Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Samson| 1 Comment

Hello again, thought it was about time I posted on here again.

Ok so next month is Microsoft’s BUILD developer conference in which they will be showing many of the new features in the upcoming Windows 8 and they will be also be handing out a developer preview build to people attending much like they did at PDC in 2008 with Windows 7, Inevitably this build will be leaked and I’ll be sure to install it onto one of my PC’s to try it out.

Now earlier this year Microsoft demoed the new home screen which will be in Windows 8 which uses the METRO interface from Windows Phone and Zune which is a Beautiful interface in my opinion, now from the looks of things at the moment its primly focused towards touch interface but of course will be perfectly useable with a mouse and keyboard, I’m not sure how well this will work but I’m going to reserve my judgement until I ACTUALLY BLOODY USE IT unlike a bunch of tech” journalists” who have been WHINEING on and on about how it’s going to use up too much RAM and it won’t be practical and “it’s another Vista” (Vista was bloody good ok FAR better than XP, Windows 7 was built on top of Vista and you all like that now don’t you?) In all likelihood Windows 8 will have the same or lower memory footprint than Windows 7 and if you’re still only using 1GB of RAM for god sake buy some more!! Its dirt cheap now you have absolutely no excuse not to and if you don’t like it well bloody well turn it off and stop your bitching no one will force you to use it, but of course if your system is low spec it will be turned off by default. The new home screen in windows 8 is just another layer to the OS it’s not removing the UI that was in Windows 7, it’s all still there. Ok maybe to you it’s a step in the wrong direction but here’s why it think it’s not.
I’ve been running Windows Phone 7 now for the past three months after upgrading from my HTC HD2 (which I had running Android) to a HD7. The METRO interface is just superb it so fluid, clean and runs lightning fast!

It is by far the best phone OS I have used in my mind WP7 is a joy to use and I would strongly recommend it anyone else , it just works and without messing about trying to get things to work or set up correctly, though I have to say I do miss some of the customizability and complicatedness that came with Android and Windows Mobile 6.5.3. When I first got the phone I was on the first build of WP7 which wasn’t without its failings, there was not cut and paste which drove me mad and there were a few bugs which could be a problem for me from time to time but this is all expected when dealing with a new OS it’s going to be rough around the edges at first and that’s part of the fun. Since then Microsoft have updated WP7 quite often and latest of which is being pushed out next month Mango (build 7.10.7720) which is a major update bringing over 500 new features (sorry but can’t be aresed to find them all) I’ve been running the Mango beta on my phone for the past month without a single hitch and last week I updated to the RTM build which leaked on the 12th. After using WP7 with its tile based home screen which is pretty similar to what the Windows 8 home screen will be I think it will be fantastic to use on tablets but I’m not too sure about using it with a mouse and keyboard but we will see next month hopefully.

Peace and love,

 

Samson

Posted in Previews, Rants, Reviews

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Hot, humid and Photography

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Samson| Leave a comment

Hello all

It’s been REALLY bloody hot and humid down here (Cornwall) lately, I wouldn’t mind so much if we had some wind and I wasn’t so white (think I’ve yet to meet anyone whiter than me) though luckily I’ve not been burnt yet but it’s only a matter of time… Had a little gathering with my good friends Martin, Alice, Sam and Zoe and the next day I went with Sam and Zoe to this village fête which was pretty meh but it was very nice weather and nice scenery. I took a few photos and as few people say I seem to have a knack for taking good photos (without really trying I generally just point and shoot with my HD7) I’ve uploaded a few to the site for you to look at, let me what you think, comment, like, retweet or smoke signal. I’ve upload some of my favourite ones to flicker . Anyways that’s all for now, keep a look out for updates from Martin regarding the site.

Peace and love,

 

Samson

Posted in Reviews

Cardiff and wizard robes

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Samson| Leave a comment

My god I’m posting an update, I know I know it’s been a while sorry. Well I had quite a busy week last week, I had my pre assessment for my leg operation I’m having in September (I think) it was ok just a few tests, taking blood and that oh so lovely hospital smell=S . Then on Saturday Martin and I went to our friend Max’s housewarming and had a bloody good time we played a load of console games and met some awesome people then I sadly had to leave early because I needed to be home Sunday morning as I was going up to Cardiff for my brothers graduation.

Went up to Cardiff with my parents in the motorhome and I stayed with my brother for a few days which was nice, played some TF2 with my brother and his flatmate which was fun. Went around Cardiff on Monday and I FINALLY found a new flannel shirt (ok well old one as it was from a vintage clothes shop) it’s only taken me four years to find one I liked haha, oh and I brought a new capo for my guitar. Tuesday was Chris’s (my brother) graduation which was good we all put on our smart clothes (yes I do have some) and I tried not to laugh when they talked in Walsh during the ceremony it was like they were in Hogwarts casting spells on the students HAHA! Came home in the evening and that was about it for last week, was jolly nice to have a real bed again once I got back though.

My brother’s flatmate gave me his old beaten up laptop which was COVERD in stickers!!!! The worst I’ve ever seen, spent a good 40 minutes using solvents to get all the crap off the laptop and now it’s looking alright just need to take it all apart give it a good cleaning out and get a power pack, hard drive and new screen for the laptop and it should all be working. Right that’s all for now.

Peace and love

Samson

Posted in Reviews

“What are you in for?”

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Martin| 1 Comment

5 words that you never want to hear in a Doctor’s waiting room… We’re not inmates at Stalag Luft III getting to know each other because we’re going to spend the next considerable portion of our lives stuck in a 4x6ft cell discussing methods of escape… It’s a sodding waiting room! I don’t want to discuss my medical history with a complete stranger (other than my new Doctor), I also don’t care what you have and I really don’t want to know, especially if it’s contagious; and it probably is judging by that slab of lung you’ve just coughed up onto the floor…

I hate waiting rooms, other than the aforementioned weirdo who wanted to know the exact nature of my need to see a quack, the clinical smell gets right up my nose, to the point where I have to look around to make sure there isn’t a cleaner spraying me in the face with Windex or something. They just seem to be an incredibly hostile place where various people will group as closely together as possible (for reasons unknown to me) and share their exact reason for going as loudly as possible as if they are trying to prove that their condition is far worse than anyone else.

I also get that feeling that everyone else IS much worse off than I am and I start questioning my reasons for being there in the first place, especially when the old lady trundles in, squeaks at the receptionist in a raspy high pitched voice that breaks every other syllable and then trundles to a seat and effectively falls into it. That’s when I start asking: “Why ARE you here? Man up it’s just a few chest pains… What are you, a wuss?!?!?”

And then your name gets called!

It’s like taking a long walk of utter shame, I just went in for an ECG and I felt as if everyone was looking at me like I had some sort of very visible, very disgusting disease. I dunno if it’s just me being paranoid or whether people were actually staring, but it’s a horrible feeling nonetheless… I despise and detest going to the Doctors, I’ve not had to go in years so I was most displeased to be bullied into going by my friends, especially when nonsense like the above happens… *seethe*

Anyway, mini-rant over, glad for it though, not had a good old-fashioned complain in a while!

Cheers all,

Martin ^_^

Posted in Rants

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Abandonment Issues

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Martin| Leave a comment

Oh bloody hell…

It looks suspiciously like I’ve managed to accidentally not update the website in a few days (okay over a week but shut up). So I thought I’d better let you all know how things are going. Firstly, the new website and blog, it’s getting back up and going again, need to finish my design and then it’s in the hands of the Gods (of coding). I should have the design finished this week (looking to try and get it done for Wednesday at the latest.

Secondly, I must apologise for my lack of updates, I know we did a Video Log thing and that kinda took it all out of us a bit, really didn’t have a clue how hard video editing could be. We’ve learned a great deal from that and hopefully the next one will be just as awesome. It also appears that Flik has disappeared, hopefully she’ll be back with a nice lil post to warm the cockles of our hearts ^_^.

So yes, unfortunately we’ve slipped into bad habits of not updating, again. I promise that I will get on top of this and I promise to keep the many promises I’ve made :S.

Anyway, just a quick one in the lunch-break,

Cheers,

Martin

Posted in General Banter, Work

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