Author Archives: Phill

Cycling GPS Test

By 5 commentsReviews, Rides, ,

As you might know, I got my shiny new HTC HD2 last week, and promptly installed some of my favourite applications on it.

Possibly my favourite app is the GPS Cycle computer. I downloaded a new version (for free!) and installed it easily.

On Saturday, I spent the afternoon tinkering with the family’s bikes:

  • Bottle holders for the girls
  • A kickstand for one of the girls, since the other already had one pre-installed
  • New, lighter & shorter bar ends for my boy and myself
  • Towbars removed from Other Half’s & my bikes

This took me a little while.  Just long enough for it to start raining. Pah!  Nevertheless, I was already wearing my eco-ninja cycling gear, so I decided to set off regardless.  I switched on the tracker, zipped it into my pocket and off I went.

It was only a swift pootle along the canalside in the fading light, following some of the route taken by Rooley earlier that same day with his daughter.  With hindsight, it’s a shame I didn’t bump into them, that’d have been a nice surprise.  For me anyway, maybe not them 🙂

I’ve just got round to uploading the kml track that the computer recorded and I’m most impressed.  The accuracy is far superior to what I had got used to with my old Vodafone V1615 (Kaiser; TyTnii, whatever they call it) and I’ve had to do hardly any editing of spurious tracking points.

So far, I’m very happy with the new phone and this is just one of the reasons.  On the other hand, my Trusty Steed, she’s struggling.

I love ths bike, butshe's 10 this year and knackered.

My Faithful Haro, 10 this year.

She’s spending most of her last days languishing in the shed, but I don’t want to draw out her farewell, so in the interests of palliative care, I’m looking at replacing her with a newer model.  Watch this space…

Here’s the map as recorded by the phone’s tracking software on Saturday:


View Smithy Bridge First new GPS Track in a larger map

HTC HD2 First Impressions

By 17 commentsReviews,

Yesterday I took delivery of a brand new HTC HD2 at work. Everybody else in Utility Masters is having an iPhone, but as a proud nonconformist I’m plumping with the Windows Mobile option.

Why Did I Choose The HD2?

  1. I am afraid of “The Cult Of Apple“.  I don’t want to be forced to use iTunes.  I don’t want to become one of those bores who plays with his iClone all night when I go out.  I don’t want to join the self-righteous “aren’t we all creative and interesting because we follow Apple” brigade.  I love what Apple have done for design – they’re a bunch of genii (is that the plural of genius?) – I just don’t subscribe to the notion that using their products makes me, by association, a genius too.
  2. I have some Windows Mobile apps I wanted to keep.  I might blog about them some other time, but I use an interval trainer application, a GPS tracker for my bike rides, and the wonderful TomTom for windows Mobile.  I didn’t want to have to start again on a new phone platform.

First Impressions

I’ve had this phone less than 12 hours so far.  I told Dave that I loved him when he brought it downstairs to me.  I realise now that I don’t actually love Dave: that was just foolish infatuation.  I actually love my new phone.

It’s incredibly shiny and black, which I am a big fan of.  That’s why the people at Samsung have enjoyed so much of my home entertainment budget.

  • The front screen is very simple to use, and wonderfully customisable.
  • Setting up Wi-Fi and my Exchange Server details was a doddle, as was…
  • Adding a few bookmarks and…
  • Selecting my favourite people for the phone’s dedicate “People” screen.
  • Installing my apps was easier than I expected and they all work beautifully.  The GPS tracker is actually better, with extra functionality to take advantage of the phone’s better touchscreen capabilities.
  • Web browsing is is fantastic, thanks to the “pinch scroll”, nicked directly from Apple.  You see, I love Apple’s ideas, so Im glad that people outside the Cult can steal them 🙂

So far I have two gripes that have spoiled my experience a little:

  1. You only get one compatible USB cable, of the new, more fiddly type.  This is supposed to help you at work, at home, and plugged into the nifty little mains charger?  i think not.  Give me at least one more please.
  2. The phone automatically leaves everything running until you find the Task Manager and end the programs.  This will doubtless result in everything running incredibly slowly once the phone gets a few miles under its belt.  To rectify this, at the moment, you have do a soft reset by taking the back off, finding a toothpick and prodding where it doesn’t hurt.  Install a shortcut from the phone’s menu to close everything down easily, please.

Overall

I adore the phone.  I suggest you buy one, although SIM free they’re the wrong side of £500, so find a good contract provider.  Mine is on Vodafone and the prices are pretty competitive although it’s part of a group order for Utility Masters.

Tell ’em Phill sent you!

Personal Goal Setting

By 19 commentsRides, Tat,

Goals, Not Resolutions

As a marketing manager at Utility Masters, I’m quite used to setting business goals.  I don’t subscribe to the notion of New Year’s Resolutions because they seem to be used most commonly to rationalise failure later in the year.  They are also so woolly as to be useless – how exactly do you define sucess against your “be a better person” or “get fitter” resolutions?

Instead, I decided to set myself some personal goals instead this morning, using good old-fashioned business cliches.  Objectives have to be SMART:

  • Specific – stating exactly what you intend to achieve
  • Measurable – so you know what defines achieving it
  • Achieveable – so you actually have a chance
  • Realistic – make sure you can do it – it can be hard, but you’ve got to get there
  • Timed – when will you aim to do it by?

So, the box that’s been published in my sidebar this lunchtime is my own measurement of how I’m doing this year.  My main goals are two events I intend to complete this year, plus a fundraising target for the Hospice where my Mum was so wonderfully cared for.

I’ll also be tracking my cycling and running this year, for you all to poke fun at by way of encouragement.

Please let me know what you think, and offer any additions that you think will help me in 2010. Thanks! 🙂

“Thank God For The Rain, Dad.”

By 4 commentsPhotography

Don’t get me wrong.  I love living in a temperate climate.  The changing seasons bring me enormous and unceasing pleasure as the months roll by each year, offering photo-opportunities; fashion choices; beautiful changes to our daily outlook…

…but Jeeeees! What’s With All This Snow??!

My daughter is 6.  She loves sledging; she loves snowmen; she loves snowballs; she loves her pink fluffy woolen hat and her big comfy pink sequined gloves.  She is also very bored of the snow now, thanks.

This morning on the way to school she sighed and said simply, “Thank God for the rain, Dad”.

I didn’t have to respond.  We just exchanged a knowing smile and stared into the hazy brake lights of the car in front as we trundled through the morning rush hour.  It was a blessed relief to be watching cold rain trickling down the blackened hillocks of packed ice and snow by the roadside, which for the past week have been rendering our pavements unwalkable.

The BBC pomised me a “dirty thaw” over the weekend.  I, for one, don’t care how dirty it is – as long as it’s a thaw I don’t mind.

So, from me: Thank You, God.

Butternut Squash and Carrot Winter Soup

By 5 commentsDiabetes

I watched something on telly last weekend with the kids, where some lady phoned in and asked how to make a nice winter soup.  For once, I paid attention as the bloke (I think it was that cyclist-hater from Yorkshire) gave his reply.

So, today I unwisely braved the supermarket panic-buying queues to pick up a few quid’s worth of veggies and I’ve spent some of my afternoon making soup!

You’ll need:

  1. One butternut squash
  2. About 4 or 5 carrots
  3. 2 cloves garlic
  4. 2 large (or several small) onions
  5. A thumb-sized piece of ginger
  6. 2 pints vegetable stock, from cubes or already made (you decide)
  7. A knob of butter

Slice the onion, garlic and ginger (peeled of course) and soften this lot in the butter.  Add the softened onions, ginger and garlic to the vegetable stock and simmer.

Cut your squash and carrots into finger-sized chunks, drizzle olive oil over them and put these in the oven at 200 Celsius for around 45 minutes, until the edges are browning and they start to smell delicious.

Add the roasted veggies to the pan with the stock and onions etc.  Simmer the mixture for another 30 minutes on a low heat.

Blend it all together and Voila! You have your soup.  Just check the seasoning and enjoy!

If you allow yourself a couple of hours, you’ll have to time to relax and wash up afterwards.

This soup will freeze so I’d recommend saving a couple of emergency portions in tupperware for these cold winter days.

Enjoy!

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