have been listening to and then makes recommendations based on that. Couple that with Apples new Genius feature, and you have one very powerful music recommendation engine. Truly awesome. You can even listen to full music tracks online.
If you are into your Music, take a look at Last.fm, you will not regret it.
Michael Jackson
So last night websites crashed, Google thought they were the target of one hell of a DOS attack and the American news agencies literally starting falling over each other.
what was this huge surge of traffic prompted by? The sudden death of Michael Jackson.
What ever you thought of Michael Jackson, no one can deny his stamp on history has been well and truly made. No one has beaten “Thriller” on sheer number of sales, and no one will ever match his on stage ability.
When the child abuse charges were in full swing, I thought to my self, sick twisted man he is. Then I stopped and thought about it. He was a man, denied of his own childhood, by a driven, abusive father. Michael was desperate to have a childhood, to entertain people, and yet his life was so empty. He really gave his all to entertain everyone he could. Especially children. He just wanted to surround himself with the innocence of youth, something that he craved so much. He saw nothing wrong with that, others did.
He was a man with problems, severe problems, and he is a sore loss to the world. You might remember him because of his surgery, his dangling of a child over a balcony, his bizarre life style or his Music but you will remember him. He was very much the Elvis of our generation.
Rest in peace Michael.
Great Manchester Run
I forgot that the Great Manchester run is coming up, quicker than the Great North Run, be good to get some practice in, with the Manchester run.
However, from Last year the course has changed
RyanAir
There are lots and lots of reasons I refuse to fly RyanAir. If I had a choice of eating ferret faeces or getting on a RyanAir plane, I would eat the Ferret Faeces.
However I digress. On The Register there was a article posted, about a blogger who apparntly found a security hole in RyanAirs website, which allowed him a free ticket. Wether it works or not I dont know, but I’m guessing it was a bog standard session jump that had no variables to process, hence the £0.00, however their response to him was all I had expected from RyanAir.
Read the article on The register Here
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all those Internetarians out there!
Really f*@ks me off
When the little runt with the worst sickness record in the history of man makes out he is the bees knees and has to be back into work in 6 hours. Boo fucking woo. Get a clue you toothless little jock strap.
If he was that bothered, maybe he should not of sat round for nearly two hours having staff drinks. Bugge off home.
He can start moaning when he gets near my hours.
Ho ho ho
Well christmas is well and truly on us. Work has been manic. Over a thousand people fed.
But surprisingly little money spent. Compared to last year, takings are down about 40%.
The busy period was not helped by my having to recruit new staff. That took my days up well and truly. Just so utterly shattered. The constant on the in functions really do drain you. Some times i dont think people realise how much work goes into these functions.
A mild drama unfolded recently when a receptionist here dumped the guy she was seeing, who worked on the bar, and started seeing his boss. All hell got let lose, with many things spilling out to fill their face book pages. Which made interesting reading. It does not really help matters that she is now doing shifts on the bar, really rubs it in.
These young ones really do make things complicated.
Oh dear lord
Well. What a tedious night this is. Not a lot todo, and no one about. Better enjoy it, its the eye of the storm. Christmas partys will be back as of wednesday with the fake bee gees so people will be drunk and ripping the hotel to shreds again..
No doubt there will be loads of vomit flowing sound again.
The staff christmas lunch is soon. I have my reasons i dont want to go. Mostly the two hour walk toget there for half a hour lunch. For which i would have no appetite anyway. The staff christmas party is another beast altogether. I have no desire to watch my co workers get drunk and start fights with each other.
I would much rather be at home, or working.
Rest in Peace
Actress Kathy Staff, who played Nora Batty in long-running BBC One sitcom Last Of The Summer Wine, has died.
The 80-year-old, who was born in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, also played cleaner Doris Luke in long-running ITV soap Crossroads.
And she appeared in Emmerdale Farm, Coronation Street, and with David Jason and Ronnie Barker in Open All Hours.
Last of the Summer Wine producer Alan Bell told BBC News the actress had been ill for some time.
Actor Peter Sallis, who I had the pleasure of meeting when he once stayed at the hotel, remembered his colleague fondly
She appeared in 243 episodes of the Yorkshire-based comedy, beginning in the first episode in January 1973.
She made her last appearance in August, at the end of the show’s 29th series.
Co-star Peter Sallis said he was “terribly upset” by the loss of an “irreplaceable” colleague.
Peter Sallis said it had not yet been decided if Last of the Summer Wine would return for a 30th series.
“The BBC have been terribly loyal to us – with good reason because we’re so popular,” he said.
“I shouldn’t say this, but I would be a bit surprised if we’ve done our last one.”
