Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 3rd May 2013

Well hello hello! Yes it's that time of the week again. Hurrah, I hear you cry with tears of joy and laughter.

Lets get on with the show!

Gadget: So, hands up those who have a lovely iPhone 5 or Ipad 4? Yeah? Nice one. (Are girl followers of Apple called FanGirls?). Anywhoo, if your anything like me and have all the other stuff that Apple have released, this gadget could be just for you! You know what I'm talking about right? Yep, that bloody new connector on the new devices. Now none of those old wires you have safely stored away in the TV cabinet drawer are next to useless for the new devices! Now if your like me, and on your gadget 24:7, you need a constant charge to keep up with all the nonsense your 'friends' are putting on FB. (Thanks for letting me know you are at the Gym, eating somewhere posh, doing a poo) etc), then you need to have your charging wire in your back pocket. (Though its dead uncomfortable if you sit on the plug bit). Now I hear what your saying, just buy another one Min, it's only about 25 British pounds, so you have the original one at home and one for office. And I say back to you, err hello, £25!!. Indian...So, long story short, a quick search on amazon and I found the gadget you need. It's a converter that plugs into your old wire (the 30pin bit) and make its the new fang dangled shape. Hurrah! And the price of this life changing bit of kit...£1.47.(incl p&p). Shabash and thank you China, you are the best! Had it 4 weeks now and still working like a dream. There are loads of suppliers for these so let me know if you want the details of the one I purchased it from. Min marks out of 10...9.47

App: Flowergarden. So after a talk (tell off) from Preeti that I seemed to have become obsessed with my phone and no longer enjoyed the simpler things in life, I reflected on what she said and yes it was true, that I needed to get back to Nature. A quick trawl of the App Store and I had the answer! FlowerGarden! With this app, you are given 12 empty pots, and you have to grow virtual plants. Starting off with seeds, fertiliser and lots of water. It's well addictive man, as if you don't water them, they die. It makes this really neat noise when the plants need a drink, and when you get out the virtual watering can(press your finger in the top right corner), it sounds just like the real thing. The number of times this week I've had to stop people mid sentence during meetings to tell them to just 'hold that thought', whilst I spent 2 minutes giving my plants a top up. The best bit is that once they are full, all the flowers that were previously flopping all rise back to full health again! Hurrah!! I do however get some strange looks whilst on this app from fellow tube passengers, and some have been known to start banging on the tube door as the gurgling sound of the water has meant they they now desperately need to go for a number 1. Lool! Min Marks of 10. 8.15.

Joke: Preeti just said to me, "I really wish you'd pay a pension when I'm speaking to you."...

Right, that's your lot! Have a great week and a lovely sleep.

A small man called Min.

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 26th April 2013

Hello Hello! and welcome to my weekly tech blog. Thanks again for all the likes last week! (You know who you are!)

No messing about today, lets get on with the show.

Gadget: So a few months ago it was my little nephews' birthday, so Preeti asked me to find a suitable present for a 5 year old. Several searches later, I had found the perfect present for him! A remote control helicopter!! So just as I was gonna hit the 'buy' button! I thought..woah are you crazy, what are you thinking!! That's right folks, if its good enough for a toddler, then it must be good for a middle aged man! So I ordered two of them! However, I thought that I should get a couple of optional extras on mine. So as well as the standard flashing lights when it's flying, mines also came with a little video camera so I could take pics and photos mid air. It comes with a miniSd card , has built in gyroscope to keep it level and the helicopter can be charged via USB. The gadget is brilliant though the lady next door does seem to get a bit annoyed when the rotors tap against her bedroom window....It cost about £27 pounds. Min Marks out of 10. 9.18.

App: Pedometer. So been using this app for about a month now and it's super fantastic (and free and everyone loves free). It records how many steps you walk during the day and is smart enough to know when you are sitting down. When this happens, I shake it a bit to improve my step count. You can set a daily goal (2km in my case), and it tells you in a lovely lady robot voice what percentage of your goal you have walked, calories burnt etc. you can also see a map of the same route you have followed day in day out and summaries for weeks and months. I'm not saying its addictive but sometimes during meetings I just stand up and walk around the table a few times to increase my record...Min Marks out of 10...8.43

Joke: Preeti had me do a spring clean of the loft last night and in one of the boxes was a CD called "The Only Jazz Album You'll Ever Need". And they were bloody right....

Right, that's your lot! Have a great weekend and a lovely sleep.

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 19th April 2013

Hello Hello! Welcome to the 4th blog in the series, and I sincerely hope the BBC do fund another one. So 6 likes last week! (and 1 comment - thanks Mohneesh!) so a 50% increase on the previous week. One of the statistics I read this week was that 'In the next 10 years, the sexiest job in the world will be that of a data scientist!' And as I have a massive shiny head, I reckon that I'm gonna be in the top 1% of the 1%, the best of the best (all rights reserved Top Gun). Ladies if you want my personal contact details autographed on your Rubix cube, just let me know...

Gadget: Gonna talk about Google Glasses today as its being tested by volunteers at the moment, who have the pleasure of paying $1500 to Google for testing it. Lucky them! First question...Will it spoil my good looks by putting them over my regular glasses?..and what if I'm down at the cinema watching Lion King 3D, will I be able to wear 3 pairs of glasses at the same time? The video released a while back was amazing though! For the 'volunteers, guidance has already been issued to make sure they don't break the law'. Stuff like 'don't wear them when you drive as you might be distracted', and 'no secret recording when you are in the women's changing rooms'...that kinda thing...Can't give it Min Marks out of 10 until I try a pair, so a holding score of 8.3 based on potential excitement they will bring to my life.

App: KView+ So a few months ago, passing Maplins (as you do), I noticed a fancy CCTV system in the shop window with loads of cameras (4), a shiny black box and lots of wires so went to have a closer look. On the box it said, iPhone. Enabled so 30 secs later, I brought it! It's brilliant and we have set up the cameras all around the house, and you can set it to just email pics of when there is movement or get a live feed from anywhere in the world. Yep, works even when you leave Harrow! Setting up the app to work with the router was a bit tricky, but what I don't know now about opening ports and network IP addresses isn't worth knowing.
A few weeks ago, there was a headless pigeon on our doorstep and initially I thought it was some voodoo from someone suggesting that I should step away from the blog! Having viewed the recording on the app for the previous 3 hrs, I saw that it was actually a hawk that had try to fly off with its prey, couldn't quite lift it so just ate its head and flew off. How's the lunchtime snack going by the way?
It does have a few glitches though. For example, every time the milkman comes to drop off the milk and have a chat with Preeti, the cameras always freeze for an hour...sure it's a glitch right? Min Marks out of 10..7.3 as a bit tricky to set up but brilliant after that.

Joke: "So how did the interview go?" Preeti asked me.

"I'm not too sure to be honest, I said all the usual stuff like, "I'm a hard working person, I get on well with others, I won't let anyone down, blah blah blah, but then he sort of looked at me funny."

"How come?" she replied.

"Because I said blah blah blah."...

Right! that's your lot. As always lets have your likes and comments and see you next week!

Have a great sleep,

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 12th April 2013

Well hello there! Week 3 of the technology blog and I've hardly been able to do much work due to all the constant calls from the TV and Radio people. Most of them saying 'Please stop, my eyes are bleeding reading your blog', but as Gandhi once said... 'Where's my slippers'...sorry wrong quote, as Gandhi once said 'Believe in the people'...that's what I'm gonna do as the '4 likes' last week told me.

Gadget: Gadget emergency battery. Have you ever been in a situation where you have to make that really important call and you have the dreaded 1% battery sign? I'm talking to you my iPhone buddies. Then you have to use all your brain power to do the call as quickly as possible. So most of my calls were like 'Fetch me' (translation : I'm at Rayners lane tube my dear wife, can you come and collect me as I can't be bothered to walk the 963 steps home), or 'Pizza...now!' (Calling Papa Johns, though more into Papa Mia (£9.50 for really large pizza, though you do have to collect). The finally straw was when I recently flew back into Heathrow and had the 1% warning and still had to call the taxi man. 'Taxi now, OK bye' was as much as I could get out before the swirling lines indicating shutdown came on (did you do the 'OK bye bit in an Indian accent? Errr racist...)

Anyways, brought a really good 5000mA strength charger about a month ago for about £23 and its brill. Can charge 2 devices at the same time and most importantly has these 3 funky LEDS that show you how much power you have left and comes with a million different connectors (except iPhone 5). Min Marks : 8.3

App: Solar. Great little weather app I got (free) which is really slick. Seeing as its going to be a crazy 18c this Sunday, the timing couldn't be better to show all your (imaginary) friends how much the mercury is rising. You can swipe and pinch as much as you like, and once you've stopped messing about with your nose, check out the app. Best bit is when it shows rain or snow, if you tilt your phone, the rain or snow falls in that direction, it's brilliant and the meetings this week have just flown by! Min Marks out of 10.: 9.2

Thought for the day: With the lovely weather in mind, why do people draw the sun wearing sunglasses. What is it protecting his eyes from?

Tara for now and have a great sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's Minute Update. Friday 5th April 2013

Well hello there! Thank you so much for the 14 likes and hundreds of cards and flowers for last weeks blog. Mum you are the greatest! Reached my 1,000th LinkedIn contact this week, so great to see OVER 1% of my contacts enjoyed last weeks musings. Lets try for 1.5% this week. Little steps as my mum used to say (Being 5ft 2", it was always going to be).

Lets crack on with the show:

Gadget: Robomop Robot Floor Cleaner. As a bit of a contingency for if Preeti ever decided to leave me, I brought her this robot cleaner for Christmas. Obviously you can't put a price on happiness (or cleanliness), but £34.99 seemed to be around the right ball park seeing as it was coming out of our joint bank account.
Having had the robot (I've named it Rho Bhatt) for a few months now, It's safe to say that it has performed admirably. It's like we have a new pet in the house (though Lucky, you will always be in our hearts). It's essentially like one of those hamster balls and a bit of cloth on the bottom (sorry for the technical phase folks ), but it picks up the dirt, can get under the sofas and if it bumps into anything, it remembers and tries again later. Comes with rechargeable batteries and you can set it to clean for up to 2hrs! The best bit is that it makes this gruffing noise whilst it cleans which is quite cute. Min Marks out of 10....8.5

App: Facestealer. Ever wanted to look like Barrack Obama or the Mona Lisa? Well here is your chance. Yes folks, before you ask, it's free and will keep you amused for at least 5 minutes. It comes with a load of templates, and the best bit is that it uses the camera to augment the selected character onto your face. It's dynamic too so will update if you move your face. You can even download an image and turn into who ever you like. I tried Michael Jackson but that just looked strange and that's before I used the app..boom! Min Marks out of 10...6

Joke: What did Jay-Z call his girlfriend before getting married? Feyonce...

Ahem! Right that's your lot! Have a great sleep and if we get that 1.5% target, I'll do another one in a weeks time.

A small man called Min

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

Well hello there! Welcome to my first technology blog! As anyone who knows me, I do like my gadgets, gizmos and jokes, and therefore I thought I would start jotting down some thoughts regarding the wonderful tech that I'm using or seeing is right around the corner.

GADGET: Phillips Hue Lights: OK, so I finally got the business case approved by the Mrs and finally ordered these last week and have been playing with them the last few days! For those who haven't heard of them, they are LED lights that you can control with your phone and connects to your router. Cool huh! You can change them any one of a million colours, control them from anywhere in the world, and even have them create a sunset scene using multiple bulbs. The business case I hear you say? Well apparently each bulb lasts 15,000 hours and when dimmed only used 2 watts of electricity. Just as we'll really as most of the energy in our house is needed for our 65" Samsung TV! Ying Yang huh. The starter kit comes with 3 bulbs and the bit that connects to your router and costs £180. Currently available only from the Apple Store. Min Marks out of 10? 7 as the free app it comes with is a bit flaky, but still high marks as its cool tech and The mother in law hasn't come back since 'the ghosts' have mysteriously starting turning the lights to blood red...Money well spent my friend..money well spent!


App: MAYDAY. Ever wanted to be the hero and save the day? This game, which I played all last week on the Met Line from Rayners to Farringdon is quite addictive (and its free!, and for anyone who knows me, free is what I like!). The game involves flying an airliner during its final assent to the runway. You have to keep your nerve, and make sure you be as gentle as possible, do the flaps, gear and be gentle as possible as otherwise folks, people die, and we don't want that. No pressure folks, no pressure!

Joke: Mrs Mrs is leaving me because I spend too much time down the pub. I personally don't know where she's getting that from but that's the rumour down the the Red Lion...

Tuesday 13th November - The Journey Home

18:26. All stations to Uxbridge

Hello hello, and a massive happy Diwali to you all! Hope you are all having delightful days and looking forward to the New Year. I'm going to work tomorrow as we don't have a kitchen, but it is coming...honest.

So long time people, but yes here we are. The muchi has come back and nearly back to normal. Preeti wasn't keen on me looking SO MUCH younger than her, and people stopping us in the street to ask how old 'her son' was...

Tube is busy for a Diwali day, so standing up at the mo...

Don't know about you guys but we have stopped doing Diwali cards now, just do FB and txt. It's so much easier (cheaper)...thinking of culling my friends list again to just people that liked my Diwali status. No pressure peeps...no pressure.

Yesterday I took the day off to go to a funeral of one of the neighbours who died when he was hit on the head with a tennis ball. It was a great service...

Lets have a look to see what we have today...

Nothing much to report, quite normal looking people today. A lady has got on at Baker Street with a Hamleys 'The finest toy shop in the world' bag. Can't make out what it is yet, but will keep you informed.

There is also a lady who is about 7 foot tall, has similar red shoes to those worn by Dorothy in the WIzard of Oz. Will let you know if she clicks them together...

What else...

Oh yeah, my Doctor gave me some bad news last week. He said I had ADH-something or other, I wasn't really listening...

Went to see Skyfall with Preeti and Rajvi on Saturday and we went to the 9pm showing. What can I say (spoiler alert)... It was ok, but not how I remember chicken licken as a child. seriously it's good, lots of action, one liners and London looks lovely. Goes on a bit though that could be seen as value for money...shame Bond dies in the end...

At Finchley road and the tube gets a bit emptier...

Headline today is 'Sailor's plot to betray Britain'...err harram. This is the story of a chap who tried to pass nuclear codes to Russians..who were really just MI5. Did he not watch bond movies??

Also a story about Abdul Qatada...hmm should have tried harder...

And with that, lets call it a day...ahem.

Have a lovely Diwali sleep,

A small man called Kawks.