Mr Fry, would you mind narrating all audiobooks please?

I love reading. Didn't used to. I'm one of those people where it has to be an extremely good book if I'm to have even the slightest chance of getting through it. I'm not one of those people who particularly loves the smell or feel of a book, in fact I've always found books to be slightly awkward to hold, never finding the ultimate comfy position. So when I discovered the audiobook format I was encouraged. They started out pretty expensive but, like all technology, they came down in price once the competition kicked in.

Key to the audiobook is the narrator. Some stories need a certain type of voice. For instance, I spent a couple of days on a sun lounger listening to Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last year. I couldn't think of a better person to be the voice of JK Rowling's amazing creation. In fact, I have just bought the Fry Chronicles to listen to at the gym. He has one of those very interesting voices doesn't he?

Oh, I also got over my book lethargy with an ebook reader. I can fly through books now, so I'm guessing it was the constant reminder of how large the book was that squashed my enjoyment.

Back to audiobooks. They're great for long car journeys. I have devoured Sherlock Holmes books on trips to see family and friends, sometimes driving slower if I know I can finish a book. I've chuckled to Nick Hornby books as I whip up a storm in the kitchen. I've fallen asleep too many times to Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers. I've now rowed several thousand metres to Mr Fry's life story.

What a joy it is to still have books in our lives as the publishing landscape changes. It seems that with audiobooks, ereader formats and interactive books for the iPad, the future of publishing will be about choice. And for me, that's a good thing.

Defrostiamus!

I looked out of the window this morning and wondered if I was actually dreaming of being on the ice world of Hoth. With no taun-tauns or AT-ATs around, I concluded I was actually awake and facing an imminent struggle with the de-icer and scraper. With an audible groan I picked up my bag and slipped and slid down the path to the car. As I yanked the frozen door open I had a flash of recollection: YES! I'm not in the 1950s, I have stuff that defrosts cars!

Now, back in the late eighteenth century when I passed my driving test things were slightly trickier. One had to ride the choke like a pin-ball machine even to get the damn car started. Then it was de-icer (don't get any on your hands!) and a fight with the windows armed with a scraper. This morning, however, I simply turned the key in the ignition and pressed a couple of buttons. One for the rear windscreen, that hasn't changed over the decades. But the other button, well, that's where it gets clever. One press and, in one simutaneous and marvellous moment, the heater kicked in for the windscreen, and both the headlights and wing mirrors defrosted. A couple minutes selecting a CD to listen to and I was ready to go.

One twist and one push, like some kind of Harry Potter wand magic. I have vowed to stop moaning as a new year's resolution.

Twitter, the tip of the iceberg...

I haven't been on Twitter very long. In fact, I haven't really been a fan of Twitter before now. Didn't see the point, but I thought that coupled with this blog it would be a good way to promote the blog, catch up with tech news and maybe follow a few funny people too. My golly gosh, how I have underestimated the power of Twitter. Imagine if you could whisper and be heard on the other side of the world. Imagine a place where you can hear the informal thoughts of some of the best minds. Imagine a place where people with a particular interest can have a global conversation.

I recently started to follow a fake Twitterer. For anyone who has seen the US telly series The West Wing, President Bartlet seemed a better choice than the then-real-guy-in-charge at the time, George Dubya Bush. Now I clicked the follow button I suppose because I thought it might be funny. What happened next made me understand the power of Twitter a little better. Now, on Twitter you can put a hash in front of something, and anyone else who does the same has their 'tweet' propagated into a list following that reference. The fake President Bartlet, or @Pres_Bartlet as he is known, sent out a tweet to his followers wishing anyone working over Christmas all the best, and a request to hear their stories. From nurses, to husbands and fathers in the armed forces, to people who are desperate to work, these are the stories of real people around the world, sharing their thoughts about something dear to them.

As human beings we are drawn to connecting to each other and communicating how we feel. I suspect that even if Twitter disappears over the coming decades, this form of human connection is only just beginning.

For the record, @Pres_Bartlet has over 7,000 followers and rising. Currently I have 6.

The Blue Snowflake, I loves it I do...

Awwww that sounds cute doesn't it? Leeeetal shnowflake cutchy coo! Well folks, the name might sound cute, but this little sucker packs a punch.

I don't know about you, but I've spent years in and out of studios, music shops, front rooms and bedrooms, trying to get recordings right, trying to sound the best I can with what I have. In the last ten years home recording has changed. Thanks to the company who shall not be named, the podcast has become its own medium, up there with radio and TV like it had always been there. So too have the tools to make them. Ten years ago I was using a 4-track recorder to capture my quirky take on life through music. Now I record drums, guitars, strings, vocals, brass, anything I can possibly imagine through my MacBook at home. Amazing.

Recently a friend set up four analogue microphones, put them through a mixer and into the line in of his MacBook. I offered this as an alternative. Guess what? Twice as loud as all the others put together. It provides a beautifully crisp sound and can slip onto your laptop screen with its handy design. I imagine it would be amazing for podcasts on the road although my experience of it has always been in home recording. Most of what you hear over at musicofedgar.com was recorded using the snowflake, so make your own mind up.

If you're looking for an entry level USB microphone, you could do a lot worse than the Blue Snowflake. I loves it I do.

iPhone 4: a rather fantastic sunny day camera...

Here I go again, Apple this, Apple that. I can't help it. I've tried to fight the geeky title 'fanboy' but it seems to draw ever nearer. Ok, the reasons why I'm not a fanboy:

1. I won't buy a product if I don't think it's up to the job.
2. I buy products to do stuff, not just to complete the collection.
3. I don't have every product Apple has ever made (although they're racking up).

Seriously, I don't have an iPad, or an iMac, or a MacBook Air. In fact I only have four products that work fairly seamlessly together. I can write about that in another post though. My point is I'm not a fanboy. Yet.

So, on Thursday we woke up and green had turned to white, an amazing amount of snow overnight. After suffering cabin fever throughout Thursday I was delighted to wake up on Friday to find the same snow but with that big yellow orb in the sky shining bright and not a cloud to be seen.

My first thought: photos. The iPhone 4 has surprised me for a number of reasons, one being the quality of the camera. Yes, the flash was never going to be the best in the world, and in low light subjects still turn out a little grainy. However, when the sun comes out I seem to get comments of amazement. With its 5-megapixels of loveliness, it weighs in at less than my point-and-shoot, but with the HDR function (where it takes three photos and puts them all together to make the colour nice) I have to say I think it's better. Throw in the geotagging and the HD video recording and, well...this is where the other products come in. I got home, turned on my Apple TV and showed my photos straight away, nice and big. Ooh...aaahhh...the living room lit up like Guy Fawkes night fireworks.

The iPhone 4 does most things well, that's why I have one. To carry one less item around - like my camera - makes my life easier. Well done Apple. Now let's get that video streaming from the iPhone gallery sorted.

Tuna strainer, it does one thing and does it well...

 

Before you cry out 'OMG' and run screaming for something cool, just think about it for a second. This little baby does one thing, and extremely well.

There are so many useless kitchen gadgets in this world. I've walked around shops full of pretty looking crap that will live out its days sat on kitchen work surfaces unused and unloved, aside from the odd cursory glance and the promise of doing more. So what gadgets do we use often in the kitchen? Aside from the coffee bean grinder (I freeze the beans and then grind what I need for a pot, it stays fresher that way) I tend to use things that will help me RIGHT NOW. Is that a guy thing? You don't see many men craving bread makers for Christmas, let's just leave it at that. There's something in the male genetic makeup that needs the cause and effect to be as close together as possible. It is for this very reason that the tuna strainer is my gadget pick for today. What do I want to do? Strain the tuna tin. Do I want to get stuff all over my fingers? No! Bish bosh bish, job done.

Apple TV...Star Date 4.1...

It's updating right now. Kind of exciting really. It's something Apple have really got right isn't it, free software updates. In the olden days when phones had reliable batteries and actually made phone calls, it was a case of putting up with the phone you had for the duration of your contract. Nowadays our devices are updated fairly regularly to satisfy the insatiable hunger of us consumers. Oh, and to compete with the other platforms of course. I don't know about you but I'd certainly consider one of those Googledroid phones if Apple wasn't around. They're looking pretty tasty nowadays. Sorry, I digress.

I've had the Apple TV for a little while. And before you start shouting 'Apple-whore' over your glass of Chateauneuf-Du-Pape, I readily admit it's something I wanted rather than needed. I love the interface, it's so easy to navigate, although the remote does interfere with the MacBook, so I find A-Ha starts playing when I switch it on. The internet section is good, although I would like to see the inclusion of a streaming service here in the UK. We don't get Netflix like you brothers and sisters over the pond. The streaming from other computers is, as they say in the Bridworks naming department, 'awesome', and I'm guessing in about ten minutes time I'll be able to stream video straight from my iPhone.

Wow. Hasn't technology come a long way. If you'd told me five years ago that I would be able to shoot HD video on my phone and send directly and immediately to my TV, I would have probably accused you of watching too much Star Trek and called you an ambulance.

Awesome Note...

Awesome Note - named by a teenage surfer?

Yes, ok, I have an iPhone. Don't roll your eyes and tut. Lots of people have them you know, so don't give me that look. Aside from being the new crackberry in terms of addictiveness it's also pretty much anything you want it to be, owing to the highly successful app store on iTunes. In a way, the app store has been an ever-so-slightly victim of its own success. Although it prides itself on being a walled garden there have been a truck load of highly dubious apps passing through. Also, lots of apps just don't take advantage of the design potential of the iPhone. You really have to wade through the slurry of design awfulness to get to the good stuff.

Now let's get one thing straight, I think whoever was in charge of the naming meeting at Bridworks was either a teenage surfer or Australian (maybe both). If I was choosing apps on names alone, I don't think I would have ever bought Awesome Note. But, oh, what a lovely interface. It's really what the iPhone was made for as far as marrying design and productivity. You can make notes with a gazillion choices of background, include photos and maps and sync it seemlessly with Evernote or Google Docs. It's certainly made my life easier with it's alarm notifications, and kept me interested with its customisable interface.

Bridworks, I salute you. In future though, could you put a grown up in charge of naming your apps?

The new Facebook messaging system...

Now this is something I imagine I'll come back to once it's been rolled out properly, but I thought it needed mention as something to potentially make online lives easier.

I know people who over-use Facebook, showing they're undergarments to anyone who can stomach them, tact and self-respect cast aside like a drunk at a party. I know people who detest Facebook and feel they are basically a data-mining company, doing everything they can to get their filthy mitts on your stuff. Then there are the common sense users who take privacy seriously and show themselves online much as they would in the real world.

I believe all parties have to agree that the idea behind Facebook's new messaging system is an attempt to make people's lives easier. I was going to say users then, but I mean people. The idea is to connect people, whether they are Facebook users or not. You'll be able to email, SMS and IM each other in an entirely integrated way. In fact, labelling these different types of messaging should just melt into the background - you'll simply be sending someone a message.

That's the idea anyway, and I like it. Will some people still drop their drawers in public? Of course. Will Facebook expect something out of it? Of course. Will we look back at it as a milestone in communication? Well, I hope so.

The Beatles on iTunes...who cares?

So the Beatles have finally made it onto iTunes have they? It has made me wonder, with all the hype surrounding the item, who cares? Beatles fans will have a bunch of their CDs or vinyl already (er, cassette?). That leaves, well, everyone who couldn't really care less about the Beatles. I love 'em. Got their stuff. Couldn't give a monkeys about the announcement today. So Apple: please please us by saving the front page for something that at least some of your consumers are going to care about.

Remembrance Day poppy, the one with the sticker...

A friend of mine said it the best: "For those who gave their tomorrows for my today I remember you. For those still serving I'm thinking of you". I can't think of a better way of putting it really. For years people have paid they're respects to the armed forces by dropping money in the collection boxes and pinning their new poppy on. What of those pins though? I don't know about you but I always seem to lose the pin after the first day of wearing my poppy. In recent years the Poppy Appeal has offered an alternative: the stick-on poppy. Genius if you ask me. Sticky enough to get a few days wear out of it, and you're not left with holes in you (if you're clumsy like me) from the pin.


Go and take a look at the British Legion website and see how you can help further.

Gadget...

Well, I looked it up in the dictionary. It said 'a mechanical contrivance or device'. It's origins come from the French 'gâchette', meaning the catch of a lock. Today we think of gadgets as things you plug in or charge up to use, but that's not necessarily the case. I like to think of gadgets as things that make our lives easier. Some are electronic, some aren't, but all save us time and effort in a clever way.

If you want to review a gadget, please do and send it to me. If you would like to comment on any of my posts feel free, we're all gadget monkeys at heart.