Category Archives: Technology

Arthur Beale (1) Pricey camera accessories (nil)

Posted on August 26 2009 | Leave a comment

One slight disadvantage of a very small camera like a Ricoh GR Digital is that it is very tricky to get a neck trap to fit (the strap eyelets are, well, small). Most shops stock wrist straps, but I have never found these much use.

One can get an ‘official’ Ricoh neck strap for ca. £20, and a two-week wait.

I found this a less-than-enticing proposition, so I turned to Arthur Beale, the most central yacht chandler in London. They sorted me out on the spot with a metre of quality 2mm black cord. They even heat sealed the ends and advised me on the best knots to tie, for the princely sum of 21p!

Those who like their accessories ‘just so’ might not take this option, but I am delighted with it. 99% of the result for 1% of the cost!

Even if you are not in the market for a super-cheap camera strap, Arthur Beale is worth a visit. They are something of an Aladdin’s cave, and even add up bills by scribbling on the brown paper which is over their counter.

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Posted in Chandlery, london, Technology

My ten favourite pieces of product design #5: bicycle

Posted on June 1 2009 | 1 comment

I think this is perhaps my favourite ever piece of product design. The bicycle as we know it emerged at the end of the 19th / beginning of the 20th century, looking something like this:

safety.jpg

And it hasn’t changed very much since then…

I love the bike’s simplicity, efficiency and elegance. It gets me where I need to be in a reasonable time with no more faff or hassle than needed. I currently ride a Farrhad Manufaktur, like this one:

Obviously, my isn’t nearly as clean as this 😉

It’s a little on the heavy side, but is very low maintenance and the mudguards mean I don’t get splattered en route to work, even if it’s raining.

The only downside of owning a bike in London is that they can get stolen every once in a while, which is very annoying indeed.

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Posted in bike, london, outdoors, Technology

Life with a Sony Reader

Posted on September 18 2008 | 5 comments

 

Sony Reader image

Sony Reader image

 

 

 

I’ve had my Sony Reader for about 5 months now, so I thought I’d post about how I’ve found it. I wouldn’t say it has made books obsolete for me, but it comes pretty close- about 90% of my reading is now on the Reader rather than books.

The screen is really something; a real boon when reading long PDF articles for my philosophy course. I’ve also tracked down some shareware, Calibre, which is great for importing and converting various free ebooks, and turning news RSS into a handy ‘magazine’ format.

I would say that the relatively ‘open’ formats supported by the Reader really give it the edge compared to the likes of the Kindle. And, since long battery life is a key feature for extended reading, I think the lack of WiFi is probably no bad thing.

I’m still very underwhelmed by the book-purchasing options (via Waterstones et al). It’s quite a fiddly process- you have to install Adobe Digital Editions on a PC, authorise the Reader there, then install Adobe Digital Editions on a Mac, then buy books, then locate them on the Finder, then drag and drop them into the Reader. Considerably more complicated than getting free books or RSS feeds- have Sony learnt nothing from Amazon/itunes??

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Posted in Technology

Share

Posted on April 10 2008 | Leave a comment

Picture 1.png

Sitting in the British Library, writing on Philosophy of Mind. Opened up iTunes to help propel my thoughts, and discovered nearly a dozen others have set their music libraries to ‘share’. One wag has called their music collection ‘Library Police’.

Currently listening to ‘La réalité’ by Amadou & Mariam, courtesy of Robin. Thanks!

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Posted in Music, philosophy, studious, Technology

Panopticon

Posted on February 6 2008 | Leave a comment

Picture_3_2

Many journalists claim that “if we’re not careful, we’ll end up in a ‘Big Brother’-type society”. They’re too late. Here are two perspectives on this:

First, from Simon Jenkins

When the council can bug you for fly-tipping, when prisons can record conversations with defence lawyers, when any potentially criminal act can justify electronic intrusion – and when ministers resort to the dictator’s excuse, “The innocent need not fear” – warning bells should sound.

And a lighter, but equally powerful video

The title of this post, ‘panopticon’, refers to a prison designed by Jeremy Bentham, where all inmates can be watched from a single location, and don’t know whether they are being watched or not. The idea is that this will make them behave all the time, for fear that they could be under surveillance.

I think one of the saddest things about the ‘Big Brother state’ is that its main premise is flawed- people who are motivated to break the law aren’t really discouraged by the ‘threat’ of surveillance. So the huge price we’ve paid (selling up a massive chunk of our civil liberties) buys nothing.

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Posted in ideas, london, philosophy, Technology

My ten favourite pieces of product design #1: Caran D’Ache Fixpencil

Posted on December 23 2007 | 2 comments

Switzerland, 1929
Carlo Schmid

2mm Fixpencil (via Cultpens.com)

Why is this a classic?

A simple 2mm clutch pencil first produced in 1929 and altered very little since. Solidly made from aluminium, with a clever repointer built into the end cap. Here’s an image of a very early version for comparison:Early fixpencil (via Leadholder.com)

Good for

Writing and sketching

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Posted in Technology

Dishwashing your keyboard

Posted on December 12 2007 | Leave a comment

Read about it here

My favourite tip:

I popped ALL the keys off to allow the keyboard to completely dry (either draw, write down where the keys go, or take a picture so you can put ‘em all back in the right place)     

There speaks the voice of experience!

 

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Posted in ideas, Technology

Hard luck

Posted on October 8 2007 | 1 comment

Just had a new hard drive fitted to my nearly-new Macbook, after the original one suddenly died. I feel a mixture of emotions:

  • Sad that I had to fork out for a new one
  • Glad that I didn’t lose any data
  • Glad that I had a (reasonably) recent backup
  • Glad that the repair was quick and effective
  • A bit bemused that something so useful and ubiquitous (my laptop) can come a cropper so easily

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    Posted in Grr, information, Technology

    New phone

    Posted on September 4 2007 | Leave a comment

    A sad day recently as my super-simple phone breathed its last. It was annoying to replace it, from an environmental point of view. But I did manage to find a suitably simple replacement- the Motorola F3 (review).

    Designed for so-called ’emerging’ markets, it deliberately skimps on features to save battery life and keep the cost down. The only drawback is that it’s super-simple display (think writing texts on a calculator screen) makes for a slightly maddening menu interface- this would drive many users up the wall, but I seem to be adapting OK. I think one reason for my acceptance of the rather duff interface is that the features are so few and far between, you don’t spend much time in the menus anyway…

    This might sound like I’m reassuring myself that my ‘cheap as chips’ phone was actually a good buy. But I do feel that phones are particularly prone to ‘instant obsolescence’- a built-in camera goes from 1MP toy to 5MP ‘key feature’ in around 18 months. No such danger with the Motorola!

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    Posted in Technology