Play.com enters the download market

And I'm a fan. Consider some of the differences with iTunes:

Price: iTunes, 79p per track. Play.com, prices start from 65p. Most tracks seem to be 70p.

Quality: iTunes, 192Kbps standard. Play.com, 320Kbps standard.

Format: iTunes, own m4p format, nightmare in terms of compatibility. Play.com, .mp3, works with just about everything (including my CD/mp3 player in the car).

DRM: iTunes, tracks are DRM protected. Play.com, no DRM protection.

I think it will be interesting to see how Apple responds to this.

My Work Colleagues, They Know How I Feel

Got a cough that won't clear up, they know how I feel.
Think I've got a sty, they know how I feel.
And my neck is sore, they know how I feel.

It's the same place, sucks to work here,
Need a new job...

(And I'm feeeeeeeling GOOOOD!)

Sorry, January blues.

Remembering my step-grandfather

My step-grandfather died last month. He was 95, and due to the passing of my paternal and maternal grandfathers in my infancy effectively the only grandfather I ever knew.

He was a smart guy, and was capable of being captivating and personable. My guess is that I must have been six when I met him, and got to know him through an range of magic tricks.

As I got older I came to know him more as an educated reader, with a pretty substantial library. Our conversations became more complicated - not to mention more interesting - as time went by.

Just before his wife passed away I noticed a different side to him, one of a loving, caring husband. After she passed away he kept photos of her prominently where he lived. He clearly missed her. It was quite touching.

He was also a published author. Nothing major, just a small book about the history of a village where he lived. I need to get a copy of this somewhere, and somehow I think that a fitting tribute would be to make it into print myself. That's a matter for another time though.

Broadband Speed at Home

We got an invitation out for dinner last night. One of our hosts told us that they'd just had broadband installed. I asked what speed he had, and he told me it would initially be 1Mb, before going up to 4Mb.

According to various speed tests I can only get 0.5Mb. Still! It's the 21st century people, work on it!

Clips of the year: Sports

Ladies and gentlemen, the Trinity Tigers (and possibly the best amateur commentator of all time).

Clips of the year: Rants

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Mike Gundy.



Incidentally, I've got a friend who turns 40 next year. I'll need to remember to forward this link to him on his birthday, just so he knows he's a man then.

Clips of the year: X-Factor

I've decided to celebrate a few of my favourite clips of the year. This one's my X-Factor clip of the year. "Noooo way!"

"Tony, you're playing catchup"

Working through a pretty long to-do list at the moment. What's worse is that I'm only usually managing to get one thing crossed off it each night. Ugh, not good.

I need some time off really to catch up on personal stuff. Fortunately I have some coming up. During this time I'll hopefully write a proper post for this blog. Just wanted to let any readers know that I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth.

The Best Thing About Flying With British Airways

Lorraine and I had a flight with British Airways a few weeks ago, which gave me the opportunity to pick up one of my favourite reads: Business Life.

Now while a few years ago the thought of me picking up any kind of dry business magazine would have probably horrified me, but this magazine is different. For one thing it isn't dry. There's a good mix of articles, the odd touch of humour, and a good combination of shorter columns with longer features.

If you re-read my last paragraph you'll see it doesn't actually say very much. Why exactly do I like this magazine? Simple - because every time I read it I feel like I learn something from it. Take this snippet from an interview with Eddy Joseph from the October issue:

"... your world is run by people: get on with them and don't rock the boat."

Duh! How obvious on reflection. When I'm fighting through red tape and procedures at work I can easily find myself forgetting about people. Simple. In the weeks since I read that I feel that has helped me already, and that is just one piece of wisdom from one edition. Like so many other things, it is something I knew already, but reminders of these simple truths every once in a while come in handy.

vBulletin's Venture Into Blogging

As a vBulletin user I do laugh when I get e-mails about their blogging service. You follow the links, and read the basic details - Use our blogging service, only $50!

Yep, because I'm going to pay $50 for something which I can get from a recognised blogging platform like Wordpress for nothing.

I don't care how community orientated it might be, given the choice I'll take the option of the expert in the field. Plus the price is better, always a benefit.

Hmm, makes me wonder why I paid for vBulletin for forums when there are free alternatives? Years of familiarity with the product and a trusted reputation, which sounds an awful lot like many people's experience with Wordpress, only without any payment.

It seems to me like vBulletin are stretching themselves for more income here. What's more while they work on blogging their users' most repeated request seems to be for a vB CMS, which would make a lot more sense. But why let that stand in the way of the bottom line?