Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Thursday 30th October 2014

Well hello hello! Long time...long time!

Happy Diwali and a happy New Year to you all! According to our Indian calendar, we have just entered the year 2071! Just to reassure you my dear blog reader, the met line ain't running any faster than it was in 2014...

Being half term week I have managed to get a seat. Hurrah!

It's been a while since my last blog I know and I was getting people holding up banners outside my house asking what's going on, so here it is!

So what have I been up to you ask? Well, been catching up with the TV programmes. My regular ones are Apprentice (glueless...bloody clueless) as well as Gogglebox, '24hrs in custody' and of course x-factor and strictly. The latter on x30 normal speed (and that's just when they are singing and dancing!)

Advert of the week: We bet we can make you think of Chicken...told you. Err thanks for that Nando...unless it's veggie chicken, that's not really going to work for me...

App of the week: Presence. Ever wondered what to do with with your old igadgets now you have your shiny iPhone 6 and iPad 2 Air? Stop...don't throw the old ones in the bin, I have the perfect solution for you! What's that? Your concerned what you nanny or butler are doing when your not at home? Or just wondering whose broken into your house? Well this is the app that can help. It replaces expensive in door camera security systems by using your old igadgets instead. As long as they are connected to wifi and have a power source plugged in, the app will monitor for movement. What's super cool is that it will alert you via a notification or email if your old skool if something's moved. It will send you a little video so you

can check it out. It's brilliant, it's free and even tells you if someone has unplugged it. Min marks out of 10...9.7583

Joke of the week: I've just been given two weeks to live....Mrs Min's gone away to stay with her mum...

Ahem...right, time to swap over to the Uxbridge line so let's call it a day there!

Have a lovely evening and a great sleep

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Saturday 20th September 2014

Well hello hello! How exciting is this! A blog on a Saturday. Decided to go to see the British Library today to see if I can see my book on the shelf, so thought I'd better do a blog as only the Pic line is working today, and it's only a mere 22 stops from Rayners so have a bit of time to kill.

Advert of the week:

Woah! Initially I thought this was another dating style website, which I guess it kind of is..without the dating! Its a bank with a difference I guess, as not only can you specify if you want your child to have blue eyes and likely to be a giant (6ft), but also what occupation they will do when they grow up!!! Wowza! Not sure many people will be ticking that accountant box...

So what else has been going on in the world? Oh yes. Scotland...I have been doing quite a bit of analytics on this topic over the last week and I had predicted that it was always going to be No. How did I do this you asked Min? Are you a magician? Can you see into the future? Please tell us... Well, it's quite simple. If you looked at the odds at the bookies, you could see that the bookies had started paying out on the 'no vote' from earlier this week! Money always concentrates the mind huh. 

I know that Cobra, the emergency govt committee had lots of contingencies in place just in case the Scots had actually got their wish. The plan was to take this on the chin, and let them call their new country something that would be a blend of both countries so they don't forget their history. The plan was for them to go for the first 3 letters of the country where Westminster was and the last 4 letters of their current country...

It was a bit sad to see Alex Salmond retiring from politics though. Just remember Alex, there's always a welcoming place for you south of the border....France.

It did make me chuckle that Scotland can leave the UK simply by checking a box that says "Yes." and I have to agree to 18 pages of terms and conditions to download iOS 8.

I was up late into the night checking those and downloaded it last night. It's not that different but I do like the new predictive keyboard and the fact you can add your voice to text messages. Woah, what next? The ability to actually call them?

Tip of the week:  Fed up with waiting ages for your iPhone to charge? Well, did you know that if you put it in Airplane mode whilst you do, it will charge loads quicker! Also means that Mrs Min can't contact me for a bit...

App of the week: Like your music tunes but also want to discover new songs for that genre? Do you spend lots of time on the tube with no signal or don't want to use your precious data allowance. Well Blinkbox is for you! It's really neat! Just select an artist or genre of music and it creates a personal radio station for you but the best thing is that you can ask it to download the songs to your phone for free! Hurrah! It's helped me with my street cred with the kids at work when I start humming 'Somebody to you' by the Vamps

It's a super app and I give the app 9.2353 out of 10. This blog was brought to you by my sponsors Tesco...

Latest news: Idi Amin still remains the last king of Scotland..

Right managed to get all the way to Green Park! Enjoy the weekend and have a lovely sleep!

A small man called Min.

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Wednesday 10th September 2014

Well hello hello! How are we folks?

It's been a while but I thought it was time for a blog special after yesterday's lovely Apple event, so I could share my views on what we saw.

Let's take them in order...

iPhone 6

Yes. Most of the leaks turned out to be true, so happy to see the slighter bigger screen, better res, the bigger battery so I won't need to recharge again in the morning till at least 9:14. But I guess the Apple Pay was the biggest talking point. Hurrah, I no longer need a real wallet as long as all my worldly demands include paying for stuff in McDonald's and Subway. Seriously I think this is going to be revolutionary for the way we pay for everything as all the major card companies are on board. As Apple has 500 million iTunes users already (so already has your card payment details), I reckon adoption will spread quickly. Also will make a bob or two for them with their commission to all the retailers and merchants! What else...nope that it.

iPhone 6 plus.  No people this isn't just for 'big boned' people but Apple's response to the phablet market and making sure folks don't defect to Samsung notes.  For a small man like me, it's massive and I'm thinking of selling my plasma and just watching TV on that! Little bit funny how Apple said a couple of years back how no one would want something you couldn't operate with one hand! It is super big, but I reckon could be quite good for emails and watching 'catch up TV on the player in the morning on the met line'.

It will be interesting to see if this takes sales from their iPad mini though.

Will be interesting to see the prices for buying the phone off contract. The bloke next to me said it could be £900. £900!!

For that sort of cash, I hope when you put it on airplay mode, it takes you on a holiday!!

Iwatch

My bad...apple watch. Apparently this was because they wanted to the watch to appeal to fashion folks like me, rather than just the traditional user base who had all the other i products. First impressions. Thank god they have finally announced it as I've been wearing a real apple on my wrist the last couple of months and it's starting to smell a bit!

I kinda hope it was round like the moto360, but I'm sure it will grow on me. The different straps and magnet click into place thing is neat and I don't think I've talked about crowns on a watch so much in my life! The haptic feedback system is neat so I won't have to take out my phone or even my watch when I enter a dodgy area. Hurrah!

 The big question is how long will the battery last? I'm already getting ready for the 'Sorry I'm late for work Sir, I forgot to charge my watch' excuse... I would rather it wasn't accurate to 50ms, but rather the battery worked longer than a day.

Everyone I've spoken to as said 'no way, why would you want that'...but that's what they said about the iPad...

Having brought all the iPhones so far since the first one in 2007, obviously I will be getting one in 'early 2015', but to be on the safe side to ensure I get to work on time, I will be transferring my regular watch to my right hand...

Let me know what your views were folks.

Standing outside Covent Garden apple store...only 9 days before I can collect my latest igadget...have a lovely sleep!

A small man called Min.

P.S. I was gonna take Mrs Min a special gift of a world wide holiday tour but have just spent the money on the igadgets instead. We can see everything on the watch right, just twiddle the crown...

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Wednesday 6th August 2014

Well hello hello! It's still rather hot huh, and ready for some regular summer weather now!

The tube looks nice and busy and we have a healthy selection of folks reading the paper, books, or just sleeping! Maybe their phones have no charge left...

Just looked at the adverts on this tube and they are all rather dull so gonna skip this bit today.

Adventure of the week: So last night, I went to this restaurant called Circus near Holborn station. It's a bit different to your regular place as between each course, some folks come onto the dinner table and do some entertainment. Everything from doing acrobatics to fire eating. The Asian food was lovely, especially the pudding which come in this deal or no deal style black box. I decided to deal...

Well done Circus, definitely worth a visit if your looking for something different (and someone else is paying. Indian innit)...

App of the week: ok gang, imagine this. You secretly want to find fame and fortune and you do rather fancy yourself as the next Adele / Robbie but just need to get a true understanding of if your good enough. Also, you can't be bothered to queue for the x-factor. What to do?? Well, consider downloading "Singer takes it all", an app which goes with the Ch5 new series hosted by Alan Carr. 

You basically can either record in karaoke  fashion a song,  or just have loads of fun pretending you are Simon Cowell with their fate in your hands. You get a 30sec clip, and you press a "Hit" or Miss" button after the first 5 seconds.  It's really addictive and gives you an insight into the great british public. A lot of the singers were rather big boned which I though was true dedication of not going out and just practising with just some KFC/Pizza for company. Min marks out of 10...9.452

Thought of the week: Was Luke always warm?

Right, time to check out some more singers, so let's leave it there! Have a lovely sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Wednesday 23rd July 2014

Well hello hello! How are we all and sorry for not doing a blog last week...I was washing my virtual hair...

Thought about cancelling the blog just now as not in the best of moods to be honest with you my dear blog reader.

I was walking past Sainsbury's when I saw a sign saying, "All items: a third off." So I decided to buy a dozen eggs. Just opened the box on the Met line and seen that 4 of them were bad.

Boom! And we are off! (For the less statistically minded of you 1/3 off, brought 12 eggs...word play of 'off'...get it now?...)

So rather late getting away today from work but the good news is that the tube is well deserted! There are only 6 people in our whole carriage! Happy days! I've stretched my legs out as far as they can. Nope still can't touch the floor...

Advert of the week: The Gold One - I've always loved it. from my first dance competition to going out tonight. Always backstage. always in my bag. - Cheryl Cole.   Woah! I have no idea what that advert is about. There is a sign in the corner that says 'Elnett Satin'. Nope, still no idea, perhaps it's a chocolate or a wig...let me know.

Well this time of night certainly draws in a different crowd. I'm looking at the now 4 people in the carriage and they are doing strange things like reading the paper or a book. No candy crush in sight!..gonna make sure I leave earlier tomorrow.

Just seeing the headline in the evening standard about some chap who was killed in London when he got caught up in a turf war. I wonder if he was mowed down?...

App of the week: So, how hot has it been for the last few weeks! That orange ball of light has finally found us and I've been that confident of the weather predictions (thanks BBC Weather app), that I've replaced the umbrella in my manbag with a solar power iphone charger.

I don't know about you, but it's been getting a bit too hot for my liking so this app has been a life saver for me. The app is particular useful for those of you who don't have the luxury of air con like we do on the new (but still a bit rubbish as they have stolen all the chairs) met line.

What am i going on about?  An app called 'Sleepy Fan'. It's a virtual fan for your iphone which plays authentic sounds of a fan and animation and fools your brain that your actually being cooled. What was funny was this morning, the woman next to me asked if I could point it in her direction as she was 'glowing'. I put it on top speed for her and after about 15 seconds, she goes, ahh, that's much better, thank you.

Come to think of it, I think she said her name was Cheryl something...

It's a fun app and currently free so give it a go. Min marks out of 10..8.6735

Which reminds me. Wind Turbines. I'm a big fan...

Mrs Min news: Mrs Min said she's decided to leave me as she been seeing a dolphin behind my back for the last few weeks. I asked her why and she said that they just sort of clicked...

Right, that's your lot. Time to turn the fan on. Have a lovely rest of the week and a great sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Wednesday 9th July 2014

Well hello hello! How are we all? 

Left work a bit later today, as been rather busy (more about that in a bit), but the good news is that I've got a seat! Yippee!

So, how crazy was the match last night! I saw there was a chap who had put £5 on Germany to win 5-0 and Muller to score first, at 800/1.  He must have got rather excited at half time.

Lots of funny stuff following the match on social media today, checkout 

http://dancinghenryalmanac.com/world-cup-folding-arms/random-player.html

The man opposite has fallen asleep and also has his hands in a kind of prayer  position. Wonder if he's from Argentina...

Advert of the week: Football is our lobster. It has pictures of Ronaldo, Michael Owen and two other chaps who must be famous. Err that's it. Oh in small writing it says 'the sports social network'

What the hell has that got to do with lobster? Apart from a lobster could probably commentate better than Michael Owen... Think I'll stick to Facebook thanks mate.

So, the reason why I'm late today i hear you ask? We have only received a delivery of Google Glass! No mum you can't call it Google Glasses as that's not what the kool kids call it...

Where do I start, apart from...I have seen the future!  The glasses (damn)....the glass takes a few minutes to get used to but after that it's just like second nature. A bit like you never forget to ride a bike or drive a manual, even if you've driven an automatic for years. Mrs Min still drives a manual like an automatic even today and always responds back 'But I like First gear when I'm on the M1...'

Where was I..oh yeah, so once you have stuck them on your face (I needed to put them on top of my glasses, so feel I look even more super cool) and then adjust the prism screen so it's in the top left corner. There is an app called MyGlass (remember all one word, otherwise you

may get another app call Kiss My Glass, which is really not going to help unless your looking for transparent put downs...'

The app pairs with your phone, using bluetooth, then either wifi or personal hotspot, giving you a quick tutorial regarding the various swipes and taps you can do. It's dead easy. Once set, your ready to go and you can say 'ok glass' then whatever you want to do. It let's you read your emails, (if your super lazy, it will even read them out!), see your pics or take pics just by blinking or 'take picture' command, though thought best not try this right now whilst on the tube as it could be my very last blog ever!!

Oh 'one more thing'..it uses some fancy skull bone technology so you can hear commands, your music etc straight through your head rather than old fashioned head phones. It's all simply amazing even though it's rather expensive at £1000. Min marks out of 10..9.854

Joke of the week: Look on the bright side Brazil...you haven't got far to go home...

Ok google, that's your lot. Come on Netherlands and Brazil, you have a great sleep!

Ta ra

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 20th June 2014

Well hello hello! Its's Friday, it's the weekend, and everyone on the Met Line is looking super happy....not

Yeah ok, so England lost again but the Italians can still save the day right? Err scratch that, just seen that Costa Rica scored. Never mind, perhaps it's fate and we have to wait till the year ends in '66...

Let's look around...

A lady is using her high powered iPhone (5S) to play...candy crush. Great...

Just done my good deed for the day and let some dude take my seat as his legs are broken. If I now win the lottery tomorrow, let me know if you want to take over the blog...

Advert for the week: Be a great westerner. This is an advert for Great Western. Woah must have taken ages to come up with that one,..think I might change career.

App of the week: Picture the scene . It's 28 degrees, your on the copa cabana beach (how good was it for them to name it after one of Barry Manilows  songs (how do you make Barry Manilow's nose a mile long...fold it half))..where was I again?

Oh yeah, on the beach and you are imaging that you are Pele or Beckham and practising free kicks and doing super duper curls over the wall and into the top corner. That reminds me, how cool is that  shaving foam they are using in the tournaments to keep the walls at bay. I do like the way the referee does a happy face in front of the ball too!

Anyways, with this amazing app, called Flick Kick, you can live out this fantasy, though it's a regular stadium rather than the beach. That bit was just in there to get you to read this far.

There are lots of challenges, from arcade to how many goals can you score in a minute. Do you know how you flick your finger in your nose when you have a little ball up there, well it's the same action you do on the screen. You can really curl that thing... Then come back to the game when your done. My highest score is 73 on arcade so let me know when you've beaten that Steve and Ket.  (It's not really but won't say until you beat my true score). The other great thing it does apart from showing slow motions when you get it really close to the crossbar, it that you can play your regular music in the background. I tend to play the 'Crying for no reason - Katy B' track as that seems to fit in nicely with watching the England games. Min Marks out of 10...9.534

Tech News: I read yesterday that there are going to be 2 versions of the next iPhone, one that a bit bigger and then a 'yo mamma's so fat' size one to compete with all the other phablets out there. The iWatch has some crazy price being banded about of around $450, so I might just have to stick with my timex for a few more years.

Joke of the week: England.

Right, it's going to be a super nice weekend I hear, I'm off to an Indian wedding for a change so hope Mrs Min hasn't left me by Sunday morning as I don't know how to tie my tie.

Ta ta,

A small man called Min

 

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 6th June 2014

Guten tarken or something like that...Hello hello, and today's blog comes to you live from Dusseldorf! Been here a couple of days and I have learnt a few things such as 1. Everyone is super duper efficient. 2. They do actually laugh ( from time to time). 

Currently the blog is coming live from the airport and my flight back is showing a delay of 15mins which in reality I know means at least an hour as they will just keep adding 10mins to the delay even though they full well know the plane is currently crossing France...(err hello, we know about plane finder.net)

What I watched this week: carrying on with the airline theme, I watched the new series on BBC1 about BA - behind the scenes. It was super interesting and I learnt that they had brought their first big plane (A380). Everyone was very excited and they checked it out for scratches and in first class they spoke about how they had moved the luggage thing above your head to be next to you in first class. (That was actually my idea as I always have to ask the stewardess to do this for me). They then had some bits about the cost of maintenance (£637m per year) and how some items that need changing cost more than your house. Finally we learnt about the rigorous process for becoming a cabin member, which involved everything from looking the part, to dealing with dead people. Nope you can't just hide them in the toilet folks...if you got 4 snapshots ( I kept thinking of screenshots when they said this), you were basically fired and had to go back to working behind a bar...one chap had this happen to him as he forgot the configuration of the 747 and said 2-4-2, rather than 3-4-3, so look our for him at your local bar...Min marks out of 10 -9.36

Gadget of the week: After 8 years of good service I thought it was time to replace the trusty electric toothbrush as finally the rubber was starting to come away. Having served the Min family very well (yep just have different heads, mines was blue) it was time to see what was out there. After extensive researc on the internet - googled "what is the best toothbrush", the man in the computer told me to check out the Braun Oral B 5000 - Triumph as most people said it was rather good and hadn't lost any more teeth since using it.

I was umming and arrring about it as at £67 that's a lot of manual toothbrushes ( especially from the poundshop (3 for a £1)) and then I saw that it came with a WIRELESS SMARTGUIDE. 1.3seconds later, it was ordered!

The next day (Thanks Prime) it arrived in a big box and for the next 30 minutes I read the manual, watched the YouTube video (aren't cats funny?) and then assembled the kit. What can I say...OMG, it's simply changed my life. It's loads more powerful than my previous one and comes with about 6 heads to do everything from polish, floss, sensitive to making your tea. If you press to hard it shows you a red light! I had to get the drain cleaners in after I used it as it got that much stuff out from between my teeth...and yes my dear blog reader the SMARTGUIDE is indeed what makes it so much more fun. You stick it on the wall and as you start brushing it shows you which quadrant of your mouth to brush and how long and this is the best bit...gives you a star rating! ( little tip for you if you brush for 3 mins rather than 2, you get 5 stars!! Min marks out of 10...9.97

Min joke of the week:

Hoodie 1: if it wasn't for our grandad's bravery on D Day, we'd be speaking a strange language now

Hoodie 2: true dat...

Right, time to board the flight! Have a lovely weekend and a great sleep...

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Wednesday 28th May 2014

Well hello hello! How are we all?

Yes I know I didn't do a blog last week, but I was washing my hair...

Looking around the met line and there certainly seem to be a growing number of people with Bose big can headphones. Maybe the economy is really picking up!

Woah...just had a flashback to the science museum as the chap next to me is still using a blackberry! Remember them? Perhaps his City bonus wasn't as impressive as Bose Man.

Advert of the week: "People shouldn't have to spend time to spend money". Thanks PayPal. I certainly won't be showing that advert to Mrs Min!

App of the week: Timehop. So I've been using this app for the last week and it's like going for a ride down memory lane. What does it do? Well let me tell you my dear blog reader...

You know how time flies and you sometimes think to yourself, woah what was I doing on this day exactly a year ago, or two years ago or... you get the gist...Well that's where this app comes in! It hoovers up all your Facebook statuses, tweets, photos ( from iPhoto sorry android dudes), your check ins on foursquare, Instagram, your camera roll and Dropbox and everyday plays you back some lovely memories! For folks with a mac, there is an install for syncing all those thousands of pics you have stored in iPhoto's. It's a super duper app and if nothing else I learnt that Mrs Min has been leaving me for quite a number of years and also it great to see how well you have aged...Min Marks out of 10...9.34

Finally, just to let you know that this morning I dropped in to see the company psychiatrist and asked if he could do anything for my fear of rejection.

He said, "No."....

Right that's your lot! Have a lovely (insert something lovely) and a great sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Wednesday 7th May 2014

Well hello hello! How are we all?

So they called off the tube strike this week. Hurrah. Doing the analytics based on historical threatened strikes, I knew there was a 87.464% probably that it would have been cancelled...that and I flipped heads!

So, currently stuck in a tunnel between Farringdon and Kings X with a load of French folks who are getting more animated by the moment about missing their journey home to Arsenal. Joke! To France...

Tube advert of the week: When faster is not better.  So any ideas what's this is for. Nope, not about broadband speeds...anyone else, nope not about tube delays. This my dear blog reader is about your partner making love a tad too quickly for your liking! Err rude. There is a woman sat up in bed looking sad and the  man fast asleep on the bed.  I guess they were never going to have that the other way around. Anyways, if your the one sleeping, wake up and go and have a look at PEproblems.com and they will sort you out...(currently have an offer, first come first served...)

Update on 2048: so still addicted to this game and moved my highest score to 55,060 so let me know if you beat that...

Movie of the week: The Min family went to the IMAX in Uxbridge over the bank holiday to watch the Amazing Spider-Man 2. Boy those tickets have gone up a bit since I used to get into cinema for £1.50 (with a student card). For the 3 of us, it was £44.10!! And that's before popcorn..not that I could eat much after shelling out that much of Mrs Min's money. That could have been a down payment on me building my own cinema room.  However, as I suspected that it was going to be an expensive gig, I did the analytics (cos that's what we do) and Spider Man was one of the longest movies showing at 142 mins. (Nope there were not any Bollywood movies on that night). So per minute it wasn't sooo bad. The movie was actually rather good and had lots of cool stunts, baddies and even made Rajvi cry at the end. Shame he had to die (was a sticky end).  Oh, sorry meant to say Spoiler Alert...Spider marks out of 10...9.2532

App of the week: Tippy Tap. They say (ok it's mostly me) that giving your brain a work out is much better for you than going to the gym, especially if you use both hands and improve your reaction times. No people this isn't about that advert again, it's a lovely simple game where you use you thumbs to tippy tap on the black stones which start off slow and progressively get faster. It's well fun and will keep you amused for minutes! Min marks out of 10...9.5322. Let me know how you get on.

Oh, Mrs Min has said she's leaving me as

she said I still act like a child.  No idea what's she talking about, but I've banned her from my treehouse...

Right! That's your lot! Have a good one and a lovely sleep.

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 25th April 2014

Well hello hello! It's raining big time which can only mean one thing! Yep, it's the weekend! Hurrah...

The Met line is quite packed and it took until Baker Street to get a seat, so thought I'd do my musings for the week.

Advert of the week: "All the seats on this carriage are reserved for all you lovely singles". Thanks Match.com, very thoughtful. Unfortunately due to my positioning (with the yellow bar obscuring my view a bit), it looks more like "All the cheats on this carriage are reserved for all you lovely singles"...nice. 

There is a man next to me playing on his Nexus 7. He seems very thorough as he's been messing about with his settings for the last 3 minutes. Should have brought an iPhone mate...

App of the week: Zomato.  Picture the scene. Mrs Min wants to go out for a lovely (read expensive) meal in the city as apparently 'McDonald's Restaurant wasn't what she had in mind, despite me telling her i would treat her to a 3 course meal (deal)...

Anyways, so what do you people, do you google 'restaurants in Harrow, not too expensive, veggie food' into Google? Sure you can do that but can you really believe the lovely things that they put on their own websites? Well exactly...

So step in Zomato, an app for your phone which started life in a bedroom in Delhi and now covers 41 countries, where folks jot down their experiences, ratings, cost etc on the site. It shows nearby restaurants and handily also has pics of the menu so you can check the prices beforehand..."sorry Mrs Min, yeah I did just ring them but they don't do veggie food'...So check it out, it's free, and gets 9.13 Zomatos out of 10 from me.

Confession of the week:  I went to India recently and the street begging was really awful. I was there for a couple of days and only got 200 Rupees...

Tech News: Just ordered that Chromecast thing (£30) so quite excited about that. If you haven't heard of what it does, well it turns you TV into a smartTV. Not by tying your shoelaces for you, but allowing you to have things like YouTube on your regular TV (and who doesn't like dancing Cats on a 63" screen!)  It connects via HDMI, uses a USB for power, though you can go old Skool and plug it through the mains too.  You then just use your phone as a remote control. Brilliant and much cheaper than getting Apple TV which costs £99. It's limited to certain apps like BBC iplayer, Netflix, Chrome website etc. You even get £5 off the Google Play Movie site if you mention that you know me. So check it out folks, and make full use of those TV slots...

Right at Rayners so let's leave it there.

Have a lovely weekend and a great sleep and c'mon Liverpool!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Tuesday 15th April 2014

Well hello hello! How are we all folks?

Just got on the Fast Chesham and looking around for what delights I can see

Well, there is a Chinese lady scrolling through something that looks super interesting. Damn...it's all in Chinese..

Advert of the week: bed and mattress only £446. It was £600. Spring Sale now on! Nice, see what you did there...

This week on TV I watched that Estate Agents programme on the BBC iPlayer and I learnt quite a lot. It showed everything from the high end (London) properties that were 6 floor town houses with standard cinema room, spa, staff quarters and 18 bathrooms worth around £35m. Then they went up North and this lady spoke about a house that recently went for auction where the starting bid was £1!  You pay that for a Twix extra over here...

There is also a lovely series on the iPlayer at the moment called 'Some people with jokes'. This season they have had Funeral Directors, Football Managers and Irish people and let's just say that I've picked up quite a bit of new material for my show! 

App of the week: Picture the scene, it's wedding season and it's that lovely time of day where you need to take the group photos to show everyone how much you enjoyed meeting them again after 2 years. If your anything like my lot, this can be quite a task as you have some people trying to talk, eat, yawn, go to sleep during that single millisecond whilst you snap the photo. (Make sure you get them to all say ANALYTICS and press the shutter when they get to the ICS bit. (Err you just did a fake smile trying that last bit out right?). Thought so. I've been watching that Darren Brown series again on Dave about mind control...

Where was I? Oh yes, so if only there was an intelligent (and preferably free) app that could scan everyone's face and tell you when to take that snap. That would be amaze-balls. Well, my dear blog reader, that time has come. Smile comes to the rescue. It works really well and I even tried it out on the mother in law and it worked. You can decide if you just want to look for a smile and /or they need to have their eyes open. It's brilliant and all your friends will be most impressed when you show them this app. If nothing else, you can use it to carry on the conversation regarding who of you flosses or has the most wonky teeth. Min smiles out of 10. 9.09

Thought for the day: When Gloria Gayner finally dies, I wonder what song they will play at her funeral?

Right, got a seat at Wembley Park so gonna have a nap now. 

Have a lovely long bank holiday rest and a great sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 11th April 2014

Hello hello! How are we my dear blog reader on this lovely Friday morning?

Long may this school break continue as been getting a seat every day this week! And ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to report that big coat has not made an appearance either this week so that's all good too...

Ok, got a lot to talk about today so let's stop messing about and on with the show...

Tech News: So Samsung has launched the S5. I had a quick look to see how this was going to change peoples lives. I learnt quite a lot. They have introduced some life saving technology and also something that will stop those little accidents when you are sitting on the loo. That's right folks, it's got a built in heart detector, where you put your finger over the camera lens and it tells you if your still alive. Nice.... But better still... Picture the moment, your on the loo in the morning (though equally applicable in the night) and your minding your own business (see what I did there) and as you know humans cannot carry out these basic functions without having our phone in our hand to check up on what lovely restaurants or food people have posted on Facebook or your catching up with those hilarious cat videos on YouTube. It's so funny that as you quiver ( or slightly fall asleep) you lose your grip on the phone and 'oh no....' The phone's fallen in the toilet and your number twos have suddenly become a number three...Well panic not my friends, Samsung has made their new phone waterproof so just give it a little wipe (and then the phone) and woo hoo, it's still working!!! Happy days. Well done Samsung, though I think I'll still wait for the iPhone 6...

Woah that was a long one and at Wembley Park already!  

Advert of the week: 'An ostrich can outrun a horse' This is an advert from Hitachi personal finance. Thanks for that, bit late now mate, the Grand National was last week...

There is another advert about all 0800 calls being free on new Three Plans, which reminds me of a lovely app that I use. Picture the scene...you need to ring Sky or some other customer services department as you can't sleep and need to hear some 90's music for an hour or two. Well fear not folks, rather than worrying about the cost of doing this as it's one of those 0870, 0845 or even 0800 numbers, there is a lovely app called 0870 that can come to the rescue. Just type in the name of the company or the phone number and it gives you a normal number to dial instead. Especially good when calling freephone numbers that aren't free when using a mobile. Who made that rule up anyway!  Min marks out of 10...9.870

There a man next to me with big Bose headphones and he is busy on his Samsung (S4) looking at what food his 'friends' on FB have been posting. He must be in the club or pop circuit as his friends have names such as Bleach and Mango.  Nice...

Finally some news on the marriage front. Brought a water bed this week for me and Mrs Min to try and put a spark back into our marriage but if anything, we are still drifting apart...

Right! That's your lot folks. Have a lovely weekend and a great sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Tuesday 1st April 2014

Well hello hello! No this isn't some kind of  April fools joke, it's really me, and if I sound different, then that's because I'm stuck at Zurich Airport in the Land of Swiss. Seeing as my plane is still in London, I've got a few hours to kill so thought I should try and entertain you for a few minutes!

First of all, can I say a massive thank you for all the lovely comments and likes for the last blog. I read them all out to my fellow Met Line passengers. Also thanks to my biggest blog fan and thanks for sharing your wonderful news!

On with the show...

Just received my 12 Swiss Franc voucher  from BA so off to see what that's gonna buy me from the shop.  I've just read the headline in the Daily Mail and it says that you should forget about the five-a-day, but now we need to eat SEVEN daily portions of fruit and veg to help you live longer. Wowza! They also helpfully display a bowl of fruit just in case their readers weren't quite sure what the headline was about.  Well I'm certainly gonna heed this advice and just ordered some tomatoes, salad, nuts and a banana. I will try and get the other 3 on the flight!!

This week on Channel 4 or could have been More 4, I watched this programme about 'inside Rolls Royce'. It was dead posh and they showed how nothing is too much trouble, how long it takes to make and the one offs they make for their clients. They had this super duper one which they embedded real diamonds  into the wood and it looked dead good. The man who this was subcontracted to got quite nervous as the first couple of times the quality control man crossed his arms and said no...do it again. It was very exciting. The best and most profitable dealership I learnt was the one in Abu Dhabi. The man showed all his awards and arranged for some of his best clients to test drive the new one - the Rolls Royce Wraith at the Grand Prix circuit, which everyone loved. Don't panic every one, although it's designed for the young uns, it still has that button you can press for the umbrella to pop out...

If you fancy getting one, I can recommend seeing on YouTube (other tubes are available) this dude called saabklye04. Just search for his name and  Rolls Royce Wraith. He's done loads on other super duper cars too.

This weeks app that has been keeping me amused and working those brain cells has been 2048. It's dead simple and you have this 4  x 4 square tile and you have to build up the numbers (starting with 2) until you get all the way to the 2048 tile. Obviously the maths dudes will love it and it's very addictive. My higest score is 3088, so if you beat that...keep it to yourselves...Min marks out of 10...9.2048

It's already been a touch week as Preeti said she's leaving me as she said I don't listen to her property...

Right, I better go to the gate now, so let's leave it there and have a great sleep (except you pilot man)...

A small man called Min...

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 28th March 2014

Well hello hello! Yes, my dear blog reader, it's Friday!

This week the 'Small man called Min live tour' went to Munich and I learnt that they like analytics and science and beer. I learnt that they invented most things, like the light bulb (they do like to show this off as you can see from the rather grand chandelier pic which was in my hotel room) and the computer and the airplane. Don't tell the Wright Brothers about that last one.

So on the lovely met line and everyone is looking quite pleased with themselves. Wonder if that's because they got their Mother's Day presents sorted?

Advert on the tube: if you spot someone Ill or in pain please help them off the train.

Nice, what about if they were on the way to Northwick Park Hospital as they weren't well and now you've just rugby tacked them off the train at Great Portland Street as they had looked a bit pink...

App of the week: Medium. Ok this week I have something slightly different for you. It's not as you may think from the title some sort of app to let you connect with the spirits world, or an app talking about the average size of clothing. No my friends, this is called Medium for no reason at all...it's a really interesting set of articles (similar to flipboard) that you can also read offline in the tunnels between Kings Cross and Finchely Road. What I really like is the wide selection of articles they have and a little symbol on the front page that tells you how many minutes it should take you to read it (no pressure!)  So this week I've been reading about "10 things I know about being happy (2 mins), 4 ways to make your brain work better (6 mins) and washing machine for men (4 mins). I learnt that "58 % of British men can’t use a washing machine properly because they find the household appliance confusing.”

There you go! Seriously the articles are really interesting and I've tried to change some of my habits already. For example, the brain one said that our minds weren't developed for multitasking and you shouldn't do what I do, which is switch in rapid succession from emails, Facebook, Twitter,web stuff, etc as this is blowing our minds and productivity. Instead, the man said that you should focus on 1 task at a time, so I won't be taking my iphone to the toilet any more...If nothing else you will get some lovely and interesting facts and stories after spending only a few minutes reading the 'mediums' and will look far more intelligent than you actually are and it's free! Min marks out of 10. - 9.13 

Thought of the week: Why don't travel agents ever ask you if you've got any nice haircuts planned?...

Right that's your lot! Have a great sleep and give your mothers an extra hug from me this Sunday.

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Wednesday 19th March 2014

Well hello hello! Yes, I know it's not Friday, or even Monday but just to keep everyone on their toes (who came up with that phrase...ballet dancers?) thought I'd do a blog today as left home super early and managed to get a seat on the tube.

Thanks so much for the blog views last week. I had a look at the view count and we are nearly at the 15,000 mark! Happy days!!

Most of the talk for the last week has been about the lost plane and all the conspiracy theories are  coming out. Yesterday, this bloke on the radio reckoned that the aliens had taken them.

This did get me thinking and I actually wrote an email to the US department of Defence last night. Just thinking that rather than them spending $1bn a pop on those triangle stealth bomber things which have that dynamic shape and non metallic paint to avoid being seen on radar, had they thought about just turning off their transponder?....

Ok, it may be 7:09 but the tube is full. Everyone is looking a bit sleepy and the chap next to me is reading about the chap who won £108m on the Euromillions this week. He's a mechanic and said he would be buying a sports car. Brilliant, thanks for that...

Now this week's app is super duper and it's called Battery. It's really good and helps keep your iphone battery in top nick. The two main functions I love apart from telling you how many seconds your battery will last, are the accelerate function, which closes down memory that isn't in use and has a lovely speed dial animation, and the 'remove junk files' function. I didn't know I would get so much satisfaction at removing 133mb of cache stuff but it's the next best thing to having a wash...It's free and Min marks out of 10 would be 9.33

There is a man opposite reading a book. Yes you heard that right..no wires or anything. It's called 'Confessions of an Economic Hit Man' by John Perkins. He's on page 146 so hopefully he's got past the bit that happened in 2008...

At Baker Street and a very posh man has got on and sat next to me. Pin stripe suit, shiny shoes and perfect hair. Err hello there sir, this is the met line, not the Central line, we have a reputation to maintain. Now he has taken out his iPad mini (which as you would expect has a lovely leather smelling cover) so let's see what he does next. Will he be opening up the FT or Guardian app. Will it be some kind of spread betting app.... Err nope, he's opened up Candy Crush! Oh ok , you can stay on the Met line posh man...

A final thought to leave you with.  If Pistorius is found innocent I don't think anyone will risk throwing him a surprise party...

Ok, that's your lot! See you all again soon and have a great sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Monday 10th March 2014

Well hello hello and a happy 2014!

Yes, I know it's been a while my dear blog reader but I'm back! Thank you so much for all the kind comments about the blog and wanting to see it come back. (Thanks mum!)

So here we are on the lovely journey home from Farringdon to Rayners.

As you would expect, the tube is packed and I'm typing this with my nose. Most peeps are busy on their I-gadgets. Let's see what we have...

The bloke next to me is playing snake. Nice old school. Giving his next gen processor a real work out there I see.

Everyone is out in their summer wear after the fantastic weekend. I too decided to leave big coat at home today even though I'm indian. Might wear a sweater, or as we call it swetttter tomorrow.

Today's advert is from Sky. "Tricky to get in your flat" and a picture of a table football. "Not tricky to get in your flat" and a picture of a tv with some blokes playing football. Great. Thanks Sky. Shame I live in a house...

Plenty of gadgets and apps to update you on but the one that I'm loving at the moment are the Bluetooth gloves that Rajvi brought me for Christmas. Picture the scene...it's cold, you have big coat on and someone rings your mobile (don't worry it's gonna be cold again next week) and the phone rings. Damn, now you need to take off your gloves to receive that call from your mum to say your running late as the met line seems to have developed a track failure. Well, now, I don't need for my fingers to get cold. Oh no! I have bluetooth gloves. The glove buzzes when you get a call and the mic and ear piece is stitched into the glove! Amaze balls I hear to cry. And so you should. It works brilliantly and ok, I got a few strange looks as I started to talk into glove when I was in WHSmith's the other day, but as I was in the 'what gadget' magazine area, it was all good...it's about £30 and super fun. The battery lasts ages and the sound is super clear...min marks out of 10. 9.13

What I've been watching on TV. Ok, I've got addicted to this American TV programme called Shark Tank. It's the US version of Dragons Den but loads more fun. The dragons aren't so miserable and don't just go for the standard 'I want 40% of your company. Check it out it's really good and I've been using this app call 'Music Tube' to watch it during my daily journey. The app allows you to cache any YouTube video so you don't need access to an internet connection. Happy days...

What else...this chap has just tapped me on the shoulder whilst I'm typing this and said "You remind me of an American Indian".  No idea what he meant so said "How?"...

Well that's your lot as I've got a seat at Wembley so gonna have a nap now.

Have a great sleep!

A small man called Min