iPod Touch Email Configuration

March 11, 2009 11:55 by ptumelty

Just a quick tip for anybody trying to set up POP3/IMAP email on an iPod Touch/iPhone. I've tried this several times and after getting a peculiar error about failing and asking me if I want to try again without SSL, it usually just ends up hanging up on Verifying POP email....This can go on for minutes and nothing seems to be actually going on. How long should it take to verify the POP server? Two seconds?

Anyway, today I decided to wait it out on the basis that something must happen eventually, after all, these were valid POP settings! About 10 minutes later, my POP settings are verified and I can see my inbox!

Why it took so long is still a mystery! but hopefully this may help people who've gone through the same as me.


iPod Touch 32Gb and Ultimate Ears Super.Fi Pro 5

October 29, 2008 14:38 by ptumelty

A few weeks ago I decided it was time to buy a new mp3 player. The first one I bought must have been well over ten years ago (Anyone remember the Creative DAP jukebox? ) but since then I've really only listened to music by mobile or on the home PC. Although I had my eye on an iPhone at one point, the total cost seemed a bit over the top (and I've still got 10 months left on my current contract!). Instead, I plumped for a new iPod Touch and I have to say, its a fantastic little device. Although I'm not a big fan of iTunes on the PC (I prefer Windows Media Player) it works really well on the iPod. It's nice being able to buy apps/music straight from the device assuming you have a WiFi connection of course.

After much deliberation I decided that the 32Gb model was essential as this offered the best price per Gb by far :) I've loaded about 80 CD's so far and still have 75% free. Of course to go with such a great device I needed a good pair of headphones. The ones that come with it are pretty basic.

A bit of searching on google found some candidates and I eventually went for the Ultimate Ears Super.Fi pro 5. They are expensive but sound awesome. They are a little fiddly 'til you get used to them and I found them regularly dropping out of my ears, but once you get used to putting them in, they do a fine job.  I even went to the gym today and managed to keep them in for an hour without any dropouts :)

If you notice a lack of bass, its more than likely that you havent got a snug enough fit. I found a few reviews of people complaining about bass response, and I'm sure this is the problem. Having a tight fit makes a huge difference and they supply a range of interchangeable covers to suit all sizes of ear as part of the package!


New Album from The Feeling

February 18, 2008 23:04 by ptumelty

Join With Us - Album Cover Today saw the much anticipated release of "Join With Us" the new album from The Feeling. Ever since I listened to their first album "Twelve Stops and Home" I've been a huge fan and was looking forward to this a lot.

So what's it like? Well, there are a few tracks that will be familiar to fans. "I Thought It Was Over", the new single, hasn't been off TV and radio in the last fortnight, so you've probably heard this one a lot! It's quite dancy and upbeat, just what you want to start an album with. Also, "Join With Us" and "This Time" have both been on previous CD single releases, although these versions are definately more polished.

Of the remaining tracks, the stand out ones for me are "Without You", "I Did It For Everyone", "Turn it Up" and "Won't Go Away", all great songs and potential singles.

Filling in the gaps are "Spare Me", "Loneliness" and "Connor" which although far from awful, might take a while to grow on you.

I was a little dissappointed with the final track, "The Greatest Show on Earth". The title promised a lot and I was expecting something along the lines of "Blue Picadilly" but in comparison it seems quite weak, I was also slightly dissappointed with the Bonus Track, "We Can Dance", it just doesn't do it for me.

In conclusion, a follow up that could even came close to matching the instant likability factor of the first album was always going to be difficult, there are definately some promising tracks here and after a few listens, it's definately growing on me. It doesn't have the same feel as the first album but it is still distinctly the sound of "The Feeling".

Overall Rating 8/10 

Click here to preview the tracks and buy online in .mp3 format.

 

 


Deleting Pages in BlogEngine.Net

February 1, 2008 00:51 by ptumelty

I've been using BlogEngine.Net for a couple of weeks now and I've been very impressed with what I've seen. I'm finally able to update my website without needing to resort to SmartFTP!

Overall it's a very intuitive system, but one thing which I couldn't work out for ages is how to delete a page.  Deleting a post is obvious, if you are logged in as admin/editor, you can see the delete link next to the post options. Pages are slightly different. By default they don't show up anywhere on your site (unless you explicitly add them) so there is no easy link to delete. Also, if you go into the admin area and click Pages, the only UI available is to edit an existing page or create a new page.

The only way I can see to delete a page is to edit it, save it (this previews the page) and then go to the bottom of the page and there are two links, edit and delete. You can guess which one to click!

It's not obvious (to me at least, althout it is 1:00am) how to delete them. Maybe this is something that could be looked at in R1.4 or beyond. 


Scouting for Girls - Scouting for Girls

January 14, 2008 13:07 by ptumelty

 

I first heard one of their tracks on Radio 1 (Elvis aint dead) a few days ago and had to get the album. They have a very distinctive, bouncy, sometimes a little repetitive style, you'll either love them, or hate them! Personally, I think they're great! Make sure you listen carefully to the lyrics of the songs, they're a bit silly, but very clever!

Click on the album cover to see the details in Amazon.

http://www.myspace.com/scoutingforgirls 


 


How to Run a Root “/” Site in VS2005/08

November 20, 2006 00:00 by ptumelty
If you use Visual Studio 2005/2008 then may have noticed that when developing websites using the filesystem, your application starts in a sub-directory which equals the project’s root directory name.
i.e. http://localhost:8080/tumelty.com
This can be extremely annoying if the final application is to be deployed as a top-level application
i.e. http://www.tumelty.com/

The static URL's will end up in local as

http://localhost:8080/tumelty.com/files/download.zip

and in production....

http://www.tumelty.com/files/download.zip

This means that all of the links to static files will have to be manually fixed up before deployment. This causes a problem.

A quick google search which brought up the following solution which I'd like to share here for anyone having the same problem.

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2005/11/21/431138.aspx

Thanks to Scott Gu!


E-mail to Dearest Wife.

November 18, 2006 00:00 by ptumelty
As you are receiving e-mail, it's wise to remember how easily this wonderful technology can be misused, sometimes unintentionally and with serious consequences.

Consider the case of the Illinois man who left the snow-filled streets of Chicago for a vacation in Florida. His wife was on a business trip and was planning to meet him there the next day. When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick e-mail.

Unable to find the scrap of paper on which he had written her e-mail address, he did his best to type it in from memory. Unfortunately, he missed one letter and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher's wife, whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her e-mail, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint. Hearing the scream, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen:

"Dearest Wife, Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow.

P.S. Sure is hot down here!"


Hot Air Balloon Joke

January 19, 2004 11:17 by ptumelty

A man in a hot air balloon realised he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below.

He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." The woman below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the woman, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The woman below responded, "You must be in Management."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."


Peter Kays Universal Truths

January 9, 2004 10:13 by ptumelty
1) Triangular sandwiches taste better than square ones.

2) At the end of every party there is always a girl crying.

3) One of the most awkward things that can happen in a pub is when your pint-to-toilet cycle gets synchronised with a complete stranger.

4) You've never quite sure whether it's ok to eat green crisps.

5) Everyone who grew up in the 80's has entered the digits 55378008 into a calculator.

6) Reading when you're drunk is horrible.

7) Sharpening a pencil with a knife makes you feel really manly.

8) You're never quite sure whether it's against the law or not to have a fire in your back garden.

10) Nobody ever dares make cup-a-soup in a bowl.

11) You never know where to look when eating a banana.

12) Its impossible to describe the smell of a wet cat.

13) Prodding a fire with a stick makes you feel manly.

14) Rummaging in an overgrow garden will always turn up a bouncy ball.

15) You always feel a bit scared when stroking horses.

16) Everyone always remembers the day a dog ran into your school.

17) The most embarrassing thing you can do as schoolchild is to call your teacher mum or dad.

18) The smaller the monkey the more it looks like it would kill you at the first given opportunity.

19) Some days you see lots of people on crutches.

20) Every bloke has at some stage while taking a pee, flushed half way through and then raced against the flush.

21) Old women with mobile phones look wrong.

22) Its impossible to look cool whilst picking up a Frisbee.

23) Driving through a tunnel makes you feel excited.

24) You never ever run out of salt.

25) Old ladies can eat more than you think.

26) You can't respect a man who carries a dog.

27) There's no panic like the panic you momentarily feel when you've got your hand or head stuck in something.

28) No one knows the origins of their metal coat hangers.

29) Despite constant warning, you have never met anybody who has had their arm broken by a swan.

30) The most painful household incident is wearing socks and stepping on an upturned plug.

31) People who don't drive slam car doors too hard.

32) You've turned into your dad the day you put aside a thin piece of wood specifically to stir paint with.

33) Everyone had an uncle who tried to steal their nose.

34) Bricks are horrible to carry.

35) In every plate of chips there is a bad chip.

36) Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad


Peter Kay's Questions

January 9, 2004 10:10 by ptumelty
1. Why does your gynaecologist leave the room when you get undressed?

2. If a person owns a piece of land do they own it all the way down to the core of the earth?

3. Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed?

4. Is it possible to brush your teeth without wiggling your arse?

5. Why is it called Alcoholics Anonymous when the first thing you do is stand up and say, 'My name is Bob, and I am an alcoholic'?

6. Why are they called stairs inside but steps outside?

7. Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?

8. Why does mineral water that 'has trickled through mountains for centuries' have a 'use by' date?

9. Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp no one would eat?

10. Is French kissing in France just called kissing?

11. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink whatever comes out'?

12. What do people in China call their good plates?

13. Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?

14. What do you call male ballerinas?

15. Why is a person that handles your money called a 'Broker'?

16. If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

17. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?

18. Why is it that when someone tells you that there are over a billion stars in the universe, you believe them, but if they tell you there is wet paint somewhere, you have to touch it to make sure?

19. Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

20. Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out of window?