Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 18th October 2013

Well hello hello! I do hope you are having enjoyable lives. Sorry for the no show last week, I didn't have anything to talk about. Well ok... I fell asleep on the tube so there we go. Let me know if you need a refund.

Life stuff: I don't know if this strikes a chord with you my dear blog reader but this morning I forgot to charge my phone before going to the bathroom and it was flat!  It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I had to read the back of a shampoo bottle for the next fifteen minutes to make sure I had something to do whilst on the loo! 

Tube activity: There is a bloke playing pool on his iPhone 4S next to me. It's quite hard not to step in and explain physics and trajectory to him as he's not doing too well. Seeing as he has tattoos on his knuckles though..might keep my thoughts to myself!

News: So the world and his wife are still all quite keen to release their version of a tablet. Nokia are about to release their tablet next week. You take one to get over the pain of having a Nokia phone. Boom! And we are off!

Still loving my Hudl and giving it a Cudl every day!...

Argos are releasing their version, called MyTablet, aimed at the Kiddies/Teens market and selling for a round sum £100.

Wonder who will be next? Lidl? 

Talking about Tabs, and my daughter taught me this word as how kool kids refer to their tablets, Apple have announced that the iPad 5 event will be next week on the 22nd. Not expecting many surprises looking at the stuff leaked already so just expect the same stuff as on the iPhone 5S.

App: Roll. This one will take you back to you childhood, before we had mobile phones and I was a mere lad (31). The game is all about rolling various coloured balls into the right coloured holes within 60 seconds. It uses the accelerometer to work out how crazy you are slanting your phone. I play it on the tube so I have an excuse as to why I'm so rubbish, though mostly on the Met Line, it's not moving anyway, so need a better excuse! It's free and it gets harder as you progress up the levels. Min marks out of 10.. 8.12

Joke: All the shops in Harrow have signs that say "No Hoodies". Quite disappointing really...they've been sold out for months now...

Right, that's your lot! I wish you a great weekend and a lovely sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 4th October 2013

Well hello hello! I hope you have been having a lovely week and looking forward to the weekend.

This week has been quite an exciting one in the Min household, so let me tell you some more. Having been an apple fanboy all my life (if the gadget doesn't start with an i...I didn't get it.) Well, this week I have broken that rule and brought a...wait for it...wait for it...an Android device!!

Yes I know what your gonna say, but stick with me and all will be revealed. It started off quite innocently. Reading the gadget news (what other kind of news is there?), I saw that Tesco (the brand you normally think of straight after Apple) was about to launch a new tablet called the Hudl ( see what they did there...)

Having checked out the spec, and the trade reviews it certainly looked quite tempting. And at less than half the price of an iPad Mini, it seemed a bargain at £119. 

The deal became even sweeter when I discovered from the Tesco club card site that I had actually accumulated £25 of vouchers for the £1.25m. of shopping I had done at that place. This £25 was worth £50 in a scheme they are currently running called Tesco Boost if you buy from their Tesco Direct website. So the gadget was now only gonna cost £69!!

Because I'm quite a selfless kind of chap (and a bit cheap), what with Rajvi's birthday coming up this month, I thought job done!

I chose the click and collect option and collected it from my local Tesco express with my milk on Wednesday (launch day).

And what's my view I hear you cry?..we'll stop crying my blog friends, the news is good, the news is fantastic!!

I have not been this excited since Mrs Min said she would marry me 20 years ago as she said my jokes and love for gadgets was all she was looking for in a man.

The tablet comes with a mini HDMI slot so you can connect it with your TV and watch HD quality stuff, the speed of it is fantastic, all the same apps as the iPad and you can expand the memory from the 16gig standard internal to 48gig, via the external microSD slot. (Yep done that already). Even brought a little case to keep my new friend safe (£3 from China on EBay)

So got it all set up and thought, rather than waiting the 3 weeks for Rajvi's birthday, I thought I'd give her a surprise and give it to her straight away.  

The response was, and I quote..."err what's that? No thanks Dad, don't be so cheap, I'll wait for the IPad 5"

Which actually was fine for me as I have become quite fond of it and for a small man like me, the 7inch tablet is like a full size iPad would be for a normal sized human.

Min marks out of 10... 9.79. Get one 'for your "kids"', you won't regret it!

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 27th September 2013

Well hello hello! It's that time of the week again to round up what's been going on in the world of technology!

News: Blackberry. Oh dear.... Who would have thought it? Sold for a few quid, could anyone have ever imagined this would have ever happened. That the day would come when it's more expensive to buy the fruit than their phone. They should have seen the writing on the wall when I changed over to the iPhone (when it came out in 2008)

Other news: iPhone S - so finally went on sale this week and did you hear about the chap who was that crazy to get his hands on the gold coloured one that he paid £10,000 on EBay for it! That's just mad. Still, I am getting quite a few jealous looks this morning on the Piccadilly line as I type away on it...

New section: Things to watch on YouTube. Ok, you MUST check out this dude call YLVIS. He has some very funny ( and slightly weird) songs. Have a listen to "Stonehenge". Think this is the only song that attempts to rhyme "Technology" with "Day", as well as the phrase "What car do you drive?" It's simply breathtaking and you will also learn a lot about the magnificent stone structure that is the Stonehenge... which might be all important for that Friday night pub quiz. Also have a listen to another one of their songs "What does the Fox say" Again, their rhyming of old school technology like Morse Code is simple genius!  Guaranteed to stay in your head for the rest of your lives!

Date for the diary: 12th November - 6pm. We have our Diwali event at work and by popular demand (thanks mum!), I've been asked again to do 5mins of standup comedy so let me know if you want to come.

Advert of the week (on the tube). There is one advertising Flexicover travel insurance with a man sitting on the floor looking sad next to a big pink suitcase and the tag line - "Just in case"...

Woah, how long did that take for them to think of? Even I thought that was a bit pants! 

App: This weeks app is quite excellent. It's called Human. According to scientific research, it is recommended that you walk 30 minutes a day. But how could I possibly measure that! I hear you cry because I don't want the faff of remember to press random buttons on my cycling app every time I start to walk. Well fear not my blog friends, Human is intelligent, you could say human (see what I did there!) and just knows! So it can work out based on your speed if your in the car, running, cycling, on the toilet etc. also draws you a lovely map of you efforts so you can show your mum. It's brilliant and gives you a lovely tick for every day you manage to reach that goal of 30mins. Chews the battery big time as it has to be running in the background all the time, but it's worth it. (free app). Min marks out of 10. 8.96...

Joke: it's been 4 years to the day that I threw that boomerang. I still find myself looking over my shoulder and living in fear...

Right, that's your lot! 

Have a lovely sleep and see you next week!

A small man called Min.

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 20th September 2013

Well hello hello! Yes I know it's been a while since my last blogfession but thought I should do a blog special to report back on the big event that happened yesterday! 

I think it was a severe bout of the 'vomit bug' and all I'm saying is that the vomit wasn't just coming out of one end...

What? Wasn't that what you were thinking...I'm only messing, yes folks the big event was the release of IOS 7.

Unlike some folks (newbies) who tried to download the download (hence why it's called a download) the SECOND it came out and then got a message saying it would take 32hrs to download.... I used some analytics to work out the optimum time to do the upgrade, including factors such as time zones, population densities, wind direction etc to work out that 6:12 would be the right time. Yeah ok, so I had to wake up at that time to be sick but I wasn't wrong. 8 minutes later and I had downloaded the 1.25gig file.

I had done some prep the night before as it said I needed 3.3gig free for the download to do its thing, so deleted Apsalt 8 (racing game), which I had paid 69p for, so was a bit gutted. In hindsight, should have just deleted all the wedding pictures in Camera Roll but hey ho.

So, enough of the messing about. Already at Wembley station on the Met line and the bloke reading this blog over my shoulder has just told me 'to stop messing about and to get on with the blog as he needs to get off at Finchley Road'...

Well folks, what can I say... It's that same feeling I had when I first met Mrs Min, Nervous and excited and hoping that this would be the one. Well, it was just that!  It is simply like having a brand new phone and I'm loving it!

In some ways, it's made me think, why even get the 5C (cheap..though not really) or the 5S (Super Secret) as the IOS has really given my Iphone 5 a new lease of life (that and it's a work phone and I'm legally bounded to keep it for 3 years)...

Let's talk about some of the new features folks. I'm loving the swipes up and down, though my nose has been running for a few days now...

The IOS certainly goes back to Apple design thinking of 'less is more and all about simplicity and design rather than just cos you can... you should". 

Loving new features such as the multitasking of the apps when you double tap the home button. Love flicking the apps up to close them. The safari multiview is also cool!

The new compass is also neat as it has a spirit level built into it now, so spent most of yesterday seeing if the floors in our house were level. Found out they weren't so asked our builder if he can rebuild the house...

Then there is the new Siri and now you can change the voice to be Female. (Bit more realistic when your taking instructions from a women). To do this, make sure you change your Siri settings to use US English. You may have to talk like your a bit drunk so give it a go whilst your in the bar tonight...

Min Marks out of 10 overall is 9.7. Well done Apple, we are friends again. Oh, looks cool on the IPad as well. Would have been full marks but that security pad is rather large to be a SECURITY pad. Who was that aimed at...King Kong?

Right, no time for the app review, so a quick joke to finish with.

How do you know when someone has installed IOS 7?  

Don't worry they will tell you...

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

A small man called Min.

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 21st June 2013

Well hello hello! Or should that be 'not well cough cough'...Been off sick with some flu, cold, chesty fever thing but seeing as it's blog day and that can only be written on the tube...well here I am!

It feels like that movie 'I am legend' on the pic line this morning. There are only 5 people in the whole carriage! 

As I may pass out at any moment, lets get on with the show...

Tube advert: Best Thing Ever. That's what students are saying about the Open University. Nice! It says that their materials are so good that other universities use them too, Wowza! Google has a fight on it's hands...

Gadget: well, gonna give the gadget a rest this week. Did think about doing a piece on the 90" sharp LCD TV I'm thinking of getting and relegating our 65" to the bedroom, but will wait to do that review for a future edition (and obviously if I'm still alive till then).

So in it's place, a new section:

TV programme of the week: So who else watch Airport Live on the BBC this week? No? Just me and my dad then. Watched all 4 episodes and learnt loads...things like 76,000 people work at Heathrow (well done all my Sikh friends in Hounslow), It's the world's busiest hub at 98% capacity with 1,400 take offs and landings each day and one of those fancy fire engines costs £700,000. Yeah ok, it was a bit dull, even though you would have thought they could make a machine in this day and age to cut the 27,000 holes for the stencil thing for the BA logo on the back of the plane, rather than pulling them out individual by hand. Perhaps that's why they have to employ 76,000 people at the airport...anyways, well done Heathrow, and see you on Sunday for my flight to Madrid. Min TV marks out of 10...7.47

App: Citymapper. A must have app for my fellow commuters and yes my friends it is free. It's the app which gives you all the travel info you need in Landan town. (Did you like my accent there?) not only does it combine tube info, including when your next met line will arrive on platform 2, but also bus stops, boris bikes and national train services. You can tell it where you work and live and it can tell you the best way to get there and how long it will take you. Check it out. Min marks out of 10. 9.16

Joke: I've decided to call our new dog '5 miles'. So I can tell everyone I walk 5 miles every day...

Right, time to have a little cough now so have a lovely weekend and a great sleep.

A small man called Min.

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 14th June 2013

Well hello hello. Here we are again and what an exciting week it has been. More later...

Lot to fit in today, so lets not mess about and on with the show!

Tube: Cryptonomicon, that's the book the dude next to me is reading. He is on page 7 and not fallen asleep so far, so looking promising. I guess that's quite an impressive word to remember for the next time you play scrabble!

Shout out: Just to say a massive thank you to all the folks who have given me a like on LinkedIn or downloaded the book. Even had some oversee downloads, but that was probably just the FBI. Big shout out to my favourite recruitment lady who has a clear edge on her competitors with the number of blog likes.

Kawks2009: Just in case the weekly tech blog is not enough for you and you want to see me do some one liners, I now have a video channel on YouTube, called Kawks2009. About 6 videos on there so far and only need another 499,984 views and YouTube will send me a cheque for £10. Come on mum, get clicking....

Gadget: So, nearly took the day off early this week to make sure I could get my self ready for the Apple conference IOS7 launch. Apple are certainly very slick at doing these events, especially when you see what Samsung did recently with their S4 launch. Simple, no nonsense and slick..but enough about me, what can we expect in the fall? (why can't they just say spring or September..expect broken bones perhaps and a 4 hr wait at A&E?)

Really liked the new IOS7 features and finally has some things that should have been available a year or two ago. The control centre for making it much easier for turning on Airplane mode, Bluetooth, flashlight etc by just swiping up rather than messing about going to settings and  3 other menus is very much welcome. The amount of time i will save the next time I'm on a flight and I want to take some pictures of the ground crew playing football with my suitcase is going to be massive... The other features like multitasking and airdrop are also neat. Good to see that finally I don't need to spend all that time whilst I'm on the loo in the morning doing App updates as these will now happen automatically. Hurrah...Overall, good job Mr Cook, you can stay for a while longer. Min marks out of 10: 9.59

Gadget: In this stressful world we live in, where its go, go, go. (And that's just when your playing monopoly at work), when you have a billion email in your inbox by 9:31 and the mrs has also given you a long list of chores for the day. Yes dear, I won't forget your vitamin tablets from Boots, to ring the council about the bins and ringing the Indian high commission about visas for the mother in law (Shame they never pick up). You get the gist right, it's a stressful life we live in and if you want to stayed chilled out, this app can help you monitor yourself. Oy, not like that, get your hands out of your pockets...I meant your heart beat!! What you do is place your finger in front of the camera and it uses the camera light to detect your pulse. Clever huh. I always make sure I do a bit of yoga and some chanting, deep breaths (imagine you are floating in the sky and all round you, there are birds chirping)...My last reading was 72, which is within the boundaries for a human being (60-100), so that's great. Check out Heart Beat pro if you too want to make sure you are alive....Min Marks out of 10...8.72

Joke: Overheard on the tube: 'I think that weird guy sat on his own is listening to our conversation.'...

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

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 7th June 2013

Well hello hello! How are we all today? Thanks so much to the folks who have downloaded my book from the iBook store. Will keep this blog brief just in case Penguin or Random House are trying to call me to get me to sign a mega million pound deal (and movie rights).

So, lets not mess about. On with the show.

Tube: There is a  bloke to my right in a purple hoodie who is watching one of those Japanese Manga style cartoons on his Samsung Galaxy. Nice. It has English subtitles and he also has his headphones on. Wonder if the narration is in English too? Might ask him in a sec if I can borrow one of the headphones and listen in...

Advert: First direct were going to be offering new customers a family of china piggy banks. But they thought you would prefer £100 instead. Too right Fiirst Direct, what were the Chinese family supposed to put their savings in??

Gadget: Picture the scene..You are in a meeting, it's been over 40 minutes and your getting a bit bored (perhaps a bit sleepy if you've just had lunch), and you've ticked off all the business speak lines such as 'let's talk offline' (when did you turn into a computer, how about you talk after the meeting) or 'our immediate strategic objective is to climb the maturity staircase and along the way pick up the low hanging fruit' (tell you what bud...firstly I'm only 5ft 2 and that fruit still looks quite high and have you thought about just going to Sainsbury's..

Sorry I digress...so you really want to get out your phone to have a quick look to see if anyone has sent you a text or updated their Facebook status (to tell you that they went to the gym for lunch (err hello..what kind of sandwiches do they sell in there?). Well, my dear blog readers, fear not, the pebble watch is here. It uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone and gives you all these kind of alerts. Your watch buzzes when you get a notification and you can just look cool and pretend you are just checking what the time is! The most amazing feature is that you can change the clock face, and it even works in the swimming pool. Wowza is all I can say. It's £125 and if it wasn't for the fact that there are big rumours from apple that they will be announcing their watch (I wonder what they will call it?) I would have brought one for my other hand. Still good effort pebble, not actually seen one in real life so you get a Min marks out of 10...8.19

App: Got more of an update this week as the Phillips hue app is now totally amazing and for those hangers on, worth considering buying. App is free (though kit to make it work like the bulbs and hub costs £180. See my first tech blog for what the lights are all about. So several new features to tell you about. It now has geofencing and so as you approach your house, it knows that daddy is home and turns on the lights for you. Same when you leave. You can set it to small, medium or large so control how far away you want this to happen. But the most amazing feature now is that they have linked up with IFFTT (nope I hadn't heard of this before either) but it means that you can trigger the lights to do something based on specific things happening. So For example, I've connected it to the weather channel so if the forecast is rain in the next few hours, the lights go blue, it's connected to the sports channel, so if Liverpool score a goal, they go red (no jokes about wont be needing that then), or even if someone tags you on Facebook the lights blink twice. Cool huh. Come round if you want a demo...updated Min marks out of 10...9.87

Joke: I really wish I knew who kicked the jack out from under the car I was working on...The suspension is killing me...

Right , that's your lot. Download the book, free for the first 100 downloads and has lots of extra bits in there (including my Facebook updates)

Have a great sleep!

A small man called Min