Emma’s New Haircut

Emma had a new haircut today, and looks pretty snazzy with it! Her hair was about 6 inches longer than this before the photo was taken.

Here she is just about to go out to meet one of Catherine’s friends and her little boy.

One For Neilboy

Here is a ridiculous looking old Citroen I spotted whilst in the French town centre earlier. This is one of my most hated Citroens!!

How on earth do you change the rear wheels if you hav a flat??

The Donkey D**k

Every year without fail both myself and Emma fail to stop laughing at this ridiculous meal that Catherine persists in eating!

It reminds me and Emma of something we saw in Parc Floral, in the donkey bit.

It is in fact a French version of Black Pudding, I don't like the English one but Id rather eat the UK one than this…..

Bon appetite

A Lovely Belly Full Of Shepherds Pie

Every year during the annual pilgrimage to France I visit my dear old friend Neil for a nice bit of home cooking from his missus Grace.

By far my favourite is the Shepherds Pie that she does, its bloody lovely!

Here it is in all its glory! This was plate no.1  for me, oh and I got to take the left overs home for a meal the next day!

Neil and Grace kindly let me use their washing machine to wash some clothes as mine is broken… but thats another story!!

Samsung Galaxy S2 CAR DOCK KIT (OFFICIAL SAMSUNG)

I think the actual device is a quality item, it holds the phone really well, there is no shake etc.

But it is flawed in a major way in my opinion, and that of several others on a well known phone forum...

There is audio interference on the AUX socket on the cradle, and from the headphone socket on the phone when you have the cradle powered and charging.

The phones headphone socket is less obvious as it is significantly quieter (due to EU regulations) than the AUX socket on the cradle.

Either way it has a very annoying and constant whine which changes pitch relating to engine speed.

The unit I have is not an isolated issue, as there are other people who have the same issue. I believe it is an inherent fault with the actual device.

That said, I can't imagine a cheaper model would be any better in terms of this noise!

But I could not stand listening to Sat Nav instructions with all the "whine" in the background, especially in the gaps between instructions!

Oh and incase you are thinking, he’s a moaning old git… here’s someone else on Amazon with the same opinion!

“ Dissapointing, 28 July 2011

By

Sean Houlihane

This review is from: Samsung Vehicle Dock Kit for Galaxy S II (Electronics)

For the price, this does not do well enough. Yes it fits well, and holds the phone, with an integrated dock connector. However:
It is a push-fit corner grabbing design, and I find it almost impossible to release the phone with one hand.
The windscreen suction mount is feeble, so maybe 20% of the time rather than removing the phone, I end up with the whole thing coming un-stuck.
Dock mode on this phone is almost useless, so plan on replacing it if you think it is a good feature.
The audio-out functions, but there is a very poor electrical design - even if the charger is not plugged in, the signal picks up a constant high pitched whine (even with the car engine off)
Buy a cheaper one, and you'll feel less hard done by. “

My Android Desktop

Ok so lots of people in the office are always asking what is running on my Android desktop, so I was asked to update my blog with some screenshots, listing the applications used.

Ok firstly I am running all of this on a Samsung Galaxy S2, running Android 2.3.4 as the OS.

The background is a stock Samsung wallpaper, which is hidden by default in the ROM. You will need to root your phone and put a new ROM on to access this potentially.

I am currently running Cognition v1.15, which you can obtain from the fantastic XDA Developers forum here

The first row widget is Switchpro, available from the marketplace. I am running in a Size 4 configuration with Wifi - Bluetooth - GPS - Sync - Airplane - Data - Sound - Reboot as the options.

The 2nd row is Traffic Counter, an app which monitors not just your data connection but also your SMS, Wifi and voice calls too. You setup your contracts limits and it will keep track of them for you, warning you when near to exceeding them. It is all customisable, alerting you at whatever % you wish to choose.

The 3rd row is the excellent Snowstorm weather application. I find it to be just so reliable, and it takes up a small footprint. Touch the widget and you get a very detailed weather forecast for the week ahead.

The 4th row (which looks like 2 rows) is called More Icon Widgets. This is a must have application that allows you to have 4 icons in the space of 1. This is a superb app!! Just buy it!

The bottom row is a few standard icons.

The launcher bar at the bottom is Go Launcher EX, for which I customised the icons using a theme.

Go Launcher is my prefered Android Launcher, it is free of charge and just brilliant. It is regulary updated, and works well with GO SMS too.

I actually bought LauncherPro, but have since become a big fan of this launcher.

Look out for a list of my apps in the next post.......

Remote Web Desktop Beta

Ok, so when I am work I have the age old problem of having my phone sat right next to my laptop, and I often think its a pain in the arse having to type on the screen on a phone when you could do it via a laptop (like the good old days of Nokia Suite).

Well now you can have that access and more using Remote Web Desktop by SmartDog Studio on the Android platform.

The software is supported on all Android versions and has the following features

Access your SMS messages, allowing you to reply/delete/create new messages, all in a web browser interface

File Explorer can be used to transfer files to and from the phone, even using "drag and drop" if you have a HTML5 compatible browser.

Use the built in FTP to provide a transfer mechanism if required.

Remote control your android device within your computer. Including mouse & keyboard emulation.

Use your PC keyboard to write on your phone using "Wifi Keyboard"

Android 2.2+ can use the camera on the phone as a webcam.

Rooted phones can take screenshots of the device.

There is a shared clipboard between the PC and device.

SSL HTTP: provides 512 bits RSA encrypt to ensure security of your information during connections

Network Bridge mode supports all internet connections (2G/3G/WiFi)

New features are in progress, such as the management of the phone contacts, others also are in the pipeline.

For a few pounds, this app is worth every penny. Check out the reviews on the Android Marketplace for this app.

If you have an Android phone and want remote access via a PC/Laptop then get the app.

You wont be dissapointed.