Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 29th November 2013

Well hello hello! I trust you have been having a lovely week. Well the day has finally arrived. Yes folks, Black Friday...hurrah! Looking outside at this time, its certainly very dark. 

I wasn't going to do a blog today, as today is the launch of the PS4, so was going to work from home. However, as I only decided to get one earlier this month, I'm not guaranteed to get one today, though should get it before Christmas.

To be honest my dear blog reader, even if it did come today, not sure how much I could have done with it as I haven't actually brought any games for it and my. PS3 ones won't work on it...

Advert of the week: "Inseparable means always being in touch" Cheers Vodafone...power to you...

There is a man on a tube reading..wait for it...wait for it...a book! I can only see the back cover which says "utterly absorbing, utterly addictive, utterly mindblowing". Guess someone's learnt a new word today. For some reason I now feel like some toast with some butter on it now. Will report back if I can see what the actual book is called.

What I watched on iplayer this week: loads of stuff! But something that has caught my eye is a new series called 'Animal odd couples'. Yesterday it showed how some massive American buffalo thought this bloke was his parent. The chap even let him go around the house and said but if he wants to go to the bathroom, he'll just go to the door! Wowza! There was also another bloke who had managed to become part of a hyena pack (or whatever the phrase is). I thought he was particularly brave, especially when I think back to what happened in lion king...

The bloke has put the book away and is now just looking out the tube window.. Perhaps not quite as utterly absorbing as he was led to believe me thinks...

App of the week: Group shot pro. Picture the scene (see what I did there!), you've gone to some random wedding (it's an Indian thing), and it's time for snapping those group photos with your cousins and buddies in front of the lovely vase and flowers in the entrance hall of the country manor. Someone has the bright idea of saying, hey Kawks, take some pics of me and these lovely ladies in front of these flowers for my FB page. In the old days, when we used to have Kodaks and only 36 valuable pictures to use, it was always...err sorry uncle, I've run out of film. But now, we are all like...yeah how ever many you like! 

And here is where the app comes into it's own. It's that moment..'Say cheese', though us Indians tend to use the 'say Ghee (you just tried that right and it works just as well right) and we all know what happens. Yep, there is always one person who has blinked, looked away or picking their nose! And that's where this app comes in. It takes a series of shots in quick succession and then it allows you to replace the faces with another shot when they do actually manage a smile. It's quite fantastic and I'll give it a min marks of 10 of 8.76.

Thought of the week: If you want to set up a company and run it then that's your business...

Right! Let's leave it there! Have a lovely weekend and a great sleep.

A small man called Kawks

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 22nd November 2013

Well hello hello! How are we all? Firstly, let me apologise for the no show last week. I was in South Korea and they didn't have a Met line for me to blog from.

For those who have never been to this wonderful land, you definitely should, the next time you are in the neighbourhood! The tech there is simply super cool. Having got off the 11hr flight and having had a taste of Korean hospitality (Prestige class - well I needed the leg room right? ), I was booked into a six star Conrad hotel in the executive suite on the 32nd floor which was simply massive and rather bigger than the Travel lodge I usually take take Mrs Min to on our anniversary. The bathroom had more gadgets than I've seen in my entire life, and that was just the toilet! It had options to give you a massage, knew when you sat down and automatically gave the bowl a quick rinse and memory settings for the whole family for making sure the pressure, angle and temperature were just right for each bear in the family! Oh and it had a button for 'dryer' too! 

So after a few hours playing with the settings I ventured into the main bathroom and saw they had some buttons on the wall (that will never take off over here), and like the little kid I am, I started pressing them. One of them made the glass wall between the bathroom and bedroom go from clear to frosted, which I imagine was there just in case Mrs Min had come along too and I didnt fancy showing her my six pack or or my rather red and dried out bum. 

Then, I saw a remote control in the bathroom (as you do), between the 'his and hers' sinks. To my amazement, and I think the actual word I uttered to myself as this was happening was 'amaze-balls', because a flipping TV embedded into the bathroom mirror came on. Wowza!!  Took me about an hour to brush my teeth!

The hospitality provided by the local firm and their clients during the visit was truly amazing and for the first few days since I've been back, I've been getting a few weird looks on the met line as I bow to each person as I get on the train...

Woah, nearly at work now so just gonna quickly do app of the week.

App of the week: Hot UK Deals, Been using this app loads this week and in essence it uses crowdsouring to tell us what fantastic offers are currently available on everything in our supermarkets as well as online. You can even set up deal alerts to look for something specific. I've obviously set one  up for PS4. So if you were interested in amazing offers such as Levi Roots reggae reggae sauce is now only 20p at Sainsbury's, get this free app now! Min marks out of 10....9.20

Joke of the week: Yes, that bloke who invented the invisibility cloak had his 15 minutes of fame, but where is he now?

Ahem! Right, that's your lot. I hope you have a great weekend and a lovely sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 8th November 2013

Well hello hello! How are we all? I hope you have all had a lovely week.

I'm feeling a bit sleepy this morning so let's not mess about and get on with the show!

Advert of the week: "It felt like reading a book". Woah! That's brilliant! What was that you wonder? perhaps a book? Nope..it's the 'All-New Kindle paperwhite' I think I might change career and do adverts going forward as I reckon I could do just as well! How about for advertising toilet roll, the slogan...so soft you can use it for wiping your tears and your..."..maybe I'll stick to the day job for a tad longer...

What's happening Tube people?: A mother (I think it's the boy's mother but unless I see the birth certificate or request a DNA sample can't be quite sure), who is sitting next to me, has given her 'son' his school breakfast. It's a snickers bar. Nice...

That's made me think of my favourite cereal advert- coco- pops. We were only allowed it every Friday. The slogan was 'so chocolaty that it makes the milk go brown', though we used to tweak it slightly to 'so chocolaty it makes your teeth go black'...

If my writing is going a bit slanty, that's because the man next to me has fallen asleep with his head on my shoulders. Nice...

App of the week: Camfind. No it's not something that helps you find good deals if your in the market for a camcorder, but a really nifty app that helps you identify stuff, using your camera. So, take a picture of anything from a famous person, building, object and it recognises what it is and gives you a whole heap of info about it. I tested it by taking a picture of the Pizza Hut box that contained our lovely veg supreme (no mushrooms but pineapple instead) pizza last night. And before you could say "I feel sick...go on then... last slice", it had pulled back from the interweb, where my local Pizza Hut was, menus, coupons and even a site asking me if I was interested in a career with pizza hut. It's quite amazing and yes folks it's even free to download. Get it now and impress your imaginary friends. Min Marks out of 10...9.36.

Console update: yes folks, finally put in my order for the PS4, launching on the 29th of Nov. Over 1m peeps have done the same so might be quite a long queue at Game in Harrow that day! I thought in these times of recession I should sell my old PS3 games as the new device won't play them. I looked at a few of those trade in sites to see what my games would be worth. Most of the ones I had brought last year for between £30 and £40 were worth around £2.50, with Fifa 2012 showing me that I could get a massive 35 pence (as long as the CD wasn't scratched!) Decided to just keep them on my shelf in the end as I heard yesterday that Sony will introduce backward compatibility next year.

Thought of the week: Too many pigs seem to die whilst eating apples...

Right, let's leave it there! Have a lovely weekend and a great sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 1st November2013

Well hello hello! How are we all? Firstly a "Happy Diwali and wonderful New Year" to you all! (New Year!...don't worry it's called Indian time, and we are a tad late)

Here we are again on the lovely Met line for the last time of the week, and it must be half term as the carriage is only 63.72% full. 

What's happening on the tube met people: There is a man with a Crystal Palace jacket sitting opposite me. Judging by the non brand trainers he is wearing, I guess he has yet to make it into the first team...

Tube advert of the week: Lumie. It comes with the tag line - "Get up and Glow all day". Wowza, what is this amazing tech I hear you ask? Some sort of miracle lotion you spread on your face?...perhaps an energy saving drink from Aldi? Oh no...this my dear blog reader is a white box thing with a light. (Lumie.com). Damn, and all this time, I've just been wasting my time sleeping with the curtains shut wondering how I was going to boost my energy...

Loads of folks have got on at Harrow on the Hill, but that may be because the slow train has just been put out of service.

Crystal palace man is still tapping on his Sony Experia. Wondering if he's playing FIFA 2013?

App of the week: Seene. This app is truly cool folks, so much so that I've got it on the second page of my iPhone. You know those 3D printer things they have used to making...err 3D objects like guns and pound coins. ( though I did read recently that a new growing market for this was to create duplicates of your private bits). Sorry I digress...well yes, this app allows you to take 3D style pictures that don't need any coloured sweet wrappers to get the effect. The app guides you using arrows to move your phone up and down and side to side and gives you 4 green triangles once you are good to go. It's absolutely amazing and I would have shown you our Crystal Palace man in 3D, but it's not very discreet the old panning around the object and I don't fancy a kick where the Lumie doesn't shine, especially with non branded trainers. Like that other App Vine, you can see what other folks have seene.  (See what I did there!). Check it out, it's really cool and gets a Min Marks out of 10 of 9.38.

Event of the week: So last night I get a knock on the door and it's the pizza delivery man holding a vegetarian supreme pizza (no mushroom, pineapple instead). I was rather taken aback and told him that I hadn't even ordered a pizza!  He goes, "yeah I know, it's actually for my neighbour, but he's forgotten his Facebook password and wanted to show you what he's having for dinner...

Boom! Think we should leave it there. Have a great weekend folks and a lovely sleep!

A small man called Min.