Despite Sony saying kitkat would be rolled out today on Xperia Z1s and my phone receiving a large system update today it seems I still have jelly bean. D’oh!

Kitkat has just arrived for my Xperia Z!

I find it frustrating that the manufacturer is now regarded as being responsible for an in contract handset rather than the netwrok provider. I have an Xperia Z that had a slight problem. Sony failed to fix it first time and when I held 3 to account they said its Sony’s fault and told me the only way to go forward was to speak to the ombudsman. While Sony got it right second time I was taken aback at how quickly 3 denied all responsibility!

I’ve got the Xperia Z. Great phone. Robust enough to let the kids play with it, even in the bath.

I think the Z1 is the only one available now. I believe the waterproofing is even better and the camera has been improved.

Shimla at Apple Tree pub is good value
Zaris and Taj Mahal are better but pricier.

Google Music has just launched Acces All Areas (basically spotify with the bonus of storing all your own music on the cloud). Its free for a month and I’ve already discovered some good stuff.

Virgin do unlimited talk, texts and data for £15. They use Orange/T-mobile. I might leave Giffgaff!

Virgin

I use google music to store up to 20k tracks. This music can be accessed by phone or computer and played. I think it is stored at 320kbps.

I use box.com to store documents (I got 50gb free because I had an xperia phone). It syncs with my laptop document folder.

Finally Smugmug is where my photos go. It has unlimited storage space and will take 20 minute HD videos. The display format is good and it can be customised. Flickr now offers a free 1TB. However it won’t store very long videos and you have to endure adverts.

Great little video. Love the mixture of history lesson, passion and artistry.

Nice find Klunk. I don’t know why Indiana Smith couldn’t know Kung Fu though 😉

I always thought Dodocase covers looked spiffing!

AD Cycles in Horsham for a good price. Freeborn in Horsham if you wanna be little more rad!

Forget the titanium frame, the indexed gears, the hollowtech crank, the ten speed sprocket…..these Schwalbes are my favourite bit of bike technology!

Perhaps sensible mudguards is the next move for this commuter????

I was dead chuffed with a year. Now I feel I set the bar too low!

I wanted to post this after 6 months as I have never gone 6 months without a puncture commuting to work. But I obviously didn’t want to jinx things ;-).

I run mine at a spine tingling 110psi. Would a lower pressure help me reach the heights others here allude to?

I recently bought these cheap CO2 cannisters and they’ve been great (and cheap did I mention that?):

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150641198184&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:GB:1123

I use Smugmug for my photos and videos. The power account allows unlimited stoarge and HD videos up to 20 minutes. There is a Android and iOS app for it as well.

If you join using the android app you get the first year half price (either by paying monthly or the annual fee)

“A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood”

The Gruffalo

By joing with the android app Smugmug is $4 a month or $30 a year for the power account. I prefer the layout and the video is limited to 20 minutes rather than 90 secs like Flickr.

Anyone tried smugmug?

One of these for some trail building…

So the Sherif of Dundee has protected all women and all children everywhere. Awesome!

My hub has worked perfectly since I got it in August. Much prefer it to the old one.

I phoned Virgin in August to renegotiate. They cut my bill from £35 to £28. For £28 I receive phone (+ free weekend calls), 30 meg broadband (upgraded from 20 meg and included new wireless router) and M+ TV (was on plain M package before).

I went a few years ago with the wife to Morroco. Spent first few days in blissfully downbeat Essaouria. Days were spent mouching around and are fondly remembered. There is a good harbour with fishing boats and the town is tolerably busy. Drank mint tea in squares and did very little. The bay is great for kite surfing by all accounts.

Marrakech was crazy in comparison. Cramped, loud, dusty and fast. A few days there was more than enough. We preferred to walk everywhere to get a sense of the place. Certainly feel we’ve explored it and I’ve no burning desire to return. Quite liked the open-air tanning of animal hides we saw though. I got quite fed up with being badgered after a while. I think I prefer holidays to recharge rather than “experience” stuff.

I would go back to Essaouria though. It cost about £30 to go by bus to the coast from Marrakech.

Just because it doesn’t have an obvious and immediate utility doesn’t mean it has no future.

Rollerblades and unicycles seem points in hand…

Really enjoyed that. Thanks.

Less commuting, more money and getting out of comfort zone would certainly persuade me to move.

Peter Nelson’s book on treehouses seems to always excite curiosity on our coffee table…

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Treehouse-Book-Peter-Nelson/dp/0789304112/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

Yeomans do the Montana for £299 including delivery (not convinced by a carpet)….

Crumbs the Outwell fan club is out in full force.

I suppose the kids could share a compartment for a while. I guess after a few years they’d prefer their own pup tent.

I like the idea of buying second hand. However the Montana seems to have only two seperate sleeping compartments. With a boy and a girl (plus parents) I’d prefer three compartments. You can’t buy a third add-on can you?

Yup, there were a few Outwells around. She made the comment as she gave us a few brochures, including theirs.

Despite the original price I am impressed with their resale value on ebay etc. Perhaps another thing to think about.

On size, over the years I have come to think the more space you have the better. Especially considering the summer we have had this year.

We hired a campvan this year and filled it full of spare clothes, food, prams, cots, nappies etc…

We visited a fairly big tent display area. Though it was only a quick chat one of the assistants said that you paid for the name Outwell rather than it being any better quality.

Ah, thanks for the review pointer. Kampa sound like a new kid on the block.

I have a Coleman already. Very happy with it. However our travel cot fills up one of the two pods so we have to get a bigger one to fit in the next one!

I’ve camped for some years now in 3 and 4 man tents however I’ve never heard of this footprint or tent carpet malarky. Are they helpful?

One of the reasons I’ve chosen the Kampa Sandown is that its construction looks fairly simple. It doesn’t have lots of rooms so should be easy to erect etc.

I was intrigued by the polycotton tents that feel more like canvas…

No recommendations to make. Just to say I used to love flying my Peter Powel Kite (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Powell_(kite)) as a kid. Many, many, many hours lost on beaches round the country.

Last week I bought the Sony Ericsson Experia Arc S. Bought it from a Phones 4 U store . Cost me $180 plus mandatory £10 top up. 8mp camera, can take 32gb card (£20), great android selection of gps apps. Only single core processor though.

His Olympic titles are “very, very proud moments” but Carol Hoy added: “Then I was proud of him when he won the egg-and-spoon race when he was a wee boy as well. So I’m just a boring mum who loves her kids.”

Brilliant quote…

Fallen – great ending all part of the deal!

@Phil – The Hunted – definitely an unexpectedly good romp!