JustTheSam

iPhone Calendar Entry – Change Calendar

09. August 2009 · 8 comments · Categories: iPhone, Mac

I've noticed that in iPhone's Calendar, you can't change the calendar (Home,Work, etc.) of an entry once it's been created – only at the point that it is being created. This is immensely frustrating as quite often I fail to spot which calendar an entry is being created in until after I've hit Done and I see it showing up in green or blue in my calendar. I split about 50/50 between Home and Work entries and so very often each new entry is of a different type to the last (though I fail to notice it) leaving the default calendar assignation incorrect. Grrrr.

Update: I realised that a big reason for failing to spot which calendar is being used at point of entry is that it doesn't use the calendar colour in the creation UI – only the name. If it backed the name with a big splash of colour (green for home, blue for work) I for one would be far less likely to mess up.

Beer Review: Grolsch Premium Weizen

08. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Beer, Food and Drink

Another pretender to the weiss throne? Not a bad one by all accounts, and with some hint of a reward round it's neck from the World Beer Awards – though it's not clear what exactly from that label. The website suggests it is in fact the world's best wheat beer and details some funky manoeuvres required to pour it properly and get the tasty sediment mixed in just right. I'd struggle to tell it from any other to be honest, but couldn't say anything bad about it. I think at some point I'm going to have to line up a bunch of weissbiers and really play them off against each other!

Creating a Grub Screw for a Doorknob

07. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: DIY

This old house has lots of old door knobs, but some are a bit worse for wear. I've already repaired a broken spring in one with some cobbled together bits from an old wooden clothes peg, but that's another story. Another was lacking a crucial grub screw that meant the knob on one side just rotated freely, rather than operating the latch. The nice guy at Alban Locksmiths furnished me with an Imperial threaded screw that fits. However I needed a grub screw – one where there is no 'head' so to speak so that it can worm its way right into the hole.

No problem! Just saw the head off the normal screw then saw a notch in the end for the screwdriver. Here's a pictorial essay of my approach, the only trick of any merit being to clamp the screw between two bits of soft wood in the vice, so that it's gripped securely and you can saw it without it slipping or being damaged.

Update iPhone Software Using Internet Tethering: Don’t!

05. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: iPhone, Mac, Web/Tech

Because my broadband wasn't working I've been using internet tethering with my iPhone for my main internet connection for my computer. So when my iPhone demanded I update its software to cure its SMS vulnerability I thought hey why not go ahead! I figured it would download the update to the computer (via the iPhone's net connection) as per normal, then perform the update. No reason to suspect a problem.

Unfortunately once it had got the whole 300MB package and tried to install it, it required access to some Apple server in order to finish the install, but the iPhone was half-updated and no longer providing internet connectivity. So I got stuck there, with an iPhone just showing a "connect to iTunes" graphic when switched on. I understand this is known as "recovery mode". And that's how it's been for a full day, but thankfully I now have broadband working and have managed to get it back up on its feet. That required a factory restore then update from backup then full sync though, and I'm yet to determine if all is truly well.

So the lesson here is – don't use your iPhone as the sole internet connection in order to update your iPhone!

iPhone Internet Tethering: GIF and JPEG quality

04. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: iPhone, Mac, Web/Tech

For some reason, having switched it off when the previous occupants left, we now have to wait 2 weeks for BT to turn our broadband back on again. I know not why. They must literally have a system that includes a "wait two weeks for no good reason" step. As such I'm using my iPhone with internet tethering as my internet connection.

It works reasonably well, maxing out at about 50 kilobytes/s – which equates to about half a megabit, so stretching the term broadband quite thin but useable as long as you're not in a hurry. However I've noticed that O2 are pulling a fast one (pun intended) and rewriting JPEG and GIF images that you request via HTTP, re-encoding them at a much lower quality level, presumably in order to make your bandwidth go that much further.

I have a problem with this though as they've gone so far down the quality slope that the images are often no longer fit for purpose, with small text unreadable and photos suffering from JPEG artefacts so badly that there's only a muddy mess left. Here's a small screenshot from my blog sidebar, showing the knackered JPEG, which I have saved with very high quality JPEG compression so as not to introduce more artefacts. Of course when I review this post it'll get re-compressed by O2 again and look even more terrible (indeed the hyperlink text is near unreadable) but hopefully you won't have that problem unless you're also tethering.

So this is a plea to O2, asking them to turn up the quality, if they must mess with the web at all.

DIY Jobs

31. July 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: DIY

We've been in the new house for just a week and have done a lot in that time. Here's a quick list of most of the DIY jobs we've done – with a bit of help from the parents and in-laws. Thanks very much to them!

Cleaning – lots thereof.

Fill crack in front door panel, that you could see outside through.

Trim holly and other bushy plant that was half blocking drive.

Remove dead and scrappy bits of Goldenrod and tie back with string (later replaced with green wire).

Brush whole deck with stiff brush to clean it up.

Remove posts and chains from most of deck edge.

Fit new lock to front door (got existing one refurbished and innards replaced).

Fit retaining bar to front door.

Fit coat hook rail to wall in hall.

Put up pan hanger rail in kitchen.

Replace hooks on back of bedroom door for nicer ones.

Figure out why living room door knob isn't working the latch – needs a grub screw.

Put up new curtain rod in master bedroom, reusing existing holes (needed some adaptation).

Fit new keyhole escutcheon with cover (on inside of front door, to get the benefit, without the annoyance).

Put together flat pack metal shelving from Homebase. 56 nuts and bolts! Won't buy that again.

Improve sink in bathroom, raising it on bits of card and screwing it better to the wall, for a flusher fit. Still needs grout and seal.

Adjust patio door hanging to help it close properly.

Adjust cabin door hanging to help it close properly.

Sweep patio around cabin, including leaves and crud at back, that could have caused damp.

Fix shower so it doesn't leak: remove old sealant, chip away years of limescale, clean, regrout and reseal. (Still working on this actually, but it's the biggest job of any of them time-wise.)

Clean UPVC outdoor bits of patio doors using special cleaner.

Fit extra shelf under kitchen sink by cutting out section of original extra shelf to fit round drain pipes etc.

Fit cleat to tree stump and run washing line to apple tree (where held with wide strap round tree).

Fit bird feeder hanger to tree stump.

Saw off and file down ends from over-long bolts protruding from chimney back plate in kitchen.

Fit lock to side window.

Put up IKEA mirror in bathroom, with cunning springy top-clasps.

Assemble IKEA shelves for computery stuff.

We’ve moved!

28. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Me

A few days ago we moved across St Albans to a much bigger place where hopefully we will stay for many years. Expect a number of DIY posts over the coming months! My fingers are already shredded from all the manual labour.

Beer Review: Asahi Super Dry

23. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Beer, Food and Drink

This Japanese import is surprisingly decent, but nothing special. It's clean and crisp, and ideally drunk well chilled. There's nothing particularly notable about it that I can pick out, but it steers clear of tasting like weak/sweet American rubbish. I wouldn't go out of my way to drink it, but it's a decent enough simple lager on a hot day.

Done it again

22. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Food and Drink

Is this a familiar sight? A pile of fresh herbs ready to garnish your meal, but discovered in the kitchen only when you bring the empty plates back in. In this case, fresh torn basil straight off the plant. And unfortunately, straight into the bin after sitting around unloved in the kitchen for half an hour whilst we ate a very nice dinner that just lacked that certain something.

Useless O2 Internet Tethering Bolt On

20. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: iPhone

I had a couple of long train journeys today, so this morning just after I boarded that train at Paddington I followed the instructions on my iPhone to turn on internet tethering. This would allow me to use its 3G internet connection on my laptop via bluetooth, enabling me to get some work done. Brilliant!

Follow the instructions to enable it and you end up with a fiddly web form that requires you to manually fill in the details that O2 already have for you. How's that for an integrated experience?! Terrible, that's how. And then the coup de grace – it's 14 hours later and internet tethering has still not been turned on for my phone. Both train journeys have been and gone, I'm starved of juicy internet goodness and O2 are presumably laughing at me whilst making a small tower from 15 of my pound coins.

Their instructions do say it could take up to 24 hours to come alive, but it's natural to assume that this is a worst case caveat, like Royal Mail saying you're not allowed to complain about 1st class mail until it's gone missing for 7 days – a backup clause to cover exceptional circumstances. Apparently O2 are serious, perhaps to deliberately discourage people who are in any way impulsive from stupidly parting with their money for such an overpriced service. Perhaps they're on our side after all…

Update: about 30 hours have now passed since I bought the tethering bolt on. Now not only does my phone still not have data tethering, but it has no data connection whatsoever. So I can't get email, visual voicemail, web etc. on the phone itself, let alone on a tethered device. A quick call to O2's magic iPhone support number gives me a recorded message that they're having trouble in the London area with 'network congestion'. I don't see why this innocuous Tuesday would result in a tidal wave of traffic that brings their service to its knees, unless it's simply the continuing weight of iPhones being added to its network every day as they continue to sell like hotcakes.