My boys are loving Forza Horizon 3, *but* bear in mind you can’t have a local multi-player game on it. When I was a kid, two player driving games were the bee’s knees, but there’s no split screen action with Forza Horizon 3. Sure, you can play online with others, but my Christmas has been ruined* by not being able to race my son side-by-side on the sofa.

*possibly an exageration

About 20 years ago I bought some Vestax PDT-5000s for similar money to SL1210s. I still have them and they’re solid bits of kit, but I will always regret not getting the Technics.

That’s really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

I’ve had my iPhone 6 shut down unexpectedly in cold(ish) weather recently; this gives me an avenue to explore.

I’m sure we didn’t have as much homework as our 9 and 11 year old boys have, poor lads.

Call xbox support

Good call. Didn’t even know such a thing was an option :-)

The two accounts are different emails.

Fortnite
Rocket League

Thanks for the links chaps. I’d already got that far.

I set my lad up with privacy/online settings set to Child and got email notifications of the (free) games he downloaded. He couldn’t play the games though. When he tried loading them it came up with a pretty generic message saying he didn’t have the right privacy/security settings. I can’t remember the exact message, but it gave no clues as to which setting to change. I had to grant Adult access for the games to work, which begs the question why was he allowed to download them if they weren’t going to work with his settings?

UPDATE: Got an XBOX One S

Still more help needed please. I set it up with my Son on a child account, but various games wouldn’t work. I set him up on a teen account and same problem. Only on adult account did certain games function. I’m not very happy about this and want to have it locked down, but the games that did not work did not give any hint as to exactly what in the access restrictions was preventing them working. Am I missing something?

So far it’s proved to be a surprisingly poor set-up experience :-(

I tried a massive range of them on before settling on POC VPD2.0. When out on the bike, they’re not as comfy as when trying on at home or in the shop. Annoying. My previous 661 Kyle Straits were comfier.

A fave from my mass trying on session were Dainese Trail Skins 2. They are a lot lighter and less bulky and – in retrospect – a better pad for my riding. STW liked them too.

Bugger :-(
Thanks for the quick reply. Are any games backward compatible?

I think the AirPods sound good, but I’m comparing them with other small (and inexpensive) in-ear earphones, not audiophile headphones. I love them.

Which in ears would you recommend?

What are your priorities? Sound quality? Wired? Wireless? Budget?

I can highly recommend Apple’s AirPods, but comfort, convenience, battery life, wireless and Siri integration may not be important to you compared with sound quality.

Did it definitely say POLICE and not POLITE? I’ve seen plenty of horse riders and I’m sure the odd MXer with stuff on that looks like a police tabard.

^I could have written the exact same thing JohnDoh. It’s surprising how delightful that extra convenience is.

Is there a ‘smart speaker’ market?

Clearly, since big players are either already in on the act or trying to get in on the act. They wouldn’t be doing that if their research said there was no market.

There isn’t a single person of even a remote acquaintance of mine who has one or any interest in one.

All that means is your relatively tiny circle of acquaintances is either not the target market or doesn’t yet know they are the target market. The same sentence could be written about me and trouser presses.

Amazon, Google and shortly Apple’s current products just aren’t fluid or intelligent enough to become something everyone thinks they need.

I have no experience of Google’s home speakers, but I think Amazon do a grand job, or at least they do for what I use my Echo for. Siri isn’t too bad at understanding me, but it’s a long way behind in terms of genuinely usable “hands-free” voice activation. I guess this is the problem HomePod aims to tackle.

For example Siri understands me if I say “Play In Rainbows by Radiohead”, but to get him/her listening I either have to press a button on my iPhone/Apple TV/Airpods or I need my phone plugged in for “Hey Siri” to work. The mic on an iPhone is useless for “Hey Siri” waking it up unless you’re right next to the phone with minimal background noise. I can shout at Alexa from the dining room to the kitchen and get her to turn the volume up.

Amazon has a way to sell you anything and want to know your habits.
Google has search and shopping.

Apple has?

Interesting article here that questions how relevant Apple will be as hardware becomes less relevant in a services-oriented technology landscape.

The problem I have with all this is that I am an Apple Music user and the HomePod is the only solution (when it turns up) that I can use voice control to play Apple Music. Sure, you can use Apple TV Siri through my main amp or “Hey Siri” and Airplay stuff to the kitchen radio, but none of it works as easily as Alexa. I’ve tried.

[edit] moreover, Apple don’t appear to have any plans for a voice-activated, Apple Music integrated “dongle” I can plug into my decent amp. If I want voice-activated hands-free Apple music, it’s the (non-existent) HomePod or nowt

Apple’s HomePod launch delayed until next year (CNET link…one of many[/url])

Apple Music is good. I used to be a Spotify user, but found it quite buggy, so when Apple Music came out I gave it a go. The main things I prefer with Apple Music are:

– I have a big library on iTunes, built up over the years from ripped CDs, vinyl etc. I like the fact this is seamlessly merged with Apple’s library. When I was on Spotify I had two music apps to use depending on whether it was “my” music or the streamed stuff.

– I have other Apple stuff which has Apple Music native to it e.g. the Music app on Apple TV. I use that a lot.

– Siri works natively with Apple Music: “Siri, play Ariana Grande” ;-)

Neither iTunes nor the iOS Music app are especially good to be honest. On my iPhone 6 it’s all a bit slow searching for songs (hence why I use Siri).

In summary, it’s good, it’s better than Spotify (and Deezer) for various reasons that may or may not be relevant to you, but it’s not perfect.

I use Reachability stumpy01, but it means something that a smaller phone/bigger hands can do with 1 click takes 3 clicks. Very much a 1st World Problem but, as Smart Phones get better in so many other ways, it’s one of those things that feels like a step backwards.

I’ve had some interesting discussions about iPhones recently. More and more functionality is tucked away in settings, or hidden behind a gesture or a long click. It’s no longer as intuitive as it used to be when there was a visual clue on screen as to what you can/can’t do. Fanbois constantly big up iPhone’s “ease of use”, but they’ve been using an iPhone and following iPhone news for years. It be interesting to give a new iPhone X to someone who has never used such as device and see how intuitive it really is these days.

What are people doing to their iPhone 6 to slow it down??

I’m not sure anyone really has an answer to that. My iPhone 6 has a similar issue to one reported further up this thread; I can be merrily typing out a message/email/URL and nothing happens on screen. Eventually things catch up and a load of characters get dumped on the screen. It’s not unique to any one App. The other pain I have is I never know if the screen is unresponsive or the phone is simply slow, so I’m bashing away pressing buttons with nothing happening.

So far the only thing I really don’t like is access to the Control Centre. It’s now a swipe down from top right which I can’t reach with one hand

Interesting. Whilst I confess I don’t have huge hands or long fingers, pretty much every day I get frustrated with not being able to comfortably and effectively use an iPhone 6 with one hand. It’s little wonder (to me) that the iPhone SE is still in the range.

pretty delightful experience when it opens just by looking at it.

This is what is puzzling me. I didn’t think that was how it works. You still need an upward swipe to actually get to your home screen*

*I don’t have an iPhone X, and am just recounting what I’ve read from Apple themselves:

1. Raise to wake or tap to wake your iPhone X.
2. Glance at your iPhone X.
3. When the lock icon on your screen animates from closed to open, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to unlock.

We do a fair bit of hill walking, so being able to pack up a warm layer into a small space is a key requirement.

All my hill walking is with our young kids, and over quite short distances. My rucksack is already full of their coats! Maybe when they’re older and we’re venturing a bit further, I might “need” a down jacket. Unfortunately so might the 3 kids! :lol:

I’ve fancied a big down (or even synthetic) jacket for years, but I can never come up with a legitimate use case for them that justifies the expense. The best “standing/sitting around” coat I’ve ever owned is an inexpensive wool-mix jobbie with a big jumper underneath. Remarkably good in the rain too, and drys quickly. I’ve got a cheap hoodie on right now with loads of toasty, fleecy insulation. Neither are good if I want to pack them away in a rucksack, but that’s not a need for a “standing around” jacket.

The best jacket I’ve ever had for more active pursuits is Paramo, adding/removing layers underneath as required.

I still want a down jacket, but can’t remember the last time I needed a big and warm jacket that needed to pack up small. Maybe when my mountaineering career begins, I might need one ;-)

It was good. Then it got a bit too far up its own arse, the scripts got a bit too scripty and I think JC’s ego took over.

Some great moments though….the ‘specials’ particularly….

I like the new Top Gear. Took a while to find it’s stride and improved a lot once Chris Evans went.
The Grand Tour….watched a few and each one was worse than the one before.

^this sums it up as well as I could. I *do* miss the specials; not all of them were great, but some of them were brilliant (the South America one in particular). In the age of on-demand TV, I miss having a TV event to look forward to with the family.

I’m looking forward to the new series of TG starting. Couldn’t care less about The Grand Tour.

Have you ever updated the iDrive software?

yes

@Rachel – I have a 2012 1 Series. The Bluetooth works with no problem for the telephone, but not music. Very rarely I get “Albums, Artists, Songs” show up as headings on the iDrive display, but with nowt in them; maybe it doesn’t work with Apple Music. I’ve spent too long trying to work out why, so just plug my phone in instead.

I’ve just treated myself to some AirPods and I must admit they’re very good. It doesn’t solve the problem of not being able to play Apple Music via Bluetooth in my car…

…fortunately I have an iPhone 6 :-)

I’ve only done 3 TTs in my life and all were our club 5 miler, plus a couple of hill climbs. I thought I’d hate them but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I’m not fit and, despite getting a PB this year, was last (everyone else got a PB too!).

I find them incredibly social, but that’s because our club makes them a social event. The nervous anticipation beforehand, the ride out to the start line, the jokey chatter as each rider is counted off the line, then a bit of grub and a pint afterwards. My family even came to watch this year, which really made it an event. I also like the year-on-year quest to improve my time.

I’d never get totally into it because I really don’t fancy wasting valuable riding time driving around the country to these events, which often take place on busy main roads. Our local 5 miler suits me.

And if they can tell the difference, then clearly one is better than the other.

Someone might hear a very clear difference, but prefer the “lower quality” version. It reminds me of the days before MP3, when the boominess of the bass was the measure of how “good” a system was for some people. Even the perception of big, loud and boomy is still a selling point of systems; just take a look in the shops at what some music systems look like. The point being that it’s one thing to be able to hear a difference, it’s another thing to assume everyone thinks the higher bit rate version is the preferred version.

I only got 2 right in that test, but the Suzanne Vega one was the one I found easiest to pick the WAV for. That was the most minimal mix. Is it a reasonable conclusion that the more complex the mix, the less likely someone is able to discern the difference between different bit rates?

2/6. Mostly guesswork, but the Suzanne Vega one I felt pretty confident about…and picked the WAV

I felt a little underwhelmed by the final result. A genuinely impressive construction, but not something I’d aspire to live in. I got the impression the fella wasn’t quite as delighted with the final result either :lol:

All that waffle about being “in” nature was nothing unique to the building either, which grated a little. You could have built a Barratt home in that field and still had deer walking past the window.

I’ve only had toothache once in my life and I hated it. The only thing that made the pain go away was mountain biking (I was away at Bike Park Wales at the time). Good reason to dust off the bike ;-)

The Sonos event could well be very interesting. I think the smart speaker/subscription music market is a bit of a confusing mess at the moment and some genuine cross-platform choice would be ace.

its only a gimmick until apple introduce it

Maybe. I think what Amazon have done well is to let people experiment with the tech by offering a low cost of entry. The Echo Dot is £50 and the full Echo has repeatedly been on offer for <£100. If all you use it for is a Bluetooth speaker that has a (voice-activated) radio built-in, that’s not a unreasonable price. Apple’s HomePod is reportedly around the £300 mark, which is not “take a punt” money in my book.

What app are you using for that, out of interest?

Anylist. I was using it before I got an Echo and they recently released a skill for it. It has a free version

@DezB you can tell Alexa your usual commute and it will *nearly* do what you want

Come back Microsoft, all is forgiven!

:lol:

It is interesting how this whole market is a slightly confused mess of incompatible devices and services. Apple used to do a great job of clearing up that confusion by being a “one stop shop” for computery-stuff, but even they have lost interest in some of the peripherals.

it’s like lots of walled gardens but with some secret passageways from one garden to another, but not that garden over there, no way :-)

There is currently no smart speaker that works with Apple Music. Apple are clearly very serious about Apple Music, but people *will* leave Apple Music (e.g. for Spotify) if Apple don’t get in the smart speaker market somehow. If they give up on the hardware market, they will have to get onboard with Amazon Echo or Google Home.

I’ve already thought about going back to Spotify just so I can have hands-free music in the kitchen.