Author: admin

Apple, Gadgets

A Tribute to Steve Jobs

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If you know me well, you will know I am not a fan of Apple and their ‘walled garden’ approach.

However, Steve Jobs clearly knew what he was doing. (I don’t mean peering over peoples shoulder and copying…)

Here’s a bit of web fun to liven up your weekend: a digital artist by the name of Pritesh Desai has recreated a fully functional first-generation iPod that you can play directly in your browser. In remembrance of Steve Jobs, Desai built the faux iPod using HTML5, CSS3, and a touch of jQuery. You can drag the click wheel around just like with the real deal, change the volume, hit play / pause and even skip tracks. Especially nice is the addition of Extras like the Clock and the Calendar. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to play any of your own tunes, but Desai had compiled a list of Creative Commons songs, so you can see how the player works. The next step is for someone to fill this up with hits of the early aughts (“Last Nite” by The Strokes, perhaps?) so you can truly travel back in time to the heydays of Windows XP and the Enron scandal.

http://inventikasolutions.com/demo/iPod/#

Via: www.engadget.com

Cars

More Car Fun – VW Golf ESP Light on

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Well, clearly I had forgotten how much of a nightmare it is running your own car!

The ESP (traction control) light came on last week…knowing this would likely result in a large repair bill, I did some google research to find out how much…

From the search results it seemed to be a fairly common problem, so much so, it even made an appearance on the BBC show ‘Don’t get done, get Dom’. As a result, VW were contributing to this repair…happy days!

I booked in with Lister VW Leamington, their team seemed quite aware of the issues. I had to agree to a £60 investigation fee, which would not be charged if it turned out to be the ABS pump, and VW were going to contribute.

I called the dealer at lunch time for an update…it was still being worked on. I got a call back at 3pm to tell me the work was complete, and VW had paid 100% of the bill! Amazing! I didn’t even need to shout!

Considering it is a 55 plate Mark 5 and has done just short of 60k miles, I am really chuffed with VW’s customer service!

I also noted whilst at the dealership, they do discounted servicing on older VW’s, so I think I will be using them for all future work…especially the cam belt due next year.

Thank you Listers VW, and thank you VW UK.

Cars

What Car Stereo to get?!?

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I posted a while ago about the Parrot Asteroid head unit.

I’m having second thoughts…mainly because it doesn’t have the option to slip a CD in, and it is a single DIN head unit. It might look a little odd in the large dashboard of the Golf.

I have been searching eBay for something suitable:

Double DIN, Big screen, plays DVDs (?), and has Bluetooth for calls and music streaming.

I think the Pioneer AVH2400BT fits the bill, and it’s not a bad price:

When installed in the Golf, it should look a bit like this:

Cars

Crystal Motor Company: Northampton – Review

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Well, if you ve been reading my blog for a while, you will know of the problems I have been having with cars, thought I would write a review of Crystal Motor Company – Northampton

I originally put a deposit down on a Toyota Celica at a garage in Northampton called Crystal Motor Company.

The guys were really pleasant, and left me to decide on the car in my own time if I liked the car or not, and I had a couple of test drives. I was due to pick up the car on Saturday the 1st of September, as I was starting my new job on the 3rd.

I rang the garage on the morning of the 1st to check all was well, only to be told that the engine had blown up on the Friday during it’s MOT. At that point, I was mortified, and in a bit of shock…as I didn’t know how I was going to get to work for my new job.

I decided that I didn’t want the car anymore, as it was a non starter, and the fault was not know. Crystal also tried to talk me into buying any of the other cars they had…none of which interested me. So, I asked for my deposit back, ‘No problem’ they said.

So after a fortnight of me chasing twice a day, and being told ‘the person that needs to process the refund is busy/taking a call/out’ I still don’t have my refund. I was also told they would put the money into my account, then told it would be by cheque…and now they tell me they will refund to my card, but I won’t hold my breath.

So, overall…the pre-sales were fine….just don’t expect much when it goes wrong.

http://www.crystalmotorcompany.co.uk/

Update: 20/09/2012 – I have now received my refund, thank you! It only took 3 weeks….

These opinions are my own…you may have a really good experience with them….I didn’t.

General

SEO Trials and tribulations – Full Auction

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So…I have started my new job working for CooperSolutions. It is a brilliant place, with some amazing talented people.

I have started to look in to one of the new products that Coopers supply, Full Auction, and the fact that it doesnt score very highly in SEO scores.

From what I can see, it is due to the lack of relevant meta tags…and links in from other sites.

Full Auction is a motor trade auction site helping dealers to dispose of trade in vehicles to used car traders.

Android, Cars

Stereo Head Units

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So now I have my new car, as usual, I need to modify it (and get the air con fixed…Country Garages Barford better ring me today!).

The standard stereo is, well, standard. I have a 6 disc changer in the arm rest, but the stereo isn’t very good.

I’ve been looking around, and quite like the Parrot Asteroid (yup, it runs Android!), it supports A2DP bluetooth streaming, along with MP3’s off an SD card, iPod etc.

Looks quite nice doesn’t it!

The only downside is, it has no CD player…but I can’t remember the last time I used a CD…

Oh..and there is a new double din version coming out, might see if I can get a review unit 😉