Worded Wonders

Worded Wonders http://neverandforever.com This is not an exit posterous.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:14:00 -0800 If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/-q4E7vTAX3E/if-you-like-a-lot-of-chocolate-on-your-biscui http://neverandforever.com/if-you-like-a-lot-of-chocolate-on-your-biscui

…join our club.

At the start of the year I decided to join a cycle club in order to get me out and about on the bike a bit more. After checking out the local clubs I went with Iceni Velo as they looked to be quite open and welcoming and had an active forum. Since joining I’ve yet to attend a Sunday morning club ride as a) it’s been quite cold first thing on a Sunday, and b) I have to convince Chloe to get up early on a Sunday :)

I have however been on two other events with the club, both of which have been part of the member-initiated hill training on a Thursday night. Whilst I’m more than happy to go out on my own and get the miles done as I did last Thursday, it’s a lot nicer with other people there to encourage you and help out should anything go awry. This evening I managed to stay with the fast group throughout, even taking a turn on the front for one lap of the 2.1 mile route. I managed to rack up 8 loops in all and 24 miles (including there and back) and genuinely had a great time, even though by the end I couldn’t feel my toes, or fingers and had ice in my water bottle.

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/if-you-like-a-lot-of-chocolate-on-your-biscui Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:21:00 -0800 200 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/QSsk0uoUBUI/200 http://neverandforever.com/200

In January I managed to cycle 200 miles. Go me. I suspect February will not be as impressive looking at the weather forecast but hopefully from March onwards I can step up the mileage and get some longer rides under my belt. I think I may reach up to 500 miles a month if all goes to plan….

200

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/200 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:42:00 -0800 King of the Hill http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/YonlqOPIVZg/king-of-the-hill http://neverandforever.com/king-of-the-hill

I like cycling. A lot. To that end I decided to enter the Hethersett 60 last year. At that point the longest distance I’d cycled was 15 miles, done in a lunchtime at work. I upped that to 22 miles one sunny Sunday in November and then more than doubled that last weekend when I covered 52 miles, some of it including 13 miles in excruciating 30-40mph gusts, another 6 of which involved cycling with the bike at a 15 degree angle to stop from being blown into a ditch. I did most of that 52 miles with my venerable “colleague” Phil who also managed to up his personal best mileage to about 35 miles.

So, after that I think 60 is going to be easily do-able. Next comes the Norwich 100 . I think that’ll be a lot harder. I’ve put myself in the 8 hour time bracket but hope to do it quicker than that. I won’t guess at a time till I’ve done the 60 first!

So anyway, why King of the Hill? Today I cycled up Gas Hill. Twice. By the time I reached the top of the second run I thought I was going to collapse but I managed it. Maybe I might attempt the Gas Hill Gasp this year….

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/king-of-the-hill Fri, 16 Dec 2011 04:46:00 -0800 Hello http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/QuRvuZLIhI0/hello-36751 http://neverandforever.com/hello-36751

As previously mentioned, I've migrated from a self-hosted Wordpress blog to Posterous. All old posts have been imported but without comments (which I've now turned off anyway.) There's probably some bad links in the archives too but will find and fix those at a later date. Doing this in conjunction with migrating the domain's email to Google Apps means I should save myself a few quid next year as I no longer need web hosting. Hooray!

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/hello-36751 Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:46:00 -0800 Migration http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/b4n3O150uKY/migration http://neverandforever.com/migration

I'm abandoning my own web hosting in favour of letting others do the hard work. Some disruption may occur.

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/migration Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:40:56 -0700 Bikes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/PnC0h5vLFF4/bikes http://neverandforever.com/bikes In July, my employer signed up to Cyclescheme, a way of buying a bicycle from your pre-tax salary in monthly instalments and saving between 40-50% off the cost of a new bike. I'd been after a new bike for ages but couldn't quite justify the cost given that my old Halfords hybrid bike still worked, even though it was a bit cheap and had a tendency to misbehave. After having researched and thought it through for some time I had already decided I wanted a road bike and after chatting with the good folks at Street Life I went and got myself a Specialized Allez Sport Triple:

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As a novice to drop handlebars, skinny tyres and the much higher riding position I was a little nervous on day one but soon got used to it and now wouldn't dream of riding anything else. Compared to my old hybrid it's lighter, more responsive and has a much better gear ratio - even in top gear I'm still able to pedal at a decent rpm without having my legs whizz round like a lunatic. I also find I'm enjoying cycling a whole lot more and have just started up a lunchtime cycle from work to get my stamina up in preparation for some much longer rides I plan to do next year. However the main advantage of the Allez on a day-to-day basis is that I'm now even faster getting to/from work. I can comfortably reach home by bike quicker than I would have by car: This was my previous best run home from work on a windy day in May with a 20.5mph average hitting a max speed of 30.1mph: And my best since getting the new bike, 23.2 mph average, 32.7mph max (I've since reached 33.4 on the same route):

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/bikes Sat, 17 Sep 2011 20:52:13 -0700 The Last Stand http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/OYLYi-uylpY/the-last-stand http://neverandforever.com/the-last-stand Hopton-on-Sea

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Corton:

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/the-last-stand Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:07:40 -0700 Dorothy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/ni2qzgNw4jM/dorothy http://neverandforever.com/dorothy Mirabelle had a "Somewhere over the rainbow" party a few weeks ago for her fourth birthday. Some amazing work from Chloe ensued and we ended up with:

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/dorothy Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:05:48 -0700 Break Out http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/-HwyI0rEuzg/break-out http://neverandforever.com/break-out I have a jailbroken iPad. Why? So I can, for example:

Get more apps in my Dock
Vertically scroll my homescreen pages
Have (a lot) more apps in a folder than Apple will allow
Fix the app switcher
See what apps are running from the springboard
Move more than one app at a time
Quickly change settings
If I had an iPhone I'd want it to rotate all the way round like an iPad
Get rid of that annoying "slide to unlock" every time I want to use my iPad
Display non-iPad optimised apps at full screen resolution without jagged edges

Apple say that jailbreaking will void your warranty but you can easily restore to stock firmware in the event of needing warranty support. Have you read this and decided you want to jailbreak? If so, go here - http://www.jailbreakme.com/

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/break-out Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:05:24 -0700 webOS http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/oQ1_Xac9pjc/webos http://neverandforever.com/webos Disclaimer: I work for HP but in the Enterprise Services division and have no involvement in anything relating to webOS or devices associated with it. So, recently I obtained a Palm Pre 2 as my new company phone replacing a clunky Nokia 3109c running S40. My personal phone, as many may already know, is a Nokia N8 running Symbian, I also have an iPad running iOS 4.3, albeit jailbroken so it works how I want it to work, and somewhere around, a T-Mobile Pulse Android phone, running (I think) 2.1. My last experience with any Palm OS was a Sony CLIÉ back in 2002 which was a nice little machine but ultimately not what I needed at that time. Thus here are my thoughts on the Pre 2 and webOS. The good:

Gestures are awesome. I like not having any hardware buttons on the front of the phone along with having a universal way of going "back" in an app.
Notifications are superb, iOS 5 is making a move in this direction but I think it may still fall short of the webOS implementation.
For the most part everything seems very quick and responsive although sometimes apps take "too long" to open.
Multitasking and app switching is excellently handled and much, much better than iOS.
The ability to use PreWare to patch the OS (similar to jailbreaking iOS) and not incur the wrath of Apple is nice. HP seem quite happy for you to go and play and make it very easy to do so.
The Touchstone charging and associated Exhibition mode is very nice.

The bad:

The camera is "so-so", especially when compared to the 12MP N8.
There's a a very real shortage of apps. A lot of bases are covered but there just seems to be a general "malaise" around the app catalog. There also seems to be a lot less useful free apps out there.
The battery life leaves a lot to be desired.

On the whole the pros far outweigh the cons. The big question though, is would I switch from the N8 to the Pre 2 (or Pre 3)? Currently.....no. I need a good camera in my phone and 5MP just doesn't cut it for me anymore and at present the N8 has very little competition in that field. Excepting the camera, webOS does nearly everything I would want of it and on the whole I much prefer it to iOS, Android and Symbian......

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/webos Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:15:46 -0700 END OF LINE http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/nS7qOZH1nnY/end-of-line http://neverandforever.com/end-of-line Back in 2006 we visited a place called Covehithe. A small village of about 20 people on the Suffolk coast that's gradually falling into the sea. That was then:

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This is now:

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From some Googling and looking around on Flickr it seems the patch of road I stood on to take the original 2006 picture has gone along with quite a lot more besides.

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/end-of-line Sun, 19 Jun 2011 19:01:16 -0700 Holiday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/h9Q-6Qa_q64/holiday-21521 http://neverandforever.com/holiday-21521

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/holiday-21521 Mon, 16 May 2011 15:05:46 -0700 NNF11 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/eNJuPoopLdg/nnf11 http://neverandforever.com/nnf11

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/nnf11 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 10:06:39 -0800 2010 in search http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/ne7pbxoMi9k/2010-in-search http://neverandforever.com/2010-in-search As with previous years here are the most popular search terms for hitting my site in 2010:

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It's hard to believe that Ferrero Rocher was the number one way that people found my blog last year but there it is. A lot of wedding marquee decorating also took place last year it seems. And to the more, ahem, random, searches: is that some motherfucking cake - Yes, yes it is babycon - A convention for babies? bubble photography explained - It's some photos of bubbles dick plug - erm.....

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/2010-in-search Tue, 16 Nov 2010 23:04:09 -0800 My N8 Review http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/-sUY-vSldMo/my-n8-review http://neverandforever.com/my-n8-review There are other reviews, some say the N8 is not good, others say that it's better (I recommend Safari's Reader mode for that one). This review however is mine. I also assume (thus making an "ass" of both "u" and "me", oh God, what I have done‽) that you, the reader, are not a simpleton or buffoon and have read other, more comprehensive reviews of the phone first. If not then do so now. NOW. Yes. First, my smartphone lineage: Some other random SonyEricsson things > Nokia N95 8GB (absolutely brilliant, genre-defining, smartphone) > N97 Mini (OK but sluggish. Good keyboard though) > N8 Since deciding on and subsequently obtaining the N97 Mini about a year ago I have obtained an iPad so have had some insight into iOS and thus the scene is set. [Exit stage right] So, after an argument with Vodafone I was released from my contract after 12 months and got to upgrade early. Hooray for exorbitant data usage and charges! I was torn between a choice of two phones, they were the N8 and the HTC Desire HD. The iPhone didn't enter into it for a number of reasons. namely:

Camera
The "holding it" issue
No WiFi hotspot ability without jailbreaking

I like iOS but it is very....simplistic. It's "pick up and play" easy to use but that means it's also really very simple. Latter firmware releases have improved things somewhat, remember when the iPhone didn't have copy and paste? Madness. I've since resorted to jailbreaking my iPad in order to get more out of the OS but would rather that I didn't have to. But I digress. In the end I stuck with what I know and opted for the N8, primarily due to the hardware: The 12 megapixel camera, USB on-the-go and the HDMI out. I had my concerns over Symbian and the fact that with the N97 Mini it was primarily a touchscreen bolt-on to the existing OS which was very, very evident but I had faith that lessons had been learnt. Fortunately I was mostly vilified in my decision - There are some rough edges and oddities with Symbian^3 but on the whole it's a big improvement over S60v5. I think the main UI improvement is simply the fact it's much smoother and faster with a lot less double-tapping. LIST O'THINGS:

The camera really is excellent and has already saved face on times when out and I find I've forgotten the SLR like some kind of idiot. I've not tried much video recording but that'll come with time.
I like the fact I can plug a USB keyboard in and type on a real keyboard. In fact you could, so you should desire, hook the phone up to a TV, get a Bluetooth (or USB) keyboard and mouse and have a DIY PC of sorts.
Gravity is awesome and well worth the asking price.
Three homescreens. At last.

I should really get my colleague at work who has switched from an iPhone 3G to an N8 to write up his thoughts.....

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/my-n8-review Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:47:15 -0800 N8 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/MnIeAfgSGQU/n8 http://neverandforever.com/n8 My new phone:

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And a couple of shots taken with it:

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Any interest in a review?

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/n8 Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:45:24 -0700 12.65GB downloaded so dar today and 24.14GB so far this month. It's only the 12th. Erk. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/hxxlViyIfdU/1265gb-downloaded-so-dar-today-and-2414gb-so http://neverandforever.com/1265gb-downloaded-so-dar-today-and-2414gb-so

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See the full gallery on Posterous

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/1265gb-downloaded-so-dar-today-and-2414gb-so Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:04:02 -0700 Apple Insanity http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/jSr-ghsqCnk/apple-insanity http://neverandforever.com/apple-insanity The new iPod Touches have been announced. Pricing is as follows: 8GB - £189 32GB - £249 64GB - £329 Let's compare with the contract-less iPhone prices shall we? 3GS 8GB - £419 16GB - £499 32GB - £599 So when comparing like for like, at least as far as you can, you're paying £230 extra for an iPhone 3GS or £350 for the 32GB iPhone. Isn't that just stupid? Why would anyone do that? Yes, it's nice to only carry one device with you but for £2-300‽ I blogged about this with the last generation of iPhone/iPod Touch but the price difference is even worse now. The only other downside, besides the two devices issue, is that the iPod camera is pretty crap sounding compared to the 5MP iPhone camera.

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/apple-insanity Sun, 15 Aug 2010 07:48:46 -0700 Even Superbaby needs his sleep. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/n5hejCFbqAM/even-superbaby-needs-his-sleep http://neverandforever.com/even-superbaby-needs-his-sleep

15082010165

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/even-superbaby-needs-his-sleep Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:40:29 -0700 iPad http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jaytay/~3/vFqTsVLHs_k/ipad-3710 http://neverandforever.com/ipad-3710 After a few weeks of use I find I'm barely using my laptop in favour of the iPad. This is somewhat expected but not quite to the current degree. Chloe is also an ardent iPad convert, helped in no small part by her MacBook having a dead battery. In fact I've even gone so far as to suggest replacing our current house IT setup (MacBook, MacBook Pro and iPad) with two iPads synced to a Mac Mini next to the TV which would also act as a home media server plugged in to the TV. Budget does not yet allow for this but a man can dream. I have also jailbroken my iPad, ostensibly for multiasking but I'm also partial to the organisation opportunities afforded by Categories/Folders. Makes it much easier to get to applications without having to swipe across many screens to get there. So, all that being said, here are my currently recommended iPad apps:

Dropbox - For file transfers and documents
Evernote - For note taking etc.
Reeder - RSS reader
Osfoora HD - Twitter!
Words with Friends HD - Scrabble
IMDB - Easier to navigate on the iPad than the website
Instapaper - For offline article reading
TV Guide
ComicZeal - For reading comics in cbr and cbz formats
BBC News - News!
Angry Birds - Eater of time
The Incident - Fun 8bit style game

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1701277/CB065.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4aqhmtqHeNtn Jim Manka-Taylor jaytay Jim Manka-Taylor http://neverandforever.com/ipad-3710