CHROMECAST

Hullo!

I have not posted anything for a couple because... well reasons. We shall say no more on the matter.

What we shall talk about, however, is the new fangled gadget from the good people at Google.

It's called a Chromecast and is currently on sale (in the Uk anyway) for around £20. (rrp £30)

For £20 I thought I would jump the gun and buy one.... so I did.

A thingy-ma-jig

It arrived this morning and with a bit of jiggery pokery, some tense minutes watching a circle tell me what percentage I had left to go for updates, we had a fully functioning.... thing.

This in it'self is a great leap forward in technology.

Long time followers of this blog will know that me and technology do not mix and the fact that i got this gizmo working first attempt with little or no swearing is nothing short of a blooming miracle.

Okay, lets start with the good stuff.

This thing is small. around the size of a Vole or maybe a large Butterfly. It is also around 2 inches in length (probably less).

It fits into an HDMI socket (the one for HD TV) and is powered by a USB cable that fits into a USB wall charger (like a smartphone has) or if you are lucky, straight into the USB port on your TV.

It is very quiet and makes no noise all. Although I have noticed it gets very VERY warm.... this something I need to keep an eye on.

BUT WHAT IS IT FOR BUMF?!?!?!?

Good question.

I'm not entirely sure.

From what i can gather this is a device for sharing things and showing them on the TV for everyone else to say "oooh!" but actually think. "Oh no! this is going to be one of those MY HOLIDAY SLIDE SHOW THINGS EVERYONE DID IN THE 70'S"

So far I have been able to "cast" the screen of my laptop and my phone onto the TV screen.

This seems to be the main purpose of the device.

It allows the user to share videos, pictures, music or anything else you can think of from the computer screen on to the TV.

(*$%*ing thing

The advantage of this is that more people can see more things without having to crowd around your laptop or phone.

There is nothing worse than being breathed on. With the Chromecast, this is no longer an issue.

BUT IT MUST DO MORE THAN THAT!?!?!

You'd think... but so far that is all it can do.

It really is a gadget that offers very little to increase the value of society or save time. It does not make using the internet any easier.

What it does do though is help you to share.

It's a sharing stick.

And sharing photo's and videos and youtube clips are what it does best.

What it doesn't do though... well, that's another kettle of idiots altogether.

WHAT DOESN'T IT DO BUMF?

BBC I-player.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?

The BBC I-Player does not work on the chromecast.

It says it does. The BBC says it does. Heck, even the internet says it does... but it doesn't. Not from the laptop anyway.

From my phone I am able to stream/cast the BBC app. Which is fine and dandy, but from the desktop/laptop? Not a bean. Just a very annoying message that says "Ready to stream!" 

As if that makes it all better.

I think I have narrowed down the issue to the BBC themselves as there is no CAST button to press on the site. (according the the BBC help section, there should be).

No doubt there are other issues with the gadget that I come across in due course. But that is the nature of things these days.

I am not alone in being unable to CAST the BBC I-player, as there are many unanswered questions in many forums and help pages dotted around the BBC and Chromecast websites...

Plus I am a right proper Jinx when it comes to technology.

IS IT WORTH BUYING?

yes.

REALLY? BUT YOU SAID IT HAD PROBLEMS?

yes. it does have issues. There are not a lot of useful apps (for me anyway) that are not readily available on what ever device you are reading this from, but it is an extension to the devices we already use and thinking of it in those terms makes it worth having.


I am very confident that in the coming months there will be many more USEFUL apps and extensions for the chromecast that WILL make it more useful and usable, but for now it's something worth having for the small price it costs.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW...

If you have been tempted in the past to get one, I say say go for it while they are on offer. £20 is a fair price,  I think, for this device. If I had paid £30 then I would be a bit annoyed... but that saving of £10 does make a difference. Plus there should be many more useful apps in the pipe line in the near future.

It up to you.

I'm not your mum. I can't TELL you what to do.


links - Info on chromecast

I am Innocent

Today I took delivery of Mrs H's new mobile phone. It is a samsung smartphone.

It is causing me a headache.

A more correct statement would be that Mrs H is giving me a headache.

All night, all I have heard is "What does this do?" and "It's not working!" and "I can't...."

it's ridiculous. 

I know that some people (myself included) are not the most aware when it comes to new things, but what really frustrates me is when people don't even try and expect me to know exactly what to do when they offer insightful information like "Why is it doing this???" but then give nothing in the way of factual insights as to what the IT is or what the DOING is supposed to be.

My answer is always the same. "I don't know.... let me have a look."

I look at the device and ask the question "What are you trying to do?"

The reply is always the same. "I don't know."

And at this point I die a little inside.

How am I supposed to know what you want when you don't know what you want?

I don't know.

It has now got to the point where I don't know what it is that I don't know and what I am supposed to know about the things that other people don't know about the things they don't know what they doing on the things they are doing them.

It is very confusing.

Right now, as I type this, I DO know that I am being looked at. 

With one of THOSE looks.

It's not the same look as when I forget to do the washing up, or when I make "smells" WHICH I DO NOT MAKE BY THE WAY, but it is one of THOSE looks that is an accusation that I am responsible for something going wrong.

I am being made to feel guilty for something I have not done.

I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!

I am not, nor have I ever been on Coronation street, nor have I ever been a childrens entertainer of any kind. So why am I being made to feel like a criminal?

I don't know. But there's probably an app for it.

Talking Thoughtless Gibberish: Operation Custard Cream

Last week I was challenged by Addman from Muppets for Justice to make a video showing me eating some custard creams.

I did it.

I made the video.

Easy peasy.

Or so I thought.

As you should know by now, technology is not my strongest point and although the video has been made it is of such piss poor quality that I am ashamed of it beyond belief.

However, the challenge was set and the video HAS been made and needs to be shown.

I have tried to upload the video straight to this post, but blogger must have some kind of algorithm that stops really rubbish videos from being uploaded... it works very well.

So the best I can do is share the video via youtube.

YouTube is also not my friend at the moment as the video has very poor sound.

I don't know why this is.

It plays fine on my laptop but once uploaded the sound is very quiet indeed.

If you want to spend 12 minutes and 42 seconds of your live watching me eat some biscuits then please have you headphones (or speakers) at the ready to get the most out something that offers very little.

If I ever decide to make more videos I will make sure that I have invested some money in a decent webcam, microphone and software.

But for now you can put up or shut up.

I came, I ate, I recorded.

That was all that was asked of me and I have achieved.

It is now upto Addman to create his own video showing his face being forced to consume some mass produced "jam" and shortbread.

Good luck everyone and sorry.

Custard Cream: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocQwBusg-DM

How Does Steven Hawkins Manage?

As we near the end of April I also find myself reaching the end of my patience with technology.

Yet again my teeth are being ground down to the nerve by the never ending gnashing and grinding of my jaw.

I have very little faith that I would be of any use whatsoever in the event of some kind of global catastrophe.

WHY MEEEEEEEE!!!!

Never before in the history of the human race have we become so utterly dependant so very quickly upon little tiny machines made of cheap plastic and wires.

In the week that celebrates the 30^th anniversary of the Spectrum ZX I find myself cursing the invention of electricity.

30 Years old and as useless today as I am!

From the buzzing noise of the fan from my laptop to the failure of Sky Go to... well- GO! To the resounding sulkiness of my mobile phone refusing to accept an update.

The other night I wanted to watch the football. However MRs H had taken control of the remote control and was in charge so it was zombies all the way (until it got dark anyway – she won’t watch horror after dark – the wimp!)

But not being able to watch a game of kicking ball on the big screen is not the end of the world anymore. We now have the ability to view live action from across the world on the little boxes on our laps. And so that is what I set out to do.

Clicking on the link I eagerly awaited the screen to launch into the Chelsea v Barcelona game.

But alas this is what popped up in front of my eyes instead.

Bastards!

After many attempts and a little swearing I gave up and decided to speak to somebody at sky TV direct to resolve this issue of mine.

Here is an extract from my conversion...

Click to Englarge - as the acress said to the bishop...

Alas I missed what I am led to believe was a very entertaining example of Millionaires’ running about for a bit.

It seems apparent that with all this doodads and gadgets we now have in our lives to make things easier all we have is done is make things even more complicated and when something that we take for granted suddenly stops working... the whole world might as well take a tea break.

That’s how it seems to me anyway.

Oh yea – and Blogger doesn’t help itself either.

Rant over.

Carry on.

Why Can't Things Be As Cool As The 80's?

When it comes to technology (and most other things to be honest) I’m pretty much clueless.

Right now, as I write this, my laptop is sat on a thing which keeps it from overheating; out the side of the laptop is another cable that goes to a white box that is a hard drive. I’m also charging my phone and doing something with the music, but I have no idea whether it’s working or indeed, what I actually want it to do.

Double click you *&$£

 

I am forever fiddling and changing things on my computer to make it work a bit faster or do something new. More often than not it doesn’t work and I have to uninstall something or delete things or, as is usually the case, just swear a lot and turn it on and off again.

Sometimes I do all three.

Nobody is more surprised than me that I haven’t broken something of value with all my gadgets and toys and doo-dahs.

I lose my I-pod cable more often than I care to mention.

I guess it’s a sign of growing old.

Saaaaaaaay-gaaaaaaar!

I remember way back when CD’s were the future and not the past, that if something went wrong with an electrical item or computer problem I was the go to guy in my family. Mainly because I was a child and children are made for technology. They go together like peas and carrots although I would never eat my veg as a kid which I’m sure proves some kind of point...

Anyway...

As a child of the 80’s I was used to such things as the spectrum zx +2 and megadrives with their amazing 16bit memories, unfathomable by today’s standards. These days there are shoe laces for sale with more technology in them!

It only takes 30 minutes to load a tape

I had a watch that was also a calculator AND it had a light so you tell the time at night.

My friend even had one that changed the TV and caused our English teacher to think she was magnetic because every time she went near the class TV he would turn it on and off. (Hilarious!)

The equivalent prank today would be performed via 3G Bluetooth Wi-Fi black magic and the sex offenders register. (Not that my English teacher was a sex pest, although there was a rumour she was in a mucky jazz mag.... and she looked the sort to do it as well...)

Mrs Morton was her name I think... I’ve googled her name but nothing naughty popped up so I might be wrong with that..

Victory!!!

Back to the point of this post...

Um..

Oh yes.

Twenty years ago it was unthinkable that we would have such amazing technology at our disposal. Not taking into account the fact that we satellite communications or are able to download entire films in a flash without need for postage and packaging, but we can do it all from a little plastic box no bigger than a normal sized hand.

Not even Carol Vorderman from Tomorrow's World could have guessed that one.

Don't even get me started on mobile phone signals...

Where will these progressive leaps in technology lead us to I find myself wondering as I sit beneath a cornucopia of wires and ever increasingly warmer plastic cubes of magic?

I don’t know, but I do know that I won’t understand any of it.

The more technology progresses the more I find myself becoming obsolete and outdated. Much like the original walkman.

As anyone under the age of 15 what VHS is or try to explain what a mix tape was and how you made one and prepare yourself for the blankest and wildest look of horror in your life.

Bloody kids.